Evening star., 1923-05-24
By THE MARauIsE DE roNTENoY.

ia ihh MAN6tIoE DE FOSTENOt.
Lord Kintore has been SO much In
America and has so many friends in
the United States that King Georges
action in bestowing upon him the
cient Order of the Thistle. of which
there are but sixteen non-royal mem
bers. all of them peers of Scotland.
will create a certain degree of sympa-
thetic interest on this side of the
Atlantic. For it serves to recall the
fact that this now septuagenarian
highland chisftain, who is the tenth
earl of his line and hereditary knight
marshal of Scotland, holds the latter
office in recognition of the services
which his ancestor, Sir John Keith,
the first Earl of Kintore. rendered TO
the reigning family by preserving for
1t the crown and scepter of the king
dom of Scotland. Indeed, the motto
that figures on the coat of arms of
Lord Kintore. "Quae Amisea Saliva"
(What has been lost is Safe). Is in
tended to commemorate the fact that
King George and his predecessors on
the throne of Great Britain since the
debted to the Earls of Kintore for
the possession of the crown and
scepter, the sword of state. the orb
and the remainder of the ancient
regalia of Scotland.
The crown is the one with which
King Robert Bruce was first crowned
at Scone in 1908, and which thereafter
was used. together with the scepter.
the sword of state and the. orb at the
coronation of every Scottish sover-
To. v
of Great Britain, Charles |. Charles II
and their successors. When Crem-
well rose in arms against Charles !
and swept through the northern king
dom with his ironsides like scourge,
the crown. the sceptsr and the re-
mainder of the regalia were carried
off for safety to Dunnotar Castle,
built on a lonely rock euerhanging
the waves OF the North Sea- Crom-
we'll learned of this and caused the
castle to be closely besieged, know
tance which the Scots of high. and
low degree attached to this, ancient
regalia Of their kings. So close was
the Siege that surrender appeared
Inevitable.
Resolved at all costs to save the
regalia from falling into the. hands
of the enemy, Sir John and Lady
Keith devised the following scheme:
Sir John, at the imminent risk OF fall
ing into the hands of the enemy.
managed to escape from the castle
by sea in Small boat during a storm.
II was a sort of forlorn hope. with
90 chances in 100 that he would either
be taken prisoner or drowned. He
carried nothing with him and was
finally picked up by Dutch ship in
the offing, thus reaching Holland and
France, His escape was quickly
known and. OF course, Gen. Lambert,
who was in charge of the besieging
force, took II for granted that he had
carried the regaiia away with him
severity of the siege, since its prin-
cipal object had. as he believed,
disappeared.
Consequently. when Mrs. Granger,
the wife of the minister of the parish
church of Kinem. some six miles dis
tant, begged for permission to visit
Mrs. Ogilvie, wife of the-lieutenant gov
ernor of Dunnotar Castle, on some pre-
text or other, she was allowed 70 pass
through the lines. Gen. Lambert per-
haps Believing that she might per-
suade the. inmates of the useIessness
of holding out any longer. Mrs.
Granger, before leaving the castle on
her return home, managed to conceal
the crown, the scepter, the sword of
state and the orb about her person,
the sword and scepteF being sawn in
halves and swathed In Ent.
When Mrs. Granger emerged from
the castle. Gen. Lambert piled her
with questions. which she answered