PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICKL SEMINARY 
 
 BY 
 
 JVEfs. Alexander Ppoudfit. 
 
 Sec 
 
 3^75 
 
 v.Z 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 SCOTLAND, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 EARLIEST ACCOUNTS OF THAT NATION, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 REIGN OF KING JAMES VI. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN OF 
 
 GEORGE "BUCHANAN. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 TO. WHICH IS ANNEXED, 
 
 A Genealogy of all the Kings from Fergus I. to James VI. 
 
 SEVENTH EDITION. 
 
 REVISED AND CORRECTED FROM THE ORIGINAL, 
 
 BY MR. BOND. 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH AN ELEGANT HEAD OF THE AUTHOR, 
 From an Original Painting in Anderfon's Institution in this City. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 GLASGOW, 
 
 jptintetJ fig Cfjaptan anu JUtt£. 
 
 1799. 
 
(A. C. 1437J 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 SCOTLAND, 
 
 BOOK XI. 
 
 James II. the hundred and third king, 
 
 xVfter the punishment of the parricides, James the only son of 
 the deceased king, as yet scarce entered into the seventh year of 
 his age, began his reign on the 27th day of March, in the abbey 
 of Holyrood-house at Edinburgh. The king being as yet not fit 
 for government, there was a great dispute among the nobles, who 
 should be elected viceroy or regent. Archibald, earl of Douglas, 
 exceeded all the Scots at that time in wealth and power; but A- 
 lexander Livingston, and William Crichton, both of them of 
 knightly families, bore the best character in point of authority, and 
 in the fame which they got for their prudence in the administra- 
 tion of affairs in the then late reign. The nobility were unani^ 
 mously inclined to give these two their votes, because they were 
 jealous of Douglas his power, which was great enough to make 
 even monarchs themselves uneasy at it. " Accordingly Alexander 
 Livingston was made regent, and William Crichton chancellor, 
 which office he had borne under the former king. The nobility 
 was scarce gone from the assembly, but presently factions arose : 
 For while the chancellor kept close with the king in the castle of 
 Edinburgh; and the regent with the queen, at Stirling; Douglas, 
 fretting that he was put by in the last assembly, not knowing which 
 faction he hated most, was well pleased to see all things in disor- 
 der; so that rather by his connivance, than consent, the men of 
 Annandale, who were always accustomed to thieving and rapine 
 infested all the neighbouring parts, ransacked them, and car- 
 ried off plunder, as if they had been in an enemy's country. 
 When complaint was made of it to the governors, they sent let- 
 ters to Douglas to suppress them (knowing that the Annandali- 
 
 A Z 
 
4 history or Scotland. Book XL 
 
 ans were under his regulation and power) but these not prevail- 
 ing, they wrote others in a sharper style, to put him in mind 
 of his duty, but he was so far from punishing past offences, that 
 he rather emboldened the offenders, by screening them from pu- 
 nishment; for he gave forth a command, that none of them 
 should obey the king's officers if they summoned them into courts 
 of justice, or performed any other act of magistracy; in regard, 
 as he alleged, that this exemption was a privilege granted to him 
 (they commonly call it Regale, or Royalty) by former kings; and 
 that if any one should go a,bout to infringe it, it should cost him 
 his life. 
 
 The regent and the chancellor did bewail the state of things, 
 but they could not rectify it; so that the gangrene spread farther 
 and farther, and soon infected all those parts of Scotland which 
 lay within the Forth. And they themselves also disagreed, inso- 
 much that proclamations were publicly made in market towns 
 and villages, by Alexander, that no man should pay obedience to 
 the chancellor; and by the chancellor, that none should obey A- 
 lexander. And if a man addressed himself to either of them, to 
 complain of any wrongs, he was sure, at his return, to meet with 
 severe treatment from the men of the contrary faction; and mat- 
 ters were now and then carried with so high a hand, that the 
 complainant had his house fired about his ears, and was ruined to 
 all intents and purposes; so that both parties went beyond the 
 length of hostile fury, in their mutual butcheries of one another. 
 But the good men, who had joined neither faction, not knowing 
 well what to do, kept close at home, privately bewailing the de- 
 plorable state of their country. Thus, whilst every party sought 
 to strengthen itself, the public was neglected, and stood as it were 
 in the midst, forsaken and abandoned by every body. 
 
 T.he queen who was with the regent at Stirling, in order consi- 
 derably to strengthen her party, performed an attempt both bold 
 and manly. For she undertook a journey to Edinburgh, under 
 pretence of visiting her son, and so was admitted into the castle by 
 the chancellor. There she was courteously entertained, and, af- 
 ter some compliments had passed, her discourse turned upon a la- 
 mentation of the present state of the kingdom. She made a long 
 ©ration about the many and great mischiefs that flowed from this 
 public discord, as from a fountain of iils; and signified, That, for 
 her part, she had alwas endeavoured to compose all differences so, 
 as if they could not attain to a perfect tranquillity, they might, 
 however, have some face of a civil government. But, seeing she 
 could not prevail, cither by her authority or counsel, to do any 
 good abroad, and in a public manner, she was now come to try 
 what she could do privately; for she was resolved to try her ut- 
 most, that her son, who was the hopes of the kingdom, should 
 have a pic us and a liberal education; that S0j in time, he might he 
 
Book XI. HISTORY Ot? SCOTLAND. 5 
 
 able to apply some remedy to these spreading evils. And, seeing 
 this was a motherly care implanted in her by nature, she hoped it 
 would procure to her the envy of nobody: That, as for other parts 
 of the government, she desired they might take it, who thought 
 they were fit to manage and undergo so great a burden; but yet, 
 that they would manage it so, as to remember^ that they were to 
 give an account to the king, when he came of age. 
 
 This harangue slie made with a countenance so composed, that 
 the chancellor was fully convinced of her sincerity ; neither did he 
 discover any thing in her train of followers, which gave him the 
 least hint to suspect either fraud or force; so that hereupon he 
 gave her free admission to her son when she pleased ; and they 
 were often alone together, and sometimes she staid with him all 
 night in the castle. In the mean time, the artful woman fre- 
 quently discoursed the governor about making up of matters be- 
 tween the parties; and she called also some of the contrary faction 
 to the conferences; and thus she insinuated herself so far into the 
 man, that he communicated freely with her touching almost all 
 his affairs. 
 
 Having thus gained the chancellor, she easily persuades the 
 young king to follow her, as the author of his liberty, out of this 
 prison, and so to deliver himself out of the hands of a person who 
 used the royal name for a cloke to his wickedness; who had mo- 
 nopolized all public offices to himself; and neglecting the good of 
 the public, had highly advanced his own particular fortune. To 
 bring this happily to pass, she told him there wanted only a will 
 in him to hearken to the good counsel of his friends; and as for 
 other matters, he might leave them to her care and management. 
 By such kind of speeches, she, being his mother, and a sharp wo- 
 man, easily persuaded him, who was her sorr, and but a youth, to 
 put his whole trust and confidence in her; especially, seeing a 
 freer condition of life was proposed to him. 
 
 Accordingly she, having prepared all things for their flight, 
 went to the chancellor, and told him, that she would stay that 
 night in the castle, but early in the morning she was to go to * 
 White-kirk (that was the name of the place) to perform a vow 
 which she had made for tire safety of her son, and in the mean 
 time, commended him to his care, till she returned. He sus- 
 pecting no deceit in her words, wished her a good journey and a 
 safe return, and so parted from her. 
 
 Hereupon (as was agreed before) the king was put into a chest, 
 wherein she was wont to put her woman's furniture, and, the day 
 after, carried by faithful servants out of the castle to the sea-side 
 at Leith. The queen followed after with a few attendants, to 
 prevent all suspicion: There, a ship lying ready to receive them, 
 
 * Situate below Linton-bridge, on the Tyne, in East Lothian. 
 
6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XT. 
 
 they went aboard, and, with a fair gale, made for Stirling. The 
 king's servants waited late in the morning, expecting still when lie 
 would awake, and arise out 'of bed; so that, before the fraud was 
 detected, the ship was quite out of danger, and the wind was so 
 favourable, that beforethe evening, they landed at Stirling. There 
 the king and queen were received with great joy and mighty ac- 
 clamations of the regent, and of all the promiscuous multitude. 
 The craft of the queen was commended by all, and the great 
 fame for wisdom which the chancellor had obtained, became now 
 to be a ridicule, even to the vulgar. This rejoicing and thanks- 
 giving of the populace lasted (as is usual) two days, and was cele- 
 brated with general shouts and acclamations of joy. 
 
 The third day, those of Alexander's faction came in, some out 
 of new hopes, others invited by authority of the king's name; to 
 whom, when the series of the project was declared in order; the 
 courage of the queen, in undertaking the matter ; her wisdom in 
 carrying it on; and her happiness in effecting it, were extolled to 
 the skies. The avarice, and universal cruelty of the chancellor, 
 and especially his ingratitude to the qUeen and regent, were highly 
 inveighed against. He was accused as the only author of all the 
 disorders, and consequently of all the mischiefs arising from 
 thence; moreover, that he had converted the public revenue to his 
 own use ; that he had violently seized on the estates of private 
 persons, and what he could not carry away, he spoiled; that he 
 alone had all the wealth, honour, and riches, when others were 
 pining in ignominy, solitude, and want; these grievances, though 
 great, yet were like to be seconded with more oppressive ones, un- 
 less, by God's aid and counsel, the queen had, no less valiantly 
 than happily, freed the king out of prison, and so delivered o- 
 thers from the chancellor's tyranny; for, if he kept his king in 
 prison, it was evident what private men might fear and expect 
 from him. What hope could there ever be, that he would be recon- 
 ciled to his adversaries, who had so perfidiously circumvented his 
 friends? And how could the inferior sort expect relief from him, 
 whose insatiable avarice, all their estates were not able to satisfy ? 
 And therefore, since by God's help, in the first place, and next, by 
 the queen's sagacity, they were freed from his tyranny, all courses 
 were to be taken that this joy might be perpetual : And to make 
 it so, there was but one way, which was to pull the man, as it 
 were, by the ears, out of his castle, that nest of tyranny; and either 
 to kill him, or in such a manner to disarm him, that, for the fu- 
 ture, he should not have the ability of doing them any more mis- 
 chief; though (said they) merely disarming him was not a very 
 safe way, because such a savage as he, who had been accustomed 
 to blood and rapine, would never be at quiet so long as the breath 
 was in his body. 
 
 This was the purport of Alexander's discourse in council, to 
 
Book XL HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 7 
 
 whom all did assent; so that an order was made, that every one 
 should go home, and levy what force they could to besiege the 
 castle of Edinburgh, from which they were not to depart till they 
 had taken it. And that this might be accomplished with the 
 greater facility, the queen promised to send thither a great quan- 
 tity of provision which she had in her store-houses in Fife; but 
 dispatch was the main thing to be consulted at that juncture, 
 while their counsels were yet private, and the enemy had no warn- 
 ing to provide things fit and necessary for a siege: And in the in- 
 terim, they had no room to apprehend any thing from Douglas, 
 who was, they knew, a mortal enemy to the chancellor; so that 
 now, as they had all the power, treasure enough, and likewise the 
 authority of the king's name (that being now taken from the chan- 
 cellor) he could have no hope, no other resource, but to put him- 
 self upon their mercy. 
 
 Thus, the assembly being dissolved, all things were speedily 
 provided for the expedition, and a close siege laid to the castle. 
 The chancellor was acquainted well enough with their designs, 
 but he placed the greatest hope of his safety, and of maintaining 
 his dignity, in bringing over Douglas to concur with him in his 
 defence. 
 
 For this end he sent humble suppliants to him, to acquaint 
 him, « That he would always be at his devotion if he would aid 
 « him in his present extremity; urging, that he was deceived if 
 
 * he thought that their cruelty would rest in the destruction of 
 « himself alone; but that they would make his overthrow as a 
 
 * step to destroy Douglas too.' 
 
 Douglas answered his message with more freedom than advan- 
 tage, viz. « That both Alexander and William were equally 
 ' guilty of perfidiousness and avarice, and that their falling out 
 
 * was not for any point of virtue, or for the good of the public, 
 « but for their own private advantages, animosities, and feuds; 
 ' and that it was no great matter which of them had the better 
 « in the dispute; nay, if they fell both in the contest, the public 
 < would be a great gainer by it; and that no good man would de- 
 
 * sire to see a happier sight, than two such fencers hacking and 
 
 * hewing one another." 
 
 This answer being noised abroad in both armies (for the cas- 
 tle was already besieged) was the occasion of a peace being soon- 
 er clapt up, than any one thought was possible. A truce was 
 made for two days, and Alexander and William had a meeting, 
 where they debated it together, how dangerous it would be, 
 both for their public and their private estates too, if they should 
 persist in their hatred, even to a battle; insomuch as Douglas 
 did but watch the event of the combat, that he might come 
 fresh, and fall upon the conqueror, and bv that politic means at- 
 
 Vol. II. E 
 
8 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 tract all the power of the kingdom to himself, when either one 
 of them was slain, or both weakened and broken; and therefore 
 the hopes of both their safeties were placed in their common 
 and mutual agreement. Thus the threatening dangers easily re- 
 conciled those two, who were, upon all other accounts, prudent 
 enough. William, according to agreement, gave up the keys of 
 the castle to the king, professing, That both himself, and it, 
 were at his service; and that he never entertained any other 
 thought than that of obedience to the king's will. Upon this 
 profession he was received into favour with the universal assent 
 of all that were present. The king supped that night in the 
 castle, thus surrendered to him, and the next day, the govern- 
 ment of the castle was bestowed on William, and the regency 
 on Alexander. Thus, after a deadly hatred between them, it 
 was hoped, that for ever after, the foresight of their mutual ad- 
 vantage, and the fear of their common enemy, had bound them 
 up in one firm and indissoluble knot of friendship. 
 
 After these civil broils between the factions were composed; 
 besides robberies, and the murders of some cf the common sort, 
 which were committed in many places, without punishment, 
 there were some remaining feuds, which broke out between 
 some noble families. The year after the king's death, on the 
 2ist of September, Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock had treacher- 
 ously slain Allan Stuart of Darnly in a truce, as he met him 
 between Linlithgow and Falkirk. The next year after, on the 
 oth of July, Alexander, Allan's brother, with his party, fought 
 Thomas, where many were slain on both sides, their numbers 
 being almost equal ; and, amongst the rest, Thomas himself 
 fell. 
 
 The death of Archibald Douglas happened very opportunely 
 r.tthis time, because, in his life-time, his power was universally 
 formidable. He died of a fever, the next year after the death of 
 James I. His son William succeeded him, being the sixth earl 
 of that family; he was then in the fourteenth year of his age, a 
 young man of great hopes, if his education had been answerable 
 to his ingenuity. But faftery, luhicb is the perpetual pest of great 
 families, corrupted his tender age, puffed up by entering so soon 
 on his estate. For such men as were accustomed to idleness, and 
 who made a gain of the folly and indiscretion of the rich, did 
 magnify his father's magnificence, power, and almost more than 
 royal retinue; and, by this means, they easily persuaded a plain, 
 simple disposition, unarmed against such temptations, to main- 
 tain a great family, and to ride abroad witli a train beyond the 
 State of any other nobleman; so that he kept his old vassals about 
 him, in their former offices, and obtained also new, by his profuse 
 largesses; lie also made knights and senators, and so distinguished 
 
Book XL history of Scotland. 9 
 
 •the order and degrees of his attendants, as to imitate the public 
 conventions of the kingdom: in fine, he omitted nothing which 
 might equal the majesty of the king himself. Such gallantries 
 were enough to create suspicions of themselves; but good men 
 were also much troubled for him upon another account, that he 
 would often go abroad with 2000 horse in his train, amongst 
 whom some were notorious malefactors and thieves, and many ot 
 them worthy of death ; yet with these he would come to court, 
 and even into the king's presence, not only to shew his power, 
 but even to strike terror into the hearts of others. This his in- 
 insolence was further heightened, by his sending some eminent 
 persons as his ambassadors into France, viz. Malcolm Fleming, 
 and John f Lauder, who declaring how much his ancestors had 
 merited of the kings of France, easily obtained for him the title 
 of Duke of Tours; an honour which had been conferred on his 
 grandfather by Charles VII. for his great services performed in 
 the wars; and his father enjoyed it after him. Grown proud by 
 this accession of grandeur, he undervalued the regent and the 
 chancellor too* being, as he alleged, his father's enemies ; nei- 
 ther did he much stand in awe of the king himself. For these 
 causes, the power of the Douglasses seemed too exorbitant; and 
 pver and above all this, a further cause of suspicion was added. 
 
 William Stewart had a large patrimony in Lorn; his brother 
 James, after the king's death, had married the queen, and had 
 children by her; but very haughtily resenting that he was admit- 
 ted to no share in the administration, to the end he might more 
 easily obtain what he desired, and revenge his concealed grief, he 
 seemed well inclined to Douglas his faction; and it was thought, 
 that the queen was not ignorant of his design: for she also took it 
 amiss, that the regent had not rewarded her merits as she expect- 
 ed. On account of these suspicions, the queen, her husband, 
 and her husband's brother, were committed to prison the second 
 of August, jn the year of our Lord .... The queen was shut up 
 in a chamber narrow enough indeed of itself, but yet even there 
 she was diligently and watchfully guarded: for the rest, they were 
 laid in irons in the common prison, and were not freed till in an 
 assembly of noblemen, held the 31st of August, the queen had 
 cleared herself from being any way privy to these new plots; and 
 James and his brother had given in sureties that they would act 
 nothing against the regent; and that they would not take any post 
 in the government without his consent. 
 
 Amidst this uncertainty of affairs, the Western Islanders made 
 a descent upon the continent, and wasted all with fire and sword, 
 without distinction of age or sex, so that their avarice and cruelty 
 
 f Or Lother, a great and ancient familv in Lothian. 
 
 B 2 
 
IO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 was not to be paralleled by any example : neither were they con- 
 tented to prey only upon the sea-coast, but they also slew John 
 Colchoun, a noble person in Lennox, having called him out from 
 Inch-merin, in the Loch Lomond, to a conference, and after 
 having publicly plighted their faith for his security: this was done 
 the 23d of September. Many foul offences of this nature were 
 committed ; so that partly on the account of want of tillage, and 
 partly of unseasonable weather, provisions came to be very dear ; 
 and moreover there was a pestilence for two years, so dreadful and 
 fierce, that they who were visited with it died within the space of 
 a day. The vulgar ascribed the cause of all these calamities to the 
 regent •, for matters succeeding prosperously with him, lie despised 
 the chancellor, and the nobles of that faction, and brought the ad- 
 ministration of all things within the compass of his own power. 
 Complaints were made against him, that he caused noble and e- 
 minent persons to be imprisoned upon light and ungrounded sus- 
 picions, and afterward inflicted upon them very heavy and un- 
 warrantable punishments; and that he gave indemnity to those, 
 who were really guilty, merely according to his own arbitrary will 
 and pleasure; and that he held secret correspondence with Dou- 
 glas. The chancellor could not bear these things with patience, 
 nor pass them over in silence; neither was he able to prevent them 
 by force; and therefore he suppressed his anger for the present, 
 and resolved to leave the court. And accordingly, upon the first 
 opportunity, he left the king and the regent at Stirling, and with 
 a great train of followers came to Edinburgh ; and there he fixed 
 himself in that strong castle, being intent and vigilant in all occa- 
 sions of change which might occur. 
 
 When this matter was noised abroad, it excited envy against 
 the regent because of his power; and procured favour to the chan- 
 cellor, because of his retirement: Neither did William neglect his 
 opportunity to make advantage of these feuds: for he resolved, by 
 some bold attempt, to curb the insolence of his adversary, and to 
 remove the contempt he had cast upon him. And therefore, 
 having understood by his spies, that the king went every day a 
 hunting, and was ■ slightly guarded, watching the season when 
 Alexander was absent, arid having made sufficient enquiry into 
 the conveniency of the country, the fitness of the time, and the 
 certain number of the guards, he chose out a fit place not far 
 from Stirling, where the faithfullest of his friends, with what 
 force they could make, should meet and wait for his coming : 
 And he, with a few Lorse, lodged himself in a wood near the 
 castle of Stirling before day, and there waited for the king's com- 
 ing ; neither did providence fail him in this bold attempt. The 
 king came into the wood early in the morning, with a small train, 
 and those unarmed too; and $0 he fell among the armed troops 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. X I 
 
 of the chancellor; they saluted him as king according to custom, 
 and bid him to be of good ckear> and take courage. The chancel- 
 lor, in as few words as the time would permit, advised him to 
 provide for himself and the kingdom, and to deliver himself out 
 of Alexander's prison, that so he might live hereafter at liberty, 
 and as a king; and might not accustom himself to fulfil the lusts 
 and dictates of other men; but might, himself, lay those com- 
 mands, which were just and equal, upon others; and so might 
 free all his subjects from their present misery, which they had 
 been plunged into by the ambition and lust of their subordinate 
 governors, and that so deeply, that there could be no remedy 
 found for them, unless the king himself would undertake the go- 
 vernment; and this he might easily do without peril or pain: For 
 he himself had provided a good body of horse near at hand, who 
 would attend him to what fit place soever he would go. The 
 king seemed by his countenance to approve of what he had said: 
 Either that he really thought so; or else, that he dissembled his 
 fear. Whereupon the chancellor took his horse's bridle in his 
 hand, and led him to his own men: They which were with the 
 king, being few, and unarmed, not able to encounter so many 
 men, returned back in great sadness. Thus the king came to 
 Edinburgh, guarded with 4000 armed men, where he was receiv- 
 ed by the commonalty with great demonstrations of joy. 
 
 After the regent heard of what was done, his mind was con- 
 founded betwixt anger and shame, insomuch that he returned to 
 Stirling, to consider what was most advisable in the case. His 
 great spirit was mightily troubled to see himself so childishly de- 
 luded by his own negligence; he suspected it was done by the 
 fraud and connivance of his own followers; and thus he stood 
 long wavering whom to trust, and whom to fear; shame, anger 
 and suspicion, reigned alternately in his mind. At length he 
 took a little heart, and began to bethink himself what remedy to 
 apply to his present misfortune. He knew that his own strength 
 was not sufficient against the chancellor, a man .politic in coun- 
 sel, and strong in force; and besides, he had the favour of the 
 people, and the authority of the king's name to support him. 
 As for the queen, he had so offended her by her close imprison- 
 ment, that she was hardly ever like to be reconciled to him; and 
 if she was, he had no great confidence in her assistance. And 
 for Douglas, it is true, he had strength enough, but no prudence; 
 his age was tender; his mind infirm; he was corrupted by flat- 
 teries, and swayed by the persuasions of others; and (as in such 
 circumstances it usually falls out) the worst of men could do 
 most with him, and therefore he thought it below his dignity to 
 have any thing to do with such i rascality of men: But the chan- 
 cellor, though he was of a contrarv faction to him, yet was a 
 
12 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 wise man, and his age and disposition might more safely be 
 trusted; neither was the cause of offence between them so great, 
 but that it was superable by their ancient offices of respect one to 
 another; but the greatest likelihood of their reconciliation was 
 grounded upon the similitude of their danger, and their joint 
 consent to maintain the safety of the commonwealth. Besides 
 the enmity of the chancellor was what was most of all to be dread- 
 ed ; for if he joined the other factions, he had power in his hands 
 either to reduce or banish him. Having pondered upon these 
 things in his mind, for some days, and communicated them to 
 some of his most familiar friends, good men, and lovers of their 
 country, by :heir advice, he took an ordinary train of attend- 
 ants, and went to Edinburgh. 
 
 It happened that the bishops of Aberdeen and Murray were 
 then there; men, according to the judgment of those days, high- 
 ly advanced both in learning and virtue. By their means and 
 intercession, the regent and chancellor had a meeting in St. 
 Giles's church, with some few of their friends on each side. 
 The regent first began to speak; 
 
 " I think it not necessary (says he) to make a long discourse in 
 *' bewailing those things, which are too well known to all, or in 
 « reckoning up the mischiefs arising from intestine discords, and 
 " the benefits springing from concord; I wish we might experi- 
 " ence those miseries rather by foreign than domestic examples; 
 " I will then come to those things which concern the public safe- 
 " ty of all the people; and, next to theirs, our own, most of all. 
 " This disagreement betwixt us, ariseth neither from covetous- 
 " ness, nor from ambition to rule; but because, in the admini- 
 " stration of public affairs, which both of us wish well to, we are 
 " not of one mind, but take different measures; yet we are to 
 " take great care, lest this our dissension should be puT)licly pre- 
 " judicial to the kingdom, or privately injurious to ourselves. 
 *' The eyes of all men are upon us two: Wicked persons propose 
 " to themselves a licentiousness to do any thing, when we are de- 
 " stroyed ; and ambitious ones think then also, to obtain an op- 
 " portunity to get wealth and power; and besides, we have a 
 " great many maligners and enviers, as usually men newly raised 
 « f up to the highest dignity are wont to have. All these, as they repine 
 " at our successes, and caluminate our prosperity, so they wil- 
 " lingly receive the news of our adversity, as thereby hoping, and 
 " wishing for our ruin; and therefore it will be worth both our 
 " labours, to consult our own safety, which is closely interwoven 
 " with that of the public, and so to revenge ourselves on our e- 
 " nemies and detractors, as may redound to our great glory and 
 «■* praise. The only way to accomplish those ends, is this, that 
 " we forget our private injuries, and contribute all our thought? 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 3 
 
 « and counsels for the good of the public; remembering, that 
 " the king's safety is committed to our care, and so is also the 
 " safety of the kingdom; yet so, that we are both liable to an ac- 
 « count. And therefore, as heretofore we have been to blame 
 " in contending which of us should be the greater in honour and 
 « authority; so, for the future, let our contest be, which shall ex- 
 " ceed the other in moderation and justice: and, by this means, 
 " we shall bring it to pass, that the commonalty, who now hate 
 " us, and impute all their calamities to us, will be reconciled to, 
 *« and revere us again. The nobility, who, upon our disunion, 
 « have launched forth into the most unwarrantable excesses, may 
 " be brought back to a due sense of moderation; and the more 
 '« powerful sort, who despise- us, as weakened by division, may 
 " stand in awe of us, when united and reconciled, and so behave 
 11 themselves towards us with greater sobriety than ever. As for 
 « me, I willingly give up the tender age of the king to be model- 
 « led and governed by you, as his father, in his lifetime, appoint- 
 « ed; for as often as I seriously think of that service, I judge my- 
 « self rather to be eased of a burden, than despoiled of honour : 
 " If I have received any private injury from you, I freely for- 
 « give it for the sake of the public; and if I have done you any 
 " wrong, let honest arbitrators adjust the damage, and I will 
 ** make you satisfaction to the full; and I will take special care 
 " that such shall be my behaviour for the future, that neither 
 " my losses nor advantages, shall put the least stop to the pub- 
 " lie prosperity. And if you are of the same mind, we may 
 « both of us rest secure for the present, and also leave our me- 
 " mories more grateful to posterity; but if you think otherwise, 
 " I call all men to witness, both here and hereafter, that it is 
 " not my fault, that the evils under which we now labour, 
 " are not either fully cured, or, at least, in some sort relieved 
 " and mitigated." 
 
 To this the chancellor replied; 
 " As I unwillingly entered upon this stage of contention, so 
 " I am very willing to hear any mention made of an honourable 
 " agreement: For as I did not take up arms before the injuries 
 « I suffered, provoked me; so your modesty hath urged me not to 
 «* 9urfer the public to be damaged by my pertinacious,ness. For 
 " I see, as well as you, by this our discord, that good men are ex- 
 " posed to the injuries of the bad; in the mind of the seditious 
 '« are excited hopes of innovation; our country is left for a prey; 
 " the kingly dignity is lessened; public safety betrayed; autho- 
 « rity bearded and ridiculed, even by the meanest of the people. 
 " And whilst we thus betray the safety of the public, our private 
 " affairs are in no better posture. In the mean time, men, who 
 «* are given to sedition, make advantage of our discords; and our 
 
14 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 " enemies behold them as a pleasant sight, (for they hate us both 
 «"« alike), and if the loss fall on either of us, yet they count them- 
 " selves gainers by what either of us shall lose: and therefore I 
 « I will not repeat the causes of our feuds, lest I make old sores 
 " bleed afresh-, but in short, I declare, that I forgive all private 
 " wrongs and injuries, upon the score of my country, for there 
 ** never was, nor shall be, any thing that I prefer to the safety of 
 " the people, and the good of the commonwealth." 
 
 Those who were present, did highly commend both their reso- 
 lutions; and so, by joint consent, arbiters were chosen to compose 
 differences; and, to the great joy of all, old discords were pluck- 
 ed up by the roots, and new foundations of amity laid; and thus 
 they, by joint counsel, again undertake the management of the 
 kingdom. After this concord, an assembly of the estates was held 
 at Edinburgh. Thither came not a few persons, as is usual, but 
 even whole clans and tenantries (as if they had removed their ha- 
 bitations) to complain of the wrongs they had sustained; and in- 
 deed, the sight of such a miserable company could not be enter- 
 tained without deep affliction of spirit, every one making his wo- 
 ful moan, according to his circumstances; that robbers had de- 
 spoiled fathers of their fathers; widows of their husbands; and 
 all, in general of their estates. Whereupon, after commiseration 
 of the sufferers, the envy as is usual, and reflection was carried to, 
 and fixed upon, the captains of those thieves, whose offences 
 were so impudent, that they could in noways be suffered ; and 
 their faction was so far diffused, that no man was able to defend 
 his life or fortune, unless he was of their party; yea, their power 
 was so great, that the authority of the magistrate could afford lit- 
 tle help to the poorer and weaker sort against their violence and 
 force. Wherefore the wiser sort of counsellors were of opinion. 
 That, seeing their power was insuperable by plain force, it was best 
 to undermine it by degrees. They all knew well enough, that 
 the earl of Douglas was the fountain of all those calamities, yet no 
 man durst name him publicly: and therefore the regent, dissem- 
 bling his anger for the present, persuaded the whole assembly, 
 That it was more advisable for them to keep the peace with 
 Douglass, at present, than to iritate him by suspicions: for he had 
 so great a power, that he alone, if he remained refractory, was a- 
 bleto hinder the execution of the decrees of all the estates; but if 
 he joined in with the assembly, then he might easily heal the pre- 
 sent mischiefs. 
 
 In pursuance of this advice, a decree was made, that letters of 
 compliment, in the name of the estates, should be sent to him, 
 to put him in mind of the place he held, and of the great and 
 illustrious merits of his ancestors, for the advantage of their 
 countrv; and withal, to desire him to come to the public as- 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 5 
 
 sembly of the estates, which could not well be held without 
 the presence of him and his friends. If he had any complaint 
 to make in the assembly, they would give him all the satisfaction 
 they were able to do; and if he or his friends had done any 
 thing prejudicial to the public, in respect to his noble family, 
 which had so often deserved well of their country, they were rea- 
 dy to remit many things upon the account of his age, of the 
 times, of his own person, and the great hopes conceived of him. 
 And therefore they desired that he would come and undertake 
 what part of the public government he pleased ; for, inasmuch as 
 Scotland had often been delivered from great dangers by the arms 
 of the Douglasses, they hoped that, by his presence, he would, 
 at this juncture, strengthen and relieve his country which labour- 
 ed under intestine evils. 
 
 The young man, whose age and disposition made him covetous 
 of glory, was taken with the bait ; and his friends added their 
 persuasions. For they were all blinded by their particular 
 hopes; so that their minds were turned from all apprehension of 
 danger, to the sole consideration of their several advantages. 
 When the chancellor heard that he was on his journey, he went 
 out several miles to meet him, and gave him a friendly invitation 
 to his castle, which was near the road (it was called Crichton) 
 where he was magnificently entertained for the space of two 
 days ; in which time the chancellor shewed him all imaginable 
 respect, that he might the more easily entrap the unwary young 
 man. For, to shew that his mind was no way alienated from 
 him, he began, in a familiar manner, to persuade him to be 
 mindful of the king's dignity, and of his own duty; that he 
 should own him for his liege lord, whom right of birth, the laws 
 of the country, and the decree of the estates, had advanced to 
 the sovereignty; that he should transmit the great estate, which 
 his ancestors had got by their blood and valour, to his posteri- 
 ty, in like manner as he had received it; and also the name of 
 the Douglasses, which was illustrious for their loyalty and at- 
 chievements, free from the horrid stain, and even from all sus- 
 picion of treason; that he and his tenants should forbear oppres- 
 sing the poor common people; that he should put all robbers 
 out of his service; and, for the future, maintain the laws of jus- 
 tice in so inviolable a manner, that if he had offended hereto- 
 fore, it might be easily attributed to the ill counsel of bad men, 
 and not to the depravity of his own nature; for, in that tender 
 and infirm age, his repentance would pass for innocence. By 
 these and the like speeches, he persuaded the young man that 
 he was his entire friend, and so drew him on to Edinburgh, 
 with David his brother, who was privy to all his projects and 
 Ji/si^ns. But his followers had r,omc suspicion of deceit, bv 
 Vol. II. C 
 
I<5 - HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 reason of the frequent messages that came from Alexander the 
 regent; for expresses were flying to and fro every moment; 
 and besides, the chancellor's speech seemed more dissembling 
 and flattering, than was usual for one of his place and dignity. 
 All the earl's followers muttered this secretly among themselves, 
 and some freely told him, « That if he was resolved to go on, 
 " yet he ought to send back David his brother, and (according 
 " to his father's advice to him, on his death-bed) not to lay his 
 " whole family open to one stroke of fortune." But the im- 
 provident youth was angry with his friends that had thus advised 
 him, and caused a kind of proclamation to be made among all 
 his followers, that not a whisper of that kind should be heard 
 among them. To his more particular friends he made answer, 
 " That he knew well enough, that it was the common plague 
 " of great families, to be troubled with men who loved to be 
 " restless and uneasy, and who made a gain of the dangers and 
 " miseries of their patrons: And that such men, because, in time 
 " of peace, they were bound up by laws, were the authors and 
 fi advisers to sedition, that so they might fish the better in trou- 
 " bled waters; but, for his part, he had rather trust his person 
 f* to the known prudence of the regent and chancellor, than give 
 " ear to die temerity and madness of seditious persons." Hav- 
 ing spoken these words, to cut off any occasion of further ad- 
 vice in the case, he set spurs to his horse, and with his brother, 
 and a few more of his best confidents, hastened to the castle, 
 with more speed than is usual in an ordinary march; and so, 
 fate drawing him on, he precipitated himself into the snares of 
 his enemies. 
 
 In that very moment of time, the regent came in too, for so it 
 was agreed, that the whole weight of so great envy might not lie 
 on one man's shoulders only. Douglas was kindly received, and 
 admitted to the king's table ; but in the midst of the feast, some 
 armed men beset him, quite defenceless as he was, and put a 
 bull's head upon him, which, in those times, was a messenger and 
 sign of death. When the young man saw that, he was troubled 
 and went to rise from his scat, but the armed men seized him, and 
 carried him to a court near the castle; where he paid for the 
 intemperance of his youth, with the loss of his head. David his 
 brother, and Malcolm Fleming, whom, next to his brother, he 
 trusted most of all, were also put to death with him It is said, 
 that the king, who was then grown up to a youth, wept ior his 
 death; and that the chancellor rebuked him mightily for his un- 
 seasonable tears at the destruction of an enemy; whereas the pu- 
 blic peace was never like to be settled, as long as he was alive. 
 William dying thus without children, James (suinamed Cras- 
 s#!S, or the Gross, from his disposition) succeeded him in the earl- 
 
Book XL HISTORY OF SCOTLAD. 1 7 
 
 dom, (for it was a male-fee, as lawyers speak) the rest of his patri- 
 mony, which was very great, fell to his only sister, Beatrix, a ve- 
 ry beautiful person in her days. This James, the Gross, though 
 he was no bad man, yet he was no less suspected by the king, and 
 hated by the commons, than the former earl; because, though he 
 did not maintain robbers, as the former earl had done; yet he was 
 not very zealous in subduing them-, but he was delivered from 
 this state of envy, by his death, which happened two years after. 
 
 William, the eldest of his seven sons, succeeded him, and being 
 emulous of the ancient power of the family, that he might restore 
 it to its pristine splendor, resolved to marry his uncle's daughter, 
 who was the heiress of many countries: Several of his kindred 
 did not approve of the match, partly because it was an unusual, 
 and by consequence an unlawful thing; and partly, because, by 
 the accession of so much wealth, he would be envied by the peo- 
 ple, and also formidable to the king. For a rumour was spread 
 abroad, and that not without ground, that the king himself would 
 do his utmost to hinder the match. This made William hasten 
 the consummation of the marriage, even within the time when 
 marriages are prohibited, that he might prevent the king's endea- 
 vours to the contrary. Thus having obtained great wealth, he 
 grew insolent, and envy followed his insolence, in regard troops of 
 robbers did swarm every where, whose captains were thought to 
 be no strangers to Douglas's design. Amongst them there was 
 one John Gormac of Athol, who pillaged all the country about 
 him, and set upon William Ruthen, sheriff of Perth, because he 
 was leading a thief of Athol to the gallows, and fought with him, 
 as it were in a battle. At last Gormac the captain, and thirty of 
 his followers were slain, and the rest fled to the mountains. This 
 skirmish happened in the year of Christ 144 3. 
 
 A few days after, the castle of Dumbarton, impregnable by 
 force, was twice taken in a little time: Robert Semple was com- 
 mander of the lower castle, and Patrick Galbreath of the higher, 
 and their government was so divided, that each had a peculiar en- 
 trance into his own part. These two were not free from factions 
 amongst themselves: For Patrick was thought secretly to favour 
 the Douglasses. Whereupon Semple, perceiving that his part 
 was but negligently guarded, seized him, and commanded him to 
 remove his goods. The day after, Patrick entered with four com- 
 panions attending him, without arms, to fetch out his goods; where 
 first, he lights upon the porter alone, and^then, seizing some arms, 
 drove him and the rest out of the upper castle; and thus, sending 
 for aid out of the neighbouring town, he heat them out of the 
 lower castle also, and so reduced the whole fort into his own 
 hands. 
 
 About that time there were very many murders committed 
 
 C % 
 
1 8 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 upon the inferior sort ; which were partly perpetrated by the 
 Douglassians, and partly charged upon them by their enemies. 
 The king being now of age, and managing the government him- 
 self, Douglas, being unable to stand against the envy of the no- 
 bles, and the complaints of the commons too, resolves to become 
 a new man, to satisfy the people, and, by all means possible, to 
 win back the heart of the king, which was alienated from him; 
 and, in order thereunto, he came with a great train to Stirling. 
 And, when he had intelligence by some courtiers, whom he had 
 bribed and made his own, that the king's anger was appeased 
 towards him, then, and not before, he came into his presence, and 
 laid down his life and fortune at his feet, and submitted and left 
 them all to his disposal. He partly excused the crimes of his 
 former life, and partly (because that seemed the readier way to re- 
 conciliation) he ingenuously confessed them; withal • affirming, 
 that whatever fortune he should have hereafter, he would ascribe 
 it solely to the clemency of the king, not to his own innocency; 
 but if the king would be pleased to receive satisfaction from him, 
 by his services and obsequiousness, he would do his utmost endea- 
 vour for the future, that no man should be more loyal and observ- 
 ant of his duty than himself; and that, in restraining and punish- 
 ing all those exorbitant offences which his enemies cast upon him, 
 none should be more sharp and severe than he ; in regard he was 
 descended from that family, which was not raised by op- 
 pressing the poor, but by defending the commons of Scotland by 
 their arms. By this oration of the earl's, and the secret commen- 
 dation of the courtiers, the king was so changed, that he forgave 
 him all the crimes of his former life, and received him into the 
 number of his favourites, and communicated all his secret designs 
 to him. 
 
 And indeed the earl, in a very little time, had so obliged the 
 king by his obsequious carriage: and had won so much on his 
 ministers by his liberality; nay, had so ingratiated himself with 
 ail men by his modest and courteous condescension; that the or- 
 dinary sort of peopk conceived great hope of his gentle and plia- 
 ble deportment; but the wiser were somewhat afraid, whither so 
 sudden a change of manners would tend: And especially Alexan- 
 der Livingston and William Crichton, imagining that all his coun- 
 sels would tend to their destruction, having resigned their places, 
 retired each of them from court, Alexander to his own estate, and 
 William into the castle of Edinburgh, there to watch and observe, 
 where the dissimulation of Douglas would end. Nor were these 
 men of penetration out in the opinion they had entertained; for 
 Douglas, having gotten the king alone, and destitute of graver 
 counsel, and who was somewhat unwary too, by reason of the 
 inexperience of his years, thought now that he had a fit opportunity 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTT. ANI>. 10. 
 
 to revenge the deaths of his kinsmen; and so easily persuaded the 
 king to send for William Crichton and Alexander Livingston, 
 with his two sons Alexander and James, to give him a legai ac- 
 count of the administration of their former offices. His design 
 herein was, if they came to court, to bring them under by the 
 power of his faction; but if they refused to come, then to declare 
 them public enemies; and so, having the authority of the kings 
 name, as a pretence for his power, to sequester their estates. 
 Hereupon they were summoned to appear, but returned answer 
 by letters, « That they had never any thing move prevalent and 
 " superior in their thoughts, titan the good of the king and king- 
 " dom; and that they had so managed their offices, that they de- 
 " sired nothing more than to give up a full account, provided it 
 " was before impartial judges; but, for the present, they desired 
 " to be excused, in regard they perceived, that the minds of those 
 t* who were to be their judges, were prepossessed with the fa- 
 " vours and bribes of their enemies; and besides all passages were 
 " beset with armed men; not that they shunned a legal hearing, 
 " but only withdrew from the violence of their mortal enemies at 
 " the present, and reserved their lives for better times, till the 
 " commanders of thieves being driven from the king's presence 
 " as they had often been in doubtful times before, they might 
 " then justify and assert their innoceney to the king and all good 
 » men." 
 
 When this answer was received, in a convention which was 
 held at Stirling, the fourth day of November, Douglas carried the 
 matter so, that they were declared public enemies, and their goods 
 confiscated. And then he sends out John Froster* of Corstor- 
 phin, his confident, with forces to ravage their landsf ; and bring 
 their goods into the king's exchequer. He took in their castles by 
 surrender; part of them he demolished, and into part he put new 
 garrisons; and thus making mighty waste, without any resistance 
 he carried off" a very considerable booty. The Douglassians had 
 scarce retired, before Crichton had gathered dn army of his 
 friends and vassals, sooner than was expected; and with them he 
 over-ran the lands of the Foresters, and of the Douglasses, even 
 as far as Corstorphin, 5trabrock|, Abercorn, and Blackness. He 
 burnt their houses, spoiled their corn, and brought away as much 
 of the plunder as he was able; and, amongst the rest, a stately 
 breed of mares: and thus he did his enemy much more mischief 
 than he received. Douglas, knowing that Crichton had done 
 this by the assistance of others, rather than his own force, turns 
 
 * Or Forester. 
 
 f In Mid Lothian, two miles west of Edinburgh. 
 
 f A town on the river Brock, in West Lothian, a castle standing on a rock, 
 king near the frith of Forth above Abercorn. 
 
20 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 his anger upon his friends, who, he was informed, had sent him 
 aid privately, for few durst do it openly. The chief of them 
 were James Kennedy, archbishop of St. Andrews, George earl of 
 Angus, John earl of Morton; both the latter of Douglas's own 
 family; but one born of the king's aunt, the mother of James 
 Kennedy; the other had married the king's sister. These per- 
 sons did always prefer the public safety, and the duty incumbent 
 upon them to preserve it, before all private respects to their fami- 
 hes. But Kennedy exceeded the rest hi age, counsel, and conse- 
 quently in authority; and therefore the adversary's wrath was 
 principally incensed against him : Whereupon the earl of Craw- 
 ford and Alexander Ogilvie raised a sufficient body of men, and 
 destroyed his lands in Fife; and, having a greater eye to the 
 plunder, than they had to the cause, they ransacked the neigh- 
 bouring farms into the bargain; and then, without any opposition, 
 returned into Angus, laden with spoil. In this case, Kennedy be- 
 took himself to his proper church-arms; and, because Crawford 
 would not answer in court, he laid him under ecclesiastical cen- 
 sures; which Crawford despised, according to his wonted contu- 
 macy:' But a little while after, he was justly punished for his con- 
 tempt of all laws, human and divine. For, the same year these 
 things were acted, the college of the Benedictines, at Aberbro- 
 thick, (because it was not for monks to intermeddle, and set them- 
 selves up for judges in civil causes) had made Alexander Lindsay, 
 eldest son of the earl of Crawford, their chief jydge in civils, or, 
 as they call him, sheriff or bailiff. He, with his huge train of fol- 
 lowers, became burdensome to the monastery; and besides, he car- 
 ried himself as their master, rather than their bailiff; so that they 
 dispossessed him of his office, and put Alexander Ogilvie in his 
 place: Lindsay looked upon this as a wrong done to him; which 
 made each of them gather together what force they could, as if a 
 war had been deckled between them. When both armies stood 
 in a readme; s to fight, the earl of Crawford, having notice of it, 
 made ail ha?tc lie could, and rode in betwixt them both, thinking 
 that the sole authority of his name had been armour of proof to 
 - and, whilst he was hindering his son from engaging, and 
 .aiiing out Ogilvie to a conference, a soldier darted a spear into his 
 jnouth (it was not known whom it was, nor what he aimed at) 
 and struck him down dead from his horse. His death was an a- 
 larm to both armies, and, after a sharp conflict, many being 
 wounded on both sides, the victory fell to the Lindsays: They 
 say the cause of it was, that, whilst both armies stood with their 
 opears upright, appearing in the perfect form of a grove, a certain 
 man cried out, Why do you bring these goads with you, as if you 
 had to do with oxen? Pray throw them away, and let us fight it 
 out with our swords, hand to hand, by true valour, as becomes 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 2T 
 
 men. This said, they all threw away their pikes on both sides, 
 except ioo Clydesdale men, whom Douglas had sent in to aid the 
 Lindsays. These held the tops or points of their pikes in their 
 hands, and trailed them at their backs; but, when they came to 
 handy-blows then they held them out as a thick fence before them, 
 and broke the ranks of their enemies, daunted at the sight of wea- 
 pons, which they did not expect. The conquering side lost ioo-, 
 the conquered 500, and amongst them many men of note. Alex- 
 ander Ogilvie was taken prisoner, and died a few days after, of the 
 pain of his wounds, and grief of mind together. Gordon earl of 
 Huntly, was put upon a horse by a friend of his own, and so escap- 
 ed. The slaughter had been much greater, if the night had not 
 covered the fugitives, for the battle began a few hours before 
 night, on the 24th of January. 
 
 The Lindsays managed their victory with great cruelty; they 
 pillaged and demolished houses, and utterly spoiled the country. 
 The war was as hotly carried on between the factions in other 
 parts, Douglas had besieged William Crichton some months in 
 the castle of Edinburgh: and, to make a more close siege, the as- 
 sembly of the estates, which was summoned to be held on the 
 1 5 tli of July, and was already begun at Perth, was removed to 
 Edinburgh. When the siege had lasted nine months, both the 
 besiegers and the besieged, grew equally weary, and so a surren- 
 der was made on these conditions, viz. That William should be in- 
 demnified for whatsoever he had done against the king, and he and hits 
 should inarch safely off. Thus, in every dispute, he ivho is most 
 powerful, would seem to be most innocent. And, not long after, 
 Crichton was received into the king's favour, and was made 
 chancellor again, by the general consent of all : but he refrained 
 the court, and all public business, as much as ever his office would 
 suffer him to do. Douglas, having thus rather terrified than o- 
 verthrown Crichton, turned the rest of his fury upon the Living- 
 stons. But before I come to that part of my history, I will touch 
 upon the slaughter of some of the nobles of those times, for it 
 would be a work without end, to record the fates of them all. 
 
 James Stewart, a noble knight, was slain by Alexander Lisle 
 and Robert Boyd, at Kirkpatrick, about two miles from Dumbar- 
 ton ; neither could they satisfy their cruelty with his death, but 
 they endeavoured to get his wife also, who was then big with 
 child, and just upon the point of lying-in, into their power; in 
 order where unto, they sent a priest to her, as in great haste, to 
 tell her, that all the roads were full of horse and foot, and that 
 there was no way for her to escape the present danger, but to go 
 on shipboard, and fly to Robert Boyd at Dumbarton, who had so- 
 lemnly promised to return her safe ho me. The credulous woman, 
 who did not know that Robert was present at the perpetration of 
 the murder, being carried from Cardross into the castle, perceiv- 
 
22 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI # 
 
 ing that she was circumvented by the fraud of her enemies,, and o- 
 vtrcome with excess of grief, fear, and indignation, brought forth 
 an abortive birth, which, with the mother, died a few hours 
 after. 
 
 About the same time, Patrick Hepburn, earl of Hales, kept 
 the castle of Dunbar, and had with him Joan, the wife of James I. 
 who in these tumultuous times had fled thither for refuge. Archi- 
 bald Dunbar, thinking this to be a just cause for a quarrel, set 
 upon Hales, Hepburn's castle, in the night, killed the garrison 
 soldiers on the first onset, and took it; yet, in a few hours, for 
 fear, he gave it up to the earl of Douglas, upon condition that he 
 and his should march safely off. Not long after, queen Joan 
 died, leaving these children by her latter husband, John earl of 
 Athol, James earl of Buchan, and Andrew, afterwards bishop 
 of Murray. After she was dead, Hepburn delivered up the castle 
 of Dunbar, ungarrisoned and empty, to the king. 
 
 In Angus, Alexander earl of Crawford, put John Lyons to 
 death in the market-place at Dundee, because he had been raised 
 up to great wealth and honour, even to a match in the royal fami- 
 ly, by Crawford's father; yet he proved ungrateful, and forgot 
 the courtesies he had received. 
 
 Amidst these discords, the men of Annandale embroiled the 
 adjoining countries in all sorts of calamities. The cause of all 
 these mischiefs was imputed to the carl of Douglas, who yet did 
 all he could to conceal these misdemeanors of his clans; for he o- 
 penly studied nothing more than to afflict the men of different 
 parties, in regard he was grown to that height of power, that it 
 was a capital offence to call any thing he did in question. He 
 caused James Stewart, the king's uncle, to fly the land, because 
 he spoke something freely concerning the state of the kingdom; 
 whose ship being taken by the Flandrians, put an end to his life. 
 Now Douglas thought it was high time to attempt the Living- 
 stons; whereupon he caused Alexander, the head of the family, 
 and his son James, and also Robert the king's treasurer, and Da- 
 vid, to be summoned to an assembly at Edinburgh; and of his 
 friends, Robert Bruce, James and Robert Dundasses. Of these, 
 Alexander, and the two Dundasses were sent back to prison to 
 Dumbarton; the rest were put to death. Of what crime they 
 were guilty, meriting so great a punishment, the historians of 
 those times do not mention; neither will I interpose my own con- 
 jectures, in a business so remote from our memory; only I will 
 relate what I have heard, that James Livingston, when he came 
 to the place of execution, complained heavily and expressly of the 
 inconstancy of fortune. " That Ids father, who was honoured 
 " with a power next to the king's, did yet freely give up the invi- 
 " dious title of regent, and went to his own estate, fax from 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 23 
 
 " court, and out of his enemies sight, whose cruelty was never 
 " satiated with his miseries; and therefore was forced to take 
 " arms to preserve his life, which he again laid down at the king's 
 " command. If there were any fault in that, he had long ago ob- 
 « tained his pardon; and since that time, he had lived remote, and 
 " free from all suspicion of any crime; of which this wa9 an evi- 
 " dent token, that the nobility thought them innocent, and did 
 " solicitously deprecate their punishments; and yet notwithstand- 
 « ing, the severe cruelty of their enemies prevailed more than 
 " the former demerits and good offices of their family, or, than 
 " the king's pardon obtained; or, than the interceding supplica- 
 K tions of the nobility. And therefore he intreated all who were 
 " then present, to look upon these empty titles of empire and 
 " dominion, to be nothing else but the flattering compliments 
 " of fortune, who then intended to do most mischief; and that 
 " they were rather flowery embellishments for one's funeral, than 
 " safeguards to a man's life; especially since bad men can do 
 u more to destroy the good, than the consent of the good can do 
 " to save them." And, having thus spoken, to the great grief of 
 all the spectators, he submitted his neck to the executioner. 
 
 Amidst these combustions, Crichton was sent into France, 
 partly to renew the ancient league, and partly to obtain from 
 thence a royal bride. Douglas took his absence very well, tho' 
 in an honourable employment ; because, though he was a pru^ 
 dent and potent person, yet there were some relics of their former 
 discords that made him not overfondofhim. In this troublesome 
 state of the kingdom, the same disease which vexed others, did 
 also infest the ecclesiastical order. John Cameron, bishop o£ 
 Glasgow, had himself committed many acts of cruelty and avarice 
 among the husbandmen of his diocese, (which was very large) 
 and he had also given encouragement to those who were in power 
 to do the like; that so, when the owners were unjustly condemned, 
 their estates might be confiscated to him; so that he was believed 
 to be the author or the favourer of all the mischiefs which wejte 
 acted by his people. It is reported, that the man came to an end 
 Worthy of his wicked life. The day before the nativity of Christ, 
 as he was asleep in a farm of his own, about seven miles from 
 Glasgow, he seemed to hear a loud voice*, calling him to the 
 tribunal of Christ, to plead his cause. That sudden fright awak- 
 ened him out of his sleep ; he called up his servants to bring a 
 candle, and set by him; he took a candle in his hand, and began to 
 read; but presently the same voice was heard louder than before ; 
 which struck all those present with a great horror. Afterwards, 
 
 * The bishop of Glasgow frightened by a voice from heaven # for his wicked 
 fife; which is the occasion of his death. 
 
 Vol. II. D 
 
24 HfSTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XL 
 
 when it sounded again more terribly and frightfully than before, 
 the bishop gave a great groan, put out his tongue, and was found 
 dead in his bed. This so eminent an example of God's ven- 
 geance, as I shall not rashly credit, so I have no mind to refute j 
 yet, it being delivered by others, and constantly affirmed to be 
 true, I thought proper not to omit ft. 
 
 At the same time, James Kennedy f, one of a far different life 
 and manners, as referring all his counsels to the good of the pu- 
 blic; when neither by his authority nor counsel, he could resist 
 the daily new-springing evils of his country; and seeing likewise 
 that the king's power was not able to oppose the conspiracies of 
 wicked men, he left all his estate for a prey, and shifted for him- 
 self. Neither, in these domestic miseries, were matters much 
 quieter abroad. When the truce made with the English was ex- 
 pired, the Scots made an inroad into England, and the English in- 
 to Scotland; and wherever they went, they wasted all with fir£ 
 and sword. In England, Alnwick was taken and burnt, by James, 
 brother to the earl of Douglas. In Scotland, the earl of Salisbury 
 did the like to Dumfries; and the earl of Northumberland to 
 Dunbar. Great booties of men and cattle Were driven away on 
 .both sides : But the commanders agreed amongst themselves, that 
 the prisoners should be exchanged; for they were m a manner e- 
 qual, both for number and degree. By these incursions the coun- 
 try was depopulated, and yet the main chance of the war not con- 
 cerned; so that a truce Was again agreed upon for seven years. 
 
 In this state of affairs, James Dunbar, earl of Murray, departed 
 this life. He left two daughters, his heiresses. The eldest of 
 them was married, by her father before his death, to James Crich- 
 ton: The younger, after her father's decease, married Archibald, 
 brother to- the earl of Douglas. He y apainst the laws and thi 
 custorr»s of his ancestors, was called earl of Murray: so superla- 
 tive was Douglas's power then at court. Neither was he con- 
 tented with this accession of honour; but, that he might further 
 propagate the dignity of his family, he caused his brother George 
 to be made earl of Ormond. His brother John had many fair 
 and fruitful farms and lands bestowed upon him; and was also 
 made baron of Balveny, against the minds of ihany, even of his 
 iriends, who were jealous lest the power of that family, too great 
 before, would be at last formidable, even to the king himself; 
 nay, they imagined that these immoderate accessions and frolics 
 of fortune would not be long-lived. But his enemies did, as in- 
 vidiously as they could, inveigh against this insatiable ambition. 
 " For who (say they) could safely live under the exorbitant rule of 
 such a tyrant, for whose avarice nothing was enough, and again'/ 
 
 + Junes Kennedy retires from a corrupt cou?w. 
 
Book XL HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 2$ 
 
 whose power there was no safeguard ; who, right or wrong, invad- 
 ed the patrimony of the nobles, and exposed the meaner sort to be 
 a prey to his tenants; and those who opposed his lust, he caused 
 them, by thieves and cut-throats, either to lose all they had, or 
 else to be put to death •, that he adyanced upstarts to high ho- 
 nours, whom he grafted on the ruin of noble families; so that all 
 the power of the kingdom was now brought into one house ; be- 
 sides many knights and barons, there were five opulent earls of the 
 family; insomuch that the king himself did but reign precarious- 
 ly; and men were like to suffer all extremities under the cruel 
 bondage of the Douglasses ; and he that uttered the least word 
 tending to liberty, must pay his life for his boldness." These, and 
 other discourses of this kind, some true, others to create greater 
 envy, stretched beyond the lines of truth, were spread abroad a- 
 mongst the vulgar; which made those who were of neither faction, 
 to sit loose from the care of the public, and every one to mind his 
 own private concerns. The wiser sort of his enemies were glad 
 to hear, that a man of such power, against which there was no 
 making head, should thus voluntarily run headlong to his own de- 
 struction. Neither did they presage amiss; for his mind was 
 grown so proud and insolent, by reason of his great successes, 
 that he shut his ears against the free advice of his friends; nay, 
 many could not, with any safety, dissemble and cover, by their 
 silence, what they disliked; because he had parasites, which did 
 not only lie at catch for words, but observed men's very counte- 
 nances. As for his old enemies, many of them were haled to 
 judgment before him, who was both their adversary and judge 
 too; so that some of them lost their estates, some were depriv- 
 ed of their lives, and others, to avoid his unrighteous and par- 
 tial judgment, fled out of their country. 
 
 The men also of Douglas's faction lived in no fear at all of the 
 law, (for no man durst implead them), but letting the reigns loose 
 to all licentiousness, they invaded and made havoc of things sa- 
 cred as well as profane: Those who were obnoxious to them, 
 they slew, and killed out of the way. Neither was there any end 
 of their wickedness: Sometimes, when they had no sufficient 
 cause to do a man a mischief, then they did it unprovoked, and 
 gratuitously, as it were, lest, through disuse of offending, any ho- 
 nest and tender thoughts should arise in their minds, so as to al- 
 lay their brutish cruelty. Every one thought himself the noblest 
 and bravest fellow, that could cast the greatest contumely on the 
 commons. When such great miseries were diffused into all parts 
 of the kingdom, Scotland had certainly sunk under the burden, 
 unless England, at the same time, had been as much embarrassed 
 with civil combustions; which, at last, being somewhat allayed, 
 the English violated their truce, and invaded Scotland. Y^hea 
 
 D 2 
 
2$ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 they had run over a great circle of ground, and pillaged many vil- 
 lages, they drove away a vast number of cattle, and returned 
 home. Neither was it long before the Scots retaliated upon 
 them; for they also entered England with a good force, and did 
 the enemy more damage than they received. Thus the minds of 
 both were irritated by these alternate plunderings: so that a migh- 
 ty desolation was made in the territories of either kingdom : but 
 the greatest share of the calamity fell upon Cumberland, where 
 had been the rise of the injury and wrong: for that province was 
 so harrassed by the war, that it was almost quite destroyed. When 
 this was related at London, it occasioned the English to levy a ve- 
 ry great army against the Scots: whereby they thought easily to 
 reduce the country into their power, it being already weakened by 
 Civil discords. Hereupon an army was raised of the better sort of 
 people, and the earl of Northumberland made their general, in re- 
 gard he knew the country well ; and besides, his name and power 
 was great in those parts. To him they joined one Main, of a 
 knightly family; who had long served in France, with good re- 
 pute of industry and valour. It is said, that he, out of his mortal 
 hatred against the Scots, had bargained with the king of England, 
 that the lands he took from the Scots, either by killing or driving 
 away the inhabitants, he, and his posterity after him, should enjoy. 
 Qn the other side, the Scots, hearing of the preparations of their 
 enemies, were not negligent in gathering forces, on their part. 
 George earl of Ormond was made captain-general; who presentr 
 Iy marched into Annandale, whither his intelligence informed him 
 that the enemy would come. And indeed the English had pre- 
 vented him, and entered Scotland before. They had passed over 
 the rivers Solway and Annan, and pitched their tents by the river 
 Sark; from whence they sent out parties on every side to pillage ; 
 but hearing of the coming of the Scots, they recalled them all by 
 sound of trumpet; and contracted all their forces into one body, 
 As soon as ever they came in sight of one another, they fell to it 
 without delay. Main commanded the left wing of the English, 
 and Sir John Penington the right; in which were the Welsh, the 
 relics of the ancient Britons. The earl himself commanded the 
 main battle. George Douglas appointed Wallace, laird of Craig, 
 to fight Main; and Maxwell and Johnston, each with their troops 
 to attack Penington; he himself took care of the main body. He 
 gave them a short exhortation, to conceive good hopes of victory, 
 because they had taken up arms in their own defence, as provoked 
 "by the injuries of their enemies; and that a prosperous issue must 
 needs attend so just a cause; and, if they could abate the pride of 
 th,e enemy, by some notable overthrow, they would reap a lasting 
 fruit of their short labour. 
 
 The English, v/ho abounded in number of archers, wounded 
 
Book XL HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. If 
 
 many of the Scots with their darts, at a distance; whereupon 
 Wallace, who commanded the left wing, cried out aloud, so as 
 to be heard by most of his men, Why they trifled so, and skirmish- 
 ed at a distance : they shcidd follow him, and rush in upon the enemy 
 hand to hand ; and then their valour would truly appear ; for that ivas 
 the fighting ft for men. Having thus spoken, he drew the whole 
 wing after him. And presently, with their long spears, where- 
 with the Scots, both foot and horse, were furnished, they drove 
 the enemy back, routed, and put them to flight. Main perceiv- 
 ing his wing to give back, being more mindful of the just glory of 
 his former life than of his present danger, rushes with great vio- 
 lence upon Wallace-, so that by his boldness, he might either re- 
 new the fight, or else breathe out his last in the glory of an illus- 
 trious attempt: but unwarily charging, he was intercepted from 
 his own men, and, with those few that followed him, was slain. 
 When both armies heard that he was slain, the Scots pressed on 
 more chearfully: so that the English army did not stand long. 
 As they fled dispersed in great disorder, and with much precipita- 
 tion, more were slain in the pursuit, than in the fight. But the 
 chiefest slaughter was upon the banks of the Sol way: for there the 
 tide had swollen up the river, so that they could not pass. About 
 3000 of the English were slain in the fight, and 600 of the Scots. 
 There were many prisoners taken, the chief were Sir John Pen- 
 ington and Robert Huntington. The Earl of Northumberland's 
 son might have escaped, but whilst he was helping his father to 
 horse, he himself was taken prisoner. The booty was greater than 
 had ever been known in any battle betwixt the Scots and English 
 before. For the English, trusting to the number and goodness 
 of their soldiers, and depending also on the discord of the Scots, 
 came on so securely, as if it had been to a shew, not to a fight; so 
 great was their confidence, and so much they undervalued their 
 enemy. Wallace wa6 wounded, carried home in a litter, and, 
 in three months after, died of his wounds. 
 
 Ormond, being thus a conqueror, took a view of the prisoners. 
 The chief commanders he sent prisoners to the castle in Lochma- 
 ben. He himself returned to court; where every body went out 
 to meet him: and he was received with all the tokens of honour. 
 The king highly extolled his military services; but withal advised 
 him and his brother, that, as they had often given proof of theiv 
 courage abroad, and had defended the state of Scotland by their la- 
 bour and valour, even in perilous times; so at home they would 
 accustom themselves to a modest deportment; and first refrain 
 themselves from injuring the poorer sort, and next hinder their 
 clans from doing it: and that they should use their forces and 
 grandeur, which their ancestors had obtained by their many me- 
 iits, both of king and subjects, rather in restrj'ning of robbers, 
 
a£ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI f 
 
 than in cherishing them. That this was the only thing which was 
 wanting to complete their praise, and make it absolute; and, if 
 they would do that, they should certainly find, that he would 
 esteem the honour of the Douglasses, and their interest, before 
 any thing else whatsoever. They answered the king submissively, 
 and so took their leave, and went joyfully home. 
 
 After this fight at Sark, as the borders of Scotland were quieter 
 from the wrongs of their enemies; so, when the matter was re- 
 ported at London, it did rather irritate the English, than deject 
 them. For, a council being called about a war with Scotland, a, 
 new army was ordered to be raised, to blot out the former igno- 
 miny. Whilst they were a]l intent upon this expedition, at that 
 very crisis of time, civils wars broke out among themselves; and a 
 strong conspiracy of the commons made against the king, took 
 off their thoughts from a foreign war: so that ambassadors were 
 sent into Scotland to treat of a peace, which was so much the 
 more welcome, because the Scots affairs were not well settled at 
 home. Yet they could not well agree to terms of peace; but only 
 made a peace for three years, and so returned home. These 
 things were acted in the year of our Lord 1448. 
 
 This public joy was soon after increased by a message, sent out 
 of Flanders from the chancellor, who went ambassador to Charles 
 VII. about contracting a marriage. By his endeavours, Mary, the 
 daughter of Arnold duke of Guelderland, was betrothed to James. 
 She was of kingly race by her mother's side, who was a sister of 
 the duke of Burgundy. The year after, she came with a great 
 train of noble persons into Scotland, and in July was crowned in 
 the abbey of Holyrood-house, near Edinburgh. 
 
 This universal joy, for the victory, for the peace, and for the 
 marriage, was soon disturbed, by the death of Richard Colvil, a 
 knight of note ; which, though perhaps, in itself not undeserved, 
 yet was of very bad example to the commonwealth. This Colvil, 
 having received many and great wrongs from one John Afleck, a 
 friend of Douglas's, and after many complaints, getting no reme- 
 dy in law nor equity, fought with and slew him and some of his 
 followers. Douglas took the fact so heinously, that he made a so 7 
 lemn oath never to rest, tijl he had expiated the murder by Colvil's 
 death. Neither were his threatenir.gs in vainj for he stormed his 
 castie, took and plundered it, and killed all the people in it, who 
 were able to bear arms. This action, though performed against 
 Jaw and custom, was excused, and, in effect, commended by 
 some, as proceeding from indignation, a passion that does not sit 
 unbecoming upon a generous mind. Thus, as it commonly hap- 
 pens in degenerate times, Flattem, the perpetual companion of great* 
 -VI.. dressed up the highest offences ivith honest and plausible names. 
 pouglas was so plated with the flatteries of fortune^ which was 
 
Book XL HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. £9 
 
 now bent on his destruction; that he was ambitious to make an 
 ostentation of his power, even to foreign nations; as if the splen- 
 dor of so great a family ought not to be straitened within the narrow 
 theatre of one island only : so that he had a mind to go to Rome. 
 He pretended religion, but the principal design of his journey was 
 ambition. The church of Rome had adopted the old rites of the 
 Jewish: for, as the Jewish church every fiftieth year, was to for- 
 give all debts, of what kind soever, to their countrymen, and to re- 
 store all pledges gratis; and also to set their Hebrew servants at 
 liberty : so the pope, faking an example from thence, as God's vi- 
 car on earth, arrogated the power of forgiving all offences. For, 
 whereas at other times, he trucked out his pardons by piece-meal; 
 every fiftieth year he opened his full garners thereof, and poured 
 out whole bushels full of them publicly to all; yet I will not say, 
 gratis. 
 
 ■ Douglas with a great train of nobles, who were desirous, part- 
 ly to see novelties, and partly were tempted with the hopes of re- 
 ward, sailed over into Flanders ; from whence he travelled by land 
 to Paris, and took with him his brother, appointed bishop of Ca- 
 ledonia; who afterwards, seeing Douglas had no children, was* 
 by the king's permission, put in hopes of being his heir. In 
 France he was" highly caressed, partly upon the account of their 
 public league with the Scots, and partly in memory of his ances- 
 tors merits from that crown; and the fame of this filled all Rome 
 with the expectation of his coming. 
 
 About two months after his departure from Scotland, his ene- 
 mies and rivals began to lift up their heads; they durst not, for 
 fear, complain of him when he was- present; but now they laid 
 open all the injuries which they had received from him. And, 
 when it was once noised abroad, that the access to the king was 
 easy, and that his ear was open to all just complaints; the troop 
 of the complainants, lamenting their sufferings, increased daily; so 
 that all the ways to the palace Were crowded by fhem. The king 
 could neither well reject the petitions of the sufferers-, nor yet 
 condemn die earl in his absence, without hearing him, so that he 
 gave a middle answer, which satisfied their importunity for the 
 present, viz. That he would command the carl's procurator, or attorney 
 to appear ; that so, he being present, a fair trial might be had. 
 Whereupon the procurator was summoned, but did not appear: 
 So that the king's officers- were sent out to bring him in by force. 
 When he was brought to court, some alleged, that he ought to 
 be immediately punished for disobeying the king's command; in 
 regard that, by too much patience, the king's authority would bs 
 despised and run low, even amongst the meaner sort: For, unde# 
 the pretence of lenity, the audaciousness of the bad would increase, 
 Wad the impunity of offenders would open the way for mor** 
 
3<> HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. BoOk Xl. 
 
 crimes. The king was not moved by those instigations, but re- 
 mained constant to his resolution: which was, rather to satisfy 
 the accusers, by the compensation of their losses, than to satiate 
 their revengeful minds with the spilling of blood. For this end, 
 he caused the earl's procurator to be freed from prison, and to 
 plead, in his master's behalf; telling him, That, if he had any thing 
 tt> allege, by ivhkh he could clear his master of the crimes objected, he 
 should freely declare it, without any fear at all. When he was cast 
 in many suits, and the king commanded him immediately to pay 
 the damages; the procurator answered, He would defer the whole 
 matter, till the return of the earl ; who was expected in a few months. 
 This be spake, as it was thought, by the advice of Ormond and 
 Murray, the earl's brothers; when the king was informed of his 
 resolution, he sent William Sinclair, earl of the Orcades, who was 
 then chancellor, first into Galloway, and then into Douglasdale. 
 He appointed sequestrators, to gather up the rents of Douglas's 
 estate; and so to pay the damages adjudged by law. But as Sin- 
 clair had not power enough to inforce his order; some eluded, 
 others abused him very grossly; so that he returned without bring- 
 ing his business to any manner of effect. 
 
 The king, being provoked by this contempt of his authority, 
 commands all the favourers of Douglas's faction to be summoned 
 to appear; which they refusing to do, were declared public ene- 
 mies; and an army was levied against them, which marched into 
 Galloway. At their first coming, the commanders of the rebels 
 were driven into their castles; but a small party of the king's for- 
 ces, pursuing the rest through craggy places, were repulsed; and 
 not without ignominy returned back to the king. The king, be- 
 ing in a mighty indignation, that vagabond thieves slvould dare to 
 make such attempts, resolved to make them pay dear for their con- 
 tempt of the commands of majesty, by attempting their strong- 
 est holds. He took the castle of Maben, with no great difficulty; 
 but his soldiers were so much toiled and wearied in the taking of 
 Douglas's castle, that he entirely demolished it, by way of re- 
 venge As for the vassals and tenants who had submitted them- 
 selves and their fortunes to him, he commanded them to pay their 
 rents to his treasurers, till Douglas's estate had fully satisfied, 
 what was awarded against him by law. And, when this was 
 done, he dismissed his army; having obtained a good report for 
 his lenity and moderation, even amongst his very enemies. 
 
 When these matters were related to the earl at Rome, h'19 great 
 spirit was mightily moved; his reputation was even abated a- 
 mongst his own attendants; a great part of them deserted him; 
 $nd he set out upon his journey homewards, with but a few fol- 
 lowers. Passing through England to the borders of Scotland, he 
 ssnt his brother James to feel the king's pulse, how he st.cod tfffcct* 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 31 
 
 ed towards him. And, as the king was found in the humour of 
 being appeased, he returned home, and was kindly received: on- 
 ly he was admonished to abandon and subdue all robbers, especi- 
 ally those of Annandale; who had played many cruel pranks, t6 
 satisfy their avarice, in his absence. Douglas undertook to do 
 so; and confirmed his promise by an oath. Whereupon he was 
 not only restored to his former grace and favour, but also made 
 regent overall Scotland; so that every one was injoirted to obey 
 his commands. 
 
 But his vast mind, which was always hankering after an exces- 
 sive state of exaltation, was not content with this honour, which 
 was the greatest he could be advanced to, under the king; but, 
 by his temerity, he gave the state new occasions of suspicion: 
 Por he undertook a journey very privately into England; and, af- 
 ter his address to that king, he told him, that the cause of his 
 coming was, That his estate, though claimed by him, "was not yet re- 
 stored. But this seemed to James, a light, and no probable cause 
 of his journey: And therefore the king conceived a great suspicion 
 in his mind, which before was not well reconciled ; neither did he 
 conceal his anger, as supposing that there was a deeper design hid 
 under that discourse with the English king. Douglas, having 
 now an offended king to deal with, fled presently to his wonted 
 refuge, his majesty's well-known clemency, and cast himself at 
 his feet : The queen also, and many of the nobles interceded for 
 him; and, after a solemn oath, that for the future, he would ne- 
 ver act any thing which might justly offend the king, his fault was 
 forgiven; only he was deprived of his office. Whereupon the earl 
 of the Orcades, and William Crichton, who had always remained 
 loyal, were advanced again to the helm. 
 
 Douglas was very angry with all the courtiers for this disgrace 
 (for so he interpreted) it but he was most of all incensed against 
 William Crichton; for he thought that it was by his prudence, 
 that all his projects were disappointed; and therefore he was re- 
 solved to dispatch him out of the world, either by some treachery, 
 or if that succeeded not, by any other way whatsoever. And, 
 that he might do it with the less odium, he suborned one of his 
 friends to witness, that he heard Crichton say, That Scotland 
 would never be at quiet, so long as any of the family of the 
 Douglasses livere alive; and that the safety of the king and king- 
 dom, the concord of the estates, and the public peace, depended upon, 
 the death of that one man: For, he being of a turbulent nature, and sup- 
 ported by many and great affinities and irreconcilable by any offices of re- 
 spect and advancements to honour, it ivas better to have him t, -ken out 
 of the ivay, that so the public peace might be confirmed and st 
 This tale, when noised abroad, and believed by many, by reason 
 of the face of probability it carried along with it, raised in a 
 
 Vol. II. E 
 
32 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. BookXI. 
 
 great deal of ill-will against Crichton, Douglas, being informed 
 by his spies, when he was to depart from Edinburgh, lays an am- 
 bush for him, late in the night % as secretly as he could, and, 
 when Crichton and his train came to it, the insidious ruffians set 
 upon them with a great shout-, they who were first assaulted, 
 were so astonished at the suddenness of the danger, that they 
 could not lift up an hand to defend themselves. But William, be- 
 being a man of great courage and conduct, as soon as he had a 
 little recovered himself from his fright ; killed the first man that 
 assaulted him, and wounded another; and so he and his attendants 
 broke through the midst of their enemies, having only received 
 some wounds. He fled to Crichton castle, and there staid some 
 days, to cure his wounds; and soon after, he got a great number 
 of his friends and tenants along with him, and came with pro- 
 found secrecy to Edinburgh; his speed did so prevent the noise 
 of his coming, that he had almost surprised his enemy una- 
 wares. 
 
 Douglas, being thus freed from unlooked for danger, either out 
 of fear, shame, or both, when he saw the power of the adverse 
 faction increase and grow extremely popular, endeavoured also to 
 strengthen his own party, as much as ever he could; and there- 
 fore he joins himself in league with the earls of Crawford and 
 Ross, which were the most noted and potent families in Scotland, 
 next to the Douglasses. A mutual oath was entered into betwixt 
 them, 'That each of than should be aiditig and assisting against all the 
 ivorld, to the friends and confederates of one another. And in confi- 
 dence of this combination they contemned the forces of the opposite 
 faction; nay, and the king's too. The king resented this as the 
 very highest indignity; and besides, he had other fresh causes of 
 provocation against him; which hasted his destruction. John 
 Herris, a knight of a noble family in Galloway, being averse to 
 the ill practices of the Douglasses, commonly kept within the 
 walls of his own house; but the Annandalians were sent in upon 
 him ; who did him a great deal of mischief. He often complained 
 of it to Douglas, but in vain: so that at length he determined to 
 Tevenge himself, and repel force by force. And accordingly, he 
 gathered a company of his friends together, and entering Annan- 
 dale, he, and all his followers were taken prisoners by those ban- 
 ditti; and being brought to Douglas, lie hanged him up as a thief, 
 though the king had earnestly interceded for him by his letters. 
 The matter seemed very heinous, as indeed it was; so that speeches 
 were given out, That Douglas, by evil practices, did endeavour, and 
 that not obscurely, to make his way to thecrotvn: For novj there was 
 nothing else remaining, which could satisfy his vast and aspiring ?nind. 
 Which suspicion was soon after increased by another action 
 
 * Donj^a-'j ue-lgn against Crichton's life. 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 33 
 
 which he committed as foul as the former. There was a certain 
 family of the Maclans in Galloway, one of the chief and best there; 
 the prime person of that family had killed one of Douglas's attend* 
 ants, from whom he had received continual wrongs and affronts ; 
 /or which Douglas put him and his brother in prison. The king 
 was made acquainted with it, and was very much importuned by 
 the friends of the prisoner, not to suffer so noble, and otherwise a 
 very honest man, to be haled forth, not to a trial, but to un- 
 doubted destruction; the same person being both his capital enemy, 
 and his judge too; and, that they were not his present crimes 
 which did him so much prejudice, as his having always been of 
 the honest, or royal party. Hereupon the king sent Patrick Gray, 
 Maclan's uncle, a worthy knight, and of kin also to Douglas, to 
 command him to send the prisoner to court, that the matter might 
 be tried there in due course of law. The earl received Gray cour- 
 teously: but, in the mean time, he caused execution to be done 
 upon the prisoner, and intreated Gray to excuse him to the king, 
 as if it had been done by his officers without his knowledge. But 
 he, perceiving how manifestly he was deluded, was in such a 
 rage, that he told Douglas, that from that day forward he would 
 renounce all alliance, friendship, or any other obligation to him, 
 and was resolved to be his everlasting avowed enemy, and to do 
 him all the mischief he could. 
 
 When this news was brought to court, this action appeared so 
 horridly vile to all that heard it, that it grew the World's common 
 talk, that Douglas did now exceed the bounds of a subject, and 
 plainly carried himself as a king: for to what other purpose else 
 did 1ns combinations with the earls of Crawford, Ross, Murray, 
 and Ormond tend? And moreover his private discourse with the 
 king of England, his putting good men to death, and his allowed 
 licentiousness in pillaging the people, were indications of the same 
 design. Now innocency was accounted cowardice, and loyalty to 
 the king punished as perfidiousness; that the enemies of the com- 
 monwealth grew insolent, by the too great lenity and indulgence 
 of its prince : that it was time for him now to take the reins of go- 
 vernment into his own hand, and to act like a monarch himself; 
 and then it would appear who we**e his friends, and who were his 
 enemies ; or, if he did not dare to do it openly, by reason of the 
 power of some men; yet, by some way or other, he should punish 
 disloyalty: but if he were so fearful as not to do so either, what 
 remained but that they who had hitherto been constant in their 
 loyalty to him, should now at length provide for themselves? 
 Though the life of the Douglasses, and the credulity of the king 
 (prone to suspicion) did confirm these discourses to be too true; 
 yet the king, out of his innate clemency, or else having before laid 
 his design, sends for Douglas to court. He, conscious of so mam 
 
 E 2 
 
34 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 mischievous pranks he had played, and calling to remembrance 
 how often he had been pardoned; and withal understanding how 
 distasteful his new league with Crawford was to the king; though 
 he put great confidence in his majesty's clemency, yet being 
 more inclined to fear, refused to come; alleging that he had ma- 
 ny powerful enemies at court, and some of them had lately lain in 
 wait to take away his life. Hereupon, to remove this his fear, 
 many of the nobles about the king sent him a schedule, with their 
 hands and seals to it, promising upon oath, That if the king him- 
 self should meditate any thing against his life, yet they would dis- 
 miss him in safety. So that Douglas, encouraged by the king's 
 clemency, and by the public faith, testified by the subscriptions of 
 so many noble persons, with a great train of followers came to 
 Stirling, where he was courteously treated by the king, and invit- 
 ed into the castle. After supper was ended, with a great deal of 
 mirth, the king took him aside into a private chamber, with but 
 a few attendants. He did not so much as admit those to whom 
 he was wont to communicate his most secret counsels. There he 
 discoursed over, from the very beginning, the loyalty and valour 
 of his ancestors, and his royal indulgence towards their family, and 
 especially towards himself; whom, after having committed many 
 heinous offences, either through the inexperience of his years, or 
 through the persuasions of wicked men, he had freely pardoned; 
 always hoping, that either his royal clemency toward him, or else 
 his growing further into years of discretion, would reform him: 
 and as yet, says he, I despair not but it may be so: and if you re- 
 pent of what you have impiously committed, the door of my cle- 
 mency shall never be shut against you. This last league, (pro- 
 ceeded he) with Crawford and Ross, as it is not creditable for 
 you, so it is ignominious to me: and therefore, though I take it 
 much amiss that you entered into it, yet I put it into your power, 
 and, as yet, give you liberty to cancel and break it off; which, 
 though by my prerogative I may command, I had rather, by fair 
 means, persuade you to do; that, since all men's eyes are upon 
 you, you may avert all cause of suspicion with greater security. 
 Douglas answered submissively enough to all other points; but 
 when his majesty came to mention the league, he was somewhat 
 perplexed, and did not clearly declare what he would do; but that 
 iie would advise with his associates : neither could he see any cause 
 why the king, at present, should oblige him to a breach of it, 
 since it contained nothing that could justly offend his majesty. 
 The king, either having resolved upon the matter before, or else 
 provoked by his contumacious answer, (as the courtiers say), repli- 
 ed, If thou ivilt not break it, I ivill : and immediately struck his 
 dagger into his breast. Those that stood at the door hearing the 
 iioise, rushed in; and, after a great many wounds, gave him the 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 35 
 
 finishing blow. Some say, that next after the king, Patrick Gray, 
 of whom mention was made before, struck him into the head with 
 a bill; and the rest that came in, to shew their duty to the king, 
 gave him every one a blow. He was killed in the month of Fe- 
 bruary 1452, according to the Roman account. 
 
 He had then four brothers in Stirling, whom a great number of 
 the nobility had accompanied thither. They, as soon as ever they 
 heard what was done, ran in great amazement to their arms, (as it 
 commonly happens in such sudden confusions), and filled, the 
 town with noise and clamour. But, when the tumult was ap- 
 peased by the nobles, they were commanded to go, each man to 
 his respective lodging. The next day they met to consult: and 
 first of ail, James was saluted earl in the room of his departed bro- 
 ther. He mightily inveighs against the perfidiousness of the king 
 and the courtiers •, and advises to besiege the castle with what for- 
 ces they then had, and with all speed to levy more; and so to pull 
 those men out of their lurking-holes, who were valiant only to 
 commit perfidious mischiefs, while they were yet in some fear and 
 anguish for the guilt of their offence. The company commended 
 the piety of James, and the courageousness of his spirit, but were. 
 averse to his advice to a seige; because they were not prepared 
 with any materials for so great an enterprize; so that they all de- 
 parted home. And after consultation with the chief of their 
 friends, the 27th of March they returned again; and tied a cord 
 to an horse-tail, on which they fastened the schedule of the king 
 and nobles, promising the public faith to Douglas for his security: 
 this they drew through the streets, abstaining from no manner of 
 reproach, either against the king or council. When they came to 
 the market-place, with the sound of five hundred trumpets, and 
 the voice of a crier, they proclaimed the king and those that were 
 with him, Truce-breakers, perjured persons, and enemies to all good 
 men. Moreover, they were angry with the town, though that had 
 committed no offence; and after they had pillaged it and left it, 
 they sent James Hamilton back to burn it. Nay, their fury conti- 
 nued for some days, so that they ranged all over the country, and 
 ruined the lands of all those who were loyal to the king. They be- 
 seiged the castle of Dalkeith; and took an oath not to depart from 
 it till they had taken it: for they were highly displeased with John, 
 the owner of it, because he and the earl of Angus had separated 
 themselves from the counsels of the rest of the Douglasses. The 
 st?c;e lasted longer than they expected, for Patrick Cockburn, com- 
 mander of the garrison, made a strenuous resistance against all the 
 efforts of the enemy: so that, after they had received a great ma- 
 ny wounds, and were worn out with toils and watchings, they 
 broke up the seige. In the mean time, the king levied an army to 
 relieve his distressed friends; but not having strength enough to 
 
3<5 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XT. 
 
 encounter the Douglasses, he resolved to wait till Alexander Gor- 
 don could come in to his assistance ; who, as the report went, had 
 levied a great force in the most northern parts, and was marching 
 towards him: But, as he was passing through Angus, Crawford, 
 with a considerable body, met and opposed him at Brechin; where 
 a sharp battle was fought betwixt them. When the king's main 
 body was giving ground, as not able to endure the shock of the 
 Angusians, John Colace, who commanded the left wing, forsook 
 Crawford, having born him a grudge ; and so left the main body 
 of his army naked. This struck those, who were almost conquer- 
 ors, with such terror, that they turned their backs, and fled for it. 
 Thus Gordon unexpectedly got the victory, with much loss on his 
 side; two of his brothers, and a great number of his friends and 
 Followers being slain. Of the Angusians also, there fell several 
 men of note; and amongst the rest, John Lindsay the earl's own 
 brother. As for the earl himself, he turned his wrath from the 
 enemy upon those who had deserted him: He stormed their 
 castles, and put their several territories to fire and sword : and he 
 had the better opportunity so to do, because Gordon made a spee- 
 dy return into his own country, Buchan, when he heard that the 
 carl of Murray was exercising nil manner of cruelty against his 
 territories: so that he was forced to march back with his victori- 
 ous army; where he net only revenged his loss upon his enemy, 
 but also quite expelled him cut of his country of Murray. These 
 actions were performed towards the end of the spring. 
 
 In the interim, the king, by the advice chiefly of James Kenne- 
 dy, caused an assembly of the estates to meet at Edinburgh, to 
 which he summoned, by an herald, the earl of Douglas, and the 
 nobles of his party, to come. But he was so far from obeying 
 him, that the next night he caused a label to be hung on the 
 church doors, that he would not trust the king with his life, nor 
 yield obedience to him for the future, any more, who had sent 
 for his kinsman to Edinburgh, and his brother to Stirling, under 
 the protection of the public faith, and there had perfidiously slain 
 them, without hearing their cause. In this assembly the* four 
 brothers cf the late earl who was slain, James, Archibald, George 
 and John, with Beatrix the late earl's wife, and Alexander earl 
 of Crawford, were declared public enemies to the commonwealth. 
 ? v Ianv persons were advanced to be noblemen, and rewards were 
 assigned them out of the rebels estates. An army was levied to 
 pursue the enemy, which, after some devastation of the country, 
 driving off booties, and burning corn in granaries, was again dis- 
 missed in winter, because the soldiers could not then keep the 
 peld, and an expedition was appointed ngainst the spring. 
 
 ' The Douglases proclaimed public enemies, 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. * 37 
 
 In the mean time, James Douglas, lest the wealth of his family, 
 which was mightily increased by rich matches, should go away to 
 other people, takes to wife Beatrix, the relic of his brother, and 
 treats with the pope to confirm the marriage. But the king, by 
 his letters, interposed, and hindered him from giving his ratifica- 
 tion to it. This year, and the two next following, there was dis- 
 cord between the parties; lands were pillaged; some castles over- 
 thrown; but they came not to the decision of the main contro- 
 versy by a set battle ; the greatest part of the damage fell on the 
 counties of Annandale, Forres, and the neighbouring counties of 
 the Douglasses. This devastation of the countries was followed 
 by a famine, and the famine by a plague. The wisest of Dou- 
 glas's friends used all arguments in persuading him to endeavour 
 a reconciliation with the king, and so to lay himself, and all his 
 concerns, at his feet, whom his ancestors had before found very 
 merciful; especially since he had. a king, who was easily exorable 
 in his own nature ; and moreover, might be made more reconcil- 
 able by the mediation of his friends, and that he would not suffer 
 so noble a family as his was, to be extirpated by his obstinacy; 
 nor betray the lives of so many brave men, who followed his par- 
 ty; nor yet bring them to that point of necessity, that, after hav- 
 ing suffered so many calamities, they should be forced to make 
 terms for themselves: Whilst he was in a good condition, he 
 might make easy terms of peace; but, if once his friends deserted 
 him, he could then have no hopes of obtaining his pardon. The 
 man, being in the full pride and warmth of his youth, and of a fierce 
 disposition too, made answer, " That he would never submit: him- 
 " self to their power, who were restrained by no bounds of modes- 
 " ty, nor by any divine or human laws; who under fair prc- 
 " mises had enticed his cousins, and his brother, to come to them, 
 " and then perfidiously and cruelly murdered them: In a word, 
 " he would suffer the height of all extremities, before he would 
 " ever put himself into their hands." 
 
 This his answer, was approved, or disliked, according to every 
 man's humour: Those who were violent, or who made a gain of 
 the public miseries, commended the greatness of his courage; but 
 the wiser sort persuaded him to take opportunity by the forelock, 
 lest, after his friends had forsaken him, he should find reason, 
 when it was too late, to complain that he had neglected the time 
 for a reconciliation, which is usually the end of hasty and head- 
 strong resolutions. But the earl of Crawford, wearied out with so 
 long a war, and likewise reflecting inwardly upon the injustice of 
 his cause, and the frequent turns and changes of human life; and 
 knowing moreover, that he might obtain his pardon, if he would 
 be but early enough in his solicitations for the king's favour; but 
 that he would find it extremely difficult to get it, if he stood it out; 
 
33 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 and besides, being forsaken by some of his friends, and suspect- 
 ing the fidelity of the rest, he put himself into such an habit, as 
 would most probably move compassion, and came bare-headed 
 , hi bare-footed, in most humble manner to the king, as he was 
 passing through Angus. To whom he ingenuously confessed the 
 offences of his former life, putting his life and fortune upon the 
 king's mercy, having first prefaced something concerning the fi- 
 delity and good services which his ancestors had performed to 
 their kings; he was conscious, that his fault had deserved the 
 extremity of punishment; but whatsoever hereafter he had either 
 of life or fortune, it would be a debt wholly due to the king's 
 clemency. Having spoken these, and other words of the same 
 import, not without tears, all the spectators were much moved 
 and affected, especially some of the nobility of Angus; and tho' 
 they themselves had followed the king's party, yet they were un- 
 willing, that so eminent and ancient a family should be destroyed. 
 James Kennedy carried himself at the same time like a good bi- 
 shop and a friendly patriot; for he not only forgave the earl the 
 many grievous injuries he had done him, but further commended 
 his suit, and spoke in his favour to the king: For he foresaw, as 
 it after happened, that by this accession, the king's party would 
 be strengthened, and his enemies weakened daily for the future, 
 because many were likely to follow the example of this great man. 
 And besides, the king thinking that his former fierceness was 
 tamed, and that he was really penitent for what he had done, was 
 not hard to be intreated; but gave him his pardon, restored him to 
 his former estate and honour, only advised him, for the future to 
 keep within the bounds of his duty. And indeed Crawford, being 
 thus engaged by the lenity and indulgence of the king, did after- 
 wards endeavour to perform him all the services he possibly could. 
 He followed him with his forces in his march to the farthest part 
 of the kingdom ; and having settled things there for the present, 
 he entertained him nobly at his house in his return; and when 
 he marched to make an end of the civil war, he promised him all 
 the force he could make; and indeed the whole course of his life 
 was so changed, that, laying aside his former savageness of beha- 
 viour, he lived courteously, and in complaisance with the neigh- 
 bouring nobility; so that his death, which followed soon after, was 
 the greater grief to the king, and to all the people. 
 
 'The king thus weakened Douglas's party by degrees: that 
 earl's remaining hopes were from England, if possibly he might 
 obtain aid from thence. For this end he sent Hamilton to Lon- 
 don, who brought him back word, That the king of England ivoidd 
 undertake a ivar against Scotland on no other terms , hit that Douglas 
 should submit himself and all his concerns to that king, and achwivl edge 
 himself a subject of England: bo that his hopes from thence were 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 39 
 
 cut off. And, on the other side, the king of Scotknd pressed 
 hard upon him by his edicts, proscriptions and arms, and by all 
 the miseries which accompany rebellious insurrections: so that 
 Hamilton advised the earl not to suffer the king to lop away his 
 forces by piece-meal; and, by catching party after party, to weak- 
 en, and in time overthrow the whole •, but rather to march out 
 with his army, trust fortune, put it to a battle, there to die vali- 
 antly, or conquer honourably. This resolution, said he, is wor- 
 thy of the name of the Douglasses, and the only way to end the 
 present miseries. Alarmed and fired with this speech, he gather- 
 ed as great an army as he could, of his friends and dependents, 
 and marched out to raise the siege of the castle of Abercorn ; for 
 the king, after he had demolished many castles of the Douglasses, 
 had at last besieged that. It was a very strong hold, situate al- 
 most in the mid-way between Stirling and Edinburgh. When 
 Douglas came so near, that he saw, and was seen by, the enemy, 
 his friends advised him to push at all, and either make himself re- 
 nowned by some eminent victory; or, by a noble death, to free 
 himself from reproach and misery: But, when all his party were 
 ready for the onset, he daunted all their spirits by his own delay, 
 for he retreated with his army again into his camp, and determin- 
 ed to draw and spin out the war to a greater length. His com- 
 manders disliked his design ; and Hamilton abhorring his cow- 
 ardice, and despairing of the success of his arms, revolted that ve- 
 ry night to the king's party. Upon this his defection, the king 
 gave him his pardon, but not reposing any great confidence in him, 
 because of his subtilty, he sent him prisoner to Roslin, a castle 
 belonging to the earl of the Orcades ; but afterwards, by the me- 
 diation of his friends, he was released, and received into favour; 
 and that unbloody victory ascribed to him, as the main occasion 
 of it. 
 
 The rest of the Douglassians generally followed Hamilton's ex- 
 ample, and gave their chief the slip, going where each thought it 
 most convenient for his own security; so that, at length, the castle, 
 after much loss on both sides, was taken, and the garrison being 
 put to the sword, it was left half demolished as a monument of 
 the victory. Douglas, being thus deserted by almost all his 
 friends, with a few of his familiars fled into England ; from thence, 
 not Jong after, he made an inroad with a small party into Annan- 
 dale, which was then possessed by the king's garrisons; but, be- 
 ing worsted in a skirmish, he and his brother John escaped; 
 Archibald carl of Murray was slain; George, much wounded, was 
 taken prisoner; and, after his wounds were cured, was brought to 
 the king, and put to death. In an assembly of the estates held at 
 Edinburgh, on the J . : fth of June, in the year 1455, James, John, 
 and Beatrix, all Douglasses, were again proscribed: The public 
 
 Vol. II. F 
 
4° HISTORY CF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 acts made Beatrix their mother, which seems not very probable to 
 lie, unless perhaps they might be called her sons by adoption. 
 Larl James having thus lost his brothers, being deserted by his 
 friends, and distrusting the English, that he might leave no stone ' 
 unturned, applied himself to Donald, king of the- vEbudae: They 
 met at Dunstaffhage; where the earl easily persuaded Donald, a 
 man naturally prone to do mischief, to join with him in the war; 
 whereupon they committed great outrages on the king's provinces 
 near adjoining, without distinction either of age or sex; there was 
 nothing spared that could be violated by fire or sword. The like 
 cruelty was used in Argyle and Arran. Douglas being laden 
 with booty, returned home; and afterward, having wasted Loeh- 
 aber and Murray, and making his road to Inverness, he took the 
 castle, and pillaged and burnt the town. 
 
 Neither were the English quiet all this while, but watching their 
 opportunity, they made incursions into March; where they slew 
 some men of note, who endeavoured to oppose their furious rava- 
 ges; and so returned home without loss, but full of plunder, from 
 that opulent country. The next year after, Beatrix, wife to the 
 former earl cf Douglas, and also living for some years with James, 
 His brother, as his wife, came in to the king: She laid all the 
 fault of her former miscarriages upon James; that she being a 
 woman, and helpless, was forced to that wicked marriage; but 
 at the first opportunity, as soon as James was absent, she fled that 
 servitude: that now she laid herself, and all her concerns, at the 
 king's feet; and, whatever order he should please to make con- 
 cerning her, or her estate, she would willingly obey it. The king 
 received her into his protection; gave her an estate in Balve- 
 ny, and married her to his brother, the earl of Athol, by the same 
 mother. The wife of Donald, the islander, followed her ex- 
 ample: She was the daughter of James Livingston, and was mar- 
 ried to Donald, by her grandfather, the regent, by the persuasion 
 of the king ; that so he might a little soften the rugged disposition 
 of the man, and keep him firm to the king's party: But then heir 
 kmsmau being restored to the favours and graces they formerly- 
 had, and h~r husband having joined in with the Douglassian fac- 
 tion, she was every day move and more despised by him; so that 
 
 he implored the king's assistance against his barbarous cruelty. 
 There was no need of her making such an apology, in regard the 
 king himself; had been the author of the match; so that she v. .. 
 nobly treated, and had a large revenue settled upon her for life. 
 About the same time, Patrick Thornton, who had followed the 
 court a great while, yet was secretly of Douglas's faction, Jiaving 
 got a convenient opportunity, at Dumbarton, slew John Sandc- 
 land of Calder, a young man of about twenty years of age, and 
 
 Uktn Steuart, of noble families both, and emineill foi their loyal- 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 4 1 
 
 ty to the king. But soon after, he himself was taken by the 
 clans of the adverse party, and executed for his pains. 
 
 This year was remarkable for the death of many noble person- 
 ages; but especially of William Crichton. He, tho' born but of 
 a knight's family, yet, by reason of his great prudence, fortitude, 
 and his singular loyalty- to the king, even to the last day of Ins life, 
 left a great loss behind him to all good men. The next year, the 
 English, encouraged by their coming off with impunity for for- 
 mer injuries, made great spoil in March, under the command of 
 Henry Piercy, earl of Northumberland, and James Douglas, the 
 exile. In order to put a stop to these devastations, George Dou- 
 glas, earl of Angus, gathered a party of his countrymen together, 
 and made an assault upon the plunderers, and drove that part of 
 them which he assaulted, in great confusion to their own stand- 
 ards. The English, moved at this indignity, marched on their 
 army, before the rest had recovered their colours, and the Scots 
 were as ready to receive them. 
 
 The fight was managed on both sides, with greater courage 
 than force, for a great while together; neither did any odds ap- 
 pear, till the English, who were scattered up and down the coun- 
 try, by the noise and tumult, perceiving that the enemy was ' 
 come, for fear of losing the rich booty they had gotten, hasted 
 directly home. Their departure gave an easier, but yet not un- 
 bloody victory, to the Scots, there being almost an equal number 
 slain on both sides; but many of the English taken in the pur- 
 suit. The news of this victory being brought to the king, some- 
 what raised his spirits, which were oppressed with the insur- 
 rections of his own subjects, as well as with the invasions oi 
 foreigner:; and likewise desposed Donald the islander, perceiving 
 the ill success of his affairs, to send agents to the king for a peace. 
 They, in an humble oration, commemorated the king's clemen- 
 cy shewed to Crawford, and the rest of his partisans in the same 
 cause. As for theifc own crimes, they laid them on the evil geni- 
 us of the times; but for the future, they made large promises, 
 how loyal and obsequious Donald would be. The king seemed to 
 be a little affected with their speech, but gave them no absolute 
 answer; neither quite pardoning Donald, nor utterly excluding all 
 hopes of his pardon. He told them, "That his many crinv. -■ 
 " were very evident, but he had discovered no sign ofhis conver- 
 " sion; if he would have the penitence which he pretended in 
 " words to be believed as really true and hearty, he should make 
 •< restitution for the loss he had formerly caused, and restore their 
 " estates to such as he had outed from the possession of them ; and 
 " thus cancel the memory of his former mischiefs, by some emi- 
 " nent and loyal service. 'Tis true, (said he,) no virtue become^ 
 ♦< a kin^ mere than clemency; but care must be hrA> lest the reins, 
 
 F 7 
 
42 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 «« of government be not let loose by too much lenity; and so evil 
 « men made rather more insolent, than good men excited to their 
 « duty by it. That he would give Donald and his party time to 
 " manifest, by some tokens, that they repented of their miscar- 
 " riages; and that they would always find him acting towards 
 " them, just as their actions, not their words, shewed they de- 
 " served from his hands. In the mean time they need not fear; 
 " for now it was put into their own power, whether they would 
 « every man be happy, or miserable, for the future." 
 
 By this means, intestine discords being either composed, or 
 else laid asleep, the king now bends all his care against England. 
 Whilst he was consulting about carrying on a war with them, 
 and concerning their frequent violations of treaties, ambassadors 
 came at that very crisis from the English nobility, to desire aid 
 against Henry their king ; for Henry had slighted the nobles, 
 and advanced upstarts ; by whose advice, his wife, a woman of 
 a manly spirit and courage, ordered all affairs. And besides, the 
 king had incurred the contempt of his people, and the displeasure 
 of his friends, because things had not succeeded well in Gas- 
 cogne and Normandy: For they having lost so many provinces, 
 and being now pent up within the ancient bounds of their own 
 island, murmuring gave out, That the king's sluggishness, and 
 the queen's pride were no longer to be endured. The heads of 
 the conspiracy were Richard duke of York, with the'-iearls of 
 Salisbury and Warwick. When the English ambassadors had 
 discoursed much concerning the justice of their taking arms a- 
 gainst Henry, and also concerning their own power, and the 
 cowardly temper of their king, they craved aid against him, as 
 against a common enemy, who was fearful in war, sordid in 
 peace, and who had nourished civil discords amongst the Scots, 
 and had assisted their exiles. Withal, they promised, if they 
 got the victory, to restore the castles and countries which were 
 taken in former wars from the .Scots. The king, by. advice of 
 his council, made answer, That he knew before the state of the 
 English affairs ; and that he was not ignorant of the right or 
 demands of either side ; but that he would not interpose himself 
 as an arbiter in another man's kingdom, unless he were chosen 
 by both parties to that bmce. As to the war, he had long since, 
 determined to revenge the injuries of former times ; and, since 
 he could not by law obtain the places he had lost, on the occa- 
 sion of these discords, he would recover them by force; but if 
 the duke of York and his party, would promise' to restore them, 
 then he would assist him against Henry. The ambassadors a- 
 greed to the terms, and so returned home. 
 
 The king prepared his forces, and was about to enter Eng- 
 land ; when, just at that very time, an English impostor, sent 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 43 
 
 by Henry, met him. He had been a long time at Rome, and 
 was well acquainted with the speech and customs of the Ita- 
 lians: His habit and train was all outlandish, and he had coun- 
 terfeit letters as. from the pope •, whereby he was easily believed 
 by unsuspecting men, to be a legate sent from him: and to 
 gain the greater credit to his impostures, he had a monk with 
 him, whose feigned sanctity made the fraud less suspected. 
 They were brought to the king, and in the pope's name com- 
 manded him to proceed no further with his army •, if he did, 
 they threatened to excommunicate him with bell, book, and can- 
 dle : For the pope, said they, is wholly intent upon a war a- 
 gainst the common enemy of Christendom ; and so would have 
 the differences composed all over Europe, that they might be 
 free from that war ; and that they were sent before, to give him 
 notice of it ; but there was a more solemn embassy which would 
 shortly arrive, and which, they believed, was come as far as 
 France, to decide the civil discords in England, and to give sa- 
 tisfaction to the Scots for the wrongjs they had sustained. The 
 king did not imagine any fraud in the case, and desiring nothing- 
 more than an honourable peace, in regard things at home were 
 not quite settled to his mind, obeyed the legate, and disbanded 
 his army. 
 
 He had scarce dismissed it, but he was advised from England, 
 that thi^lsupposed ambassador was a cheat; so that he raised 
 some forces afresh; and, because he could not join with the 
 duke of York, that he might keep off some of the king's forces 
 from him, and also revenge his own wrongs, he marched direct- 
 ly to Roxburgh; the town he took, and destroyed it at his first 
 coming: But whilst he was laying siege to the castle, ambassa- 
 dors came from the duke of York, and his associates, informing 
 him, that their king was overcome, and the war ended in Eng- 
 land. They gave him thanks for his good will, and his desire 
 to assist them in the maintenance of their lives and honours; and 
 that they would in time be mindful to requite the courtesy ; but 
 at present, they desired him to raise the siege, and draw oiffrom 
 the castle ; and likewise to forbear any other act of hostility a- 
 gainst England; for otherwise they should draw upon them a load 
 of envy from the people, who could hardly be satisfied, but that 
 an army must presently march against the Scots. James congra- 
 tulated their victory; but asked the ambassadors, whether the duke 
 of York had given them nothing in command, concerning the 
 performance -of their late promises. They answered, Nothing. 
 Then (said he) before your first embassy came to me, I was de- 
 termined to pull down that castle, which is built upon my land; 
 neither, since that, am I so much obliged by the courtesies of 
 that faction, as to give over an enterprise, which is begun, and 
 
44 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XI. 
 
 almost finished. As for the threateniugs, whether they are their 
 own, or their peoples, let them look to it; Go you, and tell 
 them, That I ivill not be removed hence by ivyrds, but by biotas. Thus 
 the ambassadors were dismissed without their errand. And whilst 
 he did press upon the besieged with all the hardships of war, Do- 
 nald the islander came into his camp, with a great band of his 
 countrymen. He, to obtain the easier pardon for his past offen- 
 ces, and fully to atone and reconcile the king, promised him, 
 that, if he would march forward into the enemy's countries, as, 
 long as he was there, he would march a mile before the royal 
 army, run the hazard of the first onset, and stand the greatest 
 shocks. But he was commanded to be near the king; yet some 
 of his troops were sent to prey upon the country. It happened 
 also, that at the same time, Alexander Gordon earl of Huntly, 
 brought in new forces to the king. 
 
 This accession of strength made the king more resolute tq 
 continue the siege, though a stout defence was made by those with- 
 in: so that, whereas before it was a blockade only, a well laid 
 and close siege was now made: and there being soldiers enough, 
 some presently succeeded in the places of others; insomuch that 
 the garrison soldiers (of whom many were slain, many wound- 
 ed and unfit for service, the rest tired out with continual toil 
 and labour) were not so eager to run into the places of most 
 danger, as before: And, to strike the more terror into them, the 
 king gave command to batter 'part of the wall with iron pieces 
 of ordnance; which were then much used, and were very terrible: 
 And whilst the king was very busy about one of them, to encou- 
 rage and press on the work, the fire catched within it, and with 
 its force drove out a wooden wedge or plug, which immediately 
 struck the king stone dead on the earth, without hurting any bo- 
 dy else. Those courtiers that stood next him, though they were 
 terrified at this sudden accident, yet they covered his bodv, lest, 
 if his death were divulged, the common soldiers would run away. 
 The queen, who, that -very day, came to the camp, spent not 
 the time in womanish lamentations, but called the nobles toge- 
 thcr, and exhorted them to be of good courage; and that so many 
 ■-aliant men should not be dismayed at the loss of one, as count- 
 ing it dishonourable to desert a business that was almost ended. 
 She told them, she herself would .speedily bring them another 
 fciag in the place of him that was shin; in the mean time, they 
 should press with might and main upon the enemy, lest they might 
 grow more resolute, upon the news of the general's death, and 
 so imagine, that all the courage of so many valiant men was ex- 
 tinguished in the fate of one person only. The officers were a- 
 ... i < ■ i. : exceeded, in courage by & woman. They assa 
 
Book XI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 45 
 
 the castle with such violence, that neither party were sensible 
 that the king was lost. 
 
 In the mean time, James, the king's son, being about seven 
 years of age, was brought into the camp, and saluted king. And 
 it was not long after, before the English, quite tired out with 
 watching, and fatigued with continued service, surrendered up 
 the castle to the new king, upon condition to march away with 
 bag and baggage. The castle, that it might he the occasion of 
 no new war, was levelled to the ground. This end had James 
 II. in the year of Christ 1460, a few days before the autumnal 
 equinox, in the 30th year of his age, and the 24th of his reign. 
 He had been exercised always, even from his youth, in domestic 
 or foreign wars: He bore both conditions of life, the prosperous 
 and the adverse, with great moderation of mind: He shewed such 
 valour against his enemies, and such clemency to those that sub- 
 mitted themselves, that all ranks were much afflicted for his kiss. 
 And his death was the more lamented, because it was sudden, 
 and that in the flower of his youth too; after he had escaped so 
 many dangers, and when the expectation of his virtues was at die 
 highest. And he was the more missed, because his son was yet 
 immature for the government, whilst men considered what mise- 
 ries they had suffered these last twenty years; the ashes of which 
 fire were hardly yet raked up: so that from a remembrance and 
 reflection of what was past, they seemed to divine the state of fu- 
 ture things, 
 
 
 
 ' - 
 
 - 
 / 
 
(A. C. 1460J 
 
 THE. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 F 
 
 SCOTLAND, 
 
 »»!»!?) -;*K ©*«»« 
 
 BOOK XII. 
 
 JAME3 III. the hundred and fourth king. 
 
 James II. as I have related, being slain in his camp, to prevent all 
 controversy concerning the right of succession, (which had hap- 
 pened at other times}, his son James, a child of about seven years 
 old, who was the younger and survivor of twin brothers, entered 
 upon his reign in the town of Kelso. Afterwards, when the no- 
 bles, according to custom, had taken the oaths of allegiance to him, 
 eight days after he began to l'eign, he left his army, and retired 
 home to the castle of Edinburgh, to be under the care of his mo- 
 ther, till an assembly of the estates could meet to determine the 
 grand affairs of the kingdom. The assembly was summoned lat- 
 er than ordinary, bee;; we matters were not composed in England, 
 nor yet quiet in Scotland: > v o that the nobility were of opinion, 
 That war was first of all to be thought on; that so they might 
 revenge old injuries, and punish the enemies by some notable 
 loss, who arways lay upon the catch, to t;:ke advantages of the 
 distresses of others. For this end they marched into the enemy's 
 country, without any resistance; where they committed much 
 spoil, and demolished many castles, from whence the enemy was 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 47 
 
 wont to make many incursions; the chief of which was Werk, 
 situate on the banks of the river Tweed, by its neighbourhood 
 very injurious to the country of March. The army ravaged over 
 the enemy's country, as far as they could, for the time of the 
 year, and, at the very beginning of winter, returned home. 
 
 This year, Henry, king of England, was taken by the duke of 
 York, and brought to London; there a form of peace was con- 
 cluded between them; for Henry durst not deny any thing; That 
 he, as long as he lived, should bear the name, and ensigns and badges , 
 cfa king; but the power of government should be in York, under the 
 name of a protector. And, when Henry died, then the name 
 also of king was to be transferred to Edward [rather Richard] 
 and his posterity. Whilst these things were acted at London, 
 news was brought, that the queen was marching up with a great 
 army to redeem her husband out of prison. York, went out to 
 engage her, with king Henry, and about 5000 men, leaving the 
 earl of Warwick behind. He marched as far as Yorkshire; and, 
 lest he, who in France had defended himself against great armies 
 not with walls, but with arms, should now shun a battle with a 
 woman, he fought against a far greater number than his own; 
 and in the fight he, his youngest son, and a great many nobles, 
 were slain. The heads of the commanders were set up as a spec- 
 tacle, upon the gates of York. The queen thus victorious, and 
 marching on further, to deliver the king, the earl of Warwick 
 met her, bringing the king along with him, as if he would defend 
 the pact made concerning the kingdom, under his good omen. Both 
 armies met at St. Albans, which is thought to be the old Verulam, 
 where the queen was again victorious. She slew the command- 
 ers of the adverse army, released her husband, and marched di- 
 rectly up for London: But considering, that the earl of Pembroke 
 was sent by her to gather forces, as was also York's son by his fa- 
 ther, and that these two had a fight in their march, wherein Ed- 
 ward the son of her enemy, was victorious; and withal knowing 
 what cruel hatred the Londoners bore against her, she withdrew 
 towards Northumberland, because she looked on that part of Eng- 
 land, as the seminary, or source of her strength. There she was 
 also overcome in a bloody fight; more than 36,000 valiant men be- 
 ing reported to be slain on both sides, and the enemy pressing up- 
 on her, and giving her no time to collect her forces, she, her hus- 
 band, and son, fled into Scotland. 
 
 The conqueror called himself Edward IV. king of England. 
 Henry desired aid in his distress, and, by the help of James Ken- 
 nedy, archbishop of St. Andrews, who then surpassed all in Scot- 
 iand in point of authority, and whose prudence was held in the 
 highest esteem, he was entertained with a great deal of honour 
 and respect; so that he had some hopes of recovering his former 
 
 Vol. II. G 
 
48 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 design; and, to nourish that hope, by all the mutual good offices 
 which he could do, he restored the town of Berwick to the Scots 
 (which the English had held ever since the days of Edward I.) 
 The Scots, upon this obligation, assisted Henry's faction in all 
 things, not only in pieceing up the relics of his former misfor- 
 tunes, but promising him more aid, in time, to recover his own. 
 And that the friendship now begun, might be the more firmly e- 
 stablished, the two queens, both of them of French descent, began 
 to treat concerning a marriage between James's sister, and Henry's 
 son, whom they called prince of Wales, though neither of them, 
 as yet, was seven years old. % Philip of Burgundy, uncle to the 
 queen of Scots, but a mortal enemy to the queen of England, en- 
 deavoured by all means to hinder this marriage: and he sent 
 Grathusius a nobleman, his ambassador, for that purpose; for 
 Philip was at such deadly odds with Renatus, grandfather to the 
 young lady by the mother's side, that he sought all occasions to 
 hinder his family from increasing; so that in favour of him the 
 matter was, at that time, rather delayed, than broke off. But the 
 fortune of Henry kept off the event, which Philip of Burgundy 
 feared. For, being something encouraged by the kindness of the 
 Scots towards him, and also by some comfortable letters sent from 
 his friends out of England, he sent his wife beyond sea to Rena- 
 tus her father, to procure what aid she could from her foreign 
 friends. She prevailed so much in France, that her faction was to 
 have a safe place of retreat there, but her adversaries were exclud- 
 ed; and, moreover, she obtained 2000 men, as Monstrelet says, 
 under Warren their general; but, as ours, and the English writ- 
 ers (to whom I rather assent) 500, commanded by Peter Brice, or, 
 as some call him, Brace, a Briton, rather as companions 'for her 
 journey, than as any auxiliary aid. With this small band she re- 
 turned into Scotland, and thought fit to attempt something, not 
 doubting, but at the noise of foreign assistance, her countrymen 
 would rise and join with her. Whereupon she made a descent at 
 Tinmouth; but this small company, being dismayed at the report 
 of a great force coming against them, returned to their ships, 
 without the performance of any thing remarkable; where al- 
 so, as if fortune had crossed them on all hands, they met with a 
 dreodful storm, which drove the greatest part of them, who follow- 
 ed the queen to Scotland, into Berwick; but some of them were 
 cast upon the isle of Lindisfarn, where they were taken by the ene- 
 my and put to the sword, 
 
 i3ut the manly-spirited queen was not at all discouragedyat this 
 mistortune, but levies a great number of Scots to join with her 
 own soldiers^ and resolves to try her fortune once again. Accord- 
 ingly, leaving her son at Berv/ick, she, and her husband entered 
 Northumberland, where she made great devastation, by fire and 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 49 
 
 sword, in all the adjacent parts. At the report of this new 
 army, some of the nobles, as the duke of Somerset, Ralph Piercy, 
 and many of Henry's old friends besides, who, for fear of the times 
 had retired to king Edward came in to them ; but there was a far 
 greater confluence from the adjacent parts of England, of such 
 persons as had lived rapacious lives, in hope of some new plunder. 
 To appease this commotion, Edward made great military prepa- 
 ration both by land and sea •, he commanded the lord Montague, 
 with a great part of the nobility, to march against the enemy, and 
 he himself followed with his whol& army. Both parties pitched 
 their tents not far from Hexham ; but the common soldiery, who 
 came in only for booty, beginning to desert, Henry thought it best, 
 in such a desperate case, to put it to a push; and accordingly a 
 fight began, wherein he was overthrown, his chief friends were 
 either slain or taken prisoners, and he himself made an hasty re- 
 treat to Berwick; of the prisoners, some had their heads cut off 
 presently, and some a while after. Edward, having thus got the 
 day by the generals of his forces, came himself into Durham, that 
 so he might prevent the incursions of the Scots by the terror of his 
 neighbouring army; and also that by his presence he might quell 
 any domestic insurrections, if any should happen. Whilst he was 
 there, he sent out part of his army, under several commanders 
 to take in places possessed by his enemies, of which having taken 
 many by storm, or by surrender, at last he laid siege to the castle 
 of Alnwick, which was greater and better fortified than the rest, 
 and which, was maintained by a garrison of French, who defend- 
 ed the castle very well, in hopes of relief from Scotland, which 
 was so near at hand. But the Scots having lately had ill success 
 in England, an army could not be so soon levied, as the present 
 exigence required for the raising of the siege; insomuch that, 
 whilst others were backward, and delayed to give their opinion, 
 George earl of Angus, with great boldness and bravery, under- 
 took the hazardous attempt. He raised about 1,000 horse, of his 
 friends, vassals, and the neighbouring province, of which he was 
 governor: He came to the castle, and furnished the French that 
 were in garrison, with some horses he had brought for that pur- 
 pose, and so carried them off safe, even to a man, into Scotland, 
 whilst the English stood and looked on, as amazed at the boldness 
 of his miraculous enterprize; either thinking that Douglas had 
 help near at hand; or rather hoping to have the castle given up 
 without a battle, and so they would not put the whole to an ha- 
 zard, by joining in fight with that small, tho' select party. Ed- 
 ward settled guards at all convenient places, that no rebellious 
 troops might march and countermarch; and then, as if he had 
 quieted the whole kingdom, he returned into London. 
 
 In the mean time, exiled Henry, either flattered, into hopes by 
 
 G % 
 
£0 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 his friends, or else weary of his tedious exile, determines to 
 shelter himself privately amongst his friends in England. But 
 fortune frowning upon him to the last, he was there known, ta- 
 ken, brought to Loudon, and committed prisoner to the tower. 
 And his wife Mai-garet, distrusting her present affairs, with her 
 son and a few followers, left Scotland, and sailed over to her fa- 
 ther Rcnatus, into France. 
 
 To return then to the affairs of Scotland. The time far the as- 
 sembly, which was summoned to be held at Edinburgh, was come; 
 where there was a full appearance, but the body of them was di- 
 vided into two factions; part of the nobles followed the queen, 
 but the major part by far, stuck to James Kennedy and Gecrge 
 Douglas earl of Angus, the heads of the contrary faction. The 
 queen lodged in the castle; the bishop and the earl lay in the ab- 
 bey of Iiolyrood-house, at the farthest part of the suburbs towards 
 the east. The cause of the dissension was, that the queen 
 thought it equal and just for her to have the tutelage, or guardian- 
 ship of her son; the other party judged it most fit, that one 
 should be chosen out of the whole assembly for that important 
 work. The queen pleaded very strongly the tenderness of the 
 mother, and the mighty ties both of interest and blood. The ad- 
 verse party insisted on the old law, confirmed by uninterrupted 
 custom. In the third day of the assembly, the queen came down 
 from the castle with her followers, and caused herself to be de- 
 creed tutoress of the k'wgy and governess of the kingdom, l>\> her oivtt 
 faction : and so returns into the castle again. When Kennedy 
 heard of this, he hastened, with his party, into the market-place, 
 and there, in a long speech, he told the multitude, which was 
 thick about him, "That he and his associates aimed at nothing but 
 " the public good, and the observation of their ancient laws; but 
 " their adversaries were led, each one by his private advantage ; 
 " and that he would evidently make it appear, if he might have a 
 " place allotted, and freedom to dispute the point." This said, 
 he retired with his followers to his lodging; but was not gone far 
 from the market-place, before he heard that the other party was 
 coming down armed from the castle. Douglas looked upon this as 
 an intolerable thing, that valiant men should yield to the threats of 
 a few, and that their retirement should be looked upon as a flight; 
 therefore was hardly kept in by Kennedy, from assaulting the ad- 
 joining gate of the city, and, weaponless as he was, to attack 
 armed men; and, unless the three bishops of Glasgow, Galloway, 
 rmdDumbhne, upon noise of the uproar, had come in, his indig- 
 nation would not have been stopped, till they had come to blows. 
 But by the mediation of those bishops, the matter was so far com- 
 posed, that a truce was agreed upon for one month. 
 
 Though the chiefs of the faction v/ere thus quieted, yet the 
 multitude could not be restrained from expressing their wrath and 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 5 1 
 
 indignation, in rough and cutting language; as, that the desire of 
 the queen was dishonourable to the kingdom, and indecent for 
 herself. ( What (said they) is the valour of the old Scots at so 
 
 * low an ebb, that, amongst so many thousand men, there is 
 ' none worthy to govern the affairs of Scotland, but a woman?. 
 c What, was there no man that could rule over die nation; and 
 1 that would live the greatest part of his life in arms? What like- 
 « lihood was there, that those who had not been altogether .trac- 
 
 * table to their king, when slack, should now yield obedience to a 
 
 * foreign woman? What, had they undergone so much labour, 
 
 * and lost so much blood, these many years, by sea and land, that 
 
 * men, born and bred up in arms, should tamely give up them- 
 1 selves to the servitude of a woman? What if the English should 
 
 * invade them, as they had often done at other times, in revenge 
 
 * of their losses, with a great army? Who could (in that case) set 
 
 * up the standard, and lead out to battle? Who could give or ac- 
 
 * cept terms of peace or war?' These were the discourses of the 
 commonalty in all their clubs. 
 
 But in a month's time their minds were a little calmer; and the 
 truce being at an end, there was another convention, where the 
 queen alleged this for herself, in justification of her cause, 'That, 
 
 * since she had not entered upon the government, the year befcre,by 
 « force, or against the minds of the nobility, but being chosen to 
 f that dignity by their unanimous consent, had but used her own 
 
 < right, she took it amiss to be degraded, and no crime at all imputed, 
 « as to her mal-administration. If (said she) as it is usual, degrees of 
 
 < relation be regarded in guardianship, there is none nearer than a 
 « mother: if the safety of the king was in their view, none could be 
 « more faithful ; for other men might have their various and distinct 
 f hopes from his death; but nothing remained for her, but to 
 « mourn for the loss of so dear a son. And, if they had respect 
 ' to the good of the public, she was a stranger, and concerned in 
 « no interest offends or friendships; and that was what should be 
 
 < much considered in those who sat at the helm of government, 
 
 * that they should not only be free from vicious courses, but like- 
 « wise from those temptations, which might set a bias upon their 
 
 < mind to pervert justice and judgment. Some had opulent pa- 
 « rents, kinsmen, allies, by whose interest they might hope for 
 « an excuse of their offences, or, at least, an easier pardon; nay, 
 
 * sometimes rulers were compelled to square and accommodate 
 « theif actions to such friends' wills and honours. As for herself, 
 ' her innocency alone was her only advocate; she had but one son 
 
 * to regard, and both their benefits and advantages were closely 
 ' joined and interwoven together. And, were it not for these 
 
 * considerations, she would choose much rather to live a quiet 
 
 < and happy life in retirement, with the good liking of all; than to 
 
52 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 * undergo the enmity of all malefactors, by punishing their 
 '* crimes; nay, and sometimes to incur the displeasure of the bet- 
 £ ter sort. Neither was it a new thing for a woman to desire the 
 
 * regency of another's kingdqm, since not only in Britain, but 
 
 * even in the greatest and most puissant kingdoms of the conti- 
 
 * nent, women have had the supreme power, and their reigns 
 « have been such, that their subjects never repented of their go- 
 
 * vcrnment." 
 
 When she had thus spoken,- many assented to her; partly to 
 prepossess a place in her future grace and favour; partly in hopes, 
 that the fruits of other people's envy would redound to their ad- 
 vantage: Nay, there were some who had an evil jealousy, that, 
 if the election should be made out of all, they themselves might be 
 passed by, as less fit; and therefore they rather desired, that the 
 queen should be made head over them all, than that others, of the 
 same rank with themselves, or even of a superior order, should be 
 preferred before them. 
 
 However, the more uncorrupted part of the nobility, shewed, 
 both by their countenances and speeches, that they were disgusted 
 at the queen's oration; but that which did vehemently affect the 
 whole assembly, was the authority and speech of James Kennedy 
 archbishop of St. Andrews, who, it is reported, spoke in this 
 manner* 
 
 « IT is my chief design, noble peers, that they whose aims are 
 at the good of all in general, might freely declare their minds, 
 without offence to any one particular person. But in our pre- 
 sent circumstances, when the sense of things, delivered for the 
 public good, is wrested and turned to the reproach of these pri- 
 vate persons who speak them, it is a very difficult thing to ob- 
 serve such a mean betwixt disagreeing heats and different opi- 
 nions, as not to incur the offence of one of the parties. As for 
 me, I will so temper and moderate my discourse, that no man 
 shall complain of me, without first confessing his own guilt : 
 yet I shall use the liberty of speech, received from our ancestors, 
 so modestly, that as, on the one side, I desire to prejudice no 
 man; so, on the other, neither for fear nor favour will I pass 
 by any thing which is of use in the debate before us. I see that 
 there are two opinions which do retard and impede our concord; 
 the one is of those who judge, that in a matter relating to the 
 good of all, an election out of all is to be made: and, as we all 
 meet to give our suffrages in a business concerning the safety of 
 the whole kingdom; so it is just and fit, that no man should be 
 excluded from the hopes of that honour, who seeks after it by 
 honest and virtuous ways. The other is of such, who count it 
 « great injury done to the queen, who is so noble a princess, and 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 53 
 
 so choice a woman, if she be not preferred before all others in 
 the guardianship of her son, and the administration of the go- 
 vernment of the kingdom. 
 
 « Of these two opinions I like the former best, and I will shew 
 you my reasons for it by and by. In the mean time, I so far ap- 
 prove the mind of the latter, that they think it below the queen's 
 grandeur, that any single person should vie with her for this 
 point of honour, lest her authority, which ought to be, as in 
 truth it is, accounted venerable, should be lessened by coping 
 with inferiors ; and indeed I would be wholly of their mind, if 
 the dispute lay here, about the honour of one, and not the safe- 
 ty of all. But, seeing that we are this day to make a determi- 
 nation about that which concerns the lives and fortunes of all 
 private men, and the safety of the whole kingdom too, it is 
 highly requisite, that all single interests and concerns whatso- 
 ever, should stoop and give way to this consideration. And 
 therefore I earnestly advise those who are of this opinion, so to 
 consult the dignity of the queen, as not to forget at the same 
 time the reverence they owe to the laws, to the old customs 
 and to the universal good of their country. If they can shew, 
 that it is lawful, and publicly expedient, that the guardianship 
 of the king, and the regency of the kingdom, ought to be in the 
 queen's hands, I will be of their opinion. But, if what they 
 plead for, be pernicious to the public, I hope the queen first, 
 and next all good men, will pardon me, if (always saving the 
 majesty of the queen, as sacred, so far as, by law and the cus- 
 tom of our ancestors I may) I do not conceal my opinion; or 
 rather, if I speak out that with freedom, which it were the 
 greatest impiety in me to conceal. 
 
 « To begin then with the laws: there is a law made above 500 
 years ago, by king Kenneth, a prince no less eminent for his 
 wisdom and prudence, than for his military performances; and 
 it was assented and yielded to by all the orders of the kingdom; 
 and approved of to this very day, by the constant observance of 
 so many ages; That, when the king happened to be a minor, the 
 estates, or parliament of the kingdom, should assemble, and choose 
 someone man, eminent for wisdom and power, to be his guardian, 
 and to govern the king, whilst he was yet unable to wield the sceptre 
 with his own hands. Though this law be referred to Kenneth, 
 as the author of it; yet, it seems to me, that he did not so 
 much enact it first, as revive and confirm the ancient custom of 
 the Scots by a new sanction. For our ancestors were so far 
 from committing the supreme power into the hands of a wo- 
 man, that, if you look over our chronicles, you shall not find 
 the name of a woman regent recorded among them all. For 
 why, pray, should they mention such a name, of which thev 
 
54 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 * never had any occasion, ana hoped they should never have, any 
 c for the future? For those females, whom other courtiers call 
 
 * queens, we only call wives, or consorts of our kings; neither 
 « do we entitle them to any higher name; for, I guess, our wise 
 
 * ancestors had this in their eye, that as often as these consorts 
 
 * heard their names subjoined to that of their husbands, they 
 « might remember, that they were subject to men: and therefore, 
 « a woman was never admitted to the regency, or the administra- 
 « tion of public affairs to this very day. The same course hath 
 « been also constantly observed in less magistracies, both as to 
 « their appointment and executions. For though many honours, 
 « and some seigniories amongst them, have come by inheritance 
 
 * to some women, by reason of their great deserts from their 
 « country, and have also been allotted to them, as dowries; 
 « yet it was never known, since the memory of man, that any 
 « woman did ever preside in any public council, or in any court 
 « of judicature, or did ever take upon her any of those offices 
 
 < which are appropriated to men. And truly, since our ances- 
 « tors, though not bound by law to it, did constantly observe this 
 « custom, only by the impulse of nature ; if we, their posterity, 
 
 -« should bring the commonwealth into an apparent danger, by 
 
 < opposing a law received by the votes of all, and approved by so 
 « long an usage; who will free us from the brand (I will not say 
 « of rashness, but) even of madness itself ? Especially, since we 
 « have been warned by examples near at hand: for the Saxons 
 « justly urged and provoked to it by the wickedness of one woman, 
 « viz. Ethelburga, made a law, that, after that time, no woman 
 « should be called queei!, nor should sit in public next the king, in 
 
 * any seat of honour. I beseech you, therefore, consider serious- 
 « ly, how much they degenerate from their prudence, who, a- 
 « gainst a law so ancient, and as advantageous to women as ho- 
 
 < nourable to men, would put the reins of government into their 
 « hands, to whom our ancestors never gave so much as a royal 
 
 < name: and from whom our neighbours took it away, after they 
 « had given it to them. Other nations, I grant, have acted other- 
 
 < wise; with what success I shall not declare, after I have first an- 
 
 < swered those, who dare not calumniate this law openly, but, in 
 « the carpet-conventicles of women, do implead it as unjust. 
 « But whosoever he be that finds fault with it, he seems to repre- 
 « bend, not some sanction only approved by the suffrages of men, 
 
 < but even nature itself, i. c. that primary law imprinted in our 
 « hearts by God himself ; I say, nature itself, whom our law- 
 « maker had as a guide and directress of all his counsels, when he 
 
 * proposed and enacted this law. For nature, from the begin-* 
 
 * ning, both not only distinguished men from women by the 
 
 * strength of mind and body, but hath also appropriated distinct 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. $ i, 
 
 offices and virtues to each sex, the same indeed for kind, but far 
 different in degree; for 'tis no less unbecoming a woman to pro- 
 nounce judgment, to levy forces, to conduct an army, to give a 
 signal to the battle, than it is for a man to teaze wool, to handle 
 the distaff", to spin, or card, and to perform the other services 
 of the weaker sex. That which is liberality, fortitude, and se- 
 verity in men, is profusion, madness and cruelty in a woman. 
 And again, that which is elegant, comely and ornamental in a 
 woman, is mean, sordid and effeminate in a man. Do not they 
 therefore, that endeavour to confound and mix those things 
 which nature, of her own accord, hath distinguished ; do they 
 not, I say, seem to you, not only to disturb, but also to over- 
 throw the state of the kingdom, which is founded upon so good 
 laws and customs ? This they do, when they would obtrude on 
 us the government of a woman, which our ancestors did not so 
 much as Once name. For the maker of that law (as I told you 
 before) doth not seem so much to induce a new sanction 
 in the enacting thereof, as only to commit to writing the per- 
 petual usage of our ancestors, that it might be transmitted to po- 
 sterity; and that which hath been always observed by the guid- 
 ance of nature, in the making of a king, they have consecrated 
 the same thing to be observed by public authority, in choosing a 
 guardian for a king under age. Whoever go about to under- 
 mine and infringe this one law, what do they, but endeavour at 
 once to overthrow all the other laws, rites and customs of our 
 ancestors? I speak this that I may prevent all cavil; not that I 
 think all laws are immutable, as if they were enacted to last for 
 ever: No; laws are of different powers, sorts, and kinds: those 
 which are accommodated to the vicissitudes of times, are sub- 
 ject to the inconstancy of fortune, and are wont to last so long as ' 
 the necessity lasts which imposed them; and those which are 
 obtruded on men by the wills of tyrants, are commonly disan- 
 nulled and abrogated with their authors. But as for that in- 
 stinct or impulse of nature, which is, as it were, a living law, 
 ordained by God, and deeply imprinted and engraven in men's 
 hearts, that no consent of multitudes, nor any degrees of men 
 can abolish. For, as an excellent poet is reported to have said, 
 It was not born yesterday or to-day, but it grew up together with 
 dame nature herself, and lives and dies with her. And seeing 
 our law, of which we now speak, is of that sort, and a principal 
 one too, he doth not oppose the dignity of the queen, who de- 
 sires that she, of her own accord, would prescribe to herself 
 those bounds which nature loath appointed, her sex requires, 
 custom hath established, and the laws made by the consent of all 
 nations do approve. But they who would have her forget her 
 sex, would persuade her to break through all bonds of law, and 
 Vol. II. H 
 
%6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIL 
 
 * to disturb the order of things appointed by God, received by use* 
 
 * and allowed in all well governed cities and countries. And cer- 
 ' tainly, whosoever slights that order, will be grievously punished, 
 
 * not by men only, but by God himself, who will assert his own 
 
 * ordinances. For if good laws threaten a man with death, who 
 
 * shall clothe himself with a woman's apparel ; and a woman, if 
 
 * she wear the habit of a man ; what punishment can be inflicted 
 
 * on them too great for their offence, who, by a preposterous flat-' 
 « tery, would overthrow the whole force of nature, and the ever- 
 ' lasting constitution of God himself? Will you understand how 
 
 < these flatterers do not speak what they cordially mean? In a 
 
 < public assembly, to give a vote 5 to be president in a court of 
 
 * law; to enact or abrogate a law; these are great things in them-^ 
 c selves, yet they are but a small portion of public government. 
 « Why do not these flatterers bring their wives hither to us, to con- 
 
 < suit? Why do not they also preside in judicatures? Why do they 
 
 * not persuade,, or dissuade laws? Why do not these men look 
 « after their domestic affairs at home, and send their wives abroad 
 « to the wars? But if they would impose those regents upon us, 
 « whom they themselves dare scarce trust in the management of 
 
 * their own household affairs, much less think them fit for the 
 ' least part of any public business; consider, I pray, how they 
 
 * contradict themselves: but, if conscious of their own infirmity, 
 ' they speak as they think, and so are restrained by modesty rather 
 
 * than judgment, yet let them hope well of others, who both can 
 « and will perform their own, i. e. the services proper for men. 
 
 * But if (as I rather judge) they think by this kind of complaisance 
 « to gratify the queen, I advise and admonish them to lay aside 
 « their false opinion of a princess of so great prudence as she is, 
 
 * and not believe her to be so ignorant of things, as to reckon that 
 
 < an increase and accession of dignity (to her) which would be 
 « the foulest thing imaginable in other women. I enter upon this 
 « part of my discourse very unwillingly: therefore since our noble 
 
 * princess hath so well deserved of trie whole kingdom, that it is 
 
 * lit she should hear nothing which might justly offend her ears or 
 
 < heart; I will not mention those things which ill men do com- 
 « monly allege, in contemning and undervaluing the sex; I shall 
 
 * rather insist on those virtues which are proper to the queen; 
 ' .and though these are many, and eminently illustrious, yet none 
 
 * of them have procured greater praise and commendation rather 
 « than her modesty; which is esteemed so proper to her sex, that 
 
 < even in a private person, it doth either cover, or at least much 
 
 * extenuate other faults. But in our princess, none of whose 
 « words or deeds, in regard of the eminency of her birth and con- 
 
 * dition, can be concealed; it doth shine out so illustriously, that 
 ( all her other virtues grow much more acceptable, and are more 
 
 * amply commended, merely for the sake of this one virtue. And 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 57 
 
 therefore I shall need to say but a few words in reference to her, 
 save only to warn and encourage her to persist in that way to 
 glory and honour, which she hath already entered upon; and 
 that she would not give ear to the flatteries of any, so as to be 
 forgetful of herself; but that she would rather tread the sure and 
 experienced way to immortal renown, than by running upon 
 unsafe and craggy precipices, to hazard the splendor of her for- 
 mer life. 
 
 « But my great business is with you, my lords, who, either out 
 of envy, are afraid that your betters should be preferred before; 
 or else, out of a wicked ambition, are laying artfully the foun- 
 dation of your future favour with a good princess. I will there- 
 fore, most noble queen, under the shelter of your prudence, 
 speak freely my thoughts in this case. Such persons do not 
 court you, but your fortune; and whilst they think upon the 
 queen, they forget that the same person is a woman. When I name 
 the word Woman (I do not use it reproachfully, but) I mean a 
 person to whom nature hath given many blandishments, and e- 
 minent enduements; but withal, hath mingled them (as she u- 
 sually doth, in the most usual and precious things) with some 
 alloy of infirmity ; and therefore would have her to be under the 
 guardianship of another, as not sufficiently able to protect her- 
 self; so that she is so far from having an empire over others al- 
 lotted to her, that the laws, in imitation of nature, do com- 
 mand women to be under the perpetual tutelage of their parents, 
 brothers, or husbands. Neither doth this tend to their re- 
 proach, but is a relief to their frailty; for that it keeps them off 
 from those affairs for which they are unfit; it is a kind regard 
 had to their modesty, not a scandal detracting from their ho- 
 nour. I will not take notice how difficultly they arc restrained 
 by the vigilance of their husbands, and the authority of their 
 parents : neither will I mention how far the licentiousness of 
 some women hath proceeded, when the reins have been laid on 
 their necks. I shall confine my speech only to what the present 
 case offers, or rather doth enact and require; and which, ^vithout 
 damage to the public, cannot be concealed. If there be any 
 thing of private concern amiss in the sex, let their husbands and 
 kindred look to that; I shall only touch what may be publicly 
 prejudicial. Greatness of mind was never required in this sex. 
 It is true, women have their other proper virtues ; but as for 
 this, it was always reckoned amongst virile, not female endue- 
 ments. Besides, the more they are obnoxious to commotions, 
 passions, and other efforts of mind, by reason of the imbecility 
 of their natures, the more doth their extravagancy, havinj; once 
 broke through the restraints of the law, fly out, and is hardly 
 ever reduced, and brought back again within its due bounds; in 
 H 2 
 
58 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 regard women are alike impatient, both of diseases, and of their 
 remedies. But if any of them seem more valiant and coura- 
 geous, they are so much the more dangerous, as being liable to 
 more impetuous and vehement passions. For they, who being 
 weary of their sex, have put off the woman, are very willing to 
 extend their liberty, even beyond the precincts of a masculine 
 genius. If you once exceed and pass over the mounds and li- 
 mits, set by nature, whatsoever is beyond, is infinite; and there 
 is no boundary left, either for desire or action. Moreover there 
 is a further accession to this infirmity of nature; for, the less 
 confidence one hath in himself, the more easily he interprets the 
 words and actions of others to his own reproach ; he is more ve- 
 hemently angry, and hardly appeased. Such a party doth also 
 execute revenge more immoderately, and doth punish his de- 
 spisers with greater hate. Now, that all these things are unfit 
 for, nay, contrary to magistracy, there is none of you ignorant, 
 And if any man think that I advise these things of my own head, let 
 him consider what great disturbances there were, not long ago, 
 when Joan of Naples reigned. Look over the histories of an- 
 cient times. I will not mention Semiramis of Assyria, nor La- 
 odice of Cappadocia; these were monsters, not women. The 
 celebrated Zenobia Palmyrena, the subduer of the Parthians, 
 and a match for the Roman emperors, was at last overcome, 
 taken, and triumphed over: and so herself, and her kingdom, 
 which was enlarged and increased by her husband Odenatus, 
 was lost in a moment. 
 
 « Neither may I pass over in silence, what is principally to be 
 regarded in the management of other men's affairs: that the chief 
 command is not to be entrusted to such sort of persons, who 
 cannot be called to account for their maladministration. I do 
 not at all distrust the ingenuity, faithfulness, nor care of the 
 queen: but, if any thing be acted amiss (as it often happens) by 
 the fraud of others ; and matters be carried otherwise than the 
 public good, or the dignity of her place doth require; what 
 mulct can we exect from the king's mother? What punish- 
 ment can we require? Who shall censure her miscarriages ? 
 Shall the highest matters be managed in the meetings of women; 
 in the nursery, cr the dressing-room? Must you there, either 
 each man in particular subscribe to decrees, or all in general 
 make them ? How will you be able to bear female power armed 
 with your own authority, which now, when it is without arms, 
 and subject to you by laws and customs, you can hardly contain 
 within reasonable bounds? Do not think I speak this, as if I did 
 fear any such thing from our queen, who is the choicest, and 
 modestest of all women; but because I think it base and unseem- 
 ly for us, who have all things yet in our own hands, to place 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 59 
 
 the hope of our safety, which we may owe to ourselves, only in 
 another's power ; especially since both divine and human laws, 
 the custom of our ancestors, nay, and the consent of all nations 
 throughout the whole world, make for us. 'Tis true, some na- 
 tions have endured women to be their sovereigns; but they were 
 not elected to that dignity by suffrages, but were cast upon 
 them by their birth ; but never any people, who had freedom of 
 vote, when there was plenty of men to chuse, did ever prefer 
 women before them. And therefore, most eminent patriots, I 
 advise, and earnestly entreat you, that according to the laws of 
 our country, and the customs of our ancestors, we chuse one ; 
 or, if you think fit, more; the best out of the noblest and hest, 
 who may undertake the regency, till the king arrive at that 
 strength both of body and mind, as to be able to manage the go- 
 vernment himself. And I pray God to bless your proceedings in 
 this affair.' 
 
 Thus spoke Kennedy, and had the approbation of an undoubted 
 majority of the assembly, and the rest, perceiving that it was in 
 vain to oppose, went over to his opinion. Now the matter was 
 thus composed, that neither party might seem to have the better 
 of the other; two of each faction were chosen for the guardianship 
 of the king, who were to manage all public affairs with fidelity; 
 to collect and expend the king's revenue; and to undertake the 
 charge of the royal family. Of the queen's side, William 
 Graham and Robert Boyd, then chancellor; of the other, Robert 
 earl of Orcades and John Kennedy; all, on both sides, the chief 
 of their families. To these were added the two bishops of Glas- 
 gow and Caledonia. The queen was allowed to be assisting in the 
 king's education ; but she was not to touch any part of the pub- 
 lic government. As for the other children, which were four, viz. 
 Alexander duke of Albanypand John earl of Marr, and two 
 young females, she had the charge of their education herself. 
 
 Matters being thus composed at home, ambassadors from Eng- 
 land had their audience, who desired a truce : which was granted 
 for fifteen years. The next year, which was 1463, the king's 
 mother died, and had the unhappiness to be not well spoken off in 
 point of chastity. The same year, Alexander, the king's brother, 
 returning from his grandfather by the mother's side, out of 
 France, was taken prisoner by the English ; but freed soon after, 
 in regard the Scots urged it as a breach of the truce, and threat- 
 ened a war should be the consequence of it. 
 
 Peace being obtained abroad, it was not long before intestine 
 commotions rose at home ; for the disputes betwixt the nobility, 
 concerning the state of the kingdom, magnified by vulgar ru- 
 mours, and the king's minority, together with the fresh remem- 
 brance of the licentiousness of the lute times ; all put together. 
 
6s> HISTORY OP SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 •did easily let loose the reins to men, who were turbulent enough 
 in their own nature. Allan of Lorn, a seditious person, desirous 
 to enjoy the estate of John his elder brother, kept him prisoner; 
 intending there to detain him so long alive, till the hatred of his 
 cruel practice did, with time, abate, and so he yield to his will 
 and pleasure. When Calen Campbell, earl of Argyle, heard of 
 it, he gathered a band of his tenants together, freed John, and 
 cast Allan into prison, in his room; resolving to carry him to 
 court, that he might suffer punishment for that, as well as for his 
 other noted robberies; but he prevented his punishment by death, 
 whether voluntary or casual, is not known. 
 
 In another part of the country, Donald, the islander, as being 
 a more powerful person, began to make a far greater commotion; 
 ior, after the king's death, being free from fear, and judging 
 that turbulent state of things to be a fit opportunity for him to in- 
 jure his inferiors, and to increase his own powers, came to Inr 
 verness, with no great train, and was kindly invited into the cas- 
 tle by the governor; who had no thoughts, or so much as the 
 least fear, of any hostility from him. When he was entered, he 
 turned out the garrison, seized upon the castle, and gathering his 
 islanders about him, proclaimed himself king of the islands. He 
 sent forth edicts into the neighbouring countries, That the inhabi- 
 tants should pay tribute to none but himself; and that they should ac- 
 knowledge no other lord or master, denouncing a great penalty to those 
 that did otherwise. The news of it made persons, debauched in 
 their principles, flock to him from all parts; so that having made 
 up an army great enough, he entered Athol with such wonderful 
 dispatch, that he took the earl of that name, who was the king's 
 uncle, and his wife, prisoners, before they suspected any such 
 thing. For the earl, hearing the sudden tumult of a war, dis- 
 trusted the strength of his castle of Blair, and went into the 
 church of St. Bride's near adjoining, to defend himself there, as 
 in a sanctuary, by the religion of the place. Many also of his 
 vassals and countrymen, being surprised at the sudden dangers, 
 carried and laid up their best goods there. That church was ve- 
 nerated, in those parts, with great ceremony ; and it had remah*- 
 cd inviolate to that very day, by reason of the great opinion of its 
 sanctity; but the consideration of gain was more prevalent with 
 that savage and avaricious person, than any sense of religion; for 
 lie violently pulled out the earl and his wife from thence, and a 
 great number cf prisoners besides; and, after he had pillaged the 
 church, he set it on fire. And, when the priests spoke to him, 
 to deter him from that sacrilege, he killed some of them, and sent 
 the others away, but not without having received tokens of his 
 barbarity. Then, having wasted the adjacent countries up and 
 downj with fire and sword, as he was returning home with a 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 6 1 
 
 great booty, a sudden tempest arose, which sunk many of his 
 ships, and grievously distressed the rest 4 so that he, with a few 
 only of his followers, were rather cast up, than landed, on the 
 bland of Isla. They who survived this shipwreck, thinking that 
 this calamity happened to them by the manifest anger of the 
 Deity, because they had violated the church of St. Bride, went 
 barefooted, and covered only with a little linen garment, in an 
 humble manner, to carry gifts to her, whom a few days before 
 they had so contumeliously abused. 'Tis reported, that from 
 that day forward, Donald their commander, fell out of his wits, 
 either for grief that he had lost his army and the spoil; or be- 
 cause his mind, though brutish, was at length galled with the 
 conscience of his irreligious sacrilege, and contempt of divine 
 worship. This misfortune of their commander occasioned his 
 kindred to set the earl of Athol and his children at liberty, and to 
 atone St. Bride with many large and expiatory gifts. 
 
 When the news of these things was brought to court, it broke off 
 their consultations of making any expedition against the islanders. 
 The first tumults being appeased, the administration of Scottish 
 affairs was carried on with so much equity and tranquillity, that 
 the oldest man then alive, never remembered more secure, quiet 
 and halcyon days ; such was the prudence and gravity of James 
 Kennedy, on whose authority the court did then principally de- 
 pend), and such the modesty of the rest of the nobility, who did 
 not grudge to yield obedience to the wiser sort. For this James 
 Kennedy had obtained such reputation, by his many merits and ser- 
 vices to his country, and by his good offices towards the former 
 king; nay, he had procured such a great opinion of his fidelity 
 in all matters, by reason of the composedness of his manners, and 
 his licar alliance to the king, that the rest of the king's guardians, 
 that were to succeed one another, two and two by turns, did wil- 
 lingly admit and suffer him whenever he came to court, to be 
 the sole censor and supervisor of the pains and diligence they took 
 in that service. By this their concord, the king's education was 
 carried regularly on; and his own towardliness and ingenuity be- 
 ing a help to their industry, all men conceived great hopes of 
 him. 
 
 Thus matters were carried on, till about the sixth year of the 
 king's reign. There was then at court, Robert Boyd, the chief of 
 his family, who, besides his large personal estate, was allied to ma- 
 ny other great and noble families: He had also a flourishing stock 
 of children of his own, as Thomas and Robert. He had a bro- 
 ther too, named Alexander, who was well instructed and versed in 
 all polite letters. This Alexander, at the desire of John Kennedy, 
 his kinsman, (who, by reason of his declining age, was not so fit 
 for youthful exercises), and with the consent of the vest of the 
 
Cl HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 king's tutors, was preferred to the king, to teach him the rudiments 
 of the art military ; in the knowledge whereof he was esteemed to 
 exceed all his equals. The Boyds, upon the account of these ad- 
 vantages, were not content with that place and authority, though 
 it was very great and honourable, which they had at court ; but 
 farther sought to transfer all public offices into their own family. 
 To accomplish which, Alexander was desired by them, to incline 
 the king's favour towards them. He having to deal with a 
 king, tender of age, and very pliant, did so insinuate into him, by 
 liis flattering complaisance, that he could do any thing he pleased 
 with him. Being admitted into such familiar intimacy and con- 
 verse, he would oft let words drop before the king, that lie was 
 now fit to hold the reins of government himself) and that it was 
 time for him to be freed from the servitude of old grey-beards, 
 and to maintain a company of noble military youths about him; 
 that so he might enter into those studies betimes, wherein, whe- 
 ther he would or no, he was likely to pass the remaining part of 
 his life. Discourses of this kind were easily entertained by a 
 youth, unskilful m matters, and in the slippery part of his age 
 too, which was prone to liberty; so that he began to be a little 
 stubborn and headstrong against his governors: Some things he 
 would do without their advice, many against it; as seeking an op- 
 portunity to be delivered from the severity of those seniors, as 
 from a kind of bondage and imprisonment. Whereupon, going 
 from Linlithgow a hunting, unknown to Kennedy, whose turn it 
 was then to wait; the old man, being informed thereof, went forth 
 to overtake him, not far from the town ; and, having done so, he 
 took his horse by the bridle, and endeavoured to stop, and bring 
 him back; alleging, that it was no convenient time, nor was his 
 company fitting for such an exercise. Hereupon, Alexander ran 
 in, and with the bow, which he had in his hand, broke the old 
 man's head, tho' he deserved better things at his hands. Kennedy 
 being thus beat off, as a troublesome hinderer of their sport, they 
 proceeded on to the place they intended to go; while Kennedy re- 
 turned, with a wound, into the town. And when Robert Boyd 
 came again to court, he did not disapprove of what his brother A- 
 lexander had done. By this means, the seeds of enmity were 
 sown between two factions, which grew up to the great detriment 
 of the kingdom, and at length, to the total destruction of one 
 of them. 
 
 The feud was first discovered upon this occasion: The Boyds 1 
 would have the king removed from that place to Edinburgh; but 
 Kennedy, and his party, would have Stirling to be the place of his 
 residence. The Boyds could then do most at court; and so, with- 
 out public consent, they carried the king to Edinburgh, there to 
 enter upon the regal government. The attendants of the journey 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 63 
 
 were, besides their own kindred, Adam Hepburn, John Somer- 
 ville, and Andrew Carr, all heads of their respective families. 
 This was acted about the 10th of July, in the year 1466. 
 'The Kennedys having lost the day in tire dispute, departed 
 severally to their own homes, John into Carrick, James into 
 Fife ; their minds swelling with anger, and resolving to omit 
 no opportunity of revenge. The Boyds, thus conquerors, not 
 contented with the wrong they had done, sent John an ape in 
 a jeer, for the old man to play and sport himself with at home; 
 thereby upbraiding him- as if he had doted for age. 
 
 Not long after, James Kennedy departed this life ; maturely e- 
 nough, if we respect his age; but his death was so lamented by all 
 good men, as if in him they had lost a public father. For in that 
 man, besides the virtues above mentioned, there was an high de- 
 gree of frugality and continence at home, yet great splendour and 
 magnificence abroad. He exceeded the preceding bishops, nay, 
 and all those that succeeded him in that see to this very day, in li- 
 berality to the public *, and yet notwithstanding, his own ecclesias- 
 tical revenues were not great ; for as yet the Scots had not arriv- 
 ed at the ill custom of heaping up steeples upon steeples; nor had 
 learned to spend that worse upon luxury, which was before ///got- 
 ten by avarice. He left one eminent monument of his munificence 
 behind him, and that was the public schools at St. Andrews, which 
 he built with great expence, and endowed with large revenues, but 
 issuing out of church incomes. He gave order, that a magnifi- 
 cent monument should be erected for himself there : which yet, 
 (such was the malignity of men) he was envied for, though he 
 had deserved so well privately of most men, and publicly of all. 
 They alleged, it was a thing of too much vanity, to bestow so 
 much cost upon a structure of no use. His death made his 
 virtues more illustrious, and increased men's desire after him: 
 for, when he, who was a perpetual censor and corrector of man* 
 ners was once removed out of the way, the public discipline be- 
 gan, by degrees, to grow weak and remiss; and at last to be so 
 corrupt, as to bring almost all things, with itself, to ruin. 
 
 The Boyds made use of pretences in law, to increase the do- 
 mestic power of their family, and abate the power of their ene- 
 mies. And first, Patrick Graham seemed most fit for their pur- 
 pose; he was the brother of James Kennedy by the same mother, 
 and was also cousin by the mother's side to Robert Boyd. He, 
 as the manner was in those days, was elected bishop by the ca- 
 nons, in the room of his brother James ; but was hindered by the 
 court faction, from having the king's leave to go to Rome; so 
 that he went privately to the pope, without any train, and so 
 was easily admitted into his brother's place; for, besides the no- 
 bleness of his blood, and the great recommendation of his high 
 
 Vol. II. I 
 
64 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIL 
 
 virtues, he was also well learned for those times. And therefore, 
 whilst he staid at Rome, fearing the power of the adverse faction; 
 the old controversy concerning the liberty of the church of Scot- 
 land, began to be revived; for the archbishop of York pretended 
 that the bishops of Scotland were under his jurisdiction, so that 
 he endeavoured to retain that power in the time of peace, which 
 had been usurped in the licentious times of war. But a decree was 
 made at Rome, in favour of the Scots •, and Graham was not only 
 made primate of Scotland, but also was constituted the pope's le- 
 gate there for three years, to inquire into the degenerate manners 
 and conversations of priests ; and to restore decayed ecclesiastical 
 discipline to its pristine integrity and state. And yet this great 
 man, though so illustrious for enduements of mind and fortune, 
 and having also the superadded authority of the pope to back him, 
 durst not return home, till the power of the Boyds was in a declin- 
 ing condition at court. 
 
 The Boyds perceiving, that the concourse of the nobility to 
 them, was not so great as they hoped ; to avert the accusations of 
 their enemies, and provide for their own security for the future, 
 they caused a public assembly, or parliament, to be summoned 
 against the 13th day of October. There Robert Boyd the elder 
 fell down on his knees before the king and his counsellors of state, 
 complaining, that his service to the king, in bringing him to Edin- 
 burgh, was ill interpreted, and traduced by the malign speeches 
 of his adversaries, who gave out threatening words ; that the ad- 
 visers to that journey should one day suffer punishment for the 
 same-, and therefore, he humbly besought the king, that if he had 
 conceived any ill-will or disgust in his mind against him for that 
 journey that he would openly declare it ; that so the calumnies of 
 his detractors might be either prevented or allayed. The king hav- 
 ing advised a little with the Lords of the Articles, made answer, that 
 Robert was not his adviser in it, but rather his companion in that 
 fourney; and therefore, that he was more worthy of a reward for 
 his courtesv, than of punishment for his obsequiousness and com- 
 pliance therein ; and this he was willing to declare in a public de- 
 cree of the estates, so to put a stop to all invidious discourse. And, 
 in the same decree, provision should be made, that that matter 
 should never be prejudicial to Robert, nor his companions. Boyd 
 desired, that this decree might be registered amongst the acts of 
 assembly ; and that the same might be confirmed also by tetters 
 patent under the great seal. And accordingly the decree was pre- 
 sently registered amongst the acts, and the letters- patent were de- 
 livered to him soon after, viz. the 25th day of the same month. 
 The same day also, the king, by advice of his council, gave him 
 other letters patent, wherein he was constituted regent, and had 
 the safety of the king, his brothers, sisters, towns, castles,- and 
 
Ook XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 65 
 
 all the jurisdictions over his subjects, committed to him, till he 
 himself came to twenty-one years of age. And he dealt so with 
 the nobles then present, that they solemnly promised to be assist- 
 ant to the Boyds in all their public actions; and that they would be 
 liable to punishment, if they did not carefully, and with faithful- 
 ness, perform what they now promised. To this stipulation or 
 promise, the king also subscribed. 
 
 By this means, the king being declared their friend, part of the 
 nobility in league with them, and also the administration of the 
 whole government put into their hands, they thought themselves 
 sufficiently secured for a long time. Nay, and to lay a founda- 
 tion also for the future greatness of their posterity, they brought it 
 about, that Thomas Boyd, the son of Robert, should marry the 
 king's eldest sister. That marriage, as it was opulent, and seem- 
 ed a prop and establishment / of their power, so it increased the 
 hatred of their enemies, and gave occasion to variety of discourse 
 among the vulgar. For, although by this means all passage to the 
 king's ear seemed to be precluded, and they alone made the sole 
 arbiters of his words and actions ; yet they did not flourish so 
 much in favour at court, as they were prosecuted with public ha- 
 tred abroad; which, after four year's concealment, did at last 
 break out, to the destruction of their whole family. And the 
 wiser sort of the adverse party did not much dislike their sud- 
 den increase of honour ; for they hoped (as it is usual) That 
 arrogance would be the companion of their exaltation, which would 
 not endure a superior, would despise an equal, and trample upon 
 an inferior. And when the bounds of a subject's condition are ex- 
 ceeded, it also awakens kings, who are impatient of co-rivals, to over-* 
 throw such suspected persons. The noise of this discord betwixt 
 such potent factions, let loose the reins to popular licentious- 
 ness; for the people accustomed to robberies did, by intervals, 
 more eagerly return to their former trade. The seeds of ha- 
 tred, which were suppressed for a time, did now bud forth a- 
 gain with greater vigour; and the seditious willingly laid 
 hold on these occasions for disturbances ; so t,hat there was 
 a general liherty taken to do what men listed, in hopes of 
 impunity. 
 
 Neither was the Kennedys wanting to the occasion, who 
 partly spread abroad rumours to inflame the people, and t'o 
 cast all the cause of their disturbance and miseries upon the Boyds ; 
 and partly also (as some thought) were not much averse from the 
 design of the seditious, but slyly and secretly threw fuel into the 
 fire. This was plain and evident by their very countenances, that 
 this troublesome state of affairs was not unpleasant or unaccepta- 
 ble to them. There seemed but only one thing wanting, utterly 
 to subvert the flourishing power of their enemies, and that was, 
 
 I * 
 
66 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 to make the king of their party; for they had strength enough, or 
 too much : they knew that the commonalty, who affect innovations, 
 af id love every thing more than ivhat is present, would crowd iti to 
 their party. Upon this they agreed to try the king's mind, by 
 some crafty persons, who should pretend themselves to be lovers 
 of the Boydian faction. 
 
 In the interim, ambassadors were appointed to go to Denmark, 
 to desire Margaret, the daughter of that king, might be given 
 in marriage to king James; and that they should take all the care 
 they could, that the old controversy concerning the Orcades and 
 the isles of Shetland, which had cost both nations so much blood, 
 might be accorded. The chief of the embassy was Andrew Stew- 
 art, son to Walter, who was then chancellor of Scotland. The 
 Danes easily assented to the marriage, and they quitted all their 
 right which their ancestors claimed over all the islands about 
 Scotland, in the name of a dowry; only the private owners of e- 
 states in those islands were to enjoy them upon the same terms as 
 they had formerly done. Some write, that they were made over 
 in a mortgage, till the dowry was paid, but that afterward the 
 king of Denmark gave ' up all his right in them for ever to his 
 grandson James, who was newly born. 
 
 When the chancellor had informed the king, that all things 
 were finished according to his desire, the next consult was, to send 
 an handsome train of nobles to bring over the new queen. And 
 here, by the fraud of his enemies, and inadvertency of his friends, 
 Thomas Boyd, son of Robert earl of Arran, was chosen ambas- 
 sador, his very enemies purposely commending his aptness for that 
 employment, by reason of his valour, splendor and estate, fit for 
 such a magnificent errand. He judging all things safe at home, in 
 regard his father was regent, willingly undertook the employment, 
 and, at the beginning of autumn, with a good train of friends- 
 and followers, he went, a ship-board. 
 
 In the mean time, the Kennedys had loosened the king's af- 
 fection to the Boyds ; and whereas these thought to retain his 
 good-will by pleasures and vacations from public cares, those very 
 naits the other imputed as crimes to them ; and by magnifying 
 their wealth, great in itself, as too bulky, and even dangerous to 
 the king ; and withal alleging, what a great addition would ac- 
 crue to. his exchequer, from the confiscation of their estates, up- 
 on their conviction, they put strange scruples into the weak mind 
 of the king, who was naturally inclined to suspicions and avarice 
 The Boyds, on the other side, though they endeavoured by their 
 obsequious flatteries, and their hiding the public miseries from 
 him, to banish all melancholy thoughts out of his mind ; yet the 
 complaints of the vulgar, and the solitariness of the court, both 
 which were,, of set purpose, contrived and increased by their ece- 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. &J 
 
 mies, could not be hid. And besides, there were some, -who, 
 when the king was alone, discoursed him freely concerning the 
 public calamities, and the way to remedy them ; nay, the king 
 himself, as now grown up to manly cares, declared, that what 
 was sometimes acted abroad did not please him. But the Boyds, 
 though they perceived that the king was every day less and Jrss 
 tractable to them than formerly; and withal, that popular envy 
 rose higher and higher against them-, yet remitted nothing of their 
 old licentiousness, as trusting to the king's former lenity, and to 
 the amnesty which they had for what was past. 
 
 Whereupon the contrary faction, having secretly wrought over 
 the king to their party, and Thomas earl of Arran, being sent 
 packing ambassador into Denmark, from whence he was not ex- 
 pected to return till late in the spring, because those northern 
 seas are tempestuous and unpassable for a great part of the year ; 
 upon these accounts they thought it a fit season to attempt die 
 Boyds, who were old and diseased, and therefore came seldom to 
 court ; and besides, were destitute of the aid of many of theis 
 friends, who were gone away in the train of the embassy. The 
 first thing they did was, to persuade the king to call a parliament, 
 which had been much longed for by many, to meet at Edinburgh 
 on the twenty-second day of November, in the year 1469. Thi- 
 ther the Boyds, two brothers, were summoned to come and make 
 their appearance ; where matters were variously carried in respect 
 of them, 'just as hatred directed some, or favour disposed others. 
 But they were so astonished at this sudden blow, as having made, 
 no great provision against so imminent a danger, that their minds 
 were quite dejected, not so much because of the power of the ad- 
 verse faction, as by reason of the sudden alienation of the king's 
 mind from them; so that Robert, in despair of his safety, fled in- 
 to England; but Alexander, who by reason of his sickness eould 
 not fly, was called to his answer. The crime objected to both the 
 brothers was, that they had laid hands on the king, and of their 
 own heads had carried him to Edinburgh. Alexander alleged, 
 that he had obtained his pardon for that offence in a public con- 
 vention, and therefore he humbly desired, that a copy of that par- 
 don might be transcribed out of the parliament rolls; but this was 
 denied him. What his accusers objected against that pardon, the 
 writers of those times do not record; and J, though a conjecture 
 be not very difficult to be made in the case, yet had rather leave 
 the whole matter to the reader's thoughts, than to affirm uncertain- 
 tics for truths. Alexander was condemned on his trial, and had 
 his head cut off. Robert, a few years after, died at Alnwick in 
 England, the grief of banishment being added to the pains of hii, 
 old age. His son, though absent, and that upon a public busi- 
 ness, was declared a public enemy, without being granted a hear- 
 
68 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 ing; and all their estates were confiscated. Thus stood the mat- 
 ter of fact: but I shall not conceal what I have heard some good 
 ra.en, and not ignorant of the history of those times affirm. They 
 say, that the amnesty given to the Boyds, was thus worded in the 
 accords.: That the king forgave them all the prejudice and ran- 
 cour of mind (as they then phrased it) which he might have con- 
 ceived against them ; which they, who were willing to gratify the 
 Mug, did interpret (according to the distinction then celebrated a- 
 mongst divines, concerning the remission of the fault, and of pu- 
 nishment) after this manner, That, though the king forgave him his 
 personal resentment, yet they were not exempted from the punish- 
 ment of the law. Thomas Boyd, when he heard of the calamity 
 ©f his family, though some put him in hopes of pardon, in a time 
 of public rejoicing, yet durst not come ashore; but being inform- 
 ed by his wife, who, upon the first news of the approach of the 
 Danish fleet, went immediately to him, that there was no hopes 
 ef re-admission to the king's favour, his enemies having stopt all 
 avenues thereunto, sailed back into Denmark, whence he came, 
 and so travelled through Germany into France, where he in vain 
 (endeavoured to obtain the mediation of Lewis XI. (who then had 
 turned the legitimate empire of the French into a tyranny) for his. 
 reconciliation; and therefore he went to Charles of Burgundy, 
 where he behaved himself valiantly, and did him much faithful 
 service in the wars, for which he was well rewarded by him with 
 iionour and profit. There he lived a private, yet honourable life ; 
 and his wife bore him a son, called James, and a daughter called 
 Grekin, of which in their place. 
 
 The marriage of James III. and queen Margaret, was cele- 
 brated- with a great concourse of the nobility, on the the tenth day 
 c£ July,, in the year of our Lord 1470. Three years after this 
 marriage, on St. Patrick's day, in March, was born James, who 
 succeeded his father in the kingdom. 
 
 In the interim, the king, not yet satisfied with the misery of the 
 Boyds, writes over into Flanders, to recal his sister home; but 
 snowing that she bore so great a love to her husband, that she 
 would hardly be induced to part from him, he caused others 
 to write to her, giving her some hopes, that the king's anger 
 •flight, in time, be appeased towards her husband, and that no 
 <!oubt was to be made, but she herself might prevail much with 
 litr brother for his relief; but that she must come to plead for 
 Mm in presence, and not commit his apology to others. Upon 
 these hopes she returned, and was no sooner arrived in Scot- 
 land, but the king transacts with her about a divorce; and ac- 
 cordingly he affixed public libles and citations, attested by many 
 1 >cs, at Kilmarnock (which was the chief house of the Boyds, 
 Before their fall'' where Thomas was commanded to appear in six.- 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. &} 
 
 ty days; whereas all men knew, that though the public faith had 
 been given him, yet he would hardly have returned: He not ap- 
 pearing at the day, the former marriage was pronounced null, 
 and a divorce decreed, though the husband was absent and un- 
 heard ; and so Mary the king's sister was compelled, against ha 
 will, to marry James Hamilton, a man raised but a little before, 
 and much inferior to her former husband in estate and dignity; 
 yet she bore him a son named J ames, and a daughter called Mar- 
 garet. The children she had by her former husband weTe al- 
 so recalled by the king. Nor did Boyd long survive this. Me 
 died at Antwerp, and having no kinsman there to claim his esra&e, 
 Chaides of Burgundy caused a magnificent monument to be erect- 
 ed for him, with the money which he had munificently bestowed 
 upon him, in the church of ... . whereon an honourable epi- 
 taph was inscribed. Thus the family of the Boyds, which thesa 
 was the most flourishing one in Scotland, within a few years, grew 
 up, and was cut down, to the great astonishment of posterirr; 
 What slippery things the favours of young kings are i 
 
 Their ruin did not only amaze their friends, but it also terrified 
 their very enemies; so that none would adventure to aspire to 
 that dignity, from whence they were cast down; partly upon 
 account of the instability of human affairs, and partly in conside- 
 ration of the king's sudden repentance for bestowing of his graces 
 and favours, and his continued perseverance, in his hatred whets 
 once begun. This is certain, that they who were raised to great 
 hopes of preferment, by this change of public affairs, found them- 
 selves much mistaken: for the king, who before that time had us- 
 ed himself to domestic ease, and seldom appeared in publii . 
 ing, now also newly married, spent a great pail of his time i 
 pleasures of his palace; lie excluded the nobility, and was wholly 
 governed by a few of his servants; for being of an eager and fer- 
 vid disposition, he could not well bear to be contradicted in his 
 own will ; so that he avoided the liberty which the nobles would 
 take in advising him, and had only those about him who would not 
 reprehend, but rather approve of what he did; that so by avoiding 
 every occasion of offence, and by using all the flattery they coulxi, 
 they might gain his favour. Amidst these manners of the court, 
 the ecclesiastic.il state was not much better. For though the mi- 
 nisters of the church had been given of old to luxury and avarice, 
 yet there was still some shadow of ancient gravity remaining, so 
 that some encouragement was given to learning, and advantage la 
 such as were good proficients therein; for the bishops were chosen 
 by the colleges of canons, and the abbots by their respective so- 
 dalities: But now the parasite courtiers persuaded the king (for 
 they only bad his heart and ear) that it would be very advantag 
 to him, and that those with whom he had to deal would not be a- 
 
*J0 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 ble to hinder his design, if he recalled and assumed the designa- 
 tion of such offices to himself, and would not suffer matters of so 
 great advantage to rest in the hands of such a dronish generation of 
 people, unfit for any public business, as ecclesiastics were. The 
 king was easily persuaded to this, in regard they alleged, that by 
 this means, besides other advantages, he might have opportunity 
 to curb the contumacious, to confirm the wavering, and to re- 
 ward the well deserving; but, said they, in our present circum- 
 stances, promotions and honours are in the hands of the dregs of 
 the vulgar, who are as parsimonious in case of public necessities, 
 as they are profuse in their private pleasures; that all men should 
 depend upon the king alone, so that he might have the sole power 
 of punishing, pardoning, and rewarding. 
 
 By these and the like flattering arguments, they persuaded the 
 king to their opinion, for his mind was not yet confirmed by ripe- 
 ness of years; besides, it was weakened by ill custom, and not 
 fortified against the temptations of money-matters ; and moreover, 
 he was naturally prone to liberty. Hereupon a new face of things 
 presently appeared throughout the whole kingdom, and all mat- 
 ters, both sacred and civil, were brought to court to be huckster- 
 ed and sold, as in a public fair. But Patrick Graham was the on- 
 ly man who endeavoured to stop the precipitous ruin of the 
 church. When his enemies swayed all at home, he staid at 
 Rome some years; but being there informed by his friends, in 
 what state things were, he, trusting in his alliance to the king, 
 being the son of his great aunt, resolved to return home ; but, that 
 he might make some essay of the minds of men beforehand, he 
 sent the bull which he had obtained from the pope, for his legan- 
 tine power, and caused it to be proclaimed and published in the 
 month of September, in the year of our Lord 1472, which raised 
 up much envy against him. For they that had bought ecclesias- 
 tical honours at court, were afraid to lose both their prey and 
 money too; and they who thought to make -advantage by this 
 court-sale, were grieved to be thus disappointed. Nay, that fac- 
 tion did no less storm, that had mercenarily obtained ecclesiastical 
 preferments from the king, in order to sell them to others. Their 
 fear was, that this gainful pi-actice would be taken out of their 
 hands. All these made a conspiracy against Patrick, and, in his 
 absence, loaded him with reproaches. They came to court, and 
 complained that their ancient laws, as well as the king's late de- 
 crees, were violated; and that the Romanists were carrying on 
 many matters, very prejudicial to the kingdom; and, unless the 
 king did speedily oppose their exorbitance, they would quickly 
 bring all things under their power; nay, make the king himself 
 bend under them. 
 
 To prevent this danger, there were some sent, by order of 
 
Book Xll. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 7 1 
 
 council, to Patrick, when he had scarce set his foot on shore, to 
 forbid him to execute any part of his office, until the king had 
 heard the complaints made against him; and a day was appointed 
 him to appear, which was the first of November, at Edinburgh, 
 in order to an hearing. 
 
 In the mean time, when his friends and relations assured him, 
 that the king would do what was equitable in so just a cause; the 
 adverse faction hearing of it, did so engage the king and his cour- 
 tiers, by the promises of great sums of money, that Patrick could 
 never have a fair hearing afterwards. When he was come to the 
 assembly, he produced the pope's bull and grant, wherein he was 
 constituted archbishop of St. Andrews, primate of Scotland, and 
 the pope's legate for three years, to order ecclesiastical affairs. 
 The inferior sort of priests were glad of the thing, that an office 
 so necessary was put into the hands of so pious and learned a 
 man; but they did not dare to speak it out, for fear of some 
 powerful persons, who had got the ear of the king and his coun- 
 sellors. His adversaries made theif appeal to the pope, who alone 
 could be judge in the case, which they did on purpose to create 
 delay; so that the favour of the people towards Patrick might in 
 time abate. He himself was sent back by the king to his church, 
 but forbid to wear the robes- of an archbishop, till the cause was 
 determined. Neither was he to perform any office, but what the 
 former bishops had done before him. 
 
 Whilst these things were acting, William Sivez rose up, a new 
 enemy against Patrick, but the bitterest of all the rest; and that 
 upon a light occasion. He was a young man of a ready wit, and 
 had lived some years at Louvain, under the tutorage of John 
 Sperinc, a man well skilled in the study of physic and astrology; 
 and returning home, he quickly insinuated himself into the favour 
 of the courtiers; partly upon the account of his other accomplish- 
 ments, and partly because of his boasted knowledge of celestial 
 matters. This endowment won him great respect from the court, 
 which whs then addicted to all sorts of divinations, even to mad- 
 ness: so that this Sivez being of an acute wit, and in great favour 
 at court, was soon made archdeacon of St. Andrews; but the 
 bishop would not admit him to that office. Upon this, he enter- 
 ed into a consultation with John Lock, rector of the public schools 
 there, and a pretended friend of Patrick's ; and they together em- 
 ployed all their engines to work his overthrow. The rector, hav- 
 ing a grant from the pope, whereby he was privileged and exempt- 
 ed from Patrick's jurisdiction, pronounced the sentence of excom- 
 munication against him. But he so slighted this commination 
 from one of an inferior order to himself, that though, when he 
 came to court, it was twice or thrice served upon him, yet he 
 went on in his ordinary course of life. Whereupon his enemies 
 
 Vol II. K 
 
72 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 (as is usual in cases, where ecclesiastical cases are contemned) im- 
 plored the assistance of the king, and got Patrick excluded from 
 all the churches. Officers of the exchequer were sent to, to take 
 an inventory of all his goods. His retinue was commanded, un- 
 der an heavy penalty, to depart; and a guard was set upon him, 
 to observe, that he did nothing contrary to the edict. The rest 
 of the bishops, that they might not seem ungrateful towards so 
 benevolent a king, levied a great sum of money, which they vio- 
 lently extorted out of small benefices, and presented him with it. 
 The king being master of such a sum, seemed to deal more mildly 
 with Patrick, as if he took pity on him; and accordingly he sent 
 the abbot of Holyrood, and Sivez to him. Whereupon the 
 bishop was reconciled to the king; and also Sivez and the bishop 
 were made friends; but his friends' contributions were gathered 
 up before, and carried to the king. Now Patrick seemed to be 
 freed of all his troubles, and so he retired to his manor-house of 
 Monimul, and prepared liimself for the execution of his office, 
 both publicly and privately: when, behold! the Roman money- 
 mongers were sent in upon him, by his adversaries ; and because 
 he had not paid his fees for the pope's grant (or bull, as they call 
 it) they likewise excommunicated him. The man was reduced to 
 extreme poverty; for his revenues, both before and after his re- 
 turn, were, for the most part, gatheitd up by the king's collectors, 
 and brought into his exchequer, and whatever his friends could 
 make up, was given to the king and his courtiers. And when the 
 kind's officers were again sent to take possession of his estate, 
 guards were set upon him by the king; his household servants 
 were discharged, and lie was kept prisoner in his castle, and so 
 was deprived even of the use of his reason. William Sivez, his 
 capital enemy, was first imposed upon him by the king, and after- 
 wards approved by the pope, as his coadjutor, as they call him, as 
 of a man that was beside himself. The said Sivez was made in- 
 quisitor, by the power of the adverse faction, to inquire into his 
 life and conversation; many trifling, and many ridiculous and in- 
 credible things were objected against him ; and amongst the rest 
 was tin's one, Thai he had said mass thrice in cue day; whereas, 
 in that age, there was hardly a bishop who did the same in three 
 months. Thus his enemy being his judge, and the witnesses a- 
 gainst hirn hired, he was turned out of his bishopric; and Sivez, 
 who carried the decree to the pope, was made bishop in his room. 
 Neither were his enemies contented with this mischief they had 
 done him; but, perceiving he bore all their contumelies with much 
 greatness of spirit, they made an order, that he should be shut up 
 in some desolate monastery, under four keepers; Inchcolm was 
 chosen 50 be the place, a rock rather than an island; from whence, 
 three years after, he was removed to Dunfermline, for fear of the 
 English fleet, betwixt whom and the Scots a war had then brok.-x. 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 73 
 
 forth. And from thence he was again carried to the castle, which 
 lies at Lochleven; wherej being worn out with age and miseries, 
 he departed this life. He was a man guilty of no known vice; 
 and in learning and virtue inferior to none of his age. The other 
 good men, terrified by his calamity, and perceiving no hopes of 
 any church-reformation, went all about their own private affairs. 
 In the court, church-preferments were either sold, or else given 
 away to flatterers and panders, as a reward for their vile and filthy 
 services. 
 
 Though these things were acted at different times, yet I have 
 put them altogether in my discourse, that so the thread of my hi- 
 story might not be broke too often; and also, that by one memo- 
 rable example, we might have an entire view of the miseries of 
 those times; for one may easily imagine how miserable the ordina- 
 ry sort of men were, since a man that was so eminent for all kind 
 of virtue, and besides,, had the advantage to be allied to the king, 
 and so many noble families, was, by a few scoundrels of the lower 
 sort, exposed to the reproach and cruelty of his enemies. But to 
 return to the other occurrences of those times. 
 
 In the year 1476, there was a public decree made against John, 
 lord of the islands, who had seized upon some provinces, and had 
 done great spoil on the maritime coasts; insomuch that the king 
 resolved in person to march against him by land, and commanded 
 the earl of Crawford, his admiral, to meet him by sea. Hereupon 
 John perceiving that he was too weak to withstand such prepara- 
 tion, by the advice of the earl of Athol, the king's uncle, came 
 in ah humble manner to court, and surrendered up himself to the 
 king's mercy. The provinces which he had forcibly entered up- 
 on, were taken from him, as Ross, Kintyre, and Knapdale. But he 
 was suffered still to continue in the command of the islands. The 
 same year, the dispute with the English, which was just about to 
 break out into a war, was decided. The occasion was this: James 
 Kennedy had built a ship, the largest that had been, seen to sail 
 upon the ocean. At that time as she was at sea, a tempest cast 
 her upon the English shore, and her lading was rifled by the Eng- 
 lish. Restitution was often sought for, but in vain. This bred 
 a dis-gust betwixt the nations for some years. At last, the English 
 sent ambassadors into Scotland; the chief of which were the 
 bishop of Durham, and Scroop a nobleman. By these ambassa- 
 dors, king Edward, who had been tossed by the inconstancy of 
 fortune, and whose exchequer was drained by continual wars, de- 
 sired a treaty of peace; which was easily renewed, upon condi- 
 tion that a due estimate might be made of the ship that was rifled, 
 and its lading, by indifferent persons, and just satisfaction made. 
 
 The same year ambassadors were sent to Charles duke of 
 Burgundy, in behalf of the merchants who were disturbed in 
 
 K 2 
 
74 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII, 
 
 their trade. When they came into Flanders, they were ho- 
 nourably received by him. One Andrews a physician, and a 
 great astrologer too, being occasionally invited by them to sup- 
 per, understanding the cause of their coming, took them aside, 
 and told them, that they should not make too much haste in their 
 embassy; for, in a few days they should hear other news of the 
 •duke. And accordingly his prediction was fulfilled; for within 
 three days after, the duke's army was overthrown by the Switzers, 
 at the city of Nantz in Lorrain; where he was killed. Here- 
 upon the ambassadors returned, without effecting their business. 
 And when they came to the king, and told him, how highly 
 skilled that Andrews was, in predicting things to come, they per- 
 suaded him, who of himself was inclinable to those arts, to send 
 for the man, upon promises of a good reward. And accordingly 
 he came, was well received, and gratified with a rich parsonage, 
 and other boons. He, as it is reported, told the king, that he 
 should speedily be destroyed by his own subjects. And that 
 speech agreed with the vaticinations of some wizardly women 
 (to which the king was immoderately addicted) who had prophe- 
 sied, That a lion should be killed by his whelps. Hereupon, from 
 a prince, at first of great ingenuity and good hopes, and as yet 
 not wholly depraved, he degenerated into a fierce and cruel ty- 
 rant; for when his mind had entertained and was stuffed with 
 suspicions, he accounted even his nearest kindred, and all the 
 best of the nobility, as his enemies. And the noble3 were also 
 disgusted at him, partly by reason of his familiarity with that 
 rascally sort of people; but chiefly because he slighted the nobi- 
 lity, and chose mean persons to be his counsellors and advisers. 
 The chief of them was Thomas Preston, one of a good family, 
 but who resolved to humour the king in all things; Robert 
 Cochrane, a man endowed with great strength of body and equal 
 audacity of mind; he came to be known to the king by a duel 
 which he fought with another; and presently from an architect 
 came to be made a courtier, and was put in a fair way of rising to 
 some greater advancement; for, having performed some lighter 
 matters, entrusted to him with diligence, and also accommodating 
 himself to the king's humour, he was soon admitted to advise 
 concerning the grand affairs of the kingdom; insomuch that 
 Preston chose him to be his son-in-law. The third was William 
 Rogers, an English singing man, or musician, who coming 
 into Scotland with the English ambassadors, after the king had 
 heard him once or twice, he was so taken with him, that he 
 would not suffer him to return, but advanced him to wealth and 
 honour; and, in a short time, made him a knight. The rest of 
 his intimates were the most despicable sort of the meanest 
 uadesmen, who were only known by their improbity, and haJ 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 7 1 
 
 nothing to recommend them but their boldness. Whereupon, 
 the nobility had a meeting, wherein the king's two brothers 
 were chief, to purge the court from that sort of cattle: And 
 some notice of it being divulged abroad, John, the youngest of 
 the brothers, more unwary than the rest, speaking a little too 
 boldly and rashly concerning the state of the kingdom, was 
 seized upon by the courtiers, cast into prison, condemned by 
 the king's privy council, and put to death, by having a vein 
 opened till he expired. The cause of his death was given out 
 amongst the vulgar, to be, because he had conspired with witches 
 against the king's life: And, to make the matter more plausible, 
 twelve witches, of the lowest condition, were tried and burnt. 
 The death of John did rather stifle, than dissipate the conspiracy, 
 which seemed almost ready to break forth. 
 
 Alexander, the next, as in blood, so in danger, though he 
 endeavoured to avert all suspicion from himself, as much as he 
 could; yet the king's officers thought they could never be se- 
 cure, as long as he was alive ; and therefore they presently clap- 
 ped him up prisoner in the castle of Edinburgh; where he was 
 strictly kept up by those who judged his power would be their 
 destruction : And seeing he could not appease the king's wrath 
 by the mediation of his friends, he began to think of making an 
 escape: He had but one of his servants left to wait upon him in 
 his chamber. Him, and none else, he acquainted with his design; 
 who hired a vessel to be ready for him in the adjoining road; then 
 he suborned messengers to make frequent errands to him from 
 the court, who should tell him stories before his keepers (for he 
 was forbid to speak with any body, but in their presence) that 
 the king was now more reconciled to him, than formerly; and 
 that he would speedily be set at liberty. When the day appoint- 
 ed for his escape approached, he composed his countenance to as 
 much mirth, as in that calamitous condition he was able to 
 do; and told his keepers that now he believed by the messages 
 sent him from the king, that he was reconciled to him; and that 
 he hoped he should not be much longer in durance. Accordingly 
 he invited them to a noble supper, and himself drank freely with 
 them, till late at night; then they departed; and, being all full 
 of wine, fell into the sounder sleep. Thus left entirely to him- 
 self, he made a rope of the sheets of his bed, long enough, as 
 he thought, for the height of the wall ; and first, to make a trial, 
 he made his servant slide down by it ; but perceiving, by his fall, 
 that it was too short, he lengthened it out as well as he could in 
 those circumstances, and himself slid down too, and took up his 
 servant, who had broke his leg by his fall, upon his shoulders, 
 and carried him about a mile to the vessel, where they went 
 aboard; and having a fair wind, they sailed to Dunbar; there 
 
7<5 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 he fortified the castle against any forcible assault, and, with 
 a small retinue, went over into France. In his absence, An- 
 drew Stuart, the chancellor was sent with an army to take 
 the castle: They besieged it closely some months, and it was 
 defended as bravely: But at last the garrison, for want of neces- 
 saries, were forced to get vessels, and in the night to depart pri- 
 vately for England; so that in the morning the empty castle was 
 taken by the besiegers. Some men of note, of the besiegers^ 
 were slain there. 
 
 Much about this time it was, that the kings, both of England 
 and Scotland, wearied out with domestic troubles, had each of 
 them a desire to make peace, and an embassy from England was 
 appointed to complete it; which was kindly received: And the 
 peace was not only agreed upon, but an affinity accorded to con- 
 firm it; that Cecilia, the daughter of Edward, should be married 
 to James the Scottish king's son, as soon as they were both mar- 
 riageable. Part also of the dowry was paid, on this condition, 
 that if, when they came to years , the marriage was not consummated, 
 the dowry should he paid back to the English. And hostages were 
 given for performance of conditions; which were some burghers 
 of towns. But this peace lasted not long, for, by reason of the 
 grudges remaining since the last wars, incursions were made, 
 plunders committed, and villages burnt. Both sides were so 
 inflamed by these mutual injuries, that it broke out at last into 
 an open war. And, besides, each king had other peculiar pro- 
 vocations. Douglas, the old, and Alexander the late exile, 
 the king's brother, stirred up the English king to war. For 
 Alexander, as I said before, going into France, married the 
 daughter of the earl of Boulogne; but, not being able to procure 
 aid from Lewis XL then king of France, for the recovery of his 
 own, he sailed over into England, hoping from thence, to -make 
 some attempt upon Scotland. As for James of Scotland, Lewis 
 of France incited him to make war, having sent Robert Ireland, 
 a Scotsman, and doctor of the Sorbonne, with two French 
 knights, to him, on that errand. Thus the peace came to be 
 violated: And although the Scottish affairs, in regard some of 
 the country was wasted, were in none of the best condition; and 
 a great army was decreed to be sent against Scotland by the 
 English, under the command of the duke of Gloucester; yet the 
 king, and those who were about him, did levy forces, but with 
 no great heart: For the upstarts (such they lately were, and 
 very poor too) whose greatness was founded on the calamities 
 of others, and who had been the authors of desperate counsels 
 to the king, feared nothing more than a numerous assembly of 
 the incensed nobility. When they came to Lauder, a town near 
 the borders of Maich and Teviotdalc, countries either wasted 
 
Book XII. history of Scotland. 77 
 
 by the enemy, or else by force necessitated to submit to him; 
 the king yet proceeded on in his wonted course of exactions 
 from them: He distrusted the nobility, and managed all by his 
 cabinet-council. This indignity the nobles would endure no 
 longer; and therefore, in the third watch, they met in a church 
 n the town, where, in a full assembly, Archibald Troughs, 
 earl of Angus, is reported to have declared the cause of their 
 meeting, in this manner. 
 f I think it not necessary, noble peers, to make a long oration 
 concerning the state of the Scottish affairs, you yourselves part- 
 ly remember it, and you partly see it now before your eyes ; 
 the chief of the nobility are either banished, or else compelled 
 to suffer intolerably, and to act nefarious things; and you, in 
 whom the strength of the kingdom rests, are left without an 
 head, as a ship without a steersman, subject to all the storms 
 and tempests of fortune : your lands are burnt, your estates 
 plundered ; the husbandmen either slain, or else, perceiving 
 no other remedy, have submitted to the enemy. And the king, 
 a man of a generous spirit, and singular prudence, if you take 
 him as he is in himself, yet carried away by poisonous insinua- 
 tions, refers all things pertaining to the good of the common- 
 wealth, to peace, war, and the like, not to an assembly of the 
 nobles, but to inferior upstarts. These men consult sooth- 
 sayers and wizards, and carry their answers to the king, whose 
 mind is infirm and sickly, and easily taken with such vain 
 superstitions ; and thus decrees are made under the influence 
 of such authors, concerning the safety of us all ; for they, 
 knowing that they are deservedly hated by all, bear the like 
 hatred to all; and their endeavour is, not only to undermine 
 your authority, but to cut you all off, by all the possible arts 
 and practices they can; they have removed some of you by 
 death, ethers by banishment. Neither do they ascend gradually 
 to play their pranks, as inferior persons, when they are pro- 
 moted, are wont to do; but immediately exercise the trials of 
 their cruelty and avarice upon the royal blood: One of the 
 king's brothers they have most inhumanly put to death; they 
 have robbed our country of the other, by banishing him, and 
 so have given him as a general to our enemies. These being 
 thus taken out of the way, their next work is to deal with the 
 nobility: For, being of low estate and condition themselves, 
 they would have no man of excellence, none of high birth, to 
 survive them. All those that have either riches to satisfy 
 their avarice, or power to resist their audaciousness, them they 
 account as their enemies; and yet, in the mean time, we are 
 undertaking a war against the English, as cur public enemy, 
 a* ;f any enemy were more deadly than that, who is never 
 
78 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIL 
 
 * satisfied, in point of covetousness with your estates, nor in 
 point of cruelty, with your blood. Now, to make it clear to 
 you, that this intestine plague is more dreadful than that fo- 
 reign one ; suppose (which God forbid) that the king of Eng- 
 land should conquer us, doubtless he would remember old 
 grudges, and, in pursuance of that conquest, what end of hiss 
 successes would he propound to himself? or what reward of 
 his victory? Would he aim at the life of the king his enemy, 
 or at our lives? I think, at neither. For the dispute between 
 us is (not for life, but) for glory and empire, and a generous 
 mind, as it is vehement and eager against those that resist it, 
 so it is easily mitigated and inclined to lenity by submission and 
 obsequiousness, even upon the account of remembering the 
 instability of all human affairs. But suppose that the enemy's 
 rage should aim at the king's life and destruction, I pray, 
 which of the two do act more mercifully, either he that, toge- 
 ther with life, takes away all sense of misery ; or they that 
 reserve him, whom they ought principally to love and reverence 
 next to God, to a daily butchery and execution? Who arm 
 his mind, already prepossessed with witchcrafts, to the destruc- 
 tion of his friends ? who keep the king, now almost encom- 
 passed by the arms of his enemies, in the nature of a prisoner ; 
 and do not suffer him to see the faces of his friends, that he 
 may understand their affection to him, and experience their 
 loyalty? They are not so much enemies, who pitch camp a- 
 gainst camp, and so openly profess their hostility, as they who 
 at home do treacherously contrive our destruction. They alien- 
 ate the king's mind from his friends, and betray him to his 
 enemies; and thus they deprive us of our commander, and 
 expose us a prey to our enemy's arms, by whom, if your 
 lives are given you, after you are conquered, yet you will fall 
 into shame and servitude; and, if ycu overcome them, yet you 
 will not procure quiet to yourselves, strength to your country, 
 nor glory to your king, but a greater liberty to your enemies to 
 play their pranks at present, and that in security, for the fu- 
 ture; and thus we shall bring a plague and misery on ourselves, 
 and a stricter servitude on our king, so that victory will not 
 free us from foreign miseries, but will increase our domestic 
 ones. And therefore, in short, my opinion is, That we shake 
 off the yoke at home, before we venture to engage the enemy; 
 for otherwise, we shall all be made slaves to the lusts of a few 
 men; we shall strengthen the enemy, and betray the common- 
 wealth. God bless your consultations in this matter.' 
 After Douglas had ended his speech, there followed (not a 
 debate, but) a confused noise, over the whole assembly, cry- 
 ing out, To your arms against the public enemy ! for the minds 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 79 
 
 of all present were so inflamed, that though they had none to 
 lead them, yet they were about to break in upon the king's 
 quarters. But the graver sort, who, by reason of their honour 
 and authority, had a great interest in the rest, appeased the tu- 
 mult; for they feared lest, in an impetuous assault of the peo- 
 ple, the king himself should come to some harm : And there- 
 fore they agreed, that the principal commanders should take a. 
 small number of their chiefest confidents, and, without any ge- 
 neral remove of the whole army, should go to the king's pavi- 
 lion, and seize the offenders, who had the management of things, 
 and then bring them forth to be judged before the whole army, 
 that so they might suffer condign punishment, according to the 
 laws. 
 
 Whilst these things were in agitation, news was brought to 
 the court, that the nobles were assembled before day, in the 
 church; for what was not known; but it must certainly be some 
 great matter, which engaged such persons to assemble un- 
 known to the king and his counsellors. The king was waked, 
 and rose in great fear out of his bed, and asked those about him, 
 What was best to be done? In the mean while, he sends Cochrane 
 before, to observe what was a-doing, and to bring him certain 
 word. Just as this Cochrane was got pretty nigh the church 
 with a small retinue, he meets with the chief of the nobility 
 coming to court. Douglas presently laid hands- on him, and 
 took him by a massy gold chain, which he wore about his neck, 
 whereby he somewhat strained his throat, and gave him up a 
 prisoner to the marshal, and then he went directly to the king's 
 bed-chamber. They who were there, made no opposition, either 
 because they were astonished at his sudden coming, or else out 
 of reverence to the man ; so that there the rest were seized upon, 
 who were thought to have corrupted the king by their wicked 
 counsels; only one young man hung about the king's neck, and 
 he desired them to pardon him, his name was John Ramsay, of 
 a good family ; who being excused on the account of his age, 
 was dismissed. Whilst the rest were led to their trials, there 
 was a tumult and noise raised over the whole army, crying out, 
 Hang theniy rogues I whereupon they were presently hurried a- 
 way, and ended their lives in an halter ; nay, the army in ge- 
 neral was so intent upon their execution, that when they wanted 
 ropes, upon so sudden an occasion, they all offered the reins of 
 their horse-bridles and their baggage-horse tackle for that use ; 
 and they strove much, who should have the honour to offer his 
 own fir$t. 
 
 This court faction had committed many injuries against prl- 
 vate person?; but their wrongs to the public lay chiefly here : 
 They had been th< of coining new brass-money, which 
 
 Vol. II. L 
 
8b HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 the common people did call by the invidious name of Blad- 
 money. Upon this coinage, there first ensued a dearth on all 
 things, and afterwards a famine ; for the sellers had rather suf- 
 fer their commodities to be spoiled at home, than, under a pre- 
 tence of sale, to give them away to the buyers. But, that all 
 •commerce might not wholly cease amongst the people, this one 
 remedy was found out for dealers and chapmen, that they should 
 mention, in their contracts, in what sort of money the payment 
 should be made. It is true, some of our former kings had coined 
 that sort of money, but it was more for the necessary use of the 
 poor, than for their own gain: And also provision was made by a 
 Jaw, appointing such a sum, beyond which sellers should not be 
 compelled to take it in payment. Thus the buyers of small com- 
 modities had a benefit; and care was taken, that the richer sort 
 should have no damage by this way of change or sale. It wa3 
 also objected against them, that they had alienated die king's 
 heart from the nobility, and had set him upon the study of magic, 
 and hurried him on to the destruction of his own kindred. But that 
 which made Cochrane most envied, was his earldom of March ; 
 which country the king had either given to him, or at least com- 
 mitted to his crust, upon the death of the king's younger bro- 
 ther . 
 
 When these evil counsellors were removed out of the way, 
 the king having no great confidence in the soldiery, nor the 
 soldiery in him, the army was dismissed, and returned home : 
 And the kiag, though for the present he suppressed his anger, 
 and made many large and fair promises to the nobility, yet his 
 heart inwardly boiled with blood, slaughter and revenge. And 
 therefore, as soon as he thought himself at liberty, he retired, 
 with some few of his confidents, into the castle of Edinburgh, 
 and the nobility, not knowing what to think of it, had also their 
 consultations apart. The king of England, by the persuasion 
 of Alexander chiefly, who informed him of the dissension be- 
 twixt the Scottish king and his nobles; and also assured him, 
 that as soon as ever he entered Scotland, great numbers of horse 
 and foot would come in to him; raised forces in the winter, over 
 which he made Richard his brother, duke of Gloucester, gene- 
 ral, and commanded him to march into Scotland. He began his 
 march when it was about midsummer ; and, understanding in 
 what condition the Scottish affairs were, he turned aside to Ber- 
 wick, He was received immediately into the town, and left 
 4000 men to besiege the castle ; and with the rest of the army 
 he marched directly to Edinburgh, making a dreadful devastation 
 in all piaces where he came. But Alexander leading them on, 
 they entered the city without committing any rapine ; and, by a 
 public proclamation made in the market-place, he advised James 
 (seeing he could not speak witrh him) first, to perform what he 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 8 1 
 
 had .promised to Edward; and then, that before the first of Sep- 
 tember he would cause satisfaction to be made for ali the wrongs 
 and injuries he had offered to the English; and, unless he would 
 do so, Richard duke of Gloucester, would persecute him and 
 his country with fire and sword. To .ail this, James, perceiving 
 at present that he was not able to perform what was required; and, 
 on the other side, that he was as unable to withstand the power 
 of the enemy, returned no answer at all, either by writing or 
 message. But the nobles of Scotland, being thus forsaken of 
 their king, that they 'might not be wholly wanting to the public 
 safety, levied another army, and formed a camp at Hadding- 
 ton: And, that they might somewhat alleviate the imminent 
 danger and pressure, and stop the enemy in his career of vic- 
 tory, they sent agents to the duke of Gloucester, to desire, 
 Thai the marriage ) so long proposed^ might he consummated. They 
 were also to declare, that it should not be their fault if the agree- 
 ments made between -the two nations were not punctually per- 
 formed. The English general, knowing that the Scots would 
 not put things to the hazard of a battle, in regard part of their 
 strength was with him upon the account of Alexander, a popular 
 man, and that the rest, were divided into several factions, re- 
 turned this answer, That he did not know what his king had 
 reaolved in reference to that marriage ; but he thought it fit that 
 the money paid to James upon the account of the dowry, should 
 be presently repaid to him; and, if they would have peace, 
 they should promise to surrender up the castle of Berwick ; or, 
 if they could not do that, then solemnly to swear, that thsy 
 should not attempt to relieve the besieged, nor hinder the be- 
 siegers, until the castle was either taken by storm, or surrendered 
 upon conditions. The Scots returned answer by their ambas- 
 sadors, That it was not their fault the marriage was not con- 
 summated; but it happened, because both bride and bridegroom 
 were under age; that the money was not yet due, because the 
 day of payment was not yet come, and if there were not suffi- 
 cient security given for the payment thereof, they would give 
 more; but the castle of Berwick was built by the Scots, and 
 that in the Scottish soil, and for many ages having been under 
 their jurisdiction, they could not part with it ; and though the 
 English had taken it, and possessed it sometimes by force, yet 
 their injury did not prejudice the ancient right of the Scots, 
 But Gloucester, who was superior in strength, resolved to carry 
 the point, and to admit of no legal dispute in the case. The 
 same day, Calen Campbell carl of Argyle, Andrew Stuart the 
 chancellor, and the bishops of St. Andrews and Dunblane, sent 
 to Alexander, who was in the English camp at Ltthington, :t 
 fihaptj signed with their own hands and seals, promising him, if 
 
 h 2 
 
82 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII, 
 
 he would be loyal to the king, in the next assembly, they would 
 take care that his estate should be restored, and an amnesty given 
 for what was past; in assurance of which they solemnly interpos- 
 ed their faith. Alexander acquainted Gloucester with the thing, 
 who was very friendly, and dismissed him upon it; and so he re- 
 turned into his own country, where, in the next assembly of 
 estates, he was made regent by an unanimous consent;- and pre- 
 sently a proposition was made concerning raising the siege of 
 Berwick. The wiser sort were of opinion, that in so dangerous 
 a time, when things were thus unsettled by reason of domestic 
 seditions, it was best to clap up a peace upon any terms; for they 
 saw plainly, that if they should have the better of so powerful an 
 enemy, yet it would rather provoke than dishearten him; but if 
 they themselves were overcome, it was uncertain how an enemy, 
 fierce by nature, and farther elevated by success, would use his 
 victory. Some that were more hot-spirited than they had reason 
 to be, opposed this opinion; yet it was carried in the parliament. 
 After many conditions had been canvassed to and fro, at length 
 it was agreed, that on the 26th of August 1482, the castle of Ber- 
 wick should be surrendered up to the English, and a truce made 
 for a few months, till they could have more time to treat of a 
 peace. Thus Berwick was lost, after it had been enjoyed by the 
 Scots 21 years, since they last recovered it. Then the duke of 
 Gloucester, having made a prosperous expedition, returned in tri- 
 umph home. 
 
 Edward by the advice of his council, judged it more for "he ad- 
 vantage of England, to disannul the marriage contract; for he 
 feared that the intestine discords of the Scots were so great, that 
 James's issue might be in danger of losing the crown; and he was 
 most respectful to Alexander, because, if he should be made king, 
 he hoped to have a constant and faithful ally of him, in regard of 
 the great kindness he had received at his hands. Hereupon an 
 herald was sent to Edinburgh, to renounce the affinity, and to de- 
 mand the repayment of the dowry. When he had declared his er- 
 rand publicly on the 25th of October, the Scots obtained p day for 
 the payment thereof, and restored it to a penny; and withal, they 
 sent some to convoy the herald as far as Berwick. Alexander, 
 that he might extinguish the remains of the old hatred of his bro- 
 ther against him, and so obtain new favour by a new courtesy, 
 brought him out of the castle, and restored him to the free posses- 
 sion of his kingdom. But the memory of old offences prevailed 
 more with James's proud restless spirit, than this late courtesy. 
 Moreover, besides the king's old jealousies, there were those, that 
 did daily calumniate Alexander, and buz into the king's ear his 
 too great popularity; as if now it was very evident, that he affec- 
 ted the kingdom. He being advised by his friends, that mischief 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 83 
 
 was hatching against him at court, fled privately into England; 
 and gave up the castle of Dunbar to Edward. In his absence he 
 was-condemned. The crimes objected against him were, first, That 
 he had often sent messengers into England ; and then, that he had 
 retired thither himself, without obtaining a passport from the 
 king; and that there he joined in council against his country, and 
 his king's life. All his partizans were pardoned, and amongst the 
 rest William Crichton, who was accused not only to be an abettor 
 of his designs against his country, but also the chief author that 
 urged him on to them. But when he had obtained pardon for 
 what was past, he was again accused of encouraging Alexander by 
 his advice and counsel, after he was condemned; (frequent letters 
 passing between them, by the means of Thomas Dickson a priest) 
 and of causing his castle of Crichton to be fortified against the 
 king, and commanding the garrison soldiers not to surrender it up 
 to the king's forces. Wherefore he was summoned to answer the 
 14th day of February, in the year 1484. But he, not appearing, 
 was outlawed, and his goods confiscated. These were the causes 
 of his punishment, mentioned in our public records. But it is 
 thought that the hatred the king had conceived against him, upon 
 a private occasion, did him the most mischief of all. It was 
 this: William had a very beautiful wife, of the noble family of the. 
 Dunbars; when her husband found that the king had had the use 
 of her body, he projected a revenge, which was rash enough in it- 
 self, but yet not improper for a mind sick of love, and also pro- 
 voked by such an injury as his was; for he himself lay with the 
 king's youngest sister, a beautiful woman, but ill spoken of for 
 her too great familiarity with her brother; and on her he begat 
 Margaret Crichton, who died not long since. In the interim, 
 Crichton's wife died at his qwn house; and the king's sister, who, 
 as I said, the king had vitiated, was so much in love with Wil- 
 liam, that she seemed sometimes to be out of her wits for him. 
 The king, partly by the mediation of William's friends, and part- 
 ly being mindful of the wrong he himself had done him of the 
 like sort, and being willing also to cover the infamy of his sister 
 under a veil of marriage, permitted William to return home again 
 to court, upon condition that he would marry her. William 
 was persuaded by his friends; and, for want of better views, espe- 
 cially since Richard of England was dead, came to Inverness, 
 where he had a conference with the king, not long before 
 their deaths; and great hopes were there given of his return. 
 His sepulchre is yet there to be seen. These things were done at 
 several times, but I have put them together, that so the thread of 
 my history might not be discontinued and broken off. Let us 
 now return to what was emitted before. 
 
 Edward of England died in $ie month of April, next after 
 
1>4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIL 
 
 Dunbar was delivered to him, in the year 1483, leaving his bro- 
 ther Richard guardian to his sons. He was first content with the 
 name of protector, and under that title governed England for two 
 months: But afterwards having, by several practices, engaged a 
 part of the nobility and commonalty to his side, he put his bro- 
 ther's two sons in prison ; the queen and her two daughters being 
 forced to retire into a sanctuary near London. The next June he 
 took upon him the name and ornaments of a king. 
 
 Alexander of Albany, and James Douglas, being willing to try 
 •how their countrymen stood affected towards them, came with 
 500 select horse to Lochmaben on Maudlin's day, because a great 
 fair used that day to be there held. There a skirmish began be- 
 tween the parties with enraged minds on both sides, and the suc- 
 cess was various, as aid came in out of the neighbouring district, 
 either to this or that party. They fought from noon till night, 
 and the issue was doubtful; but at last the victory inclined to the 
 Scots, though it was a bloody one, as having lost many of their 
 men. Douglas was there taken prisoner, and sent away to the 
 monastery of Lindors; Alexander was set on a horse, and escaped, 
 but staid not in England long after that. In the mean time, many 
 incursions were made, to the greater loss of the English, than 
 benefit of the Scots. Richard was uncertain of the event of things 
 at home, and withal feared his enemy abroad; for many of the 
 English favoured the earl of Richmond, who was an exile in 
 France, and had sent for him over to undertake the government 
 •of the kingdom; so that Richard was mightily troubled. Neither 
 was he less vexed with the guilt of his own wickedness; and be- 
 cause he could not quell domestic sedition, as soon as he hoped, 
 therefore he thought it best to oblige foreigners by any conditions 
 whatsoever; that so, by their authority and power, he might be 
 safer at home, and more formidable abroad. For this cause he sent 
 ambassadors into Scotland, to make peace, or at least a truce for 
 some years. There he found all things more easy than he could 
 have hoped for: For James, who, for his many and notable crimes 
 was grievously hated by his own people, as well as Richard was 
 •by his, willingly gave ear to his ambassadors; for he hoped that, 
 jf once he had peace with England, he could revenge his wrongs 
 i)t home at leisure, when England could not be a refuge for his 
 opposcrs. For these reasons especially, both kings sent some of 
 their confidents to the borders; where after many and long dis- 
 putes concerning compensation for losses, seeing peace could not 
 be made, by reason of the multitudes of complainants, and the 
 weakness of their proofs, they made a truce for three years. 
 
 And because matters couid not then be adjusted, for the diffi- 
 culties above-mentioned, and also the straituess of time; arbiters 
 w&pt appointed on both sides, yrho, together with the commanders 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 8$ 
 
 of the borders, should see all things done according to equity. 
 One condition in the truce was set down very intricately, about 
 the castle ofDunbartobe restored to the Scots; for the English 
 interpreted it, that they might keep it; and the Scots, that they 
 might reduce it by force, notwithstanding the truce: For when 
 the Scots, after the expiration of six months allotted, sent am- 
 bassadors to demand the castle, Richard by his letters made them 
 promises of his good-will, but he delayed the restoration of it (al- 
 leging sometimes this, and sometimes other things, as an obstacle 
 in the way) till his death, which followed not long after. He was 
 slain by his countrymen; and Henry VII. not yet fully in his 
 throne, when James laid seige to the castle in a very sharp win- 
 ter; the garrison soldiers, seeing that they were not like to have 
 relief from England, in regard of the present distractions, surren- 
 dered it up. But Henry, being troubled with many cares, that 
 he might cut oft' the occasion of foreign wars, and extirpate 
 the seeds of old hatred, came to Newcastle-upon-Tyne; front 
 thence he sent ambassadors to Scotland, either to make a perpe- 
 tual league, or, at least, a long truce with them ; for he, being a 
 man of great prudence, and having experienced many vicissitudes 
 of things in his life, judged it highly conducing to the establish- 
 ment ot his kingdom, to make peace with his neighbours, and e- 
 specially with the Scots; because commonly those two kingdoms 
 lay upon the catch for advantages against each other, and protect- 
 ed rebellious fugitives, and entertained those who were exiled; 
 and maintained sedition, by giving the authors of it hope of re- 
 fuge and supply. And as for James, he desired nothing more, 
 than to be free from the fear of foreigners, that so he might pu- 
 nish his own disobedient subjects as he pleased.. And therefore 
 he kindly received the ambassadors, and told them, that he desired 
 nothing more than a peace: but his opinion was, that his subjects 
 would not yield, that either there should be a perpetual peace, or. 
 any long truce betwixt them; partly because it was forbid by an 
 ancient law, lest, when all fear of an enemy was removed, their; 
 minds might languish into idleness, and the sinews of their indu- 
 stry be remitted; and partly, because they could not so suddenly 
 lay down their fierceness of spirit, which they acquired by so long 
 use of arms: But if they could be brought to this, to yield to a 
 truce for six or seven years, he would not have them refuse it : 
 But as for himself, he was willing to maintain a firm and invio- 
 late peace with them, as long as he lived; and he would also take 
 care, that the truce should be renewed, before die date of it was 
 quite expired; but he earnestly desired the ambassadors, not to di- 
 vulge abroad the discourse which they had in secret with him, lest 
 his nobility should be more backward from coming into a peace, 
 if they saw him forward in the case. When this was told Henry; 
 
86 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Ifook XIL 
 
 who knew in what a tumultuous state the affairs of Scotland 
 were, and how convenient it was for the king to have a peace? 
 imagining likewise that he spoke really, and from his heart, he ac- 
 cepted of the truce for seven years, and so retired back to York. 
 In the mean time the queen of Scots died, a woman of singular 
 beauty and probity; by her good graces she was sometimes 
 thought to have moderated the unbridled appetites and efforts of 
 her husband. .Alexander also, the king's brother, died in France, 
 leaving two sons behind him, Alexander, by his first wife, the 
 daughter of the earl of the Or cades, and John by his second, who 
 was afterwards the regent-king of Scotland for some years. 
 
 James, having thus settled peace abroad, and at home being 
 freed from two troublesome interrupters of his designs, l-eturned 
 to his own disorderly nature. He excluded almost all the nobility, 
 and had none but upstarts about him : Upon them he bestowed 
 great honours and preferments; the care of all public affairs, and 
 tlie ways and means of raising money were wholly and solely left 
 to them, whilst he himself lay, as it were, drowned in voluptuous- 
 ness. The chief of this court-faction was John Ramsay, who 
 was preserved at Lauder by the king's request, and then escaped 
 punishment. He was grown so insolently proud, that, not con- 
 tent with the stewardship of the household (a place of prime ho- 
 nour amongst the Scots) which the king had given him, and ma- 
 ny rich lordships besides; he obtained an edict, That none but he 
 and his retinue, wear a sword, or other weapon, in those places where 
 the king lodged; that so, by this means they might strengthen them- 
 selves and their retinue, against the nobility, who kept their di- 
 stinct and frequent meetings by themselves; and walked up and 
 down in their arms. But that edict made the people hate Ramsay 
 more than fear him; for now they had nothing but the image of 
 perfect slavery before their eyes. In the mean time the king me- 
 ditated nothing more, than how to satiate himself with the blood 
 of those men, who were believed to be the authors of rebellion 
 against him. And seeing he could not do it by any open force, 
 he thought to effect it by subtlety; and therefore he feigned him- 
 self to be reconciled to this, and to the other man; and treated 
 them with more familiarity than became the dignity of a prince. 
 To others who were eminent in power, he gave honours and 
 largesses. He made David Lindsay earl of Crawford, duke of 
 Montrose; endeavouring to win him by that means, being so 
 powerful a man in his country. As for George earl of Angus, 
 he had him frequently about him; and, as if he had been , wholly 
 received into his favour, he acquainted him with his private 
 designs; yet none of his rewards and flatteries could persuade 
 men that he was sincere. For they that knew his disposition, 
 did not at all doubt, that his simulation of benevolence and ro» 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 87 
 
 spect tended to no other end, but that he might either arrest the 
 nobility one by one, or else might set them together by the ears, 
 one with another; which his assembling the chief of the nobility at 
 Edinburgh made more plainly appear; for he called Douglas to 
 him into the castle, and told him, that he had now an eminent op- 
 portunity to revenge himself; for, if the leaders of the faction 
 were apprehended and put to death, the rest would be quiet; but, 
 if he omitted this opportunity, which was so fairly put into his 
 hands, he could never expect the like again. 
 
 Douglas, who knew that the king's mind was no more recon- 
 ciled to himself than to others, did craftily reason with him, con- 
 cerning so cruel and so ruinous a design; alleging, that men 
 would judge it to be a base and flagitious act, if he should hurry 
 to many noble persons to death, without any hearing or trial, to 
 whom he had pardoned their former misdemeanors; and now 
 they also rested secure, in that they had the public faith given 
 them for their safety. For the fierce minds of his enemies would 
 not be broken by the death of a few; but rather, if his faith 
 should be once violated, all hope of concord would be cut oiTj 
 and, if once men despaired of pardon, their anger would be 
 turned into rage; and from thence a greater obstinacy, and con- 
 tempt both of the king's authority, and of their lives too, would 
 infallibly ensue. But if you will hearken to my counsel (said he) 
 I will shew you a way whereby you may save the dignity of a 
 king, and yet revenge yourself too: for I will gather my friends 
 and clans together, and so openly, and in the day time, I will lay 
 hold upon them, and ycu may try them where you will, and in- 
 flict what punishment you please upon them. This way will be 
 more creditable, and also much more safe, than if you should set 
 upon them secretly and by night; for then it would look as if 
 they were murdered by thieves The king thought the earl had 
 been sincere in what he spake, (for he knew he was able to per- 
 form what he had promised) and therefore he gave him many 
 rhmiks, and more promises of great rewards, and so dismissed 
 him. But he presently acquainted the nobility with their immi- 
 11. at danger, advised them to withdraw themselves, as he himself 
 also did. The king perceiving that his secret projects were dis- 
 covered, from that day forward would trust nobody; but after he 
 had staid a while in the castle of Edinburgh, he sailed over into 
 the countries beyond the Forth; for they as yet remained firm in 
 their obedience to him, and there levied a considerable force. 
 And the nobles, who before had sought his amendment, not his 
 destruction, now, seeing all hopes of any agreement were cut oft, 
 managed all tlieir counsels for his utter overthrow and ruin; only 
 there was one thing which troubled them, and that was, who 
 should be their general, that, after the king was subdued, might 
 
 Vol. II. M 
 
88 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 be regent, or vice-king, who might be acceptable to the people; 
 and, on the account of the honour of his family, would load the 
 faction with as little envy as might be. After many consulta- 
 tions about this, at last they pitched upon the king's son. He 
 was enticed to a compliance by the supervisors and tutors of 
 his childhood; and he did it out of this fear, that, if he refused, 
 the government and command would be made over to the English, 
 the perpetual enemies of their family. 
 
 The king by this time had passed over the Forth, and pitched 
 his tent by the castle of Blackness; and his son's army was not" 
 far off, ready for the encounter; when, lo! the matter was com-' 
 posed by the intervention of the earl of Athol, the king's uncle; 
 and Athol himself was given up, as an hostage for the peace, to 
 Adam Hepburn, earl of Bothwell, with whom he remained till 
 the king's death: but suspicions increased on both sides, the con- 
 cord lasted not long; however, messengers passed between them, 
 and at last the nobility gave this answer, ' That since the king 
 « acted nothing sincerely, a certain war was better than a trea- 
 
 * cherous peace; there was but one medium left, upon which they 
 
 * could agree, and that was, that the king should resign the go- 
 ' vernment, and his son be set up in his place; and if he would 
 ' not consent to that, it was in vain for him to give himself the 
 ' trouble of any more messages or disputes.' The king commu- 
 nicated this answer to his ambassadors, which he sent to the 
 French and to the English, making it his request to them, that they 
 would assist him against the fury of a few of his rebellious sub- 
 jects, by their authority, and, if need were, by some auxiliary 
 forces, that so they might be reduced to their obedience; for they" 
 ought to look upon it as a common concern; and that the conta- 
 gion, by this example, would quickly creep to the neighbour na- 
 tions. There were also ambassadors sent to Eugenius VIII. pope 
 of Rome, to desire him, that out of his fatherly affection to the 
 Scottish name, he would send" a legate into Scotland, with full 
 power, by ecclesiastical censures, to compel rebellious subjects to 
 lay down arms, and obey their king. The pope writ to Adrian 
 of Castell, then his legate in England, a man of great learning 
 and prudence, to do his endeavour for composing the Scottish 
 affairs. But these remedies came too late: for the nobles, who 
 were not ignorant what the king was a-doing, and knew that he 
 was implacable toward them, resolved to put it to a battle, before 
 any more forces came to him. And though they had the king's 
 son with them, both to countenance their matters with the greater 
 grace amongst the vulgar, and also to shew that they were no ene- 
 mies to their country, but only to their misled king, yet, lest the 
 hearts of the people might be weakened by the approach of fo- 
 ttigp, ambassadors, they were solicitous, night and day,- how to 
 
.Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 89 
 
 decide it by a battle. But the king's fearfulness was an hin- 
 drance to their hasty design; who, having levied a great strength 
 in the northern parts of the kingdom, resolved to keep himself 
 within the castle of Edinburgh, till those aids came to him. 
 However, he wis taken off from that resolution, though it seemed 
 -the safest for him, by the fraud, or, at least, the simplicity of 
 some about him; for, in regard to the frequent washes and friths, 
 .which gave delay to those who were coming in to him, they per- 
 suaded him to go to Stirling, the only place in the kingdom fit 
 to receive aids coming from all parts thereof: and there he might 
 be as safe as he was in the castle of Edinburgh, seeing his enemies 
 were unprovided of all materials l'equisite for the storming of 
 castles; and there also he might have his fleet, which he had fitted 
 out against all hazards, to ride in some convenient harbour near 
 adjoining. This counsel seemed faithful, and was safe enough, 
 if James Shaw, governor of the castle, being corrupted by the 
 •contrary faction, had not refused him entrance; so that the ene- 
 my was almost at his heels; and, before he knew where to be- 
 take himself, he was forced, with that strength which he had, to 
 run the hazard of a fight. At the beginning they fought stoutly; 
 and the first ranks of the nobility's army began to give ground ; 
 but the men of Annandale, and the neighbouring parts, inhabiting 
 the west of Scotland, came boldly .up, and having longer spears 
 than the adverse party, they presently routed the king's main for- 
 ces. He himself was weakened by the fall off his horse, and fled 
 to some water-mills near the place where the battle was fought. 
 His intent was (as is supposed) to get to his ships, which lay not 
 ^ar off: Here, with a few of his men, he was taken and slain. 
 There were three that pursued him very close in his flight, i. e. 
 Patrick Gray the head of his family, Sterline Ker, and a priest 
 named Borthwick: It is not well known, which of them gave his 
 death's wound. When the news of his death, tho' not as yet ful- 
 ly certain, was divulged through both armies, it occasioned the 
 conquerors to press less violently upon those who fled away; so 
 that there were the fewer of them slain: For the nobles managed 
 the war against the king, not against their fellow subjects. There 
 was slain of the king's party, Alexander Cunningham, earl of 
 Glencairn, with some few of his vassals and kindred; but there 
 were many wounded on both sides. 
 
 Thus James III. came to his end, a man not so much of a bad 
 disposition by nature, as corrupted by ill habits, into which he was 
 brought up by vicious acquaintance. For having at first given a 
 specimen of great and notable ingenuity, and of a mind truly roy- 
 al, he degenerated by degrees, the Boyds being the first occasion 
 ,of it, into all manner of licentiousness. When the Boyds were 
 removed, then persons of the lowest sort were his advisers to all 
 
 M 2 
 
9» HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XII. 
 
 kind of wickedness; and besides, the corruption of die times, and 
 the ill examples of his neighbour kings, contributed not a little to 
 his overthrow and ruin: For Edward IV. in England, Charles in 
 Burgundy, Lewis XI. in France, John II. in Portugal, had all of 
 them laid the foundations of tyranny in their respective king- 
 doms. And Richard HI. exercised it to the highest degree of cruel- 
 ty in England. His death was also branded with this ignominy, that, 
 in the next assembly, the whole parliament voted, that he was 
 justly slain; and provision was made for all that bore arms a- 
 gainst him, that neither they nor their posterity should be preju- 
 diced by it. He died in the year of our Lord 1488, and in the 
 twenty-eight year of his reign, and the thirty-fifth of his age. 
 
 
(A. C. 1488.; 
 
 T H E 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 SCOTLAND, 
 
 BOOK XIII. 
 
 JAMES III. being thus slain, near Stirling, in the month of 
 June, they who were his opposers, being as yet uncertain what 
 was become of him, retreated to Linlithgow. There word was 
 brought them, that some boats had passed to and fro, from the 
 ships to the land, and that they had carried off the wounded men. 
 Upon this a suspicion arose amongst them, that the king himself 
 also was gone a ship-board-, which occasioned them to remove 
 their camp to Leith. From thence the prince (for that is the title 
 of the king of Scots' eldest son) sent some agents, to require the 
 admiral of the fleet to come ashore to him. His name was Andrew 
 Wood; he was a knight; and, being mindful of the king's kind- 
 ness towards him, remained constant in his affection to him, even 
 after he was dead; he refused to come ashore, unless hostages 
 were given for his safe return. Seton and Fleming, two noble- 
 men, were the hostages. When he landed, the king's council 
 asked him, if he knew where the king was? and who were they 
 that he carried off to his ships after the flight? As for the king, 
 he told them he knew nothing of him, but that he and his bro- 
 thers had landed out of their boats, that so they might assist the 
 king and all his good subjects, but having endeavoured in vain to 
 preserve him, they then returned to the ileet. He added, if the 
 king were alive, they resolved to obey none but him; but if he 
 .were slain, they were ready to revenge his death. He uttered al- 
 so many reproachful speeches against the rebels; yet nevertheless 
 they sent him away in safety to his ship 1 -, that so his hostages 
 
«Q2 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII. 
 
 might not suffer. When the hostages were returned, the inhabi- 
 tants of Leith were called up to the council, and pressed by pro- 
 mises of great reward, to rig out their ships, and subdue Andrew 
 Wood. They all in general made answer, That he had two ships 
 so fitted with all things for a fight, and so well furnished with able 
 and valiant seamen; and .withal, that he himself was so skilful in 
 naval affairs, that no ten ships in Scotland were able to cope with 
 his two; so that the consultation was put off, and they went to 
 Edinburgh. There they were fully informed of the king's death, 
 and appointed a magnificent funeral to be made for him at Cam- 
 bus-Kenneth, a monastery near Stirling, on the 25th day of the 
 month of June. 
 
 James IV. the hundred and fifth king. 
 
 IN the interim, an assembly was summoned to meet on a cer= 
 tain day in order to create a new king. There were few who 
 came together to perform this service, and those were mostly of 
 the party that had conspired against the former king. The new 
 king, just after his accession, sent an herald to the governor of 
 Edinburgh castle, commanding him to surrender it, which he ac- 
 cordingly did; and then he marched to Stirling, and that castle 
 was also delivered up to him by the garrison. When it was noised 
 all over England how great the troubles in Scotland were, five 
 ships were chosen out of that king's fleet, who entered into the 
 frith of Forth, and there plundered the merchant-men, obstruct- 
 ing their commerce, and made many descents on both shores, ex- 
 tremely infesting the maritime parts; for they expected great dis- 
 turbances on land, by the Scots going into parties one against 
 another. For, seeing the adverse party were rather shattered than 
 .broken in the late fight, in regard they were not all there; and of 
 those that were, there were not many slain, they thought a 
 fiercer tempest would have arisen from minds, which yet conti- 
 nued to be inflamed with hatred and envy, and which were eleva- 
 ted by confidence in their own strength. And it encreased the 
 indignation, that now the power over so many noble and 
 eminent persons was so easily fallen, not into the king's, but a 
 few particular men's hands. For though the king might retain the 
 name and title of a king, yet being but a youth of fifteen years old, 
 he did noc govern, but was himself governed by those that killed 
 his father. For the whole management of matters center- 
 ed in the hands of Douglas, Hepburn, and Hume, and their con- 
 fidence was the more increased, because all the shores were infest- 
 ed with the two fleets, the Scotch and the English. To obviate 
 these difficulties, first of all the new king endeavoured to recon* 
 
Hook XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, <j$ 
 
 cile the naval forces to himself, lest, when he was absent in the 
 farthest parts of the kingdom, to settle matters there, they should 
 raise new commotions, to pave away for the English to penetrate 
 far into his dominions, and to spoil the midland countries. When 
 the old king's death came to be publicly divulged abroad, the new 
 one thought that Andrew Wood would grow more flexible, and 
 therefore he sent for him, giving him the public faith for his se- 
 curity. When he was ashore, he told him what a great dis- 
 honour, loss, and public shame it was to the whole nation, that 
 a few English ships should, in spite of them, ride under their very 
 noses; and by that means he drew over Andrew to his party, and 
 sent him forth in good equipage against the English. Many advis- 
 ed him that he would equip an equal number of ships at least, a- 
 gainst the enemy, whose vessels were more, and larger than his. 
 No, says he, Til have only my own t%uo. And, as soon as the wind 
 served, he made directly toward the English, who rode before 
 Dunbar. He fought them bravely, took, and brought them all 
 into Leith, and presented their commanders to the king. Andrew 
 was liberally rewarded by the king; and his skill in engagements 
 at sea, with the singular valour of his soldiers and seamen, was 
 highly magnified. And yet there were not wanting some of those 
 sort of creatures, who always admire the atchievements of kings, 
 whatsoever they be; and if they be great, yet they view them in a 
 multiplying glass; who foretold, that this victory did but precede 
 a greater. Mean while the adverse part of the nobility sent messa- 
 ges into all parts of the kingdom, to persuade the country to rise, 
 and not to endure the present state of things- nor to suffer so ma- 
 ny valiant men to be illuded by such public parricides, who had 
 murdered one king, and made a captive of another; nay, who ac- 
 cused the defenders of the king's life as traitors; whereas they, 
 who were indeed violators cf ail divine and human laws, gave out 
 themselves to be the only assertors of the rights of their country, 
 and the sole maintainors of its liberty: amongst whom the king 
 himself was not a freeman, in regard he v/as forced by them to take 
 arms against his father and king; and, after the monarch fell a 
 sacrifice to impiety, he was compelled to prosecute, by a nefari- 
 ous war, those who were the friends of his father, and the defend- 
 ers of his life. Many such discourses they spread abroad amongst 
 the vulgar. And to excite a greater flame of indignation and ha- 
 tred, Alexander Forbes, chief of a noble family, carried the king's 
 shirt upon a spear (all over bloody and torn, with the marks of the 
 wounds he received) through Aberdeen, and all the chief towns 
 of the adjacent country; and excited all men by this declaration, 
 and by the voice of an herald, to rise in arms to revenge so black 
 a deed. And Matthew Stewart, earl of Lennox, a man of great 
 wealth and power, and who, by an honest kind of popularity,. 
 
^4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII. 
 
 was equally dear to high and low; was as active In the countries 
 on this side the Forth-, for he raised up the earls that were his 
 neighbours, and with a good force endeavouring to pass over the 
 bridge at Stirling, to join his associates; but that bridge being 
 possessed by the king's forces, he tried to pass a ford, noi fatf 
 from the rise of the river, at the foot of mount Grampius. His 
 design was discovered to John Drummond by Alexander M eal- 
 pin, his vassal, who had joined himself to the enemy; by v. 
 also information was given, that things were insecure and ill guard- 
 ed in the enemy's camp; that every o ;led up and down as 
 they pleased; that they had no watch s;t in convenient places, 
 p^r used any military discipline at all. Upon these advices 
 X>rummond, with some volunteers, who came in to assist him, set 
 upon them when they were asleep. Many were killed in their 
 sleep, the rest run headlong away without their arms, and bo re- 
 turned from whence they came. Many were taken pi loners, but 
 a great part of them dismissed by their friends that knew chem. 
 These only were severely dealt with, who had either written or* 
 Spoke move contumeliously than others. 
 
 The joy for this victory was increased by the news of another 
 at the same time, which Andrew Wood had got over Stephen 
 Bull, in an engagement at sea. For Henry king of England, 
 hearing that five of his ships were taken by two of the Scots, and 
 those n uch less than his, was willing to blot out the infamy of 
 tiiis defeat, and yet could find no just pretence for a war ; howe- 
 ver he called his ablest sea-commanders together; he offered them 
 what ships and warlike provisions they pleased, exhorting them 
 to purge away this stain cast upon the English name; promising 
 them great rewards, if they could bring Wood to him, dead or 
 alive. But when those that knew the valour of the man, and his 
 prosperous successes made some delay in the case, Stephen Bull, 
 a knight of known courage, undertook the expedition. And op- 
 portunity seemed to favour his design, because he knew that 
 Wood was shortly to return out of Flanders; and he thought it 
 would be a matter of no great difficulty to attack him at unawares 
 in his passage. For this end, he pitched upon three ships out of 
 the royal navy, and equipped them well in all points, and so 
 stood for the isle of May, an island uninhabited, in the frith of 
 Forth; chusing that place for the conveniency of it, because on 
 every side of the island there is safe riding and harbour for ships 
 ist bad weather; znd there the sea also grows so narrow, that 
 no little vessel could pass by, without being discovered. Whilst 
 lie rode there, he continually kept some of his skilfullest mariners 
 abroad i fisher-boats, to watch, and to discover to him his ene- 
 my's ships. He had not rode at anchor there many days, when 
 i's ships appeared with full sail making towards him* Bull 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 95 
 
 knew them, and presently weighed anchor; and, as victor al- 
 ready in his mind, he prepared himself for the fight. Wood staid 
 no longer but till his men had armed themselves, and so made up 
 to him. Thus did these two valiant commanders engage, as if 
 they had had the courage of mighty armies, and they fought ob- 
 stinately till night parted the fray, the victory inclining to neither 
 side. The next morning each of them encouraged their party, 
 and renewed the attack with redoubled fury. They threw grap- 
 ling irons into one another's ships, and so fought hand to hand, as 
 if they had been at a land fight, and that with so much eagerness, 
 that neither of them took notice to the falling back of the tide, till 
 they came to the heaps of sand at the mouth of the river Tay. 
 There the water being shallower, the great ships of the English 
 could not be so easily managed, but were forced to surrender; 
 and so they were towed up the stream of the Tay to Dundee, 
 where they staid till the dead were buried, and the wounded were 
 placed under the hands of surgeons for their cure. The battle 
 was fought the 10th day of August, 1490. 
 
 A few days after, Wood went to the king, and carried with 
 him Stephen Bull, with the other commanders of the ships, and 
 the most noted of his soldiers, whom he presented to him. Wood 
 was highly commended by the king for this exploit, and was ho- 
 nourably rewarded. The king freely dismissed the prisoners and 
 their ships, and sent them back to their king, with an high com- 
 mendation of their valour. For, in regard they fought for honour, 
 not for booty, he therefore would shew, thr.t valour ought to be 
 honoured, even in an enemy. 
 
 King Henry, though he was highly concerned^??' the loss of his 
 men in this unhappy fight, yet gave the king of Scots thanks, and 
 told him, that he gratefully accepted his kindness, and could not 
 but applaud the greatness of his mind. 
 
 About this time a new kind of monster was born in Scotland; 
 in the lower part of its body it resembled a male child, nothing 
 differing from the ordinary shape of a human body; but, above 
 the navel, the trunk of the body and all the other members were 
 double, representing both sexes, male and female. The king 
 gave special order for its careful education, especially in music, 
 in which it arrived to an admirable degree of skill. And moreover 
 it learned several tongues; and sometimes the two bodies did dis- 
 cover several appetites, disagreeing one with another; and so they 
 would quarrel, one liking this, the other that ; and yet sometimes a- 
 gain, they would agree and consult (as it were) in common, for the 
 good of both. This was also memorable in it, that, when the legs 
 or loins were hurt below, both bodies were sensible of this pain in 
 common; but, when it was pricked or otherwise hurt above, the 
 sense ot the pain did affect one body only; which difference was 
 
 Vol. II. N 
 
$6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIIL 
 
 also more perspicuous in its death; for one of the bodies died ma- 
 ny days before the other; and that which survived, being half 
 putrified, pined away by degrees. This monster lived twenty- 
 eight years, and then died, when John was regent of Scotland. 
 I am the mere confident in relating this story, because there are 
 many honest and credible persons yet alive, who saw this prodi- 
 gy with their eyes. 
 
 When the people of the north of Scotland heard of this naval 
 victory, they gave over all thoughts of war, and returned each to 
 his own home. The tumult and broil being so easily quieted, the 
 king applied his mind, not only to quell all seditions for the pre- 
 sent, but also to prevent all the occasions of them for the future. 
 He summoned his first parliament to be held at Edinburgh the 6th 
 day of November. There many wholesome laws were made for 
 the establishing of public concord; and, to the end that people's 
 minds might the better agree in general, the fault was cast but 
 upon a few particular persons; and the punishments were either 
 very easy, or else wholly remitted. When a dispute arose con- 
 cerning the lawfulness of the war, John Lyon, lord Glamis, rose 
 up, and shewed several heads of articles, which the nobles had 
 formerly sent to the king, in order to a pacification, to which 
 James III. had often both assented and subscribed; and that in- 
 deed he had struck up a peace with his nobles upon those terms, 
 unless some evil counsellors had drawn him away from it, and so 
 persuaded him to call in the old enemy to fight against his own 
 subjects. And, by- reason of this his inconstancy, the earls of 
 Huntly, Arrol, earl of Marshall, and Lyon himself, with many 
 other noble persons, had forsaken him at that time, and had set 
 up James IV. his son, as being a lover of the public peace and 
 welfare. After a long consult, at last they all consented to a de- 
 cree, wherein those that were slain in the battle of Stirling, were 
 affirmed to have been cut off by their own fault, and that their 
 slaughter was just; and that they who had taken up arms against 
 the enemies of the public (for so they coveted their hidden fraud 
 under honest pretences) were guilty of no crime, nor consequent- 
 ly liable to any punishment. All who had votes in the assembly, 
 subscribed to this decree, that so they might give a better account 
 of the fact to foreign ambassadors, of whose coming they had in- 
 formation. Many other statutes were then also made, to restore 
 to the poor what had been taken violently from them; to inflict 
 small fines on the rich; and to indemnify both parties, that then- 
 taking up of arms at that time, might never turn to the prejudice 
 of them or their posterity. This moderation of spirit was highly 
 commended in a young king, of but fifteen years old, and who 
 was also a conqueror, and had the command of all; but it 
 was further heightened by his benignity and faithfulness in 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 97 
 
 performing his promises. To this we may add a thing (which 
 commonly takes most with the vulgar) that he was of a grace- 
 ful well-set body, and also of a lively and quick apprehension. 
 So that, by his using his victory neither with avarice nor cruelty, 
 and by his real pardoning of offenders, in a short time there 
 grew up a great concord amongst both factions, both of them 
 equally striving to shew their love and duty to the king •, a 
 few only, who were most obstinate, w r ere punished with a 
 small fine, or with the loss of part of their estates, but none 
 at all were deprived of their whole patrimony; neither were 
 the fines brought into the king's exchequer, but applied to de- 
 fray the charges of the war. This his royal clemency was the 
 more grateful, because men did yet retain fresh in their memories, 
 upon what slight occasions in the former king's reign, many emi- 
 nent men were outed of all; and how much inferior to them those 
 were, who came in their places. Moreover, to engage the chief 
 leaders of the contrary faction to a greater fidelity, he joined them 
 in bonds of affinity to himself; for whereas his aunt had two 
 daughters, by two several husbands, he married Gnceina Boyd to 
 Alexander Forbes, and Margaret Hamilton to Matthew .Stewart. 
 Thus, in a short time, the minds of all men were reconciled, and 
 a happy peace and tranquillity did ensue. Nay, as if fortune had 
 submitted herself to be an hand-maid to the king's virtues, there 
 was so great an increase of grain and fruits of the earth, as if a 
 golden spring had suddenly started up, out of a more than iron 
 age. Thus, after the king had suppressed robberies by arms, and 
 other vices by the severity of the laws, lesj: he might seem a sharp 
 avenger of others, but indulgent to himself, and withal, to make 
 it appear, that his father was slain against his will, he were an 
 iron chain about -his waist as long as he lived, and every 
 year he added one link more to it. And though this practice might 
 give an umbrage to those that were the instruments of his father's 
 death; yet they had such confidence, either in the gentleness of 
 the king's disposition, or in their own power, that it occasioned 
 no insurrection at all. 
 
 Amidst this public jubilee, and private rejoicings of particular 
 persons, about the seventh year of the king's reign, Perkin War- 
 beck came into Scotland. But before I declare the cause of his 
 coming, I must fetch things farther back. 
 
 Margaret, the sister of Edward IV. king of England, having 
 married Charles, duke of Burgundy, endeavoured all the ways 
 she could, if not to overthrow, yet at least to vex Henry VII. the 
 leader of the contrary faction. In order to this, she raised up 
 Perkin Warbeck, as a competitor for the kingdom. He was a 
 youth born of mean parentage at Tournay, a city of the Nervii; 
 but of such beautv, ingenuity, stature of body, and manliness of 
 
 ;m 2 
 
$8 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII. 
 
 countenance, .hat he might easily be believed to have been de- 
 scended of royal stock. And, by reason of his poverty, he had 
 travelled up and down in several countries (so that he was known 
 but by few of his own relations) and there he had learned several 
 languages, and had inured both his face and his mind to the most 
 consummate confidence. When Margaret (who was intent on all 
 occasions to disturb the peace cf England) had got this youth, she 
 kept him a while privately by her, till she had informed him with 
 what factions England laboured at that time; what friends, and 
 what enemies she had there. In a word, she made him acquaint- 
 ed with the whole genealogy of the royal progeny, and what hap- 
 piness or misfortunes had attended each of them. When things 
 seemed thus to be somewhat ripe, she was resolved to try fortune, 
 and gave private orders that he should be sent, with a decent e- 
 quipage, first into Portugal, then into Ireland, There a great 
 concourse of people flocked about him, and he was received with 
 great applause, as the son of king Edward cf England; either be- 
 cause his own disposition, assisted by art, was inclined to perso- 
 nate sush an one; or because being there amongst the credulous 
 Kerns, he was soon likely to raise great commotions. When a 
 war suddenly broke out betwixt the French and the English, he 
 was called for, out of Ireland, by Charles VIII. and had great 
 promises made him: so that, coming to Paris, he was there ho- 
 nourably received in the garb and equipage of a prince, and had a 
 guard appointed him. Nay, the English exiles and fugitives, who 
 were numerous at that court, put him in sure hope of the king- 
 dom. But that quarrel between the crowns being. made up, he 
 departed privately out of the court of France, for fear he should 
 have been delivered up, and so retired to Flanders, where he was 
 highly caressed by Margaret, as if it was the first time that ever 
 she had seen him, and was diligently shewed to all the courtiers; 
 and several times, when there were enough to make a large audi- 
 ence, he was desired to relate the story of all his adventures. Mar- 
 garet, as if this was the first time she ever heard it, so accommo- 
 dated her well dissembled affections, in compliance with each part 
 of his discourse, both when he related his successes, and also his, 
 misfortunes, that every body thought she believed what he had spo? 
 ken to be certainly true. 
 
 Afrer a day or two, Perkin was equipped to go abroad in the 
 habit of a prince, and had thirty men to be his guard, wearing a 
 white rose, (which is the badge of the Yprk faction amongst the 
 English) and so was evexy where declared as the undoubted heir of 
 the crown of England. When these things were divulged, first 
 in Flanders, afterwards in England, the minds of men were so 
 Stirred up, that a great concourse of people flocked in to him; not 
 only those who lurked in holes and sanctuaries for fear of the 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 99 
 
 Jaws, but even cf some noblemen, whom their present state did 
 not please, or who desired innovations. But, when a longer de- 
 lay, which Pcrkin hoped would bring in more forces to him, was 
 likely to lessen those about him, the cheat beginning to take the 
 air, he determined to try his fortune in a fight: so that having got- 
 ten a pretty great party together, he landed some few of them 
 in Kent, to try the affections of the Kentish men; but in vain. 
 All those who landed were taken ; so that he was forced to steer 
 his course for Ireland; and there also he met not with the enter- 
 tainment he hoped for; so that he sailed over into Scotland, well 
 knowing that peace between England and Scotland never used to 
 continue very long. He being admitted into the king's presence, 
 made a lamentable complaint of the ruin of the York family, and 
 what miserable calamities he himself had suffered; and therefore 
 he earnestly besought him to vindicate royal blood from such con- 
 tumely and shame. The king bid him be of good heart, and pro- 
 mised he should shortly find, that he had not desired help, in his 
 distresses, in vain. A few days after a council was called, where 
 Perkin made a sad story of his misfortunes, that he, being born of 
 a king, the most flourishing of his time, and that of the highest 
 hopes too, was left destitute by the untimely death of his father, 
 and so was like to have fallen into the tyrannical hands of his un- 
 cle Richard, before he was sensible, almost, what misery was; 
 that his elder brother was cruejly murdered by him ; but that he 
 himself was stolen away by his father's friends; so that now he 
 durst not live, no, not a poor and precarious life, even in that king- 
 dom of which he was the lawful heir; that he had lived so misera- 
 bly amongst foreign nations, that he preferred the situation of his 
 deceased brother before his own, in regard he was snatched away 
 from all other calamity, by a sudden and violent death; that he 
 himself was reserved as the ridicule of fortune; and that his sor- 
 row had not that alleviation, that he durst bewail his miserable 
 state amongt strangers, to incline them to pity him J for, after he 
 had begun openly to profess what he was, fortune had assaulted 
 him with all her darts; and, to his former miseries, had added a 
 daily fear of treachery ; for his crafty enemy had sometimes tam- 
 pered with those who entertained him, to take away his life; and 
 sometimes he had privily suborned his subjects, under the name of 
 friends, to discover his secret designs, corrupt his true friends, 
 and to find out his secret ones, and to calumniate his stock and pe- 
 digree, by false accusations amongst the vulgar; to reproach his. 
 aunt Margaret, and those English nobles that owned him; and yet 
 notwithstanding, that she, being supported by a good conscience 
 against the rcvilings of enemies, and also out of compassion to her 
 Ovvn blood, had supported him in low estate with her assistance. 
 But at la$tj when he perceived that he could not have aid enough 
 
ICO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII. 
 
 from her to recover his kingdom, (being a widow, and old too) he 
 had solicited neighbouring kings and nations, desiring them to 
 respect the common chances of man's life, and not to suffer royal 
 blood to be oppressed by tyrannical violence, and to pine away 
 with grief, fear, and misery; and that he, though for the present 
 afflicted with great evils, yet was not so dejected in his mind, but 
 that he hoped the time would come, that, being restored to his 
 kingdom by the aid of his friends, (of whom he had many both in 
 England and Scotland), he should be able to consider every parti- 
 cular man's service, and reward him accordingly ; especially if 
 the Scots would join their forces with his. And if ever he was 
 restored to his kingdom by their arms, they should soon under- 
 stand, that they had won a fast friend; and that at such a time 
 too, when the trial of true friendship is wont to be made; for he 
 and his posterity would be so gratefully mindful of the obligation, 
 that they would ever acknowledge, that the accession of his bet- 
 ter fortunes was due to them alone. Besides, he added many 
 things in praise of the king, part of them true, and part accom- 
 modated to their present condition. 
 
 Having thus said, he held his peace; but the king called him, 
 up to him, and bid him take heart, for he would refer his de- 
 mands to the council, whose advice, in grand affairs, he must 
 needs have; yet, whatever they determined, he promised him 
 faithfully, that he should not repent that he made his court his 
 sanctuary. Upon this Perkin withdrew, and, the matter being 
 put to a debate, the wiser sort, who had most experience in state 
 affairs, thought it best to reject the whole business, either because 
 they judged he 'was a counterfeit, or else, that they foresaw there 
 would be more danger by war, than advantage by the victory, 
 though they were sure of it. But the major part, either through 
 unsluifumess in affairs, or inconstancy of spirit, or else to gratify 
 the king, argued, that Perkin's cause was most just, and that they 
 greatly pitied the man. They added also, that how matters were 
 in some confusion in England, and men's minds were yet fluctu- 
 ating, after the civil war,' and therefore it was good to lay hold of 
 this opportunity; and that, since the English were wont to do the 
 like to them, they themselves ought to try, for once, to make use 
 of the enemy's distractions for their own advantage; nay, they 
 foretold a victory, preconceived in their own minds, before they 
 had put on their armour, especially, if great forces of English 
 came in to join them; nay, if they should not come in in such 
 numbers as they hoped, yet one of these two things must necessa- 
 rily follow, that either they should conquer Henry, and so settle 
 this new king on the throne, who, in recompence for so great a 
 benefit, must needs grant them all that they desired; or, if they 
 could end the matter without blows, ye: Henry, upon the quelling 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. lot 
 
 domestic tumults, not being yet fully settled in his throne, would 
 submit to what conditions they pleased ; but if he refused so to do, 
 when war was once begun, many advantages might offer them- 
 selves, which now were unforeseen. 
 
 This was the opinion of the major part; and the king himself 
 inclining to them, his vote drew in the rest. After this, he treat- 
 ed Perkin more honourably than before, gave him the title of 
 duke of York; and as such shewed him to the people. And not 
 contented with that, he gave him Katharine Gordon, daughter to 
 the earl of Huntly, to wife, a woman of as great beauty as nobi- 
 lity; and by this affinity, put him in full hopes of success. 
 James therefore, by advice of his council, levied an army, and 
 marched for England; first of all carrying it warily, and having 
 his troops ready to engage, if any sudden assault should be made 
 upon him. But afterwards, when he understood by his scouts, 
 that the enemy had no army in the field, he sent out parties to 
 plunder, and, in a short time, pillaged almost all Northumber- 
 land, and the countries thereabout. He staid some days in those 
 parts, and not an English man stirred in behalf of Perkin. And 
 it being told him, that an army was levying against him in the 
 adjacent countries, he thought it dangerous to venture his sol- 
 diers, who were laden with booty, against the new and fresh for- 
 ces of the English; and therefore he resolved to return into Scot- 
 land, and there to leave their booty; and, as soon as the time of 
 the year would permit, to undertake a new expedition. Neither 
 did he fear that the English would follow him in his retreat, for 
 he knew that new-raised soldiers would not be long kept together, 
 neither could they march after him through a country so lately 
 harrassed and made quite desolate by the wars, especially having 
 no provisions prepared before-hand. And besides, Perkin was 
 afraid, because none of the English came to him, as he hoped, that 
 if he staid any longer in his enemies' country, his cheat would be 
 discovered; so that he himself seeming to approve of the king's 
 resolution, came cunningly to him, and, composing his speech 
 and countenance so as might best express his compassion, he hum- 
 bly represented to the king, that he would not make such hr.voc 
 in a kingdom that was his own by right; and, that he would not 
 so cruelly shed so much blood of his subjects; for no kingdom in 
 the world was of so much worth to him, as to have so manv peo- 
 ple's blood spilt for the sake of it, and his country so wasted with 
 fire and sword, to procure it. The king began now to smell out 
 and understand, v/hither this unseasonable clemency tended; and 
 therefore told him, that he feared he would preserve that kingdom, 
 in which not a man did own him as a subject, much less a king, 
 not for himself, but for his capital enemy; and so, by common 
 consent, they returned home, and the army was disbanded. 
 
102 HISTORY OF 1 SCOTLAND. Book XIlL 
 
 Henry, being thus acquainted with the invasion, and also the 
 retreat of the Scots, appointed an expedition against them the 
 year after, and in the mean time levied a great army, and that he 
 might not be idle in the winter time, he summoned a parliament, 
 who approved of his design to make war with Scotland, and 
 granted a small subsidy upon the people for that end. The tax 
 raised up a greater flame of war upon him at home, than that 
 which he designed to quench abroad. For the commonalty com- 
 plained, that their youth was exhausted by so many wars and im- 
 pressments which had been within these few years, that their 
 estates were impaired, and ran very low: but that the nobles and 
 counsellors to the king were so far from being moved with these 
 calamities, that they sought to create new wars in a time of 
 peace, that so they might create new taxes on them, who were al- 
 ready in great want and necessity, and thus, when the sword 
 had not consumed, famine and poverty would. These were the 
 public complaints of all the commons; but the Cornish were 
 more enraged than all the rest; for they, inhabiting a country 
 which is in great part barren, are wont rather to gain than lose 
 by wars: And therefore, that warlike people, having been accus- 
 tomed rather to increase their estates by military spoils, than to 
 lessen them by paying taxes and rates, first of all rose against the 
 king's officers and collectors, and slew them; and then, being 
 conscious that they had engaged themselves in so bold an 
 attempt, that there was no retreat, nov hopes of mercy, the 
 multitude flocking in daily more and more to them with arms in 
 their hands, they began their march towards London. But it is 
 not my business to prosecute the story of this insurrection; it is 
 enough for my purpose to tell you, that the king was so busied this 
 whole year by the Cornish, that he was forced to employ the ar- 
 my against them, which he had designed against Scotland. 
 
 In the mean time, James, foreseeing that Henry would not let 
 the injuries of the former year pass unrevenged, and being also in- 
 formed from secret intelligence, that he was raising great forces 
 against him ; he, on the other side, levied an army, to the intent 
 that if the English invaded him first, he might be in a posture to 
 defend himself; if not, then he himself would make an inroad in- 
 to his enemy's country, and there so waste and destroy the bor- 
 dering counties, that the soil (poor enough of itself) should not af- 
 ford sufficient necessaries, even for the very husbandman. And, 
 hearing of the Cornish insurrection, he presently began his 
 march, and entered England with a great army, dividing his for- 
 ces into two parts; one went towards Durham to ravage that 
 country; and with the rest he besieged Norham, a strong castle 
 situated upon a very high hill by the river Tweed. But neither 
 here nor there was there any thing considerable done: For Rich- 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. IO3 
 
 ard Fox, bishop of Durham, a very prudent person, foreseeing 
 that the Scots would not omit the opportunity of attempting 
 somewhat during the civil broils in England, had fortified some 
 castles with strong garrisons, and had taken care that the cattle 
 and all kinds of provisions should be conveyed into places, 
 either safe by nature, or else made safe by being guarded on the 
 sides with moors and rivers. Moreover, he sent for the earl of 
 Surry, who had great forces in Yorkshire, to assist him; and 
 therefore the Scots only burnt the country, and not being able 
 to take Norham, which was stoutly defended by those within, 
 raised the siege, and without any considerable action returned 
 home. Not long after, the English followed them, and demolish- 
 ed Ayton, a small castle, seated almost on the very borders, and 
 then they returned out of their enemy's country also without any 
 memorable performance. 
 
 Amidst these commotions, both foreign and domestic, Peter 
 Hialas, a man of great wisdom, and, as times were then, not un- 
 learned, arrived at England. He was sent by Ferdinand and Isa- 
 bel, king and queen of Spain. The purport of his embassy was, 
 That Catharine, their daughter, might marry Arthur king Hen- 
 ry's son, and so a new affinity and friendship might be contracted 
 betwixt them. The English willingly embraced the affinity, and 
 therefore were desirous to bring the war with Scotland to a con- 
 clusion; and, because Henry thought it was below his dignity to 
 seek peace at the Scots' hands, he was willing to use Peter as a 
 mediator. Peter willingly undertook the business, and came in- 
 to Scotland; there he plied James with many arguments, and at 
 last made him inclinable to a peace; and then he wrote to Henry, 
 That he hoped a good peace would be agreed upon without any 
 great difficulty, if he pleased to send down some eminent persons 
 of his council to settle the conditions. Henry, as one that had 
 often tried the inconstancy of fortune, and knowing that the 
 minds of his subjects were grown fierce by these late tumults, 
 and rather irritated than humbled, commanded Richard Fox, who 
 resided in the castle at Norham, to join counsels with Hialas. 
 These two had many disputes about the matter with the ambassa- 
 dors of Scotland, at Jedburgh, and, after many conditions had been 
 mutually proposed, they could agree upon nothing. The chief 
 impediment was the demand of Henry, that Perkin Warbeck 
 should be given up to him; for he judged it to be a very reason- 
 able proposition, in regard he was but a counterfeit, and had been 
 already the occasion of so much mischief. James peremptorily 
 refused so to do; alleging, that it was not honourable in him to 
 surrender up a man of the royal progeny, who came to him as a 
 suppliant, whom he had also made his kinsman by marriage, to 
 e his faith, and let him be made a laughing-stock by his ene- 
 And thus the conference broke off; yet the hopes of an 
 Vol. II. O 
 
I0 4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII. 
 
 agreement were not altogether lost; for a truce was made for 
 some months, till James could dismiss Warbeck upon honourable 
 terms. 
 
 When now by conference with the English, and other evident 
 indications, it plainly appeared, that the tale concerning Perkin's 
 state and kindred was a mere falsity; the king sent for him, and 
 told him, what singular good-will he had borne him, and how 
 many courtesies he had bestowed upon him, of which he him- 
 self was the best witness; as first, That he had undertaken a war 
 against a potent king for his sake; and had now managed it a se- 
 cond year, to the great inconvenience of his enemy, and the pre- 
 judice of his own subjects: That he had refused an honourable 
 peace which was freely offered him, merely because he would not 
 surrender him up to the English; and thereby he had given great 
 offence, both to his subjects and his enemy too; so that now he 
 neither could nor would any longer withstand their desires. And 
 therefore, whatever his fate might be, whether peace or war, he 
 desired him to seek out some other and fitter place for it, for he 
 resolved to make peace with the English; and when it was once 
 solemnly made, to observe it as religiously; and to remove from 
 him whatsoever might be an impediment to so great and good a 
 work: Neither ought he to complain, that the Scots had forsaken 
 him, since the English had done so first, in confidence of whose 
 assistance the Scots had begun the war: And yet, notwithstand- 
 ing of all these circumstances, he was resolved to accommodate 
 him with provisions, and other necessaries, to put to sea. 
 
 Warbeck was mightily troubled at this unexpected dismission ; 
 yet he remitted nothing of his feigned height of spirit, but in a few 
 days sailed over into Ireland with his wife and family: From 
 whence soon after he passed into England, and there joined him- 
 self with the remnant of the Cornish rebels; but after many at- 
 tempts, being able to do no good, he was taken; and, having con- 
 fessed all the artifice and pageantry of his former fife, he ended his 
 days in an halter. 
 
 The seeds of war between England and Scotland being almost 
 extinguished, and a great likelihood of peace appearing, on a sud- 
 den there arose violent animosities of spirit, upon a very light oc- 
 casion, which was very near breaking out into a most bloody war. 
 Some Scottish youths went over to the town of Norham, which 
 was near the castle (as they used to do frequently in times of 
 peace) there to recreate themselves in sports and pastimes, and 
 to play together with their neighbours, as if they had been 
 at home, for there was but a small river which divided them. 
 The garrison in the castle, out of the rancour yet lodging in 
 their breasts since the former war, and being also provoked by 
 some passionate words, accused those Scots as spies, and so 
 from words they came to blows; many were wounded on both 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. I05 
 
 sides, and the Scots, being fewer in number, were forced to re- 
 turn home with the loss of some of their company. This business 
 was often brought upon the carpet in the meetings between the 
 lords of the marches ; and at last James was very angry, and sent 
 an herald to Henry, to complain of breach of truce, and how in- 
 constant the English were in keeping covenant; and, unless satis- 
 faction was given, according to the just laws which were made by 
 general consent about restitution betwixt the borderers, he com- 
 manded his herald to declare war. Henry had been exercised by 
 the violence of fortune, even from his cradle, and was therefore 
 more inclined to peace. His answer was, that whatever was done 
 of that kind, was against his will, and without his knowledge; 
 and, if the garrison-soldiers had offended in this case by their te- 
 merity, he would issue out proper orders for an examination, and 
 that, the leagues being kept inviolate, the guilty should be punish- 
 ed. 
 
 But this reparation went on but slowly, and James looked upon 
 the answer as dilatory, and that the aim was to give the resent- 
 ment time to cool, by putting off the punishment; which was ra- 
 ther a provocation than a satisfaction. Hereupon Richard Fox, 
 bishop of Durham, who was owner of the castle, being much 
 troubled that any of his tenants should give any occasion of break- 
 ing the league, did, in order to prevent it, send several letters to 
 James, full of great submission, modesty and civility, which so 
 inclined the mind of James, that he wrote him word back, that he 
 would willingly speak with him, not only about the late wrongs 
 done, but also about other matters which might be advantageous 
 to both kingdoms. Fox acquainted his king herewith, and, by 
 his consent, he waited upon James at Mulross, where he then 
 was. There James made a grievous complaint of the injury at 
 Norham; yet, by the prudent and grave discourse of Fox, he 
 was so pacified, that, for peace sake, of which he shewed him- 
 selt: very desirous, he remitted the offence. Other things were 
 acted privately betwixt them; but it appeared afterward, that the 
 sum of them was this, that James did not only desire a peace, but 
 (both before, and also now) an affinity with Henry, and a stricter 
 bond of union. And if Henry would bestow his daughter Mar- 
 garet upon him in marriage, he hoped that the thing would be for 
 the benefit of both kingdoms; and if Fox, whose authority he 
 knew to be great at home, would but do his endeavour to accom- 
 plish the aflinity, he did not doubt but it would soon be effected. 
 He freely promised his endeavour, and coming to the court of 
 England, acquainted the king with" the proposition, and thereup- 
 on gave hopes to the Scots ambassadors, that a peace would easi- 
 ly be agreed upon betwixt the two kings. Thus at length, three 
 years after, which was anno 1500, even about one and the sarn<? 
 
 " O 2 
 
106 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII. 
 
 time, Margaret, Henry's eldest daughter, was betrothed to James 
 IV. and also Catharine, daughter of Ferdinand of Spain, to Arthur, 
 Henry's eldest son, and their marriages were celebrated with great 
 pomp the next year after. 
 
 After the marriage all things were quiet, and the court turned 
 from the study of arms to sports and pastimes; so that there was 
 nothing but masks, shews, feastings. dancings, and balls; it was 
 a continued jubilee, and, upon that account, every day was a ho- 
 liday. There were also frequent tilts and tournaments, mostly ac- 
 cording to the French mode, betwixt which (as tragical acts) 
 some, who were wont to live upon spoil, came upon the stage, and 
 challenged one another; which sport the king was pleased to be- 
 hold, because he judged that the killing of them was a gain to him. 
 When the noise of these tournaments came to foreign nations, 
 many strangers, and especially from France, came daily ever to 
 shew their prowess, who were all liberally entertained by the king, 
 and as bountifully dismissed. Neither did he rest in these ludi- 
 crous exercises, but he laid out a great deal of money upon build- 
 ing at Stirling, Falkland, and several ether places, and especially 
 in building of monasteries; but his cost about ships was greatest of 
 all, for he built three stately ones of a great bulk, and many also 
 of a middle rate; one of his great ones was, to admiration, the 
 largest that ever any man had seen sail on the ocean, it being also 
 furnished with all manner of costly accommodations. Our writ- 
 ers have given a description of it, (which I pass over,) and the 
 measure of it is kept in some places ; but the greatness of it ap- 
 peared by this, that the news thereof stirred up Francis king of 
 France, and Henry VIII. king of England, each of them to build 
 a ship in imitation of it, and each endeavouring to outvie the other. 
 When the ships were finished and fitted with all necessaries for 
 sailing, and brought to the sea, they were so large, that they stood 
 there like unmoveable rocks, unfit for any use. 
 
 These works, being very expensive, exhausted James's trea- 
 sure; so that he was forced to devise new ways and means to get 
 money, and amongst the rest, he pitched upon one, by the per- 
 suasion, as it was thought, of William Elphinstone, bishop of A- 
 berdeen, which was very displeasing to all the nobility. Amongst 
 the tenures of land in Scotland, this is one by which the owner 
 holds what he buys, or is given him ; that, if he die and leave his 
 son and heir under age, the wardship of him shall belong to the 
 king, or to some other superior lord, and all the revenue to be 
 received by him, till the heir come to the age of twenty-one years. 
 There is also another badge of slavery annexed to this tenure, that 
 if an owner do sell abovehalfhis estate, without the consent of the 
 chief lord, then he is to forfeit the whole to him. This law was 
 introduced by court-parasites, to advance the king's exchequer; 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. I07 
 
 but, being looked upon as unjust, had lain dormant a long time; 
 but the king, being informed that the money might be got out of 
 those that had broke through it, commanded it to be put in exe- 
 cution: that process they called recognition. This way of raising 
 money by the king, though it deprived no man of his whole estate, 
 yet was a greater grievance to the country, than his father's covet- 
 ousness had been ; for the wrong redounded to very many, and to 
 the worthiest people most ; because under the two last kings, by- 
 reason of their foreign, and also ol their civil wars, the memory pi 
 that law was almost quite abolished; and so by reason of this new 
 project, they were forced either to redeem their lands from the 
 officers of the king's exchequer, or else to relinquish part of them. 
 And yet the love of the subjects towards their king was so great, 
 that though they suffered great inconvenience by it, his other vir- 
 tues procured him such reverence amongst them, chat their indig- 
 nation did not proceed even to an insurrection. 
 
 But, as the king set no bounds to his expences, and there were 
 not wanting flatterers, (a perpetual mischief to the courts), who 
 covered this vicious excess under the plausible names of splendour 
 and magnificence, he at last determined to undertake a voyage in- 
 to Syria, that so he might put an end to his vast expence, (which 
 he could neither continue without ruin, nor retrench without 
 shame), and so, by his absence, to abridge it. He made an ho- 
 nest pretence for his journey; that it was to expiate the fault he had 
 committed in bearing arms against his father. And indeed he had 
 given some evidence of his penitence (whether true or pretended) 
 upon this account, from the very beginning of his reign, (as I said 
 before), and he would often speak of it in his common discourse. 
 He had rigged a navy for this voyage, and had nominated the chief 
 of his retinue; and had acquainted his neighbour kings, by his am- 
 bassadors, of his intent; and many of his followers, as if they had 
 obliged themselves by the same vow, suffered the hair of their 
 heads and beards to grow to a length; and, it was thought, he 
 would immediately have taken ship, if some obstacles had not in- 
 tervened, even whilst he was most intent on his journey. For, 
 at that time there arose a vehement suspicion of a war like to en- 
 sue betwixt France and England; for Henry did not like the suc- 
 cesses of the French in Italy; and besides, he was solicited by 
 Julius II. then pope, and by Ferdinand of Spain, his father-in-law, 
 to join with them, and with the Venetians, Swiss, and Maximi- 
 lian too, (though he commonly regulated his counsels according to 
 events); for it was likely that the junction of so many nations, in 
 alliance against France, would almost swallow it up. 
 
 The king of England, being in the prime of his age, and sen- 
 sible and proud of the power of his kingdom, and in his nature 
 very forward for action, had a mighty mind tq enter into this alii- 
 
I08 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIIL 
 
 ance, but wanted a fair pretence to fall out with France. Both of 
 them soon knew one another's minds by their spies; and when 
 France could not be persuaded to desist from carrying on a war 
 against the pope, who was Henry's friend, at length an herald 
 was sent into France, to demand Normandy, Aquitain, and An- 
 jou (as the old possessions of the English) in France. But as 
 France was not moved by these threats neither, to intermit the 
 wars in Italy, Henry immediately declared war against him, and 
 sent an army into Biscay, to join his father-in-law Ferdinand; and 
 he himself prepared for an expedition into France. 
 
 Now James of Scotland, though he resolved to side with neither 
 of them, yet, as more inclinable to the French, he sent his navy 
 before-mentioned, as a present to Anne, queen of France, that so 
 it might seem rather a mark of his friendship, than any real assist- 
 ance for military action. And moreover, the Scots clergy, who 
 were used to the handling of French gold, were willing to shew 
 themselves in behalf of Louis of France; and, since they durst not 
 openly do it, they sought out proper occasions to alienate the king's 
 mind from the English. 
 
 In order to tins, Andrew Forman, then bishop of Murray, one 
 of their faction, and a friend to Louis, was sent into England, to 
 demand a vast sum of gold and silver; the greatest part of it con- 
 fisted in women's jewels and ornaments, which were reported to 
 be given by will, by Arthur, Henry VIII's elder brother, to his 
 sister Margaret, now married to James, as I related before. Hen- 
 ry (as it is probable) looked upon this demand only as a pretence 
 for a quarrel; and therefore he answered James very mildly, that 
 if any thing was due to him, he would not only pay it, but if he 
 wanted a greater sum, or any other assistance, he would not fail 
 to supply him, Wlien James had received this answer, he re- 
 solved to assist Louis in any other way, but by no means to invade 
 England : and he sent over the same Forman into France, to acquaint 
 Louis with it. Mean while, because he had heard that great na- 
 val preparations were making on both sides, he resolved to send 
 the fleet before-mentioned to Anne immediately; that so it might 
 arrive there before the war actually broke forth. He made 
 James Hamilton, earl of Arran, admiral of it, and caused him to 
 set sail the first opportunity. But Hamilton, though a man good 
 enough, yet being more skilled in the arts of peace than war; ei- 
 ther out of fear of danper, or else out of his habitual backward- 
 ness, left his voyage for France, and turned for Knockfergus, a 
 town in Ireland, situated over against Galloway in Scotland; which 
 place he pillaged anjd burnt. And afterward, as if he had been a 
 mighty conqueror, he hoisted sail for Ayr (in Scotland) a port 
 town in Kyle. When the king heard of his return, he was very 
 much exasperated against him, and could not forbear to threaten 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. IO(> 
 
 and upbraid him. And he was the more enraged against him, be- 
 cause he had received a letter from queen Anne out of France; the 
 tendency of which was, to cajole him into a war against England. 
 And he had also other letters from Andrew Forman, which in- 
 formed him, that he was generally upbraided with the promise of 
 sending the fleet, which they now looked upon as vain, in regard 
 no such thing was done. The king v/as willing to obviate this 
 mischief as well as he could; and therefore, seeing Hamilton had 
 broke off the course he was commanded to take, and had destroy- 
 ed a town that had never been an enemy to the Scots, and was 
 then also in alliance with them; and so had made war upon his 
 friends, without making any declaration of it beforehand ; he ca- 
 shiered him from the admiralship, and summoned him to appear 
 before him. Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus, was designed to 
 succeed him in that command; and Andrew Wood was sent with 
 him to take the fleet into his care. But Hamilton had notice by his 
 friends, before their coming, of the king's displeasure against him, 
 and therefore prudently hoisted sail, resolving rather to commit 
 himself to the wide sea, than to an enraged king. He was a long 
 time sailing for France, his ship being tossed with contrary 
 winds, and sore storms in the way; so that he arrived not there till 
 the Fi'ench had laid aside the thoughts of any naval preparations ; 
 and then he landed in Base-Britain, where the ship, which cost so 
 much money and labour to build, had her tackle taken out, and so 
 rotted in the harbour of Brest. 
 
 In the interim, other causes of discord arose at home, which 
 wholly alienated James from Henry. In the reign of Henry VIL 
 there was one Robert Ker, a worthy knight, so much in James's 
 favour for his excellent virtues, that he made him his chief cup- 
 bearer, and master of his ordnance, and lord warden of the mid- 
 dle borders or marches. He was a severe punisher of all robbers j 
 which more and more procured him the king's affection, but in- 
 creased the hatred of the borderers; so that both English and 
 Scots, whose licentiousness he restrained, by putting the laws in 
 execution against them, jointly sought all occasions to take away 
 his life. And at length, at a solemn meeting of Scots and Eng- 
 lish, which used to be kept, to adjust and recompense damages 
 received, a quarrel began, and three Englishmen, bold fellows, 
 John Hern, Lilburn, and one Starhed, set upon him; one came 
 behind, and ran him through his back with a lance; and, when 
 he was wounded, the other two despatched him quite. This busi- 
 ness ,was likely to create a war; but Henry, as he was just in 
 other things, so in this was as angry at James, at the foulness of 
 the fact; and therefore he caused John Hern, the brother of the 
 other John, lord of Foord, and governor of the English borders, 
 be delivered up to the Scots, with Lilburn; for the other two had 
 
flO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII. 
 
 made their escape. They were shut up in Fast-castle, and there 
 Lilburn died. And, for the expiation of so manifest a crime, it 
 was decreed, that in future assemblies of that kind, the English 
 should first crave the public faith for their security, and so enter 
 tScotland, and have their meetings there; and the ambassadors of 
 England, by many solemn protestations and ceremony of words, 
 should declare, that the public was not concerned, as guilty of that 
 particular murder. The other two murderers lurked in the inland 
 parts of England, till the reign of Henry VIII. and yet they went 
 not unpunished; for when they had got a young king, fierce and po- 
 tent, snd saw that he was willing to shaw the greatness of his 
 strength, they ventured out of their retirements. Hern, by the 
 mediation of his kindred, lived openly at his own house, and pri- 
 vately sent in robbers to Scotland, to disturb the public peace; 
 hoping that, if a war was once begun, he should obtain indemni- 
 ty for his old offences, and even a freedom to commit new with 
 impunity. But Starhed got a place to live in about ninety miles 
 from the borders, thinking to be safe by reason of the remoteness 
 of his habitation. But Andrew Ker, the son of Robert, who saw 
 that the seeds of hatred, which would soon break out into a war, 
 were then sown, and fearing that if once they entered into arms, 
 he should lose the avenging of his father's blood, persuades two 
 of his tenants, of the family of the Tates, to disguise themselves, 
 and kill Starhed. They undertook to do it; and so entered his 
 house securely in the night, (for living so far from the borders, 
 lie thought he needed no watch); where they killed him, cut off 
 his head, and brought it to Andrew. He, in testimony of his de- 
 sired revenge, sends it to Edinburgh, and sets it up there, upon a 
 high and conspicuous place. Of Hern I shall speak in due time. 
 
 Just upon the heels of this eld injury, succeeded a new one; 
 which awakened the anger of the king of Scots, that was rather a- 
 r.leep, than extinguished, before. At that time there was one 
 Andrew Breton, a Scots merchant, whose father had a ship rifled 
 by the Portuguese, and was himself barbarously murdered. An- 
 drew got the cause heard in Flanders, (because there the murder 
 was committed), where the Portuguese were cast ; but they not 
 paying what was adjudged, and their king, though James sent an 
 herald to him for that end, not compelling them to do so, Andrew 
 obtained letters of mart from James, to satisfy himself for the 
 damages and murder; and it was directed to all princes and cities 
 lying near the sea, that they should not account him as a pirate or 
 robber, if, by open forte, he revenged himself on the Portuguese, 
 who were such violater;. of common right and equity; so that in a 
 few months he did much mischief to the Portuguese. Their am- 
 bassadors, in the height c-f the war the French made against pope 
 Julius II. and which was ,soon like to break out against the English, 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Ill- 
 
 as siding with Julius, came to Henry, and told him, that this bold 
 and impudent fellow, Andrew, who had done to them so much 
 mischief, who were the ancient allies of the English, would assu- 
 redly be his enemy, when he warred against France; but now he 
 was secure, and might easily be subdued and cut off; and, if the 
 fact happened to be condemned as illegal, it might be excused, un- 
 der a pretence of his exercising piracy, that if he would do this, he 
 might prevent the losses of his own subjects, and also gratify then 
 king, his friend and ally, very much. Henry was thus easily per- 
 suaded by the Portuguese, to entrap Andrew. In order to com- 
 pass it, he sent his admiral, Thomas Howard, with two strong- 
 ships of the royal navy, to way-lay him in the Downs, (so they call 
 the heaps of sand, which appear aloft when the tide is out) in his 
 return from Flanders. It was not long before they espied him 
 coming in a small vessel, with a less in his company, and set upon 
 him. Howard himself attacked Andrew, between whom there 
 was a sharp fight; and although Howard had all the advantage 
 imaginable against him, yet he had much ado to take the ship ; 
 neither could he do that, till Andrew and many of his men were 
 slain. This is certain, that Andrew was a man of that courage, 
 even when his case was desperate, that though he had several 
 wounds, and one of his legs was broken by a cannon bullet, yet he 
 took a drum and beat an alarm, and a ch?.rge to his men, to en- 
 courage them to fight valiantly: this he did, till his breath and life 
 failed him together. The lesser ship, finding that she was no way 
 able to cope with the enemy, endeavoured to save herself by flight, 
 but was taken with much less opposition. They who were not 
 killed in the fight, were thrown into prison at London; from 
 whence they were brought to the king, and humbly begging their 
 lives of him, as they were instructed to do by the English, he, in 
 a proud ostentation of his great clemency, dismissed and sent the 
 poor innocent souls away. Upon this, ambassadors were sent in- 
 to England by James, to complain, that his subjects' ships were 
 taken in a time of peace, and the passengers slain. They were an- 
 swered, that the killing of pirates was no violation of leagues; nei- 
 ther was it a justifiable cause for a war. This answer shewed the 
 spite of one, that was willing to excuse a plain murder, and seem- 
 ed as if he had sought an occasion for a war. Upon which the 
 English, who inhabited the borders, by that which was acted 
 above-board, guessed at their king's mind; and, being also accus- 
 tomed to sow seeds of dissension in the times of the firmest peace; 
 and besides, being much given to innovation, began to plunder 
 the adjacent countries of the Scots. 
 
 At that time there was one Alexander Hume, who had the sole: 
 command of all the Scots borders, which were wont to be d 
 buted into three men's hands} he was mightily beloved by James; 
 
 Vol. II. P 
 
TI2 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIIT. 
 
 but his clispositioii was more fierce than was expedient for the 
 good of those times. The king was intent upon war, and very 
 solicitous how to blot out the ignominy received by those incur- 
 sions; and Hume promised him, That he, and some of his kindred 
 and vassals, would in a little time, make the English repent of the 
 loss and damage they had done, as being resolved to turn their 
 mirth into sadness. To make good his word, he gathered toge- 
 ther about 3000 horse, entered England, and ravaged seven 
 neighbouring villages, before any relief could come in; but as he 
 was returning, his men, being accustomed to pillaging, and then 
 aiso laden with a great deal of booty, being impatient to stay there 
 any longer, divided their spoil, even in their enemy's country, and 
 went their ways severally home. Alexander with a few brought 
 up the rear, to see that no assault might be made upon them in 
 their retreat; but perceiving none to follow, he was the more 
 careless; and so fell into an ambush of 300 English, who, taking 
 the opportunity, set upon them, and struck such a sudden terror 
 into them, that they routed and put them to flight. In this skir- 
 mish, a great many of the Scots were slain, and 200 taken pri- 
 soners; amongst whom was George Hume, Alexander's brother, 
 who was exchanged for the Lord Hern of Foord, who had been 
 prisoner many years in Scotland, for the murder of Robert Ker: 
 but all the booty came safe into Scotland, because they who 
 drove it, were marched on before. 
 
 The king's mind, which was not easy before, upon the account 
 of what I formerly related, being much irritated by the addition of 
 this new offence, he grew unruly and headstrong, and immediate- 
 ly called a convention, to consult concerning the war. The wis- 
 er sort were against it; but La Mote, the ambassador of France, % 
 earnestly pressed it, by intreaties and promises: And also fre- 
 quent lettLrs from Andrew Forman urged the same thing; and 
 the king himself shewing a very good will to it, many to gratify 
 him, fell in with his opinion; the rest, being a minor part, and 
 lest by a fruitless opposition they should incur the king's displea- 
 sure, gave also their assent; so that a war was voted to be made 
 against England by land and sea (whether worse in resolution or e- 
 vent is hard to determine); and a set day was appointed for the 
 army to rendezvous. An herald was sent into France to Henry, 
 who was then besieging Tournay, to declare war against him. 
 The causes of it Were assigned to be these, That satisfaction for 
 losses had been required, but not given; That John Hern, the 
 murderer of Robert Ker, appeared publicly; that Andi-ew Bre- 
 ton, in violation of the leagues betwixt the two crowns, had beeti 
 pillaged and slain by the king's own command: And though he 
 should not mention any of those wrongs, yet he should never en- 
 dure that the territories of Louis king of France, his ancient ally, 
 
113 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XlII. 
 
 nor Charles duke of Guelderland, his kinsman, should be so mi- 
 serably harassed with all the calamities of war; and therefore, un- 
 less Henry desisted from these hostilities, he bid him defiance. 
 Henry being young, and having a flourishing and puissant king- 
 dom, and besides, a general combination of almost all Europe 
 against France alone; these things kindled a desire in his mind, 
 which was otherwise ambitious enough of glory, to continue the 
 progress of his. arms; and therefore he gave the herald an answer 
 more fierce than suited so young a prince: That he heard nothing 
 from him, but ivhathe long before had expected from such a violator of 
 all divine and human laws, and therefore he should do as he thought 
 ft : For his part, he ivas resolved not to be threatened out of proceeding 
 in a war, wherein he had so well prospered hitherto; and besides, he 
 did not value his friendship, as having already had sufficient proof of 
 his levity. 
 
 This declaration of war being brought into Scotland, as the 
 king 'was going to the army at Linlithgow, whilst he was at ves- 
 pers in the church (as the manner was then) there entered an old 
 man, the hairs of his head being red inclining to yellow, and 
 hanging down on his shoulders; his forehead sleek, through bald- 
 ness, bare-headed, in a long coat of a russet colour, girt with a 
 linen girdle about his loins; in the rest of his aspect he was very 
 venerable. He pressed through the crowd to come to the king: 
 When he came to him, he leaned upon the chair on which the 
 king sat, with a kind of rustic simplicity, and bespoke him thus: 
 king! said he, / am sent to warn thee, not to proceed in thy intend- 
 ed design; and if thou neglectest this admonition, neither thou, nor thy 
 followers, shall prosper. lam commanded also to tell thee, That thou 
 shouldcst not use the familiarity, intimacy, and counsel of women ; 
 which, if thou dost, it will redound to thy ignominy and loss. Having 
 thus spoken, he withdrew himself into the crowd; and, when the 
 king enquired -for him, after prayers were ended, he could not be 
 found; which matter seemed more strange, because none of those 
 who stood next, and observed him, as being desirous to put many 
 questions to him, were sensible how he disappeared. Amongst 
 them there was David Lindsay of Mont, a man of approved worth 
 and honesty, and of a learned education, who, in the whole course 
 of his life abhorred lying; and, if I had not received this story 
 from him as a certain truth, 1 had omitted it as a romance of the 
 vulgar. 
 
 But the king notwithstanding went forward in his march, and, 
 near Edinburgh mustered his army; and, in a few days after, en- 
 tered England, took the castles of Norham, Werk, Etel Foord, 
 and some others near the borders of Scotland, by storm, and de- 
 molished them, and spoiled all the adjoining part of Northumber- 
 land. Meanwhile the king falls in love with one of the ladies he 
 
 V 1 
 
114 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII. 
 
 had taken prisoner (she was Hern's wife of Foord) and neglected 
 his present business-, insomuch, that provision beginning to grow 
 scarce, in a net very plentiful country, and it being very difficult 
 to fetch it from afar, the greatest part of the army stole away, and 
 left their colours very thin: only the nobles, with a few of their 
 friends, clients, and vassals, and those not very well pleased nei- 
 ther, remained in the camp. The major part advised him, that 
 he should no longer punish himself and his men, by abiding in a 
 country that was wasted by war, and if it had not been so, yet was 
 poor of itself ; but rather that he would retreat, and mafke an at- 
 tempt upon Berwick, the taking of which one place would turn 
 more to account than all the towns and castles thereabouts: Nei- 
 ther, said they, would it be very difficult to take, because both town 
 arid castle were unprovided for defence. But the king thought that 
 nothing was too hard for his arms, especially since the English were 
 entangled with the war with France; so that, some court parasites 
 soothing him up in his vanity, he judged that he might easily re- 
 duce that town in his retreat. 
 
 Whilst he thus lay unactive at Foord, there came heralds from 
 the English, desiring him to appoint a place and time for the bat- 
 tle. Upon that, he called a council of war; and the major part 
 were of opinion, that it was best to return home, and not to 
 hazard the state of the whole kingdom with so small a force, 
 especially since he had abundantly satisfied his credit, his re-' 
 nown, and the laws of friendship: neither was there any just 
 cause, why he should venture his small army, and which had al- 
 so been hai-assed with taking of so many castles, against the more 
 numerous forces of the English, who had also newly received an 
 addition of fresh men; for it was reported, that at that very- 
 time Thomas Howard arrived in the camp with 6000 very stout 
 men, sent back out of France. Besides, if he retreated, the Eng- 
 lish army must of necessity disband; and then they could not 
 bring diem together again, from such distant places as they were 
 .!, till the next year; but if he must nteds light, it were better 
 so to do in his own country, where place, time, and provision, 
 were more at his command. But the French am r, and 
 
 courtiers whom French gold had l*ibed and brought over 
 to him, were of another mind, and easily persuaded James, who 
 d to Tight, to stand the enemy in that place. In the mean 
 time, the English came not at the day appointed by the herald; 
 and then the Scots nobles took that opportunity to go again to the 
 king, and told him, That it was the crai": of the enemy to protract 
 the time from one day to another, whilst their own force increased 
 irid f tie Sects were diminished; and that therefore he should use 
 ime art against them: That it was now no dishonour to the 
 to retreat (since the English had not kept the time appoint- 
 ed) without fighting} or else, not to fight but when they them- 
 
Boole XIII. HISTOUT OP SCOTLAND, 11$ 
 
 selves thought fit. The first of these advices was, in many re- 
 spects, more sate; but if that did not please him, he had a fair 
 opportunity offered him to comply with the latter. For, seeing 
 the river Till had very high hanks, and was almost no where 
 fordable, there was no passage for an army over it within ten 
 miles, but by one bridge, where a few men might keep back a 
 great body; and if some of the Er.glish should get over, he might 
 so place his ordnance as to beat down the bridge, and so they 
 who had passed over, might be destroyed, before they could be 
 relieved by those on the contrary side. 
 
 The king approved of neither advice, but answered resolutely, 
 That though the English ivere 1 00,000 strong, he would fight than. 
 All the nobility were offended at this unadvised answer, and 
 Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus, who was far superior to all 
 the rest in age and authority, endeavoured to appease the king's 
 fury by a mild oration, and to open the nature and reason 
 of the two former advices. « You have (said he) sufficiently 
 
 * satisfied your alliance with France, in that you have called off 
 « a great part of their enemy's army from them; for, by this 
 
 < means, they cannot run over all France, as by the multitude of 
 \ their forces they hoped to do: neither can they do any great 
 *. damage to Scotland, because they cannot. long keep their army 
 y together in a cold country, already wasted by war, and other- 
 
 * wise not very fruitful; and, moreover, the winter now ap- 
 
 < proacheth, which in the northern parts useth to begin betimes. 
 y As for the French ambassador (said he) I do not wonder that 
 *■ he is so earnest to press us to a battle; for he, being a stranger, 
 *• studies not the common good of his master's allies, but the pri- 
 1 vate advantage of his own nation; and therefore it is no won- 
 1 der, if he push us on to fight, and so be prodigal of other 
 f men's blood. Besides, his demand is shameless; for he requires 
 
 < that of us, which his own king, though highly wise and prudent, 
 
 < doth not think fit to do, for the maintenance of his whole king- 
 
 < dom and dignity. Neither ought the loss of this army to be 
 *, accounted small, because wc are but few in number; for all 
 ' that are any ways eminent for valour, authority, or counsel, in 
 ' the whole kingdom of Scotland, are here summoned up in a 
 
 < body; if these are lost, the rest of the commonalty will be but 
 « an easy prey to the conqueror. Besides, to lengthen out the 
 « war is at present more safe, and more conducive to the main 
 
 < chance; for, if La Motte's opinion be, that the English are to 
 
 * be exhausted by expences, or wearied out by delays, what can 
 « be more advisable, in the present posture of affairs, than to 
 
 < compel the enemy to divide their forces? Part of them must be 
 
 * kept upon their guard for fear of us, as if we were continually 
 « likely to invade them; and the fear of that would take off a great 
 
it6 history of scotLand. Book XI II. 
 
 < stress of the war from the French, though with no small toil 
 
 * of ours. Besides, we have sufficiently consulted the glory and 
 
 < splendor of our arms, which these men (who, I am afraid, are 
 « more forward in words than actions) pretend, as a disguise and 
 ' veil of their temerity: for what can be more splendid than for 
 f the king to have demolished so many castles, to have destroyed 
 « the country with fire and sword; and, from so large devastations, 
 ' to bring home so much booty, that many years peace will not 
 ' restore a country so desolated, to its former condition? And 
 ' what greater advantage can we expect in a war, than that, to 
 ' our own great honour and renown, but to the shame and 
 
 * disgrace of our enemies, we give our soldiers leave to refresh 
 
 * themselves, having gotten estates and glory besides? And this 
 
 * kind of victory, which is obtained rather by wisdom than arms, 
 
 * is most proper for a man, especially for a general, in regard the 
 
 * common soldiers can challenge no part of the fame belonging 
 « to it/ 
 
 All that were present assented to what he spoke, as appeared 
 by their countenances; but the king had taken a solemn oath 
 that he would fight the English; and therefore he entertained his 
 whole discourse with great disgust, and bid him Get home aga'w t 
 if he was afraid. Douglas immediately fell a weeping, as iore- 
 seeing the ruin of our affairs, and of die king himself, by his 
 rashness; but, as soon as he was able to speak, he uttered these 
 few words; « If my former life has not sufficiently vindicated me 
 from any suspicion of cowardice, I know not what will : as long 
 as my body was able to undergo hardship, I never spared it for 
 the good of my country, and to maintain the honour of my 
 king; but since now I am useful only for advice, and the king's 
 ears are shut against it, I will leave my two sons, who, next to 
 my country, are most dear to me, with my other kinsmen and 
 friends, as sure pledges of my fidelity to you and my country ; 
 and I pray God, that my fears may prove vain, and that I may 
 be rather accounted a false prophet, than what I dreads and do, 
 as it were, foresee in my mind, shall come to pass.' 
 Having thus speken, he took his convoy and retinue and so de- 
 parted. The rest of the nobles, because they could not bring over 
 the king to their opinion, endeavoured to secure things the best 
 they could; and that was, in regard they were inferior in number 
 (for they had intelligence by their spies, that the English were 
 26,000 men) to advantage themselves by the opportunity of the 
 ground and place, and so to encamp upon an hill that was near 
 them: it was where Cheviot hills do gently decline into a plain, 
 a small spot, with a narrow entrance into it, gradually sloping 
 downwards. This passage they defended with their brass guns; 
 behind them were the mountains 5 at the foot of them there was 
 
Book XIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 117 
 
 a moorish piece of ground, which secured their left wing; on 
 the right ran the river Till, whose banks were very high; over 
 which there was a bridge for passage, not far from the camp. 
 When the English had intelligence by their scouts, that they could 
 not attack die Scots' camp without great damage, or rather cer- 
 tain ruin, they marched off from the river, and made a shew as if 
 they intended to leave the enemy, and retire towards Berwick, and 
 so directly into the neighbouring parts of Scotland, which was 
 the best part of the country; there to damage the Scots more 
 than the Scots had done the English before. And James was 
 most inclinable to believe they would do so, because there was a 
 rumour spread abroad, which either had an uncertain birth among 
 the common people, or else was devised on purpose by the Eng- 
 lish, that their design lay that way, in order to, draw the enemy 
 down into the plain and champaign country. James would not 
 endure that, and therefore set fire to the straw and huts, and re- 
 moved his camp. The smoke occasioned by the fire covered all 
 the river, so that the Scots by means of it could not see the Eng- 
 lish. These marched farther from the river, through places more 
 impassable; but the Scots had a level and open march near the 
 side of it, till hardly observing each other, they both came at last 
 to Fluidon, or Floddon, a very high hill. There the ground was 
 more level, and stretched itself out into a large field; and the 
 river was also passable by a bridge at Tuisil; and there was a ford 
 also at Milford. The English commanded their forlorn, first to 
 draw their brass pieces over the bridge, the rest marched through 
 the ford, and taking their ground, they set themselves in battle 
 array, so as to cut off their enemies' retreat. Their numbers were 
 so great, that they divided themselves, as it were, into two ar- 
 mies, distinct from one another, either of which was almost 
 equal to the whole army of the Scots. In their first brigade, 
 admiral Thomas Howard, who a little before came into his fa- 
 ther with some of his sea forces, commanded the main battle; 
 Edward Howard led on the right wing, and Marmaduke Con- 
 stable the left: behind them the rest were placed as reserves, be- 
 ing divided into three bodies; Dacres commanded the wing in the 
 right; Edward Stanly, that on the left; and the earl of Surrey, 
 •general of the whole army, the main body. The Scots had not 
 men enough to divide their army into so many parties, unless they 
 would extremely weaken their front; and therefore they divided 
 their army into four bodies, at a moderate distance one from ano- 
 ther; of which three were to charge first, and the fourth was for a 
 reserve. The king led on the main body; Alexander Gordon 
 commanded the right wing, to whom Alexander Hume and the 
 MeTch-men were joined; Matthew Stuart, earl of Lennox, and 
 Gill^spy Campbell, earl of Argyle, led on the third body. Adam 
 
! 1 8 History of Scotland. Book XIIL 
 
 Hepburn,, with his clans, and the rest of the nobility of Lothian, 
 were in the reserves. The Gordons began a very sharp fight, 
 and soon routed the left wing of the English, but, when they re- 
 turned from the pursuit, they found almost all the rest of their bri- 
 gades defeated ;. for one of them, in which was Lennox and Ar- 
 gyle, being encouraged by the success of their fellows, regardless 
 of their ranks, fell upon the enemy in a very disorderly manner, 
 leaving their colours far in their rear, though La Motte, the 
 French resident, cried out much against it, and told them, they 
 would run headlong to their own destruction; for they were re- 
 ceived not only by the English standing in array before them, 
 but were set upon by another party in the rear, and so almost all 
 cut off. The king's body, and Hepburn's brigade, with the Lo- 
 thianers, fought it out stoutly. There was a great slaughter 
 on both sides, and the dispute continued till night; by which time 
 both sides were weary. There were a great many slain of the 
 king's main body. They who reckoned 'the full number of the 
 slain, as their names were taken, according to the several parish- 
 registers, out of which they came, say, that there were slain 
 above 5,000 of the Scots. The loss was most of the nobility, 
 and of the most valiant of them too, who chose rather to die 
 upon the spot, than to survive the slaughter of their men. It is 
 reported that the English lost as many, but that they were mostly 
 common soldiers. This is the famous fight of Floddon, one of 
 the most memorable of the few overthrows which the Scots have 
 received from the English; not so much for the number of the 
 slain (for they had lost more than double that number in former 
 battles) but for the quality of the persons, the king, and the prime 
 of the nobility falling there; so that few were left to govern the 
 rabble, who were fierce by nature, and lawless also in hope of 
 impunity. 
 
 And yet there were two sorts of men that gained advantage by 
 this calamity of others: for the richer sort of church-men grew so 
 insolent upon it, that, not contented with their own function, they 
 sought to draw all the offices of the kingdom into their own hands: 
 and the mendicant friars (for that sort of monks were then counted 
 most superstitiously religious) had received much money of those 
 that were slain) to keep for them; but it being delivered without 
 witnesses, they were mightily enriched by this booty, and re- 
 mitted the severity of their ancient discipline. Nay, some there 
 were amongst them, who counted that gain, as a pious and holy 
 fraud; alleging, that the money could never be better bestowed, 
 than to be given to devout persons, that they might pray (forsooth) 
 for the redemption of their souls out of purgatory. 
 
 The fight was carried on so obstinately, that, towards night, 
 both parties were weary, and withdrew, almost ignorant of one 
 
Book XIII. History of Scotland.. 119 
 
 another's condition; so that Alexander Hume and his soldiers, 
 v/ho remained untouched, gathered up a great part of the spoil at 
 their pleasure. But the next day, in the morning, Dacres being 
 sent out with a party of horse to make discovery, when he came 
 to the place of light, and saw the Scots' brass guns without a 
 guard, and also a great part of the dead unstripped, he sent for 
 Howard, and so gathered up the spoil at leisure, and celebrated 
 the victory with great mirth. 
 
 Concerning the king of Scotland, there goes a double report. 
 The English say, he was slain in the battle; but the Scots affirm, 
 that, in the day of battle, there were several others clothed in the 
 hkc coat of armour, and the habit, of the king; which was done 
 on a double account; partly, lest the enemy should principally 
 aim at one man, as their chief opponent, on whose life the safe- 
 guard of the army, and issue of the battle, did depend; and part- 
 ly also, if the king happened to be slain, that the soldiers might 
 not be discouraged, and sensible of his loss, as long as they saw 
 any man armed and clothed like him in the field, and riding up 
 and down, as a witness of their cowardice or valour. And that 
 one of these was Alexander Elphinston, who in countenance and 
 stature was very like the king; and many of the nobility, perceiv- 
 ing him armed in kingly habiliments, followed him in a mistake, 
 and so died resolutely with him; but that the king repassed the 
 Tweed, and was slain by some of Hume's men, near the town of 
 Kelso; but it is uncertain whether it was done by their master's 
 command, or else by the forwardness of his soldiers, who were 
 willing to gratify their commander: for they, being desirous of 
 innovation, thought that they should escape punishment, if the 
 king was taken off; but if he should survive, they should be pu- 
 nished for their cowardice in the fight. Some other conjectures 
 are added; as that the same night after this unhappy fight, the mo- 
 nastery of Kelso was seized upon by Ker, an intimate of Hume, 
 and the abbot of it ejected; which it was not likely he would 
 dare to have done, unless the king were slain; and moreover, 
 David Galbreth, one of the family of the Humes, some years af- 
 ter, when John, the regent, questioned the Humes, and was trou- 
 blesome to their family, is said to have blamed the cowardice of 
 his fellows, who would suffer that stranger to rule so arbitrarily 
 and imperiously over them; whereas he himself had been one of 
 the six private men that had put an end to the like insolency of 
 the king at Kelso. But these things were so uncertain, that when 
 Hume was afterwards tried for his life, by James, earl of Mur- 
 ray, the king's natural son, they did not much prejudice his 
 cause. 
 
 However the truth of this matter stands, yet I shall not con- 
 ceal what I have heard Lawrence Talifer, an honest and a learned 
 
 Vol. II. Q_ 
 
120 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIIl 
 
 man, report more than once, That being then one of the king's 
 servants, and a spectator of the fight, he saw the king, when the 
 day was lost, set upon an horse, and pass the Tweed. Many- 
 others affirmed the same thing. So that the report went current 
 for many years after, that the king was alive, and was gone to Jeru- 
 salem, to perform a religious vow he had made; but would re- 
 turn again in due time: but that rumour was found as vain as an- 
 other of the same broaching, which was formerly spread abroad 
 by the Britons, concerning their Arthur; and, but a few years 
 since, by the Burgundiatts, concerning Charles. This is certain, 
 That the English found the body of the king, or of Alexander 
 Elphinston, and carried it into England; and retaining an inexpi- 
 able hatred against the dead, they left it unburied in a leaden cof- 
 fin (I know not whether their cruelty was more foolish, or more 
 barbarous) because he had borne sacrilegious arms against pope 
 Julius II. whose cause the English zealously espoused; or else, 
 as some say, because he was perjured, as having, contrary to the 
 oath and league between them, taken up arms against Henry 
 VIIL Neither of which aspersions ought to have been east 
 upon him, especially by such a king, who, during his life, was 
 not constant or true to any one religion; nor by such a people, 
 who had taken up arms so often against the bishops of Rome. 
 Not to speak of many of the kings of England, whom their own 
 writer-s do accuse as guilty of perjury; as William Rufus, who 
 is charged with that crime by Polydore and Grafton; Henry I. 
 by Thomas Walsingham, in his description of Normandy; king 
 Stephen hath the like brand of infamy cast upon him by Neobri- 
 gensis, Grafton, and Polydore; Henry II. by the same; Richard 
 I. by Walsingham, in his Hypodigma Neastria; Henry III. by 
 Neobrigensis, Grafton, and Walsingham; Edward I. by Walsing- 
 ham. I cull out these few for example's sake, not out of the 
 first kings of the Saxon race, of which I might instance a great 
 many, but out of those of the Norman family, whose posterity 
 enjoy the kingdom to this day, and who lived in the most flou- 
 rishing times of England's glory; to put them in mind, not to be 
 so bitter against foreigners, while with so much indulgence they 
 bear the perjuries of their own kings; especially since the guilt of 
 the crime objected lies principally on those, who were the first vi- 
 olators of the truce. But to return to cur narrative. 
 
 Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey, had gone off with great re- 
 nown for that victory over the Scots, if he had used his success 
 with moderation; but being almost drunk with his vast success, 
 and little mindful of the instability of human affairs, he made his 
 household servants (as the English custom is) to wear a badge on 
 their left arms, which was a white lion (his own arms) standing 
 »j>on a red <me> and rending him with his paws. God Almighty 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 121 
 
 seemed to punish tins his insolent bravado; for there were scarce 
 any of his posterity of either sex, but what died in great disgrace 
 or misfortune. 
 
 But king James, as he was dear to all whilst living, so he was 
 mightily lamented at his death; and the remembrance of him 
 ituck sc fast in the minds of men, as the like was not known of 
 any other king that we have heard of. ' f is probable that it hap- 
 pened, by making a comparison with the evils which preceded 
 his reign; or else very likely speedily to follow after it; consi- 
 dering also his eminent virtues: Nay, his vices were popular, and 
 easily deceived vulgar minds, under a specious resemblance and 
 affinity to virtue. He was of a strong body, just stature, a ma- 
 jestic countenance, of a quick wit, which, by the fault of the 
 times, was not cultivated by learning. He greedily imbibed one 
 ancient custom of the nation ; for he was skilful in curing 
 wounds; for in old times, that kind of knowledge was common to 
 all the nobility, as men continually accustomed to arms. The ac- 
 cess to his presence was easy; his answers were mild; he was just 
 in judging, and moderate in punishing; so that all men might 
 easily see he was drawn to it against his will. He bore the male- 
 volent speeches of his enemies, and the admonitions of his 
 friends with a greatness of mind, which arose in him from the 
 tranquillity of a good conscience, and the confidence of his own 
 innocency; insomuch that he was so far from being angry, that he 
 never returned them an harsh word. There were also some 
 vices, which crept in among these virtues, by reason of his too 
 great affection of popularity. For by endeavouring to avoid the 
 name of a cox-etous prince, which his father had incurred, he la- 
 boured to insinuate himself into the good-will of the vulgar, by 
 sumptuous buildings and feastings, by qostly pageants and im- 
 moderate grants; so that his exchequer was brought very low: 
 And his want of money was such, that if he had lived longer, the 
 merits of his former, reign would have been extinguished, or at 
 •least out-balanced by his imposition of new taxes; so that his 
 death seemed to have happened rather commodiously, than un- 
 seasonably to him. 
 
 James V. the hundredth and sixth king, 
 
 WHEN James IV. was shin, he left his wife Margaret and 
 two sons behind him; the eldest of which was not yet 
 quite two years old. The parliament assembled at Stirling, pro- 
 claimed him king, according to the custom of the country, 
 on the 24th day of February; and then they applied themselves 
 to settle the public affairs; in endeavouri«g at which, they first 
 
 Q 2 
 
122 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIII, 
 
 perceived the greatness of their loss: For those of the nobility, 
 who bore any thing of authority and wisdom, being slain, the 
 major part of those who survived, by reason of their youth, or in- 
 capacity of mind, were unfit to meddle with matters of state, 
 especially in so troublesome, a time; and they who were left alive 
 of the greater sort, who had any thing of ability in them, by rea- 
 son of their ambitition and covetousness abhorred all counsels tend- 
 ing to peace. Alexander Hume, lord warden of the marches, 
 had got a great name, and a large estate, in the king's life-time; 
 but, when he was dead, he obtained an almost regal authority in 
 the countries bordering upon England. He, out of a wicked am-* 
 bition, did not restrain robbers, that so he might more engage 
 those bold and lewd persons to himself, thinking thereby to pave 
 a way to greater power: But, as that design was pernicious, so was 
 the end of it unhappy. The command of the country on this 
 side the Forth, was committed to him; the parts beyond to Alex- 
 ander Gordon, to keep those seditious provinces within the bounds 
 of their duty: but the title of regent was invested in the queen. 
 For the king had left in his will, which he made before he went 
 to fight, that if he miscarried, she should have the supreme power 
 as long as she remained a widow. This was contrary to the law of 
 the land, and the first example of any woman, who ever had the 
 supreme rule in Scotland; yet the want of men made it seem to- 
 lerable, especially to them who were desirous of peace and quiet- 
 ness. But her office continued not long; for, before the end of 
 the spring, she married Archibald Doughs, earl of Angus, one of 
 the prime young men of Scotland, for lineage, beauty, and accom- 
 plishments in all good arts. And before the end of that year, the 
 seeds of discord were sown. They took their rise from the ec- 
 clesiastical order; for, after the nobles were slain, in all pub- 
 lic assemblies a great part were of that sort of men; and many of 
 them made their own private fortunes amidst the public calamity, 
 and got such estates, that nothing hastened their ruin more than 
 that inordinate power, which they afterwards as arrogantly used. 
 Alexander Stuart, archbishop of St. Andrews, was slain at 
 Floddon; and there were three which strove for that preferment, 
 but upon different interests, Gavin Douglas, upon the account of 
 the splendor of his family, and his own personal worth and learn- 
 ing, was nominated to the place by the queen, and accordingly 
 took possession of the castle of St. Andrews. John Hepburn, 
 abbot of St. Andrews, before any archbishop was nominated, 
 gathered up the revenues of the place, as a sequestrator; and he 
 being a potent, factious, and subtile man, was chosen by his 
 monks to the vacancy (for he alleged, that the power of electing 
 an archbishop, by ancient custom, was in them); so that he 
 drove out the officers of Gavin, and placed a strong garrison in 
 the castle. Andrew Forman had obtained great favour in the 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 23 
 
 courts both of Rome and France, by his former services; so that, 
 besides the bishopric of Murray in Scotland, which was his first 
 preferment, Louis XII. of France gave him the archbishopric of 
 Bourges. And pope Julius had also sent him home loaded with 
 honours and benefices ; for he bestowed on him the archbishopric 
 of St. Andrews, the two rich abbeys of Dunfermline and Aber- 
 brothock, and made him his legate a latere (as they call him) be* 
 sides. But so great was the power of the Hepburns at that time, 
 that, the Humes being yet in concord with them, no man could be 
 found that durst proclaim the pope's bull for the election of For- 
 man to that dignity; till at last Alexander Hume was induced by 
 great promises, and besides other gifts, with the actual donation 
 of the abbey of Coidingham to David his youngest brother, to un- 
 dertake the cause, which seemed to be honourable; and especially 
 because the family of the Formans was in clanship, or protection 
 of the Humes. So he caused the pope's bull to be published at 
 Edinburgh; and that was the original of many mischiefs which en- 
 sued; fct Hepburn, being a man of a lofty spirit, from that day 
 forward studied day and night how to destroy the family of the 
 Humes. 
 
 The queen, whilst she sat at the helm, did this one thing wor- 
 thy to be remembered, that she wrote to her brother that he 
 would not make war upon Scotland, in respect to her and her 
 young children; that he would not infest with English arms, his 
 nephew's kingdom, which of itself was divided into so many do- 
 mestic factions ; but that he would rather defend him against the 
 wrongs of others, upon the account of his age, and the affinity be- 
 twixt them. Henry answered very nobly, and much like a prince, 
 That ivith peaceable Scots be tuculd cultivate peace, and make ivar 
 ivith such as came armed against him. 
 
 When the queen, by reason of her marriage, fell from the re- 
 gency, the nobility was manifestly divided into two factions. 
 The Douglassian party desired, that the chief power might reside 
 in the queen; and that this was the way to have peace with Eng- 
 land; which was not only advantageous, but even necessary for 
 them. The other party, headed by Hume, pretended an um- 
 brage of the public good; and that it was against the old laws of the 
 land to chuse a woman to be regent. As for the queen, they 
 would be studious of her honour, as far as they might by law, and 
 as far as the public safety would permit; and that a sufficient 
 proof had been given of it, in regard they had hitherto submitted 
 to her government, (though it was against the customs of their 
 forefathers) not by any legal compulsion, but out of mere good- 
 will; and that they were ready to endure it longer, if any honest 
 and equitable pretence could be alleged for it. But since she, by 
 jher marriage, had voluntarily deposed herself from that dignity, 
 
5 24 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book Xllt. 
 
 she ought not to take it amiss, if they substituted another to enjoy 
 that office which she had left, and which indeed by the law she 
 could not hold; for the laws of Scotland do not permit women to 
 have the supreme power, no not in times of peace, much less in 
 such troublesome days as those, when the most powerful and most 
 prudent man alive, could hardly find remedies for the many grow- 
 ing evils of the times. 
 
 Thus, whilst each faction strove vigorously about the choice 
 of a regent, they passed over all there present, either upon ac- 
 count of ambition, or private grudges, or envy, and inclined to 
 chuse John duke of Albany, then living with good repute in 
 France. William Elphinston, bishop of Aberdeen, is reported 
 to have burst forth into tears, in bewailing the public misfortune; 
 and his speech affected many, especially when he came to reckon- 
 ing up what men were slain in the last fight, and how few like 
 them were left behind, of whom none was thought fit to sit at the 
 helm of government. He also told them, how empty the ex- 
 chequer was, how it had been exhausted by the late king, how 
 great a portion of it was the queen's jointure, how much neces- 
 sarily must be expended on the education of the king; and then 
 how little a part of it would remain to maintain the charges of the 
 public ; and that, though none was more fit for the regency than 
 the queen, yet seeing concord could not be had on other terms, 
 he yielded to that party who were for calling John duke of Alba- 
 ny out of France, to take the regency upon him; though he 
 thought that the public misery would rather be deferred than en- 
 tirely ended by it. Alexander Hume was so violent for Albany, 
 that he professed openly in the assembly, that if they all refused, 
 he himself would go alone, and bring him over into Scotland, to 
 undertake the government. It is thought he did this, not for any 
 public or private good end, but merely out of this respect, that be- 
 ing an ambitious man, and knowing that his interest in the people 
 was more upon the account of his power, than any real love; 
 therefore himself despairing of the place, he was afraid, if the 
 queen should have it, the Douglasses, his neighbours, would 
 grow too great, and his power would abate; for the men of Lids- 
 dale and Annandale had already withdrawn themselves, and had, 
 by little and little, gone over to the clan of the Douglasses. And 
 besides he considered, that the queen, by assistance from Eng- 
 land, was easily able to obviate all his designs ; so that most voices 
 carried it for John of Albany; and an embassy was appointed {the 
 chief whereof was Andrew Wood of the * Largs, a famous cavar 
 lier in those days) to call him into Scotland for the administration 
 of the government, both upon account of his own virtues, and al- 
 
 • A little town ia Cuiinin^ham, liandin^ on the frith of Clyde, 
 
Book XII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 125" 
 
 so by reason of his near consanguinity with the king ; for he M'as 
 the son of Alexander, brother of James III. He being thus called 
 to the supreme government by the Scots, Francis king of France 
 thought his advancement suited well with the French interest, and 
 therefore he furnished him with money and a retinue at his de- 
 parture. Before his arrival, in regard there was no one person to 
 administer the public government, there were many murders and 
 rapines committed, and, whilst the greater sort made up their 
 private clans and factions, the poor destitute vulgar were afflicted 
 with all kind of miseries. The chief robber of those times was- 1 
 Mac Robert Stran, who committed outrages all over Athol and 
 the neighbouring parts, at his pleasure, having 800 men, and 
 sometimes moi-e, under his command. At length, when he was 
 at his uncle John Crichton's, he was way-laid, apprehended, and 
 put to death. But there was more mischief like to arise from the 
 feud between Andrew Forman and John Hepburn-, yet the* nature 
 of them both, and the discord, rather of their manners than 
 minds, deferred the mischief for a season, which was then just 
 breaking out. John was profoundly covetous, and Andrew was 
 2 great despiser of money, and profuse in his bounties. The de- 
 signs and purposes of Andrew were open and manifest to. the view 
 of all} neither was there any need that he should much conceal 
 them, besause his vices were accounted virtues by the vulgar; and 
 the simplicity of his nature did him as much kindness among; 
 them, as the sly hidden craft of Hepburn, together with his ma- 
 licious dissimulation, his implacable remembrance of injuries, and 
 desire of revenge did him. And therefore Forman, having as yet 
 no certainty of the coming of the duke of Albany, neither could 
 he be put into possession of his ecclesiastical preferment by Hume, 
 seeing Hepburn had his castle and monastery which he had strong- 
 ly garrisoned, which were at a great distance from those places, 
 in which the power of the Humes might be formidable; he deter- 
 mined, by his friends, to try whether he could, with money, 
 either satisfy, or, at least, in some degree, abate the avarice of 
 the man; so at last they came to an agreement on these terms, 
 that Forman should remit and forgive the revenues of some years 
 past, which John had gathered in, as a sequestrator; that he 
 should surrender up to him the bishopric of Murray; and that he 
 should pay him yearly 3000 French crowns out of the ecclesiasti- 
 cal revenues, to be divided amongst his friends. And thus the 
 implacable man's hate was a little abated, and matters settled on 
 that side. 
 
(J.C. 1515.; 
 
 T II E 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 SCOTLAND, 
 
 BOOK XIV, 
 
 A HIS was the state of affairs in Scotland, when John duke of 
 Albany arrived at Dumbarton, on the 20th day of May, in the year 
 
 15 15, to the exceeding joy of all good men. For under his go- 
 vernment they hoped for more quiet times, and an equal distribu- 
 tion of justice. In a full assembly of the nobility, summoned iri 
 his name, he had a large revenue settled upon him; he was declar- 
 ed duke of Albany, earl of March, and created regent till the king 
 should come to age. 
 
 Moreover, James, the natural son of the late king, was made earl 
 of Murray, a young man of such virtuous enduements, that he far 
 exceeded all the hopes men had conceived of him. There was also 
 one fact which much enhanced the esteem they had for the new 
 regent; and it was done almost in the face of the assembly, and 
 that was the punishment of Peter Ma'uffat. He was a notable 
 thief, who, after many cruel and wicked acts done by him, 
 in the two last licentious years, arrived at length to that pitch of 
 impudence, that he appeared openly at court. His unexpected 
 punishment made such a sudden change of things, that criminals 
 began to withdraw for shelter. The minds of the good were set at 
 ease, and the face of things began soon to be changed, and a 
 stormy tempest was smothered into a sudden tranquillity. 
 
 In the mean time John Hepburn had so insinuated himself into 
 the regent, by the help of his friends, whom he had privately made 
 $0 by bribery, and afterwards, by his obsequiousness, and pre- 
 tence of knowing the old customs of the country, he got his ear, 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 27 
 
 who, of himself, was ignorant of Scottish affairs; insomuch that 
 none was credited in matters of great moment, but he alone. He 
 was sent with commission, by the regent, all over Scotland, to 
 inquire into their offences, who oppressed the vulgar, and made 
 them as their slaves. He obtained that office principally upon 
 these grounds; first of all, he acquainted the regent what new 
 discords and old feuds there were in every country; and also what 
 factions there were, and who were their respective heads. And 
 indeed so far his relations were true, for the things were known 
 to all. But if any occasion was offered to speak of Hume, he 
 stirred up some to complain of his enormity; so that by the impu- 
 tation, partly of true, and partly of feigned crimes, the regent's 
 ears were shut against all defence he could make. But when he 
 had almost run over the whole kingdom in his discourse, and pla- 
 ced in a clear light all and singular the alliances, affinities and 
 leagues, between each several family, and brought over the regent 
 to this persuasion, that no man of power, though a criminal, could 
 be punished, but all whole clans would immediately take offence 
 at it. So that it was not a conspiracy of their kindred only, 
 that was so much to be dreaded., as the consequence of a punish- 
 ment, by which, though few were made examples, a great many 
 would be touched, whom a similitude of faults, and a like fear of 
 punishments, would make friends, though they had been enemies 
 before: which great and large spreading factions were too power- ' 
 ful to be punished by the single force of Scotland; and therefore it 
 was advisable to desire an" auxiliary strength from the king of 
 France, to break the knot of so strong and so bold a confederacy; 
 and that this would be of use to France, as much as to Scotland. 
 In the mean time, the heads of the factions were to be kept un- 
 der, and, if possible, taken off; yet with such prudence, that they 
 should not have room to imagine, too many of them were aimed 
 at, at once. The heads of the factions, at present, were three; 
 Archibald Douglas, the most flagrantly popular of them all, and 
 the idol of the mob. His name was much adored by reason of 
 the great merits of his ancestors; besides, he was in the flower of 
 his youth, and relied so much on his affinity with England, that 
 he bore a spirit too big for a private man. As for Hume, he was 
 formidable of himself; and yet rendered more so, because he was 
 confirmed in his power by length of tune. Neither did he stop here, 
 but made a most invidious memorial of what the Humes had acted 
 against the regent's father and uncle; of all which though the Hep- 
 burn's were partakers, yet he cast the odium upon the Humes only. 
 He often mentioned his cowardice in the last battle against the En- 
 glish; and the talk abroad about the king's death reflecting upon 
 him, together with the repairing of Norham castle, which was 
 done by his connivance. He dressed up all these stories in various 
 Vol. II. R 
 
128 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 turns of phrase, and repeated them very zealously, over and over 
 again, to the regent, that they might not fail of making a very 
 deep impression. As for Forman (says he) it is true, he is not 
 mightily to be dreaded upon the account of his kindred, or any nobleness 
 of descent ; yet even he tuould make a great accession of strength to ivhat 
 party soever he inclined, because all the ivealtb of the -whole kingdom 
 was gathered together (as it were J into one house, and he was singly 
 able, from his treasures, to supply the present want of the party he sided 
 with, or else by his promises (all things being then in his power J he 
 could draw many into the same counsels, and pack up one general con- 
 federacy. This was Hepburn's speech to the regent. 
 
 The notorious animosities between Hepburn and Forman, made 
 that part of his tale to be less credited; and besides, his estate 
 was not so much to be envied, for he rather loved to lay it out, 
 than to hoard it up; neither was he so munificent to any, as to 
 the French that waited on the regent. And besides, his desire 
 Was more to join all parties in an universal concord, than to pin 
 himself to any one faction. But the suspicion of Hume, the lord 
 of the marches, sunk deeper into the regent's mind, which his 
 colder way of treating him at all the public meetings, and sour 
 unwonted looks too openly betrayed. So that, after a few 
 months, Alexander Hume, perceiving that he was not entertain- 
 ed by the regent answerable to his expectation, began to have se- 
 cret meetings with the queen and her husband. In those con- 
 gresses, Hume grievously lamented the state of the public, that 
 the king, at an age when it was impossible he should understand 
 his own misery, was fallen into the hands of an exile; of a man 
 born and brought up in banishment; whose father, out of a wick- 
 ed ambition, endeavoured to rob his elder brother of the king- 
 dom : and as he was now the next heir, who could not plainly see 
 that all his endeavours were to settle other things according to his 
 mind, and then to pack the innocent child out of the world, that 
 he might make the kingdom his own ; and so, by the last degree 
 of wickedness, accomplish what his father impiously designed? 
 There was but one remedy in the case, and that was, for the queen 
 to retire with her son into England, and there to put herself and 
 concerns into the protection of her brother. 
 
 These things were speedily brought to the regent's ears, and as 
 easily believed by him; but being a man of an active spirit, and of 
 quick dispatch in business, he presently frustrated that design 
 with those forces which he had ready about him; for he took the 
 castle of Stirling, and the queen in it. He took the oath of alle- 
 giance to the king publicly. The queen and the Douglasses were 
 removed by a decree of the lords ; and three of the nobility, of 
 great estimation for their faithfulness and integrity, were joined 
 with John Erskine, governor of the castle, to preside over the 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 120, 
 
 education of the young king. They were to succeed one another 
 by turns, and he allowed them a guard for their security. Upon 
 this, Hume and his brother William fled into England; and Dou- 
 glas and his wife staid no longer behind them than just to know 
 Henry's mind, who commanded them to stay at Harbottle in 
 Northumberland, till his pleasure was further known. 
 
 John the regent was very much concerned at their departure ; 
 and therefore he presently sent ambassadors into England, to acquit 
 himself before Henry, that he had done nothing why the king 
 should fear him, or be in the least disaffected towards him; neither 
 had he acted any thing against those who accompanied her in her 
 flight and departure, but that they might enjoy their country, and 
 their freedom, and, if they pleased, their estates. Thus he wrote 
 publicly to the king. But besides that, he did not omit secretly 
 to promote the return of the Humes and Douglasses, by the medi- 
 ation of their friends. He made them many large promises, till he 
 had brought them over to his will. Whereupon the rest returned 
 home; but the queen being near the time of her delivery, was 
 constrained to stay there, where she was brought to bed of a 
 daughter named Margaret ; of whom, in due place. But as soon 
 as she was able to travel, she had a royal accommodation and re- 
 tinue sent from London, to bring her up thither; where she was 
 honourably and nobly received by Henry her brother, and Mary 
 her sister; who, upon the death of her husband, Louis of France, 
 had a little before returned into her own country. 
 
 And yet the suspicions before raised in Scotland, were not much 
 abated, either by the departure of the queen, or the return of some 
 of her retinue. For Gavin Douglas, uncle to the earl of Angus, 
 Patrick Pantar, secretary of state to the former king, and John 
 Drummond, chief of his family, were sent several ways into ba- 
 nishment. Alexander Hume was summoned to appear before the 
 assembly of the estates, on the 1 2th of June, in the year of our 
 Lord 15 16. But he not appearing, was condemned, and his 
 goods confiscated. He was enraged at this contumelious injury, 
 (for so it was in his eye) and, to drive out one fear by another, he 
 either sent in, or else encouraged public robbers, to commit great 
 outrages in the neighbouring parts. Whereupon the states order- 
 ed the regent ten thousand horse and foot, to repress those inso- 
 lences, and either to take Hume, or else to drive him out of the 
 country. But before it came to blows, Hume, by the persua- 
 sion of his friends, surrendered himself to the regent, and so was 
 carried to Edinburgh, there to remain a prisoner under James 
 Hamilton, earl of Arran, his sister's husband, who was to be 
 deemed a traitor, if he suffered him to escape. But the issue of 
 that matter fell out otherwise than any body expected ; for Hume 
 persuaded Hamilton to make a joint escape with him, and to form 
 
 R 2 
 
13® HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 a party, and so to enter on the government himself, he being the 
 next heir after the former king's children, in regard he was born of 
 a sister of James III. and therefore it was more equitable that he 
 should enjoy the next place to the king than John, who, it is true, 
 was also the son of a brother, but born in his banishment; and in 
 all other things a perfect foreigner ; a man who could not so much 
 as speak the language of the country. 
 
 When the regent heard of this, he went to take Hamilton's 
 castle; and, planting his brass guns against it, forced it to sur- 
 render in two days. In the mean time Hume made excursions 
 out of March, and pillaged the country round about; and at 
 length burnt down a great part of the country of Dunbar. 
 These were the transactions of that year. 
 
 At the beginning of the spring, John Stuart, earl of Lennox, 
 whose mother was Hamilton's sister, assembled a great many of 
 his friends and vassals, and joined the rebels; these seized upon the 
 castle of Glasgow, and there they staid with Hamilton himself, 
 expecting the regent's approach. The regent had called a coun- 
 cil of the nobles of his party at Edinburgh, and there raised a sud- 
 den force, and entered Glasgow castle; one gunner, a French- 
 man, was punished as a deserter; the rest were pardoned by the 
 intercession of Andrew Forman, who was then a mediator for 
 peace between them. The earl of Lennox, a few days after, was 
 received into favour, and, from that day forward, carried it with 
 great faithfulness and observance, towards the regent. And, not 
 long after, first Hamilton, and then the Humes, returned to court, 
 and had an amnesty for what was past: it was granted to Hume 
 with greater difficulty than to the rest, because he had rebelled 
 so often; and an express condition was added, that if he offended 
 another time after that, the memory of his old crimes should be 
 again revived, and the guilt of them charged upon him afresh. 
 Peace being thus settled, the regent retired to Falkland, where 
 he staid some months; but hearing of great suspicions and jea- 
 lousies of Hume's intrigues, he returned to Edinburgh, and on 
 the 24th day of September held a council of the nobility, where 
 he endeavoured by his friends to draw Hume to court. J 
 promises were made to entice Hume thither, but many of his 
 party dissuaded him; or, if he himself was resolved to go, yet 
 he should leave his brother William (who, by his valour and mu- 
 nificence, had almost obtained as great, or a greater authority than 
 himself) at home, in regard the regent would be afraid to use any 
 high severity against him, as long as his brother was alive. 
 But he being (as it were) hurried on by a fatal necessity, slighted 
 the advice of his friends, and with his brother William, and An- 
 drew Ker, of Farnihurst, came to court, where presently th< 
 were all clapped up in several prison-, and, by the advice of the 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. I j I 
 
 council, a few days after, were tried for their lives, after the 
 custom of their country, though no new crime was laid to their 
 charge. Prince James, earl of Murray, accused Alexander of 
 the death of his father, who came alive out of the field, as many 
 witnesses did testify. This fact was strongly urged, but the 
 proofs were weak, so that they gave it over, and insisted only 
 on his private crimes; the many former rebellions were also ob- 
 jected, of all which, if Alexander was not the author, he was at 
 least a partaker in them; and moreover, it was alleged, that he did 
 not do his duty in the battle of Floddon. 
 
 In consequence of this, the Humes were condemned; Alex- 
 ander's head was struck off the I ith of October, and his brother's 
 the day after. Both their heads were set up in the most con- 
 spicuous place, as a terror to others, and their estates confiscated. 
 This was the end of Alexander Hume, the most powerful man 
 in Scotland of his time. He in his life -time had drawn upon his 
 own head the hatred and envy of a great many men; yet those 
 ■prejudices in time abating, his death was variously spoken of, and 
 so much the more, because he fell not for the perpetration of any 
 new crime, but merely by the calumnies (as it was thought) of 
 John Hepburn, the abbot; for he, being a factious man, and 
 eager of revenge, bore an implacable hatred against Hume; be- 
 cause, by his means alone, he was disappointed of the archbishop- 
 ric of St. Andrews: so that, though he had stifled his old resent- 
 ments for a time, yet it was believed he pushed on the regent 
 (who in his own nature was suspicious enough of, and disaffected 
 to, the Humes) to the greater severity against him, by telling him, 
 how dangerous it would be to the king and all Scotland, if he, at 
 his going into France, should leave so fierce an enemy alive behind 
 him: For what would he not attempt in his absence, who had 
 despised his authority when present? so that the contumacy of 
 the man, who could not be gained by rewards, honours, nor by 
 frequent pardons, had need to be conquered by the ax, if ever 
 he would keep Scotland in quiet. These and such like insinua- 
 tions, upon pretence of consulting the public safety, being buzzed 
 into the ears of a man, so much disgusted with them before, con- 
 tributed more to the destruction of the Flumes (in the judgment 
 of many) than any of their crimes. When the Humes were put 
 to death, Andrew Ker obtained the respite of one night, to pro- 
 vide for his soul's health; but, by means of his friends, and es- 
 pecially of a Frenchman, his keeper, it was suspected, upou the 
 payment of a good sum of money down upon the nail, he made 
 his escape. 
 
 Alexander Hume left three brothers behind him, who all i i 
 with various misfortunes in those days; George, for a murder 
 Jje had committed, lay private as an exile, in England, John, ab- 
 
13^ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 bot of Jedburgh, was banished beyond the Tay. David, the 1 
 youngest, prior of Coldingham, about two years after the execu- 
 tion of his brothers, being called forth by James Hepburn, his 
 sister's husband, upon pretence of a conference, fell into an am- 
 bush laid purposely for him, and was slain, being much pitied by 
 all} that an innocent young man, of so great hopes, should be 
 betrayed so unworthily by one, who had so little reason so to do. 
 When punishments had thus ranged over the whole family of the 
 Humes, at last it fell to the enemies' share, especially to John Hep- 
 burn's, who had been so severe an exactor of the unjust punish- 
 ment of others: yet the destruction of one family, once so pow- 
 erful, brought such a panic upon all the rest, that matters were 
 the quieter a great while after. The next December, the regent 
 brought the king from Stirling to Edinburgh, and then he desired 
 leave of the nobility of Scotland to return into France: every one 
 almost was against the motion; so that he was forced to stay till 
 late in the spring, and then took shipping, promising speedily to 
 return, in case any more than ordinary commotion should arise, 
 which required his presence. The government of the kingdom, 
 in his absence, he left to the earls of Angus, Arran, Argyle, and 
 Huntly; the archbishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow; to whom 
 he added Anthony Darcy, a Frenchman, governor of Dunbar, 
 who was enjoined to correspond with him, and to inform him of 
 all that passed in his absence. And, that no discord might arise 
 out of an ambitious principle, between such great and noble per- 
 sonages, by reason of their parity in the government, he allotted 
 to each of them their several provinces. Darcy, the Frenchman, 
 the rest condescending thereunto, had the chief place amongst 
 them, March and Lothian being appointed to be under his go- 
 vernment. The other provinces were distributed to the rest, ac- 
 cording to each man's particular conveniency. Mean while the 
 queen, about a year after she had been in England, near the end 
 of May, returned to Scotland, and was attended by her husband 
 from Berwick: but they lived not together so lovingly as before. 
 
 The regent at his departure, to prevent the budding and growth 
 of sedition in his absence, had carried along with him either the 
 heads of the noblest families, or else their sons and kindred, upon 
 a pretence of doing them honour, but indeed as pledges, into 
 France; and he had sent others of them into different and remote 
 parts of the kingdom, where they had, as it were, but a larger 
 prison. He had also placed French governors in the castles of 
 Dunbar, Dumbarton, and Garvy; yet a commotion arose, upon a 
 slight occasion, where it was least feared or dreamed of. 
 
 Anthony Darcy had carried it with a great deal of equity and 
 prudence in his government, especially in restraining of robberies. 
 The first tumult in his province, which tended to any thing of 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 33 
 
 war, was made by William Cockburn, uncle to the lord of Lang- 
 * ton-, he had driven away the guardians of the young ward, and 
 had seized upon the castle of Langton, relying principally on the 
 power of David Hume, of Wedderbum, whose sister Cockburn 
 had married. Thither Darcy marched with a sufficient guard; 
 but they within refused to surrender the castle: and moreover, 
 David Hume, with some few light horse, riding up to him, up- 
 braided him with the cruel death of his kinsman Alexander. 
 The Frenchman, partly distrusting his men, and partly confiding 
 in the swiftness of the horse he rode upon, fled towards Dunbar; 
 but his horse falling under him, his enemies overtook and slew 
 him, and set up his head on an eminent place in Hume castle. 
 He was slain the 20th of September, in the year 15 17. 
 
 Whereupon the other governors had a meeting, and fearing a 
 greater commotion after this terrible beginning, they made the 
 earl of Arran their president, and committed George Dougias, 
 brother to the earl of Angus, upon suspicion of being privy to 
 the murder newly committed, prisoner to Insegarvy castle; they 
 also sent to the regent in France, to call him back into Scotland, 
 as soon as ever he could. About the same time, some seeds cf 
 discord were sown between the earl of Angus, and Andrew Ker, 
 of Farnihurst, by reason of the jurisdiction over some lands which 
 did belong to the earl; but Andrew alleged he had power to keep 
 courts in them : the rest of the family of the Kers sided with the 
 earl, but the Hamiltons took part with Andrew; which they did 
 more out of hate to the Douglasses, than for any justice Ker 
 had in his pretensions: so that both parties provided themselves 
 against the court-day, to run a greater hazard than the matter 
 they strove about was worth; and John Somervel, a noble and 
 high-spirited young man, of the Douglasses' faction, set upon 
 James, the natural son of the earl of Arran, on the highway, and 
 killed five of his retinue, putting the rest to flight; he also took 
 above thirty of their horses. 
 
 When an assembly was summoned to be held at Edinburgh, 
 April the 29th, 1520, the Hamiltons alleged, that they could not 
 be safe in that city, where Archibald Douglas was governor. 
 Whereupon Douglas, that he might not obstruct public business, 
 about the end of March, resigned his government of his own 
 accord; and Robert Long, a citizen of Edinburgh, was substituted 
 in his place. The nobility of the west part of Scotland, of which 
 there were very many, had frequent meetings in the house of 
 James Beton, the chancellor; their design was to apprehend the 
 earl of Angus; for they alleged, that his power was too great and 
 formidable to the public; that, as long as he was at liberty, they 
 should have no freedom for debate or resolutions. An opportu- 
 nity seemed to favour their design; for he, having now but a few 
 
134 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV* 
 
 of his vassals about him, might be easily surprized before his kin- 
 dred came to his assistance. When he perceived what was in 
 agitation against him, he sent his uncle Gavin, bishop of Dun- 
 keld, to pacify them, whom he said he had provoked with no 
 injury, and to desire them to manage the dispute without force of 
 arms; for if they could make out any just complaint against him, 
 he was willing in equity to give them all satisfaction. But his 
 speech availed him nothing ^t all, being made to men proud of 
 their numbers, puissant, and greedy of revenge. And, therefore, 
 Gavin could obtain no good terms from them, but returned to An- 
 gus and acquainted him with the arrogance of his enemy, and 
 then caused his whole family to follow the earl; he himself being 
 a priest, and infirm too by reason of age, retired to his own lodg- 
 ing. Some think he did this, to upbraid the unseasonable pride of 
 the chancellor, who, when he ought to have been a promoter of 
 peace, flew armed up and down like a fire-brand of sedition. 
 Douglas, seeing there were no hopes of agreement, exhorted his 
 men rather to die valiantly, than, like dastardly cowards, to hide 
 themselves in their lodgings, from whence, to be sure, they would 
 soon be plucked out by the ears to their deaths ; for their enemies 
 had so stopped up all the avenues and passages, that not a man 
 of them could get out of the city. All that were then present 
 assented to what he had spoken; and straight he and his party, 
 having buckled on their armour, seized upon the broadest street 
 in all the town. He had about fourscore in his train, but all stout 
 resolute men, and of known valour. They divided and posted 
 themselves in the most convenient places, and so set upon their 
 enemies as they came out of several narrow alleys at once; the 
 first they slew, and drove the rest back headlong, tumbling one 
 upon another in great disorder and confusion. The earl of Ar- 
 ran, who commanded the opposite party, with his son James, got 
 to a ford, and made their escape by the north-loch; the rest ran 
 several ways for shelter, to the convent of the Dominicans. Whilst 
 these things were in agitation there was a mighty combustion all 
 over the town, and, in the midst of the bustle, William, Angus's 
 brother, enters the city with a great party of his clan. When 
 Douglas had got this accession to his former strength, though there 
 were abundance of his enemies in the town, yet he made procla- 
 mation by a trumpeter, That none should dare to appear in the 
 streets with arms about them, but his friends and party. Those 
 that desired passes, to depart quietly, had them easily granted, 
 There went out in one company about 800 horse, besides those 
 who had taken their flight before, with greater ignominy than loss; 
 for there fell not above 72, but among them were men of note, as 
 the brother of the earl of Arran, and Eglinton's son. This hap- 
 the 30th dav of April, 1520. In order to revenge this 
 
Book XIV. history Of Scotland. 13 J 
 
 disgrace, the Harrriltons besieged Kilmarnock, a castle In Cunning- 
 ham; Robert Boyd, a friend of the Douglasses, commanded it; 
 but they soon left it, without effecting any thing. The next year 
 Douglas came to Edinburgh, on the zoth of July, bringing with 
 him the Humes, who had been banished; and there he took down 
 the heads of Alexander and William Hume, which had been set 
 up on poles. The Whole live years that the regent was absent, 
 were very full of tumults; there was no end of pillaging and kil- 
 ling till his return, which was on October 30th, 1521. Upon his 
 arrival, he resolved to Curb the power of the Douglasses, in order 
 to the quieting of all such seditions as had happened in his absence. 
 He sent the earl of Angus, head of that family, into France; he 
 caused the pope to call over his uncle, the bishop of Dunkeld, 
 to Rome, to purge himself there of some crimes imputed to him ; 
 who, the year after, in his journey to Rome, feii sick of the plague 
 in London, and died. His virtues were such, that he was very 
 much lamented; for, besides the splendor of his ancestry, and 
 the comeliness of his person, he was master of a great deal of 
 learning, as times went then; and being also a man of high pru- 
 dence, and singular moderation, in troublesome times, he was 
 much esteemed in point of faithfulness and authority, even by 
 the contrary factions. He left behind him considerable monu- 
 ments of his ingenuity and learning, written in his mother-tongue. 
 The next year after the return of the regent, a parliament was 
 held, and an army levied, appointed to rendezvous at Edinburgh, 
 on a set day; whither they came accordingly, and pitched then- 
 tents in the fields near Roslin, none knowing upon what service 
 they were to be employed: but at last an herald proclaimed that 
 they were to march towards Annandale, and that a great punish- 
 ment was appointed for such who refused to obey the orders. 
 The rest of the army marched obediently enough to the river 
 Solway, the boundary of Scotland; only Alexander Gordon and 
 his party staid behind three miles farther from England. When 
 the regent heard of it, he came back to him the next day, and 
 brought him up to the camp: there called he the nobles and chief 
 commanders together, and shewed them many great and weighty 
 reasons why he invaded England on that side. But a great part 
 of the nobility, by the instigation of Gordon, who was their 
 senior, and of greater authority than all of them, wholly refused 
 to set foot on English ground; either out of disaffection to the 
 regent, or else, as they pretended , that it was not for the interest 
 of Scotland so to do: die specious pretences spread abroad a- 
 mongst the soldiers, pleased them well enough. For if they had 
 levied an army in favour of the French, to hinder the English 
 from sending their whole strength against France, it was sufficient 
 for that purpose only to make a shew of warj but if the interest 
 Vol.11. ' 3 
 
f 3<5 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, Book XIV. 
 
 of Scotland was considered, matters not being well settled at 
 home, and their king but a child; it was most advisable for them 
 at that juncture, only to be on the defensive, and to maintain 
 their ancient bounds-, for if they should march forward, the blame 
 even of fortuitous miscarriage might be laid to their charge, and 
 an account of their misconduct might be required at their hands, 
 in a very short time. Lastly, though they were never so willing 
 to march forward against the enemy, and so to slight the common 
 danger, as well as to overlook their own concerns at home, yet 
 they were afraid the Scots would not be obedient to command in 
 an enemy's country. Great heed therefore was to be taken, lest, 
 through ambition, or emulation, or late disgusts, they should 
 come off with dishonour. The regent, perceiving it in vain to 
 oppose, was forced to yield; yet, that he might not seem to have 
 acted a mere piece of pageantry, after such vast preparations, in 
 marching his army as far as the Solway, he underhand procured 
 a fit and proper person, who had frequent negotiations in Eng- 
 land, to acquaint Dacres, then lord warden of the English marches, 
 that some good might be done if he treated with John, the Scots' 
 regent. He willingly hearkened to the proposal, because he was 
 unprovided for defence; never imagining that the Scots would 
 have made an irruption into England, at least on that side. Ac- 
 cordingly, he sent an herald, and obtained a passport to come 
 with safety into the Scots' camp. The next day, accompanied 
 with Thomas Dacres and Thomas Musgrave, and about eighteen 
 more cavaliers, he came to the regent's tent, where they had pri- 
 vate discourse together, each having his interpreter. Dacres, be- 
 ing taken unprovided, was glad to be quiet, and the regent, not 
 being able to effect any thing without the consent of the army, 
 clapped up a truce; and an hopeful introduction to a peace was 
 made, and so they parted. Those of the Scots who were the 
 greatest hinderances of the action, to throw off the blame from 
 themselves, spread abroad reports, that Dacres had bought a 
 peace of the regent for a sum of money, of which, part was in 
 paid, the rest promised, but never paid. Thus they en- 
 deavoured to disparage the conference amongst the vulgar. 
 
 The regent, went again, on the 25th of October, into France, 
 but promised to return before the first of August next ensuing; 
 he kept not his day, because he was informed that the English 
 had a fleet ready to intercept his passage: However, he sent 505 
 ;h Toot, in the month of June, to encourage the Scots with 
 hope of his speedy return. They never saw the face of an ene- 
 my in all their voyage; till they came near the isle of May, which 
 is situate on the frith of Forth, where they fell among the English 
 ships, which lay in the straits, to stop their passage. They had a 
 sharp fight,, and the French boarded their enemies ships,., but with 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 37 
 
 the loss of their admiral. When he was slain, the seamen would 
 not obey the captains of the foot; and the land soldiers, being ig- 
 norant of sea affairs, could not command the mariners; so that, 
 after a great slaughter of the English, the French could scarce be 
 forced back in their own ships, 
 
 In the absence of the regent, Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey, 
 was sent from England with ten thousand men, and a great many 
 recruits, into Scotland: His advantage was, that the Scots were ac 
 discord amongst themselves; their chief magistrate absent, and 
 they under no certain command; so that he marched over March 
 and Teviotdale, and took the castles of both shire-, to the great 
 loss of the nobles, and of the commons too, who used, upon sud- 
 den invasions, to secure themselves and their goods in those forts. 
 But Scotland did then labour under such intestine discords, that 
 no man thought his neighbour's calamity did at all belong to him. 
 The English marched up and down for several months, where 
 they pleased, without any opposition; and when, at length, they 
 retreated, the adjacent Scots endeavoured, in some sort, to revenge 
 themselves for their losses; and accordingly, daily incursions were 
 made by them into Northumberland, and great booties taken out 
 of that country: so that Howard was sent against them a second 
 time; who took Jedburgh, (a town unfortified, as the Scots cus- 
 tom is), but it cost him great pains, and loss of men. "Whilst 
 these things were acting in Teviotdale, the horses of the English 
 army were so terrified in the night, (it is not known upon what 
 occasion) that above 500 of them broke their bridles, running 
 up and down the camp, and overturning all that were in their \v:iv ■ 
 Some of the soldiers they trampled down and trode upon; and 
 then ran out into the open field, as if they had been mad, and so 
 became a prey to such of the country Scots as could take them' 
 up. This caused a great consternation through the whole camp, 
 all crying out, Arm, Arm: neither could the tumult be appeased, 
 till the next morning. Three days after, the English, without 
 making any further attempt, disbanded their army, and returned 
 home. 
 
 The duke of Albany, knowing that all the ports on the French 
 shore were way-laid by the English, to intercept him in his re- 
 turn, being inferior in strength, resolved to work it by stratagem. 
 He brought not his navy together in any one port, but kept it dis- 
 persed in several harbours, (here one ship, there another) that there 
 was no appearance at all of any warlike preparation: And besides, 
 he quartered his soldiers in the inland country, that nobody could 
 imagine he designed to ship them; so that the admiral of the 
 English fleet, who waited to disturb his passage till the 13th of 
 August, was weary of roving up and down in the sea any longer 
 to no purpose; and understanding by his. spies, that; there was nei« 
 
 S a- 
 
I38 HISTORY OF SCOTLANB. Book XIV. 
 
 tier fleet nor army on all the French coasts, he withdrew his 
 fleet, as supposing John would not stir till the next spring. The 
 duke of Albany, being informed of the departure of the English, 
 presently drew together his navy of 50 ships, aboard of which 
 were 3000 foot, and 1000 cuirasiers; and so, after the autumnal 
 equinox, he set sail from France, and, by the 24th of September, 
 arrived at the isle of Arran in Scotland; which happened to be 
 the same day on which the English burned Jedburgh. 
 
 I shewed before, how miserable the state of affairs in Scotland 
 was, the last summer. The nobles -were at variance one with an- 
 other; the English wasted all the countries near them; they were 
 masters of the sea ; and consequently all hopes of foreign aid were 
 cutoff. The design of the enemy in this was, to take down the 
 pride of the Scots, and, by sufferings, to incline them to a pacifi- 
 cation : Neither were those Scots that were averse to the French 
 faction, less zealous for a perpetual peace with England: of which 
 the queen was the chief. For, when Hume was removed by 
 death, and Douglas by banishment, and the other nobles were 
 judged rather fit to follow, than lead, in the management of mat- 
 ters; all those that were not favourers of the French interest, ap^ 
 y bed themselves to the queen. She, to gratify her brother, and 
 also to draw the power into her own hands, dissembled her pri- 
 vate ambition, and exhorted them, saying, That now was the time 
 to free their young king, who was almost of age, from the bondage of a 
 Sti anger ,• and also to deliver the in selves from the same yoke. For the 
 queen now laboured to strengthen her party against her husband, 
 against whom she, long before, began to have a great disgust: 
 Besides, the king of England sent frequent letters, filled with large 
 promises to the nobles of Scotland, desiring them to promote his 
 sister's designs. Fie told them, " It was not his fault, that there 
 " was not a perpetual amity between the two neighbouring king- 
 " doms; which has always, so especially at this time, he did very 
 il much, desire; not for any private end of his own, but to make 
 «' it appear that he bore a true respect to his sister's son, whom. 
 f< he resolved to support and gratify, as much as ever he was 
 << able: And if the Scots would be persuaded to break their league 
 li with France, and to join with England, they should quickly find 
 l - his aim was not ambition nor power, but only love and eon- 
 ,: cord: That Mary his only daughter being married to James, the 
 " Scots would not, by that affinity, come over to the government 
 " of the English, but the English to that of the Scots: That en- 
 «' mities as great as theirs, had intervened betwixt nations hereto- 
 '« fore, which yet by alliance, mutual commerce, and interchange- 
 " able kindnesses, had been wholly abolished and extinguished." 
 Others reckoned up the advantages, or inconveniencies, which 
 .might accrue to either nation, by this union with each Other, ra„- 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 39 
 
 ther than with the French : As, that « they were one people, born 
 " in the same island; brought up under the same climate; agree- 
 " able cue to another in their language, manners, laws, customs, 
 " countenance, colour, and in the very make of their bodies; so 
 « that they seemed rather to be one nation than tzvo: But as for 
 " the French they differed from them, not only in climate and soil, 
 " but also in the whole manner of their life: Besides if France was 
 « an enemy, she could do no great damage to Scotland; and if x 
 » friend, yet she could not be highly advantageous: As for the 
 " assistance of England, that was near at hand; but French aid 
 " was much remote; there was no passage for it but by sea, and 
 " therefore it might be prevented by enemies, or else hindered by 
 f* storms. They were therefore desired to consider, how incon T 
 " venient it was for the management of affairs, and how unsafe 
 i ( for the public, to hang the hopes of their and the kingdom's 
 « safety, upon so inconstant and changeable a thing, as a blast of 
 •< wind. How much they might expect from absent friends a-* 
 " gainst present dangers, might be easily perceived by the actions 
 " of the last summer, where the Scots not only felt, but even saw 
 <« with their eyes, how the English ravaged them, being forsaken 
 " by their friends, and fell upon them with all their strength, rea^ 
 < ( dy to devour them; but the French aid, so long looked for, 
 f* was kept back by the English navy, in their own harhours." 
 
 These were the allegations for an alliance with England; and 
 rot a few, being convinced by them, were inclined to it: but o- 
 thers argued to the contrary : for the greatest part of that assembly 
 the French had bribed; and some who had been great gainers by 
 the public losses, abhorred the very thoughts of peace. There were 
 others who suspected the readiness and facility of the English in 
 making such large promises, especially since matters in England 
 were managed, for the most part, at the will and pleasure of Tho- 
 mas Wolsey, a cardinal, a man wicked and ambitious, who laid 
 all his designs for his own private advantage, and for the enlarge-; 
 ment of his power and authority ; and therefore he accommodated 
 them to every turn of the wheel of fortune. All these equally fa- 
 voured the league with France, though induced to the same end 
 by different motives. They alleged, that the sudden liberality of 
 the English was not free and gratuitous, but done out of design; 
 and that this was not the first time, that they had used such arts 
 to entrap the unwary Scots: For Edward I. (said they) when ha 
 Lad sworn and obliged himself, by all the bonds of law and equi- 
 ty, to decide any thing in dispute, and therefore was chosen ar- 
 bitrator by the Scots, had most injuriously made himself king of 
 Scotland: And of late, Edward IV. had betrothed his daughter 
 Cecily to the son of James III. but when the young lady grew up 
 to be marriageable, and the day of consummation just upon the 
 
14° HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV, 
 
 point of being fixed, he took die opportunity of a war, which a- 
 rose upon the account of our private discords, to break off the 
 match: And that the English king aimed at nothing else now, but 
 to cast the tempting bait of dominion before them, that so he 
 might make them really slaves; and, when they were destitute of 
 foreign aid, might surprize them at his pleasure with all his force. 
 Neither was that position a true one, wherein the contrary party 
 prided the in selves, 1 hat an alliance near at hand was better than one 
 farther off-,- for causes of dissension would never be wanting a- 
 mong those who were neighbours; which were oftentimes pro- 
 duced even by sudden chances, and sometimes great men would 
 promote them upon every light Occasion; and then the laws of 
 concord would be prescribed by him who should have the longest 
 sword. That there was never such a firm and sacred bond of 
 friendship between neighbouring kingdoms, which, when occa- 
 sions offered., or were sought for, was not often violated; neither 
 could we hope, that the English would more refrain now from 
 violating us, than they formerly spared so many kings of their 
 own; It is true, the sanctity of leagues, and the religion of an 
 oath, for the faithful performance of pacts and agreements, are 
 firm bonds to good men; but amongst those who are bad, they 
 are as so many snares and gins, and give only opportunity to de- 
 ceive; and such opportunity is most visible in a propinquity of 
 borders and habitations, in the agreement of language, and in the 
 similitude of manners. But if all these things were otherwise, 
 yet (proceed they) there are two things to be regarded and pro- 
 vided for: First, that we reject not our old friends, even without 
 an hearing, who have so often deserved well of us. The other, 
 that we do not here spend our time in quarrels and disputes, espe-. 
 cially about a business which cannot be determined but in an as- 
 sembly of all the estates of the kingdom. Thus stood the inclina- 
 tions of those of the French faction ; and so they obtained, that no 
 determinations should be made, till they received certain news of 
 the French supply. 
 
 When the return of the regent was made known, it mightily 
 rejoiced his friends, strengthened the wavering, and kept back 
 many, who favoured the league with England, from complying 
 with it. He sent his warlike provisions up the river Clyde to 
 Glasgow, and there mustered his army. He also published a pro- 
 clamation, that the nobility should attend him at Edinburgh, 
 where he made an elegant speech to them, commending their con- 
 stancy in maintaining their ancient league, and their prudence in 
 rejecting the perfidious promises of the English. He highly ex- 
 tolled the good-will, love, and liberality of Francis, the French 
 king, towards the Scots; and exhorted them to lay aside their pri- 
 vate animosities and feuds ; and, seeing foreign aid was come in 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 14! 
 
 to them, to revenge their wrongs, and to repress the insolence of 
 their enemy by some notable blow. Accordingly, after his sol- 
 diers had refreshed themselves, and the Scots forces had joined them, 
 he marched towards the borders, whither he came the 22d 
 of October. But being about to enter England, and having al- 
 ready sent part of his forces over a wooden bridge, which was at 
 Mulross, the Scots made the same excuses a3 they did in the for- 
 mer expedition at Solway, and refused to enter England; so that 
 he was forced to recal that party which he had commanded over; 
 and pitching his tents a little below, on the left side of the Tweed, 
 endeavoured to storm the castle of Werk, situated over against 
 him, on the right side of the river. In the mean time a party of 
 horse sent over the river, beset all passages, that no relief could 
 come to the beseiged. They also carried fire and sword round all 
 the country thereabouts. The description of Werk castle is this: 
 In the inner court of it there is a very high tower well fortified; it 
 is compassed with a double wall. The outward wall encloses a 
 large space of ground, whither the country people were wont to 
 fly in time of war, and to bring their corn and cattle with them 
 for safeguard. The inner wall is much narrower, but intrenched 
 round about, and better fortified with towers that are built upon 
 it. The French took the outward court by storm, but the Eng- 
 lish set fire to the barns, and the straw that was in them, which 
 made such a smoke, that they drove them out again. For the next 
 two days they battered the inner wall with their great guns; and, 
 after they had made a breach wide enough for entrance, the French 
 again attempted the matter, and endeavoured to storm it, by 
 means of the breach they had made; but those in the inner csstle, 
 which was yet entire, darted down all sorts of weapons upon 
 them, and they lay exposed to every blow. So that, having lost 
 some few of their men, they were beat back to their army, and re- 
 treated cross the river. The regent, perceiving that the minds of 
 the Scots were averse to action, and also hearing for certain, that 
 the English were coming against them with a numerous army 
 (their own writers say, no less than 40,000 fighting men; and 
 besides, that 6000 more were left to defend Berwick, a neighbour- 
 ing town), the 1 ith of November, removed his camp to a nunne- 
 ry called Eccles, about six miles distant from his present encamp- 
 ment; thence, at the third watch, he marched by night to Lauder, 
 Both, horse and man were much incommoded in their march, by 
 the sudden fall of a grc;rt snow. The same storm occasioned the 
 English al: 5 o to disband and return home, without effecting any 
 thing. The rest of the winter was quiet enough. 
 
 At spring, the regent, in an assembly of the nobles, told them 
 the causes why he must nttd.i go again into France, but he pro- 
 mised them to return before the first of September next following. 
 
t4'2 ttlSTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 And he further desired them, that, during his absence, the king 
 might remain at Stirling ; and that they would make no peace or 
 truce with the English before his return} as also, that they would 
 make no innovations on the government. They promised him 
 faithfully to obey his commands: and thus, on the 20th of May, 
 he and his retinue set sail for France. In his absence, the reins 
 were let loose, every man's will was his law, and a great deal of 
 havock was made, and mischief done, without any punishment at 
 all. Upon this the king, though but a child, by the advice of his 
 mother, and the earls of Arran, Lennox, Crawfurd, and many 
 other of the prime nobility, came from Stirling to Edinburgh; 
 and, on the 29th of July, by the counsel of his nobles, whom he 
 had convened at his palace of Holyrood-house, he took upon him 
 the government of the kingdom ; and, the next day, caused them 
 all to swear fealty to him a second time. And, to shew that he 
 had actually assumed the administration of matters into his own 
 hands, he discharged all public officers; but, a few days after, he 
 restored them to theis places agaim 
 
 In a great assembly of the nobles held on the 20th day of Au- 
 gust, that the king might vacate the power of the regent, which he 
 had now taken upon himself; he went in great pomp (as the 
 manner is) into the public hall of the town ; only the bishops of 
 St. Andrews and Aberdeen dissented, alleging, that they ought 
 to stay till the first of September, at which time the regent had 
 promised to return; whereupon they were imprisoned. But they 
 revenged themselves with their own church'weapons, and excom- 
 municated all of their dioceses. However, in about a month or 
 two after, they were reconciled to the king, and restored to the same 
 place in his favour, which they had before. 
 
 About the same time Archibald Douglas, who, as I said before, 
 was banished into France, sent Simon Penning, an acute man, 
 and much trusted by him, to the king of England, to persuade 
 him to give him the liberty of returning home through his domi- 
 nions, which was granted. For Henry was well enough pleased 
 at the diminution of the authority of so active a person as the duke 
 of Albany; and at the change which was made in Scotland; so that 
 he entertained the earl courteously, and dismissed him very ho- 
 nourably. His return made very different impressions in the 
 minds of the Scots-, for seeing all public business was transacted 
 under die conduct of the queen and the earl of Arran, a great 
 part of tiie nobility, the heads whereof were John Stewart, earl 
 of Lennox, and Colin Campbell, earl oi Argyle, taking great dis- 
 taste that they were not admitted to any part o£ the administra- 
 tion, received Douglas with high expressions of joy, as hoping by 
 his aid, either to win over the power of the adverse faction to 
 themselves, or at least to abate their pride. On the other side, 
 
Book XIV. HISTORI OF SCOTLAND. 1 43 
 
 the queen, who, as I said before, was disaffected towards her hus- 
 band, was much troubled at his coming, and sought by all means 
 to undermine him, Moreover Hamilton, who felt some remains of 
 his old resentment, was none of his fast friends. He feared lest 
 Douglas, who he knew would not be content with a second place, 
 would mount the saddle, and make him truckle under; so that he 
 strove to maintain his own dignity, and opposed him with ali his 
 might. They kept themselves witlun the castle of Edinburgh ; 
 and though they knew very well that many of the nobility affected 
 alteration, yet, trusting in the strength of the place, and the au- 
 thority of the kingly name (though it was but a sorry defence in 
 those circumstances) they thought themselves secure from force. 
 The adverse party had a great meeting of the nobles, where they 
 chose three of their own party to be guardians of the king and 
 kingdom, Archibald Douglas earl of Angus; John Stuart earl 
 cf Lennox; and Colin Campbell earl of Argyle. They made 
 great haste in their business: First, they passed the Forth, and 
 caused James Beton, a prudent man, to join with them, who, 
 perceiving the strength of the party, durst not resist. From 
 thence they went to Stirling, and conferred all offices and em- 
 ployments on the men of their own faction only; and from thence 
 they came to Edinburgh, which they entered without force, for 
 it was not fortified at all. They cast up a small trench against 
 the castle, and besieged it. Those that would have been upon the 
 defensive, had made no provision for a siege, and therefore soon 
 surrendered up both it and themselves. All but the king being 
 sent away, the whole weight of the government lay upon the 
 shoulders of those three associates, who agreed among them- 
 selves, that they would manage it by turns, each of them attend- 
 ing four months on the king. But this conjunction was not 
 hearty, neither did it last long. Douglas attended the first four 
 months, who brought the king into the archbishop of St. Andrew's 
 house, and made use of all the bishop's household stuff, and 
 other accommodations, as if they had been his own (for he had 
 a little before revolted from their faction); and, to engage the 
 king to him the more, he let him take his fill of all unwarrantable 
 pleasures, and yet he obtained not his end neither, in regard the 
 king's domestics were corrupted by the adverse faction, headed 
 by the queen and Hamilton. 
 
 The first animosities at court broke- forth upon the account of 
 distributing ecclesiastical preferments; for the Douglasses drew 
 all to themselves; George Crichton was translated to the bishop- 
 rick of Dmikekl. The abbey of Holyrood in the suburbs, which 
 was left by him, Douglas gave to his brother William, who had 
 now for five years forcibly held that of Coldir.gham, about six 
 miles from Berwick, fcojci, the time of .the murder of Robert 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
J 44 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 Blackadder, the former abbot. For Patrick Blackadder, Robert's 
 cousin-german, had the abbey bestowed on him by the pope, with 
 the consent of John the regent. He had also commenced a suit 
 against John Hume, an intimate of the earl of Angus's, and hus- 
 band to his sister's daughter, about the whole ancient estate of the 
 Blackadders. And therefore Patrick, being unable to cope with 
 the Douglasses, suffered his estate to be made a prey to his ene- 
 mies, and reserved himself for better times, amongst his mother's 
 kindred, far from those counties which were obnoxious to the 
 faction of the Douglasses. They, on the other side, though they 
 did not much value Patrick, yet having the supreme power in 
 their hands, and being unwilling to incur the blot of invading 
 other men's rights by mere force, made use of friends to proffer 
 him some kind of amends and satisfaction-, he, shewing himself 
 inclinable to an agreement, even though he remitted much of his 
 right, had a pass granted him, and the public faith given him by 
 Douglas, to come to Edinburgh; which he did with a small reti- 
 nue, and unarmed; and not far from the gates of the city, he was 
 set upon by John Hume, who lay in ambush for that purpose, 
 and so wa3 murdered. As soon as the noise of the fact was 
 spread over the city, many mounted their horses, and pursued 
 the murderers some miles, in order to apprehend them; but per- 
 ceiving that George Douglas, brother to the earl, was in their 
 company, and many more of Douglas's faction, with the kindred 
 cf Hume; not knowing with what intent they were out, whether 
 to catch, or to defend the murderers, they desisted from the pur- 
 suit; and this occasioned strange reports to be divulged abroad 
 concerning the Douglasses. 
 
 ' • As for Colin Campbell, he had already withdrawn himself 
 from the triumvirate, as we may call it; and the earl of Lennox, 
 though he followed the king, yet in regard the Douglasses got all 
 offices of public advantage into their own hands, he gave many 
 testimonies of his dislike, and palpable proof that his mind was 
 quite alienated from them. But they, being confident of their 
 power, slighted the reports and ill-will of others. Mean while 
 the king, though he were used more indulgently than was fit, that 
 so his infirm spirit might be the longer in subjection to them; yet 
 nothwithstanding by little and little grew weary of their govern- 
 ment, being also weaned from them by his domestics, who laid to 
 their charge actions, some true, some false, ,nnd interpreted the 
 doubtful in the worst sense; upon which he secretly communica- 
 ted with such as he could trust, about vindicating rfimself into his 
 freedom and liberty. The only man of his nobles, to whom he 
 opened his mind without reserve, was John earl of Lennox, who, 
 besides his other virtues of mind and body, was an honest and 
 fine-spokeu man, and excellently composed to reconcile and win> 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 45 
 
 upon the souls of men, by a natural sweetness of manners and de- 
 
 «ortment. Him he made privy to his design-, and whilst they 
 r ere consulting about the time, place, and manner of its accom- 
 plishment, Douglas was making many expeditions against the 
 bands of robbers, but with no great success. At length, about 
 the end of July, he resolved to carry the king into Teviotdale, as 
 supposing that his presence would be advantageous, by striking a 
 terror into the licentious. Here an assembly being held at Jed- 
 burgh, the king called together all the heads of the chief families 
 round about, and commanded them to apprehend those criminals, 
 every one within his own precinct, of which he then gave them a 
 list. They industriously obeyed his command; so that many of 
 the thieves paid their heads as the price of their robberies; and 
 others were spared in hopes of amendment. Thus, whilst the 
 minds of all were very merry, they who had a design to free the 
 king from the guardianship of the Douglasses, thought this a good 
 opportunity to effect it; because one Walter Scot, living not fav 
 from Jedburgh, had great clanships in the counties thereabouts. 
 The manner of accomplishing their project was thus laid; Walter 
 was to invite the king to his house, and there he was to remain 
 with him as at his own royal pleasure, till, the report spreading 
 abroad, greater forces came in. But their design seemed to be 
 discovered, either by chance, or upon some private intimation ; 
 the king being carried back to Mulross. Yet Walter was not dis- 
 couraged, but proceeded on straight on his journey to the king. 
 When he was but a little way off, an alarm was brought to the 
 Douglasses, that Walter was at hand, well armed himself, and a 
 great troop of armed men accompanying him; so that there was 
 no doubt to be made, but he being a factious man, and withal 
 good at his weapon, intended some mischief 5 insomuch that they 
 all presently ran to their arms. Douglas, though inferior in num- 
 ber, yet knowing that the men he had of his own were choice 
 ones; and besides, that he had several valiant persons of the fami- 
 ly of the Kers and Humes in his train, with George Hume and 
 Andrew Ker, their principals,, resolved to put it to a battle. In 
 that very juncture, George Hume had like to have spoiled all, 
 who, when Douglas commanded him to alight from his horse, 
 and manage his part in the fight, answered, he would alight if 
 the king himself commanded him. They fought eagerly and 
 courageously on both sides, as men who had their king (the price 
 of the combat) their spectator. John Stuart stood near the king, 
 without striking a stroke, only as a spectator of the fight. 
 
 After a sharp encounter, Walter was wounded, and then his 
 men gave ground. But the joy of the Douglasses, victory was 
 much allayed by the loss of Andrew Ker, who, for his singular 
 virtues, was very much lamented by both parties. Upon the ac* 
 
 T'2 
 
I46 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 count of Tiis being slain, there ensued a long feud between the 
 families of the Kers and the Scots, which was not ended without 
 blood. From that time forward, John Stuart, who carried him- 
 self as a neuter in the fight, being before suspected by the Dou- 
 glasses, was ndw accounted their open enemy; so that he de- 
 parted from the court. These things were acted July 23d, in the 
 year 152 1. 
 
 The Douglassians, perceiving themselves subject to the envy 
 of whole multitudes, endeavoured to confirm the strength of their 
 faction -by new recruits and converts, and therefore they made up 
 the old breach between them and the Hamiltons, a family great 
 in wealth, in power, and in its numbers. These, long since re- 
 moved from court, he not only admitted, but invited to take a 
 share of the government. On the other side, John Stuart had 
 the advantage of being highly favoured by most people; and, 
 having privately obtained the king's letters to the chief of the no- 
 bility, who, he thought, would have kept his counsel, he mightily 
 strengthened his party. And therefore, in a convention of his 
 faction at Stirling, where were also present James Beton, some 
 other bishops, and many heads of the noblest families, he pro- 
 pounded to them the design of asserting the king's liberty. This 
 was unanimously agreed to; and though the day for mustering 
 their forces was not yet come, however, hearing that the Ha- 
 miltons were gathered together at Linlithgow, to intercept their 
 march, he judged it most advisable to attack them before they 
 joined with the Douglasses; and accordingly, with the present 
 force which he had, he marched directly towards them. But the 
 Hamiltons, having intelligence that John would march out of 
 Stirling on that day, and very early in the morning, took care 
 beforehand to call the Douglassians out of Edinburgh to their 
 assistance. But the king, besides other obstacles, retarded them 
 in some measure by pretending himself not well; so that he rose 
 Jater out of his bed that day than ordinary; and besides he 
 marched very slowly, and upon the way would often turn aside 
 merely to cause delay, upon pretence of illness. And when 
 George Douglas had in vain, by fine speeches and flatteries, 
 tried to persuade him to make more haste, at last he broke forth 
 into this menacing expression: Sir, said he, rather than our ene- 
 mies should take you from us, ive will lay hold on your body, and, if it 
 be rent in pieces, ive ivill be sure to take one part of it. Those worch 
 struck a deeper impression on the king's mind, than is usual in 
 one of his age; insomuch, that many years alter, when he had 
 some inclination to recal die rest of the Douglasses, at that time 
 exiles, he could not endure to hear any body speak of a recon-n 
 ciliation with George. The Hamiltons, betwixt the fear of the 
 enemy approaching, and the hope of aids at hand, had set them- 
 
Book XIV. RISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 147 
 
 selves in array at the bridge of the river Avon, which is above a 
 mile from Linlithgow: They placed a small guard at the bridge, 
 and the rest of their forces on the brow of the hills, which they 
 knew the enemy must pass. Lennox, seeing that his passage over 
 the bridge was stopped, commanded his men to pass over a small 
 river a little above, by a nunnery called Manuel, and so to beat 
 the Hamiltons from the hills, before Douglas's forces had 
 joined them. Lennox's people made towards their enemies, 
 through thick and thin, as we say, but they were much preju- 
 diced by abundance of stones which they rolled down from 
 the hills upon them; and, when they came hand to hand, the 
 word was given, that the Douglasses were very near, and in-. 
 deed they ran hastily from their march into the fight, and soon 
 carried the day, so that Lennox's men were most grievously 
 assaulted, and put to flight. The Hamiltons, especially James 
 the bastard, used their victory with a great deal of cruelty: Wil- 
 liam Cunningham, son to the earl of Glencairn, received many 
 wounds, but his life was saved by the Douglasses, his kinsmen: 
 John Stuart was killed, much lamented by the earl of Arran, his 
 uncle, and also by Douglas himself, but most of all by the king: 
 for he had sent Andrew Wood, of the Largs, his favourite, be- 
 fore, as soon as ever he heard of the fight, by the clashing of the 
 armour, to save Lennox's life, if possible; but, as it happened, 
 unluckily he came too late, when the business was done and all 
 over. 
 
 After this victory, the Douglasses, to keep down the faction of 
 their enemies, and make them subject to their will, proceeded in 
 the law against those who had taken up arms against the king, 
 as they phrased it; so that, for fear of a trial, many were forced 
 to compound with them for money; some put themselves into 
 the clanship of the Hamiltons, others into that of the Dou- 
 glasses; but the most obstinate were called to the bar; amongst 
 whom was Gilbert, earl of Cassils, who, when he was pressed 
 by James Hamilton, the bastard, to place himself under the pro- 
 tection of the Hamiltons, out of the greatness of his spirit made 
 this answer, Tlxit there was an old league of friendship made be- 
 Hveeti both their grandfathers ,• in which his grandfather ivas always 
 flamed first, as the more honourable : and that he would not now so 
 far degenerate from the dignity of his family-, or the glory of his an- 
 cestors, as to put himself under the patronage ( which ivas but one 
 degree from plain slavery J of that family, whose chief, in an equal 
 alliance ', was always content with the second place. So that when 
 Gilbert was called to his an&wef at a day appointed, Hugh Ken- 
 nedy, his kinsman, made answer for him, That he had not taken 
 up arms against the king, but for him; for he was commanded, 
 \o be at that fight; and> if it should be needful- he proffered to 
 
I48 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. - Book XIV. 
 
 produce the king's letters to that purpose. The Hamiltons were 
 much troubled at his boldness; for indeed the king had wrote to 
 Gilbert, when he came from court, as well as to others, That 
 he should take part with John Stuart: but, seeing the battle was 
 at hand, insomuch that he could have no time to call together his 
 clanship and kindred, as he was upon the way, he turned aside, 
 with those of his family that were with him, to Stirling. 
 
 The violence of the Hamiltons was somewhat abated by this 
 trial; but James the bastard, fired with a mortal hatred against 
 Kennedy, a few days after, as he was returning home, he caused 
 him to be murdered on the way, by means of Hugh Campbell, 
 laird of Ayr. This Hugh, the same day the murder was com- 
 mitted, (which he had commanded his vassals to execute, that so 
 he might avert all suspicion of so horrid a fact from himself) 
 went to John Erskine's house, whose wife was sister to Gilbert 
 Kennedy's wife: she as soon as ever she heard of this cruel mur- 
 der, ceased not to upbraid him with it to his very face, and that 
 in a most grievous manner. Thus the noble family of the Ken- 
 nedys was almost quite extinguished. The son of the earl, after 
 his father was slain, being but a child, fled to his kinsman, Ar- 
 chibald Douglas, who was then lord treasurer, and put himself 
 and his family under his protection. He, received him very lov- 
 ingly; and such was the great ingenuity of his promising years, 
 that he designed him for his son-in-law. Hugh Campbell was 
 summoned to appear, but his crime being too plain, he made his 
 escape out of the kingdom. Neither did the Douglasses exercise 
 their revenge and hatred less fiercely upon James Beton; for they 
 led their forces to St. Andrews, seized upon, pillaged, and ruined 
 his castle. Because they counted him the author of all the pro- 
 jects the earl of Lennox had undertaken; but he himself went 
 under frequent disguises, because no man durst entertain him 
 openly, and so escaped. And the queen herself made her retire- 
 ment with the like kind of dissimulation and secrecy, that so she 
 might not fail into the hands of her husband, whom she detested 
 and abhorred. 
 
 At the beginning of the spring following, Douglas made an 
 expedition into Lidsdale, where he slew many of the thieves, fall- 
 ing upon them unawares in their huts, before they could put 
 themselves in order for a defence. Twelve of them he hanged 
 up, and twelve move he kept as hostages; but because their re- 
 lations did not forbear their old trade of robbing, a few months 
 after he even put them to death. At his entrance on that expe- 
 dition, there happened a imtter very remarkable, which, for the 
 povelty of the tiling, I shall not pass by- There was an under- 
 gvoom, or helper, belonging to the stables of John Stuart, of 
 mein descent, a/ntj therefore used V& A mean employment, to dress 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 149 
 
 horses; when his lord and master was killed by the Hamiltons, 
 he wandered up and down for a time, not knowing what course 
 to take; at last he took heart, and resolved to attempt a fact far 
 superior to the rank and condition he had been born and brought 
 up in. For he undertook a journey to Edinburgh, with an intent 
 to revenge the death of his lord who was slain; and there he casu- 
 ally met with a man of the same family and fortune with himself; 
 he demanded of him whether he had seen James Hamilton the 
 bastard, in the city; who answered him he had: What, said he, 
 thou most ungrateful of men, hast thou seen him, and ivouldst thou not 
 kill him, who sleio so good a master as ive both had? Go, get thee 
 gone, and may misery be thy companion. This said, he presently 
 hastened on his- designed journey, and went directly to court. 
 There were then in a large court, which is before the palace in 
 the suburbs, about 2000 armed men of Douglas's and Hamilton's 
 dependents, ready prepared for the expedition I spoke of before; 
 he seeing them, passed by all the rest, and fixed his eye and mind 
 on Hamilton only, who was then coming out of the court-yard 
 in his cloak, without his armour; when he saw him in a pretty 
 long gallery, and somewhat dark, which is over the gate, he flew 
 at him, and gave him six wounds; one of them almost pierced to 
 his vitals, but as for the others, he pretty well avoided them by 
 the winding and turning of his body, and by warding them off 
 with his cloak, which he held before him. This done, the groom 
 presently mixed himself amongst the crowd. Immediately a great 
 clamour began, and some of the Hamiltons suspected that the 
 Douglasses had done so horrid a fact, upon account of their old 
 grudges; so that those two factions had almost like to have gone 
 together by the ears. At last, when their fear and surprize was 
 allayed, they were all commanded to stand in single ranks, by the 
 walls which were round about the court-yard; there the mur- 
 derer was discovered, as yet holding the bloody knife in his hand. 
 Being demanded what he was, and whence, and for what he 
 came thither? he made no ready answer: upon which lie was 
 dragged to prison, and put to the rack; and then he confessed 
 immediately, that he had undertaken the fact, in revenge of his 
 good lord and master, and that he was sorry for nothing, but 
 that so famous an attempt did not take effect. He was tortured 
 a long time, but discovered nobody as privy to his design. At 
 last he was condemned, and carried up and down the city, and 
 every part of his naked body was nipped with iron pincers, red- 
 hot, and yet neither in his speech, nor in his countenance, did he 
 discover the least sense ol pain: when his right-hand was cut 
 off, he said, that it was punished less than it had deserved, be- 
 cause it had not obeyed the dictates of his mind, which was <ijj 
 eager to have executed the bloody purpose. 
 
I$0 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Bo61< XIV. 
 
 Moreover, the same year, Patrick Hamilton, son of a sister of 
 John duke of Albany, and of a brother of the earl of Arran, 
 a young man of great judgment and singular learning, by a con- 
 spiracy of the priests was burned at St. Andrews: and not long 
 atter his suffering, men were much terrified at the death of Alex- 
 ander Campbell. He was of the order of the Dominicans; a 
 man also of good ingenuity, and accounted one of the most 
 learned of all those who followed the sect of Thomas Aquinas. 
 Patrick had frequent conferences with Alexander concerning the 
 meaning of the holy scripture, and at last he brought the man 
 to confess and acknowledge, that almost all the articles, which 
 were then counted orthodox, were really true. And yet this 
 Alexander, being more desirous to save his life, than to hazard, it 
 for truth's sake, was persuaded by his friends to prefer, a public 
 accusation and charge against him. Patrick, being a man of a 
 zealous spirit, could not brook this desire of vain-glory in the am- 
 bitious man, but broke forth into this expression openly; 0/ thou 
 vilest of men, says he, who art convinced that the tenets which thou 
 now condemnest, are most certainly true, and didst confess to me that 
 they are so: I cite thee to the tribunal of the living God. Alexander 
 was so astonished at that word, that he was never himself from 
 that day forward; and not long after, he died in a fit of mad- 
 ness. 
 
 All this time, and for a great part of the year ensuing, the 
 Douglasses, being severally intent upon other matters, were secure 
 as to the king's departure from them; because they believed, that 
 now his mind was fully reconciled to them by those immoderate 
 pleasures they had indulged him in; and besides they thought 
 if he had a mind to remove, there was no faction strong enough 
 to oppose them; neither was there any strong garrison to which 
 he could retire, but only Stirling castle, which was allotted to the 
 queen for her habitation; but then it was deserted for a time by 
 the queen's officers, when she hid herself from, the Douglasses; 
 and when the tumult was a little appeased, it was somewhat forti- 
 fied, rather for a chew than for any defence. The king, having 
 obtained some small relaxation, saw that this must be his only 
 refuge; and therefore he bargained with his mother privately, to 
 exchange that castle, and the land adjoining, for other lands as 
 convenient for her; and providing all other requisites as secretly 
 as he could, the Douglasses not being so intent as formerly in 
 their watch over him, he retired by night, with a fisw. in his com-, 
 pany, from Falkland to Stirling; whither he soon sent for many 
 t>f his nobjles to come to him, and others hearing the news, came 
 in of their, own accords so that new he seemed .sufficiently secured 
 against all force. There, by the advice of his nobles, he pub- 
 lished a proclamation, that the. Dou^te 
 
Book XlV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. I51 
 
 administration of public affairs: and, moreover, that none of their 
 kin by blood or marriage, or of their dependents, should come 
 within twelve miles of the court; he that did otherwise was to 
 forfeit his life. When the edict was served upon the Douglas- 
 ses as they were coming to Stirling, many were of opinion, 
 that they should go on their journey; but the earl and his 
 brother George thought it best to obey the edict. Thus 
 they went back to Linlithgow, resolving to stay there till 
 they heard some clearer news from the court. In the mean time 
 the king sent messengers with great diligence, even to the far- 
 thest parts of die kingdom, to call in the nobles, who had a privi- 
 lege of voting, to an assembly at Edinburgh, which was to be 
 held September the 3d next ensuing. In the interim, he at Stir- 
 ling, and the Douglasses at Edinburgh, gathered forces about 
 them; but it was rather to be upon the defensive than the offen- 
 sive. At length, July the 2d, the Douglasses departed out of the 
 city, and the king, with his forces and banners displayed, entered 
 into it: but by the mediation of friends, deprecating the king on 
 their behalf, conditions Were offered to them, which were, That 
 the earl of Angus should be banished beyond the Spey; that 
 George his brother, and Archibald his uncle, should be kept in 
 hold in the castle of Edinburgh. If they submitted to these 
 terms, then there were hopes of the king's mercy, otherwise not. 
 These terms being rejected by them, they were commanded, by 
 an herald, to attend the parliament that was to be held at Edin- 
 burgh the 3d of September. In the mean time, their public of- 
 fices were taken from them, and Gavin Dunbar, lately the king's 
 tutor, Was made chancellor instead of the earl. He was a good 
 and learned man, but some thought him a little defective in poli- 
 tics. And Robert Carncross Was made treasurer, in the place 
 of Archibald, a man more known for his wealth, than hi;> 
 virtue. 
 
 The Douglasses being now driven to their last shifts, endea- 
 voured to sieze upon Edinburgh, which was left naked at the king's 
 departure; arid accordingly they sent Archibald thither, with 
 some troops of horse. Their design was to keep out the king, 
 and so to dissolve the parliament: but (on the 26th day of August) 
 •Robert Maxwell with his vassals, and a great number of all sorts 
 of people, by the king's command prevented them, and kept them 
 from entering the city: nay, the guards and centinels were mount- 
 ed and disposed so carefully in all convenient places, that things 
 were kept there in great tranquillity, till the parliament's time of 
 meeting. Douglas being disappointed of this hope, retired to 
 his castle of Tantallan, about fourteen miles distant from the city. 
 The same day that the king came out of Stirling, there fell such 
 mighty showers of rain from the heavens, and the brooks and ri* 
 
 Vol. II. U 
 
i$% HISTORY OF Scotland-. Book XfV. 
 
 vers did so overflow their banks, that the king's retinue was scatter- 
 ed in many parties, so that they came much harassed and late in 
 the night to Edinburgh. They were so mightily battered with 
 the violence of the storm, that a very few horse, if they had 
 charged upon them, might have done them a great deal of mis- 
 chief. In that, parliament, the earl of Angus, George his brother, 
 Archibald his uncle, and Alexander Drummond of Carnock (their 
 intimate friend) were outlawed, and their goods confiscated. 
 This edict or clause was also added to their condemnation^ That 
 whosoever should harbour them in their houses, or give them any 
 other assistance, should incur the same punishment. That which 
 most of all moved the court to condemn them, was this; the king 
 had affirmed (it seems) upon oath, That as long as he was in the 
 power of the Douglasses, he was afraid of his life. He also pro- 
 fessed, that his fear was mightily increased, and sunk with a deep- 
 er impression into his mind, after George had given him such 
 dreadful menaces, as I mentioned above. There was only one 
 man found in this assembly, by name John Bannatine, a vassal of the 
 Douglasses, who was so bold as to make a public protestation a- 
 gainst all that was acted in opposition to the earl, because (as he 
 alleged) his non-appearance at the day limited was occasioned by 
 having just fear. 
 
 A few days after, William, another brother of the earl's, abbot 
 of the monastery of Holyrood, died of sickness, trouble of mind 
 and grief, for the present posture of affairs. Robert Carncross, 
 one meanly descended, but a wealthy man, bought that preferment 
 of the king, who then wanted money, eluding the law against si- 
 mony by a new kind of fraud. The law was, That ecclesiastical 
 preferments should not be sold; but he laid a great wager 
 with the king, that he would not bestow upon [him the next 
 preferment of that kind that fell; and by that means lost his wa- 
 ger, but got the abbey. Thus the Douglasses, seeing that all 
 hope of pardon was cut off, betook themselves to open force, and 
 to the only comfort they had left, which was in revenge;- for they 
 used great extremity, and committed all sorts of outrages upon the 
 lands of their enemies; they burned Cousland and Cranston, and 
 rode every day before the gates of Edinburgh, so that the city was 
 almost besieged, and the innocent poor were made to suffer for 
 the offences of trie great ones. During these commotions, on the 
 2 1 st of November, a ship, called the Martina, a large vessel in 
 those days, and richly laden, by stress of weather was forced upon 
 the shore of Inverwick : Part of the lading was pillaged by Dou- 
 glas's horse, who ranged up and down in those parts: the rest was 
 taken away by the countrymen, who were so ignorant of the price 
 of it, that they 'thought the cinnamon in it to be but a low-prized 
 bark, and eo sold it to make lire with; yet the whole envy of the 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. I £3 
 
 matter fell upon the Douglasses. Upon this change of affairs, the 
 robbers, who had a long time refrained their depredations, for 
 fear of punishment, came out of the places in which they had ab- 
 sconded, and grievously infested all the circumjacent countries. 
 And though many pranks were played by others up and down, 
 yet all the murders and robberies, every where committed, were 
 charged down to the score of the Douglasses, by those courtiers, 
 who thought they humoured the king in so doing; by which 
 means they thought to make the name of that family, which was 
 otherwise popular, invidious to the vulgar. In the beginning of 
 winter, the king marched to Tantallan, a castle of the Douglasses 
 by the sea-side, in order to take it, that so no refuge at all might 
 be left for the exiles; and, that he might take the place with less 
 labour and cost, he was supplied with brass guns and powder from 
 Dunbar. That castle was distant from Dunbar six miles, and it 
 was garrisoned by the soldiers of John the regent, because it was 
 part of his patrimony. He continued the siege for some days, 
 wherein some of the besiegers were slain, others wounded, and 
 some blown up with gun-powder; but none at all of the besieged 
 were lost: so that he raised the siege, and retreated. In his re- 
 turn, David Falkener, who was left behind with some soldiers, to 
 carry back the brass ordinance, was set upon and killed by Dou- 
 glas's horse, who were sent out to surprize the stragglers in the 
 rear. His death did so enrage the young king, who was incen- 
 sed enough before, that he solemnly swore in his passion, that as 
 long as he lived, the Douglasses should never have the sentence 
 cf their banishment revoked. And, as soon as he came to Edin- 
 burgh, to straiten them the more, by advice of his council, he or- 
 dered, that a party of soldiers should be continually kept at Cold- 
 ingham, which was to be rather an active, or flying, than a nu- 
 merous one, to prevent their pillaging the country. Bothwell, one 
 of the greatest persons of authority and puissance in Lothian, was 
 appointed by the king to take that post upon him: but he refused 
 the employment; either dreading the power of the Douglasses, 
 which, not long since, all the rest of Scotland was not able to cope 
 with; or else because he would not have the disposition of the 
 young king, who was eager and over-violent of his own accord, 
 to be inured to such cruelty, as totally to destroy so noble a fami- 
 ly. And whereas the king had no great confidence in the Hamil- 
 tons, as being friends to his enemies, and was also offended at 
 them upon the account of the slaughter of John Stuart, earl of 
 Lennox; and besides, there being none of the nobility of the adja- 
 cent parts, that had power or interest enough for that service; at 
 last he resolved to send Colin Campbell with an army against the 
 rebels, a person living in the further parts of the kingdom, but a 
 prudent man, of approved valour, and upon the account of his 
 
 U 2 
 
154 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 justice, very popular. The Douglasses, when the Hamiltons and 
 the rest of their friends failed them, were reduced to gre?t straits; 
 so that they were compelled by Colin, and by George, chief of 
 the Humes, to retire, like exiles, into England. 
 
 In the month of October, two eminent knights came ambassa- 
 dors from the king of England about a peace ; which, tho' ear- 
 nestly desired by both kings, yet they could scarce find out the 
 way to conclude upon it: For Henry, being upon the point of 
 making war upon Charles the emperor, was willing to leave all 
 Safe behind his back; and with the same labour to procure the 
 restitution of the Douglasses. As for James, he very much de- 
 sired to have Tantalhn castle in his power, but his mind was very 
 averse to restore the Douglasses: and for that reason the matter was 
 canvassed to and fro for some days, and no temper for accommoda- 
 tion could be found cut. But at last they came to this resolu- 
 tion: That Tantallan castle should be surrendered by the Dou- 
 glasses, and a truce be granted for five years; and their other de- 
 mands the king was to promise the granting of, separately under 
 his signet. The castle was surrendered accordingly, but the o- 
 ther demands were not so punctually performed, save only that 
 Alexander Drummond had leave given to return home, for Robert 
 Brittain's sake. For, some months before, James Coivil and 
 Robert Carncross, upon suspicion of their favouring the Dou- 
 glasses, were removed from court, and their offices bestowed on 
 Robert Brittain, who then was in high favour at court, and had 
 great command there. After this, though, matters were not quite 
 settled abroad, (for the English had burnt Arn, a town in Teviot- 
 dale, before their ambassadors returned), yet the rest of the year 
 was more quiet; but the insolence of the banditti was not quite 
 suppressed. Upon which the king caused William Cockburn o( 
 Henderland, and Adam Scot, notorious robbers, to be apprehend- 
 ed at Edinburgh, and for example of terror to the rest, he pur 
 them to death. The next year, in the month of March, the king 
 sent James earl of Murray, whom he had made deputy-governor 
 of the whole kingdom, to the borders, there to have a meeting 
 with the earl of Northumberland, in order to settle a peace, and 
 to treat about mutual satisfaction for losses: but a contention a-- 
 vose betwixt them which broke off the conference; the one 
 pleading, That, according to the laws made upon the occasion 
 of the murder of Robert Ker, the congress ought to be in Scot- 
 land: the other would have it in England. In the interim, each 
 sent messengers to their several kings, to know their minds in the 
 case. 
 
 On the 15th day of April, there was held a council of the no- 
 bility; where, after a long debate, which lasted till night, the 
 king orderrd, that the earl of Bothwtjl, Robert Maxwell, Walter 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, I q£ 
 
 Scot, and Mark Ker, should be committed prisoners to Edin- 
 burgh castle. He banished the chief men of March and Teviot- 
 dale to other places; suspecting that they privately sowed the 
 seeds of war against England. In July, the king levied about 
 8000 men, and marched out against the robbers, and quickly 
 pitched his tents by the river Ewse. Not far from thence lived 
 one John Armstrong, chief of one faction of the tlneves, who 
 had struck such a 'fear into all the neighbouring parts, that even 
 the English themselves, for many miles about, bought their peace* 
 by paying him a certain tribute; nay, Maxwell was also afraid 
 of his power, and therefore endeavoured his destruction by ail 
 possible ways. This John was enticed by the king's officers to 
 have recourse to the king, which he did, unarmed, with about 
 fifty horse in his company; but neglecting to obtain the king's 
 pass and safe conduct for his security, he fell into an ambush, 
 who brought him to the king, as if he had been taken prisoner 
 by them; so that he and most of his followers had the fate of be- 
 ing hanged. They who were the cause of his death gave out,, 
 that he had promised to bring that part of Scotland, for some 
 miles, under the obedience of the English, if he himself might be 
 well considered for that service: but, on the ether side, the En- 
 glish were very glad of his death, for it freed them from a dan- 
 gerous enemy. Six of his surviving companions the king kept as 
 hostages, but in regard their fellows were no way deterred by 
 that, from committing the like insolencies, in a few months they 
 were likewise sent to the gallows, and the king took new hostages 
 of those who staid at home: for the Lidsdale men left their 
 homes, and passed over in troops to England, making daily in- 
 cursions, and taking a great deal of plunder in the neighbouring 
 parts. 
 
 Not long after, the king restored the noblemen to their li- 
 berty, having first taken hostages from them: of these, Walter 
 Scot, to gratify the king, killed Robert Johnston, a robber of 
 notorious cruelty among them; which bred a deadly feud between 
 the two families, to tlie great loss and prejudice of them both. 
 
 The next year, which was 153 1, there happened a matter 
 very memorable; neither did the obscurity of the author, nor the 
 curiosity of the time which made a strict inquiry into it, abate 
 the admiration of its novelty. One John Scot, a man of no 
 learning, nor of any great experience in business, neither had he 
 a subtile wit of his own, to impose tricks upon men, being cast 
 in a law-suit, and not having ability to. pay damages, hid himself 
 some days in the sanctuary of the monastery of Holyrood-house, 
 without eating or drinking any thing at all. When the thing 
 was known and related to the king, he commanded that his ap- 
 parel should be changed, aad diligently searche'd; and 1 
 
Ij6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 him to be kept close from all company in the castle of Edin- 
 burgh, where every day bread and water were set before him; but 
 he voluntarily abstained from all kind of food for thirty-two days. 
 After that time, as if he had been sufficiently tried, he was 
 brought forth naked into public view, where, the people flocking 
 about him, he made them a long, but sorry speech, in which 
 there was nothing memorable, but that he affirmed he was as- 
 sisted by the Virgin Mary to fast as long as he himself pleased. 
 This answer savouring of simplicity rather than craft, he was re- 
 leased from his imprisonment, and went to Rome, where he was 
 also imprisoned by pope Clement, until he had fasted long e- 
 Kough to convince him of the miracle. Then they clothed him 
 with the habit that priest* say mass in, and gave him a testimo- 
 nial under the leaden seal, which is of great authority amongst 
 the papists. Upon that he went to Venice, where he also con- 
 firmed their belief by his miraculous fasting: and alleging that 
 he was obliged, by a vow he had made, to visit Jerusalem, he 
 received of them fifty ducats of gold for his charges on the way. 
 At hie return, he brought back some leaves of palm-trees, and a 
 bag full of stones, which he said were taken out of the pillar 
 which Christ was. tied to, when he was scourged. In his way 
 home to .Scotland, he passed through London, and mounted the 
 pulpit in St. Paul's church-vard, and, in a great audience of 
 people preached much about the divorce of king Henry from his 
 <queen, and of his defection from the see of Rome. His words 
 were bitter and if he had been looked upon above the degree of 
 a simpleton, he must have retracted .them again; but being impri- 
 soned, and having abstained from food for almost fifty days to- 
 gether, he was dismissed without farther hurt. When he cams 
 back to Scotland, he would have joined with one Thomas Dough- 
 ty who .about that ti-me came from Italy, and had built a church 
 dedicated to the Virgin Mary, out of the alms which the people 
 h id given him; and had got great gain by feigned miracles. But 
 the life of tins Thomas was sufficiently known to be very wicked, 
 and the cheats of his pretended miracles were discovered; yet no 
 man durst openly gainsay him, for fear of the bishops, who, by 
 this their new Atlas, sought to prop up the pile of their purgato- 
 ry, then tottering; and he, to requite them for their courtesy, 
 when any of die richer sort of priests came to the place where 
 lie was to say mass, had still one beggar or other ready at hand 
 to counterfeit himself mad, or diseased in body, that so, forsooth, 
 by saying his, masses, he might be recovered and healed. But 
 Thomas rejecting John Scot, because he was not willing to ad- 
 mit any other into the partnership of his gain, Scot hire*} an ob- 
 scure garret in the suburbs of Edinburgh; and there having e- 
 i an altar, and furnished it according to his ability, he set 
 
Book XIV. HXST-OBLY OF SCOTLAND. ?57 
 
 up his own daughter, a young girl, very beautiful, with wax ta- 
 pers lighted about her, to be adored, instead of the Virgin Ma- 
 ry. But this way of gain not answering his expectation, he re- 
 turned to his old course of life, having gained nothing by all his 
 preposterous dissimulation of sanctity, but to let all men know, 
 that he wanted not the will, but ability of an impostor. 
 
 At the beginning of the following year, which was 1532, the 
 earl of Bothwell was committed prisoner to Edinburgh castle, 
 January 16th, because he had taken a private journey into Eng- 
 land, and there had a secret conference with the earl ot North- 
 umberland. Sir James Sandeland, by reason of the great pru- 
 dence, integrity, and authority which he had among all good 
 men, even beyond his estate and degree, was sent to Hermit- 
 age, a castle of Lidsdale, to restrain the incursions of thieves and 
 robbers. 
 
 In ancient times, tliere had been no fixed days, nor any set 
 place appointed for trying pecuniary causes before the judges in 
 Scotland, until John duke of Albany obtained of the pope, that 
 a yearly sum of money, as much as was sufficient to pay a salary 
 to a few judges, should be charged on the ecclesiastical order, and 
 it was to be levied on every one, according to the value of his 
 benefice. Upon this, Gavin Dunbar, bishop of Aberdeen, made 
 his appeal to the pope, in the behalf of himself and other priests. 
 The controversy held from the 1 1 th of March, to the 24th of 
 April, and then there was a college of judges settled at Edin- 
 burgh. At their first sittings, they devised many advantageous 
 projects for the equal distribution of justice; yet the hoped for 
 event did not follow. For, seeing in Scotland there are almost 
 no laws, but decrees of the cstate.s, and many of them too made 
 not for perpetuity, but temporary, and the judges hinder the e- 
 nacting of laws what they can; the estates of all the subjects 
 were committed to the determination of fifteen men, who were 
 to have a perpetual power, and even a tyrannical government ; 
 for their ivilh ivere their laws. Much severity was now used 
 against the Lutherans, in favour of the pope; and the pope, on 
 the contrary, to gratify a king so well deserving at his hands, 
 gave him the tithes of all parsonages for three years next en- 
 suing. 
 
 This year the English perceiving that the state of affairs in Scot- 
 land grew every day more quiet than another; but thinking they 
 were destitute of foreign aids, because they themselves had joined 
 with the French against Charles the emperor; they sought out all, 
 occasions for a war. In April they made an expedition out of 
 Berwick, and burnt and plundered Coldingham, Douglas, and 
 many other neighbouring towns, where they got a great booty. 
 r £hey had no apparent provocation, neither did they declare war 
 
i$8 History of Scotland. Book XIV, 
 
 beforehand. How eager they were upon war, appears by that 
 king's proclamation, soon after published, wherein it was said, 
 That the garrison of Berwick was provoked by some licentious, contu- 
 melious words, which the Scots had let fall. But the words, men- 
 tioned in the proclamation, carry no contumely in them at all. 
 But this cause not seeming just enough for a war, they demand- 
 ed Canabie, a small village in the borders, with a poor monastery 
 in it, as if it belonged to them, which they never pretended to 
 before; and likewise that the Douglasses might be restored. For 
 the king of England perceiving that his aid was absolutely neces- 
 sary to the French king, so that he could by no means want it; 
 and also knowing, that he had him fast in a league, wherein the 
 interest of Scotland was not considered, thought it no hard mat- 
 ter to bring the Scots to what conditions he pleased. Moreover, 
 because the emperor was alienated from him by reason of his 
 peace with France,, and the divorce of his aunt; and the pope of 
 Rome stirred up wars among all Christian princes, he thought, if 
 he sat still now, he should lose a great opportunity at home, for 
 bringing about desired innovations. The king of Scots, that he 
 might not.be unprovided against this storm, by a public proclama- 
 tion made all over the kingdom, appointed his brother the earl of 
 Murray to be his vicegerent. And, because the borderers of 
 Themselves were not able to cope with the English, who had also 
 a great number of hired troops with them, he divided the king- 
 dom into four parts, and commanded each of them to send out the 
 ablest men amongst them with their clans, and provision for forty 
 days. These Scottish forces, thus succeeding one another by 
 turns, made great havock in the towns and castles of those parts, 
 so that the king of England was frustrated in his expectation, since 
 the war was likely to be spun out into a length, and other con- 
 cerns were to employ his care; and therefore he was willing to 
 hearten to a peace, but had a mind to be sued to for it; for he 
 thought it was not for his honour either to offer it, or to seek it of 
 himself. And therefore it seemed most convenient to transact the 
 matter bv the king of France, the common friend to both nations. 
 Accordingly the French king sent his ambassador, Stephen D'Aix, 
 into Scotland, to inquire by whose fault this war was commenced 
 between the two neighbour kings. The king of Scots clearly ac- 
 quitted himself from being any cause of the war: he also made 
 a complaint to him, how long his ambassadors had been de- 
 tained in France, without having an answer: and, at the am- 
 bassador's departure, he sent letters by him to his master, desiring 
 Tim to observe the ancient league, which was renewed by John the 
 recent at Rouen. He likewise sent David Beton into France, to 
 inswer the calumnies of the English, and besides to treat about 
 =eping and observing of the old league, and to contract anew 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 59 
 
 affinity between France and Scotland. He also sent letters by 
 him to the parliament of Paris, very bitter and full of complaints, 
 concerning those matters which had been transacted and agreed 
 between Francis their king, and John regent of Scotland; how 
 that ancient friendship, pacts, and agreements between them were 
 slighted in behalf of those who were once their common enemies. 
 His ambassador Beton was commanded, if he saw that the things 
 he had in commission should not succeed well in France, to deli- 
 ver those letters to the council of the judges, and presently to with- 
 draw himself into Flanders, with an intent (as it might be conjec- 
 tured) to make league, agreement, and affinity with the emperor. 
 
 At the same time, war was waged in Britain, and debates were 
 managed at Newcastle, concerning the lawfulness of it. When 
 the ambassadors of both "nations could not agree on terms of pacifi- 
 cation, Monsieur Guy Flower was sent over by the king of 
 France, to compose matters. The Scottish king told him, that 
 he would gratify his master as far as ever he was able: and he had 
 also some communications with him, as much as was seasonable 
 at that time, concerning the conjugal affinity, about which he had 
 sent ambassadors before, which were then in France. Flory, or 
 Flower, being thus the umpire for peace, the garrisons were 
 withdrawn on both sides from the borders, and a truce was made, 
 which was afterwards followed with a peace. The king having, 
 for some years last past, transacted business with the king of 
 France, and with the emperor, by his ambassadors, about a ma- 
 trimonial contract, and now being freed from other cares, after the 
 peace was settled, bent his thoughts more that way than ever. 
 For besides the common causes which might incline him to some, 
 potent alliance, his whole thoughts were turned, how to perpetu- 
 ate his family by issue of his body, he himself being the last male 
 that was left alive; insomuch that his next heirs had already flat- 
 tered themselves with very firm hopes of the kingdom ; which did 
 not a little trouble him, who was otherwise of his own nature sus- 
 picious enough. And indeed, many things very much concur- 
 red to nourish them in that hope; as, for instance, their own do- 
 mestic power; the king's being a batchelor; his being cf so ad- 
 venturous and enterprising a genius; his slighting all danger; so 
 that he would not only stoutly undergo all hazards, but often court 
 and invite them ; for with a small party he would march against 
 the fiercest thieves; and though they were superior in number, 
 yet he would cither prevent them by his speed, or else frighten and 
 awe them by the sacred power of his name, and so force them to a 
 surrender. He would sit night and day on horseback in this em- 
 ployment; and if he took any refreshment or food, it was that 
 which he lighted on by chance, and but little of that either. 
 
 These circumstances made the Hamiltons almost confident of 
 
 Vol. II. X 
 
l6o HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XlV, 
 
 t]ie succession-, yet it seemed to them a long way about to stay for 
 either fortuitous, or natural causes of mortality, and therefore 
 they. studied to hasten his death by treachery. A fair opportunity 
 was offered them to effect it by his night-walkings to his misses, 
 having but one or two in his company. But all these things not 
 answering their expectation, they resolved to cut off' the hope of 
 lawful issue, by hindering his marriage, what they could; although 
 John duke of Albany, when he was regent, seemed to have made 
 sufficient provision against that inconvenience; for, when he re- 
 newed the ancient league between the French and Scots at Rouen, 
 he had inserted one article, that James should marry Francis's eld- 
 est daughter. But there were two impediments in the way, which 
 almost cut this league asunder. For Francis being freed out of 
 the hand of the Spaniard, by the industry and diligence principally 
 of Henry VIIL had entered into so strict a league with the English, 
 that the 'Scottish league was much intrenched upon by it; and be- 
 sides, the eldest daughter of Francis was deceased a while before; 
 and therefore James desired Magdalene his next daughter to wife, 
 and sent ambassadors over for that purpose; but her father excu- 
 sed the matter, alleging, that his daughter was of so weak a con- 
 stitution of body, that there were but little hopes of children by 
 her, nor hardly any likelihood of her life itself, for any long time. 
 About the same time, there was an alliance treated of with 
 Charles the emperor by ambassadors; and at length, the 24th day 
 of April, 1534, the emperor sent Godscalk Erecus, that the mat- 
 ter might be carried with greater seci-esy, from Toledo in Spain, 
 through Ireland, to James. After he had declared the commands 
 he had in charge from the emperor, concerning the wrongs offer- 
 ed to his aunt Catharine and her daughter, by king Henry; con- 
 cerning the calling of a general council; concerning the rooting 
 out the sect of the Lutherans; and about contracting an affinity. 
 The emperor, by his letters, gave the king his choice of three 
 Marys, all of them of his blood; they were, Mary sister to 
 Chivies, a widow ever since the death of her husband, Louis of 
 Hungary, who was shin in battle by the Turks; Mary of Portu- 
 gal, the daughter of his sister Leonora; and Mary of England, 
 his niece by his aunt Catharine. And because Charles knew, that 
 3 was more inclinable to his last match, he likewise 
 shewed a great* sity to it, that so he might take off' James 
 
 from his valuing of, and adhering to, the league with Francis, and 
 -■ same time might set him at odds with Henry. James made 
 answer, that the marriage with England was indeed, in many re- 
 spects, most advantageous, if it could be obtained; but it was a 
 business of uncertain hope, of great danger and toil, and would 
 ii'- encumbered with so many delays, that his single life, he be- 
 ing the last oi his family, could hardly bear it; and therefore of 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. l6l 
 
 all Cxsar's nieces, he told him, that the daughter of Christiern 
 king of Denmark was most convenient for him, who was begot- 
 ten 7 upon Isabel, the sister of Charles. A while after, Charles an- 
 swered this his demand from Madrid, that she was already pro- 
 mised to another. And though Caesar, by offering conditions, 
 seemed rather to prolong the matter, than really to intend the ac- 
 complishment of it, yet the treaty was not wholly laid aside. 
 Matters being quiet at home, James resolved to go on ship-board, 
 to take a view of all his dominions round about, and to curb the 
 stubborn spirit of the islanders, and make them more obedient. 
 First, he sailed to the Orcades, where he quieted all disorders, by 
 apprehending and imprisoning a few of the nobility. He garri- 
 soned two castles there, his own and the bishop's. Afterwards 
 he visited the rest of the islands, and sent for the chief men to 
 come to him. Those that refused he seized by force. He laid a 
 tax on them, took hostages, and carried away with him those who 
 were most likely to prove incendiaries; and putting some of his 
 own train into their castles, he sent the leading-men of them, some 
 to Edinburgh, and some to Dunbar, prisoners: for about that 
 time, John duke of Albany, had surrendered up Dunbar to the 
 king, which till then had been held by a French garrison. In the 
 next month of August, great severity was used against the Luthe- 
 rans; some were compelled to make a public recantation; others 
 refusing to appear upon summons, were banished. Two were 
 burned, of which one, named David Straiton, was free enough 
 from Lutheranism; but he was accused of it, because he was u 
 little refractory in paying of tithes to the collectors, and so was 
 put to death, only for a supposed crime. In an assembly which 
 the king caused to be convened at Jedburgh, in order to the sup- 
 pressing of the robbers thereabouts, Walter Scott was condemned 
 tor high treason, and sent prisoner to Edinburgh castle, where he 
 remained as long as the king lived. The same month of August, 
 when Francis (as I said before) had excused his daughter's mar- 
 riage, on account of her health, but withal had offered him any 
 other of the blood royal, the king sent ambassadors into France, 
 James, earl of Murray, viceroy of the kingdom, and William 
 Stuart, bishop of Aberdeen (these two went by sea) and John 
 Erskine by land, because he had some commands to deliver to 
 Henry of England by the way. To them he added a fourth, i. e, 
 Robert Reid. a good man, and of consummate wisdom. There 
 Mary of Bourbon, .the daughter of Charles duke of Vendosme, a 
 lady of the blood, was offered to them, as a fit wife for their king, 
 .Other points were easily agreed upon; but the ambassadors, fear- 
 ing that this marriage would not please their master, would make 
 no espousal till they had acquainted him with it. In the mean 
 time Henry of England, to trouble a matter which was upon the. 
 
 X 3 
 
1 62 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 point of concluding, in November sent the bishop of St. David's 
 into Scotland, who brought James some English books, contain- 
 ing several points of the Christian religion, desiring James to read 
 them, and diligently to weigh the contents. But he gave them to 
 some of his courtiers, who were most addicted to the sacerdotal 
 order, to inspect. They having scarce looked on them, con- 
 demned them as heretical ,■ and moreover, they highly congratula- 
 ted the king, that he had not polluted his eye (so they phrased it) 
 with reading such pestiferous books. This was the cause of their 
 embassy, according to common vogue. Yet, some say, that they 
 brought seme other secret messages to James. Afterward, the 
 same bishop (together with William Howard, brother to the duke 
 of Norfolk) came so unexpectedly to Stirling, that they almost 
 surprised the king, before he heard any news of their coming. 
 Their errand was, that Henry desired James to appoint a day -of 
 rater?lew, when they might confer together; for he had things of 
 high moment and importance, and of mighty advantage to both 
 nations to propound to him at that meeting. In that message, he 
 gave great hope, if other matters could be well accorded, that he 
 would bestow his daughter in marriage upon him, and leave him 
 king of all Britain after his decease. And, that he might give 
 more credit to his promises, he would make him for the present 
 duke of York, and viceroy of the kingdom of England. James 
 willingly assented to such large and alluring promises, and ac- 
 cordingly fixed a day for the interview. But there were two fac- 
 tions that resolved to oppose his journey for England: fast the 
 Hamiltons, who being next heirs to the crown, laboured under- 
 hand to keep the king from marrying, that he might have no chil- 
 dren to exclude them from the succession. And next, the priests 
 also were mightily against it, and their pretences were seemingly 
 just and honest; as first, the danger he v. ould run, if with a small 
 retinue he should put himself into the power of his old enemy j 
 for then he must comply with his will, though it proved to be 
 never so much against his own. They recited the examples of 
 his ancestors, who either by their own credulity, or else by the 
 perfidiousness of the enemy, had been drawn into a snare; and 
 irom nattering promises of friendship, had brought home nothing 
 but a sense of their ignominy and losses. They also urged the 
 unhappy mistake of James I. who, in a time of truce, landed, as 
 bethought, in his friends' country, was there kept prisoner eigh- 
 teen years, and at last had such conditions imposed upon him, as 
 he neithtr lawfully could, nor ought to have accepted; and then, 
 said they, he was most sordidly sold to his own subjects. More- 
 over, Malcolm I. after him his brother "William, kings of Scot- 
 land, were brought en the stage, who were enticed to London 
 ienry IL and the:: carried over into France, to make a shew 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 63 
 
 of assisting, in a war there against the French king, their old ally. 
 But (say they) if it be objected, Henry VIII. will do none of these 
 things; they answered iirst, Hoiu shall nve be assured of that? Next, 
 is it not a point of high imprudence to venture one's fortune, life, 
 and dignity* which are now in one's own power, into the hands 
 of another ? Besides, the priests thinking that all their concerns 
 were now at stake, and that they must, now or never, stand up 
 for them; they ordered James Beton, archbishop of St. Andrews, 
 and George Criehton, bishop of Dunkeld, two old decrepit men, 
 to come to court, there to give it out, " That religion would be 
 M betrayed by this interview, even that religion which had been 
 " observed so many ages by their ancestors, and which had all 
 « along preserved its defenders, till that very day, the ruin of 
 " whicli would be likewise attended with the total destruction of 
 " the kingdom; to forsake that religion upon every slight occa- 
 «< sion, especially at such a time, when the whole world conspir- 
 " ed together with arms in their hands, for its preservation, 
 " could not be done without great danger to the present times, 
 " and infamy to the future. Nay, that it would be a thing of 
 " great wickedness and impiety into the bargain." "With these 
 engines they battered James's mind, which of itself was inclined 
 enough to superstition. And moreover, they corrupted those 
 courtiers, who could the most prevail with him, desiring them, 
 in their names, to promise him a great sum of money. So that 
 by these artifices they wholly turned away his mind from the 
 thoughts of an interview, Henry took this disappointment in 
 great disdain, (as he indeed had reason), and thus the seeds of 
 dissension were again sown between the two kings. 
 
 In the mean time, the king was weary of his single life; and 
 by reason of foreign embassies, and the distractions caused by 
 court factions at home, was variously agitated in his thoughts: 
 Ai! pretended the public good, but some aimed at their own private 
 advantage under that specious pretence; and though most men 
 persuaded him to an affinity with Charles, in regard of the flou- 
 rishing estate of the empire at that time, yet he rather inclined to 
 an alliance with France. And therefore, seeing the matter could 
 not be ended by ambassadors, he himself resolved to sail over into 
 France; and accordingly, rigging out a small navy, the best he 
 could fit in so short a time, on the 26th of July he set sail from 
 Leith, none knowing whither he would go. Many were of opi- 
 nion that his design was for England, to visit his uncle, and ask 
 him pardon for disappointing the interview proposed the year be- 
 fore. But, a tempest arising, and contrary winds tossing him, the 
 pilot asked him, what course he should steer; If there be a neces- 
 sity said he, land me any tvliert but in England. Then his mind 
 was under,: ;o>!. He might have returned home, but was willing 
 
1^4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 rather to sail round Scotland, and to try the western ocean. 
 There too he met with very bad weather, and, by the adrice of a 
 fVw of his domestics, while he was asleep, he was carried back a- 
 gain. When he awoke, he took the matter in such great indigna- 
 tion, that for ever after he bore an implacable hatred against James 
 Hamilton, whom he had in disgust before upon the account of 
 killing the earl of Lennox: Neither was he well pleased with the 
 rest of the authors of that counsel ever after. And there were 
 some who, in compliance with the king's angry humour, were 
 continually buzzing in his ears, That Hamilton, under a pretence 
 of a serviceable attendance and duty, had accompanied him on 
 purpose to disappoint his design. However he out to sea again 
 with a great train of nobles, September the ist, and in ten days 
 arrived at Dieppe in Normandy: From thence, that he might pre- 
 vent the news of his arrival, he went in disguise, with great speed, 
 to the town of Vendosme, where the duke then was, and saw his 
 daughter, who happening not to please his fancy, he presently 
 went to court. Though he came unexpectedly upon Francis and 
 the whole court, yet he was honourably received by him; and on 
 the 26th of November, almost against his will he bestowed in 
 marriage his daughter Magdalene upon him: For her father (as 
 I related before) judging his eldest daughter, by reason of her 
 sickly temper, unfit to bear children, offered him his youngest, or 
 any other woman of the French nobility, for a wife: But James 
 and Magdalene having conceived a love for each other by mes- 
 sages, which was now confirmed by approaching, seeing and dis- 
 coursing together, neither of them could be diverted from their 
 purpose. The marriage was celebrated January the 1st, in the 
 year 15^7, to the great joy of all: and they both arrived in Scot- 
 land on the 28th of May, being attended by a French navy. She 
 lived not leng after, but died of an hectic fever July the 7th, to 
 the great grief of all, except the priests, for they feared that her 
 life would have put an end to their luxury and lust, because they 
 knew she was educated under the discipline of her aunt the queen 
 Pl Navarre. As for others, they conceived such a grief for her 
 death, that then (as I think) mourning apparel was first used in 
 Scotland, which is not much worn at present, though fashions 
 commonly grow to an excess in such a space of time, which is now 
 about forty years. Ambassadors were presently sent into France, 
 cardinal David Beton, and Robert Maxwell, to bring over Mary 
 of the house of Guise, widow to the duke of Lpngueville; for the 
 presaging the loss of his wife, had his eye upon her. The 
 . year the earl of Bothwell, because he had passed over secret* 
 ly into England, and also had held private cabals with the English 
 • n Scotland, was banished out of England, Scotland, and Fr 
 Moreover, about the same time, many v . . 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 6$ 
 
 high treason: John Forbes, an active young man, the head of a 
 great family and faction, was brought to his end, as was 
 thought, by the jealousy of the lluntleys; for there was one Stra- 
 chan, a man fit for any wicked enterprize, who was many years 
 very familiar with Forbes, and was either privy to, or else partak- 
 er or author of, all his bad actions: He being not so much re- 
 spected by him as he thought he deserved, applied himself to his 
 enemy Huntley, and before him accused Forbes of treason, or (as 
 many think) he there plotted the accusaV on with Huntley himself 
 against him, viz. That Forbes, many years before, had a design to 
 kill the king. The crime was not sufficiently proved, nor the 
 witnesses unexceptionable; neither was the plot of his adversa- 
 ries, the Huntleys, against his life, hid in the process; yet on the 
 13th of Ji'ly, the judges, who were most of them bribed by 
 Huntley, condemned him, and he had his head struck ofF. His 
 punishment was the less lamented, because, though men believed 
 him guiltless as to the crime he suffered for; yet they counted 
 him worthy of death, for the improbity of his former life. Stra- 
 chan, the discoverer, because he had concealed so great a crime so 
 long, was banished Scotland, and lived many years after at Paris, 
 but in so lewd and debauched a manner, that men thought him 
 a fit instrument to bring about any wicked end whatsoever. The 
 king, not long after, as if he had repented of his severity against 
 Forbes, took a brother of his into Ins family ; and advanced another 
 to a rich match, restoring to him the estate which had been con- 
 fiscated. 
 
 A few days after there was another trial, which was indeed 
 very lamentable, on account of the accused parties, the new kind 
 of wickedness charged on them, and the hideousness of the pu- 
 nishment. Joan Douglas, sister to the earl of Angus, and wife 
 to John Lyons, lord of Glames; also her son, and her second 
 husband Gillespy Campbell, John Lyons, kinsman to her former 
 husband, and an old priest, were accused of endeavouring to 
 poison the king. All these, though they lived continually in the 
 country, far from court, and their friends and servants declared 
 nothing upon their examination against them which could hurt 
 them, yet were they put upon tire rack to make them confess, 
 and so were shut up in Edinburgh castle. The fifth day after 
 Forbes was executed, Joan Douglas was burnt alive, with the 
 great commiseration of all the spectators. The nobleness both of 
 herself and husband did much affect the beholders; besides, she 
 was in the vigour of her youth, much commended for her rare 
 beauty, and in her very punishment she shewed a man-like forti- 
 tude. But that which people were most concerned for was, that 
 they thought the enmity against her brother, who was banished, 
 did her more prejudice than her own suspected crime. Her 
 
l66 HISTORY OP SCOTLAND 1 . Book XIV, 
 
 husband endeavoured to escape out of the castle of Edinburgh, 
 but the rope being too short to let him down to the foot of the 
 rock, he broke almost all the bones of his body in the fall, and 
 so ended his days. Their son, a youth of more innocent simpli- 
 city, than to have the suspicion of such a wickedness justly 
 charged upon him, was shut up prisoner in the castle; and af- 
 ter the king's death was released, and recovered the estate which 
 had been taken away from his parents. Their accuser was Wil- 
 liam Lyons, their near relation. He afterwards, perceiving that 
 so eminent a family was like to be ruined by his false informa- 
 tion, repented when it was too late, and confessed his offence 
 to the king; and yet he could not prevail to prevent the punish- 
 ment of the condemned, or to hinder their estates from being 
 confiscated. The next year, on the 12th of June, Mary, of the 
 house of Guise, arrived at Balcomy, a castle belonging to James, 
 laird of Lermont; from whence she was conveyed by land to 
 St. Andrews; and there, in a great assembly of the nobility, she 
 was married to the king. The beginning of the year following, 
 which was 1539, many persons were apprehended, as suspected 
 of Lutheranism; and, about the end of February, five were 
 burned, nine recanted, but many more were banished; amongst 
 the sufferers of this class was George Buchanan, who, when his 
 keepers were asleep, made his escape out of the window of the 
 prison to which he was committed. This year the queen was 
 Drought to bed of a son at St. Andrews; and the next year of 
 another in the same place. Both this year and the former, mat- 
 ters were rather hushed a little, than entirely composed; some 
 men wanting rather a leader than occasion to rebel: For though 
 many desired it, yet no man durst openly avow himself head ot 
 any insurrection. And now the king having heirs to succeed him, 
 and by that means becoming more confident of a settled estab- 
 lishment, began to slight the nobility as a sluggish and unwar- 
 like generation, and not likely to attempt any thing against him, 
 whose family was now rivetted and confirmed by issue male, so 
 that he applied his mind to unnecessary buildings. He stood in 
 need of money for that work: and, in regard he was as covetous 
 as he was indigent, both factions of nobles and priests were e- 
 quaily afraid, and each of them endeavoured to avert the tempest 
 from failing upon them, that it might light on the other. And 
 therefore, whenever the king complained of the lowness of his 
 exchequer amongst his friends, one party would extol the riches 
 of the other, as if it were a prey ready for the seizure; and the 
 king hearkened sometimes to the one, and sometimes to the other, 
 and so kept both in suspence, between hope and fear: so that when 
 ambassadors came at that time out of England to court, to desire 
 the king to give his uncle a meeting at York, promising him mighty 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 57 
 
 advantages by that interview, and making a long harangue con- 
 cerning the love and good-will of their king towards him, the fac- 
 tion that opposed the priests persuaded him by all means to meet 
 at the time and place appointed. When the ecclesiastical party- 
 heard of this, they thought their order would be quite undone, 
 if they did not hinder the meeting of the two kings, and so dis- 
 turb their concord, and sow the seeds of discord between the 
 king and his nobles. And considering of all ways how to effect 
 it, no remedy seemed more ready at hand for the present malady, 
 than to make an attack upon the king's mind; which was not able 
 to resist offers of money, by the promises of large subsidies. A 
 cordingly, they placed before his eyes the greatness of the danger, 
 the doubtful .and uncertain credit of an enemy's promise; and 
 that lie might have a greater sum of money at home, and more 
 easily procured. First of all, they promised to give him of their 
 own ^0,000 ducats of gold yearly, and ail the rest of their estates 
 also should be at his service, to obviate future emergencies, if any 
 happened; and as for those who rebelled against the authority of 
 the pope, and the majesty of the king, and troubled the peace 
 of the church by new and wicked errors, and therefore would 
 subvert all piety, overthrow the rights of magistracy, and cancel 
 laws of so long standing, out of their estates he might get above 
 an hundred thousand ducats more yearly into his exchequer, by 
 of confiscation, if he would permit them to nominate a lord 
 chief-justice in the case, because they themselves could not, by 
 law, sit in capital cases to condemn any man. And that, in the- 
 jing the process against them, there would be no danger, nor 
 any delay in passing sentence; since so many thousand men were 
 not afraid to take the books of the Old and New Testament 
 into their hands, to discourse concerning the power of the pope, 
 to contemn the ancient ceremonies of the church, and to detract 
 from the reverence and observance which was due to religious per- 
 sons consecrated to the service of God. This they urged upon 
 Jiim with such vehemency, that he appointed them ajudge accord- 
 ing to their own hearts, and that was James Hamilton, natural 
 brother to the earl of Arran: him they had obliged by great gra- 
 tuities before; and besides, he was resolved to insinuate himself 
 nito the king's favour, who long since had been offended with 
 him, with the perpetration of some act by way of atonement, 
 though it was ever so cruel. 
 
 About the same time, James Hamilton, sheriff of Linlithgow, 
 and cousin-german to the other James, came into Scotland: he, 
 after a long banishment, when he had commenced a suit against 
 James the bastard, and had obtained leave to return for a time to 
 his own country, understanding what danger he and the rest of 
 the favourers of the reformed doctrine were in, sent his son with 
 
 Vol II. Y 
 
'1 68 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 a message to the king, just as he was going over into Fife; and 
 having very opportunely met with him before he went aboard, he 
 filled his mind, which was naturally suspicious, with fearful pre- 
 sages, that this commission, granted to Hamilton, would be a 
 capital matter, and pernicious to the whole kingdom, unless he 
 prevented this sophistry by another stratagem. The king, who 
 was then hastening into Fife, sent the young man back to Edin- 
 burgh, to the court called the Exchequer-court, where he also com- 
 manded to assemble James Lermont, James Kirkaldy, and Tho- 
 mas Erskine, of whom the first was master of the household ; 
 the second, lord high treasurer, neither of them averse to the re- 
 formed religion; the third was highly of the popish faction, and 
 the king's secretary. These were all ordered to meet, and the 
 king commanded them to give the same credit to the messenger, 
 as they would do to himself, if he were present; and so took 
 the ring off his finger, and sent it them as a known token be- 
 tween them. They consulted together, and apprehended James 
 just after he had dined and prepared himself for his journey, 
 and committed him prisoner to the castle. But, having intelli- 
 gence by their spies at court, that the king was pacified, and that 
 he would be released, besides the public danger, they were afraid 
 also of their particular selves, lest a man, factious and potent, be- 
 ing released, after he had been provoked by so great an affront 
 and ignominy, should afterwards meditate a cruel and bitter re- 
 venge against them. They speedily hastened to court, and in- 
 formed the king of the imminency of the danger; of the way- 
 ward disposition, fierceness, and power of the man; all which 
 they augmented, to raise the greater suspicion of him: so that 
 they persuaded the king not to suffer so crafty, and withal so 
 puissant a person, being also provoked by this late disgrace, to 
 be set at liberty, without a legal trial. The king came to Edin- 
 burgh, and from thence to Seton, where he caused James to be 
 brought to his trial, and, in a court legally constituted, according 
 to the custom of the country, he was condemned, and had his 
 head struck off: his body was quartered after his execution, and 
 the quarters hanged up in the public parts of the city. The 
 crimes objected against him, in behalf of the king, were, that, 
 on a certain day, he had broke open the king's bed-chamber, and 
 had designed to kill him; and that he had carried on secret de- 
 signs with the Douglasses, who were declared public enemies. 
 Few were grieved for his death, because of the wickedness of his 
 former life, save only his own kindred and the ecclesiastics, who 
 had placed all the hopes of their fortunes, in a manner, upon his 
 life alone. 
 
 From that time forward the king increased in his suspicions of 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 169 
 
 the nobility; and besides, his mind was so distracted with cares, 
 that he could not enjoy his sleep at quiet, but was tormented 
 with dreams; of which there was one more remarkable than the 
 rest, which was much talked of, That, in his sleep, he saw James 
 Hamilton running at him with his drawn sword, and that he first 
 cut off his right arm, then his left, and threatened him shortly to 
 come and take away his life, and then disappeared. When he 
 awaked in a fright, and was pondering many things about the e- 
 vent of his dream, word was brought him, that both his sons died 
 almost at one and the same moment of. time, one at St. Andrews, 
 and the other at Stirling. 
 
 Mean while there was not a certain peace, nor yet an open 
 war, with the king of England, who was long since offended, in- 
 somuch that, without any declaration of war, preys were driven 
 from the borders of Scotland. Neither would the English, when 
 called upon to make restitution, give any favourable answer: so 
 that all men saw that Henry was in an high indignation, because 
 the interview at York was frustrated. And James, though he 
 knew that war was certainly at hand, and therefore made levies 
 for that purpose, and had appointed his brother, the earl of Mur- 
 ray, to be general of all his forces, and had also made all neces- 
 sary preparation for a defence, yet he sent an ambassador to the 
 enemy, if it were possible, to compose matters without blows. 
 In the mean time, George Gordon was sent to the borders, with 
 a small force, to stop the pillaging incursions of the enemy. The 
 English despised the small number of forces under Gordon, and 
 therefore hastened to burn Jedburgh: but George Hume, with 
 400 horse, interposed, and charged them briskly, and after a short 
 fight, when they saw the Gordons coming, they were put into 
 a fright^ and so fled away in confusion to escape their enemies. 
 There were not many slain, but several taken prisoners. James 
 Lermont, who was treating about a peace at Newcastle, had scarce 
 received his answer; but, that the war might be carried on more 
 covertly, he was commanded to return with the English army. 
 Moreover, John Erskine, and 1 *-, who were sent ambassa- 
 dors from Scotland, met the said army at York, where they were 
 detained by Howard, the general, and never dismissed till they 
 came to Berwick. 
 
 James, being assured by his spies, before the return of the 
 ambassadors, of the marching of the English army, formed his 
 camp at Falkirk, about fourteen miles from the borders ; but 
 ?cnt George Gordon on before, with ten thousand men, to pre-* 
 vent the plunderings of the English; yet he did nothing con- 
 siderable, and had not so much as a light skirmish with the 
 pnemy. 
 
 The king of Scotland was mighty earnest to give battle; but 
 
 12 
 
I70 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIW 
 
 the nobility would not hear of it by any means; so that he was 
 full of wrath, and burst out in a rage against them, calling them 
 co-wards, and unworthy of their ancestors ; every now and then 
 telling them, that, since he was betrayed by them, he himself and 
 his own family, would do that, which they had cowardly refused to 
 do. Neither could he be appeased, though they came about him, 
 and told him, That he had done enough for his honour; that he 
 had not only kept the English army, which was so long a time 
 in levying, and that had invaded Scotland on a sudden, and that 
 with threats to do great matters, from straggling up and down 
 the country for booty and plunder; but also, for the space of 
 eight days, that it remained in Scotland, trad so pent up the 
 English, that they never marched above a mile from the border.;: 
 for, after they drew out of Berwick, they went as far as Kelso 
 up against the stream; and there, being informed of the march 
 of the Scottish army, they passed over the ford, being so fearful 
 to engage, that they rushed into the river with the utmost pre- 
 dion and disorder; and, as every one passed over, they left 
 olours, and made the best of their way home. Gordon, 
 z mean time, , who saw this at a distance, stirred not at all, 
 tlor made he any attempt upon them in their rear, for which the 
 king conceived an implacable hatred against him. 
 
 Maxwell, to appease the king's anger as much as he could, 
 promised, if he might have ten thousand men, to march into 
 England by the Solway, and to do some considerable sen ice 
 and he would have been as good as his word, if the king, be- 
 ing angry with his nobles, had not given secret letters and a 
 commission to Oliver Sinclair, brother to the laird of Roslin, 
 which he was not to open till such a time. The contents were, 
 That the whole army should acknowledge him for their general. 
 James's design in it was, that if his army had had the better, 
 the glory of the victory might not redound to the nobles. When 
 they were come into their enemy's country, and about five hun- 
 dred English horse appeared on the neighbouring hills, Oliver 
 Sinclair was lifted up on high by those of his faction, and lean- 
 ing upon two spears, caused the king's commission to be read ; 
 at which the whole army was so offended, and especially Max- 
 well, that they broke their ranks, and thronged confusedly in, 
 one among another. Their enemies, though accustomed to w it . 
 yet never hoping for so great an advantage, when from the up- 
 per ground they beheld things in such a confusion amongst them, 
 rushed' upon them with a great shout, as their manner is, and so 
 assaulted them, as they were in a fright, and suspended between 
 the design of flying or fighting; and thus horse, foot, and bag- 
 gage wore promiscuously driven into the next marshes; where 
 
Book XIV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. . 1 7 I 
 
 many were taken by the English, more by the Scottish moss- 
 troopers and sold to the English. 
 
 When this loss of his army was brought to the king, who 
 was not far off, he was moved beyond measure with indignation, 
 anger, and grief, insomuch that his mind was distracted two 
 ways; sometimes to take revenge of the perfidiousness of his 
 own people, as he called it, and sometimes to make preparation 
 for a new war, and for the renewing of the public affairs. 
 But in that almost desperate state of things, it seemed the best 
 way to make a truce with the English, and to call back Archi- 
 bald Douglas, earl of Angus, on the best conditions he could. 
 But his body being worn out with watching and fasting, and 
 Ids mind overwhelmed with cares, he died a few days after, on 
 the 13th of December, leaving his daughter his heiress, a child 
 of about five days old. He was buried on the 14th day of Ja- 
 nuary, in the monastery of Holyrood, near his first wife Mag- 
 dalene. 
 
 In his life-time, his countenance and the make of his body 
 were very comely, his stature not very tall, but his strength 
 above the proportion of his body, his wit was sharp, but net 
 suiftcLntly cultivated with learning, which was the fault of the 
 times; his diet was sparing; he seldom drank wine; he was 'moct 
 patient of labour, cold, heat, and hunger; he would often sit on 
 horseback, night and day, in the coldest winter, that so he might 
 catch the thieves in their harbours at unawares, and his activity 
 struck such a terror into them, that they abstained from their 
 evil purposes, as if he had always been present amongst them. 
 He was so well acquainted with the customs of his country, 
 that he would give just answers concerning weighty matters, as 
 he went his journeys upon the road, with a great deal of rea- 
 diness and exactness; he was easy of access even to the poorest. 
 But his great virtues were almost equalled by as many vices; yet 
 they had this alleviation, that they seemed rather imputed to the 
 times in which he lived, than to his own natural disposition. 
 For such an universal licentiousness had over-run all, that pub- 
 lic discipline could not be retrieved, but with a great deal of 
 strictness and severity. 
 
 That which made him so covetous of money was, that when 
 he was under the guardianship of others, he was educated with 
 great parsimony; and, as soon as ever he came to be of age, 
 he entered into an empty palace, where he found that all his 
 house-hold stuff had been embezzled; so that every room of 
 his palace was to be new furnished at once, and his guardians 
 had expended the royal revenue en those uses, which he wholly 
 disapproved. 
 
1-J2 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIV. 
 
 Those who had the instruction of his youth, made him more 
 inclinable to women, because by that means they hoped to 
 have him longer under their tuition. A great part of the nobi- 
 lity did not much lament his death, because he had banished 
 some of them, and kept many others in prison; and many, for 
 fear of his severity, a fresh disgust being now added to their 
 former contempt, chose rather to surrender themselves to the En- 
 glish king, their enemy, than to commit themselyes to the anger 
 £>f their own. 
 
(A, C. 1542.; 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 F 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 »»««•'©-.=*£-©<•>€>«« 
 
 BOOK XV. 
 
 X HE king dying in the flower of his age, rather of grief than 
 any disease, and the tumults of the former times being rather 1 
 hushed asleep than composed; wise men foresaw so great a tem- 
 pest impending over Scotland, the like of which they themselves 
 never beheld, nor had ever read of in ancient records. The king 
 had not so much as ordei-ed his own domestic affairs, but had left 
 a daughter, born about eight days before his death, heiress to the 
 crown. As for those of the nobility who had borne sway, either 
 they were slain in battle, or else were banished, or taken prisoners 
 by the enemy. And if they had been at home, yet, by reason of 
 private animosities, or of dissensions on the account of religion, 
 which were stifled out of fear during the king's life; but now, 
 that restraint being taken off, were likely to break out again, they 
 would have quarrelled amongst themselves; so that they wei - e not 
 in any probability of acting like men of sobriety and discretion. 
 
 And besides, they were engaged in a war against a most power- 
 ful king; and everyone spoke according to his hope or fear, what 
 would be the use he would make of his victory. He that was the 
 second heir, and next to the crown, as he was not commonly re- 
 ported to have much of virtue, even for the management of his 
 private life, so he was as little noted for counsel or valour, to ma- 
 nage the kingdom. As for tlje cardinal, he thinking that in those 
 
1 74 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV, 
 
 public calamities lie might have an opportunity to aggrandize him- 
 self; that he might shew himself scmc-body, both to his own order, 
 and also to the French faction, attempted a thing both bold and 
 impudent. For by the hired assistance of Henry Balfour, a mer- 
 cenary priest, he suborned a false will of the king's, wherein he 
 himself was nominated to the supreme authority, with three of 
 the most potent of the nobility to be his assessors. He was in 
 great hopes that his project would succeed from the disposition of 
 the earl of Arran, one of his assessors and partners in the govern- 
 ment, who was not turbulent but rather inclinable to be easy and 
 quiet. And besides, he was near of kin to him, for he was son 
 to the cardinal's aunt. ' Moreover, the opportunity to invade the 
 supreme power, seemed to reqviire haste, that he might be posses- 
 sed of it before the exiles and captives returned out of England, 
 that so they might have no hand in conferring this honour upon 
 him; for he was afraid of their power and popularity. Neither 
 did he doubt but that their minds were alienated from him upon 
 the score of a. different religion. This was the cause, that pre- 
 sently after the king's death he published an edict concerning the 
 chusirtg of four governors of the kingdom. He also gained some 
 of the nobles, by promises and gifts, to engage them to his faction, 
 and especially the queen, who was somewhat disaffected to the 
 adverse party. Hamilton their head, was a man not ambitious, 
 but rather willing to live hi quiet, if his relations would have suf- 
 fered him; but they studying their own honour and interest, ra- 
 ther than his, night and day puffed up the mind of the young 
 gentleman with hopes, and advised him by no means to let slip so 
 (air an opportunity put into his hands; for they had rather have 
 things in a combustion, than to live in a fixed and private condi- 
 tion of life. And besides, the hatred of the cardinal got them 
 many friends, and the indignity of their bondage under a merce- 
 nary priest. They had also some appearance of hope, which, 
 though uncertain in itself, yet was not inefficacious to stir up 
 men's endeavours, that, since Hamilton was the next heir, and a 
 female, so few days old., the only person betwixt him and the 
 crown, she might meet with many mischances, either casually, 
 or by the fraud of her guardians, before she came to be marriage- 
 able. Thus while they were laying the foundations of their fu-. 
 ture power, it seemed most advisable, not to neglect the advan- 
 tage which the present state o^i things offered, and to hope well 
 for the exaltation of the Hamiltons; and if that hope deceived 
 them, yet it would not be difficult fur them to obtain the pardon 
 of a new princess, who in the beginning of her reign would study 
 to win the respect of all men. 
 
 Whilst things were at this Scotland, the king of Eng- 
 
 land, full of extraordin unexpected a victory, 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Jje 
 
 for the chief of the Scottish prisoners up to London; where, alter 
 they had been imprisoned in the Tower two days, on St. Thomas'9 
 day, which was the 21st of December, they were all brought 
 through the city, where it was the longest, as if they were to be 
 shewn as a public spectacle to the people; and, coming to White- 
 hall the king's court, they were sharply reproved by the chancel- 
 lor, as violatcrs of the league. And, after he had made a large 
 discourse concerning the goodness and clemency of his king, who 
 had remitted much of the rigour of justice he might have used to- 
 wards them, they were distributed about into several families, and 
 lodged among them as prisoners at large. There were seven of 
 the nobility, and twenty-four of the gentry among these captives. 
 But when the news came in less than three days, that the king of 
 Scots was dead, and had left one only daughter his heiress, Hen- 
 ry thought it a fit opportunity to conciliate and unite the minds 
 both of Scots and English in a band of union, by espousing his 
 son to their queen. Upon this, he recalled the prisoners to 
 court, and employed some fit persons to feel their pulses in the 
 case; where being kindly entertained, promising to contribute 
 their assistance towards the match, as far as they might without 
 detriment to their own or the public honour, on the first of Janu- 
 ary, at the beginning of the year 1543, they were all released, 
 and sent back towards Scotland. When they came to Newcastle, 
 and had given hostages to Thomas Howard duke of Norfolk, as 
 to other matters they were free, and so returned home. There 
 returned also with them the Douglasses, two brothers, being just 
 then restored to their country, after fifteen years banishment. 
 They were all received with the gratulation of the major part of 
 the people. The cardinal, who saw this storm gathered against 
 him, making no doubt but the prisoners and the exiles would be 
 both his opposers in the parliament, had taken care to be chosen 
 regent before their coming. But he enjoyed that honour not 
 long; for within a few days, his fraud in counterfeiting the king's 
 will and testament being discovered, he was thrown out of place, 
 and James Hamilton, earl of Arran, made regent; through a desire 
 which some had to ingratiate themselves with him, as the next heir 
 to the crown. Others foresaw so long before, the cruelty of the 
 cardinal in matters of religion, and therefore pi-ovidcd against it, 
 by lessening his power. Their fear was increased by a schedule 
 found among the king's papers after his death, wherein the names 
 of above 300 of the nobility were contained as cinminals; and. a- 
 mongst them, he that was chosen regent, was the first person to 
 have been questioned. This made his election very grateful to 
 the majority, because it seemed the most probable means to release 
 many from danger, and to curb the pride of the priests. Besides, 
 he himself willinglv read the hooks that contained controversies 
 Vol. II. / 
 
Ij6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 about religion} and the quietness and retirement of his former 
 life, far remote from court ambition, made many hope, that he 
 would be sober and moderate in his government. Besides, being 
 out of the magistracy, he had not yet discovered any inactivity or 
 sluggishness of mind. 
 
 In a parliament which was held in March, sir Ralph Sadler 
 came ambassador from England, in order to a marriage, and set- 
 tling a peace. He put some of the nobility in mind of their 
 use: others, as the report goes, he tempted with money. 
 The queen-mother, cardinal, and the whole faction of priests be- 
 ing not only against this peace, but by disturbing some members 
 and counsellors, and corrupting others, not suffering it so much 
 as to be put to the vote; by the general consent of almost the 
 whole parliament, the cardinal, while the votes were taken, was 
 confined to his chamber. In his absence, they easily agreed upon 
 the marriage of the young queen, and other matters; and sure- 
 ties were promised to be sent to England for the performance of 
 them. The cardinal, at the intercession of the queen-mother, 
 was kept in a loose kind of custody by Seton, who was persuaded, 
 for a certain sum of money, in a little while after, to let him go- 
 When peace seemed thus to be settled to the great advantage of 
 both kingdoms, after so great a dread of an impending war, every 
 body thought it would be a lasting one; and therefore the mer- 
 chants, who, for some years before, had been hindered from trad- 
 ing, went thick and three-fold to sea, and laded very many ships 
 with the best commodities they could procure for the time allotted 
 them so to do. Edinburgh sent out twelve ships; ether cities of 
 that circuit (which is the richest part of Scotland) rigged out 
 ships, each, according to their respective abilities. This fleet, in 
 idence of the peace with England, drew nearer the shores 
 they needed to have ci. when the wind was calm, 
 
 some lay at anchor, others entered into the ports, and so laid 
 themselves open to the injuries of the English, if any tumult of 
 war should arise. 
 
 About the same time, John Hamilton, abbot of Paisley, and 
 David Painter, returned cut of France. These men now threw 
 offthe mask, with which they had disguised themselves before for 
 so many years, and then began to play the old pranks that were 
 natural to them. They, as if they had been educated in the 
 school of profaneness, and not in that of piety, were the 'ring- 
 leaders at court, who prompted men to all manner of impieties. 
 The cardinal) as he was restored to Ins liberty unexpectedly, be- 
 ing of a proud and haughty disposition, which was aggravated by 
 the repulse he had received, and by the ignominy occurring in the 
 detection of his fraud, sought out all occasions whatsoever to dis- 
 turb this concord. First of all, he communicated with the queen- 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 177 
 
 dowager; and they both took it in great indignation, that the 
 Douglasses (who, for the many benefits they had received, f;om 
 the English, must needs be their fast friends) should immediately, 
 after so many years banishment, he admitted iuto the parliament- 
 house, to debate the weightiest affairs of the 'kingdom. Besides, 
 they all feared a change of the established religion, the conse- 
 quence of which must needs be a breach of the league with France. 
 Upon this, the cardinal, by the consent cf the queen, summon- 
 ed a convocation of priests, and extorted from them a great sum 
 of money, as fearing the universal ruin of the whole papal 
 church. Part of this money was paid to some of the nobles of the 
 adverse party, and many large promises were made tl 
 to persuade them not to give the promised hostages to the English; 
 and as for those who were newly returned from theiii captivity, 
 and had left their children or kindred as hostages for their return, 
 he obliged them not to prefer those (otherwise dear) pledges before 
 the laws, the public safety, and their ancient religion, whose pre- 
 servation turned upon this single hinge; and that they would not 
 run willingly into perpetual bondage. Besides, he caused the ec- 
 clesiastics to carry it proudly and disrespectfully towards the En- 
 glish ambassadors, insomuch that the very rabble reproached and 
 abused his retinue, and there was nothing he could say or do, but 
 what was all taken in the worst sense. But the ambassador re- 
 solved to bear all affronts, and weather out this tide of ineonve- 
 niencies, till the day for delivering the hostages should approach* 
 that so he might give no occasion of a rupture on his part. And, 
 when that day came, he went to the regent, and complained of 
 the affronts which had been offered, not so much to himself, as to 
 his king, whom he represented ; and insisted, that it was a viola- 
 tion of the law of nations. And he desired him to give hostages 
 according to the tenor of the league lately made, that so the re- 
 newed amity might be kept sacred and inviolate, to the mutual ad- 
 vantage of both nations. The regent, as to the affronts offered, 
 excused himself, and said he was sorry for them, and that he 
 would speedily search into the matter, that so the punishment of 
 such petulant offei ould be a sufficient testimony of the 
 
 love and veneration he had for the English nation. But as to host- 
 ages, he answered, that he could not obtain them with the good- 
 will of the estates, neither was he able to compel them without 
 public consent; for die government which he bore was such, that 
 he received as much law as he gave; and therefore all his mea- 
 sures were disturbed by the great sedition, which he saw the car- 
 dinal had raised. That he was, as it were, carried down in the 
 stream of a popular fury, and could scarce maintain his own sta- 
 tion and dignity. The new hostages being thus denied, there 
 another thing as weighty as that, which fell under debate, 
 
1 7 S HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 and that was, concerning the nobles lately taken prisoners of 
 war, who, upon their releasement, had given hostages, and made 
 solemn asseverations, that if there were not a peace concluded, as 
 Henry desired, upon just and fair terms, they would surrender 
 themselves prisoners again. As for them, the cardinal's faction, 
 and the rest of the ecclesiastical order had dealt with them, partly 
 by reasons, and partly by*examples, not to prefer their estates, 
 kindred, children, or any other thing which might be dear to 
 them, before the love of their country. And what was more, 
 they threatened them with auxiliaries from France, and that ail 
 Europe conspired for the defence of their ancient rights and reli- 
 gion-, and if they acted contrary, they would betray their coun- 
 try, and bring on the immediate ruin of their ancient families. 
 They also desired them, in so dangerous a time, not to forsake 
 their country: for if that were safe, they might hope for more 
 kindred and children; but if that were overthrown, then all was 
 gone. Besides, they discoursed much concerning the inexpiable 
 hatred betwixt the two nations, and of the cruelty of the king, in- 
 to whose hands they were to come; thus blending truths and 
 falsehoods together. Moreover, they alleged the decree of the 
 council of Constance, that all pacts, contracts, promises and 
 oaths, made with heretics, ought to be rescinded and made void. 
 The greatest part of those who were concerned in this matter, 
 were willing to hearken to any colourable pretence for their fault; 
 only there was one of them, who for no pecuniary consideration 
 whatever could be taken off, nor by any threats deterred from 
 keeping his word; and that was Gilbert Kennedy earl of Cassils. 
 He had left two of his brothers hostages in England ; and he openly 
 professed, that neither for fear nor danger would he redeem his 
 own life with the loss of his brothers; but whatever came of it, 
 he would surrender himself back a prisoner: and so, against the 
 desire of many, he went directly on his journey to London. Hen- 
 ry much commended the resolute fidelity of the young man; and, 
 to the intent that all might know he had an esteem for virtue, he 
 richly rewarded him, and sent him back with his two brothers in- 
 to Scotland. 
 
 But Henry's mind was not more pacified towards Gilbert, than 
 ins anger was implacable against the rest of the Scots; and he ac- 
 cordingly laid an embargo upon all the Scots ships in all English 
 ports and harbours, of which there was a great number, as I said 
 before, and presently declared war. His menaces were great, as 
 against the violators, not only of leagues, but even of the law of 
 nations. And yet though Scotland stood totterring in so danger- 
 ous a condition, the memory of alliances, the common love to 
 their country, and the respect of the public safety, were so far laid 
 *side, that the flames of sedition were blown up with more fierce- 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 79 
 
 ness than ever ; for the faction of the cardinal, and of the queen 
 dowager, who were all for the French, sent over ambassadors 
 thither, to tell them, That unless they sent in assistance, the mat- 
 ter was upon the very point, that England and Scotland would 
 make a coalition into one government; and how much such aeon- 
 junction would concern France, the experience of former ages 
 had shewn. But they made it their chief request to the French, 
 that they would send hack Matthew Stuart, earl of Lennox, into 
 his own country, who did not only emulate the family of the 
 Hamiltons, but was also their deadly enemy, by reason of their 
 having slain his father at Linlithgow. This young man was 
 greatly beloved, not only for his extraordinary beauty and stately 
 mien, in the very flower of his youth, but chiefly upon the ac- 
 count of the memory of his father, who had been a most popular 
 man: And there was great danger that so noble a family, now re- 
 duced to a few, should be utterly extinguished. Besides, he had 
 many clanships of his own, and also affinity with many other 
 great families. What was still more, the last king had designed 
 him to be his heir and successor, if he himself died without issue 
 male: and he would have confirmed that his intention by a de- 
 cree of the estates (who have the sovereign power to order such 
 public affairs) if his life had been prolonged. Nay, there were 
 some flatterers, who endeavoured to exalt his generous mind, 
 which was of itself already raised up with the expectation of great 
 things, but was not so well fortified against fraudulent sycophants, 
 to larger hopes; for, besides the supreme rule for above twenty 
 years of the young queen's minority, and the dominion over his old 
 enemies, they promised him, that he should marry the queen-dow- 
 ager; and if the young queen, who had the name only of supreme 
 governess, should miscarry, 'then without doubt he would be the 
 next king; and not only so, but also the lawful heir of 
 James Hamilton lately deceased ; for that the regent was a bas- 
 tard, and was so far from any just expectation of the kingdom, 
 that he could not lawfully claim the inheritance of his own fami- 
 ly. Besides, they urged the encouragement of the French king, 
 who gave hopes of great assistance in due time. When the plain- 
 hearted and credulous young man was thus persuaded, he provid- 
 ed for his voyage into Scotland. Hamilton was not ignorant of 
 any of these things; and, to the end that he might gain an acces- 
 sion of strength to his own party, by the advice of those friends 
 in whom he reposed the greatest trust, he resolved to take away 
 the young queen from Linlithgow, where she yet was under the 
 power of her mother; for if he once got her into his hands, then 
 not only the shadow of the royal name, winch is an attractive 
 ihing amongst the vulgar, would be of his side, but he would 
 likewise have the power of bestowing her in marriage, and $o 
 
ISO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 make himself arbiter of the kingdom, to transfer it just as he 
 pleased; which if he could obtain, then the king of England 
 might be managed by fair words, or per&uaded to join with him in 
 case of need. 
 
 This design was much approved: but, as is usual in civil dis- 
 cords, spies on both sides get hold of proper informations, some 
 body acquainted the cardinal with the matter. He, gathering to- 
 gether some of the nobility, whom he had made his friends with 
 money, came to Linlithgow, and to the great burden of the inha- 
 bitants, staid there some days, as a guard to the queen. In the 
 mean time Lennox arrived out of France, and, being kindly re- 
 ceived by the regent, each of them dissembling their hatred, he 
 went to Linlithgow. Here he addressed the cardinal, and then 
 went to his own house, where in a meeting of friends, he dis- 
 coursed at large why he came over; at whose invitation; by 
 whom sent for; and upon what hopes: That he was promised 
 not only the chief magistracy, but also that the heads of the fac- 
 tion, with the queen-dowager's consent, had assured him, that he 
 should marry her: And, that, in order to the effecting of it, the 
 king of France had encouraged him to expect aid and assist- 
 ance from thence. They all assented to his speech, and 
 advised him not to be wanting to his good fortune, which so 
 freely had offered itself. And thus, with about four thousand 
 men, he came to the queen. Hamilton, who had drawn all the 
 friends and forces he could presently raise to Edinburgh, resolved 
 to break through to the queen; but now perceiving that his forces 
 were too weak, by the advice of his friends, and, out of his own 
 disposition to peace, began to treat of an accommodation. Ac- 
 cordingly some prudent persons were chosen on both sides, who 
 met at the town cS Liston, almost in the middle way between 
 Edinburgh and Linlithgow: And an agreement was made betwixt 
 them on these terms: That the queen should be removed to Stir- 
 ling; and that four of the prime nobility, who ""had engaged them- 
 selves in neither faction- should be chosen out to have an eye over 
 her education; and those were William Graham, John Erskine, 
 John Lindsay, and William Livingston, eminent persons, and all 
 heads of illustrious families. 'They, by the decree of both par- 
 ties, took the queen, and entered upon the road leading to Stirling 
 whilst Lennox stood in arms with his men, till they had travelled 
 far enough to be out of clanger from the contrary faction; and not 
 long after, with the accustomed ceremonies, and ensigns of majesty, 
 she began her reign at Stirling, August 21. 
 
 The regent perceiving that the favour of the inconstant vulgar 
 was alienated from him; and that his forces were inferior to those 
 of the contrary faction, began to entertain private conferences 
 with them; And the cardinal, who was of kin to him by the mo- 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. I 8 I 
 
 ther's side, sought to bring him over to his party, by terrifying 
 him, rather than to subdue him by force of arms: So that having 
 weakened him at home, in taking off part of the nobility from him 
 by his largesses, and, by forcing him into a disadvantageous 
 league, rendered him cheaper, and of less repute among the En- 
 glish j he now, by the intervention of his familiar friends, who had 
 more regard to money, than love to honesty, persuading him to 
 come to Stirling, there caused him to recant and change his opini- 
 on concerning all the controverted points of religion; not openly, 
 that the infamy of the* fact might be lessened among the vulgar, 
 but in a convent of the Franciscans, in the presence of the queen- 
 dowager, and the chief nobles of the court; and for fear of a suit 
 which the cardinal threatened to commence against him for his 
 whole estate, he was so obsequious, that he put himself wholly 
 under his influences, insomuch that he only retained the shadowy 
 name of a regent. Thus by the regent's cowardice, and the ava- 
 rice of his relations, the cardinal obtained that which he had 
 sought after by forging the will, as above, viz. he enjoyed all the 
 advantages of the government without envy. There seemed but 
 one thing wanting to establish his power, and that was the remov- 
 al of Lennox, who was a great block in the way of his designs. 
 At last, the queen-dowager and cardinal fixed upon this project, 
 that, till an answer came from France, she should hold the young 
 man's mind in suspence, by giving him some hopes of marrying 
 her. For they had written honourably of Lennox to the French 
 king, as indeed they could do no other; for next to God, they 
 were indebted to him for restoring them to the liberty they enjoy- 
 ed. But withal they desired the king, that, seeing matters were 
 not quieted in Scotland, by his royal liberality and assistance he 
 would be pleased to maintain the good work he had done them, 
 and to confirm the peace he had been the cause of, by recalling 
 Lennox: for, without that, things would never long continue in 
 peace, but one or other of the factions must be destroyed. 
 they undermined Lennox privately; but in public he was enter- 
 tained with variety of diversions by the queen and cardinal; the 
 court was dissolved in luxury and lasciviousness, and wholly given 
 up to plays and feastin^v. The day rang with tilts and tourna- 
 ments, the night with balls and masquerades. 
 
 Lennox, inclinable by nature to these recreations, and besides 
 much accustomed to them in the French court, was now whetted 
 by a rival, James Hepburn, earl of Bothweli, who was enough 
 to sharpen even a palled appetite. This James Was banished by 
 king James V. but presently after his death he returned home, 
 and aspired to the marriage oi the queen, by the same arts as 
 Lennox did. And indeed the endowments of nature and fortune 
 were very eminent in both of them, insomuch that they might be 
 
I8t HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 said to be rather like than equal. Bothwell matched him in other 
 tilings, but in these ludicrous combats and feats of arms being 
 inferior to him, he left the court, and departed to his own house. 
 Lennox, when his rival was removed, thought now that all was 
 easy and secure on his part, and so he earnestly pressed, that the 
 promises made him by the queen and cardinal might be performed. 
 But perceiving at last, that he was- frauuently dealt with, and that 
 Hamilton, his enemy, was advanced by them to honour, authority, 
 and the supreme power over all men's lives and fortunes, his 
 youthful mind, which was not accustomed to ill arts, but judged 
 all others like himself, was so inflamed with anger, that he broke 
 out into bitter expressions, and solemnly swore, that he would suf- 
 fer want, banishment, death, nay, any thing whatsoever, rather 
 than such an affront should go unrevenged. Accordingly, he re- 
 turned to Dumbarton, wholly bent on revenge, but as yet uncer- 
 tain what course to take to accomplish it. There he received 
 30,000 French crowns from the king of France, who had not yet 
 certainly heard how affairs stood in Scotland, to enable him to 
 Strengthen his party. That money gave some relief to his distem- 
 pered mind, because it gave him room to hope that he was not 
 iorsaken by the French king. But being commanded by the do- 
 nor to distribute the money by advice of the queen dowager and 
 the cardinal, he gave one part of it to his own friends, and sent 
 another part to the queen. The cardinal, who had already de- 
 voured all that booty in his mercenary thoughts, being grievously 
 troubled, not only at his disappointment and loss, but also at his 
 disgrace in the matter, persuaded the regent presently to levy an 
 army, and to march to Glasgow, not doubting but that he might 
 there surprise Lennox and the money together. Their design 
 being made known to Lennox, he speedily levied above 10,000 
 men of his own friends and vassals. That which much facilitated 
 the raising such a multitude, was the indignation of some of the 
 nobles, who, at the beginning, out of love to religion, and hatred 
 to the cardinal, had been the instruments to advance the regent to 
 that high honour; but now they had changed their former good- 
 will into hatred, because, without consulting them, he had delivered 
 up, and as much as in him lay, betrayed his best-deserving friends, 
 together with himself, into the servitude of their most cruel e- 
 nefrty. 
 
 This frame of spirit made a new, and indeed a scarce credible 
 change in the Scottish affairs; the strength of the factions seemed 
 almost entire, only they were headed by other commanders. Ha- 
 milton and his kindred joined themselves to the quecn-dowagcr 
 and cardinal; but his former friends sided with Lennox. With 
 these forces, levied on :\ sudden, Lennox came to Leith, and sent 
 some into Edinburgh, to tell the cardinal, that he needed not to 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. I 83 
 
 march to Glasgow to fight him, for he would give him opportu- 
 nity to do it any day when he pleased, in the fields between Leith, 
 and Edinburgh. The cardinal, who had drawn the regent to his 
 party, and imagined that the power of the adverse party was so 
 weakened by it, that he hoped none durst look him in the face, 
 now unexpectedly seeing himself challenged by a greater army 
 than he had to defend him, did not refuse the combat in words, 
 but only deferred the day of fight, upon several pretences, well 
 knowing that Lennox could not long keep an army together, 
 consisting of volunteers, without pay or provision made for any 
 long time. In the mean time, he endeavoured by entreaties and 
 promises to work over the minds of those, who were most for his 
 turn. Lennox, seeing that the enemy's design was to lengthen 
 out the war, and by no means to hazard a fight, and being unpro- 
 vided with necessaries to begin, a siege, and also perceiving that 
 some of his men had secret conferences by night with the enemy, 
 to deliver himself out of these straits (his friends, who had made 
 secret provision for themselves, urging him likewise so to do) he 
 was forced to capitulate with the regent; and so he went to Edin- 
 burgh to him, and they transacted matters some days together, as 
 if they had quite forgot their old hatred and animosity. 
 
 At length, when he came to Linlithgow, Lennox receiving ad- 
 vices from his friends, that some hidden mischiefs were brewing 
 against him ; in the night-time he went privately to Glasgow, and 
 having fortified the bishop's castle with a garrison, and with suf- 
 ficient provisions, he went to Dumbarton; there he received more 
 certain information that the Douglasses and the Hamiltons were 
 agreed; and because some suspicions and relics of old grudges 
 were left betwixt the factions, George Douglas and Alexander 
 Cunningham were given as hostages, the one for the father, the 
 other for the brother. Though this was done for a pretence and 
 a disguise of a firmer concord, and a promise made that they 
 should speedily be released, yet notwithstanding they were detain- 
 ed till the coming in of the English army: for the Hamiltons ne- 
 ver thought themselves secure, till those nobles who had any in- 
 terest or courage were removed; that so, by the terror of their 
 punishment, others might be restrained from insurrections. Be- 
 sides, about the same time, Lennox was informed, that the king 
 of France was wrought into a disgust against him by the malicious 
 practices of his enemies. 
 
 In the mean time, Archibald Douglas, earl of Angus, and Ro- 
 bert Maxwell, chief of a noble family, came tc Glasgow, to ac- 
 commodate matters, if it were possible, between the regent and 
 Lennox; but the regent's council persuaded him to apprehend the 
 verv mediators for peace; and thus, by a back-way, to avoid the 
 
 Vol.11. A a 
 
184 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 tumult of the people, they were carried out, and sent prisoners to 
 Hamilton castle. 
 
 In this posture of affairs in Scotland, when not only the Eng- 
 lish, but the chief of the Scots also, were angry with the regent, 
 Henry of England thought it a fit opportunity for him to punish 
 the violators, not only of the league, but of the law of nations 
 too; yet, before he would attack the Scots by force, he sent let- 
 ters full of just complaints and threats to Edinburgh, blaming 
 them for refusing his alliance, which they could not do well with- 
 out, and so arrogantly as they did too, when he had so freely and 
 generously offered it; nay, that they had not only rejected that 
 alliance, but repaid his favours with sowing the seeds of war; 
 and so had enforced him to arm against his will. These letters 
 doing no good, he caused those great naval forces which he had 
 ready, designed with the* first opportunity for the coast of France, 
 to set sail for Scotland, and to infest Edinburgh and Leith, both 
 which towns had most affronted his ambassadors, and the coun- 
 try round about them, with all the plagues and misery of a war. 
 The ships arriving there, landed 10,000 foot, May 4th, a little 
 above Leith, who, without any resistance, entered the town ; for 
 most of the townsmen were absent, and intent upon their mer- 
 chandizing abroad. The regent and cardinal being then at Edin- 
 burgh, and unprovided of all things, knew not what to do, but 
 were so surprised, that they presently set at liberty those ' four 
 eminent persons which they had in durance, as aforesaid, not for 
 any regard to the public safety, but partly fearing, lest otherwise 
 their kinsmen and tenants should refuse to fight, if not join them- 
 selves to the enemy; and partly also, that they might redeem the 
 good-will of the people, who they knew had a general distaste 
 against them upon many accounts; but they, not daring to trust 
 to the hatred of the citizens and of their enemies too, fled to Lin- 
 lithgow. The English staid three days at Leith, to land their 
 ordnance and baggage, and so prepared themselves for the assault. 
 Having settled other matters, they marched to Edinburgh, pillaged 
 and burnt the city, and then dispersed themselves to spoil the 
 neighbouring parts; they ruined many villages, with some castles 
 and seats of noblemen. From Edinburgh they returned to Leith, 
 and having a fair wind, set fire to the houses, hoisted sail, and 
 went away. 
 
 About that time Lennox was certainly informed, that Francis 
 king of France was wholly disgusted at him. For the contrary 
 faction, by their frequent letters and messages, had persuaded 
 him, that it was Lennox alone, who, by reason of his old enmi- 
 ty against the adversaries of his father, hindered the public tran- 
 quillity and concord of ali Scotland; and that he was the head of 
 the faction against the regent,, and a favourer of the English, and 
 
Book XV. «ISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 8$ 
 
 one who rather indulged his own private animosities, than pro- 
 moted the common cause; and, that if the king would recal him 
 into France, peace would be easily made up amongst the rest. 
 When Lennox had received intelligence by his friends, what his 
 enemies had informed against him, he also writ to Francis, in- 
 forming him in what case he found the affairs of Scotland, and 
 how he and his friends had, with a great deal of pains, restored 
 both queens to their liberty; and had put them into a posture and 
 capacity to rule, having broken the power of the adverse party; 
 and, out of a most turbulent tempest, had brought things to a 
 great tranquillity; and that nothing would be more acceptable to 
 him, than to return into France, where he had lived rather long- 
 er of the two than in Scotland, and so to enjoy the sweet society of 
 the friends he most loved. But that his coming into his own 
 country was not of his own accord, but he was sent by the king; 
 and that he had done nothing there that his majesty himself need 
 to be ashamed of. And if he would not abridge him of his for- 
 mer favour, he would shortly answer, nay, perhaps exceed the 
 hope he had conceived of him ; but, if he should call him away in 
 the midst of the career of his designs, then he must not only leave 
 the things he had so excellently begun, unfinished, but also ex- 
 pose his friends, kindred, and vassals, whom he had engaged in 
 the public cause, and who had almost been worn out with cost 
 and labour, to servitude and torment, under an impious and cru- 
 el tyrant, who, as much as in him was, had sold both queen and 
 kingdom to the enemy ; and who observed the pacts and promises 
 he made to men, no more religiously, than he did the duties of pi- 
 ety towards God; for within a few years he had changed his reli- 
 gion three times. Neither was it to be wondered at in him, who 
 looked upon oaths and promises, not as bonds obliging to fidelity 
 and truth, but the specious covers of perfidiousness and treachery. 
 And therefore he moved earnestly, that the king, and those of his 
 council, v/ould consider, whether, in &o great an affair, they 
 would believe him, all whose ancestors had devoted themselves, 
 their lives, honours and fortunes, for the increase of his grandeur, 
 and who indeed had been honoured and rewarded by him with 
 many benefits, which yet were rather testimonies of their good ac- 
 ceptance, than just rewards and compensations of their labours; 
 or else a man, who would change his friends and foes at the blast 
 of every wind, and who depended on the arbitrament of fortune 
 alone. 
 
 Though many were not ignorant, that these allegations were 
 true, yet the French king was so influenced by the Guises, the 
 queen-dowager's father and uncle, and who in all things endea- 
 voured to promote her concerns, that his heart and ear were both 
 shut against Lennox's request; insomuch, that he would not per* 
 
 A a % 
 
I 8(5 HISTOHY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 mit John Campbell, a man of approved virtue, sent by Lennox, 
 to have audience, or so much as to come into his presence, but 
 kept him in the nature of a prisoner, and had spies set upon him 
 to watch him, that so he might not write back any thing of the 
 designs in agitation at the French court; yet notwithstanding this 
 their caution, there were some who told him all. When Lennox, 
 heard this by the dispatches which were sent him, his troubled 
 mind was variously hurried betwixt anger and shame; he was a- 
 shamed to leave his enterprize which he had begun, unfinished; 
 and the rather, because he thought that he was not able to satisfy 
 the love of his friends and kindred, whom he had drawn with him 
 into the same danger, but by the sacrifice of his life. As for the rest, 
 his anger was highly inflamed, especially against the queen-dowager 
 and the cardinal, by whose perfidious contumely he was cast into 
 these straits; but he was chiefly offended with the king of France, 
 complaining, that he had brought him upon (he stage, and now 
 in the midst of his prosperous actings had forsaken him, and join- 
 ed himself with his enemies. Whilst his thoughts thus fluctuated, 
 not knowing where to fix, news was brought him, that all the in- 
 habitants, on this side mount Grantzbain, who were able to bear 
 atms, were commanded by proclamation, against such a day, to 
 appear at Stirling, and to bring ten days provision along with them, 
 that they might be ready to march wheresover the regent should 
 command them. And accordingly they came at the day appoint- 
 ed, and the regent commanded them to Glasgow. There he be- 
 sieged the castle ten days, and battered it with brass guns. At last 
 a truce was granted for a day, and the guards tampered with; so 
 that the castle was surrendered, upon quarter, and indemnity 
 granted to the garrison-soldiers; yet notwithstanding all of them, 
 but one or two were put to death. 
 
 In the mean time, Lennox, being forsaken by the French king, 
 and also cut off from any hope of other aid, made trial by his 
 friends, how the king of England stood affected towards him; 
 and, finding it fair weather there,- he resolved for England. But, 
 before he went, he had a great mind to perform some notable ex- 
 ploit against the Hamiitons; and communicating his design to 
 William Cunningham, earl of Glencairn, they two, at a day ap- 
 pointed^ with their tenants and adherents, resolved to meet at 
 Glasgow, and from thence to make an inroad into the county of 
 Clydesdale, which all belonged to the Hamiitons. When the re- 
 gent heard of this, he resolved to be beforehand with them, and 
 so to sei^e upon Glasgow, and prevent the place of meeting; but 
 Cunningham, with a great party of his men, entered the town 
 before, and there expected the coming of Lennox; but hearing of 
 Hamilton's approach, and of his design, he drew out his men in- 
 to the adjoining fields, and according to the number of those he 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. l8j 
 
 had, set them in array. There were about 800 of them, part of 
 his own clanship, and part of the citizens of Glasgow, who fa- 
 voured his cause ; and thus, with greater courage than force, he 
 joined battle, and fought so valiantly, that he beat the first rank 
 of the enemy back upon the second, and took the brass pieces 
 they had brought with them. But whilst the fight was hot about 
 the regent's quarter, and the matter was in great hazard there, on 
 a sudden, Robert Boyd, a brave and valiant man, came in with a 
 small party of horse, and thrust himself into the midst of the fight, 
 where the hottest battle was. He occasioned a greater fear and 
 tepridation than so small a number need to have done; for both 
 armies believed, that great assistance was come to the Hamiltons. 
 This mistake quite changed the fortune of the day, whilst one 
 thought the assistance was come in to his party, the other to his 
 pnemies. There was slain in the battle about 300 on both sides; 
 the greatest part was of the Cunninghams, and amongst them, 
 two sons of the earl's, gallant men both. Neither was the victory 
 unbloody to the Hamiltons, for they lost considerable persons on 
 their side too. But the greatest mischief fell on the inhabitants of 
 Glasgow; for the enemy, not contented with the blood of the 
 townsmen which they had killed, nor with the miseries of those 
 who survived, nor yet with the plunder of their houses, they even 
 took away the folding-doors of their houses, and the shutters of 
 their windows, and their iron-bar3. Neither did they forbear in- 
 flicting upon them every kind of calamity, but only the firing of 
 their houses, which were sadly torn and deformed with the ravage. 
 The event of this battle wrought a great change in men's minds, 
 so that Lennox's friends and kinsmen refused to venture the mat-? 
 ter to the hazard of a second encounter; not so much because 
 their enemy's force was increased, and theirs lessened; nor that, 
 because, having lost so many valiant men, they could not speedily 
 gather together a new supply from places so remote; as, that they 
 were unwilling to give any new provocation to Hamilton, or by 
 too much obstinacy to offend him farther, under whose govern- 
 ment they knew they must shortly come. ■ 
 
 Lennox, being thus deserted by the French, and the greatest 
 part of the Scots too, made George Stirling governor of the castle 
 of Dumbarton; and he himself, with a few of his company, sailed 
 for England, against the advice of his best friends, who were wil- 
 ling he should have staid some months in that impregnable castle, 
 and so waited for a new turn of affairs, which they doubted not 
 would shortly come to pass. But he was resolved for England, 
 where he was honourably received by the king, who, besides his 
 Other respects, gave him Margaret Douglas in marriage. She was 
 sister to James, last king of Scotland, whom the earl of Angus 
 had by the .sister of Henry king of England; a lady in the flower 
 
I 88 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 of her age, of great comeliness and beauty. In the mean time, 
 the queen-dowager received into her protection that Scottish fac- 
 tion which, by the departure of Lennox, was left without an 
 head, and which obstinately refused to come under the power of 
 Hamilton, whose levity they knew before, and whose cruelty they 
 now feared, for she was afraid that they might be enraged, in such 
 an hurry of things, and so desperately engage in some new com- 
 motion. 
 
 The Hamiltons rejoiced at the departure of so potent an ene- 
 my ; but not being satisfied with the punishments already inflict- 
 ed, they used their prosperity very intemperately: for, in the next 
 convention held at Linlithgow, they condemned him and his 
 friends, confiscated their goods, and banished them the land. A 
 great sum of money was raised out of the fines of those who 
 redeemed their estates out of the exchequer, but not without great 
 disgust, and the high offence of all good men. In the midst of 
 these domestic seditions, the English entered Scotland, and com- 
 mitted great spoil and desolation on Jedburgh, Kelso, and the 
 country thereabout. From thence they went to Coldingham, 
 where they fortified the church and the tower, as well as they 
 could for the time, by making works, and leaving a garrison, and 
 so departed. The garrison-soldiers made great havoc in all the 
 adjacent parts, partly out of greediness for plunder, and partly 
 that the country thereabouts might not afford provisions to the 
 enemy when they besieged them. They who ruled in Scotland, 
 the queen-dowager, cardinal, and regent, by the advice of the 
 council, put out a proclamation, That the noblemen, and the 
 most discreet and able of the commons, should come in, with 
 eight days provision, to march wherever the regent led them. In 
 a short time, about 8000 met together, and in a very sharp win- 
 ter too, who, having battered the tower of the church of Cold- 
 ingham with their, great guns, stood to their arms all that day and 
 night, to the very great fatigue both of horse and man. The 
 <lay after> the regent, either out of tenderness and inability to en- 
 dure military toil, or fearing the invasion of the enemy, for he 
 was informed that the English, from Berwick, a neighbouring 
 town, were upon their march, unknown to the nobles, and with 
 but a few in company, mounted on horseback, and with full speed 
 fled back to Dunbar. They who endeavour to excuse the base- 
 ness of this flight, say, that he was afraid lest his army, out of 
 hatred preconceived on many former accounts, would have de- 
 livered him up to the English. His departure occasioned a great 
 disturbance in the whole army, and the rather, because the rea- 
 son of his flight was unknown; and therefore many thought that 
 it was the more considerable, and that they had greater reason to 
 fear. This made some obstinately resolve to run home the nearv 
 
•Book XV. HiSTORT OF SCOTLAND. 1 89 
 
 est way they could, and leave their guns behind them: others, who 
 would seem a little more provident and stout, were for overcharg- 
 ing them, that so they might burst in pieces at a discharge, and be- 
 come useless to the enemy: but Archibald earl of Angus withstood 
 them all, telling them that they should not add so foul an offence 
 to their base flight: but not being able to retain them, either by 
 his authority or intreaty, he burst out into these words, with a 
 loud voice, so that many might hear him: As for me, said he, I 
 had rather chuse any honourable death, than tt> enjoy my life, though 
 in plenty and security, with the guilt of so foul an action. You, my 
 friends and fellow-soldiers, consider what you will do: lam resolved 
 either to bring back these guns, or never to return home alive; my ho* 
 now and my life shall go together. This speech affected some very 
 few, whose honour was dearer to them than their lives; but the 
 rest were so disheartened by the shameful flight of the regent, 
 that they broke their ranks, and went every one his own way, in 
 a scattered confused manner. Douglas sent the guns before, and 
 he with his party followed in good order-, and though he was 
 pressed upon by the English horse, whom the tumult had excited, 
 yet he brought the ordnance safe to Dunbar. This expedition, 
 rashly undertaken, and as basely performed, discouraged abun- 
 dance of the Scots, and raised up the English spirit to an into- 
 lerable height, as turning the cowardice of the regent to their own 
 praise; and therefore Ralph Evers and Brian Laiton, two brave 
 English cavaliers, over- ran all Merse, Teviot and Lauderdale, 
 without any resistance, and made the inhabitants of those coun- 
 tries submit themselves, and if any were refractory, they wasted 
 their lands, and made their habitations desolate; nay, the undis- 
 turbed course of their victories made them so resolute and inso- 
 lent, that they propounded the bay of Forth to be the boundary 
 of their conquest; and with this hope they went to London, and 
 craved a reward from Henry for their good services. Their pe- 
 tition was referred to the council, and in the debate held about 
 it, Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, who had made many ex- 
 peditions against the Scots, and had done them much mischief, 
 understanding that, in that troublesome posture of affairs in Scot- 
 land it was no hard matter to over-run naked and unguarded 
 countries, and to compel the commonalty, when they had no 
 other refuge, to take an oath of fealty to them; and withal know- 
 ing the constancy of the Scots in maintaining their country, and 
 their resolution in recovering it when lost; upon these considera- 
 tions, it is reported, that he advised the king to give them all 
 the land which they could win by the sword; and also to allow 
 them a small force to defend it till the Scots were inured to the 
 English government. This gift they willingly received, and the 
 king as willingly gave: upon which, their vain boasting being ss 
 
190 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 vainly requited, they returned joyfully to the borders, having ob- 
 tained 3000 soldiers in pay, besides the borderers, who are wont 
 to serve without any military stipend Their return mightily 
 disturbed all the borderers, because they had no hopes of any help 
 from the regent, in regard he was influenced in all his counsels 
 by priests especially by the cardinal. Hereupon, Archibald earl 
 of Angus, being much affected with the public disgrace, and also 
 concerned upon the account of his own private losses, for he had 
 large and fruitful possessions in Merse and Teviotdale, sent to the 
 regent,, to lay before him the greatness of their danger, and to beg 
 of him to prevent it. The regent deplored his own solitude, 
 and complained how he was deserted by the nobility. Douglas 
 told him, it was his own, not the nobility's fault, for they were 
 willing to spend their lives and fortunes for the good of the pub- 
 lic; but he had slighted their advice, and was wholly governed 
 by the priests, who were unwarlike abroad, and seditious at home ; 
 for they, being exempted from danger themselves, did abusively 
 spend the fruits of other men's labours upon their own pleasures. 
 f This' said he, *• is the fountain from whence suspicions arise be- 
 1 tween you and the nobility, which, in regard you cannot trust 
 « one another, is a great hinderance to the public service, but, 
 « if you will communicate counsels and concernments with them, 
 f who will not refuse to lay down their lives in executing what 
 
 * shall be resolved upon, I do not despair, but we may yet per- 
 ( form as noble exploits as ever any of our ancestors did, in times 
 
 * equally, or at least not much less troublesome than the days 
 f we now live in. But if, by our own slothfulness, we suffer the 
 « enemy to conquer by piece-meal, he will quickly force us to 
 1 a surrender or a banishment; and which of the two is more 
 < miserable and flagitious can hardly be determined. As for us 
 
 * two, I know I am accused by my enemies of treachery, and you 
 
 * of cowardice: but if you would do that speedily, which you are 
 
 * not able to avoid doing in the end, it is not a line-spun oration, 
 « but it is the field of battle, and the edge of the sword, that 
 « must clear us of these imputations*" The regent told him, he 
 would be wholly guided by him and the nobles: upon which the 
 council was summoned about an expedition; and by their advice 
 •a proclamation was published in ail the neighbouring countries, 
 that the whole nobility there should, with all the speed they 
 could, repair to the regent wheresoever he should be; and they, 
 the day after, with their present forces, which were not above 
 300 horse, marched for England. There came in to them some 
 of the Lothianers and Merse-men, but not very many; so that 
 when they readied Mulross upon Tweed, they resolved to stay 
 there till more force came up to them. But the English, who 
 were already got as far as Jedburgh, being informed by their 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 10)1 
 
 spies of the inconsiderable force of the enemy, marched with a- 
 bout 5000 men out of Jedburgh, directly towards Mulross, not 
 doubting but that they should surprise the regent and his party 
 unawares, being but few, and those also tired with their march. 
 
 But the Scots having advice from their scouts of the English, 
 withdrew to the next hills, from thence in safety to behold what 
 course the enemy would take. The English being thus disap- 
 pointed of their hope, wandered up and down in the town and. 
 monastery of monks, which were pillaged a little before, being 
 intent upon what prey they could find, and there they staid till 
 break of day. As soon as it was light they were returning to 
 Jedburgh, and the Scots having received a supply of almost 300 
 of the men of Fife, under the command of Norman Lesly, son 
 ot the earl of Rothes, a young man of such accomplishments, 
 that he had not his match in all Scotland, grew from hence 
 more encouraged, and so, with a slow march, they retired to the 
 hills which lie about the town of Ancram: there Walter Scot, 
 of whom mention is made before, an active and prudent person, 
 came into them with but a few in his company, excusing the 
 straitness of time, and telling them, That his whole party would be 
 speedily with them; his advice was, that they should send their 
 horse to the next hill, and so all of them run equal hazard on 
 foot, and wait for the enemy on the low grounds; for he did not 
 doubt but that their servants carrying up their horse to the higher 
 grounds, would make the English believe they were running away, 
 and that would occasion them to hasten their march. And ac- 
 cordingly, lest the Scots should get off without fighting, and be 
 again to be sought out with a great deal of pains, before the 
 night came, the English came up to them in three battalions; for 
 they hoped to end the business with one light skirmish; and be- 
 cause their hopes were such, each one exhorted his fellow to make 
 haste, though they had continued their march night and day be- 
 fore under their heavy arms, that so by a short toil they might 
 get long rest, renown and glory. These exhortations added to 
 their courage, as much as the toil of the march abated their 
 strength, so that their two first battalions fell in amongst the 
 Scots, who were prepared for the onset, as into an ambush; yet 
 trusting to their number, they stood to their arms, and fought 
 stoutly. But two things, wisely foreseen, were a great help to 
 the Scots; for both the sun was almost at west and darted with 
 its full beams in the faces of the enemy; and also the wind, 
 which was somewhat high, carried back the smoke of the gun- 
 powder upon the battalions behind, insomuch that they could 
 not see their way; and besides, whilst they wess panting, by rea- 
 son of their march, it mightily troubled them with its noisoma 
 smell. The first battalion of the English fell back upon the se- 
 Vol. II. B b 
 
192 history of Scotland. Book XV. 
 
 cond, the second on the third; where, by their intermixtures one 
 with another, and th^ pressing of the Scots upon them, they all 
 broke their ranks, and were driven back ; so that all were so full 
 of fear and terror, that none knew his own colours, or his cap- 
 tain. Thus, whilst every one provided for his own safety, no 
 man remembered the public danger or disgrace. The Scots fol- 
 lowed thick and close after them, so that now there was no more 
 fighting but slaying. At night the Scots were called back to 
 their colours, and taking a view of the slain, they lost only two 
 of their own; of the English, besides commanders, there died 
 about 200 soldiers, most of them persons of quality. There 
 were about 1000 prisoners taken, and of them above 80 gentle- 
 men. This victory happening beyond all men's expectation, was 
 so much the more acceptable; the fruit and profit of it all 're- 
 dounded to the regent, but almost all the honour to the Dou- 
 glasses. 
 
 About this time, by the fraud, as it is thought, of George 
 Gordon, earl of Huntly, a quarrel arose, in which almost all the 
 family of the Frazers was extinguished. There was betwixt them 
 and MacRonald an old grudge, which had been often manifested 
 to the loss of both parties ; and Huntly was inwardly filled with 
 indignation, that they alone, of all the neighbouring families, re-* 
 fused to come under his clanship. For, when the neighbour 
 islanders gathered together what forces they could against the 
 earl of Argyle, there was hardly any man in that tract of the 
 country but bore arms on one side or other. But the matter 
 being composed without blows, as they were returning, they se- 
 vered from him another way: the MacRonalds having notice of 
 it, got their clanships together, and set upon them most fu- 
 riously ; and the Frazers, being fewer in number, were overcome, 
 and all slain to a man. And thus that numerous family, which 
 had oft so well deserved of their country, had been wholly ex- 
 tinguished, unless by God's good providence (as we have reason 
 to believe, 80 of the chief of the family had left their wives at 
 home big with child, all of which, in due time, brought forth 
 male children, and they all lived to man's estate. 
 
 At the same time the king of England heard that his army 
 was beaten and wasted in Scotland, and that an ambassador was 
 sent by the regent to the king of France, to acquaint him with 
 the victory, and to dcshe aid.- of him against the demands and 
 threats of the king of England; and likewise to inform against 
 Lennox, in defamation of his departure into England. As for 
 aid, he could scarce obtain any, because the French knew for cer- 
 tain, that Henry was just upon the point of passing over with 
 great forces into France, only they sent 500 horse and 3,000 
 foot, not so much to defend the Scots from the incursions of the 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 93 
 
 English, as to hold them in play, that they might not fall with 
 their whole strength upon France. Henry that summer did not 
 think fit to send greater forces to the borders of Scotland, be- 
 cause he was of opinion that the garrisons were sufficient to re- 
 strain the excursions of the Scots; and besides, he knew well 
 enough that the Scots; in such a perplexed state of their affairs, 
 could not raise a great army that year to attack any well fortified 
 places. 
 
 The Scottish ambassador in France raised some mean and pi- 
 tiful objections against Lennox, in his absence, scarce worth the 
 answering; as, That he had concealed the money sent to him: 
 that, by reason of his dissensions with the cardinal, the cause of 
 the public was betrayed; and as for his departure into England, 
 he took special care to exaggerate that affair in a most individious 
 manner. The king of France, who by means of false rumours 
 had conceived such an anger against Lennox, that he would by 
 no means admit of his clearing himself, or making the least a- 
 pology against those calumnies; nay, he had imprisoned Len- 
 nox's brother, captain of his guards, without giving him a hear- 
 ing. When the truth began a little to appear, he then indeed, as 
 it were in excuse for his rash proceeding, sought some colour 
 to hide it; and accordingly commanded an examination to be 
 made of the crimes objected against Lennox. And the inquiry 
 was committed to the care of James Montgomery of Lorge, com- 
 mander of the French auxiliaries, a man active and good enough, 
 but a bitter enemy to Lennox; it was put into his hands at the 
 instance of the Guises, because they were not able to distinguish 
 and separate the cause of their sister from the perfidiousness of 
 the cardinal. Montgomery arrived with his French auxiliaries 
 lately mentioned, in Scotland, on July the 3d, in the year 1545, 
 where, by shewing the letters, and declaring the good intentions 
 of the king of France towards them in the council, he obtained 
 that an army should be levied, but only of the better sort, who 
 were to bear the charges of the war; and they were to meet 
 upon a short day. And accordingly, at the time appointed, there 
 met 15,000 Scots at Haddington, and marched to the borders; 
 they formed their camp over against Werk, a castle in England. 
 From thence, almost every other day, they marched with their 
 colours into England, and carried off a great deal of booty. The 
 enemy endeavoured to resist their incursions, but in vain; they 
 made some slight skirmishes, but without success; so that the 
 Scots wasted all the country for six miles round. 1 hey continued 
 this manner of action, for the space of ten day.;, never going so 
 far into the enemies' country in the day-time, but that they 
 could return back to their camp at night. In the interim, Mont- 
 gomery and George Hume put it very earnestly to the regent 
 
 15b 2 
 
1 94 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 that he would remove his camp to the other side of the Tweed, 
 so that they might make freer inroads upon the parts adjacent, and 
 spread the terror of their arms to a greater distance ; but all their 
 solicitations were in vain: for the regent, and those of the council 
 about him, were against it, because they were destitute of all ne- 
 cessaries for storming of castles; so that they disbanded the ar- 
 my, and returned home. The rest took up their winter-quarters 
 as every one thought fit; but Montgomery went to Stirling, to 
 the court, where, knowing of the calumnies raised against Lennox 
 by his enemies, though he was himself highly disgusted at him 
 too, yet he rebuked the cardinal very severely; that, without any 
 provocation on Lennox's part, he had loaded so noble and inno- 
 cent a person with such calumnious imputations, and had com- 
 pelled him, even against his will, to join with the enemy. 
 
 About the same time, inroads were made by both sides, on all 
 parts of the borders, with very different events. Robert Max- 
 well, the son of Robert, a young gentleman of singular valour, 
 was taken prisoner by the English; there was nothing memorable 
 done besides. At the beginning of the following winter, Mont- 
 gomery returned to France, and the cardinal carried about the re- 
 gent with him through the neighbouring provinces, upon pretence 
 to reconcile and heal the seditions and distempers of all parties. 
 First, they came to Perth, where four men were punished for 
 eating flesh on a day prohibited; and also a woman and her in- 
 fant were both suffered to perish, because she refused to call up- 
 on the Virgin Mary for aid, at die time when she was in labour. 
 Then they applied themselves to the overthrow of all the reform- 
 ed universally: they went to TJundee, and, as themselves gave 
 out, it was to punish such as read the New Testament; for in 
 those days that was counted a most grievous sin; and such was 
 the blindness of those times, that some of the priests, being of- 
 fended at the novelty of the title, did contend, that the book 
 was lately written by Martin Luther, and therefore they desired 
 only the Old. There it was told them, that Patrick Gray, chief 
 of a noble family in those parts, was coming with a great train, 
 and the earl of Rothes with him. The tumult being appeased, 
 the regent commanded both of them to come to him the day 
 after; but the cardinal, thinking it not safe to admit two such 
 potent and factious persons, with so great a train, into that town,- 
 which was the only one highly addicted to the reformed religion, 
 persuaded the regent to return to Perth. The noblemen, when 
 they were ready for their journey, hearing in the morning that 
 the regent was gone to Perth, they immediately, upon the first 
 notice, followed him thither; and when they came in sight of 
 the town, the cardinal was so afraid, that, to gratify him, the 
 regent commanded them to enter severally and apart; and the 
 
Dook XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 195 
 
 next day after, they were both committed to prison; yet RotliCci 
 was soon released, but Gray was delivered with more difficulty af- 
 terwards, because he was more hated and feared by them. Before 
 they went from thence, the cardinal thought good to abace the 
 power of Ruthven, mayor of the city; so that the regent took away 
 the mayoralty from him, and gave it to the laird Kinfans, a neigh- 
 bour laird, Gray's kinsman. Ruthven was hated by the cardinal, 
 because he favoured the reformed religion; and as for Gray, he 
 was not wholly averse to the reformed neither, nor yet any great 
 friend of the cardinal's. By this means the cardinal did not doubt, 
 but, if they two fell out, many of the neighbouring parts would 
 join themselves to each of them, in regard of their being derived 
 from such illustrious families, and having each numerous domes- 
 tics; and so the more of them fell on either side, the fewer ene- 
 mies he should have left alive. 
 
 Thus the mayoralty of Perth, which for many years had conti- 
 nued as hereditary in the family of the Ruthvcns, was translated 
 to Charters, laird of Kinfans, to the mighty great indignation of 
 the citizens; who took it much amiss, that their ancient freedom 
 of voting in their assemblies, was taken away: but the new mayor 
 was sent to bring them to a sense of obedience by force, if they 
 offered to resist. The design was to assault the city in two 
 places. Gray, who had taken the whole matter upon his single 
 self, attacked it from the bridge over the river Tay. The other 
 party were to carry their guns up the stream, and so to storm the 
 open side of the town ; but because the tide hindered them, they 
 did not come up in time. Gray makes his attempt from the 
 bridge (from which Ruthven had purposely withdrawn his guards 
 into the next houses, that so it might seem to the enemy as if it 
 was undefended) and when he saw none in arms to oppose him, 
 he boldly marched up into the town; upon which Ruthven sallied 
 out of the adjoining houses on a sudden, and gave him a brisk 
 charge, which routed him and his whole party; but in their flight 
 through narrow passages, one hindered another; for the last, 
 striving to gain the mouth of the passage, gave a stop to the first; 
 and in this confusion many were trod to death, and sixty fell by 
 the sword. The cardinal, when he knew that Ruthven had got the 
 victory, was a little concerned at it; yet glad however, that so 
 many of his enemies were destroyed; for as he despaired ever to 
 make them his friends, so he counted it a gain to him to see them 
 mutually destroy one another. The cardinal having thus passed 
 over as much of Angus as he thought convenient at that time, 
 brought the regent, after the winter solstice, to St. Andrews, to 
 endear his mind still more and more to him, if possible; for 
 though he had his son, the earl of Arran, as a pledge, yet as 
 cftyn as he meditated upon the fierceness of the Scottish nobility, 
 
I96 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 and the strength of the opposite faction, and the inconstancy of 
 the regent; he was afraid that he might be persuaded by his ene- 
 mies, and so wrought over to them with the same levity, as he 
 had first joined himself with him. There he entertained him, 
 with a small retinue, with sports and pastimes twenty days at 
 Christmas. He gave him many gifts to please him for the pre- 
 sent, and promised him more for the future; and, after much 
 discourse together, concerning the state of the kingdom, he came 
 a little more secure to Edinburgh. 
 
 There-a convocation of priests was held, Jan. 13. In that as- 
 sembly many things were debated concerning the retaining of the 
 old liberty of the church, and the punishment of the enormous 
 crimes of some priests; but, in the midst of their debates, before 
 they could conclude of any thing., news was brought to them, 
 that George Wishart, a preacher of the gospel, one very accepta- 
 ble to the people, was entertained at the house of a noble person, 
 called John Cockburn, about seven miles from the city. They 
 presently detached a party of horse thither, to demand the offend- 
 er: but Cockburn alleged several things in excuse, on purpose to 
 create some delays, that so he might have an opportunity to con- 
 vey him away secretly ; of which the cardinal being informed, 
 posted thither with the regent, even in the dead time of the night, 
 and beset all the avenues of the house ; and yet his promises, flat- 
 teries, and threats, prevailed not at all, till he sent for the earl of 
 Bothweil out of the next district. He, being the chief of all the 
 Lothianers, with some difficulty obtained that George should be 
 delivered up to him; but first he passed his word, that no harm 
 or damage should come to him. The priests, having now gotten 
 this prey into their hands, carried him from Edinburgh to St. 
 Andrews ; and there, about a month after, they assembled a great 
 company of the ecclesiastics of all sorts, to determine concerning 
 his doctrine. This was done to blind men's eyes with the pre- 
 tence of a judicatory, and of a legal proceeding; for all men 
 knew what they would determine concerning him before-hand. 
 By the consent of them all, the cardinal, by his letters, desired 
 the regent to give out his mandate for a civil judge to sit upon the 
 offender (for he himself, by the pope's canon law, could not sit 
 upon the life or death of any man) that so he, that was already 
 judged an heretic by the priests, might be also sentenced to death 
 by the secular power. The regent was not likely to have made 
 any scruple in granting his request, but that David Hamilton of 
 Preston, his kinsman, had interposed and kept him back, who 
 sometimes advised, and sometimes intrcated, threatened, and chid 
 him, in order to stop the process against George. The sum of 
 his discourse is supposed to be this: " That he very much wondered 
 upon what account the regent should vest so great an authority in 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 97 
 
 anv man, against the servants of God, who had no other crime 
 objected against them, but that of preaching the gospel of Jesus 
 Christ; and especially should deliver them up to such, whose 
 wretched lives and brutish cruelty made them quite careless what 
 torments they put an innocent man to, whose integrity of life his 
 very enemies were forced to confess, even against their will ; and 
 for his learning, he himself knew it to be great. Tha t further, 
 he himself had been formerly a great favourer of him and it. It 
 was by his commendation, that he was advanced to the supreme 
 magistracy j and also that he had given forth edicts to declare his 
 assent to his doctrine publicly,' and had undertaken to defend it; 
 nay, he had exhorted all in general, and each man in particular, 
 to read, and understand, practise and exemplify it in their hearts 
 and lives. Consider therefore with yourself, said he, what will 
 men think; what will men say of you? Consider the mercies 
 God Almighty hath bestowed upon you? The king, an active 
 man, and your enemy, was taken away, who walked in the very 
 same steps you now tread. They who brought him to ruin by 
 their advice, are at this minute doing their utmost endeavour to 
 destroy you. They have opposed you from the beginning with the 
 weight of all their power; and now they seek with fraudulent 
 counsel, to ensnare and undo you. Call to mind, Sir, the vic- 
 tory given you over your subjects without bloodshed, and over 
 your enemies too, though having much greater force than your- 
 self, to your great renown, and their deserved ignominy. Re- 
 member for whose sake you thus desert God, and oppose your 
 and his friends. Awake, I beseech you, and dispel that mist, 
 which wicked and ill-designing men have cast before your eyes; 
 remember Saul king of Israel, how he was raised up from a low 
 to a sovereign estate, and how many blessings he received from 
 God, as long as he was obedient to his law; but when he slighted 
 and turned aside from his commands, how miserably was he pu- 
 nished? Compare the succsss of your affairs, from the beginning 
 to this very day, with his prosperities; and, unless you alter the 
 course of your designs, expect no happier issue, nay, rather a 
 worse end than he; for he designed the same projects which vou 
 are now upon, and that to gratify some base varlets, who can nei- 
 ther hide their open wickedness, nor do so much as endeavour to 
 dissemble them." 
 
 The regent was effected at the advice of his friend, and writ 
 back an answer jo the cardinal, that he should not precipitate the 
 process, but let'the whole matter lie dormant, till lie came himself; 
 for he was not willing to consent to the condemnation of the man, 
 till he had more, diligently inquired into his cause; and, if the 
 cardinal did otherwise, the man's blood should light on his h^ad.; 
 
iq3 nis-fouY of scotlakd. Book XV. 
 
 for he testified by those letters, that he himself was entirely clear 
 from it. 
 
 The cardinal was unexpectedly surprised with this answer*, he 
 knew well enough, that if delays were made in the case, the pri- 
 soner would be delivered, as being a popular man ; and besides 
 he would not suffer the thing to be brought to a debate, partly be- 
 cause by fair dispute he had no hopes to prevail, and partly because 
 the man having been already condemned by the ecclesiastical coun- 
 cils and canons, he would have no recognition made; so that he 
 was angry to a degree of rage, and persisted in the resolution he 
 had taken. And his reply was, that he did not wrka- to the re- 
 gent, as if he had not sufficient authority independently of him, 
 but for a shew of common consent, that his name might be to the 
 Condemnation Upon that, George was brought out of prison, 
 and John Windfam, a learned man, and an hearty (though secret) 
 favourer of the cause of religion, was commanded to mount a 
 kind of pulpit there erected, and to preach. He took his text 
 out of Mat. xiii. which says, that the good seed is the word of God y 
 but the evil seed is heresy. In his discourse, defining heresv, he 
 said, it was a false opinion, evidently repugnant to the holy scrip- 
 tures, and maintained with obstinacy; and that it was occasioned, 
 and also supported and fostered, by the ignorance of the pastors 
 of the church, who did not know how either to convince heretics, 
 or to reduce those who were gone astray, by the spiritual sword, 
 which is the word of God. Afterwards he explained the duty of 
 a bishop, out of the epistle to Timothy, and shewed that there was 
 only one way to find out heresy, which was to bring it to the test 
 of the word of God. At length, when he had finished his dis- 
 course, though what he spoke made against the priests who were 
 there assembled, not to refute heresies, but to punish those who 
 opposed their licentious arrogance; yet, as if all things went well 
 on their side, they haled forth George to a pulpit or scaffold, built 
 in the church; that so they might observe their accustomed form 
 in judgment. Over against him there was another pulpit, which 
 John Lauder, a popish priest, mounted; and the rest stood all 
 about him, as it were to judge. But there was not the least ap- 
 pearance of judgment, or of a free dispute in the case; for the ac- 
 cuser thundered out many odious and abominable slanders, such 
 as are wont to be commonly forged against the preachers of the 
 reformed religion, with mighty bitter expressions. And thus hav- 
 ing spent some hours, George was brought back again to the cas- 
 tle, and lodged in the governor's chamber, spending great part of 
 his time that night in prayer. The next morning the bishops sent 
 two Franciscans to him, to acquaint him that his death was at hand, 
 and to know whether they should confess him, as is usual in such 
 cases. He told them, he had nothing to do with friars, nor had 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. IOQ 
 
 any mind to discourse them; but if they were willing to gratify 
 him in that one point, then he desired to confer with that learned 
 man who preached the day hefore. Accordingly the bishop? gave 
 him leave to go to the castle, and George had a long discourse 
 with Windram, who, after he had ceased weeping (which, for a 
 while, he could not refrain) very friendly demanded of him, whe- 
 ther he would receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper? With 
 all my heart, said George, if I may receive it under both kinds of. 
 bread and wine, according to Christ's institution. "Windram re- 
 turned to the bishops, and told them, that George very solemnly 
 professed, that he was innocent of the crime of which he was ac- 
 cused ; which he spoke not to deprecate his death now at hand, 
 but only to testify his iimocejrcy before men, as it was before suf- 
 ficiently known to God. The cardinal was much enraged; Ah, 
 says he, we know ivcll enough what you are Being further de- 
 manded, whether he would admit him to receive the sacrament ? 
 he talked a little with the bishops, and with their consent made 
 answer, that it was n@t fit that a stubborn heretic, condemned by the 
 church, should enjoy any benefits of the church. That answer being: 
 returned to him, about nine o'clock the friends and officers o£ 
 the governor of the castle sat down to breakfast; they asked George 
 whether he would eat with them? Very willingly, said he, and 
 much more so than informer times, because 1 perceive you are good 
 men, and fe! low-members with me of the same body of Christ ; and be- 
 cause 1 know, that this is the last meal I shall eat on earth. And for 
 you (speaking to the governor of the castle) / desire you, in the 
 name of G:d, and for that love which you bear to our Lord and 
 Saviour jfesus Christ, that you will sit down a while with us, and 
 vouchsafe me the hearing, whilst I give you a short exhortation, and so 
 pray over this bread., which, as brethren in Christ, we are about to 
 eat, and then I will bid you heartily farewell. In the interim the 
 cloth was laid (according to custom) and bread set on, when 
 George made a brief and clear discourse for about half an hour, 
 concerning Christ's last supper, his sufferings and death. But a- 
 bove all, he exhorted them to lay aside anger, envy, and malice* 
 and to have mutual love impressed on their minds; that so they 
 might become perfect members of Christ, who daily intercedes 
 for us with his Father, that our sacrifice might be accepted by 
 him to eternal life. When he had thus spoken, he gave thanks, 
 and then broke the bread, and gave to every one a little piece, and 
 then the wine, after he himself had drank, in the same manner, 
 intreating them to remember the death of Christ now in the last 
 sacrament with him; as for himself, a bitterer portion was pre- 
 pared for him, for no other reason but his preaching the gospel. 
 And then, having again given thanks, he returned to his chamber, 
 and concluded his prayer. A while after, two executioners were 
 
 C Q 
 
200 HISTORY OF 1 SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 sent to him by the cardinal, one of them put a black linen shirt 
 upon him, and the other bound many little bags of gun-powder 
 to all the parts of his body. In this dress they brought him forth, 
 and commanded him to stay in the governor's outer chamber. 
 And at the same time they erected a wooden scaffold in the court 
 before the castle, and made up a pile of wood. The windows 
 and balconies over-against it were all hung with tapestry and silk 
 hangings, with cushions for the cardinal and his train, to behold 
 and take pleasure in the joyful sight, even the torture of an inno- 
 cent man; thus courting the favour of the people, as the author 
 of so notable a deed. There was also a great guard of soldiers, 
 not so much to secure the execution, as for a vain ostentation of 
 power; and besides, brass guns were placed up and down in all 
 convenient places of the castle. Thus whilst the trumpets sound- 
 ed, George was brought forth, mounted the scaffold, and was 
 fastened with a cord to the stake; and having scarce obtained li- 
 berty to pray for the church of God, the executioners fired the 
 wood, which immediately taking hold of the powder that was 
 tied about him, blew it up into flame and smoke. The governor 
 of the castle, who stood so near that he was singed with the flame, 
 exhorted him in a few words to be of good chear, and to ask par- 
 don of God for his offences. To whom he replied, This flame 
 occasions trouble to my body indeed, but it hath in no ways broken my 
 spirit: but he who now so proudly looks down upon me from yonder 
 hfty place (pointing to the cardinal) shall, ere long, be as ignom'mi- 
 ously thrown down, as no%u he proudly lolls at his ease. Having thus 
 spoken, they straitened the rope, which was tied about his neck, 
 and so strangled him. His body, in a few hours being consumed 
 to ashes in the flame, the bishops being yet mad with hate and 
 rage, forbade every body, upon great penalties, to pray for the 
 deceased. 
 
 After this fact, the cardinal was highly commended by his fac- 
 tion, and extolled to the very skies, that he alone, when others 
 declined it, had slighted the authority of the regent, and perform- 
 ed so noble an exploit, whereby he had curbed popular insolency, 
 and had courageously undertaken, and as happily managed the de- 
 fence of the whole ecclesiastical order. If the church had former- 
 ly had (said they) such strenuous assertors of its liberties, it 
 would never have been brought to that pass, as it is at this day, 
 **. e. to truckle under; but it would have given law to all, and re- 
 ceived it from none. This luxuriant and superlative joy of the 
 priests, for their obtained victory, rather irritated than discou- 
 raged the minds, not only of the promiscuous vulgar, but even of 
 some great and noble persons too. They fretted that things were 
 come to that pass by their own pusillanimity and cowardice; and 
 now they thought some bold thing or other was to be attempted 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 201 
 
 and hazarded, or else they must remain slaves for ever. Led by 
 this same motive, more company came in to them, whose grief 
 forced them to break out into complaints against the cardinal. 
 So they encouraged one another, to rid the cardinal out of the 
 way, and either to recover their liberty, or lose their lives. For 
 what hope of thriving, said they, can there be under so arrogant 
 a priest, and so cruel a tyrant, who makes war against God, as 
 well as man, and' those, not his enemies only, as were all such as 
 had estates, or were any way pious; but for a small grudge, he 
 will hale a man as a hog out of the sty, to be sacrificed to his 
 lusts. And besides, he is a public encourager and maintainer of 
 war, both at home and abroad; and, in his private capacity he 
 mixeth the love of harlots with lawful marriages. Legitimate 
 wedlock he dissolves at pleasure; at home he wallows in lust a- 
 mong his minions, and abroad he ravages to destroy the innocent. 
 The cardinal, though he did not distrust his own power, yet 
 knowing how people stood affected towards him, and what re- 
 ports were spread up and down concerning him, thought it his 
 best way to strengthen his power, by making what additions he 
 could, one way or other. For this end he went to Angus, and 
 married his eldest daughter to the son of the earl of Crawfurd. 
 The marriage was solemnized in great state, and almost with a 
 royal magnificence. Whilst these things were in agitation, he 
 received intelligence by his spies, that the king of England was 
 making great naval preparations to infest the Scottish coasts, but 
 especially the inhabitants of Fife, whom he threatened most. 
 And as soon as he received these advices, he returned to St. An- 
 drews, and there appointed a day for the nobles, especially those 
 whose estates lay near the sea, to meet, and consult in common, 
 what remedy to apply to the present evil. And, to do it more 
 effectually, he determined to take a view of all the sea-coasts, to- 
 gether with the owners of the lands, and so in a manner go a 
 circuit about all Fife; and to fortify all convenient places, and 
 to put garrisons into them. Amongst the rest of the noblemen's 
 sons who came in to the cardinal, Norman Lesly, son to the earl 
 of Rothes, was one, of whom I have made mention several times 
 before: he had done great and eminent services for the cardinal, 
 but, on a time, there fell out a dispute between them concerning 
 a private business, which made them cold to one another, and 
 strangers for a while; but Norman, for great promises made to 
 him, quitted his right to the matter in contest. After a few 
 months, coming to demand of the cardinal the performance of 
 what was promised him, they came from a plain to a pretty 
 warm discourse, and afterwards to downright railing, uttering 
 such reproachful words one to another, as misbecame them both. 
 And thus they parted in a great rage, the cardinal fretting that 
 
202 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV, 
 
 he was not treated with that deference which he thought due to 
 his dignity; and Norman, full of wrath, as being circumvented 
 by fraud; so that he returned home with thoughts full of re- 
 venge, and inveighed openly amongst his friends against the 
 intolerable pride of the cardinal; insomuch that they all agreed 
 to take away his life: and that the matter might pass with the 
 less suspicion, Norman, with five only in his company, came to 
 St. Andrews, and took up his usual inn, that so the design of 
 cutting him off might be concealed, by reason of the small reti- 
 nue he had with him. There were ten more in the town privy 
 to the conspiracy, who all, in several places, expected the watch- 
 word. With this small company did he undertake so great an 
 enterprize, and that in a town winch was full of the cardinal's 
 train, relations, and attendants*. The days were then very long, 
 2S they use to be in those countries towards the end oj 
 spring, viz. about May 7. And the cardinal was fortifying his 
 castle for his defence, in so great haste, that the workmen con- 
 tinued at it almost night and day; so that when the porter, early 
 in the morning, opened the gates to let in the workmen. Nor- 
 man had placed two of his men in ambush in an house hard by, 
 who were to seize the porter; and when they had made them- 
 selves masters of the gate, they were to give a sign agreed on to 
 the rest; by this means they all entered the castle without any 
 noise, and sent four of their number to watch the cardinal's 
 chamber-door, that no tidings might be carried in to him: others 
 were appointed to go to the chambers of the rest of the house- 
 hold, to call them up, for they well knew both the men and 
 the place; them they rouzed up, being half asleep, and calling 
 them all by their names, they threatened immediately to kill 
 them, if they made but the least outcry; so that they led them 
 all in profound silence out of the castle, without doing them any 
 hurt at all. When all the rest were turned out, then they alone 
 were masters of the castle; and then those who watched at the 
 cardinal's door knocked at it; being asked their names, they told 
 them, and were immediately let in, having, as some write, passed 
 their words, that they would do no harm; and when they were 
 entered, they dispatched the cardinal, having given him many 
 wounds. In the mean time, a noise was spread about the town, 
 that the castle was taken; insomuch that the cardinal's friends, 
 half drunk and half asleep, tumbled out of their beds, and cried 
 out, Ann. Thus to the castle they posted, and called out with 
 threatening and opprobrious words for ladders, other things they 
 also brought necessary for a storm. They who saw them out of 
 the castle, that they might blunt the present impetuousness of 
 their minds, and call back their mad spirits to consider themselves, 
 demanded why they made such a bustle, for the man was 
 
jBook. XV. history or Scotland. 203 
 
 whom they sought to rescue? And with that word they threw 
 the dead body out in the sight of them all; even out at that very 
 place, where before he had exultingly beheld the execution of 
 George Wishart. 
 
 Whereupon many reflected within themselves upon the incon- 
 stancy of human affairs, and that unexpected event. Many also 
 were affected with the prediction of George Wishart, concern- 
 ing his death, which then came into their minds; and many othcr 
 things also, which that holy man had foretold, not without the 
 special inspiration of God's Spirit, as we have cause to believe, 
 and as the event soon after made appear. The cardinal's friends 
 and kinsmen, quite astonished at this unexpected sight, soon skulk- 
 ed away. When the matter was divulged all over the kingdom, 
 men's minds were variously affected, as they either hated or loved 
 the cardinal; some thought it a brave, others an impious action. 
 Many being in a different way of worship from him, and living 
 in deadly fear of him, others offended at his intolerable ai'rogance, 
 did not only approve the fact, but came to congratulate the com- 
 mitters of it, as the restorers of their ancient liberties; and some 
 ventured their lives and fortunes in their quarrel. The court was 
 terribly alarmed at the news, as having lost part of their council; 
 but, by the advice of those which were present, they sent forth 
 a proclamation, that the murderers should come in within six 
 days, to give sureties to answer matters at a day which was to 
 be nominated for that purpose: but they had a strong castle over 
 their heads, and in it all the cardinal's money and his household- 
 stuff; and besides, they had the regent's eldest son with them, 
 who was given in hostage to the cardinal, as is related before; so 
 that they gave no credit to the promises of their enemies, whose 
 levity and perfidiousness they had sufficient experience of before, 
 and therefore they refused to hearken to any conditions of peace, 
 and for that reason they were out-lawed. Thus the matter was 
 protracted, partly by the threats and vain promises of the one 
 party and the diffidence of the other, from the month of May till 
 the fifth of November, and then the regent, at the importunity 
 of the queen-mother and the revilings and clamours of the priests, 
 Look arms, and lay three whole months before the castle, batter- 
 ing it with his brass guns; but in the fourth month, almost at 
 the end of winter, he dismissed his army, without carrying the 
 place, and went to Edinburgh, to be present at the convention 
 of estates, which he had before summoned to be held in Fe- 
 bruary. 
 
 They who held the castle being thus out of all fear of their 
 enemy, did not only make frequent excursions into the neigh- 
 bouring parts, and commit depredations with fire and sword all 
 round ; but, as if the liberty gotten by their arms was to be speii\ 
 
204 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 in whoredoms, adulteries, and such vices, they ran into all the 
 wickedness which idle persons are subject to; for they measured 
 right or wrong by no other rule but their own lust; neither could 
 they be reclaimed by John Knox, who then came to them, and 
 often warned them, that God would not be mocked, but would 
 take severe punishments on those, who were violators of his laws, 
 even by those whom they least dreamed of; yet his exhortations 
 could not stop the course of their impiety. 
 
 Besides this domestic mischief raging even in the very bowels 
 of the kingdom, which added extremely to it was a war with 
 England: For the English had passed over the Solway with their 
 forces, and put the people in a terrible panic fear. They were 
 not contented with the pillage and prey, but they fired some pla- 
 ces, took some strong holds, and put garrisons in them. Neither 
 were matters quieter in the other parts of the borders; Robert 
 Maxwell, upon whom the greatest part of the storm fell, came to 
 Edinburgh, to solicit for aid, when almost all was lost: He alleg- 
 ed, that the country was made desolate; that their castles were 
 taken and kept by their enemies; that the husband-man was driv- 
 en from his habitation, and forced to live in much want, on the 
 charity of his friends ; and that they suffered all this, because they 
 would not change nor forfeit their allegiance to their king. But, 
 if no course was taken for their releif, in some short time, their 
 miseries would compel them to give themselves to the English; 
 and so would their neighbours too, for fear they should undergo 
 the like. This complaint was the cause that aid was promised 
 him to recover his own; and the regent marching his army thi- 
 ther, formed his camp by the river Meggat. There the cardinal's 
 friends earnestly desired of him to call George Lesly, Norman's 
 father, who was then in the camp, to his answer, and not to carry 
 so potent a man with him, as his companion in the war, whose 
 faith was suspected, or rather who was an open enemy. The 
 earl, though the time and place did not favour it, yet was willing 
 immediately to put himself on his trial: Upon that, the names of 
 the judges or jury were (according to custom, which I have else- 
 where mentioned) impannelled, and none of them excepted a- 
 gainst by the adverse party ; yet by all their votes he was acquitted. 
 From thence they marched to the castle of Langham, and drove 
 out the English there; and as they were resolved to attempt other 
 forts, they were recalled by a sudden message. For news was 
 brought them, that the French fleet was seen not far from the 
 promontorv of St. Abb, consisting of one and. twenty ships. The 
 regent, imagining what the matter was, that they were come to 
 besiege the cjstle of St. Andrews (as had been agreed between 
 them) marcBed joyfully home: There he discoursed Leon Strozy, 
 admiral of the French fleet; and they both agreed to lay close 
 
Book XV*. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 20£ 
 
 siege to the castle: which they did with such wonderful dispatch, 
 that many of the garrison-soldiers who were abroad, could not 
 come in, and many country-men who had no hand in the con- 
 spiracy, but occasionally came into the castle about their private 
 affairs, could not get out. They planted their brass guns upon 
 the towers of two churches, which stood near on both sides the 
 castle, which so annoyed the whole court within the castle-walls 
 that no man durst stir out of his house without manifest danger 
 of his life. And afterwards they brought larger pieces of ord- 
 nance, and played upon part of the wall, which stood between 
 two towers: And that was soon battered down, because the lat- 
 ter buildings were not at all cemented with the former; mighty 
 was the noise of its downfal. When this happened, they within, 
 who before trusted to their fortifications, and were ready to ex- 
 pose themselves at all adventures to stop any breach, began now 
 to be afraid; and calling together a council of war, because they 
 feared the regent's cruelty (most apt to rage in feeble minds) on 
 the account of his kinsman's death, they surrendered the castle 
 and themselves to Leon Strozy, only upon quarter for life. 
 Then Leon sent in his men to pillage the castle; where were 
 found, besides a great quantity of provisions of all sorts, all the 
 cardinal's money and household-stuff, and all the wealth of the 
 garrison-soldiers, and of many others also, who had laid up their 
 goods there, as in a place of refuge: There also they found there- 
 gent's son, who was before given in hostage by his father to the 
 cardinal; and when he was slain, was detained there. The cas- 
 tle was demolished by advice and order of council; and a few 
 days after, Leon set sail with his prisoners for France. These 
 things came to pass in August 1547. 
 
 About the same time news was brought, that the English had 
 prepared great forces both by land and sea, to invade Scotland, 
 and to demand the performance of the treaty, which was made 
 four years before with the regent, concerning the marriage of the 
 queen of Scotland to the king of England's son. This sudden 
 report mightily affected the regent, who was faint-hearted enough 
 of himself, for he had then no foreign aid, neither did he much 
 confide in his own forces: For the papal faction were offended 
 at his levity, and the friends of exiled Lennox, having been cruel- 
 ly treated by him, retained the seeds of their old hatred against 
 him; yet upon his proclamation, there came in great numbers to 
 Edinburgh. From thence they marched to the mouth of the river 
 Esk, which runs through Lothian, and there waited the approach- 
 es of the English. In the mean time the Scottish hor-e rode up 
 towards the enemy in their march, and challenged them to fight, 
 by this means creating some trouble to them in their passage: but 
 the English general, who knew that the Scots were better than 
 
2o6 HISTORY Of SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 his own men at such tumultuary skirmishes, had given command, 
 that none of his troops should march out to encounter them. At 
 last, upon die importunity of Gray, commander of the horse, he 
 was persuaded to send out some troops of horse well-armed, and of 
 cuirassiers, that should suddenly rush in upon them, when they 
 were unprepared for resistance. The Scots grown fearless of 
 the enemy, hut now astonished at the sudden onset, broke their 
 ranks, and fled for their lives, and about 800 of them were either 
 slain or taken: Of the English also, who pressed too eagerly on the 
 pursuit, several were taken prisoners, amongst which were ;ome 
 eminent horse-officers. 
 
 From that day forward there was no remarkable action per- 
 formed by the Scottish horse. The English had their camp at 
 the town of Preston, a little more than a mile from them. From 
 thence they might behold the number of the Scottish army from 
 the high ground, and perceiving them to be more than they had 
 thought, they advised what course to take, and resolved to send 
 letters to the Scots, that so, if just and equal conditions might 
 be agreed upon, the matter might be ended rather by treaty, than 
 by force. The contents of the letters were : " They earnestly 
 desired the Scots to remember, first, that both armies professed 
 the Christian religion, to whom therefore, unless they renounced 
 their profession, nothing ought to be more dear than peace and 
 tranquillity, and nothing more to be abhorred than arms and war 
 upon an unjust foot: That the cause of the present war was not 
 covetousness, hatred, or envy, but a desire of perpetual peace, 
 which could be no ways so firmly cemented, as by marriage, 
 which had been already promised by the public decree and consent 
 of ail the estates, and ratified by a league, and that on such con- 
 ditions as were more advantageous to the Scots than English; not 
 to reduce them to a state of servitude, but to a joint society of 
 life, and participation and communion of all their fortunes; which 
 marriage would be so much the more beneficial to the Scots than to 
 the English, as the weaker side hath reason to hope for more ad- 
 vantages, and to apprehend more injuries from the stronger. 
 And, at the present, in casting up accounts of tilings, you are 
 first to consider the case, that it is very necessary your queen 
 should marry; that necessity is inevitable, and a hard matter to 
 order it well; that the sole power of chusing her a husband was 
 left to the estates. If they would chuse a husband upon the ac- 
 count of dignity and public advantage, whom could they pitch up- 
 on better, than a neighbouring king, born in the same island, alli- 
 ed in blood ; instituted in the same laws ; educated in the same 
 manners and language, and superior, not in power alone, but in 
 all external ornaments and accessions of dignity? And besides, 
 this marriage would bring with it a perpetual concord, and an cb- 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, 20"J 
 
 livion of old resentments. But if they had any thoughts of bring- 
 ing in a stranger amongst them, to govern the kingdom, that dif- 
 fered from them in language, laws, and customs, they should 
 consider how many inconveniencies were lodged in the womb of 
 that design, which they might easily foresee by the examples of 
 other nations; and it were better so to do, than to learn it by trial 
 and feeling the smart of it. As for themselves, if they found the 
 spirit of the Scots not wholly averse from an agreement, they 
 were ready to remit something of the rigour of law and right; and 
 that they would be content the young queen should be educated 
 under Scottish guardians, till she came to be marriageable, and fit, 
 by the advice of the nobles, to chuse an husband for herself; and, 
 till that time came, both sides should abstain from war and ra- 
 pine; and that the queen should not be transported beyond sea, 
 nor that any treaty should be entertained by the Scots, concern- 
 ing her marriage with the French, or any other foreign prince. 
 If the Scots would faithfully promise this, they would presently 
 depart and withdraw their forces; and as for what damage they 
 had done since they entered Scotland, they would make such re- 
 stitution, as indifferent men should award." 
 
 These letters were brought to the regent, who communicated 
 them to his brother John, archbishop of St. Andrews, whom he 
 had assumed into the place and authority of the cardinal, and to> 
 some few others: They, in hopes of a sure victory, gave him ad- 
 vice to suppress them; for they were afraid that, if the equity of 
 the proposals were made known, the Scots would be taken oft, 
 and hearken to terms of peace; and therefore they gave out, 
 thro' the whole army, that the English were come on purpose to 
 take away their queen by force, and to reduce the land to their 
 own subjection. And the regent, being naturally unactive, had 
 chosen four, no more versed in military affairs than himself, who 
 did turn and wind all things at their pleasure: Those were his 
 three kinsmen and allies, John his brother, archbishop of St. 
 Andrews and abbot of Dunfermline, George Dury, Alexander 
 Beton, and the fourth was Hugh Riggs a lawyer, noted more for 
 his large body, corpulency, and bulky strength, than for any mili- 
 tary skill. These men did so puff up the regent with the vain 
 hope of victory, that, being of himself inconstant and variable in 
 his designs at every blast of wind, he shut his ears against the ad- 
 vice of ail others. This being so, when the resents private favou- 
 rites had caused the report, which they themselves had raised, to 
 be spread all over the army, they ran hastily and unanimously to 
 their arms. Archibald Douglas, carl of Angus, led the van: 
 George Gordon, earl of Huntly brought up the rear: each of them 
 had 10,000 flghtmg men: and the regent had about the same 
 number in the main battle, In this po'sture, a report was sud- 
 II. D d 
 
2oS HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 denly raised, that the English were fled away; and it was not al- 
 together without ground, for they, wanting provision, and not be- 
 ing able to fetch it from far, nor to forage for it in the neigh- 
 bourhood, which was so unfurnished before, thought it the best 
 way to preserve themselves, if they left part of their baggage be- 
 hind them, and retreated by long marches; but, having so many 
 armed men ready to engage, seeing they durst not come down 
 into the champaign, nor could deceive the enemy by going about, 
 they waited his coming on the higher ground. On the other 
 side, the regent was impatient of delay, and sent word to Dougla3 
 to march on with speed; but he, knowing that the English could 
 not long keep, their ground for want of provision, waiting to fall 
 on their rear, made no great haste, till he was stirred up by an- 
 other messenger from the regent: Then, and not before, he passed 
 over the river, and the main battle and the rear following at a 
 great distance. The English, who were about to depart, per- 
 ceiving Douglas to draw towards them upon the speed, sent out 
 Gray, commander of the horse, with his whole body to meet 
 him, and stop his career, till the foot had possessed themselves 
 of a neighbouring hill; or, if he saw cause, he was to disturb 
 them in their ranks; for, seeing the major part of them wei-e 
 armed after the French mode, they thought the Scots would 
 never be able to bear the brunt of their charge. But a brigade of 
 the Scots, marching in close order together, holding forth their 
 stand of long pikes before them, as a fence, received the assault. 
 There the van of the English running in upon, and intangling 
 themselves amongst the pikes, the rest thought themselves ambus- 
 cadoed, and so returned to their body, telling them, that the 
 Scots ranks could no more be broken, than if they charged against 
 a wall. Upon that, the English horse were about to leave the 
 foot, and fly; but, by the persuasion of their commanders, and 
 their mutual encouraging one another, and withal, hoping for 
 a more advantageous ground to fight on, they were retained, and 
 renewed their ranks. The Scots Mere held from marching forward 
 to the opposite hill, chiefly upon this account, because they per- 
 ceived Jambo, a Spaniard, with some troops of his countrymen, 
 harquebusiers, coming down obliquely from the hills, as if he 
 would fali on their flank; and therefore, that no sudden emer- 
 gency might cause them to divide their brigade, and also that they 
 might not be attacked on their flanks, they wheeled about leiburciy 
 from the right ascent of the hill. The main battle, when they 
 saw-thevan leaving their station, thought that they were running 
 away, and so they broke their ranks too, and betook themselves 
 to night. The English seeing this from the high grounds, sent 
 out their horse, and trode many of them under foot in the pursuit. 
 During ail this march from Esk to the English camp, the English 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 20O. 
 
 navy played upon the flank of the Scots out of their ships, and did 
 them much mischief. All the ways were strawed with arms, by 
 reason of the great slaughter which was made; and numbers of 
 them likewise were drowned in the river. The English were most 
 severe against the priests and the monks; (for those of that tribe, 
 who were lusty and able to bear arms, came into the field) and 
 there were many who imputed the loss of the day to them, who 
 had arrogantly refused honest conditions of peace, and who, if 
 they had the victory, would have used it as cruelly towards their 
 own countrymen, as their enemies. In the first charge, the English 
 lost about 200 horse, but of the Scots there fell the prime of all 
 the noblest families, with their relations and tenants, who count- 
 ed it the vilest and most wicked thing in nature to desert them; 
 and many were taken in the pursuit. The Highlanders gathered 
 themselves together in a round body, kept their ranks, and return- 
 ed safe home. At first they marched through craggy places, and 
 inconvenient for the horse; and, if they were sometimes necessita- 
 ted to descend into the plains, yet the English horse, who follow- 
 ed the pursuit in a scattered way, durst not attack them. This 
 battle, amongst a few others, was very calamitous to the Scots. 
 It was fought the 10th of September, in the year 1547. The 
 English having got the victory, which was so much the more joy- 
 ful, because it was unexpected, marched five miles further with 
 all their forces ; and there they staid eight days, sending out par- 
 ties every day six miles round, who burned and destroyed all with- 
 in that compass. They attempted nothing considerable besides, 
 saving the fortifying the desolate islands of Inchkeith and Inch- 
 colm, in the bay of Forth; and in the bay of Tay they took the 
 castle of Brochty; and in their return by land, they took by sur- 
 render the castles of Fastcastle and Hume, which the garrisons 
 surrendered out of fear; and they raised forts, one at Lauder, 
 and another in the ruins of Roxburgh castle. 
 
 Their sudden departure gave some relief to the Scots, and a 
 breathing time for them to meet together, to consult about the 
 main chance. The regent, presently after the fight, came with 
 that part of the nobles which were with him, to the two queens at 
 Stirling, and to the nobility attending there. The regent and his 
 brother were very sad and dejected for the calamity which happen- 
 ed by their fault, and the queen-dowager shewed many outward 
 signs of grief in her speech and countenance; but they who knew. 
 her heart, judged that she was not so much concerned to see the 
 arrogance of the Mamiltons so curbed and chastised; but, to be 
 joyous in a public calamity, they who use to cover the faults of 
 princes under honest disguises, are wont to call greatness of mind. 
 Besides, the dowager, ever since the death of the cardinal, had 
 used all ways and means to throw the regent out of his office, and 
 
 » 4 * 
 
2IO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 to invest the supreme authority in herself; but she knew she could 
 never effect it, as long as they were uppermost, and had all forti- 
 fied places in their hands. In all her discourse she heightened the 
 fear she had from the English, and complained of the weakness of 
 her own domestic forces, and propounded the dangers imminent 
 from the civil dissensions amongst them. She communicated her 
 mind to those, who she knew were ill-affected to the Hamiltons. 
 When the nobles were in consultation about the grand affairs of 
 the kingdom, a decree was made, that the young queen should 
 reside at Dumbarton, whilst the nobility debated concerning the 
 estate of the kingdom. John Erskine was made her governor, an 
 unquestionable favourer of the queen-dowager's faction, and Wil- 
 liam Livingston, a friend to the Hamiltons, was joined in com- 
 mission with him. Ambassadors were likewise sent into France, 
 to demand aids of their king, Henry, against their common ene- 
 my, according to the league made with him. Hopes were also 
 given them, that the queen would come over into France, and 
 marry the dauphin. But the French were intent upon their own 
 affairs, and their auxiliaries were slower than the present danger 
 required. 
 
 In the mean time the English entered Scotland on both sides of 
 the borders. The earl of Lennox, as if he had been sent for by 
 his friends, came to Dumfries; for his father-in-law Angus, and 
 his old friend Glencairn, had promised him 2000 horse, and foot 
 proportionable, of the neighbouring parts to assist him, if he 
 would leave the English and come over to them. But, when he 
 came to the place at the day appointed, there were hardly 300 
 come together, and those too were such as used to live on robbe- 
 ries. These, and some other things of the like nature, being very 
 suspicious, and especially the wavering mind of John Maxwell, 
 who had already given hostages to the English, made Lennox be- 
 lieve that he was betrayed ; and therefore he resolved to circum- 
 vent his enemies with the like fraud. He retained with him Glen- 
 cairn, John Maxwell, and other chief men of the Scots, who had 
 treated with him concerning his transition and return into his own 
 country, and in the middle of the night commanded toward 
 Drumlanark 600 horse, part English, and part of the Scots who 
 had yielded to them. When they came to the appointed place, 
 500 of them were sent out to commit what spoil they could in the 
 neighbouring parts, that so they might draw out James Douglas, 
 owner of the castle, into an ambush. He, imagining such a 
 things kept within his hold till it was clay; and then, being out of 
 fear of an ambush, he marched out with his men, and passed over 
 the river Nith, and pressed in a straggling manner upon the plun- 
 derers, charging them in their rear as they were retreating. They, 
 having got a convenient time and place to rally, turned back upon 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 2 1 1 
 
 him with great violence, and struck such a terror into his men, 
 in the straits of a ford, that they disordered their ranks, killed 
 some, and took many considerable prisoners. This light expedi- 
 tion struck such a terror in the greatest part of Galloway, that 
 they strove which of them should yield firit to the English, part- 
 ly to gratify Lennox, and partly fearing lest, being forsaken by 
 their neighbours, they should lie open to all assaults. The Scot- 
 tish regent fearing lest, in such a general confusion, if he did at- 
 tempt nothing, he should altogether dispirit his men, who were 
 discouraged enough before, besieged the castle of Brochty, and, 
 having lain before it almost three months without performing any 
 thing considerable, he drew off his men, leaving only ioo horse, 
 under the command of John Haliburton, an active young man, 
 to infest the neighbouring places, and to hinder any provisions 
 from being carried in by land to Brochty, or to the garrison 
 which the English had placed on an hill adjoining. These mat- 
 ters passed at the end of that year. In the beginning of the 
 next, which was 1548, the English fortified Haddington, a town 
 in Lothian, upon the Tyne, and burned the villages, and plundered 
 the country about, which was one of the richest parts of Scot- 
 land; and they formed another garrison at Lauder. 
 
 Lennox, about the end of February, having passed over the 
 west border, hardly escaped an ambush laid for him by part of 
 those who had yielded themselves; but returning to Carlisle, he 
 revenged himself, by punishing some of the hostages, especially 
 Maxwell, the chief author of the revolt, according to the contents 
 of some letters he had received from the king of England. 
 During these transactions, Henry of France, who succeeded 
 his father Francis, sent forces to the sea, to be transported into 
 Scotland, about 6000 men; of which 3000 were German foot, 
 commanded by the rhinegrave; about 2000 French; and 1000 
 of divers nations, all horse: they were all commanded to obey 
 monsieur Dessy, a Frenchman, who had been a commander iu 
 France some years, and had done good services there. They 
 landed at Leith, and were ordered to quarter at Edinburgh till 
 they had recovered their sea-sickness. The regent and the force:; 
 with him marched to Haddington, where they blocked up nil the 
 passages, and laid a close siege to the place. He issued a pro- 
 clamation into all parts; in pursuance whereof, in a short time, 
 there came in to him about 8000 Scots. The nobility assembled, 
 and the consultation was renewed concerning the young queen's 
 going into France, and marrying the dauphin; a council was 
 called in a monastery of monks, without Haddington, in the very 
 camp. In that convention there were various disputes; some 
 saul, that if they sent away the queen, they must expect per- 
 petual war from England, and bondage from the French. Others 
 
212 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 were of opinion, that, by reason of agreement in religion, and 
 the condition of the present times, it was best to embrace the 
 terms offered by the English, which were a ten years peace, with 
 no bad covenants or obligations on the Scots. For the sum of 
 the league was, That, if the king of England, or queen of Scot- 
 land, died within ten years, all things should be, on both sides, as 
 they were before ; and, though no fortuitous event should happen be- 
 tween, yet the kingdom might be hereby freed from its present pres- 
 sures, which had almost broke its strength; and the soldiery, who 
 were almost all lost in the late battle, might have time to grow up and 
 increase in a long continued peace; and that, intestine discord being 
 laid asleep, they might more maturely consider of the grand affairs, 
 than they could do amongst drums and trumpets: and, in such con- 
 sultations, delays were sometimes of' great ad vantage, and rash pre- 
 cipitate doings were attended with speedy repentance. Thus they. 
 But all the papists favoured the French, and some others too, 
 whom French bounty had either gained, or else had raised up 
 to expectations of great advantage; amongst whom was the re- 
 gent: he had a yearly revenue of 12,000 French livres promised 
 him, and the command of 100 cuirassiers: so that most voices 
 carried it for the queen's going into France. The fleet which 
 was to convey her rode at Leith, and making as if they would 
 go away, they sailed about all Scotland, and came to Dumbarton, 
 where 1 the queen v^ent on shipboard, having staid some months 
 for its arrival, in the company of James her brother, John Er- 
 skine, and William Livingston. She met with much foul wea- 
 ther, and contrary winds, but at last landed at Bretagne, a pe- 
 ninsula in France, and went by easy journeys to the court. 
 
 In Scotland, whilst the war stopped at Haddington, the com- 
 mon people, in ceveral places, were not wanting to the present 
 occasion; for the garrisons of Hume and Fastcastle doing great 
 hurt to the neighbourhood, the Scots observing that Hume was 
 negligently guarded by night, got up to the top of a rock, where 
 the confidence of the place being inaccessible made those within 
 less watchful, and so they killed the centuicls and took the cas- 
 tle. And not long after, when the governor of Fastcastle had 
 commanded the country thereabouts to bring in a great quantity 
 of provisions into the castle, at a certain day, the country peo- 
 ple upon this occasion came in great numbers, and unlading their 
 ■;, they took up the provision on their backs, to carry them 
 over a bridge made betwixt two rocks, into the castle; as soon 
 as ever they were entered, they threw down their burdens, and 
 upon a sign given, slew the guards, and before the rest of the 
 English could come in, they seized on their arms, and placed 
 thc.naselves in the avenues: and thus, setting open the gates for 
 :i,;;ii own party to enter, they made themselves masters of th<; 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 213 
 
 castle. In the mean time, the naval force of the English was 
 not idle; for the whole stress of the land war lying upon Had- 
 dington, the commanders thought that the neighbouring parts were 
 weakened, and put beyond all power of defence, so that they 
 landed in Fife. And accordingly they passed by some sea-towns, 
 which were well inhabited, and came to St. Minan's kirk, a place 
 well enough peopled, and from thence they might march by land 
 to great towns, but less fortified, where the pillage might be more 
 worth their labour. James Stuart, the queen's brother, receiving 
 the alarm, with the people of St. Andrews, and a few of the 
 countrymen who were left at home, made towards them; and, 
 in his way, many of the neighbourhood struck in with him. The 
 English were already landed, and about 1 200 of them stood ready 
 in their arms for the encounter. The great guns which they had 
 landed, struck such a dread into the countrymen, that they quick- 
 ly fled; but James, after he had a little stopped their fear, charged 
 the enemy so briskly, that, though he had but a raw and tu- 
 multuous band along with him, he soon routed them, and drove 
 them toward the sea, killing many upon the spot, and many in 
 the pursuit: not a few of them were drowned in hasting to their 
 ships; one boat, with all its passengers, was sunk, whilst they 
 endeavoured in throngs to get on board. It is reported, that there 
 were 600 slain in the fight, and 100 taken prisoners. Then the fleet 
 presently sailed to Mern, a country less inhabited; their design was 
 to surprise Montrose, a town not far from the mouth of the river 
 Dee: they resolved to land in the night, and therefore they staid 
 at anchor, out of sight of land, as long as there was any light in 
 the sky; but as they were making to shore in the dark, they itik- 
 covered themselves by their own imprudence, by hanging out 
 lights in every boat. John Erskine, of Downe, governor of the 
 town, commanded his men to arm, without making any noise, 
 and he divided them into three bodies; he placed some behind an 
 earthen bank, which was raised on the shore to prevent their 
 landing; he, with some archers lightly armed, made directly to- 
 wards the enemy; and a third band, of servants and promiscuous 
 vulgar, he placed behind a neighbouring hill, backing diem with 
 a few soldiers to govern the rabble. Matters being thus ordered, 
 he with his archers fell upon the enemy in their descent, and 
 maintained a sharp dispute with them, till, in a tumultuary kind 
 of fight, he had drawn them on to the bank; there he joined his 
 other party, who stood ready at their arms, and they all fell on 
 the enemy; yet they had not given ground, unless the last body 
 had shewn themselves, with colours flying, from the next hill; 
 then they made such haste to their ships, that, of about 800- 
 which came on shore, hardly the third part escaped to their 
 ships. 
 
214 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 In the mean time, great sallies were made about Haddington, not 
 without loss on either side, but most on the English: Whereupon, 
 they being in some want of provisions, and fearing a greater, and 
 perceiving also, that the relief prepared came slowly on, and that 
 they were so weakened, as to be hardly able to admit of the de- 
 lay; two brave soldiers, Robert Bovey and Thomas Palmer, were 
 commanded to march thither from Berwick, with iooo foot, and 
 300 horse, and to make all the speed they could. These all fell 
 into an ambush laid for them, and scarce a man of them escap- 
 ed alive. The English resolved to send more aids, but the French 
 discovering their design, blocked up the narrow passages, by 
 which they were to march; but Dessy, being deceived by one of 
 the enemy's scouts that he had taken, who told him that the En- 
 glish were far off, and were marching another way to relieve the 
 besieged, left the straits he had possessed, and went to another 
 place. In the interim, the English marched through to the relief 
 of their friends without any hinderancc. They brought with 
 them 300 fresh men, powder and ball, and such other provision 
 as the garrison stood most in need of. 
 
 Whilst \her.e things were acted at Haddington, with various 
 success on both sides, which did not at all make to the main of 
 the war, news was brought that the English had levied a com- 
 plete army to raise the siege: Whereupon Dessy, knowing that 
 he was not able to encounter the forces which were coming, re- 
 moved his leaguer farther off from the town, and sent back his 
 great guns, all but six small field pieces, to Edinburgh. Upon 
 the coming of the English army, the siege was raised because the 
 Scots commanders would not hazard the state of the kingdom up- 
 on a single battle; so that the Scots marched every one the 
 next way home. The French also, though much pressed 
 upon by the English, got well off. The French soldiers, in their 
 return, slew the governor of Edinburgh and his son, together 
 with some of the citizens who joined with them, because they 
 refused to admit them into the town with all their forces, in re- 
 gard they knew they could not keep them from plundering. 
 Dessy in the interim, lest the sedition should increase, drew ofl; 
 and withal supposing that the enemy would be more secure at 
 Haddington because of their good success, resolved to make an 
 attempt to surprise it on a sudden. Thither he marched all that 
 night, and by break of day slew the cantinels, and came up to the 
 walls. They took the fort before the gate, and killed the watch; 
 some endeavoured to break open the gate; they also siezed up- 
 on the granaries of the English. In this hurry, the noise ol 
 those who were breaking open the gate, and the huzzas of the 
 French, crying out, Victory t victory, rouzed up the English from 
 
Book XV. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 21$ 
 
 their sleep. In this great confusion a soldier set fire to a brass 
 gun, placed casually against the gate, that he might, in a present 
 danger,. make trial of a doubtful remedy* The bullet broke thro' 
 the gate, and made a lane In the thick ranks of the French; so 
 that, what between the exclamations of the soldiers, crying out, 
 Victory, and the noise of the shattered gates, such a confused cla- 
 mour was carried to the rear, that they were surprised with fear, 
 not knowing the cause, and so fled; which occasioned the rest to 
 follow after. The French being thus repulsed, marched into 
 Teviotdale, where the English had done great damage : There, un- 
 der the conduct of Dessy, they drove the enemy from Jedburgh, 
 and made many inroads into English ground, not without consi- 
 derable advantage. At length, when they had wasted all the 
 country, besides their daily duty, they fell into great want; and 
 the commonalty pitied them the less, because of their late sedition 
 at Edinburgh; for they looked upon that attempt as a step to ty- 
 ranny. And from that time forward, the French did nothing 
 worth speaking of. The king of France was made acquainted, 
 by letters from the regent and queen-dowager, how Dessy spent 
 much time on light expeditions, and generally insignificant; that 
 he was more injurious to his friends than enemies; that the 
 French soldiers were grown so insolent, since the tumult at Edin* 
 burgh, that, by reason of the intestine discord, all was like to bo 
 ruined. Whereupon Dessy was recalled, and Monsieur Paul 
 Terms, a good soldier and prudent commander, was sent with 
 new supplies for Scotland. Dessy thought it would be for hi«s 
 honour to recover the island of Keith, which was taken a few 
 days before, and was begun to be fortified; so he got together 
 a fleet at Leith, and went aboard with a select company of Scors 
 and French. The queen-dowager was a spectator of the enter- 
 prize, and encouraged them, sometimes particularly, sometimes 
 all in general. After he had landed in the island, he drove the 
 English into the uttermost corners, killed almost all their officers 
 and compelled them to surrender, but not without much blood- 
 shed. This was his last noble piece of service in Britain, and 
 then he surrendered up his army to Terms. Terms drew forth 
 the army out of their winter quarters, and commanded them to 
 march towards the northern shires; he himself, Dessy bein^ 
 dismissed, followed soon after, and laid siege to the fort of 
 Brochty, and in a short time took it, and also the castle adjoining 
 from the English, putting almost all of both garrisons to the 
 sword. When he was returned into Lothian, his great care was 
 to hinder provisions from being carried to Haddington; when lo, 
 upon a sudden, a great army of English and Germans shewed 
 themselves ready for the encounter; whereupon he made a quick 
 retreat in good order, till he came to a place of ereater safety. lu 
 Vol. II. E e 
 
2l6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XV. 
 
 the interim the Scots cavalry, which skirted upon the ene- 
 my on every side, perceiving the German baggage to be unguard- 
 ed, plundered them in a moment. Provisions were carried into 
 Haddington without any opposition. During these transactions, Ju- 
 lian Romerus, with a Sroop of Spaniards at Coldingham, was taken 
 in his quarters, where he lay with as great security, as if all had 
 been at peace, and almost all his whole party was destroyed. 
 Terms, when the English forces were marched home, resolved to 
 return to the taking of Haddington. They were stout men that 
 defended the town •, but in regard the country was wasted all 
 thereabouts, and provisions could not be brought from afar but 
 with great hazard, and sometimes certain loss; and besides, the 
 English were troubled with a most grievous sedition at home, 
 and were further pressed upon by a war with France: hereupon, 
 the garrison of Haddington, having no hope of relief, burnt the 
 town, and on the ist of October, 1549, marched away for Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Moreover, the garrison at Lauder was almost ready to surren- 
 der, as being in great distress for want of necessaries, when lo! 
 news was brought on a sudden, of a pacification made between 
 the English and the French, which was published in Scotland, 
 April ist, 1550; and the May following the French soldiers were 
 transported back into France. That peace, as to foreign parts, 
 lasted about three years, but it was as troublesome and pernicious 
 as the hottest war ; for those who sat at the helm, the regent, and 
 his brother the archbishop of St. Andrews, were both extremely 
 cruel and avaricious, and the archbishop very licentious in his con- 
 versation: for, as if he had been "authorized to injure all mankind, 
 he made his will his law. The first presage of the ensuing ty- 
 ranny was, the suffering the murder of William Crichton, an 
 eminent person to go unpunished. He was slain by Robert Sem- 
 ple, in the regent's own palace, and almost in his sight; and yet 
 the murderer was exempted from punishment, by the intercession 
 of the archbishop's concubine, who was daughter to Semple. 
 This archbishop, as long as the king lived, was one of his con- 
 fidents, and pretended a great zeal for the reformed religion, but, 
 when the king was dead, he ran into all the excesses of the wildest 
 impiety. Among the rest of his mistresses, he took away this' 
 young madam Semple from her husband, who was his neighbour 
 And kinsman, and kept her almost in the place of a lawful wife, 
 though she was not handsome, nor a woman of good reputation, 
 nor noted for any thing but her wantonness. After this'followed 
 the death, of John Melvil, a nobleman of Fife, who was a great 
 intimate of the last king's. Some letters of his were intercepted, 
 written to a certain Englishman in the behalf of his friend, a 
 prisoner there; and though there could be no suspicion of trea- 
 
Book XV. 
 
 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 217 
 
 son in the case, yet the author of them had his head cut off: and 
 that which made the matter still worse, was, that his estate was 
 given to David, the regent's youngest . son. The loss arising hy 
 these wicked practices reached but a few, but the envy of them 
 extended to many, and the bad example almost to all. This un- 
 skilfulness of the regent's managing the government, together 
 with the sluggishness of all his former life, did mightily offend 
 the commons; so that he every day grew more and more into 
 disrepute, especially after the suffering of George Wishart; for 
 most imputed the following calamities to the death of that re- 
 ligious man; especially they who not only knew the purity of 
 doctrine which George held forth, and admired the unblameable- 
 ness of his life, but looked upon him as divinely inspired, be- 
 cause of the many and true predictions which he had made. 
 Hereupon the authority of the regent grew every day less and 
 less. And soon after these followed another, and that a more 
 spreading mischief, which drew a general complaint against him, 
 which it was impossible to smother. There were judicial con- 
 ventions appointed to be held throughout the whole kingdom; 
 the pretence was, to suppress robberies, but the event shewed, 
 that it was nothing else but to cover oppression under a plausible 
 name: for money was extorted from all, good and bad, as much 
 from honest men as thieves; and both were punished, not ac- 
 cording to the greatness of the crime, but of estate. Neither 
 could he keep off his cruelty and avarice from the reformed, tho' 
 himself had formerly professed to be one of them; and now he 
 had not the cardinal as a blind for his crimes; nay, the money, 
 thus basely got in the name of the regent, was as profusely and 
 unadvisedly spent by the lust of his brother. 
 
 Ee 2 
 
(A, C 1550.; 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O f 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 »®^®-<«^© fi9e% 
 
 BOOK XVI, 
 
 JM.ATTERS being thus settled at home, the queen-dowager took 
 a resolution to go into France, partly to visit her native coun- 
 try, her daughter, and relations; and partly to secure her hopes 
 ot attaining the supreme power, which seemed to be freely 
 thrown upon her; and accordingly she chose those to attend her 
 on her journey, who were favourers of her design. For this am- 
 bitious and politic lady was full of hopes, that the regent would, 
 by his own mismanagement, so ruin himself/ 'as to make way for 
 her to succeed him. She staid with the French king above a 
 year, in which time she informed him of the state of affairs in 
 Scotland; who heard her favourably, and by means of her bro- 
 thers she easily obtained of him what she desired. The king of 
 France, the better to bring about his designs without any tumult 
 in Scotland, advanced to high honours all those of the Scottish 
 nobility, every one according to his degree, who had adhered to 
 the queen-dowager: they also, who were of kin to the regent, 
 were in like manner preferred; his son James was made captain 
 over all the Scottish auxiliaries in France, and a yearly pension 
 of 12,000 French livres promised him. Fluntly, whose son had 
 married his daughter, was made earl of Moray. Of the sons of 
 Rothes, by different mothers, who quarrelled about their' patri- 
 mony, the youngest, who was kin to the Hamiltons, was made 
 earl. The king of France, by the advice of the queen-dowagcr. 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 210. 
 
 sends for Robert Carnegy, one of the regent's household, who 
 was lately sent over by him into France, to give that king thanks 
 for his frequent assistance of the Scots against the English; as 
 also David Painter, ambassador for some years in France, in be- 
 half of the Scots; besides Gavin, abbot of Kilwinning, all firm 
 to Hamilton's faction. He declares to them what he had before 
 treated of with the Guises; the sum of which was, « That the 
 « regent would do the king an acceptable piece of service, if he 
 « would give leave to the queen-dowager to govern that little time 
 
 * of magistracy which was left him; which, as it was but a just 
 { and equitable request agreeable to their laws, so, if he com- 
 
 < plied with him therein, he would take care that it should not 
 
 * be prejudicial to his interests; nay, he should find that, by this 
 
 * means, he had in him procured himself a fast, firm, munificent 
 
 < friend; he wishes them to inform him, how he had at present, 
 
 * freely, and of his own accord, rewarded some of his friends, 
 « by which he might easily judge, what favours he might expect 
 ' from him for the future.' Thus Carnegy, loaden with great 
 promises, was dismissed, and sometime after, Painter, the Scot- 
 tish ambassador, bishop of Ross, was ordered to follow him. 
 He, as being a man of great eloquence and authority, dealt with 
 fhe regent and his friends to give up the administration of af- 
 fairs into the hands of the queen-dowager; and with much ado 
 he obtained it; so that, for his diligence and faithfulness in that 
 service, the king of France gave him an abbey in Poictou. The 
 queen, being now secure of the success of things in Scotland, 
 and having made sufficient provision, as she thought, how to de- 
 prive the Scots of their ancient liberty, and to bring them a-la- 
 mode de France t was accompanied by monsieur D'Oysel, as am-, 
 bassador, to carry things on; a sharp man, whose counsel she 
 was to make use of in all things of moment, and she returned 
 home by land through England. The next year after she fol- 
 lowed the regent, who kept assizes in almost all parts of 6he 
 kingdom, and so by degrees made the nobility her own. In this 
 progress, some few offenders were punished, and the rest were 
 fined. The queen could not approve such proceedings, and yet 
 she was willing enough to hear of them; for she believed that 
 what favour the regent lost, it all returned upon her. In the 
 mean time, having won over the nobility to her, she caused 
 some friends to deal with the regent, that he would freely re- 
 sign up the government. His relations, upon the view of his 
 strength, perceived that his treasure was low and his friends few, 
 and that he would have much ado tp make up and clear his 
 accounts ; for king James V. at his decease, had left a great 
 deal of money, arms, ships, horses, brass guns, and abundance of 
 household -stuff, all which he lavished out amongst his friends 
 
220 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 in a few years*, and that his account would be speedily called for, 
 the queen being now almost of age. And, if he would extricate 
 himself out of all those troubles, by quitting the government, it 
 would be no great loss; for thereby he would but give up the 
 sway wholly to the French, which was entirely managed by their 
 counsels before. And he would have this advantage also, that, 
 by laying down the invidious title of viceroy or regent, which how- 
 ever he could not long keep, he would procure safety and security 
 to himself and his. 
 
 This prospect pleased ; so that an agreement was made on these 
 conditions, that for what goods of the late king's Hamilton had 
 made use of, the French king would see him indemnified; as also 
 that he shouldbe free from any account,on the pretence of the regen- 
 cy; only he was to take an oath to restore what did appear not em- 
 bezzled. However, in this he did not perform his promise; for 
 about twelve years after, when his castle of Hamilton was taken, 
 after the battle of Langsidc, many things were there found which 
 shewed his perjury. Besides, there were large presents made 
 him, and he was honoured with the title of duke of Chatelherault 
 (which is a town in Poictou, situated near the river Vien) and had 
 a yearly pension of 12,000 French livres ; half of which sum was 
 paid for some years. Another condition was also added, that if 
 the queen died without children, Hamilton should be declared by 
 all the estates the next heir. These were the conditions of the 
 surrender, which were sent into France, that they might there be 
 confirmed by the queen and her guardians. The queen, by the 
 advice of her mother, makes Henry II. king of France Francis, 
 duke of Guise, and cardinal Charles, his brother, her guardians. 
 The regent, though, by the persuasion of Painter, he had pro- 
 mised to relinquish the government, and the time to do it was very 
 near, yet, when he came to the point, according to his usual in- 
 constancy, he was at a great nonplus ; for he began to consider 
 how shocking a thing it would be for him, to fall down from the 
 supreme magi tracy to a private life, since then he should be ob- 
 noxious to those many whom in his government he had offended. 
 On these reflections he began to elude his promise, and to frame 
 excuses, in regard the queen was not yet full twelve years old. 
 Thus, though those allegations might have been answered, yet 
 the queen-dowa^er chose rather to retire to Stirling, and there to 
 expect the expiration of the set time for the giving up the ch.«rge, 
 than to make any quairel about a small matter, though never so 
 true. 
 
 In this her retirement, the greatest part of the nobility often 
 came to her (fortune favouring her side) whom she sought by all 
 means to engage in her faction; and those she had engaged, she 
 fixed and confirmed, filing them, with all abundance of hopes, 
 
Booly XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. lit 
 
 and making many promises, both in general and particular, how 
 obliging she would be to them all, when she was advanced to the 
 government, which they all knew would shortly follow. She pre- 
 vailed so much by these artifices, that only two of the nobility re- 
 mained with the regent, John, his base brother, and Livingston, 
 his near kinsman: all the rest came over to the queen. This soli- 
 tude of the regent's court, and the fulness of the queen's, was a 
 plain sign to him, that all the estates were alienated from him; 
 and so he was glad to accept of those terms which he rejected be- 
 fore, only with this addition, that the queen-dowager would pro- 
 cure them to be ratified by the three estates in the next parliament, 
 ami also by the guarantees in France. 
 
 About the same time, affairs grew very troublesome in Eng- 
 land, by reason of the death of king Edward VI. a young prince of 
 high expectation, by reason of his great genius, and propensity of 
 all kind of virtue, which was not only born with him, but cultiva- 
 ted by learning and study. 
 
 At the beginning of the next spring, the nobility assembled at 
 Stirling, where, in a full assembly, the transactions with the re- 
 gent were confirmed, which the queen and guarantees had sub- 
 scribed. This addition was also made, that the regent should 
 keep a garrison at Dumbarton. And, to complete all, a parlia- 
 ment was appointed at Edinburgh, to be held the ioth day of 
 April, then next following, where all the pacts and agreements- 
 approved by the guarantees (as hath been said) were produced; 
 and when they were read, the regent arose, and openly abdicated 
 himself from the magistracy, and gave up the ensigns of his go- 
 vernment to D'Oysel, who received them in the behalf of the 
 queen, who was absent; and, by command, delivered them up 
 to her, who received them by a general consent. And thus be- 
 ing advanced into the regent's place, she was carried witlr great 
 ceremony through the city, to the palace in the suburbs. And 
 the regent, who, at his entrance into the parliament, was attend- 
 ed with a great number of the nobility, and had the sword, crown, 
 and sceptre carried before him, according to custom, now, being 
 degraded, mixed himself amongst the crowd, in the year 1555. 
 
 This was a new sight in Scotland, and never heard of before 
 that day, that a woman should be, by the decree of the estates, ad- 
 vanced to the helm of government. Though matters thus inclin- 
 ed to the French intere.;c, yet the Scots would never yield that the 
 castle of Edinburgh should be garrisoned by them; if so, they fear- 
 ed, iii case the queen died without issue, the French would then 
 make it the seat of their tyranny; so that it was put into the hands 
 of John Erskine,' as an indifferent person, who was to surrender it 
 to none, but by the command of the estates. 
 
 After this, when tke state of the public seemed to be some- 
 
222 fnSTORV OF SCOTLAND. Book XVL 
 
 what settled, the queen-regent (as now she was called) sent out 
 George Gordon, earl of Huntly, to apprehend John Muderach, 
 chief of the family of the M'Ronalds, a notorious robber, who 
 had played many foul and monstrous pranks* It is thought that 
 Gordon did not play fair in this expedition; so that when he re- 
 turned without doing the business he was sent about, he was kept 
 prisoner till the time appointed for his answer. In the interim his 
 relations excused him, and laid the blame of the miscarriage upon 
 the clanship of Catan. Thus they spread false reports among the 
 vulgar; for they gave out, though untruly, that the M'Intoshes 
 had spoiled the design, by reason of their animosity against the 
 Gordons. This hatred between these two clans arose upon this 
 occasion : when the queen prepared for her expedition into France, 
 Gordon kept William, chief of the Catan family, as his prisonef, 
 a young man well educated by the care of James, earl of Murray. 
 There was no crime proved against him, but only because he 
 would not put himself under his clanship or clientile; and, besides, 
 it turned to his prejudice, that he was of kin to Murray, as being 
 a sister's son. Gordon, having thus provoked the young man, 
 did not think it safe to give him his liberty, and so leave him be- 
 hind him; neither could he find sufficient cause to put him to death. 
 And therefore he, by means of his friends, persuades him, not 
 being versed in ill arts, to commit his cause wholly to him ; for, 
 by these means, Gordon's honour, and his own fafety, might be 
 secured. Gordon, being thus made master of the life and death 
 of his enemy, dissembled his anger, and deals with his wife to put 
 him to death in his absence; for thus he thought to cast the odium 
 of the fact upon her. But it fell out quite otherwise; for all men 
 knew the ill disposition of Gordon; and they Were as well satisfied 
 in the integrity of his wife, who was a good woman, and had 
 carried herself like a regular and noble lady, in the whole course 
 of her life; so that every body was satisfied that Gordon was the 
 author of that counsel to his wife. Gordon being in prison, the 
 queen-regent's council were of different opinions, as to his punish- 
 ment. Some were for his banishment for several years into 
 France; others for putting him to death; but both these opinions 
 were rejected by Gilbert earl of Cassils, the chief of his enemies. 
 For he, forseeing by the present state of things, that the peace be- 
 tween the Scots and the French would not be long-lived, was not 
 for his banishment into France; for he knew a man of so crafty a 
 spirit, and so spiteful at those who blamed or envied him, would, 
 in the war which the insolence of the French was like speedily to 
 occasion, be a perfect incendiary, and perhaps a general for the 
 enemy. And he was more against putting him to death, because 
 lie thought no private offence worthy of so great punishment, or 
 to be so revenged as to inure the French to spill the blood of the 
 
Book XVI. History of scotuand. 223 
 
 nobility of Scotland. And therefore he went a middle way, that 
 he should be fined and kept in prison till he yielded up the right 
 which he pretended to have over Murray: and that he should suf- 
 fer all the royal revenues arising out of the Orcades, Shetland isles> 
 and Mar, to be quietly gathered by such collectors as the queen- 
 regent should appoint, and he himself should not meddle with any 
 of the public or regal patrimony; and likewise should surrender up 
 his presidency over some juridical courts, which brought him in 
 great profit. Upon these conditions he was dismissed. And 
 having thus mollified the mind of the regent, and those that could, 
 do most with her, at last he was admitted in the privy-council. 
 
 In the mean time all court-offices, which had any thing of pro- 
 fit to move competitorship, were, by Gordon's advice, given to 
 strangers, on purpose that he might breed a disgust between the 
 queen-regent, and the nobility of Scotland; and so take delight, 
 though not -j.il honourable one, in their mutual contest and de- 
 struction of each other: The earl of Cassils who foresaw this 
 tempest before it came, began now to be accounted as a pro- 
 phet. 
 
 After this, matters were quiet till July, in the year 1555* and. 
 the queen-regent having gotten this respite from war, applied her- 
 self to i-ectify the disorders of the state : She went to Inverness, 
 and held public conventions in the nature of assizes, in all accus- 
 tomed places, wherein many disturbers of the peace were severely 
 punished. She sent John Stuart, earl of Athol, against Johnv 
 Muderach, to effect that which Gordon, in his expedition, had. 
 failed in. He, besides his fortitude and constancy (virtues pro- 
 per to him) was also so prudent and successful, that he took him, 
 his children and whole family, and brought them to the queen. 
 But Muderach, being impatient of sitting still, or else excited by 
 the sting of an evil conscience, deceived his keepers, escaped out 
 of prison, and filled all places again with blood and rapine. The 
 regent hearing of this, was forced to go the circuit sooner than 
 she had determined, to bring him and other malefactors to justice; 
 which having done, she returned, and, in a public assembly, re- 
 stored some of those who slew cardinal Beton, that were popular 
 men (whom the late regent had banished) from their exile; by 
 which fact of hers she procured not so much applause, as ill-will 
 from the many new taxes she devised. It was thought that D'Oy- 
 se!, Ruby, and those few French about the regent, put her upon 
 thesj new projests to raise money, i. e. that men's estates should 
 be surveyed and registered in books made for that purpose; and 
 that every one should pay yearly a certain sum assessed upon him 
 out of ir, into a treasury set apart for that end, as a fund for war; 
 lor with that money, thus kept in a peculiar treasury, merce- 
 nary soldiers were to be hired to guard the frontiers, and so the 
 
 Vol. II. F f 
 
2^4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 nobility might remain quiet at home, except some great invasion 
 were made by the enemy, which an ordinary force could not resist. 
 The poorer sort were much aggrieved at this new pecuniary impo- 
 sition, and inveighed openly against it with bitter words ; but the 
 greatest part of the nobility kept their disgust within their own 
 breasts, every one fearing that, if he should first oppose the will 
 of the queen-regent, the whole envy of the refusal would fall up- 
 on him alone. But the next rank of people were as angry with 
 the nobility, for betraying the public liberty by their silence, as 
 they were with the queen-, and thereupon about 300 of them 
 met together at Edinburgh, and chose James Sandeland of Cal- 
 der, and John Weems, out of their whole body, and sent them to 
 the queen-regent, to represent to her the ignominy in paying this 
 tax-, and to pray, that it might not be assessed or levied upon 
 them, because it would betray the public and private property: 
 And also to inform her, that their ancestors had not only defend- 
 ed themselves and their estates against the English, when much 
 more powerful than now they are, but also had made frequent 
 inroads into England, and that themselves had not so far dege- 
 nerated from their ancestors, but that they were willing to lay 
 down their lives and fortunes for the good of their country, if 
 need required. And as for the hiring of mercenary auxiliaries, 
 that was a matter full of danger, to commit the state of Scotland 
 to men who had neither estates nor expectations, but who would 
 do any thing for money, and if occasion were offered, their pro- 
 found avarice would incite them to attempt innovations; so that 
 their fidelity hung only on the wheel of fortune. But supposing 
 they were well qualified, and had a greater love to their country, 
 than respect to their own condition,, yet was it likely, nay, was it 
 not incredible, that the mercenaries should fight more valiantly 
 to defend the estates of others, than the masters of them would 
 do, each man for his own? Or, that a regard to a small salary or 
 pay, which was likely to cease in time of peace, would raise up a 
 greater courage in the minds of the commonalty, than in the no- 
 bility, who fought every man for his fortune, wife, children, reli- 
 gion and liberty: Besides, this project concerns the very vitals of 
 the Scottish government, and it was a thing of greater conse- 
 quence, than to be debated at this time, and in this tender age of 
 our young queen; for if it were granted it could be effected 
 without a sedition, yet this new way of managing a war is both 
 useless, and also much feared and suspected by the generality; 
 especially since out of the tribute of the Scots, men, none of the 
 richest, money enough could hardly arise to maintain a guard of 
 mercenaries, for the defence of the frontiers; and therefore it was 
 to be feared, that the event of this counsel would be, to open the 
 door of the frontiers to the enemy, not to shut it. For, if the 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 22$ 
 
 English, living in a richer kingdom, should erect a fuller treasury 
 for that use, there was no doubt but they might maintain forces 
 double to ours, with less burden to their own people; and then 
 they would break in, not only upon the frontiers, but even into 
 the very body of the kingdom. 
 
 The other part of their oration, I know not whether it be not 
 better to suppress in silence, than to declare it amongst the vul- 
 gar: Some mutterings there were, who will collect this money? 
 How much of it must necessarily be expended upon distrainers 
 and treasurers, as a reward for their pains? Who will undertake 
 that it shall be spent in public uses, and not on private luxury? 
 It is true, the probity and temperance of our noble princess, who 
 now rules, gives us great hope, nay, confidence, that no such 
 thing will be; yet if we consider what hath been done by others 
 abroad, and by ourselves at home, we cannot contain or so govern 
 ourselves, but must needs fear, that what hath often been done, 
 may possibly be done again. But, to let these things pass, which 
 perhaps we have no cause to fear; let us come to that wherein 
 our ancestors placed their greatest hope of defence, to maintain 
 their liberty against the arms of an over-powering enemy. There 
 was no king of Scotland ever esteemed wiser than Robert, the 
 first of that name; and all confess that he was the most valiant 
 of princes: He, at his death, as he had often done in his life, 
 out of a prospect to the good of his subjects, gave this advice, 
 That the Scots should never make a perpetual peace, no, nor one 
 for any long time with the English: For he, out of the wisdom of 
 his own nature, and also by his long experience, and exercise un- 
 der both conditions, prosperous and adverse, knew well enough 
 that by idleness and sloth, the minds of men should be broken 
 with pleasure, and their bodies also grow languid; for, when se- 
 vere discipline and parsimony is extinct, luxury and avarice grow 
 up, as in a soil unfilled, accompanied also with an impatience of 
 labour, and a slothfuiness occasioned by continued ease, averse 
 from and hating a military life; by whieh mischiefs, the strength 
 of body and mind being enervated and weakened, loses all its 
 valour, and an unnatural short-lived pleasure, the fruit of idle- 
 ness, is over-balanced by some signal calamity. 
 
 Upon this oration, the queen-regent fearing a sedition if she 
 persisted, remitted the tribute, and acknowledged her error. It 
 is reported she was often heard to say, That it iuas not herself but 
 a certain chief man of the Scots themselves ', that iuas the author and 
 architect of that design. By these words, some thought she meant 
 Huntly, a man of a fierce disposition, and newly released from 
 prison, and, as it seems, more mindful of the injury of his im- 
 prisonment, than of the respect shewn in his deliverance. And 
 therefore, when he saw that the regent was intent upon this one 
 
 F f z 
 
226 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 thing, to accustom the Scots to pay tribute, fearing that thereby 
 her power would increase, and the authority of the nobility would 
 be weakened and infringed, in regard she, being a foreigner, 
 sought to bring all things into the power of her own country- 
 men, it was thus thought he gave his counsel to her, which suited 
 well with her mind, as to the raising of the money, which she 
 was then about; for otherwise, the advice was plainly destruc- 
 tive, hostile, and pernicious; for he knew well enough that the 
 Scots would not pay such great taxes; neither would they be such 
 obedient subjects as they had been before. Some thought that 
 David Painter, bishop of Ross, found out this way of tax, for 
 he was a man of great wit and learning; he hud received many 
 favours from the Hamptons,, and was a friend to their family and 
 designs. 
 
 The next year, which was 15575 wm ' e t^ e ambassadors of 
 Scotland were treating about peace at Carlisle, the king of France 
 sent letters to Scotland, to desire the regent to declare war against 
 England, according to the league : the cause was pretended to be, 
 because the queen of England had assisted Philip of Spain, her 
 husband, who was engaged in fierce war against France, by send- 
 ing him forces into the Netherlands. The ambassadors being re- 
 turned from England without either confirming peace or war, 
 the regent called together the nobility at the monastery of New- 
 hottle, where she declared to them the many incursions the Eng- 
 lish had made upon the Scottish ground; what preys they had 
 taken, and when restitution was demanded, none was made; so 
 that she desired the Scots to declare war against the English, both 
 to revenge their own wrongs, and thereby also to assist the king 
 of France; yet she could not prevail with the nubility to begin 
 first; and therefore, by the advice, as it is thought, of D'Oysel, 
 she brought about the matter another way. She commanded 
 a fort to be built at the mouth of the river Aye, against the 
 sudden incursions of the English, wherein also she might lay up 
 great guns, and other necessaries for war, as in a safe magazine, 
 from whence she might fetch them upon occasion, and so save, 
 labour of carrying them from the remoter parts of the kingdom, 
 whereby much time would be spent, and, besides the troublesome- 
 ness of the carriages, opportunity of action would be lost. These 
 conveniencies were visible enough, but she had another object 
 in it: she knew that the English would do their utmost to hin- 
 der the work, and not to suffer a garrison to be erected under 
 their noses, so near Berwick. Thus the seeds of war, which she 
 desired, would be sown, and the fault of taking up arms cast up- 
 on the enemy; and the event answered her expectation. For the 
 Scots, being provoked by the wrongs of the English, whilst they 
 were compelled to defend their own borders, easily assented to 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 227 
 
 the regent's desire, to make war upon England. Whereupon the 
 ambassadors sent into England to make a peaee, were called 
 back, a proclamation was made, and a day appointed for a gene- 
 ral rendezvous at Edinburgh: when the camp was formed at 
 Maxwell-heugh, and the council had not yet decreed any thing 
 concerning the manner of carrying on the war, they, who were 
 forward to gratify the regent, and oblige the French, ran up and 
 down, plundering about Wcrk castle, situate in the borders of 
 England. D'Oysel had brought some French troops thither and 
 some ordnance, as many as he thought were sufficient to take the 
 castle and carried them over the Tweed, without staying for the 
 order of the council, which highly incensed the Scots nobility 
 against him; for in so doing, he seemed to aim, that the whole 
 honour of such an expedition should rather redound to himself 
 than to his master, as also to make the Scots obnoxious to, and. 
 under his command, who were wont to have the chief command 
 themselves. Thus the Scots were mightily offended, that they 
 were so slighted by a private man, and a stranger too, so as to be 
 led by the nose by him, without so much as asking their opinions, 
 as was formerly wont to be done: and thus, by doing things of 
 his own head, without consulting the nobility, he had arrogated 
 more to himself, than ever any of their own kings had done. 
 
 Hereupon the matter was deliberated in council, where it was 
 unanimously agreed, that they would not venture the strength of 
 the kingdom against an enemy, at the humour of every private 
 person; especially seeing they were never wont to obey their 
 own lawful princes in that case, but after matters had been opened 
 and seriously debate? 1 in council ; and therefore D'Oysel's imperi- 
 ousness in the case, was nothing but an essay to try how capable 
 they were to bear the yoke of slavery: Whereupon they com- 
 manded D'Oysel to draw back the ordnance; and if he refused, he 
 should be punished as a traitor. The queen-regent, and D'Oysel 
 himself, highly resented this affront. The regent thought, that 
 her majesty was impaired thereby; and the other, that his mas- 
 ter's honour (whose ambassador he was) was concerned: But they, 
 being the weaker, were forced to yield for the present; and there 
 seemed no remedy to occur, but that the queen of Scots, who 
 was now marriageable, should marry the dauphin, as soon as con-! 
 veniently it could be effected; for then the wife, being in the 
 power of her husband, the authority of the council would be 
 much lessened. 
 
 During that winter, there were various excursions made, and 
 with different success; but one was most memorable at the foot 
 of Cheviot-hills, where a fight was maintained a long while be- 
 tween the duke of Norfolk and Andrew Ker. The victory wa$ 
 a long time doubtful, but at last inclined to the English., and Ker 
 
228 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 was taken prisoner, many brave men being wounded on both sides. 
 Hereupon an assembly was summoned to Edinburgh, to be held 
 in October, to hear the letters sent from the French king. In 
 which, after a prolix, enumeration of the ancient leagues between 
 them, and their mutual obligations to one another, he desired the 
 Scots parliament, that a choice might be made of fit persons, out 
 of all the three orders, with ample commission, who (in regard 
 his son the dauphin, about the end of December, was entering 
 upon the year fit for marriage, according to the law) might be 
 sent ambassadors to conclude the marriage, which was almost al- 
 ready made (for the queen of Scots had been carried over into 
 Trance upon that hope) and thus the nations, which were ancient- 
 ly confederate, would now coalesce into one body; and the old 
 friendship between those people would be connected by an indis- 
 soluble bond. This if they would do, he made them magnifi- 
 cent promises, that whatever fruits of benevolence they hoped for 
 from allies, the same they might expect from him. 
 
 Though all the Sects knew to what end this haste of the French 
 king was directed, and that there were shortly like to be disputes 
 between them concerning their liberties*, yet they all came, in 
 great obedience to the appointed parliament, where, without much 
 ado, eight ambassadors were chosen to go over into France, to 
 finish the marriage. Three of the nobility, Gilbert Kennedy, 
 earl of Cassils, Geore Lesly, earl of Rothes, to whom were add- 
 ed, James Fleming, eai'l of Cumberland, chief of his family; 
 three of the ecclesiastical order, James Beton, archbishop of Glas- 
 gow, Robert Reid, bisliop of the Orcades, and James Stuart, pri- 
 or of the monastery of St. Andrews, and the queen's brother; 
 and two of the commons, George Seaton,. because he was gover- 
 nor of Edinburgh, and John Erskine, laird of Down, or Din, go- 
 vernor of Montrose, of a knight's family, but comparable for dig- 
 nity to any nobleman. After they had set sail, and were yet on 
 the coast of Scotland, they were tossed with a very high wind; 
 and being farther at sea, they met with such a terrible tempest, 
 that two of the ships were sunk, not far from Boulogne in France, 
 a town of the Morini. The earl of Rothes and the bishop of the 
 Orcades were carried to land in a fisher boat, and were the only 
 two that escaped of all the passengers in these vessels. 
 
 The rest of the fleet having long combated with the waves, at 
 length arrived in other lesser ports of France; where, when all 
 the ambassadors were again met, they hastened to court. There 
 they began the treaty about the marriage: All yielded to it, but 
 the Guises were mighty forward to have it hastened, both be- 
 cause they judged that affinity would be a great accession of au- 
 thority to their family; as also because opportunity seemed to far 
 your their design, in regard Annas, duke of Montmorency, who 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 22^ 
 
 was esteemed the wisest of all the French nobility, and who was 
 most likely to oppose the match, was a prisoner of war. He, 
 indeed, was not willing the matter should be so precipitated, for 
 several other causes, in the judgment of many, very just and con- 
 siderable; but, above all, lest the povver of the Guises, (which 
 was suspected by the wise, and began to be intolerable to all) 
 should grow to that height, as to be unsafe for kings themselves. 
 For, of the five brothers of the Guises, the eldest was captain- 
 general of all the forces which served in France. The next was 
 sent into Lombardy, to succeed Charles Cosseus: The third was 
 sent over into Scotland, with some supplies, to command the ar- 
 my there : The fourth had the command of the gallies at Mar- 
 seilles: And all money-matters passed under the hand of Charles, 
 the cardinal: So that neither soldier nor sous could stir in all the 
 territories of the French king, without their approbation and 
 goodwill. Some men commiserated the fortune of the good 
 king, and it brought into remembrance the condition of those 
 times, when, by reason of court-factions, the kings of France 
 have been shut up in monasteries, as in places of a milder banish- 
 ment. 
 
 The court, for some days, being transported with these nup- 
 tial revels, when they came to themselves, called the Scots ambas- 
 sadors into council, where the chancellor of France dealt with 
 them to produce the crown, and the other ensigns of royalty; and 
 that the queen's husband should be created king of Scotland, ac- 
 cording to custom. To whom the ambassadors answered in 
 short, That they had received no commands concerning those 
 matters. The chancellor replied, That no more was desired of 
 them, at present, than what was in their power, viz. That when 
 this matter came to be debated in the parliament of Scotland, they 
 would give their suffrages in the affirmative, and give it under 
 their hands that they would do so. That demand seemed to be ful- 
 ler of peremptoriness than the former, therefore they thought it 
 best to reject it with great vehemence and disgust; insomuch 
 that their answer was, Thai th>nr embassy ivas limited by certain in- 
 structions and bounds, which they neither could nor would transgress ; 
 but if they had btten left free without any restriction at all, yet it was 
 not the part of faithful friends, to require that of them, which they 
 could not grant without certain infamy and treachery, though there 
 were no danger of l/fe in the case: That they were willing to gratify 
 the French, their old allies, as far as the just laws of amity required; 
 and therefore they desired them to keep within the same bounds of mo- 
 deration in making their demands. 
 
 Thus the ambassadors were dismissed the court: and, the 
 they hastened home as soon as they could, yet, before they went 
 a shipboard, four of the chief of them, Gilbert Kenned y, George 
 
2^0 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVL 
 
 Lcsly, Robert Reid and James Fleming, all brave men, and true 
 patriots, departed this life, as did likewise many of their retinue, 
 not without suspicion of poison. It was thought that James> the 
 queen's brother, had also taken the same dose* for although by 
 reason of the strength of his constitution and his youth, he e- 
 scaped death at that time, yet he lay under a constant weakness 
 of stomach, as long as he lived. 
 
 That summer, matters were at that dubious pass in Britain, 
 that there seemed rather to be no peace, than a war \ for there 
 were skirmishes and plunderings on both sides, and villages burnt; 
 incursions were mutually made, and not without blood. Two of 
 the nobility of Scotland were carried away prisoners by the En- 
 glish, William Keith, son to the earl of March, and Patrick Grey, 
 chief of a family (so called) amongst the Scots ; the other calami- 
 ties of war fell on persons of meaner rank. 
 
 About the same time, the English sent a fleet under the com- 
 mand of Sir John Clare, to infest the coasts of Scotland: They 
 came to the Orcades, intending there to land, and to burn Kirk- 
 wall, a bishop's see the only town in that circuit. When they 
 had made a descent with a good part of their force, a fierce tem- 
 pest suddenly arose, which carried their ships from the coast in- 
 to the main - y where after a long contest with the wind and 
 waves they at length made sail for England back again: They 
 who were put ashore were every one slain by the islanders. 
 
 This vear, and the year before, the cause of religion seemed to 
 lie dormant j for it being somewhat crushed by the death of 
 George Wishart, one party accounted themselves well satisfied, 
 if they could worship God peaceably in their own tongue, in pri- 
 vate assemblies, and dispute soberly concerning matters of divini- 
 ty, and the other party, after the cardinal was slain, shewed 
 themselves rather destitute of an head, than not desirous of re- 
 venge: for he who succeeded in his place, rather coveted the 
 money than the blood of his enemies, and was seldom cruel, 
 but when it was to maintain his plunder and his pleasures. 
 
 In April, Walter Mills, a priest, none of the most learned, 
 was yet suspected by the bishops, because he left off to say mass, 
 whereupon he was haled to their court. Though he was weak 
 by constitution of body and age, extremely poor, and also brought 
 out from a nasty prison, and lay under such high discourage- 
 ments-, yet he answered so stoutly and prudently too, that his 
 very enemies could not but acknowledge, that such greatness and 
 confidence of spirit, in such an enfeebled carcase, must needs 
 have a support from above. The citizens of St. Andrews were 
 so much offended at the wrong done him, that there was none 
 found who would sit as judge uoon him: and all the tradesmen 
 shut up their shops, that they might sell no materials towards his 
 
Book XVI. * HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 23! 
 
 execution! which was the causa of his reprieve for one day 
 more than was intended; At last, one Alexander Somervel, a 
 friend of the archbishop's, was found out, the next day, a great 
 villain, who undertook to act as judge for that day. This is cer- 
 tain, the commonalty took his death so heinously, that they heap- 
 ed up a great pile of stones in the place where he was burnt, 
 that so the memory of his death might not end with his life. 
 The priests gave order to have it thrown down for some days, but 
 still, as they threw it down one day, it was raised up the next,, 
 till at last the papists conveyed the stones away to build houses 
 with, about the town. July the 20th was the day appointed 
 by the bishops, for Paul Meffen, an eminent preacher of God's 
 word in those days, to come to his answer. There was a great 
 assembly of the nobility at that time, so that a tumult seemed 
 unavoidable; whereupon the process was deferred to another 
 time: Several were condemned, but it was of those that were ab- 
 sent; who, that they might not be terrified with the severity of 
 the punishment, were commanded to come by the first of Sep- 
 tember, and pardon was promised them, if they recanted. 
 
 The same first of September was St. Giles's dav, whom the 
 inhabitants of Edinburgh look on as their tutelar saint, carousing 
 to him in great goblets, and making high entertainments for their 
 neighbours and guests. The regent, fearing lest, in such a con- 
 fused rabble, some tumult should arise, was willing to be present 
 herself at the wake. The papists were very glad of her coming, 
 and easily persuaded her to see the shew and pageant, wherein 
 St. Giles was to be carried about the city: but St. Giles, alas! 
 did not appear, for he was stolen out of the shrine by some body 
 or other. However, that St. Giles might not want a pageant 
 nor the citizens a shew upon that festival day, there was another 
 young Gilesling (forsooth) set up in his room. After the regent 
 had accompanied him thro' the greatest part of tire town, and 
 saw no danger of airy insurrection, she retired, weary as she was, 
 into an inn to repose herself. But presently the city youths 
 plucked down the picture of St. Giles, from the shoulders of 
 those who carried him, threw him into the dirt, and spoiled the 
 glory of the whole pageantry: The priests and friars running se- 
 veral ways for fear, created a belief of a great tumult: but when 
 they. had understood that there was more fear than danger in the 
 tiring, and that the whole matter was transacted without blood, 
 they crept again out of their holes, and gathered themselves to- 
 gether to consult about the main chance; where, though they 
 were quite out of hopes to recover their ancient repute; yet they 
 dissembled confidence, as if their former power had remained: 
 and, to try how to retrieve their affairs in so desperate a case, they 
 thought to strike fears into their enemies, and appointed a convo- 
 Vol. II. G 2 
 
232 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 cation to be held at Edinburgh, November 8. When the day of 
 their convening came, the priests met in the church of the Do- 
 minicans, and there cited Paul Meffen by name, whom in a for- 
 mer assembly they had commanded to appear: he not appearing 
 was banished, and a severe punishment denounced on those who 
 would receive him into their houses, or supply him with any ne- 
 cessaries to support his life. But that commination did not terri- 
 fy the inhabitants of Dundee from doing their duty; for they sup- 
 plied him with provision, and harboured him from one house to 
 another; nay, they even dealt with the regent, by some men who 
 were in favour at court, that his banishment might be remit- 
 ted; but all the priests strenuously opposed it; and besides, they 
 offered a great sum of money against him; so that nothing could 
 be done. 
 
 Whilst these things were acting, some eminent persons, espe- 
 cially of Fife and Angus, and some chief burghers of several 
 towns, travelled over all the shires of Scotland, exhorting all the 
 people to love the sincere preaching of the word, and not to suf- 
 fer themselves, and their friends of the same opinion in religion 
 with themselves, to be oppressed and destroyed by a small and 
 weak faction; alleging, if their enemies would transact the mat- 
 ter by law, they should easily cast them; but if they chose force 
 rather, they were not inferior to them. And they had schedules 
 or written tables, ready for those who were pleased therewith, to 
 •subscribe their names. These first assumed the name of Con- 
 gregation, which was made more famous afterwards by those who 
 joined themselves thereto. 
 
 These assertors of the purer and reformed religion, foreseeing 
 that matters would soon come to some extremity, by joint consent 
 determined to send some demands to the queen, which unless 
 they were granted, there Was likely to be no probability of a 
 church, neither could the multitude be restrained from an insur- 
 rection. They chose Sir James Sandeland of Calder, a worthy 
 knight, venerable both for his age, and for his well spent life, to 
 carry their desires to the regent, who opened the necessity of 
 sending such a message, and requested, in the name of all, who 
 stood for the reformation of religion, " That all public prayers 
 " and the administration of the sacraments, should be celebrated 
 *' by ministers in their mother tongue, that all the people mighr 
 " understand them; that the election of ministers, according to 
 " the ancient custom of the church, should be made by the peo- 
 «« pie: and that they who presided over that election, should in- 
 " quire diligently into the lives and doctrines of all that were to 
 ** be admitted; and if by the negligence of former times, unlearned 
 " and flagitious persons had crept into ecclesiastical dignities, thai. 
 Ci they might be removed out of the ministry, and fit persons 
 

 Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 233 
 
 «* substituted in their places." The priests were even mad, and 
 stormed mightily, that any man durst appear and own so impu- 
 dent a fact, as they called it. But when their heat was a little al- 
 layed, they answered, that they would refer the matter to a pub- 
 lic disputation; and indeed, what danger could there be in that, 
 when they themselves were to be judges in their own cause? On 
 the other side, the friends of the Reformation alleged, that the 
 matter ought not to be determined by the wills of men, but by the 
 plain words of holy scripture. 
 
 The priests propounded also other terms of agreement, but such 
 ridiculous ones, that they are not worthy of an answer; as if the 
 reformers would keep up the mass in its ancient honour; if they 
 would acknowledge purgatory after this life; if they would yield 
 to pray to saints, and for the dead, that then they would also 
 yield, that they should pray in their mother-tongue, and celebrate 
 the sacraments, baptism, and the Lord's supper in the same. 
 The reformers pressed the regent, (as before) that in so just a 
 cause, she would please to gratify them with an answer, agreeable 
 to equity and reason. The regent favoured the cause of the 
 priests, and secretly promised them her assistance, as soon as op- 
 portunity offered. And she commanded the adverse faction to 
 use prayer, celebrate the sacraments, and perform other religious 
 exercises in their mother-tongue, but without tumult; only their 
 teachers were not to make any public sermons to the' people at 
 Edinburgh or Leith. Though this condition was carefully observ- 
 ed by them, yet many testimonies that her affection was alienated 
 from them, did daily appear. And the papists at Edinburgh made 
 almost the same answer to the demands that were brought in by 
 the nobility; only this they added farther, " That as to the point 
 " of electing ministers, in such kind of questions, they were to 
 •* stand by the canon-law, or the decrees of the council of Trent." 
 Neither did they, in that assembly, attempt any thing in their 
 own matters, only commanded the bishops to send secret inform- 
 ers into all parishes of their dioceses, who were to take the names 
 of the violators of the papistical laws, and bring them in to them. 
 And though they plainly perceived that their threats were little 
 esteemed, yet trusting to the public authority, which was on their 
 side, and having confidence in the arms of France, they insulted 
 over their inferiors as imperiously as ever they did before. To 
 mitigate their minds in some sort, and to deprecate' their severe 
 and bitter sentence against the preachers of the gospel, John 
 Erskine, lord of Down, a man learned, pious, and affable, was 
 sent to them. He intreated them, out of that piety which we all 
 owe to God, and charity towards men, that they would not think 
 it much, at least, to tolerate people to pvay to God in their mo- 
 ther-tongue, when they were met together for that service, fur 
 
 Gg 2 
 
234 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 that was according to scripture-command. They were so far 
 from granting his request, that they used him with more hitter and 
 arrogant words than formerly, adding also more cruel threatening^ 
 and reproaches; and, lest they might seem to have acted nothing 
 in that assembly, they caused some thread-bare popish laws to be 
 printed, and fastened upon the doors of churches, which, because 
 they were commonly sold for a farthing, the common people cal- 
 led them the quadrant any ■> and sometimes the tr'wbolar faith. 
 
 Moreover, they who the year before had -performed the emb. 
 in France, came in to the assembly, and easily obtained, that their 
 transactions should he ratified. And after tli at, the French am- 
 bassador was introduced, who, after he had made a long oration 
 concerning the ancu Rt and long continued good-will of the French 
 kings toward all the Scottish nation, did earnestly desire of them 
 all, both singly and jointly, that they would set the crown (which 
 he, by a new and monstrous name, called matrimonial) upon the 
 head of the queen's husband, alleging, that he would gain but 
 an empty name, without any occasion of power and profit. He 
 also used -many other flattering words, not necessary here to be 
 repeated; which, the more accurate they were in a trifling busi- 
 ness, by so much the more they were suspected, as coverts of 
 concealed fraud; yet the ambassador, partly by immoderate pro- 
 mises, and partly by earnest intreaties, and partly by the favour of 
 some, who coileagued with the future power, gained the point, 
 that the crown was ordered for the dauphin; and Gillespv Camp- 
 bell, earl of Argyle, and James, the queen's brother, were cho- 
 sen to carry it to him. These persons, perceiving that they were 
 sent abroad to their own ruin, in regard the French ambition hung 
 as a storm ready to fail upon their heads, made no great haste to 
 iit up their equipage, but deferred their preparation from day to 
 day, until they had pondered all things, and taken surer mea- 
 sures of what was likely to ensue, especially since now a nearer 
 raid more eminent title of honour offered itself ; for Mary queen of 
 England being dead, the queen of Scots carried herself as her 
 heir, and bore the arms and ensigns of England, engraving the 
 same on all her household-stuff and furniture; and though France- 
 was at that time miserably distressed in asserting her power and 
 dominion over Milan, Naples, and Flanders, yet she added to the 
 rest of her miseries this mock-title of England. The wiser sort of 
 the French saw this well enough, but they were forced to comply 
 with the Guises, who then could do all at court; for, by this kind 
 of vanity, they would needs be thought to add nuich splendour to 
 the French name. 
 
 Besides, the regent having received the decree concerning the 
 matrimonial crown, seemed to have put on a new disposition, for 
 she turned her ancient affability, which was acceptable to all,, in- 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 235 
 
 to an imperious arrogance-, and, instead of gentle answers, where- 
 with, before, she used to soothe both factions, as, that it was 
 not her fault, but that of the times, that she could not promise 
 so largely as she desired, before that decree was passed. Now 
 she thought herself secure, and thefore used another kind of lan- 
 guage and deportment. A parliament was summoned to be held 
 at Stirling, May 10th; and whereas she often said, that ?;o-,u she 
 was free from other cares, she ivould not suffer the majesty of govern- 
 ment to be debased) but endeavour to restore it to its ancient glory, by 
 sane eminent example: These words portended a storm ensuing, 
 and therefore many applied to her for favour; and, amongst the 
 rest, to make their request more likely to be granted, upon the ac- 
 count of the dignity of the messengers, Alexander Cunningham, 
 earl of Glencairn, and Hugh Campbell, sheriff of Ayr, a worthy 
 knight, were sent to her. When they came, she could not con- 
 tain herself, but must needs utter this speech, as a witness of her 
 impiety. Do you, and your ministers nub at you noil/ or can, yea, 
 though they preach ever so sincerely, yet they shall be banished the land. 
 When they replied, in great humility, that she nvould be pleased to 
 call to mind what she had often promised than. She answered, that 
 promises of princes were no further to be urged upon them for perform- 
 ance , than it stood nvith their cenveniency. Whereupon they rejoin- 
 ed, 'That then they renounced all allegiance and subjection to her; and 
 advised her to consider, what inconvenience was likely to ensue 
 hereupon. She was unexpectedly struck with this answer, and 
 said, She nvould think upon it. And when the fierceness of her an- 
 ger seemed somewhat to abate, it was again kindled much more 
 violently, when she heard that the inhabitants of St. Johnston had 
 publicly embraced the reformed religion. Whereupon she turned 
 to Patrick Ruthven, mayor of the town, commanding him to sup- 
 press all those tumults for innovating of religion. His answer was, 
 That he had pence r over their bodies and estates, and those he nvould 
 take care should do no hurt ; but that he had no dominion over their coin 
 sciences. At which answer she was so enraged, that she said, she 
 hoped none nvould think it strange, if he nvere shortly made to repent 
 his stubborn impudence. She also commanded James Halibnrton, 
 sheriff of Dundee, to send Paul Me'ffen prisoner to her; but he 
 was advised thereof by the sheriff, and so gave way to the time, 
 and slipped out of town. She wrote also to the neighbour-assem- 
 blies, to keep the Easter following after the popish manner. But 
 when none obeyed her therein, she was so enraged, that she cued 
 all the ministers of the churches of the whole kingdom to Stirling, 
 to appear there on the 10th of May ensuing. 
 
 When that matter came to be noised abroad, the evangclics 
 exhorted one another, that they and their ministers would alsq 
 appear at the meeting; so that there wzz a great multitude <A 
 
236 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 those that were likely to be at that assembly, which, though they 
 came unarmed, yet the regent feared that things would not go 
 well on her side. Whereupon she sent for John Erskine of 
 Down, who happened to be in town at that time, and prevailed 
 with him to cause the unnecessary multitude to return home, 
 which would not be very difficult for him to do, because of the 
 great authority he had amongst them; and in the mean time she 
 promised she would act nothing against the men of that persua- 
 sion. Many there were, who being made acquainted with this 
 promise of the regent, changed their purpose of going thither, and 
 i-eturned home-, yet nevertheless she, on the day appointed for 
 the assembly, called over the name ; of those v ho were summon- 
 ed, and those who did not answer to their names she outlawed. 
 Erskine, seeing what little credit was to be given to her promises, 
 and fearing to be seized on by force, had withdrawn himself, and 
 found the lords Strathearn, Angus, and Mtarus, yet in a body, 
 though doubting of the faith of the queen. They finding, by his 
 discourse (what they suspected before), that the queen's rage was 
 implacable, and that the matter could no longer be dissembled, 
 prepared themselves against open force. 
 
 Matters standing in this ticklish posture, Knox assembled the 
 multitude at Perth, and made such an excellent sermon to them, 
 that he set their minds, already moved, all in a f!ame r After 
 sermon the greatest part of the audience went home to dinner, 
 but a few of the meaner sort, such as were also enraged with 
 anger and indignation, staid behind in the church. Amongst 
 them a poor priest, thinking to try how they stood affected, pre- 
 pared himself to say mass, and drew out a large frame, or rather 
 idol case, in which was contained the history of many saints curi- 
 ously engraven. A young man standing by, cried out, that what 
 he did was intolerable ; upon which the priest gave him a box on 
 the ear; the youth took up a stone, and, thinking to hit the 
 priest, the blow lighted on the frame, and broke one of the pic- 
 tures ; the rest of the multitude, being in a rage, some fell upon 
 the priest and his frame, others upon die shrines and altars; and 
 thus, as it were, in a moment of time, they demolished ail the 
 monuments of superstitious or profane worship. 
 
 These things were done by the meaner sort, while the richer 
 were at dinner. With the same furious violence, they ran seve- 
 ral ways to the monastery of the friars, the rest of the common 
 people still flocking in to them. And though the friars had pro- 
 vided some aid against such assaults, yet no force was able to re- 
 gist the rash violence of the multitude. The first assault was 
 made upon the images and church-stuff, and the poorer sort ran 
 in to plunder. The Franciscans were furnished with household- 
 gturf, not only plentiful, but stately, more than would serve ten 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 237 
 
 times as many as they were. The Dominicans though not so o- 
 pulent as they, yet had enough to evince their profession of beg- 
 ging to be a very vain one; so that one wittily called them (not 
 friars mendicants, h\xi)friars man&ucants. The. poor seized on all 
 their furniture ; for they who had estates, to prevent all suspicions 
 of covetousness, suffered some of the monks, and especially the 
 prior of the Carthusians, to go off with great quantities of gold 
 and silver plate. Nay, the abstinence of the soldiers from plun- 
 der was as incredible, as their celerity in demolishing the build- 
 ings was wonderful. For those large houses of the Carthusians 
 were so hastily overthrown, and even the stones carried away, 
 that, within two days time, there was hardly any sign of any 
 foundation left. When the news of all this came to the queen, 
 with some exaggerations, they so inflamed her lofty spirit, that 
 she swore she would expiate this nefarious wickedness with the 
 blood of the citizens, and with the burning of the city. The in- 
 habitants of Cupar in Fife, hearing of this procedure of affairs at 
 Perth, they also by general consent either broke the images, or 
 threw them out of the church, and thus cleansed their temple : 
 at which the priest of the parish was so grieved, that the night 
 following he laid violent hands upon himself. The regent was 
 amazed to hear this news, and sent for Hamilton, the earls of 
 Argyle and Athol, with their allies and clanships, to come to her, 
 and though she desired, by her quick proceeding, to prevent the 
 preparations of her enemies, yet the carriage of the brass 
 ordnance was so tedious, that it was about the 18th day of May 
 before they came to the parts adjoining to that city. When the 
 nobles that were at Perth heard of the preparations that the regent 
 had made against them, they also sent messengers to their friends, 
 and to the reformed all about, not to desert them in this last ex- 
 tremity of life and fortune. Whereupon all the commonalty came 
 zealously and speedily in, and some also out of Lothian, that they 
 might not be wanting to the common danger. But Alexander 
 Cunningham, earl of Clencairn, exceeded them all in his force and 
 readiness ; for he, hearing how things stood, gathered together 
 2500 men, horse and foot, and led them on night and day, 
 through rough and by-ways, till he came to Perth. James Stuart, 
 natural son to the late king, and Gillespy Campbell, earl of Ar- 
 gyle, were as yet in the army of the regent, for though they were 
 the chief authors of reforming religion, yet, because all hopes of 
 concord were not quite lost, they staid there; that so, if peace 
 might be made on just terms, they might do some service to their 
 friends; but if the minds of the papists were wholly averse from 
 peace, then they resolved to run the same hazard with the rest at 
 Perth. 
 
 The regent, being before informed by her spies, that the en;- 
 
53^ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book X.VL 
 
 my were about 7000 strong, all very hearty, and resolved to fight, 
 though she had with her almost an equal number of Scots, besides 
 the Freneh auxiliaries, yet was loth to venture all upon a battle. 
 And therefore she sent James Stewart, and Gillcspy Campbell 
 (whom I named before) to treat with the enemy. They, on their 
 p art, chose out Alexander Cunningham, and John Erskine of 
 Down, to treat with them. The queen was now somewhat more 
 placable, because she heard that Glencairn had also joined his 
 {drees with the rest of the opposers of idolatry. Whereupon the 
 lour commissioners made an agreement, that all the soldiery of 
 the Scots should be disbanded on both sides, and the regent should 
 have liberty to enter the town, and stay there with her retinue for 
 a lew days, till she had refreshed herself from the toil of her jour- 
 ney; yet so, that they were not to injure any of the townsmen in 
 Hie least. As for the French, none of them were to enter, or to 
 come within three miles of the town. All the other differences 
 were referred to the decision of the next parliament. Thus, the 
 present insurrection being quieted without blood, the assertors of 
 the Reformation departed joyfully, for they desired not to make a 
 war, but only to defend themselves-, and thereupon they gave 
 God thanks, who had given an unbloody end to the war. The 
 earl of Argyle and James Stewart left the regent at Perth, and 
 went to St. Andrews, there to refresh themselves after their toils. 
 But she, the volunteers being disbanded on both sides, having en- 
 tered the place with a small retinue, was honourably received ac- 
 cording to the ability of the citizens. The French mercenaries 
 passing by the house of Patrick Murray, an honest and worthy 
 Townsman; six of them levelled their pieces against a balcony, 
 out of which his whole family looked to behold the sight; upon 
 rhe discharge they killed only Patrick's son, a youth of thirteen 
 years of age. The bodv was brought to the queen; and when she 
 heard of what family he was, she said, That the chance -was to be 
 lamented. ; and so much the rather^ because it lighted on the son, and 
 not on the father; but that she could not prevent nor help such casual 
 accidents. This her speech gave all to understand, that she wbuld 
 no longer stand to her agreements than till she had force great 
 enough to her mind; and her deeds confirmed the truth of this 
 suspicion: for within three days after, she began to turn all things 
 topsy-turvy; some of the citizens she fined, others she banished; 
 and charged their magistrates, without any judicial proceedings; 
 and, going to Stilling, she left some mercenary Scots under French 
 pay, in the town to garrison it; whereby she pretended she had 
 net broken her word, which was, that the city should be left 
 free, and no Frenchman enter into it. When it was objected to 
 L-r, that by the agreement, ail those were to be accounted 
 Fi'sach, who had sworn allegiance to die French king; then she. 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 239 
 
 had recourse to the common refuge of the papists, that promises 
 were not, be kept with heretics. But her excuse would have been as 
 honest, if she had told thorn that she had no obligation lay on her 
 conscience, but that she might lawfully take away both life and 
 goods, from such a sort-o£ people as they were; and moreover, 
 That princes were not to be so eagerly pressed for the performance of 
 their promises. 
 
 These things sufficiently declared, that the concord was not 
 like to be lasting. And besides, the things which followed gave 
 further occasion for a sinister opinion of her; for she pestered 
 James Stewart and Gillespy Campbell with threatening letters and 
 commands, denouncing the extremity of the law against them, 
 unless they came in to her. As for the army of the adverse fac- 
 tion, she disregarded that, because she knew it was made up of 
 volunteers, and such as fought without pay; and when thev were 
 dismissed, they would not easily be brought together again. Af- 
 ter she restored the mass, and settled other things as well as she 
 could, she left a garrison in the town, as I said before, and went 
 toward Stirling. She was very desirous to have the possession of 
 Perth, in regard it was situate almost in the middle of the whole 
 kingdom, and was the only walled place in it. And besides, all 
 the neighbouring nobility was averse from the papists, and there- 
 fore she desired to put this curb upon them. Moreover, it had 
 many conveniencies, and especially for conveyance of land or sea 
 forces; for the tide comes up thither from the river Tay, which 
 washeth its walls; and so it affords a passage for commerce with 
 foreign nations, and it is almost the only town to which access 
 may be had by land, even to the utmost parts of the kingdom. 
 As for other towns, the passages to them are intercepted by long 
 bays, running in from the sea; and the passage is slower through 
 them, by reason they have not that number of ships as to carry a 
 great multitude at once; so that oft times passengers are stopped 
 many days, by contrary winds, or by the violence of tempests. 
 
 For these reasons Perth is accounted the most convenient p' ace 
 for holding assemblies, and also for collecting forces from all parts 
 of the kingdom. But at that time the regent got not so much ad- 
 vantage by the commodious situation of the place, as she reaped 
 envy by violating her faith, in breaking her capitulations; for that 
 was the last day of her felicity, and the first wherein she was pub- 
 licly contemned. For, when the matter came to be divulged, it- 
 gave occasion of many insurrections in all parts of the kingdom. 
 For the earl of Argyle, and James Stewart, perceiving that their 
 credit was broken, by the violation of that truce, which they were 
 die authors nf, convened the neighbour nobility of St. Andrews, 
 and joined themselves to the reformed, and wrote to their confe- 
 derates of the same sect, that the regent was at Falkland, with 
 
 Vol.U. H h 
 
24O HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 French forces, and that she was intent on the destruction of Cu- 
 par and St. Andrews; and unless help were presently sent, all the 
 churches in Fife would be in great danger. Whereupon a great 
 multitude came presently in to them from the neighbouring parts, 
 mightily enraged against the queen and her forces For they 
 found they were at war with a faithless and barbarous people, that 
 had no respect to equity, right, faith, promises, or the religion 
 of an oath, but esteemed so lightly of them, that they would say 
 and unsay, do and undo, at every waving blast of hope, and un- 
 certain gale of smiling fortune-, and therefore, for the future, no 
 conditions or articles of peace were to be hearkened to, unless 
 one party were extinguished, or, at least, strangers were driven 
 out of the kingdom. So that they prepared themselves to over- 
 come or die. 
 
 By these, and such like" speeches, the minds of all present were 
 so inflamed, that first of all they made an assault on Crail, a town 
 situate on the further angle of Fife, where they overthrew the al- 
 tars, and broke down the images, and spoiled all the apparatus of 
 the mass-trade: and, that which was almost incredible in the case, 
 anger prevailed more in the minds of the vulgar, than avarice. 
 From thence they went to St. Andrews, where they spoiled the 
 temples of the other saints, and levelled the monasteries of the 
 Franciscan and Dominican friars to the ground. And though all 
 this was done almost under the nose of the archbishop, who had 
 a sufficient number of horse, which were able, as his hopes late- 
 ly were, to defend the town-, yet seeing the eagerness of the peo- 
 ple, and such a numerous concourse of all sorts of volunteers, he 
 withdrew himself and his followers from the fury of the multi- 
 tude, and went to Falkland to his clans and kindred. The regent 
 was so enraged at the hearing of this, that, without any further 
 deliberation, she commanded a march the next day, and sent 
 quarter-masters before, to assign quarters for the French at Cu- 
 par. She also sent abroad her commands to all places,- that all 
 who were able to bear arms, should follow her to Cupar; be- 
 sides, she gave a watch-word to the present forces of the French 
 and the Hamilton s, that they should be all ready to be in arms on 
 sound of trumpet. This design of hers was made known to the 
 reformers, by their spies and scouts; whereupon their friends 
 and acquaintance were summoned to repair to those who were al- 
 ready assembled ; and, to prevent the design of the regent, they 
 marched presently towards Cupar; and at the same instant, the 
 inhabitants of Dundee, and the nobles of the adjacent country, to 
 the number of about iooo men, upon the same alarm, joined 
 themselves with them. That night they halted there, but the 
 next morning early they drew their forces out of the town, and 
 *tr.od in array in the adjoining fields, expecting the army of the 
 
Look XVI. history of Scotland. 241 
 
 papists, and gathering up their own forces, as they came gra- 
 dually and stragglingly in. In the camp of the regent there were 
 2000 French, under the command of D'Oysel, and 1000 Scots led 
 by James Hamilton, duke of Chatelherault, as he was then 
 called. These sent their cannon before them in the second watch, 
 and marching early in the morning, came all so near, as to see 
 the enemy, and to be seen by them. There was a small river 
 between them, where, at convenient posts, their great guns were 
 planted. Five hundred horse were sent before, to make light 
 skirmishes with the enemy, and also to hinder their passage over 
 the river, if they should attempt it. The alacrity of these men 
 gave some stop to the French; which was further increased by 
 the coming in of Patrick Lermont, mayor of St. Andrews, with 
 500 citizens in arms, who, fGr the conveniency of their march, 
 being stretched out in length, made a shew of a far greater num- 
 ber than they were. This kept the regent's forces from discover- 
 ing the number and order of their enemies, which they much de- 
 sired to know; neither could they discover that the general offi- 
 cers were present, that so they might give notice to their own 
 people, as they were, commanded. And therefore some of the 
 French went to the top of an high hill adjoining, to have as full' 
 a view of the enemy as they could, from such a distance. From 
 thence they discovered many bodies of horse and foot, with small 
 distances betwixt them, and behind them a great number of men 
 to attend the baggage and waggons, which made a long shew at 
 the edge of a certain valley; so that they thought that the whole 
 numerous party was laid in ambush for them: and this news they 
 carried to their fellows, aggravating all things beyond what they 
 were indeed. Whereupon the commanders of the army, by the 
 advice of the council, sent to the regent, who staid at Falkland, 
 to acquaint her how matters stood; that the Scots seemed more 
 numerous than they expected, and more ready to fight; and, on 
 the contrary, their own men murmured; and some of them pub- 
 licly gave out, that they scorned, for the sake of a few strangers, 
 to be led to an engagement against their own countrymen, friends 
 and relations. Whereupon, by the assent of the queen, three 
 ambassadors of the nobility were sent from Hamilton, such as had 
 some friends or sons in the enemy's army. These ambassadors 
 could not make a peace, because the reformers, being so often 
 deluded by vain promises, gave no credit to their concessions; and 
 the regent at that time had not any other voucher but her word 
 to make good her stipulation; and if she had, she would have 
 thought it below her dignity to have offered it. Besides, there- 
 was another difficulty in the case, which was the expulsion of 
 foreigners out of the kingdom (a thing principally insisted upon) 
 and that she could not do, without acquainting the French king; 
 
 H h 1 
 
242 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 so that only dilatory truces were made, not to Incline their minds 
 to peace, as they had often experienced before, but to procure fo- 
 reign aid; only this was agreed between them, that the French 
 forces should be transported into Lothian, and a truce should be 
 made for eight days, till the regent could send some pacifications 
 of her own to St. Andrews, to propound equal conditions of peace 
 to both parties. But the reformers, plainly perceiving that the 
 regent did but protract time, till she passed her army over the 
 next frith, because then she. could not compose things to her own 
 advantage, the earl of Argyle and James Stewart desired her by 
 letters, that she would draw the garrison out of Perth, and leave 
 the city to it-' own laws, as she promised when she was admitted 
 into it; and, that the envy of her breach of covenant was brought 
 upon them, who were the authors of the agreement. The regent 
 giving no answer to these letters, they turned their ensigns to- 
 wards Perth, from whence miserable complaints and groans for 
 relief were daily brought them. For the laird of Kinfans, a 
 neighbouring laird, whom the regent, at her departure, had made 
 governor of the town, to shew his officiousness, mightily oppres- 
 sed the citizens: for taking the opportunity of his command over 
 them, he indulged his own private passions, and revenged the old 
 grudges which he had with many of them, even to extremity, 
 banishing some, and pillaging others, on the account of re- 
 ligion; and he also allowed the like liberty to his soldiers. 
 
 The forces which were at Cupar, understanding of these in- 
 juries done to their friends and partners in the reformation, beat 
 up a march thither very early in the morning; they besieged the 
 town, which, after a few days was surrendered to them, Kinfans 
 was deprived of his governorship, and Patrick Ruthven the old 
 governor, substituted in his place. Afterward they burnt Scone, 
 an old and unpeopled town, because, contrary to their faith given, 
 they had killed one of their number. 
 
 By their spies they were informed that the regent was sending 
 a garrison of French to Stirling, so that they, who were beyond 
 the Forth might be cut off from the rest. To prevent this design, 
 Gillespy Campbell and James Stewart, late in the night, with 
 great silence, removed from Perth, and entered Stirling, where 
 they presently overthrew the monasteries of the friars. They also 
 purged the other churches about the city, from ail monuments of 
 idolatry. And thus, after three days, they marched towards 
 Edinburgh, and destroyed the superstitious relics at Linlithgow, 
 a town in the mid-way; and though they were but a very few in 
 number, the common soldiers, as if the war had been ended, slip- 
 ping home to their domestic affairs;. yet they crushed the papists 
 in so many towns, and so great a terror seized on the mercenary 
 Scots and French, that they fled, with all their baggage which 
 
Book XVI, HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 243 
 
 they could draw after them, to Dunbar. The Scots nobles, who 
 were the leaders of the Reformation, staid there several days to 
 order matters; for, besides cleansing of the temple from all popish 
 trinkets, they appointed preachers to expound the word of God 
 purely and sincerely to the people. 
 
 In the mean time, word was brought from France, that king 
 Henry II. was dead; which news increased the joy, but lessened 
 the industry of the Scots; for many now betook themselves to 
 their private affairs, as if ail the danger had been over. On the 
 other side, the regent, fearing lest she and the French should be 
 expelled out of Scotland, was highly vigilant and intent upon all 
 occasions. First, she sent forth scouts to Edinburgh, to fish out 
 the enemy's designs; by whom being informed, that the common 
 soldiers had dispersed themselves, and that the few which remain- 
 ed, kept no military discipline nor watch. She thought not fit 
 to slip such an opportunity, but marched, with the force, which 
 she had, directly to Edinburgh. Duke James Hamilton, and 
 James Douglas earl of Morton, very dutifully met her; but they, 
 not being able to compose matters, only got this point, that the 
 battle should not begin that day. At last, after many conditions 
 had been canvassed on both sides, on the 24th of July, 1559, a 
 truce was made to last till the 10th of January. The sum ol the 
 terms were, " That no man should be compelled in matters of re- 
 « ligion; that no garrison should be placed in Edinburgh; that 
 " the priests should not be hindered from receiving the fruits of 
 »' c their lands, tithes, pensions, or other incomes, freely; that 
 " none should demolish churches, monasteries, and other places, 
 " made for the use of priests, or should transfer them to other 
 " uses; and, that the dav after, the mint for coining money, and 
 " the royal palace, with all the furniture they found there, should 
 " be restored to the regent." 
 
 She was more careful to keep the articles of this truce both by 
 herself and her subjects, because she had shewn so much scanda- 
 lous levity in keeping the pacts made in former times. However, 
 by men of her own faction, she caused the Scots to be irritated, 
 who were by nature inclinable to passion, and so gave occasion of 
 harassing the unhappy commonalty. But, having no colour for 
 her project, sufficient to disguise her cruelty, under the pretence 
 of law she caused false reports to be spread abroad, that religion 
 was but made the pretence for rebellion 5 that the true cause of 
 rising in arms was, that, the lawful line being extinct, the king- 
 dom might be transferred to James, the late king's bastard son. 
 When she perceived that the minds of men were somewhat pos-r 
 d by these, and such other kind of false reports, she sent 
 some letters to the said James, pretending that they came from, 
 is and Mary, king and queen of Fiance, wherein he was 
 
244 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 upbraided with the pretended favour he had received from them 
 and withal was severely threatened, if he did not lay aside his de- 
 sign of revolting, and return to his duty. James answered, That 
 he was not conscious to himself, either in word or deed, of any 
 offence, either against king, regent, or laws; but, in regard the 
 nobility had undertaken the cause of the reformers of religion, 
 which was decayed, or rather had joined themselves to those who 
 were first therein, he was willing to bear the envy of those things 
 if any did arise, which were acted in common by himself and o- 
 thers, they aiming at nothing but the glory of God; neither was 
 it just for him to desert that cause, which had Christ himself for 
 its head, favourer, and defender, whom unless they would volun- 
 tarily deny, they could not give up their enterprise. Setting that 
 cause aside, he and others, who were branded with the invidious 
 name 6f rebels, would be most obsequious and loyal in all other 
 things. This answer was given to the regent, to- be sent into 
 France, where it was looked upon as pi - oud and contumacious; 
 whereas some esteemed it modest enough, especially as to the 
 point of upbraiding him with favours, whereas in truth he had 
 received none, unless such as were common to all strangers. 
 
 While these things were transacting, a thousand French mer- 
 cenaries arrived at Leith; as also the earl of Arran, son to James 
 Hamilton, late governor, came to the convention of the nobility, 
 which was held at Stirling. The regent thought himself very 
 secure, uyon the arrival of the French, and began openly to ap- 
 ply her mind to subdue all Scotland by force. But the cause of 
 the earl of Arran's return was this, he was more eager and zeal- 
 ous in the cause of Reformation, than was safe for him in those 
 times, and therefore he was designed to be put to death by the 
 Guises, who were the favourites of Francis the younger, for the 
 terror of the inferior orders of men: Nay, the cardinal of Lorrain 
 was so bold in a speech, which he made in the parliament of 
 Paris, inveighing against the cause of Reformation, that he said, 
 They should shortly see some eminent man suffer upon that account^ 
 who was little inferior to a prince. Ke being made acquainted 
 therewith, and withal calling to mind, that he had a little before 
 been free in his discourse with the duke of Guise upon that 
 head, by the advice of Ins friends, provided for his safety by a se- 
 cret flight; and contrary to all men's expectation, came home in 
 the midst of his country's tumults, joined himself with the part of 
 the reformers, procured his father also to join with them; and 
 so he reconciled many to him, who had been his enemies before, 
 upon old grudges. 
 
 The chief of the party there present, being informed that for 
 pertain some auxiliaries were arrived, and others were levying, to 
 Lc speedily sent o\er to Luih, which was strongly fortified, to 
 
Book XVL HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 245 
 
 be made a magazine for provisions and ammunition for war; and 
 that the French intended to make use of that town, as a place to 
 secure their retreat, if they were distressed, and as a port to re- 
 ceive their friends, if they prospered. Hereupon the Scots gather- 
 ed their forces together, and endeavoured to besiege Leith, but in 
 vain; for the regent and governor of Edinburgh castle, who had 
 not yet joined himself with the reformers and vindicators of pub- 
 lic freedom, had the possession of almost all the brass cannon in 
 Scotland; and besides, the party had not strength enough to shut 
 up a town in a formal siege, which had the sea on one side, and 
 was also divided by a river. 
 
 In the mean time, the king of France being informed how mat- 
 ters stood in Scotland, sent thither L'Abros, a knight of the order 
 of St. Michael, with 2000 foot, to assist the queen in the main- 
 tenance of the popish religion. There was also sent with him the 
 bishop of Amiens, and three doctors of the Sorbonne, to dispute 
 matters controverted, by arguments, if need were. The arrival 
 of them did so raise up the dejected spirit of the regent, that she 
 solemnly promised, she would now be speedily revenged of the 
 enemies of saints and kings. There were then twelve of the chief 
 nobility assembled at Edinburgh, which gave answer to Mr. L'A- 
 bros and the bishop, who alleged they were sent over ambassa- 
 dors; and therefore desired a day to propound their demands, viz 
 " That they did not seek peace, as they pretended, but that they 
 " threatened war; otherwise, if it were only to dispute, to what 
 " purpose was it to bring so many armed forces? As for them- 
 « selves, they were so imprudent, as to commit themselves to a 
 " dispute, where they must be forced to accept of what conditions 
 *« their enemies pleased: But, if a pacification might be accepta- 
 " ble to them, they also would take care, that they might not 
 -<< seem to be compelled by force, but overcome by reason; and, 
 " if they did really aim at what they pretended, they should send 
 " back the foreign soldiers, and meet unarmed, as they had done 
 " before; that so the matter might be determined by equity and 
 " right, not by force of arms." This they said to the ambassa- 
 dors. As to the fortifying Leith, they wrote back to the regent, 
 to this purpose: 
 
 " That they did much admire, that the regent had, without 
 " any provocation, so soon forgot, and receded from her agree- 
 " ments, as, by driving out the ancient inhabitants- of Leith, and 
 " placing a colony of strangers there, and so erecting a fort over 
 (t all their heads, to the ruin of their law and liberties, as she had 
 «« done; and therefore they earnestly desired her to desiot from 
 ft so pernicious a resolution, winch was rashly undertaken by her 
 " against the faith of hjrpromiscs; against the public benefit, 
 
24<5 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 «< law and liberty; lest otherwise they should be compelled to 
 tc call for the assistance of all the people in this case." 
 
 About a month after, they sent an answer from their conven- 
 tion at Edinburgh, to the same purpose, withal adding this to 
 their former request, That she would demolish all new fortifica- 
 tions, and send away all strangers and mercenaries, that so the 
 town might be free for traffic and mutual commerce; which, if 
 she refused to do, they would look upon it as a sure argument, 
 that she was resolved to bring the kingdom into slavery, which 
 mischief they would do all they could to prevent. 
 
 The regent, three days after, sent Robert Forman, principal 
 herald (king of arms, as they call him) giving him these com- 
 mands in answer to them: " First of all, you shall declare to 
 " them, that I am mightily surprised, and look upon it as an un- 
 " expected thing, that any other man should claim any power 
 ■« here, besides my son-in-law and daughter, on whom ail my 
 4* authority depends. The former conduct of the nobility, and 
 « these their present requests, or rather commands, do sufficient- 
 «« ly declare, that they acknowledge no authority superior to 
 « themselves: That their petitions, or rather their threats, though 
 <- gilded over with smooth words, are not at all new to me. 
 <c Next, you shall require the duke of Chatelherault, to call to 
 •< mind what he promised me by word of mouth, and to the king 
 «« by letters, that he would not only be loyal to the king, but al- 
 «* so would take effectual care, that his son, the earl of Arran, 
 « £ should not mix himself in these tumults of his country: And 
 « you shall ask him, whether his present conduct corresponds 
 « with those promises. To their letters you shall answer, That, 
 « for the sake of the public tranquillity, I will do, and so I pro- 
 « raise, whatsoever is not contrary to my duty towards God or 
 « c the king. As for the destruction of law and liberty, it never 
 " entered into my heart, much less to subdue the kingdom by 
 « force. For whom, said she, should 1 conquer it, seeing my 
 « daughter doth now, as lawful heiress, possess it? As to the 
 « fortification at Leith, ycu shall ask, Whether ever I attempted 
 « any thing therein, before they, in many conventions, and at 
 « length by a mutual conspiracy, had openly declared, That they 
 « rejected the government set over them by law, and without 
 « any advice or notice, though I held the place and authority of 
 " a chief magistrate; had broke the public peace at their pleasure, 
 « and had strengthened their party by taking of towns, and had 
 ** treated with old enemies for establishing a league; and th.it 
 U now many of them kept Englishmen in their houses? so that, 
 « to omit other argument-., What reason have they to judge it 
 lC lawful for themselves to keep up an army at Edinburgh, to in- 
 *< vade those that are in possession of Uie government; and yet 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 247 
 
 it must not be lawful for me to have some forces about me at 
 Leith for my own defence? Their aim is principally this, to 
 compel me, by often shifting of places, to avoid their fury, as 
 I have hitherto done. Is there any mention in their letters a- 
 bout obedience to lawful magistrates? Do they discover any 
 way to renew peace and concord? By what indication do they 
 manifest, that they are willing these tumults should be appeas- 
 ed, and all things reduced to their former state? Let them 
 colour and gild their pretences how they please, with the shew 
 of public good, yet it is plain, that they mind nothing less; for if 
 that one thing were a hinderance to concord, I have often 
 shewed the way that leads unto it. They themselves are not 
 ignorant, that the French, at the command of their own king, 
 had long since quitted Scotland, if their conduct had not occa- 
 sioned the soldiers longer stay. And therefore, if now they 
 will offer any honest conditions, which may afford a probable 
 ground of hope, that the majesty of the government may be 
 preserved, and that they will with modesty obey their superi- 
 ors; I shall refuse no way of renewing peace, nor omit any 
 thing relating to the public good. Neither am I only thus af- 
 fected towards them, but the king of France is of the same 
 mind too, who hath sent over an illustrious knight of the order 
 of St. Michael, and another prime ecclesiastical person, with 
 letters and commands to that purpose, whom yet they 
 have so slighted, as not to vouchsafe them an answer, no, nor 
 audience neither. And therefore you shall require the duke, 
 and other nobles, and persons of all sorts, presently to separate 
 themselves, otherwise they shall be proclaimed traitors." 
 To this letter the nobles sent an answer the day after, which 
 was October 23d, to this purpose: " We plainly perceive by 
 " your letters and commands, sent us by your herald, how you 
 u persist in your disaffection to God's true worship, to the pub- 
 «« lie good of the whole country, and to the common liberty of 
 " us all; which, that we may preserve according to our duty, 
 ,c we do in the name of our king and queen, suspend and inhi- 
 " bit that public administration which you usurp under their 
 u names, as being fully persuaded, that your conduct is quite 
 " contrary to their inclinations, and against the public good of 
 " the kingdom: And as you do not esteem us a senate and pub- 
 u lie council, who are the lawful people of our king, queen and 
 " country; so we do not acknowledge you as regent, in supreme 
 " authority over us, especially since your government (if you 
 " have any such entrusted to you by our princes) is for weighty 
 " :vrA just reasons, abrogated by us, and that in the names of 
 " those kings to whom we are born counsellors, especially in 
 « such tilings as concern the safety of the whole commonwealth 
 Vol. II. 1 i 
 
24$ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 " And, though we are determined to undergo the utmost ha- 
 " zard for the freeing of that town, wherein you have a garrison, 
 " from foreign mencenaries, which you have hired against us; 
 « yet, for the reverence and due respect we bear to you, as the 
 " mother of our queen, we earnestly entreat you to withdraw, 
 " yourself, ere necessity compel us to reduce that town by force, 
 " which we have often endeavoured to gain by fair means. And 
 " withal we desire, that within the space of twenty-four hours, 
 " you would withdraw likewise those who challenge the name 
 " of legates or ambassadors to themselves, and forbid them ei- 
 ** thcr to decide controversies, or to manage public affairs; and 
 *' also, that all mercenary soldiers in the town would withdraw 
 u likewise*, for we would willingly spare their lives, and consult 
 " their safety, both by reason of that ancient amity which hath 
 " been kept up between the kings of Scotland and France ; and 
 " also, by reason of the marriage of their king with our queen, 
 " which doth equitably engage us rather to increase our union, 
 " than diminish it." 
 
 The same day, the herald also related, that the day before, in 
 a full assembly of nobles and commons, it was voted, That all 
 the regent's words, deeds, and designs, tended only to tyranny ; 
 and therefore a decree was made to abrogate her authority; to 
 which all of them subscribed, as most just: Moreover they did 
 inhibit the trust her son-in-law and daughter had committed to 
 her: They also forbade her to execute any act of public govern- 
 ment, till a general convention of the estates, which they deter- 
 mined to summon, as soon as conveniently they could. The 
 25th day, the nobles sent an herald to Leith, to warn all the Scots 
 to depart out of the town within the space of twenty-four hours, 
 and to separate themselves from the destroyers of public liberty. 
 After these threats, horsemen made excursions on both sides, 
 and the war began, yet without any considerable slaughter. In 
 the beginning of this action, there fell such a great and sudden 
 terror upon the party of the reformed, as did mightily disturb 
 them for the present, and also cut off all hopes of success for the 
 future. For the regent partly by threats, and partly by promises, 
 had wrought off many who had given in theit names to the re- 
 formers, from the faction of the nobles; and besides, their camp 
 was full of spies, who discovered both their words and actions, 
 even those which they thought were necessary to be kept most 
 secret, to the regent: And when James Balfour's servant was 
 taken carrying letters to Leith, the suspicion lighted on a great 
 many, and the fear diffused itself over the whole body. The 
 mercenary soldiers also mutinied, because they had not their pay 
 down upon the day appointed; and if any one endeavoured to ap- 
 pease them, he was severely threatened by them. But people did 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, 249 
 
 less admire the sedition of such men, who had neither religion 
 nor honesty, than they did the imbecility and faint-heartedness of 
 the duke of Chatelherault, who was so amazed at approaching 
 dangers, that his aiTYightment discouraged the minds of many. 
 Those who were most courageous, endeavoured to apply reme- 
 dies: and their first Consultation was, to appease the mercenaries. 
 And seeing the nobles which remained could not make up a sum 
 sufficient to quiet and pay them, some declining through covet- 
 ousness, others pleading inability, at last they agreed to melt 
 down all the silver plate; and, when the say-masters were ready 
 to assist therein, the mints or stamps, I know not by whose fraud, 
 were taken away. 
 
 The only ground of hope was from England, which was ad- 
 judged too slow. At last they resolved to try the fidelity of their 
 private friends; and thereupon they sent John Cockburn of Ormis- 
 ton to sir Ralph Sadler and sir James Crofts, two knights of 
 known valour (who at that time were officers at Berwick) to obtain 
 of them a small sum of money, to serve their present occasion. 
 This their design, though they kept it as private as they could, 
 was yet discovered to the regent, who commanded the earl of 
 Bothwcl to way-lay him in his return. He, though a few days 
 before he had taken a solemn oath, that he would not prejudice 
 the cause of the nobles in the least; nay, though he had given 
 them hopes that he would join himself to their party, yet never- 
 theless lay in ambush for Ormiston, assaulted him unawares, 
 wounded and took him prisoner, and so became master of all the 
 money that he brought. When the noise of this exploit was 
 brought to Edinburgh, it alarmed the earl of Arran and James 
 Stewart, and almost all the horse to draw out, not so much for 
 desire of revenge, as to rescue Ormiston (if he were alive) or at 
 least to put a stop to their march, that it might not be conveyed 
 to the regent. But Bothwell, having notice of this by a spy, 
 prevented their coming by his flight. 
 
 The same day, the governor of Dundee, with the townsmen 
 and a few volunteers, marched towards Leith, and placed their 
 ordnance on an adjoining hill. The French, who were inform- 
 ed by their scouts, that almost all the enemy's horse were absent, 
 drew forth some troops, to cut off those few foot, whose small 
 numbers they saw. The volunteers stood a while in hope of re- 
 lief; but, in regard these few mercenaries which followed them 
 turned their backs almost at the first charge, they also retired, 
 leaving their guns behind them; at last a noise was raised in the 
 rear, that the French were gone another way, towards the gates 
 of the city to seize them, and so keep them out. Upon this, there 
 was such an universal consternation, that every one shifted for 
 himself the best he could; and, while each man endeavoured to 
 
 I i 2 
 
250 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 save one, the weak were trodden under foot by the strong; so that 
 every one looked to his own particular; and there was no provi- 
 sion made in common for them all. The papists, on the contrary, 
 crept out of their lurking holes, and openly reproached them; in- 
 somuch, that they who ever pretended^great zeal for the Reforma- 
 tion, began partly to withdraw themselves secretly, and partly 
 they consulted how to desert the whole business. 
 
 On the 5th day of November, when news was brought that 
 the French were marched out to intercept some provisions coming 
 towards Edinburgh; besides the disagreement of the reformed a- 
 mong themselves, the mercenaries could scarce be got out of 
 the town to oppose them. The earl of Arran, and James Stewart, 
 and their friends, went first out against them, with whom there 
 joined many worthy and valiant persons. They charged the 
 French more fiercely than prudently, so that they were near up- 
 on the point to have been shut out from Edinburgh, and so to 
 have paid for their rashness. For the marshes on the one side, 
 and the adjacent wall of an orchard, left them but a narrow space 
 for their march, and that only open to the French musqueteers; 
 so that they were trodden under foot, partly by their own men, 
 and partly by the enemy's horse. In this hurry they had been 
 ail certainly cut off, unless the commanders, leaping from their 
 horses, had put themselves into equal danger with the rest. Some 
 of the common soldiers seeing this, stopped for shame, amongst 
 whom was Alexander Haliburton, a captain, a stout young man, 
 and very foward in the cause of religion: he being grievously 
 wounded, falling into the enemies hands, and receiving many 
 strokes from them, soon after died of his wounds. 
 
 After this engagement, in which about twenty-five were killed, 
 many withdrew themselves, and others were grown almost des- 
 perate; but the earl of Arran and James Stewart promised to 
 continue their endeavours, if only a small company of them 
 would keep together. When all, in a manner, refused so to do, 
 the next consultation was, to leave the city, and, as the nobles 
 had determined, in the second watch they began their march, and 
 the day after came to Stirling. There John Knox made an ex- 
 cellent sermon to them, wherein he raised the minds of many in- 
 to an assured hope of a speedy deliverance out of these distresses. 
 Here it was agreed upon in a convention, that, because the 
 French were continually strengthened and increased with new 
 supplies, they also would strengthen their party by foreign aid. 
 And in order thereto, William Maitland was sent into England, 
 a young man of great prude nee and learning. He was to inform 
 the queen what imminent danger would accrue to England, if the 
 French were suffered to fortify places, and plant garrisons in 
 Scotland, in regard they sought the destruction, not of religion 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 25 1 
 
 only, but of laws and liberties too; and, if the Scots were over- 
 come by force or fraud, or, if they were reduced to servitude by 
 an unequal alliance, they would have an easier step to infringe 
 the power of the English. 
 
 The English, after a long debate of the matter, at length gave 
 some hopes of assistance. The noblemen, who were the assert- 
 ors of liberty, had divided themselves into two parties; some staid 
 at Glasgow, that they might command the neighbouring pro- 
 vinces, and defend their partners in the* Reformation from wrong ; 
 others were sent into Fife. The French did what mischief they 
 could to their enemies; but, being troubled to hear of die Eng- 
 lish supplies, they endeavoured to subdue. the remainder of the 
 contrary faction, before their coming: and first, they marched 
 against that party which was in Fife. In their march they plun- 
 dered Linlithgow, and the estates of the Hamiltons; from thence 
 they marched to Stirling, where they staid no longer but till they 
 could pillage the townsmen, and then passed over the bridge, and 
 led their army along the shore of the river, which was full of 
 towns and villages well inhabited. They ransacked all they met 
 with, and at last came to Kinghorn. The Scots, to stop their 
 career, put a small garrison into a town called Dysart. tlerc the 
 French made light skirmishes for twenty days together; and be- 
 cause they could not wreak their fury upon the masters, they did 
 it upon the bare walls of their houses, and razed a village called 
 Grange, belonging to William Kirkaldy, from the very founda- 
 tion. He, knowing that the French made frequent excursions 
 from thence to plunder the country people, a little before day 
 placed himself in ambush, and observing captain l'Abast, a Swit- 
 zer, to march out with his company, he kept himself close so long, 
 till the French were above a mile from their garrison, and then his 
 horse started up, and intercepted them from their fellows. The 
 French had but one way for it, in those circumstances, and that 
 was to enter a country village near at hand, and so to endeavour 
 to defend themselves behind walls and hedges. The Scots, being 
 provoked by the former cruelty of the French, were utterly un- 
 mindful of their own safety, and wholly intent on the destruction 
 of their enemies, though they had no other arms, but horsemen's 
 lances, yet broke down all that was in their way, and rushed in 
 upon them. The captain, who refused to take quarter, and fifty 
 of his men, were slain; the rest they sent prisoners to Dundee. 
 
 They who were at Dysart, as in a settled post, met at Cupar; 
 out of them, and others that were at Glasgow, there were some 
 persons chosen to be sent to Berwick, to settle the terms of the 
 league with the English. The chief articles were these, That if 
 ur.y stranger should enter Britain in a <Wariike manner t each of thtvt 
 
252 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 should aid and assist one another ; that the queen of England should 
 pay the Scots in England, and also the English auxiliaries in Scotland,- 
 that the plunder taken from the enemy should belong to the English, but 
 the towns and castles should presently be restored to the right oivncrs ; 
 that the Scots should give hostages, which were to remain in England, 
 during the marriage of the French king with the queen of Scots, and one 
 year after. 
 
 These transactions past at Berwick, February 27, 1570. One 
 thing the English gave strict warning of to the Scots, which was, 
 that they should not join in a .set battle, and so hazard all, before 
 the aids of their friends came; for the English lords were much 
 afraid, that the over eager spirits of the Scots, would precipitate 
 the whole matter into an irrecoverable co. 1 1 tsi 1. 
 
 In the mean time the French, having plundered Dysart and 
 Wccms, had a debate among themselves, whether they should 
 march directly towards the enemy, or else go along the shore to 
 St. Andrews, and so to Cupar. The latter opinion prevailed, be- 
 cause, by reason of the great snow which had fallen, all the high 
 ways were so clogged, that the horse, without great inconveni- 
 ence, could not march through the midland countries; where- 
 fore, passing along a little by the sea, when they came to the 
 promontory called Kincraigie (/'. e. the head or end of a rock) 
 some of them got thereupon, where there was a large prospect 
 into the sea, and they came down in great joy, and told their fel- 
 lows, That they discovered eight great ships, of the first rate, at sea ; 
 wheftfupon the French certainly concluded, that those vessels had 
 brought them ever the succours which they had long before ex- 
 pected; and therefore they saluted them, as the custom is, with 
 the discharge of their great guns, and congratulating one another, 
 invited them on shore, resolving to pass that day in a great deal 
 of mirth and jollity. Not long after, one or two boats landed 
 from the contrary shore cf Lothian, they (having in their passage 
 had some discourse with the passengers in those foreign ships) 
 made a discovery, that it was a fieet. of English; and withal, that 
 the report was, that the land forces of the English were not far 
 from the borders of Scotland. Hereupon there was a sudden 
 change of spirit among them, and their unseasonable laughter 
 turned into fear and trembling; so that presently they catched up 
 their colours, and retreated, part of them to Kinghorn, others to 
 Dunfermline, many of them leaving their dinners behind them 
 for very haste; for they were afraid lest the garrison, which they 
 had left at Leith, might be cut off, and they themselves exposed 
 to the fury of the surrounding enemy, beiuie they could gather 
 all their strength into a body. 
 
 During this whoie march, they plundered moTC of the papists, 
 who came in thick to them, than pf their enemies. For of the. 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 253 
 
 latter, the richer sort had withdrawn a great part of their estates 
 into the remote places of safeguard; as for those estates which 
 were not so secured, the French commanders being elevated with 
 their present success, and also with the hopes of aid from France, 
 which was every day expected, in confidence whereof they hoped 
 to be perpetual lords of those countries; reserved the richest 
 farms and villages, which most abounded with all kind of provi- 
 sions, unpkmdered, as a peculiar prey for themselves. But the 
 papists were either exhausted by the frequent invitations of the 
 principal commanders to feast at their houses, under a pretence of 
 friendship; or else were privately pillaged by the common soldiers; 
 or at least in their retreat, were openly ransacked by the French, 
 who were in great want of provisions, and that not without bitter 
 reproaches of their cowardice, and their avarice, in not relieving 
 their friends: Which things (said they) we leave to you to judge, 
 how near a-kin they are to plain perfidiousness. This contume- 
 lious pride, joined with the rapacity of the French faction^ quite 
 turned the hearts of many from them; and not long after, the 
 Fife men being compelled, partly by fear of their enemies, and 
 partly by the wrongs received by their own partizans, joined 
 themselves to the reformers; and at last, the remote countries 
 universally revolted from the outlandish, and shewed themselves 
 as eager in repressing the tyranny of the French, as the other 
 Scots did in -asserting their religion. 
 
 The spring was now at hand, and both parties hastened to draw 
 their forces together into one place. The earl of Martigues, a 
 youth of undaunted courage, landed from France with two ships, 
 bringing with him about 1000 foot, and a few horse. He and his 
 soldiers presently went on shore; but the ships were taken in the 
 ■ night by the Scots. About the same time the marquis of ElbeufT, 
 brother to the regent, who was bringing aid of men and money in 
 eight ships, returned back into the haven whence he set sail, 
 partly for fear, because the sea was full of English ships, and 
 partly excusing himself for the badness of the weather. Besides, 
 a new fleet of English was sent in to second the former, who 
 Hew up and down the whole channel, 2nd held Keith island be- 
 seiged, stopping all manner of provision from passing by sea in- 
 to Leith- 
 
 In the mean time, the chief of the asscrtors for liberty, who 
 commanded in File, went to Perth, and after three days confer- 
 ence there with Huntly, they won over all that northern part of 
 Scotland to their party. And order was soon after given, that 
 they should all assemble and rendezvous at the end of March. 
 About the same time all the reformers had a meeting at Linlith- 
 gow. From thence they went to Haddington; and, on the firct 
 of April they joined the English. There were in the E 1 
 
254 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 army above 6,000 foot, and 2,000 horse. The next night they 
 pitched their tents at Preston, The same day the regent, to 
 withdraw herself from the danger now near approaching, and to 
 avoid the uncertain hazard of war, retired, with some few of 
 her domestics, into the castle of Edinburgh, of which John Er- 
 skine was governor, a man of approved loyalty and carefulness. 
 He had received the command of it by a decree of the public 
 council, as hath been before related, but upon this condition, 
 tiiat he should render it up to none, unless by the command of 
 the same council. The French saw, that the possession of this 
 castle was of great advantage to their affairs, and therefore they 
 used great endeavours to obtain it by treachery. The governor, 
 though he was not ignorant of their intentions towards him, and 
 had so fortified the castle, and made such other diligent provision, 
 that it was secure, either from force or fraud, yet wa« not willing 
 to exclude the regent at such a time. But, in receiving her into 
 the castle, he took great care, that both she and the castle might, 
 be still under his command. The nobles, who were the assertors 
 of public liberty, though before they had often found, that her 
 mind was obstinately averse from the cause which they had un- 
 dertaken, yet thought it advisable not to let slip the present 
 occasion, as hoping that the fear of the war, approaching nearer 
 to her, and the uncertainty of aid from a remote country, might 
 incline her mind to peaceable counsels. Whereupon the chief 
 of the party had a meeting at Dalkeith, from whence they wrote 
 to her to this purpose: 
 
 '< We have oftentimes heretofore earnestly intreated you, both 
 " by letters and messengers, to send away the French soldiers^ 
 " who do yet another year grievously oppress the poor country 
 " people-, nay, they excite a just fear in the commonalty, that 
 « they shall be reduced into a miserable servitude; from which 
 " fear we have many times intreated you to deliver us; but, when 
 " our just intreaties prevailed nothing with you, we were forced 
 " to represent our deplorable state to the queen of England, as 
 « the nearest princess to us, and to desire aid of her, to drive 
 " foreigners, who threatened to make us slaves, out of our king- 
 '< dom, and that by force of arms, if it could not otherwise be 
 << <1<}\)C. And though she, out of a sense of our calamities, hath 
 « undertaken our cause; yet, that we might perform our duty 
 « towards the mother of our queen, and might prevent the eilu- 
 « sion of Christian blood, as much as is possible, and might 
 *• then have recourse to force of arms, when we have tried ali 
 « other ways to obtain right without success, we do as yet esteem 
 " it a part of that gocd temper which we ought to keep, again to 
 " pray you to command the French soldiers, with their com- 
 « manders and officers, to di part imirn lately out of the 
 
Book XVf. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 255 
 
 " In order to the accomplishment whereof, the queen of England 
 " will not only afford them a safe passage through her kingdom, 
 " but will also assist with her fleet to transport them. It this con- 
 " dition be rejected, we call God and man to witness, that we 
 " take Up arms, not out of hatred, or any wicked intent, but en- 
 " forced thereto bv mere necessity, that so we may try the ex- 
 " tremity of remedies, that the commonwealth, ourselves, Our 
 w estates, and posterity, might not be precipitated into Utter ru- 
 u in. And yet notwithstanding, though we at present suffer 
 u very heavy pressures, and more heavy ones are near approach- 
 " ing, no danger whatever shall ever enforce us to depart from 
 " our duty towards our queen, or from the king her husband, in 
 " the least tittle, wherein the destruction of our ancient liberty, 
 '* and the ruin of ourselves and our posterity, is not concerned. 
 " As for you, most excellent princess, we beseech you again, 
 u that, weighing the equity of our demands, the inconveniencies 
 (t attending war, and how necessary peace is to this your daiigh- 
 u ter's kingdom, so miserably harassed, you would afford a fa- 
 " vourable ear to our just requests; which, if you shall do, you 
 " will leave a grateful and pleasing remembrance of your mode- 
 w ration amongst all nations, and will also consult the tranquillity 
 " of the greatest part of Christendom. Dated at Dalkeith, the 
 " 4th of April, in the year 1560." 
 
 The 6th day of April, when the English drew near by the sea- 
 side, about 1,300 French marched out of Leith, and possessed a 
 little rising hill at the end of the plain, because they thought that 
 the English would pitch their tents there. There was a sharp 
 fight for above five hours, for the recovering and keeping the 
 place, with no small loss on both sides; at last, the Scots horse, 
 with great violence, rushed in amongst the thickest of the French, 
 and drove them back in great astonishment into the town; and, 
 if the English horse had came in sooner than they did, as it was a- 
 ijreed, they had been all separated from the others, and so cut 
 off. 
 
 After this, there were conferences managed between the par- 
 ties, but in vain; for the English rejected all truce, and now and 
 then made some light excursions, yet not without bloodshed; it 
 is not necessary to recount them. On the 21st of April, Mon- 
 luck, bishop of Valence in Savoy, was first carried into the Eng- 
 lish camp, then into the castle of Edinburgh, to the regent, where 
 he had a conference with her two days, and then returned to the 
 Scottish nobles; the terms of accommodation could nut then 
 neither be agreed on, because the Scots persisted peremptorily in 
 their demand, that the foreign soldiers should return home. 
 Hereupon the English, because the distance between their camp 
 and the town was too great for their ordnance to do any execu- 
 
 Vol. II. K k 
 
2 5<5 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 tion, so that their batteries signified little or nothing, removed 
 their camp on the other side Leith river, near the town, where 
 they might more certainly annoy the enemy, and also have fre- 
 quent skirmishes. On the last day of April, about two hours be- 
 fore sun-set, a casual fire seized upon that part of the town, 
 which being assisted by the violence of the winds, burnt fiercely 
 till the next morning, destroying many houses, and making great 
 devastation, and even took hold of part of the public granary, and 
 consumed a great deal of provisions. In this confusion the 
 English were not wanting in their duty, for they turned their 
 great guns upon that part, and played so hot upon the people, that 
 they durst not come to quench the fire; nay, they entered the 
 trenches, and in some places measured the height of the wall; 
 so that, if the French, at the beginning of the combustion, fearing 
 some treachery, had not run in great numbers to the walls, and 
 thereby prevented their ruin in such a general consternation, that 
 very day had put an end to the war. 
 
 On the 4th of May, the English set fire to the water mills 
 which were near the town; one of them they burnt down before 
 ^ day, the other the next day after; the French in vain endeavour- 
 ed to quench the flames. On the 7th of May, the besiegers set 
 ladders to the walls to make an assault, but the ladders were too 
 short, so they were beaten off, many wounded, and 160 slain. 
 The three following days, the French were employed, with great 
 labour and hazard, in repairing the walls, the English continually 
 playing upon them, where they saw the greatest numbers. The 
 papists were extremely puffed up with this success, so that they 
 now promised to themselves, that the English would depart, the 
 siege would be raised, and the war be finished. But the English 
 and Scots were nothing discouraged by this blow, but exhorted 
 one another to constancy, and the English promissed to stav till 
 they heard their queen's pleasure from her court. In the mean 
 time letters came from the duke of Norfolk, which did mightily 
 encourage all their spirits: For he wrote to Gray, the chief com- 
 mander, wishing him to continue the siege, and that he should 
 not want soldiers, as long as there was a man able to bear arms in 
 Ins province (which was very large reaching from Trent to Tweed) 
 and, if need were, he himself would come in person unto the 
 ramp; and, to convince him of his sincerity, he caused his own 
 tent to be erected in the camp; and, in a few days, sent 2,000 
 auxiliaries; so that the memory of the former loss was quite worn 
 out, and, with great chearfulness they renewed the war: And 
 from that day forward, though the French made frequent sallies, 
 yet hardly one of them was successful to their party. 
 
 In the mean time the queen of England sent William Cecil, a 
 learned and prudent person, who was then the chief minister of 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 257 
 
 state in England, and Nicholas "Wotton, dean of York, into Scot- 
 land, to treat about a peace. They were commanded to confer 
 counsels with Randan and Monluck of the French party, con- 
 cerning conditions of peace: For the kings of France thought it 
 a thing "below their dignity, to enter into an equal dispute with; 
 their own subjects. The frame of this conference was the 
 cause, that, as if all controversies had been already decided, a 
 convention was appointed to be held in July. In the mean time 
 the queen-dowager died in the castle of Edinburgh, June 10th, 
 worn out with sickness and grief. Her death variously affected 
 the minds of men j for some of them who fought against her, did 
 yet bewail her death, for she was endued with a singular wit, 
 and had also a mind very propense to equity, she had quieted 
 the fiercest Highlanders, and the farthest inhabitants of the isles, 
 by her wisdom and valour; some believed, that she would never 
 have had any war with the Scots, if she had been left free to her 
 own disposition; for she so accommodated herself to their man- 
 ners, that she seemed able to accomplish ail things without force: 
 But the misery was, though the name of governess resided in her, 
 neither did she want virtues worthy of so great a dignity, yet she 
 did, as it were, rule precariously; because, in all matters of mo- 
 ment, she was to receive answers, like so many oracles, from 
 France. For the Guises, who were then the powerfulest in the 
 French court, had designed the kingdom of Scotland, as a peculiar 
 to their family; and accordingly, they advised their sister to be 
 more peculiar in asserting the papal religion, than either her own 
 disposition, or those times, could well bear. This she gave some 
 evident hints of; for she had been heard to say, that if matters 
 were left to her own arbitriment, she did not despair but to com- 
 pose them upon equal conditions. Some others were of opinion 
 that she alleged those things rather popularly, than really as her 
 mind was, and that not only with an intent to avert the fault or 
 envy of mal-administration from herself; but also that, under a 
 pretext of asking advice, she might spin out the time in delay, 
 whilst she sent for foreign aid; and so, by yielding, she might 
 take off the violence of the Scots, and in time suffer their angry 
 mood to abate; being of opinion, that the Scotch troops, who 
 were volunteers, after one or two disbandings, could not again be 
 easily got together, because they were made up of men, who were 
 not under pay, nor under any certain command. And the incon- 
 stancy of the queen in keeping her promises, was no obscure evi- 
 dence of this her dissimulation; for she did not expect the end of 
 truce, which by conditions she was obliged to do; but if any spe- 
 cious advantages were offered, she would adventure to renew the 
 war arbitrarily of her own head. Others there were, who cast 
 the blame of all things, which were avariciously or cruelly actedj 
 
 K k 2 
 
258 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI. 
 
 or which v/erc attempted by fraud or false report, upon those who 
 were her counsellors: For, when she undertook the regency, at 
 the very first some French counsellors were joined to her assistance, 
 as D'Oysel ambassador of the king of France, a man hasty and 
 passionate, otherwise a good man, and well-skilled in the arts both 
 of peace and war; he was one that directed his counsel rather by 
 the rule of equity, than the will and pleasure of the Guises. One 
 monsieur de Ruby was joined to him, a lawyer of Paris, who was 
 to dispute matters of law, if any such should occur: He, in his 
 public administration, confirmed all things, as much as he could, 
 to the manners and law of France, (as if that alone were the right 
 way to govern a commonwealth) by which means he raised a sus- 
 picion of innovation, and though others might share the guilt of 
 the same crime with him, yet he alone, in a manner, bore the 
 blame and envy of it. But these two committed no offence 
 which was remediless and incurable. 
 
 Towards the end of the war, there were three French generals, 
 having distinct bounds alloted them, who managed military af- 
 fairs in Scotland, viz. the count Martigues, of the house of Lux T 
 emburgh, who was afterwards made duke of Estampes; L'Abros, 
 or" a noble family, well experienced in arms; and a third was the 
 bishop of Ameins, accompanied with some doctors of the Sor- 
 bonne, as if the matter were to be determined by the tongue, not 
 the sword. All the counsels of these three tended to open tyran- 
 ny Martigues gave advice to destroy all the country near Leith 
 by fire and sword, that so the desolation of the country, and the 
 want of necessities, might compel the Scots to raise the siege. 
 But if that counsel had taken effect, many peaceable persons, 
 poor, and, for the most part, papists too, would have been de- 
 stroved, and the besieged would have had no benefit neither; for 
 the sea being open, provisions might easily have been brought 
 by ships, from all the maritime places of Scotland and England, 
 into the leaguer of the besiegers; and the devastation of the land 
 and soil would have distressed the papists as much as the em- 
 bracers of the reformed religion. 
 
 L'Abros was of opinion, that all the nobility of Scotland were to 
 be cut off, without distinction; and that icoo French cuirassiers 
 were to be garrisoned on their lands, who were to keep under 
 the common sort, as vassals: This his design was discovered by 
 come letters of his, intercepted as they were going for France; 
 and it is scarce credible how the hatred against the French, begun 
 upon other causes, was hereby increased. 
 
 As for the bishop of Amiens, he would have had all these to 
 be seized on, and put to death, without pleading in their own de- 
 fence, whom he thought not so favourable to the pope's cause, as 
 lie would have them ; nay, and all those too, who were not so for- 
 
Book XVI. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 259 
 
 ward to assist the French party, as he expected; and he mightily 
 blamed the French soldiers, for suffering those who were disaffcct- 
 ed to their king, to walk openly up and down with impunity; 
 one he particularly aimed at, viz. Mr. William Maitland, a noble 
 and learned young man, whom, because the Sorbonists could not 
 refute by their reasons, the bishop designed to take off by the 
 sword, and even upbraided the French soldiers for permitting him 
 to live, and advised them to kill him; which he having notice of, 
 took his opportunity to withdraw himself from the French, and 
 so escaped into the Scots camp. 
 
(A. C. i S 6o.) 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 BOOK XVII. 
 
 .t\ few days after the death of the regent, a truce was made up 
 for a short time, to give audience to the ambassadors, who came 
 to treat of peace out of both nations, France and England. Up- 
 on that the nobles assembled: These could not effect any thing; 
 the greatest obstacle to an agreement was, That the French, who 
 the winter before had obtained great booties out of the neighbour- 
 ing parts, refused to depart, unless they carried their baggage and 
 plunder along with them. This was denied them: Whereupon 
 eruptions were made more fierce than ever, tho' not so prosper- 
 ous to the French. At length, when both sides were weary of 
 the war, and the inclinations to peace could no longer be dissemb- 
 led, ambassadors on both sides met again in a conference. 
 The things which most inclined all to pence, were these: The 
 French had no hopes of any relief, and their provisions grew daily 
 more and more scarce*, and were not likely to hold out long, so 
 that their condition was almost desperate. And for the English, 
 they were wearied out with the long siege, and wanted necessa- 
 ries as well as the French, so that they were as desirous to put an 
 end to tiie war. And the Scots too, receiving no pay, could 
 hardly be kept from running away: Hence they easily hearkened 
 to a capitulation; and at length, by the joint consent of all par- 
 ties, en the 8th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1560, peace 
 was proclaimed on these conditions; That the French should sail 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 26l 
 
 away in twenty days, with their bag and baggage; and seeing 
 they had not ships enough to transport them ail over for the 
 present, they were to hire some from the English, leaving hosta- 
 ges till they were safely returned : That Leith should be rendered 
 up to the Scots, and the walls of it demolished: That the fortifi- 
 cations lately made by the French at Dunbar should be razed: 
 That these articles being performed, the English should immedi- 
 ately withdraw their forces: That Mary queen of Scots, by the 
 consent of her husband Francis, should grant an oblivion of all 
 that the Scottish nobility had done or attempted, from the 10th 
 day of March 1559, till the 1st of August 1560: And that a law 
 should be made to that purpose, to be" confirmed in the next par- 
 liament there, which was appointed to be in August; and Fran- 
 cis and Mary were to give their consent to the holding of that 
 assembly: That sixty of the French should keep the island of Keith, 
 and the castle of Dunbar; that so the queen might not seem to 
 be thrown out of the possession of the whole kingdom at once. 
 After this departure of die foreign soldiers, there was a great 
 tranquillity and cessation from arms, till the queen's return. The 
 assembly of the estates was kept at Edinburgh, where the greatest 
 debate was about promoting the reformed religion. The statutes 
 made were sent into France, for the queen to give her consent 
 to, and subscribe. This was done, rather to sound her mind, 
 than out of hopes to obtain any from her. Ambassadors Were 
 likewise despatched for England, to give them thanks for their as- 
 sistance so seasonably afforded. 
 
 Not long after, James Sandeland, knight of Rhodes, went to 
 the French court, a man as yet free from the discords of the fac- 
 tion. His business was, to excuse things past, and to pacify the 
 grudges remaining since the former wars, and so to try all ways 
 and means of establishing peace and concord. But his arrival 
 happened to be in very troublesome times; for the whole con- 
 duct of the French affairs was then in the hands of the Guises; 
 who, when they perceived, that neither threats nor flatteries would 
 prevail, endeavoured to oppress the contrary faction byforce of arms ; 
 and, when they could lay no other plausible crime against 
 their opponents, they accused them of high treason, for be- 
 traying die kingdom. Upon that, the king of Navarre was con- 
 demned to perpetual imprisonment; and his brother, the prince of 
 Conde, sentenced to death; Annas, duke of Montmorency, and 
 the two sons of his sister, jasper and Francis Colignes, and their 
 relation, the *yidam of Chartcris, were destined to die slaugh- 
 ter; and, besides those, above 10,000 more were put into the 
 black list of criminals. Moreover, all means were used to terrify 
 
 * A vidajB, in France, is a bvrcn holding of a bilhep. 
 
262 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVljf. 
 
 the people. The city of Orleans was full of foot-soldiers \ 
 guards of horse were posted all up and down the country, all the 
 highways were beset by them-, sentence was passed by a few men 
 in the court, upon the lives, fortunes, and good names of the most 
 honest men; all the steeples of churches and towers round about 
 the wails had their windows shut up, and their gates and doors 
 fortified, being designed for prisons; criminal judges were called 
 together out of the whole kingdom. The manner of inflicting 
 punishment was thus designed, that, as soon as the frost broke, 
 2nd the river Loire was navigable, the king should go to Chinon in 
 Poictou, at the mouth of the river Vien; and then the Guises, 
 with a few of their partizans, at the command of the court-cabal 
 (of which they were the chief) should perform the execution. 
 Mean while Sandeland came to court, not so much humbly to de- 
 sire pardon for what was past, as to excuse his countrymen, laying 
 all the blame of the tumults upon the French. The Guises re- 
 ceiving him in a very uncourtly manner, blaming him, that he, 
 being a man dedicated to the holy war, had undertaken to manage 
 the commands of the rebels, in favour of that execrable heresy, 
 which the consent of all nations had highly condemned in the 
 council of Trent: nay, many of them admired, not so much at 
 the folly, as the madness of the Scots, that they, being but a few, 
 and disagreeing among themselves, and besides, destitute of mo- 
 ney, and all warlike preparations, should dare to provoke so po- 
 tent a king, who was now at quiet, and free from any foreign ene- 
 my. Between these fretful indignations and threats, the king fell 
 suddenly sick. The ambassador was dismissed without any an- 
 swer; but the message of the king's death reached him at Paris, 
 on the 5 th of December, whence he made haste home, hoping 
 for better things to ensue. 
 
 The news of the king's death being divulged, did not so much 
 erect the minds of the Scots, who had been in great suspence, by 
 reason of their imminent dangers, as it filled all France with fac- 
 tion, and the poison of domestic discords. James, the queen's 
 brother, Scotland being now freed from the dominion ol the 
 French, by the death of Francis, made what haste he could to the 
 queen; who when her husband was dead, went to Lorrain to her 
 uncle, either as a recess to her grief, or else out of a female pride 
 and emulation, that she might not be near her mother-in-law; 
 who, by reason of the slothfulness of Anthony Bourbon, king of 
 Navarre, had, by degrees, brought the whole administration of 
 affairs into her own hands. There, James, the queen's brother, 
 having settled things in Scotland for a season, found her; and af- 
 ter much discourse, the queen told him, She had a mind to return 
 to Scotland; and fixed a day on which they might expect her, her 
 t s being also of the same opinion: for, before James's coming, 
 
Book XVII. history of Scotland* 263 
 
 there had been great consultation about the matter, some alleging 
 the difficulty of the voyage, especially the queen of England be- 
 ing nothing favourable; besides, she was to go to a barbarous 
 people, and naturally seditious, who were hardly kept in quiet by 
 the government of men. Moreover, she had fresh examples be- 
 fore her eyes, of her father and mother, whom when they could 
 not or durst not openly oppress, they used all artifices, till they 
 drove them to despair; so that she would be daily and hourly in 
 danger, either of her honour, or her life, amongst them. On the 
 other, side, they who were skilled in the affairs of Scotland, urged, 
 that the seditions arising there, were occasioned oftenerby default 
 of the princes than of the people, for that they endeavoured to 
 reduce that kingdom to an arbitrary and boundlesa rule, which, 
 time out of mind, had been circumscribed and managed within 
 due bounds of law; and that was such a curb, as a nation, which 
 was more warlike than rich, could never be brought to endure. 
 But all those kings, who never attempted to infringe the liberties 
 of the people, were not only free from private enemies and popu- 
 lar tumults, but reigned happy in the love of their subjects at 
 home, famous abroad, and unconquered by their enemies. But 
 the best, and almost only way at present to quiet things, was to 
 attempt no alteration in the state of religion, as then established. 
 These were the debates, as public reports said, on both sides. 
 But her uncles had other more "prevailing causes in their view; 
 for they, in the troubles of France, cherishing rather great than 
 honest hopes, thought, if the queen was absent, she would be 
 more in their power, than if she staid in France; and that neigh- 
 bouring princes, in hopes to carry her for a wife, would court 
 their friendships, and use them as mediators. In the mean time, 
 one or other of their faction would preside over the management 
 of affairs in Scotland. Besides, the queen's resolution swayed 
 much in the case, who was determined to return into her own 
 country; for her husband was dead, and her mothqr-in-law (who 
 -managed matters of state) shewing some disgusts towards her, 
 she saw she would be neglected at that court; and, though she 
 had been but a little used to government, yet being in the spring 
 and flower of her age, and of a lofty spirit, she could not endure 
 to cringe under another. She had rather have any fortune with 
 a kingdom, than the richest without one; neither could she hope, 
 that her condition would be very honourable, the power of the 
 Guises being weakened by the adverse party, at the first brush. 
 BesideSj the persuasions and promises of her brother James went 
 a great way in turning the balance; for he assured her, she would 
 find all quiet at home, especially seeing lie was a man, to whose 
 faith she might safely commit herself, being her natural brother, 
 and who for his youth had performed many noble and brave ex- 
 VoJ. II. L 1 
 
264 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 ploits, and so had got credit and renown amongst all men. 
 Whilst the queen was intent on these matters, Noel, a senator of 
 Bourdeaux, who was sent out of France, came into Scotland, a 
 little after the end of the public convention, and was put off till 
 next assembly, which, in order to the settling public matters, 
 was summoned, in order to be held at Edinburgh, May 21st; yet 
 the nobles, who met there at the time in great abundance, did 
 not sit, because they were as yet uncertain of the queen's will 
 and pleasure. In the mean time, James Stewart returned from 
 France, and brought a commission from the queen, giving them 
 liberty to sit, and to enact laws for the good of the public. Then 
 the French ambassador had audience: the heads of his embassy 
 were, " That the ancient league with the French should be re- 
 *' newed, and the new one with the English broken; that priests 
 « should be restored to their estates and dignities, which had 
 « been sequestered from them." To which answer was given: 
 As to the French league, that they were not conscious to them- 
 selves, that they had broken it in the least; but that it had been 
 many ways infringed by the French themselves, and especially of 
 late, in their opposing the public liberty, and endeavouring to 
 bring a miserable yoke of bondage upon a people that were their 
 allies, and had given no occasion on their part. As for the league 
 with England, they could not dissolve it, without a brand of the 
 greatest ingratitude imaginable, in recompensing so great a cour- 
 tesy with the highest injury, which it certainly would be, to join 
 against those who had been the deliverers of their country. As 
 for the restitution of priests, they told him, that those he called 
 priests, were of no use or significancy in the church,' that they 
 knew of. In that parliament a statute was made to demolish all 
 the convents of the monks, and proper persons were presently dis- 
 patched abroad into all partis of the land, to put it in execution. 
 
 Matters being prepared in France for the queen's journey, her 
 intimate friends, who governed her counsels, advised her, for 
 the present, wholly to pass over matters about religion, thought 
 some gave her rash counsel, to arm on that account, and kill all 
 that opposed her. The chief of which were Dury, the abbot of 
 Dunfermline, and John Sinclair, lately designed bishop of Bre- 
 chin; and she herself was by nature, as also by the persuasion of 
 her relations, so inclinable to their counsel, that sometimes 
 threatenings dropt from her, which were catched up at court, and 
 spread amongst the vulgar: and she would frequently boast, a- 
 mong her familiars, that she would follow the example of her 
 kinswoman, Mary, queen of England. Wherefore the main of 
 her counsels tended to this, to feed the men of her own faction 
 with hopes at present, and to suppress the opposite .party by de- 
 grees; and, when bhe was well settled in her power, then to de- 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. l6$ 
 
 dare her mind. And this did not seem hard to do, seeing the 
 council of Trent was lately begun (on pretence of restoring the 
 decayed manners of the church, but indeed) to extirpate the pro- 
 fessors of the reformed religion, as, by the decrees of that cabal, 
 was afterwards declared. Besides, her uncles mightily animated 
 the queen, by shewing her the power of the papal faction, at the 
 head of which Francis, the eldest brother of the Guises, was to 
 preside by the decree of the council. In the mean time, Charles 
 the cardinal, amidst so many public cares, not unmindful of 
 himself, advised the queen not to carry her household-stuff and 
 attire, which were of great value, as it were, into another world, 
 but to leave them with him, till he might be assured of the event 
 of her journey. She knew the man and his craft well enough, and 
 therefore answered him, That, seeing she ventured herself, she 
 might as well trust her goods as her person. When all was resolv- 
 ed upon, they sent into England, to try how the queen stood af- 
 fected to the voyage. D'Oyscl, the envoy, was well entertained 
 there, and sent back presently into France, to tell the queen of 
 Scots, That, " if she pleased to pass through England, she should 
 " have all the respect which she could desire from a kinswoman 
 « and ally, and that she would take it as a great favour besides; 
 «« but, if she shunned the proffered interview, she would look up- 
 " on it as an affront." For the English queen had prepared a 
 great fleet, the pretence of which was, to scour the sea of pirates; 
 but some thought that it was to intercept the queen of Scots, if 
 she ventured to pass against her will. They took one ship, in 
 which was the earl of Eglinton, and brought her to London, but 
 dismissed her again in a little time. But, whatever the design 
 was in providing a fleet, if any danger was intended, Providence 
 prevented it; for, when the French galleys came upon the main, 
 a mist followed them for several days, till they came into Scot- 
 land, the 2 1 st day of August. f 
 
 The news of the queen's arrival being divulged abroad, the no- 
 bility, from all parts of the kingdom, came hastily in, as to a pub- 
 lic shew, partly to congratulate her return; and some to put her 
 in mind of the services they did her in her absence, that so they 
 might get into her favour beforehand, and prevent the cavils of 
 their enemies. Others came, to give a guess of her future con- 
 duct, by her first entrance into the kingdom. Upon these diffe- ' 
 rent grounds, all equally desired to see their queen, who came to 
 them so unexpectedly, after such various events, and changeable 
 fortune. They considered that she was born amidst the cruel 
 tempests of war, and lost her father in about six days after her 
 birth ; that she was well educated by the great care of her mo- 
 ther, the very best of women; but, between domestic seditions 
 and foreign wars, she was left as a prev to the strongest side; 
 
 L 1 2 
 
l66 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 and, even almost before she had a sense of misery, was exposed 
 to all the perils of a desperate fortune; that she left her country, 
 being, as it were, sent into banishment; where, between the fu- 
 ry of arms, and the violence of the waves, she was, with great 
 difficulty, preserved. It is true, her fortune somewhat smiled 
 upon her, and advanced her to an illustrious marriage-, but her 
 joy was not lasting, it was but transitory; for her mother and 
 husband dying, she was brought into the mournful state of widow- 
 hood; the neiv kingdom she received, and her old one too, stand- 
 ing on very ticklish terms. Furthermore, besides the variety of 
 her dangers, the excellency of her mien, the delicacy of her beau- 
 ty, the vigour of I ming years, and the elegancy of her 
 wit, all joined in her recommendation. These accomplishments 
 her courtly education had either much increased, or at least 
 made them more acceptable, by a false disguise of virtue, not 
 sincere, but only shadowed over, as it were, with the similitude 
 of something very worthy; and so her too eager desire to please and 
 ingratiate herself, made the real goodness of her nature less ac- 
 ceptable, and nipped the seeds of virtue by the blandishments of 
 pleasure, that they might not come to bring forth any ripe fruit in 
 their season. As these things were grateful, to the vulgar, so per- 
 sons of better penetration saw through them; yet they hoped, 
 that her soft and tender age would easily be mended, and grow 
 better and better by experience. Amidst these gratulations, there 
 was a light offence happened, but it struck deep into the minds 
 of eithe-r faction. The nobility had agreed with the queen, that 
 no alteration should be made contrary to the established religion, 
 and only she and her family were to have mass, and that too was 
 to be in private. But, while the furniture for it was carrying 
 through the court into the chapel, one of the multitude catched 
 the torches out of his hands that carried them, and broke them ; 
 aadj unless some men of a more moderate spirit had come in 
 and prevented it, all the rest of the apparatus had been spoiled. 
 That action was differently interpreted amongst the vulgar; some 
 blamed it as a fact too audacious; some said it was to try men's 
 patience, how far it would bear; others affirmed, and spoke it 
 ely, tha/ the priests ought to undergo the punishment ap- 
 pointed in the scriptures against idolatry: But this commotion 
 was nipped in the very bud by James, the queen's brother, to the 
 great, but hidden indignation of George Gordon, who was wil- 
 ling to lay hold on ail c of disturbance: And here, 
 thinking an opportunity lay open to gain favour, he went to the 
 queen's uncles, then present, and promised them to reduce all 
 the country beyend Bunkeklen to the old religion. But they 
 suspected the matter, as having heard enough of the disposition 
 of the man, and fearing lest he should raise a new storm to no pur- 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 267 
 
 pose, communicated the matter to James, the queen's brother. 
 The rest of the. year was spent in balls and feasts, and in sending 
 away the French, who out of civility had attended the queen, 
 and were then honourably dismissed, only one of her uncles, the 
 marquis ElbeufF staid behind. During this posture of affairs, 
 William Maitland jun. was sent ambassador into England, to 
 compliment that queen, as the custom is, and to acquaint her 
 how highly she stood affected towards her, and how much she 
 desired to maintain peace and concord with her : He also carried 
 to her letters from the nobility, in which was mentioned a friend- 
 ly commemoration of former courtesies and obligations; but one 
 thing they earnestly desired of her, and that was, that both pub- 
 licly and privately, she would shew herself friendly and courteous 
 towards their queen-, and that, being excited by good offices, she 
 would not only persevere in her ancient friendship, but add daily 
 (if possible) stronger obligations. As for their part, it should be 
 their earnest study and desire, to omit no occasion of perpetuating 
 the peace betwixt the two neighbouring kingdoms. That there 
 was but one sure way to induce an oblivion of all past differences, 
 and to stop the spring of them for ev queen of England 
 
 would declare, by an act of parliament, corrErraed by the i 
 assent, That the queen of Scots was heiress to the kingdom of 
 England, next after herself and her children, if ever she had 
 any. 
 
 After the ambassador had asserted the equity of such a statu te^ 
 and how beneficial it would be to all Britain, by many argu- 
 ments, he added in the close, " That she, being her nearest re- 
 lation, ought to be more intent and diligent than others, in having 
 such an act made; and that the queen expected that testimony 
 of good-will and respect from her." To which the. queen of 
 England answered, in these words: " I expected another kind of 
 embassy from your queen; I wonder how she comes to forget 
 that, defore her departure out of France, after much urging, she 
 at last promised, that the league made at Leith, should be con- 
 firmed, she having promised me faithfully it should be so, as soon 
 as ever she returned into her own country. I have been put off 
 with words long enough: now it is time (if she has any respect 
 r honour) that her deeds should "answer her words." To 
 v.l ich the ambassador answered, " That he was sent on this cm- 
 bassy but a very few days after the queen's arrival, before she had 
 entered upon the administration of the public affairs : That she 
 had been hitherto taken up in treating the nobility, many of whom 
 she had never seen before, who came from many parts to pay 
 their dutiful addresses to her; but she was chiefly employed a^ 
 bout settling the state of religion; which how difficult and trou- 
 blesome a thing it is (said he) you yourself are not ignorant; hence 
 
l6B HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 (he proceeded) your majesty may easily understand, that the 
 queen of Scots had no vacant time at all before my departure; 
 neither had she as yet called fit men to her council, to consult a- 
 bout various affairs; especially since the nobility, that lived in 
 the farthest parts towards the north, had not been yet to attend 
 her, before my coming; and without their advice, matters of 
 such moment could not, and indeed ought not, to be transacted." 
 Upon which the English queen was something moved, and said, 
 « AVhat need had your queen to make any consultation about 
 doing that which she had obliged herself to, under her hand 
 and seal?" He replied, "Jean give no other answer at present, 
 for I received nothing in command about it; neither did our 
 queen expect, that an account of it would now be required of me: 
 and you may easily consider with yourself, under what just causes 
 of delay she lies at present.'"' After some words had passed be- 
 twixt them upon these matters, the queen returned to the main 
 point: " I observe (said she) what you most insist upon, in be- 
 half of vour queen, and in seconding the request of the nobles, 
 you put me in mind, that your queen is descended from the blood 
 of the kings of England, and that I am bound to love her by a 
 natural obligation, as being my near relation, which I neither can 
 nor will deny; I have also made it evident to the whole world 
 that in all my actions, I never attempted any thing against the 
 weal and tranquillity, either of herself, or of her kingdom: Those 
 who are accquainted with my inward thoughts and inclinations, 
 are conscious, that though I had just cause of offence given, 
 by her using my arms, and claiming a title to the kingdom, yet I 
 could never be persuaded, but that those seeds of hatred sprung 
 up from the advice of others, not from herself. However the 
 case stands, I hope she will not take away my crown whilst I 
 am alive, nor hinder my children, (if I have any) to succeed me 
 in the kingdom. But if any casualty should happen to me beiore, 
 she shall never find that I have done any thing, which may in the 
 least prejudice the rights she pretends to have to the kingdom of 
 England: What that right is, I never thought myself obliged _ to 
 make a strict disquisition into, and I am of the same mind still; 
 I leave it to those who are skilful in the law to determine. As 
 for your queen, she may expect this confidently of me, that if her 
 cause be just, I shall not prejudice it in the least; I call God to 
 witness, that next to myself, I know none that I would prefer be- 
 fore her: or, if the matter come to a dispute, that can exclude 
 her: You know (said she) who are the competitors: By what 
 assistance, or in hopes of what force, can such poor creatures 
 attempt such a mighty thing?" After some further discourse 
 the conclusion was short ; " That it was a matter of great 
 weight and moment, and that this was the first time she had en- 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 269 
 
 tertained any serious thoughts about it, and therefore she had 
 need of longer time to consider of it." A few days after, she 
 sent for the ambassador again, and told him, " That she ex- 
 tremely wondered, why the nobles should demand such a thing 
 of her, upon the first arrival of the queen, especially knowing, 
 that the causes of former offences were not yet taken away: But 
 what, pray, do they require? That I, having been so much 
 wronged, should before any satisfaction received, gratify her in 
 so great a matter! This demand is not far from a threat: If they 
 proceed on in this way, let them know that I have force at home 
 and friends abroad, as well as they, who will defend my just 
 right." To which he answered, " That he had shown clearly 
 % at first, that the nobility had insisted on this hopeful medium 
 of concord, partly out of duty to their queen, in a prospect to 
 maintain her weal, and increase her dignity; and partly out of a 
 desire to procure and establish public peace and amity. And, 
 that they deal more plainly with you, than with any other prince 
 in this cause, proceeds from your known and experienced good- 
 will towards them, and also upon the account of their own safe- 
 ty; for they knew they must venture life arid fortune, if any body 
 should oppose the right of the queen, or any war should arise 
 betwixt the nations, on those grounds. And therefore their de- 
 sires did not seem unwarrantable or unjust, as having a tendency 
 towards rooting out the seeds of all discords, and the settling a 
 firm and solid peace. She rejoined, " If I had acted any thing 
 which might diminish your queen's right, then your demand 
 might have been just, that what was amiss might be amended: 
 But this demand is without an example, that I should place my 
 winding-sheet before my eyes, while I am alive; neither was the 
 like ever asked of any prince. However, I take not the good in- 
 tention of your nobility amiss, and the rather, because it is an evi- 
 dence to me, they have a desire to promote the interest and ho- 
 nour of their queen; and I do put as great value on their pru- 
 dence, in providing for their own security, and in being tender of 
 shedding Christian blood, which could not be avoided, if any fac- 
 tion should arise to challenge the kingdom: But what such party 
 can there be, or where should they have the force? But to let 
 these considerations pass, suppose me inclinable to their demands, 
 do you think I would do it, rather at the request of the nobles, 
 than of the queen herself? 
 
 But there are many other things which avert me from such a 
 transaction. First, I am not ignorant how dangerous a thing it 
 is to venture on the dispute. The dispute concerning the right 
 of the kingdom, is a thing that I have always mightily avoided; 
 for the controversy hath been already so much canvassed in the 
 mouths of many, concerning a just and lawful marriage, and what 
 
273 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 children were bastards, and what legitimate, according as every 
 one is addicted to this and that party, that, by reason or' these dis- 
 putes, I have hitherto been more backward in marrying. Once, 
 when I took the crown publicly upon me, I married myself to 
 the kingdom, and I wear the ring I then put on my finger, as a- 
 badge of those nuptials: However thus my resolution stands, / 
 will be queen of England, as long as I live ; and when I am dead, 
 let that person succeed in my place, who hath most right to it; 
 and if that chance to be your queen, I will put no obstacle in her 
 way; but if another hath a better title, it were unjust to require 
 of me to make a public edict to such a person's prejudice. If 
 there be any law against your queen, it is unknown to me, and I 
 have no great delight to sift into it.; but if there should be any 
 such law, I was sworn at my coronation, that I would net change 
 my subjects laws. As for your second allegation, That the de- 
 claration of my successor will knit a stricter bond of amity be- 
 twixt us, I am afraid rather, it will be a seed plot of hatred and 
 discontent. What, do you think I am willing to have my shroud 
 always before my eyes? Kings have this peculiarity, that they 
 are apt to be jealous of their own children, who are born lawful 
 heirs to succeed them. Thus Charles VII. of France was some- 
 what disgusted at Lewis XI; and Lewis XL at Charles VIII. and 
 -of late, Francis ill resented Henry: And how is it likely I should 
 stand affected towards my relation, if she be once declared my 
 heir? Just as Charles VII. was towards Lewis XI. Besides, 
 that which weighs most with me, I know the inconstancy of 
 this people ; I know how they lothe the present state of things; 
 I know how intent their eyes are upon a successor. It is natu- 
 ral for all men, as the proverb is, To worship rather the ruing, 
 than the setting sun: I have learned that from my own times, to 
 omit other examples: When my sister Mary sat at the helm of 
 government, how eager were the desires of some men to see me 
 placed upon the throne? How solicitous were they in advancing 
 me to it? I am not ignorant what dangers they would have un- 
 dergone to bring their design to an issue, if my will had concur- 
 red with their desires. Now perhaps, the same men are other- 
 minded; just like children, when they dream of apples in 
 their sleep, they arc very joyful; but, waking in the morning, 
 and finding themselves disappointed in their hopes, their mirth is 
 turned into sorrow. Thus I am dealt. with by those, who, whilst 
 I siras a private woman, wished me so well: If I looked upon 
 any of them a little more pleasantly than ordinary, they thought 
 presently with themselves, that, as soon as ever I came to the 
 throne, they should be rewarded rather at the rate of their own 
 ., than of the service they performed for me; but now, 
 the event hath a kt answered their expectation, some of 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 2« I 
 
 them gape after a new change of things, in hopes of a better 
 fortune; for the wealth of a prince, though never so great, can- 
 not satisfy the insatiable appetites of all men. But if the good- 
 will of my subjects flag towards me; or if their minds are changed, 
 because I am not profuse enough in my largesses, or for some 
 other trivial cause; what will be the event, when the malevo- 
 lent shall have a successor named, to whom they may make their 
 grievances known, and. in their anger and peevishness, entirely be- 
 take themselves to it upon every fit of anger, or turn of a 
 peevish humour? 
 
 What danger shall I then be in, when so powerful a neighbour- 
 ing prince is my successor? The more strength I add to her in 
 securing her succession, the more I detract from my own securi- 
 ty: This danger cannot be avoided by any precautions, or by any 
 bonds of law; nay, those princes who have the hopes of a king- 
 dom offered them, will hardly contain themselves within the 
 bonds of either law or equity. For my part, if my successor 
 should be once publicly declared to the world, I should think 
 my affairs far from being settled and secure." This is the sum 
 of what was transacted at that conference. 
 
 A few days after, the ambassador asked the queen, Whether 
 she would return any answer to the letter of the Scottish nobi- 
 lity? <c I have nothing (said she) at present to answer, only I 
 commend their sedulity and love to their queen; but the matter 
 is of such great weight, that I cannot so soon give a plain and 
 express answer to it; however when your queen shall have done 
 her duty in confirming the league she obliged herself to ratify, 
 then it will be seasonable to try my affections towards her: In the 
 mean time I cannot gratify her in her request, without abridging 
 my own dignity." The ambassador replied, " He had no com- 
 mand about that affair, nor never had any discourse with his 
 mistress concerning it; neither did he then propound the queen's 
 judgment concerning the right of succession, but his own; and 
 had brought reasons to enforce it; but as for the confirmation of 
 the league by her hu sb a d it was forced from the queen of 
 Scots, without the consent of those, whom the ratifying or 
 disanulling of it did highly concern; neither was it a thing of 
 such consequence, as therefore to exclude her and her poste- 
 rity from the inheritance of England. I do not inquire (said 
 he) by whom, when, how, by what authority, and for what: 
 reason, that league was made, seeing I have no command to 
 epeak of any such matter: But this I dare affirm, that though it 
 were confirmed by her, in compliance with her husband's desire; 
 yet, so great a Stress depending on it, our queen, in time, will 
 find out reasons why it should, and ought to be dissolved. I 
 speak not this (said he) in the name of the queen, but my iu- 
 
 Vq\. II. M m • 
 
272 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 tent is to shew, that our nobility have cause for what they do : 
 that so, all controversies being plucked up by the roots, a sure 
 and lasting peace may be established betwixt us." 
 
 After much discourse pro and con, about the league, the queen 
 was brought to this, that ambassadors should be chosen on both 
 sides to review it, and regulate it, according to this form: that 
 the queen of Scots should abstain from using the arms of Eng- 
 land, and from the titles of England and Ireland, as long as the 
 queen of England, or any of her children were alive. On the 
 other side cue queen of England .was to do nothing, neither by 
 herself, nor her posterity, which might prejudice the queen of 
 Scots, ©r impair her right of succession. These were the affairs 
 transacted in this embassy; which, while they were treated of 
 abroad, in order to settle peace, sedition had almost broke out 
 at hoin There was mass allowed to the queen and her family 
 (ps I said before) concerning which, when the edict was publish- 
 ed, there was one of the nobility that opposed it, viz. the earl of 
 An . The queen was highly offended at it, though she dis- 
 sembled her anger. The next offence she took was against the 
 Edinburghers. It is a common custom with them to chuse their 
 magistrates on the 29th of September. At that time, Archibald 
 Douglas, the sheriff, according to custom, proclaimed, that no 
 adulterer, fornicator, drunkard, mass-monger, or obstinate papisV 
 after the first of October, should stay in the town, great penal- 
 ties being denounced against those who should be found disobe- 
 dient. When the queen was informed of this, she committed 
 the magistrates to prison, without hearing them, and commanded 
 the citizens to chuse new magistrates, enjoining them to set the 
 gates open to all her good subjects, not without the secret indig- 
 nation and laughter of some, that flagitious persons should be 
 accounted such good subjects, and her most faithful ministers 
 and servants. The queen finding, that the citizens took this 
 matter more patiently than she expected, attempted greater matters 
 by degrees. Her mass was before but privately celebrated, with- 
 out any great solemnity, but, on the 1st of Nov. she added all 
 the pomp of popish oihees to it. The reformed ministers of the 
 gospel took this heinously ill, and complained much of it in their 
 pulpits, putting the nobility in mind of their duty. Upon this a 
 dispute arose betwixt a few in a private house, whether it was 
 lawful to restrain idolatry, which was like to Spread and ruin all? 
 or, whether they might by force, reduce a chief magistrate to the 
 bounds of the law, who sets no limits to his own arbitrary will? 
 The reformed ministers persisted constantly in their opinion, 
 which had been approved in former times, that a magistrate 
 might be compelled by force to do his duty. The nobles were 
 more unsteady in their resolutions, either to gain favour with the 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY 01- SCOTLAND. 273 
 
 queen, or out of hopes of honour and reward; yet, they being 
 superior in number and greatness,, the decree went on their 
 side. 
 
 In the mean time, the court was immersed in vice, and gave 
 a loose to all luxury; neither was it awakened by the news of the 
 moss-troops inhabiting the English borders, who, as if by permis- 
 sion, took the freedom of plundering openly, and killed all that 
 opposed them. James, the queen's brother, was sent with a de- 
 legated power to suppress them ; not so much with an intent to 
 honour him, as many people imagined, as with a design t<" expose 
 him to danger. For, as his power was distasteful to the. queen, 
 bo his innocent carriage was more offensive, as reproving her for 
 her faults, and stopping her in her career to tyranny. But God, 
 beyond all men's hopes, prospered his just endeavours; he hang- 
 ed twenty-eight of the fiercest robbers, the rest he suppressed, 
 either by the mere terror of his name, or else by making them 
 give hostages for their good behaviour. The queen seemed to 
 herself to have got some liberty by his absence, for she was not 
 well-pleased with the present state of things; partly by reason of 
 the controversies in religion; and partly because matters were ma- 
 naged more strictly than a young woman could well bear, who 
 had been educated in the most corrupted of all courts, where 
 lawful dominion was interpreted to be unbecoming and below 
 the dignity of princes, as if their liberty consisted in the slavery 
 of others; so that sometimes she was heard to speak mighty dis- 
 contented words; nay, the foundation of tyranny seemed to be 
 laid : For whereas all former kings entrusted their safety only to 
 the nobility, she determined to have a body-guard, but could find 
 no pretence to bring it about, neither could she give any reason- 
 able colour for her desire, but only vain courtly magnificence, 
 and the usage of foreign princes. The deportment of her bro- 
 ther, the more unblameable it was, troubled her the more, in re- 
 gard it cut off any opportunity to feign crimes, or fasten any 
 suspicions upon him; as also because she knew his regularity 
 made her loose life appear intolerable; besides, she saw the peo- 
 ple were so affected, that they would take her keeping of life- 
 guards as a manifest omen of tyranny: whereupon her restless 
 mind, determining by any means whatsoever to effect what she 
 had once resolved upon, advised this stratagem: she had a brother 
 named John, an ambitious man, and not so strict in life as James 
 was; he was easily persuaded to be obsequious to the queen, 
 and so grew dearer to her, a fitter instrument for her disorderly 
 doings. She communicates her design to hirrtj in the absence 
 of James, about taking a guard. The plot was laid thus: there 
 was a noise of a tumult to be spread abroad in the night, as if 
 James Hamilton, earl of Arran, would have surprised the queen-, 
 
 T *< m 2, 
 
274 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVI f. 
 
 who had but a few men to guard her, and so have carried her to 
 his castle, fourteen miles off This story, they thought, would 
 take with the vulgar, both because the queen had a perfect aver- 
 sion to him, and he was extremely in love with her, both which 
 were tilings publicly known. This tumult was made as the plot 
 was laid, the horsemen scouted about the neighbouring fields a 
 good part of the night, and in the morning a guard was set at the 
 court-gate, some fretting, others smiling at the matter. The au- 
 thors of this project, though they knew themselves that they were 
 -not believed, yet were mightily pleased, as secure of men's opi- 
 nions, and knowing that none there present durst oppose them. 
 Upon this beginning, the court ran headlong into wantonness and 
 luxury, notwithstanding as yet justice was equally administered, 
 and offences punished; for the chief management of affairs was 
 in James, the queen's brother, who, for his equity and valour, 
 was dear to all. He used as his chief counsellor, William Mait- 
 land, a young man of a penetrating judgment, having already 
 given ample proofs of it, and raised the expectations of men, that 
 lie would give still larger demonstrations of it in time to come. 
 Their joint virtuous counsels kept things quiet at home and abroad, 
 and all things went as well as good men could wish. As for the 
 factions, they could rather fret inwardly, than complain justly. 
 
 Amidst these things, a debate arose in the court, which held 
 them in play for three whole months. They who had been kings 
 or regents in the preceding times, had exhausted the public trea- 
 sure, which was never great in Scotland; the queen was expensive 
 to an immoderate degree; the estates of the nobility and common- 
 alty, in the late turnups, were mightily wasted; so that now no- 
 thing remained to maintain court expences, but the ecclesiastical 
 revenues. Upon this, the chief of the clergy was sent for to 
 court, and some of the prime nobility were added to that num- 
 ber, that could either prevail with them by persuasion, or compel 
 them by force. After a long dispute, the ecclesiastics being 
 overcome rather with the sense of their own weakness, than the 
 weight of any reason, the conclusion was, that a third part should 
 be taken off from ecclesiastical revenues, wherewith the queen 
 should maintain orthodox ministers, and reserve the rest for her 
 own use. This conclusion was pleasing to none. The rich ec- 
 clesiastics prud:ied that any of their old revenues should be pared 
 away, and the reformed ministers expected no good from the 
 queen; yet indeed, though a great shew was made, she got no 
 mighty matter by it; for many of the old possessors had their 
 thirds forgiven; many, both men arid women, had the wages for 
 their household service and cxpencc, paid out of it for many 
 years; many got pensions and supports for their old age. That 
 winter the queen created her brother James, earl of Mar, with 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 2"]$ 
 
 the universal consent of all good men. All praised her forgiving 
 honour to virtue, and no body could discommend her that she al- 
 lowed some grains to propinquity in blood; and many thought 
 she had done well for the public, in advancing a person to honour, 
 who wa/. of an illustrious stock, and had so highly deserved of his 
 country, that so he might preside over public affairs with the 
 greater authority; nay, some thought that this favour of the 
 queen's was intended to reconcile him to her, who she knew, was 
 offended at the carriage of the court in his absence. Besides, he 
 had a wife provided for him, Agnes Keith, daughter of the earl 
 of March; at which marriage there was such magnificent feasting, 
 or rather such immoderate luxury, that the minds of his friends 
 were very much offended at it, and his enemies took occasion of 
 exclaiming and venting their envy; and the more, because he had 
 been so temperate all the former part of his life. Not long after, 
 Murray was bestowed upon him, instead of Marr, which was 
 found to be the ancient right of John Erskine. Gordon being- 
 deprived first of Mar, then of Murray, over which country he 
 had long presided as governor, looked upon himself to be robbed, 
 as it were of his patrimony, and therefore levelled ail his designs 
 at the overthrow of his co-rival. And he had many other motives 
 besides; being far the richest man in all Scotland, by reason of 
 the rewards his ancestors had received for their services to the 
 crown, and having also himself augmented the power of his fa- 
 mily by indirect practices. First, he overthrew John Forbes (as I 
 said before) by false witnesses; next, when James Stewart, brother 
 of James V. died without children, he obtained of them who sat 
 at the helm, the stewardship of Murray; by which means he car- 
 ried himself as heir, and atrived at such a pitch of greatness, that 
 all his neighbours laid down their emulation, and rested quietly 
 under his authority, I had almost said, were become tamely his 
 vassals. 
 
 But whilst others submitted to him, either fearing danger, or 
 having patience to bear the yoke, he was much troubled with the 
 disregard one man shewed him, or, as he called it, with his 
 pride; and that was James M'Intosh, chief of a great family a- 
 mongst the old Scotsl He was born and brought up amongst the 
 brutal Highlanders, who lived upon prey; but yet, whether it was 
 by a secret instinct of nature, or else by having good instructors, 
 he arrived at that degree of politeness, modesty, and decency oi 
 i?ur, that he might be said to vie with those, w r ho had tha 
 greatest care used to give them a virtuous education. Gordon 
 suspected this young man's power, for he knew he could not use 
 one of so" good a disposition, as an instrument for his wicked pur- 
 poses; and therefore he seized him on a sudden, and threw him 
 into prison; but, net able to find any crime in him worthy o( 
 
2"]6 *histoe.y of Scotland. Book XVII. 
 
 death, it is reported, he suborned some of his friends to persuade 
 him to submit himself and his cause to him •, for that, they toid 
 him, was the only way to be delivered honourably out of prison, 
 and also to have the friendship of so powerful a man as Gordon. 
 Thus the simple and plain-hearted man was decoyed into his own 
 destruction; yet Gordon, being willing to avoid the envy which 
 his being the author of his death might bring upon him, prevailed 
 with his wife to bear the blame of it. She, being a woman of a 
 stern, manly resolution, readily undertook the matter; and, in 
 the absence of her husband, the poor, innocent, betrayed, young 
 man had his head struck off. His neighbours were either so asto- 
 nished at this man's punishment, or else were so hushed with 
 bribery, that the whole country beyond .ians, was un- 
 
 der his jurisdiction alone; so that, being a man ambitious of 
 power and glory, he took it very ill, that James, earl of Murray, 
 was set up as his rival; and being impatient of the present state 
 of things, he took ail occasions to promote disturbances, and 
 daily calumniated his proceedings in public; nay, he gave a book, 
 written with his own hand, to the queen, in which he accused 
 him of affecting tyranny; but he backed it with very slender ar- 
 guments. 
 
 On the ctlier side of the country, and, at the same time, James 
 Hepburn, eari of Both well, being mueh in debt, and very de- 
 bauched, was excited to enter into an attempt against the said earl 
 of Murray; for, having spent his youth wantonly amongst whores 
 and bawds, he was reduced to that pass, as either to raise a civil 
 war, or else to prevent extreme poverty, by some bold and dar- 
 ing action. When he had considered all wavs to compass his de- 
 sign of disturbing the public peace, he thought it his best cours : to 
 set Murray and the Hamiltons together by the ears. He seemed 
 to be sure in his hopes of destroying one of the parties by that 
 means, and no matter which. First then, he goes to Murray, 
 and endeavours to persuade him to root out the Hamiltons, a fa- 
 mily distasteful and obnoxious to the queen, the whole kingdom, 
 and especially to himself; and he offered him his assistance in do- . 
 ing it, alleging, that the thing would not be unacceptable to 
 the queen; for that, besides the common ground of hatred that 
 princes bear against their relations, as desirous of their ruin, the 
 queen had some particular and just cause of offence, into the bar- 
 gain; either by reason of his affection to the evangelical doctrine 
 and discipline, of which Arran was the only assertor, and for 
 whiehhc had incurred the hatred of the Guises in France; or else, 
 by reason cf the hard words lie had lately given to one of 
 the queen's uncles, the marquis of Elbeuff, then in Scotland. 
 But Murray, being an honest, conscientious man, scorned to 
 be guilty g£ so base an action, "Whereupon Hepburn went 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, 277 
 
 to the Hamiltonsj and offered his service to them to destroy 
 Murray, whose power they could not well endure. He told 
 them, that he was the only man who was an obstacle to their 
 hope ind an enemy to their interests; that if he was but 
 take!... iw.ty, the queen must needs be in their power, whether she 
 would or no; and that the method 01 compassing it was easy. 
 The queen was then at Falkland, a castle seated in a town of the 
 same name. There is a small wood in the neighbourhood, where 
 deer, of the nature of stao,s (called by mistake, Fallow-deer, in 
 the country) were kept and fed. The queen might be easily sur- 
 prised, as she went thither every day> or to any neighbouring- 
 place, with a small retinue; at which time it was very easy to de- 
 stroy Murray being unarmed, and suspecting no such thing, and 
 to get the queen's person into their hands. He quickly persuad- 
 ed the rest; and a time was appointed to perform the enterprize; 
 only the earl of Arran detested the wickedness, and sent letters 
 privately to Murray, acquainting him with the series of the whole 
 plot. Murray writes back to him, by the same messenger; but 
 Arran being casually absent, the letters were given to his father. 
 Upon that, a consultation being held, Arran was shut up a close 
 prisoner by his father, from whence making his escape by night, 
 he went towards Falkland. As his escape was made known, 
 horsemen were sent after him, all over the country,- to bring him 
 back again; but he hid himself in a wood, and frustrated their ex- 
 pectation for that night; and in the morning came to Falkland, 
 where he discovered the whole management of that treasonable 
 design. Not long after, Bothwell and Gavin Hamilton, who 
 had undertaken with a party of men to commit the fact, followed 
 him, and, by the queen's command, had a guard set upon them 
 as prisoners, in the castle of Falkland. When the whole design 
 was thus laid open, and the spies brought word, that the leaders 
 were met at the time and place mentioned by Arran, and that 
 many horsemen were seen there. Arran, being asked to explain 
 the order of the plot, was a little disturbed in his mind; for he 
 mightily doted on the queen, and was also a great friend of Mur- 
 ray's, and was desirous to gratify them. On the other side, his 
 father was no bad man, only -was easily drawn into great and diffi- 
 cult projects, and he had a mind to exempt him from the conspi- 
 racy. That night, when he was alone, his mind was so divided 
 between piety and love, that he was almost beside himself; his 
 countenance and speech gave evident signs of great perturbation of 
 spirit; besides, there were other causes which might affect the 
 young man's mind. For whereas he had been brought tin mag- 
 nificently, according to the greatness of ins family; his father be- 
 ing a covetous man, by the persuasion of seme counsellors, who 
 nourished that vice in him. reduced him only to one s-ervam. 
 
278 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Bo'&k XVII. 
 
 before had many attendants. They who had undertaken to kill 
 Murray, were sent to several prisons; Bothwell to Edinburgh 
 castle, Gavin to Stirling, till their cause was tried. Arran was 
 sent to St. Andrews (where die queen was going) to be kept in 
 the archbishop's castle. In that place, during his lucid intervals, 
 lie wrote such wise and prudent letters to the queen, concerning 
 himself and others, that many were suspicious he had counter- 
 feited himself mad, only to free his father from the treason. As 
 for the rest he constantly and sharply accused them; insomuch 
 that, when he was brought to the council, and so private a con- 
 spiracy could not be proved by other testimonies, he proffered to 
 light with Bothwell himself. About the same time, James Ham- 
 ilton, Arran's father, first wrote, and after that came to St. An- 
 drews to the queen, earnestly desiring her to take sureties for his 
 son, Bothwell, and Gavin Hamilton, and leave them to him; but 
 he could not be heard. At the same time also, the queen took 
 Dumbarton castle, the strongest in all Scotland, which Hamilton 
 
 'leld ever since he was regent. George Gordon, being an 
 enemy to Murray, was now grown to a far greater hate of Ham- 
 ilton, his son's father-in-law, who was accused of so manifest a 
 crime, and almost convicted of it. He thought now he had a 
 good opportunity to rid his enemy out of the way, especially when 
 two such noble families were joined to his side. And first, he 
 caused a tumult to be raised in the town, then but thin of compa- 
 ny, by his own friends, hoping that Murray would come out 
 from die court, to appease it by his authority; and then, being 
 unarmed, he might be easily slain in the crowd. This project did _ 
 not succeed as he would have it; and therefore he sent some of 
 his followers armed into the court to do the fact. They entered 
 in the evening, and were to kill Murray, as he was returning to his 
 
 'eg from the queen, who was wont to keep him late at night. 
 That time seenv.d fittest, both to commit the fart, and to escape 
 after it was committed. When the matter was discovered to Mur- 
 ray, he would not have believed it, unless he had seen ir with his 
 eyes; and therefore he got some few of his most faithful friends 
 (to prevent all suspicion) and took one or two of the Gordons in 
 their armour, as he groped with his hand in die passage. The 
 matter being brought to the queen, Gordon was sent for, who 
 pretended that some of his retinue, that were just going home, 
 had armed themselves; but upon some occasion or other, were 
 detained. This excuse was rather received, than approved; and 
 so they departed for that time. That summer, by tlte mediation 
 of ambassadors on both sides, it was proposed, That the queens of 
 Scotland and England should have an interview at York, there to 
 debate many controversies; but \ -.- were almost ready for 
 
 their journey, the matter was put off till another time. The 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 279 
 
 cause of deferring the conference was vulgarly reported to be 
 that the duke D'Aumale, one of the brothers of the Guises, had 
 intercepted and opened the letters of the English ambassador, then 
 at the French court; and that by his means, principally, the Eng- 
 lish ship, which carried another ambassador, was taken and plun- 
 dered. For those wrongs and injuries, matters being likely to 
 come to a war with France, the queen went from St. Andrew, 
 to Edinburgh, and sent Arran thither too, clapping him up pri- 
 soner in the castle. In the mean time, James, her brother, went 
 to Hawick, a great market-town in those parts, and there he sur- 
 prised fifty of the chief banditti, which were met together, not 
 dreaming of his coming; which struck such a terror into the rest, 
 throughout all that tract, that the whole country was quieter for 
 some time after. But as that action procured him the love and 
 reverence of good men, so did it daily more and mere excite the 
 minds of the envious to his destruction; for, three very potent 
 families had plotted his ruin, and the accession of the Guises to 
 that plot made a fourth; for they being willing to restore the old 
 popish religion, and knowing they could never effect it, as long as 
 Murray was alive, employed their utmost endeavours to remove 
 him out of the way. Many concurrent circum;: ranees contribut- 
 ed to make the attempt seem feasible; especially because the 
 French, who had accompanied the queen to Scotland, being re- 
 turned home, had related what great interest and pow r er Gordon 
 had; how unquiet his mind was, and what promises of assistance 
 he had made to introduce the mass: All these things they aggra- 
 vated in their discourse, to the height. Then the matter was de- 
 bated by the papists in the French court, and this way of effecting 
 it resolved upon: They write to the queen to cherish the mad 
 spirit of Gordon, by large promises, That she should rather pre- 
 tend, than promise, to marry John his son; that so being hood- 
 winked with that hope, they might lead him whither they please : 
 And also they gave her the names of those in a list, whom they 
 had a mind should be destroyed. Besides, letters from the pope 
 and cardinal were sent to her, to the same effect. For, whereas. 
 her revenue was not sufficient to maintain that immoderate lux- 
 ury, to winch site had used herself, she craved some pecuniary 
 aid of the pope, under a pretence of managing a war against 
 those who had revolted from the churqh of Rome. The pope 
 wrote something obscurely, but the cardinal plainly, That she 
 should not want money for that war; yet so, that those must be 
 first killed, whose names were given her in a scroll. 
 
 The queen shewed these letters to Murray, and to the rest de- 
 signed for the slaughter; either because she thought, they would 
 have some notice of it another way 5 or else, to make them believe 
 she was -sincere towards them, as not hiding from them, any ci 
 Vol. II. N n 
 
280 History of Scotland. Book XVII. 
 
 hev secret counsels. Thereupon, all other things being fitted for 
 the attempt, the queen pretended a great desire to visit the parts 
 of Scotland which lay northwards, and Gordon promoted her de- 
 sire, by his forward invitation. At last, when she came to Aber- 
 deen, Aug. 13. Gordon's wife, a woman of a manly spirit and 
 cunning, used all her art to sift out the queen's mind, both to 
 know her secret thoughts, and also to incline them to her own 
 parry: She knew well enough, that the designs of princes are al- 
 terable by small matters, many times; neither was she ignorant, 
 how the queen stood affected a little before, towards both of 
 them, Murray and Gordon too; for she, hating them both, had 
 sometimes deliberated privately with herself, which of them she 
 should destroy first. She could not bear with the innocency of 
 Murray, as being a curb to her licentiousness-, and as for Gor- 
 don, she had experienced his perfidiousness against her father 
 first, and next her mother; and besides, she feared rib power: 
 But the letter of her uncles and the pope rather urged her to de- 
 stroy Murray. Gordon was not ignorant of the matter; and 
 therefore, to cast the balance, he promised by his wife to restore 
 the Roman religion. The queen was glad of that; yet there 
 was one impediment, and that no great one, which kt^pt her from as- 
 senting to him; and that was, that she did not think it to stand 
 with her honour, to be reconciled to John his son (who, a few 
 days before had been committed to prison for a tumult raised at 
 Edinburgh, but had made his escape) unless he returned to Stir- 
 ling, to be there a prisoner of state, at least for a few days. The 
 queen insisted upon this, net so much for that cause which was 
 pretended, as that she might have her way clear, when Murray 
 was killed, and might not be compelled to marry, when her lover 
 was absent. Gordon was willing to satisfy the queen, yet made 
 some scruple to give his son as a pledge into the hands of a man, 
 who was the most adverse of all others to his designs (and that 
 was John earl of Marr, Murray's uncle, governor of Stirling cas- 
 tle) especially being uncertain how the queen would take the mur- 
 der, when it was committed. Whilst these cunning wits endea- 
 voured to impose one upon another,and were mutually suspicious, 
 the queen affirming, that the delay was not on her part, that the 
 •matter was not despatched; and yet she used no expedition nei- 
 ther; John Gordon, to shew himself officious, and to watch all e- 
 vents, had got together about 1000 of his friends and tenants, 
 well armed, and had quartered them up and down in the neigh- 
 bourhood near the town. But Murray, though he had not much 
 help at hand, and saw that all these things were prepared for his 
 ruin, for he had had advices of it by his friends, both from the 
 French and English courts; neither placed he much confidence 
 i'n the queen: yet (in the day time) he performed his usual scr- 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 28 1 
 
 vice in the court, and at night had only one or two of his servants 
 to watch in his chamber; and being often informed of the plots 
 of his enemies against him, yet, by the help of his friends, he dis- 
 appointed all their purposes, without any noise. 
 
 About the same time, Bothwell was let down by a rope out of a 
 window, and so escaped from the castle of Edinburgh. Matters 
 were put to a stand at Aberdeen, by reason of the dissimulation 
 on both sides. And the queen intending to make a further pro- 
 gress, was invited by John Lesly, a nobleman, and client of Gor- 
 don's, to his house, about twelve miles o.T: That being a lone- 
 some place, seemed fit to the Gordons to commit the murder: but 
 Lesly, who knew their secret design, intreated them not to put 
 that brand of infamy on himself and his family, that he of all men 
 should betray the queen's brother, a man not otherwise bad, a- 
 gainst whom he had no private grudge. The next night they 
 spent quietly enough at Rothemay, a town of the Abernethys, 
 because the day after they determined to lodge at Strathbogy, a 
 castle of the Gordons; so that they deferred the murder till that 
 time, because there all would be in their power. In their jour- 
 ney Gordon had a long discourse with the queen; and at last he 
 came to this, plainly to desire the queen to pardon his son John; 
 that, being a young man, and ignorant of the laws, he had made 
 his escape out of prison, into which he was cast for no heinous 
 offence, only for a commotion, which was not raised by him nei- 
 ther. But the queen urged, that her authority would be vilified, 
 unless his son would return, at least for some days, into another 
 prison, though a larger one; that so his former fault being, as it 
 were, expiated, he might be discharged in a handsomer way. 
 Though it was but a slight command, yet Gordon, who was un- 
 willing to lose the opportunity of committing the designed fact, 
 obstinately refused to comply with it, either because he might 
 cast the blame of the murder upon his son, if the queen did not 
 approve it when it was done; or because, if the thing should be 
 done in the absence of his son, though she was not unwilling, yet 
 he should be kept as an hostage. 
 
 The queen was so much offended at this stubbornness of Gor- 
 don, that when she was almost in sight of his house, she turned 
 aside another way. So that the whole plot, so wisely contrived as 
 they thought, was now quite thrown off the hinges, till thev 
 came to Inverness. For there, besides Gordon's being lord pre- 
 sident for the administration of justice, he also commanded the 
 queen's castle, which was seated on an high hill, and command- 
 ed the town; and besides, the whole country thereabouts were 
 his vassals. The queen determined to lodge in the castle, but was 
 not suffered by the guards. Being thus excluded, she began to 
 fear, in regard she was to lodge in an unfortified town; and, jr 
 
 N n z 
 
282 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 the mean time, Kuntly's son had about iooo choice horse now 
 in arms, besides a promiscuous multitude from the parts adjacent. 
 But the queen, taking counsel from her present circumstances, 
 set a watch at all the avenues of the town. She commanded the 
 ships which had brought her provisions, to ride ready in the river, 
 that, if her guards were beaten ofF, she might have retreat to 
 them. In the middle of the night, some scouts were sent out by 
 Huntly; and- the first watch let them pass on purpose, till they 
 came to a narrow passage-, they were all surrounded and taken. 
 Arid among the Highlanders, the M'Intosh's tribe, as soon as 
 they understood they were to fight against the queen, forsook 
 Huntly, and came to her the day after into the town. A great 
 multitude of the highlanders, when they heard of the danger of 
 their queen, partly by persuasion, and partly of their own accord, 
 came in; and especially the Frasers and Munroes, valiant fami- 
 lies in those countries. The queen being now secure against any 
 force, began to besiege the castle. The besieged were not enough 
 in number, neither was the place well fortified or prepared to bear 
 
 siege, so that it was surrendered to her. The chief persons 
 that defended it were put to death; the rest were sent to their 
 own homes. The nobility came in from all parts; upon the com- 
 ing of some, others were permitted to go home. So, on the 
 fourth day after, with a guard strong enough, she returned to 
 Aberdeen. There being freed from fear, she was mightily in- 
 flamed with hatred against Gordon; and being eager for revenge, 
 she again received her brother, outwardly, into her favour, pre- 
 tending, that her dependance was wholly on him. Nay, she en- 
 deavoured to persuade others/that her safety and her own life was 
 bound up in his. Hereupon Gordon perceiving, that the whole 
 face of the court was altered ; that the earl of Murray, lately de- 
 signed for the slaughter, was now in great favour; and that him- 
 self was fallen from the top of his aspiring hopes, and made the 
 object of a mortal hatred; and thinking he was gone farther than 
 would admit of a retreat or pardon, betook himself to desperate 
 counsel^ He thought no remedy better for his present danger, 
 than by all means to get the queen into his power. And tl 
 he knew he should grievously offend her at present by the at- 
 tempt, yet he did not despair but a woman's heart might be made 
 flexible in time,' by observance, flattery and the marriage of his 
 son, of which her uncles were supposed to be the contrivers. 
 
 Tins design he communicated to his friends, and resolved, by 
 tome means or other, to remove Murray out of the way; for if 
 that was but once done, there was none besides, to whom the 
 queen would commit the government; or who was able ti 
 riage it. His spies gave him hopes, that the thing was feasible ; 
 amongst others, George Gordon, earl of Sutherland, who 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 283 
 
 was a daily attendant at court, and, pretending good-will to the 
 queen, fished out all her counsels, and, by messengers proper for 
 the purpose, acquainted Huntly with them: nay, he did not on- 
 ly observe the opportunity of time and place, but also promised 
 his assistance to effect it. Besides, the town lay open on every 
 side, and exposed to any private attempt; the inhabitants either 
 won by bribery, or joined by alliances, or terrified by danger, 
 would attempt nothing to the contrary. The Highlanders were 
 dismissed; with the earl of Murray there were but a few, and 
 they too came from remote parts, whom he did not much fear 
 to disoblige: and, seeing all the neighbouring countries were in 
 his power, the matter might be transacted without bloodshed, 
 and only one man's death might put the queen into his hands; 
 the other wounds might be easily cured. These things drove 
 him on to attempt the matter: and wdren the way to accomplish 
 it was ready fixed, some letters of the earl of Sutherland and 
 John Lesly were intercepted, which discovered the whole intrigue. 
 Sutherland, upon the discovery, fled for it; but Lesly acknow- 
 ledged his fault, and obtained pardon, and ever after, as long as 
 he lived, performed true and faithful service, first to the queen, 
 then to the king. Huntly, who with a great body of men, 
 waited the event of his design, in a place almost inaccessible, 
 by reason of the marshes that lay round there, by the advice of 
 his friends, determined to retreat to the mountains; but many of 
 the neighbouring nobility then with the queen, being his friends, 
 he trusted to their promises, and therefore altered his resolu- 
 tion, and determined to abide the success of a battle in that ad- 
 vantageous place. Murray had scarce a hundred horse in which 
 he could confide; but there followed him of the nobles then pre- 
 sent, James Douglas earl of Morton, and Patrick Lindsay; with 
 these he marched forth against the enemy; the rest were coun- 
 trymen of the neighbourhood, gathered together, about eight 
 hundred, whom Huntly for the most part had corrupted before, 
 and were more likely to draw on Murray's men to their ruin, 
 than to give thern any aid; yet they made mighty boast, and 
 were mighty big in their expressions, promising, that they them- 
 selves, without any other help, would subdue the enemy; and 
 that others should have nothing to do but to look on, and stand 
 as spectators of their actions. Some horsemen were sent before 
 to guard all the passages about the maTsh, that Huntly might not 
 escape. The rest marched softly after; and though the night 
 before, many of the Gordonians had slipped away, yet he had 
 still with him above 300 men, maintaining themselves in their 
 posts. When Murray came thither, he stood with his party in 
 rank and order, en a small hill, where he overlooked all the 
 marsh; the rest, as they were advancing towards the enemy, g;rcej 
 
284 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 evident tokens of treachery, putting boughs of heath on their 
 caps (for that plant grows in abundance in those parts) that they 
 might be known by the enemy. When they came near, the 
 Huntleans, secure of the success, hasten to them, and seeing the 
 adverse army disordered by the traitors, and put to night, that 
 they might more nimbly pursue them, they threw away their lan- 
 ces, and with their drawn swords, to terrify those ranks that 
 stood, they cried out, Treason, Treason, and poured in with great 
 violence upon the enemy. The traitors thinking, that they should 
 also put to flight the standing party, made haste towards it. But 
 Murray perceiving no hope in flight, and that nothing remained 
 but to die nobly, cried out to his party to hold out their lances, 
 and not to let those that were running away come in amongst 
 them. They, being thus unexpectedly excluded from both wings, 
 passed by in great disorder. But the Huntleans, who now 
 thought the matter ended, and the victory sure, when they saw a 
 pai cy, though but small, standing in a terrible manner, Math their 
 pikes forward, they, who were making towards them in confu- 
 sion, and quite out of order, and could not come in to handy- 
 blows, by reason of the length of their spears, being struck with 
 a sudden terror, fled as swiftly as they had pursued before. The 
 revblters perceiving this change of fortune, pressed upon them in 
 their flight, and, as if willing to make amends for their former 
 fault, they were the men that made all the slaughter of the day. 
 There were 120 of the Huntleans slain, and 100 taken prisoners; 
 not so much zs a man of the other army was lost. Among the 
 prisoners were Huntly himself, and his two sons, John and 
 Adam. The father being an old man, fat and corpulent, died in 
 the hands of those who took him; the rest were brought to Aber- 
 deen late at night. Murray had appointed a minister of the gos- 
 pel to wait for his return; where, in the first place, he gave 
 thanks to God Almighty, who, out of his mercy alone, beyond 
 all men's expectation, without any strength or wisdom of his 
 own, had delivered him and his men out of so imminent a danger. 
 Afterwards he went to court, where, though many congratulated 
 him, yet the queen gave no sign of joy at all, either in her speech, 
 or her countenance. 
 
 A few days after, John Gordon was put to death, who was ger- 
 nerally pitied and lamented. Vox he was a manly youth, very 
 beautiful, and entering on the prime of his age; not so much de- 
 signed for the royal bed, as deceived by the pretence of it, and 
 that which moved no less indignation than pity was, that he was 
 beheaded by an unskilful executioner. The queen beheld his death 
 with many tears, but as she was prone to conceal and counterfeit 
 affections, so various descants were made upon her grief and pas-» 
 fdon; and the rather because rnost people knew that she hated her 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 23$ 
 
 brother no less than Huntly; Adam was pardoned as being a. 
 youth; George the eldest son, in this desperate case, fled from 
 his house to his father-in-law James Hamilton, there to shelter 
 himself, or else to obtain his pardon through his mediation. As 
 for Gordon's followers, just as the degrees of their offences were, 
 more or less, some were lined, others banished the land, others 
 were sent into remote parts of the kingdom, that they might raise 
 no more commotions at home. Those who had the good fortune 
 to have powerful intercessors, were pardoned their offences, and 
 taken into former grace and favour. Matters being thus settled, 
 or at least appeased for the present, the rest of the winter was 
 spent in peace. 
 
 The 27th of November, Bothwell, who had escaped out of 
 prison, was by a proclamation commanded to render himself a- 
 gain, and he not obeying, was declared a public enemy. When 
 the queen was returned from Aberdeen to St. Johnston, James 
 Hamilton came to her, to beg pardon for George Gordon his 
 son-in-law. And though he had a gracious answer, yet he was 
 forced to give up his son-in-law, who was sent prisoner to Dun- 
 bar; and the next year after, which was 1563, on the 26th of 
 January, was brought to Edinburgh, there condemned for trea- 
 son, and sent back to Dunbar. 
 
 It was about this time that there came out a proclamation, that 
 no flesh should be eaten in Lent, on the penalty of a fine. The 
 pretence was (not any thing of religion, but) civil advantage only. 
 The archbishop of St. Andrews, because he did not forbear to 
 hear and say mass, after the edict made at the coming in of the 
 queen, -was committed prisoner to the castle of Edinburgh. Ga- 
 thers, guilty of die same fault, were punished but slightly* yet 
 were threatened to be more severely treated, if they offended in 
 the like sort again. 
 
 And now came the day for the session of parliament which was 
 summoned to be held the 20th day of May, where the queen, 
 with the crown on her head, and in her royal robes, went in great 
 pomp to the parliament-house, a new sight to many; but that 
 men had been accustomed to bear the government of women in 
 her mother's and grand-mother's days. In that assembly some 
 statutes were made in favour of the reformed, and some coiners 
 were punished . The queen spent the rest ot the summer in A- 
 thol, where she took the diversion of hunting. 
 
 At the end of autumn, Matthew Stewart earl of Lennox, by 
 the queen's leave returned to Scotland, having been unworthily 
 deserted by the king of France, the 2 2d year after his departure, 
 as I said before. And the next year, which was 1564, in the 
 month of January, at a convention of the estates, held almost on 
 purpose for that very thing, his banishment was remitted, and his 
 
286 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 goods restored, the queen seconding that remission with many 
 favourable words, and repeating the many great services the earl 
 had done her m her very infancy; she having been delivered out 
 of her enemies' hand's, and advanced to her throne by his means. 
 Afterwards Henry Ins son came out of England into Scotland, on 
 the 1 2th of February, having there obtained a convoy for three 
 months. The queen of Scots received this young man very graci- 
 ously, being of high descent, very beautiful, the son of her aunt; 
 she took delight daily in his company, and the common saying 
 was, that she would marry him; neither was the nobility again t 
 it, because they saw many advantages might redound to Britain 
 by that marriage, if it could be made with the queen of England's 
 consent : both of them were allied to her in an equal degree of 
 consanguinity; and she was so far from being against it, that she 
 was willing rather to seem the author of it, and to lay some obli- 
 gation upon her in making the match; besides, Elizabeth thought 
 it for her own advantage, to humble the power of her relation, 
 by this condescending marriage, that it might not swell beyond 
 what was safe and fit for neighbours. But when all was conclu- 
 ded on, there fell out an unlucky business, which a little retarded 
 all, and turned every thing as it were upside down. To make it 
 plain, I must deduce the original story a little higher. 
 
 There was one David Rizio, born at Turin in Savoy, his father 
 being honest, but poor, got a mean livelihood for himself and fa- 
 mily, by teaching young people the first grounds of music; and 
 having no other patrimony to leave his children, he made them 
 all of both sexes, skilful musicians. David was one of them, 
 who, being in the prime of his youth, and having a voice, placed 
 some hopes in his art, of bettering his fortune. He went to Nice, 
 to the. duke of Savoy's court, which place that duke had newly 
 obtained; but, meeting with no entertainment there answerable 
 to his hopes, contriving every way to relieve himself in hij> penury, 
 it was Ins chance to light upon Morettius, who, by the duke's 
 command, was then preparing for a voyage to Scotland, and he 
 accompanied him into Scotland; but Morettius being a man of 
 no great estate, and looking upon his service as unnecessary and 
 useless, he resolved to stay in Scotland, and try his fortune there, 
 especially because he had heard that the queen took great delight 
 in music, and was not ignorant of the grounds of it herself. 
 Well, to make way to her presence, he first dealt with her musi- 
 cians, of which many were French, to admit him into their socie- 
 ty, which they did; and, having played his part once or twice, 
 was liked very well; whereupon he was made one of their set and 
 company; and lie so complied with the queen's humour, that, 
 partly flattering her, and partly by undermining others, he grew 
 high in her favour, envy of 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1%) 
 
 his fellow-musicians. Neither was he content with this favour- 
 able turn of fortune; but he despised his equals too, and by sly in- 
 sinuations and accusations, wormed them out of their places; 
 then he rose higher, and began to treat about matters of state, and 
 by degrees was made secretary; and by that means had opportu- 
 nity of private converse with the queen apart from others. 
 
 The sudden advancement of this man, from a low and almost 
 beggarly estate, to so much power, wealth, and dignity, afford- 
 ed matter of discourse to the people. His fortune was above his 
 virtue; and his arrogance, contempt of his equals, and conten- 
 tion with his superiors, were above his fortune. The vanity and 
 madness of the man was much increased and nourished by the 
 flattery of the nobility; who sought his friendship, courted him, 
 admired his judgment, walked before his lodgings, and observed 
 his levee. Bat Murray alone, who had no dissimulation in his 
 heart, was so far from fawning on him, that he gave him many 
 a sour look, which troubled the queen, as much as David him- 
 self; but he, on the. other side, to uphold himself in his station, 
 against the hatred of the nobility, applied himself with great a- 
 d illation to the young gentleman who was to be the queen's hus- 
 band; so that lie came to be so familiar with him, as to be admit- 
 ted to his chamber and bed-side, and to a secret conference with 
 him; where, taking the advantage of his unwary credulity and 
 forwardness to compass his desires, he persuaded him, that he 
 was the chief occasion of the queen's placing her eye upon him. 
 Besides, he threw in seeds of discord betwixt him and Murray 
 every day, as knowing, that if he was but removed, he should 
 pass the residue of his life without any affront or disturbance. 
 
 There was now much talk abroad, not only of the queen's mar- 
 riage with Henry, and his secret recourse to her; but also of the 
 too great familiarity betwixt her and David Rizio. Murray, who, 
 by his plain, downright advice to his sister, got nothing but her 
 ill-will, resolved to leave the court, that so he might not be 
 thought the author of what was acted there. And the queen was. 
 willing enough, that so severe a supervisor of her actions should 
 withdraw, especially in a season, whilst she was strengthening 
 the contrary faction. For she recalled those who were banished, 
 Bothwell from France, and George Gordon earl of Sutherland, 
 from Flanders. She delivered the other George Gordon, son to 
 the earl of Huntly, out of prison, and restored him to his former 
 place and dignity. When Bothwell was returned from France, 
 Murray accuses him of the treacherous practices he had lately 
 committed against him. Some of those noblemen and gentlemen 
 who were his familiars in France, were witnesses against him. 
 matter was clear, and heinous to a degree of enormity. A 
 dav was appointed for the trial; but the queen first dealt earnestly 
 
 v ,,;. ii. o o 
 
388 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 with her brother, to desist from the prosecution; which he re- 
 fused, judging his credit to be much at stake, which way soever 
 the balance inclined. What did the queen do next, but write 
 letters to many of the nobility not to appear at the time appointed. 
 And, as Alexander, earl of Glencairn, Murray's intimate friend, 
 was passing by Stirling, she sent for him out of the way to her*, 
 yet all good men were so well agreed in the case, that Bothwell 
 being prejudged and condemned beforehand in his own conscience, 
 and moved with the general detestation of the wicked attempt, 
 durst not abide the trial. This favour of the people to Murray, 
 so enraged the queen's mind against him, that she hastened his 
 long before designed end; and the manner she took to accomplish 
 it was this: Murray was to be sent for to Perth, where the queen 
 was with a few attendants. There Darnly was to discourse him, 
 and in the conference they all knew he would speak his mind free- 
 ly; and then a quarrel would arise; upon which David Rizio was 
 to give him the first blow, then the rest were to wound him to 
 death. Murray was made acquainted with this conspiracy by his 
 friends at court, yet, come what would, he resolved to go. But, 
 as he was on his journey, being again advised by Patrick Ruthven, 
 he turned aside to his mother's house, near Lochleven, and, be- 
 ing troubled with a lask, excused himself, and staid there. Some 
 of his friends came thither to visit him; upon which a report was 
 presently spread, that he staid there to intercept the queen and 
 Darnly in their return to Edinburgh; whereupon horsemen were 
 sent out, but they discovered no men in arms, or sign of any 
 force, yet the queen made such haste, and was so fearful in this 
 journey, as if some great danger had been near. 
 
 The marriage was now at hand, and a great part of the nobili- 
 ty called together at Stirling, that the queen might countenance 
 her will and pleasure with some pretence of public consent. Most 
 of those they sent for were such as they knew would easily give 
 their assent; or else that durst not oppose. Many of those so 
 congregated, assented to the motion, provided always that no al- 
 teration should be made in the then established religion; but the 
 most part complied without any exception, to gratify the queen ; 
 only Andrew Stewart of Ochiltree openly professed, that he would 
 never give his consent to the admission of a popish king. As for 
 Murray, he was not averse to the marriage, (for he was the first 
 adviser, that the young man should be called out of England) but 
 he foresaw what tumults it would occasion, provided it should be 
 celebrated without the consent of the queen of England. Besides, 
 he promised to procure her consent, that so all things might go 
 on favourably, provision being made about religion ; but, perceiv- 
 ing that there would be no freedom of debate in that convention, 
 h'c clxose rather to be absent, than to declare his opinion, which 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 289 
 
 might prove destructive to himself, and no way advantageous to 
 the commonwealth. 
 
 Moreover, there was a question started and discoursed amongst 
 the vulgar. Whether the queen, upon her husband's death, 
 might not marry any other man, whom she pleased? Some were 
 of opinion, that a queen might have the same freedom as people 
 even of the commonalty have. Others, on the contrary, affirm- 
 ed, that the case was different in reference to heirs of kingdoms, 
 where, at one and the same time, an husband were to be taken to 
 a wife, and a king to be given to the people; and that it was far 
 more equitable, that all the people should provide an husband for 
 one young queen, than that one young queen should chuse a king 
 for all the people. 
 
 In the month of July came an ambassador from England, who 
 declared, that his mistress could not help wondering, that since 
 they were both equally allied to her, they should precipitate so 
 great an affair without acquainting her with it; and therefore she 
 earnestly desired, that they would stay a little while, and weigh 
 the thing a little more seriously, to the great advantage, probably, 
 of both kingdoms. This embassy had no effect. Upon that sir 
 Nicholas Throkmorton was sent by the queen of England, to tell 
 Lennox and his son, that they had a convoy from her, to return 
 at a set day, and that day was now past, and therefore she com- 
 manded them to return ; and if they did not, they were to be ba- 
 nished, and their goods confiscated. They were not at all terrifi- 
 ed with these threats; but persisted in their purpose. In the mean 
 time, the queen being sensible that it would seem a very incon- 
 gruous match, if she who was lately the wife of a great king, and 
 besides, the heiress of an illustrious kingdom, should marry a pri- 
 vate young man, who had no title of honour conferred upon him, 
 she made an edict, proclaiming Darnly duke of Rothesay, and 
 earl of Ross. Moreover, the predictions of wizardly women in 
 both kingdoms, contributed very much to hasten the marriage. 
 These, it seems, prophesied, that if it was consummated before 
 the end of July, it would prove of much future advantage to them 
 both; if not, of much reproach and ignominy. Besides, ru- 
 mours were spread abroad of the death of the queen of England, 
 and the day mentioned, before which she should die. Which 
 prediction seemed not so much to divine things, as to declare a 
 conspiracy of her subjects against her. This also added much to 
 the queen's haste; she knew her uncles would be averse to the 
 marriage; and if it should be longer delayed, she feared they 
 would find out some new obstacle, and break off the match, 
 which was upon the point of being concluded. 
 
 For when the secret decree and resolution was made, to cany 
 on the holy war through all Christendom, and Guise was ap- 
 
 O o 2 
 
290 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 pointed general of the league to extirpate the reformed religion, 
 it made him have high and ambitious hopes, and therefore he de- 
 termined by his sister's daughter, so to trouble Britain with do- 
 mestic tumults, that they should not be able to aid their friends 
 beyond sea. And David, who could then do most with the queen, 
 urged, that the marriage would be highly advantageous to all 
 Christendom, because Henry Darnly and his father were stiff 
 maintainors of the popish religion, and very gracious in both king- 
 doms, allied to great families, and had large clans under their 
 command. This being long debated, was at last carried; for he 
 knew, that if the marriage was made by the consent of the queen 
 of England, and the nobility of Scotland, he should incur two 
 great disadvantages: one, that he should be noways in favour as 
 before; and the other, that the reformed religion would be se- 
 cured But if the queen adhered to the council of Trent, then 
 lie promised honours, ecclesiastical dignities, heaps of money, 
 nnd unrivalled power, to himself. So that, turning every stone, 
 he at last procured that the marriage should be hastened ; though 
 the Scots were not much for it, and the English were very much 
 against it. 
 
 Mary and Henry Stewart.* 1565. 
 
 'enry Stewart was married to Mary Stewart, July 29th: and 
 Oyes being made, proclamation of it was publicly read, 
 with the applause of the multitude, God save Henry and Mary y 
 king and queen of 'Scotland ; and the day after they were proclaimed 
 in like manner by an herald at Edinburgh. This affair gave 
 mighty offence to the nobility, and to the commons too; nay, 
 some fretted, and openly stormed, that it was a thing of the 
 worst example that ever was. For to what purpose was it to call 
 a council about constituting a king, and never to ask their advice, 
 nor to comply with their authority; but to set up an herald instead 
 of a senate, and a proclamation, for a statute of parliament or or- 
 der of council? So that it was not (say they) a consultation, but 
 an essay rather, how the Scots would bear the yoke of tyranny. 
 The 1 absence of so many nobles increased the suspicion. The 
 chief nobility were away, as, James duke of Chatelherault, Cil- 
 lespy earl of Argyle, James earl of Murray, Alexander earl of 
 Glencairn, Andrew earl of Rothes, and many others of rich and 
 noble families. Heralds were sent to them to come in; which 
 
 * Note, that the name of Henry, as joined with Mary, in the title, though 
 before their marriage, is accounted for at the close of the catalogue of the Scot- 
 tish kings, prefixed before the body of this history. 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 29I 
 
 they not doing, were banished, and went most of them into Ar- 
 gyle, and their enemies were reealled to court. The king and 
 queen having got as many forces together, as they thought were 
 sufficient to subdue the rebels, came with 4000 men to Glasgow. 
 The rebels kept at Paisley, where various consultations were held, 
 according to the disposition of the parties. The king and queen 
 sent an herald at arms to have the castle of Hamilton sut rendered. 
 to them; which not being done, they prepared themselves for the 
 fight. The contrary faction was at variance one with another, 
 and divided into several opinions. The Hamiltons, who had the 
 greatest power in those parts, were of opinion, that no firm peace 
 could be made, till the king and queen were both taken out of 
 the way; as- long as they were safe, nothing could be expected 
 but new wars, continual plots, and a counterfeit peace, worse 
 than an open war. " Private men (said they) may forget injuries 
 " offered them, being weary of prosecuting them; yea, some- 
 " times they are recompensed with great advantages; but the 
 " wrath of princes is not to be quenched but by death alone." But 
 Murray and Glencairn, who understood that their discourse was 
 not founded on the good of the public, but their private advan- 
 tage (for upon the queen's death, they were the next heirs to the 
 crown) did equally abhor the prince's death, and Hamilton's go- 
 vernment, which they had lately experienced to be avaricious and 
 cruel; so that they were for milder counsels; and, in regard it 
 was a civil dissension, in which, as yet, there had been no blood 
 shed, the disputes having been hitherto managed by votes, not 
 arms, they thought fit, if possible, to end it by an honest agree- 
 ment. They thought many in the king's army would hearken to 
 such a proposal, as being desirous of peace, and would not be 
 wanting to plead for those, that, in defence of their liberties, 
 were forced to take up arms. As for the king and queen, they 
 being yet young, might not perhaps be so provident; however they 
 had not yet so far transgressed, as to endanger the commonwealth. 
 As for private vices, which affected their own names and reputa-. 
 tions only, it was fitter they were cured by other remedies than 
 death; for they remembered it was an old caution transmitted to 
 them from their ancestors, for their observation, That hidden vires 
 ought to be overlooked in the lives and manners of princes : that those 
 that ivould bear a double construction^ ought to be taken in the best 
 sense ; and their open ones so far borne nuith y as they did not endanger 
 the ruin of the public. This opinion pleased the most, and the rest 
 of the Hamiltons acquiesced in it, and resolved to be quiet; only 
 James, chief of their family, with sixteen horse, remained with 
 the nobility, who being lessened by the recess of the Hamiltons, 
 were not able to give battle to the enemy, nor yet to break through, 
 each to his own clan; and therefore they complied with the neces* 
 
1Q)X HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 sity of the times, and came that night to Hamilton, and the next 
 day to Edinburgh, to consult how to manage the war: But in re- 
 gard the castle, which commanded the town, continually played 
 upon them, and their friends could not come in so soon from re- 
 mote parts, as was requisite, and, moreover, the king and queen 
 were reported to be near them with their forces; they, by the 
 great persuasions and promises of John Maxwell of Hemes di- 
 rected course towards Dumfries. The king and queen returned 
 back to Glasgow, and left the earl of Lennox, their lieutenant 
 in the country towards the south-west: They themselves went 
 afterwards to Stirling, and thence into the middle of Fife. r lhey 
 made the greatest part of the nobility take an oath, That if any 
 commotion arose from England, they would faithfully oppose it; 
 the rest were punished, some by fine, some by banishment. The 
 goods of those who fled into England, wherever they could find 
 them, were seized upon, and they appointed commissoners of oy- 
 er and terminer, to be held in all counties, to enquire into the re- 
 mains of the rebellion. 
 
 On the 9th of October, they drew out their army from Edin- 
 burgh, and marched towards Dumfries. Maxwell, who till that 
 time had pretended to be deeply in with the party which was a- 
 gainst the king, thinking it now a fit opportunity to make his 
 own market, went out to meet them, as if he would have inter- 
 ceded for a general pardon. He dealt with them to have part of 
 his father-in-law's estate, which he had a great mind to: They 
 looked upon him as an active subtle man, fit for counsel and busi- 
 ness, and granted his request: Then he returned to the rebels, 
 and told them, he could do them no good; and therefore they 
 must all shift for themselves; England was near at hand, if they 
 would retire thither, after he had settled his affairs at home, he 
 would follow them, and live and die with the party. In the in- 
 terim, he got 1000 pounds of Murray, upon the account of mo- 
 ney which he alleged he had expended in listing some horse: For 
 For being commanded to raise some few troops of horse, he caus- 
 ed all his domestics to appear, as if they had been soldiers form- 
 ally inlisted. The rebels were put in an universal consternation 
 at the appearance of the king and queen, and at Maxwell's revolt 
 from them; so that the king and queen did what they pleased: 
 They drove away most of the leaders of the faction, and the rest 
 were intent on the event of their danger; so that about the end 
 of October, they returned to Edinburgh, and all things were quiet 
 in Scotland till the beginning of the next ensuing spring. 
 
 A convention of all the estates of the kingdom was summon- 
 ed to be held in March; that so the goods of those who were 
 banished might be confiscated, their names struck out of the roll 
 of the nebilitv, and their coats of arms, and trophies of honour 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 293 
 
 torn in pieces; neither of which the kings of Scotland can law- 
 fully do, without an act of parliament. In the interim, David, 
 perceiving the court to be quite empty of nobility, and thinking 
 it an opportunity to shew and declare the excessive reach of his 
 power, put the queen upon severe counsels, daily pressing her to 
 cut off some of the chief of the faction; if a few of them (said 
 he) were executed, the rest would be quiet: And as he thought 
 the queen's guard being Scotsmen, would not easily consent to 
 the cruel murder of the nobility, he was very intent to have them 
 thrown out of their places, and to introduce foreigners in their 
 room (a project that is wont to be the beginning of all tyranny) 
 first, mention was made of sending for some Germans over for 
 that service; because that nation was remarkably loyal to its prin- 
 ces. But, when David had considered seriously with himself, he 
 thought it conduced to his interest to have Italians; first, because, 
 being his countrymen, he presumed they would be more at his 
 devotion: next, that being men of no religion, they would be fit- 
 ter to make disturbances; so that he thought they might easily 
 be induced to venture upon any design, right or wrong; for, be- 
 ing wicked and indigent persons, born and bred up to tyrants used 
 to war, and far from their own home, they would not care what 
 became of Britain; and therefore seemed the most proper instru- 
 ments to attempt innovations. Then soldiers of fortune were pri- 
 vately sent for out of Flanders, and other countries of the conti- 
 nent; but they were to come by piece-meal, as it were one by 
 ©ne, and at several times too, that the design might not be de- 
 tected. // ivculd be more dangerous (said he) to offend any one of 
 those ruffians, than the queen herself. 
 
 But, as David's power and authority with the queen daily in- 
 creased, so the king daily lost favour with her; for, as she had 
 been rashly precipitate in making the marriage, so she as soon re- 
 pented, and gave manifest tokens of an altered mind. For, as 
 presently after the marriage was celebrated, she had publicly pro- 
 claimed him king by an herald, without the consent of the estates, 
 and afterwards in all her mandates, till that time the king and 
 queen's name were expressed, she began to change the order, 
 keeping both names in, but setting her own first. At length the 
 queen, to deprive her husband of all opportunity of doing kind- 
 ness for any, found fault with him; that whilst he was busy in 
 hawking and hunting, many state matters were unseasonably car- 
 ried on, or else were wholly omitted; and therefore it would be 
 better that she might subscribe her name for them both; and, by 
 this means, he might enjoy his pleasure, and yet no public busi- 
 ness be retarded. He was willing to gratify her in every thing, 
 and yielded to be dismissed upon such frivolous grounds, that so, 
 being remote from the council and privity of public affairs, the 
 
2£4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 obligation of all boons might redound to the queen herself. For 
 she thought thus with herself, that if her husband's favour could 
 do no good offices for any, and his anger were formidable to none, 
 he would by degrees fall into universal contempt of all; and to in- 
 crease the indignity, David was substituted with an iron seal, to 
 impress the Icing's name on proclamations. He, thus fraudulent- 
 ly cheated out of public business, lest he might likewise prove an 
 interrupter of their private pleasures, in a very sharp winter was 
 sent away to Pebly, with a small retinue, far beneath the dignity 
 oi some private persons, for a prey, rather than recreation. At 
 the same time there fell such a quantity of snow, that, the place 
 not being very plentiful, and besides, being infested with thieves, 
 he that was always bred up at court, and used to a liberal diet, 
 was in great hazard of wanting necessaries, unless the bishop of 
 Orcades had casually come thither; for he, knowing the scarcity 
 of the place, brought him some wine, and other provisions for his 
 use. 
 
 The queen was not content to raise David out of his obscurity, 
 and to shew him to the people, but she contrived another way 
 how to clothe him with domestic honour: for whereas the queen 
 had, for some months before, permitted more company than was 
 ufual to sit with her at table; that so in the crowd David's place 
 might be less envied. By this face of popularity she thought that 
 such an unnusual sight would be, in some measure rendered more 
 familiar, by the multitude of guests, and daily usage, and so 
 men's high stomachs by degrees be inured to bear any thing. At 
 last it came to this, that none but he, and one or two more, sat 
 at table with her; and that the littleness of the room might take 
 off something from the envy of the thing, sometimes she would 
 cat in a small parlour, sometimes at David's own lodgings. But 
 the way she thus took to abate, did but increase the reflections; for 
 it nourished suspicions, and gave occasion to odd discourses: 
 men's thoughts were now inclined to the worst; and what served 
 to inflame them was, that he exceeded even the king himself in 
 household stuff", in apparel, and in the number of brave and state- 
 ly horses; and the matter looked the worse for this, because all 
 this ornament did not credit his face, but his face rather spoiled all 
 this ornament. 
 
 But the queen, not being able to amend the faults of nature, 
 endeavoured, by heaping wealth and honour upon him, to raise 
 him up to the degree of the nobles, that she might cover the 
 meanness of Ids birth, and the defects of his body, with the lus- 
 tre of dignity and promotion; and that, having qualified him to 
 sit and vote in parliament, she might be the better able to give 
 such a turn as she pleased to the debates of that assembly. But 
 he was to be advanced by degrees; lest he might seem to be but 
 
Eook XVII. HISTORY- OF SCOTLAND. 20$ 
 
 a poor mercenary senator. And first she attempted to got him a 
 piece of land near Edinburgh, which the Scots call Melvil. The 
 owner of this land, his father-in-law, and others that were best 
 able to persuade him, were sent for, and the queen deals with 
 the present owner to part with his possessions ; and site desired 
 his father-in-law and friends to persuade him to it. But this mat- 
 ter not succeeding, the queen took the repulse as an affront to 
 her; and, what was worse, David took it very heinously also. 
 These things being noised abroad, the commonalty bewailed the 
 sad state of affairs, and expected that things would grow worse, if 
 men eminent for their nobility and reputation, should be turned 
 out of their ancient patrimonies, to gratify the lust of a beggarly 
 varlet; nay, many of the more ancient among them called to 
 mind, and told others of that time, when Cochrane wickedly slew 
 the king's brother, and from a stone-cutter was made earl of Mar; 
 which raised up such a fire of civil war 1 , that could not be extin- 
 guished but by the death of the king, and almost the destruction 
 of the kingdom. These things were spoken openly, but in private 
 men went farther in their mutterings (as it useth to be in mat* 
 ters not very creditable); yet the king would never be per- 
 suaded to believe it, unless he saw it with his own eyes; so that 
 one time hearing that David was gone into the queen's bed-cham- 
 ber, he came to a little door, the key of which he always carried 
 about him, and found it bolted in the inside, which it never used 
 to be. He knocked, no body answered; upon that, conceiving 
 great wrath and indignation in his heart, he could hardly sleep a 
 wink that night. From that time forward, he consulted with 
 some of his domestics (for he durst trust but a few, many of them 
 being corrupted by the queen, and put upon him rather as spies o£ 
 his actions, than attendants on his person) how to rid David out 
 of the way; they approved his design, but could not find a pro- 
 per way to effect it. That consultation had been managed for 
 some days, when others of his servants, who were not admitted 
 to it, suspected the design, and there being evident tokens of it, 
 they acquainted the queen with it, and told her, they would shew 
 her the cabal, and they were as good as their words. They ob- 
 served and watched their opportunity, when others were shut out, 
 and the king had only his confidents with him. The queen, as tf 
 she were passing through his chamber to her own, surprised 
 him with his partizans. Then she inveighed against him most 
 bitterly, and highly threatened his domestics, telling them, all 
 their plots were in vain; she knew all their minds and actions, and 
 would take care of them in due time. 
 
 Matters being brought to this pass, the king acquaints his fa- 
 ther with his unhappy condition. Both concluded, that the only 
 remedy for the present malady was, to reconcile those of the no- 
 
 Vol ir. r P 
 
2<?6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 bility who were present, and to recal those that were absent. 
 But great haste was required in the thing, because the day was 
 near at hand, wherein the queen v/as resolved to condemn the 
 nobles that were absent, she having called a convention of the e- 
 staces for that purpose, against the wills of the French and Eng- 
 lish ambassadors-, who interceded in the case. For they knew, 
 that the accused had committed no such heinous offence; and be- 
 sides, they foresaw the danger that would ensue. 
 
 About this time the queen of England sent her a very large and 
 obliging letter, full of prudent advice, in reference to the present 
 state of Scotland, endeavouring, in a gentle and loving way, to 
 incline her kinswoman from a wrathful to a reconctleable temper. 
 The nobility knew that such letters were come, and they guessed 
 what the contents werej'and thereupon the queen counterfeited a 
 more civil respect to them than ordinary, and began to read them 
 in the presence of many of them. As she. went on, David stood 
 up, and bade her Read no more, she had read enough, she should stop. 
 That carriage of his seemed to them rather arrogant than new; 
 for they knew how imperiously he had carried it towards her be- 
 fore; nay, and sometimes he would reprove her more sharply 
 than her own husband ever durst do. 
 
 At that time the cause of the exiles was warmly disputed in 
 the parliament-house; some to gratify the queen, would have the 
 sentence due to traitors passed upon them; others contended, that 
 they had done nothing that deserved so severe a treatment. In 
 the mean time, David went about to all of them, one by one, to 
 feel their pulses, what each one was inclined to do with the exiles, 
 it he v, -as chosen speaker by the test of the convention. He told 
 them plainly, the queen was resolved to have them condemned, 
 p.nu it was in vain for any of them to contend against it; and be- 
 tides, he would be sure to incur the queen's displeasure by it. 
 His design in this was, partly to confound the weaker spirits be- 
 tween hope and fear, and partly to exclude the more resolved out 
 of the number of the judges select, or lords of the articles; or at 
 least that the major part might be of such a kidney as might please 
 the queen. This audacious improbity, of so mean a fellow, was 
 feared by some, and hated by all. Upon that, the king, by his 
 father's advice, sent for James Douglas and Patrick Lindsay, his 
 kinsmen, one by the father, the other by the mother's side. 
 They advise with Patrick Ruthven, an able man both for advice 
 and execution ; but he was so weakened with a long and tedious 
 sickness, that for seme months he could not rise out of his bed; 
 however, they were willing to trust him, amongst some few o- 
 thers, in a. matter of such mighty moment, both by reason of his 
 great prudence, and also because his children were cousin-ger- 
 mans to the king. The king was told by them, what a great er- 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 297 
 
 ror he had committed before, in suffering his kinsmen and 
 friends to be driven from court, in favour of such a base miscreant 
 as Rizio; nay, he himself did, in effect, thrust them out from 
 the court with his own hand, and so had advanced such a con- 
 temptible mushroom, that now he himself was despised by him. 
 They had likewise a great deal of other discourse concerning the 
 state of the public. The king was quickly brought to acknow- 
 ledge his fault, and to promise to act nothing fur the future, with- 
 out the consent of the nobility. 
 
 But those wise and experienced counsellors thought it not safe 
 to trust the verbal promises of an uxurious young man, as believ- 
 ing that he might in time be enticed by his wife to deny this ca- 
 pitulation, to their certain ruin; and therefore they drew up tiie 
 heads of their contract in writing; which he was very willing, nay 
 forward, to subscribe. The heads were, For the establishing reli- 
 gion, at it was provided for at the queen's return to Scotland: 'To re~ 
 store the persons lately banished, because their country could not well be 
 without their service: To destroy David ; for, as long as he was alive, 
 the king could not maintain his dignity, nor the nobility live in safety. 
 They all set their hands to this schedule, wherein the king pro- 
 fessing himself to be the author of the homicide, they resolved 
 presently to attempt the fact, both to prevent the condemnation 
 of the absent nobles, and also, lest delay might discover their de- 
 sign. And therefore, when the queen was at supper, in a nar- 
 row private room, the earl of Argyle's wife and David sitting 
 with her, as they were wont, and but few attendants, for the 
 room would not hold many; James Douglas, earl of Morton, 
 with a great number of his friends, were walking in an outer 
 chamber, their faithful friends and vassals were commanded to 
 stay below in ,the yard, to quiet the tumult, if any should be. 
 The king comes out of his own chamber, which was below the 
 queen's, and goes up to her by a narrow pair of stairs, whiqh 
 were open to none but himself; Patrick Ruthven followed him 
 armed, but with four or five companions at most. They entered 
 into the parlour where they were at supper; and the queen, being 
 something moved at that unusual appearance of armed men, and 
 also perceiving Ruthven haggard and lean by reason of his late dis- 
 ease, and yet in his armour, asked him, Whet was the matter ? 
 For the spectators thought, that his fever had disturbed his head, 
 and put him beside himself. He commanded David to rise, and 
 come forth; for the place he sat in was not fit for him. The 
 queen presently rose, and sought to defend him by the interposal of 
 her body; but the king took her in his arms, and bade her take 
 courage, they would do her no hurt, only the death of that villain, 
 was resolved on. They haled David out into the next, then into 
 the outer chamber. There those that waited with Douglas, di%. 
 
298 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVII. 
 
 patched him at last, after having given him many wounds; which 
 was against the mind of all those who conspired his death, for 
 they resolved to hang him. up publicly, as knowing it would be a 
 grateful spectacle to all the people. 
 
 There went a constant report, that one John Damiot, a French 
 priest, who was reputed a conjurer, told once or twice, That now 
 he bed feathered his nest, he should be gone, and withdraw himself 
 from the envy of the nobles, who would be too hard for him: And that 
 I)avid answered, The Seats were greater threateners than fighters. 
 He was also told a little before his death, That he should take heed 
 of a bastard. To which he replied, That, as long as he lived, no 
 bastard should have so mueh power in Scotland, as that he need fear it. 
 Tor he thought hi- danger vv ,. s predicted from Murray; but the 
 prophecy was either fuliilled, or eluded, by George Douglas's 
 giving him his first blow, who was a natural son of the earl of 
 Angus. After he had once begun, then every one struck in or- 
 der as he stood, not excepting the prince, either prompted by his 
 own just resentment, or to come in for a share of the public ven- 
 geance. Hereupon a tumult arose all over the house, and the 
 earls of Huntly, Athol, and Bothwcll, who were at supper in 
 another part of the palace, were rushing out; but they were kept 
 within their chamber, by those who guarded the courts below, 
 and had no harm done them. Ruthven went out of the parlour 
 into the queen's bed-chamber; where not being able to stand, he 
 sat down, and called for something to drink. Whereupon the 
 queen fell upon him with such words as her present grief and fu- 
 ry suggested to her, calling him a perfidious traitor, and asked 
 him, Hew he durst be so bold, as to speak to her, sitting, whereas she 
 herself stood ? He excused it, as not done out of pride, but weak-* 
 ness of body; but advised her, That in managing the affairs of the 
 kingdom, she would rather consult the nobility, who had a concern in 
 the public welfare, than vagrants, who could give no pledge for their 
 loyalty, and who had nothing to lose, either in estate or credit; /wither 
 *was the fact then committed, without a precedent : That Scotland was 
 a kingdom bounded by laws, and was never wont to be governed by the 
 will and pleasure of one man, but by the rule of the law, and the con- 
 sent of the nobility ; and, if any former king had done otherwise, he had 
 smarted severely for it. Neither were the Scots at present so far de- 
 generated from their ancestors, as to bear not only the government, but 
 even the servitude cf a stranger, who was scarce worthy to be their 
 slave. The queen was more enraged at this speech than before. 
 "Whereupon they departed, having placed guards in all conveni- 
 ent places, to hinder the rising of any tumult. 
 
 In the mean time, the news was carried all over the town; 
 and was received as every one's disposition was, right or wrong; 
 they tcck r.rms, and went to the palace. There the king sh( 
 
Book XVII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 200. 
 
 himself to them out of a window, and told the multitude, That 
 he and the queen were safe, and there was no cause for their tumultu- 
 ous assembly : What ivas done, was by his command ,« and what that 
 was, they should know in time ,■ and therefore, at present, every one 
 should go to his own house. Upon which, command they withdrew, 
 except some few, that staid to keep guard. The next day in the 
 morning, the nobles that were returned from England, surrender- 
 ed themselves to take their trial in the town-hall, being ready to 
 plead their cause, for that was the day appointed; but no body 
 appearing against them, they openly protested, that it was not their 
 fault, for they were ready to submit to a legal trial; and so every 
 one returned to his own lodging. The queen sent for her brother, 
 and after a long conference with him, she gave him hopes, that 
 ever after she would be advised by the nobles. Then the guards 
 were lessened; though many thought, this her clemency presaged 
 no good to the public; for she gathered together the soldiers of her 
 old guard, and went through a back gate by night, with George 
 Seton, who attended her with 200 horse, first to his castle, then 
 to Dunbar. She carried also the king along with her; who was 
 forced to obey, for fear of his life. There she gathered a force 
 together, and pretending a reconcilement to those who were lately 
 come from banishment, she turned ner fury upon the murderers 
 of David; but they, yielding to the times, shitted for themselves; 
 and so, as if all were safe and quiet, she relapsed intp her old hu- 
 mours. First of all, she caused David's body, which was buried 
 before the door of a neighbouring church, to be removed in the 
 night, and to be deposited in the sepulchre of the late king and his 
 children: which being one of her unaccountable actions, gave oc- 
 casion to bad reports : for what greater confession of adultery with 
 him could she well make, than, as far as she was able, to make 
 the funeral of such an obscure fellow, who was neither liberally 
 brought up, nor had deserved well of the public, equal with those 
 of her father and brothers ? And, to increase the indignity of the 
 thing, she put the miscreant almost into the arms of Magdalene 
 Valois, the late queen. As for her husband, she threatened him, 
 and gave him many side-blows in her discourses, and did her en- 
 deavour to take away all power from him, and to render him as, 
 contemptible as she could. 
 
 At this time the process was very severe against David's mur t 
 derers; many of the accused were banished, some to one place, 
 some to another; many were fined; some (but the most innocent, 
 and therefore secure from any apprehension) put to death; for 
 the prime of the faction were fled, some to England, others to the 
 highlands. Those who were but the least suspected to have had 
 a hand in it, had their offices and employments taken from them, 
 and bestowed V| upon their enemies. And a proclamation was made 
 
>oo 
 
 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 Book xvn. 
 
 by an herald (which excited laughter amidst all this sorrow) That 
 no man should say, the king ivas a partaker in, or so much as privy to, 
 David's death. This commotion being a little settled, after the 
 1.3th day of April, the earl of Argyle and Murray were received 
 into favour 5 and she herself drawing near her time, retired into 
 Edinburgh castle j and on the 19th day of June, 1566, a little 
 after nine o'clock at night, was brought to bed of a son, after- 
 Wards called James VI. 
 
(A. C. i S 66.J 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 F 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 BOOK XVIII. 
 
 1 he queen after her delivery, received all other visitants with 
 kindness enough, suitable to the occasion of a public joy, but 
 when her husband came, she and her attendants comported them- 
 selves so, in speech and countenance, as if they were afraid of no- 
 thing more, than that he should not understand, that his presence 
 was disdained, and his company unacceptable to them all. But, 
 on the contrary, Both well alone was the man ; he managed all af- 
 fairs. The queen was so inclined to him, that she would have it 
 understood, no suit could be obtained from her, but by his medi- 
 ation. And, as if she was afraid her favours to him were but 
 mean, and not sufficiently known, on a certain day she took one 
 or two with her, and went down to the haven called New-haven; 
 and, her attendants not knowing whither she was going, she 
 went on board a small vessel, prepared there for her: William 
 and Edmund Blacadder, Edward Robertson, and Thomas Dickson, 
 all Bothvveii's creatures, and pirates of known rapacity, had fit- 
 ted the ship before. With this guard of robbers, to the great ad- 
 miration of all good men, she ventured to sea, taking none of her 
 honest servants along with her. She landed at Alloa, a castle of 
 the earl of Mar's •, where she so demeaned herself for some time, 
 as if she had forgot, not only the dignity of a queen, but even 
 the modestv of a matron. 
 
302 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. BoOK XVIIL 
 
 The king, when he heard of the queen's sudden departure, fol- 
 lowed her as fast as he could by land: His design and hopes 
 were, to be with her, and to enjoy mutual society, as man and 
 wife: But he, as an importunate disturber of her pleasures, was 
 ordered to go back from whence he came, and had hardly time- 
 allowed him for his servants to refresh themselves. 
 
 A few days after, the queen returned to Edinburgh; and be- 
 cause, it seems, she would avoid the crowd of people, she went 
 not to her own palace, but to the house of. a private man in the 
 neighbourhood: Fro.n thence she went to another, where the anJ- 
 nual convention, called the Exchequer-court, was then held, not so 
 much for the largeness of the house, or the pleasures of the gar- 
 dens, as, that one David Chalmers, a creature of Bothwell's, had 
 a house near it, whose back-door was contiguous to the queen's 
 garden, by which Bothwell might pass in and out to her, as often 
 as he pleased. In the mean time, the king finding no place for 
 favour with his wife, is sent away with injuries and reproach- 
 es; and having often tried her spirit, yet by no offices of observ- 
 ance could he obtain to be admitted to conjugal familiarity, as be- 
 fore; whereupon he retired in discontent to Stirling. A while 
 after, the queen appointed to go to Jedburgh, to hold a conven- 
 tion. About the beginning of October, Bothwell prepared an ex- 
 pedition into Liddisdale ; and carrying himself there, neither ac- 
 cording to the place which he held, nor the dignity of his family, 
 nor the expectation of any man, a pitiful highwayman, whom he 
 had taken and almost dispatched with a leaden bullet unawares^ 
 wounded him, and so he was carried to Hermitage castle, in great 
 danger of his life. When the news was brought to the queen at 
 Borthwick, though the winter was very sharp, she flew in haste, 
 first to Mulross, then to Jedburgh; there, though she received 
 certain intelligence, that Bothwell was alive, yet being impatient 
 of delay, and not able to forbear, though in such a bad time of the 
 year, nothwithstanding the difficulty of the way, and the clanger 
 of robbers, she put herself on her journey, with such attendants, 
 as hardly any honest man, though he was but of mean condition 
 would trust his life and fortune to. From thence she returned a- 
 gain to Jedburgh, and there she was mighty diligent in making 
 great preparations for Bothwell's being brought thither: And tru- 
 ly, when he came there, their conversation together was little for 
 the credit of either of them. At last the queen herself, cither 
 having fatigued nature too far by her continual toil and watching 
 day and night; or else being particularly destined to it by the se- 
 cret providence of God, fell into such a dangerous illness, that 
 no body almost expected, or could hope for her life. When the 
 king heard of it, he went that very moment to Jedburgh with all 
 possible expedition, both »o give her a visit; *nd to testify his ob- 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 303 
 
 iservance by all the good offices he could; and also to incline her 
 to a better course of life, hoping she might repent of what she 
 had done; as people are wont to do, when they arc in a great dc;d 
 of danger. But she, on the contrary, would not shew the least 
 sign of reconciliation; no, she charged nobody should rise up 
 and salute him as he came in, and forbade their giving him so 
 much as one single night's entertainment: .But she suspecting the 
 disposition of Murray, as being courteous and civil, desired his 
 wife to make haste home, and feign herself sick, and go immedi- 
 ate]-/ to bed, that so on the pretence of sickness, the king might 
 be excluded even from thence; thus she made it her business to 
 force him to be gone, for want of lodging: Which he had done, 
 had not one of the family of the Humes, even for very shame, 
 pretended a sudden cause for his departure, and so left his lodg- 
 ing free for the king-. 
 
 The next day in the morning, he returned again to .Stirling: 
 His return was the more reflected upon, because at the very same 
 time, Bothwell was carried out of the place where he lodged, to the 
 queen's lodgings, in the face of all the people; and though nei- 
 ther of them were well recovered, she from her disease, he from 
 his wound, yet they travelled, first to Kelso, then to Coldingham, 
 next to Craigmillar,' (a castle two miles from Edinburgh) quit.: 
 indifferent and careless as to the reports that were spread of then* 
 by the way. The queen, in all her discourse, professed that she 
 could never live, unless she was divorced from the king; and that 
 if she could not gain that point, she would lay violent hands on 
 herself. She would ever and anon speak. of a divorce, and would 
 say, it might be easily effected, if the pope's bull was but recal- 
 led, by which pardon had been granted them for marrying con- 
 trary to the papal laws; but seeing tins matter was not like to go 
 as ^he expected (for these things were acted in the presence of 
 many of the nobility) she left off all her other methods, and con- 
 trived nothing else in her mind, but how to dispatch him out of 
 tiie world at once. 
 
 A little before winter, when the ambassadors from France and 
 England came to be witnesses at the baptism of the prince, the 
 queen strove, as far as money or industry could, to make Both- 
 weii appear the most magnificent amongst all her subjects and 
 guest", at the entertainment; whereas her lawful husband was not 
 allowed necessaries at the christening; nay, was forbid to come 
 in sight of the ambassadors; and even his servants, that were ap- 
 pointed to be his daily attendants, were taken from him, and the 
 nobility forbid to take any notice of him. But this her implac- 
 able carriage towards him, which the nobility noted both now and 
 heretofore, moved them to have the greater compassion for him, 
 when they saw a young and harmless person used after so re- 
 
 Vol. II. Q^q 
 
304 &ISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 proachful a manner-, and yet not only bear it patiently, but even 
 endeavour to appease her rage by the most servile offices he could 
 perform, in order, if possible, to win some degree of her favour. 
 As for his dress, she put the fault upon the embroiderers, gold- 
 smiths, and other tradesmen, though it was a false and shameful 
 pretence; for every body knew she herself was the occasion of it; 
 though for fear Bothwell should not have ornaments enough, she 
 wrought many of them with her own hands. Besides foreign 
 ambassadors were advised not to enter into discourse with the 
 king, though they were in the same castle together the most part 
 of the day, 
 
 The young king being thus uncourteously treated, exposed to 
 the contempt of all, and seeing his rival honoured before his face, 
 resolved to go to his father to Glasgow, who, as some thought, 
 had sent for him. The queen shewed her usual hatred at his de- 
 parture, she took away all the silver plate which he had used ever 
 since he was married, and put pewter in their stead; besides, she 
 gave him poison before he went away, that the evil might be 
 more secret, if he died, when absent from court. But the poison 
 wrought sooner, than those who gave it supposed it would; for, 
 before he was gone a mile from Stirling, he had such a grievous 
 pain all over his body, that it was very apparent his disca.se was 
 not casual, but the act of fraud and treachery. However, as 
 soon as he came to Glasgow, the mischief manifestly discovered 
 itself; blue pustules arose all over his body, and put him in such 
 pain and anguish, that there was little hope of his life. James 
 Abernethy, a learned, a faithful, and an experienced physician, 
 being consulted about his disease, answered presently, That he 
 had taken poison. He sent for the queen's domestic physician, 
 but the queen would not suffer him to go, for fear he should 
 have skill enough to cure him; and besides, she was not willing 
 that many should know of his being poisoned. When the cere- 
 monies of christening were over, and the company, by degrees, 
 got home, the queen was private with Bothwell, having scarce a- 
 ny more company, at Drummond and Tullibardiue, noblemen's 
 houses, where she spent a few days about the beginning of Janu- 
 ary, and so returned to Stirling, and pretended daily to go to 
 Glasgow; but, expecting to hear every day of the king's death, 
 to prevent the wo. it, she resolved to have her son in her own 
 power; and that her design might occasion no suspicion, she be- 
 gan to find fault, that the house in which he was kept was incon- 
 venient; that in a moist and cold place he might be subject to 
 rheums: But the true cause of his removal was far otherwise; 
 for it was very plain, that the place he was carried to, was far 
 fnore obnoxious upon the aforesaid accounts, for that it was situ- 
 ate in a low marshy soil, having a mountain betwixt it and the 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 3Q5 
 
 sun-rising. Upon that the child, though scarce seven months 
 old, was brought, in a sharp winter, to Edinburgh. When she 
 heard there that the king was recovered, as having overcome the: 
 poison, by the vigour of his youth, and the strength of his natu- 
 ral constitution, she renewed her plot to destroy him, acquainting 
 also some of the nobility with her design. In the mean time news 
 was brought her, that the king designed to fly to France or Spain, 
 and that he had spoke about it with the master of an English 
 ship, which was then in the frith of Clyde. Upon this, some 
 thought that a fair occasion was offered her to send for him, and 
 if he refused to come, to dispatch him out of the way, nay, some 
 offered to be agents in the thing; all of them advised, that the 
 bloody deed should be privately committed, and that it should be 
 hastened, before he was perfectly recovered. The queen, having 
 already got her son, that she might also have her husband in her 
 power, though not as yet agreed in the design how he should be 
 dispatched, resolved to go to Glasgow, having, as she thought, 
 sufficiently cleared herself from his former suspicions, by many 
 kind letters she had lately sent him. But her words and her ac- 
 tions did notat all agree; for she took almost none with her, in her 
 retinue, but the Hamiitons and others, that were in a manner he- 
 reditary enemies of the king. In the mean time, she entrusts Both- 
 well with doing what must contribute to the design at Edinburgh; 
 for that was the place that seemed most convenient to them, both 
 to commit, and likewise to conceal so great a wickedness; for, 
 there being a great assembly of the nobles, the suspicion might be 
 put off from one to the other, and so divided between a great 
 many. When the queen had tried all the ways she could to dis- 
 semble her hatred, at last, by many artful, upbraiding complaints 
 and lamentations passed betwixt them, she could yet scarce make 
 him believe, that she was reconciled to him. The king, scarce 
 yet recovered from his disease, was brought in a litter to Edin- 
 burgh, to the place designed for his murder, which Bothwell, in 
 the queen's absence, had undertook to provide, and that was, a 
 house uninhabited for some years before, near the walls of the 
 city, in a lonesome, solitary place, between the ruins of tv/o 
 churches, where no noise or outcry could be heard. There he 
 was huddled in with a few attendants only; for the most part of 
 them (being such as the queen had put upon him, rather as spies 
 than servants) were gone out of the way, as foreknowing the dan- 
 ger at hand; and those that remained, could not get the. keys of 
 the door from the harbingers, that provided the lodgings. 
 
 The thing the queen was most intent upon was, to avert all 
 suspicion from herself; and she proceeded so far in the ait of dissi- 
 mulation, that the king was fully persuaded there was a firm to- 
 conciiement betwixt them. So that he wrote letters to his father, 
 
306 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, Book XVIII. 
 
 who staid behind sick at Glasgow, in which he gave him great 
 hopes, and almost an assurance, that the queen was now sincere- 
 ly his; and, commemorating her many good offices towards him, 
 he n/>w promised to himself, that all things would change for the 
 better. As he was writing these letters, the queen came in on a 
 sudden, and reading them, she gave him many embraces and kis- 
 ses, telling him, Thai sight mightily pleased her ; thai now she saw 
 there was no cloud of suspicion hovering over his mind. 
 
 Things being thus well secured on that side, her next care was 
 to contrive, as much as possible, how to cast the guilt upon an- 
 other; and therefore she sent for her brother Murray, who had 
 lately obtained leave, and was going to St. Andrews., to visit his 
 wife, who lay there, as he heard, dangerously sick. For, besides 
 being with child, she h id pustules, that rose all over her 
 body, with a vici . She pretended the whole cause 
 
 of her detaining him to be for no other end, but that she might 
 honourably dismiss the duke of Savoy's ambassador, who came too 
 late to the prince's christening; and though this seemed a mean 
 pretence to take him off from so just and necessary a duty, yet he 
 obeyed. In the- interim, the queen made her visits to the king 
 everyday constantly, and reconciled him to Bothweli; whom she 
 by all means desired to keep entirely unsuspected. She made him 
 large promises of her affection for the time to come; which over- 
 pfRjcious carriage, though suspected by all, yet no man was so 
 bold, as to advise the king of his danger, because he had a habit 
 of toiling the queen whatever he heard, to insinuate the more into 
 her favour; only Robert, the queen's brother, moved either with 
 the execrable horror of the deed, or with pity to the young man, 
 had the confidence to acquaint him of his wife's plot against him, 
 but on this condition, that he would keep it to himself, and pro- 
 vide for his safety the best manner he could. The king notwith- 
 standing revealed it to the queen, according to his custom; upon 
 which Robert was called for, and he stoutly denied it, so that 
 they gave one another the lie, and were laying their hands on 
 their swords. The queen was glad to see, that her designs were 
 likely to have &o good a conclusion, and that so near at hand, 
 without her trouble; and therefore she calls for her brother James, 
 as if he was to decide the controversy; but her real intent was, 
 that he might likewise be cut off on the same occasion. There 
 was nobody present but Bothweli, who was so far from keeping 
 them from lighting, that lie would rather have killed him who 
 had the worst of the combat himself, as plainly appeared, when 
 he said, there was no reason James should be sent for in such 
 haste, to keep these from duelling, who, whatsoever they pre- 
 tended, iiad no such mighty stomach to it. This bustle being 
 quieted, the queen and Bothweli were wholly intent how to per- 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 307 
 
 pctrate the murder, and how to do it with all imaginable privacy. 
 The queen, that she might feign both love to her husband, and a 
 forgiveness of past offences, causes her bed to be brought from the 
 palace, into a chamber below the king's, where she lay, after she 
 had sat up late with him in discourse for some nights. 
 
 In the mean time, she advises all manner of ways to cast the 
 odium of the fact, when committed, upon her brother James, ancl^ 
 the earl of Morton; for she thought, if these two, whose real 
 worth and authority was much feared and hated by her, were 
 taken out of the way, all things else would fall in of themselves. 
 She was likewise incited to this by letters from the pope, and from 
 Charles, cardinal of Lorrain. For the summer before, having by 
 her uncle desired a sum of money from the pope, for levying an 
 armv to disturb the state of religion in Britain; the pope more 
 cunningly, but the cardinal plainly, had advised her to destroy 
 those who were the greatest hindrances to the restitution of pope- 
 ry, and they took care to specify these two earls by name; if they 
 were once taken off, they promised whole heaps of money for the 
 war. The queen thought some distant tidings of this matter were 
 come to the ears of the nobility; and therefore, to clear herself 
 from any suspicion, or the least inclination to such a thing, she 
 shewed them the letters. But these designs, so subtilely laid, as 
 they seemed to be, wei-e somewhat disturbed by frequent messen- 
 gers from Murray's wife, how that she had miscarried, and that 
 there were small hopes of her life. This message was brought 
 him on the Lord's day, as he was going to hear sermon; where- 
 upon he returned back to the queen, and desired leave of her to 
 be gone. She very much urged him to stay one day longer, 
 to hear more certain news, alleging, that if he made her so 
 much haste, his coming would do her no good; but if her disease 
 abated, that then the next morning would be time enough; but he 
 was fully bent on his journey, and accordingly -went. The queen 
 had deferred the murder till that night, and to seem perfectly 
 easy in her mind, she would needs celebrate the marriage of Se- 
 bastian, one of the musicians, in the very palace, and then the 
 evening was past in mirth and jollity. Then she went with a 
 numerous attendance to see her husband; she spent some hours 
 with him, and was merrier than usual, often kissing him, and 
 giving him a ring, as a token of her affection. After the queen 
 was gone, the king, with the few servants that were about him, 
 recollecting the proceedings of the past day, amongst some com- 
 fortable speeches given him by the queen, he was troubled at the 
 remembrance of a few words; for she, whether not being able 
 to contain her joy, arising from the hope that the murder would 
 be now presently acted, or whether it fell from her by chance, 
 slipped out a- word, That David Rizio was killed the last year, just 
 
308 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 about that time. Though none of them liked this unseasonable 
 mention of his death, yet because the night was pretty far spent, 
 and the next morning was designed for sports and pastimes, they 
 went speedily to bed. In the mean time, gunpowder was placed 
 in the room below, to blow up the house: other things were 
 cautiously and craftily enough transacted; but one thing there 
 was, which though small in itself, gave sufficient proof of the 
 wicked conspiracy. For the bed, in which the queen used some- 
 times to lie, was taken from thence, and a worse put in its place, 
 as if though they were prodigal enough of their characters, they 
 would however be saving of their money. In the mean time, one 
 Paris a Frenchman, a partizan in the conspiracy, entered into 
 the king's bed-chamber, and there stood silent, yet so that the 
 queen might see him, and that was the sign agreed on betwixt 
 them, that all things were in readiness. As soon as she saw Paris, 
 as if Sebastian's marriage came into her mind, she began to blame 
 herself that she had been so negligent, as not to dance that night 
 at the wedding, (as it was agreed) and to put the bride to bed, as 
 the manner is; upon which, she presently started up, and went 
 home. Being returned to the palace, she had a pretty deal of 
 discourse with Bothwell; who being at length dismissed, went to 
 his chamber, changed his clothes, put on a soldier's coat, and 
 with a few in company, passed through the guards into the town. 
 Two other parties of the conspirators came several different ways 
 to die appointed place, and a few of them entered into the king's 
 bed-chamber, of which they had the keys (as I said before); and 
 whilst he was fast asleep, they took him by the throat, and strang- 
 led him, and so they did one of his servants who lay near him. 
 When they were murdered, they carried their bodies through a 
 little gate, which they had made on purpose, in the walls of the 
 city, into a garden near at hand; then they set fire to the gun- 
 powder, which blew up the house from the very foundation, and 
 made such a noise, that it shook some of the neighbouring houses; 
 nay, those that were sound asleep, in the farthest parts of the ci- 
 ty, were awakened, and frighted at the loudness of the report. 
 When the died was done, Bothwell was led out by the ruins of 
 the city-walls, and so returned to the palace through the guard, 
 quite a different way from that which he came. This was the 
 common rumour about the king's death, winch held some days. 
 The queen had sat up that night to wait for the event, and hear- 
 ing of the tumult, called together those- of the nobility, who were 
 at court, and amongst the rest, Bothwell; and, by their advice, 
 sent out to know what was the matter, as if she had been ignorant 
 of all that was done; some going to inspect the body, found that 
 the king had only a linen shirt on the upper part of his body, the 
 rest of it lay naked; his other clothes, and his slippers, lay just by 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 309 
 
 him. -The common people came in groat crowds to sec him, and 
 
 many conjectures there were, yet they all agreed (which was very 
 
 Bothwellj that he could never be thrown ,out of the 
 
 :, by the force of the gun-powder, for there was no part 
 
 broken, bruised, or black and blue, about his body, which must 
 
 rilyhave happened in a ruin by gun-powder; besides, his 
 
 clothes that lay near him, were not so much as singed with the 
 
 flame, or covered with any ashes-, so that they could not have 
 
 been thrown thither by any casualty, but must have been placed 
 
 there by some body's hand on purpose. Bothwell returned home, 
 
 and*as if he had been struck with admiration, brought the news 
 
 to the queen, upon which she went to bed, and lay secure, 
 
 soundly asleep, a great part of the next day. 
 
 In the mean time, reports were spread abroad by the parricides, 
 and carried into the borders of England before day, that the king 
 was murdered by the design of Murray and Morton; yet every 
 body thought privately within himself, that the queen must needs 
 be the author of the bloody deed. Neither was the bishop of St. 
 Andrews free from suspicion, there were shrewd conjectures a- 
 gainst him, as the high and cruel enmities betwixt the families ; 
 "neither was the bishop ever well reconciled to the queen, before 
 she designed that wickedness in her mind; and of late, when he 
 accompanied her to Glasgow, he was made privy to all her coun- 
 sels. It increased men's suspicions of him, that he was just then 
 retired to the house of his brother, the earl of Arran, which was 
 near the house where the king was slain; whereas before, he al- 
 ways used to live in some eminent part of the city, where he might 
 conveniently receive visits, and ingratiate himself with the people 
 by feasting them; and besides, those who dwelt in the higher 
 part of the city, saw watch-lights in the house all the night, and 
 when the explosion was heard, then the lights were put out, 
 and his vassals, many of whom watched in their arms, were for- 
 bidden to go out of doors. But the true story of the matter of 
 fact, which came to light after some months, gave occasion to 
 people to look upon those things as certain indications, which be- 
 fore were but suspicions only. 
 
 When the murder was committed, messengers were presently 
 sent into England, who were to report, that the king of Scots 
 was cruelly murdered by his subjects, by the contrivance especially 
 of Murray and Morton. The news was immediately brought to 
 court, which so inflamed all the English, and made them have 
 such a perfect abhorrence of the whole nation, that for some days 
 no Scotsman durst, or could walk abroad, without running the 
 hazard of his life; and though many letters passed to and fro, dis- 
 covering the secret contrivances of the plot, yet they could hardly 
 toe appeased. The king's body hiving been left a while as n spec- 
 
3IO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 tacle to be gazed upon, and a threat concourse of people continu- 
 ally flocking thither to see it, the queen ordered, that it should be 
 laid on a bier, and brought by porters into the palace. There 
 she herself viewed the body, the fairest of that age, and yet her 
 countenance discovered not the secrets of her mind, neither one 
 way or other. The nobles that were there present, decreed, that 
 a stately and honourable funeral should be made for him. But 
 the queen ordered it, so, that he was carried by private bearers in 
 the night-time, and was buried in no manner of state; and that 
 which increased the indignity the more, was, that his grave was 
 made near David Rizio; as if she designed to sacrifice the life of 
 her husband to the manes of that vile wretch. 
 
 Two prodigies happened at that time, which are worth while 
 to relate. One of them a little preceded the murder, and it was 
 thus. One John Londin, a gentleman of Fife, having been long 
 sick of a fever, the day before the king was killed, about noon, 
 . raised himself a little in his bed, and, as if he had been astonish- 
 ed, cried out to those that stood by him, with a loud voice, Ta 
 go help the king; for the parricides were just then murdering him ,• 
 and a while after he called out with a mournful tone, Now it is 
 ':• to help him, he is a/rcady murdered: and he himself lived not 
 long after he had uttered those words. The ether was just at the 
 time as the murder happened. Three of the familiar friends of" 
 the earl of Athol's, the king's cousin, men of reputation for va- 
 lour and estate, had their lodgings not far from the king's; when 
 they were asleep about midnight, there was a certain man seemed 
 to come to Dougal Stewart, who lay next the wall, and to draw 
 his hand gently over his beard and cheek, so to awake him, say- 
 ing, Arise, they ure offering violence to you. He presently awaked, 
 and considering the apparition within himself, another of them 
 cries out presently in the same bed, Who kicks me? Dougal an- 
 swered, Perhaps it is a cat, which used to walk about in the night ; 
 upon which, the third, who was not yet awake, rose presently 
 out of his bed, and stood upon the floor, demanding, Who it was 
 that had given him a box on the ear? As soon as he had spoken, a 
 person seemed to go out of the house by the door, and that not 
 without some noise. Whilst they were descanting on what they 
 had heard and seen, the noise of the blowing up of the king's 
 house, put them into a very terrible consternation. When the 
 murder was committed, people were variously affected with it, ac- 
 cording as they loved or hated the king. All good men unani- 
 mously detested ir. He that took it most to heart, was John 
 Stewart, earl of Athol, for many reasons, but particularly be- 
 cause he was the chief maker of the match between the queen and 
 him. The night after the murder, armed guards watched the 
 palace, as is usual on such sudden consternations, and they hear- 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 3 1 1 
 
 ing the outside wall of the earl of Athol's lodging make a noise 
 or crack, as if some were softly digging at the foundation, they 
 raised the family, which went no more to bed that night. The 
 day after, the earl took lodgings in the town, and, a little after 
 that, went home, for fear of his life. I he earl of Murray, at 
 his return to court from St. Andrews, was not without danger 
 neither, for armed men walked about his house at night; but he 
 not being well, and his servants being accustomed to watch him 
 all night, the villains could not attempt any thing against him 
 privately, and openly they durst not. At length Bothwell (who 
 would willingly have been without the trouble of it) resolved to 
 perform the wicked deed with his own hands. And therefore a- 
 bout midnight, he asked his domestics, how Murray did? They 
 told him, he was sadly afflicted with the gout. "What, said he, 
 if we should go and see him; and presently he rose up, and was 
 making the best of his way to his house. As he was going, he 
 was informed by Murray's domestics, that Murray was gone to 
 his brother Robert's, to be at more freedom and ease, and out o£ 
 the noise of the court; upon which he said no mo;e, but grieved 
 inwardly that he had lost so fair an opportunity, and so returned 
 home. Mean while the queen put on very demure looks, and 
 feigning great sorrow, thought that way to reconcile the people 
 to her; but that succeeded as ill with her, as the rest of the con- 
 spiracy. For whereas it was the custom, time out of mind, for 
 queens, after their husband's death, to abstain several days, not 
 only from the sight of men, but even from seeing the light, she 
 indeed acted a kind of fictitious sorrow, but her real joy so ex- 
 ceeded it, that though the doors were shut, yet the windows 
 were open, and throwing off her widow's weed, in four days she 
 could well enough bear the sight of the sun and air; and before 
 twelve days were over, being hardened against all the people could 
 say, she went to Seton, about seven miles from the town, and 
 never let Bothwell be one moment from her side; there her car- 
 riage was such, that though she changed her habit a little, yet she 
 did not seem at all to mourn within. The place was full of the 
 nobility, and she went constantly every day abroad to the usual 
 sports, though some of them were not so proper for the female 
 sex. But the coming of Mr. de Crocke, a Frenchman (who had 
 often before been ambassador in Scotland) did in some little de- 
 gree disturb their measures; for he telling them how infamous 
 the matter sounded amongst foreigners, they returned to Edin- 
 burgh. But Seton had so many conveniences, that though the 
 further hazard of her credit lay at stake upon it, yet she must 
 needs return thither again. There the main head of the consult- 
 ation was, how Bothwell might be acquitted of the king's murder. 
 There was a design before, to try and acquit him; for presently 
 Vol. II. R r 
 
3 1 ft HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 upon the king's death, bothwell, and some of his accomplices, 
 came to the marquis of Argyle, who was the hereditary capital 
 judge in criminal causes. First, they pretended they were whol- 
 ly ignorant of what was done, and wondered at it, as a new, un- 
 heard of, and incredible thing; then they proceeded to examina- 
 tion*, they summoned some poor women out of the neighbour- 
 hood; but they were dashed betwixt hope and fear, uncertain 
 whether they should speak out, or be utterly silent; but, though 
 they were very cautious in their words, yet uttering more than 
 was expected, they were discharged, as having spoken nothing 
 upon any certain grounds; and as for their testimony, it was an 
 easy matter enough to despise it. Upon that, some of the king's 
 servants were sent for, who had escaped the fire. They, when 
 they were asked, how the assassins could make their entrance? re- 
 plied, that the keys were not in thei* power. And when it was 
 closely put to them again, in whose hands they were? they an- 
 swered, in the queen's. Upon that, the farther examination was 
 deferred, as the examiners pretended; but indeed, was quite sup- 
 pressed; for they were afraid, if they went any farther, the court- 
 secrets would have been all publicly known. 
 
 And yet, to put a gloss on the matter, a proclamation was 
 published, and a reward offered to those who should discover the 
 authors of the king's murder. But who dared be so bold as to 
 impeach Bothwell since he was to be the accused, the judge, the 
 examiner, and the exactor of the punishment? Yet this fear, 
 wh'ich stopped the mouths of several single persons, could net 
 bridle the multitude. For libels were published, pictures made, 
 and hawkers went by night about the streets crying papers, by 
 which the parricides might easily understand, that the whole mat- 
 ter was discovered, both who designed the wickedness, and who 
 -assisted in the execution of it. And the more prohibitions were 
 laid on the commonalty, the more did rheir grief make them speak. 
 - Though the conspirators sec;ned to despise these tilings, yet they 
 were so inwardly, and so sensibly touched at them, that they 
 could not dissemble their sorrow. And therefore omitting the 
 examination about the king's death, they fell upon another me- 
 thod that was still more severe; and that was, against the authors 
 of libels, or I (as they worded it) the calumniators of Bothwell; 
 and this was so severely prosecuted, that no pains nor costs were 
 spared. All the painters and writing-masters were caliedftogether, 
 to see if by the pictures and libels they could discover the authors; 
 they farther added a clause, suitable enough to the edict, which 
 made it capital, not only to sell the. libels, but even to read them, 
 when they were sold. But they who endeavoured to bridle the 
 discourse of tire people, by threatening capital punishment to 
 them, were not satisfied witli the king's death, but retained their 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 3 1 3 
 
 hatred against him, though in his grave. ! he queen gave her 
 husband's goods, his arms, horses, clothes, and other household 
 stuff, either to his father's enemies, or to the murderers them* 
 selves, as if they had been forfeited to her exchequer. As these 
 matters were acted in the broad face of day, so many did as pub- 
 licly inveigh against them. One of the taylors who was making 
 some of the king's clothes fit for Bothwell to wear, was so bold as 
 to say, Now he saw the old country-custom verified : That the ex- 
 ecutioner had i he clothes of those persons that suffered by his hand. 
 
 They were under another mighty difficulty, how they should 
 get the castle of Edinburgh into the queen's hands; John earl of 
 Marr was governor of it, upon condition that he should deliver it 
 up to nobody but by the special order of the estates; and though 
 such a convention was to be the month after, yet the queen was 
 so earnest, that every little delay seemed to her very tedious. 
 And therefore she dealt underhand with the earl's friends and re- 
 lations (for himself lay then very sick at Stirling) to surrender the 
 castle to her; pretending this as the chief cause, why the com- 
 mons of Edinburgh were so tumultuous, (there being then a com- 
 motion amongst them), that she could not keep them within the 
 bounds of their duty, unless she had that fort in her hands; and 
 that thereupon, as an earnest of her great affection to John, she 
 would put her only son, the heir of the kingdom, into his hands, 
 to be educated by him; which office of guardianship his ances- 
 tors had discharged to their great commendation in the care of so 
 many other princes, of late times, but particularly in the educa- 
 tion of her mother and grandfather. Though the earl understood 
 and saw clearly through the tendency of these her promises and 
 flatteries, yet he complied with her request. The queen finding 
 him more easy than she hoped, makes it her next endeavour to 
 be possessed of the castle, with the first convenient opportunity, 
 and yet to keep her son too. When he would not hearken to 
 that, she sets upon him by another wile, and makes proposals 
 that he would come to Linlithgow, (in the mid-way between E- 
 dinburgh and Stirling) there, on an appointed day, to receive the 
 prince, and to surrender the castle. But this project being sus- 
 pected of fraud, it was at last agreed, that it should be delivered to 
 Erskine at Stirling, and that he, in the interim, should have the 
 chief of his family in hostage, for the surrender of the castle. 
 
 These things gave some trouble to the parricides, but they 
 were most of all perplexed with the daily complaints of the earl 
 of Lennox: He would not venture to come to court, by reason of 
 Both well's exorbitant power; but he earnestly solicted the queen 
 by letters, that she would confine Bothwell, who without doubt 
 was the author of the king's murder, till a day should be appoint- 
 ed for bringing him to his trial. She, though eluding his demand 
 
 R r 2 
 
3 X 4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Boo* XVIII. 
 
 by many stratagems, yet finding that the examination of so en- 
 ormous a crime could not be avoided, designed to have it carried 
 on in this manner. 
 
 The assembly of the estates to be held on the 13th of April 
 grew very nearat hand; she was desirous before that time came 
 to have the matter tried, that so Bothwell being absolved by the 
 votes of the judges, might be further cleared by the suffrages of 
 the whole parliament. This haste was the cause that nothing 
 was carried on regularly, or according to custom, in that judici- 
 ary process. For the accusers (as is usual) ought to have been 
 cited, with their relations, as wife, father, mother, son, either to 
 appear personally, or by proxy, within forty days, for that is the 
 time limited by the law. Here the father was only summoned 
 to appear on the 13th of April, without summoning any of his 
 friends, excepting his own family, which at that time was in a low 
 condition, and reduced to a small number. Whereas, in the 
 mean time, Both well flew up and down the town, with whole 
 troops at his heels-, the earl of Lennox thought it best for him not 
 to come into a city full of his enemies, where he had no friends 
 nor vassals to secure him: and besides, if there was no danger of 
 his life, yet there could be no fredom of debate. Bothwell ap- 
 pears at the day appointed, and comes into the town-hall, being 
 both plaintiff and defendant. The judges of the nobility were 
 cited, most of them his friends, none daring on the other side to 
 except against any one of them; only Robert Cunningham, one 
 of ! ennox's family, put a small stop to the proceedings; he, crav- 
 ed liberty to speak, declared, that the process was not according 
 to law nor custom, where the accused person was so powerful, 
 that he could not be brought to punishment, and the accuser was 
 absent for fear of his life; and therefore, whatsoever should be 
 determined there, as being against law and equity, was null and 
 void. Notwithstanding all that, they proceeded. Besides, Gil- 
 bert earl of Cassils, being chosen one of the judges, rather for 
 form's sake, than that he thought he should do any good, desired 
 to be excused, and offered likewise to pay the forfeiture, usually 
 laid upon those who decline sitting; but in that very instant of 
 time a messenger brought him a ring from the queen, with a 
 command that he should sit as one of the judges, or else she 
 threatened to commit him to prison. When that did not prevail 
 she sent a second messenger, who told him he should be punish- 
 ed as a traitor if he refused. Being terrified into it by such 
 means as these, they were forced to sit, and truly the issue of 
 the sessions wa> this; they declared they saw no reason to find 
 Bothwell guilty; yet if any man, at any time after, could lawfully 
 accuse him, they gave a caution that this judgment should be no 
 hindrance to him. Some thought they proceeded with great 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 315 
 
 wisdom in bringing it to such an issue. For the indictment was 
 grounded on such words, that the severest judges could never 
 have found Bothwell guilty, for it was laid against a murder 
 committed on the 9th of February, whereas the king was mur- 
 dered on the 10th. 
 
 Thus Bothwell was acquitted of the fact, but not of the in- 
 famy of it. Suspicions increased upon him, and his punishment 
 seemed only to be deferred; but any pretence whatsoever, though 
 a shameless one, seemed good enough to the queen, who was in 
 great haste to marry him. But, to absolve himself of the impu- 
 tation with a better air, there was a challenge posted on the most 
 eminent part of the court, declaring that though Bothwell was 
 lawfully acquitted of the king's murder, yet to make his innocen- 
 cy appear the brighter he was ready to decide the matter in a du- 
 el, against any gentleman, or person of honour, that should dare 
 to lay it to his charge. On the morning following, there was one 
 who did as manfully post up an answer to his challenge, provided 
 the place of combat was appointed, where he might declare his 
 name without danger. Though these things succeeded reason- 
 ably well, yet the queen in that parliament was more rugged than 
 formerly; for whereas before, she pretended civilty in her car- 
 riage, she now plainly discovered an inclination to tyran- 
 ny; for she now flatly denied what she had promised at Stirling 
 in matters of religion; and that was, that the laws established 
 under popish tyranny should be abrogated in the first parliament, 
 and the reformed religion should be strengthened by new laws. 
 And when, besides her promise, two edicts, signed with her own 
 hand, were produced; being catched here, she eluded them, and 
 commanded the commissioners of the kirk to attend her another 
 time; but after that, she never gave them any opportuity to ap- 
 pear before her again; and she alleged, that these acts of the 
 estates, which were published before her coming into Scotland, 
 by the consent of Francis her husband, fell under the act of ob- 
 livion : That speech of hers seemed to all, no less than a manifest 
 profession of tyranny. For whereas the Scots had no laws be- 
 sides acts of parliament, they entertained such private thoughts 
 in their breasts, What kind of life they were like to live under a 
 prince y whose will was a law, and whose word and promise nvere ne- 
 ver to be believed. This was done about the end of the conven- 
 tion. At the same time, the queen was very earnest to hasten 
 their marriage, and yet she desired to procure the public consent 
 by any means, that she might seem to act nothing but by the 
 suffrage of the nobility; and Bothwell too, to credit the marriage 
 with the pretence of public authority, devised this stratagem: He 
 invited all the noblemen of the highest rank, who were then in 
 town (as there were many) to supper; and when they were in 
 
31(5 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. BookXVIII. 
 
 the height of their mirth, he desired them to shew that good af- 
 fection to him for the future, which they had always formerly 
 done. At present be only desired, that as he was a suitor to the 
 queen, they would subscribe to a schedule, which he had made 
 about that matter, and that would be a means to procure him fa- 
 vour with the queen, and honour with the people. They all 
 stood amazed at so sudden and unexp: cted a proposal, and could 
 not dis semble their sorrow, and yet they durst not refuse or deny 
 him: Upon that, a few who knew the queen's mind began first, 
 and the rest not foreseeing that there was so great a number of 
 flatterers present, suspecteed one another, and so at last, every 
 one of them subscribed. The day after, when they came to re- 
 collect what they had done, some of them as ingenuously profes- 
 sed they would never have given their c< r.sent, unless they had 
 thought the thing had been acceptable to the queen; for that, as 
 it carried no great shew of honesty, and was very prejudicial to 
 the public too; so there was danger if any discord should arise 
 (as it happened between her and her former husband) between 
 her and Bothwell in the same manner, and he should be rejected, 
 it might be laid to their doors, that they had betrayed the queen 
 into a dishonourable marriage; and therefore, before they went 
 too far, they resolved to try her mind, and to procure a writing 
 under her hand, to the following purpose, viz. That she ap- 
 proved of what they had done in reference to her marriage. 
 This writing was obtained with great ease, and by the consent of 
 all, was given to earl of Argyle to keep. The next day all the 
 bishops in town were called to court, that they might subscribe 
 in like manner This trouble being over, there succeeded an- 
 other, which was, how the queen should get her son in her pow- 
 er; for Bothwell did not think it safe for him to have a young 
 child brought up, which in time might revenge his father's mur- 
 der; neither was he willing, that any other should come between 
 his children and the crown. Whereupon the queen, who could 
 deny him nothing, undertook the task herself, to bring the child 
 to Edinburgh; she, had also another pretence to visit Stirling, of 
 which I shall speak by and by. When she came thither, the earl 
 of Marr suspected what was a brewing, and therefore shewed 
 her the prince, but would not let him be in her power: The 
 queen seeing her fraud detected, and not able to cope with him 
 by force, pretended another cause for her journey, and prepared 
 to return : As she was upon her journey, either the too great fa- 
 tigue of that, or else the fury she was in, that her designs, which 
 the authors thought so craftily laid, proved unsuccessful, made 
 her fall suddenly ill, and she was forced to retire into a poor 
 house about four miles from Stirling, where her pain abating a 
 little, she proceeded on her journey, and came that night to Lin- 
 
Book XVIII. history of Scotland. 317 
 
 lithgow) from thence she wrote to Bothwell by Paris, what she 
 would have him to Jo about her surprise; for before she departed 
 from Edinburgh, she had agreed with him, that at the bridge of 
 Almon, he should surprise her in her return, and carry her where 
 he would, as it were against her will. The common people put 
 this interpretation on the matter, that she could not altogether 
 conceal her familiarity with Bothwell, and yet she could not well 
 be without it ; neither could she openly enjoy it as she desired, 
 without the loss of her reputation. It was too tedious to expect 
 his divorce from his former wife; and she was willing to consult 
 her honour, which she pretended to have a mighty regard to, and 
 yet she would provide for her pleasures too. This made her 
 very impatient, and thefore the device was thought to be very 
 pretty, that Bothwell should guard against the queen's infamy, 
 with his own great crime; and yet stand in no fear of any pu- 
 nishment for it. 
 
 But there was a deeper reach in the project, which afterwards 
 came to light; for whereas the people did every where point at, 
 and curse the king's murderers ; they, to provide for their own 
 security, by the persuasion, as it is thought, of John Lesly, 
 bishop of Ross, devised this attempt upon the queen. It is the 
 custom in Scotland, when the ki jg grants a pardon for offences, 
 that he who sues it out, expresseth his great offence by name, 
 and the rest of his crimes are added in general words; according- 
 ly the king's murderers determined to ask pardon for this sur- 
 prise of the queen by name, and then to put down in their par- 
 dons, bv way of addition, All other tuicked facts: in which clause 
 they persuaded themselves, that the king's murder would be in- 
 cluded, because it was not safe for them to name themselves the 
 authors of it in the pardon; nor was it creditable for the queen to 
 grant it under that name ; neither could it well be added in the 
 grant of pardon, as an appendix to a crime that was less in its 
 own nature. Another offence less invidious, but liable to the 
 same punishment, was to be devised, under the shadow of which, 
 the king's murder might be disguised and pardoned, and no other 
 did occur to them, but this pretended force put upon the queen, 
 by which her pleasure might be satisfied, and Bothwell's security 
 be provided for at the same time. And therefore he, accompan- 
 ied with 600 horse, waited her coming at Almon bridge, as thev 
 had agreed, and took her, not against her will, to Dunbar. 
 There they had free converse, one with another, and a divorce 
 was commenced betwixt Bothwell and his former wife, and that 
 in two courts. First, she was cited before judges publicly ap- 
 pointed to decide such kind of controversies; and next before the 
 officials of bishops courts, though they were forbid by a public 
 statute to exercise any part of magistracy, or to meddle with any 
 
3 l8 HISTORY OF SCOTLAKB. Book XVIII. 
 
 public business. Madam Gordon, Both well's wife, was com- 
 pelled to commence a suit of divorce in a double court. Before 
 the queen's judges she accuses him of adultery, which was the 
 only just cause of a divorce amongst them; and before the papal 
 judges, who though forbidden by the law, yet were impowered 
 by the archbishop of St. Andrews to determine the controversy 
 she alleged against him, that before their marriage, he had too 
 much unlawful or incestuous familiarity with her kinswoman. 
 The witnesses and judges made no delay in the case. The suit 
 was commenced, prosecuted, adjudged, and ended in ten days. 
 
 On these emergencies, a great many of the honest nobles met 
 at Stirling, and sent to the queen, desiring to know of her, whe- 
 ther she was kept where she was, with or against her will? If 
 the latter, they would levy an army for her deliverance. She re- 
 ceived the message, not without smiling, and answered them, 
 that it was true, she was brought thither against her will, but 
 was so kindly treated since, that she had little cause to complain 
 of the former injury. Thus was the messenger eluded; but 
 though they made haste to take off the reflection of the force by a 
 lawful marriage, there were still two obstacles in the way; one 
 was, that if she married whilst a prisoner, the marriage might 
 not be accounted good, and so easily dissolved. The other, how 
 to have the usual ceremonies observed, that the banns should be 
 published on three Lord's days, in the public congregations, 
 *< Of a marriage intended between James Hepburn and Mary 
 ** Stewart; so that if any one knew a lawful impediment, why 
 " they might not be joined together in matrimony, they should 
 *' declare it, that so it might be judged of by the church." To 
 end these matters, Bothwell gathers his friends and dependents 
 together, resolving to bring back the queen to Edinburgh, that so 
 under a vain shew of her liberty, he might determine of their 
 marriage at his pleasure. His attendants were all armed, and as 
 they were on their journey, a fear seized on many of them, lest 
 one time or other it might turn to their prejudice, to hold the 
 queen still a prisoner; and if there were no other ground for it, 
 yet this was enough, that they accompanied her in an armed pos- 
 ture, when things were otherwise in peace and quietness. Upon 
 this scruple, they threw away all their spears, and so, in a seem- 
 ing more peaceable posture, they brought her to the castle of E- 
 diriburgh, which was then in Bothwell's power. 
 
 The next day they accompanied her into the city, and into the 
 conns of justice, where she affirmed before the judges, that .she 
 was wholly free, and under no restraint at all. But, as to pub- 
 lishing the marriage in the church, the reader whose office it was, 
 did absolutely refuse it. Upon this, the elder deacons and ecr 
 clesiastics assembled, at no. daring to resist, and commanded the 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 319 
 
 reader to publish the banns according to custom; he so far was 
 obedient as to tell them, that he himself knew a lawful impe- 
 diment, and was ready to declare it to the queen or to Bothwell, 
 when they pleased to command him. Accordingly he was sent 
 for to the castle, and the queen remitted him to Bothwell, who 
 neither by fear nor by favour could make him alter his purpose, 
 nor yet durst he commit the matter to a debate; yet he went on 
 to hasten the marriage. There was none found besides the bishop 
 of Orkney, to" celebrate the nuptials; he alone preferred court- 
 favour before truth, the rest being utterly against it, and produc- 
 ing reasons why it could be no lawful marriage with one who had 
 two wives yet living, and upon confessing his own* adultery, had. 
 been divorced from a third; yet though all good men lothed it, 
 the commonalty cursed it, relations by letters dissuaded it, whilst 
 he was prosecuting it, and abhorred it when it was done; there 
 were some public ceremonies performed' after a mock kind of 
 maimer, and married they were. Those of the nobility there pre- 
 sent (being very few, and those Bothwell's friends and creatures 
 too, the rest being gone to their homes) were invited to supper; 
 and so was Crocke the French ambassador ; but he, though he 
 was of the Guises' faction, and besides resided near V e place, 
 yet peremptorily refused to come. He thought it suited not with 
 the dignity of that person whom he represented, to countenance 
 that marriage by his presence, which he heard the common peo- 
 ple had detested and cursed; and besides, the queen's relations 
 did by no means approve it, neither whilst it was a doing, nor yet 
 when it was done. And the king of France and queen of Eng- 
 land, did, by their ambassadors, declare against the turpitude of 
 the action. Though that was troublesome to her, yet the silent 
 sadness of the people did so much the more aggravate the fierce 
 disposition of the queen, as things that we see with our own eyes 
 pierce us deeper, than things that we only hear. As they both 
 went through the city, none saluted them with their wonted ac- 
 clamations, only one said, and that but once, God save the queen ,- 
 upon which another woman near her spake aloud, ones or twice, 
 so that the standers-by might hear her, Let every body have their 
 deserts. That incident provoked her still much the more against 
 the citizens of Edinburgh, with whom she was angry before. 
 When she saw how disaffected people were to her, both at home 
 and abroad, she took advice with her cabal, how she might esta- 
 blish her power, and quell any insurrection for the future. First 
 of all, she determined to send an ambassador into France, to re- 
 concile those princes, and the Guises to her, who, she knew, 
 M-ere offended with her precipitate marriage. William bishop of 
 Dunbline was chosen for that service; his instructions were 
 given him almost in these very words: 
 Vol. II. S s 
 
32© HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Eook XVIIL 
 
 « First, you shall excuse me to those princes, and to my un- 
 « cle, that they heard of the consummation of my marriage by 
 " vulgar report, before ever I had acquainted them with my in- 
 *< tentions by my own proper messengers. This excuse you shall 
 <« ground on the true narration of the whole life, and especially 
 " of the good offices of the duke of the Orcades, which he hath 
 « done me even to that very day, wherein I thought good to make 
 " him my husband. You shall begin the declaration of that 
 " Story, as the truth is, taking your rise from his very youth. 
 «< As soon as ever he came to be of age, after the death of his fa- 
 « ther, one of the prime noblemen of the kingdom, he wholly 
 " addicted himself to the service of the princes of this land, being 
 " otherwise of a very noble family, both by reason of its antiqui- 
 « ty, and also the high offices it held in the kingdom, as by he- 
 " reditary right. At that time he principally addicted himself to 
 " the service of my mother, who then held the sceptre, and was 
 « so constant an adherent to her, that though, in a very short 
 " time, a great many of the nobility, and many towns also had 
 « revolted from her, on the account of religion, yet he never 
 '.* faultered in his loyalty, neither could he be induced by any 
 " proffers, promises, or threats, nor by any loss of his particular 
 « estate, to make a defection in the least from her authority; nay, 
 " rather than neglect her service, he suffered his house, the 
 «.< mansion-house of the family, and all his goods, which were 
 " many and precious, to be plundered, and his estate made a 
 " prey to his enemies. At last, being destitute of our aid, and 
 « all other besides, an English army was brought by domestic 
 <c enemies into the very bowels of the kingdom, on purpose to 
 " inforce my husband (then earl of Bothwell) to leave his estate 
 "■ and country, and to retire to France; where he observed me 
 « with all respect, till my return to Scotland. Neither must his 
 « military exploits against the English be forgotten, a little be- 
 «« fore my return, wherein he gave such proof of his manly va- 
 « lour, and great prudence too, that he was thought worthy, 
 " though a young man, to command his superiors in age; so that 
 «f he was chosen chief general of the army of his countrymen, 
 " and my lieutenant, which office he discharged so well, that by 
 " many valiant performances, he left a noble memorial of his 
 « fortitude both amongst his enemies, and also his own coun- 
 '« trymen. After my return, he employed all his endeavours 
 " for the enlargement of my authority; he spared no danger in 
 « subduing the rebels upon the borders of England; where, hav- 
 " ing reduced things to great tranquillity, he resolved to do the 
 « same in other parts of the kingdom. But as envy is always the 
 « companion of virtue, the Scots still desiring innovations, and 
 " some of them willing to lessen my favour towards him, did so 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 32I 
 
 w ill interpret his good services, that they caused me to remit him 
 c * to prison; which I did, partly to gratify some, who envied the 
 « growth of his increasing greatness, and partly to allay the se- 
 «« ditious commotions, which were then ready to break out, to 
 u the destruction of the whole kingdom. He made his escape 
 '« out of prison, and to give way to the power of those who were 
 " emulous of his great virtues, he returned into France, and re- 
 '* sided there almost two year9 ; during which time the authors 
 " of the former seditions, forgetting my lenity towards them, and 
 " their duty towards me, took up arms, and led an army against 
 " me. Then it was I commanded him to return, I restored him 
 " to his former estate and dignity, and made him captain-general 
 " over all my forces. And then too it was, that his conduct re- 
 " stored me again so far to my authority, that all the rebels 
 " were quickly forced to turn fugitives, and seek shelter in Eng- 
 " land, till a great part of them, upon their most humble sub- 
 *' mission, wei - e received by me into favour. How perfidiously 
 f( I was treated by those exiles that returned, and by those whom 
 " I had obliged with greater courtesies than they deserved, my 
 " uncle is not ignorant, and therefore I need say little of it; yet 
 " must I not pass over in silence, with how great diligence he 
 <( freed me from the hands of those who held me captive; and 
 " how speedily, by his singular conduct, I escaped out of prison; 
 11 and the whole faction of conspirators being dissipated and 
 " crushed, I recovered my former authority. I must acknow- 
 '* ledge his services to have been so grateful to me on this head, 
 " that I could never suffer them to slip out of my memory. 
 " These things are really and truly great in themselves; yet he 
 '* hath made such an addition to them, by his unwearied diligence 
 " and anxious care in my behalf, that I could never expect 
 " greater marks of duty and loyalty in any man than I have 
 tc found in him, even till after the decease of the king my late 
 " husband. Since that time, as his thoughts seemed to grow 
 " more aspiring, and to have a higher aim, so his actions were 
 " somewhat now uncommon, bold and daring; and though the 
 " matter was come to that pass, that I was in a manner obliged 
 " to take all things in the best part, yet was I much offended with 
 " his arrogance, when he came to think it was beyond my ability 
 ** to requite him any otherwise, than by giving up myself to him 
 ** as a reward for his services; besides, I disliked his secret de-r 
 " signs against, and at length, his open contempt of me, and 
 " the force which he used to get me into his power, for fear his 
 " intents should be frustrated. In the mean time, the whole 
 " course of his life was so ordered, that it may stand as an ex-r 
 f* ample, how very craftily men that undertake gi-eat designs, can 
 " conceal their purposes till they obtain their ends. For I thought. 
 
 3 s 3 
 
322 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII, 
 
 " that his diligence and promptitude in paying obedience to all 
 *' my commands, proceeded from no other motive, than a loyal 
 " desire to please me; it never so much as entered into my ima- 
 '« gination, that he had any higher wish or design; neither did 
 " I think, that a more gracious countenance, which I sometimes 
 " shew towards my nobles, to engage them to a greater readiness 
 " in obeying my commands, would have exalted his mind so far 
 *' as to flatter himself with the hopes of a more extraordinary 
 " courtesy from him; yet he, turning things that were even 
 <( merely accidental, to his own advantage, carried on these de- 
 * c signs unknown to me; and, by his wonted observance, main- 
 u tained the former good opinion which I had of him. He, 
 ** moreover, courted the friendship of the nobility, as if he was 
 " privily ambitious of a new favour; and he was so sedulous in 
 " this point, that though I knew nothing of it, yet, when the 
 " convention of the estates was held, he obtained a chart from 
 €t all the nobility, subscribed with their hands, to make it more 
 *' authentic, wherein they declared their assent to a marriage be- 
 ** twixt me and him, and promised to venture their lhes andfor- 
 " tunes to bring it to pass, and to be enemies to all thoss that 
 * c should oppose it. And the more easily to obtain the assent of 
 * ( the nobles, he led each of them into a full persuasion, that all 
 * f these things were managed by my consent. When he had once 
 *< obtained this writing, he next endeavoured by degrees t« win 
 <( my consent, and sought it in the most humble manner; but 
 Cf my answer not suiting with his desire, he began to propound 
 " such things to himself, which are wont to occur in such great 
 " undertakings, as, the outward demonstration of my good will, 
 " the ways by which my friends, or his enemies, might hinder 
 *< his design; and lest any of those who had subscribed, should 
 " withdraw their assent, and many other things might intervene 
 " to obstruct his purposes. At length, he determined with him- 
 «* self, to pursue the favour of his present fortune, and to stake 
 « the whole business, his life and all his hopes upon the hazard 
 ts of one single moment; so that being resolved to execute his 
 <c design to the purpose, after lie had waited four days, as I was 
 « returning home from visiting my dear son, he watched a con- 
 " vepient place and time; and, on the way, seized me with a 
 ** strong party of men, and carried me speedily to Dunbar. 
 «« Every one may very easily form a judgment how I took 
 *« this, especially from him, from whom I less expected such a 
 <* treatment, than from any subject whatsoever. There I up- 
 «« braided him with my favours towards him, and how honoura- 
 <( bly I had always spoken before of his manners and behaviour, 
 " and how ungratefully he had carried it towards me; I spoke a 
 « great many other things, to free myself out of his hands. His 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 323 
 
 " usage indeed was somewhat coarse, but his words were fair 
 « and smooth, as that he would use me with all honour and ob- 
 « servance, and would do his utmost not to offend me in any 
 t* thing j but as to his carrying me against my will, into one of 
 " my own castles, he craved my pardon for so bold an attempt, 
 « alleging he was forced by the power of love, so to do, and 
 " that his passion made him forget the reverence and allegiance 
 « which he owed me as a subject. He said farther, that he was 
 " compelled to go thither for fear of his life. Then he began to 
 " rehearse to me the whole course of his life, and lamented to 
 « me his misfortune, that those whom he had never offended, 
 " were his bitter enemies, and whose malice had devised all 
 " unjust ways to do him a mischief; what envious reflections 
 " were made upon him for the king's death, and how unable he 
 K was to bear up against the hidden conspiracy of those of his e- 
 " nemies, whom he knew not, because they pretended good- 
 " will towards him both in speech and behaviour; neither was 
 " he able to p; event those treacheries, which came not within 
 '* the compass of his own knowledge. Their malice against him 
 " was so great, that, at no time or place, he could live a quiet 
 u life, unless he was assured of my unchangeable favour towards 
 " him. And to assure that, he knew but one way, and that 
 '* was, that I would vouchsafe to make him my husband. Pie 
 " solemnly swore withal, that he did not seek it as the means of 
 " pre-eminence, or to be at the top and height of dignity, but 
 u this one thing was all he wanted, that he might be able to 
 " serve and obey me, as he had hitherto done, all the days of 
 " his life. He dressed up this discourse of his, in all the pomp 
 <c of eloquence that his cause could require. But when he found 
 " I was not to be wrought upon, either by prayers or promises, 
 " he, at last, shewed me what he had transacted with the nobility 
 " and all the estates, and what they had promised under their 
 '< hands. This being produced before me on a sudden, and be- 
 " yond my expectation, I leave it to the king, queen, my uncle, 
 " and the rest of my friends, whether it might not administer a 
 " just cause of amazement to me. Upon this, indeed, when 1 
 " saw myself in another man's power, separate from those that 
 «* were wont to give me counsel; nay, when I saw those persons, 
 " on whose fidelity and prudence I placed myself, and all my 
 " hopes, those persons whose power must confirm my authority, 
 " that otherwise could be little or none at all; I say, when I saw 
 " sueh men had devoted themselves to gratify his will and de- 
 " sire, and myself left alone as his prey, I pondered many things 
 " m my mind, but could noi: find out a way how to extricate 
 " myself; neither did he give me any long time to consider of 
 " the matter, but pressed his purpose with great eagerness. A: 
 
3*4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 t( last when I saw I had no hope to escape, and that there was 
 
 ct not a man in the kingdom that would stir for my deliverance ; 
 
 " for I easily perceived by the roll he shewed me, and by the 
 
 '* great silence of the times, that all were drawn to his party. 
 
 " As soon as my anger was a little abated, I applied my mind to 
 
 " consider his request. Then I began to set before my eyes his 
 
 n services in former times, and the great hopes I had, he 
 
 *< would constantly persist in the same for the future*, and again, 
 
 ** how hardly my subjects would endure a foreign prince, who 
 
 " was unacquainted with their laws, and that they would not 
 
 " suffer me to be a widow long; that a people, prone to tumults, 
 
 " could not be kept within the bounds of their duty, unless my 
 
 " authority was upheld and exercised by a man, who was able to 
 
 " undergo the toil of governing the commonwealth, and so to 
 
 < c bridle the insolence of the rebellious; that my strength was 
 
 « weakened with the weight of those things, ever since I came 
 
 *< into Scotland, and almost reduced to nothing; insomuch that 
 
 " I could no longer bear the daily tumults and rebellions that a- 
 
 f ( rose. Furthermore, by reason of these seditions, I was forced 
 
 " to create four or more lieutenants, in divers parts of the king- ' 
 
 tc dom ; most of which, under colour of the authority granted 
 
 " by me, caused my subjects take up arms against me. For 
 
 «* these reasons, when I saw, that if I would support my impe- 
 
 4t rial estate, I must incline my heart to marriage; and that my 
 
 ({ subjects would not bear a foreign king; and that there was 
 
 « not one of my subjects, who, for the splendour of his family, 
 
 " for prudence and valour, and other endowments of body and 
 
 « mind, could exceed, or so much as bear a comparison with 
 
 t( him, whom I have now married; I prevailed with myself to 
 
 « comply with the universal decree of my estates, of which I 
 
 « made mention before. After my constancy was overborne by 
 
 *' these reasons, he, partly by force, partly by flattery, obtained 
 
 « a promise from me to marry him; which having done, I could 
 
 « c not obtain from him (who feared lest my mind should change) 
 
 " to put off the celebration of the nuptials, that I might have time 
 
 " to communicate the matter to the king and queen of France, 
 
 « and to my other friends beyond sea; but, as he began with .the 
 
 « utmost intrepidity and boldness, so that he might arrive at the 
 
 " top of his desires, he never gave over soliciting me by argu- 
 
 « ments and earnest intrcaties, till he at last compelled me, not 
 
 «« without force, to put an end to the matter begun, and that at 
 
 " such a time and way as he thought most convenient to his pur- 
 
 •*' pose. And upon this head, 1 cannot dissemble, but must 
 
 " needs say, that I was treated by him otherwise than I would, 
 
 ** or than I had deserved of him; for he was more solicitous to 
 
 f( satisfy them, by whose consent, though extorted from thers 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 325 
 
 « at the beginning, he judges himself to have accomplished his 
 " desires (he having deceived them as well as myself) than to 
 " gratify me, by considering what was fit and creditable for me 
 " to do, who had been always brought up in the rites and insti- 
 " tutions of our religion, from which, neither he, nor any man 
 " living, shall ever turn or alter me. Though I acknowledge 
 " my error, yet I must confess, I much desire that the king, the 
 " queen his mother, my uncle, or other friends of mine, would 
 " not, in this point, expostulate with him, or rub up old sores. 
 " For now matters being so completed, that they cannot be un- 
 " done I take all things in the best part; and, as he is indeed 
 M my husband, I resolve now to look upon him as one that 
 " hereafter I will love and reverence; and they who profess 
 " themselves my friends, must needs carry the same respects 
 " to him, since now we are joined in the indissoluble bond of 
 u matrimony. Though in some things he carried himself some- 
 " thing negligently, and almost rashly, yet I impute it to his 
 " immoderate love towards me, and do therefore intreat the 
 " king, queen, my uncle, and other friends, to respect him as 
 " much, as if all had been managed by their advice, even to this 
 " very day; and, on the other side, we promise, in his behalf, 
 " that he will gratify them in all things, which they shall desire." 
 This was the remedy provided against the bad reports of the 
 world abroad; but they took precautions against domestic tu- 
 mults, after they had fixed those by gifts for the present, and 
 promises for the time to come, who were either perpetrators or 
 partizans in the king's murder, to make a combination of the 
 greater part of the nobility, because, if that was done, they might 
 undervalue the rest; or, if they remained obstinate,, cut them off. 
 Upon this, they assembled many of the nobility, and propounded 
 to them the heads of the capitulations which they were to swear: 
 The sum was, That they should maintain the queen and Both- 
 well, and support all their proceedings, who, on their part were 
 to favour and countenance the concerns and interest of those of 
 the confederates there present. A great many were psrsuaded 
 before, and so subscribed; the rest though they thought a very ill 
 thing to join in the conspiracy, yet they saw it was as dangerous 
 to refuse, and so they subscribed too. Murray was sent for, that 
 his authority (which his virtue had rendered very great and ex- 
 tensive) might give some countenance to the thing. As he was 
 on his journey, he was advised by his friends, to consult his own 
 safety, and not to lie in Seton house, where the queen and the 
 chief conspirators were, but rather to lodge in some friend's 
 house hard by. He answered, That was not in his power, but 
 come what would, he would never assent to any wicked action; 
 and he left all the rest to God. As to those courtiers who were 
 
326 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 appointed by the queen, to debate with him about subscribing the 
 league, he made them this reply, « That he could not justly 
 " nor honestly make this league with the queen, (whom in all 
 " things else it was his duty to obey) that he was reconciled to 
 *• Bothwell, by the queen's mediation: Whatever he had then 
 « piomised, he would observe to a tittle; neither was it equitable 
 " or good for the commonwealth, that he should make another 
 i: league or combination with him, or any other man living." 
 The queen spoke to him more kindly than ordinary for some 
 days, and promised to tell him her mind in all things, yet she 
 could not speak out for shame, and therefore tried his mind by 
 her friends-, they also perceiving his constancy in that which was 
 right, openly confessed, what it was they desired: And when it 
 was plain that they could do no manner of good with him by 
 their underhand ways, Bothwell set upon him at last, and after 
 much discoure told him, That he did that fact not willingly, nor for 
 himself alone. He put on a kind of frowning countenance at 
 that word; upon which Bothwell having sometimes by serious 
 discourse, sometimes by terms that were the very next to down- 
 right railing, carried the matter as far as it would go, endeavour- 
 ed at last to throw in seeds of discord, and to urge him to a quar- 
 rel. He, on the contrary, answered with the utmost modera- 
 tor., and gave no just occasion for* a dispute, yet kept close to 
 Ins point, and did not depart in the least from his resolution, 
 n Murray had laboured under these straits for some days, he 
 asked leave of the queen, that since there was no great need of 
 him at court, he might have liberty to retire to St. Andrews or 
 into Murray; for he was willing to go out of the way, that he 
 might not be suspected to be the author of the tumults which he 
 foresaw would arise. When he could not obtain that, nor yet 
 remain at court without great and apparent danger, he at last got 
 leave to travel, but upon condition, that he should not make any 
 stay in England, but go through Flanders either into Germany, 
 or to" what other place he pleased. To go to Flanders, was all 
 one as to cast himself into evident danger, and therefore with 
 much ado, he obtained leave to pass through England into France, 
 and from thence whither his own choice should lead him. 'J he 
 queen being thus freed from a free hearted and popular person, 
 endeavours to remove the other obstacles to her tyranny; and 
 those were such, as would not willingly subscribe to her wicked- 
 ness, or were not like to acquiesce .very easily in her designs. 
 But she had a particular resentment against those, who perceiving 
 her to be no better affected towards her son than towards her 
 former husband, made an association at Stirling, not out of any 
 wicked design, but merely in order to defend the young prince 
 whom his mother desired to place under the power of his. f ather- 
 
Book XVIIL history of Scotland. 327 
 
 in-law. As for him, every body knew that he would make a- 
 way with the child, as soon as ever he had an opportunity ol do- 
 ing it, for fear he should live to revenge his father's death, or at 
 least to prevent his own children from the crown. The chief of. 
 that combination were the earls of Argyle, Morton, Marr, Ath- 
 ol, and Glencairn; besides others of the same order, but next in 
 degree; as Patrick Lindsay, and Robert Boyd, with their friends 
 and partners, who had joined themselves to them. But Argyle 
 out of the same levity of temper with which he came in to them 
 discovered their designs to the queen, within a day or two fol- 
 lowing; and Boyd was by large promises wrought over to the 
 contrary party. Next to these she suspected the families of the 
 Humes, the Kefs, and the Scots, who lived just upon the borders 
 of England: She sought by all means to lessen their poWer, and 
 there appeared a pretty just occasion to second her designs in 
 that point. For when Bothwell was preparing an expedition in- 
 to Liddisdale, to make amends for the disgrace he had received 
 there the autumn before; and likewise to get some reputation 
 by his arms, and to extinguish the envy heaped upon him on ac- 
 count of the king's death; the queen commanded all the chiefs 
 of the families in Teviotdale to come into the castle of Edinburgh, 
 that there for some short time they might be secure, as in free 
 custody; upon pretence, that they might not be led into an ex- 
 pedition, which did not seem likely to be successfully enterprised 
 by them against their will; and they also, if at liberty, might dis- 
 turb the design out of envy, and in their absence she might inure 
 the clans to the government of others; and so, by degrees, wear 
 off the love of their old patrons and masters. But they imagin- 
 ing that some deeper project lay hid under that command, went 
 all home in the night, except Andrew Ker, who was generally 
 thought to be no stranger, to the parricide, and, Walter 
 Ker of Cesford, a man that by reason of his innocent life, sus- 
 pected nothing. Hume, though often summoned by Bothwell 
 to come to court, as often refused the summons, as knowing how 
 he stood affected towards him: yet notwithstanding the design 
 for the expedition proceeded, and the queen staid at Borthwick 
 castle about eight miles from Edinburgh. In the mean time, 
 they who had united to defend the prince, being not ignorant of 
 Bothwell's intentions towards them, thought it necessary to pro- 
 ceed to action, not only for their own security, but also, that by 
 demanding justice upon the author of the king's murder, they 
 might acquit the Scots name from the infamy under which it lay 
 amongst foreign nations. And therefore, supposing the common 
 people would follow their motions, they privately levied about 
 2000 horse; so that the queen knew nothing of what was acted, 
 rill Hume came to Borthwick castle, with part ui' the armYj and b : 
 VoL II. T t 
 
328 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. B0O1C XVI11. 
 
 sieged her and Bothwell together. But the other part of the con- 
 spirators not coming in at the time appointed, and he having not 
 force enough to stop all passages, and not being so active himself 
 cither, as he might have been, because the rest had neglected 
 their parts; first, Bothvvell made his escape, and after him the 
 queen in man's apparel, and went directly to Dunbar. Athol 
 was the occasion why his associates did not come in time enough; 
 for he, either amazed at the greatness of the undertaking, or held 
 back by his own sluggish temper, kept the rest at Stirling, till the 
 opportunity of the service was lost; yet that they might seem to 
 have done something, a great part of them were sent to besiege 
 Edinburgh. James Balfour was governor of the castle thei-e, put 
 in by Bothwell, as being a partner in the parricide, and author 
 of, or else privy to all his designs; but when he saw he had no 
 pay for his service, and was not so well respected by the tyrants 
 as he expected (for they had endeavoured to take away the com- 
 mand from him) he drove out those of the contrary faction, and 
 brought the castle under his sole dominion; he then promised the 
 public vindicators of the parricide, that he would do them no 
 hurt, and was treating of conditions how to deliver it up. There 
 were at that time in the town the principal of the queen's fac- 
 tion, John Hamilton the archbishop of St. Andrews, George 
 Gordon earl of Huntly, and John Lesly bishop of Ross. They 
 having intelligence, that their enemies were received into the 
 town, flew to the town house, and there gathering together a 
 multitude of people, they offered to head them, and drive out 
 their foes; but very few coming in to them, they were driven 
 back to the castle; they were received into it by Balfour, and a 
 few days after were sent away safe a by-way. For Balfour, hav- 
 ing not yet fully agreed with the other side, would not then cut 
 off all his hopes of pardon from those of his party. The town 
 easily came into the combination, for it had been burdened a little 
 before with new taxes from the queen; and in the public neces- 
 sity they expected no moderation from her party, and were una- 
 nimously offended with her tyranny; nay, as often as they had li- 
 berty to express their sentiments, they cursed the court wicked- 
 ness with the most furious execrations. 
 
 Matters being thus slowly carried on by the faction of the no- 
 bles at Borthwick, the queen and Bothwell, by the "neglect of the 
 guards, escaped by night, and with a small retinue came to Dun- 
 bar, where they had a well fortified castle to secure themselves in ; 
 hence there followed so great a turn of affairs, that they who 
 were lately in great despair, did now, by the flocking in of those 
 to them who were either partners in their evils, or else liking the 
 umbrage of the royal name, grew strong enough, as they 
 thought, to cope with and subdue their adversaries. On the o- 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 329 
 
 ther side, the vindicators of liberty were driven to gi - eat straits; 
 for, to their great disappointment, there were but a few came 
 in to so renowned an undertaking; the heat of the vulgar, as is 
 usual, quickly abating, and a great part of the nobility being very 
 averse, or at least standing aloof off, expecting the issue of the 
 other's danger: besides, though they were superior in number, 
 yet they wanted artillery to take the castles. Therefore as they 
 perceived their counsels would at present come to no issue, and 
 that necessity lay against them, they thought to return without 
 effecting any thing. But the queen decided their doubts, for 
 she taking courage from the numbers she had, resolved already 
 to march with them for Leith, and try her fortune near at hand; 
 imagining also, that her approach would make many more come 
 in to her, and increase her force, and that her boldness would 
 strike terror into her enemies ; besides, the success which she had 
 met with before, had so elated her spirit, that she thought hard- 
 ly any man would at this time make any stand, or dare to look her 
 in the face. This confidence of hers was very much heightened 
 by her flatterers, and especially by Edmund Hayes, a lawyer; he 
 told her, that all things lay open to her valour, that her enemies 
 wanted force, and were at their wits end, and at the very first 
 noise of her approach, would be for making offas fast as they 
 could. Whereas indeed the matter was far otherwise, and in 
 those present circumstances, nothing had been better for her than 
 delay; for if she had kept herself in the castle of Dunbar but three 
 days longer, the assertors of liberty being destitute of all prepara- 
 tions for a war, and finding they had attempted their liberty in 
 vain, must have been forced to depart every one to his own 
 house. However, excited by these bad counsels, and animated 
 with vain and groundless hopes, she marched from Dunbar, yet 
 she marched slowly, because she distributed arms among the 
 countrymen, whom she gathered up by the way. At length, a 
 little before night, they came to Seton, and because they could 
 not be quartered there, they divided their number into two neigh- 
 bouring villages, both called Preston. From thence a dreadful 
 alarm was brought to Edinburgh before midnight, and presently 
 the word was given, To your arms. They rose out of their beds, 
 and made all the haste they could into the neighbouring fields, 
 and there having gathered a good body together by sun-rising, 
 they put themselves in order of battle; thence they marched to 
 Musselburgh, to pass the river Esk, before the bridge and ford 
 were possessed by the enemy, (that village is but two miles from 
 Preston) but meeting no body, aiid perceiving no noise at all, 
 they placed guards and centinels, and went to their quarters of 
 refreshment. In the mean time, the scouts which were sent to 
 watch the motioni of the enemy, seeing a few horsemen, <\xo\q 
 
 Tt2 
 
33° histWy of Scotland. Book XVIII. 
 
 them into die village, ! put did not dare to follow them further, 
 for fear of falling into jirf ambuscade; so that they brought back 
 no certain news of the army, only that the enemy was upon their 
 march. Upon that, *the assertors of liberty marching out of 
 Musselburgh, saw the enemy standing in battle-array, upon the 
 brow of an hill over-against them, and that they kept their 
 ground. The hill being so steep, that they could not come at 
 them without prejudice, they drew a little to the right, both to 
 have the sun on their backs, and likewise to gain an easier ascent, 
 and to fight upon a more advantageous ground. That design of 
 theirs deceived the queen, for she thought they had fled, and 
 were marching to Dalkeith, a neighbouring town of the earl of 
 Morton's; she was fully persuaded, that the terror of her royal 
 name was so great, that they durst not stand; but she quickly 
 found, that authority, as it is gotten by good arts, so may be quickly 
 lost by bad ; and that majesty, destitute of virtue, ts soon brought to 
 nothing. In their march the people of Dalkeith brought them 
 forth all manner of provisions in abundance. When they had 
 refreshed themselves, and quenched their thirst, which annoyed 
 them very much before, as soon as ever they got a convenient 
 place, they divided their army into two bodies; Morton com- 
 manded the first, assisted by Alexander Hume and his vassals; 
 the second was led by the earls of Glencairn, Marr, and Athol. 
 When they were thus ready to charge, Crock the French ambas- 
 sador came to them; he prefaced to them by an interpreter, how 
 he had always studied the good and tranquillity of the Scots, and 
 that he was now of the same mind, and therefore he earnestly de- 
 sired, if possible, that the controversy might be decided to the 
 satisfaction of both parties, without force or bloodshed; and, in 
 order to bring about so desirable an end, he offered his service, 
 alleging, that the queen herself likewise was not averse from 
 peace; and, that he might incline them to believe it, he told 
 them, she would grant a present pardon, and a general oblivion 
 of what was done, and she faithfully promised, that they should 
 all be indemnified for taking up arms against the supreme magi- 
 strate. When Mr. Crock's interpreter had spoken to this effect, 
 Morton answered, " That they had not taken up arms against 
 *' the queen, but against the murderer of the late king, and that 
 *< if she would deliver him up to punishment, or separate herself 
 «« from him, then she should understand, that they and their fel- 
 *' low subjects desired nothing more than to persevere in their du- 
 ** ty to her; but that otherwise, no agreement could be made." 
 Okucairn added, " That they came not thither to receive par- 
 11 don for taking up arms, but to give it." Crock seeing their 
 resolution, and knowing well, that whrt they spoke was true, 
 and what they desired was just, begged leave to depart, and so 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 33 1 
 
 went to Edinburgh. In the mean time the queen's army kept it- 
 self within the ancient camp-bounds of the English; it was a 
 place naturally higher than the rest, and besides, fortified with a 
 work and ditch; from whence Bothwell shewed himself, mount- 
 ed on a brave steed, and proclaimed by an herald, that he was 
 ready to fight a duel with any one of the adverse party. James 
 Murray, a noble young man, offered himself from the other 
 •army ; he had done the same before by a chartel, but suppressed 
 his name, (as I said before); Bothwell refused him, alleging, 
 that he was not a fit match for him, either in dignity or estate. 
 Then came forth William Murray, James's elder brother, affirm- 
 ing, that, laying aside money-matters, he was as powerful as 
 Bothwell, and even his superior in antiquity of family, and the 
 integrity of repute. He too was refused, as being but lately 
 made a knight, and of the second rank; many of the first rank 
 offered themselves, especially Patrick Lindsay; he truly desired 
 it, as the only reward of all the labours which he had undergone 
 to maintain the honour of Scotland, that he might be permitted 
 to fight with Bothwell. Bothwell excepted against him too ; and, 
 not knowing how to come off with credit, the queen interposed 
 her authority, and, forbidding him to fight, put an end to the 
 controversy. Then marching through the army on horse-back, 
 she tried how all stood affected. Bothwell's friends and relations 
 were forward for the fight; but the rest told her, that there were 
 many brave soldiers in the adverse army, who being well exercised 
 in arms, would render the hazard of a fight very dangerous; as for 
 themselves, they were ready; but the commonalty, of which they 
 had a great many, were averse from the cause: and therefore it 
 was much fitter, that Bothwell himself should maintain his own 
 cause in a duel, than that he should expose so many brave men, 
 and especially the queen herself, to so great a hazard; but if she 
 was fully resolved to fight, yet it was best to defer it till the next 
 morning: for it was said that the Hamiltons were a coming with 
 500 horse, and that they were not far off; that when they were 
 joined by their forces, they might then more safely advise about 
 the main matter; for, at that time, the earl of Kv.ntly, and John 
 Hamilton archbishop of St. Andrews, had gathered their clans 
 together to Hamilton, and the day after were coming to the 
 queen. Upon this she bit her lips with anger, and fell a weep- 
 ing, uttering many reproaches against the nobles, and sent a mes- 
 senger to the opposite army, desiring, that they M'ould send 
 William Kirkaldy of Grange to her, that she would speak with 
 him about conditions of peace, and that, in the mean time, the 
 army should not advance; neither did the army of the assertors of 
 liberty proceed, but they stood near, and in a low place, so that 
 the enemy's ordnr.nce could not annoy them. Whilst the queen 
 
332 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 was conferring with Kirkaldy, Bothwell was bid to shift for him- 
 self, (for that was it which she aimed at, by pretending a confer- 
 ence), whose fears made him fly with so much haste to Dunbar, 
 that he commanded two horsemen, who accompanied him, to re- 
 turn back again. Such a load of guilt lay upon his mind, that he 
 could not trust his own friends. The queen, when she thought 
 he was out of danger, articled with Kirkaldy, that the rest of her 
 army should pass quietly home, and so she came with him to the 
 nobles, clothed only with a tunicle, and a mean and thread-bare 
 one too, reaching but a little below her knees. She was received 
 by the van of the army, not without demonstration of their for- 
 mer reverence; but when she desired they would dismiss her to 
 meet the Hamiltons, who were said to be coming on, promising 
 to return again, and commanded Morton to undertake, that she 
 would be as good as her word, (for she hoped by fair promises, 
 to do whatever she would) when she could not obtain it, she burst 
 out into all the bitterness of language, and upbraided the com- 
 manders with what she had done for them-, they too heard her 
 with silence. But when she came to the second body, there was 
 an unanimous cry from them all; Bum the whore, burn the parri- 
 cide. King Henry was painted in one of the banners, dead, 
 and his little son by him, crying out for vengeance from God up- 
 on the murderers. That banner two soldiers stretched out be- 
 twixt two pikes, and set before her eyes wheresoever she went; 
 at this sight she swooned, and could scarce be kept upon her 
 horse; but recovering herself, she remitted nothing of her former 
 fierceness, uttering threats and reproaches, shedding tears, and 
 shewing all the other tokens that accompany a woman's grief. In 
 her march she made what delay she could, expecting ii any aid 
 might come from elsewhere: but one of the company cried out, 
 there was no reason she should expect the Hamiltons, for there 
 was not an armed man within many miles of the place. At last, 
 a little before night, she entered Edinburgh, her face being co- 
 vered with dust and tears, as if dirt had been thrown upon it; all 
 the people running out to see the spectacle, she parsed through a 
 great part of the city in great silence, the multitude leaving her 
 so narrow a passage, that scarce one could go a-breast; when she 
 was going up to her lodging, one woman of the company prayed 
 for her; but she turning to the people, told them, besides other 
 threatening words, that she would burn the city, and quench the 
 fire with the blood of the perfidious citizens. When she shewed 
 herself weeping out of the window, and a great concourse of 
 people was made, amongst whom some commiserated her sud- 
 den change of fortune; the former banner was held out to her, 
 upon which she shut the window, and withdrew. When she had 
 staid there two daya, she was sent prisoner by the order of the 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 333 
 
 nobles, to a castle situated in Lochlevin; for Edinburgh castle 
 was yet held by Balfour, who, though he favoured the assertors 
 of liberty, had not however made any conditions for the surren- 
 der of the castle. 
 
 In the mean time, the bishop of Dunblane, who was sent am- 
 bassador into France, to excuse the queen's marriage, being igno- 
 rant of all that Mas done in Scotland after his departure, came to 
 that court at the time, whilst these last transactions were on foot, 
 and obtained a day for audience. The very same day in the 
 morning there came two letters to the king and his mother, one 
 from Crock his ambassador, another from Ninian Cockburn a 
 Scot, who had served as captain of horse some years in France; 
 both of them discovered the present posture of affairs in Scot- 
 land. The Scots ambassador being admitted to the king's pre- 
 sence, made a long and accurate speech, partly to excuse the 
 queen's marriage, without the advice of her friends; partly to 
 commend Bothwell to the skies, beyond all truth and reason. 
 The queen of France interrupted the vain man, and shewed him 
 the letters she had received from Scotland; how that the queen 
 was a captive, and Bothwell was fled; he was astonished at the 
 sudden ill news, and fell into a profound silence: They who 
 were present, partly frowned, and partly smiled at this unlooked 
 for accident; and there were none of them all but thought she 
 suffered deservedly. 
 
 About the same time, Bothwell sent one of his most trusty ser- 
 vants into the castle of Edinburgh, to bring him a silver cabinet, 
 which once belonged to Francis king of France, as appeared by 
 the cyphers on the outside, in which were found letters, almost 
 all of them, written in the queen's own hand. By these the 
 king's murder, and the things which followed, were clearly dis- 
 covered, and it was particularly mentioned in almost all of them 
 that he should burn them as soon as ever he had read them. 
 But Bothwell knowing the queen's inconstancy, as having had 
 many evident examples of it in a few years, had preserved the 
 letters; that so, if any difference should happen betwixt him and 
 her, he might use them as testimonials for himself, and demon- 
 strate by them, that he was not the author, but only a party in 
 the king's murder. Balfour delivered this cabinet to Bothwell's 
 servant, but withal, he informed the chiefs of the adverse party, 
 what he had sent, whither, and by whom; upon which they 
 took him, and found great and mighty matter* contained in the 
 letters, which though before shrewdly suspected, yet could never 
 so clearly be made out; but here the whole wicked plot was 
 plainly, exposed to view. Bothwell not succeeding in any of his 
 affairs, and being destitute of all help, and out of all hopes of re- 
 covering the kingdom, fled first to the Orcadcs, then to the isles 
 
334 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 of Scotland j and there being reduced to extreme want, he beg»in 
 to play the pirate. In the interim, many dealt with, and desired 
 the queen to separate her cause from Bothwell's; (for, if he was 
 .punished, she might easily be restored with the good-will of all 
 her subjects): But the fierce woman, bearing as yet the spirit of 
 her former fortune, and enraged with her present troubles, an- 
 swered, That she would rather live with him in the utmost adversity, 
 than without him in the most royal condition. Various were the 
 thoughts of the nobles upon this important head: Those who 
 were for revenging the bloody deed, hoped that as soon as ever 
 their intentions should take air, and be publicly known, the great- 
 er part, if not all, would yield them their approbation, and even 
 concur with them in so famous and so glorious a purpose: But it 
 fell out far otherwise, for popular envy being abated, partly by 
 space of time, and partly by the consideration of the un- 
 certainty of human affairs, was turned into commiseration;, 
 nay, some of the nobility did then no less bewail the queen's 
 calamity, than they had before execrated her cruelty, both 
 which they did, rather out of an inconstancy of temper, 
 than out of any propense affection to either side: Hence it too 
 evidently appeared, that they did not seek the public tranquillity, 
 but rather fished for their own private advantage in those troub- 
 led waters: Many on the other hand, wished for peace and quiet- 
 ness, and they weighed within themselves, which party was 
 strongest, and so were inclined to side with the most powerful. 
 Their faction was thought to be the strongest, who either con- 
 sented to the murder, or else, in obsequiousness to the queen, 
 subscribed to their impious deed after it was committed: The 
 chief of those came into Hamilton, and being very strong, would 
 receive neither letters nor messengers from the contrary party, in 
 order to an accommodation; neither were they sparing in their 
 reproaches, but upbraided them with all the calumny of language; 
 and they were so much the more enraged, because the greatest 
 part of the nobles, who respected rather the blasts of fortune, 
 than the equity of the cause, did not come in to the vindicators; 
 for they that were not against them, they concluded were for 
 them. Besides, they esteemed it a piece of vain-glory, that the 
 vindicators should enter before them into the metropolis of the 
 kingdom, and from thence send for them, who were the greater 
 and more powerful in numbers. The other party, though they 
 had not imperiously commanded, but only humbly requested 
 them; yet, to take away the least colour of arrogance that might 
 be imputed to them, they prevailed with the ministers of the 
 churches, to write jointly to them all, and severally to each in par- 
 ticular, that they should not be wanting to the public peace, in so 
 reus and critical a juncture; but setting aside private ani- 
 
Book XVIII. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 335 
 
 mosities, they should consult what was most expedient for the 
 public good. These letters did no more good with the contrary- 
 faction, than those of the nobles before; they all making the 
 same excuses, as if it had been purposely so agreed between them. 
 Afterwards the queen's faction met together in many places, and 
 finding no means to accomplish their designs, they all slipped off, 
 and dispersed several ways. In the mean time, the revengers of 
 the public parricide dealt with the queen (whom they could not 
 separate from the concerns of the murderers) to resign up her 
 government, upon pretence of sickness, or any other specious al- 
 legation, and to commit the care of her son, and the administra- 
 tion of public affairs, to which of the nobles she pleased. At 
 last with much ado, she appointed as governors to the child, 
 James earl of Murray, if, upon his return home, he did not refuse 
 the charge, James duke of Chatelherault, Matthew earl of Lennox, 
 Gilespy earl of Argyle, John earl of Athol, James earl of Morton, 
 Alexander earl of Glencairn, and John carl of Marr. Moreover, 
 they sent proxies to see the king placed in his royal throne, and 
 so to enter on the government, either at Stirling, or any other 
 place, if they thought fit. This happened on the 25th of July, 
 in the year of our Lord 1567. A little before which day, James- 
 earl of Murray, hearing how matters went at home, returned 
 through France, and was pretty nobly entertained at court; yet 
 so, that Hamilton (whose faction the Guises knew, were more in- 
 timately affected towards them) was far better received, which 
 was occasioned chiefly by the Guises, wTio were averse to all 
 Murray's designs. After he was dismissed, the archbishop of 
 Glasgow, who called himself the queen of Scots' ambassador, 
 told the court, that James, though absent, yet was the chief of the 
 faction; and as in former times, all things were acted by his iu- 
 ihience, so now he was sent for, as an head to the body of them. 
 Hereupon, some were sent after him to bring him back; but he, 
 having had proper precautions from his friends, had set sail from 
 the haven of Dieppe, where he was before the king's letters came, 
 and arriving in England, was honourably entertained by persons 
 of all ranks and degrees, and so sent home. There he was re- 
 ceived with the highest congratulation and joy of all the people, 
 especially of those who were revengers of the murder, and they 
 all earnestly desired hirh to undertake the government, whilst the 
 king his sister's son, was yet a child; for that he alone was able 
 to manage that great trust with the least envy, because of his 
 propinquity in blood, his known valour in many dangers, his 
 great popularity grounded on his deserts; and what was still 
 more, it was the desire of the queen herself. He, though he 
 knew what they spoke -was true, yet desired a few days for delibera- 
 tion, before he gave in his answer. In the mean time, he v 
 Vol. il. U u 
 
33^ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XVIII. 
 
 earnestly to the heads of the other faction, and chiefly to Ar- 
 gyle, as being his relation, and one, whom he was mighty loth 
 to offend for old acquaintance sake; he told him in what 
 posture things were, and what the infant king's party had de- 
 sired of him and therefore he intreated of him, by their nearness 
 of blood, by their ancient friendship, and by the common safe- 
 ty of their country, that he would give him opportunity to 
 speak with him, that so, by his assistance, himself and their 
 country might be delivered out of the present difficulties. He 
 also wrote to the rest, according to every one's place and interest; 
 and he desired of them all in general, that since matters were 
 in such confusion, that there was no likelihood of coming 
 to any solid settlement without a chief magistrate, that 
 they should all agree to meet together, as soon as might be, 
 in a place which they should judge most convenient, and so 
 by common consent settle the public affairs, and the admi- 
 nistration. But being unable to obtain a meeting from the one 
 faction, or to procure any longer delay of a convention from the 
 other, he was at length, with the unanimous consent of all pre- 
 sent, elected Regent. 
 
 James VI. the hundredth and eighth king. 
 
 ON the 29th of August, after an excellent sermon made by 
 John Knox, James VI. of that name, began his reign; 
 James earl of Morton and Alexander Hume, took the oath for 
 him, that he would observe the laws: They also promised in his 
 name, that he would observe that doctrine, and those rites of 
 religion, which were then publicly taught and practised, and 
 oppose the contrary. Not many days after, Hamilton's parti- 
 sans began to murmur, that a few persons, and those none of 
 (he most powerful either, had, without their consent, and 
 contrary to their expectation, grasped all things into their 
 own hands: When they had tried all the nobility one by one, 
 they found few of their opinion, besides those who first came 
 in to them, for many chose rather to be spectators than ac- 
 tors of What was done. At length they wrote to the roy- 
 alists, that Argyle was ready to give a meeting, to confer with 
 the earl of Murray. These letters being directed to the earl 
 of Murray, without any higher title of honour, were, by the 
 council's advice, rejected, and the messenger dismissed, in ef- 
 fect, without an answer. But Argyle, knowing that he had 
 offended m superscribing his letters, and trusting to the fide- 
 lity of the regent, with a few of the chief of his faction 
 
Book XVIII. 
 
 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 337 
 
 came to Edinburgh; where, after he was fully satisfied, that 
 it was not out of any slight to those noblemen who were 
 absent, but mere absolute necessity, which had caused them 
 to make such haste in settling a chief magistrate, he came 
 in a few days to the public convention of the estates. 
 
 UU2 
 
(A. C. 1567.; 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 >e«e©l<^!@««6<= 
 
 BOOK XIX. 
 
 VV hen the king was recognized, and the power of the regent 
 almost settled, there was some quiet, some respite from force and 
 arms, but the peace stood but upon a ticklish and tottering foun- 
 dation: Men's minds were yet in a ferment, and their indigna- 
 tion, which they could not hide, seemed to portend some sud- 
 den mischief. In this great uncertainty of affairs, all men's 
 thoughts and eyes were turned and fixed upon what the ensuing 
 parliament would do. The time of its sitting was the 25th of 
 August, where the assembly was so numerous, that no man ever 
 before remembered such a concourse. There the authority of 
 the regent was confirmed, but they differed in their opinions a- 
 bout the queen; for it appearing by many testimonies and proofs, 
 especially by her own letters to Bothwell, that the whole plot of 
 the bloody deed was laid by her: Some moved with the heinous- 
 liess of the crime, and others, who had been privy to it by her 
 in order to remove her testimony out of the way, lest they them- 
 selves should be punished as accessaries to so odious a crime, 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 339 
 
 voted, that she should suffer the utmost extremity of the 
 law; but the majority, agreed that she should be only sen- 
 tenced to an imprisonment. After the parliament rose, the 
 winter was spent In settling judicatories, and punishing de- 
 linquents. The ambassadors of the French and English had 
 audience; they both desired to see the queen; but she be- 
 ing a prisoner, on a public account, it was denied them. 
 None but Bothwell was then in arms; upon which, some were 
 sent with a navy to catch him as he was committing acts of piracy 
 near the Orcades, and the isles of Shetland. The public stock 
 was then at so low an ebb, that they were forced to borrow mo- 
 ney of James Douglas, earl of Morton, to rig and lit out the na- 
 vy; s,o that his private purse, at that time, bore the burden of the 
 public charge. Bothwell was there in a maimer secure, both be- 
 cause of the rigour of the weather, and the winter tempests then 
 raging in those seas, which made them inaccessible for a fleet; as 
 also, because he knew the treasury, which he himself had exhaust- 
 ed, could not afford money to fit one out; so that he was very near 
 being surprised by the sudden coming of William Kirkaldy of 
 Grange, who commanded the fleet. Some of his company were 
 taken, but he himself escaped, with a few on the opposite side of 
 the island amongst the shallows and fords, where great ships 
 could not follow, and so sailed to Denmark. When he came 
 there, not being able to give a good account from whence he 
 came, nor whither he was bound, he was taken into custodv, 
 and afterwards, Being known by some merchants, he was clapped 
 up close prisoner; and after a lothsome imprisonment for the 
 space of ten years, that, and other miseries, made him distract- 
 ed; and thus he came to a most ignominious death, suitable to 
 his vile and wicked course of life. 
 
 At the beginning of the next spring, the regent determined to 
 make a progress over the whole kingdom to settle courts of jus- 
 tice there, in order to repair and amend what went quite the 
 wrong way, as well as what was just upon the point of being 
 turned into a wrong channel, by the tumults of some preceding 
 years. This proceeding of his was variously interpreted, accord- 
 ing to men's several humours and dispositions. The adverse fac- 
 tion declaimed every where against the regent's severity, or, as 
 they phrased it, cruelty; which was indeed dreadful enough to 
 those persons, who by reason of the greatness of their offences, 
 could not endure to be regulated by the law, because thev hail 
 been habituated and bred up to licentiousness in former times. 
 But, if the queen were but at liberty, some of them had rewards, 
 others impunity, in their eye; by which means many were drawn 
 in to the contrary faction; nay, some of those too, who had 
 reived as instruments in apprehending her, 
 
340 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. . Book XIX. 
 
 Maitland was as great an enemy to Bothwell (whom he looked 
 upon as a vile and mischievous man, and one that would cut his 
 throat) as he was a favourer of the queen's affairs; and because he 
 had no hopes of overthrowing him, as long as the queen was alive, 
 therefore in parliament he inclined to that side that would have 
 had her punished according to law. James Balfour was in the 
 like case, as imagining Bothwell to be his implacable enemy, 
 though neither of them was thought innocent in the matter of the 
 king's death. But when Bothwell was taken, and kept prisoner 
 in Denmark, they then applied their thoughts wholly to the deli- 
 verance of the queen; not only because they hoped for an impuni- 
 ty of their common crime more easily from her; but also because 
 they thought, she that had made away with her husband would do 
 but little better with her son, who'-e infancy, and the shadow of 
 whose royal name was that alone which kept her from the throne; 
 but besides, they judged it also for their own security, for fear 
 the son should come to the kingdom, and be the revenger of his 
 father's death. Besides, there were no obscure conjectures, that 
 the queen's mind was not mightily set against such an attempt ; 
 for she was often heard to say, the child was not so long-lived ; 
 and that a skilful astrologer had told her at Paris, that her first 
 child would not live above a year, and (it is thought) that she her- 
 self came once to Stirling with the same hopes, intending to 
 bring the child with her to Edinburgh. That suspicion caused 
 John Erskine, governor of the castle, not to suffer the child to be 
 taken out of his hands; and made a great part of the nobility like- 
 wise, then met at Stirling, associate themselves by oath, to main- 
 tain the said young prince in safety. 
 
 Moreover, the Hamiltons were, might and main, for freeing 
 the queen; because if her son could but be removed out of the 
 way by her means, they would then be themselves one degree near- 
 er to the crown ; and after that, it would be no hard task to take 
 her off into the bargain, because she was hated by every body for 
 her crimes; and having once been stopped in her tyranny, would af- 
 terwards let forth the reins looser, and more impetuously to cruelty. 
 Argyle ami Huntly, of which the one had a mother, the other a 
 wife, of the family of the Hamiltons, cherished their hopes, and 
 wished them good success, but they had also proper reasons of 
 their own to incline them so to do; because neither of them was 
 judged to be wholly ignorant, or guiltless, of the queen's crimes; 
 besides, William Murray of Tullibardine, being quite averse to 
 the regent, both by reason of his different opinion in point of reli- 
 giottj and likewise his having a private grudge against him, though 
 iie had been highly serviceable in taking the queen ; yet did not 
 
 ■ revolt from the royal party himself, but drew a great many 
 ox hr: friends along with him too, upon the proposal of no small 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLANB. 34 1 
 
 rewards. These were the principals in delivering the queen-, there 
 were many others also that fell in with their party, whom either 
 domestic necessity, private grudges, desire of revenge, hope of 
 bettering their fortune, or else propinquity or obligation to those 
 above named, engaged to that side. 
 
 In this troublesome state of affairs, the regent was equally un- 
 moveable against the intreaties of his friends, and the threats of 
 his enemies, though by the public libels, which they posted up 
 and down he very well knew the cause of their hatred, and their 
 desire of revenge. And though some astrologers, not unacquaint- 
 ed with the plots designed against him, had foretold, that he 
 would not live beyond such a day ; yet he persisted in his pur- 
 pose, often saying, "That he knew well enough he must die one 
 « time or other ; and that he could not part with his life more 
 " nobly or creditably, than by procuring the public tranquillity of 
 « his native country." And therefore, first he summoned a 
 convention of the estates at Glasgow, to which place the Lennox 
 men, the people of Renfrew and Clydesdale were commanded to 
 come, and whilst he was busied there, in the administration of 
 justice, and in the punishment of offenders, the plot that had 
 been so long in agitation, for the deliverance of the queen, took 
 effect. The manner of it was this: Within the castle where the 
 queen was kept in Lochlevin, there were the regent's mother, 
 three brothers of his by another father, and abundance of other 
 women-, yet none were admitted to visit the queen, but such as 
 were well known; or else, that came by the regent's order. Out 
 of these domestic attendants, the queen made choice of George 
 Douglas as fittest for her purpose; he was the regent's younge-t 
 brother, a young man, ingenious enough, and by reason of his 
 age, apt to be imposed upon by female enticements. He being- 
 something familiar with her, on pretence to attend her in such 
 sports, as courts at idle times refresh themselves withal, under- 
 took to corrupt some of the common servants of the castle, by 
 gifts and promises; and she having intrusted the management of 
 that point to him, would not deny any thing to such a person, 
 from whom she expected her liberty. George then having a pro- 
 mise of indemnity from her himself and his partizans, and being ex- 
 cited with the hopes of great wealth and power for his assistance, 
 not without the consent of his mother (as was verily thought') 
 acted all that ever he could to bring the thing about?. And though 
 some persons smelled the design, and acquainted the regent with 
 it, yet he put such a confidence in those he had placed there, that 
 he changed none of the old guard, only George himself was com- 
 manded out of the island; upon that, he departed to the next vil- 
 lage on the end of the loch; where, having befbre corrupted the 
 officers of the castle with monev, he had in a manner a freei 
 
342 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 communication with the queen by letters than before; and now 
 truly there were not only those Scots admitted to a partnership in 
 the plot, who were discontented at the present state of things, 
 but the French were associated too by James Hamilton, who had 
 been regent some years before; and by James Beaton, archbishop 
 of Glasgow. The Scots, it seems, were to do the work, and the 
 French to pay the wages. 
 
 About the end of April, an ambassador came from France, and 
 in the name of his king, desired leave to visit the queen, which, 
 if he did not obtain, he pretended he would presently depart. 
 The regent told him, it was not in his power; that the queen was 
 not made prisoner by him, neither could he determine any thing 
 in the case, without advising with those who had first committed 
 her, and with others who had afterwards confirmed by an act of 
 ■parliament what was done; nevertheless he would gratify his sis- 
 ter, and the king his ally, in what he could, and would call art 
 assembly of the nobles, the 20th of the next month in order 
 to that end. With that answer the ambassador was somewhat 
 pacified, and the regent went on in his courts of judicatory; 
 whereupon the queen having bribed the master of a vessel, her 
 other companions being sent about trifling errands, was brought 
 out of the loch. Her escape being told to those that Were then at 
 dinner in the castle, they made a great stir, but to little purpose ; 
 for all the boats were hawled ashore, and their loop-holes, to put 
 out their oars, were all stopped up, so that no speedy pursuit 
 could be made. There were horsemen expecting the queen on 
 the other side of the loch, who carried her to the several houses 
 of the partisans in the design, and the day after, which was May 
 3d, she came to Hamilton, a town eleven miles distant from 
 Glasgow. When the thing was noised abroad, many came in to 
 her, some distrusting the king's party, which they looked upon 
 as not very strong; others in hope of favour from the queen; and 
 some in confidence of a reward for their old services in this tumult, 
 discovered their minds; and part of them having obtained par- 
 don for what was past, expecting the event of fortune, were but 
 loose adherents to the regent. The defection of others was not so 
 much wondered at, but the revolt of Robert Boyd, who till that 
 very day had obtained a great opinion for his constancy, afforded 
 matter of discourse; he being brought up on the ruins of a noble- 
 family (as I said before in the life of king James III.) parsimoni- 
 ously and meanly under his father, a valiant man, and a mighty 
 lover of the ancient frugality, followed the same course of life as 
 the rest of his relations did'; that is to say, he applied himself to 
 richer families in order to repair his own, and to restore this no- 
 ble house, that was so lately flourishing, but now decaying, to its 
 ancient estate and dignity. For this end his father and he first 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 343 
 
 applied themselves to the Hamiltons, who were then uppermost. 
 And when their regency was at an end, and the chief magistracy 
 settled in the queen-dowager, and controversies about religion 
 began to rise, he joined in with the reformers, to whom his father 
 bore a mortal aversion. That faction was accounted the most po- 
 tent, to that he adhered till the queen's coming out of Fiance ; 
 nay, he grew very renowned for his constancy, fortitude and 
 prudence ; and Gilespy earl of Argyle was so far taken with him, 
 that he would scarce do any one thing without his advice. How- 
 ever, when some of the nobles had associated at Stirling, not for 
 any treasonable project, but only to defend the king, he indeed 
 subscribed the league too; but then, both he -himself, and Ar- 
 gyle, who was guided by his counsel, shewed a great deal of levi- 
 ty, in discovering the whole intrigue to the queen. From that 
 time forward, Boyd sided with the queen in all her designs, a- 
 gainst his old friends, being in good repute with her party, but 
 he was accounted an inconstant man, a trimmer, and a turn-coat, 
 by those whom he had deserted. When the queen was commit- 
 ted to prison, Boyd made his applications to Murray the regent, 
 and was so well respected by him, for his industry and ingenuity, 
 that he was admitted into his cabinet-council ; and though seve- 
 ral opinions passed upon him, yet he was in high favour with the 
 regent at Glasgow in his juridical processes; yet when he perceiv- 
 ed it was like to come to blows, he went off privately to the 
 queen, and sent from thence a letter to the earl of Morton, by his 
 son, excusing his departure, and alleging, he might probably do 
 the royalists as much service there, as if he had staid with them. 
 His revolt, by reason of the good opinion many had of his con- 
 versation and manners, gave great occasion of discourse. 
 
 In the mean time, the regent had an hot debate in council, 
 whether they should stay where they were, or else go to the king 
 at Stirling. A great many were of opinion, that it was better not 
 to stay, and they urged arguments for it; as that Hamilton was 
 a town near them, full of people, and all the clanships of that 
 most numerous family lay round about it. Besides, the queen had 
 with her 500 horse, and it was reported many more were making 
 towards her from remoter parts; whereas there were only a few of 
 his own friends with the regent, the rest having run away to the 
 queen, or gone privately home about their own affairs, as if all 
 things had been quiet; and though the citizens ofUGTasgow were 
 faithful enough, as being provoked by the many and great injuries 
 they had received from the Hamiltons, when in power; yet the 
 town itself was large, not very populous, and every way ap- 
 proachable. On the contrary, others reasoned, that all depend- 
 ed on the first beginning of things; that their departure would be 
 dishonourable, and look like running awav; that all suspicion v( 
 
 Vol. 11. X x 
 
344 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 fear was then principally to be avoided, for they should animate 
 their enemies by it, and discourage their friends. On the one 
 side, there were the Cunninghams, and the Semples, potent fa- 
 milies; on the other side, Lennox, the king's peculiar patrimony, 
 from whence the nearest neighbours might presently come in, 
 within the space of a few hours; the rest either the next day, or, 
 at farthest, the day after; in the interim, till further aid came, 
 they had strength enough, especially being assisted by the towns- 
 men. This advice prevailed in council. 
 
 The French ambassador posted betwixt both parties, rather 
 as a spy than a peace-maker, which he yet pretended ta be ; for 
 perceiving that there was but a small force at Glasgow at first, and 
 an appearance of a great multitude at Hamilton, he earnestly ex- 
 cited the queen to put it to a battle presently. The regent had 
 gathered a party from the neighbourhood, and expected those far- 
 ther off from Merse and Lothian; there came in about 600 choice 
 and resolute men; he gave them one day to refresh themselves, 
 and then determined to march out to Hamilton, and to engage 
 the enemy immediately; for he believed delay was dangerous for 
 him, and advantageous to the enemy, whom the remote parts of 
 the kingdom favoured most. Two days after, he was informed, 
 about the third watch, that the enemy was drawing together from 
 all places where they quartered; they trusted to their number, be- 
 ing about 6500 fighting men, and they knew the regent had scarce 
 4000; but they resolved to march by Glasgow, and to leave the 
 queen in Dumbarton castle, and so either to fight, or lengthen 
 out the war as they pleased; or if the regent should be so hardy 
 as to stop their passage, which they believed he durst not do, they 
 would then fight, and were confident they should beat him. But 
 he having before determined to provoke them to battle, as soon as 
 ever he could, drew out his men into the open field before the 
 town, the way that he thought the enemy would come, and there 
 waited for them in battle-array for some hours. But when he 
 saw their troops on the other side of the river, he presently un- 
 derstood their design, and commanded his foot to pass over the 
 bridge, and his horse to ford over the river, which they might 
 do, it being low water, and so to march to Langside, where was 
 avillage by the river Cart, where the enemies were to pass, situ- 
 ated on the foot of an hill, looking south-west. On the east and 
 north, the passage was steep, but on the other side, there was a 
 gentle descent into a plain; thither they hastened with such speed, 
 that the royalists had near possessed the hill, before the enemy, 
 who aimed at the same place, understood their design, though 
 they marched thither by a nearer cut; but the royalists met with 
 two advantages, which was a great discouragement to their ene- 
 mies; one, that Gilcspy Campbell, earl of Argyle, who com- 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND, 345 
 
 manded in chief, fell suddenly down from his horse sick, and by 
 his fall much delayed the march of his party. The other, that 
 their forces being placed here and there in little valleys, could ne- 
 ver see all the royalists at once, whose supposed small numbers (as 
 indeed they were not many) made the enemy to despise them, and 
 the disadvantages of the place too. At last, when the queen's 
 forces drew nigh, and saw the ground which they aimed at pos- 
 sessed by the enemy, they went to another little hill over against 
 them, and there divided their party into two bodies. Their chief 
 strength they placed in the first; if they had overthrown their ad- 
 versaries there, they knew the rest would be dismayed at their 
 flight, and so march off without fighting. The king's party also 
 divided themselves into tv/o wings; James Douglas, earl of Mor- 
 ton, Robert Semple, Alexander Hume, Patrick Lindsay, each 
 with his clanship were placed in the right. In the left stood John 
 earl of Marr, Alexander earl of Glencairn, William earl of Mon- 
 teith, and the citizens of Glasgow. The musqueteers were in 
 the village and gardens below, near the highway. Both armies 
 thus placed in battle array, the queen's cannoneers and foot were 
 driven from their posts by the king's forces. On the other side, 
 the king's horse being less by one half, were beaten back by the e- 
 nemy. After they had performed that service, they endeavoured 
 also to break the battalions of foot; in order whereunto, they 
 charged directly up the hill, but were beat back by the king's ar- 
 chers, and by some of those, who after their route, had rallied a- 
 gain, and joined with the rest of their body. In the mean time, 
 the left wing of the enemy marched by the highway, where theie 
 was a rising ground lower down into the valley, where though 
 they were galled by the king's musqueteers, yet passing through 
 those straits, they opened and ranged their body. There it was 
 that the two battalions held out a thick stand of pikes, as a breast- 
 work before them, and fought desperately for half an hour, with- 
 out giving ground on either side; insomuch that they, whose long 
 pikes were broke, threw daggers, stones, pieces of pikes or lances, 
 and whatsoever they could come by, into their enemies' faces ; but 
 some of the hindermost ranks of the king's forces beginning to 
 run, (whether out of fear or treachery, is uncertain) their flight, 
 without doubt, had much disordered those who stood to it, un- 
 less ths ranks had been so thick, that the foremost could not 
 know what the hindmost did. Then those of the second battal- 
 lion, seeing the other's danger, and perceiving no enemy coming 
 to charge themselves, sent some whole troops to wheel to the 
 right, and to join with the first; upon which the adverse party 
 could not bear their charge, but were wholly routed and put to 
 flight. Many were so enraged against them, that there would 
 have been a great slaughter in the pursuit, had not the re 
 
 X x 2 
 
346 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 sent out horse several ways, to forbid the execution. The second 
 squadron of the royalists stood so long, till they saw the enemy 
 scattering, and flying in a disorderly manner; when they, in like 
 manner, broke their ranks, and pursued. The queen stood about 
 a mile from the place, to see the action, and after the route, fled 
 with some horse of her party, who had escaped, towards Eng- 
 land ; the rest ran away as well as they could, to their own 
 homes. There were but few killed in the field, but more in the 
 pursuit (being wearied and wounded) all along the highways and 
 fields. The number of the slain were about 300, but there were 
 more taken prisoners. Of the king's forces there were not many 
 wounded, of the chief commanders none but Alexander Hume 
 and Andrew Stewart, and only one man killed; the rest of the 
 army, besides a few horse, who pursued very far, returned joy- 
 fully into the town; where, after giving thanks to Almighty God, 
 for prospering their just cause against a double number of their e- 
 nemies, and for giving them, in a manner, an unbloody victory, 
 mutually congratulating one another, they went to dinner. This 
 battle was fought May the 13th, 1568, eleven days after the 
 queen's escape out of prison. 
 
 The French ambassador expected the event of the fight, and 
 promised himself a sure victory on the queen's side, but being 
 thus disappointed of his hopes, he put off his mask, and, with- 
 out taking leave of the regent to whom he pretended he was sent, 
 got a party of horse to guide him; and with what speed he could, 
 made for England. In the way lie was robbed by moss-troopers; 
 but James Douglas, laird of Drumlanerick, though he knew he 
 was of the enemy's party, had such deference to the honour and 
 name of an ambassador, that he caused his goods to be restored 
 to him. 1 he regent passed the rest of the day of battle in taking 
 a list of the prisoners; some he discharged gratis, others upon 
 sureties; the chief commanders were retained, especially the 
 Hamilton's family, and sent to prison. The day after, knowing 
 how much that clan was hated in the neighbourhood, he took 
 only 500 horse, commanding the rest of his army to stay in their 
 quarters, and went into the vale of Clydesdale, where he found all 
 places naked and desolate, the inhabitants being run away, as ra- 
 ther conscious to themselves what they had deserved, than con- 
 fiding in the regent's clemency, of which they had experienced be- 
 fore. He took the castles of Hamilton and Draffin, which were 
 naked places, only in Hamilton castle was found some of the 
 house-hold stuff of king James V. The same fear and terror 
 forced the queen into England, either because she thought no 
 place in that part of Scotland safe enough for her; or else because 
 she durst not trust John Maxwell of Henries. 
 
 When the regent had settled all things, as well as he could at 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 347 
 
 present, he summoned an assembly of the estates to be held at E- 
 dinburgh, in die month of The adverse party endea- 
 voured many ways to hinder it. Rumours were spread abroad of 
 aid from France, nor were they altogether groundless. For some 
 troops were drawn down to the sea-side, under the command of 
 the earl of Martigues, a stout man of the family of Luxemburgh, 
 to be transported with all speed into Scotland; and they had been 
 so accordingly, had not civil wars on a sudden broke out in 
 France. But that assistance would not have been so prejudicial to 
 the regent, as his enemies thought, for it would have alienated 
 England from them, and engaged it to him. Moreover Argyle, 
 with 600 of his clanship, came to Glasgow, where he had a con- 
 ference with the people of Hamilton, and other leaders of the 
 faction, to hinder the convention; but finding no way to effect 
 it, they went every man severally home. Huntly also had got 
 together io"oo foot, against the day of the parliament's sitting he 
 came as far as Perth, where perceiving that the fords of the river 
 Tay were guarded by William Ruthven, and the neighbouring no- 
 bility, who continued loyal to the king, he retired without doing 
 any thing of moment. - 
 
 About the same time, there came letters from the queen of 
 England, by the intercession of the adverse party, to the regent, 
 to put off the parliament; she desired, that judgment might not 
 be hastened concerning the rebels, till she was made acquainted 
 with the whole cause; for she could not well bear the injury and 
 affront, which the queen, her neighbour and near kinswoman, af- 
 firmed she had received from her subjects. Though the request 
 was but small in itself, yet if it should have been granted, at the 
 instance of the rebels, they might have thought to have carried all; 
 either because such a trifling delay seemed to hearten them, and 
 weaken their enemy, especially since it might argue a fear in the 
 royalists ; or that they, in the mean time, resolved to call a con- 
 vention in the name of the queen. But the regent, being sensible 
 of what great consequence it was to have the parliament sit, 
 though even all the power of the enemy had combined against it, 
 resolved to keep his day. In that parliament there was a great 
 debate, whether all those who had taken up arms against the king, 
 and afterwards had not obtained their pardon, should be con- 
 demned as traitors, and have their goods confiscated. But Wil- 
 liam Maitland, who secretly favoured the rebels, obtained, that 
 o:-!y a few of them should be condemned at present, as a terror to 
 the rest, and a door of clemency left open to others, if they re- 
 pented. That procedure wonderfully encouraged the conspira- 
 tors, and increased their obstinacy, since they saw their punish- 
 ment deferred, and they were verily persuaded, that neither the 
 queen of England, being their queen's neighbour and kinswo- 
 
348 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. BoOK XIX. 
 
 man, nor the Guises, who were then very powerful in the French 
 court, nor the French king himself, would suffer such an eclipse 
 to be made of royal majesty; and though they should be desert- 
 ed by them, yet they were not so weak of themselves, as not to 
 be able to maintain their cause without foreign aid, as being su- 
 perior in number and power; so that nothing was wanting to the 
 victory, but the empty shadow of the royal name, which was 
 (said they) usurped by force. 
 
 In the mean time, the regent attended only the public peace : 
 some of the neighbouring offenders he fined in small sums, and 
 so took them into favour; the earl of Rothes, by his friends inter- 
 cession, was banished for three years; as for the rest, he daily, 
 by correspondents, solicited them to repent and come in; but per- 
 ceiving that many of them were obstinate, and inclined to re- 
 venge, he levied an army, and marched into Annandale, Niddis- 
 dale, and lower Galloway, where he took some castles, and put 
 garrisons into them; others, whose owners were more refractory, 
 he demolished, and in a short time, would have run over the 
 whole country, had not letters from the queen of England inter- 
 rupted the course of his victories. She was persuaded by the ex- 
 iles, that the queen of Scots had received much wrong: That her 
 ill-affected subjects had laid unjust imputations on her, and de- 
 clared she would not suffer the royal name to grow so cheap, or 
 majesty to be so contumeliously used, as to be exposed to the 
 wills of seditious persons. That the wrong of this great wicked- 
 ness redounded only to one, but the example to all; and there- 
 fore she desired they would apply some speedy remedy, that the 
 contagion of dethroning princes might not spread farther. Hav- 
 ing made a great harangue in her lettei-s to this purpose, against 
 the avengers of the king's murder, she desired of the regent, 
 « That he would send commissioners to her, to inform her of 
 " the state of the whole matter, and to make answer to those, 
 " either crimes or reproaches, which were cast upon, and alleg- 
 " ed against himself." This demand seemed very grievous and 
 offensive, that things already judged, should be called again in 
 question, in a new and hazardous trial, and that before foreign 
 princes, who are oftentimes emulous, if not enemies, and their 
 minds already prepossessed by adversaries; and for a man, as it 
 were, to plead for his own life, before a foreign judicature; 
 though the case was dangerous and hard, yet many arguments 
 induced him to comply with the proposal, though never so un- 
 equal. Abroad, the cardinal of Lorrain, the queen's uncle, ruled 
 all in France; and at home, a great part of the nobility conspired 
 in behalf of the queen; and if the queen of England were dis- 
 obliged too, then he should have no force to withstand such 
 mighty difficulties. Being thus resolved to send ambassadors, 
 
Book XIX. HI3TORY OF SCOTLAND. 349 
 
 he could not tell whom to pitch upon: The chief of the nobility- 
 declining the employment: At last, the regent himself resolved 
 to go, and chuse proper persons to attend him, amongst whom 
 was William Maitland, though much against his will; but the 
 regent, knowing him to be a factious person, and inclinable to 
 the queen's party did not think it safe to leave him behind, whilst 
 things were in such a doubtful condition at home; and therefore 
 he persuaded him, by great promises and rewards, to accompany 
 him, not doubting but to overcome his avaricious mind with 
 large presents; the rest went very willingly. The chief were 
 James Douglas, and Patrick Lindsay, of the nobility; of the 
 clergy, the bishop of the Orcades, and the abbot of Dunfermline; 
 of lawyers, James M'Gill, and Henry Balnavey; to whom he ad- 
 ded a ninth, viz. George Buchanan. Though he found himself 
 in these difficult circumstances, yet two things relieved his 
 thoughts; one was the equity of his cause; the other, the last 
 letters he received from the queen of England, gave him assur- 
 ance, that if the crimes objected against the queen of Scots were 
 true, she should judge her unworthy to hold that sceptre any 
 longer. The regent was a little heartened by these letters, and 
 with above 100 horse in his company, he began his jour- 
 ney, though he had certain intelligence brought him, that die 
 earl of Westmoreland, at the command of the duke of Norfolk, 
 watched to intercept him, before he had got to York : However, 
 October 4th, he came to York, the place appointed for the con- 
 ference, and the same day, almost hour, Thomas Howard, duke 
 of Norfolk, likewise entered the city. The reason why an am- 
 bush was laid for the regent, was because the duke, by secret 
 correspondents, was dealing with the queen of Scots to marry 
 her: and therefore, that the suspicion of the king's murder might 
 be more easily taken away, she resolved, if the regent could be 
 dispatched, to return home, and suppress the letters she had 
 written to Bothwell, which contained a manifest discovery of the 
 whole; but because the duke was so near, she could not so ac- 
 complish it, as that he might not also be aspersed with the in- 
 famy of so cruel a murder, and therefore the plot was deferred 
 till another opportunity. Besides Norfolk, there were appoint- 
 ed two other commissioners by the queen of England, to deter- 
 mine the controversies of the Scots, the earl of Sussex, who in- 
 clined to Howard's party, as it was commonly reported, and sir 
 Ralph Sadler, an indifferent and impartial person. Within a 
 few days, there came messengers from the queen of Scots, to 
 complain of her disobedient subjects, and to desire help of 
 the queen of ] that either she would persuade her un- 
 
 grateful subjects to re-admit their prince; or, if they refused, 
 then that she would supply her with an army, to force them to 
 it. After some few hours, the regent was heard : lie stood upon 
 
35° HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 the equity of his cause, referrring it to impartial judges: He 
 pleaded, that the royalists had done nothing, but according to the 
 ancient laws and customs of their nation, and that too ratified and 
 approved in full parliament; and that he being a single person, 
 with those few with him, could not abrogate any thing which had 
 been enacted by common consent of all the estates of parliament. 
 But when the English commissioners told them, they could not be 
 satisfied with those statutes made at their parliaments at home, 
 and how produced, unless withal they produced the reasons, which 
 moved the nobility to such a severe judgment against the queen : 
 The regent was unwilling, as much avoiding to divulge the foul 
 offences of the queen, being his sister also, and that amongst 
 foreigners, who were forward enough to hear them, and there- 
 fore denied to do it, unless upon these terms, That, if he made 
 good the charge against the queen, that she killed her husband, 
 then the queen of England should stipulate and promise to de- 
 fend the young king's cause, and take him, as it were, into her 
 protection. But when the English commissioners told them, 
 that they had only a commission to hear the demands of both 
 sides, and so to lay the whole matter before their queen, The re- 
 get again urged them to obtain such a promise from their queen, 
 or else that they themselves should get a commission, fully to de- 
 cide the controversy; if they would do that, he promised, unless 
 he evidently made it appear, that the king was murdered by his 
 wife's means, he would not think himself unworthy the punish- 
 ment due to crimes the most flagrant and enormous. The com- 
 missioners wrote to the queen to know her mind herein; who re- 
 turned answer, « That the Scots of the king's party should send 
 «« one or more of their number to her court, who might fully ac- 
 « quaint her with the merits "of their cause, and then she would 
 " consider what was fit for her to do." Upon which the regent 
 sent William Maitland, of whom many sinister opinions daily 
 arose, and James M<Gill, not so much to be his assistant in pub- 
 lic business, as to observe his actions. The causes which made 
 Maitland suspected were these, amongst many others: Before his 
 journey into England, though he mightily endeavoured to conceal 
 his designs, yet by his words and actions, and great familiarity 
 with the men of the adverse party; and farther, by letters he sent 
 to the Scots queen, which were intercepted, they could not be 
 stifled. In those letters he endeavoured to persuade the queen 
 that his service might yet be useful to her, using the example of 
 the lion in the fable, who, being taken in a net, was freed by such 
 mean animals as rats. And after he came to York, there was 
 scarce a night he did not meet with the chief ambassadors of the 
 adverse party, consulted with them, and acquainted them with 
 the designs of the regent. The regent did not forbid those meet- 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 35 1 
 
 ingSj knowing he should do no good by it, but only make them 
 meet more secretly. Tho' these were manifest evidences of his 
 treachery, yet casually there happened an undeniable demonstra- 
 tion of it. Norfolk and he went abroad on pretence of hunting, 
 where they had a great deal of discourse concerning the whole 
 affair, and came to this agreement amongst themselves, to spin 
 out the matter, if it was possible, and so to delay it, that at last, 
 nothing might be done, and yet the cause not seem wholly desert- 
 ed neither. For by this means, the regent must depart, without 
 effecting what he came for; or else some commotion at home 
 would enforce him so to do, and then other remedies might em- 
 erge in time: For Norfolk was then designing a civil war, how 
 to take off the one queen, and to marry the other. Maitland in- 
 formed John Lesly, bishop of Ross, with this, one intimately ac- 
 quainted with all the queen's affairs, who accordingly informed 
 his mistress by letter, how the duke would have her write to court 
 what course to steer for the future; and though her cause went 
 but slowly on, yet that delay should not hinder her from expect- 
 ing a good issue. The queen having read those letters, laid them 
 by as loose papers, so that they came to be read by others; and 
 from hand to hand, were at last brought to the regent, who by 
 them discovered the main of his adversary's design against him; 
 as for Maitland, he had experienced his perfidiousness many 
 times before. 
 
 When the ambassadors before mentioned came to the queen at 
 London, she and her council thought it best, that the regent him- 
 self should come up, and speak to the points in question by word 
 of mouth: Upon which he dismissed part of his retinue, and with 
 the rest went to London; but there he met with the same difficul- 
 ty as he had done at York; for he refused to enter upon the ac- 
 cusation of the queen his sister, unless if he proved her guilty, the 
 queen of England would take the Scots king's party into her protec- 
 tion: If she would do this, he would begin the accusation im- 
 mediately, upon the same terms as he had proposed to the dele- 
 gates at York. Whilst these things were acting in London, the 
 queen of Scots, by means of James Balfour, endeavoured to raise 
 commotions in Scotland; and the more easily to accomplish her 
 designs, she wrote letters to all the exiles, and to BothwelFs 
 friends, to contribute all their endeavours to infest the contrary 
 faction by force of arms: And not only created lieutenants 
 through all the kingdom, to whom she gave even kingly power, 
 but caused rumours to be spread abroad, that the regent, and his 
 companions were committed prisoners to the Tower of London ; 
 but foreseeing that falsehood could not be long believed, she de- 
 vised another (to wit) that the regent had promised to su 
 Scotland to the crown of England; and, that he was to gi, 
 Vol. II. Y v 
 
352 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 the king, as a security. It is thought, her design in this was, that 
 whereas she had promised the same things by her commissioners; 
 and the English looked upon it as a vanity in her, seeing she had 
 no power to perform it; yet she was willing to possess the minds 
 of the vulgar with an untruth, and so to raise an odium against 
 the regent; and, if she could not avert the whole reproach from 
 herself, yet at least she would have her adversaries bear a part 
 with her therein. 
 
 When the regent saw himself in these straits, he resolved to 
 end matters as well as he could, and so to return home. Where- 
 upon, at the earnest solicitation of the English, who desired to 
 know the causes of the proceedings in Scotland (without which 
 they could determine nothing); he also being desirous to satisfy 
 the queen of England at that time, whom he could not offend 
 without great prejudice to his cause; and being willing to return 
 home to extinguish the civil war, then in its first rise, neither of 
 which he could well do, unless the queen of England was his 
 friend, or at least, not his enemy. Induced by these motives, he 
 first protested before the council of England, that it was not wil- 
 lingly, but by the importunity of his enemies, that he was com- 
 pelled to accuse his queen and sister of so horrid a crime before 
 strangers; that he did not do it out of any inclination to accuse, 
 but out of necessity to clear himself; for he was very unwilling to 
 discover those things which he wished, if possible, might be co- 
 vered in perpetual oblivion; and therefore, if any reflection were 
 made on what he did, the envy ought deservedly to light upon 
 those, who would not suffer him to be like himself; that is, to o- 
 hev his prince chearfully, when good, and to reprove him or her 
 against his will, when evil; only he desired one thing, that the 
 queen's proxies, who had forced him to that charge, might be 
 present to hear the crimes objected; that so, if they were false, 
 they might.disprove them before the council; and that he himself, 
 in many weighty matters, might aiso make use of their evidence. 
 
 The Scots queen's commissioners refused this, as putting little 
 confidence in their own cause, and insisted only on this one 
 thing, that the queen, who was by force of arms ejected, might 
 be restored. Whereupon, a day was appointed for the regent to 
 shew cause, why the revengers of the king's murder had taken up 
 arms (for he himself was then in France) and had ejected the 
 queen from her government, and acted other things, as till that 
 time they had done. When the time came, he declared, in order, 
 all tldngs as they had been acted, and the testimonies of the par- 
 
 izahs of the king's murder, made before their deaths; and also 
 the statute of parliament, to which many of the regent's accusers 
 had subscribed. And when the silver cabinet was produced, 
 which the queen had given her bv her former husband Francis, 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 353 
 
 and had bestowed on Bothwell; in which were letters to Both- 
 well, writ in French with the queen's own hand, and a French 
 poem, not inelegantly composed by her; and also the manner of 
 the king's death ; and after his death, Bothwell' s carrying her 
 off, and three contracts of marriage with him: the one before the 
 parricide, written with her own hand, in which, as by a bill, 
 she promises to marry him, as soon as ever she was freed from 
 her former husband: the other was, before the divorce' from his 
 former wife, writ by Huntly's hand: the third was openly made a 
 little before the marriage. When all this was produced, seen, and 
 read before the council, the whole fact was so plainly exposed, 
 that now no doubc could be made, who was the author of it. 
 Though the queen of England could not but believe these disco- 
 veries, yet she fluctuated in her mind; on the one side, there 
 were emulation, the queens mutually hating one another-, there 
 were also such flagrant crimes, and such evident proofs, that the 
 English queen thought her kinswoman of Scotland deserved no 
 assistance to restore her. And though her mind inclined to that 
 which was right, yet it was shaken and hesitated, upon the re- 
 membrance of her former state, not without a commiseration 
 and besides the majesty of royal honour, and a fear, lest the ex- 
 ample of expelling princes might creep into the neighbouring 
 kingdoms, wrought much upon her. Besides, she was afraid of 
 France, for the peace with them was not very sure or firm; and 
 especially at that time, the French ambassador daily pleading the. 
 cause of the banished queen. The Spanish ambassador was de- 
 sired also to interpose his mediation; but the foulness of the 
 crimes so deterred him, that he absolutely refused to meddle with 
 it. "Whereupon the queen of England, that she might leave a 
 door open for repentance, if matters should succeed amiss in 
 France, and not cut off all occasion of gratifying them, gave a 
 middle answer, so tempering it, that at present she said, she 
 knew no cause to the contrary, but that all things had been acted 
 according to law and justice in Scotland; yet, as if she deferred 
 the complete decision till another time, she desired, that, seeing 
 intestine tumults recalled the regent, he would leave her one of 
 his retinue in his stead, to make answer to those crimes, which 
 might be objected against him in his absence. But the regent, 
 who saw the matter to be thus delayed, that the queen might take 
 her measures to give sentence for her own advantage, and the e- 
 vent of foreign affairs, left no stone unturned that he might have 
 the cause fully determined now; and therefore he desired, as 
 most just and equitable, that if his enemies, who had long stu- 
 died beforehand to accuse him, had any thing to allege, they 
 would now produce it, and not watch an opportunity to calumni- 
 ate him in his absence, seeing they refused to appear face to face; 
 
 Y v 2 
 
354 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 he was not ignorant what rumours his enemies would cause to be 
 spread amongst the people, and what they had already said to 
 some of the council, and to the French ambassador; and there- 
 fore he earnestly desired of the council, to command them not to 
 mutter privately, but declare openly what they had to say; and 
 that he wanted not to make such haste home, but that he would 
 gladly clear himself first, let his own or the public interest suffer 
 what it would by his absence. Whereupon the commissioners of 
 the banished queen were sent for, and told, if they had any thing 
 to allege against the regent or his companions, in reference to 
 the king's murder, they should produce it. Their answer was, 
 they had nothing at present, but they would accuse them when 
 they were commanded by their queen. The regent answered, 
 that he was always ready to give an account of all his actions; 
 neither would he shun either time or place so to do; yet seeing 
 the queen began that accusation of him, he desired of his accus- 
 ers there present, that, if any of them had the least objection a- 
 gainst him, they would then declare it; for it was much more 
 honourable to produce it before so illustrious an assembly, than in 
 private cabals to sully his fame in his absence: this they also re- 
 fused. Upon which the whole council called upon them, and in 
 a manner reproached them, so that they were compelled, singly 
 and severally to confess, that they knew nothing of themselves, 
 why Murray, or any of his, should be accused of the king's mur- 
 der. Then after a long dispute, pro and con> the council was 
 dismissed, and from that time there was never any more mention 
 made of accusing the regent, or any of his companions. 
 
 Whilst the regent was thus necessarily detained in England, on 
 a public account, the queen's faction tried every way, both at 
 heme and abroad, to make disturbances, but -without effect. 
 James Hamilton, who had been regent some years before, seeing 
 that things went not according to his mind at home, had gone in- 
 to France, where having but a few companions, he lived pri- 
 vately with a servant or two to attend him, free from the hurry 
 of all public business. But when the queen of Scots was escaped 
 out of prison, overcome in battle, and then fled for England, the 
 French knowing that Murray was called home into his own coun- 
 try, and in his passage through France, not being able to work 
 him over to their party, in regard they could not send men or 
 money to Scotland, to raise disturbance there, by reason of their 
 own commotions at home; they therefore thought it most advis- 
 able to set up Hamilton in competition with him, especially at 
 that time, when the regent, with part of the nobility, was absent, 
 arid out of the way. He was therefore drawn out of his privacy, 
 and accommodated with some few pistoles, and larger promises. 
 In Ills return through England, his friends persuaded him, that, 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 355 
 
 since the queen of Scots, with her faction, favoured him, and the 
 queen of England was not averse to him, he would apply to the 
 latter, to induce Murray, by her authority, to resign his regency 
 to him, in as much as that office, by the law and consent of almost 
 all nations, and especially by the custom of their own country, 
 was due to him, as the next in blood. Neither was there any 
 great need to make a laborious search into the records of ancient 
 times for this; in which he might easily find, that governors were 
 always appointed to their princes, when under age, out oi the next 
 of kin; as when Robert III. died in the absence of James I. his 
 uncle Robert managed the government, and his son Murdac suc- 
 ceeded Robert. And of late times, John duke of Albany was 
 made governor to king James V. whilst he was under age; nay, 
 that Hamilton himself had been regent, some few years before 
 Mary, now queen, was of age fit to govern or marry ; and how 
 he was not excluded from that office by any lawful suffrages, but 
 unjustly by the rebellious; and that which increased the indigni- 
 ty was, that it was done in contempt of the blood royal, and a 
 bastard set up in his room; but if the honour were restored to him, 
 in a very short time all domestic tumults would be quieted; and 
 the queen, even without blood, would recover her crown and 
 dignity again. To which the king's ambassadors answered, 
 « That Hamilton desired a thing, not only contrary to the laws 
 " and customs of their ancestors; but, if the consideration of the 
 " law were omitted, yet it was very unjust in itself; for our an- 
 " cestors (said they) by reason their princes were murdered by 
 " their kindred, about 1300 years ago, did wholly change the 
 " method of their assemblies in making a king. For as before, in 
 " the family of Fergus, our first king, after the king's death, it 
 " was not the next of blood, but he that was most fit, was chosen 
 " king by suffrage. So Kenneth III. that he might hinder all 
 " plots against princes, by those of their blood, and might also 
 " prevent the cruel and bloody emulations of their kindred a- 
 <{ mongst themselves, made this decree of succession that now 
 " is, for the next of blood to be substituted in the room of the 
 <( deceased king. And men by experience finding, that in so 
 « great an inconstancy of fortune, it was scarce possible but that 
 « sometimes the right of chief magistracy should fall on a child, 
 " or else on one unable to govern; therefore they decreed, that 
 " he who preceded others in power and wisdom, should under- 
 " take the administration of the government in the mean time; 
 « and our ancestors, by observing this course for almost 600 
 < f years, have transmitted down a kingdom safe to us. Thus, 
 « when Robert Bruce died, there succeeded regents chosen by 
 " most voices, Thomas Randolph earl of Murray, Donald earl of 
 M Marr, Andrew Murray, John Randolph, Robert Stewart; 
 
35^ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 " sometimes a single person, sometimes more than one, were 
 " chosen by our public conventions to that office. So when James 
 " II. was a child, Alexander Livingston was appointed his gover- 
 « c nor, who was no ways related to that king in blood, neither was 
 " he so much as a nobleman, but a knight only, more eminent 
 " for his wisdom than his family. And if any say, that was for 
 " want of some of the king's line, the excuse will not hold; 
 « for at that very time, there was John Kennedy, chief of his 
 « family, his nephew by the sister of James I. a man eminently 
 " wise and virtuous j there were also his uncles, James Kennedy, 
 " archbishop of St. Andrews, the most eminent person for virtue 
 « in the whole kingdom; as also his brother, the son of the 
 " king's aunt; Douglas earl of Angus; Archibald also, earl of 
 " Douglas, not far removed from the king's line, but in power 
 " was almost equal to him; at least, he was .uperiorto all others; 
 " yet none ever complained of the injustice of our assemblies in 
 « chusing Livingston guardian. And not long after, James III. 
 " had four tutors or guardians assigned him, not taken on the ac- 
 « count of their kindred, but chosen by vote. And of late, John 
 " duke of Albany was sent for by the nobility out of France, to 
 « govern Scotland in the minority of James V. and when he 
 " came, he was settled in the regency by a public statute, enact- 
 " ed in a convention of the estates, which was not done on the 
 " account of proximity in blood; for he had Alexander an elder 
 " brother, one perhaps inferior to him, yet of far greater merit 
 " than James Hamilton, who for a time sffected that dignity. In 
 " the absence of James I. Robert his uncle managed the kingdom, 
 « I pray, by what right? Was he assumed into that office for 
 « nearness of blood ? No. Was he elected by the people ? No, 
 « nor that either. How was he then created ? I'll tell you how. 
 < < When king Robert III. was neither in body nor mind fit to ma- 
 " nage the kingly office, he set up Robert his brother in his 
 " stead, and commended his children to his care. The brother 
 « starved David his eldest son to death; James the younger had 
 " been also killed, had he not saved his life by flight. And being 
 " thus settled in the possession of the government, the king his 
 ♦ ' brother dying of grief, he kept it without the consent of the 
 « people in parliament, and transmitted it to his son Mordachus. 
 " How Robert the king that died last stood affected towards his 
 « brother, is very plain; for, as when he was a dying, he abo- 
 i( minated and cursed him, as the executioner of his children; so 
 *' certainly if he had been well enough in his lifetime, he would 
 *' not have designed him guardian to them. We are put in mind 
 « of that time, wherein, after the death of James V. he himself 
 " v as made regent, (as if any thing at all was legally acted by 
 *' hiin all that time.) 
 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 357 
 
 " When cardinal Beaton endeavoured by fraud to invade the 
 " chief magistracy, he crept into the vacant office, rather out of 
 " people's hatred to Beaton, than love to him; being got into it, 
 u he ruled with great cruelty and avarice 5 and not many years 
 " ago, he sold that magistracy which he got by force, and the 
 " queen too, then committed to his care: In this was shewn, 
 t( what affection the people bare to him, when they preferred 
 " the government of a woman and a stranger, before that bitter 
 " slavery they suffered under him. You see then, I suppose, 
 " how this request of Hamilton's is contrary to the laws of our 
 " country, and the institutions of our ancestors; nay, so contrary, 
 u that for want of arguments to maintain it, he supports it only 
 '* with falsehood. And if there could be supposed any custom 
 " of this kind, all men see how unjust it would be: For what 
 M can be more unequal, than to commit the innocent and. weak 
 '* age of the prince to his care, who either daily expects, or wish- 
 " es for the death of his pupil ? All whose family hath born, and 
 " doth bear great and lasting enmity to the family of the king 
 " that now reigns ? What safeguard can there be here, in near- 
 
 ness of blood, against ancient hatred, griping avarice, and a 
 " vehement propensity to the tyranny he hath tasted of ? Laodice 
 " queen of the Cappadocians, is reported to have slain her sons, 
 " as they came to age, thus purchasing to herself a short enjoy- 
 " ment of supreme dominion, with the innocent blood of her 
 " own children. If a mother destroyed the fruit of her womb, 
 " only to reign a little longer, what shall we think will old ene- 
 " mies attempt, or rather, what will they not attempt, being 
 '* inflamed to cruelty by the stings of avarice, against a child, 
 " who is the only obstacle to their hopes of perpetual sove- 
 " reignty? If this example seem old, obscure, and far-fetch- 
 " ed, I will add some more illustrious ones nearer home 
 « Who is so ignorant of what was acted, as not to know how 
 «< Galeacious Sforza was slain by his uncle Lewis, though he 
 « was of age, and married, and the son-in-law too of a most 
 « powerful king? Who doth not know the calamities that fol- 
 « lowed upon that cruel parricide? The brave country of Italy 
 « was almost made a wilderness; the family of the Sforza's, 
 « from whence so many valiant men had proceeded, was extin- 
 ct guished; and the barbarians were introduced into the pleasant 
 « country about the Po; whose avarice and cruelty despoiled and 
 " ravaged all. Besides, who is there of the inhabitants of Great 
 « Britain, that hath not heard of the cruelty of Richard III. king 
 " of England, against his brother's children? And with how 
 « much blood was that parricide expiated? If men that were 
 « otherwise more sagacious, did not fear to commit such tilings 
 << against their nearest in blood, excited only by the desire of the 
 
358 HJSTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 «« crown, what can be expected from him, whose inconstancy 
 < £ is well known to all, and whose ill management of the govern- 
 « meat hath already cost us so much blood? Whose family, not 
 «* content with the murder of this king's great-grandfather, al- 
 " ways acted traiterously against his grandfather by the mother's 
 " side, as long as he lived; and as for his grandfather by his fa- 
 " ther's side, when he could not kill him, he drove him poor, out 
 " of the kingdom; his father he brought forth as a sacrifice to 
 « be slain j his mother and the kingdom, when they could not 
 " enjoy it. themselves, they sold to strangers: And afterwards 
 « when, by the providence of God, she was delivered from that 
 " bondage, they cast her into those straits, in which she now is. 
 <( What judgment the subjects made of these things may appear 
 « by this, that men seemed to themselves delivered from the pri- 
 *' son of a most miserable bondage, so as to taste the sweetness 
 fc of liberty when they sold the government, which they them- 
 ** selves were not able to manage, to a woman and a stranger." 
 
 Upon the hearing of this oration, the English queen, by her 
 council, told Hamilton, that his demand was unjust, and that she 
 would not assist him in it; but that she was desired by the king's 
 ambassadors not to suffer him to depart (since he plotted nothing . 
 but sedition) till they likewise went themselves; which she look- 
 ed upon as very just, and therefore promised them it should be 
 so, and upon this, she charged him not to depart before that time. 
 The banished queen also encouraged her friends with the hopes 
 of her speedy return; for some letters of hers were intercepted, 
 wherein she advised them to seize upon as many castles and for- 
 tified places as they could; and so to disperse the war abroad, as 
 far as ever they were able : Neither need they fear the noise of a 
 truce, or accommodation; for if matters were ended that way, all 
 offences of former times would be covered and forgiven, under 
 the umbrage of peace : But if it should break out into an open 
 war, the more garrisons they had, the greater opportunity would 
 be put into their own hands, to annoy the enemy. 
 
 When the regent had settled matters as well as he could in 
 England, and had leave to return, some letters were brought out 
 of Scotland, lately intercepted from the queen of Scots, where- 
 in she complained to her friends, that she was otherwise treated 
 by the queen of England, than she herself first expected, or as 
 was promised, and that .by means of some courtiers, who were 
 the cause that she was not sent back with an army, as she affirm- 
 ed the queen of England had promised her; but she hoped short- 
 ly to obtain a good issue another way, for messengers often had 
 passed between her and Howard, about a marriage between them, . 
 and therefore she wished them not to be discouraged, but to in- 
 crease the strength of their party, make a general disturbance, 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. ^S9 
 
 and by all the arts they could, to hinder the regent's return in- 
 to Scotland. These letters being divulged, affected people dif- 
 ferently. The queen of England took it ill, that she was accus- 
 ed of breach of promise; as also, that the conditions of the truce 
 made by her means were not kept: And therefore being very an- 
 gry and enraged, she remitted much of her ancient favour to the 
 Scots queen, and was more enclined to equity than before. 
 The Euglieh, who wished well to the regent, were afraid that his 
 enemies would way-lay him to do him a mischief in his journey; 
 for in the counties which he was to pass through, they were ei- 
 ther, for the most part, Roman catholics, or thieves inhabiting the 
 borders of both kingdoms, who were all excited to hope tor a 
 sudden change; and it was plain, they were tampered with to in- 
 tercept him in his return; for which reason abundance of the En- 
 glish courtiers offered him their assistance to secure his passage: 
 but he was contented with only his own retinue, and about the 
 13th of January began his journey. But the queen of England 
 judging it to be for iier own credit and honour, that he should 
 return in safety, had of her own accord written to the command- 
 ers and the warden of the marches, that when he came to places 
 suspected, or noted for robbery, they should take care, that he 
 might not be circumvented; and they were very careful therein, 
 for strong guards of horse and foot were placed along the road, 
 so that he came safe to Berwick, and the day after, which was 
 the 2d of February, he was conducted home to Edinburgh, to the 
 great joy of his friends; who in great numbers were assembled. 
 His enemies hardly believed his coming at first, because false re- 
 ports had been causelessly spread, that he was shut up pri- 
 soner in the Tower of London; but when it was certainly known 
 that he was at Edinburgh, those who had beset the highways to 
 intercept passengers, let go their prisoners, and slipped awav 
 home; so that immediately from a turbulent tempest, there grew 
 a great calm and tranquillity. 
 
 A few days after, the nobility of the king's party had a great 
 meeting at Stirling, where the transactions with the queen of 
 England were opened and highly approved, by the consent of all 
 there present. About the same time, James Hamilton, chief of 
 his family, came out of England, who, by a new and unheard of 
 pretence and arrogance, was adopted as a lather, by the queen of 
 Scots, and made lieutenant of the kingdom. He declared his 
 commission, and forbade the people to obey any, but those sub- 
 stituted by him; upon this the royalists disbursed sums of mone\ 
 to raise forces, and to prepare to fight if need were: And accord- 
 ingly, at an appointed day, they met at Glasgow, but seeing the 
 country came nor in to Hamilton, according to his expectation, 
 by the mediation j-f his friends, terms of agreement were pro] ;s# 
 
 Vol. II. Z z 
 
3<fo HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 ed, upon which Hamilton was commanded to come to Glasgow, 
 to acknowledge the king as chief magistrate: If he did that 
 the rest would be easily acommodated; if he refused, it was in 
 vain for him to come. He, by the advice of his friends that were 
 with him, being forsaken by his clanships, and terrified by the 
 near approach of his enemy's army, resolved to comply with ne- 
 cessity, and to promise all that was desired; but when the forces 
 ot the royalists were disbanded, then he would consult his advan- 
 tage at leisure. When they came to Glasgow, a day was appoint- 
 ed, wherein they and their friends should profess their allegiance 
 to the king, and so recover their old estates and honours: In the 
 mean time, they were to remain in prison, or to give in hostages 
 of their kindred, for their forthcoming. This also was added to 
 their conditions, that all of the same party might come in, if they 
 pleased, on the same terms. Argyle and Huntly refused to sub- 
 scribe to those articles, either out of anger to Hamilton, that he 
 had given up himself to his enemy's hands, without asking their 
 advice; or else because they thought to obtain for themselves 
 more easy terms of peace. In respect of their power, or else, 
 being encouraged by frequent letters from England, they were 
 easily inclined to that they had most mind- to. For whilst 
 these things were acted in Scotland, letters came from the 
 exiled queen, containing large promises, and desiring them 
 not to be terrified with vain threats, for she should shortly 
 be with them, with a great army. Their minds were ready to 
 receive this news; and so much the rather, because the queen 
 was kept with a looser guard than ordinary; and there was 
 daily talk of her marriage with Howard. When Hamilton was 
 come to Edinburgh, at the day appointed, he eluded his promise 
 by several pretences; as that the rest of his party should come to- 
 gether, and so be all comprehended at once in one agreement: 
 As also, that they might send to the queen to know her mind; 
 and to this end, he desired to defer the matter till the ioth of 
 'May. To this his evident t-iflirfg, they answered that it was to 
 no purpose for him to expect Argyle and Huntly, for they had 
 declared, they would manage their concerns apart. As for the 
 queen, it Mas demanded, if she did not approve the capitulation, 
 what they would do? Then Hamilton answered ingenuously e- 
 nough, but not so prudently for the time, that he was compelled 
 to those conditions; by the force and terror of an army; that if he 
 were left f re e to himself, he would not subscribe at all: This be- 
 ing openly discovered, the regent committed Hamilton and MaX- 
 wel to Edinburgh ea-tle. The vest of the dispute was about Ar- 
 gyle and Hunt!;/; for Argyle, whilst the regent was in England, 
 came to Glasgow, to consult about public affairs, with about 
 1500 men in his company. Thither also came many of the neigh- 
 
Book XIX. history or. Scotland. 361 
 
 bowing countries of that faction; where they differed in their o- 
 pinions, and agreed in nothing, but only to disturb the public 
 peace. The people of Hamilton desired of Argyle, that seeing 
 the inhabitants of Lennox were firm to the king's cause, he would 
 vex them, by driving away their cattle, that so he might the bet- 
 ter draw them, though unwilling, to his party; or else might so 
 impoverish them, as to render them unable to be of so much ad- 
 vantage to their own side. When Argyle had communicated the 
 thine to the council of his friends, not one of them favoured his 
 design; for they remembered, that, for many years, the people 
 of Lennox had been much addicted to Argyle, and that there 
 were many alliances between them. Besides, said they, why are 
 the Argyle men nearer than those of Hamilton to the people of 
 Lennox., who lie in the middle between them both? Or why 
 should they put a task, so full of odium, upon him? Since it was 
 principally their own affair, let them appear first in it, and then 
 Argyle would not be wanting. He would be a companion, not a 
 leader, in such an expedition. "When that assembly had held 
 some days, it was dissolved, without doing any thing, and Argyle 
 returned through Lennox, which was his nearest way, without do- 
 ing them any hurt ; which moderation of his endeared him, both to 
 the commons and chiefs of the opposite faction, and made his par- 
 don more easily obtainable. 
 
 But Huntly had endeavoured in vain to break through Mern, 
 Angus, and Strathearn, in the regent's absence* having plunder- 
 ed the country, and their castle, and ranging over the neighbour- 
 ing places, had appointed Crawford and Ogilvy his lieutenants a- 
 bout Dee, usurping, at the same time, all the power of a king. 
 This carriage of his made his reconciliation the more difficult. 
 These two men, seeing their concerns were different, had a 
 council assigned, to meet at St. Andrews. Thither Argyle came 
 first: he was easily reconciled, for that year and the former, he 
 had committed no act of hostility ; and besides, he was the re- 
 gent's kinsman, and from his childhood, his great acquaintance 
 and familiar friend. So that all he required of him, was, an 
 oath to be faithful to the king for the future ; which, if he were 
 not, besides the usual punishment of the law, he did not desire but 
 to be accounted the basest person living. The rest were also ad- 
 mitted into favour, upon the same oath, but on far different con- 
 ditions. But Huntly' s case, before his arrival, was long debated 
 in council. 
 
 For, whereas in England, the marriage of the exiled queen 
 with Howard was'carried on, and their coming into Scotland was 
 privately designed; their faction there did, by degrees, take hear?., 
 and encourage the rebellious to disobedience. For, if matters 
 were put into confusion, they thought the new husband wouhi 
 
 Z z % 
 
362 HISTORY OF SCOTtAND. Book XIX, 
 
 have an easier entrance to possess the kingdom •, for which reason 
 when they knew that the regent would not be persuaded to betray 
 the king, as being his guardian and uncle, they endeavoured by 
 all means to abridge his power. For, besides those that had o- 
 penly taken arms against the king, a great part of the counsellors 
 did not now, as heretofore, favour Huntly in secret, but open- 
 ly. They pleaded strenuously for him, that he should be indem- 
 nified for what was past, since that was the readiest and safest 
 way to agreement; nay, that it was more creditable for the state, 
 to heal civil breaches without violence, and not to proceed to for- 
 feiture ©floods or loss of life; and by this means, peace might be 
 obtained at home, and renown abroad. But if a military course 
 were taken, they must fight with a man, who, by reason of his 
 ancient power, his great alliance, and by his many clanships, was 
 very formidable; and, if he were overcome (which yet was uncer- 
 tain) he might fly to the highlands and mountainous deserts, or to 
 foreign princes, where out of a small spark of disgust, a mighty 
 flame of war might in time be kindled. On the other side, it was 
 alleged, thnt the war would not be so formidable as some ima- 
 gined ; for his father, though he had the report of a very pru- 
 dent man, was yet easily subdued, even whilst his force was en- 
 tire; and therefore this young man, whose power was not yet e- 
 stablished, and besides, was discouraged by the recent calamity of 
 his family, was never able to bear up against all the power of the 
 kingdom, and the majesty of the kingly name too: and if he were 
 overcome in fight, or if distrusting his forces, he fled to the 
 mountains, there were those, who, by the same largesses by whjch 
 he had attached them to his service, or by greater, might be in- 
 duced either to kill him, or to betray him to the regent. For the 
 faith of mercenaries is changed with fortune; they follow the prosper- 
 ous , and forsake the afflicted. As for foreign princes, they esteem- 
 ed men according to their power ; neither were they concerned for an- 
 other's misery, but respected only their own advantage. But if any 
 king of another temper should be so clement and merciful, as to 
 entertain a fugitive and a beggar too; yet now the times were 
 such as took off that fear. For England alone, of all Europe, was 
 the country which enjoyed a nourishing peace, and that favoured 
 the cau^e; but other neighbouring kingdoms were so busied with 
 domestic dissensions, that they had no time to look abr6ad: and it 
 they had leisure so to do, yet there was some ground of hope, th.it 
 equity would prevail more with them than mercy towards exiles, 
 who were rebels to their own kings, and faithless to the kings of 
 other nations. As for the impunity, which they say will declare 
 our clemency; it will rather be an argument of our negligence, in 
 regard a just combat being declined through fear, a war is impru- 
 dently nourished under a pretence of peacr, and that such a pre- 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 363 
 
 tence as would encourage the crest-fallen spirits of the rebels, and 
 weaken the chearful endeavours of the king's best friends. For 
 how do you think will both parties stand affected, when the one 
 side sees that all is lawful for them, without present punishment, 
 and so they hope it will be for the future : and the other sec; 
 their perfidious enemies to be well rewarded for their wicked 
 crimes, themselves robbed of all their goods, and vexed with all 
 the calamities of war; and, whereas they expected a reward for 
 their faithfulness and constancy, instead of it, to be punished for 
 their love to their king and country? And therefore who can 
 doubt but that, if matters hereafter come to arms (which of ne- 
 cessity they must do, unless this fire be now quenched, before it 
 break forth) who, I say, can doubt, but that party will be strong- 
 est, which thrives by its wickedness, and which may do all things 
 with impunity; rather than the other, which must suffer all in- 
 juries offered to them with patience? And if those inconvenien- 
 cies did not attend this vain shew of clemency, yet neither the re- 
 gent, nor the king himself, could lawfully so pardon, as to give 
 away the goods of the robbed to their plunderers. If they should 
 do that, they must lay down the persons of rulers, and take upon 
 them the habit of spoilers too; if such a condition should be 
 granted, it were much more cruel for people to be despoiled of 
 their estates by kings, the grantcrs of indemnity , than by their ve- 
 ry enemies that robbed them. Many things having been canvas- 
 sed, and alleged to this purpose, on either side; those who were 
 for his indemnity, were outvoted by a few voices. The regent 
 declared that, for peace sake, he was very willing to pardon then- 
 private wrongs done to himself and the king; but for the injuries 
 offered to particular persons, he neither could nor would pardon 
 them: but if Huntly and those friends of his who had followed 
 his party, could make some terms of agreement with those they 
 had plundered, he was very willing, by the consent of both par- 
 ties, to appoint arbitrators, who might adjust the value of the 
 losses. 
 
 Peace, as it was thought, being settled on these conditions, 
 there arose another dispute, seemingly small, but managed with 
 greater eagerness than before. The question was, whether par- 
 clou was to be given to all of Huntly's party promiscuously, or 
 whether every man's cause and deserts should be considered 
 apart? Some were of opinion, that because they thought Hunt- 
 ly was dealt hardly with in being forced to pay damages to the ' 
 sufferers, that it was equitable to indulge him here, and net to 
 press so severely, as to disoblige his followers also. On the other 
 side it was alleged, that the chief aim, in such kind of wars, was 
 to dissolve factions; and that could not be done easily, any other- 
 wise t^ian if the judgment of pardon or punishment did reside in 
 
364 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX, 
 
 the breast of the prince alone. All men understand, how unjust 
 it is, to impose an equal fine on those whose offences are une- 
 qual; and that the adjusting of the punishment should be left to 
 Huntly himself, was by no means fit; for he (it was probable) 
 would exact the lightest fine from the greatest offenders; and 
 would lay almost the whole burden upon such as were least cri- 
 minal: since in imposing punishment, he would not weigh each 
 man's merit, but rather his propensity to his service; and as any 
 man had been more fierce and cruel in the war, so he would ob- 
 tain from him a higher place in his favour. On the other side, the 
 lightest offenders would have the sorest punishment, and they 
 who were less active in wickedness, should be fined for their 
 moderation and favour towards the king. These reasons so pre- 
 vailed with the council, that thev decreed to weigh every man's 
 case apart; and yet, that they might seem to gratify Huntly in 
 some things, his domestics were exempted, he was to lav a fine 
 on them himself as he pleased; but that which he most desired, 
 that the regent should not come with an army into the north 
 parts, was absolutely refused him. 
 
 Things being thus settled with Huntly at St. Andrews, the re- 
 gent, with two companies cf soldiers, and a great number of his 
 friend?, went first to Aberdeen, then to Elgin, and at last to In- 
 verness. The inhabitants near these towns being commanded to 
 appear, they obeyed the summons; some paid down the money 
 imposed as a fine on them, others gave sureties. Huntly, and 
 the chiefs of his clanships put in hostages. Thus having settled 
 the country towards the north, being highly congratulated by all 
 good men through all his march, he returned to St. Johnstons, 
 where an assembly of the nobility was summoned, on account of 
 , which Robert Boyd had brought out of England to the regent 
 
 gin; some of them were public, some were private; the pri- 
 vate ones were from some courtiers in England, containing a relation 
 cf Howard's conspiracy, which was so strong and cunningly laid, 
 that they thought no-force or policy could withstand it, though all 
 the remaining power of Britain were united together. In the«se 
 his friends exhorted him not to mingle his own flourishing 
 fortune with the desperate condition of others, but to -provide for 
 himself and his concerns, yet unimpaired, apart. 
 
 The state of affairs in England compels me here a little to di- 
 
 ■ because at that time, the good and ill of both kingdoms 
 were so conjoined, that the one cannot well be explained without 
 the other. The Scots, a few years before, were delivered from 
 
 h slavery by the assistance of the. English, and thereupon 
 
 hserved and subscribed to the same rites in religion, in com- 
 mon with the English. That sudden change of things seemed to 
 ■ .m universal quietness to all Britain, free from all domes*- 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 365 
 
 tic tumults. But presently upon this, the pope, with the kings 
 of France and Spain, threatened a war, and privately combined 
 to give another turn to things. The pope was not wanting, by his ex- 
 hortations and promises, to stir up their minds already enraged ; 
 but the kings were not sufficiently agreed amongst themselves; 
 and their forces were so exhausted, that they rather desired a war, 
 than were able to make it. Besides, there was an emulation be- 
 tween them; one could not well bear that the other should have 
 so great an accession as England, if it were conquered, to his do- 
 minions. And then also some disputes arose between them and 
 their subjeets, which diverted their thoughts from foreign affairs, 
 though the novelty of a woman's reign, and she a young woman 
 too, and unmarried, gave encouragement thereto (eopeeiallv since 
 those who were ill affected to her, said she was born to Henry 
 VIII. in an unlawful marriage) and the former differences about 
 the kingdom and religion, were rather stifled than* extinguished; 
 and besides that, the sparks of discontent glov/ed still in men's 
 minds, which in a short time were likely to break out into a 
 flame. 
 
 In the mean time, the English catholics had made many at- 
 tempts, but in vain; for they were soon quelled; and though their 
 designs never succeeded, yet foreigners still feeding them only 
 with 'blooming hopes, not with real supplies, they still persisted 
 in the same resolute design, wanting rather a commander for their 
 numbers, than power or courage to assemble. The common peo- 
 ple of that profession had taken a view of all the nobility, and they 
 found none fit enough, to whom they might commit their lives and 
 fortune^; many of the most stirring had been cut off in the civil 
 wars; many had gone over to the other party; some were so old, 
 that they were unfit for public business; or else the vigour of their 
 minds, as well as the strength of their bodies, was so debilitated, 
 that they desired peaee, if it were but a tolerable one. There 
 was only one man, who for courage and power seemed fit to un- 
 dertake so great a business, and that was Thomas Howard, who 
 though he was of himself inclinable to quietness, yet there were 
 some causes which moved him to study innovations; for his father 
 and grandfather, though they had been highly eminent, both in 
 war and peace, yet in the storms of an unstable court, they had 
 been so tossed, that their highest glory was balanced with as great 
 disgrace. His father was condemned for treason, and publicly be- 
 headed; and two queens, his kinswomen, had been also put to 
 death; he in those difficulties was liberally brought up, and so 
 preserved his family from being quite extinguished. In his very 
 youth, he gave a specimen of great prudence, and in a few years 
 by the death of his wives, and by new marriages, he grew so 
 rich, that, next to the queen, he was the most potest oi the En- 
 
366 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX, 
 
 glish. For wealth and prudence, the rest of the nobility yielded 
 to him; but, as for his skill in military matters, he had yet given 
 no proof of it 5, but in the controversies of religion, he carried him- 
 self so swimmingly and ambiguously, that though he favoured 
 popery in his heart, yet he was such a patron of the contrary 
 party, that many of them made sure of him in their thoughts, as 
 their own. 
 
 During this, the queen of Scots army was routed, and she her- 
 self fled to England, when she wrote letters to that queen, con- 
 cerning the cause of her coming; she was bid by her to retire to 
 the house of the lord Scroop, warden of the marches, till she 
 had considered of her demands in council. Scroop's wife was 
 Howard's sister, and by her means the treaty of marriage was se- 
 cretly begun between the queen and Howard; and the opportu- 
 nity seemed to be offered by God himself, seeing Howard's third 
 wife was lately dead, and he was then a widower. The design 
 was concealed, as being entrusted but to a few, yet it was whis- 
 pered abroad among the common people; for narrow spirits can- 
 not conceal great hopes > but joy gives them vent, and so they fly abroad* 
 The matter was so far advanced, that the fire of a civil war seem- 
 ed ready to break out; nay, and some were so confident of suc- 
 cess, after they had considered the strength of their parties, that 
 they thought Howard might easily do what he pleased, without 
 using any force. 
 
 Things were in this posture, when the Scots nobles had a 
 great meeting at Perth, to hear the demands of both queens, both 
 of them having written to them. The queen of England's letters 
 proposed one of these three conditions. The first was absolute, 
 that the queen might be restored to her throne and dignity as for- 
 merly. But if that could not be granted, then, that she might 
 reign jointly with her son, that so she might enjoy princely ho- 
 nour in letters and public acts; in the mean time, the regency 
 should be in the hands of the present regent, till the king came to 
 the age of seventeen. If neither of these could be obtained, then 
 the third condition was ("if the queen could be persuaded to ac- 
 cept of it) that she should live privately at home, being content 
 ■with those honours, which, saving the authority and majesty of 
 the king, might be granted to her. This last request was easily 
 assented to, if the queen would accept it; but the other two were 
 peremptorily refused. For the better and more incorrupt part of 
 the nobility were resolute in this, that they neither could, nor 
 ought to determine any thing which might diminish the king's au- 
 thority, especially being lawfully enthroned; but the two former 
 heads lessened the king's honour, nay, and exposed his life too, 
 being a pupil, unless it could be thought that his mother, who 
 was known ro be cruel to her husband, was not well affected to- 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 367 
 
 wards her son either, being exasperated by her banishment, 
 should be now more kind to him than she had ever been before. 
 The letters also from the exiled queen were read, wherein she 
 desired, that some judges might be appointed to consider of her 
 marriage with Bothwell; and, if it was found contrary to the law, 
 that she might be released from him. Those letters highly in- 
 censed the king's party, because she wrote herself as queen, and 
 commanded them as subjects. Nay, some would not have had 
 them answered at all, because they seemed to abridge the king of 
 his power, and to arrogate all to an exiled queen. But that part 
 of the council which was for the queen, alleged, that they wonder- 
 ed much, why those who had the last, year much desired that she 
 would separate her cause from Bothwell' s, now when it was free- 
 ly offered to them, should hinder it as eagerly as they had before 
 earnestly desired it. If a word or two in the letters did displease 
 them, that fault might easily be amended; nay, some there were, 
 who undertook (provided the matter of the divorce might be dis- 
 cussed in the mean time) to procure a commission from her, in 
 what expressions they themselves would have it. On the con- 
 trary, the adverse party urged, that they saw no new cause of 
 such great haste; sixty days was but a lawful time for Bothwell, 
 who was out of the kingdom, to appear; within which time a 
 new commission might be sent. Neither ought that delay to seem 
 long, especially to her, who had passed over so great a matter in 
 silence, two years, and had now sent letters, which were of them- 
 selves an hindrance, why those who were willing to gratify her, 
 could not comply with them. But if she seriously desired a di- 
 vorce, it was easy to be obtained; let her but write to the king of 
 Denmark, desiring him to punish the murderer of her former hus- 
 band; who being once dead, she might marry whom and where 
 she pleased, though all her adversaries should forbid. But if she 
 refused this, then it was plain, she spoke not sincerely and from 
 her heart, but made a counterfeit pretence of divorce, that, if she 
 married again, she might also live in a disputable and uncertain 
 matrimony, even with her next husband. And of this there was 
 a strong suspicion, because she desired such judges to determine 
 the divorce, who had no power in the case. For what power 
 could the regent have over exiles, with whom he had nothing at 
 all to do; and who, unless they themselves pleased, might refuse 
 to stand to his judgment? Or how could they, who had not the 
 disposal of themselves, submit to another's judgment? But seeing 
 there seemed to be some hidden fraud in the case, a decision was 
 not to be hastily made, but the queen of England was to be ac- 
 quainted with it, in whose power it was, either to promote or hin- 
 der it. Hereupon a voung nobleman, of the regent's friends, was 
 Vol. II. A a a 
 
368 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 sent to the queen of England, to acquaint her with the acts of the 
 convention. Some may perhaps wonder, that since gi-eater mat- 
 ters were transacted with less dispute, there should be such ado 
 made about the divorce. But this was the cause of it : Howard 
 had privately transacted by his friends, concerning his marrying 
 the queen of Scots; and the conspiracy was so strong both at home 
 and abroad, that it was rumoured among the vulgar, the design 
 Was, to take away both of the lawful princes, and so to seize on 
 the two kingdoms for themselves; the place, time, and the whole 
 of the design was so ordered, that all things seemed to be secure 
 against any force whatsoever. The conspirators were most for- 
 ward and urgent to remove what might hinder the marriage; if that 
 were done, they seemed secure, that all the rest should fall in of 
 itself. On the contrary, they who were for the king, made it 
 their chief business to cast in causes to delay it; for that, in the 
 mean while, many secret designs might in time be discovered, 
 and the conspiracy prevented by the care of both princes. 
 
 In this posture of affaira the deci'ee of the Scots council was 
 brought to the queen of England; but she alleging she was not 
 satisfied with that answer, and that the messenger did not seem to 
 her a fit person with whom she might confer in so dangerous a 
 time, and about such weighty matters, desired to be better in- 
 formed by the Scots of those matters. Whereupon there was an- 
 other assembly of the nobility held at Stirling, where they drew 
 up this answer : " That as for the third of her late propositions, it 
 «« might admit of a consultation, in order to an agreement; but 
 ic the second was of that kind, that no consultation at all could be 
 " admitted on that head, without manifest impiety, in regard it 
 " would not only diminish, but even extirpate the royal authori- 
 ff ty. For besides that all partnership in supreme magistracy is 
 " dangerous; how can two be equally joined in government; of 
 " whom one was a child, scarce out of his infancy ; the other a 
 " woman in the prime of her age, of a crafty wit, having passed 
 " through variety of fortunes, who, as soon as ever she can wind 
 K herself into part of the government, either by the strength of 
 " that faction, which, though she was removed by a public de- 
 *' cree from the administration, do yet labour to restore her, not 
 " by intreaties, but threats; or else by corrupting the king':; 
 " friends; or lastly, bv foreign soldiers, whom she is now busy to 
 " procure, will soon derive the whole authority to herself? How 
 '* will she endure that vin infant should fee equalled with her, who 
 " would not be equalled even by her husband? Besides, if she 
 " should marry some powerful person, (such a matter being now 
 " on foot), her strength would be doubled, and her husband (as 
 " of necessity he must) be admitted into p;:rt of the government, 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 369 
 
 " and would not willingly suffer, that his children should be pre- 
 " vented in the succession by a son-in-law; and then, in what a 
 <* case would the child be? What if his friends (as most men 
 «« are inconstant) should prefer a present benefit to future hopes, 
 " and so side with the strongest? What can attend an infant, 
 " being now thrust down into the second, and then into the 
 " third place, but utter ruin? As for other things, they had ra- 
 M ther leave them to her private thoughts to meditate upon, than 
 " to make a previous conjecture, what an angry woman, hav- 
 " ing power in her hands, prompted by the imperious counsels 
 " of her uncles, having evidenced her cruelty towards her hus- 
 u band, being also exasperated by her banishment, would at- 
 " tempt against a child, especially when stripped of all aid of 
 " nature and fortune, and exposed as a sacrifice to her rage? 
 " And what life would his friends lead, by whom she thought 
 «« she was so grievously wronged? Besides, what would the state 
 " of religion be, when she could vent that rage, which in for- 
 ** mer times her fear had concealed, especially if an husband, 
 " of known arrogance, should further excite her innate cruelty? 
 " How easily might the^oung king's friends be destroyed, when 
 " he was cut off? Or how soon might the king be subverted, 
 « when he had lost his friends? For these reasons the queen 
 " could not be assumed into a part of the government, with- 
 f« out evident destruction to the king. Matters standing thus, 
 « there was no need to speak any thing to the first head of her 
 « demands." 
 
 Robert Pitcairn was sent to carry this answer into England, a 
 man of no less prudence than loyalty, and he came to that court 
 in the very crisis of time when the conspiracy to kill the queen, 
 and to seize on both kingdoms, was discovered. The plot was 
 so strongly laid, that the queen of England began to be afraid 
 of herself; and after she had sent Howard to the Tower of Lon- 
 don, she durst not proceed to punish the queen of Scots, but 
 was consulting to send her by sea to the regent of Scotland j 
 but when the storm was a little over, that design vanished. 
 
 In the mean time, the regent seeing the power of the ad- 
 verse faction mightily increase, sends for William Maitland, 
 who was a great incendiary to the conspiracy, from Perth to 
 Stirling ; he being conscious of his guilt, though he had ex- 
 perienced the regent's lenity to all his friends, even in the great- 
 est offences, yet made no great haste to come; till having be- 
 fore sifted out, by his friends, if any design was formed a- 
 gainst him; he tampered also with the earl of Athol to go with 
 him, that, if need were, he might use him as his intercessor. 
 As he was sitting in council at Stirling, Thomas Crawfurd, % 
 
 Aaa? 
 
37° HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 dependent of the earl of Lennox's, accused him of having a 
 hand in the king's murder: Whereupon he was commanded to 
 be kept close prisoner in a chamber in the castle ; . whilst others 
 were sent to apprehend James Balfour, who was absent. The 
 wiser sort would have had them both processed against accord- 
 ing to law, as having been the authors of the tumults that had 
 happened for some years; and as they were privy to the murder 
 of the last king, so they were leaders of the faction against the 
 present : But the lenity of the regent overcame all consideration 
 of public good ; which proved calamitous to his country, and 
 fatal to himself: Balfour, by his friends' mediation, obtained par- 
 don for his conspiracy, though lately entered into; and Mait- 
 land was brought to Edinburgh, into a lodging not far from the 
 castle; some horsemen were appointed to guard him, under the 
 command of Alexander Hume, a young and active nobleman; 
 but William Kirkaldy, governor of the castle, about ten o'clock 
 at night brought counterfeit letters to Alexander, (as if they had 
 been the hand-writing of the earl of Murray) which command- 
 ed him to deliver Maitland into his custody. Ke knowing in 
 how great favour Kirkaldy was with Murray, readily obeyed, 
 and thus Maitland was carried into the castle by the governor, 
 who, even till then, had privily been of the enemies party. 
 
 The nobility were exasperated at it, and almost doubted whe- 
 ther they should impute so great an offence to Kirkaldy, or to 
 the regent himself, as one not ignorant of his audacity: and the 
 matter had come to a sedition, if the sanctity of his whole life 
 had not outbalanced all imputations of reproach. It is true, 
 Kirkaldy was a valiant man, and accounted, till that time, a faith- 
 ful observer of friendship, and as he had received many other 
 courtesies from the regent, so he had been lately preferred by 
 him to the government of the castle, before his other friends 
 and kindred, though the more discerning sort did even then sus- 
 pect him ; but such was the indulgence of the regent towards 
 those whom he once loved, that he could not be severe to them, 
 though taken in the very act of offending. Kirkaldy, the nr\t 
 day, was sent for by the regent, but refused to come ; and this 
 in an unlucky hour, when Howard and the queen were daily ex- 
 pected, raised the spirits of the adverse faction. Strange reports 
 were commonly spread abroad, that the regent was forsaken by 
 his intimate friends, in such a doubtful time ; and so the castle 
 being held against him, he was left to his enemies' will, others 
 being likely to follow so leading an example very shortly ; and 
 when the governor was taken away, the innocent king and his 
 iavourers would be delivered up to those punishments which the, 
 crudest tyrants could devise. 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 3 7 1 
 
 Yet the regent was not moved by their speeches, but the next 
 day went to the castle, and spoke to the governor with an un- 
 changed countenance, as if he had been reconciled to him, and 
 so returned to the expedition he had undertaken against the rob- 
 bers. In his passage through March he turned aside, as he was 
 wont familiarly to do, to Alexander Hume, the chief of that 
 clanship; there also (Hume himself being covetous, and having 
 been drawn off by great promises to the contrary faction) he 
 found no good reception from Hume's wife, who being an ar- 
 rogant woman, even ridiculed him to his face ; thence he went 
 to Teviotdale, coming thither with a small retinue, and little 
 more than his ordinary guard, the thieves admiring his valour 
 and constancy, in that solitude of his friends, having received 
 the public faith for their return, came in such numbers to him, 
 that their multitude equalled, nay, sometimes exceeded those of 
 his attendants; yet he remitted nothing of his former greatness 
 of mind, but answered them as became the dignity of the public 
 and his own too; and without doubt, he had quieted them with- 
 out force, had not some of the neighbouring nobility, well af- 
 fected to Howard, and now ready to take arms, hindered his de- 
 sign. His friends came in to him at the time appointed, and 
 then he marched into the territory of the thieves, though some 
 of the neighbourhood endeavoured to dissuade him, telling him 
 of the difficulty and danger of the expedition. He passed with 
 his army through Liddisdale, Eusdale and Eskdale, and received 
 hostages not only from them, but from those beyond them ; on- 
 ly some, who, by reason of the greatness of their offences, di- 
 spaired of pardon, were outlawed. This expedition procured 
 him not only the favour of the people for settling them in secu- 
 rity, but raised their admiration also, that a man forsaken by 
 his intimate friends, and extremely unprovided of necessaries, 
 should accomplish that in a few days, which the most potent of 
 our kings, in full peace, and with great forces, could hardly ef- 
 fect in a long time. 
 
 "Whilst these things were acting, he was made acquainted that 
 the English conspiracy was detected, Howaid committed to pri- 
 son, and the Scots queen more strictly guarded than before 
 Robert Pitcairn, having performed his embassy with good suc- 
 cess, was returned; he informed the regent, that his proceedings 
 were very acceptable to the queen of England; in that he had 
 quieted the borders; that he had imprisoned the earl of Nor- 
 thumberland, one of the conspirators, who was fled into Scot- 
 land; that he was pursuing all the rest as enemies; that he had 
 sent to the governor of Berwick, to offer him assistance freely 
 on all occasions. These courtesies she promised to remember 
 
372 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX. 
 
 and that she should not be wanting to him in his dangers, 
 but that all the force of England should be at his service if need 
 were. 
 
 All the time of this expedition, the regent had daily informa- 
 tion brought him by his faithful friends, of a great conspiracy 
 against him entered into at home. And in all the letters the 
 governor of the castle was still accused; whereupon the regent, 
 old courtesies and ancient acquaintance not being yet quite worn 
 out of memory, wrote to him plainly, and sent him a copy of 
 all his accusations. He answered so coldly to the crimes object- 
 ed, that he became now more suspected than before : He denied, 
 that any man could shew his subscription to any engagement, re- 
 lating to that conspiracy. 
 
 In the mean time, the day for Maitlaiid's trial drew near: For 
 after he was carried to the castle, to put a bold face on a bad mat- 
 ter, he expressly desired to be brought to his trial; for he was 
 fully persuaded, that the power of the conspirators was so great 
 in England, and also in Scotland, (of whom he was one of the 
 chief) that nothing could be orderly or lawfully determined: For 
 in trials of life and death, there used to be great {lockings toge- 
 ther of friends and vassals, according to the faction, favour, or 
 nobility of the accused, as it happened also at this time. The 
 chief of the faction against the king, viz. the earls of Hamilton, 
 Gordon, and Argyle, gathered all their force against that day; 
 hoping, that if the judgment were disturbed by arms (as it was 
 easy to do) they might end. the. conflict at one skirmish, as being 
 superior in number of men, opportunity of the place, and also 
 better provided for war. The regent expected not a contest by 
 arms, but law, and had therefore made no preparation on the 
 other side; and thus being unwilling to put things to the utmost 
 hazard before he needs must; and also, lest the majesty of the 
 government might be lessened by contending with his inferiors, 
 he put off the day of trial; and the day after, about January the 
 first, having sent the earl of Northumberland to a prison in Loch- 
 leven, he went to Stirling. 
 
 The adverse party thus again disappointed, and perceiving the 
 authority and power of the regent to increase, and that, besides 
 his popularity at home, he was also supported by the English; 
 being stirred up, partly by emulation, partly by the large pro- 
 mises of the queen of Scots, who by letters informed them, that 
 the French and Spanish forces would be presently with them, 
 they proceeded to accomplish that which they had long designed, 
 even the cutting off the regent. As long as he was alive, they 
 knew their projects could not take effect, and therefore they sent 
 messengers through ail countries to the chiefs of their faction, 
 
 'b x 
 
Book XIX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 373 
 
 to enter into a league to that purpose. To this league the Ha- 
 miltons subscribed, and those who either themselves or their 
 children were prisoners in the castle of Edinburgh. The go- 
 vernor himself was thought to be privy to it, and that which fol- 
 lowed, increased the suspicion: James Hamilton, son of the 
 archbishop of St. Andrews his sister, promised to be the instru- 
 ment, and endeavoured to find a fit time and place to commit 
 the murder. It happened, that at the same time some hopes 
 were given to the regent, that Dumbarton would be rendered up 
 •n conditions; whither he went, but returned without success. 
 Hamilton being intent on all occasions, his ambushes not suc- 
 ceeding well, first at Glasgow, then at Stirling, he fixed upon 
 Linlithgow, as a place fittest to execute his purpose, because that 
 town was in the clanship of the Hamiltons, and the archbishop 
 his uncle had a house there, not far from that where the regent 
 used to lodge; in that house, being prepared for the murder, he 
 closely concealed himself. The regent had often been apprised 
 of this design, and particularly that morning, before it was light: 
 The discoverer for more surety added, that the murderer lay hid 
 at the distance of three or four houses from his lodging; that if 
 he would send a small party with him, he would pull him out of 
 his hole, and so discover the whole design and order of the secret 
 plot: But the regent would not alter his former purpose: only he 
 designed to go out of the town thro' the same gate he came in 
 at, and then take another route in his journey; but neither did he 
 keep to this resolution; either because he undervalued such dan- 
 gers, as believing his life to be in God's hand, to whom he was 
 willing to render it, when it was called for; or else because the 
 multitude of horse, waiting for him, stopped up the way. When 
 he was got on horseback, he thought to ride swiftly by the sus- 
 pected places, and so to avoid the danger: but the multitude of 
 the people crowding in, hindered this design also, so that the 
 murderer, out of a wooden balcony, which he had purposely co- 
 vered with linen, as if it was for another use, shot him with a 
 leaden bullet, a little below the navel, and it came out almost by 
 his reins, and also killed the horse of George Douglas, which 
 was beyond him. Hamilton escaped by a back door or passage 
 of the garden, which he had plucked down for that end; and 
 so mounting a swift horse, set on purpose to carrv him off, after 
 he had committed the fact, by James Hamilton, abbot of Aber- 
 brothock, he rode to Hamilton, with the great gratulation of those 
 who waited to hear the event of his audacious enterprize; who 
 commended him highly, and rewarded him profusely, as if now 
 the kingdom x had been actually translated into their own family. 
 They at Linlithgow being startled at the suddenness of the 
 
374 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XIX» 
 
 noise, the regent told them he was wounded, and as if he had 
 not felt it, he leaped from his horse, and went on foot to his 
 lodging: They who were sent for to cure the wound, at first said 
 it was not mortal; but his pain increasing, though his mind was 
 not disturbed, he began seriously to think of death. Those who 
 were about him, told him that this was the fruit of his own le- 
 nity, in sparing too many notorious offenders, and amongst the 
 test his own murderer, who had been condemned for treason. 
 To which he returned a mild answer, according to his custom, 
 saying, Your importunity shall never make me repent of my cle- 
 mency. Then having settled his domestic affairs, he commended 
 the king to the nobles there present, and, without speaking a 
 reproachful word of any man, departed this life before midnight, 
 about January 23d, in the year 157 1. 
 
 His death was lamented by all good men, especially by the 
 commons, who loved him alive, and lamented him wlien dead, 
 as the public father of his country; for, besides his many other 
 noble atchievements, they called to mind, that not a year before, 
 he had so quieted all the troublesome parts of the kingdom, that 
 a man was as safe on the road, or at his inn, as in his own 
 house; and envy dying with him, they who were disaffected to 
 him when alive, really praised him when dead. They admired 
 his valour in war, which yet was always accompanied with a 
 great desire of peace; his celerity in business was always so suc- 
 cessful, that an especial providence of God seemed to shine on 
 all his actions; besides, his clemency was great in moderately pu- 
 nishing, and his equity as great in his legal decisions. When 
 he had any spare time from war, he would sit all day long in 
 the college 01 the judges; so that his presence struck such a re- 
 verence into them, that the poor were not oppressed by false ac- 
 cusations, nor tired out by long attendance, their causes not be- 
 ing put off to gratify the rich. His house, like an holy temple, 
 was free, not only from impiety, but even from wanton words; 
 after dinner and supper, he always caused a chapter out of the 
 holy Bible to be read; and though he had still a learned man 
 to interpret it, yet if there were any eminent scholars there, (as 
 frequently there were a great many, and such were still respect- 
 ed by him), he would ask their opinions of it; which he did, not 
 out of a vain ambition, but a desire to conform himself to its 
 rules. He was in a manner too liberal ; he gave to many, and 
 that very often; and his alacrity in giving commended the gift. 
 And that he might spare the modesty of the receivers, he com- 
 monly gave very privately with his own hand. In a word, he 
 was honest and plaih-hearted to his friends and domestics ; if 
 any of them did amiss, he reproved them more sharply than he 
 
Book XIX. 
 
 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 375 
 
 did strangers. By these his manners, deportment, and innocen- 
 cy of life, he was dear and venerable, not only to his country- 
 men, but even to foreigners, especially to the English, to whom, 
 in all the vicissitudes of providence in his life, his virtues were 
 more known than to any other nation. 
 
 Vol. II. 
 
 Bbb 
 
(A. C. 1571.; 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 O F 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 »eae©|£££|©««e« 
 
 BOOK.XI 
 
 •£* LL that time, which immediately followed the death of the 
 last regent, although it was free from bloodshed, yet was it em- 
 broiled with the various attempts of the factions. Before the mur- 
 der, the Hamiltons in great numbers had met at Edinburgh, un- 
 der the pretence of prevailing with the regent, to release James 
 Hamilton, the head of their kin or tribe, who was yet kept prison- 
 er in the castle. But after the murder was perpetrated, they sent 
 some from amongst them, to the rest of the Hamiltons, who were 
 to dissuade the other clans (for so they would have made people be- 
 lieve) from joining with, or protecting the public parricides. But, 
 as very many suspected, it was to bid them be prepared, and ready 
 for all occasions. For the next night after the murder, Walter 
 Scott, and Thomas Kerr of Farnihest, entering into England, ra- 
 vaged all places with fire and sword; and that with somewhat 
 more cruelty than was used in former times. Neither was it so 
 much the desire of booty or revenge, which moved them to this 
 unusual cruelty, as the effect of what was long before resolved by 
 the bishop of St. Andrews, and the rest of the heads of the fac- 
 tion, to incense the English against the Scots. And if they could 
 
Book XX. i-nsTORY of scotmnd. 377 
 
 provoke them no other way to take up arms, then by injuries to 
 draw them, though unwillingly, into a war. The governor of the 
 castle, although suspected upon many accounts, so that all men's 
 eyes and discourse were upon him, by way of reflection, as yet 
 continued in his former counterfeited loyalty to the king. It was 
 upon his account, that William Maitland was delivered out of 
 prison j for when he had, in many words, pleaded his innocency 
 before the council, the nobles then present attesting, that it did 
 not with any certainty appear to them, that he v/as guilty of those 
 .crimes which were laid to his charge (for he was accused to have 
 been privy to the king's and regent's murders, and also to be the 
 author of the civil war that was lately raised in England) he was 
 at last dismissed; yet so, that the matter seemed to be deferred til* 
 another time, rather than absolutely to be decided. He also, pro- 
 testing his innocency upon oath, promised to appear whenever th fi 
 king's relations would appoint a day for his trial. Afterwards 
 when, upon consulting about the state of the kingdom, they had 
 almost agreed, that of those whom the queen, before she abjured 
 her government, had nominated tutors to the king, he that would 
 undertake it, provided he had not afterwards revolted to the ad- 
 verse faction, should have the chief administration of affairs. 
 Maitland, now contriving the disturbance of affairs, brought it so 
 about, that it should be again signified to the absent lords, that 
 they might, if they pleased, be present in the parliament of the 
 regent, to be assembled at a certain day, lest they might after- 
 wards complain* that so great an affair was hastily huddled up in 
 their absence. Athol, with a few others, consented; neither did 
 the rest refuse it, that they might take away all occasion of detrac- 
 tion and calumny from their adversaries, rather than that they had 
 any hopes that this delay of the parliament would bring any pro- 
 fit to the public. 
 
 After these things, Thomas Randolph, the English ambassa- 
 dor, had audience. For that queen, while the regent was yet alive, 
 had sent her ambassadors to demand those English exiles, who, after 
 Howard's conspiracy was detected, and he punished, for fear of 
 punishment, had escaped thither. The regent, giving these am- 
 bassadors audience at Stirling, had referred them to the council 
 at Edinburgh; and, after his death, things being in a great con- 
 fusion, they returned home, without any answer. But when they 
 convened about chusing a regent, Randolph (who some years be- 
 fore had been in Scotland) for that he was thought -to be well read 
 in the affairs, and in the men of that kingdom; and that his for- 
 mer embassies had been also advantageous to both nations, was in 
 great esteem with all good men like himself. Being introduced 
 into the council, he declared, " How great his queen's good- 
 f* will had always been towards the Scots: that as she had not 
 
 B b b 2 
 
37^ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 " formerly been wanting to them in' their disturbances, so she 
 " would not fail them now. Then he rehearsed their incursions 
 ** into England, the slaughters, rapines, and burnings of late 
 " days committed: adding, that she knew well enough that none 
 " of these things were acted by the public council; that therefore, 
 " at present, her kindness and friendship towards them was the 
 <c same it ever was. So that although she had been in the high- 
 u est manner, and, without any cause, provoked; yet she did 
 " not, as she might justly do, repeat particulars, nor publicly re- 
 " quire reparation; nor for the fault of a fenv^ seek punishment 
 « of all; that indeed she was not ignorant what a great disturb- 
 " ance in public affairs there was of late; yet she was no ways 
 " doubtful of the good-will of honest men towards her; that, in 
 " favour of them, she did not only free the public from any guilt, 
 (l but if, by reason of domestic troubles, they could not compel 
 " the disturbers of the peace to settle things, she would join her 
 «« forces with theirs, that so, by common consent, they might 
 " exact punishment of those violators of leagues and truces; but 
 « if they were not able to do that, then she would revenge their 
 '« injuries with her own forces; that her army should pass peace- 
 " ably through the country, without the least damage to it; that 
 " none that had not been guilty of the crimes alleged, should be 
 " involved in the punishment." 
 
 The remaining heads of this embassy contained admonitions, 
 ever profitable in all legal assemblies, but now, as the present 
 posture of affairs was, very necessary, viz. " That they should 
 «« first of all, with all care and vigilance, have regard to religion, 
 tc which alone teaches us our duty to God and man; that seeing no 
 «< commonwealth at discord within itself can long subsist, they 
 « c should bend their chiefest endeavours, and strive with their ut- 
 <{ most force, that at home, among fellow subjects and countrymen 
 " peace and concord might be religiously observed; and seeing 
 " God, the framer of the universe, had indulged them with a 
 " kingly government, it was just for them to honour and obey 
 " their kings, and to yield all observance and obedience to them. 
 « That peace, concord, and friendship with all men, as much as 
 " possible, are most acceptable to God, and quench, or at least, 
 « lessen the thirst of shedding human blood, (which wickedness 
 " God especially detests); that they increase the riches of all 
 " in general, and render a people more formidable to their 
 " enemies; that justice is the preserver of the public safety, 
 " of which the chief part now to be made use of is, the punish- 
 " ment of offenders; and since treason is most hateful to every 
 " lawful government, its abettors, to what part of the ca; 
 " ever they retreated, should have neither mercy, favouiyror in 
 Cf diligence shewed them." 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 379 
 
 Thus far Randolph, whose advice seemed both pious, whole- 
 some, and reasonable. But, because none was yet chosen re- 
 gent, he could not have any certain answer, and therefore was 
 put off till the first of May. At last, William and Robeit Doug- 
 las, brothers by the mother's side to the late murdered regent, pe- 
 titioned, that the villanous death of their brother, suffered upon' 
 no private, but the commonwealth's account, should be reveng- 
 ed. Herein the opinions were various, although all agreed, that 
 the murderers were to be punished. Some thought fit, that a 
 day should be appointed for those suspected of the murder to ap- 
 pear and many of their minds were given in. Others were of o- 
 pinion, that court days were not to be waited for against those 
 who were now in arms, to maintain by force that fact which they 
 had impiously committed; and that it was fit, not only to take up 
 arms forthwith against them, but likewise against all those who 
 were sentenced by the last parliament. 
 
 To this opinion the knights of the shires were most inclined; 
 yet they could not obtain their desires, through the dissuasion 
 chiefly of Athol, who said, they ought to expect a more numerous 
 assembly of the nobility; and of Morton, who thought, that, 
 should they join more crimes together, the revenge of the regent's 
 death would miscarry, and a civil war break out; because all 
 those who dreaded the peace, would join with the murderers; 
 that therefore their crimes should be separated, and affairs, if pos- 
 sible, by law transacted, and nothing innovated before the first of 
 May (which was the day appointed for their meeting). And so 
 that session was dissolved; most part of the people condemning 
 this delay of the nobility, because (said they) all things are acted 
 as the king's enemies please, who had occasioned these delays on 
 purpose, that thereby the odium of the murder might diminish, 
 and the opposite faction in the mean while gain strength. 
 
 L his opinion of the people was confirmed, not onlv bv some 
 preceding accidents, but also by very many which followed. For 
 presently, when the regent's murder was yet hardly divulged, 
 James Hamilton, upon a mortgage of his lands, procures money 
 of John Somerville of Cambusnethan, which, together with ano- 
 ther sum, borrowed of his friends, he sent to his accomplices to 
 hire troops, having warned them before, to be ready for all at- 
 tempts, because of the sudden alteration which had happened, up- 
 on their having rid themselves of their capital enemy. And, after 
 that, the queen's party ceased not to have meetings in many and 
 distant places. About the 15th of February, almost all the chiefs 
 of the rebellious faction met together at Glasgow; whence Ar- 
 gyle and Boyd wrote to Morton, that they, because as yet they 
 knew not who were the actors in, or privy to the regent's mur- 
 der, would willingly communicate their counsel with, the rest of 
 
380 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 the nobility, as well for its discovery as punishment; but that 
 they would not come to Edinburgh. But if the king's party would 
 be persuaded to meet them at Linlithgow, at Falkirk, or at Stir- 
 ling, they would, without delay, come thither. This being 
 communicated to Maitland by Morton (for so the letter desir- 
 ed) came to nothing. About the same time, Thomas Kerr wrote 
 to his father-in-law, the governor of the castle, from Linlithgow, 
 that if the queen of England would be prevailed withal, to lay by 
 her resentment of the late incursions, he would endeavour that, 
 for the fut ure, the borders should be quieted, and kept in due or- 
 der; but if she should refuse these offers, he would continue in 
 the design he had begun; not doubting, but that his honest coun- 
 trymen, who yet retained their loyalty to their queen, would join 
 with him, and that the French auxiliaries would likewise speedily 
 arrive. 
 
 About the 3d of March, the Hamiltons, with Argyle and Boyd, 
 met at Linlithgow; but the killing of one common soldier beget- 
 ting-a tumult, disturbed all their counsels; which made the arch- 
 bishop of St. Andrews take home the Hamiltons along with him. 
 The rest of the rebels, especially Huntly, Athol, Crawfurd and 
 Ogilvy; as also those on this side Forth, Hume, Seton, and 
 Maitland, met at Edinburgh, where Morton was accompanied but 
 with a few, till the earls of Glencairn and Marr, with their follow- 
 ers, came to him. About the fourth of March, the heads of the 
 factious met to consult about the main affair; but this consulta- 
 tion went but slowly on, by reason of Argyle's absence, whose 
 power and authority was then very great. Huntly goes to him, 
 undertaking to persuade him to join with the rest of the faction, 
 but returns without success, by the treachery of Maitland (as most 
 men thought) who desired to keen things at a stand, that, amidst 
 the confusions of the kingdom, he might have the fitter opportu- 
 nity for innovations. Argyle also, in all his undertakings, had 
 another impediment, which hindered that his power was not now 
 so great as it was formerly; which was, that though he himself 
 was a most eager favourer of the queen's cause, yet neither his 
 friends and dependants, nor his very brother, could be prevailed 
 to follow him against the king. 
 
 The ensuing night, a sudden terror, without any apparent 
 cause, so seized upon all the factions, that they watched in their 
 irnaour till it was dav light ; and, in the morning, as fearfully re- 
 tired from Edinburgh. All the time of this convention, the chief 
 thing controverted was, by what authority the Scots might, at that 
 time choose a regent? Some, according to the queen's letters pa- 
 tent three years ago, by which she had designed eight of the nobi- 
 lity, that cut of them one or more, as should be thought fit, might 
 be nominated as tutors to her sou, would have one ot that number 
 
Book XX. HrsTORY or Scotland. 381 
 
 placed at the helm. Others were of opinion, that those letters 
 were now useless, since a regent was already chosen, according 
 to their appointment; and that all thoughts of them should b^ 
 laid aside, as being not made to be always in force, but for that 
 one juncture of time only. Some there were, who would have 
 the whole affair defence!, till the general convention of the no- 
 bility: But these were chiefly of Maitland's faction, who expect- 
 ed that a great distraction in affairs would follow, which, in a 
 great multitude, without a governor, is easily raised, but not so 
 easily laid. The third opinion condemned both these: The first, 
 because now there ourrht less account to be made of the oueen's 
 letters patent, since (if the matter of law were considered) they 
 were, from their beginning, of little or no force: The other, 
 for that a prorogation would both draw much danger along with 
 it, as also a greater delay than the present condition of affairs 
 could well permit; and therefore they would have all those to 
 meet, who at first had advised-, that the king should enter upon 
 the government, and had constantly adhered to him ever since: 
 These, according to the sense of this party, were to take the best 
 care they could for the public welfare, and speedily appoint 
 such a regent, who was both able and willing to provide for the 
 safety both of king and kingdom. But this opinion was also re- 
 jected. And thus, before any thing was concluded upon, the 
 convention broke up. 
 
 So many meetings having been tried in vain, the rebels again 
 return to the old seminary of the English war, thereby to draw 
 the populace to their faction; and send out the same officers of 
 the freebooters, as they called them, who were sent before, who 
 left nothing of cruelty uncommitted, even to the utmost extremi- 
 ty. And in the mean time, the heads of their faction bespatter 
 the queen of England with all manner of reproaches: And they 
 maliciously accuse the Scottish nobles, as pensioners to the En- 
 glish, commonly giving out, in a way of threatening, that ii 
 their adversaries called in the English to their aid, they would 
 have recourse to the French and Spaniards. About this time, 
 Mr. Le Verac, of the king of France's bedchamber, came from 
 France to Dumbarton, who, with his large promises, somewhat 
 elevated their spirits. Hereupon the Hamiltons appointed a 
 meeting of their people to be he-Id, the 9th of April, at Lin- 
 lithgow ; where, when the queen's faction was gathered toge- 
 ther in great numbers, they began openly to treat of that which 
 they had long before meditated in their private cabals, viz. That 
 if a war against the English could be made, private injuries and 
 actions, either about the king's or regent's murder, in that uni- 
 versal disturbance of affairs, would thereby either grow out of 
 remembrance, or at least the resentment of them would much 
 
38 1 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 abate. These things hiving been transacted at Linlithgow, by 
 the ass f the conspiracy only, who having not yet plainly 
 
 unmasked their intentions, that they might have more shew of 
 authority, determine to meet at Edinburgh on the 11th of A- 
 pril, that, besides the ether conveniencies which the place would 
 afford them, they might draw the citizens, of whom they always 
 made great account, either way to their party. This seemed no 
 hard matter, since they had already gained William Kirkaldy, 
 the governor both of the city and castle, to their side: But be- 
 cause they understood that watch and ward was kept there, and 
 that the common people were more inclined to their adversaries, 
 they thought fit to send to the citizens first, to know whether 
 it was their pleasure they should meet there? The citizens an- 
 swer was, That they would exclude no person that was desir- 
 ous of the public peace, and obedient to the king; but that they 
 would admit neither the English exiles, nor the Hamiltons, into 
 their city, lest they should either highly displease the queen of 
 England, in whose kingdom they had great traffic, or seem to 
 join in counsel with those that were guilty of that horrid mur- 
 der; neither would they endure the proposal of any new edicts, 
 which might tend to the lessening of the regal authority; or, 
 that their soldiery should be forced (as the custom was) to run 
 to their arms by sound of drum. Upon these conditions, how 
 hard soever they seemed, they notwithstanding came into the 
 city, in hopes, by degrees, to gain upon the unwary multitude, 
 and, by soothing them with fair speeches, at last to win them 
 all over to them. But, for all this, they could not prevail with 
 the citizens to deliver up their keys, or to cease their usual watch, 
 though Kirkaldy, governor of the castle and city, joined his ut- 
 most endeavours with them to procure all this. 
 
 All that time they visited Maitland (who, if he did not dis- 
 semble deeply, was troubled with the gout) every day, and in 
 such numbers, that his house was commonly called a school, and 
 he a school-master: Athol, mean while, incessantly passed from 
 one place to another, that he might draw those of the contrary 
 faction to this meeting at Edinburgh; but they all unanimously 
 refused to come before May 1st, (which was the day generally a- 
 greed upon by all) unless they were satisfied of the necessity of 
 coming before; if any thing of moment happened, which would 
 admit of no delay, they would have them acquaint the earl of 
 Morton with it, who was at his house but four miles off; and he 
 would intimate it to the rest. Athol at last appoints a day, on 
 which some of either faction should meet at Morton-hall, which 
 i;> in Dalkeith; but this place did not please the queen's faction, 
 not that they dreaded any treachery, but out of conceit, that it 
 would be an undervaluing of their authority, if they should come 
 
Book XX. ttlSTORY OF SCOTLAND. '383* 
 
 to Morton, rather than he come to them. For which reason 
 after many attempts, and finding nothing proceeded to their sa- 
 tisfaction, they were forced to break up the meeting; for being 
 desirous to rid the city of their adversaries, and seeing they could 
 not prevail with the citizens to join with them; in Oi'der to it, 
 they resolved to call in a greater number of their friends who 
 lived nearest to them, that in spite of the inhabitants they might 
 get all things into their own power. The governor of the castle 
 facilitated this very much, who set at liberty those persons whom 
 he had in custody, and they were almost all the heads of the 
 queen's faction. But a sudden rumour, that the English army- 
 was come to Berwick, shook all their resolutions. Alexander 
 Hume and John Maxwell, lately let out of prison, without any- 
 public authority, betook themselves to their own homes, to look 
 to their domestic affairs : And Hume had part of the money ga- 
 thered for raising of soldiers, given him, to fortify his own 
 castle. 
 
 Thomas Ker, and Walter Scot, who, by the instigation chiefs 
 ly of the archbishop of St. Andrews, had made incursions into 
 England, foi-eseeing, that, from this beginning, a war would be 
 kindled between the two kingdoms, being deserted by their neigh- 
 bours, and doubtful of their own strength, sent to the heads of 
 their faction for aid; or if that could not be given, that, at least* 
 they would come as far as Lauder, (a neighbouring town), and 
 from thence make a show of war. When in this too they could 
 not obtain their request, nor yet the least proportion of their 
 common money for the public use; and being highly incensed to 
 be thus betrayed and forsaken by those very men that had put 
 them upon the war, every one of them betakes himself to the 
 care of his own safety, their hopes, for the time to come, being 
 all blasted. Thus so many cross accidents unexpectedly falling 
 out at one and the same time, entirely disturbed all their plots 
 and machinations; but the sudden approach of the English army 
 was what most surprised them; and therefore, to see if they 
 could put a stop to it, they make use of two embassies into Eng- 
 land; one to Thomas earl of Sussex, to desire a truce, till such 
 time as they had laid open the state of their affairs to the queen 
 of England: The other ambassador carried letters to the queen, 
 containing many things, as well for their own cause, as against 
 the king's faction; especially by making their boasts of greater 
 forces than they had in reality, and vilifying those of their adver- 
 saries, thereby covertly threatening the English with a war: For 
 Maitland had made them believe, that the queen, a woman na» 
 turally timorous, would do any thing rather than be brought to 
 a war, at a time when both the French and Spaniards were, for 
 many reasons, at enmity with her, and her own affairs at home 
 
 Vol. II. C c c 
 
384 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 were scarce settled. The rebels desired, that by the queen's ar- 
 bitriment, all the ordinances of the last two years should be cal- 
 led in, although many amongst them had subscribed to them; 
 and that all things being, <$ it were, acted do novo y a new ordi- 
 nance should, by a general consent, be made: And that they 
 might the better set forth the power of their faction, their letter 
 had all the great men's names that were of their party, subscribed 
 to it; and for the greater ostentation of their multitude, they set 
 to it the names of many, as well the adverse faction, as of those 
 that were neuters; in hopes that the English (by reason of the 
 great distance 1 , and their ignorance of things done so far off; and 
 that their letters to the queen would be exposed to the view 
 but of a few persons) would hardly be able to detect their 
 fraud. 
 
 About that time an accident happened, as they thought, very 
 advantageous to their affairs, as hoping that it would both make 
 the English less forward, and, at the same time, terrify the Scots 
 populace, viz. the arrival of a certain Frenchman, however of a 
 mean condition, who, as being Lansack's menial servant, was, 
 for his master's sake, entertained at that court. This man 
 brought a great many letters, all of the same purport, frGm the 
 French king,, not only to the heads of the queen's faction, but 
 likewise to many who had not declared themselves for either 
 faction; in which, great thanks were given to every one of them, 
 for their having hitherto taken the queen's part; the king desir- 
 ing them constantly to persist in so doing, and he would send 
 them assistance, even greater than they had desired of him, as 
 soon as ever he could do it with conveniency. He also, that 
 brought the letters, adds, as from himself. " That all things 
 « were now quiet in France, Jasper Coligny, and the other 
 " rebels, being reduced to such terms, as to promise to leave 
 « France, lest their presence should be a hinderance to the pu- 
 " blic peace: And he doubted not, but the soldiers which were 
 " to be sent to assist them, would all be raised before his re- 
 « turn." The wiser sort, although they knew that these things 
 were, for the most part, nothing but vain reports, yet permitted 
 the common sort to be deluded by them. When therefore the 
 minds of many people were, by these means, much lifted up, 
 their joy was lessened by the unsuccessful return of their ambas- 
 sadors out of England: For Sussex could not be induced to think 
 it would be for the English interest, to maintain an army only 
 to idle their time away in truces, and wholly to desist from war, 
 without any conditions offered on the part of the Scots. And 
 the letter which they wrote to the queen being opened by Sus- 
 sex (as she had commanded, to prevent the delay of waiting for 
 her answer) discovered the fraud. For it contained nothing but 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 385 
 
 vain boasting, as the English well knew, who knew every thing 
 that was doing in Scotland: So that their ambassadors were al- 
 most hooted away, and copies of their letter were sent to the 
 king's party in Scotland. Being thus disappointed, and frighten- 
 ed by the sudden drawing near of the English army, and those 
 who were to have assisted them, being gone to defend their own 
 homes; having also small confidence in the citizens, and know- 
 ing that their enemies would come to Edinburgh on the 1st of 
 May: they therefore retired from thence, and went to Linlith- 
 gow, thinking that place to be very commodious for the send- 
 ing for those of their party from the most distant places of the 
 kingdom; as also for hindering the journeys, of the others that 
 were going to the assembly; and for bringing about of those o- 
 ther things which were lately discussed at their consultations. 
 From this place the Hamiltons, with their friends and vassals 
 made the whole road leading to Edinburgh, very unsafe for pas- 
 sengers; and knowing that John Erskine earl of Marr, was to 
 come that way, they placed themselves on the neighbouring hills 
 to hinder his journey; but he knowing how the way was beset, 
 passed the river about two miles above; and so, on April 29th, 
 in the evening, came safe to Edinburgh. After that day, the 
 king's party kept at Edinburgh, and the queen's at Linlithgow, 
 mutually charging one another with the causes and rise of these 
 civil combustions. But those at Edinburgh informed their oppo- 
 sites, that they were willing to come to an easy agreement upon 
 other heads, and that, if they had done any one any wrong, they 
 would give him just satisfaction, as indifferent arbitrators should 
 award; provided always, that this king's authority might be se- 
 cured, and that both parties might join to revenge the murder of 
 the last king, and of the regent. To this proposal they at Lin- 
 lithgow gave no satisfactory answer, but, instead thereof, made 
 an edict, that all subjects should obey the queen's commission- 
 ers; and the three earls, Arran, Argyle, and Huntly, sum- 
 moned an assembly to be held at Linlithgow, August the 3d. 
 Whereupon the other party sent Robert Pitcairn their ambassa* 
 dor to the queen of England, to treat with her about suppres- 
 sing the common enemy, and to shew how well affected the 
 •Scots stood towards her: He was to inform her, that they would 
 chuse such a regent as she should please to recommend or ap- 
 prove. 
 
 Thus whilst each party was crossing one another's design, the 
 English enter Teviotdale, and spoil the towns and villages be- 
 longing to the families of the Kers and of the Scots, (who had 
 violated the peace, by making incursions into England, and giv- 
 ing harbour to such English fugitives as fled to them for shelter), 
 wasting and hurning their country. The earl of Sussex thti; 
 
 C c c 2 
 
386 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 general besieged Hume castle, where the owner of it laid up 
 much provision, and all the neighbourhood had brought in their 
 best goods to that fort, as into a place of safety. It was valiantly 
 defended by the garrison within, and the English, the next day 
 after, were about to raise the siege; when letters were brought to 
 the garrison soldiers, written a while before by Alexander, owner 
 of the castle, which disturbed all their measures. For by these 
 letters he commanded them to obey the orders of William Drury, 
 an English knight, and to do what he commanded them, without 
 any dispute. Drury acquainted Sussex herewith, whereupon the 
 castle was surrendered and plundered, and Sussex placing in it a 
 garrison of English, with a great booty returned to Berwick, 
 Thus Hume, who was so far from being afraid of the English, 
 that rather he thought them his very friends, as knowing that 
 Drury and Sussex both did secretly favour Howard's affairs, al- 
 most ruined himself by his own incredulity; for, at last, being 
 forsaken of all his friends and relations, who were mostly royal- 
 ists, he came with one or two in his company to Edinburgh, and 
 shut up himself, as a recluse, in the castle there. 
 
 On the other side of the borders, Scroop, an English command- 
 er, entered Annandale, and ransacked the lands of one Johnston, 
 (who also had made incursions into England); but Johnston him- 
 self with a few of his companions, being well acquainted with 
 the passes of the country, made a shift to escape from the horse 
 that pursued him. John Maxwell, who had gathered together 
 3000 men out of the neighbourhood, yet durst not adventure to 
 come into his aid, but only stood upon his own guard. A while 
 after, the English that were at Berwick having received hostages 
 and thinking that matters would have been carried with fidelity 
 towards them, sent in 300 horse, and 1000 foot, under the com- 
 mand of Drury, against the common enemy. Upon the rumour 
 of their march, the Hamiltons went to Glasgow, resolving to de- 
 molish the castle of the archbishop there, that it might not be a 
 receptacle to the e2rl of Lennox, then returned out of England, 
 and that country be made the seat of war. They knew that it 
 was kept but by a few raw soldiers, that the governor was absent, 
 and that it was unprovided of necessaries, so that they thought to 
 surprise it by their sudden approach; for they flew into the town 
 in such haste, that they shut out a good part of the garrison sol- 
 diers from entering into the castle; but being disappointed of their 
 hopes, they began to batter and storm it with the utmost violence, 
 and were as valiantly repulsed; for the garrison-soldiers (which 
 -were but 24) did so warmly receive them for several days, that 
 they killed more of the assailants, than they themselves were; and 
 the rest they beat off, very much wounded. Of their own, they 
 lost but cne man, and none cf the rest received so much as a 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 387 
 
 wound. But the people of Hamilton, hearing that the English 
 -were already at Edinburgh, and that John Erskine was come to 
 Stirling, with a design speedily to relieve the castle, though they 
 had received some additional force, even from the remote parts of 
 the kingdom, yet toward evening they raised their siege, and in 
 great fear packed away. Hamilton and Argyle himself posted in- 
 to Argyle's country. Huntly went home, over the almost im- 
 passable mountains-, the rest shifted for themselves, and ran seve- 
 ral ways to save their lives. 
 
 But the English, two days after they came to Edinburgh, went 
 to Glasgow, and in their passage through Clydesdale, wasted all 
 the lands of the Hamiltons, and any others that had consented to 
 the death of the. regent; as also of those who had harboured the 
 English fugitives, and carried away a very great booty, making ha- 
 rock in all the country; when the engines to beat down the castle, 
 that was situated near a village called Hamilton, were bringing to 
 Stirling. Drury, who privately favoured the English rebels, had 
 almost rendered the whole expedition fruitless : for he was so far 
 from quieting the English who mutinied, because their pay was 
 not paid them at the day (whereupon they threatened immediately 
 to lay down their arms), that it was thought by many, he himself 
 was the author of the mutiny. But the soldiers were appeased, 
 upon the receiving their pay down upon the nail; and the great 
 guns being planted, and playing against it, the castle was surren- 
 dered in a few hours. Amongst the booty, some there were that 
 knew the apparel, and other household stuff of king James V. that 
 the owner of the castle, when he resigned up his regency, had so 
 solemnly sworn he had none of. The castle was left half de- 
 molished; and the town, together with the stately mansion of the 
 Hamiltons, the wild common soldiers burnt to the ground against 
 the will of their commanders. Upon which the army marched 
 back, the English to Berwick, and the Scots each to their own 
 home. Drury interceded for the garrison, that they should march 
 away in safety ; who being dismissed, took Robert Semple prison- 
 er, the chief of his family, out of the house of his son-in-law, 
 who was quietly returning home, as if the service had been end- 
 ed; which passage greatly increased the suspicion of Drury. 
 
 There matters were scarce finished, before Pitcairn returned 
 from his embassy out of England, and brought this answer. 
 ** That the queen wondered, they never made her acquainted 
 tf with the state of their affairs till now, four months after the 
 *« death of the regent; and by reason of this delay, she was un- 
 " certain what estimate to make of them. In the mean time, 
 " that she had been often solicited importunately by the French 
 " and Spanish ambassadors in the name of their kings, and that 
 " she was even tired out with the daily complaints of the Scots 
 
388 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 « queen, that she had promised them audience ; but upon condi- 
 « tion, that the queen of Scots should write to her party for a 
 *« cessation of arms, till the conference was ended. That those 
 " innovations which they had attempted by their public edicts, 
 " they should revoke by other edicts contrary to the former, and 
 " to suffer things to stand as they were, when the regent was 
 " murdered. That the English exiles should be given up without 
 « fraud; and if upon the conference, matters were accommoda- 
 « ted between them, hostages and other pledges should be given 
 " on both sides, for the faithful performance of agreements. 
 « That upon these conditions a conference was promised, and 
 " having obliged herself to this, she could not join with them in 
 « their design of making a new regent, lest she might seem to 
 " condemn their queen without hearing her; but in general she 
 " said, that she had a great affection for them, and their welfare. 
 " In the mean time she desired, that they would abstain from 
 " arms, and from making a regent, and she would take care, 
 " that such a small delay would be no damage to them." This 
 answer being reported to the Scots, did variously affect them. On 
 the other hand, the necessity of the time required them to steer 
 their counsels so as they might be pleasing to the queen of Eng- 
 land; and on the other, they knew of what concern it was to the 
 public, that one chief magistrate should be set up, to whom all 
 complaints might be made; for want of creating one some months 
 already past, the enemy had improved the delay to gather forces, 
 to make new courts of justice, daily to set forth new edicts, and 
 to usurp all the offices of a king. On the other side, the royalists 
 were dejected, and a multitude, without one certain person whom 
 to obey, could not be long kept in obedience. After the ambas- 
 sador's return, news came that there was a new insurrection in 
 England, and that in London the pope's bull was fastened on the 
 church doors to exhort the English, partly to cast off the unjust 
 yoke of the queen's government, and partly to return to the popish 
 religion ; and it was thought, that the hand of the queen of Scots 
 was in all this. 
 
 Now though they knew from the earl of Sussex's letters, that 
 notwithstanding these things, all was quiet in England; and also, 
 the said Thomas Randolph had, in presence, confirmed it, yet 
 they could hardly be restrained from chusing a regent. But at 
 last a middle way prevailed, that they might have an appearance 
 of a chief magistrate, to set up an inter-regent, or deputy-king, 
 to continue till the 1 2th of July; in which time they might be far- 
 ther informed of the queen of England's mind. They judged 
 that she was not averse from their undertaking, especially upon 
 this ground, that she had put it into the articles of capitulation, 
 that they should give up all the English exiled for rebellion; for if 
 
Book XX. History of Scotland. 3S9 
 
 that were done, they understood, that the spirits of all die papists 
 in England would be alienated from the queen of Scots. If it 
 were denied, then the conference, or treaty, would break off, 
 and the suspicions which made the commonalty averse, would 
 daily increase. For they saw, that other things would not easily 
 be agreed upon, when a greater danger threatened the English 
 than the Scots, upon the deliverance of their queen; and if other 
 things were accorded, yet the queen of England would never let 
 her go, without .hostages; neither was she able to give any such, 
 who could make a sufficient warranty. These considerations gave 
 them some encouragement, so that they proceeded to create Mat- 
 thew Stewart earl of Lennox, the king's grandfather, vicegerent 
 for the time. 
 
 Whilst this new viceroy, by the advice of his council, was bu- 
 sied in rectifying things, which had been disordered in the late tu- 
 mults; letters came opportunely from the queen of England, Ju- 
 ly the 10th, Wherein she spake much of her affection to the king 
 and kingdom of Scotland, and freely offered them her assistance; 
 withal she desired them to abstain from naming a regent, which 
 was a title invidious of itself, and of no good example to them; 
 only if they were resolved, and asked her advice, she thought none 
 was to be preferred to that high office before the king's grand- 
 father; none being cf greater fidelity to the king, yet a minor; and 
 who undoubtedly had the prerogative before all others. These 
 letters encouraged them, by the joint suffrages of all the estates, 
 of a viceroy to make him regent. 
 
 As soon as evtt he was created regent, and had taken an oath, 
 (according to custom) to observe the laws and customs of his coun- 
 try: first of all he commanded, that all who were able to bear 
 arms, should appear at Linlithgow, August the 2d, to hinder the 
 convention, which the seditious had there appointed in the name 
 of the queen; then he himself summoned a parliament in the name 
 of the king, to be held the 10th day of October; he also sent to 
 the governor of the castle of Edinburgh, (who still pretended 
 great friendship to the king's party, though his words and actions 
 did very much disagree) to send him some brass cannon, carriages, 
 and other things for the managing them. This he did, rather to 
 try the governor's fidelity, than in hopes to obtain his desires. 
 He promised very fair at first, but when the day was coming on, 
 that the parliament was to meet, when he was desired to perform 
 his promises he peremptorily refused, alleging, that his service 
 should be always ready to make up an agreement between, but not 
 to shed the blood of his countrymen. 
 
 Nevertheless the regent came, at the day appointed, to Lin- 
 lithgow, with 5000 armed men in his company; but hearing 
 that the enemy did not stir, only that Huntly had placed one 
 
39° HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 hundred and sixty soldiers at Brechin, and had sent out an order, 
 commanding the inhabitants to get in provisions for some thou- 
 sands of men, by the 2d of August: The garrison there placed 
 by him, not only robbed the inhabitants, but waylaid all travel- 
 lers, who passed the roads thereabout. Upon which the regent, 
 by the advice of his council, resolved to march thither, and to 
 seize on the place (which would be of great advantage to him) 
 before Huntly could arrive at it; and if occasion offered, there 
 to fight him, before his partners came up with their force, and 
 so to defeat that party of musketeers, which was all he had •, 
 and, by that means, might take some of the leaders of the fac- 
 tion, as the earl of Crawfurd, James Ogilvy, and James Balfour, 
 who he heard were there. Pursuant to this, he commanded 
 Patrick Lindsay and William Ruthven, chief officers, and James 
 Haliburton, governor of Dundee, to take what soldiers they could 
 raise at Dundee and St. Johnston, and to make haste thither, 
 to prevent the news of their coming. They made all the speed 
 that ever they were able •, the next night horsing their foot for 
 greater expedition j however, as they drew near the place, they 
 marched slowly, to get some refreshment before they charged 
 the enemy ; so that the alarm was taken at Brechin, that the e- 
 nemy was a coming: Upon which Ogilvy and Balfour, who 
 chanced to be there, got the soldiers presently together; and en- 
 couraging them as well as they could for the time, they told them 
 that they and Huntly would return again in three days; and so 
 they got on horseback, and hasted away over the mountains to 
 their own men. The soldiers that were left, catched up what 
 was next at hand, and about twenty of them got to the tower of 
 a neighbouring church: The rest fled into the house of the earl 
 of Marr, which was seated on a hill near to it, it was like a 
 castle, and commanded the town. James Douglas earl of Mor- 
 ton, with eight hundred horse, went a farther march about, and 
 came not in till the day after: The regent sent home the Lennox 
 men and those of Renfrew, to guard their own country, if Ar- 
 gyle should attempt any thing against it; but he, in three days, 
 overtook those whom he had sent before to Brechin. At the 
 noise of his coming, the neighbouring nobility came in, so that 
 now he mustered 7000 effective men; whereupon they who were 
 in the church tower presently surrendered themselves. The rest 
 having stoutly defended themselves for a few days, killing and 
 wounding some who were unwary in their approaches, at last 
 hearing that brass cannon were planted against them, and that 
 Huntly bad forsaken them, surrendered also at mercy to the re- 
 gent. He hanged up 30 of the most obstinate, many of them 
 having been taken and released before; the rest being very feeble 
 he dismissed. Huntly was then about twenty miles oil, endea- 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 39! 
 
 vouring to gather more force, but in vain (for most men, when 
 they hud free liberty to declare themselves, abhorred so bad a 
 cause): upon which he was forced, through fear, to provide for 
 his own safety, and, with a small party, retired into the remote 
 countries. 
 
 After this the regent returned to Edinburgh, to be present at 
 the parliament there summoned; and, by their advice, to settle 
 the present disturbances. The rebels perceiving, that, by the a- 
 greement of all the estates, there was no hope left them; especial- 
 ly they who were guilty of the king's murder, and of the death of 
 the regent, dealt with the queen of England, that, because she 
 had* promised the French and Spanish ambassadors, she would 
 hear both parties, and compose things, if she could, that there- 
 fore no new decree should be made in the mean time. This de- 
 lay being obtained (for nothing was done in that assembly, only 
 the election of the regent was confirmed) the rebels never ceased 
 to solicit the French and Spaniards to send forces into Britain, to 
 restore their queen ; and because they affirmed, that the restitu- 
 tion of the pope's, or the old religion, depended on her, there- 
 fore they had recourse also to the pope, that though he were far 
 remote, yet he might help them with money. Whereupon he 
 sent an agent into Scotland, to inquire into the present state of 
 things there, who giving an account, that the popish party there 
 was very weak ; and that all the rebels were not unanimous in the 
 restoring of popery, he refused to meddle with it; but, in the 
 mean time, he endeavoured to raise some commotion in England, 
 by his execrations and curses hung upon church-doors by night; 
 by his indulgencies, and by his promise of indemnity for what 
 was past; for there he thought his faction was the strongest. The 
 regent having appointed the parliament to be held the 25th of Jan. 
 (for within that time he hoped to satisfy all' foreign ambassadors) 
 to compose things legally and judiciously, as well as he could, re- 
 turned to Edinburgh. The rebels, having renewed the truce, by 
 means of the queen of England, till the ambassadors of both par- 
 ties had been heard before her; yet, contrary to the peace desired 
 by themselves, were very busy to attempt alterations, encouraged 
 (as it is thought) by the favour of the earl of Sussex, who then 
 Commanded the army of the English in Northumberland." For he, 
 either not altogether despairing of the duke of Norfolk's affair, or 
 else induced by the promises of the exiled queen, of whose return 
 he had some hopes, was somewhat inclinable to the rebels; which 
 the Scots taking notice of, were more sparing in communicating 
 counsels with him. The winter being past in the reviving of the 
 truce; the parliament summoned on the 25th of January was de- 
 ferred till May. In the mean time, the Hamiltons having in vain 
 suborned many men to kill the regent, at last seized upon the 
 
 Vol.11. ' Ddd 
 
392 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. B©ok XX, 
 
 tower of Paisley, driving out the garrison-soldiers, as thinking they 
 might do it with impunity, whilst men's minds were employed in 
 greater things. The regent appointed the earl of Morton, Ro- 
 bert Pitcairn, and James M'Gill, his ambassadors to England, to 
 reason the affair with the ambassadors of foreign princes, and 
 sent them away February the 5th, and he himself marched to 
 Paisley, where he summoned in the neighbouring nobility that 
 were of his party, and attacked the castle. Having cut oft their 
 water, the besieged were forced to surrender. Afterwards, when 
 Gilbert Kennedy annoyed the royalists, with his plundering in- 
 cursions in Carrick, he went to Ayr; and as soon as Kennedy 
 heard of the approach of a few troops, being also afraid of his 
 clanships, who had been always loyal to the king and his party, 
 he gave his only brother as hostage, and appointed a day to 
 come to Stirling, and subscribe to the capitulation agreed on. 
 Hugh Montgomery, earl of Eglinton, and Robert Boyd, follow- 
 ed his example ; and surrendering themselves to the regent, were 
 by him received to favour. During all this time that the regent 
 was quelling the seditious, and Morton was absent in his embassy 
 in England; they that held Edinburgh castle, being freed from the 
 fear of their enemies near at hand, ceased not to list soldiers, in 
 order to put garrisons into the most convenient places of the city, 
 to take away provisions which the merchants had brought to Leith, 
 and to provide all things necessary to endure a siege, till their ex- 
 pected relief from foreign parts might arrive. 
 
 The regent was very much bruised by a fall from his horse, and 
 therefore returned to Glasgow, where a common soldier came to 
 him, and gave him some hopes of surprising Dumbarton; he had 
 been a garrison soldier in the castle there, and his wife coming 
 often to visit him, had been accused, and whipped for theft, by 
 Fleming the governor. Her husband beaig a loving man, 
 and judging his wife to have been wrongfully punished, went 
 from the castle; and from that day forward, employed all his 
 thoughts how he might do Fleming a mischief. Upon which, 
 he breaks the business to Robert Douglas, kinsman to the regent,- 
 and promises him, that if he would assign a small party to follow 
 him, he would shortly make him master of that castle. Robert 
 acquainted John Cunningham with the design, who was to inquire 
 diligently of him, how so great an attempt could be accomplished? 
 He being a blunt rough soldier, perceiving that they startled at his 
 proposal, because he could not well make out how to accomplish 
 what he had promised : Since, said he, you do not believe my words, 
 FU go on myself the first man in the service : if you ivill follow m<t t J 
 will make you masters of the place; but, if your hearts fail you, then let ii 
 alone. When this was told to the regent, though the thing itself, 
 being in reality a great enterprise, had somewhat elevated their 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 393 
 
 spirits, ant! made them willing enough to have it effected, yet the 
 author, (though they judged him trusty enough) seemed not a fit 
 instrument to bring about so great an undertaking. Upon whieh, 
 Thomas Crawfurd, a bold man, and a good soldier, was made 
 acquainted with the project, and it was agreed between them, ra- 
 ther to try the hazard of so great fortune, than idly to neglect 
 such an opportunity. Upon which a few days were appointed to 
 provide ladders, and other necessaries, and the design was to be 
 put irt execution the first of April, for then the truce granted to 
 the rebels, by the mediation of the queen of England, would ex- 
 pire. In the mean time, no talk at all was to be made about it. 
 
 Before I declare the event of this piece of service, give me leave 
 to tell you the nature and situation of the castle of Dumbarton. 
 From the confluence of the rivers Clyde and Leven, there is a plain 
 champaign of about a mile, extended to the foot of the adjoining 
 mountains; and in the very angle where the two rivers meet, 
 stands a rock with two heads or summits. The highest, which 
 is to the west, has on the very top of it a watch-tower, from 
 whence opens a large prospect to all adjacent parts. The other 
 being lower, looks towards the east; between these, that side 
 that turns towards the north and the fields, hath stairs ascend- 
 ing obliquely up the rock, cut out by art, where hardly a single 
 man can go up at once. For the rock is very hard, and scarce 
 yields to any iron tool; but if any part of it be broken off by 
 force, or falls down of itself, it emits a smell far and near like 
 sulphur. In the upper part of the castle there is a vast piece of 
 rock, of the nature of a load-stone, but so closely cemented, and 
 fastened to the main rock, that no manner of joining at all ap- 
 pears. Where the river Clyde runs by to the south, the rock, 
 (naturally steep in oiher parts) is somewhat bending; and stretch- 
 ing out its arms on both sides, takes in some firm land, which is 
 so inclosed, partly by the nature of the place, and partly by hu- 
 man industry, that, in the overthwart or transverse sides of it, it 
 affords sufficient space for many houses; and in the river, a road 
 for ships, very safe for the inhabitants, by playing from the castle 
 brass ordnance, but unsafe for an enemy; and small boats may 
 come up almost to the very castle-gate. The middle part of the 
 rock, by which you go up, being full of buildings, makes, as it 
 were, another castle distinct and secluded from the higher one. 
 Besides the natural fortification of the rock, the two rivers, Leven 
 to the west, and Clyde to the south, make a kind of trench about 
 it. On the east side, when the tide is in, the sea washes the foot 
 of the rock; when it is out, that place is not sandy (as usually 
 chores are) but muddy, the fat soil being dissolved into dirt. 
 This strand is also intercepted, and cut by many torrents of wa-» 
 ter, which tumble down from the adjacent mountain. The other 
 
 Ddd2 
 
394 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 side turns towards a plain field of grass. The castle has three 
 fountains in it always running; besides springs of running water 
 in many other places. The ancient Britons, as Bede says, called 
 the place Alcuith; but the Scots who were heretofore severed 
 from the Britons by the river Leven, because that fort was built, 
 on the borders of the Britons, called it Dunbritton, now Dum- 
 barton. There is a little town hard by of the same name, upon 
 the bank of the river Leven, about half a mile distant from the 
 confluence of the rivers. 
 
 This castle was accounted impregnable; and in all foreign and 
 civil wars was of great advantage to them that held it, and as 
 prejudicial to their enemy. At that time John Fleming was 
 governor of it, by commission from the banished queen; he, 
 though he consented not to the king's father's murder, yet hav- 
 ing not a force sufficient to defend himself against the royalists, 
 sided with the parricides, and for four years last past, had kept 
 up the garrison at the charge of the king of France (whom he 
 had persuaded, that almost all the Scots had secretly confede- 
 rated with the queen of England) ; and made his boast to him, 
 that he held, as it were, the fetters of Scotland in his own hands; 
 and whenever the French had leisure from other wars, if they 
 would but send him a little assistance, he would easily clap them 
 on, and bring all Scotland under their power: And the French 
 king was as vain in feeding his fond humour; for he sent him 
 some military provisions by one Monsieur Verac, whom he 
 commanded to stay there, and to give him an acccount of the 
 affairs of Scotland. Besides, the insolence of the governor was 
 increased by the treachery of the garrison soldiers of Edinburgh 
 castle, who had lately revolted from the king; he was also some- 
 what animated by the sickness of the regent, who was almost 
 killed with a fall from his horse, and was troubled with the gout, 
 besides;" he was no less encouraged by the truce, which the 
 queen of England had obtained for them till the end of March. 
 These considerations made him and his garrison soldiers so se- 
 cure and negligent, that they went frequently to make merry in- 
 to the town, and lie there all night, as if they had been lulled at 
 rest in the very bosom of peace. 
 
 Affairs standing in this posture, and preparation being made 
 for the expedition, as much as the present haste would permit, 
 John Cunningham was sent before with some horse, to stop all 
 passengers; so that the enemy might have no intelligence of 
 their coming. Thomas Crawford followed after with the foot; 
 they were ordered to meet together at Dumbuck, a hill about a 
 mile from the castle, at midnight. At that place Crawford (as 
 he was commanded) told the soldiers what the design was they 
 were going upon, and how they were to effect it; he shewed 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 395 
 
 them who was to lead them on, and had promised to scale the 
 walls first; and then he, and those commanders that would be 
 taken notice of for their courage, were to follow. The soldiers 
 were easily persuaded to follow their leaders; and accordingly 
 the ladders were carried, and other things, to storm the castle; 
 and the foot a little before day, marched on towards it. The 
 horse were commanded to stay in the same place, to expect the 
 event. As they were approaching the castle, they met with two 
 obstructions; one was, that the bridge over the brook that runs 
 between the fields was broken down; the other, that a fire ap- 
 pearing suddenly near it, occasioned a suspicion, that the bridge 
 was broken down on purpose to stop the enemy; and the fire 
 kindled by the garrison soldiers, to discover and prevent the ene- 
 my's approach: But this fear was soon dispelled, by their repair- 
 ing the bridge, as well as they could in such haste, and making 
 it passable for the foot; the scouts likewise were sent out to the 
 place where the fire was seen, and they could find no sign of any 
 fire at all; so that in reality the fire was a mere ignis fatuns of 
 a meteorous nature, like those fires which are bred in the air, 
 and sometimes pitch on the ground, and presently vanish. But 
 they had a greater cause of fear, lest the sky, which was clear 
 and starry, and the approach of the day, should discover them 
 to the centinels that watched above; but, on a sudden, the hea- 
 vens were covered with a thick mist, yet so that it reached not 
 below the middle of the rock whereon the castle stood, but the 
 upper part was so dark, that the guards in the castle could see 
 nothing of what was done below. But as the mist came season- 
 ably, so there was another misfortune, which fell out very un- 
 luckily, and had almost ruined the whole design: For many lad- 
 ders being necessary, in order to get up that high rock, and the 
 first unmanageable by reason of their length, and being overla- 
 den with the weight of those who went hastily up, and not well 
 fastened at foot, in a slippery soil, fell suddenly down with 
 those that were upon them: That accident cast them into a great 
 consternation for the present; but when they found that no bo- 
 dy was hurt in tire fall, they recollected their almost despairing 
 spirits; and, as if God Almighty had favoured their design, they 
 went on upon that dangerous attack with greater alacrity, set- 
 ting the ladders up again more cautiously; and when they came 
 to the middle of the rock, there was a place seasonably conve- 
 nient where they might stand; there they found an ash shrub 
 casually growing amongst the stones, which did them great ser- 
 vice ; for they tied ropes to it, and let them down, by which 
 means they drew up their fellows that were left below; so that 
 at one and the same time, some were drawn up by the ropes to the 
 middle of the rock, and others, by setting other ladders, got up 
 
39^ history or Scotland. Book XX. 
 
 to the top of it. But here again they met with a new and unex- 
 pected misfortune, which had almost destroyed all their measures; 
 for one of the soldiers, as he was in the middle of the ladder, was 
 suddenly taken with a kind of fit of an apoplexy ; so that he stuck 
 fast to the ladder, and could not be taken from it, but stopped the 
 way to those that would follow. This danger was also overcome 
 by the diligence and chearfulness of the soldiers ; for they tied him 
 to the ladder, so that when he recovered out of his fit, he could 
 not fal); and then in great silence turning the ladder, the rest 
 easily mounted. When they came to the top of the reck, there 
 was a wall to which they were to fix their third ladders, to get 
 over it. Alexander Ramsay with two common soldiers, got 
 upon it; the centinels presently spied them, gave the alarm, and 
 cast stones at them : Alexander being assaulted with this unusu- 
 al kind of battery, having neither stones to throw again, nor 
 shield to defend himself, leaped down from the wall into the cas- 
 tle, and there was set upon by three of the -guard; he fought it 
 out bravely with them, till his fellow soldiers, being more solici- 
 tous for his danger than their own, leaped down after him, and 
 presently dispatched the three centinels. 
 
 In the mean time, the rest made what haste they could, so that 
 the wall being old, loose, and overcharged with the weight of 
 those who made haste to get over it, fell down to the ground; 
 and by its fall, as there was a breach made for the rest to enter, 
 so the ruins made the descent more easy through the rock, that 
 was very high and rugged within' the castle. Upon which they 
 entered in a body, crying out with a great noise, For God nr.d ike 
 king; and often proclaimed the name of the regent; so that the 
 guards being astonished, forgot to fight, but fled every one to 
 shift for himself as well as he could; some kept themselves with- 
 in doors, till the first brunt of the soldiers' fury was over. Fle- 
 ming escaped die danger by slipping down through the oblique 
 rock, having but one in his company,, who was knocked down; 
 but he, descending a by-way, was let out at a postern, and so 
 got into a vessel on the river, which, bv reason of the tide's be- 
 ing in, came up to the walls, and fled into Avgyleshire. The 
 centineh of the lower castle, and twenty-five more of the garrison 
 soldiers, who hud been drinking and whoring in the town all 
 night, taking the alarm, never offered to fight, but fled every 
 one whicli way he could. There were taken in the castle, John 
 Hamilton, archbishop of St. Andrews; John Fleming of Bogal; a 
 young English gentleman, that had fled from the last insurrection in 
 England; Vcrac, a Frenchman, who seme time before had been 
 sent to them with some warlike provisions, and staid there in the 
 name of the French king, to acquaint him with the state of af- 
 fairs in Scotland. Alexander, the son of William Livingston, 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 397 
 
 endeavoured to escape, by changing his habit, but was discovered 
 and brought bach. The regent being informed of the taking of the 
 castle, before noon came thither. And first, he highly commended 
 the soldiers, then he comforted Fleming's wife, and gave her not 
 only her own furniture, plate, and all her household staff, and 
 utensils, but also assigned an estate, part of her husband's, which 
 had long before been forfeited into the king's exchequer, to main- 
 tain herself and children: the rest of the booty was allowed the 
 soldiers. 
 
 Having settled things thus, he had leisure to take a view of the 
 castle •, and coming to the rock by which the soldiers got up, it 
 seemed so difficult an ascent to them all, that the soldiers them- 
 selves confessed, if they had foreseen the danger of the service, no 
 reward whatsoever should have hired them to undertake it. Verac 
 was accused by the merchants, that when they came into the bay 
 of Clyde, he had robbed them in an hostile maimer: upon which, 
 many of the council were of opinion, he should have been indicted 
 as a pirate or robber; but the empty name of an ambassador pre- 
 vailed more with the regent, which he had violated by his unwar- 
 rantable conduct. However, that the injured people might be 
 kept in some hopes (at least) of satisfaction from him, he was 
 kept seemingly for atrial, and lodged in a house at St. Andrews, 
 whose owner was inclined to the rebels: whence he was taken a- 
 way, as it were by force, which was the thing aimed at, and then 
 he suddenly left the kingdom. The Englishman, though many 
 suspicions were fixed upon him, and though the commendatory 
 letters of John Lesly, bishop of Ross, to Fleming, which was 
 found after the castle -was taken, really convicted him, yet he was 
 sent home to England ; but after he was gone, it was found, that 
 he was suborned by the duke of Norfolk's party to poison the king 
 of Scots: Bogal was kept prisoner. 
 
 There was one prisoner more, whom the regent most desired 
 should have perished, and that was the archbishop of St. Andrews. 
 He, in former times, while his brother was regent, had advised 
 him to many cruel and covetous practices; and under the queen 
 also he bore the blame of all miscarriages. The regent feared, if 
 he should delay his punishment, the queen of England would in- 
 tercede for him, and the archbishop's friends were in great hopes 
 oi it; and lest the straitness of time should prevent their endea- 
 vours for him, the archbishop earnestly desired he might be tried 
 by the legal way of the country, for that would occasion some, 
 though not much delay. But his desires were over-ruled, it be- 
 ing alleged, that there was no need of any new process in the 
 archbishop's case, for it had been already judged in the parlia- 
 ment. Upon which, being plainly convicted as guilty oi" the king's 
 murder, as also of the last regent's, he was hanged at Stirling. 
 
398 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 There was then new evidence brought in against him; for the 
 greatest part of it had been discovered but lately. The archbishop 
 of St. Andrews, who lodged in the next house, when the propo- 
 sition of killing the king was made to him, willingly undertook it, 
 both by reason of old feuds between them, and also out of hopes 
 thereby to bring the kingdom to his own family. Upon which he 
 chuses out six or eight of the most wicked of his vassals, and 
 commended the matter to them, giving them the keys of the 
 king's lodgings. They then entered very silently into his cham- 
 ber, and strangled him when he was asleep ; and when they had 
 so done, they carried out his body through a little gate (of which I 
 spoke before) into an orchard adjoining to the walls; and then a 
 sign was given to blow up the house. The discovery of this wick- 
 edness was made by John Hamilton, who was a chief actor there- 
 in, upon this occasion. He was much troubled in his mind, day 
 and night, his conscience tormenting him for the guilt of the 
 fact, and not only so, but, as if the contagion reached to his bo- 
 dy too, that also was miserably pained and consumed by degrees ; 
 endeavouring all ways to ease himself, at last he remembered that 
 ■ there was a schoolmaster at Paisley, no bad man, who was yet a 
 papist; to him he confesses the whole fact, and the names of 
 those who joined with him in perpetrating the murder. The priest 
 comforted him what he could, and put him in mind of the mercy 
 of God; yet, because the disease had taken deeper root, than to 
 be expiated by such remedies, within a few days he was so over- 
 whelmed with grief, that he died. The priest was not so silent in 
 the thing, but that some notice of it came to the king's friends. 
 They, many months after the murder was committed, when 
 Matthew earl of Lennox, was regent, and when Dumbarton was 
 taken, and the bishop brought to Stirling, caused the priest to be 
 sent for thither. He then justified what he had spoken before a- 
 bout the king's murder; upon which, being asked by Hamilton, 
 How he came to know it? Whether it was revealed to him in an 
 auricular confession? He told him, yes. Then said Hamilton, 
 you are not ignorant of the punishment due to those, who reveal 
 the secrets of confessions, and made no other answer to the crime. 
 After fifteen months or more, the same priest was taken, saying 
 ma°.s the third time; and, as the law appointed, was led out to 
 suffer. Then also he publicly declared all that he had before af- 
 firmed in the thing, in plainer and fuller words, which were so o- 
 penly divulged, that now Hamilton's vassals fell out amongst 
 themselves, and charged one another with the king's death. 
 
 In the mean while, the rebels had procured a little money from 
 France, by means of the brother of him who commanded Edin- 
 burgh castle. Besides, Morton was returned from his English 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 399 
 
 embassy, and in a convention of the nobles held at Stirling, de- 
 clared the effect of it in these words: 
 
 « When we came to London, February the 20th, we were re- 
 " ferred by the queen to 6even men of her council, chosen out for 
 " that purpose-, who, after much dispute between us, at last in- 
 " sisted upon two points •, first, that we should produce the 
 « clearest and best arguments we had, to shew the reasons of 
 " those actions, which had lately passed in Scotland, that so the 
 " queen might be satisfied in the equity of them, and thereby 
 u know how to answer those who demanded a reason of them. 
 " If we could not do that, yet the queen would omit nothing 
 " which might conduce to our safety. In answer to this we 
 " gave in a memorial to them, to this effect: The crimes where- 
 " with, at first, our king's mother complained, that she was 
 " falsely charged with, have been so clearly proved by the earl 
 «« of Murray, and his partners in the embassy, that both the 
 " queen of England, and those who were delegated by her to 
 " bear the cause, could not be ignorant of the author of the 
 " king's murder, which was the source of all our other miseries: 
 " to repeat them again before the queen, who, we doubt not, is 
 tl therein sufficiently satisfied already, we think it not necessary; 
 < : and besides, we ourselves are unwillingly drawn into the trou- 
 « ble of renewing the memory of so great a wickedness. But 
 « they who cannot deny, that this fact was cruelly and imp*- 
 << ously perpetrated, do yet calumniate the resignation of the 
 {i kingdom, and the translation of the government from the mo- 
 " ther to the son, as a new and intolerable thing, extorted from 
 " her by mere force. First, as for the matter of fact in punish- 
 " ing our princes, the old custom of our ancestors will not suf- 
 '« fer it to be called new, neither can the moderation of the pu- 
 " nishment make it invidious. It is not needful for us to reck- 
 " on up the many kings, whom our forefathers have chastised 
 iC by imprisonment, • banishment, nay, death itself; much less 
 <c need we confirm our practice by foreign examples, of which 
 " there are abundance in old histories. The nation of the Scots 
 " being at first free, by the common suffrage of the people, set 
 " up kings over them, conditionally, that, if need were, thev 
 M might take away the government by the same suffrages that 
 " gave it: The footsteps of this law remain to this very dav; 
 " for, in the neighbouring islands, and in many places of the 
 " continent too, which retain the ancient speech and customs of 
 " our forefathers to this dav, the same course is yet observed 
 " in creating their magistrates. Moreover, these ceremonies 
 '• which are used in the inauguration of our kings, have an ex- 
 « press representation of this law, by which it easiiy apni 
 
 Vol 11. E e e 
 
400 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 " that kingly government is nothing else but a mutual stipula* 
 " tion between king and people; and the same most clearly may 
 €t be collected from the inoffensive tenor of the old law, which 
 <c hath been observed ever since there was a king in Scotland, 
 *« even unto this present time, no man having ever attempted to 
 « abrogate, abate, or diminish this law in the least. It is too 
 " long to enumerate how many kings our ancestors have divest- 
 " ed of their kingdoms, have banished, imprisoned, put to 
 " death; neither was there ever the least mention made of the 
 " severity of this law, or the abrogating of it, nor ought there 
 " to be: For it is not of the nature of such sanctions, which 
 « are subject to the changes of time; but in the very original of 
 " mankind, it was engraven in men's hearts, approved by the 
 «< mutual consent of almost all nations, and together with na- 
 " ture itself was to remain inviolable and eternal; so that these 
 " laws are not subject to the empire of any man, but all men 
 « subject to the dominion and power of them. This law pre- 
 <c scribes to us in all our actions, it is always before our eyes 
 " and minds, whether we will or no, it dwells in us: Our an- 
 " cestors followed it, in repressing the violence of tyrants by 
 " armed force. It is a law not proper to the Scots only, but 
 " common to all nations and people in well instituted govern- 
 « merits. To pass by the famous cities of Athens, Sparta, 
 « Rome, Venice, which never suffered this right to be taken 
 " from them, but with their liberty itself; even'in those times, 
 " wherein oppression and tyranny were most triumphant in the 
 " Roman government; if any good man was chosen emperor, 
 " he counted it his glory to confess himself inferior to the whole 
 " body of the people, and to be subject to the law. For Tra- 
 " jan, when he delivered a sword to the governor of a certain 
 « city, (according to custom) is reported to say, Use it either for 
 « me, or against me, as I shall deserve. Even Theodosius, a good 
 " emperor in bad times, would have it left recorded amongst his 
 «« sanctions and laws, as a speech worthy of an emperor, and 
 " greater than his empire itself, to confess, That he was inferior 
 « to the laws. Nay, the most barbarous people, who had little 
 «< notion of civility, had however a sense and knowledge of this, 
 « as the history of all nations, and common observation shews. 
 " But not to insist on obsolete examples, I will produce two 
 « in our own memory: Of late, Christiern, king of Denmark, 
 " for his cruelty, was forced out of the kingdom, with all his 
 " family; a greater punishment than ever our people exacted 
 «*, from any of their kings; for they never punished the sins of 
 " the fathers upon their children. As for him, he was deserv- 
 fi ejly punishea, after a singular manner, as the monster of his 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 4 QI 
 
 «* age, for all kinds of wickedness. But what, did the mother 
 " of the emperor Charles V. do, to deserve perpetual imprison* 
 " ment? She was a woman in the flower of her age, and her 
 " husband died young, even in the very prime of his age; it 
 « was reported, she had a mind to marry again: she was not ac- 
 " cused of any crime, but of a certain allowable intemperance 
 " (as the severe Catos of the age speak); and of an honourable 
 " copulation, approved by the laws of God and man. I: the 
 " calamity of our queen be compared with Christieiv s of Den- 
 « mark, she is not less an offender, (to say no more) but she 
 *< has been more moderately proceeded against an,; punished. 
 " But if she be compared with Joan of .- ustria, the mother of 
 " the emperor Charles, what did that poor lady do, but desire, 
 M as far as lawfully she might, a pleasure allowed by the law, 
 " and a remedy necessary for her age? Yet, being an innocent 
 " woman, she suffered that punishment, of which our queen, 
 W convicted of the highest crimes, does now complain: The mur- 
 " der of her lawful husband, and her unlawful marriage with 
 " a public parricide, have now the same intercessors, who, in 
 " killing the king, did inflict the punishment due to wicked men 
 " on the innocent. But here they remember not what exam- 
 *' pies of their ancestors prompt them to; neither are they mind- 
 " ful of that eternal law, which our noble progenitors following, 
 ** even from the first beginnings of kingdoms, lave thereby re- 
 " strained the violence of tyrants. And, in our present c :, 
 " what have we done more, than trod in the steps oi so many 
 '* kingdoms and free nations, and so bridled that arbitral 
 " which claimed a power above law? And yet we ; ive n >ne 
 " it without severity neither, as our ancestors have used in the 
 " like kind; for they never would have suffered any one, ho 
 " had been found guilty of such a notorious crime, to e 
 *' the punishment of the law. If we had imitated r 
 " had been free from fear of danger, and also from -the ible 
 f* of calumniators; and this may be easily known by the demand 
 ** of our adversaries. How often have they ace used and arraign- 
 " ed us before our neighbouring princes? What nations do they 
 " not solicit, and stir up against us? What do they desire by 
 " this importunity? Is it only, that the controversy may be dc- 
 " cided by law and equity? We never refused that condition; 
 ** and they would never accept of it, though it was often offer- 
 f* ed them. What then do they desire? Even this, that we 
 " should arm tyrants with public authority, who are manifestly 
 " guilty ol the most notorious wickedness, who are satiated with 
 f* the spoils of their subjects, besmeared with the blood of 
 if kings, and aim at the destruction of all good men! That we 
 
 E c e s 
 
402 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 « set them up over our lives, who are found actors in the par- 
 « ricide, and very much suspected to be the designers of it, 
 " without acquitting themselves in a judiciary way? And yet 
 *« we have gratified their request, more than the custom of our 
 « country, fhe severity of the law, or the distribution of equal 
 '< justice would allow. There is nothing more frequently cele- 
 " brated, nor more diligently handled by the writers of our his- 
 " tory, than our punishment of evil kings. And amongst so 
 " many p^ecant governors, who ever felt the like lenity of angry 
 " subjects in inflicting punishment, as we have used in punish- 
 " ing our king's mother, though evidently guilty of the greatest 
 «« crime? What ruler convicted of Such crime, had ever power 
 " given to substitute a son, or kinsman, in his or her place ? To 
 ff whom, in such circumstances, was the liberty ever granted, 
 " to appoint what guardians they pleased to the succeeding king? 
 f* And, in the abjuration of the kingdom, who can complain of 
 " any hard usage? A young woman unable to undergo the load 
 " of government, and tossed by the storms of unsettled affairs, 
 " sent letters to the nobility to free her from that rule, which 
 « was as burdensome to her, as it was honourable: It was grant- 
 f( ed her: She desired the government might be transferred from 
 v her to her son; her request was assented to: She also desired 
 <„' to have the naming of guardians, who might rule the state till 
 <f her son came to be of age; it was done as she desired: And 
 * c that the thing might have more authority, the whole was re- 
 l( ferred to the estates in parliament, who voted, That all was 
 " rightly done, and in good order*, and they confirmed it by an 
 << act, than which there cannot be a move sacred and a firmer 
 « obligation. But it is alleged, that what was done in prison, 
 " is to be taken, not as done willingly, but by constraint, for fear 
 ♦' of death; and so many other tilings which men are inforced to 
 <c do for fear, are wont, as they ought, to go for nothing. In- 
 « deed, this excuse of fear, as sometimes it is, not without rea- 
 " son, admitted by the judges, so it doth not always infer a just 
 t( cause for abolishing a public act once made in a suit of law. 
 " If a man strike a fear into his adversary for his own advan- 
 " tage, and so the plaintiff extorts more from the defendant, 
 " than he could ever obtain by the equity of the Jaw; those rc~ 
 « medics are most rightfully and deservedly provided, against 
 " such as are either terrified by compulsion, or inforced by icar, 
 <* to do what is prejudicial to themselves. But it is otherwise, 
 « if a guilty conscience creates a fear to itself, out of an cxpec- 
 »' tation of a deserved punishment, to avoid which, the offender 
 " assents to some certain conditions: This fear carries with it 
 *< no just cause to rescind public acts; for otherwise, the more 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 403 
 
 wicked a person is, so much the easier retreat he might have to 
 the sanctuary of the law; and then the remedies found out for 
 the relief of the innocent, would be transferred to indemnify 
 the guilty. And the laws themselves, the avengers of wrongs, 
 « would not be a refuge to good men, when vexed by the im- 
 4 probity of the bad; but an unjust shelter to the evil, when 
 4 they fear deserved punishment. But that fear, let it be what 
 4 it will, wherein has it made the condition of the queen the 
 4 worse? The title of royal dignity, and the administration of 
 
 * the government, was long since taken from her by parliament; 
 4 and being reduced to privacy, she lived a precarious life, which 
 4 she owed to the people's mercy, more than her own innocen- 
 4 cy: When therefore she was divested of the kingdom, what 
 4 did she lose by her fear? Her dominion was ended before, 
 
 * she only cast away the empty name of ruler; and that which 
 
 * might lawfully have been extorted from her against her will, 
 4 she parted with of her own accord, and so redeemed the re- 
 4 sidue of her life, the sentiment of her infamy, the perpetual 
 4 fear of imminent death, which is worse than death itself, only 
 4 by the laying down the shadow of a mere title and name. 
 4 And therefore I wonder that, on this head, no body discovers 
 
 * the prevarication of the queen's delegates, and of her ambas- 
 4 sadors. For they who desire, that what was done in prison, 
 4 by the queen, may be undone; ask this also, that she may be 
 4 restored to that place from which she complains she was e- 
 4 jected through fear. And what is that place, to which they 
 4 so earnestly desire she should be restored? She hath been re- 
 4 moved from governing the kingdom, and from all public ad- 
 4 ministration, and left to the punishment of the law. Now 
 
 these goodly advocates would have her restored to the neces- 
 sity of pleading for herself in a cause which is as manifest as 
 it is foul and detestable; or rather, it being already proved, 
 that she should suffer just punishment for the same. And 
 whereas, now she enjoys some ease in the compassion of her 
 relations, and, in so black an offence, is not in the v/orst con- 
 ditions of life, they would again cast her into the tempestuous 
 hurry of a new judgment; she having no better hope of her 
 safety, than she can gather from the condemnation of so ma- 
 ny kings, who have been called before judges to act for them- 
 selves. But because our adversaries seditiously boast, to trou- 
 ble the minds of the simple, that the majesty of good kings is 
 impaired, and their authority almost vilified, if tyrants be pu- 
 nished; let us see what weight there is in this pretence: We 
 may rather, on the contrary, judge, That there is nothing 
 more honourable for the societies and assemblies of the good;, 
 
4©4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 «« than to be freed from the contagion of the bad. "Whoever 
 « thought that the senate of Rome incurred any guilt, by the 
 " punishment of Lentulus, Cethegus, or Catiline? And Valeri- 
 " us Asiaticus, when the soldiers mutinied for the killing of Ca- 
 « ligula, and cried out to know, Who ivas the author of a fact so 
 « audacious? He answered from an eminence where he stood, 1 
 « ?vish I could truly say> I did it: So much majesty there was in 
 «< that free speech of one private man, that the wild soldiers 
 « were by it presently dissipated and quieted. "When Junius 
 « Brutus defeated the conspiracy made for bringing back the ty- 
 <* rants into the city of Home, he did not think that his family 
 f* was stained by a severe execution, but that, by the blood of 
 «« his children, the stain was rather washed away from the Ro- 
 < s man nobility. Did the imprisonment of Christiern of Den- 
 t* mark detract any thing from the commendation of Christiern 
 « the next king? Did it hinder him from being accounted the 
 « best of kings in his time? For a noble mind that is support- 
 « ed by its own virtue, doth neither increase by the glory, nor 
 « is lessened by the infamy of another. But to let these things 
 « pass, let us return to the proof of, the crime. I think, we 
 « have abundantly satisfied the queen's request; her desire was, 
 « that we should shew her such strengthening and convincing 
 « proofs for what we have done, that she might be satisfied in 
 " the justness of our cause; and also be able to inform others, 
 « who desired to hear what we could say for ourselves. As for 
 « the king's murder, the autfior, the method, and the causes of 
 « it, have been so fully declared by the earl of Murray, and his 
 " associates in that embassy, that they must needs be clear to 
 " the exact judgment of the queen, and those others delegated 
 « by her to hear that affair. As for what is objected to us, as 
 " blame-worthy, after that time, we have shewn, that it is con- 
 « sentaneous to the divine law, and also to the law of nature, 
 *< which too is in some measure divine: Besides, it is consonant to 
 " our own country laws and customs: Neither is it different from 
 « the usage of other nations, who have the face of any good and 
 *' just government amongst them. Seeing then that our cause 
 " is justified by all the interpreters of divine and human laws; 
 <« and that the examples of so many ages, the judgments of so 
 « many people, and tne punishment of tyrants do confirm it, we 
 « see no such novelty nor injustice in our cause, but that the 
 " queen herself might readily subscribe to it; and persuade o- 
 " thers that, in this matter, they should be no otherwise opini- 
 " onated oi us, but that we have carried ourselves like faithful 
 f subjects and good Chiistians." 
 
 These were the allegations, which we thought fit to make to 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. QOg 
 
 justify our cause, which we committed to writing, and read tliem 
 the last day of February, before those grave and learned persons, 
 whom the queen had appointed to confer with us on that sub- 
 ject; and the next day, which was March the ist, we again went 
 in the morning to court, to learn how she relished our answer, 
 and what judgment she made of the whole cause-, but, because 
 that day she was going to her country house at Greenwich, a- 
 bout three miles below London, we had no opportunity to speak 
 with her: Then we went to the chief of the council, who at 
 first were appointed to hear and treat with us : " They told us, 
 " that the queen, though she had very little spare time, in re- 
 « gard of her journey, and other business, yet had read our me- 
 " mortal: But she was not yet so fully persuaded, that our cause 
 " was so just, that she could approve it without scruple; and 
 « therefore she desired us to go to the second thing at first pro- 
 «* posed to us, which was, To find out some way, whereby this 
 «< dispute might be ended upon some moderate conditions." To 
 which we replied, ■«« ihat we were not sent from home with an 
 " unbounded commission, but one circums'cribed within cctim 
 '« limits; so that we had no freedom to enter into any deb^i- at 
 " all, of what might in the least diminish the authority of our 
 tf king; and if such a liberty had been offered us, yet we should 
 ** have been unwilling to accept it, or to make use of it, if al- 
 « lowed us." 
 
 " Matters standing thus; the queen being at Greenwich, and 
 " we at London, we sent some of our number to her, to know 
 « whether she had any thing more to say to us: 'If not, that we 
 « might have liberty to go home, there to consult, as well as 
 «* we could, the good of our country, and our own private con- 
 « cerns: And if there were any thing we might gratify her 
 « majesty in, we were willing to show our obsequiousness and 
 « respect; nay, that we should take more opportunity to shew 
 « it at home, than wc could have now in another's dominions. 
 « This demand procured us a summons to appear at court the 
 «« 5th of March. When wd were come into the queen's pre- 
 << sence, she mightily blamed our stiffness in maintaining our 
 » opinion, and that we so pertinaciously shunned a dispure, or 
 *« rather a consultation, about a matter so much concerning our 
 " security: She also added a large declaration of her mind and 
 « will against the king, and these who maintained his cause. 
 « We urged, that the justice of our cause had been clearly e- 
 " nough declared before. She answered that she was not sa- 
 « tisiiea in her mind with the examples and arguments produ- 
 « ced by us neither, said she, am I wholly ignorant of such das- 
 " putes, as having past j< me of my former ti:ne in the study of 
 " the law: But, says she, if you be fully determined to uiake no 
 
406 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Boole XX. 
 
 " other proposal for your king's safety, and your own; yet I 
 « would have you, at least, enter upon another conference with 
 " the chief of my council, who treated with you about these 
 " things before. We answered, That we were not at all so stiffly 
 " wedded to our own opinions, as not to be willing to hear any 
 " good expedient, that might be offered by her, or her coun- 
 U sellors; but ever with this proviso, that no alteration be made 
 " in the present state of the kingdom; nor any diminution at 
 «« all of the king's authority: For upon these two heads, we 
 «« neither could, or would admit the least consultation or debate. 
 " The day after, we went down again to the queen's palace, 
 «< (as we agreed), and entered into a conference with her coun- 
 " sellors, where many proposals were made by them to decide 
 «< the controversy between mother and son, concerning the title 
 •* to the government: We, because the reasons were many, and 
 " concerning matters of such great moment on both sides, de- 
 « sired that we might have them given us in writing, and time 
 fi allowed us to consider of things of such great consequence. 
 ,<« They were ready to do it, having first consulted the queen. 
 " When we had run them all over in order, the matters propos- 
 " ed seemed so difficult to us, and so derogatory to the power 
 " of the king, and so exceeding the bounds of our embassy and 
 " commission, that we neither would, could, nor durst touch 
 •« upon them. The day after, Robert Pitcairn was sent to court 
 l< with this answer: That such matters did belong to the deci- 
 " sion of all the estates, and were not to be disputed by so smull 
 " a number of persons as we were. He also carried our answer 
 fC to them, who the day before, viz. the 9th of March, had de- 
 « sired to have all in writing. He earnestly desired the queen, 
 " that seeing we had executed all the points within the bounds 
 " of our commission, we might have leave to return home. Ten 
 " days after, we had liberty to attend the queen: The delegates 
 f* of the council, who, from our first coming, were appointed to 
 " treat with us, were very urgent that we would yet treat with 
 " them, about finding out some remedies to compose things: 
 u They used many arguments to that purpose, telling us, that if 
 ,f a war from abrosd should be added to our troubles at home, 
 •* our labours, dangers and difficulties would be doubled, espe- 
 " cially being not able to extricate ourselves by our own for- 
 " ces. But we persisted in our resolution, and would hearken 
 " to no model of accommodation, which lessened the king's au- 
 " thority, and so that day ended." 
 
 The next day, which was the 20th of March, we were sent 
 for again to court, and being commanded to come to the queen, 
 •?hs spoke to us to this purpose: « That she and her council luui 
 
Book XX. HISTOR\ OF SCOTLAND. 407 
 
 " weighed our answers, by which she understood, that none 
 " but a supreme council, or parliament of Scotland, consisting 
 " of all the estates, could give a certain answer to her demands*, 
 <* and thereupon she had found out a way how to leave the mat- 
 « tcr entire as she found it, and with an honest pretence too. 
 " She was informed, that there was shortly to be a convention 
 " of all the estates in Scotland, that we should go thither, and 
 ».' God speed us well; and that we should there endeavour, that 
 ** an equal number of both factions should be chosen, to exa- 
 « mine the grounds of the difference between them; and that 
 " she also would send her ambassadors thither, who should join 
 " their endeavours with those to promote a peace: In the mean 
 *< time, 'she desired, that the pacification might be renewed, till 
 *< the matter was brought to some issue. She said also, that 
 « she would confer with the queen of Scots' ambassadors, and 
 « persuade them, if she could, to the same. But when it was 
 « moved to them, they excused themselves, saying, that they 
 « could determine nothing on that head, without consulting their 
 t* queen; but that they would write to her to know her pleasure 
 " in the case. We pressed hard to have our convoy to return 
 » . s was promised us, but were desired to have a little patience, 
 « til! an answer was returned from the Scots queen to the bi- 
 < l shop of Ross, and the rest of her ambassadors, and then we 
 « should have our dismission. We urged our return still, but 
 » without effect, though we told her we had nothing to do with 
 » the bishop of Ross, neither was our embassy to him; we had 
 « ended what we came for, and did much wonder why the bi- 
 « shop of Ross should retard our journey, especially since so 
 « many tumults were raised in our absence, to the great incon- 
 « venience of the king's party: But though our importunity was 
 " almost exceeding the bounds of good manners, yet we could 
 « not prevail; for the matter was deferred from day to day, till 
 " the last of March, and then the queen returned to London." 
 The things which were acted in parliament for three' days after 
 employed the queen so much, that she had no leisure to debate 
 foreign matters. " But the 4th of April she sent for us, and ex- 
 « cused the delay: She told us, that our king's mother had bv 
 « her letters severely chid her ambassadors for their presumptu- 
 " ous confidence in descending to debate her cause after that 
 " manner; and therefore, says the queen, seeing they are so a- 
 « verse to peace, which I propose, I will detain you no longer; 
 .<* but if she hereafter repent of her present sentiment (of which 
 " M pes) and take the coarse pointed out by me, I 
 
 ' I •;•-' '-' )"bl but you, for your part, will perform your duty.'' 
 
408 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 Thus we were respectfully dissmissed, and the 8th day of April 
 we began our journey towards our own country. 
 
 This account was given at Stirling, by the ambassadors, be- 
 fore the convention of the estates. Upon which, the care and 
 diligence of the ambassadors were unanimously approved. Other 
 matters they referred to the first of May, a parliament being sum- 
 moned against that time. In the mean time, both parties bestir 
 themselves, one to promote, the other to hinder the assembling 
 of it. The wisest senators were of opinion, that the queen of 
 England would never let the Scots queen leave her kingdom, as 
 foreseeing how dangerous it would be to all Britain. In the in- 
 terim, mention was made by somebody of demanding the Scots 
 king, as an hostage for his mother, rather in hopes to hinder a 
 concord, than to establish it; for she was well assured, that the 
 Scots would never yield to it-, but there were some powerful men 
 in her council, who secretly favoured the duke of Norfolk's fac- 
 tion: These were desirous that the queen of Scots should be re- 
 stored, and that thereby the adverse faction might, in time, be 
 broken and diminished, that so they might obtain that point from 
 them by necessity, which they saw they could not otherwise 
 gain; nor did they doubt, but the matter would come to that 
 pass, when the rebels were assisted with money, and other ne- 
 cessaries for war from France; and the royalists had their eye 
 only on the queen of England, who had, at the beginning, large- 
 ly promised, them, upon understanding the crime of the queen, 
 that she would take a special care of the king and kingdom of 
 Scotland. Neither could the French king well bring about his 
 designs. He was willing the Scots queen should be restored, 
 but not that the king should be put into English hands; and 
 hearing how strong the Norfolk faction was, which was all for 
 innovations, he did not despair, but that the Scots queen might,, 
 in time, escape out of prison privately, or be delivered by How- 
 ard's means. Thus stood the state of Britain at that time. 
 
 Morton, having given a laudable account of his embassy to 
 the convention at Stirling, returned to his own house about four 
 miles from Edinburgh: He had a company of one hundred foot, 
 and a few horse to guard his house, and to defend himself, if 
 the townsmen should attempt to make any excursion, till more 
 forces might come in. In the mean time, the queen's faction 
 were masters of the town, and set guards in all convenient pla- 
 ces; and levelled all their designs to exclude the regent, and to 
 hinder the parliament which was summoned to be held at Edin- 
 burgh. Upon which, Morton, as the regent had commanded, 
 sent twenty horse and about seventy foot (for the rest had passes 
 to £0 abroad for forage) to Leith, who were to make a public 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 409 
 
 proclamation there (for Edinburgh was garrisoned already) that 
 no man should assist the rebels by land or sea, either with provi- 
 sions, arms, or any other warlike furniture ; they that did so, 
 were to undergo the same punishment with them. These know- 
 ing themselves to be inferior to the town soldiers, sent their foot 
 another way about, which was covered by a hill from the sight 
 of the city, (commonly called Arthur's seat) and the horse pas- 
 sed near the walls and gates of the city, not a man of the enemy 
 stirring out. When they had done what they were commanded 
 to do at Leith, they had not the same fortune at their return; 
 for the foot refused to march back the same way that they came, 
 but returned against the will of the horse near the gates of the 
 city, and so passed with them under the walls, with an intent to 
 try what courage themselves were of, and their enemies too, when 
 on a sudden, a sally was made from two of the gates. At first 
 they fought bravely, so that those of the town were forced to 
 retire in disorder into the town, with no great loss, it is true, 
 yet it easily appeared that they were inferior in valour, though su- 
 perior in number. The regent having nothing in readiness to 
 attack the town, and having no time neither, by reason of the 
 sudden sitting of the parliament, to bring any cannon thither, 
 thought it better to desist from force, and to hold the parliament 
 without the gate of Edinburgh: For that city being stretched 
 .out mostly in length, they, who first compassed it with a wall, 
 left a part of it in the suburbs; yet so, that the inhabitants of 
 that part had the full privilege of citizens, as well as those with- 
 in the walls. There the convention was held, for the lawyers 
 gave their opinion, that jt was no great matter in what pa;t so- 
 ever of the city it met. In this parliament, these were declared 
 traitors, viz. the chief of them who held out the castle, especial- 
 ly those, who out of consciousness of their guilt of the king's and 
 regent's murders, had avoided trial. 
 
 The rebels being thus condemned by act of parliament (the 
 judgment of which court is of very great authority) lest the com- 
 monality, which usually is at the beck of the nobility, should be 
 alienated from them, they also of the number which they had 
 there, made up a convention, such as it was. Few appeared, 
 who had any lawful right to vote; and of them some came not 
 to the assembly at all; some presented themselves but as specta- 
 tors only, abstaining from all judiciary acts; so that having nei- 
 ther a just number of voices, nor being assembled either in due 
 time or according to ancient custom; yet, that they might make 
 shew of a lawful sufficient number, two bishops, and some o- 
 thers that were absent (a thing never heard of before) sent in 
 iheir votes in writing, at all adventures. At this time the cas-? 
 
 Fff 2 
 
4IO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 tie continually played with its great guns upon the place where 
 the nobility were assembled; and though the bullets often fell 
 amongst crowds of people, yet did they neither kill nor wound so 
 much as one man. There was but few condemned in titl er 
 convention; and both parties appointed another convention to be 
 held in August, one at Stirling, the other at Edinburgh. When 
 the assembly was dismissed, neither party attacked the other, so 
 that there was a kind cf truce by common consent. Upon this, 
 the greatest part of the soldiers that were with Morton, being 
 pressed men, slipped away to their own homes. 
 
 They who kept the town, knowing that Morton had but a 
 small party for his guard, and being willing also to have repara- 
 tion for their former ignominious repulse, they sent out two hun- 
 dred and twenty musqueteers, and one hundred horse, carr 
 two brass field pieces along with them; intending either to burn 
 the town of Dalkeith, where Morton then was; or, if that suc- 
 ceeded not, to frighten the enemy, and keep him within the 
 town; and if they could thus put him into a fright, they intend- 
 ed to make their boasts of it all over the country. They shewed 
 themselves well accoutred on a hill over against Dalkeith: Upon 
 which, those cf Dalkeith being alarmed, cried presently, Amu 
 Arm. Morton's men drew out immediately, being two hundred 
 foot, and about sixty horse, and mounting a little an opposite 
 hill, and then again descending into the valley, stood over against 
 them ready for battle: Some archers picquered and skirmished 
 on both sides, and there was a light onset; but the rebels, who 
 expected to find their enemies unprepared, being disappointed cf 
 their hopes, marched back in as entire a body as they could to re- 
 cover the city; and thus seme pressing upon others, in the ea- 
 gerness of their retreat, they came to Craigmillar castle, situate 
 almost in the mid way betwixt Edinburgh and Dalkeith. There 
 a few of Morton's foot, which passed by the castle privately on 
 the other side, rose from their ambush, and attacked die enemv's 
 body, in the strait passage of the way which was between them, 
 and so disordered their ranks, and put them to flight: They, who 
 kept garrison in the castle of Edinburgh, perceiving from the 
 higher ground, that their men were flying toward them, sent 
 out eighteen horse, and thirty foot to relieve them; with this 
 supply they charged again, and the king's horse being fewer i.>. 
 number by half, and not able to endure the action, tied b • 
 as much haste as they had pursued before. The foot wa 
 manner v u.:elcss on both sides, because of a great shower that fell 
 suddenly from the clouds. In the pursuit of the Mori 
 were but few slain, more were wounded, and about twei 
 taken priscn:rs: Of the rebels there were more shin, but 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 41; 
 
 prisoners taken. But one accident did almost equal the loss of 
 both parties: They which came from Edinburgh, brought with 
 them a barrel of gunpowder, and as the soldiers, in haste and 
 carelessly, went to take out some powder, a spark 01 fire fell in- 
 to it, and blew it up, insomuch that the horse which carried it, 
 James Melvil, the commander of the foot; and many other sol- 
 diers, were so scorched and burnt, that the most part of them, in 
 a few days after, died. 
 
 Whilst these things were acting about Edinburgh, victory in- 
 clining to neither side, one troop of the Scots, who, seme years 
 befoi - e, had served in Denmark, under Michael Weeras, a noble, 
 virtuous, and learned young man, returned into their own coun- 
 try, and offered their service to the king, against the desires of 
 the townsmen, who would willingly have drawn them over to 
 their party. They had a little time allowed them to visit their 
 friends; and coming together at the day appointed, they were 
 informed, that some ships were manned out by the rebels to in- 
 tercept them. Morton himself was aware of the design, and 
 therefore taking what force he could on a sudden get ready, with- 
 out acquainting any body with his design, he came so suddenly 
 to Leith, that he had almost taken them before they went a ship- 
 board; sixteen of them who did not make such haste to launch 
 out their boat he took prisoners on the shore. The next day he 
 provided ships, either to follow them (he could not do it sooner 
 because of the tide) or to intercept them in their return. The 
 regent also was made acquainted with it the same night, who 
 speedily gathering some irregular troops, hastened to the left 
 shore of the Forth, to set upon the rebels when they landed: But 
 the speed of the Danish soldiers rendered those endeavours need- 
 less; for the greatest part of them got aboard a large vessel, and 
 so passed safely over. The rest, who were in a smaller skiff, 
 were taken far from Leith, and being about twenty-six were car- 
 ried prisoners to the castle. After this action, the regent return- 
 ed to Stirling: Morton, being wearied with labour and watching, 
 and seized with the cholic, was confined to hia bed at Leith. 
 Drury the Englishman, who had treated a truce between the 
 factions for many days, could in the end effect nothing; for the 
 regent would yield to no other terms, but that the places which 
 were seized on, during the former truce, should be restored. 
 When Drury was about to depart, the rebels, as it were in re- 
 spect and compliment to him, drew out aii the strength that ever 
 they could make, supposing that whilst Morton was sick, they 
 should either put their enemies into a terrible fright, who were 
 inferior in number to themselves; or else, if they durst light with 
 the force they had without then general, they might do some 
 
4 HI HISTORY' OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 considerable execution upon them toward the ending of the 
 war. 
 
 Morton being informed of this by his horse-guard, rose pre- 
 sently out of his bed, and buckling on his armour, brought up 
 all his men into a neighbouring hill, where he kept them ready 
 for the attack, about four hundred paces from the enemy. Dru- 
 ry rode between both armies, and earnestly desired them to re- 
 turn home, and not to break off all hope of accommodation, by 
 over rash and hasty counsels: Upon which they both agreed to 
 retreat, only the dispute was, who should do it first. Drury en* 
 deavoured to compound this difference also, and desired of both, 
 that when he, standing in the middle between both armies, gave 
 a sign, they should both retreat in one and the same moment. 
 Morton was willing; but the rebels threatened, that unless he re- 
 treated first of his own accord, they would beat him shamefully 
 out of the field: and indeed they could hardly be kept from ad«? 
 vancing towards him. 
 
 When Morton heard this answer, he supposed he had satis- 
 fied Drury and the English, whom at this time he was unwilling 
 to offend, but would rather have them witnesses of his modera- 
 tion; whereupon he presently drew forth against the enemy: 
 First, his horse made a brisk charge, and routed the enemy's wings, 
 their foot attempted to charge him, but were routed also; when 
 the gate of the next street being narrow, could not admit of 
 many at once in their hasty flight, many were there slain, many 
 trodden under foot; great numbers taken, none making any re- 
 sistance, bur only a party of foot, who having the advantage of 
 the next church-yard, rallied again; and yet, at the first charge 
 were a second time put to flight. Their flight into the city was 
 so confused, that the guards left the gates, and all fled into the 
 castle; so that if the pursuers had not been intent on their booty, 
 they might have taken the town, as being unguarded. Above 
 fifty of the rebels were killed, and about one hundred and fifty 
 taken. Alexander Hume had a slight wound with a fall from 
 his horse, and was taken prisoner: Gavin Hamilton was killed: 
 James Culen, Huntly's kinsman, a commander of foot, hid him- 
 self in a poor woman's pantry, but was discovered, and brought 
 to Leith. The common people, when they saw him, made such 
 a. shout, that it plainly appeared they would not be satisfied, but 
 by his death; for in the former civil wars, he had been a cruel 
 and rapacious plunderer. He was infamous in his military em- 
 ployment, in France; and when the kings of Denmark and Swe- 
 den were at difference, he promised to serve them both, and ac- 
 cordingly took their money to raise soldiers, but cheated them 
 in turri. Many such villanous things he had dene; jHl4 being 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 4 1 3. 
 
 thus taken at last (as I said) to the great joy of all, was led forth to 
 his execution. 
 
 After a few day's rest, the townsmen recruited their forces, 
 and then shewed themselves again in arms-, after that, light skir- 
 mishes passed between the parties almost every day, with various 
 events. The king's party were more courageous, but the rebels 
 had places more convenient for ambushes; and besides, they had 
 a high castle, from whence they might see all the motions of their 
 enemies; neither would they commonly venture any further on an 
 action, than their ordnance out of the castle could command. 
 The regent kept himself at Leith, watching all their sallies, and 
 stopping all provisions by sea; for he could not do it by land, by- 
 reason of the largeness of the city, and unevenness of the adjacent 
 places, in the surrounding of which many opportunities of service 
 were lost Whilst these things were acting about the city, a 
 French ship was taken, that brought gun powder, iron bullets, 
 small brass guns, and some money for the rebels. The money- 
 went to pay the king's soldiers, but the bullets, powder, and part 
 of the cannon, being sent with little or no guard to Stirling up the 
 river, the rebels, having intelligence of it, procured some vessels 
 from other havens, and surprised them ; but not being able to car- 
 ry their booty to the castle, they sunk it in the" river. About the 
 same time another small ship was also taken, in which there was 
 little else but letters and large promises of assistance, speedily to 
 be sent from France. For during the two whole years last past, 
 in which there was war by turns in Scotland, the queen of Eng- 
 land, on behalf of the royalists, the king of France, and the Eng- 
 lish papists, on behalf of the rebels, sent in some small sums or* 
 money, but loaded them with more promises, as rather studying, 
 that their respective party might be conquered, than conquer. 
 Both of them were willing matters should be brought to that ne- 
 cessity; the English queen, that the Scots, being worn out by 
 their divisions, might be willing to send their king into England, 
 and to seem to depend wholly on her; the French king, that the 
 rebels might surrender Dumbarton and Edinburgh to him, and 
 that thus by these two commanding garrisons from both seas, he 
 might keep the Scots always in fear of his arms. But despairing 
 of the queen's liberty, and Dumbarton castle being lost, he moved 
 but slowly in the cause of the rebels; he was not willing, now 
 the kingdom was exhausted with domestic seditions, to undertake 
 a new and unnecessary, war, for the sake of one castle only; it 
 was enough, he thought at present, if it did not fall into the ene- 
 my's hands. 
 
 i'he Scots were fully resolved not to give up their Jang to th* 
 
414 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 English, upon the account of old controversies; as also, because 
 the English papists were so strong, who placed all their hopes in 
 his death. For if he were taken out of the way, the queen of 
 England would not only be weakened, seeing it was one royal 
 life only that delayed their hopes; but also the queen of Scots 
 would be the undoubted heir of the whole island, who, by her 
 marriage, might gratify whom she pleased with the regal power, 
 and so be of mighty moment in the change of the state of religion 
 through all Europe. And in the English court there were some 
 no mean persons, who preferred the hopes of new masters before 
 old benefits ; yet if, as long as the king of Scots was alive, they 
 should cut off Elizabeth, many of those of the queen's privy coun- 
 cil feared, lest the known wickedness of the Scots queen might 
 diminish her authority, and increase her son's power, and so, for 
 fear of tyranny, endear him more to the English. "Whereupon the 
 English rebels were willing to destroy the queen of England, and 
 king of Scots both ; and not succeeding in doing it openly, they 
 resolved upon poison. 
 
 Matters standing thus in Scotland, both factious prepared 
 themselves against the approaching sitting of the parliament. 
 The rebels had only three of the lords voting with them, of which 
 two were the procurators, or commissioners to the convention, to 
 be held in the queen's name, the third, Alexander Hume, was the 
 only man who had right to vote. And of the ecclesiastical order, 
 two bishops, the one banished thither two months before, by the 
 regent : and, the state of the city being changed, not daring to de- 
 part without a convoy, he staid there against his will. The other 
 was a bankrupt, who having spent his estate, was driven thither 
 by necessity. By their votes, above two hundred were condemn- 
 ed, some of them being children under age. Besides, the im- 
 pertinence of the soldiers, as if they had already got the victory, 
 divided other men's patrimonies among themselves, and so put 
 many quiet and innocent persons (and, by that means, more liable 
 to injuries) into the roll of those that had forfeited. 
 
 The regent went to Stirling in a ' great concourse of nobility, 
 where he held a parliament; in which, about thirty of the most ob- 
 stinate of ihe queen's party were condemned, the rest were spar- 
 ed in hopes of pardon. The rebels thought this a fit opportunity 
 for them to attempt something in the absence of the nobility; and 
 accordingly they drew all their forces out of the city, and to make 
 a greater shew, the townsmen with them; they set them in battle 
 array, dial so, as, in former times, by light skirmishes, they might 
 draw the king's forces out of Leith. In the mean time, while the 
 enemy were kept in play by them, they resolved to send others 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 4I5 
 
 privately to march about, and when the garrison was drawn out, 
 to enter in at the opposite gate, and so burn the town. Patrick 
 Lindsay was governor of Leith, a wise and valiant person; he drew 
 out his forces, having sufficiently provided against ambuscades, 
 and marched directly towards the enemy. They fought stoutly 
 at first; at last he gave the rebels a round salvo, and so beat them 
 back, not without slaughter, to the gates of the town ; a great 
 many prisoners were brought off", but the most part of them were 
 townsmen. Alexander Hume was taken once, but rescued again 
 by his own party. In the evening, as the king's party were re- 
 turning joyful for the victory, James Haliburton, a good man, 
 and a skilful soldier, who commanded all the foot, being too far 
 from his company, was taken by some horse in the dusk of 
 the evening, when he could not discern of whose party they were 
 in the high way, and so carried prisoner into the city. Upon this 
 loss, the rebels took heart to make another attempt, more full of 
 danger and boldness, and more likely, if it had succeeded, to have 
 put an end to the whole war. For having received intelligence by 
 their spies, that the nobility of the contrary faction at Stirling, 
 were so careless and remiss, that in an open town, they had not 
 so much as a night-guard, as if it had been a time of profound 
 peace, they took 300 foot, and 200 horse, and marched thither. 
 To ease the foot, who were hastily called forth, they took away 
 all the countrymen's horses, who came to market the day before ; 
 and if occasionally they lighted on any other horses by the way, 
 they took them too. The captains in this expedition, were 
 George Gordon, Claud Hamilton, and Walter Scot; they were 
 much encouraged to the undertaking by George Bell, an ensign of 
 a foot company, who was born at Stirling; he knew all the con- 
 venient passages and accesses into the town, and was acquainted 
 with all the noblemen's lodgings ; he gave them assm-ed hopes, 
 that they would quickly master all, insomuch that they were so 
 confident of success in their march, as to appoint whom to kill, 
 and whom to save alive. They came to the town early in the 
 morning, and found things in profound security, not so much as 
 a dog opened his mouth against them; so that they silently enter- 
 ed the town, and without any resistance went up to the market 
 place. They set guards at all the passes, and then went to the 
 noblemen's lodgings; the rest were easily taken, only James 
 Douglas, earl of Morton, put some stop to them in his lodging; 
 when they could not break in upon him by force, they set fire to 
 the house; one or two of his servants, who stoutly defended the 
 passes, were killed; and he himself, when all was a fire, hardly 
 escaping out of the flames, surrendered himself to Walter Scot, 
 his kinsman, who came up with him. At the same moment the 
 regent, being poorlv guarded,' and forced to fight for himself, 
 Vol. II. Ggg 
 
4 ! <> HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 was taken prisoner. Alexander earl of Glencaim, and Hugh earl 
 of Eglinton, were reserved under a guard for execution. For 
 Claud Hamilton told his men, They should kill all the noblemen of the 
 contrary faction as soon as ever they passed out of the gates , lOithout any 
 distinction. All things thus succeeding beyond expectation, the 
 common soldiers scattered themselves all over the town to get 
 plunder. Upon this, John Erskine, governor of the castle, who 
 had before tried to break through the enemy in the market place, 
 but in vain, they were so strongly posted, sent a party of musquet- 
 eers into his own new house, which was then building, and not 
 quite finished, from whence there was a prospect into the whole 
 market place. This house, because it was uninhabited, and not 
 completed, was neglected by the enemy, and afforded a safe pose 
 to the royalists, whence to play on their enemies; When the re- 
 bels saw that they were shot at from a high place, garrisoned a- 
 gainst them with unusual Weapons, they presently turned their 
 backs, and ran away in such fear, that, when they came to the 
 narrow way leading to the gate, they trode down one another. 
 That which saved them was, there were but few to pursue; for 
 they who had driven them out of the market place, could come 
 out but one by one through the gate of the new house, which 
 had but one, and that half shut too towards the town; and 
 but a few came forth from other houses, where they stood 
 armed, ready for all events. Thus the whole soldiery, which, 
 the day before, had attempted so desperate a piece of service, and 
 had almost successfully finished it, were driven out of the town 
 in such fear and confusion, that they left their prisoners, and 
 every one shifted for himself. In all this tumult, there was on- 
 ly one man of note of the king's party killed, and that was 
 George Ruthven, a young gentleman of great hopes, who pres- 
 sing too eagerly upon the thickest of his enemies, lost his life. 
 And Alexander Stuart of Garlice, as he was leading away pri- 
 soner, was struck down dead, it is not known, whether by his 
 own men, or the enemy. 
 
 In this great consternation, they who before kept within their 
 own doors for fear, came now abroad. They who had taken 
 James Douglas and Alexander Cunningham, prisoners, seeing 
 no hopes to escape, surrendered themselves up to their captives. 
 David Speuce captain of horse amongst the rebels, was leading 
 Way the regent-, he knew that many lay in wait for the regent's 
 lift:, and therefore he defended him with all the care he could; 
 insomuch that when the ruffians aimed at the regent, they hit 
 him, and he died the same day, to the great grief of both par- 
 ties; for he was an accomplished young gentleman in every re- 
 spect Loth in body and mind, and inferior to no man of his age 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 417 
 
 ia Scotland. After his decease, the enemy's horse, never did 
 any memorable service. Two of those that assaulted the regent 
 contrary to quarter, were put to death, not being able to escape: 
 The rest fled in such fear, that the prisoners whom they had ta- 
 ken, escaped out of their hands. For certain, all the enemy's 
 party might have been destroyed, if there had been horse suili- 
 cient to have pursued: But the tories of Teviotdale, at their first 
 entrance into the town, had plundered all the horses, which sav- 
 ed them. The slain of both sides were almost equal: Of the 
 royalists, not a man was carried away prisoner; of the other side 
 many; most of whom being intent on plunder, were taken in 
 the houses of which they were a riffling. The regent died the 
 same day of his wounds. His funeral was celebrated in haste, as 
 well as they could in such an hurry; and then the nobility as- 
 sembled, to create another regent to succeed him. They chose 
 out three of their own number, having first given them an oath, 
 to stand to the decision of the nobility; and thus, as candidates, 
 they were to expect the issue of the next assembly. The three 
 were, Gillespy Campbell, earl of Argyle; James Douglas, earl of 
 Morton; and John Erskine, earl of Marr. All the votes favour- 
 ed John Erskine. His first attempt was to attack Edinburgh, 
 there having been an army appointed to be levied by the former 
 regent against the first of October: But this sudden change of af- 
 fairs made it to" be deferred till the 15th of the same month; 
 that delay was a great hindrance to business; for it gave space to 
 the townsmen, who wrought night and day, to perfect their 
 work; so that the early winter, the long nights, the bad wea- 
 ther, in those cold countries, the difficulty of conveying provi- 
 sions, and his want of military accommodations, caused him to 
 return, without carrying the place. 
 
 For some months after, sallies were made, but of no great ad- 
 vantage to either side: For the prospect of the castle being free 
 and open to all parts, gave opportunity to the rebels, that they 
 would never come to action, nor yet fall into any ambush; for, 
 by a signal given from an eminence in the castle, they were easi- 
 ly warned to retreat in time; yet once, when all the horse and 
 foot sallied out of the town, to intercept a few of the royalists, 
 and they pressed upon them, who pretended hastily to fly away; 
 when they in the castle saw the colours of some companies start 
 up from a neighbouring valley, they presently sounded a retreat 
 to them. Upon which, the rebels, before they came to the place 
 of ambush, retreated back in great fear, and their flight was so 
 much the more confused, because, though they were advised of 
 their danger beforehand, yet they did not know what, or frorn 
 whence it was, nor flbuld they so much as suspect it: Those fe\v 
 
 Cgg? 
 
41 8 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 horsemen, who before made semblance of flight, pressed upon 
 their rear in such a manner, that they caused the foot to break 
 their ranks, and every one ran to the city as fast as ever he could; 
 many were wounded and taken, amongst them, seme captains and 
 cornets of horse. 
 
 Whilst matters were thus slowly carried on about the city, in 
 the country towards the north there was a great loss received 
 upon this occasion: There were two families of chief power and 
 authority in those parts, the Gordons and the Forbeses; the 
 Gordons lived in great concord amongst themselves, and by the 
 king's commission, had for many years presided over some neigh- 
 bouring counties, and so increased their ancient power and au- 
 thority: On the other side, the Forbeses were always at difference, 
 and continually weakened one another; but neither of them had 
 now, for many years, made any attempt upon the other, as being 
 mutually allied by marriages, there being rather a secret emula- 
 tion, than an open breach. In the family of the Forbeses, there 
 was one Arthur, a man of sense and very active, and who, from 
 the beginning of the troublesome times, had always been on the 
 king's side: He thought it was now time for him to set up his 
 own name and his family's, as also to advance the power of the 
 party which he followed. He first then endeavoured to recon- 
 cile his own family; which if he could accomplish, he feared 
 not any power that could be raised against him -in those parts. 
 When a day was appointed for that purpose, Adam Gordon, 
 brother to the earl of H'untly, by all means endeavoured to hin- 
 der it, and for that end, giving private notice to his friends, and 
 vassals, there came a great number of them to the place. There 
 were two troops of the Forbeses in sight, but, before they could 
 join, he set upon one of them, and killed Arthur upon the spot; 
 at his fall, the rest were scattered and put to flight; some eminent 
 men were killed, and many taken;, the rest, for some days after 
 dared not stir, for fear those of their party who were taken pri- 
 soners, should suffer for it. And their fear was increased by 
 the burning of Alexander Forbes's house, with his wife great 
 with child, his children and servants in it. Arthur Forbes's el- 
 der brother, chief of the clan, after his house was taken and plun- 
 dered, hardly escaped, and came to court; where though they 
 were much straitened themselves, yet were there two hundred 
 foot granted to him, and to the nobility that followed his party; 
 and withal leters were written to the neighbouring nobility to join 
 with him. 
 
 When they were thus joined with the rest of the Forbeses, and 
 some neighbouring families, they thought themselves secure e- 
 nough from force, but they wanted a c'ommander over them; tor 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 419 
 
 the heads of the families were mostly young men, and there was 
 scarce one more eminent than another amongst them. So that be- 
 ing unresolved in their counsels, John Keith, with 500 horse, 
 went home to his own house which was not far distant. Alexan- 
 der Forbes, and his vassals, with 200 foot, marched to Aberdeen 
 to drive thence Adam Gordon, and to refresh his men after their 
 march. Adam receiving intelligence that his enemy was advanc- 
 ing with but a small party, draws his men out of the town, and 
 to make a shew of a greater multitude, compelled the townsmen 
 to draw out with them, upon which ensued a sharp action in the 
 field near the town. The king's foot, out of eagerness to fight, 
 followed the Gordons too far, and having no gunpowder nor re- 
 serves, were repulsed and put to flight, principally by the archers; 
 there were not many of them killed, because much of the ac- 
 tion was in the dark night, but several were taken, and a- 
 mongst them, Alexander Forbes, after he had stoutly defended 
 himself against them a long time. 
 
 This success in the north mightily encouraged the rebels to at- 
 tempt greater matters. Upon which, in a different part of the 
 kingdom, they resolved to attack Jedburgh, a small town, and, as 
 the country custom then was, unfortified; but the inhabitants 
 were brave, and, for some years past, had always stoutly resisted 
 the rebels. Thomas Ker of Farnihest, and Walter Scot, lived 
 near the town; they, besides their old clans, which were numer- 
 ous enough, had associated to them the three neighbouring coun- 
 ties, Liddisdale, Ewesdale, and Eskdale, places always notorious 
 for robbery; but then, in regard of the licentiousness of the civil 
 war, they pillaged without controul a great way farther. And 
 besides, in Teviotdale itself, there were some great families noted 
 for those practices, either being infected by their neighbours, or 
 because they had been accustomed to plunder their enemy's, 
 country: Nor did these only come in, but some of the neighbour- 
 ing English, in hopes of booty, joined themselves with them; be- 
 sides this, they sent for one hundred and twenty musquetcers 
 from Edinburgh, all picked men out of every company of the 
 foot. The people of Jedburgh knew that they were aimed at, 
 and therefore sent in haste to the regent, to acquaint him with 
 their danger; and only desired a few light harnessed soldier.; 
 from him: In the mean time, they were not wanting to do their 
 best. They sent for Walter Ker of Cesford, and levied a reason- 
 able number of soldiers out of the neighbourhood, and fortified 
 their town as the time would permit. 
 
 Both parties were also informed at tire same time, that William 
 Ruthven was come as far as Driburgh, with 120 musquetcers and 
 hotsemen, part of which he had brought with him, and part he 
 
420 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. Book XX. 
 
 raised in the neighbouring county of March. But the rebels, be- 
 ing confident of their number, as being 3000 men, marched to 
 the town early in the morning, to prevent the coming in of their 
 relief. Ruthven suspected they would do so, and therefore 
 marched speedily after them, and made some attempts upon their 
 rear. And Walter Ker joined his forces with the townsmen, and 
 drew out directly towards the enemy; who seeing this, that they 
 might not be surrounded, presently retreated to places of greater 
 advantage. The robbers, who came in for hopes of plunder, see- 
 ing the town fortified, and the royalists ready for action, went 
 home the nearest way they could; and the rebels, with their vas- 
 sals, and a company of foot, retreated to Hawick, never thinking 
 that the enemy would, in the least, attempt any thing against 
 them there; and their hopes were increased by the winter-season, 
 which was sharper than ordinary, by reason of a great quantity of 
 snow lately fallen, that covered all the ground. But Ruthven 
 intended to make use of the opportunity, and in the third watch 
 drew out his party, and marched so suddenly towards Hawick, 
 that he was within a mile of it before the enemy took the alarm. 
 At Hawick they were so surprised, that there was no room for 
 counsel left, but horse and foot were immediately drawn out, and 
 following the current of the next river, endeavoured to retreat to 
 a place of more safety. But the swiftness of their pursuers pre- 
 vented them; the horse knew the country, and made a shift to e- 
 scape, bur the foot were left a prey to their enemies; they posses- 
 sed themselves of a small wood on a rock near the river, where 
 they were surrounded by the horse, and not venturing to stav till 
 the foot came tip, they all surrendered themselves at mercy. But 
 there being other dangers to be prevented, and seeing that they 
 could not be carried up and down in so sharp a winter, haying 
 passed their words to return at a day appointed, and, leaving some v 
 hostages for that purpose, they were sent home without their 
 arms. When they were discharged, Kircaldy made several weak 
 pretences to elude their promises, which however hindered them 
 from returning at the time appointed. 
 
 The rest of the winter, and the following spring, was wholly 
 taken up in light skirmishes, in which few were killed, but more 
 ef the rebels than royalists; for the rebeis, when they saw an ad- 
 vantage, would draw out on the hills near the city, and before 
 they had scarce begun a skirmish, would frequently retire into the 
 city. In the mean while frequent embassies came in from Eng- 
 land, to reconcile the factions, but without effect; for the queen 
 of England, though she most favoured the king's party, yet she 
 ■was willing t 1 make such a peace, as might engage both parties 
 ...;:ver': iclioed to the queen's cause, 
 
Book XX. HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 421 
 
 and therefore, by large promises, hindered peace, and advised a 
 continuance of the war. Some money they sent at present, but 
 not enough for die occasion, but only to feed hopes; and a great 
 part of what was sent was always fingered by those who brought 
 it. 
 
 In the mean time light skirmishes passed for some months be- 
 tween the parties, but not at all contributing to the main affair. 
 Neither were other parts of the kingdom free from burning and 
 plundering. Adam Gordon gathered a party together, and enter- 
 ing Angus, besieged Douglas s house of Glenbervy; and, finding 
 that himself was absent, they miserably burnt and destroyed all 
 that was there, which struck such a terror into those of Dundee, 
 that they called in the garrisons from the adjoining parts of Fife to 
 their assistance-, for Gordon would give them no quarter, as hav- 
 ing been in a particular manner ever true to the king's cause. A- 
 bout this time Blackness was betrayed by its governor to the Hani- 
 iltons, which is a castle that hinders commerce between Leith and 
 Stirling. The regent broke down all the mills about Edinburgh, 
 garrisoned all the noblemen's houses about it, and stopped all pas- 
 sages into the city; many prisoners were taken on both sides. 
 Archibald Douglas, one of Morton's familiar friends, was appre- 
 hended on suspicion ; which was increased by the baseness of his 
 former life, as also by some letters found about him; and, even 
 after he was taken, he corresponded by letters with the enemy ; 
 which evidently shewed that he had assisted the rebels, both by 
 advice and actions, having transmitted to them both money and 
 arras. 
 
THE 
 
 GENEALOGY 
 
 OF ALL THE 
 
 KINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 SCOTLAND; 
 
 DEC L A RING 
 
 What year of the World, and of Christ, they began to 
 Reign; how long they Reigned, and what Qualities they 
 were of. 
 
 Vol. II. H h h 
 
THE 
 
 GENEALOGY 
 
 OF ALL THE 
 
 KINGS 
 
 F 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 f_N« B. 27>*> numbers within parentheses in the following genea- 
 logy , refer to the pages rf the foregoing history , ivhere every king's 
 reign is to be found* 
 
 i. Fergus, (p. 108.) 
 
 JL he first king of Scotland, the son of Ferchard, a prince of 
 Ireland, began to reign in the year of the world 3641; before 
 die coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ 330 years: In the first 
 year of the 12th Olympiad, and in the 421st year of the builds 
 ingof Rome: About the beginning of the 3d monarchy of the 
 
 Hhh2 
 
446 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 Grecians, when Alexander the Great overthrew Darius Codo- 
 manus, the last monarch of Persia. He was a valiant prince, 
 and died by shipwreck, upon the sea coast of Ireland, near 
 unto Carrickfergus, in the 25th year of his reign. 
 
 2. Feritharis, (p. III.) 
 
 Brother to Fergus, began to reign in the year of the world 
 3666; in the year before the coming of Christ 305. He 
 was a good justiciar. In his time there was a law made, 
 That if the sons of the king departed, were so young, that they 
 could not rule, that then, in that case, the nearest in blood 
 should reign, being in age sufficient for government; and then, 
 after his death, the king's children should succeed: Which law 
 continued unto Kenneth III. his days, 1025 years almost. He 
 was slain by the means of Ferlegus, Fergus his brother's son, 
 in the 15th year of his reign. 
 
 3. Mainus, (p. 112.) 
 
 King Fergus's son, succeeded to his father's brother in the 
 year of the world 368 1,. and in the year before the coming of 
 Christ 290. He was a wise and good king, and married the 
 king of the Picts daughter, who did bear him two sons. He 
 died peaceably in the 29th year of his reign. 
 
 4. DORNADILLA, (p. I 1 3.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father Mainus, in the year of the world 
 3710; in the year before the coming of Christ 261. A good 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 447 
 
 king: He made the first laws concerning hunting. He had 
 two sons, raid died peaceably in the 28th year of his reign. 
 
 5. Nothatus, (p. 113.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Dornadilla*iri the year of the world 
 37385 and the year before the coming of Christ 233. He 
 was a greedy and a cruel tyrant. He was slain by Dovalus, one 
 of his nobles, in the 20th year of his reign. 
 
 6. Reutherus, (p. 113.) 
 
 Dornadilla his son, began to reign, in the year of the world 
 37585 in the year before the coming of Christ 213. He was 
 a good king, and died peaceably in the 26th year of his reign. 
 
 7. Reutha, (p. 115.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Reutherus, in the year of the world 
 3784; in the year before the coming of Christ 187. A good 
 king. He of his own accord left the kingdom, and lived a 
 private life, when he had ruled fourteen years. 
 
 8. Thereus, (p. 115.) 
 
 Reutherus's son, began to reign in the year of the world 
 3798; in the year before Christ 173. He was an unwise and 
 cruel tyrant. He was expelled and banished the realm, in the 
 12th year of his reign, by his nobles: And Conanus, a wise 
 grave man, was made governor of the land. He died in exile 
 in the city of York. 
 
448 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 9. JOSINA, (p. Il6.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Thereus, in the year of the world 
 3810; in the year before Christ 161. He was a quiet and 
 good prince, a good medicinar and herbister, or skilful in phy- 
 sic and the nature of herbs. He died in peace in the 24th 
 year of his reign. 
 
 IO. FlNNANUS, (p. Il6.) 
 
 Josina his son, began foreign in the year of the world 3834; 
 in the year before Christ 137. A good king. He was much 
 given to the superstitious religion of the druids. He died in 
 peace in the 30th year of his reign. 
 
 II. DURSTUS, (p, Il6) 
 
 Finnanus's son, succeeded to his father in the year of the 
 world 3864; in the year before Christ 107. A cruel and trai- 
 torous tyrant, slain by his nobles in battle, in the 9th year of 
 his reign. 
 
 12. EVENUS I. (p. II7.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Durstus, in the year of the world 
 3873; in the year before the coming of Christ 98. A wise, 
 just, and virtuous prince. He died peaceably in the 19th year 
 of his reign. 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 449 
 
 13. GlLLUS, (p. Il8.) 
 
 Evenus's bastard son, succeeded to his father, in the year of 
 the world 3892* in the year before Christ 79. A crafty ty- 
 rant, slain in battle by Cadallus, in the 2d year of his reign. 
 
 14. Evenus II. (p. 120.) 
 
 Donallus's son, king Finnanus's brother, began to reign in the 
 year of the. world 3894; in the year before the corning of 
 Christ 77. A good and civil king. He died in peace, in the 
 
 1 7th year of his reign. 
 
 15. Ederus, (p. 121.) 
 
 Son to Dochamus, that was son to Durstus, the nth king, 
 began to reign in the year of the world 391 1; in the year be- 
 fore the coming of Christ 60. A wise, valiant, and good 
 prince. He died in the 48th year of his reign. 
 
 16. Evenus III. (p. 121.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father Ederus, in the year of the world 
 3959; in the year before the coming of Christ 12. A luxuri- 
 ous and covetous wicked king. He was taken by his nobles, 
 and impiisoned, and died in prison in the 7th year of his 
 reign. 
 
45° * GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 17. METELLANUS, (p. 122.) 
 
 ^Ederus's brother's son, began to reign in the year of the 
 world 3966, five years before Christ's incarnation. A very 
 good and modest king. He died in the 39th year of his reign. 
 In his time there was peace both at home and abroad, and 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ was born, and suffered death in his 
 reign. 
 
 18. CaRATACUS, (p. 122.) 
 
 The son of Cadallanus and of Eropeia, who was sister to 
 Metellanus, began to reign in the year of the world 4005; in 
 the year after the birth of Christ 34. He was a wise and vali- 
 ant king, and reigned 20 years. 
 
 19. CorbredI. (p. 123.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Caratacus, in the year of the world 
 4025; in the year of Christ 54. A \tfise king, and a good jus- 
 ticiar, or executor of justice. He died in peace in the 18th 
 year of his reign. 
 
 20. Dardanus, (p. 123.) 
 
 Nephew to Metellanus, began to reign in the year of the 
 world 4043; in the year of Christ 72. A cruel tyrant. He 
 was taken in battle, and beheaded by his own subjects, in the 
 4th year of his reign 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 45 1 
 
 21. CORBRED II. (p. 124.) 
 
 Surnamed Galdus, son to the former Corbred, began to reign 
 in the year of the world 4047; in the year of Christ 76. A 
 valiant and worthy king; for he had many wars with the Ro- 
 mans, and was often victorious over them. He died in peace 
 in the^ 35th year of his reign. 
 
 22. Luctacus, (p. 126.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father Corbred II. in the year of the world 
 4082; in the year of Christ 1 1 1. A lecherous bloody tyrant. 
 He was slain by his nobles in the 3d year of his reign. 
 
 23. Mogaldus, (p. 127.) 
 
 Son to the sister of Corbred II. He began to reign in the 
 year of the world 4085; in the year of Christ 114. A good 
 king, and victorious in the beginning of his reign: but in the 
 end of his life became inclined to tyranny, lechery and co- 
 vetousness, and was slain by his nobles in the 36th year of his 
 reign. 
 
 24. Conarus, (p. 128.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father Mogaldus, in the year of the world 
 41 21; in the year of Christ 150. A lecherous tyrant. He 
 was imprisoned by his nobles, and died in prison in the 14th 
 
 Vol. n, 1 i i 
 
452 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 year of his reign, and Argadus a nobleman was made gover- 
 nor. 
 
 25. Ethopius I. (rr. 131.) 
 
 Son to the sister of Mogaldus, began to reign in the year of 
 the world 4135; in the year of Christ 164. He was a good 
 prince. He was slain by an Irish harper, whom he admitted 
 to lie in his chamber, in the 33d year of his reign. 
 
 16. Satrael, (p. 132.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Ethodius I. in the year of the world 
 4168; in the year of Christ 197. A cruel tyrant. He was 
 slain by his own courtiers in the 4th year of his reign. 
 
 27. Donalp I. (p. 132.) 
 
 The first Christian king of Scotland, succeeded to his bro- 
 ther Satrael, in the year of the world 4172; in the year of 
 Christ 201. A good and religious king. He was the first of 
 the kings of Scotland that coined money of gold and silver. 
 He died in the 18 th year of his reign. 
 
 28. Ethopius II. (p. 134.) 
 
 Son to Ethodius I. began to reign in the year of the world 
 4190; in the year of Christ 219. An unwise and base mind- 
 ed king, governed by his nobles. He was slain by his own 
 guard in the 16th year of his reign. 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 453 
 
 29. Athirco, (p. 135.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father Ethodius II. in the year of the world 
 4206; in the year of Christ 235. A valiant prince in the be- 
 ginning; but he degenerated, and became vicious: and being 
 hardly pursued by his nobles for his wicked life, slew himself 
 in the 1 2th year of his reign. 
 
 30. Nathalocus, (p. 135.) 
 
 As some write, son to the brother of Athirco, began to reign 
 in the year of the world 4218; in the year of Christ 247. A 
 cruel tyrant, slain by his nobles, and cast away into a privy, in 
 the 1 ith year of his reign. 
 
 31. Findochus, (p. 136.) 
 
 Son of Athirco, began to reign in the year of the world 
 4229; in the year of Christ 258. A good king and valiant, 
 slain by feigned hunters, at the instigation of Donald, lord of 
 the isles, ]iis brother, in the 1 ith year of his reign. 
 
 32, Donald II. (p. 138.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Findochus, in the year of the world 
 4239; in the year of Christ 269. A good prince. lie was 
 wounded in battle, and being overcome, died for grief and sor- 
 row in the 1st year of his reign. 
 
 I i i 2 
 
454 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 33. Donald III. (p. 138.) 
 
 Lord of the isles, brother to Findochus, began to reign in the 
 year of the world 4240; in the year of Christ 270. A cruel 
 tyrant, slain by Crathilinthus his successor, in the 12th year 
 of his reign. 
 
 34. Crathilinthus, (p. 139.) 
 
 Findochus's son, began to reign in the year of the world 
 4252; in the year of Christ 282. A valiant and a godly king. 
 He purged the land from the idolatrous superstition of the 
 druids, and planted the sincere Christian religion. He died 
 in peace in the 24th year of his reign. In his time was Con- 
 stantine the Great, emperor of Christendom, born in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 35. FlNCORMACHUS, (p. I40.) 
 
 Son to the brother of the father of Crathilinthus, began his 
 reign in the year of the world 4276; in the year of Christ 304. 
 A godly king and valiant. He was a worthy furtherer of the 
 kingdom of Christ in Scotland. He died in peace in the 47th 
 year of his reign. 
 
 36. RoMACHUs,(p. 141.) 
 Brother's son to Crathilinthus, began to reign in the year of 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 455 
 
 the world 4323; in the year of Christ 351. A cruel tyrant, 
 slain by his nobles, and his head striken oif, in the 3d year of 
 his reign. 
 
 37. Angusianus, (p. 142.) 
 
 Crathilinthus's brother's son, succeeded to Romachus in the 
 year of the world 4326; in the year of Christ 354. A good 
 king, slain in battle by the Picts, in the third year of his reign. 
 
 38. Fethelmachus, (p. 142.) 
 
 Another brother's son of Crathilinthus, he began to reign in 
 the year of the world 4329; in the year of Christ 357. He 
 was a valiant king; for he overcame the Picts, and slew their 
 king. He was betrayed to the Picts by an harper, and slain by 
 them in his own chamber, in the 3d year of his reign. 
 
 39. Eugenius I. (p. 143-) 
 
 Fincormachus's son, began to reign in the year of the world 
 4332; in the year of Christ 360. A valiant, just and good 
 king. He was slain in battle by the Picts and Romans in the 
 3d year of his reign, and the whole Scots nation was utterly ex- 
 pelled the isle, by the Picts and Romans, and remained in exile 
 about the space of 44 years. 
 
 40. Fergus II. {p. 150.) 
 Erthus's son's son to Ethodius, Eugenius I. his brother, re- 
 
4$6 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 turning into Scotland, with the help of the Danes and Goths, 
 and his own countrymen, who were gathered to him out of all 
 countries where they were dispersed, conquered his kingdom 
 of Scotland again out of the Romans and Picts' hands. He 
 began his reign in the year of the world 4374', in the year of 
 Christ 404. He was a wise, valiant, and good king. He was 
 slain by the Romans in the 1 6th year of his reign. 
 
 41. Eugenius II. (p. 154.) 
 
 Son of Fergus II., succeeded to his father in the year of the 
 world 4390; in the year of Christ 420. He was a valiant and 
 a good prince. He subdued the Britons, and died in the 3 2d 
 year of his reign. 
 
 42. Dongardus, (p. 161.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Eugenius II. in the year of the 
 world 4422 ; in the year of Christ 452. A godly, wise, and 
 valiant prince. He died in the 5th year of his reign. 
 
 43.' ConstaxtineI. (p. 162.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Dongardus, in the year of the world 
 4427; in the year of Christ 457. A wicked prince. He was 
 n by a nobleman in the isles, whose daughter he had defiled 
 in the 2 2d year of his reign. 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLANB. 457 
 
 44. CONGALLUS I. (p. 163.) 
 
 Son of Dongardus, began to reign in the year of the world 
 4449; in the year of Christ 479. A good and quiet prince. 
 He died in peace in the 2 2d year of his reign. 
 
 45. Goranus, (p. 1.65.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Congallus I. in the year of the world 
 4471; in the year of Christ 501. A good and wise prince. 
 He died in the 3 4th year of his reign. 
 
 46. Eugenius III. (p. 172.) 
 
 Congallus's son, succeeded to his father and uncle, in the 
 year of the world 4505; in the year of Christ 535. A wise 
 king and a good justiciar. He died in the 23d year of his 
 reign. 
 
 47. Convallus II. (p. 172.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Eugenius III. in the year of the 
 world 4528; in the year of Christ 558. A very good prince. 
 He died in peace in the r ith year of his reign. 
 
458 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 48. KlNNATELLUS, (p. 1 72.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Congallus II. in the year of the 
 world 4539; in the year of Christ 574. A good prince. He 
 died in the first year of his reign. 
 
 49. Aidanus, (p. 173.) 
 
 Son of Goranus, the 45th king, began to reign in the year 
 of the world 4540; in the year of Christ 575. A godly and 
 good prince. He died in the 35th year of his reign. 
 
 '50. Kenneth I. (p. 175.) 
 
 Surnamed Keir, Congallus II. his son, began to reign in the 
 year of the world 4575; in the year of Christ 605. A peacea- 
 ble prince. He died in the first year of his reign. 
 
 51. Eugenius IV. (p. 175.) 
 
 Son of Aidanus, began to reign in the year of the world 
 4576; in the year of Christ 606. A valiant and a good king. 
 He died in the 16th year of his reign. 
 
 52. FerchardI. (p. 176.) 
 Succeeded to his father Eugenius IV. in the year of the world 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 459 
 
 4592; in the year of Christ 626. A bloody tyrant. He slew 
 
 himself in the prison, whereinto he was put by the nobles of 
 his realm, in the 12th year of his reign. 
 
 53. Donald IV. (p. 176.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Ferchard I. in the year of the world 
 4604; in the year of Christ 638. He was a good and religi- 
 ous king. He was drowned in the water of Tay, while he was 
 fishing, in the 14th year of his reign. 
 
 54. Ferchard II. (p. 177.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Donald IV. in the year of the 
 world 4618; in the year of Christ 652. A very wicked man. 
 He was bitten by a 'wolf in hunting; of the which ensued a fe- 
 ver, whereof he died in the 18th year of his reign. 
 
 55. Malduinus, (p. 178.) 
 
 Son to Donald IV. began to reign in the year of the world 
 4636; in the year of Christ 670. A good prince, strangled 
 by his wife, who suspected him of adultery in the 20th year of 
 his reign. She was therefore burned. 
 
 Vol. II. Kkk 
 
460 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 56. EuGeniusV. (p. 178.) 
 
 Malduinus's brother's son, began to reign in the year of the 
 world 4656; in the year of Christ 690. A false prince, slain 
 by the Picts in battle, in the 4th year of his reign. 
 
 57. Eugenius- VI. (p. 179.) 
 
 Son to Ferchard II. began to reign in the year of the world 
 4660; in the year of Christ 694. A good prince. He died in 
 peace in the 1 oth year of his reign. 
 
 58. Ameerkelethus, (p. 179.) 
 
 Son of Findanus, son of Eugenius V. began to reign in the 
 
 'year of the world 4670; in the year of Christ 704. He was a 
 
 vicious prince, and was slain by the shot of an arrow, in the 2d 
 
 year of his reign. The shooter thereof is unknown, as not set 
 
 out in history. 
 
 59. Eugenius VII. (p. 180.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Amberkelethus in the year of the 
 world 4672; in the year of Christ 706. He died in peace in 
 1 7th year of his reig-i. A good prince. 
 
iflNGS OF SCOTLAND. 461 
 
 <5o. MURDACUS, (p. l8o.) 
 
 Amberkclcthus's son, beean to reign in the year«.of the world 
 ' 1 
 4689; in the year of Christ 723. A good prince. He died in 
 
 the 1 6th year of his reign. 
 
 61, Etfinus, (p. 180.) 
 
 Eugenius VII. his son, began to reign in the year of the 
 world 4705; in the year of Christ 739. He died in peace in 
 the 31st year of his reign. 
 
 62. Eugenius VIII. (p. 181.) 
 
 Murdacus's son, began to reign in the year of the world 
 4736; in the year of Christ 770. A good prince in the begin- 
 ning of his reign; but thereafter degenerating from hrs good 
 life, he was slain by his nobles in the 3d year of his reign. 
 
 63. Fergus III. (p. 181.) 
 
 Etfinus's son, began to reign in the year of the world 47391 
 in the year of Christ 773. A lecherous prince, poisoned by 
 his wife in the 3d year of his reign. 
 
 Kkk2 
 
4<52 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 64. SoLVATHIUS, (p. l8l.) 
 
 Eugenius VIII. his son, began to reign in the year of the 
 world 4742; in the year of Christ 776. A good prince. He 
 died in peace in the 20th year of his reign. 
 
 65. Achaius, (p. 182.) 
 
 Etfinus's son, began to reign in the year of the world 4762; 
 in the year of Christ 796. A peaceable, good, and godly 
 prince. He made a league with Charles the Great, emperor 
 and king of France, which remaineth inviolably kept to this 
 day. He died in the 3 2d year of his reign. 
 
 66. Congallus II. (p. 184.} 
 
 Achaius's father's brother's son, began to reign in the year 
 of the world 4794; in the year of Christ 828. A good prince. 
 He died in the 5th year of his reign. 
 
 67. Dongallus, (p. 184.) 
 
 Solvathius's son, succeeded in the "year of the world 4799; in 
 the year of Christ 833. A valiant and good prince. He was 
 drowned, coming over the river Spey, to war against the Picts, 
 in the 7th year of his reign* 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 463 
 
 68. Alpinus, (p. 184.) 
 
 Achaius's son, began to reign in the year of the woi;ld 4806; 
 in the year of Christ 840. A good prince. He was taken in 
 battle, and beheaded by the Picts, in the 3d year of his reign. 
 
 69. Kenneth II. (p. 185.) 
 
 Surnamed the Great, succeeded to his father Alpinus, in the 
 year of the world 4809; in the year of Christ 843. A good 
 and valiant prince. He utterly overthrew the Picts in divers 
 battles, expelled them out of the land, and joined the kingdom 
 of the Picts to the crown of Scotland. He died in peace in the 
 20th year of his reign. 
 
 70. Donald V. (p. 191.) 
 
 Succeeded to his brother Kenneth II. in the year of the world 
 4829; in the year of Christ 863. A wicked prince. He slew 
 himself in the 5th year of his reign. 
 
 71. CONSTANTINE II. (p. I93.) 
 
 Son of Kenneth II. began to reign in the year of the world 
 4834; in the year of Christ 868. A valiant prince. He was 
 
464 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 slain by the Danes in a battle fought at Cr ail in Fife in the 1 6th 
 year of his reign. 
 
 72. Ethus, (p. 194.) 
 
 Surnamed Alipes, the son of Constantine II. succeeded to his 
 father in trie year ex the world 4850 j in the year of Christ 884 
 A vicious prince: He was imprisoned by his nobles, where he 
 died iii the 2d year of his reign. 
 
 73. Gregory, (p. 195.) 
 
 Surnamed &e Great, son of DongalJus II. began to reign in 
 the year ot the world 4852; in the year of Christ 886. A 
 prince valiant, victorious, and renowned through the world in 
 his time. He died in peace in the 1 8th year of his reign. 
 
 74. Donald VI. (p. 197.) 
 
 Son of Constantine II. began to reign In the year of the world 
 4870; in the year of Christ 904. A valiant prince: He died 
 in peace, being loved of his subjects in the 1 ith year of his 
 
 reign. 
 
 75. Constantine III. (p. 198.) 
 
 Son of Ethus, surnamed Alipes, began to reign in the year 
 of the world 4881 ; in the year of Christ 915. He was a vali- 
 ant king, yet he prospered not in his wars against England; and 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 465 
 
 iherefore being weary of his life, he became a monk, and died 
 after he had reigned 40 years as king. 
 
 76. Malcolm I. (p. 200.) 
 
 Son of Donald VI. began to reign in the year of the world 
 4921; in the year of Christ 955. A valiant prince, and a. 
 good justiciar, or executor of justice : He was slain in Moray, 
 by a conspiracy of his own subjects, in the 9th year of his 
 feign. 
 
 77. Indulphus, (p. 201.) 
 
 Son of Constantine III. began to reign in the year of the 
 world 4930; in the year of Christ 964. A valiant and good 
 prince: He had many battles with the Danes, whom he over- 
 came; but in the end he was slain by them in a stratagem of 
 war, in the 9th year of his reign. 
 
 78. Duffus, (p. 202.) 
 
 The son of Malcolm I. began to reign in the year of the 
 world 4939, in the year of Christ 973. A good prince, and 
 a severe justiciar, or executor of justice: He was slain by one 
 Donald at Forres in Moray, and was buried secretly under the 
 bridge of a river beside Kinloss; but the matter was revealed, 
 and the murderer, and his wife that consented thereto, severely 
 punished: He reigned five ye«rs. 
 
466 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 79. CULENUS, (p. 204.) 
 
 Indulphus's son, began to reign in the year of the world 
 4944; in the year of Christ 978. A vicious and effeminate 
 prince: He was slain at Methven, by Radarus, a nobleman 
 (whose daughter he had defiled) in the 4th year of his reign. 
 
 80. Kenneth III. (p. 207.) 
 
 Duffus's brother, began to reign in the year of the world 
 4948*, in the year of Christ 982. A valiant and a wise prince j 
 but in the end became cruel, and slew Malcolm his brother's 
 son; and in God's judgment, who suffereth not innocent 
 blood to be unpunished, he was slain, as some say, by a shaft 
 or arrow, shot by a device or sleight, out of an image fixed in 
 a wall at Pettercairn, by the means of a noblewoman there, cal- 
 led Fenella, in the 24th year of his reign. 
 
 8l. CONSTANTINE IV. (p. 217.) 
 
 Surnamed Calvus, Culenus's son, began to reign in the year 
 of the world 4964-, in the year of Christ 994. An usurper of 
 the crown: He was slain in battle, at the town of Cramond in 
 Lothian, in the 2d year of his reign. 
 
 82. Grimus, (p. 219.) 
 Duffus his son, began to reign in the year of the world 4966: 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 467 
 
 in the year of Christ 996. A vicious prince: He was slain hi 
 battle by Malcolm II. his successor, in the 8th year of his 
 reign. 
 
 83. Malcolm II. (p. 221.) 
 
 Son of Kenneth III. began to reign in the year of the world 
 4974; in the year of Christ 1006. A valiant and a wise prince, 
 who made many good laws, of the which a few are yet extant. 
 He was slain by a conspiracy of his nobles at the castle of 
 Glammis, who after the slaughter thinking to escape, were 
 drowned in the water of Forfar : For it being winter, and the 
 water frozen, and covered with snow, the ice brake, and they 
 fell ini in the righteous judgment of God. He reigned thirty 
 years. Some write, that, after a great victory in battle, he did 
 give much of his lands to his nobles, and they agreed that he 
 should therefore have the wardship and custody of their heirs, 
 as long as they were under the age of 2 1 years, and the profits 
 of all .their lands, over and above their charges for education, 
 and the disposing of them in marriage, and the money that 
 should be given for their marriage: And that he .first did give 
 unto his nobles sundry and several titles of honour. Which 
 wardships, marriages, times of full age, and reliefs, and manner 
 of liveries of their lands out of the king's hands, do in Scotland, 
 rery much agree to the laws of England, as many other parts 
 of their laws do. 
 
 84. Duncan I. (p. 227.) 
 
 Son of Beatrix, daughter of Malcolm II. began to reign ill 
 Vol. II. L 11 
 
468 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE. 
 
 the year of the world 5004-, in the year of Christ 1034. A 
 good and a modest prince. He was slain by Macbeth, traitor- 
 ously, in the 6th year of his reign. 
 
 85. Macbeth, (p. 232.) 
 
 Son of Douada, daughter of Malcolm II. began to reign in 
 the year of the world 5013 j in the year of Christ 1043. ^ n 
 the beginning of his reign he behaved himself as a good and 
 just prince, but after, he degenerated into a cruel tyrant. He 
 was slain in battle by his successor Malcolm III. in tl*e 1 7th 
 year of his reign. 
 
 #6. Malcolm III. (p. 235.) 
 
 Surnamed Canmore, son of Duncan I. began to reign in th e 
 year of the world 5027; in the year of Christ 1057. A very 
 religious and valiant prince. He married Margaret, daughter 
 to Edward, surnamed the Outlaw, son to Edward, surnamed 
 Ironside, king of England, a very good and religious woman, 
 according to those times, who bare unto him six sons and two 
 daughters. The sons were, Edward the prince, Edmond, E- 
 thelred, Edgar, Alexander, and David: The daughters were 
 Mathildis or Maud, surnamed Bona, wife to Henry I. surnam- 
 ed Beauclerk, king of England, the son of "William the Conquer- 
 or of England; of her virtues there is extant this old epi- 
 gram: 
 
 Prospers non laiafnfecere y nee aspera tristem; 
 Prospera terror «, aspera risus erant • 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 4<5(> 
 
 ffon decor effecitfragilem, non sceptra supcrbaw: , 
 
 Sola potens humilis, sola pudica decens. 
 
 That is, 
 
 Prosperity rejoiced her not ; to her grief was no pain; 
 
 Prosperity affrighted her, alas! affliction was her gain; 
 Her beauty was no cause of fall y in royal state not proud; 
 
 Humble alone in dignity, in beauty only good. 
 
 She founded the church of Carlisle. The other daughter was 
 Mary, wife to Eustathius, earl of Bologne. King Malcolm 
 builded the churches of Durham and Dunfermline: He was 
 slain with his son prince Edward, in the 36th year of his reign, 
 at the besieging of Alnwick, by Robert Moubray, surnamed 
 Piercy, and was buried atTinmouth-, but after he was remov- 
 ed to Dunfermline. 
 
 87. Donald VII. (p. 241.) 
 
 Surnamed Bane, usurped the crown after the death of his 
 brother, in the year of the world 5063; in the year of Christ 
 1 093. And was expelled in the first year of his reign by Dun- 
 can II. the bastard son of king Malcolm III. 
 
 88, Duncan II. (p. 242.) 
 
 Usurped the crown in the year of the world 5064} in the 
 L112 
 
47° G-ENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 year of Christ 1094. A rash and foolish prince. He was slain 
 by Macpendir, the thane or earl of the Mearns, when he had 
 reigned little more than a year, by the means of Donald VII. 
 
 Donald VII. made king again in the year of the world 5065 ; 
 in the year of Christ 1095, and reigned three years. He gave 
 the west and north isles to the king of Norway, for to assist 
 him to the crown of Scotland: He was taken captive by Edgar, 
 his eyes put out, and died miserably in prison. 
 
 S9. Edgar, (p. 242.) 
 
 The son of Malcolm III. began to reign in the year of the 
 world 5068; in the year of Christ 1098. He builded the pri- 
 ory of Coldinghnm. He was a good prince. He died at Dun- 
 dee, without succession, and was buried at Dunfermline, in the 
 9th year of his reign. 
 
 90. Alexander I. (p. 243.) 
 
 Surnamed Fierce, succeeded to his brother in the year of the 
 world 5077; in the year of Christ 1107. A very good and 
 valiant prince: He builded the abbacies of Scone and of St. 
 Colm's Inch: He married Sybilla, daughter to William duke 
 of Normandy, &c. He died in peace, without succession, at 
 Stirling, in the 17th year of his reign, and was buried at Dun- 
 fermline. 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. I7I 
 
 91. David I. (p. 244 ) 
 
 Commonly called St. David, the youngest son of king Mal- 
 colm III. succeeded to his brother in the year of the world 
 5094; in the year of Christ 11 24. A good, valiant and reli- 
 gious prince: He buiided many abbacies, as Holyrood-house, 
 Kelso, Jedburgh, Dundranan, Cambuskenneth, Kinloss, Mel* 
 ross, Newbottle, Dunfermline, Holm in Cumberland, and two 
 religious places at Newcastle in Northumberland: lie erected 
 -four bishopricks, Ross, Brechin, Dumblane and Dunkeld: He 
 married Maude, daughter of Woldeofus earl of Northumber- 
 land and Huntingdon, and of Juditha, daughter's daughter to 
 Wiliam the Conqueror, king of England; by whom he had 
 one son, named Henry, a worthy and good youth; wko mar- 
 ried Adama, daughter to William earl of Warren, who bare un- 
 to him three sons, Malcolm the. Maiden, William the Lion, 
 and David earl of Huntingdon; and two daughters, Adama, 
 wife to Florentius earl of Holland, and Margaret, wife to Co- 
 mmits duke of Britain: He died before his father. St. David 
 died in peace at Carlisle, in the 29th year of his reign, and 
 was buried at Dunfermline. 
 
 92. Malcolm IV. (p. 249.) 
 
 Surnamed the Maiden (because he would never marry) suc- 
 ceeded to his grandfather David I. in the year of the world 
 5123; in the year of Christ 1 153. A good and meek prince: 
 
4'/2 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 He builded the abbey of Couper in Angus, and died at Jed- 
 burgh, and was buried at Dunfermline, in the 12th year of his 
 reign. 
 
 93. William, (p. 254.) 
 
 Surnamed the Lion, succeeded to his brother Malcolm IV. 
 in the year of the world 5135; in the year of Christ 1165. 
 A good and a valiant king: He married Emergarda, daughter 
 to the earl of Beaumont : He builded the abbacy of Aberbro- 
 thock, and she builded the abbacy of Balmerino. He died at 
 Stirling in the 49th year of his reign, and was buried at Aber- 
 brothock. 
 
 04. Alexander II. (p. 259.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father William, in the year cf the world 
 5184; in the year of Christ 12 14. A good prince: He mar- 
 ried Jean, daughter to John king of England, by whom he had 
 no succession. After her death, he married Mary, daughter 
 to Ingelrame, earl of Coucey in France, by whom he had Alex- 
 under III. He died *t Kernery in the west isles, and was bu- 
 lled at Melrpss, in the 35th year of his reign. 
 
 95. Alexander III. (p. 262.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father, in the year of the world 5219-, in 
 
 year of Christ 1249. A good prince: He married firs,t 
 
 Akvgr.i-et, daughter to Iknry III. king of England, by whom 
 
kings of Scotland. , "473 
 
 he had Alexander the prince, who married the earl of Flan- 
 ders' daughter, David, and Margaret, who married Hangona- 
 nus, or, as some call him, Ericus, son to Magnus IV. king of 
 Norway, who bare to him a daughter, named Margaret, com- 
 monly called, The Maiden of Norway, irt whom king William's 
 whole posterity failed, and the crown of Scotland returned to 
 the posterity of David earl of Huntingdon, king Malcolm IV. 
 and king "William his brother. After his son's death, (for they 
 died before himself without succession) in hope of posterity, he 
 married Ioleta, daughter to the earl of Dreux in France, by 
 whom he had no succession. He built the Cross church of 
 Peebles: He died of a fall from his horse, upon the sands, be- 
 twixt Easter and Wester Kinghorn, in the 27th year of his 
 reign, and was buried at Dunfermline. 
 
 After the death of Alexander III. which was in the year of 
 the world 5255, in the year of Christ 1285, there were six re- 
 gents appointed to rule Scotland: For the south side of Forth 
 were appointed Robert the archbishop of Glasgow, John Cum- 
 ming, and John the Great Steward of Scotland: For the north 
 side of Forth, Macduff earl of Fife, John Cumming earl of 
 Buchan, and William Fraser archbishop of St. Andrews, who 
 ruled the land about the space of seven years, until the contro- 
 versy was decided betwixt John Baliol and Robert Bruce, 
 grandfather to Robert Bruce the king of Scotland, who did 
 come of the two eldest daughters of David earl of Huntingdon; 
 for Henry Hastings, who married the youngest daughter put 
 not in his suit or claim with the rest, and therefore there is lit- 
 tle spoken of him. 
 
 96. John Baliol, (p. 274.) 
 Was nreferred before Robert Bruce to be king of Scotland, 
 
474 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 by Edward I. surnamed Longshanks, king of England, who 
 was chosen to be judge of the controversy, which preferment 
 was upon a condition, that John Baliol should acknowledge 
 Edward I. as superior, which condition, like an unworthy man 
 he received. He began his reign in the year of the world 
 5263; in the year of Christ 1292. He was a vain glorious man, 
 little- respecting the weal or commonwealth of his country. 
 He had not reigned fully four years, when he was expelled by 
 the said Edward I. king of England; and leaving Scotland, he 
 departed into the parts of France, where he died long after in 
 exile: And so Scotland was without a king and government 
 the space of nine years; during which space, the said Edward 
 I. surnamed Longshanks, cruelly oppressed the land, destroyed 
 the whole ancient monuments of the kingdom, and shed much 
 innocent blood. 
 
 97. koELRT Bri.'CE, (p. 285.) 
 
 Began to reign in the year of the world 5276; m the year 
 of Christ 1306. A valiant, good and wise king. In the 'be- 
 ginning of his reign, he was subject to great misery and afflic- 
 tion, being oppressed by England; but at length, having over- 
 come and vanquished Edward II. king of England commonly 
 called Edward of Qernarven, at the field of Bannockburn, he 
 delivered Scotland from the wars of England, and set it at full 
 liberty, all Englishmen by force being expelled out of the land. 
 He •married first Isabel, daughter to the earl of Mar, who bare 
 unto him M irjory, the wife of Walter, the Great Steward of 
 Scotland; from whom, and the offspring of the Stuarts, the 
 king now rui lescended. After her death, he married 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 475 
 
 Isabel, daughter to Haymerus de Burc, earl of Hultonia or 
 Hulster in Ireland, who bare unto him David II. Margaret, 
 the countess of Sutherland, and Maude, that died young. He 
 died at Cardross, and was buried at Dunfermline, in the 24th 
 year of his reign. 
 
 98. David. II. (p. 309.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father Robert Bruce, in the year of 
 the world 5300; in the year of Christ 1330. A good 
 prince, subject to much affliction in his youth, being first, af- 
 ter the death of Thomas Randolph his regent, forced to fly in- 
 to France for his own safeguard, and, then returning home, 
 was taken at the battle of Durham, and was holden 12 years 
 almost captive in England; but after he was restored to his li- 
 berty. He married first Jean, daughter to Edward II. king of 
 England; and after her death, he married Margaret Logie, 
 daughter to sir John Logie, knight, and died without succession 
 at Edinburgh, in the 40th year of his reign, and was buried at 
 Holyrood-house. 
 
 99. Edward Baliol, (p. 313.) 
 
 Son to John Baliol, usurped the crown of Scotland, being 
 assisted by Edward III. king of England, in the year of the 
 world 5302; in the year of Christ 1332. But he was expelled 
 at length by David II. his regent, and David II. established 
 king. 
 Vol. II. M m m 
 
47*> GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 ioo. Robert II. (p. 333.) 
 
 Sumamed Blear-eye, the first of the Stuarts, son to Walter 
 Stuart and Marjory Bruce, daughter to king Robert Bruce, suc- 
 ceeded to his uncle in the year of the world 5341; in the 
 year of Christ 1370. A good and a peaceable prince. He 
 married first Eupham, daughter to Hugh carl of Ross, who 
 bare unto him David earl of Strathern, Walter earl of Athol, 
 and Alexander earl of Buchan, lord Badenoch. After her 
 death, for the affection he bare to his children begotten before 
 his first marriage, he married Elizabeth Mure, daughter to sir 
 Adam Mure, knight, who had born unto him John, after cal- 
 led Robert III. earl of Carrick, Robert earl of Fife and Mon- 
 teith, and Eupham, wife to James earl of Douglas. He died 
 at Dundonald the 19th year of his reign, and was buried at 
 Scoon. 
 
 101. Robert III. (p. 352.) 
 
 Surnamed John Farnezier, succeeded to his father, in the 
 year of the world 5360; in the year of Christ 1390. A quiet 
 and a peaceable prince : He married Anabel Drummond, daugh- 
 ter to the laird of Stobhall, who bare unto him David the 
 prince, duke of Rothesay, that died in prison of very extreme 
 famine at Falkland, and James I. taken captive in his voyage 
 to France, and detained a captive almost eighteen years in Eng- 
 land. He died of grief and sorrow at Rothesay, when he 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 477 
 
 heard of the death of the one son, and captivity of the other, 
 and was buried at Paisley, in the 16th year of his reign. 
 
 Robert earl of Fife and Monteith governed Scotland in the 
 year of the world 5376; in the year of Christ 1406: He died 
 in the 14th year of his government, James I. being a captive 
 in England. 
 
 Murdoch Stuart succeeded to his father Robert earl of Fife, 
 in the government of Scotland, in the year of the world 5390; 
 in the year of Christ 1420, and ruled four years, James I. be- 
 ing yet a captive in England. Both the father and the son 
 Walter were executed after, for oppression of the subjects, by 
 king James I. 
 
 io2.James I. (p. 370.) 
 
 Began to reign in the year of the world 5394; in the year of 
 Christ 1423. He was a good, learned, virtuous and just 
 prince: He married Jean, daughter to John duke of Somerset, 
 and marquis Dorset, son to John of Ghent, son to Edward III. 
 the victorious king of England; who bare unto him James II. 
 and six daughters, Margaret, wife to Lewis £1. the dauphin, 
 after king of France, Elizabeth, duchess of Britain, Jean, coun* 
 tess of Huntly, Eleanor, duche3S of Austria, Mary, wife to the 
 L. of Campvere, and Anabella. He was s-lain at Perth traitor- 
 ously by Walter earl of Athol, and Robert Graham, and their 
 
 M m m 2 
 
478 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE 
 
 confederates, in the 31st year of his reign, if we count from the 
 death of his father; and in the 13th year, if we count from his 
 deliverance out of England; and was buried at the charter-* 
 house of Perth, which he built. 
 
 103. James II. (p. 3. vol. II.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father in the year of the world 5407 ; in the 
 year of Christ 1437. A prince subject to great troubles in his 
 youth: He married Mary, daughter to Arnold, duke of Guel- 
 dre, daughter to the sister of Charles, surnamed Audax, the last 
 duke of Burgundy, &c. who bare unto him three sons, James 
 III. John earl of Mar, Alexander duke of Albany, and Mary, 
 wife first to Thomas Boyd earl of Arran; and, after his be- 
 heading, to James Hamilton of Cadzou. He was slain at the 
 siege of Roxburgh, in the 24th year of his reign. 
 
 104. James III. (p. 46. vol. II.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father in the year of the world 5430; in 
 the year of Christ 1460. A prince corrupted by wicked cour- 
 tiers. He married Margaret, daughter to Christiahus I. sur- 
 named Dives, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. He 
 was slain at the field of Bannockburn, in the 29th year of his 
 reign, and was buried at Cambuskenneth. 
 
 105. James IV. (p. 92. vol. II.) 
 Succeeded to his father in the year of the world 5459; in 
 
KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 47c, 
 
 the year of Christ 1489. A noble and courageous prince. He 
 married Margaret, eldest daughter to Henry earl of Richmond, 
 king of England, and of Elizabeth, daughter to Edward IV. 
 king of England, in whose two persons the two houses of 
 Lancaster and York were united, and the bloody civil wars of 
 England pacified. He was slain at Flowden by die English, 
 in the 25th year of his reign. 
 
 106. James V. (p. 121. vol. II.) 
 
 Succeeded to his father in the year of the world 5484; in 
 the year of Christ 15 14. A just prince and severe. He mar- 
 ried Magdalane, daughter to Francis I. king of France, who 
 died shortly thereafter without succession. After he married 
 Mary of Lorrain, Duchess of Longeville, daughter to Claud, 
 duke of Guise, who bare to him two sons, that died in his life- 
 time, and one daughter named Mary, mother to king James 
 VI. He died at Falkland, in the 29th year of his reign. He 
 was buried at Hoiyrood-house. 
 
 107. Mary, (p. 290. vol. II.) 
 
 Succeeded to her father James V. in the year of the world 
 5513-, in the year of Christ 1544. A virtuous princess. She 
 married first Francis II. dauphin, afterwards king of France. 
 Then, after his death, returning home into Scotland, she mar- 
 ried Henry Stewart, duke of Albany, &c. lord Damly, son 
 to Matthew earl of Lennox (a comely prince, Pronepnoy's son, 
 the daughter's daughter of Henry VII. king of England) to 
 whom she did bear James VI. She was put to death in Eng- 
 land the 8th of February, after eighteen years captivity. 
 
4S0 GENEALOGY OF ALL THE KINGS, &C. 
 
 108. James VI. (p. 336, vol. II.) 
 
 A good, godly, and learned prince, succeeded to his mother, 
 in the year of the world 5 5 3 7 •, in the year of Christ 1567. 
 He married Anna, daughter to Frederick II. king of Denmark; 
 and Sophia, daughter of Ulricus, d -ike of Mecklenburg, who 
 bare unto him Henry Frederick the prince, Febiuary 19th 
 1593, and Elizabeth, August 19th 1599, and Charles, duke of 
 Albany 3 November 19th 1600. And, upon the d of 
 
 quefn Elizabeth, he succeeded to the crown of England) and 
 was crowned king at Westminster, Jujy 25th. 1604. He had 
 also by his wi+e queen Anne two other daughters born in Eng- 
 land, lady Mary, and lady Sophia, who both died young. 
 Prince Henry died November 6th 1612. Lady Elizabeth was 
 married to Frederick V. of that name, count Palatine of the 
 Rhine, afterwards elected king of Bohemia, by whom she had 
 many children. King James died at his palace at Theobalds 
 in England, March 27th 1625, when he had reigned 22 years 
 over Great Britain and Ireland, and was buried with great sor 
 Jemnity at Westminster. 
 
 Ji'Iira cano : So: occubuity nox nulla sccutaest. 
 
 
AN 
 
 ALPHABETICAL TABLE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PRINCIPAL MATTERS 
 
 CONTAINED IN THE 
 
 SECOND VOLUME OF THIS HISTORY. 
 
 »<»©«©l^*5>l®®e«« 
 
 Page 
 
 Adam Huntly taken prison- 
 er by the earl of Murray 
 284 
 Adrian the pope's legate in Eng- 
 land 88 
 Agnes Keith, daughter of the 
 earl of March, married to 
 James earl of Murray 275 
 Akin of Lorn keeps his brother 
 prisoner 60 
 He is imprisoned himself ibid. 
 Alexander, duke . of Albany, 
 
 Page 
 brother to James III. taken 
 by the English 59 
 
 But soon released ibid. 
 
 Committed prisoner to Edin- 
 burgh castle 75 
 
 Whence he craftily made his e- 
 scape ib. 
 
 He coming to the king of Eng- 
 land, solicits him to take arms, 
 
 80 
 
 He is recalled by the Scots, and 
 hath the chief government be»« 
 stowed unou him 82 
 
4Sz 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 
 He restores his brother James to 
 the free possession of the king- 
 dom 8 2 
 
 And falls again into disgrace, 
 and dies in France 86 
 
 Alexander the son of Alexan- 
 der of Albany ibid. 
 
 Alexander Boyd abuses and 
 wounds John Kennedy 62 
 
 He is tried for his life 67 
 
 Beheaded ibid. 
 
 Alex. Campbell, a Dominican, 
 the notoriety of his end 150 
 
 Alex. Cunningham slain (with 
 K. James III.) in his army 
 
 Alex. Cunningham brings aid 
 to the Reformers 237 
 
 Being taken prisoner, he takes 
 him prisoner, whose captive 
 he was before 435 
 
 Alexander Elphinston slain in 
 fight \ 119 
 
 Alex. Forbes marries Gnecina 
 Boyd 97 
 
 Alexander Forbes taken by A- 
 dam Gordon 438 
 
 Alexander, earl of Crawfurd, 
 deserts Douglas and submits 
 to the king 38 
 
 Alexander, earl of Glencairn, 
 banished 288 
 
 A general in the king's^ army 
 
 345 
 Alex. Gordon beats the earl of 
 
 Crawfurd 36 
 
 Alex. Hume marches into Eng- 
 land 112 
 He brings his squadron off* safe 
 from Flowdcn-field 119 
 His great authority 123 
 Accused by Hepburn 128 
 
 Page 
 
 Sides with the queen ibid. 
 
 Goes for England, is reconciled 
 
 to the regent and returns 
 
 129 
 
 He raises an insurrection ib. 
 
 His goods confiscated, he is tak- 
 en and beheaded ib. 
 
 Alexander Hume, as a proxy, 
 takes the coronation-oath for 
 James VI. yet a child 336 
 
 He is general of the king's army 
 
 345 
 Wounded 346 
 
 Revolts to the queen's party 
 
 371 
 
 His castle taken and rifled by 
 the English 384 
 
 He is chief in the council of the 
 rebels 414 
 
 Taken prisoner, but by the com- 
 ing in of his friends released 
 ibid. 
 
 Alex. Haliburton wounded and 
 dies 250 
 
 Alexander Livingston made su- 
 preme governor, or regent 3 
 
 He puts the queen in prison 
 
 Disagrees with Creichton the 
 chancellor 4 
 
 The king taken out of his hand 
 
 10 
 
 Reconciled to the chancellor 
 12, 13 
 
 Lays down his office 1 9 
 
 Is brought to his trial, and re- 
 manded to prison, 22 
 
 Alexander, the son of William 
 Livingston, taken prisoner 
 
 39 6 
 
 Alex. Lindsay overcomes Alex. 
 
 Ogilvic 20 
 
 Alex. Ramsav's chcnrful for- 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 433 
 
 Page 
 wardness in surprising Dum- 
 barton castle 396 
 Alex. Seton sent to Berwick 
 
 Having no hopes of relief, he 
 surrenders up the town to the 
 English 380 
 
 Alexander Stuart, archbishop of 
 St. Andrews, slain at Flowden 
 fight 122 
 
 Alnwick castle taken 24 
 
 Amiens, the bishop thereof in 
 Scotland, his cruelty 258 
 Andrews, a great astrologer 74 
 Andrew Briton, or Breton, his 
 story 1 1 o 
 
 Slain by Thomas Howard, the 
 English admiral 1 1 1 
 
 Andrew Ker escapes out of pri- 
 son 131 
 He disagrees with Douglas 133 
 Andrew Ker revenges his fa- 
 ther's death no 
 Andrew Ker beaten by the duke 
 of Norfolk 227 
 Andrew Forman sent into Eng- 
 land and France by James 
 IV. 108 
 He hath a great many church- 
 preferments 123 
 He is accused by Hepburn 128 
 Mediates for peace 130 
 Andrew, earl of Rothes, banish- 
 ed 287 
 Andrew Wood faithful to king 
 James III. 92 
 Admiral of the Scots navy ib. 
 Reconciled to James IV. 93 
 Overcomes the English in one 
 sea-fight ibid. 
 And also in a second 94 
 Andrew Stuart chancellor 66 
 His ireedom of speech aeainst a 
 Vol. II. N n 
 
 Page 
 popish king 288 
 
 He is wounded in a fight 346 
 
 Annas Montmorency suspects 
 
 the power of the Guises in 
 
 France, not without cause 
 
 228 
 
 Anti-assemblies in Scotland, two 
 
 427 
 
 Anthony Darcy slain by David 
 Hume 132 
 
 Apparition to king James IV. 
 dissuading him from a war 
 with England 1 1 3 
 
 Archibald Douglas his great 
 power 3 
 
 His affronting answer to the 
 chancellor 7 
 
 His death 16 
 
 Archibald Douglas his oration 
 to the nobles against the king's 
 evil counsellors 77 
 
 With the effects thereof 79 
 
 Archibald Douglas his speech to 
 king James IV. dissuading 
 him to fight the English 116 
 
 He marries the widow of James 
 IV. 122 
 
 Accused by Hepburn 129 
 
 Takes Edinburgh, but resigns 
 up the government thereof 
 
 133 
 
 Flies into England 129 
 
 Returns from France and Eng- 
 land into Scotland 142 
 Opposed by his wife ib. 
 Chosen one of the governors of 
 the king and kingdom 143 
 Overthrows Lennox 243 
 Forbid to meddle with the go- 
 ' vernment 1 5 1 
 Outlawed and banished ib. 
 Returns after fifteen years exile 
 
 17$ 
 n 
 
434 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 Coming to compose controver- 
 sies, he is detained by Hamil- 
 ton 183 
 His memorable speech and fact 
 
 190 
 He persuades the regent to break 
 with the cardinal, and to side 
 with the nobles ib. 
 
 He beats the English 191 
 
 Archbishop of St. Andrews 
 (with the bishop of Aber- 
 deen) imprisoned 141 
 Archbishop of St. Andrews ex- 
 ecuted as accessory to the 
 king and regent's murders 
 398 
 Argyle, earl, joins with the re- 
 formers 238 
 Arrogance the usual companion 
 of power 65 
 Arthur the son of Henry VIII. 
 of England, marries Katha- 
 rine, the infanta of Spain 
 106 
 Arthur Forbes slain ib. 
 Assassination of king Henry o- 
 ciious to all nations 309 
 Assassins of king Henry labour 
 to impute the parricide to 
 Murray and Morton ib. 
 Astrological predictions, cour- 
 tiers much addicted to them 
 
 7 J >73 
 
 Authority, got by good arts, is 
 
 lost by bad 330 
 
 B 
 
 Beatrix, leaving her husband 
 James Douglas, asks pardon 
 of the king 40 
 
 She marries John earl of Athol, 
 the king's natural brother 
 
 41 
 
 Page 
 Bishops chosen heretofore by 
 their canons 64 
 
 Bishop of Dumblane sent into 
 France to excuse the queen's 
 marriage with Bothwell 3 1 9 
 He is disappointed in his embas- 
 sy 333 
 
 Bishop of Dunkeld commended 
 
 Bishop of St. Davids sent by 
 
 the English king to the Scots 
 
 162 
 
 Bishop of the Orcades prefers 
 
 court favour before truth, 
 
 318 
 
 Black money what 80 
 
 Blackness betrayed to the Hamil- 
 tons 421 
 
 Boyds creep into favour at court 
 
 5 
 
 Their faction against the Ken- 
 nedys 6 
 
 They carry the king to Edin- 
 burgh, and strengthen them- 
 selves by getting the king's 
 pardon 63 
 
 Their greatness occasions their 
 ruin 64 
 
 Brigid's, or Bride's church burnt 
 
 60 
 
 Bull's head put upon a man's, 
 heretofore a sign of death in 
 Scotland 16 
 
 Calen Campbell, with two others, 
 chosen governor of the king 
 and kingdom 142 
 
 He is sent against the Douglasses 
 
 *53 
 
 Crail purged from monuments 
 
 of idolatry 240 
 
 Cecily, Edward of England's 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 485 
 
 Page 
 daughter, promised in mar- 
 riage to the son of James III. 
 
 , . . < 6 
 
 The intended marriage nulled, 
 
 and the dowry repaid ib. 
 
 Charles of Burgundy slain at 
 Nantz 72 
 
 He lays the foundation of ty- 
 ranny in his country 90 
 
 Charles V. sends to Scotland, 
 to join in affinity with them 
 
 73 
 
 Why his mother was commit- 
 ted to perpetual imprisonment 
 214 
 
 Charles Guise cardinal, guaran- 
 tee for the kingdom of Scot- 
 land 220 
 
 Childeric, a Saxon commander, 
 wounded 194 
 
 Christ's birth day profaned 194 
 
 Christiern of Denmark, with all 
 his male-stock, cast out of the 
 kingdom 404 
 
 Cochrane, one of king James 
 Ill's evil counsellors, put to 
 death 79 
 
 Commonalty affect innovations 
 
 Competitors for the regency 
 
 417 
 Constance, the decree of its 
 
 council seasonable for perjur- 
 ed persons 178 
 Convention of thenoblesto.chuse 
 a regent after Murray's death 
 
 377 
 Cornish rise against Henry VII. 
 
 of England 11 
 
 The council of Constance deny 
 
 faith to be kept with those 
 
 they call heretics 
 
 178 
 
 Nn 
 
 Page 
 Count of R.othes committed to 
 
 prison 196 
 
 Crawfurd (earl of it) takes part 
 
 with the Douglasses 20 
 
 p 
 
 But afterwards deserts them 
 
 28 
 
 And is received into favour by 
 the king ib. 
 
 Creichton sent ambassador in- 
 to France 23 
 
 Crock, the French ambassador, 
 dislikes the queen's marriage 
 with Both well 319 
 
 He mediates a peace 330 
 
 Cunninghams overcome by the 
 Hamiltons 176 
 
 Cup of St. Magnus. See Mag- 
 nus. 
 
 D 
 
 David Beton, the cardinal 164 
 
 Chosen regent by a pretended 
 will, but, the fraud being dis- 
 covered, he is displaced and 
 imprisoned 175 
 
 He endeavours to avert the im- 
 minent ruin of popery 177 
 
 He deceives Lennox with vain 
 hopes of marrying the queen 
 
 183 
 
 He grieves to be deprived of a 
 rich morsel, which he had 
 swallowed in his hopes 1 84 
 
 He is sharply reproved by Mont- 
 gomery f 195 
 
 His cruelty against protestants 
 
 198 
 
 He espouses his daughter to the 
 earl of Crawfurd's son 20 1 
 
 He is slain in his castle, with the 
 manner thereof 204 
 
 His foul character 20 1 
 
 David Douglas, with his bro- 
 il 2 
 
486 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 ther William, beheaded 16 
 David Hamilton, defends the 
 cause of the gospel 198 
 
 David Panater, or Painter, bi- 
 shop of Ross, made an abbot 
 by the king of France 218 
 
 David Rizzio, a musician, his 
 story 286 
 
 He persuades the queen to cut 
 oif the Scottish nobility 293 
 
 His court preferments, famili- 
 arity with the queen of Scots, 
 violent death and burial 294 
 to 298 
 
 David Spence slain 416 
 
 David Straiton, or Straton, burnt 
 for a Lutheran 161 
 
 Denmark, the king thereof bar- 
 gains with the ambassador of 
 Scotland, to quit his right to 
 the islands about Scotland 
 
 63 
 
 Dcssy general of the French 
 forces in Scotland 211 
 
 Called home by the king of 
 France 215 
 
 Donald, lord of the iEbudse, is 
 left by his wife 40 
 
 Sends agents to make his peace 
 with the king 41 
 
 After the king's death lie plays 
 Rex again 60 
 
 Tie takes the earl of Athol pri- 
 soner, and burns St. Bride's 
 church ib. 
 
 He is shipwrecked, and falls di- 
 stracted ib. 
 
 Drury intercedes for peace be- 
 tween the parties in Scotland 
 411 
 
 Dougai Stuart, a prodigy of him 
 and others • 310 
 
 Duke of York overthrown, and 
 
 Page 
 slain by the queen of England 
 
 Dunbar fortified by Alexander 
 against the king, but deserted 
 by him 74 
 
 Again possessed by him, and 
 delivered to the English 82 
 Retaken by the Scots 84 
 
 Dumbarton twice surprised 20 
 Taken by the queen 278 
 
 Retaken by the regent by sur- 
 prise, and the manner how 
 
 395 
 Its situation, and why so called 
 
 394 
 The people of Dundee, "ene- 
 mies to the Gordons 421 
 
 E 
 
 Edinburgh, how seated 409 
 
 A convention held at the one 
 end, while the enemy held 
 the castle at the other ib. 
 
 The citizens of Edinburgh would 
 not admit the English exiles, 
 nor Hamilton, to enter their 
 city 383 
 
 Edward, duke of York, calls 
 himself king of England 47 
 
 Edward IV, of England makes 
 peace with the Scots 82 
 
 He dies 84 
 
 He laid the foundation of tyran- 
 ny 90 
 
 Edward VI. of England an hop- 
 ful prince, his death 220 
 
 Education at court, what 277 
 
 ElbeufF, marquis of it, stays with 
 the queen in Scotland 267 
 
 Elizabeth, queen of England, 
 sends aid to the reformers of 
 religion in Scotland 25:4 
 
 Her grave oration to the ambas- 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 487 
 
 Page 
 
 sador of the queen of Scots 
 
 270,271 
 
 She, in part, adopts the cause of 
 the queen of Scots 348 
 
 Her letters to the regent to de- 
 fer the convention of the e- 
 states ib. 
 
 Her other letters to him, which 
 break off the course of his 
 victories 349 
 
 She is is informed by the regent, 
 that the cause of their queen's 
 deposing, was the murder of 
 her husband 353 
 
 She sends letters to the nobles 
 of Scotland, to receive their 
 queen again 368 
 
 Their answer to her letters 
 
 37o»37 I 
 Howard's conspiracy against her 
 
 detected ib. 
 
 She demands the English fugi- 
 tives to be given up to her by 
 the Scots 388 
 
 She is made arbiter betwixt ihe 
 parties in Scotland 391 
 
 Some of her council would have 
 
 king James sent into England 
 
 408 
 
 Which the Scots refuse to do 
 
 414 
 
 She favours the king's cause 
 most, yet is (politically) slow 
 in her aid 421 
 
 Ambassadors from France desire 
 the Scots to make war upon 
 England 225 
 
 Enemies, their sudden liberality 
 to be suspected 140 
 
 English worsted in Scotland 
 
 4*1 
 
 Overthrown by the Scots . 27 
 
 Page 
 Ask aid of the Scots against their 
 own king 42 
 
 English, their horses frightened' 
 in Scotland 137 
 
 Make war on Scotland 157 
 
 Enter Scotland again 191 
 
 Are worsted 194 
 
 Again enter 205 
 
 And gave the regent a great o- 
 verthrow 208 
 
 Enter Scotland again 210 
 
 And prevail against James Dou- 
 glas ib. 
 English fleet attempt the Or- 
 cades 230 
 Send aid to the reformers in 
 Scotland 251 
 Assist the vindication of king 
 and regent's murderers, a- 
 gainst the queen's faction 
 
 Their queen Elizabeth designed 
 to be destroyed, and the king 
 of Scots too 414 
 
 Faith not to be kept with here- 
 tics, as papists say 179 
 
 Famine and pestilence in Scot- 
 land 3 7 
 
 Fifteen judges appointed in 
 Scotland, but soon disused 
 
 J 57 
 Flattery, the pest of great fami- 
 lies 9 
 Francis I. king of France, by 
 the help of the king of Eng- 
 land, restored to liberty out 
 of the Uands of the Spaniards 
 160 
 He sends the earl of Lennox in- 
 to Scotland 1 79 
 
488 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 
 Is alienated from Lennox 185 
 
 Sends Montgomery into Scot- 
 land 202 
 
 Francis II. of France sends 
 PAbros into Scotland 245 
 
 He is influenced by, and is un- 
 der the power of the Guises 
 261 
 
 His death ibid. 
 
 Francis, duke of Guise, curator 
 
 of the kingdom of Scotland 
 
 220 
 
 Appointed general of the po- 
 pish faction 287 
 
 Franciscans, • or begging friars, 
 their wealth 236 
 
 France, its miserable state 261 
 
 Its king, Francis, promises to 
 aid the Scots of the queen's 
 faction 383 
 
 And the Scots rebels 413 
 
 Upon what grounds he did it 
 
 ib. 
 
 Fraser's family almost extinct 
 
 7 Q2 
 
 Friendship with princes far otr, 
 sometimes safer than with 
 those nearer heme 140 
 
 French and Scots soldiers muti- 
 ny 2 1 4 
 
 Their auxiliaries rn Scotland 
 cannot forbear their wonted 
 plundering 253 
 
 Their soldiers kill the go- 
 vernor of Edinburgh, with 
 seme of the citizens 2 1 4 
 
 They design to surprise Had- 
 dington ibid. 
 
 Are disgusted by the Scots 215 
 
 ] iish in Scotland 
 
 3 ;: 2 T 6 
 
 French transposed into their 
 ovi n country ibid, 
 
 sends auxiliarie 
 
 Page 
 strengthen the regent 244 
 
 French ambassador's demands 
 from the reformed 245 
 
 French their contumelious pride 
 
 against some of the Scots 
 
 ibid. 
 
 Their design to establish tyran- 
 ny 258 
 
 French ambassador, busy be- 
 tween the queen and the roy- 
 alists 342 
 
 Upon the queen's overthrow, 
 he sculks away 346 
 
 French leave Scotland by con- 
 sent 260 
 
 French ship sent with provision 
 and ammunition into Scot- 
 land taken by the royalists 
 
 41 3 
 Friars mendicants, mercenaries 
 
 to parish-priests and curates 
 
 420 
 
 Their opinions, and why Man- 
 
 ducants, rather than Mendi- 
 
 tnts 238 
 
 Galeacius Sforza slain bv his 
 
 uncle 
 
 357 
 
 Gavin Dunbar, the king's tutor, 
 made chancellor 150 
 
 Gavin Douglas called archbi- 
 shop of St. Andrew s 122 
 
 Committed to prison 276 
 
 George Buchanan imprisoned 
 for religion, escapes out or 
 his chamber-window whilst 
 his keepers were asleep 166 
 
 He is sent in embassy, with o- 
 thers, into England 340 
 
 George, brother to the ear! of 
 Douglas, made earl of O'- 
 mond 24 
 
 Commands the forces against 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 48i> 
 
 Page 
 England 25 
 
 Extolled for his victory over 
 them 26 
 
 Declared a public enemy 36 
 Beheaded 39 
 
 George Douglas, earl of Angus 
 
 *9 
 
 His memorable facts 49 
 
 II.: is against the queen mother 
 
 5° 
 
 His bold and unworthy speech 
 to the king 146 
 
 George Douglass, the regent's 
 youngest brother 343 
 
 Delivers the queen out of pri- 
 son _ 344 
 
 George Gordon sent with an 
 army against England 169 
 
 The king's hatred against him 
 
 170 
 
 Accused and imprisoned 222 
 
 Released ibid. 
 
 Studies to raise commotions 
 
 Privy to the conspiracy against 
 Murray 280 
 
 Condemned for treason 285 
 
 Restored by the queen to his 
 former dignity 287 
 
 Chief of the queen's faction 
 
 33 1 
 George Lesly E. of Rothes, sent 
 
 ambassador into France 228 
 There poisoned, as it was be- 
 lieved 230 
 George Ruthven slain 417 
 George Wishart preacher of 
 the gospel 196 
 Persecuted by cardinal Beton, 
 against the regent's mind 
 198 
 Fortels the death of cardinal 
 Beton 200 
 
 Page 
 
 His pious and Christian deport- 
 ment before, and at his mar- 
 tyrdom 198, &c. 
 
 Giles, tutelary god of Edin- 
 burgh, his shew affronted. 
 232 
 
 Gilbert Kennedy slain by the 
 command of James Douglas 
 
 152 
 
 A man of great spirit ibid. 
 
 Gilbert Kennedy's constancy in 
 keeping his word 179 
 
 Gilbert Kennedy earl of Cassils, 
 
 sent ambassador to France 
 
 229 
 
 He dies there, not without the 
 suspicion of poison 230 
 
 Gilbert, his son, chosen judge 
 in Bothwel's case, but ex- 
 cuses himself 314 
 
 Gilespy Campbell, an actor in 
 the reformation 239 
 
 Recalled by threatening letters, 
 by the queen regent 240 
 
 Gilespy earl of Argyle, banish- 
 ed 290 
 
 His levity 343 
 
 Privy to the queen*s wickedness 
 
 246 
 
 General of her army 345 
 
 Reiuses to own himself a sub- 
 ject to the king 318 
 
 The regent receives him into fa- 
 vour, and he is in great au- 
 thority 361 
 
 The bishop of Glasgow fright- 
 ened by a voice from heaven 
 
 Gordons at feud with the For- 
 
 bescs 418 
 
 Gordon an enemy to Murray 
 
 275 
 He labours to destroy him 277 
 
49° 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 
 His design against him, at one 
 
 time wonderfully prevented 
 
 280 
 
 Gordon's bold attempt against 
 the queen herself 281 
 
 Gray hath the chief command 
 
 inScotlandagainstthe French 
 
 257 
 
 Groom in a stable his bold at- 
 tempt on James Hamilton, in 
 revenge of his master's death 
 148, 149 
 
 For which he is put to death 
 
 ib. 
 
 Guises, their desire to hasten the 
 marriage of Mary with the 
 dauphin 229 
 
 Their over-great power suspect- 
 ed ib. 
 
 They design Scotland as a pecu- 
 liar for their family 262 
 
 They seek to destroy James earl 
 of Murray, as an enemy to 
 popery 277 
 
 Guns, 1. e. great ordnance of i- 
 ron, when first used in Scot- 
 land 44 
 
 FI 
 
 Haddington deserted by the 
 English 216 
 
 Hamilton leaves the party of the 
 Douglasses 39 
 
 Ilamiltons willing to free the 
 queen out of prison ^41 
 
 Overthrown in battle, and some 
 of them taken prisoners 347 
 
 They meet at Edinburgh in be- 
 half of queen Mary 381 
 
 Hengibt, captain of the pirates, 
 hath lands given to him in 
 Britain, by Vortigern 184 
 
 Fenrv VI. undervalues the no- 
 
 Page 
 
 bility, and advances upstarts 
 
 42 
 A conspiracy against him by the 
 
 nobles of England ib. 
 
 He is taken by the duke of 
 
 York, and brought to London 
 
 He flies into Scotland 48 
 
 Joins battle with Edward IV. 
 
 and is overcome 49 
 
 Returns privately to England, 
 
 and is taken 50 
 
 Henry VII. succeeds Richard 
 
 III. who was slain in battle 
 
 86 
 He denounces war against France 
 
 108 
 Desires to make a perpetual 
 
 - league with the Scots 87 
 Marries his daughter Margaret 
 
 to James IV. 107 
 
 War denounced against him by 
 
 James, as he was besieging 
 
 Tournay 113 
 
 His magnanimous and kingly 
 
 answer to the heralds 114 
 Henry VIII. desired the exiled 
 
 Douglasses may be restored 
 
 156 
 
 By the French ambassador he 
 
 desires peace with the Scots 
 
 He sends controversial bocks of 
 divinity to James V. 162 
 
 Complains the Scots had violat- 
 ed the law of nations, wars 
 upon them, takes Leith, and 
 burns Edinburgh 184 
 
 His forces are worsted 192 
 
 Kis general persuades the Scots 
 to peace 206 
 
 Gives the Scots a great over- 
 thi 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 49 1 
 
 Page 
 
 Henry of France sends some Ger- 
 man foot into Scotland 211 
 
 He displaces the regent by sub- 
 tilty 219 
 
 Henry Stuart comes out of 
 England into Scotland 285 
 
 Made duke of Rothesay, and 
 earl of Ross, by the queen of 
 Scots 289 
 
 At which many of the nobles 
 are disgusted 290 
 
 He marries the queen ibid. 
 
 Strangely disrespected at the 
 baptism of his own son 304 
 
 He withdraws from court ib. 
 
 Is poisoned, but overcomes it 
 by the strength of his youth 
 
 3°4> 3°5 
 
 A design to destroy him 307 
 
 308 
 
 Is actually murdered 309 
 
 Heralds slain against the law of 
 arms 292 
 
 Hepburn (John) insinuates him- 
 self into the new regent 182 
 
 Herris hanged by James Doug- 
 las 32 
 
 Hugh Kennedy, his courageous 
 answer 147 
 
 Hume castle surrendered to the 
 English 385 
 
 Huntly overthrown by James 
 earl of Murray, taken and 
 pardoned 20 
 
 I 
 
 James, earl of Arran, son to 
 James, returning from France, 
 sides with the reformers 245 
 
 Goes to his sister Mary the 
 queen 264 
 
 Hardly persuaded to allow 
 the admission of the mass in 
 Vol. II. O 
 
 Page 
 the queen's chapel 272 
 
 Made earl of Mar, and after- 
 wards of Murray 274 
 
 James Balfour, governor of E- 
 
 dinburgh castle for the queen 
 
 328 
 
 He raises insurrections 354 
 
 James Culen taken and execut- 
 ed for his crimes 225 
 
 James, surnamed Crassus, the 
 Douglasses being dead, suc- 
 ceeds to the right of the earl- 
 dom 1 6 
 
 He dies ibid. 
 
 James Douglas made earl, when 
 William Douglas his father, 
 was slain 34 
 
 He accuses the king and nobles 
 of perfidiousness 35 
 
 Proclaimed a public enemy 36 
 
 Marries Beatrix, his brother's 
 widow ibid. 
 
 Persuaded to a reconciliation 
 with the king, which he refu- 
 ses ibid. 
 
 Being forsaken by his friends, 
 he applies to England for aid 
 
 33 
 And to Donald the islander 39 
 Forsaken by his wife 40 
 
 James Douglas, earl of Morton, 
 and Alex. Hume, take the co- 
 ronation oath for king James 
 VI. in his minority 337 
 
 He provides for the common- 
 wealth at his private charge 
 338 
 Commands the king's army a- 
 gainst the queen 340 
 
 Goes into England with the re- 
 gent _ 351 
 Sent ambassador into England 
 
 39 l 
 o o 
 
492 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TAELE. 
 
 rage 
 
 His chearfulness to encounter 
 the enemy 412 
 
 Taken prisoner, and then takes 
 him prisoner whose captive 
 he. wa-. before 416 
 
 James Huliburton taken prison- 
 er 414 
 
 James Hamilton, earl of Arran, 
 admiral 01 a navy under king 
 James IV. 109 
 
 He plunders Knockfergus in 
 Ireland ibid. 
 
 At last sails for France no 
 
 Is chosen regent 176 
 
 Opposes Archibald Douglas af- 
 ter his return from France 
 140 
 
 Highly disgusted by king James 
 V. 108 
 
 Compelled to change his opini- 
 on concerning the contro- 
 verted points of religion 181 
 
 His shameful flight, vanity, and 
 inconstancy 188 
 
 Remiss in the case of George 
 Wishart 217 
 
 Corrup f <"-d by avarice ibid. 
 
 Made duke of Chattelhcrault 
 
 220 
 
 Put from his regency 22 1 
 
 James Hamilton returns from 
 France 356 
 
 Endeavours to engpge queen 
 Elizabeth of England, to 
 make him regent ibid. 
 
 But without success ibid. 
 
 He submits to the regent 362 
 
 James Hamilton, son of the 
 
 1 archbishop of St. Andrews 
 
 his sister, treacherously shoots 
 
 Murray, and kills him 278 
 
 James Hamilton, a bastard, bro- 
 ther to the earl of Arran, 
 
 Page 
 chosen judge against the Lu- 
 therans 168 
 He is tried, condemned and ex- 
 ecuted 169 
 Jiimes Hepburn, earl of Both- 
 well, committed to prison 
 277 
 But escapes 280 
 
 Banished 
 
 161 
 
 A rival to the earl of Lennox 
 
 181 
 
 Called out of France by the 
 queen 287 
 
 Divorced from his former wife 
 
 318 
 
 Procures a schedule from the 
 nobility about his marriage 
 with the queen 316 
 
 Surprises and marries the queen 
 
 Outlawed 288 
 
 Accused of the king's murder 
 
 3*3 
 
 His mock trial 3 14 
 
 Wounded by an highway pad 
 
 302 
 Designs to destroy Murray 3 1 1 
 His challenge answered 315 
 He flies 332 
 
 And dies distracted in Denmark 
 
 341 
 
 James Kennedy, archbishop, an 
 
 adversary to the Douglasses 
 
 l 9 
 
 Retires from a corrupt court 
 
 23 
 
 Disallows the faction of the 
 queen-mother 50 
 
 His oration, that women ought 
 net to govern 43, 44, &c. 
 
 His praise, death and character 
 
 61 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 493 
 
 Page 
 James Kennedy builds a large 
 
 ship 74 
 
 James Livingston put to death 
 
 by .the Douglas faction 22 
 James Londin, a prodigy of him 
 
 310 
 James Macgil sent, with others, 
 
 ambassador into England 351 
 James Mackintosh unjustly put 
 
 to death 2 ) 5 
 
 James, earl of Murray, appoint- 
 ed vicegerent' 158 
 Settles the borders 154 
 Sent into France 162 
 James, earl of Murray, refuses 
 
 to associate with the queen 
 
 and Bothwell 326 
 
 But chuses rather to leave t'u 
 
 land ibid. 
 
 He returns from travel and is 
 
 made regent 336 
 
 His resolute speech 342 
 
 He meets the queen of England's 
 
 ambassador at York 351 
 
 Waylaid by his enemies in his 
 
 journey ibid. 
 
 Goes to London 
 
 154 
 
 Where he manages the accusa- 
 tion against the queen 355 
 Whence honourably dismissed, 
 and his transactions there ap- 
 proved in Scotland 361 
 Is deserted by his friends 376 
 Too careless of himself 377 
 Killed by one of the Hamil ons 
 
 .379 
 His laudable character ibid. 
 James Murray offers to encoun- 
 ter Bothwell, hand to hand 
 
 3*4 
 James Sunderland, ambassador 
 
 from Scotland to France 262 
 
 Page 
 
 James Sunderland sent ag nst 
 the thieves \ ^7 
 
 Carries propositions fr: > \e 
 
 reformers to the qiieen re- 
 gent \ 233 
 
 James Stuart marries jo n trfe 
 widow of James I. 9 
 
 Is banished 22 
 
 James Sruart the queen's bro- 
 ther, puts the English to a 
 r veat ibitH 
 
 Hath threatening letters seat 
 him by the queen 241 
 
 An actor in reforming religion 
 
 ibid. 
 
 Made earl of Mar and Murtai 
 
 Jews imitated by the Rom< 
 
 Iffurtj or Inert isle 
 
 Fatuus, • 
 Images demolished at : 
 
 Impostors, notorious ones - 3 
 Joan Douglas, a fine wo nan, 
 unjustly put to death (66 
 John, son of Alexander, bro- 
 ther to James III. duke cf 
 Albany declared regen; whefc 
 in France 124 
 
 He arrives in Scotland . 26 
 
 Gets the queen-mother into his 
 power 1 29 
 
 Goes into France, appointing 
 governors in his absence 
 
 *33 
 Returns to Scotland 141 
 
 Raises an army against Eng- 
 land, but makes a truce 136 
 
 Goes again into France, whencjg 
 he returns with a gieat navy 
 
 IV 
 
 O o o 2 
 
494 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 
 Marches into England, and as- 
 saults Werk castle 142 
 
 Goes the ihird time into France, 
 and his power is vacated in 
 his absence 143 
 
 Join Erskine sent ambassador 
 into France 162 
 
 Of the queen's faction 209 
 
 Made governor of Edinburgh 
 castle 222 
 
 Sent ambassador into France 
 
 229 
 
 John, brother to king James III. 
 put to death 75 
 
 John Erskine favors the refor- 
 mation 234 
 
 Afraid of the queen regent 
 
 2 39 
 Beats the rebels out of Stirling 
 
 416 
 
 Chosen regent 417 
 
 Straitens Edinburgh 420 
 
 John Armstrong, a captain of 
 thieves executed 155 
 
 John earl of Athol, marries Bea- 
 trix Doughs 316 
 
 He and his wife taken prisoners 
 by Donald 60 
 
 John Cockburn of Ormiston 
 wounded and taken by Both- 
 well 249 
 
 John, earl of Douglas's bro- 
 ther made baron of Balvany 
 
 Proclaimed a public enemy 35 
 
 John Damiot, a conjurer, fore- 
 tels David Rizio's death 298 
 
 John Forbes condemned and 
 beheaded 166 
 
 John 1 ien ing, the queen's go- 
 vernor of Dumbarton castle, 
 when it was surprised 396 
 
 He escapes, but Ins wife is 
 
 Page 
 well treated by the regent 
 
 397 
 John Fleming of Bogal, taken 
 
 there ib. 
 
 John Herris, undeservedly put 
 
 to death by the Douglasses 
 
 32 
 John Hepburn, powerful and 
 factious 125 
 
 Flis feud with the Humes 127 
 He insinuates himself into John 
 the regent ib. 
 
 Accuses Douglas, Hume, and 
 Forman 128 
 
 John Hamilton, archbishop of 
 St. Andrews 207 
 
 A debauched man 2 To" 
 
 John Hamilton, troubled in 
 conscience for the king's mur- 
 der, discovers his accomplices 
 
 398 
 
 John Kennedy made one of the 
 king's guardians or tutors 
 
 59 
 John Knox preaches to reclaim 
 
 those that killed cardinal Be- 
 
 ton 203 
 
 His sermon to the people of 
 
 Perth, for the reformation 
 
 237 
 
 Upon which they destroy popish 
 shrines ib. 
 
 His encouraging sermons to the 
 reformers at Stirling 25 2 
 
 His sermon at king James VI. 
 his inauguration 336 
 
 John II. lays the foundation of 
 tyranny in Portugal 90 
 
 John Lesly privy to the conspi- 
 racy against James earl of 
 Murray 280 
 
 John Mac Arthur, captain oLTo- 
 ries, executed 410 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 495 
 
 Page 
 
 John Melvil put to death 216 
 
 John, earl of Mar, brother to 
 
 James III. put to death, by 
 
 opening a vein till he expired 
 
 75 
 John Muderach taken 2.24 
 
 John Monluc, bishop of Valence 
 in Scotland 257 
 
 John Maxwell of Herries, re- 
 volts from the reformers 
 287 
 
 Made prisoner by the regent, 
 but released without public 
 authority 383 
 
 John, earl of Mar, a command- 
 er in the king s army 346 
 
 John Scot, his wonderful absti- 
 nence from food, and mira- 
 cles 155, &c. 
 
 John Ramsay preserved by the 
 king 79 
 
 Proves an evil counsellor to 
 James III. 86 
 
 John Stuart, earl of Lennox, 
 revolts from the regent 130 
 
 But is again received into favour 
 
 *3 l 
 
 He endeavours to take the king 
 
 from the Douglasses, and is 
 
 slain 147 
 
 John Stuart, eai'l of Athol, sent 
 
 against John Muderach 223 
 John Windram secretly favours 
 
 the cause of true religion 
 
 198 
 
 Joan Douglas and her husband, 
 
 their miserable ends 165 
 
 Jean, the wife of James I. her 
 
 manly fact 21 
 
 Put in prison with her husband 
 
 ib. 
 Fler death ib. 
 
 Julian Romer taken 216 
 
 Junius Brutus 
 
 Page 
 40 
 
 K 
 
 Katharine Medicis, after her 
 sou's death undertakes the 
 government 264 
 
 Kingly government what 400 
 
 Its origin ib. 
 
 Kings, their wives anciently not 
 called queens 54 
 
 They are inferior to the laws 
 
 401 
 
 Kings, if young, their favours 
 slippery 64 
 
 King desired to be revenged on 
 his nobles, endeavours to set 
 them one against another 
 
 84 
 
 L' Abros a French general, would 
 have all the nobility of Scot- 
 land destroyed 259 
 
 Lamont the French king's am- 
 bassador in Scotland 113 
 
 He moves the Scots to a war 
 against England ib. &c. 
 
 Langside fight 345 
 
 Laodice (queen) her cruelty to 
 her own children 358 
 
 Laws about hunting, their au- 
 thors. See hunting laws 
 
 Laws in Scotland, few, besides 
 the decrees of the estates 
 
 157 
 Legate, a counterfeit Roman 
 
 one 33 
 
 Lent observed on a politic ac- 
 count only 28^ 
 Leon Strozy, admiral of the 
 French gallies in Scotland, to 
 revenge the cardinal's death 
 204 
 
4$6 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 
 Lewis XL lays the foundation 
 
 of tyranny 90 
 
 Lewis de Galais, ambassador 
 
 from France to the queen's 
 
 party 283 
 
 Lindsays and Ogilvies fight 
 
 The Lindsays prevail ib. 
 
 Lutherans persecuted 156 
 
 166 
 
 M 
 
 Maclane, executed by Douglas 
 
 See Man. 
 
 Magistrates, have power over 
 men's bodies, but not over 
 their consciences 236 
 
 Main, an English commander a- 
 gainst the ocots, slain in fight 
 
 26 
 
 M.dcolm Fleming executed by 
 the Douglasses 16 
 
 Margaret Creichton, who 84 
 
 Margaret queen of England de- 
 livers her husband Edward by 
 •force of arms 49 
 
 ShefliesintoScotland, and thence 
 into France 50 
 
 Margaret sister to Edward of 
 England, wife to Charles of 
 Burgundy, endeavours to raise 
 commotions in England 97 
 
 Margaret, daughter of Henry 
 
 VII. marries James IV. 
 
 106 
 
 The first female regent in Scot- 
 land 122 
 
 After her husband's death, she 
 marries Archibald Douglas 
 
 ib. 
 
 She fries with her husband into 
 England 128 
 
 Page 
 
 But returns 132 
 
 Displeased with her husband 
 
 ib. 
 
 Persuades the Scots to break 
 with the French 139 
 
 But opposed therein by the 
 French faction 140 
 
 Martigues, the earl of it comes 
 into Scotland, with his cha- 
 racter 259 
 
 Mary, wife of James II. her 
 manly spirit 44 
 
 Mary of Guise, widow of the 
 duke of Longueville, marries 
 James V. 166 
 
 By degrees she dispossesseth the 
 regent 220 
 
 Takes upon her the ensigns of 
 government ib. 
 
 Imposes new taxes 224 
 
 Changes ancient affability into 
 arrogance 16 
 
 Persecutes the reformed, and is 
 perfidious 240 
 
 Makes a truce with the reform- 
 ed 243 
 
 The administration of the go- 
 vernment taken from her by 
 proclamation 249 
 
 She dies in the castle of Edin- 
 burgh 257 
 
 Her disposition and character 
 
 258 
 
 Mary, queen of Scots born 173 
 
 Begins her reign ibid. 
 
 Henry of England desires her 
 for his son's wiie 1 76 
 
 She is sent into France 212 
 
 From whence that king sends 
 letters, desiring her a wife for 
 his son 227 
 
 Ambassadors sent thither for 
 that purpose, of which some 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 497 
 
 Page 
 Jie there 228 
 
 She marries the dauphin 234 
 
 When Mary of England died, 
 she carries herself as the next 
 heir, and assumed the royal 
 arms of that kingdom ibid. 
 
 When her husband died, she re- 
 solves to return into Scotland 
 263 
 
 Her subtle answer to a cunning 
 cardinal 265 
 
 She lays the foundation of ty- 
 ranny 275 
 
 Designs a guard for her body 
 
 276 
 
 Her unbecoming familiarity 
 with David Rizio 286 
 
 She marries Henry Stuart 290 
 
 She punishes David's homicides 
 
 298 
 
 Her strange proclamation about 
 Rizio's death 300 
 
 She brings forth James VI. 
 
 ibid. 
 
 She is willing by all means to be 
 rid -of her husband 298 
 
 A jocular process against her 
 husband's murderers 311 
 
 She marries Bothwel 317 
 
 The French ambassador, and 
 the Scottish nobles, dislike 
 her marriage 3 19 
 
 She frames an association against 
 the nobles 325 
 
 And they another against her 
 
 326 
 
 Earl of Murray leaves Scotland 
 in discontent ibid. 
 
 Besieged with Bothweil at 
 Borthwick, and escapes in 
 man's apparel 327 
 
 Surrenders herself prisoner yi2 
 
 Proved guilty of her husband's 
 death by letters 333 
 
 Page 
 
 Hamilton designs her deliver- 
 ance 342 
 
 She escapes 343 
 
 Is overthrown by the nobles, 
 and flies for England 347 
 
 She endeavours by Balfour to 
 raise tumults in Scotland 
 
 352 
 Designs to marry Howard of 
 
 England 363 
 
 Continued in the Lord Scroop's 
 house 367 
 
 Her faction garrison Edinburgh, 
 from whence they sally out 
 against Morton 410 
 
 Massacre designed in France by 
 the Guises 262 
 
 Matthew Stewart earl of Len- 
 nox marries Margaret Ham- 
 
 ilton 
 
 97 
 
 Sent for out of France into 
 Scotland 179 
 
 Returns 1 80 
 
 Circumvented by the cardinal's 
 cunning, about his marrying 
 the queen 1E2 
 
 Upon which he rises in arms, 
 but he is forced to agree v. 
 the regent 1 S ? 
 
 He justifies himself to the 
 French king 184 
 
 Is worsted, and flies into Em r - 
 land, where he is kindly re- 
 ceived and marries Margaret 
 Douglas &187 
 
 Created regent 389 
 
 Takes Brechin from Huntly 
 
 39° 
 Hurt by a fall 30:- 
 
 Mendicant friars called Mandu- 
 
 cant 
 Mercenary soldiers change 
 
 for;. 3^0 
 
498 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 
 Michael "YVeems helps the roy- 
 alists 411 
 
 Monks, their monasteries over- 
 thrown by order of the lords 
 264 
 
 Monster, like an hermaphrodite, 
 born in Scotland 95 
 
 Morton's large account of his 
 negociation in England to the 
 regent 399 to 407 
 
 Mother) cruel to her own chil- 
 dren 359 
 
 Mourning garments, when first 
 used in Scotland 176 
 
 N 
 Norman Lesly, his valour a- 
 
 gainst the English 191 
 
 He surprises St. Andrews, and 
 
 kills cardinal Beton 202, 203 
 
 O 
 
 Oration of archbishop Kennedy, 
 that the administration of the 
 chief government, is nor to' 1 
 be committed to queen-mo- 
 thers 52 to 59 
 
 Orkney, the bishop thereof, 
 marries the queen to Both- 
 wel 318 
 
 D'Oysel a Frenchman, desirous 
 of g!ory t 227 
 
 Differs with the Scots nobles, 
 
 but afterwards yields to them 
 
 ibid. 
 
 P 
 
 Patrick Graham chosen bishop 
 of St. Andrews by his can- 
 ons, in the room of James 
 Kennedy 63 
 
 Made • of Scotland by 
 
 ■ , but obsti acted by 
 
 Page 
 the courtiers ibid. 
 
 He labours to maintain church 
 privileges 64 
 
 Is excommunicated, and forced 
 to resign his bishopric 66, 
 
 6 7 
 And dies in prison ibid. 
 
 Patrick Gray one of those who 
 slew king James III. 90 
 
 Patrick Gray committed to cus- 
 tody 194 
 
 Patrick Blackater, flies from the 
 Douglasses 144 
 
 He is treacherously slain by 
 John Hume 14J 
 
 Patrick Hamilton put to death 
 for religion, by the conspira- 
 cy of the priests 151 
 
 Patrick Lindsay sides with the 
 reformers 234 
 
 Goes with the regent into Eng- 
 land .350 
 
 Patrick Ruthven's magnanimity 
 
 297 
 
 He kills David Rizio 298 
 
 He acquaints Murray with the 
 conspiracy against him 290 
 
 Paul Mefane or MefFen, preach- 
 er of the gospel, troubled for 
 religion 230 
 
 Harboured by the inhabitants 
 of Dundee 231 
 
 Paul Terms sent with aid from 
 France to Scotland 216 
 
 Peace-downs. See Dunipacis. 
 
 Peace confirmed with an intend- 
 ed affinity, betwixt Scots and 
 English 76 
 
 But soon broken ibid. 
 
 Mediated for by the Scottish 
 nobility 80 
 
 Made between French and Eng- 
 lish 21.6 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 499 
 
 Page 
 Between the reformers and the 
 court 260 
 
 Peter Mauset a robber, execut- 
 ed 126 
 Peter Hiale, the king of Spain's 
 ambassador in England 103 
 His errand to solicit a match be- 
 tween Katharine of Spain, 
 and Arthur, Henry's son ib. 
 He mediates a peace between 
 Scots and English 104 
 Perkin Warbeck a notable im- 
 poster 97 
 Set up by the dutchess of Bur- 
 gundy to vex Henry ibid. 
 Sails out of England into Scot- 
 land 98 
 Engages James IV. against 
 Henry 100 
 Marries Catherine, the earl of 
 Huntly's daughter 1 o I 
 Dismissed out of Scotland 104 
 Taken and hanged in England 
 
 ibid. 
 
 Priests, impostors 154, 155 
 
 Priests so ignorant, as to think 
 
 the New Testament was 
 
 written by Martin Luther 
 
 m 
 
 A priest treacherous 20 
 
 One betrays queen Joan 21 
 
 Another forges a will 136 
 
 Princes not slaves to their 
 words 233 
 
 Prodigies on divers occasions 
 
 3°? 
 Process, ridiculous against the 
 
 king's murderers 271 
 
 Proclamation about the same 
 
 ibid. Repartees betwixt her and the 
 Proclamation, or schedule, of 
 
 James II. drawn in contempt 
 
 about the streets 35 
 
 Yol. II. P P 
 
 Page 
 Prophecies of witches, how ful- 
 filled 256 
 Punishments, too exquisite, en- 
 rage spectators 353 
 
 CL 
 
 Quadrantary faith, what 233 
 Quindecemvirate in bcotland 
 
 Queens ancieitfly, kings wives 
 not allowed to be so called 54 
 Queen, mother of James III. 
 sues for the regency, with 
 her reasons 49 
 
 The Scots not willing to be go- 
 verned by her ibid. 
 Queen dowager sails into France 
 
 217 
 Where she labours to out the 
 regent of his government 
 218 
 Hath the regency conferred up- 
 on her 219 
 The first female regent in Scot- 
 land ibid. 
 Levies new taxes 223 
 But because of an insurrection, 
 desists from collecting them 
 224 
 Refuses the proposition sent 
 her by the reformed 246 
 Prepares forces against them 
 
 238 
 
 Makes a temporary agreement 
 
 with them 239 
 
 Which she endeavours to elu^e 
 
 ib : d. 
 Makes another truce with them 
 
 243 
 
 reformed 246, 247, 248 
 
 Her death and character 257 
 Queen of Scots, not to use the. 
 
50® 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 English arms, during queen 
 Elizabeth's life 273 
 
 Qu'. :n of Scots, one of their 
 deaths 85 
 
 Queen's party divide from the 
 ting's 384 
 
 They s ad ambassadors to France 
 and England for aid 383 
 
 Qacen Elizabeth rejects them 
 
 ibid. 
 
 Question debated, whether a 
 tagistrate may be com- 
 p iicd by force to do his du- 
 ty 271 
 
 R 
 
 Ralph Evers his vain boast 
 
 189 
 
 Ralph Sadler, ambassador from 
 England about die marriage 
 of Mary with king Henry's 
 sou 177 
 
 He hears the Scots differences, 
 and endeavours to compose 
 them 275 
 
 Rebels, after Murray the regent 
 was dead, had several meet- 
 ings 384 
 
 They send ambassadors to the 
 queen of England, to desire 
 a truce, but in vain 3 3 
 
 They solicit the French and 
 Spaniards for aid 391 
 
 Assault Leith 414 
 
 Surprise Stirling, but beaten out 
 -igain 417 
 
 Attempt Jedburgh, but repuls- 
 ed and routed 420, 42 1 
 
 Recognition, what 108 
 
 Reformed religion, the nobles 
 
 sw tr to maintain it in behalf 
 
 of James VI. whilst a child 
 
 ^53 
 
 Page 
 
 Reformed congregation in Scot- 
 land, the first so called 232 
 
 Reformers abrogate die queen 
 regent's power 247 
 
 They meet with difficulties in 
 their wor'. 243 
 
 Are assisted by the English 
 
 253 
 
 Regent slain at Stirling 382 
 
 Religion, the nobles arm for it 
 in Scotland 238 
 
 Rhingrave sent with aid by the 
 
 French king into Scotland 
 
 :i 1 
 
 Richard duke of York, brings 
 king Edward prisoner to Lon- 
 don 46 
 
 Slain by the queen ibid. 
 
 Richard Colvil put to death by 
 Doughs 27 
 
 Robert Cochrane, of a trades- 
 man made a courtier 73 
 
 Taken by Douglas, and com- 
 mitted to prison 78, 79 
 
 Robert Cunningham, of the 
 family of the Lennoxes, op- 
 poses Bothwel 3 1 3 
 
 Robert Graham a great enemy 
 to king James 391 
 
 Conspires against him ibid. 
 
 Seizes him with his own hands 
 for which he is executed 
 
 397 
 Robert earl of the Orcades, 
 
 made one of the king's guar- 
 dians 59 
 
 Robert Pitcairn sent amb 
 dor into England 383 
 
 Queen Elizabeth's answer to his 
 embassy 388 
 
 Robert Reid sent ambassador in- 
 to France 162 
 
 Poisoned there 
 
AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 Robert Semple kills Creichton 
 
 216 
 Rose, white, badge of the York 
 
 faction 98 
 
 Roxburgh town taken 43 
 
 Its castle taken 44 
 
 Royalists overthrown in the 
 
 north 4 1 6 
 
 Ruthven had the mayoralty of 
 
 Perth taken from him by the 
 
 cardinal 196 
 
 Scots nobles anciently had skill 
 in surgery 96, 97 
 
 Scottish parliament demolishes 
 all monasteries 203 
 
 Scottish crown ordered to be 
 sent to the dauphin of France 
 
 Skirmish between the English 
 and French in Scotland 255 
 
 Sorbonists sent into Scotland 
 
 246 
 
 Stephen Bull overthrown by 
 Andrew Wood 95, 96 
 
 The administration of the go- 
 vernment, to whom to be 
 committed, when the king is 
 a minor _ 35 6 > 357 
 
 Sussex, the earl of it commands 
 
 an English army in Scotland 
 
 386 
 
 A taylor, his bold speech 3 1 8 
 
 Theodosius, his memorable 
 speech 400 
 
 Thomas Boyd marries the eldest 
 sister of James III. 65 
 
 He is sent ambassador into Nor- 
 way 66 
 
 Declared a public enemy 68 
 
 Page 
 
 He dies at Antwerp 69 
 
 Thomas Ker wastes England 
 
 380 
 
 Thomas Duchty, or Doughty, 
 an impostor 15 5 
 
 Thomas Howard, admiral, of 
 the English navy 1 1 r 
 
 General at FlOwden fight 1 i 7 
 
 Afterwards falls into disgrace 
 
 121 
 
 The conspiracy detected 380 
 
 Thomas Pitcairn sent ambassa- 
 dor to queen Eiizabeth 304 
 
 Thomas Randolph, the English 
 ambassador in Scotland, de- 
 mands the English exiles 42a 
 
 Thomas Wolsey, a cardinal, 
 
 self-ended and ambitious 
 
 119 
 
 Thornton, Patrick, put to death 
 for murder 40 
 
 Tantallon castle b°sieged by the 
 king, and surrendered 151, 
 
 Trajan's remarkable speech 401 
 Triobolar faith, what 139 
 
 Truce between Scots and Eng- 
 lish for seven years 84 
 Truce between the queen re- 
 gent and the reformers, and 
 on what terms 243 
 
 V 
 
 Valerius Asiaticus, his bold 
 
 speech 311 
 
 Vidam in France, who 260 
 
 W 
 
 Wallace slain in fight by the 
 English 27 
 
 Walter Mills martyred for reli- 
 gion 23 1 
 
 Warwick, earl overthrown by 
 
$•" 
 
 AN ALPHABETICAL TABLE. 
 
 Page 
 
 the queen of England 46 
 
 Werk castle described 141 
 
 William Creichton chancellor 3 
 
 Deceived by the queen, and her 
 
 son, the king taken from him 
 
 6 
 He guides the king after he had 
 taken him in a wood, to his 
 party 10 
 
 His death 40 
 
 William Cecil a prudent coun- 
 sellor in England 257 
 Sent ambassador into Scotland 
 
 ib. 
 William Creichton slain 216 
 William Creichton outlawed, 
 with his crimes 83 
 
 William Douglas succeeds Arch- 
 ibald his lather 9 
 Beheaded 1 5 
 William Douglas, the son of 
 James the Gross, marries Be- 
 atrix his uncle's daughter 16 
 Submits to the king 1 7 
 Goes to Rome 28 
 Returns, and declared fcegent 30 
 Conies to court on safe conduct 
 
 33 
 
 At last slain by the king's own 
 
 hand. 34 
 
 William Douglas desires leave 
 
 to revenge the death of his 
 
 brother the earl of Murray 
 
 379 
 William Drury an English 
 
 knight secretly favours the re- 
 bels 386 
 William, bishop of Dumbl.me, 
 sent inro France to excuse the 
 queen's hasty marriage in 
 
 Page 
 Scotland 318 
 
 William Grahame the king's 
 guardian ' 59 
 
 Wiiliam Hume beheaded 291 
 
 William Elphinston, bishop of 
 Aberdeen, laments the state 
 of Scotland ' 124 
 
 William Keith taken prisoner 
 by the English 232 
 
 William Kirkaldy of Grange, 
 admiral of the navy against 
 
 Bothwell 
 
 33 1 
 
 William Livingston goes into 
 France with the queen 230 
 
 William Maitland an ingenious 
 young man 25 I 
 
 Sent into England to desire aid 
 
 349 
 Sent into England to compli- 
 ment queen Elizabeth on Ma- 
 ry's account 267 
 Persuades her to declare Mary 
 her heiress ib. 
 Which she refuses to do 269 
 He favours the queen's affairs 
 
 OT*7 
 
 Is factious and perfidious ib. 
 Studies innovations ib. 
 
 He is taken and released 373 
 William Rogers an English mu- 
 sician, one of James IIPs evil 
 counsellors 74 
 
 William Sivez his story 7 1 
 
 William Stuart bishop of Aber- 
 deen, sent ambassador into 
 France 256 
 
 Wonians isle. See Nuns isle 
 Women, whether the supreme 
 government ought to be 'Com- 
 mitted to them 56 
 
 F I N I S. 
 
 Printed by Chapman & Lang, Trongate, Glasgow.