Cruel imprisonment of the countess of Buchan

Bruce's queen, and his daughter Marjory, thinking themselves insecure in the castle of Kildrummie, which was threatened by the English army, had taken refuge in the sanctuary of St Duthac, at Tain, in Ross-shire, and were treacherously given up to the English by the Earl of Ross, who violated the sanctuary, and made them, and the knights who escorted them, prisoners. These brave men were immediately put to death, and the queen, with her daughter, committed to close confinement in England; where, in different prisons and castles, they endured an eight-years' captivity.

A more severe fate awaited the Countess of Buchan, who had dared to place the king upon the throne, and who was soon after taken. In one of the outer turrets of the castle of Berwick, was constructed a cage, latticed and cross-barred with wood, and secured with iron, in which this unfortunate lady was immured. No person was permitted to speak with her except the women who brought her food, and it was carefully stipulated that these should be of English extraction. Confined in this rigorous manner, and yet subjected to the gaze of every passer by, she remained for four years shut up, till she was released from her misery, and subjected to a milder imprisonment in the monastery of Mount Carmel, in Berwick. Mary and Christina, both sisters to the Scottish king, were soon after made prisoners. Mary was confined in a cage similar to that of the Countess of Buchan, built for her in one of the turrets of Roxburgh castle; and Christina was delivered to Henry Percy, who shut her up in a convent.