as a hole in the
parliament,"--words which, in these days, were held to presage the
deadly breach shortly to be made in that body, by the death of him in
whose name it was convoked.

Amid the most undisturbed security of confidence, the lords, who
composed this parliament, were roused at day-break, by the shouts of
their enemies in the heart of the town. _God and the Queen_! resounded
from every quarter, and, in a few minutes, the regent, with the
astonished nobles of his party, were prisoners to a band of two
hundred border cavalry, led by Scott of Buccleuch, and to the
Lord Claud Hamilton, at the head of three hundred infantry. These
enterprising chiefs, by a rapid and well concerted manoeuvre, had
reached Stirling in a night march from Edinburgh, and, without so much
as being bayed at by a watch-dog had seized the principal street of
the town.--The fortunate obstinacy of Morton saved his party. Stubborn
and undaunted, he defended his house till the assailants set it in
flames, and then yielded with reluctance to his kinsman, Buccleuch.
But the time, which he had gained, effectually served his cause. The
borderers had dispersed to plunder the stables of the nobility; the
infantry thronged tumultuously together on the main street, when the
Earl of Mar, issuing from the castle, placed one or two small pieces
of ordnance in his own half-built house[24], which commands the market
place. Hardly had the artillery begun to scour the street, when the
assailants, surprised in their turn, fled with precipitation. Their
alarm was increased by the townsmen thronging to arms. Those, who had
been so lately triumphant, were now, in many instances, asking the
protection of their own prisoners. In all probability, not a man would
have escaped death, or captivity, but for the characteristic rapacity
of Buccleuch's marauders, who, having seized and carried off all the
horses in the town, left the victors no means of following the chace.
The regent was slain by an officer, named Caulder, in order to prevent
his being rescued. Spens of Ormeston, to whom he had surrendered, lost
his life in a generous attempt to protect him[25]. Hardly does our
history present another enterprise, so well planned, so happily
commenced, and so strangely disconcerted. To the licence of the
marchmen the failure was attributed; but the same cause ensured a safe
retreat.--_Spottiswoode, Godscroft, Robertson, Melville_.

[Footnote 24: This building still remain