l inference, at the time, was that he had been engaged in 'some ill
turn,' some mysterious conspiracy, and people probably (certainly, if we
believe the evidence to follow) thought that he had been an accomplice in
the Gowrie affair.

He died, and his children by his first wives dissociated themselves from
his executorship. The bulk of it was the unpaid part of the purchase
money for his lands, sold by him to Balmerino, and Dunbar, James's
trusted ministers, who owed some 33,000 marks to the estate.

Logan had a 'doer,' or law agent, a country writer, or notary, named
Sprot, who dwelt at Eyemouth, a hungry creature, who did not even own a
horse. When Logan rode to Edinburgh, Sprot walked thither to join him.
Yet the two were boon companions; Sprot was always loitering and watching
at Gunnisgreen, always a guest at the great Christmas festivals, given by
the Laird to his rough neighbours. The death of Logan was a disaster to
Sprot, and to all the parasites of the Laird.

Logan died, we saw, in July 1606. In April, 1608, Sprot was arrested by
a legal official, named Watty Doig. He had been blabbing in his cups, it
is said, about the Gowrie affair; certainly most compromising documents,
apparently in Logan's hand, and with his signature, were found on Sprot's
person. They still bear the worn softened look of papers carried for
long in the pockets. {162} Sprot was examined, and confessed that he
knew beforehand of the Gowrie conspiracy, and that the documents in his
possession were written by Logan to Gowrie and other plotters. He was
tortured and in part recanted; Logan, he said, had _not_ written the
guilty letters: he himself had forged them. This was all before July 5,
1608, while Mr. Robert Oliphant lay in prison, in London, on the same
charge of guilty foreknowledge. Early in July 1608, the Earl of Dunbar
came from London to Edinburgh, to deal with the affairs of the Kirk. He
took Sprot out of his dungeon, gave him a more wholesome chamber,
secluded him from gentlemen who came and threatened him (or so he said)
if he made revelations, and Dunbar provided him with medical attendance.
The wounds inflicted in 'the boot' were healed.

For six weeks Sprot was frequently examined, before members of the Privy
Council and others, without torture. What he said the public did not
know, nor, till now, have historians been better informed. Throughout,
after July 5, 1608, he persisted in declaring Logan's complicity