ill pass with a lass.' And so", adds Pitscottie, "he recommended
himself to the mercy of Almighty God, and spake little from that time
forth, but turned his back unto his lords, and his face unto the wall."
Six days later the end came. With "a little smile of laughter", and
kissing his hand to the nobles who stood round, he breathed his last.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 60: Gregory Smith, p. 123.]

CHAPTER VIII

THE PARTING OF THE WAYS

1542-1568

Mary of Guise, thus for the second time a widow, was left the sole
protector of the infant queen, against the intrigues of Henry VIII and
the treachery of the House of Douglas. Fortunately, Margaret Tudor had
predeceased her son in October, 1541, and her death left one disturbing
element the less. But the situation which the dowager had to face was
much more perplexed than that which confronted any other of the long
line of Scottish queen-mothers. During the reign of James V the Reformed
doctrines had been rapidly spreading in Scotland. It was at one time
possible that James V might follow the example of Henry VIII, and a
considerable section of his subjects would have welcomed the change. His
death added recruits to the Protestant cause; the greater nobles now
strongly desired an alienation of Church property, because they could
take advantage of the royal minority to seize it for their private
advantage. The English party no longer consisted only of outlawed
traitors; there were many honest Scots who felt that alliance with a
Protestant kingdom must replace the old French league. The main
interest had come to be not nationality but religion, and Scotland must
decide between France and England. The sixteenth century had already, in
spite of all that had passed, made it evident that Scots and English
could live on terms of peace, and the reign of James IV, which had
witnessed the first attempt at a perpetual alliance, was remembered as
the golden age of Scottish prosperity. The queen-mother was, by birth
and by education, committed to the maintenance of the old religion and
of the French alliance. The task was indeed difficult. Ultimate success
was rendered impossible by causes over which she possessed no kind of
control; a temporary victory was rendered practicable only by the folly
of Henry VIII.

The history of Henry's intrigues becomes at this point very intricate,
and we must be content with a mere outline. On James's death he
conceived the plan of seizing the