James VI and the Gowrie Mystery

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book James VI and the Gowrie Mystery by Andrew Lang, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Andrew Lang ISBN: 9781465600929
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Andrew Lang
ISBN: 9781465600929
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English
An old Scottish lady, four generations ago, used to say, ‘It is a great comfort to think that, at the Day of Judgment, we shall know the whole truth about the Gowrie Conspiracy at last.’ Since the author, as a child, read ‘The Tales of a Grandfather,’ and shared King Jamie’s disappointment when there was no pot of gold, but an armed man, in the turret, he had supposed that we do know all about the Gowrie Conspiracy, that it was a plot to capture the King, carry him to Fastcastle, and ‘see how the country would take it,’ as in the case of the Gunpowder Plot. But just as Father Gerard has tried to show that the Gunpowder affair may have been Cecil’s plot, so modern historians doubt whether the Gowrie mystery was not a conspiracy by King James himself. Mr. Hume Brown appears rather to lean to this opinion, in the second volume of his ‘History of Scotland,’ and Dr. Masson, in his valuable edition of the ‘Register of the Privy Council,’ is also dubious. Mr. Louis Barbé, in his ‘Tragedy of Gowrie House,’ holds a brief against the King. Thus I have been tempted to study this ‘auld misterie’ afresh, and have convinced myself that such historians as Sir Walter Scott, Mr. Frazer Tytler, and Mr. Hill Burton were not wrong; the plot was not the King’s conspiracy, but the desperate venture of two very young men. The precise object remains obscure in detail, but the purpose was probably to see how a deeply discontented Kirk and country ‘would take it.’ In working at this fascinatingly mysterious puzzle, I have made use of manuscript materials hitherto uncited. The most curious of these, the examinations and documents of the ‘country writer,’ Sprot, had been briefly summarised in Sir William Fraser’s ‘Memorials of the Earls of Haddington.’ My attention was drawn to this source by the Rev. John Anderson, of the General Register House, who aided Sir William Fraser in the compilation of his book. The Earl of Haddington generously permitted me to have copies made of the documents, which Lady Cecily Baillie-Hamilton was kind enough to search for and rediscover in an enormous mass of documents bequeathed by the learned first Earl.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
An old Scottish lady, four generations ago, used to say, ‘It is a great comfort to think that, at the Day of Judgment, we shall know the whole truth about the Gowrie Conspiracy at last.’ Since the author, as a child, read ‘The Tales of a Grandfather,’ and shared King Jamie’s disappointment when there was no pot of gold, but an armed man, in the turret, he had supposed that we do know all about the Gowrie Conspiracy, that it was a plot to capture the King, carry him to Fastcastle, and ‘see how the country would take it,’ as in the case of the Gunpowder Plot. But just as Father Gerard has tried to show that the Gunpowder affair may have been Cecil’s plot, so modern historians doubt whether the Gowrie mystery was not a conspiracy by King James himself. Mr. Hume Brown appears rather to lean to this opinion, in the second volume of his ‘History of Scotland,’ and Dr. Masson, in his valuable edition of the ‘Register of the Privy Council,’ is also dubious. Mr. Louis Barbé, in his ‘Tragedy of Gowrie House,’ holds a brief against the King. Thus I have been tempted to study this ‘auld misterie’ afresh, and have convinced myself that such historians as Sir Walter Scott, Mr. Frazer Tytler, and Mr. Hill Burton were not wrong; the plot was not the King’s conspiracy, but the desperate venture of two very young men. The precise object remains obscure in detail, but the purpose was probably to see how a deeply discontented Kirk and country ‘would take it.’ In working at this fascinatingly mysterious puzzle, I have made use of manuscript materials hitherto uncited. The most curious of these, the examinations and documents of the ‘country writer,’ Sprot, had been briefly summarised in Sir William Fraser’s ‘Memorials of the Earls of Haddington.’ My attention was drawn to this source by the Rev. John Anderson, of the General Register House, who aided Sir William Fraser in the compilation of his book. The Earl of Haddington generously permitted me to have copies made of the documents, which Lady Cecily Baillie-Hamilton was kind enough to search for and rediscover in an enormous mass of documents bequeathed by the learned first Earl.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book Animal Carvings from Mounds of the Mississippi Valley: Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-81 by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book The Book of Delight and Other Papers by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book Symzonia; Voyage of Discovery by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book Yoga Vashisht or Heaven Found by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book The Common Sense of Socialism by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book The Theory and Practice of Model Aeroplaning by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book On the Witness Stand: Essays on Psychology and Crime by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book A Manual of Hadith by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book The Man-at-Arms: Henry De Cerons by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book John Caldigate by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book Oracles of Nostradamus by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book Myths and Legends of our New Possessions and Protectorate by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book Peace and Bread in Time of War by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book The European Anarchy by Andrew Lang
Cover of the book More Beasts (For Worse Children) by Andrew Lang
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy