Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 5.djvu/169

Rh through the gallery, or by means of a smaller turnpike (called the black turnpike) which stood half-way betwixt the principal one and the street.

The unexpected arrival of the king caused a considerable commotion in Gowrie's establishment. Craigingelt, the master of the household, was obliged to leave his sick bed, and bestir himself. Messengers were despatched through Perth to seek, not for meat, for of that there seems to have been plenty, but for some delicacy fit to be set upon the royal table. The baillies and other dignitaries of Perth, as also some noblemen who were resident in the town, came pouring in,—some to pay their respects to his majesty, others to stare at the courtiers. Amid all this confusion, somewhat more than an hour elapsed before the repast was ready. To judge by the king's narrative, and the eloquent orations of Mr Patrick Galloway, this neglect on the part of the earl seems to have been regarded as not the least criminal part of his conduct: and with justice; for his royal highness had been riding hard since seven o'clock, and it was past two before he could get a morsel, which, when it did come, bore evident marks of being hastily prepared.

As soon as the king was set down to dinner, the earl sent for Andrew Henderson, whom he conducted up to the gallery, where the master was waiting for them. After some short conversation, during which Gowrie told Henderson to do any thing his brother bade him, the younger Ruthven locked this attendant into the little round closet within the gallery chamber, and left him there. Henderson began now, according to his own account, to suspect that something wrong was in agitation, and set himself to pray, in great perturbation of mind. Meanwhile, the earl of Gowrie returned to take his place behind the chair of his royal guest. When the king had dined, and Lennox, Mar, and the other noblemen in waiting, had retired from the dining-room to the hall to dine in their turn, Alexander Ruthven came and whispered to the king, to find some means of getting rid of his brother the earl, from whom he had all along pretended great anxiety to keep the story of the found treasure a secret. The king filled a bumper, and, drinking it off, desired Gowrie to carry his pledge to the noblemen in the hall. While they were busy returning the health, the king and the master passed quietly through the hall, and ascended the great stair which led to the gallery. They did not, however, pass altogether unobserved, and some of the royal train made an attempt to follow them, but were repelled by Ruthven, who alleged the king's wish to be alone. From the gallery they passed into the chamber at the end of it, and the door of this room Ruthven appears to have locked behind him.

When the noblemen had dined, they inquired after their master, but were informed by Gowrie that he had retired, and wished to be private. The earl immediately called for the keys of the garden, whither he was followed by Lennox and part of the royal train; whilst Mar, with the rest, remained in the house. John Ramsay, a favourite page of the king, says in his deposition, that, on rising from table, he had agreed to take charge of a hawk for one of the servants, in order to allow the man to go to dinner. He seems, while thus engaged, to have missed Gowrie's explanation of the king's absence, for he sought his majesty in the dining-room, in the garden, and afterwards in the gallery. He had never before seen this gallery, which is said we know not upon what authority to have been richly adorned with paintings by the earl's father, and he staid some time admiring it. On coming down stairs, he found the whole of the king's attendants hurrying towards the outer gate, and was told by Thomas Cranstone, one of the earl's servants, that the king had rode on before. Ramsay, on hearing this, ran to the stable where his horse was. Lennox and Mar, who had also heard the report of the king's departure, asked the