Birds' -Nesting Season. 73 



exchanged his priory with Adam Bothwell, the first 

 Protestant Bishop of the See, for the bishopric or 

 temporalities of Orkney. 



The union of Robert Stuart's father and mother 

 the latter a young lady of high degree, who after- 

 wards married a Bruce had not been blessed by 

 clergy ; and, perhaps, on this account, the new bishop 

 seems to have considered himself absolved from any 

 oppressive obligations to the Church. He persuaded 

 the king to make the bishopric an earldom, and 

 at once set to work in his own fashion to increase 

 his estates in Orkney and Shetland. If Church 

 matters were managed now in Scotland as they 

 were then, Dr. Cameron might be pretty sure of a 

 majority when next he raises the question of Disestab- 

 lishment. 



Robert, the father, had chastised with whips. 

 Patrick, the son, was to chastise with scorpions. In 

 the Council Registers of the last few years of the 

 sixteenth, and first few years of the seventeenth 

 centuries are entered constant complaints from poor 

 Orkney men and Zetlanders of oppression, such as 

 had never before been "hard of in ony reformed 

 cuntrey subject to ane christiane prince." 



Earl Patrick steals Sir Andrew Balfour's sheep, 

 cows, butter, and seed corn, and " refts from him and 

 his puir tennentes, twenty-nine whales, which at grite 

 charges and expenses," they had driven on shore on 

 Sir Andrew's own land. He besieges and takes 

 away Sir Patrick Bellenden " (he being 72, in a wand 

 bed), and delivers his hous to Keipers, and all 

 because he would not despone his londs to him," 

 and so on until "no man of rent or purse might 

 enjoy his property without his speciale favour, and 

 that same dear bought, filchit and forgit faults being 



G 



