Angus lost no time in
buckling on his armour, and summoning his followers around him. He then
formed in battle array, immediately above the Netherbow, and after a
fruitless attempt on the part of Gavin Douglas, archbishop of St
Andrews, to prevent bloodshed, the retainers of the two hostile noblemen
encountered each other; and after a sanguinary conflict of long
continuance, on the public street, in which great numbers were killed
and wounded on both sides, Arran’s party gave way, and he himself with
difficulty escaped through the North Loch. This encounter was afterwards
distinguished by the name of Cleanse the Causey, from its having
been fought upon the street or causey. Such was the condition of
Scotland during nearly the whole period of the minority of James; and by
merely substituting one noble name for another, and shifting from time
to time the scene of their endless squabbles and skirmishes, adding an
interminable and scarcely intelligible story of intrigues, duplicity,
and deception, we have the history of the kingdom for the fifteen years
immediately succeeding the battle of Flodden field. During this period,
we occasionally find the queen and her second husband, the earl of
Angus, and sometimes the duke of Albany, cousin of the late king, in
possession of the nominal regency. At length the young monarch comes
upon the stage; and it is not until that event occurs, that the interest
of the story is resumed. It then becomes a connected and intelligible
tale, and is at once relieved of the cumbrous and fatiguing narration of
occurrences, digressive, episodical, and parenthetical, with which it
was previously disfigured and obscured.
In the mean time, the
young monarch, unconscious of the storm that was raging without, was
pursuing his studies in the castle of Edinburgh, where he had been
placed for safety, under the tuition of Gavin Dunbar. The apartments
appropriated to the youthful sovereign in this ancient fortress, seem to
have been in but a very indifferent condition; his master, Dunbar,
though afterwards refunded, having been obliged to repair, at his own
cost, in the first instance, the chamber in which the king received his
lessons, one particular room having been set apart for that purpose.
Indeed, during the whole of Albany’s regency, the wants of the young
monarch seem to have been very little attended to: even his personal
comfort was so much neglected, that it was with great difficulty he
could procure a new doublet or a new pair of hose; and he at one time
must have gone without even them, but for the kindness of his natural
sister, the countess of Morton, who, from time to time, supplied him
with articles of wearing apparel. The treasurer, too, frequently refused
to pay the tailor for the making of his clothes, when the material
instead of the dress happened to be sent him. Though placed in the
castle for security, this consideration does not seem to have precluded
the indulgence of going abroad occasionally. A mule was kept for him, on
which he rode out during the intervals of his study, and when the town
and surrounding country were reckoned sufficiently quiet and peaceful to
admit of his doing so with safety. The appearance, character, and temper
of the young monarch during his nonage, are spoken of in warm terms by
his contemporaries. In personal appearance he is said to have borne a
strong resemblance to his uncle Henry VIII. of England, who, tyrant
though he was, had certainly a very noble and kingly presence. James’s
countenance was oval, of a mild and sweet expression; his eyes blue, and
beaming at once with gentleness and intelligence without effeminacy; a
head of yellow hair completes the picture. He was of an exceedingly
affectionate disposition, and of a generous though somewhat hasty
temper. "There is not in the world," says the queen his mother, in a
letter to Surrey, "a wiser child, or a better-hearted, or a more able."
This is the language of a parent indeed; but, when corroborated as it is
by other evidence, there is no occasion to suspect it of partiality.
James was about this time in the eleventh or twelfth year of his age.
With his other good qualities, he discovered a shrewdness and sagacity
superior to his years. Surrey, speaking of him to Wolsey, says, "be
speaks sure, for so young a thing." The young monarch was much
addicted to all manly sports and exercises, and in all excelled. He rode
gracefully, was passionately fond of the chase, and took much delight in
hawks, hounds, and all the other appurtenances belonging to that
amusement. He also sang and danced well, and even in his boyish years
felt much of that "stern joy" which noble minds feel in possessing and
handling implements of war. He was delighted with arms and armour; and
could draw a sword a yard long before the hilt, when buckled to his
side, as well as a full grown man. His own weapon was of this length
when he was only twelve years of age. James was altogether at this
period of his life a noble and princely boy. His amusements were all of
a manly character. His mind was generous and elevated, his mein and
carriage gallant and dignified. In short, imagination cannot conceive a
more striking image of a youthful monarch in a rude and warlike age,
than is presented to us in the person and character of James the V. of
Scotland. There is some reason, however, to believe, that the royal colt
was a little wild, and that he was fully as fond of tilting with the
spear, or making the forest of Ettrick ring with his bugle notes, as of
studying his humanities, for his Latinity was found to be sadly
defective.
He seems to have kept
Stirling castle, the place where he last resided before assuming the
reins of government, in something like an uproar while he lived in it,
with his sports and amusements. He was generally joined in these by his
domestics; and as they were pretty numerous, we may readily conceive
what a noise and turmoil they would create, led on in their wild and
obstreperous frolics by their bold and lively young leader. Pelting each
other with eggs is known to have been a favourite pastime, and it is one
certainly, which must have given rise to many of the most ludicrous
scenes. Although the estates of the kingdom had fixed the eighteenth
year of his age as that which should terminate the minority of James,
and put him in full and uncontrolled possession of the sovereignty of
the kingdom, he was called upon to take his seat on the throne at a much
earlier period of life.
The lords themselves,
whose feuds and quarrels had filled the country with slaughter and
rapine, saw no other way of terminating the frightful scene but by
calling on the king, young as he was, to assume the royal dignity. The
ambition of his mother, who hoped to possess herself of the real power
and authority, also contributed to facilitate the event; and,
accordingly, the boy king, for he was only twelve years of age, was
brought, escorted by a numerous train of nobles, from Stirling castle to
Holyrood house. On first learning the resolution which the lords had
come to of investing him with the royal character, he expressed much
delight, and seemed filled with the most joyful anticipations. "He was
weill content," says Lindsay, "to leive correctioun at the scooles, and
pas to his lordis at libertie."
Amongst the first things
which the young monarch did on arriving at Holyrood, was to change all
the officers of the royal household, from the treasurer down to the
carvers. Three noblemen, the earl of Lennox, the lords Hamilton and
Angus, and archbishop Beatoun, were appointed as his guardians and
advisers. For a year after his arrival in Edinburgh and assumption of
the royal dignity, the king and his guardians lived happily, and Lindsay
says, merrily together; but, at the end of that period, a "benefice
vaiket," a temptation came in the way, and destroyed the harmony of the
association; each claimed it from the king, and each thought he had a
better right to it than his fellow. Angus said, that he was always
scarce of hay and horse corn when he came to Edinburgh, and that
therefore it should be given to him. The vacant benefice was attached to
Holyrood house. Whether it was the force of this appeal, or the superior
influence of Angus over the royal mind that decided the point, is left
unexplained; but that nobleman carried off the prize, to the great
disappointment and displeasure of the other three, who shortly after
retired in disgust from the court. Lennox, who had got nothing at all,
returned, in despair of gaining any thing by the royal favour, to his
own country; and Hamilton, though he had procured the abbacy of Paisley
for his son, thinking that he had not got enough, followed his example.
Beatoun, who lived then in a house of his own in the Friar’s Wynd,
refrained afterwards from going near the court, but when expressly sent
for.
Although James was now
placed upon the throne, and surrounded with all the insignia of royalty,
he neither of himself assumed nor was permitted to assume the functions
of the royal state. He was much too young to be capable of holding the
reins of government, and there were those around him who were not
desirous that he should. Nor does it appear that the young monarch cared
much about the matter, so long as he was permitted to enjoy himself; and
there is no reason to believe that the defection of his grave guardians
sank very deep into his mind. As the king advanced in years, however,
this indifference to the power and authority of his elevated station
gradually gave way to the natural ambition of enjoying them; and he at
length determined to rid himself of the thraldom under which he was kept
by the earl of Angus, who had for several years exercised the royal
authority in his name. The house of Douglas, however, was too powerful,
and their influence too extensive, to admit of his effecting his
emancipation by any open effort, he therefore determined to have
recourse to secret measures in the first instance.
The young king was now in
the seventeenth year of his age, and when he carried his design into
execution, was residing at Falkland, a favourite hunting place of the
kings of Scotland. Here he was attended as usual by the earl of Angus
and several of his kindred, all of whom were united in the design of
keeping the king as it were to themselves. A Douglas was captain of his
guard; a Douglas was treasurer; and a Douglas was guardian and adviser.
Great numbers of that name, besides, filled subordinate situations in
the royal household, and the king’s guard, consisting of a hundred
gentlemen, were all in the interest of the earl of Angus and his family.
Thus encompassed, the young monarch had no other resource than to
endeavour to elude their vigilance. He was under no personal restraint,
nor was he debarred from any enjoyment or amusement with which he chose
to occupy himself. On the contrary, they all led an exceedingly merry
and joyous life together; were almost daily out hunting and hawking and
feasting with the neighbouring noblemen and gentlemen, and amongst the
rest with the archbishop of St Andrews, who entertained the king and his
attendants with great "mirrines" for several days together; but it was
necessary that a Douglas should always be present on these occasions.
Hunting, hawking, or feasting, still a Douglas must be there. An
opportunity such as the young monarch had long and anxiously looked for
of escaping from this annoying surveillance at length presented itself,
and he availed himself of it. The earl of Angus left Falkland for a few
days, to transact some private business of his own in the Lothians,
leaving the king in charge of his uncle, Archibald Douglas, and his
brother George. These two, however, availing themselves probably of the
earl’s absence, also left the palace on different errands; the former,
it is hinted, to visit a mistress in Dundee, and the latter to arrange
some business with the archbishop of St Andrews. There was still,
however, a fourth left, whom it was necessary the king should dispose of
before he could effect his escape; this was James Douglas of Parkhead,
the captain of the guard, to whom the absentees in the last resort had
confided the safe keeping of the young monarch. In order to get rid of
him, the king gave out that he intended to go a-hunting early on the
following morning, and having sent for James Douglas to his bed-room, he
called for liquor, and drinking to his guest, remarked that he should
see good hunting on the morrow. Douglas, little dreaming of the
equivoque, saw the king safely to bed, and retired to his own by the
advice of his master, much earlier than usual, that he might be up
betimes in the morning, the king having ordered dejeune to be served at
four o’clock. It is not improbable that his majesty, moreover, had made
him take an extra cup before they parted. As soon as all was quiet in
the palace, the king got up, disguised himself by putting on the dress
of one of his own grooms, and descended to the stables, where "Jockie
Hart," a yeoman of the stable, with another trusty servant, also in the
secret, were ready prepared with saddled horses for the intended flight.
They all three instantly
mounted, and escaping all notice from the wardens, took the road for
Stirling at full gallop. On reaching the castle, which he did by break
of day, the king ordered the gates to be shut, and that no one should be
permitted to enter without his special order. This done, he retired to
bed, much fatigued with his long and rapid ride. His escape from
Falkland was not discovered until the following morning. George Douglas
had returned to the palace at eleven o’clock at night, about an hour
after the king’s departure, but having learned from the porters that his
majesty was asleep in his own apartment, he, without further inquiry,
retired to bed; and it was not until he was roused at an early hour of
the morning, by Patrick Carmichael, baillie of Abernethy, who had
recognized the king in his flight, and who came with all manner of
despatch to inform him of it, that he knew any thing at all about the
matter. He would not at first believe it, but rushed in great alarm to
the king’s chamber, which he found locked, and it was only when he had
burst up the door and found the apartment unoccupied, that he felt
assured of the dreadful truth. The king must have already acquired some
little reputation for that gallantry amongst the ladies which afterwards
so much distinguished him, for on this occasion he was at first
suspected to have gone off on a nocturnal visit to a lady at Bambrigh,
some miles distant from Falkland.
Immediately after his
arrival in Stirling, the king summoned a great number of his lords to
join him there, to assist him with their advice and counsel. The summons
was readily obeyed, both from personal attachment to the king, and a
jealousy and dislike of his late guardian the earl of Angus. In a few
days, James was surrounded with nearly a score of the noblest names in
the land, all ready to perish in his defence, and to assert and maintain
his rights at the point of the sword.
He seems to have resented
highly the restraint in which he had been kept by Angus and his kindred,
for it was now, he said, addressing the assembled lords, "I avow that
Scotland shall not hold us both till I be revenged on him and his." The
earl of Angus and all his immediate friends were now put to the horn,
and the former deprived of all his public offices. It is therefore at
this period that the actual reign of James commences, and not before. He
was flow freed from the influence of the Douglases, surrounded by his
nobles, who paid him a ready and willing homage, and was in every
respect an independent and absolute sovereign, capable and at liberty to
judge and to act for himself.
James’s appearance and
character were as interesting as his situation at this period of his
life. He was now, as stated before, in the seventeenth year of his age,
of a robust constitution, which enabled him to encounter any bodily
fatigue. His speech and demeanour were mild and conciliating. His
stature was of middling height, but handsomely formed, and "the fient a
pride, nae pride had he." He spoke at all times affably to the meanest
of his subjects, and would partake of the humblest repast of the
humblest peasant in his dominions, with a glee and satisfaction which
evinced the most amiable kindness of disposition. These qualities
rendered him exceedingly beloved by the common people, of whom he was
always besides so steady and effective a friend, as procured for him the
enviable title of King of the Poor.
Amongst the first cares
of James, after his becoming possessed of the actual sovereignty of the
kingdom, was to subdue the border thieves and marauders, who were
carrying matters with a high hand, and had so extended their business
during the lawless period of his minority, and so systematized their
proceedings, that Armstrong of Kilnockie—the celebrated Johnnie
Armstrong of the well-known old ballad—one of the most noted leaders of
these predatory bands, never travelled abroad, even on peaceful
purposes, without a train of six and twenty gentlemen well mounted, well
armed, and always handsomely dressed in the gayest and most chivalrous
garb of the times. As James, however, knew that he would have little
chance of laying hold of these desperadoes if he sought them with openly
hostile intentions, their predatory habits and intimate knowledge of the
localities of the country rendering it easy for them to evade any such
attempt, he had recourse to stratagem. He gave out that he intended to
have a great hunting match on the borders, and really did combine both
sport and business in the expedition which followed. As was usual with
the Scottish kings on hunting occasions, he summoned all the noblemen
and gentlemen in the country, who could find it convenient, to attend
him with their dogs on a certain day at Edinburgh, and, what was not so
customary, to bring each a month’s victuals along with him. Such a
provision was always required when an army of common men were called
together, but not in the case of convocations of men above that rank.
The expedition in this case, however, was to be both warlike and
sportive; and the former might prevent the latter from affording them a
sufficiency of game for their subsistence. The summons of the king for
the border hunting was so willingly obeyed, that a host amounting to
twelve thousand assembled in Edinburgh against the appointed time; and
amongst these, some chieftains from very distant parts of the country,
such as Huntly, Argyle, and Athol, all of whom brought their large,
fierce Highland deer dogs along with them to assist in the chase. It was
in the month of June, 1529, that this prodigious host of sportsmen,
headed by the king in person, set out towards the borders. The greater
part of them were well armed, and were thus prepared for any thing that
might occur. On all such occasions pavilions, tents, bedding, &c. for
the accommodation of the sportsmen, were despatched some days previous
to the ground selected for the first day’s amusement, and were
afterwards moved from place to place as the scene of action was shifted.
The king’s pavilion was very splendid, and might readily be
distinguished from all others by its superior richness and elegance. His
dogs, too, were elevated above all the dogs of meaner men, as well by
their extrinsic ornaments as by their intrinsic merits. Their collars
were gilt, or were of purple velvet adorned with golden studs, while the
royal hawks were provided with collars and bells of the same metal. The
cavalcade having reached Meggotland, on the southern border of
Peebleshire, a favourite hunting place of James’s, and which was always
reserved exclusively for the king’s hunting--the sport began, and in a
few days no less than three hundred and sixty deer were slain. Soon
after this, Armstrong of Kilnockie, little dreaming of the fate that
awaited him, made his appearance among the sportsmen, at a place called
Caerlanrig, it is said by invitation, but whether it was so or not he
seems to have calculated on at least a civil, if not a cordial reception
from the king, being in total ignorance of the real object of the king’s
visit to the borders. Armstrong was not altogether unreasonable in such
an expectation, for his robberies had always been confined to England,
and he was rather looked upon as a protector than otherwise by his own
countrymen, none of whose property he was ever known to have meddled
with. He always "quartered upon the enemy," and thought that by doing so
he did good service to the state; but not being consulted in the various
treaties of peace which occasionally took place between the sovereigns
of the two kingdoms, he did not always feel himself called upon to
recognize them, and accordingly continued to levy his black-mail from
the borders, all the way, it is said, unto Newcastle. Though the king
had made peace with England, Johnnie Armstrong had not; and he therefore
continued to carry on the war in defiance of all those treaties and
truces to which he was not a party. On this occasion the daring
borderer, expecting a gracious reception from the king, and desirous of
appearing before his sovereign in a manner becoming what he conceived to
be his own rank, presented himself and his retainers, all magnificently
appareled, before his majesty. The king, who did not know him
personally, at first mistook him for some powerful nobleman, and
returned his salute; but on learning his name, he instantly ordered him
and all his followers to be taken into custody and hanged upon the spot.
"What wants that knave that a king should have," exclaimed James,
indignantly struck with the splendour of Armstrong’s and his followers’
equipments, and, at the same time, turning round from them on his heel
as he spoke. The freebooter at first pled hard for his life, and
endeavoured to bribe the king to spare him. He offered his own services
and that of forty men at any time, when the king should require it, free
of all expense to his majesty. He further offered to bring to him any
subject of England—duke, earl, lord, or baron, against any given day,
either dead or alive, whom his majesty might desire either to destroy or
to have as a captive. Finding that all he could say and all he could
offer had no effect in moving the king from his determination, the bold
borderer, seeing the die was cast, and his fate sealed, instantly
resumed the natural intrepidity of his character,—"I am but a fool," he
said, raising himself proudly up, "to look for grace in a graceless
face. But had I known, sir, that you would have taken my life this day,
I should have lived upon the borders in despite of both king Henry and
you; and I know that the king of England would down-weigh my best horse
with gold to be assured that I was to die this day." No further colloquy
took place; Armstrong and all his followers were led off to instant
execution. A popular tradition of the borders, where his death was much
regretted, says, that the tree on which Armstrong was executed, though
it continued to vegetate, never again put forth leaves. After subjecting
several other notorious offenders to a similar fate, the king returned
to Edinburgh on the 24th of July. In the following summer, he set out
upon a similar expedition to the north, with that which he had conducted
to the south, and for similar purposes—at once to enjoy the pleasures of
the chase and to bring to justice the numerous and daring thieves and
robbers with which the country was infested.
This practice of
converting the amusement of hunting into a means of dispensing justice
throughout the kingdom, was one to which James had often recourse, for
on these occasions he took care always to be attended with an armed
force, sufficiently strong to enforce the laws against the most powerful
infringer; and he did not spare them when within his reach. For thieves
and robbers he had no compassion; common doom awaited them all, whatever
might be their rank or pretensions. In this particular he was stern and
inflexible to the last degree; and the times required it. There was no
part of his policy more beneficial to the kingdom than the resolute,
incessant, and relentless war which he waged against all marauders and
plunderers.
On the expedition which
he now undertook to the north, he was accompanied by the queen mother,
and the papal ambassador, then at the Scottish court. The earl of Athol,
to whose country the royal party proposed first proceeding,
having received intelligence of the visit which he might expect, made
the most splendid preparation for their reception. On the arrival of the
illustrious visitors, they found a magnificent palace, constructed of
boughs of trees, and fitted with glass windows, standing in the midst of
a smooth level park or meadow. At each of the four corners of this
curious structure, there was a regularly formed tower or block-house;
and the whole was joisted and floored to the height of three stories. A
large gate between two towers, with a formidable portcullis, all of
green wood, defended the entrance; while the whole was surrounded with a
ditch sixteen feet deep and thirty feet wide, filled with water, and
stocked with various kinds of fish, and crossed in front of the palace
by a commodious draw-bridge. The walls of all the apartments were hung
with the most splendid tapestry, and the floors so thickly strewn with
flowers, that no man would have known, says Lindsay, but he had been in
"ane greine gardeine." The feasting which followed was in keeping with
this elaborate and costly preparation. Every delicacy which the season
and the country could supply was furnished in prodigious quantities to
the royal retinue. The choicest wines, fruits, and confections, were
also placed before them with unsparing liberality; and the vessels,
linen, beds, &c., with which this fairy mansion was supplied for the
occasion, were all of the finest and most costly description. The royal
party remained here for three days, at an expense to their noble host of
as many thousand pounds. Of all the party there was not one so
surprised, and so much gratified with this unexpected display of
magnificence and abundance of good living, as his reverence the pope’s
ambassador. The holy man was absolutely overwhelmed with astonishment
and delight to find so many good things in the heart of a wild,
uncivilized, and barbarous country. But his astonishment was greatly
increased when, on the eve of their departure, he saw a party of
Highlanders busily employed in setting fire to that structure, within
which he had fared so well and been so comfortably lodged, and
which had cost so much time, labour, and expense in its erection. "I
marvel, sir," he said, addressing the king, " that ye should suffer yon
fair palace to be burned, that your grace has been so well entertained
in." "It is the custom of our Highlandmen," replied James, smiling,
"that be they never so well lodged at night they will burn the house in
the morning." The king and his retinue now proceeded to Dunkeld, where
they remained all night. From thence they went next day to Perth,
afterwards to Dundee and St Andrews, in all of which places they were
sumptuously entertained—and finally returned to Edinburgh.
James, who had now passed
his twentieth year, was in the very midst of that singular career of
frolic and adventure in which he delighted to indulge, and which forms
so conspicuous a feature in his character. Attended only by a single
friend or two, and his person disguised by the garb of a gentleman of
ordinary rank, and sometimes, if traditionary tales tell truth, by that
of a person of a much lower grade, he rode through the country in search
of adventures, or on visits to distant mistresses; often on these
occasions passing whole days and nights on horseback, and putting up
contentedly with the coarsest and scantiest fare which chance might
throw in the way. Sleeping in barns on "clean pease strae," and
partaking of the "gude wife’s" sheep head, her oaten cakes, and ale, or
whatever else she might have to offer, was no uncommon occurrence in the
life of James. Such visits, however, were not always prompted by the
most innocent motives. A fair maiden would at any time induce the
monarch to ride a score of miles out of his way, and to pass half the
night exposed to all its inclemency for an hour’s interview.
James was no niggard in
his gallantries: where money was required, he gave it freely and
liberally; where it was not, his munificence took the shape of presents
such as rings, chains, &c. of gold and other descriptions of
jewellery. In one month he gave away in this way to the value of upwards
of four hundred pounds. The roving monarch, however, made even his
vagrancies subservient to his great object of extirpating thieves and
robbers. During his wanderings he frequently fell in with numerous bands
of them, or sought them out; and on such occasions never hesitated to
attack them, however formidable they might be, and however few his own
followers.
As the roving
propensities of the king thus frequently put his life in jeopardy, and
as his dying without lawful issue would have left the country in all
probability a prey to civil war, the nation became extremely anxious for
his marriage, an event which, after many delays, arising from political
objections to the various connexions from time to time proposed, at
length took place. The Scottish ambassadors in France concluded, by
James’s authority, a marriage treaty with Marie de Bourbon, daughter of
the duke of Vendome. On the final settlement of this treaty, the young
monarch proceeded to Vendome, to claim in person his affianced bride;
but here his usual gallantry failed him, for on seeing the lady he
rejected her, and annulled the treaty.
Whether it was the result
of chance, or that James had determined not to return home without a
wife, this occurrence did not doom him, for any length of time, to a
single life. From Vendome he proceeded to Paris, was graciously received
by Francis I., and finally, after a month or two’s residence at that
monarch’s court, married his daughter Magdalene. The ceremony, which
took place in the church of Notre Dame, was celebrated with great pomp
and splendour. The whole city rang with rejoicings, and the court with
sounds of revelry and merriment. The marriage was succeeded by four
months of continued feasting, sporting, and merry making. At the end of
that period James and his young bride, who was of an exceedingly sweet
and amiable disposition, returned to Scotland; the former loaded with
costly presents from his father-in-law, and the latter with a dowry of a
hundred thousand crowns, besides an annual pension of thirty thousand
livres during her life.
The royal pair arrived at
Leith on Whitsun-eve, at ten o’clock at night. On first touching
Scottish ground, the pious and kind-hearted young queen dropped on her
knees, kissed the land of her adoption, and after thanking God for the
safe arrival of her husband and herself, prayed for happiness to the
country and the people. The rejoicings which the royal pair had left in
France were now resumed in Scotland. Magdalene was every where received
by the people with the strongest proofs of welcome and regard, and this
as much from her own gentle and affable demeanour as from her being the
consort of their sovereign.
Never queen made such
rapid progress in the affections of a nation, and few ever acquired
during any period so large a proportion of personal attachment as did
the amiable lady. The object, however, of all this love, was not
destined long to enjoy it. She was in a bad state of health at the time
of her marriage, and all the happiness which that event brought along
with it could not retard the progress of the disease which was consuming
her. She daily became worse after her arrival in Scotland, and finally
expired within forty days of her landing. James was for a long time
inconsolable for her loss, and for a time buried himself in retirement,
to indulge in the sorrow which he could not restrain.
Policy required, however,
that the place of the departed queen should, as soon as propriety would
admit, be supplied by another; and James fixed upon Mary of Guise,
daughter of the duke of that name, and widow of the duke of Longueville,
to be the successor of Magdalene. An embassy having been despatched to
France to settle preliminaries, and to bring the queen consort to
Scotland, she arrived in the latter kingdom in June, 1538. Mary landed
at Balcomie in Fife, where she was received by the king, surrounded by a
great number of his nobles. From thence the royal party proceeded to
Dundee, St Andrews, then to Stirling; from that to Linlithgow; and
lastly to Edinburgh. In all of these places the royal pair were received
with every demonstration of popular joy, and were sumptuously
entertained by the magistrates and other authorities of the different
towns. James, by a long and steady perseverance in the administration of
justice, without regard to the wealth or rank of the culprits, and by
the wholesome restraint under which he held the turbulent nobles, had
now secured a degree of peace and prosperity to the country which it had
not enjoyed for many years before. His power was acknowledged and felt
in the most remote parts of the Lowlands of Scotland, and even a great
part of the Highlands. But the western isles, and the most northern
extremity of the kingdom, places then difficult of access, and
comparatively but little known, were still made the scenes of the most
lawless and atrocious deeds by the fierce and restless chieftains, and
their clans, by whom they were inhabited. James, however, resolved to
carry and establish his authority even there. He resolved to "beard the
lion in his den;" to bring these desperadoes to justice in the midst of
their barbarous hordes; and this bold design he determined to execute in
person. He ordered twelve ships, well provided with artillery, to be
ready against the fourteenth day of May. The personal preparations of
the king, and those made for his accommodation in the ship in which he
was himself to embark on this expedition, were extensive and
multifarious. His cabin was hung with green cloth, and his bed with
black damask. Large quantities of silver plate, and culinary utensils,
with stores for cooking, were put on board and also a vast number of
tents and pavilions, for the accommodation of his suite, when they
should land in the isles. The monarch himself was equipped in a suit of
red velvet, ornamented with gold embroidery, and the ship in which be
sailed was adorned with splendid flags, and numerous streamers of red
and yellow serge.
The expedition, which had
been delayed for fourteen days beyond the time appointed, by the
advanced state of the queen’s pregnancy, finally set sail for its
various destinations in the beginning of June.
The royal squadron, on
reaching the western shores, proceeded deliberately from island to
island, and from point to point of the mainland, the king landing on
each, and summoning the various chieftains to his presence. Some of
times he executed on the spot, others he carried away with him as
hostages for the future peaceful conduct of their kinsmen and followers;
and thus, after making the terror of his name and the sternness of his
justice felt in every glen in the Highlands, he bent his way again
homewards. James himself landed at Dumbarton, but the greater part of
his ships, including those on board of which were the captured
chieftains, were sent round to Leith.
Having now reduced the
whole country to such a state of tranquillity, and so effectually
accomplished the security of private property every where; that it is
boasted, that, at this period of his reign, flocks of sheep were as safe
in Ettrick forest as in the province of Fife, he betook himself to the
improvement of his kingdom by peaceful pursuits. He imported superior
breeds of horses to improve the native race of that animal. He promoted
the fisheries, and invited artisans and mechanics of all descriptions to
settle in the country, encouraging them by the offer of liberal wages,
and, in many cases, by bestowing small annual pensions. With every
promise of a long and happy reign, and in the midst of exertions which
entitled him to expect the latter, the cup was suddenly dashed from his
lips. Misfortune on misfortune crowded on the ill-starred monarch, and
hurried him to a premature grave. Two princes who were born to him by
Mary of Guise, died in their infancy within a few days of each other, a
calamity which sank deep in the heart of their royal parent. His uncle,
the king of England, with whom he had hitherto been on a friendly
footing, for reasons now not very well known, invaded his dominions with
an army of twenty thousand men, under the command of the duke of
Norfolk. James gave orders to assemble an army of thirty thousand men on
the Burrow muir, and with this force he marched to oppose them. The
hostile armies met at Solway moss, but with little disposition on the
part of the leaders of the Scottish army to maintain the credit of their
sovereign by their arms. James had never been friendly to the
aristocracy, and they now retaliated upon him by a lukewarmness in his
cause in the hour of need. The unfortunate monarch himself increased
this spirit of defection at this critical juncture by appointing Oliver
Sinclair, a mean favourite, and a man of no ability, to the command of
his army. The intelligence of this appointment excited the utmost
indignation in the Scottish army. All declared that they would rather
submit to be taken prisoners by the English than be commanded by such a
general; and the whole army was thrown into such a state of commotion by
this infatuated proceeding of their sovereign, that the English general
perceived the disorder, and taking advantage of it, attacked the
Scottish army with a few hundred light horse. The former making no
resistance were instantly put to flight. James was at Carlaverock, about
twelve miles distant, when this disaster took place. When informed of
the disgraceful flight of his army, he sank into a state of dejection
and melancholy from which nothing could rouse him. His proud spirit
could not brook the disgrace which had befallen his arms, and the
conduct of his nobles excited a degree of irritation which soon threw
him into a violent fever. In this state of despondency he retired to
Falkland. Here he took to bed and refused all sustenance. While in this
condition intelligence was brought him that the queen, then at
Linlithgow, was delivered of a girl. "It came with a lass and it will go
with a lass," said the dying monarch, reckoning it another misfortune,
that it was not a male heir that had been given to him.
A little before his
death, which was now fast approaching, he was heard muttering the words
"Solway moss," the scene of that disaster which was now hurrying him to
the grave. On the day of his death, which happened previous to the 13th
of December, 1542, but within two or three days of it, although the
precise day is not known, he turned round to the lords who surrounded
his bed, and with a faint but benignant smile, held out his hand to them
to kiss, and in a few minutes thereafter expired. James died in the 31st
year of his age, leaving the unfortunate Mary, then an infant, to
succeed to his dignities and to more than his misfortunes. Besides Mary,
his only surviving legitimate child, James left six natural children.
These were—James, abbot of Kelso and Melrose; the regent Murray; Robert,
prior of Holyroodhouse; John, prior of Coldingham; Janet, wife of the
earl of Angus; and Adam, prior of the Chartreux at Perth.