In November, 1585, another Raid of Stirling occurred. The exiled lords who had forsaken the castle in the previous year, collected their forces in the south of Scotland, where they were joined by a number of the Border lairds. Proclaiming that they sought to save the King and the country from the evil rule of James Stewart, Earl of Arran, they advanced northwards with some nine hundred men and camped at St. Ninians on November 1st. Next morning at daybreak they crept into the town, like Buccleuch and Fernihirst fourteen years before, while Arran and Montrose, who had kept watch on the walls, immediately took to flight, the former seeking safety beyond the Bridge of Forth, the latter finding refuge in the castle with the King. Having captured the town with comparative ease, the lords proceeded to invest the fortress which they knew to be ill prepared for a siege. After sending messengers to treat with the invaders, James agreed to surrender, for his attempt to escape by bribing William Maxwell of Newark, who had charge of one of the postern doors, was discovered by the besiegers. The nobles entered the castle on the 4th of November, assuring their sovereign that they had acted from motives of loyalty, while he replied that words were unnecessary, as their weapons had spoken quite loudly enough. Differences were settled for the time, and James professed to be pleased with the change; Arran was banished for ever from the Court, and to Mar, who had forfeited his hereditary privilege, the custody of Stirling Castle was restored. Too often in Scottish history the conduct of the barons towards the sovereign was insolent and disloyal; but there were occasions in which their coercive action was fraught with good to the country. The nobles who captured James VI. at Ruthven Castle and who besieged him in his own stronghold of Stirling, were actuated to some extent by selfish motives, but at the same time they realised that their measures were such as would confer real benefit upon the land. Yet although the weakness of the King in placing his trust in unpopular favourites justified the daring steps taken by the nobles, it is not a matter for wonder that in his later life the shout of “Treason” escaped from James’s lips whenever an unexpected incident occurred.