beath of De la Beaute. By George Muirhead. 107 



Upwards of three hundred years after the slaughter of the 

 unfortunate French nobleman, we find some traditions regarding 

 his death and burial still lingering in the neighbourhood. Writing 

 in 1834, the Rev. Alexander Cuthbertson, minister of the parish 

 of Edrom, says : — " The grave of Sir Anthony D'Arcy surnamed 

 Le Sieur de la Beaute, is in a field on the estate of Broomhouse, 

 in this parish, called De la Beaute's field. A cairn marks out the 

 grave of D'Arcy." * 



In the same year, the Rev. George Cunningham, in his report 

 upon the adjoining parish of Dunse, thus refers to the subject of 

 this paper : — " A deed of atrocity was perpetrated on Sir Anthony 

 D'Arcy, also denominated the Chevalier de la Beaute, at a morass 

 called from the name of the sufferer ' Battie's Bog,' on the line 

 which divides the parish of Dunse from that of Edrom on the 

 north-east. The Warden being worsted by the Homes, fled un- 

 attended towards Dunbar, pursued by the laird of Wedderburn. 

 His horse being swamped in the bog, he continued his flight on 

 foot, but was overtaken by his adversary, who cut off his head 

 and carried it fastened to his saddle girth by the hair, in triumph 

 to the Castle of Wedderburn. "f 



Two years later, Mr Carr, in his history of Coldingham Priory,]: 

 relates that "the spot where the unfortunate Warden, De la 

 Beaute was slain by Sir David Home, is on the farm of Swallow- 

 dean— a mile or two east from Dunse, and is still distinguished 

 by a moss-covered stone. It is called by the people in the 

 neighbourhood — ' Bawties grave.' His fate seems to have 

 excited very general sympathy among the common people, 

 and the tragic catastrophe is still narrated in their cottages, 

 dressed up, of course, with many wonderful embellishments. 

 The hoary peasant still tells to his grandchildren the tale 

 which he heard in his boyhood, that a supernatural being 

 appeared to the Chevalier, warning him as he valued his life, to 

 avoid crossing the Corney-ford — a passage across a small stream- 

 let that flows between Dunse and Lan^ton ; and his death is 

 usually ascribed to his having neglected this friendly advice of 

 the weird. The following effusion of the Border Muse, founded 

 on this superstition, has been communicated to me by a friend : — 



*New Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol. n. (Berwickshire), p. 260. 

 + New Statistical Account of Scotland, Vol. II. (Berwickshire), pp. 254, 

 255. 



X Carr, History of Coldingham Priory, 1835, pp. 199-202. 



