were fit for such or such Promotions Which Course if succeeding Kings had followed certainly we had never fallen into these times wherein the People cannot endure the Vices of the Priests nor the Priests the Remedy of those Vices Neither was the King ignorant that the Church was incumber'd with those great mischiefs under which it then labour'd by reason of the Immoderate Opulency thereof and therefore he did not approve the Prodigality of Former Kings in exhausting their Treasury to inrich Monasteries so that he often said That though David was otherwise the Best of Kings yet his profuse Piety so praised by many was prejudicial to the Kingdom yet notwithstanding He himself as if he had been carry'd away by the Rapid Torrent of Evil Custom could not withhold his hand from building a Monastery for the Carthusians near Perth nor from endowing it with large Revenues One thing in him was very admirable that amidst the greatest Cares for the high Affairs of the Publick he thought the most inferior and private Matters not unworthy of his Diligence provided some benefit came to the Publick by them For whereas Scotland had been exercised with continual Wars after the death of Alexander the Third for almost 150 years wherein her Cities had been so often spoil'd and burnt and her Youth generally made Soldiers so that other Trades were much neglected he invited Tradesmen of all sorts to come out of Flanders proposing great Rewards and Immunities to them by which means he filled his Cities almost empty before in regard the Nobility did usually keep themselves in the Country with this sort of Artificers neither did he only restore the appearance of ancient Populousness to the Towns hereby but also ingag'd a great number of Idlers to fall to honest Labour and hereby it came to pass that what was with small cost made at home need not with far greater be fetch 't from abroad Yet whiles he was thus strengthning all the weak parts of his Kingdom by proper Remedies he ran into the great dislike and offence of his Subjects especially for Two Reasons The one seem'd light in appearance yet ' was That which is the beginning of almost all Calamity to a People For when Peace was universally setled Idleness Luxury and Lust to the destruction first of ones self then of others followed thereupon Hence arose sumptuous Feastings Drinking Caresses by day and night personated Masks Delight in strange Apparel Stateliness of Houses not for necessary Use but to please the Eye A corruption of Manners falsely called Neatness and in all things a general neglect of the Country Customs so that nothing forsooth was accounted handsom or comely enough but that which was New-fangled and Strange The Commonalty did willingly cast off the fault of these things from themselves and laid it on the English Courtiers who followed the King and yet they did not inveigh against such wanton and pleasurable Courses more bitterly in their Words than they studiously practis'd them in their Lives But the King obviated this Mischief as much as he could both by good Laws and also by his own good Example for he kept himself in his Apparel and Frugality within the rate of the Richer sort of private Men and if he saw any thing of Immoderation in any part of a Man's Life he shew'd by his Countenance and sometimes by his Words that 't was displeasing to him By this means the course of increasing Luxury was somewhat restrain'd rather than the new Intemperance extinguisht and the old Parsimony reduc'd His other Fault was bruited abroad by his Enemies and afterwards broke forth into a Publick Mischief Robert the King's Uncle and Murdo his Cosin-German who had the Regency of the Kingdom for many Years seeing they themselves aspir'd to the Throne and yet knew not how to remove Iames out of the way they did what was next to it i. e. Engage the Affections of Men so to them that the better sort might have no extraordinary miss of a King nor any ardent Desires after him so that they us'd such great Moderation in the management of Affairs that their Government seem'd to many not only tolerable but very desireable if Mâ—rdo's Son had carried it with a semblable Popularity and Moderation For they so engaged the Nobles to them by their Liberality and Munificence that some injoyed the Lands belonging to the King by Connivence To others they gave them and in favour of some particular Men they Cancell'd Proceedings and Judgments in Law and restor'd some who had been banish'd and amongst them one Eminent and Potent Person George Dunbar Earl of Merch who during his Exile had done much mischief to his Country and by this means they hop'd so to ingage the Nobility that they would never so much as think of calling home the King and then if Iames Dy'd without Issue the Kingdom would come to them without any Competitor but if he should chance to return from his Banishment yet their Faction would be so powerful that if the King bore them a Grudge yet they were able to defend themselves by force against him but when the King did actually return the old Favour and Respect born to the Uncle seem'd to be quite extinguish'd by the new Injury and Flagitiousness of Murdo so that it plainly appear'd that nothing was more popular than Iustice. And therefore the People were not only consenting but also contributed their assistance to the Execution of Murdo the Father and his Two Sons and to the Banishment of of a 3d. So that the King's Revenue was Augmented by the Confiscation of their Estates and also by the Accessâ—on of the Estates of Iohn Earl of Buchan who Dyed Childless in France and of Alexder Earl of Merch who was also Childless and a Bastard who Dy'd at home concerning whom I shall speak a few Words by way of Digression This Alexander was the Son of Alexander Son to King Robert In his Youth by the ill Advice of some bad Men he turn'd to be a Commander amongst Thâ—eves but when he came to â—an's Estate he was so Reform'd that he seem'd plainly to be quite another Man so that his Vices gradually decreasing by the benefit of wholsom Counsel he so manag'd things both at home and abroad that he left a Memory behind him precious to Posterity For at home he quell'd the Insurrectioâ— of the Islanders at Harlaw making great Slaughter of them And so he extinguisht a dangerous War in the very Rise and Bud and thô he had great Wealth well gotten and had bought 〈◊〉 stately Sâ—â—ts insomuch that he much exceeded his Neighbourâ— yet he addicted not himself to Idleness or Pleasure but went with â— good Party of his Country-men into Flanders where he follow'â— Charles D. of Burgundy against the Luick-landers in which War he got both Estate and Honour and besides he Married richly in Holland and Island of the Batavians but the Hollanders not being able
devises all manner of ways to cast the Odium of the Fact when committed upon her Brother Iames and the Earl of Morton for she thought if those Two whose Authority and Esteem was much fear'd and hated by her were taken out of the way all things else would fall in of themselves She was also incited thereunto by Letters from the Pope and from Charles Cardinal of Lorrain For the Summer before having by her Uncle desir'd a Sum of Mony from the Pope for levying an Army to disturb the State of Religion in Britain and the Pope more cunningly but the Cardinal plainly had advis'd her to destroy those who were the greatest Hindrances to the Restitution of Popery and especially Those two Earls by Name if they were once taken off they promised a Mass of Mony for the War Some Inckling hereof the Queen thought was come to the Ears of the Nobility and therefore to clear her self from any Suspicion or the least Inclination to such a thing she shewed them the Letters But these Designs so subtilly laid as they thought were somewhat disturbed by often Messages 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 Sermon whereupon he returned back to the Queen and desired leave of her to be gone she very much urg'd him to stay one day longer to hear certainer News alleging That if he made never so much haste his Coming would do her no good but if her Disease did abate to morrow would be time enough but he was fully bent on his Journy and went his way The Queen had deferr'd the Murder till that Night and would seem to be so jocund and dissolute as to celebrate the Marriage of Sebastian one of her Musick in the very Palace and when 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 formerly often kissing him and giving him a Ring as a Token of her Love After the Queen's Departure the King with the few Servants that were about him recollecting the Proceedings of the Day past amongst some comfortable Speeches given him by the Queen he was much 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 acted or whether it fell from her by chance cast out a word That David Rize was slain the last Year just about that time This unseasonable mention of his Death tho none of them lik'd it yet because much of the Night was past and the next Morning was design'd for Sports and Pastimes they went speedily to Bed In the mean time Gunpowder was plac'd in the Room below to blow up the House other things were cautiously and craftily enough transacted yet in a small matter they lest a track whereby to be discovered For the Bed in which the Queen us'd sometimes to lie was taken from thence and a worse put in its place as if though they were prodigal enough of their Credit yet they would spare a little Mony In the mean time one Paris a French Man a Partisan in the Conspiracy entred into the King's Bed-Chamber and there stood still yet so that the Queen might see him That was the Sign agreed on betwixt them that all things were in a readiness As soon as she saw Paris as if Sebastian's Marriage came into her Mind she began to blame her self that she had bin so negligent as not to dance that night at the Wedding as 't was agreed and to put the Bride to Bed as the manner is whereupon she presently started up and went home Being returned to the Palace she had a pretty deal of Discourse with Bothwel who being at length dismiss'd went to his Chamber chang'd his Apparel put on a Souldier's Coat and with a few in his Company pass'd through the Guards into the Town Two other Parties of the Conspirators came several ways to the appointed Place and a few of them entred 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 strangled him and one also of his Servants who lay near him When they were slain they carried their Bodies through a little Gate which they had made on purpose in the Walls of the City into a Garden near hand then they set fire to the Gunpowder which blew up the House from the very Foundation and made such a Noise that it shook some of the neighbouring Houses yea those that were sound asleep in the furthest parts of the City were awakened and frighted at the Noise When the Deed was done Bothwel was let out by the Ruins of the City-Walls and so return'd to the Palace through the Guard another way than that he came This was the common Report about the King's Death which held some Days The Queen had sat up that Night to wait for the Event and hearing of the Tumult called together those of the Nobility who were at Court and amongst the rest Bothwel and by their Advice sent out to know What was the matter as if she had been ignorant of all that was done some went to inspect the Body the King had only a linen Shirt on the upper part of his Body the rest of it lay naked his other Apparel and his Shoes lay near him The Common People came in great Multitudes to see him and many Conjectures there were yet they all agreed sorely against Bothwel's Mind That he could never be thrown out of the House by the Force of the Gunpowder for there was no part broken bruis'd or black and blew about his Body which in a Ruin by Gunpowder would have been besides his Apparel lying near him was not sing'd with the Flame or covered with any Ashes so that it could not be thrown thither by any Casualty but plac'd there on purpose by some bodies Hand Bothwel returned home and as if he had been in great Admiration brought the News to the Queen whereupon 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 Murder Neither was the Bishop of St. Andrews free from Suspicion There were shrewd Conjectures against him as the high and cruel Enmities betwixt the Families neither was the Bishop ever well reconciled to the Queen before she design'd that Wickedness in her Mind and of late when he accompanied her to Glasgow he was made acquainted with the utmost of her Projects It increast Mens suspicions of him because at
managed Designs to alter things The Pope was not wanting by his Exhortations and Promises to stir up their Minds already inraged 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 betwixt them one could not well bear that the other should have so great an Accession as England if it were conquered to his Dominions Moreover some Disputes arose betwixt Them and their Subjects which diverted their Thoughts from foreign Affairs though the Novelty of a Woman's Reign and she a young Woman too without an Husband gave Encouragement thereto especially since those who were ill affected to her said she was born to Henry the 8 th in an unlawful Marriage and also the former Differences about the Kingdom and about Religion were rather stifled than extinguished yea the Sparks of Discontent did glow in Mens Minds which in a short time were likely to break forth into a great Flame In the mean time the English Papists had made many Attempts but in vain for they were soon quell'd 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 come together The Common People of that Sect had taken a View of all the Nobility and they found none fit enough to whom they might commit their Lives and Fortunes many of the most stirring had been consumed in the Civil Wars many had past over to the other Party some were so old that they were unfit for publick Business or else the Vigor of their Minds as well as the Strength of their Bodies was so debilitated that they desired Peace if it were but a tolerable one There was only one Man who for Courage and Power seemed fit to undertake 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 Grand-father though they had been highly eminent both in War and Peace yet in the Storms of an unstable Court they had been so toss'd that their highest Glory was ballanc'd with as great Disgrace His Father was condemn'd for Treason and publickly beheaded 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 extinguish'd and blown up 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 potent of the English 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 his Valor but in the Controversies of Religion he carried himself so swimmingly and ambiguously that tho he favoured Popery in his Heart yet he was such a Fosterer of the contrary Party that Many of them made sure of him in their Thoughts as their Own Amids these things the Queen of Scots was overcome in Battel and fled to England whence she wrote Letters to that Queen concerning 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 did consider of her Demands in Council Scroop's Wife was Howard's Sister and by her Means the Treaty of Marriage was secretly begun betwixt the Queen and Howard and the Opportunity 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 intrusted but to a few yet 't was whisper'd abroad among the Common People For narrow Spirits cannot conceal great Hopes but Ioy gives them Vent and so they fly abroad The Matter was so far advanc'd That the Fire of a Civil War seemed ready to break out yea some were so confident of Success after they had considered the Strength of the 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 Queen's both of them having wrote 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 formerly But if that could not be granted Then that she might reign jointly with her Son that so she might injoy Princely Honour in Letters and publick 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 those could be obtained then the third Condition was if the Queen could be persuaded to accept 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 did diminish the King's Authority especially being lawfully inthron'd but the two former Heads did take off from the King's Honour yea it exposed his Life too being a Pupil unless it could be thought that his Mother who was known to be cruel towards her Husband and was not well affected toward her Son neither being exasperated by her Banishment besides should be no more kind to him than she had been ever before Also the Letters from the exil'd Queen were read wherein she desired That some Judges might be appointed to consider of her Marriage with Bothwel and if 't was found contrary to Law that she might be divorced from him Those Letters did highly incense the King's Party because she wrote her self as Queen and commanded them as Subjects Yea some would not have had them answered at all because they indeavoured to abridg the King of his Power and to instate the Rule in the sole Power of an exil'd Queen but that Part of the Council which was for the Queen alleged that they wondered much why those who had formerly the last Year much desired that she would separate her Cause from Bothwel's now when it was freely offer'd to them should hinder it as eagerly or rather more as they had before earnestly desired it if a Word or two in the Letters did displease them that Fault might easily be amended yea some there were who undertook provided the Matter of the Divorce might be handled in the mean time to procure a Commission from her in what Expressions they themselves would have it On the contrary
was one of the chief that nothing could be orderly or lawfully determined For in Trials of Life and Death there use to be great Flockings together of Friends and Vassals according to the Faction Favour or Nobility of the Accus'd as it happen'd also at that time The chief of the Faction adverse to the King viz. the Earls of Hamilton Gordon and Argyle gather'd all their Force against that Day hoping that if the Judgment were disturb'd by force as 't was easy so to do that they might quietly 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 vying in Force but in Law and therefore had made no preparation on the other side and so 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 so He a Day after about Ianuary 1 st having sent the Earl of Northumberland to a Prison in Lough-Levin went to Sterlin The adverse Faction 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 stirr'd up partly by Emulation partly by the large Promises from the Queen of Scots who by Letters inform'd them that the French and Spanish Aid would be presently with them proceeded to accomplish that which they had long design'd even the cuting off the Regent As long as he was alive they knew their Projects could not take effect and therefore they sent Messengers thrô all Countries to the chief of their Faction to enter into a League to that purpose To this League the Hamiltons subscrib'd and Those who either themselves or their Children were Prisoners in the Castle of Edinburgh The Governour himself was thought to be privy to it and That which follow'd did increase the Suspicion of him Iames Hamilton Son of the Arch-bishop of St. Andrew's Sister promised his Assistance and indeavour'd to find a fit Time and Place to commit the Murder It happen'd that at the same time some hopes were given to the Regent That Dunbarton would be surrendred upon Conditions thither he went but return'd without his Errand Hamilton being intent on all Occasions his Ambushes not succeeding well first at Glasgow then at Sterlin appoints Linlithgo to be the Place fittest to execute his Purpose because that Town was in the Clanship of the Hamiltons and the Archbishop his Uncle had an house there not far from the House where the Regent us'd to lodge in that House being appointed for the Murder he secretly hid himself The Regent was made acquainted with the Plot both before and also that very Day before it was light the Discoverer for more surety added that the Murderer lay hid in 3 or 4 Houses from his Lodging that if he would send a small Party with him he would pluck him out of his hole and so discover the whole Design and Order of the secret Plot yet the Regent would not alter his former purpose only he design'd to go out of the Town thrô the same Gate he enter'd in and then turn about and proceed in his Journy nor did he keep to this Resolution neither either because he did undervalue such Dangers as believing his Life to be in God's Hand to whom he was willing to render it when 't was call'd for or else because the Multitude of Horse waiting for him stopt up the way When he was mounted on Horseback he thought to ride swiftly by the suspected Places and so to avoid the Danger but the Multitude of the People crouding in hinder'd his Design so that the Murderer out of a wooden Balcony which he had purposely cover'd with Linen as if 't were for another use shot him with a Lead-bullet a little below the Navil and it came out almost by his Reins and also kill'd the Horse of Iames Douglas which was beyond him he himself escap'd by a back Door or Passage of the Garden which he had pluck'd down on purpose and so mounted a swift Horse set on purpose to carry him off after he had committed the Fact by Iames Hamilton Abbat of Aber-Brothwick and so he went to Hamilton with the great Gratulation of Those who waited to hear the Event of his audacious Enterprize when they heard he had effected it they commended him highly and rewarded him as if now the Kingship had been actually translated into their own Family In the mean time at Linlithgo the rest were startled at the suddenness of the Crack and the Regent told them he was Wounded and as if he had not felt it he leap'd from his Horse and went on foot to his lodging They which were sent for to Cure the Wound at first said 'T was not Mortal but his Pain increasing tho his Mind was not disturb'd he began seriously to think of Death Those which were about him often told him that This was the fruit of his own Lenity in sparing too many notorious Offenders and amongst the rest his own Murderer who had been condemn'd for Treason Whereto he return'd a mild Answer according to his Custom Saying Your importunity shall never make me to Repent of my Clemency Then having settled his houshold-Affairs he commended the King to the Nobles there present and without speaking a reproachful Word of any Man he departed this Life before Midnight about Ianuary 23 in the Year of our Salvation 1571. His Death was lamented by all Good Men especially by the Commons who lov'd him Alive and lamented him Dead as the publick Father of his Country For besides his many other noble Atchievements they call'd 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 did really Praise him when dead They admir'd his Valour in War which yet was always accompanied with a great desire of Peace his Celerity in Business was always so successful that an especial Providence of God seem'd to shine on all his Actions besides his Clemency was great in moderately punishing 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 Colledg of Judges so that his Presence struck such a Reverence into them that the Poor were not opprest by false Accusations neither were they tir'd out by long Attendances in regard their Causes were not put off to gratify the Rich. His house like an Holy Temple was free not only from flagitious Deeds but even from wanton Words after Dinner and Supper he always caus'd a Chapter out of the Holy Bible to be read and tho he had still a
330 Years before the Birth of Christ. Feritharis Second King of Scotland FErgus dying left Two Sons behind him Ferlegus and Mainus neither of them yet able to manage the Government so that the Chiefs of the Clans meeting together to declare the succeeding King there was great Contention amongst them Some urging the late Oath whereby they had bound themselves to preserve the Scepter for the Fergusian Family others alleging What great hazards they might run under an Infant King At last after a long Dispute a Medium was found out whereby neither the Infant not yet fit to manage the Government should actually Reign nor yet their Oath be violated which was That whilst the Children of their Kings were Infants one of their Kindred who was judged most accomplished for the Government should weild the Scepter in their behalfe And if he dyed then the Succession of the Kingdom should descend to the former Kings Sons This Law did afterwards obtain for almost 1025 Years even until the days of Kenneth the III. of whom I shall speak in his place By virtue of this Law Feritharis Brother to Fergus obtained the Kingdom and managed it 15 Years with such Equity and Moderation that his Subjects found him a just King and the Orphans or Pupils a good Guardian Having by this Carriage procured Peace abroad and got the Love of his Subjects at home yet he could not allay the Ambition of his Kindred For Ferlegus being inflam'd with a desire to Reign having first communicated his Design to the most turbulent of the Soldiers and such as were most desirous of Innovation and Change comes to his Uncle and demands the Kingdom of him which he held as he alleg'd not as his Own but in Trust only for him Feritharis was so far from being disturbed at this rash undertaking of the young Man That calling an Assembly of the States together he Declared to them That he was ready to lay down and resign the Regal Scepter adding also many words in Commendation of the young Man As for himself he had rather freely resign up the Kingdom with which he was but intrusted willingly which his death now near at hand would deprive him of that so his Fidelity towards his Nephews might appear to be rather of Good Will than of Necessity But such was the Respect and Love all did bear to Feritharis that they utterly disliked this over-hasty Desire of the Kingdom in Ferlegus which they manifested not only by their Countenances and Frowns but by the loud Acclamations of the whole Convention and Assembly And having discovered by Spies the Conspiracy against the Uncle thô they judged the Author of so detestable a Design to be worthy of Death yet the Memory of this Father Fergus and the present Favour and Desires of his Uncle did so far prevail that they did not inflict it on him for his designed Wickedness only they set Keepers about him which should watch over and pry into all his Words and Actions But he being impatient not presently to obtain what he hoped for in his Mind thô the delay would have proved but short deceiving his Keepers with a few others privy to his design fled away First to the Picts and finding there no encouragement for his desired Innovation afterwards to the Brittons where he lived an obscure and consequently an ignoble Life But Feritharis a few Months after was taken off 't is doubtful whether by Disease or Treachery The former Ambition of Ferlegus the Deâ—ection of his Conspiracy and his late Flight raised such Suspitions that he was guilty of his Death that he was unanimously condemned in his absence about the Fifteenth Year after his Fathers Death Mainus the Third King FErlegus being condemned Mainus his Brother was created Third King of the Scots a Man more like to his Father and Uncle than his Brother Ferlegus He confirmed and setled Peace with his Neighbours abroad punished the Wicked and Profligate at home and constantly performed Religious Exercises whereby he procured to himself such an Opinion of Justice and Piety That as well Foreigners as his own Subjects thought it a Nefarious thing to hurt such a Person He was better guarded by this Opinion of his Sanctity than by his Military Forces after he had Reigned 29 Years he departed this Life being much lamented by all Good Men. Dornadilla the Fourth King HE left a Son behind him called Dornadilla the Successor of his Kingdom in point of Equity like his Father but very unlike him in the other parts of his Life For he spent much of his time in Hunting as judging that Exercise to be proper enough in a time of Peace and healthful as also very beneficial to harden the Body for War And besides the Mind did suck in the purest pleasures therefrom and was greatly strengthened thereby against Covetousness Luxury and other Vices which spring from Idleness Report says That the Venatory Laws which the Ancient Scots observe to this day were made by him He deceased in the 28th Year of his Reign Nothatus the Fifth King AFter his Death the People placed Nothatus his Brother on the Throne his own Son Reutherus being yet Immature in point of Age for the Government This Nothatus changed the Government which till then had been moderate and bounded with Laws into an Arbitrary Domination and as if his Subjects had been given him to Prey upon not to Defend he punished High and Low promiscuously with Forfeiture of Goods Banishment Death and all sort of Miseries so that scarce any addition could be made to his Cruelty By these Severities most of the People were cow'd out only one Dovalus of Galway an Ambitious Man thinking it a seasonable opportunity for him to advance himself by reason of the Peoples Hatred against their King and knowing also that his own Life was insidiously aim'd at by the King he resolves to prevent him And accordingly all things being in a readiness and being accompanied with a great number of his Vassals and Friends away goes he to the King and openly upbraids him with the Slaughter of the Nobility with the seizure of their Goods and Estates and with his Enslaving the Commonalty and demands of him to restore the Kingdom which he was not able to manage to the Right Heir Nothatus being thus Bearded and Affronted contrary to his Expectation yet remitted nothing of his former Stoutness but answered peremptorily That he would maintain what he had done by his Kingly Prerogative and if he had carried it somewhat Despotically it was to be imputed not to his own Disposition but to the Contumacy of the Subject who had enforced him thereto These Taunts increased the Animosities between them so that at last it came to Blows and Nothatus was Slain by Dovalus and his Partisans after he had Reigned Cruelly and Avariciously Twenty Years Reutherus the Sixth King WHereupon Reutherus was made King by the
they crowded and hindred one another in endeavouring to Ship themselves they were all slain to a Man Belus their King despairing to obtain Quarter slew himself Evenus having finished the War returns to the work of Peace and constitutes two Mart-Towns for Trade in convenient Places i. e. Ennerlochy and Ennerness each of them receiving their Name from Rivers gliding by them For Enner amongst the Ancient Scots signifies a Place whither Ships do usually resort He subdued the Inhabitants of the Aebudae who by reason of their long Wars were grown very Licentious and Quarrelsome He reconciled their Animosities and appeased their Disturbances and soon after died having Reigned Seventeen years Ederus the Fifteenth King EDERVS the Son of Dochamus was made King in his place who whilst he was reaping the sweet Fruits of Peace establish'd both at home and abroad and giving himself to the sport of Hunting according to the ancient Custom of the Nation had News suddenly brought him That one Bredius an Islander of Kin to the Tyrant Gillus was Landed with a great Navy of Souldiers and plundered the Country He presently gathered together a Tumultuary Army against him and marching as silently as he could in the Night he passed by the Camp of his Enemies and set upon their Ships in the Road which by this suddain surprize he easily mastered and killing the Guard he burnt the Navy In the Morning he led his Army against the Camp which he easily took finding the Souldiers negligent and in no order at all many were slain on the spot whilst they delay'd either to Fight or Fly The rest having their flight by Sea prevented by the burning of their Ships were there taken and Hanged The Prey was restored to the Owners that claimed them A few years after another of the kindred of Gillus and out of the same Island too raised the like Commotion which had the same Event and Success for his Army was overthrown his Fleet burnt the Prey recovered back and restored to the Right Owners Thus having settled a firm Peace being very old he fell Sick and died in the Forty Eight year of his Reign Evenus III. the Sixteenth King EVENVS the Third Succeeded him a Son unworthy of so Good a Father for not being contented with an Hundred Concubines of the Noblest Families he published his Filthiness and Shame to the World by Established Laws For he enacted That every Man might Marry as many Wives as he was able to maintain And also That before the Marriage of Noble Virgins the King should have one Nights lodging with them and the Nobles the like before the Marriage of Plebeians That the Wives of Plebeians should be common to the Nobility Luxury Cruelty and Covetousness did as they ordinarily do attend and follow this his flagitious Wickedness For his Incomes and Revenues not answering his Expence upon pretended Causes the Wealthier sort were put to Death and the King going snips with the Robbers by that means Theives were never punished And thus the Favour which he had obtain'd from corrupt youth by reason of his permission of Promiscuous Lust he lost by his Cruelty and Rapaciousness For a Conspiracy of the Nobles being made against him he soon perceived that the Friendship and seeming Union of Wicked Men is not to be relied upon For assoon as they came to Fight he was Deserted by his Souldiers and fell alive into his Enemies Hands by whom he was cast into the common Jail Cadallanus who Succeeded him demanding what Punishment he should have he was Condemned to perpetual Imprisonment But there one or other of his Enemies either out of some old Grudge for Injuries received from him or else hoping for Favour or at least Impunity for the Murder of the King Strangled him by Night in the Prison when he had Reigned Seven years The Murderer was Hanged for his Labour Metellanus the Seventeenth King METELLANVS Kinsman to Ederus Succeeded him in the Throne a Prince no less dear to all for his excellent Virtues than Evenus was hated by them for his flagitious Vices He was mightily Priz'd and Esteem'd for This That during his Reign there was Peace both at home and abroad But it was some allay to his Happiness that he could not abrogate the Filthy Laws of Evenus being hindred by his Nobility who were too much addicted to Luxury He deceased in the Thirtieth year of his Reign Caratacus the Eighteenth King METELLANVS dying without Issue the Kingdom was conferred on Caratacus Son of Cadallanus a young Man of the Royal Blood Assoon as he entred upon the Kingdom he quieted the People of the Aebudae Islands who had raised Commotions upon the Death of their last King but not without great Trouble Yet here I cannot easily beleive what our Writers following Orosius Eutropius and Bede do say viz. That the Orcades were subdued by Claudius Caesar in his Reign Not that I think it a very hard thing for him to attempt one by one a few Islands scatter'd up and down in the Stormy Sea and having but a few and those too unarmed Inhabitants to defend them and seeing they could not mutually help another to take them all in nor that I think it incredible That a Navy might be sent by Claudius on that Expedition he being a Man that sought for War and Victory all the World over But because Tacitus affirms that before the coming of Iulius Agricola into Britain that part thereof was utterly unknown to the Romans Caratacus Reigned Twenty years Corbredus the Nineteenth King CORBREDVS his Brother Succeeded him He also subdued the Islanders in many Expeditions a People that almost in every Inter-Regnum did affect Innovation and raise up new Tumults He also quite suppress'd the Banditti which most infested the Commonalty Having settled Peace he return'd to Albium and making his Progress over all Scotland he repaired the Places injured by War and departed this Life in the Eighteenth year of his Reign Dardanus the Twentieth King THE Convention of Estates set up Dardannus the Nephew of Metellanus in his stead passing by the Son of Corbredus because of his young and tender years No Man before him entred upon the Government of whom greater Expectations were conceived and no Man did more egregiously deceive the Peoples Hopes Before he undertook the chief Magistracy he gave great Proof of his Liberality Temperance and Fortitude So that in the beginning of his Reign he was an indifferent Good and Tolerable King but he had scarce sat Three years on the Throne before he ran head-long into all sorts of Wickedness The Sober and Prudent Counsellors of his Father he banish'd from his Court because they were against his lewd Practices Only Flatterers and such as could invent new Pleasures were his Bosom Friends He caused Cardorus his own Kinsman to be put to Death because he reproved him for his Extravagance in Lawless Pleasures and yet he had been Lord Chief Justice and Chancellor too under
other Reserves into Service he drew on also the Squadrons left to guard the Baggage into the Fight They being intire routed the Brittons which stood against them so that the Victory began on that side whence the fear of a Total overthrow did proceed The rest of the Brittons following the Fortune of the other Brigade ran away too and flying into the Woods and Marishes near to the place where the Battel was fought as they were thus straggling dispersed and unarmed their Enemies Baggage-men and Attendants slew abundance of them There fell of the Brittons in this Fight 14000 of their Enemies 4000. After this Fight the Brittons having lost almost all their Infantry send Ambassadors to the Scots and Picts Commissioning them to refuse no Conditions of Peace whatsoever The Confederate Kings seeing they had All in their Power were somewhat inclined to Mercy and therefore Terms of Peace were offered which were hard indeed but not the severest which in such their afflicted State they might have propounded The Conditions were That the Brittons should not send for any Roman or other Forein Army to assist them That they should not admit them if they came of their own accord nor give them Liberty to march thrâ— their Country That the Enemies of the Scots and Picts should be Theirs also vice versâ and That without their Permission they should not make Peace or War nor send Aid to any who desired it That the Limits of their Kingdom should be the River Humber That they should also make present Payment of a certain sum of Money by way of Mâ—lâ—t to be divided amongst the Soldiers which also was to be paid yearly by them That they should give an hundred Hostages such as the Confederate Kings should approve of These Conditions were entertained by the Brittons grudingly by some but necessarily by all and the same necessity which procured it made them keep the Peace for some years The Brittons being left weak and forsaken of Foreigners that they might have an Head to resort to for publick Advice made Constantine their Countryman a Nobleman of high descent and of great repute whom they had sent for out of Gallick Britanny King He perceiving that the Forces of the Brittons were broken both abroad by Wars and at home by Fewds Robberies and Discords thought fit to attempt nothing by Arms but during the Ten years he reigned he maintained Peace with his Neighbours at last he was Slain by the Treachery of Vortigern a Potent and Ambitious man He left Three Sons behind him of which Two were under Age the Third and Eldest as unfit for Government was thrust into a Monastery yet he was made King principally by the Assistance of Vortigern who sought to obtain Wealth and Power to himself under the Envy of another mans Name The Fields which were now tilled in time of Peace after a most grievous Famine yielded such a plentiful Crop of Grain that the like was never heard of in Britain before And from hence those Vices did arise which usually accompany Peace as Luxury Cruelty Whoredom Drunkenness which are more pernicious than all the Mischiefs of War There was no Truth or Sincerity to be found and that not only amongst the Vulgar but even the Monks and the Professors of an Holier Life made a mock at Equity Faithfulness and constant Piety of Life of which Bede the Anglo-Saxon and Gildas the Britton do make an heavy Complaint In the mean time the Ambassadors who returned from Aetius brought word That no relief could be expected from him for the Brittons had sent Letters to Aetius some Clauses whereof as they are mentioned by Bede I shall here recite both because they are a succinct History of the Miseries of that Nation and also because they demonstrate How much many Writers are mistaken in their Memoirs The Words are these To Aetius the third time Consul the Complaints of the Brittons And a little after The Barbarians drive us to the Sea the Sea beats us back again upon the Barbarians between These two kinds of Deaths we are either Killed or Drowned Now Aetius was joyned in his Third Consulship with Symmachus in the 450th year after Christ. Neither could there any Aid be obtained from him who was then principally intent upon the observing the Motions of Attila The rest of the Brittons being driven to this desperate point only Vortigern was glad of the publick Calamity and in such a general hurly-burly he thought he might with greater Impunity perpetrate that Wickedness which he had long before designed in his mind which was to cause the King to be Slain by those Guards which he had appointed about him and afterwards to avert the suspition of so foul a Parricide from himself in a pretended Fit of Anger as if he were impatient of delay in Executing Revenge he caused the Guards also to be put to death without suffering them to plead for themselves Thus having obtained the Kingdom by the highest degree of Villany he managed it with as little Sanctity For suspecting the Faithfulness of the People towards him and not confiding in his own strength which was but small he engaged the Saxons to take his part who then exercised Pyracy at Sea and infested all the shores far and near He procured their Captain Hengist with a strong Band of Soldiers to come to him with three Galleys and he assigned Lands to him in Britain so that now he was to fight not as for a strange Country but as for his own Demeasne and Estate and therefore was likely to do it with greater Alacrity When this was noised abroad such large Numbers of Three Nations the Iutes the Saxons and the Angles are reported to have flocked out of Germany into Britain that they became formidable even to the Inhabitants of the Isle First of all about the year of our Lord 449. Vortigern being strengthned by those Auxiliaries joyned Battel with the Scots and Picts whom he Conquered and drove beyond the Wall of Adrian As touching Eugenius the King of the Scots there goes a double Report of him some say he was slain in fight beyond the River Humber others that he died a natural Death However he came by his end this is certain he governed the Scots with such Equity that he may deservedly be reckoned amongst the Best of their Kings For tho' he spent the first Part of his Life almost from his Childhood in War yet he so profited under the Discipline of his Grandfather and his Mind was so established thereby that neither Military Freedom as it usually doth did draw him to Vice neither did it make him more negligent in conforming his Manners to the Rule of Piety nor did his prosperous Success make him more arrogant And on the other side the Peace and Calm he enjoyed did not abate the sharpness of his Understanding nor break his Martial Spirit but he managed his Life with such an equal and
Iuletide substituting the Name of Iulius Caesar for that of Saturn The Vulgar are yet persuaded that the Nativity of Christ is then celebrated but mistakingly for 't is plain that they imitate the Lasciviousness of the Bacchanalia rather than the Memory of Christ then as they say born In the mean time the Saxons were reported to have pitched their Tents by the River Humber and Whether it were so or no Arthur marched towards them But in regard the Brittons were enfeebled by Pleasures by that means they were less fit for Military Services in so much that they did not seem the same Men who had overthrown the Saxons in so many Battels heretofore for by their Luxurious Idleness they had added so much to their Rashness as they had lost of their ancient Severity of Discipline Hereupon Advice was given by the wiser sort to send for Aid from the Scots and Picts Whereupon Ambassadors were sent and Aid easily obtained so that those whom Ambition had almost disjoined yet the mutual Care of Religion and Emulation too did so piece together That Forces were sent from either King sooner than could well have been imagined Lothus also that he might give a Publick Testimony of his Reconcilement brought his Sons Modredus and Galvinus with him into the Camp Galvinus he gave to Arthur as his Companion whom he received with so great Courtesie that from that Day forward they lived and died together The Army of the Three Kings being thus ready and their Camps joyned it was unanimously agreed between them That as the Danger was common to them all and the Cause thereof was also the same so they would drive out the Saxons and restore the Christian Rites and Religion which were profaned by them The Armies drawing near the one to the other Occa Son of a former Occa who was then General of the Saxons made haste to joyn Battel In the Confederate Army the Two Wings were allotted to the Scots and Picts the main Battel to Arthur The Scots at the first onset wounded Childerick Commander of that Wing of the Enemy which fought against them he falling by reason of his Wounds so terrified the rest that the whole Wing was broken In the other Wing Colgernus the Saxon after great Complaints made of the Perfidiousness of the Picts made an assault upon Lothus with great Violence who was easily known by his Habit and his Arms he dismounted him but he himself being environed in the midst of his Enemies was run through by Two Picts with Spears on both sides of his Body The main Battel where there was the sharpest Fight having lost both Wings did at length give Ground Occa being wounded was carried to the Sea-side with as many as could get on Shipboard with him and Transported into Germany of the rest of the Saxons Those who were most obstinate in their Errour were put to Death The rest pretending to turn to the Christian Religion were saved There were great Forces of the Saxons yet remaining in the Eastern part of England and in Kent The Summer after Arthur marched against them having 10000 Scots and Picts for his Assistance Congallus the Son of Eugenius commanded the Scots and Modredus the Son of Lothus the Picts both young Men of great Hope and who had often given good Testimonies of their Valour and Conduct This Army of Three Kings being about Five Mile from the Enemy and their Camps being distant one from another The Saxons being inform'd by their Spies that the Picts who were farthest distant from the other Forces were very careless and secure they made a suddain and unexpected Assault on them in the Night Modredus made a gallant Resistance for a time at last when things were almost desperate on his side he mounted on an Horse with Gallanus his Father-in-Law and so fled to King Arthur Arthur was nothing dismayed at the loss of the Picts but spent that Day in setling things which were discomposed after that his Army being commanded to march in the Third Watch he came upon the Enemy with a Treble Army and was at the Saxons Camp before they knew what the Matter was The Saxons being dismayed ran up and down having no time to take counsel or to arm themselves thus their Camp being entred they were slain by the Brittons and especially the angry Picts were cruel to all without distinction Some Writers of English Antiquities say That Arthur fought Twelve pitched Battels with the Saxons But because they give us only the Names of the Places where they were fought and nothing else I shall mention them no otherwise To speak briefly of his Famous Actions This is manifest That he wholly subdued the Forces of the Saxons and restored Peace to Britain And when he went over to settle Things in Lesser Britain in France he Trusted the Kingdom to Modredus his Kinsman who was to manage the Government as King till his Return I have no certainty of the Exploits he performed in Gaul As to what Geofry of Monmouth attributes to him there it hath no shadow much less likelyhood of Truth in it so that I pass them by as impudently forged and as causelesly believed But to return to the Matter Whilst Arthur was absent and intent on setling the Gallick Affairs there were sown the Seeds of a War most pernicious to Britain There was a certain Man in Arthurs Retinue named Constantine the Son of Cadoris who for the excellent Endowments both of his Body and Mind was highly in all Mens Favour He did secretly aim at the Kingdom and to make the People his Own Whereupon the Nobles at a convenient time when the King was free from business cast in Words concerning his Successor beseeching him to add this also to the other innumerable Blessings he had procured for his Country that if he died Childless he would not leave Britain destitute of a King especially when so great Wars were like to be waged against them Hereupon when some named Modredus as nearest of Kin and already accustomed to the Government both in Peace and War and One too who had given good Proof of himself in his Viceroy-Ship who also was likely to make no small Accession to the British Affairs These things being spoken the Multitude who favoured Constantine cryed out That they would not have a Stranger to be their King and that Britain was not so devoid of Men but that it would afford a King within its own Territories They added also That it was a Foolish thing to seek for that abroad which they might have at home Arthur knew before the Love of the People to Constantine and therefore though being a Man otherwise Ambitious yet he easily took part with the People and from that day shewed him openly and cherished in him the hopes of the Kingdom Modredus his Friends took this ill and looked upon it as a great wrong to him they alleged That by the League made by Arthur with Lothus
Kennethus wasted Lothian and the adjacent Country together with Those beyond the Forth that they might never be able again to recover themselves The Garisons for fear surrendred themselves Those few Picts who were left alive fled into England in an indigent and necessitous Condition The Sixth BOOK AS I formerly called Fergusius the First and after him Fergusius the Second with great reason the Founders of the Scotish Kingdom so I may justly reckon Kennethus the Son of Alpinus a Third Founder also Fergus the First from a mean beginning advanced the Affairs of the Scots to such an height as that they were Envy'd by their Neighbours Fergus the Second when they were banished and dispersed into remote Countrys and in the Judgment of their Enemies almost extirpated did as it were recal them to Life and in a few years reduced them to their Ancient Splendor But Kennethus was so Couragious as to accept of the Kingdom when Matters were almost desperate yea when others thought that the small remainder of Scots could hardly have been defended or kept together and not only so but he brake the power of the Enemy tho' assisted with Foreign aid and Triumphant also for his late Victory in many sharp yet prosperous Fights and being thus weakned he drave him out of Britanny and took from him the Kingly Name which to this day he could never recover again Tho' these were Great Atchievements yet they were not the Greatest he performed For as he enlarged his Kingdom to double of what it was before so he Governed it both by making New Laws and also by reviving the Old ones That neither Licentiousness arising from War nor Pride the product of Victory nor any footsteps of those Evils which are wont to accompany Luxury and Ease did appear during his Life Yea the Affairs of Scotland seem'd to be supported for many Years after by the Laws called by Posterity the Macalpin Laws as much as by Arms. But to let pass these things I shall proceed to relate his Noble Acts as I have begun Kennethus having driven out the Picts distributed their Lands amongst his Soldiers according to every ones Valour and Merit whose Ambition put New Names on many Places and Countrys cancelling and obliterating the Old He parted Horestia betwixt Two Brothers Aeneas and Mern one part of which in Old Scotish is yet called Aeneja they who more affect the English Speech call it Angus The other Mern The Country adjoyning from Tay to the Forth was called by the Ancients Ross i. e. Peninsule there are some signs of the Name yet remaining as Culross a Town which is as it were the Back or Hinder part of Ross and Kâ—nross which signifies the Head of Ross. Now at this day all that Country is called Fife from an Eminent Person called Fifus whose Sirname they say was Duffus Barodunum a Town in Lothian or as some call it Dâ—nbar was so called as it is thought from a Great Man named Bar. Lothian had its name not long ago from Lothus King of the Picts Cuningham is wholly a Danish Word used as I think by the Danes after the Death of Kennethus who possessed that Country for some years having driven the Scots beyond the Wall of Severus for Cuningham signifys in the Danish Language the Kings House or Palace 'T is also probable That Merch was so called by the Danes because it was the Limits between both Kingdoms As for Edinburgh either by the gross Ignorance or perverse Ill-will of some it is sometimes called Vallis Dolorosa i. e. The Dolesom Valley and sometimes Castrum Puellarum Maiden-Castle the Name in it self is not very obscure tho' it be made so by ill management They borrowed those Names from the Gallick-Fables which were devised within the space of 300 Years last past This is certain That the Ancient Scots called it Dunedinum the Later Edinburgum wherein they follow the Country Custom in imposing of Names whereas that Castle in a middle Appellation between both I think may be better named Edinum But enough in this place concerning the Old and the New Names of the Countrys of which I have spoken more largely before To return then to Kennethus Having enlarged his Kingdom as I said before and settled wholsome Laws for the Government thereof he endeavoured further to confirm his Royal Authority by mean and trivial Things even bordering upon Superstition it self There was a Marble-Stone which Simon Breccus is reported to have brought into Ireland out of Spain which Fergus the Son of Ferchard is also said to have brought over into Scotish Albion and to have placed it in Argyle This Stone Keunethus removed out of Argyle to Scone by the Rivet Tay and placed it there included in a Chair of Wood. The Kings of Scotland were wont to receive both the Name and the Habiliment of Kings sitting in that Chair till the days of Edward the First King of England of whom in his Place Kenneth Translated the Episcopal See which the Picts had placed at Abernethy to Fanum Reguli which after Ages called St. Andrews But the Ancient Scots-Bishops being chosen out of Monasteries not then contending for Place or Honour but for Sanctity and Learning did perform their Functions every where occasionally as opportunity was offered without Envy or Emulation no certain Diocesses being allotted to them in regard the Ecclesiastical Function was not yet made a matter of Gain After this sort Kennethus Reigned 20 Years In the beginning of his Fifth year he overthrew the Picts as the Black Book of Pasley hath it The other Sixteen years after he had destroyed the Government of the Picts he lived in great Tranquillity having Peace at home by reason of his just Government and Peace abroad by the Power of his Arms. He enlarged his Dominions from the Orcades to the Wall of Adrian A. C. 854. Donaldus V. The Seventieth King DONALDVS his Brother was chosen King next who quite altered the whole Publick Discipline together with his own Demeanour For whereas in the Life time of Alpinus he made a shew of Temperance and by that means had obtained the Love of the better sort When his Brother was dead as if he had been freed from all Fear and Restraint he gave himself up wholly to Pleasure And as if there had been no danger from any Enemy without he neglected all Military Study and kept almost none about him but Hunters Hawkers and Inventors of new Pleasures Upon these he spent the Publick Revenue The young Fry who were prone to Pleasures did extol the King to the Skies as a Noble and Generous Prince and scoffed at the Parsimony of former Times as Rude and Illiberal The Ancient Counsellors seeing all things likely to run to Ruin in a very short time came to the King and put him in mind of his Duty of his present Evils and Miscarriages and of the Danger imminent
noted for a Wizard detected and discovered the whole Conspiracy For the Young Girl having blabbed out a few days before some words concerning the Sickness and Death of the King being apprehended and brought to the Rack to be tortured at sight thereof presently discovered what was designed against the Life of the King Whereupon some Soldiers were sent who found the Maids Mother and some other Gossips Roasting the Kings Picture made in Wax by a soft Fire Their design was that as the Wax did leisurely melt so the King being dissolved into a Sweat should pine away by degrees and when the Wax was quite consumed then his breath failing him he should presently die when this Picture of Wax was broken and the Witches punished in the same Month the King was freed from his Disease as some say These things I deliver as I receiv'd them from our Ancestors What to think of this sort of Witchcraft I leave to the Judgment of the Reader only minding him That this story is found amongst our Ancient Archives and Records Amidst these things the fear of the King beâ—ng laid aside because they hoped he would shortly die many Robberies and Murders were committed every where Duffus having recovered his strength followed the Robbers thro' Murray Ross and Caithnes and slew many of them at occasional Onsets but he brought the Chief of them to Foress That so their Punishment might be the more conspicuous in that Town There Donaldus Governor of the Town and Castle Petitioned the King to pardon some of his Relations who were of the Plot but being denied he conceived great Indignation against the King as if he had been highly wronged whereupon he was wholly intent on Thoughts of Revenge for he judged That his deserts from the King were so great that whatever he asked of him he ought not to be denied And besides the Wife of Donald seeing some of her Kindred too were like to suffer did further inflame the already disaffected Heart of her Husband by bitter words Moreover exciting him to attempt the Kings Death affirming That seeing he was Governor of the Castle The Kings Life was in his Power and having that Power he might not only perpetrate the Fact but conceal it after it was committed Hereupon when the King tired with business was sounder asleep than ordinary and his Attendants being made Drunk by Donald were in a Dead-sleep also he sent in Assassins no man being aware and after they had Murdered the King they carried him out so cunningly a back way that not so much as a drop of Blood appeared and so he was buried two Miles from the Abby of Kinloss under a little Bridge in a blind place having Grassy-Turfs of Earth cast over him that there might be no sign of any Ground that was digg'd up This seems a more likely story to me than what others write that the course of the River was turned and so his Body was cast into a hole at Bottom but when the Waters were returned again to their own Chanel then his Grave such as it was was covered Also the Actors of that bloody Fact were sent away because there is an Opinion received from our Ancestors which as yet obtains amongst the Vulgar That blood will Issue from a dead Body many days after the party was murdered if the murderer be present as if the fact had been but newly committed The day after when the Report was spread abroad that the King was missing and that his Bed was besprinkled with blood Donald as if he had been surpriz'd at the atrocity of the Fact flys into the Kings Bed-Chamber and as if he had been mad with Anger and Revenge he slew the Officers appointed to attend him after that he presently made diligent inquiry every where if any discovery of the dead Body might be made The rest being amazed at the Fact and afraid too of their own selves returned every one to his own house Thus this Good King was wickedly slain in the Flower of his Age after he had Reigned 4 Years and 6 Months and as soon as they conveniently could the Estates Assembled to create a New King Culenus The Seventy Ninth King CVlenus the Son of Indulfus being made King by the Assembly of the Estates the next Thing there done was the questioning the Murder of King Duffus and they made the more haste to examine that Affair because of some Prodigies that had hapned of which one seemed properly to respect the very Fact An Hawk was slain truss'd by an Owl and his Throat cut by him The other Prodigy was also referred to the same thing in the interpretation of the Vulgar For six whole months after the Murder was committed extraordinary Fires appeared in the Element the Air was agitated with extraordinary Winds Yea the Heavens were so coloured and enveloped with Clouds that neither Sun nor Moon could be seen in Scotland all that time Hereupon all Men were intent to revenge the good Kings death and to that purpose Culenus went into Murray hoping to find some surer Discoveries of the Murder upon the place where it was committed Donald hearing of his coming and being conscious to himself of his Parricidal and Nofarious Cruelty of which also his over-curious and seemingly wild Inquisitiveness made in search after the Authors thereof rendred him more suspected procured a Ship at the mouth of the River Spey wherein with some others he embarked himself unknown even to his Wife and Children This he did out of fear lest the Truth should have been extorted from him by the Rack This his hasty flight his dejected Countenance as it was observed his few Attendants his trembling at his entrance into the Ship which was but casually riding there without any preparation for his Voyage did raise so great a suspicion upon him in the minds of all who were present that they forbore not to vent all manner of Contumelies against him calling him an Impious Sacrilegious Fellow and a Paricide and what other foul terms of reproach their inflamed anger could suggest They added also That though he had prevented the coming of the King yet he could never avoid the Vindictive Providence and Judgment of Almighty God In a word they followed him with all the Execrations which the highest Indignation did offer to provoked Minds even till the Ship was quite out of sight When Culenus heard of his hasty flight he speeded his march thither where he apprehended the Wife of Donaldus and his three Children and for fear of Torture compelled them to discover the whole Series of the Conspiracy as also how by whom and where the Body was buried and that she her self was not only privy to the Murder but also a fellow-actor in it and a persuader of her Husband thereunto When the People heard this for she was publickly Tried the Magistrates could hardly dissuade them from tearing her to pieces The day after Donaldus having been tossed some days
Henry was buried he stept into the Throne and the Two First Years reigned peaceably enough Whereupon growing insolent he began to neglect his Agreement made with the English and also to deal harsly with strangers After he had compelled all the English partly by Fear partly by fair Promises to take an Oath of Allegiance to him he sent Embassadors to David King of Scots to put him in mind to take the same Oath for the Counties of Cumberland Northumberland and Huntingdon which he held of him David returned Answer That he together with Stephen himself and the other Nobles of England had not long since bound themselves by an Oath to obey Maud their Lawful Queen And that he ought not nor would acknowledge any other King as long as she was alive When this Answer was brought to Stephen presently a War began The English entred upon the adjacent Scots the Scots doing as much for them The next Year an Army of Scots under the Conduct of the Earls of Merch of Menteith and of Argus entred England and met the English at the Town of Allerton whose General was the Earl of Glocester A sharp Battel was there fought with equal slaughter on both sides as long as the Army stood to it at last the English being overthrown many perished in the flight and many of the Nobility were taken Prisoners amongst whom was the Earl of Glocester himself Stephen being much concerned at this Overthrow lest the Friends and Kindred of the Captive Nobles might be alienated from him refused no Conditions of Peace The Terms were These That the English Prisoners should be released without Ransom That Stephen should quit all the Claim which as chief Lord he pretended to have over Cumberland But Stephen observed those Conditions no better than he did the Oath formerly taken to Maud his Kinswoman For before the Armies were quite Disbanded and the Prisoners Released he privately surprized some Castles in Northumberland and by driving away Bootys from the Scots Countrys renewed the War The Scots gathering a sudden Army together out of the Neighbour Countrys and despising the English whom they had overthrown in Battel the self same Year did rashly run on to the Conflict at the River Tees where they paid for their Folly in undervaluing the Enemy by receiving a great Overthrow and were also enforced to quit Northumberland David to retrieve this Loss and Ignominy gathered as great an Army as ever he could together and came to Roxburgh Thither Turstan or as William of Newberry calls him Trustinus was sent by the English to Treat concerning a Pacification and there being some hope of Agreement a Truce was made for Three Months upon Condition That Northumberland should be presently restored to the Scots But this Promise which was made by Stephen only to have the Army Disbanded was not performed so that David drove away a great Booty out of that Part of Northumberland which obeyed Stephen and Stephen gathering a great Force together pierced as far as Roxborough But understanding That the Nobility were averse and complained That they were intangled in an Unjust and Unnecessary War without performing any Memorable Exploit he retired into the heart of his Kingdom And the next Year fearing some intestine Sedition he sent his Wife Maud to David her Uncle to treat of Peace Upon her Mediation it was accorded That David from Newcastle where he commonly aboad and Stephen from Durham should send Arbitrators for composing of Matters to the Town of Chester in the street scituate in the Midway equally distant from Both Places David sent the Arch-Bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgoe Stephen the Arch-Bishops of Canterbury and York Both Parties were the more inclineable to Peace because Stephen feared War from abroad and Seditions at home and the Scots complained That they were forced to bear the shock of a War made in the behalf of another whereas Maud for whose sake it was commenced did nothing at all in it The Peace was made on These Conditions That Cumberland as by Ancient Right should be possessed by David and that Northumberland unto the River Tees as William of Newberry the Englishman writes and Huntingtonshire should be enjoyed by Henry Davids Son upon the account of his Mothers Inheritance and That he should do Homage to Stephen for the same When things were thus composed David retired into Cumberland and Stephen into Kent This Peace was made in the Year of our Lord 1139. In which Year Maud being returned into England sent her Son Henry afterward King of England to Carlisle to David his Great Uncle that he might be instructed in Feats of Arms and also be made Knight by him who without doubt was the excellentest Warrior in his time which Matter in those days was performed with a great deal of Ceremony At that time there was so great a Disturbance in England by reason of Domestique Discords That no Part of it was free from a Civil War but That which David the King of Scots held And that he alone might not plead Exemption from the publick Calamity within Three Years after his Son the only Heir in hope of so much Power and Felicity dyed in the flower of his Age leaving Three Sons and as many Daughters behind him He left so great a Love behind for him both from the Scots and English that besides the publick Loss every one lamented his own private Misfortune also at his death For so great a Sincerity and Moderation of Mind shined forth in him even in that Age wherein Youth is accustomed to wantonize That every body expected most rare and singular Fruits from his Disposition when it was ripened by Age. His Fathers Grief was also further increased by reason of the tender Age of his Nephew and the Ambition and restless Disposition of Stephen and if he dyed he was troubled at the Fierceness of Henry's Spirit then in the fervor of his Youth who being the Son of Maud was to succeed in the Kingdom When the Thoughts of so many foreseen Mischiefs did assault his diseased and feeble Mind insomuch that all Men imagined he would have sunk under them yet he bore up so stoutly that he invited some of the Prime Nobility who were solicitous for him lest he should be too much afflicted as well they might to Supper and there he entertained them with a Discourse rather like a Comforter than a Mourner He told them That no new thing had hapned to him or to his Son That he had long since Learned from the Sermons of Learned and Holy Men That the World was Governed by the Providence of Almighty God whom it was a foolish and impious thing to endeavour to resist That he was not ignorant his Son was born on no other Terms but that he must also dye and so pay that Debt to Nature which he owed even at his very Birth And when Men were always ready to pay that Debt 't was
unwilling to expose them to needless danger At this very time a Truce was made and Hopes of Peace between France and England by the Mediation of the Pope and the Neighbouring Princes on This Condition That the Allies of Both might be comprehended by Name viz The Portugals of the English side the Scots and Spanish Castilians of the French's King Robert against the Advice of his Counsel gave his single Assent thereunto but upon no solid ground for he was able to make neither Peace nor War but by the Publick Advice of the Estates neither could he promise any firm Truce without their Decree in the Case Neither could the Nobility conceal any longer that hidden Grief and Disgust which they had conceived against the French who had only done them this Courtesie the backward way that when they were to do Service against an Enemy they would strike the Weapons out of their Hands and so take away the Fruit of a former Victory and also the Hopes of a New At last after much dispute and quarrelling the French Ambassador gained this Point but with much ado That the Scots should send Ambassadors into France about the Matter that so the Hopes of a Peace so near at hand might not be hindred by their Obstinacy Robert the King lived not long after but departed this Life in his Castle called Dundonald in the Year of Christ 1390 the 13th of the Calends of May. He lived 74 Years and Reigned 19 Years and 24 Days This King managed Wars by his Deputies and usually with good Success he was present in few Battels himself which some impute to his Age others to his Cowardize but all say That he was a very Good Man and in the Arts of Peace easily comparable with the best of Kings He administred Justice diligently and impartially to all he severely punished Robberies In his Actions he was Constant in his Words Faithful He undertook the Kingdom in troublesome times yet he setled things at home appeased Discords and governed with great Equity and Justice and he got such Conquests over his Enemy that he reduced all the Castles they had but Three After his Death Tumults arose where they were least expected Alexander Earl of Buchan the youngest of the Kings Sons by Elizabeth More fell into a deadly fewd with the Bishop of Murray upon a light Occasion and when he could not come at him to kill him he wrecked his fury upon the Church of Elgin which was then one of the fairest in all Scotland and burnt it down to the Ground The same Year William Douglas Earl of Nithisdale who as I said before for his Valour was made the Kings Son in Law was slain at Dantzick on the Vistula by some Ruffians who were sent to perpetrate the Murder by Clifford of England For Douglas when Matters were quieted at home that he might not lye lazie and idle intended for the Holy War and in Borussia he gave such Proof of his Valour That he was made Admiral of the whole Fleet which was a Great and Magnificent One and withal well accommodated But a Quarrel arising between him and Clifford grounded upon Old Emulations because he gruded him that Honour he sent him a Challenge to Fight with him Hand to Hand But the Challenger perceiving into what an Hazardous Adventure he had run himself by that Challenge before the set time came caused him to be slain by hired Assassins The Tenth BOOK Robert III. The Hundred and First King ROBERT the Second was Succeeded by his Eldest Son Iohn in the Ides of August and Year of our Lord 1390. He was called Iohn till that time but then by the Decree of the Estates his Name was changed into Robert whether it were for the Misfortunes and Calamities of Two Kings called Iohns one of France the other of England Or for the Eminent Virtues and Felicity of Two Roberts both in Peace and War who lately Reigned in Scotland as Authors are silent in so I will not determine The Excellency of this Robert was That he rather wanted Vice than was Illustrious for any Virtue so that the Name of King was in him but the management of all publick Affairs rested on Robert his Brother In the Beginning of his Reign there was Peace abroad by reason of the Three Years Truce made with the English which a while after was enlarged for Four Years more But at home a Sedition was begun by Duncan or Dunach Stuart He was the Son of Alexander Earl of Buchan the Kings Brother and was every jot as feirce as his Father who upon the Death of his Grandfather imagining now that he had a fit opportunity for Rapine and Pillage got a Band of Roisters about him and descending into Angus spoiled all as if it had been an Enemies Country Walter Ogilby and Walter Lichton his Brother endeavouring to oppose him were slain with Sixty of their Followers They being lifted up with this Success did afflict the Country more grievously than ever but hearing of the approach of the Earl of Crawford whom the King had sent to restrain their Insolence the nimblest of them fled speedily to their lurking Holes of those who made not so much hast some were slain some taken and afterwards put to Death Thus the Wickedness of these Unquiet and Turbulent Men being hindred from breaking in upon the Plain and Champion Countries they fell out most grievously amongst Themselves at their own homes And especially Two Families of them did exercise great Rage and Cruelty one upon another They refused to end their Fewds by course of Law or to refer them to indifferent Arbitrators So that the King sent Two Earls to suppress them Thomas Earl of Dunbar and Iames Lindsay his Father being Dead now Earl of Crawford These Commanders considering they were to engage against a feirce and resolute People who valued not their Lives nor the Pleasure thereof so that they were not likely to subdue them by force without great Slaughter of their own Men they therefore resolved to try what they could do by Policy And thereupon they accosted the Clans of both Families a part and represented to them what danger would accru to Both by their mutual Slaughters one of another and if one Family should extirpate the other yet that was not likely to be effected without the Great Damage even of the Conquering Side and if either Party should prevail yet the Contest would not end so For then they were to engage the King's Forces tho' they were weakned before by their mutual Conflicts of whose Anger against them Both they might be justly sensible because he had sent them with Forces to destroy them Both even before they had severely and irrecoverably engaged against one another But in regard they were more desirous of their Preservation than their Ruin if they would hearken to them they would shew them a Way How they might be reconciled with
were pluckt up by the roots and new Foundations of Amity laid and thus they by joynt 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 Tenantrys as if they had remov'd their Habitations to complain of the Wrongs they had sustain'd and indeed the Sight of such a miserable Company could not be entertain'd without deep Affliction of Spirit every one making his woful moan according to his Circumstance that Robbers had despoiled Fathers of their Children Children 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 carry'd to and fix'd upon the Captains of those Thieves whose Offences were so impudent that they could in no wise be suffer'd and their Faction was so far diffus'd that no man was able to defend his Life or Fortune unless he were of their Party yea their Power was so great that the Authority of the Magistrate could afford little help to the poorer and weaker Sort against their Violence and Force Whereupon the Wiser sort of Counsellors were of Opinion That seeing their Power was insuperable by plain Force 't 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 publickly whereupon the Regent dissembling his Anger for the present persuaded the whole Assembly That it was more adviseable for them to cajole Douglas by Flatteries than to irritate him by Suspicions for he was of so great Power that he alone if he remain'd refractary was able to hinder the Execution of the Decrees of All the Estates but if he joyn'd himself with the Assembly then he might easily heal the present Mischiefs Semblable to this Advice a Decree was made that Letters of Complement in the Name of the Estates should be sent to him to put him in Mind of the Place which he held and of the great and Illustrious Merits of his Ancestors for the Advantage of their Country and withal to desire him to come to the Publick Assembly of the Estates which could not be well Celebrated 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 Publick in respect to his Noble Family which had so often well deserv'd of their Country they were ready to remit many things upon the account of his Age of the Time of himself and the great Hopes conceiv'd of him And therefore they desired he would come and undertake what part of the Publick Government he pleas'd for seeing Scotland had often been deliver'd from great Dangers by the Arms of the Douglas's they hop'd that by his Presence he would now strengthen and relieve his Country which labour'd under Intestine Evils The Young Man who by his Age and Disposition was desirous of Glory was taken with the Bait and his Friends also persuaded him for they were all blinded by their particular Hopes so that their Minds were turn'd from all Apprehension of Danger to the sole Consideration of their particular 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 Creighton where he was Magnificently entertain'd for the space of Two Days in which time the Chancellor shew'd him all imaginable Respect that he might the more easily intrap 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 Kings Dignity and of his own Duty that he should own him for his Leidge Lord whom his Birth the Laws of the Country and the Decree of the Estates had advanc'd to be King that he should transmit the great Estate which his Ancestors had got by their Blood and Valour to his Posterity in like manner as he had receiv'd it that so the Name of the Douglasses which was Illustrious for their Loyalty and Atchievements might be freed from the foul Blot of Treason yea and from all Suspicion of the same that he and his Tenants should forbear oppressing the poor Commons that he should put all Robbers out of his Train and for the future he should so addict himself to the maintenance of Justice that if he had offended heretofore it might be thought attributable to the ill Counsel of Bad Men and not to the Wickednese 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 Designs But his Followers smelt out some suspicion of Deceit by reason of the frequent Messages that past betwixt Alexander and the Regent for almost every Moment Posts ran betwixt them and besides the Chancellors Speech seem'd to some more glozing and kind than was usual for one of his Place and Dignity His Train did secretly mutter this and some freely told him That if he were resolv'd to go on yet he should send back David his Brother and according to his Fathers advice to him on his Death Bed not give up his whole Family to one stroke of Fortune But the improvident Youth was Angry with his Friends that had thus advis'd him and caus'd a Word to be given forth to all his Followers to surcease all such private Whisperings And to his Friends he made Answer That he knew well enough that 't was the common Plague of great Families to be troubled with Men who loved not to be quiet 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 Advisers to Sedition that so they might Fish the better in troubled Waters but for his part he had rather cast himself on the known Prudence of the Regent and Chancellor than give Ear to the Temerity and Madness of Seditious Persons Having spoken these Words to cut off any occasion of further advice in the Case he set Spurs to his Horse and with his Brother and a few more of his Confidents hastned to the Castle with more speed than at the rate of 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 lye on one Mans Shoulders only Douglas was kindly
received and admitted to the Kings Table but in the midst of the Feast some Armed Men beset him being Weaponless and put a Bulls Head upon him which in those Times was a Messenger and Sign of Death When the young Man saw that he was troubled and sought to arise but the Armed Men laid hold on and carry'd him to a Court near the Castle where by the loss of his Head he paid for the Intemperance of his Youth David his Brother and Malcolm Fleming whom next to his Brother he trusted most of all were also put to Death with him 'T is said that the King who was now fully entring on his being of Age wept for his Death and that the Chancellor did greatly Rebuke him for his unseasonable Tears at the Destruction of an Enemy whereas the Publick Peace was never like to be settled as long as he was alive William dying thus without Children Iames Sirnamed Crassus or the Gross from his Disposition succeeded him in the Earldom for 't was a Male-Feo as Lawyers speak the rest of his Patrimony which was very great fell to his only Sister Beatrix a very beautiful Person in her Days This Iames the Gross though he were no bad Man yet 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 substracted from this Envy by his Death which happen'd Two Years after William the Eldest of his Seven Sons Succeeded him he being Emulous of the ancient Power of the Family that he might restore it unto its Pristine Splendor resolv'd to Marry his Uncles Daughter who was the Heiress of many Countries Many of his Kindred did not approve of the Match partly because 't was an unusual and by consequence an unlawful thing and partly because by the Accession of so much Wealth he would be envy'd by the People and also formidable to the King For a Rumor was spread abroad and that not without ground that the King himself would do his utmost to hinder the Match This made William to hasten the Consummation of the Marriage even in the time when Marriages were forbidden that he might prevent the Kings endeavours to the contrary Thus having obtained great Wealth he grew insolent and envy follow'd his Insolence in regard Troops of Robbers did swarm every where whose Captains were thought to be no Strangers to Douglas his Design Amongst them there was one George Gorm of Athole who pillag'd all the Country about him and set upon William Ruthven Sheriff of Perth because he was leading a Thief of Athole to the Gallows and fought with him as it were in a set Battel At last Gorm the Captain and 30 of his Followers were slain and the rest sled to the Mountains This Bustling Fight was in the year of Christ 1443. A few days after the Castle of Dunbarton impregnable by Force was twice taken in a little time Robert Semple was Commander of the Lower Castle and Patrick Galbreth of the Higher and their Government was so divided that each had a peculiar entrance 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 seiz'd upon him and commanded him to remove his Goods The day after Patrick entred with four Companions attending him without Arms to fetch out his Goods where first he light upon the Porter alone and then catching up Arms drave him and the rest out of the Upper Castle and thus sending for Aid out of the Neighbouring Town he beat them out of the Lower Castle also and so reduc'd the whole Fort into his own hands About that time there were very many Murders committed upon the inferior Sort which were partly perpetrated by the Douglassians and partly charg'd upon them by their Enemies The King was now of Age and manag'd the Government himself so that Douglas being unable to stand against the Envy of the Nobles and the Complaints of the Commons too resolves to become a New Man to satisfie the People and by all means possible to atone the Heart of the King which was alienated from him and in order thereunto he came with a great Train to Sterlin And when he had Intelligence by some Courtiers whom he had greas'd in the Fist and made his Own that the Kings Anger was appeas'd towards him then and not before he came into his Presence and threw down his Life and Fortune and all his Concerns at his Feet and to his Dispose he partly excused the Crimes of his former Life and paâ—â—ly because That seemed the readier way to Reconciliation he ingenuously confest 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 were pleas'd to receive Satisfaction from him by his Services and Obsequiousness he would do his utmost endeavour for the future that no Man should be more Loyal and observant of his Duty than himself and that in restraining and punishing 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 oppâ—â—â—sing the Poor but by defending the Commons of Scotland by theâ—â— Arms By this Oration of the Earls and the secret Commendation of the Courtiers the King was so chang'd that he forgave him all the Crimes of his former Life and received him into the Number of his Privadoes and communicated all his secret Designs to him And indeed the Earl in a very little time had so obliged the King to him by his Obsequious Carriage and had won so much on his Ministers by his Liberality yea had so ingratiated himself into all Men by his modest and courteous Condescension that the ordinary sort of People conceiv'd great Hope of his gentle and pliable Deportment but the Wiser were somewhat afraid whither so sudden a change of Manners would tend And especially Alexander Levingston and William Creighton imagining that all his Counsels would tend to their Destruction having laid down their publick Offices in the Government went away severally Alexander to his own Estate and William into the Castle of Edinburgh there to watch and observe where the Simulation of Douglas would terminate and end Neither did their preconceiv'd Opinion deceive such Wise Men as they were For Douglas having gotten the King alone and destitute of graver Counsel and who was somewhat unwary too by reason of the Greenness of his years thought now that he had a fit Opportunity to revenge the Deaths of his Kinsmen and so easily persuaded the King to send for William Creighton and Alexander Levingston with his two Sons Alexander and Iames to
with his Army if he did they threatned to Excommunicate him with Bell Book and Candle For the Pope said they is wholly intent upon a War against the Common Enemy of Christendom and so would have the differences compos'd all over Europe that they might be free for that War and that they were sent before to give him Notice hereof but there was a more Solemn Embassy which would shortly arrive and which they believ'd was already come as far as France to decide the Civil Discords of England and to give satisfaction to the Scots for the Wrongs they had sustain'd 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 setled to his Mind Obey'd the Legate and Disbanded his Army He had scarce dismist it but he was advis'd from England that this suppos'd Embassador was a Cheat so that he gather'd again some Forces and because he could not joyn the Duke of York that he might keep off some of the King's Force from him and also revenge his own Wrongs he march'd directly to Roxborough the Town he took and destroy'd it at his first coming but whilst he was laying Siege to the Castle Embassadors came from York and his Associats informing him that their King was overcome and the War ended in England 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 Courtesie but at present they desir'd him to raise the Siege and draw off from the Castle and likewise to forbear any other Act of Hostility against England For otherwise they should be laden with great Envy amongst the People who could hardly be contain'd or satisfy'd but that an Army must presently march against the Scots Iames congratulated their Victory but ask'd the Embassadors Whether the Duke of York and his Allies had given them nothing in Command concerning restoring the Places promis'd He Answer'd Nothing Then said he before your last Embassy came to me I was determin'd to pull down that Castle which is built upon my Land neither since that time am I so much obliged by the Courtesies of that Faction as to give over an Enterprize which is begun and almost finisht As for the Threatnings made either by the People or by Them let them look to it goe you and tell them that I will not be remov'd hence by Words but Blows Thus the Embassadors were dismist without their Errand and whilst he did press upon the Besieg'd by all the hardships of War Donald the Islander came into his Camp with a great Band of his Country-men He to obtain the easier Pardon for his past Offences and fully to Atone and Reconcile the King promis'd him that if he would march forward into the Enemies Countries as long as he was there he would march a Mile before his Army and endure the sharpest and first of all Brunts and Hazards But he was Commanded to be near the King yet some of his Troops was sent out to prey upon the Country It happen'd 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 to continue the Siege tho' a strong Defence was made by Those within So that whereas before it was a Blockade only a well-laid and close Siege was now made when he had Soldiers enough some presently succeeded in the Places of others insomuch that the Garison Soldiers of whom many were Slain many Wounded 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 us'd and were very terrible And whilst the King was busie about one of them to press on the work the Fire catcht within it and with its force drove out a wooden Wedg or Plug which immediately fell'd the King to the Earth and slew him without hurting any body else Those Courtiers who stood next him tho' they were terrify'd at this sudden Accident yet they cover'd his Body left if his Death were divulg'd the Common Soldiers should run away The Queen who that very Day came to the Camp did not give up her Mind to Womanish Lamentations bur call'd the Nobles together and exhorted them to be of good Courage and that so many valiant Men should not be so dismayed at the Loss of One as counting it dishonourable to desert a Business that was almost ended She told them She her Self would speedily bring them another King in the place of him that was slain in the mean time they should press with might and main upon the Enemy lest he might grow more resolute upon News of their Generals Death and so imagin that all the Courage of so many valiant Men was extinguisht in in the Fate of one Person only The Officers were asham'd to be exceeded in Courage by a Woman Whereupon they assaulted the Castle with such Violence that neither Party was sensible that the King was lost In the mean time Iames the King's Son being about 7 Years of Age was brought into the Camp and Saluted King And 't was not long after before the English being tired out with Watching and continued Service surrendred up the Castle to the new King upon Condition to march away with Bag and Baggage The Castle that it might be the Occasion of no new War was levell'd to the Ground This End had Iames the 2d in the Year of Christ 1460. a few Days before the Autumnal Equinox in the 29 th Year of his Age and the 23d of his Reign he had been exercis'd always even from his Youth with Domestick or Foreign Wars he bore Both Estates of Life the Prosperous and Adverse with great Moderation of Mind he shew'd such Valour against his Enemies and such Clemency to those that submitted themselves that All Estates were much afflicted for his Loss and his Death was the more lamented because 't was sudden and that in the Flower of of his Youth too after he had escap'd so many Dangers and when the Expectation of his Virtues was at the highest And he was the more miss'd because his Son was yet immature for the Government whilst Men consider'd what Miseries they had suffer'd for the last 20 Years the Ashes of which Fire were hardly yet rak'd up so that from a reflective Remembrance of what was Past they seemed to Divine the Estate of future Things The Twelfth BOOK James 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 happen'd at other times his Son Iames a Child
that impregnable Castle and so waited for a change of Affairs which they did not doubt but shortly would 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 Iames last King of Scotland begot by the Earl of Angus upon the Sister of Henry King of England a Lady in the Flower of her Age of great Comeliness and Beauty In the mean time the Queen-Dowager received into her Protection That Scotish Faction which by the Departure of Lennox was left without an Head and which did obstinately refuse to come under the Power of Hamilton whose Levity they knew before and now feared his Cruelty for she was afraid that they might be inrag'd in such an hurry of Things and so desperately ingage in some new Commotion The Hamiltons were glad at the departure of so potent an Enemy but yet not satisfied with the Punishments already inflicted they used their Prosperity very intemperately For in the next Convention held at Linlithgo 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 Domestick Seditions The English entred Scotland and committed great Spoil and Desolation on Iedburgh 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 Garison and so departed And the Garison-Souldiers made great havock in all the adjacent parts partly out of a greediness for Plunder and partly that the Country thereabouts might not afford Provisions to the Enemy when they besieged them Hereupon they who ruled the Roast in Scotland the Queen-Dowager Cardinal and Regent by the advice of the Council sent forth a Proclamation That the Nobles and the most discreet and ablest of the Commons should come in armed with eight Days Provision to march whither the Regent led them In a short time about 8000 met together and in a very sharp Winter too who having battered the Tower of the Church of Coldingham with their great Guns stood in their Arms all that Day and Night to the great wearying of Horse and Man The Day after the Regent either out of Tenderness and Inability to indure Military Toil or fearing the Invasion of the Enemy for he was informed from Berwick a Neighbour-Town that the English were upon their March unknown to his Nobles and with but a few in Company mounted on Horse back and with full speed fled back to Dunbar They who endeavour to excuse the baseness of this Flight say that he was afraid lest his Army out of Hate preconceived on many former Accounts would have given him up to the English His Departure made a great Disturbance in the whole Army and the rather because the Cause of his Flight was unknown and therefore many thought that 't was the more considerable and that they had greater Reason to fear Hereupon some were obstinately resolved to run home the nearest way they could and leave their Guns behind them Others who would seem a little more provident and stout were for overcharging them that so they might break in pieces at a Discharge and become 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 Entreaty 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 a noble Death than to enjoy my Life tho opulent and secure after the admission of so foul a Fact You my Friends and Fellow-Soldiers consider what you will do as for me I will bring back these Guns or else I will never return back hence alive my Honour and my Life shall go together This Speech affected some Few whose Honour was dearer to them than their Lives but the rest was so disheartened by the shameful Flight of the Regent that they broke their Ranks and went every one scatteringly home Douglas sent the Guns before and he with his Party followed in good Order in the Rear and tho he was prest 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 abundance of the Scots and raised up the English to an intolerable height as drawing the Cowardise of the Regent to Their Praise And therefore Ralph Evers and Brian Laiton two brave English Cavaleers overran all Merce Teviot and Lauderdale without any Resistance and made the Inhabitants of those Countries submit themselves and if any were refractory they wasted their Lands and made their Habitations desolate yea the undisturbed course of their Victories made them so resolute and insolent that they propounded the Bay of Forth to be the Boundary of their Conquest And with this hope they went to London and crav'd a Reward from Henry for their good Service Their Petition was referred to the Council and in debate thereof Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk who had made many Expeditions against the Scots and had done them much Mischief understanding that in that troublesom Posture of Affairs in Scotland 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 knowing the constancy of the Scots in maintaining their Country and their Resolution in recovering it when lost upon these Considerations 't 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 therein were inured to the English Government This Gift they willingly receiv'd and the King as willingly gave upon which their vain boasting being as vainly requited they return'd joyfully to the Borders having obtain'd 3000 Souldiers in pay besides the Borderers who are wont to serve without any Military Stipend Their return mightily disturb'd all the Borderers because they had no hopes of any help from the Regent in regard he was influenc'd in all his Counsels by a Priest especially by the Cardinal Hereupon Archibald Earl of Angus being much affected with the Publick disgrace and also concerned upon the Account of his own private Losses for he had large and fruitful Possessions in Merch and Teviotdale sent to the Regent to prevent it The Regent deplor'd his own solitude and complain'd how he was deserted by the Nobility Douglas told him it was his own not the Nobilities fault for they were willing to spend their
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 Commandments how miserably was he punished Compare the Success of your Affairs from the beginning to this very day with his Prosperities and unless you alter the course of your Designs expect no happy Issue nay rather a worse end than he For he did design the same Projects which you now act and that to gratify some base Varlets who can neither hide their open Wickednesses nor do not so much as indeavour to dissemble them The Regent was affected at the advice of his Friend and writ back an Answer to the Cardinal that he should not precipitate the Process but let the whole matter alone till he came himself for he was not willing to consent to the Condemnation of the Man till he had more diligently enquired into his Cause and if the Cardinal did otherwise the Man's Blood should light on his Head for he testify'd by these Letters that he himself was free therefrom The Cardinal was unexpectedly surprized with this Answer he knew wâ—ll enough that if Delays were made in the Case the Prisoner would be deliver'd as being a popular Man and besides he would not suffer the thing to be brought under a Debate partly because the Man having been already condemned by the Ecclesiasticks he would have no Recognition made so that he was ragingly angry and persisted in the Resolution he had taken and his Reply was That he did not write to the Regent as if he had not sufficient Authority independently without him but for a specious pretence to the Vulgar that his Name might be to the Condemnation Hereupon George was brought out of Prison and Iohn Windram 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. 13. which says That the Good Seed is the Word of God but the Evil Seed is Heresy In his Discourse defining Heresy he said It was a false Opinion evidently repugnant to the Holy Scriptures and maintained with Obstinacy and that 't was occasioned and also supported and fostered by the Ignorance of the Pastors of the Church who did not know how either to convince Hereticks 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 made an end 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 hale 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 Iohn Lauder a Popish Priest mounted and the rest stood all about him as 't were to judg but there was not the least appearance of a Judgment or of a free Disputation in the Case For the Accuser thundred out many odious and abominable Slanders such as are wont to be commonly forg'd against the Preachers of the purest Doctrine with great Acerbity of Words and thus having spent some hours George was brought back again to the Castle and lodg'd in the Governour '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 any mind to discourse them but if they had a mind to gratify him in the thing then he desired to confer with that learned Man which preach'd yesterday Whereupon the Bishops gave him leave to go to the Castle and George had a long Discourse with Windram who after he had ceas'd weeping which for a while he could not refrain very friendly demanded of him whether 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 return'd to the Bishops and told them that George did solemnly profess that he was innocent of the Crime of which he was accused which he spake not to deprecate his Death now at hand but only to testify his Innocency before Men as 't was before sufficiently known to God The Cardinal was much inraged Ay says he we know well enough what you are Being further demanded whether he would admit him to receive the Sacrament he talk'd a little with the Bishops and with their Consent made Answer That 't was not fit that a stubborn Heretick condemn'd by the Church should enjoy any Benefits of the Church That Answer was return'd to him and about nine of the Clock the Friends and Officers of 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 in former times because I perceive that you are good Men and Fellow-members with me of the same Body of Christ and because I know that this is the last Meal I shall eat on Earth And for you speaking to the Governor of the Castle I desire you in the Name of God and for that Love which you bear to our Lord and Saviour Iesus Christ that you 'l 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 Farewel 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 above all he exhorted them to lay aside Anger Envy and Malice and to have mutual Love impress'd 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 brake the Bread and gave to every one a 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 prepared for him for no other reason but his preaching the Gospel and then having again given Thanks he returned to
above 300 Men maintaining themselves in their Posts When Murray came thither he stood with his Party in Order and Rank on a small Hill where he overlook'd all the Marish the rest as they were advancing towards the Enemy gave evident Tokens of Treachery putting Boughs of Heath on their Helmets 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 Flight that they might more nimbly pursue them they cast away their Lances and with their drawn Swords to terrify those Ranks that stood they cried out Treason Treason and made with great Violence at 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 remain'd but to dye 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 Party though but small standing in a terrible manner with their Pikes forward they who were making towards them dispersedly and out of order and could not come to handy-strokes by reason of the length of their Spears being struck with a sudden Terror fled as swiftly as they had pursu'd before The Revolters perceiving this change of Fortune press'd upon them in their Flight and as if willing to expiate their former Fault what Slaughter was made that Day 't was They that did it There were 120 of the Huntleans slain and 100 taken Prisoners of the other Army not a Man was lost Amongst the Prisoners was Huntly himself and his two Sons Iohn and Adam the Father being an old Man corpulent and pussy dyed under the Hands of those that took him The rest late at Night were brought to Aberdeen Murray had appointed a Minister of the Gospel 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 the Court where though many did highly congratulate him yet the Queen gave no Sign of Joy at all either in Speech or Countenance A few days after Iohn Gordon was put to Death not without the Trouble of many for he was a manly Youth very beautiful and entring on the prime of his Age not so much designed for the Royal Bed as deceived by the Pretence thereof and that which moved no less Indignation than Pity was that he was beheaded by an unskilful Headsman 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 Passion and the rather because many knew that her Brother was as much hated by her as Huntly She pardoned Adam because he was but young George the eldest Son in this desperate case fled from his House to his Father-in-Law Iames Hamilton there to shelter himself or else by his Mediation to obtain his Pardon As for Gordon's Followers according to the Degrees of their Offences some were fined others banish'd the Land many sent packing into remote parts of the Kingdom that they might make no more Commotions at home Those who lighted upon powerful Intercessors were remitted their Offence 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 26 th day of November Bothwel who had escap'd out of Prison was by a Proclamation commanded to render himself again and in Default thereof he not obeying was declared a publick Enemy When the Queen was returned from Aberdene to St. Iohnston's Iames Hamilton came to her to beg Pardon for George Gordon his Son-in-Law he received an Answer not wholly severe yet was forced to deliver up his Son-in-Law who was sent Prisoner to Dunbar and the next Year after which was 1563 on the 7 th of the Calends of February was brought to Edinburgh there condemned for Treason and sent back to Dunbar 'T was about this time that there came forth a Proclamation under a pecuniary Mulct That no Flesh should be eaten in Lent The pretence was not any thing of Religion but civil Advantage only The Arch-bishop 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 Others guilty of the same Fault were punish'd but slightly yet were threatned to be more severely treated if they offended in the like sort again Now the time of the Parliament drew near which was summon'd to be held the 20 th day of May where the Queen with the Crown on her Head and her Royal Robes went in great Pomp to the Parliament-house a new Spectacle to many but that Men had been accustom'd to bear the Government of Women in her Mother's and Grandmother's Days In that Assembly some Statutes were made in Favour of the Reformed and some Coyners were punish'd the rest of the Summer the Queen spent in Athol in the Sport of Hunting At the end of Autumn Matthew Stuart Earl of Lennox by the Queen's Leave returned to Scotland having been unworthily deserted by the King of France the 22 d Year after his Departure as I said before And the next Year which was 1564 in the Month of Ianuary at a Convention of the Estates held almost on purpose for that very thing his Banishment was remitted and his Goods restored the Queen seconding that Remission with many favourable Words and repeating the many great Services the Earl had done her in her very Infancy she having been delivered out of her Enemies Hand and advanced to her Throne by his Means Afterwards Henry his Son came out of England into Scotland on the 12 th of February having there obtained a Convoy for three Months This Young Man being of an high Linage and very beautiful the Son of her Aunt the Queen of Scots received very courteously and delighting daily in his Society the common Speech was That she would marry him neither was the Nobility against it because they saw many advantages might redound to Britain by that Marriage if it might be made by the Queen of England's Consent Both of them were in an equal Degree of Consanguinity from her and she was so far from being against it that she was willing rather to seem the Author of it and so to lay some Obligation upon her in making the Match besides she thought it for her Advantage to humble
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 Fury suggested to her calling him a Perfidious Traitor and ask'd him How he durst be so bold as to speak to her sitting whereas she her self stood he excus'd it as not done out of Pride but Weakness of Body but advis'd her That in managing the Affairs of the Kingdom she would rather consult the Nobility who had a Concern in the Publick than vagrant Rascals who could give no Pledg for their Faithfulness and who had nothing to lose either in Estate or Credit neither was the Fact then committed without a Precedent That Scotland was a Kingdom bounded by Laws and was never wont to be govern'd by the Will and Pleasure of one Man but by the Rule of the Law and the Consent 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 degenerated from their Ancestors as to bear not only the Government but even the Servitude of a Stranger who was scarce worthy to be their Slave The Queen was more inraged at this Speech than before Whereupon they departed having plac'd Guards in all convenient Places that no Tumult might arise In the mean time the News was carried all over the Town and as every ones Disposition was right or wrong they took Arms and went to the Palace There the King shewed 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 tumultuous Assembly What was 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 return'd from England offer'd themselves to the Trial in the Town-hall being ready to plead their Cause for That was the day appointed but no body appearing against them they there openly protested That it was not their Fault for they were ready to submit to a Legal Trial and so every one return'd 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 commit her self to the Nobles Hereupon the Guards were slackn'd though many thought this her Clemency did presage no Good to the Publick for she gathered together the Souldiers of her old Guard and went through a back Gate by Night with George Seton who attended with 200 Horse first to his Castle then to Dunbar she carried also the King along with her who for fear of his Life was forc'd to obey There she gathered a Force together and pretending a Reconcilement to those who were lately returned from Banishment she turn'd her Fury upon the Murderers of David but they yeilding to the time shifted for themselves and so having settled Matters she return'd to her old Disposition First of all she caus'd David's Body which was buried before the Door of a Neighbour-Church to be removed in the Night and to be plac'd in the Sepulchre of the late King and his Children Which gave occasion to illfavour'd Reports being amongst a few others a bad thing for what greater Confession of Adultery with him could she well make than as far as she was able to equal such an obscure Fellow who was neither liberally brought up nor had deserved well of the Publick in his last Funerals with her Father and Brothers and to increase the Indignity of the thing she put the Varlet almost into the Arms of Magdalene Vallois late Queen As for her Husband she threatned him and obliquely in her Discourses scoff'd at him doing her Endeavour 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 Murderers many of the Accus'd were banish'd some to one place some to another some were fin'd some but the most innocent and therefore secure put to Death for the prime Contrivers of the Fact were fled some to England others to the High-lands Those who were but the least suspected to have an hand in it had their Offices and Employments taken from them and bestow'd upon their Enemies And a Proclamation was made by an Herald in such a publick Sorrow not without Laughter That no Man should say The King was a Partaker in or so much as privy to David's Slaughter This Commotion being a little settled after the 15 th of April the Earl of Argyle and Murray were receiv'd into Favour and she her self drawing near the time of her Delivery retired into Edinburgh Castle and on the 19 th day of Iune a little after nine a Clock at Night was brought to Bed of a Son afterwards called Iames the Sixth The Eighteenth BOOK THE Queen after her Delivery receiv'd all other Visitants with Kindness enough suitable to the occasion of a publick Joy but when her Husband came she and her Attendants did so comport themselves both in Speech and Countenance as if they were afraid of nothing more than that he should not understand that his Presence was disdainful and his Company unacceptable to them all but on the contrary Bothwel alone was the Man he managed all Affairs The Queen was so inclined to him that she would have it understood no Suit would be obtained from her but by his Mediation And as if she were 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 intended she went aboard a small Vessel prepared there for her William and Edmond Blacater Edward Robertson and Thomas Dickson all Bothwels Creatures and Pirates of known Rapacity had fitted the Ship before with this Guard of Robbers to the great Admiration of all good Men she ventur'd to Sea taking none of her honest Servants along with her She landed at Alloway a Castle of the Earl of Marrs where she so demeaned her self for some time as if she had forgot not only the Dignity of a Queen but even the Modesty of a Matron The King when he heard of the Queen 's sudden Departure followed her as fast as he could by Land his Design and Hopes were to be with her and to injoy mutual Society as Man and Wife but He as an importunate Disturber of her Pleasures was bid go back whence he came and had hardly time allow'd him for his Servants to refresh themselves A few days after the Queen return'd to Edinburgh and because it seems she would avoid the Croud of People she went not to her own Palace but to the House of a private Man in the Vicinage From thence she
by the Legal Way of the Country for that would occasion some though not much Delay But these Interposals were over-ruled it being alleged That there was no need of any new Process in the Arch-Bishops case for it had been already judg'd in the Parliament Wherefore he being plainly convicted as guilty of the King's Murder and of the last Regents also was hang'd at Sterlin There was then new Evidence brought in against him for the greatest Part thereof had been discovered but lately The Arch-Bishop of St. Andrews who lodg'd in the next House when the Proposition of killing the King was made to him willingly undertook it both by Reason of old Feuds between their Families and also an Hope thereby to bring the Kingdom nearer to his Family whereupon he chuses out six or eight of the most flagitious of his Vassals and commended the Matter to them giving them the Keyes of the King's Lodgings they then enter very silently into his Chamber and strangle him when he was asleep and when they had so done they carried out his Body through a little Gate of which I spake before into an Orchard adjoining to the Walls and then a Sign was given to blow up the House The Discovery of this Wickedness was made by Iohn Hamilton who was a chief Actor therein 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 reach'd to his Body too That also was miserably pained and consumed by degrees endeavouring all ways to ease himself at last he remembred That there was a School-Master at Pasley no bad Man who was yet a Papist to him he confesses the whole Plot 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 expiable by such slight Remedies within a few days he was overwhelmed with Grief and died The Priest was not so silent in the thing but that some inkling 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 Dunbarton was taken and the Bishop brought to Sterlin caused the Priest to be sent for thither He then justified what he had spoken before about the King's Murder whereupon being ask'd by Hamilton How he came to know it Whether 't were revealed to him in 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 Mass the third time and as the Law appointed was led out to suffer then also he publickly declared all that he had before affirm'd in the thing in plainer and fuller words which were so openly divulged that now Hamilton's Vassals fell out amongst themselves and one of them charged another with the King's Death In the mean while the Rebels had procured some small matter of Mony from France by means of the Brother of him who commanded Edinburgh-Castle And moreover Morton was returned from his English Embassy and in a Convention of the Nobles held at Sterlin declar'd the Effect thereof in these Words When we came to London February 20. we were put over to a Council chosen out for that purpose who after much Dispute betwixt us at last insisted upon two Points First That we would produce the clearest and best Arguments we had to evidence the Justness of those Actions which had pass'd in Scotland both formerly and now that so the Queen might be satisfied in the Equity of them and thereby know how to answer those who demanded a Reason for them If we could not do That yet the Queen would omit nothing which might conduce to our Safety In Answer to which we gave in a Memorial to Them to this effect The Crimes wherewith at first our King's Mother alleged that she was falsly charged with have been so clearly prov'd by the Earl of Murray and his Associates in that Embassy That both the Queen her self and those who were delegated by her to hear 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 therein sufficiently satisfied already we think it not necessary and besides we our selves are unwillingly drawn into the Task of repeating the Memory of so great a Wickedness But they who cannot deny that this Fact was cruelly and flagitiously perpetrated yet do calumniate the Resignation of the Kingdom and the Translation of the Government from the Mother to the Son to be a new and grievous thing extorted from her by mere Force First as for the Matter of Fact in punishing our Princes the old Custom of our Ancestors will not suffer it to be called new neither can the Moderateness of the Punishment make it invidious 'T is not needful for us to reckon up the many Kings whom our Forefathers have chastis'd by Imprisonment Banishment yea Death it self much less 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 they might take away the Government by the same Suffrages that gave it The Footsteps of this Law remain to this very Day for in the circumjacent Islands and in many Places of the Continent too which have retained the ancient Speech and Customs of our Fore-fathers to this Day the same Course is yet observed in creating their Magistrates Moreover those Ceremonies which are used in the Inauguration of our Kings themselves have an express Representation of this Law by which it easily appears That Kingly Government is nothing else but a mutual Stipulation betwixt King and People and the same is most clearly evidenced by the inoffensive Tenor of the Old Law which 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 'T is too long to enumerate How many Kings our Ancestors have put by their Kingdoms have banish'd have imprison'd have put to Death neither is there the least mention made of the Severity of this Law or the abrogating thereof and that on good Grounds For 't is not of the Nature of such Sanctions which are subject to the Mutations of Time but in the very Original of Mankind 't was ingraven in Mens Hearts approv'd by the mutual Consent of almost all Nations and together with Nature it self was to remain inviolate and sempiternal so that these Laws are not