1600–3
On 9th March, 1600, king James granted an obligation to maintain
Ludovick, duke of Lennox, in the possession of all offices and privileges which
the house of Lennox had before enjoyed, of the archbishopric of Glasgow
during the lifetime of archbishop James Beaton, and after his death to erect
the archbishopric into a temporal lordship, to remain with the house of
Lennox for ever. (fn. 1)
On the 28th of the same month of March the general assembly met at
Montrose. It was attended by a large number of ministers from the north,
and the king was also present. After considerable discussion, it was decided
that the church should be represented in parliament by certain ministers,
each of whom was to be elected by the king, out of a list of six to be recommended by the church. The persons so selected were not to bear the title of
bishops or abbots, under which designation the estates had advised they
could only be received, but as "commissioners." This decision was, moreover,
followed by the condition that they were to propose nothing in name of the
church without its express authority; that they were to report their action
annually to the assembly; that they were to be content with so much of their
benefice as was assigned to them by the king, and were not to dilapidate
it; that they were to discharge their pastoral duties to their respective congregations, and not to usurp jurisdiction over their brethren; that they
were to remain subject to the censures of the church courts, and, in the event
of their being deposed from the ministry, were eo ipso to vacate their seats
and benefices. (fn. 2) Aberdeen and Argyle were already filled by ministers, St.
Andrews and Glasgow were in the hands of the duke of Lennox, Moray was
possessed by lord Spynie, and Orkney by the earl of Orkney; Dunkeld,
Brechin, and Dunblane had their own titulars, who were not ministers;
Galloway and the Isles were so dilapidated as to have nothing left; and in
Ross and Caithness some provision remained, to the former of which Mr. David
Lindsay, minister of Leith, was presented, and to the latter, Mr. George
Gladstanes, minister of St. Andrews. (fn. 3)
In April, 1600, the wrights, including glazing wrights, painters, bowyers,
and sawyers, presented a supplication to the town council, in which, setting
forth the increase in their number, the inconvenience of masons judging
wright work and of wrights judging mason work, they craved to be disjoined
from the craft of masons, and to obtain a letter of deaconhead to themselves.
This application, with the heads of the letter sought, were, on the 12th of that
month, remitted for consideration to the three bailies and nine others; and
on the 27th of April the council ordained the letter of deaconhead to be
prepared, subscribed, and sealed—the deacon of the masons protesting that
it should not prejudice the liberties of that craft. By this document the
craft were (1) empowered to elect yearly a deacon, half of the quartermasters,
and one box master, and the deacon was authorised to appoint the other half of
the quartermasters and a second boxmaster. (2) Each freeman of the craft,
before setting up a booth in the town, had to be made a burgess and freeman
and found able to make sufficient work. (3) On being admitted, to pay to
the craft's box, if a freeman's son and apprentice in the city, five merks; the
same, but not apprentice, ten merks; strangers, £20. (4) Every apprentice
at his entry had to pay, if a freeman's son, twenty shillings; if an unfreeman's
son, forty shillings. (5) Every freeman of the craft had to pay weekly one
penny, and every unfreeman who presented work in the market of 20s. value
to pay one penny. (6) Every out-townsman, not being apprentice within
the town, before being admitted to serve, to be examined, to produce a
testimonial from his former master that his apprenticeship was completed,
and to pay forty shillings to the box, and not to be admitted freeman until
he served three years thereafter. (7) Craftsmen absent from the four quarter
conventions to be fined 8s., and those absent from other conventions, 4s. (8)
No freeman to take an apprentice for a shorter time than seven years; nor more
than one apprentice during that period. (9) The deacon and kirk masters to
search and examine the craftsmen's work, and report to the oversmen of the
town such as was found insufficient, and it was to be thereafter forfeited.
(10) No master of the craft to take another man's servant or his apprentice
without licence of the master he previously served. (11) Strangers to
sell made work within the city on Mondays only (market and fair days
excepted), under penalty of forfeiting one-fifth thereof, a half being
paid to the bailies and a half to the craft. (12) Any craftsman disobeying
the deacon or the officer of the craft to pay a new upset of twenty
shillings to the bailies for every offence. (13) The deacon to have power to
poind for the duties above expressed, and, failing payment, to close the
defaulter's booth and window. (14) A craftsman to have no more than one
hired servant in his house continually from year to year beside his apprentice.
(15) No persons to sell, make, or work the work of the craft within the city
unless they were free with the town and the craft, and, if they did so, the
bailies were to interfere. (16) No stranger apprentice to be admitted a
freeman until he had served with a freeman for two years after the expiration
of his apprenticeship. (17) No one of the craft to do any work except
that in which he served his apprenticeship, unless when freemen of that
craft could not be had. (18) This erection to be read four times yearly, at
the quarter conventions of the whole brethren of the craft. (fn. 4) On the 3rd
of May, the date of the seal of cause, the council passed a minute declaring
that the seal of cause thus granted should not prejudice craftsmen working
both mason craft and wright craft, and such as "biggis with poist and
pan, and layes with blak morter in tyme cuming as thai wont of befoir." (fn. 5)
On Tuesday, the 5th August, the mysterious incident in Scottish history
known as the Gowrie conspiracy took place. While hunting near Falkland
on the morning of that day, the king was induced by Alexander, master of
Ruthven, a brother of the earl of Gowrie, and who held an office in the king's
chamber, to accompany him to Gowrie house, in Perth, where he said a
suspicious person, with a large pot of foreign gold in his possession, was
detained for the king's inspection. On his arrival, with a train not exceeding
twelve or fifteen persons, including Lennox, Mar, and others, the king was induced
to go alone into one of the rooms, and was there attacked, dragged about, and
nearly murdered. Succeeding in reaching one of the windows, he called for
assistance, and the courtiers, entering by different staircases, rescued the king,
and killed the earl and his brother. The details of the incident are given
by Calderwood, Tytler, and Burton, the two latter of whom, as well as Grub,
being satisfied that it was the result of a political plot to get possession of the
royal person. (fn. 6) On the following morning the citizens of Edinburgh received
the king's account of what had taken place, and the ministers of the town
were commanded to have the church bells rung, the congregations assembled,
and thanks given to God for his majesty's deliverance. Bonfires were also
ordered to be lighted in the city and neighbourhood. (fn. 7) The ministers were,
however, sceptical, and declined to comply with the order till they had
further evidence of the accuracy of the statement they were required to
proclaim. Under these circumstances, David Lindsay, bishop of Ross, gave
the information to the people, who uncovered and praised God, and
various expressions of popular rejoicing were given. Five days later the king
returned by Leith to Edinburgh, and was enthusiastically received in both
places, but as the five Edinburgh ministers still remained incredulous, they
were cited to appear before the privy council, and by them were ordered to
leave Edinburgh, and were interdicted from preaching within Scotland. (fn. 8)
Four of them afterwards professed their belief in the royal statement, and
were restored; but the fifth, Bruce, remained obstinate, and was banished to
France. On the 21st of August the privy council ordered a solemn thanksgiving throughout all the kirks of the realm for the king's deliverance, (fn. 9) and
on the 23rd preparations were made for receiving his majesty in Glasgow;
all persons who absented themselves from meeting him on his arrival were
subjected to a fine of £5; and the inhabitants were warned to remove
"thair middings, tymmer, and stanes" from the streets, under a similar
penalty. (fn. 10) Three days later the council ordered all freemen to be in
readiness to meet the king "sufficientlie bodin in armour, weill acquipageit
in hagbuttis, jakis, speris, and steilbonnettis alanerly," each person under
pain of £5; otherwise to meet him in their best array on foot or on horseback, after being warned by the town officers. It was further ordered
that no one should appear in a blue bonnet; that John Buchan should
be on the cross, with all his "sangisteris" when the king arrived; that
bonfires should be lighted at night, and that the council and deacons should
accompany the bailies on the occasion. (fn. 11) The object of this visit, as to which
the council records are silent, was, doubtless, to inform the citizens and
people of the west as to the Gowrie conspiracy. Accordingly, on the 31st of
August, when the king seems to have come to Glasgow, he was received by
the magistrates with congratulatory speeches, and a minister, who accompanied him, preached a sermon, in the course of which he informed his
audience of the facts, and denounced those who put an interpretation upon
them hostile to his majesty. (fn. 12) On the 1st of September seven persons,
"domestik servitouris" to the king, were made burgesses of the city gratis, (fn. 13)
and on the 16th an extent was ordered to be levied within the town to
defray, among other things, the expense of "furnising to his majesteis
cumyng to Glasgw." (fn. 14)
On 30th September Sir George Elphinstoun of Blythswood, knight,
appeared before the council, and presented a letter from the duke of Lennox,
with a recommendatory letter from the king, by the former of which Sir
George was nominated to be provost for the following year. It also gave
commission to the "schiref air" to receive the leets of the bailies and to
nominate them for the following year. The magistrates and council at once
gave effect to the nomination of the provost, and appointed Sir George to
that office, but found the letter, in so far as it applied to the nomination of
the bailies, to be prejudicial to the interest of the town, "and nevir vsit of
befor." They therefore refused to present the leets for the bailies to any
other than the duke himself, according to old use and wont. Eight persons
were therefore appointed to ride to Brechin and present the leets to his grace;
and on 7th October it was intimated that he had chosen Robert Rowatt,
James Forrett, and Alexander Baillie to be bailies. (fn. 15) These having been duly
elected, the provost and bailies, old and new, chose the council, which
included Sir Mathew Stewart, of Mynto, the old provost, two old bailies, and
twenty-seven other persons. (fn. 16)
In anticipation of the meeting of the general assembly at Edinburgh on
14th October, 1600, the town council, on 11th October, resolved to send
James Bell as a commissioner to it to desire that such further security as
might be devised should be given to the prior of Blantyre, tacksman of the
teinds of the parsonage of Glasgow, for the further security of himself or such
other person as he might appoint. This resolution bears to have been come
to in respect of the prior's promise and goodwill to the town for the farther
planting of the kirk of Glasgow; and the treasurer of the burgh was
authorised to give Bell £10 for his expenses. (fn. 17)
On 14th October an ecclesiastical convention, summoned by the
king, was held at Holyrood. The convention was composed of the
special commissioners of the kirk, who had been appointed at the
previous general assembly as an ecclesiastical council to the king, with
delegates from the different synods, and its main object was to advise his
majesty as to what should be done with the five Edinburgh ministers
who had offended him by their scepticism as to the Gowrie conspiracy.
A deputation of this convention was appointed to wait on these ministers,
and endeavour to induce them to consent to accept charges out of Edinburgh; but, during their absence, the king, with the concurrence of
those members who remained, chose a bishop for each of Ross, Aberdeen,
and Caithness. This was the first step towards carrying into effect the
resolution of the general assembly held at Montrose in March, 1600, and these
bishops were to represent the revised system of actual clerical episcopacy till
additions could be made to it. (fn. 18)
On 15th November a parliament, which met in Edinburgh on the 1st
and commenced business on the 11th, concluded its sittings. "It was," says
Dr. Masson, "to be the last Scottish parliament before the king's removal to
England. At it the three newly appointed bishops of Ross, Aberdeen, and
Caithness, who had received their formal presentations to their sees, were
present and voted, and the titular bishops of Dunkeld and Brechin were
among the lords of the articles." At this parliament acts were passed
forfeiting the estates of the earl of Gowrie and his brother, abolishing the
surname of Ruthven, and annexing the forfeited estates to the crown. (fn. 19)
Another act ratified the restitution of the aged and long-exiled archbishop
Beaton, set forth in an act of the estates dated 29th June, 1598, (fn. 20) and decerned
the same to have full effect from its date, without any limitation or
restriction; but without prejudice (1) to such feus of the temporal lands of the
bishopric as had been lawfully set without diminution of rental to any persons;
(2) to the ministers' stipends, conform to the particular assignations made to
them furth of the bishopric; and (3) to the rents and duties belonging to the
college of Glasgow. There were also excepted from the restitution the castle
of Glasgow, the choosing of the provost and bailies of the city, and the
provostry and bailiary thereof. (fn. 21) This act, and the previous act of the estates,
indicated an attitude of independence on the part of the king towards the
presbyterian clergy which gave great offence to the ministers of Edinburgh,
who bitterly reproached the king on account of it. (fn. 22)
On 31st July, 1599, a convention of estates at Holyrood passed an act by
which, in order to prevent the injury sustained by the lieges through the
forging of many private writs, such as instruments of sasine, reversions, and
others, and the keeping of them privately, ordained that in future all such
instruments as should not be registered in the public records therein specified
within forty days should be null. Such registers it appointed to be
established in several places, and inter alia, in the city of Glasgow for the
barony of Glasgow and sheriffdom of Renfrew. (fn. 23) This act was followed on
15th November, 1600, by an act of parliament which enacted that all such
deeds (other than sasines of burgage subjects), as should not be registered in
the books of council and session, or in the registers appointed for that purpose,
within forty days should be null and of no effect. Like the act of convention,
this statute appointed the register for the barony of Glasgow and sheriffdom
of Renfrew to be kept in the city of Glasgow. (fn. 24)
On 17th November, the king, by a charter under the great seal, conveyed in feu to duke Ludovic, therein designed high chamberlain, and to his
heirs male, whom failing, to Esme Stewart, lord Aubigny, his brother, and his
heirs male, whom all failing to revert to the crown, the castle of Glasgow,
with the houses, buildings, gardens, and greens belonging to it, and all the
privileges and pertinents thereof, and the heritable right of nomination and
yearly election of the provost, bailies, and other officers and magistrates of the
burgh and city, as freely as the archbishop had previously possessed. He
also constituted the duke, and his heirs male, heritable bailies and justiciars
of the whole lands, lordships, baronies, and possessions belonging to the temporality of the archbishopric, and without the bounds of the regality, wheresoever situated, within the kingdom; and granted to them the offices of
bailiary and justiciary, with power to dispose of all escheats falling within
the bounds of the regality; to hold courts of bailiary and justiciary; to
uplift and apply to their own proper uses the issues, fines, escheats, &c., of
these courts; to repledge and carry to the privilege and freedom of their own
courts the tenants and inhabitants of the lands, lordships, baronies, and possessions of the temporality of the archbishopric; all of which objects and
rights belonged to, and were subject to the disposal of, the crown, by virtue
of the act of annexation. In respect of the grant thus made, the duke, and
his heirs male, were bound to pay to the crown twenty shillings Scots at
Whitsunday and Martinmas, by equal portions, in name of feu duty, and to
build and repair the castle in the necessaries thereof, and to use and exercise
sufficiently the offices of bailiary and justiciary, and the nomination and
yearly election of the provost, bailies, magistrates, and officers of the burgh
and city. (fn. 25)
On the 19th of November the queen gave birth at Dunfermline to a third
child, who, on the 23rd of December, was baptized by the name of Charles.
On the same day the young prince was created lord of Ardmanoch, earl of
Ross, marquess of Ormond, and duke of Albany. (fn. 26)
On 6th December the council, "for honouring of my lorde duike [the
duke of Lennox], thair ouer-lorde, and his lady," resolved to erect seats for
them in the high kirk suitable to their estate. (fn. 27)
At this time the grammar school of the burgh had fallen into decay, and
on 23rd August, 1600, the council ordained that on every council day the
matter should be brought forward by Mr. John Blackburn, schoolmaster, till
the work was completed. They also ordered all the stones of the ruinous
back almshouse to be applied to the building of the school, and the site of
the almshouse to be used as a yard by the four men belonging thereto;
any stones not required for that object to be dedicated to the work of the
high kirk and other town works. (fn. 28) On 13th December the council appointed
a committee to confer with masons, wrights, and slaters, to ascertain for what
sum they would repair and build the school, and to report. Subsequently,
on the 22nd, a committee was authorised to contract for the building and
repair, "as gud chaip" as they could, and to report. At the same time they
granted to Blackburn, during his services as master, the chaplainry previously
possessed by Master John Davidson, then deceased, with entry thereto as at
Whitsunday, 1600. The master was also empowered to increase the yearly
fee payable by scholars born within the town or children of freemen, and to
receive from each quarterly 5 s., and twenty pence to the doctor, who should
be provided by the master and accepted by the magistrates and council.
The master was further to be bound to appear, along with his doctor, and
submit to trial of their qualifications, otherwise the augmentation of fees was
not to receive effect. One John Buchan was also authorised to have of every
scholar 5 s. quarterly, with twenty pence to the doctor; Blackburn was
directed not to receive scholars without a certificate from Buchan that they
had paid their "scollege;" and the provost promised to give him £20 of
the maltmen's composition to be some present support. (fn. 29) On 10th January,
1601, the magistrates and council ordained Blackburn to pay to Pettigrew, master of work, four hundred merks, which Harry, the porter of
the college, had left to that institution, and which sum was now applied by
it to help the building of the school. (fn. 30) On 14th March, 1601, an extent
was imposed on the town, inter alia, for the repairing of the grammar
school. (fn. 31)
The plague was at this time prevalent in the vicinity of Glasgow; and
on 21st December, 1601, the privy council passed an act in which, in respect
of the danger likely to arise from traffic between the city and Edinburgh, all
the inhabitants of the former were prohibited, under pain of death, from
resorting to the latter, or to Canongate or Leith or the suburbs, so long as
any suspicion existed of the plague being in Glasgow, and till the prohibition
was removed by proclamation. Conversely, the inhabitants of those places
in the east were forbidden to repair to Glasgow, or to receive wares thence,
during the same time, and under the same penalty. (fn. 32) The council records
from 27th October, 1601, to 13th June, 1605, are, however, awanting; and
the action of the town council in regard to this visitation is not known. (fn. 33)
On 18th March, 1601, the council resolved that, in order to the better
furnishing of the citizens for general weaponshawing, the town should be
divided into four quarters, each with a commander, for training up the
inhabitants to the wars. To the provost was assigned the first quarter, and
to each of the bailies a quarter. Each quartermaster was appointed to have
a lieutenant and ensign, two of the ensigns being appointed for the crafts.
The commander was also empowered to select the other members [officers ?],
and to "tak tryall" of the force once a month. The four quarters were
ordered to be exercised in two divisions in skirmishing or weaponshawing
with ensigns. (fn. 34) On the 18th of the following month the duke of Lennox
attended a meeting of the council at which the arrangements for dividing the
town into quarters for military purposes was under consideration, and it was
resolved that the lieutenants, ensigns, corporals, and sergeants should be
merchants and craftsmen equally, and that the lieutenants, corporals, and
sergeants should be chosen annually at Michaelmas. (fn. 35) On 18th June the
whole inhabitants, freemen, burgesses, were ordered to be in readiness, with
their arms, on foot, on the following Wednesday morning (being the Symmer
hill day), under prescribed penalties; and the provost, bailies, council, and
deacons were appointed to be on horseback. (fn. 36)
At a meeting of the general assembly, held at Burntisland on 12th May,
1601, a proposition was made for a new translation of the Bible and a revision
of the Psalms in metre. In this project the king took a deep personal
interest, and advocated its necessity in such a way as to command the admiration of the assembly, who recommended the work to be proceeded with. But
nothing was accomplished in this direction till after his accession to the
throne of England, when the work was accomplished by the divines assembled
at Westminster. (fn. 37)
In 1601 the duke of Lennox was appointed ambassador to France, and
the magistrates and council resolved to do honour and show favour to his
grace by entertaining him at a banquet on Saturday, the 23rd of May, thereafter, and by sending forty persons to accompany him to Edinburgh and to
remain there for a day. (fn. 38) On the day so appointed, accordingly, the council
passed an act in which, in consideration of the uncertainty as to the time of
his return, and to the possibility of his not being in the city at the period for
electing the provost and magistrates, it was agreed with his grace, to preserve
the liberties of both parties, that the bailies and council should at the usual
period choose leets, and present the same on his return, and that in the meantime the old bailies and council should retain office, without prejudice to
the liberties of the town. The old council and bailies accordingly received
commission to execute justice and use their office as they had heretofore
done. (fn. 39)
In July the duke proceeded on his mission to France, the object of which
seems to have been the confirmation of amity between the two countries. He
was accompanied by two members of the privy council and by Mr. John
Spottiswood—afterwards archbishop, first of Glasgow, and subsequently of St.
Andrews—as chaplain. Travelling by sea, he arrived in Dieppe on the 24th
of July. At St. Denis he was met by archbishop Beaton and a number of
Scotsmen, who accompanied him to Paris, where he arrived about the 9th of
August. Towards the end of October the duke took leave of the king, and
proceeded to London, which he reached in the beginning of November.
Here he succeeded in ingratiating himself with Elizabeth, and after three
weeks returned to Scotland, arriving in Edinburgh in the end of December. (fn. 40)
On 25th June, 1601, the council, for the keeping of better friendship
between the town and Dunbarton, agreed that in future the freemen burgesses
of that burgh who resorted to Glasgow should be relieved of the payment of
customs, provided Dunbarton extended a similar exemption to the burgesses
and residents in Glasgow. (fn. 41)
A great fire took place in Glasgow in this month, and the sufferers
applied for relief to the magistrates, council, ministers, and deacons, who, on
the 30th of June, agreed to invite voluntary subscriptions from the citizens.
The town was accordingly divided into sections, and to each section a number
of persons were appointed to collect contributions. This fire arose in the
smithy of one James Leishman, and an enquiry was instituted as to whether
he or his servants had been guilty of carelessness in the matter. The result
of the enquiry, however, was that they were found to be blameless, and that
the calamity proceeded only of the providence of God. (fn. 42)
On 15th August the council, with advice of the deacons, ordered St.
Mungo's kirkyard, beyond the Gallowgate bridge, to remain and be a burial
place in time coming, both in kirk and kirkyard, and to be enclosed with a wall. (fn. 43)
On 1st September the king was again in Glasgow, and the council made
forty-two of his domestic servants, including the constable of Dundee, burgesses
and freemen. (fn. 44)
On 6th October, Aulay M'Caulay, of Ardencapill, appeared before the
council, and produced a missive from the duke, as lord superior of Glasgow,
and having power to nominate the provost and bailies, desiring the bailies
and council to admit Sir George Elphinstoun of Blythswood, knight, to be
provost for the following year. The council admitted Sir George accordingly, and directed the requisite commission to be made out. Thereafter a
leet of five merchants and three craftsmen was prepared, from which the
bailies were to be elected; but, as had been arranged with the duke, the
presentation of the leet to his grace was delayed till his return to the
country. (fn. 45)
Another gap occurs in the records of the council from 27th October,
1601, till 13th June, 1605.
At a convention of burghs held at Ayr in July, 1602, several questions
between Glasgow, Dunbarton, Ayr, and Irvine came up for consideration on
the 4th of that month.—(1) A complaint by Renfrew against Glasgow that
it uplifted from the inhabitants of Renfrew sixpence on each thousand
herring which were brought to the bridge of Glasgow. This complaint was
continued till next convention, which was held at Haddington on 6th July,
1603, when Glasgow was ordered to cease from levying the impost complained
of. (fn. 46) (2) Glasgow and Renfrew, for themselves and Dunbarton, complained
of Ayr and Irvine allowing fishers within their waters to fish with "sandaill
polkis," to the destruction of herring fry, and to take and sell herring fry in
their markets. The burghs complained of were ordered to cause these practices
to cease. (3) Ayr complained of Glasgow, Dunbarton, and Renfrew not
keeping the Clyde within their respective bounds clean, and obtained an
order on them to see that the river, and specially the portion within their
respective bounds, was kept unpolluted with dead carrion, bukeis [dead
bodies], and other filthy matters hurtful to the fishing, and to remove the
pollution then in the river. (fn. 47)
In August, 1602, the king was in Glasgow, and a section of the privy
council held meetings there for the transaction of business, on 27th, 29th, and
30th of that month. The king appears to have been present on the 29th. (fn. 48)
On 21st February, 1603, king James granted a charter under the great
seal to duke Ludovic, great chamberlain and admiral of Scotland, by which he
confirmed to him, inter alia, the dukedom, earldom, lordship, barony, and
regality of Lennox, comprehending the lands therein specified, with the office
of sheriff of Dunbarton, as also the castle of Glasgow, and heritable right of
electing the magistrates of that city, all as specified in the charter of 17th
November, 1600. (fn. 49) And as administrator for his son, Henry, duke of
Rothesay, &c., he confirmed to duke Ludovic the lands of Cruikisfie and
Darnlie, &c., under the reservations therein specified. Further, he of new
granted to the duke the office of admiral and chamberlain of Scotland, the
castle of Dumbarton, and the several lands therein specified, and incorporated
the whole into a free dukedom, earldom, lordship, barony, or regality of
Lennox, giving to the duke power to erect burghs of barony and regality in
any part of the dukedom, and exempted the inhabitants of the dukedom
from the jurisdiction of the sheriffdom of Stirling, Linlithgow and Perth:
rendering for the castle of Glasgow twenty shillings, and keeping it in necessary repair, as also excepting the office of sheriffship and the nomination of
bailies, and paying for the remainder of the dukedom twopence in blench
farm, and for the earldom of Darnlie one penny in blench farm. (fn. 50)
A charter granted by the king on 15th March, 1603, to John Stewart, of
Rosland, one of the ushers of the royal chamber, of the lands of White-inchmeadow, in the barony and regality of Glasgow and sheriffdom of Renfrew,
proceeding on Stewart's resignation, imposed on Stewart and his successors,
inter alia, the payment for the lands to the king, instead of to the archbishop, of £4, with sixty threaves of straw and one hundred stones of hay,
whenever the king, on premonition of forty days, should reside in the castle
and city of Glasgow for forty days, and the straw and hay should be eaten by
his own horses; and if the king should remain for a shorter period than this,
then Stewart and his successors should give for each day of his residence one
and a half threaves of straw, and four stones of hay, or otherwise pay twelve
pence for each threave and sixpence for each stone. (fn. 51)
For some time the relations between the king and Elizabeth had not
been friendly. She knew that James was looking forward with anxiety to
her death, and was doing his utmost to strengthen the party which would
favour his claims to the succession; and he, on the other hand, suspected that
the Gowrie conspiracy was not unsympathised with by Elizabeth. But she
ultimately expressed her detestation of the treason in terms so conciliatory
that he proffered her the aid of Scottish troops to co-operate with the
English army in England. The necessity for availing herself of such aid
was, however, obviated by the success of her land and naval forces. But the
peace which succeeded could not compensate for the loss of physical strength,
and though she strove to conceal her increasing infirmities by all kinds of
gaiety, it was obvious to her courtiers that her reign was rapidly closing.
Seeing this, Sir Robert Cecil, Elizabeth's powerful minister, opened negociations with James, who accepted them cordially, and a thorough understanding
between them was established. (fn. 52) The queen's sentiments towards James, as
expressed in her last letter to him, dated 6th January, 1603, were also most
friendly, and he could afford to wait patiently for the end. This was near.
On the 16th of January she caught a severe cold, and sank into a deep
melancholy and weariness of life, which nothing could dissipate. Resisting
every solicitation to undress and go to bed, and in a condition of profound
misery, she sat for two days and three nights; her finger pressed upon her
lips, as if afraid of betraying some secret, her eyes open, and fixed on the
ground, and generally silent and immovable. Urged on the night on which
she died to indicate who should be her successor, she made no response; but Cecil
and two lords who were in attendance on her later, declared that she afterwards indicated by signs that the king of Scots alone should succeed her.
After this she became insensible, and about midnight fell into a placid sleep,
from which she awoke to expire, without a struggle, at three o'clock on the
morning of Thursday, 24th March, 1603. (fn. 53) So ended the reign of the great
queen. It is said that when entreated by the lord admiral to go to bed
Elizabeth assured him, with a shudder of terror, that "if he had seen what
she saw there, he would choose any place but that." This fear may have been
the result simply of physical weakness and partial delirium; but it presents
a remarkable contrast to the heroic placidity with which queen Mary met
her fate in the hall of Fotheringhay.
Immediately after the death of the queen, Sir Robert Cecil and the lords
of the council who had been in attendance on her at Richmond posted to
London. A council was held at six in the morning, and before ten o'clock
James was proclaimed king of England, as the heir and successor of Elizabeth.
A letter was then despatched by the privy council to the king announcing
the queen's death, the proclamation of his accession, and the anxiety of his
English subjects to welcome their sovereign. This official communication
was, however, anticipated by Sir Robert Carey, a brother of lady Scrope, one
of the queen's ladies, who immediately after Elizabeth's death communicated
the event by signal to Sir Robert, who rode post to Edinburgh, and, arriving
at Holyrood on Saturday night after the king had retired to bed, announced
the death, and saluted him as sovereign of England, Scotland, Ireland, and
France. The official intimation of his accession was proclaimed at the market
cross of Edinburgh on 30th March, and, after committing the government of
Scotland to the privy council, he, with a long train of attendants, English
and Scottish, took his departure for England on Tuesday, the 5th of April. (fn. 54)
His journey, which occupied a month, was a long and brilliant pageant, and
he entered London on the 6th of May, 1603.
Two days after he had left Edinburgh, the king, on 7th April, granted to
duke Ludovic a charter under the great seal, by which on a narrative of his
descent from the family of Lennox, and that the lands, lordships, and
baronies, bailiary, regality, and archbishopric of Glasgow were in his hands,
by virtue of the act of Parliament, 1587, c. 8, he disponed in feu farm to the
duke and his heirs male in the dukedom of Lennox, the lands, &c., which
formerly belonged to the archbishopric, viz., the lands and barony of Glasgow,
the castle, city, burgh, and regality of Glasgow, the lands and tenements
of that burgh, and certain other lands. And the duke and his heirs were
constituted superiors of the whole regality, with power to hold courts of
regality and justiciary. The king also erected these lands, barony and
regality, into a temporal lordship and regality, to be called "the lordship
of Glasgow," with the privilege of chapel and chancellary. By this charter
the barony and regality, with the castle, city, and burgh, were appointed to
be holden of the crown for payment of £304 8s. 4d. of money, 36 chalders
4 bolls of meal, 31 chalders 5 bolls of barley, 13 chalders 4 bolls of oats,
49 dozen of capons, 31 dozen of poultry, and 14 dozen of kane salmon;
"together with all other duties specified in the annual rental of the bishopric,
"in use to be paid to the archbishop, with twenty merks further of augmen"tation." The king also promised, in verbo principis, to have the charter
ratified by parliament. (fn. 55)
When at Burleigh-house, near Stamford, the king received intelligence
of the death of archbishop Beaton, at Paris, on the 25th of April. (fn. 56) He thereupon designated Mr. John Spottiswood, parson of Calder, in Midlothian, to
the see of Glasgow. Spottiswood was in attendance on the king at the time,
but was sent back to Scotland to accompany the queen to England. (fn. 57) She,
with prince Henry, left Edinburgh for England on the 10th of June,
and the princess Elizabeth on the following day.