BATTLE OF FLODDEN TO DEATH OF YAMES l? 39
unconscious of the tumultuous scenes of the neighbouring capital, and seemingly but little
thought of by its turbulent rivals, for his poor tutor wa8 compelled to defray, from his
own purse, the necessary repairs of the royal apartments, then devoted to his use ; while
such was the straitened means of the young King, that he was indebted at one time to
the kindness of his natural sister, the Countess of Morton, for a new doublet and a pair
of hose. Sir David Lindsay has furnished, in hie Complaynt, a lively description of their
pastimes at this period-
Eow as ane chapman beria his pack,
I bure thy Grace upon my back :
And sumtymea, stridlingia, on my nek,
Danaand with mony bend and bek :
The first sillabis that thow did mute,
Was pa, da, lyn, upon the lute ;
Than playit I twentie springia perqueir,
Quhilk was greit pleaour for to heir :
Fra play, thow leit me never reat,
Bot gynkertoun thow luffit ay beat ;
And ay, quhen thow come fra the scule,
Then I behuffit to play the fule
Thow hes maid lordia, schir, be Sauct Geill
Of sum that; hes nocht servit ao weill.'
Though placed within the Castle for safety, the King was not entirely confined to its
straitened bounds ; when not prevented by the disturbed state Qf the town and neighbourhood,
he was not only permitted to ride forth in the intervals of his studies, but occasionally
took up his residence both at Craigmillar and Dalkeith.
Shortly after the period referred to, the Duke of Albany quitted the kingdom for the
last time, and the King, who had been removed to Stirling, to be out of reach of the
Queen's party, was brought to Holyrood, attended by a numerous train of nobles, and at
the mature age of twelve invested with the full powers of royalty, as the only means of
terminating the frightful anarchy that prevailed; and on the 22d of August 1524, '' he
maid his solempnit entree with the lordis in the tolbuytht of Edinbrughe, with sceptour,
croune, and sword of honour." '
Sir DavidLindsay alludes to this in his Complaynt, aud pictures with lively satire the
obsequious courtiers joining in the diversions of the juvenile King.
Pitscottie tells with great naiveth, that " the King and the lordis remained in Edinburgh
and Hallirudhouse the space of ane yeir, with great triumph and merrines, quhil
Imprudently, lyke witles fulis,
Thay tuke the young Prince fra the soulis,
Quhare he, under obedience,
Was leirnand vertew, and science,
And haiately pat in his hand
The governance of all Scotland.
* * *
Schir, sum wald eay, your Majeetie
Sall now gae to your libertie;
Ye call to na man be coarcit,
Nor to the mule na mair subjectit ;
We think thame varrey natural1 fulia,
That lernis over meikle at the ~Uli:s
Sir D. Lindsay's Poems, 1806, vol. i p. 257. * Diurnal of Owurrents, p. 9.
40 MEMORIALS OF EDINBURGH.
* * *
Ilk man efter thair qualitie,
Thay did solist his Majestie,
Sum gad him ravel1 at the rakket,
Some harlit him to the hurly hakket.
And sum to schaw their courtlie corsis,
Wald ryid to,Leith, and rin tbair horsis.
at the last thair vaiked ane benefice quhilk pat thame all at variance for the dispositioun
of the same.”l And so, after dividing with more or less success the patronage of the
crown, the nobles parted in greater disagreement than ever ; “ bot Bischope James
Beatoun remained &till in Edinburgh, in his awin ludging, quhilk he biggit in the Frieris
Wynd.” ’
C1525.1 The nominal rule of the youthful Sovereign proved of little avail to stay the
turbulence of hia haughty nobles ; Angus again seized the government, nominating his
uncle, Archibald Douglas, Provost of Edinburgh. And such waa the power he possessed,
that, under his protection, the assassins of M’Lellan of Bombie, who was slain in open
day at the door of St Giles’s Church, walked with impunity about the streets ; while the
Queen herself deemed his safe conduct. necessary, while she resided in Edinburgh, though
the Parliament was sitting there at the time. And so the King returned again to honourable
durance in the dilapidated palace of the Castle ; or only made his appearance to act
as the puppet of his governor.
At this time it was that Arran and his faction demanded that the Parliament should
assemble within the Castle, to secure them against popular coercion ; but Angus, and
a numerous body of the nobles, and others, protested ‘‘ that the Parliament be kept
in the accustomed place, and that the King be conveyed along the High Street, and
in triumph shown to his own people.” And this being denied them, they surrounded the
Castle with two thousand men in arms, completely preventing the supplies of the garrison.
Those in the Castle retaliated, by firing on the town : but their differences were happily
accommodated, and “ the King in. magnificence and pomp is convoyed from the Castle to
his palace at Holyrood House, and the Estates assemble in the wonted place of the town
of Edinburgh.”
C1526.1 The Earl of Lennox assembled a numerous body of adherents in the following
year, and marched towards Edinburgh to the rescue of the King; but Angus not only
caused the provost to ring the alarum bell, and raise the town in his defence, but he persuaded
the Eing, though much against his will, to head the burgher force against his own
friends. “Then the King caused sound his trumpets, and lap upon horse, and caused
ring the commoun bell of Edinburgh, commanding all manner of men to follow him ; so he
issued forth at the Wast Port, and the touoes of Edinburgh and Leith with him, to the
number of thrie thousand men, and passed forwards with thame,” but only to arrive
in time to witness the death of the Earl of Lennox, and the complete discomfiture of his
Paw.
C1528.1 Frequent attempts were made thereafter for the King’s delivery from this thraldom
; but that which so many had failed in securing, he at length effected, by his’ own
Pitscottig vol. ii p. 312. Ibid, p. 313. 8 Hawthornden, p. 93.
