"''' 



SCOT 



theatre; but as the king resented this interference, 

 tlu- ministers judged it prudent to yield to hie autho- 

 rity, and the ol>,io\ : om -.taiuti? was repealed. 



.iviii of domestic tranquillity seemed to dawn 

 on the nation. Hut the political horizon was suddenly 

 overcast by a tempest which destroyed the house and 

 fortunes of the noble family of Cowrie. As the king 

 wus preparing himself for the chase at Falkland, Alex- 

 ander Ruthven, second brother to the earl of Cowrie 

 arrived and informed the king that he had apprehm 1 

 t 1 a stranger of very suspicious appearance, possessed 

 of a great quantity of foreign gold. .lames proposed 

 t> send a warrant to the magistrates of Perth to del tin 

 and examine the suspected stranger, and to report the 

 result ; but Ituthven earnestly entreated his majesty 

 t>> accompany him in por-on and investigate the affair. 

 About noon, the king hastily left Falkland in company 

 with Ruthven. They were overtaken on the way by 

 Lennox, Mar, and others, to the number of twenty 

 persons. 



Two messengers were successively dispatched by 

 Ruthven to his brother to announce his majesty's ap- 

 proach. The earl of Cowrie in consequence rode to 

 meet the royal party, and conduct them to his castle. 

 While his attendants were dining in an adjoining 

 apartment, Ruthven requested the king to accompany 

 him whither the prisoner was secured. After following 

 his guide through several apartments, the doors of 

 which were successively locked as they passed, Ruth- 

 ven opened the door ot his small study, and the king 

 was surprised and alarmed at the sight of a man armed 

 with a sword and a dagger. Ruthven snatched the 

 weapons and held the point of the dagger to the king's 

 breast, reminding him of his injustice and cruelty to 

 his father, and threatening him with instant death 

 should he make any noise or offer resistance. 



James expostulated, flattered, and threatened. Ruth- 

 ven protested that his majesty should receive no injury 

 if he would swear not to escape or raise an alarm, and 

 was then given in charge to the armed man. Ruthven 

 retired, and James prevailed on his keeper to open a 

 window that looked to the street. Meantime, Lennox 

 and Mar, impatiently inquired whither he had re- 

 tired, and Cowrie replied that he had set off for Falk- 

 land. Ruthven had returned to the king, and offered 

 to bind his hands. James replied, that he was born a 

 free king, and should die a free king. Ruthven seized 

 him by the throat, and a violent grapple ensued. The 

 king dragged his opponent to the window, and shrieked 

 for helpf At that moment the lords were passing by, 

 and, rushing into the castle, began to demolish every 

 obstacle which prevented access to the king. 



Sir John Ramsay stabbed Ruthven, and Sir Thomas 

 Erskine and Sir Hugh Herries immediately killed 

 him, notwithstanding his protestations of innocence. 

 Erskine and Herries hud no sooner joined the king, 

 than Cowrie entered with two drawn swords and se- 

 veral attendants. The king's friends had presence of 

 mind to thrust him into the study. Gowrie was pierced 

 through the heart, and his attendant fled. 



No sooner had the incidents transpired, than the 

 burgesses of Perth, of which Cowrie was provost, sur- 

 rounded the castle, and threatened the king and his 

 followers with vengeance. James conciliated the mul- 

 titude by detailing to them the particulars of his escape, 

 and left Perth for Falkland. Of the different hypo- 

 theses that have been advanced to account for this 

 mysterious and tragical event, none appears rational 

 or satisfactory. The most probable solution is, that 



I. A X D. 



Cowrie iiad formed a design to seise the king's per- 

 son, and by that means acquire the absolute direction 

 of the state. 



news reached Edinburgh on the following day. 

 The privy council issued an order to the minister* t/i 

 offer public thanksgiving for his majesty's happy de- 

 liverance ; but they declined giving publicity to a 

 story which seemed to them problematical and dubious. 

 Tiuir incredulity was at last overcome by the terror 

 of the king's resentment. Robert Bruce, lets obse- 

 quious, was punished for his scepticism with the for- 

 feiture of his benefice and banishment. 



The parliament proceeded with great severity against 

 the house of Cowrie. An indictment for high treaton 

 was preferred against the dead bodies of the murdered 

 brothers, who were capitally convicted, their honours 

 and estates forfeited, and the surname of Ruthven 

 abolished. Three of Cowrie's servants were executed 

 at Perth. James was now encouraged to prosecute 

 the salutary undertaking of reforming the Highland*. 

 It was his aim to render the turbulent mountaineer* 

 peaceful, and to lessen their attachment to military 

 pursuits. The feudal chiefs were made responsible 

 for the peaceable conduct of their vassals : and the law* 

 for repressing idleness aiid restraining the predatory 

 habits of the peasantry were commanded to be rigor- 

 ously enforced. 



Three towns were ordered to be built, in Lochaber, 

 Cantyre, and Lewis. But a colony that had been 

 transferred from Fife to Lewis, was surprised and 

 murdered, and obliged to abandon the settlement. For A. D. 160*. 

 several years previous to Elizabeth's death James made 

 many efforts to eecure his accession to the English 

 crown. Being allied by marriage to many German 

 princes, he obtained from them an acknowledgment of 

 the justice of his claim, and corresponded with the 

 pope, who declared in his favour. 



Elizabeth, apprised of this transaction, was induced 

 to scrutinize his conduct towards the catholics, and 

 this increased her indecision to nominate him as her 

 successor. But these appearances were counterbalanced 

 by an explicit assurance of support from the English 

 Catholics, from many of the nobles, and from the 

 queen's own ministers. The court of France attempt- 

 ed to throw obstacles in the way of this union ; and 

 though anonymous pamphlets were circulated, unfa- 

 vourable to the king's right, they were disregarded, 

 and every religious and political party coalesced in 

 promoting his accession. The time at length arrived, Death of 

 and after a reign of forty-five years, Queen Elizabeth 

 expired in the seventieth year of her age. 



In compliance with the wishes of her ministers, *? 

 Elizabeth on her death-bed named the king of Scots 

 as her successor. The news was communicated to 

 James by the privy council at London. He caused 

 his titles to be immediately proclaimed, and prepared 

 to take possession of the English throne. On the Sab- 

 bath day before his departure, he went to the church 

 of St. Giles, and addressed a long discourse to the 

 audience, in which he enumerated the many proofs he 

 had given his countrymen of affection and xeal, pro- 

 mising to revisit his native country every third year. 

 He committed the civil administration of the kingdom 

 to the privy council and the officers of state, and in- ^ j 

 trusted the guardianship of his children Henry, Charles, 

 and the Princess Elizabeth to different noblemen. He 

 commenced his journey for London on Tuesday the 

 5th of April, with a splendid but select train of the 

 principal nobility, and entered it on the l?th of May. 



