JAMES I., King of Scotland (1406-37), was the second son of Robert by Annabelle Drummond, daughter of sir John Drummond of Stobhall. His elder brother, the duke of Rothesay, having been murdered by his uncle, the duke of Albany, James became heir to the throne. Fearing that lie also might be sacrificed to the unscrupulous ambition of Albany, his father resolved to send him to France. Accordingly, iu 1405, he set sail for that country, but he never reached it; the vessel in which he was embarked having been taken by the English. James himself was carried to London, and sent to the Tower. In 1407 Ile was removed to Nottingham castle. In 1417 he accompanied Henry V. in his expedition to France. On the death of Robert III., in 1406, the gov ernment devolved on the duke of Albany. On his death, in 1419, his son 3Iurdoeh succeeded to the regency. In 1424 James's long captivity came to an end: on giving hostages for payment of -1.,;40,000 he was allowed to return to his kingdom. Previous to leaving England he married Joanna, daughter of the earl of Somerset, fourth son of John of Gaunt. To the excellent education which he had received in England. James was indebted for the development of his very considerable powers of mind. His poems, Christ's Kirk on the Green (the authorship of which, however, is disputed), and King's Quhair, show him to have been possessed of high poetic talent. With the acts of his first parliament, in 1424, the regular series of Scotch statutes may be said to begin: Many excellent laws were passed for the regulation of trade, and for the internal economy of the kingdom; while these were followed up by an executive vigor which Scotland lied never known before. No sooner did James feel himself firmly seated on the throne than he resolved to execute vengeance on the Albany family. By a parliament held at Perth in 1425 the two sons of the late regent Murdoch, and his father-in-law, the earl of Lennox, were found guilty of certain crimes laid to their charge, and immediately beheaded. The next few years of James's reign are among the most really peaceful in
the history of Scotland previous to the union of the crowns; the whole efforts of the king being directed to the repression of the internal disorders of the kingdom; especially of the Highlands, where scarcely any law except that of the strongest had hitherto been known. In 1436 James's eldest daughter, Margaret, was married to the dauphin of France, afterwards Louis XI. Amongst those whom the wisely severe policy of the king had offended was sir Robert Graham, uncle of the earl of Strethearn. He lied been imprisoned in 1425, on the impeachment of the Albany family. Owing to this cause, or to some real or imaginary injury done to his family, Graham was so irritated that in 1435 he actually used treasonable language to the king himself when presiding in par liament. For this he was banished, and his possessions declared forfeited. He retired to the Highlands, to brood over a plan of revenge, which circumstances soon pot it into his power to execute. In 1437 the court held the Christmas festival at Perth. The king was about to retire for the night, when the sound of men in armor was heard outside the gates. It was Graham, accompanied by 300 anned men. The locks of the chamber door having been purposely spoiled, Catherine Douglas, with a spirit worthy of her name, thrust her arm into the staple, to make it serve the - purpose of a bar: but her arm was broken, and the ruffians entered the chamber. The king, who had hidden himself in en aperture under the floor, was discovered, dragged out, and cruelly murdered, in the 44th year of his age. Graham and the other ringleaders were afterwards seized, tortured. and put to death. James was unquestionably the most able of the Stuart family. Both his intellectual and practical ability were of a very high order.