RENT PAID WITH WATER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20958, 22 August 1931, Page 2 (Supplement)

RENT PAID WITH WATER.

RIGHT OF BRITISH KINGS. ORDER BY JAMES THE FIFTH. SURVIVAL OF OLD CUSTOM. When the King went to Edinburgh last month to stay at Holyrood for the first time for four years, he was given u basin of water, in which to wash his hands, the keys of tho City of Edinburgh, and the " reddendo " of the Royal Archers. The basin was presented to the King by Brig. General J. A. Houison-Craufurd, the Laird of Craufurdland, as rent for the lands granted to his ancestor by King James V., of Scotland. The King made the grant as reward for defending his life when he was attacked by five men at tho Brig of Cramond. Jock Houison rescued the victim of the assault without knowing who he was, and was told to call at Holyrood the next day and ask for the Gudeman of Ballengeich—James V., who bestowed on him tho Farm of Braehead with tho condition that whenever he or his descendants were in Edinburgh, a basin of fair water should be given as rent. The King and Queen went by special train, and the King's first official act on setting foot on Scottish soil at Princes Street Station, was to receive the keys of tho city from the Lord Provost of

Edinburgh, to denote that he is the supreme chief of the capital, while he is within its boundaries. In accordance with custom, the King handed the keys back to the Lord Provost immediately While the King is north of the Tweed he is protected by a special bodyguard of Scottish gentlemen, known as the Royal Company of Archers, who are always on duty on ceremonial occasions at Holyrood, in their dark green uniforms with feathered bonnets and ornamental bows and arrows. From their captain-general, the Duke of Montrose, who is Gold Stick-in-Wait-ing for Scotland, the King received the " reddendo " of the company —the old Scottish term for the charter defining a vassal's duty to his feudal lord. The King and Queen held an afternoon drawing room at Holyrood on July 8, when Scottish ladies were presented in the same way as at a Buckingham Palace

Court. The ccromony took place in the iinoiont Throne .Room of the Palace. Whenever the King is in Scotland he wears the kilt as often as possible, and on full dress occasions ho usually wears the magnificent uniform of Colonel-in Chief of* the Black Watch, the premier Highland regiment. To Scottish people the King is known by tho title of " Ard-Righ," or High King of the Highland Clans, which he holds in virtue of his. descent from Robert Bi uco, King of Scots. Holyrood has more romantic and historic associations than any other royal palace. There 'is still extant a dark stain at. the foot of a little staircase leading to the bedroom of Mary Queen of Scots, which is said to have been made by the blood of Rizzio, her murdered secretary. In another carefully-guarded locked chamber rests a Crown the King can never wear—the pearl and gold Crown of Scotland, which, by a special clause in the Act of Union, must always stay at Holyrood with the other Regalia of Scotland, the Sword and the Sceptre. They must never be worn by the King of the two countries.