III.

A FRENCH MISSION TO SCOTLAND IN 1543. BY WILLIAM MOIR

BRYCE, F.S. A. Scor.

During the autumn of 1543 the political atmosphere in Scotland was in a highly disturbed condition. The Governor, the Earl of Arran, had suddenly abandoned his English policy, and joined the French party under the Queen Dowager and Cardinal Beaton. Consequently, Matthew, Earl of Lennox, who had been invited to Scotland on the definite understanding that he should replace his rival in the Governorship as the candidate of the French party, was left to reconsider his position in regard to the friends whose purposes he had served.

Until the 4th September 1543 Lennox was a good patriot, or, in the language of the day, a good "Frenchman," and "one of the rabble of the Kirkmen who would not agree that pledges be laid in England." During the next six months he was neither Frenchman nor Englishman, but a source of anxiety to both parties. In March 1544 it was reported that only fears for the safety of his brother, John Stuart of Aubigny, delayed his "affection" to the English King. The different phases of this metamorphosis may be studied in considerable detail in the papers which Jacques de la Brosse and Jacques Mesnaige carried back to France after their embassy to this country, as a record of the value of the oath, seal, and signature of this Earl of Lennox, the Queen Dowager, Cardinal Beaton, and Francis I., King of France. The principal documents in the register of this embassy (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds Français, vols. 17,330, 17,888, 17,889, and 17,890) are :-A report on the affairs of Scotland by the ambassadors; two copies, fair draft drawn up 13th November 1543 and copy dated 24th November, signed and corrected; secret instructions by Francis I. to the ambassadors, 12th February 1544; various receipts, warrants, and minutes of meeting at Stirling; guarantee by the Earl of Lennox in favour of the Queen Dowager and Cardinal Beaton, 13th October 1543, signed and sealed

(seal now wanting); two agreements between the same parties, signed and dated 24th and 25th October, the latter being also signed by the ambassadors; letters by the Earl of Lennox and the ambassadors to Francis I., dated 9th and 10th October 1543, and by Francis I. to them, dated respectively 12th and 25th February 1544. At least four documents are wanting :-The original instructions of the ambassadors, 25th June 1543, and letters of appointment in favour of the Earl of Lennox; warrant to Jehan de Vymond, treasurer, for payment of 9400 crowns to the Scottish nobility, according to the scheme of division agreed upon and signed at Stirling, 25th October 1543; and the letter of the ambassadors to Francis I., 27th January 1544. The following is a chronological summary of the purport of this register.

On the 25th June 1543 the envoys received instructions at Marolles to proceed on a mission to Scotland, "to treat and accord with our allies or their deputies concerning the surety and corroboration of our ancient friendship and alliance" (Commission printed, Teulet, i. 123, 1862). On 6th October they landed at Dumbarton, where they were received by Lennox, to whom they handed letters from Francis I., appointing him his councillor in all that pertained to the disposal of the finances and stores which accompanied the embassy. In accordance with their instructions, they also transferred the treasure-chest containing 83,600 livres to Dumbarton Castle, which at that time was in Lennox's possession. On the 7th, or at least the 8th-too late to save the treasure -messengers arrived from the Queen Dowager, with directions that nothing should be disembarked within the territory of the Earl. In the absence (unexplained) of the ambassadors, these orders were communicated to the captains, who therefore landed the stores and ammunition in the Argyll country, and placed the ships in safety. At their meeting at Dumbarton, Lennox had furnished La Brosse and Mesnaige with his views on the political situation in Scotland, and alleged that he had been instrumental in effecting the release of the two Queens the dowager and her infant daughter-and the Cardinal from the imprisonment to which they had been subjected by authority

of the Governor, Arran. In return for his services on their behalf, they -the Queen Dowager and the Cardinal-now consorted with the Governor and had cast him off, with the result that a considerable number of the nobility favoured his appointment as Governor, and were assembled at Edinburgh (6th October) for that very purpose. In brief, the kingdom was in a sad state owing to the divisions among the aristocracy. Nevertheless, he had won over to service of the King of France many of the nobility who formerly were "servants" of the English King. This description of the political situation, when compared with the later information brought from Stirling, doubtless caused the ambassadors to regret their precipitancy in disembarking the treasure. For the present, they attempted to allay the Earl's resentment against the Queen Dowager on account of the orders transmitted to the captains, and persuaded him to consent to an interview with her at Stirling. On the journey thither, the French envoys met the English lords at Glasgow, and were requested to explain the nature of their mission, as well as to exhibit their commission. To this demand they returned an evasive answer, asserting that they were sent to favour the public welfare, and not to support any particular quarrel. At this point, the envoys remark on the unsettled condition of the country, and the bands of armed men to be seen; so that "not only is the nobility in arms, but the churchmen, the religious, and the peasants do not walk through the country save in large companies, and all armed with jacks, swords, buckler, and a half-pyke in hand, which is called in this country a lance." At Stirling, they ascertained the full gravity of Lennox's defection; while their efforts to procure a rupture of the English marriage by a lavish distribution of French crowns promised to be attended with little success, so long as the treasure remained in the Earl's keeping. With a view to its recovery, they proposed that the hand of the infant Queen should be offered to him, in accordance with their instructions to secure her marriage with a native of the country "who was fit to govern the kingdom." Lennox agreed to this proposal, and, on 13th October, granted a declaration under his seal and signature that, "in default of

the consent of the Estates, the consent of the said widow lady to the said marriage between the said Lady Queen and us is null and of no effect without need of any other declaration of nullity"; as also in regard to the consent of the Cardinal. Accordingly, on the 24th (in the absence of the Governor) the Queen Dowager, the Earl of Lennox, and the Cardinal agreed, "under forfeit of honour, wealth, and life," (1) that they would exert themselves to the utmost to marry the young Queen to a Scottish lord who could preserve the kingdom, and that no offer would induce them to consent to the English marriage; (2) that this triumvirate would act in accordance with the decision of its majority, and that its aim would be the confirmation of the Franco-Scottish alliance in the next Parliament; and (3) in consideration of the merits of the Earl as a ruler and administrator, and subject to his foregoing promise, the Queen Dowager consented to his marriage with the Queen, and promised to assist him by every means. Further, because the said. Earl had promised to maintain the Catholic faith and the ceremonies of the Church, as well as the realm and the alliance confirmed by the late King, she gave her solemn promise to advance his estate, as of him whom we hope to have as the future husband of the Queen our daughter." It was further arranged, verbally, that the treasure stored in Dumbarton Castle should be placed in the hands of the Queen Dowager; and that 4000 crowns should be given to the Cardinal, 2000 to the Earl of Lennox, 500 to Hume, and 300 to Seaforth and the Sieur de "Marcar" (Mercer), who had recently been engaged in irregular fighting on the border with some success. On the following day, Lennox resiled from this arrangement, and informed the envoys that he would not allow the treasure to be removed from Dumbarton Castle before the meeting of the Estates of Parliament, as it would secure to him many supporters in his endeavour to wrest the Governorship from his rival. "To avoid a greater inconvenience," it was then agreed that the treasure should remain in his keeping until Christmas, in consideration of his solemn obligation to hand it over to La Brosse and Mesnaige for distribution as agreed upon by the majority, provided it were stored in Glasgow.

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At the same meeting, an interim distribution of 9400 crowns was also agreed upon, according to a scheme of division signed by all the parties. The warrant for this payment is not to be found among the ambassadors' papers, but there is a draft warrant for the payment of 8000 gold crowns-To the Earl of Arran, Governor of the State and realm of Scotland, 2000 gold crowns; to the Earls of Argyle, Bothwell, Moray, and Huntley, each 1000 gold crowns; to Fleming, Erskine, Livingstone, Wemyss, Tulibarnie, and the "Chevalier de Candar," each 300 crowns; and to Mr David Panter, secretary of the Queen of Scots and of the Governor, 100 gold crowns. There can be no doubt that Lennox did hand over a considerable portion of the treasure for the purposes for which it was intended and that, in the beginning of January 1543-4, the amount remaining in his hands did not exceed 16,869 livres and 400 double ducats. For the time, it seemed impossible to gauge the limits of the Earl's petulance, and it was thought that the most certain method of compelling him to come to terms was to secure a majority in favour of France in the next meeting of the Estates. The documents which he had just signed and entrusted to the safe-keeping of the envoys formed a convenient, although treacherous, means wherewith to sow suspicion between him and the English faction; 'so that, if the said Earl desired to withdraw to the said King of England, neither that King nor his servants can hope for any support or good faith from the said Earl of Lennox." On the 13th of November, the ambassadors claimed that the Anglo-Scots mistrusted him; and, shortly afterwards, Lennox proposed to them that he should marry the Queen Dowager. This was a much more practical step towards securing the Governorship than the proposed marriage with the infant Queen, which the Earl evidently now regarded as a somewhat remote, if not doubtful, contingency. On the other hand, his endeavour to force the hand of his opponents promised to facilitate the recovery of the remaining portion of the treasure, if he could only be persuaded to pass to France to discuss the marriage with the Duke and Duchess of Guise. The decision was, therefore, referred to Francis, with the advice that the