HIE COWRIE CONSPIRACY. 27 



Ruthven, snatching the dagger from the girdle of the man in armour, and direct- 

 ing its point to the king's breast, answered, " Remember how unjustly my father 

 suffered by your command ! You are now my prisoner submit to my disposal 

 without resistance or outcry, or this dagger shall avenge his blood ! " Startled 

 by this sudden change in the drama, James expostulated, entreated, and flattered, 

 till Ruthven, appearing to relent, protested, that if the king raised no outcry, his 

 life should be sacred. In the mean time, moved by some inexplicable motive, and 

 taking the king's word of honour not to make any noise in his absence, he left him 

 in charge of the man in armour. But, \\hili in this critical situation, the royal 

 attendants becoming impatient to know what had become of their master, one of 

 Gowrie's servants entered hastily and informed them that the king had just taken 

 horse for Falkland, and was still in sight. At this intimation, all rushed into the 

 street, while Gowrie himself, seconding their impatience, ordered out the horses. 

 By this time Ruthven had returned to the king, and swearing that there was no 

 alternative but death, attempted to manacle his sovereign. Fired at the insult, 

 and scorning to submit to such indignity, James, unarmed as he was, closed with 

 the assassin, and a fierce struggle ensued. The man in armour, as hitherto, stood 

 amazed and motionless, while the king, dragging Ruthven towards a window, 

 cried with a voice of terror, " Treason, treason ! help ! " His attendants instantly 

 recognising liis voice, and seeing at the open lattice a hand which violently grasped 

 his neck, flew to his assistance. The duke of Lennox, the earl of Mar, and a 

 number of others, mounted the great staircase, but in this direction found all 

 the doors fastened. Sir John Ramsay, however, and others of the suite, entering 

 by a back staircase, and rushing up, found the door of the closet open, 

 and Ruthven still struggling with the king. Ramsay, starting to his assistance, 

 struck the traitor twice with his dagger, thrust him towards the staircase, where 

 Sir Hugh Herries met and dispatched him, while, with his last breath, he called 

 out " I am not to blame for this action ! " 



During this scuffle, the man in armour escaped unobserved. Along with 

 Ramsay, Erskine, and Herries, pages of the king, a servant, named Wilson, 

 returned into the room where the king was standing; but before they had time 

 to secure the door, Gowrie, with a drawn sword in each hand, followed by seven of 

 his armed attendants, rushed in, and with a loud and frantic voice threatened 

 them with instant death. But Ramsay and his party, though so unequal in 

 numbers, faced the earl ; and, in the sharp encounter that ensued, the latter 

 receiving a mortal thrust from Ramsay, fell dead without uttering a word. A 

 great noise still continued at the door opening upon the principal staircase, where 

 many persons were vainly endeavouring to force an entrance. The king being 



