Minstrelsy of the Scottish border - National Library of Scotland

250 MINSTRELSY OF
was transferred from the ancient sorcerers to the objects
of popular resentment of every age ;
and the partizans
of the Baliols, the abettors of the English faction, and
the enemies of the protestant and of the presbyterian
reformation, have been indiscriminately stigmatized as
necromancers and warlocks. Thus, Lord Soulis, Archbi-
shop Sharp, Grierson of Lagg, and Graham of Claver-
house Viscount Dundee, receive from tradition the same
supernatural attributes. According to Dalrymple,* the
family of Soulis seem to have been powerful during the
contest between Bruce and Baliol ; for adhering to the
latter of whom they incurred forfeiture. Their power
extended over the South and West Marches ;
and near
DeadrigSjt in the parish of Eccles, in the East Marches,
their family-bearings still appear on an obelisk. Wil-
liam de Soulis, Justiciarius Laodonia, in 1281, subscri-
bed the famous obligation, by which the nobility of
Scotland bound themselves to acknowledge the sove-
reignty of the Maid of Norway, and her descendants.
Rhymer, Tom. II. pp. 266, 279 ; and, in 1291, Nicho-
las de Soulis appears as a competitor for the crown of
Scotland, which he claimed as the heir of Margery, a
bastard daughter of Alexander II., and wife of Allan
Durward, or Chuissier.
Annals, vol. I. p. 203.
—
Carte, p. 177. D.\LUYiViPLE's
* Dalrymple's Collection concerning the Scottisli History, p. 395.
-f-
Transactions of the Antiqitarian Society of Scotland, vol. I. p-