only daughter of the third earl, and sister of James, the fourth earl [q. v.] On 29 July 1576—it being wrongly supposed that his uncle the fourth earl, a captive in Denmark, was then dead—he was created Earl of Bothwell, and appointed to many of his uncle's offices, including those of lord high admiral of Scotland, sheriff of Edinburgh and within the county of Haddington, and sheriff of the county of Berwick and balliary of Lauderdale. Bothwell attended the parliament held in Morton's interest at Stirling on 15 July 1578, and was one of those who bore the royal robe in the procession to and from the great hall (Moysie, Memoirs, p. 12). His support of Morton [see Douglas, James (d. 1581)] is possibly traceable as much to his relationship to the regent Moray as to the fact that he had married Lady Margaret Douglas, eldest daughter of Morton's near relative, David, seventh earl of Angus, and widow of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleugh. It was perhaps to escape being involved too closely in Morton's fortunes that he went to the continent about 1580. He was presumably there when his wife, on 15 Dec. 1580, presented a petition in reference to great ‘spuilzes’ committed against her by the borderers (Reg. P. C. Scotl. iii. 335). A second petition to a like effect was presented 3 Feb. 1581–2 (ib. p. 441). On 4 April 1580–1 his mother petitioned the privy council (1) for an assurance that her own property might be duly transmitted to her son; and that (2) ‘her said sone, now in his absence,’ might retain all the ‘qualities appertenit of befoir to the Erlis Borthuile’ (ib. p. 371). The fall of Morton had perhaps rendered Bothwell's position somewhat insecure. The king granted the petition. After the execution of Morton (2 June 1581), Bothwell landed at Newhaven, near Leith, on 26 July (Moysie, Memoirs, p. 37; or 27th according to Calderwood, iii. 634), on his way from France.
Immediately after landing Bothwell had an interview with some of the leading ministers of Edinburgh, by whom he was ‘well informed of the estate both of the Kirk and country’ (ib. iii. 634). He undertook to represent their interests at court. As the nephew of the regent Moray he was regarded by many ministers as the hereditary champion of their cause. It was in this rôle, for which he was peculiarly unfitted, that he persisted in posing before them. He resembled the fourth Earl of Bothwell in his dissolute and lawless conduct, although he lacked his virile strength; and his indecorous acts rendered his relations to the kirk singularly grotesque. The king regarded him with a curious mixture of partiality and dislike, the latter doubtless created by fear, and soon predominating. Gradually the king became possessed of the idea that Bothwell's ultimate aim was to be his rival: that, in his intrigues with the kirk, he was following in the footsteps of the regent Moray, and seeking to injure the prerogatives of the crown. There were misunderstandings on both sides; but probably, had each fully gauged the intentions of the other, their relations would not have been materially improved. As it was, Bothwell became the ‘stormy petrel of politics,’ the only character in which he could have obtained any support from the nobility. There is no evidence that he intended any serious revolutionary movement. His ‘incursions and alarms’ only aimed at inducing the king to come to terms with him after their alienation.
For some time after his arrival from France Bothwell enjoyed the king's special friendship. After his interview with the ministers of Edinburgh he proceeded, on 29 June 1582, to the king at Perth, where, according to Moysie, he ‘was heartily welcomed’ (Memoirs, p. 37). At this period Lennox and Arran, the king's favourites, thought to make Bothwell their subservient tool. According to Calderwood, they foresaw that Bothwell might be induced by his wife's influence to favour the Douglases, and they sought to sow discord between them by raising slanders against her (History, iii. 634). But they failed to win Bothwell. Although he took no active part in the protestant conspiracy against Lennox and Arran of 22 Aug., known as the Raid of Ruthven, his name was attached to the band, and he associated on intimate terms with its principal members. Meanwhile, under the new protestant régime, he exercised considerable influence in the king's counsels. It was chiefly through his persuasion—‘for nothing,’ says Calderwood, ‘of importance which might serve for furtherance of the Lord's cause was obtained without his procurement’ (iii. 649)—that the king consented to sign the proclamation ‘touching the liberty of the assembly of the kirk and free preaching of the word.’ He also appeared before the assembly of October, and ‘professed that he would live and die in the reformed religion professed within this realm’ (ib. iii. 689).
After the counter-revolution of 27 June 1583, and the king's sudden withdrawal to St. Andrews, the protestant ascendency at court was for a time ended, and Bothwell's influence was greatly diminished. Angus sent for Bothwell to accompany him to St. Andrews; but when within six miles of the town they were met by a herald, forbidding them to come with armed men into the city.
