The Gowrie conspiracy and its official narrative

UONSPIRACl

THE GOWRIE CONSPIRACY

THE

GOWRIE CONSPIRACY

AND ITS OFFICIAL NARRATIVE

BY

SAMUEL COWAN, J.P.

AUTHOR OF

' MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS ' AND 'WHO WROTE THE CASKET LETTERS^

LONDON

Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Limited
fetter lane, fleet street, e.g.

J902

LONDON :

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.

PREFACE.

That singular event, the Gowrie Conspiracy,
is one that appeals with more than common
interest to all readers of history, as the obscu-
rity in which it is involved gives it quite a
romantic place in the annals of the 17th
century. I have endeavoured in the following
pages to throw some additional light on the
subject derived from a careful research in the
State Paper offices and in other collections.
The papers in the possession of the Perth
Literary and Antiquarian Society have, I
believe, been privately published, but this is
the first time that some of them have really
been put within reach of the public. I
consider these papers of importance, not so
much from the position and standing of the

vi

Preface

writers, as from the special opportunities they
had of giving an independent opinion on
a subject they had studied with profound
interest. I am not prepared to question the
conclusions at which they have arrived, for I
think these, when the whole case has been put
under review and every available document
scrutinised, are well founded. There are some
curious things connected with this event. For
example, we are met at the threshold by the
absolute want of a Ruthven narrative and the
consequent difficulty of estimating the value
of that published by the King. On this
hangs the whole question. The execution
of the plot showed that it was deliberately
planned, although all trace of negotiations has
been withheld and absolutely nothing dis-
closed. That Gowrie conspired against the
King and was the head of the conspiracy the
official narrative tries to make clear ; but it is
not well put together. It is rather a clumsy
piece of composition, and its special pleading
condemns it, Take for example the scene in

Preface

vii

the turret chamber. Does any one suppose
that if Gowrie wanted to assassinate the King,
Alexander Ruthven would have engaged in
the silly conversation that is recorded in the
official narrative ? If the plot had been of
Gowrie's making, if Gowrie had, as many
suppose, been the conspirator, Alexander
Ruthven would doubtless have taken his life
when he had so favourable an opportunity for
doing so. And what is conspicuous is that
neither Gowrie nor his brother ever attempted
to take the King's life. Ruthven was evi-
dently dragged to the turret window by
James, and this cunning device conveyed the
impression outside that James was in great
danger. (James at this period would be
thirty-four years of age, Ruthven a youth
of twenty.) This was the signal for the
massacre which afterwards took place ; and
the manner in which it was carried out cer-
tainly indicated that it was malice afore-
thought. There is also to be considered the
attitude of the Corporation of Perth of that

viii

Preface

day. The magistrates were onlookers, and it
is evident they had no knowledge whatever
until Gowrie was killed that any conspiracy
was going on. Had Gowrie led the con-
spiracy, his brother magistrates would doubt-
less have known something about it. So far
from that being the case, the Town Council
and the inhabitants rose up in indignation
against the King, and were furious at the
death of Gowrie, who was their Provost. The
King's efforts to appease them by becoming
a burgess in April following was a highly
suspicious act, and his effusive charters granted
to the town after the event are too transparent
to mislead any one. The subsequent conduct
of the King and his nobles throws great sus-
picion on them. The depositions they took,
which were painfully voluminous, were un-
truthful, one-sided, and conspicuous by their
want of independence. They are a mere
re-echo of the official narrative. These tri-
bunals, in short, were not impartial, and some
shady circumstances are reported to have

Preface ix

occurred, such as the murder of a messenger,
who could have given important evidence,
whose body was found next day in a corn-
field. Why did the King's party murder
this man, who witnessed the conspiracy, if it
was not because his evidence would condemn
the King ? Assuming Gowrie to have been
the conspirator, was the King, with the know-
ledge he possessed, having slain his enemies
and confiscated their estates, justified in re-
sorting to the cruel and inhuman procedure
which he subsequently adopted against the
Ruthven family ? His object in all this is
undoubtedly a great mystery, and seems to
convey the impression that he believed Gowrie
was a competitor for the English throne.

The correspondence of Nicolson, Elizabeth's
envoy in Scotland, is important, and should
be carefully studied. So far as we are aware
he was a man of strict integrity. He does
not take the King's part, and he was an
independent witness and a looker-on. In
coming to the conclusion I have done, I have

h

X Preface

been guided by the evidence I have repro-
duced, and there is no other evidence of any
value to be obtained on which one would be
justified in forming a conclusion. That,
evidence appears to me to leave no room for
doubt as to who was the author of the so-
called Gowrie Conspiracy.

S. C.

Perth,
Novejnbei\ 1902.

LIST OF PLATES.

GowRiE House ..... Frontispiece

Plate I. — The Courtyard and Adjoining

Ground. .... Facing page loo

Plate II. — The Interior — Showing First and
Second Floors, Black Turnpike, and
Turret Chamber . . . Facing page 102

Ancient or Mercat Cross of Perth . page 257

THE GOWRIE CONSPIRACY

CHAPTER I.

Condition of Scotland in 1600 — The Ruthven Family
— The Earl of Cowrie's return from Padua — The
King's narrative of the Conspiracy.

Scotland during the middle ages was any-
thing but a peaceful kingdom, and its people
were anything but law-abiding. Its adminis-
tration was not characterised by integrity, but
rather by corruption, immorality, and crime.
Allegiance to the throne was disregarded in
high quarters when any great scheme was
afloat, and the effect of this was destructive
of loyalty and of the general safety, and calcu-
lated to keep the people in constant excite-
ment. Conspiracies during this period were
very common, and the lives of the lieges were

B

2 The Gowrie Conspiracy

never absolutely free from danger. The
conspiracy of Robert Graham and the Earl
of Atholl against the life of James I. was an
inexcusable and treacherous act, in which the
lives of all three were sacrificed. The con-
spiracies against Riccio and against Darnley
were equally inexcusable, and attended with
much greater loss of life ; while the conspiracy
against the Queen of Scots was carried on for
nineteen years, and culminated not only in
her execution, but in a wholesale execution of
a large number of the nobility and people.
In the reign of James VI. the conspiracy
against him by William Lord Ruthven and
his followers lasted for upwards of ten months,
and some years afterwards what is known as
the Gowrie Conspiracy followed suit. These
do not exhaust the list, but they unfold the
spirit of the times. These plots had one
object only, and that was the aggrandisement
of the men by whom they were put forward.
The condition of Scotland was pitiable. It
was financially in a state of chronic bank-

Condition of Scotland in 1600 3

ruptcy, and the English monarch its chief
creditor. It was constantly engaged in civil
war ; its miHtary were undisciplined, ill-clad,
ill-fed, ill-paid, while its people were poor and
discontented. This state of matters occasioned
the loss of Flodden, Pinkie, Solway Moss,
and several other engagements. The general
poverty and insecurity were shown in some of
the sieges of Perth, the ancient capital, when
on one occasion only one man in the burgh
was able to give hospitality, and on another
occasion, when the provost and magistrates for-
sook the town and ran away to escape danger.
With one exception these cabals we have
referred to were directed against royal person-
ages, a state of matters that disclosed a spirit
of rebellion and treason amongst the leading
men of the time, and particularly those who
were ministers of State. Everything unfor-
tunately has not been recorded, and we can
only criticise what is expressed in the official
narrative. The treasonable conduct of the
nobles, which figures conspicuously in the

B 2

4 The Gowrie Conspiracy

historical record, is difficult to believe, but it
seems to be beyond doubt ; and not only so,
but there is reason to believe that all of them
entered into and promoted these unlawful
schemes without the least hesitation. For
example, when James Hepburn, Earl of
Bothwell, undertook to murder Darnley if
the nobles gave him as a douceur Darnley's
wife, nineteen out of twenty nobles convened
signed the bond. The Gowrie Conspiracy
was different from every other conspiracy that
has occurred either before or since, in respect
that it was evidently a plot by a royal per-
sonage against a subject ; it differed also from
the conspiracies we have named in that it was
conceived without ingenuity and executed
without skill. Ruthven at Falkland, the drama,
at the dinner, the King's uncovered head at
the window, the false report that he had
returned to Falkland, the death-scene in the
turret chamber, the prompt execution of those
who could give evidence against the King,
and the farce of the bogus depositions, leave

Condition of Scotland in 1600 5

no reasonable doubt as to the elaborate scheme
which must have been " cut and dry," con-
structed and rehearsed, before the fatal 5 th of
August. To most students of history it will
appear mysterious why the negotiations for
the deed were kept so quiet ; so quiet in short
that nothing about them has found its way
into the State Paper Office or into any private
collection. Although Gowrie and his brothers
were annihilated and his estates confiscated,
he had seven married sisters who were evidently
undisturbed. One of these was married to
Lennox, who does not appear to have taken
Cowrie's part, but we should have expected
some of the other brothers-in-law to have
spoken out. From whatever reason history
is silent. Even that noble woman, Dorothea
Stuart, Cowrie's mother, who in agony wit-
nessed her two youngest boys being pursued
and hunted to the death by the bloodhounds
of James, was consequently unable to com-
municate with them or to afford them food,
-clothing, or shelter, and has left nothing on

6 The Gowrie Conspiracy

record to enlighten the seeker after truth.
Scotsmen in every age have read this won-
derful story ; children at school have been
" grounded " on the King's narrative ; while
students of history have stood aghast as they
engaged in research and gradually realised
that they were unravelling the mystery of a
gigantic plot.

Whether it was a conspiracy by Gowrie
to remove the King, or a conspiracy by the
King to remove Gowrie, has always been a
debatable question. The Ruthven family
were extensive landowners in Scotland, and
were also identified very closely with the town
of Perth, while by marriage they were con-
nected with various county families. Their
country residence was Ruthven Castle, in the
neighbourhood of Perth ; their town residence
Gowrie House, and the head of the family
was usually Sheriff and Provost of Perth,
There does not seem to have been any crime
recorded against any of the family until the
reign of Queen Mary, when Patrick Lord

Patrick and IVilliam Ruthven 7

Ruthven, who died in exile, joined the rebels,
became a violent conspirator, and was one of
the murderers of Riccio. He committed the
unpardonable offence of striking Riccio with
his sword in the presence of the Queen, and
otherwise of grossly insulting her Majesty, as
is fully recorded in the Queen's biography.
For this she indignantly told him, after the
murder, that she hoped "the Eternal God,
who from the high heavens beheld this
murder, would avenge her injury by rooting
out him and his treacherous posterity." The
Gowrie Conspiracy evidently fulfilled this
prophecy. His son succeeded as William
Lord Ruthven, and was afterwards created
first Earl of Gowrie. He also became a rebel,
and evidently was a man of the most brutal
description, in proof of which we have recorded
his outrage on the Queen at Lochleven, when,
in company with Lindsay, he forced him-
self into her bedroom, found her ill and in
bed, and compelled her to sign her abdication
by brute force. The Queen had no greater

8 The Gowrie Conspiracy

enemy. He was also one of the Darnley
murderers ; and during the reign of James he
concocted and carried out what is called the
Raid of Ruthven, for which he was afterwards
beheaded. His eldest son died while second
Earl of Gowrie, and the next two sons were
those of the Gowrie Conspiracy. The elder
of these, John, third Earl, had just (1600)
finished his education at Padua, and was only
twenty-one years of age. He went to England
on his return from Padua, and spent two
months at Elizabeth's Court at a time when
it has been suggested that James and Elizabeth
had quarrelled. On his arrival in Edinburgh
he was surrounded by a brilliant company of
noblemen and gentlemen and a vast assembly
of friends. The King is reported not to have
been very cordial to him, but his genial
manner at length prevailed. He was fond of
sports, which pleased the King ; and it is
said he became the constant companion of
James, but of this we have not sufficient
proof. The narrative of the so-called Gowrie

The Official Narrative 9

Conspiracy, which has been frequently pub-
lished, is the official version issued by the
authority of James, and presumably written
by him. We do not think it can be accepted
as a hona Jide report of what occurred, nor do
we think the depositions afterwards taken
before the Town Council and at Falkland
are of the slightest value, because they are
notoriously one-sided and untruthful. The
whole proceedings appear to have been
directed by royal authority, and woe to the
man who called in question any order of
James. This narrative has done its work by
manifesting to posterity that the atrocious
deed was the act of Gowrie and his brother.
No narrative of the conspiracy from the
Ruthvens or their friends has, as already
stated, ever been published, very probably
because no one was left who was in a position
to do so. All such were executed after the
conspiracy by command of the King.

In the archives of the Perth Literary and
Antiquarian Society are some important papers

lo The Gowrie Conspiracy

on the subject, read before the Society more
than a century ago by men who evidently
had devoted much time to its consideration,
and whose efforts to arrive at the truth cannot
be too highly commended. What they have
said is of great importance. We give in a
slightly condensed form four of these papers,
which we commend to the unbiassed judg-
ment of those who desire to form an opinion
on this great historical event. We shall first,
however, reproduce the King's narrative.

The Narrative of James VI.

On the 5th August the King and his
nobles were in the great park at Falkland
ready to mount and proceed to their sport.
This was between 6 and 7 a.m. The King was
surrounded by his hounds and huntsmen when
Alexander Ruthven came up and craved an
audience. Ruthven then declared that the
evening before he had met a suspicious
looking fellow outside the walls of St. Johns

The Official Narrative 1 1

toun with his face muffled in a cloak, and
perceiving him to be terrified when questioned
he seized him, and on searching found a pot
full of gold pieces under his cloak. This
treasure, with the man who carried it, he had
secured in a small chamber in Gowrie House,
and he now begged the King to ride with him
to St. Johnstoun and make sure of it as he
had not yet told his brother. The King dis-
claimed having any right to money they
found, but on being told it was foreign gold
he proposed to send a warrant to the Provost
to seize it. Ruthven protested against his
doing so, as if the magistrates got a hold of it
he would never see it. All he wanted was
that the King would ride with him to St.
Johnstoun, see the treasure, and judge for
himself. The King said he would decide
after the hunt was over. At the close of the
chase he surprised his companions by telling
them that he meant to ride into Perth and see
the Earl of Gowrie, and he immediately rode
off with Ruthven at a rapid pace. During the

12 The Gowrie Conspiracy

ride Ruthven despatched Andrew Henderson,
his chamberlain, to advise Gowrie that the
King would arrive very shortly. Gowrie, it
would appear, dined at half-past twelve along
with three friends. Shortly after, Ruthven
arrived to announce the King's approach, and
Gowrie and his friends and followers rose to
their feet and walked to the South Inch to
meet him. The King had an escort of twelve
or fifteen persons. On coming to Gowrie
House he called for a drink, and was annoyed
at having to wait long for it, and also at the
delay of an hour before dinner was served.
During this interval Alexander Ruthven sent
for the key of the room leading to the gallery
chamber, which room adjoined the cabinet
where the King dined. At the end of this
apartment was another which led by a stair into
a circular room formed in the interior of a
turret, and this room could be entered not only
by the door at the end of the gallery, but by
another door communicating with a back stair.
Soon after the King sat down to dinner Gowrie

The Official Narrative 13

sent for Henderson and told him to go to his
brother in the gallery. He obeyed and was
joined by Gowrie. Henderson, beginning to
get uneasy, asked excitedly what they were
about to do with him. Gowrie and his
brother proceeded to the little chamber, made
him enter and locked him up. Gowrie then
returned to the King, who was sitting at his
dessert, whilst Lennox and the rest of the
suite were dining in the next room. The
King in a bantering way proposed Gowrie's
health in a flowing bumper of wine. Gowrie,
calling for wine, joined Lennox and his
companions, and at this moment Alexander
Ruthven, when the King was alone, whis-
pered to him that now was the time to go.
The King asked him to call Sir Thomas
Erskine, but he evaded the question. Lennox
spoke of following, but Gowrie prevented
him. The latter then opened the door
leading to his pleasure-grounds and Lennox
and others passed into the garden. The King,
believing some of his suite were following

14 The Gowrie Conspiracy

him, accompanied Ruthven up a stair and
through a suite of various chambers all of
them opening into each other, Ruthven
locking every door as they passed out. At
last they entered the small room (already
mentioned). On the wall hung a picture with
a curtain before it ; beside it stood a man in
armour; and as the King started back in
alarm Ruthven locked the door, put on his
hat, drew the dagger from the side of the
armed man, and tearing the curtain from the
picture, showed the well-known features of the
late Earl, his father. " Whose face is that ? "
said he, advancing the dagger with one hand
to the King's breast, and pointing with the
other to the picture. "Who murdered my
father? Is not thy conscience burdened by
his innocent blood ? Thou art now my
prisoner, and must be content to follow our
will and to be used as we list. Seek not to
escape, utter but a cry " (the King has crossed
to the window), " make but a motion to open
the window and this dagger is in thy heart."

The Official Narrative 15

Said the King : " As for your father's death, I
had no hand in it : it was my Council's doing,
and should you now take my life what pre-
ferment will it bring you? Have I not sons
and daughters ? You can never be King of
Scotland, and I have many good subjects who
will avenge my death." Ruthven seemed
struck with this, and swore he neither wanted
his blood nor his life. Said the King : " What
want ye if ye seek not my life ? " " But a
promise. Sir," was the reply. "What pro-
mise ? " " Sir," said Ruthven, " my brother
will tell you." " Go, fetch him then," said the
King, and he assured Ruthven that until his
return he would neither call out nor open the
window. Ruthven commanded Henderson to
watch the King and departed, locking the
door behind him. The King being alone
with Henderson asked him if Gowrie would
do him any mischief, to which Henderson said
he would die first. " Open the window then,"
said the King, and while Henderson was in the
act of doing so Ruthven entered the room, and

1 6 The Gowrie Conspiracy

swearing there was no remedy seized the King
by the wrists and attempted to bind him with
a garter which he had in his hand. The King
was too much for him, and wrenching himself
from Ruthven exclaimed he "was a free
prince and would never be bound," Henderson
at the same time forcing away the cord. The
King made for the window, when Ruthven
seized him by the throat with one hand and
thrust the other into his mouth to prevent
him giving alarm. James dragged his assailant
to the window and thrust his head half out,
though Ruthven's hand was still on his throat,
cried out, " Treason ! help, Earl of Mar, I am
murdered ! " Ruthven dragged him back, and
denouncing Henderson as a cowardly villain,
attempted to draw his sword, which the
King prevented by grasping his right hand.
Henderson, though Ruthven's servant, sup-
ported the King, and unlocking the door of
the room stood trembling while the King
and Ruthven engaged in a desperate struggle.
A report was got up by the Ruthvens that the

The Official Narrative 17

King and his suite had left the Castle by a
back door and were riding over the South
Inch on their return journey. (This was an
ingenious device of the writer to entrap the
Ruthvens.) In a few minutes the King's cry
of treason was heard, and some of the nobles
looking up saw the King's face at the turret
window with a hand on his throat. Sir
Thomas Erskine immediately seized Gowrie,
with the words, " Traitor, thou shalt die ! this
is thy work," but was felled to the ground by
Andrew Ruthven. Lennox and Mar rushed
up the great staircase to the hall but found
the door locked. John Ramsay, one of the
King's suite, ran swiftly up the back stair to
the top, dashed open the door of the Round
Chamber with his foot and found the King
and Ruthven still wrestling, the King with
Ruthven's hand under his arm, while Ruthven
still grasped the King's throat. Ramsay made
an ineffectual blow at Ruthven, the King
calling out to strike low as he wore a doublet.
Ramsay then stabbed him twice on the lower

1 8 The Cowrie Conspiracy

part of the body. The King thereupon
pushed him backwards through the door
downstairs, when Sir Thomas Erskine and Dr.
Herries despatched him with their swords.
As Erskine and Ramsay were congratulating
the King a tumult was heard at the end of
the gallery. The King was hurried into an
adjoining chamber when Gowrie arrived with
a rapier in each hand, rushed along the gallery
followed by seven of his servants with drawn
swords. He had seen the bleeding body of
his brother, and swore that the traitors who
murdered him should die. He attacked
Erskine and three companions, who were all
wounded, but they fought with determined
energy. Some one called out that the King
was slain, and Gowrie, as if paralysed with the
news, dropped his weapon, when Ramsay, who
noticed this, slew him instantly with his sword.
After all was over the King knelt in company
with his nobles and thanked God for their
deliverance !

19

CHAPTER II.

First Paper on the Gowrie Conspiracy, read before the
Perth Literary and Antiquarian Society by the Rev.
James Scott — Second Paper by the Rev. Alexander
Duff — Third Paper by James Logan — Fourth Paper
by WiUiam Panton — Plans of the Interior of Gowrie
House with Explanatory Notes.

The official narrative is a very plausible
document — so much so that it immediately
gave rise to controversy. The Perth Literary
and Antiquarian Society, which was founded
towards the close of the eighteenth century,
gave great encouragement to its members to
investigate the nature of this conspiracy. The
result was that four papers of considerable
importance were, after investigation, prepared
and read to the Society in the year 1785.
These were as follows : —

c 2

20 The Gowrie Conspiracy

First, by Rev. James Scott, minister of
Perth.

Second, by Rev. Alexander DufF, minister
of Tibbermore.

Third, by James Logan.
Fourth, by William Panton.

First Paper.

In the seventeenth century it seems to
have been the opinion that the Earl was, by
the mother's side, grandson of Queen Margaret,
James IV.'s relict, and that he was a genera-
tion nearer the English Crown than James VI.,
that lady's great grandson. This opinion is
expressed in some barbarous verses which
had probably been written about the time of
Charles I.'s death. The following may be
selected : —

" Queen Margaret's grandson nigher in degree,
Was Cowrie's ruin and King James's plea."

Gowrie's mother, Dorothea Stuart, could
not have been the Queen's daughter, for her

yames Scotfs Na7'rativc 21

Majesty died in i54i,aged fifty-three, whereas
Dorothea, first and only Countess of Gowrie,
had borne children at intervals after 1580.
A son whom Margaret bore when dowager,
although omitted by all our peerage writers,
is expressly mentioned in Lord Methven's
patent of creation (1525) as uterine brother
of the royal donor James V., and by two
credible and nearly contemporary authors.
Bishop Lesley and Hume of Godscroft, for-
merly stated to have been slain at Pinkie in
1547. The "Master of Methven," as these
designate him, must have been son of the
Queen, because no son of Methven's second
lady could have been old enough to appear
in arms. Her Majesty's second son, according
to the first Viscount Strathallan, had been
born in 15 15 — the following year — and conse-
quently must at his death have been fully
thirty. That he was father of the Countess
of Gowrie is stated by the Viscount.

James VL was resolved that the Earl of
Gowrie and his brother Alexander should be

22 The Gowrie Conspiracy

put to death in a scuffle seemingly accidental,
and in which they were to be made appear
the aggressors and aiming at the King's death.
His Majesty's personal safety and that of his
confidential servants was to be secured by
bribing the Earl's domestics and by fetching,
as if by chance, a sufficient armed force from
the adjacent country. For a visit of his
Majesty at Gowrie House a special pretext
was to be contrived. His Majesty, after
dining there, was to affect a necessity for
retiring to a private apartment, and was to
take with him one of the devoted brothers.
A rumour was soon to be spread that the
King had set off for Falkland. When the
royal suite should have assembled in the
street to follow their master he was to give
an alarm that his life was in danger. His
confidential servants were to ascend by a
private staircase, purposely left accessible, and
kill the brother whom his Majesty had selected
as the companion of his retirement. They
were next to kill the other when he came

yames Scotfs Narrative 23

around, as it was expected he would, amid a
disturbance of whose nature he should be
ignorant.

Of all this atrocity a principal reason
seems to have been James's antipathy to the
opulent and powerful family of Gowrie, the
representatives of which, father and son, the
first and the present, had, the one after the
other, raised rebellions against his Government.
The father's conduct had been fatal to himself
by procuring his execution in 1584. The son
when fifteen only had with others of the
nobles waged war upon the Sovereign in
1593 ; had been defeated at a battle at Doune
Castle by his Majesty in person, and had with
difiiculty escaped from the scene of action,
but after some time was pardoned for his
youth's sake. He had gone to study at the
University of Padua, and returned to Scotland
after an absence of about six years, when,
among the first of his measures, he headed
the opposition to a tax proposed by the
Sovereign^ and was besides avowedly hostile

24 The GowiHe Conspiracy

to his Majesty's now favourite scheme of
restoring the hierarchy. Gowrie's descent too
from Queen Margaret, of whom it would seem
he was^ Hke James, great grandson, and the
possibility of his being selected by Elizabeth,
at whose Court, on his return from the Con-
tinent, he had received great attention, might
help to increase the royal heart-burning.

Whatever were the motives by which the
King had been urged to a conduct so
nefarious, he had in 1600 by letter com-
manded Alexander Ruthven to attend him at
Falkland on the 5th of August — a day on
which Ruthven and his brother the Earl had
intended, according to preparations made, to
go together from Perth to Dirleton to visit
their mother, then residing there, and her two
sons. After privately conversing with Ruth-
ven at a hunting party his Majesty suddenly
intimated that he was going to Perth. On
his way he condescended to state confi-
dentially to some of his train the reason of
the sudden expedition, by teUing them that he

James Scotfs Narrative 25

had been told by Ruthven of a foreign monk
then lurking with a pot of gold in Gowrie
House, and that he wished to seize and
examine him in person. The royal cavalcade
had reached the environs of Perth whilst yet
Gowrie, its Provost, Sheriff and Coroner, sat
at dinner. Instantly his lordship and others
hastened to meet their royal master on the
South Inch, and having done so escorted him
with due honour to Gowrie House, which
they reached at one o'clock.

As the Sovereign had been unlooked for
till receipt of that notice which had raised
Gowrie from table, some time was necessary
to prepare dinner for the royal guest ; and it
was not till an hour had elapsed that it was
served up. The stranger with his pot of gold
had meanwhile been seemingly forgotten.

His Majesty sat down to dinner attended
by Gowrie's brother standing at his back, and
by the Earl himself standing at the further
end of the table. James was now pleased to
rally the Earl on his ignorance of the national

26 The Gowrie Conspiracy

manners. To Gowrie these had probably not
been familiar, as he had been nearly six years
in a life of three and twenty abroad, and had
not returned much above five months. " You
ought, Gowrie, to welcome my attendants as
well as myself," said the King, with affected
frankness. This the Earl, though somewhat
embarrassed, now attempted to do by per-
sonally waiting upon his brother nobles and
others in the adjoining ante-chamber, where
by this time dinner had been served. His
Majesty, attended by Alexander Ruthven,
soon passed them as if going out of doors.

The courtiers having dined went, on a
motion by the Duke of Lennox — who by the
way had married Gowrie's sister — to enjoy the
fresh air in the garden extending from the
mansion to the river. They had been there
a short while only when they were informed
that the King had set off for Falkland.

All made haste to follow as fast as they
could. Of the King's departure doubts were
entertained, but these were removed by the

y antes Scoffs Narrative 27

information given on inquiry. When they
had got nearly ready to mount their steeds,
and the bustle had become very great, who
should be descried bending over a window,
hat off, face inflamed, and mouth pressed by
a hand extended from the apartment, but the
King himself, loudly bawling, " Fy ! fy !
Treason ! treason ! help, Earl of Mar ! "
Mar, Lennox and others ran up the broad
stair at the east end of the picture-gallery,
from the closet attached to which his Majesty
had called for aid.

The first Earl of Gowrie had laid out a
gallery for paintings in the south range of
Gowrie House. At the west end a door
opened into a chamber called the Gallery
Chamber and led to a smaller and more
private room called the Earl's study. These
two rooms extended over the whole of the
turret at the south-west angle and were ap-
proached by a private staircase called the
black turnpike.

At the further end of the southern range of

28 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Gowrie House, Lord Lennox, Mar, and others
of the royal suite, after running up the broad
stairs leading to the picture-gallery, attempted
to enter to his Majesty's assistance, but could
not even by force of hammers. It had been
locked. One of the party, however. Sir John
Ramsay, page to his Majesty, having pre-
viously been acquainted with the private stair-
case at the end whence the King had called,
ascended by it and was soon in the royal
presence.

On the street before Gowrie House stood
its noble proprietor in his cloak, unarmed,
when, by Sir Thomas Erskine, James Erskine,
his brother, and George Wilson, servant of
the latter, he was suddenly grasped by the
neck and thus accosted : — " Traitor, this is
thy deed. Thou shalt die." "What is the
matter ? " said Gowrie. " I know nothing.
Oh, my God ! what can all this mean ? " His
friends and servants interposed and released
him. A near relative, Alexander Ruthven,
younger of Freeland, having no armour, had,

James Scotfs Narrative 29

with his fist, knocked Sir Thomas down.
Denied access to his own courtyard, and sus-
pecting the great danger he was in, whilst
destitute of all means of defence, the Earl ran
a short way to Sir Duncan Campbell of
Glenorchy's House, and there procured two
swords, one of which he had probably in-
tended for his brother, who he knew was
unarmed. He thence went to Andrew Hen-
derson, his own chamberlain : in Henderson's
absence he got hold of a steel bonnet.
This one of his lacqueys tied on his master
on the street. Thus armed, and followed by
Thomas Cranston, brother of Sir John Cran-
ston of Cranston, and probably Gowrie's
secretary, who also had a drawn sword, did
the distracted Earl run, exclaiming, " I shall
either be at my own house or die by the way."
Nor did he meet with any opposition till by
the " black turnpike " he had arrived at the
door of the gallery chamber where he had to
force his way. " Where is the king ? " cried
Gowrie, entering with a drawn sword in either

30 The Gowrie Conspiracy

hand. " I come to defend him." The com-
pany, consisting of Sir Thomas Erskine, Sir
John Ramsay, Sir Hugh Herries and Wilson,
all of whom had found out the black turn-
pike, now pointed to the King's cloak cover-
ing apparently a dead body. " You have
slain the King, our gracious master," they
sullenly muttered, " and will you take our
lives also ? " Astonished, and touching the
floor with the points of the two swords — " Ah !
wae's me," bitterly exclaimed Gowrie, " has
the King been killed in my house ? " With
a dagger Ramsay pierced him through the
back to the very heart. The wounded Earl
leaned on one of his swords, but quickly fell
and expired.

And whom did the royal cloak conceal ?
It concealed, not the royal owner, but that
unfortunate person whose arm had been seen
reaching from the window and ineffectually
attempting to repress the false cry of " treason "
so vehemently shouted by the King. This
was none other than Alexander Ruthven,

James Scotfs Narrative 31

Gowrie's brother, who, at the King's request,
had unarmed attended him to the retired
apartment, and whom, though greatly stronger
than his Majesty, Ramsay, on entering the
gallery chamber, found, as this very person
afterwards confessed, upon his knees, with his
head under the King's arm and with his hand
trying, as he had already done in vain, to stop
the King's mouth. " Fy ! strike him low,"
cried the King to the page, " for he has a
plaited doublet." Ramsay struck, not low
indeed, but at the head and neck, lowered as
these now were by his suppliant attitude.
The King with his own hand dragged the
bleeding youth to the top of the staircase ;
and returning to the gallery chamber, amused
himself by stopping a hawk, accidentally
brought by the page, from flying away. The
page, looking from the window of the closet
and beckoning to the private staircase, cried
to Sir Thomas Erskine to ascend by it. Sir
Thomas, followed by Herries and Wilson, ran
to the " black turnpike," and ascending a few

32 The Gowrie Conspiracy

steps met Ruthven bleeding. " Fy ! " cried
Sir Thomas, this is the traitor ! Strike
him ! " Herri es and Wilson mortally stabbed
the wounded youth, who, falling on the steps
and turning his face to theirs, sobbed forth —
" Alas ! I have not the blame of it ! " He then
breathed his last. His body was dragged up
the staircase and stretched on the floor of the
gallery chamber. His Majesty was now, for
safety, locked up in the Earl's study, the
apartment adjoining.

Now when this scene of murder had been
fully acted did the King, issuing from the
closet, kneel upon the floor of the picture-
gallery, whilst each noble and knight followed
the royal example, and offered a loud and
solemn prayer in which, thanking the Almighty
for the late miraculous and providential
deliverance vouchsafed from the sword of the
traitor, he expressed a fervent hope that his
life had been thus graciously preserved for
perfecting even greater work than had now
devolved upon himself and his associates in

yames Scotfs Narrative 33

the overthrow of assassins, and such as might
redound to the glory of God and the good
of the realm !

As a strong suspicion existed that instead
of Gowrie and his brother conspiring against
the King, the King and others had conspired
against them, it was his Majesty's care to issue
a proclamation explanatory of the late mys-
terious affair at Perth and to cast all the
blame on the deceased. In this proclama-
tion he asserted that a "black grim man in
armour" had attended himself and Ruthven
in the closet of Gowrie House. Of the Earl's
domestics, several had been pitched upon, one
after another, as the armed man, but each of
these could prove an alibi. A pliant actor
was at length found in the Earl's chamberlain,
Henderson, from whose house, in his absence at
Scone, his master had taken the steel cap, and
who had not returned till the affray was over.
This man, instead of being " black and grim,"
was ruddy and had a brown beard. Nay, the
King had on one occasion, to a person who

D

34 The Gowrie Conspiracy

asked if Henderson was the man, declared
he was not, adding in his peculiar jargon,
" I know that smack well enough." Of the
deceased Earl's domestics, Cranston, formerly
mentioned, George Craigengelt, who had been
sickly and in bed at the commencement of the
scuffle, but had sallied forth, sword in hand,
in his master's cause, and Donald Macduff,
baron officer of Strathbraan, a district be-
longing to the Gowrie family, were by the
King's order examined, and on the 23 rd
August executed at Perth. According to
Archbishop Spottiswood, who had every wish
to screen the royal family, these at their death
declared "they knew nothing of the Earl's
purpose, and had only followed him as their
master to that room, where, if they had known
the King to have been, they would have stood
for him against their master and all others."

Of the reality of Gowrie' s treason several
of the clergy were incredulous ; nor could
their illustrious leader, Robert Bruce of Kin-
naird, ever be prevailed upon either by promise

yames Scoffs Narrative 35

or threat to acknowledge his belief. To the
King it was of the utmost moment that the
ministers should from the pulpits give such a
representation of the alleged conspiracy as
might relieve his Majesty of the odium under
which he was conscious of lying from the
general impression that the conspiracy had
originated with himself. Such, therefore, of
the ministers as did not act in subscribing to
the Sovereign's wish had drawn upon them-
selves his keenest resentment, and Bruce,
though of a high family, was banished furth
of the kingdom. He sailed to France in
November, 1600, but was allowed to return
the following May, though, being pertinacious
of an opinion invoking the King's infamy,
he was never restored to the royal favour.
Of the truth or falsehood of the conspiracy
Bruce may be supposed to have been a most
adequate judge, as he had regularly studied
the law, civil as well as canonical, both
at home and on the Continent, and had
at the Scottish Bar, before going into the

D 2

36 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Church, given promise of fiist-rate juridical
talents.

Gowrie's body and that of his brother, after
lying at Perth nearly three months, had on
the 30th October been brought to Edinburgh
to be produced in Court at their trial, accord-
ing to the law in cases of high treason. On
the 4th November the Parliament nominated
the Lords of Articles a Committee for examin-
ing witnesses, and on the 15th again met,
when the Lord Advocate produced certified
copies of the depositions of all the witnesses
in the cause from the beginning. Parliament
declared their judgment to be that the late
Earl of Gowrie and his brother Alexander
were convicted of high treason as having
attempted the King's death : that their names,
memories and dignities be cancelled and
deleted from the books of the nobility : that
their estates and property be confiscated to
the King : that their dead bodies be carried
on Monday next to the public Cross of Edin-
burgh, there to be hanged, drawn, and quar-

yames Scoffs Narrative 37

tered in presence of all the people : and that
their heads, quarters, and carcases be fixed to
the most public places of Edinburgh, Perth,
Dundee and Stirling.

Alexander and Henry, sons of the deceased
Alexander Ruthven of Freeland, Hugh Mon-
creifFe and Patrick Eviot, formerly mentioned,
were declared traitors and their estates con-
fiscated. The elder of the Ruthvens, Mon-
creifFe and Eviot, afterwards obtained the
royal pardon. The temper of this extra-
ordinary monarch had got wonderfully
mollified by his accession to the English
throne.

On Monday, 19th November, 1600, the
bodies of Gowrie and his brother were hanged
and dismembered at the Cross of Edinburgh
and their armorial bearings publicly torn to
pieces. They had now been dead three
months and fourteen days. The heads were
fixed on the Tolbooth of Edinburgh and the
legs and arms on the gates of Perth. By Act
of Parliament all persons of the surname of

38 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Ruthven were commanded to choose other
surnames before Whit Sunday following.
Many retained the name notwithstanding this.
Ruthven Castle, near Perth, in virtue of this
Act became Huntingtower.

James had soon after the alleged treason
of Gowrie industriously courted the favour of
the town of Perth. On the 1 5th November,
1600, the very day of the forfeiture of Gowrie
and the Ruthvens, he granted to Perth a
Charter confirming her privileges and pro-
mising new ones. On the 30th December
following he passed a decree in favour of
Perth against Dundee in a law-suit regarding
privilege of the river Tay and precedence of
rank : and in the following April condescended
to be formally elected burgess and Provost
of Perth : partook of a great feast at the
burgh's expense and adhibited to the Guild
book his signature.

Jacobus Rex.
Parcere subjecds et dehellare superhos.

Alexander Dttff's Narrative 39

Second Paper.

In the year 1584, during the minority of
King James the Sixth, William, the first Earl
of Gowrie, was executed at Stirling. After the
King had come to the full years of majority,
he found the Gowrie family under John, the
third Earl, who was a younger son of the
said William, possessed of wealth and power
beyond the other nobility of the kingdom ;
and growing apprehensive that this Earl
Gowrie might at some time avail himself of
this circumstance to revenge the death of his
father, it is firmly believed, by those who have
had best access to be well informed about this
matter, that his Majesty went from Falkland
to Perth, with design to destroy Earl Gowrie
and his family.

On the 5th August, 1600, King James set
off from Falkland for Perth. On the road, he
gave the following account of his journey to
some of them who accompanied him. That
Alexander Ruthven, Earl Gowrie's brother.

40 The Gowrie Conspiracy

had met with him privately that morning,
when he was going out to the chase, and told
him that the Earl and he had the day before
apprehended a foreign monk in the neigh-
bourhood of Perth, with a great quantity of
gold coin in an earthen pot, and that they
had secured him, on suspicion of his being
sent over to employ this money to sow dis-
cord, and support the interest of Popery ; and
he had come to inform his Majesty, that he
might go himself and examine the matter.
That he (the King) having resolved to delay
the affair till they had finished the chase^
Alexander Ruthven, who acted with great
secrecy, returned to Perth ; and his Majesty
inquired at those who were with him if
Ruthven was altogether solid in his judgment ?
to which it was answered, that he always
behaved himself as a man of prudence and
worth.

About dinner-time, word was brought to
the Earl, who was attending a marriage
between a young man of the name of Lamb,

Alexander Duff's Narrative 41

and a young woman called Bell, the daughter
of a respectable citizen of Perth, that the King
and a company with him had come to his
house ; on which Earl Gowrie's countenance
changed, and he appeared to be a good deal
perplexed ; and being asked by the bride's
father, in whose house he was, what ailed him,
he said he was distressed for a dinner to the
King and his retinue, who had come upon
him unexpectedly. Mr. Bell urged him to
accept of the dinner that was prepared for the
wedding, and it is believed he did accept of it.
- The Earl of Gowrie went to meet the King,
and conducted him into his house, where his
Majesty dined in a room by himself ; and
about the end of the dinner the King, looking
steadfastly to Earl Gowrie, said he would
make free to tell him he had imported some
foolish customs from France, to the neglect of
some good social customs that pertained to his
own country. Earl Gowrie having asked what
he meant, "Why don't you shake hands with
your guests," said the King, " and bid them

42 The Gowrie Conspiracy

welcome ? " The Earl on this took the King
by the hand and bade him welcome. " Go
now," said his Majesty, "and do the same
with the rest of the company." And when
Gowrie had gone for this purpose to the
King's attendants, who were dining in a
different apartment, the King said that
Alexander Ruthven suggested to him that
now was the proper time to go and examine
the monk. They passed through the room
where the Court-people were dining, his
Majesty saying, " Sit ye, merry gentlemen,
and much good may it do you." They then
went through three other apartments, the
doors of which Ruthven locked behind them,
and came at last to the fatal closet, where
the tragedy that day was performed. The
stories of their finding a man in armour,
instead of a monk ; of Ruthven making the
King to swear that in his absence he would
not move nor call out for assistance ; of
his then going to advise with the Earl his
brother, and telling the King on his return

Alexander Duff's Narrative 43

that there was no help, he must die — have
been considered at Perth as having no other
support but the King's assertion ; for the
declaration of Andrew Henderson, who — after
three other persons (concerning whom the
King had said he was certain that one of them
was the man in armour) had made it appear
that neither of them was that man — affirmed
that he was the man in armour shut up with
his Majesty in the closet, was looked on as
false, and Henderson was held as infamous.
It is even affirmed that, after swearing he was
the man found in the closet, he never had the
courage to look a man in the face, but always
had the appearance of a crestfallen dejected
creature, whose countenance seemed to confess
the justice of that general and great contempt
which was cast upon him.

When the King's retinue had dined, one
of his servants told them that his Majesty had
set off a little before for Falkland ; on which
they ran to get their horses, and having
mounted, when they were near the Port they

44 ^-^^ Cowrie Conspiracy

heard the King's voice from a window in Earl
Gowrie's house, which he had got half opened,
crying "Treason! treason!" They immediately-
returned, and tried to get into the closet from
which the voice had come, but the doors were
barricaded, and it took some time to break
them open with hammers from an adjoining
smith's shop, and such other instruments as
they could first procure. Earl Gowrie, being
alarmed at the uproar, ran up by a private
stair to a smaller entrance, accompanied with
some servants, and armed with a sword in
each hand. He found the King in the closet,
and along with him his surgeon, called Herries,
his page Ramsay, and his groom Murray,
which three men had got into the closet
without the knowledge of the other company
who had come with the King. Earl Gowrie
stuck his swords in the floor, and desired to
know the cause of such disturbance. He was
answered by Ramsay, that there was a design
to kill the King, and immediately he and the
other two fell on the Earl and despatched

Alexmtder Duff's Narrative 45

him, as they had done his brother Alexander
Ruthven a little before. At this time those
persons who were forcing their way by the prin-
cipal entry, got to the closet, and the King
telling them what danger he had been in, they
congratulated him on his deliverance from it.

The news being quickly spread through
the town, the inhabitants, and even the
magistrates, exasperated beyond measure by
the death of their beloved Provost, ran in
crowds to Earl Gowrie's house, and threatened
to kill the King and all his attendants.
Various means were employed to soothe
their passions. His Majesty endeavoured to
appease their anger, by narrating the great
danger he had so narrowly escaped. He tried
also to turn it against the deceased Earl and
his brother ; but after all they could do to
allay the fury of the enraged multitude, they
found it most advisable to keep themselves
within doors till daylight was gone, and then
in a dark night they slipped away privately,
and returned to Falkland. When the King

46 The Gowrie Conspiracy

mentioned the circumstance of the man in
armour who had been with him in the closet,
being asked if he knew him, he answered that
he was positive about his being one of the
three persons whom he named. Two of them
being near at hand, gave full proof that
neither of them was the man in armour ; and
his Majesty affirmed that he was clear it was
the third person mentioned by him, who was
a servant of Gowrie's, called Younger. This
man also being able to prove that he could
not have been with the King in the closet,
having been at Dundee when his master was
killed at Perth, he wrote to a friend in
Falkland that he would not lie under the
imputation, and being on his way to disprove
it, he was found next morning in a corn-field
with his throat cut.

His Majesty appointed a day of thanks-
giving, to be observed throughout the nation,
on account of his wonderful deliverance
from this dangerous conspiracy. Several
clergymen, particularly the ministers of

Alexander Duff's Narrative 47

Edinburgh, refused to observe it ; and one
of them, very eminent for integrity and spirit,
Mr. Robert Bruce, did actually submit to
perpetual banishment, rather than dissemble,
by saying he was convinced that Gowrie had
not conspired against the life of his Sovereign.
Murray the groom being sent to expostulate
with Mr. Bruce for not obeying the King's
edict, he replied, " It would be more for the
King's honour to have less to do with such
persons as you." Two younger brothers of
Earl Gowrie, William and Patrick Ruthven,
were at Dirleton when he and Alexander
were killed at Perth. When the King got
to Falkland he despatched Murray his
groom to kill these two young gentlemen,
that they might not survive the misfortune of
their family, and perhaps be the avengers of
it. But one of the King's servants, named
Kennedy, who had formerly been servant to
Earl Gowrie, and had a regard for that family,
getting information of this cruel purpose, stole
a horse from the King's stable, arrived before

48 The Gowrie Conspiracy

the groom, gave intelligence to the unfor-
tunate youths of what had been done to their
brothers, and was designed against themselves.
They fled, got abroad, and were kindly
received and entertained by the famous re-
former Theodore Beza, who had been well
acquainted with Earl Gowrie, had the highest
respect for his character and memory, and
never would give credit to the story of his
having conspired against the King.* Ramsay,
Murray, and Herries received titles and riches
in reward for their services on this important
occasion.

This, so far as I have been able to pro-
cure information, is the most distinct and
complete account that has been preserved in
the town of Perth concerning that remarkable
event, which is generally (though with great
injustice, I most sincerely believe) called
Gowrie's Conspiracy. When I showed the
old castle of Ruthven, in this parish, now

* Only one of the brothers succeeded in getting
abroad.

Alexander Duff's Narrative 49

called Huntingtower, once the dwelling-place
of the family of Gowrie, to that intelligent
and ingenuous traveller, Thomas Pennant, he
expressed a desire to have the best account
of this matter which tradition had preserved
in the place where it happened. After diligent
research, the above narrative is the result of
my inquiries. In the course of a dozen of
years, during which it has been in my custody,
the sentiments of mankind on this subject are
much changed, and an opinion corresponding
with the strain of this tradition, which makes
the conspiracy on the King's side, doth
greatly gain ground ; and this, it appears, was
the opinion at Perth, from the day when that
melancholy affair was transacted there. The
circumstance of three armed men being
privately admitted into the closet before the
King and Alexander Ruthven came there,
removes the principal difficulty which stood
in the way of supposing the Sovereign to be
the conspirator. His Majesty was in no
danger by going into the closet with

50 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Ruthven, who was much stronger than him,
when three armed men were previously lodged
there to protect him, and assassinate the
other so soon as he entered. We cannot
well suppose that these armed men got into
that closet without the connivance of some
of Earl Gowrie's servants, who had been
bribed to give them access. In support of
this hypothesis, Mr. David Calderwood, who
lived at that period, and has left a manu-
script History of the Affairs of Scotland,
says that Earl Gowrie's porter, and Doggie
his waiter, were serving Lord Scone when he
wrote of this transaction, shortly after it
happened. The places occupied by these
servants gave them the best opportunity of
admitting persons into their master s house ;
and Mr. Calderwood, by mentioning them as
being soon after Earl Gowrie's death taken
into the service of Lord Scone, who was a
considerable sharer in the division of Earl
Gowrie's property and offices, certainly means
to insinuate, that these servants were retained

Alexander Duff's Narrative 51

by their present master in reward for having
betrayed their former one. That this same
Lord Scone, formerly Sir David Murray,
was informed of the King's evil designs
against Gowrie's Hfe, appears from a cir-
cumstance mentioned by Calderwood. In a
•Convention of Estates held at Edinburgh,
very soon after the Earl's return to his native
■country, after an absence of almost six years,
he strenuously opposed his Majesty's measures
about some proposed taxation, upon which Sir
David Murray said, "There is an unhappy
man ; they are but seeking an occasion of
his death, and now he has given it." That
Dr. Herries, one of the three armed men who
were lodged in the closet, was acquainted
with the mischief that was meditating against
the Gowrie family, is also mentioned by
Calderwood. Beatrix, a sister of Earl
Gowrie's, and one of the Queen's ladies,
laughed at the Doctor's bowed legs ; he
took her by the hand, considered it after
the manner of a fortune-teller, and said,

52 The Gowrie Conspiracy

"Mistress, before long a great disaster will
befal you."

Mr. William Coupar, one of the ministers
of Perth at that time, came very soon and
very seasonably with a story to support the
King's account of this matter, and great stress
was laid upon it then, and since, by persons
who have been investigating this subject.
Mr. John Spottiswood, at that time parson of
Calder, in Mid-Lothian, who was afterwards,
in 1 615, promoted to be Archbishop of St.
Andrews, gives the following account of Mr.
Coupar's story. " I remember," says he, " that,
meeting with William Coupar, then minister
at Perth, the third day after it, in Falkland,
he shewed me that not many days before that
accident (he means the conspiracy) happened,
visiting by occasion the Earl at his own house,
he found him reading a book, De Conjura-
tionihus adversus Principes. Having asked him
what book it was. Earl Gowrie answered. It
was a collection of the conspiracies against
Princes, all of which, he said, were foolishly

Alexander Dtiff's Narrative 53

contrived, and faulty in one point or other, for
he that goeth about such a business, said the
Earl, should not put any man on his counsel.
Mr. Coupar not hking such discourse, desired
him to lay away books of that kind, and read
others of a better subject. He then proceeds
to give his own opinion of the matter in the
following words : ' I verily think he was then
studying how to go beyond all conspirators
recorded in any history ; but it pleased God,
who giveth salvation to Princes, to infatuate
his counsels, and, by his example, to admonish
all disloyal, traitorous subjects to beware of
attempting anything against their sovereigns.' "
This story was produced very opportunely,
and, we may believe, it was most acceptable.

Earl Gowrie's servants were examined, and
several of them executed, solemnly declaring
that they knew of no conspiracy. His tra-
velling governor, William Rhynd, a most
worthy man, was put to the torture twice at
least, and in these circumstances declared that
he knew of no conspiracy. No person knew

54 The Gowrie Conspiracy

or could bear testimony of any such thing ;
but Mr. Coupar accounted for all this, by
telling that Earl Gowrie had resolved to
put no man on his counsel. I shall only
observe at present, that though Mr. Coupar s
story in a single point of view seems to serve
the King's purpose, it is against it on the
whole, for there are symptoms of debility, and
even suicide, attending, that are more than
sufficient to destroy it. The reverend gentle-
man says : " I verily think that he (meaning
Earl Gowrie) was studying to go beyond all
conspirators recorded in any history." Do
facts support this assertion ? The King is
brought to Earl Gowrie's house, according to
their own account, within an hour of mid-day^
attended with a considerable retinue ; and
there was a plot formed to assassinate him, the
very house where he was, and the doors about
it, being occupied by his attendants. Has this
the aspect of a studied conspiracy? If you
look for it from Earl Gowrie, there could not
be anything so simple and stupid. If the

Alexander Duff's Narrative 55

King had been killed it must have ruined the
Gowrie family ; as his Majesty had publicly
gone into the Earl's house, he was accountable
for him : the nation would have required him
to produce their Sovereign. It must have
obviously occurred to Earl Gowrie that the
utter extirpation of himself and family would
be the unavoidable consequence of the King's
being destroyed, or having disappeared in his
house. The fate of his own father was a
recent and striking example of the danger of
meddling with the person of a King. If King
James had been killed in a clandestine manner
by some unknown person, Mr. Coupar's story
might have furnished a thread of direction
to travel through a dark labyrinth ; but
there is no circumstance in the transaction
of that fifth of August, on the part of Earl
Gowrie and his brother, from which one
could conclude that it was a well-concerted
scheme, premeditated by a man of eminent
abilities, improved by a most liberal education,
for cutting off the King, in a way that should

56 The Cowrie Conspiracy

accomplish the purpose and baffle all dis-
covery. Mr. Coupar seems to have felt this
difficulty, and endeavours to remove it by
alleging that the providence of God had
infatuated Earl Gowrie's counsel. God Al-
mighty doth often defeat the wicked counsels
and purposes of men, by making some occur-
rence to interfere and counteract them ; but
still their counsels do shew themselves and
instruct the ingenious malice of the con-
trivers ; but here it would be necessary to
believe that God had deprived Earl Gowrie
of his reason, as if he meant to excuse the
deed by reducing the agent below the rank of
accountable beings.

I now proceed to mention some circum-
stances which explain to what extent Mr.
Coupar knew Earl Gowrie's character, and
the nature of that conspiracy, and will also
explain the character of Mr. Coupar, and the
degree of credit that may be due to his
testimony.

He had very little opportunity to form an

Alexander Duff's Narrative 57

acquaintance with the Earl of Gowrie. That
nobleman left Perth at the age of seventeen
years, in August 1594, to finish his education
at a foreign university. He only returned to
Scotland in the end of February 1600, arrived
at Perth the 20th of May, and was killed
there the 5 th of August that same year. The
Earl had a house in Perth, but the principal
dwelling-place of the family was in the parish
of Tibbermuir. His estates were extensive
through Perthshire, his relations, vassals, and
dependents, were very numerous ; and after
an absence of almost six years, it must occur
to every person that much company, and a
multitude of objects, would engage his atten-
tion ; and for the space of ten weeks, which
was all the length of time that this unfortunate
nobleman was allowed to live after he returned
to his native place, it is scarcely possible that
any man, who before that period was an utter
stranger to him, could procure such frequent
and intimate access to his company as would
give sufficient opportunity to study his dis-

58 The Gowrie Conspiracy

position and character. Mr. William Coupar
was translated from Bothkennar, near Falkirk,
to be minister of Perth, in the year 1595, after
Earl Gowrie had gone abroad, and therefore
could have no acquaintance with him, except
in the few weeks he lived after his return to
Perth ; and a natural inference from this view
of the matter is, that the shortness of the time
did not allow sufficient space to ponder and
bring forward the various particulars which
such a transaction must have required.

Mr. WilHam Coupar was absent from
Perth on that 5th of August, when Earl
Gowrie and his brother were killed. The
session-record of Perth, dated August the
4th that year, contains the following entry :
"No matters of discipline handled this day,
the ministers being at the Synodal Assembly
in Stirling." The Synod sat at Stirling that
very 5 th of August, and the ministers of
Perth had gone off the day before to attend it.
Mr. Coupar, therefore, being at such a dis-
tance, was not a competent witness of what

Alexander Duff's Narrative 59

was then doing at Perth, and his testimony
on this account cannot be rehed on, as if he
had been on the spot, and known the im-
mediate circumstances of the case, and the
unbiassed sentiments of mankind on the
subject.

Mr. Coupar went from Stirhng to Falk-
land, and published his story before he came
back to Perth ; and Bishop Spottiswood writes,
that WiUiam Coupar, leaving Stirling, came
to Falkland, where the King was, on Friday,
August 8th, and there told of his having
found Earl Gowrie reading the Book of Con-
spiracies, with his own very violent conclusion
from this circumstance. Thus he was an
ultroneous witness, without being called or
suspected. Without taking leisure to examine
matters, he rode immediately to the King, and
unasked he comes out with his story. It has
not the most favourable aspect when a person
goes spontaneously as he did to thrust in his
evidence ; and it looks exceedingly suspicious
when he makes conclusions of his own con-

6o The Gowrie Conspiracy

trivance, greatly stronger than he gives any-
ground to support. If a man^ by looking into
any book, gives reason to suppose that he is
going to adopt all the principles, or execute all
the mischief contained in that book, what man
who reads can be safe for a moment ? Mr.
Coupar, it is pretty clear, wished to recom-
mend himself to his Sovereign, and probably
even then had his eye towards that preferment
which he attained not long after, being made
Bishop of Galloway by a grateful Sovereign.
He appears to have been a man of a
political time-serving turn of mind. This
agrees with the character of him by some
historians of that time, who give a bad account
of him ; and to me it is fully instructed by a
deed I have seen, wherein he, after he was
Bishop of Galloway, concurs with other
bishops and temporal Lords in introducing
the magistrates of Perth to be managers of
the Hospital there, and in alienating and
giving away the Hospital funds for the use of
the burgh. If some others did this ignorantly.

Alexander Duff's Narrative 6i

he certainly did it intentionally. Mr. Calder-
wood mentions a fact which shows that he had
a bad opinion of himself. When on his
death-bed, he discovered great agitation of
mind by frequently beating on his breast, and
calling out, " A fallen star, a fallen star ! "

If these observations leave any credibility
in Mr. Coupar's story, it must be completely
destroyed by the following undoubted circum-
stance. It appears, by looking into an account
of the proof taken at the trial, on which the
Earl and his brother were attainted and
forfeited after their death, which was pub-
lished by George, Earl of Cromarty, in 1713,
that William Coupar was not cited as a
witness in that process ; I confess that the
discovery of this particular did very much
surprise me. To what can it be ascribed t
Not to their being ignorant of what he had to
say ; neither can it be ascribed to a want of
concern for gaining credit to their story ;
the violence used towards the ministers of
Edinburgh, who were compelled either to

62 The Gowrie Conspiracy

feign belief or to fly their country, shews an
excess of anxiety on this point. The only
account that remains of his not being called,
is, that he could do them no good. It is
easier to tell a story than to swear to the
truth of it ; and if Mr. Coupar could have
verified what he had said, by giving his oath
in confirmation, it is not conceivable that his
evidence would have been overlooked ; by
omitting to get his tale authenticated, it is to
be considered, in all reason, as totally un-
founded ; and any credit that might otherwise
have been due to it falls to the ground.

The 15 th of November of that same year
1600, the King gifted a charter of confirma-
tion to the town of Perth of all their ancient
rights and privileges ; the date of it is on the
very day when sentence of forfeiture was pro-
nounced against Earl Gowrie and his brother ;
and the whole family was disinherited, de-
clared incapable of enjoying any possession or
honour, and the very surname of Ruthven
prohibited for ever. This was an exceedingly

Alexander Duff's Narrative 63

severe sentence with respect to the younger
brothers, and any branches of the family
who were not so much as suspected in the
matter, and gives us no very favourable idea
of the impartiality and justice of those who
pronounced it. When we consider the date
of the charter, and the size thereof, it being a
small volume, it is necessary to suppose that
some time must have been employed in
preparing it for the subscription ; which will
make the operations about it coincide with
the time spent about the trial of the alleged
conspirators, which was from the 9th to the
15th of the said month of Noyember ; and
there is reason to suspect that this matter
might be made use of to influence the persons
who had gone over from Perth to give
evidence at the trial, and also to reconcile the
people there to the sentence of Parliament
when it should be reported ; there is much
reason to believe that these things were
intended by it, when we examine the contents
of this charter. Besides the privileges for-

64 The Gowrie Conspiracy

merly enjoyed by the town, there were some
new things granted, that must have been
highly acceptable. His Majesty then ordered
that Perth should afterwards be held prior to
Dundee in the roll of burghs, and that the
magistrates and commissioners thereof should
in time coming have the precedence of any
magistrates or commissioners of the same
order belonging to Dundee. This point had
often been warmly disputed between two
jealous burghs, and was at that very time the
subject of a keen, expensive, and tedious
process. In 1582, the Convention of Royal
Burghs met at Perth, and this question about
priority and precedence between Perth and
Dundee was brought before them, and they
decided in favour of Perth. Immediately
after, the burgh of Dundee commenced a pro-
cess before the Lords of Council and Session,
alleging that great injustice had been done
them by the decision at Perth, which they
affirmed had been obtained by the undue
influence of William, first Earl of Gowrie, then

Alexander Duff's Narrative 65

Provost of Perth, who had misled the Conven-
tion in that matter. His Majesty, during the
subsistence of this process, by the new charter
gave the point entirely in favour of Perth ; but
it did not end there, the process went on, and
next year the matter by desire was submitted
to his Majesty and Privy Council, who gave
the priority and precedence for Perth, but
endeavoured to soothe the people of Dundee,
by retracting some privileges respecting the
navigation of the Tay, which had been also
granted by the said charter of confirmation to
Perth, but were now given to Dundee.
Nothing could be a higher gratification to the
inhabitants of Perth. It was a stretch of
prerogative to think of giving it, and the very
submission which afterwards took place, shews
that the King was sensible he could not grant
it ; however, it produced the effect, the Privy
Council had too much courtesy to tear up
what the King had done; but this straining
to favour the one town to the prejudice of the
other does ill accord with the hypothesis of

F

66 The Gowrie Conspiracy

the conspiracy at Perth, if we consider that
the inhabitants of Dundee took arms when the
report reached them that the King was in
danger at Perth, and were advancing rapidly
for his rescue. By this charter of confirmation,
also, the sum of Eighty Pounds Sterling
yearly, at that time paid into the Exchequer
for his Majesty's use, was gifted for the
following purposes, and in the following pro-
portions, to the town of Perth : Sixty-nine
Pounds, Eight Shillings, and Eightpence
Sterling, to an hospital which his Majesty
had some time before founded there ; and the
remaining Ten Pounds, Eleven Shillings, and
Fourpence, to the bridge ; and there is a fact
which I believe holds with respect to this
whole donation, but I am certain respecting
the share thereof which belongs to the
hospital, that neither any charter, nor so
much as any information, was given to the
hospital. The original grant in favour of
the poor at Perth, which is called King
James's Hospital, was made in 1567, and the

Alexander Duff's Narrative 67

ministers and elders of Perth had from that
date got the administration of certain funds
belonging to the hospital ; but this second
grant was kept an entire secret from them, nor
did they discover it till the year 1754, one
hundred and fifty-four years after it was made.
Is it not surprising that King James, when he
made so large an addition to the hospital-
revenue, being at that time nearly equal to all
the other funds, should not have given them a
charter for it, or at least instructed them of
it in the town's charter, by which they had
right to demand it ?

If there was a conspiracy at Perth against
King James on the day when Earl Gowrie
and his brother, Alexander Ruthven, were
killed there ; if there be any truth in the
circumstances mentioned by his Majesty as
tending to the execution thereof, it is
necessary to suppose that there were several
persons in the plot, prepared to support
the principal actors ; at any rate, it is certain
that all orders of people at Perth did on

F 2

68 The Gowrie Conspiracy

that occasion shew vast attachment to the
Gowrie family, and by their behaviour ex-
pressed a decided opinion that the death of
Earl Gowrie, their Provost, and his brother,
was a cruel murder. Let us try to suppose
that the King was conscious of his innocence,
and that there had been a real plot to take
away his life, was the town where an assassina-
tion had been attempted against him imme-
diately after a proper object of favour ? Were
those very persons, several of whom, it is likely
enough, conspired to do this wicked action,,
and who had certainly insulted and threatened
him on this trying occasion, entitled so soon
to such extraordinary attention and good
offices from him ? One would imagine that
the dread and the resentment of it would have
induced him to keep at a distance from such
a place, and to banish all thoughts of it for
years to come ; but before three months are
over after such a wonderful escape, to find
him employing uncommon exertions to heap
honour and riches on that very city where

Alexander Duff's Narrative 69

such a horrid plot had been contrived, and
almost executed against him, doth in my
apprehension surpass all bounds of credibility.
If we make Earl Gowrie, and others about
Perth, the conspirators, his Majesty's conduct
is unnatural and absurd ; but if we place the
conspiracy to the King's side, all the goodness
shown, and all the gifts bestowed, were em-
ployed with much wisdom and policy, to
soften the sentiments of men, and put to
silence their ill-natured conjectures and reflec-
tions on this subject. A long and violently
contended for preference to a rival burgh
must have been extremely flattering ; a dona-
tion to the poor is always a popular deed ; if,
therefore, the gift to the hospital should come
to be known, it would prove an acceptable
present to the people ; but if it could be kept
secret (and I appeal to the impartial world, if
its being kept an impenetrable secret for more
than a hundred and fifty years does not give
reason to believe that there was a settled
scheme of covering it with perpetual obscurity),

yo The Gowrie Conspiracy

in this way, that donation, which was nominally
to the hospital, was actually to the township,
to the people of power in the place, and was
meant as a bribe to make them have favour-
able thoughts, or at least keep silence about
his Majesty's conduct in the matter of Earl
Gowrie and his brother's death.

I have one other fact to mention, which
concurs with the foregoing, in giving ground
to believe that King James took no little
pains, at this particular period, to conciliate
the affections of the citizens of Perth, and to
procure popularity among them. A manu-
script chronicle, preserved in the town, called
Mercer's Manuscript, of very good credit,
contains the following particulars : " April the
15th, 1 60 1. The King's Majesty came to
Perth, and was made burgess at the market-
cross, subscribed the Guild-book with his own
hand, Jacobus Rex — Parcere subjectis et de-
bellare superbos. There were eight puncheons
of wine set down at the cross, and all drunken
out. He received the banquet of the town.'*

Alexander Dttff's Narrative 71

The same story of there having been a vast
banquet and riot at Perth on that day, when
his Majesty and courtiers, together with the
magistrates and chief people of the place, were
entertained at the expense of the town, is
instructed by other vouchers ; particularly,
by the manuscript chronicle of one Patrick
Dundee ; and the record of his Majesty
having then been made burgess with his own
subscription, as mentioned above, is still extant
at Perth; and a descriptive poem of that
burgh, lately pubhshed,* bears, that the King
was then made Provost of that town. To
no other burgh did his Majesty show so
much respect; and this favour was crowded,
within a smaller space than the compass of
one year after Earl Gowrie's death. Perth
was then a most darling object ; but it does
not appear that this partiality was continued
to Perth, after gifts and feasting had quieted
the tongues, and reconciled the minds of this
honoured town to their then liberal and

* The Muses Threnodie.

72 The Gowrie Conspiracy

festive monarch. These circumstances in his
Majesty's conduct are not the features of
innocence ; they do not express either sus-
picion or resentment of evil having been con-
trived against him there ; but if the King
himself, and those who acted with him in the
matter, have contrived this most wicked deed,
no conduct could be more artfully conceived,
to quench the glamours of men, and to
smother the remembrance of mischief.

The deposition of Andrew Henderson,
who says that he was secretly lodged in the
closet, stuffed in his coat of mail, without
being instructed and pre-engaged for the
part he was to act, gives an air of fiction
to his whole evidence. Who can believe
that he could be put upon such desperate
service without being told of it, and under-
standing to go through with it ? Such an
attempt was not to be trusted, except to
one whose passions were excited and courage
roused, to encounter the dangers, and over-
come the horrors, of such a shocking deed.

Alexander Duff's Narrative 73

The conduct of the two brothers, and their
last words, as witnessed after they were gone
by the very persons who slew them, betray no
consciousness of guilt nor indifference about
character. Alexander Ruthven was killed
coming down the turnpike-stair from the
closet ; he had been twice wounded in the
closet, and was thereafter run through the
body. He made an effort, and was able,
before he expired, to turn up his face to them
who had pierced him, and to say, " Alas ! he
was not to blame." Sir Thomas Erskine, and
those who were with him, running at the
King's cry towards the closet, and finding
Earl Gowrie in the close before the house-
door, seized him, saying, " Thou art the
traitor ! " on which he asked what was the
matter, and said he did not know. With
respect to the character of the two brothers,
the King says he was informed of Ruthven,
and the Duke of Lennox depones that he
informed him that he always acted as a man
of prudence and worth. With respect to the

74 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Earl himself, at the University of Padua,
where he had been at his education, he was so
much regarded that in his last year there he
was made rector of the college. He was
much esteemed by Theodore Beza ; and in
the short time he lived after his return, his
behaviour was open and candid, as in opposi-
tion to the tax proposed by his Majesty, there
appeared no reserve or cunning, much less any-
thing dark or diabolical, about him. There is
nothing alleged respecting his character similar
to such a deed, or that seems to approach it.
In King James's character, on the other hand,
there are several particulars that are equally
atrocious.

The execution of William, the first Earl of
Gowrie, after his Majesty -was seventeen years
of age, and had taken the government upon
himself, for a fault which, when tried by the
practice or opinion of the nation in those days,
was not very great, and for which the King
had solemnly pardoned him, and lived with
him as fully reconciled, was not much inferior

Alexander Duff's Narrative 75

to it. The murder of Lord Down about the
year 1590, shortly before made Earl of
Moray by the courtesy of Scotland, he
having married the Countess of Moray,
daughter and heiress of the good Regent, as
he was called, for no other offence but
because this marriage, which was offered to
him by the lady's mother and herself, inter-
fered with his politics, was fully as bad as that
of Earl Gowrie and his brother ; and our own
historians generally say that the King set on
the Marquis of Huntly, and Goodin of Buckie,
who burned the castle of Donnybristle, and
murdered the Earl ; and it is affirmed that,
with a design to remove the odium of the
nation, which his Majesty had incurred by
this cruel assassination, he went into the
General Assembly, and made that hypocritical
declaration about the Presbyterian Church of
Scotland being the purest in the world, and
that he was resolved to protect it to his life's
end. His conduct in pardoning the Earl and
Countess of Somerset for the unexampled

76 The Gowrie Conspiracy

murder of Sir Thomas Overbury^ though he
had prayed that God might curse him and
his posterity if he pardoned them, and the
execution of Sir Walter Raleigh, show that
dissimulation and artifice, cunning and cruelty,
were striking features in James's character, and
supposing him to have ordered the killing
of Earl Gowrie and his brother, it is not a
singular nor anomalous circumstance in his
history.

There was an appendix to, or second
edition of this plot, which made so much
noise some years after. In the year 1608,
the Earl of Dunbar informed the King's
Advocate that one Sprot, a notary at Eye-
mouth, knew something of some secret plotting
between the deceased Earl of Gowrie and
Logan of Restalrig, then also deceased, against
King James. Sprot was apprehended by
order of the Lord Advocate, and confessed
that he had seen letters written by Restalrig
about such a business, among the papers of one
Laird Bower, who had been servant to Res-

Alexander Duff's Narrative 77

talrig ; and that he had abstracted the prin-
cipal one, which he directed them how to find
among his papers ; and he said that he had
concealed this matter till all the persons
concerned in it were dead. His papers were
searched, and instead of one, five letters were
produced, four of them signed Restalrig, the
other not signed at all, at least the subscrip-
tion taken away, and none of them addressed
to any person ; and several clergymen and
others deponed that they believed they were
Restalrig's writing. They speak of some dark
design which was to be executed at the danger
of life and fortune ; but it does not appear
from the letters to whom they were sent, or
that they were ever sent to any person. Here,
then, is a gap in the evidence. To fill this,
Sprot, after second thoughts, declares that he
had conversed on the subject with Laird
Bower and Restalrig himself, and that, to his
knowledge, these letters had been sent to Earl
Gowrie, and returned by him, with other
letters written by the Earl in answer thereto.

78 The Gowrie Co7ispiracy

This confidence in one who has not said that
he was to be employed to act any part in the
matter, appears both unnecessary and unreason-
able. It is as extraordinary that, though he
was admitted into the secret, he has not told
what their design was ; and after the great
anxiety mentioned in the letters about burn-
ing or returning them to Restalrig, it is sur-
prising that they should have been carelessly
left in the keeping of a serv^ant, and as care-
lessly allowed by the servant to remain among
his ordinary papers. Another thing is equally
surprising, that though, according to Sprot's
account, there were answers by Earl Gowrie to
these letters, and Earl Gowrie was cut off pre-
maturely in the midst of this correspondence,
yet there were no letters about it, or traces
of it found among Earl Gowrie's papers,
nor indeed of any conspiracy, though all his
letters and papers must have come, without
disguise, into the hands of his prosecutors.
Neither does this history correspond with
Mr. Coupar's narrative, and the first hypo-

Alexander Duff's Narrative 79

thesis about Gowrie's conspiracy, which was,
that he had taken no person into his secret.
It as Httle accords with the alleged con-
spiracy at Perth. The King's declaration
bears, that Alexander Ruthven told his
Majesty there was no help for him, he must
die ; whereas, by Sprot's story. Earl Gowrie
and Logan of Restalrig were corresponding
in the month of July. On the 29th, and
even on the 31st days of that month,
were letters written by Restalrig sent to the
other, and answers received from him, of
some scheme which was to be executed
against the King at Restalrig's house of
Fastcastle ; if, then, the Earl and his brother
were employed in settling this plot at Fastcastle
till the first of August, which was to have
been transacted there in a remote and cautious
manner, how came they so soon as the fifth of
said month to attempt assassinating the King
almost publicly, and most imprudently, in
the town of Perth? But if this story of
Sprot's was as firm as a mountain in other

8o The Gowrie Conspiracy

respects, the concluding circumstance would
make it vanish into smoke. He is tried, con-
demned, and brought to the gallows. He
there acknowledges that he well deserv^ed to
be put to death ; confesses that he had told
many lies about the matter ; affirms that all
he had said since a certain date was true ; and
then promises that before he expired he would
make some remarkable sign that what he now
said was true. Accordingly his hands are left
loose for the purpose, " and what was mar-
vellous," says Lord Cromarty, "after he had
hung some time, he lifted up his hands, and
clapped them three times." People are not
now so credulous about miracles ; nor was
Sprot, who, according to his own account was
a liar and a conspirator, the person by whom,
or for whom, such works were to be done. If
God had been to work a miracle, he could
have loosed his hands, or in some other way
accomplished it all himself. The leaving his
hands loose manifestly indicates that there
was some plan concealed amongst them for

Alexander Duff's Narrative 8i

which this clapping of the hands was to be
the signal ; and it is impossible to suppose that
it could be anything else than encouraging a
worthless man to proceed with a wicked story
by a promise that after hanging some time, on
his making this sign, which they would call a
miracle, the rope should be cut and his life
spared. But dead people tell no tales : and it
was safest that he should not survive this
transaction to give an explanation of it. Lord
Cromarty informs us that Dr. Abbott, after-
wards Archbishop of Canterbury, happening
to be in Scotland when Sprot was tried and
executed, was convinced by his behaviour of
the truth of Cowrie's conspiracy. But in
opposition to this Dr. Spottiswood, who was
afterwards an Archbishop also, and who knew
everything about Sprot's trial and was on the
scaffold at his execution, did not believe him,
and speaks of his story with contempt.

Upon the whole I consider myself justified
in saying that the Earl of Cowrie and his
brother Alexander Ruthven did not conspire

82 The Gowrie Conspiracy

against King James VI. as was affirmed by him,
but that his Majesty did conspire against them
and caused their Hves to be taken from them.

Unfortunate Earl of Gowrie, thou hast
been cruelly slaughtered. Horrible assassina-
tion did, on that fifth of August which proved
so fatal to thy family, deprive thy country of
as promising, as valuable a nobleman, as it has
at any time produced. In foreign nations
thou wast revered : in thine own nation thou
wast basely murdered. Among strangers who
knew thy virtue, honour and esteem were
accumulated upon thee : because thy virtue
was great when thou didst return to thine
own, thy Sovereign degraded himself to
become thine assassin, because he dreaded
that very virtue which others admired. He
robbed thee of thy life : and even that was
not sufficient to satisfy his spite : courtesy and
riot, donations and festivity, exhausted all
their force to rob thee also of thine honour-
able fame and to consign thy name to future
ages in the abominable list of dark and

James Logans Narrative 83

detestable conspiracies. This was worse than
the foul murder. How insatiable is savage
cruelty. But though justice may be perverted
it cannot easily be extirpated altogether : the
sentiments of humanity may for a time be
diverted by bribes or drowned in uproar, but
they will recur in this matter. Justice and
humanity are recollecting themselves : and I
doubt not but future ages will consider this
article of history, which supreme power and
cunning have studied to clothe with obscurity,
as abundantly clear, and wonder that this
ancient and honourable family, when extir-
pated by the cruelty of their King, should not
have excited the strongest and most generous
sympathy which their country could bestow.

Third Paper.

This mysterious event is destined to con-
tinue wrapt in mystery. After a searching
inquiry by the ablest writers it seems impos-
sible to prove to the satisfaction of any

84 The Gowrie Conspiracy

unbiassed reader that there ever was a con-
spiracy on the part of the unfortunate Ruthvens
either alone or in connection with Sir Robert
Logan of Restahig. Notwithstanding the
unceasing endeavours of James and his
courtiers to induce the people to " declare
their satisfaction of the truth of Gowrie's
treason/' they remained incredulous, and
persecution was necessary to compel the
clergymen to give thanks for the King's
pretended deliverance. After the Rev.
Alexander Duff's address on the subject and
the published accounts of gentlemen resident
in Perth, it was to be presumed that the
transaction had appeared in a different light
from that which it was intended to do, and
that the conspiracy would be seen to be rather
on the side of a junto of unprincipled
courtiers who easily worked on the supersti-
tious and timorous feelings of the King and
shared in the rich and extensive estates of
the forfeited nobles.

The proofs on which Gowrie and his

yajnes Logaiis Narrative 85

brother are condemned consist chiefly of the
account given by the King, the depositions
of Andrew Henderson, Sir Hugh Herries, Sir
John Ramsay and Sir David Murray, with
the spontaneous declaration of William
Coupar, a minister in Perth. Coupar's
ridiculous tale was made to the King three
days after the event, and amounted to this,
that he once found Gowrie reading a
collection of conspiracies against princes, all
of which he observed were foolishly contrived ;
for he who engaged in such an enterprise
should not confide the secret to any one — a
prudent remark certainly for a person under-
taking regicide, and is very consistent with
the counterpart of the tragedy in which, so
far from adhering to secrecy, he is represented
as actually in correspondence until 31st July
with Sir Robert Logan, then a great distance
from Perth, his brother, Alexander Ruthven,
and a worthless notary at Eyemouth, being
parties in the treasonable plot, the management
of the correspondence being entrusted to a

86 The Cowrie Conspiracy

servant of Restalrig, who was quite unworthy
of his confidence. Coupar's story would not
answer the purpose of those who thirsted for
the destruction of the two famihes and hoped
to enjoy the spoil of their rich estates. Small,
however, as his belief in the conspiracy might
be, he received the bishopric of Galloway as a
reward for his officious testimony.

On the King's own narrative it is unneces-
sary to make much comment. His Majesty's
evidence must be substantiated or corroborated
by that of other witnesses. In the room to
which he was decoyed there stood a person in
armour, and the King named three individuals,
one of whom he knew to be the man. Two
of the accused immediately proved their
innocence, when he positively asserted that
the other, who was a servant of Gowrie's, was
the traitor. The poor man alleged that he
was in Dundee the day on which his master
was killed, and declared his intention to
come and disprove the accusation. This
he proceeded to do, but on the way his

James Logans Narrative 87

body was found in a corn-field with his
throat cut.

Andrew Henderson, who was Gowrie's
chamberlain, fortunately for the King, avowed
himself the man who was armed and placed in
the closet ; but although the only purpose for
which he could have been selected was to
murder or make prisoner his Majesty, he
solemnly declared his total ignorance of the
part he was to act ; Henderson very wisely
steered clear of all appearance of being "art
and part " in treason. He was retained in his
office by Sir David Murray who, on the
division of the Earldom, was made Lord
Scone and was rewarded with that part
of Gowrie's estates ; but after this event
Henderson always appeared with a dejected
look as if he was troubled in conscience and
held infamous for the part he had acted.

Ramsay, the King's page, who, with Herries
and Erskine, was found in the closet with
James by Gowrie, who had on the first alarm
rushed upstairs and with his brother met an

88 The Gowrie Conspiracy

untimely end, was amply rewarded for his
services, being created Viscount Haddington,
and as he struck the first blow his reward was
won, for he was always chief guest at the
anniversary feast, and had a special grant of
any favour which he might ask on that day.
This last favour seems an extravagant reward,
but James had too much " Kingcraft " to
allow the Royal State to be hurt or his lord-
ship too much aggrandised by it. He accom-
panied this grant with so many limitations
that it was of little advantage. Although so
highly distinguished, Ramsay was held in very
little esteem either by the King or courtiers.

The inhabitants of Perth were in the
highest degree exasperated by the death of
their Provost, for they would not listen to the
charge of treason against him, and had the
King ventured to depart from Gowrie House
before night the consequences would have been
fatal. Luckily for the King and his escort,
the Earl of Tullibardine happened to be in
town, and his exertions materially assisted in

yames Logans Narrative 89

allaying the ferment and effecting the King's
retreat. For this he received the Sheriffship
of Perth. James considered it of so much
importance to pacify the people of Perth,
when he could not obtain their belief, that the
very day on which sentence of forfeiture was
pronounced against Gowrie he gave them a
Charter of Confirmation, with grants of many
new and extraordinary privileges, awarding
them of his royal pleasure the long-contested
precedence of Dundee. So very solicitous was
he to soothe their just indignation that he
overstepped his prerogative, for although this
last honour was finally conceded, the process
between the Burghs continued before the
Lords of Session notwithstanding his decision.
So little resentment did this noble monarch
feel towards so seditious a city, and so bold
and resolute was he that, fearless of other
attempts, he visited Perth the following year,
became a burgess, signing the Guild-book
with his own hand, and showing a favour to
the town which no other place ever received.

90

Tlie Goisjvie Co7zspiracy

Not 50 successful, however, was he with the
honest ministers of God's word. He person-
ally laboured to induce them to acquiesce in
the truth of his marvellous narrative and to
return thanks for his wonderful deliver}^ ; but
many of the ministers long refused to notice a
conspiracy which they conscientiously believed
never existed. The Rev. Mr. Bruce sub-
mitted to banishment rather than address the
Almighty on a subject which he declared an
untruth. If the pretended treason of the
laird of Restalrig was not in the proceedings,
it would scarcely appear from the " notorious
forgeries the mock letters of Logan," as
Pinkerton calls them, for they relate to an
attempt to secure the King's person in Fast
Castle, in the county of Benvick, not to any
conspiracy at Perth. These letters, which
were not originals, appeared in different
numbers and forms during the trial, some
being withdrawn, others produced and subse-
quently enlarged and materially altered. In
the agonies of torture, Sprot, the accuser of

y antes Logan's Narrative 91

Restalrig, confessed they were forgeries ; but
the Earl of Dunbar, who by the forfeiture got
most of Restalrig's estates, assured Sprot that
his wife and family should be provided for, and
the wretched man being resolved to die and
having no wish to live, adhered to his first
deposition, and to prevent recantation he was
executed next day.

Lord Balmerino's son was buried in the
family vault of Restalrig, and when the
English army came to Scotland in 1650 the
soldiers broke into it, raised up his body, and
threw it on the public road on which it was
vaunted, "that God made them instruments
to punish that cruel deed of his fathers who
had raised up the dead body of Restalrig to
forfeit it." If there is any belief in the guilt
of the unfortunate baron it is what certainly
did not exist, except among a few dependents
on the accusers or interested in the attainder, at
the time when his mouldering remains under-
went the extraordinary trial for participation
in the so-called Gowrie Conspiracy.

92 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Fourth Paper.

A strong presumption that there was a
regularly preconcerted plot to murder the two
brothers is afforded by the deposition of
Thomas Erskine who confesses that so soon as
he heard his Majesty cry for help he and his
brother gripped Gowrie by the neck saying,
" Traitor ! this is thy deed," the certain prelude
to his death, we may be sure, had not his
servant interposed. Discomfited in this
quarter, the Erskines joined Ramsay and
assisted him in slaying his antagonist Ruthven.
The villainy here is so obvious that it would
be superfluous to enlarge on it. Is there any
probability of such men as the Erskines
clasping the Earl of Gowrie by the garter,
casting him under their feet and wanting a
dagger to strike him because two men were
fighting in his house. Such a number of
circumstances have come to light as must
satisfy every reasonable man that the King
and his followers murdered the two Ruthvens.

JVilliam Pantons Narrative 93

Alexander Ruthven gave no provocation. If
innocent, he was an object of pity. If guilty,
the Erskines could easily have secured the
half-dead body. Instead of that, the moment
they set eyes upon him, without asking him a
single question, or waiting to hear him speak,
they darted upon him, wounded and unarmed
as he was, and instantly killed him. Nearly
similar were the circumstances attending
Gowrie's death. The securing the two brothers
and bringing them to trial alive would have
afforded some satisfaction to the world. It
was a duty which the King owed to himself,
to his dependents, and specially to the house
of Ruthven, as the lives and reputations of all
these were so much implicated in the charge.
Had he wished to have the matter fairly and
openly investigated he would have preferred
this to that of first taking away the lives of
the two noblemen, hanging, torturing and
banishing each of their adherents as evinced
any disposition to show their innocence, and
then bestowing bounties on perjury and

94 The Gowrie Conspiracy

murder in their enemies. Gowrie's murderers
gave no reason why they put him to death.
Even by their own account they did not
know that he had any design on either the
hfe or hberty of the King. In what estima-
tion can we hold the man who, having perpe-
trated a crime, the most atrocious within the
reach of man, instantly goes as it were before
his maker and declares himself perfectly
innocent. If he really did address the
Almighty in this manner, how contemptible
must his character have appeared to those
of his accomplices who were in the secret.
When Younger attempted to go to Falkland
to expurgate himself, he was met by a party
sent by the King commanded by Col. Bruce.
Younger, being aware of his danger as being a
servant of Gowrie, attempted to secret himself
in a field of corn. But Bruce discovered and
slew him, and then carried his body to Falk-
land where it was exposed to public view as
the body of a traitor, his Majesty giving out
that it was the identical person who was in the

JVilliam Pantoyl s Narrative 95

turret. But it became known afterwards that
Younger was in Dundee at the time of his
master's death. James, being in no way
abashed at telling so many falsehoods, offered
a bribe to induce some one to come forward
and assume the character of the armed man
in the turret chamber and at this point
Henderson (probably because of the bribe)
came forward and declared himself to have
been the man.

On the following morning the Privy
Council at Edinburgh received by express
the King's account of the transaction, and
along with it an injunction to command the
clergy of Edinburgh instantly to convene the
people in the churches and publicly thank
God for his Majesty's deliverance. John
Graham of Balgowan also arrived in Edin-
burgh and gave a description of the event,
and David Moyes a servant in the King's
house sent another. The writers of these
neglected to compare notes, the want of
which precaution spoiled all, there being a

96 The Gowrie Conspiracy

great discrepancy between them. The clergy,
therefore, refused to insult the Almighty by
a thanksgiving of a deliverance from danger
which never existed. The result was that
the clergy were by the King banished from
the city and prevented from preaching in
Scotland under pain of death. All of them
were eventually recalled.

Of all the ruffians who were concerned in
this diabolical transaction by much the most
redoubtable was King James VI. Although
it was his fortune to reign over several millions
of his fellow creatures, yet a character so
shamefully base and enormously wicked is
seldom called to act on the stage of life.
James possessed dissimulation and hypocrisy
in an eminent degree. His domestic character
was among the most vicious and disgraceful
that could be conceived, yet in public he
made a great show of religion and some
times on improper occasions. Such as by
falUng down on his knees along with his
attendants as soon as he had despatched

William Pantons Narrative 97

Gowrie and his brother and thanking God
for his dehverance !

To secure success in a matter of so much
importance, Gowrie, had he been the con-
spirator, would have adopted the most de-
cisive measures, and among others he would
have had three or four resolute accomplices
in readiness within this apartment — for it was
incapable of containing a large number — and,
to bar accidents, some hundreds of his vassals
stationed in other parts of the house and
offices. Instead of a numerous assembly of
Gowrie's retainers, we hear of only a single
individual. The precise words made use of
in the turret-chamber must be of the very
utmost importance to those who believe that
some such words were spoken, yet we are
completely left in the dark respecting them
by Henderson, and he is the only one who
pretended to be present.

When Gowrie was murdered there was
found in the pocket of his doublet a little
parchment bag full of medical characters and

H

98 The Gowrie Conspiracy

words of enchantment which he had studied
in Padua. He is said to have been an
enthusiastic chemist, and, in common with
many eminent men of that age, a dabbler
in astrology. It is curious that this pro-
pensity to magic and visionary pursuits
was hereditary in the Ruthven family. His
grandfather, the murderer of Riccio, had
given Queen Mary a magic ring as a protec-
tion against poison. His father, the leader in
the Raid of Ruthven, when in Italy had his
fortune foretold by a wizard ; and the son
when some of his friends had killed an adder
in Strathbraan lamented their haste, and told
them he would have diverted them by making
it dance to the tune of some cabalistic words
which he had learned in Italy from a famous
necromancer and diviner.*

A modern writer f of great experience
says : I have read nearly all that has been
written on the subject. Every particle of
historical evidence that I have met with has

* Tytler, vol. iv. f G. P. R. James.

IVilliam Pant on s Narrative 99

tended to impress upon my mind the firm
belief that the last Earl of Gowrie was as
amiable, as enlightened, and as innocent of
all offence against the King as any man in
Scotland. His name, his race, his position
and his opinions rendered him obnoxious to
the King. I find on reading the letters and
memoirs of contemporaries that very few
persons believed him guilty, and that James
had recourse to all the resources of persecution
in order to silence the many voices which too
loudly proclaimed him innocent.

" Thus perished the noble, the brave, and the true,
Thus triumphed the feeble, the base, and the
treacherous."

H 2

TOO The Gowrie Conspiracy

NOTES ON THE PLAN.

Gowrie House formed nearly a square. That part
in which the affray took place was on the south and
east side of the square. A A the buildings ; C C were
temporary sheds for the artillery. The principal stair-
case, Y, was at the south-east angle of the court. There
was a smaller staircase at T, called the Black Turnpike.
The principal building, A A, was of two storeys. The
family apartments and bedrooms were in the division
A D, Plan No. 2, surrounded by two turrets. The
dining-room was at D, the window of which looked
into the garden. The principal hall, H, communicated
with the staircase Y, and with the dining-room. There
was a door at U, leading by a flight of steps, U L, to
the garden. The greater part of the second floor,
Plan 3, was occupied by a gallery, A, which extended
over the whole of that part of the building. The
gallery was richly ornamented with paintings and
works of art. There was a turret, X, communicating
with the gallery chamber.

After dinner, the King, with Alexander Ruthven, left
the room D, Plan No. 2, passed through the hall H,
where his escort were, to the staircase Y, which they
ascended. Shortly after Sir John Ramsay and the laird
of Pittencreiff went up the stair Y into the gallery A.
Gowrie believed the King had gone off to Falkland,
and told his guests so; but the porter said that could

GoWRTE Util'bE ADJOIN IN a GROUND.

_ ^ PLAr£ I

K.\.The anaenz portion. <jrf GowrieSouse ; consistuy of rhrce fhors ojiA atdcs. B.B. The, more modern. poraoTiof GowrieBouse CC Temporary S?teds,L(ia^ly us'ed tor Artillery.
D. The MoTiA's Tower. O. The Erarance. Gaze. S, '6. Two Turrets. T. The Black. Turnpike . L.Vi.Fli^hf: of Stxps leading to the Garden.

' [to face page IOC.

Notes on the Plan lor

not be, as he had the key of the back gate. While
they were debating this point the King's voice was
heard crying "Treason," and in looking up from the
street in front of the gate G to the window in the
turret O, Plan 3, they beheld, according to the official
report, the King and the hand of a man stopping his
mouth.

Mar and Lennox ran across the court to the staircase
Y, which they ascended and crossed to gallery A, but
found the door to the gallery chamber at F locked.
This door they tried to break open, but could not.
Ramsay, finding the door to the Turnpike T open, ran
up that stair, entered the gallery chamber C, where he
is reported to have found the King and Ruthven
struggling. Ruthven was thrust down the Turnpike T,
wounded. At the bottom of the stair he was slain by
Herries and Erskine.

Henderson at Falkland said he was crossing toward
the other window when Alexander Ruthven came in
(from the window at S, Plan No. 3, to the window O),
but was crossed in his path by Ruthven. If the King
stood opposite the door and looking towards it, then
when Ruthven entered and advanced towards the King
the situation of parties is believed to be nearly that of
the letters K, R, H — K being the situation of the King ;
R that of Ruthven ; H that of Henderson, stopped in
crossing the round apartment. A struggle ensued in
that situation, Ruthven attempting to bind the King's
hands. Henderson went up to them, being on the

I02 The Gowrie Conspiracy

King's right and on Ruthven's left hand. The King
cast loose his left hand, Henderson says. In that case
the garter for binding him must have been in Ruthven's
left hand, as he had made use of his right in seizing the
King's left. In that situation the garter was easily
pulled from him, as described by Henderson, who stood
at his left. The King then " loups free," that is, makes
either towards the door or towards the window. Ruthven
turns round, follows him, and seizes him again near the
window, while both were followed by Henderson. Here
the situation is so far changed that Henderson H^ is
now on the right of Ruthven R^ and on the left of the
King K^, the two latter being between the former and
the window. In this situation Ruthven takes hold of
the King's throat with his left hand and puts his right
in the King's mouth to prevent his cries. Henderson
then stretches his left hand over between the parties
toward the window. It was only in that position that
the King could have been seen by the party near the
gate without the persons with whom he was struggling
being also visible. The window S looked directly to
the Spy tower ; this was the wrong window, and
Henderson went to window O. (Henderson's account
cannot be accepted as bona fide)

(These plans are reproduced from the McOmie
drawings in the possession of the Perth Literary and
Antiquarian Society, and may be accepted as authentic
and accurate.)

I03

CHAPTER III.

Reasons for Disbelieving the Official Narrative —
Evidence against the King — The Nicolson-Cecil
Correspondence — The Hill Burton version and its
value.

There are some highly ridiculous touches
in the official narrative. For example^ if
Alexander Ruthven wanted to assassinate the
King he had a sufficient opportunity of doing
so when he got him into the turret chamber.
Had Ruthven been the conspirator he would
have despatched the King instantly when he
had him in that secure position and the door
of the chamber locked. And, again, Ruthven,
according to this narrative, told the King that
he killed his father and must therefore die,"
and thereupon wrestled with the King ; finally,
he put his hand in the King's mouth and
attempted to tie him with a cord or garter.

I04 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Could anything in the circumstances be more
grotesque ? Yet posterity is asked to beHeve
this imbecile record of the King. Ruthven
knew the King's escort was downstairs, that
time was precious and delay fatal. If he
decoyed the King into the turret chamber in
order to kill him, is it likely he would waste
time discussing the situation ? It is important
to notice that it is not even hinted in this
narrative that Ruthven attempted to slay the
King or that he had any intention whatever
of doing so. The argument proceeds : " What
want ye," said the King, "if ye seek not my
life ? " " But a promise, Sir," was the reply.
" What promise ? " " Sir, my brother will tell
you." " Go, fetch him, and in your absence
I will neither cry nor lift up the window."
All this is the merest fable. No such words
were ever spoken, nor can they be verified.
For Ruthven to leave the apartment at so
critical a moment was ridiculous if he decoyed
the King there in order to assassinate him ;.
but if the King was the conspirator, it was an

Official Narrative Erroneous 105

ingenious touch of imagination, because the
King by that means might secure the
Ruthvens in the chamber, and in that com-
promising position the King was not so hkely
to be suspected, and the Ruthvens would
the more easily be despatched : this is prac-
tically what happened. In criticising the nar-
rative the mysterious man with the pot of
gold may be dismissed as a myth. The King
had an unquenchable thirst for money. His
extravagant demands for it caused an inter-
ruption in the relations between him and
Gowrie. He surrendered his soul to Elizabeth
for English gold, and his love of it would not
allow him to save his mother from execution.

There is a point in the case not referred
to by any writer except one,* and that is
that Gowrie was attending a marriage on
the 5 th August, when he got notice of the
King's arrival. If the statement be true, it is
sufficient of itself to establish Gowrie's inno-
cence. It has never been contradicted.

* Alexander DufF.

io6 The Gowrie Conspiracy

In the matter of the conversation in the
turret chamber we are surrounded with diffi-
culty. Assuming that it never occurred, and
that the muffled man was a myth, we have
the problem of three armed men being there,
supposed by one writer * to be three servants
of Gowrie's, bribed. This is unlikely, and
in the circumstances is now impossible to
determine. There is nothing but the King's
statement for a muffled man being there, and
his pretended ignorance of who that man
was, and charging three men with it who all
could prove an alibi, suggests the idea that
the story is a fable. It does not seem prob-
able that any man could be there who was
unknown to the King. Evidently the story
was a device of the King to throw suspicion
on the Ruthvens, as none but they could put
a muffled man in that position. Henderson's
evidence may be put aside as unreliable. It is
stated that Ramsay, Herries, and Murray, went
up to the turret chamber as soon as they saw

* Calderwood.

Official Narrative Erroneous 107

the King's head at the window. This is again
the King's narrative, and the question may
naturally be asked how far it is true. We do
not presume to answer it, for no one can.
One thing is clear, if Gowrie had put any
muffled men there they would have been
massacred along with Alexander Ruthven ;
but no such massacre occurred. One writer *
says that Herries "was one of the three
armed men lodged in the closet." If that
were true, Ramsay and Murray, or Ramsay
and Erskine, would be the others. The
statement, which may be quite accurate, wants
confirmation.

There is no doubt, as one writer states, that
if the King had been killed it would have
ruined the Gowrie family, seeing the King
had openly gone into Gowrie House, and
Gowrie would have been accountable for his
protection. We are told, as a matter of fact,
that the opinion in Perth, from the day the
deed was done, was that the King was the
* Alexander DufF.

io8 The Gowrie Conspiracy

conspirator ; further, that the death of Gowrie
was denounced as a cruel murder. Considering
that Gowrie was an exceptionally popular
Provost of Perth, and that there was no inde-
pendent evidence, outside the King's narrative,
that he was concerned in the conspiracy, the
people of Perth were bound to entertain hostile
feelings to the King. This view of the case is
justified when we consider the King's conduct
in pardoning the Earl and Countess of Somerset
for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, though
he had prayed that God might curse him and
his posterity if he pardoned them ; and his
execution of Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the
greatest men of his time, clearly shows that
dissimulation and artifice, cunning and cruelty^
were striking features in James's character : and
supposing him to have ordered the assassina-
tion of Gowrie and his brother it cannot be
regarded as a singular or anomalous circum-
stance in his history.* This is an estimate of
James's character which is evidently true, and

* Alexander Duff.

Official Narrative Erroneous 109

weighed in the balance of the Gowrie con-
spiracy must involve him in great suspicion.

James's conduct after the event is anything
but reassuring. He had greatly exasperated the
citizens of Perth by killing in cold blood their
much-honoured Provost. They would not
believe his statement that the conspiracy was
the act of Gowrie, and to such an extent did
this feeling prevail, that he had to wait inside
Gowrie House on the fatal day till it was dark
and then slip away quietly and secretly with
his escort to Falkland in order to save his life.
He made a bold effort to pacify the people
of Perth by granting them charters and all
kinds of privileges ; visiting Perth on many
occasions, eventually becoming a burgess and
signing his name in the book of the Guild,
and afterwards becoming Provost. The trans-
parency of this could mislead no one. But
the question remains, what was James's object
in committing this crime, if he did commit it.
He was a jealous man. He was not highly
educated. He could not bear a rival to his

no The Gowrie Conspiracy

popularity, and his throne might be in danger.
Gowrie, on the other hand, was a scholar :
one of the most accomplished men of his
time : a favourite at the Court of England : a
general favourite in Scotland, and as Provost
of Perth was beloved by the people : so
much so, that when he was completing his
education in Padua (six years) the Town
Council of Perth kept him in the Provostship
and would have no other. This is a com-
pliment that never was paid to a Provost of
Perth either before or since, and it indicates
to what extent the Ruthvens were respected
in the Fair City. James was well aware of all
this, but his jealous nature would not permit
him to recognise in his kingdom any man
more accomplished or more popular than
himself. He had much of his father's blood
in his veins, as this event shows. It has been
said by some writers that the Gowries would
be competitors with him for the throne of
England. We have no proof whatever that
Gowrie had any such intention. So far as

Official Narrative Erroneous 1 1 1

Gowrie's disposition is known to us, he was
not a man of that character at all. We have
certainly not much material to draw upon,
but what we do know indicates that he was a
man of a peaceful and retiring disposition,
loyal and submissive to the King rather than
an instigator of rebellion. He was in every
respect unlike his father. The Raid of
Ruthven, for which his father was beheaded,
involved James in ten months' captivity. The
King's unforgiving spirit could never forget
this. We can scarcely suppose that, having
sufficiently punished the father, he would
repeat the punishment on the son, but this no
one can determine. After the removal of the
two Ruthvens he issued a proclamation for the
apprehension of the two remaining brothers,
and was successful in capturing one of them,
whom he kept in the Tower of London for
nineteen years. This was a highly suspicious
circumstance. He also gave peremptory
orders for the abolition of the name of
Ruthven, and the Ruthven lands near Perth

1 1 2 The Gowrie Cojtspiracy

were thereafter called Huntingtower. Of all
the Stuart race none played the role of despot
more than James. Another act of great
suspicion was the division (after confiscation)
of the extensive estates of Gowrie amongst
the very men who were foremost in the com-
mission of this crime. Ramsay and Erskine,
who really were the murderers^ were rewarded as
follows : — Ramsay with an annuity of ^looo
per annum and Melrose Abbey with its
extensive revenues : Erskine with the beautiful
estate of Dirleton. In regard to the others,
Murray got the estate of Scone ; Stewart the
Strathbraan and Trochrie properties. The
Murrays of Tullibardine got the lands in
Strathearn, Tullibardine the Sheriffship of
Perth, Sir Mungo Murray the house and
lands and barony of Ruthven. Of all James's
followers, Sir David Murray would seem to
have been the best, and whatever may have
been his connection with the conspiracy he
certainly kept himself as far as possible in the
background. He was created Lord Scone,

Official Narrative Erroneous 113

and he and his son, Viscount Stormont, were
(excepting three years) Provosts of Perth from
1601 to 1627.

The Gowrie Conspiracy happened at a
time when the administration of Scottish
affairs was conducted without either morality
or integrity. The Court of James was, as
that of his mother, very corrupt. Under
both rulers, the Scottish nobles and the Scot-
tish officers of State were destitute of moral
rectitude, and in an eminent degree betrayed
their trust, disregarded their allegiance, and
identified themselves with crime, rapine, and
murder. In these crimes were involved
treason and forgery and the wholesale execu-
tion of innocent persons. The effect of this
upon the nation was hurtful, prejudicial,
paralysing. It stopped the progress of
civilisation and prohibited any effort to carry
on the Government in a lawful and just
manner. Why, for example, if James was
an innocent man, did he, on the 23rd August,
execute, after a mock trial, the three confi-

114 Gowrie Conspiracy

% dential servants of Gowrie, Cranston, Craigen-
gelt and Macgregor, all of whom were eye-
witnesses of the event. The explanation
evidently is that James was determined to
remove every person who would or could

• give evidence in Gowrie's favour, whose testi-
mony was not only of the utmost import-
ance, but would have solved the mystery of
the guilt or innocence of the King. The
attitude of the King and the entire circum-
stances of the Gowrie Conspiracy, we think,
leave no room to doubt that he was the author.
Assuming James to have been the head of
this mysterious plot, it exhibits his unforgiving
nature as well as his relentless character, which
was more censurable than that of the first
Earl of Gowrie whom he beheaded and
greatly more blameworthy than that of his
son Charles I. who also was executed.

Evidence against the King 115

Evidence against the King.

We will now proceed to reproduce some
startling testimony from eye-witnesses and
from contemporary writers which does not
appear to have been published before. The
event, as might be expected, created an impres-
sion over Scotland which was appalling, and a
close inspection of the correspondence of the
period, so far as deposited in the State Paper
Offices, reveals one conspicuous point, and that
is that not one of these letters condemns
Gowrie. It must be kept in view that, as the
King was involved in this matter, no one
was safe to write much about it, unless they
took the King's part. The letters we now
reproduce are written with bated breath on the
vital point; but if Gowrie had been the
actual conspirator, these writers, we think,
would have exposed him in very different
terms. These letters, which we have modernised,
will bear more than one perusal as they are
at times not very intelligible. They are, with

ii6 The Gowrie Conspiracy

one exception^ addressed to Sir Robert Cecil,
Elizabeth's Prime Minister, and strange
though it may seem, we have not been able
to discover any of Cecil's replies. Nicolson
was Elizabeth's envoy in Scotland, and unlike
some of his predecessors he was a man of
integrity and good principle. Every word
that he has written about this conspiracy
may be accepted, for his words are not only

• significant but true. In his estimation the
general opinion prevailing was, that it was a
conspiracy of the King to slay the Gowries.
His letter of August ii, 1600, to Sir Robert
Cecil is of great importance. He was com-
pelled to send the King's version of the deed
to England because "the King caused it
to be written." In his position he had no
alternative ; but he goes on to tell Cecil that
there are great doubts of the truth of the

' King's report, and that these doubts are
greatly increasing. Unless the King bring
the conspirators to the scaffold, the people
will form dangerous opinions about him ;

Evidence against the King 117

they will believe him guilty and Gowrie
innocent. But the most serious charge in
this letter is that the reports of the con-
spiracy coming from the King differ. This is
probably the strongest point recorded against
the King, a point from which he cannot
escape. An innocent man could only have
given one version, and whatever the King's
intentions were, we fear he must stand con-
victed in the eyes of posterity. Nicolson is
careful and guarded in his language about the
King, but he tells us that Alexander Ruth-
ven wore on the occasion a silk cut doublet
without armour, whether with or without
weapon he does not seem to know. Gowrie
himself, he alleges, was without arms, save two
rapiers, which he had to borrow. Nicolson's
reference to the attitude of the clergy is very
cautiously put ; but, reading between the lines,
we see that these were not at all convinced of
the bona Jides of the King's narrative. And,
in view of the Ruthvens being both defence-
less, this is a strong argument in their favour.

- ii8 The Gowrie Conspiracy

But Nicolson, though he makes no comment,
makes it clear to Cecil what he means. " The
matter is believed to he otherwise than the
King reports it ; all parts of the country^ so far
^ as I can learn, are in great suspicion at the
Kings attitude^ This is language that
cannot be misunderstood. In the following
correspondence we begin with Nicolson's
letter of 29 January, 1600. A Convention of
some importance was summoned by the King
at which he made his demand for money
for his honourably entering on the Crown of
England after Elizabeth. The meeting was
out of sympathy with him, and he lost his
temper. The Earl of Gowrie made a speech
about the extravagant proposal of the King,
expressing his dissatisfaction with it, at which
the King fell into a rage and dismissed the
Convention. The proceedings are too lengthy
to be reproduced in full, but we give that
part referring to Gowrie, which is all that
concerns us.

By an Act of Sederunt of the Court of

Nicolson — Cecil Correspondence 119

Session dated June 20th, 1600, the King, on
Gowrie's return to Scotland, appears to have
been his debtor to the extent of ^80,000.
It represented the sums which WilHam Earl
of Gowrie became liable for on behalf of the
King. To this extent Gowrie had burdened
his estates. It is believed that James never
intended to pay this debt, and this condition
of affairs may be understood from the following
letter from Lady Gowrie to Lord Balmerino,
2nd Nov., 1600, in which she desires him to
bring the matter before the King. She appeals
for her bereaved daughters, whose estate is
very desolate, and for help for herself to meet
creditors' claims. " I am so overcharged with
the payment of annual rents for his Majesty's
debts, contracted during the time of my
husband being Treasurer, which loans were
taken on my fee lands, that I am scarcely
able to entertain my own estates, much less to
bear the burden of others." The King wanted
to borrow more money, viz., ^40,000, and it
is not to be wondered at that at the Conven-

I20 The Gowrie Conspiracy

tion at Perth, when it came up, Gowrie should
in such strong terms have opposed it. " It
was not consistent with his Majesty's dignity
to ask more than the country could give and
to expose himself to the humiliation of a
denial ; neither was it consistent with a proper
regard for the honour of either the King or
the country to reveal the poverty of the land."

George Nicolson to Sir Robert Cecil.

'"''June 29, 1600.

"When it came to my Lord of Gowrie he
said he had been long out of the country and
ignorant of the matter, yet accounted it all
one and equivalent to the 100,000 crowns; or
better that the King should have ^40,000
and their like help for an army when time
should serve, adding that it would be dis-
honourable to the King should he ask more
than the country could give, and be denied ;
and most dishonourable to King and country
that it should be supposed they could give

Nicolson — Cecil Correspondence 121

him but little. At this the King was enraged,
and seeing on Thursday it would be no better,
he dismissed the Convention with thanks to
the nobility, assuring and promising them his
friendship and favour in all their actions,
and threatening the Barons and Burghs that,
as their advice lay in his way, he should
remember them and be even with them. He
would call a Parliament and displace them by
vote of Parliament and Convention. He gave
them a vote in both and made them a fourth
estate which he should undo again."

George Nicolson to Sir Robert Cecil.

"Edinburgh, August ii, 1600.
" Anent this tragedy, I have certified it in
effect as the K [ing] caused it to be written ;
but notwithstanding, there has arisen great
doubts of the truth thereof, which increase so
exceedingly, as unless the K[ing] take some
of the conspirators and give them out of his
hands to the town and ministers (to be tried
and examined) for the confessing and clearing

122 The Cowrie Conspiracy

of themselves and the people, on the scaffold
or at their execution, a hard and dangerous
impression of the King and his dealings in
this matter will enter and remain in the
hearts of the people and of great ones how fair
soever they may have carried it to the K[ing].
It is begun to be noted that the reports
coming from the K[ing] differ, that the man
who should have been in the turret chamber
said so ; and yet was there without heart or
hand and had many names. No such man
was taken or known or judged to be, till
Saturday, when the K[ing] sending to take
him he was thereupon slain. The K[ing]
was angry because he was not saved ; that
Thomas Cranston wounded and in danger of
death should make and subscribe a declaration
clearing the Earl and his brother ; and that the
master should be without armour in a silk cut
doublet to the shirt, some say without weapon
and others with his dagger in its sheath un-
drawn so found when slain. The Earl hearing
of the stir and death of his brother, ran

Nicolson — Cecil Correspondence 123

and got a weapon and he and Thomas
Cranston, his servant, following were encoun-
tered and set upon by Sir Thomas Erskine
with his two attendants, Wilson and Murray,
and with the recently made knights. Sir John
Ramsay and Sir Hugh Herries, Sir Thomas
Erskine being leader, and the Earl slain by
Sir Thomas and found as his brother was
without any armour save a rapier or two with
him. There are many other circumstances as
that the Earl had almost nobody with him,
&c., which the people have among them.
The matter is believed to be otherwise than
the K\ing^ reports it. The ministers were
ordered to intimate the matter to the people.
I hear as yet they have got no further in the
pulpits than that if the Earl and his brother
attempted such a treasonable purpose, they
had their death worthily, and it merited the
rooting out of their race, but if it were other-
wise it was a token of a great judgment over
the land. However, they were glad and
praised God that the K[ing] was safe, and

124 ^^^^ Gowrie Conspiracy

desired God to reveal the truth, saying that
from that place they were to say no more till
they had good warrant of the certainty, and
much more to this effect very warily going no
further. All parts of the country so far as I
can hear are in great suspicion at the K[ing's]
attitude. Mr. Thomas Cranston is brought
in a litter to Falkland where Mr. Wm.
Rhynd, the Earl's pedagogue and secretary, are
prisoners. They deny any such intention on
the part of the Earl or his brother yet it is
thought the K[ing] shall force from them the
truth of what they know."

The ministers banished by the King
were : Mr. Ro. Bruce, Mr. Walter Balcanquil,
Mr. WilUam Watson, Mr. Jo. Hall, and
Mr. James Balfour.

George Nicolson to Sir Robert Cecil.

" Edinburgh, August 21, 1600.
"That you may still know what comes
further of this late matter here, I have
thought it well to notify what I hear as

Nicolson — Cecil Correspondence 125

followeth. First, I hear that the more the
k[ing] dealeth in this matter, the greater do
the doubts arise in the minds of the people as
to what is the truth of the k[ing's] part.
Mr. Wm. Rhynd, the pedagogue, hath been
extremely bullied, but confesseth nothing
against the Earl or his brother, nor does
Thomas Cranston or George Craigengelt con-
fess anything against the Earl. These men
protested against doing so very strongly, and
in case torture made them say otherwise, it
was not true or to be trusted. This was said
before the torturing. They solemnly affirmed
as they should answer to God."

Sir William Bowes to Sir John
Stanhope.

"Bradley, September 2, 1600.

" In attending his Majesty's ambassador
to Newcastle I happened to meet with Mr.
Preston, then on his way from his Sovereign
to her Majesty. In renewing our acquaintance.

126 The Gowrie Conspiracy

I found him very willing to inform me of his
report of the death of Gowrie and his brother,
in the circumstances whereof sundry things
occurring hardly probable I was careful to let
him see that wise men with us stumbled
thereat, and therefore I thought it wisdom in
the k[ing] to deliver his honour to the world
and specially to her Majesty. Albeit I am not
ignorant that the actions of princes must
challenge the fairest interpretation yet in deed
truth can do no wrong, and we owe our
greatest truths to our sovereigns. In this
matter so precisely masked let me say to you
what for my own part I do believe.

"The k[ing] being ready to take horse was
withdrawn in conversation with the m[aste]r
of Gowrie a learned sweet and amiable young
gentleman and one other attending ; the
speech was about Earl Gowrie his father
having been executed ; the k[ing] angrily said
he was a traitor whereat the youth showed
a grieved and expostulatory countenance
at such-like words. The k[ing] seeing

Nicolson — Cecil Correspondence 127

himself alone and without weapon cried^
"treason, treason." The m[aste]r abashed
much to see the k[ing] to apprehend it so
whilst the k[ing] called to the Lords, the
Duke, Mar and others who were attending in
the court Ruthven put forth his hand to stay
the k[ing] showing his countenance to those
without, in that mood, and immediately fell
on his knees to entreat the k[ing]. At the
k[ing's] sound of treason from out of the lower
chamber, Herries the physician, Ramsay his
page and Sir Thomas Erskine came to where
the k[ing] was, where Ramsay ran the poor
gentleman through sitting as it is said upon
his knees. At this moment the Earl with his
master Stabler and some others best knowing
the house and the ways of communication
came first to the slaughter where finding his
brother dead and the k[ing] retired (for they
had persuaded him into an adjoining room)
fighting began between the Earl and the
other. Mr. Preston says that upon their
announcement that the [king] was slain the

128 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Earl shrank from the pursuit, and one of the
aforenamed rushing suddenly upon him, thrust
him through and he fell down and instantly
expired. This matter seeming to have an
accidental beginning, to give it an honourable
name, is pursued with odious treasons, con-
jurations, &;c., imputed to the dead Earl,
with the death of the m[aste]r. Knights
were the actors and many others such as
I know are notified to you long ere this.
The ministers are curious to make a thanks-
giving to God when they think more need
of fasting in sackcloth and ashes to the
k[ing]. There is great discontent.

" This I must not say is categorically true,
but sympathetically I take it so to be where-
upon may be inferred that as the death of
the two first may be excused by tendering
the very show of hazard to a king, so is the
making of religion and justice cloaks to cover
accidental oversights a matter which both
heaven and earth will judge. The borders
by some accidents and the ordinary time of

Nicolson — Cecil Correspondence 129

the year serving to the thieves' advantage
grow very disorderly, and the west in many
ways are dedining from bad to worse.
Commending my service and good affection
to yourself, I betake you to the grace of
God."

George Nicolson to Sir Robert Cecil.

"Edinburgh, October 2%, 1600.

" Here is a whispering that a book should
be printed in England contradicting the
k[ing's] narrative of the Gowrie Conspiracy."

Master of Gray to Sir Robert Cecil.

" October 31, i6co.

"As for Gowrie's death, it is very strange
for the Duke (Lennox) says, he was there,
and yet if he were on oath he could not say
whether the deed proceeded from Gowrie or
the king."

130 The Cowrie Conspiracy

Sir Roger Aston to Sir Robert Cecil.

The following is an extract merely : the
other portions of the letter do not affect us.

" Berwick, November i, 1600.
"He only has been plainest with the king
concerning the queen and the late attempts of
Gowrie which as yet cannot be said to have
any further reason then his one statement
alone, " what the queen's part was in the matter
God knows " : the presumptions were great
both by letters and tokens as also by her own
behaviour after the deed was done ; all which
was laid before the king and yet he could not
be persuaded to take up the matter, but has
and does seek by all means to cover her
folly. She has now won so far into the king
by her behaviour towards him as no man dare
deal further on that matter. She does daily
keep the preaching and entertains the king in
a more kind and loving sort than ever she did
before. She now will obey the king in what

Nicolson — Cecil Correspondence 131

so ever is his will. This does strike in the
hearts of many and yet cannot amend it but
we commit the cause to God."

Elizabeth to James.

September 14, 1600.

The following is an extract from one of
Elizabeth's characteristic letters : —

"That where they say Gowrie had a
thousand spirits his familiars I suppose none
were left in hell, so many were in there and
therefore you may joy the more, that God
doth the better defend you, and that no
infernal power bears any sway where a higher
force makes defence ; whom I beseech to keep
you under His wings, who can raise and spill,
and I pray you to inquire of this gent[leman]
if he heard me say this, and other things
concerning you, and so I end to trouble you
with my scribling."

The way some historians treat this event
is, to say the least, remarkable. One of our

K 2

132 The Gowrie Conspiracy

latest authorities * is convinced that it was
a conspiracy by Gowrie, and his reason is
founded on certain letters alleged to have
been written from Fast Castle by Logan
of Restalrig and discovered five years after-
wards. These letters, which we will reproduce,
are admitted to be forgeries. We have no
proof that Logan was even present at the
Gowrie Conspiracy. If he had been a con-
spirator he would undoubtedly have been
there. And there are no letters from the
Ruthvens compromising them ; nor, indeed,
are there any letters from the King or any
one on his behalf. It is of importance to
notice how Burton puts the case. He says
the absurdity of the King's conduct natu-
rally staggers, on the very threshold of this
adventure, any one to whom his character is
new. But familiarity with his ways and
moods will reconcile one to his conduct in
this affair. . . . There was no hospitable pre-
paration in the house for the reception of a
* Hill Burton.

The Hill Burton Narrative 133

royal guest. The King's followers saw, or
imagined that they had seen, an appearance
of excitement, restlessness and anxiety in the
deportment of the two brothers. The minute
investigations subsequently made reveal to us
the items of the King's dinner on that day.
George Craigengelt, the cook, testified that he
was told of his sudden arrival and ordered to
cook dinner for the King. When he came
to the kitchen " he found no appearance of
meat for the King." His first step was to
send out to Duncan Robertson's house where
he got a moor-fowl. Thereafter he caused
make ready a shoulder of mutton and a hen,
and he went up and brought down some
strawberries and dressed five or six dishes of
dessert. Soon after dinner Alexander Ruthven
beckoned the King aside. Lennox said he
asked the Earl where the King had gone to,
and got for answer " that his Majesty was gone
out quietly some quiet errand." The Earl
then, according to Lennox, called for the key
of the garden and went into it lounging with

134 TJie Goiurie Conspiracy

a few of the courtiers. It was a summer day
and just after dinner. Thomas Cranston, one
of the Earl's domestics, came speedily into the
garden, calling out that the King had gone
forth by the back gate and was riding
through the fields. On that the Earl cried
out, " Horse, Horse," and though his domestic
told him his horses were on the other side of
the Tay he still continued to cry. Lennox
passed through the quadrangle to the gate
and asked the porter if the King had gone
forth but was told that he had not. The
Earl then said he would go and get certain
intelligence, and returning he assured them
that the King had gone out by the back gate
and was well on his way. On this the group
of courtiers passed out and stood apparently
in hesitation and consultation in front of the
gate. There they were close under the turret
which overhung the wall from the corner of
the north wing. Lennox said he heard a
voice and said to Mar, "This is the King's
voice that cries be he where he will," and so

The Hill Burton Narrative 135

they all looked up and saw the King furth at
the window wanting his hat, his face very red,
and one hand gripping his cheek and mouth,
and the King cried : " I am murdered ; treason !
my Lord Mar, help, help ! " Lennox says,
" They all ran up the stair of the gallery
chamber where the King was to have relieved
him ; and as they pressed up they found the
door of the chamber fast ; and seeing a ladder
standing beside they rushed at the door with
the ladder, and the steps of the ladder broke,
and some they sent for hammers ; and not-
withstanding large forcing with hammers they
got not entry until after the Earl of Gowrie
and his brother were both slain ; that Robert
Bevan passed about by the back door and
came to the King and assured him that it was
the Duke and the Earl of Mar who were
striking upon the chamber door; and the
hammer was given through the hole of the
door of the chamber and they within broke
the door and gave them entry. And at their
first entry they saw Gowrie lying dead in the

136 The Gowrie Conspiracy

chamber ; his brother being slain and taken
downstairs before their entry ; and at their
first entry within that chamber where the
King was, the deponent saw sundry halberts
and swords striking under the door of the
chamber and sides thereof by reason the same
was nae closs door ; and knew none of the
strikers save Alexander Ruthven among the
defenders who desired to speak through the
door and said, ' For God's sake tell me how
my Lord of Gowrie is ? ' — to which the
deponent answered, ' He is well,' and the said
deponent bade Alexander to go his way, and
that he was one fool."

Then follows the deposition of the man in
armour in the turret chamber —

Ramsay said that when he drew his
dagger (to stab Ruthven) he had to let go
the King's hawk ; and he noticed that the
King set his foot on the hawk's leash, and so
kept it till Ramsay could hold it again. One
of the King's followers said that after the
King's cry had been heard from the turret

The Hill Burton Narrative 137

window " he saw James Erskine lay hands on
the Earl of Gowrie upon the High Street, and
immediately Sir Thomas Erskine gripped the
Earl of Gowrie who ran away from them
towards Glenorchy's House and drew forth his
two swords and cried, ' I will either be at my
own house or die by the gate.' " So he
entered the gate, followed by about thirty
men. One of his followers named Cranston
said he found the Earl struggling at the gate
with some of Tullibardine's people and that he
relieved him from their hands. People cried
out that his brother was slain : coming to the
black turnpike, they found him at the foot of
the stair. The Earl called out to his followers,
" Up the stair." Five of them accompanied
him up the black turnpike all with drawn
swords. Ascending, they found at the door
of the turret chamber, "Herries presenting
his sword to stop the entry." Cranston said,
" Yail thief, dare thou," and, "Thief, if thou
be innocent of yon slaughter, come forth and
I shall warrant thee." At the door of the

138 The Gowrie Conspiracy

turret chamber they were six to three within,
who were the King, Ramsay and Erskine.
There was some show of fighting between the
two parties and one or two were hurt. Here
again it was Ramsay's fortune to give the final
and effective blow. According to Erskine's
account, he " heard Gowrie speak some words
at his entry but understands them not. At
last Ramsay gave Gowrie one dead stroke, and
then Gowrie leaned on his sword and the
deponent saw one man hold him up whom
he knew not."

This, the great act of the tragedy, which
can have lasted only a few minutes, passed
unknown to Lennox, Mar and the others who
had rushed up the great staircase as we have
seen on the first exhibition of the King's face
at the turret window. They were met by a
strong door which no efiforts that they could
make with hammers, axes, and a ladder used
as a battering-ram could force. The party in
the turret from their side heard the cries and
the battering at the door without knowing

The Hill Btirton Narrative 139

whether it betokened friends or enemies : the
former were the majority, but among them
were Eviot, a page, and other followers of
Ruthven. The turret party did not know the
character of the group till one came round
by the black turnpike and told them. To
understand the exact position of the two
groups it is necessary to remember that the
turret chamber, or the " round " as it was
termed, was a recess off a larger chamber.
Into this larger chamber the black turnpike
entered, but between the chamber and the
great staircase was the door that defied its
assailants from the outside and only gave way
when attacked from the inside of the chamber.

There can hardly be named a crime or act
of violence as to which there stands on record
so minute and full an examination as there is
of the Gowrie Conspiracy. Every one who
could speak to the facts was examined tvv^ice
— by the Executive who prepared the case
for the Crown, and the Estates who gave
judgment on it, and both records are pre-

140 The Gowrie Conspiracy

served. The municipality, at the desire of the
King, held a general Court of Enquiry among
the whole indwellers in Perth that they might
discover all who had anything to say about
the event. To these enquiries there are still
extant the evidence of 355 persons. The
greater portion had nothing to tell. The
scattered heap of evidence thus conjured up
holds well together and completes a con-
sistent story. While the Gowrie Conspiracy
is peculiar in the closeness and clearness by
which its external history can be traced, it is
equally remarkable for the profound mystery
shrouding the ultimate object of those con-
cerned in it. There was a strong party in
the country who leaned to the doctrine that
Gowrie had got foul play. The theory that
the whole was a plot of the Court to ruin the
powerful house of Gowrie must at once, after
a calm weighing of the evidence, be dismissed
as beyond the range of sane conclusions.*
James made his position more ludicrous
* Hill Burton.

James and the Cle?'gy 141

and unpleasant by his desperate and hopeless
efforts to break the obstinacy of Bruce and
those who stood by him. Then came the
scene. "The King asked Bruce, 'Now are
ye yet persuaded ? Ye have heard me, ye
have heard my ministers, ye have heard my
counsel, ye have heard the Earl of Mar
touching the report of this treason : whether
are ye yet fully persuaded or not ? ' ' Surely
Sir,' says Bruce, ' I would have further light
before I preached it to persuade the people.
If I were but a private subject not a pastor
I could rest upon your Majesty's report as
others do.' Then the King asked Balfour,
' Are ye fully persuaded ? ' He answered, ' I
will speak nothing to the contrary. Sir.' ' But
are ye not persuaded ? ' says the King. ' Not
yet. Sir,' said he. Watson answered after the
same manner. Balcanqual said that he would
affirm all that David Lindsay said from the
pulpit in presence of his Majesty yesterday.
' What said Mr. David ? ' says the King.
'Mr. David founded himself upon your

142 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Majesty's report and a faithful rehearsal of it :
and so shall we.' 'Think ye,' says the King,
' that Mr. David doubted my report ? ' ' No,
David was sent from the Continent.' They
said unto him, ' Are ye not certainly persuaded
of this treason r ' ' Yes, sir,' said he, ' I am
persuaded in conscience of it.' ' Now,' says the
King, ' Mr. Walter, are ye truly persuaded ? '
' Indeed, Sir,' said he, ' I would have further
time and light.' The King asked John Hall,
' Are ye fully persuaded ? ' He answered, ' I
would have the civil trial going before. Sir,
that I may be persuaded.' The King asked
Peter Hewat, ' Are ye yet persuaded ? ' ' Sir,'
says he, ' I suspect not your proclamation.'

" In a second interview with Bruce, the King
referred to his secretary. Sir Thomas Erskine,
to satisfy the obdurate minister about the facts.
^ As for Sir Thomas Erskine,' said Bruce, ' I
trusted him in a part : but there were other
things that I thought hard.' 'What was
that ? ' said the King. ' That part which con-
cerned the Master of Gowrie and your

y antes and Bruce 143

Majesty.' ' Doubt ye of that ? ' said the King,
'then you could not but count me a
murderer.' ' It followeth not, if it please you,
Sir,' said Bruce, 'for ye might have some
secret cause.' The King urged him to preach
the articles which were sent to him. Bruce
said he had given his answer already to those
articles, and had offered to the ambassadors
that which all men thought satisfactory far
more than preaching. ' What is that ? ' said
the King. 'That I will subscribe my resolu-
tion,' said Bruce. 'Trust you it,' said
the King. ' Yes, Sir,' said Bruce. ' If ye
trust it, why may ye not preach it ? ' said the
King. ' I shall tell you. Sir,' said Bruce.
' I give it but a doubtful trust for I learn
this out of Bernard — in doubtful things
to give undoubted trust is temerity, and
in undoubted things to give a doubtful
trust is infirmity.' 'But this is undoubted,'
said the King. ' Then bear with my infirmity,'
said Bruce. 'But ye say it is more than
preaching,' said the King. 'Sir, I ought to

144 '^^^^ Gowrie Conspiracy

preach nothing but the word of God,' said
Bruce. 'Obedience to princes, suppose they
are wicked, is the word of God,' said the
King. ' I will lay a wager that there is no
express word of King James VI. in Scripture.
Yet, if there be a King, there there is a word
for you also.' *

" At a third interview with Bruce, ' Are ye
resolved to preach ? ' said the King. ' I am
discharged to preach the pleasures of men,'
says Bruce : ' Place me where God placed me
and I shall teach fruitful doctrine as God shall
give me grace. But we have not that custom
to be enjoined to preach, nor I dare not
promise to keep that injunction. It lieth not
in my hand to make a promise. I know
not certainly what God may suffer me to
speak. I may stand dumb. Therefore, Sir,
leave me free, and when I shall find myself
moved by God's Spirit and to have the
warrant of His word I shall not fail to do it.'
*That is plain anti-baptistry, that is cabal and
* Burton's History of Scotland.

y antes and Bruce 145

treason/ said the King. ' Ye shall preach as
the rest have done, or else I cannot be satisfied
— ye shall go. I will not only have you
clearing me, but my whole company,' said the
King. ' As for your Majesty's company,'
said Bruce, ' they have no need of my clear-
ing, neither will they seek it. I am bound to
your Majesty, and I will do all that lieth in
my power.' ' Then ye must subscribe my
innocence,' said the King. 'Your own con-
science. Sir, can do that best,' said Bruce, ' it is
very hard for me to do it.' ' Why is it hard ? '
said the King. ' Had ye a purpose to slay
my lord ? ' said Bruce. ' As I shall answer to
God,' said the King, ' I knew not that my
lord was slain till I saw him in his last agony
and was very sorry and prayed in my heart
for the same.' ' What say ye then concerning
Mr. Alexander ? ' said Bruce. ' I grant,' said
the King, ' I am art and part of Mr.
Alexander's slaughter, for it was in my own
defence.' ' Why brought ye him not to
justice r ' said Bruce, ' seeing ye would have

146 The Gowrie Conspiracy

had God before your eyes ? ' 'I had neither
God nor the devil before my eyes, but my
own defence,' said the King. Bruce demanded
of the King if he had a purpose that morning
to slay Mr. Alexander. The King answered
upon his salvation that that morning he loved
him as his brother. Bruce by reason of his
oaths thought him innocent of any purpose
that day in the morning to slay them, yet
because he confessed he had not God nor
justice before his eyes, but was in a mind to
do wrong, he could not be innocent before
God and had great cause to repent and to
crave mercy for Christ's sake." *

Bruce belonged to a distinguished family,
the Bruces of Airth, and we cannot disregard
his judgment. He was well acquainted with
the cunning character of the King.

This eminent historian f makes a strong
effort to apologise for and defend the King,
"familiarity with his ways and moods will
reconcile us to his conduct in this affair."

* Pitcairn, Criminal Trials. \ Hill Burton.

Cowries Three Followers 147

This is an impossibility. We have before us
the false narrative drawn up and published by
the King, and in addition to that we have
sufficient evidence to prove the King's
complicity in the conspiracy. There is, for
example, the execution of Gowrie's three
followers three weeks after the event, probably
the only men who could have given incontest-
able evidence of Gowrie's innocence as they
were conversant with all his movements.
Their evidence was vital to the case, and
under any circumstances would have been
impartial, because Gowrie's death would have
enabled them to speak independently. Had
James been an innocent man the evidence of
these three witnesses would have been most
important to him, and no execution would
have taken place until the case had come
up for trial. James not being innocent, the
execution of these men was necessary in
respect that they would have sworn to
Gowrie's movements, and how he was occupied
before the conspiracy, all of which was never

L 2

148 The Gowrie Conspiracy

afterwards known. Another remarkable feature
was the conversation between James and the
Rev. Mr. Bruce, so fully given by Burton.
Bruce was an eye-witness of the whole circum-
stances, and he entertained no doubt of the
King's guilt. It is evident that no " familiarity
with the King's ways " can reconcile us to his
conduct. The historian must first bring him
out innocent, which he has failed to do. Any
appearance of restlessness and excitement on
the part of the Ruthvens is pure invention
due to the imagination of the historian. The
details of the dinner, alleged to have been
supplied by Craigengelt, prove nothing, because
if the King meant to kill Gowrie he could
not expect a dinner to be ready on his
arrival ; whereas, if Gowrie meant to kill
the King, the dinner would in all proba-
bility have been ready in order to facili-
tate the execution of the plot. Assuming
the reply of Gowrie to Lennox to be true,
that the King "had gone up quietly some
quiet errand," that disclosed no information

Hill Burtons Inaccuracies 149

because the King and Alexander Ruthven
admittedly left the dining-room together.
Burton really reproduces the substance of the
King's narrative as his version of the matter,
and on that he forms his judgment, and to
that he adds the testimony of Lennox which
is in favour of the King. It is not the case
that there stands on record a minute and full
examination of this plot. It is a one-sided
examination that is recorded ; and though he
says that "everyone who could speak to the
facts was examined twice," he admits that
" there was a strong party in the country who
leaned to the doctrine that Gowrie had got
foul play." Burton does not attempt to
analyse and discuss the evidence of this
"strong party," yet the whole case rests on
that evidence. The Town Council were
ordered to hold a court of inquiry, which
they did, and of 355 persons examined
"the greater portion had nothing to tell."
Why so is not stated, but the fact is
suspicious. The inhabitants were anything

150 The Gowrie Conspiracy

but ignorant of the conspiracy. The whole
town turned out on the ringing of the bell
and with rage practically mobbed the King.
These people, according to the historian,
"had nothing to tell." The meaning of
that is that they knew all about it shortly
after the event, but they refused to get them-
selves into trouble by giving evidence against
the King ; they, therefore, resolved to say
nothing in the circumstances — a very wise
policy. We quite agree with the historian
that the conspiracy is "remarkable for the
profound mystery shrouding the ultimate
object of those concerned in it," but on a calm
survey of the circumstances it is impossible to
adopt Burton's view and dismiss from our
minds the theory " that the whole was a plot
of the Court to ruin the House of Gowrie."
The historian has failed to make out a case
that warrants the conclusion he has arrived
at. Undoubtedly, James made his position
" ludicrous," as the historian says, by his
efforts "to break Bruce's obstinacy." There

The King Uritntthfiil 151

was something else than obstinacy in Bruce's
case, there was " conviction " ; and James
certainly made himself ludicrous in trying to
remove that. The interview, however, though
fully reproduced by Burton, does not con-
vince him of the King's guilt, and, while
it is an interview of great importance, and
accurately recorded, it will convince most
people that Bruce's questions and the King's
responses leave an impression wholly un-
favourable to the King. The King admitted
he killed Ruthven, " I am art and part of
Alexander Ruthven's slaughter, for it was in
my own defence." We have no proof that
the King was " on his own defence " that
day — no proof that Ruthven ever attempted
to strike him.

The conversation evidently marks the
King as untruthful and insincere. The
attitude of Bruce does him great credit,
particularly the independent way in which he
addressed the King, and the firm and un-
swerving position he maintained during the

152 Tlie Gowrie Conspiracy

entire interview. If there was a conspiracy at
Perth against King James, it is necessary to
suppose that there were several persons in the
plot prepared to support the principal actor.
At any rate, it is certain that the people of
Perth did on that occasion show strong
attachment to the Gowrie family, and by
their behaviour expressed a clear opinion that
the death of Gowrie and his brother was a
cruel murder. One would have imagined
that their resentment of the deed would have
induced the King to keep at a distance from
Perth and to banish all thoughts of it for
years to come ; but before three months were
over, after such a wonderful escape, to find
him heaping honours and riches on that very
city where such a horrid plot had been con-
trived, places him on the horns of a dilemma.
If we make Gowrie and others at Perth the
conspirators, the King's conduct is unnatural
and absurd. We are warranted in saying,
says a local writer, that Gowrie and his
brother did not conspire against the King,.

The King U^itmthfitl 153

as was affirmed by him, but the King con-
spired against them and caused their hves to
be taken from them.*

A recent writer (Louis A. Barbe) raises a
point of considerable importance. He says,
and we agree with him, that it is repugnant to
common-sense that if the Earl and his brother
were planning either the murder or the abduc-
tion of James they should retire to the High-
lands, making it a matter of difficulty for their
supposed accomplices to communicate with
them ; they allow themselves two days, one of
them being a Sunday, for carrying out in
Perth the preparation necessary for the success
of the undertaking. Gowrie and his brother
were in Strathbraan for fifteen days and
returned to Perth on 2nd August : Craig-
engelt was with them. There is evidence
that letters passed from James to Gowrie
and Ruthven while there, but these have been
destroyed.

* History of Perth. Peacock.

154 The Gowrie Conspiracy

CHAPTER IV.

Verdict of the Scottish Parliament — Examination of
Witnesses — Mr. Andrew Lang in Blackwood —
Tytler's Review — The Logan Letters — Barbe's
Criticism.

" The Court of Parliament presided over by
James VI. shows that John, Earl of Gowrie,
and his brother, Alexander Ruthven, com-
mitted the crime of treason against our
Sovereign Lord and his authority in manner
as contained in the summons : and therefore
decrees and declares the name, memory and
dignity, of John, Earl of Gowrie, and
Alexander, his brother, to be extinguished,
and their arms to be cancelled, so that their
posterity shall be unable and incapable in all
time coming to possess or enjoy any offices,
dignities, honours, possessions, rights, titles,
hope of succession within this nation which in

Verdict of the Scottish Parliament 1 55

any way pertained to John^ Earl of Gowrie,
and Alexander, his brother, to be confiscated,
devolved on our Sovereign Lord, and in all
time coming to remain the property of his
Majesty for ever. His Majesty and Estates, in
detestation of the said horrible, unnatural and
vile treason, attempted by the said John, Earl
of Gowrie, and Alexander, his brother, against
his Highness's own life, decrees and ordains
that the bodies of the said traitors shall be
carried on Monday next to the public cross
of Edinburgh, and there to be hanged, drawn
and quartered in presence of the whole
people, and thereafter the heads, quarters and
carcases to be affixed to the most public
places in Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee and
Stirling. And this I give for doom." *

By another Act the surname of Ruthven
was to be extinguished and abolished for ever,
and such as were innocent were to take other
names, and these to be inserted in the public
Records.

* State Paper Office.

156 Tlie Gowrie Conspiracy

It will be noticed that this is the Scottish
Parliament, an assembly that was entirely
controlled by the King. The persistency
with which Gowrie is charged as a con-
spirator, and the extreme cruelty and brutality
of the sentence, is an undeniable proof of
James's unforgiving and relentless temper,
and what is to be said if he was himself
the conspirator ? Three centuries have passed
away and posterity has failed to discover
a single crime committed by Gowrie against
the King. In the State Paper Office there
is little to throw light on the subject,
and we therefore conclude that the matter
is as we have put it, and that words are
not adequate to express disapproval of the
King's behaviour. Had Gowrie done any-
thing to offend his Sovereign, history would
not have been silent, but the profound silence
of history is significant, and appears to us to
condemn the King as the author and prime
mover of this conspiracy.

The next act of the drama was the

Examination of Witnesses 157

examination of witnesses in order to prove
Gowrie's guilt. Under the presidency of the
Lord Chancellor, the Court met at Falkland
on the 9th August, four days after Gowrie's
death. A second Court met there on the 20th
August, presided over by the Lord Chancellor.
Among the witnesses examined were the Duke
of Lennox, Earl of Mar, Andrew Henderson,
the Abbot of InchafFray, Abbot of Lindores,
Sir Thomas Erskine, Sir John Ramsay, John
Graham of Orchil, John Graham of Bal-
gowan, Andrew Roy, Bailie of Perth, George
Hay, Prior of the Charter House, &c. These
men were all supporters of the King, and
it is not difficult to see what would be the
scope of their evidence. Such a volume of
depositions against Gowrie would no doubt be
intended to influence the people at the time.
It is, however, worthless in respect that it is
not the testimony of independent men but
of mere partizans of the King. On the 22nd
September the Town Council also held a
Court in order to take some precognitions.

158 The Gowrie Conspiracy

This Court was presided over by the Provost,
and was to receive the testimony of the
whole inhabitants. None of the witnesses
were in Gowrie House, consequently they
could only speak to the circumstances from a
very general knowledge. Between the death of
Gowrie and the meeting of the Town Council
an extraordinary event happened, viz., the
execution of Gowrie's three confidential friends,
Sir Thomas Cranston, George Craigengelt
and John MacDufF. This was an act of
great significance. It was authorised by the
King, and was undoubtedly meant to put
out of the way those who could testify
to Gowrie's innocence. These men emitted
depositions before their death showing that
they fought on the side of Gowrie but
avoiding all mention of the King. On the
1st November the trial of Gowrie and his
brother took place in Edinburgh and their
dead bodies were transmitted from Perth and
placed at the bar. The trial appears to have
been adjourned till the nth, and on the 15th

Execution of Rtithven 159

sentence as already given was pronounced.
On the 19th the dead bodies were hanged,
drawn and quartered, the different parts
exhibited at Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee and
Stirling, and after this diabolical proceeding
the wrath of the King was supposed to be
appeased. James would doubtless be aware
that his relative, the Regent Moray, acted in
precisely the same manner in respect of the
body of Lord Huntly, and the diabolical deed
from constitutional practice would probably to
him be bereft of its shocking nature. Though
we have a record of the executions of the
time there is every probability that a large
number of persons were executed of which no
record whatever has been handed down to us.
The trial of Gowrie was an act that must
ever throw a cloud on the memory of the
King. Lord Hailes, who also formed his
opinion on the King's narrative, informs us *
that by an Act of the Privy Council the
magistrates and Town Council of Perth were
* Annals III. 374.

i6o The Gowrie Conspiracy

summoned to appear before the King on the
1 6th September, 1600, at LinHthgow, to answer
for the contempt and indignity done to his
Majesty. That Act makes mention of certain
irreverent and undutiful speeches against the
King. According to Calderwood, Alexander
Ruthven of Freeland, cried up, " Come down,
thou son of Signor Davie, thou hast slain an
honester man than thyself," and George Craig-
engelt and others cried, " Give us our Provost
or the King's green coat shall pay for it."

In Blackwood's Magazine for April, 1902,
an eminent writer * contributes an article on
the Logan Letters, being the result of his
investigation of the Earl of Haddington's
papers. According to him, No. 4, Logan to
Gowrie, is genuine ; the others forgeries. With
this we do not agree. The orthography and
composition of all the five are very similar,
and we think it beyond doubt that Sprot, who
was apprehended in 1608, wrote the whole.
That Sprot stole No. 4 from Bower cannot be
* Mr. Andrew Lang.

Confessions of Sprot i6i

proved, and its non-appearance at Sprot's trial
is not conclusive proof that it was not forged.

If Mr. Anderson and Mr. Gunter, two very
capable experts, consider No. 4 a forgery, we
may accept that as final, until conclusive
proof of the contrary can be produced, and
until then it is unfair to convict Gowrie or
Logan with treason." There are no circum-
stances to fall back upon to warrant this sup-
position. The confessions of Sprot just before
he was executed are worthless, for this among
other reasons, that they are unsupported by
proof of any kind. If there was any idea of
kidnapping James and taking him to Fast
Castle we must have other proof than that of
a dissolute man like Sprot. If this writer
believes No. 4 genuine, why does he say :
" When the act of forgery was carried to such
a pitch of excellence by a mere drunken body
of a country writer, what may not an Edin-
burgh practitioner have done in the way of
forging the letters attributed to Queen Mary."
To which we say " yes," yet Mr. Lang accuses

M

1 62 The Gowrie Conspiracy

the Queen ! Sprot had a regular manufactory
of sham Logan Letters and other forgeries and
he sold them to the debtors to Logan's estate
who used them to blackmail Lord Home and
the other executors.*

Probably no writer has made such an
argumentative effort to convict Gowrie as
Tytler has done. He begins with the execu-
tion of his father, and makes the most of that :
then the religious question : then his life at
Padua, during which time James quarrelled
with Elizabeth, and Gowrie became her
favourite : the correspondence between Colville
(a friend of Gowrie's father) and Cecil ; and
between James and the Pope, involving a
Catholic invasion of England, of which James
was a supporter : Nicolson (Elizabeth's Envoy
in Scotland), and his correspondence with
Cecil on the subject : plot organised in
England against James : Bothwell and Gowrie
together at Paris in April, 1600. According
to Tytler, Gowrie was ambitious and proud,,
* Louis A. Barbe.

Tyt/ers Criticism 163

and when he found that his friends were
anxious to place him at the head of the
EngUsh faction opposed to James was it
likely he should decline that pre-eminence ?
He was animated by a keen desire to avenge
his father's death : was it likely that the plot
to seize the King's person would not present
itself? Then there is the debate in the Estates
Convention when James was refused money to
provide an army to fight Elizabeth. Tytler
says, it is probably from this moment that we
may date the actual rise of the Gowrie con-
spiracy, Elizabeth and James being enemies
and Gowrie attached to Elizabeth. Gowrie
appears to have devised a plot to decoy the
King into his castle of Gowrie ; to separate
him from his suite and to compel him, by
threats of instant death, to agree to be carried
on board a boat which should be waiting for
the purpose. The Royal prisoner was to be
conveyed to an impregnable fortalice (Fast
Castle) where, if well victualled, a garrison
of ninety men could for months have defied

M 2

164 The Gowrie Conspiracy

an army. To administer the government in
the Royal name under Gowrie and his faction
would then be easy. Four persons were in
the plot : Gowrie and his brother, Logan of
Restalrig and one unknown. Tytler, without
any authority whatever, designates Logan a
reckless and unprincipled villain, who had
run through a large estate in every kind of
dissipation and excess, a mocker of religion
and a constant follower of the notorious
Bothwell, and drowned in debt. Both man-
sions, Gowrie House and Fast Castle were from
their construction and situation singularly well
calculated for an attempt against the King.
It is important to observe here that the
historian has drawn on the King's narrative
and on the forged Logan Letters for his facts
and deductions. This being so his entire
fabric falls to the ground. We have no proof
that Gowrie was connected with any plot in
England against James, and that Gowrie was
ambitious and proud is the merest conjecture.
Gowrie's character was the reverse of this.

Ty tier's Criticism 165

His receiving promotion in England had
nothing to do with a conspiracy, and as for
avenging his father's death, there is no indica-
tion on Gowrie's part that he ever at any time
contemplated such a thing. The encounter in
the Estates Convention might very probably
be the origin of the conspiracy as regards
James, but not as regards Gowrie. At the
Convention, Gowrie denounced in strong
terms the extravagant proposal of James for
the imposition of a heavy tax to raise money.
This attitude would be the result of the huge
debt resting owing by the King to Gowrie.
The tax would have been a most iniquitous
one, and one that few of the people could pay.
We have no proof but the King's statement,
that Gowrie decoyed the King into Gowrie
House. Tytler's reference to Fast Castle and
Gowrie administering the government there,
and his review of Logan's character, are all
too ludicrous for serious consideration.

In the matter of the Logan forged Letters,
it is important to observe that they provided

1 66 The Gowrie Conspiracy

for the King being assassinated at Fast Castle in
the County of Berwick, not at Perth, and that
correspondence is dated as late as 31st July.
The question very naturally arises, how could
Gowrie kill the King in Perth, when, by these
Letters, he was to be killed at Fast Castle ?

Then Tytler proceeds : " It is now time to
introduce the reader to the most interesting
part of this strange story, the letters of the
conspirators themselves. It appears from
these documents, which were not discovered
until many years after the deep tragedy in
which the conspiracy concluded, that early in
July, 1600, Gowrie wrote Logan appointing a
secret meeting to confer on the purpose he knew
of. This letter is not now in existence, but it
was brief, alluding to what had passed before
between them and stating that Logan's absence
in Lothian had prevented Gowrie from coming
to see him at Fast Castle."

Tytler has nothing to found on for these
opinions but the Logan letters, which we
reproduce : —

167

LETTER I.

Logan to the unknown Conspirator.

Right Honourable Sir, — My duty with
service remembered. Please you understand
my Lord of Go. and some others his
lordship's friends and well-wishers, who tender
his lordship better preferment, are upon the
resolution you know, for the revenge of that
cause : and his lordship has written to me
anent that purpose : whereto I will accord, in
case you will stand to and bear a part : and
before ye resolve meet me and Mr. A. R.
(Alexander Ruthven) in the Canongate on
Tuesday the next week : and be as wary as
ye can. Indeed, Mr. A. R. spoke with me
four or five days since : and I have promised
his lordship an answer within ten days at
farthest.

As for the purpose now, Mr. A. R. and I
have set down the course ; it will be a very
easy clever turn, and not far by that form
with the like stratagem whereof we had con-
ference in Cap. h. But in case you and Mr.

1 68 Tlie Gcwrie Conspiracy

A. R. foregather, because he is somewhat
causety (flighty) for God's sake be very wary
with his reckless toys of Padua : for he told
me one of the strangest tales of a noblem^an
of Padua that ever I heard in my life
resembling the like purpose.

Always to our purpose I think it best for
our plot that w^e meet all at my house of
Fast Castle : for I have concluded with Mr.
A. R. how^ I think it shall be metest to be
conveyed quietest in a boat by sea : at which
time upon sure advertisement I shall have the
place very quiet and well provided. And as
I receive your answer I will post this bearer to
my lord. And therefore I pray you as you
love your own Hfe, as it is not a matter of
mowise (mummery), be circumspect in all
things and take no fear but all shall be well.
When you have read, send this letter back
again with the bearer that I may see it burnt
myself: for so is the fashion in such errands:
and if you please write your answer on the
back hereof, in case ye will take my w^ord
for the credit of the bearer. And use all
expedition, for the time would not be long
delayed. Ye know the King's hunting will

The Logan Lettei's 169

be shortly : and then shall be the best time as
Mr. A. R. has assured me that my lord has
resolved to enterprise this matter.

Fast Castle,
July 18, 1600.

LETTER II.

Logan to Laird Bower.

Laird Bower, — I pray you haste you fast
to me about the errand I told you and we
shall confer at length on all things. I have
received a new letter from my Lord of Go.
concerning the purpose that M. A., his
lordship's brother, spake to me before : and I
perceive I may have advantage of Dirleton in
case his other matter take effect as we hope
it shall. Always I beseech you be at one
the morn at even : for I have assured his
lordship's servant that I shall send you over
the water within three days with a full resolu-
tion of all my will anent all purposes. As I
shall indeed recommend you and your trusti-
ness to his lordship, ye shall find an honest
recompense for your pains in the end. I care
not for all the land I have in this kingdom in

lyo The Gowrie Conspiracy

case I get a grip at Dirleton : for I esteem it
the pleasantest dwelling in Scotland. For
God's cause keep all things very secret that
my lord my brother get no knowledge of our
purposes, for I would rather be eirdit quick
(buried alive).

Canongate of Edinburgh,
July 1 8, 1600.

LETTER III.

Logan to the unknown Conspirator.

Right Honourable Sir, — All my hartly
duty with humble service remembered. Since
I have taken in hand the enterprise with
my Lo. of Go. your special and only best
beloved, as we have set down the plot already,
I will request you that ye will be very cir-
cumspect and wise that no man get an
advantage of us. I doubt not but ye know
the peril to be both life, land and honour, in
case the matter be not wisely used, and for
my own part I shall have a special respect to
my promise that I have made to his Lo. and
M. A., his Lo. brother, although the scaffold
were set up ! If I cannot win to Falkland

The Logan Letters 171

the first night I shall be timely in St.
Johnstoun in the morn. Indeed I lippened
for my Lo. himself, or else M. A., his Lo.
brother, at my house of Fastcastle, as I wrote
to them both. Always I repose on your ad-
vertisement of the precise day with credit to
the bearer : for howbeit he be but a silly,
auld, gleid, carle, I will answer for him that
he shall be very true.

I pray you. Sir, read and either burn or
send again with the bearer : for I dare hazard
my life and all I have else in the world on his
message. I have such proof of his constant
truth. So commits you to Christ's holy
protection.

Canongate of Edinburgh,
July 27, 1600.

LETTER IV.

Logan to Earl of Gowrie.

My Lo., — My most humble duty, &c.
At the receipt of your Lo. letter I am so
comforted, especially at your Lo. purpose
communicated to me therein that I can
neither utter my joy, nor find myself sufH-

172 The Cowrie Conspiracy

ciently able to requite your Lo. with due
thanks. Indeed, my Lord, at my being last
in the town, M. A., your Lo. brother, imparted
somewhat of your Lo. intention anent that
matter unto me : and if I had not been
busied about some turns of my own I thought
to come over to S. Jo. and spoken with your
Lo. Yet always, my Lo., I beseech your Lo.
both for the safety of your honour, credit,
and more than that, your life, my life, and
the lives of many others, who may perhaps
innocently smart for that turn afterwards in
case it be revealed by any : and likewise the
utter wrecking of our lands and houses and
extirpating of our names : look that we be all
as sure as your Lo. : and I myself shall be for
my own part : and then I doubt not but
with God's grace we shall bring our matter
to a fine which shall bring contentment to
us all that was wished for the revenge of
the Maschivalent massacring of our dearest
friends.

I doubt not but M. A., your Lo. brother,
has informed your Lo. what course I laid
down to bring all your Lo. associates to my
house of Fast Castle by sea, where I should

The Logan Letters 173

have all materials in readiness for their safe
receiving on land, and with my house making
as it were but a matter of pastime in a boat
on the sea in this fair summer tide : and
none other strangers to haunt my house while
we had concluded on the laying of our plot
which is already devised by Mr. Alexander
and me. And I would wish that your lordship
would either come or send Mr. A. to me ;
and thereafter I should meet your Lo. in
Leith or quietly in Restalrig, where we should
have preferred a fine hattit kit with sugar
comfits and wine and thereafter confer on
matters : and the sooner we brought our
purpose to pass it were the better, before
harvest. Let not M. W. R., your old
pedagogue, ken of your coming: but rather
would I, if I dare be so bold to entreat your
Lo., once to come and see my own house
where I have kept my Lo. Bo. (Bothwell) in
his greatest extremities, say the K. and his
Council what they would. And in case God
grant us a happy success in this errand I
hope both to have your Lo. and his Lo. with
many others of your lovers and his at a good
dinner before I die. Always I hope that the

174 Gowrie Conspiracy

King's buck-hunting at Falkland this year
shall prepare some dainty cheer for us against
that dinner the next year. Hoc jocose to
animate your Lo. at this time : but afterwards
we shall have better occasion to be merry.

I protest, my Lo., before God, I wish
nothing with a better heart nor to achieve to
that which your Lo. would fain attain unto :
and my continual prayer shall tend to that
effect : and with the large spending of my
lands, goods, yea, the hazard of my life, shall
not affright me from that, although the
scaffold were directly set up, before I should
falsify my promise to your Lo. and persuade
your Lo. thereof. I trow your Lo. has a
proof of my constancy ere now.

But, my Lo., whereas your Lo. desires in
my letter that 1 crave, my Lo. my brother's
mind anent this matter : I collaterly dissent
from that that he should ever be a councillor
thereto : for in good faith he will never help
his friend nor harm his foe. Your Lo. may
confide more in this old man, the bearer
hereof, my man Laird Bower, nor in my
brother : for I lippen my life and all I have
else, in his hands : and I trow he would not

The Logan Letters 175

spare to ride to hell's yett to pleasure me :
and he is not beguiled of my part to him.
Always^ my Lo., when your Lo. has read my
letter deliver it to the bearer again, that I
may see it burnt with my ain een : and I
have sent your Lo. letter to your Lo. again :
for so is the fashion I grant : and I pray your
Lo. rest fully persuaded of me and of all that
I have promised : for I am resolved how be
it I were to die the morn, I man entreat your
Lo. to exspede Bower, and give him strait
direction on pain of his life, that he take
never a wink of sleep until he see me again or
else he will utterly undo us. I have already
sent another letter to the gentleman your Lo.
kens, as the bearer will inform your Lo. of his
answer and forwardness with your Lo : and I
shall show your Lo. farther at meeting when
and where your Lo. shall think metest. To
which time and ever commits your Lo. to the
protection of Almighty God.

GUNNISGREEN,

Jtily 29, 1600.

Your Lo. own sworn and bound man to obey and serve
With true and ever ready service to his utter power to
his life's end. Restalrig.

176 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Prays your Lo. hold me excused for my
unseemly letter which is not so well written
as need were : for I durst not let any of my
writers ken of it but took two sundry idle
days to do it myself. I will never forget the
good sport that M. A., your Lo. brother,
told me of a nobleman of Padua : it comes
so oft to my memory : and indeed it is
d propos to this purpose we have in hand.

LETTER V.

Logan to the Unknown Conspirator.

Right Honourable Sir, — My hartly
duty remembered. Ye know I told you at
our last meeting in the Canongate that
M. A. R., my Lord of Gowrie's brother, had
spoken with me anent the matter of our con-
clusion : and for my own part I shall not be
hindmost. And since then I got a letter
fra his lordship's self for the same purpose :
and upon the receipt thereof, understanding
his lordship's frankness and forwardness in
it, "God kens if my heart was not lifted ten

The Logan Letters 177

degrees. I posted this same bearer till his
lordship to whom, you may concredit all your
heart in that as well as I : for even it were my
very soul I durst make him messenger thereof.
I have sic experience of his truth in many other
things. He is a silly, auld gleid, carle but
wondrous honest. And as he has reported to
me his lordship's answer, I think all matters
shall be concluded at my house of Fast Castle :
for I and M. A. R. concluded that you
should come with him and his lordship, and
any ane other man with you, being but only
four in company intil one of the great fishing
boats by sea to my house : where ye shall land
as safely as on Leith-shore. And the house
again his lordship's coming to be quiet : and
when you are about half a mile from shore to
gar set forth a signal. But for God's sake let
neither any knowledge come to my lord my
brother's ears, nor yet to M. W. R., my lord-
ship's auld pedagogue : for my brother is
kettle to shoe behind (not to be trusted) and
dare not enterprise for fear : and the other
will dissuade us from our purpose with reason
of religion, which I can never abide. I think
there is none of a noble heart as carries a

N

178 The Gowrie Conspiracy

stomach worth a penny but they would be
glad to see a contented revenge of Grey SteiFs
death. And the sooner the better, or else we
may be marred and frustrated : and therefore
pray his lordship be quick. And till M. A.
remembers the sport he tells us of Padua :
for I think with myself that the cogitation in
that should stimulate his lordship. And for
God's cause use all your courses cum discretione.
Fail not, Sir, to send back again this letter, for
M. A. learnt me that fashion that I may see
it destroyed myself. So till your coming and
ever commits you heartily to Christ's holy
protection.

GUNNISGREEN,

Jtily 31, 1600.

The Logan Letters.

These Letters have always formed an
essential element in the argument of those
who defend the King, as, were they genuine,
they would prove that the conspiracy was
directed against him by Gowrie and his

The Logan Letters 179

followers. One of the greatest champions of
the Letters, as we have seen, is the historian
Tytler. It never seems to have occurred to
him that they were forgeries. This is incredible
in a writer of his great experience, and still
more incredible that his criticism is expressed
with absolute certainty and destitute of the
shadow of a doubt. What he says is
this : These letters explain themselves : their
import cannot be mistaken : their authen-
ticity — since the recent discovery of the
originals — cannot be questioned. They still
exist (in Register House, Edinburgh), and they
establish the reality of the conspiracy beyond
the possibility of doubt. The first proves
that Alexander Ruthven and Logan had set
down this plot for the preferment of Gowrie
and the revenge of his father's death : that the
conspirators were to meet at Fast Castle, and
that they had fixed the King's hunting as the
most favourable time for the attempt. In the
second letter to Bower we have a glance at the
rich bribe by which Gowrie had secured the

N 2

i8o The Gowrie Conspiracy

assistance of Logan — the estate of Dirleton :
and in the third his resolution to keep his
promise, although the scaffold were set up,
with his expectation to have speedy intima-
tion of the precise day when the attempt was
to be made at St. Johnstoun. Logan's letter
to Gowrie is still more minute. It contains
the determination to revenge the massacre of
their dearest friends : the intended rendezvous
of the associates at Fast Castle : the good
cheer and happy success which the King's
buck-hunting was to bring them : the solemn
injunctions to secrecy, life and lands, name and
fame hanging on the issue : the necessity of
destroying their letters. In Logan's last letter
to the "unknown conspirator" we have the
directions how the signal is to be given at sea :
the last consultation at Fast Castle : Logan's
exhortation to be speedy and his anticipation
of a glorious revenge for the death of " Grey
Steil" (the nickname of Gowrie's father). All
this is so clearly established by the correspon-
dence, and so completely proves the existence

The Logan Letters i8i

of Gowrie's plot, that he who doubts must be
too desperate in his scepticism to be reached
by any evidence whatever.*

This criticism is unwarrantable, even were
the letters genuine, because under any circum-
stances they were open to doubt even when
Tytler wrote. The forgeries and the ridicu-
lous composition of them, one would think,
are too transparent to mislead, and it is
curious that Tytler with his critical eye did
not discover this. Indeed the composition is
so incoherent as to border on the imbecile,
unless they were written, which is not im-
probable, when Sprot was under the influence
of liquor and palmed off on posterity, as if
actually written by Robert Logan of Restal-
rig. There is no letter from Gowrie — a con-
spicuous oversight on the part of the forger.
The one he is alleged to have written does not
exist — a circumstance of great suspicion ; and
Tytler in his simplicity endeavours to give
us the contents of it, which of course is the
* Tytler's History of Scotland.

1 82 The Gowrie Conspiracy

merest conjecture. As a matter of fact we do
not believe there ever was such a letter, so that
Ty tier's efforts to whitewash the King are
unavailing. The opening words of the first
letter are characteristic. "My Lord of Go."
is a phrase that will not be found anyv^^here
else. The " toys of Padua " are mixed up
with Alexander Ruthven instead of his brother.
The suggestion to meet at Fast Castle is very
cunning and a mere trap to throw suspicion
on Gowrie. We have no evidence that any
meeting of the kind ever took place. The
next sentence is an effort to incriminate the
Ruthvens — "Be circumspect and all shall be
well." The writer expected the conspiracy to
succeed against the King. This letter, as well
as the others, was to be burned or returned to
be burned. " My Lord is to enterprise the
matter." The suggestion of caution here is
highly absurd. The second letter again refers
to " My Lord of Go." and the " errand " and
the "purpose," mean conspiracy, the forger
being nothing if not mysterious. The point

The Logan Letters 183

of the letter is Logan's acquisition of Dirleton,
one of Gowrie's estates. Logan wants a grip
of Dirleton, " the pleasantest dwelling in
Scotland : for God's sake keep all things
secret." There is a dash of humour about
this, when we consider that Logan knew
nothing about it. In the third letter we have
the famihar expression : " My Lo. of Go.,"
" My Lo. and M. A. his Lo. brother." The
" unknown conspirator " is commanded to be
very "circumspect," but the writer will keep
his promise as regards the enterprise " though
the scaffold be set up." The Ruthvens were
invited to Fast Castle, but we are not told if
they went, simply that the bearer was a " silly
auld carle," and the writer closes by committing
the " unknown conspirator " to " Christ's holy
protection." Altogether this letter may be
regarded as a huge joke. The fourth letter
is the only one addressed to Gowrie, and,
according to a recent writer,* is not forged.
This writer is mistaken. The letters are all
* Andrew Lang.

184 The Gowrie Conspiracy

written by one and the same hand, a fact
which will be apparent to any one who com-
pares critically the composition. This letter
begins with " My Lo." and goes on to speak
of " Your Lo.;' " Your Lo. brother," " S. Jo."
(St. Johnstoun). Yet always "My Lo. I
beseech your Lo.," " With God's grace we
shall bring our matter to a fine which shall
content them that wished the revenge of the
' Maschivalent ' massacring of our dearest
friends." This is a reference to Gowrie's father.
Then there is a reference to the plot "which
is already devised," and a meeting to take
place at Leith or Restalrig where "a fatted
kit and sugar comfits and wine " would be
prepared. This was not very hke negotiating
a gigantic conspiracy. " I have left my Lo.
Bo." (Bothwell). "I hope both to have your
Lo. and his Lo. with many others at a good
dinner." In the next sentence the writer
" wishes nothing with a better heart " than the
conspiracy. Then we are again told that
" nothing shall affright me from that though

The Logan Letters 185

the scaffold were set up." " But my Lo.,
wherever your Lo. desires that I crave my Lo."
Laird Bower would "ride to hell's yett to
pleasure me." That this letter was written by
the same hand as the others is evident. The
fifth letter is to the " unknown conspirator,"
where the conspiracy is referred to as the
"matter of our conclusion." Bower, the
bearer of this letter, is called a " silly auld carle
but wondrous honest." The writer orders
the conspirators when coming to Fast Castle to
hoist a signal. No knowledge of this meeting
" to come to my brother's ears nor to W. R.
the auld pedagogue." My brother " is kettle
to sieve behind." Then the finale, "There is
who carries a stomach worth a penny but
would be glad to see a contented revenge of
Grey Steil's death."

In connection with the Logan Letters it is
important to notice the statement made by
Coupar in James Logan's paper (p. 85). We
would infer that Coupar was aware of the
existence of these forged letters or he would

1 86 The Gowrie Conspiracy

not refer to the correspondence with Robert
Logan up to 31st July. Whether Coupar
was an accompHce with Sprot in this forgery
is another question : all we can say is that his
tale as reproduced by James Logan places
him in a very compromising position. An
intelligent modern writer* who has studied
the subject with care and deliberation, says :
"With regard to this Sprot, the general
belief has hitherto been that, after his appre-
hension, he confessed not only to his know-
ledge of a conspiracy, in which the Ruthvens
and one Logan of Restalrig were engaged,
but also to the possession of a letter written
by Restalrig, and containing important details
as to the alleged plot ; that he subsequently
retracted his admission ; that he again asserted
the truth of his original statement ; and that
his last words on the scaffold were a final
confirmation of his former depositions con-
cerning his knowledge of Restalrig's complicity
with Gowrie.

* Louis A. Barbe.

The Logan Letters 187

"These were recognised facts. Had they
stood alone they might have been looked
upon as important evidence in support of the
charge of conspiracy against the Ruthvens.
But here a damning circumstance arose. No
letter was known to have been produced at
Sprot's trial, and this glaring omission naturally
begot further incredulity and suspicion ; so
that, according to Calderwood, a contemporary
writer, 'so many as did not believe before
were never a whit the more persuaded.' It is
true that, in the following year, when the
mouldering bones of Restalrig, whose estate
was well worth confiscating, were brought to
the Bar, the Crown lawyers put in, not one
letter, but five, in proof of his treasonable
connection with the Earl of Gowrie. All
the parties directly concerned being dead,
the only evidence of genuineness was sup-
plied by a number of witnesses, who swore
to their belief that the five letters were
in Logan's hand-writing. Still, the scep-
tical remained unconvinced; and from that

1 88 The Gowrie Conspiracy

day to this the view that the documents
were forged has always had strenuous
supporters."

To enable the reader to grasp the situation
it will be necessary to give Sprot's indictment,
which is a most elaborate and curiously con-
structed document.

1 89

CHAPTER V.

Sprot's Indictment and Sentence — Concluding Remarks
and Summary of the Case.

George Sprot, notary in Eyemouth, ye are
indicted and accused for as much as John,
some time Earl of Gowrie, having most cruelly,
detestably, and treasonably, conspired in the
month of July in the year of God, 1600,
to murder our dear and most gracious
sovereign the King's most excellent Majesty,
and having imparted that devilish purpose to
Robert Logan of Restalrig, who allowed of
the same and most willingly and readily
undertook to be partaker thereof, the same
coming to your knowledge at the time and in
manner after specified, ye most unnaturally,
maliciously, and treasonably, concealed the
same and was art and part thereof. In the

I go The Gowrie Conspiracy

said month of July, in the year of God, 1600,
after ye had perceived and known that divers
letters and messages had passed between the
said Earl of Gowrie and the said Laird of
Restalrig, ye being at the place of Fast Castle,
ye saw and read the beginning of a letter
written with the said Robert Logan of
Restalrig's own hand to John Earl of Gowrie
as follows : —

"My Lord, — My most humble duty, &c.
At the receipt of your lordship's letters I am
so comforted that I can neither utter my joy
nor find myself sufficiently able to requite
your lordship with due thanks and persuade
you in this matter. I shall be always careful
for your lordship's honour as if it were my
own cause, and I think there is no living
Christian that would not be content to revenge
the Machiavellian massacre of our dear
friends — yea, it should be to venture and
hazard life, lands, and all other things, else
my heart can bind me to take part in that

Sprofs Indictment 191

matter as you shall find better proof thereof.
But one thing would be clear that your lord-
ship should be circumspect and be earnest
with your brother that he be not rash in any
speeches touching the purpose of Padua."

And a certain time after the execution of
the foresaid treason the said Robert Logan
having desired Laird Bower to deliver to him
the foresaid letter or else burn it, and Bower
having given to you all tickets and letters
which he then had concerning Restalrig or
others, to send the same because he could not
read himself, ye abstracted the above written
letter and retained the same in your own
hands and divers times read it condemning
further in substance what is formally set down
according to your words, as follows : —

My Lord, — Ye may easily understand
that such a purpose as your Lordship intends
cannot be done rashly but with deliberation,
and I think for myself it were most meet to

192 The Goisjrie Conspiracy

have the men your lordship spoke of ready in
a boat or bark and address them as they were
taking pastime upon ye in such fair summer
time, and if your lordship could think good
to come yourself to my house of Fast Castle
by sea or send your lordship's brother. I
should have the place very quiet and well
provided after your lordship's advertisement,
and persuade your lordship ye will be as sure
and quiet here when we had settled our plot
as if ye were in your own chamber, for I am
assured we shall hear word within a few days
from them your lordship knows of, for I am
careful to see what ships come by. Your
lordship knows I have kept my lord Bothwell
quietly in this house in his great extremities,
say the King and Council what they like.
And I hope if all things come to pass, as I
trust they shall, to have both your lordship
and his lordship at a good dinner before I
die, et hoc jocose, to animate your lordship.
And don't doubt, my lord, but all things shall
be well, and I am resolved whereof your

Sprofs Indictment 193

lordship shall not doubt of anything on my
part, yea, to peril life, land, honor and goods,
yea, the hazard of hell shall not restrain me
from that yea though if the scaffold were
already set up. The sooner the matter is
done it will be the better, for the King's buck-
hunting will be short, and I hope it shall
prepare some dainty cheer for us to dine again
the next year. I remember well, my lord,
and I will never forget so long as I live that
merry sport your lordship's brother told me
of a nobleman at Padua, for I think that
important to this purpose. My Lord, think
nothing that I commit the secrecy hereof
and credit to the bearer, for I dare not only
venture my life, land, and everything I have
in his credit, but I durst hazard my soul in
his keeping if it were possible in earthly men,
for I am so persuaded of his truth and
fidelity, and I trow as your lordship may
ask him if it be true he would ride to hell's
gates for me. And he is not " begyht "
of my part to him, and therefore I don't

o

194 ^'^^ Cowrie Conspiracy

know but yet will persuade your lordship to
give him trust in this matter as to myself.
But I pray your lordship direct him home
with all possible haste and give straight com-
mand that he take not one wink sleep till
he see me again after he comes from your
lordship. And, my Lord, as your lordship
desires in your letter to me, either rive and
burn, or else send back again with the bearer,
for so is the fashion I grant.

Which letter written every word by the
said Robert Logan, his own hand, was sub-
scribed by him after his accustomed manner
with this word :

Restalrig.

And albeit the contents of the foresaid
letter, you knew perfectly the truth of the
said most treasonable conspiracy, and the said
Robert Logan of Restalrig, his foreknowledge,
allowance and guiltiness thereof, like as ye
were assured thereof by his receiving of
•diverse letters sent to Gowrie for the said

Sprofs Iiuiictme7it 195

purpose and by sundry conferences between
the said James Bower, also called Laird
Bower, in your presence and hearing con-
cerning the said treason, as well in the said
month of July immediately preceding the
said treason, or at divers other times shortly
thereafter, as likewise by the revealing thereof
to you by the said James Bowei, also Laird
Bower, who was upon the knowledge and
device of the said treason, and was employed
as ordinary messenger by the said Robert
Logan of Restalrig, to the said Earl of
<jowrie, in the traffic of the said damnable
treason, whereby your knowledge concealing,
and guiltiness of the said treason was un-
deniable, yet for further manifestation thereof
about Yule in the year of God, 1602, the said
Robert Logan of Restalrig showed to you
that Bower had told him that he had been
somewhat rash to let you see a letter which
came from the Earl of Gowrie to Robert
Logan, who then urged you to tell what you
understood by that letter. Ye answered that

o 2

196 The Cowrie Conspiracy

ye took the meaning of it to be that he had
been on the purpose and Counsel of Gowrie's
Conspiracy. He answered you that whatever
he had done w^as his own doing, but if ye
would swear to him that you would not reveal
anything to any person he should be the best
sight (friend) that ever you saw. And in
token of further recompense he then gave
you ^12 in silver. Nevertheless ye perfectly
knew the whole circumstances and progress
of his said treason from the beginning thereof
as well by your knowledge of the said letters
as by your conferences with the said James
Bower and Robert Logan : yet during all the
days of the lifetime of the said Robert Logan
and James Bower, who both lived until the
year of God 1606, you knew your guiltiness
of the treasonable conspiracy aforesaid and
most treasonably concealed the same. And
so ye were and are art and part of the said
most heinous, detestable, and treasonable con-
spiracy. And therefore ye ought and should
incur, underlie and suffer, the sentence and

Sprofs Indictment 197

pain of high treason. Ye have not only by
your depositions solemnly made and sub-
scribed with your own hand in presence of
many of the Lords of His Majesty's Council
and of the Ministers of this town, of date the
15 th and 1 6th of July last and the loth August
confessed every point and article of the in-
dictment : but also by divers other deposi-
tions subscribed with your own hand ye have
ratified the same and sworn to abide thereat
and to seal the same with your blood, which
you cannot deny.

The indictment being read before the
Court, the said George Sprot of new again
confessed the same in every point thereof to
be true and of verity.

The said assize having with great deUbera-
tion gravely considered the tenor and whole
circumstances of the indictment and judicial
confession thereof by the panel in presence
of the justices and assessors, and thereafter
in presence of the assessors themselves, they all

198 The Gowrie Co7ispiracy

voted upon the whole tenor of the said indict-
ment, and being rightly and well advised, they
with one voice by the mouth of Herbert
Maxwell, Chancellor, found, pronounced and
declared the said George Sprot according to
his own confession to be fully culpable art and
part of the said most heinous detestable and
treasonable conspiracy as contained in the
indictment above written and of the know-
ledge and concealing thereof.

Sentence.

The Judge ordains the said George Sprot
to be taken to the Mercat Cross of Edinburgh,
there to be hanged till he is dead, and there-
after his head to be stricken from his body,
and his body to be quartered and demeaned
as a traitor, his head to be put on the
Tolbooth, and his lands and possessions
forfeited to the King as being art and part in
the treasonable and detestable crimes specified

Co7t elusion 199

and in the concealing thereof : which is
pronounced for doom.*

Conclusion.

In reviewing the Gowrie Conspiracy, we
are met at the threshold with the impossibility
of reconciling the official narrative with the
testimony of men whose word cannot be
called in question.

It will be observed from the first of the
papers we have reproduced that Alexander
Ruthven was commanded by the King to
attend him at Falkland on that fatal 5 th of
August, a day that Gowrie and Ruthven had,
it is said, appointed to go to Dirleton. The
King evidently was not invited to Gowrie
House, and this is an important point in the
case ; he volunteered his visit. What took

* From a paper in the archives of the Perth Literary
and Antiquarian Society entitled, " Full Extract of
Record of Justiciary trial of George Sprot, August 12,,
1608, for art and part in the Gowrie Conspiracy."

200 The Gowrie Conspiracy

place on this memorable occasion before the
dinner is not recorded. Of what took place
during and after the dinner we have more
than one version. The official narrative,
w^hich unfortunately is untrustworthy, points
out that some time after the King sat down
to dinner Gowrie sent for Henderson, and
told him " to go to his brother in the gallery.
He obeyed, and was joined by Gowrie. They
locked Henderson up in the chamber. Gowrie
then returned to the King, but afterwards left
him to join Lennox and his companions.
Ruthven, the moment the King was alone,
whispered to him that now was the time
to go. The King asked him to take Erskine,
but he evaded the question. Ruthven locked
the doors as they passed out." How does
the first of these four writers * put this ?
^'Gowrie's domestics were bribed. The King
after dining was to affect a necessity for
retiring to a private apartment, and was to
take with him one of the devoted brothers."
* James Scott's paper, already quoted in extenso.

Conclusion

20I

The writer of the second paper * says, " When
Gowrie had gone to the next room, the
King said that Alexander Ruthven had sug-
gested that now was the proper time to go
and examine the monk." This writer adds,
" Ruthven making the King to swear that
in his absence he would not move nor call
for assistance ; of his going to advise with
the Earl, his brother, and on his return saying
there was no help, he must die, have been
considered as having no other support but the
King's assertion." And the official record
goes on to say, "Gowrie, armed with a sword
in each hand, rushed along the gallery
followed by seven of his servants with drawn
swords. He had seen the bleeding body of
his brother. He attacked Erskine and his
three companions, who were all wounded, but
fought with determined energy." This is
an unsupported statement of the King, and is
evidently a mere flourish of the pen. If
Gowrie and his seven followers fought with
Alexander Duff.

202 The Gowrie Conspiracy

determined energy and wounded Erskine and
his three companions, we should have heard
of such an incident from one or other of the
many writers who have studied this subject.
But all are silent. The King's object was to
divert suspicion from himself and convey
the idea that this w^as part of Gowrie's plot
for his assassination, and to prevent any one
contradicting this falsehood, he promptly
executed such of Gowrie's followers as wit-
nessed the deed.

The question naturally arises, Why was
the King taken to the turret chamber at all ?
if he was taken there, as the official narrative
states. It was no doubt part of the plot that
he should find his way to this chamber in
order to draw Ruthven into a compromising
position and create the impression that he and
not the King was the conspirator. When the
King put his head out of the window and
called for help, the official narrative would
make us believe that he was at that moment
wrestling with Ruthven between life and

Conclusion

203

death. Nothing could be more absurd, as no
such thing occurred. There was no reason
for Ruthven wresthng with the King. It is
much more probable that the King attempted
to drag Ruthven to the window but failed.
Ruthven and his brother were friendly with
James, and there is nothing on record to show
that they ever resiled or attempted to resile
from that position. Up to the time James
appeared at the window Gowrie, who was
dow^nstairs, w^as unarmed. To find a sword
he had actually to go to a neighbour and
borrow one. Is it to be supposed that if he
was the conspirator he would have been at so
critical a moment in an unarmed and defence-
less position ? Being eventually armed with
two swords he went direct to the turret
chamber, and his first question — most sig-
nificant in the circumstances — was, "Where is
the King : I come to defend him." As James
was incapable of carrying out the plot single-
handed, he had a staffs of accomplices, of whom
Erskine, Ramsay and Herries were the leaders.

204 T^^^ Cowrie Conspiracy

and were then in the turret chamber. These
were the men who actually killed the Ruth-
vens under instructions, it is supposed, from
the King. When Gowrie reached the turret
chamber and was told the King was slain he
stood aghast, reversing his sword, saying,
"Wae's me, has the King been killed in my
house ? " These were not the words of a con-
spirator. In this attitude Ramsay, with un-
speakable brutality, and without the slightest
provocation, struck him down mortally with
his dagger.

A prominent feature, and one that cannot
be overlooked, is the prompt disapproval of
the King's conduct by the inhabitants of
Perth, which showed itself on the very day
of the commission of the crime. The high
character of Gowrie and his brother seems to
have been regarded by them as unassailable
and above suspicion. But for the King's
superior forces a riot w^ould undoubtedly have
taken place. This fact is significant, as is also
the fact that those who suspected Gowrie

Conclusion

205

were in the King's service and receiving the
King's pay. The writer of the third paper "*
says, "The inhabitants of Perth were in
the highest degree exasperated at the death
of their Provost. They would not Hsten
to the charge of treason against him, and
had the King departed from Gowrie House
before night the consequences would have
been fatal." The writer of the second paper f
speaks with no uncertain sound on this
point : " The inhabitants of Perth were exas-
perated beyond measure and threatened to
kill the King and all his attendants. After
all, the King's supporters could do nothing to
allay the fury of the enraged multitude, they
found it advisable to keep themselves within
doors till daylight was gone and then slip
away in the dark. Gowrie and his brother
did not conspire against the King, as was
affirmed by him, but the King conspired
against them. Unfortunate Gowrie, thou hast
been cruelly slaughtered." And the writer
> ■'• James Logan. \ Alexander Duff.

2o6 The Cowrie Conspiracy

of the fourth paper * eloquently winds up :
^' In what estimation can we hold a man who,
having perpetrated a crime, the most atrocious
within the realm of man, instantly goes as it
were before his Maker and declares himself
perfectly innocent. How contemptible must
his character have appeared to those of his
accomplices who were in the secret."

An important statement is made by the
first writer f that when the Royal suite was
assembled in the street in front of Gowrie
House to follow their master to Falkland,
the King was to give the alarm that his
life was in danger. His confidential servants
were to ascend by a private staircase and kill
the brother. They were next to kill Gowrie
when he came armed. This is a statement
of great importance, coming as it does from
a writer who, probably more than any man,
has studied and written elaborately on the
history and antiquities of Perth, and whose
.accuracy has never been questioned.

William Panton. f James Scott.

CouchLsion

207

There are some notable points in the
second paper written by Alexander Duff.
He says Gowrie was attending a marriage
when the King arrived^ and was so much
concerned about a dinner for him that the
wedding dinner was at once offered him for
the King's use. It is impossible to verify this
statement, but if true it is another proof of
Gowrie's innocence. Had he been connected
with the conspiracy, or had he even known of
it, he was not likely to have gone to a marriage
on the very day it was to be carried out. It
has been suggested that the separation of the
brothers was part of a prearranged scheme as
.a stratagem that would more easily effect their
assassination. The idea, if true, was ingenious,
and does credit to the villainy of those con-
cerned. The magnitude of this event has
never been sufficiently recognised by the
Scottish people, and the reason is that the
fictitious narrative of James has misled pos-
terity and induced them to recognise that
the Ruthvens were the conspirators.

2o8 The Gowrie Conspiracy

It says much for the magistrates of
Perth that they were unconnected with the
plot and knew nothing of it till the alarm was
given that Gowrie was killed. On this they
hastened to the spot and were very much
concerned and disheartened to find that their
much respected Provost was no more. The
tumult became so serious, and the impression
prevailing that the King was implicated, raised
the violence of the mob to such a degree, that
it is recorded that the King had to take
refuge for his own safety. Had the con-
spiracy been headed by Gowrie, or had the
King escaped from assassination, this tumult
would not have occurred. It is significant
that it did occur, for it is added that the
King did not attempt to return to Falkland
until the darkness had set in and he would be
safe from personal violence.

James was a one-eyed man. In his ad-
ministration he could see nothing but his
own aggrandisement. He was jealous, weak-
minded, vindictive, with much of the school-

Conclusion

209

boy element inherited from his father. He
was all his life what one might call a " big
boy," but he knew he was a King and he
made every one about him obedient to his
will or take the consequences. Gowrie was
in every respect a greater favourite than James.
Even at the English Court he was esteemed
by all, including Elizabeth herself ; and as
he gained in popularity, the breach between
Elizabeth and James gradually became wider.
It is reasonable to suppose that a man of the
temperament of James, finding one of his
subjects completely overshadowing him, would
feel more than chagrined, he would feel
desperate. Gowrie was entertained by Eliza-
beth for two months and he found the English
Court very congenial to him. When he
arrived in Edinburgh from England (three
months before the conspiracy) his enthusiastic
reception by the nobility and people was quite
extraordinary. James was an onlooker. He
could not but see that he was relegated to a
back seat, and that the eyes of his subjects

2IO The Gowrie Conspiracy

were directed to this young nobleman, be-
lieving, no doubt, that it was only a question of
time until he should become James's principal
Secretary of State and ipso facto governor of
the realm. Immediately after the conspiracy
the relations between Elizabeth and James
began to be less strained, Gowrie being out of
the way. Elizabeth, who was an accomphshed
dissembler, threw aside her interest in Gowrie,
congratulated James because Gowrie was
removed, having, as she said, " looo spirits
with him, she believed there would be few left
in hell." This speech indicates no strained
relations. The formation of the conspiracy
with all its secret negotiations has been
studiously kept in the dark. That it involved
much correspondence and much secret negotia-
tion is beyond doubt, but all correspondence
has evidently been carefully destroyed, for
there is nothing in the State Paper offices,
either for or against, that is of any value.
The Logan Letters we may dismiss as pure
inventions, and we have then nothing to fall

Coiicliision

21 I

back upon on which to form judgment save
the attitude of the King and his Court at and
after the event. This brought out unmistak-
ably the suspicions of a portion of the clergy
— those who refused to offer up prayers for
the King's deliverance. In taking up this
position these men cannot be too highly com-
mended. They knew they were hazarding not
only their lives but their livings, while their
determination for the discovery of truth would
not allow them to perjure themselves by
becoming hypocrites. They realised that the
subject was surrounded with great delicacy on
account of the King's connection with it, and
they therefore abstained from entering into
details. This would lead us to believe that
the plot for Gowrie's death was known to a
limited extent before it was carried out, yet
it is beyond doubt that the magistrates of
Perth, with the exception of Bailie Roy, a
creature of the conspirators, knew nothing
whatever about it. Roy was present at the
conspiracy, was an interested looker-on, knew

212 The Gowrie Conspiracy

the circumstances, was examined afterwards,
perjured himself, and on oath swore against
Gowrie. Whether he did this for a con-
sideration is not recorded. Another notice-
able element in the case is the disposal of the
King's retinue on that fatal day. Gowrie
House, from its construction and extent,
offered great facilities for a deed of this
description. The retaining wall in front was
a splendid barricade for the protection of
those within, while the courtyard behind was
spacious and capable of holding about 500
men. The Earl of Mar and others placed
themselves in front of the retaining wall and
in front of the house so as to keep order,
w^hile the numerous retinue in the courtyard
kept guard there. All this was undoubtedly
part of the scheme, as was also the false inti-
mation, to mislead the public shortly after the
event, that the King had gone off to Falkland.

Great sensation was created by this unex-
pected occurrence, and the magistrates of
Perth, realising that public attention in Scot-

Conclusion

213

land and at the English Court was directed
to them, felt that their position was one of
great anxiety and responsibility. What were
they to do ? They were not, according to the
laws of the realm, able to act independently
of the King. They summoned, by the King's
instructions, a Court for the examination of
witnesses — bribed witnesses we may be sure.
The result was that every man who went there
gave testimony against Gowrie and in favour
of the King. Nothing else could be expected.
Evidence against the King would have meant
the scaffold ; and such depositions as were
taken may therefore be dismissed as worthless.
The tactics of the King remind us of the
murder of Darnley. On that occasion the
Queen's ministers committed the murder, and
immediately afterwards tried and acquitted
Bothwell, the chief actor, and posed before
the public as innocent persons. On this
occasion the King's ministers, but assisted
by the King, murdered Gowrie, and by bogus
depositions also posed before the public as

214 The Gowrie Conspiracy

innocent persons. Ruthven was champion of
the one and his grandson victim of the other.
The Town Council, as we have said, were not
free agents in the matter. We are, therefore,
indebted principally to those brave and valiant
ministers who had the moral courage to speak
out under circumstances of great peril. There
is another point which should not escape
notice, viz., at the moment when Gowrie was
struck down the King was playing with a
hawk in the adjoining room. If anything
were wanted to prove the guilt of the King
this incident would compromise him. Is it
likely that he would have been engaged at so
critical a moment in such a frivolous occu-
pation if he had been the victim of the
conspiracy ? Assuming that he was the leader,
such an occupation at that exciting moment
was simply grotesque.

In the whole course of Scottish history
this deed must be regarded as one of the most
extraordinary and mysterious of events. Its
inspiration, its secrecy, the profound silence of

Cottclusion

215

those connected with it, and the issue of the
so-called official narrative incriminating the
Ruthvens, disclose an ingenious plot, though
clumsily and unskilfully carried out. And
not only so, for the conspiracy did not
end with the brutal proceedings of 5 th
August ; but the cruelty that was perpetrated
after that date by the King's authority ; the
quartering and exposing of the bodies of the
two gallant young Ruthvens ; the hunting to
death by Royal Proclamation of the remain-
ing brothers of the family; the capture and
imprisonment for nineteen years in the Tower
of London of the younger brother ; and the
prompt execution of Gowrie's three faithful
friends who were eye-witnesses of the con-
spiracy — all this was a tyrannical course of
conduct on the part of the King that admits
of no defence.

This event is probably only surpassed in
the history of Scotland by the murder of
James I. in the Blackfriars' monastery. Both
events were appalling, and in both the corrup-

2i6 The Cowrie Conspiracy

tion and unprincipled character of the Scottish
nobles stands out prominently for the edifica-
tion of posterity. Much controversy has
centred round the Gowrie Conspiracy, arising
from the silence of the official despatches of
the time, and from the suspicious nature of
what has been recorded.

After a careful study of the whole question,
the conclusion that we arrive at is that the so-
called Gowrie Conspiracy was falsely recorded
by James VI. ; that his narrative is supported
by ex parte depositions of men evidently
nominated by himself, but unsupported by
the testimony of a single independent witness ;
that the conduct of the Ruthvens, even by
the King's own showing, proves that they
were innocent of any intention to conspire
against him ; that no manifestation of enmity
was shown on the occasion by Gowrie and
his followers, to the King, so far as can be
discovered ; and that the King was himself
the prime mover of the conspiracy in order
to abolish the house of Ruthven, root and

Conchtsiofi

217

branch, from the realm or kingdom of
Scotland.

What, then, were the causes that led up to
this extraordinary event ? On this point the
historical record fails us, and is conspicuovis
by its silence. It has been said that the
King's wrath was still unsatisfied regarding
the Raid of Ruthven, and though he beheaded
the first Earl of Gowrie, because of it, it was
his intention to root out the entire family. It
has been said again that the Oueen was too
intimate with Alexander Ruthven, and that that
was the reason which goaded the King to go
the length he did. But this slander is not con-
firmed, and without further evidence cannot
be accepted. We therefore dismiss both these
reasons as being invalid and insufficient.

The cause of the conspiracy, we think, is
outside of these altogether. A deliberate
study of the history of the period indicates
one reason only as the probable cause.
The conspiracy appears to have been formed
to carry out a tragedy in four acts, all of

2i8 The Gowrie Conspiracy

them of an appalling nature. The first was
the murder of Gowrie and his companions ;
the second the annihilation of the Ruthvens
and the nineteen years imprisonment in the
Tower of London ; the third the confiscation
and seizure of the Gowrie estates ; the fourth
the ex parte depositions for the protection of
the murderers.

If Gowrie, as was generally believed, was
grandson of James IV. and Queen Margaret
— his mother being a daughter of Queen
Margaret, though some writers dispute this
— he was evidently a rival of James VI. to
the Crown of England. James was a great-
grandson in the direct line. The writer of
the first paper* gives the significant quo-
tation : —

Queen Margaret's grandson nigher in degree
Was Cowrie's ruin and King James's plea.

The reasons suggested by this writer for
the conspiracy against Gowrie are : — " James's
* James Scott.

Conclusion 219

antipathy to the opulent and powerful family
of Gowrie, father and son having raised
rebellion against his government : the battle
of Doune in 1593 headed by young Gowrie
against the King : Gowrie's opposition to the
tax proposed by James." None of these
reasons can be accepted. The rebellion of
the father had been atoned for : there is no
proof of the son's rebellion : the battle of
Doune was an insignificant affair, and Gowrie,
who was then only a boy of fifteen years
of age, could not possibly have headed it.
Though Gowrie was a strong opponent of
James's unreasonable demand for a heavy
tax, which we have already adverted to, that
could form no adequate reason for taking
his life.

One reason which might induce James
to commit a crime of such magnitude was
his relationship to Gowrie, who, in his estima-
tion, might be a competitor for the Crown
of England. Looking to Gowrie's extensive
estates, his riches and accomplishments, it

220 The Cowrie Conspiracy

was natural that James, who could boast
of none of these, felt the certainty of his
being a dangerous subject and a rival to
his future greatness. What gives additional
weight to this is that the female members of
the Ruthven family were excluded from this
tragic drama. The plot was limited to the
brothers, as so long as a brother was alive, so
long would James have a rival to his throne.

Gowrie was a man of refined manners
and with all the accomplishments that a
sound education could bestow, while amongst
the people he was unquestionably more
popular than the King. We must keep
in view these points in our review of this
mysterious event, and consider how far they
may be responsible for James's conduct, for it
is evident that of all the men at his Court
Gowrie was the only one who completely
shadowed the King.

Assuming that Gowrie and his brother
were the conspirators, what object had they
for assassinating the King? Nothing but an

CoHcltision

22 r

object of the most astounding nature could
have induced them to take such a step. A^^e
look in vain in the national archives and
elsewhere for any object whatever. The exe-
cution of Gowrie's father has been persistently
put forward by some writers as a probable
reason ; but the father was long dead, and had
sufficiently atoned for his crimes, so that that
reason cannot be accepted. Did Gowrie's
behaviour during his residence at Padua or
after indicate any visible signs of murdering
the King ? There is nothing recorded to
warrant such a construction of his conduct.
He was, on the contrary, judging from what
we know of him, probably the very last man
who would be associated with such a crime.
The attainder of the Ruthvens — one of the
most unwarrantable acts which have appeared
on the Statute-book — ought to be repealed
by Parliament, and the Earldom of Gowrie
restored as a recognition on the part of the
Crown of the unlawful treatment of which, for
300 years, the Ruthvens have been the victims.

222 The Gowrie Conspiracy

CHAPTER VI.

Fall of the House of Ruthven and Fate of the remain-
ing Brothers — Proclamation of the King for their
Arrest — Patrick Ruthven in the Tower — His Mar-
riage there — His Daughter's Marriage to Vandyke —
The Cowell MSS.— The Gowrie Papers, by John
Bruce, F.S.A. — Letter the Earl of Gowrie to James VI.
— Patrick Ruthven's Petition to Cromwell — Privy
Council Resolution releasing Ruthven — Dispersion of
the Gowrie Estates — Genealogy of the Ruthven
Family.

When all was over and the family of
Ruthven^ after a long and distinguished
career, had fallen never to rise again, the eyes
of Europe, as may be supposed, were directed
to the scene of this astounding event and to
the unfortunate family who were its victims.
Two brothers still remained, and to them the
event was one of life or death. One would
have supposed that the King, having accom-
plished his purpose to his heart's content,

Fate of the Ritt liven Family 223

would have put his sword in its scabbard
and discontinued further persecution of the
family. He had had his revenge, and what
more did he want? Not so, however. His
conduct is simply an inexplicable mystery,
for instead of resting satisfied with what he
had done, he resolved to seize and imprison
the two surviving brothers who were com-
pleting their education, and to all intents
and purposes meant to execute them also.
These young men were perfectly innocent of
having done anything to offend him. They
were now to be hunted to the death as cruelly
as was Prince Charlie in 1745. Freebooters,
spies, emissaries of all descriptions were told
off as so many watch-dogs to keep a look-out
all over Scotland, and especially on all the
roads leading to the borders, with powers to
seize the youths on the first opportunity.
The King, no doubt, believed that their
escape in the face of these arrangements was
impossible, but he was mistaken^ as the
narrative will show.

224 The Cowrie Conspiracy

During the sixteenth century the Ruthven
family were among the most popular of the
Scottish nobihty, and especially so in the
County of Perth. In proof of which from
1529 to 1600^ a period of seventy-one years,
the Ruthvens were Provosts of Perth for no
less than sixty years. William, Lord Ruthven,
who was created first Earl of Gowrie, was
Provost of Perth for eighteen years. He was
probably the greatest personality of the family,
being a man of great force of character, cruel
and unscrupulous to a degree, while his brutal
nature is illustrated in his conduct at the
Court of Queen Mary. The Raid of Ruth-
ven, led by him, resulted in his execution,
and the King's wrath for his conduct seems
never to have subsided. Whether this had to
do with the creation of the Gowrie Conspiracy
is a point that cannot now be determined with
certainty.

His daughters were all married to noble-
men, viz., the Duke of Lennox, the Earls of
Montrose, Atholl, Airlie, Wemyss and Lou-

Fate of the Riithven Family 225

doun, and Sir John Home. The eldest son,
the second Earl of Gowrie, died young, the
second son, John Ruthven, became third Earl
of Gowrie, and with his brother Alexander
was killed at the Gowrie Conspiracy. That
event, with its dreadful consequences to the
Ruthven family, caused the remaining two
sons, William and Patrick, to make their
escape into England. Their arrest was im-
mediately ordered by the King by procla-
mation. The two young men made their
escape to Berwick incog,^ and presented them-
selves to Sir John Carey, the Governor. He
gave them shelter until he heard from the
English Queen, who allowed them to remain
in England. For upwards of three weeks
they lay concealed in Berwick, never stirring
out of their chamber. The country was so
thickly set with spies that their mother, who
was living at Dirleton was unable to send
them any assistance. Carey, however, gave
them some help.

Carey writes that he had not seen the poor

226 The Gowrie Conspiracy

boys, so close had they kept themselves, as
they had never yet stirred out of their
chamber to look abroad. Carey desired that
for their greater safety they should seek a
retreat farther from the Border. They were
detained, however, in their hiding-place at
Berwick for want of clothing and money
for a journey. The result was well, for the
Governor thought if they had moved they
would have been trapped. " Such secret
search and privy spial is there through the
whole country for her and her sons as no
friend either dare or can travel in their country
but he is searched. And if I had sent them
sooner away I should but have sent them to
very great danger either of being killed or
taken : for that they being very poor them-
selves, and having neither friends nor acquaint-
ances, could neither have told whether to have
gone nor what to do." *

They went from Berwick, with Elizabeth's
consent, to Cambridge, where they remained
* Secret Correspondence of Cecil.

Kings Proclamation to Arrest 227

two years. In 1602 they secretly visited
Scotland ; but penniless, homeless, and objects
of continuous hatred to James. They re-
turned to England and were there when
Elizabeth died and James ascended the throne.
This was a great calamity to them. James
retained his feeling of hatred, and again
issued a proclamation for their arrest. As this
proclamation is of great importance in its
bearing on the guilt or innocence of James,
we reproduce it. It is entitled the proclama-
tion of the King for the arrest of William
and Patrick Ruthven, dated April 27th, 1603,
and was in the following terms : —

Whereas the King's Majesty is informed
that William and Patrick Ruthven, two
brethren to the late Earl of Gowrie (a
dangerous traitor to his person), have crept
into this kingdom with malicious hearts
against him, disguising themselves in secret
places, where he is informed that they not
only utter cankered speeches against him but
are practising and contriving dangerous plots

Q 2

228 The Gowrie Conspiracy

and desperate attempts against his Royal
person : for effecting whereof either by them-
selves or by such as they can persuade and
subborn thereunto they leave no means
untried. Be it, therefore, known to all men
by these presents that for the speedy apprehen-
sion of these malicious and dangerous persons,
William Ruthven and Patrick Ruthven afore-
said, the King's most excellent Majesty doth
straitly command and charge all and singular.
Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, Mayors, Bayliffs,
Constables, and all and every other his High-
nesses officers, within this his realm of England,
that they and every one of them make all
possible diligent search and enquiry for the
said malicious persons, William and Patrick
Ruthven, and to use all their best endeavours
as well within all manner of liberties as without,
for the discovery, apprehension, and arresting
the bodies of the said William and Patrick
Ruthven and being apprehended and arrested
forthwith speedily and without any delay to
bring them or cause them to be brought.

Kings Proclamation to Arrest 229

under sure and safe custody, before some of
his Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council,
there to be proceeded with and ordered
according as justice shall require, and herein
not to fail as they and every one of them
tender their duty unto his Highness and will
answer to the contrary at their uttermost peril.
And the King's most Excellent Majesty doth,
moreover, straitly charge and command all
and every searcher, customer, or other officer
of any port within this realm and all other his
Highness's subjects of what nature, quality
and condition soever he or they be, to whose
homes or company the said William and
Patrick Ruthven or either of them shall
resort, or to whose knowledge, notice and
understanding it may come, where or in what
places they, the said William and Patrick
Ruthven, shall be or into whose hands they
shall come, to stay, apprehend, and arrest
them and to bring them before some of his
Majesty's Privy Council as aforesaid. Wherein
if any shall go about to conceal them or shall

230 The GoTurie Conspiracy

not reveal their abode, if it be in their power
to do so, his Majesty doth hereby pronounce,
that he will for ever after hold them as
partakers and abettors of these malicious
intentions for which they shall feel the weight
of his heaviest indignation. And if, at any
time, any subjects of his out of their duty
shall discover the persons aforesaid or their
residence, and yet shall not find themselves
able to pursue them, his Majesty doth
command them to call for the aid and assist-
ance of his Highness's officers or any others
his subjects, whom his Majesty also hereby
straitly chargeth and commandeth to be
aiding and assisting herein as they will answer
to the contrary at their uttermost peril. Given
at Burghley the 27th April, 1603, in the first
year of our reign.

William Ruthven made his escape, but
Patrick was arrested under this proclamation
and put in the Tower of London. This un-
fortunate young man lay in the Tower for
nineteen years, or until he was thirty-eight

Patrick Ruthveiis Fate 2^1

years of age. In 1616, a grant of £100 per
annum was made to him by the authorities.
It is supposed that at this date his brother
WilUam was dead, as nothing more was heard
of him, and that Patrick would now be the
head of the Gowrie family, which would give
him a claim for compassionate consideration
at the hands of the King. In 1622, he was
ordered by the King to be removed to Cam-
bridge, and awarded a pension of ^500 per
annum out of the Exchequer. In 1624, he
was released absolutely but was not allowed to
live near the Court, and he fixed his domicile
in Somersetshire. Very little is known of him
for at least sixteen years, when in the reign
of Charles I., in 1640, he was resident in
St. Martin's-in-the-Fields : and there is an
entry of his assigning £110 per annum to
his daughter Mary Ruthven. The document
authorising this annuity to his daughter has
been preserved. It appears to have been
granted in the fifteenth year of the reign of
Charles I. and is in the following terms : —

232 The Gowrie Conspiracy

" I, Patrick Ruthven, of the parish of St.
Martin's-in-the-Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, have made, assigned, ordained,
constituted and appointed my living daughter,
Mary Ruthven, spinster, my true and lawful
attorney and assignee for me and in my
name, but to the only proper use and behoof
of my said attorney to ask, demand, and
receive at the receipt of his Majesty's Ex-
chequer, of his Highness's officers and
ministers there for the time being yearly and
every year during my natural life the sum of
^120 out of my yearly pension of £^00
payable to me out of his Majesty's Exchequer.
And for so doing these presents together with
the handwriting of my said daughter, shall
unto all and every of his Majesty's officers
and ministers be a sufficient warrant and
discharge. In witness whereof I, Patrick
Ruthven, have hereunto set my hand and seal
the seven and twentieth day of February, Anno
Domini, 1639, fifteenth year of the

reign of our Sovereign Lord, Charles by the

Release from the Tower 233

grace of God, King of England, Scotland,
France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,
&c."

Patrick Ruthven.

The following is the minute of the
Privy Council, dated February 4th, 1623-4,
releasing Ruthven : —

Whereas His Majesty was graciously
pleased to give orders for the enlargement of
Patrick Ruthven from his imprisonment
within the Tower of London and that he
should remain confined to the University of
Cambridge and within six miles of the same
until the further order from his Majesty, his
royal pleasure was this day further signified by
Mr. Secretary Conway that the said Patrick
Ruthven, according to his humble suit to his
Majesty, should be released of his confinement
on these two conditions, viz., that he should
come no nearer to the Court than he was
permitted by his said confinement : and that
he should not at any time seat himself in any

234 Gowrie Coiispiracy

place where his Majesty should not like him
to be resident^ whereupon the said Patrick
Ruthven having for the present named
Somersetshire for his residence his Majesty
was pleased to approve thereof : and a
memorial hereof was commanded to be
entered in the Register of Council Causes and
a copy of the same sent to the said Patrick
Ruthven.

It has been discovered that Patrick
Ruthven married Elizabeth Woodford, widow
of the first Lord Gerrard of Abbots Bromley,
Staffordshire. It is supposed that this marriage
took place a year or two after the death of
Lord Gerrard and whilst Ruthven was still
suffering imprisonment. In 1624 the lady
died, leaving Ruthven a widower with two
boys and a girl, and to add to his calamity
the financial troubles of the Government put
an end to his pension and consequently that
of his daughter. His daughter Mary was
admitted to the Royal Household in the
service of Queen Henrietta Maria, and is said

Mary Rtttliveu and Vandyke 235

to have been a young lady of extraordinary
beauty. The famous painter, Vandyke, fell in
love with her and married her. In 1640 she
and her husband visited his native city,
Flanders, where she gave birth to her only
child, a daughter named Justiniana. In the
following year Vandyke died, to the great grief
of his devoted young wife. It would appear
that some years after she married Sir Richard
Pryse, which is stated to have been an im-
prudent marriage, and she shortly thereafter
died. All that was left for her child,
Justiniana, was Vandyke's finished and un-
finished pictures, and these appear to have
been taken possession of by lawyers and
eventually were smuggled out of the country
to be sold. Ruthven applied to the Lords
of Parliament for an injunction and got
it, but somehow in spite of that the
pictures were taken away and Vandyke's
child was left in poverty. Justiniana was
born in 1641 and was married to Sir John
Pendergast.

236 The Gowrie Conspiracy

The writer who gives these particulars,
says * : —

"The gradations of poverty and misery
which Ruthven passed through it is now
impossible to unravel. Probably he lived to
look back on the long years he had passed in
the Tower, passed in the pursuits of favourite
studies, as the happiest portion of his life.
When death came to him at the age of sixty-
eight it found this inheritor and representative
of some of the noblest blood in Scotland,
this cousin of the King and a possible
claimant of the throne, the tenant of a cell
in the King's Bench. He was buried at St.
George's, in Southwark, as Lord Ruthven, on
the 24th May, 1652. On the 13 th March,
1657, letters of administration were granted
of his effects by the title of Patrick Lord
Ruthven, late of Scotland, to his son Patrick
Ruthven, Esquire, of whom nothing is
known."

And so the curtain falls, and the noble
* John Bruce — Stepney Cowell Papers.

Fall of the House of Rttthven 237

house of Ruthven is numbered with the past.
For centuries prior to the Conspiracy it had a
remarkable career. It was a family of great
opulence, popularity and high position in the
realm. Like others of the great ruling
families its members were good, bad and
indifferent, but they were certainly not want-
ing in that force and decision of character
which, generation after generation, brought
them to the front. After the Conspiracy the
chequered career of the survivors of the family
is very pitiable and must arouse compassion
and sympathy from every one who peruses
the narrative. There is no reason to doubt
the record in Col. Cowell's collection. We
do not know that anything could be more
pathetic or more involved in melancholy
interest. The story reads like fiction but
unfortunately it is true. It is specially a
Perthshire story, and one that for all time
will continue to be bound up with the history
and traditions of that historical county.

The same writer adds : " In my town

238 The Cowrie Conspiracy

residence at St. George's Place^ Hyde Park
Corner, there is in a library a small
bookcase, the doors of which were formerly
window shutters in an upper room of Ruthven
Castle, near Perth. After James VI. and
his courtiers had put to death John, the
last Earl of Gowrie, with his brother,
Alexander Ruthven, he attainted the blood,
confiscated the property, and prohibited even
the use of the name of this family. Further,
his Majesty was graciously pleased to change
even the name of the family abode from
Ruthven Castle to Huntingtower. The
shutters were presented to me by the occupier
of the old castle as a reminiscence of the
families of the Gowries, Ruthvens, Hally-
burtons and Lords of Dirleton. The arms
of the Hallyburtons who intermarried with
the Ruthvens are on the shutters.

"At so distant a date, and in so rude a
state of society as that of Scotland in the
1 6th century, it would be difficult to trace or
attribute correct motives to the actors in this

The Closing Scene 239

affair. The actions themselves, as far as they
have been permitted to come down to us, are
no doubt historically true. The King, accom-
panied by his followers, did of his own free
will and accord go to Gowrie House in Perth.
His Majesty's unprepared host and entertainer
was put to death by the hands of the King's
followers and at the King's instigation. A
meUe ensued, arising either from false alarm or
premeditated intention of some of the parties
engaged. The result was the uprooting and
complete destruction of a very ancient and
historical family. The innocent as well as the
guilty, if any such were among the Ruthvens,
suffered alike and equally fell under the royal
ban. These then are the facts as far as they
have reached us, although great care was
taken in suppressing any version of the story
beyond the King's own ; in spite of which
even the royal version at the time was
disbelieved.*

" Without therefore attributing motives or
* John Bruce.

240 The Gowrie Conspiracy

preconceived guilt to either party, his Majesty
at all events thought it perfectly necessary to
give to the public some excuse from himself
for the slaughter of this family enacted in
their own house when he spontaneously paid
a visit to Gowrie. This mysterious story
never has been satisfactorily accounted for or
cleared up, and probably never will be. It is
fair, therefore, to offer whatever I may know
or believe of this vexed question, but leave
the convictions or impressions or the motives
of the actors to be formed by those who may
take the trouble to read a family detail as
connected with a historical event. It is
unquestionably a very curious subject of dis-
cussion, and especially so is the difficulty of
reconciling the facts really known with any
of the theories which have been invented to
account for them." *

There are comparatively few letters to be
found of John, third Earl of Gowrie, who
perished at the conspiracy, but the following

* Stepney Cowell Papers, edited by John Bruce.

Cowries Letter to James 241

one, addressed by him to James VI., gives
us an indication of the friendly feehngs he
entertained to that monarch : —

John, Earl of Gowrie, to King
James VI., —

" Please your Majesty, if the bestowing of
great benefits should move the receivers
thereof to be thankful to the givers, I have
many and extraordinary occasions to be
thankful to your Majesty : not only being
favoured with the benefit of your Majesty's
esteem at all times, but also that it hath pleased
your Majesty to think so well of me as to
honour me with your most loving letter,
which signifies your Majesty's good favour
and graciousness towards me which I esteem
so much that I would think myself very
happy if it should please your Majesty to
command me in anything so that you might
have a trial of my prompt and faithful
obedience. Your Majesty's worth and valour

242 The Gowrie Conspiracy

in the particular courtesies shown to me merit
whatever I am able to do^ and a hundred
times more. I pray your Majesty to have me
excused if I have taken the liberty to write
again. Not having the pleasure of your
Majesty's presence, I could not declare my
willing mind better than by using the next
alternative. In the meantime I shall rely on
your Majesty's constant goodwill which God
of his mercy grant that I see your Majesty
always in such good estate, as I wish, which
will give me the greatest satisfaction of all.

" So craving earnestly of that Creator of
all things to bless you with all felicity and
satisfaction in health and with an increase
of many prosperous days, I devoutly kiss
your Majesty's hands, etc.

Gowrie."

Padua, November 24, 1595.

A narrative of the Ruthven family after
the Conspiracy would be incomplete without
a copy of the remarkable petition presented.

Patrick and Sarah Ruthvei^ 243

as it is recorded, by " Patrick Ruthven
and Sarah his wife," to Oliver Cromwell,
the Protector : —

To His Highness, Oliver, Lord Protector
of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland,
and Ireland, the humble Petition of Patrick,
Lord Ruthven, and Dame Sarah his wife,
Sheweth —

That the petitioner is nephew to John,
Earl of Gowrie, whose life, honour, and estate
were sacrificed to the Court pretence of a
conspiracy, and that in pursuance of that
oppression the petitioner's father suffered nine-
teen years' imprisonment in the Tower of
London till the late King was pleased to
endow him with dBsoo per annum out of the
Exchequer. The Parliament of Scotland of
1 64 1 restored him to the Barony of Ruthven.
Which pension, notwithstanding it was the
whole provision the petitioner's father had for
the support of his family, yet the distractions
of these times obstructed its due payment and
involved him in inevitable debts which cast

R 2

244 The Gowrie Conspiracy

him into prison where he died, leaving the
petitioner and another son in a very poor and
lamentable condition. Your petitioner has
never done anything to the prejudice of your
Highness's interest, and there being nearly
^5,000 due for arrears to the petitioner's
father as by the certificate of the Auditor
and Receiver General of the Exchequer, and
by reason of your petitioner's extreme poverty
he might have long since perished had he not
been relieved by his wife who is not able
longer to contribute.

Your petitioners most humbly beg your
Highness's commiseration of their
most sad condition and that your
Highness would be pleased if not to
restore him to his family's former
splendour yet to such a position as
may not altogether misbecome the
quality of a gentleman : honour
with beggary being an unsupport-
able affliction : and the petitioners as

The Gowrie Estates 245
in duty bound will ever pray, —

RUTHVEN.

We refer this petition to our counsel
desiring a tender and speedy
consideration thereof may be had.

Oliver P.

Whitehall,

November 3, 1656.

[This was Patrick Ruthven, Jun., brother of Lady
Vandyke.]

The Gowrie Estates.

Abstract of the Deed of Surrender, 1583, ^
by William, first Earl of Gowrie, in favour
of his son.

This deed was executed after the Raid of
Ruthven, for which this Wm. Ruthven was
afterwards beheaded. The object of repro-
ducing it is to show the extent of the lands
and estates held by the family : " William
Earl of Gowrie, &c., surrenders the lands and

246 The Gowrie Conspiracy

barony of Ruthven with the tower, fortaUce,
manor^ salmon fisheries, &c., with the advow-
son and donation of the Chapels of Ruthven
and Tibbermore ; the lands of Ballinbreich,
Pitcairn, Craigengelt ; a third part of the lands
of Airleywight ; the town and lands of Cul-
trany ; the lands of Dengreen ; a moiety of
the mill of Auchtergaven ; the lands of
Moneydie, Balmblair, Craigilmy ; a third part
of the lands and barony of Baledgarno with
the castle and fortalice ; a third part of the
lands and barony of Abernyte ; a third part of
the lands and barony of Forgandenny with
the advowson and donation of the chapel ; a
third part of the lands of Seggie in Kinross ;
all the lands and barony of Balerno and
Newton ; the town and lands of Cousland in
the sheriffdom of Edinburgh ; a third part of
the lands and barony of Dirleton with the
tower, fortalice, manor, &c., and the villa and
lands of Dirleton ; a third part of the lands of
Bolton with the mills and fisheries (salt and
freshwater) ; a third part of the lands of

Genealogy of the Ruthvens 247

Hassindean and Halyburton with the donation
of the chapel of Halyburton all within the
sheriffdom of Berwick. These were sur-
rendered to James VI. to be annexed and
incorporated with one whole and free barony
to be called the barony of Ruthven^ in favour
of James Ruthven, his eldest son and heir
apparent, reserving however to himself and
Dorothy Stewart, his wife, a life interest in the
same." This document was signed at Perth
on the last day of February, 1583, seventeen
years before the Gowrie Conspiracy.

Genealogy of the Ruthven Family.

In the twelfth century, Allan, the son of
Walter, married Cecilia, daughter of Gilbert,
Earl of Strathearn, with whom he got the
lands of Cowgask. His son was Walter de
Ruthven. This name he assumed from the
lands of his old inheritance called Ruthven.
In the reign of James III., Sir William
Ruthven, son of another Sir William, presum-

248 The Gowrie Conspiracy

ably descended from Walter, was created Lord
Ruthven. His first wife was Isobel, daughter
of Lord Livingstone, by whom he had a son
and heir who was killed at Flodden before his
father died. Lord Ruthven had a second
wife, Christian, daughter of Sir John Forbes
of Pitsligo, and by her he had a son, afterwards
Sir William Ruthven of Bandirran, and two
daughters, one of whom married the Earl of
Buchan and the other the Earl of Errol.
Lord Ruthven by his first wife had a second
son called William, second Lord Ruthven,
who married Janet, daughter of Patrick Haly-
burton. Lord Dirleton, and succeeded his
father as Lord Ruthven. He was Lord Privy
Seal, and died in 1556, leaving issue Patrick,
his successor, and Alexander, a second son,
who was the first of the Ruthvens of Freeland,
afterwards created Lord Ruthven by Charles IL
William, the second Lord Ruthven, had
several daughters, one of whom married David,
Lord Drummond, Earl of Perth, and his eldest
son was Patrick, Lord Ruthven, one of the

Dorothea Stuart 249

murderers of Riccio^ who died in banishment
at Alnwick for that crime (1566). He was
married to Jean, daughter of the Earl of
Angus, and left two sons and two daughters.
His eldest son was William, first Earl of
Gowrie. Gowrie married Dorothea Stuart,
a daughter of Lord Methven by his second
wife, Janet, daughter of the Earl of AthoU,
which Lord Methven was first married to
Queen Margaret, widow of James IV. She
died in 1541. Dorothea Stuart was the
mother of Gowrie and Alexander Ruthven of
the conspiracy.* According to this authority.
Queen Margaret had no child to the King
but James V. Thereafter she married the
Earl of Angus, to whom she bore one child,
who afterwards was Lady Margaret Lennox,
mother of Darnley. Afterwards Queen
Margaret divorced Angus and married Lord
Methven.

Gowrie's mother, Dorothea Stuart, could
not have been the Queen's daughter, for her
* Earl of Cromartie.

250 The Gowrie Conspiracy

Majesty died in 1541, aged 53, whereas
Dorothea Stuart, first and only Countess of
Gowrie, had borne children at intervals after
1580. A son whom Margaret bore when
Dowager, although omitted by all our Peer-
age critics, is expressly mentioned in Lord
Methven's patent of creation, 1525, as
uterine brother of the Royal donor James V.,
and by two credible and nearly contemporary
authors. Bishops Lesley and Hume, formerly
stated to have been slain at Pinkie in 1 547.
The Master of Methven, as these designate
him, must have been son of the Queen,
because no son by Methven's second wife
could have been old enough to appear in
arms. Her Majesty's second son, according
to the first Viscount Strathallan, had been born
in 15 15 or the following year, consequently
must at his death have been over 30 years of
age. That he was father of the Countess of
Gowrie is stated by Lord Strathallan. Who
the Countess's mother was does not appear.*

* James Scott, Ant. Lib.

251

APPENDIX.

GowRiE House.

It is difficult to convey to the reader an
intelligible idea of the general appearance
and beautiful proportions of this famous
building, which was in its day considered the
greatest ornament of the town of Perth. It
would appear from the best reports that the
building extended from the Water Vennel to
Canal Street, bounded on the west by the
Speygate and on the east by the river. The
entrance was from South Street by an arched
and very chaste gateway. The gable stood a
little to the north of the gate of the County
Prison. This wing consisted of a range of
lofty stone buildings, the lower part being
fire-proof and bomb-proof. The second
storey consisted of two large State or reception

252 The Goiorie Conspiracy

rooms ; the upper floor divided in the same
manner. The northern division consisted of
buildings not so lofty, having only one flat
above the fire-proof and another flat above
that. In the west division was the kitchen
and cuisine^ with a fireplace extending across
the whole length of the house. This division,
north of the main entrance and forming part
of the Watergate, contained spacious public
rooms on each flat. On the east of the
building a terrace ran along the river the
whole length of the property. At the end of
this terrace was an oval tower, the interior of
which was ornamented with drawings of the
arms of the Scottish nobility. This tower
was built in the angle of the eastern and
southern walls and was called the Spy tower
from its commanding situation and extensive
view. The apartments of Gowrie House were
numerous and arranged en suite so as to com-
municate with each other. There was a
gallery which extended along one side of the
square and communicated by a door at the
end with a chamber which led to a small
circular room in the turret (where the con-
spiracy occurred). This gallery and the other

Cowrie House

253

apartments were accessible by a broad oaken
staircase called the " black turnpike/' but the
turret or round room could be reached also
by a back spiral stair, so that persons who
entered it through the gallery might escape or
could be conveyed away without again using
the principal staircase. On the south, to the
line of Canal Street, was the garden, the city
wall forming the western and southern en-
closure. Where the wall met the river was
the Monks' tower. This tower was part of
the range of buildings. The house was
elaborately decorated with astronomical repre-
sentations and with paintings and works of art.
On the outside of the Spy tower was a dock or
basin formed on the side of the bed of the
lade that runs into the river below Canal
Street.

During Gowrie's occupation of the house
the locality was the fashionable part of the
town. Several noblemen lived in the Water-
gate and Speygate. The Earl of Atholl had
a house on the west side of Speygate, nearly
opposite Gowrie House : the Earl of Errol had
one at the west end of Watergate, and adjoin-
ing it was the Bishop of Dunkeld's house :

254 T^^^^ Gowrie Conspiracy

Lord Chancellor Hay lived at the south end
of Watergate adjoining Gowrie House : Lord
Crichton of Sanquhar in the Speygate, while
Lord John Murray's house was in Curfew
Street, north of the Fair Maid's house. All
these houses, with one exception, have now
disappeared, as also the Parliament House,
which was situated on the north side of High
Street. Provost Murray's house in the Water-
gate still stands, a most substantially built
house of curious internal construction with
walls three feet thick. It is situated next the
Perthshire Advertiser printing office. At the
Gowrie Conspiracy other residents in Water-
gate were Lady Stewart of Urrard, Murray of
Dollerie, Provost Caw, Provost Alison, and
Dr. Wood.

Gowrie House was originally erected by
Elizabeth Gray, Countess of Huntly, in 1520.
She was a daughter of Andrew, Lord Gray,
and was born in 1455. In 1525 she founded
masses for her husband in Blackfriars' Monas-
tery and died in 1526. After her death the
house was acquired by Patrick, Lord Ruthven,
who died in 1566 (father of the first Earl
of Gowrie). Alexander, Earl of Huntly, and

Gowrie House

255

Lord of Badenoch, died in 1524. He was
buried in the choir of the Church of
the Blackfriars at Perth. He was at one
time proprietor of the Castle of Ruthven.
On January 24th, 1525, a charter was granted
by Ehzabeth to the Prior and Friars of the
Blackfriars' Monastery, giving them the Estate
of Littleton in order that mass might be
said daily for her own soul and that of her
husband. The illustration we have given of
Gowrie House will afford the reader some
idea of its graceful architecture and fine pro-
portions. At the Gowrie Conspiracy it was
forfeited and became the property of the City.
In 1746 the town of Perth presented it to the
Duke of Cumberland in recognition of his
services against the Jacobites at Culloden.
The Duke afterwards sold it to the Govern-
ment to be converted into Artillery Barracks,
and it was so occupied till the French war of
1789. In 1805 it was purchased from the
Government by the City — or rather an excam-
bion took place — the City giving them in
exchange a site to build a depot for prisoners
of war, viz., five acres of the MoncriefF lands
for which the City was to pay the price fixed

256 The Gowrie Conspiracy

by a jury. It was afterwards sold to the
County. A Vermel, called the Provost of
Methven's Vermel, led to the Tay from the
east end of South Street (but in Speygate).
In 1580 the Town gave the Vennel to the
Earl of Gowrie, as it lay at the south end of
his property in Speygate, which he was to
shut up in exchange for a new Vennel from
the Watergate to the Tay called the Water
Vennel. This Vennel is situated between the
United Free West Church and Mr. Cowan s
property in Tay Street.

Regarding the two towers on the Gowrie
House buildings, the Monks' tower and the
Spey or Spy tower, the former was erected, as
already stated, on the south-east corner of
these buildings on the town wall facing the
river. In this tower, when the monks were
disorderly, they were sometimes confined in
order to do penance. It was occasionally
used as a powder magazine. The Spey or
Spy Tower was a strong and stately fortress,
the under part of which was long used as a
prison. The Rosses of Craigie were governors
of it. At the Reformation Robert Ross of
Craigie delivered up the keys under protest.

Gowrie House 257

The tower stood near Gowrie House in line
with the town wall, and was also one of the
fortresses. It was here that Cardinal Beaton
imprisoned those who were condemned to
death for opposing Popery, and from here he
witnessed their execution. In addition to
these prisons there was the Tolbooth for
common prisoners or criminals.

Gowrie House has now disappeared and
on its site stand the County Buildings of the
County of Perth.

THE ANCIENT OR MERCAT CROSS OF PERTH, WHICH IS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE GOWRIE CONSPIRACY.

S

258 The Gowrie Conspiracy

RUTHVEN CASTLE, PERTH.

Painted on the chimney-piece of Ruthven
Castle are the following significant words : —

Vera dm latitant^ sed longo temporis usii
Euiergunt tandem qzcae latuere diu.

Truth long lies hid, but in time's long (delayed) oppor-
tunity

At length come to light the things that have long been
concealed.

Mercer CJironick.

INDEX.

Abbot, Dr., Archbishop of Canter-
bury, 8 1
Airlie, Earl of, 224
Anderson, Rev. John, 161
Angus, Earl of, 249
Anne, Queen of James VI., 130
Aston, Sir Roger, 130
Atholl, Earl of, 2, 224, 249, 253

Balcanquil, Rev. Walter, 124, 141
Balfour, Rev. James, 124, 1 41
Balmerino, Lord, 91, 119
Banished Ministers, 124
Barbe, Louis A., 153, 186
Beaton, Cardinal, 257
Berwick, 225
Bevan, Robert, 135
Beza, Theodore, 48, 74
Blackfriars Monastery, 215, 255
Bothwell, Earl of, 162, 164
Bower, Laird, 76, 179, 191
Bowes, Sir William, 125
Bruce, Colonel, 94
Bruce, John, 231, 238
Bruce, Rev. Robert, 34, 47, 124,

141, 144
Buchan, Earl of, 248
Burton, Dr. Hill, 13?

1 Calderwood, David, 50, 160, 187
Cambridge, University of, 233
Campbell, Sir Duncan, 29
Carey, Sir John, 225
Catholic Invasion, 162
Cecil, Sir Robert, 116, 129, 130, 162
Charles I., 1 14, 231
Charter, James VL, to Perth, 38,
62, 89

Convention of Estates, Edinburgh,
51

Convention of Royal Burghs, 64
Correspondence, Nicolson and

Cecil, 120
Corruption of the State, 113
Coupar, Rev. William, 52, 60, 186
Court of Session, 118
Cowell, Colonel Stepney, 236
Craigengelt, George, 34, 125, 133,

i53» 160
Cranston, Sir John, 29
Cranston, Thomas, 29, 134
Crichton, Lord, 254
Cromarty, George, Earl of, 61, 80,

81, 249
Cromwell, Oliver, 243, 245
Culloden, 255
Cumberland, Duke of, 255

26o

Index

Darnley, Lord, 2, 4, 213
Dirleton, 24, 47, 112, 183, 199
Dirleton, Lord, 238, 248
Donnybristle Castle, 75
Doune, Battle of, 219
Doune Castle, 23
Down, Lord, Murder of, 75
Drummond, Earl of Perth, 248
Duff, Alexander, narrative by, 39
Alexander Duff's verdict, 81, 82
Conciliates the citizens, 70
Death of Gowrie and his brother,
45

Eight puncheons of wine, 70
Examination of Cowrie's servants,
53

Execution of the first Gowrie, 74
Gowrie attending a marriage, 40
Herries, Ramsay, and Murray

in the closet, 44
Indignation of the magistrates, 45
King appoints day of thanks-
giving, 46
King despatches Murray to kill

the other brother, 47
King goes to general assembly, 75
Meets the King, 41
Sprot and Logan, 76
The Coupar story, 52
The King and retinue dine, 42
The Perth Charter, 62
The Turret Chamber, 44
Value of Henderson's evidence,
72

Value of Logan Letters, 80
Duff, Rev. Alexander, 39
Dunbar, Earl of, 76, 91
Dundee and Perth, 65
Dundee, Patrick, MS., 71
Dunkeld, Bishop of, 253

Elizabeth, Queen of England, 8,
24, 131, 162, 163, 209, 225

Errol, Earl of, 248, 253

Erskine, James, 28

Erskine, Sir Thomas, 13, 17, i8,
28, 30, 73, 87, 112, 137, 142,
157

Estates Convention, 163, 165
Eviot, Patrick, 37

Falkland, 4, 9, 10, 24, 157

Fast Castle, 79, 90, 132, 161, 164,

182
Flodden, 3

Forbes, Sir John, of Pitsligo, 248

Gallery Chamber, 27
Galloway, Bishop of, 60
Genealogy of Ruthven family,
247

Gerrard, Lord, 233
Gowrie Conspiracy, 4, 7, 48, 113,
139, 216

Gowrie, Countess of, 21, 119, 250
Gowrie Estates, Deed of Surrender,
245

Gowrie family, 23, 68, 107

Gowrie House, 6, 22, 28, 88, 107,
164, 165, 199, 239

Gowrie House, description of, 25 1

Gowrie, John, Earl of —

Convicted of High Treason, 36
Death of Gowrie, 18, 204
Early Life of, 8
Gallery of Paintings, 27
Gowrie and Coupar, 52
Gowrie and Theodore Beza, 48
Gowrie locks Henderson up, 13
His descent from Queen Mar-
garet, 24, 250

Index

Gowrie, John, Earl of — continued.
Letter to James, 241
Meets the King at South Inch, 12
Scene in Turret Chamber, 16, 17
Sends Henderson to gallery, 13

Gowrie, Master of, 142

Gowrie, Third Earl, Letter to
James, 240

Gowrie, William, First Earl of, 7,
39, 64, 74, 119

Graham, John, of Balgowan, 95, 157

Graham, John, of Orchil, 157

Graham, Robert, 2

Gray, Andrew Lord, 254

Gray, Elizabeth, Countess of
Huntly, 254, 255

Gray, Master of, 129

Haddington papers, 160
Haddington, Viscount, 88
Hailes, Lord, 159
Hall, Rev. John, 124
Hallyburton family, 238
Hallyburton, Patrick, 248
Hay, George, Prior of Charterhouse,
157

Hay, Lord Chancellor, 157, 254
Henderson, Andrew, 13, 15, 16, 29,

72, 87, 157
Henrietta Maria, Queen, 234
Hepburn, James, Earl of Bothwell,

4

Herries, Sir Hugh, 18, 30, 48, 51,
87

Hewat, Peter, 142
Home, Lord, 162
Home, Sir John, 225
Hume, Bishop, 250
Hume of Godscroft, 21
Huntingtower, 38, 49, 113

Huntly, Countess of, 254, 255
Huntly, Marquis of, 75, 159

InchafFray, Abbot of, 157

James I., 215
James IV., 218
James V., 21
James VI.

Accompanies Ruthven to Turret,
14

Admits killing Ruthven, 151
Arrest of Patrick Ruthven, 230
Court of Enquiry, 140
Dines at Gowrie House, 12
Evidence against him, 115
Gives Thanks for Deliverance, 18
Grants a Charter to Perth, 38
His relentless character, 1 14
James and the Pope, 162
King and the clergy, 141
Letter from Elizabeth, 131
Letter from John, Earl of Gow-
rie, 241

Made Burgess and Provost, 38, 70
Nicolson verdict, 118
Pecuniary obligations to Gowrie,
119

Proclamation to arrest the Ruth-

vens, 227
Relations between James and

Gowrie, 8
Removes Gowrie supporters, 114
Scene in the Turret Chamber,

15

Second interview with Bruce, 142
The King's Escort to Perth, 12
The Official Narrative by James,
10

Third interview with Bruce, 144

262

Index

James, G. P. R., 98
Justiniana, daughter of Vandyke,
235

Kennedy, formerly servant to

Gowrie, 47
King's hawk, 136

Lennox, Duke of, 5, 13, 17, 26, 27,

28, 73> I33> 134, 138. 157,
224

Lennox, Lady Margaret, 24S
Lesley, Bishop, 21, 250
Lindores, Abbot of, 1 57
Lindsay, David, 141
Lindsay of the Byres, 7
Linlithgow, 160
Livingstone, Lord, 248
Loch Leven, 7

Logan, James, Paper on the Con-
spiracy, 83
Bruce's Banishment, 90
Ramsay, Herries and Erskine, 87
Restalrig Vault opened, 91
So-called Evidence against Gow-
rie, 85

The Charter of Confirmation, 89
The Inhabitants of Perth, 88
The Logan Letters, 90
• Value of Henderson's Evidence,
87

Value of the King's Narrative,
86

Logan Letters, 167

Logan, Robert, of Restalrig, 76, 79,

84, 132, 164, 181
Lords of Articles, 36
Lords of Council and Session, 64,

89

Loudoun, Earl of, 224

MacDuff, Donald, 34
MacDuff, John, 158
Macgregor, D., 114
Magistrates of Perth, 45, 211
Mar, Earl of, 17, 27, 28, 135, 138,
212

Margaret, Queen of James IV., 20,

24, 218, 249
Mary, Queen of Scots, 6, 161,

224

Melrose Abbey, 112
I Mercat Cross, Edinburgh, 198

Mercer Manuscript, 70

Methven, Lord, 21, 249

Methven, Master of, 21, 250

Methven, Provost of, 256

Moncrieff, Hugh, 37

Monks' Tower, 253

Montrose, Earl of, 224

Moray, Countess of, 75

Moray, Earl of, 75
I Moray, Regent, 75

Moyes, David, King's Servant, 95

Murray, Lord John, 254

Murray of Tullibardine, 1 12

Murray, Sir David, 48, 87

Murray, Sir Mungo, 1 12

! Muses Threnodie, 71

1

j Narrative, Official, of James VI.,

I

I Nicolson, Robert, Elizabeth's En-
voy, 116, 118, 119, 120, 123,
129, 162

Notes on the Plans, 100, loi,
102

Overbury, Sir Thomas, 76, 108

I

j Padua, 8, 23, no, 162, 182

Index

263

Panton, William, Paper on the
Conspiracy, 92
Discrepancy of the Reports, 95
King's Hypocrisy, 94
King's Narrative Impeached, 92
Privy Council and King's Narra-
tive, 95
The King's Character, 96
The King the Conspirator, 96
Who Killed Ruthven, 93
Younger's Murder, 94

Parliament House, Perth, 254

Pendergast, Sir John, 235

Pennant, Thomas, 49

Perth, 3, 6, 24, 38, 57, 64

Perth, King James VI. Hospital,
60, 66

Perth Literary and Antiquarian
Society, 9, 19, 199

Perth Town Council, 9, no, 149,
157, 211, 214

Petition, Patrick and Sarah Ruth-
ven, 243

Pinkie, 3, 21

Pitcairn Criminal Trials, 146
Plan, Notes on the, lOO, loi, 102
Plan of Gowrie House, 100
Preston. 125, 127
Privy Council, 65, 95, 233
Proclamation, Ruthven's Arrest,
227

Pryse, Sir Richard, 235

Raid of Ruthven, 8, in, 217, 224
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 76, 108
Ramsay, Sir John, 17, 18, 28, 30,

48, 87, 112, 136, 157
Receiver-General of Exchequer, 244
Register House, Edinburgh, 179
Release of Patrick Ruthven, 233

Review of the Situation, 103
Rhynd, William, 53
Riccio, David, 2, 7
Robertson, Duncan, 133
Rosses of Craigie, 256
Roy, Andrew, Bailie of Perth, 157,
211

Ruthven, Alexander, of Freeland,
37, 160, 248
Alexander Ruthven, Master of

Gowrie, 142
At Falkland, 4, 10
Convicted of high treason, 36
Death of Ruthven, 18
Despatches Henderson, I2
Interview with James, 1 1
Scene in the Turret Chamber, 14
Stabbed by Ramsay, 17
Takes King to Turret Chamber, 14
Ruthven, Andrew, 17
Ruthven, Beatrix, 51
Ruthven Castle, 38, 48, 238, 258
Ruthven family, 6, 220, 222, 249
Ruthven, Henry, of Freeland, 37
Ruthven, James, 247
Ruthven, John, 225
Ruthven, last Lord, 236
Ruthven, Mary, 231, 232, 234
Ruthven, Patrick, 231, 235
Ruthven, Patrick and Sarah, Peti-
tion, 243
Ruthven, Patrick, Lord, 6
Ruthven, Patrick, marriage of, 234
Ruthven, Patrick, release from

Tower, 233
Ruthven, Sir William, of Bardirran,
248

Ruthven, William and Patrick, 47,

224, 226, 227
Ruthven, William, Lord, 2, 7, 224

264

Index

Scone, Lord, 50

Scott, James, Paper on the Con-
spiracy, 20
Alexander Ruthven's death, 31
Attitude of the Clergy, 35
Charter and the Provostship of

Perth, 38
Cries from Turret for help, 27
Dines at Gowrie House, 25
Execution of Gowrie's followers,
34

Gowrie and Ruthven hanged, 37
Gowrie charged with treason, 28
Gowrie enters Turret Chamber,
30

Gowrie's trial, 36

King's conduct nefarious, 24

Orders Ruthven's presence at

Falkland, 24
Proclamation issued, 33
Stabbed by Ramsay, 30
Scottish Parliament, 36, 154, 156
Secret Correspondence of Cecil,
226

Sol way Moss, 3

Somerset, Earl and Countess of,

75, 108
South Inch, Perth, 17, 25
Spottiswood, Archbishop, 59, 81
Spottiswoode, John, 52
Sprot, George Eyemouth, 76, 79,

91, 161
Sprot's Indictment, 189

His sentence, 198
Spy or Spey Tower, 256

St. Andrew's, Archbishop of, 52
St. Johnstoun, 10, 180
Stanhope, Sir John, 125
State Paper Office, 155, 210
Stepney Cowell Papers, 236, 240
Stewart, Lady, of Urrard, 254
Stormont, Viscount, 113
Strathallan, Viscount, 21, 250
Strathbraan and Trochrie, 112, 153
Strathearn, Gilbert, Earl of, 247
Stuart, Dorothea, 5, 20, 249
Synod of Stirling, 58 '^2 ^

Tolbooth of Edinburgh, 37
Tower of London, iii, 233
Trial of Gowrie, 158
Tullibardine, Earl of, 88, 112
Turret Chamber, 13, 14, 202, 204
Tytler, Patrick Eraser, 162, 165,
166, 181, 182

University of Padua, 23
University of Cambridge, 233

Vandyke, 235

Verdict of the Scottish Parliament,
154

Watson, Rev. William, 124, 141
Wemyss, Earl of, 224
Wilson, George, 28, 30
Woodford, Elizabeth, Lady Ger
rard, 234

Younger, Gowrie's servant, 46, 94

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