in Englond/ that haue thuse and thexcercyse of a knyght/ that is to wete/ that he knoweth his hors/ & his hors hym/ that is to saye/ he beyng eredy at a poynt to haue al thyng that longeth to a knight/ an hors that is accordyng and broken after his hand/ his armures and harnoys mete and syttyng/ & so forth/ et cetera/ I suppose and a due serche shold be made/ there shold he many founden that lacke/ the more pyte is/ I wold it pleasyd our souerayn Lord that twyes or threys in a year/ or at the least ones he wold do crye Justes of pees/ to thend that euery knyght shold haue hors and harneys/ and also the vse and craft of a knyght/ and also to tornoye one ageynst one/ or ij against ij/ And the best to haue a prys/ a dyamond or jewel/ suche as shold please the prynce/ This shold cause gentylmen to resorte to thauncyent customes of chyualry to grete fame and renōmee/ And also to be alwey redy to serue theyr prynce whan he shalle calle them/ or haue nede/ Thenne late euery man that is come of noble blood/ and entendeth to come to the noble ordre of chyualry/ read this lytyl book/ and doo therafter/ in kepyng the lore and commaundements therin comprysed/ And thenne I doubte not he shall atteyne to thordre of chyualry/ et cetera.

And thus this lytyl book I presente to my redoubted naturel and most dradde souerayne lord kyng Rychard kyng of Englond and of Fraunce/ to thend/ that he commaunde this book to be had and redde vnto other yong lordes knyghtes and gentylmen within this royame/ that the noble ordre of chyualry be herafter better vsed & honoured than hit hath ben in late dayes passed/ And herin he shalle do a noble & vertuous dede/ and I shalle pray almyȝty god for his long lyf & prosperous welfare/ & that he may haue vyctory of all his enemyes/ & after this short & transitory lyf to haue euerlastyng lyf in heuen/ where as is Joye and blysse/ world without ende/ Amen/

III. THE BUKE OF THE GOUERNANCE OF PRINCES.

This very popular work is a translation of the "Secretum Secretorum," falsely attributed to Aristotle. Its popularity was so great that not less than nine English translations and six French translations are known. It is probable that Sir Gilbert Hay made his version from one of the French translations current in the Fifteenth Century.

In now adverting to Sir Gilbert Hay, the Translator of the "Ordere of Knighthood," and of other Works, from the French, it is matter of regret that we possess no very certain information respecting him. Some of the uncertainty which prevails in regard to his lineage arises from the circumstance that the name of Gilbert, in the family of Errol, with whom we may presume he was nearly related, was of very common occurrence. The Hays of Errol, the chief of the name in Scotland, appear in the public Records as Hereditary Constables of Scotland before the end of the Twelfth Century. Without further entering upon their Genealogy, as exhibited in Douglas and Wood's Peerage of Scotland, vol. i. page 544, &c., and in similar works, it may briefly be noticed that, in the course of the Fifteenth Century—

I. Sir Thomas Hay of Errol, Constable of Scotland, died in the year 1406. He married in 1372, Elizabeth third daughter of King Robert II., by his first wife Elizabeth Mure; and had two sons, Sir William, who succeeded, and Gilbert Hay, who is designed of Dronlaw; also three daughters, the youngest of whom, Alicia, married Sir William Hay of Locharret.^[9]

II. Sir William Hay of Errol, who succeeded in 1406, died in 1436. By his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Patrick Gray of Broxmouth, he had two sons, Gilbert, and William Hay of Urry, in the county of Kincardine.

III. Gilbert Hay, eldest son of Sir William, was one of the hostages sent to England in 1412, and again in 1424, for the ransom of King James the First, who had been held in captivity for eighteen years. On the last occasion he is styled "Gilbertus Primogenitus et Hæres Willielmi Constabularii Scotiæ," his annual revenue being estimated equal to 800 marks; and at that time "Gilbert of the Haye, askyth conduct for 3 servants." (Rymer's Fœdera, vol. x. p. 327). In 1426 he had a safe conduct. He died in England soon after 1426, leaving, by his wife Alicia, daughter of Sir William Hay of Yester, two sons, William and Gilbert.

IV. Sir William Hay succeeded his grandfather in 1436, and was created Earl of Errol in the year 1452-3. He married Beatrix Douglas, daughter of James third Lord Dalkeith. His brother Gilbert, who succeeded his uncle William Hay of Urry, had a charter of the lands of Urry, in the county of Kincardine, 12th August 1467; and died before September 1487. The Earl of Errol, who died about 1460, was succeeded by his eldest son,

V. Nicholas, second Earl of Errol. He died without issue in 1470, and was succeeded by his brother,

VI. William, third Earl of Errol, who survived till 1506.

This brief view of the Hays of Errol, during the Fifteenth Century, may serve to guide our conjectures in regard to Sir Gilbert Hay. That he was born about the commencement of that century, we are warranted to assume. There is no evidence of any of the younger sons in the Errol family, at this period, having had the honour of Knighthood; and therefore it may be conjectured that he was the son of Sir William Hay of Locharret, one of whose daughters, Jane, was married to Sir Alexander Home of Dunglas, who accompanied the Scotish forces under the Earl of Douglas to France, and who lost his life with the Earl at the Battle of Verneuil, 17th August 1424. It is certain, at least, that Gilbert Hay received a liberal education, and he appears to have prosecuted his studies at the University of St Andrews, which was founded in the year 1411. This we ascertain from the "Acta Facult. Art. Univers. S. Andreæ," where the name "Gylbertus Hay," occurs among the Determinants, or Bachelors of Arts, in the year 1418. In the following year, "Gilbertus de Haya, Magister," is included in the higher degree among the Licentiates, or Masters of Arts. One of his fellow students was William Turnbull, who afterwards became successively Doctor of Laws, Archdean of St Andrews, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Bishop of Glasgow; and who, about three years before his death, so honourably distinguished himself by founding the College of Glasgow, in the year 1452-3.

After taking his Master's degree at St Andrews, Gilbert Hay proceeded to France, but whether it may have been to complete his education, or that he was sent on any special mission, must be left to conjecture.^[10] It might have been, that like so many of the younger sons in Scotish families of rank, at an early as well as in more recent times, he had gone abroad to push his fortunes; and thus, like Quentin Durward, when first addressing Louis XI., he might have said,—"I am ignorant whom I may have the honour to address, but I am indifferent who knows that I am a cadet of Scotland; and that I come to seek my fortune in France, or elsewhere, after the custom of my countrymen." It will be seen that he styles himself "Gilbert of the Haye, Knycht, Master in Arts, and Bachelor in Decreis,"—titles expressive of academical distinctions; and also "Chamberlain umquhile to the maist worthy King Charles of France." Dr Mackenzie, overlooking the obvious meaning of these words in the position of umquhile, instead of "late Chamberlain to the King," made him "Chamberlain to Charles VI., King of France." But that Monarch began his reign in 1380, and died in 1422, probably before Hay had set his foot in France. His son, Charles VII., ascended the