night of the Fifth, and meet Gowrie, next day, August 6, 'at the
waterside,' and cross with him to the south coast of the Firth of Forth,
thence riding on (as other friendly accounts allege) to Dirleton, near
North Berwick. 'And Andrew Henderson's confessions testified this.' As
published, they do nothing of the sort. The Master 'took his lodging in
Falkland for this night.' Hearing that James was to hunt, the Master
breakfasted, and went to look for him. After a conversation with James,
he bade Henderson ride back to Perth, and tell Gowrie that, '_for what
occasion he knew not_,' the King was coming. Now after they all arrived
at Perth, the Master told Gowrie's caterer, Craigengelt, that the King
had come, 'because Robert Abercrombie, that false knave, had brought the
King there, to make his Majesty take order for his debt.' {83} This
fact was stated by Craigengelt himself, under examination. If Ruthven
spoke the truth, he did know the motive, or pretext, of the King's
coming, which the apologist denies. But Ruthven was not speaking the
truth; he told Craigengelt, as we saw, that he had been 'on an errand not
far off.'

As to the debt, James owed Gowrie a large sum, with accumulated interest,
for expenses incurred by Gowrie's father, when Lord Treasurer of Scotland
(1583-1584). James, in June 1600, as we shall see, gave Gowrie a year's
respite from the pursuit of his father's creditors, hoping to pay him in
the meanwhile. Whether this exemption would not have defended Gowrie
from Robert Abercromby; whether James would act as debt collector for
Robert Abercromby (a burgess of Edinburgh, the King's saddler), the
reader may decide. But the Master gave to Craigengelt this reason for
James's unexpected arrival, though his contemporary apologist says, as to
James's motive for coming to Perth, that the Master '_knew nothing_.'

Henderson having cantered off with his message, James rode to Perth
(nothing is said by the apologist of the four hours spent in hunting),
'accompanied by sixty horsemen, of whom thirty came a little before him.'
No trace of either the sixty or the thirty appears anywhere in the
evidence. No witness alludes to the arrival of any of the King's party
in front of him. On hearing from Henderson of the King's approach, says
the Vindication, Gowrie, who was dining, ordered a new meal to be
prepared. All the other evidence shows that Henderson came back to Perth
long before Gowrie dined, and