Montgomery manuscripts

iS
The Montgomery Manuscripts.
And now halcyon days shined throughout all Scotland, all animosities being compressed'* by
his Majesty (who in a few months afterwards) having certain intelligence of Queen Elizabeth's sick-
ness, and extreme bodily weakness, and not long thence of her death, which was on the 24th of
March (according to the English computation) Ao. Do. 1602,5 James the 6th being proclaimed King
in London and Westminster, by the Lord Mayor, with the Lords of the Privy Councill, and by
them solemnly invited to take progress and receive the crown, with the kingdoms of England, &c,
into his gracious protection. 6 Accordingly his Majesty (as soon as conveniency would allow) went
" other families " referred to in the text beside those of
Eglinton and Glencairn requiring to be reconciled were,
principally, the master of Glammis and the earl of Craw-
ford, the earls of Angus and Montrose, and the earls of
Huntly and Marischal. These, together with many others
of the nobility, were invited by the king to a grand banquet
in Holyrood, on Sunday, the 15th of May, at which the
king drank to them thrice, loudly calling on them to be
reconciled to each other, and uttering threats against the
first who should disobey the injunction. " Next day, after
supper, then an early meal, and after 'many scolls' had
been drunk to each other, he made them all march in
procession, in their doublets, up the Canongate, two and
two, holding by each other's hands, and each pair being
a couple of reconciled enemies. He himself went in front,
with lord Hamilton on his right hand, and the lord
chancellor Maitland on the left; then Angus and Mont-
rose, Huntly and Marischal, Crawford and the master of
Glammis. Coming to the Tolbooth, his Majesty ordered
all the prisoners for debt to be released. Thence he ad-
vanced to the picturesque old market-cross, covered with
tapestry for the occasion, where the magistrates had set
out a long table well furnished with bread, wine, and
sweetmeats. Amidst the blare of trumpets and the boom
of cannon the young monarch publicly drank to his nobles,
wishing them peace and happiness, and made them all
drink to each other. The people, long accustomed to
sights of bloody contention, looked on with unspeak-
able joy, danced, broke into songs of joy, and brought out
all imaginable musical instruments to give additional,
albeit discordant, . expression to their happiness. All
acknowledged that no such sight had ever been seen in
Edinburgh. In the general transport, the gloomy gibbet,
usually kept standing there in readiness, was cast down,
as if it could never again be needed. Sweetmeats, and
glasses from which toasts had been drunk, flew about,
from the tables of the feast. When all was done,
the king and nobles returned in the same form as they
had come. " — Moysie, Memoirs of the Affairs of Scot-
land ; Birrel, Diary ; Calderwood, History of the
Kirk ; Historic of King James the Sex/, as quoted by
Chambers, in his Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol.
i., pp, 177-8. These exciting ceremonies would seem to
have been comparatively worthless, as in the year 1595,
the king summoned the following parties into his presence,
under the disagreeable conviction that "the commonweal
was altogether disorderit and shaken louss by reason of
the deidly feids and controversies standing amang his sub-
jects of all degrees," viz., "Robert, master of Eglinton, and
Patrick Houston of that Ilk ; James, earl of Glencairn,
and Cunningham of Glengamock ; John, earl of Montrose,
and French of Thornydykes ; Hugh Campbell of Louden,
sheriff of Ayr, Sondielandsof Calder, sir James Sondielands
of Slamannan, Crawford of Kerse, and Spottiswoode of
that Ilk; David, earl of Crawford, and Guthrie of that
Ilk ; Sir Thomas Lyon of Auldbar, knight, and Garden
of that Ilk; Alexander, lord Livingstone, sir Alexander
Brace, elder, of Airth, and Archibald Colquhoun of Luss;
John, earl of Mar, Alexander Forester of Garden, and An-
dro M 'Farlane of Arrochar ; James, lord Borthwick, Pres-
ton of Craigmillar, Mr. George Lawder of Bass, and
Charles Lawder, son of umwhile Andro Lawder, in Wynd-
park; sir John Edminstone of that Ilk; Maister William
Cranston, younger, of that Ilk ; George, earl Marischal,
and Seyton of Meldrum ; James Cheyne of Straloch, and
William King of Barrach ; James Tweedie of Dramelzier
and Charles Geddes of Richan. " — Chambers, Domestic
Annals of Scotland, vol. i., p. 267.
4 All animosities being compressed. — On the contrary,
Sir Thomas Kennedy of Colzean was murdered in the vi-
cinity of Ayr, a short time before the king left for England,
and in the same year, a terrible feud raged between the
Mackensies of Kintail and theMacdonnells of Glengarry. —
Chambers, Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol i., pp. 363,
3 6 9-
5 Ao. Do. 1602. — The English of that period, and for
more than a century later, commenced the year on the
25th of March, so that according to this computation, the
Queen died on the last day of the year 1602 ; whereas,
according to Scottish computation, she died on the 24th of
March, 1603, the Scotch commencing the year on the
1st of January, as we now do.
6 His gracious protection. — Elizabeth died early on the
morning of Thursday, the 24th of March, and James had
intelligence of the event on Saturday evening, after he had
retired to rest, in Holyrood-house. The news was brought
to him by a young aspirant to court favour, named Robert
Carey, who had thus made a rapid journey upon horse-
back, from London to Edinburgh, in less than three days.
On the 5th of Aprill following, the king commenced his
journey to England, "at which time," says Birrel, "there
was great lamentation and mourning amang the commons
for the loss of the daily sight of their blessid prince."
Birrel records aUo that "the queen and prince (Henry)
came from Stirling to Edinburgh on the 28th May.
There were sundry English ladies and gentlewomen come
to give her the convoy." On the 30th, "her majesty and
the prince came to St. Giles kirk, weel convoyit with
coaches, herself and the prince in her awin coach, whilk
came with her out of Denmark, and the English gentle-
women in the rest of the coaches. They heard ane guid
sermon in the kirk, and thereafter rade hame to Haly-
rood-house." — Chambers, Domestic Annals of Scotland,
YoL i pp. 381 — Z.