The earl of Athol, as principal, although uncle to the king, had his belly cut open, his bowels taken out and burnt before his face: his body was then quartered, and the four parts sent to four of the greatest towns of the realm. Sir Robert Stuart, having been very active in the business, was hung on a gibbet and then quartered. Sir Robert Graham was put into a cart, having a gallows erected within it, to which was fastened one of his hands, namely, that with which he had assassinated the king, and thus led through the streets. He was surrounded by three executioners, who kept pinching his thighs, and other parts of his body, with red hot pincers, and was afterwards quartered. All the rest were horribly tormented before they were executed; and this act of justice was done within forty days of the king's murder. The reason of the earl of Athol's committing this atrocious deed was, that on the king's return from his imprisonment in England, where he had been for a long time detained, as mentioned in my first book of this history, he had put to death many great lords, (as well those related to him by blood as others) who had been members of the regency during his absence, for not having exerted themselves more expeditiously for his ransom. In this number were some very near relatives to the earl of Athol, who, though before this act he kept up the appearance of loyalty, had for a considerable time been plotting this assassination, which he put in practice as you have seen. King James left a son about twelve years old, who was crowned king of Scotland, with the unanimous assent and approbation of the three estates of the realm. He was placed under the governance of a knight of great renown, called sir William Crichton[2], who had been his tutor during the life of the king his father. This young monarch had a vermilion mark down one cheek, and a white one down the other. Within a short time, the queen carried away suddenly, from the knight above named, the king her son, out of the castle of Edinburgh, and put him under other governors, namely, the great lords of the country. This regency put to death the earl of Douglas[3] and his brother, called David de Combrebant[4], for having as they said, formed a conspiracy against the young king, to depose him from his throne. King James had six sisters, the eldest of whom was married to the dauphin of France, son to king Charles; the duke of Brittany had another; the third married the duke of Savoy's son; the fourth married the lord de Vere in in Holland. The queen also married a young scots knight called sir James Stuart and had by him several children[5].