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This
probably would not have been sufficient to give the Campbell the
lever he looked for. But further unsavoury behaviour provided it.
One of the King's gentlemen-of-the-bedchamber found Montrose's
letter in the royal apartments, and recognised that here was
merchandise for which someone might be prepared to pay. He had
no difficulty in finding a market in 1640 Scotland. Now this also
was in the Committee's hands - with the Earl of Argyll's
explicit instructions.

Montrose
and his friends were not exactly arrested; their enemies could
hardly go so far against two of the Covenant's Lieutenant-Generals,
two serving colonels of regiments, and nine other peers of Scotland,
seven of them earls. They could not even summon them to a trial -
since all could claim to be tried by their peers; and the majority
of other peers would find for them, undoubtedly. So they were
requested to appear before an enquiry of the Committee - or at least
the others were summoned, while Montrose was asked more politely.
This was the tactic throughout, to drive a wedge between the Graham
and his associates. Montrose perceived it quickly, and insisted on
aligning himself with the others, accepting no special treatment.

The
enquiry was as clearly intended as a warning only, to scare
influential men away from forming any sort of party or alliance with
Montrose, which might challenge the party of Argyll. It could not
claim that the Cumbernauld Bond was in any way either unlawful or
contrary to the Covenant and the realm's weal; but the implication
was that it might be a secret conspiracy, with its true terms other
than those written down. Montrose, as spokesman, poured scorn on
that, declaring that the same might be alleged of any written
agreement - including the National Covenant itself. He had signed
the one as he had signed the other - the first name on both
documents - for the freedom of worship and the good of the King's
realm. As to the suggestion that his letter to King Charles was
intelligence with the enemy, and somehow treasonable, he
pointed out that such charge was laughable. Every liege had a
right to communicate with his monarch, a
duty
if
he was one of the earls of Scotland and had advice to offer.
Moreover, the King was still head of this realm, not the enemy; and
communication with him could not possibly be so styled. Indeed any
assertion that it was, itself could better be termed treason, as an
unwarrantable attack on the rights of the Crown. Let the
Committee consider its own position in that respect, and that of
those who sought to manipulate it, he counter-charged.

The
enquiry ended abruptly, with its witnesses dismissed, and a copy of
the Bond ceremoniously burned, to appease certain of the left-wing
fanatic ministers. But it served at least to alarm some of the
Cumbernauld signatories, to let them see that connexion with
Montrose might have its dangers. Not all were proof against this
sort of pressure. Argyll's name was not so much as mentioned
throughout

Montrose
and his military colleagues returned to the army at Newcasde.

If
Argyll and the Committee thought that by this proceeding they
had warned off James Graham himself, they were far wrong. Warned he
was - but in the other direction. It was clear to him now that, not
only could the Campbell and he not work together for the Covenant or
Scotland's wellbeing; but that the one must in the end put down the
other. And since he conceived Argyll's policies, like his nature, to
be against all that he himself believed in, there was no question as
to what simple duty demanded of him. He owed it to his conscience,
and to his country and his monarch, to see Argyll reduced from his
dominant position. And not being of a secretive nature, nor seeing
any advantage in secrecy anyway now that the Cumbernauld association
was known to all, he went about it openly, in effect proclaiming
himself focus and axis for all to rally round who hated the Campbell
and all his works, as well as the rule of the zealot preachers. He
even wrote to the King again, this time a long and carefully worded
letter outlining a well-thought-out programme which he urged Charles
seriously to consider. He advised, as vital, that the requirements
of the original Covenant, regarding religion and liberties, should
be granted forthwith, clearly and finally; and that thereafter His
Majesty should come to Scotland in person, the realm over which his
forebears had ruled for a thousand years, and which would rally to
and love a monarch whom it could see and greet Let him trust his
cause no more to commissioners and the like, men of straw, who could
neither give nor gain contentment in the mighty distemper that
afflicted the ancient kingdom. And let him hereafter trust, as
public servants only those of known integrity and sufficiency,
choosing them carefully and not on mere credit or recommendation;
while avoiding absoluteness, which would only stir up further
trouble.

This
letter Montrose sent openly, by the hand of official couriers
carrying documents to the Covenant delegation now negotiating with
Charles in London.

Alexander
Henderson and Johnstone of Warriston, now Procurator of the Kirk of
Scotland, led this Covenant commission in London, negotiating,
in the event, more with the English parliamentarians than with the
monarch. This began by being a necessary fiction, for in theory the
King could not treat with his rebellious subjects; but in time it
was apparent that more was to be gained from parliament than from
Charles. But the proceedings were delicate and long-drawn; for not
only were the Scots in theory rebels, but equally they were not in
theory invading England at all - yet the removing of the occupying
army back to Scotland was the main item that they had to offer - at
a price - with Leslie's force sitting firmly at Newcastle dominating
the North of England and cutting off all coal traffic - and £50,000
of royal revenue therefrom - out of the great mining area there.
London was having a cold winter, in consequence. The Long Parliament
was now sitting there, and causing King Charles more anxiety than
were the Scots, with Pym and die Puritans and malcontents proving
their power, and the Huntingdonshire squire and grazier, Cromwell,
beginning to make his mark.

The
seething cauldron that was seventeenth-century politics, in England
as in Scotland, was coming to the boil.

Montrose
was arrested on the 11 th of June 1641, by order of the Committee of
the Estates. He was arrested at Merchiston Castle. He, along with
much of the army, had at last returned to Scotland, most of their
objectives at Newcastle satisfactorily achieved - to the tune
of £300,000 paid by the English parliament, plus £850
per day 'occupation costs' for the long period in Northumberland;
there can have been few more profitable and less bloody interludes
in Scotland's long association with her neighbour. King Charles, at
his wits' end, and now looking for Scots support rather than enmity,
in his obviously coming struggle with his English malcontents, had
given in to the Covenant negotiators all along the line — had
indeed promised to come to Scotland in the near future. So Leslie
retained only a token portion of his army at Newcastle, as a sort of
insurance, and the rest was not so much disbanded as stood down on a
temporary basis. The Graham had sent his own troops back to
Strathearn, Stirlingshire and the Mearns, relinquished his
commission as Lieutenant-General, and was settling up sundry affairs
at Archie Napier's house preparatory to heading north to
Magdalen and his children at Kinnaird, when a troop of Loudoun's men
came, without warning, to take him into custody. Clearly they would
not have dared do this a couple of weeks before, when he still had
two regiments of Grahams at his back. Napier was arrested with him;
also Sir George Stirling of Keir, Napier's nephew, and the latter's
brother-in-law Sir Archibald Stewart of Blackhall, who were likewise
staying at Mcrchiston. They were escorted to the great fortress of
Edinburgh Castle, on its towering rock, and there locked up in
separate cells.

The
charge was the vague and unspecified one of treason.

Montrose,
at least, had no doubts as to the real reason for it all. Argyll had
been biding his time. Just as soon as the Graham was no longer part
of the army, with his own protecting units and
Lieutenant-Generalship, he had acted. But there must be a pretext;
something more than the Cumbernauld Bond and the letter to King
Charles. The arrest of Napier and the others provided the clue. It
must be connected, he thought, with the business of Argyll and the
alleged deposition threats to the King - although one might have
imagined any treason therein to be on the other foot.

His
jailers would give him no information. They were civil, and he was
not maltreated, though denied his own servants; indeed he was kept
incommunicado and in a small semi-subterranean room, an intolerable
affront and constraint to a man of his standing and
temperament. His demands to see the rest of the Committee fell on
deaf ears; his letters to Rothes - now said to be mortally ill -
Henderson, Eglinton and others, remained unanswered, if ever they
were delivered.

So
the hot summer days passed in that eagle's nest of a prison - and
like a caged eagle indeed the Graham beat at his bars. Fiercely he
disciplined himself to accept, to wait, to swallow his rage, forcing
a proud, free spirit to steely restraint, if scarcely patience.

For
six long weeks he was held there, alone, without explanation or
detailed charges - and however illustrious his friends might be,
none won through the barriers to visit him. Perhaps Argyll's
strategy over the Cumbernauld Bond had been more effective than
realised, and wise men recognised Montrose as someone too
dangerous to associate with. Black Pate, Kilpont, Morphie and others
of his close associates, would be seeking to move heaven and
earth - that could be accepted; but what were they against the
Campbell and the Committee?

Then,
on the 27th of July, at last, he was taken from his cell, out of the
castle, and down the Lawnmarket of Edinburgh, the sun dazzling
his eyes unbearably after the long half-light of confinement. He
walked between close files of an armed guard of at least one
hundred, his captors taking no chances of a rescue. They brought him
to Parliament House, behind St Giles. He had expected to be taken
before a sitting of the Committee; but this proved to be a full
session of parliament - or at least, scarcely full, for at the most
cursory glance it was obvious that there were large and significant
gaps in the attendance, gaps where his friends should have been.
Argyll was there, however, on the notably sparsely filled earls'
seats - which, of course, he could not have been at a Committee
meeting.

The
hush as Montrose was brought into the great chamber was absolute,
the atmosphere electric. He was led to stand beside Napier, Stirling
and Stewart at a central table usually reserved for clerks, as
though in a dock at court. Napier looked pale and drawn, showing his
years, but kept his grey head high. Sir George and his
brother-in-law, much younger men, appeared nervous, unhappy and,
most of all, bewildered. All showed, as no doubt did Montrose
himself, the effects of their incareration. Smiling briefly to them,
Montrose bowed stiffly to Traquair, the Commissioner, and took
prompt initiative.

'I
wish
to know, my lord High Commissioner, since this seems to be a
parliament why
I
am
not sitting in it, of right, as an earl of this realm? Why I have
been held captive, without trial, for six weeks in Edinburgh Castle?
And on whose authority this has been done?'

Helplessly
Traquair spread his hands, in the throne. 'That is not for me to
answer, my lord of Montrose. Perhaps - my lord of Argyll... ?'

Argyll
sat still, head bent, silent, as though he had not heard.

In
the Lords of Parliament benches behind that of the earls, a swarthy
middle-aged man stood, John Livingstone, second Lord Balmerino, a
friend of the Campbell. 'May I speak to this matter - with your
permission, my lord President? The Earl of Montrose stands
accused, with these others, the Lord Napier, Sir George Stirling of
Keir and Sir Archibald Stewart of Blackhall, of grievous offence
against the realm. For which reason he, and they were put in ward by
the Committee of these Estates, for the better weal of the same
realm. And now appear before this parliament to answer
questions, preparatory to trial hereafter.'