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Among the baronial families of Scotland, the chiefs of the Clan Colquhoun occupy a prominent place from their ancient lineage, their matrimonial alliances, historical associations, and the extent of their territories in the Western Highlands. These territories now include a great portion of the county of Dumbarton.

Upwards of seven centuries have elapsed since Maldouen of Luss obtained from Alwyn Earl of Lennox a grant of the lands of Luss; and it is upwards of six hundred years since another Earl of Lennox granted the lands of Colquhoun to Humphrey of Kilpatrick, who afterwards assumed the name of Colquhoun.

The lands and barony of Luss have never been alienated since the early grant of Alwyn Earl of Lennox. For six generations these lands were inherited by the family of Luss in the male line; and in the seventh they became the inheritance of the daughter of Godfrey of Luss, commonly designated “The Fair Maid of Luss,” and, as the heiress of these lands, she vested them by her marriage, about the year 1385, in her husband, Sir Robert Colquhoun of Colquhoun. The descendant from that marriage, and the representative of the families of Colquhoun and Luss, is the present baronet, Sir James Colquhoun.

The lands and barony of Colquhoun also descended in the male line of the family of Colquhoun for nearly five centuries; and although the greater part of them has been sold, portions still belong to the present representative of the family. No other family in Dumbartonshire has possessed lands in that county so long as that of Colquhoun.

Considering the vicissitudes which have attended other baronial families, their early neighbours in the Lennox, the long continuance of the Colquhouns in their territories is not a little remarkable. The great Earls of Lennox, from whom the Colquhouns originally derived their chief baronies, came to an early and ignominious end—forfeiting at the same time their lands and their lives. The Stuart Earls of Lennox were scarcely less unfortunate than the original race. Mathew, the second Stuart Earl, who was the brother-in-law of Sir John Colquhoun, fell at Flodden. His son and successor was treacherously killed by Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, at the battle fought near Linlithgow in 1526. This Earl deserved a better fate; for, according to the eulogium of the Chief of the Hamiltons, he was the wisest man, the stoutest man, and the hardiest man ever born in Scotland. His son, the Regent Lennox, also fell in an insurrection against his own authority as Regent; while the tragic fate of the Regent’s son, the unhappy Darnley, who also bore, as Regent, the title of Earl of Lennox, is well known. The very name of Lennox seems then to have been ominous of evil to its possessors. The title descended to King James the Sixth, but whether from his natural timidity or from his State policy, he resigned it successively to his nearest collateral kinsmen of the Stuart race. But misfortune still followed this title in the cruel fate of the Lady Arabella Stuart, who was the only daughter of Charles Earl of Lennox, the younger brother of Darnley. Subsequent holders of the title seldom enjoyed it long or successfully, and the great Lennox estates were ultimately sold to strangers.

The Colquhouns, besides their proximity to the ancient Earls of Lennox, who were their early neighbours and contemporaries, were surrounded by several clans, the principal of whom were the Buchanans of that Ilk, the Macfarlanes of Arrochar, and the Macaulays of Ardincaple.

For many centuries these three clans held territories bounding with those of the Colquhouns, and during that period those family feuds, then common to all clans, were of frequent occurrence in the Western Highlands. In the seventeenth century the Buchanans ceased to hold their ancient inheritance on Lochlomond, and in it they were succeeded by the “gallant Grahams,” who proved good neighbours and friends to the Colquhouns. As the Buchanans lost their hereditary domain of Buchanan, so the Macfarlanes and Macaulays also ceased to be the owners of Arrochar and Ardincaple: and these baronies were acquired by the Colquhouns, who added them to their ancient barony of Luss. Thus, of all the principal clans connected with the county of Dumbarton, the Colquhouns alone have been able not only to retain their own, but to acquire the territories of their ancient rivals, who, it is to be regretted, derived no benefit from the liberal and even extravagant considerations paid by the Colquhouns, owing to intermediate parties having purchased those territories at comparatively small prices. The late Mr. Ferguson of Raith, on the re-sale of the barony of Arrochar to the late Sir James Colquhoun, realized a profit of about fifty thousand pounds, or nearly double the price which his father had paid to the Macfarlanes. This large profit, had it been realized by the Macfarlanes, would have rendered them comparatively wealthy.

Although the three clans now mentioned—the Buchanans, the Macfarlanes, and the Macaulays—were all involved in those clan feuds, which were so little calculated for the advancement of civilisation, each of them has the honour to boast of distinguished names. The Buchanans at an early period gave to learning an unrivalled scholar. The Macfarlanes had chiefs renowned for great bravery, and one of them, in the last century, was the most accomplished antiquary of his age. The Macaulays, in still later times, could boast of their noble orator and historian.

Another clan, the Macgregors, although unconnected by territory with the Colquhouns, frequently came into hostile collision with them. After many minor engagements, the feuds between the Colquhouns and the Macgregors culminated in the sanguinary battle of Glenfruin, in which the latter were victorious, although their triumph was dearly bought, their very name being from that time proscribed. From the materials in the Colquhoun Charter-chest, we have been able to give a very complete account of that engagement.

Besides the long-continued possession of their extensive territories, several of the chiefs of the Colquhouns held high offices of State,—such as those of Comptroller of the Exchequer, Great Chamberlain of Scotland, Sheriff-Principal and hereditary Coroner of the county of Dumbarton, and also Governor of the Castle of Dumbarton.

The First Volume contains the personal history of the chiefs of Colquhoun and Luss, from Maldouen of Luss in the year 1150, to his descendant and representative, Sir James Colquhoun, the present Baronet of Colquhoun and Luss. As the history of the family extends over so many centuries, it is often connected with events of a highly stirring character in the history of our country, which are not unfrequently noticed in the Memoirs; and in some instances it will be found that new light is thrown upon those events. Full details are given of the state of the Western Highlands at different periods, particularly of the practical operation of the system of clanship, and of the feuds to which it constantly gave rise. From the great extent of territory which the Colquhouns possessed in Dumbartonshire, and from the part which, from their position in that territory as constituting the debatable land between the Highlands and the Lowlands in the west, they were often called to act in their native county, their history is to a great extent the history of Dumbartonshire, and the history of Dumbartonshire forms an important part of the history of Scotland.

After having given, in the First Volume, a detailed account of the successive chiefs of the Clan Colquhoun, it seemed desirable to describe the territories, interesting in themselves, with which the Colquhouns for so many centuries have been associated. This description has been attempted in the Second Volume. This territorial survey comprehends a large proportion of the county of Dumbarton. The lands and barony of Colquhoun, embracing the estates of Auchentorlie, Dumbuck, Barnhill, and Overtown of Colquhoun, and the Castle of Dunglas on the Clyde, formerly the chief mansion of the Barony of Colquhoun, are first noticed, as having formed the original possessions of the Colquhouns. Then follow accounts of the Barony of Luss, the Castle of Rossdhu, the Churches and Chapels of Luss, and the Sanctuary round the Church of Luss, the Castle of Bannachra, and the Barony of Arrochar, with its mountains, lochs, rivulets, and castles; likewise the ancient Castle and Chapel of Faslane, and other territories, all now forming the Colquhoun Country.

Lochlomond and its Islands, so far as these are connected with the Baronies of Luss and Arrochar, are also fully described. The Correspondence of Lord Jeffrey in reference to Lochlomond, where for many years he passed his summer holidays, is now printed for the first time, and will be found interesting, like all the correspondence of that distinguished man.

As an instance of the imperfect histories of the county of Dumbarton, including even that of the accurate and well-informed author of Caledonia, it may be noticed that the grant by King Robert the Bruce, to his faithful adherent, the Earl of Lennox, of the right of Gyrth or Sanctuary for three miles around the Church of Luss, has never been mentioned in any county, family, parish, or other history. This interesting document in the history of Luss and the Lennox certainly deserves particular notice, and it is now, for the first time, brought to light, printed and lithographed from the original, preserved among the Lennox muniments at Buchanan Castle.

Many of the places described are associated with important historical events. The ancient Castle of Faslane recalls the memory of Sir William Wallace, who, when a visitor there on one of his hazardous exploits, met with a cordial reception from his compatriot, Malcolm fifth Earl of Lennox. The woods of Colquhoun and the mountains of Arrochar are intermingled with deeply interesting scenes in the history of Robert the Bruce. The Castle of Bannachra is memorable for the tragic death of Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss, in a conflict with the Macfarlanes.

The Second Volume includes Memoirs of some of the Branches or Cadets of the Colquhouns of Luss—the Colquhouns of Tillyquhoun, and the Colquhouns of Camstradden, with Pedigrees of other Colquhoun families, including those of Glennis and Kenmure, Garscadden and Killermont, Kilmardinny and Barnhill.

The Second Volume further includes a large selection of the Colquhoun and Luss Charters, of which an Abstract is given, to facilitate reference. The feudal muniments of the family have been carefully preserved, while their epistolary correspondence has been nearly as carefully destroyed. Only a very few letters now exist. The interesting letter from Lady Helen Colquhoun on measures connected with the Rebellion of 1745 was accidentally discovered in another repository, after the memoir of herself and her husband had been printed off. The letter has been carefully lithographed for this work.

The materials for these volumes have been derived mainly from the family muniments at Rossdhu. The information thus acquired is of undoubted authenticity, and becomes especially valuable when it delineates and records transactions of remote times. But while these family muniments are the principal authority for the Memoirs, other sources have been drawn on for the history of the Clan Colquhoun. In particular, this work is indebted to His Grace the Duke of Montrose, who has on this, and on so many other occasions, made accessible, in the most liberal and unrestricted manner, his invaluable family muniments. From the frequent references to these, it will be seen how much these Memoirs are indebted to his liberality.

Other proprietors in the Lennox have also afforded the use of their muniments. Sir Robert Gilmour Colquhoun, K.C.B., now of Fincastle, the representative of the family of Camstradden, whose branch forms a prominent section of the Second Volume, kindly communicated the ancient muniments of Camstradden.

To him who is most interested in this work, the Chief and representative of the ancient race which it records, these Volumes are indebted for much important information, which could only be supplied from his accurate knowledge of the history of his Clan and their Country.

WILLIAM FRASER.

32 Castle Street, Edinburgh,

December 1869.

ORIGIN OF COLQUHOUN.

In tracing the history of the family of Colquhoun of Colquhoun and Luss, the origin and remote ancestry of two distinct families—Colquhoun of Colquhoun and Luss of Luss—require to be investigated. Both these families are of high antiquity, and they merged into one in the reign of King David the Second, by the intermarriage of Sir Robert Colquhoun, who was the fifth Laird of Colquhoun, with the daughter of Godfrey of Luss, the sixth Laird of Luss. That lady was heiress of the estate of Luss, and she was commonly called “the Fair Maid of Luss.”

The earliest surname under which the family of Colquhoun is traced is that of Kilpatrick. In the reign of King Alexander the Second, which was from the year 1214 to 1249, Umfridus de Kilpatrick obtained from Maldouen third Earl of Lennox a charter of the lands of Colquhoun, situated in the parish of Old or West Kilpatrick, within the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton. On acquiring the lands of Colquhoun, Umfridus dropped his original surname of Kilpatrick, and adopted that of Colquhoun. The adoption of surnames from lands successively acquired was a common practice in the time of King Alexander the Second, when surnames were less fixed than they came to be in later times. Umfridus is thus the earliest ancestor of the Colquhoun family who is vouched by the testimony of an authentic charter.

Not content, however, with such a satisfactory foundation, several writers on the family of Colquhoun have attempted to find their origin in the younger son of Conoch, a king of Ireland, who, it is said, came to Scotland in the reign of Gregory the Great, King of Scotland, that is, between the years 882 and 893, and obtained from King Gregory a grant of lands in the shire of Dumbarton, to which he gave the name of Conochan; a name which gradually became corrupted into Cochon, which afterwards became Colquhoun.^[1] But it is easy to show that such a theory is utterly fabulous. It has often been the mischance of ancient families to have their early history perversely shrouded in fable and romance, and the story which represents the younger son of the Irish King Conoch as the founder of the family of Colquhoun is a fair specimen of the straining after similarities of names, in the absence of authentic memorials, to account for the origin of families. The inventors of this theory overlook the fact that the earliest surname of the Colquhouns was Kilpatrick, which has no similarity to Conoch or Conochan. To prove its probability they would require to show that the progenitors of Umfridus de Kilpatrick were Conochs or Conochans or Colquhouns; but of this there is not the slightest evidence.

The origin of the family of Colquhoun is traced by another theory to a younger son of one of the ancient earls of Lennox.^[2] The only evidence on which this theory rests is the similarity of the armorial ensigns borne by the family of Colquhoun to those of the earls of Lennox, the saltier being charged upon the shields of both families. But this heraldic evidence, standing alone, is insufficient to establish the descent of the Colquhoun family from that of Lennox. In early times it was common for families who held lands from powerful earls to adopt the principal armorial ensigns of their lord superior. This was the practice in the earldom of Lennox, as well as in other earldoms. In Moray, the holders of lands under the earls of that name adopted their well-known cognizance of the stars. In Strathearn, the cheverons of the earls of Strathearn were frequently adopted by the families holding lands under them, while in Annandale the families who held lands under the Bruces, as lords of Annandale, very generally adopted their armorial bearings, and these are adopted at the present day by the families of Maxwell, Johnstone, Jardine, and others, all of whom have, with some variations, the well-known saltier of the Bruce. Armorial bearings thus adopted were called arms of patronage. Although the similarity of arms shows in many cases a common descent in families from remote times, such as the Angus lion, which is borne by the family of Ogilvy, in virtue of their descent from the ancient earls of Angus, who carried that cognizance, yet mere heraldic evidence requires corroboration.

The terms of the charter by Maldouen Earl of Lennox to Umfridus de Kilpatrick do not indicate any relationship between them. Had any relationship existed, the probability is that it would have been stated in the charter by the Earl styling Umfridus as his cousin or other relative. The absence of any acknowledgment of relationship between them in the charter leads to the inference that none existed. This negative evidence seems to outweigh any positive testimony that might be afforded by the similarity of charges on their shields.

The great apostle of Ireland, St. Patrick, was closely connected with the parish of Kilpatrick in the Lennox, which is appropriately named after him, because, according to tradition, he was born at Kilpatrick. But the fame of the great saint was far from being local. Other churches and other districts of lands were named after him in different forms. In the stewartry of Kirkcudbright there are the churches of Kirkpatrick-Durham and Kirkpatrick-Irongray, and in Annandale there are the parishes of Kirkpatrick-Juxta and Kirkpatrick-Fleming, and the lands of Rampatrick and Kirkpatrick. These lands of Kirkpatrick can be traced under that name as early as the twelfth century. They appear also to have given a surname to a family of considerable note—the Kirkpatricks of Closeburn in Nithsdale. They are better known by that designation than as Kirkpatricks of Kirkpatrick. Although the lands of Kirkpatrick furnished them with a surname, they appear to have retained them but for a short period, and to have acquired the lands of Closeburn, which became their territorial designation. That family obtained from Robert de Bruce, Lord of Annandale, grants of various lands and fishings in that district. By a charter without date, Robert de Bruis granted to Ivo and his heirs the fishing of Blawad and of Hesther, to be held of the granter, for payment to him annually of one pound of pepper or six pennies.^[3]

Ivo, the grantee in this charter, was the progenitor of the family of Kirkpatrick. He was then without a surname, as he apparently had not yet acquired the lands of Kirkpatrick. The charter, although undated, must have been granted between the year 1124, soon after which Robert of Bruce acquired the Lordship of Annandale, and the year 1141 when he died. The grant of the lands of Kirkpatrick to Ivo or his successors has not been discovered. But it must have been made before the end of the same century, as in another charter by Robert of Bruce to Roger Crispin of the lands of Cnoculeran, one of the witnesses is Roger of Kirkepatric.^[4] No connection can be traced between Ivo, the progenitor of the Kirkpatrick family, and Umfridus de Kilpatrick or Colquhoun.

Umfridus de Kilpatrick obtained a charter from Maldouen, third Earl of Lennox, of the lands of Colquhoun, to be held for rendering to the Earl, his superior, the third-part of the service of one knight. The charter is undated, but it must have been granted before, or not later than, the year 1246, as the Earl’s father-in-law, Walter, the High Steward of Scotland, who was one of the witnesses to the charter, died in that year.^[1] This is the earliest charter extant bearing on the history of the family of Colquhoun, and it may be translated from the Latin as follows:—

It may be assumed, therefore, that Umfridus was born towards the close of the twelfth or in the beginning of the thirteenth century, that he flourished during part of the reign of King William the Lion and during the whole reign of Alexander the Second, and that he died in the early part of the reign of Alexander the Third. After obtaining this grant, Umfridus, according to a custom common at that time, dropped the surname of Kilpatrick and assumed that of Colquhoun from his lands of Colquhoun.

Umfridus de Kilpatrick was witness to a charter granted in the year 1250 by Maldouen Earl of Lennox, confirming to the monks of the monastery of Paisley some pasture land in Lennox.^[2]

The lands of Colquhoun acquired by Umfridus de Kilpatrick, at a period so early, formed a part of the parish of Kilpatrick, the charter probably conveying to him the whole country from the burn to the possessions of the Church of Kilpatrick. The lands of Colquhoun continued to be the property of his descendants for many generations, and the superiority of part of them still belongs to his lineal representative, the present Sir James Colquhoun of Colquhoun and Luss, Baronet. Some of the vassals pay a year’s rental for their entry, and in other cases merely a nominal sum, and in one case it is a pound of pepper.

Sir Robert of Culchon (Colquhoun) appears to have been the next representative of this family, and may be presumed to have been the son of Umfridus de Colquhoun, though no legal evidence to that effect has been preserved. In 1271 he acted on an inquest, the members of which were appointed to inquire whether Maria, wife of John of Wardrobe, and Elena, wife of Bernard of Erth, and Forveleth, wife of Norrin of Monorgund, daughters of the deceased Finlay of Camsy, were the true and lawful heirs of the deceased Dufgallus, brother of Maldouen Earl of Lennox, and who found that they were so, having been descended from Malcolm, who was the brother of Dufgallus and their grandfather, and that Dufgallus had never married.^[1] This Laird of Colquhoun was probably born towards the close of the reign of King William the Lion, flourished during the whole reign of Alexander the Second, and died in the end of the reign of Alexander the Third. After the year 1271 his name does not appear in any record of the period which we have met with.

Ingelramus de Colquhoun, who also lived in the reign of Alexander the Third, appears to have succeeded Sir Robert; and although the link of filiation is again wanting, we may venture to regard him as the son of Sir Robert. The first, and indeed almost the only notice of him extant is between the years 1292 and 1333, when he was witness to a charter by Malcolm Earl of Lennox, confirming a charter to Gillemore, son of Maldouen, made on the donation of Maldouen, late Earl of Lennox, to Malcolm of Luss, son and heir of Sir John of Luss, of the lands of Luss. The charter is undated, but from the names of the witnesses and others mentioned therein it may be concluded with certainty that it must have been granted between the years specified.^[1] Ingelramus received from King Robert the Bruce a charter of Salakhill [Sauchie], in Stirlingshire, that part of it formerly given to Osbert, son of Forsyth, amounting to 100s., for the service of two bowmen and three suits of court, being reserved. The charter is without date, but it could not have been granted before the 25th of March 1306, when Robert the Bruce began to reign.^[2] Ingelramus lived during an exciting period in the history of Scotland—during the reigns of Alexander the Third, of Margaret, Alexander’s grand-daughter, of John Balliol, and the interregnum between 1296 and 1306, when the kingdom was divided by powerful factions, and prostrated by the power of Edward the First of England, the period when Sir William Wallace distinguished himself by his heroic exploits for the independence of his country, and the beginning of the reign of Robert the Bruce.

Humphrey of Colquhoun, who flourished in the reign of Robert the Bruce, succeeded Ingelramus about the year 1308, and may be presumed to have been his son. He received a charter of the barony of Luss from King Robert the Bruce in 1308, for his special service, and for never having deserted Bruce’s interest. On the 26th April 1309 he was witness to a charter by King Robert the Bruce, which confirmed to Robert Wischart, Bishop of Glasgow, all the churches, lands, rents, possessions, and goods pertaining to that bishop.^[1] In this charter he is designated “Vmfredus de Culchoun, miles.”

This charter, dated at Arbroath, to which Humphrey of Colquhoun, knight, was a witness, is worthy of special notice, from its connection with the history of the times in which he lived, and with events in regard to which he doubtless took a deep interest. Robert Wischart, Bishop of Glasgow, in whose favour it was made, was a strenuous defender of the independence of Scotland. When overpowered by circumstances, he, indeed, repeatedly swore fealty to Edward the First of England; but he, as often as circumstances favoured, took part against that hostile invader of his country, against whom he vehemently incited the people to fight. He was amongst the first to join Wallace when he erected the standard against Edward the First; and he equally supported Robert the Bruce when he raised the old war-cry of Scotland against English domination. He absolved Bruce from the anathema of the Church for the slaughter of Comyn in the Church of Dumfries, and took an active part in the preparations made for his coronation. Wischart, however, was taken prisoner by the English in the Castle of Cupar, which he held against them in 1306. One of the charges brought against him was that he had used the timber which Edward the First of England had allowed him for building a steeple to his cathedral, in constructing engines of war against that King’s castles, and especially the Castle of Kirkintolach.^[2]

At the time when the above charter was made in his favour the bishop was still in prison; and in the charter King Robert expresses, in affecting terms, his feelings of commiseration towards him under his long and wearisome imprisonment. “Since,” says he, “it would be a pernicious example, and dissonant to reason, to render evil for good, much more since it is a laudable demonstration of gratitude to show favour to those who have deserved well by a suitable recompense, we, deeply pondering, as we are bound, the imprisonment and chains, the persecutions and wearinesses which the venerable father, Lord Robert, by the grace of God, Bishop of Glasgow, has hitherto constantly endured, and still patiently endures, for the rights of the Church and of our Kingdom of Scotland, we have freely granted to the said Lord Bishop all his churches, lands, rents, possessions, and goods.” The bishop, it may be added, was not released till after the battle of Bannockburn, fought on 24th June 1314, when Bruce’s wife, his sister Christian, his daughter Marjory, the young Earl of Mar, his nephew, and the Bishop of Glasgow, were exchanged for the Earl of Hereford, who, on the capitulation of Bothwell Castle by the English into the hands of the Scots, immediately after that battle, became their prisoner.^[3] The bishop had grown blind in prison. He survived his liberation only two years, having died in November 1316.

Humphrey of Colquhoun was in the army of Bruce at Bannockburn; and the valour and skill he then displayed attracted the special notice of his sovereign, who granted him a charter of Sauchy, in Stirlingshire, for his good service performed at that battle.

Sir Humphrey of Colquhoun was also witness to a charter by Malcolm Earl of Lennox to John of Luss, granting him certain privileges and immunities within the bounds of his lands of Luss. This charter is undated, but it was confirmed by King Robert on 6th March 1316, from which it may be presumed that it was granted shortly before that date.^[4]

There is a Malcolm Culchone who received from King David the Second (1329-1371) a charter of the lands of Gask, and of 13s. 4d. out of the lands of Balmelyn, in the shire of Aberdeen;^[5] but whether he was related to Sir Humphrey of Colquhoun we are unable to determine. In 1329 Malcolme of Culchone, who received annually ten pounds from the royal exchequer till he should be otherwise provided for, was paid by the chamberlain, during the last term of his account for that year, the sum of one hundred shillings.^[6] In the year 1357 there was paid by Sir Robert of Pebles, the Chamberlain of Scotland, to Malcolme of Culwone, who is probably the same person as in the preceding account, the sum of £6, 13s. 4d. for the King’s use.^[7]

The Heiress of Luss.

Sir Robert of Colquhoun, Knight, is the next representative of this ancient family that appears on record. We do not find him anywhere called son of Humphrey, though from the time at which he flourished, and the fact that he succeeded him in the lands of Colquhoun, it may be inferred that he was so. “Robert of Colquhoun, knight,” was a witness to a relaxation granted by Malcolm fifth Earl of Lennox to Arthur Galbraith of all the suits which, according to the tenour of his charters, he was bound to make to the Earl for the lands of Bannachra, Keangerloch, and others. He was also a witness to a charter granted by the same Earl to Arthur Galbraith of the lands of Buchmonyn and of Gilgirinane; to another granted by the same Earl to Sir Patrick of Grame of the lands of Auchencloich and Strablane; and to a relaxation of captions on the lands of the said Sir Patrick by the same Earl.^[1] All these transactions must have taken place between the years 1292 and 1333, the period during which that Earl held the earldom.

Sir Robert married, in or previous to the year 1368, the daughter of Godfridus, sixth laird of Luss, his only child and heiress. By this marriage he added greatly to his paternal estates, having by it acquired the extensive property of Luss. From this property he afterwards took his designation, and his descendants, who continue in possession of the lands to the present day, retain it.

The commonly received account of the marriage of Sir Robert with the heiress of Luss is, that in the reign of King David the Second he married the daughter and sole heiress of Humphrey of Luss, with whom he acquired the lands of Luss. As, however, no Humphrey of Luss appears on record, and as Godfridus is the last of the Lusses of whom we have any notice, it is probable that Umfridus has by mistake been written for Godfridus, and that it was the daughter and heiress of the latter whom Sir Robert married. No direct evidence of the marriage indeed exists, but the uniform tradition of the family, and the possession of the estates of Luss, leave no doubt on the subject.

After his marriage to the heiress of Luss, Sir Robert took the designation “de Luss” in addition to that of Colquhoun, though her father, Godfridus, was still alive. “Robert of Colfune (Colquhoun), Laird of Luss,” was a witness to an obligation by Malcolm Fleming, Lord of Biggar, in favour of Robert Lord Erskine, warranting the lands of Dalnotar, and others, dated 8th January 1368.^[2] In a charter, dated in the same year, he is designated “Robertus dominus de Colquhoun et de Luss,” Lord of Colquhoun and of Luss;^[3] and in a charter by Isabella Fleeming of Dalnotar to Sir Robert Erskine, knight, of the lands of Achintorlie, in the Lennox, he is similarly designated.^[4] To this latter charter John Lyle, son and heir of Sir John Lyle of Duchal, knight, was also a witness, which shows that it must have been granted about the year 1370.^[5] Sir Robert was also a witness under the simple designation “Robertus de Colquhoun,” to a charter, dated 20th August 1373, by Walter of Fosselane, Lord of Lennox, to Walter Lord of Buchanan, of the lands of Auchmar, in Stirlingshire, which belonged to William Boyd.^[6] Sir Robert of Colquhoun and of Luss was dead in 1391, when his lands of Mykilsalchy (Meikle Sauchy) were in the hands of the King, the heir not having up to that time obtained infeftment.^[7]

By the heiress of Luss, Sir Robert Colquhoun had four sons—

The charter grant of the lands of Camstradden now mentioned is written in Latin, and may be thus translated:—

This grant of the lands of Camstradden is narrated in a charter of confirmation by Duncan Earl of Lennox, dated at Inchmurrin, 4th July 1395.^[8]

The lands of Luss, which Sir Robert acquired by marriage, had for a long time previous been the property of a family of the name of Luss, their surname having been derived from the name of their lands.

As by the marriage of Sir Robert with the heiress of Luss the family of that name became merged with that of Colquhoun, it is proper in this place to give some account of the family of Luss from its earliest representative, so far as now known, to the heiress of Luss whose property Sir Robert inherited, and whose family name he also assumed.

The family of Luss is of high antiquity, but its origin, like that of other ancient families, is involved in obscurity and uncertainty, although their most ancient Christian names would seem to point to a Celtic extraction. Tradition has here also attempted to supply the place of well-attested history by attributing to the family of Luss a descent from the Saxon blood of the Earls of Lennox. But of such a lineage the earliest charters of that house give no indication. The saltier belonging to the armorial ensigns of the houses of Colquhoun and Lennox, which has been adduced to prove that these families have a common ancestry, has been also used, as already shown, as an argument to prove that the family of Luss originated in the same stock. But in the latter case the argument is even of less force than in the former; for that bearing has not been traced to the family of Luss before it merged in that of Colquhoun. The arms of the Colquhouns, it may be presumed, are those of Umfridus, the first of that name, rather than those of the house of Luss. It is, indeed, possible that they may have been those of Luss, as Sir Robert Colquhoun may have adopted them on his marrying the heiress of that house; but it is nothing more than a possibility; for had he adopted her arms, he would probably have quartered them with his own; nor would he have adopted them while he left her name to sink entirely.

The earliest period at which the family of Luss can be traced from authentic records is about the year 1150.

Maldouen, Dean of Levenax,^[1] is the first of those ancient lords of Luss that appears on record. He received from Alwyn second Earl of Lennox a charter of the three lower quarters of Luss, viz., Achadhtullech, Dunfin, and Inverlaueran, and another quarter on the west side of Luss.

The charter itself, of the date of which we are ignorant, but which must have been in or before the year 1224,—the Earl who granted it having died before 1225,—is not included in the “Cartularium de Levenax,” nor is it known to be now in existence. But that such a charter was given is certain, from the charter of confirmation or recognition granted by Maldouen third Earl of Lennox to Maldouen, Dean of Luss, and to his son, Gillemore. Maldouen had been illegally kept from possessing these lands by Maldouen third Earl of Lennox, who, after his father’s death, held possession of them for some time, but how long is not stated. At last Earl Maldouen, prompted, as he himself affirms, by penitence for having detained them from the rightful owners, reconveyed to Maldouen, who is designated “formerly Dean of Luss,” and Gillemore, his son, by charter the foresaid lands, with the right of the patronage of the church of Luss, and with all the pleas, prison dues, escheats, etc., of the said lands. These lands are described in the writ as contained within these boundaries, namely, from Ald Suidheadhi and from the Laueran to Lower Duueglas, as Duueglas falls from the mountain into Lochlomond, on the one side, and from the head of the Laueran, across by the summit of the mountains, to the lower just boundary between the land of Luss and the land of Nemhedh (Roseneath), as it descends into Lochlong on the other side; and thence to the burn called Ald Bealech Nascamche as it descends into Lochlong; and from the head of that rivulet right across to the river Duueglas, as it falls into Lochlomond, as said is, and Frechelan and Elan Rosduue, and Ines Domhnoch. A special reservation is made in favour of the granter of the lands contained between Cledhebh and Banbrath (Banry or Bandry), with the islands pertaining thereto.

These lands thus described were to be held of the Earl of Lennox for rendering to him and his heirs, for the common army of the King, two cheeses from every house in the said lands in which cheese was made, for all other services, forinsic as well as intrinsic, customs, exactions, and demands, and giving as much common assistance to the King as belonged to two arrochars of land in the earldom of Levenax.^[2]

The leading boundaries described in that charter still form the boundaries of the Luss estates, although from the revolution of names that has taken place since the date of the above charter, it is difficult to identify with perfect accuracy all the names of the boundaries mentioned in the charter.

The reddendo of cheeses for the King’s host stipulated in the grant, as well as in charters of other lands in Luss, would seem to lead to the conclusion that the valleys of Luss, amidst the extensive forest of the Levenax, were famed in those early days for more pasturage, and a more abundant dairy produce, than the present aspect of the country, with so much arable land under tillage, would lead us to suppose. The charter made by Alwyn second Earl of Lennox in favour of Maldouen, seems to have been the first grant of Luss to that family. Soon after this grant was made to them, they were accustomed to take the designation “de Luss;” the territorial name thus supplying their surname. The lands of Luss continued to be possessed by the family till, by the marriage of the heiress of Luss with the Laird of Colquhoun, as already stated, they passed into another family, in which they have continued down to the present day. Some have supposed that this Maldouen was a son of Earl Alwyn; but this is clearly a mistake, as both Maldouen, his son, and Maldouen, Dean of Lennox, were witnesses to the Earl’s charter of the lands of Cochnach to the church of Kilpatrick.^[3] Dean Maldouen, however, though not a son, may have been a near kinsman of Earl Alwyn.

Gillemore succeeded his father, Maldouen, in the lands of Luss. He obtained from Maldouen third Earl of Lennox two charters of these lands. In these charters, the boundaries, rights, and reddendo of the lands are described as in the charter of them already quoted, granted to his father by the said Earl.^[1] Gillemakessoc, son of Gillemore, is a witness to one of these charters, made in favour of his father; but he does not himself seem to have ever possessed the lands of Luss. These charters are undated, but they must have been granted between the years 1225 and 1270, the period during which Maldouen was Earl of Lennox.

Maurice is the next laird of Luss that appears on record. “Mauritius de Luss” was witness to a charter by Maldouen Earl of Lennox to Maurice, son of Galbraith, and the heirs of his marriage with Katharine, daughter of Colpatrick, of a carucate of the land of Cartonvenach; and to another charter by the same Earl in favour of the said Maurice, and Arthur his son, of a fourth part of land in Auchincloich, in exchange for other lands.^[1] He was a witness to a charter by the same Earl, in 1250, granting to the monastery of Paisley in pure, free, and perpetual alms, one pasture of land of Levenax, and to the monks thereof the right to hold and possess all other their lands in the earldom of Levenax, as they held them at the time of this grant, or before.^[2] He was also a witness to a charter by Engus, son of Duncan, confirming to the monks of Paisley the church of Kyllinan, dated 5th March 1270.^[3] He appears again as a witness to a charter by Gillemichell, son of Edolf, to Malcolm his son, of the lands of Gartchonerane, and to two confirmations of that charter, one by Duncan, son of Gillemichel Makedolf, and the other, which is dated 17th November 1274, by Malcolm Earl of Lennox.^[4]

On 17th August 1277, Maurice, as Laird of Luss, for a certain sum of money, made a charter, granting to God and the blessed St. Mungo and the church of Glasgow the right of cutting and preparing out of any parts of his woods of Luss whatever should be necessary for the woodwork of the steeple and treasury, which the chapter of the Cathedral of Glasgow, in consequence of its growing wealth and importance, was then in the course of erecting, with free access thereto and egress therefrom, and liberty of pasturage for the horses, oxen, and other animals which should be employed in carrying the wood required.^[5] In that age privileges of this description were generally granted gratuitously to the church by the proprietors of the soil from their devotion or their fears; but on the part of this Celtic laird, it was a purely mercantile transaction. In granting this privilege he does not even affect to have been governed by a higher motive than the reception of its value in money; though, in conformity with the language of the time, the charter is said to be granted “to God and the blessed St. Mungo, and the Church of Glasgow.”

Maurice of Luss is said to have had issue—

Sir John of Luss, Knight, succeeded Maurice, and seems to have been his son. He was high in favour with Malcolm fifth Earl of Lennox, in whose house he bore the office of Usher (Bacularius). From that Earl he obtained grants of several remarkable privileges made by a charter, which is without date, but which was confirmed by King Robert the Bruce on the 6th of March 1315. By this charter Earl Malcolm, “for the reverence and honour of our patron, the most holy man, the blessed Kessog,”^[1] renounced in favour of Sir John of Luss, “our beloved and faithful bacularius,” and his heirs, all right which belonged to the earls of Lennox, as superiors of the estate of Luss, of services, captions, or services of carriage within these lands. He further exempted Sir John and his vassals within or without the bounds of the said lands from being called upon by the bailies or servants of the King’s Justiciary, or by the bailies or servants of the earls of Lennox, to appear and give testimony as witnesses either in the courts of the King, or in those of the earldom of Lennox, engaging that he himself and his heirs should be always prepared to find sufficient witnesses from other men of his earldom, as often as it should be necessary, that the service of the King might not seem to miscarry from any defect on their part in producing witnesses.^[2] Earl Malcolm also granted to Sir John the homage and service, forinsic and intrinsic, due to the earl from the lands of Banwrith [Banry or Bandry, which is opposite the islands mentioned], together with the islands of Innesconogaig and Elanclew, as possessed by Maldofen Macgillemychelmore and his heirs, and Gilchrist Maccristyne and his heirs, to be held by the said Sir John for rendering for the King’s common army two cheeses, and for the assistance of the King as much service as belongs to such an extent of land.^[3]

On 6th March 1316 the charter granted by Maldouen third Earl of Lennox to Gillemore, son of Maldouen, Dean of Luss, already mentioned, was confirmed by King Robert the Bruce in favour of Sir John of Luss.^[4] Sir John is mentioned in several charters granted during his lifetime to his son Malcolm by Malcolm fifth Earl of Lennox.^[5] He was witness to a charter by Malcolm Earl of Lennox to Christian and Margaret Drummond, daughters of John Drummond, of the lands of Ardeureane and Ardenalochreth. He was a witness to another charter by Thomas de Cremmenane to Murechanich, son of Kork, of a quarter of the land of Croyne, and to a confirmation of that charter by Malcolm fifth Earl of Lennox. In all these charters he is designated “Johannes de Luss, miles.”^[6]

Sir John had issue, apparently two sons,—

Malcolm of Luss succeeded his father, Sir John. He received from Malcolm fifth Earl of Lennox a charter confirming to him the lands of Luss as they had been granted to Gillemore by Maldouen third Earl of Lennox.^[1] The charter is without date, but it must have been made between the year 1292, when Malcolm fifth Earl of Lennox is supposed to have succeeded his father, and the year 1333, when he fell at Halidonhill.

As usual in charters of that date, it is in Latin, and may be translated as follows:—

Malcolm of Luss, apparently about the same time that he received the charter now mentioned, obtained from the same Earl a charter of a carucate of land and a half-quarter of land in the exterior part of Glyne, lying between the land and marches of Syf and Lekych, to be held for rendering forinsic service in the King’s common army as much as belonged to such an extent of land in the earldom of Levenax, and three suits yearly at the three head courts of Levenax, for every other secular service, exaction, and demand.^[2]

In the year 1326 or 1327 Malcolm of Luss had a royal gift of part of his teinds out of the estate of Luss,^[3] as appears from the account of Sir Malcolm, Vicar of Dumbarton, commencing 18th February 1326, and rendered in the year 1329. He was witness to a charter by Earl Malcolm to Patrick Galbraith of the lands of Balecarrage, and to a charter by the same Earl to Gilbert of Carric of the lands of Cronverne and Buchmonyne.^[4] He was also a witness to a charter by Donald sixth Earl of Levenax to William of Galbraith of the lands of Achrefmoltoune; to another by the same Earl to Patrick of Lindsay of the lands of Buchnwl; to a third by the same Earl to Robert of Dunbretane of the lands of Bullul; and to another by the same Earl to Walter of Foslen of half a carucate of the lands of Laterwwald [Letrualt].^[5] These charters by Donald sixth Earl of Lennox are without date, but they must have been granted in or between the years 1333 and 1364, the period during which that Earl enjoyed the earldom. Malcolm seems to have been the father of Godfrey, who succeeded him as the sixth Laird of Luss.

Godfrey of Luss is the sixth of the family of Luss that appears on record. He was a witness to a charter by Duncan eighth Earl of Lennox, who did not become Earl till 1381 or 1382,^[1] and who was executed at Stirling in 1425. He had an only daughter, who succeeded him,^[2] and who was commonly called “The Fair Maid of Luss.”

The Christian name of this lady, who succeeded her father as the seventh inheritor of the estate, is not known. She married Sir Robert of Colquhoun; and the four sons of that marriage have been already stated under the notice of their father.^[1] As these sons all took the surname of Colquhoun, the family of Luss, as already observed, was thus merged in that of Colquhoun.

Sir Humphrey, son of Sir Robert Colquhoun by the Fair Maid of Luss, succeeded his father about the year 1390. Being heir and representative of the families of Colquhoun and of Luss, he and his successors used one, or both, of these designations indiscriminately. On the 28th October 1393, “Humphrey Colquhoun, Lord of that Ilk,” was witness to a charter by Duncan eighth Earl of Lennox to John Kennedy of the lands of Buchmonyn, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Stirling; and under the same designation, he was witness to a charter by the same Earl to Walter Buchanan of the lands of Ladlewn, on the 21st January 1394.^[1] On the 6th of May of that year, under the designation of Umfridus de Colquhoune, Lord of Luss, he was witness to the confirmation by the same Earl of a charter by John Hamilton of Buthernok, of his lands of Buthernok, in the county of Stirling, to Margaret Fraser, in prospect of the marriage to be contracted between him and her.^[2] And on the 10th of June, in the year following, under the same designation, he was witness to a charter by the same Earl to Duncan Macfarlane of some lands between the rivers Dywach and Aldanchwlyn on the one side, and the rivers Hernane [Arnan], Hinys [Innis], and Trostane on the other side, with the islands Elanvow, Elanvanow, Elandowglas, and Elaig, in the earldom of Lennox.^[3]

As Lord of Luss, Sir Humphrey, in July 1395, gave to his brother Robert, the elder of that name, a charter of the lands of Camysradoch, afterwards Camstradden, and Achigahane [Auchengaven], in the lordship of Luss and earldom of Lennox, whom failing, to his younger brother Robert, whom failing, to his brother Patrick, as appears from the terms of the charter already given.^[4] On the 10th of May 1398, under the same designation, he was witness to a charter by Duncan Earl of Lennox to Maliseus Carrach of the land of Blarechos, in Strathblane;^[5] and he appears to be the person who, under the name of Umfridus de Colquhoun, was witness to the charter of Robert Earl of Fife to Duncan Earl of Lennox of the office of Coronator of the Earldom of Lennox, dated 6th March 1400.^[6] On the 18th of December following, Sir Humphrey, under the designation of “Vmfray of Culquhune, Lord of that Ilk,” was party as a witness, along with four other “nobyl men and mychty,” to a remarkable indenture, the original of which is written in the vernacular, between Sir John Maxwell, Knight, Lord of Pollok, and Sir John Maxwell, Knight, and Robert Maxwell, his eldest and second sons, concerning the division and destination of the lands of Pollok and Calderwood;^[7] and for the greater security of the part of the indenture remaining with Sir John Maxwell, the son, the seal of Humphrey of Colquhoun, Lord of that Ilk, was procured, through Sir John Maxwell, the father, and Robert, his son, and set to the indenture at Dumbarton. This seal is still appended to the original indenture, although part of it has accidentally been broken. Annexed is a woodcut impression of the remains of this seal.

Sir Humphrey Colquhoun, under the designation of “Vmfary of Colqwhone, Lord of Luss,” and “Robart of Colqwhoun,” were witnesses to another indenture, dated at the Balacht, on 18th of October 1405, between Sir Duncan, Earl of the Lennox, on the one part, and Sir William of Coningham of Kilmawris and Sir Robert of Maxwell of Calderwood, with consent of their spouses, Margaret and Elizabeth, daughters of Sir Robert Danielstoun, on the other part, concerning the lands of Achynclock, Orrachy-more, Inchecallach, Inchefad, and others.^[8]

In a bond of manrent, dated Inchmoryne, 5th April 1406, by Arthore of Ardenagappil to Duncan seventh Earl of Lennox, the granter, as he had no seal of his own, procured “the sele of ane nobil mane and a michti, Wmfray of Culqwone, Lord of Luse,” “to set to thir presentis letteris.” “On this seal,” it is added, “was engraved a shield, and in the middle of the shield was engraved the likeness of a cross, and in the top of the shield was engraved the likeness of a helmet, and to it was annexed above the form of the head of a stag, and in the circumference of the seal was written Vmfridus de Culqwone.”^[9] No subsequent notice of Sir Humphrey has been discovered, and his death probably occurred soon after. He had three sons and two daughters.

The two daughters of Sir Humphrey Colquhoun were—

Sir Humphrey Colquhoun was succeeded in his estates of Colquhoun and Luss by his eldest son—

On the 30th of June 1407, “Robert of Colqwhone, Lord of Lus,” received from William Wallace, Lord of Cragy, a confirmation of all the lands held of the granter, reserving to him his serfs according to law. The following is the confirmation:—

“Be it kent tyl al men throw thir presentes lettres, me, William Wallas, Lord of Cragy, til haffe approfit, ratifiit, and confirmit, and be thir presentis lettres ratifiis and confermis, al euidences, condicionis, gyffyng, sellying, or wadsettyng, that Marion Wallas hase made tyl Robert of Culqwhone, Lord of Lus, of al the landis haldyn of vs, eftir the tenor of the euidencis of the said Marion tyl the saide Robert tharapon made, in all fourme, tenor, and effect, as thai purport, and beris wytnes, suffand tyl vs oure serfis, acht and custumit of law. In the wytnes of the qwhilk thyng, I, William Wallas, hes set til mi seele at Perth, the last day of Junii, the yher of oure Lorde thousand foure hundreth and sefyn.”^[1]

Robert of Colquhoun did not long enjoy his estate, having died in or about the year 1408. He was succeeded by his younger brother, John.

Jean Erskine, his wife.

Sir John Colquhoun succeeded his brother Robert in or about the year 1408. He bound himself, between the 25th July 1392 and the 23d April 1411, by letters patent, sealed with his seal, and ratified by his oath, to Duncan seventh Earl of Lennox, that he would marry Margaret, daughter of that Earl, within the term of two years, provided the Earl would discharge him of his maritage according to the form of law within that period. That lady was at that time a widow. She was previously the wife of Robert Menteith of Rusky, in Menteith, who had infefted her in some of his lands, 25th July 1392, and to whom she had a son, Murdoch Menteith of Rusky, who married, and had issue a son and two daughters. Her father, Duncan Earl of Lennox, publicly required Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, in presence of a notary public, on 23d April 1411, to fulfil his engagements to marry her, as appears from a notarial instrument in the Latin, which narrates the facts, and may be thus translated:—

Then follows, in the usual form, the docquet of the notary, Celestine Macgillemichael, clerk of the diocese of Argyll.

Whether Sir John implemented these engagements does not appear from any record that has come under our notice.

The life of this laird was contemporaneous with the reign of King James the First, to whom, during his long imprisonment in England, he was a faithful and devoted subject, and whom he so much resembled in his tragical death. That monarch, as is well known, was made a prisoner by the English when on his way to France in the year 1406, and was detained in England by the Government of Henry the Fourth for eighteen years. The Estates of Scotland, after their King had been long a prisoner, having assembled at Perth, and held a consultation, agreed to send an embassy to the English Court to procure his release. Some nobles were chosen and despatched as ambassadors, and on their arrival they found the English Court more inclined to the object of their mission than they had expected. The Duke of Gloucester, who administered the Government, was disposed, from various political considerations, to permit the return of King James to Scotland, and he had no difficulty in persuading the English Council to follow this policy. Besides other advantages, Gloucester hoped not only that he would secure the friendship of the Scottish monarch, but that he would keep him under the power and influence of England by marrying him to Joan, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, who was considered the most beautiful woman of her time, and by whom James had been greatly captivated. The King of Scots being set at liberty, and further conciliated by his marriage with this attractive lady, Gloucester persuaded himself that he would easily manage to get the existing league between Scotland and France broken; and that the Scots being secured as allies, the English would be delivered from hostilities on the part of their immediate neighbours, and would be left free to avenge themselves on France for past injuries, or to prosecute future wars with the greater vigour and success.

But while by powerfully urging on the Council of England these and other advantages that would result from the liberation of the King of Scots, Gloucester succeeded in gaining them over to the approval of his proposal, there were some difficulties to be overcome. One of the most formidable of these was the settlement of the ransom price of the King of Scots. The English Council demanded a greater sum of money for his ransom than the Scots were either inclined or able to pay. A compromise was, however, made; the dowry of his wife was to be retained as the one-half, and the sons of some of the principal Scotch families were to be given in hostage for the payment of the other half. This having been agreed upon, James was set at liberty in the year 1423.

Having distinguished himself by his fidelity to his sovereign during his protracted imprisonment, and being a man of ability, with much influence in the country, Sir John Colquhoun was appointed, during the reign of King James the First, to the office of Governor of Dumbarton Castle. This office he held in 1424, the year after the release of the King. In the account of the customs of the burgh of Linlithgow, rendered on 15th May 1425, from 23d July 1424 to the day of the account, under the head of expenditure, are mentioned “the payment made by command of our Lord the King to John of Colquhone, Keeper of the Castle of Dunbrettane, from the term of the blessed Martin, bypast, as appears by the said John’s letters of receipt shown on the account, £26, 13s. 4d.; and the payment made to the said John for the keeping of the said castle, of the term of Pentecost next to come, Sir John Forster (Chamberlain) testifying the receipt upon the account, £13, 6s. 8d.”^[2] Sir John Colquhoun held the same office during the minority of King James the Second.

On the 3d of January 1429, “John of Colquhoun, Lord of that Ilk,” was one of the assize at the settlement by Sir John Forster, Knight, of Corstorphin, Chamberlain of Scotland, of the dispute between the burghs of Dumbarton and Renfrew, regarding certain rights of fishing.^[3] And on the 7th February of the same year, John Macroger of Glen Mackerne [Glenmakurn], resigned in the open head court of the Lord of Luss into the hands of his lord superior, John of Colquhoun, Lord of Luss, all his lands of Gleane Mackehirne, Bannories, Inchgonagane, and Elanchleyff. Among the witnesses are Robert of Colquhoun, Lord of Camstrodane, and Malcolm of Culquhoun.^[4]

Sir John of Colquhoun was patron of the parish church of Luss, and about the year 1430, he consented to the annexation of that parish church as a prebendary to the cathedral church of Glasgow. It was then so annexed by John Cameron, Bishop of Glasgow, who, at the same time, erected other parochial churches of the diocese of Glasgow into prebendaries of that cathedral. The patrons, however, were still to retain the right of presentation of vicars to the churches when vacant.^[5]

But Sir John Colquhoun had soon after an opportunity of taking a more prominent part in the management of the affairs of his country. He sat as a Member of Parliament in the year 1437—the commencement of the reign of King James the Second.^[6]

It was now a dark period in Scottish history. James the First, who was a wise and good prince, remarkable for excellence of genius and cultivation of mind, actively endeavoured to promote the welfare of his subjects, of which the many salutary laws enacted during his reign, which benefited not only his own age, but posterity, are lasting monuments. But his days were prematurely cut short. He was assassinated on the 20th of February 1437, in the Convent of the Dominicans, at Perth, whilst he sat with the Queen at supper, attended only by a few domestics, in the forty-fourth year of his age and the thirty-first of his reign, by a conspiracy, of which Walter Earl of Athole was the author. Not less than twenty-eight wounds were inflicted on his person by the conspirators, and his Queen, whilst endeavouring to defend him, was wounded in two places. He was succeeded by his only son, James the Second, who was then a child of only seven years of age, and who was crowned, at Holyrood House, on the 27th of March that year. Alexander Livingstone was chosen Regent and William Crichton Chancellor for the Administration of the Government during the King’s minority. But these ministers, each being unhappily impelled by ambition, did not work together harmoniously either for the good of the King or of the kingdom. The supreme power in the State was contested by them; their mutual jealousies produced mutual recriminations; and these again were followed by the adjustment of their differences. Rival factions were formed, and many powerful families were at feud. The slaughters committed among them were frequent, and these were followed by robberies, burnings, and murders, perpetrated by the friends and vassals of the one party upon the friends and vassals of the other. In this disorganized state of the kingdom, when justice was but feebly administered, the multiplication of acts of violence, especially in the remote parts of the country, and bordering on the Highlands, was to be expected. Taking advantage of such a state of things, a body of the Western Islanders, headed by the principal men of the Isles, Lachlan Maclean or Macleod and Murdoch Gibson, who were two noted robbers, made a descent upon the western coast for the purposes of plunder. Sir John Colquhoun of Luss signalized himself by his promptitude and courage in resisting their incursions, for which he had collected a considerable number of men. He unhappily lost his life in this patriotic enterprise.

The circumstances attending his death have been differently related by our historians. Boece says that, overpowered by the numbers of the enemy, he was slain, with many of his people, when fighting bravely.^[7] Buchanan gives a somewhat different version. The chiefs of the party, Lachlan Maclean and Murdoch Gibson, sent a message to Sir John Colquhoun, requesting that he would honour them with a friendly conference, with the view of endeavouring to effect a reconciliation, and they pledged their faith for his personal safety. Not suspecting any hostile or treacherous intention, he left his garrison and went to meet them, attended only by a few of his friends. Whilst he was treating with them, under an assurance of personal safety, these ruthless savages put him and his attendants to death, with circumstances of barbarous cruelty. This tragic scene took place in the Island of Inchmurrin, in Lochlomond, on the 24th of September 1439.^[8] The tradition of the district reports that a party of the Western Islesmen made a descent upon the coast, and having pursued some of the inhabitants to the Island of Inchmurrin, put to the sword the Laird of Luss and several others.

These and similar slaughters and robberies, which were committed in most parts of the kingdom, threatening the complete destruction of all order and government, created universal alarm. All felt that it was necessary that something should be done. A Parliament was summoned to meet, for the purpose of devising and adopting such measures as were urgently required in so calamitous a conjuncture, and it was opened on the 2d of August 1440. One of the measures which was adopted was the appointment of justice aires or Circuit Courts, to be held twice in the year, both on the south and on the north sides of the Forth. This was not the first appointment of these courts, for the Act expressly asserts that they were to be held “as auld use and custom is.” But they had not, it is probable, been for some time held so regularly, in the distracted condition of the kingdom, as the preservation of the public tranquillity required, and as it was now determined should be done. The Act ordained that lords of regalities within their regalities, and the King’s bailies of his regalities, and that the King himself should be in each town where the aire should be held, or near thereby, where his Council thought it necessary.^[9] By the same Parliament, for the remedy and punishment of divers crimes, it was concluded “that our sovereign Lord the King ride through all the realm incontinent after there be sent to his Council, where any rebellion, slaughter, burning, reife, forfalt, or theft happens; and there to call the Sheriff of the shire where the thing beis done before him, and or (ere) the King depart out of that shire, to set remedy of such harms done, or if any such shall happen to be done, whether the default be in the officers or in the doers, to be punished by the King. The which conclusion and ordinance all the Barons, of common assent and consent, are obliged to assist, both with their power in bodies and goods, as oft as shall be seen speedful, by advice of the Council, for the good and avail of the realm, and the common profit.”^[10]

Sir John Colquhoun married Jean, daughter of Robert Lord Erskine, who was a co-heir with Lyle of Duchal of the ancient Earls of Mar, by whom he had one son and one daughter,—

This Malcolm Colquhoun was the heir-apparent of his father, Sir John, and is stated by genealogists to have been a young man of high promise.

The only evidence which we have found of him is in a charter by Sir James Scrimzeour, constable of Dundee, dated 13th November 1433, in which he is designed “Malcolm Colquhoun, son and heir-apparent of Sir John Colquhoun of Luss.”^[1] He died before the year 1439, in the lifetime of his father, leaving by his wife, whose name has not been ascertained, a son, John, who succeeded his grandfather in the estates of Colquhoun and Luss.

—— Boyd, his first wife.

Elizabeth Dunbar, Countess of Murray, his second wife.

Sir John Colquhoun, son of Malcolm, succeeded his grandfather, Sir John, about the close of the year 1439. He was a man of distinguished abilities, and in every position he acquitted himself in a manner which gained him much credit and honour. He was in high favour both with King James the Second and King James the Third. Between the years 1457 and 1478 he received numerous royal and other charters, which prove the extent of his territorial possessions. During the same period he held successively several important offices of State, which no less clearly indicates the eminence which he had attained as a statesman; and for the services rendered by him to his sovereign and his country, the honour of knighthood was conferred upon him. It thus appears that in him the family of Colquhoun rose to great wealth and distinction.

On the 22d of February 1457, King James the Second granted him a charter of the lands of Luss, Colquhoun, and Gartscube, in the shire of Dumbarton, and of the lands of Glyn and Sawchie, in the shire of Stirling. The charter, in which he is designated John Colquhoun of that Ilk, proceeds on his own resignation, and by it these lands were united and incorporated into a free barony, to be called the Barony of Luss, to be held, by him and his heirs, of the Crown, for rendering the services therein specified. On the 20th of March 1458, his Majesty also granted him a charter erecting into a Free Forest the lands of Park of Rossdhu, and the lands of Glenmuckerne, in the shire of Dumbarton, which heritably belonged to Sir John, and had been resigned by him into the hands of the King.^[1]

Soon after, Sir John acquired the lands of Saline, in the shire of Fife, which had previously been the property of John de Haliburton. On 26th April 1465, in the presence of a notary-public and of various witnesses, he delivered to John de Haliburton of Sawling a letter of presentation from the King; and, after it was read, he requested that he might be infefted in the lands of Bordeland of Sawling, according to the tenor of that letter. John de Haliburton declined in the meantime to do so, and retained in his possession the letter of presentation;^[2] but on 16th January 1465-6, he resigned all his right and title to the two Sawlings, namely, Black Sawling and Little Sawling, in favour of Sir John.^[3] On 10th November in the same year, Sir John, for his counsel, assistance, and favour rendered in many ways to the granter, received from David de Haliburton, son of John de Haliburton, a charter to himself and his heirs, in feu and heritage for ever, of an annual rent of £6, 13s. 4d. Scots, from the lands of Uchtirstoune and Burnhouse, in the shire of Berwick.^[4]

On the 24th of March 1465-6, he received from King James the Third a charter, in which he is designed John de Colquhoun of that Ilk, Knight, Comptroller of the Exchequer (computorum rotulator), of the half of the lands of Kilmerdoning, in the shire of Dumbarton, and on the confines of Stirlingshire to the east of the church, on the resignation of them by their former proprietor, Alexander de Auchinros, to be held of the Crown, for rendering the services due and wont.^[5] On 7th August 1469, he acquired, for payment of a certain sum of money, from John Haliburton, a charter of the four merk land of Nisbet, in East Lothian.^[6] On 29th November 1473, he obtained a charter of the lands of Roseneath, in the county of Dumbarton; and on the 8th of October 1474, he further received from King James the Third a charter of the lands of Strone, Kilmone, Invercapill, and Cayveland, in Argyleshire, which formerly belonged to James Scrimgeour of Dudhope, by whom they were resigned into the hands of the King.^[7]

From George second Earl of Huntly he obtained an assignation of the lands of Tulyechil, in the Stewartry of Stratherne. But a right to occupy these lands to his exclusion was claimed by Humphrey Murray of Abercarny, who had received an assignation of them from another party. Sir John, therefore, pursued an action against him for the wrongous occupation of them, for the wrongous spoliation of their mails, and for the wrongous uplifting from them of fourteen bolls of bere. On 9th July 1476, when the case was brought before the Lords Auditors, Sir John produced a letter of assignation of these lands from the Earl of Huntly, and Humphrey Murray produced a similar letter of assignation from William of Stirling, who, he alleged, had to them a prior right. Both parties having been at length heard, the Lords Auditors assigned to Humphrey Murray, the 2d of October next, to prove that William of Stirling had power from the Earl of Huntly to assign or to let the lands to the said Humphrey, and failing in the proof, to devoid them to Sir John, and to pay to him the mails thereof from the time of the lease made to Sir John, with the said bolls of bere, as far as Sir John should prove that the defender had taken them up.^[8] The final decision of the Lords Auditors is not recorded.

In 1477 and 1478, Sir John acquired various tenements of land and houses in the burgh of the Canongate, Edinburgh.^[9] All these properties were to be held of the Lord Abbot and Convent of the Monastery of the Holy Cross of Edinburgh. In a notarial instrument relating to these properties, dated 21st October 1478, it is narrated that Humphrey, “son and apparent heir of Sir John Colquhoun,” took instruments in name and behalf of his father; a statement which shows that his father was then alive, and consequently that Bishop Lesley and others are mistaken in saying that the death of Sir John took place on 1st May 1478.

Sir John also obtained the lands of Kirkton and Inchberry, in the county of Dumbarton, from Huchon Thomson, son of the deceased Walter Thomson. He pursued an action against Hew Lord Fraser for the wrongous occupation of these lands, and for the taking up of their mails for three years previous. The case came before the Lords of Council on 19th October 1478, when their Lordships decreed that Lord Fraser should cease from the occupation of these lands in time to come, and that he should pay to Sir John the sum of £30, being the mails thereof, which he had taken up for the three years past, as was proved before the Lords.^[10]

Some other lands Sir John acquired at different times, as appears from the references made to them, in the Acts of the Lords of Council in the year 1480. Among these were the lands of Over-Glenny, in the shire of Perth, of which he granted a charter and infeftment to James Menteith of Radnoch, with clause of warrandice;^[11] the lands of Westirdenlethir, in the same shire, of which he gave a charter and infeftment to Malcolm M’Rure;^[12] and the lands of Galmore and the Middlequarter of Dunfawy, in the same shire, of which he obtained a charter from David Wardlaw, made in his own favour only, and not extending to his heirs.^[13]

Sir John was a witness to several charters, relating both to the civil and ecclesiastical transactions of his time. He was witness to an indenture between Robert Lord Fleming and Gilbert Lord Kennedy, concerning the lands of Easter and Wester Mains, and others, in the barony of Lenze and shire of Dumbarton, dated 10th February 1465. In the indenture he is designated Sir John Colquhoun of that Ilk.^[14] He was witness to a charter granted by King James the Third, at Edinburgh, 26th February 1471, with consent of the Three Estates of Parliament, to William Lord Monypenny, of the lands of Kirkandris, in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, which lands had been resigned by James Lord Hamilton, to whom they belonged heritably, into the hands of the King, in exchange for his Majesty’s forty merk lands of Esterbermukkis, Westerbermukkis, and others, in the lordship of Bothwell.^[15]

Sir John was also witness to a charter of King James the Third, dated Edinburgh, 14th October 1475, granting to the Cathedral Church of Glasgow, for his singular devotion towards the blessed St. Kentigern, and that Saint’s mother St. Tenew, and towards the said cathedral, three stones of wax, in which it had stood infefted from ancient time, to be raised annually from the lands of Udingston, in the lordship of Bothwell and shire of Lanark, before these lands had been appropriated to the Crown, but which had been detained by their possessors for some years past, for the lights of St. Kentigern and St. Tenew, his mother. Two and a half stones were to be distributed for the lights of the first-mentioned saint in that Cathedral Church, upon his sepulchre; and half a stone was to be distributed upon the sepulchre of St. Tenew, in the chapel where her bones reposed.^[16] Another ecclesiastical charter to which Sir John was a witness, was one by the same monarch to the Bishops of Glasgow, dated at Edinburgh, 15th July 1476, whereby his Majesty granted and confirmed anew, with the authority and consent of Parliament, to John Bishop of Glasgow and his successors, bishops of Glasgow, the right formerly given to them by his Majesty’s predecessors, with advice of Parliament, to hold the city of Glasgow, the barony of Glasgow, and the lands of Bishopforest, for a free regality and barony. This right included the power of constituting within the said city a provost, bailies, servants, and other officers for the government thereof, and of appointing one sergeant, who should bear a baton or silver rod with the royal arms and the arms of the Bishop of the said church, for making arrestments and executing the mandates of that prelate within the said regality, and through all other lands and possessions belonging to him within his diocese.^[17] This charter his Majesty granted for his singular devotion towards the blessed confessor, St. Kentigern, patron of the Cathedral Church of Glasgow, and for his special favour and love towards the reverend father in Christ, John, Bishop of that church, his heartily beloved counsellor, for his merits and gratuitous and faithful services rendered to his progenitors and to him. Sir John, again, was witness to a charter of confirmation by King James the Third, dated 15th June 1478, confirming a charter of John Bishop of Glasgow, by which he gave a tenement at Edinburgh to the Cathedral Church of Glasgow.^[18]

In many of the political transactions of his time, Sir John took an active part; and, while holding the various honourable public offices which, by the patronage of his friends, and from his acknowledged abilities, he obtained, he on several occasions rendered important services to his country, both at home and at the Court of England.

His sovereign, James the Second, by whom he had been much esteemed, fell, in the prime of life, by the sudden explosion of a cannon, when encouraging his troops at the siege of Roxburgh Castle, in August 1460.^[19] After this melancholy event, a Parliament was held at Edinburgh, on the 23d of February 1460-1, by which the custody of the deceased King’s son, James the Third, who was a minor of only eight years of age, and of his two brothers, and sisters, was committed to the Queen Mother, whilst it was determined that the administration of affairs should be divided among a select few of the nobility. Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, if not a member of the Government at first chosen, was soon after appointed Comptroller of the Exchequer. The other officers of state with whom he was associated were James Kennedy, Bishop of St. Andrews, to whom the chief management of affairs was intrusted; Andrew Stewart, Lord Evandale (natural son of Sir James Stewart, and grandson of Murdoch Duke of Albany), who was Chancellor; Robert Lord Boyd, to whom Sir John was related by marriage, who was Justiciar of Scotland; James Lindsay, Provost of Lincluden, who was Keeper of the Privy Seal; and James Lord Livingston, who was Chamberlain.^[20]

Sir John was frequently a member of Parliament, and sat as one of the Barons. His name first appears in the list of members in the Parliament of King James the Third, held at Edinburgh in October 1466, and he was appointed by it one of the Lords Auditors of Complaints.^[21] He is designated Sir John Colquhoun of that Ilk, Knight. He was again a member of the Parliament held at Edinburgh in October 1467, and was put on a commission to which it committed power to advise and conclude upon various matters in an adjourned meeting to take place at Stirling, on 12th January 1467. Among the matters treated upon by that commission was the marriage of King James the Third. It was unanimously resolved that an embassy should be sent with all haste, before the month of March or April following, to Denmark and other places considered expedient, with full power to advise and conclude upon the marriage of their sovereign Lord, with a suitable person of noble blood, and to marry and bring home a queen, and that in the said embassy there should be a prelate, a lord, a knight, or a clerk, to be chosen by the King, and forty honourable and worshipful persons, or fewer, with them.^[22] According to this ordinance of Parliament, Andrew Muirhead, Bishop of Glasgow; William Tulloch, Bishop of Orkney; Andrew Lord Evandale, Chancellor; Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran; and Mr. Martin Vans, Grand Almoner and Confessor to the King, were sent ambassadors to the Court of Denmark to negotiate a marriage between King James the Third and the Princess Margaret, the only daughter of Christian the First, King of Denmark and Norway. This they had the good fortune to bring to a successful termination. The youthful bride landed in Scotland on 6th July 1468, accompanied by a brilliant train of lords and ladies, and the marriage was celebrated with much pomp and solemnity on the 10th of that month, in the Abbey Church of Holyrood House.^[23]

In the years 1469, 1471, 1476, and 1478, Sir John was also a member of Parliament.^[24]

He appears on record as occupying the office of Comptroller of the Exchequer till 1469, when Adam Wallace of Craigie was appointed in his place.^[25]

After the downfall of his friend, Robert Lord Boyd, who was indicted for high treason before the Parliament, and condemned to be beheaded, in 1469, though he saved his life by making his escape into England, where he died at an advanced age, at Alnwick, in the following year, Sir John, by his loyalty and prudence, preserved his interest at the Court of King James the Third.^[26] So high did he stand in the royal favour, that he continued to receive from his Majesty honourable preferments, and was employed as before in some of the most important affairs of State. In 1471, he was appointed Principal Sheriff of Dumbartonshire, and he was also one of the sheriffs of the shire of Linlithgow.^[27]

In 1474, Sir John was still more highly promoted, having been raised to the position of Great Chamberlain of Scotland. This was one of the most ancient offices of State in Scotland. It existed in the reign of King Malcolm the Second, and in his time it was, under the Crown, the third highest office in the commonwealth, ranking next to those of Chancellor and Justiciar, and taking precedence of those of Steward, Constable, and Marischall. In Sir John Colquhoun’s time it was still one of the most honourable, responsible, and lucrative offices of State. This it is necessary to bear in mind in considering his position as a statesman, as the office of that name is now merely a situation in the household establishment of the Sovereign, having no connexion with the administration of public affairs.

The Great Chamberlain anciently collected the revenues of the Crown before the appointment of a treasurer, of which there is no trace till the restoration of King James the First, in 1425, and he disbursed the money required for the maintenance of the King’s household. The rolls of the royal receipts and expenditure, which were kept by the Chamberlain, still exist, affording curious illustrations of the state of the Court, of the condition of Scotland, its agriculture, commerce, manufactures, and of the customs and manners of its inhabitants in those early times.^[28] But the Great Chamberlain of Scotland was, besides, invested with the power of judging of crimes committed within burghs, and, like the Justiciar, he had his aires or circuit courts through the country annually, or as often as the adequate administration of justice required. His sentences were to be put in execution by the bailies of the burghs. In the third Parliament of King James the Third, held at Edinburgh in November 1469, it was enacted, in reference to chamberlain aires as well as Parliament and Justiciary aires, “that the Court of Parliament, Justice Are, Chawmerlane Are, or sic like courtis, that has continuatione, nede nocht to be continuit fra day to day, bot that thai may be of sic strinth and fors as thai had bene continuit fra day to day, vnto the tyme that thai be dissoluit: the Parliament be the King; the Justice Are be the justice; the chawmerlane Are be the chawmerlane.”^[29] In the third Parliament of King James the Fourth, held at Edinburgh in May 1491, it was ordained that inquiry should be made in the Chamberlain aire how the common goods of burghs were spent.^[30]

The commission from the Crown, conferring on Sir John Colquhoun of Luss the office of Great Chamberlain of Scotland, has not been preserved; but an idea of the nature and extent of the jurisdiction of the office to which he was now elevated, may be formed from the commission of Chamberlainry granted by Queen Mary under the Great Seal, 12th November 1553, to James Lord Fleming. From that commission, which invested him with all the rights and powers which his father or any of his predecessors, Great Chamberlains, possessed from her Majesty, or her most noble progenitors, kings of Scotland, we learn that the Chamberlain had full power by himself, or by his deputies whom he might constitute, to appoint and hold circuit courts, as often as it seemed necessary or expedient to him, in the accustomed places in burgh or land within the kingdom, and to continue them; to cause suits to be called, to fine the absent, to punish delinquents according to the laws and custom of the kingdom, and the number and quality of their crimes, to appoint clerks, sergeants, judges, and all other officers necessary thereto, to cause parties to be sworn, and generally to do whatever was held to belong to the said office.^[31]

In the capacity of Great Chamberlain of Scotland, Sir John Colquhoun, along with Thomas Spence, Bishop of Aberdeen, James Schaw of Sauchie, and the Lyon King-at-Arms, were in July 1474 sent to the Court of England with plenipotentiary power to treat of a marriage between the Prince of Scotland, who was then only in the third year of his age, and the Princess Cæcilia, daughter of Edward the Fourth, King of England, who was only in her fourth year. So successful were Sir John and his colleagues in this important and delicate mission, that all the preliminaries were agreed upon, and they returned to Edinburgh in the beginning of October, accompanied or followed by the Bishop of Durham, Lord Scroop, Mr. John Russel, Keeper of the Privy Seal, and Mr. Robert Booth, Doctor of Laws, whom King Edward commissioned to proceed to Scotland to complete what had been so auspiciously begun in England. New commissioners, consisting of John, Bishop of Glasgow, William, Bishop of Orkney, Colin Earl of Argyle, David Earl of Crawford, the Abbot of Holyrood House, and the Archdean of St. Andrews, were appointed by King James to treat with those whom King Edward had sent to Scotland, and to arrange the terms of a treaty in reference to the contemplated marriage, which promised so greatly “to contribute to the wealth, peace, honour, and interest of this noble isle, called Great Britain.”^[32]

On the 26th of October, the treaty or contract of marriage between the Prince and Princess was agreed to, and signed by the commissioners of both kingdoms. To render it as secure as possible, the formalities characteristic of feudal times were carefully observed. On the same day, David Earl of Crawford, as procurator for the King of Scotland, and Lord Scroop, Knight of the Garter, as procurator for the King of England, appeared in the Low Greyfriars’ Church at Edinburgh, in presence of the English and Scottish Commissioners and others assembled, and went through the ceremony of betrothment. Each of these noblemen having declared the character in which he appeared, and demanded that his letters of procuratory should be read, the letters were publicly read accordingly. Then the Earl of Crawford, taking Lord Scroop by the right hand, solemnly promised for and in name of his master, the King of Scotland, that his Majesty would bestow Prince James, his son, in marriage, upon the Princess Cæcilia, the daughter of Edward King of England, when the Prince and Princess had arrived at the age prescribed by the Canons. Lord Scroop, having next taken the Earl of Crawford by the right hand, made a like solemn engagement for and in name of his master, King Edward of England. Upon which two notaries, one for the King of Scotland and the other for the King of England, took instruments before witnesses. Sir John Colquhoun of Luss was present on this occasion, and he was one of the witnesses to the notarial instrument.^[33]

By the treaty, the King of England was to give with his daughter a dowry of 20,000 merks, English money, of which 2000 were to be paid every year at Edinburgh, in the parish church of St. Giles, the first payment to be made on the 2d of February following, and the other instalments on the same day every successive year till complete payment of the whole should be made. Both Kings were also to assist one another, as often as required, against their respective rebels. For some state reasons this marriage was, after all, never completed. But in the meantime King James reaped considerable advantage from the alliance. He received punctual payment of a portion of the dowry which Edward promised to give with his daughter. He had now leisure to settle the revenue of his own kingdom, and strengthened by the promise of assistance from the King of England, he could bring such of his subjects as had disturbed the tranquillity of the state, during his minority, to account for their actions.^[34]

It was probably as a reward for the services rendered by Sir John, on the occasion of his mission to the Court of England, that he was soon after appointed Governor of the Castle of Dumbarton for life, with all the emoluments pertaining to the office, which included the lands of Cardross, Cumray, an annual rent from the lands of Cadzow, with the corn-mill of Paisley, commonly called le Uache Mele (the walk mill). His commission as Governor empowered him to name and appoint all other necessary officers. It passed the Great Seal, at Edinburgh, on 7th September 1477.^[35]

Sir John did not, however, long enjoy this new appointment. A brave and skilful soldier, as well as an able statesman, he in the following year joined the army raised by King James the Third for the defence of himself and his government, against his brother, Alexander Duke of Albany, who had engaged in an unnatural rebellion against him. The army hastened to besiege the Castle of Dunbar, which the Duke of Albany had garrisoned and held against the King and Government. The siege was successful; for the garrison, after an intrepid defence of some months, were compelled, from want of provisions, to evacuate, and escaping during the night preceding the day on which the besiegers entered the Castle, sought refuge in England or France. But Sir John Colquhoun did not live to see the triumph of the King’s cause. The cannon mounted on the ramparts of the castle by the besieged for their defence, were used with fatal effect against the besiegers. On the second day of the siege a single cannon-ball killed three of the most valiant knights in the royal army,—Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, Sir Andrew Wallace of Craigie, and Sir James Shaw of Sauchie.^[36] The exact time when the siege commenced not being known, the precise date of the death of Sir John is uncertain. It must, however, have happened between the 21st of October 1478, when he is referred to in a notarial instrument as then living, as already observed, and the 14th of June 1479, when his son Humphrey was infefted as heir to his deceased father in certain properties.^[37] In a decreet of the Lords of Council, 22d January 1479-80, he is designed “the vmquhile Schir Johne of Culquhone of that Ilk, vschare in the tyme of oure Souerane Lordis Chawmer durre.”^[38]

Before his death Sir John Colquhoun made a testament, containing various provisions in favour of his second wife, who survived him. He constituted Mr. Robert Houstoun, parson of Luss, and Patrick Houstoun, his executors. In the year 1484, an action was pursued in the Supreme Civil Court by Mr. Robert Houstoun, parson of Luss, and Patrick Houstoun, executors to the deceased Sir John Colquhoun of the Luss, Knight, against Sir William of Murray of Tullibardine, Knight, John of Murray, his son and heir, and Robert Balmaclone for the wrongous spoliation of certain corn out of the lands of Inverpeffre and Gorte, belonging to the late Sir John. This action the Lords Auditors, on 22d October that year, continued to the 14th of January following.^[39]

Sir John married, first,—— Boyd, a lady of the family of Lord Boyd, by whom he had a son, Humphrey, and a daughter, Margaret. Lady Luss predeceased her husband, who married, secondly, Lady Elizabeth Dunbar, second daughter of James Dunbar, fifth Earl of Murray. This lady was the relict of Archibald Douglas, second son of James seventh Earl of Douglas, who obtained with her the earldom of Murray, having been the sixth Earl of that name. Her elder sister, Janet, with whom she was co-heiress of the earldom of Murray, had, by reason of her seniority, a preferable right, and indeed actually assumed the dignity. But Archibald Douglas, after his marriage with Elizabeth, succeeded, from the almost unlimited power which his family wielded in the affairs of State, in securing that earldom to himself.^[40]

The marriage of Archibald Douglas and Elizabeth Dunbar appears to have taken place in the year 1442. They obtained a royal charter of the lands of Kintore, in the bailiery of Kintore, which belonged to Janet and Elizabeth Dunbar, daughters of the deceased James Dunbar, Earl of Murray, heritably, and which the said Janet and Elizabeth resigned into the hands of the Crown in their pure and simple virginity, to be held by Archibald, second son of James Earl of Douglas and the said Elizabeth, and the longest liver of them, and the heirs-male to be lawfully procreated betwixt them; failing whom, the other heirs therein mentioned. On 26th April 1442, a precept of sasine was addressed by King James the Second to the Sheriff and his bailies of Aberdeen, commanding them, in terms of the charter, to give sasine of the lands of Kintore to the said Archibald and Elizabeth.^[41] Soon after obtaining sasine, Archibald Douglas assumed the title of Earl of Murray, which he held for about thirteen years. Having engaged in the rebellion of his twin brother, James ninth Earl of Douglas, against King James the Second, the Earl of Murray was slain in the battle with the King’s troops, which was fought on the 1st of May 1455, at the small river Sark, in Arkinholm, in the county of Dumfries.^[42] His head was cut off, and carried to the King, who was then at Abercorn. In the following month of June, all the lands, rents, possessions, superiorities, and offices of “Archibald pretended earl of Murray,” were declared to be forfeited to the Crown,^[43] and the title of Earl of Murray was soon after conferred by the King on his youngest son, Prince David. Elizabeth Dunbar had by Archibald Douglas a son, James, and a daughter, Janet, as we learn from a document to be immediately quoted. Of the history of these children we have no information; but they were probably involved in the calamities which befell their relatives of the house of Douglas, when that powerful house was stript of its great power and proscribed by the Government.^[44]

After the death of Archibald Earl of Murray, his relict, Elizabeth Dunbar, married George Lord Gordon, afterwards second Earl of Huntly. She lost no time in arranging this second matrimonial alliance, as the contract for the marriage between her and Lord Gordon is dated at Forres, 20th May 1455, only nineteen days after the death of her first husband. The substance of the contract may here be quoted. The parties to the indenture are designed “Alexander Earl of Huntlie, lord of Gordoun,. . . his spouse, Elizabeth Countass of Huntelie, etc., and George Master of Huntelie, Knight, [son] and appearand heir to the said lord and lady,. . . upon the ta part, and an noble Lady, Elizabeth Countass of Murray, Nicolas of Sutherland, captain of Ternway, Sir Richard of Holland, Channtor of Murray,^[45] James of Dunbar, Alexander Flemyng, Huchone of Douglas, and William Inglis, men to the said lady, upon the tother part.” It is agreed “that the said George sall marry and have to wife the said Elizabeth Countas of Murray, and nane others indurand her life, and make the dispensation of the authority of our haly fader the Pape be obtained, in all gudely haste, in the sickerest fourme, of all impediments that appears or may appear betwixt them, sua that they may lauchfully complete the said marriage; and in the meantime he sall not constrenzie the said lady to carnal copulation but of her free will. Alsua the said lady’s men, now being in Ternway, sall be keepers of that house, mony or few, as liks to the said lady, unto the tyme of the fullfilling of the said marriage lauchfully, quhilk being done be dispensation, the said Castell sall be delivred freely to the said George and his said spouse”. . . . “Alsua the said lady and her men sall do all their gudlie power and diligence, so that the said lord Earl of Huntly have delivrance of the Castell of Louchindores.” James, the son and heir of the Countess, being “received be his lady moder, sall be in keeping with her, or with her advice, quhair she best liks, till his lauchful age withouten bodily harm till his life.” Further, the Earl and his son shall not “constrenzie . . . the said lady Countass of Murra to mak resignation nor alienation of the earldom of Murra with the pertinents fra hir heirs gottin, but at her awin fre will, in the quhilk earldom the said lord, his spouse, and appearand heire sall defend the said lady, Countass of Murra, at all thair gudely power, and mak hir sicker at his power of our sovrain lord the King, to be undistroblit in the posyession of hir earldome.” There is also a guarantee that “the said lady’s men” shall enjoy the lands granted to them by the deceased Archibald Earl of Murray, her former husband, with her consent, or by herself in her widowhood, and mention is made of her daughter Janet.^[46]

Motives of family aggrandizement led, it may be supposed, to this marriage of the heir of the House of Huntly with the heiress of the earldom of Murray, the House of Huntly having always coveted the possession of that earldom. The Master of Huntly, however, afterwards obtained a divorce from her, not necessarily because she had been guilty of any violation of the marriage vow, for the most frivolous pretences were often in those times made the ground of divorces when one of the parties had become alienated from the other, or when personal interest or passion impelled to separation in order to make way for a new matrimonial alliance, more advantageous or more attractive. She and the Master of Huntly, it would seem, were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity, which rendered a papal dispensation necessary, in order to the legality of this marriage; and this dispensation, from neglect or otherwise, not having been obtained, as was agreed to in the marriage-contract, a ready pretext could be found at any time for its dissolution.

The fact of her having been deprived, by the forfeiture of her late husband, of the earldom of Murray, it is not improbable, may have been the main reason why Elizabeth Dunbar was repudiated by Lord Gordon. That she was deprived of the earldom is evident from an entry in an Exchequer roll of the Account of the earldom of Mar, between 31st July 1455 and 12th October 1456, to the effect that the thanedom of Kintore was in the hands of the King, “by the forfeiture of Elizabeth of Dunbar, formerly Countess of Murray.”^[47]

The divorce of Elizabeth Dunbar from Lord Gordon, Master of Huntly, must have taken place before the 10th of March 1459, when Annabella, daughter of King James the First, appears in a charter as his wife.^[48] That Princess also was solemnly divorced from him on the 24th of July 1471; and it is from her divorce that we learn the fact that he had obtained a divorce from Elizabeth of Dunbar. Annabella was divorced from him, not because of any misconduct on her part, but merely because she and the Master of Huntly were held to be related to each other in the third and fourth degrees of consanguinity, in consequence of Annabella’s having been related in the like third and fourth degrees of consanguinity to Elizabeth Dunbar, the Master of Huntly’s former wife, from whom, as the deed states, he “had been lawfully divorced and separated by the judgment of the church.” On this ground the marriage of the Princess with the Master of Huntly was pronounced to be illegal.^[49]

The exact date of the marriage of Elizabeth Dunbar with Sir John Colquhoun of Luss has not been discovered. But it took place prior to 26th July 1463. The following extract from the Account of Bothkennar, etc., from 6th August 1462 to 26th July 1463, establishes this point, and also proves that a pension had been granted her by the Crown: “Expenses, etc. By payment made to Elizabeth Dunbar formerly Countess of Murray, of the farms of the lands of Duchra, for her support, in part of payment of 100 merks granted to her by the charter of our lord the King under the Great Seal, John of Colquhoun of Luss, knight, her spouse, confessing the receipt.”^[50] In the year 1472, Sir John Colquhoun and Elizabeth Dunbar, his spouse, were infefted in a house in Stirling.^[51] Sir John’s children by his first wife were—

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Jean Erskine, daughter of Lord Erskine, his first wife.

Marion Baillie, Dowager Lady Somerville, his second wife.

During his father’s lifetime, Humphrey Colquhoun rented the lands of Kirkmichael, in the shire of Dumbarton, of which he had a lease from John Sempill of Fulwood, who, on 18th March 1476, bound himself to observe inviolate the lease of these lands given to “Humphrey Colquhoun, son and heir-apparent of the Laird of Luss,” as contained in an indenture made between them.^[1]

Humphrey succeeded his father, Sir John, in the year 1478. As the son and heir of his father, he was, on 14th June 1479, upon a precept from Archibald, Abbot of the Monastery of the Holy Cross of Edinburgh, infefted in the lands and tenements in the Canongate already mentioned.^[2] On 13th October in the same year he was constituted, by Colin first Earl of Argyll, the Earl’s assignee to his lands of the Bordland of Sauline, in the barony of Sauline and county of Fife, until they should be secured to him by charter and sasine, which the Earl bound himself to grant on consulting with John Earl of Mar, youngest brother of King James the Third, the Lord Superior;^[3] and, on 27th January following, he received from the Earl of Argyll a charter of these lands.^[4] Four days after, namely, on 31st January 1479-80, he was, upon a precept of sasine from the Earl of Mar, infefted, as heir of his deceased father, in the lands of Meikle and Little Sauline, and in the mill thereof.^[5]

The fate of John Earl of Mar, Humphrey’s superior, during the course of the year in which these transactions took place, was tragical. He had incurred the deep resentment of the parasites by whom his brother King James the Third was surrounded, and their thirst for vengeance could be appeased only by his death. He was suddenly arrested during night and carried prisoner to Craigmillar Castle, near Edinburgh. Shortly after, he was accused of conspiring with sorcerers and witches against the life of the King, and was sentenced to be burned—the doom of witchcraft; but being allowed the choice of the kind of death he should die, he chose to have a vein in his leg opened and to bleed to death in a bath. This fate he underwent, it is said, in the Canongate of Edinburgh. Such is the account of our early historians.^[6] But, according to a later historian, the Earl, having been seized with a violent fever, was brought to a house in the Canongate, and the physician having opened a vein in his arm and temple to mitigate the fever, the royal patient, in the frenzy of his disease, tore off the bandages, and died from the loss of blood.^[7]

Humphrey Colquhoun’s right to the lands of Sauline was contested by David Haliburton, who procured a brief of inquest from his Majesty’s Chancery, in order to his being infefted in the lands of the Bordland of Sauline, and in the mill thereof. This brief of inquest was served before Thomas Simson, Sheriff of Forfar, or his deputes; and, upon the retour of that inquest, Haliburton was infefted in the said lands. Colin Earl of Argyll and Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss, however, on 14th March 1482, obtained a decreet of reduction of that brief from the Lords Auditors.^[8]

On 21st June 1479, Humphrey was retoured, by a special retour of service, as heir of his father, in the lands of Garshake, in the territory of Dumbarton, and in a tenement in that burgh,^[9] etc.

From King James the Third, Humphrey obtained a gift of the third of the ward lands of Granton and Stanehouse, in the county of Fife. This portion of these lands Henry Melville of Carnebee, who had received from the King a gift of two parts of them, claimed as his property, and to establish his claim he brought an action against Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss before the Lords of Council. But, on 15th October 1479, the Lords decreed that he had right only to two parts of these lands, and that Humphrey Colquhoun had right to the third part, as was shown by the letters of gift in their favour.^[10]

In the year 1480, Humphrey received from the Crown a remission for the relief-duties of his lands, in consequence of his father, Sir John, having fallen at the siege of Dunbar Castle. These duties were £40 for Colquhoun, £10 for Salquhy [Salachy], and £10 for Galen [Glinns], and four cheeses by duplication of blench-farm of the barony of Luss, due to the King.^[11]

Humphrey’s father, as has been already stated, had granted to James Menteith of Radnoch a charter and infeftment of the lands of Over-Glenny, in the shire of Perth, and to Malcolm M’Rure a charter and infeftment of the lands of Westirdenlettir in the same shire. Colin first Earl of Argyll having claimed these lands as belonging to him in heritage, Menteith and M’Rure pursued each an action against him for the wrongous occupation of them, and against Humphrey Colquhoun of that ilk for the warrandice of them by reason of his father’s charter, which contained a clause to that effect. On 13th June 1480, the Lords of Council decreed that the Earl of Argyll did no wrong in occupying these lands, and that, as they had been legally recovered by him from James Menteith, Humphrey should give in warrandice a corresponding amount of land equally good.^[12]

The lands of Galmore and the Middlequarter of Dunfawy, in the county of Perth, had been granted by David Wardlaw by charter to Sir Humphrey’s father, but not to extend to his heirs. Overlooking the limitation of the grant, Humphrey, on his father’s death, claimed these lands as his property. David Wardlaw and Janet, his spouse, contested this claim, and brought before the Lords of Council an action against Humphrey, and Robert Scot and John of Burn, the tenants, for withholding from them the mails of these lands. On 1st July 1480, the Lords of Council decreed that the tenants should pay the mails, for all terms since the decease of Sir John Colquhoun, to Wardlaw and his wife; and ordained that Humphrey should not intromit with the lands in time to come, because the gift of them made to his father was only in favour of himself, and for his help, furtherance, and supply. With respect to the mill of Dunfawy, as Janet, the wife of Wardlaw, had constituted the late Sir John Colquhoun her assignee to redeem it, and as Humphrey Colquhoun affirmed that his father had redeemed it before his death, the Lords assigned him the 2d of October, with continuation of days, to prove that this had been done.^[13]

The Lords of Council afterwards pronounced a decreet in favour of Humphrey in reference to the mill of Dunfawy; but, notwithstanding this decreet, David Wardlaw and Janet of Lundy, his spouse, wrongously put forth Malcolm Gibson, Humphrey’s tenant, from that mill, occupied it, and took up the profits thereof. Humphrey, therefore, pursued an action against them. On 11th October 1484, the Lords Auditors decreed that Wardlaw and his wife had done wrong in occupying the mill of Dunfawy, and in ejecting from it Humphrey Colquhoun and his tenants, and ordained that they should desist from all intromitting therewith in future, and that the mill should be possessed by the said Humphrey in time to come, conformably to the decreet of the Lords of Council previously given.^[14]

On 31st May 1481, Humphrey, on a precept from the Chancery of King James the Third, was infefted as heir of his father in the superiority of the half of the lands of Kilmardinny, which was held of the King in chief.^[15] In the following year he reacquired certain lands of Kilmardinny, which his father had sold to Robert Scot under reversion, by paying to Walter Scot, son of Robert, who was then dead, the sum of £93, 6s. 8d.^[16]

Humphrey and his stepmother, Elizabeth of Dunbar, Countess of Murray, do not appear to have lived on very harmonious terms. Disputes often arose between them respecting pecuniary matters, and there seems to have been on neither side a disposition to yield or to compromise their differences. Each displayed a remarkable activity of zeal in defending his or her supposed rights. From the numerous law-suits in which Humphrey was involved, one is disposed to think that he had a peculiar propensity for this species of warfare; and his stepmother met him with a spirit and decision not less energetic than his own. The Lords Auditors of Causes and Complaints, and the Lords of Council, before whom their disputes frequently came, did their best to judge impartially between them. Sometimes the one, and sometimes the other, gained the action. When one question in controversy was settled, the contest between them was renewed on a different point. By these altercations before the Courts of law they certainly contrived to keep each other in hot water, at least for some time.

An action was pursued against Humphrey by his stepmother, Elizabeth Dunbar, Lady of Luss, for wrongously withholding from her £20 of the remainder of the sum paid by David Haliburton for redeeming the lands of Sauline, and 16 merks of her terce of the mails of the land of the Canongate for two years past, and also 46s. 6d., her terce of the mails of the lands of Garshake. Both parties having personally, and by their procurators, appeared before the Lords Auditors on 10th December 1482, and their allegations having been heard, their Lordships decreed that the Lady of Luss had no right to the £20 claimed by her, because the lands of Sauline were heritage at the time of her husband’s decease, and that she was entitled only to the third of the silver, which she granted had been paid to her. With respect to the other sums of 16 merks and 46s. 6d., claimed by her, as it was denied by Humphrey’s procurators that he had uplifted them from the lands mentioned, their Lordships assigned to her the 11th day of January following, with continuation of days, to prove that he had taken up these sums.^[17]

The Dowager Lady of Luss again pursued an action against her stepson, Humphrey, as heir of his father, for wrongously uptaking and withholding from her 12 merks of her half of the ward of the lands of Stanehouse, and £15 of her part of the lands of Tuliketle, as she alleged. Both parties having been present personally, and by their procurators, before the Lords Auditors, 18th February 1483, and their reasons having been heard, their Lordships decreed that Humphrey should pay to her these sums.^[18]

Humphrey, as heir of his father, was again prosecuted by the same indefatigable assertor of her rights for the wrongous detention from her of four bolls of wheat, four bolls of bear, and ten bolls of oats, pertaining to her of the half of the ward of the lands of Stanehouse, £4 of silver of the half of the ward of the lands of Tuliketle, and £10 by reason of an obligation of Simon Logan. When the case was brought before the Lords Auditors, Humphrey alleged that the debts which his father owed at the time of his decease exceeded the quantity and avail of his moveable goods, and of the debts that were owing to him. The Lords therefore, on 4th July 1483, continued the action, giving him to the 12th of October following, with continuation of days, for the production of his proof of this allegation.^[19] On the 12th of October following, the Lords Auditors, in presence of Lady Luss and of Humphrey’s procurators, decreed that as Humphrey had failed to prove, as he had offered, that the debts of his deceased father exceeded the quantity and avail of his moveable goods, he should make the above payments to Lady Luss.^[20]

In reference to another action by Humphrey’s stepmother against him, the Lords Auditors, on 19th October 1484, decreed that he, as heir of his father, should pay to her the sum of £5, 10s., because he granted in presence of the Lords that he had recovered the sum of £11 from John Oliphant of the Dron, by reason of an obligation made to his deceased father; and with regard to the half of the sum of 55 merks which she claimed from him, by reason of another obligation which she alleged had been made by the said John Oliphant to her deceased husband, Sir John, but which Humphrey affirmed had been made to himself as his proper debt, and not to his father, the Lords assigned to her the 14th day of January following, with continuation of days, to prove that the obligation of 55 merks had been made to her deceased husband, and not to Humphrey.^[21]

Humphrey next appears as the prosecutor of his stepmother. He pursued an action against her for being relieved from the payment of the half of the debts contained in his deceased father’s testament. On 21st October 1484, when the action came before the Lords Auditors, she alleged that she ought to have the half of the moveable goods of her deceased husband, Sir John, according to the decreet of the Lords of Council given before, and also that he had more moveable goods than were contained in his testament. Humphrey, on the other hand, affirmed that she had got the half of the goods, and ought to relieve him of the half of the debts. The Lords, therefore, assigned to Humphrey the 14th day of January next, with continuation of days, to prove that she had got the half of Sir John’s moveable goods, and also assigned to her the same day to prove what moveable goods Sir John had, besides what were contained in his testament.^[22]

Another action was pursued by Humphrey against his stepmother, touching the reparation and upholding of certain tenements in the Canongate of Edinburgh, the burghs of Stirling and Dumbarton, and the destruction of his place and orchard of Dunglas, belonging to him in heritage, and to her in liferent, by reason of conjunct infeftment and terce. The case having been brought before the Lords of Council on 25th October 1484, their Lordships decreed that she should uphold the said lands and tenements, place, and orchard yearly, during her lifetime, in a state of as good repair as they were in when she received them after the death of her husband, and, if necessary, that she should be annually compelled to do so, or else to give them over to Humphrey, as heir, to be built at his own pleasure.^[23]

On 24th January 1484-5, the Lords referred the action betwixt Elizabeth Dunbar and Humphrey Colquhoun of the Luss, her stepson, with regard to the goods of the deceased Sir John that were not put in his testament, and also with regard to the payment of his debts, and the party by whom they should be paid, to be determined before the “spirituale Juge ordinar,” who had power to make executors-dative.^[24]

This is the last entry in the Acts of the Lords Auditors and Lords of Council respecting the differences between Humphrey and his stepmother. We may therefore conclude that this decreet would result in the termination of their disputes concerning their civil rights, and that henceforth they lived on amicable terms.

The lands of the barony of Sauline, in the shire of Fife, having been redeemed from Humphrey Colquhoun, to whose father they had been sold by David Haliburton, by charter and sasine under reversion, the Lords Auditors, on 14th October 1484, decreed that Humphrey Colquhoun, who had granted that he had received the sum to be paid according to the letter of reversion, should constitute procurators, and make a letter of procuratory under his seal, to resign into the King’s hands these lands in favour of David Haliburton.^[25]

A dispute arose betwixt Humphrey Colquhoun and Gabriel of Towris on the one part, and Alexander Hepburn of Whitesome on the other, with respect to the mails and duties of the third part of the lands of Granton for the past nine years, and as to other matters. The litigating parties agreed in choosing arbiters, who might settle their differences; and, on 1st March 1489, their procurators, having appeared before the Lords of Council, became bound, the holy evangels touched, to stand by the sentence of the arbiters concerning all actions and controversies betwixt the said parties. The arbiters were to deliver their sentence betwixt that date and Pasche following.^[26]

During the time of Humphrey Colquhoun, Mr. Robert Erskine was parson of Luss. A misunderstanding took place between this ecclesiastic and the proprietor of Luss, who, it appears, would not permit him to uplift the fruits and teinds of the kirk of Luss. Mr. Erskine accordingly summoned Humphrey to appear before the Lords of Council to answer for wrongously disturbing him in taking up the teinds, fruits, and duties of that kirk, and also for causing the Bishop of Argyll, Humphrey’s brother, to intromit with the fruits thereof. On 9th July 1489, Mr. Erskine being personally present, and Humphrey lawfully summoned and ofttimes called, and not compearing, the former produced an instrument, signed by Sir Cuthbert Muligane, public notary, showing that Humphrey would not suffer him to intromit with the said fruits and teinds. The Lords therefore ordained that letters should be written charging Humphrey and his brother, the Bishop of Argyll, to desist from all vexation of Mr. Erskine in future in the parsonage of Luss, and in the reception of the teinds and fruits thereof; and that the bishop should restore to him the teinds and fruits of that kirk, in so far as he had intromitted therewith.^[27]

It had been enacted by King James the First that all barons and lords having lands and lordships near the sea, on the west parts, and especially opposite the Isles, should have galleys, and should maintain them. In obedience to this enactment, the lairds of Luss had provided themselves with this means of self-defence.^[28]

When King James the Fourth, after the suppression of the rebellion raised against him by the Earl of Lennox and others, and the surrender to him of the Castle of Dumbarton, made Dumbarton one of the west coast stations for the navy, which he sedulously employed himself in collecting and strengthening, mention is made of a ship which he purchased from the Laird of Luss, and which was repaired and equipped in Dumbarton. In the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland connected with Dumbartonshire is the following entry:—“1489, December 3. To the Larde of Laucht [Luss] for the schip boycht fra him to the Kingis vse, i^cxxx^li.”

A lease of the lands of Furlinbrek and Finnard, in the county of Dumbarton, was granted to Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss by James Douglas of Lethcamrach. After the death of the granter, the Lords Auditors, on the 11th February 1489, decreed that William of Douglas of Lethcamrach, as heir to the deceased James of Douglas, his father, should warrant and keep to Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss the lease of these lands for all the terms to come, contained in the letter of lease produced before the Lords, and admitted by the said William.^[29] But these lands neither James Douglas, nor his son William, it appears, had a right to lease. They had been occupied and manured for six years past by Walter Buchanan of that Ilk, who had received a lease of them from Simon Makclere of Finnard. A litigation arose in consequence between the parties whose claims were conflicting. Humphrey Colquhoun pursued an action before the Lords of Council against Walter Buchanan of that Ilk and the said William of Douglas, for the wrongous occupation and manuring of the lands of Finnard and Furlinbrek by the former for seven years past. When this action was brought before the Lords of Council, on 11th March 1490, Walter Buchanan claimed the lands as belonging to him by reason of a lease from Simon Makclere of Finnard, and produced a letter of lease, dated 15th March 1482, for the term of nineteen years. Humphrey produced another lease of the same lands for the terms of seven years, granted to him by James Douglas of Lethcamrach, dated 8th November 1483.^[30] The case remained suspended for several years. But, on 1st March 1491, the Lords of Council decided in favour of Walter Buchanan of that Ilk, and ordained that William Douglas of Lethcamrach should warrant and defend to Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss the lease of the lands of Finnard and Furlinbrek by granting to him the lease of as much and as good and profitable land, in as competent a place, for such terms and mails as were contained in the lease made to him by the late James Douglas of Lethcamrach.^[31]

Humphrey Colquhoun was a member of the Parliament of Scotland which, soon after the accession of King James the Fourth, assembled at Edinburgh in October 1488. That King, while Prince of Scotland, and yet in his minority, became involved in the conspiracy entered into by a faction of the nobles and barons against his father, King James the Third, and the issue of which was that the King was killed, 11th June 1488, at Sawchie, after a battle fought between him and the conspirators.^[32] The more effectually to secure themselves from the consequences of this conspiracy, King James the Fourth and the nobles and barons implicated were anxious to obtain an acquittal from Parliament, and they procured without difficulty a vote to the effect that the death of the late King was to be imputed solely to himself and to his evil counsellors, and that the new Sovereign and his adherents, who had borne arms against him, were to be held free from all blame on that account.^[33] King James the Fourth was quite young when these occurrences took place. In his riper years he is said to have shown much remorse on account of the part he was made to play against his father; and by way of penance he wore an iron girdle about his body.

A charter was granted by Humphrey Colquhoun, 4th June 1489, of his one merk land of Corechenaghane, in the county of Dumbarton and barony of Luss, to Dugall Makcoul, son of the deceased Duncan Makcoul. These lands belonged heritably to Malcolm Makcoul, Dugall’s brother, and Katharine Colquhoun, Malcolm’s spouse, and were by them resigned into the hands of Humphrey, to be held by the said Dugall of the granter.^[34]

After having been Laird of Colquhoun for fifteen years, Humphrey died on or about the 19th of August 1493, as appears from the retour, by which his son John was served heir to him, dated 19th November in that year, and which narrates that the true heir had failed to prosecute his right for three months or thereby.^[35] It does not appear that the honour of knighthood was ever conferred upon this laird of Luss.

Humphrey was twice married. His first wife was Jean, daughter of Thomas Lord Erskine,^[36] by whom he had five sons and two daughters. He married, secondly, Marion, daughter of William Baillie of Lamington, and relict of John third Lord Somerville. This lady was married to Lord Somerville in March 1456, being his second wife, and to him she had a son, Sir John Somerville of Quothquan, the first baron of Cambusnethan, who had the reputation of being “a complete gentleman,” and who afterwards fell at Flodden, in 1513, and a daughter, Mary, who married Sir Stephen Lockhart of Cleghorne. Lord Somerville’s children by his first wife, dame Helen Hepburn, daughter of Lord Hailes, were a son, William Somerville of Carnwath, and Helen, who married Sir John Jardine of Aplegirth.^[37] Marion Baillie figured on the occasion of her son Sir John’s bringing home his bride, Elizabeth Carmichael, half-sister to Archibald fifth Earl of Angus, commonly called “Bell-the-cat,”^[38] to Cowthally Castle. The infare^[39] was to be honoured by King James the Fourth, then in the eighteenth year of his age, and he was met near Inglestoun Bridges by Sir John Somerville of Quothquan, with some fifty gentlemen of his own name, and his father’s vassals, who conducted him to the castle. When distant from it nearly a quarter of a mile, his Majesty and his whole retinue alighted and walked on foot. “At the outter gate of the castle,” says the author of Memorie of the Somervilles, “Dame Marie^[40] Baillzie, then Lady Somerville, being at this tyme not above the fortieth and sexth year of her age,^[41] with her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Carmichaell, Sir John of Quathquan’s lady, the Lady Aplegirth, the Lady Cleghorne, the Lady Carmichaell, and the Captaine Craufuird’s lady, with a great many others, that both by affinitie and consanguinitie wer related to the house of Cowthally, with severall other ladyes, wer ther present to wellcome his Majestie to the infare, and make the intertainement more splendid.” “What ther fare was,” adds the same author, “needs not to be discoursed upon; it is enough to know it was in Cowthally house, where three of his Majestie’s predecessores had been intertained before, and his successor King James the Fyfth often. How long his Majestie continued in Cowthally I cannot be positive, but by the chamberlane’s and steward’s accompts I find ther was noe fewer beastes killed then fyftieth kyne, two hundered sheep, fourtieth bolles of malt, and of meall sexteinth, of butter twentieth stone, spent at this infare, besyde fishes, tame and wilde foull, in such abundance, that both the King and the nobilitie declared they had not seen the lyke in any house within the kingdome.”^[42] Marion Baillie became a widow in the year 1491, John Lord Somerville having died in November that year.

The date of her marriage with Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss is uncertain. To him she had no issue, and she soon became a widow a second time.

Marion Baillie appears to have been a lady of much good sense and warm affections. Solicitous to do her duty in every circumstance in which she was placed, she did not allow her affection to her own children to sway her to do anything unjust towards the children of her first husband by his first wife, and by them she was respected and beloved. After the death of her stepson, William Somerville, Baron of Carnwath, in the year 1488, she evinced a motherly interest and tenderness in his infant children, John, afterwards fourth Lord Somerville, who had not completed his fourth year, and Hugh, afterwards fifth Lord Somerville, who was scarcely two years of age. The author of Memorie of the Somervilles relates that, in 1510, “Hugh being at Edinburgh with his step-grandmother, who was the second tyme a widow, by the death of her second husband, the Laird of Lusse, was resolved to goe abroad, but could obtain non of his freinds’ consent; particularly his step-grandmother, who was very kynde to him, even in oppositione to her owne sone, Sir John of Quathquan,^[43] diswaded him from that resolutione.”^[44]

The sons of Humphrey Colquhoun by his first wife were—

The daughters of Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss by Jean Erskine were—

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Lady Elizabeth Stewart (of Lennox), his first wife.

Margaret Cunningham (of Craigends), his second wife.

Sir John Colquhoun succeeded his father Humphrey in the year 1493. On the 30th of September that year, he was served heir to him in the lands of Garshake, within the territory and liberty of the burgh of Dumbarton.^[1] On the 19th of November following, he was also served heir to him in the half of the lands of Kilmardinny, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Stirling. In the retour the lands are said to be worth at that time eight merks, and in time of peace forty shillings,^[2] and to be in the hands of the Earl of Lennox, the superior, by reason of the death of the late Humphrey Colquhoun, the true heir having failed to prosecute his right for three months or thereby.^[3] On the 31st of December thereafter, Sir John was, on a precept of sasine from the Chancery of King James the Fourth, infefted, as heir of his father, in the lands of Inverlieple and Cayveland, in the shire of Argyll.^[4] A precept of clare constat, without date, by Cuthbert Earl of Glencairn and others, his Majesty’s bailies, was granted for infefting him, as heir of his father, in the lands of Bordland of Kilmaronock, in the shire of Dumbarton.^[5]

In the same year he paid of relief duties four cheeses, for the King’s common army, upon the ground of the lands of the barony of Luss, by duplication of the blench-farm of the same; £40 for the lands of Colquhoun; £9 for Garscube; £10 for Salquhy [Salachy]; and £10 for Glinns.^[6]

As heir of his father, Sir John was, on 23d May 1494, also infefted in the half of the lands of Kilmardinny;^[7] on 1st July in the same year, in a tenement of land, an annual rent of 16s., and a piece of waste land, all in the Canongate, Edinburgh;^[8] and on 28th April 1496, in the mill of Sauline.^[9]

After his father’s death, Sir John was involved in a litigation with David Haliburton about a part of the barony of Sauline, in the shire of Fife, namely, the lands and mill of Bordland. They had been wadset by his grandfather, Sir John, and redeemed from his father by David Haliburton, who now claimed them, and who had obtained from Andrew Ayton, Sheriff-depute of Fife, an inquest for declaring him heir of these lands and the mill thereof. But this claim Sir John contested; and on 22d October 1493, by his procurator, he solemnly protested in the Sheriff-Court, held at Cupar in Fife by that Sheriff-depute, that what had been done by that inquest should not be prejudicial to his rights to the lands and mill of the Bordland, inasmuch as the letters of inquest obtained by him from the Royal Chancery had been proclaimed and served in the head Court after the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, before the Sheriff of Fife, or his deputes, and also because his father, Humphrey Colquhoun, died vested and seised in the said lands and mill; and farther, because he himself and his father had peaceably possessed them for the space of twenty-five years.^[10] Sir John obtained, in 1495, a reduction of the retour of David Haliburton.^[11]

On 6th October 1494, Sir John Colquhoun let to James Abercrombie, burgess of Stirling, a tenement of land, with the garden and croft there, for rendering yearly to the Crown the ferm due and wont; to the granter, £3, 13s. 4d. Scots; to the chaplain of the altar of the Holy Cross in the parish church of Stirling, 6s. 8d. Scots; and to the chaplain of the altar of the Blessed Virgin, situated in the same church, 6s. 8d. Scots.^[12]

Sir John married, about the year 1480, Elizabeth Stewart, daughter (apparently the youngest) of John Lord Darnley, afterwards first Earl of Lennox, of the name of Stewart, by his spouse Margaret, daughter of Alexander second Lord Montgomerie, ancestor of the Earls of Eglinton; a matrimonial alliance by which he was enabled to make valuable additions to his estate of Luss. From Matthew second Earl of Lennox, his wife’s brother, Sir John Colquhoun received a charter, dated 17th April 1496, of the lands of Auchingache, Larg of Glenfruin, Auchenvennel, Stuckiedow, and Blairhangane, all in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, in liferent, as the dowry of his spouse, Elizabeth Stewart.^[13] On the 6th of April 1498, Sir John Colquhoun and Elizabeth Stewart, his spouse, obtained from King James the Fourth a charter of the ten pound lands of Garscube, with the mill thereof, in the same earldom and shire.^[14] Sir John, on the 6th of June 1498, was, on a precept of sasine by Matthew second Earl of Lennox, infefted in the six merk and a half land of Ballernick-mor, in the same earldom; which the Earl had sold to him.^[15]

On 7th December 1497, Archibald second Earl of Argyll, who is designated “master of the household to our sovereign lord,” King James the Fourth, renounced and overgave to John Colquhoun of Luss and his heirs the right of conjunct infeftment of the lands of the Bordland of Sauline, which belonged to Elizabeth Countess of Argyll, the Earl’s mother, and to himself by her donation. In the writ Sir John is designed “fear” of these lands.^[16] On the 20th of February 1498-9 he had a charter from John Porterfield of that Ilk of an annual rent of sixteen merks from the lands of Cors-ragal,^[17] Chapeltoun, and the Schelis, in Lanarkshire, for a certain sum of money paid to the granter.^[18] In 1500 he obtained from Matthew second Earl of Lennox a charter of the lands of Letterwald-mor and Stuckinduff, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton.^[19] Some two years after, he purchased from Patrick Macgregor of Ardinconnal the middle third of the lands of Ardinconnal;^[20] and from William Douglas of Ladcamroch the lands of Finnard, Portincaple, and Forlingbrek, all in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton.^[21]

Sir John’s grandfather, Sir John, had acquired, in 1465, the half of the lands of Kilmardinny. The other half was acquired about 1440 by Donald Lennox of Ballincoroch. But this half of these lands now became the property of Sir John. He paid to John Lennox of Ballincoroch the sum of 100 merks and £3 Scots for the reversing and giving over of the half of the lands in Kilmardinny, as appears from the discharge by John Lennox, dated 23d February 1505.^[22] On 6th April 1506, he was, upon a precept of sasine by Matthew second Earl of Lennox, infefted in these lands.^[23] Thus did Sir John become proprietor of the whole of the five pound lands of Kilmardinny, which, as we shall afterwards see, he gave as a portion to one of his sons. He acquired in the same year four perches of land in the burgh of Dumbarton;^[24] and in the year following he was infefted in the mill of Auldemyll, in Letterwald, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton.^[25]

Some years after, Sir John purchased from Alexander second Earl of Menteith the lands of the two Carucates, extending annually to ten pounds of lands of old extent, and the lands of Cragwihte, extending annually to five pounds of lands of old extent, in the earldom of Menteith and shire of Perth; of which a charter was granted to him by that Earl, dated 13th July 1512.^[26]

Sir John Colquhoun’s name appears in the sederunt of the Privy Council, at Edinburgh, 24th September 1512, when the action pursued by Robert Lord Crichtoun against William Douglas of Drumlanrig, for being art and part in the slaughter and murder of the deceased Robert Crichtoun of Kirkpatrick, who was killed on 30th July 1508, on the sands of Dumfries, in the fight between the Maxwells and Crichtouns, came before the Lords of Council. The Lords, in presence of the King, decreed that the accused should be put to the knowledge of an assize before the King or his justice, criminally; and they also found that the said Robert was the King’s rebel, and at the horn at the time of his slaughter. Both the prosecutor and the prosecuted were willing that the Lords of Council should be upon the assize. Sir John was not, however, present when the assize, on the 30th of September, delivered their verdict acquitting William Douglas, because it was found that Robert Crichtoun at the time he was slain was his Majesty’s rebel, and at his horn.^[27]

The Campbells of Argyll, Glenurchy, and Breadalbane had been long at feud with the Macgregors; and, towards the close of the 15th century, and in the beginning of the 16th, so far had they carried their hostility against them, that they had succeeded in reducing, and even in almost extirpating many of the best families of that name. But at the very time that the hatred between the Campbells and the Macgregors was most intense, the Colquhouns and the Macgregors, it would appear, were on the best of terms. Patrick Macgregor of Ardinconnal was a tenant of Sir John Colquhoun’s; and in a bond granted to him for forty merks, 3d May 1513, he styles him his “dearest master.”^[28] But if this is to be taken as indicating the existence of a good understanding between the Colquhouns and the Macgregors at the beginning of the sixteenth century, these friendly relations, to whatever extent they went, did not, as we shall afterwards see, long continue.

In the year 1513, Sir John Colquhoun obtained from Angus Campbell of Ardoch Campbell a charter of an annual rent of five merks from the lands of Ardoch Campbell, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, dated 8th May in that year;^[29] and he was infefted therein on the 5th of July following.^[30] In the same year he purchased from Robert Nore of Tarbart the two merk lands of old extent of Tullichintaull, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton.^[31] He also received from Matthew second Earl of Lennox a charter of the lands of Forlingcareche, and of the lands of Blairwardane, in the said earldom and shire, and was infefted in them on the 12th of the same month.^[32]

This was the last transaction which has been traced between Sir John Colquhoun and his brother-in-law, Matthew Earl of Lennox. Shortly after, namely on 9th September 1513, was fought the fatal battle of Flodden, to which that Earl had accompanied King James the Fourth, with whom he was in great favour, and at which, with many other nobles, he was slain with his sovereign.

On 25th August 1515, Sir John Colquhoun entered into an agreement with Christian Douglas, the widow of Henry Thomson, sometime Lyon-King of Arms,^[33] with respect to an annual rent of five merks, which was due to him as heir of his father, from the lands of Kellor, Menslesmure, and Farnyslaw, in the barony of Dirlton and shire of Edinburgh. He agreed, provided payment of that annual rent, of which he had received nothing since the entry of Henry Thomson and Christian Douglas, his spouse, to the said lands, was made to him in time to come, to remit to Christian, to whom these lands now belonged, by reason of conjunct infeftment, through the decease of her husband, all annuals owing to him for the terms bygone, and she bound herself to make payment thereof.^[34] An annual rent, in which Sir John was infefted on 8th February 1515-16, consisting of ten merks Scots, to be raised from a tenement of land in the town of Leith, on the south side of the Water of Leith, in the barony of Restalrig, and shire of Edinburgh, is worthy of special notice, from the parties by whom the precept was given. These were the celebrated historian, “Hector Boece, Principal of the College of the University of Aberdeen, the prebendaries and bursars of the same, lords superior of the lands and annual rents of the house of St. Germains, in Lothian, of the Order of the Jerusalem Crossbearers.” It is addressed to their bailies, among whom is Malcolm Colquhoun, but not designed.^[35]

In the year 1516, Sir John Colquhoun purchased from Richard Lekky of that Ilk his five merk land of Letterbeg, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, and obtained from him a charter of these lands, dated 5th September that year.^[36] In the following year, he obtained from John third Earl of Lennox a charter of the lands of Strone, at the head of Glenfruin, in the same earldom and shire.^[37] On 24th January 1518, he was, on a precept of sasine from the same Earl, infefted in the lands of Mamore and Mambeg, also in the earldom of Lennox.^[38] In the same year, he purchased from John Makcauslan of Kilbride his two merk lands of Eastern Kilbride, and his one merk land of Middle Kilbride;^[39] and from Richard Lekky of that Ilk, in that year, the lands of Little Drumfad;^[40] and in 1519 the lands of Rachane and Altermony, all in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton.^[41]

On the death of King James the Fourth at Flodden, his son and successor, King James the Fifth, being a child of little more than one year old, the Queen Mother, Margaret daughter of King Henry the Seventh of England, was declared Regent of the realm. At the same time John Duke of Albany was summoned from France to Scotland, and chosen governor and protector of the infant Prince and kingdom, by a Convention of the Estates.^[42] During the delay of the arrival of the Duke of Albany, the Earl of Arran assumed the office of Regent. In this assumption he was supported, among others, by John third Earl of Lennox, the Master of Glencairn, and Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, whose wife was the paternal aunt of the Earl of Lennox.

Sir John Colquhoun joined these noblemen in a successful attempt to seize the castle of Dumbarton. During a stormy night in January 1514, they found their way into the castle, and expelled from it Lord Erskine, by whom it was held for the Queen Mother’s party; and though the Earl of Arran was frustrated in his usurpation of the regency by the arrival of the Duke of Albany in Scotland, they continued to hold the castle of Dumbarton until it was surrendered by the Earl of Lennox, who, having fallen into the hands of his opponents, and having been imprisoned in the castle of Edinburgh, could obtain his liberation only on condition of his surrendering it.

After the departure of the Duke of Albany for France in 1524, King James the Fifth, who was then only thirteen years of age, was invested with the supreme authority, but the government was in reality in the hands of the Earls of Arran, Lennox, and Morton. A pardon was therefore now easily obtained for Sir John Colquhoun of Luss and others, who had taken part in the capture of the castle of Dumbarton. On the 11th of July 1526, a “respite was granted to Sir John Colquhon of Luce, Knight, Patrick Colquhon, John Logan of Balvey, Walter and Robert his sons, George Buchquhanan of that Ilk,” and twenty-nine others, for “their tressonabill asseging, taking, and withhalding of our souerane lordis castle and fortalice of Dumbertene fra his servandis, keparis thairof.” On the 16th of July following, a respite “was granted to Glencairn and others.”^[43]

The fate of Sir John’s relative, the Earl of Lennox, may be briefly told: He had formerly been the firm ally of the Earl of Angus, but the ambition and excesses of that nobleman having roused his indignation, he separated from him, and determined to rescue the King from the power of Angus, who held him almost a prisoner. In furtherance of this determination, he fortified in 1526 the castle of Dumbarton and other places of strength. He next raised an army of nearly 10,000 men, intending to enter the capital and to rescue his sovereign. He was met by the forces of the Earl of Angus at the river Aven, near Linlithgow; and the Earl of Arran, now the opponent of Lennox, who held a prominent place in Angus’s army, having seized the bridge over that river, about a mile to the west of the town, Lennox’s troops, in attempting to cross a difficult ford on the river, were thrown into disorder, and exposed to a severe fire. They, notwithstanding, effected the passage, and on the opposite bank they attacked the enemy with great gallantry; but not having recovered from the confusion into which they had been thrown, they were completely routed. Lennox was among the slain; and it is said that he was killed, after he had been made prisoner, or had surrendered, by Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, natural son of the Earl of Arran. Arran did himself credit by the humanity and generosity which, on this occasion, he displayed. Covering the body of the Earl, who was his uncle, with his cloak, he kneeled over it and touchingly exclaimed, that the wisest and bravest knight in Scotland had been slain that day.^[44]

In those rude times, when men were peculiarly prone to violence and rapine, and when, law and order being but imperfectly maintained, this propensity, especially where inveterate enmities existed between families, often burst forth in lawless and even sanguinary deeds, men’s properties and lives were much less secure than in the happier days in which we live. This state of insecurity gave rise to the adoption of a means of defence then quite common,—the formation of bonds of friendship or manrent, in which vassals and their chiefs pledged their honour and fidelity to each other; the former to take part in the lawful quarrels of the latter in all causes and against all persons, the sovereign excepted, and the latter to protect the former. In the year 1527, a bond of this description was made between Sir John Colquhoun and his son and apparent heir, Humphrey Colquhoun, and Andrew Lord Evandale, as having the ward of the lands of the earldom of Lennox, the heir of which, Matthew fourth Earl of Lennox, who had succeeded on the death of his father, which has just now been related, being a minor. The bond is in the following terms:—

“2 November 1527.—The quhilk day Johne Napar of Kilmahew and Patrick Culquhoune, paris clerk of Erskyne, haffand credens of ane noble mane, Schir Johne Culquhoun of Luss, Knycht, in writ, etc., tuk vpone thaim at the said Schir Johne, and Vmphra Culquhone, sone and apperand air to the said Schir Johne of Luss, sal mak ane band of kyndis to tak part wytht ane noble and mychty Lord, Andrew Lord Awendale, and dow for the said Lord, wytht kying and fryndis, in all honest and leful actiones and quereles, for the tyme of the ward of the landis of the Leuenex, befor ony vtheris personis, excepand the our Souerand Lord the Kingis grace. And, siclyk, the forsaid Lord Awendale dowand for the saidis Schir John Culquhone and Vmphra Culquhone his sone and apperand air, induryng the tyme of the said ward in all actions and quereles as is abone expremit, and all the barnis of the said Schir Johne, at hes the ward landis of the said Lord, [shall] cum, and his men and seruandis, for the tyme of the said ward, excepand the Kingis grace, and efter the tyme of the said ward dowand seruice to the said Lord before ony vther, excepand the Kingis grace, and my Lord of Leuenex, the said Lord of Awendale defendand thaim aganis all vtheris personis, excepand the Kingis grace and my Lord of Leuenex. Facta fuerant hec,” etc.^[45]

In the same year Sir John Colquhoun and his sons, Archibald and David, purchased the eight merk land of Finnard, Portincaple, and Forlingbrek, and the forty shilling land of Little Drumfad, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, from Andrew Lord Evandale, who had from the Crown the ward lands and non-entries thereof. Sir John and his sons, Archibald and David, were to be secured and defended by Lord Evandale in the peaceable possession of the said ward lands and non-entries thereof, with their mails and duties, during the period included in the contract of purchase, that is to say, during the time of the ward and non-entries of these lands, until the heir or heirs should be lawfully entered thereto. They obtained from him, 18th November 1527, a bond to this effect.^[46]

On 10th September 1528, Sir John received from King James the Fifth, for the good, true, and thankful service done to his Majesty, a gift of all bygone rents of the twenty merks worth of land of the Bordland of Sauline, that had been in the King’s hands, or in the hands of his predecessors through non-entry of the rightful heir.^[47] On 30th October 1531, he obtained from George Buchanan of that Ilk a charter of the lands of Kirkmichael-Buchanan, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton.^[48]

In order perhaps to concentrate his property in the upper part of the Lennox, and thus to strengthen his clan, Sir John, in 1533, sold to Laurence Craufurd of Kilbirny a considerable part of the lordship of Colquhoun, viz., Chapelton, Middleton, Milton, and the half of the mains of Colquhoun. In these lands, Laurence Craufurd was infefted on the 26th of September in that year, upon a precept of sasine from Sir John.^[49]

Not long after, Sir John purchased from Sir William Cunningham, Knight, son and heir-apparent of Cuthbert Earl of Glencairn, the half of his lands of Borland, in the barony of Kilmaronock and shire of Dumbarton, of which he received a charter, dated 13th January 1534-5.^[50]

The details now given, which spread over a period of nearly half a century, relate chiefly to the acquisition or purchase of lands, and show how extensively this Laird of Luss was engaged in family and property transactions. To these more private affairs he seems to have mainly devoted himself, apparently more ambitious to enlarge his possessions than to excel either as a statesman, a courtier, or a soldier. His name, however, repeatedly appears in connexion with the public transactions of his time. He was a member of the Parliament of King James the Fourth, held at Edinburgh in the year 1503, and of the Parliament of King James the Fifth, held at Edinburgh in the year 1525.^[51] He is ranked among the barons. His name appears in the sederunt of the Privy Council in 1512.^[52] He actively co-operated with John third Earl of Lennox in supporting the claims of the Earl of Arran to the regency during the minority of King James the Fifth, and in seizing the castle of Dumbarton. In the management of his affairs he acted with no common energy and shrewdness, and these qualities, directed to the enlargement of his estate, were certainly crowned with great success. His shrewdness he was indeed blamed for carrying so far as to deceive even those who, it might be supposed, would not have been easily overreached. In a notarial instrument, dated 1st November 1518, regarding a deposition to that effect, it is said: “On which day Donald Campbell, son of the deceased Colin Campbell, affirmed as follows:—The manneris and wais of the Laird of Luss begylit the Zerle of Ergill and the Zerle of Lennox baith. And upon this Sir George Fallusdale, chaplain, sought instruments,” etc.^[53] From this deposition, without founding upon it anything discreditable to Sir John, it may yet be inferred that in business transactions he was a match, or more than a match, for those who had the reputation of being endowed in no common degree with the attributes of self-interested caution and discretion.

Sir John was occasionally involved, both as a sufferer and as an aggressor, in those family feuds, and in the consequent spoliation of property by retaliation, which in his time, and for many generations after, were very frequent. Having been the victim of one of these feuds, he raised, in February 1514, a summons of spulzie against Robert Dennistoun of Colgrain, for having “harried” the mains of Luss and the mailing of Dumfyn of a number of cows, horses, and sheep belonging to him. At a later period he was proceeded against as the offending party in an affair of this description and had to make reparation. In 1531 he made composition before the Circuit Court of Justiciary in Dumbarton for being art and part in the rapine and oppression committed in 1527 upon John M’Kinlay, by taking several cows, oxen, and a horse from his lands of Ballinreich, which had in consequence lain waste and unlaboured ever since.^[54]

Sir John Colquhoun always maintained his loyalty as a subject, taking no part with those who formed intrigues and levied war against his sovereign. In the year 1529 he sent a present of venison and veal to King James the Fifth, for which ten shillings is entered in the Treasurer’s books as given to a servant of the Laird of Luss, by whom it was brought.^[55]

During the time of this laird the ecclesiastical livings of the parish of Luss were held by relatives of the house of Colquhoun. The rector of that parish, from 1513 till at least 1554, was Mr. James Colquhoun, who was a brother of John Colquhoun of Kilmardinny.^[56] He used the arms of Colquhoun of Luss, with a fleur-de-lis in base for difference.^[57] During his incumbency, Mr. Humphrey Colquhoun was parish clerk from 1520 to 1535, and Mr. Robert Colquhoun was vicar in 1524.

The only instance in which we have found the name of Sir John connected ecclesiastical matters is in a letter which he wrote in Latin to Gavin Dunbar, Archbishop of Glasgow, soliciting, on behalf of a clerk in whom he had taken a friendly interest, the patronage of the Archbishop. The following is a translation of the letter:—

“To the most reverend father in Christ our Lord, Lord Gavin, by the grace of God, and of the Apostolic Seat, Archbishop of Glasgow, or to any other Catholic bishop whomsoever, His humble and devoted son, John Colquhoun of Luss, Knight, All reverence and honour,—Reverend Father, since it is pious and meritorious to increase sacred ministers for the sacred mysteries, that the worship of Almighty God may be the more effectually performed, I, for this end, by this letter, present James Laing, clerk, the bearer hereof, born in your diocese, imbued with letters, graced with good manners, legitimate by birth, and free from all vice or canonical impediment, and who may be gradually and lawfully promoted to all sacred orders, with a right to £10, to be raised and received annually from my lands of Colquhoun, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, until God from your paternity shall provide him with a richer benefice, supplicating your paternity, that from love and at my prayers you would graciously vouchsafe to promote the foresaid James, by the imposition of your sacred hands, to all orders not yet received by him, according to the exigency of the times. In testimony whereof my seal is appended to the presents, together with my manual subscription, at Rosdow, on the 30th of August 1534, before these witnesses, Master Adam Colquhoun, David Colquhoun, my carnal sons, Robert Galbraith, and Sir Malcolm Stewinsone, chaplain, with divers others.

^[58]

The last purchase of lands which was made by Sir John was that of the lands of Letterpeyne, Peywinauthir, Cloudnocht, and Auchinadde, in the earldom of Carrick and shire of Ayr, from Alexander Kennedy of Bargany. But he died before he was put in possession of these lands, and his son and heir, Humphrey, was, upon a precept of sasine from the seller, dated 22d August 1536, infefted in them on the 30th of that month.^[59] In the precept of sasine he is designated “quondam Johannes Colquhoun de Luss miles.” He died shortly before the date of that precept. He was alive on the 4th of August 1535, but was then indisposed in health. This we learn from a notarial instrument, which narrates that on that day Thomas Charteris went into the personal presence of Sir John, within the place of Rossdhu, and showed him that, in prejudice of the properties and rights of them both, James Erskine of Little Sawchie had put an angular arch upon the aqueduct of the loch of Cultour; and that Sir John denied that this had been done with his permission; and that he consented that cognition should be taken in regard to the placing of that arch before the Sheriff of Stirling,—though, on account of divers impediments, he could not make the journey for the cognition to be taken,—on the understanding that thereby no prejudice should be done to his right to the lands of Sawchie, the fishings of the said lake of Cultour, and the aqueduct thereof.^[60]

Sir John was twice married. He married first, as has been seen before, Lady Elizabeth Stewart, fourth daughter of John first Earl of Lennox, of the house of Darnley. By this lady he had four sons and four daughters. The sons were—

The daughters of Sir John Colquhoun of Luss by Lady Elizabeth Stewart were—

Sir John Colquhoun married, secondly, Margaret, daughter of William Cunningham of Craigends. This lady survived him.

In the books of Adjournal of the High Court of Justiciary, there is the following entry regarding the waylaying of Lady Colquhoun:—“16th August 1536.—Walter Macfarlan found John Naper of Kilmahew and John Buntyne of Ardoche, as cautioners for his entry at the next Justice-aire of Dunbertane, to underly the law for art and part of convocation of the lieges in great numbers, in warlike manner, and besetting the way to Margaret Cunynhame, relict of vmquhile Sir John Culquhoune of Luss, knycht, and David Farnely of Colmistoune, being for the tyme in her company, for their slaughter, and for other crimes.”^[91] How this matter terminated is not known, as the records of the proceedings of the Justice-aires of Dumbarton at that period have not been preserved.

As the relict of Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, Margaret Cunningham was infefted, 16th September 1557, in an annual rent of forty shillings out of the barony of Colquhoun.^[92] She married, secondly, Adam Colquhoun of Blairvaddoch. She died on 15th June 1573. The testament testamentar and inventar of the goods, geir, sums of money and debts pertaining to her at the time of her decease, were faithfully made and given up by herself on the 22d day of February 1571, and after her death by Thomas and Mr. Archibald Colquhouns, her sons, whom she had nominated her executors-testamentars. Under the head of the debts which she owed are mentioned—“In the first the said umquhile Margaret grantit hir to be awand to Thomas Colquhoun for his bairns part of guid and proffett of his lands tane up be hir during his minoritie, £266, 13s. 4d. Item, to Mr. Archibald Colquhoun hir son for the same caus, £266, 13s. 4d. Item, to Bessie Colquhoun hir dochtir for the same caus, £133, 6s. 8d. Item, to Gelis Colquhoun hir dochtir, £133, 6s. 8d.”

The will is in the following terms:—

“I, dame Margaret Colquhoun, Lady Luss, haill in spirit and febill in body, subject to seikness and infirmities, makis my testament in manner and form as eftir follows:—Committis my saule to God Almightie, my body to be buriet in the kirk of Glasgow, in the sepulchre of umquhile my brodir, Mr. James Cunynghame, befoir all hallow altare, and makis and constitutis my executouris, my sons Thomas Colquhoun and Mr. Archibald Colquhoun, and my cousing Mr. Archibald Crawfurd, oversman, and they to dispone upon my guids conform to my lattir will as thai will answer thairupon before God. . . . .. (Small legacies). Item, to my cousing the person of Eglischem j^e. merkis, and ordanis the rest of my guids and geir to be disponit among my bairns—Thomas, Mr. Archibald, Bessie, and Gelis, at the sycht, discretion, and consideration of my said cousing, the parson, oversman: Dated 17th February 1571, before witnesses, Sir Robert Watson, vicar of Gleschart, Mr. Archibald Crawford, person of Egleschem, and William Fowlare.”^[93]

From this deed we learn that Sir John Colquhoun of Luss had by Margaret Cunningham two sons and two daughters. The sons were—

The daughters were—

Besides these children, Sir John had three sons, Patrick, Adam, and David, and a daughter, Margaret, who were probably illegitimate, as the term “carnalis” is applied to all of them. From their apparent ages, it may be concluded that they were born before the first marriage of Sir John.

[Skip footnotes]

Lady Catherine Graham (of Montrose), his wife.

Humphrey Colquhoun was an active man of business for a good many years before his accession to the family estates. On 4th October 1524, as son and apparent heir of Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, he compeared before John Napier of Kilmahew, Mr. Robert Colquhoun, vicar of the Kirk of Luss, Patrick Colquhoun, and others, judges-arbiters, and protested, that whatever they did should not prejudice him in time coming with regard to his lands of Correch Kenekan.^[1]

On 18th March 1525, Robert Colquhoun of Camstradden, and Patrick Colquhoun his brother, were bound and sworn to fulfil the decreet of Humphrey Colquhoun, son and apparent heir of Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, Knight, Walter Colquhoun, also son to the said Laird of Luss, and others, respecting all actions and debates. Among the witnesses were John Colquhoun, Humphrey Colquhoun, and Adam Colquhoun (scriba), writer.^[2]

Humphrey Colquhoun succeeded his father, Sir John, in 1536. As already observed, he was, on the 22d of August that year, infefted, as heir of his father, in the lands of Letterpeyne, Peywinauthir, Cloudnocht, and Auchinadde, in the earldom of Carrick and shire of Ayr.

On 6th August a precept was granted by George Buchanan of that Ilk for infefting Humphrey Colquhoun as heir of his deceased father, Sir John, in the lands of Salachy and Kirkmichael-Buchanan, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton; and he was infefted in these lands on 27th October following.^[3] Humphrey sold to Janet Galbraith, sister of the deceased Andrew Galbraith, his lands of Garshake, in the shire of Dumbarton, under reversion, on payment of one hundred merks Scots. Her letter of reversion, in which she designates him “ane nobill man my traist freind,” is dated at Rossdhu, 16th August 1536.^[4]

On 24th August 1536, Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss, as lord superior, granted to Robert Boyd, afterwards fourth Lord Boyd, and Margaret Colquhoun, daughter and heiress of John Colquhoun of Glinns, his spouse, a charter of the lands of Glinns, in Stirlingshire.^[5]

On 17th November 1537, a mandate was given by George fourth Earl of Rothes, Sheriff of Fife, to his bailie and officers of the said shire, conformably to a precept of sasine from the Chancery of King James the Fifth, to infeft Humphrey Colquhoun, as nearest and lawful heir of his father, the deceased Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, in the mill of Sauline, in the barony of Sauline and shire of Fife; and on 19th November Humphrey was infefted therein.^[6]

This is the last notice which has been found of Humphrey Colquhoun. He died about the end of January 1537-8, as appears from the retour of his son John, as heir to him, which is dated 30th April 1538, and which narrates that his father, Humphrey, died about three months previous to that date. It does not appear that he ever received the honour of knighthood, the designation of miles being never annexed to his name in any of the family writs. Having enjoyed the family inheritance only about a year and a half, he had not, at the time of his death, been served heir to, or completed his title to all his father’s extensive estates, as appears from his son Sir John having been served heir in many cases not to his father, but to his grandfather.

Humphrey Colquhoun married Lady Catherine Graham, daughter of William first Earl of Montrose, who fell at the battle of Flodden, on 9th September 1513. In his testament, which bears that he was slain apud Northumberland sub vexillo Regis, the earl acknowledged that he owed the Laird of Luss, on account of his daughter’s dowry,. . ., and the Laird of Luss younger, xxl.^[7] Of the marriage of Humphrey Colquhoun and Lady Catherine Graham there were four sous and two daughters. The sons were—

Christian Erskine, his first wife, 1535-1564.

Agnes Boyd, his second wife, 1564-1588.

This laird of Luss had been married only about two years previous to his accession to the family estates on the death of his father. The lady whom he espoused was Christian Erskine, daughter of Robert Lord Erskine, who was killed at Flodden in the year 1513, by his wife, Dame Elizabeth Campbell, Lady Erskine. The contract of marriage between John Colquhoun, younger of Luss, and Christian Erskine, is dated 25th January 1535, and the marriage was to be solemnized in the face of the holy kirk within twenty days thereafter. By the contract, Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss became bound to infeft his son John, and Christian Erskine his wife, in as much of the lands of Luss as would yield yearly 140 merks to them in liferent, and to the heirs-male of their marriage; and Lady Erskine became bound to pay to Humphrey Colquhoun 2000 merks of tocher with her daughter Christian.^[1]

Dame Elizabeth Campbell, designated “the relict of umquhil Robert Lord Erskine,” in a contract between her and Robert Master of Erskine, her grandson, dated 2d November 1535, assigned to him certain customs of Aberdeen, and rents of Garioch and Buchan, etc., extending in all to 100 merks yearly, until the sum of 600 merks which he had bound himself to cause to be paid to John Colquhoun of Luss, in name of tocher, should be fully paid out of them; and she resigned to her said grandson her moveable goods for his relief of that sum should she die before it was fully paid to him.^[2]

John Colquhoun was served heir to his father Humphrey in the mill of Sauline, on 30th April 1538; and the retour, as has been before observed, records that the death of his father had taken place about three months previous to that date. He received, on 30th June 1540, a gift of the non-entry duties of the lands and barony of Luss; and on 10th October 1541, he was, by a precept from the Chancery of King James the Fifth, infefted as heir of his paternal grandfather, Sir John, in the lands and barony of Luss, including the lands of Luss, Colquhoun, Garscube, Salachy, and Glen.^[3] On the 15th of the same month, a precept of clare constat was given by Mathew fourth Earl of Lennox, for infefting John Colquhoun as heir of his paternal grandfather in the lands of Achingaiche, with the Larg, Auchenvennel, Stuckiedow, and Blairhangane, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton.^[4] On the 26th of the same month, he was, on a precept of sasine by the same earl, infefted in the lands of Kilmardinny. Among the witnesses were John Colquhoun, son and heir of the deceased Walter Colquhoun of Kilmardinny, and Patrick Colquhoun in Kilmardinny.^[5]

The first trace of that enmity between the Macgregors and the Colquhouns, which at length became so inveterate, to be found in the Luss family writs, occurs in a document dated in the year 1541. So far back as the year 1527, one of the Macgregor clan, Patrick Macgregor of Laggarie, had despoiled the father of the then laird of Luss of a considerable number of oxen and cows. To obtain redress for this theft committed on his father’s property, John Colquhoun of Luss summoned him, on 27th December 1540, to appear before the Lords of the Privy Council, to hear their decreet, ordaining him, in terms of the summons, to restore to the pursuer eight oxen and twelve milk cows, or the price of them, with the profits of the same since the year 1527, when he had stolen them from the lands of Strone, in Glenfruin.^[6] And on 30th May 1541, Patrick Macgregor of Laggarie was, at the instance of John Colquhoun of Luss, inhibited from selling any of his lands or heritages until he had satisfied John for the spoil which he had reft from him.^[7] These proceedings we may not be entitled to consider as evidence of the existence of a formed feud between the Macgregors and the Colquhouns; but they are symptomatic of growing bad feelings between them, and they explain some of the causes which contributed to produce and to intensify the hatred which afterwards proved so disastrous to both. In the present instance the Macgregors were clearly the aggressors.

On 3d November 1541, John Colquhoun of Luss was again, as heir of his paternal grandfather, infefted in the lands of Ballernick-mor, Kilmardinny, and others,^[8] all in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, and held in chief of Matthew Earl of Lennox as the lord superior. The witnesses include Mr. Adam Colquhoun, John Colquhoun of Kilmardinny, John Colquhoun of Milton, Patrick Colquhoun of Ardinconnal, and David Colquhoun of Drumfad.^[9]

On 6th January 1541, the Laird of Luss obtained a charter of the lands and barony of Luss, with the castle of Rossdhu, the islands of Lochlomond, Inchelmocht, Incheconquhane, and Inchefreithillane, with the fishings in Lochlomond, the advowson of the church, and other pertinents of the barony of Colquhoun, with the manor of Dunglas, on the water of Clyde, and the lands of Garscube.^[10]

The Laird of Luss was superior of the lands of Barnhill, from which the name of a branch of the family of Colquhoun is taken. On 31st March 1543, John Colquhoun, in Milton of Colquhoun, and Janet Laing, his spouse, obtained from John Colquhoun of Luss a charter of the two merk lands of the west half of the lands of Barnhill, in the lordship of Colquhoun and shire of Dumbarton. The limitation in this charter is to the grantees and the heirs-male of their bodies, whom failing, to the heirs-male of the granter. On a precept by John Colquhoun of Luss, dated 28th April 1555, Janet Laing and Walter Colquhoun, her son, were on the following day infefted in the lands in liferent and in fee, respectively.^[11] John Colquhoun, in Milton, was in possession of the west half of the lands of Barnhill previous to the charter of 1543, as it proceeded on his own resignation of the lands. He is the first known proprietor of these lands bearing the name of Colquhoun. We have not been able to ascertain his descent from the chief house of Colquhoun, nor is there any document known to exist which shows how he originally acquired Barnhill. But as John Colquhoun was in possession of these lands, which formed part of the barony of Colquhoun previous to the year 1543, it may be presumed that they were originally granted as the possession of a younger son of the house of Colquhoun. This is corroborated by the uniform tradition in the family, that they are descended from a younger son of Colquhoun of Luss. The present proprietor of Barnhill, Neil Colquhoun Campbell, Esq., Sheriff of Ayrshire, has been told by an aunt, who is now upwards of ninety years of age, that such was an old tradition in the family. He has heard the same statement from her mother, Margaret Colquhoun, who died more than thirty years ago, as well as from his father, the late Alexander Campbell, Esq., who succeeded to Barnhill in the year 1827, on the death of his uncle, Walter Colquhoun, who was the last male Colquhoun of Barnhill in the direct line. The property has been in the family for upwards of three centuries.

The territory which the earldom of Lennox embraced contained in it four clans—the Buchanans, who inhabited the south-eastern shores of Lochlomond and the adjacent valleys—the Macgregors, who, identified with no native soil, led a wandering and predatory life among the straths and glens of Perthshire—the Macfarlanes, who occupied the mountainous district of Arrochar, and the Colquhouns, who peopled the fertile vales of Luss.

Common interests, it might be supposed, would have united these clans together. Had they been confederated, they must, from their addiction to predatory warfare, have proved very formidable and dangerous to their lowland neighbours. But, so far from strengthening themselves by union, they were almost constantly distracted by mutual animosities, and were so much occupied in wasting their strength against each other as to have neither time nor means to disturb the low country. So little regard was then paid to authority, the rights of property, and even the sacredness of human life, that a powerful chieftain, with his clan, would often, under the capricious impulse of rapacity, revenge, or other malignant passions, commit theft, rapine, and murder upon the families of another clan with which they were at feud.

The origin of these feuds goes back beyond the period of authentic history. In contemporary records they become most conspicuous in the latter part of the sixteenth century. Some of the conflicts to which these feuds gave rise have been deemed worthy of being told by our historians, but a much greater number are commemorated in the ballads and legends of our Highland glens.

The lairds of Luss had their own share in these family feuds, and had experience of the ruthless violence, spoliation, and oppression of which they were productive. They suffered from the Macfarlanes, who in those times were chiefly known by the hostile incursions which they made upon their neighbours in the southern valleys. Surrounded by their mountains, and difficult of access from want of roads, they were cut off from the rest of the world, and their very existence might have been forgotten but for their predatory excursions, which were often accompanied by fire and blood, proving that—

The Laird of Luss, of whom we are now writing, had, it would appear, in some way or other incurred the resentment of the Macfarlanes, to whom he was related by the marriage of his aunt, Katharine Colquhoun, with Duncan Macfarlane of that ilk, and of Arrochar. To retaliate some real or imagined wrong, or from the greed of plunder, large bodies of them repeatedly made hostile incursions into the lands of Luss.

In the month of February 1543, Robert Danzielston of Colgrain, Walter Makfarlane of Ardles, Andrew Macfarlane his son, and apparent heir, and others their accomplices, carried away from the Nether and Middle Mains of Luss sixteen cows which belonged to John Colquhoun of Luss, the price of each being seven merks.

In less than a year after, these marauders, to the number of several hundreds, made a more terrible invasion on the lands of Luss, murdering several of the tenants in their beds, despoiling both them and the laird, plundering their houses, and carrying off their sheep and cattle, besides committing depredations on other lands. The outrages perpetrated on that occasion are thus described in a complaint and representation made to the Government by the Laird of Luss, as contained in letters under the signet of Queen Mary, 21st December 1544:—“That Duncan M’Ferlane of Arrochare, Andro M’Ferlane, Robert M’Ferlane, and Duncan M’Ferlane, his fader, brether, Vir [Ewer] Campbel of [Strachur], James Stewart, son to Walter Stewart in Buckquidder, and certane vtheris, grete thevis, lymmaris, robaris, commoun sornaris appoun our liegis, throtcuttaris, murthuraris, slaaris of men, wiffis, and bairnys, and thair complices to the nomver of six hundred men with the maire, come to the said John’s landis and place of Rosdew, and landis and barony of Lus, and thare cruiellie slew and murdrest nyne of his pure tennentis in thair beddis, and hereit his hale cuntre, baith his self and his pure men, alswele of all insycht gudis within houss as of nolt and schepe, and vther bestiale, laitlie in the moneth of December instant, and dailie perseueris in plane reiff and sornyng vpoun the pure liegis of our realme, and ar gaderand to thaim ma thevis and lymmaris tending to hery the hale cuntre to Glasgow and Striueling, and thai be not resistit, in high contemptioun of our auctorite and lawis.”

But the judicial power of the Crown was then very feeble. By the combination of feudal lairds and their vassals, the administration of justice was greatly obstructed, and often rendered almost impracticable. So difficult was it to repress and punish these lawless banditti, that, as in the present instance, whole shires were summoned by the Government to unite and rise up to resist them, and bring them to condign punishment. This is only one of many other instances of the adoption of similar repressive measures to be found in the annals of our country at a period much more recent than that of which we now write.

The letters under the signet, above mentioned, are addressed to the Sheriffs of Argyll, Dumbarton, Renfrew, and Stirling, commanding them to summon all the lieges in these shires to muster and unite with John Colquhoun of Luss, and others who might assist him in resisting, apprehending, and bringing to punishment the perpetrators of these outrages. After narrating the facts already stated, the letters proceed:—“Our will is herefor, and we charge zou straitlie and commandis, that incontinent thir our lettrez sene ze pas to the mercat croces of our burrowis of the saidis schiris, and vtheris places nedfull, and thair be oppin proclamatioun command and charge all and sindry our liegis within the boundis of our saidis schirefdomes, to rys and cum togidder for resisting of the saidis thevis and robaris to sik partis as thai salhappin to cum vpoun, and that thai tak plane part with the saidis Johne, or ony vther gentilman that rysis for resisting of the saidis thevis and lymmaris, and tak and apprehend thame, and bring thame to our justice to be pvnist for thair demeritis conforme to our lawis.” Her Majesty’s letters further provided that, should any of the said thieves be slain in the attempts to apprehend them, no crime would attach to the parties killing them, and that all persons who should fail to obey the proclamation would be held as taking part with the said thieves and robbers, and would be punished accordingly.^[12]

In reference to the spoliation committed in February 1543, John Colquhoun of Luss, on 13th February 1550, obtained letters of diligence under the signet of Queen Mary, in a process of spulzie against the depredators, requiring them to compear before the Lords of Council at Edinburgh, on the 16th of March following, to answer “for the wranguis, wiolent, and maisterful spoliatioun be thame selfis, thair seruandis and complices in thair names” and away taking from the Nether and Middle Mains of Luss, “sixteen tydie kye,” the property of Sir John, which they refused to restore or to give him the value of in money.^[13]

The feud between the M’Farlanes of Arrochar and the Colquhouns of Luss appears to have been afterwards composed. In the year 156—, Andrew M’Farlane of Arrochar became cautioner for John Colquhoun of Luss for such sums of money as the Lords of Session should modify, to be paid to Humphrey Cunningham, in case the said John should not be able to disprove a pretended obligation produced or to be produced by the said Humphrey against him, alleged to have been made by his grandfather, Sir John Colquhoun of Luss.^[14]

On 23d January 1547-8, John Colquhoun of Luss was infefted in the lands of Stukintebirt, Glenloning, and Tullichintaull, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, his brother, Patrick Colquhoun, acting as his attorney.^[15] Some of the property transactions of this laird of Luss with Archibald fourth Earl of Argyll about this time may be noticed. These transactions were, in consequence of the forfeiture of Mathew fourth Earl of Lennox in 1545, by the Parliament of Scotland, for having treasonably conspired with Henry the Eighth, King of England, for the subjugation of Scotland, and for having invaded it.^[16] Upon that forfeiture the Earl of Argyll, who had firmly adhered to the Government, whilst others of the nobility had been guilty of repeated treasons, was rewarded with the largest share of the forfeited estates of the Earl of Lennox. He thus came to be connected with the lands of Colquhoun of Luss, of some of which the Earls of Lennox were the superiors, and in regard to many of which they had particular claims. John Colquhoun of Luss received from Archibald fourth Earl of Argyll a new charter and infeftment of the nine-merk lands of Mamore and Mambeg, which had formerly been held in chief of Mathew fourth Earl of Lennox, to be held of Argyll and his heirs. He granted to the same Earl of Argyll and his heirs several letters of reversion, all dated 8th December 1547, for the redemption of various lands, all in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, namely, the lands of Ballernick-mor, by payment of 380 merks; the lands of Blairvaddan and Feorlingcarryt, by payment of 360 merks; the lands of Auchingaicht, Auchenvennel-mor, Stuckiedow, and Blairhannan, by payment of 900 merks; the mill of Auld Donald, with the multures and mill-lands, by payment of £100;^[17] and the lands of Mamore and Mambeg, by payment of 400 merks. The Laird of Luss also granted to that Earl a reversion, dated 8th August 1549, for redemption of the five-merk land of Stroneratan, in the said earldom and shire, by payment of 700 merks.^[18]

On 5th December in the same year, he was, upon a precept of sasine by the Earl of Argyll, infefted in the lands of Stroneratan. Among the witnesses were Patrick Colquhoun of Ardinconnal, Mr. Adam Colquhoun of Blairvaddoch, and Adam Colquhoun, clerk of the parish of Kilpatrick.^[19]

During his possession of the estate of Luss, this laird had several opportunities of exercising his right as patron of the office of clerk of the parish church of Luss, in the diocese of Glasgow. That office having been vacant by the demission of Sir Thomas Henderson, chaplain, last clerk of the parish, the laird, having considered the merits, virtues, ability, and suitableness of Sir James Wright, chaplain, on 25th January 1551, elected him clerk of the parish of Luss (he being present and accepting the presentation), and invested him therein by the delivery of a vessel of hyssop, sprinkled with holy water, and other symbols of his election. This was done at the church of Luss at eight o’clock in the morning. Among the witnesses was Adam Colquhoun, brother-german of John Colquhoun of Luss.^[20] On 8th February following, a precept was given by John Stewart, canon of the Metropolitan Church of Glasgow, and Commissary-General thereof, to the Dean of Lennox, and to all and sundry ecclesiastical persons, presbyters, whether curates or not, and notaries, throughout the diocese of Glasgow, commanding that one or more of them, being lawfully requested, should go to the church of Luss, and give Sir James Wright actual possession of the office of clerk of that parish, and the rights belonging thereto, by the delivering of a vessel sprinkled with holy water, as the custom was.^[21]

This incumbent did not live to occupy this situation many years. In consequence of his death, the Laird of Luss, on 12th April 1556, presented a new clerk to the parish, the forms observed by him at this time being similar to those observed on the former occasion. On that day, in presence of a public notary and witnesses, he personally went to the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Luss, situated in the south part of the parochial church, and there, as undoubted patron, presented and invested Sir Thomas Henderson as a suitable person for the said office, by delivering to him a missal book, a cup, and other vestments of the altar, according to the form and tenor of the foundation thereof. This presentee, though bearing the same name as the chaplain who demitted in 1551, was probably a different person. Among the witnesses of this presentation were James Colquhoun, brother-german of John Colquhoun of Luss, Adam Colquhoun, rector of Kilpatrick-Juxta, and David Colquhoun of Drumfad.^[22]

Mr. John Laing succeeded Mr. James Colquhoun, formerly noticed as rector of Luss. He is so designated in the Register of Ministers in 1560. In 1556 he mortified a house and garden in Glasgow as a manse for the prebends of Luss, to be held for six merks yearly, to be paid to the choir of the cathedral, who were to be bound to say weekly masses for his soul, and that of his patron, John Colquhoun of Luss, and to have the city bells tolled, and wax tapers burned on the anniversary of his decease.^[23]

On 2d December 1552, a precept of clare constat was given by Robert, Commendator of Holyrood, for infefting John Colquhoun of Luss as heir of his grandfather, Sir John, in an annual-rent of ten merks, out of a tenement in the Canongate of Edinburgh, which then belonged to William Cunninghame of Aikinbar. With this annual-rent was conjoined a right of entertainment (jus hospitalitatis) in that house. The purport of this right may be learned from the precept, in which it is narrated “that the said William Cunningham of Aikinbar, his heirs and assignees, shall maintain and preserve the same tenement, before and behind, for the use and possession of John Colquhoun, his heirs and assignees, as it were for a lodging, in all time to come, and that the same William, his heirs and assignees, shall prepare, order, and procure for the said John, his heirs and assignees, three beds, with suitable clothes and ornaments, brazen and pewter vessels, tablecloths, towels, and other household articles, together with a stable, and whatever else is necessary to be had within the said tenement, at the cost of the said William, his heirs and assignees, whenever the said John Colquhoun and his heirs shall come to the said burgh of the Canongate, or stay there.”^[24]

This laird of Luss next appears as purchasing the eight-merk lands of Finnard, Portincaple, and Ferlingbrek, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, from Mathew Douglas of the Mains. A contract was entered into between them, dated 17th March 1553, whereby Mathew Douglas engaged to sell to John Colquhoun of Luss these lands, to be held of the Earl of Argyll, as superior thereof for the time, by whom, or by Mathew Earl of Lennox, in the event of his being restored to his lands and heritage of the Lennox,^[25] heritable infeftment should be given to him; and he further bound himself to deliver to the said John the reversion made by the late Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, Knight, to his (the seller’s) father, for the redemption of the forenamed lands.^[26]

John Colquhoun of Luss subsequently purchased from John Porterfield of that ilk his lands of Porterfield, in the barony and shire of Renfrew, of which he obtained a charter, dated 26th August 1554.^[27] He also purchased from Robert Graham of Knokdolyane his lands of Auldmerrok, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, of which he received a charter, dated 28th May 1555,^[28] and another dated 3d March 1560.^[29] These lands were sold to him, under reversion in favour of the seller, on his payment of 1200 merks Scots. He afterwards inhibited Robert Graham from redeeming them until the arrears of rents were paid with the reversion price. The tenants, from the date of the alienation of them for the space of two years or thereby, had paid the yearly rents and duties to the Laird of Luss. He refused, however, in respect of the above-mentioned inhibition, to give them discharges; but this he was decerned to do by the Sheriff Court of Dumbarton, on 28th April 1563.^[30]

In the year 1559, the Laird of Luss acquired the lands of Strone and Letter, in the barony of Luss and shire of Dumbarton. On 18th December 1558, he entered into a contract with Robert Colquhoun, son to the deceased Malcolm Colquhoun, by which the latter engaged to resign the five-pound lands of Strone and Letter into the hands of John Colquhoun of Luss in favour of him and his heirs; and for this resignation the said John became bound that, on the occurrence of a vacancy in the clerkship of Luss, he and his heirs should cause the person who should be appointed to that situation to pay yearly to Robert Colquhoun during his lifetime the sum of twelve merks Scots out of that clerkship.^[31] On the 29th of October 1559, Robert Colquhoun resigned the above-mentioned lands, in terms of the contract. In the instrument of resignation he is designed “Robart Culquhoun, the oy and air of vmquhill Wmfra Colquhoun of Letter;” and in explaining the circumstances which led to this resignation, it narrates that he, “of his avin fre motive vill on compellit or coactit and for certen sowmes of mone, gratutudis and gud dedis gevin to the said Robart in his vrgent necessite and mister, and for vpholding of him in met, drink, and cloythis be the space of twelff zeris or thairby, and siclik for the completing, fulfilling, and ending of ane contract maid betuix the said Robert and Johne Colquhoun of Lus.”^[32]

On 14th June 1559, this laird of Luss received a charter of the third part of the five-pound lands of Garscadden, in the shire of Dumbarton;^[33] and, on 9th November 1561, a precept was given by John Colquhoun of Kilmardinny for infefting him in an annual rent of £10 from the lands of Garscadden.^[34]

In the year 1559, John Colquhoun of Luss made other additions to his territorial possessions. His relative, John Colquhoun of Kilmardinny, having become involved in pecuniary difficulties, “takand respect of the said John Colquhoun off Killmerdonyis weill, rather nor his wter distructioun,” he was willing to relieve him. With this view a contract, dated 5th August 1559, was entered into between John Colquhoun of Luss and Adam Colquhoun, parish clerk of Kilpatrick, his brother-german, on the one part, and John Colquhoun of Kilmardinny on the other. By this contract the latter engaged for himself and his heirs to pay out of his lands yearly an annual rent of seventy merks to Adam Colquhoun during his lifetime, and to infeft him therein; and, in consideration hereof, John Colquhoun of Luss, to whom John Colquhoun of Kilmardinny was owing the sum of five hundred merks, discharged the latter of that sum, whilst the latter engaged to renounce his right and title to the lands of Durling, Stroneratan, Stuckinduff, Blairvaddoch, Letterwald-mor, and Ballernick-mor, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, to the said John Colquhoun of Luss.^[35] On 5th September 1559, John Colquhoun of Kilmardinny resigned in favour of John Colquhoun of Luss these lands, which belonged to the deceased David Colquhoun, brother-german and heir to the deceased Mr. Adam Colquhoun.^[36]

In 1564, the Laird of Luss purchased from Mathew fourth Earl of Lennox the reversion of the lands of Blairvaddoch and others,^[37] all in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, which had been sold to his grandfather, Sir John Colquhoun, by Mathew, second Earl, and John third Earl of Lennox, under reversion. On 3d February 1563-4, Mathew fourth Earl of Lennox granted him a renunciation and discharge of the reversions and bonds made in favour of his grandfather and father by the grandfather of John Colquhoun of Luss.^[38]

At the date of this writ that Earl was still under the sentence of forfeiture; but he was in high favour with Queen Mary; and his forfeiture was reversed, and his estates and honours restored, by an Act of the Parliament held at Edinburgh in 1564.

John Colquhoun of Luss was on the assize at the trial of Patrick Houston of that ilk, John Houston, elder, in Dumbarton, and others, for convocation of her Majesty’s lieges, and invasion of Andrew Hamilton of Cochno, before the Justiciary Court at Edinburgh, 15th June 1564. The assize, by their verdict, convicted all the persons at the bar except John Houston, elder, in Dumbarton, of coming upon Andrew Hamilton of Cochno, within the burgh of Dumbarton, on the 18th day of March last, where they beset him upon the Highgate thereof, and with drawn swords invaded him, and compelled him to take suddenly a house for defence of his life.^[39]

At the trial of John Henry, in Stirling, and others, for the slaughter of John Rae, in Bukeburne, in the shire of Stirling, before the Justiciary Court, 12th October 1564, the Laird of Luss was the proloquitor of the pursuer, Janet Marshal, relict of the said deceased John Rae. A verdict of acquittal, in this instance, was given in favour of the panels.^[40]

In the summer of the year 1564, Christian Erskine, the wife of John Colquhoun of Luss, to whom he had been united nearly thirty years, departed this life. By her he seems to have had no children. She made her will on the 20th of May in the year in which she died.

In this deed, which contains an inventory of her “gudeis, geir, latter will, and legacies,” “gevin vp be hir awin mouth, with consent and assent of hir said spous,” on the day and year before mentioned; the goods and geir include 152 ky, 30 stirks, 36 oxen, 30 ewes, 21 lambs, 56 wedders, 200 bolls of oats sowen, estimated when reaped to extend to 600 bolls, six bolls of bear sowen, estimated when reaped to extend to 18 bolls, 5 horse, 4 work horse, 13 mares, 6 year-old mares, 2 foals, and in the manor 4 chalders of meal, and the inside and outside plenishing, together with £400 money, the value of the whole amounting to £1618, 9s. 8d. The large number of cows included in this inventory is worthy of notice, as corroborating other proofs of the celebrity of the valleys of Luss at that period for dairy produce. The debts owing to the deceased were £363, 16s.; and after deducting the debts owing by her, which were £1007, 6s., there remained of free geir £925.

Among the debts which she owed, were—to Beatrix Coquhoune, Lady Arthinglas, two years’ annual rent, being 100 merks; borrowed money, 100 merks; and for salmond, £20; and to Dame Margaret Cunninghame £60.

The following are the legacies left by the dead:—

John Colquhoun of Luss did not remain long a widower. Within a few months apparently after the death of his first wife, Christian Erskine, he married, secondly, Agnes, daughter of Robert fourth Lord Boyd. Sir John and Agnes having been related to each other in the third and fourth degrees of consanguinity, a Papal dispensation was necessary, according to the canons of the Roman Catholic Church, to render their marriage lawful. This dispensation was, therefore, applied for from John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, the Pope’s legate a latere, who had the power of granting it, and it was readily obtained. This dispensation is dated 3d November 1564. The following is a translation from the original, which is in Latin:—

^[42]

On the 15th of the same month effect was given to the apostolic letters of the Archbishop. Mr. David Gibson, rector of Ayr, and Thomas Colquhoun of Glen, procurators of John Colquhoun and Agnes Boyd, presented the letters to John Laing, prebendary of Luss, canon of the metropolitan church of Glasgow and Judge Commissary; and he being asked to give speedy and effectual execution of the letters, according to the form delivered and directed therein, did, after having examined and learned from credible witnesses that the parties were related to each other in the third and fourth degrees of consanguinity, give dispensation for their being married, in terms of the Archbishop’s letters.

A few months previous to the date of this dispensation, John Colquhoun of Luss sold, under reversion, to John Mackneil, Leith, his lands of Cowlkippen, with a piece of land immediately adjacent thereto, in the barony of Luss and shire of Dumbarton. On 6th July 1564, he received from the said John Mackneil a letter of reversion, engaging to resign these lands in his favour, on his payment of £100.^[43]

After this John Colquhoun of Luss acquired from Thomas Colquhoun of Glen the forty-shilling land of Glen, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Stirling. In an agreement between them, dated 1st January 1564-5, the latter bound himself to resign that land into the hands of the former, the immediate superior, ad perpetuam remanentiam, and to cause Dame Margaret Cunningham, his mother, renounce her right and infeftment in the same lands, and to deliver that renunciation to John Colquhoun of Luss, who, in consideration thereof, bound himself to grant to Thomas Colquhoun infeftment in an annual-rent of forty merks Scots from his forty-merk land of Colquhoun, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton.^[44] The Laird of Luss also purchased from Patrick Colquhoun of Tullichintaull his lands of Kirkmichael-Buchanan, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, of which he obtained from Patrick Colquhoun a charter, dated 4th September 1566, in which he is now designated John Colquhoun of Luss, knight. Patrick Colquhoun subscribed with his hand at the pen, led by a notary at his command, because he could not write.^[45]

On 10th February 1566-7, Sir John Colquhoun was infefted in the lands of Wester Kilbride, upon a precept of sasine by Archibald Galbraith of Portnellan.^[46]

About two o’clock in the morning of the same 10th of February, Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, son of Mathew, fourth Earl of Lennox, and consort of Mary, Queen of Scots, was murdered in the Kirk of Field, at Edinburgh, whither he had gone to sleep during the night. The circumstances attending this murder are matter of history, and are well known. Darnley held directly from the Crown certain lands in the earldom of Lennox. His death placed the ward of these lands at the disposal of the Crown. Sir John Colquhoun of Luss obtained a gift from Queen Mary of the ward of the lands of Lettrowald-mor, Finnart, Portincaple, Forlinbreck, Strongartan, Duirling, Stukedow, and Kilmardinny, dated 21st April 1567. This gift bears that these lands had fallen into the hands of the Queen, by reason of the ward through the decease of Henry King of Scots, Duke of Albany, Earl of Ross, and Levinax, etc., and most dear and beloved spouse to her Majesty, superior to Sir John Colquhoun of the lands, and the last lawful possessor and immediate tenant to her Majesty of the same.^[47]

On 30th September in the same year, Sir John Colquhoun was, upon a precept from Chancery, infefted as heir of his paternal grandfather, Sir John Colquhoun, in annual-rents payable from various tenements, and in several parcels of land in the burgh of Dumbarton.^[48] He also received from Robert Stewart, second son of James Stewart of Cardonald, a charter of sale of the one merk-lands of Kirkmichael-Buchanan, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, dated 21st December 1567.^[49]

Sir John favoured the cause of Queen Mary, in opposition to the nobles by whom she was opposed. Mary was married to Lord Darnley in the Abbey Church of Holyroodhouse on Sabbath the 29th of July 1565, and on the day after, by her command, he was, by the Lyon-King-of-Arms, proclaimed King.^[50] A number of the most powerful of the nobility, headed by the Earl of Murray, and including the Earl of Argyll, opposed this marriage, and strongly condemned the Queen’s conduct in commanding, without the consent of the Estates of Parliament, that Darnley should be proclaimed King. The Queen and these nobles were thus unhappily brought into collision. Acting on this occasion with great promptitude and decision, she mustered a strong force, and was everywhere successful against the rebel lords. It was at this time that the Laird of Luss charged the bailies of Dumbarton, in the King and Queen’s name, to summon the whole town to come to the hill of Ardmore, where they were to remain four days for defence of the country, and, in case of Argyll’s army making its appearance, to warn the towns of Dumbarton and Glasgow, and to adopt other defensive measures. The charge, which is subscribed by John Colquhoun of Luss, Knight, at Rossdhu on 15th October, the year not given, but probably 1565, is as follows:—

It appears to have been shortly before the date of this charge that the honour of knighthood was conferred upon this Laird of Luss, probably in reward for the services he had rendered to his sovereign, Queen Mary.

Sir John Colquhoun is mentioned in the correspondence between Queen Mary and the Earl of Bothwell, called the Casket Letters. The authenticity of these letters has formed the subject of controversy. The letter which mentions the Laird of Luss professes to have been written by the Queen after she had gone to Glasgow to visit Darnley, who was seized there with the small-pox. “The Laird of Lusse, Howstoun and Caldwellis sone,” says the Queen, “with forty hors or thairabout, come and met me. The Laird of Lusse said, he was chargeit to ane day of law be the Kingis father, quhilk suld be this day aganis his awin handwrit, quhilk he hes. And zit, notwithstanding, knawing of my cumming, it is delayit. He was inquyrit to cum to him, quhilk he refusit, and sweris that he will indure nathing of him.”^[52]

After the murder of Lord Darnley, and the marriage of Queen Mary with his reputed murderer, James Earl of Bothwell, the greater part of the nobility rose in arms against her; and having defeated her army, and taken her prisoner at Carberry Hill on the 15th of June 1567, they imprisoned her two days after in Lochleven Castle. Acting under constraint, Mary, on the 24th of July following, resigned the crown, transferred the whole authority to her son James, who was then only thirteen months old, and certain noblemen, and appointed James Stewart Earl of Murray regent during the minority of the infant prince. To reduce such as were refractory to the authority of the King, Murray, who held the reins of Government with a vigorous hand, raised an army on the 1st of September, and caused proclamation to be made that all males between sixteen and sixty years of age should be in readiness, upon the first warning, with twenty days’ provision.^[53] In October a rendezvous of the Regent’s army took place at Maxwellheuch, near Kelso. Sir John Colquhoun of Luss was summoned to attend the army of the Regent, but from hostility to the new Government, he failed to be present at the place appointed, for which he was liable to be prosecuted as guilty of treason. He deemed it prudent, however, to submit to the authority of the Regent, and he obtained from him, early in the following year, a remission for his absence from the royal army on the occasion referred to, and for other crimes by which he may have rendered himself obnoxious to punishment. The special remission for non-attendance at Maxwellheuch is followed by a general one for many specified crimes, of some of which Sir John Colquhoun may have been guilty, but the greater number of which were probably added to the remission as mere words of form and style. A translation of the remission, which is in Latin, we here subjoin:—

Having obtained this remission, and made his peace with the Regent Murray, Sir John was obliged to lend his support to the cause of the Regent against Queen Mary. When the Queen, on her escaping from the Castle of Lochleven on the 2d of May 1568, assembled an army to recover her crown and kingdom, Sir John Colquhoun fought against her in the battle at Langside on the 15th of that month, at which her army was completely routed, while his relative, Colquhoun of Balvie, was made a prisoner when fighting for the Queen.

Several of Sir John’s transactions connected with the purchase of lands in the year 1569 were in favour of his wife, Agnes Boyd. Having purchased from Archibald Galbraith of Portnellan the lands of Easter and Middle Kilbride, and the chapel of Middle Kilbride and the lands thereof, in Glenfruin, in the earldom of Lennox and shire of Dumbarton, he intended that the liferent of these lands should form a part of her jointure in the event of her surviving him. A charter of them, dated 13th January 1569, was made to him and her in liferent, and to their son Humphrey Colquhoun in fee; and they were infefted in them on the same day.^[55] They had also a charter dated 19th March following, from Robert Graham of Knockdolean, of the lands of Wollastown and Ardochmore, which Sir John had purchased from him.^[56]

The baron court which Sir John, like other barons, held for trying and determining causes, civil and criminal, within his own territories, was held at the Port of Rossdhu, which is situated a little way to the west of the old Castle of Rossdhu. Only two or three documents connected with the jurisdiction which he exercised within the barony of Luss have, however, been preserved in the archives of the House of Colquhoun. One of them is a precept, commanding his officers to warn certain tenants to remove out of his grounds, with the execution and citations indorsed. This precept may here be subjoined, as illustrating the customs of the times, and the manner of proceeding in the administration of the judicial power possessed by the barons within the bounds of their lands:—

^[57]

In another precept, dated 28th November 1570, Sir John commands his officers lawfully to summon two of the tenants of the lands of Kirkmichael-Buchanan to compear before him, or any of his bailies, in the Baron Court of Luss, to be held at the port of Rossdhu on the 15th of December following, in the hour of cause, to hear and see themselves decerned by decreet of that Court to pay the victuals and other duties due to him.^[58]

On 14th August 1570, Sir John obtained from John Colquhoun of Kilmardinny a letter of reversion of an annual-rent of 120 merks, to be uplifted from the lands and barony of Colquhoun, engaging to resign that annual-rent on the payment of 1200 merks.^[59]

When, in 1572, Alexander Master of Mar, was appointed guardian of the person of King James the Sixth, and keeper of the castle of Stirling during his Majesty’s residence there, and when certain noblemen became cautioners for the Master of Mar that he would keep that castle for the use of the King, and preserve his Majesty’s person in safety, Sir John Colquhoun of Luss was among the friends of the house of Erskine, who bound themselves to assist him in the performance of his duty, and to protect the persons of his cautioners. The bond is as follows:—

The Reformed minister of the parish of Luss at this time was Mr. William Chirnside, whose wife, Gelis Colquhoun, was aunt of Sir John Colquhoun, being a sister of Humphrey Colquhoun, his father. On 10th January 1572-3, a bond was entered into between Sir John and William Chirnside, relative to the manse of the minister of Luss, in Glasgow. Sir John bound himself and his heirs that, though the minister had set in feu-farm to Humphrey Colquhoun, Sir John’s son and apparent heir, the manse-place and yards in Glasgow, and the house contained therein, the minister should have a right to occupy them whenever he chose, provided that Sir John and his heirs should have thankful hospitality on their occasionally coming there, and that the minister should uphold the place and yards, and the house water-tight whilst he occupied them.^[61] Sir John also bound himself and his heirs to entertain in his house Mr. William Chirnside as his familiar friend, with a man and a boy, his attendants, whenever he should be pleased to come, in consideration of Mr. Chirnside’s having gratified him in sundry pleasures and good deeds, and having discharged him of ninety merks of his yearly duties of the parsonage of Luss.^[62]

Sir John’s subsequent transactions in reference to the acquisition of new property, and the administration of his estates, are limited and unimportant. On 28th December 1573, he was infefted in an orchard in the King’s gate, Dumbarton; and on 11th January following, he was infefted in three acres of land in the same burgh, which he had acquired from John Smollet.^[63] Sometime after, he purchased from John Gibson, younger, burgess of Glasgow, an annual-rent of £10 Scots, under reversion, to be uplifted yearly from a tenement in the city of Glasgow.^[64]

Sir John died in the month of January 1574-5, as appears from the retour in which his son Humphrey was served heir to him.^[65]

Sir John Colquhoun lived during the exciting events of the great revolution which overthrew the Roman Catholic religion, and established the Reformed faith in Scotland. He was the contemporary of John Knox, and survived the great Reformer only about three years. But he does not appear on the page of history as a prominent actor, either on the one side or on the other. It is, however, certain that for some years after the Reformed faith was established, he continued to adhere to the Roman Catholic faith in which he had been educated. When he asked and obtained, in 1564, from the Papal legate, a dispensation for his marriage with his second wife, Agnes Boyd, Scotland was a Protestant kingdom, and he was acting in violation of law. Four years previously, namely, in August 1560, not only was the Reformed faith ratified, and the jurisdiction and authority of the Pope in the kingdom of Scotland abolished by the Scottish Parliament, but by the Act abolishing the Papal jurisdiction, it was ordained “that nane of oure Soveranis subjectis sute or desyre in ony tyme heirefter, tytill or rycht be the Bischope of Rome or his sect, to ony thing within this realme, under the panis of barratrie, that is to say, proscriptioun, banishment, and never to bruik honour, office, nor dignitie within this realme: And the contraveaneris heirof to be callit befoir the Justice or his deputis, or befoir the Lordis of the Sessioun, and punist thairfoir according to the lawis of this realme. . . . . And that na Bischop nor uther Prelatt of this realme use ony jurisdictioun in tymes to cum be the said Bischope of Rome’s authoritie under the paine foirsaid.”^[66] Sir John Colquhoun then, by asking this dispensation, showed that at the time when he did so, he not only continued attached to the old faith, but held it so firmly that he acted according to its canons, even at the risk of proscription and banishment; and the Archbishop of St. Andrews, in granting the dispensation, exposed himself to a similar penalty. But so numerous still were the adherents of the old religion, and so great were the confusions of those times of ecclesiastical and political convulsion, that no attempt was made to bring Sir John into trouble for this violation of the law. Whether he afterwards continued to live and die in the Roman Catholic faith, or joined the ranks of the Reformers, we have not discovered.

Agnes Boyd, Sir John’s second wife, survived him about ten years. In February 1580 she received a discharge for the payment of teinds for the crop of the year 1579.^[67] On 12th May 1581, as Sir John’s relict, she was infefted in an annual-rent of 20 merks from the forty-shilling lands of Wolton, in the barony of Cardross and shire of Dumbarton.^[68] On 26th July 1583, she was infefted in an annual-rent of £40 Scots from the lands of Boquherrane in the parish of Kilpatrick, and from the Mains of Duntreath in the shire of Stirling, Adam Colquhoun, in Milton of Colquhoun, acting as the bailie of James Edmonstone of Duntreath in infefting her.^[69] She died at Edinburgh on 18th July 1584. The testament-dative and inventar of her goods, gear, sums of money, and debts belonging to her at the time of her decease, were faithfully made and given up by Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss, her lawful son and executor-dative. In this document, which is long, there is no will. The inventory of her own proper goods and gear consists chiefly of cattle pasturing on the lands of certain tenants, and of victual in the hands of tenants. The debts owing to her consisted mainly of rents due to her by the tenants of various lands. There remained of free gear, the debts being deducted, £2982, 13s. The inventory was confirmed 18th April 1588.^[70] On 10th April 1590, Sir Humphrey, her son, compeared personally before the burgh court of Dumbarton as heir to her, and granted that an annual-rent of £10 from a piece of land in Dumbarton was lawfully redeemed from him by Robert Sempill of Corruth.^[71]

By this lady, Sir John had three sons and two daughters. The sons were—

Sir John’s daughters by Agnes Boyd were—

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