James I Released

‘The terms on which the treaty for the freedom of James I. was at last fixed were, on the whole, liberal rather than otherwise. The English demanded, and the Scots agreed to pay, forty thousand pounds sterling—not as ransom, as the use of that obnoxious phrase could not apply to the case of an innocent boy taken without defence in time of truce, but to defray what was delicately termed the expenses of Prince James's support and education. Six years were allowed for the discharge of the sum by half-yearly payments. It was a part of the contract that the Scottish king should marry an English lady of rank; and his choice fell upon Joanna, niece of Richard II. by the mother's side, and by her father, John, duke of Somerset, the granddaughter of the Duke of Lancaster, called John of Gaunt. To this young lady, so nearly connected with the English royal family, the Scottish captive had been attached for some time, and had celebrated her charms in poetry of no mean order, although defaced by the rudeness of the obsolete language. They were married in London; and a discharge for ten thousand pounds, the fourth part of the stipulated ransom, was presented to the Scottish king, as the dowry or portion of his bride. The royal pair were then sent down to Scotland with all respect and dignity, and Murdach, the late regent, had the honor to induct his royal cousin into the throne of his forefathers.’

According to Rampant Scotland, the Treaty of London, releasing James I of Scotland from captivity in England, was signed on December 4, 1423.  The text above comes from Walter Scott’s “Scotland”.

Flamborough Head

King James I of Scotland was a strong ruler, though his reign was shortened by 18 years of captivity under English Kings Henry IV - VI.  Gaining the throne in 1406 on the death of his father, Robert III, the 12 year old James was sailing to France to grow up in safety when disaster struck; March 30, 1406 (OS).  Sir Walter Scott provides some history on this event in 'Scotland'.

'Meantime Prince James, the only surviving son of the poor infirm old king, being now (1405) in his eleventh year, required better education than Scotland could afford, and protection more efficient than that of his debilitated father. Robert III could not but suspect the cause and circumstances of his eldest son's death, and be conscious that the ambition which had prompted the removal of Rothsay would not be satisfied without the life of James also. The youthful prince was, therefore, committed to the care of Wardlaw, bishop of Saint Andrew's, and was by his advice sent to France, as the safest means of protecting him from his uncle's schemes of treachery or violence. He was embarked accordingly, Henry Sinclair, earl of Orkney, being appointed as his governor. A considerable number of Lothian gentlemen, with David Fleming of Cumbernauld, attended him to the ship. But on their return they were attacked, for what reason is unknown, by James Douglas of Balveny, uncle to the earl. A skirmish took place on Hermanston Moor, where Fleming and several of his companions fell.

This bloody omen, at the commencement of Prince James's voyage, was followed by equally calamitous consequences. The vessel in which he was embarked had not gained Flamborough Head, when she was taken by an English corsair. As the truce at the time actually subsisted, this capture of the prince was in every respect contrary to the law of nations. But knowing the importance of possessing the royal hostage, Henry resolved to detain him at all events. "In fact," he said, "the Scots ought to have given me the education of this boy, for I am an excellent French scholar." Apparently this new disaster was an incurable wound to the old king; yet he survived, laden with years and infirmities, till 1406, just a twelvemonth after this last misfortune. His death made no change in public affairs, and was totally unfelt in the administration, which continued in the hands of Albany.'

James II of Scotland Born

'Robert Grahame,

That killed our king, God give him shame.
 
James I. had two sons ; but one dying in infancy, he left behind him only James II., who in his childhood succeeded to his father's throne. The late king had five daughters, who were married, four of them into noble families abroad, while the youngest was wedded to the earl of Angus.'

As Sir Walter Scott tells us in his "The History of Scotland", the future James II of Scotland inherited his father's throne at an early age.  James was born on October 16, 1430, and was coronated following his father's assassination on February 21, 1437.  James II was 7 years old at the time.

James' reign, which began with the violent murder of his father, was itself marred by a murder which James himself committed.  Fifteen years after his father's death, nearly to the day (February 22, 1452), James slew William, the 8th Earl of Douglas (son of James the 7th Earl and Beatrice Sinclair) at Stirling Castle.  William traveled to Stirling when James offered safe conduct so that the two could repair their relations.  The main dispute concerned an alliance William made with Alexander Lindsay.  William refused to dissolve the alliance, and James stabbed him numerous times before throwing him out a castle window.  As Scott conjectures:

'...But the reader may demand, what could be the purpose of James, if not to rid himself of his turbulent subject by death. If we are to substitute conjecture where certainty is not to be had, we may suggest the probability that the king had determined to arrest Douglas in case he was found intractable, and to detain him a hostage for the quiet demeanour of his family, until his league with the northern earls was broken, and the height of his dangerous power was in some degree diminished. There might be in this device some part of the policy, as well as the unscrupulous breach of faith, which characterised the politics of such a statesman as Crichton; and considering the vehement character of James II. and the stubborn and presumptuous disposition of the earl, it is easy to conceive how, in a personal interview betwixt two such hot and passionate spirits, the intended purpose of arrest should have been changed for one of a more bloody and decisive character.'

James I of Scotland

July 25, 1394 is the date ascribed to James I's birth by rampantscotland.com.  James was born in Dunfermline to King Robert III and Anabella Drummond.  James was indirectly impacted by circumstances that Walter Scott employed in his "The Fair Maid of Perth".   James' older brother David was the Duke of Rothesay, who Scott has trying to abduct the maid Catherine Glover.  Rothesay himself later falls afoul of his uncle Robert Stewart, the Duke of Albany, who kills him in hiscastle.  In real life, Rothesay died in Albany's Falkland Castle.

In the novel and in real life, Albany was exonerated by parliament of involvement in Rothesay's death, but James' life was nonetheless considered endangered, and he was sent to France for his safety.  He made it as far as Bass Rock in the Forth where he spent several months in hiding, then tried to sail to France, only to be captured and turned over to King Henry VI of England.  James was detained in England for the next 18 years, before ransom was paid, and James freed.

From "The Fair Maid of Perth": 'Far different had been the fate of the misguided heir of Scotland from that which was publicly given out in the town of Falkland. His ambitious uncle had determined on his death, as the means of removing the first and most formidable barrier betwixt his own family and the throne. James, the younger son of the King, was a mere boy, who might at more leisure be easily set aside. Ramorny's views of aggrandisement, and the resentment which he had latterly entertained against his masters made him a willing agent in young Rothsay's destruction. Dwining's love of gold, and his native malignity of disposition, rendered him equally forward. It had been resolved, with the most calculating cruelty, that all means which might leave behind marks of violence were to be carefully avoided, and the extinction of life suffered to take place of itself by privation of every kind acting upon a frail and impaired constitution. The Prince of Scotland was not to be murdered, as Ramorny had expressed himself on another occasion, he was only to cease to exist. Rothsay's bedchamber in the Tower of Falkland was well adapted for the execution of such a horrible project. A small, narrow staircase, scarce known to exist, opened from thence by a trapdoor to the subterranean dungeons of the castle, through a passage by which the feudal lord was wont to visit, in private and in disguise, the inhabitants of those miserable regions. By this staircase the villains conveyed the insensible Prince to the lowest dungeon of the castle, so deep in the bowels of the earth, that no cries or groans, it was supposed, could possibly be heard, while the strength of its door and fastenings must for a long time have defied force, even if the entrance could have been discovered. Bonthron, who had been saved from the gallows for the purpose, was the willing agent of Ramorny's unparalleled cruelty to his misled and betrayed patron....'