Stuart dynasty

96 THE STUART DYNASTY.
" first in danger."* On this principle he went
when invading England at the head of a large army,
the exact number of which has not been precisely
estimated. The chroniclers all speak of a hundred
thousand men, a total altogether beyond any other
Scotch army ever known. Dr. Hill Burton, while
allowing that the personal popularity of the King
would induce a larger number than usual on these
occasions to join the royal standard, thinks it hardly
possible that the number is correctly given.
Nor was this headstrong conduct unopposed by
the wisest heads amongst James's subjects, the Queen
and the aged Lord Angus joining in the chorus
of disapproval which prevailed when the project
became notorious.
It was at this time that these dissentients —
probably prompted by the Queen herself — attempted
to play upon the well-known mysticism of James IV.,
so that a venerable and weird figure is said to have
appeared before the King during devotion in the
church of Linlithgow, and warned him to desist from
his warlike purpose, avoiding also the counsel of
women.f The vision of James IY. in the church at
Linlithgow while at vespers is thus described by
Buchanan .J
" Leaning upon the chair on which the King sat
was an old man, the hairs of his head being red,
* Burton's ' History of England,' new edition, vol. iii. p. 52, quoting
Bergenroth's ' Simancas Papers.'
t The story appears at length in ' Pitscottie Chronicles,' pp. 264, 265,
and is adopted by all writers on this period.
t Edition 1752, vol. ii. p. 119.
•