Cunningham of Drumquhassle
At their greatest extent, their lands included Mugdock-Mitchell and the house at Killermont (in modern-day Bearsden), covering the part of parishes of Strathblane and New Kilpatrick.
This Alexander Cunningham (first Laird of Drumquhassle) married Margaret Park (about 1502), and in this way acquired three quarters of the lands of Mugdock (the remainder, including the castle, was in the hands of the Clan Graham)).
John (the fourth Laird) was named in a 1587 Act of the Scottish Parliament as one of "The General Band" of Landowners, and he continued to carry some of his father's high profile.
The battle against the Governor of Scotland, Regent Arran, was bloody and the Earls lost, and many nobles and common men were killed, including Glencairn's son.
These articles also ensured that the infant James would be brought up as a Protestant and therefore acceptable to the English as a future king, which ultimately led to the creation of the modern United Kingdom.
Drumquhassle brought the English army to Edinburgh in April 1570 as part of actions to bolster the position of Lennox as Regent during the early days of the Lang Siege.
[30][31] Drumquhassle was made Captain of Dumbarton Castle after its surrender, and he appears to have later held this post concurrently with Master of the Royal Household, for which he is recorded as having received payments from the Treasurer of Scotland.
During this period, influential members of the Scottish court were paid pensions from the Treasury of England, presumably for influence over James, the heir presumptive of the English throne.
The English pension list for June 1574 shows Drumquhassle being given £150, and the following citation: "Drumwhessle; able to persuade by credit and counsel, especially about the King and Argyll, and apt to do good by the commodity of his office of Dumbarton, which he commands.
At this time that things started to turn sour for John Cunningham of Drumquhassle, and in July 1578 he received a summons to appear before the King and Privy Council at Stirling Castle to give his accounts for the Earldom of Lennox.
Despite Drumquassle's summons in 1579, it appears he escaped the charge, because he continued to act in public life and as an officer of the Lennox; in August 1580, d'Aubigny sought to take Dumbarton Castle under his direct control, intending to demote Drumquhassle from captain to constable, losing his authority to pay or move soldiers.
This coup d'etat was supported by the English and the Church of Scotland and was fiercely Protestant, removing nobles with catholic tendencies, especially James Stewart, Earl of Arran, and d'Aubigny, now Duke of Lennox, from any position of influence over the king.
However, the final plot devised was one of Drumquhassle making arrangements with the English to have James VI taken to England and incarcerated in the same manner as his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots.
Drumquhassle's younger brother, Captain James Cunningham had been a companion of these lords at their failed coup in Stirling and in their exile in England.
[48] Charges of treason devised in July 1583 were now raised against James Edmonstone of Duntreath, Drumquhassle and his son-in-law, Malcolm Douglas of Mains in January 1584/5.
This Cunninghame was an ancient Gentleman, and of an old house, who, himself in person, had beene a follower of the Earle of Lennox, and done him good service when he took in the Castel of Dumbertan, ... yet both of them were hanged at the Market Crosse of Edinburgh.
"[52]While Arran continued to strengthen his hold on power in Scotland, two issues remained beyond him, the banished lords and his poor diplomatic relationship with England.
Three further alleged plots were presented to the court; firstly that the banished lords (Angus, Mar, Glamis and the Abbot of Arbroath) planned to raid Edinburgh with a thousand horsemen, but this was apparently deemed too difficult to conceal; secondly that thirty or forty horsemen should intercept the king on the fields, when his horse was tired and he was alone and convey him to the islands of Loch Lomond until the banished lords could receive him into their custody, but this plot was also apparently abandoned on the basis of its protracted and difficult nature.
These eight men were to disguise themselves as beggars, cutting their horses tails, manes and ears so that they would not look fit and lie in wait for between three and six weeks to ambush the king and either shoot him or kill him by any other weapon.
[53] With these allegations of an extended plot established, Arran sent his ambassadors the Master of Gray and then Sir Lewis Bellenden to England to lay the same charges of treason successfully applied to Drumquhassle in Edinburgh to the lords in exile.
However, events did not follow the same course as they had in Scotland; indeed, the banished lords gained greater favour from the English while Arran fell further in their estimation by his obvious subversion.
[50][54] In October 1585 the banished lords invaded Scotland and gained an easy victory over Arran, captured Stirling Castle with the King in November, and secured from him the restoration of their estates, and the control of the government.
