Introduction
The Scottish surname Nasmyth or Naesmyth is said by scholars to derive, in all probability, from nail-smith. But Scottish engineer James Nasmyth, who appropriately enough in 1839 invented a steam hammer for making enormous iron bars, had heard a different tale, which he set down in his Autobiography.
IN the troublous times which prevailed in Scotland before the union of the Crowns,* the feuds between the King and the Barons were almost constant. In the reign of James III the House of Douglas was the most prominent and ambitious.* The Earl not only resisted his liege lord, but entered into a combination with the King of England, from whom he received a pension. He was declared a rebel, and his estates were confiscated.
He determined to resist the royal power, and crossed the Border with his followers. He was met by the Earl of Angus, the Maxwells, the Johnstons, and the Scotts. In one of the engagements which ensued the Douglases appeared to have gained the day, when an ancestor of the Naesmyths, who fought under the royal standard, took refuge in the smithy of a neighbouring village. The smith offered him protection, disguised him as a hammerman, with a leather apron in front, and asked him to lend a hand at his work.
* James VI of Scotland became James I of England in 1603. His heirs held the two crowns (and were advised by the two Parliaments) separately until 1707, when the crowns were merged into the crown of Great Britain under Queen Anne (r. 1702-1714) and Scottish MPs joined English MPs in a single Parliament at Westminster. See also John Buchan on A Parliament for Scotland.
* James III, King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. It was his father James II who ignited the feud with the murder of William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, at Stirling Castle on February 22nd, 1452. In May 1455, the Douglases were defeated at the Battle of Arkinholm. The ninth earl, William’s brother James (1426–1491), fled to England, and his lands were seized for the Crown by the Scottish Parliament. However, in 1462 John MacDonald, Lord of the Isles and Earl of Ross, signed the Treaty of Westminster with Edward IV of England, agreeing that if Edward conquered Scotland, MacDonald and Douglas would share all lands north of the Firth of Forth as a fief of the English crown. James III took firm action, stripping MacDonald of most of his lands, but in 1480 Edward IV began a campaign of conquest. King James was briefly imprisoned in Edinburgh by a puppet government under his brother Alexander, but by astute diplomacy won back the support of powerful Scottish earls, and on July 22nd, 1484, the English (now under Richard III) were driven out in the Battle of Lochmaben Fair. James Douglas was arrested as a traitor and remanded to Lindores Abbey, where he died in 1491.
Précis
In his autobiography, Victorian engineer James Nasmyth recalled a story about the origin of the surname Nasmyth. It all began in the time of James III of Scotland and his bitter feud with the Douglas family, when one of the king’s soldiers was forced to hide in a forge, disguised as the smith’s assistant. (54 / 60 words)
In his autobiography, Victorian engineer James Nasmyth recalled a story about the origin of the surname Nasmyth. It all began in the time of James III of Scotland and his bitter feud with the Douglas family, when one of the king’s soldiers was forced to hide in a forge, disguised as the smith’s assistant.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, despite, may, not, or, unless, until, whereas.
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