Volume 1 - Electric Scotland

DEFENDS HIMSELF AGAIXST DKDMLAXPJG. cxxxv
" liot ane feil>ill and viilionuest poiiurit creattoui-," and applying otlier strong
epithets to him for moving tlie king and conncil in his absence " to publeis
my schame." lie claijns that Ids statement made it manifest to all men that
tiie king in giving a decree against liim, and neither giving him a remission for
the slaughter he had committed nor licence to come and go to defend his own
cansc, had wronged him ; and he cliallenges any man in Scotland to say he
had liroken the assurance, when he would answer him. Lut if ]io one could
say so, he desired to ho esteemed honest. Sir James concludes his statement
by making offer to Drumlanrig, " that feibill creatlour, or to ouy of his estait
in his name, fra [for] he dar noclit, to pruiff him periurit, defamit, and noch
vordde credit be the vords that is set done herein, and tliat be the sword."
After desiring all men to excuse " luy raid fornie," Sir James authenticates
his vindication by his own signature, " Johnnestoun."
Sir James Jolmstone during the last few years of the preceding narrative
figures at one time at Dryfesands on the field of battle, at anotlier time, near
Ediubuigh, negotiating for the king's remission, and again at liis own home
wielding the pen instead of the sword, vindicating himself as a man of honour
and challenging his adversary to settle their dispute by an appeal to tlie law
of arms. He nov.- figures, to the close of this chapter and during the remain-
ing months of the century, in ward, first in Dumbarton castle, and later in
Doune castle. "While Johnstone was at large, the most strejiuous efforts of
the king, council, and v>'arden of the AVest March to secure the peace of the
Boi'der were in vain ;
now that he was in ward, their endeavours in the same
direction, it will be seen, were equally futile. It was not until Johnstone and
Maxwell had both come to a tragic end in their prolonged struggle that the
feud between the two clans whicli they represented was terminated and the
peace of the Border secured. What follows is a narrative of the warding of
Johnstone and of the action of the government while he was in ward.
In June 1599, Sir James Jolmstone was denounced rebel, having failed
to present for trial several Johnstones who had violently ejected the com-