page 427 note * “The Earl of Northumberland had been delivered by the Earl of Mar, who was regent before Morton.”—Goodal.

page 427 note † Unlawful means.

page 427 note ‡ It was “The Gibbet Law” of Halifax, that a felon who had stolen goods within the liberty of the place should be taken to the gibbet, and have his head cut off. The execution took place on the market-day, in order to strike terror, and was performed by means of an instrument called a gibbet, which was raised upon a platform, four feet high, and thirteen feet square, faced on each side with stone, and ascended by a flight of steps. In the middle of this platform were placed two upright pieces of timber, fifteen feet high, joined at the top by a tranverse beam. Within these was a square block of wood, four feet and a half long, which moved up and down by means of grooves made for that purpose, to the lower part of which was fastened an iron axe, which weighed seven pounds and twelve ounces. The axe thus fixed was drawn up by means of a cord and pulley. At the head of the cord was a pin, fixed to the block, which kept it suspended till the moment of execution, when the culprit's head being placed on the block, the pin was withdrawn, and his head severed from his body. In passing through Halifax, the Regent Morton witnessed one of these executions. He ordered a model to be made of the gibbet, and, on his return to Scotland, had a similar in-instrument constructed, which, remaining long unused, was called “The Maiden.” The instrument is now in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries at Edinburgh.—Halifax Gibbet and Gibbet Law. By Robinson, John Ryley LL.D., Stokesley, 1871Google Scholar, 12mo.

page 428 note * George, fifth Earl of Huntly, was appointed Chancellor 20th March, 1565. He died suddenly, May, 1576.

page 428 note † The verses referred to were doubtless written by Andrew or James Melville, the eminent Presbyterian divines, both of whom composed verses—the former in Latin, the latter in his native tongue (James Melville's Autobiography, &c., Edin., 1842, 8vo., pp. xlv.—xlvii.). The slaughter of “the bonny Earl of Murray” by the Marquis of Huntly, forms the subject of two old ballads (Maidment's, “Scottish Ballads and Songs,” Edin. 1818, 8vo., vol. I., pp. 234–9Google Scholar). James, fourth Earl of Murray, was slain in his house at Dunibristle, Fifeshire, in February, 1592.

page 428 note ‡ The author errs in describing the second Marquis of Huntly as having assisted the Marquis of Montrose. Huntly, who had by Charles I. been appointed his lieutenant-general in the north, was jealous of Montrose, who held office as lieu-tenant-general of the kingdom; besides he had some private wrongs to avenge. He therefore declined to co-operate with him—a resolution which proved fatal to the king, to Montrose, and to himself. Huntly was beheaded on the 22nd March, 1649.

page 429 note * Sir John Gordon, second son of the Marquis of Huntly, was by Charles I. in 1627 created Viscount Melgum and Lord Aboyne; he perished with Gordon of Rothiemay and their six attendants in the burning of the house of Frendraught on the 18th October, 1630 The event has been commemorated in a pathetic ballad. For this composition, as well as an intelligent account of the burningof Frendraught Castle, see Maidment's, “Scottish Ballads,” Edin., 1868, 8vo., vol. i., pp. 262–271Google Scholar.

page 429 note † George, Lord Gordon, eldest son of the second Marquis of Huntly, fell at the battle of Alford on the 2nd July, 1645. He was deeply lamented by Montrose and his army. On account of having composed a few lines “on black eyes,” included in Watson's Collection, Part III., his name has obtained a place in Walpole's “Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors.”

page 429 note ‡ Angl. “enjoyed.” Lord Glammis corresponded with Theodore Beza, the colleague of Calvin, on the subject of church polity. After his death Andrew Melville bestowed on him the following epigram:—

“ Tu leo magne jaces inglorius;

ergo manebunt Qualia fata canes? qualia fata sues?”

page 430 note * John, fourth Earl of Athole, was elected Chancellor 29th March, 1577 (Privy Council Records). His father, the third earl, married as his first wife, Grizel, daughter of Sir John Rattray, of that ilk. Sir John had married Elizabeth, daughter of John, second Lord Kennedy, by whom he had, besides the daughters mentioned in the text, three sons. The eldest son predeceased him, without issue. On that event, Athole maintained his right to share in the succession proportionately with Sir John's two surviving sons. To insure his claim, he took possession of Rattray Castle, and plundered the family papers. Patrick Rattray, the lawful heir, took refuge in the Castle of Craighall. On the death of Patrick, Sylvester, the surviving brother, was unable to effect his service as heir at Perth, the county town, on account of the hostilities of Lord Athole and his friends. The service was therefore performed at Dundee (‘Douglas' Baronage,’ 276–7). The story of the slaughter of Sir John Rattray by the Earl of Athole is totally unsupported. It is evidently one of those calumnies which our author was only too prone to credit and record. Nor was the Earl poisoned through the instrumentality of the Regent Morton. He died a few days after dining with the regent at Stirling Castle. But a post mortem examination showed that he died from natural causes.—Crawfura's Officers of State, Edin., 1726, folio, p. 135Google Scholar.

page 430 note † Craig, Alexander published “Poeticall Essayes,” London, 1604Google Scholar, 4to.; and “Poetical Recreations,” Edinburgh, 1609Google Scholar, 4to. He has contributed to the “Muses Welcome,” and was also author of a volume entitled “The Amorous Songs, Sonnets, and Elegies of Mr. Alexander Craig, Scoto-Briton.,” Lond., 1606Google Scholar, 12mo. In 1605 he received a pension, which was two years afterwards ratified by an Act of the Scottish Parliament. A person of his name was Commissioner for Banff in the parliament of 1621.

page 431 note * Colin, sixth Earl of Argyle, was appointed Chancellor 16th August, 1579. He died in 1584. His son Archibald, seventh earl, was a brave officer, and was some time connected with the Spanish service. That he became papist rests on the insufficient authority of our too credulous author. The grandson of Colin, sixth earl, was the famous Marquis of Argyle who was beheaded 27th May, 1661.

page 431 note † In the more modern copies, the account of the Chancellor Arran is presented in these words:—

“James Stewart,' son to the Lord Ochiltree. His rising and advancement was by his accusation of the Earl of Morton of treason in face of the council, as being art and part of King James VI.'s father's murder, after whose execution he was exalted in credit by the king, then being seventeen years, or thereby, and made captain of his guards by the Earl of Arran, and a counsellor, so that nothing was done in state, council and session, without his special order and direction. By him Sir John Maitland had first favour with the king; and his lady, being of the house of Lovat, called him oftentimes her man Maitland; neither was there any causes called in the outer-house of the session, but by such tickets as were reached out of her hand to the lord there sitting; so that he grew so insolent thereby, that he pretended to have right to the crown, as nearest kinsman to Duke Murdo; and the king was very glad, when he publicly in the session renounced, and quit-claimed whatsomever title he could pretend to the crown, and, casting in a crown of the sun, took instrument thereof in the clerk Robert Scot's hands. His lady, being curious to know the estate of her family, advised with witches, and got this response, that her husband should be the highest head in Scotland, and she the greatest woman in it. Both which fell out contrary to their mind; for she died of the hydropsy, and a great swelling of her body; and he, after a short space, being made chancellor in 1584. as riding through Crawfordmuir, was invaded by the Lord Torthorald and his son, and there slain, his head separate from his body, and carried upon the point of a lance, in revenge of Morton's death. He had a son called Sir James, who also was Lord Ochiltree, and had little better success than his father: who albeit he lived to a great age, and had great accession to the estate by the living of Salton, concredited to him, as was averred, in trust; yet he sold the same totally for his own behoof, and defrauded the righteous heir of the same. And after he had, in imitation of his father, accused Sir Gideon Murray, then treasurer-depute, of misguiding the king's rents, which was the occasion of his death, by starving himself to death divers years thereafter; he accused also James, Duke of Hamilton, of high treason, avowing to prove that he aimed at the crown; but the Duke having greater credit with the king, found moyen that he was misbelieved, and got him sent home from London, prisoner, to the castle of Blackness, where he lived sundry years upon the king's expense, till the change of government, 1652; at which time being enlarged by the English, and falling short of means, he behoved to betake himself to be a physician (which art he had studied in prison), whereby he sustained himself and family till his death, and apparently will never have a successor, none of his lands being to the fore.”

Captain Stewart, Earl of Arran, was second son of Andrew, Lord Ochiltree, a zealous promoter of the Reformation. He was an unworthy favourite of James VI., who gave him all the power of the government; in 1584 he was constituted chancellor and lieutenant of the kingdom. In 1585 he was degraded from his honours and banished from court. In 1596 he was encountered and slain by James Douglas of Parkhead, nephew of the regent Morton, in revenge for his having caused the regent's death, by accusing him of being accessory to the murder of Darnley. (Crawford's “Officers of State”).

page 432 note * Johnston, Robert, author of “Historia Rerum Britannicarum,” &c., from 1572 to 1628, published at Amsterdam in 1655Google Scholar, and of “The History of Scotland during the minority of James VI.,” published at London in 1646Google Scholar. A MS. history of Scotland, preserved in the Advocates Library, is supposed to have been partly written by Johnston. He died about 1630.

page 433 note * Sir James Stewart, of Killeth, who succeeded as fifth Lord Ochiltree, and whose unworthy career is set forth in the text, died in 1659. He was succeeded by his grandson William, sixth Lord Ochiltree, who died unmarried in 1675, when the title became extinct. “Douglas's Peerage,” Edin., 1764, fol., pp. 523–4Google Scholar.

page 433 note † The Octavians were the eight financial advisers of James VI.; they were so called from their number.

page 433 note ‡ Chancellor Maitland was second son of Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington, the poet, and was born in 1537. He became chancellor in 1586, and was created Lord Thirlestane in 1589. He died 3rd October, 1595. The epitaph composed for him by James VI. was engraved on a marble tablet attached to his monument in the parish church of Haddington. It was as follows:—

“HAEC JACOBUS REX SEXTUS.

“Thou passenger, who spiest with gazing eyes

This sad trophy of death's triumphant dart, Consider, when this outward tomb thou sees,

How rare a man leaves here his earthly part;

His wisdom and his uprightness of heart,

His piety, his practice in our state,

His pregnant wit, well-versed in every part,

As equally not all were in debate.

Then justly hath his death brought forth, of late,

A heavy grief to prince and subjects all,

Who virtue love, and vice do truly hate,

Though vicious men be joyful at his fall;

But for himself, most happy doth he die,

Though for his prince it most unhappy be.”

page 434 note * The son of Chancellor Maitland was created Earl of Lauderdale in 1624, and in 1644 was elected president of the Estates of Parliament. He died on the 20th January, 1645, and by William Drummond of Hawthornden, the poet, was commemorated in a Latin elegy.

page 434 note † John, second Earl, and afterwards Duke of Lauderdale, was born at Lethington on the 21st May, 1616. A zealous Presbyterian, he was in 1643 appointed one of the commissioners from the Church of Scotland to the Westminster Assembly. He afterwards withdrew from the Presbyterian cause, and joined the court of Charles II. at the Hague. On the Restoration he was relieved from imprisonment in the Tower, and appointed Secretary of State for Scotland. In 1664 he sanctioned the erection of the Court of High Commission, a tribunal intended for the subversion of the Scottish Presbyterian Church. In 1674 the House of Commons petitioned the king to remove him from State employment. He died at Tunbridge Wells on the 24th August, 1682.

page 435 note * John, third Earl of Montrose, was Chancellor of the Jury at the trial of the Regent Morton. In January, 1597, he was appointed Chancellor of the kingdom: he demitted the office in 1604, when, with a pension of £2,000 Scots, he was constituted Viceroy of Scotland. In this capacity he presided in the parliament held at Perth on the 9th July, 1606, when episcopal government was thrust upon the Church. He died on the 9th November, 1608, in his sixty-first year.

John, fourth Earl of Montrose, was appointed President of the Council in July, 1626, and died on the 26th of November following.

page 435 note † Within three miles from Berwick-on-Tweed.

page 436 note * The celebrated James Graham, first Marquis of Montrose, was born in 1612. At first a zealous upholder of Presbyterianism, he supported the cause by arms; he subsequently attached himself to Charles I., by whom he was appointed Lieutenant-General of the kingdom. His fame as a military leader rests on his successes against the Covenanters in six engagements, commencing with the battle of Tippermuir, fought on the 1st September, 1644, and terminating with his victory at Kilsyth on the 15th August, 1645. He was defeated by General Leslie at Philiphaugh on the 13th September, 1643, and on an attempt to restore the authority of the exiled king, he was, on the 27th April, 1650, surprised and routed by Colonel Strachan at Invercharron, Ross-shire. Having been delivered into the hands of General Leslie, he was conveyed to Edinburgh, where he was executed on the 21st May, 1650.

page 437 note * Sir Alexander Seton, first Earl of Dunfermline, was third son of George, sixth Lord Seton, and was born about the year 1555. Being intended for the Church, he went to Rome and became a student in the College of Jesuits. The downfall of the Romish Church in Scotland induced him to abandon ecclesiastical for legal studies. Having passed advocate, he was by James VI. in 1583 appointed an Extraordinary Lord of Session; in 1593 he was elected President of the Court. After holding various other offices, he was elevated to the Chancellorship in 1604: he was created Earl of Dunfermline in 1606. In 1609 he was admitted a member of the English Privy Council. He died at his seat, Pinkie House, near Edinburgh, on the 16th June, 1622. He is commended in their histories both by Spottiswood and Calderwood, the latter asserting that he was “nae good friend to the bishops.”

page 437 note † Charles, second Earl of Dunfermline, was a zealous adherent of the Covenant, and was employed by the Estates in several important negotiations with Charles I. He supported the “Engagement” in 1648, and in the following year visited Charles II. on the Continent, returning with him to Scotland in 1650. At the Restoration he was sworn a Privy Councillor, and was appointed Lord Privy Seal in 1671. He died in 1673.

page 437 note ‡ The chancellor is celebrated as a scholar by Arthur Johnston in one of his panegyrics. He addressed an epigram to Sir John Skene on his publication of the Regiam Majestaiem.

page 438 note * Sir George Hay was second son of Peter Hay of Megginch. Born in 1572, he was educated at the Scots college of Douay under his uncle Edmund, well known as Father Hay. In 1596 he was introduced at court by his relative, Sir James Hay of Kingask, and was appointed a Gentleman of the Bedchamber. After holding a succession of offices he was at length elevated to the chancellorship on the 16th January, 1622. He was created Earl of Kinnoul by patent dated 25th May, 1633. He died at London on the 16th December, 1634, and was interred in the parish church of Kinnoul, where an elegant monument, with his statue habited in his chancellor's robes, was erected to his memory. He is commemorated by Arthur Johnston in a Latin epitaph.

page 438 note † George Hay, second Earl of Kinnoul, was a faithful adherent of Charles I.; he refused to subscribe the Solemn League and Covenant. He died on the 5th October, 1644.

page 438 note ‡ Alexander Lindsay, second Lord Spynie, fought in Germany under Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. He was appointed muster-master-general in 1626. After the battle of Tippermuir he joined the Marquis of Montrose in September, 1644; he was on the 19th of that month taken prisoner at Aberdeen by the Earl of Argyle. He died in March, 1656.

page 439 note * John Spottiswood, Archbishop of St. Andrews, was eldest son of John Spottiswood, superintendant of Lothian; he was born in 1565. Having studied at the University of Glasgow, he was in his eighteenth year ordained minister of Calder. While in England attending James VI. in 1603 he was appointed Archbishop of Glasgow. In 1606 he was summoned by the king to the celebrated conference at Hampton Court. In 1615 he was advanced to the Archbishopric of St. Andrews and the primacy. He was a sincere upholder of episcopacy, and was the means of passing the five articles in the General Assembly at Perth in 1618. He was appointed Chancellor in 1635. On the introduction of the Service-book in 1637, he gave his countenance to the project, and consequently became obnoxious. He was charged with numerous offences, and excommunicated by the Assembly of 1638. He retired to Newcastle, and being in feeble health, renounced the office of chancellor. Proceeding to London, he was seized with fever, and there died on the 24th November, 1639. His remains were interred in Westminster Abbey, where a marble monument (long since removed) was erected to his memory. It bore these lines:—

“Præsul, Senator, pene Martyr hie jacet

Quo nemo Sanctior, Gravior, Constantior,

Pro Ecclesia, pro Rege, pro Recta Fide,

Contra Sacrileges, Perduelles, Perfidos,

Stetit ad extremum usque Vitæ Spiritum,

Solitamque talium Meritorum Præmium,

Diras Rapinas Exiliumque pertulit,

Sed hac in Urna, in Ore Postremum, in Deo

Victor potitur Pace, Fama, Gloria.”

(Crawford's, “Officers of State,” p. 193Google Scholar). Archbishop Spottiswood composed a “History of the Church and State of Scotland,” a work alike creditable to his learning and impartiality.

page 440 note * The private character of the Archbishop was untainted, but he temporarily suffered from the calumnies of his ecclesiastical opponents. Of these, the most uncompromising was Andrew Melville, the famous Presbyterian divine, who, it is believed, composed the line of Latin verse which our author has been at too great pains to preserve.

page 440 note † See Postea, under “Secretaries of State.”

page 441 note * It was Anne, only daughter of the archbishop, who married Sir William St. Clair of Roslin, representative of an opulent and distinguished House. Sir John errs both in describing the gentlewoman's parentage and also the condition of her husband's estate. Roslin remained in the family of the St. Clairs till 1736.

page 441 note † Sir John Campbell, afterwards Earl of Loudoun, was eldest son of Sir James Campbell, of Lawers, of the family of Glenurchy. In 1620 he married Margaret Campbell, Baroness of Loudoun, and in consequence was styled Lord Loudoun. He was created Earl of Loudoun, in May, 1633, but owing to his opposition to Court measures, his patent was suspended for eight years. He resisted the unconstitutional attempt of Charles I. to force episcopacy on the nation in 1637; he was an active member of the General Assembly of 1638, and in 1639 he garrisoned for the Covenanters the castles of Strathaven, Douglas, and Tantallon. He was one of the commissioners who settled the pacification at Berwick. In 1640, having proceeded to London as commissioner from the Committee of the Estates, he was arrested on a charge of treason and committed to the Tower; he regained his liberty through favour of the Marquis of Hamilton. In August 1640 he held command in the Scottish army at the battle of Newbum; he presided at the opening of the Estates in the July following. During the royal visit in 1641 he was appointed chancellor, and first commissioner of the Treasury. With two others he was sent to treat with the king in Carisbrooke Castle in 1647; he at first concurred in the “engagement,” but afterwards withdrew from it. Soon after the defeat of Charles II. at Worcester, in 1651, he retired into private life. At the Restoration he was deprived of his chancellorship, and fined £12,000. He died on the 13th March, 1663. His morals have been impugned by our author only.

page 442 note * John Hamilton was in 1625 appointed Abbot of Paisley; he was preferred to the bishopric of Dunkeld in 1643, and in the same year became successively keeper of the privy seal and treasurer of the kingdom. On the assassination of Cardinal Beaton, in May, 1546, he was elevated to the primacy as Archbishop of St. Andrews. He founded the Divinity College at St. Andrews for the better educacation of the clergy, but sternly opposed and persecuted the promoters of Reformation. After his capture at Dunbarton Castle on the 1st April, 1571, he was subjected to trial as an accomplice in the murder of Darnley, but proof having failed, he was, on the ground of being previously forfeited, condemned to death by the Regent Morton. He was hanged at Stirling Bridge in his pontifical robes on the 5th April, 1571. The archbishop led a somewhat dissolute life: he openly kept a mistress, who bore him several children.—(Crawfurd's Officers of State).

page 443 note * Archbishop Hamilton was succeeded as treasurer by Gilbert, Earl of Cassilis, who held office from 1554 till his death in 1558. Being one of the Scottish Commissioners who witnessed the marriage of the youthful Queen Mary to the Dauphin, he was asked to give consent that the Dauphin should assume the Scottish crown. With the other commissioners, he refused to acquiesce in this proposal. Not long after, with two of his colleagues, he died suddenly at Dieppe, on the 28th November, 1558, and there were grave suspicions that poison had been administered.—(Crawford's Officers of State).

page 443 note † Richardson was an opulent burgess of Edinburgh, and being much reputed for his integrity, was appointed treasurer by the Queen Regent on the death of Lord Cassilis. He held the treasurership till his death in 1571.—(Crawfurd's Officers of State).

page 443 note ‡ He was eldest surviving son of the third Lord Ruthven. He took part in the murder of Rizzio, joined the association against the Earl of Bothwell in 1567, and as a commissioner, along with Lord Lindsay, announced Queen Mary's intention to renounce the government. On the 24th June, I571, he was appointed treasurer for life. Long an attached friend of the Earl of Morton, he became his bitterest enemy, and was one of those who accelerated his death. He was created Earl of Gowrie on the 23rd August, 1581. He was instigator and chief actor in the Raid of Ruthven, 23rd August, 1582, for which he received the royal pardon in December, 1583. Having conspired a second time to seize the person of the young king, he was apprehended and arraigned for high treason. He was found guilty, and condemned on the 4th May, 1584, and executed on the same day. By his wife, second daughter of Henry, Lord Methven, he had five sons and seven daughters.

page 444 note * The reality of the Gowrie conspiracy was long doubted by the Presbyterian party, who conceived that the Earl of Gowrie and his brother fell victims to the unrighteous policy which had sacrificed their father. Modern historians, including Mr. Tytler, are, however, entirely of opinion that the conspiracy was a reality, and that the king's life was, according to his relation of the event, seriously imperilled.

page 445 note * After the execution of the first Earl of Gowrie, the Earl of Montrose was preferred to the post of treasurer. He held the office about a year; he subsequently became Lord High Chancellor (see supra).

page 445 note † See supra.

page 445 note ‡ Sir Thomas Lyon was one of the chief conspirators at the Raid of Ruthven. In October 1585 he succeeded in driving the favourite Arran from the king's presence, when he obtained restoration of his estates which had been forfeited, and was constituted Lord High Treasurer for life. He demitted the treasurership on being appointed in 1596 one of the Octavians. He died 18th February, 1608.

page 446 note * Walter Stewart was son of Sir John Stewart, of Minto; he was born about the year 1568, and was, along with James VI., educated under Buchannan. He was in 1595, appointed one of the Octavians, and in the following year Lord High Treasurer. He held the office for three years. In 1606 he was raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Blantyre. He died in March, 1617, and was succeeded by James his eldest son, who was killed in a duel by Sir George Wharton, on the 8th November, 1609.—(Crawford's Officers of State).

page 446 note † On the removal of Walter Stewart from the Treasurership, the office was bestowed on Gilbert, Earl of Cassilis, who resigned it after a short period. He was succeeded by Alexander, Lord Elphinston, who demitted the office after a year. He died July, 1648, at an advanced age.

page 446 note ‡ Our author's surmise as to the speedy downfall of the House of Elphinstone has not been realized. John, 13th Baron Elphinstone, was, for his distinguished services as Governor of Bombay, raised to the British peerage 21st May, 1859. He died 19th July, 1860, when he was succeeded by his cousin, the present peer.

page 447 note * Sir George Home was third son of Alexander Home, of Manderston, Berwickshire. In early life he was introduced at court, and being a favourite of the king, he soon attained emoluments and honours. He was appointed Treasurer on the 5th September, 1601. When James succeeded to the English throne, Home followed him to London. He became Chancellor of the English Exchequer, and was created Baron Home. He was subsequently created Earl of Dunbar, in the peerage of Scotland. He zealously aided the king in his designs to overthrow Presbyterianism; and his manners being conciliatory, he endeavoured to reconcile the Presbyterian clergy to the prelatic system. An able administrator, he was frequently employed on special services. He died at Whitehall, on the 29th January, 1611. The story of his death, as related in the text, is pure fiction—one of those calumnies which our author was unhappily too prone to indulge. In the parish church of Dunbar, the Earl of Dunbar is commemorated by an elegantly sculptured marble monument of massive proportions.

page 448 note * On the death of the Earl of Dunbar, the treasurership was put into commission. It was bestowed on Sir Robert Ker, in 1613, who was the same year created Viscount Rochester. In 1614 he was appointed Lord Chamberlain, and advanced to the earldom of Somerset. The leading events in the subsequent career of this unprincipled courtier are by our author correctly related. He died at London, in July, 1645.—Crawfurd's “Officers of State.”

page 449 note * John, seventh Earl of Mar, son of the Regent Mar, was born in 1558. He was, along with James VI., educated at Stirling under Buchanan. He joined in the Raid of Ruthven, and was forfeited, but afterwards received the royal pardon. He was entrusted with the charge of Prince Henry, accompanied James VI. to London, and was sworn of the English Privy Council, and installed a Knight of the Garter. He was appointed Treasurer of Scotland on the fall of Somerset in December, 1615; he resigned office in 1630. Lord Mar died at Stirling on the 14th December, 1634.

page 449 note † The Regent Mar completed the destruction of Cambuskenneth Abbey, and with the materials erected an elegant private mansion in a conspicuous position on Stirling Rock. John Knox, it is related, remonstrated with him on the impropriety of demolishing a religious house to suit his private ends, but without changing the regent's purpose. To indicate his contempt of ecclesiastical interference, he caused these inscriptions to be engraved over the chief entrances of his mansion:—

“I pray al lvkaris on this lvging,

Vith gentil e to gif thair jvging.”

“The moir I stand on opin hitht,

My faults mair svbiect are to sitht.”

“Esspy, speik forth, and spair notcht,

Considder veil I cair notht.”

page 450 note * William, Earl of Morton, was born in 1587. He was constituted Treasurer in April, 1630, and held the office five years. A stanch adherent of Charles I., he sold his estate of Dalkeith to procure money for that monarch. On the out-break of the Civil War he retired to his estate in Orkney. He died on the 7th August, 1648, in his sixty-first year.

page 451 note * The Earl of Traquair was appointed Treasurer in 1635. When Charles I. thrust the Liturgy on the Scottish Church in 1637, he took a prominent part in executing the king's command. He afterwards subscribed the Covenant, and became High Commissioner to the General Assembly of 1639, which ratified the proceedings of the famous Assembly of the former year, abolishing episcopacy and rescinding the Articles of Perth. In 1641 he was impeached before the Scottish Parliament as “an incendiary ”; he was rescued from a capital sentence by receiving the royal pardon, but was deprived of the Treasurership. In 1648 he raised a troop of horse in connexion with “the Engagement.” Taken prisoner at the battle of Preston, he was warded in Warwick Castle, where he remained a prisoner four years. He died suddenly on the 27th March, 1659. In a note to Goodal's edition of this work, it is related that he died in extreme poverty. This writer adds, “At his burial he had no mortcloth but a black apron; nor towels, but dogs' leishes belonging to some gentlemen that were present; and the grave being two feet shorter than his body, the assistants behoved to stay till the same was enlarged and he buried.”

page 451 note † He was Treasurer from 1636 till 1641.

page 453 note * John, eleventh Lord Lindsay, and fourteenth Earl of Crawfurd, was constituted Treasurer in 1641. He joined the ”Engagement” of 1648, and in the following year was deprived of his Treasurership by the Estates. At the coronation of Charles II., at Scone, in 1650, he carried the sceptre. After the Restoration he was replaced in the Treasurership, which he resigned in favour of the Earl of Rothes, his son-in-law, in 1664. He died in 1676.

page 454 note * Sir Robert Melville was second son of the laird of Raith. Though a convert to the Reformed doctrines, he zealously upheld the cause of Queen Mary, and was on her behalf often sent as ambassador to the English Court. He was appointed Treasurer-depute and knighted in 1582. In December, 1586, he was sent to England by James VI., along with the Master of Gray, to plead with Queen Elizabeth for his mother's life. When, in 1589, James sailed for Norway to bring home his queen, he appointed Melville Vice-Chancellor of the kingdom. In 1594 he was admitted an extraordinary Lord of Session. He resigned his deputetreasurership in 1596, on the appointment of the Octavians. He was created Lord Melville of Monimail on the 30th April, 1616. He died in 1621, at the advanced age of ninety-four.

page 454 note † Robert, second Lord Melville, was twice married, but dying without issue, he was succeeded by his cousin, son of John Melville of Raith, his father's eldest brother. Our author complains that the honours were not allowed to descend in the line of conquest, in which case Sir James Melville, of Halhill, the first Lord Melville's younger brother, would have been heir. Sir John Scot married, as his second wife, Margaret Melville, daughter of the Laird of Halhill.

page 454 note ‡ Sir John Melville, of Raith, father of Sir Robert, afterwards Lord Melville, was in 1550, at the instance of Archbishop Hamilton, and his relative, George Durie, Abbot of Dunfermline, charged with conducting a treasonable correspondence in England, and after a mock trial was condemned and executed. He was a zealous promoter of the Reformation.

page 455 note * A scion of the ancient house of Arnot of that ilk, Sir John Arnot, of Berswick, Orkney, was in 1587 chosen Lord Provost of Edinburgh for four years. In 1604 he was appointed Treasurer-depute of Scotland. Beside extensive possessions in Orkney, he acquired lands in the counties of Fife, Berwick, and Midlothian (Hugo Arnot's “MS. Genealogy of the Arnots, in the Lyon Office”).

page 455 note † John Dalziel, merchant in Edinburgh, married a daughter of Sir John Arnot of Berswick. Consequent on his bankruptcy his brothers-in-law, William Arnot of Cockburnspath, and James Arnot of Granton, were obliged to sell their estates (Hugo Arnot's MS.).

page 456 note * Sir Gideon Murray was some time chamberlain to his nephew, Sir Walter Scott, of Buccleuch. In the parliament which met at Edinburgh, in October, 1612, he was member for Selkirkshire. Sir Robert Ker, on being appointed Treasurer in 1613, nominated him Treasurer-depute. In November of the same year he was admitted a Lord of Session. He died on the 28th June, 1621. By his wife, Margaret Pentland, he had two sons and a daughter, Agnes, who married Sir William Scott, of Harden, eldest son of “The Flower of Yarrow.” Sir Patrick, his elder son, was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia in 1628, and raised to the peerage as Lord Elibank in 1643 (Anderson's “Scottish Nation”).

page 457 note * Sir Archibald Napier, as gentleman of the Privy Chamber, accompanied James VI. to London in 1603. He was constituted Treasurer-depute 21st October, 1622, and a Lord of Session in the following year. In March, 1627, he was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Napier, of Merchiston, in May, 1627. On the outbreak of the Civil War he actively supported the cause of Charles I., and by the ruling party was subjected to imprisonment and heavy penalties. Liberated by his son, the master of Napier, after the battle of Kilsyth, he joined the Marquis of Montrose, and after the defeat at Philiphaugh, escaped with him into Athol. He there died in November, 1645, His son Archibald, second Lord Napier, died in Holland, in 1660.

page 457 note † Our author's estimate of Secretary Maitland is entirely borne out by the testimony of contemporary writers. Totally destitute of principle, Maitland was foremost among the many unstable statesmen of his period. An early promoter of the Reformation, he resisted the designs of the Regent, Mary of Guise, to arrest its progress, and presided in the Parliament of 1560, which abolished Papal worship. In 1562, to gratify Queen Mary, he promoted an impeachment against John Knox, which might have cost the Reformer his life. In 1566 be joined the conspiracy against Rizzio, and in the following year aided Bothwell in the murder of Damley. He now joined the confederacy against Bothwell, and concurring in the Queen's dethronement, was present in July, 1567, at the coronation of the infant James. He aided the Queen's escape from Lochleven, and thereafter took part against her at Langside. One of the commissioners who accused her at York, he privately conspired with the Duke of Norfolk to effect her restoration to the throne. Attainted by Parliament in May, 1571, he was sheltered, by Kirkaldy of Grange, in Edinburgh Castle, but on its surrender in May, 1573, he was taken prisoner by the Regent Morton. He died in prison, on the 9th June, 1573. According to Calderwood, it was reported that he took poison.

page 458 note * Our author makes this statement on the authority of Calderwood, whom, however, he misquotes, since the words attributed to the Secretary were not expressed in answer to any address or solicitation presented to him, but after a sermon on hypocrisy, preached by Mr. Craig, John Knox's colleague (Calderwood's, “History of the Kirk of Scotland.” Edinburgh, 1871, 8vo., vol. ii. p. 249Google Scholar).

page 459 note * The edition of Knox's History, published at London in 1644, and reprinted at Edinburgh in the same year, was edited by David Buchanan. It is altogether worthless, many passages being omitted, and others interpolated, including those quoted by our author.

page 459 note † After Maitland, of Lethington, Robert Pitcaim, commendator of Dunfermline, was secretary from 1572 till 1583. Sir John Maitland, of Thirlestane, was secretary in 1584, and both chancellor and secretary in 1587. Sir Richard Cockbum, of Clerkington, was secretary in 1591; he demitted in 1595.

page 459 note ‡ John Lindsay, styled “Parson of Menmuir,” from his holding the teinds of that parish, was second son of Sir David Lindsay, of Edzell, ninth Earl of Crawford; he was born in 1552. He studied law, and in 1581 was appointed a Lord of Session, when he assumed the judicial title of Lord Menmuir. In January, 1595, he was appointed one of the Octavians, or eight commissioners of exchequer. In May, 1596, he was nominated Secretary of State of life, but he resigned the office at the close of the following year. He died on the 3rd September, 1598, in his 47th year. Lord Menmuir was an able lawyer, a ripe scholar, and an accomplished statesman. His collection of letters and state papers are preserved in the Advocates Library (Lord Lindsay's “Lives of the Lindsays ”).

page 460 note * Sir David Lindsay (knighted in 1612) was devoted to literary and scientific studies, which he prosecuted at Balcarres, his family seat. In June, 1633, he was created Lord Lindsay, of Balcarres. He died in March, 1641. His eldest son, Alexander, second Lord Balcarres, was on the side of the Covenanters, present at the battles of Alford and Kilsyth. He joined the “engagement” of 1648, and afterwards vigorously supported the cause of Charles II. In 1651 he was created Earl of Balcarres, and nominated hereditary governor of Edinburgh Castle. He upheld the royal cause against Cromwell, but was defeated, and had his estates sequestrated. He afterwards proceeded to France, and attended Charles II. as Secretary of State. He died at Breda on the 30th August, 1659. The poet Cowley composed his elegy. (“Lives of the Lindsays”).

page 460 note † Sir James Elphinstone, of Innemochtie, was third son of Robert, third Lord Elphinstone. He was appointed a Lord of Session in 1586, and one of the Octavians, or Commissioners of Exchequer, in 1595. In 1596 he became Secretary of State, and in 1604 was raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Balmerino. In 1599 he drew up a letter to the Pope, Clement VIII., entreating the dignity of Cardinal for his kinsman, Chisholme1, Bishop of Vaison, and placing the document among other papers, surreptitiously procured to it the king's signature. The deceit was discovered in 1608, when Balmerino confessed his guilt. The proceedings subsequent to his confession are circumstantially related in the text. He died in his house at Balmerino in 1612.

page 462 note * John, second Lord Balmerino, was restored in 1613, his father having died under attainder. Strongly attached to Presbyterianism, he opposed the Act of 1633, imposing apparel upon churchmen. A petition to Charles I. in opposition to the measure, interlined in Balmerino's hand, was, through the treachery of his lawyer, conveyed to the Archbishop of St. Andrews, who, hastening to London, laid it before the King. Sentenced to death as a traitor, he was rescued by the Earl of Traquair, who procured the royal pardon. In 1641 Lord Balmerino was nominated President of Parliament, sworn of the Privy Council, and appointed an extraordinary Lord of Session. He died on the 28th February, 1649.

page 463 note * His lawsuits resulted in his being compelled to dispose of nearly the whole of his landed property (Anderson's “Scottish Nation”).

page 463 note † Thomas Hamilton, first Earl of Haddington, was eldest son of Sir Thomas Hamilton, of Priestfield, a Lord of Session, and grandson, not of an Edinburgh merchant, but of Thomas Hamilton, of Orchardfield, who fell at the battle of Pinkie. He passed advocate in 1587, and in 1592 became a Lord of Session, under the title of Lord Drumcairn. He was promoted as President of the Court in 1616. In 1595 he was appointed one of the Octavians, or Commissioners of Exchequer, and Lord Advocate in the same year. He was constituted Master of Metals and Minerals in 1607, and Clerk-Register in 1612. The latter office he exchanged for that of Secretary of State. He became opulent to a proverb, having acquired from first to last twenty large estates. In 1613 he was ennobled as Lord Binning and Byres, and in 1619 was elevated to the peerage as Earl of Melrose, a title which he exchanged in 1627 for the earldom of Haddington. On resigning the presidentship and the Secretaryship in 1626, he was appointed Lord Privy Seal. He occupied a stately mansion in the Cowgate of Edinburgh, and was in consequence styled by James VI. “Tam o' the Cowgate.” When James visited Scotland in 1619, he remarked to the President that people said he had gained his wealth by possessing the philosopher's stone. “Then it consists,” replied the judge, “in these two maxims—never put off till to-morrow what can be done to-day, nor trust to another's hand what your own can execute.” Lord Haddington was not more celebrated for his opulence than for his ingenuity and learning. His collection of MSS. and Charters are preserved in the Advocates Library. A portion of them has been printed, in two quarto volumes, by the Bannatyne Club, under the title, “State Papers and Miscellaneous Correspondence of Thomas, Earl of Melros.” The Earl died on the 29th May, 1637, in his 74th year (Anderson's “Scottish Nation”; Chambers's “Traditions of Edinburgh”).

page 464 note * Thomas, second Earl of Haddington, was a zealous upholder of the Covenant. When General Leslie, in 1640, proceeded to England, Lord Haddington, being colonel of a regiment, was stationed at Dunglass Castle to watch the garrison at Berwick. On the 30th August, while in the court of the castle he was reading to several gentlemen a letter from General Leslie, the gunpowder magazine exploded, and one of the side walls being blown down, his lordship, with several of his auditors, perished in the ruins. The explosion, it is believed, was the result of an accident, and was not effected by treachery, as our too credulous author has affirmed.

page 464 note † Thomas, third Earl of Haddington, married in August, 1643, Henrietta de Coligny, eldest daughter of Gaspard, Count de Coligny, a lady afterwards celebrated for her beauty and adventures. The Earl died of consumption in February, 1645, in his seventeenth year.

page 465 note * Robert Menteith, styled of Salmonet, was third son of an Edinburgh citizen, and a scion of the ancient house of Menteith. He was some time professor of philosophy in the University of Saumur. In 1630 he was ordained parish minister of Duddingston. Engaging in an illicit amour with the wife of Sir James Hamilton, of Priestfield, he fled the country, and on 7th October, 1633, was denounced rebel. He proceeded to Paris, and having joined the Romish Church, he obtained the patronage of Cardinal Richelieu. By the Cardinal de Retz he was admitted a canon of Notre-Dame. He composed a history of Great Britain in the French tongue, and other works (DrScott's, Fasti, Edin., 1866, 4to., vol. i. p. 110Google Scholar). The seduced gentlewoman, Dame Anna Hepburn, was remarkable for her personal charms (Harleian MSS., British Museum).

page 466 note * William Alexander, afterwards Earl of Stirling, was son of Alexander Alexander, of Menstry. He was born about 1580. His ancestors received the small estate of Menstry from the Earls of Argyle, who remained lords superior of the soil. With Archibald, seventh Earl of Argyle, he travelled in France, Spain, and Italy (“Argyle Papers,” p. 19.; Edin., 1834, 4to.). From his numerous accomplishments, and his skill as a poet, he attracted the notice of James VI., who, on his accession to the English throne, took him to London. He was knighted in 1614, and made Master of Requests. By a charter dated 10th September, 1621, he obtained a grant of the territory of Nova Scotia. He was authorized to divide the lands into one hundred parcels, and dispose of them, along with the title of baronet. The privilege of issuing a coin of base metal was granted him. He was appointed Secretary of State in 1626, Keeper of the signet in 1627, a Commissioner of Exchequer in 1628, and an extraordinary Judge of the Court of Session in 1631. Having been raised to the peerage, he was created Earl of Stirling in June, 1633. He died at London in February, 1640. Sir William Alexander, Sir Robert Aytoun, and William Drummond, of Hawthornden, were the first Scottish poets who composed in English verse. In 1603 Alexander made his first poetical adventure by publishing at Edinburgh his “Tragedie of Darius,” with a dedication to King James. In the following year he published at London “Aurora, containing the first fancies of the Author's youth,” a collection of love sonnets, sextains, &c., dedicated to the Countess of Argyle. In 1607 he issued his “ Monarchiche Tragedies.” His “Recreations of the Muses,” his latest poetical work, appeared in 1637. A collected edition of his “Poetical Works” is now in course of publication at Glasgow, to be completed in three elegant duodecimo volumes.

page 466 note † Sir William Alexander, the younger, landed at Port Royal in 1629, and there remained till the following year. He effected a straggling settlement, and erected a fort on the west side of the haven (Granville), nearly opposite to Goat Island. But thirty of the Scottish settlers died during the winter, and proved a considerable discouragement (Preface by David Laing, LL.D., to the Earl of Stirling's Royal Letters, p. 98). Sir William Alexander the younger, on his father's elevation to the earldom of Stirling, assumed the courtesy title of Lord Alexander and Viscount Canada. He married Lady Margaret Douglas, eldest daughter of William, first Marquis of Douglas. He pre-deceased his father, having died at London on the 18th May, 1638 (“Earl of Stirling's Register” in the Advocates Library).

page 467 note * The Earl of Stirling was father of eight sons; William, afterwards Viscount Canada; Anthony, knighted at Whitehall loth January, 1635, died 17th September, 1637; Henry, third earl, died August, 1644; John, died before 1645; Charles, Robert, died young; Ludovick, died before 1640; and James. Charles was eldest surviving son in 1645. James had a daughter baptized at Edinburgh in June, 1669 (Edinburgh Baptismal Register).

page 467 note † Archibald Acheson, of Gosport, in the county of Haddington, obtained in 1611 a large grant of lands in the county of Armagh, and in the following year additional lands in the county of Cavan. In January, 1628, he was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia. He was successively Solicitor-General, a senator of the College of Justice, and conjunct Secretary of State for Scotland. He possessed a large and elegant mansion in the Canongate of Edinburgh, which still remains, presenting over the doorway a crest representing a cock mounted on a trumpet, with the motto, Vigilantibus, and the date 1633. Over two upper windows are the letters S. A. A. and D. M. H., the initials of Sir Archibald and his wife Dame Margaret Hamilton (Chambers's “Traditions of Edinburgh”). Sir Archibald died at Letterkenny, county Donegal, Ireland, in 1634. He had two sons, Patrick, who succeeded him, and died in 1638, s. p., and George, third baronet, and owner of the Irish estates when our author composed his work. A descendant and representative of the House was landlord of Swift at Market Hill, and is celebrated by the Dean in several of his poems. The Dean styles the baronet Skinnnibonia, Lean, or Snipe, as his humour moved him. In one of his poems he thus refers to the Scottish Secretary:—

“Sir Archibald, that valorous knight,

The lord of all the fruitful plain,

Would come and listen with delight,

For he was fond of rural strain:

“Sir Archibald, whose favourite name

Shall stand for ages on record,

By Scottish bards of highest fame,

Wise Hawthornden and Stirling's lord.”

The great-grandson of the Secretary was created Earl of Gosford in 1806, and the earl's grandson was in 1847 raised to the British peerage as Baron Acheson.

page 468 note * Sir Robert Spottiswood was an eminent lawyer, and author of “The Practicks of the Law of Scotland.” He was appointed President of the Court of Session in November, 1633. On account of his strong attachment to Episcopacy, he was in 1637 obliged to retire into England. In 1645 he was appointed by Charles I. Secretary of State for Scotland.

page 469 note * Some authors call him Gilbert Hamilton, but Buchanan, who tells the story, does not mention his name; he says, only, that his posterity having attained to a high degree, gave their name to their lands. (Vide “Buch. Hist.,” lib. 8, sec. 49.) And neither the men nor the lands seem to have borne the name of Hamilton for very many years after Robert Brace's death.—Goodal.

page 469 note † This gentleman's name was James Hamilton of Cadyow, Kt.—Goodal.

page 469 note ‡ This was a league entered into by them, offensive and defensive, against all the world, to the friends and confederates of each other; and Douglas being very obnoxious for his other lawless actions, King James II., at a private interview with him in the castle of Stirling, in February, 1452, intreated him, among other things, to dissolve this league, which Douglas refusing, the king, thereat exasperated, replied, ”If you will not break it I will,” and immediately killed him.—Goodal.

page 460 note § This behaviour of the Hamiltons is by some imputed to the secret management of that wise and good prelate, Bishop Kennedy, who had allured him with the promise, not only of his remission, but of the king's favour, if he would leave Douglas's party. Others allege that Hamilton, upon Douglas delaying to fight the king's army when they offered, imputed it to cowardice, or to a design to protract the war; and, after expostulating with him, carried off his men and joined the king, and the rest followed his example, so that Douglas and the friends who adhered to him were forced to fly, and retire to England.—Goodal.

page 470 note * Buchanan says that Robert, Lord Boyd, was Chancellor, but Mr. Crawford, in his lives of the Officers of State, alleges, from apparently good reasons, that he never was Chancellor, and that Andrew Stewart, Lord Evandale, was Chancellor at this period.—Goodal.

page 470 note † The king of his own accord declared in Parliament that, what Lord Boyd had done was not of himself, but at the king's own desire, and what he esteemed good service, and more worthy of reward than censure, which he offered to confirm by a decree of the States, which was immediately made, and registered on the 18th of October, 1468, and an extract made out, and confirmed by letters patent under the Great Seal. It is not clear upon what account this pardon did not operate an absolvitor to the Boyds; whether it was owing to their being refused an extract, or the privilege of the record on the trial, and so could not plead it before the Parliament, or that it was pleaded and judged ineffectual. Buchanan insinuates the last, and imputes it to an evasive distinction suggested by priestcraft. (Buch. Hist. lib. 12, sec. 29.)—Goodal.

page 470 note ‡ He was then Earl of Arran.

page 470 note § Her name was Mary Stuart.

page 470 note ∥ This was the son of that James Hamilton of Cadyow, Kt., who deserted the Earl of Douglas. He was at this time styled Lord Hamilton. Some allege Boyd was dead before that marriage.—Goodal.

page 470 note ¶ He did not get Arran till the year 1503, and was then made Lord Arran.—Goodal.

page 471 note * This happened on the 30th of April, 1520, according to Buchanan; but Pitscottie says it was in May, 1515.—Goodal.

page 471 note † They were not the only persons, for Argyle and Lennox were conjoined with them, and all four declared tutors and guardians of the king and the realm. But the Earl of Angus soon assumed the whole power into his own hands, and ruled the king as he pleased.—Goodal.

page 471 note ‡ He was killed by James Hamilton, bastard son to the Earl of Arran, and it is said in cold blood, after he was taken, much wounded, and in the custody of the Laird of Pardovan.—Goodal.

page 471 note § The Earl of Cassilis's answer, which is very lamely told by our author, was that, as in the old league betwixt their families, his family had always had the preference, and was first named, he would not so far degenerate from the glory of his ancestors, as to come under the patronage of a family, whose chief, in an equal alliance, had been content with the second place.—Goodal.

page 472 note * The family of Hamilton were strongly induced to this by the hopes of their succession to the crown, being nearest heirs, failing heirs of King James V., as descended of Mary, sister to James III.—Goodal.

page 472 note † See the history of this testament, as related by Pitscottie, p. 323 of his History, which is very different from what Buchanan says of it, lib. 15, of his hist. ab initio, and in his admonition to the true lords, &c., p. 16, where he expressly calls it a forged deed or instrument.—Goodal.

page 473 note * Buchanan's words are, Ipse quoque libellos, qui controversias de religione continebant, libenter lectitabat, & vita superioris quies, procul ab aulica ambitione remota, spem animi modesti & temperantis multis faciebat, magistratu nondum torporem & socordiam ingenii detegente, lib. 15. But what credit should be given to Buchanan (whom our author follows for the most part implicitly) in what he says of this family of Hamilton, may be judged from what another historian has recorded of him; “That being provoked by an injury which a servant of the Duke of Chatelrault's youngest son did him, of which he thought he got not sufficient reparation, and carrying a spite to them, because he thought they adhered to the queen's interest, he wrote of that family with the most impudent and virulent malice that was possible” (Bishop Bumet, in the Preface to his “Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton”).—Goodal.

page 473 note † In the year 1543 a treaty had been concluded with England, for the marriage of the son of Henry VIII. with Queen Mary, then a child, and hostages were agreed to be delivered for security of the performance. This treaty was vigorously opposed by Cardinal Beaton and the queen-mother, and such commotion afterwards raised by their intrigues as put it out of the regent's power to deliver the hostages as stipulated. This, and the personal affronts offered to the English ambassador, occasioned a war betwixt the two nations, which lasted a considerable while, during which the battle of Pinkie was fought, in September, 1547, and the English possessed Haddington, and many of the forts in the country, till the year 1542.—Goodal.

page 474 note * See supra.

page 474 note † The charge of perjury rests on the authority of Buchanan.

page 474 note ‡ Let the reader compare Buchanan's Hist., lib. 19, §29, and his Admonition, &c. with Knox's, Hist., lib. 4, p. 308Google Scholar, and he will perceive how unjust this charge is. Knox, who, from the account he gives of it, appears to have had much greater access to know the matter than Buchanan, ascribes the whole to a wild fancy in the frantic head of the Earl of Arran; and says that he himself advised the Earl of Murray to lay no great stress to it; and that his opinion was confirmed by Arran's frenzy increasing, during which he declared that he was enchanted so to think and write.—Goodal.

page 475 note * Buchanan.

page 475 note † James, not David Hamilton, of Bothwellhaugh, was excited to hostility against the Regent Murray on account of severities with which he had been visited by the latter for having fought in the cause of Queen Mary at Langside. The accusation preferred against the Earl of Arran, in connexion with the regent's death, seems to be entirely unfounded.

page 475 note ‡ This is very improbable. Sir James Melvil, in his Memoirs, p. 217, says expressly that they had all engaged, before they left Edinburgh, not to kill one man.—Goodal.

page 475 note § Lennox had surrendered, and was in the custody of Sir David Spence, when the party were surprised by Mar's musketeers, and obliged to fly and abandon their victory; and in this confusion he was wounded by some of them, no doubt out of rage and disappointment. Spence endeavoured to save him, but to no purpose, and he himself was immediately cut to pieces.—Goodal.

page 476 note * Crawfurd states that he died at his own palace of Hamilton on the 22nd January, 1575.

page 476 note † James, the eldest son, was insane, and after the forfeiture of his brethren, Captain James Stewart was made his tutor. And notwithstanding his being mad, he also was soon after forfeited by Morton, and his estate, together with the title of Earl of Arran, given to Captain Stewart, who afterwards became chancellor.—Goodal.

page 477 note * This was the 4th August, 1621. It was interpreted by the Puritans as a visible sign of God's anger, for ratifying the five articles concluded in the Assembly at Perth.—Goodal.

page 477 note † James, second Marquis of Hamilton, died at Whitehall, London, on the 2nd March, 1625, at the age of thirty-six. The Duke of Buckingham, with whom he was at variance, was reported to have poisoned him, and his body being examined by three physicians, two declared that there were no traces of poison, while a third, Dr. Eglisham, maintained that there were, and ascribed the crime to Buckingham. For this expression of his opinion he was obliged to seek refuge in Flanders.

page 477 note ‡ The author is much mistaken in his account of this matter. For, 1st, the marquis had not the gift of the customs, and that of the two pounds in the hundred, or more properly two pounds of ten of the annual rents then by law payable for; £100 of principal, both at one time: for the king, when in Scotland in 1633, being informed by Traquair, then treasurer-depute, that these customs were the readiest and surest money the king had, and that the treasury would signify little without them, was prevailed on to cause the marquis exchange them for the other, to reimburse him of the charge he had been at in his German expedition. 2ndly, the fraud imputed to the marquis and the Clerk-Register seems without foundation; for it appears from the printed Act imposing this duty, that the legal interest which at that time was 10 per cent, was reduced to 8, but not to take place for three years; and thereby neither the borrower nor the lender was hurt, the first being only for three years kept from the benefit which he was thereafter to enjoy, and in the meantime paid no more than he was formerly obliged to; and the lender got what the wisdom of the nation thought sufficient for the use of his money. And the marquis afterwards accounting for the surplus to the Lords of Exchequer and Session, after discounting his own claims, removes all suspicion of this sort.”—Goodal.

page 478 note * The Elector Palatine, who married K. Charles's sister, having been elected King of Bohemia, was soon dispossessed of his royalty by the House of Austria, and had applied to K. James, and, after his death, to K. Charles, for assistance. But as he did not think it convenient for himself to appear openly in the cause, he pitched upon the Marquis of Hamilton, who warmly espoused the prince's quarrel, to levy forces within the kingdom as of himself; which in summer, 1631, he carried to Germany, to the number of 6,000, and joined Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, who supported the interest of the Palatine. But that part of the country which had been the seat of the war was entirely wasted, and provisions very scarce; and the plague having also attacked his small army, it was soon totally ruined: and having got no new supply, nor being properly supported by the King of Sweden, he relinquished that enterprise, and returned, bringing few or none back with him.—Goodal.

page 478 note † This was in the beginning of the war between the King and the Covenanters. The Covenanters having first commenced hostilities, the king came down to York with an army by land, and, at the same timt, the marquis came down to the Frith with a fleet and 5,000 men, and he continued there till he went to attend the king then near Berwick, where a pacification was concluded.—Goodal.

page 479 note * He had escaped from Windsor, where he was imprisoned, but was taken again that same night in Southwark.—Goodal.

page 479 note † He was arraigned as Earl of Cambridge (which title had been conferred upon his father by King James) for invading England in a hostile manner, and levying war to assist the king against the kingdom and people of England. And though the defence which he pleaded was certainly good, viz., that he had acted at the command and by the authority of the Parliament of Scotland, of which nation he was born a subject before his father's naturalization in England, and so an alien of that kingdom, and not triable there, and that he had surrendered to Lambert upon a capitulation, whereby his life was secured; he was notwithstanding condemned, and was beheaded, 9th March, 1648–9.—Goodal.

page 479 note ‡ He was created a duke in 1643.—Goodal.

page 479 note § He was made secretary in the year 1640, when he was but twenty-four years of age, and in the year 1641 was confirmed in that office by the parliament, when they resolved that the king should employ none as officers of state without their consent. He continued till the year 1644, when he and his brother, the duke, were imprisoned at Oxford on account of the jealousies then entertained of them; at which time Sir Robert Spottiswood was appointed by the king. After Sir Robert's execution, he was replaced again by the parliament, and continued till he was turned out by them for his concern in the engagement, which then went under the name of The Unlawful Engagement.—Goodal.

page 479 note ∥ 12th September, 1652.

page 480 note * There had been a long and old emulation betwixt the two families of Cessford and Fernihirst, for the Wardenship of the Middle Marches, and the Provostry of Jedburgh. But Fernihirst being then deceased, and the heir left young, this gentleman, William Ker of Ancrum, as descended of that house, did what he could to maintain the reputation of it, which was an eyesore to the other. And some time before, this gentleman, in the trial of goods stolen from England, was so vigilant as to discover the thief, who was one of Cessford's followers, and, when it was denied, to bring clear testimony of it before the council; which was taken to be done out of spleen, and to rub some infamy upon Cessford, who was then warden. This the Lady Cessford, a woman of a haughty spirit, highly resented, and moved her son, then very young, to murder Ancrum, which he did in the year 1591. His death was much lamented, he being a wise and courageous gentleman, and expert beyond most men in the laws and customs of the borders; which, and the manner of his death, exasperated the king, who resolved to use exemplary justice on the actor. But he having escaped, after some months' absence, was pardoned, upon satisfaction made to Ancrum's children, and as was thought by the intercession of Chancellor Maitland, who afterwards married him to his niece, a daughter of William Maitland, the secretary.—Goodal.

page 480 note † It should be Fernihirst.

page 481 note * From 1578 to 1597.

page 482 note * May, 1645.

page 482 note † Sir Richard Maitland was born in 1496; he studied philosophy at St. Andrews, and law in France. After occupying different public offices about the court, he was, in March, 1551, appointed an extraordinary Lord of Session, and ten years afterwards a lord ordinary, by the title of Lord Lethington. In December, 1562, he was nominated Lord Privy Seal, but resigned the office in 1567 in favour of his second son, John, afterwards Lord Maitland, of Thirlestane. He resigned his seat on the bench in 1584 in favour of Sir Lewis Bellenden, of Auchnoull. He died on the 20th March, 1586, aged ninety. For nearly thirty years he was afflicted with blindness. He collected the Decisions of the Court of Session, made a valuable collection of ancient Scottish poetry, and composed a history of the House of Seton. The last work and his own poems have been printed for the Bannatyne Club.

page 483 note * Cardinal Beaton, on account of his opposition to the English treaty, was imprisoned at Seton by the Estates. According to John Knox (History, i., 97; Edinb., 1846), he was liberated through bribes given to Maitland and Lord Seton. The cardinal's release forms the subject of a letter of Sir Ralph Sadler. No blame is imputed to Maitland. (Sir R. Sadler's State Papers, i., p. 136. Edinb., 1809, 4to.)

page 483 note † George Buchanan was born at Killeam, Stirlingshire, in February, 1506. Having studied the classics in Paris, and philosophy at St. Andrews, he imbibed the doctrines of Luther, and became a keen supporter of the Reformation. His poem on the Franciscan Friars appeared in 1538; he was in the following year subjected to imprisonment by Cardinal Beaton, but effected his escape. He became Professor of Latin at Bourdeaux; he subsequently proceeded to Portugal, where he officiated as a professor in the University of Coimbra. As an upholder of the Protestant doctrines, he was thrown into the dungeons of the Inquisition, where he remained eighteen months. After some changes he returned to Scotland in 1560, when he became classical tutor to Queen Mary. In 1566 he was appointed Principal of St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, and in the following year was, though a layman, elected Moderator of the General Assembly. In 1570 he was appointed preceptor to the young king, and was nominated Director of the Chancery. Some time afterwards he was chosen Lord Privy Seal, with a seat in Parliament. His great work, the History of Scotland, occupied the last twelve years of his life; it was completed only within a month of his decease. He died at Edinburgh on the 28th September, 1582, at the age of seventy-six. Sir John Scot's relation as to his being summoned before the council to answer for some passages in his History, is unsupported by contemporary evidence. In May, 1584, an Act of Parliament was passed finding that his History and treatise de jure regni contained certain passages which ought to be deleted. There was no other interference with the publication of his works. After Buchanan, Walter, Commendator of Blantyre, was Privy Seal, from 1513 till February, 1595, when he demitted. To him succeeded Sir Richard Cockbum, who died in 1626.

page 484 note * Sir Richard Cockburn was son of Sir John Cockburn, and his wife Helen, daughter of Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington. He was appointed Secretary of State in April, 1591, and in November of the same year was admitted a Lord of Session. When the Octavians obtained power he was forced to exchange with John Lindsay, of Balcarres, his post of secretary for that of Lord Privy Seal. He died in 1626.—Anderson's Scottish Nation.

page 484 note † See supra.

page 484 note ‡ Sir Robert Ker, created Earl of Roxburgh 18th September, 1616, was born about 1570. He was one of twelve gentlemen knighted at the coronation of Queen Anne of Denmark in 1590. He accompanied James VI. to London in 1603. He was chosen one of the Lords of the Articles in the parliament of 1621; in the same parliament he voted for the confirmation of the Five Articles of Perth. In 1637 he was appointed Lord Privy Seal; he was deprived of that office by the Estates in 1649, consequent on his supporting the ill-fated “engagement” of the preceding year. He died on the 18th January, 1650, in his eightieth year. Lord Roxburgh was thrice married. By his first wife, a daughter of Sir William Maitland of Lethington, he had a son, Lord William Ker, who died in 1618, and three daughters. By his second wife, a daughter of the third Lord Drummond, he had one son, styled Lord Ker after his brother's death; he also predeceased his father. Lord Roxburgh married, thirdly, Lady Isobel Douglas, fifth daughter of the second Earl of Morton, without issue.

page 485 note * Not “divers years;” just eleven months elapsed between Lord Roxburgh's deprivation of office in February, 1649, and his death in January, 1650.

page 485 note † On the institution of the Court of Session in 1532, Thomas Marjoribanks was one of ten advocates selected to plead before the Lords. Conjointly with Dr. Gladstanes, he was appointed Advocate for the Poor in March, 1535. He acquired the lands of Ratho in September, 1540. In the same year he was chosen Lord Provost of Edinburgh, and commissioner from the city to the Estates. He was admitted a Lord of Session, and appointed Clerk Register in February, 1549; he was deprived of the latter office in 1554, on the charge of having falsified a warrant.—Anderson's Scottish Nation.

page 486 note * This celebrated Clerk Register was son of Sir Michael Balfour of Mountquhannie, Fifeshire. His brother David was one of the assassins of Cardinal Beaton; he joined the conspirators in the castle of St. Andrews, and on its surrender in June, 1547, was carried to France in the same galley with John Knox. On his return to Scotland in 1549 he abandoned his former friends, and is believed to have returned to the Romish faith. His perversity is severely censured by Knox. Among those who publicly embraced the Protestant doctrines in the castle of St. Andrews, the Reformer writes, “was he that now eyther rewillis, or ellis misrewillis Scotland, to wit, Schir James Balfour (sometimes called Maister James), the cheaf and principall Protestant that there was to be found in this realme. This we wryte, becaus we have heard that the said Maister James alledgeis that he was never of this our religioun, but that he was brought up in Martine's (Luther's) opinioun of the sacrament, and tharefoir he can nott communicat with us. But his awin conscience and two hundreth witness besyde, know that he lyes; and that he was one of the cheaff (yf he had not been after Coppis) that wold have given his lyef, yf men mycht credite his wordis, for defence of the doctrin that the said Johnne Knox tawght. But albeit that those that never war of us (as none of Monquhanye's sones have schawin thame selfis to be) departe from us, it is no great wonder; for it is propir and naturall that the children follow the father; and lest the godly levar of that rase and progeny be schawin for yf in thame be eather fear of God, or luif of vertew, farther then the present commoditie persuades thame, men of judgement ar deceaved.” (Knox's History, Edinb., 1846, 8vo., vol. i., p. 202.)

page 487 note * In 1559 Balfour gave active support to the Queen Regent against the Lords of the Congregation. About 1560 he was appointed parson of Flisk. In November, 1561, he was nominated an Extraordinary Lord of Session by the title of Lord Pittendriech; in 1563 he was appointed an ordinary lord. He was sworn of the Privy Council in July, 1565. On the night of Rizzio's murder he was with Queen Mary at Holyrood; he was knighted by the queen on the 25th March, 1566, and appointed Clerk Register. He was a main instrument in accomplishing the death of Lord Darnley. In 1567 he was appointed Deputy Keeper of Edinburgh Castle and Lord President of the Court of Session. The story of his conspiring to allow the silver casket containing Queen Mary's letters to fall into the hands of the confederated lords is related by Buchanan (Hist., L. xviii., p. 51). On Queen Mary's imprisonment he attached himself to the Regent Murray, and was present at Langside in opposition to his benefactress. (Melvill's Memoirs, p. 202.) On the assassination of the Regent Lennox in 1570, he returned to the queen's party; in 1572 he made his peace with the Regent Morton, but joined the enemies of that nobleman in 1578. At Morton's trial he produced the celebrated bond, subscribed by him and others, for the support of Bothwell after Darnley's murder. Balfour died about 1584. He is the supposed author of the collection of Decisions known as “Balfour's Practicks.”

page 487 note † Sir James Balfour married Margaret, only child and heiress of Michael Balfour, of Burleigh, county of Kinross.

page 488 note * Descended from a Galloway family of the name, Sir James Makgill purchased the estate of Nether Rankeillor, Fifeshire, and of Pinkie, near Edinburgh. Educated for the law, he was appointed Clerk Register in June, 1554. During the same year he was admitted a Lord of Session by the judicial title of Lord Rankeillor. He was sworn a member of the Privy Council in 1561. Being implicated in the murder of Rizzio, he was deprived of his Clerk-Registership in 1566; but the office was through favour of the Regent Murray restored to him in the following year. In 1568 he attended the regent at York to conduct the accusation against Queen Mary; he was an ambassador at the court of Elizabeth in 1571 and 1572. In 1578 he and George Buchanan were chosen extraordinary members of the Privy Council. He died in 1579. Sir James Makgill was an esteemed friend of John Knox.

page 488 note † See Memoir of Sir John Scot, at the commencement of this volume.

page 489 note * Alexander Hay, descended from the old family of Hay, of Park, became Clerk of the Privy Council in March, 1564. He was afterwards appointed Director of the Chancery, an office which he resigned in 1577 for that of Clerk Register. In the same year he was made an Ordinary Lord of Session, and assumed the judicial title of Lord Easter Kennet. In 1589 he attended James VI. to Denmark as interim Secretary of State. He died 19th September, 1594.

page 489 note † Sir John Skene was born in 1549; he studied at the Universities of Aberdeen and St. Andrews, and afterwards travelled in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Studying law, he passed advocate in March, 1575. He accompanied James VI. to Norway in 1589, and in 1591 was sent as ambassador to the States-General. In 1594 he was appointed Clerk Register, and in the same year was admitted an ordinary Lord of Session, when he assumed the judicial title of Lord CurriehilL In 1596 he was appointed one of the Octavians, or eight Commissioners of Exchequer. He was commissioned to edit and print the laws of the realm, which he satisfactorily accomplished. He died in March, 1612.

page 490 note * The Earl of Haddington succeeded Sir John Skene in May, 1612, but demitted in October following, when he was appointed Secretary of State. Sir Alexander Hay received the office of Register 30th July, 1612. He was previously a Lord of Session, by the title of Lord Newton.

page 490 note † Sir George Hay, afterwards Lord High Chancellor, was admitted Clerk Register 26th March, 1616; he was succeeded by Sir John Hamilton 27th July, 1622, who was also admitted an ordinary Lord of Session under the title of Lord Magdalens. He was deprived of his Judgeship in 1626, consequent on a resolution of Charles II. that no officer of state should sit in the Court of Session. On the 2nd November, 1630, he was admitted an extraordinary Lord of Session. (Brunton and Haig, 269.) He died at Holyrood House, 28th November, 1632.

page 491 note * Sir John Hay was descended from a younger brother of Sir David Hay, of Yester, ancestor of the noble family of Tweeddale. He delivered a Latin address to James VI. on his visit to Edinburgh in 1617, which is preserved in the “Muses' Welcome.” He was knighted by Charles I. in March, 1632, and in the following January was nominated Clerk Register and a Lord of Session. He strongly urged the introduction of the Service Book in 1637, and was in consequence obliged to seek personal safety in England. Returning to Scotland, he was accused of treason and imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. Captured on the field of Philiphaugh, he escaped the scaffold by having, as was believed, bribed the Earl of Lanark with the rents of his estate. He died on the 20th November, 1654.

page 491 note † Sir Alexander Gibson was appointed one of the Clerks of Session, 25th July, 1632; he was nominated Clerk Register 13th November, 1641. He resisted the introduction of the Service Book in 1638, and was much opposed to the bishops. As Clerk of Parliament he refused to read the royal warrant proroguing Parliament in November, 1639. In the following year he was appointed Commissary-General of the forces raised against the king. He was admitted a Lord of Session 2nd July, 1646, but having joined “the engagement” he was deprived by the Act of Classes in 1649. In August, 1652, he was elected one of the Scottish Commissioners to attend the Parliament of England. He died in June, 1656. Sir Alexander was eldest son of Sir Alexander Gibson, Baronet, Lord Durie, an eminent lawyer, and author of “Durie's Practicks,” a valuable collection of Decisions in Scottish Law. (“Balfour's Annals,” II., 276, 293, 298.—Brunton and Haig, 317.)

page 492 note * Sir Archibald Johnston was son of James Johnston, of Beirholm, Dumfriesshire, formerly a merchant in Edinburgh, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of the celebrated Sir Thomas Craig. He passed advocate in 1633. Having zealously attached himself to the Presbyterian cause, he prepared jointly with the Earl of Rothes the supplication against innovations presented to the Privy Council in September, 1637. Along with Alexander Henderson he revised the Covenant, which was renewed in March, 1638. He was chosen clerk to the famous General Assembly which met at Glasgow in that year. He was one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of Berwick. By Charles I. in 1641 he was knighted and appointed an ordinary Lord of Session, with a pension of £200 a year. He represented the county of Edinburgh in the Estates of Parliament in 1643, and in the following year was chosen a commissioner to attend the English Parliament, and the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. In 1646 he was appointed Lord Advocate; in that capacity he proclaimed Charles II. as King in February, 1649. In March of the same year he succeeded Sir Alexander Gibson as Clerk Register. Subsequent to the battle of Dunbar in 1650 he lived in retirement till 1657, when being persuaded to go to London, he received from Cromwell restoration to his office of Clerk Register, and was by the Protector created Lord Warriston, and appointed a commissioner for the Administration of Justice in Scotland. At the Restoration an order was issued for his apprehension, but having received timely notice he escaped to Hamburgh. He was outlawed loth October, 1661, and a reward offered for his apprehension. In 1662 he proceeded to Rouen, in France, for the sake of his health. He was there seized by authority of Charles I., and being brought to London was consigned to the Tower. He was afterwards sent to Edinburgh, and was condemned to death by the Parliament. He was hanged at the Cross of Edinburgh on the 22nd July, 1663. On the scaffold he conducted himself with entire self-possession.

page 493 note * This paragraph appears, from the close of the last, to have been added by the author some years afterwards.—Goodal.

page 494 note * Thomas Bannatyne, or Bellenden, of Auchinoul, was in June, I535t; appointed an Ordinary Judge in the Court of Session. In 1538 he was nominated Director of Chancery, and in 1539 was raised to the office of Justice-Clerk. He died in 1546. On the 20th June, 1547, the elder of his two sons, Sir John Bellenden of Auchinoul, was appointed Justice-Clerk, and about the same time an Ordinary Lord of Session. By Mary of Guise Sir John was appointed to act as mediator between her and the lords of the congregation; he afterwards attached himself to the latter. He was sworn of the Privy Council in 1561. He was implicated in the murder of Rizzio, but becoming reconciled to the queen, he gave countenance to her union with Bothwell. He afterwards joined the association against the queern, and became a counsellor and friend of the Regent Murray. Indirectly he was the cause of the Regent's death by procuring a pardon for Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh for some crime which endangered his life. In 1573 he took part in arranging the pacification of Perth. He died in 1577. By Sir Lewis Bellenden, his eldest son, he was succeeded in the office of Justice-Clerk. Sir Lewis was concerned in the Raid of Ruthven, but escaped punishment. In 1584 he was appointed an Ordinary Lord of Session. He had a principal share in the downfall of Arran in 1585, and accompanied James VI. on his matrimonial expedition to Norway in 1589. He died in August, 1591. (Brunton and Haig, 57, 91. 194.)

page 494 note † Richard Graham, the wizard, was one of those with whom the Earl of Bothwell was accused of consulting in regard to the life of the king. (Melvill's Memoirs, 353.)

page 495 note * Sir John Cockburn, of Ormiston, was admitted an Extraordinary Lord of Session 4th July, 1588, and was appointed Justice-Clerk in 1591. He was one of the commissioners who proceeded to England, in 1604, to treat of the union, then projected. He died in June, 1623. (“Balfour's Annals,” II., 97. Brunton and Haig, 217.)

page 495 note † He was Justice Cferk from 1625 till 1633.

page 495 note ‡ Sir James Carmichael succeeded to Sir George Elphinston in 1634, and in 1637 was made Treasurer Depute; and Sir John Hamilton succeeded to Carmichael.—Goodal.

page 496 note † Robert Crichton, of Eliock, was appointed Lord Advocate, conjointly with John Spens, of Condie, in February, 1560. After the death of the Regent Murray, Queen Mary requested Crichton to visit her in England, but he was kept from going by the Regent Lennox. In 1581 he was raised to the Bench. He died in June, 1582.

page 496 note † James Crichton, styled “the Admirable,” was son of Robert Crichton, Lord Advocate. He was born about 1557, and studied at St. Andrews. Before attaining his twentieth year he is said to have mastered the circle of the sciences, and to have understood ten languages. He excelled in all personal accomplishments. Proceeding to Paris he challenged the Professors of the University and other learned persons to dispute with him, and acquitted himself to admiration. At Rome he astonished and delighted the Pope in a public disputation; he afterwards publicly disputed at Venice and Padua. At Mantua he proved his dexterity by overcoming and slaying a noted and dangerous prize-fighter. By the Duke of Mantua he was appointed tutor to his son, a youth of licentious manners. One night during the Carnival of 1582, or 1583, as he was rambling about the streets, playing on his guitar, he was attacked by six persons in masks. He dispersed his assailants and disarmed their leader, whom he discovered to be the prince, his pupil. Stooping down, he handed to the prince his sword, who took it, and plunged it into his heart. A memoir of the Admirable Crichton was published in 1823 by Patrick Fraser Tytler.

page 497 note * This was not the Chancellor's own house, but the Castle of Edinburgh; the occasion of which was this: He had decoyed William, Earl of Douglas, David, his brother, and Sir Malcolm Fleming, of Cumbernauld, into the castle, and there murdered them in 1441. The Chancellor, fearing the resentment of William, Earl of Douglas, cousin to the last Earl William, who soon after got into the king's favour, retired to the Castle of Edinburgh. Douglas caused summon him to answer the charge of treason and breach of trust, and in absence he was declared rebel, and his estate forfeited. He himself was besieged in the castle, which he held out for nine months, but at length surrendered it, and was pardoned. He was soon received again into favour, and a second time made Chancellor.—Goodal.

page 497 note † See supra.

page 497 note ‡ Sir John Spence was Lord Advocate in 1563, when John Knox was brought by Queen Mary before her Privy Council, on the charge of sedition. Being favourable to the Reformers and the Protestant cause, Spence waited upon Knox in private, to ascertain the nature of his defence. Having listened to the Reformer, Spence said, “I thank God I came to you with a fearefull and sorrowfull heart, fearing yee had committed some offence punishable by the lawes, which would have brought no small griefe to the hearts of all those who have receaved the Word of Life out of your mouth. But I depart greatlie rejoicing, als weill becaus I perceave yee have comfort in the middest of your troubles, as that I cleerelie understand yee have not committed suche a crime as is bruited, yee will be accused; but God will assist you.” At the Council, Spence accused the Reformer “verie gentlie,” and he was at once acquitted. (“Calderwood's History,” Edinb., 1843, Vol. II., p. 234, 237.Google Scholar)

page 498 note * Mr. David Borthwick was one of nine procurators selected by the Court of Session, in March, 1549, to plead “before thame in all actions and causes.” He was, in 1552, member of a commission appointed to treat with English commissioners upon Border affairs. He was employed as counsel by the Corporations of Aberdeen and Edinburgh. On the 12th May, 1567, as counsel for the Earl of Bothwell he took instruments of Queen Mary's pardon of him for her abduction. He became joint King's Advocate in 1573, and was the first who was styled Lord Advocate. He died in January, 1581. (Acts of Sederunt, 1811—48. Bruntonand Haig, 154.)

page 498 note † In 1582. He died in 1596.

page 499 note * Mr. John Skene was King's Advocate in 1589; Mr. William Hart, of Livelands, in 1594. Mr. Thomas Hamilton, afterwards Earl of Haddington, was conjoined with Mr. Macgill in 1595, and was after his death sole advocate till 1612, when Sir William Oliphant succeeded, who kept it till 1626.—Goodal.

page 499 note † Sir Thomas Hope was son of an eminent merchant, and passed advocate at an early age. He distinguished himself at the trial of the six ministers, who, in 1606, were arraigned at Linlithgow on a charge of high treason, because they had in ecclesiastical matters resisted royal authority. In 1626 he was appointed Lord Advocate; he was created a baronet in 1628. In 1638 he took part in framing the National Covenant, and he supported the legality of the famous General Assembly of that year. By Charles I. he was appointed Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of 1643. He died in 1646.

page 499 note ‡ William, Earl of Menteith, was served heir to his ancestor, David, Earl of Strathern, and had a patent from K. Charles conferring that title upon him. But his vanity, supported by the error of our historians, that David, Earl of Strathern, was the eldest son of Robert II.'s first marriage with Eupham Ross, his queen, made him begin to drop some hints of his right to the crown; on which he was deprived of all his offices, and a reduction brought of his service. This gave occasion to Sir Lewis Stewart to confute that gross error in our historians, that his ancestor was a son of Robert II. by his first marriage; which he did by producing several authentic deeds by Robert II. himself: particularly one at the time of his coronation, declaring John Stuart, of Scotland, to be his true heir, and to have the right to succeed after him to the kingdom; and another deed, or Act of Parliament, in the third year of his reign, by which he entailed the crown to his sons of both marriages, enumerating them all particularly by name. This was afterwards defended by the Earl of Cromarty, and was the subject of a very late dispute betwixt Mr. Logan and Mr. Thomas Ruddiman. But that controversy hath been since quite unravelled, and the ground of the mistake laid open, in a dissertation by Mr. John Gordon, Advocate, Professor of History in the College of Edinburgh.—Goodal.

page 500 note * Before his time the King's Advocate used to plead uncovered; but he having two of his sons then upon the Bench, Sir John and Sir Thomas, the lords indulged him the privilege of pleading with his hat on, which his successors in office have ever since enjoyed.—Goodal.

page 500 note † He was advocate from 1626 till 1641. To him succeeded Sir Archibald Johnston, and he being made Clerk Register in 1649, Sir Thomas Nicolson was made advocate, but continued short while.—Goodal.

page 501 note * In the times of King James V. and of Queen Mary, viz., in 1538 and 1546. To him succeeded William, Commendator of Culross, in 1546 and 1553. Bartholomew Villemor, a Frenchman, had been named comptroller by Queen Mary in March, 1560–1, but they who had taken upon themselves the administration of affairs refused to admit him.—Goodal.

page 501 note † John Wishart, Laird of Pitarrow, in Forfarshire, was son of Sir James Wishart, Justice-Clerk. In the Parliament of August, 1560, he was selected with a few others to administer state affairs. Some time after Queen Mary's arrival in Scotland he was appointed comptroller; he was succeeded by Sir William Murray, of Tullibardine, in 1564. He was one of the ten persons who were knighted on the occasion of the marriage of the Earl of Murray. He was appointed an Extraordinary Lord of Session 19th November, 1567; he accompanied the Regent Murray to England in 1568. He died 25th September, 1576. (Note by Mr. David Laing to Knox's History, vol. ii., 311.)

page 502 note * Sir William Murray, of Tullibarden, succeeded to Pitarrow in 1563, and continued till 1581. Sir James Campbell, of Ardkinglas, was comptroller in 1584.—Goodal.

page 502 note † The following note is on the margin of the oldest copy, but in later copies is engrossed into the texts:—“He had been first a skipper on the north side of the bridge of Leith, and being pursued, mortified his house to Paul's work, as the register bears.”—Goodal.

page 502 note ‡ He had been a very faithful servant to King James III., and got from him the lands of Largo to keep his ship in trim, and afterwards got them in feu anno 1482, and was knighted by him. Mindful of the king's kindness, he remained constant in his affection to him, even after his death, and would not submit to the lords, whom he looked upon as traitors and murderers of the king. But he was afterwards prevailed upon to go and attack a fleet of five English ships of war, which infested the frith; and with his own two ships only, the Flower and the Yellow Carnal, he took them all and brought them up to Leith: and soon after K. Henry VII., to revenge the affront of this defeat, having equipped another fleet of three of his best men-of-war, commanded by Stephen Bull, who, on the promise of great rewards, undertook to bring Captain Wood to the king dead or alive, he, with the same two ships, fought that captain at the Isle of May, till the tide carried his ships to the mouth of Tay, where they stranded on the sandbanks; and there Captain Wood took the three English ships, and carried them up to Dundee. Our author therefore is mistaken, both as to the time of his getting the lands of Largo, and as to the place where he defeated Bull.—Goodal.

page 503 note * From 1585 till 1587.

page 503 note † It should be in K. James VI.'s time; for he was comptroller in 1589, and demitted in 1595.—Goodal.

page 503 note ‡ Sir George Home was appointed Warden of the East Marches in 1578, and Comptroller in 1597. He died 24th November, 1616. His only son, Sir David Home, of Wedderbum, along with his son George, fell at the battle of Dunbar in 1650.

page 503 note § Sir David Murray, of Gospertie, was a cadet of the noble family of Athole. He was appointed Comptroller in 1598, when he was also sworn of the Privy Council. He was at Perth with James VI. at the time of the Gowrie conspiracy, and afterwards obtained from the king the barony of Ruthven, which belonged to Gowrie. He accompanied the king to London in 1603, and was appointed a commissioner for the projected union of the kingdoms in 1605. He was created Lord Scone. As Lord High Commissioner to successive General Assemblies, he strove to introduce episcopacy. He was mainly instrumental in passing the Five Articles in the Assembly at Perth in 1618. On the ratification of the Articles by Parliament in 1621, he hastened to London to convey the intelligence to the king. For this act of service, and some others, he was raised in the peerage as Viscount Stormount. He died 27th August, 1631.

page 504 note * James Hay, afterwards Earl of Carlisle, is thus described by Sir Anthony Weldon:—“The king no sooner came to London but notice was taken of a rising favourite, the first meteor of that nature appearing in our climate, as the king cast his eye upon him for affection, so did all the courtiers, to adore him. His name was Mr. James Hay, a gentleman that lived in France, and some say of the Scottish guard to that king. This gentleman coming over to meet the king, and share with him in his new conquest (according to the Scottish phrase), it should seem had some former acquaintance with the then Leiger Embassador in Scotland for the French king, who coming with his Majesty into England, presented this gentleman as a well-accomplished gentleman to the king in such an high commendation as engendered such a liking as produced a favourite; in thankful acknowledgment whereof, he did him many fair offices for the present, and coming afterwards an extraordinary embassador to our king, made him the most sumptuous feast at Essex House that ever was seen before, never equalled since, in which was such plenty, and fish of that immensity brought out of Muscovia, that dishes were made to contain them (no dishes in all England before could ne'er hold them), and after that a costly Voydee, and after that a Mask of choyse noble men and gentlemen, and after that a most costly and magnificent banquet, the king, lords, and all the prime gentlemen then about London being invited thither. Truly, he was a most compleat and well-accomplished gentleman, modest and court-like, and of so fair a demeanour, as made him be generally beloved; and for his wisdom, I shall give you but one character for all. He was ever great with all the favourites of his time, and although the king did often change, yet he was (semper eidem) with the king and favourites, and got by both; for although favourites had that exorbitant power over the king to make him grace and disgrace whom they pleased, he was out of that power, and the only exception to that general rule, and for his gettings, it was more than almost all the favourites of his time, which appeared in those vast expenses of all sorts, and had not the bounty of his mind exceeded his gettings, he might have left the greatest estate that ever our age or climate had heard of; he was indeed made for a courtier, who wholly studied his master, and understood him better than any other. He was employed in very many of the most weighty affairs, and sent with the most stately embassies of our times, which he performed with that wisdom and magnificency that he seemed an honour to his king and country for his carriage in State affairs.” Through the influence of his royal master, Hay obtained in marriage Honora, only daughter and heiress of Edward, Lord Denny, and had a grant of the title of Lord Hay, with precedence next to the barons of England. On the 29th June, 1615, he was created a baron of the realm under the title of Lord Hay, of Sauley, Yorkshire. During the following year he was sent ambassador to the court of France. In March, 1617, he was sworn of the Privy Council, and on the 5th July, 1618, created Viscount Doncaster. In September, 1622, he was advanced to the earldom of Carlisle. He held various appointments at the court of James VI. He afterwards became first Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles I. He married, secondly, the Lady Lucy Percy, youngest daughter of Henry, Earl of Northumberland. He died 25th April, 1636, and was succeeded by James, his only surrviving son, who became second Earl of Carlisle. By his death in 1660, without issue, the earldom became extinct.— Burkes Dormant and Extinct Peerage.

page 506 note * James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, afterwards Duke of Orkney, was born about 1536, and succeeded his father in 1556. Though professedly a Protestant, he joined Mary of Guise against the Lords of Congregation, and proceeding to France recommended himself to Queen Mary. He was banished from Scotland in 1563 for conspiring against the Earl of Murray, but returned in 1565 when Murray was expatriated for opposing the queen's marriage with Darnley. After the murder of Rizzio he acquired the unbounded confidence of the queen, who appointed him Warden of the three Marches and Admiral of the kingdom. In the murder of Darnley, which took place on the 10th February, 1567, he was the principal agent. Being tried for the crime, he overawed his accusers by a powerful retinue, and was consequently acquitted. The queen now appointed him Governor of Edinburgh Castle, and captain of the Castle of Dunbar. By threats and promises he procured the consent of the leading nobility to his marriage with the queen, and having divorced his wife, Lady Jean Gordon, he was as Duke of Orkney married to Queen Mary on the 15th of May. On the 15th June the forces of the lords, confederated for the support of the young prince, met the followers of the queen and Bothwell at Carberry Hill. A conference took place between the queen and some of the confederated lords, when Bothwell rode off the field. He afterwards escaped to Orkney. For a time he subsisted by piracy, but pursued by a fleet, he fled to Norway. From thence he proceeded to Denmark, where being recognised, he was imprisoned in the castle of Draxholm. There he died on the 14th April, 1578.

page 507 note * John Stewart, Abbot of Kelso, was illegitimate son of James V. by Jane Hepburn, daughter of Patrick, Earl of Bothwell. His son, Francis Stewart, was created Earl of Bothwell 29th July, 1576, and appointed Lord High Admiral. The extraordinary career of this most turbulent and unprincipled individual forms a remarkable chapter in Scottish family history. He died at Naples in 1624. (See Anderson's, “Scottish Nation,” i., 357Google Scholar.)

page 507 note † See supra.

page 508 note * Ludovick, second Duke of Lennox, was born 29th September, 1574. He was, though in his fifteenth year, appointed Governor of the east parts of Scotland during the absence of James VI. in Denmark in October, 1589. By marrying in 1591 Jane Ruthven, daughter of the Earl of Gowrie, he incurred the displeasure of the king, but was afterwards forgiven. He was appointed High Admiral in place of the Earl of Bothwell, and in 1598 was sworn of the Privy Council. He aided in rescuing the king from the Gowrie conspirators in 1600. After obtaining various offices and honours, he was in May, 1623, created Earl of Newcastle and Duke of Richmond in the peerage of England. He was found dead in his bed on the morning of the 16th February, 1624.

page 508 note † Our author must mean either John, Master of Livingston, who died unmarried, or Alexander, second Earl of Linlithgow. The reference is obscure.

page 508 note ‡ James, fourth Duke of Lennox, was son of Esme, third duke, and not of the second duke as our author has stated. He was bom 6th April, 1612, and succeeded his father at the age of twelve. In 1641 he was advanced to the Dukedom of Richmond. He was Lord Chamberlain and Admiral of Scotland, Lord Steward of the Household, Warden of the Cinque Ports, Gentleman of the Bedchamber, and a Knight of the Garter. During the Civil Wars he subscribed £40,000 in support of the royal cause. He died 30th March, 1655.

page 509 note * William Graham, sixth Earl of Menteith, by Mary, daughter of Sir Colin Campbell, of Glenurchy, succeeded his father in 1598. He was highly favoured by Charles I., who appointed him a Privy Councillor and Justice-General. He became President of the Privy Council, and in November, 1628, was nominated an Extraordinary Lord of Session. On the 25th August, 1630, he served himself heir to David, Earl of Strathern, and assumed the style of Earl of Strathern and Menteith. As David, Earl of Strathern, was eldest son of Robert II. by Euphemia Ross, and as at that period the priority of the king's marriage with Elizabeth More, mother of Robert III., was not established, the earl's procedure was unwise, and savoured of disloyalty. The king's attention being directed to the matter by Drummond, of Hawthornden, he caused the earl's retour and patent to be reduced, but soon afterwards bestowed on him the title of Earl of Airth and Menteith. In 1644 Lord Airth subscribed the Covenant, and was nominated on the Committee of War. His latter years were spent in retirement. (Brunton and Haig, Pinkerton's Scottish Gallery.)

page 509 note † Lord Kilpont was an associate in arms of the Marquis of Montrose; he was stabbed to the heart in a sudden ebullition of passion by James Alexander (not Stewart), of Ardvoirlich, when Montrose with his army lay encamped at Collace after the battle of Tippermuir. The event has been embodied with fictitious colouring by Sir Walter Scott in the Legend of Monlrose. In the introduction to that romance there is an interesting narrative respecting the unhappy author of the assassination and the circumstances connected with it. The estate of Kilpont, or Kilpunt, is situated near the river Almond, Linlithgowshire.

page 510 note * Sir William Elphinstone was youngest son of George Elphinstone, of Blythswood. He was admitted an ordinary Lord of Session 1st March, 1637, and on the deprivation of the Earl of Menteith was appointed Justice-General. Of that office he was deprived in 1641, when the judges were chosen by the king with consent of the Estates. (Brunton and Haig.)

page 510 note † After Sir William Elphinstone, Sir Thomas Hope, of Kerse, was Lord Justice-General; he died 23rd August, 1643. To him succeeded William, ninth Earl of Glencaim, whose appointment was ratified by the Estates 14th January, 1647. For supporting the “engagement” in 1648, he was in the following year deprived by Act of Classes. He raised the royal standard in the Highlands in 1653, but not long afterwards surrendered to Middleton. After the Restoration he waited on Charles II. at London, by whom he was nominated Lord High Chancellor. He advised the restoration of episcopacy, but was disgusted by the arrogant assumption of the primate, Archbishop Sharpe. He died 13th May, 1664, in his fifty-fourth year. (Brunton and Haig, 349.)

page 511 note * Vide page 99.

page 511 note † Vide page 100.

page 512 note * Viz., Sir William Ker, who, as Sir John was pleased to say, danced him out of his office, being a dexterous dancer.—Goodal.