MARY'S EXPEDITION TO THE NORTH.
The Lord James, now Earl of Mar, had for some time felt, that so long as
he was regarded with suspicion by the Hamiltons, and with ill-concealed
hatred by the Earl of Huntly and the Gordons, his power could not be so
stable, nor his influence so extensive, as he desired. If it is true that
he had already proposed to Mary to set aside the succession of the Earl of
Arran, it is equally true that she had refused his request. Foiled,
therefore, in this, his more ambitious aim, he saw the necessity of
limiting, in the meantime, to more moderate bounds, his views of personal
preferment. With regard to the Hamiltons, he had succeeded in securing
their banishment from court, and in making them objects of suspicion and
dislike to the Queen. There was not indeed sufficient talent in the family
ever to have made it formidable to him, had it not been that it was of the
blood royal. Though not possessing this advantage, the Gordons were always
looked upon by Mar as more dangerous rivals. He had long nursed a secret
desire, at least to weaken, if not to crush altogether, the power of
Huntly. In getting himself created Earl of Mar, he had made one step
towards his object. The lands which went along with this title were part
of the royal demesnes; but had for some time been held in fee by the Earls
of Huntly. Her brother had prevailed upon Mary to recall them in his
favour, and he was thus able to set himself down in the very heart of a
country, which had hitherto acknowledged no master who did not belong to
the house of Gordon. Huntly felt this encroachment bitterly; and it makes
it the more probable, that he had secretly joined with Arran in his plot
upon Mar; at any rate Mar gave him full credit for having done so. Their
mutual animosity being thus exasperated, to the highest pitch, Huntly left
the Court, and the Prime Minister waited anxiously for the first
opportunity that might occur, to humble effectually the great leader of
the Catholics.
In prosecution of his purpose, Mar now obtained a grant under the Privy
Seal of the earldom of Murray. A grant under the Privy Seal constituted
only an inchoate, not a complete title. To ratify the grant and make it
legal, it was necessary to have the Great Seal also affixed to it. The
Great Seal, however, was in the custody of Huntly, as Lord Chancellor; and
as Mar well knew that the grant of this second earldom infringed upon
Huntly's rights even more than the former, he saw the propriety of keeping
it secret for some time. The earldom of Murray, which, with its lands and
appurtenances, was bestowed upon Huntly in 1549, for his services in the
war with England, had been again recalled by the Crown in 1554, when
Huntly fell into the displeasure of the Queen-Regent, in consequence of
having refused to punish with fire and sword some Highland rebels. But in
1559, the title and lands were restored, not as a free grant, but as a
lease during five years, to Huntly, his wife and heirs, on the condition
of a yearly payment of 2500 merks Scots. Till 1564, therefore, Huntly was
entitled to consider himself master of all the lands and revenues of this
earldom. But in 1561, the title and lands were privately conferred upon
the Earl of Mar. It is true, that he might have applied thus early only to
prevent himself from being anticipated, and might not have intended to
encroach on Huntly's rights before the legal period of his enjoying them
had expired. The advantage, however, he so eagerly took of an incident
that occurred in the month of June 1562, proves that Mar had never any
intention to keep his title to the earldom of Murray locked up for three
years.[57]
The father of James, Lord Ogilvy, had married one of the Earl of Huntly's
sisters, who gave her some lands in liferent as her dowry. Upon her
husband's death, considerations induced her to surrender the liferent to
her brother, and the Earl then gave it to his son, Sir John Gordon. But
Lord Ogilvy was displeased with his mother's conduct, and questioned its
legality. The matter, however, was decided against him, though not before
it had occasioned much bad blood between him and Sir John Gordon. These
two noblemen unfortunately met on the streets of Edinburgh; and though Sir
John had married Ogilvy's sister, all ties of relationship were
disregarded, and an affray took place, in which both were assisted by
their respective servants. It does not exactly appear who was the
aggressor in this scuffle, but, from the circumstances which led to it,
the probability is, that it was Ogilvy. Both noblemen were severely
wounded; and the magistrates, enraged at their breach of the peace,
committed them to prison.[58] Mary with her Court was at Stirling, but the
Earl of Mar obtained permission to depart for Edinburgh, to examine into
the whole affair. The son of the Earl of Huntly was now within his power,
and he saw the advantages which might be made to accrue to himself in
consequence. After examination, he ordered the Lord Ogilvy and his
retainers to be set at liberty, but Sir John Gordon he sent to the common
gaol. Sir John, not liking to trust himself in such hands, made his
escape, after remaining in prison for about a month, and proceeded to his
father's house in the North to recite to him his grievances.[59]
Such being the state of feeling subsisting between the Queen's prime
minister and these great Northern chieftains, it can scarcely be allowed
that Robertson expresses himself correctly when he says, "The Queen
_happened_ to set out on a progress into the northern parts of the
kingdom." Her motions were at this time entirely regulated by the Earl of
Mar, who, seeing the contempt which had been offered to her authority by
the flight of his son, felt satisfied that Mary could not pass through the
extensive territories of Huntly, without either giving or receiving some
additional cause of offence, which would in all probability lead to
consequences favourable to Mar's ambition. Unless this hypothesis be
adopted, no rational cause can be assigned why the Queen should have
chosen this particular season for her visit to the North. From the recent
suspicion which had attached to the Earl of Huntly, as one of Arran's
colleagues in a conspiracy against her favourite minister, and the still
more recent conduct of his son Sir John Gordon, she certainly could have
no intention to pay that family the compliment of honouring them with her
royal presence as a guest. North of Aberdeen, however, nearly the whole
country was subservient to Huntly; and if Mary did not pass through it as
a friend, she must as an enemy. This was the consideration that prompted
the Earl of Mar to fix this year for the expedition. It was owing to
negociations with Elizabeth, concerning a personal interview between the
two Queens, that Mary was unable to set out till towards the middle of
August.
The Queen left Edinburgh on horseback, as usual, attended by a very
considerable train. Among others, four members of her Privy Council went
with her,--the Earls of Argyle, Morton, Marschall, and Mar,--the three
first of whom had no particular liking for Huntly, and were, besides,
entirely under the direction of the last. Randolph also attended the
Queen in this journey, and furnishes some details concerning it. On the
18th of August, 1562, she left Stirling; and, after a disagreeable and
fatiguing journey, arrived at Old Aberdeen on the 27th. Here she remained
for several days, and all the nobility in these parts came to pay their
homage to her. Among the rest were the Earl and Countess of Huntly, who
entreated her to honour them with a visit at Huntly Castle, informing her
that they had endeavoured to make suitable preparations for her
entertainment. Mary, at Mar's instigation of course, (for, as far as her
own feelings were concerned, she must have looked with favour upon the
first Catholic Peer of the realm), received them coldly. This was but a
poor return for Huntly's long tried fidelity to herself and family; for,
whatever quarrels he may have had with the nobility, he had always
preserved inviolate his respect for the royal prerogative. His son, Sir
John Gordon, also came to Aberdeen, and surrendered himself to the Queen,
to be dealt with as her justice might direct. He was neither tried nor
taken into custody; but, with more refined policy, he was ordered by Mar,
and the rest of the Queen's Council, to proceed voluntarily to Stirling
Castle, and there deliver himself, as a prisoner, to the keeper, Lord
Erskine, Mar's uncle. It was, no doubt, foreseen that this order, so
disproportioned in its severity to the offence which occasioned it, would
not be complied with, nor was it wished that it should. Guided by similar
advice, Mary refused to visit the residence of the Earl of Huntly,--a
refusal which was pathetically lamented by Randolph, as it was "within
three miles of her way, and the fairest house in this country." We learn
from the same authority, that there was such a scarcity of accommodation,
in Old Aberdeen, that Randolph, and Maitland the secretary, who had
recently returned from England, were obliged to sleep together in the same
bed. This is, perhaps, rendered the less remarkable, when we are informed
that there were, at the University, only fifteen or sixteen scholars.
On the 1st of September, Mary left Aberdeen for Inverness; but, in the
interval, the Earl of Mar, perceiving that there might be some occasion
for their services, had collected a pretty strong body of men, who marched
forward with the Queen and her train. In journeying northwards, she
travelled by Rothiemay, Grange, Balvenie, and Elgin, passing very near the
Earl of Huntly's castle. No entreaty would induce her to enter it; but she
permitted the Earl of Argyle and Randolph to partake of its hospitality
for two days. "The Earl of Huntly's house," says Randolph, "is the best
furnished that I have seen in this country. His cheer is marvellous great;
his mind then, such, as it appeared to us, _as ought to be, in any
subject, to his sovereign_." On the 8th of September, Mary went from Elgin
to Tarnaway, the baronial residence of the earldom of Murray, and at that
time in possession of a tenant of the Earl of Huntly. Information being
there received that Sir John Gordon's friends and vassals, exasperated at
the over-degree of rigour with which he was treated, were assembling in
arms; and that Sir John, instead of going to Stirling, had joined the
rebels, a proclamation was issued, charging him to surrender, by way of
forfeit, into the Queen's hands, his houses and fortresses of Findlater
and Auchindoune. This proclamation was expressed with a bitterness which
must only have enraged the discontents the more. It required the surrender
of these strongholds, with the avowed intention of breaking the power of
the rebels, and in consideration of her Majesty having heard "the many
grievous complaints of the poor people of this country, hearing them to be
_herreit_ (robbed) and oppressed by him and his accomplices, in times
by-past; and fearing the like, or worse, should be done in time coming."
The same proclamation described Sir John Gordon's wife as "Lady Findlater,
his _pretended_ spouse."[60]
Fearing that even all this might not be enough to induce Huntly to take
such steps as might be plausibly construed into treason, Mar now, for the
first time, produced his title to the Earldom of Murray, and assumed the
name. The only meeting of council held north of Aberdeen was at Tarnaway,
and at the first council after the Queen had returned to Aberdeen, we find
Mar's name changed to that of Murray. Robertson, who has followed
Buchanan's, or in other words Murray's own account of the transactions in
the North, in referring Mar's assumption of the Earldom of Murray to a
later date, forgets that it must have been sanctioned by Mary and her
Council; and that the only opportunity for doing so, in the interval of
their departure from, and return to Aberdeen, was at Tarnaway.[61]
This new insult upon himself and family was, as Murray expected, deeply
felt by the Earl of Huntly. He began to suspect that it was intended to
ruin him; and in this extremity, with evident reluctance, he prepared to
defend himself. Mary, meanwhile, marched forward to Inverness. "On her
arrival," says Robertson, "the commanding officer in the Castle, _by
Huntly's orders_, shut the gates against her." The gates were shut, but
certainly not by Huntly's orders; for as soon as he heard that the Castle
had been summoned, he sent his express commands to the governor (who had
acted upon his own responsibility) to surrender it. These commands,
however, came too late; the Castle had been taken by storm, and the
governor put to death. What right the Earl of Murray, or even the Queen
herself, had to demand the surrender of the castle, which belonged
hereditarily to Lord George Gordon, the Earl of Huntly's eldest son, does
not appear. As Chalmers remarks, the whole proceeding seems to have been
illegal and unwarrantable. Huntly, who was on his way to Inverness, to
attempt an arrangement of these disputes, by a personal interview with the
Queen, when he heard of the execution of the governor, returned to his
castle.[62]
The Gordons were now fairly roused; and, collecting their followers, they
determined to act resolutely, but not as aggressors. Mary was made to
believe that she was in the midst of a hostile country; and though there
was, in reality no intention to attack her, every means was taken to
inspire her with fear, and to convince her of the treacherous designs of
the Earl of Huntly. But Mary, had a courageous spirit, when it was
necessary to exert it. "In all those garbrilles," says Randolph, "I never
saw the Queen moved,--never dismayed; nor never thought I that stomach to
be in her that I find. She repented nothing, but when the Lords and others
at Inverness came in the morning from the watch; that she was not a man,
to know what life it was to lie all night in the fields, or to walk upon
the causeway with a jack and knapsack, a Glasgow buckler and a
broadsword."
On the 15th of September, the Queen returned southwards. She had with her
about two thousand men, and as she advanced, their number increased to
3000. She marched by Kilravock and Tarnaway, to Spynie Castle. Thence, she
proceeded through the country of the Gordons, crossing the Spey at
Fochabers, and going by the way of Cullen and Banff. Throughout the whole
course of this march, Murray took care to make her believe that she was in
danger of being attacked every moment. If there had been any enemy to
fight with, "what desperate blows," says Randolph, "would not have been
given, when every man should have fought in the sight of so noble a Queen,
and so many fair ladies!" The only incidents which seem to have occurred,
were summonses to surrender, given by sound of trumpet at Findlater House,
and at Deckford, mansions of Sir John Gordon. The keepers of both refused;
but they were not acting upon their master's authority. Having slept a
night at the Laird of Banff's house, Mary returned, on the 22d of
September, to Aberdeen. Her entry into the New Town, was celebrated by
the inhabitants with every demonstration of respect. Spectacles, plays,
and interludes were devised; a richly wrought silver cup, with 500 crowns
in it, was presented to her; and wine, coals, and wax, were sent in great
abundance to her lodgings.
But the Earl of Murray, was not yet satisfied that he had humbled the
Gordons enough. It was true, that the lands of Sir John had been
forfeited,--that the castle of Lord George had been captured,--and that
the title and estates of the earldom of Murray had been wrested from
Huntly. But Huntly's power still remained nearly as great as ever; and it
seemed doubtful whether Murray would ever be able to seat himself quietly
in his new possessions, situated as they were in the very heart of the
Earl's domains. The privy council were therefore prevailed upon to come to
the resolution that the Earl of Huntly, in the language of Randolph,
"shall either submit himself, and deliver his disobedient son John, or
utterly to use all force against him, _for the subversion of his house for
ever_." To enforce this determination, Murray levied soldiers, and sent
into Lothian and Fife for officers in whom he could place confidence,
particularly Lindsay and Grange. With what show of reason the unfortunate
Huntly could be subjected to so severe a fate, it is difficult to say. He
had come to offer his obedience and hospitality to the Queen, on her first
arrival at Aberdeen;--he remained perfectly quiet during her journey
through that part of the country which was subject to him;--he sent to
her, after she returned to Aberdeen, the keys of the Houses of Findlater
and Deckford, which she had summoned unsuccessfully on her march from
Cullen to Banff;--and he delivered to her, out of his own castle, a
field-piece which the Regent Arran had long ago given to him, and which
Mary now demanded. He added, that "not only that, which was her own, but
also his body and goods, were at her Grace's commands."[63] His wife, the
Countess of Huntly, led Captain Hay, the person sent for the cannon, into
the chapel at her castle, and placing herself at the altar, said to
him,--"Good friend, you see here the envy that is borne unto my husband.
Would he have forsaken God and his religion as those that are now about
the Queen's grace, and have the whole guiding of her, have done, my
husband had never been put at as now he is. God, and He that is upon this
holy altar, whom I believe in, will, I am sure, preserve, and let our true
meaning hearts be known; and as I have said unto you, so, I pray you, let
it be said unto your mistress. My husband was ever obedient unto her, and
so will die her faithful subject."[64]
That Mary should have given her sanction to these iniquitous proceedings,
can only be accounted for by supposing, what was in truth the case, that
she was kept in ignorance of every thing tending to exculpate Huntly,
whilst various means were invented to inspire her with a belief, that he
had conceived, and was intent upon executing a diabolical plot against
herself and government. It was given out, that his object was to seize
upon the Queen's person,--to marry her by force to his son Sir John
Gordon,--and to cut off Murray, Morton, and Maitland, his principal
enemies.[65] Influenced by these misrepresentations, which would have been
smiled at in later times, but which, in those days, were taken more
seriously, the Queen put the fate of Huntly into the hands of Murray. Soon
after her return to Aberdeen, an expedition was secretly prepared against
Huntly's castle. If resistance was offered, the troops sent for the
purpose were to take it by force, and if admitted without opposition, they
were to bring Huntly, a prisoner to Aberdeen. Intimation, however, of this
enterprise and its object was conveyed to the Earl, and he contrived to
baffle its success. His wife received the party with all hospitality;
threw open her doors, and entreated that they would examine the whole
premises, to ascertain whether they afforded any ground of suspicion. But
Huntly himself, took care to be out of the way, having retired to
Badenoch.[66]
Thus foiled again, Murray, on the 15th of October, called a Privy Council,
at which he got it declared, that unless Huntly appeared on the following
day before her Majesty, "to answer to such things as are to lay to his
charge," he should be put to the horn for his contempt of her authority,
and "his houses, strengths, and friends, taken from him."[67] However
willing he might have been to have ventured thus into the lion's den,
Huntly could not possibly have appeared within the time appointed. On the
17th of October, he was therefore denounced a rebel in terms of the
previous proclamation, and his lands and titles declared forfeited.[68]
Even yet, however, Huntly acted with forbearance. He sent his Countess to
Aberdeen on the 20th, who requested admission to the Queen's presence,
that she might make manifest her husband's innocence. So far from
obtaining an audience, this lady, who was respected and loved over the
whole country, was not allowed to come within two miles of the Court, and
she returned home with a heavy heart. As a last proof of his fidelity,
Huntly sent a messenger to Aberdeen, offering to enter into ward till his
cause might be tried by the whole nobility. Even this offer was rejected;
and, goaded into madness, the unfortunate Earl at length collected his
followers round him, and, raising the standard of rebellion, not against
the Queen, but against Murray, advanced suddenly upon Aberdeen.
This resolute proceeding excited considerable alarm at Court. Murray,
however, had foreseen the probability of such a step being ultimately
taken, and had been busy collecting forces sufficient to repel the attack.
A number of the neighbouring nobility had joined him, who, not penetrating
the prime minister's real motives, were not displeased to see so proud and
powerful an earldom as that of Huntly likely to fall to pieces. On the
28th of October, Murray marched out of Aberdeen at the head of about 2000
men. He found Huntly advantageously stationed at Corrachie, a village
about fifteen miles from Aberdeen. Huntly's force was much inferior to
that of Murray, scarcely exceeding 500 men. Indeed, it seems doubtful,
whether he had advanced so much for the purpose of fighting, as for the
sake of giving greater weight to his demands, to be admitted into the
presence of the Queen, who, he always maintained, had been misled by false
council. Perceiving the approach, however, of his inveterate enemy Murray,
and considering the superiority of his own position on the hill of Fare,
he relinquished all idea of retreat, and determined, at any risk to
accept the battle which was offered him. The contest was of short
duration. The broadswords of the Highlanders, even had the numbers been
more equal, would have been no match for the spears and regular discipline
of Murray's Lowland troops. Their followers fled; but the Earl of Huntly
and his two sons, Sir John Gordon and Adam, a youth of seventeen,
disdaining to give ground, were taken prisoners. The Earl, who was
advanced in life, was no sooner set upon horseback, to be carried
triumphantly into Aberdeen, than the thoughts of the ruin which was now
brought upon himself and his family overwhelmed him; and, without speaking
a word, or receiving a blow, he fell dead from his horse.[69]
Sir John Gordon who was pronounced the author of all these troubles,
having been marched into Aberdeen, was tried, condemned, and executed. He
may have been an enemy of Murray's, but so far from being a traitor to the
Queen, he was one of the most devoted admirers and attached subjects she
ever had. Yet Murray took care to have it reported, that Sir John, before
he was beheaded, confessed, that if his father had taken Aberdeen, he was
determined to have "burned the Queen, and as many as were in the house
with her."[70] So palpable a falsehood throws additional light upon the
motives which instigated the prime minister throughout. With a refinement
of cruelty, he insisted upon Mary giving her public countenance to his
proceedings, by consenting to be present at Gordon's death. She was placed
at a window, opposite to which the scaffold had been erected. Gordon, who
was one of the handsomest men of his times, observed her, and fixing his
eyes upon her, "gave her to understand by his looks," says Freebairn,
"that her presence sweetened the death he was going to suffer only for
loving her too well." He then fell upon his knees, and prepared to lay his
head upon the block. Mary, totally unable to stand this scene, was already
suffused in tears; and when she was informed that the unskilful official,
instead of striking off the head, had only mangled the neck, she fainted
away, and it was some time before she could be recovered.[71] Adam Gordon
was indebted to his youth for saving him from his brother's fate. He lived
to be, as his father had been, one of Mary's most faithful servants. Lord
Gordon, the late Earl's eldest son, who was with his father-in-law, the
Duke of Chatelherault, at Hamilton, was soon afterwards seized and
committed to prison, Murray finding it convenient to declare him
implicated in the Earl's guilt. Having remained under arrest for some
months, he was tried and found guilty, but the execution of his sentence
was left at the Queen's pleasure. She sent him to Dunbar Castle; and as
Murray could not prevail upon her to sign the death-warrant, he had
recourse to forgery; and had the keeper of the castle not discovered the
deceit, the Lord Gordon's fate would have been sealed. Mary was content
with keeping him prisoner, till a change in her administration restored
him to favour, and to the forfeited estates and honours of his father.
One other incident connected with these tragical events is worth
recording. Means having been taken for the preservation of Huntly's body,
it was sent by sea to Leith, and lay for several months at Holyroodhouse.
In the Parliament which met in May 1563, these melancholy remains were
produced, to have sentence of forfeiture pronounced against them. To
obviate if possible this additional calamity, the Countess of Huntly,
widow of the deceased, appeared before the Parliament, and with the spirit
of a Gordon requested to be heard in her late husband's defence. The
request was refused; Huntly's castles and houses were rifled of their
property, his friends and vassals fined, and many escheats granted to
those who had assisted in crushing this once noble family.[72]
Murray having now no farther occasion for the Queen's presence at
Aberdeen, the Court moved southwards on the 5th of November. On her way
home, she visited Dunottar Castle, Montrose, Arbroath, Dundee, Stirling,
and Linlithgow. She arrived at Edinburgh on the 22d, having been absent
upwards of three months. It is much to be regretted, that she ever
undertook this northern expedition. Though she had little or no share in
its guilt, she had allowed herself to be made an effectual tool in the
hands of Murray, who was now more powerful than any minister of Mary's
ought to have been. He had forced the Earl of Bothwell into exile; he had
brought the Duke of Chatelherault and Arran into disgrace; and having
accomplished the death of the courageous Huntly, he had obtained for
himself and friends the greater part of that nobleman's princely estates
and titles. Besides, he was more popular among the Reformers than ever,
for the destruction of the Gordon family had been long wished for by them.
In short, though without the name, he was the King of Scotland, and his
sister Mary was his subject.