"steyked" against the reformed preachers. The abbot and his friends were
accused as

"in the toun of Paslay, Kirkyard and Abbey place thereof, openlie,
publicklie, and plainlie taking auricular confession in the said
kirk, toun, kirkyaird, chalmeris, barns, middens, and killogies
thereof, and thus makand an alteration and innovation in the state
of religion, which our Soverane Lady found publicklie standing and
professit within this realm, ministrand, and alswa irreverently and
indecentlie the Sacramentis of Holy Kirk, namely, the Sacramentis of
the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ."

It was a serious charge, and if proven was punishable by death. Hamilton
had a powerful friend in Queen Mary, who interfered in his behalf, and
he and his companions were committed to ward.

Besides retaining the office of abbot at Paisley, Hamilton was appointed
Bishop of Dunkeld in 1543-44 by his brother, acting for the Queen, and
after the murder of Cardinal Beaton, on 29th May 1546, was raised to the
position of Archbishop of St. Andrews and Primate of Scotland. Probably
he never returned to Paisley until, in the adversities of his later
years, and the monastery being sacked and burnt by the Reformers, he was
forced to take refuge at Dumbarton Castle, where he was made prisoner,
and afterwards executed at Stirling. The Master of Sempill had been
appointed bailie of the monastery, and, at the dissolution, the whole of
the church property was handed over to Lord Sempill. The property
finally came into the possession of Lord Claud Hamilton, nephew of the
archbishop, and the monastic buildings were converted into the "Place
of Paisley," the residence of the Abercorn family.

After the archbishop's execution his body was quartered, and afterwards
buried, probably in Paisley. Dr. Lees says:--

"There is in the church a tablet, which looks as if it had marked
his grave. It has upon it the archbishop's coat of arms, the letters
J. H., the initials of his name, and the motto he assumed, and which
contrasts strangely with his troubled life and tragic
end--'Misericordia et Pax.'"[383]

Amid all that is said against the last archbishop of the old Church of
Scotland, and the last abbot of Paisley, it is well to recall that the
"Catechisme," which usually passes under his name, from having been
printed at his expense at St. Andrews in 1552, exhibits a solitary
instance of an attempt on