BARCLAY, DAVID [SSNE 1930]
- Surname
- BARCLAY
- First name
- DAVID
- Title/rank
- CAPTAIN BARCLAY OF URIE
- Nationality
- SCOT
- Region
- ABERDEENSHIRE
- Social status
- OFFICER
- Religion
- QUAKER
Text source
Biography:
David Barclay of Urie is listed in the DNB as the son of David Barclay, the laird of Mathers (1580–1660), and his wife Elizabeth Livingston. David's brother was Robert Barclay, rector of the Scots College in Paris. David is noted as a Scottish soldier and politician who served under Gustav II Adolf, who then returned to Britain and commanded a regiment of horse with Middleton before Inverness in 1646.However the Swedish military records appear to only show him in service in 1638 and 1639. When Barclay returned to Scotland he fought against Montrose, Huntly and others. He married Katherine Gordon (1620-1663), Sir Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun's daughter, on 26 January 1648. It was perhaps his wife's close connection to Charles I (she was 3rd cousin to him) that pushed him toward the Royalist side in the ongoing Scottish political turmoil. That same year, 1648, David bought the estate of Urie from William, 7th Earl Marischal, already in a ruinous state. David also supported the Engagers in vain. His ties to various Royalist families apparently led him to work with the English in order to safeguard his lands. He was a member of Scottish and Cromwellian parliaments 1654 and in 1656 as representative of Forfarshire and Kincardine. In 1665 he was arrested for having served as a trustee during Cromwellian times, and spent time incarcerated in Edinburgh castle but he was released in 1666. He became a Quaker for the last 20 years of his life. His son Robert Barclay, (Dec 1648- Oct 1690) became the governor of East Jersey during the 1680s.
"Barclay of Urie:"
John Greenleaf Whittier, an American and a Quaker, commemorated Barclay in the 19th Century in his poem "Barclay of Ury." The poem has several stanzas that cite Barclay's service abroad. Barclay, who was subject to verbal abuse and discrimination because he was a Quaker, is affronted in the poem by a riotous crowd that call him a "coward" and wish to "ride him down." He is defended by an old comrade who cries out to the mob:
"God save us,/Call ye coward him who stood/Ankle deep in Lützen's blood,/With the brave Gustavus?"
Barclay's comrade then, reminiscing about their previous service, declares:
"Speak the word, and, master mine,/As we charged on Tilly's line,/And his Walloon lancers/Smiting through their midst we'll teach/Civil look and decent speech/To these boyish prancers!"
Barclay, a pacifist now, declines fighting the mob, finding more comfort in the virtues of patience, forgiveness, and God's mercy. Whittier, as a footnote to the reference to Tilly that:
"The barbarities of Count de Tilly after the siege of Magdeburg made such an impression upon our forefathers that the phrase “like old Tilly” is still heard sometimes in New England of any piece of special ferocity," (see sources below).
Sources:
Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1638/3, 25-27; 1639/13-15. Barclay, (1915), pp.33-4; P. J. Pinckney, 'The Scottish representation in the Cromwellian parliament of 1656' in The Scottish Historical Review, vol. xlvi, 2, no.142, Oct 1967; ODNB; On the poem, see: https://www.bartleby.com/372/25.html and Barron, Rev. Douglas Gordon (ed.), The Court Book of the Barony of Urie in Kincardineshire, 1604-1747 (Edinburgh, 1892), sigs. xxviii-xxix.
This entry updated by Mr Jack Abernethy.
Service record
- SWEDEN,
- Arrived 1630-01-01
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- SWEDEN, ROBERT STUART
- Arrived 1638-01-01, as LIEUTENANT
- Departed 1638-12-31, as LIEUTENANT
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- Arrived 1639-01-01, as CAPTAIN
- Departed 1639-12-31, as CAPTAIN
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY
- STUART KINGDOMS, STUART ARMY IN SCOTLAND
- Arrived 1646-01-01, as COMMANDER
- Departed 1646-12-31, as LIEUTENANT
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY