Douglas book > Angus memoirs

NEGOTIATIONS FOB RETURN TO SCOTLAND, 1524. 201
done at little expense to Henry, whose best assistance was rendered in the
form of a bodyguard of two hundred men-at-arms to the queen and the
young king of Scotland. The queen naively confesses that she employed
them for other purposes than a mere bodyguard, and would not have wanted
them for twenty times their value. She was especially anxious that Henry
should " consyder that thys gret thyng, that ve have dwn, hath ben dwn vyth
out the helpe of the sayd Erl of Angus," although it had been represented
as improbable, whereupon the queen pressed the conclusion that the Earl's
presence in Scotland would only do harm. 1
So long as harmony prevailed in Scotland under the queen's rule, and
the intervention of France and Albany was prevented, Henry and Wolsey
were satisfied, and were unwilling that any disturbing element should be
introduced. They accordingly instructed their wardens to detain Angus.
But the Earl chafed under the restraint. Gonzolles, the French captain
of Dunbar, wrote to Albany that Angus was asking Henry's leave to return
to France, as Henry had not kept his promise, and that the Master of
Glamis had come to him to make arrangements for carrying Angus from
England. 2 Meanwhile Angus was joined by his brother, George Douglas of
Pittendriech, and at Henry's desire they journeyed to London. They were
preceded by news of wide disaffection to Queen Margaret's government
in Scotland. She appears to have employed her bodyguard more freely
than wisely, and was guided in everything so exclusively by Arran and
Henry Stewart, a younger son of Lord Avandale, of whom the queen had
become enamoured, that Lennox and Glencairn abandoned her, and
threatened open revolt. Argyll also retired to his own estates in disgust,
and others were ready to consent even to the return of Albany. Henry
1 Letter, Queen Margaret to Norfolk, 2 Letters and Papers, etc., Henry vin.,
11th October 1524. State Papers, Henry vol. iv. Nos. 571, 576, 597, 670.
VIII., vol. iv., pp. 12S-134.
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