Series 5 > Campbell Letters 1559-1583

INTRODUCTION
51
position within Perthshire. Using the mediation of Atholl, Ruthven and
Grandtully, Grey Cohn sought private agreements with the nobles who
were pursuing him, thus removing the threat of formal legal processes.
Since these disputes were really part of the struggle for power and influence
at the centre, local settlements would hold only as long as Grey Colin
kept royal favour. If he were outlawed, then predators such asTuhibardine
would seize their chance and dispossess him.
In December 1565 Grey Cohn’s position was still precarious. He had
been kept informed by Garrick, his friend and ‘gossip’, of all the
developments regarding the fifth earl. Even though he had obtained
Argyh’s permission, Grey Cohn had delayed settling privately with the
crown in order to avoid a public breach with his clan chief. Despite
protracted negotiations, the earl had failed to achieve a reconciliation for
himself and his clan with Mary and Darnley. By the new year Grey
Colin could delay no longer. He travelled to Edinburgh himself at the
end of January to secure royal approval and demonstrate to his enemies
that he was not in disgrace. In a long letter to Garrick he described his
uncomfortable, but successful, interviews at court. He commented that
he had fought an uphill battle to restore his credit:‘I had bot letle credence
bot it that I maid with hard wyre [i.e. great effort]’ (79). Grey Colin had
been cleared by the privy council and the queen but made to promise
that none of his tenants would send supplies into Argyll.1
Grey Colin emerged relatively unscathed from the Chase-about Raid
having almost succeeded in his balancing act of non-commitment. He
had not been put to the horn and had avoided the military and judicial
attacks which were threatened in the autumn of 1565. He was certainly
under a cloud in February 1566 and doubts remained about his loyalty,
but that was true of many fellow nobles in the tense atmosphere which
then prevailed at court.2 On 9 March 1566 national politics were once
again turned upside down by the murder of David Riccio. In a national
context this had the effect of negating nearly all of the long-term effects
of the Chase-about Raid.
For Grey Colin himself the most important consequence of the Chase-
about Raid was probably his agreement with the MacGregors. Though
it did not last, it gave him and his tenants a respite from the constant
raiding which they had endured for the previous three years.The turmoil
30 Jan. 1566, RPC, i, 424.
For example, Morton was forced to hand over Tantallon castle: RPC, i, 417. Even
Tullibardine was ordered into ward on 6 Feb., though he did not enter:J. Goodare,
‘Queen Mary’s Catholic interlude’, in M. Lynch (ed.), Mary Stewart: Queen in Three
Kingdoms (Oxford, 1988), 166.