JAMES HAMILTON

james hamilton, 3rd earl (c. 1537-1609), was styled earl of arran after the creation of his father as duke of chatelherault in 1549; the latter title did not descend to him, having been resumed by the french crown. his father's ambition destined him for the hand of mary queen of scots, and his union with the princess elizabeth was proposed by henry viii. as the price of his father's adherence to the english interest. he was early involved in the political troubles in which scotland was then immersed. in 1546 he was seized as a hostage at st andrews by the murderers of cardinal beaton and released in 1547. in 1550 he went to france, was given the command of the scots guards, and in 1557 distinguished himself in the defence of st quentin. he became a strong adherent of the reformed doctrine. his arrest was ordered by henry ii. in 1559, mary (probably in consequence of his projected union with elizabeth which would have raised the hamiltons higher than the stuarts) declaring her wish that he should be "used as an arrant traitor." he, however, escaped to geneva and then to england, and had an interview with elizabeth in august. he returned to scotland in september, where he supported his father's adherence to the lords of the congregation against mary of lorraine, upheld the alliance with elizabeth, and became one of the leaders of the protestant party in the subsequent fighting, in particular organizing, together with lord james stuart (afterwards earl of murray), in 1560, a stubborn resistance to the french at dysart, and saving fife. in november 1559 he had declined bothwell's challenge to single combat. subsequently he signed the treaty of berwick, became one of the lords of the congregation, and was appointed a visitor for the destruction of the religious houses. the same year proposals were again made for his marriage with elizabeth, which were rejected by the latter in 1561; and subsequently after the death of francis ii. (in december 1560), he became, with the strong support of the protestants and hamiltons, a suitor for mary, also without success. he was chosen a member of her council on her arrival in scotland in 1561, but took up a hostile attitude to the court in consequence of the practice of the roman catholic religion. he now showed marked signs of insanity, and was confined in edinburgh castle, where he remained till may 1566. he had then lost the power of speech, and from 1568 he lived in retirement with his mother at craignethan castle, while his estates were administered by his brother john, afterwards 1st marquess of hamilton. in 1579, at the time of the fresh prosecution of the hamiltons, when the helpless arran was also included in the attainder of his brothers and his titles forfeited, the castle was besieged on the pretence of delivering him from unlawful confinement, and arran and his mother were brought to linlithgow, while the charge of his estates was taken over by the government. in 1580 james stewart (see below) was appointed his guardian, and in 1581 acquired the earldom; but his title and estates were restored after stewart's disgrace in 1586, when the forfeiture was repealed. arran died unmarried in march 1609, the title devolving on his nephew james, 2nd marquess of hamilton. james stewart (d. 1595), the rival earl of arran above referred to, was the son of andrew stewart, 2nd lord ochiltree. he served in his youth with the dutch forces in holland against the spanish, and returned to scotland in 1579. he immediately became a favourite of the young king, and in 1580 was made gentleman of the bedchamber and tutor of his cousin, the 3rd earl of arran. the same year he was the principal accuser of the earl of morton, and in 1581 was rewarded for having accomplished the latter's destruction by being appointed a member of the privy council, and by the grant the same year, to the prejudice of his ward, of the earldom of arran and the hamilton estates, on the pretence that the children of his grandmother's father, the 1st earl of arran, by his third wife, from whom sprang the succeeding earls of arran, were illegitimate. he claimed the position of second person in the kingdom as nearest to the king by descent. the same year he married elizabeth, daughter of john stewart, earl of atholl, and wife of the earl of march, after both had been compelled to undergo the discipline of the kirk on account of previous illicit intercourse. he became the rival of lennox for the chief power in the kingdom, but both were deprived of office by the raid of ruthven on the 22nd of august 1582, and arran was imprisoned till september under the charge of the earl of gowrie. in 1583, however, he assembled a force of 12,000 men against the new government; the protestant lords escaped over the border, and arran, returning to power, was made governor of stirling castle and in 1584 lord chancellor. the same year gowrie was captured through arran's treachery and executed after the failure of the plot of the protestant lords against the latter's government. he now obtained the governorship of edinburgh castle and was made provost of the city and lieutenant-general of the king's forces. arran induced the english government to refrain from aiding the banished lords, and further secured his power by the forfeitures of his opponents. his tyranny and insolence, however, stirred up a multitude of enemies and caused his rapid fall from power. his agent in england, patrick, master of gray, was secretly conspiring against him at elizabeth's court. on account of the murder of lord russell on the border in july 1585, of which he was accused by elizabeth, he was imprisoned at the castle of st andrews, and subsequently the banished lords with elizabeth's support entered scotland, seized the government and proclaimed arran a traitor. he fled in november, and from this time his movements are furtive and uncertain. in 1586 he was ordered to leave the country, but it is doubtful whether he ever quitted scotland. he contrived secretly to maintain friendly communications with james, and in 1592 returned to edinburgh, and endeavoured unsuccessfully to get reinstated in the court and kirk. subsequently he is reported as making a voyage to spain, probably in connexion with james's intrigues with that country. his unscrupulous and adventurous career was finally terminated towards the close of 1595 by his assassination near symontown in lanarkshire at the hands of sir james douglas (nephew of his victim the earl of morton), who carried his head in triumph on the point of a spear through the country, while his body was left a prey to the dogs and swine. he had three sons, the eldest of whom became lord ochiltree.