such armorial device, excepting he either had right to carry it by inheritance, or that such right had been conferred upon him by some sovereign prince. To assume the crest or armorial bearings of another man was a high offence, and often mortally resented; and to adopt armorial bearings for yourself, was punished as a misdemeanour by a peculiar court, composed of men called Heralds, who gave their name to the science called Heraldry. As men disused the wearing of armour, the original purpose of heraldry fell into neglect; but still persons of ancient descent remained tenacious of the armorial distinctions of their ancestors; and as I told you before, they are now painted on carriages, or placed above the principal door of countryhouses, or frequently engraved on seals. But there is much less attention paid to heraldry now than there was formerly, although the College of Heralds still exists.

Now William, King of Scotland, having chosen for his armorial bearing a Red Lion, rampant (that is, standing on its hind legs, as if it were going to climb,) he acquired the name of William the Lion. And this Rampant Lion still constitutes the arms of Scotland, and the President of the Heralds' Court in that country, who is always a person of high rank, is called Lord Lion King-at-Arms. William, though a brave man, and though

he had a lion for his emblem, was unfortunate in war. In the year 1174, he was taken prisoner by the English at Alnwick, and conducted to the presence of Henry II. King of England, with his legs tied under his horse's belly, as if he had been a common malefactor or felon. Henry would not release his unfortunate captive until he had agreed to do homage to the King of England, not only for his English possessions, but also for Scotland, and all his other dominions. In 1189 Henry II. died, and was succeeded by his son Richard I., one of the most remarkable men in English history. He was so brave, that he was generally known by the name of Cœur de Lion, that is, the Lion-hearted; and he was as generous as he was brave. up to William all the Castles which he had been obliged to surrender, and also renounced the claim for homage which had been extorted from the Scottish king when a prisoner. William was very grateful for Richard's generosity; and when Richard set out with a large army to drive the Saracens out of Palestine, William not only gave him a large sum of money to help him to raise and equip his army, but likewise sent his brother, Da vid Earl of Huntingdon, with a considerable body of troops, to accompany Richard to the Holy Land. This prince fought with great bravery against the Infidels, and after many

He gave

romantic adventures, returned at ust in safety to his native country.-You will do well to remember this David, Earl of Huntingdon, as you will hear much of his posterity in the future history of Scotland.

III.-Alexander III-Battle of Largs.

Province, a district; office. Ne-go-ti-a'tion, treaty.

Rem'nant, remainder.

Fu'ri-ous, raging; mad.

Re-sign', to give up.

Vis'i-ble, apparent.

offence.

In-glo'ri-ous, void of hon-Weap'on, instrument of

our.

Con-clu'sion, the end. Trib'u-ta-ry, paying tribute; giving money in acknowledgment of subjection.

Prec'i-pice, a steep place.

Ret'i-nue, train of attend

ants.

Mel'an-cho-ly, gloomy;

habitually discontented. Sur-vive', to live after; to outlive.

In the days of Alexander III. Scotland was threatened with a great danger, from the invasion of the Danes and the Norwegians. These northern people were at this time wont to scour the seas with their vessels, and to make descents and conquests where it suited them to settle. England had been at one time conquered by them, and France had been compelled to yield up to them the fine provinces which, after their name, were called Normandy. The Scots, whose country was at once poor and mountainous, had hitherto held these rovers at defiance. But in the year 1263, Haco, King of Norway, at the

head of a powerful fleet and army, came to invade and conquer the kingdom of Scotland. Having arrived on the western coast, he made himself master of the islands of Bute and Arran, and then appeared with his great navy off the village of Largs, in Ayrshire. There the Scottish army, with their King Alexander at their head, defeated the Danes and Norwegians in a great battle; and it was with the utmost difficulty that Haco got the remnant of his scattered forces on board of such vessels as remained from a furious tempest, which had destroyed many of the ships during the battle. He retired to the Orkney Islands, and there died, full of shame and sorrow for the loss of his army, and the inglorious conclusion of his formidable invasion.

The consequence of this victory was, that the King of the Island of Man, who had been tributary to Haco, now submitted himself to the King of Scotland; and negotiations took place betwixt Alexander III. and Magnus, who had succeeded Haco in the throne of Norway, by which the latter resigned to the King of Scotland all right to the Islands on the western side of Scotland, called the Hebrides.

The traces of the battle of Largs, a victory of so much consequence to Scotland, are still to be found on the shores where the action was fought. There are visible great rocks

and heaps of stones, beneath which lie interred the remains of the slain. Human bones are found in great quantities, and also warlike weapons, particularly axes and swords, which, being made of brass, remain longer unconsumed than if they had been made of iron or steel like those now used.

The treaty of peace between Scotland and Norway was followed by a contract of marriage between Margaret the daughter of Alexander, and Eric, the son and heir of Magnus; and the young princess was accordingly embarked for Norway, with a great retinue.

The end of this reign was marked by a course of melancholy accidents, which, having nearly extinguished the Scottish royal family, tempted the English monarch again to set up his unjust pretensions to be sovereign of Scotland, and gave occasion to a series of wars, fiercer and more bloody than any which had ever before taken place betwixt the countries. The prince of Scotland died in the twentieth year of his age, and the death of his sister, the Queen of Norway, followed immediately after. Alexander himself did not long survive. As he was riding in the dusk of the evening, along the sea-coast of Fife, betwixt Burntisland and Kinghorn, he approached too near the brink of the precipice, and his horse starting or stumbling, he was thrown over the rock, and killed on the