James VI And The Gowrie Mystery

An old Scottish lady, many generations ago, used to say, 'It is a great comfort to think that, at the Day of Judgment, we shall know the whole truth about the Gowrie Conspiracy at last.' Since the author, as a child, read 'The Tales of a Grandfather,' and shared King Jamie's disappointment when there was no pot of gold, but an armed man, in the turret, he had supposed that we do know all about the Gowrie Conspiracy, that it was a plot to capture the King, carry him to Fastcastle, and 'see how the country would take it,' as in the case of the Gunpowder Plot. But just as Father Gerard has tried to show that the Gunpowder affair may have been Cecil's plot, so modern historians doubt whether the Gowrie mystery was not a conspiracy by King James himself. This book is annotated with a rare extensive biographical sketch of the author, Andrew Lang, written by Sir Edmund Gosse, CB, a contemporary poet and writer. Contents: IntroductionI. The Mystery And The EvidenceII. The Slaughter Of The RuthvensIII. The King's Own NarrativeIV. The King's Narrative-II. The Man In The TurretV. Henderson's NarrativeVI. The Strange Case Of Mr. Robert OliphantVII. The Contemporary Ruthven VindicationVIII. The Theory Of An Accidental BrawlIX. Contemporary Clerical CriticismX. Popular Criticism Of The DayXI. The King And The RuthvensXII. Logan Of RestalrigXIII. The Secrets Of SprotXIV. The Laird And The NotaryXV. The Final Confessions Of The NotaryXVI. What Is Letter Iv?XVII. Inferences As To The Casket Letters