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Show TODAY IN HISTORY FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 1010. The Gowrle Plot. For a long period wuyust 5 was observed ob-served as a holiday In England, for It was on that dale, in 1600, that James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, then king of Scotland only, narrowly escaped death at the hands of two of his countrymen, coun-trymen, tho Eurl of Gowrlo and his brother. Alexander Ruthvon. On the morning of tho 5th of August, as James whs starling on a hunting trip from Falkland palace, he mcL Alexander Ituthvcn. tho vounger brother of the Eurl of Cowrie .who told him, with a greut air of mysteryf that he had discovered a man burying a pot of money on a Hold, and that he thought the alfair so suspicious sus-picious that he had token him prisoner, and begged tho king to come to Gowrle house In Perth to (?oe him. James went, taking with him Mar, Lennox and about twenty other gentlemen. gentle-men. After dinner Alexander took tho king aside, and when his attendants missed him they were told that he had gone back to Falkland. The story runs that when the Icing and Alexander withdrew the latter conducted his majesty through a bewildering maze of rooms, the doors of all of which tho boy locked behind him, until thoy had reached a small turret closet connected with an upper room at tho end of the house, where James found awaiting hlni, not the Highlander, but a completely armed servant of the carl. Rutliven clapped hat on head, snatched a dagger from the sorvant. and, alluding to the execution of his father for a similar sim-ilar treason sixteen years before, shouted, "Sir, ye maun bo my prisoner! Ilemem-ber Ilemem-ber my father's dcid!" James was scared. He protested that he was a minor at the time referred to, that he had restored tho family estates and that he could not imagine what Ruthvcn wanted. The lad replied that he would fetch his brother to tell that. He enjoined the king to quietness during his absence, but as soon as he was gone James managed to induce the servant to open a window looking on a street. Then, just ns the second window was betiu; raised, Ruthven returned, and, crying out. attempted to bind tho king with a garter. A struggle followed, in which the sorvant, who afterwards swore that w had biicn placed thore without warning, warn-ing, aided the king, and James was able to sliout "Treason!" beforo Ru thven's hand closed upon his throat. Sir John Ramsey got upon the scone, and, releasing releas-ing James, stabbed Ruthven. who was speedily despatched by others of the royal following. It appeared that shortly after the king loft the dining hall a servant of tho house announced that he had stnrted home, that the courtiers had set out to follow him, (hat a porter had awakened their suspicions by saying that tho king had not gone out and that they thereupon there-upon returned, divided into several parties par-ties and proceeded to search the house. The carl of Gowrlo. with several of his retainers, met them In the turret room. James was tossed for safety Into a closet and the fight followed, ending In the death of Gowrle, while tho king and his friends knoll upon the bloody floor and thanked heaven for their deliverance. Gowrle and his brother wero both young men of prominence, popular at court and apparently with brilliant futures fu-tures ahead of them. They had just returned re-turned from the University of Padua and were looked upon as In every wny above committing so cruel or attempting so rash an act Tho probability is that thoy did not Intend murder, but rather the possession of the royal person. The whole affair was very mysterious, the only witnesses being the king himsolf and Henderson, tho man In armor. Somo of the ministers thought it so suspicious that they refused to return thanks for the king's safety, as they thought the whole affair was an Invention Inven-tion of his own. Eight years later, however, how-ever, some letters were discovered which seemed to prove that there had really been a plot to seize th king's person. On August o the naval battle at Mobile bay was begun by Admiral Farragut (186-1). Today Is tho birthday of John Kllot. "The Apostlo to the Indians" (100 1); Thomas Lynch, the youngest of the signers of the Declaration of Independence Inde-pendence (17J0); "Edward L. Bynner. American writer of historical fiction (18-12), nnd. Thomas Dawes, tho Boston patriot in whoso house the ttunrntn Ca. n i club hold their meetings is the date of tho Ioatl or t-0" N0.t) Franco (1882): Frederick (I-ord) wot11; 07!")? Admiral Richard Howe (1;00): turor (1S31); General Philip ilonry tonor-dan tonor-dan (18SS). nnd JSmpresH Frederick of Germany (1901). It Is the c late of tho murder of Xorxcs I. of Persia In ! B. C. |