INTRODUCTION
XXXV
It was the settlement of the boundaries which might have
proved disturbing, but the discussion of terms ended
amicably, so that the only suggestion of trouble on the
Border is contained in an unsigned letter from Carlisle,1 on
the 7th May 1552, which may have been written to D’Oysel,
stating that an agreement had been arrived at by the Scots
Commissioners about the disturbances since the peace, and
that even the English in the Debatable Land seemed
pacifically disposed.
That the French King’s wars with the Emperor had
their echo in Scotland is shown by a letter from De
1’Aubespine 2 to the French ambassador, in which he is
charged to tell the Queen Dowager and the Governor that
they are not to continue their military preparations. But,
although the country was not involved in the hostilities,
there were Scots in the French armies. A company com¬
manded by Jean Stuart, Sieur d’Aubigny,3 fought in Italy
under DeBrissac in 1553, as is shown by Ninian Cockburn’s
letter. In the same year, D’Oysel,4 then in France, made
a long complaint to Marie de Lorraine on the conduct of
some of the Scots captains there ; two he singled out for
particular condemnation, the brother of the Earl of Glen-
cairn and James Dog. There was nothing he found to
approve in the former and little in the latter; and he
begged the Queen to convey to their relatives or friends
that they were not making the most of their opportunities,
but not to reveal all he said about them. Their conduct
he considered the more vexatious as Henri n. was most
anxious to show them favour.
On the 30th November 1553 the Constable 5 wrote a
cautiously worded letter, alluding perhaps to the question
of the Regency ; the time was convenient for what they
desired to do, and the moment should not be let pass for
1 Letter LXXXII.
4 Letter CXVI.
2 Letter LXXXVIIL
5 Letter CXXV.
App. B, IV.