History of the Stewarts | Battles and Historic Events
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Gowrie Conspiracy A Continuing Mystery
The house itself was built for the Countess of Huntly in 1520, it was probably the largest and most imposing house in Perth at that time. A three storey L shaped building on South Street near the river, its grounds stretched south toward the Tay for nearly 275 metres.
On 5 August 1600, the King got up early to hunt in the near Falkland Palace, about 14 miles from Perth. As he set out, accompanied by the Duke of Lennox, the Earl of Mar, Thomas Erskine and others, he was approached by the twenty-year-old Alexander Ruthven, a younger brother of John Ruthven. Alexander advised the king that he and his brother had detained a foreigner carrying a large quantity of money at Gowrie House in Perth, and urged James to interrogate the man himself. Although the king hesitated initially, he ultimately agreed to ride to Perth after the hunt was over. Alexander Ruthven dispatched a servant, Henderson, to inform his brother that the king would be arriving at Gowrie House later in the day. Alexander Ruthven then urged the king to lose no time, demanding that he keep the matter secret from his courtiers, and that he bring to Gowrie House as small a retinue as possible
James, in the company of ten to fifteen retainers, arrived at Gowrie House at about one o´clock in the afternoon. Despite having received word earlier that the king would be arriving, John Ruthven had made no preparations, thus giving the impression of having been taken by surprise. After a meal, for which he was kept waiting an hour, King James, forbidding most of his retainers to follow him, went with Alexander Ruthven up the main staircase and passed through two chambers and two doors, both of which Ruthven locked behind them, into a turret-room at the angle of the house, with windows looking on the courtyard and the street. Here James expected to find the mysterious prisoner with the foreign gold, but was instead was threatened. He found an armed man, who, as appeared later, was none other than Gowrie´s servant, Henderson. Ruthven immediately put on his hat, and drawing Henderson´s dagger, threatened to kill the King if he opened a window or called for help. Ruthven then uncovered his head, declaring that James´s life should be safe if he remained quiet.
While Ruthven was absent the king questioned Henderson, who claimed ignorance of any plot and of the purpose for which he had been placed in the turret; he also at James´s request opened one of the windows, and was about to open the other when Ruthven returned. Whether or not Alexander had seen his brother is uncertain. But Gowrie had meantime spread the report below that the king had taken horse and had ridden away; and the royal retinue were seeking their horses to follow him.
Alexander, on re-entering the turret, attempted to bind the King´s hands; a struggle ensued, in the course of which the King was seen at the window by some of his followers below in the street, who also heard him cry "treason" and call for help to the earl of Mar. Mar and most of the other lords and gentlemen ran up the main staircase to aid the King, but were stopped by the locked door, which they spent some time in trying to batter down.
John Ramsay (afterwards the Earl of Holdernesse), noticing a small dark stairway leading directly to the inner chamber adjoining the turret, ran up it and the door was then unlocked by the servant. There he found the king struggling with Ruthven. Drawing his dagger, Ramsay wounded Ruthven, who was then pushed down the stairway past the king. Thomas Erskine, summoned by Ramsay, now followed up the small stairs with Dr Hugh Herries, and these two killed Ruthven with their swords. John Ruthven, entering the courtyard with his stabler Thomas Cranstoun and seeing his brother´s body, rushed up the staircase after Erskine and Herries, followed by Cranstoun; in the melée he was also killed.
Many believed that the king had invented the story of a conspiracy by Gowrie to cover his own design to destroy the Ruthven family. The king helped to strengthen this belief, which has not been entirely abandoned, by pursuing the two younger, and innocent, brothers of the earl. It was also believed that James owed John Ruthven a considerable amount of money (perhaps as much as £80,000).
The official line from the government was “When they found occation that hes Majestie’s haill nobillis and courtiers wer gone furthe, the twa brether desyrit his Majesty to goe and sie yair cabinet. Hes Majesty, a blist soul, thinking no evil went wt yame, qr they enterit in gripis wt him wt dageris to have slain him. But……he cryit ouir ane window ‘Treasone, treasone’. In the meine tyme the foirsaid twa brether had ane man standing behind the tapestrie in armes with ane twa handed sword in his hand quha wes ordeinit, giff yair sould come any helpe, he sould keip the dore till the murder could be done. Bot it pleasit God yat he wes maid powerless and could not steir out of this place qr he stuid. In the meine tyme hes Majesty and the twa brether are at the wrestling. Thomas Erskine and John Ramsay hes Majestie’s page of honour for the tyme came running up to the cabinet and at the last the twa brether conspyreris baith wer stikit and the Lord preservit the holy innocent Prince.”
On 7 August 1600 the James´s Privy Council ordered that the corpses of Gowrie and his brother should remain unburied and also that no person of the name of Ruthven should approach within ten miles of the court. Orders were also sent for the arrest of the Earl´s brothers William and Patrick, but they fled to England. On 20 November the estates of the Ruthvens were discerned by Parliament to be forfeited and their family name and honours extinct. The corpses of the Earl and his brother were hanged and quartered at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh, their heads were put on spikes at Edinburgh´s Old Tolbooth and their arms and legs upon spikes at various locations around Perth.
After this event the property was forfeit to the crown and then passed into some sort of joint ownership by the Town Council and Lord Stormont of Scone. It continued to be a residence of local aristocracy.
In 1651 after being Crowned King of the Scots, Charles II was under virtual house arrest whilst he lodged at Gowrie house. He was however allowed to ride and hunt hear Perth. In August 1651, he left Perth and marched south with the Scots covenanting army to the battle of Worcester.
During the ´45 the Prince stayed at the Salutation hotel in Perth. However when the Duke of Cumberland arrived in Perth on the 13th February 1746 on his way north and he was presented with the ownership of Gowrie house by the ´loyal Burgesses and inhabitants of Perth´. He stayed there for the week he spent in Perth and then on his return south he sold it to the board of Ordnances to serve as Artillery headquarters in Scotland which it did for the rest of the 18th century before being demolished in 1806.
Reference: Taylor