ENGUERRAND DE MONSTRELET.
CHAP. I.
JAMES I. KING OF SCOTLAND IS MURDERED IN HIS BED-CHAMBER DURING THE NIGHT BY HIS UNCLE THE EARL OF ATHOL.—OTHER MATTERS.
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.