4

HISTORY OF THE

Piets, being attacked by Athelstan, King of the West Saxons, called to his aidAchaius, King of the Scots, who joined him with ten thousand of his subjects;that Hungus intended to attack Athelstan near Haddington, but that hisfollowers being intimidated by the number of their foes, he passed the night inprayer to God and Saint Andrew, when there appeared in the Heavens theCross on which that Saint had suffered Martyrdom; that this manifestationhaving re-assured the Scots, they contemplated certain success, and on thefollowing day completely routed Athelstan’s army ; that after this event Hungusproceeded to a Temple, then dedicated to Saint Regulus, but subsequently toSaint Andrew, which he amply endowed; and that to perpetuate the remem-brance of so great a victory, he afterwards bore in his Arms and Ensigns asimilar Cross to that of Saint Andrew . 1

Not satisfied with attributing the Foundation of the Order of the Thistle tothat circumstance, they 2 pretend that King Achaius also Instituted the Collarand present Motto; and they insist, that the Order being so much moreancient than the Garter, it is entitled to higher consideration . 3 The evidencein support of this theory is, however, so weak, that it is unnecessary to refuteit; and, leaving fable and conjecture for facts and realities, all that has beendiscovered on the subject, after a laborious inquiry, will be stated.

Though Saint Andrew the Apostle has, from a very early period, been theTutelar Saint of Scotland, and was contemplated with veneration 4 equal tothat shewn for Saint George in England, yet so far from the Thistle being,from the reign of Achaius, acknowledged for the Badge and Symbol of thatKingdom, “ in like manner as the Rose was of England, the Pomegranate ofSpain, &c .,” 5 it does not appear to have been adopted until the latter part of

1 “ De Origine, Moribus, et Rebus gestis Scotorum,” 4to. Ronige 1578. Lib. V. p. 168. The originalpassage will be found in the Appendix. It is a fitting illustration of this Legend, that Achaius died

upwards of a century before the reign of Athelstan. The story of the Apparition, though differentlytold, is also related by Buchanan. Vide the Appendix.

* “ Deliciae Equestrium sive Militarium Ordinum et eorum Origines, Statuta, Symbola, et Insignia

Iconibus additis genuinis. Francisci Mennenii Antverp. Studio et Industria.” Cologne, 1613, p. 145.

Favine, in the “Theatre of Honour,” written in 1619, and translated in 1623, repeats the statements ofBishop Lesley. Nisbet, in his “System of Heraldry,” voLII. pp. 104, 122, gives a History of theOrder, which being too long for a note, will be found in the Appendix. He has adopted the fabulousnarrative of Bishop Lesley, and supports the supposed antiquity of the Institution by various state-ments, some of which call for the observations that will be annexed to them, Miraeus, however, whowrote in 1638, assigns the Foundation of the Order, with greater probability, to King James the Fourth,about the year 1500. Vide the Appendix.