He took part in the plot which led to the execution of Morton in 1581 and in the conspiracy which delivered King James VI from the Ruthven raiders in 1583. In 1588 he signed the Presbyterian confession of faith, but continued to engage in plots for the Spanish invasion of Scotland. On November 28 he was appointed captain of the guard, and while carrying out his duties at Holyrood his treasonable correspondence was discovered. James, however, who found the Roman Catholic lords useful as a foil to the tyranny of the Kirk, and was at this time seeking Spanish aid in case of Elizabeth's denial of his right to the English throne, and with whom Huntly was always a favorite, pardoned him.
Subsequently in April 1589 he raised a rebellion in the north, but was obliged to submit, and after a short imprisonment in Borthwick Castle was again set at liberty. He next involved hilnself in a private war with the Grants and the Mackintoshes, who were assisted by the earls of Atholl and Murray; and on February 8 1592 he set fire to Murray's castle of Donibristle in Fife, and stabbed the earl to death with his own hand. This outrage, which originated the ballad The Bonnie Earl of Moray, brought down upon Huntly his enemies, who ravaged his lands.
In December the Spanish Blanks were intercepted (see Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll). two of which bore Huntly's signature, and a charge of treason was again preferred against him, while on September 25 1593 he was excommunicated. James treated him and the other rebel lords with great leniency. On November 26 they were freed from the charge of treason, being ordered at the same time, however, to renounce Rornanism or leave the kingdom. On their refusal to comply they were attainted.
Subsequently Huntly joined Erroll and Bothwell in a conspiracy to imprison the king, and the former two defeated the royal forces under Argyll at Glenlivet on October 3 1594, Huntly especially distinguishing himself. His victory, however, gained no real advantage; his castle of Strathbogie was blown up by James, and he left Scotland about parch 1595. He returned secretly very soon afterwards, and.his presence in Scotland was at first connived at by James; but owing to the hostile feeling aroused, and the No Popery riot in Edinburgh, the king demanded that he should abjure Romanism or go into permanent banishment. He submitted to the Kirk in June 1597, and was restored to his estates in December.
On April 7 1599 he was created a marquess, and on July 9, together with Lennox, appointed lieutenant of the north. He was treated with great favor by the king and was reconciled with Murray and Argyll. Doubts, however, as to the genuineness of his abjuration again troubled the Kirk. On December 10, 1606 he was confined to Aberdeen, and on March 19, 1607 he was summoned before the privy council. Huntly thereupon went to England and appealed to James himself. He was excommunicated in 1608, and imprisoned in Stirling Castle till December 10, 1610, when he signed again the confession of faith.
Accused of Romanist intrigues in 1616, he was ordered once more to subscribe the confession, which this time he refused to do; imprisoned at Edinburgh, he was liberated by James's order on June 18, and having joined the court in London was absolved from excommunication by Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury; which absolution, after some heartburnings at the archbishops interference, and after a further subscription to the confession by Huntly, was confirmed by the Kirk.
At the accession of Charles I Huntly lost much of his influence at court. He was deprived in 1630 of his heritable sheriffships of Aberdeen and Inverness. The same year a feud broke out between the Crichtons and Gordons, in the course of which Huntly's second son, Lord Melgum, was burnt to death either by treachery or by accident, while being entertained in the house of James Crichton of Frendraught. For the ravaging of the lands of the Crichtons Huntly was held responsible, and having been summoned before the privy council in 1635 he was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle from December till June 1636. He left his confinement with shattered health, and died at Dundee while on his journey to Strathbogie on the 13th of June 1636, after declaring himself a Roman Catholic.
| Preceded by: New Creation | Marquess of Huntly | Followed by: George Gordon |
| Preceded by: George Gordon | Earl of Huntly | Followed by: George Gordon |
Reference