Montgomery manuscripts

6 The Montgomery Manuscripts.
Since the said King James bis time of living in Scotland, when he went into England, he
created (by advancement) divers Lords to be Earles, 16 as also did King Charles the ist and 2d.
There were likewise divers earles, as Argyle and Montrose, advanced to be Marquises. The old
Earldomes of Rothes, Southerland, and Monteith, are also extinct for want of male heires, by which
events, it seems to me, that Eglintoun should have the 7th place among the Earles, and Glencairne
the 9th, unless by special grants (in the letters patent) others, now at present earls, had prece-
dency given them, being favourites; but as the precedency of Eglintoun was complained of by
Glencairne, the debate might have been occasioned thus, viz., one of the earles of Eglintoun, I
think that Hugh who was insidiously slain at the river of Annock;»7 2 d Adam, Laird of Braidstane,
" 20 George Sinclair, Earl of Caithnes, married the sister of the
Earle of Huntley that now is : his chiefe house, Girnego.
"21 Alexander Gordon, Earle of Sutlwrlande, married the
father's sister of the Earle of Huntley that now is : his chiefe house,
Dunrobene.
" 22 John Grayme, Earle of Monteith, married the sister of
Campbell of Glenorehy, Knight : his chiefe house, Kirk-bryde. K
" 23 John Rutkvcne, Earl of Go-wry, yong, unmarried : his chiefe
house, Ruthven.
" 24 The Earle of March. The rents thereof are annexed to the
Crowne."
16 Divers Lords to be Earles. — " The 4 of Marche, this
yeire (1605), Alexander Settone, Lord Fynie, was created
Earle of Dumferlinge; Alexander, Lord Home, was created
Earle of Home: and James, Lord Drummond, was created
Earle of Perth, with grate solemnitey. Eache of them
had 4 knights." — Sir James Balfour, Annals of Scotland,
vol. ii., p. 5. Among the creations of Charles I., on his
visit to Scotland soon after his accession, were the follow-
ing, made, says Balfour, " to honour his coronation, first
parliament, and place of his birth :" — " George Hay,
Viscount Duplaine, Lord Chancellor of Scotland, created
Earle of Kinnoul; William Crighton, Viscount of Aire,
Lord Sanquhare, created Earle of Dumfries; William
Douglas, Viscount Drumlanrick, created Earle of Queens-
burrey; William Alexander, Viscount Canada, Lord
Alexander of Menstrie, Principal Secretary to His Ma-
jesty for Scotland, created Earle of Streueling; John Bruce,
Lord Kilross, created Earle of Elgyne ; David, Lord
Carnegie, created Earle of Southescke; John Stewarte,
Lord Tracjuare, created Earle of Traquare; Sir Robert
Ker, created Earle of Ancrum; John, Lord Wymees,
created Earle of Wymees; and William Ramsay, Lord
Ramsay, created Earle of Ramsay." — Balfour, Annals
of Scotland, vol. ii. , p. 202.
17 The river Annock. — Hugh Montgomery, fourth earl
of Eglinton, was assassinated by the Cunninghams at the
ford of Annock, a small stream which flows from the White
Loch in the parish of Meams, forms the western boundary
of the parish of Dreghorn, separates the latter from the
parish of Irvine, and falls into the river Irvine at Stewar-
ton. The atrocities of the well-known feud between the
Montgomerys and Cunninghams appear to have culminated
in the murder of the nobleman above-named. The best
account of this assassination and its bloody consequences
is preserved in a MS. History of the Eglinton Family,
from which the following extract is quoted by Paterson,
Account of the Parishes and Families of Ayrshire, vol. i.,
p. 88 : — "The principal perpetrators of this foul deed were
John Cunningham, brother of the Earl of Glencairn ;
David Cunningham, of Robertland; Alexander Cunning-
ham, of Corsehill ; Alexander Cunningham, of Aiket ;
and John Cunningham, of Clonbeith. The good earl,
apprehending no danger from any quarter, set out on the
19th of April, 1586, from his own house of Eglinton, to-
wards Stirling, where the Court then remained, in a quiet
and peaceable manner, having none in his retinue but his
own domestics, and called at the Langschaw, where he
staid so long as to dine. How the wicked crew, his mur-
derers, got notice of his being there, I cannot positively
say. It is reported, but I cannot aver it for truth, that the
Lady Langschaw, Margaret Cunningham, who was a
daughter of the house of Aiket (others say it was a servant
who was a Cunningham), went up to the battlement of the
house, and hung over a white table napkin as a signal to
the Cunninghams, most of whom lived within sight of the
house of Langschaw, — which was the sign agreed should
be given when the Earl of Eglinton was there. Upon that
the Cunninghams assembled to the number of thretie-four,
or thereby, in a warlike manner, as if they had been to
attack or defend themselves from an enemy, and concealed
themselves in a low ground near the bridge of Annock,
where they knew the earl was to pass; secure, as he appre-
hended, from every danger ; when, alace ! all of a sudden,
the whole bloody gang set upon the earl and his small
company, some of whom they hewed to pieces, and John
Cunningham of Clonbeith, came up with a pistol, and shot
the earl dead on the place. The horror of the fact struck
everybody with amazement and consternation, and all the
country ran to arms, either on the one side or other, so
that for some time there was a scene of bloodshed and
murder in the West that had never been known before.
. . . The friends of the family of Eglintoun flocked to
the master of Eglintoun, his brother, to assist in revenging
his brother's death, from all quarters ; and in the heat of
their resentment killed every Cunningham without dis-
tinction they could come by, or even so much as met with
on the highways, or living peaceably in their own houses.
It woidd make a little volume to mention all the bloodshed
and murders that were committed on this doolful occasion,
in the shire of Renfrew and bailiewick of Cunningham.
Aiket, one of the principal persons concerned, was shot
near his own house; Robertland and Corsehill escaped.
Robertland got beyond the seas to Denmark, and got his
peace made by means of Queen Ami of Denmark, when
she was married to King James VI. Clonbeith, who had
actually embued his hand in the earl's blood, and shot him
with his own hands, was, by a select company of the friends
of the family of Eglinton, with the master at their head,
hotly pursued. He got to Hamilton, and (they) getting