being examined before the council, on 20 May 1589, Bothwell declared that his sole reason for appearing in arms was a private quarrel between him and Maitland (Calderwood, v. 57). On 22 Oct. 1589 Maitland set sail with the king on his voyage to Norway to bring home the royal bride, the Princess Anne of Denmark. In his declaration to the council previous to setting out, the king took occasion to deny that in the resolution he had taken he ‘was led by the nose’ by the chancellor (Reg. P. C. Scotl. iv. 427–9). During his stay at Copenhagen, which extended over the winter, Maitland made the acquaintance of Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, to whom he subsequently addressed some Latin verses. Two of Maitland's letters to Robert Bruce [q. v.] the theologian, written from Denmark, are inserted in Calderwood's ‘History’ (v. 83–6, 92–3). On 15 Dec. James empowered him to give presents of plate out of the royal cupboard to two Danish noblemen, and in reward of his own services to retain the rest in the cupboard for himself (Reg. P. C. Scotl. iv. 444–5). He returned to Scotland with the king and queen, 1 May 1590; and on the occasion of the queen's coronation on the 17th, was raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, to him and heirs male of his body.
The additional favours bestowed on Maitland gave new stimulus to the jealousy of Bothwell, who soon after the king's return renewed his plots. In January 1590–1 Maitland instigated a charge against him of having had recourse to witchcraft to raise storms during the king's voyage from Norway (Hist. of James the Sext, p. 242). The prosecution was, however, generally resented by the nobles, a number of whom conspired to assist Bothwell in an attempt to capture the chancellor in Holyrood Palace, on 27 Dec. 1591 (Moysie, Memoirs, p. 87). The excessive influence exercised by Maitland was also distasteful to the queen, who endeavoured through Colonel William Stewart, a partisan of Bothwell, to effect Maitland's disgrace, but without success—Stewart being sent into ward on 14 Dec. 1592. In these plots James Stewart, earl of Moray—the ‘Bonnie Earl of Moray’ of the ballad—was also involved, and his tragic death on 8 Feb. at the hands of Huntly was generally attributed to the chancellor, who, according to rumour ‘hounded forth’ Huntly (Calderwood, v. 145). The strong feeling of resentment against the murder compelled the king for the time to make a scapegoat of Maitland, and he was commanded on 30 March to leave the court. It is generally supposed to have been on Maitland's advice—tendered chiefly with a desire to strengthen his own position by removing the odium attaching to him through the murder of Moray (ib. viii. 43; James Melville Diary, p. 298)—that the king consented to the ‘Act for abolishing the Actis Contrair to the trew Religion,’ and establishing the kirk on a strictly presbyterian basis (Acta Parl. Scot. iii. 541–2). The act secured to Maitland the perpetual gratitude of the kirk. The faction against him at the court was still however too strong; and owing chiefly to the opposition of the queen (see Cal. State Papers, Scott. Ser. vol. ii. passim), he was unable to resume the discharge of the duties of his office till May 1593. His recall led to further attempts on the part of Bothwell to terrorise the king, and in August James, in view of a proposed reconciliation with Bothwell, agreed that both Maitland and Bothwell should retire from court till the meeting of parliament in November. Subsequently, however, the king declined to be bound by his agreement. Maitland returned, and Bothwell's ruin was determined on. Maitland now advocated a policy of conciliation towards the catholic lords, and at his instigation an act of abolition in their favour was passed on 26 Nov. (Acta Parl. Scot. iv. 46–8). When, however, they declined the conditions, he accompanied the king in his expedition against them in the following October 1594.
Influenced partly by jealousy of the Earl of Mar, and partly by a desire finally to conciliate the queen, Maitland supported her in her efforts to remove the young Prince Henry from the guardianship of Mar (cf. Cal. State Papers, Scott. Ser. vol. ii. passim). By doing so he however roused the jealousy of the king, who sharply reproved him for interfering in matters which were no concern of his. To a ‘high melancholie,’ produced by the grudge of the king against him, the author of the ‘History of James the Sext’ ascribes the illness of two months' duration, of which he died at Thirlestane on 3 Oct. 1595. Its serious character was disbelieved in by many of those at court, who quoted the Italian proverb, ‘Il pericolo passato, il santo gabato;’ and apparently the king shared their opinion, for he refused the repeated entreaties of Maitland to visit him, or send a message of reconciliation. On learning his death the king, while expressing his determination not again to bestow the chancellorship on any one too great to be ‘hangable,’ nevertheless commemorated his virtues in a laudatory sonnet. The special services rendered by Maitland to the kirk secured him the good will of the ministers; and they reported that he had
