covering him to be a boy of excellent parts,
instructed him to read and to write; and perceiving the readiness with
which he acquired these arts, they sought also to initiate him into all the
learning of the age, and to bring him up for their order. To facilitate and
complete his instructions, they had him admitted amongst them, as a
_convert_ or lay-brother. But, though the talents of the shepherd boy
caused him to be regarded as a prodigy by all within the monastery, from
the Lord Abbot down to the kitchener and his assistants; yet, with Patrick,
as with many others even now, gifts were not graces. He had no desire to
wear the white cassock, narrow scapulary, and plain linen hood of the
Cistertian brethren; neither did he possess the devoutness necessary for
performing his devotions seven times a-day; and when the bell roused him at
two in the morning, to what was called the _nocturnal_ service, Patrick
arose reluctantly; for, though compelled to wedge himself into a narrow bed
at eight o'clock in the evening, it was his wont to lie awake, musing on
what he had read or learned, until past midnight; and, when the _nocturnal_
was over, he again retired to sleep, until he was aroused at six for
_matins_; but, after these came other devotions, called _tierce_, the
_sexte_, the _none_, _vespers_, and the _compline_, at nine in the morning,
at noon, at three in the afternoon, at six in the evening and before eight.
These services broke in on his favourite studies; and, possessing more
talent than devotion, while engaged in them he thought more of his studies
than of them. Patrick, therefore, refused to take the monastic vow. He

"had heard of war,
And longed to follow to the field some warlike lord."

He, however, was beloved by all; and when he left the monastery, the Abbot
and the brethren gave him their benediction, and bestowed gifts upon him.
He also carried with him letters from the Lord Abbot and Prior, to men who
were mighty in power at the court of King Philip of France.

From the testimonials which he brought with him, Patrick Douglas, the
Scottish orphan, speedily obtained favour in the eyes of King Philip and
his nobles, and became as distinguished on the field for his prowess and
the feats of his arms, as he had been in the Abbey of Melrose for his
attainments in learning. But a period of peace came; and he who was but a
few years before a shepherd boy by Tweedside, now bearing honours