Strange Pages from Family Papers | Page 5

influence over the peasantry, under the
impression that he possessed some supernatural powers. This man, for
some offence, had been imprisoned by Sir John Arundell, and on his
release would constantly waylay the magistrate, always looking at him
with the same menacing eye, at the same time slowly muttering these
words:
"When upon the yellow sand,
Thou shalt die by human hand."
Notwithstanding Sir John Arundell's education and position, he was not
wholly free from the superstition of the period, and might have thought,
too, that this man intended to murder him. Hence he left his home at
Efford and retired to the wood-clad hills of Trevice, where he lived for
some years without the annoyance of meeting his old enemy. But in the
tenth year of Edward IV., Richard de Vere, Earl of Oxford, seized St.
Michael's Mount; on hearing of which news, Sir John Arundell, then
Sheriff of Cornwall--led an attack on St. Michael's Mount, in the course
of which he received his death wound in a skirmish on the sands near
Marazion. Although he had broken up his home at Efford "to

counteract the will of fate," the shepherd's prophecy was accomplished;
and tradition even says that, in his dying moments, his old enemy
appeared, singing in joyous tones:
"When upon the yellow sand,
Thou shalt die by human hand."
The misappropriation of property, in addition to causing many a family
complication, has occasionally been attended with a far more serious
result. There is a strange curse, for instance, in the family of Mar,
which can boast of great antiquity, there being, perhaps, no title in
Europe so ancient as that of the Earl of Mar. This curse has been
attributed by some to Thomas the Rhymer, by others to the Abbot of
Cambuskenneth, and by others to the Bard of the House at that epoch.
But, whoever its author, the curse was delivered prior to the elevation
of the Earl, in the year 1571, to be the Regent of Scotland, and runs
thus:
"Proud Chief of Mar, thou shalt be raised still higher, until thou sittest
in the place of the King. Thou shalt rule and destroy, and thy work shall
be after thy name, but thy work shall be the emblem of thy house, and
shall teach mankind that he who cruelly and haughtily raiseth himself
upon the ruins of the holy cannot prosper. Thy work shall be cursed,
and shall never be finished. But thou shalt have riches and greatness,
and shall be true to thy sovereign, and shalt raise his banner in the field
of blood. Then, when thou seemest to be highest, when thy power is
mightiest, then shall come thy fall; low shall be thy head amongst the
nobles of the people. Deep shall be thy moan among the children of
dool (sorrow). Thy lands shall be given to the stranger, and thy titles
shall lie among the dead. The branch that springs from thee shall see
his dwelling burnt, in which a King is nursed--his wife a sacrifice in
that same flame; his children numerous, but of little honour; and three
born and grown who shall never see the light. Yet shall thine ancient
tower stand; for the brave and the true cannot be wholly forsaken. Thou,
proud head and daggered hand, must dree thy weird, until horses shall
be stabled in thy hall, and a weaver shall throw his shuttle in thy
chamber of state. Thine ancient tower--a woman's dower--shall be a
ruin and a beacon, until an ash sapling shall spring from its topmost

stone. Then shall thy sorrows be ended, and the sunshine of royalty
shall beam on thee once more. Thine honours shall be restored; the kiss
of peace shall be given to thy Countess, though she seek it not, and the
days of peace shall return to thee and thine. The line of Mar shall be
broken; but not until its honours are doubled, and its doom is ended."
In support of this strange curse, it may be noted that the Earl of 1571
was raised to be Regent of Scotland, and guardian of James VI. As
Regent, he commanded the destruction of Cambuskenneth Abbey, and
took its stones to build himself a palace at Stirling, which never
advanced farther than the façade, which has been popularly designated
"Marr's Work."
In the year 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the banner of his Sovereign, the
Chevalier James Stuart, son of James the Second, or Seventh. He was
defeated at the battle of Sheriff-Muir, his title being forfeited, and his
lands of Mar confiscated and sold by the Government to the Earl of
Fife. His grandson and representative, John Francis, lived at Alloa
Tower (which had been for some time the abode of James VI. as an
infant) where, a