Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 5.djvu/154

214 on the public street, in which great numbers were killed and wounded on both sides, Arran's party gave way, and he himself with difficulty escaped through the North Loch. This encounter was afterwards distinguished by the name of Cleanse the Causey, from its having been fought upon the street or causey. Such was the condition of Scotland during nearly the whole period of the minority of James; and by merely substituting one noble name for another, and shifting from time to time the scene of their endless squabbles and skirmishes, adding an interminable and scarcely intelligible story of intrigues, duplicity, and deception, we have the history of the kingdom for the fifteen years immediately succeeding the battle of Flodden field. During this period, we occasionally find the queen and her second husband, the earl of Angus, and sometimes the duke of Albany, cousin of the late king, in possession of the nominal regency. At length the young monarch comes upon the stage ; and it is not until that event occurs, that the interest of the story is resumed. It then becomes a connected and intelligible tale, and is at once relieved of the cumbrous and fatiguing narration of occurrences, digressive, episodical, and parenthetical, with which it was previously disfigured and obscured,

In the mean time, the young monarch, unconscious of the storm that was raging without, was pursuing his studies in the castle of Edinburgh, where he had been placed for safety, under the tuition of Gavin Dunbar. The apartments appropriated to the youthful sovereign in this ancient fortress, seem to have been in but a very indifferent condition ; his master, Dunbar, though afterwards refunded, having been obliged to repair, at his own cost, in the first instance, the chamber in which the king received his lessons, one particular room having been set apart for that purpose. Indeed, during the whole of Albany's regency, the wants of the young monarch seem to have been very little attended to: even his personal comfort was so much neglected, that it was with great difficulty he could procure a new doublet or a new pair of hose ; and he at one time must have gone without even them, but for the kindness of his natural sister, the countess of Morton, who, from time to time, supplied him with articles of wearing apparel. The treasurer, too, frequently refused to pay the tailor for the making of his clothes, when the material instead of the dress happened to be sent him. Though placed in the castle for security, this consideration does not seem to have precluded the indulgence of going abroad occasionally. A mule was kept for him, on which he rode out during the intervals of his study, and when the town and surrounding country were reckoned sufficiently quiet and peaceful to admit of his doing so with safety. The appearance, character, and temper of the young monarch during his nonage, are spoken of in warm terms by his contemporaries. In personal appearance he is said to have borne a strong resemblance to his uncle Henry VIII. of England; who, tyrant though he was, had certainly a very noble and kingly presence. James's countenance was oval, of a mild and sweet expression; his eyes blue, and beaming at once with gentleness and intelligence without effeminacy; a head of yellow hair completes the picture. He was of an exceedingly affectionate disposition, and of a generous though somewhat hasty temper. "There is not in the world," says the queen his mother, in a letter to Surrey, "a wiser child, or a better-hearted, or a more able." This is the language of a parent indeed; but, when corroborated as it is by other evidence, there is no occasion to suspect it of partiality. James was about this time in the eleventh or twelfth year of his age. With his other good qualities he discovered a shrewdness and sagacity superior to his years. Surrey, speaking of him to Wolsey, says, " he speaks sure, for so young a thing." The young monarch was much addicted to all manly sports -and exercises, and in all excelled. He rode gracefully, was passionately fond of the