GOWN 



COWRIE- CONSPIRACY 



Gower's chief works are Speculum 

 Meditantis, written in French, 

 which was lost for centuries and 

 discovered at Cambridge in 1895 ; 

 Vox Clamantis, in Latin, which 

 deals with the rising of Wat Tyler ; 

 and Confessio Amantis, in English, 

 a collection of tales after the model 

 of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. 

 Gower is unconscionably prolix 

 and somewhat dull. The Vox 

 Clamantis, . which runs to 30,000 

 lines, is redeemed by the author's 

 gift for story-telling and a certain 

 quaintness of fancy. The standard 

 edition of his works is that by G. C. 

 Macaulay, 1899-1902. 



Gown. Word meaning an outer 

 garment of loose shape. It is now 

 used in two senses, for the robe 

 worn by graduate and under- 

 graduate members of universities, 

 and of learned societies generally, 

 and as a synonym for the outer 

 garment of a lady. There are also 

 dressing gown, tea gown, etc. See 

 Costume ; Dressmaking ; Hood ; 

 also colour plate. 



Gowrie, EARL OF. Scottish title 

 borne from 1581 to 1600 by the 

 family of Ruthven. The 1st earl 

 was William Ruthven, 4th Lord 

 Ruthven ; he belonged to an old 

 family, and one of his ancestors 

 had been made Lord Ruthven in 

 1488. Like his father, the 3rd Lord 

 Ruthven, he was active in the 

 troubled times of Queen Mary. He 

 was concerned in the raid of Ruth- 

 ven, as the seizure of James VI at 

 Ruthven Castle in 1582 was called. 

 The earl was executed for treason 

 in 1584, but the estates were re- 

 stored to his son William, the 2nd 

 earl, who died in 1588. John Ruth- 

 ven, who then became the 3rd earl, 

 is chiefly known for his share in the 

 Gowrie conspiracy. During the 

 attempt to seize the king, he was 

 killed, Aug. 5, 1600, and the title 

 became extinct. The estates of the 

 earl were mainly in Perthshire. See 

 Ruthven. 



Gowrie Conspiracy, THE. Plot 

 against the person of James VI of 

 Scotland, attempted by John, earl 

 of Gowrie, and his brother Alexan- 

 der, known as the master of Ruth- 

 ven. On Aug. 5, 1600, the king 

 was mounting his horse at Falkland 

 Palace for a day's buck hunting 

 when Alexander Ruthven ap- 

 proached and told him that a 

 countryman had found near Perth 

 a wide pot all full of coined gold in 

 great pieces, and that the man was 

 detained in Gowrie Castle, where the 

 king was prayed to come and 

 examine him. 



About 7 o'clock the king ac- 

 cordingly rode there with a few 

 attendants, Ruthven spurring for- 

 ward to warn his brother of the 

 king's approach. James's sus- 



John Gower. Effigy and tomb of 



the poet in S. Saviour's Church, 



Southwark 



picions had been aroused by Ruth- 

 ven' s strange manner, and also by 

 Gowrie's appearance with an escort 

 of fourscore armed retainers to 

 meet his royal visitor, and he was 

 further angered by the sorry cheer 

 provided for his refreshment. After 

 dinner Alexander led him to a 

 remote part of the castle, up a 

 winding stair, and through several 

 rooms, the doors of which he 

 locked behind him, into a gallery 

 chamber where a man was waiting 

 with a dagger in his girdle. Seizing 

 this dagger, Ruthven held it to 

 the king's breast, and threatened to 

 stab him if he uttered a sound. 

 James pleaded with him, and by 

 promise of pardon and silence on 

 the subject, prevailed on him not 



to strike. Ruthven left the room 

 to consult his brother, leaving the 

 king in the custody of the servant. 



Ruthven returning told the 

 king he must die, and a desperate 

 struggle followed, during which 

 James managed to drag Ruthven 

 to a window whence he called for 

 help to his attendants, whom 

 Gowrie had vainly tried to induce 

 to leave, alleging that the king 

 had already departed by another 

 door. Sir John Ramsey was the 

 first to find his way upstairs, and 

 stabbed Ruthven, who was dis- 

 patched on the stairs by Sir Thomas 

 Erskine and Sir Hugh Harries also 

 rushing to the rescue. The earl oi 

 Gowrie, hurrying in, was stabbed 

 to the heart by Ramsey. 



What lay behind the tacts re- 

 mains uncertain. An investigation 

 was held, but even at the time 

 popular feeling ran high against 

 James, whom the people believed 

 to be '' a doer and not a sufferer." 

 It was alleged that he desired to 

 extirpate the Ruthven family, who 

 made some pretensions to the 

 throne, and the proved forgery of 

 letters produced by a notary, 

 George Sprot, which purported to 

 have been written by Sir Robert 

 Logan of Restalrig to Gowrie, has 

 strengthened this opinion, further 

 confirmed by the ruthless treat- 

 ment meted out to the surviving 

 Ruthvens. On the other hand, it 

 has been suggested that the Ruth- 

 vens were actuated by desire to 

 avenge their father's execution, and 

 also that the conspiracy originated 

 in the English court with the con- 

 nivance of Elizabeth. See The Tra- 

 gedy of Gowrie House, L. A- Barbe, 

 1887 ; James VI and the Gowrie 

 Mystery, Andrew Lang, 1902. 



Gowrie Conspiracy. The death of John and Alexander Gowrie, frustrated 

 in their plot to assassinate James VI of Scotland 



From a print in the British Museum 



