The teinds still remained sacred, but the lands were secularised.1 This Act provided, amongst other things, that "John Lord Hamilton, Commendator of the Abbacie of Aberbrothock, sall bruik the fruits of the said Abbacie during his lifetime in the same manner as he did before, except the profits of the lands of Craquhy and Milne, and the lands of Tullois and Corstoun," for which he was to be recompensed. Lord John was created first Marquis of Hamilton on April 17th, 1599, and resigned the Abbey into the hands of the king, who confirmed the same to his eldest son, James Hamilton, reserving his father's right to the profits during his lifetime. This last Abbot of Arbroath died on April 12th, 1604, aged seventy-one. His son James, thus second Marquis of Hamilton, procured a charter of the Abbey in 1600; and the king and Parliament, on July 6th, 1606, dissolved the lands, patronages, and teinds of the Abbey from the Crown, and erected them into a temporal lordship in his favour, with the dignity and title of a lay lord of Parliament, but divested of the privileges of regality. This statute declares that the Parliament "has supprescit and extinguischit the memorie of the said Abbacie of Aberbrothok, that thair sall be na successor provydit thairto, nor na farder mentioun maid of the same in ony time hereafter." This was the death-knell of the Abbey as a religious foundation; but an institution which played so great a part in the history of both Scotland and England cannot die. It is a source of congratulation that H. M. Commissioners of Works and Public Buildings have cast the ægis of their protection over its ruined walls, and hearty thanks are due to them for rescuing such an interesting memorial of the past from oblivion. 1 "The Scottish Church from Earliest Times to 1881" (St. Giles's Lectures) Lecture 6, by the Rev. John Cunningham. NOTE. Haltwhistle Church, the advowson of which belonged to Arbroath Abbey, is itself an interesting structure, archæologically. The following account of it is given by a well-known Northumbrian writer: "The Church, dedicated to the Holy Cross, is situated on the south side of the town. The oldest part of the building is the chancel, erected in the twelfth century. A fine triplet is noticeable here. The nave belongs to the thirteenth century. The shafts and piers of the arcade are Early English in their character, while the capitals exhibit the incoming of the Decorated style. In the south wall of the chancel is a fifteenth-century low side window. The chancel contains a recumbent effigy of a member of the Blenkinsopp family, probably of the fourteenth century. There is also a tombstone bearing the arms of this family, and ornamented with a beautiful flowered crosier, a broken-hilted sword, and a staff and scrip, indicating that the person buried beneath had visited the Holy Land. Standing against the south wall of the chancel is the tombstone, 6 ft. long, of John Ridley, of Walltown, brother of Dr. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London; bearing, between two shields, a rhyming inscription, which runs thus:: "IHON REDLE THAT SVM | TIM DID BE | THEN: LARD OF THE WALTON GON IS HE OVT OF THE VAL OF MESRE | HIS BONS LIES VNDER THES STON; AL FRENDES MAY BE GLAD TO HAER | WHEN HES SOVL FROM PAEN DID GO OVT OF THES WORLD AS DOETH APPER IN THE YEER OF OVR LORD | A. 1562.'”1 1 Comprehensive Guide to the County of Northumberland. By W. W. Tomlinson, 1888, p. 168. THE ROMAN CHANNEL FLEET. WITH NOTES ON THE ROMAN STATION CLAUSENTUM. BY EMANUEL GREEN, Esq., F.S.A. (Read November 15th, 1905.) HE Roman Emperor Claudius, on hearing of the successful invasion of Britain by his agents, Cnaeus and Aulus Plautius, " illustrious and noble men," determined to come over and see, and perhaps gain some personal credit, for himself. Starting from Rome, he passed to Ostia, and there took ship for Marseilles, following the coast all the way, yet narrowly escaping wreck on the shores of Liguria, between Genoa and Nice. From Marseilles he marched by land, says one account, to Gessoriacum (Boulogne), and then passed over into Britain.' Another account says, perhaps more reasonably; that he came partly by land and partly by rivers, and so arrived at the ocean. While certainly some idea is given as to how he did come, which is very interesting in itself, showing the galleys hugging the shore all the way and avoiding the sea, the little difference in the stories shows the difficulty of getting exactness when examining these very scanty accounts. 2 For the large force-probably over twenty thousand men-which was landed in Britain, more than one camp would be necessary, as well as several shelters, or harbours, for the many vessels. First, then, it is found that a line of ports was secured, extending along our coast from Richborough (Rutupia), near the Thames, westward to Clausentum (Bittern, by Southampton). Then the plan of campaign was further developed, as a line of camps 1 Suetonius, Claudius, xvii. 2 Dion Cassius, lx, p. 677. and stations was established across the interior, thus enclosing the rich western district: that district which will now claim especial notice. Claudius, by his visit, gained his desired end, and got fully the praise for success so beloved by the Roman general. His return was a naval triumph. A ship "like a vast palace" bore him homeward,' and he received as reward a heavy coronet of gold. An inscription from Kyzikos refers to him3 as 4 P(ater Patriæ) VIND(ex) Eight epigrams in the Codex Vossianus, not hitherto noticed, refer to him and his supposed exploits in Britain. They are here copied exactly as met with. As the original manuscript was difficult or illegible, faults must be excused. LAUS CÆSARIS. 419. Ausoniis numquam tellus violata triumphis, 420. Victa prius nullo jamjam spectata triumpho, 422. Euphrates ortus, Rhenus secluserat Arctos: Libera non hostem, non passa Britannia regem Felix adversis et sorte oppressa secunda, Communis nobis et tibi Cæsar erit ! 423. Ultima cingebat Thybris tua, Romule, regna: Et tua, Dive, tuo sacrata potentia cælo At nunc Oceanus geminos interluit orbes; 1 Pliny, Nat. Hist., iii, 20. 3 Hübner, Corp. Inscr., Lat. 2 Pliny, xxxiii, 16. 4 Riese, Anthologia, 1 S., p. 272. 424. Mars pater et nostræ gentis tutela Quirine, 425. Opponis frustra rapidum, Germania, Rhenum; 426. Semota et vasto disjuncta Britannia ponto, The great result of this visit was the establishment of a fleet to guard the narrow seas: the establishment, in fact, of a Roman Channel Squadron. "The last bars have fallen," sang a poet; "the earth is girdled by a Roman ocean. From this time all military movements on land were supported, and all communications secured, by this watchful guardian, known as the Classis Britannica, the British fleet, guarding the Fretum Britannicum, the narrow sea. With all the soldiering and camping, of which so much is heard or read, as relating to these times, this very important fact, which must now be of absorbing interest to all, has been entirely overlooked. So completely has it been passed over, that Smith's Dictionary of Roman Antiquities (Third edition) does not even mention it; yet such a fleet was maintained for nearly four hundred years, and secured the military and trade connections with this island. What can 1 Burmannos, Anthol., ii., 88. |