the death of his father in 1479, and on 1 Aug. 1489 he was infeft in the heritable sheriffship of Lanark. By James IV he was made a privy councillor. In 1503 he was sent with other noblemen to England to conclude the negotiations for a marriage between the king and the Princess Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII, and he signed the notarial instrument confirming the dower of Margaret (Cal. Documents relating to Scotland, iv. entry 1736). Hamilton was a proficient in all the knightly accomplishments of the time, and one of the chief performers at the famous tournaments of the court of James IV. At the tournament held in honour of the king's marriage, Hamilton fought in the barriers with the famous French knight, Anthony D'Arcy de la Bastie. Though neither was victorious, the king was so pleased with the carriage of Lord Hamilton, as well as with his magnificent retinue, that on 11 Aug. he granted him a patent creating him Earl of Arran to him and his heirs male, which failing the patent was to return to the king (Hist. MSS. Comm. 11th Rep. App. pt. vi. p. 20). He also received a charter of the same date constituting him king's justiciary within the bounds of Arran. Arran and La Bastie had various subsequent encounters (Balfour, Annals, i. 228). As lieutenant-general of the kingdom Arran was sent in 1504 to co-operate with Sir Andrew Wood and Robert Barton in reducing the Western Isles. After his return he was despatched, with ten thousand men, to the assistance of the king of Denmark, whom he succeeded in re-establishing on his throne (Lesley, History, Bannatyne ed. p. 72). In 1507 he was sent with the Archbishop of St. Andrews on an embassy to France. The negotiations aroused the jealousy of Henry VII, and on the return of Arran and his natural brother, Sir Patrick Hamilton, through England, they were arrested in Kent, and committed to prison. Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the Scottish king, they were probably detained in England till the death of Henry VII.
On the accession of Henry VIII, there was a short revival of friendship between England and Scotland. On 29 Aug. 1509 Arran signed a renewal of the treaty between the two kingdoms (Cal. State Papers, Henry VIII, i. entry 474), and also on 24 Nov. witnessed a renewal of the notarial attestation of James IV (ib. 714). When James afterwards took the French side, Arran, who, chiefly on account of his knightly accomplishments, had been appointed generalissimo of the kingdom, was placed in command of the expedition which in 1513 was sent to the aid of the king of France. The fleet was one of the largest that had ever been assembled, and Arran, on board the Great Michael, had its sole direction. Owing to his bad seamanship, or from stress of weather, he landed at Carrickfergus, which he stormed and plundered. He then returned to Ayr, where, according to Pitscottie, his ‘men landit and played themselves, and reposed for the space of forty days.’ The king, incensed at his remissness, despatched Sir Andrew Wood to supersede him in the command. Arran refused to give over his office, and ‘pulled up sails and passed wherever he pleased, thinking that he would come to France in due time’ (Pitscottie). During his absence occurred the battle of Flodden. Of the results of Arran's expedition there is no certain information. The French government bought one at least of the larger ships, and Arran returned to Scotland with only some of the smaller vessels. Before the return of Arran the marriage of the Earl of Angus [see Douglas, Archibald, sixth earl (1489?–1557)] to the queen-dowager, Margaret Tudor, stimulated the rivalry between the Douglases and Hamiltons. Angus had the support of Henry VIII. Arran was countenanced by France, with which Scotland was in close alliance. He supported the regency of Albany, brother of James III, only so far as it held in check the pretensions of Angus, but the prolonged visits of Albany to France rendered his regency almost nominal. Arran returned to Scotland along with his rival, La Bastie, whom Albany, on being chosen regent, sent over as his representative till he himself should arrive. Not long after his return Arran made a fruitless attempt to seize Angus by an ambuscade. Until the arrival of Albany in May 1515, the young king remained in the hands of Angus and the queen-dowager. Arran supported Albany in the proceedings which led to the flight of Angus and the queen-dowager to England, and when Lord Home, one of the few nobles who supported Angus, was taken prisoner, he was committed by Albany to the custody of Arran in Edinburgh Castle. Home now flattered Arran with the hope that Angus and the queen-dowager would support his claims to the regency. The two therefore retired to the borders to have a conference with Angus. Home thus obtained his liberty, and possibly on reaching the borders Arran recognised that he had been deceived. At all events when Albany proceeded to lay siege to Cadzow Castle, Arran, at the request of his mother, the Princess Mary, who had interceded for him, agreed to return on a promise of pardon. Dissatisfied, however, with his position, he shortly afterwards entered into a confederacy with other nobles to wrest the
