 In 1420, Angus was nominated as one of twenty-one noblemen to be delivered as hostages to the English court as security for the ransom of King James I. James had been captured by the English in 1406, and was held by first Henry IV of England, and latterly by his son Henry V of England.During the king's captivity, Scotland was ruled by his uncle Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, who had been in no hurry to pay his nephew's ransom.Following the death of Albany in 1420 the Scots finally paid the ransom monies owed.