REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1902 2i 



13. 



With springalds, stanes, and gads of aim, 



Aniang them fast he threw ; 

 Till mony of the Englishmen 



About the wall he slew. 



14. 

 Pall fifteen days that braid host lay, 



Sieging Auld Maitland keen ; 

 Syne they ha'e left him hail and feir 

 Within his strength of stane. 



Ballad Minstrelsy of Scotland. 



Blythe was also a possession of the Maitland family in the 

 13th century. The ancient Tower occupied what is now the 

 site of the present house. Part of its foundations were laid 

 bare some years ago, when additions were being made to 

 the present building. At that time a stone was discovered 

 which is still preserved in one of the walls of the Steading 

 with embossed j&gures on it — 1-02. Unfortunately one of the 

 figures has been broken off, leaving room for conjecture as 

 to the second figure. The workman who found the stone is 

 an intelligent man, and he declares that the missing figure 

 was 2, and that the date is 1202. The figures are large and 

 coarsely cut. Until recently a vaulted part of the old Tower 

 remained, and all round are the remains of a strong border 

 "Keep." . 



Sir Eichard Maitland, the blind poet, born in 1496, in one 

 of his poems plays frequently upon his "blithe" condition 

 and his "Blythe" possession. 



The present Thirlestane Castle. This was originally a Fort 

 said to be built by Edward I., of England. It was frequently 

 in the possession of the English, and on one occasion the Scots 

 were unable to dislodge them till they got the assistance of the 

 French. It did not come into the possession of the Maitland 

 family till the time of Sir John Maitland, 1537-1595. He was 

 the first Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, and he removed to Lauder 

 Fort and made it the family residence, with the name of 

 Thirlestane Castle. His grandson John, second Earl and only 

 Duke of Lauderdale, added to the original Fort the front part 

 and two wings, and otherwise improved the interior. Over 



