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Maxwellkeugh and Springwood Park. By James Tait. 



There has lately been printed in two magnificent volumes 

 — " The Book of Carlaverock," one of the works compiled by 

 Mr. William Fraser, of the Register House, Edinburgh, and 

 intended only for private distribution. It contains a history 

 of the Maxwell family, whose first settlements in Scotland 

 were at Maxton and Maxwellheugh, both on the banks of the 

 Tweed. In conjunction with " The Maxwells of Pollock," 

 another work compiled by Mr. Fraser, and printed in 1863, 

 these volumes place within reach some interesting materials 

 regarding the early history of the district to the south of 

 Kelso. Instead of giving mere extracts, we prefer to give a 

 connected account, taken from the works in question, along 

 with what other information is needful to make a consec- 

 utive narrative. 



In the middle of the eleventh century, when William of 

 Normandy had conquered England, a Saxon chief named 

 Undwin, with his son Maccus, took refuge in Scotland. 

 Their names appear for the first time, in the reign of Alex- 

 ander I., which lasted from 1107 till 1124. Maccus was the 

 founder of the surname and family of Maxwell. Nothing 

 certain is known concerning the ancestors of Undwin. In 

 the history of England the name of Maccus, son of Anlaf, 

 King of Northumberland, occurs in the tenth century. On 

 the expulsion of King Anlaf, Eric, son of the Danish King 

 Harold, was placed on the throne of Northumberland, but 

 Eric, his son Henry, and his brother Regnald, were slain in 

 the wilds of Stanmore by the hands of Maccus, son of Anlaf. 

 Maccus of Man and the Hebrides was one of the eight sub- 

 kings who, in the year 973, attended Edgar, King of England, 

 on the Dee at Chester, when the king made his annual voy- 

 age along the coasts. Kenneth, King of Scotland, was 

 another of the sub-kings who attended Edgar on that occa- 

 sion. In the Chronicle of Melrose, mention is made of 

 Maccus, Plurimarum rex Insularum, as present with Ken- 

 neth, King of the Scots, and Malcolm, King of Cumbria. 

 Maccus is likewise called the " Prince of Pirates," a title of 

 which he seems to have been proud, as it is appended to his 

 name when signing as a witness a charter of Edgar, King of 

 England. The arch-pirate seems to have been a person of 



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