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Sir John Colquhoun succeeded his brother Robert in or about the year 1408. He bound himself, between the 25th July 1392 and the 23d April 1411, by letters patent, sealed with his seal, and ratified by his oath, to Duncan seventh Earl of Lennox, that he would marry Margaret, daughter of that Earl, within the term of two years, provided the Earl would discharge him of his maritage according to the form of law within that period. That lady was at that time a widow. She was previously the wife of Robert Menteith of Rusky, in Menteith, who had infefted her in some of his lands, 25th July 1392, and to whom she had a son, Murdoch Menteith of Rusky, who married, and had issue a son and two daughters. Her father, Duncan Earl of Lennox, publicly required Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, in presence of a notary public, on 23d April 1411, to fulfil his engagements to marry her, as appears from a notarial instrument in the Latin, which narrates the facts, and may be thus translated:—

In the name of God, amen: By the present public instrument let it be manifestly known to all that, in the year of our Lord one thousand four hundred and eleven, in the fourth indiction, on the twenty-third day of the month of April, in the seventeenth year of the Pontificate of the most Holy Father in Christ and our Lord, Lord Benedict the Thirteenth, by Divine Providence Pope, in presence of me, notary public, and of the witnesses underwritten, personally constituted, a noble and potent lord, Lord Duncan Earl of Levenax, addressed John Colquhoun, Lord of Luss, in regard to some obligations, promises, and certain agreements, agreed upon, entered into, and contracted between that Lord Earl and the same John by the said John’s obligatory letters-patent, sealed with his seal, and confirmed by his oath in this manner, namely, that the same Lord Earl, among other things, wished and asserted that the foresaid John, being formally bound to that Lord Earl that if it should happen that he should marry Margaret, lawful daughter of the said Lord Earl, within the term of two years, as is more fully contained in the obligations themselves made thereupon, if the same Lord Earl should make the foresaid John free of his maritage according to the form of reason or of law, within the above said term of two years, which the said Lord Earl offered to do according to the before-mentioned form of law by the security of obligations or good and sufficient pledges; which obligatory letters with effect the same Lord Earl requested to be observed to him in their form and force in like manner and in effect by the same John in all things; and that the said Lord Earl should observe and fulfil to the same John without delay, the obligations, promises, and agreements, of this nature so entered into, contracted and agreed upon, in so far as it was in his power, in form and effect, in all points, articles, and circumstances, as is more fully and effectually contained in the same obligatory letters: And that the said Lord Earl would make the said John of Colquhoun thus firm, safe, and secure, and would warrant the said John, as he is better and more effectually bound to the same John in the foresaid obligatory letters, against all mortals, according to form of law: And if it should happen that any should attempt or wish to molest and disturb the foresaid John of Colquhoun in any points contained in the said letters, against the form of law, the same Lord Earl offered to act in his defence against molestation or disturbance of this sort, as he would act in a cause touching his own proper person, in any manner in which he could suitably do so according to the foresaid form: Upon all which, and sundry premises, the same Lord Earl asked me, notary-public underwritten, to make to him a public instrument. These things were done near the burial-ground of the parochial church of St. Patrick, in the diocese of Glasgow, year, day, month, indiction and pontificate as above, there being present these noble men, John Stewart, Lord of Darnley, Sir John of Hamilton, Lord of Bardwe, Alexander of Logan, Lord of Catconwell, knights, Hugh of Aldyston, and Sir Robert Lang, rector of Innyschallach, of the diocese of Glasgow, and other witnesses to the premises specially called and asked.^[1]

Then follows, in the usual form, the docquet of the notary, Celestine Macgillemichael, clerk of the diocese of Argyll.

Whether Sir John implemented these engagements does not appear from any record that has come under our notice.

The life of this laird was contemporaneous with the reign of King James the First, to whom, during his long imprisonment in England, he was a faithful and devoted subject, and whom he so much resembled in his tragical death. That monarch, as is well known, was made a prisoner by the English when on his way to France in the year 1406, and was detained in England by the Government of Henry the Fourth for eighteen years. The Estates of Scotland, after their King had been long a prisoner, having assembled at Perth, and held a consultation, agreed to send an embassy to the English Court to procure his release. Some nobles were chosen and despatched as ambassadors, and on their arrival they found the English Court more inclined to the object of their mission than they had expected. The Duke of Gloucester, who administered the Government, was disposed, from various political considerations, to permit the return of King James to Scotland, and he had no difficulty in persuading the English Council to follow this policy. Besides other advantages, Gloucester hoped not only that he would secure the friendship of the Scottish monarch, but that he would keep him under the power and influence of England by marrying him to Joan, daughter of the Earl of Somerset, who was considered the most beautiful woman of her time, and by whom James had been greatly captivated. The King of Scots being set at liberty, and further conciliated by his marriage with this attractive lady, Gloucester persuaded himself that he would easily manage to get the existing league between Scotland and France broken; and that the Scots being secured as allies, the English would be delivered from hostilities on the part of their immediate neighbours, and would be left free to avenge themselves on France for past injuries, or to prosecute future wars with the greater vigour and success.

But while by powerfully urging on the Council of England these and other advantages that would result from the liberation of the King of Scots, Gloucester succeeded in gaining them over to the approval of his proposal, there were some difficulties to be overcome. One of the most formidable of these was the settlement of the ransom price of the King of Scots. The English Council demanded a greater sum of money for his ransom than the Scots were either inclined or able to pay. A compromise was, however, made; the dowry of his wife was to be retained as the one-half, and the sons of some of the principal Scotch families were to be given in hostage for the payment of the other half. This having been agreed upon, James was set at liberty in the year 1423.

Having distinguished himself by his fidelity to his sovereign during his protracted imprisonment, and being a man of ability, with much influence in the country, Sir John Colquhoun was appointed, during the reign of King James the First, to the office of Governor of Dumbarton Castle. This office he held in 1424, the year after the release of the King. In the account of the customs of the burgh of Linlithgow, rendered on 15th May 1425, from 23d July 1424 to the day of the account, under the head of expenditure, are mentioned “the payment made by command of our Lord the King to John of Colquhone, Keeper of the Castle of Dunbrettane, from the term of the blessed Martin, bypast, as appears by the said John’s letters of receipt shown on the account, £26, 13s. 4d.; and the payment made to the said John for the keeping of the said castle, of the term of Pentecost next to come, Sir John Forster (Chamberlain) testifying the receipt upon the account, £13, 6s. 8d.”^[2] Sir John Colquhoun held the same office during the minority of King James the Second.

On the 3d of January 1429, “John of Colquhoun, Lord of that Ilk,” was one of the assize at the settlement by Sir John Forster, Knight, of Corstorphin, Chamberlain of Scotland, of the dispute between the burghs of Dumbarton and Renfrew, regarding certain rights of fishing.^[3] And on the 7th February of the same year, John Macroger of Glen Mackerne [Glenmakurn], resigned in the open head court of the Lord of Luss into the hands of his lord superior, John of Colquhoun, Lord of Luss, all his lands of Gleane Mackehirne, Bannories, Inchgonagane, and Elanchleyff. Among the witnesses are Robert of Colquhoun, Lord of Camstrodane, and Malcolm of Culquhoun.^[4]

Sir John of Colquhoun was patron of the parish church of Luss, and about the year 1430, he consented to the annexation of that parish church as a prebendary to the cathedral church of Glasgow. It was then so annexed by John Cameron, Bishop of Glasgow, who, at the same time, erected other parochial churches of the diocese of Glasgow into prebendaries of that cathedral. The patrons, however, were still to retain the right of presentation of vicars to the churches when vacant.^[5]

But Sir John Colquhoun had soon after an opportunity of taking a more prominent part in the management of the affairs of his country. He sat as a Member of Parliament in the year 1437—the commencement of the reign of King James the Second.^[6]

It was now a dark period in Scottish history. James the First, who was a wise and good prince, remarkable for excellence of genius and cultivation of mind, actively endeavoured to promote the welfare of his subjects, of which the many salutary laws enacted during his reign, which benefited not only his own age, but posterity, are lasting monuments. But his days were prematurely cut short. He was assassinated on the 20th of February 1437, in the Convent of the Dominicans, at Perth, whilst he sat with the Queen at supper, attended only by a few domestics, in the forty-fourth year of his age and the thirty-first of his reign, by a conspiracy, of which Walter Earl of Athole was the author. Not less than twenty-eight wounds were inflicted on his person by the conspirators, and his Queen, whilst endeavouring to defend him, was wounded in two places. He was succeeded by his only son, James the Second, who was then a child of only seven years of age, and who was crowned, at Holyrood House, on the 27th of March that year. Alexander Livingstone was chosen Regent and William Crichton Chancellor for the Administration of the Government during the King’s minority. But these ministers, each being unhappily impelled by ambition, did not work together harmoniously either for the good of the King or of the kingdom. The supreme power in the State was contested by them; their mutual jealousies produced mutual recriminations; and these again were followed by the adjustment of their differences. Rival factions were formed, and many powerful families were at feud. The slaughters committed among them were frequent, and these were followed by robberies, burnings, and murders, perpetrated by the friends and vassals of the one party upon the friends and vassals of the other. In this disorganized state of the kingdom, when justice was but feebly administered, the multiplication of acts of violence, especially in the remote parts of the country, and bordering on the Highlands, was to be expected. Taking advantage of such a state of things, a body of the Western Islanders, headed by the principal men of the Isles, Lachlan Maclean or Macleod and Murdoch Gibson, who were two noted robbers, made a descent upon the western coast for the purposes of plunder. Sir John Colquhoun of Luss signalized himself by his promptitude and courage in resisting their incursions, for which he had collected a considerable number of men. He unhappily lost his life in this patriotic enterprise.

The circumstances attending his death have been differently related by our historians. Boece says that, overpowered by the numbers of the enemy, he was slain, with many of his people, when fighting bravely.^[7] Buchanan gives a somewhat different version. The chiefs of the party, Lachlan Maclean and Murdoch Gibson, sent a message to Sir John Colquhoun, requesting that he would honour them with a friendly conference, with the view of endeavouring to effect a reconciliation, and they pledged their faith for his personal safety. Not suspecting any hostile or treacherous intention, he left his garrison and went to meet them, attended only by a few of his friends. Whilst he was treating with them, under an assurance of personal safety, these ruthless savages put him and his attendants to death, with circumstances of barbarous cruelty. This tragic scene took place in the Island of Inchmurrin, in Lochlomond, on the 24th of September 1439.^[8] The tradition of the district reports that a party of the Western Islesmen made a descent upon the coast, and having pursued some of the inhabitants to the Island of Inchmurrin, put to the sword the Laird of Luss and several others.

These and similar slaughters and robberies, which were committed in most parts of the kingdom, threatening the complete destruction of all order and government, created universal alarm. All felt that it was necessary that something should be done. A Parliament was summoned to meet, for the purpose of devising and adopting such measures as were urgently required in so calamitous a conjuncture, and it was opened on the 2d of August 1440. One of the measures which was adopted was the appointment of justice aires or Circuit Courts, to be held twice in the year, both on the south and on the north sides of the Forth. This was not the first appointment of these courts, for the Act expressly asserts that they were to be held “as auld use and custom is.” But they had not, it is probable, been for some time held so regularly, in the distracted condition of the kingdom, as the preservation of the public tranquillity required, and as it was now determined should be done. The Act ordained that lords of regalities within their regalities, and the King’s bailies of his regalities, and that the King himself should be in each town where the aire should be held, or near thereby, where his Council thought it necessary.^[9] By the same Parliament, for the remedy and punishment of divers crimes, it was concluded “that our sovereign Lord the King ride through all the realm incontinent after there be sent to his Council, where any rebellion, slaughter, burning, reife, forfalt, or theft happens; and there to call the Sheriff of the shire where the thing beis done before him, and or (ere) the King depart out of that shire, to set remedy of such harms done, or if any such shall happen to be done, whether the default be in the officers or in the doers, to be punished by the King. The which conclusion and ordinance all the Barons, of common assent and consent, are obliged to assist, both with their power in bodies and goods, as oft as shall be seen speedful, by advice of the Council, for the good and avail of the realm, and the common profit.”^[10]

Sir John Colquhoun married Jean, daughter of Robert Lord Erskine, who was a co-heir with Lyle of Duchal of the ancient Earls of Mar, by whom he had one son and one daughter,—

1.

Malcolm, who predeceased his father.

2.

Isabel, who married David Douglas of Mains, after 1440.

[1]	Original Instrument at Buchanan.

[2]	Accounts of the Great Chamberlains of Scotland, etc., vol. iii. pp. 152, 153.

[3]	Extract Decreet at Rossdhu.

[4]	Original Procuratory of Resignation at Rossdhu. The Bannories here mentioned were probably High and Low Banry (now Bandry) and the hill above Rossdhu, called the Bandry wood.

[5]	Registrum Episcopatus Glasguensis, p. 340.

[6]	M’Kenzie, MS. Coll.

[7]	Boetius, f. 360.

[8]	Buchanan’s History, Aikman’s edit., vol. ii. p. 124; Auchinleck Chronicle; Lindsay of Pitscottie’s History of Scotland, p. 16; Abercromby’s Martial Achievements of the Scots Nation, vol. ii. p. 324.

[9]	Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 32.

[10]	Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 32, 33.