him at once so as to claim his royal rights, before either the Earl of Cowrie or the Town Council of Perth got wind of the matter. The king proposed to send one of his officers with a warrant to deliver the man and the money to the provost and bailies, until the matter could be examined; but Ruthven was horrified at the idea, assuring his Majesty that either Gowrie or the bailies would render a very bad account of the bullion. So far the lure was an adroit one, for it roused two of James's ruling passions — curiosity and cupidity. But he would not give up his hunt ing; he told Ruthven that he must kill his buck first, and that then, if he continued in the same mind, he would ride with him to Perth. Ruthven, much disgusted with the delay, was obliged to be content, and sent off one of his servants to tell Gowrie to expect the king that afternoon. The buck proved a stout one; they hunted him from seven till eleven, and ever when there was a check, Ruthven was at the king's rein, whispering to him about the splendour and quantity of the gold coin. Then, as soon as the buck was slain, he persuaded the king to start at once on his tired horse, directing a fresh one to be sent after him. The Duke of Lennox, the Earl of Mar, and other gen tlemen, followed as soon as they got fresh horses. It shows that James had good stuff in him, that he was able to set out on a . twenty-mile journey immediately after such a severe chase — a novel illustration of the saw that " Money makes the mare to go." "Ye can nocht guess," he said gleefully to Lennox as he started, " quhat erand I am ryding for I I am going to get a poise [hoard] in Perth; and Maister Alexander Ruthvene hes informit me that he hes fundin ane man that hes ane pitcher full of cunzeit [coined] gold of great sortis."
brother's messenger. The earl and his fol lowing met the king on the Inch, and es corted him to Gowrie house.1 The earl had dined, but dinner was prepared in an inner chamber for the king, while the suite took theirs in the great hall. After the king had dined, Alexander Ruthven offered to take him to the chamber where the captive was confined. Accordingly they passed out, through the end of the hall where the rest were seated at table, up a turnpike stair, through several rooms, Ruthven carefully locking each door behind them, to ensure secrecy, as he explained, through a long gal lery into a turret at the extreme west end of the building. Here, to his dismay, the king was confronted, not with a bound cap tive, but with an armed man standing free and erect. Not a very formidable ruffian, as it turned out, for it was only Mr. Andrew Henderson, Cowrie's chamberlain, who was at his poor wits' end to know why he had been locked into the turret alone for half an hour. " All this tyme," as he testified at the trial, " this deponar, fearand sum ewill to be done, satt bpoun his kneis and prayit to God." As soon as the king was within the turret, Ruthven clapped his hat on his head, snatched a dagger from Henderson's belt, and held it at the king's breast, crying, " Sir, you must be my prisoner. Remember my father's death!" James seems to have behaved with unwonted coolness and dignity. He protested that he, be ing but a minor at the time, had not been re sponsible for the death of the late earl, and that in any case, it behooved Ruthven to speak with him uncovered. Ruthven, strangely abashed, took off his hat, .and said he would go and fetch his brother, Cowrie, to deal with the king. Turning to Henderson, he said, " I make you his Majesty's keeper till I come back. See you keep him on your peril!" Then, having made the king pass his word neither to1 Pulled cry out downnor in 1807 open to make the window way for the inprison his aband
Arrived within a mile of Perth, Ruthven spurred forward, as he pretended, to tell Gowrie of his Majesty's approach, though Gowrie had in fact been warned of it by his county buildings.
