History of the life and death of John, Earl of Gowrie

QUEEN MARGARET. 49
fore the Privy Council, to answer for his having
been so ambitious as to marry the Queen Dowager,
who had been acting as regent of the kingdom. A
person, who was accusing the Earl, spoke of him
so disrespectfully, that Lord Drummond, in the
presence of the Council, was provoked to give the
accuser a box on the ear ; and the new regent, the
Duke of Albany, to gratify some of the nobility,
committed Lord Drummond to the Castle of Black-
ness, where he remained a prisoner till he was li-
berated at the powerful intercession of his friends.*
October 7th» 1515, Queen Margaret bore to the
Earl of Angus, Lady Margaret Douglas, who lived
to be Countess of Lennox, and mother to Henry
Stewart, Lord Darnley, the second husband of
Queen Mary of Scotland.
In 1516, Queen Margaret discorded with the
Earl of Angus, and separated herself from him.
Her displeasure against him was so great, that she
joined the party who were endeavouring to dimi-
nish his influence in the kingdom. She sought to
be divorced from him, and wished to be at liberty
to marry another husband. Her pretence was, that
* MS. History of the Drummonds, p. 40.
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