Wedderburn book; a history of the Wedderburns in ... - waughfamily.ca

THE WEDDEllBURN BOOK.
Introd. published, in 1542-4G, after which lie was again pursued by Cardinal
Beaton, and fled in 1546 to England, where he lived in exile until his
death in 1556. It is to be regretted that we know nothing of his life
there. It is possible that he pursued some business, in order to support
himself, and although once a priest he may, as protestant, have seen tit to
many and have left issue. There are references to a John Wedderburn
a merchant to foreign parts, in a chancery proceeding of 1547 (S.P. 7), who
may be he, although there is no proof of the identity. If he had issue it
^
is possible that among his descendants are a John Wedderburn resident in
S. Olave's, South wark, in 1G21, who is named in a law suit in 1622
{ib. 12, 13), and an Alexander Wedderburn, vicar of Sandrido-e, co. Herts
from 1G30-43, who married in I6."]l Esther, daughter of Jacob de Prez of
Southwark (post, p. 83).^ All this is, however, quite speculative.
Robert Wedderburn, the youngest of the three brothers, and like them
educated at S. Andrew's, also entered the priesthood, and in
E^bert.^Vicar May, 152S, was instituted to the chaplainry of S. Katharine
died 1553. ' in Dundee, an office which he retained until he succeeded his
mother's brother, Mr. John Barrie,'- as vicar of the bur^h. I
am not clear as to the date of his succession.* Calderwood says that he was
long in Paris and only returned to Scotland after the death of Cardinal
Beaton which took place in 1546, and later, that his uncle, the Vicar of Dundee,
" being departed, he gott possession of the vicarage but remained for the most
part with the Laird of Calder," Sir James Sandilands, the friend of John
Knox. More interesting, however, is his claim to be accounted author of the
Complai/nt of Scotland, which is believed to have been tirst
^he printed at S. Andrew's in 15-4S-49. The authorship of this
of Scotland." remarkable work, in which Scotland calls on her sons to
unite in love and duty to her, has often been the subject of
discussion. Dr. George Mackenzie rashly claimed the honour for Sir James
Inglis, who died before it was written ;
Dr. Leyden sought to advance the
claims of Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, but admits that he does not
hope to produce conviction ; while Mr. Laing, Mr. Maxwell, and Mr. Bayne
(to whose works I have referred in the body of this volume) have little
doubt that the book should be attributed to Robert AVedderburn. There
can be little question that it was written by a Dundee pen, and by a churchman,
familiar with popular songs, and it is as " Veddcrburn's Complu'/nt of Scotland
that it is twice described in the Harleian MS. As against this it is
suggested that the description of the book as Vedderburn's may be due to
the name having been written by some owner on the title page of the
copies described in the Harleian catalogue, the matter being left questionable
owing to all the few known copies of the first edition having lost their
1 There are also among the English State Papers (Colonial series, Eiist Indies) three references,
1625-V!7, to a commission in 1625 authorizing John Wedderborne or Wedderburne to receive
12d. in the £\ out of tlie estates of all Scotchmen deceased in the East Indies (S P. 14-16).
* Calderwood gives bis name as Robert Barrie.
* At p. 17 of this volume I have put it as 1551, on the ground that John Barrie was certainly vicar
in Nov. 1550, and also because the earliest date at which I find Wedderburn named as vic;ir
in the Dundee records is 5 Nov. 1551. Professor Mitchell, however, in his edition of the Oude
and Ondlie Butlatit quotes a passage from a I>undee Protucol Book, vol. 235, dated 7 Dec.
1532, which seeius to have escaped the notice of my searcher of tixe volume. This entry is as
follows: " Personalitcr constitutus Magister Ilobertus U'edderburii vicarius de Dunde fatetur se
plane nullum jus nee clameum habere ad CMpellauiam Ste Katrine Virginia sitnatam infra
ecclesiam i>arocliialem de Dundd nee ad aliciuam presentationem ejusdem et, si quam habuit
Beu habet, ibidem eimpliciter in favorem dumini Thome Bell demisit." Professor Mitchell
admits that this conllicts with the fact that a John Barrie is named as vicar at a later ilate,
while Wc