the regency of Albany, and when Beaton, the chancellor, refused to affix the great seal to the necessary document, she obtained forcible possession of the seal, and put Beaton and the Bishop of Aberdeen in ward. James was now surrounded by a guard commanded by Arran, by Henry Stuart, his mother's favourite, and by his brothers, and these men attempted to gain his favour by indulging his youthful passions. Sir David Lindsay and Bellenden were dismissed from their posts as his tutors. Soon after Thomas Magnus [q. v.] arrived on an embassy from England, and presented James with a coat of cloth of gold and a dagger, with which he was greatly pleased.
On 16 Nov. a parliament met at Edinburgh, by which Albany's governorship was at last terminated, because of his failure to return, according to his promise, before 1 Sept.; the king was declared to have full authority to govern in his own person, with the advice of his mother and a privy council appointed to assist her. The Archbishop of St. Andrews, the Bishop of Aberdeen, and the Earls of Arran and Argyll were named as members of this select council, without whose advice nothing was to be done. The next parliament of 15 Feb. 1525 added Angus and three others, but declared that the queen should be principal councillor. James apparently was not present at either of these parliaments, but he went with his mother to Perth, attended the northern justice ayres in spring, and was again joined by her at Dundee in April. At this time she actually used James as an agent to try to persuade her husband Angus to submit to a divorce. He attended in state the parliament at Edinburgh on 17 July, and in it new keepers of his person, who were to hold office in turn, were appointed, and the queen-mother was practically deprived of any share in the regency. From this time Angus was the custodian of James, and exercised sole power in the state.
In March, having obtained a divorce from Angus, the queen-mother married Henry Stuart, losing thereby all political influence. James disliked his mother's remarriage. Lord Erskine in his name seized her new husband at Stirling, and he was kept for some time in ward. The parliament of June 1526, on the ground that James was now fourteen, declared the royal prerogatives were to be exercised by himself; it was really an assembly of the party of Angus who effected for a time a reconciliation with Arran. Two unsuccessful attempts, with both of which the king secretly sympathised, were made to rescue him from Angus, one by Walter Scot of Buccleuch on 25 July, near Melrose, and the other by Lennox, who assembled an army for the purpose in the beginning of September, but was defeated and slain. On 12 Nov. a parliament at Edinburgh passed acts approving of Angus's conduct, and forfeited many of his opponents. Although some sort of reconciliation was effected, and the queen visited her son at Christmas, all the offices of state were in the hands of Angus and his adherents. Angus himself assumed the office of chancellor, and in June accompanied James to the borders, where the Armstrongs, an unruly clan, were forced to give pledges for good behaviour. The queen-mother and Beaton the archbishop now made terms with Angus, and at Christmas 1527 met at the king's table at Holyrood. At Easter Beaton entertained the king and the Douglases at St. Andrews. But these were hollow reconciliations. Margaret and her husband were forcibly expelled from Edinburgh Castle in the end of March 1528 by Angus, and her ambitious husband again put in ward. Beaton now prompted James to escape from the control of Angus. In July 1528, on the pretext of a hunt from Falkland during the absence of Angus and of his brother and uncle, the young king, disguised as a groom, rode to Stirling Castle, which his mother had given him in exchange for Methven. When Angus and his kinsmen went in pursuit of the king, they were met by a herald forbidding them to come within six miles of court, under the pains of treason, and Angus fled to Tantallon. On 2 Sept. a parliament, from which Angus and his friends were absent, forfeited the estates of the Douglases, and revoked all gifts made during the domination of Angus. Henry Stuart was created Lord Methven and master of the artillery. James came at once to Edinburgh, where a council was held, and Gavin Dunbar [q. v.], archbishop of Glasgow, his old tutor, was created chancellor. Dunbar retained a strong influence over him throughout his reign. Sir David Lindsay, who had been removed by Angus, re-entered the royal service. Lord Maxwell, provost of Edinburgh, and Patrick Sinclair, a favourite of James, were sent on an embassy to England. Summonses were also issued to all the lieges to attend the king and proceed against Angus.
James was still under eighteen, but the turbulent scenes through which he had passed had brought on an early manhood. He at once raised a force to besiege Douglas Castle. But his own party among the nobles forced him to delay the siege till after harvest. James passionately swore that no Douglas should remain in Scotland so long as he lived. Having summoned to his aid Argyll and his highland forces, as well as Lord Home and
