in their possession heretical
books, including the New Testament in the vernacular, or who otherwise
betrayed a leaning towards the new opinions. In 1532, we are told,
"there was ane greit objuratioun of the favouraris of Mertene Lutar in
the Abbay of Halyrudhous;"[33] and of course their goods were forfeited
to the crown. In 1534 a second great assize against heretics was held
in the same place. The king, as the great Justiciar of the realm, was
present in his scarlet robe, and took a prominent part in the
proceedings. Betoun was also present and taking part. About sixteen are
said to have been convicted and to have had their goods forfeited. James
Hamilton, brother of the martyr, had been ordered by the king to flee
the country, as he could not otherwise save him. His sister was
persuaded to submit to the church. Two were reserved for a fiery
death--Norman Gourlay and David Stratoun. Gourlay was a priest in
secular orders, and "a man of reassonable eruditioun,"[34] who had been
abroad, and there imbibed the new opinions. These he abjured,[35] and
was, it seems, really burned for the greater crime of having married a
wife.[36] Stratoun was the brother of the Laird of Laureston in the
Mearns, and had been reclaimed from his former godless life by his
neighbour, Erskine of Dun, but by some free speeches had incurred the
resentment of the notorious Prior Hepburn. They were burned at the Rood
of Greenside, on the northern side of the Calton Hill. In the same year,
Willock, M'Alpine, and M'Dowal had to escape into England. In 1536, when
the king and Betoun were abroad, there was comparative peace. In 1537
several were convicted at Ayr, and had their goods forfeited, among whom
was Walter Steward,[37] son of Lord Ochiltree. In 1538-39 many were
accused and convicted in various burghs in which by that time reformed
opinions were spreading, and many had to seek safety in flight. Among
these last were Gavin Logie, principal regent in St Leonard's
College,[38] who for a number of years had been exercising a marked
influence on the students under him; John Fyfe, who under the
designation of Joannes Faithus matriculated at Wittenberg in 1539, and
under that of Joannes Fidelis was incorporated into the University of
Frankfort on the Oder, and appointed Professor of Divinity there in
1547; George Buchanan, who at the king's command had exposed the
hypocrisy of the friars; and George Wishart, who had taught the Greek
New Testament in