42 Memoirs of the Earl of Mart-. fan. II. 



Stirling. He displayed the ancient services of the 

 fair.ily of Erskine to the royal house of Smart, 

 and the important part it had in the elevation of 

 their lineage to the throne, in the person and fami- 

 ly of Robert II. and awakened his fears for liberty 

 and the protestant succefsion, by exhibiting the in- 

 trigues of the bishop of Rofs, for replacing Mary 

 on the throne, and bringing his whole family into 

 forfeiture and disgrace, if not utter destruction, on 

 account of its activity in the deposition of the 

 queen, and in the establilbment of a free constitu- 

 tion and the reformed religion*. 



Every device was used by the lords John and 

 Claud Hamilton, by the bifhop of Rofs, and the 

 friends of the deposed queen, to engage James and 

 Xennox his new favourite, and to draw the king of 

 Scots from the influence of Elizabeth f. 



* It appears by the letters cf Nicholas Arrington, the original of 

 %vliich are preserved in the Cotton library, that Marr was much with 

 Morton at Aberdour, and that he guided himself very uniformly by his 

 councels, as on the other hand, he reposed an uniform confidence in the 

 information and fidelity of Marr, who continued indeed true to his 

 political friend to the scaft'old, as he did to the party even after the 

 Ccath of the unfortunate regent. C^^LiGUtA. 



I have novY lying before me, the whole correspondence concerning 

 the aftairs of Scotland, during the years 1580 and 15S1, between 

 /.rrington, Randolph, Bowes, and other envoys and emifsaries of Eliza- 

 beth, and the lord treasurer Burleigh, the greater part of which are 

 imprinted. The whole, if publifhed, would occupy a folio supplemen- 

 tary to Forbes's state papers of about 350 pages, a few of these are to 

 be found in the supplement to Dr Robertson's appendix. 



■\ The French king (writes Bowes to the treasurer Burleigh, and 

 secretary Vi?alsingham in his letter from Edinburgh of the 27th of 

 April,) hath sent to the kingc of Scotland a fayre horse, and another 

 to the earl; of Lennox, which two horses arc yesterday arrived at 

 Leldi. C.iLiovLA 6. B. i5. 



