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

190 THE LIFE AND DEATH OF
him by the neck, and said, " Traitor, this is thy
deed ! Thou shalt die." The Earl pleaded, " What
is the matter ? I know nothing *." We are told,
in Stewart's Collections, that the Earl would then
have been slain, if his friends and servants had not
rescued him. Calderwood tells us, " that Alexan-
der Ruthven of Forgan," (viz. Freeland,) who had
no sword at the time, drove Sir Thomas Erskine to
the ground by the violence of a buffet." And we
are further told, in the foresaid Collections, that
the Earl devoutly appealed to God, saying, " O !
my God, what can all this mean ?"
Access to the court-yard was now denied him.
Perceiving that his life was sought after, though
he could not devise the reason, and having no
sword upon him, he thought it necessary that he,
and his friends and servants, should be armed for
their own safety. He ran " the space of half a
pair of but-lands, to Glenorchie's house, where he
got two swords." From thence he went, it is said,
to the house of Andrew Henderson, and there pro-
cured a steel bonnet, which, when he was on the
street, was " tyed upon his head by a lackquey."
* Lindore's Deposition.