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.
