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Show 40 ATROCIOUS JUDGES. having conquered England by the sword in the con r c of a few generation -, got po ·session of a gre[l.t part of S ~otlanll by n1arriagc. They were far more refined and accompli~hed than the Caledonian thanes; and., flocking to the court of the Scotti ·h kings, where they 1nade thcrn elvc agreeable by their skill in the tournament, and in ...inging ron1anccs, they softened the hearts and won the han<ls of all the hcirc:se~. Hence the Scottish nobility arc almo t all of Non nan cxt.raction ; anJ mo t of the great families in that kingdotn are to be traced to the union of a Celtic he ire with a Nor man knight. Robert de Brus, or Brui~, (in modern tinl ':; p lt • Bruce,) was one of the companion of the Conqueror; and haYing particularly di tinguisheu him ~elf in the baLtle of Ilastings, hi::; prowess was rewarded 'vith no fewer than ninety-four lordships, of which Skelton, in York hir ·, wa~ the principal. Robert, the son of the first Robert de Brus, married early, and had. a on, Adam, who continued tl1C line of De Bru"' of Skelton. But bec01nino- a widO\\·er whil• still . 0 a young man, to as~ uage hi."' grief, he paid a Yi ."' it to A.lcxan-der I., then ICing of Scot"', who was keeping his court at Stirling. There the beautifullwire s of the in1me1L.,e lorcbhip of AnnanJale, one of the most con~idcrable Jicfs held oC the crown, fell in lo\c with him; and in <.lu time he 1 •d her to the altar. A Scotti ~ h Lranch of the frunily of ])c Bnt, wns tlm ., founded under the Jc ignation of Lorc1 ., of Annandale. The fourth in ucce ·ion wa ~ ' l{obcrt the :IS" oblc," awl he rai 'eel the family to 1nuch greater con:cquence by a royaJ alliance, for he marrictl I:abc1, the . ccon<l <laughter of Prince David, Earl of Iluntingdon, grand on of l)avid I., sometimes called St. David. Robert, son of " Robert the Nob1e" and the ScottH1 ROGER LE BRABACO"N. 41 princes , wa IJorn at the Castle of Lochmaben, about the year 1224. The Skelton branch of the family still flourished, although it becan1e extinct in the next generation. At this time a lose inter ·our 'e wa"' k pt up between "H,obert the Noble" anJ hi ' Yorkshire cou ·in ; and he ent his heir to be educated in the south under their au ·pices. It i uppo e<l that the youth studied at Oxford; but thi doc"' not re. t on any certain authority. In 1245, his father died, and h succeeded to the lord ·hip of Annandal ~ . One would have expected that he would now have . etlled on hi , feudal principality, excrei ·ing the right.· of jitrcu et fossa, or "pit and gallow ... ," which he po. ;-; c~.:cd witltout any lin1it ov r hi"' va ~ als ; but by his Engl ish e(1ucation he l1ad Lerome quite an Engli:"'hman, ancl paying only v<·ry rare vi.'its i.o Annandale, he ·ought prefenneHt at the court of IIenry 1 I f. '\Vhn.t surpri ·e' us . ·till In ore is, that he took to U1C gown, not th swor<l ; an<l instead of' hei ng a gn·at warrior, I ike 1 lis ftH't'father ' and his descendants, his :Hnhition seems to l1a <' lw 'll to acquire the reputation of' a great ]a\VJC'l'. 'l'lH·rc ean ht• little doubt that he pradi:e<l a-; an advocate in 'V t•slminsl!'l' IIall frorn J z-1;) till 12i:IO. In the latlt·r y<·ur we <·<·r·tainly know that he took hi .~ Sf'at on the beneh as a pttiHne judgt', or ju:tieiar; anJ, fron1 th ' IH~e till 12();3, <'Xtant r<·<·ord~ pl'ovo that payrnen t: were ma(le f()r assi Z('S to be t ak<•Jl l)('f(H'<' It i 111 - that he acte<l with otiH·t' ju..;t i <·ian; ill t h · levying of' JitwsnnJ that he WC'I1L circ:uits as :-,c•nior judge or rts:-,izP. In tltt• 4Gth y<·ar of IJcnry III. hC' Jtatl a grant of' !J 0/. a y(·:u· salnn, which one woul<l lta ve su pposC'cl eou Jd not lt:t v<· b<'<' n a gr<•;t t objc ·t to the Lor<l of Annandale. In tlte lmr·ons' "nt'H, lw was alway. tnw Lo UJ(~ king; an<l aiiiJOtrglt he had no ln~te for the military art, he accompani •<l Jtis royal1Hastt•t· into tho 1* |
