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GOWRIE 



GOWRIE CONSPIRACY 



St Andrews ; but in some of the English univer- 

 sities surplices are worn in college chapel on Sun- 

 days and saints' days. University preachers in 

 England wear academic gowns. In the United 

 States there is no distinctive academic dress. See 

 Notes and Queries, 5th series, vol. xi. ; and a paper 

 in Prof. Delitzsch's Iris (Eng. trans. 1889). 



Gowrie, CARSE OF. See PERTHSHIRE. 



Gowrie Conspiracy is the name given to 

 one of the most singular episodes in the history 

 of Scotland, although, the very existence of a plot 

 is still a matter of controversy. As set forth by 

 James VI., the details of the conspiracy are as 

 follows. Early in the morning, on Tuesday, 5th 

 August 1600, as his majesty was about to begin 

 a stag-hunt in Falkland Park, Fife, Alexander 

 Ruthven came to him with the information that, 

 as he was walking alone near Perth, on the previous 

 evening, he had met and seized an individual of sus- 



Eicious appearance, with a pot full of foreign gold 

 idden under his cloak. After having confined 

 him in ' a privy derned house,' he had hastened to 

 Falkland to lay the matter before the king, and to 

 request him to ride over to Perth for the purpose 

 of taking possession of the treasure, and or exam- 

 ining the mysterious stranger. Though at first 

 disinclined to believe the ' uncouth ' story, James 

 was ultimately induced, by the thought that the 

 foreign money might betoken an agent of the pope 

 and the Jesuits, to promise that he would accom- 

 pany Ruthven to Perth. This he did at the close 

 of the hunt, not waiting to change his horse, and 

 riding at such speed that his attendants, amongst 

 whom were the Duke of Lennox and the Earl of 

 Mar, did not overtake him till within a short 

 distance of the city. At Perth he was received 

 by Ruthven's brother, the Earl of Gowrie, in 

 such a manner as to make it appear that the 

 visit was wholly unexpected, and kept waiting 

 a long time before any refreshment was offered 

 him. After his own dinner, and whilst the 

 gentlemen of his retinue were still at table, 

 James was taken by Ruthven through several 

 rooms to a small study, which was situated on the 

 first story, and of which one of the windows over- 

 looked the courtyard of Gowrie House and the 

 other a public street. On crossing the threshold 

 the king beheld ' not a bound man, but a free man, 

 with a dagger at his girdle.' At this moment 

 Ruthven, having locked the door, snatched the 

 armed man's dagger and held the point to the 

 king's breast, telling him that he was now a 

 prisoner, swearing many bloody oaths that if he 

 cried or made any attempt to open a window the 

 dagger would go to his heart, and, further, re- 

 proaching him with the murder of the first Earl 

 of Gowrie, who had been executed for treason in 

 1584. At this James began to expostulate with 

 Ruthven, who so far relented as to leave the king 

 in the armed man's keeping, while he himself went 

 out to consult his brother, the earl. During his 

 absence James questioned the armed man, who 

 protested that he had been thrust into the room 

 without knowing for what purpose, and who 

 willingly obeyed the order to open one of the 

 windows, the king himself, scrupulously faithful 

 to a promise extorted from him by Ruthven, being 

 unwilling to do so. In a few moments Alexander 

 returned, and, declaring that there was no help but 

 that the king must die, produced a garter with 

 which he attempted to bind his hands. A fierce 

 struggle ensued, during which the armed man 

 stood behind the king's back, ' doing nothing but 

 trembling all the time,' and of which the result 

 was that James was able to reach the open window 

 and to call for help. Whilst this was going on in 

 the study, a servant of the household had entered 



the hall where Gowrie still was with Lennox, 

 Mar, and the other courtiers, and informed him 

 that the king had ridden off to Falkland. At this 

 the whole company hastily rose to follow, and had 

 reached the street when the king's cries were heard. 

 Lennox, Mar, and the other attendants at once 

 turned back and made for the upper story by way 

 of the main staircase, but were prevented by a 

 barred door from reaching the king. John Ramsay, 

 a royal retainer, had also heard his master's 

 voice, and, finding a door open at the foot ol 

 the turret, at once entered and ran up the 

 winding stairs. They led directly to the study, 

 of which Ruthven had forgotten to close the 

 entrance, and in which the hand-to-hand struggle 

 was still going on. Drawing his hunting-knife 

 Ramsay twice stabbed the king's antagonist, who, 

 loosing his hold, was thrust down the stairs by 

 James and despatched by Sir Thomas Erskine 

 and Dr Herries, who were at that moment coming 

 up ; his last words were ' Alas, I had na wyte 

 (blame) of it.' Scarcely had this taken place when 

 the Earl of Gowrie appeared on the scene, bearing 

 a drawn sword in each hand, and followed by seven 

 of his servants. A short encounter ended with the 

 death of the earl, who expired without uttering a 

 word. The inhabitants of Perth, by whom Gowrie, 

 who was their provost, was much beloved, hearing 

 of his fate, surrounded the house and threatened 

 revenge. But after the king had addressed them 

 from a window, and admitted the magistrates, to 

 whom he related the circumstances, they quietly 

 dispersed, and James was able to return to Falk- 

 land. On the authority of the king's declaration 

 Gowrie and Ruthven, whose dead bodies were pro- 

 duced at the bar, were declared traitors, and three 

 of their servants were hanged. On the other 

 hand, marks of royal favour were bestowed on all 

 Avho had come to the king's assistance in the study. 

 Ramsay was knighted, and subsequently created 

 Viscount of Haddington and Earl of Holderness ; 

 Sir Thomas Erskine was raised to the peerage as 

 Lord Dirleton, and Dr Herries received the honour 

 of knighthood as Sir Hugh Herries of Cowsland. 

 Henderson, the 'armed man,' after having obtained 

 a free pardon, was rewarded with a gift of lands 

 and a large pension. 



To the events of 1600 there was a sequel a 

 few years later. In 1608 George Sprott, a notary 

 in Eyemouth, was apprehended, condemned, and 

 executed for being privy to a conspiracy between 

 Gowrie and Robert Logan of Restalrig. He con- 

 fessed to having seen several letters written by 

 Logan to the earl, and to having retained one 

 of them, but no document of the kind alluded 

 to was actually put in at the trial. Next year, 

 however, there were produced five letters, said 

 to have been discovered amongst Sprott's papers, 

 and alleged to contain proof of a plot to Kidnap 

 the king. On the strength of them Logan, who 

 had died in the meantime, but whose mouldering 

 bones were dug up and brought to trial, was 

 declared to have been guilty of high-treason. 

 From the very first the story of the conspiracy 

 was received with incredulity by many in Scot- 

 land, and amongst these by the clergy of Edin- 

 burgh, with Robert Bruce at their head, and by 

 the queen herself ; whilst the Duke of Lennox, 

 though he had appeared as one of the chief wit- 

 nesses at the trial, asserted that ' if it were given 

 to him to his oath, he could not say whether the 

 practice proceeded from Gowrie or the king.' In 

 England Elizabeth, on being informed by a special 

 messenger of what had taken place, gave him to 

 understand that she ' did not believe Gowrie and 

 his brother to be so guilty as they were repre- 

 sented.' In France James's statement was openly 

 ridiculed. This attitude of scepticism is still 



