1460.
This same year, immediately after King James II.’s death, his son, Prince James, was crowned solemnly in the abbey church of Kelso, in the 7th year of his age, and of our redemption 1460.
In September this year, Wark castle [is] taken from the English and dismantled.
The tutory of the young King’s person is committed by the estates to [Mary of Guelders] the Queen mother, with his two brothers, Alexander, Duke of Albany, and John, Earl of Mar, and the two young ladies their sisters [Mary & Margaret].
The estates elect 6 Governors this year, for the government of the realm during the King’s minority, viz. the Bishop of Glasgow [Andrew de Durisdeer] and Dunkeld, [Thomas Lauder,] Lord Chancellor, [Andrew Stewart,] the Earl of Orkney, [William Sinclair,] with the Lords [Gilbert Kennedy] and [Robert] Boyd.
1461.
This year, 1461, King Henry [VI.], of England, by his ambassadors, begs peace of the 6 Regents of the kingdom, in respect of the tragedies between him and [Edward Plantagenet] the Duke of York; which they granted for a year.
[Angus Mac]Donald, [self proclaimed] Lord of the Isles, this year takes the castle of Inverness, burns and spoils Atholl, and leads [John Stewart] the Earl thereof and his Lady prisoners to the Isles; and robs all the churches he can. God punishes his sacrilege; for, first he is taken with madness, and shortly having recovered thereof, he is killed by a harper in the castle of Inverness.
This year, King Henry [VI.], of England, being overthrown in diverse battles by [Edward] the Duke of York, flees to Berwick, and from thence for shelter to Scotland, accompanied with [Margaret] his Queen and [Edward his] eldest son, with his uncles, the Dukes of Somerset [Henry Beaufort] and Gloucester [Richard], pursued [by] Edward, Duke of York, and the Earls of Pembroke [Jasper Tudor], Warwick [Richard Neville], and [Robert] Hungerford. They were welcomed by the young King and his Regents; and then is the town of Berwick delivered by King Henry’s command to the young King James III., on promise to supply King Henry with certain forces for invading of England, which thereafter was performed, although with small success to [the] unfortunate Henry.
1462.
In the beginning of this year, Queen Margaret, wife to Henry [VI.], of England, from Scotland sails with her eldest son [Edward] to France for aid, 25th January, 1462.
This year, [Pierre de Brézé], the Seneschal of Normandy is sent by King Charles [VII.], of France, to King Henry’s aid. He lands in Northumberland, and takes the castle of Bamburgh, and from thence marches to Alnwick, and takes it; but was therein straightly besieged by the English favourers of Edward, Duke of York, till he was relieved and rescued by George, Earl of Angus, Lord Warden of the [Middle] Marches, with 13,000 men.
King Henry, from Scotland, this year invades England with an army of auxiliaries, Scots, French, English, &c.; and being [engaged in battle] by the army of York, commanded by [John Neville] the Marquis Montagu, at Hexham, in Yorkshire, he is overthrown, his army routed, and himself escapes safe to Scotland.
1463.
This year, 1463, on the 16th day of November, [Mary of Guelders] the Queen mother departs this life at Edinburgh, and was solemnly interred in the Collegiate Church there, founded and built by herself.
1464.
This year, 1464, Alexander, Duke of Albany, the King’s brother, in his voyage by sea from his uncle, the Duke of Guelders, towards Scotland, is taken by the English, but by the council of James Kennedy, Bishop of St. Andrews, he is set at liberty, who sent a herald to England to denounce war in case of their refusal.
This same year, also, the Lords Verenis and [Bertrand, Viscount of Turenne, came] to the King, ambassadors from Charles [le Téméraire], Duke of Burgundy, to ratify the league formerly contracted; as also to offer Charles, his niece, in marriage to the young King. The first point of their embassy was concluded; but [about] the King’s marriage the Regents answered the ambassadors with a delay, in smooth terms, in respect of the King’s [not being of] age, as yet [in] no way fit for marriage: and so dismissed them honourably.
1465.
This year, 1465, King Henry [VI.], of England, having lurked long under the [Scottish] King’s wings as a private man, resolves in a disguised habit to enter England, while he should come where his friends were, in the heart of the kingdom, and in the south and west; but being discovered, he was taken prisoner, delivered to King Edward [IV.], and imprisoned in the Tower of London; and by his friends and favourers (which were fewest in number), again restored to liberty, which, notwithstanding, he [for a] short while enjoyed.
1466.
The Regents call a parliament of the estates of the kingdom, to be [held] at Edinburgh, the last day of the month of January this year, 1466. The chief business in this parliament [that was] treated of and enacted, chiefly did concern matters of trade and commerce with France and Flanders, and [about] the Scots staple there.
This year, James Kennedy, Bishop of St. Andrews, that wise and religious prelate, nephew to King James [I.], departs this life at St. Andrews; and was interred in stately monument in the church of St. Salvator’s college, founded and built by himself in that city.
The King being now past tutory, in his own name calls a parliament of the estates of the realm, at Edinburgh, the 9th of October this year; wherein, amongst many other acts, there were three that mainly concerned the state: 1. that no Englishman have any benefice, [either secular or religious,] in Scotland; 2nd. that [copper] money be coined, [4 to the penny, for the benefit of the poor,] called black farthings; 3rd. that all hospitals within the realm be reformed and reduced to their first foundations, and that they produce their evidences before the Lord Chancellor and his deputes, with the Ordinary of the shire.
1467.
The 12th of October this year, 1467, the King calls a parliament of his three estates, to be [held] at Edinburgh; wherein the value of money was [raised], not only the King’s own, but foreign also; and this ordained to be published at the crosses of the head burghs of the kingdom by open proclamation.
1468.
This year, according to the ordinance of the last parliament, the Bishops of Glasgow [Andrew de Durisdeer] and Orkney [William Tulloch], the Lord Chancellor [Andrew Stewart], and Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran, are sent ambassadors to Denmark, for procuring the Lady Margaret, eldest daughter to [Christian I.,] King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, in marriage to the King. Her they brought home to Scotland, [on] the 6th of the month of July, 1468, accompanied [by] a royal train of Lords and Ladies, where she was solemnly married to the King in the abbey church of Holyroodhouse, 10th of July, with very great state and triumph. Amongst the conditions of this marriage, one was, the Danish King’s renunciation of all right and claim that he or his successors could claim forever to [the] Isles of Orkney and Shetland, in favour of King James and the heirs of this marriage, which failing, in favour of King James and his heirs, Kings of Scotland.
This year Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran, for fear of his life, is forced again to flee to Denmark for safety of his life; and no sooner is he gone, but he is [forfeited] and declared a traitor; hes wife, the King’s sister, [is] taken from him, and married to James, Lord Hamilton.
1469.
The King calls a parliament this year, 1469, of his estates, at Edinburgh, the 20th day of November; during which the solemnity of the Queen’s coronation was performed, with all ceremony [necessary], in the abbey church of Holyroodhouse. In this parliament was enacted a law that none under the degree of knight, unless worth [a] yearly revenue 100 [pounds] of old extent, except heralds and musicians, should wear clothes of silk. As also that all notaries, in time to come, shall be made [by the] King, and not [by] the [Holy Roman] Emperor. That the King’s rolls and registers be put in books; and that no foreign black money, of [any] nation, with any course [be used] within this kingdom.
1470.
This year, 1470 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — [Lacuna] — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1471.
This year, 1471, there appeared a fearful comet, with fiery torches hanging [from] it, in the south between the Pole and the Pleiades, from the 27th of January to the 8th of February.
The 6th of May this year, the King holds a parliament at Edinburgh; wherein, amongst other laws, it was enacted that no clergymen purchase benefices or office of collection at the court of Rome, [who] was not [there] before; that merchants bring in no spears to the country, without [them being almost 7 metres in] length, under pain of confiscation of the same; and that each yeoman that can not handle the bow, [should] have a good axe and [shield] of leather. As also that the nobility, barons, and burgesses, with rich [church]men, [should obtain or have made] ships, pinks (small sea-going boats), and bushes with nets and all [other] necessaries pertaining [to] fishery.
1472.
This year, 1472, that great ship [the Saint Salvator], built by James Kennedy, Bishop of St. Andrews, [laden] with rich merchandise, coming from Flanders, perished [during a storm], near Bamburgh on the coast of England; all perishing except some few that saved their lives in the ship’s boat, amongst whom was [Eóin MacFhionghain] the Abbot of [Iona].
1473.
This year, 1473, dies [Nicolò Tron, Doge] of Venice; to whom, by election, succeeded [Nicolò Marcello].
This year, St. [Francesco di Paola], Calabria born, institutes the order of the Minim Friars, which order was ratified and confirmed by Pope Sixtus [IV.]
This year, also, [Mehmed II.], the Turkish King, with a great army, [engaged in battle the] [Uzun Hassan],the Persian Monarch; the Turk having passed his army over the river Euphrates, gives the Persian battle, routs his army, and kills 10,000 Persians dead on the place.
1474.
This year, 1474, died [Richard de Bothwell] the Abbot of Dumfermline, and thereafter the monks choose one Alexander Thomson, of their own house, to be their abbot: but the King annuls that election, [extracts] Thomson, and promotes Henry Crichton, Abbot of Paisley, to Dumfermline; and [George] Shaw he makes Abbot of Paisley. At this time did the King quite [repeals] that custom of [the] choosing [of] the abbots by the monks, and took the election of them to himself, with the nomination also, which he procured to be confirmed by the Pope.
Patrick Graham, Bishop of St. Andrews, this year created Archbishop and Metropolitan of all Scotland, by the Pope, Sixtus [IV.]
This year, the pestilence raged in Scotland most fearfully; and the parliament called in March, was [extended until the] 9th of May, then [held] at Edinburgh, wherein, amongst many other statutes, it was enacted that all merchants should bring in bullion yearly, under a [pecuniary] fine, to be exacted [for] the King’s use, [from] the [offenders]; also [about] the stealing of hawks, hounds, partridges, and ducks, and that none should kill [doe], [roe], or deer, in time of storm, under the pain of [a] 10 [pound fine]; likewise, this parliament set down the price of [travel by water] to be paid by all the [subjects] of the kingdom, at Portincraig [Tayport], Queensferry, and Kinghorn.
1475.
This year, 1475, the King, for the urgent affairs of the kingdom, calls a parliament, to be [held] at Edinburgh, the 20th day of November; wherein it was enacted, that civil complaints be first pursued before the Judge Ordinary; that bullion be brought in; and that no coined money ordained to pass, be put to the fire and made bullion of, or yet broken or melted by goldsmiths, without the King’s special license. In this parliament it was ordained that the price of gold be [raised] – viz:
| The Rose noble to |
35sh. |
| The Henry noble to |
21sh. |
| The Angel to |
23sh. |
| The French crown to |
13sh. 4d. |
| The Demy to |
13sh. 4d. |
| The Scottish crown to |
13sh. |
| The Salute to |
15sh. 6d. |
| The Lewes to |
17sh. 6d. |
| The Rydar to |
15sh. 6d. |
At last this parliament did conclude with an act, that no [Enquiry] Courts should be [held] by Sheriffs, Stewards, Bailies, or other inferior judges.
1476.
This year the King levies a great army of land soldiers, under the command of his uncle John [Stewart], Earl of Atholl, in the month of May, 1476; and a great fleet of ships, under the command of [David Lindsay] the Earl of Crawford, to reduce John [of Islay], Lord of the Isles, to obedience: but before the army did march, the general, John, Earl of Atholl, by his wisdom and industry, on certain conditions caused John [of Islay to] submit himself [to] the King’s will, upon which submission the king calls a parliament, to be [held] at Edinburgh, the 4th day of July; and in it, first ratifies his general revocation, and then annexes the earldom of Ross to the crown; and, lastly, causes the Lord of the Isles [to] quit all his right to the said earldom of Ross and [the] Isles, reserving to him the title of Lord of them, and for his maintenance in honourable condition, the King gives to him and his, heretably, the provinces of Knapdale and Kintyre: and in this sort was John, Lord of the Isles, reconciled to the King’s favour, being glad of his attainment, returned home.
1477.
In the year 1477, arrives here, in great pomp, [John Huseman], the Legate of Pope Sixtus [IV.], and executes the sentence of deprivation and imprisonment pronounced by the Pope and college of Cardinals, against Patrick Graham, Archbishop of St. Andrews; in whose place was substituted William [Scheves], Archdeacon of St. Andrews, to whose faith the punishment of his deposed predecessor was committed: who first sent him to a cell in St. Columba’s Abbey [on] the Isle of [Inchcolm], and shortly thereafter did remove him to the monastery of Dumfermline; but finding to aim again at the world, shuts him close up in the castle of Lochleven, where he died, and was interred in St. [Serf’s Inch] there.
Against the 6th of August in this year, the [King] calls a parliament of the estates of the kingdom, to be [held] at Edinburgh, wherein merchant strangers [were] ordained to be honourably received and favourably treated, for encouraging them to trade and commerce with this kingdom; that the act [about cruve] fishing*, made by King James I., be observed also; that the quantity of salmon barrels for packing, in all time coming, [if they] be of the [old] measure of Hamburgh, under pain of loss of the fish by the first seller, and 5 [pounds] to be paid by the delinquent cooper, maker of the barrels, to the King; and that the King’s customers be searchers here upon, in each town.
1478.
In the beginning of this year, 1478, is William Scheves consecrated Archbishop of St. Andrews, by the Pope’s Legate [John Huseman], in presence of the King, in the abbey church of Holyroodhouse, and from his hands receives a [pall]**, the ensign of Archiepiscopal dignity, and is declared, with great solemnity, Primate and Legate of the realm of Scotland.
In February, this year, the King, on the [misleading] information of wicked persons, commits his brother Alexander, Duke of Albany, to prison, in Edinburgh castle; and from thence he escapes to his own castle of Dunbar, which he [stocks with provisions] and furnishes with all manner of ammunition, and so from thence, by sea, he sails to France, where he was welcomed by Louis [XI.], the French King.
In the month of May, this year, the King raises an army, and besieges Dunbar castle, which [was kept] out for his brother, the Duke of Albany; the 2nd day of which siege , with a cannon there were killed on the King’s side, the Lairds of Luss, Sauchie, and Craigie Wallace, all three knights; and John Ramsay, a gallant gentleman, was also killed with stones from a battlement of Castle gate: but these within the castle, being wearied with toil and labour, not being able to hold out any longer, by beat in the night escaped all of them to France; and so was it entered by the besiegers the next day, none being [there] to defend it.
1479.
This year, 1479, John Ireland, doctor of theology, and the King’s professor in the University of Paris, a Scotsman by birth, was sent [as] ambassador by Louis [XI.], to King James, to move him to invade England, fearing lest the English should assist the Duke of Burgundy against the French; as also to entreat the King to receive his brother, the Duke of Albany, in favour again; but he was returned back without any satisfactory answer at all.
About this time, also, John, Earl of Mar, the King’s youngest brother, was taken out of his bed in the night, and sent prisoner to Craigmillar Castle; and shortly thereafter, being accused by the King’s wicked parasites of consulting with sorcerers and witches to take the King’s life, he was sentenced to have a vein in his leg opened, and in a bath to [bleed] to death; which was executed in the Canongate, near Edinburgh, this same year.
1480.
About the middle of the year 1480, King James sends ambassadors to England, to demand King Edward’s daughter, the Lady Cecily, in marriage to his son Prince James, which was granted, when he should be of years fit for marriage; in hope of which bargain, (which so well pleased King Edward,) he lent King James a good round sum of money, which, upon the [none] accomplish[ment] of the marriage, was again repaid; and by the subtle means of Louis [XI.], the French King, who made choice rather to disburse the money, than to have any sure foundation of an amity laid between the crowns of Scotland and England.
1481.
King Edward [IV.] of England, this year, 1481, hearing that King James had levied a great army, and was entering the English borders, uses a very cunning trick; he [dresses] up a knavish monk in the habit of the Pope’s Legate, sends him to the Scottish camp, and there, in the Pope’s name, thunders out excommunications and curses against the King and his [whole] army, if they should at this time proceed any further in hostile manner against England, and hinder so religious and pious a work as the invasion of the enemies of the cross of Christ, Turks and Moors; which [crusade] (as he affirmed) he had now about him to publish through Christendom, at least in Scotland and England. The facile King took all this [deceit] for good coin, and presently, without more enquiry, [allows] his army. While the roguish monk was acting this part in the Scottish camp, King Edward detains King James’ herald, sent to him before the Scots entered England by the King, with fair words, but underhand treacherously sends a fleet of ships to the Edinburgh firth, where they took 8 good ships, and burnt the castle of Blackness in Linlithgowshire, and then makes home for England. But God revenged their [treachery], many of them being broken and drowned by tempest, [before] they could [get] home.
This same year, also, the English besiege Berwick, and beat down most of the new built wall; yet the Scots within so valiantly defended the same, that they were forced to retire with sore bones.
A parliament [held] at Edinburgh, the 2nd day of April, this same year, wherein the King was ordained to present to all [alert] benefices within the kingdom.
1482.
This year, 1482, Alexander, Duke of Albany, being now a widower, finding himself in small respect with the French King, passes over to England, where he was welcomed by King Edward [IV.], who promised to do his uttermost to set him [on] the Scottish throne; and so raises a great army of 40,000 men, under the command of his brother [Richard] the Duke of Gloucester, and of the Duke of Albany, and enters Scotland. King James, to oppose the English, convenes his nobility, and appoints the rendezvous of his army at Lauder, where the whole army encamped; but further against the English would not the nobility move one foot, till they had the misgovernment of the estate repaired. So that Archibald, Earl of Angus, George, Earl of Huntly, John, earl of Lennox,James, Earl of Buchan, Andrew, Lord Gray, Robert, Lord Lyle, with a great many others of the nobility and barons, come to the King’s tent, all of them armed, and there upbraid him to his face, for his misgovernment of the realm; for his [condemning] his nobility,and giving ear to sycophants and parasites of base condition; that he had most cruelly and inhumanly caused [the death of] his brother John, Earl of Mar,and banished his other brother the Duke of Albany’ that he had addicted himself totally to the counsel of Thomas Cochrane, now being created Earl of [Mar] the King’s chief minion, and ruler of all his councils, they take, and in his own scarf hanged him over Lauder bridge, with [William] Roger and [James] Hommyle, on the common gallows. John Ramsay they spared, at the King’s earnest solicitation, being but a youth of 18 years of age, and a court pimp. This tragedy acted, the whole army incontinent dislodges, and brings the King prisoner with them to Edinburgh castle, and commits him to the custody of John [Stewart], Earl of Atholl. The English army none opposing them, march almost to Edinburgh. The Scottish army being between them and the town, they begin to treat of a peace with the English, and so, on the second day of August, they send the Dukes of Gloucester [Richard Plantagenet] and Albany [Alexander Stewart] commissioners to treat with them of peace, viz. the Archbishop of St. Andrews [William Scheves], the Bishop of Dunkeld [James Livingston], Colin [Campbell], Earl of Argyll, and Andrew Stewart, Lord Avondale, Lord Chancellor of Scotland. At last, after some small difficulties, peace was concluded on these conditions: 1. That the King’s brother, the Duke of Albany, should be restored. 2nd. That Dunbar castle, with the counties of Mar and March, should be given to him. 3rd. As also that he should be the King’s Lieutenant of the realm. 4th. and lastly, That the town of Edinburgh should oblige themselves for repayment of that money King James had borrowed from King Edward, while that Prince James’ marriage was [being] entreated between them. So departs the English army; and in their march homewards take Berwick, after the Scots had possessed it 21 years by [agreement], Sir Patrick Hepburn [Lord] of Hailes being captain thereof, 23rd day of August, this same year, 1482.
This same year, Alexander, Duke of Albany and the Chancellor governing all the realm, he, accompanied with diverse [others] of the nobility, goes to Stirling to visit the Queen and Prince; and after his return he lays siege to Edinburgh castle, and at last takes it, and sets the King, with such servants as attended him, at liberty: but the Chancellor, Argyll, and Archbishop of St. Andrews, hearing [this] news, departed each to his own country, [greatly] dismayed.
This year, also, the Archbishop of St. Andrews, fearing some mischief, did voluntarily [resign] his sea for that of Moray; and Andrew Stewart, the King’s uncle, was created Archbishop of St. Andrews, and solemnly consecrated.
The King, thus liberated by his brother, is so in love [with] him, that now one table, yea one bed, must suffice them both; which did not long so continue.
Towards the end of this year, civil discords did again burst forth between the King and his nobility, with neglect of republic and government; whereon did arise thefts, depredations, and oppressions of the commons.
1483.
In the year 1483, from Charles [VIII.], the French King, came Bernard Stewart, Lord Aubigny, Marshal of France, and Peter Mallart, a doctor of the civil and canon law, to King James, to renew the ancient league and amity between both realms, which was accorded, and [was] sworn and subscribed the 22nd day of March.
The French ambassadors having thus [effected] their business, takes with them 18 companies of Scots foot, under the command of Donald Robertson, an expert and valiant commander, one who had purchased much renown under the French King, in the wars of Italy.
This year, King Charles [VIII.] sends Bernard, Lord Aubigny, with an army to England, to the aid of Henry, Earl of Richmond, against Richard, the usurper, whom they killed at the battle of Bosworth, and Henry was crowned King; for which good service King Henry ever thereafter loved and honoured the Scots. This happened in [the year] 1486.
This year, new heart burnings and discords burst forth between the King and his brother, the Duke of Albany, [with] whom the nobility parties
The King fearing the nobility all the rest of this year, in effect keeps himself close in Edinburgh castle; and his brother, the Duke of Albany, returns to France, where he is kindly welcomed by King Charles [VIII.], the French King.
The keepers of Dunbar castle, at the Duke of Albany’s command, render it in[to] the hands of the English, who kept it some few years thereafter.
The 23rd of February, this year, the King calls a parliament of his estates, to be [held] at Edinburgh; wherein diverse acts passed about bullion, goldsmiths work, and the [melting] down of the new [coins].
This year, in November, Alexander, Duke of Albany, departs this life, by the stroke of a splinter of a lance which struck him in the face, he [watching] a tournament between the Duke of Orleans and another knight, leaving [children] behind him, 2 sons: Alexander, his eldest son, got on the Earl of Orkney’s daughter, his first wife; and John, Duke of Albany, his only son of his 2nd marriage, Governor of Scotland during the minority of King James [V.] Alexander, his eldest son, was Bishop of Moray, and Abbot of Scone.
This year, also, King James sent [William Scheves] the Archbishop of St. Andrews to Rome, about the procuring of some particular dispensations and privileges to him, which were granted.
1484.
This year, 1484, Pope Innocent [VIII.] sent James, Bishop of Imola, his Legate to Scotland, to mediate a peace between James, King of Scotland, and Richard, King of England, which he [affected] to endure for 3 years.
This year there was great famine in Scotland, and 3 moons appeared in the [sky], about 2 in the afternoon; the 25th of September this same year also, with much fire, thunder and rain, for 3 whole days thereafter.
1485.
This year, 1485, after the death of [Giovanni Mocenigo], Duke of Venice, [Marco Barbarigo] was elected in his place; his coronation was performed with great solemnity.
This year, likewise, the first of June, [Matthias Corvinus], King of Hungary, takes Vienna, the chief town of Austria, notwithstanding all that the Emperor Frederick [III.] could do to the contrary.
1486.
In this year, 1486, was King Richard, of England, killed by Henry, Earl of Richmond, (as I have [before] written,) the 22nd of September.
Henry, Earl of Richmond, this year, being crowned King of England, by the name of King Henry [VII.], immediately sent his ambassadors to Scotland, to King James, the principal of whom was Richard [Foxe], Bishop of Exeter, who concluded a [7 year] peace between the two kingdoms; assuring King James, in his master’s name privately, that he would during his life time observe and keep a perpetual peace with the Scottish crown, and would renew the same every 7 years; which league coming to the knowledge of the nobility and gentry, incensed them above all measure against the King, as if he had concluded the most unjust peace that could be imagined.
1487.
This year, King James having peace with England, takes him[self] to a private miserable life, unworthy of a King, and by all possible means gives himself over to be counselled by fellows of base condition, and to gather money, which procured the implacable hatred of his nobility; so that the Earls of Angus [Archibald Douglas], Argyll [Colin Campbell], Lennox [John Stewart], with the Lords Hailes [Patrick Hepburn], [Alexander] Home, [John] Drummond, [Robert] Lyle, [Andrew] Gray, and diverse [others], conspire against him, (since they saw no appearance of amendment in him, but to grow daily worse and worse,) and levies a great army, making Prince James, a youth of 16 years of age, their leader against his father and sovereign, in [the year] 1487.
This year, the French and English Kings, by their ambassadors, labour in vain to mediate a peace and reconcilement between the King and his nobility; they swear and protest never to lay down arms, unless the King will [resign] the government to the Prince his son; and with bitter reproaches [lying] to his charge, all the mischiefs the kingdom has been [reduced] to, and that only by his misgovernment.
The 1st of October this same year, King James calls a parliament, at Edinburgh; wherein were enacted many laws about the office and duty of Sheriffs, crowners, and inferior judges; against delinquents, and such as refuse obedience to the laws of the land; as also that all actions be pursued before the Judge Ordinary. In this same parliament also, in respect of the [forfeiture] of Alexander, Duke of Albany, Earl of March, Mar and Garrioch, Lord of Annandale and Mann, the said lands and lordships are annexed to the crown.
1488.
In the beginning of this year, 1488, the nobility deal with [James] the Earl of Douglas, now a shorn monk in Lindores abbey, wherein he was as in a prison, (by the King condemned during life) to cast off his cowl, and come out of his cell, and join with them to suppress so wicked and insolent a King (as they called him,) and they would again restore him to all his former dignities and revenues; but he being broken with age, and weary of the world, denied their [request], and [encouraged] them to peace and concord, but on no terms would any more try his own hard fortune.
King James then seeing no way to pacify his enraged subjects, now up in arms against him, all in a fury marches from Stirling, [contrary to] the [advice] of [those] with him, till that [George Gordon] Earl of Huntly should have come up with his forces. So accompanied with [William Graham] the Duke of Montrose, the Earls of Glencairn [Cuthbert Cunningham], Atholl [John Stewart], and Menteith [Alexander Graham], with the Lords Ruthven, Boyd, and Maxwell, where they [engage in battle] the adverse party at a village, within 2 miles of Stirling, called Bannockburn; between whom there was a cruel battle, the 11th day of June this year, 1488, wherein King James [III.] was killed, in the 29th year of his reign. After the battle, his body was carried to the monastery of Cambuskenneth [near] by.
The Prince his son, before the battle, commanded that none should put [a] violent hand on the King his father; yet was he inhumanely killed by some treacherous villains, his enemies, in Bannockburn mill, where he had fled for shelter.
The Pope’s Legate, in his journey to Scotland, this year, to do his endeavour to reconcile King James and his subjects, [on] the way hearing of the battle and King’s death, stays in England.