more splendid than was usual in Scottish castles.  The castle belonged originally to the Chancellor, Sir William Crichton, and probably owed to him its first enlargement, as well as its being taken by the Earl of Douglas, who imputed to Crichton’s counsels the death of his predecessor, Earl William, beheaded in Edinburgh Castle, with his brother, in 1440.  It is said to have been totally demolished on that occasion; but the present state of the ruin shows the contrary.  In 1483 it was garrisoned by Lord Crichton, then its proprietor, against King James iii, whose displeasure he had incurred by seducing his sister Margaret, in revenge, it is said, for the Monarch having dishonoured his bed.  From the Crichton family the castle passed to that of the Hepburns, Earls Bothwell; and when the forfeitures of Stewart, the last Earl Bothwell, were divided, the barony and cattle of Crichton fell to the share of the Earl of Buccleuch.  They were afterwards the property of the Pringles of Clifton, and are now that of Sir John Callander, Baronet.  It were to be wished the proprietor would take a little pains to preserve those splendid remains of antiquity, which are at present used as a fold for sheep, and wintering cattle; although, perhaps, there are very few ruins in Scotland which display so well the style and beauty of castle-architecture.’—­Scott.

The ruin is now carefully protected, visitors being admitted on application at Crichtoun Manse adjoining.

Stanza xi. line 232.  ’The castle of Crichton has a dungeon vault, called the Massy More.  The epithet, which is not uncommonly applied to the prisons of other old castles in Scotland, is of Saracenic origin.  It occurs twice in the “Epistolae Itineriae” of Tollius.  “Carcer subterraneus, sive, ut Mauri appellant, MAZMORRA,” p. 147; and again, “Coguntur omnes Captivi sub noctem in ergastula subterranea, quae Turcae Algezerani vocant MAZMORRAS,” p. 243.  The same word applies to the dungeons of the ancient Moorish castles in Spain, and serves to show from what nation the Gothic style of castle building was originally derived.’—­Scott.

See further, Sir W. Scott’s ‘Provincial Antiquities,’ vol. i.

Stanza xii. line 249.  ’He was the second Earl of Bothwell, and fell in the field of Flodden, where, according to an ancient English poet, he distinguished himself by a furious attempt to retrieve the day:—­

“Then on the Scottish part, right proud,
The Earl of Bothwell then out brast,
And stepping forth, with stomach good,
Into the enemies’ throng he thrast;
And Bothwell!  Bothwell! cried bold,
To cause his souldiers to ensue,
But there he caught a wellcome cold,
The Englishmen straight down him threw. 
Thus Haburn through his hardy heart
His fatal fine in conflict found,"&c. 
Flodden field, a Poem; edited by H. Weber.  Edin.
1808.’—­Scott.