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 government from Albany. The royal magazines at Glasgow were seized, and Arran also made himself master of Dumbarton Castle, but the promptitude of Albany prevented the movement from going further, and Arran again came to terms. On the departure of Albany for France in 1517, Arran was chosen one of the council of regency, of which Angus was also a member. By the members of the council Arran was ultimately chosen president, and virtually acted as governor of the kingdom. Shortly after Albany's departure La Bastie, who had been made one of the wardens of the marches, was on 20 Sept. led into an ambuscade by Home of Wedderburn and others, and murdered. Arran was thereupon made warden of the marches, and placed in command of a large force to punish the murder. Arran apprehended Sir George Douglas, brother of Angus, who was supposed to have instigated the crime, and, taking possession of the principal border fortresses, compelled Lord Home and others to take refuge in England (letter of the estates of Scotland to the king of France, in, Relations politiques de la France et de l'Espagne avec l'Ecosse, i. 11–13; letter of Arran to the king of France on the same subject, ib. 15–16; Cal. State Papers, Henry VIII, ii. entry 4048; , Hist. of Scotl. Bannatyne ed. p. 117), but the Scottish nobles generally approved secretly of the murder, and no further punishment was inflicted on those concerned. In 1517 Arran was chosen provost of Edinburgh, but having gone to Dalkeith with the young king on account of an outbreak of small-pox, he on returning to the city in September of the following year found the gates shut against him, and the city in the possession of the Douglases, who secured the election to the provostship of Archibald Douglas, uncle of Angus. Arran endeavoured to force an entrance, but was repulsed with heavy loss, and for some time after this the city remained in the hands of Angus. On account, however, of the constant feuds between the two factions, Albany interposed, and on his recommendation that no person of the name of Hamilton or Douglas should be chosen provost, Robert Logan in 1520 succeeded Archibald Douglas. Arran now ventured into the city, and finding that Angus had relaxed his precautions, and was attended by only about four hundred followers, resolved to overpower them. All endeavours to mediate between the rival factions failed, and Arran, provoked by the attitude of the Douglases, drawn up across the street, attempted to ‘cleanse the causeway.’ After a short and fierce struggle his followers were routed with great loss, the famous knight, his half-brother, Sir Patrick Hamilton of Kincavel, father of Patrick Hamilton the martyr [q. v.], being among the slain. Arran and his son James, afterwards second earl of Arran, made their escape down a close. Angus usurped the government of the kingdom, but a quarrel with his wife, the queen-dowager, led to the return of Albany and the banishment of Angus. During the absence of Albany in France in 1522 Arran formed one of the council of regency. In September of the following year he was appointed lieutenant over the greater part of the south of Scotland, including Teviotdale and the marches with Lothian, Stirlingshire, and Linlithgowshire (Cal. State Papers, Henry VIII, vol. iii. entry 3208). He now entered into an understanding with the queen-dowager, and so thwarted the proceedings of Albany that the latter in 1524 retired to France. With the sanction, if not at the instigation, of Henry VIII, Arran and the queen-dowager now brought the young prince from Stirling to Edinburgh, where a council was held, at which he was erected as king, and proclamations issued in his name. Arran and the queen-dowager hoped to prevent the return of Angus to power, and urged Henry VIII to detain him in England. Henry tried to secure Arran's devotion by a small pension, but distrusted him, and resented his attempt at a bargain. Norfolk advised Wolsey that if Angus were in Scotland, Arran would be compelled to abate his high tone (ib. iv. 739). On 23 Nov. 1524 Angus entered Edinburgh with a large force, and demanded that the king should be given up to the custody of the nobles; but Arran having threatened to open fire on him from the castle, he withdrew to Tantallon. Arran and the queen-dowager now proposed to Henry a pacification, and a marriage between the young king and the Princess Mary, and to show their sincerity sent an embassy to France to declare that the regency of Albany was at an end. Wolsey was convinced, however, that Angus ‘would be more useful to England than five Earls of Arran.’ Henry had also committed himself to Angus. His neutrality compelled the queen-dowager to admit Angus on the council of regency, and at the opening of the parliament he bore the crown, Arran bearing the sceptre.

At a parliament held in July a compromise was made, practically in the interests of Angus. It was agreed that the care of the king should be committed to a nobleman and an ecclesiastic, who were to be succeeded by other two at the end of three months. Angus and the Archbishop of Glasgow were chosen for the first three months; but at