SCOTLAND. 



-VJl 



History. lease of prince James, without effect; and Albany, 



* b- *~~v*"^' / having governed tlu> kingdom for thirteen years, or, 



19- including his direction in the councils of his father 



and brother, thirty-four years, died at the age of 



eighty. He wat succeeded in the regency by his son 



Murdoc; and during his government of four years, 



Scotland was nearly in a state of pure anarchy. 



The death of Henry in France, and the appoint- 

 ment of the duke of Bedford as protector of England, 

 presented at length an expectation to the Scots that 

 their captive prince would be set at liberty. With the 

 concurrence of the councils of both kingdoms, a treaty 

 was agreed upon. Forty thousand pounds in lieu of 

 maintenance and education, were promised by the 

 Scots in annual instalments of two thousand ; and the 

 boroughs of Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, and Aber- 

 deen, granted a security for the payment of the prince's 

 ransom. 



James espoused the duke of Somerset's daughter, 

 Release and flnc j rece j ve d as her portion a remission of ten thousand 

 accession of , /. , p. .- -. r. 



James the P oun " 8 nis ransom. After a captivity of nineteen 

 First. years, he arrived in Scotland, and was received with 



universal acclamations. 



James the First. James had attained his thirtieth 

 year when he returned to govern his native kingdom. 

 In order to reform the police of his kingdom, it was 

 necessary to maintain peace with England. A truce 

 for seven years was concluded, which afforded leisure 

 and opportunity for promoting that object. Murdoc 

 and two of his sons were apprehended, condemned, 

 and executed. James, the regent's youngest son, es- 

 caped to Argyllshire, was pronounced an outlaw, and 

 fled to Ireland ; whence he never returned. 



The frequent assembling of parliaments during this 

 reign, evinces the king's confidence in his people, and 

 their reverence for his authority. Many salutary laws 

 were enacted, which he enforced with a resolute autho- 

 rity. The acts of this parliament form the first of a 

 regular series of Scottish laws, and display a consider- 

 able degree of political prudence. The Highland chiefs 

 A D 1425 na( ^ ren dered themselves obnoxious to the government, 

 and an example of severity was necessary. For this 

 purpose a parliament assembled at Inverness, which 

 jjjgh) an( i chiefs were summoned to attend. Many 

 of them were instantly seized and cast into prison ; and 

 a few of them were executed. The lord of the Isles 

 and his brother suffered a temporary confinement. 



Notwithstanding the amicable relation maintained 

 with England, it was deemed expedient to renew the 

 ancient league with France. The depressed condition 

 of the latter kingdom, suggested the propriety of a 

 marriage alliance between the dauphin and the prin- 

 cess royal of Scotland. In lieu of dowry, six thousand 

 men were required and promised, to aid the French 

 against the English. A scene of rebellion was again 

 exhibited in the Highlands. The lord of the Isles, 

 who had regained his liberty, raised the standard of 

 rebellion, and burned Inverness ; but was subdued, and 

 confined in Tantallon castle. Donald Balloch, a rela- 

 tion of the chief, ravaged Lochaber, and defeated the 

 Earls of Mar and Caithness ; but fled to Ireland. 



The marriage of the dauphin to the princess of Scot- 

 land w/.s an unhappy connexion for the bride. She 

 was conducted to her betrothed husband at the age of 

 twelve, lived nine years in splendid misery, and fell a 

 sacrifice to unfounded jealousy. 



An infraction of the truce with Scotland by some of 

 the English borderers provoked James to retaliate. 

 Having summoned the whole force of his kingdom to 



A.D. Hz*. 



A.D. 1428. 



A.D. 1433. 



meet him in arms, he invested Roxburgh castle, which H'marj. 

 he failed to reduce. It was impossible to procure pro- *~*v~~~ ' 

 visions, and a retreat wat therefore the only alterna- 

 tive. James had incensed the nobles by his vigorous 

 administration. The commonalty were also displeased, 

 because of the taxes imposed, which they were disposed 

 to view in the light of extortion. 



Sir Robert Graham, uncle of the Karl of Stratherne, 

 had suffered imprisonment from some unknown cause. 

 Hi ing of a resentful disposition, he persuaded a num- 

 ber of the nobles and gentry to tupport him in repre- 

 senting their grievances to the king. But his violence 

 led him to excess. He rose from his seat in parlia- 

 ment, advanced to the throne, and laid his hand upon 

 the king. He was immediately ordered into confine- 

 ment : and was sentenced to suffer banishment, and 

 confiscation of his property. He then sent a defiance 

 in writing to the king, renouncing his allegiance, and 

 denouncing vengeance. A royal proclamation was 

 issued, offering a large reward for his apprehension, 

 while he was organizing a conspiracy against the king's 

 life. Walter, Earl of Atholl, the king's uncle, and Sir 

 Robert Stewart his nephew, were the principal ac- 

 complices. Graham offered to support Sir Robert's 

 pretensions to the crown, in the event of the king's as- 

 sassination. 



The murder was committed at Perth, where the Murder of 

 court had been celebrating the festival of Christmas. Jn I. 

 James died in the 44th year of his age, and the 13th " 

 of his reign. But in a few weeks the leaders of the (J^g^ 

 conspiracy were seized, tried, and executed. James A.D. 1437. 

 left one son and five daughters. 



James the Second, a child of six years of age, suc- 

 ceeded his father, and was crowned at Scone. A very 

 judicious parliamentary enactment was promulgated, 

 revoking all alienations of lands or other property be- 

 longing to the crown since the death of the late king, 

 except what had been sanctioned by the estates ; and 

 interdicting all future alienations, unless sanctioned by 

 the parliament. 



The state of the kingdom required that the hostili- 

 ties commenced before the late king's death should be 

 discontinued. A truce for nine years was concluded 

 with England. An unhappy rivalship between Cnch- 

 ton and Livingstone weakened the authority of the go- 

 vernment. The nobles relapsed into their former 

 feuds. 



The house of Douglas had been aggrandised by an 

 accession of possessions and titles of honour. The 

 chancellor, apprehensive of danger from Douglas's ex- 

 orbitant power, adopted an impolitic expedient to de- 

 stroy him. He invited the earl and his brother into 

 the castle of Edinburgh, where, after the semblance of 

 a trial, they were beheaded. James, lord of Abercorn, 

 succeeded to the estates and titles of Douglas, and 

 transmitted them to his son, who married Margaret, 

 the Fair Maid of Galloway, and the sLter of the late 

 murdered Earl of Douglas. Thus the house of Dou- 

 glas was raised to its former influence and splendour. 

 The king's ministers were the first to feel the resent- 

 ment of a nobleman, whose power became formidable 

 even to the thrqne. 



Having attained his fourteenth year, James was per- 

 suatied to assume the government in person. Doughs 

 insinuated himself into his favour and confdence, and 

 procured the dismissal of the late administrate 

 Crichton and Livingstone were soon after denour. 

 as rebels, and their estates confiscated. In re- 

 the chancellor, who had shut himself up in the c<< 



II 



