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MEMOIRS
MARQUIS OF MONTROSE.
M.DC.XII— M.DC.L.
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W V U '"? T Tl
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LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS & CO.
M.D0CX5.LVI.
V- ^'
/'
MEMOIRS
OP THE
MARQUIS OF MONTROSE.
BY
MARK NAPIER
VOLUME FIRST.
" As Truth does not seek corners it needeth no fiivour : My
resolution is to carry along fidelity and honour to the grave/*
Moniroit to the Scotch Parliament^ 1641.
EDINBURGH :
THOMAS G. STEVENSON, 87 PRINCES STREET.
LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS & CO.
M.DOCC.LVI.
(Knltreb in ^tationtrs' Pall.
THE AUTHOR OF THIS WORK RESERVES TO HIMSELF THE RIGHT
OF TRANSLATION.
Macpherson k Stme, Printera, 12 St David Street Edinburgh.
TO HIS GRACE
THE DUKE OF MONTROSE,
ARE INSCRIBED
THESE MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE
OF HIS GREAT ANCESTOR,
THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED CAVALIER,
THE MOST HUMANE VICTOR,
THE MOST CONSTITUTIONAL STATESMAN,
AND THE
PUREST PATRIOT
OP HIS
COUNTRY AND TIMES.
PREFACE.
Since the publication of '' The Life and Times of
Montrose/' in 1840^ the author of the present more com-
plete biography of that great Scottish worthy edited a
voluminous collection of original documents^ entitled
*' Memorials of Montrose and his Times/' which were
printed under the auspices of that very liberal institu-
tion of letters the Maitland Club. Of this important
historical repertory, affording the most authentic mate*
rials for a history of '' the Troubles" in Scotland which
led to the fall of the Monarchy, the first volume was
completed in 1848, and the second in 1850. The nature
of the original documents thus preserved, and rendered
tangible for the benefit both of History and Biography,
and their value especially to a fuller illustration than
has hitherto appeared of the life and actions of the
mali^ed Marquis of Montrose, will be best explained by
some extracts from the editorial prefaces.
" The first intention of these Memoriai^ op Mon-
trose was, simply, to preserve in a tangible form certain
original papers referred to, or partially extracted, in two
successive publications of his Life and Times ;^ but which
suitable appendices to those works were found inadequate
to contain. These papers were part of the materials
obtained firom the Montrose and Napier charter-chests.
They consisted of various letters to the great Marquis
from different members of the royal family ; some docu-
1 '' Montrose and the CoyeDanters,'' 1838. *' Life and Times of
Montrose/' 18iO.
vm PREFACE.
ments connected with his last unfortunate descent upon
Scotland in the year 1650 ; and also the most important
papers relating to the nefarious criminal process raised
against him by the prevailing faction in 1641, for the
purpose of crushing his conservative movement in favour
of the Throne. While this plan was in contemplation,
under the liberal auspices of the Maitland Club of Scot-
land, various new acquisitions came very unexpectedly
into my possession, and from diflTerent quarters uncon.
nected with each other. Twelve original letters from
Montrose to his loyal though perverse rival Huntly,
hitherto quite unknown, were most obligingly placed at
my disposal by the Duke of Eichmond. These all relate
to the period of the hero's extraordinary exertions to
restore the fortunes of the Standard in Scotland, in 1645,
after the fatal disaster at Philiphaugh. Some interest-
ing and important papers, including a '' Remonstrance"
by Montrose, written during the period between his last
victory at Kilsyth and the defeat above mentioned, and
which I discovered to be in the handwriting of his friend
and relative, Archibald first Lord Napier, were no less
opportunely than unexpectedly communicated by an in-
telligent antiquary, Mr Mackinlay of Whitehaven. These
documents had never been in possession of the Montrose
or Napier families, and had remained in abeyance until
now. Not to enumerate at present minor acquisitions,
— ^as all will be found duly acknowledged in the Intro-
ductions to the separate Parts of these Memoriads, — ^the
Montrose papers found in the charter-chest of Sir James
Carnegie of Southesk,^ the existence of which was also
unknown until very recently, only came to light after
some sheets of the Memorials had gone to press. Yet
^ Father to the prenent E^l of Southesk, in whose person the for-
feited Earldom has been recently restored.
PREFACE. ix
the papers last mentioned, which compose Part II. of the
first volume of the collection, have added a new and
most interesting chapter to the Life of Montrose ; the
history, namely, of his boyhood and education." ^
^' A renewed search in the Duke of Montrose's charter-
room, for which his Grace afforded every facility, brought
to light the depositions before the Committee of Estates
of a number of individuals, some of them persons of dis-
tinction and others ordinary prisoners of war, whose
evidence abounds in minute and curious details. These
serve to illustrate Montrose's campaigns, both at the out*
set of his career in 1644 when he distinguished himself
against the rebels in the north of England, and also
throughout the whole series of those surprising victories
by which he more than fiilfilled his desperate mission
from the King.
'' Other original documents were at the same time
recovered, from the charter-room at Buchanan, which
evince the vindictive spirit of the clerical government of
Scotland, and justify the severest comments that can be
passed upon those chiefs of the covenanting clergy, who
hardened their hearts against the fact that the Almighty's
throne is the throne of mercy.
" To his Grace the Duke of Hamilton the Collection
is indebted for a few letters and documents of great in-
terest, which are duly acknowledged where they occur.
But I must be allowed here to express my grateful sense
of the courtesy displayed by his Grace in our correspon-
dence on the subject."^
' Preface to the first volume of Memorials of Montrose, printed for
the Maitland Club, 1848.
' Preface to the second volume of Memorials of Montrose, printed
for the Maitland Club, 1850. It may be necessary to add, that the
X PREFACE.
Many other minor^ but not unimportant contributions
to that voluminous and original Collection printed for
the Maitland Club, were obtained while the work was in
progress. All of these are duly acknowledged in the
editorial prefaces and notes ; and also in the present
volumes, where they happen to be extracted or referred
to.
Having engaged in this arduous undertaking entirely
aa a labour of love, and not having any pretensions
to acquire a distinguished, or, so to speak, a profes-
sional position in authorship, I have made no attempt
to dress by the purists in historical composition. Nei-
ther, when submitting to the close and constant con-
tact, which these researclies involved, with the original
and latent evidences of fanatical cruelty, hypocrisy,
cowardice, and calumny, have I sought to fiishion a
single phrase to that mincing mode of hesitating and
half-complimentary dislike, which, sacrificing the expres-
sion of a just indignation to a fastidious or a timid taste,
fails to distinguish between virtue and vice, and fears to
call a spade a spade.
Another important result of these latest researches on
the subject of Montrose are some discoveries relative
to original portraits of the hero, which cannot fail to in-
terest all readers. These volumes are illustrated by ac-
curate engravings from no less than four original por-
severe strictures passed in this biography upon the political character
and conduct of the two first Dukes of Hamilton in their fatal opposition
to Montrose, had, in substance, long been in the hands of the public
(in the former biographies), before the above-mentioned correspondence
with his Grace the late Duke of Hamilton occurred ; and that the few
documents then so liberally and courteously accorded are not the
foundation of those stricturcR.
PREFACE. xi
traits^ with three of which the public were altogether
unacquainted. It is unnecessary to add more on the
subject in this preface^ as a minute and critical account
of those interesting works of art, and also of the many
engravings which throughout two centuries have tended
to obscure, rather than preserve, the memory of the per-
sonal appearance of Montrose, will be found in the first
number of the appendix to this volume.^ The other
historical portraits of near relatives of the Marquis,
which have also aflForded fitting illustrations of the pre-
sent biography, are in like manner sufficiently described
and authenticated in the appendix.
In thus redeeming, as we hope to have done, the
character of Montrose from the calumnies of two ceu-
turies^ by the closest of biographical scrutinies, and the
most unquestionable of evidences, we daim to have labour-
ed so far successfully in the cause of justice and of truth.
But something more remains to be achieved in the same
stormy field of the Scottish Troubles. The latest and
most brilliant historian of England, too disdainful of!
minute enquiry where party feeling predominates, speaks ^
. of the '' seared conscience and adamantine heart'' of the
great Dimdee ; and tells us that '' James Graham of
Claverhouse," — ^thus betra3ring carelessness or ignorance
of the very name he is consigning to unmerited obloquy,
^ It was there omitted to be mentioned, however, that the date dis-
covered upon the youthful portrait — " Anno 1629, jEtatU 17,'* —
while it coincides precisely with Montrose's age in that year, and also
with the date of the portrait recorded in the accounts of his domestic
expenditure, does not coincide with the age of Sir John Carnegie of
the Craig, the name which a comparatively modem tradition had erro-
neously assigned to that portrait.
xii PREFACE.
— " rapacious and profane, of violent temper and obdu-
rate heart, has left a name which, wherever the Scottish
race is settled on the face of the globe, is mentioned with
a peculiar energy of hatred."
No historical character, we verily believe, was ever
more recklessly pourtrayed, or in colours more false than
. these. In due time, Deo volente^ Dundee, too, must be
redeemed from a vulgar error of historj^ thus glorified
by the golden pen that delights the present age.
AiifSLiE Placb^
Jf arc* 1856. .1
r
•A-
.J
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
Dedication, ..... Page v
Preface, ...... vii
Chafteb I. — Birth and Parentage of Montrose — Death of his
Mother — Domestic Habits of his Father — Marriage of his
two Eldest Sisters, .... 1-17
Chapteb II. — Montrose placed under Private Tuition at Glas-
gow — His Domestic Establishment there — His First Pe-
dagogue — His Booka and Studies — Death and Funeral of
his Father, ..... 18-28
Chapter III. — College Life of Montrose, at the University of
St Andrews, after the Death of his Father — His occupations
at Home — His Education and Habits contrasted with Mr
Macaulay's Picture of those of English Gentlemen of the
same period — Marriage of his Sister Lady Dorothea — His
Alarming Illness at College -» Mode and Means of Living
contrasted with Mr Macaulay's idea of Scotland at the
Period, ...... 28-42
Chapter IV. — Montrose's Life at College, continued. — His
Sports and Pastimes there — Archery, Hunting, Hawking,
Horse- racing, Shooting, Golfing, and Billiards — Occupations
in Vacation Time — Social Habits — Studies and Literary
Habits — His Emulation of the Heroes of Plutarch — His
Charities — His Love of Flowers, . . . 43-6 4
Chapter V. — Montrose's Marriage — His Portrait taken by
Jameson — Made a Burgess of Aberdeen upon the occasion
— His Movements immediately before his Marriage — His
first acquaintance with Bishop Wishart — His Marriage in
the Church of Kinnaird — Provision in the Marriage Con-
tract as to the Residence of the Young Couple — Birth of
his Sons— Departure on his Travels at the Termination of
Iiis Minority, . . . . . 05-72
XIV CONTENTS.
Chapter VI. — Montrose recommended to Charles I. by the
Laureate of the Coronation— -His Absence from that Pa-
geantry accounted for — Villainoos Conduct of Colquhoun of
Luss — Criminal Prosecution ordered by Charles I. — Nature
of the Charge — Character of the Lord Advocate — His Visions
and Dreams — Fate of Lady Katherine Graham — Criminal
Libel against her Destroyer — Sentence of Fugitation against
him and his Necromantic Valet — Re-appearance of the Prin-
cipal Culprit, and his reception by the Kirk — Lady Beatrix
Graham, ..... Page 73-90
Chapter VII. — Montrose on his Travels — His Education Abroad
— Minute Description of his Habits, and Personal Appear-
ance, by Saintserf — Bishop Burnet's Character of Montrose —
He Visits the English College at Paris — His Return Home
His Reception at the Court of England by Charles I. — Du-
plicity of the Marquis of Hamilton — Heylin's Anecdote of
Montrose's Reception by the King— Sir Philip Warwick's
Character of Hamilton — Guthrie's Anecdote of his duplicity
in Scotland, ..... 91-101
Chapter VIII. — Charles the First and his Scottish Courtiers and
Counsellors — Lord Napier's Character of the King — His Ac-
count of the manner in which he was deceived and cheated —
Progress of Aflfairs to the commencement of the Troubles, 102-126
Chapter IX. — How Montrose was brought in to the Faction in
Scotland against the Court — Riots against the Liturgy —
Character of the Opposition — Conduct of the Lord Advocate
— Montrose's first appearance among the Factionists — Insti-
tution of Committee Government in Scotland — ^The Covenant
— Its Artful Contrivance, Disingenuous Terms, and Tyranni-
cal Imposition — Huntly, .... 127-145
Chapter X.-— Hamilton Commissioner — Returns to Court —
Montrose's First Expedition to Aberdeen as a Covenanting
Agitator — Nature and Conduct of that Mission — Its Recep-
tion and Success — Hamilton's Return from Court — Conces-
sions of the King — Conduct of the Faction — Montrose's most
Factious Position — His exertions to Pack the General As-
sembly of 1638 — His Open Avowals damaging to his Party
— Violent Scene in the Assembly between Montrose, his
Father-in-law, and the Moderator — Hamilton seizes the ad-
vantage against Montrose, and Dissolves the Assembly —
Argyle emerges on the scene — His Character — Disgraceful
CONTENTS. XV
Proceedings of the Unconstitutional Assembly against the
Bishops — Conduct of his Majesty's Advocate, Page 146-163
Chapter XL — Montrose violently opposed to his Father-in-law
— His First Expedition against the Royalists in the North —
Conduct of Hamilton — General Alexander Leslie — His Birth,
Parentage, and Character — Montrose Commissioned as Gene-
ral of the Covenanting Forces — Marches against Huntly and
the Town of Aberdeen — Huntly avoids a Battle — Montrose's
Whimsies — His Triumphal Entry into Aberdeen — ^Transac-
tions there — His Forbearance towards the Town — His Meet-
ing with Huntly at Inverury — Huntly brought Prisoner to
Edinburgh — The Humanity and Forbearance of Montrose
disappoints the Covenanting Preachers, and brings him into
disrepute with them, .... 164-189
Chapter XIL — Narrative of events which enabled Montrose to
Crush the Loyalty of the North, and Fight his only Battle
for the Covenant — Hamilton arrives in the Forth with a
Fleet and Invading Army — His Duplicity detected by a
comparison of his Correspondence with the King, and his
conduct of affairs in Scotland — His Treachery to the King
and Aboyne — ^The Baron's Reign — Montrose returns with
his Forces to the North — Scatters the Barons, and Besieges
their Houses — His Collision with Aboyne — Traitor Gun —
Battle of the Bridge of Dee — Montrose takes Aberdeen —
Declines to obey the Instructions of the Tables to Destroy
the Town — The Pacification of Berwick — Traitor Gun —
Major Middleton, ..... 190-217
Chapter XIII. — Narrative of events which placed Montrose in
Opposition to the Covenanters — Renewal of Factious Pro-
ceedings — Montrose's First Interview with the King — Po-
pular idea that he was then gained over, not History — Lord
Mahon and Bishop Guthrie — Montrose's Opposition to the
Covenanters in 1 639 — His own Statement of the Case — Prin-
cipal Baillie's Opinion of the Movement — The Earl of Airth's
Report to the King — Montrose's First Correspondence with
the King — Scene bcstween Rothes and the Lord Advocate —
Montrose renews his Opposition in the Parliament of 1640 —
His Collision with Argyle in the Oppressive Measures against
the House of Airlie — Argyle's Commission of Fire and Sword
— Impeaches Montrose for his conduct at Airlie — Montrose
Exonerated — Proceedings of Argyle under his Commission —
rOXTEXTS.
I in OjiprcHHivw l*owora — Terms of tbc Act of Exoneration for
hill oxorcine of thoao |)owi'rs — Abuse of the King's name, 218-253
Ai-mi XI v.— Nurrntive of events which induced Montroee to
I'Varnn hirt (Conservative Bond at Cumbernauld — Plana of
Arj^ylo to obtain the Sovereign Power in Scotland — His Bond
for (Cantoning the Country — Attempt to engage Montroae
therein — Argylo's Proceedings in the Braes of Athole before
his Uaid against the Braes of Angus — Breaks his Parole to
the Earl of Athole and others, whom he makes prisoners —
Treasonable Proceedings at the Ford of Lyon, and Balloch
Castle — Montrose joins Leslie at the Border — Obtains an Act
of Exoneration for his conduct in Angus — Impeached by
Argyle — Refuses to Sign the Private Bond appointing
Argylc to Rule bonorth For::i — Hia own Account of that affur
— His conversation on the s;iLp'-ot with I»rd Lindsay of the
Byres — Treasonable coiuafh-urf-.n »*.■ c • #.*. ( : mft}rf rnt»u M Bond —
Fate of that (.'ofisf»" * 'fiffinfi^rf mint of
1C4I, . . 254-279
lAPTEii XV.— Mofiff'/a' '■: I,'' , u Vrhn*] on Bovcrcign
Power — Uh Ht,uiittt$n tot V/fir,r,j^ )i Jlt,rtir l^^ proposes to
discuss tin: tb'inC' U**hirt. nt,t) t^.mMtft'tu]^ /,f fittpmnr- Power
in GoverniiMtni lllr|Mtfiml ciitiHe of
controversies iHjtwwTii Phm* « ttw\ pLopb^ ^Iomio ttf tbi'ir Vnho.
Arguments answitrwl Ihmttftt^httuth ttMrtinmil fo Ibr N»»bb;-
men misleading tb» P"'*pl«- Ifi oi'fn«(Mi«Mry, that upon one occasion
whefi Queen Mary was out hawking near Kinross, her Majesty,
in conversation with some of her suite, " began diverse other
purposes, such as the offering of a ring to her by Lord Ruthven,
whom,'^ slio said, " I cannot love, for / know him to use enchant-
ment^ and yet he is made one of my Privy Council.'' Secret,
but surely most impotent magical charms, were said to have
been found disposed about the person of the Earl her brother, *
upon the occasion of his most suspicious slaughter. And the
ghastly head of her father had but recently ceased to be bat-
tered by the elements that warred with the gory 'pinnacle of the
Tolbooth of Edinburgh, when that trophy was replaced by the
head of her only son.
Scot of Scotstarvit informs us, that " Montrose's mother con-
sulted with witches at his birth." Possibly enough, considering
the prevalent superstitions and the extraction of this noble
lady. But the whole anecdote is rendered more than apocry-
phal, when that meagre and careless chronicler adds, — " Mon-
trose's father said to a gentleman, who was sent to visit him
from a neighbour Earl, that that child would trouble all Scot-
land : ho is also said to have eaten a toad, when he was a suck-
ing child." This might have passed for an allegorical or cyni-
cal allusion to his having rashly swallowed the Scottish Cove-
nant when a young man ; but the very same story is elsewhere
recorded of the Regent Morton, a century before ; upon which
occasion the father of that unfortunate nobleman was provoked
to anathematise his voracious infant in these emphatic termsj. —
" The Devil chew thee, and burst thee, there will never come
good of thee."
If our hero's mother consulted witches at his birth, she was
not destined long to watch the fulfilment of their predictions.
From the registers of Perth, it appears that she was buried at
the church of Aberuthven, between Perth and Auchterarder,
in the ancient mausoFeum of the Montrose family, upon the
loth of April 1618. Her only son had not then completed his
sixth year.
Montrose's father, when Lord Graham, had mingled in the
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 7
pageantry attendant on his father, as Viceroy of Scotland. In
the Parliaments held at Perth in 1604 and 1606, when the
whole nobility rode in state, Lord Graham carried the Great
Seal, while Morton carried the Sword, Angus the Crpwn, and
Argyle the Sceptre. In 1616, after he had succeeded to the
Earldom, he himself represented his Sovereign, by special com-
mission, at a great convention held in Aberdeen on the affairs
of the Kirk, and the popish delinquencies of the Marquis of
Huntly. This was the last occasion upon which John, fourth
Earl of Montrose, the father of the great Marquis, was conspi-
cuous in public. After the death of his Counters, he lived the
retired life of a country gentleman, devoted to his children, and
to his household affairs ; and obviously very domestic in all his
habits. That he had ever drawn the sword at all, is only known
from the brief record of Robert Birrell, respecting the family
feud already noted. That he still wore one in his retirement,
we learn from this item in his expenditure, — " For dressing my
Lord^s sword at Brechin, 20 shillings,"*' — Scots of course. Hia
two eldest daughters, Lilias and Margaret, were married within
two years after the death of their mother. Three young un-
married daughters, Dorothea, Katherine, and Beatrix, were
still left under their widowed father's care. Montrose, as W6
have said, was the only son. During the life of his father, he
is invariably styled, in the domestic accounts, " the Lord James.''
He had not yet acquired the name and style bestowed upon
him by the covenanting ministers of the gospel, — " That excom-
municated traitor, bloody butcher, and viperous brood of Sataa,
James Graham." Lady Beatrix, born in 1615, is familiarly
designated by the factor, in his accounts, " the bairn Beatrix C^
and judging by the following letter from the Earl, which we
merely divest of its antiquated orthography, she appears to
have been a special object of regard. It is addressed from his
castle of Mugdock in Strathblane, t-o his factor of Kincardine
in Strathearn.
* Lady Beatrix was baptized dt Perth, by the Bishop of Dunblane, on the 7th of
March 1615, an appears from the existing register there. I have not discovered
any such direct record of the birth or baptism of our hero, or his other sisters.
But their relative ages are ascertained from marriage-contracts.
8 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
" Laurence Graham,
" I doubt not but you have been careful in causing haste the
making of my daughter Beatrix her gown, as I directed you.
I have sent this bearer, Harry Blackwood, to bring her to me,
as he will shew you. It is my will also, that the tapestry in
my upper chamber in Kincardine bo taken down, and packed
well, to come to mo at Mugdock. I have sent Margaret Stir-
ling and Robert Taylor word to be careful of it, which you shall
see well done ; and send a good carriage horse with it, with all
expedition ; and send Robert Taylor to convoy it. Farther, it
is my will that you deliver to Harry Blackwood eight bolls of
meal, and four stone of cheese. From Mugdock, the 28th July
1625. ^ Montrose.
" I have directed, as I told you that I would do, my two gray
hackneys to be put to the grass in Kincardine ; and have direct-
ed Robert Mailer to wait on them. So, you shall answer him his
boll (of meal) according to use and wont.
" To our servitor Laurence Graham, factor of Kincardine,
These."
The monotonous and innocent country life of this thrifty
nobleman, affords a striking contrast to the stormy and tragical
fate of his immediate successor. He was possessed of various
great baronies, in the counties of Pertli, Stirling, Dumbarton,
and Forfar ; and noble castles of feudal strength, all destined,
in the next generation, to be the prey of " the Troubles.'" The
factor's books indicate overflowing granaries, and wide spread
domains. One book records " the corn-yards of Kincardine,
Old Montrose, and Maritoun;'' and the crops, teinds, and
feudal duties " of all the baronies, Oldraarok, and Easter Mug-
dock, Dundaff, Bairdrell, Kincardine, Fosswell, Aberuthven,
the Holiland, Old Montrose, Maritoun and FuUerton.'' From
the same unquestionable source we derive the information, that
he had many oxen for his ploughs, consumed many puncheons
of wine, and tobacco and tobacco-pipes to a great extent. It
is recorded of the heroic Marquis, by a contemporarj' chronicler,
that he could not endure the smell of tobacco, and that the
covenanting clergy, taking advantage of this defect in his con-
stitution, nearly smoked him to death in prison before they
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 9
hanged him. He had inherited no. such weakness from his
father. An ounce of tobacco cost the Earl thirteen shillings
and fourpence Scois^ on some occasions ; and on others, seven
shillings and sixpence ; indicating that he tried various kinds.
Whenever he rides he buys tobacco by the way ; and wherever
he goes he has tobacco sent to him. As for pipes, he pur-
chases them by dozens at a time. In a word, his household
accounts are bristling with tobacco-pipes, and redolent of the
weed, — all expressly " for his Lordship.^^ The smaller articles
which compete with the above in the records of his domestic
expenditure, are golf-halh and bowstrings. " Six bowstrings
to my Lord,"*" cost nine shillings ; and " ane dozen goiff-balls to
my Lord,**' three pounds. This last would seem to have been
rather an expensive indulgence ; as " the tailor that made ane
stand ofclaiths to my Lord,"*" is only paid four pounds. Thus, so
far as the exterior man was concerned, the value of the old Earl,
as he stood in a new suit, was not much beyond ^ dozen golf-
balls. He wote black breeches ; for there is an item of twenty-
three shillings and sixpence for " linen for my Lord'*s black
breiks." He sometimes wrote, as seven shillings goes " for ane
pig full of ink to my Lord."" He occasionally read, for six shillings
is bestowed upon " the minister'^s man that brought books to
my Lord at command^ And that he was particular about his
malt, may be inferred from the fact, that he paid twenty-three
shiUings " for ane white-wine puncheon to put March ale in.""
His table was largely supplied with the abundant game of his
domains, — from deer to conies—* from capercailzies to plovers ;
and four pounds at a time are expended *' for powder and lead
to my LordTs gunner!'''
Robert and Laurence Graham were his principal factors ;
Margaret Stirling one of his housekeepers. Harry Blackwood
was his master of horse. Duncan Kay was one of several purvey-
ors of wine. John Marshall supplied him with tobacco-pipes.
Alexander Madden was his carpenter and blacksmitl). Hum-
phry Wilson his shoemaker. James Mylne made his bows ;
Patrick Lytsone his golf-balls ; and Thomas Smythe at Aberuth-
ven, shod all the horses when the family were inhabiting the
castle of Kincardine.
To the simple records of that anvil, which was kept con-
10 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
stantly ringing with the qjioeing of horses from the neighbour-
ing castle of Kincardine, is due the merit of affording authentic
indications of the infant chivalry of Montrose. There yet
exists the blacksmith'^s account, dated 29th September 1620,
containing an item " for twa gang of shoon to Lord Jameses iwa
naigsr At this time he had about completed his eighth year. The
blacksmith's accounts are continued throughout successive years
in the same style ; and the constant shoeing of Lord James's
horses indicates that ho rode often, and rode hard, as undoubt-
edly he did for all the rest of his life.
Harry Blackwood had enough on his hands in this depart-
ment. There was a " white horse of my Lord James's,'' fami-
liar with the smithy of the barony. Also " the horse that Mr
James Graham rode on,"^this personage being " the domestic
servitour*' of the young Lord. The anvil at Aberuthven was
perpetually visited by the gray mare, the aray courser, the gray
kachiey, the brotvn hor$e, the sorrel naig^ the pockmanty naig,
and some illustrious animal of " my Lord's," always designated
by the name of Gray Oliphani, That this was a haunt of the
young Lord's is the less to be doubted, since we find the family
Cyclops charging six shillings "' for dressing of Lord James's
fensing swords,''' in the year 1()24, when he was just twelve years
of ago. The imagination is fond to picture the retired Earl,
who thirty years before had endeavoured to pink the knight of
Calder at the Salt Trone of Edinburgh, instructing in all the
cunning of fence that son who, some twenty years later, was to
strike the dishonoured claymore from the hand of the fearful
Argyle. At the period of dressing his foils, the same sum is dis-
bursed " to James Myln, for mending my Lord James's bow."
The Earl's solicitude about his daughter's frock, and the
tapestry, bespeaks the widowed condition which had devolved
such domestic concerns upon himself; and there is enough, even
in that n^issive to his factor, to assure us that the fiery anta-
gonist of Sir James Sandilands had subsided, in the course of
thirty years, into a kindly and careful country gentleman. Im-
mediately prior to those orders, he had been entertaining his
friends in the castle of Kincardine, the principal residence of
the family. Wo find liiin there in the previous month of
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 11
February, along with his son-in-law, Sir John Colquhoun of
Luss, and his kinsmen, Patrick Graham of Inchbrakie, and
John Graham of Killearn. In the month of March he takes
horse for his place of Old Montrose, purchasing by the way
tobacco, tobacco-pipes, golf-balls, and bowstrings. His sword
is dressed at Brechin. From Old Montrose he proceeds to his
ancient feudal hold of Mugdock in Stirlingshire ; and sends, as
we have seen, for his youngest daughter, *' the bairn Beatrix,"
who had been left at Kincardine. Kailways being then un-
dreamt of, we may picture the little lady when transported from
Strafheam to Sirathhlane^ perched on a pillion behind Harry
Blackwood, upon Gray Oliphant, accompanied with the " pock-
manty naig,'' and Robert Taylor with the precious tapestry.
At this time she had just completed her tenth year. We shall
hear of her again, and of Kincardine, and Mugdock, and Old
Montrose, in " the Troubles.**'
Through the medium of these domestic papers, we are made
acquainted with the tutor, the valet, and the two pages of Lord
James ; but no signs are to bo discovered of the presence of a
governess, or duenna, to guide and guard the EarFs three un-
married and motherless daughters.
The Countess, as we have said, died in the month of April
1618. On the 15th April 1619, the anniversary of her funeral,
is dated the marriage-contract between her second daughter,
Lady Margaret Graham, and Sir Archibald Napier of Merchis-
ton, soon afterwards created Lord Napier. This nobleman is
so completely identified with Montrose in all his career, — his
guardian and counsellor in youth — his friend and fellow-sufferer
in after years, — that a preliminary account of him is essential
to the story.
Archibald Napier was the only son of John Napier of Merchis-
ton, the Newton of Scotland, by his first spouse, Elizabeth,
daughter of Sir James Stirling of Keir. After seventeen years of
faithful service as gentleman of the Bed-Chamber to James VI.,
he was' deservedly appointed, by that monarch, Treasurer-
Depute for Scotland, one of the Senators of the College of
Justice, and subsequently Lord Justice-Clerk. Charles I., who
12 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
also much esteemed him, and to whom he had been specially
recommended by King James shortly before that monarch''s
death, created him a Baronet of Nova Scotia, and soon there-
after raised him to the peerage, as Lord Napier of Merchiston,
by patent dated 4th May 1 627. He was a member of the
Privy Council of Scotland from 1615 to 1641, when the domi-
nant church party there compelled King Charles to forego his
services, and those of every Scottish statesman who evinced the
slightest disposition to " divisive courses,"" a convenient term of
the clerical faction for the paths of honour and patriotic loyalty.
Charles himself informed Napier, that his father, King James,
recommended him to the care of his successor ; and accordingly
he was the first Scotchman upon whom the martyr monarch
conferred a peerage. When, in the previous reign, he was
appointed to the office of Treasurer- Depute, under the Earl of
Mar, the King himself wrote in tenns of the highest praise of
his character and dispositions. In those days it was indeed no
slight commendation from the Sovereign, to say of a Scotch
statesman, that ho was " free of partiality or any factious
humour."" That James* had so declared of Sir Archibald Napier
to the Earl of Mar, we learn from that nobleman^s reply, dated
from Holy rood House 24th November 1622. " I received,"' he
said, "your Majesty's letter, of the 21st October, shewing that
you have made choice of Sir Archibald Napier to be Treasurer-
Depute of this Kingdom, with the motives moving your Majesty
to take this course : Since your Majesty hath so resolved, I shall
in all humility obey your direction. As for the gentleman, he
is known to be both judicious and honest ; and, as your Majesty
writes in your own letter, free of partiality or any factious
humour; and I, with all my heart, do wish that all your Majesty's
subjects were as free of th^se two faults as I hope time shall make
known to your Majesty that both he and I are : in which respect
your Majesty hath made a good choice.""
These two national faults, to which indeed may be traced the
d(?struotion of the public peace, and the ruin of Charles the
I^'irst, rather than to those defects in the monarch"s character
as a Sovereign, which doubtless rendered him an easier'prey, —
wt?re soon exporionecd by Lord Napier himself, in all their
unscnipnlous viriili'no(\ The royal favours which he had so
LIFE OF MONTROSE. lo
well earned, gave rise to a miserable Court cabal, to effect his
disgrace, headed by the selfish and mischievous Earl of Traquair.
Through this storm, however, Napier s unflinching integrity bore
him with safety and honour. Traquair^s object was to drive
him from the post of Treasurer-Depute, that he might obtain it
for himself; and most discreditable were the means by which
he attempted to gain his end. Napier, while referring to this
petty conspiracy, in a relation which he left, in manuscript, of
the boiling temper of the times that ushered in the troubles, —
affords a passing but interesting allusion to the untimely death
of his wife, the sister of Montrose. " There was nothing,'' he
says, " I more desired in my secret thoughts, than to be fairly
.rid of that place, long before my .troubles : for after my wife
died — a woman religious, chaste, and beautiful, and my chief
joy in this world — I had no pleasure to remain in Scotland,
having had experience of the chief of Council and Session ; and
of their manners^ to which I would never fashion myself ; and
considering the place I held could never be profitable to a man
who had resolved fair and direct dealing.*" An original portrait
of this lady, by Jameson, is still in possession of her descendant,
Lord Napier. The complexion is very fair ; and the hair red ;
but the countenance does not belie the mournful tribute of
conjugal affection which we have quoted above. Lady Margaret
appears to have died not very long after the date upon her
portrait, which is 1626.
But the most interesting testimony to the character of her
* husband, and the most germain to the matter in hand, has been
preserved to us by> Wishart, the celebrated historiographer
of Montrose, who was much domesticated with Lord Napier,
and intimately acquainted with all his family. He notices the
death of that nobleman, immediately after the defeat at Philip-
haugh, in these emphatic terms, which we quote from the English
edition of his history of Montrose's actions, printed at the.
Hague while Montrose himself was there in exile. Moreover,
it may he said, that this eulogy received the hero's dying im-
primatur ; for it occurs in that well known volume, which,
under the barbarous delusion of degrading him, his clerical
t-ormentors decreed should be bound to his person on the scaffold.
14 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
" I did not,"^ said the hero with his latest breath, " feel more
honoured when his Majesty sent me the Garter."'
" About this time,*" Wishart records, " the Lord Napier of
Merchiston departed this life in Athole ; a man of a most
innocent life, and happy parts ; a truly noble gentleman, and
chief of an ancient family ; one who equalled his father and
grandfather, Napiers — philosophers and mathematicians famous
through all the world — in other things, but far excelled them in
his dexterity in civil business ; a man as faithful, and as highly
esteemed by King James and King Charles : Sometime he was
Lord Treasurer, and was deservedly advanced into the rank of
the higher nobility ; and since those times had evinced so much
loyalty, and love to the King, that he was a large partaker of
the rewards which the rebels bestowed upon virtue — frequent im-
prisonment, sequestrations, and plunder : This man, Montrose,
when a boy, looked upon as a most tender father ; when he was
a youth, as a most sage admonitor ; when he was a man, as a
most faithful friend ; and now that he died, was no otherwise
affected by his death than as if it had been his own father's."*'
Very different was the fate of Montrose's eldest sister, Lady
Lilias Graham, married to Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, on the
6th of July 1620, the year after the marriage of her immediately
younger sister Lady Margaret. It is shortly recorded by all
the genealogical and heraldic \^Titers, in their account of the
family of Luss, that the husband of Lady Lilias was a Sir John
Colquhoun of Luss, distinguished for his loyalty to Charles I.,
and who was persecuted by Cromwell accordingly. But a dis-
reputable father is here confounded with his loyal son of the same
name. The former, of whom we now speak, has been entirely lost
sight of (and there was good reason for doing so), except in the
fact that he married the eldest sister of Montrose. Sir Alexander
Colquhoun, father of the husband of Lady Lilias, resigned part
at least of his family estates in favour of his eldest son, some years
before that marriage. Two members of a prior generation of this
ancient and wealthy race, were disposed of in a summary and tra-
gical manner. Robert Birrell notes in his diary, that, " upon the
last of November 1592, John Colquhoun was beheaded at the
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 15
Cross of Edinburgh, for murdering of his own brother, the laird of
Luss." The husband of Lady Lilias was served heir to his father
on the 15th of June 1625 ; and in the month of August of that
year, Charles I. created him a baronet of Nova Scotia. A few
years afterwards, however, he proved utterly unworthy of the
favours bestowed upon him ; and disgraced himself, and all con-
nected with him, by a crime of the deepest dye, committed agaiifst
the noble house which had received him as a son. This deplor-
able event must be presently narrated ; meanwhile we proceed
with the history of Montrose's childhood.
From the time of the marriage of his two eldest sisters, when
he was between eight and nine years of age, to the period of his
being placed at his private studies in Glasgow, when he had
about attained the age of twelve, Montrose appears to have
been constantly with his father, dwelling from time to time in
various beautiful districts of Scotland. The romantic scenes
thus rendered familiar to his boyhood, it was his fate, in after
years, to visit with fire and sword. Lord Napier, too, besides
his estates in the Lothians, inherited one-fourth of that vast
district be-north the Forth, then known as the Lennox ; and
Colquhoun of Luss was a great proprietor on the banks of Loch
Lomond. Amid all these glorious and storied hills, and glens,
and lakes of Scotland, the boy Montrose was reared ; and in
the healthful enjoyment of such scenes, the frame of the warrior,
and the genius of the troubadour, acquired the first elements of
their vigour and romance. Two months after the marriage of
Lady Lilias to the Laird of Luss, it appears that the Earl her
father paid them a marriage visit, at their chief seat of Rossdhu,
on the banks of Loch Lomond ; and as " the Lord James's two
nags'' are sent along with the Earl's horses to the smith at
Aberuthven, to be prepared for a journey, " before his Lordship
rode to Rosedo," 29th September 1 620, probably the boy had
accompanied his father.
But the familiar homesteads of Montrose, where the family,
in his father's time, was at various seasons domesticated through-
out the year, were the castle of Kincardine in Strathearn, Perth-
shire ; the castle of Mugdock in Strathblane, Stirlingshire ;
16 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
*' the place"' of Old Montrose in Forfarshire ; and the place of
Garscube in Dumbartonshire.
The first mentioned, a castle of great extent and strength,
was beautifully situated on the picturesque glen of Kincardine,
overlooking a richly wooded and watered ravine of the Buthven,
which runs into the Earn. It stood a siege against the rebel
army under Middleton, the defence being maintained, with most
inadequate resources, for fourteen days, by Montrose's nephew,
the Master of Napier ; and when reduced on that occasion, was
utterly destroyed by fire, on the 16th of March 1646. The
lands had been acquired from the Earls of Strathearn so early
as 1236, and Kincardine Castle was the chief seat of the Mon-
trose family for upwards of four centuries.
The castle of Mu^dock^ commanding a lake of the same
name, was another ancient and stately feudal strength of the
Grahams. The lands of Strathblane and Mugdock were ob-
tained, at a very early period, from Maldwin Earl of Lennox,
and formed part of the great territory of " the Levenax/' Ac-
cording to the contemporary Spalding, the covenanting govern-
ment, when in search of materials wherewith to found an accu-
sation against Montrose in 1641, " demolishit his staitlie house
of Mugdock."'
The place of Old Montrose fared no better in the Troubles.
This was situated across the bay from the burgh of Montrose.
Its ancient orthography was " Aid Monros,""* — mans rosarum^ —
possessed by the family in 1360, and erected into an Earldom
in 1504.
The place of Garscube^ in Dumbartonshire, situated on the
banks of the Kelvin, though not of the same importance
as the feudal and baronial residences above noticed, was no
doubt a mansion of the family, in which Earl John had an
establishment, and occasionally resided, when Montrose was
a youth. Whether the house was destroyed during the Troubles
we know not; but the characteristic fate of the estate of Gar-
scube was, that in the reign of Charles II., it had become the
property of John Campbell of Succoth, the law-agent of Archi-
bald, ninth Earl of Argyle, his chief, upon whom he waited on
the f PamenU appear to have been some mode of embroidering the clothes of the
nobility, or of those who affected such condition, which occasionally excited the
indignation of the Kirk. The General Assembly of 1575, declared ** all kind of
costly sewing, or of patmenU, or sumptuous and large tUehing with silks,** to be
^ nnBeemly ;" as also, that the colours, red, blue, yellow, and such like, ** declare
20 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
furnished with cloaks and gowns. Moreover, he was allowed a
moderate stud. Master William Forrett, and the domestic
servitor, James Graham, were both mounted. The young Lord
himself rode a white horse. Verily there was a time when the
city of Glasgow regarded with admiration and interest, un-
mingled with one prophetic alarm, the going forth and return-
ing of " that viperous brood of Satan,'^ in the shape of a young
and gentle cavalier, on a white courser. There are various dis-
charges from other tradesmen, such as, " for supplying my Lord
Graham's house in Glasgow with manchois^^ and oatmeal baked
in bread ; and barrels of herring, at twelve pounds each barrel.**^
We can even follow the ingenuous youth into his apartments,
as yet unconscious of the " bloody murderer and excommuni-
cated traitor.*" We see his " red chamber counter-cloth ;"" his
" green counter-cloth, 'for the hall board C his green chamber
counter-cloth ;*" his " red figurato curtains ;'' his '* red em-
broidered counterpane ^ his " yellow curtains, and yellow coun-
terpane, sewed with red ;"*' his " two cushions of Arras work ^
his " cushion of green velvet \^ his " red embroidered cushion \^
and " his brown velvet kirk cushion.'*' Little knew the then
reluctantly kneeling Kirk who was kneeling there !
For his table, he had " one plain silver cup -^ and " another
cup of dimpilit work, double over gilt." He had " eight silver
spoons with the knaps thereof gilt.*" He had " a silver satfatt
of raised work, of one tyre height, with lid, double over gilt.'*
Ho was well supplied with napkins and table-cloths of various
sizes, and different degrees of fineness ; and his bedding, sheets
and blankets, and ordinary household utensils, all enumerated,
indicate an establishment suited at once to his rank, his years,
and the object of his residence in Glasgow.
We may take for granted, that the studies of a youth thus
the lightness of the mind.** So Rutherford, in his letters, oompUined, that ^ the
world's glistering lustres, and those broad patmenU and hwiking» of religion, that
bear bulk in the kirk, is that wherewith most satisfy themselves." The act of
James VL, 1581, e. 113, prohibited all below the rank of Peers of Parliament, or
landed gentlemen of a certain income, from using or wearing in their clothing, the
costly materials therein named, or ** patmenU or hroiderit of gold, silrer, or silk."
Manchit, a loaf of fine bread.
->
LIFE OF MONROSE. 21
/
eystematically romoved from the entioements of home, and placed
with a household so carefully and judiciously regulated, would
be provided for with no less care and judgment. There is unques-
tionable evidence that he had become attiiched to classic au-
thors, and was fond of quoting them. In another less peaceful
chapter of his life, we shall have to record an interesting trait
of his enduring affection for, and perfect reliance in, " Master
William Forrett.**' We find no particular register of his studies
at this time ; but he appears to have been supplied with a
small library ; and judging from the following specimen, and the
incident to be immediately noticed, of his special attachment to
Sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World, the boy must have
been gifted with a vigorous and precocious mind, of an enquiring
turn, and a romantic tendency.
Some months after his father^s death, and when the young
Earl had shifted his head- quarters to the University of St An-
drews, where we shall presently follow him, his faithful dominie
renders, with his usual precision and accuracy, an account of
certain effects of his pupil, which had been committed to his
charge. " I grant me,'' says Master William Forrett, ** to have
in keeping a gilded sword, which my Lord got from my Lord
Napier ; with a silk and siher scarf!, which my Lord got from
his late noble father, with a belt and hangers ; and a cross-bow
set with mother of pearl ; with the key of my Lord's trunk in
Glasgow; and the silver work and plenishing, which are in
James Duncan'^s house in Glasgow ; which I oblige myself to
deliver in time convenient, upon my Lord's sufficient warrant
and discharge ; As for the brazen luxgbut, it was sent to his
Lordship at St Andrews, with John Margat, which his Lord-
ship received : As for the history written by Sir Walter Raleigh^
my Lord himself conveyed it to St Andrews, at his Lordship's
first thither going : And as for tho«e books which I had in bor-
rowing of his Lordship in ihii totmiy I have delivered the same
to the Laird of Inchbraikie."
Thus it appears, that the worthy pedagogue had borrowed
from his illustrious pupil a variety of books, which he places in
the hands of Patrick Graham, elder of Inchbrakie, accompanied
by the following list : — " In primis, two volumes of Sabellicus'
22 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Universal Hiatory, in Latin ; Oamerariufl, his Living Library ;
A Treatise of the Orders of Knighthood ; The Life and Death
of Queen Mary ; Godfrye de BuUoigne his History ; The His-
tory of Zenophone, in Latin ; The works of Seneca, with Lip-
sius' Commentary.'*
This curious mixture of learned and romantic study had
formed part of a selection made by the old Earl, to compose the
library of his son in Glasgow ; and of these and the other effects
in his hands, Inchbrakie had required an account from the
tutor, adding, at the end of his memorandum, " and specially
Sir Walter Raleigh's history.^ Hence this last had been
particularly accounted for (and the trait is not unimportant), by
the fact, that the youth had taken possession of it himself, and
carried it to St Andrews, when he first joined that celebrated
University. The circumstance is the more remarkable, that
he had left behind, in the keeping of his pedagogue, articles
which might have been supposed more apt to engross his atten-
tion and personal care at this time ; the gilded sword, namely,
which had been presented to him by Lord Napier, the first,
probably, of any importance acquired by Montrose ; the silk
and silver scarf, the gift of his deceased parent ; his brazen
hagbut, and his mother-of-pearl cross-bow.
It was in the month of August 1627, ten months after his pupil
had succeeded to the Earldom, that Master William Forrett
delivered the books above mentioned into the hands of Graham
of Inchbrakie, one of the young nobleman'*s curators, in the
castle of Kincardine; for the tutor notes that he there "delivered
to the Laird of Inchbrakie, upon the 9th of August 1627, my
Lord's looksy the names whereof foUoweth particularly ."" This
was Patrick Graham of Inchbrakie, father of Patrick Graham
whose soubriquet was *' black Pate,"" and which last was the sole
companion of our hero when, in 1644, he arrived " in Highland
weed*^ from his concealment among the hills, to raise the royal
standard in Athole. Inchbrakie, elder, notes, that " the books
above written were, at the instant time of the receipt thereof,
put in my Lord's chamber by me ; and thereafter put in my
Lord his Lordship's cabinet by me, his LardsMp then being pre-
senty There is something in all this precision which betokens,
not merely a curator^s attention to the minor's affairs, but no
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 23
slight degree of interest taken by the youth hunself in the scanty
but important library thus cared for. Marcus Sabellicus was an
Italian historian and critic of the fifteenth century ; Joachim
Camerarius, a learned and voluminous writer on natural history,
of the sixteenth century ; the history of the life, death, and
variable fortunes of Mary Queen of Scotland, was published in
London, in folio, 1624, by William Strangvage; Fairfax's trans-
lation of Tasso's Godfrey of BuUoigne, " with the life of the
said Godfrey,'' was also published there in 1600 and 1624; the
commentaries on the works of Seneca, mentioned in the above
list, were by Justus Lipsius, a very learned critic of the six-
teenth century; and as for Sir Walter Raleigh's history, it
must have been that goodly folio, a History of the World, part
first, extending to the end of the Macedonian Empire, which
appeared in 1614, the other editions having all been published
subsequently to the death of Montrose. Some of these volumes,
it is probable, had been studied more by the tutor than the
pupil ; but that the youth, on his first entry at college, had
carried with him there, as the treasure he was least inclined to
part with. Sir Walter Raleigh's time honoured history — ^tho
wonder lof its age, written under circumstances of distress and
oppression that might well have paralysed the stoutest pen —
is a trait not to be mistaken. We shall meet with other
evidences that the seeds of learning and love of letters, had been
deeply sown in the mind of Montrose ; and though destined
never to spring, they were ever struggling with the stormy
fortunes of the young warrior, whose smothered genius could
emit a flash which has not yet faded from the literary horizon, —
** But if thou wilt prove faithful then,
And constant of thy word,
ril make thee glorious by my pen,
And famous by my sword ;
I'll serve thee in such noble ways
Was never heard before,
I'll crown and deck thee all with bayes,
And love thee more and more."
In the above details we have anticipated, by a few months,
the breaking up of the young Lord's establishment at Glasgow,
which seems to have been in consequence of the unexpected
24 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
death of his father, at Kincardine castle on the 14th of No-
vember 1626. The Earl could not have been far advanced in
years, at the time he died, seeing that the exploit of his youth,
at the " Salt Tron'' of Edinburgh, already noted, had occurred
only about thirty years before. By means of the family papers,
we can trace him to within three months of his decease, in the
careful management of his domestic affairs, as usual, and issuing
precepts to his factors, for the payment of Lord Graham^s
expenses at Glasgow. It also appears that he was in the act
of establishing his only son in the fee of all his baronies, by an
arrangement then very conmion among the distinguished families
of Scotland, when death issued his precept that John fourth
Earl of Montrose should be gathered to his fathers. The
evidence for this fact is interesting, as it affords the earliest in-
dication of Charles the First having bestowed his countenance
upon the young nobleman, whose destinies came to be so sadly
identified with his own. On the 14th of November, 1626, the
King issues this mandate, from Whitehall, to his Treasurer in
Scotland : —
" Whereas we are credibly informed, that the Earl of Mon-
trose is to put his son in fee of his whole lands, we have thought
good — in respect of the many good services done unto our late
dear father, and to us, by the said Earl — by these presents to
require you to receive his said son our immediate tenant in the
said lands, and give way to his infeftment, that it may be expede
through our seals, according to this order, with all expedition,'*
&c. But the very day on which this bears to have been signed
by His Majesty at Whitehall, happened to be that of the EarFs
demise, at his castle in Strathearn ; and accordingly, this fact
being made known to the King, another mandate issues from
Whitehall, dated 27th November 1626, and addressed to the
Exchequer in Scotland, in these terms : —
*' In regard of the long and faithful service done unto our
late dear father of worthy memory, and to us, by the late Earl
of Montrose, and being willing ever, after the deaths of our well
deserving subjects, to gratify their heirs — and specially those
who are bora^Hft noble and ancient families — with any such
favour as JT ^■prfully bestowed upon them by us, there-
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 25
fore» understanding that the ward and marriage^ of the now
Earl of Montrose is at our gift and disposition, — our pleasure
is, that you pass and expede a gift thereof unto him, in due and
competent form, without any compositions ; to the end that
he may fully enjoy the benefit arising thereby .'''
The young Earl had been at least two days in the castle of
Kincardine before his father'*s death ; and a singular document
among the family papers, being a very minute account of the
household expenses at the time of the funeral, affords some
precise and curious information even in the title of it. It bears
to be : —
" The Dyet^ and ordinary expenses, of Lord James 8 House-
holding in Kincardine^ beginning the 12th day of November
1626, and continuing to Monday the 8th of January 1627, when
his Lordship rode from Kincardine to Kilbryde ; my Lord of
worthy memory, his Lordship'^s father, deceasing in Kincardine
on Tuesday the 1 4th of November 1626; his Lordship being
present in Kincardine the whole space^ accompanied with his
Lordship''s honourable friends : The burial was accomplished the
3d of January ; and the whole friends remained in Kincardine
thereafter, settling his Lordship^s affairs, till Sunday the 7th of
January : The expenses as follows, extending to eight weeks.""
The ceremony of the old EarPs interment beside his Countess,
in the ancient family vault at Aberuthven, js not detailed, but
it must needs have been solemn and stately, since it took nineteen
days to accomplish it. Among the friends assembled with the
youthful heir in his old ancestral halls, upon this occasion, were,
John Earl of Wigton, Montrose'*s cousin-german, his mother
being Lady Lilias Graham, the only sister of the departed Earl :
Lord Napier, Montrose''s brother-in law : His other brother-in-
law, Sir John Colquhoun of Luss : Sir William Graham of
Braco, only brother to the deceased Earl : Sir Robert Graham
of Morphie : Sir William Graham of Claverhouse, (great-grand-
father of Dundee) : David Graham of Fintrie : John Graham
of Orchill : Patrick Graham of Inchbrakie : and John Graham
^ Feudal easaalties exigible by the monarch from crown vassals on such occa-
sions, and remitted to the young Montrose, in the above mandate, by favour of his
Sovereign.
r
26 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
of Balgowan, — all these Grahams representing distinguished
branches of the House. These were the noblemen and gentle-
men whom the young chief of the Grahams immediately assum-
ed as his curators. That they were all together in the castle
of Kincardine, and were the friends to whom the Dyet of
the burial refers, is proved by their signatures attached to
precepts relating to the minor's affairs, of that date.
If they mourned, they did not fast. If they grieved, their
grief was not dry. The peaceful death, and most social burial,
of the father, contrasts so strangely with the stormy and
fearful exit of the son, only twenty four years thereafter, that
we cannot forbear pausing on the scene. There were others
present besides those enumerated above ; and they appear to
have arrived, each bearing a contribution to the dainties of
the larder, as if congregating to a pic-nic feast, instead of a
funeral. There was " presented by my Lord Stormont two
birsall fowls, six partridges, and twelve plovers ;"' and among
those who paid homage at this, we can scarcely call it melan-
choly meeting, w^e find the names of some who, ere long, were
at war to the knife with the head of the house of Graham.
There was " presented by the laird of Laicers, a black cock,
five muirfowls, and the fourth of a hynd ;'" and, " presented by
Glmorquie a great hynd.*" These, however, were merely by w^ay
of compliment. Provisions of all kinds, beef, mutton, lamb,
veal, hams, capons, geese, and other poultry, and game of every
description, were purchased for the occasion, in great abundance.
Of the latter, the " wild meat," as it is picturesquely termed
in the records of this noble pantry, — we may, for the benefit of
the curious, note the comparative values, all entered of course
in pounds, shillings, and pence, Scots. Twenty-eight muirfowls
cost ten shillings a piece ; while twelve ptarmigan, were only
eight shillings a piece ; five black cocks and heath hens cost
eighteen shillings a piece ; and two capercailzies are set down at
three pounds four shillings ; partridges are thirteen shillings and
four pence a piece ; wild geese, twenty -six shillings and eight
pence, a piece ; plovers, ten shillings a brace ; while woodcocks
are only eight shillings a piece, the same price as ptarmigan.
Whatever may have happened before, we may venture to say,
that so rich a bill of fare has never been produced in Scotland,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 27
in these degenerate days, upon any one occasion either of moum-
ning or of feasting. The records of the pantry, the wine cellar,
the ale cellar, the larder, and the " pettie larder**** — which last was
composed of cheese, butter, eggs, candles, herrings, spices, and
confectionery, are all minutely kept ; and the great abundance
and variety considered, we are not surprised to find that it took
eight weeks to " accomplish^' this lordly consignment of earth to
earth, and the subsequent " sattling of my Lord*'s affairs.'' The
" claret wine,**** and the " white wine'** is reckoned by puncheons ;
and there could hardly have been a single tear for every bucket of
"Easter Ale" with which the stately castle of Kincardine appears
to have been inundated, when the last Earl of Montrose who
bore that title at his decease, was gathered to his fathers in
the mausoleum of Aberuthven.
" Absumet haeres Caecuba dignior,
Servata centum clavibus, et mero
Tinget pavimentum superbo
Pontificuin potiore coenis."
" Then shall thy greater heir discharge
And set the imprisoned casks at large,
And dye the floor with wine,
So rich and precious, not the feasts
Of Pontifies cheer their ravished guests
With liquor so divine."
Francis.
r
28 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
CHAPTER III.
COLLEGE LIFE OF MONTROSE, AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS, AFTER
THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER. — HIS OCCUPATIONS AT HOME. — HIS 'EDU-
CATION AND HABITS CONTRASTED ViTm MR MACAULAT^S PICTURE OF
THOSE OF ENGLISH GENTLEMEN OF THE SAME PERIOD. — MARRIAGE OF
HIS SISTER LADY DOROTHEA. — HIS ALARMING ILLNESS AT COLLEGE. —
MODE AND MEANS OF LIVINO CONTRASTED WITH MR MACAULAY*8 IDEA
OF SCOTLAND AT THE PERIOD.
On the 8th of January 1627, the young Earl of Montrose
rode from Kincardine to Kilbrj^de. So says the circumstan-
tial record of the Dyet of the Burial. Kilbryde Castle in
Perthshire, an ancient seat of the Campbells, was that in
which the conqueror of the clan made his first appearance
from home, after succeeding to his Earldom. This, however,
was only a temporary excursion ; for he returned forthwith,
and commenced another dyet at his own castle in Stratheam.
Among these family papers, we find " the dyet and ordinary
expenses of my Lord'^s house, beginning on Monday the 8th of
January 1627, to Tuesday the 23d of January, when his Lord-
ship dined in Kincardine, and rode to St Andreics ; his Lord-
ship being accompanied the said space with Braco, Inchbrakie,
and sundry of his Lordship'*s friends." Sir William Graham of
Braco, only brother of the late Earl, appears to have been active
in the management of his nephew's household affairs at this
time. While Inchbrakie is looking after the young Lord's
books, Braco is paying the baker^s bills incurred by the de-
ceased to Robert Henrison, baker in Stirling, for " furnishing
his Lordship''s houses in Kincardine and GarscuiV with flour,
amounting to an hundred and five pounds Scots.
The discovery of these domestic accounts afforded the first
intimation, in modern times, of Montrose having been educated
at the college of St Andrews. As appears by the above, " his
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 29
first going there,'' when he carried with him the cherished folio,
was on Tuesday the 23d of January 1627. This led to a search
of the records of that University, by which it was ascertained
that he was duly installed on the 26th of January 1627.
Among the Nomina Incorporatorum of that date, we find " Jo-
cobm Gramus, Comes Monterouse.'''* Worthy " Maister William
Forrett" was paid off with the sum of " four hundred merks
money,**' wherewith he declared himself " completely payit ;"
and the young Earl, certainly without any loss of time, was
consigned to the academic care of a Regent at St Andrews,
being at this time fourteen years of age. In the following
month of March, however, he arrived in Edinburgh for the
purpose of being served heir to his father, and invested in his
baronial possessions, upon which occasion we find him in con-
junction with a redoubtable character, his lawyer, " Mr Thomas
Hop." The future Lord Advocate of the Troubles did not
suspect -that he was assisting to establish in his paternal honours
and power, that limb of Satan whom the Kirk was ere long to
characterise in such scurrilous terms. Under the simple de-
signation of Maister Thomas Hop does this celebrated worthy
emerge on the scene of Montrose's private life. We shall meet
with him more than once in the progress of our story .^
The home of the youthful Earl in Edinburgh, upon the occa-
sions when he came there from college, was with Lord and Lady
Napier. Lady Margaret, when her husband was absent at
Court, took some charge of her young brother, and her signa-
ture i^ attached to various family papers connected with the
management of the minor's expenditure. In the spring of
1627, having accomplished his service and investitures, he re-
turned to St Andrews. Before his departure, however, there
is expended, " for books to my Lord, Claverhouse being present,
nineteen pounds four shillings — item more, for a Chreek grammar
to my Lord — three pounds ten shillings." On the day of his
service, the macers, before whom that ceremony took place,
1 Thomas Hope of Cnighall, was created a baronet on the 1 1 th February 1628 ;
and in the month of April thereafter, Charles I. appointed him to the office of his
Majesty*^ Advocate. He had previously been joined therein with Sir William
Oliphant, who, dying of the above date. Sir Thomas came to have no coadjutor in
an office which, as a statesman, he so grossly abused.
30 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
were feasted at James Brown^s, no doubt a recherche restaura-
teur of the day, and the cost of this service dinner Was eight
pounds ten shillings. There was also " given to Claverhouse,
the day of my Lord^s service, ane pen of gold^ to take instruments
with — fifty-three shillings and four pence :" Mr John Bollok i&
paid twenty-six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence, for
having drawn the act of curatory. The same amount of fee
is bestowed upon Mr Thomas Hope, with the addition of three
pounds six shillings and eight pence '' to his man f^ And ^' the
keeper of the Tollhoith door^'' — that Tolbooth which, after a
few stormy years, was to be surmounted by the hero'^s head —
obtains a gratuity of twenty-four shillings.
Nor was the largesse of this noble and knightly youth omit-
ted at home. His young sister, Lady Dorothea, obtains from
him a gratuity of precisely the amount of the Advocate'*s fee,
namely, " to the Lady Dorathie, at my Lord'*s direction, twenty-
six pounds thirteen shillings and fourpence ^^ and moreover,
'^ at my Lord's direction, to the nurse, and the servants in his
Lord8hip**s sister^s (Lady Napier), six pounds thirteen shillings
and four pence ; item, to the coachman, three pounds six shillings
and eight pence."*' ^
Montrose's progress, on his return to St Andrews at this
time, in the month of April 1627, is indicated by the sums
noted for freight at the Queensferry and the water of Cramond,
his supper and breakfast at Burntisland, and the expenses for ex-
tra horses with which Lady Napier had accommodated him, in
addition to his own, "when my Lord went back to Sanctandrois.**'
In the following month of July, again he has holidays. The
accounts of Laurence Graham, factor of Kincardine, bear, that
there was " delivered by John Graham, to my Lord's Regent in
Sanctandrois, now when my Lord left the College upon the 13th
day of July 1627, — thirty- three pounds six shillings and eight
pence ;'' and at the same time there is " given for a saddle to
my Lord, with the covering, workmanship, and girths, seven
pounds fifteen shillings.*^^ He departs with eclat, for the sum
of six pounds eleven shillings is disposed of to the porter at
^ All these accouuts are of course in money Scott, The same sums in Sterling
money would be twelve times more in value.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 31
the College gate, " for wine and ale at my Lord'^s way-coming/^
and " to the poor at my Lord'*s onloupin^^ (mounting). On the
9th of August we find him in Edinburgh, signing precepts to
his factors, along with his curators, Napier and Claverhouse ;
and at the close of the month, he is on the banks of Lochlomond
with the Laird and Lady of Luss, and his other sisters.
A letter has been preserved, written from that place by his
confidential servant James Graham,* who had attended him in
Glasgow, to James Duncan, the factor of Mugdock, which can-
not fail to interest the reader, as it relates to the great Marquis
of Montrose when but fifteen years of age, though the subject
be only " buits and schone.*" There is something, however, more
graceful and gallant in the concomitant demand for '' ane pair
otfyne toeillfavourit ryding gloves,'' and " twa pair of schevereinsJ*^
We may strip the letter of its antique orthography.
" Loving and assured friend :
" I doubt not but you have received the letter which
I sent to you with Harry Blackwood's man, concerning the
causing make boots and shoes to my Lord, as his Lordship
directs me always ; but as you were not in the town when I wrote
to you before, in respect of the commodity of the bearer I have
taken occasion to write these few lines to you, desiring you,
most earnestly, to send my Lord's boots and shoes with the
bearer, if possibly they can be ready. And if you cannot get
both the boots and shoes ready to send with the bearer, I will
desire you to send any of them that are ready so far. As I
wrote to before, my Lord has neither boots nor shoes that he can
put on for tlie present. As also, I will desire you, as T wrote to
you before, to send here a pair otjlne well favoured riding gloves^
and two pair of schevereins^^ to my Lord. So, having no further
^ This James Graham was in the service of the late Earl, before attending the
yomig Lord to GUsgow. The above order was not fulfilled until the 16th of Sep-
tember, by which time the young Earl was at his own place of Garscube ; for the
factpr notes upon the letter : — ^ 16 of September, 1627, sends my Lord to Gartkuhe
ane pair of boitts at 6 lb 13s. id. ; with twa pair schone, 3tb and drink nUer 12b. ;
ane pair ryding gluiffes, 168. ; twa pair scheverons I5s., with 2s. drink tiller;
tumma 11 lb 18s. 4d."
* ScheeereinB probably mean chcrronSf gloves of some other description.
32 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
for the present, my loving duty remembered to yourself and
your bedfellow, I rest,
" Your most loving and assured friend,
'* James Graham.'"
«« RosDO, the 2d of
September, at nif>bt, 16*27.**
^' To his loving and assured friend James Duncan, factor
at Mugdock, — These.*"
" P.S. — If you can get any shoes that are made already, fit
for the purpose, I will desire you to send them with the bearer.*"
Among the family papers there is a manuscript bearing this
simple title, " Maister Johne Lambye'^s Compts ;*" being a de-
tailed account of Montrose'*s expenditure throughout the years
1628 and 1629, until the progress of his studies was cut short
by his very /9arly marriage. This gentleman came to supply the
place of " Maister William Forrett."' He appears to have been
a clerical character, and there is reason to believe that he wa£(
of the old Forfarshire family, L'*Amy of Dunkenny. Sometimes
we find him designed '' purse-maister to my Lord,*" and in after
years he seems to have filled for a time the post of his private
secretary. These accounts, too, are kept with so much precision
and minuteness of detail as to afibrd information such as we
might derive froni a personal diary ; and they are the more
valuable, as supplying not a little of what was an absolute blank
in the biography of our hero, everything, namely, relating to his
youth and education. Even the fact that he was educated at
St Andrews, had entirely escaped observation ; and lists of the
great men, the honour of whose tuition the Alma Mater of
Scotland can claim, have very recently been published, in which
the name of Montrose is not to be found. In the absence even
of traditionary traits of his youth, and comparing the short span
of his allotted lifetime with the period occupied in performing
those actions which attracted the attention of Europe, and ex-
cited the admiration of De Retz, it almost seemed as if the
heroes rapid destinies had denied him a boyhood at all. Thus,
one of the most striking and interesting characters in Scottish
history, has hitherto been only known to us in his stormy and
tragical apotheosis, as the self-devoted champion, the heroic
martyr, isolated and undefined, the Hamlet of the Troubles.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. -V^
By the acquisition of these family papers, however, wo obtain
some insight into the early formed habits, education, and youth-
ful dispositions of the far-famed Marquis. Little did " Maister
Johne Lambye,^' or the factors of Mugdock and Kincardine,
suppose, that in keeping their accounts so carefully, they were
in fact writing a most interesting chapter in the life of the good
and great Montrose, which even his faithful chaplain had entirely
omitted, and which was destined not to be discovered until two
centuries after the heroes death. Now, for the first time, we
find the gallant boyhood, of the cavalier ^^^r excellence of his age,
mirrored, as it were, in these humble records of domestic ex-
penditure; displaying, too, all the early promise of t hatch! valrourr*
••liaracter, which united the energies of a warrior with the geniii -
of a troubadour. We can trace him in his peregrinations, and
i!^. his pastimes, his studies, and his devotions. During term, his
collegiate life is displayed to us, by glimpses of his habits in
School and in chambers, and by more frequent and decided
indications of his exercises in the field. In vacations, we can
follow him from homestead to homestead, of the most hospitable
and distinguished families in Scotland, many of which were the
then happy country dwellings of the chief branches of his house,
kinsmen whom he had chosen as his curators. We find him
scattering charities and gratuities, with open hand and heart,
wherever ho goes ; and occasionally receiving complimentary
gifts of game, fruit, flowers, hawks, and dogs, significantly
indicative of the extreme popularity of the young head of the
house of Graham.
The picture is interesting, and not uninstructive. The so-
cialities, and even refinements of domestic life in Scotland, so
early as the first quarter of the seventeenth century, w hich are
thus shadowed forth to us, cannot fail to impress the mind with
sad and unexpected ideas, of a progress in the amenities of
domestic life, no doubt difficult to imagine when looking across
the fearful gulph of disorganization and misrule which over-
whelmed the growing civilization of Scotland. From a fasci-
nating but not unerring pen, we have a revolting portraiture
of the landed proprietor.^ in England " who witnessed the
Revolution."" The comparison would toinpt us to believe, that
34 LIFK OF MONTROSE.
even at the commencement of the seventeenth century, Scot-
land, 60 poor, and so despised, was a century in advance.
** The heir of an estate,*" says Mr Macaulay, in his History of
England, ^^ often passed his boyhood and youth at the seat of
his family, with no better tutors than grooms and gamekeepers,
and scarce attained learning enough to sign his name to a mit-
timus. If he went to school and to college, he generally returned
before he was twenty to the seclusion of the old hall, and there,
unless his mind were very happily constituted by nature, soon
forgot his academical pursuits in rural business and pleasures.
His chief serious employment was the care of his property. He
examined samples of grain, handled pigs, and on market-days
made bargains over a tankard with drovers and hop merchants.
His chief pleasures were commonly derived from field sports,
and from an unrefined sensuality .^^
Of a passion for field sports we cannot acquit the young
Montrose. 13ut by whatever " unrefined sensuality" the landed
gentrj' of England, in the seventeenth century, were character-
ised, we can detect no symptoms of it, either in the college life
or domestic habits of our hero, and his associates. In 1658,
Saintserf, who knew him intimately, described him, when pur-
suing his great career, in terms which induce us to believe that
tile boy was a faithful index to the man. '* Your glorious^
father," he says, (addressing the second Marquis), " whoso
spirit was so eminent, for speculation and for practice, that his
Camp was an Academy^ admirably replenished with discourses
of the best and deepest sciences, whose several parts were
strongly held up, under him the head, by those knowing, noble
souls, the Earls of Kinnoul and Airley, the Lords Gordon,
Ogilvy, Napier, and Maderty, and the two famous Spotis-
woodes, Sir Robert and his nephew. This I am bold to men-
tion, because such noble discourses banished from his quarters
all obscene and scurrilous language, with all those offensive
satirical reflections, which now are the only current wit among
us ; and if any such peeped forth in his presence, his severe
looks told the speaker it was unwelcome ; nor did this proceed
from a narrowness in his heart, being, to all who knew him, one
of the most munificent, as well as magnificent personages in the
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 35
world/" ^ All the habits and pursuits of Montrose during his
minority indicate the growth of such qualities, and the rearing
of such a character. Even at St Andrews College he was the
beau ideal of a young cavalier. H is recreations were hunting,
and hawking, horse-racing, archery, and golf ; poetry and chess,
heroic and romantic histories, and classics. Nor did he lack
those attributes of the knightly character, the occasional was-
sail, and the frequent largesse. Strange that these old forgotten
accounts should cast so sudden a gleam of sunshine upon the
boyish days of Montrose. He whom the debauched Chancellor -
Loudon, abusing the security of that elevation, denounced as ,
" a person most infamous, perjured, treacherous, and of all /
that ever this land brought fourth the most cruel and inhuman ,
butcher and murtherer of this nation,"" — was an accomplished,
ardent, and generous youth.
In the month of April 16*28, Montrose is discovered in Edin-
burgh, upon the occasion of the marriage of his sister Dorothea*
At the death of their father, in 1G26, Lady Lilias had taken
into family with herself, at Luss, her two youngest sisters,
Katherine and Beatrix. Lady Dorothea, elder than the two
last named, and the one of the family immediately elder than
Montrose, was at the same time adopted by her sister Lady
Margaret, and so became a child of the family of Lord Napier.
In less than two years thereafter, she was married to Sir James
Bollo, knight, designed also laird of Duncruib. He was the
eldest son of Sir Andrew Hollo of Duncruib, who was created
Lord Bollo in 1651, more than twenty years after the marriage
of his son. The feasting upon this occasion, which included, as
usual, a great variety of *' wild meat," was scarcely less than at
the funeral of her father. It seems to have lasted from tho
22d of April to the 29th, and the young Lord's expenditure
during that period embraces the multifarious items of horses
standing at livery ; new spurs ; new shoes ; the " helping'*"'
(mending) of his hunting cap ; bowstrings ; to the poor at the
ports (gates) of Edinburgh and Linlithgow ; to the beadle of
* Epistle Dedicatory by Thomas Saintscrf, Gent, to James 2J Marquis of Mon-
troM, of his translation from the French of M. de Marmct's " EntertainmeiiXs «f
tbt Gmnf or Academical ConverRatifuis,'* ]<>5R.
ni) LIFE OF MONTROSE.
the West Kirk of Edinburgh, " for the testimonial of that
church before the marriage of my Lord's sister; moreover, to
the servants of my Lord Napier s liouse, at my Lord's departing
after his sister s marriage ;"* and finally, '' for Mr William
Struther s Meditations.*" The items of spurs, hunting-cap, and
bowstrings, were likely to interfere somewhat with Montrose's
study of the meditations of that pious worthy, whom, in 1660,
wo find thus characterised by the covenanting Baillie : — " Mr
William Struthcrs, born in our town, long chief minister of
Edinburgh, I dare say the most eloquent and gracious preacher
that over yet lived in Scotland."
Thus was disposed of the Lady Dorothea Graham, to whom
only ten years of married life were vouchsafed. Her untimely
death is recorded by the Lord Lyon, Sir James Balfour, in his
Annals : — " The 16 of May, this year 163S, died Lady Dorothea
Cjiraham, third daughter to John Earl of Montrose, and wife to
Sir James lloUock of Duncruib, knight, Perthshire ; and by him
had no issue : She was solemnly interred at the Abbey Church
of Holy rood House, the 8th of June this same year.''
Immediately after the ceremonial of her marriage, we find
Lady Dorothea signing papers at Carnock, the seat of George
Bruce, (father of the first two Earls of Kincardine), in the
county of Fife. To that goodly dwelling and a rich, the mar-
riage party had adjourned, including our hero, who remained
there until the second of May. Some festivities appear to have
been got up for the occasion. Montrose arrives at Carnock,
with a retinue of servants and horses, on the last day of April ;
and the mood of his mind, and the tone of the merry meeting,
is curiously indicated by the item of forty-six shillings " given
to the drummer and piper of Stirling^ who came to Carnock at
my Lord's being there." Upon the 2d of May, he takes horse
from Carnock, bestowing largely upon the servants at his de-
parture ; with a special gratuity of three pounds " to the Lady
Carnock's nurse^^ and twelve shillings to another ^^ piper, at my
Lord's departing."
The young cavalier, ever in the saddle, now rides to Stirling,
from whence he sends back two horses to Carnock, which he
had borrowed from the bridegroom there, to aid his retinue.
On the 4th of May lie attends the parish church of his own
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 37
castle of Kincardine in Strathearn — the kirk of Blackford, when
he bestows eight shillings upon the poor. He then establishes
himself for a day or two at Orchill, the neighbouring seat of his
kinsman and curator, John Graham. On the fifth of May he
is " depursing,*" as u^ual, among the domestic servants, when
quitting Orchill. On the seventh, we find him bestowing upon
" the servants, and nurse in Machanie, another place in Strath-
earn, three pounds four shillings ; moreover, to ane pyper there,
six shillings."' That morning, however, he again takes horse, and
having replaced a shoe at Dunning, and baited at Newburgh in
Fife, he reaches his college that night, there being expended
three pounds two shillings " for my Lord's supper at night in
St Andrews,'"* on the 7th of May 1623.
Bight glad must his faithful attendant and purse-bearer,
" Maister John Lambye," have been to find himself established
in academic repose again. It could be no sinecure accompany-
ing young Rapid, during holidays, in all his equestrian pere-
grinations. If Lambye loved not the music of the pipes, he
had much to endure. Upon many occasions, throughout the
whole of these accounts, this characteristic feature of the young
EarFs progresses, presents itself, that wherever he goes, whether
to display himself in a country town, or to disport himself in a
country house, bells, trumpets, pipes, drums, and fifes, are con-
tinually put in requisition, at his express command. His popu-
larity among the nurses must have been groat, as he never fails
to fee them specially, in the hospitable mansions to which he
paid these flying visits.
Not less welcome at college than in the friendly and familiar
haunts through which we have traced him, no sooner is the
young nobleman restored to the university, than " ane Hunga-
rian poet," who probably was also an hungry poet, hails his
advent with a commendatory ode. His own chaplain records
of him, that Montrose was wont to amuse his leisure hours, few
and far between, with the composition of poetical trifles, having
a strong predilection for the muses, whom a sterner fate com-
pelled him to abandon. So in these accounts we discover various
indications of sympathy with the most humble votaries of the
lyre. On the 12th of May 1628, at St Andrews, there is
;i8 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
" given, at my Lord's direction, to ane Hungarian poet^ who
made some verses to my Lord, fifty-eight shillings.^ Unfortu-
nately these verses are not recorded. It would be interesting
to know how and in what terms the Hungarian poet lauded the
future hero when in his sixteenth year. Upon another occasion
we find him bestowing eighteen shillings upon " ane rymer
called Croter." No doubt fifty-eight shillings »cot8 amounted
to a trifle less than five shillings sterling. But when we discover
twelve shillings (i. e. one shilling sterling) as the cost of a leg
of mutton to be served at my Lord's table, we are cheered by
the reflection that the hungry poet had five legs of mutton for
his guerdon.
On the 19th of May our hero is hard at golf on the Links of
St Andrews ; but the 24th of that same month is noted as " the
beginning of my Lord's sickness." For the last month the boy
had been feasting like an Alderman, and riding like an Arab*
The scene changes, and now he is disclosed to us in a sick cham-
ber, passing through the phases of an alarming illness to luxuriouB
convalescence, and clicrished with various delicacies, bespeaking
the well-cared for invalid ; such as, chickens, jelly, sack and sugar,
and possets, the daily purveyor of the same being " James
Pett's dochter," — that is to say, the daughter of the man who
provided him with golf-clubs and bows. But the sick youth
was not easily restored. On the 28th, Mr John Lambye be-
comes seriously alarmed, and goes in person to Dundee to fetch
" Doctor Maal." For several days this medical gentleman was
in close attendance. On tlie 30th of May, there is paid to him
a fee of twenty-six pounds, thirteen shillings and fourpence, and
immediately follows, as if it had been a prescription, " Item^
penult of May, to the post for bringing a chess-board from Edin-
burgh, six shillings." lie is still in attendance on the 3d of
June, for, of that date, is noted the expense of " Doctor MaaPs
dycts," and another fee to him of thirteen pounds, six shillings
and eight pence. The case assumes a graver aspect. A barber
is sent for, who is required " to take ofi* my Lord's hairs," —
those loyal locks of redundant auburn, which, even in his dying
hour, he pottcHl. Doctor Maal feeHng unequal to the case,
alone, calls in the aid of " Doctor Arnot," a leech, it would
seem, of a loftier grade, as the fee to him is eighty pounds, be-
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 39
sides " more for Dr Arnot^s diet in four days, and Doctor Maal
with him, six pounds, sixteen shillings."" The former seems to
have prescribed cards, as his coadjutor had prescribed chess,
for, immediately follows, " more, for ane suit of cards, six shil-
lings.^ With the aid of the two doctors, the barber, chicken
broth, jelly made of " capons and veels feet,'' liquorice, whey,
possets, aleberry, and claret, " fresh-water flooks,"" muirfowl
sent to him by his curator from Orchil — in the month of June,
by the way, — trouts from the Ruthven, in his own glen of Kin-
cardine, " trouts and milk from Sir Andrew Balfour,"^ pigeons,
" milkbreds daily to my Lord's breakfasts," — " drapped eggs
for my Lord's supper," — all furnished to overflowing by " James
Pett's dochter,** our hero is resuscitated, and reserved for the
shambles of the Covenant.
It is manifest that in the days of Montrose they knew how
to live as well as how to die. These domestic records of the
larder, the pantry, and the cellar, whether in reference to the
funeral, the wedding, or the sick chamber, might create an
appetite under the ribs of death. We are again tempted to .
compare them with the prouder records of that brilliant architect
of theories, whose rich fancy, whether ho treat historically or
politically of the customs, habits, and characters of our ances-
tors, is apt to render him too independent of facts. Mr Macaulay
is speaking of the era when the union of the crowns had placed
the resources of three kingdoms at the command of one mo-
narch ; hnd he contrasts the condition, intellectual and social,
of Scotland with that of Ireland. " In mental cultivation," he
says, " Scotland had an indisputable superiority. Though that
kingdom was then the poorest in Christendom, it already vied
in every branch of learning with the most favoured countries.
ScoUmen^ whose dwellings and whose food were as wretched as
those of the Icelanders of our time, wrote Latin verse with more
than the delicacy of Vida, and made discoveries in science
which would have added to the renown of Galileo. Ireland
could boast of no Buchanan^ or Napier,''^ Comparatively poor,
no doubt, was Scotland then, — not over-rich now. Many a
hovel among the retainers, and manj' a rough and Runic board
' Sir Andi'cw was a'brother of the Lord Lyon, Sir James Balfour.
40 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
among tho barons, bore witness to the slow march of improve-
ment and civilization there. The labouring classes, indeed, were
poorly lodged and coarsely fed, — thousands are worse oflF at
this day. But those who rely upon the brilliant generalizations
of this popular and dramatic historian, and suppose that they
Iiave here the true characteristics, of an ago and country, em-
balmed in a single antithesis, will be misled. Whoso regards
such generalizations as oracular truths, and attempts to elon-
gate them, like the precious web from the fairy^s nut-shell, or to
sound the depths and sources of these sparkling productions,
will sometimes find he has killed the bird that laid the golden
egg. We take the instances upon which our historian so point-
edly perils his proposition. Buchanan, who wrote Latin verses
like Vida, might have dated his poetry from a palace ; and as
for his food, many wore the regal tit-bits, the savoury crumbs
of pasties and preserves, the savoy-amber, the pistache-amber,
and the fennel), that adhered to the liquorish moustache of the
royal dominie. Then the discoverer of the Logarit^s, the father
of Montrose's guardian Lord Napier, who indeed only died within
the lifetime of our Iiero, his dwellings — for ho had many — and,
doubtless, the food at his command, were of the same substantial
and luxurious order, as that through which we are now tracing
the boyhood of the great Marquis. Young Montrose's head
had disgraced her eyes with weeping, and her hair
scattered about her as in a funeral, made her look fearful. Her
horse, with blows of the whip put to his speed, went not yet
fast enough for her, that laboured to make more haste, and
shrieked no less than was the manner in the Phrygian or The-
ban fury. The reverence of the sex, with the bitterness of her
lamenting, did, besides his propension to favour those which
were miserable, move the mind of the young man ; who also
thought what this spectacle, which he first met with at his en-
tering into Sicily, might presage. But she, when within hear-
ing, — ' Oh ! whatsoever thou art (quoth she) if thou beest a
friend to virtue, ah, lend thy aid to Sicily, which, in a most va-
liant man, certain wicked thieves seek to overthrow. Nor will
the instant mischief suffer me to make any long entreaty;
neither yet can I pray slightly for PoUarchus^ whom, not far
hence, a furious troop of robbers have beset with unexpected
villany. Myself escaping in the tumult, have first happily, and
perhaps no more for his safety than thy glory, lighted upon
thee.'* As the woman, with panting and sighing delivered these
words, he took his sword and cask, and while his men brought
his horse, — * I did but now. Lady (said he), arrive in Sicily ; be
it lawful for a stranger, as yet, not to know the name of Poll-
archusr'^
^ From the translation of 1628, published in London, by his Majesty's command.
60 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Alas, for the Meditationes Gerardi^ and the meditations of the
gifted Maister William Struthers, and '^ the gushing tears of
godly sorrow/' with such an introduction as this, to the prin-
ciples of monarchical government, under the eyes of the gallant
Graham, when seventeen years of age.
We thus find that Montrose had been introduced to the
ancient languages through the works of Xenophon, Seneca,
Buchanan, and Barclay. But there is further evidence that he
made companions of the classics, and inflamed his heroic genius
with their themes. The youth who, under every temptation of
rank and fortune, to withdraw his mind from an ardent desire
for other celebrity, could study the characters of Plutarch's
heroes with a determination to emulate their fame, evinced a
genius of no ordinary stamp. Alexander is said to have pos-
sessed a copy of the Iliad corrected by Aristotle, which he pre-
served in a precious casket found among the spoils of Darius.
This he used to place under his pillow with his sword. In allu-
sion to an anecdote he had derived from Plutarch, Montrose
wrote this verse upon his copy of Lucan : —
As Macedo hb Horner^ 1*11 thee still,
Lucan, esteem as my most precious gem ;
And, though my fortune second not my will,
Tliat I may witness to the world the same.
Yet, if she would but smile even so on me,
My mind desires as his, and soars as hie.
In like manner, he had noted upon a leaf of Gsesar's Com-
mentaries : —
Though Cassar^s paragon I cannot bo,
Yet shall I soar in thoughts as high as he.
But the great prototype of his youthful emulation was the'
Macedonian hero. His copy of Quintus Gurtius also displayed
this evidence of it, penned by himself: —
As Fhilip^s noble son did still disdain
All but the dear applause of merited fame,
And nothing harboured in that lofly brain
But how to conquer an eternal name ;
So, great attempts, heroic ventures, shall
Advance my fortune, or renown my fall.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 61
We find the echo of the very sentiment in his famous ballad: —
" Ab Alexander I will reign,
And I will reign alone ;
My thoughts did eyermore disdain,
A rival on my throne ;
He either fears his fate too much.
Or his deserts are small.
That dares not put it to the touch
To gain or lose it alV
As the heroes of Plutarch had thus roused his youthful ambi-
tion, it must have appeased the indignant manes of the martyr
champion of .the martyr king, to find that he had established an
European fame, as having equalled, in heroic action, the very
models he had chosen. De Betz, the friend of Condd and
Turenne, has thus embalmed his eulogy among the classics of
history : — " Montrose, a Scotish nobleman, — head of the house
of Graham, — the solitary being who ever realized to my mind the
image of those heroes whom the world only see^in the biographies
of Plutarch^ — had sustained, in his own country, the cause of
the King of England, with a grandeur of soul that finds no
parallel in the present age.*"
Perhaps the following may be taken as evidence that Montrose
eschewed the manual drudgery of study: — " To ane scholar, who
writes my Lord^s notes in the school, twenty-nine shillings/^ But
that he sometimes worked his hand as well as his head, the item
of five shillings paid "for ane pen ink-horn to my Lord's use,''
may suffice to prove. His sympathy for needy men of letters is
frequently manifested. ^ Besides contributions to rhymers, and
romancing travellers, there occurs, "given at my Lord's direction
to ane Frenchman, at his lauriation, to help to bear his charges,
ten pounds.^ Less conspicuous but not less interesting charities
mark the progresses of the noble student wherever he goes.
Liberal and open-handed as may be the young gallants of our
own times, they cannot be said to scatter alms each time that
they throw their leg over a hunter, or cast the reins to their
tiger, as regularly as grace before meat. Every " on-loupine^ of
Montrose, was the signal of alms to the attendant poor, over
62 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
and above constant and liberal donations ^' to the poor that
week at the Kirk,'' and, " at the Kirk, given to the brod," ge-
nerally from six to twelve shillings at a time. We discover him
bestowing alms upon the ^'poor at the gate," of Kinnaird,
Morphie, Glammis, Claverhouse, the Mains, &c. ; as if such were
his constant habit, ere partaking of the hospitality within. He
never " takeii horse," or " loups on," or dismounts, or goes " to
the fields," or visits a town, or pauses at " his chamber door,"
or pursues his journey along the highway, without distributing
a shower of small coin, the most single hearted of all charities,
which, in return for no inconsiderable drain upon his purse,
must have heaped upon his youthful head niany a Christian
blessing, to countervail the curses of the Kirk. Sometimes
individual charities are particularized : — " Item, the second day
of July, 1629, to ane auld man called James Gellerd, and his
wife, begging from my Lord at his chamber, twelve shillings."
Upon other occasions — '' Item, to an dumb woman, four shillings.^
— " Item, to ane honest man who came to my Lord on his way
from Gamock to Cumbernauld, six shillings." And not the
least interesting of these occasions, when we consider the sub-
sequent ties between them, — " some poor Irishe women at the
gate of Braco," and — " ane Irishe man begging at the gate of
Glammis'' — are all successful appeals to his charity. Nor must
we omit an instance with which he was not apt to be assailed
in after life-^^^ Item, to ane poor man who brought ane testimonie
from the Kirk, seventeen shillings."
Another trait of the habits of this '^ tassel-gentle," was his
love of the garden. While the walls of his chamber were be-
decked with bows and other insignia of the green-wood craft,
his table was adorned with flowers from the college garden,
or presented to him by friends. Next to the nurses of the
hospitable mansions which he visited as a guest, the gardeners
came in for a share of his liberality, and the gardener of the
college, who frequently supplied him with nosegays, experienced
his bounty in proportion. A constant attendant at the Kirk, on
Sundays, and preaching days, where he never forgot the poor,
his appearance there, bouquet in breast, must have been hailed
with satisfaction, unalloyed by any classic fear of the Danetos^
at every country " Kirk brod," where he happened to make
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 68
his offering : — " Item, the 4th of April 1629, at St Andrews,
given to the poor that week at the Kirk door, preaching having
been daily before the communion, seventeen shillings/' — '' Item,
on the 11th to the brod at the Kirk door, that week, on peace
Sunday, and other two preaching days, sixteen shillings/' —
** Item, the 18th day given to the poor that week, three days at
the Kirk door, six shillings/' And when, in August following, he
18 visiting at Dudhope, the seat of the hereditary constable of
Dundee,^ we find him, on Sunday the iiOth, giving " to the brod
at the Kirk in Dundee, twelve shillings ; to the poor that day
at the Kirk style, ten shillings ; to the poor at the gate of
Dydhope, three shillings ; item, to the gardner, giving my Lord
a/naflwoer on Sunday^ twelve shillings/'
Amid these domestic records of his various occupations, and
rapid movements, we find some interesting indications of his
personal attention to country matters. In the month of August
1629, he thus writes to his chamberlain: — " Robert Grame:
Ye shall not fail to deliver to Thomas Moncur of Shilhill, forty
pounds, which I have contributed to the relief of those gentle-
men who are damaged by the flowing of their moss in Stirling-
shupe. — MoNTROis."
In reference to the above there is also preserved " The dis-
charge granted by Thomas Moncur, of forty pounds money,
which my Lord gave to the help of those that were distressed
with the overflowing moss in anno 1628."^
At the same time, '^ In the month of August 1628 years, when
my Lord visited the place of Aid Montrois, there was ane meikle
hole in the slate-work thereof, above the terrace, at the back
door which opens on the terrace ; whereat, his Lordship's self
directed the factor to gar (cause) mend the same ; which he gart
be done ; and paid for lime thereto, arie merh; and for slate work
and slates thereto, ^/y shillings; inde 31b. ds. 9d." Something
of the nature of this stately and ancient family mansion may
also be gathered from the accounts for the following year, when
it seems to have undergone a more complete repair : — " Paid for
* Sir John ScrymgeooTy created Visooant Dudhope in 1641.
* In another account, it ib deacrihed as '' the fleidng moss besyde Airthe."
64
LIFE OF MONTROSE.
mendinfi^ the glass-work, and the glass in windows of Aid Mon-
trois, in August 1629 years, at direction of the laird of Morphie,
six pounds, three shillings, and four pence : Paid, at direction,
to the slaters, called John Sires, and Alexander Talbertt, for
mending all the slate-work of Aid Montrois ; except the tower,
the bake-house, the brew-house, and the kitchen ; which they
refused, until the same be tirrit first, before they take it in hand :
So they mended the great house, the^ chambers on the south
side of the close, the porter-lodge, the garden chamber, and the
girnel house, for the sum of seven pounds, thirteen shillings, and
four pence."
The above is from an account ^'fitted and subscribed at
Drumfad, the 13th day of October 1629," and thus attested by
Montrose, his chamberlain, and three of his curators, in the
month immediately preceding the noble minor's marriage.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 65
CHAPTER V.
Montrose's marriage— his portrait taken bt jameson — made a
bdboess of aberdeen upon the occasion— his movements imme-
diately before his marriage — his first acquaintance with
bishop wishast— his marriage in the church of kinnaird—
provision in the marriage contract as to the residence of
the young couple — birtd of his sons — departure on his travei-s
at the termination of his minority.
A ROMANCE usually concludes with the marriage of the prin-
cipal performers. In this romance of reaj life, for such it is,
the order is changed. The marriage of the hero comes off at
the commencement, and happens to be the least important, or ,
the least interesting, of all the prominent events in his life.
Indeed the value of that circumstance is reduced, in his case, to
its first intention and primitive simplicity. The only son of his
father, he became the father of three sons, a fact which, strangely
enough, has escaped all the peerage writers.
Hard by Old Montrose, stood the ancient castle of Kinnaird,
the chief seat of Montrose's nearest neighbour in Forfarshire.
This was David Carnegie, created Lord Carnegie of Kinnaird,
by James VI., in 1616. His place was at no great distance,
moreover, from St Andrews. Thus our hero could not fail to
be a frequent visitor in a distinguished mansion, where a nu-
merous family of sons and daughters *added to the inducement
of near neighbourhood. ^^ Mrs Magdalene Carnegie," was the
youngest of six daughters of this house, all of them eventually
married to Scotch Peers, so that the family was one of high
consideration in Scotland. This was the young lady that cap-
tivated the observed of all observers among the gold tufts of
St Andrews, and transformed the boy into a Benedict, in the
5
66 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
third year of his college life, when no more than seventeen years
of age. There is a family tradition of this'fair one, that she had
previously met with a disappointment. It is said that the Master
of Airlie had paid his addresses to her, with every prospect of
success, and was about to bring the matter to a happy conclusion,
by a formal proposal. On his way to Kinnaird Castle, however,
for this purpose, his horse stumbled in crossing a river, or re-
fused to take the ford. The result would seem to imply that the
young and ardent rider had been thoroughly cooled by immer-
sion in the stream ; for, as the story goes, he regarded the omen
as unfavourable, and, yielding to adverse fate, he —
■ gave his bridal reins a shake,
Said, adieu for ever more my love,
And adieu for ever more."
The deserted was inconsolable, until her father soothed her
with the assurance that he would immediately provide her with
even a better match than the head of ^' the bonnie house of
Airlie." The anecdote is rendered interesting by the subse-
quent companionship in arms of these young noblemen, and the
constant unchanging devotion of the Airlie Ogilvies to the royal
cause, under the standard raised and sustained by Montrose.
Lord Kinnaird, who became Earl of Southesk, by creation,
when Charles L was crowned in Scotland in 1633, was well
known as a public man, and had held many high offices, both
as a commoner and a peer. Whatever may be the truth of the
above story, it is more than probable that the worldly wise
Kinnaird had done his best to promote so good a settlement
for his youngest daughter ; and the successful suitor was not one
likely to allow his horse to refuse to cross a river, especially on
such an errand, or to allow the river to cross him. Occasional
items of expenditure '^ to the poor at the gate of Kinnaird,'' indi-
cate his habits of resort to that social abode ; and we may believe
that the ale-fed steeds of tha young cavalier acquired a strong
propensity to exhibit their caracols, in passing through that
gate to the castle of Kinnaird. It would seem, however, that
his marriage had in no degree interfered with the usual stirring
and sporting habits of the young Earl, either before or after it
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 67
came off. The easy, matter of course way, in which the im-
portant event is dovetailed in these accounts, with his usual
daily field exercises, and equestrian excursions, is somewhat
singular. We have already traced him very nearly to his
wedding day. On the 3d of November 1629, he is staying at
Morphia with Sir Robert Graham, one of his curators. That
morning, the weather being severe, he orders his horses to be
frosted, and rides to Cowie, and from thence to Aberdeen. On
the 4th of November, we discover him in Aberdeen, buying
buckles for his spurs, scattering alms to the poor of the New-
town, and the Auld-town, and to " some Bed-men at the Bishop's
gate ;" and also bestowing forty-six shillings upon '^ the porter
of the college for ringing the bells.'* He has five horses with him,
and his advent appears to have created a considerable sensation,
and to have been very cordially hailed. That' same day he is
presented with the freedom of Aberdeen : — " Item, the said day,
my Lord having been nmde burgess, given to the town officers
three dollars, — inde^ eight pounds fourteen shillings." On con-
sulting the Guildry accounts of Aberdeen for the year 1 629, we
find that this compliment cost the town, — " Twelve buists^ — six
pounds ; a sugar loaf, — four pounds eighteen shillings ; tobacco
and pipes, — ^twelve shillings ; bread and candles, — twenty-two
shillings ; eight pints of Spanish wine, — nine pounds twelve
shillings ; four pints of French wine, — forty-eight shillings ;
summa twenty-four pounds." It could scarcely then have been
anticipated that, in a few years, this same boy would '^ flutter
their Volscians in Corioli," and that he was destined to become,
within a very short space of time, first a terror, then a protection
and champion to the good and loyal town.
Upon the present occasion, however, Montrose had not ridden
from Morphie to Aberdeen in a hard frost for the purpose merely
of getting his spurs mended, and being made a burgess. George
Jameson, the pupil of Eubens, and fellow-student of Vandyke,
the solitary name of the periofl which entitles Scotland to a
place in the history of art, was then established in his native
town, and devoting his genius to portrait-painting. The laird of
Morphie, probably, wished to compliment the young Countess
with a portrait of her husband, drawn by the Vandyke of Scot-
land. Such, obviously, was our hero's main object in this sudden
68 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
exoursion to Aberdeen, in the week previoua to hiB marriage.
Master John Lambye records a payment at this time of twenty-
six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence, '^ for my Lord's por-
trait drawn in Aberdeen." The charge, however, b scored out,
and there is noted on the margin, '^ this was given by Morphie."
lu the following month, and while the young couple were estab-
lished, after their marriage, in the castle of Kinnaird, this
relative item occurs : — ^^ December the second day, 1629, to one
who brought my Lord's portrait from Aberdeen, twelve shillings."
We have thus an interesting and accurate record, upon a
great occasion, of the rapidity with which Jameson worked,
and the terms upon which he produced those graceful and
effective, but not powerfully painted head-size portraits, which
are yet to be met with, in various states of preservation, scat-
tered throughout the ancient houses of Scotland. Hisjillustrious
subject appears to have arrived in Aberdeen upon the evening
of the Sd of November. He is made a burgess next day. Upon
the 5th he takes horse from Aberdeen ; and five pounds is the
sum debursed on " the fifth day of November, for my Lord^'s
horses, — ^five horses, two days.**^ During this short space, he
had sat to Jameson, for his portrait. .Throughout all [the
accounts, there is no indication of his having been in Aberdeen
before this time. By the 2d of December following, the portrait
is finished, and immediately transmitted to the young married
couple at Kinnaird. There it still exists, in high preservation ;
nor has this portrait been known to have quitted the castle of
Kinnaird during the two centuries which have elapsed since it
was painted. The price paid for it, when the sum is reduced
to sterling money, was no more than ith whom he lias procreated in the said marriage
a great number of children^ — as also, that the said Lady Lilias,
shortly after the decease of the said John Earl of Montrose,
her father, having, with consent of the said John Colquhoun of
Loss, her husband, taken and received within her house and
company. Lady Eatherine Graham, her lawful sister germane,
who remained in their company and society by the space of
[blank] years, — the said John Colquhoun of Luss, altogether
void of the fear of the Almighty and Omnipotent God, unmindful
of his divine and sacred law, his own solemn oath, and matrimo-
nial promise, and of his bounden duty to his said honourable
and chaste lady, and without respect to her noble blood and
descent, resolving, in his diabolical and damnable resolution,
[to seduce and dishonour]^ the said Lady Eatherine Graham,
her sister, he, in his crafty and politic manner^ first insinuated
himself, by subtle and enticing speeches, into the said Lady
Eatherine^s favour, for bereaving her of her chastity, and not
being able, by that his craft and subtlety to prevail, and ensnare
her, he thereupon addressed himself to certain witches and
sorcerers, consulted and dealt with them for channs and incan-
tations ; and, namely, with the said Thomas Carlippis whom he
kept and used as his ordinary servant ; and procured from him,
being a neeromancer^ certain philtra or poisons of love^ or poison-
able and enchanted tokens of love ; especially, a Jewell of gold^
set with divers pretious diamonds or rubies, which was poisoned
and intoxicat by the said necromancer ; and had the secrete
and devilish force, of alluring and forcing the person receiver
* The words within brackets aro rnhstitnted for co.ir.=cr exprcRsions used by the
public prosecutor.
84 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
thereof, to expose her body, fame, and credit to the unlawful
will and pleasure of the giver and propyner thereof: Likeas, the
said John Oolquboun of Luss, for accomplishing of his former
devilish resolution, in the years 1629, 1630, and 1631, or some
time in one or other of those years, propjmed, gave, and delivered
to the said Lady Eatherine, his sister-in-law, the foresaid jewel
of gold, set with the said rubies and diamonds, devilishly intoxi-
co^, and enchanted, as said is : After her receiving whereof, she
was so bewitched and transported, that she had no power of
herself, to refuse the said John Golquhoun of Luss : Where
through, and from that time forth, of her receipt of the said
enchanted and intoxicat jewel, [he exercised unlimited control
over the person of Lady Eatherine Graham]. Likeas, the said
John Golquhoun of Luss, not being content therewith, he, ac-
companied with the said Thomas Garlippis his conducet servant,
and a necromancer as said is, in secret manner abduced, carried,
and took away the said Lady Eatherine furth of his own house
of Boisdo, in the month of September, in the year of God 1631 ;
and therefrom carried and transported her to the city of London,
within our Eingdom of England, where he has remained and
kept company with her continually sensyne, in the said horrible
crime of incest ; contravening thereby not only our said Act
of Parliament made against the conmiitters of the said crime,
but also he, with the said Thomas Garlippis, necramancery his
demlish geroant^hj practising of the said sorcery and witchcraft,
of bewitching, and intoxicating^ of the said jewel, and by pro-
pyning and delivering the same to the said Lady Eatherine, to
the pemitious effect foresaid, and consulting with witches and
sorcerers for that'wicked intent, has contravened the tenor of
our said Act of Parliament made in the contrary, and has in-
curred the deserved fvm^ishment of deaths mentioned therein,
which ought and should be inflicted upon them with all rigor,
to the terror and example of others.'*^
These criminal letters having been duly executed, by a mes-
senger <^ the name of James Graham'^ by open proclamation at
the market-cross of Edinburgh, and pier and shore of Leith,
"Then,^" says the messenger, "I duly, lawfully, and orderly.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 85
denounced the said Sir John Golquhoun of Luss, ELnight,^ and
Thomas Oarlippis, his said servant, his Majesty's rebels, and
put them to his Highnesses horn, with three several blasts of a
horn, as use is, and ordained all their moveable goods and gear
to be inbrought to his Majesty's use for their contempt and dis-
obedience.^* Thereafter, on the 11th of January 1633, the
parties having failed to appear, sentence of fugitation was pro-
nounced against them.
The Church Courts had also taken cognizance of this great
crime. The Laird of Luss was excommunicated. But he had
fled out of the Kingdom ; and he seems to have been so com-
pletely removed from the scene of his iniquities, as not to have
known, until he ventured to return, sixteen yearis after his flight,
that he had been excommunicated.
The year 1647 found Scotland in a very different state from
what it was when Sir John Colquhoun left it in 1631. The
Covenant, and the Solemn League and Covenant, had become
the law in Scotland, The Kirk of Scotland had become the
Gk>vemment of Scotland. Argyle was Dictator in Scotland.
Montrose, in exile by the commands of his Sovereign when in
the hands of a rebel faction, was under sentence of death and
forfeiture by the Kirk-ridden Parliament, andof excommunication
by tke Elirk. He had run up a heavy account against himself,
and his race, by that series of brilliant victories which had swept
all the armies of the Covenant from the face of Scotland, ruined
the prestige and destroyed the clan of Argyle, and disgraced
every Scottish nobleman who had been induced to stand for the
Covenant instead of the Crown, in any fair field against Mon-
trose and the Standard. Argyle and the Kirk, — King, Lords,
and Conmions in Scotland, — thirsted for the blood of the baffled
exile, with an intensity of hatred that would admit no settle-
ment of the Kingdom exclusive of that item. Moreover, Sir
^ Thxxmghoat the libel the chief culprit is styled ** John Colqahonn of Lnss ;**
hot the Messenger styles him " Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, Knight" It is re-
markable, howerer, that the title of Baronet is not added, although Sir John was
ereated a Baronet of Nova Seotia in the month of August 1625.
* Grig. Bookt of Adjournal, Mr Pitcaim's publication of these Records is not
bnmglit down to this date, and consequently does not contain the prosecution of Sir
John Colquhoun.
86 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Thomas Hope of Craighall, was no longer ^^ his Majesty's Advo-
cate, for his Majesty^s interest/' He hiad resigned the dishonoured
place in favour of Sir Archibald Johnston of Warriston, Procu-
rator of the Kirk, the demagogue f>ar excellence of the troubles,
who never ceased urging the Parliament, and urging the Kirk
to urge the Parliament, to have mercy upon no prisoner in any
way connected with the career of Montrose, and who never
ceased proclaiming that mercy was not an attribute of justice, '
until it came to his own turn to be hanged.
In this state of affairs, Sir John Golquhoun of Luss again
ventures on the scene, with a feeling, doubtless, that his diaboli-
cal seduction of the sister of Montrose was now no hanging
matter, and a crime not difficult to atone.
This appears from the records of the Presbytery of Dumbar^
ton. On the 20th of April 1647, Colquhoun of Balvie, and
Golquhoun of Glens, present a petition to the Presbytery, in
these terms, that their hitherto fugitive brother was returned /
like the prodigal son ; that he had only just become aware / /
of the sentence of excommunication pronounced against him ^^
" when he was out of the country ;**' and that he now prayed that
" some of the hrethem might confer with him thereanent.'"//Well
did tho '' crafty and politic"" Luss know the weak side of a
'Govenanting Presbytery. His outlawry^ for havid;g fled from
justice — nay, the crime itself, was not his distress, and no longer
his dread. But the fact of lying under excommunication was, in
the year 1647, a serious and alarming predicament. The con- »
ference for which he petitioned was granted.^ " The Brethem''
were never slow to obey a summons of the kind. So peculiar a
case, indeed, promised a finer field-day for their inquisitorial |
activity, than even the most minute disclosures of some of those
alleged KaisonSy between the Devil and some toothless crone, for
which the Presbyteries of the Govenant, according to their own
records, had so curious a relislu* The identity of the culprit,
and his crime, with what has been narrated before, is placed be-
yond all question by the report of this conunittee of conference.
On the 11th of May 1647, they report to the Presbytery, that
the Laird of Luss, " with many tears, did regret, and bemoan
* Seo the Presbytery Records of the period pauim.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 87
his caae ; and wished nothing more than to be received again
into the bosom of his mother Kirk, where he was bred, bom,
and baptized ; and where the ordinances of God were so pure :
But he did somewhat decline a plain and free canfemanj of the
sin of incest with his sister-in-law. Lady Eatherine Graham, till
is had settled his estate in the world!"
No expression of indignation or severity accompani(?8 the re-
' port. No austere uncompromising deliverance follows. The
clerical tribunal, which raked the gutters of their language for
opprobrious terms against Montrose, '' the malignant,^ seems
willing to take at his word the man who had seduced, and by
the vilest of arts, his young ward and sister-in-law. Here wo ^
have a very unequivocal illustration of the fact, that, with the
Covenanting Kirk, there was no crime so great as a refusal to
bow before its assumption of purity and power; and no stain upon
the human heart so black as not to be obliterated by well-timed/'
and abject offerings at the altar of the Covenant. /
Lass appears to have escaped/all further trouble on the sub-
ject, either from Kirk or State, which, indeed, were then identi-
cal in the question of prosecuting such delinquents. But his
parish minister, Mr Archibald M'Lauchlane, it seems, had fallen
into greater trouble at this time than Luss himself, in reference
to that worthy^s domestic affairs. Of the fate of Lady Lilias
nothing is discovered. Of the rest of her numerous family the
only particulars which these records contain, relate to a daughter,
Montrose^s niece, who appears to have been a backslider also.
Of date 28th September 1 647, the following entry occurs : —
** In the censure of Mr Archibald M'Lauchlane it is found,
he has married Mr Walter Stewart upon Jean Colquhoun,
daughter to the Laird of Luss, contrary to order ; and, as is
surmised, without consent of her father. He (the minister) affirms
that he had the consent of her father, from Bobert Colquhoun
of Balemich, which he behoved to accept, because he was dis-
charged (prohibited) to have any conference with the Laird of
Luss, being excommunicated : And, for the breach of order, he
acknowledges he proclaimed them, once upon a Thursday, his
ordinary week-day of sermon, and twice upon the Lord's day
thereafter ; and that, at the earnest desire of the said Robert
88 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Golquhoun, who professed to him that it was the earnest desire
of the friends to have the marriage hastened : And, for their
repentance, for their fall before marriage, they did, before the
pulpit, acknowledge humbly their offence ; wUch he was con-
tent to accept, because there was no scandal of them in the
country ; nor knew he any thing of it : The Presbytery continue
(delay) their censure till their return from the Synod.^ The
minister was afterwards ordered to be rebuked, in face of his
congregation, for this breach of order.
But the troubles of this unlucky clergyman of Luss did not
end here. Very soon afterwards, in 1648, as stated in the
same record, ^^ the Laird of Luss was married to Baillie,
daughter of Lochend, without proclamation of bands, by Mr
Archibald M'Lauchlane, minister of Luss C who, for that breach
of order was suspended and deposed. The matter came before
the General Assembly, '' who did not consider that the married
couple merited censure ; but thought that the mother of the
lady (now married to Eilbimie), should confess her guilt in her
own parish kirk.*"*
It is sad to reflect on the probable fate of Lady Eatherine
Graham, a daughter of one of the noblest houses in Scotland.
^ Douglas, and other family hiatorians, assert, that the Sir John Golquhoun of
Luss who married Lady Lilias Graham, did not die until after the year 1654.
If this he accurate, then the Laird of Luss who was irregularly married to ^ —
Baillie in 1648," is the same individual. But these writers also record, that the
Sir John Golquhoun of Luss who was the ton of Sir John Golquhoun and Lady
Lilias Graham, married Margaret BaiUie, sole heiress of Baillie of Lochend.
If this, on the other hand, be accurate, then Sir John, the outlaw, must hare died
between the period of the notices of him, found in the Presbytery records in 1647,
as above, and the notice of the irregular marriage of the heiress to Golquhoun of
Luss in 1648. The dates, in so far as they have been obtained from the Presbytery
records, approximate very closely to each other, and induce the surmise that the
ouUdw was he whom his cleigyman married irregularly. We tiiist, however, for
the sake of the lady, that the son, of whom no evil is known, was in reality
the impatient bridegroom, and that the nefarious father had died not long after
** somewhat declining a plain and free confesnon of the sin of incest with his sister-
in-law, Lady Katherine Graham, till he had settled his estate in the world." The
fsmily history and genealogy of the Golquhouns of Luss has never been accurately
deduced. For the extracts from the Presbytery Records of Dumbarton, I am
indebted to my friend Mr Dennistoun of Dennistoun, whose historical research and
accuracy is well known.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 89
All knowledge of her, the very memory of her appears to have
been at onoe obliterated in her own country. As the young
Earl quitted Scotland immediately after the outlawry of his
brother-in-law, we must cling to the hope, that he had made a
point of discovering his ruined sister, and had provided some
safe but secluded retreat for her abroad.
'* And Luss^ Carlippis^ Katherine, are gone,
Alike without their monumental stone.*'
We have thus accounted for the five sisters of Montrose, with
the exception of the youngest, Beatrix, whose fate we must now
record. Deeply as, in the progress of this history, we shall find
some of his female relatives involved in the fortunes of Mon-
trose, and greatly as they suffered in his cause, such was not
the fate of any of his sisters, who were probably all gone ere his
stormy destinies were unfolded. The Lady Beatrix Graham
was still unmarried in the year 1639. Her future welfare was
occupying the anxious mind of Montrose, when, under the
banner of the Covenant, he was about to lead its arms against
the loyal town of Aberdeen. A deed of the following tenor was
subscribed by him " at Auld Montrois, the 27th day of March
IGSQ,**^ and consigned to the keeping of Lord Napier, among
whose papers it is yet preserved : —
" We, James Earl of Montrose, Lord Graham and Mugdok,
for the singular and special love and favor which wo have and
bear to Lady Beatrix Graham, our lawful sister, and for the
better advancing of the said Lady Beatrix to an honourable
marriage, according to her rank and dignity,^**— obliges himself
and his heirs, to secure to the said Lady Beatrix the sum of
twenty thousand merks for tocher. This condition, however, is
added, doubtless under a melancholy reminiscence of the fate
of Lady Eatherine : — " Providing always, likeas we have given
and granted these presents upon this special provision and con-
dition, and no otherwise, that, in case it should happen the said
Lady Beatrix — as God forbid — to defilo her body, or to join
herself in marriage with any person without our special advice
90 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
and consent, then and in these oases, or either of them, these
presents to be null."'
This object of her illustrious brother s solicitude was ere long
married to David Drummond, third Lord Maderty, the intimate
friend and faithful follower of Montrose. And thus " the bairn
Beatrix,^ became eventually ancestress, through her second
daughter Beatrix Drummond, of a long line of Earls of H}md-
ford.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 91
CHAPTER VII.
uoirrROSE ox his travels — his education abroad— minute descrip-
tion OF his habits, and personal appearance, bt saintserf —
BISHOP BURNETTS CHARACTER OF MONTROSE — HE VISITS THE ENOUSH
COLLEGE AT PARIS — HIS RETURN HOME — HIS RECEPTION AT THE
COURT OF ENGLAND BT CHARLES I. — DUPLICITY OF THE MARQUIS OF
HAMILTON — HEYLIN'S ANECDOTE OF M0NTR08E*S RECEPTION BY THE
KINO — SIR PHILIP Warwick's character of Hamilton — outhrie's
ANECDOTE OF HIS DUPLICITY IN SCOTLAND.
To finish the education so auspiciously commenced, though
interrupted, as we have seen, Montrose, upon attaining his
majority, proceeded to the Continent in the year 1633. There
we can only follow him, by means of a short but valuable notice
of his movements, preserved to us by Thomas Saintserf, his
faithful adherent, and constant and devoted admirer.
" In his younger days,**' says the son of the persecuted Bishop
of Galloway, " he travelled France and Italy, where he made
it his work to pick up the best of their qualities necessary for
a person of honour. Having rendered himself perfect in the
Academies^ his next delight was to improve his Intellecttials; which
he did by allotting a proportionable time to reading, and con-
versing with learned men ; yet still so, that he used his exercise
as he might not forget it. He studied as much of the mathe-
matics as is required for a soldier. But his great study was
to read men^ and the actions of great men. Thus he spent three
years in France and Italy ; and would have surveyed the rarities
of the East, if his domestic affairs had not obliged his return
home ; which chanced at that time the late Rebellion began to
peep out.'^
This is the statement of a contemporary, accurately and
minutely informed ; and whose long habits of personal devotion
to the horo, both enabled and impelled him to leave for pos-
92 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
terity a tracing also of his physique, not less graphic and trust-
worthy than those from the pencils of Honthorst and Jameson.
" I shall acquaint you,'" he says, " with both what I know
myself, having followed him several years in his expeditions,
and what I have learned from others of good name and credit.
He was of a middle stature, and most exquisitely proportioned
limbs; his hair of a Ught chesnut; his complexion betwixt pale
and ruddy ; his eye most penetrating, though inclining to grey;
his nose rather aquiline than otherwise. As he was strong of
body and limbs, so he was most agile, which made him excel
most of others in those exercises where these two are required.
In riding the great horse, and making use of his arms, he came
short of none. I never heard much of his delight in dancing,
though his countenance and other his bodily endowments were
equally fitting the court as the camp."^
Saintserf s account of Montrose abroad, is quite in keeping
with the view obtained of the young and ardent nobleman^s
character and habits, through the recently recovered evidence
of his College life. His desire to " survey the rarities of the
East,^ had doubtless been derived from his patronage of the
Eastern traveller, William Lithgow, " the Bonaventure of
Europe, Asia, and Africa," whose courtly muse
" Made Mars for valour canonize the Graham.*^
Bishop Burnet, whose manner — in his posthunwfjts work — was
^ The ahove is from '' A Relation of the True Funerals of the great Lord Marquis
of Montrose in the year 1661/' which was penned by Saintserf, secretary to that
celebrated pageant. He was also the author of some additions to a translation of
Dr Wishart's Commentary on the Wars of Montroee, printed in the year I66I9
under the title of Montrou IUdivivu$, There we find another portrait of the hero,
precisely coinciding with the above, but somewhat varied in the phraseology, aa
follows : — ^^ He was not very tall, nor much exceeding a middle stature, but of an
exceeding strong composition of body, and an incredible force, joined with an ex-
cellent proportion and fine features. His hair was of a dark-brown colour, his com-
plexion sanguine, of a quick and piercing gray eye, with a high nose, somewhat
like the ancient sign of Uie magnanimity of the Persian kings. He was a man of a
very princely carriage and excellent address, which made him be used by all
princes, for the most part, with the greatest familiarity. He was a complete horse-
man, and had a ringtUar grace in ridifig. He was of most resolute and undaunted
spirit, which began to appear in him, to the wonder and expectation of all men,
even in his childhood."
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 93
to relieve hli favourite figures upon a back-ground of calumnious
gossip, and to depreciate where it did not suit his purpose to be
candid, refers to Montrose^s travels and accomplishments mwre
MO. He says that he was ^' a young man well learned^ who had
travelled, but had taken upon him the part of a hero too much^
and lived as in a romance ; for his whole manner was stately to
affietation.\ Burnetts motive for depreciating Montrose was his
own championship of the very different career of Hamilton,
which could not have found a better champion. Having thus
pictured Montrose as something very like a fool, the Bishop
elsewhere pronounces him a coward : — ^^ Montrose in his defeat
took too much care of himself, for he was never willing to expose
himBeVtoo much.^. Thus Montrose was both a hero ** too much,^
and a poltroon " too much/' But the passage proved too much
for the Bishop^s own son, whose pious fraud long deprived the
world of the absurdity of this falsehood, by suppressing an accu-
sation, which might with the same truth have been recorded of
that brave old ruffian Cromwell, or of the Duke of Wellington
in modem times.^
Another anecdote of Montrose's travels is derived from the
same equivocal source, probably fact perverted by malice.
" When Montrose,'' says the Bishop, " was beyond sea, he
travelled with the Earl of Denbigh, and they consulted all the
astrologers they could hear of: I plainly saw, the Earl of Den-
bigh relied on what had been told him to his dying day ; and
the rather, because the Earl of Montrose was promised a glori-
ous fortune for some time, but all was to be overthrown in con-
clusion." Selon les regies of those desperate mortals who sell
themselves to the Devil, we have here, upon the word of a
Bishop, the enigma solved of Montrose's character and career.
But without going quite so far, we may believe, that the young
Earl had quitted his own country with a mind somewhat pre-
disposed to whatever marvels he might have met with abroad,
considering the sad story then pressing upon his mind of the
enchanted and intoxicated jewel, and the machinations of Gar-
lippis, ^^ who was ane necromancer !"
' See the Oxford Edition of Burnef b History of hU Own Times, restoring the
suppressed passages, vol. i. pp. .53-71.
94 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
That Montrose had travelled, in their youth, with the dis-
loyal son of that doughty Earl of Denbigh who fought and fell
for Charles the First, is not elsewhere recorded ; but we may
accept it as a fact, since Burnet seems to say that he had it
from Basil Fielding himself. Probably he belonged to a party
of young noblemen and gentlemen visiting Bome in 1635, along
with Montrose, and the Earl of Angus, whose father had been
raised to the Marquisate of Douglas at the Coronation in 1633.
From the records of the English College there, it appears, that
" on the 27th of March 1635, two Scottish Earls, Angus and
Montrose, in company with other four noble gentlemen of that
nation, were entertained in our Refectory, with all the honours
due to their rank.'' Our hero returned to his own country
some time in the year 1636.
A youth of such lineage, figure, and high accomplishments,
could not but anticipate the most gracious reception from his
sovereign. There seems to be no doubt, however, that on his
first appearance at Court he was received in a manner so re.
pulsive as to intimate that his presence was not agreeable to
the monarch. The circumstance is alluded to by various con-
temporary historians ; but it could not have been explained, by
any thing in the character either of the King or of Montrose,
had not Heylin recorded the following curious particulars, both
in his Life of Laud, and in his Commentary upon L'Estrange:
" The reason of James Earl of Montrose adhering to the
Covenanters, as he afterwards averred unto the King^ was
briefly this : — At his return from the Court of France, where
he was captain (as I take it) of the Scottish Guard, he had a
mind to put himself into the King's service, and was advised
to make his way by the Marquis of Hamilton, who, knowing
the gallantry of the man, and fearing a competitor in his
Majesty'^s favour, cunningly told him that he would do him
any service, but that the King was so wholly given up to the
English, and so discountenanced and slighted the Scottish
nation, that, were it not for doing good service for his country,
which the King intended to reduce to the form of a province,
he could not suffer the indignities which were put upon him.
This done he repairs unto the King, tells him of the EarPs return
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 9-^
from France, and of his purpose to attend him at the time ap-
pointed, but that he was so powerful, so popular, and of suoh
esteem among the Scots, by reason of an old descent from the
royal family, that, if he were not nipped in the bud, as we used
to say, he might endanger the Eing^s interest and affairs in
Scotland. The Earl being brought unto the King, with great
demonstration of affection on the Marquis's part, the King,
without taking any great notice of him, gave him his hand to
kiss, and so turned aside ; which so confirmed the truth of that
false report which Hamilton had delivered to him, that in great
displeasure and disdain he makes for Scotland, where he found
who knew how to work on such humours as he brought along
with him, till, by seconding the information which he had from
Hamilton, they had fashioned him wholly to their will.'"^
The remark of D'Israeli, however, is hasty and ill informed,
that ^^ the slighted and romantic hero, indignant at the coldness
of that royalty which best suited his spirit, hastened to Scot-
land, and threw himself in anger and despair into the hands of
the Covenanters.^^ Montrose no doubt deeply felt a slight
which, until Hamilton'*s real character became known to him,
must have appeared gratuitous on the part of his sovereign.
But, although he arrived in his own country some time before
the tumults broke out, the community there was worked up to
its highest pitch of excitement before he became connected,
privately or publicly, with those violent proceedings. More-
over, as will also be proved at a subsequent stage of this nar-
rative, even then he joined the insurrection, not from a sudden
impulse of passion, but in consequence of the representations
^ Hejrlin*B remarks npon L'Estrange, p. 205. In his Life of Laud, he tella tlie
•ame story, bat omits the surmise of Montrose having conmianded the Gruard of
France. It waa Huntly, not Montrose, who conmianded that famous guard, whom
BoflBuet, in hia eloquent funeral oration over Henrietta Maria, compliments at the
•xpenae of thdr country : — ^ Les EoosBois, k qull se donne, le liTient auz Parlia-
mentaurea Anglois— et lea Gardes fidelles de nos Rois, trahissent le leur." Heylin,
Car his life of Land, had obtained some materials from personal conyersations with
Montroee'a tutor. Lord Napier. Aiter recording the particulars of the tithe policy
of Charles^ Heylin speaks of ^ the learned and right noble Lord of Merehiston,
from whose mouth I had all this narration." It adds greatly to the authenticity
oi Heylin'a anecdote, that he was in the habit of obtaining information from Lord
Napier.
' Comnientaries on the Life of Charles I.
96 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
and the earnest persuasions of the most influential spirits of
the age.
We anticipate the progress of events, by something more than
a twelvemonth from the time when Montrose returned to Scot-
land, in order to corroborate the anecdote derived from Heylin,
with another which coincides with it in a remarkable manner,
and which has also been preserved by a contemporary.
It is well known, that when Hamilton was dispatched [.to
Scotland for the purpose of settling that convulsed kingdom in
1638, Montrose, who was now engaged as a leading organ of
the agitation, came in contact with him again. According to
the story we are about to narrate, Hamilton followed the very
same tactics with which he had, not long before, mystified
Montrose at Court. Again did that ill-omened voice startle
the future champion of the throne with the faithless accents-,
which this time created more alarm, and sunk deeper into his
heart. On the 6th of July 1638, they met at a conference oc-
casioned by his Majesty's Declaration, against which the Cove-
nanting party thought fit to remonstrate and protest. To this
conference the Commissioner had sunmioned the Lords of Coun-
cil, including Montrose'*s friend Lord Napier, and his father-in-
law Lord Southesk. In their presence Montrose, along with
Bothes and Loudon, attended by their clerical assessors Hen-
derson, Dickson, and Cant, obtained a reception and hearing.
But after their formal reception, and some words of official
courtesy, uttered in presence of the Lords of Council, Hamilton
took the covenanting deputation out of the presence-chamber
into a comer of the great gallery of Holyroodhouse, where a
scene occurred, which we must give in the words of the reverend
covenanter who considered the incident worthy of a very precise
record : —
'^ But that which came to be most talked of, was something
which at their parting he told them in private. For, having
desired those Lords of Council to stay in that chamber till his
return, himself conveyed them (Montrose and his friends)
through the rooms, and stepping into the gallery, drew them into
a corner, and then expressed himself as follows : —
*' ' My Lords and gentlemen, I spoke to you before those Lords
of Council, as the King's Commissioner : Now there being none
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 97
present but yourselves, I speak to you as a kindly Scotsman :
If you go on with courage and resolution, you will carry
what you please : But if you faint and give ground in the least,
you are undone : A ward is enough to wise men.'' '^
This perfidy on the part of Hamilton, however incredible in
itself, is nevertheless so well authenticated, and so corrobo-
rated by other drcumstances, that it must be credited. It
was thus circumstantially noted by Bishop Guthrie, then minis-
ter of Stirling, a covenanter who quitted the faction when he
discovered its faithlessness. Aware that such an anecdote was
not to be carelessly recorded, or easily believed, this clergyman
thus pointedly adds the authentication : —
" This having been spoken in private, I should not have
mentioned, were it not that it came shortly after to be public ;
and reports anent it were so different, that some made it better,
and others worse than it was. My warrant for what I have
set down are these: Firsts that the very same day^ Mr Cant
(one of those to whom it was said) told it to Dr Guild, who the
next morning reported it to Mr David Dalgleish, minister at
Cowpar, Mr Robert Knox, minister at Kelso, and Mr Henry
Guthrie (the chronicler), minister at Stirling.'" So far the evi-
dence is pretty direct ; but what follows is of more weight, as it
comes from Montrose himself to Guthrie ; and Montrose, be
it remembered, was one of those whom Hamilton addressed in
private on that occasion : —
^^ Secondly^ the said Henry being thai night with the Earl of
Montrose at supper, his Lordship drew him to a window, and
there told it him, in the very same terms wherein Dr Guild had
reported it to him ; adding, that it wrought an impression, that
my Lord Hamilton might intend, by this business, to advance
his design ; ^ but that he (Montrose) would suspend his judg-
ment until he saw further, and in the meantime look more nar-
rowly to his walking.'' '
^ AUadmg to the universal suspicion that Hamilton aimed at the throne of Scot-
land, a design for which Lord Reay had on former years publicly denounced him,
when the Kingliimself silenced the accusation, and saved the favourite. ■
' Guthrie's Memoirs. Mr D'lsraeli, in his Commentaries, says \—^ This re-
markable conversation is given by Bishop Guthrie, who at the same time furnishes
his authorities ; the same story had reaehtd Montrose in the same words." It seems,
7
98 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
The whole conduct of Hamilton, as Prime Minister for dis-
tracted Scotland, is in keeping with these anecdotes, and justi-
fies the estimate which Montrose came to form of his character.
When we compare his demeanour and expressions to the Cove-
nanters in Scotland, with his private letters to the King, that
miserable and short-sighted system of cheating both, the re-
source of a mind as feeble as it was false, is laid bare at once.
We have a portrait of him transmitted through the honest pen
of the good Sir Philip Warwick : —
" I was in the Presence-chamber at Whitehall,"^ says Sir
Philip, " when, after his father'^s death, he (the Marquis of
Hamilton) returned from his travels ; and, waiting on the King
from chapel with great observance, and the King using him
with great kindness, the eyes of the whole Court were upon the
young man. His hair was short, and he wore a little black
callot-cap, which was not then usual ; and I wondered much
that all present, who usually at Court ^put the best character
upon a rising nian, generally agreed in this, that the air of his
countenance had such a cloud on it that nature seems to have
impressed aUqmd insigne ; which I often reflected on when his
future actions led him first to be suspected, then to be declaim-
ed against. I have lately seen the memoirs of a countryman
of his, who is master of a very good pen, and hath represented
this great man by a light which few others, either of his own
nation or ours, discovered him by.^ Willingly I would sully no
man'*s fame, especially so eminent a person'*8, for to write invec-
tives is more criminal than to err in eulogies. As for myself I
was known unto him and ever civilly treated by him : However,
I must concur in that general opinion, ^that naturally he loved
to gain his point rather by some serpentine winding than by a
direct path; which was very contrary to the nature of his
younger brother (Lanerick), of whom that gallant loyal peer, the
Earl of Montrose, was wont to say, that even when this gentle-
man was his enemy and in arms against the King, he did it
open-faced and without the least treachery either to his Majesty
however, to have escaped the critical observation of D'Israeli, that the conversation
waa held with Montrose himself, and that it was he who repeated it to Guthrie on
the same day, and in the very words Guthrie had it from Dr Guild.
^ Bishop Burnet's Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 99
or any of his ministers, — a character worthy of a great man,
though deflecting from duty."^
Baillie, one of the leaders of the covenanting clergy, — of whom
more anon — thus describes Hamilton, as he made his vice-regal
progress from Dalkeith to Edinburgh, through a vast multitude
of the malcontents, elaborately organized to give the royal Com-
missioner a significant reception. " The Marquis,'** he says, '• on
the way was much moved to pity, even to tears. Ho professed,
thereafter, his desire to have had King Charles present at that
sight of the whole country, so earnestly and humbly erj'ing for
the safety of their Liberties and Religion.'' This was in the
month of June 1638. But mark how the sympathizing and
sentimental Commissioner writes to the King on the 27th of
November following; —
^^ It is more than probable that these people have somewhat
else in theic thoughts than religion, but this must serve for a
cloak to rebellion^ wherein for a time they may prevail ; but to
maJce them miserable^ and bring them again to a dutiful obe-
dience, I am confident your Majesty will not find it a work of
long time, nor of great difiiculty, as they have foolishly fancied
to themselves. — I have missed my end in not being able to make
your Majesty so considerable a party as will be able to curb
the insolence of this rebellious nation without assistance from Eng-
land, and greater charge to your Majesty than this miserable
country is worth."*
It was shortly before, that he had startled the young and un-
sophisticated Montrose, with his sly verbum sapienti, in the
character of '' a kindly Scotsman." In that same letter to the
King, however, he thus notices Montrose ; and the singular co-
incidence of this double-dealing, with the anecdotes recorded
by Heylin and Guthrie, affords the strongest corroboration : —
** Now, for the Covenanters, I shall only say this : In general
they may all be placed in one roll, as they now stand ; but cer-
tainly, Sire, those that have both broached the business, and
still hold it aloft, are Bothes, Balmerino, Lindsay, Lothian,
Loudon, Yester, Cranston. There are many others as forward
in show, amongst whom none more vainly foolish than Montrose ^
In short, to Montrose, and the rest of the covenanting depu-
1 Letter in the lUrdwicko Collection, dated 27th November 1 6S8,
100 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
tation, Hamilton shedding tears of sympathy for the covenanting
cause, represents the King his master, by whom he was anxiously
commissioned to settle the kingdom, as such an enemy to Scot-
land, that, in order to be overcome, he must be energetically op-
posed by the same means they had hitherto used. To his Majesty,
on the other hand, with whom he is corresponding at the same
time, he reviles Scotland in terms of bitter execration, and re-
commends the severest measures of tyranical coercion. He
names the leading Covenanters, of the nobility of Scotland, with
malicious personality, and then points to the young Earl of
Montrose, not indeed as one of the deep contrivers of the Cove-
nant, but as a weak and showy adherent, intoxicated with a
vain ambition, dangerous to the State, — the very character which .
he had fastened upon the young and inexperienced nobleman,
when persuading the King to shew him no countenance at
Court.
Hamilton'^s heart can only be defended at the expense of his
head. The influence of his mother was paramount with him in
Scotland ; and had instilled into his shapeless mind vague ideas
of reigning in that kingdom, as monarch of a Scotch millenium.
This lady was th^ noted Ann Cunningham, of the right cove-
nanting breed, being a daughter of the Earl of Glencairn. She
was the unrivalled leader of the female church-militant in Scot-
land. Her officers were the Nicholas Balfours, Eupham Hen-
dersons, Bethia and Elpsa Craigs, and other '* godly matrons'"*
of the Covenant. Her veteran guards were such as the stool-
propelling Jewny Geddes — and her light troops, th« " serving-
maids^ recorded so exultingly by Robert Baillie, and his Ma-
jesty's Advocate Sir Thomas Hope, — as ihe first victors against
Episcopacy ! The Marquis was about ten years older than
Montrose, and from boyhood had obtained that ascendency
over the affections and judgment of Charles which enters so
deeply into the history of the times. The control exercised by the
'^ serpentine^ Hamilton, was not less pernicious to the country
and the King, than had been the influence of Buckingham.
In secret, and while, perhaps, only contemplating petty and
selfish results, his deceptive and wavering conduct sapped the
foundations of the throne itself. Burnet has most artfully
laboured to gain for him greater favour with posterity than he
' ' LIFE OF MONTROSE. 101
deflerves. But Clarendon, in a single sentence, throws more
Lght upon the Marquises character : — " His natural darkness,''
he says, ^^ and reservation in discourse, made him be thought
a wise man, and his having been in conmiand under the King
of Sweden, and his amtinual discourse of battles and fortifica-
tions, made him be thought a soldier ; and both these mistakes
were the cause that made liim be looked upon as a worse and
more dangerous man, than, in truth, he deserved to be.'' He
has, indeed, been suspected of designs in his political life, pro-
bably beyond the range of his vice, and certainly above the
flight of his genius or daring. Clarendon, however, throughout
his history, appears to have formed precisely the same estimate
of the favourite's sincerity and patriotism that Sir Philip War-
wick had done. Vandyke has handed him down to posterity,
sheathed in bright armour, and grasping his baton, as if he had
led the Archer Guard of France, and saved the Crown at home.
Alas ! he added nothing to the loyal chivalry of his princely
house; and when he discoursed of battles, and of Gustavus
Adolphus, the characteristic which Burnet attributes to Mon-
trose, may be justly transferred to his insidious enemy, as being
one who took upon himself the part of a hero ^^ too mtieh.^ In
his warlike expeditions, not very numerous, but most unhappily
conspicuous, he exhibited failures scarcely conceivable (consi-
dering the occasions and his resources) in a nobleman who be-
haved with becoming dignity on the scaffold, and touching
whose personal courage the severest remark ever made was that
uttered by his long-trusting, long-suffering master, when he told
the Earl of Lanerick that he believed him to be an honest man,
but that he thought his brother (the Marquis) had been very
active in his own preservation.^
*A Rdation of the Incident| 1641, by Lord Laneridc-^HARDWiCKs's State
Fafebs, YoL ii. p. 299.
102 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHABLS8 THE FIRST AND HIS SCOTTISH COURTIERS AND COUNSELLORS —
LORD Napier's character of the king — his account of the man-
ner IN 'WHICH he was deceived AND CHEATED — PROGRESS OF AF-
FAIRS TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE TROUBLES.
The anecdotes, narrated in the previous Chapter, of the du-
plicity and ruinous double-dealing of the King's minion, cuts
deeply into the question of the monarch''8 conduct and charac-
ter, with which the character of Montrose is now for ever iden-
tified. To illustrate more fully, from new and authentic sources,
the false medium through which Charles I. was compelled to re-
gard and to transact all matters connected with the government
of Scotland, is well worthy of a chapter by itself. As we derive
our information from the contemporary manuscripts of Lord
Napier, we may be assured that Montrose, at a very early period
of his career, was cognizant of the shameful deception practised
upon the King, by Scotchmen of the highest rank and trust in
the State, and that he knew well how to discriminate between
the faults of the monarch, and the crimes of those whom he
trusted, and who wilfully misled him.
The Marquis of Hamilton was not the only Scotch nobleman
who abused the ear, and vitiated the counsels of the King.
Charles, from the moment of his accession, lived and moved,
and had his being, amid an atmosphere of deception and false-
hood, with which his Scottish courtiers surrounded him. Of
this fact we find some curious illustrations among Lord Napier's
manuscripts, which have never entered history. Yet even our
latest historian — he who execrates Charles the First, and deifies
Cromwell —might change his hand and check his pride, would
he condescend to pause on the faithful report of one of the few
Scottish courtiers who, as his own Sovereign declared of him,
was " free from partiality or any factious humour." For seven-
.LIFE OF MONTROSE. 103
teen years in the Bed-chamber of King James, for twenty-six
years a Privy Councillor in both reigns, Lord Napier's estimate
of Charles I., noted in private long ere the civil war arose, is of
more value than many pages of the vituperative eloquence with
which the latest historian of England has thought fit to assail
him.
" King James being dead,'' says Lord Napier, " and his son
King Charles succeeding to him in his kingdom — and to his
virtues t<>o, although with some want of experience, which is
only got with time — all the turbulent and discontented humours
of the former time were up — as is usual in these great transi-
tions — and plied his Majesty incessantly with accusations, per-
sonal aspersions, new projects, and informations of abuses.
And truly there wanted not matter, and their endeavours had
deserved praise, if spleen to the persons of men, and their own
private interest, had not given life and motion to their proceed-
ings, rather than the service of the King, and the good of the
State. Then there was nothing but factions and factious con-
sultations, — of the one, to hold that place and power they pos-
sess^ before, — of the other, to wrest it out of their hands, and
to invest themselves. And no dream or phantasy of innova-
tion came in anybody's head, but presently he durst vent it to
the King ; and still the most ignorant were the boldest."
Neither was Lord Napier insensible to a weakness in the
character of Charles, which was at the root of all that monarch's
misfortunes. D'Israeli quotes from the Sloane manuscripts a
remark of St John, that '^ the truth is, the King had an un-
happiness of adhering to, and unweariedly pursuing the advices
of others, and mistrusting his own, though often-times more
safe and better than those of other persons." Clarendon also
says, ^^ he had an excellent understanding, but was not con-
fident of it, which made him often-times change his own opi-
nion for a worse, and follow the advice of men that did not
judge so well as himself." These impressions were recorded
after the scenes of the great Eebellion had passed away.
Napier, a close observer of the times, as well as of his royal
master, noted down reflections to the very same effect long ere
those scenes had commenced. Before the name of Covenanter
was applied, or the Covenant imagined, he had detected, in
104 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
these dispositions of his royal master, the too fertile sources of
future evil. Amc^g the fragments of his private manuscripts,
which time has spared, there is one which bears the title, ^* A
short Discourse upon some incongruities in matters of State."*^
This prophetic document, written soon after the Coronation in
Scotland, and with manifest reference to the obnoxious fact of
the Archbishop of St Andrews having been made Lord Chan-
cellor of Scotland, commences by protesting against that dan-
gerous policy to which Montrose also pointed, even in his dying
hour, as the most ruinous element in the misgovemment of
Charles the First. " That churchmen have competency,^ says
Napier, " is agreeable to the law of God and man. But to in-
vest them into great estates, and principal offices of the State,
is neither convenient for the Church, for the King, nor for the
State. Not for the Church, for the indiscrete zeal and excessive
donations of princes, were the first causes of corruption in the
Roman church, the taste whereof did so inflame the avarice and
ambition of the successors, that they have raised themselves
above all secular and sovereign power, and to maintain the same
have obtended to the world certain devices of their own for
matters of faith : Not to Kings, nor States, — for histories wit-
ness what troubles have been raised to Kings, what tragedies
among subjects, in all places where churchmen icere great. Our
reformed churches, having reduced religion to the ancient primi-
tive truth and simplicity, ought to beware that corruption enter
not in their church at the same gate, which already is open with
store of attendants thereat, to welcome it with pomp and cere-
mony.^'
Unfortunately Laud entertained sentiments diametrically op-
posed to the above, which it is interesting to compare with a pas-
sage in Clarendon, written at a much later period. Laud " did
really believe that nothing more contributed to the benefit and
advancement of the Church, than the promotion of churchmen
to places of the greatest honour, and offices of the highest
trust. This opinion, and the prosecution of it (though his in-
tegrity was unquestionable, and his zeal as great for the good
and honour of the State as for the advancement and security of
the Church), was the unhappy foundation of his own ruin, and of
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 105
the prejudice towards^ malice against, and almost destruction oftlie
Ckurchr
A vein of playful Barcasm at times breaks out, and enlivens
the anxious reflexions of Montrose'^s preceptor and friend. " It
is the humour,*" he says, ^^ of some of greatest trust and credit
about princes, to slight and cry down any motion, though never
00 good, which doeth not proceed immediately or mediately
from themselves ; and, upon every occasion that occurreth, will
rather give bad information, and worse advice, than give way to
others, or seem incapable of any thing themselves. Much like
that gentleman who rode out, in the company of others, to
bring in the Pope to a city in Italy. The Pope asking many
questions, and inquiring the names of cities, rivers, and places,
that came within his view as he went along, this gentleman
made answers to aU, and gave names to eoery thing, but never a
true one, being himself ignorant of the same : So he continued
in discourse with the Pope till he came to his lodging; and
when a friend of his rebuked him for abusing his Holiness with
untruths, ^ If (said he), I had seemed ignorant of what was
asked, the Pope would have called another ; so, should I forego
the honour I had, to be seen riding so near the Pope and in
speech with him ? And he rests as well satisfied as if the truth
had been exactly told him.^
" And truly, if ever any king, our sovereign, in so far as con-
cerneth Scottish business, may justly make Dioclesian's com-
plaint, — CoUigunt se quatuor aut quinque circa Imperatorem, atque
sibi t^Uia, sub pretextu boni publici et principis, proponunt — bonos,
et ffirtute prwditos, ab Imperatore amovent — malos, factiosos et sibi
idoneos adsciscvmt, veritatem ad aures principis appellere non sinunt,
— Sit bonus, sapiens, cautus, decipitur Imperator.''
These last words are written emphatically large in the manu-
script. It is a speech put in the mouth of the Emperor Diocle-
tian, after his voluntary abdication of the throne, when de-
claiming on his favourite topic, the difficulty of being a good
prince. G-ibbon thus freely translates the passage: — '^ How
often is it the interest of four or five ministers to combine to-
gether to deceive their Sovereign ! Secluded from mankind by
his exalted dignity, the truth is concealed from his knowledge,
— he can see only with their eyes, he hears nothing but their
i
106 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
misrepresentations. He confers the most important offices upon
vice and weakness, and disgraces the most virtuous and de-
serving among his subjects. By such infamous arts the best
and wisest princes are sold to the venal corruptions of their
courtiers.**'*
In illustration of this miserable state of affairs, Lord Napier
enters into some very curious details, which bear upon them the
stamp of truth, and suggest reflections that might have modi-
fied many a page of modern history. How the King was en-
veloped in the meshes of petty faction, how liable to be imposed
upon, and how willing to do justice if he could but arrive at
the truth, receives an apt illustration from what we are about
to quote ; and as this incident of secret history is graphically
told, and brings Charles himself on the scene, characterised by
that peculiar brusqueness of address which bespeaks the authen-
ticity of the portrait, no apology need be offered for extracting
the entire passage from the manuscript of one of his few faith-
ful and honest attendants : —
" His Majesty,'^ says Lord Napier, " being possessed that
the lease of Orkney was given to me upon trust, not only to pay
the whole rent to the King, but also all benefit that should ac-
cress to me as taksman, — while I was at Court, had given com-
mand to one {whom^ I do not know, nor could ever learn, al-
though I used extraordinary importunity with the King for that
purpose), to repare to me, and will me, in his Majesty's name,
to surrender the lease of Orkney to the King. The party ne^oer
came to m$^ nor told any body else that he had such commission
from his Majesty to me. But after I had kissed his Majesty^s
hand, and taken horse for Scotland, he framed this answer to
the King, as from me^ that I would stand out in law against his
Majesty, and that in justice the King could not take the lease
from me. How soon I knew the cause of his Majesty's dis-
pleasure against jne, I sent a power to Sir William Balfour to
make the surrender, to whom the King expressed his anger
against me in great measure. When I came up I found his
1 The quotation in Lord Napier's manuscript is from Vopiteus, a learned Syracu-
san, reckoned the Coryphoeus among the six authors, called Hittoricp Augugtcp ^
Serijitore*.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 107
countenftDoe altered, and therefore desired the Marquis of Ha-
milton to procure me aocess and hearing, which for a long time
he could not obtain, because (said the King), ^ he will not sur^
render his lease of Orkney to me.^ ""
A firm but respectful letter of expostulation to his Majesty
from Napier (yet preserved among the archives of his family),
procured for him the audience he desired, at which the following
dialogue occurred : —
Nabier. ^^ Sir, your Majesty has been hardly possessed of
me, a long time, by sinister information, and I am not conscious
to myself of so much as a thought other than becomes a faith-
ful servant.
THfi King. " No I Did not you refuse to surrender your
lease of Orkney to one who had commission from me to demand
it to my use ?
Napier. " Truly, Sir, never man demanded it of me, neither
did I know that such was your pleasure till I heard in Scotland
of your Majesty'*s anger for my refusing.
The King. " Did not you say to him that you would stand
out in law against me, which is also under you hand I
Napier. " Do me the favonr. Sir, to let me know to whom
your Majesty gave that commission, and confront us before
you, and I doubt not to make him confess that he has abused
your Majesty with an untruth ; and if any such thing can be
shown under my hand, I will not only give the hand, but the
head also to be stricken off.
'' Then did I press with importunity to know this fine com-
missioner ; but his Majesty by no means would do it.
The King. ^^ It is enough, I am satisfied, and do not believe
it.
" Then did I tell his Majesty what storm was prepared
against me at my Lord of Mar''s upcoming, that I desired no
more but impartial hearing, and protection if my cause were
honest, which he graciously promised, and thereupon gave me a
kiss of his hand.
" Some two or three days after my Lord of Mar s arriving
at court, they altogether, and singly when they had opportunity,
vexed the King with their calumnies, urging him to send me
. .^».j^^.j o iiiujiuiico, antt your subjects, and for
your Majesty'^B service and my undertakings in it. But, Sir, I
desire no more but the most rigorous and exact trial that can
be desired, so it be just, and your Majesty my judge^ and that 1
be not remitted to Scotland, where my enemies are to be my
judges, and where, if T were ue innocent as Jesus Christ, \
' This we shall find wa» uIsmj at all times a great object of the cuvvnaiitiiig factiuii,
nainolv, that the King should put those whom i\w\ accused into their mercileM
hands in Scotland.
^r-
~^o
111.
\ /"'
/^\
'■'I V-,
.i--'^
."' /- fc.'y
i I
/
.f;/i/i.^
, v.. jv"» A»Aajcbi V s prejuaicc, and your subjocts, and for
your Majesty's service and my undertakings in it. But, Sir, I
desire no more but the most rigorous and exact trial that can
be desired, so it be just, and your Majesty my judge^ and that T
be not remitted to Scotland, where my enemies are to be my
judges, and where, if I were njs innocent .is Jesus Christ, I
* This wo shall find was also at all tiincb agroal ubjevt of tho cuwnaiitiiig faeliun,
namely, that the King nhould put those whom they accuflod into their merciless
hands in Scotland.
^IffOtJaJt,
•.(?■'»■
n
flnt^J!^
108 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
home to be judged, a point which they laboured by all means,^
so that the King, for his own quiet, was, I may say, forced to
send Sir Archibald Acheson, the other secret-ary, to me (for
my Lord Stirling excused himself upon the hate I carried to
him), to tell me that there were many informations against me,
therefore desired to know whether I would stand to my justifi-
cation, or submit myself to him. I answered that I was much
bound to his Majesty, and would myself give his Majesty my
answer, and, I doubted not, satisfaction. Which Sir Archibald
having reported, I put myself in the King'^s way the next day
when he was going from dinner. He beckoned to me, and I fol-
lowed him into his bed-chamber, and being alone with him, —
Napier. " Sir, I have received your pleasure by Sir Archi-
bald Acheson, and humbly thank your Majesty for having given
me a choice to stand to my justification, or submit myself to
your Majesty. I will not, Sir, absolutely justify myself before
God, nor before you. Your Majesty might have had a servant
of more eminent abilities, but never a faithfuUer nor more dili-
gent, nor better affected. And as for submitting myself to
your Majesty, if my life or estate were in question, I could lay
them both down at your feet ; but this is my honour (dearer to
me than both), which loses by submitting, and cannot be re-
paired by your Majesty, nor any King in the world.
" The words at first seeming sharp and brusk, he mused a
little, then burst out with these, —
The King. " By God, ray Lord, you have reason.
^' And withal he told me some of their informations.
Napier. " Sir, their hate against me is for no cause given
by me, and to most of them I have done real courtesies, but be-
cause I will not comply with them, nor give way to their de-
sires, to your Majesty'^s prejudice, and your subjects, and for
your Majesty's service and my undertakings in it. But, Sir, I
desire no more but the most rigorous and exact trial that can
be desired, so it be just, and ytmr Majesty my judge^ and that I
be not remitted to Scotland, where my enemies are to be my
judges, and where, if I were as innocent as Jesus Christ, T
* This we shall find was also at all times a great object of the covenanting factluii,
namely, that the King should put those whom they accused into their merciless
liands in Scotland.
/^>
>,. '-
/ ■/■;
^
^
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 109
should be condemned. For the more exact the trial be, the
more shall my faithfulness and integrity appear to your Ma-
jesty ; and I will not only answer for ray own actions, but if wife,
friend, or servant (who, by corrupt officiars, usually are set out
to be bawds to their bribery) hdve done wrong, I am content it
be imputed to me. If I had cozened your Majesty, and oppres-
sed your people, and then made some men sharers in the prey,
you Majesty had not been troubled now, nor I thus persecuted,
but had been delivered to your Majesty for a good and faithful
servant.
'^ Then his Majesty promised that he would hear all himself,
which was a point I desired much to gain, and did serve me
afterwards to good purpose.
Napier. " Then, Sir, be pleased to make these informers set
down their informations in writing, and set their hands to it,
and within three hours after I shall either give a punctual and
satisfactory answer, or otherways your Majesty may dispose of
me at your pleasure.
" His Majesty was pleased with the course, and I took my
leave. Immediately thereafter the Earl of Mar and the whole
troop of my adversaries (who were waiting in the EarFs chamber
till I should come from the King), expected a surrender of
place and all to the King, because of the word satis/action that
I used to Sir Archibald Acheson. As they came down stairs
slowly, because of my Lord Mar's lameness,^ one said, this is
like the Lord Napier, who is going down by degrees. Another,
as they were going through the court, told his friend that ask-
ed, that they were all going to give the Lord Napier the last
stroke. In this insulting humour they came to the King, who
told them that I affirmed all their informations to be calumnies,
and that I would stand to my justification, and commanded
them to set down their accusations and informations in writing
under their hand, and to deliver the same to me to be answered.
* Of this John seventh Earl of Mar, Scotstarvet says^ — *' His chief delight was in
hunting, and he procored, bj acts of Parliament, that none should hunt within
divers miles of the King's house ; jet often that which is most pleasant to a man is
his overthrow ; for walking in his own hall, a dog cast him off his feet and lamed
his leg, of which he died ; and at his burial a hare having run through the oompan j,
his special chamberlain, Alexander Stirling, fell off his horse, and broke his neck."
110 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
This, falling out far beyond their expectation, astonished them
a little, especially the Earl of Mar, who fell down upon his
knees with his crutches, and, with tears, intreated the King to
free him of my trouble, and that he could not serve with me,
thus stirring pity to cause injustice. To whom the King
said, —
The Kino. " My Lord, I would do you any favour, but I
cannot do injustice/or you,
" For the space of eight days after, I was free of their pur-
suit, so long as the King remained in Hampton Court, for the
command to set down in writing under their hands did much
amaze them. But every day they had their meetings and con-
sultations how to overthrow me, and being ignorant of the
King'^s promise to hear all himself, all their endeavours tended
to get me remitted to Scotland, and then they were sure of their
desire. His Majesty, having removed to TheobalFs, asked the
secretary if the informations in writing were delivered to me,
and commanded it to be done instantly. This put them in some
fear that the Lord of Traquair and his friends had procured this
(who was one expecting the place if I should have been put out
of it, and a man of another faction than Monteith and the
secretary), and, therefore, by the Earl of Carrick they most
earnestly dealt with me afresh to treat with Sir James Baillie,
adding great promises, but with the like success as before.
The Secretary then sent me the informations, inclosed within a
letter of his own to me, shewing that it was his Majesty^s plea-
sure that I should send the answers to him to be delivered by
hitli to the King ; but I would not do so. When I opened the
articles of accusation I found no hand at them, but written on
a little piece of paper, so near the end thereof as not one letter
could be written more, of purpose that, if the King should urge
them to set to their hands upon a sudden, they might gain
some time, in writing them over, to consult upon the matter. I
presently drew up the answers, and on the morrow I told his
Majesty that I had received these articles, and that there was
no hand at them.
The King. " That is all one ; you know the matter now,
and may answer it.
Napieb. " Sir, there is no judicature, civil or criminal, can
LIFE OF MONTROSE. H I
be established without these necessary members, a judge, a pur-
suer, and a defender. True it is in Scotland, in the factious
times, men were called in without knowing either crime or pur-
suer, which they called super inquirendis^ but that barbarous
and unjust custom was abolished, by your Majesty's father, by
an express act of Parliament yet standing in force. I hope your
Majesty will not introduce it again, and make me the precedent
of it.
The King. " If it be so, they must set to their hands, and
and shall set to their hands.
Napier. " Upon my allegiance, Sir, it is so. But I believe
they will never do it, not for fear of me, but, knowing in their
consciences that they are mere forged calumnies, they know they
shall succumb in the probation, and then they fear your just
displeasure. Beside, Sir, they think your Majesty will not deny
me place to recriminate them, after I am cleared myself, arid
then they know they cannot come fair off. But, Sir, do me the
favour to press them to subscribe the articles, and if they re-
fuse, yet, for your Majesty's satisfaction, I shall answer punc-
tually, and deliver the answers into your own hand.
" The King was well pleased, and indeed pressed them to
subscribe. But they having met, and each of them putting the
accusation upon another, and Sir James Baillie objecting their
promise to accuse me, to some of greatest place for onerous
causes, no man of all that great number, great nor small, was
found that durst set to their hand. Such force hath truth f
That the King's Advocate, whom Napier characterises as " a
base follower of greatness, and maliciously eloquent," — actually
countenanced secret meetings for organizing sedition, — that the
gentlemen of the King's bed-chamber were capable of picking
his Majesty's pockets, in order to make themselves master of
his private correspondence, — that Hamilton, whom Charles trust-
ed above all others, was constantly betraying him to his enemies,
— these, and other mysterious anecdotes of the rise and progress
of the covenanting faction, do not appear so incredible after
reading what we have extracted from Lord Napier's manu-
scripts, and still less so when we find, by the following, how
very low Scottish noblemen could stoop, in falsehood and treach-
ery, to attain their private ends.
112 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
The death of Napier^s coadjutor in the Exchequer of Scotland,
the Earl of Mar, had just placed the Treasurer's staff in the
hands of the Earl of Morton. The office of Treasurer-depute wa49
greatly coveted by the Earl of Traquair, who, according to the
vicious habit of the times, organized a faction for the purpose
of obtaining his object per fas aut ne/as. Having failed to pro-
cure a vacancy by inducing a voluntary resignation, the plan
was adopted of driving Napier from his post, by pretending to
have obtained the King's authority for reducing him to a mere
cypher in the office, which properly was most important and
independent. The mode in which this scheme was attempted
to be carried through, by a system of forgery and falsehood
that would have disgraced the meanest subjects ii;L the realm,
must be given in Lord Napier's own graphic words. The chief
actors in the following extraordinary scene, were noblemen, be
it observed, who held the highest offices in the realm. The
Lord Chancellor, Sir George Hay, afterwards created Earl of
Einnoul, and the Earl of Monteith, who was President of the
Council, and Lord Justice-General, we have already had occa-
sion to mention in a previous chapter, when the young Mon-
trose was visiting them in 1629.
'^ About this time (1630) the Treasurer, Morton, came from
Court, and, finding that I was not to be dealt with, the Chan-
cellor Monteith, and he, to make me loath the service (which
in my secretest thoughts I did long ago), undertook a business
no way honourable for them, and which hereafter might prove
dangerous if any of them should happen to fall from the King'^s
favour. There was, after the death of King James, a commis-
sion of the Exchequer sent down by his Majesty now reigning,
under his hand (for by the death of his father all former com.
missions expired), and left undated, to those who were of the
former ; the manner of which commission is this : The King
signs a commission in paper, which thereafter is ingrossed in
parchment, translated in Latin, and the Kings's Great Seal ap-
pended to it, and the paper under the King's hand is kept for
a warrant to the Great Seal. This conmiission in paper under
the King's hand being sent down, and being defective, or at
least the King's Advocate would have it to seem so, because it
was not drawn up by him, was not passed the seals, but kept
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 113
by him, the chancellor, or secretary, and another sent up of the
Advocate''s penning, which being sent down again signed by the
King, was passed the seals, which was the warrant of all the
Exchequer's proceedings six years after. The old unpassed
signature of commission they took, and where these words
* Treasurer or Treasurer-depute' occurred (as they did very
often through the body of the signature), they made Mr Wil-
liam Chamber, in a chamber of Holyroodhouse, put a mark be-
twixt treasurer and treasurer-depute, before ' or,' and in the
margin write these words ' in his absence,' so that it was to be
read ' Treasurer, or, in his absence^ Treasurer-depute,' and the
word in the margin about five or six several times subscribed by
Morton and Monteith. Besides, they inserted the date, ^ White-
hall, 28th June 1630,' with new black ink, where all the rest was
worn whitish, and it was torn in the foldings, which ocular in-
spection bewrayed the antiquity and falsehood of the same. So
by this commission I was to do nothing (directly contrary to
my patent, and the purpose of the institution of that office),
the Treasurer being present.
" About twelve o'clock I got intelligence that there was a
new commission brought down by the Treasurer, Morton, and
was at the seals. I presently went to the Director of the
Ohancery's chamber,' who showed it to me, and said he marvel-
led much how the Chancellor durst append the Great Seal upon
such a warrant. I viewed it as well as I could in so short a
space. At two o'clock thereafter, the Exchequer convened,
where,- before the Chancellor, lay this signature of commission,
and the double in parchment in Latin, with the Great Seal
thereat, together with two letters of the King's. We being all
set, the Chancellor gave the signature in paper to the clerk to
be read, and the double in Latin with the seal, in parchment,
to the King's Advocate to be collated. The clerk had much
ado to read it, it was so worn, being now made use of six years
after it was signed by the King. But I, seeing two of the
King's letters unbroken up, took no exceptions at the signature
(suspecting that they did contain something to supply the de-
fects and informality of the signature), till the letters were read,
1 Sir John Soot of Seotsiarret, whose well known manuscript, entitled ^ The Stag-
gering State of the Scots Statesmen,'* is preaei*ved in the Advocates' Libi'ary.
8
114 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
which contained nothing of that purpose. Then I rose up and
said, —
Napier. ^' My Lords, this is a strange signature, and such
as I never saw — (and was going on, my Lord Morton inter-
rupted me, and rose from his place in a great anger saying),
Morton. '' The first day that I have the honour to sit here,
and carry this white staff, I must hear my honour called in
question impertinently I
Napier. ^' My Lord, I do not call your honour in question
pertinently nor impertinently, neither is it my custom towards
any, although some men have done so to me.
Chancellor. " By God, but you have.
" (When I spoke before the Lords in Sergeant Walthew's
business, my words were, that that business was reported to the
King by men ill affected to me, except one honest man. Sir James
Fullarton : the Chancellor would conclude, against himself and
the Secretary, that I said th^ were not honest, by consequence ;
which gave him occasion to answer me so bruskly at this time).
Napier. " But my Lord, give me leave to answer my Lord
Morton first, and then you when you please. My Lord (turn-
ing towards Morton), your Lordship is very hot with me, but
be assured there is nothing done amiss which concerns either
the King's service, or me in my particular, that I will stand in
awe of any man to question.
Morton. *' This was done by the Kings's direction, and we
will answer it.
MONTEITH. '^ My Lord Napier, you are so passionate in your
own particular, that you will not forbear to question what the
King commanded ! For his Majesty stood ly tohile it was dons,
and we will answer it.
Napier. " If it had been the King's direction, why would
you not bestow upon him a clean sheet of paper, and ingrossed
these marginal notes of yours in the body of the signature, rather
than made use of this old torn thing ! Then needed not the
signature, with the King's hand at it, receive validity from yours
upon the margin.
" But he, that never was ashamed to do or say any thing, still
affirmed that his Majesty stood by till he saw them subscribe,
and that it was his direction.
\
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 115
Napier. " My Lord, I marvel that you are not ashamed
to Bay so. Let the Lords look the date with a blacker ink than
the rest, * at White-hall the 28th June 1630 ;' — then you were
there^ you say, with the King \ Your Lordship has ridden fast ;
for you were here^ and presided in council^ the 29th of June 1630 ;
to verify which, I desire that the clerk of Council's book of
sederunt may be produced ; and, my Lord Morton, yov>r Lordship
set out of London be/ore him !
^' Monteith, being convicted of a manifest untruth in presence
of all the Lords, was so confounded and surprised with it, that
he made this answer, nothing to the purpose, —
Monteith. ^* My Lord, I brought not the signature home !
*^ All this while the Lords were silent, hung down their heads,
and were ashamed on their behalf, and even the Chancellor
himself sat mute.'^
Oth^r anecdotes, scarcely less disgraceful to the distinguished
actors, are recorded by Lord Napier, in the same manuscript
Relation, which he merely intended for the perusal of his own
family and friends, in reply to this storm of petty faction. The
result came to be, that Traquair procured his own nomination
as joint Treasurer-depute ; but, adds Lord Napier, " without
fee or pension, of which he was glad, or seemed so, and took
a kiss of the King's hand upon it. Monteith and the Secretary
(Stirling) did exceedingly please themselves with this device,
and did every where proclaim it, arrogating so much to their
own judgment and dexterity as was hateful to every wise man.
And indeed they were in nature not unlike in this, that no
living man was ever more vain-glorious than they both, but dif-
ferent in the expressing of that humour. For the Secretary
was a gross and downright flatterer of himself, and drew all dis-
courses from their proper subject to his own praise. Monteith
did the same,* but, as he thought^ more subtily, but indeed so ridi-
culously as gave matter of mirth to all those to whom it was re-
lated.^ These portraits remind us of Clarendon. Indeed, had
Napier survived the Troubles, and been spared to complete his
History of the Times, for which, as we learn from Dr Wishart,
he had elaborat-ely prepared materials, Clarendon's deficiencies
with' regard to Scotch affairs, would have been amply supplied,
116 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
and history saved from much of the spurious hearsay gossip of
Burnet. Of the state of matters immediately preceding the
Troubles in Scotland, he emphatically declares, that, ^^ for bri-
bery at all hands, concussion of the people, and abusing of the
King, no age can parallel,^ — ^the period (1630) in which he is
writing. And thus he sums up his melancholy illustrations of
that total absence of honour and integrity, among the most in-
fluential statesmen of the day, which ere long brought all to
ruin. " This preceding Eelation,"" Lord Napier says, " being
written in haste, and imperfect, many passages being omitted,
forbrevity'*s sake, which might have shown the iniquity of these
times, is nevertheless most true. And thereby the judicious
may perceive the former settled manner of government shaken,
by frequent innovations intertained and practised ; factions in
Court and State a-foot ; accusations, calumnies, and aspersions
ordinary ; and, which was worse, combinations, and liopes given
thereby of great service to the King, without any performance ;
but, on the contrary, his Majesty'*s just and gracious inclination
abused by misinformations ; his ears blocked up and so straightly
beleagured that truth amid not approach them; and all for
their own profit and prejudice of the King and State ; the
presence of honest men, who could not comply with them in
their oblique courses, so hateful that they could not endure it ;
and so bold, in consideration of the strength of their leagues,
that they did not stick to falsify the King's hand^ surreptitiously
to steal his Majesty's st^perscriptions^ and to frame letters contrary
to his meaning^ and many other things of that kind.**"
It was amid such an atmosphere of petty but distracting
factions, that Charles the First passed the short period of his
reign which, at the time, was the admiration and envy of Europe
for its apparent prosperity and repose. Such scenes were rife
during those few years, immediately preceding the revolt of
Scotland, when, says Clarendon, ^^ Britain enjoyed the greatest
calm and the fuUest measure of felicity that any people in any age
for so long time together have been blessed with.^ But we see
how small was the share enjoyed by the monarch, of that na-
tional ease for promoting which he has obtained the eulogy of the
great Clarendon, though Mr Hallam will not admit that it was
merited. With domestic virtues, and private accomplishments.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 117
infinitely superior to the age in which he suffered, we find this
truly Christian King, — in the single item of settling claims and
disputes among those leading Scotsmen to whom he looked for
assistance in the government of Scotland,— deceived, harassed,
cheated, insulted and chafed, at the very time to which Mr
Hallam alludes when he says, ^* we may acknowledge without
hesitation that the kingdom had grown during this period into
remarkable prosperity and affluence.'*^ But if the King^s own
dispositions created none of this happiness (the position Mr
Hallam maintains against Clarendon), neither, alas ! was it for
the King to share. We suspect after all, that such contem-
porary observers as Lord Clarendon in English affairs, and Lord
Napier in Scotch, are safer guides to our estimate of the quality
of the times, and the character of the King, than either Hallam
or Macaulay.
" Those counsels,"" adds Napier, " wherein the prince's good
is pretended, the private ends of these bad counsellors only in-
tended, hath been the efficient causes of the ruin of kings, king-
doms and estates, — ^which Almighty God can only remead.
And therefore, let all good subjects who love their prince and
country pray with Solomon, Lord remove the wicked * from
the King, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.^
Such were the reflections, on the prospects of King and
country, noted in the privacy of his closet, and ere the great
Rebellion had commenced, by one who may be said to have
reared that ^* bloody murtherer and excommunicated traitor^
Montrose, and whom we shall presently discover sharing and
approving every step of his calumniated pupiPs career, from his
early and mistaken support of the Covenant, to his raising the
royal banner in Scotland.
Clarendon says of Charles, that *^ he saw and observed men
long before he received them about his person ; and did not
love strangers, nor very confident men.^ No wonder. The
Scotch had taught him this habit. Though, continually de-
ceived and duped, from time to time he became cognizant of such
malpractices among his Scotch courtiers as we have exempli-
* These word« are written emphatically larg<» in Lord NapierV manu^rript
' 18 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
fied above ; consequently his general estimate of them could not
be complimentary to Us native country. The sight of an un-
known adventurer, of rank and pretensions, from that quarter,
was enough to make him close his countenance and his heart,
without the additional impulse of the minion's jealousy. This
was occasioned, indeed, by the " practising of a few ;■*' but that
sufficed to leaven the whole lump, and eventually to stamp upon
the nation, as its characteristic, the vices of a limited and motley
group. The very same dishonesty and frauds which entered the
private and petty cabals of these vicious factions in Scotland,
crossed, confused, and poisoned his Majesty's counsels in every
conscientious endeavour for the public weal. When the general
revocation of Tithes was first proposed, the King met with a
violent resistance from the interested Barons, several of whom
were disgusting him, at the very time, by their unscrupulous
mode of working their private factions at Court. Mar, Rox-
burgh, Morton, and the Chancellor, Sir George Hay, were, from
personal motives, among the leaders of that opposition, which,
as Burnet informs us, had very nearly occasioned an extraordi-
nary scene of assassination and massacre, when Nithsdale came
to Scotland, commissioned by the monarch to make good the
revocation. It was subsequent to this failure that the famous
Commission of Surrenders, of superiorities and tithes, was issued,
in the year 1627. Napier, in a letter to a friend, points out
what he considers to be the bad effects resulting from the mis-
management of this affair, and the reasons why it proved so un-
satisfactory to the clergy, the titulars, and the possessors. But
he adds, — " The King, in my opinion, has more just cause of
offence than any other of complaint, to find his gracious and
just endeavours, of vindicating the greatest part of his people
from the oppression of another part, to be thus frustrated and
disappointed, and that, which his Majesty intended for the
general good, to give general discontentment, through the ill-
carriage of the business ; whereby his Majesty is defrauded of
the honour due to his virtuous and good designs ; than which
never prince intended more just, more gracious, nor more truly
honourable.'*^
Elsewhere he says, — " The business of tithes, amongst others,
was most constantly prosecuted by his Majesty ; a purpose of
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 119
hiB father's or his own, who, finding the heavy oppression of
teind-masters, and the sermtude of the people^ did earnestly en-
deavour to remedy it : In this, as in other matters, which truly
might be said to be his — which were his intentions only — was
most just and princely ; but the means, which were other men'^s
inventions, were most unfit to compass his ends, but fit enough
to serve their turns, who found it their private interest to render
the business intricate, longsome, and difficult, upon hop6 his
Majesty would relinquish the same : Neither was this form of
proceeding displeasing to some most entrusted, for by the diffi-
culty they did endear their services ; and, in the meantime giv-
ing his Majesty hopes of great matters, they drew from him
present and certain benefits, above the proportion of their merit,
or of his Majesty'^s ability .''
Heylin, who enlarges upon this subject in his life of Laud,
says, that, " The proud Scots were generally resolved to put
all to hazard than to quit that power and tyranny which they
had over their poor vassals, — by which name, after the manner
of the French, they called their tenants. And hereunto they
were encouraged underhand by a party in England, who feared
that by this agreement the King would be so absolute in those
northern regions, that no aid could be hoped from thence when
the necessity of their designs might most require it ; — just as
the Oastilians were displeased with the conquest of Portugal
by King Philip II., because thereby they had no place left to
retire unto, when either the King'^s displeasure, or their dis-
obedience should make their own country too hot for them.
Such was the face of Church and State when his Majesty be-
gan his journey for Scotland to receive the Crown."'
At length Charles effected that memorable progress in the
month of June 1633. On the night before his coronation, he
was feasted in the Castle of Edinburgh by the old Earl of Mar,
whom he had beheld at his feet, crutches and all, ^' stirring pity
to cause injustice." On the morrow, when seated in the great
hall of the Castle, to receive the crown which some would fain
have filched from him, it was Hay the crabbed Chancellor, — he
whose " manner was to interrupt aU men when he was disposed
to speak, and the King too," — that now, in the name of the
120 LIFE OF MONTROSE,
estates of the kingdom, ^^ spake to the King.''" Among the six
noblemen, whom his Majesty selected to support the bearers of
his canopy, was Lord Napier. Bothes, the father of the future
Covenant, carried the sceptre, — and Lom,^ the deeper and more
deadly promoter of the Rebellion, assisted to bear the train.
The factious insolency of his Scotch nobles which Charles
had learnt to appreciate in England, he now met with, in more
dangerous and personal collision, ^* at home.^' No sooner had
he set his foot in Scotland than he created the chancellor Earl
of Einnoul, a favour which had little effect in mollifying the
temper of that statesman. His Majesty, consistently with his
mistaken policy of promoting]/^ churchmen's greatness,^ had
always desired that the Primate should have precedence of the
Chancellor ; " which,*" says Sir James Balfour, " the Lord
Chancellor Hay, a gallant stout man, would never condescend
to, nor ever suffer him to have place of him, do what he could,
all the days of his lifetime.'*' Once again Charles endeavoured
to effect this. It was when arranging the pageantry of his
coronation with Sir James Balfour, the Lord Lyon, in whose own
graphic words we must give the anecdote. '' I remember that
King Charles sent me to the Lord Chancellor, being then Earl
of Kinnoul, the day of his own coronation, in the morning, to
shew him that it was his will and pleasure, but only for that
day, that he would cede and give place to the Archbishop ; but
he returned by me to his Majesty a very brusk answer, which
was, that since his Majesty had been pleased to continue him
in that office of chancellor, which, by his means, his worthy
father, of happy memory, had bestowed upon him, he was ready
in all humility to lay it down at his Majesty's feet ; but since
it was his royal will he should enjoy it with the known pri-
vileges of the same, ^ never a stoled priest in Scotland should
set a foot before him, so long as his blood teas hot.^ When I
had related his answer to the King, he said, — ^ Weel, Lyon let's
go to business ; I will not meddle further with that old cankered^
fmUy man^ at whose hands there is nothing to be gained but
sour words.'"* Thus, even the regal procession, which to the
1 Balf Original MS. Letter, addressed to Johnston of Warrinton. — Advocates* Library.
* Dv Cook*s History of the Church of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 378.
i32 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
*^ grand national movement,'^ as another historian calls it, shrinks
back into its vicious slime and sordid dimensions. Providence
produces good out of evil ; but vice is not therefore the parent
of virtue. This convulsion, infinitely degrading in its details,
arose out of the plots of an interested faction, and not from the
spontaneous impulse of national character or feelings. Baillie,
never fully in the confidence of the Bothes clique, was himself,
in many respects, deluded and deceived. His bewildered con-
tradictions, and simplei confessions, sufficiently indicate the fact.
But it was none of his objects or desire to expose the cabal.
Observe his account of the simultaneous riots in Glasgow.
Mr William Annan was appointed by the Archbishop to
preach there, on Thursday, 28th August 1637. He took for
his text, ^' I exhort that prayers be made for all men.**" The
manner in which he performed his duty is thus described by
Baillie : — ^' In the last half of his sermon, from the making of
prayers he ran out upon the liturgy, and spake for the defence
of it in whole, and sundry most plausible parts of it, as well, in
my poor judgment, as any in the isle of Britain could have done,
considering all circumstances. However, he maintained, to the
dislike of all, in an unfit time, that which was hanging in sus-
pense between the King and the country. Of his sermon,
among us in the synod, not a word ; but in the town, among the
toomeny a great din.**" Then he blurts out this innocent re-
mark : — " I think, that town'*s commotion proceeds most from
Mr John BelFs vehement dislike of thai look^ And the details
he affords, of this monstrous regimen of women, enlighten us
still further, and leave nothing to be said against the record of
Guthrie.
" At the outgoing of the church, about thirty or forty of our
hanestest women, in one voice, before the Bishop and Magistrates,
did fall a railing, cursing, scolding, with clamours, on Mr Wil-
liam Annan : Some two of the meanest were taken to the Tol-
booth : All the day over, up and down the streets where he
went, he got threats of sundry in words and looks ; but after
supper, while needlessly he would go to visit the Bishop, who
had taken his leave with him, he is not sooner on the causeway,
at nine o'clock in a mirk night, with three or foyr ministers
with him, but some hundreds of enraged women, of all qualities,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 133
are about him, with neaves (fists) and staves, and peats, but no
stones : They beat him sore ; his cloak, ruff, hat, were rent :
However, upon his cries, and candles set out from many win-
dows, he escaped all bloody wounds; yet he was in great
danger even of killing : This tumult was so great, that it was
not thought meet to search either the plotters or actors of it ; for
numbers of the best quality would have hQ^m found guilty ^ ^
Well might the King, when all this was reported to him, con-
scientiously believe that he was only opposed by a disreputable
faction, which to identify with Scotland would be a libel on his
country. Well might he reject and disclaim, as the spontaneous
voice of the nation, a petition against the Service-book, which
ran in the name of '^ Us men, women, children^ and servants^
indwellers within the burgh of Edinburgh.**^ Baillie's " honestest
women ^ must have been the vilest of their sex. Immediately
after the tumults there was published, with the most exulting
commendations, and for the purpose of still further inflaming
the public mind in its lowest grades, some of the sayings and
doings of these notable TruUas of the Covenant. The language
hurled at the Bishop and the Dean, by the " serving-maids ^ of
the " godly matrons ^ of Edinburgh, belongs to the stews ; and
their threats were of the most fiendish character : — " Fie, if I
could get the thrapple out of him,*" — roared one of the " honest-
est women ;" and when it was suggested to her, that if she ob-
tained her desire, there might come one in his room worse still,
she made answer, from her studies of constitutional histqry, —
" After Cardinal Beaton was sticked^ we had never another car-
dinal sensyne ; and if that false Judas (the Bishop) were now
stabbed and cut off, his place would be thought so prodigious
and ominous, that scarce any man durst hazard to undertake
to be his successor .'*'' ^
> BaOlie's LeUen and Journals, vol. i. p. 21. See the whole of this letter, which
is moat inBtroctire as to the *< grand national movement."
*^ A brief and true relation of the broyle which fell out on the Lord's Day, the
23d July 1637, through the occasion of a black, popish, and superstitious service-
book,'' &e. Mr Brodie, in his History of the British Empire, erroneously attri-
butes the compihition of this discreditable brochure to the Lord Lyon, Sir James
Balfour. A copy had been discovered among his MSS. in the Advocates' Library.
It is printed in the Appendix to Rothes's Relation.
134 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Butlers's picture is attractive and comely, compared with the
disgusting reality in Scotland —
** The oyster-women locked their fish up,
And trudged away, to cry, * No Bishop.*
Instead of Kitchen stuff, some cry,
A gospel-preaching ministry I
And some, for old suits, coats, or cloak,
No surplices, nor service-book."
* The most popular and amunng rermon of the (Mmmenoementof the tumults, is,
unfortunately, the least authentic. Sir Walter Scott says : — ** As the reader of the
prayers commeneed the eolleet for the dayman old woman named Jenny Geddes,
who kept a green-stall in the High Street, bawled out — * The deil eoli^ in the wame
of thee, thou false thief ! dost thou say the mass at my lug V With that she flung at
the Dean's head the stool upon which she had been sitting, and a wild tumult in-
stantly commenced.*' — Hist, vol. i. p. 41 4. It is not explained how the Dean could
have been reading at the old woman's ear. The real story is this, for which we
hare abundant contemporary authority. The premeditated tumult having com-
menced the instant the book was opened, with ^ chipping of hands, cursings, and
outcries," raised by ^ a number of the meaner sort of the people, most of them
^tUing-maida and womenf who use in that town to keep plaoe$ for the better sort,"
— ^then it happened that << there was a gentleman, who, standing behind a p4W,
and answering amen to what the Dean was reading, a she zealot hearing htm,
starts up in choler, — * Traitor (says she), dost thou say mass at my ear f and
with that struck him on the face with her Bible in great indignation and fury."
This is the contemporary account by James Gordon, parson of Rothiemay, in his
History of the Scots affairs. The same story is told in terms very similar, but
in a more exulting spirit, by the author of the scurrilous pamphlet already quoted,
and which Mr Brodie has erroneously attributed to Sir James Balfour. This
was not the virago who flung the first stool. We have no desire to deprive
Jenny Geddes of her honours, or her place in history. Sir Walter Scott had
merely adopted De Foe's version (the most amusing), in his Memorials of the
Kirk, which undoubtedly is not the true one. These female servants, who had
to keep places, before great field days, for their ** godly matrons," sometimes for
more than twenty-four hours (which occasioned the most disgusting abuses of the
house of God), were provided with portable folding stools, which, upon the great
occasion in question, they turned into missiles. That these were so used is also
well authenticated. The King, in the Large Dechmition (compiled for him by Dr
Balcanquhal), states, that ^ if a stool, aimed to be thrown at him, had not, by the
providence of Grod, been diverted by the hand of one present, the life of that re-
verend Bishop, in that holy place, and in the pulpit, had been endangered, if not
lost." Spalding*s contemporary account states it in terms that coincide with
Guthrie's anecdote : — " The nobles, being foreseen of this novelty, never heard be-
fore since the Reformation in £dinbui*gh, devise a number of txueal termng-vxmen
to throw stools at the reader, and perturb the Kirk, which they did vehemently."
Kirkton has it, that, " first an unknown obscure woman threw her stool at the
Dean's head, a number of others did the like by her example." Jenny Geddes was
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 135
It has never been hinted that Montrose had any hand in this
mean and atrocious organizing of insurrection. He had no
secret sympathies with the party whom he joined. He was not
of the Bothes school of politics, although it was Bothes who
seduced him. It is nowhere pretended that his disaffection had
any thing to do with previous factions. Neither does Baillie
name Montrose until after the period when, we shall find, he
was first " brought in." It was at a great convention, held on
thfe 15th November 1637, that Montrose made his first ap-
pearance as an opponent of the Court. The history of that
convention affords another corroboration of what Guthrie has
revealed. The Bishop of Edinburgh, and the Magistrates, had
declared, that the cause of all the tumults was the frequent
congregation in Edinburgh of the disaffected nobles and gentle-
men. " In that case,"" it was artfully replied, " we shall call a
convention to choose commissioners^ to wait in small numbers
upon the Privy-council, in terms of the motion of the Provost
and the Bishop."' " This,"" says Baillie, " was the pretence ; but
the truth was, that night after supper, in Balmerino'^s lodgings,
where the whole nobility (t . e. of the faction) supped, some com-
missioners from the gentry, town, and ministers met, where I
was among the rest ; there it was resolved to meet against the
15th of November, in as great numbers as possibly could he had,
to wait on the answer of their prior supplication, and to get
their complaint once tabled and received.**" At this covenanting
conviviality, the learned but somewhat incoherent and bewilder-
ed Baillie, sat in wondrous admiration of those long-headed
arch-insurgents, Balmerino and Loudon. He '^ thought them
the best spokesmen that ever he heard open a mouth."" He
says it was " a meeting of harmony, and mutual love, zeal, and
gravity beyond what had occurred even in a meeting composed
solely of churchmen for forty years."" When taking leave of
the nobles, however, one of the ministers lectured their Lord-
one of an hundred. Mr Sharpe's note upon Kirkton'a reference to the ineident, w
as follows : — *' This pious woman's surname was Geddes ; her Cliristian name was
either Margaret, the common appellation, or Janet, as she is termed in a rude bal-
lad, beginning * Put the gown upon the Dishop.' It is said that she had done
penance on the stool of repentance for fornication, the Sabbath previous to this ex-
ploit. From the continuation of Baker's Chronicle, we learn that she survived the
Restoration."
136 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
ships upon the ^' reformation of their persons, and using the
exercise of piety in their families ; which all took well, and pre-
mised fair T The ministers returned to their reflfpective districts
of agitation, to raise, from their perverted pulpits, the seditious
cries that were to bring the people to the meeting of the 15th
of November. " The fame of that 1 5th day spread at once far
and broad, even to the King'^s ear, and all were in great sus-
pense what it might produce.''
It produced Montrose. During the busy interval, " the
canniness of Rothes'** was brought to bear upon the future
champion of the monarchy. Nor was this all. At a previous
convention, held on the 20th September 1637, attended by
Rothes, Cassilis, Eglinton, Home, Lothian, Wemyss, Lindsay,
Yester, Balmerino, Cranston, and Loudon, accompanied by
ministers and burgesses from Fife, and the western shires, those
ministers were enjoined, nothing loth, to agitate, agitate, agi-
tate ! The " grand national movement'' required such impetus
as this : ^^ It was laid upon Mr Henry Pollock to deal with those
of Lothian, Merse, and Teviotdale; Mr Andrew Ramsay to
take the like pains with those of Angus and Meams ; Mr Robert
Murray, to travail with them of Perth and Stirling shires ; and
an advertisement was ordered to be sent to Mr Andrew Cant,
to use the like diligence in the north ; and so the ministers dis-
banded for the time." Now, in an original manuscript deposi-
tion, taken during the prosecution of Montrose and his loyal
friends in 1641, to be in due time narrated, we find what had
hitherto escaped observation, that Montrose himself names a
minister as having laboured to convert him. " Thereafter my
Lord (Montrose) says to the deponer, * you were an instrument
of bringing ms to this cause ; I am calumniated and slandered as
a backslider in this cause, and am desirous to give you and all
honest men satisfaction :' " This deponer is Mr Robert Murray,
minister of Methven, — ^the very clergyman upon whom, prepa-
ratory to the grand agitation for this meeting of the 15th of
November, " it was laid, to travail with them of Perth and Stir-
lingshire," — the districts in which lay the estates of Montrose,
and his relatives Lord Napier and Sir George Stirling of Keir.
And Mr Robert Murray was the uncle of that rogue in grain,
*' little Will Murray of the Bedchamber,^ who is accused, upon
/
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 137
very substantial grounds, of picking the King's pockets of his
letters, and who unquestionably was the tool of Hamilton in all
fais cabals with the Covenanters.
The result of the " canniness""* of Bothes, and the " travail^'
of Mr Robert Murray, is thus recorded by Guthrie : — " Among
other nobles, who had not been formerly there, came at that diet
the Earl of Montrose, which was mast taken notice of: yea, when
the Bishops heard that he was come there to join, they were
somewhat aflrighted, having that esteem of his parts, that they
thought it time to prepare for a storm when he engaged.'*^
At this grand convention, the Treasurer, Traquair, 'as one of
the privy council, "challenged their proceedings,'^ says Baillie,
" with great admiration to some of his wisdom and faculty of
speech.'^ But, he adds, " the Advocate, after some little dis-
pleasure at the Treasurer for his motion, resolved^ that they
might meet, in law, to choose commissioners to Parliament, to
convention of estates, or any pulUe btmness.'" It was then
determined to appoint a committee of twelve, representing as
many several estates as in their wisdom this convention saw fit
that the new constitution should embrace. The immediate re-
ward of Montrose'^s adherence was his being named one of four
noblemen selected to compose " the Table*" of the nobility. His
three coadjutors were Bothes, Loudon, and his quondam hunt-
ing companion at college. Lord Lindsay of the Byres. And
one of those chosen to represent the lesser barons, was his
nephew, by marriage with Lord Napier's eldest daughter. Sir
George Stirling of Eeir. Thus originated that scourge of the
kingdom, factiously composed committees, usurping the whole
functions of government in Scotland. So artfully was the matter
managed, as to seem a conservative act of the privy-council,
fortified by the legal opinion of the first law officer of the crown.
In reality, as we learn from Baillie himself, it was a deliberate
plan of the faction, to constitute a new and irresponsible govern-
ment and tribunal of their own, at which their contemplated
destruction of the Bishops might be effected as the first step in
a progress of anarchy, of whose ultimate aim and object, in re-
gard to the state of the nation, not one of the agitators had a
definite or rational idea.
Such was the party to which '* the cannincss of Rothes brought
138 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
in'" Montrose. Yet the day was not far distant when he was
to learn to appreciate a covenanting committee of estates!
When his horror of such tribunals was even to mingle with the
gentlest moods of his mind : —
** And in the empire of thine heart,
Where I should Bolelj be,
If others do pretend a part,
Or dare to vie with me.
Or \£ committees thou erect.
And go on such a score,
I'll laugh and sing at thy neglect.
And never love thee more."
The constitution of Scotland being thus overturned, the
destructive party instantly proceeded to the contrivance of
their memorable charter. The covenant, that bond of faction
and banner of rebellion, is inseparable from the name of Mon-
trose, not only because eventually he fell a sacrifice in the vain
attempt to save his King and country from its desolating effects,
but because he was amongst the foremost to sign it, and, for
a brief space, supported it in council and enforced it in the field.
Were this bond what some have imagined it to be, a patriotic
and holy expression of unanimous feeling in all who signed it, — a
feeling for the preservation of their Religion and Liberties, —
had Charles L really entertained the determined purpose against
the '^ Independency*" of Scotland, which the Covenant is by
some supposed to have met, then, however illegal in itself, and
though leading to worse evils than it professed to cure, all who
signed it in that good faith and feeling might well be excused.
If Montrose, who we shall find only abjured the Covenant after
he distinctly saw that it was made to serve the ruinous purposes
of a revolutionary movement, had really signed it under cir-
cumstances which necessarily required every Christian patriot
so to do, his political character would be blameless. It is to be
feared, however, that the martyr of loyalty stands not so well
excused in his early career. He appears to have taken that
step, as many others did, with but crude and confused ideas of
its propriety. The best clerical historians of the Church of
Scotland now admit, or but feebly veil the fact, that the Cove-
nant, as dishonestly and impiously it was styled, came reeking
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 139
from the hotbed of faction, and from the hands of reckless un-
principled politicians. But Montrose was naturally as inca-
pable of conceiving so artful a plot, as^he was of foreseeing the
scope and tendency of the Covenant at the time when he signed
it. He was not one of the intriguers who contrived that too
successful scheme against established order. Bothes, Loudon,
and Balmerino, with their legal demagogue, Archibald Johnston
of Warriston, and their clerical apostle Alexander Henderson —
these five are inunortalized as its able, though disingenuous
devisers.
The scheme of the Covenant is well known. It affected to
adopt that Confession of. Faith — directed against Popery at a
time when the popish plots of Spain, and a less enlightened era,
rendered the ferment more excusable and sincere — which King
James in his youth had signed along with the nation. There
was originally added to this protestant confession a bond or
obligation for maintenance of the true religion, and of the Eling^s
person. Some years afterwards, James superinduced, upon his
constitution of the church, the five articles of Perth, and thus,
with the acquiescence of his people, established that Episcopal
imparity of church government which was virtually the scheme
of Knox himself. The adoption of the acts of the previous reign,
as the charter of the insurrection of 1637, was a trick for the
purpose of transferring to the faction a colour of whatever was
respectable and constitutional in those enactments. '^It was,^
says the learned historian of the Kirk, an ^' expedient admirably
devised, the success of which exceeded even their own most
sanguine expectation;^ The first aim of those power and place
hunters, who had progressed from the tithe cabal to the Bal-
merino petition, and from that to the Tables, and the Covenant,
was to root out the order of bishops from church and state.
While they pretended, therefore, only to renew, as a solenm
form of expressing a religious, patriotic, and loyal feeling, what
was already the law, they, in point of fact, contemplated the
violent abrogation of every vestige of Episcopacy in the island,
however constitutionally established. In the prosecution of
this scheme, they at once rendered the bond for defence of the
King'^s person and authority, which they professed to adopt, a
dead letter, by adding an obligation to defend each other even
140 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
agaiust the Eling himself. '^ This remarkable addition,^ says,
our historian ^' gave a new complexion to what was held forth
merely as the revival of a former confession ; this bond places
beyond a doubt the determination of those by whom it was
framed, to defy even the King himself in attaining the objects
which it was designed to secure. Yet Hope, his Majesty^s
Advocate, did not hesitate to give it as his opinion, that it
contained nothing inconsistent with the duty of subjects, — a
fact strikingly evincing how much the ynrit of faction can be-
wilder even the most vigorous minds. The obligation was
written and sanctioned, not by Parliament, not by men acting
in any official capacity, but by individuals assuming the right
of deciding upon the measures of their sovereign, and consider-
ing their private judgment as a sufficient warrant for despising
hfs authority.*"
This is severe upon the ^^ good cause,''* coming as it does from
the pen of one of its most distinguished advocates. And surely
the apology, which immediately follows the condenmation, only
tends to show how indefensible that caus,e in reality is. Dr
Cook proceeds to say : — " It does not alter the case that the
cause was really good ; it might have been quite the reverse ; and
therefore the vindication of the Covenant must not be rested
upon the far-fetched attempts to reconcile it with loyalty^ but
upon this great principle^ that, when the ends for which all
government should be instituted are defeated, the oppressed
have a clear right to disregard customary forms^ and to assert
the privileges without which they would be condemned to the
degradation and wretchness of despotism.^*"^
But unfortunately, this " great principle,**" — this hospital to
which the reverend author refers the foundation of his church
after having rendered it raw from his scourge, — is inadequate
to the cure. The assumptions involved in the vague, though
magniloquent defence, are quite incapable of proof. Neither
does that defence coincide with the circumstantial animadver-
sion which it was intended to neutralize. To ^^ reconcile the
Covenant with loyalty*" is not the sole difficulty which Dr Cook's
previous censure had presented to the ^' far-fetched attempts'*'
of its champions. He had accused the Covenant, though in
> Dr Cook's History of the Church of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 414-415.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 141
subdued and tender phrase, of motives and principles that can-
not fail to render it very disgraceful to its contrivers. He had
said that the most vigorous minds among them were heicildered
by the spirit of faction ; that their scheme was inconsistent with
ike duty ofiuhjects ; that they had assumed the right of deciding ;
and had placed their private judgment agsAnsi constituted autho-
rity ! How does all this quadrate with the author^s great prin-
ciple of vindication^ namely, that before the Covenant arose, the
ends for which all government should be instituted had been
defeated, and the only " duty of subjects^ remaining was, that
of the oppressed (not the factious) having a clear right to disre-
gard the principles of the constitution, and to assert their pri-
vileges f Can we reconcile or apply this vindication to the case
of the Covenant, which, on the very next page of the same his-
tory, Dr Cook thus characterizes, — " The Covenant was, not-
withstanding the essential alteration in it which has been
noticed, still denominated by its former title, a piece of disin-
g enuity which was not necessary to support the cause,1[iid
which afforded its enemies some ground/for questioning the
integrity of the zealous men by whom it was espoused.'^
So difficult is it to defend the Covenant ! Whoever engages
lin the task, must do it with a will. He must igno r e facts ,
'avoid common sense, invoke the genius of Jenny Geddes, and
flourish her stool. No writer has done so more imposingly,
and, we verily believe, with more conscientious mental inebriety,
than the learned author of a History of the British Empire.
The Covenant, he tells us, was *^ A gravid national movement
against arbitrary power, civil and religious.'*'* It was, he says,
'' not merely a cool assent of the understanding, but of the
heart, heated to an enthusiasm of which a faint conception
only can be formed by those who have lived in quiet times ;
the Covenant was embraced with tears of penitence for past
defection ; and shouts of unutterable joy for the hoped-for fruits,'*
— not of busy faction and seditious agitation, — but of " recon-
cilement with Heaven.**
Yet neither will this historian suffer the Covenant to escape
without " severe reprehension.** And why ! Not because it
roused rebellion, while professing loyalty, and effected a secret
iSOmbination against the person and authority of the King, while
142 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
it took God to witness a determination to defend both, — but be-
cause of its " intolerance towards the Catholic body/' — " Men,*'
adds the historiographer royal for Scotland, '^ who were them-
selves smarting under the effects of intolerance, might have had
sympathy with the feelings of those who also adhered to their
own notions of worshipping their Maker.** Meaning thereby,
not the protestant Church of England, which the Covenanters so
intolerantly and inconsistently assailed, but actually the wor-
shippers of the Pope ! *
The months of February, March, and April 1638, were occu-
pied chiefly in obtaining signatures to multiplied copies of the
Covenant, written on sheepskin, and carried about in their
portmanteaus by the agitating nobles. Some wags, well know-
ing the hwrnbug of the whole affair, called it ^' The constella-
tion on the back of Aries.**' The parson of Bothiemay, who re-
cords the wit, further tells us, that '^ the greater the number
of the subscribers grew, the more imperious they were in exact-
ing subscriptions from others who refused to subscribe ; so that
by degrees they proceeded to contumelies, and exposing of
many to injuries and reproaches ; and some were beaten who
durst refuse, especially in greatest cities (as likewise in other
smaller towns), namely, at Edinburgh, St Andrews, Glasgow,
Lanark, and many other places."" This account is amply con-
firmed by private correspondence of the period, which will not
be found, either in the text or notes of our great constitutional
historians, Brodie, Hallam, and Macaulay. The following ex-
tract is from an original letter preserved in the Advocates'*
Library, from Mr David Mitchell, one of the persecuted ministers
of Edinburgh (afterwards Bishop of Aberdeen), to Dr John
Lesly, Bishop of Raphoe : —
^' The greater part of the kingdom have subscribed, and the
rest are daily subscribing a Covenant. It is the oath of the
Eing^s house, 1580, with strange additions; a mutual combina-
tion for resistance of all novations in religion, doctrine, and
discipline, and rites of worship that have been brought in since
that time ; so as, if the least of the subscribers be touched, —
* Mr Brodie*s HUtory of the British Empire, vol. ii. p. 471, 472.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. U3
and there be some of them not ten years of age^ and some not
worth ttoapence^^ — ^that all shallconeur for their defence, and for
the expulsion of all Papists and adversaries, that is, all that will
not svhscrihe^ out of the church and kingdom, according to the
laws, whereof an htindred are cited in the charter. This goes
on apace. The true payors are brought into Edinburgh to cry
out against us wohes^ and they, with our brethren here, Mr
Andrew Ramsay, Mr Henry Pollock, and your whileome friend
the Principal (Adamson), crying out that they are neither good
Christians nor good subjects that do not subscribe, nay, nor in
covenant with Ood, have made us so odious that we dare not go
on the streets. I have been dogged by some gentlemen, and fol-
lowed with many mumbled threatenings behind my back, and
then, when in stairs, swords draion^ and ^ if they had the Papist
ffiilain^ oh P Yet I thank God I am living to serve God and
the King, and the Church, and your Lordship. Your chief
(Bothes) is chief in this business. There is nothing expected
here but civil war."^
There are also preserved among the manuscripts of the Ad-
vocates^ Library, some very curious and amusing letters written
in 1638, during the covenanting tumults, by one signing
himself *^ Jean de Maria,^ seemingly a feigned name ; nor has
the name of the party addressed been ascertained. They are
very long and circumstantial, and evince in the writer great
penetration, spirit, and humour. Nothing can be more com-
plete, in an epistolary form, than ^^ Jean de Marians ^ expose of
the arts of insurgency that begot the Covenant. He says that
the King's backwardness to take strong measures against the
covenanting combination, ^' makes many doubtful whether he
be disposed to break the same, and resent the wrong which is
done him thereby, in a true degree or not ; which is the cause
that a thousand and a thousand are come in within this month,
and subscribed the same, who otherwise had undoubtedly stood
out :^ And, '^ if you knew what odd, uncouth and ridiculous
courses they use to draw in ignorant fools, fearful fasards,
' To erinoe the uniunal feeling against the liturgy, the petition of the faction, to
the ChanoeUor, after the tomults, ran thos,— ^ Unto your Lordship humbly shews,
we nomi, women, and ehUdren^ and serrants, indwellers in Edinburgh, being urged
with this book of Berrice," &e.
144 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
women and boys, I can hardly say whether it would afford his
Majesty more occasion of laughter or anger.'" Among other
instructive illustrations contained in these letters, is the follow-
ing graphic anecdote : — " You may judge whether we who have
not subscribed the Covenant, are in [a good] taking, when an
insolent clavering puppy ^ whose wife is a sister of our SheriflTs,
whose deportment for many respects I regret most of any
man^s in this county, and who qualifies himself as his joint
commissioner for this shire, dared be so pert as to come down
to our church, and there, seeing how few were like to concur
with them, say, that he desired but tlie names of those who should
refuse to subscribe, with a note of their worths in means or
otherwise, and let them alone to take' order with them^
It is Doctor Johnson who so graphically exposes the fallacy
of that demonstration of national or public opinion, which con-
sists in the subscriptions of the million to the wishes of the few.
" Names,*" he says, " are easily collected. One man signs be-
cause he hates the Papists ; another because it will vex the
parson ; one because he is rich ; another because he is poor ;
one to shew that he is not afraid ; and another to shew that he
can write.**^ Such, on a more extended scale, and with more
potent impulses, was the fabrication of the Covenant. The
grand national movement, the penitent embraces, the tears, the
shouts of joy unutterable^ the promised hopes, all that our his-
toriographer-royal has so imposingly crowded into his beau ideal
of that revolutionary charter, was but the seditious agitation,
the false excitement, the senseless clamour, and the lawless
violence of its day. " The passage, however,*" continues the
great moralist, " is not always smooth. Those who collect con-
tributions to sedition sometimes apply to a man of higher rank,
and more enlightened mind, who, instead of lending them his
name, calmly reproves them for being seducers of the people.'*'*
Would that, in pursuing the parallel, we might claim this lofty
position for Montrose. Although not behind the scenes of the
agitation, or as Baillie himself expresses it, in reference even to
his own exclusion, — " within the curtain of the secret wheels,
where the like of me wins not,'*'* — his ardent disposition was fired,
» Quere,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 145
and carried by the arts of insurgency, the excitement of the oc-
casion, seasoned niith some ill-digested ideas of his own as to
the best mode of opposition to " charchmen''s greatness."*^ There
is one nobleman, however, in whom the parallel is sustained.
He who, *'*' instead of lending them his name, calmly reproved
them for being seducers of the people/'' was George Gordon,
Marquis of Huntly. The collision into which Montrose was
now brought with that ever loyal nobleman, was the main cause
of the failure of the campaign for the monarchy in Scotland,
and of our hero's isolation in that desperate career of fruitless
victories. Colonel Robert Monro, a Gustavus Adolphus man,
was specially commissioned by " the Tables,"" to carry the Cove-
nant to Huntly, and to obtain his signature. This free-spoken
soldier, who had been a companion in arms with the Marquis
abroad, applied the usual lever of mingled promises and threats.
He was dismissed with this memorable reply, — ^^ My House,^
said Huntly, '^ has risen by the Kings of Scotland. It has ever
stood for them, and with them shall fall. Nor will I quit the
path of my predecessors. And if the event be the ruin of my
Sovereign, then shall the rubbish of his house bury beneath it
all that belongs to mine.^
Thus it became a great object with the covenanting faction
to destroy Huntly, and to revolutionize the district over which
his loyal influence, in conjunction with the enlightened learning
of Aberdeen still prevailed. The nobleman whom they selected
to accomplish this important end was Montrose.
\0
146 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
CHAPTER X.
HAHnLTOK COMMISSIONER — RETURNS TO COURT — M0NTR0SE*8 FIRST EXPE-
DITION TO ABERDEEN AS A COVENANTINa AGITATOR— NATURE AND
CONDUCT OF THAT MISSION — ITS RECEPnON AND SUCCESS — HAMILTON'S
RETURN FROM COURT— CONCESSIONS OF THE KING — CONDUCT OF THE
FACTION — ^MONTROSE'S MOST FACTIOUS POSITION — HIS EXERTIONS TO
PACK THE GENERAL ASSEBffBLY OF 1638 — HIS OPEN AVOWALS DAMAG-
ING TO HIS PARTY — VIOLENT SCENE IN THE ASSEMBLY BETWEEN
MONTROSE, HIS FATHER-IN-LAW, AND THE MODERATOR — HAMILTON
SEIZES THE ADVANTAGE AGAINST MONTROSE, AND DISSOLVES THE AS-
SBMBLT^ARGYLE EMERGES ON THE SCENE — HIS CHARACTER — DIS-
GRACEFUL PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY AGAINST
THE BISHOPS — CONDUCT OF HIS MAJESTY'S ADVOCATE.
That which, on the very spot, was noted in the covenanting
Lord Advocate's private Diary as an insurrection " by the
women,"" and, in the private correspondence of one of the keenest
of the anti-prelatic ministers, as an attempt on the part of
" serving maids to pull down the bishops' pride," was not likely
to convey to the monarch's ear an impression of the voice of
Scotland, in any rational sense of the term. But when Charles
was enabled to gather this much from the distraction of his
councils in the north, that the female servants of Edinburgh,
and those who had placed them in the van, were too powerful
for his whole executive there, he became impressed with the
necessity of quieting the public mind by the presence of a re-
presentative. »
The nobleman selected for this important and difficult task,
was the favourite already characterised, who had been accused
of plotting to obtain the crown of Scotland for himself. This
charge against the Marquis of Hamilton was at the time per-
emptorily silenced by the King, owing to his deeply-rooted afiec-
tion for his early playmate ; and now, as if to leave him not a
pretext for ingratitude, he it was whom he chose as his Com-
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 147
missioner. An anecdote has already been given illustrative of
the character of this Statesman, in his reception of Montrose at
Court. We have also anticipated the corroborative story of
his " verbwn sapienti " to the Earl and other leaders of the
faction, whom he had been commissioned to reduce to order.
Baillie's pragmatical pretensions to unriddle the Sphynx of the
Troubles, in his correspondence with his confidant, the minister
at Campvere, is somewhat amusing: — "His Grace's coun-
tenance and carriage," says Baillie, " was so courteous, and his
private speeches so fair, that we were in good hopes for some
days to obtain all our desires.'' A few months afterwards, the
same chronicler, in his account of the memorable Assembly of
1638, favours us with this portrait of the Commissioner : — " I
t^ke the man to be of a sharp, ready, solid, clear wit,— of a
brave and masterly expression, — loud, distinct, slow, full, yet
concise, modest, courtly, yet simple and natural language. If
the King have many such men he is a well served prince. My
thoughts of the man were hard and base. But a day or two's
audience wrought on my mind a great change towards him,
which yet remains, and ever will, till his deeds be notorUmsly
evil." In the following year, however, at the treaty of Ber-
wick, we find him again at fault in his attempts to fathom the
favourite : — " The Marquis's ways were so ambiguous that no
man understood him, only his absolute poioer with the King was oft
there clearly seen."
The royal Commissioner — whose conduct it is necessary to
keep in view throughout this story, in order to appreciate that
of Montrose— having managed matters in Scotland so as to
satisfy the leaders of the Covenant that they had the ball at their
foot) returned in the month of July 1638, to report progress to
his Majesty, and to obtain instructions as to the demand for an
Assembly and Parliament. In the interval, the Covenanters
were most anxious to bring under subjection the loyalists in the
north, that when Hamilton returned it might be said that the
whole of Scotland, by one spontaneous move of patriotic feel-
ing, had come within the pale of the Covenant. Montrose upon
this occasion was the leader, not of a warlike expedition, but
rather of a band of itinerant agitators, taking advantage of a
vacation at the main scene of action, to stir up disafiection in
148 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
quiet districts; and, by threatening the respectable and harangu-
ing the vulgar, to create that false excitement which had suc-
ceeded so well elsewhere. There can be little doubt, however,
that Rothes, still the leader of the revels, organized the scheme,
and influenced his proselyte in the conduct of it. This appears
from the terms of a letter, which the former addressed to his
cousin, Patrick Leslie, of Aberdeen, dated 13th July 1638,
announcing the advent of Montrose and his party; and the
patronizing phrase by which he recommends to their submissive
deference, his nominee and missionary, seems an involuntary
tribute to the natural characteristics of our hero. After urging
the Covenant upon the good town, as a writ inspired, to resist
which would be ^' but a fighting against the high God,'' Rothes
adds these pointed instructions : — " Do ye all the good ye can
in that town, and in the country about, — ye will not repent it, —
and attend my Lord Montrose, wlu> is a noble and true hearted
cavalier," *
Doubtless we must concede, that, in all his phases —
** A Wight he was, whose very sight wou'd
Intitle him, Mirrour of Knighthood ^^^ —
but he was now in a Hiidibrasti^^ attitude, and had he lived to
enjoy Butler (who by the way was bom in the same year with
him), must have laughed outright at his own portrait, —
" When gospel- trumpeter, surrounded
With long-earM rout, to battle sounded,
And pulpit, drum-ecclesiastic,
Was beat with fist, instead of a stick,
Then did Sir Knight abandon dwelling.
And out he rode a-colonelling.^'
His stafl^ upon this occasion was composed of a few laymen,
of local distinction, but mere cyphers in the great agitation :
and, instead of an armed host, the redoubtable trio called the
" three apostles of the Covenant," — Henderson, Dickson, and
Cant. The district to be honoured with this special visitation,
was an oasis in the desert. 'Inhere, all that was rational, well-
ordered, and estimable, was yet predominant. Scriptural phra-
1 Patrick Leslie had been Provost of Aberdeen, but was removed from that office
for his disloyalty.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 149
seology did not pass current for piety, nor the abusive ravings
of fanaticism for the outpourings of gifted and enlightened
minds. The town and college of Aberdeen were at this time
rich in divines and professors, eminently distinguished for their
learning, integrity, and good sense. These upon the present
occasion sustained their high character, and baffled by their
learning and temper the excited emissaries of the faction.
Our hero was not a stranger in Aberdeen. Nine years be-
fore, the bells were ringing there in honour of the young Bene-
dict, when he was made a burgess, and sat for his portrait to
the Scottish Vandyke.^ The same hospitality which greeted
him then was offered to him now. This hitherto happy city of
peace and plenty, had prepared a collation for Montrose and
his company ; which being declined with some hauteur, until
the authorities would submit to the Covenant, the provost and
baillies, somewhat annoyed at the affront, '^ caused deal the
wine in the bede-house, among the poor men, which they so
disdainfully had refused, whereof the like was never done to
Aberdeen in no man's memory .'' ^ Having rejected the " cup of
Bon Accord,**^ these crusaders proceeded " a-colonelHng ^^ after
their own fashion. Next day, being Sunday, the three apostles
modestly proposed to turn the well-conditioned pulpits of the
good town into the " drum ecclesiastic." This, says Spalding,
the ministers of Aberdeen would by no means accede to, " but
preached themselves in their own pulpits.'' A godly matron
came to the recue of the Covenant. Thus discomfited at their
first onset, they proceeded ^' to the Earl Marischars close, where
the Lady Pitsligo, his sister, was then dwelling, a rank puritan ;
and the said Mr Alexander Henderson preached first, next Mr
David Dickson, and lastly, Mr Andrew Cant, all on the said
Sunday ; and divers people flocked within the said close to hear
these preachers, and see this novelty. Upon the morrow, being
Monday, they all three prcach(^d after others (one after the
other) within the said close." This delectable entertainment
and exhibition, Montrose at the side of that unctuous dame
Lady Pitsligo, attracted many auditors. And no wonder. The
* See bcfoi-e, p. 07. ' Spalding.
(60 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
three covenanted apostles, if not trumpet-tongued, were of that
gifted nasal breed which had
" invented tones to win
The women, and make them draw in
The men, as Indians with a female
Tame elephant, inveigle tfie male.^''
There were some, indeed, who came to scoff; and none who did
so remained to pray. The apostles preached from the window
of a large wooden gallery which overlooked the close, or yard,
of the Earl Marischars mansion, situated in the market-place
of Aberdeen. Certain contemptuous recusants, who occupied
the leads of an adjoining building, " with little civility," as ano-
ther contemporary records, " l^hrew a raven into the crowd of
their convention, while they were at sermon, which was ill taken
by all discreet men."" * Montrose had here a taste of that
species of eloquence, which, very shortly afterwards, when his
loyalty and good sense was awakened out of the disturbed
slumber that had descended upon it, he himself was constrained
to characterize as ^^ the arguments, and false positions, of sedi-
tious preachers^ ^ The proselytes they made, few and insigni-
ficant, were such as learned and loyal Aberdeen could well
spare. And some even of these refused to sign the Covenant,
except under the express caveat of a pointed reservation in
favour of the King's authority ; which, it was at once seen, that
instrument was artfully framed to overthrow. Montrose would
nevei: understand it in that sense. And when this caveat, and
other crushing riders upon its mainspring, were made the con-
ditions of the subscription of Doctor William Guild, their great-
est acquisition, Montrose drew out, subscribed, and caused his
present followers to subscribe along with him, this emphatic de-
claration, which, even at that early stage, he laid down as the
measure of his defection, and beacon of his career, — " Likeas,
we under subscribing do declare^ that we neither had nor have
> James Gordon's History of Scots Affairs. Baillie mentions that, to be sure of
an audience, **• they wisely did choose the times when there was do public services
in the churches.*'
' Montrose's Essay on Sovereign Power.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 151
any intention but of loyalty to his Majesty, as the Covenant
bears;' i
This expedition is not worthy of more particular notice in
the life of Montrose. Suffice it to mention, that he returned to
Edinburgh in the month of August 1 638, with the conquest of
some equivocal signatures to the Covenant, the most worthless
laurel he ever gained. The Doctors of Aberdeen had little
more whereon to plume themselves. They remained in easy
possession of a field of argument, learning, and common sense,
triumphing over such antagonists as Henderson, Dickson, and
Cant.
Montrose was just in time to meet Hamilton on his return
from Court. The King had learnt something of the nature of
the regimen of women in Scotland. He had become aware of
the tactics of such ladies as the Marquis's mother and Lady
Pitsligo. The favourite found that he had ventured too far, or
t^o fast, in his colleaguing with the rioters under this petticoat
government. He had been severely lectured ; and, with the un-
certainty of purpose that marks the whole tenor of his life, there
being no substance in his character, or spirit in his composition,
he returned wavering and crestfallen to his covenanting friends.
" The Commissioner,'' says Baillie, '' came back before his day,
and Dr Balcanqual with him. He kept himself more reserved than
before. His mother he would not see. Colonel Alexander he did
discountenance. Mr Eleazer Bortbwick he met not with. After
four or five days parleying no man could get his mind. The King
indeed was displeased with his mother ; and when his brother
Lord William's patent for the earldom of Dunbar came in his
hand, he tore it for despite, as he professed, of her. Colonel
Alexander openly did give countenance to the nobles' meetings:
Mr Eleazer was the man by whom his Grace, before his commis-
sion, did encourage us to proceed with our supplication. From
all these now his Grace's countenance was somewhat with-
drawn." 2
* Spalding's History of the Troubles. James Gordon's History of Scotch Affairs.
» Mr Eleazer Borthwick is now known to have been the great emissary between
the growing revolutionary factions of England and Scotland. He was a Scotch
clergyman, but of the covenanting or political temperament tfiat was too apt in
152 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
It is well known that, upon his return to Scotland, the Com-
missioner, in the name of the King, offered certain rational pro-
posals for the restoration of order, the security of the persons
and property of the lieges in Scotland, and the protection of
the freedom and constitutional form of elections, as the neces-
sary conditions of summoning an Assembly and Parliament.
These conditions were vehemently resisted by the Tables, whose
object was to obtain such control over the returns as would in-
sure to them the power of packing their conventions ; in other
words, of retaining the tables under a different denomination.
Hamilton himself had suggested to the King a method of
superseding the Covenant, by putting in place of it the Confes-
sion of Faith established by various statutes in the previous
century (of which statutes the Covenant professed to be simply
a loyal and patriotic renewal), and commanding it to be signed
by his privy council in Scotland, and the whole nation. This
Protestant confession (generally distinguished from the Cove-
nant as the King^s Covenant or Confession of Faith), and his
Majesty's unqualified recall, by proclamation, of every measure
that could be construed an innovation upon the Religion, Laws,
and Liberties of Scotland, might well have satisfied the people.
It would indeed have done so, had it not been the interest of
a faction to meet as usual the liberal concessions of their Sove-
reign by a public and disingenuous protestation. The insa-
tiable demands of the Covenanters, and their conduct through-
out, have been variously commented upon, and by none with
more efiective severity than by Dr Cook. Speaking of the crisis
to which we allude, that historian observes, — " The various acts
of concession were regularly proclaimed, and it was with much
reason hoped that moderate men would be contented, and
those times to Buperaede the pastoral duties of a Christian clergyman. *< Crowner
Alexander,*' was Colonel Alexander Hamilton, youngest brother of Thomas first
Earl of Haddington, who was a cadet of Hamilton of Innerwick, who was a cadet
of the great house. The Colonel had experience in mercenary service abroad, and
became general of artillery to the Covenanters, who usually called him ** dear
Sandie." He invented, or suggested, for the use of their army, portable cannon,
about three feet long, but which carried ^ an indifferent great ball." Being ribbed
and hooped, these came to be called ** dear Sandie's stoups." A stoup, says Miss
Ferrier (Inheritance), ** is neither a pitcher, nor a pail, nor a bucket, nor a jug, but
jtut a stoup.'*
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 153
would resist any endeavours to thwart the intentions of the
King. A protestation, however, replete with the most disin-
genuous reasoning, and evincing the determination of the lead-
ing Covenanters to resist all terms, was read,^ and the Earl of
Montrose appeared, upon this occasion, in name of the discon-
tented nobility. This conduct of the Presbyterians cannot be
jugtifiedr^
Unquestionably this crisis displays Montrose in one of the
most factious positions of his early and mistaken career. Yet
still, though thus excited, and carried with the movement, he
was an active partisan of the Covenant only in public. It was
Baillie who said, that they found him " very hard to bo guided.*"
This we have interpreted to mean, that he was too honest for
their counsels, and too humane for their arms. Both assertions
shall be proved.
A marked feature of the General Assembly, which met at
Glasgow in the month of November 1638, and of the covenant-
ing revolution generally, was this, that in regard to all the main
articles of " the cause,'' its most plausible professions and prin-
ciples were contradicted by its practice. Popish tyranny and
superstition were vaguely and irrationally imputed to the mea-
sures of Charles, — yet grossly manifested in the acts of the in-
surgent rulers, and the doctrines of their favourite clergy. A
freely constituted National Assembly was seditiously demanded
from the King, — and the Covenanters proceeded to pack a con-
vention by means subversive of the fundamental principles of
liberty and freedom of election. The inviolate possession of the
laws was tumultuously maintained against a monarch who had
no intention to subvert them, — and yet, before the inquisitorial
tribunal of 1638, churchmen and statesmen of the first respect-
ability, already condemned unheard, were summoned to receive
their doom from self-appointed judges, who disregarded the
1 It WB8 read by Archibald Johnston, and most probably composed by him. It
is inserted at full length in tho King's Large Declaration.
* History of tlie Chorvh of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 450, 451. But why not justify
them, upon the ** great principle," noticed before, p.J140. Perhaps the fact of Mou-
irote being put forward upon this occasion rendered a justification less desirable
to an historian of the Kirk.
154 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
essential rules of evidenoe, and seemed even to scorn the attri^
butes of josticeand meroy. It is the unpleasant duty of Mon-
trose'^s biographer to record all that can be discovered of his
conduct and demeanour as a leader in that unconstitutional
Assembly; which, while it arrogated the power and professed the
forms of law, and, moreover, pretended to every attribute of
christian purity and divine right, took no step that was not
illegal, pronounced no sentence that was not unjust, manifested
no feeling that was not unchristian, and, finidly, has left, even
in the record of its proceedings by an enthusiastic member,^ a
beacon to be avoided in after-ages by every legal court and
ecclesiastical community. Even the vaunted freedom of this
convention was a mockery and a cheat. It was tyrannically
packed by, and for the purposes of, a faction. '* Thirty-nine
presbyteries," says Baillie, when recording the constitution of
the Assembly, ^' already have chosen their commissioners, as they
ioere desired^' by the Tables in Edinburgh.
Certain private instructions had been sent to the presbytery
of Brechin to direct them in the choice of a representative.
Erskine of Dun was elected in this capacity, by the voice of
one minister, and some lay elders. Thereafter, they met in a
greater number, and, by the votes of all the other ministers
and elders. Lord Carnegie, the eldest son of the Earl of South-
esk, and Montrose's brother-in-law, was chosen. The former
commission having been transmitted by the presbytery to be
advised by the Tables, was returned with an imprimatur on the
back of it, to this effect, that the election must be sustained,
while that of Carnegie was illegal, having passed contrary to
the instructions given them. The leading signature to this
bold assumption of authority was that of Montrose, who, ac-
cordingly, now tendered Erskine's commission to be read pub-
licly by the clerk of the Assembly. Baillie says, ^* The clerk,
I think unadvimily^ read in public not only the commission,
but also the Tables' subscribed approbation on the back.^ It is
mentioned elsewhere that the same functionary recited various
reasons written on the back of Erskine^s commission in support
of it, ^^ in which, amongst other things, it was objected against
> Baillie.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 155
the Lord Oarnegie^s election, that it was made contrary to the
direction of the Tables at Edinburgh, which the clerk perceiving
stopped, and would read no further.""* Hamilton instantly
caught at the advantage, and demanded a copy of that com-
mission, with the deliverance on the back, and the names of those
who had subscribed it. The earnestness with which he pressed
this demand, in the name of the King, and the severity of his ani-
madversions upon the proceedings of the disaffected party, pre-
sent one of those contradictory views of his conduct which
sometimes raise a doubt whether his object was to support the
Throne or the Covenant. It must be observed, however, that
upon the present occasion he knew that Montrose was the per-
son responsible for this undisguised assertion of the supreme
jurisdiction of the Tables. The following additional particulars
of this soeiie are chronicled by the parson of Bothiemay : —
*^ Montrose disputed for Dun, and by eighty persons attested
Dun'^s election. Southesk disputed for Carnegie his son, with
whom the Commissioner, in Carnegie's absence, took part ; but
the Assembly sided with Dun. The stir grew so great that the
Moderator wished both theil commissions to have been annul-
led before such heat should have been. To this did Southesk
answer sharply. The Moderator replied that he had been
his minister twenty-four years, yet had never wronged him.
Loudon then said that no lord ought to upbraid a moderator ;
and then Southesk excused himself, and qualified his own
words. The contest betwixt Montrose and Southesk grew so
hot that it terrified the whole Assembly, so that the Commis-
sioner took upon him the Moderator's place, and conunanded
them all to peace.""
And here it is that Baillie supplies a fact of importance to
our estimate of Montrose's conduct and character, while thus
invoking the demon of revolution. This clergyman's own ob-
jection to the proceedings was, not that the. Tables controlled
the presbyteries, but that the young Earl should have been so
rash as to conunit his party by a written declaration to that
effect on the back of the commission, and the clerk of the As-
sembly so hasty as to read it aloud. '^ When," says he, '^ Mr
^ Tho King*8 Large Declaration.
156 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
David Dickson spake of this back writ as having some negligence
in it, Montrose took him hotly ^ and professed their resolution to
avow the leoit jot that was wroteJ*'^ Yes, " his more than ordi-
nary and evil pride was very hard to be guided.^ Courage and
honesty w ere not the attributes of his presen t associates .
oome writers, regarding BaiUie as a prodigy of learning, wis-
dom, and religion, imagine that all which he has uttered re-
specting Montrose must be received as infallible. A careful
perusal of that clergyman's letters, however, suggests the ques-
tion. Was he capable of understanding the character and ap- /
predating the motives of this nobleman I Baillie was learned in
the sense of having acquired a knowledge of languages. He had '
a conscience, for it cost him no little trouble to keep it quiet. He
was more enlightened than some of his brethren, for he dissent-
ed from the opinion that Episcopacy was a sin in the sight of
God,— although he continued to make common cause with its
most irrational abjurers and destroyers. Nay, he was loyal, for
he entertained a secret admiration, as well as a species of latent
kindness, for the monarch whose ruin he nevertheless so zealous-
ly aided to accomplish. But neither his learning nor his con-
science was sufficient to save him from becoming a blind instru-
ment in the hands of democratic spirits. And thus it is that the
voluminous records he has left (in those letters to his kinsman
w hich are so dama^n ^ to the cause), present so many incon-
sistencies. His better judgment was continually overwhelmed ,
by fits of fanaticism ; and whatever he possessed of modesty and /
moderation, became strangely mingled with obstinacy and yio-fx
lence, as his pragmatical mind grew more and more excited un-j
dor the fantastical banner of the Covenant.
Upon the 27th of November 1638, Hamilton wrote a letter
to the King, denouncing Scotland in terms of execration that
would have astonished their deluded chronicler, whose character
we have just been considering. It was a day or two after that
scene in the Assembly, in which our hero had made himself so
conspicuous, that the favourite, in depicting the covenanting
nobles to the King, exulting wrote of his alaiining rival in these
terms : — " There are many others as forward in show, amongst
whom none uiore vainly foolUh than Motitrosey
Upon Wednesday, the 28th November, Hamilton dissolved
LIFE OF MONTROSE. Jr>7
the Assembly. They detennined, however, to sit without the
royal authority, in order to effect their schemes against the
Bishops. ** When the Moderator,'" says BaiUie, " pressed the
voicing if we were the Bishops^ judges, there fell a sad, grave,
and sorrowful discourse. This was the Commissioner's last
passage. Ho acted it with tears^ and drew, by his speech,
water from many eyes, as I think: — Well I wot much from
mine ; for then I apprehended the certainty inevitable of these
tragedies which now are in doing. Much was said of his sin-
cere endeavours to serve God, the King, and his Country ; of
his grief, yet necessity, to depart. The cause, he alleged, was
the spoiling of the Assembly, which he had obtained most free,
by our most partial directions from our Tables at Edinburgh.'*'
Was it his earnest desire for the constitutional purity of the
Assembly, or his jealousy of Montrose, that induced Hamilton
to seize upon the circumstance, — which the other alone had
avowed^ — as the cause of his departure, and of his leaving the
Bishops to their fate ?
This was the occasion when Argyle, though not even a mem-
ber of assembly, now openly declared against the King, and
placed himself at the head of the government of Scotland. The
vast possessions, the great following, and inaccessible strong-
holds of this potentate, left him, notwithstanding his constitu-
tional nervousness, without a competitor in such a pretension.
As we are soon to find Montrose under his deadly persecution,
we must here shortly illustrate his character and present posi-
tion.
Archibald, Lord Lorn, afterwards Earl, and Marquis of
^Argyle, is generally described as of moan stature, and a most
sinister expression of countenance, and obliquity of vision.
This description is abundantly confirmed by the original portrait
of him in the family.* The graphic delineations are well au-
thenticated by all that is known of the man.
" Montrose,'' says Clarendon, " had always a great emula-
tion, or rather a great contempt, of the Marquis of Argyle (as
1 A singular mistake occurs in Lodge's Portraits. A flattered engraving, from
the portrait of the Grim Marquis, is attached to the life oi his son ; and another
portrait, still more flattering, given as that of the former.
158 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
he was too apt to contemn those he did not love), who wanted
nothing but honesty and cwrage to be a very extraordinary
man, having aU other good talents in a very great degree.^^
The same noble author also remarks of these rivals, that ^^ the
people looked upon them both as young men of unlimited ambi-
tion, and used to say, that they were liked Gsesar and Pompey,
the one would endure no superior, and the other would have no
equal.^ De Retz confirms the comparison as regards Montrose,
— the parallel between Pompey and Argyle would be more
difiicult to illustrate. The father of this last had embraced the
Roman Oatholic faith, and the King, never papistically inclined,
commanded him to divest himself of his vast territorial rights
in favour of his son, reserving only a competency for his own
life. Clarendon tells us that Lorn had provoked hfs parent by
*'*' disobedience and insolence ^ And the old Earl meditated such
a disposal of the property as threatened his representative with
impoverished titles. Charles, to save the family, made that
arrangement which banished the father, and extorted from him
those memorable and prophetic sentences, ^* ^ He would submit
to the Eing^s pleasure, though he believed he was hardly dealt
with \* and then, with some bitterness, put his son in mind of
his undutiful carriage towards him, and charged him to carry
in his mind how bountiful the King had been to him, which yet
he told him he was sure he would forget, and thereupon said to
his Majesty, * Sir, I must know this young man better than you
can do ; you may raise him, which I doubt you will live to re-
pent, for he is a man of craft, subtility, and falsehood, and can
love no man ; and if ever he finds it in his power to do you
mischief, he will be sure to do it.** "
Argyle well understood the art of ingratiating himself with
the fanatical portion of the ministry in Scotland. For some
time he even persuaded them that he was as capable in the field as
in the senate ; and he professed, and was by such believed, to be
under the immediate direotion of the Almighty in all his political
and martial movements, i His character was another puzzle for
Baillie ; and the naivete of that clergyman's record is not less
amusing than instructive. '^ Before his Grace's departure,
Argyle craved leave to speak, and that time we did not well
understand him ; but his actions since have made his somewhat
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 159
onMffmuB speeohes plain/' When the commissioner left them,
the meeting were in a state of confusion and perplexity, and
^ some three or four Angus men, with the laird of Aithie, de-
parted, alleging their conmiission had an express clause of the
Eing*B countenancing of the Assembly."' The Moderator, Lou-
don, and some others, harangued them on the propriety of pro-
testing against the Marquise's departure, and of their continu-
ing to'^sit. To this all agreed ; but, adds Baillie, '^ it was good
we were all put to it presently, for if it had been delayed till
the morrow, it is feared many toatUd have slipt away^ On the
morrow, however, ^^ Argyle came back to us. The Moderator
earnestly entreated him, that though he was no member of the
Assembly, yet, for the common interest he had in the Church,
he would be pleased to countenance our meetings, and bear
witness of the righteousness of all our proceedings. This, to
all our great joy, he promised to do, and truly performed his
promise. No one thing did confirm us so much as Argyle's
presence, not only as he was by far the most powerful subject
in the kingdom, but also at this time in good grace with the
King and the conunissioner. We could not conceive but his
staying was with the allowance of both, permitting him to be
amongst us to keep matters in some temper, and hold us from
desperate extremities."' The fact is unquestionable, however,
that Argyle took this opportunity of unmasking himself, and of
usurping, after h%» kind, the government of Scotland. Under
the peculiar circumstances, his thus taking the vacant place of
royalty was equivalent to being declared supreme. Gharles had
honoured and trusted him (he was even a privy councillor), not-
withstanding the solemn declarations of the old earl, that neither
loyalty, nor truth, nor social feeling, would be found in his son
Lorn. This prophecy was now to be fulfilled. The revolution-
ary convocation of 1638, assembled in that nobleman's patri-
monial kingdom of the west, and suddenly left without a head,
was now ripe for his lurking ambition. How accurately had
I his father predicted in that solenm warning to Gharles ! A few
years from the time it was uttered, and disregarded, the King
himself was constrained to publish a most severe commentary
upon the conduct and character of Argyle.^
* See the King'B Largo Declaration, 1639, p. 325.
160 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Under the auspices, then, of this very equivocal character, the
destruction of the episcopal clergy commenced ; and we may
pause for a moment to consider the " righteousness'" of the pro-
ceedings to which this designing intruder was called to bear
witness, and to countenance. The Bishops declined their judges,
a step consistent at once with respect to their own characters
and to the fundamental principles of the constitution. From
their presbyterial Vatican the Assembly now proposed to launch
the thunders of excommunication. Baillie opposed this. ^' Ex-
communication,^ says he, ^^ seemed to me so terrible a sentence,
— ^and that obstinacy, the formal cause of it, required admoni-
tion and some delay of time, after the close of the process, —
that I voiced him"" (the Bishop of Galloway, their first victim)
'^ to be deposed, but not presently excommunicated. In this
I was followed by some five or six, but the rest went on to pre-
sent excommunication. I remained that night in my negative
voice, that no Bishop should be excommunicated till they had
gotten more time to declare their contempt of public admonition
from the pulpit of Edinburgh and their cathedral ; yet, consider-
ing better of their declinature, I found it an obstinate avowing
of extreme contempt, and so, to-morrow, I professed my recal- '
ling of my yesterday's voice, and went with the rest in a present*
excommunication of all the declining Bishops.'"'* And yet, if a
Bishop, when he heard of extravagant and false accusations
entertained against him in his absence, proposed to appear and
justify himself, that proposition was termed impudence. *' The
Bishop of Brechin,^ says Baillie, ^^ followed. He was proven
guilty of sundry acts of most vile drunkenness, also a woman
and child brought before us that made his adultery very pj:p- \
bable ; also his using of a massy crucifix in his chamber. The
man was reputed to be universally infamous for many <;rimes,
yet such was his impudence^ that it was said he was ready to
have compeared before us for his justification ; but was stayed
by the Marquis, lest his compearance should have been [taken]
for an acknowledgment of the judicatory .'''^ It is something
* Baillie*! prejudiced statement of what he says was prstyed against this prelate
is, under the circumstances, worthy of no credit. In their absence the most im-
probable charges were received against the accused, and the very accusation was
considered tantamount to proof. They proceeded upon this atrocious and dishonest
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 161
however in favour of this bishop, that he was an acquaintance
of his Majest/s Advocate ; for, whatever might be the failings of
the latter, he was rigidly decent and dignified in his dowestic
habits. The following notice of Brechin'^s excommunication
ooonrs in Sir Thomas's Diary :
"17th Decern. J 638.— This day I went to the Abbey, and
met with my Lord Commissioner, and was to take my leave of
his Grace. But he told me that he was not to go away sud-
denly, and that he would send for me before he went. Item,
here the Bishop of Brechin, Mr Walter Whytfurd (as I was
standing in the gallery^ with my Lord Lauderdaill, and my Lord
Maitland,^ his son), came furth from the Marquis ;^ and I, be-
ing on willing to salute him, turned my back, and, as soon as he
was passed by, I went into the chamber at the end of the gal-
lery. And I was not long there when Mr Walter Whytfurd
came and called for me : And I told him that there had been
inter^acquaintance betwixt him and me of before, but now I
must suspend it. And he asked, wherefore ! And I said, be-
cause of the intimation of his excommunication yesterday, the
which I heard read. He answered, that I was bound by pro-
mise to his Majesty to assist Episcopacy. I answered that my
promise was in civil privileges, but not in those which concerned
spiritual and ecclesiastical power. He replied that I had soli-
option^ that, to be a Bishop was to be a blackguard. BaiUie himself sometimes
wu otmscions that the monstrous charges were incapable of proof. Speaking of the
Bishop of Murray, he says, ** Murray had the ordinary faults of a bishop J-k four-
teen days ago Mr Henry Pollock excommunicated Murray, and, as I think, in the
great church ; to perform, as he said, the man's own prophecy, who said in that
place, * he would yet be moro vile to please the King.* There was objected against
him, but, as I suspeety not sufieiently proven^ his countenance of a dance of naked
people in his own house, and of women going bare-footed in pilgrimage not far from
his dwelling." No unprejudiced mind can be otherwise than persuaded, by the
' pemaal alone of Baillie's History of the Assembly of 1638, that that conTocation
totally disregarded all the established rules of evidence and foir triaL
A The great gallery of Holyroodhouse.
* The notorious Lauderdale, who was Prime Minister, and persecutor of the Cove-
nanters, in the reign of Charies II. ; though, when Lord Maitland, a keen Cove-
nanter.
' Upon the occasion probably alluded to by Baillie, when the bishop had been
advised by the Marquis of Hamilton not to acknowledge the Assembly by appearing
to justify himself.
11
lb'2 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
cited bishops to admit ministers. I answered how I did it, in
respect they had then both the keys in their hands ; but now
they wanted one of them, which was the chiefest, viz. Assembly.
And then he fell out in these disdainful words, ^ Ye are over
pert, that dare have respect to any acts of your rebellious As-
sembly, seeing his Majesty discharges them to sit, under pain
of treason."* And with tlui he flew away."^ *
Taking along with Baillie^s indignation at what he calls this
prelate's impudence^ for proposing to face his accusers, and to
justify himself, that secret letter of instructions to Archibald
Johnston, already quoted, in which this* very bishop is marked out
for assault, if not murder, should he dare to appear on the streets,
it seems to be proved beyond question, that all the most zealous
Covenanters considered that the destruction of the Episcopal
clergy must be effected per fas aut nefas^ and that the precepts
of Christianity, and the golden rules and principles of evidence,
were by no means to enter into their definition of '^ righteous
proceeding.'^ The letter alluded to, which is dated immediately
before the meeting of the very Assembly that was to try the
bishops, is most material to the merits of that anomalous court
of justice. It proves, that although these prelates were sum-
moned to the bar of the Assembly, and excommunicated for de-
clining that unconstitutional and unscrupulous jurisdiction, it
was secretly predetermined, by those who ruled the movement,
that rather than suffer the Bishops to meet their accusers, or
even to shew themselves in public, a mob should be secretly
organized for their " terror and disgrace.*" *
Montrose had no hand in this peculiar mode of promoting
the cause of Religion and Liberty. But it is the least favourable
circumstance in the history of his career, that, being a member
of an Assembly to which this secret machinery belonged, he was,
more or less, committed to all their pMic proceedings. He had
I This curioDS ueodote, Sir Thomaa Hope entitles, on the margin, ^ Mr Walter
Wh>tfard'8 Diisbehavioar." The reader will jndge, on the Advocate'^ own shew-
ing, who had the best of this skirmish, the calumniated and persecuted bishop, or
the first biw officer of the Crown.
•See before, p. 131.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 163
not even the poor excuse of fanaticism ; nor does he appear to
have been imbued with a persecuting spirit against the prelates,
or to have sanctified to himself the unchristian feelings with
which they were persecuted. He had adopted the opinion that
bishops should be excluded from the constitution of the Ohurch
of Scotland, and that the original Covenant of King James
should be renewed and maintained to that country for ever.
But he took no part in the forms of process or rules of evidence
that were outraged in these proceedings. He was careless (as
he afterwards declared) about Bishops and their fate; and
it required another st«p in advance against the Throne to rouse
his juster feelings, and to redeem him from the false position of
his ardent youth.
164 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
CHAPTER XL
M0MTB08B VIOLENTLY OPPOSED TO HI8 FATHER-IN-LAW — ^HIS FIRST EXPEDI-
TION AGAINST THE ROYALISTS IN THE NORTH — CONDUCT OF HAMILTON
^-GENERAL ALEXANDER LESLIE — HIS BIRTH, PARENTAGE, AND CHA-
RACTER— MONTROSE COMMISSIONED AS GENERAL OF THE COVENANTING
FORCES — MARCHES AGAINST HUNTLY AND THE TOWN OF ABERDEEN —
HUNTLY AVOIDS A BATTLE — MONTROSE*S WHIMSIES — HIS TRIUMPHAL
ENTRY INTO ABERDEEN — ^TRANSACTIONS THERE— HIS FORBEARANCE
TOWARDS THE TOWN — HIS MEETING WITH HUNTLY AT INVERURY —
HUNTLY BROUGHT PRISONER TO EDINBURGH— -THE HUMANITY AND FOR-
BEARANCE OF MONTROSE DISAPPOINTS THE COVENANTING PREACHERS,
AND BRINGS HIM INTO DISREPUTE WITH THEM.
Montrose no longer found himself at home in the caatle of
Eionaird. There he had spent his honey-moon, and the first
three years of his married life. There, too, he was still repre-
sented by his boyish portrait. But he was now at high feud
with his father-in-law, the Earl of Southesk : who, as a privy
councillor, still joined in feeble and worse than useless measures
for supporting the royal authority. A cautious and worldly-wise
man, he was never greatly committed either to one side or other,
during the civil war. So he contrived to live through it, little
worse off than uncomfortable, and to die in his bed, long aft^r
the illustrious husband of his daughter, Mrs Magdalene Oar-
negie, was hanged. Sometime before that tragedy occurred, we
find Southesk in tolerable favour with the covenanting govern-
ment, during its most vicious era. At the present early stage
of the rebellion, however, he stands in public and fierce opposi-
tion to his son-in-law, now distinguished as '' a noble and true-
hearted cavalier,"^ the champion of the Covenant ! We have seen
how their war of words '* terrified^' the Assembly that destroyed
the Bishops, a convention surely not easily alarmed, and certainly
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 165
aahamed of nothing. This was in the close of the year 1638.
At the commencement of the year following, another collision
occurred between them, of the same personal character, wherein
our hero is discovered very nearly at the culminating point of
his short but sharp career of rebellious liberalism. Huntly
would not be '^ brought in.*^ Aberdeen would not bow the knee
to Baal. Both must be compelled ; and the peaceful and well-
ordered christian community of the north of Scotland reduced
per force, to that ungainly model which Archibald Johnston of
Warriston had fashioned to the taste of Rothes, the Lord
Advocate, the Apostles of the Covenant, and Jenny Geddes.
Montrose was again selected to accomplish this iine qua non of
the movement.
Upon the first of February 1639, accompanied by the Earl of
Einghom, his brother Lyon of Auldbar, and several others of
the covenanting faction, our hero came to Forfar, the head
burgh of the shire of Angus, and there, by direction of the
Tables, held* a committee within the Tolbooth of the town. In
opposition to these intruders came the Earl of Southesk, Lord
Ogilvy, the Master of Spynie, the Constable of Dundee, Iknd
sundry other loyalists. The committee required them to sub-
scribe the latest edition of the Covenant, containing the unqua-
lified abjuration of Episcopacy, as unlawful in itself; but having
received the indignant reply they probably anticipated, Mon-
trose and his friends proceeded to their chief business, which
was to provide the sinews of war, by steniing or apportioning the
financial burden of it upon the landholders within the shire.
" Southesk,'^ says honest Spalding, " speired (inquired) by what
authority they were thus stenting the King^s leidges \ Montrose,
being his son-in-law, answered, their warrant was from the
Table, requiring him also, and the rest that were there, to num-
ber their men, and have them well armed, and in readiness to
concur and assist the Table. Southesk answered, they were all
the Eing'^s men, subject to his service, but to no Table nor
subject sitting thereat, and that their lands were not subject to
be stented, nor their men numbered, but at the King's com-
mand and in his service, and so they took their departure,
leaving Montrose and the rest sitting still in the tolbooth of
Forfar, at their committee."'
166 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
At this same time intelligence was brought to Huotly that
Montrose and his committee were to hold a meeting at Turreff,
a market-town about eleven miles eastward of Huntly's castle
of Strathbogie, and that their object was to join in a grand
conclave with the northern Covenanters, chiefly composed of the
Forbeses, Frasers, Keiths, and Orichtons. Huntly was strenu**
ously advised, by Ogilvy of Banfi^, to muster his followers at the
same place, on the same day, to operate as a check upon the
Covenanters. Montrose was informed of this resolution, but
the efiect upon his ardent and enterprizing disposition was the
reverse of what had been expected. ^^ Montrose,^' says James
Gordon, ** was ready at a call, and, — ^being desirous to show
himself as active in his charge as he had been remarkable for
countenancing protestations, and the General Assembly of Glas-
gow, and pulling down the organs of the chapel royal of Holy-
roodhouse, in the Eing^s Palace, the summer and winter past,—
with such of the cavalry of the Meams and Angus gentry as
were nearest or readiest, or most zealous to the service, he flies
over the Grampian hills with all speed possible, scarce ever
sleeping or resting till he got to Turrefi^, accompanied with the
number of near two hundred gallant gentlemen, having first not
neglected to bid the Forbeses and Frasers, and all whom the
shortness of the time could permit them to convene, to be there
timeously upon the day appointed, which they failed not to do.^
By means of this forced march, the first indication of that mili-
tary genius which so greatly distinguished him in a better
cause, Montrose reached Turreff before Huntly arrived, and
mustering with his own followers and friends who had joined
him, to the number, says Spalding, of ^' eight hundred well-
horsed, well-armed gentlemen, and foot, together with buff coats,
swords, corslets, jacks, pistols, carbines, hagbuts, and other
weapons, — ^they took into the town of Turreff, jind busked (ai>
ranged) very advantageously their muskets round about the
dykes of the kirk-yard, and sat within the kirk thereof, such as
were of the committee, viz. Montrose, Einghom, Cooper, Frazer,
and Forbes.**'
No sooner were they thus established, than the van of Huntly's
army arrived ; but finding the village so formidably occupied,
these drew off to the fields in the neighbourhood. The royal
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 167
Lieutenant was accompanied by a host of ^' gentlemen and others,
about 2500, all mounted on horse, though all the horse not fit for
service, nor all the men fit to serve on horse.'^ For his council
of war he had his gallant sons, the Lords Gordon and Aboyne,
who, with the loyal lairds, Drum, Banfi^, Gight, Haddo, Pitfod-
dels, Foveran, Newtoun, and Udny, urged their commander to
fall on the Covenanters at once, and crush rebellion on its first
appearance. In reply to their spirited reasoning, he could only
answer, that his orders were not to fi^U ; and, taking aside
the principal noblemen and gentlemen of his train, he satisfied
them of the discouraging fact, by showing the instructions he
had received from the King through Hamilton.
Meanwhile the Earl of Finlater, who accompanied Huntly,
but, as alleged by the contemporary chroniclers, with little
stomach for fighting, of his own accord passed over to Mon-
trose, to deprecate a collision. The latter sent back this
message, that he and his followers had no intention of break-
ing the public peace, or of molesting any one, but would not
submit to injury, if they could help it ; adding, that, if Huntly
and his friends had business to transact in the town of Turreff,
the^ might betake themselves to any part of it except that oc-
cupied by the Covenanters. So ended a meeting from which
much was expected and little came to pass. The chief of the
Gordons broke up his rendezvous before sunset, and sent the
most of his own followers back to Strathbogie, under the com-
mand of his second son, the Viscount of Aboyne, directing his
own course towards Forglen, the house of Ogilvy of Banff, ac-
companied by Lord Gordon, and the brave barons whose blood
was up in vain. They dashed their steeds through the village
of Turreff, riding under the walls of the kirk-yard, and within
two pikes' length of Montrose and his menacing comrades.
But not a word was interchanged, and no salutation, or sign of
courtesy, passed between the loyal Gordon and the covenant-
ing Graham. Baillie, — prejudiced, and ill informed as to the
motives and springs of action that regulated the conduct of
many whom he records, — when rejoicing, with fanatical excite-
ment, over the sufferings of the north, speaks of Huntly as one
whose cowardice had betrayed the party that relied npon him.
In France, however, where that nobleman was better known,
168 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
the rumour of thii^ rendezvous took its shape from the reputa-
tion he had acquired in a land of chivalry. ^' This is that meet-
ing,^ says James Gordon, after narrating what we have more
shortly noticed, ^' which afterwards was known under the name
of the fiml raid of Turreff^ to distinguish it from a rencontre
that fell out there in May following, that year (1639), betwixt
Huntly^s followers and their neighbours, the Covenanters of the
shires of Aberdeen and Banff. It was looked upon as an action
on Huntly's part, whose depth or mystery few or none could
dive into. Yet fame, that is no niggard in her reports, when
it came the length of Paris, made it pass there, in the Parisian
gazette, under no less a notion than the siege and taking of the
great town ofTurreff^ in Scotland^ by the Marquis o/Huntfyy —
whom France knew better than they knew Turreff, having seen
him some few years before amongst the armies of the most
Christian King, commander of the company of the Scottish
gendarmes^ which company is the second of France, in the ser-
vice against Lorrain and Alsatia, where likewise his two eldest
sons, George Lord Gordon, and James Viscount of Aboyne, past
their apprenticeships in the school of Mars.*"
The good town of Aberdeen, expecting a visit from Montrose,
had placed themselves in a most formidable posture of defence.
But the day after Huntly broke up his array, our hero disband-
ed his own party, and returned south, where preparations were
to be made on a greater scale against the stronghold of loyalty
and learning.
It was now intended to decide the controversy between the
Covenant and the Doctors of Aberdeen, by the argument of in-
fallible artillery, and " the holy text of pike and gun."" Hamil-
ton was playing the cards of the King beautifully for the Cove-
nanters ; and a glance at the policy by which he utterly para-
lized the loyalty of the north, is necessary in order to illustrate
the now hostile position of Huntly and Montrose. To that
policy may be traced the ruin of the King^s affairs in Scotland,
and the eventual failure of those desperate efforts in support of
the Throne, which ere long were immortalizing the greatest of
the Grahams, at a time when the soured and broken-spirited
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 169
Lieutenant of the North, once the gayest of the '' gay Gordons,^
was nan est inventus.
The Covenanters well knew that so long as Huntly was strong
in the ncMlh, they could not venture to make head against the
King on the borders. Hence the royal Commissioner's atten-
tion to that quarter was anxiously watched by them. In the
letter of 13th July 1638, addressed by Bothes to Patrick Lesly
of Aberdeen, as already quoted, he reports, with evident satis-
faction, that '' Huntly was but sUghted by the Commissioner,
and not of his Privy Council.'^ He ought to have been taken
to his bosom. Following out the contrary system, Hamilton,
whose^desire was to check in the bud every pretension to com-
pete with himself in ruling the destinies of Scotland and the
King, reports Huntly to his master in terms of perplexing
doubt, and very equivocal praise. In one of the craftiest letters
ever penned, in which he passes the Scottish peers in review
before the King with such colouring as best suited his object,
he speaks of Huntly in a manner calculated to inspire no con-
fidence either in his loyalty or his power. " The best way,** he
says, ^^ that for the present I can think on to make some head
for your Majesty, is to appoint the Marquis of Huntly in the
north your Majesty's Lieutenant, with full power to him to
raise such and so many men as he shall think convenient for the
defence of the country.'** Yet in the very same letter, the wily
favourite renders this advice utterly nugatory by what follows : —
'^ The Marquis of Huntly is wahnoton to me^ more than in gene-
ral ; but much misliked is he here — yet not the worse for that —
traduced to be not only popishly inclined, but even a direct
Roman Catholic ; nay, they spare not to tax him with personal
faults : But however, this I am sure of, since my coming here he
hath proved a faithful servant to you, and I am confident will
be of greater use when your Majesty shall take arms in your
hand." But the character of the most loyal man in Scotland,
and of the greatest following in the north, was not permitted to
rest here. In a subsequent part of his letter he adds, — ** The
Marquis of Huntly certainly may be trusted by you, but whether
fitly or no I cannot say."^
When in a series of political portraits thus cunningly sketch-
ed, Hamilton adds : — " Though next hell I hate this place (Scot-
170 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
land), if you think fM worthy of any employment, I shall not
weary till the government be again set right, and then I will
forswear this country,*" — it is impossible to doubt that his sel-
fish object was still to preserve his exclusive, influence over the
Eling, and the affairs of Scotland. Such was the effect, at least,
of his letter ; for by the return of post his Majesty replied : —
^' Hamilton — I have sent back this honest bearer both for
safety of my letters, and to ease me from length of writing ;
therefore, in a word, I thank you for your full and clear dis-
patch, totdUy agreeing with you in every point, as well in the
characters o/meny as in the way you have set dawn to reduce them
to obedience ; only the time when to begin to act is considerable.
To this end I have fully instructed the bearer with the state of
my preparations, that you may govern my business accordingly.
You have given me such good satisfaction that / mean not to
put a/ny other in the chief trust in these affairs but yourself ^
Under these fatal auspices, Huntly was nominally iiivested
with the lieutenancy of the north, and with authority to raise
his own levies for the King^s service. Most reasonably had he
required that, along with his commission, there should be sent
to him from England two or three thousand men, and arms for
five thousand more, as he was in daily expectation of a hostile
visit from Montrose. Upon the 25th of January 1639, Sir
Thomas Burnet of Leys, a keen Covenanter, though attached
to the house of Huntly, came to the Marquis, and in a friendly
manner told him that the Tables at Edinburgh had directed a
committee to publish the acts of the last Assembly at the
market-cross of Aberdeen, and also to visit the College of Old
Aberdeen, and ** repair the faults thereof." Upon Huntly's
expressing some disapprobation of this plan, as contrary to the
King'^s authority, and the peace of the country, Sir Thomas re-
plied, — " My Lord, I fear these things will be done with an
army."^ In vain the gallant Huntly took up his abode in Aber-
deen, — his person guarded night and day by four-and-twenty
gentlemen of rank and condition, — and, from thence cast many
a longing look to the sea-port for his promised succours from
England. ^^ The commission Huntly received, — the aid of men
was promised, — but nothing came to him, after much expecta-
tion, but arms for three thousand foot and a hundred horse,
life; OF MONTROSE. 171
which oame not to him till that year in March, and were »ent
upon the charges of Dr Morton, Bishop of Durham. As for
the soldiers who should have landed at Aberdeen, or elsewhere,
it is true that the King had promised Huntly assistance of men,
but the Marquis of Hamilton, — who always looked upon Huntly
with an evil eye, as the emulator of his greatness, and withal
was a secret friend to the Covenanters,— -dissuaded the King
from sending men, alleging for his reason that, if the King did
so, it would turn all the burden of the war upon the King.
How truly this was said I leave to the readers. One thing
certainly is true, that, by this counsel, the King's hopes that he
had conceived from his friends in Scotland were blasted ; for
the noblemen and Highlanders, who stood for the King in Scot-
land, promised their concurrence upon that express condition,
that they might have a considerable number of trained soldiers
to join with ; who never appearing, some of those who had un-
dertaken to do much for the King, either could not, or made
that their pretext why they would not stir. It was by this
means that Huntly was engaged in a manner alone, and neces-
sitated to lay down his arms, and render himself in March fol-
lowing!^^
But Hamilton was not contented with leaving Huntly to his
own resources at this critical juncture. The King wrote to the
latter that he, Huntly, must receive all his commands from
Hamilton ; and the instructions which, through this channel,
Huntly did receive were, to remain as much as possible on the
defensive, and to risk no hostilities. Thus all the loyalty of the
north became worse than useless, and the gallant and energetic
preparations, which had been made by the Aberdonians in de-
fence of their Religion, their Liberties, and their King, only
brought severer persecution upon themselves.
* James Gordon*! Histoxy of Soots affairs. Bishop Burnet is totally unable to
disprove this charge ; and the defence he attempts, in a single paragraph of his
notorious apology for the Duke of Hamilton, p. 117, is a complete failure. It is
observable, that the Bishop does not venture to print the long letter from Hamilton
to the King, in which he comments upon the characters of his brother peers in
Scotland, and execrates his native country in such bitter and abusive terms. Yet
he had found the letter among the Hamilton archives, as he refers to it mare tuo.
It was subsequently made public by Lord Hardwick in his valuable collection of
state papers. The date of the letter is November 27, 1 638.
172 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
The momentary glaring on each other at Tnrreff, irritated
the chief of the Gordons and the chief of the Orahama to active
operations for a hostile encounter. Huntly still expected the
reinforcements from England, along with instructions to act,
and in the meanwhile raised a little army entirely from his own
private resources. This consisted of about three thousand horse
and foot, which were mustered at Inverury in the end of March
1639. Montrose was not less active, to put himself in a posture
offensive, and resolved to be no longer as peaceful as he had
been at Turreff. He sent intimation of his plans to the For-
beses, Frazers, and others, in the shires of Aberdeen and Ban£^
and advertised the Covenanters be-north the river Spey, such
as belonged to Murray, Boss, Sutherland, Caithness, to be ready
to join him, if need should be.
For more than a twelvemonth past, and ere the King had
been led by Hamilton to contemplate the necessity of an appeal
to arms, the junto at Edinburgh had been secretly preparing
for civil war, by collecting ammunition, pikes, and other offen-
sive weapons, and enticing home, from mercenary campaigns on
the continent, their war and weather-beaten countrymen, who
had served the very best apprenticeship for the purposes of the
faction. It was not merely the military experience of such
officers that would render them more efficient than even Mon-
trose, as the pretended defence of Religion and Liberties be-
came developed in its offensive form of a factious rebellion.
The inferior and professional status of these mercenaries, gua-
ranteed the cause from the fatal effect of rivalry among noble-
men, whose relative claims to command could not have been so
easily adjusted. Moreover, — ^an invaluable circumstance to the
covenanting arms, — it was the principle of mercenary service to
attend rather to the profit that might be gained in the profes-
sional engagement, than to the merits or the nature of the cause
espoused. The well known Sir James Turner (who became a
covenanting soldier for a short time, simply because, when in
search of service, he happened to stumble upon their army),
makes this confession in his amusing memoirs, that he himself
was one who '^ had swallowed, without chewing, in Grermany, a
very dangerous maxim, which military men there too much fol-
low, which was, that so we serve our masters honestly, it is no
* , LIFE OF MONTROSE. 173
matter what master we serve/^ It happened, accordingly, that
the German wars had trained up a general who in every respect
was most suited for the purposes of the ^^ prime Covenanters.^
But this celebrated character must be introduced in the words
of the dramatic Spalding.
^ Now about this time (January 1639), or a little before,
there came out of Germany, from the wars, home to Scotland,
ane gentleman of base birth,^ born in Balveny, who had served
long and fortunately in the German wars, and called to his
name Felt Marshall Leslie, his Excellence. His name, indeed,
was (Alexander) Leslie, but, by his valour and good luck, at-
tained to this title, his Excellence, inferior to none but to the
King of Sweden, under whom he served amongst all his caval-
line. Well, — this Felt Marshall Leslie, having conquest, frae
nought honour, and wealth in great abundance, resolved to
oome home to his native country of Scotland, and settle besides
his chief, the Earl of Bothes ; as he did indeed, and coft fair
lands in Fife. But this Earl, foreseeing ike troubles, whereof
himself was one of the principal beginners, iooi hold of this Leslie,
^ If the peerage writers were accurate in assigimig to this celebrated mercenary
a legitimate descent — which they do without a vestige of authority — Spalding's as-
sertion that he was ^ of base birth," would not be intelligible ; for he at the same
time saysy that the Earl of Rothes was his chief. The expression, however, is ex-
plained by a note of James Man's, to his MS. historical collections for a history of
Soots afikirs, preserved in the Advocates' Library. ** Spalding," he says, << seems
to have mistaken the place of General Leslie's birth. Balveny was never possessed
by the Leslies ; but TuUick over against it, on the east side of the water of Fiddich,
and Kininnie^ a mile to the north of TuUich, a most pleasant seat on the same water
of Fiddich, belonging to them at this day. A gentleman of the family told me that
General Leslie was a natural son of Kininvie's ; and that his mother, during her
pregnancy, could eat nothing but wjieat bread, and drink nothing but wine, which
Kininvie allowed her to be provided of, though she was no more than a common
•ervant ; a sign that the child she was big with would prove an extraordinary per-
8011."
James Man was Master of the Poor's Hospital at Aberdeen, where he died in
Oetober 1 76 1 . The Laird of Kininvie would seem to have been more anxious to bring
his bastard to light than to learning ; as, according to Lord Hailes, this companion of
Gnstavus Adolphus used to say of himself, that he never got beyond the letter 6 in
the alphabet. We may presume that he was also proud of his birth ; seeing that
it waa ** the MretN^-mawb who first began to pull down the Bishops' pride ;'' and so
made him an Earl I His instantaneous ingratitude, to the sovereign who had so unde-
servedly rewarded him, is perhaps the most gross instance of the kind on historical
i74 LIFE OP MONTROSE.
who was both wise and stout, acquaints him with this plot,
and had his advice for furthering thereof to his power. And
first, he advises cannon to be cast in the Potter^row, by one
Oaptain Hamilton ;^ he began to drill the EarPs men in Fife ;
he caused send to Holland for ammunition, powder, and ball,
muskets, carbines, pistols, pikes, swords, cannon, cartill, and all
other sort of necessary arms, fit for old and young soldiers, in
great abundance ; he caused send to Germany, France, Holland,
Denmark, and other countries, for the most expert and valiant
captains, lieutenant.s, and under officers, who came in great
numbers, in hopes of bloody wars, thinking (as they were all
Scots soldiers that came) to make up their fartimes upon the
ruin of our kingdom ; (but the Lord did otherwise, blessed be
his holy name) ; he establishes a council of war, consisting of
nobles, colonels, captains, and other wise and expert persons,
and in the beginning of this month of January, began to oast
trenches, about the town of Leith."'*
Thus the '' canniness '' of Bothes did more for the cause, by
catching Felt-Marshal Leslie, his Excellence, than could pos-
sibly have been effected by any other means. Having thus en-
tered into contract with his chief against his Sovereign, the
veteran mercenary, full of talent, experience, and military re-
sources, bent his whole energies to the fulfilment of that con-
tract, and the attainment of his own reward, which he then
little dreamt was to be an Earldom from the King himself !
As yet invested with no particular command, he continually sat
at their Tables, the mainspring of their military movements,
and, by his indefatigable and well-applied exertions, not only
put them in possession of the Castle of Edinburgh (which Ha-
milton had left nearly defenceless), and the other strongholds
of the kingdom, but raised and organized an army sufficiently
formidable to march to the borders against the royal standard.
At this crisis, it became of great importance to crush the
efibrts of Huntly in the north before the King's forces reached
Scotland, as a vigorous diversion occasioned by the royalists in
that quarter, would be more than the Covenanters could well
cope with in addition to invasion by land and sea. But the same
^ Colonel Alexander HAmilton, mentioned before, p. 152.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 175
evil genius of Charles, who infused the materials of certain failure
into the royal expedition, took effectual measures to prevent
the efficiency of the nobleman he had himself recommended to
the lieutenancy of the north. And, if we may trust the record
of a contemporary clergyman, it was not merely by withholding
from Huntly the means to act with vigour that Hamilton in-
sured his discomfiture. He is said actually to have written a
secret letter to the Covenanters, which he contrived to convey
to them concealed within a pistol, and *' which privaU advice
UHU to curb their northern enemies, or to expect no quarter from
the Kingr
Montrose was now formally invested with the title of Ge-
neral commanding in chief for the Covenanters, in this their
first decidedly hostile expedition. He was followed by the
cavalry of the Meams, Angus, and part of Perthshire, and other
districts to the north of the river Forth. Levies of foot were
also drawn from those counties, trained, regimented, and put
under experienced officers, summoned from abroad for that
purpose, and placed at the command of Montrose. His whole
force, according to the estimate by James Gordon, did not at first
exceed two thousand horse and foot. The anxiety of the faction
for the success of this expedition is evinced by the fact, that,
in the quality of his Adjutant^ and instead of the three apostles,
there was added to his councils no less a personage than ^' Felt
Marshall Leslie, his Excellence, inferior to none but to the King
of Sweden.^ Huntly was well aware of this gathering storm,
but all the aid and encouragement he received from Hamilton
were instructions to gain delays, and risk no blood ; and though
surrounded by gallant hearts like his own, continually urging
him to vigorous hostilities, the nobleman who had distinguished
himself in fairer fields of chivalry than the kirk-militant was
likely to produce, was compelled to plead his positive orders
fit>m the King, in opposition to the manifest interests of the
royal cause. Under these circumstances, Huntly thought him-
self compelled to treat. And here the contemporary account
we have so frequently quoted acquires additional authenticity
> This anecdote rests on the anthority of the parson of Rothiemay. It is enrious
to oompare it with those separate and distinct anecdotes of Hamilton's doable-deal-
ing, narrated by Hamond L'Estrange, and Bishop Guthrie. — See before, p. 95.
176 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
and interest, from the fact, that the writer of it, James Gk>rdon,
accompanied his father, Bobert Gordon of Straloch, who was
one of the commissioners employed in these negotiations.
In the month of March 1639 Montrose arrived at his own
house of Old Montrose, to prepare for his expedition. At this
time various negotiations passed between him and Huntly, who
was at Aberdeen. These were conducted by Gordon of Straloch,
and other learned and remarkable loyalists, most anxious to
preserve the peace of the realm. Suddenly, however, and while
these negotiations were in train, the campaign was rendered
easy for the General of the Covenant, by the unexpected retreat
of the royal Lieutenant. It appears to have been in strict
compliance with his orders from Hamilton, that, to the dis-
appointment and disgust of many of his gallant followers, Huntly
dismissed a portion of his army, and retired to his own house
of Strathbogie, where he took up a defensive position with the
forces he retained about his person.^ This retreat enabled the
northern Covenanters, with the Lord Frazer and the Master of
Forbes at their head, to march without molestation to Aberdeen,
there to join Montrose, who entered it, " with a,veni, vidi^ viciy'^
on Saturday 30th March 1639.^ By his side there appeared the
veteran of many a desperate field in the land of battles. Well had
Rothes catered for rebellion, when he " took hoW of Alexander
Leslie. Montrose was instructed to give implicit attention to
the advice of this experienced leader, and to consider him as
his military tutor. Even the lofty and imperious Montrose sub-
mitted, it seems, to this arrangement. " We were feared,"" says
Baillie, in his hapj>iest manner, " that emulation among our
nobles might have done harm when they should be met in the
field ; but such was the wisdom and authority of that old^ little^
crooked soldier ^ that all, with an incredible submission from the
beginning to the end, gave over themselves to be guided by
* ** The reason why Huntly laid down his arms, and at this time entered into
capitulations, was that, some time before this, he received by * * * Leslie, brother
to the Lord Lindores, express orders from the Marquis of Hamilton, (from whom,
by particular mandate from the King, he was to receire his Majesty's orders,)
shewing him that it imported for the King's service not to enter in blood, by fighting
against the Covenanters.'*— William Gordon't Hitt» oftkefamilif of Gordon, p. 268.
* Not on Palm Sunday, as Spalding erroneously has it. — See Aberdeen Council
Register.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 177
him, as if he had been great Solyman. Certainly, the obedience
of our noblemen to that raan'*s advice was as great as their for-
bears (forefathers) wont to be to their King's command ; yet
that was the man's understanding of our Scots humours, that
gave out, not only to the nobles, but to very mean gentlemen,
his directions in a very homely and simple form, as if they had
been but the advices of their neighbour and companion.'^ And
this crooked familiar, who now so ominously graced Montrose's
side, was he who had been greatly honoured by Gustavus Adol-
phus, his instructor in battle. But Leslie degraded himself too
long nnder the leafless banner of the Covenant, and even learnt
to run away too soon ; for this same little old fighting Mentor
was in full flight, at the head of " all his cavallirie,'' from the
battle of Marston-moor, some twenty miles homewards, when
overtaken by the news that the day was their own.
Again disappointed of battle, our hero consoled himself with
the triumph of a military parade. Huntly had a family of ten
children, some of them very young, and all loyal to the last and
smallest joint. These had announced their determination to
support the Throne, by mounting in their hats and caps a ribbon
of a bright red colour, which they denominated " the royal
ribbon.'' The grave Mentor of the young Covenanting com-
mander was no ways disposed to regard this playful demon-
stration of loyalty as worthy of antagonism. Montrose, how-
ever, who throughout his career in arms, displayed an intuitive
knowledge of the best modes, in all emergencies, of enlisting the
sympathies, and gaining the afiections of his followers, made
the most of this apparently trifling incident. He decorated
every man of his host with a blue ribbon, and dubbed it " the
Covenanter s ribbon ! " He now commanded an organized
array in arms, of six thousand foot and horse. " Few or none
of this whole army,'' says Spalding, " wanted (were without)
a blue ribbon hung about his craig (neck) down under his left
arm, which they called the Covenanter's ribbon." The parson
of Rothiemay also notices the incident and with some touch of
contempt, which may be forgiven in respect of the characteristic
glimpse it affords of our hero, whose real triumphs were yet
to come. *'^ At this time, likewise, the Covenanters began to
wear and take for their colours blue ribbons, which they carried
12
178 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
about them soarfways, or as some orders of knighthood wear
their ribbons. This was Montrose 9 whimsie. To these ribbons,
ordinarly, the cavalry did append their spanners for their fire-
locks, and the foot had them stuck up in bunches In their blue
caps ; which device seemed so plausible that, when the army
marched towards the border some short time afterwards, many of
the gentry threw away their hats, and would carry nothing but
bonnets, and bunches of blue ribbons, or pannasAss^ therein ;
despight the English, who disdainfully called them hlue-caps^
and jockies^'*
Thus has " the whimsies'' of Montrose rendered the blue
bonnet, and '' bunch of blue ribbons,'" famous in story and in
song. And many a loyal and gallant heart has beat high to
the strain of '^ blue bonnets over the border,'' without knowing
why or wherefore.
The flight of Huntly changed the progress of Montrose into
a military f&te. He marched down Dee side, at the head of a
well appointed army of horse and foot, colours flying, trumpets
blowing, drums beating, displaying, in short, the enthusiasm of
unfleshed troops, who had been just assured of victory without
a blow. With all the pomp and circumstance of war, they
marched into the good town of Aberdeen, at ten in the morning
of Saturday, the 30th of March 1639. They entered at the
Over-Kirkgate Port, and so marched down through the Broad-
gate, the Castlegate, and the Justice Port, until they reached
the Queen's Links. They carried with them a plentiful supply of
provisions of their own, and not more heartily and luxuriously
at the pic-nics of Drwmfad^ did our hero enjoy himself, than
now upon the links of Aberdeen, in his new capacity of a
triumphant commander. He was surrounded by a distinguished
^stafi^, armed like himself to the teeth, and clad in buff coats and
embroidered baldrics, to which was added the conspicuous
whimsey of the blue ribbon. Here this imposing array, at the
lowest computation six thousand strong, were mustered ; ahd
the first order issued by the Oeneral, instead of being that for
which the Covenanting preachers incessantly longed — ** bum
the town of Aberdeen" — was one more congenial to his own dis-
position, and the present humour of his followers — " Go to
* See before, p. 53.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 179
breakfast.^ But we must give it in the graphic words of Spald-
ing: — " Muster being made, all men were commanded by sound
of trumpet, in General Montrose'*s name, to go to breakfast^ either
in the links, or in the town. The General himself, the nobles,
captains and commanders, for the most part, sat down on the
links ; and, of their oum provision^ with a servitt (napkin) on
their knee, took breakfast.^^
The natives of Aberdeen were enabled to enjoy this social yet
alarming sight, with little mixture of terror, owing to a humane
message transmitted by our hero to the authorities on the pre-
vious day, and which we find thus duly recorded of its date,
29th March, in the Aberdeen Town Council records : — " The
Earl of Montrose did express, that his intended voyage to Abei>
deen is only for performing the appointment of the late General
Assembly, according as it hath been done in other places, and
in no way to do the smallest wrong or injury to any (as perhaps
is supposed), nor use the meanest violence, except in so far as
his Lordship and his Lordship'*s followers shall be necessitated
for their own safety, and their cause. In respect of the which
diligence, used by the magistrates and council in directing com-
missioners to the said Earl of Montrose, and of the said Earl
his answer foresaid, given to the saids commissioners, the town
declared that they are content to receive the noblemen and
their followers, and to harbour them after the most conmiodi-
ous manner they can ; and desires the magistrates to give order,
each bailie through his own quarter, for that effect, and for fur-
nishing competent lodgings unto them, such as the town can
afford.^^
Montrose at this dejeuni^ probably even more hilarious than
his breakfasts and suppers with the gold tufts of Alma Mater ^
was surrounded by many wrong-headed nobles, and barons of
note, from tha counties in which his influence prevailed. By
his side, napkin on knee, sat the little crooked old mercenary of
an hundred fights, his illustrious Adjutant, Field Marshal Leslie,
his Excellency ! With these were, the Earl Marischal, the
I According to the Aberdeen Town Council records of the date, the numbers
muttered by Montrose on the links were about six thousand. The contemporary
ehrtmiders rate the numbers much higher ; but there were accessions to the army,
at the time, from different quartern.
i
180 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Earl of Kinghorn (a college companion), Lord Elcho (whom he
routed at the battle of Perth), Lord Erskine, Lord Frazer, the
Master of Forbes, and Lord Carnegie, his brother-in-law, whom
he had endeavoured to unseat in the Assembly, but whom he
appears to have won over to his present disloyal position. The
advent of this host was the signal for the loyal and the learned
of Aberdeen to quit. The days of disputation were over. There
was no disputing with the master of two legions ; who, more-
over, brought in his train fourteen pieces of cannon, " dear
Sandie^s stoups,^ to batter Aberdeen, if she remained obstinate,
out of all reason, learning, and logic. " Strange ingredients,^
says the parson of Rothiemay, " for the visitation of an uni-
versity.'^
Having breakfasted in this conspicuous but harmless fashion,
the young General reviewed his troops, and all whom he found
inefficient were immediately dismissed." His next employment
of this busy day, was to summon before him the magistrates of
Aberdeen, whom he lectured on the propriety of their being
hospitable to his soldiers, strict orders, he said, having been
given to them, to pay for all they consumed, but that they on the
other hand, were not to be subjected to extortion ; an order
which those for whom he thus equitably provided, would doubt-
less interpret practically to their own best advantage. Moreover,
according to the evidence of the Town Council records, " He
charged them to cast in and fill up our trenches, in all possible
diligence, and to enter to work for that effect on Monday next,
and to continue thereat tiU all the trenches were filled up again,
under the pain of plundering and razing our town, which was
accordingly obeyed."^
Contrary to the expectations of all, the Commander-in-chief,
on the evening of the very same day that he breakfasted so
conspicuously in the links, ordered the main body of his army
forward, without again entering the town.* Ere starting on
this march, however, he invested the Earl of Kinghorn with
the title of Governor of Aberdeen, leaving him in military pos-
session, with 1600 of his troops, by way of body-guard and gar-
rison. Montrose that night encamped at Inverury, ten miles
^ The precise date is ascertained from the Aberdeen Records, and from Spalding.
Montrose proceeded onwards tiiat same evening, because next day was Sonday,
LIFE OF ]\^ONTROSE. 181
to the north of Aberdeen, many of the soldiers being billetted
round the camp on free quarters, relaxation from which was
only to be purchased at the price of signing the oft paraded re-
cord of the spontaneous, " grand national movement."
Spalding'^s lament, over the state of his beloved town, at this
crisis, is pathetic. He says, that the noble burgh of Aberdeen,
being " daily deaved"' with the news of the coming of an army,
and their own Marquis having dissolved his host at Inverury,
and apparently deserted them in the hour of need, and no help
arriving from the King, they began to be heartless and comfort-
less, and entirely to despair, not knowing what course to take.
Hitherto there had been brave musteringd and drillings, casting
of trenches, watches and catbands in the streets, pieces of ord-
nance in the causeways, and fortifications in every direction ;
moreover, every man carried at least a sword by his side. But
when Huntly seemed to desert them, they held mournful con-
sultations together, and agreed, that, as all seemed lost, they
should cast their weapons away, forbear all their warlike pre-
parations, and open wide their gates to the approaching Cove-
nanters. Then every man, forgetting his community, began to
shift for himself. Some removed their goods, and some fled with
their families from the town. Amongst others, there fled by
sea about sixty of the bravest men and youths of Aberdeen,
well armed with sword, musket, and bandilier. They took one
of the town''s colours, and John Peak, their drummer, with
them, and resolve to go to the King. And with them were the
ever loyal lairds of Drum, Pitfoddels, Foverane, Balgouny, and
the intellectually victorious Doctors, all " upon the 28th of
March, 1 639, hoist up sail, and to the King go they."" Then
to the forlorn pulpits of those excellent divines — who had read,
" most exactly ,'** the writings of the ancient fathers in their own
language, led their flocks to quiet waters, and " fed them with
wholesome food brought from the Scriptures, and the practice
of the primitive Christians'" — there rushed the trash of ** the
Tables," — the comfortless, half-crazy trumpeters of the Cove-
nant, — the illiterate and the intolerant, the fanatical, the male-
volent, and the ferocious, to howl and hammer out uncouth sedi-
tion to the teiTified and bewildered people. " There they crj
victory ! and begin to sing a song to the townsmen of a far
i
182 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
other tune than they had learned from their own ministers and
doctors, crying down that doctrine which the town'*s doctors^
they knew, were not now in equal terms with them to niaintain
any more, without afironts to their persons.^ ^
Meanwhile Huntly had retired to the Bog of Gicht (Gordon
Castle) ; and, anxious to relieve the north from the oppressive
visitation of the covenanting army, he wrote to Gordon of Stra-
loch, once more to become a mediator between them. This
gentleman immediately proceeded to the quarters of Montrose,
whom he found disposed to treat ; and the result was that he
and Huntly, each accompanied by eleven of their friends, met a
few days afterwards, in the vicinity of the Covenanters' camp.
Lords Oliphant and Aboyne accompanied Huntly, Lords Elcho
and, Couper, Montrose. They were armed only with walking-
swords, but such was the mutual jealousy or formality of the
meeting, that a gentleman from either party was appointed to
search the other, for fear of hidden arms. The two chiefs then
saluted each other with becoming dignity, and, after inter-
changing some expressions of courtesy, stepped aside and held
together a long conversation, of which the rest were merely
spectators. Huntly's friends were somewhat offended at the
privacy of the conference, and James Gordon adds, that he
never could learn what were the particulars of this personal
dialogue between the leaders. The result was quite unlooked
for. After a few hours thus occupied, Huntly mounted his
horse, and, without reason assigned, rode forward with Mon-
trose and his friends to the leaguer at Inverury, where he and
his astonished companions, among whom was Straloch, were
entertained with great respect and forbearance. The chief of
the Gordons there signed a paper, the precise terms of which
are not known, but which seems to have been some qualified
version of one or other of the Covenants, amounting to no more
1 James Gordon, who adds — *^ All their success was imputed to the goodness of
the cause, to which God began to shew himself so favourable, that their enemies
bad fled, whikt none pursued them ; and that now the curse was alighting upon
Meroz (so they termed Aberdeen in their sermons), which came not to help the
Lord against the mighty I There was a minister at that time, who did ascribe the
fairness of the three last days of March, commonly called borrowing days, that
time, to a miracle, in a sermon preached before many witnesses." See also Gor-
don's History of the Family of Gordon.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 188
than a declaration in favour of the national Beligion, and Liber-
ties, — ^probably something similar to what Montrose had been
satisfied with, on his previous reforming expedition, from Dr
Guild and others at Aberdeen.
Our hero being no party to the covert designs of the faction,
was but a blundering performer when left to his own devices in
furthering the cause. He was not only wiHing to accept of very
equivocal converts, but, totally forgetting the importance of the
Magna Charia of his party, he now attempted to make Cove-
nanters of Papists^ by the ingenious device of waiving the Cove-
nant itself, — as the Play of Hamlet was modified by the itine-
rant manager. This ought to redeem him in the eyes of the
historian, whose objection to the Covenant is, that it did not
tynpathize with Papists} The anecdote is only to be found in
the manuscript of James Gordon, by whom it is thus narrated
. and authenticated : —
" Huntly, (besides consenting to oblige himself to maintain
the King^s authority, together with the liberties both of Church
and State, of Religion and Laws,) likewise purchased some
assurance to his friends and followers. They were of several
predicaments. Some of them were landed gentlemen of his
name, or his associates, but not his vassals, — others were his own
followers and tenants, and amongst these, some were Protes-
tants ahd others Papists. Assurance was given for all of them
in the general that they should not be harmed, nor any thing
that belonged to them, they carrying themselves peaceably, and
such of them as would subscribe the Covenant, as they were
invited to it, so they were content to let them advise upon i£,
and not to be hasty with them ; and Huntly was content to re-
strain none who were willing to take the oath of covenant. The
difficulty only remained for sii^h as were Papists^ and so not like
to subscribe the Covenant, how they should be secured ; as also
what assurance might be expected from them. To this purpose
there was a midds fallen upon with all such, that they should
be taJkea under protection^ they subscribing a declaration of their
willingness to concur with the Covenanters in maintaining the
Laws and Liberties of the kingdom; and, that the Papists
might be encouraged into 'the subsigning of such an obligation
1 Mr Brodie. See before, p. ) 42.
184 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
and bond, there was a declaration emitted hy Montrose to that
purpose, signed by such noblemen as were present with him at
that time at Inverury, and by Huntly amongst the rest. The
principal copy of that declaration having fallen into my hands some
short time thereafter^ and being as yet by me, I have set it down
word for word, it being but ver)' short, and it is as follows : —
' For as meikle as those who by profession are of a contrary
religion, and therefore cannot condescend to the subscribing of the
Covenant^ yet are willing to concur with us in the common course
of maintaining the laws and liberties of the kingdom, these are
therefore requiring that none of those who, being Papists by
profession, and willing to subscribe the bopd of maintenance of
the laws and liberties foresaid, shall be in any ways molested in
their goods or means, nor sustain any prejudice more than those
who have subscribed the Covenant." (Signed) ' Huntly, Mon-
trose, KlNOHORN, ErSKINE, CoUPER.''"
This proves that Montrose was imbued with no bigoted or
fanatical feelings with regard to the Covenant itself, and is con-
sistent with the fact, that, when he considered the liberties of
the country no longer in danger from the King^s advisers, he
refused to follow any further the covenanting movement.
When Huntly arrived at Inverury, he there perceived many
of his own private and personal enemies, among the Forbeses
and Frazers, and immediately became sensible that every at-
tempt would be made on their part to induce Montrose to re-
gard him more unfavourably than he had hitherto done, and
perhaps to detain him prisoner. Too proud to enter into con-
versation himself on the subject, he commissioned his friend
Straloch to tell the Earl to be on his guard against the pre-
judiced counsels he would receive from these individuals, against
the King^s lieutenant. Gordon accordingly watched his oppor- '
tunity, and, finding Montrose alone in his tent, discharged him-
self of his confidential mission, and told him that if an attempt
were made to take Huntly south with them as a prisoner, the
country would not so quietly submit to the outrage as his enemies
imagined. Montrose replied, that very probably these people
bore Huntly no good will, and that, indeed, he knew as much
* No doubt in consequence of his father, Gordon of Straloch, having been one of
Huntly 's companions on that occasion.
LIFE OP MONTROSE. 185
from themselvefi ; but, for his own part, that he was willing to
do for him all the good offices he could, and would fail in no
promise. " Only,^' added Montrose, " there is this difficulty,
that business here is all transacted hy vote and a committee^ nor
oah I get any thing done of myself." — " You have done so much
by yourself already,"' rejoined Straloch, " why not the whole ?
If you be so inclined, of which I make no doubt, then being
General here, and the principal person upon this expedition,
when you stand to your point Huntly's enemies must yield."" To
which Montrose answered, ^^ I shall do my utmost for Huntly'^s
satisfaction,^ — and with this answer, says James Gordon, who
narrates the above, his father was dismissed ; nor, he adds, did
Montrose '^ fail of the performance of his promise ; for that
night, after Huntly had subscribed the paper agreed upon,
Montrose was content that he should return peaceably to his
own house, which he did accordingly, not without the great
miscontent of those who would have had him detained."'**
Having thus discussed Huntly, Montrose broke up his camp
at Inverury, and marched back to Aberdeen. On the march
twelve Highlanders, some of Argyle's " uncanny trewsmen,"*
came to Montrose with this message from their master, that he
had ordered a regiment, five hundred strong, of his own men,
fully equipped in the Highland fashion, to offer their dutiful
^rvices. Our hero, who probably wished Argyle's Highlanders
any where but with him, returned a coui^teous answer, and issued
orders for this accession of force not to enter Aberdeen, which
was sufficiently burdened already, but to take up their quarters
upon the rich lands of the Lairds of Drum and Pitfoddels, a
mode of making a campaign pay itself, which ^^ Felt Marshal
Leslie, his Excellence,'" had learnt from the King of Sweden,
and now taught them in Scotland. Accordingly, says Spalding,
** the gentlemen returned to their Highland company with those
directions, which they took in goodpart^ and lived royally upon
1 I have adopted this circumstantial account by James Gordon, whose fother was
one of the party. Spalding says, that the meeting at Lowess occupied two days,
the 4th and 5th April ; that on the evening of the 4th, Huntly slept at Pitcaple,
and Montrose returned to the camp ; and that, after parting on the second day,
Hontly went not near the camp, but straight to Sf rathbogie. Bishop Guthrie gives
a very meagre notice of the incident, in which he appears to have been misinformed,
and prejudiced against Huntly.
i86 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
the goods, nolt, sheep, corns, and victual of the ground above-
specified, to the great hurt and wreck of the country people, for
their master's cause, being great anti-covenanters.''^
On the 9th of April, Montrose was joined at Aberdeen by
the Earls of Murray and Seaforth, the Master of Lovat, and
others, with about three hundred horse, well armed, to offer their
assistance in the field, or in council. Accordingly, about this
time, a grand conclave, or committee, was held for some days,
in which the state of the north, and the position in which the
Marquis of Huntly had just been placed, was eagerly discussed.
It appears that his enemies were not satisfied with the manner
in which he had been treated by Montrose ; and the declara-
tion of the latter to Straloch, that he had no control over the
councils of his affairs, and was overborne in committee, now be-
came verified. Huntly being again requested to meet the Cove-
nanters, reluctantly complied, upon receiving assurance from
Montrose, and the other leaders, that he would not be detained
prisoner. No sooner had he arrived, however, than the For-
beses and Frazers, and more especially Grichton of Frendraught,
his sworn foe, began to urge his detention in the most vehe-
ment manner, and the result was very discreditable to the party
that efiected it. Various obligations and new terms were at-
tempted to be imposed upon Huntly, who indignantly demanded
that the bond of maintenance he had signed at Inverury should,
in the first instance, be returned. The paper being inunediately
delivered to him he then asked, " Whether will ye tiike me
south with you as a captive, or shall I go voluntarily T Mon-
trose promptly answered, " Make your choice.''^ " Then,'" said
the other, " I will not go as a captive, but as a volunteer.'*'
Menteith, whose History of the Troubles was written in French,
and printed at Paris in the year 1661, states positively, that
when Huntly made his appearance, under promise of safety, at
Aberdeen, " immediately they commenced to solicit Montrose
not to suffer him to remain in his own country, whatever pro-
mise he had made him to the contrary, and although Montrose
opposed them to his utmost (/opposast de taut son pouuoir) to
prevent their breaking the parole that had been given, never-
theless his single authority being insufiicient to prevent it,
Huntly and his eldest son were carried prisoners to the Castle
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 187
of Edinburgh, from whence they were not liberated till the
peace of Berwick.'' Both Wishart and Guthrie exonerate
Montrose, but are neither precise nor accurate in the few de-
taib they afford, in which they appear too much prejudiced
against Huntly. From all the accounts, however, it is obvious
that this discreditable proceeding was not the policy of Mon-
trose, and had been carried into execution contrary to his re-
monstrance and plans. Indeed, when acting for himself, he
had actually dismissed Huntly upon the most favourable terms.^
The whole conduct of Montrose upon this occasion was tem-
pered with generosity and forbearance, contrary not only to the
wishes and conduct of the chiefs who accompanied him, and
controlled his actions, but to the expectations and instructions
of the Tables, and even of some of the most temperate of the
covenanting clergy. That such an army as he commanded, in
those rude and excited times, should have riotously and waste-
fully luxuriated in their free quarters, upon the estates of the
loyalists, seems but the inevitable consequence of such an expe-
dition. But it is worthy of remark, that both Spalding and
James Gt)rdon, partisans of Huntly, so far from imputing un-
necessary severities to Montrose, bear testimony to his gene-
rous forbearance under very difficult circumstances. When, for
instance, he learnt that Argyle's five hundred volunteers, whom
he had quartered in the country for the sake of the town, were
oppressing the lands of Drum and Pitfoddels, he commanded
them to march to Aberdeen. They entered accordingly, on
Thursday, 10th of April 1639, in order of battle, their bagpipes
' Huntiy, in his spirited reply to the noblemen, gentlemen^ and ministers who^
on the part of the Covenanters, gave him the option of joinmg them^ or being con-
fined in Edinborgh Castle, notices thus generally the manner in which he had been
entn^pped : — ^ To be your prisoner is by much the less displeasing to me that my
accnaatbn is for nothing else but loyalty, and that I have been brought into this
estate by tuck unfair meant^ as can never be made appear honourable in those who
used them." And after scorning the terms offered him, concludes : — ** For my
own part, I am in your 'power, and resolve not to leave that foul title of traitor as
an inheritance to my posterity. You may take my head from my thmUdert^ hut nof
my keart from my Sovereign.** This reply is dated 20th of April 1639, the day
Huntly was sent to the Castle, and was printed in London in the following year.
That Lord Gordon ere long became passionately attached to Montrose, and died
fighting at bis side, is a fact which confirms the contemporary accounts which exone-
rate Montrose from this base treachery.
188 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
sending forth the ever unwelcome intelligence that the Camp-
bells were coming. Montrose reviewed them with great cere-
mony at the cross of Aberdeen, and then dismissed them to the
lodgings which had been prepared for them, with peremptory
orders as to their peaceable demeanour. And so completely
had he brought these dreaded claymores under some degree of
discipline, that the town of Aberdeen, which had expected
nothing less at their hands than fire and sword, presented them
with five hundred merks in money, when they marched out with
Montrose's foot army. This was a compliment to Montrose, not
to Argyle. For their chief was never with them when buttle even
lowered ; and never stayed them from the extremities of violence
and oppression, when he had no enemy to fear. Accordingly,
his own covenanting friend Baillie, characterises those High- ,
landers as his " uncannie trewsmen ;'" and adds, — " It was
thought the country of England was more afraid for the bar-
barity of his Highlanders than of any other terror : those of the
English that came to visit our camp, did gaze much with admira-
tion upon these supple fellows, with their plaids, targes, and
dorlochs : there was some companies of them under Captain
Buchanan, and other^in Erskine^s regiment."*^ But Argyle was
in some safer place. J
Baillie, purblind as to the paralyzing counsels and control of
Hamilton, directly accuses Huntly of cowardice. Some of his
energy had by this time departed from him, or probably he
would not have succumbed to the instructions of the minion.
But he had led the Archer Guard of France in fields from which
the chief of the Campbells would have shrunk in terror. That
Aberdeen was taken at this time, Baillie attributes solely to the
pusillanimity of the King^s lieutenant in the north ; that it was
not sacked and ruined, to the ill-judged humanity of the Cove-
nanting General Montrose ! " Aberdeen,^ he says, " at once
trembles : Huntly, tn a cowardice f ear ^ leaves them : their Bishops,
Doctors, and most malicious of their burgesses, ship for England :
the rest send to parly, but are refused : * so in great fray are
forced to render without condition : the dUcretion of that gene-
* The parly was not refused, as is proved hy the Town Council Records, and
other contemporary chroniclers.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 189
raui and nobU youth (Montrose) was but too great : a great sum
was named as a fine to that unnatural city, but all was forgiven."^
And referring to the abuse of free quarters on the lands of
Drum and Pitfoddels, the same clerical partizan adds : — " This
was much cried out upon by our enemies, as cruel and barbarous
plunderings ; but a little time did try that we had been too great
fools not to disarm that country altogether, and tise some severity
for example among them : at that time they had no reason for
complaining, but greatly to commend, as they did in words our
laeder^s courtesy .""
Inthishis firstgreat escapade for the faction, he violated, indeed,
with little hesitation, the consciences of peaceable lieges. But
he scorned to execute his commission from the Tables, with the
severity and cruelty which their clergy desiderated and enjoined,
and so at once he lost cast with them for ever. This shall be
amply verified. But we must be content to adhere more closely
to his personal adventures. The limits of biography afford no
space for controversial history ; or for exposing at every turn,
with the necessary proofs, the enormities of those disjointed
and often falsely recorded times. Montrose is now in his twenty-
seventh year, — " the flower and bravery of his youth.''^ His
real destiny has not dawned. Yet he has but eleven years of
life before him ; and we have to follow him in an hundred fights,
and through the rapidly dissolving views of a chequered and
crowded existence that beggars romance.
^* Just 80 romances are I for what else
Is in them all, but love and battles?
O' th* first of these weVe no great matter
To treat of,— but a world o' th' latter:'
190 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
> CHAPTER XII.
NARBATIYE OF EVENTS WHICH ENABLED MONTROSE TO CRUSH THE LOYALTY
OF THE NORTH, AND FlOHT HIS ONLY BATTLE FOB THE COVENANT —
HAMILTON ABRIVE8 IN THE FORTH WITH A FLEET AND INVADING
ARMY — HIS DUPLICITY DETECTED BY A COMPARISON OF HIS CORRE-
SPONDENCE WITH THE KINO, AND HIS CONDUCT OF AFFAIRS IN SCOT-
LAND — HIS TREACHERY TO THE KINO AND ABOYNE — ^THE BARONS^
REION — MONTROSE RETURNS WITH HIS FORCES TO THE NORTH — SCAT-
, TERS THE BARONS, AND BESIEGES THEIR HOUSES — HIS COLLISION WITH
ABOYNE — TRAITOR GUN — BATTLE OF THE BRIDGE OF DEE — MONTROSE
TAKES ABERDEEN — DECLINES TO OBEY THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE
TABLES TO DESTROY THE TOWN — ^THB PACIFICATION OF BERWICK-
TRAITOR GUN — MAJOR MIDDLE1X>N.
We have now arrived at that period of Montroae''8 career,
when his military capacities came to be more decidedly tested.
The part hitherto assigned to him had been successfully per-
formed; and certainly with less injury to his character than
might have been expected, considering the nature of the mis-
sions, and who employed him. Military dictation and pageantry,
however, was all that as yet had signalised his profession of
arms. The adventure of lodging the Marquis of Huntly in the
castle of Edinburgh, was a most important result for the cove-
nanting factioq.. But it had been accomplished arte^ not maris.
The event threw the loyalists of the north into a state of great
excitement, and carved out immediate work for our hero of
another description. The capture of their chief had cast the
Gordons, and their great following, all abroad, in a stinging
humour like a dethroned hive ; and, but for the drag upon the
wheels of their exasperated loyalty, so treacherously imposed
by Hamilton, their efforts would not have been in vain, and
might, indeed, have changed the whole aspect of the King's
affairs. The circumstances which enabled Montrose to gain
his only serious battle as a rebel commander, must now be
shortly narrated.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 191
On or about the 19th of April 1639, only eleven years before
his martyrdom in a better cause, he returned to Edinburgh
with his noble captives, and his somewhat equivocal laurels.
Lord Gordon had desired to accompany his father. The second
son, Viscount Aboyne, a youth between eighteen and nineteen
years of age, had been permitted to return home from the army
in Aberdeen, upon the plea of procuring money and other neces-
saries for his kidnapped parent. But the young Viscount was
detained in his own country by Ogilvy of Banff, and other war-
like barons there, upon the obvious consideration that the
House of Huntly should not be left without a representative,
nor the royalists without a standard. Their only other hope
was in a still younger scion. Lord Lewis Gordon, gallant enough
in all conscience, but a mere schoolboy, and of so wild a dispo-
sition, that upon one occai^ion he had stolon the family jewels,
and made off to Holland.
Meanwhile Hamilton's confidential suggestions to the King,
in the letter we have already quoted,^ framed so as to be certain
of adoption, had been brought to a practical issue. This ruin-
ous minister was appointed to command an expedition against
Scotland by sea, while the King himself marched to the borders.
On the 1st of May 1639, he arrived in the Firth of Forth, with
an armament of nineteen sail, having on board five thousand
soldiers, various munitions of war. and an extravagant supply of
money, which he never failed to extract from his master''s im-
poverished Exchequer. " Hamilton,"' says Sir Philip Warwick,
^^ must be a distinct General, both by sea and land, and with a
good fleet must block up the Scotch seas ; and, to my knowledge^
he promised so to visit his countrymen on their coasts, as that
they should find little ease or security."' Excellent as is the
testimony of this most honest servant of the King, we are not
now dependent upon it for the fact. Time (not Bishop Burnet)
has disclosed to us, from the Hamilton archives, among which
the important missive had safely found its way back, the very
letter which pleaded for and obtained that command. We have
already more than once quoted some of its emphatic expres-
sions;' but they require to be remembered, in order that
* See before, p. 171> note, ' See before, p. 99.
192 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
we may fully appreciate the character of the writer, and under-
'^tand how just was the estimate formed of Hamilton by Mon*
trose, when, a few years afterwards, he impeached him to the
King, and also denounced him to the public, as '' James Mar-
quis of Hamilton, the prime fomenter of these misunderstand-
ings betwixt the King and his subjects.**^
In that letter, the date of which is 27th November 1638^ first
he tells the King, — " I have missed my end, in not being able
to make your Majesty so considerable a party as will be able to
curb the irmUncy of this rebellious nation without assistance from
England, and greater charge to your Majesty than this miserahle
cotmtry is worth." In another part of the same letter, however,
he adds, — " To make them miserable, and bring them again to
a dutiful obedience, / am confident your Majesty will not find a
work of long time, nor of great difficulty, as they have foolishly
fancied to themselves." He next proceeds to expound a syste-
matic scheme for reducing the rebels in Scotland. He declares
the strength of the nation to consist in its burghs ; and that its
existence depends upon trade in the eastern seas, and to Hol-
land. Stop their trade, he says, and guard well your frontiers.
Then, — " In my opinion, your ships would be best ordered thus :
Eight or ten to be in the Firth of Forth : There should be some
three or four plying to and again betwixt the Firth and Aber-
deeny so long as the season of the year will permit them to keep
the seas ; and when they are not longer able, they may retire
into the Firth, in which there are several places in which they
may ride in all weathers : Those ships that lie in the Irish seas
will be sufficient to bar all trade from the west of Scotland :
The fitting places are between Arran and the coast of Qnllo-
way : When the weather is foul, there is an excellent road in
Galloway, called Lochryan, and another in Arran called Lam-
lash, or the Holy Island, where they may ride in safety."
This discipline, however, he says, will " so irritate them," as
greatly to endanger all in Scotland who stand for the King ;
which danger he proposes to meet by making head in the north,
under Huntly, commissioned as his Majesty^s Lieutenant there,
'^ with full power to him to raise such and so many men as he
shall think convenient for the defence of the country." But
then he takes care to add, — '' As for the Marquis of Huntly,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 193
certainly he may be trusted by you ; but whether fitly or no
/ cannot wy.*" Now Huntly was waitmg m person upon Hamil-
ton, in Edinburgh, at the very time, and so little encouraged by
him, and so coldly received, that the arch agitator, Bothes,
writes in great glee to his cousin, Patrick Leslie in Aberdeen,
that the Marquis of Huntly ^^ was but slighted by the Commis-
sioner, and not of his privy-council^*
Then follows his anxious bespeaking for himself the chief
command of this invasion of Scotland ; mingled too with those
execrations against his native country that were obviously
intended to weigh in the King^s mind against the public
impeachment, from which the favourite was never cleared, for
having encouraged, or winked at a design in his own favour upon
the Crown of Scotland. Appoint me^ he says, to conduct this
military subjugation of Scotland, and I shall not weary till all
be right : " And then^^^ he adds, " I will forswear this country —
next Hell I hate this place. I have now only this one suit to
your Majesty, that my sons, if they live, be bred in England —
I wish my daughters be never married in Scotland."'
Why was the King's pocket not picked of this letter, as it
was of unexceptionable missives of loyalty from Montrose, by
the hands of Hamilton's covenanting tools? This anathema
maranatha never reached the ears of the Covenanters. Like many
other such valuable sources of the real truth of times past, it
has never entered the broad web of constitutional history, the
grand march of philosophy teaching by examples. When the
Hamilton papers came, for a private and petty purpose, be-
tween the oily palms of the prosperous Burnet, down went the
whole breadth of the episcopal thumb upon the contents of that
voluminous and telling report. It is melancholy to compare
the detaiTs of it with the contemporaneous correspondence of
BaiUie. When the Marquis arrived with his formidable flotilla
in the Forth, the general alarm and excitement became intense.
But the busy chronicler of the covenant — who, by the way, was
now iff fighting trim himself, and armed to the teeth* — point-
■ See before, pp. 148, 169.
> « I furnished to half-a-dozen good fellows, muskets and pikes, and to my boy a
broad sword. I carried myself, as the fashion was, a sword, and a couple of Dutch
pistols at my saddle ; but, I promise you, for the offence of no man, except a robber
13
194 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
ediy records his own belief, that Hamilton had predetermined
to serve his beloved native country rather than his master.
Baillie declares that the invader was by many regarded as '^ yet
a lover of his country — that the employment was ihnist upon
him — ^that he had accepted it with a resolution to manage it for
our greaiett advantage that loyalty to his prince would permit
him.*" How did he evince that loyalty now ? " It was evidentj'^
adds Baillie, *' he eschewed all occasion of beginning the war ; he
did not trouble a man on shore with a shot.^^ Nor woman either,
our chronicler might have added; for, as another contemporary
records, " Hamilton's own mother came riding towards Leith, at
the head of some armed troops, with two case pistols at her
saddle, protesting, as is affirmed, that she would kill her son with
her own hand, if he should offer to come a-land, in a hostile way.^*
We have next to compare all this with his actual conduct
at this important crisis, to the house and following of Huntly,
whose commission of lieutenancy he himself had proposed, and
was pledged to strengthen and support. For this very purpose
he had troops, and all the sinews of war on board the fleet.
Nor, as his own correspondence with the King proves, could he
pretend ignorance of the condition of the north, or of the best
in the way ; for it waB our part, alone, to pray and preach to the encouragement of
our countrymen, which I did .to my power most cheerfully." — Baillie to Spang,
September 28, 1639 ; a most amusing and instructive report
1 James Gordon's History of Scots affairs. See before, p. 100. Sir Philip War-
wick also says : ^ When Hamilton anchored in the Firth, his mother, a violent
spirited lady, and a deep presbytress, comes on board him, and surely she had no
hard task to charm him." And William Spang, in his Historia Motuum, compiled
from his correspondence with Baillie, glorifies her, as ^ Illugtrissitna keroina Hamil-
tonia Marchioniaa," whose masculine mind, he adds, superior to her sex, greatly
influenced her son in vindicating the religion and liberty of their country. But
lUustrisfima TruUa would most assuredly have cuffed her son's ears, had she read
hifl denunciation of Scotland to the King, ending with these words, — ^ I wish my
daughters be never married in Scotland." By the way, in reference to this last, it
may be mentioned, that, among the Hamilton papers (not noticed by Burnet) there
is yet preserved certain articles of marriage, between Hamilton on the part of his
eldest daughter Ijady Ann, and Argyle, on the part of his eldest son liord Lorn,
when they should come of age : The portion is an hundred thousand marks ; the
jointure, fifteen thousand marks ; and the penalty for resiling from 'the contract,
thirty thousand marks. This political compact (for such between these two wor-
thies at this date, 1642, it could not foil to be) was never accomplished, whoever
paid forfeit.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 195
mode of applying his warlike resources. Moreover, he was in
possession of a most effective scheme for the campaign, which
had been transmitted to him by the King, and was obviously
derived from a well informed and judicious source in Scotland.
And, in the letter inclosing it, dated 8th May 1639, his Majesty
tells him, — " Upon the whole matter I give you my opinion,
that if you find it not fit to land all your five thousand men
upon Lothian side, then it may be counsellable to send most of
your land-men to the north, to strengthen my party tli^re,^''
To neither counsel would Hamilton, whose own furious prompt-
ing had brought matters to this pass, pay the slightest heed,
now that he had the command in his own hands. Anchored
between Inchkeith and Inchcolm, in the spot where the ferry
boats were continually plying from the shore, he allowed his
troops to stretch their limbs upon those little rocky isles, while
he received deputations, composed of the disaffected nobles and
prime covenanters, and the virago commands of his mother.
Meanwhile another earnest pressure came upon him, to support
Huntly with troops, in consequence of young Aboyne having
reached the King at Newcastle not many days after Hamilton
had anchored in the Frith. This step the Viscount had adopted
by advice of the northern barons. These, whenever thoy had
got quit of Montrose, formed among themselves an armed
association, to make head against the Forbeses, Frazers, and
Crichtons, to whom had been consigned the charge of reforma-
tion in the north, with the promise of aid should they require
it. While the King was corresponding with Hamilton on the
very subject, as his letter of the 8th of May shows, Aboyne
arrived, somewhat to his Majesty's surprise. So, in a letter
from Newcastle, dated 13th of May 1639, he says, while de-
precating more " money expense" — the favourite having pretty
well drained him — " I could not let my Lord Aboyne go with-
out these lines, though it be rather to confirm than to add to
my two former : As for what assistance you can spare him out
of the forces that are with you, I leave you to judge, and I shall
be glad of it, if you find it may do good : If, with the countenance
and assistance of what force you have, you may uphold my party
in the north, and the rest of those noblemen I have sent to you,
I shall esteem it a very great service,'"'' And in another letter.
li^6 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
dated a^few days afterwards, he again says, — " The Lord
Aboyne'^8 proposition I have in my last recommended to you,
though at that time I thought not himself would be the mes-
senger of it/'
Thus we have certain facts unquestionably proved. The ex-
pedition in arms against Scotland was planned and pressed upon
the King by Hamilton himself. He was not, or professed to
the King not to be, " a lover of his country C' he forswears it in
terms of execration. The employment of invading his native
country was not " thrust upon him ;" he expressly asked it from
the King. That there was a loyal spirit in the north capable
of being turned to account in arms, he was not ignorant ; he
repprted the fact, and proposed the commission of lieutenancy
for Huntly. Yet he never took Huntly himself into these
counsels, but, on the contrary, " slighted him,"' when the loyal
Marquis waited upon him in Edinburgh. Let us now see how
he paved the way for the discomfiture of Aboyne by Montrose,
at the very time when his too trusting master was writing to
him that he would " esteem it a very great service to uphold
my party in the north.*"
The wily minion, timeously informed of the move to Court,
checkmated the inexperienced Viscount. While the latter was
on his return to Scotland, Hamilton sent the troops, which
ought to have followed Aboyne, back to England on the most
frivolous pretexts. The young hope of the Gordons reached
the fleet in high spirits, fortified with his commission as lieu-
tenant of the north. " In the Admiral's ship he was royally
feasted, with playing of the ordnance at every health.*" But,
fllas ! the soldiers were gone. Not a company remained that
could be spared, as he was informed by this High Admiral, who
at the same time held out some false hopes of sending him
succours ere long. " Allow me, however," says the Admiral,
" to recommend to you my distinguished friend Colonel Crun :
His great experience will be your best aid : You will find him
invaluable as a military commander and adviser: Take him
along with you, — he is in himself a host.'' The vaunted aid of
this equivocal character proved to be such as obtained for him
the title of " Traitor Gun."
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 197
The crisis of Aboyne^s appearance at Court had occasioned
Montrose to hurry back to the north, while his former able co-
adjutor Leslie, with his fantastical but well-organised array of
blue-bonnets, black-gowns, and blackguards, marched against
the King at the borders.^ The associated barons of the north,
daily expecting to be joined by Aboyne and the royal auxiliaries,
had meanwhile defeated, or rather chased away, the Master of
Forbes, and his covenanting adherents, in a miserable ruffle,
oalled " the trot of Turreff." But this association in support
of the King, was somewhat alarming to the junto at head
quarters. It was composed of such influential barons as Clunie,
Gight, Haddo, Abergeldy, Newton, Buckie, Park, Letterfurie,
Cairnburrow, Craig, Invormarkie, with the Ogilvies of Banff,
and Camousie, the Urquharts of Croiiiartie and Crombie, Tur-
ing of Foverano, Udny of Udny, Leith of Harthill, Seton of
Pitmedden, and some others. The joint command was bestow-
ed upon Banff and Haddo. But amid all these high sound-
ing and baronial names, there was but one officer of experience
and professional habits, Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston, son of
Johnston of Crimond, the Provost of Aberdeen, who led their
van. This was termed and subscribed as an " Engagement for
the maintenance of the King*s prerogative ; and next, for the
duty, service, honour, and safety of Huntly and his family, and
* BaUlie'B account of their encampment is most amusing, and highly characteristic
of the writer : << Had you lent your ear," he says, " in the morning, or especially at
even, and heard in the tents the sound of some singing psahna, some praying, and
some reading scripture, ye would have been refreshed : True, there was swearing^
and curtingy and hravdling, in some quarters, whereat we were grieved ; but we
hoped, if our camp, had been a little settled, to have gotten some way for these mis-
orders." The camp was sufficiently settled, however, to take excellent order with
their bodies, and Baillie descants, with more than the genius of a hungry Scot,
upon the comparative merits of the sumptuous feasts of tlie £nglish oonmiander and
his own : The fare, he says, at Leslie's long side-table was " as became a General
in time of war ; but not so curious by far as Arundel's to our nobles." And
then, ** Our meanest soldiers were always served in wheat bread, and a groat would
have gotten them a lamb-leg, which was a dainty world to the most of them.*' Our
chronicler, in fact, was more than half crazy with excitement on the occasion. He
says, ^ I was a man who had taken my leave from the world, and was resolved to
die in that service, without return. I found the favour of God shining upon me,
and a sweet, meek, humble, yet strong and vehement Bpirit leading me all along ; but
I was no sooner on my way westward, after the conclusion of the peace, than my
old security [». e, his sonsos] returned."
198 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
for our own mutual preservation.'" Their short-lived dominion
came to be known as " the Barons'* reign."
The trot of Turreff occurred early on the morning of Tuesday
the 14th of May, and the successful barons occupied Aberdeen
from the 15th until the 20th. Ogilvy of Banff, and Huntly
himself, endeavoured to communicate this hopeful stato of affairs
by letters to the King. The fate of these we learn from Baillie : —
" Banff made baste to take all advantages of his scarce hoped-
for victory. He ran over the country, repossessed Aberdeen,
which was not unwilling to be brought back to their old friends,
advertised the King of his success, and prayed for supply. The
matter was of cmsequence, Ogilvie^s and the Marquis's letters
were intercepted^ wherein we saw the appearance of some more
troubles from the north." It was to the utter amazement of
the Covenanters themselves, that at this^ crisis Hamilton per-
sisted in neglecting the cause of the King. " It was thought,"
says Baillie, " that the most, if not all the land soldiers which
the Marquis had, were intended first for Huntly's service ; but
God disappointed this very dangerom intention, by keeping the
navy some weeks longer on the English coast than was expected,
even till Huntly was in hands, and all his designs broken.'*'
But Huntly'*s capture was no excuse for Hamilton. The partial
success of the barons at Turreff, their occupation of Aberdeen,
and the ardour of Aboyne, opened a prospect of certain success
for the Eoyal cause had he co-operated with the north at this time.
Baillie himself adds, — " Yet if at this same time a considerable
supply had been sent to Banff (Ogilvy), he had wrought us much
woe : but Montrose at once, with Marischal — these two nolle
wliant youths^ made haste with all the friends they could
gather."*
Montrose was stiU in Edinburgh on the iSth of May. The
young Earl Marischal had reached the north prior to this,
having hastened thither, with some forces levied in the Meams,
to save his lands from pillage. Secure in his strong castle of
Dunottar, he was negociating with the loyalists, through the
medium of that prudent and peaceful baron, Robert Gordon of
Straloch, and keeping them in play, before Montrose arrived.
^ BailHe's Letter to Spang, dated 28th Sept. 1639, a few months after the event.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 199
In vain had the gallant barons scattered the Forbeses and
the Frazers, and kept swarming to and fro, and disputing among
themselves, by the Dee and by the Spey, now at Strathbogie,
and now at Aberdeen. Aboyne came not with the hoped-for
succours. On the 20th they marched from Aberdeen, up the
Dee towards Durris, in search of Donald Farquharson of Mon-
altrie, who was expected to meet them with the Highlanders of
Strathdee, Braemar, Strathaven, and Glenlivet. That night
they lay in the fields, and in the morning their hopes obtained
a partial elevation. For, with Monaltrie and his men, there came
to them a new leader in the person of ^' Lord Ludovick Gordon,
Huntly^s third son, who had broke away from his grandmother
at the Bog of Gicht, and had forsaken the school and his tutor,
leaping over the walls, so hazardously, that he went near to
break one of his arms ; he, I say, in Highland habits, being as
yet a young boy, had the name of leader to those Highlanders." *
Marischal, certain of the immediate co-operation of Montrose,
marched upon Aberdeen, which he occupied without resistance
on the 23d of May, and had the satisfaction of reconoitering
this host of dissentient Highland barons in full retreat before
him.
Meanwhile our hero, crossing the Grampians in his usual
rapid style, entered this luckless town on the 25th, at the head
of about four thousand troops, the flower of which were the
cavalry of Angus and Meams, and followed by a train of field-
pieces. He entered the town, as before, at the Over Kirk-gate
Port, in order of battle, with braying of trumpets, rolling of
drums, and displayed banners. Once more, in this hostile fashion,
they marched through the Broad-gate, the Castle-gate, and so
to the Queen^s Links, where they bivouacked for the night.
Here Montrose found himself surrounded by a council of dis-
tinguished nobles, the Earls Marischal, Athole, and Kinghom,
the Lords Drummond, Gouper, and Frazer, and the Masters of
Forbes and Gray. His army brought with it the usual and
inevitable accompaniments of such desultory expeditions, in
such times, — pillage and oppression. The 26th, being Sunday,
all the nobles, heard devotion, says Spalding, ^' but the rascal
soldiers, in time of both preachings, are abusing and plundering
^ James Grordon's History of Scots Affaini.
200 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
New Aberdeen pitifully, without regard to God or man/' One
strange outbreak of their cruelty consisted ii) leaving not a dog
alive that could be found in Aberdeen, from the hound to the
house-dog, and from the lujLurious spaniel to the cur of low de-
gi'ee. ^' The reason was, when the first army came here, ilk
captain, commander, servant, and soldier, had ane blue ribbon
about his craig ; in despite add derision whereof, when they
removed from Aberdeen, some women of Aberdeen, as was al-
leged, knit blue ribbons about their messens' craigs, whereat
these soldiers took ofience, and killed all their dogs for this very
cause.*"
On Monday the 27th the covenanting General summoned a
council of war to decide upon the fate of the prelatic towns.
Guthrie tells us, that " his generous mind was more eager for
victory than execution," and that he resisted the urgent demands
of the ministers to have the towns of Aberdeen given up to the
horrors of indiscriminate plunder and conflagration. This is
sufficiently corroborated by Baillie and Spalding. Even the^
" meek, sweet' spirit" of the former panted after the blood and
ashes of the loyal north. Montrose refused to glut it. The
matter had been debated in council, and Baillie surmises that
Ihe soldiers of the Covenant fell off from their standard, in con-
sequence of the ill-timed humanity of Montrose. " Banff," he
says, " dissolved his forces, Aberdeen rendered at once, aU was
carried before us. But ere it was long, our forces likewise dis-
banded, as was thought on some malcontentment, either at
Montrose's too great lenity in sparing the enemy s houses^ or some-
what else." And this was Baillie^s constant and only complaint
against Montrose, while in arms for the Covenant. The
humane General decreed, however, that, by eleven o'clock of
the day following that on which he held the council of war, the
fine of ten thousand marks should be paid, under pain of the
town being given up to plunder. This modified exaction saved
the fair seat of loyalty and learning. It appears by the treasury
accounts still extant in Aberdeen, that the treasurer paid it to
the uttermost farthing ; and Spalding himself tells us, that, by
the G^neraPs orders, neither goods nor gear were plundered.
Montrose now thought it high time to break ^^ the barons'
reign.'' His army marched out of Aberdeen on the morning of
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 201
the 30th May 1639, in order of battle, the infantry going first,
foUowed by the General at the head of his well appointed cavalry.
Ten thousand strong, 'they were cheered on the march by their
bagpipes,. trumpets, and drums, and the rattle often brazen
field-pieces in the rear. Their commander's intention was to
besiege the houses of the gentlemen of the name of Gordon.
For upon his appearance the barons were disbanded, and dis-
persed, so that he could hardly tell where to find an enemy.
That night they encamped at Udny, and marched from thence
on the following day to Haddo House, or Kellie, belonging to
Sir John Gordon. But the place where he determined to com-
mence operations was before the castle of Sir George Gordon of
Gight, in which that bold baron, aided by the determined spirit
and practical skill of Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston, was so well
fortified as to scorn the summons of his formidable pursuer.
Montrose, unprovided with a battering train, turned his field-
pieces against the castle, and for two days and nights vainly
essayed to effect a breach. While thus employed, suddenly he
heard that a fleet, bearing Aboyne, as Lieutenant of the North,
and a weU appointed army, was about to arrive at Aberdeen.
Never doubting that the royal lieutenant would be now at least
most efficiently supported, and his own forces being much di-
minished, (according to Baillie, ^' on some malcontentment at
Montrose's too great lenity,'') our hero, aware of the danger of
a superior force interposed between him and the Tables, fell
back upon Aberdeen, which he again entered, on Monday the
3d of June, by one of those rapid movements so characteristic
of all his campaigns. There he maintained his dignity as a
conqueror, by remaining a whole day, and only quitted it shortly
before Aboyne entered the Boad, when he marched homewards,
in perfect order, with his troops and artillery. On the way he
paused for a night at the Castle of Dunottar, where he was
received by the Earl Marischal himself, who, with a few horse,
had preceded him some days on the retreat.
It was about the 5th of June that Aboyne entered the Boad
of Aberdeen, with two armed vessels of sixteen guns each, and
a Newcastle collier. He was accompanied by Ogilvy of Banff,
Irving of Drum, and other loyalists, who had been lately com-
202 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
pelted to seek safety in flight, but now returned with renewed
hopes for the success of their cause. The Earl of Tullibardine
also accompanied the young Viscount. And, to the great
annoyance of the Covenanters, with Abojme came even Glen-
cairn,^ the representative of the noblest and purest covenant-
ing blood in Scotland, who refused to recognize the faction that
now took the name of the covenant of his fathers in vain.
Moreover, there was Colonel alias Traitor Gun. For several
days the young Lieutenant, having proclaimed his commission,
abode in his ships, in the hope of being joined by the auxiliaries
which Hamilton had given him some reason still to expect. But
these came not, and Glencaim and Tullibardine, who had ac-
companied him from Court, apparently disheartened and dis-
gusted at the aspect of the King^s affairs, took their leave of
his lieutenant, and departed to their own homes.
There was now a most important collision about to occur, at
a very critical period for the country. Yet the leaders on both
sides were mere boys, with the exception of Montrose, who him-
self was not above twenty seven years of age. His distinguished
ally, Marischal, was somewhat younger, being at this time
scarcely throe-and-twenty. Then, the loyal nobleman, whose
duty was no less than to sustain the King's cause in Scotland,
had seen but nineteen summers. And, as Glencaim and Tulli-
bardine left him to his fate, there came to support that royal
standard, tottering in the youthful grasp of Aboyne, a hand less
steady and a head less wise than his own. Young Lord Lewis
Gordon, whom we have already heard of as the spoilt pet of his
grandmother, a boy of thirteen or little more, and the wildest
and most wilful of his times, ^^ hastily,^' says Spalding, ^^ raises
his father^s ground, friends and followers, men, tenants, and
servants, who most gladly and willingly came with him, and,
upon Friday the 7th of June, marched in brave order, about a
thousand men on horse and foot, well armed, brave men, with
captains, commanders, and leaders, trumpets, drums, and bag-
pipes, and to Aberdeen came they, to meet the Lord Abojme,
having also in their company four field-pieces of brass, which
* ** Glencaim, who unhappily all this time otherwise than his forbears, to tlie los-
ing of the hearts of all his friends, for the Marquis's pleasure, had deserted his
company." — Baillie.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 203
they brought with them out of Strathbogie/^ Such was the
position of the royal cause, when Aboyne, and Traitor Gun,
marched against Montrose, early in the month of June J 639.
It was upon Friday the 14th that they commenced to march
firom Aberdeen towards Angus. But immediately intelligence
reached them that the omnipresent Montrose had again gathered
his forces, and was already at Stonehaven, on his way to do
them battle. So Aboyne encamped that night at Muchalls,
the place of Sir Thomas Burnet of Leys, and sent on a party
of horse to watch the motions of the enemy, whom they dis-
coyered, strongly entrenched before Dunottar, with about^eight
hundred foot and horse, two brass demi-cannon, and some field-
pieces, brought out of Marischal's stronghold, the gates of which
were open to receive them on a retreat. Montrose, and his
noble coadjutor, kept closely within their works at Stonehaven
all night, without attempting to molest Aboyne's cavalry, which
returned to the main body before sunrise. Early on the morning
of Saturday, the loyalists marched forward in the direction of
the church of Fetteresso, till within a mile of Stonehaven, when
Colonel Gun, in whose hands Aboyne unfortunately had placed
the command of his army, gave orders to turn off the high road,
to the left hand, upon a heath or moor, where he drew them up
in battle array. The van, commanded by Sir John Gordon of
Haddo, was composed of a volunteer corps of a hundred gentle-
men, cuirassiers, who, for their ensign, carried a handkerchief
upon a lance. Next came a regiment of musketeers, citizens
of Aberdeen, about four hundred strong. In the rear were the
Highlanders; and the cavalry were disposed on the flanks.
Montrose, aware that Stonehaven was not tenable, had made
arrangements to retreat into the stronghold of Dunottar ; but,
it is said, in order to gain time to reinforce his troops, he now
sent to Aboyne " a letter, by way of complimenting challenge,'"
which had the effect of drawing that young nobleman still nearer
to Stonehaven, upon a rising ground called the Meagre-hiU,
where his troops were again arranged in order of battle, but
completely exposed to the fire of Montrose's artillery. The
young Viscount's own intention was to have marched directly to
the relief of the King, without turning aside to engage the
covenanting General. But he was overruled by his military
204 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
conductor, upon whose conduct the following severe strictures
occur in the manuscript of Patrick Gordon of Buthven.
'^ But Gun, who was now begun to play his pranks, finds this
course (of marching southwards) too safe apd fair for a good
success, and resolves most basely rather to lose the estimation
of a good leader than to put it in practice. And this did not
a little confirm the jealousy of the wiser sort, that he had been
schooled before he came there. For when he came near Stone-
haven, he leaves the way he should have marched, and most
idly, ignorantly, or rather, in plain terms, treacherously, (for he
never could give a reason for it but that he did it to harden them
to be cannon-proof J, he draws them all up in battle array upon
the side of a little hill that looks towards the town, from whence
he was not able to do them the least harm in the world without
great ordnance, but was sure to receive it ; for he exposed them
all, both horse and foot, to the mercy of the cannon, so that if
they (Montrose and Marischal) had been weD-stored of good
cannon, they had broken and defeated them all, with the devour-
ing fury of the cannon only, without the force of men or arms.
But it was their good fortune, as God would have it, that the
enemy had but two cartowes^ and, through want of skiU in their
cannoneer, some balls, went over them a great way, some fell
short, and but one lighted amongst them, whereby some were
hurt, and some slain, but not many.**^^
The account in James Gordon's manuscript is substantially
the same, though it varies in some particulars. He says, that
after a little skirmishing, in which Aboyne's cavalry were driven
back, Montrose sent a few cannon bullets among Aboyne's bri-
gades, which so alarmed the Highlanders that they wheeled
about and fied in confusion, nor ever looked behind them,
although Aboyne himself made every exertion to rally the
fugitives, until they reached a morass about half a mile dis-
tant.' This example, and the indignation felt by the troops at
1 Gun, having placed his men where they might he well peppered, retired to
breakfast in a safe place.
* The Highbinders were totally onprepared for the extraordinary effect of a <* dear
Sandy''s stoup." They had another name for it, as we leam frofSi BaiUie, who thus
writes : — ** So soon as Montrose had turned homewards to the Meams, at once
Aboyne and Banff, with Colonel Gun, and some other officers, gathered great forces.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 205
the manner in which they were exposed by Gun, caused the
whole of the royal infantry to mutiny, and hasten back to
Aberdeen. But a party of horse remained firm, and masked
the retreat, so that Montrose was not aware of the falling
away of the forces opposed to him. Meanwhile the Viscount
dispatched two of his officers to Aberdeen, who ordered drums
to be beat through the town, summoning the deserters instantly
to return to their standard under the pains of treason. No
sooner, however, was this proclamation issued, than Abojme
himself entered the town, on Saturday night, having been left
with scarcely troops sufficient to guard his person. On the
morning of the 15th of June, the royal lieutenant was at the
head of four thousand foot and horse, '' as gallant and resolute
and well-appointed men,^** says James Gordon, ^^ as were to be
found in Scotland ;^^ and this in the face of an enemy not above
eight hundred strong. On the morning of the 16th, he was back
in Aberdeen with no more than six hundred horse, composed
of the gallant Gordons, who still rallied round him, entreating
him, however, as he valued the royal cause, to beware of
Traitor Gun. Another circumstance, also attributed by the
contemporary historians to this worthy, tended most materially
to the discomfiture of the King'^s lieutenant upon this occasion.
As they were manoeuvering near the coast, Aboyne's armed
vessels were ordered to sail as near the army as possible, and
to keep a parallel course. But the only use which Colonel Gun
made of the ships was this : — He sent on board, by way of dis-
encumbering the troops, one-half of Aboyne'*s artillery, and the
greater proportion of his ammunition, at a time when, as the
event proved, that arm was most essential. The result is thus
pathetically recorded by the Parson of Bothiemay : " Their
ships, that were going along, and appointed to wait upon them,
were forced to bear ofi* to seawards, and could not come near
Aberdeen joined heartily to the party. They spoiled Marischal's lands, and all oar
friends there. They had devoured Dundee and all Angus in the throat of their hope.
But at once Montrose and Marischal, most valoroui and happy gentlemen^ gave them
some other matter to do, though much inferior in number. They came to seek them
(Montrose and Marischal). Some great ordnance we had which moved our party to
hold off, when they were coming on hoping to have clean defeat us ; for their High-
landers avowed they could not abide the mutk€t*$ mother, and so fled in troops at the
first volley."
206 LIFE OF MONTROSE. '
them ; nor did they ever see them again to this hour ; so that
cannon, and ammunition, and the three ships, all vanished
together.'*'
Montrose, with the prompt energy to which he owed his
future successes, instantly determined to march once more
upon Aberdeen. When within six miles of that devoted town,
an advanced party of his cavalry encountered an equal number
of the Gordons, whom Aboyne had dispatched to watch the
motions of the Covenanters. Being only seven on each side,
there was something knightly and romantic in this encounter,
wherein the Gordons were victors. After several wounds given
and received, Montrose's seven horsemen were defeated, and the
laird of Powrie, Fotheringhame, made prisoner by Gordon of
Fechill, and Ogilvy of Powrie, younger, wounded and taken by
Nathaniel Gordon, best and bravest of loyalists, the future com-
panion and fellow martyr of Montrose. Aboyne's party was
led upon this occasion by the gallant Colonel Johnston, who
was most anxious to have returned to the charge with the
whole chivalry of the Gordons, which he promised would utterly
rout the combined forces of Montrose and Marischal. This
excellent counsel was overruled by Colonel Gun.
Aboyne was now/in a critical position, and so was Aberdeen.
Although our hero was on his route to the south when the royal
lieutenant, whose strength he had over-estimated, caused him
to turn, he was not the man to omit following up his blow upon
a retreating enemy. Some mounted scouts, sent to watch his
movements, returned to town with the intelligence that he was
at their heels. This was most alarming news to the loyalists,
who had already, upon more occasions than one, been so le-
niently dealt with by Montrose, as to induce the disappointed
Baillie to exclaim, that "all had been forgiven to that unnatural
city.'' Long had these agitating preachers been watching the
horizon for the purifying flames of its conflagration. Long had
they exultingly announced, to use their own words, that " now
the curse was alighting upon Meroz, which came not to the help
of the Lord against the mighty." Still he, who, in the agitation
of their hopes deferred, was ever and anon lauded by them as
that " noble and true hearted cavalier" — that " most valorous
and happy gentleman" — that " generous and noble youth" — had
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 207
diaappointed their expectations. It was not smiting in battle
— ^it was the smiting after battle^ that these ravens of the
Covenant ever looked to ; and hitherto that harvest, which a
few years afterwards they so abundantly reaped, had failed.
It had failed, as they themselves declared, because of ^^ the
lenity of Montrose in sparing the enemies' houses.^^ And with
ominous grumbling they recorded that " the discretion of that
generous and noble youth was but too greats
But what amount of discretion, in other words mercy, would
he show now that, for the third time, he had to compel the
recusant city to submit to the covenanting government, against
the King I The inhabitants of Aberdeen, upon this occasion,
were hopeless of his exercising the like forbearance. Attila was
at their gates. The royal lieutenant was a boy ; and in leading
strings of one of Hamilton'^s tools, a mercenary officer whose
conduct was squared to his special bargain, whoever paid him ;
and who had already so demeaned himself, in handling the
King'*s troops, that every loyalist in the camp, with the excep-
tion of the young and inexperienced commander whom he ruled,
was more than whispering that he was a traitor. Under that
guidance the superior forces of Aboyne had melted away. Glen-
cairn and TuUibardine, who had offered their services to the
King at Newcastle, and had accordingly accompanied the young
Viscount from thence, along ynih. this distinguished Colonel
Gun — for distinguished he was under that immortal and eternal
star of the Scotch mercenaries, Gustavus Adolphus — had retired
in disgust, when they saw the counsels that prevailed. The
ships, artillerj', and ammunition, had vanished. Nevertheless
Aberdeen was not to fall this time without a struggle. The
young representative of the House of Huntly was still with them,
surrounded by some hundreds of the Gordon chivalry. To adopt
the words of an old ballad, somewhat regardless of rhyme, which
conmiemorates a casualty of that same passage of arms : —
*' Some rode on the black, and grey,
And some, rode on the brown,
But the bonny Johnnie Seton,
He lay gasping on the ground.'*
But their main strength consisted in a stalwart band of armed
208 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
citizens whom the occasion had rendered desperate; and at
the head of these was Colonel Johnston, the son of their Provost,
as brave a cavalier, and as good a soldier, as ever stood for right -
against might.
The waters of the Dee had been rendered impassable by recent
rains, and the covenanting commander found he could effect a
passage only by means of the bridge of Dee, a stately edifice of
seven arches, about two miles distant from the town. Aware
of the value of the position, Colonel Johnston had the sagacity
to fortify this entrance, by closing the portals of the bridge at
the end next to the enemy, and lining the barrier with turf and
earth, as well as the rapidity of Montrose^s movements would
allow. But its best lining was the Aberdeen musketeers, sup-
ported as they were by the Gordon horse, along with the few
soldiers who yet adhered to the royal Lieutenant. These
formidablepreparations broughtthe covenanting army to a stand.
They drew up in battle array, upon a rising ground, about a
quarter of a mile to the south of the bridge, which this eminence
commanded. Here Montrose planted the field-pieces and
demi-cannons, with which he had recently been battering the
Castle of Gight, and the unusual demonstrations of whose
power had affected the loyal Highlanders as the first aspect of
the elephant is said to have scared the Boman soldier; an
incident alluded to in the ancient ballad already quoted : —
*^ The Highland men are clever men
At handling sword or gun,
But yet thej are too naked men
To bear the cannon's rung."
*^ For a cannon's roar, in a summer night,
Is like thunder in the air,
There^s not a man in highland dress
Can face the cannon's fire."
But the Aberdeen burghers were not to be scared by noise,
when fighting pro arts et facia. Four companies were made to
occupy the bridge, supported in the rear by the cavalry, who
were ready to charge should the enemy win the passage. Their
confidence was increased, when they found that the first twenty
shots from ^* the mother of the musket,^ all fell short, and only
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 209
occasioned the gay Gordons, who had been displaying themselves
too freely on the banks of the Dee, to keep further aloof. The
four little brazen cannon, to which Colonel Gun had reduced the
royal artillery, proved to be useless toys, only fit for firing
salvos at Gt)rdon castle. Montrose was better provided. He
was not even dependent upon his ^^ dear Sandie's stoups." He
had some good field pieces from the castle of Dunottar, besides
two demi-cannon, carrying a ball of twenty pound, which did
excellent service upon this occasion. His cannonade with the
field-pieces having failed to reach the troops beyond the bridge,
he directed with more effect his battery against the fortifications,
and under cover of the discharge, ordered out some parties of
musketeers to fall on, and take the bridge by storm. These
^ere sternly met by an hundred Aberdonians, whom Johnston
conunanded on the bridge, fifty at a time sustaining each assault,
while the Gordons kept their ground in the rear, ready to charge
when necessary. This well organised defence held the assailants
completely at bay. Some covenanting companies from Dundee,
headed by one Captain Bonar, becoming emulous of the Aber-
deen citizens, made it a special request to be allowed to storm.
Montrose, who was not likely to restrain such ardour, bade
them take it in the name of the Covenant. So at it they went,
the little dumpy cartows covering their advance. But so warm
was the reception, and so formidable shewed the cavaliers await-
ing them at the other side of the water, that round they went
again, followed by shouts of triumph and derision from the rival
burghers. And now some shriller cries mingled with the whoop-
ing of the brave townsmen. This desperate assault occurred on
the 18th of June 1639 ; and as the hot work lasted from morn-
ing till sun-down, the exhaustion, fatigue, and anxiety, was no
less to them, than to those who fought on the 18th of June 1815.
But, to adopt the phrase of the immortal Jarvie, '' the comforts
of the Salt Market^' were somewhat nearer their persons ; and
many a willing Matty was at hand, to do their belligerent masters'"
bidding. " Nay,^ says the old historian of the family of Gordon,
^' "'tis very remarkable, that in a short time the very servant
maids got such courage, that nobly they brought meat, drink,
and other n^cessariea-to their masters and relations that were
upon the bridge, not regarding the cannon or musket balls that
14
210 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
were continually flying among them.'" They came to have no
more dread of the musket^s mother than if these had indeed
been their own water stoups, over which many a stormy flyting
had occurred. .It is pleasant to record, that all the '^ serving
maids'' of Scotland were not of the tribe of Jenny Gteddes,
" who first began to pull down the bishops' pride,*" nor in the
pay of his Majesty's Advocate, and the mother of his Majesty's
prime minister for Scotland.
Darkness separated the combatants. The assailants bi-
vouacked on the hill. But while, in the watches of the night,
creature comforts were doubtless being still administered by
the faithful serving-maids to the defenders of their fair city,
and fairer fame, our hero was wide awake. Taking advantage
of the darkness, he contrived to plant his two demi-cannon
close to the bridge ; and when the assault came to be renewed
next morning, it was under circumstances more favourable for
the assailants. A few discharges burst open and cleared away
the portals, and rude defences, at the southern extremity of the
bridge. Colonel Johnston still animated the defence, which was
as obstinate as ever. But Montrose was not to be denied. He
had some horse with him, though quite inadequate to cope with
the Gordons ; and, moreover, the waters of the Dee had so
risen that ford there was none. Nevertheless, he ordered his
horsemen to display themselves higher up the river, as if they
had discovered a passage, and were about to cross. The ruse,
for such it was, succeeded. Colonel Gun advised, indeed or-
dered — for he professed to be commissioned by the King to
guide the young Viscount — that the cavalry should be with-
drawn from their advantageous position near the bridge, in
order to follow the movement of the enemy's horse up the river.
In vain was this order remonstrated against, and Colonel Gun
informed that the Dee was impassable without a bridge or a
boat. Upon this, and every occasion when the mercenary was
contradicted, he became as obstinate, though never so honest,
as Sir Dugald Dalgetty. He bullied those around him, and
threatened to give up his commission, and complain to the
King. His order upon this occasion was fatal to the defence
of Aberdeen. As the Gt)rdons displayed themselves on the
opposite bank, they came within range of the covenanting
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 211
artillery, and Seton of Pitmedden, a flower of that chivalry,
fell a Bacrifice to the false move. He was riding by the side of
Aboyne, when a cannon-ball swept the whole upper part of his
body away from the saddle.
** Upon the eighteenth day of June,
A dreary day to see,
The southern Lords did pitch their camp.
Just at the bridge of Dee :
** Bonnie John Seton, of Pitmeddin,
A bold baron was he ;
He made hb testament ere he went out,
The wiser man was he :
*^ He lefl his land to his young son,
His lady her dowrie,
A thousand crowns to his daughter Jean,
Tet on the nurse^s knee :
• **•«»
*^ His name was Major Middleton
That manned the bridge of Dee ;
His name was Colonel Henderson
That let the cannons flee :
«« His name was Major Middleton
That manned the bridge of Dee ;
And his name was Colonel Henderson
That dung Pitmeddin in three.^'
Here the old ballad does some injustice to the brave Colonel
Johnston. He it was who manned the bridge of Dee, Major
Middleton commanding a company under Montrose on the
other side. To this rough and ready soldier, who eventually,
without other merit, became a very great man, our hero turned,
when he found the assault still flagging, and ordered a vigorous
charge upon the weakened defenders of the pass. Middleton
cheered them on, exclaiming that the cannon would make them
all arrant cowards, as they could do nothing without them. At
that instant a shot took the corner of the parapet, laying it in
ruins, which fell upon Colonel Johnston, and crushed his leg.
With difficulty he was placed on horseback, and conveyed into
the town, when the defenders of the bridge gave way, and fled.
Traitor Qiin improved the opportunity. The Gordon cavalry
212 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
were still in time, on the return from their bootless errand, to
charge the Covenanters debouching in confusion from the now
undefended bridge. But Gun raised the cry that Johnston was
killed, the day lost, and that it was muve qui peut. The cavaliers
with Aboyne expressed the highest indignation, and were in-
clined to disobey the command. Gordon of Arradoul exclaimed
that the Gordons never quitted a field of battle without charg-
ing ; and when Gun insisted upon their looking to their own
safety, ^' Aradoull, in a great chafe, told him to his face, he was
a^villain, and an arrant traitor, all which Colonel Gun swallowed
quietly," So it is recorded by James Gordon of Bothiemay ;
and another contemporary, Patrick Gordon of Ruthven, tells the
same story. This affront from Gordon of Aradoul, says the
latter, " and sundry other affronts from others, he. Gun, an-
swered with silence, keeping himself always upon my Lord
Aboyne'*s left hand, from that time forth, whose only presence
kept him in security.'*'* The result was, that the Gordon horse,
three hundred strong, with the royal Lieutenant and Colonel
Gun at their head, went on the spur to Strathbogie (Castle
Huntly), while Montrose took possession of Aberdeen, on the
evening of the 19th of June 1639.
Notwithstanding the formidable nature of the struggle, Mon-
trose effected the passage of the Dee, and the capture of Aber-
deen, with little slaughter. The loss of life, on either side, was
something under a score, of whom the only names of note are
Seton of Pitmedden, of the loyalists, and a brother of Ramsay
of Balmain, in the ranks of the Covenant. But the soldiers of
the victorious army passed the bridge in a state of great excite-
ment ; nor can there be a rational doubt, that, upon this occa-
sion, Aberdeen only escaped destruction through the firmness,
tact, and humanity of Montrose himself. Not only had he to
restrain the fiery ebullitions of a storming army, in the first
moments of success, but on the instant he had to oppose, with
the utmost temper, tact, and caution, that morbid outcry for
vengeance after victory, which thus early characterised the
counsels of the Covenant ; a characteristic which ere long ren-
dered its annals so fearfully murderous, when there was no such
heart of humanity combined with the hand of power, to save
Scotland from those indelible stains. The contemporar}' chro-
A
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 213
iiiclers of either side, spectators, and sometimes actors amid the
events they record, are his best biographers here.
Baillie, the Clarendon of the Covenant, reports the affair to
his mechanical recipient, Spang, in wild terms of mingled tri-
umph and regret. It is not difficult to surmise, on perusing
that agitated, and somewhat incoherent bulletin, what would
have been the fate of the prelatic towns had the '^ sweet, meek,
humble, yet strong and vehement spirit,**^ which he so records in
his conceited self-portraiture, been in the ascendant then. The
reader will not fail to mark the assertion of a deliberate resolve
to have sacked the towns of Aberdeen, " orderly,'' on the day
after their surrender — the wish being father to the thought—
so strangely contrasted with the admission, that " the prevent-
ing mercies of God**' unexpectedly interposed to forbid the
cruelty. It is put, as if God's attribute of justice had been
consigned into the hands of the kirk-militant, and his attribute
of mercy retained in his own : —
'^ Montrose and Marischal, knowing the danger not only to
their country but the whole cause, if they should either retire
or stand, resolved to go on and fight. The enemy had fortified
the bridge of Dee, and lay on the other shore under sconces,
with their muskets and horsemen. We resolved to have the
bridge on all hazards. It was a desperate piece of service,
(none more stout, and full of good directions at it, than Jesuit
Abemethie), by the playing of the great ordnance on the bridge.
And much ado ; for the perverse citizens of Aberdeen did fight
very manfully that day. At last, with some slaughter on both
sides, we won the bridge — we put our enemy to rout — ^goes for-
ward that same night to Aberdeen — lodges toithout in the fields —
being resolved UMfwrroto to have sacked it orderly, that there-
after that town should have done our nation no more cimber.
But, as it pleased God to keep us from all marks of the least
^ alleged cruelty from the first taking up of our arms, so there ,
I the preventing mercies of God did kyth (were manifested) in a
speciid manner. For that same night, by sea, the Kmg's letters
of pacification at Dunse were brought to the town ; which to-
morrow early being presented to our nobles, made them glad
they had gotten that blessed cord whereby to bind up their
soldiers' hands from doing of mischief, whereto that wicked
214 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
town's jmt deseroings had made them very bent. For all our
sparing, yet that countryV malicious disloyalty seems not to be
remeided.*"
Honour to whom honour is due. That which alone, under
Providence, kept the Covenanters '^ from all marks of the least
alleged cruelty, from the first taking up of our arms'" — ^and
Baillie himself is witness — was the recusant and unpalatable
humanity of the man, whom, when they had ceased to bespatter
him with their praise, they abused as " that bloody butcher,
and viperous brood of Satan, James Graham^ Nor had the
resolve to sack Aberdeen, orderly, on the morrow^ for one mo-
ment possessed the mind of Montrose. His very first measure,
in the hour of victory, was to establish his army on the links
without the town. Some quartering therein, and military ebul-
litions against the inhabitants, it was impossible to prevent.
His soldiers seized, and bound with cords, forty-eight of the
citizens who had so manfully opposed them. But their worst
fate was a very temporary confinement in the tolbooth. How
he averted horrors the absence of which Baillie contemplates
with ill-disguised regret, is thus narrated by James Gordon,
the partizan of Huntly and Aboyne : —
" When Montrose entered Aberdeen, the Lord Marischal,
and Lord Muchall (Frazer), pressed him to bum the town, and
urged him with the Committee of Estates' warrant for that
effect. He answered, that it were best to advise a night upon
it, since Aberdeen was the London of the north, and would
prejudice themselves by want of it, et cet. So it was taken to
consideration for that night ; and next day the Earl Marischal
and Lord Muchall came, protesting he should spare it. He
answered, he was desirous so to do, but durst not, except they
would be his warrant. Whereupon they drew up a paper,
signed with both their hands, declaring that they had hindered
it, and promising to interpone with the Committee of Estates
for him. Yet the next year, when he was made prisoner^ and
accused, this was objected to Montrose, that he had not burned
Aberdeen, as he had orders from the Committee of Estates.
Then he produced Marischal and MuchalFs paper, which hardly
* It was in 1641, the year fellowiDg that in which James Gordon has placed it.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 215
satisfied the exasperated Committee.'" Guthrie also notes, that,
upon the occasion in question, ^^ his generous mind was more
eager for victory than execution."*' And Gordon of Sallagh, no
friendly chronicler, declares, in his history of the Earls of
Sutherland, that ^^ some did persuade to raze the town, and to
bum it, lest it should prejudice them afterwards; but that
motion was hindered and crushed hy the Earl of Montrois^''
That travesty of amicable adjustments between conflicting
states, which goes by the name of the Pacification of Berwick,
was there signed, by the King and the Covenanters, upon the
18th of June I6;i9, the very day when the battle of the Dee
commenced. The intelligence was made known in Aberdeen
upon the morning of the 20th. Montrose exacted a fine of
^4000 Scots^ to save the town from fire and pillage ; ^ ordered
the imprisoned citizens to be forthwith released ; withdrew his
army from the vicinity, and then disbanded it in terms of the
pacification. Having thus so far fulfilled his destiny, the chief
of the Grahams retired for a while to his own home and family,
to await the progress of events.
Traitor Gun carved his fortunes out of the dishonour of his
name. Taking advantage of the fortunate crisis, he hastened
to Berwick, where he found favour in the sight of the King in
proportion to his favour with the minion. Hamilton knew how
well he had done his part of not permitting the royal lieutenant
to be victorious in Scotland. The King was made to believe
that he was a very champion of the throne. A little contretemps
had nearly spoilt all. The real champion, scarcely cured of his
wounds, suddenly made his appearance also in the agitated
circle of the Court. The notoriety of the fact alone could have
induced Colonel Johnston to take the step he did. He publicly
denounced Gun as a traitor before the King, and threw down
his gauntlet. The combat was not permitted. It was the
scene of Lord Bae with Ramsay, repeated on a smaller scale.
The character of Hamilton was again periled by a loyal and
chivalrous challenge, and the oSsav had a similar issue. Well
might Baillie say, speaking of this very crisis, " The Marquises
ways were yet so ambiguous that no man understood him, only
* Town Council Records.
216 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
his absolute power with the King was oft there clearly seen.*^
Gun, who had cast a slur upon the gay Gordons, by leading
their charge in the safest direction at the turning point of the
battle, was knighted by the sword of the King at Berwick not
many days after ! The staggering fact was immediately followed
by his promotion to the post of a Gentleman of the Bed-chamber.
But these measures of the favourite were too gross, the abuse
of power too palpable, to enable him to retain that tool with
effect in the royal establishment he controlled. Under the
same patronage this favourite of fortune was speedily translated
to Germany, and had no reason to regret the change. There he
could tell his own tale of the bridge of Dee. He married, says
Gt)rdon of Sallagh, '* a rich and noble lady, beside the imperial
city of Uln^, upon the Danube;"' and obtained the rank of
Major-General in the imperial army. In 1648, Traitor Gun
was advanced to the dignity of a Baron of the Empire !
The yet more extraordinary fortunes of another hero of the
Dee may be here shortly noted. Major, or Captain Middleton,
whose well timed charge stormed the bridge of Dee while the
future German baron was running away, was originally a pike-
man in Colonel Hepburn's regiment in France. He never ac-
complished a military feat of higher merit. Moreover, he was
rude in speech, and overbearing in his temper. Mere soldier-
ship, good management, and good luck, raised him to a pinnacle
from which the gross talents and unscrupulous eflSrontery of
Lauderdale scarcely sufficed to displace him. This most for-
tunate of all the soldiers of fortune, adhered to the service of
the Covenant, long after his quondam commander, Montrose,
had seen the error of his ways. He became, indeed, the greatest
of its generals, with the exception of the two Leslies, yet never
performed an exploit or struck a blow that the trump of fame
could echo. His feeble and time-serving efforts in: favour of the
throne, at the eleventh hour, are as unworthy of memory as
they were useless at the time. Having done everything —
throughout the only military career that entitles him even to
the name of a soldier — to deserve hanging at the hands of
Charles the First, he was elevated by Charles the Second, in
consequence of his temporary value as a reclaimed rebel and
political tool, to a seat among the peers of the realm, in 1660,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 217
as Earl of Middleton, Lord of Clermont and Fettercaim. So
famous for nothing, indeed, did he become, that such chroniclers
as Law, Kirkton, and Aubrey, have surrounded his name with
an halo of ghost stories, and miraculous fantasies. Highland
seers foretold his fate, while yet a youth ; and when captive
after the battle of Worcester, the ghost of a friend, or the devil,
appeared to him in prison, read a line or two of his life to come,
and when he had done his message, gave a frisk and said,
" Giovaoni, Giovanni, 'tis very strange
In the world to see so sudden a change/*
Well might Satan say so. On the Restoration, Middleton
was invested with the viceregal office, and reigned King of
Scotland, till Lauderdale dethroned him. It was his strange
fate to preside as such over the royal pageant in Edinburgh
which consigned to hallowed ground the shrivelled head and
scattered limbs of the very hero at whose stirring voice of com-
mand he had sprung with his musketeers against the burghers
of Aberdeen. And when in due time it befell his other quon-
dam commander, Argyle, to perish on the scaffold, John Mid-
dleton was the sovereign to whom the appeal for mercy was
made, and made in vain. It is said that he even spumed with
his foot the Countess of Caithness on her knees, imploring for
the life of her father. It was remembered of him, that after
signing the Covenant, he raised his right arm, sajdng, ^^ that if
he should ever do anything against that blessed day's work, he
wished that arm might be his death.''" When in dignified exile
as Governor of Tangiers, '^ upon a certain time, he proving a
young horse, was cast off by him, and in the fall hurt hunself
exceedingly, so that he sickens and dies of it.'" So records the
Beverend Mr Robert Law. But in " God's Judgments against^
Persecutors,^ it is said to have been a fall down stairs, whereby
was broken the bone of his right arm, which pierced his side ;
upon which follows the comment, " This was the end of one of
those who had brought the Church of Scotland on her knees to
Prelacy." And such were the varied fortunes of him whom the
old ballad thus carelessly notes : —
** His name was Major Middleton,
That nuumed the bridge of Dee.**
218 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
CHAPTER XIII.
NARRATIVE OF EVENTS WHICH PLACED MONTROSE IN OPPOSITION TO THE
COVENANTERS — RENEWAL OP FACTIOUS PROCEEDINGS — MONTROSE*8
FIRST INTERVIEW WITH THE KING — POPULAR IDEA THAT HE WAS THEN
GAINED OVER, NOT HISTORY — LORD MAHON AND BISHOP GUTHRIE —
MONTROSE'S OPPOSITION TO THE COVENANTERS IN 1639 — HIS OWN
STATEMENT OF THE CASE — PRINCIPAL BAILLIE'S OPINION OF THE
MOVEMENT — THE EARL OF AIRTH's REPORT TO THE JONG — MONTROSB'S
first correspondence with the king — scene between rothes
and the lord advocate— montrose renews his opposition in the
parliament of 1640— his collision with aroyle in the oppres- '
srve measures against the house of airlie — argyle^s commission
of fire and sword — impeaches montrose for his conduct at
airlie — montrose exonerated — proceedings of arqyle under
his commission — its oppressive powers — terms of the act of
exoneration for his exercise of those powers — ^abuss of the
king's name.
After the pacification of Berwick, " those that loved peace,''
says Bishop Guthrie, " were filled with hope that our troubles
were ended ; but that was soon checked by an accident which
fell out upon the 2d of July, and imported that the Covenanters
meant not to sist there ; for that day the Lord Treasurer, with
my Lord EinnouU and General Ruthven, coming in coach from
the Castle through the High Street of Edinburgh, the dkvout
mves^ who at first put life in the cause, did now, when it was
in danger to be buried, restore it again, by invading them and
throwing stones at them.. That this breach of the pacification
had private allowance few doubted, in that those women used
not to run unsent." '
They who feel interested so to do, are apt to treat such con-
temporary records as mere party calumny. But the above is
most substantially corroborated by that anonymous letter, ad-
dressed to the Procurator of the Kirk, in which it is recom-
mended secretly to organize some such tumults against the
bishops, ^* that, in a private way, somd course may be taken
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 219
for their terror and disgrace if they offer to show themselves
publicly.'*^ ^ The particulars of this last commotion are given
by Baillie, in a letter t6 Spang, dated 28tE September 1 639, in
these words : — ** The people of Edinburgh, being provoked by
the insolent and trimnphant behaviour of that unhappy ^park,
Aboyne, who — ^yet reeking from our blood in the north/would
rattle in his open coach through their causey — made an onset
\ upon him, and well near had done him violence.*" Such was the
shape in which events of the kind were usually recorded by this
author, a Clarendon worthy of the Covenant. The same clergy-
man who condemns Montrose for not giving up Aberdeen to
fire and sword, speaks of the defeated Aboyne, who can scarcely
be said to have drawn blood at all, and whom Traitor Gun had
induced to run away, as one " reeking from our blood in the
north^^^ and justifies the attempt upon his life by what he calls
the provocation to the people of Edinburgh, in the circumstance '
of his driving in his carriage through their streets, after all '
parties professed to be reconciled by the pacification. Even
' the diary of his Majesty^s Advocate does not confirm the view
which Baillie has taken of this incident. Sir Thomas Hope
states, that upon the 1st of July 1639 there was a great meet-
ing of the council, at which the Assembly was indicted for the
12th of August ; and that, when it was proclaimed, ^' the
noblemen protested against the naming of Archbishops and
Bishops.**' Immediately follows, and without further comment :
— " On 3d July, Wednesday, was the tumult of women in Edin-
burgh, who invaded the Lord Treasurer, Earl Einnoull, and
Lord Abojme, m their coaches."
His Majesty had intended to hold this conciliatory Parlia-
ment and Assembly in person. Early in July, notes the Advo-
cate in his diary, " these three noblemen, viz. Earl of Dunferm-
line, Lord Lindsay, and Lord Loudon, went to his Majesty to
give answer to some articles ; but his Majesty desired others to
come to court, whereof the Earl of Bothes, Earl of Montrose,
Earl of Lothian, were those who went, about the 1 8th July,
and returned to fetch with them the remainder.**' When these
influential nobles were with the King, he commanded them to
> See before, p. 131.
220 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
send instantly for Argyle, Cassilis, Lindsay, and the rest of the
most forward of the popular faction. These, says Guthrie, ac-
cordingly " prepared as if they intended to go, but had it so
contrived, that when they came to the Watergate to take
horse, multitudes were convened there to stop them, upon pre-
tence that if they went they would be detained. And so it
resolved in this, that the Lord Loudon should write an excuse
to the King, which came to his hand the nineteenth day, but
was not well taken. Upon the morrow, those that were already
with the King obtained dismission, upon promise that they
should return and bring up the rest with them.*" Charles was
so annoyed by these factious proceedings, as to forego his
intention of holding the Parliament of Scotland in person.
" This day, 26th July 1639,'' notes the Advocate, " word oame
that his Majesty resolved suddenly to go to London, and took
journey on Monday the 29th July.*" The King himself, in his
Declaration published in the following year, states the reason :
— " One of the greatest discouragements we had from going
thither was the refusal of such lords, and others of that nation,
whom we sent for to come to us to Berwick, by which disobe-
dience they manifestly discovered their distrust of us ; and it
cannot be thought reasonable that we should trust our person
with those that distrusted us, after so many arguments and
assurances of our goodness toward them."'
Immediately followed the crisis at which Montrose began
consistently to evince that respect for the sovereign and his
prerogatives which soon placed him in decided opposition to
the Covenant. It would be a poor defence for him who laid
down his life for his loyalty, to say that he was altogether
unmoved by his interview at Berwick with Charles, whose
kingly presence and noble aspect were never so imposing as
when he was beset by difficulties and danger.* It may be
conceded that he felt his heart yearn towards his sovereign,
and that he departed from that interview under feelings of
admiration, mingled with regret. But there were more rational
i Baillie, in the midst of all the excitement of the rebellion, thus speaks of
Charles 1. : ** His Majesty was ever the longer the better loved of all that heard
him, as one of the most just, reasonable, swoet persons they ever had seen."
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 221
and substantial grounds for his growing opposition to the Co-
venant than most historians have given him credit for.
The General Assembly of 1639 met on the 12th of August/
the Earl of Traquair being commissioner. All the irrational
accusations confounding Episcopacy with Popery, were now
more boldly stated and vehemently pressed. Upon this occa-
sion the original demands of the Covenanters were far exceeded.
Episcopacy was formally condemned as a thing unlawful in itself,
and " contrary to the word of God.**' Not only was King
Jameses establishment of the church overturned, but there was
then forced upon the Commissioner, and upon the Privy Coun-
cil, an ordinance for imposing the Covenant, which even the
historian of the Church of Scotland condemns as an act to be
^' abhorred ;'^ as ^' a deviation from the tolerant spirit of pure
religion;**^ as, "in fact, an engine of severe persecution.^* TPhe
Parliament, which eventually ratified these proceedings, met on
the 31st of the same month. The exclusion of the Bishops had
expunged one of the estates of the kingdom, and the whole
frame of the legislature was consequently deranged. A .crisis
so violent could not fail to open the eyes of many. Moreover,
a most determined attack was now made upon the prerogatives
of the Crown. This was the circumstance which attracted the
attention of Montrose, and arrested his progress in that down- /
ward path. The control of the mint — the command of the ,
strongholds — the dispensing of honours, offices of state, and '
jurisdictions — the regulating precedency — all these, it was now f/
proposed, should be transferred as privileges to the Parliament. '^^
Such was the state of matters to which Bishop Guthrie alludes
when, in reference to this Parliament, he says, " The leaders of
the cause had farther projects, and, instead of rising, proposed
a number of new motions concerning the constitution of Par-
liaments, and other things never treated on before, whereanent
the Commissioner told them he had no instructions. Montrose
argued somewhat against these motions ; for which the zealots be-
came suspiciotts of him, that the King had turned him at his
being with his Majesty at Berwick ; yet they seemed to take
little notice thereof; only the vulgar, whom they used to hound
1 Dr Cook, vol. ii. pp. 501, 502.
222 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
out, whispered in the streets to his prejudice ; and the next
morning he found affixed upon his chamber door a paper with
these words written in it : Inmctus armis^ verbis mneiturr^
This classical mode of conveying the calumny was a compli-
ment to the valour and accomplishments of our hero. Whoever
may have affixed it to his door, the mode of reproof, it is clear,
was no conception of the vulgar. And that Montrose, at this
crisis, had made the stand which the reverend chronicler here
records, and the principle upon which he did so, we are now
enabled to place beyond doubt or question. '^ It pleased God,**"
says Montrose himself, speaking of the Assembly of 1689, ^' that
the King's Majesty, being informed of the lawfulness of our pro-
ceedings, and honest intentions, for the most part was graciously
pleased to accept of our petitions, and grant us a lawful General
Assembly, to be held at Edinbiurgh, wherein the Acts of the
' Lord Mahon, in a flatteriBg abetracty written, however, eumnU ealamo^ of the
former edition of onr Life of Montroa^, (Quarterly Review, No. clviL, Deo. 1846,
ToL budz. p. 6 ; published afterwards in a volume of critical eaaays), has this,
among a few other somewhat rash objections : —
« We altogether disbelieve a story told by Bishop Guthrie, and repeated by llr
Napier without objection, that Montrose at this time found aflSzed to his chamber-
door a paper with the words invietus armii, verhii mneitur: Such an inscription is
dearly firamed on a view of Montrose's later exploits ; in 1639 he had yet done
nothing to deserve the high compliment invietut armii.*'
This is rather summary dealing with a very precise historical fact, resting on
contemporary authority. Of course we repeated the story without objection, and we
venture to do so still. There is some little confusion of ideas in the criticism. Mon-
trbse,in 1 639,had done quite enough to account for the inscription, whether he cUs^rred
it or not. The accomplished reviewer overlooks the fact that it was a eotenanting
compliment, and that Montrose in arms for the Covenant had been constantly suc-
cessful. The battle of the bridge of Dee was thought a great affair at the time. On
the other hand, no one could have known better than the Rev. Henry Guthrie, then
a clergyman of the Covenant, in whose contemporary MS. the anecdote is preserved,
that the inscription, terbis rinoUur, could only have application to Montrose's inter-
view with the King at Berwick in 1639. Does Lord Mahon, in the nineteenth cen-
tury, profess to correct a confusion, on such a subject, in the mind of the minister
of Stirling, of the time ! Or, having in his own mind some vague and ill-founded
notions that Guthrie is a prejudiced chronicler not to be trusted, does he mean to
affix the stamp of a deliberate untruth to this inconsequential anecdote f This
clergyman was personally on the most intimate terms with Montrose. The noto-
riety of the circumstance alone could have induced him to record it. The idea that
he had done so while thinking of Montrose's subsequent victories in support of the
Throne, or that he had wilfully invented it, is a strong wink in the noble reviewer's
literary and historical acumen.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 223
Assembly of Glasgow were ratified, without so much as a show
of opposition by his Majesty^s Commissioner, conform to the
conference and capitulation at the camp of Berwick. iBut the
members of the said Parliament (of 1 639) some of them having
far designs unknown to us^ others of them having found the
sweetness of government^ were pleased to refuse the ratification
of the Acts of Assembly, with the abjuration of Episcopacy,
and Court of High Conunission introduced by the Prelates,
wnUss they had the whole alleged liberty due to the subject ;
which was in fact intrenching upon authority^ and the total abro-
gation of his Majesty's royal prerogative ; whereby the King's
Commissioner was constrained to rise and discharge the Par-
liament, and was urged to levy new forces to suppress their
unlawful desires.''^
Considering what Traquair had now yielded, even against
the inclination and conscience of the King, well might Mon-
trose take his stand here against the revolutionary movement.
He had no idea of reasoning himself into a perpetual motion of
democracy, after the fashion of the Eeverend Principal Baillie,
whose own conscience always went to the wall in every struggle
with it. ^^ If God,'' says the latter, *^ be pleased to bring upon
us the year of our visitation^ the Devil could never have invented
so pregnant a means, and ruin this while, one and all, from the
prince to the ploughman. For will the prince, at the clergy's
desire, go on in violence to press their course, the mischiefs are
present, horrible, in a clap ! — Will he relent, and give way to
our supplications, the danger is not yet passed ! — We wot not
where to stand ! — When the book of canons and service are burnt
and away, when the high commission is down, when the articles
of Perth are made free, when the Bishops' authority is hemmed
in with never so many laws, this makes us not secure from their
future danger. So, whatever the Prince grants, I fear we press
more than he can grant ; and when we are fully satisfied, it is
likely England wiU begin where we have left offr In these sen-
1 Montrose's Defence, and Remonstrance to the Country, 1 645. This important
and interesting document, only recently discovered, was printed in our <' Memorials
of Montroee and his Times," edited for the MaiUand Oub, 1850.~See vol. i. p. 315.
We shall frequently hare occasion to refer to this most authentic illustration of
Montrose's motives of action.
224. LIFE OF MONTROSE.
tences how accurately has Baillie epitomized the history of his
party. The career of the Covenant was a succession of increasing
demands, urged upon the principle, that the moment the pres-
sure was removed, the recoil might be fatal to some of the fac-
tion ; till at length the Covenanters considered it essential, not
to the happiness of the country and stability of the constitution,
though that was the pretext, but to their own existence and in-
dividual safety, that England should begin where they, however,
did not leave off.
" The King,**^ says Sir Walter Scott, following the popular
version, " had long observed that Montrose was dissatisfied
with the party to which he had hitherto adhered, and found no
difficulty in engaging his services for the future in the royal
cause.'*^^ This is too sununary a mode of dealing with his mo-
tives. It reduces him to the level of a mere time-serving poli-
tical adventurer. But the King, at the treaty of Berwick, nei-
ther ^^ engaged the services'^ of his future champion, nor made
any exertion to do so. Let us turn from the pages of history,
to those secret missives which are ever and anon emerging, from
the dust of private archives, to tell us the truth of history afber
history has been written.
It was in the month of July 1639 that Montrose, by special
command, along with others, had a public interview with the
King at Berwick. The grand result of the General Assembly,
which immediately followed these hollow negotiations, we may
give in the words of the Lord Advocate, who notes in his diary
as follows : —
"17 August 1 639, Saturday. — This day the Assembly, which
began at Edinburgh on Monday the 12th August, closed the
point of Episcopacy, and declared it walauful^ and contrary to
^ Tales of a Grandfather, vol. i. p. 421. Edit i 836. Malcolm Laing, in that con-
ventional amble of his high hlBtorical steed, to which he paid more attention than to
minute historical &cts, puts it thus :— « Impatient of a superior, and consdous of
military talents unmarked by his countrymen, Montrose was unable to brook the
pre-eminence of Argyle in the senate, or of Lesly in the field : Hb expectations
of the supreme command were disappointed ; and, Originai, Montrose Cliarter-room.
228 LIFE OP MONTROSE.
milton collection of state papers and historical muniments. It
will be read with interest, as demonstrating the dignified and
unimpeachable character of the earliest correspondence between
Montrose and Charles the First.
" Most Sacred Sovereign,
" According to your Majesty^s commandments, which you
were graciously pleased to honour me withal, and my own
bounden duty and inclination to your Majesty'^s service, I was
straight parting — although your Majesty's pleasure was not so
pressing — to have found your Majesty as you had commanded.
Which coming to be here known, did so put aloft the minds of
most part — being still iSlled with their usual and wonted jealou-
sies — that I could expect nothing but more peremptory resolu-
tions nor (than) is fit to trouble your Majesty withal ; or me,
in thinking to do your Majesty service, to have occasioned.
And, — knowing your Majesty ''s intention did still tend towards
the best settlement and accommodation of all these difficulties
in this your Majesty's kingdom, according to your Majesty's
gracious goodness and accustomed justice, — I chose rather, be-
fore matters should have been made worse and the gap enlarged
by my means, to crave your Majesty's humble pardon for my
stay, and make you acquainted with the necessities for it:
hoping your Majesty will do me the honour to think that this
is no shift, — ^for all of that kind is too much contrary to my
humour, chiefly in what your Majesty or your service is con-
cerned in, — but that, as I have ever been bold to avow, there
are no thin^ your Majesty shall be pleased to command me in
— ^persuading myself they will be stiU such as befits, and do suit
with all most incumbent duties — that I shall not think myself
bom to perform as
^' Your Majesty's most loyal and faithful
*' subject and servant,
" Montrose."
'' Edinburgh, 26 December 1639.
" To the King's Most Excellent Majesty ."i
> Original^ Hamilton Charter-room. This important letter^ now first published,
was most courteously communicated to me by the late Duke of Hamilton, along
with Bome other doeumentSy from the Hamilton papers, in 1849.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 229
Had Montrose, according to the popular version of his sepa-
ration from the Covenanters, been seduced by the King at Ber-
wick, he would have seized this most auspicious moment for the
consummation of his self-interested policy. But conscientiously
struggling, as he now was, to reconcile his patriotic views as a
covenanter with that veneration for the Monarchy which the
Covenant itself professed, and which he had ever truly at heart,
he respectfully declined the mandate of his Sovereign, with a
dignity of expression, and sincerity of feeling, which the accom-
plished and christian King could not fail to appreciate. And
now indeed we may suppose Charles to have inwardly exclaimed,
in the words of his favourite poet, —
' for a falconer^s voice,
To lure this tassel-gentle back agam P
Nor were the leaders of the democratic faction ignorant of
the summons which our hero had received, or of the fact that
he had not obeyed it. Johnston of Warriston, whose vocation
it was, at every crisis that promised peace, to apply the high-
est pressure to the movement, now takes in hand his young
chief, Lord Johnston, and in a letter composed of fanaticism,
cajoling, and bullying, vehemently urges him not to remain a
quiescent spectator of the fearful revolution, as he had hitherto
been, but to join heart and hand with the faction of Argyle and
the Kirk. Especially he entreats him to abstain from Court ;
and he thus makes his own use, and gives his own version, of
the determination of Montrose : —
*' Rather do nobly, as my noble Lord of Montrose has done;
who, having received a letter from the King himself to go up
with diligence to his Court, convened some of the nobility,
shewed unto them both his particular affairs and the King^s
command, and then, according to his covenant of following the
common resolution, and eschewing all appearances of divisive
motion, nobly has resolved to follow their counsel, and has gone
home to his own house, and will not go to Court at all.^** ^
1 From a transcript among the Wodrow manuscripts in the Adyocates' Library,
endorsed in Warriaton's own band, ^ Cop je of my letter to Lord Johnston, 2d Jannar
1640, befor his court Toyage, for oonstancie in the cause." Lord Hailes, in his his-
torical " Memorials," has printed a portion of this letter ; but an error committed
^30 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Then the father of the Covenant himself, whose ^' canniness/"
as Baillie assures us, had '^ brought in"" Montrose, was becoming
much less canny ^ in a cause which had not yet brought him that
wealth and aggrandizement which he soon had an opportunity
of proving were the motives of his agitation. At this same
crisis, between the prorogation of the Parliament in 1 639, and
its re-assembling in 1640, his violence was such as not a little
to alarm even the Lord Advocate ; in a private interview with
whom, he so completely exposed his cards, as to cause that ano-
malous and grotesque functionary to relieve his agitated mind,
by noting the instructive interview in his private diary. Bothes
was intensely jealous of Traquair s present elevation, and very
irate at the manner in which that trimming and uncertain
statesman had excused himself to the King, at the expense of
Kothes and his coadjutors. The following scene has not en-
tered history.
Upon Tuesday, 14th January 1640, between eight and nine
in the morning, the Earl of Rothes came to the Lord Advocate'^s
chamber, and after mentioning that he had received a letter in
favour of one George Gumming, pursued as a criminal, he thus
entered upon the real object of his visit : —
" And thereafter he (Rothes) showed me a trinkett of paper,
which he said he had drawn furth of a letter from England,
from a good hand, which he read to this sense : ' I am sorry to
write that there is a slap to come on the Advocate like as came
the last year upon the Earl of Argyle, to draw up super inqui-
rendis ; ^ and therefore, if you have any interest in him, bid him
beware of himself.'
" My answer was : — ' My Lord, I care for nothing. I rest
upon the Lord. Only I wish that God direct you who are
noblemen, and that ye, on oath, seek the main point, — which
by the original traoscriber had misled Hailes into giving 2d January 1639 as the
date of the letter, which does not agree with the contents. He had not observed
that the endorsation by Warriston gives the actual date, as above. Hailes' Memo-
rials are unfortunately replete with blunders of transcription, which render them
very unsafe for reference.
* See before, p. 110, where " Super Inquirendis" is explained in Lord Napier *s
note of a conversation with Charles I. This indicates the secret intelligence which
the covenanting faction kept up with the faction in England.
LIFE OF MONTBOSB. 231
is, God's truth to he ratified^^ — and let the rest come as the Lord
" He subjoined, — ' That swinger, the Treasurer, has so
calumniated the whole estates to his Majesty, that albeit his
Majesty wotdd ratify all the actSj we will not close till we get
justice upon the traitor : And, if we get justice, we shall raze
him out of the earth ; and if it be denied, and there be war, we
shall sweep his memory furth of the land, and ye shall be fully
revenged upon him.'^
" I answered, — ' My Lord, for God's cause let not revenge
against him move you to neglect God's cause ; and, for my re-
venge, I leave it to God*'
" He answered,—' We have got full intelligence that the
King will never quit Bishops, but will have them in again/
" I answered, — ' My Lord, let no reports move you, but do
your duty. Put his Majesty to it, and, if it be refused, then
you are wytless (blameless). But if, on these reports, ye press
civil points, his Majesty will make all Protestant Princes see
that you have not religion for your end, but the bearing doum of
monarchy.''
" With this I convoyed him to the yett (gate), and I said, —
* For God his cause, my Lord, have a care for ratifying religion ;
and let me be put to an essay in that, and ye shall see what I
shall do or suffer for it.'
" He answered, — * We never doubted of you in that ; but ye
have been far out of the voay^ this time bygone, and we had never
a thought to do you wrong.'
" I answered, — ' I am more moved by one of your hard words
nor (than) with all the prejudice can be done to me ; and for
ciml points, look neoer to have me to go with you^ "
But, having thus nailed his colours to the mast of his own
fanaticism, the Lord Advocate of Charles the First was as eflS-
oient a tool for the purpose of " bearing down the monarchy,"
as if he Went as far in '' civil points'' as the wildest son of
' i, e. The Acts of Assembly declaring Episcopacy a thing unlawful in itself, and
contrary to God's word. This doctrine the Advocate identified with << God's truth.'*
* This refers to a fracas which had recently occurred between the Advocate and
the Commissioner. See note to p* 233.
232 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
democracy could desire. It was not, however, his irrational
intolerance, that rendered the conduct of Sir Thomas Hope so
little worthy of respect. The worldly and time-serving spirit^
with which he clung to the office of ^* his Majesty'^s Advocate
for his Majesty^s interest,^^ and struggled to promote his own
interests and that of his sons with the King, while using the
whole of this court influence as a destructive lever against the
Throne, graduaUy brought his character into that disregard
which even his covenanting coadjutors were not slow to evince,
and to record. The great official who contrasts himself, in
the above scene, so favourably with the free-spoken, reckless
Bothes, scarcely retains that moral dignity in the pages of his
clerical friend, the Beverend Robert BaiUie. Three years there-
after, when actually representing his Sovereign, as Commissioner
to the General Assembly which decreed the Solemn League and
Covenant, the old and sapient jurisconsult (his real and only
merit as a public character) is thus shewn up to that recording
angel the reverend author of Historia Motuum : — *' The Mo-
derator and Argyle did so always overawe his Grace, that he
made us not great trouble.'^ — *' He was so mee^ and so well
dealt with by his two sons^ that he resolved to say nothing to the
Church or Country's prejudice.""
Yet, with all his plausibility, and the great advantage to him
of the confusion of the times, he frequently fell under suspicion,
and sometimes into disgrace. At the crisis of 1640, he had been
ordered to confine himself to his own house of Craighall, " upon
pretence,'^ says Burnet, " of some petty malversation in office,
but really because of his adhering to the Covenanters too much.'"
This last not being the most faithful of chroniclers, when the
Advocate"*s own diary comes to light, in the present day, we
turn with some interest to that, in order to see what he himself
says of the matter. Mighty little. Without comment, defen-
sive or ofiensive, he records the fact of having been ordered to
rusticate by his royal master — ^that he obeyed it, by retiring to
Craighall, and refers mysteriously to *' the remission of James
Grant,"^ as the cause. It is remarkable that he receives the
alarming command on the evening of the day of his ominous
conversation with Bothes. It was '^ the slap,^^ the coming
event, with an exaggerated intimation of which the mercurial
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 233
Earl had endeavoured to spur on the lagging official. That he
was under suspicion at the time, we now also learn from Airth'^s
report to the King, in that same letter, dated shortly before, in
which honourable mention is made of the growing conservatism
of Montrose : —
** Your Majesty,'" he writes, " commanded me to have a
watchful eye over the actions of an officer of state here. I doubt
not your Majesty doth remember of the man — and I have looked
unto him ; although they have need of many eyes who can well
find out his ways : I do only perceive this much, that the Com-
missioner doth communicate to that man, and other two, in
private^ all the affairs ; and the others are thereafter called to
This worthy, however, was not condemned to his otium cum
indignitate for a long period.- When Traquair obtained his
conmiission, under the great seal, to hold the Scotch Parlia-
ment, which had been prorogued to the month of June 1640,
another conunission, under the quarter seal, was issued to Lord
Elphinstone, Lord Napier, the Lord Justice-Clerk, and the
Lord Advocate, authorising any three of them to act m Tra-
quair's absence, but upon " his order." When the diet arrived,
however, it found Scotland still in open and armed rebellion.
Traquair himself had been nearly murdered on the streets of
Edinburgh when last there. So Charles did not choose to send
down his High Commissioner to run such risks, or to have his
' There can be no doubt that this refers to Sir Thomas Hope. Argyle was not
an officer of state, nor would the £arl of Airth have referred in such slighting terms
to that great potentate. From the Advocate's own diary we learn that he was con-
sulted at the time by Traquair, and that a month later than the date of Airth's let-
ter, they had a stormy quarrel (to which Rothes also alludes in his subsequent con-
Tersation), which Sir Thomas thus notes : « 16th October 1639, Wednesday.— This
day I went~to the Abbey, at seven hours in the morning, and there the Commis-
sioner asked my opinion anent the act of Mensal Kirks, which I told in presence of
Sir Lues Stewart, and reported to the Marquis of Huntly first, and then to the Lord
Privy Seal. But when the matter was brought in dispute this day before noon, the
Moderator, and Commisnoners of the Kirk being present in a very great number,
without any occasion offered by me, broke out violently in these speeches : * By
Ood, this tnan caret not vhat he tpealu ; for he speaks one thing to me pritately, and
eten note in my ear, and another thing publiclg, he is so impudent,' Whereunto I
made answer, and appealed to Sir Lues Stewart, who heard ns in the morning, and
also to the Lord Privy Seal, and Marquis of Huntly, who supervened after.''
234 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
memory erased from the face of the earth, as Lord Rothes
phrased it. Meanwhile, therefore, he transmitted a command
to the Justice-Clerk to take the Lord Advocate along with him,
and prorogate the Parliament, by virtue of the sub-commission.
Burnet says that the King's Advocate " was glad both of being
delivered from his disgrace, and for being honoured with the
employment;'^ and that, when Parliament was convened, he
moved Lord Elphinstone, as first named in the commission, to
go up with them to the throne and execute the King's com-
mand. That nobleman, however, required to see Traquair's
order. Hope urged the royal mandate as paramount; but
Elphinstone would not depart from the letter of his commis-
sion. He then turned to Lord Napier, for aid in this emer-
gency ; but he also was far too precise and punctilious in all
such matters, to be guided by anything but the terms of his
own commission. The result was, that the Covenanting Par-
liament of June 164fO, determined to sit without the royal
authority at all ; and they forthwith elected Lord Burleigh, a
creature of Argyle's, to be their President.
But is this a Parliament at all ! Are we not pronouncing the
throne of Scotland vacant I These were questions which could
not fail to obtrude themselves, and which accordingly occa-
sioned an excited discussion at the outset of their proceedings.
The leaders who undertook to silence these mutterings of the
constitutional conscience, were Argyle, Rothes, Balmerino, and
the notorious Procurator of the Kirk (a future peer in Crom-
well's Parliament), Archibald Johnston. This last was parti-
cularly anxious for the sitting of a Parliament, one statute of
which decreed him a thousand marks yearly for his services.
Their trenchant argument was thus summed up : It is less un-
lawful for us simply to vote Lord Burleigh into the chair, than
to declare King Charles no longer on the throne, — distinctly
implying that there was no other alternative. Of the great
majority of the nobility and gentry in this Convention, who in
their hearts preferred the sovereignty of Charles to the dicta-
torship of Argyle, one man alone gave this impudent reasoning
its proper name. They appear for the most part to have been
swayed to and fro by the violence of the movement, like drunken
men. Montrose grew steadier as the storm increased, and his
LIF£ OF MONTROSE. 235
vision clearer. In the last Parliament he had made himself
conspicuous by defending the prerogative, while he adhered to
the Covenant. And now again he rose to grapple with these
gigantic demagogues, the most powerful debaters, as they were
the most virulent and unscrupulous agitators of the day. Fear-
lessly he answered their argument, denied its logic, and dis-
tinctly cried treason. That our hero had so acted upon this
memorable occasion, is not left to be inferred merely from his
subsequent conduct. Henceforth he was a doomed man in the
hearts of Argyle and Warriston. As for Balmerino, he was but
an old worn out stalking-horse of sedition. Then the pace was
killing Rothes. This Earl had led off at score ; but the Dictator
had passed him, and the Procurator was challenging him, when
suddenly he bolted, and never came again.^
When Warriston was with the Scotch commissioners in Lon-
don, in 1641, about ten months after the above scene in the
^ We may here take leare of the father of the Covenant. When at Court with
the Scotch Commissioners in 1641, the spirit of his dream had entirely changed.
Even Mr Brodie, an historian of the stamp to describe Montrose as one << bloated
with iniquity,'' remarks of Rothes, — ^^ An offer of a place in the Bed-chamber, and
the promise of a great marriage, had so won him, that it is extremely probable, in
spite of his professions to his old friends, a premature death alone rescued him from
the disgrace of apostacy." In 1638 his '* professions to his friends*' were couched
in these terms : '< But God hath a great work to do here, as will be shortly seen,
and men be judged by what is passed." In 1640 his professions to the Lord Ad-
vocate were, that no concessions of the King, in favour of what they called religion
and liberties, would satisfy him, or stay his agitation against the monarchy, unless
he obtained ^ justice on Traquair," which he explained to mean erasing the very
memory of him from the face of the earth. But in 1 641, the ^ great work," so far
as he cared for it, had reached its consummation. In that year he writes, in de-
precating and anxious terms, to Archibald Johnston, — <' Prepare the Earl of Argyle,
and Balmerino ; for if I defer to accept the place, times are uncertainy and disposi-
tions. If Argyle and Balmerino be pleated, then you may labour to move Lothian
and Lindsay." And after a miserable attempt to excuse his venal retreat, and
thrusting in one sentence of his old accustomed cant, he concludes, — ** But this is
an age ot ujijuti censuring " — and so saying, Rothes expired in the odour of '* oanni'
nets,** He became unexpectedly ill on the eve of the King's departure for Scotland,
and died in obscurity at Richmond, 23d August 1641. There is some mystery
attached to his rapid decline, about which his friends were very reserved. Claren-
don alludes to it in doubtful, but deprecating terms, in favour of the deceased, who
could make himself most agreeable as a boon companion. Laud, however, who had
no idea of sparing this Bishop-killer, speaks out in his diary, and declares that he
led so dissolute a life in London as to contract disease, which occasioned his unex-
pected retirement and death at Richmond. We have sometimes thought that when
Mr Brodie used the very odd expression, that Montrose was << bloated with ini-
quity," he must have oonfonnded him with Rothes.
236 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Parliament, he wrote privately to the clique in Edinburgh,
urging them to prepare some impeachment against Montrose,
whom he conjectured to be the author of certain accusations of
high treason, impending over the most conspicuous of their own
number. He further imparts his suspicion that the accusation
rested upon the speeches at the debate on the meeting of Par-
liament in June 1640 ^ and he reminds his correspondents, how,
upon that occasion, ^' Montrose did dispute against Argyle,
Rothes, Balmerino, and myself; because some urged, that, a$
long as we had a King^ we could not sit without him ; and it
was answered, that to do the less was more lawful than todoih$
greater ^'''^
Montrose, however, was not so weak, nor so strong, as to
attempt an impeachment, upon such grounds as expressions
occurring during an excited debate, against the leaders of a
*too triumphant faction. But a variety of incidents, of a more
determined character, which followed that debate in rapid suc-
cession, being the practical commentary on the text of this
Convention, soon impelled him to more active opposition*
These, indeed, were of a nature to leave no doubt on his mind
that the ^^ bearing down of the monarchy^' was the immediate
object of Argyle and the Kirk, while the great proportion of
the bewildered nobility and gentry of Scotland were standing
like stags at gaze. This nefarious intention, pursued under the
mask of religion and liberty, Montrose determined to counter-
mine. But he was constrained to proceed with the utmost
caution. At the risk of his life, he had to work against the
most powerful, and the most unscrupulous, " practising of a
few,"" that ever tyrannised over a nation benumbed. We have
now to trace the steps of his perilous path, until, entirely
shaking off his ugly crysalis the Covenant, our hero emerged
into the full light of loyalty, and staked and lost all, —
" for a King
Upon whose property, and most dear life,
A damned defeat was made.** .
1 Original, from Johnston of Warriston to Hepbnm of Humble, ^th April 1641 ;
Wodrow MSS. So imperfectly had Lord Hailes printed his selections from this
extraordinary secret correspondence, that his print of the above letter breaks off
where the passage in our text commences. He must have employed a bad tran-
scriber.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 237
And this involved period of his story must be unravelled from
a labyrinth of original documents, letters, and secret proceed-
ings of inquisitorial committees, with which even the latest his-
torians of Scotland were altogether unacquainted ; and which
to evolve in due order, and within a limited compass, is no easy
task.
The lawless Parliament of 1640 adjourned from the 11th of
June until the 19th of November, for the purpose of advancing
the war levies. It organized a new constitution for Scotland,
by the appointment of a monster Committee of Estates, one
half of which was to attend the army, and the other to sit at
Edinburgh. This Committee had unlimited powers, and at
once placed Scotland without the pale of the Monarchy. A
very distinct and curious account of the new government we
may here extract from the manuscript of the parson of Rothie-
may: —
" It will not be amiss to give some account of the Committee
of Estates, and their power, as it was specified in this Parlia-
ment; because in the following year this new representative
had the power of kings and parliaments engrossed in their per-
sons and judicatories. The members of it were noblemen, —
Bothes, Montrose^ Cassils, Wigton^ Dumfermline, Lothian, —
Earls : For Lords were, Lindsay, Balmerino, Couper, Burleigh,
Napier^ Lower: Lords of Session were, Lord Diiry, Lord Craig-
hall, Lord Scotstarvet : Then followed Sir Thomas Nicholson of
Camock, lawyer, Sir Patrick Hepburn of Wachton, Sir David
Hume of Wedderbum, Sir George Stirling of Keir^ Sir Patrick
Murray of Elibank, Sir Patrick Hamilton of Little Preston,
Sir William Cunningham of Caprington, Sir William Douglas
of Cavers, James Chamber of Gadgirth, Sir Thomas Hope of
Kerse,^ Drummond ofBiccarton^ Laird of Lesley, Forbes, Mr
George Dundas of Manner, John Smith, burgess of Edinburgh,
Thomas Paterson, taylor, Richard Maxwell, sadler in Edin-
burgh, William Hamilton, burgess of Lithgow, Mr Alexander
Wedderbum, clerk of Dundee, George Porterfield, bailie of
Glasgow, Hugh Kennedy, bailie of Ayr, John Rutherfurd, pro-
' The Lord Adyoeate's seeond son.
238 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
vost of Jedburgh, Mr Alexander Jafiray, burgess of Aberdeen,
in his absence, James Sword, burgess of St Andrews, and James
Scot, burgess of Montrose. These were a mixed multitude;
many heads here, but few statesmen, though all nominated to
sit at the helm. Some of these loere knoum to favour the King ; *
yet were nominated either to unmask them, or to debauch them
by their concurrence against him ; others added for their insuf-
ficiency, as knowing that they bore a zeal to the cause without
knowledge ; so the fitter for their ends ; they were added as
ciphers to the few digital statesmen who sat here, to make up
number, and for the greater authority ; and mainly to delude
the simple ignorants, by making them believe that they had
power and authority, when indeed they had but the name and
others the svoay. These were added, and augmented, and changed,
or turned off, as the few ringleaders saw occasion in the follow-
ing years, or as they found them faithful and forward, or growing
cold or slack ; and before the year turned round there intervened
a foul rupture and schism amongst the principal members of
this Committee. One thing was much remarked here by all
men, that it shewed much modesty and self-denial in Argyle to
be contented not to be preferred to this high honour. But all
saw he was major potestas ; and though not formally a member,
yet all knew that it was his influence that gave being, life, and
motion to these new-modelled governors ; and not a few thought
that this junto was his invention. If it were so or not, I deter-
mine not. A reason why he was not nominated, was his absence
at this time in the Highlands, and his being employed much of
this summer in waiting upon the supposed invasion of Strafibrd^'s
army. Yet there was a door left open for him to enter the Com-
mittee whenever he pleased, both as an officer of the army, and
upon the call of the Committee. For they had power to call
any they pleased to assist them ; so, albeit he was not nomi-
nated, yet he was included in the State Committee."
That the above is a true account of this Committee, whereof
a clique usurped every function of government, and, by means
of the lurking power of Argyle, and the factious abilities
of a few others, commanded the Parliament of which they
1 I have marked with Italics the names of those who were certainly of MontroseVi
party, and may be termed eoMertatite,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 239
professed to be the organ, will be amply proved even by the
history of their proceedings against Montrose, to be presently
unfolded.
While it was thus permitted to the potentate, Argyle, to
wield the whole power of this unconstitutional Committee, al-
though not placed upon it — a position which seemed to recog-
nise him for Dictator already — Montrose could by no means
evade an honour which was thrust upon him for the purpose of
paralysing his opposition. Some loyal noblemen, indeed, such
as the Marquis of Huntly, and Lord Ogiivy (about this time
created Earl of Airlie), never having even signed the Covenant,
could say for themselves that their loyalty was unqualified and
uncontaminated. As the event shewed, that was but an empty
boast. Every nobleman, or distinguished baron, in Scotland,
who from the first took his stand against the democratic move-
ment, and scorned to compromise his position by a single con-
cession, became utterly useless. If he retired to his own do-
mains, sooner or later he was the prey of the faction. If he fled
to the King, as many of them did, his estates were seized, and
his family ruined ; while the fugitive became a burden upon the
distracted and impoverished monarch, as Charles himself pathe-
tically complained. If he quitted his country, the like ruin
pursued his house, and he degenerated into a miserable exile.
Hence, even Huntly, chief of the most chivalrous following in
Scotland, and the highest example of uncompromising, un-
swerving loyalty, was lost to his country, to his King, and to
himself. With just power enough to preserve his life, without
seeking safety in undignified flight, the great Lord of Strath-
bogie, and the Bog of Gicht, never shewed better than a mere
skulker, throughout the whole of the Troubles. His very loyalty
merged in a morbid jealousy of Montrose, whom eventually he
preceded to the scaffold, without having struck a single blow,
in person, for the honour of his house, or the standing of the
throne. This was grinning honour indeed. Lord Airlie, too,
now advanced in years, had fled to the King, with clean hands,
and a most loyal heart. The ruin in which his family and fol-
lowing were immediately involved, we shall presently see. But
his eldest son, now Lord Ogiivy, remained at home to face the
240 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
storm he could not avert ; and although ruin eventually fell on
all, the gallant co-operation of father and son with Montrose,
alone preserved the fame of the House of Airlie, as the heroic
devotion of Lord Gordon did that of Huntly.
The position of Montrose was very diiferent, and far superior.
Never an intriguer for private and petty purposes, with the
secret machinery of the first sordid outbreak of the Troubles,
the grovelling incubation of the Covenant, he had nothing to do.
That famous overture of the clerical opera having been per-
formed, he appears upon the scene as the convert of the
^' canny ^^ Bothes, and of one of his own parish ministers, spe-
cially deputed to " travaiP with him to that eflTect. This in-
deed brought into practical operation his predisposition to con-
demn Episcopal domination in state affairs, and state offices.
It also promoted the growth of those seeds of discontent, and
suspicion, relative to the alleged intention of the King to reduce
his native kingdom to an insignificant province, which had been
sown in his heart by the artful conduct of Hamilton. The ge-
nerous soil having been thus worked upon, we have seen with
what ardour he engaged in the cause ; how his military genius
delighted in the occupation of arms, while the humanity of his
heart tempered the cruelty of his instructions ; how his impe-
tuous disposition would brook no obstacle, while his fearless
and truthful nature openly repudiated the creeping policy of
the Covenant.^ Thus he became involved in the headlong im-
petus of the movement, ere fully aware that the " prime Cove-
nanters" had, to use his own expressions, " far designs unknown
to us.****^ And although, when the scales began to fall from his
eyes, in the Parliaments of 1639 and 1640, it was impossible for
the Coriolanus of the Covenant abruptly to break away from
that unholy alliance, he never for a moment disguised his sen-
timents, or masked his position. When, as we have seen,
Charles I. commanded his presence, after the Parliament of
1639, he neither concealed from the King his desire and inten-
tion to be consistent in support of the national cause, so long
as it was just ; nor from his coadjutors his determination t6
support the Monarchy, against ^' the indirect practising of a
» See before, pp. 157, 158. « See before, p. 228.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. ' 241
few."" He was now placed on the national Committee of Scot-
land, arrayed against the Throne under the power of Argyle
and the Eirk. He was appointed to organize and command
two regiments, drawn from his patrimonial districts, and was
under orders to join the new army with which Leslie was again
commissioned to cross the borders. These employments, doubt-
less, were now most distasteful to him. Yet neither with safety
nor honour could he at this crisis decline. He had already
formally announced to his Sovereign his reasons for declining
to become attached to the Court. Neutrality at home would
have subjected him to persecution ; a safe retreat abroad, to
the upbraidings of his own conscience. But in this qualified ad-
herence to the revolutionary government of Scotland there was
no disguise and no deceit. In two successive Parliaments, he
had publicly supported the prerogatives of the Crown against
the extreme measures of those with whom he was still acting.
And in this Parliament of 1 640, by virtue of which he held his
present appointments, he had given the dominant faction dis-
tinctly to understand his political principles, and the conditions
upon which he condescended to be ofl&cer of theirs. He '* argued
against'^ Argyle, Rothes, Balmerino, and Johnston of Warris-
ton ; and he publicly repudiated the doctrine, that there was
now no other alternative to sapping the foundations of the
Monarchy, but that of effecting its immediate and violent over-
throw. When the Covenanting Government, therefore, still
demanded his presence in their councils and in the field, they
knew from himself the precise value to them of those services.
No public man in Scotland at this time occupied so high a
moral elevation as the maligned ^lontrose.
Yet the prospect before him was dreary enough, and he felt
it to be so. When he sheathed the sword of the Covenant at
the bridge of Dee, the torch of that hallucination of his glory
was extinguished for ever. Unless, to use a more homely phrase,
he were now to cut and run, he had to gird himself for a most
unequal and dangerous struggle with the power of Argyle.
Clarendon, never well informed, and frequently careless in his
record of the complicated state of matters in Scotland, absurdly
enough characterised these two as the Csesar and Pompey of
their country. There is no accuracy in the illustration. It was
16
242 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
not a rivalry of heroic natures at all. It was the opposition of
high and humane principle to an unscrupulous but skulking fe-
rocity — a struggle, in fact, between virtue and vice. Montrose
was fully aware of the jealous enmity which his successful career
and humane conduct in the north had excited against him, in
the minds of such as Argyle and Warriston, and their clerical
whippers-in. He knew that so early as 1639 this clique were
watching their opportunity to effect his destruction ; an object
which, owing to his honest and fearless nature, and high credit
with the country, was not to be accomplished suddenly. This
intention we learn from himself, by that indignant reply which
he made to the monstrous libel prepared against him in 1641,
an abusive farrago of puerile calumnies concocted by Archibald
Johnston, and called an impeachment. Montrose'^s written de-
fence," preserved in the archives of his family, but which has
never entered history, dated at the commencement of the year
1642, concludes with this uncompromising defiance: —
" Then, if there were nothing else but one only, to prove the
baseness and villany of all this libel, and that there is nothing
else in it but abortive lies, hegot by old malice — this may more
than make it appear, that whereas these two or three years ago
they have still had this infamous design ; as J am able to make
record, by noblemen, gentry, and others, amongst the most
famous of all this kingdom : and that all men may be convinced
to think that libel nothing but a rhapsody of forethought vil-
lany, it was boldly promised, ere any of these particulars did fall
owt or occur which they make now the pretence of this imprison-
ment, — that my sword should he taken from my side before two
Before the occurrence of this nefarious prosecution, the nature
and effect of which we shall presently have to record, the vexed
spirit of the future champion of the Throne was longing to de-
part from the hopeless scene of Scotland's ruin and disgrace.
After the Covenanters had crossed the Tweed in 1640, he so
expressed himself to Colonel Cochrane, of whom we shall hear
more anon, in a conversation with that officer at Newcastle. " The
Earl of Montrose," says the Colonel, " told me he was desirous
to follow the wars abroad, and wished the business were settled
at home, that he might employ his talents that way.'' He also
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 243
complained that ^* he was a man envied, and all means were
used to cross him."i
Such, however, was not the destiny of this devoted nobleman,
whose career we have now to follow subsequent to the rising of
the lawless Parliament of 1640.
In fulfilment of the duties of his false position, and under the
orders of General Leslie and the army committee, Montrose
immediately proceeded to levy his regiments, and to suppress
all resistance on the part of the loyal in the shires of Perth and
Angus. His committee or council of war was composed of the
Earl of Kinghorn, Lord Oouper, his own brother-in-law Lord
Carnegie, all of whom commanded regiments of the kirk-mili-
tant, and some others. Their chief opponents in this direction
were the loyal Ogilvys of the braes of Angus. Airlie Castle,
the only strength in the district, had been fortified, and placed
in a posture of defence by the Earl, who then went to seek the
King, leaving his son Lord Ogilvy in command. The Committee
of Estates had ordered that all private dwellings, fortified or
capable of being so, should be reduced, and delivered into the
hands of Government. At a great convocation of the shire of
Angus, along with the covenanting commanders, Montrose was
appointed commissioner to treat, in the name of all the rest,
with Lord Ogilvy for the rendering of Airlie Castle. The dis-
trict was in a state of great excitement and alarm ; but the
terror was not created by Montrose. It had become known
that Argyle, with a numerous army of his Highlanders, was
about to " take order"' with this part of Scotland, from the
braes of Athole to the braes of Angus ; and all turned to the
chief of the Grahams, as the commander in whose hands friends
and foes preferred to be. He was specially requested not to
remove the regiments under his command out of the district,
until Argyle had passed. Baillie informs us, that the peculiar
duty of this last was " to lie about Stirling, in the heart of the
country, to be always ready in subsidies for unexpected acci-
dents, to be a terror to our neutralists^ or but masked friends.'^
' Deposition of CoInCSD MONTROSE TO FRAME HIS CONSBB-
VATIVE BOND AT CUMBERNAULD — PLANS OF ARGTLE TO OBTAIN THK
SOVEREIGN POWER IN SCOTLAND — HIS BOND FOR CANTONING THE
COUNTRY — ATTEMPT TO ENGAGE MONTROSE THEREIN — ^ARGYLE'S PRO-
CEEDINGS IN THE BRAES OF ATHOLE BEFORE HIS RAID AGAINST THE
BRAES OF ANGUS — BREAKS HIS PAROLE TO THE EARL OF ATHOLE AND
OTHERS, WHOM HE MAKES PRISONERS — TREASONABLE PROCEEDINGS AT
THE FORD OFLYON, AND BALLOCH CASTLE — MONTROSE JOINS LESLIE
AT THE BORDER — OBTAINS AN ACT OF EXONERATION FOR HIS CONDUCT
IN ANGUS, IMPEACHED BY ARGTLE — REFUSES TO SIGN THE PRIVATE
BOND APPOINTING ARGYLE TO RULE BENORTH FORTH — HIS OWN AC-
COUNT OF THAT AFFAIR — HIS CONVERSATION ON THE SUBJECT WITH
LORD LINDSAY OF THE BYRES — TREASONABLE COINCIDENCES OF THE
SAME KIND OCCURRING ELSEWHERE — HIS CONSERVATIVE BOND AT
CUMBERNAULD — RETURNS TO THE ARMY ON THE BORDER — IS THE
FIRST TO CROSS TWEED WITH THE ARMY — ^WRITES TO THE KING — FATE
OF HIS LETTER — HIS DEFENCE OF IT — ARGYLE DISCOVERS THE CUM-
BERNAULD BOND— FATE OF THAT CONSERVATIVE MEASURE — POSITION
OF MONTROSE AT THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR 1640, AND THE COMMENCE-
MENT OF 1641.
Although the power and artful management of Argyle had
enabled him to obtain the formal sanction of the Committee of -
Estates to the commission we have just examined, there can be
little doubt that he was the author of it himself. Various plans
for usurping the sovereign sway in Scotland were at this time
cautiously and secretly mooted by the wily chief. He was feel-
ing his way to the theft of a throne with all the art characteristic
of his talents, backed by the powerful aid derived from the com-
plete devotion to his purposes of the most evil spirits of the
Kirk. The first idea started was, that the deposing of the King
should be at once accomplished, by the elevation of Argyle to
be Dictator in Scotland, according to the classic model. So
bold a proposition creating some alarm among the conspirators,
the next whisper was, that there should be '' one General within
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 255
the country, as there was one without the country ;"' the home
department, of course, falling to the share of Argyle. This also
seeming to be rather too large a division of the cake not to meet
with formidable opposition, the plan was so far modified, that
the country was to be ruled by a military Triumvirate^ — one to
command benorth the Forth, and two besouth. But each and
all of these schemes involved the main design, that the sove-
reign power in Scotland was to be taken from King Charles,
and bestowed upon Argyle in one or other of the above forms
of military despotism. The community at large, and, generally
speaking, the Committee of Estates, were ignorant of these pre-
cise propositions and designs ; although indeed that chief and
his coadjutors had endeavoured, in the Parliament of June
1640, dissentiente Montrose, to render the public mind familiar
with the idea of immediately deposing the King. But the head
conspirator was now busy framing a variety of bonds, or na-
tional engagements, without the knowledge or concurrence either
of Parliament oi; Committee, by which the lieges were to swear
fidelity and fealty to him, Argyle, for the sake of what he called
" doing their duty in the public." Matters had been brought
to this pass in Scotland, that there was in reality no govern-
ment at all ; and so the country was a prey to any underplot of
the kind, conceived by the most powerful, and the most unscru-
pulous, for their own private ends.
About the time when Argyle contrived to strengthen his
hands by that outrageous commission of fire and sword, another
commission was framed, privately, under his own direction, for
establishing the military Triumvirate above alluded to. The
manner of its concoction came to be known to Montrose,
through Archibald Campbell, brother to Sir James Campbell
of Lawers, who was present and consulted upon the occasion of
framing this extraordinary document. We shall give the facts
in the words of Montrose himself: — '•
" As for the encantoning of the country, Archibald Campbell
was present at the time when there was a commission drawn up
for the rule benorth Forth ; and, because the Earl of Montrose'^s
interest was in those parts, he was not pleased with it;^ and
* This means that ArchUxild Campbell was not pleased with it. Montrose was
unconscious of any such scheme, until the commission was presented to him some
t»
256 LIFE. OF MONTROSE.
therefore it was written over again, the Earl of Montrose's
name was put in it, and a new meeting appointed to treat upon
it ; and that this was before the Earl of Montrose^s voyage to
the north;' »
" The Earl of Montrose remits the tenor of the bond* to the
Earls of Mar and Gassilis, Archibald Campbell, and Mr Adam
Hepburn ; and, for what his Lordship remembers, the Earl of
Argyle was named in it either absolute General, or Greneral
Commander, and that the noblemen were to be of his com-
mittee."
The effect of such a deed exclusive of Montrose, would just
have been equivalent to a commission of ^^ fire and sword
against his possessions, like what had been procured by the
same stealthy potentate against those of A thole and Airlie.
The suggestion of Archibald Campbell was no doubt very un-
palatable, but could not be resisted either w^ith decency or
safety. Montrose, as we shall presently find, possessed con-
siderable influence with a large section of the nobility, who,
like himself, had accepted military commands in the army now
on the border, but were inclined to qualify and limit their op-
position to the measures of the Court, and their apparent hos-
tility to the King, with those loyal principles upon which our
hero publicly took his stand in the two last Parliaments. The
time afterwardfl for his approbation and signature. Archibald Campbell^ a confi-
dential agent of Argyle, was brother to Sir James Campbell of Lawers, and nnde
to Loudon.
1 Meaning, most probably, Montrose's last trip to Pertlis)iire and Angus, after
the rising of the Parliament in June 1640. The bond or commission in question
could hardly have been framed so early as before his expedition against Aberdeen
in 1639.
s Meaning the commission of. which Archibald Campbell had obtained a modifi-
cation in Montrose's favour/ The noblemen who were eventually named as Argyle's
committee, under this bond or conmiission, appear to have been Mar, Gassilis, and
Montrose ; with whom was joined Adam Hepburn of Humbie, a prime Covenanter
and great committee nutn : he was the confidential correspondent of Warriston,
when this last was agitating with the Scotch Commissioners in England ; See be-
fore, p. 236. The above statement by Montrose is from the original record of his
declaration before a Committee of Estates, when examined on the subject in pre-
sence of Argyle, 27th May 1641. It has been preserved in the Wodrow Collection,
Advocates' Library, and is endorsed, « 27 May 1641, Earl of Montrose's Dedara-
tion anent what passed betwixt his Lordship and Mr Robert Murray;" and is signed
by Balmerino, as president of that committee.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 257
insertion of his name, however, as a party to this new scheme
of dividing Scotland into cantons, Argyle to have the sway be-
north Forth, required to be communicated to himself ; and the
result of that dangerous tampering will presently appear.
This transaction occurred, unknown to Montrose, prior to
his own operations in the shires of Perth and Angus in the
month of June 1640. It was about the middle of that month
when the chief of the Campbells marched with his four thou-
sand claymores to take order, as he called it, with the Stewftrts
of A thole, prior to his vicious raid against the Ogilvys of Angus.
The Earl of Athole, loyal to the heart's core, hastily assembled
what force he could make to oppose the invader, who had en-
camped at the ford of Lyon. This was near Balloch Castle,
now so well known as Taymouth, an ancient seat of the Camp-
bells of Glenorchy. That potent laird himself was one of Ar-
gyle^s ehief captains upon this occasion, along with Mungo
Campbell, younger of Lawers, and Sir Duncan Campbell of
Auehinbreck, which last commanded the body-guard of their
fearful chief. No better captains than these ever wielded the
broadsword, or inspired the pibroch. The loyal Earl to whom
they were opposed, could muster no more than twelve hundred
men of Athole. But with these he bravely took the field, and
encamped over against the Campbells, who were more than
three to one.
Now, Gillespie Gruamach was not a man to avoid fighting
from motives of humanity. He had no distaste for that species
of warfare w hich he termed pursuing his enemies *' in all hostile
maoner with fire and sword, to the utter subduing and rooting
them out of the country.'" But this meant, only when the fighting
portion of the enemy were certainly not at home, and there was
no chance of battle. The very commission upon which he now
stood, which he had procured and framed for himself, directed
that threat as expressly against the Earl of Athole as against
the Earl of Airlie. But now that he had before him, in hostile
array, the chief of the men of Athole, and at such disadvantage,
he declined to cross claymores. He was not ashamed to be seen,
hammer in hand, smashing the carved lintels, cornices, and pillars
' of the " bonnie house of Airlie,'*' sweating at his work like an old
carpenter or mason ; but to find him sword in hand, was what
17
258 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
be never would consent that an enemy should do. Upon the
present occasion, therefore, he first kidnapped his loyal oppo-
nent, and then proceeded to hold treasonable discourses, and
press treasonable bonds.
Sir Patrick Ogilvy of Inchmartin, an ancient branch of the
stock of Airlie, and brother-in-law to the Earl of Athole, hap-
pened to be at Balloch Castle ; and upon Argyle^s assurance to
him that the loyal Earl would be safe to come and free to go at
his pleasure, the latter accompanied Inchmartm to Argyle^s
tent, attended by eight gentlemen of distinction belonging to
the braes of Athole. Among these were Sir Thomas Stewart
younger of Grandtully, and John Stewart younger of Ladywell.
Argyle, it seems, besides the main scheme which he kept in
reserve, waiting for the sanction of Montrose, had his pocket
full of bonds, obligations and engagements of all sorts and
sizes ; the drift being the same throughout, to bind the lieges
in fealty to him, instead of to the Crown.^ This was the ma-
chinery with which he now worked against the gallant loyalists
1 Even with the Kirk and the covenanting government entirely sabsenrient to
him, when the storm raised by the opposition of Montrose to all these transactioiis
was at its height in 1641, Argyle had great difficulty in giving a decent colour to
his own defence against the notorious fact. He produced in defence as many bonds
as he pleased to acknowledge, and no more. Nor were the public ever allowed to
be cognizant of the precise terms even of such bonds as he did produce. He never
ventured to call for or produce the bond or commission to which Montrose's signa-
ture was required. Nor did he attempt to exculpate himself in this manner before
Parliament, but only to a eommiUee consisting of three of his own devoted friends,
Balmerino, Sir Thomas Hope of Kerse (the Advocate's second son), and Edward
Edgar (for the burghs), a mere cypher. Balmerino and Hope were tainted with
the very same imputations against themselves ; and of course they whitewashed
Argyle. But even the partial record of the bonds which Argyle chose to produce,
as having been all pressed by him in Athole, of dates 2d and 3d July 1 640, has a
most suspicious air : —
** 16th June 1641. — The Earl of Argyle produced six bonds, one whereof by the
feuars and tenants of Badenoch, for payment of their duties ; another for doing
their duty in the public ; a third by the men of the Brae of Mar and others, for
doing their duty in the public ; a fourth by the Baron of Broachly and others anent
the public ; a fifth of the Lord Ogilvy's friends anent the public ; and a sixth of the
men of Athole and others for doing their duty in the public ; whereof two of them
are acknowledged by Mr John Stewart to be the bonds mentioned by him in his
deposition Ust May I6i\:*— Original, Wodrow MSS.
This proves at least the extensive dealing of the Earl of Argyle in bonds, pressed
of his own authority upon the lieges in support of " the cause," which cause con-
sidered his Majesty as " the enemy."
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 259
whom he thus held in a hose-net. The Earl of Atbole desired
to return with his followers to his own camp, to consider the
substance of his conference with Argyle. The result must be
given in the words of Bishop Gutjirie, who had the facts from
those who were present, not many months after the event
occurred : —
'' But having passed his inner guards, when they came to the
outward guard they were stopped ; whereupon they returned to
the EarFs tent to complain ; but he replied, ' That his guard
was wiser than himself : he being to lie that night at Glenor-
chy'^s house, it was fit they should go with him and there confer
at length:'* And that compliment being passed, he told them
plainly they were his prisoners ; and when they replied, ' That
they came thither upon his assurance, signified to them by the
Laird of Inchmartin, which they hoped he would not violate,*' —
he answered, ^ That he was not to debate with them thereanent,
but would be accountable for his deportment in that afiS&ir to
those from whom he had his commission:' So, without more
ado, he commanded them to send an order to their people to
disband, which was done ; and they themselves kept that night
as prisoners at Balloch, and next day sent with a convoy to the
Earl of Perth, Stewart of Strathern, requiring him to send them
to Stirling, which he did ; from thence they were conveyed to
Edinburgh, where for some days they were imprisoned, until
they gave assurance of their good behaviour, and then they
were enlarged, and permitted to return home. And as they
were very sensible of the trick which Argyle had put upon them,
in drawing them to his tent upon assurance, and afterwards
flinching from it, so the same wronged his credit exceedingly,
in the judgment of all men that looked indiflbrently upon it,
and made his parole afterwards to be little regarded. But he
cared for none of these things, and so began his march down-
wards to the braes of Angus.'"^
^ There can be no doubt of the accuracy of these details. Not only had both
Montrose and Guthrie the whole history of the affair from the Earl of Athole him-
selfy but Gkithrie was the clergyman who, when the unfortunate John Stewart of
Lady welly whom Argyle brought to the block for his revelations on the subject, was
about to suffer, attended that victim for many hours before his death, and had all
the facts from his dying lips.
260 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
It is well for the loyal and royal Taymouth, that the name
and walls of Balloch Castle have passed away. Those walls
had ears, as the event proved, and well might they be startled
with the sounds they now heard. In one comer was GiUespio
Gruamach discoursing grimly of the reasons for which a King
might be deposed, and giving his version of the inclination of
the Parliament which had just separated, to depose their own.
A cautious epitome of that discourse was noted down by Sir
Thomas Stewart of Grandtully, and by him delivered to Lieute-
nant-Colonel Walter Stewart, for the information of Montrose,
as quoted below.^ In another corner was Archibald Campbell,
busy with Stewart of Ladywell, and bullying him with the threat,
" that if the said Archibald had eight days time, he would get
as much against the Earl of Athole as might endanger his life
and estate, which the Earl of Argyle had in hispociet.^^ Again
was heard '^ another discourse that Argyle spoke at Balloch,
affirming that some of his predecessors were Earls of Athole,
and that, as Athole alleges, Argyle said he was the eighth man
from Robert the Braced Then the retainers'* hall was ringing
with the psalm of a Gaelic bard, the burden of which, when
translated, ran thus : " Glory be to Argyle, because all men see
it is truth — he will enrich us with the spoil of the Sassenach —
> « Th« Earl of Argyle, being in his own tent at the ford of Lyon, dedares that,
he being in Edinburgh at the Parliament (June 1640), it was agitated there whe-
ther or not a Parliament might be holden without the King or his Commissioner :
At last it was zsesolved, by the best divines and lawyers in the kingdom, that a Par-
liament might be holden without either the King or his Commisnoner ; uid that a
King might be deposed, being found guilty of any of these three : The first, Vendx-
tto, 2. Detertio, 3. Inrasio,
** At Edinburgh, 19 June 1641: — Sir Thomas Stewart being questioned in pre-
sence of the Committee, whether this paper was written by himself, and if it was
the paper delivered by him to Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Stewart, declares that
this paper is all written with his own hand, and that it was the same was deUvered
by him to the said Lieutenant-Colonel at their meeting at Edinburgh in winter last.
« T. SriWART."
OrigintU, Wodrow MSS., Advocates* Library. This document was one of the
informations which so completely justify Montrose in having recourse to his Cum-
bernauld bond.
* " Answers to Mr John Stewart's deposition, in so far as the same ooneems the
Earl of Montrose, 28th February 1642.** Origifud MS., Montrose Charter-chest.
The quotations which follow are fW>m the same document, first printed for the Mait-
land Club, in the author's Memorial of Montrose, 1850, vol. ii. p. 475.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 261
he will take the Crown per force — and he will cry King at
Whi;t9vmday\^^ while the common soldiers of his host, those
*' supple fellows with their plaids, targes, and dorlachs,"" lounging
and swaggering about the premises, proclaimed, wherever they
came, that " they were King CampbelTs men^ no more King
SietoarCsr Verily not all the breezes of the Tay, the Tummel,
and the Garry, would have suflSced, even in the course of two
centuries, to purify the place, had its loyal lord not procured
the presence and countenance of a gracious Queen to beam
upon it in modem days.
Montrose having fulfilled his mission in the braes of Angus,
and withal conducted himself towards his opponents there like
a gentleman and a christian, marched, in the month of July
1640, with his contingent to join the army of the Covenant ;
Argyle, as we have seen, immediately thereafter occupying
Airlie Castle. General Leslie was encamped in the neighbour-
hood of Dunso. There our hero, whose ardour in the ^cause, no
doubt, was considerably abated, found his own '* whimsies'*! in
full bloom. The pretty fancy of blue ribbons, with which in
Ib'39 he outbid the loyal demonstration of Huntly'^s nursery,
had been again adopted throughout the whole army, and be-
come established as a national characteristic. In this army,
which consisted of twenty-four thousand foot, and two thou-
sand five hundred horse, the Earl was entrusted with the com-
mand, respectively, of two thousand, and five hundred. The
professed object of the expedition — its real object and ultimate
designs being as yet all in nubihus — -.was simply to present an
humble petition to his Majesty, praying that he would be gra-
ciously pleased to touch with the sceptre all the lawless acts of
the last Parliament, which had been held without any consti-
tutional warrant, at the will of a powerful clique of plotters, and
in defiance c^f the law of the land. To some of these acts, espe-
* The precise words, in the original MS., are: — ^* As also he (John Stewart) con-
feeses that there were lines written in Erse, concerning Argyle, which he translates^
in these words following: < I gave Argyle the praise, because all men see it is truth;
for he will take gear from the lowland men; and he will take the Crown per force;
and he will cry King at Whitsunday:' As likewise that the common soldiers of his
army, wherever they came, they said they were King Campbell's men, — no more
king Stewart's."
262 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
cially suoh^ as destroyed Episcopal rule in Scotland, Montrose
had assented upon his own conviction. From others, which
trenched more alarmingly upon the prerogatives of the Crown,
he announced his manly and consistent dissent. Even this op-
position, however, had matters stopped there, he was willing to
have waived, for the sake of a peaceful settlement of the rumous
dispute between King and Country. But when he discovered,
by many circumstances coming to his knowledge about the same
time, that there was a project on foot to depose the King, and
to bring Scotland under the military despotism of Argyle, his
face became ^et like a flint against ^^ the indirect practising of
a few,^^ with whom, indeed, the unhappy nation had no syn^pathy,
and he never swerved from his determination to cross all their
" far designs.""
No sooner had he joined the army on the border, than he was
pursued by an indication of the western potentate^'s overbearing
humour, in that impeachment already noticed of his conduct
towards Lord Ogilvy; for which, however, as he tells us, he
obtained a formal act of exoneration, after defending himself
" before the General himself, in hearing of the Committee.'*
Immediately > however, upon this affair being settled, the bond by
which Argyle was to overrule all benorth Forth, and our hero
to be one of his committee^ was privately pressed upon his
acceptance. This office appears to have been undertaken by
certain noblemen, whom Montrose does not name. But as he
refers to the Earls of Cassilis and Mar, as well as to Alexander
Campbell, and Humby, in support of his own recollection of
the precise tenor of the. bond, probably the two noblemen had
been named along with himself, and had undertaken the some-
what delicate task. The transaction, however, was a secret.
Neither the public, nor the Conunittee of Estates, were cogni-
zant of any such proposition, as is manifest from the subsequent
investigation into the nature and tenor of these Argyle bonds.
During the inquisitorial proceedings which crushed the attempt
of our hero to combine the latent loyalty of the Scotch nobles,
by means of a conservative bond of his own repudiating such
practices, but recognising and adhering to the original Covenant,
one of the Perthshire clergj'men, Mr Robert Murray, minister
of Methven, made oath before a committee of the Estates, as
LIFE OF MONTKOSE. 268
to Montrose's conversation with him on the subject. In the
month of February 1641, about six months after the attempt
to obtain his signature to the bond in question, the Earl, meet-
ing with this clergyman in Perth, himself furnished a detailed
account of these mysterious transactions, which we quote entire
from the original record, as this important* evidence has never
entered history : —
*' Thereafter my Lord Montrose says to the deponer, ' You
fo&re an instrument of bringing me to this came ; I am calum-
niated, and slandered as a backslider in this cause, and am de-
sirous to give you and all honest men satisfaction anent my
carriage therein:'' The deponer then asked his Lordship why
he subscribed the bond that was contrary- to the Covenant!^
The Earl answered, it was not contrary to the Covenant, but
for the Covenant : The deponer asked the reason, and why it
was done in private, seeing any bond that had been for the Co-
venant might have been avowed ! About this time Mr John
Robertson, minister at Perth, being sent for by the Earl, came
in to them, and then the Earl, continuing his discourse in pre-
sence of the said Mr John, answered : That they saw some^^i^
partieular men taking some particular courses contrary to the cause
and Covenant^ and therefore they behoved to strengthen them-
selves, for the maintenance of the cause and Covenant by that
bond. The deponer answered, ' How does that appear!' The
Earl answered : ' There were some few upon courses for change
of the Government : ^ For there has been a motion for deposing
of the King ; and next, for setting up a Dictator ; and, that fail-
ing, there was another motion for setting a General within the
country^ as there was one without the country ; this was left, and
another course taken for making a Triumvirate^ one to rule all
benorth Forth, and two besouth the Forth : ' The deponer an-
swered, ' These things seem very strange, for we have neither
heard, thought, nor dreamed of any such thing, and there is no
likelihood thereof:' The Earl answered, it was true, and pressed
the last point ; alleging that for doing thereof there was a bond
* Montrose's bond at Cumbernauld, to be immediately noticed.
* i. e. The Monarehieal form of government.
264 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
drawn np, and offered to be mbseribed^ for establishing a parti-
cular man benorth Forth, by which the subjects were to be
obliged in fideb'ty and fealty, and that the Earl refiued io iuh-
scribe it^ but rather should die or he did it ; which he would proTO
with sixteen as good as himself f^ The deponer answered, these
things were strange, he could not believe them, because they ,
seemed to be very unlikely : The Earl replied, that he might
accuse them, but he would not do it, till first he cleared himself
at the Parliament and Assembly : The deponer said : * You are
all agreed now in Edinburgh, and I beseech you may keep unity,
for the breach thereof is a mean to do most harm to this cause :*
The Earl answered, he should do nothing to prejudice the cause,
but maintain the same with life and means.^'
Alarmed and excited by what occurred at Dunse, Montrose
hastened to Edinburgh. -There his worst suspicions were con-
firmed by a conversation which he held with his former college
chum. Lord Lindsay of the Byres. When they met, the con-
servative Earl made some inquiries as to the state of afikirs
since the army left for the borders, and also expressed his
regret at the condition of the country, " and that some were
crying up the Earl of Argyle too much."' Lindsay replied, that
he had engaged in no public business for some time ; but that,
conversing lately with a friend, whom he did not venture to
^ This means the bond which Montrose himself declared Archibald Campb^ saw
drawn up, and which was afterwards offered to Montrose for signatore, when he
said he « rather should die or he did." The minbter of Perth, Mr John Robertson^
was examined by the Committee upon the 12th June 1641. His declaration is sub-
stantially the same as Mr Robert Murray's. But he adds, ^ That the Earl affirmed
that the foresaid bond anent the rule benorth Forth was offered to his Lordship to
be subscribed by him at Chandeif Wood, before the army crossed Tweed." The
army crossed towards the end of August 1640. Both James Gordon and Bishop
Guthrie mention that Leslie's army was encamped at " ChansUy Wood,** near Dmnse,
before crossing Tweed in the month of August 1 640.
Mr John Graham, the minister of Auchterarder, alluding to the above incident
to his Presbytery, was reported to have spoken of certain bonds *' offered to a cer-
tain nobleman, 6y tome other noblemen, to be subscribed by him."
s Original MS., endorsed — ** 27 May. Mr Robert Murray, his deposition anent
the speeches betwixt the Earl of Montrose and him. Sworn and subscribed last
May 1641."
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 265
name, that individual, he said, had expressed the very same
regrets ndw uttered by his Lordship. '' One grief expressed,^
continued Lindsay, " was a regret of the divisions and jealousies
of this country : Another was, that it was a pity that we, who
are Christians, and have not only our liberties, lands, wives and
children, but also our religion in question, cannot agree amongst
ourselves ; whilst the Romans, who are but Ethnics, when their
affisdrs came in hazard, would agree among themselves, and so
far yield one to another, that they would make one of them-
selves to be Dictator J to have the sole power of>er them : yea, pri-
vate enemies, when they were employed in public affairs, did lay
down their private quarrels, and join in hearty union, so long
as the public was in question ."" Such were the more than sus-
picious expressions which Lindsay himself, when subsequently
examined before a conmiittee (intended to clear that nobleman
from the scandal) on the subject of this conversation, declared
that he had addressed to Montrose. The former, however, was
a stanch adherent of Argyle's, and is characterised by Guthrie
as one of '* the most furious in the cause.*" His interests, too,
lay benorth the Forth ; and that in this speech he was sounding
the other on the subject of the proposed Dictatorship for Ar-
gyle, there cannot be any doubt. He declared indeed, that '' he
does not remember that ever he named the Earl of Argyle, or
meant that there was any intention to make the Earl of Argyle,
or any other. Dictator at all ; and remembers that in a discourse
—-either at that or some other time — the Earl of Montrose ask-
ing if the deponer knew that the Earl of Argyle was to have
any preferment, he answered that he knew not of any, but that
there was a great esteem had of him in the country.'*^ But
Montrose— ever fearless and truthful, and whose statements,
moreover, are corroborated by the fact of the bond to the same
effect, which had been pressed upon him by some noblemen at
Dunse, a measure of which Lindsay could not be ignorant— r
repeatedly ^' affirmed that the Lord Lindsay named the Earl of
Argyle to be Dictator f^ and, out of mere courtesy to the im-
perfect recollection of his Lordship, he thus finally qualified his
written declaration on the subject : '* That, to his best memory,
the Lord Lindsay named the Earl of Argyle to be the man
266 LIFE OF MONTBOSE.
pointed at; but, howsoever, the whole drift of the discourse
did infer so much, as the Earl of Montrose did conceive the
same.''*
Connecting this information with what he abeady knew, our
hero could not fail to be alarmed for the Monarchy in Scotland.
Nor can it be doubted that he was justified in his determination
to counteract the ambitious schemes of those who, to adopt the
very significant words addressed in the previous year by the
covenanting Lord Advocate to Rothes, " had not rdigum for
their end, but ths tearing down ofMimarchyr^
Mighty fine words these, on the part of his Majesty's Advo-
cate. But the coincidence is remarkable, and very germain to
the matter in hand, that his own son. Sir Thomas Hope of
Kerse, who commanded '' the College of Justice troop" in the
covenanting army, was indulging in argument to the very same
effect — the deposing the King, — ^and this in the diniiig-room and
in presence of the covenanting commander-in-chief. Colonel
Walter Stewart, an officer in that army, of whom we shall pre-
sently hear more, had repeated to Douglas of Cavers, Sheriff of
Teviotdale, a conversation which there took place, about the
very time when similar discourses were startling the loyal ears
of Montrose elsewhere. This conversation Stewart had reported
as something approaching very nearly to high treason ; and con-
sidering the ties between the Advocate's family and his Majesty
— for another son, Alexander, was attached to the Court as
Royal Carver Extraordinary ,3 — this would have been rather an
awkward scandal to have reached the royal ear. Some months
afterwards, Colonel Stewart was arrested in Scotland — an inci-
dent to which we shall have to revert — ^and compelled to afford
materials for the process against Montrose in 1641. Upon that
* Ong. MS., Adcoc. Lib, — Dated 4th June 1641 (a twelvemonth after the con-
versation), and signed ** Montrose, Cassilis, Balmerino, Naper." The three last-
named noblemen were a committee appointed by the Committee of Estates, to
endeavour to i'«concile the declarations of Montrose and Lindsay ; which, indeed,
were substantially the same.
> See before, p. 231.
> An office which he obtained through the interest of Hamilton, and in which he
carved very much after the fashion of his father, and of liis two brothers, Sir John
of Craighall, and Sir Thomas of Kerse.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 267
oooasion, when reporting, secretly, the result of his examinatioiis
to Archibald Johnston in London, Sir Thomas Hope, the
younger, writes: " Walter Stewart has craved a pardon for
the wrong he did me, and has set down the words which passed
betwixt us, under his hand, whereof I have sent the authentic
copy to my brother (Alexander at Court), which you may have
from him, if you desire to see it.^^^ In what different terms
Colonel Stewart had originally reported this conversation, for
which, as here alleged, he had '^ craved a pardon,^ does not
appear. But we have recovered the original record of Stewart's
examination, containing the amended version, which Sir Thomas
accepted of as the true one ; and we cannot help thinking that
it smacks somewhat of treason still. He was examined, amid
truculent threats, by those old birds of sedition, Balmerino, and
the subservient burgess Edward Edgar ; and he thereupon de-
poned^ that, when with Sir Thomas, in General Leslie^s dining-
' room at Newcastle, the Greneral himself being present, and the
discourse happening to fall upon the impending trial of Strafford,
the following conversation occurred : —
Colonel Stewart ventured to remark, that so great a man as
the Earl of Strafford should only be judged by his Peers, and
not by the whole Parliament. Sir Thomas Hope then struck
in : " No subject can t)e so great but that the Parliament may , /
judge him : If credit be given to histories, Parliaments have ' I »
judged Kings." — " I believe you cannot make that good,'' said
the Colonel. " It may be made good out of histories," rejoined
the other. " Out of what histories ?" — " I will not speak of
English histories," said Hope ; '' but for the Scottish, I believe
it will be found in BuclMnanr — " Is it out ot his De Jure Begni ?"
— " I speak of his history." — " Buchanan is but a modern writer,"
timidly suggested the Colonel. " Though Buchanan was so him-
self," answered the other, " no doubt he had written out of
those who wrote before him." — " What Kings were they of
whom Buchanan ^Tote ?" — " I do not," replied the commander
of the College of Justice Troop, '' remember their names for
,the present; but, to my memory, Kenneth the Second,' or Ken-
neth the Third, was one of them."^
' Original MS. letter, to be quoted afterwards. See conclusion of Chapter XVI.
* Original MS. record, signed by the deponent, Walter Stewart ; and bjr Balme-
268 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Aooording to the evidence thus combed dawn^ indeed we may
say extorted, the conversation on that subject there ceased, no
one else being present but the Fidd Marshal, who seems not to
have taken any part therein. Accepting of it as given, however,
we may fancy the clever old mercenary* commander, who cared
mighty little for King, Country, or Constitution, inwardly chuck-
ling at the significance of this subdued skirmish between his
military guests.
But this conversation happens to be in perfect unison with
the debate at the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1640,
when Montrose '^ argued against^ such sentiments. And, by a
singular coincidence, very shortly thereafter, the King'*s autho-
rity and person began to be more than whispered against by the
democratic party in England. Clarendon tells us, in his Life,
that '^ when Mr Hyde (meaning himself) sat in the chair in the
grand conmiittee of the House for the extirpation of Episcopacy
(1 641), all that party made great court to him.'*'' And that at
this time having met his intimate republican friend, Harry
Martin, ^' walking between the parliament-house and West-
minster, in the churchyard,**' — ^they entered into a political dis-
course, the object of the latter being to make a convert of the
future Chancellor. This great man bore his part in the argu-
ment with candour and openness, and pressed Martin ^^ to say
what he desired ; to which, after a little pause, he very roundly
answered, ^ I do not think one man wise enough to govern us all.'* '^
Clarendon adds, that '^ this was the first word he had ever heard
any man speak to that purpose;'" and that he was greatly
shocked at finding such a sentiment abroad, and hearing it
from the lips of an individual ^' possessed of a very great for-
tune, and having great credit in his country.''
Such were the facts simultaneously pressed upon Montrose's
attention, as proved by the original manuscripts yet extant of
his own judicial declarations. But it may well be supposed that
many other circumstances, of which no record has been pre-
served, concurred about this period to rouse within him the
sentiment which even Sir Thomas Hope had so emphatically
lino and Edfi*ard Edgar, who took the deposition : Adrocatft* Lihrary. A small
committee, this, to diHpoee of such a matter.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 269
pronounced to Rothes, *' Let me be put to an essay for religion^
and ye shall see what I shall do or suffer for it ; hut for civil
paints look never to have me to go with you.'''*
With characteristic promptitude, Montrose, before rejoining
the army at the borders, took measures which he fondly hoped
would at once preserve all that was respectable and patriotic in
the covenanting movement he had joined, and at the same time
save the Monarchy from the intriguing of a few leading fao-
tionists. Accordingly, taking a hint from the proceedings of
the opposite party, he too framed a bond of alliance. But it
was the bond of a conservative association, as temperate and
dignified in its expression as it was unexceptionable in its
object. Baillie vaguely and violently describes it as '^ Mon-
trose^s dcMnnable band, by which he thought to have sold us to
the enemy .^ But he does not venture to quote it in his volumi-
nous letters and journals. He had no desire that its precise
terms should enter the Historia Motuum of his correspondent
Spang. The terms of the bond itself remaining unknown, it
has been frequently described — upon the mere assertion of this
chronicler — as a factious plot on the part of Montrose, dictated
by no better motive than his rivalry of Argyle. It was instantly
burnt, when discovered, by order of the Committee of Estates.
The Lord Lyon, however. Sir James Balfour, who probably
superintended the burning, had preserved a transcript, which,
until brought to light by the author of this . biography, had re-
mained unnoticed among his manuscripts. From that transcript
it is given below ; and our readers will judge for themselves of
the character of a document which the Reverend Robert Baillie
has recorded as '' Montrose'^s damnable band.'"^
1 The copy of the bond tubtoribed by Montrose and the rest of these noblemen : —
*< Whereas we under-subscriben^ out of our duty to Religion, Kiug, and Country,
wer0 forced to join ourselves in a Covenant for the maintenance and defence of ci-
thers, and every one of other, in that behalf : Now finding how that, by the parti'
oular and indirect practising of a few, the country, and cause now depending, does
so niiieh suffer, do heartily hereby bind and oblige ourselves, out of our duty to all
these respects above-mentioned, but chiefly and namely that Covenant already signed,
to wed and study all public ends which may tend to the safety both of Religion,
Lawsy and Liberties of this poor kingdom ; and, as we are to make an account be-
fore that Great Judge at the last day, that we shall contribute one with another, in
a mianimous and joint way, in whatsomever may concern the public or this cause,
to the hazard of our lives, fortimes, and estates, neither of us doing, consulting, nor
270 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Having accomplished so much of his loyal and patriotic plan,
he forthwith returned to the army, still encamped at Dunse.
It was early in August 1640, at Cumbernauld, the house of
his relative the Earl of Wigton, that this bond was signed.
Montrose'^s opposition to the party of Argyle and Rothes has
been generally regarded as a manifest proof of separation from
the Covenant to which he had sworn to adhere. But even the
signatures to this bond attest the contrary. That all who signed
it were not so constant in their opposition, and that none of
them became so devoted in the hopeless cause of Monarchy,
cannot alter the fact, that many of the most honourable of the
covenanting nobles actually subscribed to the sentiments thus
expressed, and swore to maintain them. This document illus-
trates the opinion entertained of Argyle, as its failure proves
his power. For among the signatures will be observed that of
Lord Amend, afterwards Earl of Callendar, who, at the very
time, was Lieutenant-general of the army, and second in com-
mand to Leslie. In regard to the Earl of Mar, Baillie, writing
in the course of the year which intervened betwixt the date of
the Covenant and that of the bond, observes, ^' Stirling was in
the hand of our sure friend the Earl of Mar, so we touched it
not.'' And must not this chronicler have blushed to look back
upon the fanaticism quoted below,^ when he found Lord Ers-
kine's name at the bond he so bitterly execrates !
condeseendiDg in any point, wnthont the consent and approbation of the whole, in so
far as they can be conveniently had, and time may allow. And likeas we swear and
protest by the same oath, that, in so far as may consist with the good and weal of
the public, erery one of us sliall join and adhere to otliers (each other) and their
interests, against all pei*8ons and causes whatsoever, so what shall be done to one,
with reservation foresaid, shall be equally resented and taken as done to the whole
number. In witness hereof/* &.c.
** The subscribers of the principal bond, and in this order : Marachell, Montrose,
Wigton, Kinghom, Home, Athol, Mar, Perth, Boyd, Galloway, Stormont, Seaforth,
Erskine, Kircubrycht, Amend, Drunmiond, Jolinston, Lour, D. Camegy, Master of
Lour."
I ** While we were in some piece of perplexity, we were tingulariy eomforUd, that
in the very instant of the Marquis's departure (from the Assembly 1 638), a very
noble youth, of great expectation, my Lord Erskine, craving audience of us, pro-
fessed with tean his great grief, that, agamst the inborn light of h%$ own mind, he
had withholden his hand from our Covenant, and person from our meetings, be-
sought to pray Chriit for him, that his iin might be forgiven him, and entreated
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 271
Upon Friday, 21st August 1640, the army under General
Leslie crossed the Tweed. Here a curious incident occurred,
for which we have the authority of James Gordon, and also of
BaiQie, who was in the camp. The chiefs were assembled, and
^ dice were casf" to determine which should first paas through
the river. The lot fell upon Montrose. Either it was so ma-
naged in order to test his willingness and commit him conspi-
cuously in the rebellion, or the fortune was remarkable. All
the contemporary accounts coincide in their description of the
alacrity with which he set the example to the whole army.
*^ He went on foot himself first through, and retwmed to en-
courage his men.^^ There was some danger in the attempt;
for the stream was so strong that the cavalry, after our hero
had crossed, were obliged to be stationed in the water to break
the force of the current. One of his own regiment perished in
following his heroic commander. Animated, however, by the
gallantry with which he had forded the current, ** boots and
all,'* — ** we,*" says Baillie, " passed Tweed with great courage^
our horse troops standing in the water, our foot all wading in
order, about their middle.*'* Eight days afterwards, the miserable
af&ir of Newbum, where Lord Conway scarcely disputed the
passage of the Tyne, enabled the Scots to fasten with impunity
upon Newcastle, and afforded them ridiculous pretensions of a
great victory in arms, a thing they never attained.
About the time of the commencement of the treaty of Bippon,
which opened there on the let of October 1640, Montrose ad-
dressed a single letter from Newcastle to the King at York.
The result of its detection, by the faction interested to con-
demn it, leaves no manner of doubt as to the simple and
guarded nature of the communication. Indeed Wishart, most
probably informed of its contents by the writer himself, assures
us of the fact. " In the time of the. truce,** he says, " Montrose
humbly we would now admit him to our Covenant and Society. We all embraced
him gladly, and admired the tvmeoutJMm of God*s comforU and meroiei towards us.**
— BaiUiet LetUn and Joumalt,
^ The fact is now placed beyond all doubt by the more recent discovery, in the
Montroie Charter-chest, of the Marquis*s defence against the libel of 1641, where
he says : — ^*< And I was, of all, myself the first that put my foot in the water, and
led over a regiment in the view of all the army.**
272 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
had sent a letter unto the King, professing his fidelity, and most
dutiful and ready obedience to his Majesty ; nor did the letter
contain anything else. This being stolen away in the night,
and copied out by the King^s own bed-chamber men— men most
endeared to the King of all the world — ^was sent back by them
to the Covenanters at Newcastle ; and it was the fashion with
those very men to conmiunicate unto the Covenanters, from day
to day, the King'*s most secret councils, of which they themselves
only were either authors or partakers.^^^ According to another
contemporary historian, Sanderson, this treachery had been in*
stigated by the Marquis of Hamilton ; and Guthrie also declares
that Montrose himself, '^ professing to have certain inawledpe
thereof, affirmed William Murray,^^ the creature of Hamilton,
^*' was the man who, in October 1640, sent to Newcastle the
copies of his letters, which he had written to the King, then at
York.**' Baillie'^s account of the matter is as follows : — " Some
of our officers became malcontents : what ailed our officers is
not yet well known ; only Montrose, whose pride long ago was
intolerable, and meaning very doubtful, tffoe found to have in-
tercourse of letters with the King, for which he was accused
publicly by the General, in the face of the Committee. His
bed-fellow Drummond, his cousin Fleming, his ally Boyd, and
too many others^ were thought too much to be of his humour.
The coolness of the good old General, and the diligence of the
preachers^ did shortly cast water on this spunk beginning un-
timeously to smoke.^
^ Bishop Burnet, in his Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton, asserts that Sir James
Mercer ** did often Touch before many witnesses,*' that the Covenanters obtained
their knowledge of Montrose's correspondence with the King, simply by means of
Mercer having read the address of Montrose's letter, as it accidentally fell to the
ground. Burnet adds, without quoting authority, that, being threatened by the
Covenanting Committee, " Montrose came, and produced a copy of the letter he
said he had written, and craved pardon, and so this matter was passed over." This
version is by way of saving the character of Hamilton. But the evidence of Mon-
trose's chaplain is to be preferred to Burnet's. The latter is also refuted by a
record to be afterwards referred to. Spalding says: « 1640, — Word came here that
the King was under some suspicion of his cubieulariei (bed-chamber men), that they
were revealing what they heard him say, to the Soots; whilk I believe was not fSar by,
so long as he keeped the Marquis of Hamilton beside him." Laud, Secretary Nicho-
las, and Charles himself, all bear witness to the fact of his Majesty being a prey to
this mean faithleesness of his household.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 27:^
But it was the instant luid fearless assertion by Montrose
himself, of his right to hold a private correspondence with his
Sovereign, of such a character, that paralysed his accusers, and
caused them to be, *' as many a time from the beginning they had
been, at a non-plusJ" ^ Hamilton'^s creatures may have entertained
hopes of ruining Montrose by this disclosure ; and certainly the
covenanting faction were most desirous of an opportunity to rid
themselves for ever of a nobleman whose talents, courage, and
independence, were so formidable to them. The occasion at
first appeared to favour their object. Leslie^s articles of wdr
decreed, that *' No man shall at his own hand, without warrant .
of my Lord General, have or keep intelligence with ths enem ff^t*^
by speech, letters, signs, or any other way, under the pamfc be ^
^ punished as a traitor.'" In fact, his Majesty was considered the '
\ 'enemy ; and a loyal correspondence apart from the faction was
treason by their code. But when Montrose boldly justified the
act, it was impossible to gainsay him. For these same articles
I of war, true to the system of the Covenanters, who never struck I ,
I a rebellious blow without first proclaiming God save the King, ) ,
I contained this provision : '^ If any man shall open hie mouth
against the King's Majesty's person, or authority^ or shall pre-
sume to touch his sacred person, he shall be punished as a
traitor'' ! So the matter ended for the time.
But the Earl of Argyle was not to be out-manoeuvred by
such a character as Montrose. His conservative bond, which
he no doubt had flattered himself would be the means of saving
the Country, was also speedily discovered, and brought before
the committee at Edinburgh by Argyle himself. One of the
peers who signed it was Lord Boyd, Montrose's '^ ally," and
the son-in-law of the Earl of Wigton. This young nobleman
died about the 24th year of his age, according to Sir James
Balfour, of a " burning fever," on the 19th November 1640.
Shortly before his death he had uttered some expressions, pro-
bably incoherent, which, however, made known that such a bond
existed. Argyle, with characteristic sagacity, discovered the
whole secret. He paid a visit at Callendar, where the Lieu-
^ BailUe.
J8
/■
274 ^ LIFE OF MONTROSE.
tenant-General, Lord Amond, one of ^^ the Banders,^ as they
came to be designed, had arrived for a time from his command
at Newcastle ; nor did Argyle depart without obtaining all the
information of which he was in quest. He laid the matter be-
fore his subservient committee at Edinburgh, who immediatoly
summoned Montrose, then in Scotland, and the rest of the no-
blemen implicated, and within their reach, to appear and answer
to this new accusation of treason against the government of the
Dictator. Montrose upon this occasion acted with the same
cool intrepidity which he invariably displayed when placed in a
dangerous position with the party anxious to destroy him, and
not scrupulous as to the means. He avowed and justified the
act. Spalding says, ^' Montrose produced the bond.*^ Guthrie^s
account is, that '' they acknowledged the bond, and gave their
reasons why they had joined in it ; all which were rejected by
the conmiittee, and they declared censurable ; and indeed some
of the minigters^ and other fiery spirits, pressed that their Uve$
might go far it. But Argyle and his committee considered that
they were too strong a party to meddle with that way, especially
seeing divers of them having the commands of regiments in the
army ; and therefore they consulted to pack up the business,
upon a declaration under their hands that they intended nothing
against the public, together with a surrendering of the bond,
which the Committee having gotten caused it to he burnt.'" We
now know its terms.
Montrose was playing a dashing game, but it was too simple
and honest to succeed. The able and most unscrupulous Argyle
counter-checked him at every move, and in the long run check-
mated him, though with the loss of all his own pawns, knights,
and castles. Our hero'^s plan was open enough. Having de-
tected, from the debates in the Parliaments of 1639 and 1640,
the anti-monarchical scheme of the most wily and powerful
enemy to the Throne in Scotland, ho laid the foundation of his
future conservative opposition, by " arguing against"' that leader
and his coadjutors, upon those public occasions. The attempt
to obtain his connivance and signature, at Dunse, to the riper
scheme of the Dictatorship, elicited his yet more indignant
announcement that be would *' rather die than do it."" This
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 275
incident, immediately followed by what escaped from Lord
Lindsay in Edinburgh, caused him to combme those peers at
Cumbernauld, for the standing of the Throne, and the safety of
the Realm. This was a public opposition and defiance, ' not a
secret plot. For even the Cumbernauld bond, his conservative
charter, was signed by so many men of the highest rank and
consideration in the kingdom, including the peer who was
second in conmiand of the rebel army, that its remaining a
secret many days was totally out of the question. But whait
was to be done next ? Montrose was ready, perhaps too ready,
to announce his plan to any one with whom he entered into
conversation, from the seditious preacher to the vacillating
peer. His plan was simply this. Besides his own experiences,
above recorded, other information had been volunteered to him,
of the strong indications of treasonable designs on the part of
Argyle, by the Earl of Athole, Sir Patrick Ogilvy of Inch-
martin, Sir Thomas Stewart of Grandtully, and John Stewart
younger of Lady well. His first informant being the latter, he^
instructed him to procure the best evidence on the subject of
Argyle's whole proceedings in the north that he could; but
to be careful not to exaggerate or misstate any circumstance.
These instructions, ^^ with that caveat by Montrose, that the de-
poner should rather keep himself within bounds than exceed,''*
were given by him in the presence of the Earl of Athole, who
perfectly concurred in the propriety of the instructions, and the
necessity of the investigation. Montrose expected, and meant
to use all his influence to procure, the presence of the King at
the next meeting of the Parliament in Scotland, in order to
ratify the acts relating to what was considered the religion and
liberties of the country, and to which he too had pledged him-
self. But that ratification was to him the pillars of Hercules,
the Ultima Thttle of the clerical movement in Scotland against
the Court. In that Parliament, face to face with the King, he
intended again, and more emphatically, to deny the proposition
that a Parliament could sit, and pass laws, without a King. In
the royal presence he meant to dare Argyle to his democratic
doctrine ; to expose his treasonable speeches and designs ; and
to reveal the whole scheme of the Dictatorship. No doubt he
276 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
had a rod in pickle for Hamilton too. His plan, in short, was
(to use his own expressions) to take the good King oat of the
hands of " James Marquis of Hamilton, the prime fomenter of
these misunderstandings betwixt the King and his subjects ;'^
and to take Scotland out of the hands of Arg}le, and " the op-
pression and tyranny of subjects, the most fierce, insatiable, and
insupportable tyranny in the world."*' To effect all this he con-
ceived no more was necessary than to persuade the King to
preside in Parliament, to ratify the clerical acts of the unlawful
Conventions, and then to listen to his (Montrose^s) public de-
tection, and proofs, of seditious double-dealing, and treasonable
^^ far designs,'" against such magnates as Argyle and Hamilton.
Montrose was a simpleton. After finding that his private
letters to the King were as patent to the Covenanters as if he
had written through their own committee ; after discovering
that the noble signatures to his Cumbernauld House compact
was a rope of sand, and that those uncertain and spiritless
peers were made to look like a string of wild geese at the fiat
of Argyle ; he still cherished his grand parliamentary project,
when shorn of all its power, and kept pouring it into the ear of
any man who happened to be riding by his side, or whom he
got hold of by ^he button. His conservative charter was burnt,
in order that the public, to whom it was denounced as '^ damn-
able,'' might not know its real character. Then of course it
was the policy to malign him in every direction, as an horrible
plotter and infamous backslider. His honourable and fiery spirit
fretted and chafed under this slow but sure mode of effecting his
ruin, and he became as unguarded as a child. One day, at the
commencement of the year 1G41, while he was still attached to
the covenanting army, and while the negotiations were going on
at Rippon, he happened to be riding from Chester to Newcastle,
with Colonel John Cochrane on one side of him, and no less a
personage than his former adjutant, Field Marshal Leslie, on
the other. It is scarcely to be supposed that the latter, unless
the old campaigner s ears were stuffed with cotton, could fail to
pick up something, if he did not hear the whole of the conver-
sation that ensued between the two former. This time, how-
ever, it was in another vein than that to which he had listened
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 277
in his own dining-room at Newcastle, between Sir Thomas Hope
and Colonel Stewart. And the different degrees of alarm, at
thisTcrisis, excited by discourses tending to treason against King
Charles, and against ^' King Campbell,^^ is somewhat amusing.
Scarcely less so is the coolness and indifference with which
Leslie himself seems to have pursued his own military and mer-
cenary speculations, amid all this buzz of treason and counter-
treason on either side of him, without being at all disturbed by
it, unless driven to exercise some show of military authority.
Upon the occasion in question, our hero 1)egan to discourse
with the Colonel upon the merits of the Cumbernauld bond,
which had been just burnt by order of the Committee of Estates
in the month of January 1641. He defended his own measure,
and said he had many reasons and grounds for attempting to
effect that conservative compact. One of these was, " that he
could prove there were some of the prime leaders of the busi-
ness in the country, guilty of high treason in the highest man-
ner, and that they had entered into motions for deposing the
King.**" He spoke also of the scheme for cantoning the country,
and Argyle's " bonds of manrent."' Bold speeches these, cer-
tainly, to have been made at the ear of old Leslie. Accordingly,
it threw the gallant Colonel into a state of great nervousness,
much more so than if the Earl had suggested the propriety
of placing Archibald Campbell in Charles Stewart^s chair.
*' Whereupon the deponer answered, that these were discourses
whereof he desired not to hear ; and entreated his Lordship not
to enter any further on that purpose, but to leave it, and speak
of some other subjects, >vhich he did."' Upon a subsequent occa-
sion, however, Montrose, as if taking a malicious pleasure in
trying Colonel Cochrane's nerves, for his loyalty was undoubted,
thus addressed him in the EarPs own lodgings in Newcastle : —
" Think you not but I can prove what I said to you the other
day!" To the which the deponer answered, — ' I desire not to
hear or speak of such matters, and therefore crave your Lord-
ship^s pardon not to go any further on therein ;' and so they
left it."i
^ Colonel John Cochrane, afterwards Sir John, was the eldest son of Alexander.
Blair, a younger son of Blair of Blair. Alexander Blair assumed the name of
278 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Restless in body and mind, galled in spirit, dissatisfied with
his false position, ashamed of, and indignant at the uncertainty
of principle, and feebleness of spirit, which characterised (to
borrow a phrase from the turf) the ruck of the peerage in Scot-
land, the future champion of the Crown, during the treaty of
Bippon, was continually passing between the army at Newcastle
and his own domains in Scotland, rendering his sentiments and
objects notorious wherever he went, Argyle meanwhile watching
him like a tiger from his bush.
To maintain any reserve as to his own principles and feelings
was certainly no part of his system. Even at this dangerous
crisis, when, as he says of himself, he was ^' a man envied, and
all means were used to cross him,"' and that " it was boldly pro-
mised that his sword should be taken from his side before two
months passed,^ he ventured to commit to paper, in a letter to
a friend, upon which no seal of secrecy appears to have been
placed, and which indeed is framed as if for publication, an
argumentative and remonstrative philippic, which of itself would
have sufficed to make Hamilton his enemy for life, and Argyle
his executioner to the death. And this at the time of the treaty
of Bippon, about the close of the year 1640, or the commence-
ment of the year 164L ! That a document so interesting and
important should have escaped all observation whatever, until
the researches for his present biography were undertaken, is
not a little remarkable. I have thought it worthy to compose
a distinct chapter of his biography. For it illustrates not only
the deeply cogitated principles by which he shaped his political
course, but it displays the culture of his mind ; it proves that
his life at college had not been merely a curriculum of hunting,
hawking, archery, and golf; and it indicates that strong ten-
dency of his genius towards letters and learning which the
Troubles overlaid, but which has been so justly typified by the
Cochrane in right of his wife, Elizabeth Cochrane of Cochrane. Their teeond eon,
William, was raised to the peerage, in the lifetime of his elder brother, by the title
of Lord Cochrane of Dundonald, in 1647; and in 1669 was advanced to be Earl of
Dundonald. His less fortunate elder brother, referred to in the text, died before
the Restoration. The references to his depositions are from the originals, among
the manuscripts of the Advocates' Librar}'.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 279
English Tintoretto, wl^, in a very noble portrait, has figured
Pallas in arms beside the hero's head.^
The reader who is impatient to follow Montrose to the field
of battle, and takes no interest in aught but his triumphs, and
his tragedy, may omit the perusal of the next chapter.
1 See the portrait of Montrose hy DobsoD, as now first engraved for this volume.
It was painted in 1644. But in this year, 1640, his portrait was for the second
time taken by Jameson. See the history of his portraits in the Appendix.
280 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
CHAPTER XV.
M0MTR0SE*8 LETTER TO A FRIEND ON 80VEREION POWER — HIS REASONS FOR
WRITINO IT — HOW HE PROPOSES TO DISCUSS THE THEME — ^NATURE AND
ESSENTIALS OF SUPREME POWER IN GOVERNMENT — ILLUSTRATIONS DE-
RIVED FROM HISTORY — WHEREIN CONSISTS ITS STRENGTH AND ITS WEAK-
NESS — EFFECT OF UNDUE EXTENSION AND EXERCISE OF SUPREME POWSR
— THE ABUSE OF IT PROMOTED BY EVIL COUNSELLORS — HAPPY EFFECTS
OF THE MODERATE EXERCISE OF IT — THE SUPREME POWER UNDULY
RESTRAINED RESOLVES INTO TYRANNISING BY SUBJECTS— REMEDIES
IN EITHER CASE — FREQUENT AND RIGHTLY CONSTITUTED PARLIAMENTS
THE BEST SAFEGUARD OF SUPREME POWER IN GOVERNMENT— THE DE-
SIRE TO RULE OF GREAT MEN, VEILED UNDER THE SPECIOUS PRETEXT
OF RELIGION AND LIBERTIES, SECONDED BY THE ARGUMENTS AND FALSE
POSITIONS OF SEDITIOUS PREACHERS, IS THE PERPETUAL CAUSE OF CON-
X TROVERSIES BETWEEN PRINCE AND PEOPLE^SOME OF THEIR FALSE
ARGUMENTS ANSWERED — REMONSTRANCE ADDRESSED TO THE NOBLE-
MEN MISLEADING THE PEOPLE — REMONSTRANCE ADDRESSED TO THE
PEOPLE — PREDICATES THE ADVENT OF CROMWELL — REMONSTRANCE
ADDRESSED TO CERTAIN NOBLES AIMING AT THE CROWN OF SCOTLAND
— REMONSTRANCE ADDRESSED TO SEDITIOUS PREACHERS — DEPRECATES
CONDUCT SUBVERSIVE OF THE GENERAL DESIRE FOR A DURABLE PEACE
WITH ENGLAND — COMMENTARY ON MONTROSE^S LETTER.
" Noble Sir : —
^^ In the letter you did me the honour to send me, you move
a question in two toorch, to give a satisfactory answer to which
requires works and volumes, not letters. Besides, the matter is
of so sublime and transcendant a nature as is above my reach,
and not fit for subjects to meddle with, — if it were not to do
right to soverei^ power in a time when so much is said and
done to the disgrace and derogation of it. Nevertheless, to obey
your desire, I will deliver my opinion : Firsts concerning the
nature, essential parts, and practice of the supreme power in
government of all sorts. Secondly^ I will shew wherein the
strength and weakness thereof consists, and the effects of both.
Thirdly^ I will answer some arguments and false positions main-
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 28J
tained by the impugners of royal power ; and that without par-
tiality, and as briefly as I can : —
1. '* Civil societies, so pleasing to Almighty €K>d, cannot sub-
sist without government, nor government without a sovereign
power, to force obedience to laws and just conmiands, to dis-
pose and direct private endeavours to public ends, and to unite
and incorporate the several members into one body politic, that
with joint endeavours and abilities they may the better advance
the public good. This sovereignty is a power over the people ;
above which power there Js none upon earth; whose acts can-
not be rescinded by any other ; instituted by God, for his glory
and the temporal and eternal happiness of men. This is it that
is recorded -so oft, by the wisdom of antient times, to be sacred
and inviolable ; the truest image and representation of the power
of Almighty God upon earth ; not to be bounded, disputed,
meddled with at all by subjects; who can never handle it,
though never so warily, but it is thereby wounded, and the
public peace disturbed. Yet it is limited by the laws of God
and nature ; and some laws of nations ; and by the fundamental
laws of the country; which are those upon which sovereign
power itself resteth, in prejudice of which a King can do no-
thing ; and those also which secure to the good subject his
honour, his life, and the property of his goods. This power —
not speaking of those who are Kings in name only, an4 in effect
but Principes Nohilitatis or Duces Belli^ nor of the arbitrary and
despotic power, where one is head and all the rest slaves, but of
that which is sovereign over free subjects — is still one and the
same, in points essential, wherever it be, whether in the person
of a monarchy or in a few principal men^ or in the Estates of the
people. The essential points of sovereignty are these : — To make
laws ; to create principal officers ; to make peace and war ; to
give grace to men condemned by law; and to be the last to whom
appellation is made. There be others, too, which are compre-
hended in those set down ; but because majesty doeth not so
clearly shine in them they are here omitted. These set down
are inalienable, indivisible, incommunicable, and belong to the
sovereign power primitively in all soils of governments. They
cannot subsist in a body composed of individuities ; and if they
282 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
be divided amongst several bodies, there is no government ; as
if there were many kings in one kingdom, there should be none
at all ; for whosever should have one of these, were able to erase
their proceedings who have all the rest ; for the having them
negativi and prohibitive in that part to him belonging, might
render the acts of all the others invalid, and there would be a
superiority to the supreme, and an equality to the sovereign
power, which cannot fall in any man's conceit that hath com-
mon sense ; in speech it is incongruity, and to attempt it in act
is pernicious.
^' Having in some measure expressed the nature of supreme
power, it shall be better known by the actual practice of all
nations, in all the several sorts of government, as well Bepublios
as Monarchies.
'^ The people of Rome — who were masters of policy, and war
too, and to this day are made patterns of both — ^being a,n EskUe
papular^ did exercise, without controlment or opposition, all the
forenamed points essential to supreme power. No law was made
but by the people ; and though the Senate did propone and ad-
vise a law to be made, it was the people that gave it sanction ;
and it received the force of law from their conunand and autho-
rity, as may appear by the respective phrases of the propounder,
— Quod/aristum/elixqiie sit^ vobis popuhque Romano velitisjubeatis.
The people used these imperative words, Esto swnto ; and if it
were refused, the Tribune of the people expressed it with a veto.
The propounder or adviser of the law was said rogare legem^ and
the people /t^i^r^ legetn. The election of officers was only made
by the people, as appears by the ambitious buying and begging
of suffrages, so frequent among them upon the occasions. War
and peace was ever concluded by them, and never denounced
but by their Feciales with commission from them. They, only,
gave grace and pardon ; and for the last refuge, delinquents,
and they who were wronged by the sentence of judges and
officers, provocahant ad populum.
^^ So it was in Athens, and to this day among the SwisSBRS
and Grissgns, the Estate of Holland, and all Estates popular.
In Venice, which is a pure Aristocracy, laws, war, peace, elec-
tion of officers, pardon and appellation, are all concluded and
done in Conciglio mapffiore, which consists of principal men who
LIFE OF MONTROSE. . 283
have the sovereignty. As for the Pregddi, and ConctgUo di
di4ci^ they were but officers and executors of their power ; and
the Duke is nothing but the idol to whom ceremonies and com-
pliments are addressed, without the least part of sovereignty.
So it was in Sparta ; so it is in Lucca, Genoa, and Bagusa,
and all other Aristocracies ; and, indeed, cannot be otherwise
without the subversion of the present government.
*^ If, then, the lords in Republics have that power essential
to sovereignty, by what reason can it be denied to a prince in
whose person only, and primitively, resteth the sovereign power,
and from whom all lawful subaltern power, as from the fountain,
is derived ?
2. ^^ This power is strong and durable when it is temperato ;
and it is temperate when it is possessed (with the essential parts
foresaid) with moderation, and limitation by the laws of God, of
nature, and the fundamental laws of the country. It is weak
when it is restrained of these essential parts ; and it is weak
also when it is extended beyond the laws whereby it is bound-
ed ; which could never be any time endured by the people of
the wedtem part of the world, and by those of Scotlai^d as little
as any. For that which Galba said of his Romans is the hu-
mour of them all ; nee totam libertaiem nee totam servittUem pati
posmmty — ^but a temper of both. Unwise prinees endeavour the
extension of it, — ^rebellious and turbulent stdjeets the restraint.
Wise princes use it moderately ; but most desire to extend it,
and that humour ia fomented by advice of courtiers and bad eoun-
sellarSy who are of a hasty ambition, and cannot abide the slow
progress of riches and preferments in a temperate government.
They persuade the arbitrary with reflexion on their own ends ;
knowing that the exercise thereof shall be put upon them,
whereby they shall be able quickly to compass their ends ; rob-
bing thereby the people of their wealth, the King of the people^s
love due to him, and of the honour and reputation of wisdom.
The effects of a moderate government are religion, justice, and
peace ; flourishing love of the subjects towards their prince, in
whose hearts he reigns ; durableness and strength against fo-
reign invasions and intestine sedition ; happiness and security
to King and people. The effect of a prince's power too far
284 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
extended is t)rranny, — ^from the King if he be ill, — if he be good,
tyranny or a fear of it from them to whom he hath entrusted
the managing of public affairs. The effect of the royal power
restrained is the oppression and tyranny of subjects ; the mast
fierce^ insatiable, and insupportable tyranny in the world; where
every man of power oppresseth his neighbour, without any hope
of redress from a prince despoiled of his power to punish op-
pressors. The people under an extended power are miserable,
but most miserable under the restrained power. The effects of
the former may be cured by good advice ; satiety in the Prince ;
or fear of infamy ; or the pains of writers ; or by some event
which may bring a prince to the sense of his errors ; and when
nothing else can do it, seeing the prince is mortal, patience is a
sovereign and dangerless remedy in the subject ; who in wisdom
and duty is obliged to tolerate the vices of his prince as they
do storms and tempests, and other natural evils which are com-
pensated with better times succeeding. It had been better for
Germany to have endured the encroachments of Ferdinand, and
after his death rectified them before they had made a new elec-
tion, than to have brought it to desolation, and shed so much
Christian blood by unseasonable remedies and opposition. But
when a King's lawful power is restrained, the politic body is in
such desperate estate that it can neither endure the disease, nor
the remedy, which is force only. For princes' lawful power is
only restrained by violence, and never repaired but by violence
on the other side ; which can produce nothing but ruin to prince
or people, or rather to both. Patience in the subject is the best
remedy against the effects of a prince's power too far extended ;
but when it is too far restrained, patience in the prince is so far
from being a remedy, that it formeth and increaseth the disease ;
for patience, tract of time, and possession, makes that which was
at first robbery, by a body that never dies, at last a good title,^
and so the government comes at last to be changed.
" To procure a temperate and moderate government, there is
much in the King and not a little in the people. For let a
prince command never so well, if there be not a correspondent
obedience there is no temper. It is not the people's part,
' A very accurate and lawyer-like statement of the law of prescriptive poasesdon.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 285
towards that end, to take upon them to limit and circumscribe
royal power ; it is Jupiter's thunder which never subject handled
well yet ; not the people's part to determine what is due to a
prince, what to his people. It requires more than human suflS-
ciency to go so even a way betwixt the prince's prerogative, and
the subjects' privilege, as to content both, or be just in itself.
For they can never agree upon the matter ; and where it hath
been attempted, as in some places it hath, the sword did ever
determine the question, which is to he avoided by all possible
means} But there is a fair and justifiable way for subjects to
procure a moderate government, incumbent to them in duty ;
which is, to endeavour the security of Religion and just Liberties,
the matter on which the exorbitancy of a prince's power doth
work ; which being secured, his power must needs be temperate,
and run in the even channel. ^ But,' it may be demanded, ' how
shall the people's just liberties be preserved if they be not known,
and how known if they be not determined to be such ?' It is
answere'd, the laws cmitain them ; and the Parliaments, which
ever have been the bulwarks of subjects' liberties in monarchies,
may advise new laws against emergent occasions which prejudge
their liberties ; and so leave it to occasion, and not prevent it by
foolish haste in Parliaments, which breeds contention, and dis-
turbance to the quiet of the state. And if Parliaments be fre-
quent, and rightly constituted^ what favourite counsellor or states-
man dare misinform or mislead a King to the prejudice of a sub-
ject's liberty, knowing he must answer it upon the peril of his
head and estate at the next ensuing Parliament, and that he
shall put the King to an hard choice for him, either to abandon
him to justice, or, by protecting him, displease the estates of his
kingdom I And if the King should be so ill advised as to protect
him, yet he doth not escape punishment that is branded with a
mark of public infamy, declared enemy to the state, and inca-
pable of any good amongst them.^
1 << Montrose," says Malcolm Laiog, ** was ancoDScious that humanity is the most
distinguished attribute of an heroical character."
* This sentence clearly refers to the constitution and proceedings of the Uwless
conventions in Scotland in 1639 and 1640, when Montrose argued against Argyle,
Rothes, Balmerino, and Archibald Johnston ; and he seems to point at ihe/awurUe
Hamilton, whom, as well as Argyle, Montrose indicated an intention of impeaching
in the Parliament of 1641, in presence of the King himself.
286 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
3/ " The perpetual cause of the controversies, between the
prince and his subjects, is the ambitious designs of rule in gr^at
men^ veiled under the speciam pretext of Religion and the sub-
jects^ Liberties, seconded with the arguments and fake positions
of seditious preachers : 1st, that the King is ordained for the
people, and the end is more noble than the mean ; 2d, that the
constituter is superior to the constituent ; 3d, that the King
and people are two contraries, like the two scales of a balance,
when the one goes up the other goes down; 4th, that the
princess prerogative and the people's privilege are incompatible ;
5th, what power is taken from the King is added to the Estates
of the people. This is the language of the spirits of division that
walk hetunxt the King and his people, to separate them whom Qod
hath conjoined ; which must not pass without some answer ; to
slide upon which sandy grounds these giants, who war against
the gods, have builded their Babel.
" To the 1st : It is true that the true and utmost ends of
men's actions, which is the glory of God and felicity of men,
are to be preferred to all means directed thereunto. But there
is not that order of dignity among the means themselves, or
mid instruments compounded together. If it were so, and a
man appointed to keep sheep, or a nobleman to be tutor-in-Iaw
to a pupil of meaner quality, the sheep should be preferred to
the man, and the pupil to his tutor. To the 2d : He that con-
stituteth so as he still retaineth the power to reverse his consti-
tution, is superior to the constituted in that respect ; but if his
donation and constitution is absolute and without condition,
devolving all his power in the person constituted, and his suc-
cessors, what before was voluntary becomes necessary. It is
voluntary to a woman to chuse such an one for her husband,
and to a people what king they will at first ; both being once
done, neither can the woman nor the people free themselves,
from obedience and subjection to the husband and the prince,
when they please. To the 3d : In a politic consideration, the
King and his people are not two, but one body politic, whereof
the King is the head. And so far are they from contrariety,
and opposite motions, that there is nothing good or ill for the
one which is not just so for the other. If their ends and en-
deavours be divers, and never so little eccentric, either that
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 287
king inclineth to tyranny, or that people to disloyalty, — if they
be contrary, it is mere tyranny or mere disloyalty. To the 4th :
The King*s prerogative and the subjects' privilege are so far
from incompatibiUty, that the one can never stand unless sup-
ported by the other. For the Sovereign being strong, and in
full possession of his lawful power and prerogative, is able to
protect his subjects from oppression, and maintain their liber-
ties entire ; otherwise, not. On the other side, a people, en-
joying freely their just liberties and privileges, maintaineth the
princess honour and prerogative out of the great affection they
carry towards him ; which is the greatest strength against fo-
reign invasion, or intestine insurrection, that a prince can pos-
sibly be possessed with. To the 5th : It is a mere fallacy ; for
what is essential to one thing cannot be given to another. The
eye may lose its sight, the ear its hearing, but can never be
given to the hand, or foot, or any other member ; and, as the
head of the natural body may be deprived of invention^ judgment^
or memory^ and the rest of the members receive no part thereof,
so subjects, not being capable of the essential parts of govern-
ment properly and primitively belonging to the prince, those
being taken from him, they can never be imparted to them,
without change of the government and the essence and being of
the same. When a King is restrained from the lawful use of his
power, and subjects can make no use of it — as v/nder a King
they cannot — what can follow but a subversion of government,
— anarchy and confusion I
^^ Mow, to any man that understands these things only, the
proceedings of these times may seem strange, and he may expos-
tulate with us thus : —
'' Noblemen and gentlemen of good quality, what do you
mean! Will you teach the people to put down the Lord's
anointed, and lay violent hands on his authority to whom both
you and they owe subjection, and assistance with your goods,
lives, and fortunes, by all the laws of God and man \ Do ye
think to stand and domineer over the people, in an aristocratic
way, — the people who owe you small or no obligation ! It is
you, under your natural prince^ that get all employment preg-
nant of honour or profit, in peace or war. You are the subjects
288 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
of his liberality; your houses decayed, either by merit or Ui
grace and favour are repaired, without which you fall in con-
tempt ; the people, jealous of their liberty, when you desem
best, to shelter themselves, will make you shorter hy the head^ or
serve you with an ostracism. If their first act he against iin^
povoer^ iJieir next act vnll he against y(m. For if the people be of
a fierce nature, they will cut your throats ; as the Switzers did
of old ; you shall be contemptible ; as some of antient houses
are in Holland, their very burgomaster is the better man ; your
honours — life — fortunes stand at the discretion of a eediiums
preacher !
" And you, ye meaner people of Scotland — who are not capable
of a Bepublic, for many grave reasons — why are you induced by
specious pretexts, to your own heavy prejudice and detriment,
to be instruments of others' ambition ! Do ye not know, when
the monarchical government is shaken, the great ones strive for
the garland with your blood and your fortunes ! Whereby you
gain nothing ; but, instead of a race of kings who have governed
you two thousand years with peace and justice, and have pre*
served your liberties against all domineering nations, shall pur-
chase to yourselves vuUures and tigers to reign over your poste-
rity ; and yourselves shall endure all those miseries, massacres,
and proscriptions of the Triumvirate of Rome, — the Kingdom fall
again into the hands of one, who of necessity must, and for reason
of state will, tyrannize over you. For kingdoms acquired by
blood and violence are by the same means retained.
" And you great men — if any such be among you so blinded
with ambition — who aim so high as the Crown^ do you think we
are so far degenerate from the virtue, valour, and fidelity to our
true and lawful Sovereign, so constantly entertained by our an-
cestors, as to suffer you, with all your policy ^ to reign over us ?
Take heed you be not iEsop's dog, and lose the cheese for the
shadow in the well.^
" And thou seditious preacher^ who studies to put the sove-
reignty in the peoplo'*s hands for thy ovm ambitious ends^ — as
being able, by thy wicked eloquence and hypocrisy^ to infuse
into them what thou pleasest, — know this, that this people is
I Montrose was right. Hamilton and Argyle were both sneaking after the Crown
of Scotland, and both were made ^ shorter by the head," as well as their King.
Hi
m
ii
A
r
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 289
more incapable of sovereignty than any other known : Thou art
abused like a pedant by the nimble-witted noblemen. Go, go
along with iikem to shake the present government;^ — not for
thy ends to possess the people with it, — but, as a cunning tennis-
player lets the ball go to the wall, where it cannot stay^ that he
may take it at the bound with more ease.^
" And whereas a durable peace with England — which is the
wish and desire of all honest men — is pretended, surely it is a
great solecism in us to aim at an end of peace with them, and
overthrow the only means for that end.^ It is the King's Ma-
jesty'*s sovereignty over both that unites us in affection, and is
only able to reconcile questions among us when they fall. To
endeavour the dissolution of that bond of our union, is nowise
to establish a durable peace ; but rather to procure enmity and
war betwixt bordering nations, where occasions of quarrel are
never wanting, nor men ever ready to take hold of them.
'* Now, Sir, you have my opinion concerning your desire, and
that which I esteem truth set down nakedly for your use, not
adorned for public view. And if zeal for my Sovereign, and
Country, have transported me. a little too far, I hope you wiU
excuse the errors proceeding from so good a cause of,
" Your humble servant,
" Montrose.*"*
^ Meaning the moncirchiecU form of government.
* An illustration derived from a favourite exercise of his college life ; see before,
p. 48.
' The treaty of Rippon conmienced there 1st October 1640, and was continued
and concluded in London in 1641.
* I found this letter in a small quarto volume of transcripts, in the handwriting
of the Reverend Robert Wodrow, among the manuscripts of the Advocates' Library.
The transcript is neither dated nor addressed ; but the reverend historian, who was
certainly noways favourably inclined towards Montrose, has docqueted it with the
titlei — '* Montrose, Marquis, Letter about the Sovereign and Supreme Power in
Government" Wodrow has arranged it in his voluminous MS. collections, under
the head, ^ Particular Dissertations, Essays, and Questions.'' Not only has this
letter never entered history, but it is not referred to by any contemporary chronicler;
nor is it anywhere alluded to by the transcriber himself, throughout that hetexx)ge-
neous mass of his collected gossip called his AnaUeta, The authentication of it,
however, does not rest entirely upon Wodrow; though to him we owe its preserva-
tion. The letter is identical, in the maxims, style, and even some of the sentences,
with the letter of advice in another chapter from Montrose to the King. The two
19
290 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
There ia sometbiDg extraordinary and startling in this late
discovery, that a young Scottish nobleman, only known to his-
tory as a daring cavalier who passed from his war-saddle to the
scaffold, had, in the year 1640, pondered so deeply the probl^n
of government, and prophesied so truly the issue of all violent
democratic movements. What and where was Cromwell when
Montrose wrote this letter ? " The first time that ever I took
notice of him,'^ says good Sir Philip Warwick, " was in the very
beginning of the Parliament held in November 1640, when I
vainly thought myself a courtly young gentleman; for we
courtiers valued ourselves much upon our good clothes : I came
one morning into the house well clad, and perceived a gentle-
man speaking (whom I knew not), very ordinarily apparelled,
for it was a plain cloth-suit, which seemed to have been made
by an ill country tailor ; his linen was plain, and not very clean,
and I remember a speck or two of blood upon his little band,
which was not much larger than his collar ; his hat was without
a hat-band, his stature was of a good size, his sword stuck close
to his side, his countenance swollen and reddish, his voice sharp
and untuneable, and his eloquence full of fervour, for the sub-
ject-matter would not bear much of reason.*" No further ad-
vanced was that great spirit of his age, at the very time when
Montrose was predicating his advent, though he knew not the
man. To us who look back, through the vista of long years,
upon his iron Usurpation, and the subsequent Reign of Terror
elsewhere, — to whom many a page of familiar history unfolds
the bloody records of revolution, and who are taught to deduce
documents authenticate each other. To whom the above letter was written, is a
question not now easy to determine. The address, ^ Noble Sir," seems to exclude
the natural idea that his correspondent was a brother peer. Both at the commence-
ment and the conclusion, there is the positive statement, that the learned and ela-
borate opinion thus given, had been expressly craved by letter. We shall after-
wards find some reason for conjecturing that the ** Noble Sir," the recipient of this
dissertation, was Drummond of Hawthomden.
There is no difficulty in determining the date of the letter. The context proves
that it was before the great civil war had commenced, and pending the negotiations
between the King and the Commisnoners, who met at Rippon on the 1st of October
1640, and concluded those negotiations in London, about the time of the King's visit
to Scotland, in the summer of 1641. Obviously the letter had been written prior to
that ill-fated progress, tlie result of which crushed all Montrose's conservative pUns,
and caused him to fly to arms in support of the Monarchy.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 291
therefrom precious theories of Liberty, — Montrose's warning,
against the headlong movement, may read like the trite and
conmion-place invectives of a short-sighted partizan. But let
it be remembered, that, in 1640, Charles was yet a King, and
Cromwell not even a commander. The heads of Haddo, Huntly,
and Hamilton were stiU on their shoulders. Those enlightened
statesmen and historians of modem days who from time to
time, and never so successfully as in our own age, have in-
structed and amused the world with their theories, — who teach
\ the youth of England that they ought to revere the robber and
I the murderer, for planting the tree of Liberty, though watered
with the blood of Nobles and of Kings, — ^yet slumbered in un«
created dust. When Montrose, with prophetic eloquence, was
deprecating that barbarous zeal and unprincipled violence which
paved the way for '' One, who of necessity must, and for reasons
of state will, tyrannize over you," he was not aware how he in- /
\ terfered with and vilified the hallowed sources of Fox's glory, /
I and Macaulay's fame. '
A cursory glance at Montrose's letter, or Essay, especially
under the influence of vulgar notions respecting his character,
might induce the belief that it was the extravagant tribute of a
courtier to the divine hereditary right of Kings to do wrong.
It was in the reign of James I., says Mr Macaulay, '' that those
strange theories which Filmer afterwards formed into a system,
and which became the badge of the most violent class of Tories
and high-Churchmen, first emerged into notice. It was gravely
maintained that the Supreme Being regarded hereditary mo-
narchy — as opposed to other forms of government — with pecu-
liar favour ; that the rule of succession, in order of primogeniture^
was a divine institution, anterior to the Christian, and even to
the Mosaic dispensation."^ This, which our historian calls the
badge of ultra-Tories and high-Churchmen, was at all events
not the doctrine of Montrose, in that letter to the friend who
had courted his learned opinion. His discourse is of ^^ Supreme
Power, in Government of all sorts ^^ His object is to demonstrate
the " sacred and inviolable nature of Sovereignty^ as the indis-
1 History of England, vol. i. p. 71. The historian here refers to the Political
DisconrBes of Sir Robert Filmer, Bart, published in 1680, thirty years afte^the
death of Montrose.
292 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
pensable bond of civil society ; and he is anxious to do justice
to this Heaven-suggested power, " in a time when so much is
said and done to the disgrace and derogation of it."" This is
not the doctrine of the divine right of primogenUure. or even of
Kings as opposed to other forms of government. Montrose, no
doubt, was attached to the hereditary monarchical form of
government, as the best of all. What English historian could
condemn him for that predilection ? But an inviolable right of
government, " whether in the person of a Monarch, or in a few
principal men, or in the Estates of the People,"^ is the principle
for which he contends. And to this general principle we shall
find him again referring, in a letter to Charles I., when urging
his Sovereign to come to Scotland in person, to settle the king-
dom at this very time. But that supreme or sovereign power
for which he contends, and which he declares to be " the truest
image and representation of the power of Almighty God upon
earth,'^ he also declares to be " limited by the laws of Grod and
Nature, and some laws of nations, and by the fundamental laws
of the countrj', upon which sovereign power itself resteth — in
prejudice of which a King can do nothing.*" And although he
inculcates the doctrine of patience and passive obedience in
subjects, as the best mode of the ultimate rectification of the
machine deranged by "- the Prince's power too far extended,*'
he points at once to the proper constitutional and controlling
balance, in " the Parliaments, which ever have been t/ie bulwarks
of subjects" liberties in Monarchies,''''
j Montrose is the middle ages of British politics, compared
;j with Hallam and Macau lay. Nevertheless, these enlightened
I historians of our own times might learn something from him
;lyet.
LIFE OF MONTROSf:. 293
CHAPTER XVI.
NARRATIVE OF A RENEWED CONSERVATIVE PLOT ON THE PART OF MONTROSE,
AND HIS FAMILY CIRCLE — HIS OWN AND LORD NAPIER^S STATEMENT OF
THE NATURE AND OBJECT OF THEIR PLOT — HIS CONFERENCE AT SCONE
ABBEY WITH THE COVENANTING CLERGYMEN OF THE DISTRICT — RESULT
OF THEIR MEETING — ARGYLE BRINGS THE MATTER BEFORE THE COM-
MITTKE OF ESTATES — COLLISION BETWEEN MONTROSE AND ARGYLE —
LORD LINDSAY OF THE BYRES — JOHN STEWART OF LADYWELL EXA-
MINED AND IMPRISONED — HOW DEALT WITH IN PRISON — HIS RECAN-
TATION — MONTROSE'S EMISSARY WALTER STEWART ARRESTED ON HIS
RETURN FROM COURT — SECRET LETTER FROM SIR THOMAS HOPE OF
KERSE TO JOHNSTON OF WARRI8TON.
Clarendon declares himself quite unable to detect ^^ the
ground of his Majesty''s so positive and unalterable resolution
of going to Scotland,^' — which he did, with such fatal results,
in the autumn of 1641. It proved, indeed, a rich harvest for
the Argyle faction. Yet the step took them entirely by sur-
prise, and was anything but welcome at the time. Archibald
Johnston of Warriston, Procurator of the Kirk, was attending,
in that important and lucrative capacity, the Commissioners of
the treaty which had commenced at Bippon in October J 640,
and which soon thereafter was removed to London. This most
unscrupulous demagogue of the Troubles, was daily reporting
progress, in private missives, addressed to the few elect in
Edinburgh. His chief correspondents were, Lord Balmerino,
Adam Hepburn of Humbie, and Sir Thomas Hope of Kerse,
the Lord Advocate's second son. These notables, of whom we
have already made mention, were all devoted aids of Argjle,
with ever wakeful regard, however, to their own individual in-
terests. In his private correspondence, Warriston, half crazy
with excitement at the prospect of StraflTord'^s blood, and " get-
ting money for us,'" urges his friends at home to be diligent and
unremitting in all their arts of popular delusion, especially in
294 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
preparing fictitious impeachments, against every nobleman or
gentleman who dared to cross their agitation with a breath of
conservatism. Of course one particularly pointed at, and dreaded,
was Montrose. The detection of the Cumbernauld Bond, indeed,
had marked him for destruction. Although the eighteen noble
signatures which are found along with his own, attached to that
futile instrument, had proved a rope of sand, and he was imme-
diately left alone to stand the storm, and endure the whole
odium — ^a fact not creditable either to the consistency or
courage of the nobility of Scotland — he was still regarded as
the head of a party whom the Procurator of the Kirk, and the
Argyle clique, termed " the Banders.""
Alluding to these, Warriston, in a letter to Balmerino, dated
from London 22d April 1641, tells his friends not to be alarmed
at " this trick of their causing the King pro/ess he would come
to Scotland himself to settle business ; which is a trick oftheirB
to terrify us, for fear of factions at home to grow by his pre-
sence." ^
It was no trick, but the anxious and conscientious desire and
design of Montrose, and a very few of his nearest connexions.
These were so sanguine as to persuade themselves, that the
presence of the Monarch himself in Scotland would alone suffice
to paralyze the faction who they saw were hastening to dethrone
him. Not only did Montrose avow his own instrumentality in
causing Charles to come to Scotland in 1641; but when his
exertions to that effect were libelled against him, as a point of
high treason^ he thus defended the measure, and its motives : —
" As for the reasons why it was done at all, they were sun-
dry: For first it was ordinarily noised among the common
people, and all the country over, that it was not to be wished
Original^ Advocates' Library. The letter ia obviously written under great ex-
citement, which will be understood from the following sentences: « The lower House L
has given up their bill — grows daily stouter— will not rise— wi^ hate Straford't life »,
thinking on money for ii# — This in post haste — Lord encourage and direct
them.** The Procurator of the Kirk adds, with savage glce,~« Remember me to
good Mr Uary Rollock, who I know will think with myself (who was aye said to
be blythe at evil neva) that business is going in Ood'i old tray." Lord Hailes ex-
tracted this postscript for his very imperfect selection from these letters in the Ad-
vocates' Library, but had misread it thus,— « who was aye said to be blythe at 1 did
witneu;** which destroys both the sense, and Warriston's characteristic of himself.
LIFE OF MONTROSK. 295
the King should at this time find himself here ; for that, say
they, were for no other end but to make rent and division in
the Public, and gain himself siders to reverse what formerly
liad been done : Which was so ridiciUotis as did justly confirm
as in a contrary way and judgment ; and oblige us, as it were,
to use all lawful means in behalf of it. Besides, it is more than
perfectly known that some private persons^ contrary to the good
of the Public, and their own professions, have by all means en-
deavoured the King's stay : For all which respects we thought
ourselves obliged to endeavour it (his presence in Scotland) in
80 just and lawful a way.""^
Montrose and his friend Lord Napier drew up between them
the unanswerable Reply to the monster libel which was prepared
against " the Plotters'*" in 1641, by the Procurator of the Kirk.
From that defence the above extract is derived ; and the docu-
ment also contains so precise, simple, and truthful a statement,
of this alleged plot of theirs against the religion and liberties of
Scotland, that the thread of our story can be pursued in no
form so fitting as their own words. The time is the commence-
ment of the year 1641, immediately after Argyle'^s detection of
the Cumbernauld bond, when that broader conservative alliance
had been blown up by the wily arts and extraordinary power of
the Dictator. It is only necessary further to premise, that the
dramatis personcB were none other than a family party, in the
frequent habit of supping together, sometimes in Montrose^s
lodgings in the Canongate, and sometimes in Lord Napier'^s
castle of Merchiston, in the vicinity of Edinburgh. These were,
Montrose himself; Lord Napier, who was his brother-in-law,
and had been his guardian ; Sir George Stirling of Keir, mar-
ried to Montrose's niece, Napier's eldest daughter; and Sir
Archibald Stewart of Blackball and Ardgowan, a Lord of
Council and Session, married to Helen Stirling, the sister of
Keir.
" The Earl of Montrose, Lord Naper, Sir George Stirling of
Keir, and Sir Archibald Stewart of Blackball, knights, having
occasion to meet often, did then deplore the hard estate the
> Original draft, corrected in Montrose's own hand, and entitled, ^ Replies unto
the libel in what does touch on fact." 1641-2. MontroH Charter room.
296 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
country was in ; our Religion not secured, and with it our
Liberties being in danger; Laws silenced; Justice, and the
course of Judicatories, obstructed ; noblemen and gentlemen
put to excessive charges above their abilities, and distracted
from their private affairs ; the course of traffic interrupted, t^
the undoing of merchants and tradesmen ; moneyed men paid
with faylies and suspensions ; and, besides these present evils,
fearing worse to follow ; the King's atUhority being much shaien
by the late troubles ; knowing well that the necessary conse-
quences and effects of a weak sovereign power are anarchy and
confusion ; the tyranny of subjects, the most insatiable and in-
supportable tyranny of the worlds without hope of redress from
the Prince, curbed and restrained from the lawful use of his
power ; factions and distractions within ; opportunity to ene-
mies abroad, and to ill-affected subjects at home, to kindle a
fire in the state which hardly can be quenched — unless it please
the Almighty of his great mercy to prevent it — without the ruin
of Kingy People^ and State}
^' These sensible evils begot in them thoughts of remedy.
The best, they thought, was, that if his Majesty would be
pleased to come in person to Scotland^ and give his people satis-
faction in point of Religion, and just Liberties, he should thereby
settle his own authority, and cure all the distempers and dis-
tractions among his subjects. For they assured themselves
that, the King giving God his due, and the people theirs, they
would give Caesar that which was hie.
" While these thoughts and discourses were entertained
among them, Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Stewart came to the
town, who was repairing to Court about his own business.
Whereupon it was thought expedient to employ him to deal
with the Duke of Lennox — being a Stuart, and one that was
oft at Court they thought, but were deceived, that he was well
known to the Duke — to persuade his Majesty's journey to
Scotland for the effect foresaid. This, upon our conscience and
honour^ was the Lieutenant- Colonel's employment, and nothing
else ; although there was some other discourses to that purpose
1 This was prophetic. It will be observed that some of tlic expressions in tliiH
statement arc the same with some used by Montrose in his Letter upon SovertMgn
Power.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 297
in the bye ; as, that it was best his Majesty should keep up the
Offices ^ vacand, till he had settled the affairs here ; and the
Lieutenant-Colonel proponed this difficulty, that our army lay
in his way, and that his Majesty could not in honour pass
through them ; to which he got this present reply, that our
Commissioners were at London ; if the King did not agree with
them, his Majesty would not come at all ; but if he did agree,
the army should be his army, and they would all lay down their
arms at his feet. There is no man so far from the duty of a
good subject, or so void of common sense, as to quarrel this
matter. But the manner is mightily impugned, and aggravated
by all the means that the malicious libeller can invent. It is
bonum^ says he, no man so impudent as can deny it ; but it is
not beni; and, therefore, * The Plotters'* — for with that odious
name they design us— ought to be punished with loss of
fame, life, lands, goods and gear, and be incapable of place,
honour, or preferment, — a sore sentence any man will think,
after the matter be well tried and discussed.
'' This being the true relation in fact, anent those particulars
which concern us all, we are confident that it will appear, albeit
we should make no other answers, how calumnious and injurious
our libel is ; and how, at random, reproachful and wild words
have been accumulated against us, without respect to our
quality and eminence: which proves nothing against us, but
reflecteth against the libeller.'"*
* The Offices of State.
* From the original draft, corrected in the handwriting of Montrose, found among
the family archives, and collated with another draft in the handwriting of Archibald
first Lord Napier, preserved in the Napier Charter-chest. These Replies answer in
detail all the virulent and absurd farrago of the libel, which Johnston of Warriston
came down from London to aid in concocting. It was, to use Montrose's own con-
temptuous and elegant characteristic of it, '' made up of many sheets of paper, in
respect of the huge rhapsodies of those quisquUicB volanUi et wrUi tpclia ;** that is,
windy swirls of riff-raff and rubbish. When he comes to reply to what is specially
applicable to himself, he thus notes his respect for his co-plotters, Lord Napier,
Keir, and Blackball :—
** Thus far I have gone along with these gentlemen, whose ways and actions I
have ever known to be so fair, that the foul colours cast upon them in their libel
shaU never make me regret my accession to them, either in an active or passive
way : But now, since tlie libeller, that hath left them, is not yet weary in libelling
against me, I sluill continue a little in facto concerning myself.
298 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
At the time when this family plotting was in progress, and
shortly before Walter Stewart departed on his ill-fated mission
to Court, our hero, about the commencement of the month of
February 1641, went to pay a visit to Lord Stormont at Scone
Abbey. To meet him there, came the loyal Earl of Athole,
accompanied by his unfortunate friend and follower, John
Stewart, younger of Ladywell, Commissary of Dunkeld. Both
of these were smarting under the treacherous and oppressive
treatment they had recently experienced at the hands of the
chief of the Campbells, as narrated in a former chapter. About
this conservative party — for Lord Stormont, too, was one of
•' the Banders'"* — there were hovering some ravens of the Co-
venant, ever on the look-out for prey. We have already made
acquaintance with the Reverend Robert Murray, minister of
Methven, the same who in 1637 " travailed to bring in'^ Mon-
trose. He was the uncle, and constant correspondent, of that
disreputable and mischievous character, William Murray of the
Bedchamber, of whom our hero declared it to consist with his
own certain knowledge, that, by means of making free with the
King's pockets, he furnished the Covenanters with the fact, and
the tenor, of the EarPs letter to his Majesty, in October 1640.
This busy agitator, and two others of the same stamp, were
holding sweet counsel together, on the engrossing subject of
the " divisive" sayings and doings of Montrose, while the latter
was visiting at Scone. These were Mr John Graham, minister
of Auchterarder, near his own castle of Kincardine, and Mr
John Robertson, one of the ministers of Perth. As clergymen
belonging to the districts in which lay his own possessions, they
were all well known to Montrose ; who, feeling aggrieved by the
clamour, and calumnies raised upon the " Band that was brunt,^
and directed entirely against himself, though but one of nine-
teen noblemen who had signed it, seized the present opportunity
to clear himself, by explaining matters to these prominent mi-
nisters of the movement.
That state of his mind, indeed, seems to have hastened a sad
and fearful crisis of the revolution in Scotland. We have seen
how he tried the nerves of his military friend Colonel Cochrane,
when riding between Chester and Newcastle along with the
Commander-in-chief, by venturing to breathe the subject of the
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 299
burnt bond in such company. So he now desired to unburden
himself of the same feelings to his old friend the minister of
Methven ; with whom, accordingly, he held a conference on the
subject, in the town of Perth, during his visit at Scone. From
the original record of that clergyman'^s deposition, before a co-
venanting conunittee, the principal details of their conversation
have already been quoted.^ Further the reverend gentleman
deponed, that his colloquy with the conservative Earl was re-
newed on the following day at Scone Abbey, in hearing of the
minister of Perth, while the minister of Auchterarder stood
somewhat apart, watching the scene. At the height of the
discussion, a domestic approached the group with the announce-
ment that dinner was waiting for the Earl of Montrose. Obliged
to separate in consequence, " the deponer,*" proceeds Mr Mur-
ray, in his deposition before the committee, " entreated his
Lordship to unity: The Earl answered, he loved unity, and
would clear himself before the Parliament and General Assem-
bly : The deponer alleged it would hinder the settling of the
common cause.^ He answered, he should do it in such a way
as could not wrong the Public ; because he would not make his
challenge till the public business was settled ; and then he would
put it off himself, and lay it on those who had calumniated him :
This conference ended, the Earl went to dinner, and the deponer
went to Perth.*"
Thus the '^ noble and true-hearted cavalier,^^ as Rothes ori-
ginally characterised him, in this hasty parlance, while dinner
was cooling and guests waiting, had prematurely disclosed his
hostile plans, to the very persons who were most likely to bring
that to nought, and him to grief. Had he so delivered himself
after dinner, it would have been less surprising. His rashness
is the more remarkable, that by this time he had become tho-
roughly cognizant of the entire subserviency of the covenanting
preachers to the regime of Argyle in Scotland. The date of
this conversation is contemporaneous with his constitutional
dissertation, in that letter, on Sovereign power, to a friend,
1 See before, p. 263.
' By ^ the common cause,'* was meant the particular views, and personal objects
of the Argyle faction ; or, as Montrose termed it, ^ the particular and indirect prac-
tising of a few."
300 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
which we have disclosed in the last chapter. And there, with
an emphasis which the whole history of Scotland t^nds to jus-
tify, we find him apostrophising those pulpit agitators as ^^ thou
seditious preacher^ wlio studies to put the sovereignty in the
people^s hands for thy own ambitious ends, as being able, by
thy wicked eloquence and hypocrisy, to infuse into them what
thou pleasest."" The three covenanting clergymen mentioned
above, were not indeed of the very vicious order, such as Cant,
Law, James Guthrie, Neave, and others, who may be said to
have erected the shambles of the Covenant, —
" Preachers, not Pa«tor9, redolent of blood,
Who cried, * Sweet Jesu,^ in their murderous mood,
Canting, self-seeking, Christ -cai-essing crew,
That from the Book of Life, death-warrants drew,
Obscured the fount of Truth, and left the trace
Of gory fingers on the page of Grace," —
but they were sufficiently imbued with the spirit of their sect,
and entirely under the dominion of Argyle, and the Procurator
of the Kirk.
The minister of Methven was followed to Perth, that same
evening, by him of Auchterarder, impatient to be fully informed
us to that conference, the animation of which he had witnessed
at Scone, without hearing what had passed.
" My Lord and you were hoV'' — fished the Reverend John
Graham : '* I was not hot^ but plaiji^'''' rei)Hed Murray, " and
my Lord took it all well."' To these flocked two other ravens of
the Covenant, Mr David Drummond and Mr George Mushet ;
and, " the said Mr David and Mr George having heard that he
had spoken with the Earl^ asked how he was satisfied ? The
deponer replied, that he looed not to speak of t/iat purpose ; but,
that they might know how he was satisfied, he said, *' I shall
tell you the story, and judge you yourselves how I am satisfied ;''
and thereafter related to them the sum of the conference above
deponed."'
At the very next meeting of the Presbytery of Auchterarder
— classic ground in the history of such troubles — the Reverend
John Graham went out of his way to harangue the assembled
niinifitors and elders, in a pharisaical speech, which, professing
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 301
to be an apolog)' for the alleged divisive courses of the neigh-
bouring Earl, and a smoother of conflicting elements of the
cause, did in point of fact put the whole Church of Scotland
completely au fait as to Montrose^s hostile intentions towards
Argyle, at the ensuing meeting of Parliament. What was so
bruited in the Kirk could not long be withheld from it« King.
At the requisition of that potentate, an order, dated 19th May
1641, was served upon the reverend gentleman to compear
forthwith in Edinburgh, and there give an account, to a cove-
nanting committee, of the speech he had made to the Presby-
tery of Auchterarder.
Then arose a storm that ceased not until it desolated the
kingdom. The future champion of the Throne was thus brought
into direct and violent collision with its arch-enemy. The mi-
nister of Auchterarder quoted the minister of Methven. He
too was summoned. The minister of Methven quoted the Earl
of Montrose; and, on the 27th of May 1641, our hero found
himself face to face with " King Campbell," in presence of a
select committee of Estates, of that worthy^s own packing.
It was the first and last time that Argyle ever faced Mon-
trose ; but most assuredly he came ofi* victorious. We recom-
mend the scene to an historical painter. The grim Earl was,
in the first instance, imposingly called upon to give his reasons
for demanding this enquiry. He assigned, a scandal and ca-
lumny against himself, that, at the ford of Lyon, he had spoken
of deposing King Charles, which scandal had been published by
the minister of Auchterarder to his own Presbytery. That
clergyman, after excusing himself in great tribulation, and with
the utmost humility, gave for his authority the minister of
Methven. So, "Mr Robert Murray, minister of Methven,
being come to Edinburgh upon Wednesday last, at night, upon
other occasions, was called off the streets upon Thursday the
27th of May instant (1641), to compear before the Committee
of Estates ; and having appeared before them, was told by their
Lordships, that Mr John Graham, minister of Auchterarder,
being examined by their Lordships upon the author of his
speeches, which he spake before the Presbytery of Auchterar-
der, gave up the said Mr Robert as his author.''''
302 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Nothing as yet^ throughout the examinations, had ooeurred
directly to implicate Montrose with Argyle, but all knew what
was coming. Murray fought shy, fenced, and coquetted, and
pleading that the Auchterarder informant had many other au-
thors, and need not have quoted him, begged to be excused.
The latter, however, refused to quit his hold of the minister of
Methven. And now Montrose, impatient and disgusted, struck
in with his usual bravery : ^' Gome, come, Mr Murray, emit
your declaration without more ado ; you know very well that
you can soon put it off your hands.*^ — " Whereupon Mr Robert,''
as doubtless our hero had anticipated, '* answered, — * Then it
is your Lordship must take it off my hand ; therefore, my Lord,
tell your part, and I shall tell mine." "^
This order of proceeding, however, the fearless and high-
minded nobleman declined, with peremptory dignity, and in-
sisted upon Mr Murray at once declaring whatever he had to
say on the subject. Whereupon, the reverend uncle and cor-
respondent of " little Will Murray of the Bedchamber" emitted
that momentous declaration, the chief details of which we have
already laid before our readers.
Without the slightest hesitation, and with perfect self-pos-
session, Montrose himself corroborated the substance of this
clergyman's story ; and then he proceeded to recapitulate the
various circumstances which had induced him to attempt the
conservative union at Cumbernauld. Still the name of Argyle
had not been introduced, and Gillespie Gruamach had not yet
found his time to interfere. But when Montrose had thus
frankly relieved the minister of Methven, the delicate question
was put to him, whether he had named the Earl of Argyle ?
" I did name the Earl of Argyle,^' was his unhesitating reply :
" I named Argyle as the man who was to have the rule benorth
Forth, and as the man who discoursed of deposing the King :
But I am not the author or inventor of these things ; I will lay
it down at the right door : What I told Mr Robert. Murray was,
that some of the particulars of my statement were consistent
with my own knowledge ; that there were ten or twelve others
who would bear me witness ; and that, with regard to all I had
asserted, there would be some one to prove, or to take it off my
hands;'
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 303
This brought matters nearer the crisis. The Earl was then
required to produce his author. '' Since I am desired to do so,^^
said Montrose, " and having named the Earl of Argyle, which
I was forced to do, I have to request that he now express his
own knowledge of this business.*" The burst of passion which
this cautious and courteous appeal elicited, is thys noted by
the clerk of that committee, which was entirely devoted to
Argyle :—
" The Earl of Argyle answered, that he thought it incumbent
to clear himself, and would do it * ♦ * * * the com-
mittee would appoint him. The Earl of Argyle, by his oath
unrequired^ declared that * * * « * heard of such a
matter ; and would make it good that ♦ * * * * who
would say that he was the man spoke of deposing * * * of
his knowledge of these bonds, was a liar, and a base * * ♦ .""i
Montrose, noways frightened out of his propriety by this
tirade, repeated with the utmost composure his four reasons
for the conservative bond. He was unwilling, he said, to speak
more of the Dictatorship, because his author with regard to that
particular was not in town. Being pressed on the subject, how-
ever, he reluctantly named Lord Lindsay of the Byres. He
then proceeded to detail the conversation we have elsewhere
noted ;' adding, at the same time, that he did not understand
his Lordship to state it as a positive fact, but only as a matter
of likelihood or suspicion. With regard to Argyle''s discourse
on the subject of deposing the King, he declared that he received
his information from Mr John Stewart, younger of Ladywell,
who gave him some of the particulars in writing ; and further,
he said that what Stewart communicated, had occurred in pre-
sence of Ogilvy of Inchmartin, Sir Thomas Stewart, younger of
Orandtully, and twenty or thirty other gentlemen : With regard
to the bonds of fealty to subjects, pressed at various times, he
referred to Argyle himself, to the Lairds of Lawers, Glenorchy,
and Gomrie ; and as to that for cantoning the country, and be-
stowing the rule benorth Forth upon Argyle, he referred to the
> Unfortunately the maoiucript if destroyed by damp, in those places where the
vaeaneies oocor in onr print of it. The kst epithet applied by Argyle, which donbt-
lesB ^"as energetic^ must be left to the imagination of the reader.
s See before^ p. 264.
304 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Earls of Mar and Gassilis, Archibald Campbell, who was pre-
sent when it was framed, and Mr Adam Hepburn of Humbie.
A pretty kettle of fish ! Who was to be the unfortunate last^
in this game at leap-frog ! Indeed it was rather '^ the devil take
the hindmost." For woe betide the man, or nobleman, who,
from not being able to produce " his author," and to " put it
off himself," was to be left in the hands of Argyle, and his select
committees, and their murderous interpretation of the old star
tutes of leasing-making. Montrose himself seems to have been
very sensible of this ; for, lesr his principal informant should
haply be tampered with, or amissing altogether, he lost not a
moment, after the above scene, in producing him bodily before
the committee. The Commissary of Dunkeld stood stoutly to
his text. At his examination, on the 3ist of May 1641, he
" subscribed a paper bearing all that Montrose had affirmed in
his name ; whereupon Argyle broke out into a passion, and with
great oaths denied the whole and every part tliereo/^ whereat many
wanderedy^ Still his victim was undaunted. " My Lord," said
John Stewart, " I heard you speak these words in Athole, in
presence of a great many people, \chereof you are in good me-
mory, ^^^ The Laird of LadywelFs days were numbered. No
sooner had he put his name to his informations than he was
sent to prison, at the nod of King Campbell, against whom all
this inquisitorial jealousy and activity was never for an instant
' directed. There was just as good reason for sending Argyle to
prison. Better, indeed ; for by Leslie'^s articles of war, to breathe
a word against the King's Majesty or authority, was punishable
with death ; and Argyle, like Montrose, was, upon the occasion
in question, acting under a subordinate military commission.
But might made right.
We must now develope another scene in this drama of cove-
nanting justice. Lord Lindsay, whom Montrose had most re-
luctantly named in his absence, was placed in an awkward pre-
dicament. The conservative Earl had affirmed that Lindsay
* Guthrie. This contemporary accooot of Argyle*8 undignified violence, is well
corroborated by what we have previously quoted from the original record of the
examinations which occurred on the 27th of May.
' Spalding.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 305
mentioned the Earl of Argyle as the person who "was to be Dic-
tator ; and Argyle had volunteered his great oath that all this
was a foul calumny. Who was the calumniator! The cove-
nanting committee were annoyed and perplexed, for Lindsay
was a leader of the movement. Yet the evidence of Montrose
was not to be easily discredited. It was not for the King's in-
terest that the affair was followed out, but purely for the sake
of Argyle. The rumour had gained ground that the King in-
tended to open the Scotch Parliament in person. Montrose
himself had now avowed his intention to lay these matters be-
fore the Parliament. Argyle's life, indeed, under existing cir-
cumstances, was not likely to be in much jeopardy, for any
treason he had uttered or designed. But great OflSces of State
and Session, , which the lawless acts of the late Parliament,
against the so called " Incendiaries,^' had rendered vacant, were
remaining to be filled up by his Majesty. And if this awkward
state of antagonism, or rivalry, between King Stewart and King
Campbell, were to be illustrated in presence of the Sovereign
presiding in Parliament, by such an energetic accuser as Mon-
trose, Argyle's position in the country, and the propriety of
allowing him to have any accredited rule at all, either benorth
or besouth Forth, might be rendered too questionable. He
was to be cleared, therefore, at all hazards, before his Majesty
should arrive in Scotland ; and it now remained for Lord Lind-
say of the Byres to extricate himself and the faction from the
scandal, in so far as he was involved.
Accordingly : — " 4th June 1641 : In presence of the commit-
tee ; the Lord Lindsay desired to know if the committee had
any thing to speak to his Lordship^ because he was to go to New-
castle : Whereupon the question feU in anent the speeches re-
lated by the Earl of Montrose, to have been spol^en by him
concerning a Dictator^ whether the Lord Lindsay should answer
to that, or if it were such a matter as merits to be agitated."*^
The committee, it will be observed, were not so scrupulous
about agitating the matter of Montrose's private conversations. |j /
The record of this affair proceeds to say, that " The Lord
Lindsay desired to know what was spoken by the Earl of Mon-
trose which reflected upon him, before anything was done : Ac-
20
306 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
cording whereunto the paper (with Montrose'^s declaration) was
read, and delivered to him, that he might consider thereof.^
The substance of Montrose's recollection of this conversation,
and Lindsay''s qualification, we have already had occasion to
quote.i The former eventually adhered, with equal fimmess
and courtesy, to his own recollection, that Argyle was actually
suggested by name as Dictator. Lord Lindsay denied that he
had named the dangerous potentate ; but the details of what
he did admit could bear no other interpretation, and so on this
point also our hero was substantially confirmed in his statement
by the nobleman whom he had quoted. The mode in which the
Gommittee of Estates eventually assoilzied their " prime Cove-
nanter," is somewhat amusing : —
" At Edinburgh, 7th June 1641 : The Committee, having
considered the Earl of Montrose, and the Lord Lindsay, their
declarations, &c., and having compared them together, find,
that as it is possible the Earl of Montrose has mistaken the
Lord Lindsay's expression, so they find, by the words which
the Lord Lindsay remembers and has set down under his hand,
that there was no ground for the said misconception.
" Sir A. Gibsone, LP.Dr*
It remained to deal with the unhappy Commissary of Dun-
keld. The genius of the Ladywell had deserted him. He
seemed not to know, what Montrose knew so well, that courage
and constancy are the best protection under critical and dan-
gerous circumstances. He recanted, in order to save his life,
and the consequence was that he lost it. The Reverend Henry
Guthrie, then minister of Stirling, who was of great comfort to
him during the last days of his life, and attended him on the
scafibld, has left this account of the means by which he had
been induced to sign his own death-warrant : —
» See before, p. 265.
* Original MS. It is remarkable, that Sir Thomas Hope's cooTersation at New-
castle, Argyle's conversation in his tent at the ford of Lyon, and Lord Lindsay's
conversation with Montrose, all occurring at the same crisis, and of obvious appli-
cation to deposing Charles Stewart, were all excosed on the same plea, namely, as
having been a general discourse, not intending the particular applieaiion.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 307
'^ My Lord Balmerino, and my Lord Dnrie, being sent from
the committee to the caetle to examine him, they did try
another way with him, that he would rather take a tache upon
himself than let Argyle lie under such a blunder. Being both
profound men, they knew well what arguments to use for that
effect ; and Mr John considering, upon the one part, that Ar-
gyle^s power was such, that he could not only preserve his life,
but also raise him to preferment — if, for the clearing him, he
should convict himself — ^and, on the other part, that a wonder
lasts but nine nights in a town, as we use to say, — therefore he
condescended to the motion, and the next day wrote a letter to
the Earl of Ar^le, wherein he cleared him of those speeches,
and acknowledged that himself had forged them out of malice
to his Lordship ; and he likewise confessed, that, by advice and
counsel of the Earl of Montrose, Lord Napier, Sir George Stir-
ling of Keir, and Sir Archibald Stewart of Blackball, he had
sent a copy of those speeches under his hand to the King^ by
one Captain Walter Stewart. The Earl of Argyle having com-
municated his letter to the committee, they set watches to
attend that Gaptain^s return ; who, catching him at Gockburn^s
Path, and finding his letters, brought him and them both before
the committee, and being examined there^ he was sent prisoner
to the castle of Edinburgh.'^ '
This melancholy story, and most critical juncture in the life
of our hero, the recovery of many original documents, hitherto
unpublished and unknown, enables us fully to illustrate. The
difficulty is to do so, from such voluminous materials, within a
compass proportional to the limits of this biography. Our pre-
sent chapter must conclude with a curious letter, which the
foregoing narrative will render sufficiently intelligible. We may
premise, that it is addressed to a brother lawyer, brother fao-
tionist, and brother fanatic, the Procurator of the Eirk, then
in London, by a writer who is none other than Sir Thomas
Hope of Eerse, the Lord Advocators second son. He chooses
to correspond under the fictitious signature '^ A. B.'*^ But the
armorial seal displays the three besants of Hope ; which reminds
us of the bird that hid his head and forgot his tail.
* Bishop Guthrie is generally corroborated by the original tetters and depositions,
which are among the manuscripts of the Advocates* Library.
f
308 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
" Worthy Brother,
*' We had many strange businesses in hand here this last week.
They began at Mr John Graham, minister of Auchterarder, who
was called to give an account of some speeches spoken in that
Presbytery, and gave Mr Robert Murray for his authority.
Mr Robert gave the Earl of Montrose for his, and Montrose
declared that he had the same partly from Mr John Stewart of
Lady well, and partly from my Lord Lindsay. Mr John Stewart
being sent for and examined, made a terrible calumnious rela-
tion, of some speeches which he alleged were spoken by the
Earl of Argylo at his expedition in Athole, of no less moment
than the deposing of the King. He confessed he gave a copy
of his relation to the Earl of Montrose, and another to Walter
Stewart {my man)^^ to be given to the Earl of Traquair. Walter
was happily rancountered, upon Friday, betwixt Cokbum'*s Path
and Haddington, by one was sent expressly to meet him^ and con-
veyed to Balmerino'^s lodgings at nine o'clock at night, where I
was the first man that came in after him, about some other
business with my Lord. After he denied he had any more
papers than were in his cloth-bag, there was a leather-bag
found in the pannel of his saddle, wherein was a letter from the
King to Montrose ; ^ a letter to himself (Stewart), written from
Colonel Cochrane, at Newcastle, to London ; and a signature of
the chamberlainry of the Bishop of Dunkeld to Mr John Stew-
art, with a blank for a pension, but not signed by the King's
hand. After many shifts, being convinced by some notes under
his own hand, which were found in his pocket — and which, with
astonishment, he swore he thought had not been in the world —
he was brought to promise plain dealingy and deponed as ye wiD
find in the papers sent by Humbie. But, I believe, he has not
dealt truly in all the points. Specially, I doubt the interpreta-
tion of A.B.C., by which he says are meant the Banders ; and
of the viper in the King's bosom, by which he means Canter-
bury, which / believe not. I will not touch any more of the par-
ticulars, because you will find them in the copies of the papers.
Mr John Stewart has since confessed his knavery in the general,
^ Meaning, the man who reported his conversation on the subject of the trial and
deposition of kings. Sec before, p. 267.
' See the letter, very recently recovered, at p. 316.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 309
but has not yet cleared the particulars.^ The point for the which
Montrose alleges Lindsay's authority is not yet cleared.* It
was concerning the Dictator^ whom he alleges should have been
^'rgyU^ as he then said positivi^ in his declaration, my Lord
Lindsay named him. But since he heard Lindsay, he says he
heUeves he did name him, at the least he conceives he meant him
— ^and he refers to his oath he did mean him. I think it shall
resolve in nothing, or a very little something. I believe this
business shall prove deeper than yet is found, for the Lord^ it
teems^ will have all these ways bratight to light. I have no other
thing that I remember for the present, which I know you have
not heard ; and the most part of this, if not all, you will have
from others. But a good tale twice told is tolerable. I remain,
as ever, your real friend to be commanded,
" Edinr- 7 June 1641." " A. B.''
" P. S. — Walter Stewart has craved a pardon for the wrong
he did me, and has set down the words which past betwixt us,
under his hand, whereof I have sent the authentic copy to my
brother, which you may have from him if ye desire to see it."'
1 For a good reason, — he had to consider wh Argyle was a privy-comiBellor. We find this letter in the collection of ** Letters
to the Argyle Family/' printed for the Maitland Club in 1839, but without any at-
tempt to connect them with history. The letter has at length found its proper
place.
316 LIFE OF MONTROSE. ^
oiating the character of Montrose, must have been gall and
wormwood to Argyle. It did not arrest the progress of his
" far designs^ for a moment. Since the time when that mes-
senger was robbed and sent to prison, two centuries and a half
ago, nothing more had been heard of it. That it still existed
was not known. Had the contents been other than what the
King so emphatically declared, the Covenanters would have
proclaimed them to the world. But the letter itself has been
at length discovered, and the reader will judge : —
" Montrose : —
^^' I conceive that nothing can conduce more to a firm and
solid peace, and giving full contentment and satisfaction to my
people, than that I should be present at the next ensuing ses-
sion of Parliament. This being the reason of my journey^ and
hsi,yixig a perfect intention to satisfy my people in their religion and
just liberties^ I do expect from them that retribution of thank-
fulness, as becomes grateful and devoteful subjects: Which
being a business, wherein not only my service, but likewise the
good of the whole kingdom is so much concerned, I cannot but
expect that your particular endeavours will be herein concur-
ring. In confidence of which, I rest your assured friend^
" Charles B.''
" Whitehall, the 22d of May 1641.^'
" For Montrose.''*
This, though very concise, so nearly coincides with some of
the phraseology of Montrose's advice to the King, as to induce .
the belief that the advice was sent, and that this was the answer.
Walter Stewart, although his story was false as to the written
instructions which he said he had received, did no doubt carry
a packet from Montrose to the Duke of Lennox, the medium of
^ Original, autograph of Charles I. lilontrose's biography had not the benefit of
this letter, until I discovered it in the course of the latest researches among the
family archives. That it was foxmd there, is not conclusive proof that Montrose
himself had ever been allowed to obtain it. Many royal letters addressed to him
have been recovered by the Ducal family, at various times. The letter is much
crumpled, and very dirty, probably the effects of Walter Stewart's saddle, and from
having been in the hands of those who robbed the messenger.
V, LIFE OF MONTROSE. 317
" the Plotters'" commumcaiion with his Majesty, as they them-
selves admitted.
The Earl of Traquair, too, at once pronounced Walter
Stewart's story to be a silly falsehood. That nobleman was
earnestly corroborated by the King. His Majesty assured the
Scotch Commissioners for the treaty in London, upon " his
trust and credit,"" that there was no foundation for the puerile
charge. They reported accordingly to the Committees at Edin-
burgh and Newcastle, before the King arrived in Scotland. On
the 16th of June 1641, they wrote, — " The King denies his
knowledge of these plots betwixt the Earls of Montrose and
Traquair ; and we heard that Traquair doth likewise pertina-
ciously deny that wherewith he is charged."" We do not find
that Argyle reported, either to Commissioners or Committees,
that he had in his pocket a letter from the King himself, dated
on the 12th of that month, honouring him with the same assu-
rance, in terms which must have found a ready assent in any
truthful and honourable mind. And the cool effrontery of these
Commissioners, over-ridden as they were by the Procurator of
the Kirk, is certainly unparalleled in any ago of faction, when,
in the face of such authority they add, by way of neutralizing
the evidence which they report, — " But it is not likely that
Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Stewart, his relation to the Earl of
Traquair being considered, would have invented them !"^^ That
puerile and dishonest platitude was actually adopted as an argu-
ment in the voluminous libel prepared by Warriston for the /
impeachment of this nobleman ; who met it with the following
contemptuous and somewhat humorous reply : —
" That such scrihhlings of Walter Stewart should give a
ground for such pursuit of treason^ appears to be without
example. The Earl of Montrose, Lord Napier, Lairds of Keir
and Blackball, have upon oath declared that he had never any
direction from them to me : And if any direction he had at all,
or if any discourse passed betwixt him and them, I was not the
party to whom he was allowed to communicate the same, as will
appear by their depositions : The truth of all these things is
further inforced by a number ot premmptians : And first, that he
> Coireflpondence of the Scotch Commissioners with the Committee of Estates :
MS,, Adtoeatet' Library,
318 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
was my oousin and domestic ! As both are true, so is it also
true, that ^ It is a poor kin wherein are not either ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ or
knave :^ Neither am I the first man of many who have nourished
serpents in their own bosoms : And I think my interest of blood,
and personal kindness to himself, should rather be an argument
to prove his ingratitude, than anyways to infer anything against
me;'
And then he casts further light upon the real nature i>C these
ti^aiisactions, by this character, no doubt a true one, of his cousin
and domestic, Walter Stewart : —
'' But all this great structure is built upon so sandy a founda-
tion as the characters, tablets, and depositions, made up by him,
who has ever been known for afool^ or at least a timid liolf-mtted
body ; and so, if chosen by the Lord Montrose, and others, for
negotiating such deep plots as are alleged in my summons, they
have been wonderfully mistaken in their choice. Neither can I
be persuaded that, if they had been about any such plot or plots,
men of their judgment, and understanding, could have been so
far mistaken as to have made use of such a weak and foolish
instrument for negotiating therein/'^
This rebuke was not altogether unmerited by Montrose and
his friends. They had totally mistaken the character of Walter
Stewart. He was suggested to them by Sir Archibald Stewart
of Blackball, as a convenient courier, being about to proceed to
Court on some affairs of his own. Thus very accidentally was
he introduced to those family supper-parties, meeting " after
Yule,"' one while in Montrose's lodgings in the Ganongate, and
another in Lord Napier's house of Merchiston, In that venerable
castle there is an apartment still in high preservation, decorated
with quaint emblems of the times, and displaying the crown and
cypher of King Charles in a variety of positions. Here we may
imagine this family circle of conspirators enjoying their new-
year s symposia of politics and plotty. The composition of the
party excludes all idea of excess. But doubtless the peaked
beards were dipping into lordly and well-spiced flagons ; and as
our hero had been at school only twelve years before, it is to be
1 Original Replies of the E&t\ of Traquair to the libel against him in 1641 ; among
the manuscripts of the Advocates* Library. Only a fragment remains ; but it is very
eloquent, and perfectly conclusive.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 319
hoped that he had not lost all relish for the wassail-cup, which,
in those golden days, used to greet him in such hospitable halls
as Balcarres. But the very honesty of their motives, their single-
ness of purpose — the idea of any sinister plotting never having
entered their minds — had rendered them less wary in their pro-
ceedings than boys at a barring-out. Much was said of men
and measures, that was never intended to enter the pack of
theic. political bagman. Again the '^ band that was brunt,^^ was
tabled by Montrose ; and his Christmas carol on that subject
would not be complimentary to the peers who had deserted him,
including the second in command of the covenanting army, Lord
Amond, now fraternizing with Argyle. Then that Nestor of
the Bedchamber, and ancient privy-counsellor. Lord Napier,
who had been near the Throne in two reigns, was lamenting in
tears of claret, '^ the Eing^s authority much shaken by the late
troubles;**^ a sentiment enforced by the Senator of the College
of Justice at his side, the Laird of BlackhaU and Ardgowan,
complaining of " Laws silenced, justice and the course of judi-
catories obstructed ;^^ while the wealthy Laird of "the lofty
brow of ancient Keir,'' perhaps the only proprietor in Scotland
who saved his great estates throughout the Troubles without a
stain upon his loyalty, was descanting upon " noblemen and
gentlemen put to excessive charges, and distracted from their
private affairs ;'^ and deploring the check to the progress of a
love for the fine arts, and a care for education in Scotland.
Walter Stewart, tSte tnanU with his entertainment, and the con-
fidence reposed in him by such a family party, took it all in, as
" Instructions,^^ which he was to model into shape, for a Court
intrigue, and the ear of the King !
Antiquaries are aware of, and some so fortunate as to possess,
a rare pamphlet, consisting of a few leaves, printed in London in
1641, and entitled, " Certain Instructions given by the Lord
Montrose, the Lord Napier, Lairds of Keir and Blackball ; with
a true report of the Committee for this new treason, that they
had a threefold design.^^ But antiquaries do not know the
meaning or history of this strange brochure, compounded of a
gibberish of ticks, letters, and names of beasts, accompanied
with a scarcely more intelligible key, or interpretation, which
320 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
seemed to involve Traquair, and the King himself, in some
mysterious plot against the liberties of the country.
Rumours of plots, not intended to be intelligible, as a means
of keeping the public mind in a constant state of inflammation
against those whom faction desired to crush, was one of the
most successful arts of the covenanting movement. Our best
histories, ill-informed on the subject, and totally ignorant of
the secret evidence we now produce, are still haunted by the
murky calumnies that arose out of the system. It was nuts to
the fly-by-night committee who rifled the pockets, trunk, and
saddle of the unlucky Walter Stewart, to find a letter from the
King to Montrose in such very bad company as various scraps
of paper, all scribbled over, in his own handwriting, with puerile
and vulgar conceits, by way of covert terms, as if state secrets
in masquerade. When as yet no more of the Scottish nation
were aware of this awful discovery, than Lord Balmerino, Sir
Thomas Hope the younger, and one Edward Edgar — a burgh
cypher always added to give numerical value to the other two
digitals, — accompanied by Adam Hepburn of Humbie, as clerk,
— it suited these worthies at once to give out their judgment
that this was an horrible plot against the country, in disguise.
" A. B.**' mentions in his letter to Warriston, that the result of
Walter Stewart's examination on the night of the ith of June
had been sent up to the Commissioners for the treaty, " by
Humbie.'" It was the first uncombed declaration extorted from
their trembling prisoner ; and Sir Thomas states it to be so.
Yet it came to be printed, in the form noticed, with all its
imperfections on its head, when the condition of the faction in
Scotland seemed to require an agitation of the kind to be got
up in London ; and it was printed from the very transcript sent
up by Humbie between the 5th and the 7th of June 1641.^
But Walter Stewart was many times examined, before his
evidence settled down into the shape which entered all the
fictitious criminal indictments against Traquair, Montrose,
Napier, Stirling of Keir, and Stewart of Blackball. It was
* Among the MSS. of the Advocates' Library, I find all the original depositions,
or the most of them, in tlie handwriting of ilumbie ; including what he had sent to
London, from which obviously the contemporary pamphlet had been printed there.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 321
compelled, concocted, and doctored in the most sbameless man-
ner, by those who usurped the keeping of Scotland'^s conscience
He was first examined on the night of the 4th, and morning of
the 5th of June. Montrose and his friends were seized and con-
fined in the castle of Edinburgh on the Uth. But it was not
until the 18th, that Walter Stewart's evidence was finally
arranged. Of that date, an amended edition " being drawn
off the former depositions, was appointed to be shewn to the
deponer, he having liberty to collate the same, and advise
thereupon ; which was done accordingly, and the deponer ap-
pearing in presence of the Conmiittee, was solemnly sworn
thereupon, who affirmed the same to be true as he would answer
to God." Yet the " Instructions,'" to which he thus finally de-
poned, as having been taken down by himself to the dictation of
Montrose, in presence of the others, were in a form so absurd
as to render the assertion perfectly ludicrous, even without the
overwhelming contradiction that evidence received.
As Sir Thomas Hope himself reports to Warriston, the letters
A, B, C, frequently occurring in these missives, were at first de-
clared by their prisoner to mean, all those who had signed the
Cumbernauld bond. This was not a convenient handle against
Montrose, other eighteen noblemen of the highest mark in
Scotland being thus implicated. Accordingly, on the 9th of
June, two days after " A. B.'s"" report, the Inquisitors extracted
from Walter Stewart that these letters meant Montrose, NaJ)ier,
Keir, and Blackhall. On the 5th of June he had said, of these
mystical instructions drawn out by himself, that he '* did shew
them to the Earl of Montrose, Lord Napier, Lairds of Keir and
Blackball, at their next meeting:^ On ihe 9th, he declared that
they were " for the most part dictated hy the Earl of Montrose^
and written by the deponer, in presence of the Lord Napier,
Lairds of Keir and Blackhall, in a covert way of letters for
names,*" &c. On the 5th, as " A. B."*" divulges, their prisoner
had said that by the term serpent was meant Canterbury, Abuse
of Laud was safe enough. But the agitated culprit had forgotten
that a plot against Laud was not manageable as a charge against
Montrose. So on the 9th, he amended it thus : — " Being inter-
rogated what the deponer means by the word serpent^ in his
2J
322 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
paper ! Declares, it is the Marquis of Hamilton ; and that the
meaning of these words came from the said four persons^ who
thought that the Marquis of Hamilton, and Earl of Argyle,
might have strange intentions/^ There wa« still an hitch:
A, B, 0, ought to have been followed by D ; there being four
distinguished plotters to whom he referred. The imperfection,
however, was winked at, and the paper lord left without a
letter. 1
But what was made of these Layardlike missives at Court!
The Colonel was at no loss. He declared, and eventually made
oath, that he took them direct to Traquair, and translated them
for his use into an intelligible form of " heads of Instructions ;'*
and that these were " drawn up by the deponer in the sub-
stance thereof, and mended and altered in the form and grammar^
by the Earl of Traquair, with his own hand, in some parts, and
in other parts at his direction."" These instructions, thus hor-
ribly cobbled, he further " declares that the Earl of Traquair
> A broad light is cast upon these hole-and-corner inquisitions of the Argyle goveni-
ment of Scotland, by a paper of Qucnetf given in by Montrose and his friends, which
they demanded should be put to Walter Stewart, confronted vith them. The rejec-
tion of the demand condemns the Government ; and we may take«for truth the facts
implied in these seven very circumstantial Querit's for Montrose : —
•* 1. To interrogate him whether or not he was boasted, threatened, and metuietd
to depone 1 2. If there was not much fatour, and courtesy, and freedom, promised
him the time of his deponing, — affirming neither his life nor fortune should be io
hazard 1 3. Whether or not, after deponing, being commanded to swear, and sub-
scribe the same, he craved twenty-four hours to advisement before oaUi, and ita$
refused, but only to hear them read ! 4. Whether or not Sir Adam Hepburn,* their
clerk, having read the deposition, the said Walter desired the same should be changed
and altered in some points, and that the clerk refused the same, without the Commit-
tee's (of Estates) advice ? 5. Whether or not ho was commanded by the Committee
to subscribe and swear them as they wtre, without giving way to change them at all 1
6. That he be urged to declare where he wrote those several papers, tthich falsely
are called ours ; as that paper called ' the Tablet ;* and the other wherein are hia
Chjfrogliphics, of * EUphant,* and * Dromedary,* and the like ; and whether we knew
anything of the writing, or were accessory thereto ? 7. That he declare if ever we,
in our discourses to him, did so much as smell — beside seem to intend — anything
whatsoever touching ourselves, for employment, advancement, commodity, or any
such like advantages ; but only the King's presence here, for the public good, by an
happy peace, by settling the Religion, Laws, and Liberties of this Kingdom !** —
Original, Montrose Charter-room.
* Bumble, whom the King wm compelled to knight along wHh WarrictoD, when be came to Beol-
land in 1041.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 323
carried to the King" — to Charles the First — " and got parti-
cular answers to them'" ! ^
Traquair was one of the most accomplished men of his day,
though too familiar with petty faction. Clarendon considered
that " he was a man of great parts, without doubt not inferior to
any of that nation in wisdom and dexterity/'' It was, however,
mainly by his own faulty conduct throughout the Troubles, that,
instead of losing his head like a loyalist, he was last seen as a
beggar in Edinburgh, holding a tattered hat for halfpence. But
in the hey-day of his checquered career of intrigue and faction,
he was at least splendide msndax. He never, indeed, did Charles
the First a good turn. Yet he sometimes persuaded him, and
always persuaded himself, that he was his wisest counsellor.
In his bearing he was highly aristocratic, and a finished gentle-
man withal, though hasty and hot in his temper, full of strange
oaths, and bearded like the pard. Archibald Johnston, in his
secret correspondence from London, bitterly accuses of inter-
fering with their tyrannical projects " my Lord Traquair, who
both said once to me, and, as my Lord Bothes knows from
others, he said it also to the King, that before he perished^ he
should mix Heaven and Earth and Hell together^ How he had
been goaded to use any such expressions we can now perfectly
understand, since finding in the Lord Advocate'^s diary, that
Rothes about this time declared no concessions by the King
would satisfy that party, until the very memory of Traquair
was erased from the face of the earth. As for Wairiston, he
was a savage, who knew not how to repeat a gentleman^s words
as they had been,uttered. The object of his virulent persecution
was a scholar; and when provoked beyond all endurance by the
demagogue, he had betaken himself to the impassioned eloquence
of the wife of Jupiter, —
** Flectere si nequco Superos, Acheronta movebo."*
Now, we venture to say, that sooner than have condescended
to assist the meaning, and rectify the grammar, of Walter
^ Original MS. No such doeament was produced at the time, or ever disooTexed
Boee.
* Traquair's defence, OryfiwU MLS., Advocates* Librarj.
824 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Stewart's miserable trash, and then have taken it in person' to
Charles the First, John first Earl of Traquair would have dis-
posed of this his cousin and domestic, — whom he never honoured
with a higher title than " the Captain,^ — ^by pitching him out
of the window.
And red was the wrath of this Ex-High Treasurer for Scot-
land, when he found the preposterous He actually libelled
against himself, in the voluminous dittay framed to keep him
out of his office. For Walter Stewart had also the audacity
to depone, that so completely did his chief coincide with the
farcical humour of this pretended diplomacy, as to reply to the
Plotters in kind ; by causing the ungrammatical captain to
write down, " three ticks'*'* for Montrose, Napier, and Eeir, —
still leaving the Lord of Session unticketted : " The town of
Wigtown,*** for the Earl of that name : " Genero,'*' specially for
Montrose : " The Dromedary," for Argyle : " The Elephant,''
for Hamilton : " Signior Puritano " for Seaforth : " M'Duff,''
for Athole : " Dick,** for Sir Richard Graham : " Redshanks,''
for Glanranald : ^^ The Plantations," for the Gommissioners at
the treaty : " The School," for the Gourt : " L.," for the King :
And then followed : — " To let the three ticks know how well
L takes their care ; and in the discreetest way to inform your-
self of their desires; and, particularly, if reik aims upwards:'"'
Which most ingenious turn Walter Stewart at first translated,
" if business goes aright ;" but afterwards substituted this other
explanation, " if Keir seeks preferment" !
" Upon my honour and conscience^ he had never any such
warrant nor commission from me," — replies the indignant
Traquair, to this and all the rest of his cousin's trash.
Argyle was artful and dexterous as a Thug. Give him a
safe and convenient position, and he could noose a rhinoceros.
Montrose was in Edinburgh. Unfortunately for him, the two
thousand foot, and five hundred horse, which he commanded in
Leslie's army, were at Newcastle. A Gommittee of Estates'
warrant, with sufficient signatures attached to set in motion a
few military machines with lethal weapons in their hands, was
as easily procured by the King of the Kirk, as the paper on
LIFE OF MONTROSE. ^25
which it was written. Without previous warning, or prelimi-
nary examinations, four members of the Committee of Estates,
two of them being peers of the realm, one of them a privy-
counsellor, another a senator of the College of Justice, and all
of them men of the highest character and credit in the king-
dom, — namely, the Earl of Montrose, Lord Napier, Sir George
Stirling of Keir, and Sir Archibald Stewart of Blackball, —
were ignominiously seized, and separately confined in the castle
of Edinburgh, with less difficulty than four of the swell mob
could now-a-days be marched to the police office.
And now occurred a tragedy, very nearly partaking the cha-
racter of an actual murder, and certainly possessing its moral
turpitude. There was no reason but a private and an unjust
one, for putting to death the consistorial Judge of Dunkeld,
John Stewart, younger of Lady well. At Balloch Castle, as
already narrated, he had heard treason, — from the lips of
Argyle, — in the songs and drunken hallelujahs of his armed
caterans, — in the threats of his immediate subordinates ; and
the whole demeanour of the chief of the Campbells, under the
supreme commission which he devised and procured for himself,
had betrayed his design of reigning in place of Charles Stewart,
in Scotland. Moreover, the Commissary of Dunkeld had been
distinctly told, that the life of the nobleman now at the head of
his own clan, the Stewarts of A thole, this same unscrupulous
chief " had in his pocket." That Montrose was in possession
of more unpleasant truths on the subject than ever transpired,
is scarcely to be doubted. He was not the man to have de-
clared, repeatedly, and publicly, his own intention to bring the
Dictator's dangerous projects to light, at the next meeting of
Assembly and Parliament, upon such doubtful grounds for a
parliamentary impeachment as anything we can now "reveal
imports. He had spent several days at Scone with John
Stewart, who no doubt was his principal informer with regard
to some pregnant circumstances. But the Earl of Athole,
Stewart of Grandtully, Ogilvy of Inchraartin, and many others,
were witnesses as to what passed at the ford of Lyon and Balloch
Castle. The three above named were also of the subsequent
conservative party at Lord Stormont's ; and although our hero
326 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
did not wish to compromise any of them, and had meanwhile
contented himself with producing the Commissary of Dunkeld,
they must all eventually have come into the field, had he been
suffered to bring matters before Parliament, in presence of the
Sovereign.
But what had the poor Commissary actually set down in
writing for Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart, and how far had he so
committed himself? It amounted to this, that Argyle had
publicly discoursed of deposing kings, and of the grounds upon
which that might lawfully be done. This was all the WTiting
on the subject given to Walter Stewart, as the information of
his unfortunate clansman, to be communicated at Court. It
was a comparatively harmless, but no doubt very meagre and
subdued record of the facts. His other version was that which
he emitted before the Committee of Estates in May 1641, when
produced by Montrose. Then it was taken down from him,
that Argyle had directly applied his homily (and most likely he
had) to the reigning Monarch ; and further, that he had added
the explicit declaration, that they thought to have done it at
the last session of Parliament in 1640, and meant Jto do it
when Parliament sat again. But all that was discovered among
the papers of the messenger of Montrose, was the written state-
ment, certified by Stewart of Grandtully, which we have else-
where laid before the reader.^ There must have been more at
the back of all this. Even when in jeopardy of his life, our hero
reiterated what had been his intentions with regard to Argyle.
He was accused, in the voluminous libel against him, of having,
by his own admission, listened to high treason, and not inune-
diately become a public informer himself. He replied : " What
I did hear from the said Mr John Stewart I had of himself only :
which I did conceive too mean a ground to have let them flow
from me to the ears of the public;^ both in respect of the
reverence and gravity of those judicatories ; the inferior estate
of the person I had them from ; the condition of the party
taxed ; and likewise my own quality : But if, after prying, I
' See before, p. 260.
s By *< the Pablic/' Montrose here means the tribunals of the Committee of
Estates ; which, however, were very much germanised, as regards the pvblieity of
those tribunals. There is a touch of sarcasm in Montrose's reply.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 327
had rencountered any real grounds and evidences to build upon,
I would straightway have acquainted the public therewith;
which first imprisonment^ then (he cutting off the party informer^
did disappoint"^
Argyle either had a good defence against all this, or he had
not. Would an honest, injured man, and possessing his power
in Church and State, have been in any danger, or at any dis-
advantage, with Committee, Assembly, or Parliament, though
Montrose had been left at large, and John Stewart in life ?
No sooner was the latter within the four walls of a dungeon,
than mind and body seem to have given way. It was on the
last day of May 1641, that Montrose, suddenly driven into a
comer, threw down the Commissary Judge in the middle of the
Committee of Estates, where he exploded like a bomb, under
the very nose of Argyle. " A terrible calumnious relation"
against that potentate, says '' A. B." But after sending him
to prison, it seems, ^' Mr John Stewart has confessed his
knavery in the general, but has not yet cleared the particulars."*
The fly-by-night committee, of the Committee, had been with
him in his dungeon, and not in vain. On the 5th of June, this
wretched man wrote a letter to Argjle, imploring the Earl to
give him a private audience, before bringing him again in pre-
sence of the Committee, — " promising to conceal nothing that
I know to your Lordship^'s prejudice and harm, ov of the Public* 8 :
Considering your Lordship^s generous dispositions^ I will hope for
no less than that ye will requite evil with good ; which will con-
tribute more for your Lordship's honor and credit than my
wreck will do for your Lordship's wealth, or my shame for your
praise." He might as well have knelt to a boa-constrictor.
This private letter was read in presence of the Committee.
" After reading whereof, the Earl of Argyle refused to speak
with him apart or alone ; but was content the Committee
should appoint some to be present, before whom he was con-
tent to hear Mr John : The Committee appointed the Lord
Balmerino, Sir Thomas Hope, and Edward Edgar, to be pre-
sent with the Earl of Argyle^ to speak with Mr John."'
^ Ongxnal MS., Montrose Charter-room.
* See before, p. 308.
' OrigintH MS., Advocate's Library. This was the usual working clique.
328 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Is it to be wondered at, that a pusillanimous heart broke
down under such a pressure ? This sub-committee, accompa-
nied also by " Old Durie,'^* and probably some others of the
elect, sought their victim^s cell at night, on the 6th of June.
The interview was not immediately successful. Next day, how-
ever, that on the night of which " A, B.*" writes in such glee to
Warriston, John Stewart's recantation, " in the general,'^ was
produced before the Committee. He commences by craving
their Lordships' pardon, " specially those who were yesternight
here, in that I could not give them greater satisfaction at that
present, in respect of the infirmity and weakness of my body and
spirit ; as likewise being dashed with such a number.'^ He then
proceeds to confess, what ? That Argyle had only discoursed of
deposing kings in genial! That he had only preached a poli-
tical and constitutional sermon ; whereas he, Stewart, had ac-
cused him of pointing directly a treasonable design against King
Charles ! But the terms of this so-called recantation were fear-
fully abject. Terror had done its work. Considering his station,
every manly mind must revolt at the nauseous disgorging of
that pluckless stomach. Thus, when (as with dying breath he
declared) bearing false witness against himself, did he lay his
incense upon the altar of the Covenant : " I hope it to be for
God's glory, and the wonder of all this nation, to stand for the
defence of His cause, wherein he hath such ane provident
hand." It would not do. No lightning appeared on the left.
In vain he reviled himself as a malicious calumniator of Argyle.
In vain he " craves his Lordship's mercy, and pleads only now
(fuilty^ — beseeching his Lordship to have compassion upon my
wretched estate, being only desirous to have pleasured the re-
ceiver thereby, imagining never to have been brought to answer
for them thereafter, as now I am to my great grief and late re-
pentance." In vain he came from " generals" to all " the par-
ticulars" he could think of: " As for those speeches," hejsays,
" alleged by me to Imvo been spoken by Argyle at the ford of
Lyon, I confess that — now having thought better of them — his
speech was general, of all kings ; howsoever, by my foresaid
prejudicate opinion of his Lordship's actions, I applied them to
^ Sir Alexander Gibson of Dury^ the elder, uf whom more anon.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 329
the present ; wrested them to my own meaning, and vented them
after that kind."" Then he beseeches their Lordships, that if
he is to be further interrogated, they will permit him to answer
in writing, " as not being able, in respect of ray weakness, either
to stand or gang (walk), as the bearer can witness/"*^ — " Far-
ther," concludes the miserable man, '* if either the Laird of
Balbirnie, or Alexander Brodie of Lathem, be in the town, I
desire that they may have warrant to come to me, whereby I
may impart to them some of my worldly affairs ; and if none of
them be here, that some other friends may be admitted/**
Our only historian of the period, Malcolm Laing, upon little
or no knowledge of these events, and a glance so imperfect
and partial at these manuscripts in the Advocates^ Library, as
scarcely to be pardoned in a critical historian who professes to
have searched them, would fain exonerate Argyle. ' He says
that John Stewart^s " confession was strictly true^ It is little
to the purpose though it were. The distinction between the
King in particular, and kings in general, might tell in a legal
I and technical defence of Argyle, but not in the historical or/
moral. It was the sum and substance of the dying man'*s
recantation. If that indeed were " strictly true,"*' Argyle's own
defence was absolutely false. For he brought various retainers
to depone that they had not heard^ and he himself declared,
upon '^ his oath unrequired,"^ that not one word had been said
by him on the subject of kings, either in general^ or in particu-
lar: " Whereat,"" says Guthrie, " many wondered."" . ,
Unconditional and abject as was the plea of guilty put in by
John Stewart, there was another vital point in which it failed
to satisfy " King Campbell."" His so called confession, in any
view of it, completely exonerated Montrose. Not by that
nobleman alone, had Stewart, as he himself declares, been com-
missioned " to try what bonds were pressed, either by the Earl
of Argyle himself, or his friends, or subscribed to him in A thole,
^ This snggefits the question, had torture been employed by the nocturnal com-
mittee 1 Had Balmerino ** the bootikins" at his back, or old Durie *< the thummi-
kins** in hb pocket? Guthrie says, rather siguificantly, *' being both profound
men, they knew well what arguments to use.*' — See before, p. 307. It will be re-
membered also, that Argyle's Exoneration, for his proceedings in the north, gave
him indemnity for having employed tortvre, under whatever circumstanoes, or to
whatever extent. — See before, p. 253.
330 LIFE OF MOXTEOSE.
or elsewhere ; what presumptions there might be had that he
was the acquirer of his late commission himself, and how he
carried himself therein ;^ and what presumptions might be had
that he did aspire for supremacy above his equals f He had
been so " desired by the Earls of Montrose and AtAole^ at
Scone, — with that caveat given me by Montrose^ that I should
rather keep me within bounds than exceed."*^ And then he
adds, referring to the declaration he signed before the Com-
mittee at his first production by Montrose, — " Yet, notwith-
standing, by that odious paper, I abused his Lordship^s and
Atholes trust in me, wronged the Earl of Argyle, and discredited
myself," fec.^
This recantation of the doomed and self- condemned Commis-
sary, was finally sworn to and subscribed by him on the 10th
of June 1641. On the following day, as we have seen, namely,
on the 11th of June, Montrose and his friends, were taken un-
awares, and cast into prison, along with Walter and John
Stewart. The potentate then proceeded with great delibera-
tion to select his first victim. There was no difficulty as to the
trial of the one who had so abjectly condemned himself. His
80-cailed confession, was taken as a plea of guilty of high trea-
son against Argyle ! At the fiat of that merciless man, whose
obliquity of vision had " cast the glamour'' over poor degraded
Scotland, the first ominous sound of the axe of the Kirk and
Covenant startled the length and breadth of the land, as, upon
Wednesday the 28th of July 1641, it fell on the neck of the
howling, fainting, laird of Ladywell.^
1 Referring to Argyle's commission of fire and sword against Atbole. See be-
fore, p. 250.
' John Stewart's petition and confession, presented to the Committee of Estates,
7tb and lOtb June 1641 : Original MS. Advocate's Library. See all the original
documents printed in the author's " Montrose and the Ck)Tenanter8/' vol. i. c. xvi, ;
and " Memorials of Montrose," vol. i. pp. 296-301.
* Even the covenanting Baillie was staggered and shocked by the sudden and
murderous result ; and, in attempting to justify it, by a very disingenuous state-
ment, had as usual to wrestle with his somewhat tioublesome conscience. See his
Letters and Journals, vol. i. p. 381.
LIFK OF MONTROSE. 331
CHAPTER XVIII.
TREATMENT OF MONTROSE AND HIS FRIENDS BY THE COMMITTEE OF
ESTATES — MONTROSE PRONOUNCED DISOBEDIENT AND CONTUMACIOUS
— EXAMINATION OF LORD NAPIER BY THE COMMITTEE— HIS OWN AC-
COUNT OF THE ATTEMPT TO SEPARATE HIM FROM MONTROSE — THE
REPOSITORIES OF MONTROSE RIFLED FOR MATERIALS AGAINST HIM —
PARLIAMENT MEETS PREPARATORY TO THE ADVENT OF THE KING —
MONTROSE CALLED BEFORE THE HOUSE — HIS ADDRESS TO THE PARLIA-
MENT — THE KINO ARRIVES IN SCOTLAND TO HOLD THE PARLIAMENT —
LORD NAPIER SUMMONED BEFORE THE HOUSE — HIS REMONSTRANCE IN
PRESENCE OF THE KING — RESULT OF THE KING'S VISIT, AND CONCLU-
SION OF THE PROCESS AGAINST THE PLOTTERS.
There being no case against ^^ the Plotters"'' that could bear
the light of day, either upon the doctored depositions of Walter
Stewart, or the extorted confessions of John Stewart, and the
noblemen and gentlemen accused having declared in terms that
distinctly separated the little truth in Walter^s evidence from
his falsehoods, and mystical puerilities, the next endeavour of
the Argyle government was to involve the principal object of
their pursuit in a maze of examinations, which it was hoped
might afford something like contradictions to found upon. Ac-
cordingly, the whole party were subjected to vexatious inter-
rogatories, constantly repeated, contrary to the most obvious
principles of justice, for the purpose of enabling their pursuers
to assert that they had criminated themselves, or contradicted
each other. A glance at the private minutes of the Inquisitors,
which have been partially preserved, although none but the
elect were allowed to see them at the time, suffices to prove
that all this was a factious struggle to make a case where none
existed.
On the 22d of June, the eleventh day of his imprisonment,
Montrose was ordered to be brought in a coach from the castle,
332 • LIFE OF MONTROSE.
to be examined by the Committee of Estates ; his college friend,
the Earl of Sutherland, being armed with then: warrant to that
effect.^ That nobleman brought back a written answer from
Montrose, couched in very dignified terms, respectfully declining
to appear. He assigned for reason, that as a few of their num-
ber had examined him in the castle the day before, and as the
charge seemed to be that of conspiring against the public weal,
'' I did conceive,'*'* he said, " in my humble opinion with all re-
spect, the more public my trial were, the further should it tend
to the satisfaction and contentment thereof ; that, as the scandal
was notorious and national, so likewise should the expiation be,
one way or another.'*' The day after this firm and temperate
declinature, the Committee ordain the Provost and Bailies of
Edinburgh, to charge the Constable of the castle, to render
unto those authorities the Earl of Montrose, whom they were
forthwith to bring down under a sure guard. He was conducted
accordingly, surrounded by four hundred men. But the chief
of the Grahams was made of other stuff than the laird of Lady-
well. He refused to answer a single interrogatory ; constantly
referring to his letter of the previous day. The Committee had
nothing for it, but to pronounce him " disobedient and contu-
macious.'*'* Tlien, says the prapliic Spalding, " finding no am-
tentinent^ they sent him back again to the castle of Edinburgh,
there to remain ; but Stephen Boyd, Captain thereof, was dis-
charged from being Captain, and another Captain put in his
place, because ho suffered Montrose to have conference with
the rest. Always they want that comfort now, and are now
strictly kept, and none suffered to go in nor out, but by per-
mission, to speak with any of them/'-
Lord Napier pursued a different tactic, when worried by this
ill-conditioned committee, packed and prompted as it was by
Argyle. He did not positively decline to answer ; but the silly
accusations being all false, he was enabled for the most part to
give a flat and peremptory negative to their questions, without
> See before, p. 43.
^ The new Constable appointed was G)lonel Lindaay of Beltane, who, happening
to fall »ick in the following month, and being allowed to name a temporary substi>
tute, " he named," says Baillie, ** Stephen Boyd, his predecessor, whom the Com-
mittee, for his too great n^apect for his prisoners, had shifted of that charge."
LIFE OF MONTROSK 333
engaging in discussion. The laird of Keir, a very high spirited
man, who had also been re-examined, refused to answer a single
question, with the same determination, and somewhat more heat,
than Montrose. Lord Napier, the Mentor of the party, recom-
mended what he called " negative answers, without discourse.""
This, he adds, ^^ avoided contumacy ; and I could wish my Lord
Montrose and Keir did the like, for once only, and never an-
swer more, negative nor affirmativi : For by their not answer-
ing, they think their intention is to put off till a Parliament,
though they do not appeal : But if they press us to any more
answering, it is but to ensnare and entangle us in contradic-
tions, and it is not fit we do it.*"^
This excellent and single-hearted nobleman, as well as Keir
and Blackball, was de trap in the virulent pursuit now insti-
tuted against Montrose and Traquair. He had been caught in
a net not spread for him ; and the Apostles of our liberties
were most desirous to shake off the responsibility of publicly
impeaching a statesman of unobtrusive habits, and long-tried
worth, against whom it was scarcely possible to engender the
vague calumnies and popular excitement that were to come in
{dace of evidence against such as, per fas aut nefae^ they de-
sired to destroy. But the scene cannot be described in any
other words so good and graphic as his own, which fortunately
have been preserved to bear witness to the meanness of his pre-
sent persecutors.
" 23d June 1641. I was sent for out of the castle by the
Committee ; and when I came there, Craighall,* being Preses,
and looking upon a paper he had in his hand, said to me, he
had some interrogatories to pose me on. To which I answered.,
that he need not interrogate me ; for, as I told the Lord Bal-
merino, and the rest that were with him the day before in the
castle, I had deponed all I knew, freely and ingenuously ; and
therefore I desired him to compare them with his interroga-
tories ; and if any of them was answered by my depositions, it
was well ; and if any of them was not satisfied there, I could
^ Original MS., in the handwriting of Archibald first Lord Napier. — Napier
CkarUr-Ckert,
s Sir John Hope of Craigball, the Lord Advocate's eldest son.
334 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
not do it, for I had deponed all I knew. And that not pleasing
him, I asked him, if he would have me depone that I knew not I
But he would needs read his interrogatories ; and still I urged
to read my depositions for answer. At last he says, that Eeir^s
depositions and mine did not agree ; in so far as I said I had
not seen the instructions, but only heard Eeir tell them to me.
To which I answered, ' That is no material difference, since he
made me know them by relation : I remember not that circum-
stance of showing them ; but I rather trust his memory than
my own, who, apparently trusting his relation, and taking a
short view, might forget that circumstance.' Then they were
given me to read, with the King*'s answers upon them. * These,'
said I, ' are your own desires, and herein the public receives no
prejudice.'^ But Humbie did read them ; and because they did
run upon generalities, as laws and former laws, without making
exceptions of the laws of the last parliament, he would insinu-
ate that we cared not for these. To which I answered, * That
is an ill commentary ; we were not to enter particular condi-
tions with the King, but did touch the generals, leaving parti-
culars to those who were employed about the treaty .** Then I
was desired to look upon Walter Stewart's notes in a long
small piece of paper, and was demanded if I had seen them !
* Sir George Stirling, like all the rest, had deponed in terms directly contradict-
iDg Walter Stewart's evidence, which unquestionably was false. Being questioned
as to the mystical instructions, which that worthy was eventually brought to swear
Montrose himself had dictated to him, in presence of the other three, he answered,
emphatically, that " he neither saw paper nor ink ; neither did they write any ;
nor did any write at their direction.'' And when tho paper itself was shewn to
him, " he denies ever he did see that paper before, or that he knows any thing of
the particulars thereof." But he deponed, that Walter Stewart, upon one occasion
of his returning from Court, happening to meet Keir at Newcastle, shewed him a
paper bearing to be certain propositions to the King, relative to public affairs^ and
the King's answers, in very general and unexceptionable terms. Of this, Keir took
a copy, and shewed it to Lord Napier. These general propositions, he understood,
had been submitted to the King by the Duke of Lennox. It is to this that Lord
Napier refers in the above statement. They all utterly repudiated, and with scorn,
Walter Stewart's own notes, and ridiculous hieroglyphics, which, however, were
made the basis of a most vinilent indictment against them all. They were men of
high spirit, and unblemished honour ; while Walter Stewart, even by admission of
the Inquisitors themselves (witness Sir Thomas Hope's secret letter to Warriston),
was a pitiful poltroon, contradicting himself at every turn, and not corroborated by
a single witness or circumstance.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 335
I said, no. Then they were read, and I was posed what was
meant by, &c., and &c.,* and the ^ Elephant^^ and ''Drome-
dary^^ and the ' Serpent in tlie bosom f I said I knew nothing
of these hieroglyphics, th&t they were Walter s own notes.
But then I was demanded if I knew the purpose was expressed
under these notes ! I said I knew not what they meant. They
told me then that the ^ ElepJ^ani^ was my Lord Hamilton, who
was the ' Serpent in the bosom,'* and that he had strange ambi-
tious designs. I answered, that there was never any such pur-
pose among us : For I was resolved to answer to all that was
demanded and not in my depositions, with a No, — as indeed I
knew not what they meant. Then I was asked if we three did
not take an oath of secrecy before we went to the castle ? I
answered, we never took one oath or other. Then they read,
in the paper, of one ' Signior Puritano^ I demanded who that
was ? They told me it was my Lord Seaforth : Whereupon I
fell a laughing, and said he was slandered ; and they fell in a
great laughter. Then they posed me concerning Wigton. I
answered that I had never seen Wigton since, nor knew nothing
of it. Then I was asked concerning the keeping up of the
offices of Estate. I referred them to my deposition upon that
point, which was read ; and then I said, we all did think the
King would not be so simple as to dispose of them till he came
hither ; and when he came I did think it would be his last act.*
Then a paper, which came from Traquair, was shown me, which
I said I knew not, and so said they too. So whatever they de-
manded of me, which was not in my depositions, I resolved to
answer with a negative. Only in one thing they posed me on,
concerning the dissolving the army, the answer was so fair as I
resolved to satisfy them ; and said, ' Truly, my Lord, your ques-
tion has brought something to my mind which I omitted in my
depositions : I remember Walter Stewart said that the King
could not with honour come home, the army being lying in his
way ; to which it was answered, that we had our commissioners
at London ; if the treaty did not take effect, the King would
not come home at all ; and if it took effect, then the army would
1 Instead of copying, in this MS., all the mystical terms of Walter Stewart's
notes, Lord Napier indicates them by ** &c*'
' This was precisely in terms of Montrose's letter of advice to the King.
336 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
either dissolve, or they would be his army, and lay down their
arms at his feet ; so that would be no impediment/
" Then I was removed, and a long consultation was had con-
cerning me. At length I was called in, and there, in great
pomp of words, and with large commendations of me in the
course of my life, this sentence was pronounced, that the Com-
mittee had ordained me to hsLve/ree liberiy^ and to repair to my
own house to do my law^ful business, and an act read whereby I
was obliged to answer them when they should call for me. To
which I replied, that I knew that sentence proceeded from their
favour to me ; but truly in very deed it was no favour, but the
doubling of a disgrace, first to send me to the castle as a traitor
to God and my country in the view of all fhe people, and then,
by way of favour, to let me go ; which, if I did accept, was a
certain though a tacit confession of guiltiness. It was an-
swered, that it was not only favour, but out of consideration
that I was less guilty than the rest. To which I said that I knew
I was as guilty as any of the rest ; and they knew nothing which
they did not impart to me^ and had my approbation. At which
words they cried all out that I was much deceived. Then I
was earnestly desired not to contemn the Committee's sentence,
but accept of it. To which I said, that the Committee might
command me to hazard my life and means to do them service ;
but this was my honour, which I esteemed dearer than either
of the other two. For if my releasement were not got by means
of my innocency, after trials and not by favour, I could not
avoid imputation ; all the world would think that I had ta^ken
a way by (separate from) Montrose and Keir, and deponed
something to their prejudice, which procured this special favour
to myself; and therefore entreated them not to put a double
indignity upon me, whom they esteemed less guilty, when, as
yet, they had put but a single upon them. Whereupon I was
removed, and there followed me my Lord Yester, Old Durie,
and Archibald Campbell, who, for tico hours I think, plied me
with arguments to accept and obey the Committee's pleasure.
Not being able to persuade me, the Committee gave warrant to
receive me in again to the castle, to be advised for a night.
So I retired ; and two or three of them followed me to the door,
and by the cloak stayed me there, but all in vain.*"^
1 Oriyinal MS. in Lord Napier's hand-writing. — NapUr Chartrr-chett.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 337
The result of this honourable and spirited determination was,
that charges ridiculous in their own nature, known to be false,
and of which the Committee of Estates had thus, in private, pro-
nounced him innocent, were libelled against Lord Napier in the
most exaggerated form, and the most virulent terms ; and he him-
self kept in close confinement to answer for high treason against
the State ! This peep behind the curtain of the Covenant is
the more important, that no other such record, of the peculiar
modus operandi of this extraordinary tribunal, is to be disco-
vered. That the above should have been preserved, for more
than two centuries, among these family papers, was scarcely to
have been expected. Nor is it much to be wondered at that
no official record of such proceedings is forthcoming. The
minutes of these inquisitorial sederunts of the Argyle govern-
ment, especially during the period in question, if ever accurately
taken down upon such occasions, have been very partially pre-
served. And none were more conscious than clerk " Humbie,'*'
and his masters, that, " if they had writ their annals right,''
those inquisitorial records would have been more edifying to
posterity than creditable to themselves. " The Committee of
Estates'' is an high sounding name. It belongs to the voca-
bulary of Constitutional History, as displayed to us by such
grand marshals* t)f its majestic march as a Hallam, a Brodie, or
a Macaulay^ But, truth to tell, a meaner or more mischievous
court of injustice than the Committee of Estates in 1641, never
jdisgracetla nation. Framed, as we have seen, in 1640, upon a .
pretended constitutional and broad basis,^ this great council of
the disorganised nation, was immediately reduced to what Mon-
trose so justly described as the " particular and indirect prac-
tising of a few." Even before the end of the year 1640, he and
others observed and protested against this vice of a mock con-
stitution, which, it must be admitted, his own youthful energies
had unwittingly done so much to establish. " Divers of the
nobility," says Guthrie, "such as Montrose, Erskine, Drum-
mond, and others, quarrelled (complained) that they were ne-
glected in the matter of consultation, and that business was
contrived and carried on by a few." Argylo, and his inde-
fatigable prime minister Johnston of Warriston, directing and
» Seebefore, p. 237.
338 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
controlling such as the Earl of Loudon (next in power of the
clan Campbell), and his uncle Archibald Campbell, Burleigh,
Balmerino, Cassilis, Sir John Hope of Craighall, and Sir Tho-
mas Hope of Kerse— the Lord Advocate's two eldest sons,
who controlled that great official — Lindsay of the Byres, thirst-
ing to usurp the Earldom of Crawford, the two Gibsons of
Durie, father and son, Hepburn of Humbie, clerk of the Par-
liament and its committees, and a few others of weaker capaci-
ties and more uncertain objects, composed the government of
Scotland at this time, and ruled it with a rod of iron. From
this vicious coterie, every member of the Committee of Estates
who evinced an independent mind, and honest patriotic purpose,
was most effectually excluded, by being instantly transferred to
one or other of their disfranchising schedules, of Incendiaries,
Plotters, Delinquents, and Malignants, up to their grand climax
of " bloody Butchers,"" and "viperous brood of Satan."** All
who regarded their own immediate interests more than the
public weal, became, for a time at least, subservient tools of the
more able and unscrupulous loaders. Many well affected noble-
men and barons, who could command little or no personal fol-
lowing, seemed to stand at gaze, bewildered and powerless,
waiting for a crisis, or better times. Such, for instance, as the
eighteen noblemen who had so recently joined our hero in the
conservative bond. Of these, again, some were seduced or ter-
rified into a temporary co-operation, which their consciences
condemned, and their subsequent conduct completely contra-
dicted. The Parliament of Scotland was in the same predica-
ment. Whatever Argyle^s packed committees decreed, that
sanctioned. It was the Committee of Estates in another form,
and under a different name. The General Assembly of the
Kirk overruled all. And the *' seditious preachers" of the Co-
venant pastured like locusts upon the consciences and common
sense of the people.
The charter-chest and private repositories of our hero were
not left undisturbed, like his noble friend"s. The dire offence
of corresponding with his Sovereign had never yet been brought
to the tangible issue against him which his enemies desiderated.
The letter found in Walter Stewart"s saddle, which we have
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 339
been able to produce, was just what the Kin^ himself said of it,
such as a good subject desen*ed from his Sovereign. Surely,
they thought, something worse might be discovered ? His lodg-
ing in the Ganongate was ransacked in vain. Lord Sinclair,
who lived to be greatly ashamed of the employment, was then
commissioned to overhaul his castles and country houses in
search of papers to criminate him. They broke open his cabi-
nets, and " slighted" his stately homesteads. Lord Sinclair
returned with a stain upon his own character, and no case
against Montrose. The castles of Kincardine and Mugdock,
and the place of Old Montrose, were each in their turn a prey
to this discreditable raid. Lord Sinclair, says Guthrie, " found
nothing therein belonging to public affairs ; only, instead there-
of, he found some letters from ladies to him, in his younger years^
flotoered with Arcadian compliments ; which, being divulged,
would possibly have met with a favourable construction, had it
not been that the hatred carried to Montrose made them to be
interpreted in the worst sense : The Lord Sinclair's employ-
ment having been only to search for papers of correspondence
betwixt his Majesty and Montrose, in reference to public affairs,
he was much blamed by men of honour and gallantry for pub-
lishing those letters ; but the rigid sort had him in greater
esteem for it."** » '
It was " the rigid sorf*"* alone who had sent him. No man
of honour and gallantry dictated his instructions. Had the
letters in question contained a sentence derogatory to his cha-
racter, they would have been paraded to the world. Their con-
tents never transpired ; and Lord Sinclair could have published
them only in the sense of having perused, disclosed, and dis-
coursed of those " Arcadian compliments,"' which, in the golden
college days through which we have traced the manly and stir-
ring habits of his youth, had been addressed to him by some
fair stars of the many country mansions where we find him
spending his holidays, promoting mumming and morrice-danc-
ing, and bestowing masks, gloves, and carkanets, on his sisters.^
One circumstance, afibrding no bad testimony in favour of his
dispositions, is brought to light by the incident. The confiden-
tial servants of his youth, James Graham, *' domestic sei*vitor
> See before, p. 52.
340 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
to my Lord," he who wrote so pathetically of hie young mas-
ter''s deficiency in shoes and boots, and good Mr John Lambyei,
*' purse-maister to my Lord,**^ we find attached to hira still, in
their respective vocations. They were both involved in the
storm that now threatened his life. Honest Spalding, when
indignantly recording an inquisitorial measure which seems to
have excited general disgust, says, — " Lord Sinclair came to
the place of Old Montrose, by direction of the Gonmiittee of
Estates at Edinburgh, and there violently broke up the gates
and doors thereof, entered the house, searched the whole coffers,
chests^ and trunks within the same, after they were all broken
up, to see what missives pr letters pertaining to the Earl of
Montrose, or any of his friends, might be found ; because his
writs lay in this house : They took to Edinburgh with them also
the Earl's secretary, called Lamhyy to try what he knew : The
like was done to another house of the said EarPs called Kin-
cardine ; and what was found, was had to the Committee at
Edinburgh, the Earl himself lying warded in the cattle of Edin-
burgh : It is said, they also demolished his stately house of
Mugdock."
One document Lord Sinclair made prize of, upon which alone
even these unscrupulous persecutors could pause seriously for a
moment. To their horror and alarm, he raised the ghost of
" the Band that was brunt ! "' Our hero had privately noted
the history of that affair, the source of much vague calumny
against himself, and had placed the manuscript in his own
charter-chest. The precise terms of the original bond we have
fortunately recovered ; and we have seen that not a line of it
justifies Baillie when characterising it as " damnable.*" We
may well believe that the covenanting abuse heaped upon this
last, Montrose'*s private record of its motive and object, had as
little foundation in truth or justice. Any writings of his which
bear a disreputable character are those of which the Covenan-
ters would not suffer the contents to go abroad. But the cha-
racter was affixed by themselves. The manuscript in question
was brought before both Parliament and General Assembly,
amid as much excitement as if a gunpowder-plot, or infernal
machine had been discovered. Baillie describes it, to his cor-
respondent Spang, as " a paper written by Montrose's hand.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 341
after the burning of the Band, full of vain humanities^ magnify-
ing to the skies his own courses, and debasing to hell his oppo-
sites ! "" No transcript of the outrageous paper accompanies
this opinion. Sir James Balfour, too, then bitter in his enmity
against the champion of his royal master''s rights, thus refers to
it in those Balfouriana which he dignified with the name of
Annals : " A scurvy infamous libel^ found in the Earl of Mon-
trose^s cabinet, penned by himself against the country^ in defence
of the divisive Band, and Banders^ was read publicly in the
House : It was written by the hand of John (James ?) Graham,
his servant, and interlined with his own.^'^ We have produced
that of Montrose'^s writings which will suffice to prove him in-
capable of penning " a scurvy infamous libel."" Neither did it
suit our Lord Lyon to illustrate his anathema with the docu-
' ment itself. Such, however, was the usual covenanting mode
of characterising whatever militated against the principles of
the faction, and the progress of the movement, though it had
been recorded with the pen of an angel. The discovery was
seized with avidity, as an excuse for reviving a clamour against
the conservative bond, and for vexing its noble author with new
* Sir James Balfour, who was very kindly treated by Charles I. (see before,
p. 120), ought to have been ashamed to leave such dishonest abuse behind him.
It is the more remarkable, that hcjorf- noting the transactions of the year 1641, in
which this abuse of Montrose's eouserv utivo op|)08ition occurs, he adrcsses an ad>
vertisement *' to the gentle reader," to excuse the conservative tone he will be con-
strained to adopt in the subsequent noting of *^ my Annals." He says that he com-
mences a new tolume with the occurrences of the year 1641, the 17th year of the
reign of Giarles I. ; which, he adds, ** will require a greater volume by itself ; the
face not only of affairs being quite altered, but the yery fundamentals ofgorem-
mentf both of Church and State, very much altered, if not overturned from what
they were both in his father's time, and in his own till that year : Wherefore I
have resolved to begin with that year in another volume ; because 1 must speak in
another language, and in otlier terms now, than I did formerly, before the reins of
government were slacked, and the body did begin to call itself ' tlie Estates,* with-
out any mention of him who was the head-politic of that body." — See Balfour's
Annals, end of vol. ii. Was Montrose's conservatism not something better than
this I And this from the man, who, after having noted the above in his closet, is
pleased to tell his *' gentle reader," that Montrose's note, of the motive and object
of an unexceptionable conservative bond, signed by nineteen noblemen, that note
being found among his private papers, was <
ter, and doubtless had taken the above note of the scene. The Wigton papers were
edited for the Maitland Club by Mr Dennistoun of Dennistoun, in 1841. It is for-
tunate that Montrose's address has been so preserved ; for nothing could be more
unfair than the following record of it, by Sir James Balfour, in his so-called
Annals : —
" 27th July 1641 ; Tuesday : My Lord Montrose compeared publicly this after-
noon, and in great humility said he was come there to know what was the House's
pleasure with him ; saying that he was heartily sorry that it was his evil fortune to
be put in the same predicament with those that had done evil offices to the State :
Howsoever, he would obey their commands, and endeavour to go as near as he could
to give them €Ul humble tatisf action : He being removed, was again called, and asked
by the President, if, or not, he had any thing more to say 1 Who answered. No :
Then the President told him, that the House would take it into their consideration
what course to take next ; and in the mean time commanded him to return to the
Castle." Could Sir James Balfour be ignorant that he was here noting for history,
a most spirited address of an high-bred nobleman, imder the false aspect of timid
and abject submission ! Why did be omit, << My resolution is, to carry along with
me fidelity and honour to the grave t "
348 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
was ordained to compear in person at the bar, as a ddinqu&tU^
in the place appointed for the common incendiaries ; which he,
in all humility y obeyed ; and his trial was delayed until the 24th
of August instant.'' It would have been instructive to have
heard that debate, and to have scrutinized the sweet voices
that voted Montrose a delinquent, and " common incendiary.*^
A meagre note of the scene is all that appears among the mi-
nutes of that lawless Parliament ; but it suffices again to expose
the disingenuous annalist. The parliamentary record bears, that
the high-spirited nobleman " offered himself ready to answer,
and desired no continuation ; and desired extracts of the depo-
sitions and papers whereupon his summons was founded.'' But
he pleaded and protested in vain.
It was on the evening of this same day, Saturday 14th Au-
gust 1641, that the King arrived at Holyroodhouse, accompa-
nied, among others, by the Duke of Lennox, and the Marquis
of Hamilton.
Yes, the King came to hold the Parliament in person, — a
panacea for all evils of State, as Montrose and Napier fondly
imagined. He came with the blood of Strafford weighing
heavily on his soul ; a poj)ular murder, scarcely so excusable as
lynch-law, in which his acciuiesctnce had been taken by storm, ,
thereby impeHing him to an act of doplorable feebleness, for
which he never forgave himself. It was covenanting co-opera-
tion which had accomplished that first act of the great tragedy
of his troubles, as it did the last. How Warriston bellowed
above the storm ! '* Command us to be stout ^^ — he writes to
Balmerino, — *' be diligent with your lawyers — prepare your re-
cruits — let not this other trick of their causing the King profess
he would come to Scotland himself to settle business, — which is
a trick oftlinrs also, — terrify us, for fear of faction at home to
grow by his presence : The lower House will ham Strafford's life
— are thinking on moneys for us — this in post haste — Lord en-
courage and direct them." It reminds us of, — .
•' The wolfy long howl on Ooualaska's shore."
AVell, they got " Strafford's blood." And they got " moneys
for us.*" And then tho savnsfo dotnagoguo hurried to Scotland,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 349
to put in for the blood of Montrose : " If any of us,'''' again he
writes to Balmerino, " be accused here, ye waJd think what to do
fjoith some there, seeing we hear it comes from Montrose,'^ &c. ;
and, " if I can win down, I shall do my utmost to help to pre-
pare things.**-' So down came the Procurator of the Kirk,
" really,"^ as he himself says, " to help to prepare the processes
before Parliament,*' — especially that against Montrose.
Charles the First, notwithstanding his haughty bearing, and
that effervescence of hot and royal blood so frequently roused
to his lips by the insolence, and the duphcity, of his Scotch
Counsellors, or rather of those who forced their counsel upon
him, was of too gentle and christian a disposition, to ride on
such a storm, or to control the turbulence of the times. His
own judgment, though sounder far than the judgment of those
whom he was too apt to trust, was never relied upon by him-
self. When left to his own resources in difficulties, he was
undecided and helpless as a child. On his throne of Scotland,
at that Pariiament of 1641, he was even less of a Monarch than
the Doge of Venice, whom Montrose describes as no more than
the idol to whom ceremonies are addressed. Charles was rather
in the position of a delinquent at their bar ; with this distinction
in his favour, that when he entered the Parhament House, he
was not ordered to " stand on the stage appointed for delin-
quents^'' But all those hostile feelings, and warlike projects
against Scotland, which Hamilton had stirred within him only
to his ruin, withered by the same influence, had passed away,
and left a broken spirit behind. Strange, that the nobleman
on whom alone the King leant, and with a love surpassing the
love of women, — he who had secretly urged him to carry fire
and sword into covenanting Scotland, — should now be in high
favour with that very faction, colleaguing with them against his
master, — while those whose secret advice to their Sovereign had
been, — " Practice, Sir, the temperate government ; it fitteth the
humour and disposition of Scotland best ; it gladdeth the hearts
of your subjects ; strongest is that power which is based on the
happiness of the subject ; once to accomplish peace, is better
than a thousand triumphs,'' — should be in prison, as incendiaries
and traitors, invoking the names of Justice and Liberty in vain !
350 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
If the King never received the advice which emanated from
our family party of plotters, the coincidence is very remarkable
that his demeanour, upon meeting the Parliament, the senti-
ments and propositions which he uttered, nay, the very turn of
his expressions, were such as might have been expected had he
taken Montrose's letter as the guide and groundwork of his
own plans and address. On Tuesday 17th August 1641, Charles
proceeded to hold the Parliament, Hamilton bearing the crown,
and Argylfe the sceptre. Yes, under the malign conjunction of
the " serpent in the bosom,'' and the " snake in the grass,'' was
the Throne now destined to fall prostrate. His Majesty, " kindly
saluting the House," and gracefully adverting to the unhappy
differences with his native countrj% added, — " This I will say,
that if love to my native country had not been a chief motive
to this journey, other respects might easily have found a shift
to do that by a Commissioner, which I am come to perform
myself." Then he invoked their loyal feelings in support of his
authority ; and, as if echoing that eloquent assurance, from the
imprisoned loyalists, that thousands in Scotland would shed
their hearts'-blood ere his throne departed, and that he was
not " like a tree lately planted, which oweth the fall to the first
wind," he cast himself upon the affections of his people, for the
maintenance of that hereditary sovereignty, " which," he said,
" I do now enjoy for an hundred and eight descents, and which
you have so often professed to maintain, and to which your own
national oath doth oblige you." And, as if also mindful of that
injunction to " satisfy them in point of religion and liberties in
a loving and free manner," but at the same time to stand on his
prerogatives, and to let the filling up the offices of State be his
latest act there, the King thus concluded his address to the
Parliament : —
" Now the end of my coming is shortly this : To perfect what-
soever I have promised ; and withal to quiet those distractions
which have, and may fall out amongst you : And this I mean
not superficially, but fully and cheerfully to do; for, I assure
you, I can do nothing with more cheerfulness than to give my
people content, and a general satisfaction : Therefore, not offer-
ing to endear myself to you in words, which indeed is not my
way, I desire, in the first place, to settle that which concerns
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 361
the Religion and just liberties of this my native country, before
I proceed to any other act."
Montrose and Napier, the peers who had written this speech
for the King, or, at least, of whose sentiments, and very words,
that speech was an echo, meanwhile appealed to Heaven through
grated windows, in solitary cells. But, —
** Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage."
This Parliament dared not call Montrose before them, to state
his wrongs in presence of the King. But an attempt was made
to cozen him out of a plea of guilty, in humiliating terms. On
the 21st of August another petition from him was read to the
House, the King being present — :" humbly beseeching his Ma-
jesty,*" as Sir James Balfour records it, " and the 'honourable
House, to take his, Montrose''s restraint, to their consideration,
and his willingness to obey their determinations, — in fine, a sub-
mission to the House in obscure ferms^'' ! But the obscurity simply
was, that he had couched his demands for justice in those t^rms
of dignified respect, which respect for himself would never suffer
him to omit, and which the King's presence would especially
elicit from him now. For, when meanly pressed to say if this
meant that formal submission which they longed to extort from
him while the Sovereign was present, he returned for answer
that such was not his meaning ; and that he desired '^ only a
speedy just trial, with those papers that he had petitioned often
before for.*"
Such is Sir James Balfour'*s own record of the matter, and
from Baillie we learn the result. It seems that the form of a
submission to the Parliament had been drawn up for Mon-
trose'*s signature, which he refused. Many deliberations, says
Baillie in one of his letters, occurred upon Montrose'*s petition
to have his cause discussed ; but, ^' since he refused to subscribe
the submission, which the King saw and did not disallow^ the
cognition of his cause was cast by till the Parliament had dis-
patched their more weighty affairs.^' A petition was then pre-
sented in the names of Montrose, Napier, Keir, and Blackball,
praying that they might be released on sufficient caution. This
petition, after much debate, was ordered, by plurality of voices,
to have no answer at all until all public business was ended !
352 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
Their dishonest anxiety to implicate the King in these pro-
ceedings will be observed in Baillie's very weak assumption of
his Majesty's silence, as approval. But Charles was helpless.
The nod of one man in that Assembly would have sufficed to
release Montrose, but that was not the King'^s. Had Argyle
said, " let Montrose go free," who would have dared to say no ?
But not the most impassioned speech that Charles could have
uttered in his favour would have shaken his prison door. The
King had already been told so. He had struggled hard to ob-
tain the benefit of oblivion for the innocent, as it was to be ex-
tended to the guilty ; and that those who " have only left the
cause and adhered to us be passed from."' Even Loudon and
Dunfermline had pressed upon the Parliament that gracious
message of the King's. But it had been peremptorily rejected
by Ai^yle ; who, moreover, had insolently reminded the King
himself of the " naughty baggage"" thrown over-board. Charles,
deserted /and betrayed by Hamilton, and unable to stand alone,
gave uj\ that contest for their imiuediate liberty, in the silent
and doubtful hope of saving them ^eventually from the fate of
Strafford. It was no idle or calumnious notion, that which
Montrose had adopted from his conversation with Lindsay.
Argyle was now as effectually Dictator in Scotland as if the
nation had proclaimed him so. And Montrose now felt practi-
cally the truth of what he had written to the King, — *' weak
and miserable is that [)eople whose prince hath not power suffi-
cient to punish oppression, and to maintain peace artd justice."''.
Charles was now made to feel it too. Baillie, when furnish-
ing his correspondent Spang with the details of this Parliament,
writes, that '' about the time Walter Stewart^s informations
had come to the King, giving probable assurance for convicting
Hamilton and Argyle of capital crimes, if the countenance of a
present King might favour the accusers, our commissioners of
the best note, and the leaders of the English Parliament, by all
means laboured to make the King*s journey difficult^ We have
seen, too, that Warrlston, in groat alarm, declared that the idea
of the King going to Scotland, was a mere trick, to frighten
them. Yet Charles was now received with cordial greetings,
in which the faction took all the credit to themselves of his
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 353
presence among them, and of the peaceful settlement proposed.
When the President had made his acknowledgments in reply
to the speech from the throne, up rose the " man of craft, sub-
tilty, and falsehood,'' — up rose " King Campbell.'' He answered
the King de jure with a " cordial harangue of welcome." He
compared the kingdom of Scotland to a ship that had been
long tossed in a tempestuous sea, and which his Majesty was
now steering through rocks and shelves to safe anchorage. But
the man of craft was not contented with this complimentary
application of his simile. By a sentence of unequalled inso-
lence, referring to those whom the King vainly struggled to
protect, Argyle gave him to understand how slight was the
monarch's control of that vessel, which he did humbly entreat
his Majesty that now he would conduct safely to harbour,
*' since that for her safety he had given way to cast out some
of the naughtiest baggage to lighten her." Thus intimating
not only that Montrose and his friends must be thrown over-
board, but that the King must father the act. *
Our hero was not permitted even to make his appearance on
^^ the stage appointed for delinquents," in presence of the King.
His late address to the Parliament, which the Xord Lyon
shrunk from recording, had taught them what they might
expect. They suffered his compatriots, however, to appear per-
sonally and answer to their citations, upon the 28th of August.
But* the experiment was somewhat hazardous, as the event
proved. Napier was an old and esteemed friend of the King's;
and that spirited statesman was not likely to deport himself as
a delinquent in the presence of the very men who had ** staid
him by the cloak," and for two hours had plied him with argu-
ments to accept of a private acquittal, and their secret declara-
tion of his innocence,, and irreproachable life. Fortunately he
has left a precise note of a scene which that too partial annalist
Balfour had also thought fit to suppress, though he records the
occasion. Nor can we give it in better words than Lord Napier^s.
" Upon the 28th of August, 1641, Lord Napier, Keir, and
Blackball, were sent for to the Parliament — being the day we
were to answer — in three coaches appointed by his Majesty kirn-
23
354 LIFE OF MONTROSE,
%elf. How soon we came in at the outmost door, At8 MajMy
took off his hat, and we approached. The President bade us go
up into the stage appointed for delinquents. And after we had
made our humble courtesy to the King, the President caused
the clerk call the Advocates for the State by name, and then
us. And thereafter ho told us, that the Parliament, in regard
of the weighty business in hand, would prorogate our day of
hearing to the 8th of September next. To which I answered,
that what his Majesty, and the House, did determine, we must
and should be content with ; but that they would be pleased,
since the prime Advocates were taken up,^ to allow those who
were to consult with us, to plead for us also : and that we might
have delivered to us an extract of the grounds of our process ;
and that we might meet together to consult about our lawful
defences, that we might be readier to answer. The President
told us, we might supplicate for these things, and that no answer
could be given now. Then I desired to have liberty to speak ;
which the President refused, saying, that what I could say was
in causa? I said, that which I had to say was very short, and
would not trouble them ; and then I desired that his Majesty,
and the House, would be pleased to hear me. The King — as I
believe, for at such a distance I could not hear^ — hade voice it.
But it was granted, and not voiced.* Then, said I : — ' What
we have done, and while wo were adoing of it, we thought we
could not devise to do the King^s Majesty, nor the Estates and
Subjects of this Kingdom, better service : And, God be thanked^
I ses his Majesty there : I am confident we shall find the gracious
effects of his presence : And, truly, if we have failed, either in
matter or manner, — may be, but I never yet could conceive it :
And yet we have received punishment that bears proportion
1 Following Warriston's injunctions, written from London, all the most eminent
lawyers wero retained, under the title of ^ Adrocates for the State," to conduct the
criminal processes against the '< Plotters ;" and prohibited, on pain of treaaoD, from
pleading for any one of these. Sir Thomas Hope, the King's Adrocate, was com-
manded to concur, and pursue for his Majcgtif*8 interest, a command which he obeyed.
* That is, that Lord Napier could have nothing to say which did not belong to
the subject matter of the charges against him, which they would not allow him to
plead at that time. The President was Balmerino,
* The scene is the vast Hall in Edinburgh, still called " the Parliament Houae.**
* The Ar<;ylo government were afraid of the King carrying a vote of the House
a;'ainst them.
LIFE OP MONTROSE. S66
with very great crimes : We have been eleven toeeks in the
Castle ; which we do not think much of ; but by that means
there lies a heavy imputation upon us ; and suspicion of the
people, as if we had committed some heinous crime ; and there-
by we are barred from sitting here as we ought ; and are forced
to hear libels, and summons, with the most opprobrious and
reproachful words which ever were used to innocent or guilty
men : So my humble desire to his Majesty, and the House is,
that they will be pleased to take our cause and sufferings into
their consideration.^
^^ His Majesty nodded to me, and seemed to be well pleased.
So we took our leave."*'*
Alas ! the poor King. He was in daily dread of the alleged
" Plotters'^ being made to suflTer the fate of John Stewart. Sir
Patrick Wemyss, who attended Charles in Edinburgh, thus
writes to the Marquis of Ormonde, of date 25th September
1641 : '' The King is to pass an act that none of the Incen-
diaries are to serva in his dominions : His Majesty has engaged
his royal pro mise j to Montrose, not to leave the kingdom till He
come t<) his trial : For if he leave him aU the world mil not save
his life.^ In the same letter Sir Patrick says : ^' What will be
the event of these things, God knows : For there was never
King so much insulted over : It would pity any man's heart to
see how he looks : For he is never quiet amongst them ; and
glad he is when he sees any man that he thinks loves him : Yet
he is seeming merry at meat.''^
This affords an interesting commentary upon the affecting
trait noted by Lord Napier, — *' His Majesty nodded to me, and
seemed well pleased.'' Constitutional History has no conception
J of the constitutionalrascaUtj with which Charles the First was |
beset in Scotland, i^n^year of God and our liberties 1641.3 j
I Original MS.^ in the hjuidwriting of Archibald first Lord Napier ; Montroie
Charter-room, This interesting and melancholy document was probably given by
Napier to Montrose, among the remnants of whose papers it yet remains.
' Carte's Ormonde Papers, rol. i. p. 4.
* See the shameful conduct of the Argyle Parliament, and the pretended alarm
of <* the Incident," exposed in detail, and fully illustrated from original contempo-
rary documents, in the author's former work, << Montrose and the Covenanters,"
vol. II. chap. vi.
356 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
The result was far different from what Montrose and Napier
had anticipated, when they wrote to their royal master that
" the remedy of this dangerous disease consisteth only in your
Majesty's presence for a space in that kingdom.^ These con-
scientious but powerless counsellors had not taken into their
calculation that he would be entirely in the hands of a faction
as powerful as it was unscrupulous; working the great lever
of fanaticism, in religion and politics, with all the energy of
the best heads, and all the vice of the worst hearts in Scot-
land. Even Hamilton, whom Charles had so long and affec-
tionately trusted, having, as we have seen, paved the way for
such a crisis as this, now directly and publicly caballed with
Argyle to rob and insult him. The few in Scotland who really
loved their sovereign, dared not evince their affection, or were
in prison for doing so. The result was, that, in order to save '
his friends, he was compelled to scatter honours and rewards at
the bidding of his enemies. Indeed, says Clarendon, ^^ he seemed
to have made that progress into Scotland only that he might
make a perfect deed of gift of that kingdom."" And the Earl
of Camwath upon this occasion indulged in the melancholy jest,
*^ that he would go to Ireland, and join Sir Phelim O^Neal, chief? i
of the rebels there, and then he was sure the Eling would pre-[ I
fer him.'"*
Charles might well exclaim, as Balfour tells us he did at this
crisis of his forced and fatal concessions, — " I have granted you
more than ever king granted yet, and what have you done for
me V* The equivalent was, that the conscientious statesmen,
whom they had falsely branded with the prejudicial terms " In-
cendiaries,"*"* and " Plotters,'"* against whom not the vestige of
a case, in law or equity, existed, instead of being immediately
deprived of their lives or liberty, under some mocker}' of the
forms of justice, were " to be liberated on caution^ that from
henceforth they carry themselves soberly and discreetly.'*^ Never-
theless they were still to undergo a trial ; but it was to be be-
fore a committee appointed for that purpose. The faction took
immense credit to themselves for remitting this strange course
of justice to the tribunal of a committee of their own selection,
whose proceedings were to be limited to the 1st of March 1642.
Having already prejudged, calumniated, condemned, and punish-
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 357
ed these innocent noblemen and gentlemen, they '* declare that
they will not proceed to a final sentence, nor insist upon the
punishment of the saids persons, but that they do, for the rea-
son foresaid, freely remit them to his Majesty."*' The reason
foresaid is worthy of the most impudent cabal that ever minis-
tered to injustice and anarchy ; namely, — " that his Majesty
may joyfully return a contented prince, from a contented
people.^ There follows, of the same date, another act, in name
of the King, that, " taking in good part the respect and thank-
fulness of this parliament, in remitting to me those who are
cited as incendiaries, and others, I will not employ any of these
persons in offices or places of court or state, without consent of
Parliament, nor grant them access to my person.''^
There can be no doubt that the King's anxiety for the fate
of those who really loved him, now dictated many of his con-
cessions. His affectionate secretary. Sir Edward Nicholas, was
at this time the sympathizing depositary of his wishes and dis-
tracted feelings. In one of his very interesting letters, Sir Ed-
ward thus writes, of date 5th October 1641 : "I pray God there
be not some design in detaining your Majesty there till your
affairs here be reduced to the same state they there are in. I
assure your Majesty the opinion of wise men here is, that to
have what officers you desire in that kingdom, cannot make so
much for your service there, as your absence hence at this time
will prejudice you in business of more importance here. And
as for the Lord Montrose^ and the rest, some here (that pretend
to understand the condition of their case) are of opinion, that
their innocency is such, as they will not fare the worse for your
Maje8ty"*s leaving them to the ordinary course of justice there."***
But the honest Secretary knew not how extraordinary was the
course of justice now in Scotland. There is an important
note, written by the hand of Charles himself, on the margin of
Sir Edward's letter, in reply to the passage quoted : " This may
be true that you say, but I am sure that I miss somewhat in
point of honour if they all be not relieved before I go hence.''*
1 Original MS. Parliamentftry Record. — Oeneral RegitUr Route.
s See the correspondence printed in the second volume of Evelyn's Memoirs
p. Z\tquaHo edition, 1819.
358 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
CHAPTER XIX.
HISTORICAL CALUMNY THAT MOMTROSE OFFERED HIS SERVICB8 TO KDIG
CHARLES TO ASSASSINATE HAMILTON AND AROTLE, EXAMINED AMD
REFUTED — clarendon's HISTORY REDEEMED FROM A MISTAKE OF HIS
EDITORS — ^THE CALUMNY NOT RECORDED BY BURNET — RIDICULOUS
CHARGE OF INSULTING THE KINO PREFERRED AGAINST MONTROSE IN
HIS LIBEL — CONTAINS NO CHARGE OF AN OFFER TO ASSASSINATE — THE
king's letters to MONTROSE CONCLUSIVE AGAINST ALL THE CALUM-
nies — ^treatment of him after the kino's departure — his i2a>io-
nant and classical remonstrance.
Will Montrose never be extricated from these tireeome
Covenanters! Patience, gentle reader. Presently you shall
wade through blood with him to the scaffold, and see them tear
him limb from limb. But we have still to redeem him from the
worst calumny that clouds his fame. A stain, indeed, so foul,
that if it is not to be obliterated, neither his victories nor his
death will suffice to save his character.
\Did Montrose, at this memorable crisis insult his Sovereign,
whose hand was yet agitated from its signature of the death-
-warrant of Strafford, with an offer of his own personal services
to assassinate Hamilton and Argyle ?
Imagine the nobleman, whom the meanest of his detractors
admits to have been " stately to affeotation,*" in the royal closet,
bowing upon the hand of Charles the First, with the grace of a
Bayard, and the propositions of a Blood ! The nobleman who,
with pointed sarcasm, had just reminded the Estates of Scot-
land, that, " As Truth does not seek corners, it needeth no
favour.*" He who had just hurled in their teeth the haughty
and high-minded defiance, — " My resolution is, to cany along
with me Fidelity and Honour to the grave.*" The story, in
its worst aspect, saves the King. Charles is said to have re-
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 359
coiled with horror. Did the shock come from him, the climax
of whose advice to that monarch, at this very crisis, was, —
• Pax una, Triumphis
Innumeris potior ? *'
From him who, when his heart and soul were more occupied
with the fate of a falling monarchy, than the faith of an imap;i-
nary mistress, penned the stanza that contains the promise,
*^ I'll serve thee in such noble ways
Was never heard before ? "
. \ Perhaps we have said enough already to disprove the calumny.
' ^,I3ut the literary curiosity of its incoherent adoption, by modern f/
historians of all degrees, demands a more particular illustration. •
For no covenanting chronicler, of Montrose^s own times, seems
to have been cognizant of the calumny. The secret correspon-
dence of Warriston, the voluminous journals and letters of
Baillie, the unfriendly annals of Balfour, the private diary of
Hope, the virulent and abusive libels and proclamations of the
covenanting government, are all as silent on the subject as if
the hideous crime had been their own. Yet can we be allowed
to doubt what Clarendon had recorded? Dare we dispute
what Acherley and Oldmixon have so positively asserted, with
additions f What Malcolm Laing has argued, and illustrated,
and insisted upon, with amendments? What George Brodie
has shouted with exultation, execrations, and variations? What
the industrious Chambers has popularised, with a different?
What the curious D'IsraeH ingeniously accounted for ! The
lively and minute Lindsay tacitly conceded ? The inspired
Scott ominously evaded ! And the dispassionate Guizot, the
calm spectator of our Troubles, conscientiously gathered from
them all, as the truth ?^ Certainly the accusation itself is
" neither new nor rare.'' But the bewildered reader of history,
who would fain trace it to authority, cannot fail to '' wonder
how the devil it came there.''
Clarendon, among his earliest and crudest manuscripts, un-
fortunately had left this passage : — " But now, after his Ma-
* See Apiicndix fur illustrations from these various authors.
360 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
jesty arrived in Scotland (1641), by the introduotion of Mr
William Murray of the bed-chamber, he (Montrose) came pri-
vately to the King^ and informed him of many particulars from
the beginning of the Rebellion, and that the Marquis of Hamil-
ton was no less faulty and false towards his Majesty than Ar-
gyle, and offered to make proof of all in the Parliament, but
rather desired to hill them hoth^ which he frankly undertook to eh ;
but the King, abhorring that expedient^ for his own security, ad-
vised that the proofs might be prepared for the Parliament.
When suddenly, on a Sunday morning, the city of Edinburgh
was in arms, and Hamilton and Argyle both gone out of the
town to their own houses, where they stood upon their guard,
declaring publicly, that they had withdrawn themselves because
they knew there was a design to assassinate them ; and chose
rather to absent themselves, than,' by standing upon their de-
fence in Edinburgh, — which they could not well have done, — ^to
hazard the public peace and security of the Parliament which
thundered in their behalf-^
Whoever investigates the secret history of the King^s visit
to Scotland in 1641, will detect in the above passage a confu-
sion worse confounded of that political mystification which ob-
tained the name of '' the Incident.^^ At the very time when
Montrose and his friends were so anxiously petitioning the Par-
liament for an immediate trial, in presence of their Sovereign,
and when the dishonest clamour against " the Plot" was be-
coming somewhat flimsy and stale, a fresh impetus was sud-
denly given to the agitation of the public mind, by a false alarm
that some desperate characters were hatching a scheme to mur-
der, or to remove by violence (for of course the rumour was
incoherent and contradictory) Argyle, Hamilton, and his bro-
ther Lanerick. This was vaguely mingled with dark hints that
the King himself was a party to some diabolical plot against
these noblemen, one of whom had reclined in his bosom for
years, and been there protected against many direct accusa-
tions. There is not, perhaps, in history a more aflecting pic-
ture than that which. Sir James Balfour affords of the demean-
our of the harassed and insulted Monarch, when, " with tears
in his eyes, and, as it seemed, in a very great grief,'** he an-
nounced to the covenanting Parliament that Hamilton had fled
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 361
from his side, on the pretext that he was not in a place of safety
there. " If I had believed,'' said Charles, *' the reports of those
of nearest respect and greatest trust about me, long before now,
of him, I had greater reasons than now to have laid him fast :
Not only did I then slight all such reports, but, in the face of
them, took him by the hand, and maintained him against them
all : Neither did I think that he could have found, if any such
thing had been, a surer sanctiiary than my hed-chamherr^
In this new plot, however, even the Earl of Lanerick, who
wrote an account of the affair, does not surmise that our hero
had any hand. Neither is his name mentioned in the proceed-
ings in Parliament on the subject. Nor does the incident add
a new count to his indictment. We find a slight passing allu-
sion to it in Montrose's owq manuscripts ; and, manifestly, it is
a notice by one who treated the new plot with most sceptical
contempt, and perfect indifference. Complaining of the con-
tinual postponement of his trial, he says : — " Yet, notwithstand-
ing all our most impatient earnestness, used as it may perhaps
seem tempore non satis oppartuno^ some new incidents^ as they
term them, having divers times fallen, our instant supplications
and prayers were never yet heard."^
What toad had spit this venom into the ear of Clarendon it
were needless now to enquire. Obviously, it is an ignorant
jumble of two contemporary events ; " the Plot," of which
Montrose was the hero ; and '^ the Incident,'*' in which he was
not accused. Moreover, it must have been noted by the great
. Historian when so ill-informed as not to know that Montrose
was, at the very time, a state prisoner, waiting to be tried for
his life.
This last circumstance sufficed for David Hume. Scarcely
^ Balfour's Annals, toL iii. pp. 95, 96. This was a most affecting and cutting
allusion to the occasion when the King had saved this favourite's reputation and
life, under a serious charge of a design against his Majesty, by ordering him to
sleep that night within the bed-chamber. The only coherent account of the false
and fraudulent alarm of the Incident, is that by Lanerick, printed in the Hard-
wicke Papers, from the Hamilton archives, as mentioned above. He appears to
have been duped by it ; but the story, even as told by him, bears absurdity on the
face of it He imputes nothing to Montrose.
• Original MS., « Protestation" by Montrose, and his friends.--ifon Lord Nugent willingly adopts the calumny against Montrose, in his Life of
Hampden : Yet he had not failed to remark the incongruity with which it dis-
figured Qarendon's History. « Clarendon," he says, ** forgetful of the crinua which
he imputes to Montrose in the early part of his history, says, in the latter part of
it, that he was not without vanity, but his virtues were much superior. — Vol. ii.
p. .95. Lord Nugent had not attended to Clarendon's corrections ; and he was for-
getful that Clarendon did not publish his own work.
I,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 363
land in 1641, but it is substantially accurate. It stands the
test of comparison with the secret history of Scottish affairs that
has been discovered since. It avoids the mistakes of the other
passage. It mentions that Montrose was under restraint^ and
the causes of that restraint ; information which must have been
obtained subsequently to the period when the passage retained
in the text had been ignorantly noted. Indeed, it would have
been surprising had the same ignorance appeared in the restored
passage contained in the Appendix. For that is expressly
founded upon what, says Clarendon, ^* the King hath told me i"
and what *' I have heard the Earl of Montrose say." And,
after a much more particular account of '^ the Plot," and ^* the
Incident," than is found in the former narrative, — but without
a hint of Montrose having at this time made any proposition
whatever to his Majesty touching Hamilton and Argyle, —
Clarendon adds a sentence which is quite conclusive on the
subject : " Whatever," he says, " was in this business, — and I
could never discover more than what I have here set dotcn^ though
the King himself told me all that he knew of it^ as I verily be-
lieve, — it had a strange influence at Westminster, and served
to contribute to all the senseless fears they thought Jit to put on."^
Clarendon thus redeemed, the modem historians are Jeft un-
supported. For even Burnet, the old-clothes-man of history,
the unscrupulous apologist of Hamilton and maligner of Mon-
trose, had not found this pearl among the heaps he raked.
Too glad would the faction have been, to have discovered
the shadow of a shade of such an accusation against Montrose.
Most anxious were they to depreciate his loyalty, as they calum-
niated his patriotism. The interminable labyrinth of abuse, of
which the libel against him is composed, embraced two leading
charges. The one was, that he had corresponded with ^* the
enemy,^ contrary to his covenanting oath. But the enemy was
his Sovereign ; and the nature of their correspondence wo have
been enabled to disclose. The other charge was, that he had
insulted and vilified his Majesty ; and the manner in which this
inconsistent accusation was attempted to be proved, is highly
characteristic of those who preferred it. In the face of unan- .
^ See Edition of Clarendon's Works, ]826, yoL ii. App. B. referred to p. 13 of
that Tol. ; and the AdTertiaement at the end of yoI. i.
364 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
swerable evidence, internal and external, of the falsity of the
charge, it was gravely, and with great prolixity, libelled against
him, that he had dictated to Walter Stewart, in presence of his
fellow prisoners, the following " Instructions'*^ for Traquair at
Court : —
^^ Not to let L drink water, except he promise not to cast ii
again : To assure D, and T, that, except they take Genera by
the hand, they will be trod upon, and made naked : To assure L,
D, and T, that G will take him by the hand, and lead him
through all difficulties, II and L being granted.^
Which dreadful mystery, so redolent of the genius of Mon-
trose, was thus interpreted for them by Walter Stewart : —
" Not to acquaint the King with anything, except he promise
to keep secret : To assure the Duke (Lennox), and Traquairy that
my Lord Montrose will stand by him (the King) through all dif-
ficulties. Religion and Liberties being granted.'^
The first law officer of the Grown laid the very greatest stress
upon this flimsy nonsense, as '' a reproach and slander of his
Majesty'^s person and reputation/'' His libel denounced it as
*' shameful terras,'*' which " the said Earl of Montrose had
spoken, or written, or caused to be written, disgracefully and
scornfully of his Majesty/' And then, lest haply the Parlia-
ment, all bamboozled as it was, might not appreciate the ini-
quity, he thus rings the changes upon Walter Stewart's puerile
devices : —
^' Let not L drink water, unless he promise not to cast it
again ! Whereby he meant, as the explanation of that passage
made by the said Lieutenant- Colonel Walter Stewart bears,
that Traquair should not acquaint L — that is the King — with
anything except he promise to keep it secret ! Thereby ignomi-
niously comparing the King to a drinker of water until he cast it
again ! And fully impropriating to his Majesty the blot of faci-
lity, indiscretion, and want of that laudable part, and gift, of
secrecy ; albeit it be known to all his Majesty's subjects, and
manifest to all the world, as well his Majesty's friends as foes,
that his Majesty is, in most eminent degree, replete and com-
plete with, and in, all royal virtues.''''
As Bubens was wont to touch with his immortal brush, and
deathless tints, the school exercises of such favourite scholars
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 365
as Vandyke, so, we suspect, the master-hand of Sir Thomas
Hope, his Majesty'*s Advocate for his Majesty'^s interest, may
here be traced, immortalizing, with the glowing colours of his
ardent loyalty, the handiwork of that promising scholar, War-
riston, who ere long succeeded him in his office ! Again the Lord
Advocate of Charles the First rings another peal upon the
words, which they knew full well that Montrose had not either
written,*or caused to be written : —
" Let not L drink water! That is, the King"*s Majesty drink
water! Except he promise not to cast it again ! As if his Ma-
jesty was to be ruled and over-ruled, by the said Earls of Mon-
trose and Traquair ! An intolerable inlifying of his Majesty, his
person, and reputation ; by slighting and lightful speeches of
his Majesty, to his Majesty'^s great reproach, contempt, and
dishonour,' as if his Majesty — ^being our dread Sovereign^ whom
all his subjects are obliged, in all effiatUdulls (honest) humility
and respect, to obey — were an underUng^ to be commanded by
the said two indirect, clandestine, and disloyal practisers against
the Estate!''
The conclusion and climax is, that Montrose, who, it is
added, '^ in a very arrogant manner,'' applies to himself the
complimentary term of **' GenerOy"*^ ought to be punished as a
'^ leasing maker," with the loss of life and possessions ; and
this, says the Presbyterian prosecutor, " conform to the law of
nature and nations, engraven on the hearts of all true subjects ;
obliging them to due reverence, honour, and respect unto their
Sovereign, being 6od*s vicegerent upon earth,'''*
Good against Montrose from the Kirk-militant, who sold
" God's vicegerent upon earth" to his murderers. Good from
those who, at the very time, were day after day grossly insult-
ing the King to his very face. But the poisoned shaft missed
its aim. To this charge our hero, in his written defence, scarcely
deigns to allude. The whole rhodomontade he contemptuously
characterises as " quisquilias volanies et venti spolia^^'' — windy
swirls of dirt and rubbish; and then, without cojidescending
specially to defend his loyalty against such trash, he adds :
** As for the characters^ and hieroglyphics^ falsely alleged to have
been given by us to Lieutenant-Colonel Walter Stewart, to be
^ An argument, rather, that he did not dictate the term.
366 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
offered to Traquair, it is a manifest base calumny : For neitliar
had he those cyphers of us, nor were we accessory to them either
by word or writ.^^^ But this most ridiculous accusation, — ^im-
portant, nevertheless, as a characteristic sample of the too
triumphant faction that ruined the King, — and that more
venomous whisper which some modem constitutionalists haye
magnified into history, receive the caup de grace from the King^s
own letters, addressed to Montrose inmiediately after his Ma-
jesty's return to England, which occurred in the month of
November 1641 : —
" Montrose,
*' As I think it fit, in respect of your sufferings for me, by
these lines to acknowledge it to you, — so I think it unfit to
mention, by writ, any particulars, but to refer you to the faith-*
ful relation of this honest bearer, Mungo Murray ; bein^ confi-
dent that the same generosity which has made you hazard so
much as you have done for my service, will at this time induce
you to testify your affection to me as there shall be occasion ;
assuring you that, for what you have already done, I shall ever
remain your most assured friend, " Charles R.''
" Windsor, 27th January 1642.''
And again, a few months afterwards : —
" Montrose,
" I know I need no arguments to induce you to my service.
Duty and loyalty are sufScient to a man of so much honour as I
know you to be : Yet as I think this of you, so I will liave you to
believe of me, that I would not invite you to share of my hard
fortune, if I intended you not to be a plentiful partaker of my
good. The bearer will acquaint you of my designs, whom I
have commanded to follow your directions in the pursuit of
them. I will say no more bi\t that I am your assured friend,
" York, 7th May 1642.''2 " Charles R."'
I Ore^inoZ MS. Libel against Montrose, with his Replies. — Montroif Charter-room,
The public were never made acquainted with the charges against Montrose, Nor
was the libel, or his answers to it, known to history, or understood to have been
preserved.
• From the originals, in the Montrose Charter-room.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. 867
These autograph assurances of his royal master's estimate of
his character, must have consoled him under the railing of that
contemptible hbel. The faction, not contented with having ex-
cluded him from the farewell banquet of the King, and indeed
expelled him altogether from his presence and his service, now
endeavoured to cheat him of the means of clearing his charac-
ter, and of redeeming his position in society, even before the
unconstitutional tribunal to which his case had been l*eferred.
By the act of Parliament, the proceedings of the committee for
his trial were to be concluded on or before the first day of
March 1642. Manifestly there was no intention of allowing
him the benefit even of that most equivocal ordeal. Dated on
the last day of February 1642, we find an indignant *' Protes-
tation,^'' in the name of himself, and his no less injured compa-
triots, at the tyrannical mjustice with which their incessant
petitions to be tried had been as constantly rejected : " And I,*^
he says, " the Earl of Montrose, being absent in Angus, tiery
wawM in my healthy in very stormy and tempestuous weather,
at my arrival had only allowed me one free day to give in my
defences ; my appearing being upon the Friday at night, and
Monday being assigned peremptory ; the Sabbath^ sure, not
being assigned to us for an idle day ! Which libels, — made up
of so many sheets of paper, in respect of the huge rhapsodies of
those quisquilioB volantes et venti 9polia^^ — were answered by us
in two or three sheets at the most.'' — " We, therefore, James
Earl of Montrose, Archibald Lord Napier, the lairds of Eeir
and Blackball, in respect of the premises, and our diligent car-
riages to give all satisfaction to the most honourable the Estates
of Parliament, and to your Lordships from them, to the end
that no wrinkUy or lecut ihadow of blemish^ remain upon us in
this behalf, do here protest that we are free and exonered of
all suspicion of delay that may be thought cast in by us why
the process intentit against us hath not taken, or may not take,
a full end : And that we are, and may be holden, in the same
terms and condition as before our charge ; or as any of our
I See Faeciolatif Lexicon Latinum, where, among other explanations, we find,
^ QuitquilicB, the sweepings of a house, the offscouring or refuse of any thing, rub-
bish, riffraff, &c. Cceeil. apud Feti, * Quisquilias, Yohmtis venti spolia, memoras.* "
368 LIFE OF MONTROSE.
quality or equals within this kingdom, in all regards whatso-
ever.'*'^
Thus ended the persecution against them, without a trial at
all. " The Plot,'' like its coadjutor " the Incident,*" was a dis-
honest bugbear of faction, got up by Johnston of Warrierton in
support of the dictatorship of Argyle, and cast aside when the
purpose was served. Harassed and hurried as he was, Mon-
trose had prepared a most telling defence. The draft of it,
corrected by the hand, not to be mistaken, of Montrose him-
self, we find among the family papers. Of all the hero's cha-
racteristics, there is none more interesting, than the aptitude of
his classical reading, and his poetical tendency, to struggle into
view, upon various occasions when his mind might well be sup-
posed entirely absorbed by the danger of the crisis, and the
anguish of the moment. Having carefully revised his defence,
and seen that it was good, the recollection of all that he had
done for " the Cause," when he believed it to be the cause of
God and the People, swelled in his bosom. " And this," he
said, " this is the reward for life and ever-wakeful energies de-
voted to my country ; an ignominious punishment is the return
for the genius I have displayed in the cause.'' But this sudden
and lofty abstraction, this melancholy appeal, not to the faction
he despised, but to his country which he had in vain struggled
to serve, did not find vent precisely in the paraphrase we have
given. He remembered those terser terms in which the exiled
poet deplores his fate, and deprecates the inexorable Augustus.
And so, when satisfied with his " Replies," he dashes in for a
climax this distich, displaying his firmest and boldest auto-
graph,—
" Hoc PRETiuM vrr^ vigilatorumque laborum
Cepimus, ingenio est pd the portrait.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xm
long fallen into abeyance, and I am not aware of any engraving which
represents it ; although in one or two of the rude old prints of Montrose
there is just sufficient resemblance to suggest an idea that this might
be their prototype. It is in fine preservation, particularly the head and
features, which time has only mellowed so truthfully that copyists may
despair. The transparent colouring of the face and back-ground, with
its tender glazing, would stand no touch of cleaning, which perhaps has
been rashly bestowed at some period upon parts of the figure. The sim-
plicity, dignity, and solemnity of the composition, is that which strikes
at the first glance. Genius and originality are stamped upon the old oak
board. The truth of ancient Flemish art comes over the spectator like
a spell ; and the breathing expression, life-like colouring, and time-
honoured tone of the countenance, grow upon him like flesh and blood.
The figure, which is life-size, and three-quarters length, stands erect,
not quite fronting the spectator, but with the right shoulder partially
presented, and the face nearly in the same plane with the figure. It is
completely cased in black armour j with the exception of the head, which
is not even crowned with the small calotte cap that appears in the por-
trait at Buchanan. The brow is well exposed ; and the long dark auburn
locks, equally parted above it, flow in graceful waves to the shoulders.
The right hand, slightly elevated and thrown across the person, grasps
a red baton ; while the left, projected as far as the wrist beyond the
pommel of his sword, is resting upon the open vizor of his helmet,
placed in front upon a bank or shelf of rock, and overshadowed with a
voluminous plume of black ostrich feathers. If Walpole ever saw this
portrait, it must have reminded him of his own Castle of Otranto. The
accessories are extremely simple, and in the severest taste. The black
helmet, and funereal plume, the blood-red baton, the brighter but some-
what lurid light in the far horizon, appearing on either side of the figure
and finely relieving it, the precipitous rock in front, sparingly fringed
with wild foliage, and harmonizing with a few warm-tinted clouds scat-
tered in a grey sky, are all in keeping with the figure. Nothing could
excel the stern vigour of the attitude, the simple grace and intelligence
of the head, the animation of the well-opened powerful grey eyes, and
the peculiar but characteristic firmness of the compressed lips, expres-
sive at once of sadness and determination.
But who painted it ? Having deprived this portrait also of the name
of Vandyck, it was fortunate that we were able to substitute the true
one, by something better than a theory. After several close inspections,
we detected at the lower comer of the panel, and in deep shadow under
XIV APPENDIX.
the helmet, thia name and date, all bat obliterated, — " Honthorst.
1649 ;'' the date being painted immediately under the autograph. The
monogram formed by the initial letters precisely resembles the fiacsimile
mentioned before as having been made for the early edition of Walpole'a
Anecdotes. That it is an original portrait of Montrose by that great
master, painted at the Hague in the year 1649, cannot now be ques-
tioned. Neither can it reasonably be doubted that the black armour
and plume indicate mourning for Charles the First, who suffered at the
beginning of that year. It must have been painted immediately after
the sad event ; and it is not very likely that the Queen of Bohemia
had there received at the same ttmCj any other portrait of the hero than
this one, the name and date on which prove it to have been then and
there painted by the hand of her own favourite artist.
Whatever Portraits of Montrose may hereafter come to light, thai
now described, and which has hitherto been so unaccountably overlook-
ed, cannot fail to be the most important. It is coincident with the
period when, his great though ill-fated actions performed, his pasnonB
were about to commence, and his destiny to be fulfilled. The fearful
vow he uttered, after having been struck senseless to the ground by
the intelligence of the murder of his Sovereign, and his metrical yer-
sion of it, — '^ Great, Good, and Just,'' — were notorious at the Hague.
And then it wad, that Oherardo dalle Notte, combining the truthful
simplicity of his native school, and his master Bloemart, with something
of the gloomy grandeur of Caravaggio whose style he affected, pix)-
duced this noble portrait for his royal benefactress *' the Queen of
Hearts.''
Of the portrait last described, — the most interesting, and the most
complete, of all the portraits of Montrose hitherto authenticated, — we
have been unable to discover any engraving prior to that, which, under
the liberal auspices of the Maitland Club, forms the frontispiece to the
second volume of " Memorials of Montrose," issued in 1850. An ex-
tension of the same liberality has bestowed the plate upon the present
biography ; which of necessity has been reduced as regards the back-
ground, in order to accommodate it to an octavo page. None of the
figure, however, as painted by Honthorst, has been sacrificed in conse-
quence. It is a most faithful, and feeling, representative of the original
portrait, and worthy of the name of Faed attached to it.
I am aware that the above docs not exhaust the list of alleged por-
traits of Montrose, or even of such as have been attributed to the hand
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xv
of Vandyke. But I have not the means at present of authenticating
any other.^ Were it possible that the greatest of portrait painters
could have painted Montrose as a cavalier, — and no theme, after
Charles the First, could have been more congenial to his pencil, — the
hope of such a work might well excite research. We have given our
reasons for considering it hopeless. As it is, the four unquestionable
originals described above leave little to look for, and must ever hold
their place, especially being now (for the first time) recorded by accu-
rate engravings. These four portraits, independently of being the
works of the greatest portrait-painters of the day, in Holland, England,'
and Scotland, happen, each of them, to mark a separate epoch of the
hero's life ; namely, his early marriage in 1639 ; his transition state
from the Covenant to the Throne, in 1640 ; his commission as Lieu-
tenant-General of Scotland, and his Marquisate from Charles the First
in 1644 ; and his commission as Lieutenant-Governor of Scotland, and
Plenipotentiary to the Northern States, from Charles the Second, im-
mediately after the murder of his father in 1649.
ENGRAVINGS OF MONTROSE.
Of the host of previous engravings of Montrose existing in every form,
size, and style of art, there is not one which has the slightest preten-
sion to compete, as an accurate representation of any original portrait,
or as a trustworthy effigies of Montrose himself^ with the four which
we have now presented to the public. We may say, after an examina-
tion of all the known engravings so extensive and careful as to entitle
us to do soi that now, for the first time after the lapse of two cen-
, turies from his death, have the portraits by any of the g^reat contem-
porary limners of him, been carefully or faithfully engraved. Through
the kindness of a valued, and, let us add, a very liberal friend, who
has spared neither pains nor expense in promoting our researches in
that matter,* we possess twenty-seven engravings of Montrose from
different plates. Of these but one is of any account as a work of
art ; and of the rest, regarded as specimens of engraving, though some
of them be valued by collectors on account of their rarity, there is
not one that rises much above the level of a sixpenny print, or in-
spires more confidence. The many editions of Wishart's Commentaries,
hastily translated, and rudely got up, had sent abroad various paltry
^ There is an old, and not a very fiiithful copy^ of Honthorst^s signed portrait of Mon-
trose, in the Marquis of Breadalhane^s rooms in Holyrood Honse. It was purchased at
Murray of Broughton'S sale, for £100, as an original, and attributed to Vandyke.
* Mr Stirling of Keir.
xvi APPENDIX.
printB as frontispieces, in which all individuality disappears, and nothing
is left but the rudest type of a warrior. Yet such of these as would
seem to be contemporary with the subject, have for the most part been
filched from the volumes to which they originally belonged, and have
entered the portfolios of collectors, as rare contemporary eng^vings,
and therefore to be relied upon as likenesses. The experience of an age
infinitely advanced in the luxuries of book-making, and whose cheapest
and most ephemeral productions can boast a far higher class of art than
the prints in question belong to, might teach us how fallacious are even
contemporary engravings of heroes and statesmen, when appended to
publications of no very expensive character. These old stray prints,
manifestly not pretending to represent any of the four original portraits
which we have now authenticated, but which possibly may have been
rudely and inaccurately derived from others we have not seen, are al-
together worthless as a record of the personal appearance of Montrose.
Only two of these contemporary prints are at all worthy of special
notice. One by Matham, a Flemish engraver in the vicinity of the
Hague, presents rather an interesting portrait as regards expression,
but stiff and unmeaning in the composition. Although a respectable
and firm line engraving, this has no pretensions to fine workmanship,
and there is an obvious disregard of individuality, and correct repre-
sentation of peculiar outlines in delineating the features. This appears
to have been engraved as the frontispiece to the first translation of
Wishart's Commentaries, published at the Hague in an octavo form,
in 1647. An impression from the original plate (for it has been
repeatedly re- engraved, and always deteriorating) is extremely rare ;
and it is yet more rarely found " growing" in its original volume. It
approximates more nearly to the portrait of Montrose by Honthorst
than to any others we have seen. The other contemporary print
worthy of notice, is also of great rarity in its original form, and has
been attributed to Faithorn, But he has not put his name to the
plate, and we can discover no authority for the assertion. We doubt
if Faithorn, who was a great engraver, to be known by peculiar
characteristics, particularly that individuality of expression and feature
which marks the truth of a portrait, as also great vigour, combined
with softness, and what stands for colour in engraving, we doubt if he
would have owned this very soft impeachment. He had three manners^
indeed, the third of course very inferior to the first, and collectors
classify his engravings accordingly. But the print in question, we
think, would tend to assign to him a fourth, or weaker manner still.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xvii
It presents, however, a gentle agreeable aspect of Montrose, approxi-
mating (although of maturer age, and in armour as usual) to the youth-
ful portrait by Jameson, but with all the peculiar characteristics of his
features indicated rather than developed. There has been no attention
paid to character, or to firmness and precision in tracing the outlines.
This print has been repeatedly reproduced, and always for the worse.
All the rest, — that, for instance, published in " Montrose MedivimiSj**
1652, or in those rudely decorated volumes, '* Heath's Chronicles,''
" English Worthies," &c., — may, in their isolated and most pretensions
form, be consigned, without a sigh, to the tomb of all such Capulets, the
collector's portfolio.
This leads us to the more modem and hopeful era of Vertue and
Houbraken ; a hope most miserably disappointed, at least as regards
our present subject.
Walpole tells us, that Vertue having accomplished twelve heads of
poets, which appeared in 1730, his '* next considerable production was
the heads of Charles I. and the loyal sufferers in his cause." But the
scale was too small, and the execution proportionably feeble. To give
importance to the design, however, these heads were engraved in pairs,
at the top of a folio page, with historical characters, extracted from
Clarendon, engraved beneath, and occupying the most part of the page ;
the whole within a border, the design and execution of which must have
cost the engraver considerable trouble. One cannot appreciate such
frippery round " Illustrious Heads." It is the head we want, espe-
cially when thereby hangs a tale. The head of Montrose, which could
hardly be absent from such a collection, Vertue authenticates by this
careless inscription under it, — '* This original at the Duke of Montrose."
Undoubtedly he means the portrait still at Buchanan. But the im-
portant accessories have been omitted, and the characteristic expression
lost. So little careful has Vertue been to preserve individuality, that
the portrait of Lord Derby, with whom Montrose is coupled, might
easily pass for the same head in a different attitude. The order of the
Garter he has placed over the armour, an ornament of course not de-
rived from the original. It is observable, that while Vertue has at-
tached the impress of Vandyck to the portrait of Derby, he has not
ventured to name any author for the companion liead of Montrose.
England's Tintoret had set no easy task for the engravers. The life-
like glowing tints, by means of which he has so admirably preserved
the youth of his subject, are beyond the handmaid art. The blood will
not circulate under the burine, as it does under the brush, especially
such a brush as Dobson's. Montrose was of a fleshy and florid coun-
VOL. I. b
xvHi APPENDIX.
tenance. This artist has chosen to present a full front view of his
heroic suhject ; an ungraceful phase that could only hare been selected
by such a master, because of the attractive display of radiant expressioDi
and youthful colour. In the hands of the engraver, the animation fades
into a simper, and the lustihood of exuberant youth is lost in elderly
obesity. The head of Montrose in the hand of Vertue (a phrase sanc-
tioned by his fnend Walpole), becomes a stout gentleman advanced in
life, the fat of whose countenance is melting into fatuity. Honbraken
engraving subsequently, or rather professing to engrave, from the same
original, used his tools with greater vigour, and on a larger scale. Here,
indeed, we find both force and expression, but not the expression of the
original. Working in Holland from a careless sketch, and unconscious
of the masterly performance which he professes to record, that great
engraver twaddled about Yandyck, and produced something like a
Dutchman reversed.
This last has done all the mischief. It occurs in the splendid work,
entitled, " The Heads of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain." Hon-
braken the bold, has given us for Montrose, the chuckle-head and iron-
bound shoulders of the bluffest hero in Holland, confined within an
oval frame, resting on pilasters, and gorgeously decorated, all the
heroic antecedents typified by a battle-piece in a tablet beneath. This
ingenious composition, and it must be confessed masterly engraving,
he entitled, — ^' James Graham, Marquis of Montrose. Ant. Van Dyck
pinx. J. Houbraken sculps. Amst. 1740 ; in the possession of his
Grace the Duke of Montrose." Minerva, and the helmet, have been
turned out of the composition as if de trop ; and all, save proportion,
sacrificed to the engraver's own fat and florid taste.
If Houbraken's famous head of Montrose were a faithful representa-
tion of the portrait at Buchanan House, and that portrait by the hand
of Vandyck, farewell to all sentiment on the subject of the troubadonr
warrior's personal appearance. That stout old gentleman, who now-a-
days would be voted beyond the age for Crimean glory, wheezing under
a load of armour, his mass of crushed nose and blubber lips suggesting
rather an Esquimaux genealogy than the lineaments of the Graham,
might pass for some Van Tromp of the Ocean, but never for the youth-
ful soldier, who displayed " a singular grace in riding," and whose per-
sonal activity was so essential to the many physical feats he is known
to have performed.
Of this celebrated engraving we have before us at this moment an
excellent impression, in the midst of no less than nine repetitions, in
various reduced forms, engraved from time to time for historical and
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xix
biographical publications occurring throughout the course of a century.
Houbraken shows like a Triton among these ridiculous minnows. His
grossness has received ample justice in all of them ; but the slight de-
gree of resemblance to the original which he had retained, expires al-
together under the hands of most of his trumpery followers. Moreover,
these endless contortions which have served to propagate so erroneous
an idea of the illustrious subject, while they seem to have been all de-
rived from the Dutch prototype, exhibit, when placed in juxta-position,
a most ludicrous variety of vulgar feature and coarse expression. Some
of them actually resemble frogs which had swollen to bursting in trying
to look like Montrose.
To render this confusion worse confounded, a limner of the last cen-
tury, of the name of John Alexander, was in the habit of reproducing
original portraits of Montrose in oil, from no other materials than this
same everlasting caricature from Amsterdam. In the galleries of more
than one noble house in Scotland, where loyalty must have outstripped
taste, may yet be discovered a swarthy abomination professing to be
the great Marquis, but in reality one of these ambitious and terrible
Alexandrians, over which the puzzled loyalist ponders with a sigh, and
the free covenanter, of easy credulity in such a case, would chuckle with
unfeigned delight. And here we cannot forbear from quoting an ad-
mirable passage occurring in Lord Napier's review of our " Memorials
of Montrose : " —
" In prosecuting such researches in Scotland, the amateur is often
distracted by the multiplicity of pretended originals. This opulence of
imposture^ is the creation of several painters in the last century, who
wandered, with their vagrant and venal easels, from house to house.
The younger Medina, and John Alexander, are remembered as the
most fertile authors of such fabrications. Not contented with pervert-
ing the likeness of the living^ it was their delight to supply the hiatus
of a careless or obliterated ancestor, and to adorn the wall with the
eflSgy of some famous personage who represented the hereditary affec-
tions of the family. The same portfolio contained the traditionary types
of the rival deities of the Scottish Pantheon. The same flexible pencil
produced, in obedience to the preference of its patron, the martial pre-
sence of the *' great Montrose ;' the solemn features of the *• learned
Merchiston ;' the seductive lineaments of * Mary ;' or the morose and
edifying visages of * godly Knox,' and * Maister George Buchanan.'
In the impartial multiplication of these pictorial Shibboleths, it is ap-
parent that the accommodating artist looked not beyond the lucre of
gain, unless, indeed, we may be permitted to trace the malicious strokes
XX APPENDIX.
of a Jacobite brush, in the lamentable countenances of the ^ Covenant
and the Kirk.' '' ^
If this last be true, the Kirk has been amply rerenged, in these
vicious reproductions of the Houbraken horror. That distinguished
artist, says Walpole, " living in Holland, ignorant of our history, un-
inquisitive into the authenticity of what was transmitted to him, en-
graved whatever was sent." Neither did Mr Lodge, in our times,
sufficiently cultivate his own opportunity of redeeming that unfortimate
blunder. Shrinking from its gross obesity, he had obtained a too
hasty sketch from the original, for his " Portraits of IllustriouB Per-
sonages of Great Britain," and has erred on the other side, by falling
into feebleness. That characteristic feature, the expressive mouth, has
been sketched and etched into conventional commonplace : while the
proportions of the composition have been audaciously restored at the
expense of truth, without the excuse of having saved the martial and
symbolical accessories.
It is rarely, indeed, that sufficient attention is paid, by the bookseller's
engraver at least, to scrupulous accuracy in the engraving of portraits.
How often are we made to look at Yandyck, or his great contemporaries
and successors, through the imperfect medium of engravings derived
from rapid sketches of the original. And even when the original itself
is at hand, how often are minute traits slurred over by the best en-
gravers, 80 as to impart a totally different expression. We have done
what we could, by frequent superintendence, to remedy this, as regards
the portraits which illustrate the present biography. But after all, the
most faithful and best executed engraving can aspire to no more than
to present a cold and colourless shadow of a great original.
CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITS OF MONTROSE IN WRITING.
We have thus rapidly and imperfectly, but we trust impartially, re-
corded what the brush and the hurine have done to assist, or to con-
found, our ideas of the personal appearance of the great Montrose. To
these, however, must be added more than one graphic eflfort of the con-
temporary pen ; which may be applied, indeed, as no uncertain test of
what is faithful, or the reverse, in the productions of the other two
mediums of representation.
The following portrait is from the pen of Patrick Gordon of Ruthven,
a scion of Cluny, whose " Britain's Distemper" has been frequently
See before, p. 711, and note.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxi
quoted in this biograpliy. lie was a close observer, a faithful chronicler,
and personally acquainted with Montrose, whom he thus describes : —
'* It cannot be denied but he was an accomplished gentleman, of
many excellent parts : A body not tall ; but comely, and well com-
posed in all his lineaments: his complexion merely^ white, with flaxen
hair : of a stayed, grave, and solid look ; and yet his eyes sparkling
and full of life : of speech slow, but witty and full of sense : a presence
graitfuU (graceful ?), courtly, and so winning upon the beholder, as it
seemed to claim reverence without suing for it : for he was so affable,
so courteous, so benign, as seemed verily to scorn ostentation and the
keeping of state; and therefore he quickly made a conquest of the
hearts of all his followers, so as when he list he could have led them in
a chain to have followed him with cheerfulness in all his enterprizes/'
Not less trust worth}', is the life-like sketch by his faithful and de-
voted follower Saintserf, which occurs in hia record as secretary to the
grand pageant of the " True Funerals" of Montrose, in 1661 : —
" But to pass much which might be said of the fame of his progeni-
tors, I shall acquaint you with both what I know myself, — having fol-
lowed him several gears in his expeditions, — and what I have learned
from others of good name and credit.
" He was of a middle stature, and most exquisitely proportioned
limbs ; hit hair of a light chesnut ; his complexion betwixt pale and
ruddy ; his eye most penetrating, though inclining to gray ; his nose
rather acquiline than otherwise ; as he was strong of body and limbs,
so was he most agile, which made him excel most others in those exer-
cises where these two are required : In riding the great horse, and
making use of his arms, he came short of none : I never heard much
of his delight in dancing, though his countenance, and other his bodily
endowments were equally fitting the Court as the Camp."
Another description of the person of Montrose, equally graphic and
elaborate, appeared soon after his death, in the continuation of Wishart's
history; published in 1652, under the title of ^^ Montrose Relivivus ;" —
" Indeed we have not had in this latter age a man of more eminent «
' So in the original (p. 76), as printed for the Spalding Club, 1844. The words, as
printed, are ** meerly whiUe ;" which at first suggested a mis-reading for Jiearly white.
In Shakspear, however, the word mcrtly, signifying entirely^ or abioluteltf^ frequently oc-
curs ; and probably the above signifies a complexion altogether fair. Patrick Gordon *s
description makes him still fairer than he is represented in portraits, or in other descrip-
tions.
xxii APPENDIX.
parts either of body or of mind. He was a man not very tall, nor
much exceeding a middle stature ; but of exceeding strong composition
of body, and incredible force, with excellent proportion and feature;
dark brown hair; sanguine complexion; a swift and piercing gray
eye ; with a high nose, somewhat like the ancient sign of the Persian
King's magnanimity : He was of most resolute and undaunted spirit,
which began to appear in him, to the wonder and expectation of all
men, even in his childhood : He was a man of a very princely carriage,
and excellent address, which made him for the most part be used by all
Princes with extraordinary familiarity : A complete horseman, and had
a singular grace in riding." ^
PORTRAIT OF ARCHIBALD FIRST LORD NAPIER, BY JAMESON, IN POSSESSION
OF THE LORD NAPIER. {Page 108).
As the first Lord Napier was highly distinguished, both as a courtier
and a statesman, in the reign of James VI. (whom he served for seven*
teen years in the Bedchamber), and also in the reign of Charles I, (who
selected him as the first Scotsman whom he honoured with elevation to
the Peerage), it was not likely that the omission should have occurred
of no portrait of him having been taken by the Vandyck of Scotland.
Accordingly two portraits of this Lord Napier by Jameson, are yet
preserved ; the one, which has been admirably engraved for this bio-
graphy by Mr Banks, being that possessed by the family ; and the
other, that found among the fine collection of portraits by Jameson,
which decorate the baronial halls of Tay mouth. This last, which we
have only seen as a fixture forming a pannel above a lofty door, has
every appearance of originality, aud although obviously representing
the same individual, does not appear to be a duplicate of that possessed
by Lord Napier. Why it is found at Taymoutli, is accoimte^l for by
the fact, that Alexander Napier, sixth of Mercbiston, who fell at Pinkie
in 1547, was married to Anabella Campbell, daughter of Sir Duncan
Campbell of Glenorchy. Both her husband's father (Alexander fifth
of Mercbiston), and her own father. Sir Duncan, died at Flodden.
Through this marriage, the first Lord Napier was great-great grandson
of Sir Duncan Campb.41 of Glenorchy, the owner of ancient Balloch,
* Seo before, p. Oi?, note^ where the same character is given, slightly varied in the
phraseology, having been there quoted from its adoption in Ruddiman's edition of
Wishart, published in 1 7oC. In the same note, " Montrose Redivini^ " is erroneoufily
dated 1661, instead of 165*2. The additions to Wishart in this last, including the above
character, were probably also written by Saintserf, Dr Wishart being at that time in exile.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxiii
now called Taymouth. One of his successors, Sir Colin Campbell of
Glenorchy, was, says Walpole, " the chief and earliest patron of Jame-
son, who had attended that gentleman on his travels/' Hence this
artist came to paint a large genealogical tree of the family of Glenorchy,
and also portraits of many distinguished personages who could claim a
medal among its branches.
Both of the portraits mentioned above are only head size, as here
engraved. But that possessed by the present Lord Napier has not
been well preserved, and presents much of the appearance of having
been cut down from a larger size. The healing of wounds in an an-
cient portrait was not so well understood in those days as now.
PORTRAIT OF ARCHIBALD SECOND LORD NAPIER, BY JAMESON^ IN
POSSESSION OF THE LORD NAPIER. {Page 667.)
Tins interesting portrait, of a very interesting personage, has, like
that of his father, suffered severely between gallery and garret, in the
hands of heedless though not headless generations. Fortunately the
features, complexion, and costume of both have been so far preserved,
as to enable the engraver to accomplish accurate representations of the
original. But in both of these instances, Jameson's tender back-grounds,
never made for the *' Troubles,'' either of nation or nursery, have nearly
vanished, so as to baffle all attempts at discovering date or signature.
Yet the hand of Jameson may be detected even under the ribs of death,
and these melancholy remains have considerable life in them still.
Moreover, the portrait of the first Lord Napier is mentioned in the
catalogue of Jameson's works; and that of the second Lord is ob-
viously from the same pallet. The inscription under the engraving is
a fac-simile of that memorable sentence occurring in the exiled noble-
man's very affecting letter to his wife — ** It was ever said, that Mon-
trose and his nephew were like the Pope and the Church, who would
be inseparable." They were necessarily separated, however, in the
service of Charles II., very shortly before the last descent of Montrose
upon Scotland. Otherwise, even in death, they would not have been
divided. In company with his cousin the second Marquis of Montrose,
he attempted a rising in Scotland, during the Usurpation, under tbe
leadership of Middleton, who was second in command to David Leslie
at Philiphaugh. After the failure of that ill managed attempt, he re-
turned to Holland, where he died shortly before the Restoration, when
about thirty-six years of age.
XXIV APPENDIX.
PORTRAIT OF SIR GEORGE STIRUNG OF KEIR, BY JAMESON, IN POSSESSION
OF WILLIAM STIRLING, ESQ. OF KEIR, M.P. {Poffe 381.)
This head-size portrait is in very good preservation, and, as well as
the companion portrait, Lady Stirling, presents a good specimen of the
costume of well-conditioned people in Scotland of that period. It is
signed, in the lower corner next the left arm, '^ Jameson ;" and dated,
in the upper and opposite comer above the head, " Anno 1637, jEiaHs
22." The first year of " The Troubles." Most probably both of these,
which originally occupied one frame, with a slip between, were mar-
riage portraits, and painted in their wedding garb. Jameson has af-
fixed his signature to each of them, but has only dated the husband's.
The deeds of the marriage-settlement are preserved in the Napier
charter-chest, and bear date 2d January 1637, the same year as the
date on Sir George's portrait. That laird of Keir thus became tlie
nephew of Montrose by marriage. He was beloved and respected by
our hero, and suffered persecution along with him, although he appears
never to have served in arms. Montrose, in corresponding vdth him,
used to address him as *' Mon Frere ;'' a style which, through the mis-
take of a transcriber, we had inadvertently printed " Honb^ Sir,'' in
the " Memorials of Montrose."
Sir George Stirling was twice married. Young as he was in the year
1637, Margaret Napier was his second wife. There is a melancholy
story attached to Sir George in early life. The following affecting in-
scription, of date four years earlier than his second marriage in 1637,
when he was but twenty -two years of age, is preserved in ** Monteith's
Theater of Mortality," p. 54 : —
" Here lyetli Dame Margaret Ross, daughter to James Lord Ross and
Dame Margaret Scot (daughter to Walter Lord Buccleugh, and sister
to Walter Scot Earl of Buccleugh). She was married to Sir George
Sterline of Keir, Knight, and chief of his name ; and, having lived a
pattern and paragon, for piety, and dehonaritie beyond her sex and age,
when she had accomplished seventeen years, she was called from this
transitory life to that eternal, lOtb March 1033. She left behind her
only one daughter, Margaret ; who, in her pure iunocency, soon fol-
lowed her mother, the lltli day of May thereafter, when she had been
twelve months showen to this world, and here lyeth near unto her
interred.
*' Dominus Gcoj^gius Sftrliney df Keir, Eques auraius, familicr prin-
crj).<^ ronjur/f di(lcii>slin(v poni curavif, M.Df.xxxiii."
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxv
Thus heavily had the hand of God visited this chief of " Ancient
Keir/' when he was but eighteen years of age. The above date is
immediately prior to the advent of Charles the First to his Coronation
in Scotland, and to Montrose's departure upon his travels abroad three
years afier his own boyish marriage.
PORTRAIT OP THE HONOURABLE MARGARET NAPIER, LADY STIRLING OP
KEIR, BY JAMESON, IN POSSESSION OF WILUAM STIRLING OF KEIR,
ESQ., M.p. {Page 511.)
This is the companion portrait to the one just mentioned, and in
former days used to be framed along with it, as arms matrimonial are
sometimes impaled in the same shield. We demur to the propriety of
separating such ancient couples, for the sake of separate modem esta-
blishments. The dress of this portrait is very perfect, and displays the
delicate and accurate penciling of Jameson. But the fair complexion^
and the details and texture of the golden hair, have suffered much ; and
probably more from modem attention than ancient neglect. The hair
is dressed, doubtless after the fashion of the day, in a very unbecoming
manner. But the details were difficult to make out ; and the engraver's
laudable attempt to re-unite the broken surface, has imparted a coarse-
ness of texture, and stiffness of form, the appearance of which would
probably have shocked the fair loyalist herself even more than her
summons before the Vehm Gfericht of Scotland. We doubt if her re-
dundant tresses, — a lock of which probably composed the " well known
token '' she sent to Montrose at the risk of her life, — did in reality so
very nearly resemble one of those ingenious varieties of judicial wigs
which may be observed on the Supreme Bench of Scotland in the pre-
sent day. The signature under the engraving is a fac-simile from the
original attached to that loyal and persecuted lady's declaration, taken
from her by the inquisitorial committee, in 1645, consisting of Lord
Burleigh ; Sir James Stewart of Coltness, Provost of Edinburgh ; and
Sir John Hope of Craighall, President of th>. Session. Lanerick, too,
the second Duke of Hamilton, who was only redeemed by his mortal
wounds at the battle of Worcester, did, for a time, and from miserable
pique at just displeasure, adhere so very closely to covenanting pitch,
as to preside at some of the Committees that persecuted this noble lady.
XXVI APPENDIX.
PORTRAIT OF IRGYLE.
To these notices of the portraits of Montrose, and some of the best
beloved of his family circle, we have only to add all that we can tell of
that of his arch-enemy Argyle, of which we have been enabled to
present our readers with a woodcut. It is no fault of ours that it does
not belie that memorable character which, Clarendon assures us, Ar-
gyle's own father thus certified to Charles the First : —
" Sir, I must know this young man better than you can do. You
have brought me low, that you may raise him ; which I doubt you will
live to repent ; for he is a man of craft, subtilty and falsehood, and can
love no man ; and if ever he finds it in his power to do you mischief,
he will be sure to do it."
The portrait itself belonged to the late Charles Kirkpatrick Sharp of
Hoddam. That accomplished historical antiquary, and amateur artist,
considered it an original. When his valuable collection became dis-
persed at his death, the portrait was acquired by Mr William Fraser
of the Register House, to whose researches into the domestic histories
of Scotland, this biography has been indebted on more occasions than
one. It bears every mark of being contemporary with the subject. It
has been re-lined many years ago ; and the surface of the empasto is
scoured, broken, and rudely patched. Nevertheless, all the features,
with the very characteristic expression, are quite entire. The style of
the portrait (head size), what remains of the original flesh colour, and
the red priming^ are such as characterise portraits of a like kind by
Jameson. Our own opinion is, that it will prove to be a duplicate, or
contemporary copy, of that portrait in possession of the Duke of Argyle
which Lodge has engraved as the Marquis's weaker and less vicious
son. We do not know how this mistake has happened ; but a mistake
we have little hesitation in pronouncing it to be. The same has been
more than once engraved, and with more severity of truth than in the
courtly gallery of Lodge, as the grim Marquis himself. See frontis-
piece to Buchanan's History of Scotland, by Aikman, 1848. Lodge
seems to have been playing at hand-ball with these loose heads. We
have from him, as the Marquis of Argyle, one of the finest heads in his
collection, with moustache and imperial that Charles the First might
have envied ; probably the father of the Marquis.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxvii
II.
POEMS BY MONTROSE.
I, — HIS METRICAL VOW.
That Montrose aroused himself with composmg trifles in verse, is
not to be doubted. We are expressly told so by his faithful chaplain
Dr Wishart. The statement occurs in the second part of his famous
Commentarius^ written in the same elegant latinity as the first, soon
after the death of Montrose, but only given to the world through a
feeble and inaccurate translation, first printed in 1720. The accom-
plished divine most powerfully describes the effect upon his heroic
patron, of the sudden announcement that Charles the First had been
murdered in England by a flagitious faction of his own subjects, in the
face of a subjugated, paralyzed, and horror-stricken people. He telb
us, that " not grief merely, but a passionate burst of lamentation, not
simply anger, but the very phrenzy of indignation, seized him on the
instant ; so that, ere long he fell down in the midst of those around
him, his limbs in a state of rigidity, and utterly deprived of animation
and consciousness.' ' It was the efifect of a fit. The anecdote is im-
portant to his biography. It affords the best possible proof of the in-
tense sincerity, and disinterestedness, of his exertions to save the King
and the Monarchy. His own conscience was clear on the subject ; yet
the announcement of that climax of iniquity, which Argyie had done
so much to promote, very nearly killed Montrose on the spot. Had
Argyie a stronger mind ? Had he a purer conscience ? Is there any
reason to disbelieve that the announcement to him neither cost him a
tear, nor embittered the cup of that day's dinner. Nor does this story
of the effect upon Montrose rest on doubtful evidence. '' I myself," says
Wishart, " who describes this scene, happened^to be present with other
bystanders at the time," — {In circumstantibus forte eram et ego qui hcec
describo). When the prostrate nobleman was restored to consciousness,
and after a convulsive sigh, these expressions burst from his labouring
bosom, — " Let me die, let me die, with the best of Kings ; for the God
of life and death is my witness, that joyless and bitter will life on earth
be to me now." An earnest appeal from his chaplain, of the kind best
suited to rally his despairing spirit, wherein he dwelt upon the necessity
of all good men and true devoting their lives to bring the parricides to
justice, and the son to his father's throne, had the desired effect, and
xxviii APPENDIX
gave rise to Montrose's memorable vow. Raising himself from the
ground, with a frame less agitated, and more composure in his counte-
nance, he gave ear to that eloquent and energetic counsel. Wishart,
who so well applied the caustic to his spirits, tells us, that the sngges-
tion of an avenging duty, especially, sank deep into his heart, and saved
it from suffocation. " Yes,'' he then exclaimed, '' the load of life shall
be borne ; but whatever remains of it for me, shall be devoted as an holy
sacrifice, to avenge the martyr King, and to restore his son to his
country and his kingdom ; and this I swear before God, angels, aad
men ! " Having uttered these words, he broke away from his attend-
ants, and sought the inmost recesses of his most private apartments,
where he shut himself up for three days ftriduumj, admitting none to
converse, or even to see him. It was on the third day, however,
(tertio demum die) that he allowed his chaplain to enter his bedroom.
And then it was, says Wishart, that " in his bedroom I chanced upon
a small piece of paper {cuhiculum ingressus^ in chartulam incidi^) con-
taining that awful vow, briefly but elegantly turned, in a stanza replete
with the profound agitation of his soul: For that man of most ac-
complished genius, when he could snatch a moment from the heavy
pressure of his fate, was wont to relax his mind with very happy efforts
in verse."*
We thus learn that Montrose was a Knight of the Order of Trouba-
dours. The vein ran so strong in him, that his mind was apt to give it
out not merely in repose, but in the moments of most intense agitation.
Another instance, is the occasion of his own death. Having interwoven
his metrical vow, and the worthy chaplain's accomplished translation
of it, with that chapter of his biography to which they belong (p. 693)
we need not reprint them here. The verses have been criticised as
poetrr/j according to the political feeling of the historian. The Histo-
riographer Royal for Scotland, Mr Brodie, has pronounced them to be
" poetry no less execrable than his actions had been as a member of
society." Let him fall down in a fit, upon a like occasion, and revive
and write better. Malcolm Laing, whose history of Scotland is me-
diocrity upon stilts, characterises them as a " strain of bombast."
Voltaire, struck with that spark of poesy from the opaque bosom of the
^ In chartulam ineidit might perhaps be more aptly translated, pounced upon a small
piece of paper ; for doubtless the worthy chaplain made prize of it at once, and pro-
ceeded forthwith to translate it into Latin verse. The precious scrap is not known to
exist It would sell well at Puttick and Simpson *s.
* " AmoDnissimi enim ingenii vir, quoties a gravioribus curis vocatio dabatur, animum
poetica felicissimc relaxabat." That Montrose was a man of acromplishcd genius, we
have, in this biography, othprwiso abundantly proved.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxix
Scottish Troubles, declares them to be " assez beaux vers.'* But the
lines are not amenable to ordinary criticism. They have made for them-
selves a niche as lasting as the History of Scotland. They have become
as fixed in men's minds as the death of Charles. To appreciate them
accurately, their precise origin, so well told by Wishart, must be known
and feelingly pondered.^ It is nonsense to talk of bombast in re-
ference to lines written in the very agony of that great shock, and
which came from the hero's heart like a gush of blood. But neither
are they without merit as a composition. The opening burst is a spark
of the fire of true eenius. The self-devoted names not the name of the
King. But the three first words he utters, when the tormentor had
gone out of him, suffice to tell, by the attributes he assigns him, whom
he means. Wishart could not grapple with that line. There is great
facility and elegance in the turn, —
<< Carole I n poesem lacrymis aequare dolorem."
Yet, '* Oh Charles ! " is a poor substitute for Montrose's passion,
** GasAT, Good, and Just."
II. — UIS METRICAL PBATER. .
The proper pendant to Montrose's metrical vow, is his metrical
prayer. There is a striking coincidence between their composition.
He told the Parliament, about to pronounce sentence, that if they would
not admit his truthful and just defence, or listen to his eloquent caution
against that outrage upon humanity, he would enter his appeal from
them to Him who sat on high, and whose judgments were ever just.
And no sooner was he removed from the presence of that bloody tri-
bunal, and vouchsafed a moment's retirement, than he embodied that
appeal in a metrical prayer ^ of the same number of lines that compose
^ When thete lines were printed at the conclusion of ** The complete History" of
Montrofle*8 wars, published in 1660, there was added, ** written with the point of his
■word.** Thus, with materials at hand for the truth, is even contemporary history apt
to run into fable. And Malcolm Laing adopts that nonsense, although, in the Wodrow
Collection of MS., which he was by way of searching, there was Dr Wishart^s detailed
and rational history of the composition of those verses. The original autograph of the
lines on the death of the King, was supposed to be in the Strawberry-hill collection,
written upon the title-page of an older pamphlet having no connection with the subject.
This was purchased by the late Dr Smith, Secretary to the Maitland Club ; and by him
kindly and most liberally presented to the author of these pages ; who at a glance was
constrained to pronounce that it was not the handwriting of Montrose. Unquestionably,
however, the hand is contemporary ; and the verses are signed ** Montrose.** But the
writing is much too small for his, and displays none of its peculiar characteristics.
XXX APPENDIX.
his vow. Malcolm Laing pronounces these also to be a *' strain of
bombast/' This puerile fiat he places against the rational record of
David Hume, who had said, in reference to the hero's appeal to Heaven,
when told how his limbs were to be disposed of, — " This sentiment^
that very evening, while in prison, he threw into verse. The poem
remains as a signal monument of his heroic spirit, and no despicable
proof of his poetical genius." With an accuracy of judgment in which
Laing was deficient, Hume here also casts aside as nonsense that which
our Whig Tacitus adopts for history ; namely, that the " lines were
written by Montrose with a diamond on his prison window the nigfat
before his execution." When Montrose was conducted to the Tol-
booth of Edinburgh three days before his last, had he diamonds aboat
him ? When permitted to deck himself for the sacrifice, was a diamond
ring handed to him ? Did Warriston, or some of those who worried
him in prison, lend him a diamond, and wait until he had engraved^ in
that large hand of his, eight lines of poetry upon glass ? If there was a
glass window in his cell at all, or within reach, it may well be doubted
whether there was any surface of glass sufficient to have enabled Mon-
trose to perform such a feat of art in his dying moments.
But that Montrose wrote those lines after his sentence, has never
been doubted; nor is there any reason to do so. They roust have
emanated from the same genius that conceived the lines upon Charles
the First, which we have proved to have been written by Montrose.
There is a coincidence worthy of notice between those upon his own
death and what were written by Sir Walter Raleigh when about to
submit himself to a judicial murder no less indefensible, though not so
atrocious in all the particulars. Wc shall place them side by side : —
Sir Walter Raleigh, Montrose.
Even such is Time ; who takes in trust Let th^m bestow on every airth a limb.
Our youth, our joys, and all we have, Then open all my veins, that I may swim
And pays us but with earth and dust ; To thee, my Maker, in that crimson lake ;
Who, in the dark and silent grave. Then place my par-boil'd head upon a stake.
When wc have wandered all our ways, Scatter my ashes, strew them in the air ;
Shuts up the story of our days : Lord ! since thou knowest where aU these
But from that earth, that gravf and du$t, atoms are,
The Lord shall raise me up, 1 trust. Pm hopeful though recover once my dvtt.
And confident thou' It raise me with the just.
It is an eye witness, and an unfriendly one, Sir James Balfour, who
records, that, as the sentence was read to him, *' he lifted up his face,
without any word speaking." Did his mind then revert to his happy
College days, when his favourite volume was Sir Walter Raleigh's
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxxi
History of the World, which says honest dominie Forrett, " my Lord
himself conveyed to St Andrews, at his Lordship's first thither going."
(p. 21.)
*< Coelomque
Aspicit, et dulces moriens reminiscitur Argos."
III. — MONTROSE TO HIS MISTKESS.
But, excepting " Mistress Magdalene Carnegie," the wife of his
hoyhood, Montrose had no mistress. It were much easier to fasten a
Moahitish aberration upon John Knox than upon Montrose. The ves-
tige of any liaison of the kind is not to be traced. He had a natural
brother, who was knighted, but he had no natural son. Had he been
Petrarch to any Laura, his fame must have perpetuated her memory,
and his enemies would have proclaimed and exaggerated the fact.
Letters filched from his cabinet, and of which there arose a vague
rumour of their being " flowered with Arcadian compliments," attri-
buted to nameless ladies, and never afterwards published or heard of,
prove how little of that kind there was to be proved. He himself wrote
to the young heir of Charles the First, shortly before his accession, — " I
never had passion on earth so strong, as that to do the Kmg your father
service." And so we find, that in the only composition of the kind ever
attributed to him, there is more of loyalty than of love, more of a fallen
monarch than a frail mistress. That eccentric ballad has obtained a
celebrity as extended as his fame. Montrose to his Mistress I
** I'll make thee famous by my sword, and glorious by my pen."
But those obscure and stormy verses ; that wild wail of sweet bells
jangled out of tune ; those tropes and figures of synods, committees,
and commonwealths, drums, trumpets, banners, sieges and tempests, —
so tumultuously heaped upon *' the golden laws of love," and the plain-
tive notes of " the turtle chaste and true," — indicate the loyalty of
Montrose, or the love-making of a maniac.
This idea, mooted in our former Life of Montrose, elicited from Lord
Mahon the following criticism : — " We are much surprised," he says,
" how Mr Napier can think, or expect any reader of taste to think with
him, that these fine stanzas are only a political allegory, and denote
Montrose's ' love for his royal master, and his anxiety to save him from
evil counsellors.' " It may be a question of taste whether a poet should
address monarchy through a mistress, real or imaginary, and make love
a stalking horse to loyalty. But whether a poet has done so, as ap-
pearing from his own strain, is matter of fact. The ballad speaks for
xxxii APPENDIX. .
itself, and we shall let it speak. But surely the elevation of a senti
ment cannot be offensive to taste. When Lovelace, that most melodioni
of ^' committed linnets,' ' suddenly quits the theme of his " divini
Althca," and ascends to
<< The mercy, sweetness, majesty,
And glories of my King,'* —
will " readers of taste " refuse to follow him ? Is the conception of th<
character of Hamlet offensive to taste ?
Moreover, Lord Mahon, in this criticism, has stumbled in his owi
walk of history. It was a habit of the Cavalier poets to interlace theii
bacchanalian, or erotic measures and moods, with signs of their devo
tion to the King and the Throne. Captain John Gwynne, being impri
soned for his loyalty, telb us : —
" Then in case my designs, before I had time to force my liberty
should fail me, — ^and to satisfy my friends why I hfid rather die thai
live and never serve my King, nor any of that royal race, — I ex
pressed it as well as I could in a few lines I made in verse, upon m]
inseparable devotion to loyalty / called mistress ; with my invective ii
a short character of Cromwell, and his never to be forgotten Long Par
liament; who had hanged me for my loyalty, but for my hones
keeper : —
" Upon my inseparable devotion to Loyalty^ I called Mistress.
'' I am 80 fond ft loTcr grown,
Tliat for my mistress' cause could die,
Nor would enjoy my love alone,
But wish her millions more than I.
't
1 " I am devoted to her hand,
' I A willing sacrifice would be,
! > If she be pleased but to command,
' I To die is easy unto me." *
Montrose is neither so explicit, nor so coherent in his object, thougl
infinitely more poetical, than the blunt Cavalier. He set« up a puppei
which he calls his " dear and only love," and immediately commencei
to pelt it with a storm of loyal imagery, till the pretended object of hii
■ i affection is as much disfigured as a witch that has been ducked. He
I commences by calling her a "little world,*' and insists that "puresl
Monarchie" alone is to be established therein. The demon of demo-
cracy is not to plant his foot there ; else, he says, he will " call a Synod
^ Memoirs of Captain John Gwynne, p. 71 ; edited by Sir Walter Scott, 1822. Se€
l)efore, p. 727.
LIFE OF MONTllOSE. xxxm
in his heart," and " never love tbee more/' He declares he will reign
paramount and unrivalled, like Alexander ; and then he hurls this fine
burst at the head of his pilloried mistress, which really is not very
germain to the matter of love ;
" He either, fears his fate too much,
Or his deserts are small,
That dares not put it to the touch,
To gain or lose it all."
But (and we recommend the fact to the particular attention of Lord
Mahon) although this well-known verse has no very obvious application
to a case of amatory persuasion, it has a direct reference to Montrose's
views as to the best mode of sustaining the cause of Charles I., and
the Monarchy. It is a valuable and curious identification of the
authorship of this famous ballad, that we find the very same expressions,
in prose, occurring in Montrose's correspondence with Prince Rupert.
In the letter which he writes to the Prince on the 3d December 1648
(p. 680), he says : '* At which time I hope to let your Highness see
all is not yet gone, but that we may have a handsome pull for it, and
either win itj or be sure to lose it f airly, ^^ Again, in another letter to the
Prince, dated 8th January 1649 (p. 683), he says : " I thought fit to
direct back this bearer to receive your Highness's commands, and to
impart unto you what is not so fit to be hazarded to paper ; since this
appears the stroke for the party ^ and probable conjuncture whose use,
or misserving, should either gain or lose the whole** The coincidence
is irresistible. It stamps the ballad as Montrose's, and at the same
time detects the real current of the feeling.
With regard to this ballad as a poem, surely we must come to the
conclusion, that it is more than sufficient to entitle Montrose to a dis-
tinguished niche among the Cavalier poets of the reign of Charles I.
It is somewhat prolix, and occasionally obscure. But, at the same
time, every stanza has something of poetic fire, vigour, originality, and
sweetness. The version here presented to the readers of his biography,
is that which we collated for the " Memorials of Montrose," between
the version in Watson's now rare collection^ published in 1706-1 1,
and an old sheet of miscellaneous poetry discovered by the learned Dr
Irving, late of the Advocate's Library, and kindly communicated by
him for that purpose. This last we have chiefiy followed ; being cer-
tainly a superior version to Watson's, both as regards the sequence of
some of the stanzas, and a few varieties in the readings. The old
broadside entitles the ballad as here printed, but does not assign it to
any author.
VOL. I. c
1
M
XXXIV APPENDIX.
AN EXCELLENT NEW BALLAD, TO THE TUNE OF
" ril never love thee more.'*
The First Part.
1.
My dear and only love, I pray
That little world,— of Thee, —
Be governed by no other sway
Than purest Monarchy.
For if confusion have a part,
Which virtuous souls abhor,
I'll call a St/nod in mine heart,
And never love thee more
2.
As Alexander I will reign.
And I will reign alone ;
My thoughts did evermore disdain
A rival on my throne :
He either fears his fate too much,
Or his deserts are small,
That dares not put it to the touch,
To gain or lose it all.
3.
But I will reign, and govern still,
And always give the law.
And have each subject at my will^
And all to stand in awe ;
But 'gainst my batteries if I find
Thou kick, or vex me sore.
As that thou set me up a blind,
I'll never love thee more.
4.
And in the Empire of thine heart,
Where I should solely be.
If others do pretend a part,
Or dare to vie with mc,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxxv
Or if Committees thou erect,
And go on such a score,
I'll laugh and sing at thy neglect,
And never love thee more.
5.
But if thou wilt prove faithful then,
And constant of thy word,
I'll make thee glorious hy my pen.
And famous hy my sword ;
I'll serve thee in such nohle ways
Was never heard before,
I'll crown, and deck thee all, with bays,
And love thee more and more.^
The Second Part.
1.
My dear and only love, take heed.
How thou thyself dispose ;
Let not all longing lovers feed
Upon such looks as those ;
* It is verj singular that this beantiftilly quaint and original stania should haye snfliBr-
ed aeverel J in the hands of the greatest ballad poet of his country and his age. Thej are
quoted as ^ Montrose^ lines^ at the head of the fifteenth chapter of a Legend of Mon-
trose, in this form, —
** But if no fiuthless action stain
Thj true and constant word,
III make thee famout by my pen.
And glorious by my sword,
ini serve thee in such noble ways
At neV wen known before ;
111 deck and crown thy head with bays.
And lore thee more and more.^
This must have been a hasty transcript fSrom memory, or more probably from the bad
▼ersion which we find in Ritaon*s Scottish Songs, 1794. No older version of the ballad,
that we have seen, gives it so. The transposition of the respective attributes of the
pen and the sword^ is not happy. It throws the knightly minstrers idea into confusion,
and dims the gem of the ballad. How does the sword of the knight make glorious th4
mistress ? He gloriJUs her on his harp, or in his strain. But the knight-errant comp^
the acknowledgment of the fame and beauty of his mistress at the point of his sword.
See Don Quixote passim. Then the idea of a fidthless action staining a constant word^
Is, to say the least, clumsy, and of very dubious tense. ** As ne*er were known,*' Is a
harsh substitute for, ** was never heard before ;*' and, ** 111 deck and crown thykead,^-^
kk place ot; •* 1*11 erown^ and did thee aU^ with bays,**— is downright murder. It i
XXXVI APPENDIX.
I'll marble- wall thee round about.
Myself sball be the door,
And if thy heart chance to slide' out,
I'll never love thee more.
Let not their oaths, like vollies shot,
Make any breach at all.
Nor smoothness of their language plot
Which way to scale the wall;
Nor balls of wild-fire love consume
The shrine which I adore,
For if such smoke about thee fume,
I'll never love thee more.
I know thy virtues be too strong
To suffer by surprise :
If that thou slight their love too long.
Their siege at last will rise,
And leave thee conqueror, in that health
And state thou wast before ;
But if thou turn a Commonwealth^
I'll never love thee more.
And if by fraud, or by consent^
Thy heart to ruin come,
I'll sound no trumpet as I wont,
Nor march by tuck of drum,
But hold my arms, like Achans,^ up,
Thy falsehood to deplore.
And bitterly will sigh and weep.
And never love thee more.
to mar than to mend these old Cavalier minstrels. Dr Percy took LoTclace in kan<
and changed the line, — so sweetly characterising the Troubles^ — ^ When, like committt
ItfMteii, I with shriller throat shall sing,*^ — into, ^ When linnet-lile confined, l^\ An
dissatisfied with the glorious Cavalier *s opening Olympus to the view, when he wvote,-
** The Gods that wanton in the air, know no such liberty,'"— he doctored the line b
substituting hirdt for Ood*, What can be more free than the Gods at their wanto
feasts in the Heavens ? To change the imagery into birds on wanton wing, was to sul
stitute a French paper for an Italian fresco.
^ So the old broad-side copy has it Watson*s version is not more intelligible, — **' Au'
hold my arms like ensigns up/* T. Acrxtu, or Attiut, was a great orator, and the rivi
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxxYii
5.
ril do with thee as Nero did
When he set Rome on fire ;
Not only all relief forbid,
But to a hill retire,
And scorn to shed a tear to sa^e
Thy spirit grown so poor,
But laugh and smile thee to thy grave,
And never love thee more.
6.
Then shall thy heart be set by mine,
But in far different case,
For mine was true, so was not thine.
But look'd like Janus' face ;
For as the waves with every wind,
So sails thou every shore.
And leaves my constant heart behind, —
How can I love thee more ?
7.
My heart shall with the sun be fix*d,
For constancy most strange ; ^
And thine shall with the moon be roix'd.
Delighting aye in change ;
Thy beauty shin'd at first so bright !
And woe is me therefore.
That ever I found thy love so light
That I could love no more.
8.
Yet, for the love I bare thee once.
Lest that thy name should die,
A monument of marble stone
The truth shall testify ;
of Cioero ; ** orator en'mtiM, Cieeronit amulut el eoofims.'* There were two othen of
th»t name, one celebrmted as a tngio poet, and the other as an Augur. See Faeciotatutj
voce Aedut.
^ These fsnciful ideas of the Ikte of his heart acquire a deeper interest, when the actual
fate, and disposal of it by a noble lady is remembered.
xxxviii APPENDIX.
That every pil^m, passing by,
May pity and deplore,
And, sighing, read the reason why
I cannot love thee more.
9.
The golden laws of love shall be
Upon these pillars hung :
A single heart ; a simple eye ;
A trae and constant tongae ;
Let no man for more love pretend
Than he has hearts in store ;
True love begun will never end ;
Love one and love no more.^
10.
And when all gallants ride about
Those monuments to view,
Whereon is written, in and ou»,
Thou traitorous and untrue ;
Then, in a passion,' they shall pause.
And thus say, sighing sore,
Alas t he had too just a cause
Never to love thee more.
11.
And when that tracing goddess Fame
From east to west shall flee,
She shall record it to thy shame,
How thou hast loved me ;
And how in odds our love was such
As few have been before ;
Thou lov'dst too many, and I too much ;
So 1 can love no more.
12.
The miuty mount, the smoking lake,
The rock's resounding echo.
The whittling winds, the woods that shake,
Sliall all, with me, sing hey ho !
1 Tho propor reading of this stanza seems to be, that the enumeration of six *« goldc
laws of Love," follows the two first linos of it.
» This quaint phrase, ** in a passion," must not be confounded with the \'ulgar aoce|
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xxxix
The tossing seas, the tumbling boats,
Tears dripping from each oar,^
Shall tune with me their turtle noiesj —
I'll never love thee more.
13.
As doth the turtle, chaste and true,
Her fellow's death regret,
And daily mourns for her adieu,
And ne'er renews her mate ;
So, though thy faith was never fast.
Which grieves me wondrous sore.
Yet I shall live in love so chaste.
That I shall love no more."
With the exception of the pasquil against Uamilton, preserved and
authenticated by Sir James Balfour, and which we have inserted of its
date in this biography (p. 377), and the lines he wrote on his classics,
(p. 60), also preserved in the MS. of Balfour, and Drummond of Haw-
thomden, — ^the only other evidences of the poetic genius of Montrose,
are the following poems, first published by Watson in 1706-11, and, as
that editor states, from original manuscripts. The authorship has never
been disputed.'
tation. Montrose used the word pastum to mgnify a deep emotion of the soul ; as ia
the highest scriptural sense. See before, p. 625, his reply to Charles I., when commanded
to disband his arm j and quit the Kingdom.
^ This, in Dr Inring^s copy, seems a more accurate Torsion than that in Watson^ col-
lection, where it is given, ^ tears dropping from each ihort,"
* Sir Walter Scott entertained a notion at one time, that the beautiful modem lyric^
conmiencing—
** If doughty deeds my kidy please.
Right soon 111 mount my steed," —
was written by Montrose. The idea was a very hasty one, which he afterwards correct-
ed, by assigning those stansas to the real author. In the edition of the Minstrelsy 1821,
where they are inserted, he notes :—** The following Terses are taken down from reci-
tation, and are averred to be of the age of Charles I. They have, indeed, much of the
romantio expression of passion common to the poets of that period, whose lays still re-
flected the setting beams of chivalry ; but since their publication m the first edition of
this work, the editor has been informed that they were composed by the late Mr Graham
of Gartmore.**
The present Mr Graham of Gartmore, justly jealous of the literary fame of his grand-
father, assured the author of this biography, that he is in possession of a manuscript
volume, containing, among other efTusions of his accomplished ancestor, the charming
ballad in question.
xl APPENDIX.
IV. — IN PRAISE OP WOMEN.
When heav'u's great Jove had made the world's round frame.
Earth, water, air, and fire ; above the same
The rolling orbs, the planets, spheres, and all
The lesser creatures in the earth's vast ball, —
But, as a curious alchemist still draws
From grosser metals finer, and from those
Extracts another, and from that again
Another that doth far excel the same, —
So fram'd he man of elements combin'd
To excel that substance whence he was refin'd :
Hut that poor creature, drawn from his breast,
Excelleth him, as he exceli'd the rest :
Or as a stubborn stalk whereon there grows
A dainty lillv, or a fragrant rose, —
The stalk may boast, and set its virtues forth.
But, take away the flower, where is its worth ?^
But yet, fair ladies, you must know
Howbeit I do adore you so ;
Reciprocal your flames must prove,
Or my ambition scorns to love.
A noble soul doth still abhor
To strike, but where its conqueror.
v. SOVEREIGNTY IN DANGER.
Can little beasts with lions roar,
And little birds witli eagles soar ?
Can shallow streams command the seas,
And little ants the humming bees ?
No no, — no no, — it is not meet
The head should stoop unto the feet.
^ Rurns hit it off more neatly, a century and a half later,-
" Auld Nature swears, the lovely dears
Her noblest work she classes, O :
Her prentice ban* she tried on man,
And then slio made the lasses O."
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xli
VI. — ON THE FAITHLESSNESS AND VENALITY OF THE TIMES.
Unhappy is the man
In whose breast is confin'd
The sorrows and distresses all
Of an afflicted mind :
Th' extremity is great ;
He dies if he conceal, —
The world's so void of secret friends,^ —
Betray'd if he reveal.
Then break afflicted heart !
And live not in these days,
When all prove merchants of their faith.
None trusts what other says.
For when the sun doth shine,
Then shadows do appear ;
But when the sun doth hide his face.
They with the sun retire.
Some friends as shadows are,
And fortune as the sun ;
They never proffer any help
Till fortune hath begun ;
But if, in any case.
Fortune shall first deeay.
Then they, as shadows of the sun.
With fortune run away.'
VII. — SYMPATHY IN LOVE.
There's nothing in this world can prove
So true and real pleasure,
As perfect sympathy in love.
Which is a real treasure.
> By ** secret friends," is here meant, friends to be trusted. Montrose, from the be-
ginning to the end of his career, found himself deserted and betrayed by those upon
whom he relied.
* This melancholy sentiment stamps the authorship ; for he wrote the same in prose
to Charles T., in 1641 : ** Thej follow your/oitune, and love not your person/^ See be-
fore, p. SI 3. It also indicates his acquaintance with Juvenal :
^SSequitur fortunam, ut semper, et o<1it damnatoA." Sat. x. it. 73.
xlii APPENDIX.
The purest strain of perfect love
In virtue's dye and season,
Is that whose influence doth move,
And doth convince, our reason.
Designs attend, — desires give pkce, —
Hopes had, no more availeth ;
The cause remov'd, the effect doth cease,
Flames not maintained soon fiiileth.
The conquest then of richest hearts,
Well lodged and trimmed hy nature, ^
Is that which true content imparts,
Where worth is join'd with feature.
Filled with sweet hope then must I still
Love what's to he admired ;
When frowning aspects cross the will,
Desires are more endeared.
Unhappy, then, unhappy I,
To joy in tragic pleasure.
And in so dear and desperate way
To abound, yet have no treasure.
Yet will I not of fate despair.
Time oft in end relieveth,
But hope my star will change her air,
And joy where now she grieveth.
Vin. — SPEECHLESS GRIEF.
[Probablf/ written on the death of Charles the First.]
Burst out my soul in main of tears.
And thou my heart, sighs-tempest move,
My tongue let never plaints forbear.
But murmur still my crossed love ;
Combine together all in one,
And thunder forth my tragic moan.
* ** Tun^d by nature,'^ might be suggested as a better reading. At the same time, a
heart " well lodged and trimmed by nature," would seem to mean, that the jewel of a rich
heart should not be without a beautiful casket
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xliii
But tush : poor drop, — cut breath, — ^broke air, —
Can yon my passions [ere] express ?
No ; rather but augment my care,
In making them appear the less ; ^
Seeing that bat from small woes, words do come,
But great ones, they are always dumb.'
My swelling grief then bend yourself
This fatal breast of mine to ^11,
The centre where all sorrows dwell,
The 'lembick where all griefe distil ;
That silent thus in plaints I may
Consume and melt myself away.^
Yet that I may contented die,
I only wish, before my death,
Transparent that my breast may be.
Ere that I do expire my breath, —
Since sighs, tears, plaints express no smart.
It might be seen into my heart.
1 M Being afraid rather to spoil my thoughts than to express them.** (Letter from
MontroM to the Chancellor Hjde, on the murder of Charles I. ; see p. 691.)
* **• The griefe that astonish, speak more with their silence than those that can com"
plainJ*^ (Letter to Hyde, ui suprcu)
When these coincidences, between the above poem and this letter, are considered, the
inference can scarcely be avrnded, that Montrose had written the verses with reference
to the same anguish under which he addressed the. Chancellor, and composed his wietru
cat Vine, We venture to say so at the risk of having our ** taste** impugned by the same
noble and accomplished critic who insists upon ignoring the (oyofty in Montrose^ ballad.
** Burst out my soul in main of tears,** indicates a mood, or passion^ of his mind so des-
perate, that it cannot with plausibility be referred to any other source. We know that
the sudden announcement of the murder of the King did, in point of feet, strike him to
the earth, rigid, speechless, and senseless. The reference to unutterable feeling, which
we find both in the letter and in the poem, is derived from the Hippolytta of Seneca, where
the half-choking Pheedra is made to reply to the object of her guilty passion, —
** Cum leves loquuntnr, ingentes stupent.^
From shallow woes the words loquacious come.
Light cares have language, but the deep are dumb.
The allusion affords another interesting evidence how Montrose read and loved the
Classics.
* This verM suggests a coincidence with Lord Byron's,—
^ My thoughts their dungeon know too welK
Back to my breast the wanderers shrink.
And drop within their silent cell.**
xliv APPENDIX.
Such are all the remnants that have reached us of the desolate Mase
of Montrose. Independently of the fact that they have never been
claimed for any one else, during the two centuries that have elapsed
since his death, we have been able to point out, for the first time, cer-
tain very remarkable coincidences between these poems and the senti-
ments, expressions, and quotations, occurring in some of his own letters,
that suffice to stamp the authorship. Had we been so fortunate as to
discover any of these venti spolia in his own handwriting, certainly
they would have been printed precisely as he wrote them. But from the
rude, and no doubt careless, prints of these mere scatterings of a most
accomplished genius, whose fate it was to be far otherwise occupied, we
have not hesitated to discard the antique and unsettled orthography,
and to make a few simple and obvious verbal corrections of the older
press.
III.
MONTROSE S DEFENCE OF HIMSELF, WRITTEN BETWEEN HIS LAST VICTOliY
AT KILSYTH, AND HIS FIRST DEFEAT AT PHILIPHAUGH.
[While the conduct of Montrose in quitting the Covenanters has been th« sabjeet of
political controversy throughout two centuries since his death, the £ftOt remained na-
known, that ho had written, or caused to be written, a systematical defence of himaeli^
which his defeat at Philiphaugh, and subsequent fate, alone withheld from promulgation.
Tho very accidental manner in which this valuable and interesting docimient came to
light a few years since, is curious. Our former edition of the life of Montrose, had at-
tracted the attention of a Scottish historical antiquary, Mr John Mackinlay, Comptroller
of the Customs at Whitehaven. Though a stranger to the author, that gentleman, with
great liberality communicated various stray scraps of historical manuscripts, apparently
connected with the history of Montrose, which had accidentally come into his possesrion.
He had not particularly investigated their contents, or bearing upon history, as the manu-
scripts wore very difficult to decypher. But the author of this biography happened to
possess ample means of judging, that the most important of these papers was all vrritten
by the hand of Archibald first Lord Napier, Montrose's '^ guide, philosopher, and friend.*'
The communication was the more valuable, that the voluminous chronological series of
historical documents, which we entitled, ^ Memorials of Montrose,'* and which have
aided so greatly in completing his biography, was then in the course of being printed for
the Maitland Club. The precious document accordingly found its phioe in that noble
collection, vol., I. p. 215, where it is fully illustrated with notes. It were unpardonable,
however, to omit the repetition of it in this biography ; as the context proves that it is
written in the name of Montrose, and in fact bears to be his own defence of himself^ al-
though in the handwriting of his friend Lord Napier. Doubtless they were both too
busy with it at Selkirk, while cannie David Leslie was stealing upon Philiphaugh through
the mist. Lord Napier was only released from prison after the battle of Kikyth. He
then joined Montrose, and escaped with him from the field of Philiphaugh to Fincastle,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xlv
in A thole, where be died immediatelj. The last exertion of his pen must have been this
Jtemonttrance so strangely come to light after two centuries ; probably it was left behind
at the fittal scene of defeat The writing is so cramp and small, that in all likelihood it
had nerer been previously decyphered, although accidentally preserved in the hands^of
strangers. It bears no title, but commences as we here give it, dispensing, however,
vnth the antiquated orthography.]
Whereas it hath pleased the Commissioners of the pretended General
Assembly summarily to excommunicate ns, against our Saviour's own
rule, and judgment of our reformed Divines, (and the Brownistical
faction over-ruling our Church for the time, and the General Assembly,
do ratify and approve their impious and perverse proceedings against
us), and to declare us unworthy to be esteemed members of this our
mother Kirk, — as also the pretended Parliament to presume to forfeit
us, meddle with our estates, and thereby declare us unworthy to carry
or enjoy our inheritance as others his Majesty's subjects, — we have
thought fit, for our own bearing, and the Country's satisfaction, to emit
this our Remonstrance to the view of the world, that aU, in whose
bowels remains so much as one spark of Christian charity, may per-
ceive the lawfulness of our proceedings, and so approve us, — our mali-
cious and bloody persecutors be condemned for their unlawful proceed-
ings against us,— our friends and favorites, suppressed by tyranny of
the subject, may be animated and encouraged to share with us : In do-
ing whereof we shall follow this method : —
Firstj shew the occasion of our just revolt from these Usurpers.
Second^ the just grounds of our proceeding against them.
Lastly^ we shall clearly vindicate ourselves from those false asper-
sions laid upon us by them.
I. For the first, our revolt from them shall be best perceived by our
progress with them, and their like ways where we left them. Our pro-
gress with them, to confess, was so far that we could not go further
with a safe conscience, when we perceived their unlawful designs.
For settling of our Religion, and the peace of our disturbed nation, we
gave way to more than was warrantable : but, having obtained what
was desired for the benefit of Church and Country, could not choose but
keep what we had found, and suffer them to deviate without us, together
with the multitude misled by them ; as shall be, by God's grace, clear-
ed by us in this Remonstrance.
It cannot be denied, neither ever shall be by us, that this our nation
was reduced to almost irreparable evil by the perverse practices of the
sometime pretended Prelates ; who, having abused lawful authority, did
not only usurp to be lords over God's inheritance but also intruded
xlvi APPENDIX.
themselyes in the prime places of civil government ; and, by their
Gonrt of High Commission, did so abandon themselves, to the prejudice
of the Gospel, that the very quintessence of popery was publicly preach-
ed by Arminians, and the life of the Gospel stolen away by enforcing
on the Kirk a dead Service-book, the brood of the bowels of the Whore
of Babel ; as also, to the prejudice of the Country, fining and confining
at their pleasure ; in such sort, that trampling upon the necks of all
whose conscience could not condescend to be of their coin, none were
sure of life, nor estate, till it pleased God to stir up his own instruments,
both in Church and Police, for preventing further, and opposing, such
impiety.^ In the which it cannot be denied we did pray for, and by
all lawful means seek, redress of these evils, by Supplications, Decla-
rations, and Protestations : All so little prevailed that we were con-
strained to renew our Covenant,' as the only safest and fairest way for
preservation of Religion and Liberty ; which was [so] opposed by the
Prelates and their adherents that by [misjinformation they moved our
dread Sovereign to threaten us on both sides with arms, and by a Navy
under the conduct of James Marquis of Hamilton, the prime fomenter qf
these misunderttandings bettoixt the King and his subjects ; whereby we
were constrained to put ourselves in a posture of arming for our own
defence, till it pleased God that the King's Majesty, being informed of
the lawfulness of our proceedings and honest intentions, for the most
part was graciously pleased to accept of our petitions, aud grant us a
lawful General Assembly, to be held at Edinburgh,^ wherein the Acts
of the Assembly of Glasgow were ratified without so much as a show
of opposition by his Majesty's Commissioner, conform to the conference
and capitulation at the camp of Berwick. But the members of the said
Parliament, some of them having yar designs unknown to us, others of
them having found the sweetness of government^ were pleased to refuse
the ratification of the Acts of Assembly, with the abjuration of Episoo-
> This, written at the oalminating point of Montroae^s Tictorious career, ia as unjustly
aerere against Episcopal government as the bitterest Covenanter conld desire. The lan-
guage savours very strongly of Lord Napier's study of his &ther*s £unous Commentaries
on the Apocalypse, wherein the Inventor of Logarithms was supposed to have demon-
strated that the Pope was Antichrist But the sentiment would not have been put into
the mouth of Montrose by Lord Napier without his pupil's perfect concurrence. Indeed,
with his dying breath, he told his clerical persecutors,—^ Bishops, I care not for them ;
I never intended to advance their interest*' See after, p. 787.
' The Covenant of 1638 professed to be a renewal of King James' Covenant, or Nega-
tive Confession of 1580.
* The Assembly which met at Edinburgh upon the 12th of August 1639, Traquair be-
ing Conmiisuoner.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xlvii
pacy and Court of High Commission introduced bj the Prelates, unless
they had the whole alleged liberty due to the subject,* (which was in
fact intrenching upon authority^) and the total abrogation of his Majesty's
royal prerogative :^ whereby the filing's Commissioner was constrained
to rise and discharge the Parliament, and was urged to levy new forces
to suppress their unlawful desires. And fearing lest their unlawful de-
sires, and our flat refusal of his Majesty's offer, conform to the conference
foresaid, should have moved his Majesty to recal what he had conde-
scended unto, to the prejudice of Religion and Liberties of the subject,
and, on the other hand, calling to mind the oath of allegiance, and
Covenant subscribed for the maintenance of his Majesty's honor and
greatness, — wrestling betwixt extremities^ and resolved rather to suffer
with the people of God for the benefit of true Religion, than to give
way to his Majesty in what then seemed doubtsome^sjid. being most un-
willing to divide from them we were joined with in Covenant, — we did stUl
undertake with them, till, having obtained our desires to the full, con-
form to the conference had with his Majesty's Peers at Rippon,' with
many other points alleged appertaining to the liberty of the subject
(unheard of till his Majesty was present in Parliament,) all which his
Majesty was pleased to ratify in Parliament with his own presence, till
they could ask no more, — ^thus (ax we went on till having obtained all
which by our national Covenant we could ask or crave, — all which we
are resolved to stand by to the uttermost of our power : — But finding
the prevailing party to intend more than they did pretend, which we do
perceive tends greatly to the prejudice of our reformed Religion, ruin
of lawful authority, and liberty of the subject, conirary to our national
Covenant, — we were constrained to suffer them to deviate without us,
> TbiB precisely conflnns Bishop Guthry, who saye,— ** The Parliament sate down upon
Saturday the Slat of August, the Lord Commiasioner being present therein. All the acts
of the Assembly were ratified by Parliament, with his 6raoe*s allowance, and then it was
expected that Uie Parliament should have arisen, being only indicted for that end. But
the leaders of the cause had Juriher projedt : and, instead of rising, proposed a number
of new motions concerning the constitution of Parliaments, and other things nerer treat-
ed on before, whereanent the Commissioner told them he had no instructions. Montrose
argued toaievkai a^msi tkoee mofioiu, for which the sealots became suspicious of him
that the King bad turned him, at his being with his Mi^eety in Berwick. Yet they
seemed to take little notice thereof ; only the mlgar, whom they used to hound on,
whispered in the streets to his prejudice ; and, the next morning, he found affixed upon
his chamber>door a paper, with these words written in it : — ** Invidut armt>, verbtt rt»-
cvKur.*"— See before, p. 232.
* At the treaty between the English and Scottish CommissionerB, in 1640, ** when,*^ says
Ilallam, ** in the alarming posture of his affiiirs, Charles had no resource but the dis-
honourable pacification of Rippon.** See before, p. 289.
xlviii APPENDIX.
with the multitude misled by them, whose e^es they syll in what con-
cerns Religion, aud hearts they steal alway in what concerns Loyalty :
And there we left them.
1st. Which was perceived by us : First, in the refusal of our [Sove-
reign's] ratification of our reformed Religion at Glasgow and Edinburgh,
with the abrogation of the late novations in civil Government intro-
duced by the Prelates and their adherents, (viz., the Court of High
Commission,) without encroaching upon his Majesty's royal prerogative,
contrary to the articles agreed upon at the camp at Berwick ; which
their desire was fomented by the Brownistical faction of the ministry.
2d. The second cause of our just proceeding was their attempts to
establish a new Government at our going to England ; by convening
the Country ; and giving commissions not only tending to the prejudice
of authority, but also to thrall subject to subject : And this was their
account ; to draw our armies from Newcastle to York, to invade his
Majesty, without sending commissioners to treat with his Majesty, un-
less it [had] been prevented by us, and such as loved to be both re/f-
gious and loyal,
dd. A third cause was the casting of the King's favourites, whom
they knew were mindful to maintain his Majesty's honour and great-
ness, and incarcerating such of us, indicia causa, as they conceived would
oppose their rebellious and unreasonable attempts. All this, and more
of the like, we did comport with, for the peace of our country ; and,
God is our witness, were most willing to pack up all private injuries,
which we profess ourselves this day to be far from resenting, if the
last and greatest had not followed ; viz., the joining in league with the
Brownists and Independents in England, to the prejudice of Religion,
and [with] the factious remainder of England, to the prejudice of autho-
rity, and liberty of the subject : In which league we perceived Presby-
terial Government, sworn to by us, to be esteemed loose ; and subjects
obliged to take arms against their Prince, for maintenance of the liberties
of the Parliament of England, which they knew not ; the abolition of
Episcopacy out of that kirk, contrary to the mind of the most part of
the subscribers of our National Covenant, and the conclusions of the
Assembly at Glasgow ; men obliged to blind obedience, involving the
subjects inpeijury and disloyalty ; with many other absurdities couched
in the said league; which league we were either constrained to sub-
scribe against our conscience, — as many were constrained to do, for
which Ood give them repentance,— ot otherwise to go to perpetual
prison, or quit their country and estates : But, not daring to make ship-
LIFE OF MONTROSE. xlix
wreck of conscience, wo resolved to leave the country,^ and, if it had
been possible, to have lived under the shelter of our Prince in our
neighbour nation ; but finding there was no time for dallying, nor place
for lurking, but, on the contrary, all constrained to kyth ^ what they
were, and being pressed with a lawful calling to undertake what we
had sworn in our National Covenant, [wej found ourselves bound in con-
science to take arms for the defence of our reformed Religion, and
maintenance of his Majesty's honour, and liberty of the subject, rather
than suffer ourselves to be misled by the misinfonned multitude, in
prejudice of the premises.
II. Thus having shown the occasion of our revolt from them, to be^
their revolt from their National Covenant, and deviation from the way
of truths in the next room we shall remonstrate the ground of our pre-
sent proceedings.
1st. The grounds are nothing else but the ground of our National
Covenant. The^rs^ is the maintenance of our Religion, with the aboli-
tion of Episcopacy out of this Kirk ; which, in effect, was nothing else
but the restoration of that which our first Reformers had before Pre-
lacy, — (as is clear by our many declarations and protestations made to
that purpose,) — which, we believe, was then as free of Brownism as of
Prelacy ; [and] which if we knew to be altered, we protest in God's
sight we should be the first should draw a sword in defence thereof:
But now, finding the outcasting of the locust to be the inbringing of the
caterpillar, as is evident from the alternative, or^ in their Directory,
by which is given way, and a door open, to their worship and govern-
ment, — ^but as the one, viz. Episcopacy, is abjured by us, so the other
is no less hurtful unto us, — resolving, then, to eschew the extremities,
and keep the middle way of our reformed Religion, we, by God's grace
and assistance, shall endeavour to maintain [it] with the hazard of our
lives and fortunes, and [it] shall be no less dear to us than our own
souls : We take arms for the defence thereof.
2d. The second ground is the maintenance of the King's honour and
greatness, which, when they could not find a way t(T diminish among
ourselves by any legal course, [they] have now found a way by the
factious and tumultuous uproars in our neighbour nation, with whom
they have joined themselves in an unlawful League, tying themselves
to the like sedition ; and have prosecuted their rebellious attempts by
1 This passa^ is one of several in the context which prove uneqtiivocallj, that, though
the MS. be Lord Napier^s autograph, we must understand that Montrose loquitur,
* Kifth^ that is, to make manifest, to declare themselves on one side or other.
VOL. r. d
1 APPENDIX.
levying arms against him,— entering in our neighbour nation, — taking
of his Majesty's towns and forts, — contrary to our Covenant and pro-
mise to his Majesty at Parliament and Pacification, — all invincible
arguments of base disloyalty and high rebellion ; which to recall and
repress, we shall, God assisting, ever endeavour.
3d. The third and last is the vindication of our nation from the base
servitude of subjects, who, like the Israelites, have their burdens
doubled, but are not sensible of them ; which, before we endure, we
shall rather undergo the hazard of aU that man can do to us. On these
grounds, and no other grounds, God is our witness, — who is the
searcher of hearts, before whose tribunal we must all one day appear
and give a reckoning, — that we are, and shall be, most willing to lay
down arms on these terms, and whensoever these conditions shall be
condescended unto : But, by the contrary, or we suffer ourselves to be
bereft of any of these, rather to be bereft of our lives and fortunes.
III. These being the grounds of our proceedings, in the last room
we shall clear ourselves of the false aspersions laid on us.
1st. And firstj our enemies brand us as perfidious revolters from our
Covenant ; which, we are bold to aver, none dare do but such as have
perfidHtasly violated their National Covenant, by novations introduced
in the Kirk ; by rebellion against our Prince ; and [oppressing ?] of bis
Majesty's subjects to the loss of their lives, and ruin of their estates ;
[as] is more than manifest in them by their unlawful league ; levying
of arms, and going to England ; and impositions unheard of under
which the land groaneth ; for relief whereof we are willing to suffer,
to spend and be spent, though the more we love the less we are loved.
2d. Secondly^ they brand us with a note of malignancy^ and disclaim
us as unnatural countrymen, coming against our country in an hostile
way. We answer, we never intended to come against our country, but
fo^ our country, and clad with a commission for reforming the abuses
thereof; though many love so the flesh-pots of their own pleasures^ that
they cannot part with their particulars on any terms ; others stand in
fear of arms, and^are afraid to do what they would do on assurance of
victory, but dare not hazard any thing for Religion, Prince, or Coun-
try ; willing rather to be bereft from them by usurpers, than to strive
to enjoy what they have by lawful authority ; and are so stuffed with
infidelity, that they can believe nothing but what they see, and can
commit nothing to God ; ^ a third sort so misled that they perceive not
^ These remarks also stamp this Remonstrance as coming from Montrose, who was
eventually mined by the miserable backwardness, and frequent defection, of those upon
LIFE OF MONTROSE. li
the light, nor [ard] sensible of their danger ; but their misleaders, like
unnatural countrymen, or vipers, are wasting the bowels of their native
nation for their own benefit ; and as they have unnaturally killed many
sent forth by them, so let them take malignancy to themselves, as
having kindled the coal, fomented the flames, and, by disturbing the
peace of the country, like salamanders live in the fire of contention ;
which we trust, in God's own time, shall be extinguished, to the honour
of his name, to the re-establishing of lawful authority long since esta-
blished, and vindication of the nation from the servitude of the subject,
80 miserably enthralled by them.
dd. Thirdly, They disclaim us, as enemies to Religion, as having
joined with Major Macdonald,^ a professed papist, who with us seeks
the ruin thereof: For answer ; God knows the contrary, and our reform-
ed religion shall be more dear to us than any thing can be in this life.
As for joining with Major Macdonald, we marvel why they should think
that which was lawful for them should be unlawful for us ; as if they
had greater liberty to make use of his Majesty's subjects than he him-
self had. Was it lawful for them in Ireland, under Monro, to employ
the self-same people, and is it not lawful for us to employ them here ?
They had a proof of his loyalty and fidelity, till some of them sent com-
mission to apprehend him for their own private ends, whereby he was
constrained to flee for his own safety, who is now joined with us for
manifestation of his loyalty to his Prince, and love to his native nation,
endeavouring with us the honour of the one, and liberty of the other ;
and on no other terms does he join with us, nor we with him. If we
had not first essayed our own countrymen, who were not only obliged
in Covenant with us, but also by many oaths and faithful promises to
their Prince, the maker up of their estates, to whom if they had not
been most ingrate, they could not have broken them, — there might have
been somewhat alleged ; but having first essayed them, and being dis-
appointed by them,' it was lawful for his Majesty, or his Commissioner,
whose oo-openttion he wis well entitled to calculate. And henoe, too, it was that he
wrote : —
** He either fears his fate too much.
Or his deserts are small.
Who puts it not unto the touch
To gain or lose it all."
And on his copy of Quintus Curtius this couplet, —
** So, great attempts, heroic veniuresj shall
Advance my fortune, or renown my falL^'
> Montrose^s fiunous Major-Oeneral, Alaster or Alexander MacCoU Keitache.
s See pp. 407, 787.
lii APPENDIX.
, to fnake use of any his lawful subjects, rather than to suffer his authoriij
f^ be trampled under the feet of subjects, or his Majesty's subjects to
be brought in bondage with their equals. Then if any in this point be
blame-worthy, it is those whof deceived his Majesty with hopes moat
traitorously.^
4th. And, finally/, we are disclaimed as traitors and bloody rebels.
Answer : Traitors we are not, to God, nor King, nor Country. Not .
to Oodj because we stand and fall, by God's assistance, for the reform-
ed religion, as said is, in truth and discipline ; but those are traitors to
God and his Church, that open a door to Broumism and Independency^
both in worship and discipline, which we offer us to prove, by production
of the tenets of the Brownists and Independents, contrary to our reli-
gion by our/r5^ Reformers (which we professed to be our seeking), and
the intention of our late Reformers, which being compared with their
Directory shall be more evident. Traitors to the King we are not ; for
we go about his Majesty's expedition according to his express man-
date ; and those are traitors to his Majesty that hr angles his Majesty's
authority, pertaining to him jure hereditario ; that meddle with his
Majesty's revenues, and employ them to their own use ; that abuse his
Majesty's trust put upon them, as if all their treacheries were done by
his authority ;' that traduce his Majesty to his subjects, as an enemy to
Religion ; that carry arms aguinst him to cut short his authority in
England, belonging to him by; conqueslfof his Majesty's predecessors,
and do directly set their face against the sacred person of the Lord's
anointed. Such damnable treacheries the Lord will recompence. Trai-
tors to our Country we are not, for we endeavour the liberties thereof ;
but those are traitors, who, deceive the Country in making them be-
lieve that the religion is in hazard, when it is not, blessed be (jod ; that
the King seeks the overthrow thereof, which is far from him, as we have
by many attestations from his Majesty ; as also is made notorious by his
Majesty's printed declaration, more worthy of credit than the public
faith of some private committee-men, that foment misunderstanding be-
twixt the King and liis subjects ; that oppress the Country with subsidies,
and new-devised excises, pressing them to take arms against their
Prince ; take up the revenues under colour of maintenance of war, when
the soldiers have free quarters in the Country ;^ and, in a word, expose
the Country to the loss of their lives and estates, for their own ends.
Of this they dare not deny themselves guilty, being^ compassed with
such a cloud of witnesses. Then let the indifferent auditor judge whether
* Alluding to the councils of Hamilton^ and some others.
« See before, p. 253. » See after, p. It.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. . liii
they or we be traitors to God, King, or Country. And as for rebellion,
it hath been so far from us, that all who have but common sense may
perceive our repression of rebellion, as being sent from our Prince for
that effect ; and shall still, God assisting, continue, till this wickedness
be taken off from the land. And as for shedding of blood, it is so
&r from our intentions, that, God knoweth, if it were possible, we
would by all means shun the same ; neither ever did we shed the blood *(
of any but of such as were sent forth by them to shed our hlood^ and to
take our lives ; whose blood we shed in our own defence ; aud what is
done in this kind it may be sensibly seen to be the Lord's doing, in
making a handful to overthrow multitudes ; neither will the Lord's
sword be put in till the rebels repent them of their rebellion, perjury,
and oppression ; and what the s\i ord does not, the Lord will by his
other plagues perform, till those that be secret in their liolds perish
with those that are in the fields, and the tall cedars fall with the
little bramble. So let all thine enemies perish, oh Lord, and let all
those that love thee be as the sun when he comes forth in his might.
Thus having remonstrated the lawfulness of our proceedings, let all
hereby receive warning who tender the reformed religion without inno-
vations ; the reigning of lawful authority over us, — which to want, ex-
perience does now teach us what it is, to the simplest that love the en-
joyment of our liberties, and to be freed from subsidies and excises, ex-
cessively imposed on the subjects, — let all, we say, receive warning to
join with us, and leave off longer to follow the rebellious courses of
usurping traitors, assuring all, who will fully persevere in their perverse
ways and so partake (what their sins shall likewise partake of,) the
punishment, — Finis coronat opus.*
> See before, pp. M8, 582, 795.
* There is no signature to the document ; but immediately after the latin quotation,
there follows abruptly, also in Lord Napier *s handwriting, a list of the losses sustained
by the Covenanters at the battle of Kilsyth, as given before at p. 551, note. The whole
context proves that this ^ Remonstrance^ runs in the name of Montrose ; and contains
his own defence of himselfl It must have been written after the battle of Kilsyth, and
prior to the rout at Philiphaugh ; most probably at Selkirk. It is written in Lord Napier's
smallest autograph, and upon very small sheets of paper, from lack of better materials^
Neither, we think can it be doubted, that it contains Napier's own sentiments also, and
that he and his illustrious pupil framed it together. It would have been promulgated
by Montrose, had not adverse fate prevented his holding the Parliament at Glasgow, in
terms 'of Iiis high commission.
liv APPENDIX.
IV.
ARGYLE's defence of HIIiSELF.
The '* man of crafl, snbtilty, and falsehood/' as his own father
characterised him, could not have reasoned his case, like his great
opponent in the foregoing Remonstrance. Neither did he ever, nor do
we believe that he had the ability to discourse like a rational or highly
educated Christian, on t)ie subject of Church and State, or of his own
tenets, views, and objects relative thereto, as did Montrose, in such
papers as his letter on Sovereign Power, in 1640 (p. 280), or his letter
of advice to Charles I., in 1641 (p. 311), or his letter to Charles II. at
the Hague, in 1649 (p. 700). Argyle's mode was to assume the sanc-
tity and hallowed integrity of his own character and conduct, by a
free and Pharisaical use, in all his epistles, of the name of God, of Re-
ligion, and of the liberty of the subject. How far he was justified in
this assumption, is well illustrated by that Exoneration which he
extorted from his debased Parliament, for any violence whatever done
to the liberty of the subject, or freedom taken with their property,
houses, or castles, or " for burning of the same, and putting of fire
thereinto, or otherways destroying the same howsoever ; or hj putting of
whatsomcver person or persons to torture or question^ or putting of any
person or persons to deathf at any time betwixt the 18 th day of June
1640, and the 2d day of August next thereafter." (See before, p. 253).
In the month of September after that unopposed campaign of oppres-
sion and cruelty benorth the Forth, our patriot par excellence writes, —
" For my much honoured friend, the Laird of Balfour j younger^
these :
" Most affectionate friend :
" As never ane poor nation hath done and ventured more for the
Religion and Liherty, with greater encouragement for assurance of suc-
cess /rom Ood's dealing with us, than this kingdom, so it is not now to
be doubted that any gentleman of honour will be wanting to crown his
endeavours, by putting to his hand in the conclusion of it, whether by
fair treaty (which is wished), or by arms (if necessity urge us to it).
And for this effect, as these of the committee here have given me charge
•to invite all gentlemen volunteers, who desire not their courage, and
affection to this cause, to be doubted, — therefore, as one of that number,
I make bold to intreat you to let mc have your company ; and, with
LIFE OF MONTROSE. Iv
God's assistance, we may be very helpful to our friends ; and / shall
share with you in every condition it shall please God to bring us in. ^
The particular orders for the time and place of rendezvous is to be
shown by your county. You are to be free of toilsome duty, and to
hdkYefret quarters for meat and lodging after the rendezvous. Thus
I expect your presence at our rendezvous ; and I shall be particularly
tied to remain
" Your affectionate friend,
•< " Argyll."
<< Edinburgh, 19th September 1640.
'' I entreat you to invite and encourage all those in whom you have
interest, or acquaintance, to come forth."'
V.
NOTE ON THE HISTORICAL CALUMNY THAT MONTROSE MADE AN OFFER TO
CHARLES I. OF HIS PERSONAL SERVICES TO ASSASSINATE HAMILTON,
LANERICK, AND ARGYLE. {Seep, 359.)
We have examined in our text the precise extent of Clarendon's re-
sponsibility, in having afforded the sole groundwork for the most notable
specimen of " enormous lying" that is to be met with in History.
The present note must suffice to expose the manner in wliich the anec-
dote has been dealt with by various historians who, throughout nearly
the whole of the last century, and one half of this, have handed it from
one to the other, as if it were the proper vocation of History to perpetuate
calumnious nonsense.
1. — ROGER ACHERLEY.
Roger Acherley, of the Inner Temple, London, published his " Bri-
tannic Constitution" in 1727, seventy-seven years after the death of
Montrose, wherein (p. 443) this passage occurs : —
" But about this time, October 1641, there fell out two occurrences
which embarrassed the ministers, and caused great distractions and
' Exc?pt such a condition as the battle of Inverlochy. ,
* Orijincfy rt-cently acquired by Mr T. O. Stovcnwn, from the collection of the late
Mr Robert IMtcaim.
Ivi APPENDIX.
/
confusion. 1 The fir&t was a rumour of a conspiracy at Edinborgh
while the King was there, to take off, by foul means, the Marquis of
Hamilton, and the Earl of Argyle, which Earl had been an active ^
manager in the late invasion,, in August 1640; and it is undoubtedly^ / ^
true, according to Lord Clarendon, that Earl Montrose privately pro-
' posed to the King, and undertook himself^ to make them both away";
and no doub^ Warriston was to have kept them company/'
The marvel is, that a man like Clarendon could ever have brought r '
himself to note down at all such unutterable absurdity, even although
he happened at the time to be ignorant that the alleged proposer of this
double assassination (to be performed by himself )j was most jealously
watched, under solitary confinement, in the Castle of Edinburgh, and
the prisoner of Argyle, one of those whom he is said to have offered to
assassinate I We have shown (p. 362) that Clarendon had recovered
his senses on that subject. He never published the anecdote. As for
his manuscripts, he was, to say the least, extremely careless of accu-
racy in noting facts respecting Montrose, as we have elsewhere illus-
trated by a signal example (see after, p. 689).
But Acherley, publishing sevepty-seven years after the death of
the Marquis, oujrht to have known the historical fact, that Montrose, when ,
alleged to have made the offer of his personal services to perpetrate /
this double assassination, was actually the prisoner of Argyle ; that he
was never even brought before the inquisitorial committee except un-
der " a sure guard ;" and never suffered to speak to a human being
without express permission, and in the presence of his jailor. Still,
Acherley takes it entirely upon himself to turn Clarendon's anecdote ^'
into a treble assassination, by adding the name of Warriston ! ' '
2. — JOHN OLDMIXON.
Oldmixon, whom D' Israeli truly characterises as a " vile writer,"
published his history (tf the Stuarts in the year 1730, and greedily adopted
Clarendon's anecdote, swallowing Acherley 's addition at the same
time : —
" The King had not been many weeks in Scotland, before news
came to London, of a conspiracy at Edinburgh to murder the Marquis
of Hamilton, and the Earl of Argyle. Lord Clarendon confesses flt was
»
^ Just as *'*' the ministers'" intended that those ** occurrences*' should do. See the
'* Incident'" thoroughly sifted, and critically examined, in our former work, ^^ Montroee
and the Covenanters,"^ 1838, pp. 78-168. See also ^ Memorials of Montrose,"" (Maitland
Club), vol. ii. pp. 1-20 ; Introduction to Part IV.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. , Ivii
a true plot ; but Echard says of it, as he said of Goring's conspiracy,
it was only a pretended one. The truth is^ Montrose himself offered
to get these two Lords assassinated ; and, as Archerley adds, Warri*ton
was to have^kept them company." — Stuff.
3. — DAVID HUME.
The reflecting and philosophical Hnme, to his honour be it recorded,
without stepping much aside to investigate what he saw, from the very
statement, to be an absurd falsehood, disposed of it thus : —
'* It is not improper to take notice of a mistake committed by
Clarendon, much to the disadvantage of this gallant nobleman (Mon-
trose), that he offered to the King, when his Majesty was in Scotland,
to assassinate Argyle. All the time the King was in Scotland, Mon-
trose was confined to prison." — (History of England, vol. vii. p. 44).
This historian, manifestly treating the scandal de haut en bos, omit-
ted to notice that Clarendon's anecdote included Hamilton also, and so
contained another element to prove, we may say, its utter impossibility.
For no one knew better than did Montrose, that Hamilton reclined in
the bosom of Charles, who loved him (even while suspecting him) more
than as a brother, and who shed bitter tears of shame and sorrow, when
he found that long trusted favourite pretending to distrust his best
benefactor now. Moreover, Hume^ like the rest, was not aware (owing
to the blundered editorial suppressions) that Clarendon had completely
disabused himself, in whatever state he may have left his voluminous
and complicated manuscripts, of the horrid calumny which he had been
so silly as to note, and so careless as. not to destroy.
4. — MALCOLM LAING.
The gpround cut from under his feet by Hume, and in the midst of
materials in the Advocates' Library sufficient ta refute such a calumny
ten times over, this pompous partizan sets himself cunningly to bolster it
up again. He does not notice the refutation by Hume. He passes no
criticism upon Clarendon's ignorance of Montrose's actual position at
the time, an ignorance which Laing himself saw at once. But with
all the dignified composure, and authority, of the march of Constitutional
History, he passes into a perfectly new phase of the story, — insinuates
an amended version, which Hume's refutation had rendered indispen-
sible, — taking, however, the benefit of Clarendon's also : —
" According to Clarendon," says Laing, " that nobleman (Montrose)
Iviii APPENDIX.
by the introduction of Murray of the Bed-chamber, was admitted pri-
vately to the King ; informed him of many particulars from the be-
ginning of the rebellion (to which, as a member of the Committee of
Estates, he was necessarily privy ^) ; asserted, and offered to prove in
Parliament, that Hamilton was not less faulty and false than Argyle ;
but rather advised that they should both be assassinated; which, with
his usual frankness, he undertook to execute. As Montrose was then in
prison, the interview was obtained indirectly^ through the intervention
of Cochrane.* But Clarendon's information is otherwise correct. The
assassination of Hamilton and Argyll was characterisiicdl of Montrose." *
\ So speaks Contitutional History I^ And all this by means of an interview
between the Sovereign and Argyll s prisoner ; which interview, how-
ever, was not an interview, but an intervention I Characteristical of
Montrose ? Was prior history not teeming with his true characteristics ?
Burnet calls him '* well learned, and stately to affectation." He was
described, by those sacrificers to the Graces, the covenanting preachers,
haunting his dying mpments till he said to them, — " pray, gentlemen,
let me die in peace,"7— as being, *' in his natural temper spiring and
lofty, in his way and manners a little too airy and volage ;" bat^ in re-
ply to their fanatical accusations, " discoursing on them handsomely,
as he could weU do, intermingling many Latin apothegms ;" (see after,
p. 786). This is the testimony of his bitterest enemies ! In 1624,
when he was just twelve years of age, riding home for the holidays
from his studies in Glasgow, his worthy " pedagogue" notes, — " Given,
at Lord James's command^ at his Lordship's coming from Glasgow to
Kincardine, to two poor soldartes (soldiers) by the way, six shillings :
To the poor, at Lord James's onloupin (mounting), four shillings."
This w&s characteristical of Montrose's boyhood, as we have abundantly
proved in the history of bis school and college life. " Too great lenity -
in sparing the enemy's houseSj-r-the discretion of that generous and
noble youth was but too great," — is the Reverend Robert Baillie's own
characterising of Montrose as a Covenanter. " We pursued for nine
miles together, making a great slaughter, which I would have hindered
if possible ; for well I know your Majesty does not delight in their
blood, but in their returning to their duty ; I have saved and taken
^ The parenthesis is Laing's, not Clarendon^s ; and is as weak as it is insidious. Mon-
trose, and all such honest statesmen, although nominally members of the great Commit-
tee, were carefully excluded from the counsels of the Covenant, and complained that
they were so ; see before, p. 238.
* Our old friend, the nervous Colonel! see before, p. 277 ; a strange selection for Mon-
trose to make, to carry such a proposition. And how did the Colonel get into iht Castlr f
LIFE OF MONTROSE. lix
vrisoDers several gentlemen of the name of Campbell, that have ac-
knowledged to me their fiiolt, and lay all the blame on their chief;
Bome gentlemen of the lowlands, that had/behaved themselves bravely
in the battle, fled into the old castle; and, upon surrender, I have
treated them honourably^ and taken their parole never to bear arms
against your Majesty ;'' (see after, p. 485). This was characteristical
of Montrose as a victorious royalist, in the red hour of battle, and with
the avenging sword in his hand. Surely we may now say, that
Malcolm Laing's silly fiat is only characteristical of that historian. ^
5. — QEORGE BRODIE.
This learned jurisconsult, whose avowed adventure in the walk .of
History was to banish Hume out of that field for ever, was not likely
to excite his diligence in detecting Laing on the subject of this note.
Lord Mahon prides himself as having *' cast another stone upon the
cairn" of Montrose. But did he ever visit the cairn which George
Brodie built ?' It beats all the cairns in Covenantdom. Assassinations
form the base, and " execrable poetry" the apex, with treachery and
butchery between. Here it is :
" Active, cruel, daring, and unprincipled, he seemed formed by nature
for civil broils. Chagrined at real or supposed neglect from the court,
he joined the Covenanters with a bitterness of spirit which was mistaken
for enthusiastic zeal. But vexed, on the one hand, at being eclipsed
in the council by the abilities and influence of Argyle, and in the army
by Leslie, and allured, on the other, by the prospect of high court favour,
the want of which had first stung him with mortification and revenge,
he eagerly listened to tempting offers, and not only engaged to renounce
the principles for which he had contended, but to betray the cause, to
conspire by perjury against the lives and honour of the individuals with
whom he had acted in concert, and latterly to propose cutting them off
by assassination^ or, by suddenly raising a foction in the hour of unsus-
pecting security, to perpetrate an indiscriminate slaughter upon all the
leading men of the party. Detected in his wickedness, and utterly cast
off by the whole body as bloated with iniquity^ he allowed the tumul-
tuous fury of wounded pride, and disappointed ambition, to assume the
semblance of principle, and looked towards the ruin of the political
franchises and the religion of his country, which he had so sworn to
> Compare Malcolip LAing*s account of the proceediogs during the settlement of Scot-
land hj Charles I. in 1641, text, and appendix of notes, with '* Montrose and the Core-
nantem,"" and ^ Memorials of Montrose,'* as quoted before.
Ix APPENDIX.
maintaJD, as to the neoessaiy removal of standing reproaches of his
apostacy, and harriers to his aggrandizement. Hence there was no
scheme so desperate that he hesitated to recommend^ none so widced that
he declined to execute"
There is no character, in ancient or modem times, more atrocioas
than what is here described. Nor is our historian contented with this
concentration of his indignant feelings. Throughout various passages
of the work in question, he has exhausted the powers of his language
to paint Montrose a monster. He calls him a '^ nobleman destitute of
either public or private principle ;" and while revelling in the barbarous
details of his execution, speaks of him as *' the blackest criminal ;" of
'' his manifold enormities ;'' his '' breach of the Covenant ;'' his '' as-
sassinations and massacres ;'' his " cold-blooded, indiscriminate, unman-
ly vengeance ;'' his '* horrid devastation, " his '* infamova end ;" and,
finally, his ^^ poetry] no less execrable than his actions had been as a
member of society."
Mr Brodie thus of necessity not only adopts the assassination 'story,
but gives it with variations, additions, and multiplications^ '' Even in
prison Montrose hatched new plots (he says), and the time consumed
about the trials of the Incendiaries and Banders was favourable to his
schemes. Having opened a fresh correspondence with his Majesty,
through William Murray of the Bed-chamber, he still insisted that evi-
dence might be procured against the Hamiltons and Argyle, but advised,
as the simplest way^ to cut them oflf by assassination, which himself
frankly undertook to furnish the means of accomplishing. According ,
to Clarendon, to whom we are indebted for this portion of secret history, '
the King abhorred that expedient, though for his own security, and ad-
vised that the proofs might be prepared for the Parliament"^
6. — ROBERT CHAMBERS.
" Struck with an idea, that if these men (Hamilton, Lanerick, and
Argyle,) were all removed, the King's interest, and his own, would at
once rise, he (Montrose) proposed to Charles, in a letter, a plan for hav-
ing them assassinated. The mind of the King revolted with horror from
' A History of the British Empire, vol., II. p. 404 ; vol.. 111. p. 150 ; and vol, IV.
pp. 270, 271,272. But Clarendon did no< say 6oeA the Hamiltons. Mr Brodie, however,
was too honest to withhold, as Malcolm I^aing had done, — ^ the King abhorred that ex-
pedient.'" Lord Nugent, in his Life of Hampden, just repeats Brodie.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. • W
a proposal, which, however suitable to the latitude of a half-barbarous
state like Scotland, was not at aU agreeable to an enlightened niind.''^
We venture to say, that from the Autumn of the year 1641, .when the
monstrous and deliberate insult of such a letter, written by a subject
to a Sovereign, is alleged to have been perpetrated, until the Autumn of
1828, when we find the respectable names of Constable and Robert
Chambers attesting that story as an historical fact, it had never been
heard of. Clarendon did not say so, even in his first ignorant version
of the story. Acherley and Oldmixon did not say so. Malcolm Laing
did not say so. As for Montrose's own contemporaries, and personal
foes, they wielded the calumny against him in no shape whatever,
Argyle, Hamilton, Lanerick, and Warriston, are the " men in buck-
ram," of the romance, increasing with each new version. We call each
of them into court, as a witness for Montrose. Argyle ordered a most
voluminous libel against him, at that very time, composed of " quisqui-
lice volantes et venti spolia /' and it contains not a hint of the accusation.
Warriston prepared that process ; and the principle upon which he got
it up was, per fas aut nefas. Lanerick left in manuscript his own
cock-and-bull story of the ^' Incident,''^ and it breaths not a suspicion
against Montrose. As for Hamilton himself, his apologist Burnet had
full command of the family archives. That unscrupulous Bishop records
Montrose as a coward, but seems to have been utterly unconscious,
(Clarendon's badly edited History being then unpublished,) that there
existed even a breath of a rumour upon the strength of which he might
have also dubbed him an assassin. Yet, in 1828, we are told by Mr
Robert Chambers, for the first time, that Argyle's state prisoner Mon-
trose, had written this horrible proposition to his Sovereign in "a letter,"
sent by the hand of a third party I Well done the difiiision of useful
knowledge. We entertain great respect for the rustic throne of letters
which this accomplished and active minded compiler has erected for him-
self. His account of the wars of Montrose, in which the above unfortu-
nate lapsus occurs, does more justice to the subject, and to the motives
and character of the hero, from very imperfect materials, than is to be met
with elsewhere, previous to our own minute and extensive researches.^
His account, and character, of Montrose is utterly at variance with his
unvouched story of that written offer to assassinate, which we find swel-
* History of the Rebellions in Scotland, by Robert Chambers, toL, I. p. 242. Coii-
ttabU's Miscellany^ 1828.
* See Lord Hardwicke's State Papers, where Lanerick*s account is printed finoxn the
Hamilton Archires.
* We cannot say as much for the account of Montrose in Mr Chambers^s Biographical
Dictionary, which roust hare been written by another hand. See after, p. 547.
Ixii • APPENDIX.
tering in the heart of it, like a toad inclosed within the " vestiges of crea-
tion." The Chambers Brothers' laboratory of Letters, both in its objects
and effects, is ever to be admired. But we most not flinch from telling
those most successful chemists, and transmuters of the literary labours
of others, that the carelessness which would palm upon history, and in
a new and more blattant form, the most monstrous calumny that ever
disgraced it, and without a tittle of evidence, is not the diffusion of use-
ful knowledge, but the mere chambering and wantonness of letters.
But from whom did Mr Robert Chambers pick up that notion of a
letter f And what is it worth ? We proceed to show.
Sir James Balfour has preserved the fact, that, while Montrose was
still jealously secluded in the Castle, there was read to the Parliament,
among many others relative to the " Incident,'' certain depositions ob-
tained by the usual subservient committee, from that rogue in grain
" little Will Murray of the Bed-chamber." Unfortunately, the origi-
nal record is not forthcoming ; but the Lord Lyon, in his enumeration
of the documents then read, thus refers to it.
'' William Murray, one of the grooms of his Majesty's Bed-chamber|
his depositions taken by the Committee 25th October (1641), anent a
discourse betwixt the Earl of Montrose and him, which he cor\fesses he
declared to his Majesty ; and of his delivery of three letters from the
Earl of Montrose to the King, and of his Majesty's answer to them.
Iteniy the said William confesses his taking of Colonel Cochrane to the
King's Bed-chamber ; but does not know what the Colonel said to the
King. Item^ he denies many points of Cochrane's depositions against
him, anent divers discourses, at sundry times and occasions, betwixt
them. Item^ he denies he knows any thing of drawing Hamilton and
Argyle to a conference in the King's drawing-chamber, — Read,*^^
We have here some light. Clarendon's calumny has it, that Mon-
trose, at a private interview with the King, tendered his personal ser-
vices as a murderous bravo ; and for that purpose, had been admitted
to the Bed-chamber, — " by the introduction of Mr William Murray ;"
clearly importing that Murray's influence had accomplished the fright-
ful interview. But we now have this goblin-groom's own story upon
oath, quantum valeat ; and it is, that he introduced Colonel Cochrane,
Not a word about having introduced Montrose. How could the author
of the greatest history of his times commit such a blunder as for a
moment to lend his ear to such a tale ? Of course a mere soldier would
» Balfour's *« Diurnall "of Pari. 1641 ; original MS. Adroc. Lib. Laing (iii. 517)
omits ** at sandry times and occasions.'*
LIF£ OF MONTROSE. Ixiii
require some official introduction ; but if Montrose could by any possibility
have left his prison at that crisis, what introduction to the King's Bed-
chamber did he require from " little Will Murray ?* The difficulty,
and an insuperable one, — for this illustrious state prisoner, was, to quit
the Cctstle^ not to enter the Bed-chamber. The blunder is so gross that
we desiderate a sight of Clarendon's manuscript Malcolm Laing had
discovered that it was Cochrane who had been so introduced. He must
also have perceived, even from the documents preserved in the Advo-
cates' Library with which he was so partially dealing, that Colonel
Cochrane had not put his foot within the Castle as a private visitor, or
emissary, of Montrose. Such a fact was never alleged at the time. It
was known to be impossible. Why then did Laing not rather come to
the conclusion, if he would not reject the story altogether, that the pro-
position to assassinate, emanated from Cochrane ? Simply because our
Whig Tacitus would not quit his hold of a calumny that made Montrose
a monster. And hence that lucid sentence of his, about an interview
that was not exactly an interview, but an indirect interview, by means
of an intervention I
Robert Chambers had his wits sufficiently about him, not to tumble
into the mire of Malcolm Laing. But unfortunately this most praise-
worthy promoter of letters has not mended the matter for the credit of
history. Finding that Will Murray depones to having carried a dis-
course and three letters,^ from Montrose to the King, he at once jumps
to the gigantic conclusion, that the Earl of Montrose had propounded
his '^ frank offer'' of asscusination, in a letter j and that he had entrusted
the conveyance of that brimstone billet, — the very odour of which might
have reproduced " the pest," — to the most equivocal character that ever
carried the gold key !
Common sense suffices to test such a calumny. But we can absolute-
ly prove, Jirstj that the timid Colonel Cochrane' made no such propo-
sition to the King ; second^ that neither did any letter that ever reach-
ed the King from Montrose, contain a hint of the kind.
1. Upon the 14th of October 1641, Lord Amend,' who was implicated
in the factious rumour of the " Incident," made a motion in Parliament
to the effect of exonerating himself. And here Sir James Balfour
records, in the " Diurnal" quoted before, —
1 Whether it be meant that theee three letten all passed at that time, or at ** sundry
times, and occasions,'* the meagre record does not enable us to determine.
« See before, p. 277.
* Soon after created Earl of Callendar. See before, pp. 870, 400.
Ixiv APPENDIX.
*' Hia Majesty said, that since my Lord Amond went about to clear
himself, so would he also. Since that Colonel Home's depositions did
bear that Cochrane was brought to his bed-chamber by William Murray,
one of his grooms, it was true indeed (he said,) that Cochrane was
brought by him there, being particularly recommended to him by his
sister.^ When he came in, he shewed me (said his Majesty) he had
some matters to impart to me which did nearly concern the welfare of
my affairs ; but withal he adjured me not to reveal him ;^ which on my
word I promised him. I confess he had many discourses to me, and
most of his own praises, I will tell no more, unless the House's cario-
sity urge me to it, and that I may have his leave for the same. Onlvi
I would have my Lord Chancellor (Loudon) to find such a way to clear
my honour, that I be not esteemed a searcher out of holes in mens' coats.
I need not do so ; for in the way of justice, I will not stand to follow the
best subject in all my dominions/'
This statement of the King's was followed up by repeated select com-
mittee examinations of Murray and Cochrane ; and, amid a maze of con-
fusion, contradictions, and cross-swearing, not a word was ever elicited
that afforded even a hint in support either of Clarendon's original ca-
lumny, or Malcolm Laing's gross rifacimento thereof.
^ The Queen of Bohemia ; who had recommeDded Colonel John Cochrane hoth to the
King and to Montrose.
* That is to say, — not to quote him, Cochrane, as the informer. This caveat was sug-
gested by the ColoneKs dread, that, if produced as the informer by the King, in the same
way that Montrose was constrained to produce poor John Stewart of Ladywell, (see be-
fore, p. 303,) he might suflFer the same fate, under Argyle's murderous interpretation of
the old statutes of leasing making. Will any candid enquirer justify Malcolm Laing for
giving, as established history, his own outrageous assumption, that Cochrane upon this
occasion brought to the King that proposition to assassinatej from the imprisoned Mon-
trose, when our historian had in his hand Sir James Balfour's manuscript record, (at that
time unpublished)^ of the above account given 6y the King himself, of that very interview
with Cochrane ? Will any human being believe, that, if such a proposition had then
been conveyed to his Majesty, he would have volunteered in Parliament that pointed
reference to the interview, and in the words recorded by Balfour ? And what are we to
say of our historian, when we find, on consulting the original manuscript in the Advo-
cates' Library, that he had not made an accurate transcript ? ♦* He adjured me not to re-
veal m Bur-
net, we find this hero of the Bed-chamber obtuning a good character
from the clerical government of Argyle, his case seems to be hopeless.
Now, immediately after the King's return to England, at this very crisis
of 1641, a letter or petition was addressed to him on the affairs of the
Kirk by the Commissioners of the General Assembly, in which this re^
markable passage occurs : " And seeing William Murray, — of whose
faithful service your Majesty has had long proof, and of whose abilities
and good affections we have experience ♦ ♦ ♦ * i this time in the publie
* Manuscript torn.
VOL. 1. e
Iwi ATPENnrX.
n fairs of the Kirlc^ — hath the honour to attend your Royal person iii
your bed-chamber, and tliereby continual occasion of giving information,
and receiving direction from your lloyal Majesty in the affairs of the
Kirk, therefore, we do, with all earnestncfis and humility, ii^treat tliat
your Majesty may be pleased to lay upon him the charge of the agent-
trig of the affairs of the Kirk, about ^our Majesty, Likeas we, for our part,
do heartily recommend him to your Majesty for that effect j being con-
fidont that the General Assemlli/ shall approve this our recoroniendatioD,
and prove thankful to your Majesty for this and all others your Majesty's
Royal favours to the Kirk of Scotland.'^ ^
Moreover, we find, that our covenanting friend, the Reverend Robert
Baillie, corresponded with William Murray, signing himself, " your
loving friend and agent^ R. B/'^ In fact, his family connexion with the
Kirk was very strong, and he became tlieir most efficient tool, notwith-
standing the King's insane reliance on his fidelity. He was the son of
William Murray, minister of Dysart in Fife, and through the interest
of an uncle, who was preceptor to Charles I., had I een introduced as a
islaymate to the young Prince.^ Another uncle of his, was Robert Mur-
ray, minister of Methven, whose clerical influence was instrumental in
" bringing in" Montrose to the Covenant. * Clarendon, the so-called
authority for the assassination story against Montrose, when he had
come to enquire a little more closely into the matter, declares, that the
King himself told him, that it was Murrat/ who had pressed upon his
Majesty the impeachment of Hamilton and Argjle, before the storm of
the " Incident" arose ; and that Montrose himself io\d him, that Mur-
ray, after he had been " a principal encouraj^er" of that impeachment,
and after undertaking to prove " many notable things" himself, " was
the only man who discovered that whole counsel to the Marquis of
Hamilton."^ When all this is disclosed, and we discover this same
worthy^ immediately after the bruit of the " Incident," in the double
^ Contemporary mamiscript. Advocates' Lil.rary, endorsed, "Coppie of Letter sent
from the Commissioners of the Assembly, and his Majesty's answer tl.ejeto/' To tliis
recommendation the infatuated King replies : *• I.ikeas we, having had long proof of the
faithfulness of William Murray, who attends us in our bed-chanil>er, do hereby declare
that we most willingly accept of your recommendation of him for his receiving of these
leets [of six, out of which a vacancy in churches was to be filled.] and agenting the other
affairs of the church, directed to him from the Presbyteries and OflRcers of the
church," &c. " Whitehall, the ,"»d of January lOMa/"
* Oiiffinal, Advocates' Library, printed in Hailes' Memorial?, vol. ii p. IHI).
^ See before, p. '27'2.
* See before, p. '2G:i.
* See before, p 36.1, reference to Clarendon, unf(.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. Ixvii
capacity of Hamilton's confidential creature, and the pet agent of the
Kirkj the mystery is unravelled, as to how he got access to Montrose
in the Castle, and wh?/ the covenanting Government permitted, it, at
that crisis of 1641 so vital for the most unscrupulous of factions.^
We must now turn to another actor in this pregnant scene of the
Troubles.
Our readers have already been introduced to Sir Thomas Hope of
Kerse, the Lord Advocate's second son, and chief adviser.* The man-
ner of this factionist (who owed his rise to that indulgent Sovereign
whose fall was occasioned by the secret machinations of which Sir Tho-
mas was one of the most powerM springs), was to accomplish the ob-
jects of his disingenuous clique by means of small packed committees,
and secret measures of the meanest kind.^ Accordingly when the storm
of the '* Incident" was made to explode over the head of the insulted
and bewildered King, and when his Majesty, and all the honourable
and loyal to be found in that Assembly, and even some who were neither,
called for a public investigation, this leading organ of as mean a clique
flas ever ministered to the destruction of religion and liberty, insisted
" in the name of the barons," that the investigation should be secret.
'* I do not imderstand private examinations," — said the excited and
agitated King. When the Lord Advocate was called in to plead the
point, upon this occasion at least he did not fly in the face of his mas-
ter. But as Baillie has it, *^ he was well dealt with by his two sons.''
" The King's Advocate being licenced by the House, pleaded long,
and at last concluded that no trial could be so clear as that which was
public, for the King's honour ; for a Committee would still in some men's
minds leave some jealousies and suspicions on the King's honour ; for,
what touched his Majesty it of necessity behoved to be kept up." No
sooner, however, had the Advocate ceased, than up rose the Advocate's
second son, and thus delivered himself.
Sir Thomas Hope. — " The most secret joay is the best way ; and yet
both ways are legal, and the Parliament* have it in their power which
of the two ways, either public or private, to do it ; but for secret and
exact trial, the private way is undoubtedly the best."
The Kinq. — " If men were so charitable as not to believe false ru-
" mottrSj Sir Thomas, I would be of your mind. Since I see the con-
^ And so miserably was the infatuated King deoeiTed, that we find him still in 1642
entrusting William Murray with coBfidential missives to Montrose, and soon thereafter
he raised that disreputable character to the peerage as Rarl of Dysart. See p. 372.
• See before, p. 308.
* See before, pp. 307, 371, 649.
Ixviii APPENDIX.
tr«iry, you must give me leave to think otherwise. But, however tlie
matter go, I must see myself get fair play, I protest that if it come
to a committee^ neither my honour, nor those interested, can have
right. Nam aliquld semper adherehit.^
Amid a violent contention which then arose, and continued for some
days. Sir Thomas Hope the younger eventually carried his point, and
saved the nefarious committee government of Scotland.*
Now, it is this same worthy whom we find, very soon after the date
of Montrose's missive from the Castle, which Murray carried to the
King, not only in possession of the fact of the letter, but of the nature
of its contents. Did it contain a proposition to assassinate f If it did,
would that have escaped the lynx-like prowling of " A. B."' We
shall see.
Upon the 30th of October 1641, the King being present in Parlia-
ment, ** Sir Thomas Hope, in the name of the barons, humbly intreats
his Majesty, for better clearing the great business in hand, that he
would give his subjects that contentment, to let the committee (for the
** Incident') see the last letter which Montrose wrote to his Majesty.
His Majesty answered, that he would, at two o'clock, show it to the com-
mittee, at Holyrood- House, so that some more of each estate might be
joined to them. He willed the House to direct that Montrose might be
brought down there, under a sureguardy and he (Montrose) would him-
self then clear the business to them." Four Earls, of the bitterest of
the faction, with as many barons, and l^urgesses, were added to the In-
cident committee, for this occasion, in consequence of the King's demand,
and the interview came off at Holyrood, as appointed by his Majesty.
The awful letter was read, and the noble state prisoner posed as to the
meaning of its contents. Surely the murder was out now, and Mon-
trose caught in the net cast for leasing-makiiig ? Unfortunately, no
record of that extraordinary scene has been discovered. Yet we find
evidence conclusive, as to all that was alarming to the faction contain-
ed in that letter, — the ojdj/ one, be it observed, that was challenged, —
and it breathed not a syllable of that foul proposition, which one liis-
torian alone (so far as we can discover), from that time to this, has ever
said that it did contain, Mr Robert Chambers, namely, in the nineteenth
century.
' For something will always adhere.
^ See the whole of this extraordinary scene. < 6 disgracefu l to the covenanting govern-
ment, and so creditable to Charles the First, and tiie Hew honourable and Iiigh-minded
peers who joined him in his indignant and excited remonstrances, minutely and graphi-
cally noted by Sir James Balfour, AnnaU^ vol. iii. pp. 94-135.
» See before, p. ?M^.
LIFE OF MONTUOSE. Ixix
Immediately after this iaterview, Montroae, Napier, Keir, and Black-
ball, present another petition to the Parliament, to be released on secu-
rity :
" The House ordains this bill to have no answer, till first the Earl of
Montrose give a positive declaration in answer to that letter written bj
him to his Majesty, to these words thereof. — * that he would particular-
ly acquaint his Majesty with a business which not only did concern his
honour in a high degree^ but the standing and falling of his crown like-
wise.* They ordain him to be examined before the committee for the
Incident upon the foresaid words, at two o'clock this afternoon."
The persecuted Earl was again brought before the Vehm Gfericht of
Scotland ; and again he refused to be hunted into the toils of leasing-
maJdng,
" The committee for the Incident make their report, that, according
to the order of the House, they had called before them the Earl of Mon-
trose, and interrogated him, what he meant by those words of his let-
ter,' — ' that he woidd show his Majesty that which did not only concern his
honour f' ^, He said, what his meaning was, he had already declared
to his Majesty, and the committee from the Parliament, on Saturday
last at Holyrood House : He further declared, that thereby he neither
did intend, neither could or would he, wrong any particular person what-
soever. This being read under Montrose's band to the House, it did
not give them satisfaction,*'^
Thus we have proved what the obnoxious matter was, in the only
letter from Montrose to the King which the faction questioned. Im-
mediately thereafter, the monster libel appears against him, and in that
there is not a breath of the calumny of assassination. Such a calumny
was absolutely unknown to his contemporary calumniators and unknown
to himself. Wc are now entitled to call upon Mr Robert Chambers,
(upon whose most praiseworthy diffusion of knowledge and otherwise
just estimate of the character of Montrose, that unvouched assertion
forms an unseemly blot), for his authority when he records as history,
— " Struck with an idea, that, if these men were all removed, the King's
interest and his own would at once rise, Montrose proposed to Charles,
IN A LETTER, a plan for having them assapsinatkd."
' Balfour's Annals, as before referred to. Sec also, the author's '' Montro&c and tho
Covenanters,'* vol. ii. chapters v. vi., where the affair of the '' Ineidciit*' » more fully il-
lustrated and exposed.
Ixx APPENDIX,
7. — d'isbaeli.
This accomplished biographer and champion of Charles the First,
has in lildi manner defaced his lively Commentaries^ with this ugly
blunder. Not observing, that, of those two distinct and separate pages
of Lord Clarendon's manuscripts which have reference to the " Inci-
dent,'' that which is the fullest, and derived from the most authentic
sources, imputes nothing against Montrose, and not only contradicts,
but must have been intended to supersede the former, D'Israeli has
framed his narrative upon an indiscriminate adoption of both. So care-
l ess on that subject was our loyal author, as to assume that from
Charles himself Clarendon had the anecdote of Montrose's oifer to commit
assassination; the very reverse being the case. The Chancellor, as
appears from his own manuscripts, had been completely disabused by
conversations not only with the King, but with Montrose. And upon
this confused and mistaken reading, D'Israeli records, and endeavoiirR
to extenuate, ^' that frank offer of assassination which the daring and
vindictive Montrose would not have hesitated to have performed by ?ns
creaturesy for he was himself confined in the Castle by the Cove-
nanters."
From such a pen, that passage, any thing but history and scarcely
intelligible, must be read with a feeling of melancholy, not unmingled .
with a sense of the ridiculous provoked by the apology that follows :
" Events of this nature, the still barbarous customs of the age had
not rendered so singular and repulsive, as they appear to our more sub-
dued manners : The Court of France, where Montrose had same time
resided, offers several remarkable instances, even under the eyes of
Louis XIII. called the Just." »
But is it not part of the story, that Charles recoiled with horror from
the proposition ? And did he not write, a few months thereafter, to the
alleged frank offerer, — " Montrose : I know 1 need no arguments to
induce you to my service : Duty and loyalty are suflBcient to a man of
so much honour as I know you to ^e." ^
* O'lsraeli's Commentaries on the Life of Charles I., vol. iv. p. 3*22.
' See page 366. Judging, however, by Mr Macaulay's character of Charles the First,
ill the introdnctory chapter to hia dazzling and blinding History of England, that his-
torian would not hesitate to come to the conclusion that Charles was capable of so writ-
ing, even were the anecdote true. But the expressions are volunteered in B.piivate letter
to Montrose himself, immediately after tljc alleged atrocity. Kven an assassin wouM
uot h.ive po addressed hia accomplice. ^
LIFK OF MONTROSE. Ixvi
8. — SIR WALTER SCOTT. /?
/
The great good sense, and knowledge of human character, which
tempered the genius of Sir Water Scott, prevented his adopting the
anecdote of assassination. But he was otherwise employed than iu
such minute investigation as was necessary to clear this blot from the
face of History. He was aware of the passage which had been publish-
ed under the name of Clarendon ; immediately garbled, with most im-
pudent variations, by Achcrley and by 01dm ixon ; subsequently modi-
fied, with no less eftrontcry, by Malcolm Laing to suit the facts of
which Clarendon was ignorant ; and finally gloated over by Brodie, to
the gceat edification of the reliant Lord Nugent in his life of Hamp-
den./ Nor could Sir Walter fall to know that quiet note of four lines
in Hume^s History of England, where a single but suflicient reason is
given for contradicting the anecdote. It would seem, however, that he
did not feel that contidencc on the subject which might have induced
him to repeat and fortify the contradiction by Hume, so as to support
it against such writers as Malcolm Laing. Accordingly, while he adopts
some of the minor details of the false anecdote, he simply omits and
passes in silence its most monstrous feature. No doubt this silence in-
dicates the disbelief of Scott ; yet considering the nature of the charge,
and its hold of history, the omission seems more like a pious evasion
than a positive contradiction. This told severely against the fame of
Montrose. Let us consider the passage in Scott.
" Montrose contrived, however, to communicate with the King from
his prison in the Castle of Edinburgh, find disclosed so mariJ/ circum-
stances respecting the purposes of the Marquis of Hamilton and the
Earl of Argylc, that Charles had resolved to arrest them both at one
moment^ and had assembled soldiers for that purpose. The}' escaped,
however, and retired to their houses, where they couU not have been
8eize>d but by open violence, and at the risk of a civil war." — (Hist, of
Scotland, voL i., p. 422. Edit. 1836.)
The words which we have printed in italics are obviously an adoption
of the assertion, in the Clarendon anecdote, that Montrose ** informed
the King of mani/ particulars,*' &c. But Scott had not ^observed that
the who!^ plausibility of this assertion depends upon the previous one,
that Montrose " came privately to the King,'' and which Clarendon him-
self had subsequently discovered to be false. A private interview might
indeed have facilitated the communication of " many particulars;" but-
communications by hasty letters /ro7w prison j and through the interven-
Ixxii APPENDIX.
tion of a third party, must necessarily have been of the moat general
and cautious nature. That in point of fact they were so, we have
proved above. Neither is there the slightest evidence that Charles had
made any preparations for arresting Hamilton or Argyle, or bad any
intention of doing so at the time when they fled and raised the popular
excitement of The Incident Besides, Lanerick'a absurd story is, that
the intention was not to " arrest" merely, but, if resistance was offered,
** to cut the throats both of Argyle, my brother, and myself." *
9. — LORD LINDSAY.
It may seem presumptuous to defend a great Lindsay chief, from the
author of the " Lives of the Lindsays," — the most instructive and in-
teresting of domestic histories. " A strange plot,"j5ays Lord Lindsay
(2. 60,), " now came to light, ascertained but obscurely j and known in
Scottish history by the mysterious epithet of the Incident^ — * one of the
most wicked and horrible plots,' says Baillie, ' that has been heard of,
that put us all for some days in a mighty fear.' It seems to have been
the joint concoction of Montrose and Crawford, and was schemed, as
Mr Chambers* remarks^ completely in the spirit of an ancient Scottish
raid." And so, leaning throughout, in that matter, upon Mr Chambers,
Lord Lindsay repeats all the cloudy trash of the Incident, with the
most innocent credulity, investing it, indeed, with a tone of romantic ad-
venture, but landing the good King, and the two loyal Earls, in a
quagmire of the most truculent intention, and the most imbecile con-
ception. Which was the bloodiest bravo, or the weakest fool, of the
three, Charles the First, Earl Montrose, or Earl Crawford, it would be
diflficult from Lord Lindsay's narrative to determine. " Every one,''
lie says, " was persuaded, that the plot had the King's concurrence,
and distrust deepened more and more" I It is not our business to write
the life of Ludovic Lindsay, Earl of Crawford ; but the noble bard and
representative of his illustrious house must forgive us for suggesting a
revisal of that chapter of his family record. We take the liberty to
ask these questions : If that alleged most horrible and insane plot of
1641 was " the joint concoction of Montrose and Crawford," why was
that not asserted by their contemporary enemies? And, at what time,
and in what places, did they meet, or communicate, in order to concoct
U?
* See Lancrick's cloudy tale, printed from the Hamiiton Archives, in Lord Hardwickc\s
State Papers, vol. ii. p. 2.0D. In that, ?iot a word is said agaijist Montrose,
LIFE OF MONTROSE. Ixxiii
10. M. QUIZOT.
The principal authorities among those submitted to the foregoing
scrutiny, that is to say, Clarendon's editors, and the Scotch historians
Laing and Brodie, are chiefly, but not altogether, responsible for a
passage we are about to quote from M. Guizot's '* Histoire de la Revo-
lution d'Angleterre," (i. 212 ; quatriSme edition^ 1850). That even
this most distinguished literary statesman of France should bo carried
by the seeming weight of historical authority in Montrose's own country,
for the calumny in question, is not very surprising. Nor is it much
to be wondered at, that finding each of those various local authorities
I modifying the details of the improbable story to their own conception
■ of what might seem a little more probable, M. Guizot, too, on a review
of the complicated and mystified affair, should find himself constrained
to understand the story according to a modification of his own. Hume's
express, and Scott's tacit rejection of the gross calumny, he appears to
disregard. A very great mistake. Yet he does not absolutely follow the
so-called authority of Clarendon, nor Laing, nor Brodie, nor Chambers.
He does not say, with the first, that Montrose proposed to his Sovereign,
as the best expedient, " to kill them both, which he frankly undertook
to do.'^ He does not say, with Laing, that he mad^ that offer through
the personal intervention of a third party. Neither does he say with
Brodie, that the terms of the offer were " to furnish the means of ac-
complishing" that assassination. Nor yet with Chambers, that he
transmitted the foul proposal from his prison, in a letter under his own
hand, which he had the temerity to entrust to a Groom of the Bed-
chamber, who was an agent of the Kirk, and notorious for getting drunk.
What he says is, that with the aid of certain of his creatures, Mon-
trose escaped secretly from his prison, presented himself by night in
the King's bed-chamber, informed him of all he knew, accused Hamil-
ton of conspiring along with Argyle in the plots of the disaffected,
assured the King that their papers would prove the case against them,
and, in fine, undertook himself to secure those two leaders unawares,
and to make short work with them if they resisted. The entire passage
is as follows : —
" Un jeune et hardi gentilhomme, devoue d'abord au Covenant, roais
rentre depuis dans la faveur du roi, le Comte de Montrose,^'^ s'C'tait en-
gag6 k lui procurer ces documents tant d nirfs. Sur iia parole, Charles
^ O) Jacques Gnhani, Comt« do MontroM (MouniroM) ne k Ivlinbourg en IGI2.**
The jtmx of Montrote*! birth u here accantely noted bjr M. iimwi ; bat that he was
born in Edxiib«rgh b against all tradition, and not at all likelj. See befon*. p . 2.
Ixxiv APTEKDIX.
6tait parti ; mais, avant soot arrivee une lettre en cJdffres^ ^ interceptee
par Argjle, excita les 8oup9ons des Ecossais, et le roi trouva MoDtrose
en prison. Anim§ par le p^ril, et brdlant de se venger, le Comte lui
fit dire qne, s'il pouvait le voir, il loi ferait connaitre ses vraia ennemis
et leurs trames pass^es. Par Tentremise de quelqnes affides, Montrose
sortit secr^tement de sa prison, se rendit de nuit dans la charabre da roi, ^
rinforma de tout ce qu'il savait, accusa Hamilton d'avoir concouni,
aussi bien qu' Argyle, aux men^ des m6contents, assura le roi que
leurs papiers en foumiraient les preuves, Tengagea enfin k s'assurer
brusquement de cea deux che&, k s'en defaire m^me s'ils resi8taient.
Prompt k accueilHr les resolutions t^meraires, et sans songer k Teffet
qu'un acte si violent ne pouvait manquer de produire sur Tesprit du peuple
qu'il s'effor9ait de gagner, Charles consentitd tout;^ lo complot s'ourdit
k I'ombre de concessions, et tout ctait prdt pour Tex^ution lorsque les
deux lords, avertis k temps, firent tout ^houer en quittant la ville avec
6clat."*
This particular version of Montrose's alleged proposiUon to the King
we do not remember to have met with anywhere else ; nan^ely, that he
undertook himself to arrest suddenly both Hamilton and Argyle ; and
to dispatch them at once, if they resisted. He made his escape, se-
cretly (according to M. Guizot), from his prison in that isolated strong-
hold the Castle of Edinburgh, and appeared by night in the King's
bed-chamber in Holyrood House, at the other extremity of the city,
for the purpose of making this insane oflfer of service I And having
made it, he forthwith escaped back again into his prison, the fact of hia
» A total mistake. Soe before, pp. 308, 321, 335, 365.
* None of our mistaken historians are so specific as to lay the scene at night, in the
King's bed-chamber ; but as the interview never occurred at all, it may as safely be laid
at night as in the day time. M. Guixot, who quotes Tiaing as one of his authorities, had
overlooked the fact, that that historian rejects altogether the theory that Montrose had
quitted his prison, and only founds the calumny upon what he ingeniously calls an
*♦ indirect interview by intervention."' The French liistorian may not have met with Mr
Chambers's version ; but he will there find a letter substituted for Laing's iiitercmtlon.
These authors knew what could not so readily occur to M. Guizot, that if under the cir-
cumstances of that imprisonment, ** Montrose sortit secretement de sa prison," he must
have crept through the key-hole. And how did he get back again ?
* From what source is that allegation derived ! Certainly not from Clarendon. On
the contrary, the story, both in Clarendon and Brodio, it, that the King recoiled from
the main proposition v>Uh horror. M. Guizot is not just to Charles in that paragraph.
* ^ Hardwick's StaU Papers^ t. ii. p. 299.— Clarendon, Ili^L of the Reljell. t. ii. p. 224,
ct suiv.— Burnet, Meinoin of Ok UamiUons, p. 148-1/1.— /?aj7/i» Letters, t. i. p. 320,
327, 330-332.— Malcolm Laing, IlUt. of Scotland, t. iu. p.228,et suiv., et not© 8, p.547-
555.— Brodio, /Iuoforo, pp. 311-^17.
Ixxvi APPENDIX.
conception of such a clumsy butchering plot. Our business is with
Montrose. And what is most material to him as regards this authority
(being M. Guizot's leading reference against him), is, that from the
beginning to the end of the outrageous nonsense therein set down, by
the weak-minded and loose principled second Duke of Hamilton, Mon-
trose is neither named nor alluded to. Indeed, so little of suspiciou did
there arise against Montrose at the time, of being a party to the plot in
question, that not only was no scrap found among the Hamilton Ajxshives
indicating that he was so accused, but not a breath of it had ever crossed
the fine nose of Burnet, who, even in his apology for the Hamiltons,
casts not a whimper into the air upon that carrion scent.
But did Lanerick himself not assure the good King, that with his
own hand he was ready to dispatch his brother Hamilton, under cer-
tain circumstances which he figures? Is Clarendon's famous anecdote
not some confusion with regard to a proposal of the kind emanating
from Lanerick ? Far be it from us to say so. We put no such odious
construction upon the following words of that unhappy nobleman, who
was his own worst enemy. But this we do say, that our present defence
of Montrose were all utterly paralyzed, could there be produced against
him, under his own hand, that which was produced by Lord Hardwicke,
when he produced this same " Relation,'' dated, ^' Eenneell, this 22d of
October 1641." and signed " Lanerick."
" The next day, I was informed, his Majesty had let fall some ex-
pressions to my disadvantage, in the Parliament House ; whereupon
I again sent to him^ begging him to believe, that I bad not a heart
capable of a disloyal thought to him ; and that if I believed my brother
had any, he should not be troubled with thinking how to punish him,
for I had both a heart and hand capable to do it,^^ ^
^ This very significant passage is not alluded to by Bishop Buniet, who in those Me-
moirs of the Dukes of Hamilton (p. 186), gives the substance of Lanerick's "• Relation,"
but does not print, and only obscurely refers to the document it«elf, in that part of his
narrative. The reason is obvious.
Lord Nagent's version of the calumny in his Memorials of Hampden (vol. ii p. 96), is
not worthy of particular examination. It is a weak repetition of Mr Brodie, whom the
noble author blindly follows, at the same time misquoting the words of Clarendon, and
misapplying the authority of Hailes's historical letters.
LIFE OF MONTROSE. Ixxvii
VI.
ASSASSINATION AN EXPEDIENT OF ARGYLE's. {Seep. 447.)
1. We have proved in our text, that Sir William RoUo, a most gal-
lant and highly honourable gentleman, told Montrose that he, liollo,
only escaped from the deadly clutches of Argyle, by pretending to ac-
cede to the proposal to assassinate Montrose. Wishart published this
story to Europe, in Latin and in English, with the knowledge and
sanction of Montrose, and in the lifetime of all the parties (see p. 459).
It was never contradicted on the part of Argyle.
2. It is further corroborated by the fa«t, that whenever Montrose
appeared in arms, commissioned to raise the royal standard, the govern-
ment of Argyle issued a printed proclamation, of date 12th September
1644, containing these words : —
" And the Committee doth liereby declare, in name of this Kingdom,
that whoever will take and apprehend the said Earl of Montrose, and
exhibit him alive, before the Parliament, or their committee; or, if he
shall happ^i to be slain in the taking, shall exhibit his head, that every
such person shall not only be pardoned for their bygone concurrence in
this rebellion, and all other crimes formerly committed by them, n6t
being treasonable, but also they shall have the sum of twenty thousand
' pounds Scots, delivered to them in present and ready payment.'' *
It was immediately after the date of this proclamation that Sir Wil-
liam Rollo, carrying dispatches from Montrose to the King, fell into
the hands of Argyle, and was only permitted to return to Montrose
under the promise to take his life.
3. The above proclamation was published six days after Argyle him-
self received with open arms, and rewarded and promoted, the mur-
derer of Lord Kilpont. Independently of the accounts by all the con-
temporary chroniclers, this awful fact is placed beyond question, by the
Parliamentary ratification of the assassin's approval, the foulest stain of
many on the face of the rescinded records of Scotland's Covenanting
Convention. It is the murderer's own story.
^» "1. March, 1645. Ratification of James Stewart's pardon for kill-
ing of the Lord Kilpont.
" Forsameikle as umquhile John Lord Kilpont, being employed in
1 See the entire document printed in ^* Memorials of Montrose,** vol. it p. 163. Mail-
land C lub. See also, p. 449 of this biofp-aphj.
Ixxviii APPENDIX.
public service in tbe month of August last, against James Graham, then
Earl of Montrose, the Irish rebels and their associates, did not only
treasonably join himself, but also treasonably trained a great number
of his Majesty *8 subjects, about four hundred persons or thereby, who
came with him for the defence of the country, to join also with the said
rebels, of the which number were James Stewart of Ardvoirlich, Robert
Stewart his son, Duncan M^Robcrt Stewart in Balquhidder, Andrew
Stewart there, Walter Stewart in Glenfinglass, and John Growder in
Glassinserd, friends to the said James ; who heartily thereafter repenting
of his error in joining with the said rebels, and abhoring their cruelty,^'
resolves with his said friends to forsake their wicked company, and im-
parted this resolution to the said umquhile Lord Eilpont. But he,
out of his malignant dispositions, opposed the same, and«-fell in strug-
gling with the said James, who, for his own relief was forced to kill
him at the Kirk of Collace, with two Irish rebels who resisted his
escape, and so removed happily with his said son and friends, and came
straight do the Marquis of Argyle, and offered their service to their
country : Whose carriage in this particular being considered by the
Committee of Estates, they by their act of the tenth of December last,
t find antl declare that the said Js^mes Stewart did good service to Vie
^ kingdom in killing the said Lord Kilpont^ and two Irish rebels foresaid,
being in actual rebellion against the country, and approved of what he
did therein : And in regard thereof, and of the said James his son and
friends retiring from the said rebels and joining with the country, did
fully and freely pardon them for their said joining with the rebels and
their associates, or for being any ways accessory, actors, art and part of
and to any of the crimes, misdeeds, or malversations done by them-
selves or by the rebels and their associates, or any of them, during the
time they were with the said rebels ; and declares them free, in their
persons, estates, and goods, of any thing can be laid to their charge
therefor, or for killing the Lord Kilpont and two Irish rebels fore^said,
in time coming."
The act of the committee proceeds to prohibit all judicatories and
judges whomsoever, from any attempt to bring the parties to justice,
or to entertain the case against them in any shape, and the submissive
Parliament, taking all this into their special consideration, " and ac-
knowledging the equity thereof, ' confirms and ratifies the same in
favour of James Stewart, liis son, antl his other friends named.^
' Yet Ardvoirlich admits having coiuuiittod liiree murders, in m.iking his escape, odc of
them being that of his patron and friend.
• MS. Record of the Rescinded AQt^.—Gcnend HtgisUr House,
LIFE OF MONTEOSE. Ixxix
VII.
[The following curious document, obviously a very rude draft, we found among the Mon-
trose Archives. It had not been previously printed. The handwriting is contemporary
with its date, but is not Montrose's. It is entitled '* Montrose's Key, 1648.'** At this
time he was abroad struggling to redeem the Monarchy ; and the context of the docu-
ment indicates that it had been sent to Montrose by some correspondent in London.
No letter has been discovered containing any of these disguised names. Some of the
sobriquets are very characteristic, and afford a curious index to the ^timate of the indivi-
duals. It will be observe I, that ** venture faire,^'' which stands opposite to Montrose's
own name, is just his ''* nit i/i«(/t „^j^. r>,,^^, BardK
Ministers, >
Annie, Metamore,
Shipps, Sea Mawes.
Sir Archibald Johnston, Bees.
Cheeslie, Gooscappe.
William Murray, Amphibian or 27^^tir:fiic.
Sir Robert Murray, the Tutor,
David Leslie, the Executioner.
The North, the Snowe,
u
Ixxx APPENDIX.
The Soath, the Sunne,
Edinburgh, Rotterdam.
London, Amsterdam,
Parliament of England, CorryualL
Synod, Apes or Munkles,
Southeske, the auld man,
Trawhquaire, Versatilis,
Carnageny, Ourfreinde,
Syuel, Achates,
Ogylby, Our cousin,
Lighcoe, the Youth.
Camwatb, the untrusty.
Dumirise, the Goodman,
Roxbrough, Fox.
Huntley, the Maurgame.
Siefort, the Warry,
Mr Hope, Argiers,
" Any other names may be couched plaijily, for or against them.
" Subscribe, Jackson. Direct, To your locing friend Mr Jameson^
merchandj to be left at Robert Inglis, merchand of London^ neare
London stone J ^
[Endorsed] " Seuerall Cypher Keys."
KNI) OF VOL. I.
EDTNRURGn : PRIXTBD BY MACPHERSON flr SYME.