Family of the Guise Widdow of the late Duke of Longoville in Marriage to King James the Marriage is agreed to the Year following she arriveth in Scotland and the Marriage solemnized at St. Andrews 1538. This Year exemplary Justice was done upon divers Persons of Quality conspiring the Death of the King some the Year following were Burnt some Banished for embracing the Protestant Doctrine Preached in Germany by Luther and others James Hammilton the Bastard accused of High-Treason is sentenced to Death his Head and Quarters affixed to publick places in Edenburgh the King soon after thought in his Dream that Hammilton cut off first his right and then his left Arm threatning withal to appear again to take his own Life the King awaking is very much troubled with thoughts of this Dream and revolving with himself what might be the meaning of it a Messenger comes to him with the sad News of the Death of both his Sons at the same time the one at Sterlin the other at St. Andrews King Henry of England sendeth the second time to invite King James to a Conference at York the Scotch Clergy still oppose it and the Conference again refused King Henry in great Indignation against his Nephew for refusal of Conference with him resolveth to talk with him in harder Terms and to that end he raiseth an Army and sendeth it into Scotland and under the Command of the Duke of Norfolk The Scottish Ambassadors in vain intreating a Cessation King James prepares a considerable Army for defence the English enter into Scotland and after some mischief done at the approach of the Scotch Army they retreat the Lord Gordon marcheth before the main body with Ten thousand Men doing much hurt and annoyance to the Rear of the English Army King James with all earnestness presseth an Engagement with the English the Nobility peremptorily oppose him in it the King enraged upbraideth them with Cowardise unworthy to be owned as Sons of their Noble Ancestors vowing that though they should all desert him himself and his own Family alone should give the Enemy Battel The Lord Maxwell to pacify the King tendereth his Service to lead into Cumberland Ten thousand Men thereby to divert the Enemy The King accepteth his Service but being enraged against the whole Nobility he resolves that none of them should have the Honour of any thing done in that Expedition and for the cause giveth a Dormant Commission to Oliver Sinclare Brother to the Lord Roslin Having entred Cumberland and now in view of Five hundred English Horse Sinclare produceth his Commission it is read at the head of the Army Maxwell is thereby inraged the whole Army falleth in Mutiny and in such a confusion that they become a Prey to the Five hundred English Horse divers of the Nobility and the new General Sinclare are sent Prisoners to the Tower of London this dishonourable Disaster which hapned at Solway strikes the Valorous King with such grief and sorrow that he never after joyed but soon after departed this Life having first made Peace with King Henry at whose request he recalled Archibald Earl of Angus Thus dyed King James the Fifth a Prince of singular Endowments most patient of Cold Hunger and Travel sometimes setting on Horseback Twenty Four hours when the necessity of his affairs required it a great Justitiary and a person of singular Foresight and Wisdom THE LIFE OF QUEEN MARY QUeen Mary was the only Child James the Fifth her Father left to Inherit the Crown born to him not above eight days before his death James Hammilton Earl of Aran is therefore chosen Vice-Roy to whom King Henry of England sent his Ambassador Sir Radolph Sadler to procure Peace between the two Kingdoms and to demand Mary in Marriage to his Son by the influence of the late Prisoners in England especially the Exiled Dowglasses whom King Henry had wrought much to his Service by his Royal Favours whose Counsels were now very prevalent in the management of publick affairs both were assented the Contract of Marriage Signed and Pledges promised for better performance of all Conditions agreed upon notwithstanding of the Opposition of the Queen and Cardinal who fearing the Subversion of Popery still established in that Kingdom by this agreement endeavour what they can to cross all Tumults are stirred against the English Ambassador and daily Affronts put upon his Attendants in the Streets the Ambassador complaineth and demandeth the Pledges promised for confirmation of the Agreement lately made exemplary Justice is executed upon the chief movers in the Tumults in answer to this Complaint but the Cardinal by the influence of his power had so obstructed the matter of his demand that not one of the Nobility would yield up himself voluntarily a Pledge to the English and to such a business none could be compelled King Henry hereby provoked seiseth all the Scottish Ships in the English Havens and Harbours and proclaimeth War against the Scots in the mean while the Queen Mother sendeth to France to entreat the French King to send home Matthew Earl of Lennox to strengthen her against the English Faction otherwise Religion and the French League were like to come to nothing Lennox is sent home and forthwith levieth Four Thousand men and with this strong guard cometh to the Queen the Vice-Roy inferior in Power sends Commissions to treat for Peace by agreement the young Queen is committed to the Education of Four Indifferent Noble Men ingaged in neither Faction viz. the Lords Graham Areskin Lindsay and Leviston and accordingly they take charge of her at Sterlin where all the Nobility do Homage to her The Vice-Roy joyneth himself wholly to the Cardinal which Conjunction so inrageth Lennox that immediately he flyeth to Arms raiseth an Army marcheth to Leith and provoketh the Cardinal to Fight the Cardinal keeps himself close in Edenburgh Castle Lennox through want of Provisions is forced to withdraw and to put himself in a posture of Defence in and about Glascow King Henry hearing of these Stirs sends into Scotland to demand the custody of the young Queen until she came to years fit for Marriage The French Faction now prevailing his Demands are refused An Army is therefore forthwith sent into Scotland under the Conduct of the Earl of Hereford and a great Navy of Two hundred Sail under the Command of Viscount Lisle as Admiral The English enter the City of Edenburgh without resistance first they Pillage and then they Fire it and divers other Towns and Villages about it the like fate befel the Town of Leith and forthwith they return to England laden with Spoil The Queen Mother writeth to the French King and layeth all these mischiefs at Lennox his door as the only enemy of their Peace and Union by reason of his private Feud against the Vice-Roy for the death of his Father At her Request Lennox is recalled to France but finding the French King provoked against him he still keeps to his posture of Defence
was too late and being ready to breath out his last when they found him some of his dearest Friends Ask him how he did to whom he Answered with marvellous good chear I am well and in a good condition I now Dye as almost all my Ancestors have done in the Bed of Honour some things only I Crave of you my Noble and Dear Friends which I desire to be performed as you Love and Honour me First That my Death be no Discouragement to you Secondly That you Conceal my Death during the time of the Battel both from Friends and Foes Thirdly That you suffer not my Standard to be overthrown And Lastly That you would Avenge my Death These things if you perform I have my desire and in hope thereof I bear all other things and my present Fate with a good heart With these words wherein he shewed himself a Souldier he takes leave of them and they of him and having covered his Body from the sight of the Souldiers they advance his Standard and Charge with the greater Fury crying out A Dowglass A Dowglass the English are forthwith put into great disorder the Earl Percy is taken Prisoner and in the same Charge his Valiant Son too being dangerously wounded some Nineteen hundred English are slain some Fourteen hundred are Prisoners whereof most wounded and to the Scots it was not a dry Victory The next day the Bishop of Durham coming up with some Auxiliaries the English Rally again and resolve to give Battel the Army being again made up Ten Thousand Men the Scots making vertue of necessity there being no possible safety for them to endeavour an Escape resolve to stand to it under the Command of the Earl of Murray The Bishop advancing Murray having first taken an Oath of all the Prisoners that they should remain true Prisoners though their friends should rescue them by strength of Arms is ready to receive him and commandeth the Soldiers to wind their Horns each Soldier having about his Neck an Horn larger than our ordinary Harvest Horns the Noise whereof was so great and the View of the dead Corps slain over Night so terrible that the Hearts of the raw and new raised Soldiers began to fail the Bishop is forced as his Safest course to retreat into their Quarters from whence they came without attempting any thing the Scots are no less glad being sufficiently wasted and weary to look homeward Murray dismisseth Percy the Younger upon his Parole above One Thousand Common Soldiers are set at Liberty the Earl himself and about Four Hundred of the Chief are carried Prisoners into Scotland The Joy the Scots had in this Victory which happen'd July 19. 1390. was wholly swallow'd up in the Death of the dougheir Dowglass a very noble Cavalier indeed whose Body was Interred at Melross with the greatest Evidences of Sorrow that could be Soon after Dyed in Peace the Good and Peaceable King Robert a general Peace being concluded in France England and Scotland for certain Years the Seventy Fourth Year of his Age and Nineteenth of his Reign a good Man and a good King a great Justiciary an Encourager of Vertue a Suppressor of Vice especially of Theft and Robery stedfast in his Word fortunate in his Wars tho' by reason of his Age and Natural Averseness to War he seldom or never Engaged in Person He had two Wives the one Elizabeth Daughter to Sir Adam More by whom he had three Sons John Earl of Carist Robert Earl of Say Alexander Earl of Buchan and Badgenoch the other Enfence Daughter to Hugh Earl of Ross by whom he had two Sons Walter Earl of Straherne and David Earl of Athol and one Daughter Enfence given in Marriage to James Lord Dowglass Son to William Earl of Dowglass THE LIFE OF ROBERT III. JOHN son to King Robert Succeeded his Father and began his Reign Anno 1390. who immediately changed his Name choosing to be called by the Name Robert as an Auspicious Name the former two Roberts Kings of that Nation being men eminent in Vertue and prosperous in Atchievements He came to his Crown in a time free of Wars from abroad but full of Jars at home by the unquiet and ravenous disposition of his Nephew Duncan Son to Alexander Earl of Buchan who having Abased himself to be Captain of a Rebellious Rout of Robers spoyling and plundering divers Places especially in Angus was at last not without some Blood shed Suppressed by the industry of the Earl of Craford Soon after a dangerous fend fell out between two Great and Populous Families in the North for Reducing of whom were sent Thomas Dunbar Earl of Murray and James Earl of Craford who perceiving the great mischief likely to attend their Endeavours of a forcible Reducement contrived a more subtle way to quiet them after a representation made to the Heads of those Clans a part of the danger of their mutual Fewds and of the Kings Wrath against both they Advise them to conclude their Fewds as the Horatii and Cariatii did at Rome by the Choice not of three but of three hundred on each side to Fight Armed with Swords only in the sight of the King and his Nobles whereby the Victor should gain Honour the Vanquished safety from further Punishment and both regain his Majesties Favour whereof they gave them full assurance the Proposition is embraced on both sides of St. John's Town Mounts raised and Galleries made for the accommodation of the Spectators the Combatants are chosen and on the day appointed together with a multitude of beholders all of them appear on the place only one through fear privately withdrew himself this putteth some delay to the Encounter the one party looking upon it as a dishonour to Fight with the other wanting one of their Number the other Party not finding one who would Engage himself to make up their Number desire one of the Three Hundred to be put aside but of all that Number not one could be induced to withdraw accounting it an indelible disgrace to be shuffled out of such a choice Company of Valorous men at last an ordinary Tradesman tendereth his Service desiring no greater Reward than one single piece of Gold in hand as an honourable badge of his Valour and an Annuity of a small Sum for Life should he survive the Conflict his Demands are soon granted and immediately beginneth the Conflict with as much Fury as the height of Wrath the insatiable desire of honour and the fear of shame more than death could produce to the horrour and amazement of the Spectators whose hearts trembled within them to see as indeed it was an horrid Sight to behold such a rueful Sight of Furious men butchering one another and observed it was by all that of all the Combatants none shewed more shall I call it Valour than the Tradesman did who had the good Fate to survive that dismal day and on the Conquering side too whereof only ten besides himself out-lived that hour to
last the English obtain the Victory 4000 French and Scots killed amongst whom were John Earl of Buchan Archibald Earl Dowglas his Son the Earl Wigton and divers other eminent Persons the Duke of Alenson and many great ones are taken Prisoners a great Victory and bought at a great price the lives of above 2000 English lost on the place The Scottish Parliament thinketh it now more than high time to endeavour the Liberty of their King Ambasladors are sent to that end and are honourably Entertained by the Duke of Glocester then Governing all in England in the Non-age of his Nephew The Scots demand their King the Duke adviseth the English Council to Treat with them A great Ransom is demanded The Scots having no other remedy consent to Engage for it in lieu of one Moiety the Dowry of the Scottish Queen Joan Daughter to the Earl of Somerset a woman of singular Vertue and Beauty taken to Wife by the Scottish King at the earnest desire of the Duke of Glocester was detained and for the other certain Noble Men are sent Pledges an hard measure to an Infant Prisoner who it seems paid Dear for his Schoolgate And thus after his Years Imprisonment King James returneth Anno 1423 a Parliament is immediately called the King and Queen Crowned an Act passed for the payment of the 20th part of every man's Personal Estate for discharging the other Moiety of the King's Ransom Commissioners appointed to Collect it the People every where repine against it as unaccustomed to such Impositions some Great ones hunting after the vanity of Popular Applause cherish their Discontent which the good King perceiving remitted the Tax finding out another Expedient to discharge his Ransom In the same Parliament divers of the Nobility are Imprisoned for high Misdemeanors The King immediately releaseth them only Mordake Duke of Albany his two Sons and his Father in Law the Earl of Lenox remained under restraint and by Sentence of their Peers the usual manner of Trying Great ones in that Nation are adjudged to Death for their manifold Treasons and were accordingly not without the vigorous influence of Atholl their Uncle Beheaded on the Castle hill at Sterlin The same Year came Ambassadors from France to renew the Antient League and to crave in Marriage Margaret Daughter to King James for the Dauphine of France Lodovick Son to Charles the 7th both propositions are chearfully assented unto and the Ambassadors after much honourable Entertainment return satisfied the King forthwith bendeth himself to a Reformation and great need there was for as once in Israel so now in Scotland when there was no King every man did what seemed good in his own Eyes whereby the Kingdom groaned under the greatest Confusions and Disorders that could be the Civil Estate after much pain and trouble is at last reduced into some tolerable Condition Heads of Rebellious Factions men some taken off some Imprisoned some in hope of amendment pardoned Oppressions suppressed Roberies restrained and promising foundations laid to prevent such Insolence in time to come Amongst those pardoned in hope of Amendment Alexander Lord of the Isles was one a Great man and of a restless Spirit no sooner enlarged than he beginneth to meditate Revenge for his Imprisonment as short as it was He raiseth an Army of 10000 men falleth down to Ennerness burneth the Town to the ground and layeth Seige to the Castle the King sendeth an Army against him he raiseth his Siege flyeth to the Mountains maketh a stand about Lough Aber resolving to run the hazard of a Battel in those places of advantage two great Clanns Clan-Chaton and Clan-Chameron revolt from him many others are suspected by him in this fear he disbandeth his Army and with a few Attendants he flyeth into the Isles from thence he sendeth his Orators to the King to implore his Pardon nothing could be obtained though the Messengers were gracious enough to their Sovereign Alexander himself is required to appear in Person before the King committing himself wholly to his Majesty's mercy the Rebel conscious of his own Guilt is much perplexed nevertheless considering his present condition how desperate it was resolveth to fly to Mercy and privately repaireth to Edenburg where then his Majesty was On Easter-day Morning he Addresseth himself to Court covered with a Flaxen Frock he prostrateth himself before the King as he past to Divine Service with a most humble and penitent Oration he beggeth Pardon and Restoration to his Majesty's Favour and that for his sake whose restoring to Life they that day Celebrated The Time the Place the Habit his mournful Oration move at present to Compassion especially the Queen who became a most earnest Mediatrix on his behalf the King delayeth his Answer to the end of Divine Service which being performed his Majesty resolving neither absolutely to Pardon nor condignly to Punish for security of the Peace Alexander is sent Prisoner to Tamtalion and his Mother as the great Instrument of all his Pernicious ways is sent to St. Colmes In revenge of this Imprisonment Donald Maloc a Great man in the Isles breaketh out in a new Rebellion for Suppressing of whom the Earls of Marre and Caithnes are sent Donald Surpriseth them and putteth Caithnes and most of his Army to the Sword Marre happily escaping puft up with this Success Donald marcheth to Loughaber the King goeth out in Person against him Donald having done much Mischief in the Countrey flyeth into the Isles Divers Heads of Clannes undertake to Suppress him notice whereof being given to that Arch-Rebel he privately conveyeth himself into Ireland many of his Associates are killed 300 of them taken Prisoners are sent to the King all without exception of any deservedly Hanged which exemplary Justice proved happily to preserve those Barbarous places in Peace for a longer time than could be expected As his Majesty shewed his Justice in the Case I now mentioned about the same time he gave a manifest of his Mercy in enlarging two notable Robbers Duffe and Murray being enlarged they quarrel one with another Cull together their Retainers maintained on the Spoils of the People and being 1200 on each side furiously Engage in a bloody Conflict such Execution done on both sides that not above to on the one and 9 on the other side escape alive Notwithstanding all which Disasters Mr. Donald a notorious Robber breaketh out into an open Rebellion after some Mischief done Mr. Donald is apprehended himself Beheaded and twelve of his Associates Hanged Before his Execution the Law of Retaliation is by the King 's special Command executed upon him A poor Widdow pillaged by him threateneth him with resolution to repair to the King for Redress and I will fit thee for thy Journey said the Rogue he calleth for a Black-Smith and commands him to Nail to her Feet two Horse-Shooes go on saith he now these will preserve thy Feet from bruising the poor Woman dissembleth her resolution and is dismissed Mr. Donald being
whatever Spoils were taken from the Enemy to be converted to the Queen's use the Scots to receive and exercise the same Religion professed and used in the Church of England and to send Pledges into England to remain there as Hostages during the Marriage of the French King and the Scots Queen and one Year after All Sealed and Ratified at Barwick the 27th of February 1560. Six thousand Foot and Two thousand Horse Auxiliaries are sent down under the Command of the Lord Grey unto whom the Lords of the Congregation joyn their Army at Hadington and in this conjunction they march towards Leith lay Siege to it both by Sea and Land an English Navy lying then in the Road many bloody Skirmishes there were on both sides The French Bishop cometh into the Scots Camp and from thence he went to the Castle at Edenburgh to speak with the Queen Regent retired thither for her safety and protection and earnestly endeavours a Peace but all in vain the Scots not hearkning to any unless the French were all in the first place sent home which could not be yielded to at this time a great Fire happened in Lieth which put the Besieged into a great Consternation the English likewise fired the two Mills belonging to the Garrison and assault the Town by Storm but are repulsed with loss the French quickly repairing the Breaches the English made who at length begin to think the work tedious and full of trouble they send to Queen Elizabeth to know her pleasure the Duke of Norfolk encourageth them much by sending them new Supplies no less than Two thousand well appointed men Assuring them that neither Men nor Money should be wanting so long as it was in his power to supply them promising if need were his own presence in the mean time he sendeth his Tent and adviseth them to set it up in the view of the Town This gives Life to the business again the Siege is renewed and the Queen of England sends Sir William Cecil one of the Privy Counsellors and Secretary of State and Doctor Wootton Dean of York one also of the Council to treat with the French in order to a Peace a meeting is appointed in July following but in the interim the Queen Regent wasted with care and grief dyeth at Edenburgh Castle a Woman of singular wisdom and vertue honoured by most of the worst of her enemies and her Death much lamented by all after her death Commissioners are appointed and meet to treat of an Accommodation which had then been agreed upon but that the French insisted upon a freedom to carry home whatsoever Booty Bag or Paggage they had got whereof they had store by their Winters plundering of Fife which would not be granted by the Scots and therefore Acts of Hostility Sallies and Onsets are made with various fortune and success At last both Parties sufficiently weary and straitned in Provisions the Treaty is renewed and Articles agreed on viz. That neither the French King nor his Queen of Scotland should thenceforth use the Arms or Titles of England and all Letters Sealed with those Arms should be called in within six Months space that the French transport themselves with their Booties Bag and Baggage within twenty days and that the English supply them with such Ships as they should want they leaving Pledges with the English until the safe return of their Ships That Leith be delivered up to the Scots and Dismantled That the Forts built by the French at Dunbar be demolished That the English immediately after the performance of Articles do return into England That the French should still keep a Garrison at Inch-Keeth and Dunbar Castle That an Act of Oblivion first past by the Queen and the French King her Husband be afterwards Confirmed by their Authority in the ensuing Parliament to be held in August On these Terms Peace was Proclaimed Soon after the French King Francis dyeth the Queen heavily afflicted with grief for the death of her Husband and much perplexed by the turbulent condition of the state of France resolveth to return into Scotland and fearing the English Navy by reason of an Offence given to Queen Elizabeth by placing the English Arms in the Scots Coat she privately goes aboard a small Vessel which none would suspect to be Fraught with so rich a Cargo and safely arriveth in Scotland immediately before her arrival her base Brother James procured a Commission from her to hold a Parliament which was accordingly done The French Ambassador moveth That the French League may be renewed and that which the English lately made may be broke off and that the Revenues of Ecclesiastick Persons may be restored to them But the Scots Parliament now wholly constituted of such as pretend to the Reformation of Religion answered That the French League should be continued but that with the English could not be broken without the greatest Dishonour and Ingratitude in the world The Restauration of the Revenue of the Ecclesiasticks was wholly rejected and an Act passed for the demolishing all the Abbies and Priories in the Kingdom which was immediately put in execution The sorrowful Queen being arrived had no better remedy than Silence and Convenience and was forced to condescend That the state of Religion as it was lately renewed and established by the Lords of the Congregation should not by her nor her Authority suffer any Change or Alteration no Mass to be said publiquely any where except in her Majesty's Chappel which was all the indulgence the Lords would afford her The Ministers moved both by their own Zeal and the Instigation of the Earl of Arran Cry out and Thunder in their Pulpits against this Permission and Admonish the Lords of their Duty to reduce her to order a submission to and a susception of the Directory for publick Worshin The Nobility notwithstanding all these over-loud Clamours encroach not upon the Queen's privilege for which the Ministers turn the edge of their Tongues as sharp as Swords against them crying out of their Apostacy and lukewarmness in the Cause of God William Mettelane is sent Ambassadour to England to tender to Queen Elizabeth the great Respects of the Scottish Queen towards her and with this Message the Lords sent also their Letters to the Queen humbly thanking her for her late Seasonable Assistance and requesting her to continue her Princely Favour towards their Queen and a firmer establishment of Union between both Kingdoms as an Expedient thereunto they propound to her Majesty That she would be pleased to pass an Act of Parliament Declaring That in case her self should dye without Issue the Queen of Scots to be her rightful Heir and lawful Successor to her Crown This last motion highly displeased Queen Elizabeth saying That it was most unreasonable to require her to Sew her Winding-Sheet with her own hands and to expose it every day to her own view After much Debate it was at last agreed upon First That the Scots Queen should forbear
done a Promise is made to assure him of Pardon Earl Dowglas passeth over into England craveth Assistance of Henry Earl of Northumberland which was no sooner asked than obtained Forces are raised and under the Conduct of the two Earls they make an Incursion into the Meuse in Scotland wasting and pillaging all the Earl of Angus is sent to give some Check to the violent Current which was done to good purpose being soundly beaten they are forced to retreat leaving their Spoil behind them King James not satisfied with this Victory resolveth to revenge the manifold Incursions made into Scotland by an Expedition into England provoked the more by the Entertainment and Assistance given to the Earl Dowglas a Proclaimed Traitor In the mean while Agents are sent to him by some of the English Nobility the Duke of York the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick and others then in Arms against King Henry to crave some Auxiliary Forces from his Majesty in recompence whereof they promise in case of Success the Rendition of all the Scottish Towns Forts and Castles in the English Possession King James though unwilling to meddle in this Quarrel yet being glad of an Opportunity to regain his Towns and having formerly concluded a War for reparation of Wrongs done declareth to the English Commissioners that he would hasten his Expedition into England which he doubted not would be much to the advantage of the Lords in Arms and therefore expected that in case of Success the Proposition now made touching his Towns should then be performed The English Commissioners return satisfied the Scottish Army forthwith advanceth which had not marched many Miles when behold an Impostor and with him a Cozening Monk presenteth himself to the King pretending himself to be the Pope's Legate but sent indeed by King Henry of England This Jugler informeth his Majesty that his Holiness intended to settle if possible a general Peace in Christendom in order to a War against the Turk the Enemy of Christians and therefore in his Holiness his Name he requireth his Majesty to retreat assuring him that in case of Disobedience he had Command given to him to denounce the Pope's Curse against him which in those days was so Dreadful that no Man durst be so desperate as to incur the danger thereof King James therefore obeycth retreateth and Disbandeth his Army This Cheat is soon discovered the King enraged recalleth his Army and forthwith advanceth and in his way Stormeth the Town of Roxburgh then Garrison'd by the English the Castle refusing to yield is closely Besieged in the interim Messengers come from the English Lords to give notice to his Majesty of King Henry his Overthrow and return him thanks for his Royal care of their Safety intreating him to desist from the Siege lest the English being provoked thereby send down an Army contrary to their minds against him King James much moved at this last Passage demandeth of the Messengers what Instructions they had from their Lords concerning the Promise of Surrendering into his hands all his Towns Forts and Castles in the English power they acknowledge none The King bids them tell their Lords That not their Words but their Swords must raise him from the Siege The Siege continueth and is reinforced by additional Forces under Earl Hantkey and Donald Lord of the Isles who to ingratiate himself the more to his Majesty tendereth himself and his Forces as a Forlorn Hope in what Design or Service soever it shall please his Majesty to command him In the midst of all this Preparation behold the Fatal hour approacheth the King being himself very skilful in discharging of great Ordnance draweth nigh to see the Cannoneer discharge a great Cannon called the Lion newly sent to him from beyond Sea the Cannon discharged flyeth in pieces a Wedge whereof pierceth the King's body and immediately he dyeth Such of his Courtiers and Commanders as were by though astonished at this sad Spectacle yet are so present in mind as to cover his Body from the view of the Souldiers lest all should turn to Confusion The Queen who that very morning came into the Camp with a chearful Countenance wisely consealing the great grief of her heart exhorteth the Nobility to go on with Resolution notwithstanding that sad disaster and for their further encouragement produceth her young Son the Prince a Child of seven Years old they salute him King and being much animated by this couragious Deportment of the Queen the Siege goeth on more furiously than before The English within spent with much labout and continual watchings Sound a Parley obtain Articles of Surrender march out honourably with freedom to Transport into England whatsoever belonged to the Garrison the Castle Surrendered is forthwith Demolished Thus Dyed James the Second about the 11th of September 1460 in the 22th Year of his Reign and the 29th of his Age he lived in a most desperate time and Rebellious Age but disposed with such a well composed Mind that Prosperity and Adversity were equally entertained by him the Death of Earl Dowglas the only instance of his Impotency a Man of singular Courage and no less Clemency munificent to his Friend and merciful to his Foe In a sad time he fell leaving Sorrow enough behind him and a sad People for so great a loss THE LIFE OF JAMES III. JAMES the Third entereth his Reign at Kelso the 7th Year of his Age Anno 1460. The Peers having done the Homage the King repaireth to Edenburgh-Castle to remain there under the Tuition of the Queen until a Parliament could conveniently be called for setling the Affairs of the King and Kingdom In the mean while King Henry the Sixth of England after various Fortune of War is at last after the fatal Blow he received at Towton nigh Ferrybridges where died 35091 English forced to fly with the Queen and Prince into Scotland for Relief where he is Honourably received and entertained the Scottish King's Sister Margaret is given in Marriage to his Son Prince Edward Some considerable Forces are raised for his Assistance to recover his Crown having delivered Berwick to King James as part or his Antient Inheritance before the days of King Edward the First King Henry marcheth with his Army into England and is overthrown in Battel by Edward the 4th nigh Hexham escapeth to Berwick Edward returneth to London Queen Margaret procures some Forces from France all Cast away in the Holy Island by distress of Weather such as escaped the Sea are either Slain or Imprisoned King Henry now desperate of Relief resolveth to try the Affections of his Friends in England and to that end putteth himself into a Disguise and coming Southward is discovered apprehended carried to London and laid up in the Tower By this time the Scots are at leisure to meet in Parliament great Contention there was into whose hands the Government should be committed during the King's Minority the Queen claimeth it Kennedie Arch-bishop of St. Andrews and George
oppressions not to be so stupid as to endure the Usurped Power of those Men who breaking through all the Laws of God and Man Murthered the last King detaining upon the matter this present King under the bondage of their own Wills which tyranny was so much the rather not to be endured because they arrogated to themselves to be called the Restorers and Preservers of the Scottish Liberties when indeed they exercised a most cruel and unsupportable Tyranny keeping their fellow Subjects in Slavery and abusing the King's Authority to the final destruction of all those who were faithful to his Father and to inflame the affections of the People the more Alexander Forbese chief of that Family carrieth on the point of a Spear through Aberdeen and all the cheif Towns and Cities in the North the King's Shirt torn in divers pieces and all bloody by the Wounds his Majesty received inviting all Men who had any sense of Humanity or Religion to avenge that horrid Murther the Earl of Lennox bestirring himself on this side Forth to the same purpose an Army in this Popular fury rolleth together as in a moment marcheth to Sterlin where finding the Bridge Fortified resolve to Foard over some Miles above where they that night Encamped without Order or Watch or any persons designed for the exercise of Military Discipline This looseness is bewrayed to the Enemy who advanceth Surpriseth all Killeth many and Imprisoneth more some of whom were afterwards put to death Thus was this tumultuary Army as suddenly ruined as raised This Tumult over King Henry of England inraged at the disaster of his five Ships and looking upon it as a publick dishonour propoundeth great Rewards to all such as would undertake to bring to him Wood the Scotch Captain dead or alive Sir Stephen Bull undertaketh the Service and with three choice Ships of the English Navy setteth Sail casts Anchor at the May where he attends Captain Wood then returning from Holland in few days Wood appeareth the Ships draw up and give Fire Fighting bitterly all that day next day morning the Conflict is renewed they Grapple and fasten by Iron Hooks their Ships one to another fighting with that eagerness that none of them perceiving the motion of the Tide all are carried over to the Mouth of Tay where the Water being shallow and the English Ships great and in danger of the Sands the English are forced to yield the Ships are brought to Dundee 10. August 1490. Sir Stephen Bull and other the most eminent Officers and Gentlemen are brought to King James by whom they were Nobly entertained after much commendation of their Valour he grants them their Liberty desiring them to return with their Ships with a tender of his Royal Respects to their Master King Henry King Henry much pleased returneth thanks to King James declaring the great Esteem and honourable Respect he bare to him for his Royal and extraordinary Munificence By this time a Parliament is called in Edenburgh where his Majesty endeavoured by all possible means a Composure of the grand Divisions of the Kingdom some Laws are enacted for preservation of the Peace and the late unhappy Battel nigh Sterlin where the King was Slain is so hudled up that the business of that Day should never after be remembred to the Prejudice of either Parties a very strange Close considering that this Convention was composed most of such as opposed the former King The moderation and discretion of the young King not yet arrived at the Fifteenth Year of his Age was such that a Concord is made up far above all means hope or expectation every man had a dutiful regard to so hopeful a Prince Being thus setled the reflections of his Grace appear daily more evidently towards his Fathers Friends two of his own Cousins Daughters to his Aunt Mary he bestows in Marriage to two Eminent Men amongst them the one Daughter to the Lord Boyd to the Lord Forbese the other Daughter to Earl Hamilton to Mathew Earl of Lennox And to Manifest the deep sense he had of his Father's Fall he begirt himself with an Iron Chain as I have mentioned before which galled the hearts of the Rebellious Faction his pretended Friends more than it did his own Flesh though it made impressions therein deep enough insomuch that Fear more than Love restrained them from breaking out against him About this time a strange Monster was born in Scotland a Male Child which from the Navel downward differed nothing from the common form of other Men but from the Navel upward there were two distinct Truncks of the Body with Head Arms and all other Members as to two several individual Persons the Faces were one towards another what the one did was by the advice and consent of the other and if either transgress'd this Rule Strife arose between them and peradventure Blows oftentimes Scratching Nipping and Pricking one another if they received a Punch or Blow below the Navel both were sensible but if above where their Members were distinct only he was sensible whose parts were touched This Monster King James carefully educated and caused them to be instituted in the knowledg of Letters wherein they marvellously profited especially in the knowledge of diverse Tongues they were most exquisite in Musick and both admired for the sweetness of their voices they lived some twenty eight years the one died before the other some three or four Months by the smell of the defunct body the survivor was much annoyed and daily languished until the hour of his death And about the same time too a Monstrous Cheat came into Scotland and much cherished by the King too Peter Werbeck who pretending himself to be Son to King Edward the Fourth of England happily escaped from the cruel Claws of his Uncle Richard had admittance to King James his presence who behaved himself with a behaviour so beseeming his condition and in a most elocuent Oration did so pathetically deliver himself touching the distress of his Family and his own marvellous preservation that the King and most of his Council though not without the reluctancy of some of the wiser took compassion of him and resenting his condition as the common interest of all Princes with incredible in consideration promise him assistance towards the regaining of his just Rights provoked the rather as was pretended to satisfie such as opposed Peter's design by the breach of Truce made by the English Ships whilst Scotland was gasping under the confusion of a Civil War indeed the late horrid Rebellion in which James the Third perished Peter is highly honoured and exposed to the People by the Title of the Duke of York a most vertuous and beautiful Lady Katherine Daughter to Earl Huntley one of the chief Peers of that Nation is given to him in Marriage an Army is likewise levied and marcheth into England passeth quietly through Northumberland no adverse Army appearing nay nor any one Man coming in to own Peter the pretended
Custody of James Hammilton Earl of Aran engaging the Earl under pain of Treason for his Security Hume glad of so favourable a Keeper perswades Hammilton to withdraw with him and to take upon himself the Supreme Government as being equal in Propinquity of Blood to the King though by a Sister with the Vice-Roy himself Hammilton hearkneth to him the Earl of Lennox Hammilton his Nephew joyneth with them after a few Stirs they return next Spring to Court are pardoned and reconciled The Vice-Roy retireth to Faulkland and after some Months returneth to Edenburgh and thither inviteth Hume and his Brother who contrary to the advice of all his Friends obeyeth A Convention of his Peers is called Hume and his Brother without objection of any Crime not formerly pardoned are Condemned and Beheaded at Edenburgh their Heads likewise set up in the two most publick places of the City The Vice-Roy next Winter passeth over into France leaving his Charge in the hands of Angus Aran and Arguile the Arch-Bishops of St. Andrews and Glascow to whom he adjoyned Darsie Governour of Dunbar a Frenchman assigning to each of them his Province soon after Darsie is killed by the Humes having as they conceived a chief influence in the Death of the late Earl this Murther much troubled the rest intrusted with the publick Affairs a Messenger is dispatched to the Vice-Roy to desire his return After five Years absence and much Confusion all the Kingdom over by the Feuds especially of Dowglas and Hammilton the Vice-Roy returneth October 28th 1521 Dowglas is Banished to France an Army is raised to divert the English then Warring in France and marcheth towards the Borders of England the Nobility refuse to March out of Scotland the Vice-Roy much perplexed sendeth to the Lord Dacres Governour of the English Borders and desireth a Conference with him Dacres the publick Faith being ingaged for his Safety cometh into the Scots Camp and after some Debate a Truce for some Years is concluded The Vice-Roy goeth again to France King Henry notwithstanding of the Lord Dacres his Truce sendeth an Army into Scotland under the Conduct of Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey after some waste done in Merse and Tividale the Earl retreats for revenge whereof the Scotch Borderers make Inroads into England which provoketh the Earl to return into Scotland to set on Fire the Town of Jedburgh which done he retreats the second time without sight of an Enemy The Queen Mother now returned from England endeavours a Peace between the two Nations King Henry with a design to break off the Ancient League between the Scots and the French tendereth a fair proposition of Marriage of his Daughter Mary to James the King of Scots Some heartily embrace his Motion pleading for a solemn League and Covenant with England declaring the great Benefits which should redound from such an Union to both Nations some again strangely oppose it pretending that the League with France of the benefits whereof they have had so long experience could neither in Policy nor Honesty be Violated as for a Covenant with England though it be possible that some good may come of it Yet knowing that as Covenants ratified by solemn Oaths with hands lifted up to God are amongst good Men the strongest of all Obligations so by some others they are only made use on as Snares to entrap and Engines to catch the Credulous to their destruction which done then are Covenants laid aside as Almanacks out of date Therefore said they Let us not be so fond as to relinquish our experienced God for that which is in Hope only and may possibly ay and probably too deceive us By this time the Vice-Roy landeth in the West with Three thousand Foot and an Hundred Curasiers at Glascow divers new levied Forces Rendezvouz with them the Vice-Roy cometh himself to Edenburgh calleth a Council of the Nobility commendeth their Fidelity and Stability to the French assureth them of the reciprocal affection and constancy of the French to them and their Nation and in fine with all earnestness he inciteth them to an Expedition against England This last motion takes not well the Nobility attending him only to the English Borders protest against an Invasion the Vice-Roy is forced to abate of his vigour against England yet the French must be sent to try their valour against Wark Castle where being soundly banged they return with hast enough to the Scotch quarters King Henry vigilant enough towards his affairs raiseth an Army of Forty Thousand Horse and Foot marcheth towards Scotland the Scots retreat to Lawder a bitter Winter comes on huge storms of Snow fall all action intercepted and both Armies Disbanded Next Spring the Vice-Roy passeth again over into France the Queen the Earls of Aran Lennox Crafurd and some others take the opportunity of his absence and accompany the young King not yet come to Age to Holyrude House where a Council of the Peers being called by their advice the King takes the Government upon him the Nobility swear Fealty to him and all Officers of State receive new Commissions from him The Earl of Angus hearing of this Mutation returneth from France Lennox and Arguile neglected in the publick Administration receive him with much joy in hope of some Mutation of Affairs to the Queen now estranged from him in her affection his return is no way pleasing much less to Hammilton who then ruled all his deadly enemy the Devil of Division begins now to Reign the Queen and Hammilton abide at Edenburgh Castle as a place of greatest Safety the Discontented Faction assembleth at Glasow advanceth towards Edenburgh the Castle unprovided of all things needful for a Siege yieldeth it self they within have liberty to march whither they please the King only reserved and committed to the tuition of Angus Arguile and Lennox who were by course to attend him every man his four Months Angus Monopolizeth all Power into his own hands this produceth Envy and Emulation Arguile withdraweth refusing to meddle Lennox continueth at Court but medleth not neither both shew their dislike of Angus his Usurpation A design is forthwith set on foot by the King 's own desire to Rescue him out of the hands of the Dowglasses The Scots a powerful Family in the South attempt it to that end they appear at Melrose with some Forces a bitter Conflict falls out between them and Dowglas the King himself and Lennox Spectators of the Fight Dowglas had the Day the chief and most of the Scots killed on the place July 20. 1526. Dowglas perceiving now plainly that Lennox was his enemy by his indifferency in this Conflict thought it high time to reconcile himself to the Hammiltons the Agreement is made Hammilton shares with him in the Government Lennox repaireth to Sterlin sends to divers of the Nobility consulteth with them touching the Rescue of the King all resolve and unanimously Assistance is promised accordingly against a day appointed before the day comes Lennox thought it
being one Wood a Domestick of the Regents He returning in a disgust another is sent Pitcarne Abbot of Dunsterling no sooner was he entred the English Court but the Duke of Norfolk was sent to the Tower and all the Intrigue of Marriage with the Queen of Scotland discovered Pitcarne is respectfully Treated and freely heard in behalf of the Regent and at last is sent home with Thanks for many Offices done and Assurance of all Favour and Assistance to the Vice-Roy Which Success of their Message so puffed up the Faction and so animated Murray that the Government became intolerable and so uneasie to some that Exasperated with Fear Rage and Revenge resolved upon the Ruin of the Regent whatever were the result of the Attempt and accordingly as the Vice-Roy road through Linlithquo in his Expedition to the Borders with some few Troops of Horse one James Hamilton discharges a Pistol upon him and lodging a Bullet in his Bowels in some few Hours it put a period to his Life Hamilton safely Escaping by a Postern Dore. The Vice-Roy thus surprised with Death put all things into a new Confusion the Queens Party begin to stir but to little purpose they being Awed and Checked and the Adverse Party Encouraged and Strengthened by the Assistance of the Earl of Sussex and Sir William Drury Commanders in Chief for Queen Elizabeth upon the Borders of England So that the Queens Friends dare not put her Affairs to the Issue of a Battel in the mean time the French and Spanish Embassadors press Queen Elizabeth to be more Kind and Favourable to her Cousin the Queen of Scotland whom now she had made a Close Prisoner The Imprisoned Queen no less incessantly and importunately prayeth for her Self by her Letters in Writing wherein she had a most Excellent Faculty as those Copies do make undeniably evident the grand matter of her Request was for a fair hearing before her own Person Queen Elizabeth sendeth to Scotland giving the Adverse Faction Notice that she had promised a Conference for Composing if possible all Differences upon condition that the Queens Party should not stir nor endeavour a forceable restitution withal wishing them not to choose a Vice-roy or Regent until her pleasure was further made known unto them They not daring to displease Queen Elizabeth on whose favour and relief they depended and finding the necessity of their Affairs to require a Man in Supream Power and Authority by a knack of their own invention they choose an Inter-Roy Matthew Earl of Lennox the same in Power though not in Name with Vice-Roy Queen Elizabeth soon after adviseth them to constitute him Vice-Roy accordingly as they had formerly done to Murray Which being effected the New Vice-Roy sendeth the Earl of Morton Pitcarne and Mack gill to the Conference appointed by Queen Elizabeth with the French and Spanish Ambassadors In this Conference Queen Elizabeth had the parience to the astonishment of all wise and honest men to hear the rights of the Crown of Scotland pretended by Morton to be Elective and her nighest Kinswoman infinitely defamed and callumniated that tender priviledge of all Princes or Supream Magistrates viz. the immunity of their Sacred Persons from Capital Censures by Courts of their own Subjects not only disputed but enveighed against and condemned a Topick doubtless very ungrateful to her as being equally concerned in it had her English Subjects been then of the same Rebellions temper that the Scots were at the conclusion of this Conference the Queen declared that she had received no satisfaction either in the general Argument or in the particular Case of their Queen and therefore desired that they would hearken to an accommodation of all differences between them and their Queen This was peremptorily refused by them as not being impowred by their Commission and the matter it self being a Subject proper for the General Council of the Kingdom after much debate and some overtures made by the Queen for a Reconciliation the Commissioners returned home nothing at all being effected for the distressed Queen whom in truth Queen Elizabeth thought it not safe to enlarge This nullity of proceedings left all things in confusion the English Embassador Sir William Drury labouring for a Cessation of Arms between both parties who had had many bikerings and skirmishes to the effusion of much blood until at last the Regent is killed in a surprize at Sterlin by a Party of the Lord Hamiltons and in his stead the Earl of Marre is chosen Vice-roy who by his single Valour defended the Castle of Sterlin Repulsed the Enemy and Rescued the Prisoners that Hamilton was carrying away in which Rescue Morton was Killed by a Bullet that had pierced his Bowels in the midst of this general Combustion which filled all places with fears and dangers Gods Providence preserved the Young King now lodged in the Castle at Sterlin the Scene of the present Warlike transaction About this time the Duke of Norfolk that had been quitted the Tower upon his Confession and Submission and charging Leicester with unfaithfulness in the matter relapsing into the same misdemeanors was remanded to the Tower Arraigned before his Peers proved guilty of Treason and Executed who upon his death bewailed his breach of promise to the Queen that had before graciously Pardoned him and contrary to his word had again without the privity or leave of his Soveraign dealt with Queen Mary about Marriage and such weighty fairs but disowned all kindness for the Romish Religion and declared himself to die a Son of the Church of England The death of the Duke when the distressed Queen in all her Letters to Queen Elizabeth had endeavoured to excuse was no small aggravation of her sorrow and for his sake or his Affection to her she fears the worse and is now more closely imprisoned than before and by her confinement her Health is daily more impaired of which she sends many sad accounts to the Queen but to no purpose But to consummate her misery after all this one Ballard an English Priest with divers Gentlemen Conspire the death of Queen Elizabeth and the enlargement of Queen Mary Babington a Gentleman of exceeding good Parts writes to Queen Mary a full account of the design they had the Letter came safe to the hands of her two Secretaries Man and Curle who knowing the averseness of their Lady the Queen to such wicked and detestable designs dare do no otherwise than conceal the Letter from her and themselves return an Answer to it wherein they give all the life and encouragement to the project imaginable and to this they counterfeit the Queens Majesties Name Babington presuming it was the Queens Hand sheweth the Letter to divers whom he supposed he might trust and at last he commits that and all other their Papers to the trust of one Gifford who immediately carried them all to Walsingham Queen Elizabeths Secretary who upon the perusal of them discovers the whole Plot the Letter supposed to be
them who have thirsted after my blood then turning to the Lords she requested that her servants after her death might be civily used suffered to attend her person in the time of her death and then to enjoy peaceably those poor Legacies she had bequeathed them the Earl of Kent opposed her servants Attendance yet the passionate desires of the poor Queen prevailed with the rest of the Lords to permit six of them to wait on her to the Scaffold with this train came she into the Hall hung with black and ascended the Scaffold covered with black also and sat her down in a Chair prepared for her Beal read the Warrant for Execution which she heard very Patiently the Dean of Peterborough endeavoured to persuade her at last to relinquish the Roman and embrace the Reformed Religion for the Eternal good of her Soul She besought him to forbear being Resolved to Dye in the Faith of the Roman Church Then turning to the People she Protested before God that she had not Attempted any thing against the Life of Queen Elizabeth nor any other thing deserving Death after some sew words more touching Religion her Eyes gushed full of Tears which were sympathetically Answer'd with Tears by all that beheld the Tragedy Three or Four only in all that Concourse that could be Excepted The Executioner desired her Pardon I Pardon thee said she and all my Persecutors after she had kneeled down and Prayed with extream fervency concluding her Devotions in these words As thy Arms Lord Jesus were stretched out upon the Gross so receive me O Jesus into the stretched forth Arms of thy Mercy And after this she disposed her self for the Block her Maids having undressed her she laid open the most Beautiful Neck that ever received so merciless a Blow then she signed her Attendants with the Sign of the Cross and having kissed them all she smilingly bids them farewell at which they poor Souls weep most bitterly with Sighs and Tears inexpressible for which she meekly reproved them saying Nay what do you mean do you suffer your selves to be Transported with Grief notwithstanding you know I am going to Exchange a Temporal Kingdom full of Misery for an Everlasting Empire filled with all Felicity After this she covered her Face and laid her Neck on the Block saying in te Domine speravi and having repeated once and again in manus tuas Domine The Executioner gave a Blow and with it made a dreadful wound in the hinder part of her head and at two more the Inhuman Butcher severed her head from her Shoulders saying Long Live Queen Elizabeth and so let the Enemies of the Gospel perish Her poor Heart-broken Servants drew nigh to do their last Office for her in divesting her Body and disposing of it for Burial But the Earl of Kent commanded them to be gone and ordered her Body to be conveyed to a Chamber in the Castle where it was locked up After Nineteen Years Imprisonment thus Unfortunately Dyed the most Beautiful the most Magnanimous the most Wise and most Religious Queen Mary Her Body was first Buried in the Cathedral Church in Peterborough and after many Years in the Reign of her Son taken up and buried amongst her Ancestors in Westminster and by an unknown Author had this Inscription set upon her Tomb in Peterborough MARIA Scotorum Regina regis Filia regis Gallorum vidua reginae Angliae agnata heres proxima vertutibus regiis animo regio ornata Jure regio frustra saepius Implorato barbara tyrannica crudelitate ornamentum nostri seculi lumen vere regium extinguitur eodemque nefario Judicio Maria Scotorum Regina morte naturali omnes superstites reges plebeii facti morte mulctantur hic extat Cum Sacris enim vive Mariae cineribus omnium Regum atque principium violatam atque prostratam Majestatem hic jacere scito quia tacitum regale satis super que reges sui officii monet plura non addo viater Translated thus Mary Queen of Scotland the Daughter of a King the Widow of the King of France the near Kinswoman and next Heir to the Queen of England endued with Princely Vertues and a Royal Mind having often but in vain implor'd her Regal Right at length the great Ornament of our Age and the most Sovereign Light of the World is Extinguish'd by a most Barbarous and Tyrannical Cruelty and by the same pernicious Sentence Mary the Queen of Scotland is punish'd with a Natural Death and all surviving Monarchs made common Persons and render'd lyable to the punishment of a Civil Death a very strange and unaccountable kind of Grave in which the Living lye Interr'd with the Dead for with the Ashes of this Blessed Mary know thou that the Majesty of all Crowned Heads lies here depressed and basely violated But because the Reasons of State do admonish all Kings what is best to do O Traveller I say no more FINIS
necessary if possible to prevent the Conjunction of Dowglas and Hammilton to that end he advanceth to Linlithquo where the Hammiltons were drawn together Dowglas then at Edenburgh marcheth with all possible expedition bringing along with him to countenance his affairs the person of the King who all along retardeth the journey accounting Lennox more his Friend than those with him pretending indisposition of Body ever and anon dismounteth making shew to pay some necessary office to Nature Dowglas frets and in vain spending many entreaties for expedition at length George Dowglas Brother to the Earl is so peremptory with him as in most Rebellious terms to tell him That rather than their Enemies should get possession of his Person they would rend him in pieces and divide him in halves between them This Traiterous word made an indelible impression on the heart of the King though at present silence was his best and only return At last the Armies joyn Lennox and his Patty are put to the rout many slain the Earl himself killed bewailed of all Hammilton and Dowglas both mourn for him above all the King is afflicted the remnant of his Party with sorrow and grief enough submit and are all forced to compound for their Treasons as was pretended in bearing Arms against the King the Earl of Cassils refusing to submit was way-laid and killed by one Hugh Campbell Lennox his Death divulged maketh a very deep impression in the hearts of most men especially his own Retainers one of his Servants resolveth with himself to avenge his Lord's death on the Person of the Bastard Hammilton by whom Lennox was killed To that end he repairs to Edenburgh and on his way meeting with one of his Fellow-servants he asked him saying Didst thou see Hammilton the Bastard Yea said he I saw him and hast thou not killed him unthankful Wretch who murthered our Dear Lord and Master said the Fellow Go and be hang'd thou art not worthy to live and with these words he pass'd on in his way and came streight to Holyrude House where in the Pallace-Yard stood Two thousand Armed men all Retainers to Dowglas and Hammilton there the Fellow walks full of Revenge and waiting the opportunity to execute the desire of his heart Hammilton unawares comes in his way without Arms the Fellow falls upon him in the Penthouse under the Porters-Lodge and wounds him in six several places of his Body the Armed men are all presently in confusion and well nigh in one anothers blood The Hammiltons suspecting this bold attempt to be done by the Dowglasses newly only reconciled to them to avenge some old Quarrels The Fellow is at last apprehended who had opportunity fair enough had he attempted it to escape with his Sword in his hand still smoaking with Hammilton's blood he is forthwith hurried to Tolbnith boldly professing that what he did was to revenge the death of his Dear Lord declaring with inexpressible confidence that he was sorry for nothing but that he was disappointed of his design so bravely begun by him he is put to Torture for the discovery of such as animated him to that bold attempt his Flesh is seared with burning Irons which he endured with such courage and resolution as no man could spy either by his words or by his countenance or otherwise any the least sense of pain in him at last his Right Hand was cut off which he endured without shrinking calling out to such as stood by That unhappy Hand well deserved this punishment which executed not the design of a Resolute mind The Dowglasses think themselves now secure enough no man daring to oppose them in any thing But in the midst of their security the King makes an escape from Faulkland to Sterlin there the Nobility from most parts of the Kingdom fly to him by whose advice his Majesty issueth out an Edict inhibiting the Dowglasses any further medling in publick Affairs discharging them or any of their retainers under pain of Death to come within Twelve Miles of the Court this Edict being served on the Earl in his Journey towards Sterlin he retreats to Edenburgh and prepareth Forces for his defence A Proclamation issueth from the King to call a Parliament to Assemble November the 3d. in the interim his Army advanceth towards the City Dowlas withdraws The King peaceably entreth the City Terms of Peace are offered to the Dowlasses viz. That the Earl himself should confine himself on the North of Tay his Brother George and his Vncle Archibald to the Castle of Edenburgh The Conditions are refused they are Summoned to appear before the Parliament they disobey the Earl himself his Brother George his Uncle Archibald and his dear Friend Alexander Drumond of Carnock all by sentence of Parliament Banished all People charged under pain of Treason not to relieve them the Dowlasses break out into open Violence Arguile is sent to reduce them to order whose advance they prevented by flight into England The King spendeth some time with great care and charge in suppressing the Depredations then very great on the Borders which Expedition over he establisheth the Court of Sessions formerly indeed set on foot by the Vice-Roy the Duke of Albany Constituted of Fifteen Judges of the most learned of the Law impowred to hear and determine all Civil Causes a very grave Court continuing in great Honour and deserved Respect in that Nation to this day About this time King Henry of England prepareth for War against the Scots irritated thereunto by the Scotch Exiles and Refuges in England King James having Constituted the Earl of Murray his Vice-Roy prepareth for Defence by Mediation of the French then a common Friend to both Peace is concluded King James sends Ambassadors to France to treat concerning his Marriage to a Daughter of France The King of England to prevent it sends the Bishop of St. Davids and William Hrward Brother to the Duke of Norfolk Ambassadors into Scotland to invite King James to a Personal Conference with himself whereunto he is soon persuaded by the great Promises they made of Marriage to Mary the King 's eldest Daughter if all other things succeeded well in the Treaty The Scotch Council especially the Clergy fearing Innovations in Religion then set on foot by King Henry are much troubled that his Majesty had consented to this Conference they ply him with continual surmises of Ruine to Himself to the State to Religion should this Conference hold the King is over-ruled and observeth not the day appointed but forthwith Saileth into France and is immediately espoused to Magdalen Daughter to Francis King of France the Marriage solemnized on New-years Day 1537 and both arrive in Scotland about the end of May following within six Weeks after the young Queen Dyeth to the inexpressible grief of all the Nobles put on Mourning Apparel not before that time in use in that Kingdom Immediately after David Beton Cardinal and Robert Maxwel are sent to France to demand Mary of the