any special surrender of privileges on the part of the nobles. His authority was native to him, and he held the kingdom on the same terms on which his nobles held their estates, as the lawful owner of the throne of his ancestors. Indeed, it is particularly worthy of notice, that when the author mentions the King of Scotland distinctly, and by name, it is in his character of an independent and hereditary sovereign, giving the lie to his own satire, if we are to understand that he elsewhere likened James II. to the Owl in borrowed feathers.
'Our soverane of Scotland,
Quhilk sall be lord and ledar—
Our braid Britaine all quhar,
As Sanct Margaretis air.'
If it be alleged that this description is introduced merely as a device to conceal his satire, and screen the author from consequences, it maybe replied, First, That in or about the year 1453, a friend of the House of Douglas, writing in the forest of Ternoway, at a time when general publication was out of the question, would probably have had little cause to dread the vengeance of his Sovereign. Secondly, That unless there be points of satirical resemblance which the lapse of ages may have obscured, it would never answer the purpose of a satirist to cover his
