About this time, a very cruel and surprising event took place in Scotland, while the king resided at Perth in the middle of his realm, and held his court at an abbey of Jacobins, situated on the river Tay, a conspiracy was formed against his life by some who hated him. The leader was his own uncle the earl of Athol[1].

The earl came to Perth the second Wednesday in Lent, which was one of the ember weeks, accompanied by about thirty men, and, an hour after midnight made for the king's bed-chamber, who was unsuspicious of what was intended. They instantly broke open the door, and having gained an entrance, most barbarously assassinated him with upward of thirty wounds, some of which went through his heart. During this transaction, his queen, sister to the earl of Somerset, endeavoured to save him, but was villainously wounded in two places by some of the murderers. When the deed was done, they hurried away, to save themselves by flight.

The cries of the queen, and of her attendants, soon made the matter publicly known throughout the palace and town, when crowds hastened to the king's bed-chamber, where they found him mangled and dead, and the queen wounded. Great sorrow and lamentations were shown on the occasion,—and on the morrow the king was interred at the Carthusians.

Shortly after, the nobles and great lords of Scotland were summoned, and agreed with the queen, that the murderers should be immediately pursued, which was instantly executed,—and the assassins were arrested, and put to death in various ways, and with divers torments.

The earl of Athol, as principal, although uncle to the king, had his belly cut open, his bowels taken out and burnt before his face: his body was then quartered, and the four parts sent to four of the greatest towns of the realm. Sir Robert Stuart, having been very active in the business, was hung on a gibbet and then quartered. Sir Robert Graham was put into a cart, having a gallows erected within it, to which was fastened one of his hands, namely, that with which he had assassinated the king, and thus led through the streets. He was surrounded by three executioners, who kept pinching his thighs, and other parts of his body, with red hot pincers, and was afterwards quartered. All the rest were horribly tormented before they were executed; and this act of justice was done within forty days of the king's murder.

The reason of the earl of Athol's committing this atrocious deed was, that on the king's return from his imprisonment in England, where he had been for a long time detained, as mentioned in my first book of this history, he had put to death many great lords, (as well those related to him by blood as others) who had been members of the regency during his absence, for not having exerted themselves more expeditiously for his ransom. In this number were some very near relatives to the earl of Athol, who, though before this act he kept up the appearance of loyalty, had for a considerable time been plotting this assassination, which he put in practice as you have seen.

King James left a son about twelve years old, who was crowned king of Scotland, with the unanimous assent and approbation of the three estates of the realm. He was placed under the governance of a knight of great renown, called sir William Crichton[2], who had been his tutor during the life of the king his father. This young monarch had a vermilion mark down one cheek, and a white one down the other.

Within a short time, the queen carried away suddenly, from the knight above named, the king her son, out of the castle of Edinburgh, and put him under other governors, namely, the great lords of the country. This regency put to death the earl of Douglas[3] and his brother, called David de Combrebant[4], for having as they said, formed a conspiracy against the young king, to depose him from his throne. King James had six sisters, the eldest of whom was married to the dauphin of France, son to king Charles; the duke of Brittany had another; the third married the duke of Savoy's son; the fourth married the lord de Vere in in Holland. The queen also married a young scots knight called sir James Stuart and had by him several children[5].

It has happened, that since I had written the foregoing account, I have received more authentic information respecting the execution of the earl of Athol. It was as follows. He was stript quite naked, all but his drawers in the streets of Edinburgh, and hoisted several times up and down a high gibbet by means of a pulley, and then let fall to within two feet of the ground. He was then placed on a pillar and crowned with a coronet of hot iron to signify that he was king of the traitors. On the morrow, he was seated on a hurdle, naked as before, and dragged through the streets; after which, he was put on a table, his belly cut open, and his entrails drawn out, and thrown into a fire before his face and while he was alive. His heart was then cast into the fire, his body quartered, and the quarters sent to the four principal towns in the kingdom as has been mentioned before. The rest of his accomplices were grievously tortured prior to their execution,—and several of their near relations and intimates, though perfectly innocent, were executed with them; and such severe punishments were not remembered to have been ever before inflicted in a Christian country.

The duke of Burgundy, at this time held many councils with the three estates of his dominions, to consider on the best means of opposing the English, whom he expected daily to invade them. It was determined to garrison every town as well those inland as on the sea-shores; and all the nobles, and others who had been accustomed to bear arms, were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to march with their captains in defence of their country, under the orders of John of Burgundy, count d'Estampes commander in chief.

Many of the inhabitants of the city of Lyons now rebelled against the officers of the king of France, because they were overloaded with taxes and gabelles; but several of them suffered death for it, and others were imprisoned by the royal officers.

The Parisians were also accused of intending to betray that city to the English, when master James Joussel and master Mille des Faulx advocates in the parliament together with a pursuivant, were beheaded, and their effects confiscated to the king.

In this year also the ghent men rose in arms in considerable numbers and slew one Gilbert Pactetent, head deacon of the trades, for having, as they said, prevented Calais from being stormed; and they moreover accused him of treason, because their cannon and other engines had fired but little during that siege.

They also insisted, among other extravagant demands, that an order should be proclaimed, forbidding any beer to be brewed within three leagues of Ghent; but as the sheriffs and other municipal officers had intermixed among them, with the banner of France displayed, in the Friday market-place, and had addressed them in moderate and good-humoured terms, telling them, that they would consider on their demands, and provide for them in such wise that they should be contented, the mob dispersed quietly to their homes, and laid down their arms.

Many councils were held by the sheriffs and magistrates on these requisitions, which were declared useless, and impossible to be carried into effect. They likewise resolved to leave things in the state in which they had prospered so long, without making any unreasonable reformation.