The privy council of Scotland, instigated by the clergy, rejected all treaty; and James, who was now a captive in their hands, affirmed, that he had never agreed to an association with his mother, and that the matter had never gone further than some loose proposals for that purpose.[*] ** MS.

in the Advocates' Library, A.3, 28, p.

401, from the Cott Lib.Calig.c.

9.
The affairs of Scotland remained not long in the present situation.
James, impatient of restraint, made his escape from his keepers; and flying to St.Andrews, summoned his friends and partisans to attend him.

The earls of Argyle, Marshal, Montrose, and Rothes, hastened to pay their duty to their sovereign; and the opposite party found themselves unable to resist so powerful a combination.