Earl of Huntly

“ Huntly succeeded in gathering a large force in the north, commanded for the most part by officers who had gained their experience in the continental wars, while Bothwell undertook to make a diversion in the south, and if the opportunity offered to imprison the king and seize the young prince (heads of the band printed in Calderwood, v. 360-1) . At the special request of the presbyterian clergy, Argyll [see Campbell, Archibald, seventh earl] undertook to lead his followers against those of Huntly, and with an army of six thousand men marched towards Strathbogie. ”

“ On hearing of Argyle’s approach, the Earl of Errol immediately collected a select body of about 100 horsemen, being gentlemen, on whose courage and fidelity he could rely, and with these he joined the Earl of Huntly at Strathbogie. The forces of Huntly, after this junction, amounted, it is said, to nearly 1,500 men, almost altogether horsemen, and with this body he advanced to Carnborrow, where the [108] two earls and their chief followers made a solemn vow to conquer or die. ”

“ Naturally, therefore, he supported the king against the league of Douglas with the Earls of Crawford and Ross, and, after the assassination of Douglas by the king in Stirling Castle in 1452, he was appointed (having in 1449 been created Earl of Huntly) lieutenant-general of the kingdom, and entrusted with the special task of subduing Crawford. ”

“ The success of Huntly was mainly owing to the treachery of Lochnell, and of John Grant of Gartinbeg, one of Huntly’s vassals, who, in terms of a concerted plan, retreated with his men as soon as the action began, by which act the centre and the left wing of Argyle’s army were completely broken. On the side of Argyle 500 men were killed besides Macneill of Barra, and Lochnell and Auchinbreck, the two cousins of Argyle. The Earl of Huntly’s loss was comparatively trifling. About 14 gentlemen were slain, including Sir Patrick Gordon of Auchindun, and the Laird of Gight ”

“ He sailed to Flanders, and during his absence he was on 22 April 1563 convicted of treason at the meeting of parliament, which passed a decree of attainder against the dead Earl of Huntly and his descendants. After the marriage of Mary with Darnley he was recalled, but was captured at sea in a lugger 1 Sept. 1565 (Cal. State Papers, For. Ser. 1564-5, entry 1443) by a vessel on the outlook for the Earl of Bothwell, and Elizabeth ordered that he should be detained in England. Notwithstanding the remonstrances of Mary he was not permitted to leave till the beginning of 1566. ”

“ In addition to this a blow was struck at the power of Huntly, when, on Lord Erskine objecting to Lord James Stuart being created Earl of Mar, the earldom of Moray, which Huntly had for some time held informally under the crown, was secretly bestowed on Lord James. The motives which actuated Mary in her policy towards Huntly have been the subject of much dispute, the question being as to how far she was merely acting a part, and as to how far Huntly was aware that she was doing so. ”

“ After the bishop's return they at first refused to give up possession; but upon the intervention of the Earl of Huntly, lord-lieutenant of the north, an arrangement was arrived at (Gordon, Earldom of Sutherland, pp. 111–12) . ”

“ Have at thee, then, earl, or carl, or devil, if thou likest it!”
“Nay, then, my Lord of Huntly, I will myself relieve thee of this bold bird,” cried the knight; “do thou deal with the other.”
“Thanks for thy rescue, Sir Walter Stewart,” replied Huntly, now recognizing his friend. [72] “But thou hast left naught to me but the very shred of the skirt of the garment of this broil—the vile cabbage—the very tailor himself.” ”

“ Huntly departed to arm his retinue for any emergency, and Bolton to array the archer guard, and bear back the armed populace, who were clamouring at the palace gates.
Aware how much his future fate depended on the issue of his first interview with Mary, the Earl could bear suspense no longer; and aware that she would now be roused, notwithstanding the untimely hour, he resolved to seek her apartments; the daylight, his sword and armour, had restored his confidence. ”

“ The Earl of Arran, and Lord James Stewart, in a letter to Sadler, dated Dysart, 19th January, make mention of the Earl of Huntly having sent "in commission to us, his cousen the Erle of Sutherland, to offer unto us adjunction in our common actioun in his name, and all his assistance; and, at the first skirmishe, hazarding himself too farre, was shott in the left arme, and hurt very evill; for which cause he is departed home, and shall cause the Erle Huntley performe his promesse." (Vol. i. p. 691.) "The Lorde of Southerland, sithens he was hurte, is becom a greate enemye of the Franches." ”

“ The English version, “Three Ravens,” was published in Melismata, by T. Ravensworth (1611) . In Scots, the lady “has ta’en another mate” his hawk and hound have deserted the dead knight. In the English song, the hounds watch by him, the hawks keep off carrion birds, as for the lady—
“She buried him before the prime,
She was dead herselfe ere evensong time.”
Probably the English is the earlier version.
The Bonnie Earl of Murray.—p. 27
Huntly had a commission to apprehend the Earl, who was in the disgrace of James VI. Huntly, as an ally of Bothwell, asked him to surrender at Donibristle, in Fife ”

“ After this danger had blown over, a new alarm was excited by the discovery of a conspiracy amongst the three leading Catholic nobles of Scotland, Huntly, Errol, and Crawford, to aid in introducing a Spanish army, through Scotland, for the conquest of the British island. These nobles having broken out in rebellion, in concert with a Protestant noble of irregular character, Stuart, Earl of Bothwell, the king led an army against them, and succeeded in reducing them to obedience (April 1589) . Huntly, Crawford, Errol, and Bothwell were all convicted of treason ”

“ He was obliged to delegate the office to the young Earl of Argyle, who was induced to accept the appointment by the promise of a portion of Huntly's forfeited estates. The prospect of booty and the authority of the chief of the Campbells drew together six or seven thousand Highlanders, to whom were joined some hundreds of men from the Western Islands, under the chief of Maclean. With this body, one fourth of whom carried firelocks, while the rest were armed after the Gaelic fashion, Argyle descended from the hills towards Huntly's castle of Strathbogie. ”

“ A marriage was fixed to take place between Huntly and Lady Elizabeth Hay, daughter of William, earl of Erroll, on the 18th of the following August, but it was not solemnised till 12 May 1476. By this marriage he is stated to have had no issue, but by his marriage with the Princess Annabella to have had four sons and six daughters. The eldest son, Alexander [q. v.] , succeeded to the peerage; the second son, Adam, lord of Aboyne, married Elizabeth, countess of Sutherland, and in her right became Earl of Sutherland ”

“ As they had no idea of the existence of their kingdom without a king, nor of having any other king than the hereditary one, no sooner was the news of the King's death known in Edinburgh, than Charles his son was proclaimed King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland.
26. Charles II., 1649-1685. Fate of Hamilton and Huntly.—Hamilton, who was a prisoner in England, was brought to trial as an English subject by his English title of Earl of Cambridge; he was found guilty of treason in invading [Pg 140] the country, and was beheaded. Huntly met with a like fate in Scotland. ”

“ In 1640 Huntly's lands were plundered, and his castle of Strathbogie taken by General Monro, who placed a garrison in it (Balfour, Annals, ii. 382; Gordon, iii. 212; Spalding i. 298) . In 1641 Huntly accompanied Charles to Scotland, and in the procession to the parliament rode after the lord high commissioner, but as he refused to subscribe the covenant he was debarred from taking part in the deliberations (Spalding, ii. 65) . He was nominated one of the king's privy councillors (Balfour, iii. 66) , but his name was subsequently deleted by the estates (ib. p. 148) . ”

“ The lords had given out that their aim was to set at liberty the king, who was ‘held captive and forced against his mind;’ but the presence of the king against them gave the lie to this statement, and although the royal forces numbered only one thousand the rebels' followers were afraid to attack. In such circumstances Huntly could not risk a battle, although Errol ‘would have foughten’ (Calderwood, v. 55) . They therefore dispersed their forces, many of whom had already deserted. Huntly surrendered while the king was still in the north, and Crawford gave himself up at Edinburgh on 20 May. ”

“ After her midnight ride with Darnley from Holyrood, Huntly and Bothwell joined her at Dunbar, and on the attainder of Morton for the murder of Rizzio, Huntly succeeded to the office of lord high chancellor, which his father had previously held. About the end of April a reconciliation took place between the lords with the queen and the Earls of Moray and Argyll (Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 99) , the event being celebrated by a feast in the castle. ”

“ The king offered a full pardon to Huntly if he would deliver up Bothwell, but this Huntly refused (Calderwood,v. 361) . Nevertheless when Argyll, on discovering a conspiracy of Huntly against him, threatened to renew the conflict, he was warded by the king in the castle of Edinburgh. Huntly and Erroll lingered for a time in hope of assistance from Spain, but, having given caution to the Duke of Lennox to leave the kingdom during his majesty's pleasure, Huntly finally set sail from Aberdeen on 19 March 1595 (Bothwell to Douglas 17 June 1595) . ”

“ As a special friend of James V and of Cardinal Beaton, Huntly was naturally biassed towards catholicism; but the severity of the queen regent induced him to abandon it for a short period at the very moment when its fate in Scotland was trembling in the balance. He kept always a watchful eye on the queen regent's attempts to render herself independent of the nobles, and build up a monarchical power on the model of that of France. ”

“ Subsequently Huntly joined Erroll and Bothwell in a conspiracy to imprison the king, and the former two defeated the royal forces under Argyll at Glenlivat on the 3rd of October 1594, Huntly especially distinguishing himself. His victory, however, gained no real advantage; his castle of Strathbogie was blown up by James, and he left Scotland about March 1595. He returned secretly very soon afterwards, and his presence in Scotland was at first connived at by James ”

“ They remonstrated against being asked to disobey the commands of Montrose, who was appointed by the king his deputy-governor and captain-general of all the forces within the kingdom. Huntly replied, [235] that he himself should in no way be wanting in his duty to the king; but, in the meantime, it tended no less to their honour than his own that it should appear to the king and the whole kingdom how much they contributed to the maintenance of the war; and this, he said, could never be done, unless they composed a separate army by themselves. ”

“ Huntly was therefore summoned to appear before the council within six days, and failing to do so was denounced a rebel. When the queen approached Aberdeen, Huntly marched towards it with about eight hundred men. His forces were much inferior to those with which Moray marched to meet him, but Huntly had reason to suppose that the bulk of Moray's forces would prove treacherous. ”

“ Privy Council Scotl. vi. 8) . The king could now without check exhibit his friendship for Huntly, who it was rumoured passed much of his time with him ‘drinking and wauchting’ (Calderwood, vi. 100) . But as doubts again of his sincerity spread, a commission was appointed in 1602 by the general assembly to deal with him and the other earls (ib. vi. 166-7) . Meanwhile the king on 23 Feb. 1602-3 reconciled Huntly with Moray and Argyll after the long feud on account of Huntly's murder of Moray's father (ib. p. 205) . ”

“ So far, however, as possession of his lands was concerned, his restoration was merely nominal until the wishes of the queen should be ratified by parliament. Though Huntly was now high in favour with the queen, he professed the reformed faith, and declined to attend mass in her chapel (Knox, ii. 514) . In this he probably followed the advice of Bothwell, with whom he at this time cemented an alliance against their common enemy Moray, by the marriage with Bothwell of his sister. ”

“ Huntly's sudden collapse and flight was not altogether occasioned by the advance of Argyll, but by disinclination to co-operate with his old enemy Montrose, who had now joined the king's party, and had been appointed lieutenant-general of the forces in Scotland. ‘The Marquis of Huntly,’ says Gordon, ‘could never be got to join cordially’ with Montrose, ‘or swallow that indignity’ (Scots Affairs, ii. 238) , and Guthry affirms that Huntly ‘did his utmost to spoil the business in Montrose's hands’ (Memoirs, ed. 1749, p. 206) . ”

“ On 4 July 1479 he gave up the earldom of Pembroke in exchange for the earldom of Huntingdon at the request of the king, who desired to bestow it on his son Edward. He was captain of the army in France, June to September 1475; was appointed justice of South Wales on 15 Nov. 1483, and acted as commissioner of array in Wales, Monmouth, and Herefordshire. He died in 1491. On 28 Feb. 1484 he covenanted to marry Catherine, daughter of Richard III; but the princess died before the time appointed for the marriage, and Huntingdon married Mary, fifth daughter of Richard, earl Rivers. ”