APPENDIX.]

ORDER OF THE THISTLE.

xix

“ THE MANNER OF INVESTING JAMES EARL OF PERTH AND OTHER KNIGHTS OF THE MOST ANCIENTAND MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE THISTLE BY COMMISSION, IN ABSENCE OF THE SOVEREIGN,THE COMMISSION FOR THIS BEING TO WILLIAM DUKE OF HAMILTON.

“ The Treasurer Depute, Lord Lyon, in his Robes, Collar, and Baton, and Clerk of Council, wentup to the Castle to bring down the Sword of State in the Duke of Hamilton’s Coach, and the Heralds,Pursuivants, and Trumpets went up in Coaches in their Robes to the Castle Gate; and the Swordbeing carried by the Council Clerk out of the Castle to the foresaid Coach, the Heralds and Trumpetswent before on Foot, trumpets sounding; and when in the Parliament Close, the Lord Lyon marchedimmediately before the Sword, and the Treasurer Depute hard by the same: and when the same cameinto the Council Chamber, the Council Clerk laid down the Sword upon the Cushion, and then DukeHamilton delivered the Commission to the Council Clerk, who receiving the same upon the knee, didread the same, and then the Duke being seated in the Chair of State, and covered, the Lyon took upthe Sword, and on his knees drew the same, and delivered it to the Duke, who sitting in his ChairKnighted the Earl of Perth, kneeling, and thereafter delivered the Sword to the Lyon, who stillkneeling, put the same up in the sheath, and lays it down on the cushion, and then took up theRibband, and on his knees delivered the same to the Duke, who put the same about the Earl ofPerth’s neck, and then the Lyon delivered as aforesaid the Cross to the Duke, who delivered the sameto the said Earl, and the Lyon pinned on the same, immediately after which the Heralds, Pursuivants,and Trumpets being ordered by the Council Clerk, proclaimed the new Knights at the window towardsthe Parliament Close thrice, and thereafter the Sword was carried back to the Castle in the sameOrder; and the Castle when the Sword was carried out fired nine guns, and as many when the samewas carried back. The Sword was guarded up and down by a Squad of the Horse Guards.

“ The like form was observed at Investing of John Marquess of Athole; the Commission fromthe Sovereign being to James Earl of Perth, Lord High Chancellor of Scotland.”—Register, f. 25.

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT IN THE LONDON GAZETTE, 6tH JUNE 1687 .

“Windsor, 6th June 1687.—His Majesty having been graciously pleased, the 29th of May last,to sign a Patent, to be passed under the Great Seal of Scotland, for Reviving and Restoring the MostAncient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle to its full lustre, glory, and magnificence, Instituted(about the year of our Lord 809), by Achaius King of Scots, and never in desuetude before theRebellion that happened in the reign of His Majesty’s Royal great-grandmother, Queen Mary, ofever blessed and pious memory, as a lasting mark and testimony of His Royal favour towards Hissaid Kingdom, and in remembrance to all succeeding ages of their duty and affection shewn to HisMajesty, both before and since his accession to the Crown, was this day also pleased, in pursuanceof the said Patent, to nominate and appoint four Noblemen of the said Kingdom, now here, to beKnights Brethren of the said Most Noble Order of the Thistle, namely, the Earl of Moray, andthe Earl of Melfort, Principal Secretaries of State for that Kingdom; the Earl of Seaforth, andthe Earl of Dunbarton, who were received into the Order by His Majesty the Sovereign thereof, dis-pensing in the mean time with the Ceremonies and Solemnity of their Instalment, as well as that ofall the rest of the Knights Brethren, during His Majesty’s pleasure, or until there shall be a fitopportunity for their meeting Chapterly at His Majesty’s Royal Chapel in his Palace of HolyroodHouse, which is appointed to be the Chapel of that Order in time coming, in place of the GreatChurch of Saint Andrew’s, ruined in time of the said Rebellion, where formerly the Solemnities ofthat Order were performed, as being the place where the Relics of the Apostle Saint Andrew were