My Bloody Clan History ...

Before William Maclellan won the Barony of Kirkcudbright by killing the Irish robber Black Morrow, his father Sir Patrick Gray, in his day the Maclellan, known as Patrick Maclellan of Bombie, was a legend of Galloway Scotland.  Sir Patrick was loyal to King James and refused to join an alliance to depose the King led by the 'Black Douglas', William Douglas, Earl of Douglas.

Douglas kidnapped Sir Patrick's nephew and held him hostage, and King James sent Sir Patrick to Thrieve Castle with a letter ordering Douglas to set the boy free.  Sir Patrick arrived and presented the letter, which Douglas refused to read until after he dined.  Douglas sent an order in secret to have the boy beheaded while they ate, and after he read the King's letter offered Sir Patrick the boy's body but would keep his head.  Sir Patrick barely escaped with his life and vowed revenge as told in this poem of the day.

The Murder of Maclellan

Now news has gone to good King James,

In En-brugh where he lay,

That Bombie's tutor pris;ner was

By Douglas ta'en away!

For brave Maclellan's loyal soul

Refused the Earl to serve,

And from his lawful king he swore

His path should never swerve.

With anger glowed King James's brow –

"Is't thus I am defied?

Is Scotland's crown a woman's courche?

"I'll curb the Douglas' pride."

Then straight a letter he has penned,

And sealed it with his seal;

"The Douglas shall release my friend,

Or else my wrath he'll feel.

Sir Patrick Gray, mount, speed away!

Maclellan's kin to thee;

Be thine the task to seek the Earl,

And set Maclellan Free."

Now to the wilds of Galloway

Sir Patrick spurs amain:

He knew the Douglas, and he fears

His Kinsmen may be slain.

No time he lost, for kindred ties

Bound Bombie to him near,

And soon he sees the Dee's fair stream,

Thrieve's towers ere long appear.

"Lord Douglas!" cried Sir Patrick Gray,

"A message from the King,

Penned by his hand, sealed with his seal,

To thee this day I bring."

The crafty Earl the missive took,

Its purport crossed his mind:

"Sir Knight," he cried, "by fair Saint Bride!

I'll not read until we've dined."

Then secretly he gave command

To slay the pris'ner brave;

And whilst they sat, the headsman grim

Maclellan's death-stroke gave.

Short time for shrift the victim had,

Scarce time to breathe a prayer;

But conscious worth possessed his breast –

For death he had no care.

The feast was o'er, and noble Gray

With eagerness exclaimed –

"Oh read, I pray, the King's despatch!

Delay is to be blamed."

With seeming awe and feigned respect

The Earl broke up the seal:

He read, and o'er his face the Knight

Saw scornful triumph steal.

"The King demands that I should set

Maclellan's person free;

For honour of this royal note,

I thank the King and thee.

Now come, the King's royal words I kiss,

Maclellan's body's thine;

But ah, Sir Knight, too late thou'rt here –

Maclellan's head is mine!"

Then to a dark courtyard they pass,

Where sunbeams never play;

There, near a bloody block outstretched,

The headless body lay.

Deep grief Sir Patrick felt, and rage;

Dissembling them, he said –

"Alas! my lord, keep you his corpse,

Since thus full low 'tis laid."

Then calling for his horse, he went

Down to the river-side,

And when without the castle walls,

His angry soul untied.

"False Earl," he cried, "thou'lt rue the hour

That wrought'st this cursed crime,

For if I live, by heaven I swear

I'll speed the avenging time!"

"To horse, and seize him!" was the cry –

It sounded not in vain;

Right soon from out the Earl's stronghold

Rushed forth a mounted train.

But good Sir Patrick has the start,

And matchless was his steed:

There's not a horse in Galloway

Can match his own in speed.

Thrice turns he back, and thrice he cries

With voice full loud and high –

"Revenge! false Earl, thou knighthood's shame

Revenge, revenge is nigh!"

Still on he hies, his foes press hard,

Till near Dunedin's tower;

Now once beneath its shade, no more

He heeds their hostile power.

Well thus it was, for had he not

Possessed a steed so rare,

The Earl had brought him back full soon,

His kinsman's fate to share.

Within a year from that dark day

The Earl himself lay low;

Maclellan's ghost it hovered near,

And nerved the Kingly blow.

To expand on the last stanza; Sir Patrick and the Maclellan clan made war on the Douglas's for a full year, slaying them almost to a man.  The Earl appealed to King James to make the Maclellans end their war during a feast known afterward as The Black Dinner.  The King asked Douglas to swear allegiance to him, and when Douglas refused, the King stabbed him in the throat.  Sir Patrick finished the job and threw his body from the Rose Window of Edinburgh Castle and buried it where it fell.

Aaron D McClelland

Penticton, BC

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