CAMEO XXXII.

bones of a dead man to her feet, and carried her at midnight to the pierhead, where they flung her out to sea as far as they could. As she swam The Witches' ashore, they augured that the Queen would at length arrive.

Trial.

As the interrogation proceeded, her story became more wonderful. How did she reach this synod at Berwick? No less than two hundred witches started each on her own riddle, i.e. sieve; and therein floated from Leith to Berwick, where they landed, and, headed by one Gillies Duncan, playing a reel on the Jew's harp, danced up to the church singing-

Here the King began to demur, whereupon Agnes Simpson begged that Gillies Duncan and his Jew's harp might be sent for, and he actually performed the Satanic tune and danced the witches' dance before the Council. As the King was still unconvinced, Agnes took him aside, and told him all that had happened in his first interview with the Queen.

Richard Graham, when examined, also implicated Lord Claud Hamilton as having made inquiries as to the King's life. By Bothwell's desire, it was said, a spell had been attempted by hanging a waxen image of James between the head of a calf and the body of a fox. Upon this Bothwell, who laughed and defied all these absurdities, was arrested, and shut up in Edinburgh Castle for a short time, while the unfortunate sorcerers and sorceresses were strangled and then burnt, persisting to the last in their wonderful declarations. However it might be with the war of the elements, the storm their confessions raised in Scotland was fierce and long enough. In truth, though witchcraft was the excuse, the struggle was between the Roman Catholic Huntly and the Presbyterian party of the south.

"The Black Bothwell," as he was called, soon made himself heard of. He had gathered a wild band of outlaws on the Border, and believing that his disgrace had been owing to the Chancellor Maitland, he came to take his revenge by attacking his chamber in Holyrood House at night. The doors of the King, Queen, and Chancellor were all beset -the King's with fire, the Queen's with hammers; but the Provost and citizens came to the rescue, and Bothwell fled. The King went to return thanks for his safety at St. Giles's, but was scolded from the pulpit by Mr. John Craigie, who told him it was a warning to him.

Poor James had enough of such warnings, for Bothwell attacked him again in the palace of Falkland, but the men of Fife rose and delivered him. James was not allowed any sort of guard, so jealous were the Estates of any attempt to form an army; so there was no security in any of his palaces for a moment. At last, however, when Bothwell brought 500 Border ruffians to Edinburgh, Lord Home was at hand with seven or eight score spears. He fought and chased the Hepburns out of

the city. The fashion of executing justice in Scotland at that time was to give what was called "a writ of fire and sword" to some nobleman who was at deadly feud with the offender, and who would fall on him with satisfaction. Such letters were issued to the head of the Gordons, the Marquis of Huntly, and he effectually drove Bothwell out of the country to England. But Huntly had another private enemy to follow under colour of this writ, namely, Stewart of Doune, the husband of one of the Regent Moray's daughters, who bore his title of Earl of Moray, a splendidly handsome man, of great stature and strength, with a fair complexion and long golden hair. He was commonly called the Bonnie Verl o' Moray, and Queen Anne had expressed her admiration of him as a sort of Paladin, somewhat to the annoyance of her husband, who certainly never was beautiful. It was said that the Earl had been seen among Bothwell's allies on the last night of his attacks on Holyrood, and this gave Huntly his opportunity. Lord Ochiltree, the firm friend of Moray, had been endeavouring to reconcile the two, and had induced the Earl to come from his northern fastnesses to his mother's castle of Dumbristle, not far from the Queen's ferry, there intending to meet Huntly, who was in attendance at Court.

Ochiltree rode to Queen's ferry, meaning to cross to Dumbristle and arrange the interview, but he found there was a royal order forbidding any boats to cross the Firth of Forth.

Meantime James went out hunting, and Huntly collected forty followers to go with him. Then, pretending that he had heard that Black Bothwell was coming, he rode off, and beset the castle of Dumbristle, having made no difficulty as to crossing the ferry. Moray, whose mother and sisters were with him, held out, in hopes of a rescue ; but the Gordons collected the stacks of hay and straw from the farms around, heaped them up, and fired them. A desperate sally was made, in which the Sheriff of Moray was killed, but the young Earl, with his long hair streaming on fire behind him, broke through the toils like a lion, and rushed down to the sea-shore. But the silken plume of his helmet blazed up, and showed him to his enemies, who hunted him into a cave, and there murdered him. Huntly would have held back, but his kinsman, Gordon of Buckie, cursed him as afraid to go as far as the rest, and forced him on to give a blow that he might be art and part in the death, as he had been in the conspiracy. Thus goaded, Huntly slashed the face of the Earl, who already lay dying under Buckie's blow, but who looked up with a strange smile and said, "Ye've spoilt a bonnier face than yer ain."

The ladies were saved, and the mother, Lady Doune, caused the mangled body of her beautiful son and of the Sheriff to be laid in the church at Leith. Lord Forbes marched through the North with Moray's bloody shirt on a spear calling for revenge, and the populace of Edinburgh were in such a tumult of wrath that Huntly fled to Ravenshugh, and the King and Chancellor Maitland also left the city, the Provost and Bailies scarcely restraining the people from laying hands on them.

САМЕО XXXII.

The Bonnie
Earl of
Moray.

1592.

САМЕО XXXII.

Attack on Holyrood.

1593.

Huntly surrendered to take his trial at Blackness Castle, but he pleaded the Royal Writ, and this was admitted as sufficient excuse, and he was released. On this, every kinsman of the murdered man rose in arms, and Bothwell returned from England. However, James pacified them by dismissing his Chancellor, sending Huntly from Court, and admitting five ministers to hear him excuse himself by the analogy of David, when he could not avenge the blood of Abner because the sons of Zeruiah were too hard for him.

However, he brought back Chancellor Maitland, and held a Parliament in 1593, in which Bothwell was declared a traitor at the Market Cross; but only a few days after, as James was being dressed, on the morning of the 24th of July, and was having his points trussed, a noise arose in the next room, and before him stood Bothwell, sword in hand. James darted to the door of the Queen's room, but while he was asleep it bad been locked by Bothwell himself, who had been admitted to the palace by Lady Athole, one of the Ruthven family. Brought to bay, James behaved with spirit. "Come on," he said, “Francis! you seek my life, but you cannot hurt my soul."

Here as Lennox and Athole came in Bothwell fell on his knees; but the King indignantly said, "Kneel not, nor add hypocrisy to treason. Put me to death, for I will not live a prisoner or dishonoured," and he calmly sat down, as if ready for the worst.

Bothwell however, still kneeling, declared that he only came to sue for pardon. He kissed the hilt of his sword, and holding it by the point, gave it to the King, shaking his long black hair from his neck and bending his head as if to invite the King to do justice on him on the spot, and then laid hold of the King's foot and put it on his own head, so that James must have felt rather like Charles the Simple during the homage of Rollo.

Meanwhile a wild uproar arose on the outside, and a gentleman standing in the window called out to the King that the gude folk of Edinburgh, at one sign from him, would force the doors and rid him of the traitors. James fearing that such a rescue might lead to still greater danger, hastily fixed a day for Bothwell's trial on the question of witchcraft, now four years old, and only required him to withdraw from Court till that was over, but his friends remained in possession of the King's person.

Bothwell, well knowing that Queen Elizabeth was his secret supporter, betook himself to Durham, and there poured the whole story into the unwilling ears of the Dean, Dr. Toby Matthews, and likewise wrote a letter to Elizabeth, wherein he addressed her as "Most renowned Empress," and entreated her interference on his behalf. After this he collected six leashes of hounds and some fine horses as a present to the King, and went home to take his trial for witchcraft.

The indictment was wonderful. It was on the deposition of Richard Graham, who had long ago been burnt, and it accused the Earl of procuring a poison made of quite as curious ingredients as those used by Macbeth's witches, being compounded of adder skins, toad skins, and

the like. It was to be placed where it might ooze on the King's head, when one drop would cause instant death. However, Bothwell's lawyer successfully showed that this evidence conflicted with that of Agnes Simpson and the other women, and that it had been obtained under an unfulfilled promise of pardon. Bothwell was acquitted, as he probably would have been if he had been guilty.

However, James had made all his arrangements for escaping from the hands of Athole and Bothwell's other friends, and throwing himself upon the Huntly faction in the North. He was actually leaving Holyrood at three o'clock in the morning, when Bothwell discovered what was going on, and insisted that he should not leave the palace till he had revoked Bothwell's outlawry, restored him to his lands and offices, and revenged the death of Moray.

James would not listen. The ministers of the Kirk and the English Ambassador were called in, but he remained firm to his resolution not to submit to this dishonourable coercion and semi-captivity, and all that could be obtained from him was Bothwell's pardon, and a promise that he would not summon Maitland and his colleagues to Court till after the sitting of the Parliament, which was to meet in six weeks at Stirling. Till that time Bothwell was to absent himself from Court.

James was really all the time led by Maitland, and was with his assistance negotiating with Huntly and the Roman Catholic party, much to the discontent of Elizabeth. Another plot was arranged by Bothwell with the knowledge of the English ambassador, Lord Zouch, for making himself master of the King, or of his little heir, Henry Frederick, who had been born on the 19th of February, 1594, to the great joy of the people, who were said to be daft for mirth. A few weeks later Bothwell raised 600 horse and waited at Leith to be joined by the Earls of Athole and Argyle; but James had been warned in time, and had brought up the Borderers under Buccleuch, Cessford, and Hume. There was a fight at Edmeston Edge which ended in Bothwell's defeat. It was the close of his attempts; he left Scotland, and shortly after died in France in poverty. It is his grandson whom Scott introduces as a Lifeguardsman in Old Mortality.

CAMEO XXXII.

Defeat of Bothwell.

1593.

THE abjuration of Henri IV. was followed by a breathing time. A week later, a truce was signed for three months between him and the Duke of Mayenne. He showed his magnanimity and good sense by not being a stickler for titles. They called it an agreement between the chiefs of the two parties. He signed simply as Henri, and Mayenne as Charles of Lorraine. All the country nobles were glad to go home to gather in their harvest and vintage in peace, and Leaguers, Politiques, and Huguenots found themselves travelling the same roads, resting at the same inns, renewing old friendships, and agreeing that they were heartily weary of the war.

The hungry Parisians were delighted, and flocked to St. Denys to gaze on the King, who rode freely about, almost unattended at one time, and at another with a display of military state to delight their eyes. Shouts of "Vive le Roi!" broke out, and Gabrielle was likewise cheered, being supposed to have contributed to his conversion.

The States-General, however, continued to sit, and on the 8th of August the Duke of Mayenne was driven to purchase the support of the Legate by consenting to the publication of the Canons of the Council of Trent, which had never yet been accepted in France, and he further took an oath not to dissolve the assembly till they had elected a king, provided the King of Spain would pay him 8,000 crowns a month wherewith to maintain the members. All his kindred took the oath except the Duke of Lorraine, who was negotiating with Henri and proposing to marry his eldest son to Catherine of Navarre. A Te Deum was sung at St. Germain L'Auxerrois, and the States-General were prorogued, though not dismissed.

Henri soon after set out for Fontainebleau. He incurred considerable