ry LIFE OF JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. Edinhurgh : Printed hy Thomas and Archibald Constable, FOR DAVID DOUGLAS. LONDON HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. CAMBRIDGK MACMILLAN AND CO. GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOHE. Life of James Hepburn Earl of Bothwell BY FREDERIK SCHIERN PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN 0 Translated from the Danish by the Rev. David Berry, F.S.A. Scot. EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS 1880. TRANSLATOE'S PREFACE. Professor Schiern first published his work on Both well in 1863. Another edition of it, with con- siderable alterations, was issued by him in 1875. The present translation has been made from this edition, with such changes and additions by the author as more recent information enabled him to make. To adapt the work for publication in this country a few other alterations have been intro- duced, but in no instance affecting the integrity of the text. The original Danish title has been altered in order to express more adequately the contents of the volume. These, as the reader will find, embrace much more than an account of Bothwell's detention in Norway and imprisonment in Denmark (which was the only thing stated in the original title), and in reality trace his career from the beginning, besides discussing at length his relations to Queen Mary. As far as possible, all the authorities appealed to by the author have been carefully verified, and where extracts from English or Scottish writers vi PREFACE. rendered into Danish were given in the text within inverted commas, these have invariably been replaced by the words of the original authority. One or two notes correcting or explaining certain statements of the author have been added. A few of the longer notes that were put at the foot of the page have been thrown into an Appendix, in which is also printed for the first time the copy of Bothwell's so-called " Testament," presented by Drummond to the University of Edinburgh, that had for a long time gone amissing, but was recently recovered by Mr. Small, the Librarian. To facilitate reference a table of contents and a copious index have also been added. Acknowledgments are due to various gentlemen for valuable assistance and suggestions in bringing out this work. To the author I am indebted, not only for kindly granting me liberty to translate his book into English, but for notes and communica- tions sent me while engaged in its translation. I would also take this opportunity of expressing my obligations to Mr. John Robson of George Watson's College Schools, and especially to Mr. Joseph Anderson, keeper of the National Museum of the Society of Antiquaries, Edinburgh. Other gentlemen have kindly supplied me with informa- PREFACE. vii tion in reference to some matters stated in this work whose names I have mentioned elsewhere. Thanks are also due to the Senatus Academicus of the University of Edinburgh for allowing a copy to be taken of the MSS. of Bothwell's Testa- ment in their possession. Professor Schiern has won for himself a dis- tinguished name as an historical investigator. His Nyere Historishe Studier, though hardly known in this country, hold a high place on the Continent. The largest of these, his Monograph on Both well, is represented by R. Pauli in a recent article of his on Mary {Historische Zeitschrift, herausg. von H. V. Sybel, Neue Folge vi. 213), along with Dr. Hill Burton's History of Scotland, " as bringing no less honour on the science of history in our day by its trustworthy researches." It is equally favour- ably noticed by Professor Gaedeke of Heidelberg in a work on the same subject. In its English form it is hoped that it may be no less acceptable as a valuable contribution to the illustration of a most interesting period of Scottish History. AiRDRiE, 27th November 1879, COJfTEI^TS. CHAPTEE L PAGE Bothwell's Early Life 3 Takes the side of Mary of Guise . . . . . 12 Imprisoned in the Castle of Edinburgh .... 32 Escapes from it . . . . . . . . 34 Repairs to the Continent ...... 36 Mary's Union to Darnley . . . . . 47 She recalls Bothwell from France ..... 49 He is made Warden of the Scottish Borders . . 51 His Mistresses . . . . . . . . 53 Marriage to Lady Jane Gordon . . . . 59 CHAPTER IL Mary's Estrangement from Darnley . . . . 60 - — Ascribed by the latter to Ric^o . . . . . 64 Plot against Riccio . . . . . . . . 70 His Murder in Holyrood . . . . 74 Attempt of Bothwell and others to assist the Queen, and their subsequent Flight . . . . . . 77 Proclamations forbidding any to wear Arms in the streets of Edinburgh, and ordering all Members of Parliament, with some exceptions, to leave the city ... 80 Darnley reconciled to the Queen . . . . . 81 Their subsequent Flight to Dunbar .... 83 Their Return to Edinburgh with an Army ... 85 Bothwell joins the Queen . . . . 85 X CONTENTS. PAGE Is employed to communicate her Eeprieve to some of the Murderers of Eiccio 85 Mary's increasing Coldness towards her Husband . . 87 Bothwell's influence with her, and appointment as Keeper of Dunbar Castle 93 His Fight with Elliot . . 94 Visited by the Queen in Hermitage Castle ... 95 Her subsequent Illness . . . . . . . 96 Bothwell gained over to the Political Party opposed to the Queen ......... 99 Negotiations with the Queen for her separation from Darnley . 101 Bond entered into by Bothwell and others to put Darnley out of the way ....... 104 J CHAPTER III. The two Questions arising out of the Murder of Darnley . 106 Whence Answers to these Questions are derived . . 106 How the Enemies of Mary obtained possession of the Silver Casket with the Sonnets and Letters ascribed to her .107 Their production before the Commissioners at West- minster ......... 109 Their subsequent disappearance . . . . .112 Mary Stuart's Guilt plain according to these printed Docu- ments . . . . . . . . .113 Proofs alleged for their genuineness . . . .114 Not acknowledged genuine by Mary's Partisans . . 114 Mary's demand for the Documents produced against her, and her allegation of Forgeries invented to her Dis- honour . . . . .115 Such Forgeries not then uncommon . . . . 116 Her request for a sight or even for Copies of these Docu- ments refused . . . . . . .117 How far Bothwell was acquainted with them . , 119 k XT rmn XT m Ci CONTENTS. XI PAGE IVTorton's r/onfftssion in rplation to l^amlftv's TyTiiTflftr uvxA w ^_/vyxxxvy^J^JX\^J.x xax x \^xcvux\_/xx uv j—'t^x xxx^^ y o x» J. lAX viv^x • 121 Letters ever (questioned about them .... 123 1 Vip Tiano'nflO'P in wViirli tlipv atp writtpn anntlipr cioittpp of JL Xl\D J_inr»t qci tr» triPiv frpnmnpnpca ClUU-Uu do l/U LillCil gCllUlXlt/llCSo ..... 124 'PVipir* ao'TPPTTiPnt witli f.Tip l~)pplflT*atinn of 'PVioiTias C!T*awfoTfl J. XXV^Xl CtCLX ^C'XXX^XX Lf VVXUXX UXXvy yJX-'KAjL CLvxyjxL K/± JL XX\-/X1XC«0 V>X Cv vr xv^x vx proves too much ....... 130 Supposed. Authors of them 135 Singular Letter of Morton ...... 137 T^nP TiP'nAOTf'inn r»T T^qtic! X lie X^C JJUtoiulUll Ul i dllo ....... 138 Wanting in Authority ....... 141 Lesley's Statement on the subject ..... 143 Other Considerations for rejecting them as genuine . 148 CHAPTEE IV. O-rouTids allpfrpH fnT* TPP^a rd i n o" IVTarv as bavino' tlirowTi bpr- X \y iA.XXV4.0 J J. C«XXX I^XXXV> U 161 - T-*TPA7irmo i^QT'PP'r r\t Tsnpnoncin X 1CV1UU.O V^'OilCCl Ul XJ LlUlldllClll ...... TTici 'nosjition wVipn lip wrotp Viis Panrnhlpf. ao'aincit IVTayv XXlo LIVJolUlUll W lldl lie WlUUe lllo X dllllJlllOU dc^dllloU XYXdl y 1 KJO Charges her with too great Familiarity with Bothwell 172 Keasons tor not receiving impncitly his Kepresentation . 173 Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland 181 Follows Buchanan in his Statements about Mary 183 The Episode about Ch^tellard ..... 184 CHAPTEE V. Eemoval of Darnley from Glasgow after recovering from his Illness ........ 192 Bothwell arranges for his Residence in the house of Kirk- of-Field 193^ Those engaged in Darnley's Murder .... 197 xii CONTENTS. Bothwell its chief Author ...... PAGE 200 - His immediate Assistants in its Execution 201 Means employed 203 Bothwell attempts to conceal his share in the Murder 210- Way in which Mary acted in connection with it 213 ' Suspicion lights upon Bothwell ..... 217- OdP-tiIv rnnro'Prl hv TiPTrnoY wif.h f.Vip f^rimp 220 Is; janTnTYinnpri i'.ct fjncj'WT'PT' Tr»T if nPTrkVP ■friP Ac;e!i'7P 221 FTis Acnnittal AAXO ^X-Vflwl U.XUUC^X ........ 225 - CHAPTER VI. Meeting of Parliament ....... 227 Ratifies Bothwell's Acquittal ...... 229 " Ainslie's Supper " ....... 229 Bond signed by the Nobles present ..... 230 Some of her Subjects pained by the rumour of the in- tended Alliance, and seek to dissuade her from it 232 Bothwell surprises the Queen at Almond Bridge, and carries her off to Dunbar ..... 235 Mary's own Account of what had passed between her and Bothwell before giving him her hand in Marriage 237 - The opinion at first publicly entertained of the nature of her Abduction ....... 241 Subsequently believed to have taken place with her know- ledge and consent ....... 242 Bothwell immediately seeks a Divorce from his former Wife 246 Divorce pronounced between Bothwell and Lady Jane Gordon ......... 249 Mary's return with Bothwell to Edinburgh . . . 250 His approaching Marriage with the Queen duly announced 252 Honours conferred by her on him . . . . .253 She consents to pardon the Nobles who signed the Bond at Ainslie's Supper " . . . . . .254 Her Marriage with Bothwell 255 The form and place of its Celebration . . . .257 CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER VII. PAGE Mary and Bothwell write to the Monarchs of France and England to explain their sudden Marriage . , 259 The Nobles fear the introduction of French Absolutism into Scotland 260 Their reasons for subsequently rising against Bothwell . 261 The sojourn of the young Prince at Stirling forms a point of union to them ....... 264 Mary summons her Vassals to meet her with the Earl at Melrose with the view of proceeding to the Borders 265 Rumours to the contrary . . . . . .266 Mary issues " Declaration upon the Brutis " . . 266 She betakes herself with Bothwell to Borthwick Castle . 267 Is pursued by Earl Morton and Lord Hume with a small Army . . . 268 She and Bothwell escape to Dunbar .... 268 Leave Dunbar with an Army to march upon Edinburgh . 271 The Lords leave Edinburgh with a Force to meet them . 273 The Engagement of Carberry Hill ..... 275 Attempts made to avert a Battle . . . • .276 Mary at length agrees to return with the Lords to Edin- burgh 286 Bothwell escapes to Dunbar 287 CHAPTER VIIL Sources whence the History of Bothwell after his Flight from Carberry Hill are derived . . . .291 His Escape connived at by the Nobles . . . , 293 Bond afterwards entered into by them to seize Bothwell . 294 Reason why he left Dunbar Castle ..... 295 Finds refuge in Morayshire . . . . . .297 Proposal to seize him there 298 Bothwell sails for Orkney . . . . . .299 Charged with becoming a Pirate ..... 302 XIV CONTENTS. PAGE Is pursued by Kirkaldy of Grange and Sir William Murray 306 Overtake Bothwell lying at anchor in Bressay Sound . 307 The latter escapes 308 Is again overtaken off the south-west of Shetland , . 309 After an Engagement a storm drives his Ships into the North Sea 309 CHAPTEE IX. Design of Bothwell in going North . . . . . 310 Intercourse between Scotland and Denmark . . . 311 Letter from James vi. to Frederick ii. in reference to Bothwell and his Companions . . . . .313 Bothwell with his Ships reaches the Coast of Norway . 315 Meets a Hanseatic Vessel outside the island of Karm . 315 While there is overtaken by a Danish War-ship . 316 Is taken by it to Bergen 318 Is detained by the Authorities . . . . .319 Treatment in Bergen ....... 320 His Captain seized . . . . . . . .321 Is recognised and summoned before ' the Court by his Danish Bride 322 His request for liberty to leave refused . . . . 323 His Papers on board ship examined .... 325 The Authorities resolve to send him by the Danish War Ship to Copenhagen 327 CHAPTEE X. Bothwell's Arrival in Copenhagen ..... 329 Placed in custody in the Castle . . . .329 Hastens to write Letters to Charles ix. and Frederick ii., then absent from his Capital ..... 330 Meets with Charles Dancay in Copenhagen . . . 330 Peter Oxe also writes the King of Denmark in reference to sending Bothwell to one of his Castles in Jutland 331 CONTENTS. XV PAGE Reply of Frederick 332 Surrender of Bothwell demanded by Murray . . . 334 This request is refused ....... 335 Frederick offers instead to allow the Scottish Envoy to prosecute Bothwell before the Danish Courts . 336 Bothwell made aware of Murray's request . . 337 How he received the Tidings 338 Bothwell desires a copy of said Letter .... 339 Eeply of the King 340 The latter determines to send Bothwell as a Prisoner to Malmoe Castle 340 CHAPTER XI. Description of Malmoe Castle . . . . . .341 Bothwell writes a Memoir in reference to the Movements in Scotland that had brought him to Denmark . 342 Makes an offer to the King of the islands of Orkney and Shetland 343 The Kings of Denmark desirous of recovering these Islands 344 Attempts made with this view ..... 345 Efforts of the Scottish Government to obtain BothwelFs Surrender ........ 346 Queen Elizabeth writes Frederick in their support . . 347 Clark sent to Denmark to effect his Surrender . . 348 Frederick consults the other Princes of Europe on the subject ......... 354 Clark fails to secure Bothwell's Surrender, but effects that of two of his followers . . . . . .357 Paris one of these ........ 358 Clark himself convicted of Treason . . .365 Imprisoned in Malmoe ....... 366 Efforts made by Lennox for Bothwell's Surrender . . 367 Thomas Buchanan sent to procure it ... . 368 The success of his Efforts 371 xvi CONTENTS. PAGE Both well's Surrender opposed by the French King . . 372 Liberty enjoyed by Bothwell in Malmoe . . .373 Causes that led to his Transference to the Prison of Dragsholm 378 CHAPTEE XIL Stricter Imprisonment of Bothwell in Dragsholm . 382 Eumour of his Death . . . . . . . 383 Real date of his Death 385 Dies in Dragsholm 385 Is buried in Faareveile Church 386 Mental Condition when he died 387 Insane .......... 388 This controverted by Turner, but in vain . 389 Bothwell's so-called Testament ..... 390 Loss of Original Copy 392 The Abstracts of it 395 Its Genuineness ........ 396 Eeasons for regarding it to be a Forger} . . .398 APPENDIX. The Passport given to Anne Throndsson by Queen Mary 407 Account of John Stuart and his son Francis Stuart . . 407 The Queen's " Maries " 409 Testimonies to Mary Stuart's rare Beauty . . . 409 Poems of Mary Stuart 410 The Accusation of Buchanan against Mary in reference to her Conduct with Bothwell . . . . .411 Notices of recent Works on Mary Stuart's Connection with Darnley's Murder . . . . . .412 Darnley's Bed in the House of the Kirk-of-Field . . 414 The particular place where Mary was seized by Bothwell 415 CONTENTS. XVU PAGE Account given in Contemporary Public Documents of the Abduction of the Queen . . . . . .416 Bothwell's own Account of his Life, written in Denmark . 417 The Exaction of Ox and Sheep Money in Shetland . 417 The Pursuit of Bothwell in Shetland, and the fate of some of his Companions . . . . . . . 418 Intercourse between the Kings of Denmark and those of Scotland 419 Royal Danish Suitors for Mary's hand .... 420 By whom Bothwell was detected in Bergen . . . 420 The Memoirs written by Bothwell during his Imprison- ment in Denmark . . . . . . .421 Attempts made by the Danish Government to regain pos- session of the islands of Orkney and Shetland . 422 Clark's Acknowledgment of the Surrender to him of William Murray and Paris in Denmark . . .423 Answers by Clark to the Charges brought against him in Denmark ........ 424 The Date of Bothwell's Death 424 Turner's Account of the Death of Bothwell . . . 425 Bothwell's Dying Declaration, or so-called Testament . 426 The Testament and latter Will of the Lord Boduell . 427 Alleged Forged Documents produced during the Conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism . . . 429 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAPTEE 1. In going southward from Glasgow by railway, one chap. of the first stations which is reached is Uddingston. From this point is seen in the horizon the church 1536. spire rising over the village of Both well, and as the traveller advances towards the latter, and is within a fourth part of the way from Uddingston, he has on his right hand the mansion-house of Both well, which for two days a week is open to visitors. Entering the policies he passes the new castle of Bothwell, for what attracts his attention here are the ruins of the old — the once famous castle of Bothwell, the most magnificent of the kind which have been preserved from Scotland's middle ages. In these ruins he meets with a noble relic of the so- called Norman style. They form a rectangle, which extends to two hundred and thirty-two feet in length and ninety-nine in breadth, and is flanked on both sides by two lofty round towers. Up the walls, which are fourteen feet thick and sixty high, climb the ivy, the wild rose, and wallflower. The bank whereon the ruins stand slopes down towards the noisy brown Clyde, which at this point sweeps A JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. suddenly round in a semicircular course, and some- times, as an inscription here tells us, rises to a great height. This bank, like the one on the opposite side of the river, from which the ruins of the priory of Blantyre present themselves to view, is covered with wood, and, as " Bothwell Bank," became early cele- brated in Scottish song, though more from the melancholy than the cheerful interest attached to it, and has ever since retained its place in the Scottish mind. An English traveller, who was in Palestine in the sixteenth century, happening to pass through a village not far from Jerusalem, heard there a woman, who sat at the door of her house, and rocked her babe, humming to herself the words, " Bothwell Bank, thou bloomest fair." On address- ing her, he learned that she was a Scottish woman whom a romantic destiny had joined in marriage to a native of Turkey, and who now in the distant East sought to soothe her home-sickness with the national songs of her own dear Scotland.-^ Bothwell Castle, where Scotland's oppressor. King Edward iii., had for a long time his residence during his invasion of the country, now belongs to the Countess of Home, and this, with many other possessions, she has inherited as the eldest daughter of Lady Montague, sister to the last Lord Douglas, who died in 1857 without issue. The renowned race of the Douglases owned Both- well Castle in the middle ages ; but during the period which elapsed after their forfeiture in the reign of James ii., it, along with other posses- ^ The Songs of Scotland before [See also Verstegan, Bestitvtion of Burns. By J. C. Shairp. Mac- Decayed Intelligence. Amsterdam, millan's Magazine for March 1861. 1 605. — Translator.] HIS EARLY LIFE. 3 sions, had devolved upon the then existing family chap. of Hepburn — the Hepburns of Hales. Lord Patrick Hepburn was in 1481 created Earl of Both well by i^se. James iv., who also bestowed upon him the here- ditary office of Lord High Admiral of Scotland, along with many other dignities and extensive possessions. His grandson became the best known Lord of Bothwell, but at the fall of the latter his possessions were confiscated, and after having in the reign of James vi. been made over to his nearest relative, only to be in a short time taken away from him again, the castle of Bothwell re- verted once more to the Douglas family. James Earl of Bothwell, or as he himself writes his own name, James Erie Boithuille, was born in the year 1536 or 1537.^ In the battle of Flodden, which cut down the flower of Scotland's nobility, Adam, the second Earl of Bothwell, was slain by the Enghsh, leaving his son Patrick in his minority, who later, as third Earl of Bothwell, played an important part in Scottish history. By his contemporaries he has been described as "the fair Earl,'^ but an English statesman, who, if not quite an impartial witness, had a long acquaint- ance with the country, at a time when he was associated with the enemies of England, gives him the character of the proudest and haughtiest man in all Scotland.^ In the year 1535 he married Agnes Sinclair, who belonged to one of the most renowned of the families of Norman extraction in ^ Robert Douglas, The Peerage pride and folly, and here, I assure, of Scotland. Edinburgh, 1764, nothing at all esteemed." — State fol. i. 229. Papers and Letters of Sir Ralph ^ " I think him the most vain and Sadler j edited by A. Clifford, insolent man in the world, full of Edinburgh, 1809, 4to, i. 184. 4 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Scotland, — a family which has acquired additional < ] / fame especially in the Scandinavian north, alike from 1543. Colonel George Sinclair who fell in Guldbrandsdal in Norway, during the Kalmark war ; from Andrew Sinclair of Sinclairsholm, the highly-trusted coun- sellor of Christian iv., King of Denmark, who also, in the same war, fought on the Danish side ; and from Major Malcolm Sinclair, who was murdered by the Russians in his homeward journey from Turkey to Sweden, during the so-called " time of freedom."^ Agnes Sinclair, during her union with Earl Patrick Hepburn, bore him a daughter Jane and a son James, latterly so famous and so often confounded by historians with his father. So early as 1543 their marriage seems to have been dissolved by a divorce, and Earl Patrick remaiaed unmarried until his death in 1556. His divorced wife, or, as she is now commonly called from the usual place of her residence, the Lady of Morham," however, survived him until the year 1573, and thus be- came a witness both of her son's exaltation and overthrow. An attempt is commonly made to account for the divorce between Earl Patrick Bothwell and Agnes Sinclair on the ground of too near relation- ship, but the real ground of it was certainly some- thing else. It has been remarked of both the \} This is the name usually given ties, named respectively the "hats" in Swedish history to the period and the " caps," and, i3y their con- lasting from 1720 to 1772. Dur- stant struggles with each other for ing this period, owing to the weak- the supremacy, gave rise to an ness of the reigning sovereigns, the amount of licence and anarchy that power in a great measure fell into caused the nation gladly to wel- the hands of the nobles, who ruled come relief from such freedom the country through the Council through the measures taken by and States of the kingdom. They Gustavus iii. — Translator.'] were divided into two leading par- HIS EARLY LIFE. grandfather and father of the first of the Hepburns who became Earl of Both well, namely, Lord Patrick Hepburn of Hales, and Adam Hepburn of Hales, that they had already ventured to court the regard of Queen dowagers of Scotland — the former that of the beautiful Jane Beaufort, widow of James i., and the latter that of Mary of Gueldres, widow of James II. We have the assurance of Patrick Hepburn, third Earl of Bothwell, given not long after his divorce from Agnes Sinclair, and bearing his own signature, that the widow of James v., Mary of Guise, mother of Mary Stuart, " promest faithfullie, be hir hand writ, at twa sindre tymis, to tak the said Erie in mariage."^ When his son at a later period ventured his all to be united in marriage with the reigning Queen of Scotland, he could thus see in retrospect among his ancestors examples of those who had hfted their eyes almost as high. The only information we have about the child- hood of Bothwell, or about his fortunes during those years while he was known simply as James Hepburn, occurs in a polemical tract against Mary Stuart, which enjoyed no small celebrity in his time. Its substance is to the effect that he had re- ceived a bad training in Spynie Castle, near Elgin, with his grand-uncle, Patrick Hepburn, Bishop of Moray, who seems to have been one of many in- vested with the clerical office, who, in the period ^ See "Deeds connected with the Hepburns, Earls of Bothwell, and the Hepburns of Waughton," and "Letters of Patrick, Earl of Bothwell," in the Bannatyne Mis- cellany, containing original papers and tracts, chiefly relating to the history and literature of Scotland. Edinburgh, 1827-55, 4to, iii. 273^ 312, 403-423. Also the preface of Joseph Kobertson to the edition issued under his care for the Ban- natyne Club of Inuentaires de la Boyne Descosse, Douairiere de France. Edinburgh, 1863, 4to, pp. 84-95. 6 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, anterior to the Reformation of the sixteenth cen- w-^w tury, and especially when occupying remote situa- 1543. tions in places screened from active superintendence, entirely devoted themselves to the acquisition of lands, riches, and worldly influence.^ Could we warrantably assume that some of the books, which at a later period belonged to Both well, had been employed in his early tuition, we should have reason to expect that they would be highly advan- tageous in moulding the future commander of his country's army. Of the books which once were his, two finely bound volumes with his arms stamped upon them are still extant. One of these is a work by two mathematical authors ;^ the other, which embraces two works bound together, consists partly of a tractate by Robert Valturin on military matters,^ and partly of a translation of some treatises concerning the military art by classical authors.* ^ Quse virtutes ab eo expectari qvelle sont adioustees les Tables de poterant 1 ab homine scilicet, in diuers comptes, auec leurs Canons^ aula Moraviensis Episcopi, hoc est calculees par Gilles Huguetan, longe corruptissima educate, in natif de Lyon, 1538, fol. This vino et stupris, inter vilissima volume now stands by the side of solutiTe illius disciplin£e ministeria. one of Mary Stuart's books in the Buchanan, De Maria Scotorum beautiful library belonging to Mr. Regina. Londini, 1571, p. 54. J. T. Gibson-Craig, Edinburgh. That the often unreliable charges 3 ^^^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^^^^^ of Buchanan aTe not in this in- y^^^^-^ touchant la Discipline stance without foundation, is shown ^-^ -^^ t^anslatez de langve Latin by theunusually large number of Francoyse par Loys Meignet, children for a Scottish prelate in \ -^^^^ 15^55 ^^^^ the Reformation time, which later ^ ' ' . became legitimised as the Bishop of ^ Flaue Vegece Rene homme Moray's. They are to be found noble et illustre du fait de Guerre mentioned in one of the notes to the et Jleur de cheualerie quatre liures : History of the Reformation in Scot- Sexte Jule homme consulaire des land by John Knox ; edited by Stratagemes especes et subtilitez de David Laing. Edinburgh, 1856, i. guerre quatre liures : Aelian de 41 _ Vordre et instruction des batailles 2 Larismetique & Geometric de vng liure : Modeste des Vocables du maistre Estienne de la Roche diet fait de guerre vng livre : Pareille- Ville Fravche, Nouuellement Im- ment cxx. histoires concernans le primee S des faultes corrigee, a la faite guerre ioinctes a Vegece. Tra- HIS EARLY LIFE. 7 That these works are wholly in the French tongue is in accordance with the influence which France still exercised at that time on all matters in Scot- i^^^- land, and this fact taken together with another obscure announcement from Scotland, which at a later date speaks of the young lord's " first entrance into this kingdom immediately after his father's death," may also possibly point to his having been early sent over to visit France.^ In any case James Hepburn could hardly have had many years' in- struction in his youth, for he was still in his nine- teenth or twentieth year when his father died, and when he not only succeeded him as Lord of Both- well Castle, but also came into possession of the hereditary offices of Lord High Admiral of Scotland, Sheriff in the counties of Berwick, Haddington, and Edinburgh, and of Bailiff in Lauderdale, with Hales and Crichton Castles as his fortresses.^ If we except only the head of the Hamiltons — the then Lord James Hamilton, who, by his descent from duids fidellement de Latin en Fran- Office de Londres et des principal es cois : et coUationnez (par le poly- ar chives ethihliotheques deV Europe, graphe humble secretaire et historien par le Prince Alexandre Lahanoff. du pare d'honneur) aux liures an- Londres et Paris, 1844, ii. 33. It dens tant a ceulx de Bude que Bero- is Chalmers in his Caledonia, an aide et Bade. A Paris, 1536, fol. account, historical and topographi- The volume containing this work cal, of North Britain, London, and the other before-mentioned 1810, 4to, ii. 453, who has made treatise, is now in the Library of the observation about the intima- the University of Edinburgh. tion which seems to be implied by 1 " Begjmand from his verie the words above cited. zonth, and first entres to this realme, ^ That these offices were not immediatelie efter the deceis of his conferred by Mary Stuart as marks fadir." These words occur in Mary of favour, but simply inherited by Stuart's instruction in 1567 to the Bothwell, Chalmers shows in his Bishop of Dunblane, who was ap- disquisition, " Of the several grants pointed to notify her marriage which were said to be made by with Bothwell to the Court of the Scottish Queen, to James Erie France, contained in Lettres, in- Bothwell," contained in his work, structions et memoires de Maria Life of Mary Queen of Scots, drawn Stuart, puhliees sur les originaux from the State Papers. London, et les rmnuscrits du State Paper 1818, 4to, ii. 248-55. 8 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Mary, daughter of James ii., had become the nearest v^-^w heir to the crown^ and had also received from the 1^57. King of France in 1554 the dukedom of Ch4tel- herault^ — jo^ng Both well was now the most power- ful nobleman with the greatest number of vassals in the whole south of Scotland. While still in early youth we find him thus in high positions taking an active part in public afiairs. In the year 1557 we meet with him as a member of the Scottish Parliament, by which, on the 14th December, Commissioners for Scotland were ap- pointed to be present on the 24th of April fol- lowing, in the Church of Notre Dame, in Paris, at the solemn betrothal of their Queen Mary Stuart, who had hitherto been brought up in a nunnery in France, and was now, in her sixteenth year, affianced to the Dauphin, afterwards Francis ii} When Bothwell succeeded his father, the dispute about Naples had already given occasion to the war between Spain and France, in which the marriage of Philip II. with Queen Mary Tudor had very natur- ally placed England on the Spanish side, just as Queen Mary Stuart's union to the Dauphin placed Scotland on the side of the French. This war called forth l\)th well's earliest martial exploits. In the end of the year 1557, Mary Stuart's mother, the widow of James v., Mary of Guise, who, in the name of her young absent daughter, acted as Regent of Scotland, ^ Labanne, Histoire de Chatel- catif du droit qui appartient a Mr. leraud et du Chatelleraudais Cha- le due d'Hamilton de porter le telleraut. 1859, vols. i. ii. The titre de due de Chdtelheraulte. representative of the ducal house of Paris, 1864. Hamilton, in respect of this in- heritance in France, still bears the ^ The Acts of the Parliaments title of Duke of Chatelherault. of Scotland. London, 1814-1844, Consult Teulet's Memoire justifi- vol. ii. p. 514. FIRST MARTIAL EXPLOIT. 9 had ordered the Scottish troops assembled at Kelso chap. to make a raid into England ; but the most power- ful leaders among the nobles being dissatisfied with i^^^- the way in which she had assigned the chief offices of the government in Scotland to Frenchmen alone, after mutual consultation jointly refused to obey, asserting that it would be sufficient to defend the country against attack from the south. Bothwell, however, who, in spite of his youth, was in the fol- • lowing year appointed Lieutenant- General of the southerly Scottish frontier — the so-called marches or Borders^ — and keeper of Hermitage Castle in the remote and inaccessible wilds of the Scottish border toward England, readily marched across the frontiers ; and having made a destructive inroad upon the English,^ again took his place in Parlia- ment on the 29th November 1558, when it met anew in Edinburgh.^ Thus from his first entrance on public life Bothwell showed himself an enemy to the English government, and to the English party in Scotland, and we shall ever find him the same during his whole subsequent career. The death of Queen Mary Tudor on the 17th November 1558, and the accession of her half-sister Elizabeth to the throne, having dissolved the Eng- ^ About this appointment Mary ^ In an account of the events in Stuart, at a later period, thus ex- Scotland, from 1559 to 1568, presses herself in her instruction to written by Bothwell, given in the Bishop of Dunblane : — " Not- Teulet, Lettres de Marie Stuart, withstanding he wes yan of verie Paris, 1859, p. 162, he expresses young aige, yit wes he chosin out himself later about this expedition as maist fit of the haiU nobilitie to to the following effect : " J'avois be oure Lieutenent-Generall upoun faict des dommages irreparables the bordouris, having the haill sur les frontieres, et mesmement a charge alsweiU to defend as to ceux qui y demeurent." assayle." Labanoff, Lettres, in- ^ The Acts of the Parliaments of strudions et memoires de Marie Scotland, vol. ii. p. 503. Stuart, vol. ii. p. 34. 10 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF EOTHWELL. CHAP, lish league with Spain, the war carried on by Spain ^^*_^ and England with France and Scotland was termin- 1559. ated by the conclusion of peace at Cateau-Cambresis on the 2d of April 1559/ In this treaty a special article stipulated that the new fortresses which had been built on the Scottish side of the borders should be demolished, and that in like manner all the castles and forts reared by the English on their side should also be razed. On this occasion it was arranged that commissioners from both kingdoms should meet on the frontiers, and, along with Sir Richaxd Maitland and Sir Walter Ker, the Earl of Bothwell was ap- pointed a member of the Scottish commission which, acting in concert with the English guardians, made a full settlement of these points. But neither the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, nor any other, brought lasting peace to Scotland so long as Queen Elizabeth did not wish it. It was her constant endeavour to extend the English influence in Scotland, and to weaken the independence of the country ^ by the invariable support which she gave, during almost the whole of her reign, to any Scots party that happened to be in opposition to the government. A few months after the conclusion of the peace of Cateau-Cambresis the fiery eloquence of Knox gave an impetus to the Reformation struggle which, like a hurricane, tore down the images from ^ In Danish, as well as in many- German historical and geographical hand-books and school-books, this name is written Chateau-Cam- bresis, not Cateau-Cambresis as above. The latter form, which is alone used by Frenchmen them- selves, is however the more correct one. ^ Consult Chalmers' treatise " Of the Project of the English Govern- ment for the Subduction of Scot- land, under Henry viii., Edward VI., and Elizabeth," in his Life of Mary Queen of Scots, vol. ii. pp. 401-414. QUEEN REGENT AND THE GUISES. 11 the Homish cathedrals, overthrew the monasteries, chap. and levelled so many ancient ecclesiastical monu- ments with the ground. At the time when in Scot- 1559. land the adherents of the Reformation were gathered together in open rebelHon, and the Regent was. plainly declared to be deposed, the death of Henry II. (on the 7th July 1559), unexpectedly caused by a wound which he had received in one of his tourna- ments, suddenly placed his son the Dauphin, a weak-minded youth, as Francis ii. on the French throne. In consequence of the young King's de- pendence on his wife, the royal power fell chiefly into the hands of two of the most influential of Mary Stuart's uncles, the zealous Catholic brothers — Duke Francis the elder of Guise, and the Cardinal of Lorraine : the former of whom, by his successful defence of Metz, in the reign of Henry ii., against the Emperor Charles v., and by his recent capture of Calais, after it had been held for two centuries by England, had already become the favourite of the French people, while the latter had attained to a degree of political influence in the Court of Henry not enjoyed by any other. The Guises now sought first, and chiefly, to employ the power of France in sending over money and troops to their high-spirited sister the Regent in Scotland, who was striving to put down the rebellion raised by the adherents of the Reformation. During a crisis like that through which Europe was then passing, it was hardly possible to hold the balance between the contending parties. But even partial opponents have been obliged so to acknowledge the discern- ment and fairness of the Scottish Regent, that they have not charged to her but to her brothers the 12 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, blame of the faults from whose consequences she v^.^^^ did not wholly escape.^ She saw the cause of the 1559. Scottish rebellion to be already tottering. But at this stage Elizabeth stepped in. The English Queen gradually became a partisan of the rebellion in Scotland, to which, at first, her support was given secretly, but, latterly, quite openly ; and although her letters to Mary of Guise are full of asseverations that she had not the slightest share in what was going on, yet in reality her assistance very soon more than counterbalanced the aid re- ceived by the Kegent from the Continent. During the whole of this contest the Earl of Bothwell, though he was one of those who had embraced, and always continued to profess the Beformed doctrine, nevertheless stood with con- stancy on the side of the Begent. In account- ing at a later period to others abroad for this seemingly inconsistent conduct, Bothwell main- tained that the Scottish aristocracy were actuated in the contest by no purely rehgious motive, but simply by a desire to set the lower classes of the people, or, as he calls them, "the simple folk," in agitation, making use of religion only as a pretext.^ Bothwell took not a few of the Begent's enemies prisoners during the war.^ Having, by her com- 1 Erat enim singular! ingenio pearance " under pretext of reli- prsedita, et animo ad sequitatem gion." — The Memoirs of Sir James admodum propenso. Rerum Scoti- Melvil of Hal-hill; now first carum Historia, Auctore Georgio published from the original manu- Buehanano. Edinburgi, 1582, foL script by George Scott. London, p. 197. 1683, fol. p. 64. 2 " Du pr^texte de la religion." ^ " jg prins," he writes, " selon Bothwell's representation as given le droict des armes, plusieurs Escos- in Teulet, Lettres, p, 158. The same sois et Anglois, et en toutes choses expression is used by one of Both- faisois de mon mieulx, me compor- well's contemporaries, who speaks toiscomme de deb voir le requeroit." of the nobles as making their ap- Teulet, Lettres, ^t. 160. CAPTCTRE OF JOHN COCKBURN. 13 mand, in the autumn of the year 1559, placed him- chap. self in ambush with some French troops, at Dun- pender Law in East Lothian, he was so fortunate as i^^^. to surprise and take prisoner one of the leaders of the rebellion, who at the time was charged with an important mission. John Cockburn, laird of Or- miston, had been secretly sent in the latter days of October to Berwick, in England, for the purpose of receiving from the accredited agents of Eliza- beth, Sir Ralph Sadler and Sir James Croftes, a thousand pounds sterling, as part of the sums which Elizabeth had destined to fan the flame of the rebellion. Carrying the treasure intrusted to him he had got safely past Dunbar, with its French garrison, where Mary of Guise had once sought refuge. On the evening of the 31st October in the neighbourhood of Haddington, he was suddenly set upon by Bothwell, and, sorely wounded, fell into the Earl's hands, ^ along with the treasure which he carried. The leaders of the rebellion keenly felt this blow, which they never forgot nor for- gave. Bothwell is said, only three days before he executed his successful surprise, to have sent one of his servants, Michael Balfour, to Edinburgh, which they had then occupied, in order to request a safe-conduct for the Earl, that he might be able to come and treat with them. The partisans of the rebellion, therefore, flattered themselves with the hope that now the Earl of Bothwell also wished to join their cause, and since, as Knox ^ La Vigille de Toussainctz. Papiers d/etat, pieces et documents Letter, dated Leith, 12th Novem- irddits ou peu connus, relatifs a ber 1559, from Henry Clutin Vhistoire de VEcosseau I6me sikle. d'Oysel, French ambassador and Paris, 1852. 4to, i. 379. Mis- commander of the French troops in cellany of the Wodrow Society. Scotland, contained in Teulet, Edinburgh, 1844, i. 70. 14 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OP BOTHWELL. CHAP, states, they had agreed to grant him the safe- w^^^w conduct only on the supposition that he on his 1559. gi(ie pledged not to do them any injury in the meanwhile, they were consequently led to deem it an act of treachery that Bothwell had complied with the Regent's command in the way just described.^ Ehzabeth's agents advised the confederate lords to deny that the money had come from the Enghsh Queen, and to say that it was their own.^ Two leaders among the lords forth- with hastened from Edinburgh at the head of two thousand horsemen after Bothwell, in order to re- cover the lost treasure, which was to provide a supply for their pecuniary distress. One of the two was the illegitimate son of King James v., Lord James Stuart, prior of St. Andrews,^ and afterwards Earl of Murray. Having been born in 1531, he was now eleven years older than Mary Stuart, and he had already laid his powerful hand on the helm ^ Knox's History of the Refor- Ralph Sadler, i. 391), has led mation in Scotland, i. 456. Teulet to the supposition that 2 Account of 4th November Bothwell must have surreptitiously 1559, from Sir Ralph Sadler and employed for his own advantage a Sir J ames Croftes to Thomas Ran- portion of the money which he had dolph, contained in Calendar of the seized. But the sum seized by State Papers relating to Scotland, Bothwell was only a part of the preserved in the State Department amount which Elizabeth had de- of Her Majesty's Public Record signed for the Scottish lords, and Office. By Markham John Thorpe, Sadler and Croftes give the sum Esq. London, 1858, i. 120. The itself just as d'Oysel does, circumstance that d'Oysel's already cited letter of 12th November ex- ^ Properly the Commendator of pressly says that "la somme St. Andrews. This Scottish title, n'estoit que de mil ponds sterling," which frequently occurs in the while other contemporaries, on the history of the Reformation, is thus contrary, have stated the whole explained in Anderson's list of an- sum with which Elizabeth had cient Scottish words — " Commen- secretly sought to support the re- dator, who enjoys the rents of an bellion, in one case at " xiiil mille abbey or other benefice." Ander- livres" {Teulet, i. 382), and in son's Collections relating to the another at " tre tusind Pund ster- History of Mary Queen of Scot- ling'' {The State Papers of Sir land. Edinburgh, 1727, 4to, i. 154. CRICHTON CASTLE SACKED. 15 of the State, and quickly became the principal chap. leader of the Reformed party, by whose means he was afterwards to bring such utter ruin upon 1559. his half-sister.^ The other leader on this occasion was the impetuous Lord James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, a son of the Duke of Chatelherault. He had recently held the command of the Scottish Guard in France, but had lost this post in consequence of having embraced the Reformed doctrine, and find- ing his liberty in danger on the Continent, he had secretly retiurned home with a zeal for the new order of things, which led him to express a wish that he might see all the Papists in Scotland hanged, and which had now enabled him to gain over his father, the powerful duke, to the cause of the rebellion. Bothwell, with his booty, had sought refuge in one of his hereditary fortresses on the banks of the water of Tyne — the now ruined Crichton Castle, which in its present state has been so well described by Sir Walter Scott in Marmion. The castle was speedily taken by the Reformed party, but not before Bothwell had succeeded in escaping from it with the money, which at that moment was of so great importance to both parties. His possessions were spared by his enemies until they had summoned him to deliver up his booty, and .this Bothwell having refused to do, the lords caused Crichton Castle to be completely sacked. Bothwell looked upon the Earl of Arran as the real author of this act of devastation, and 1 He was, in consequence of the mana." Don Frances de Alava's Bishop of Glasgow's report at a letter to Philip ii., dated Paris, later period, called by the Spanish 17th July 1567. — Teulet, Papiers ambassador " grande herege y en- d/etat, iii. 36. nemigo capital de su Keyna y her- 16 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CILA.P. accordingly sent him a challenge to single combat, v^^-^^ in which he professed his willingness to meet him 1560. openly before French and Scots/' and in whatever way he pleased, either on horseback or on foot." The challenge was scornfully rejected. " First when ye," so ran the Earl of Arran's answer to him, " may have again won back the name of an honest man, which by your last exploit you have lost, I shall be ready to give you the satisfaction which is meet, but not before Frenchmen, to whom you assign the precedence over Scotsmen, for there is no Frenchman in this kingdom with whose judg- ment I will have anything to do." But this taunt was by no means unpunished. When the Scottish lords, after Edinburgh had fallen into their hands, attempted also to seize the port of Leith, which the Regent had caused to be fortified, and which was defended by a part of the French troops sent her, they were repulsed, and, by the 8th No- vember, the French were again enabled to occupy Edinburgh, which the Protestant nobles had evacu- ated during the night. In December 1559, the Queen Eegent saw herself even in a position to give over to the hitherto successful Both- well the command of eight hundred French and Scottish soldiers, with whom he was sent from Edinburgh to Stirling to secure its famous for- tress.-^ Meanwhile a decisive turning-point drew near with the commencement of the new year 1560. Although Elizabeth, in her communications to Mary of Guise, still continued to protest that she was striving only for peace and all that was good, 1 The State Papers of Sir Ralph Sadler, i. 667. TREATY OF BERWICK. yet the moment had now come when she in her actions dared wholly to throw off the mask. On the 27th February 1560, she caused the Duke of Norfolk to conclude, in her behalf, at Berwick, a formal treaty of alliance with the rebellious subjects of the neighbouring kingdom — a treaty whose osten- sible aim was to expel the French troops from Scot- land. Circumstances had then arranged themselves so strangely that she could boldly venture on this step. She was now induced to interfere in behalf of the Reformation contest in Scotland, with a zeal which was quickened even by the most Catholic of all princes, Philip ii. of Spain. For, on the one hand, the latter saw the union between Spain and England dissolved in consequence of the recent death of its Popish queen, his second consort, Mary Tudor ; and, on the other hand, he now beheld the alliance between France and Scotland so strengthened by the almost contemporary decease of Henry ii., that at this peculiar juncture he was easily predisposed to hsten to the representations of his half-sister, Margaret of Parma, who, ruhng the Netherlands in her brother s name, found reason to fear that if the gigantic policy of the Guises once became supreme both in Britain and France, the Netherlands would also be subjected to their all-powerful influence.^ Amid these externally tranquillising ^ In Ranke's representation of Schotten Hiilfe zu Theil wiirde, the Scottish relations it is strik- sondern er drang darauf ; seine ingly remarked — " Fiir alles, was Minister beklagten sich nicht, dass in der Welt zu Stande kommen soil, die Konigin einschritt, sondern bedarf es der rechten Zeit und dariiber dass sie dies nicht schleu- Stunde. Wer sollte es glauben 1 niger that." — Englische Geschichte Der Vorfechter des strengsten vornemlich im sechszehnten und Katholicismus, der Konig von siehzehnten Jahrhundert. Berlin Spanien, war in diesem Augen- und Leipzig, 1859-1868, i. 330. blick nicht allein dafiir, dass den B 18 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, events, Elizabeth, on the 30th March, caused an > ,w EngUsh army of 8000 men, commanded by WilUam 1560. Lord Grey de Wilton, to cross the river Tweed and enter Scotland. At Preston it was joined by an equally large contingent of the Scottish confederate army, under the command of the Duke of Chatel- herault and Lord James Stuart. Sometime pre- viously, about the middle of winter, she had also sent an English fleet, under Admiral Wilham Win- ter, up the Firth of Forth, where the English ships safely anchored. Nearly about the same time — just as happened afterwards on a still more famous occasion most propitiously for Elizabeth — the storms out in the North Sea drove back two Armadas'' which had been fitted out on the French coast, and destined for strengthening Mary of Guise, causing the loss of many ships and over three thousand soldiers. The Kegent, with unabated heroism, although suffering from sickness, had now betaken herself to the castle of Edinburgh, but the real contest con- centrated itself again around Leith, which was blockaded by the English ships in the Firth, and besieged on the land side by the greatly superior force of the combined army. At daybreak on the 7th May, Leith was assaulted by 10,000 English and Scottish troops, but the Frenchmen were prepared for the assault, and with great blood- shed drove back the assailants at aU points. That was a proud day for France, when a handful of her sons, cut off from all connection with their country and exhausted with hunger, triumphed over the combined military forces of Scotland and England. Mary of Guise herself had sat during the fight on BOTHWELL DESPATCHED TO FRANCE. 19 the battlements of Edinburgh Castle, and thence had followed the course of the struggle ; and it may well be believed, though Knox relates it as i^^^^- worthy of reprobation, that, after having been a witness to the victory of her countrymen, when she saw their standard again flying over the ram- parts of Leith, she instantly went to mass.-^ But in spite of this victory, and notwithstanding the brave sallies of the beleaguered Frenchmen, the Regent of Scotland could not anticipate, during the existing complications, any successful issue to the contest, and accordingly, in the month of May, she charged the Earl of Both well to hasten over to her daughter's Court, anew to urge the sending of greater assistance.^ After having received this commission, Bothwell betook himself to the north of Scotland,^ and we are informed that he thence proceeded to Denmark,^ but it is matter of doubt whether he really did so under the impression that thus he would more easily reach France, the goal of his journey, or whether he at that time possibly had 1 And quhen sche perceivit the he rides only with five horses, and overthraw of us, and that the is uncertain to all where he comes ensenyeis of the Frenche war agane or how long he tarries in one displayit upoun the wallis, sche gaif place." — Letter of the English ane gafwe of lauchter, and said — Minister, Thomas Randolph, to " Now will I go to the messe, and the Duke of Norfolk, dated Holy- pray se God for that quhilk my rood-house, 7th June 1560, con- eyes have sene." — Knox, History tamed in Calendar of State Papers, of the Reformation in Scotland, Foreign Series, of the Reign of ii. 67. Elizabeth. 1560-1561, p. 108. 2 Bothwell's letter to the Eegent, London, 1865-1871. dated Crichton, 15th May 1560, Earl Bothwell has arrived out contained in Chalmers, Life of of Denmark into Flanders, and is Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 217. daily looked for here." — Letter from 3 " It is very certain that Earl the English Ambassador, Sir Bothwell has his despatch into Nicholas Throckmorton, to Cecil, France, and is now in the north dated Pau, 12th September 1560, parts to search passage ; he was contained in Calendar of State with the Earl of Athol and divers Fapers, Foreign Series, 1560-1561, gentlemen ; his train is very small, p. 293. JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. had also an alleged political errand in Denmark. The latter supposition seems to receive support from the circumstance that the English minister in Copenhagen, in the summer of 1560, communicated to Queen Elizabeth that the French ambassador in Denmark urgently desired Frederick ii. to lend the French his fleet to assist them against the Scots. ^ In Resen's Annals of Frederick II. for the month of June 1560, the information is added, that "at the same time came Lord James Earl Boudevill, high admiral of Scotland, into Denmark to the King, and was well received, and as he wished to travel further into Germany, he was conducted through Jutland and the duchy, both by the King and the Duke of Holstein."^ In France, where subse- quently in the year 1560, we for the first time meet with Bothwell, he was rewarded, after completing his mission, with an appointment at court as the King's Gentilhomme de la Chambre," and received a personal gift of six hundred crowns,^ but was unable to accomplish anything essential for the cause of the Regent in Scotland. Only a short time before his arrival, the discovery of the plot of Amboise, which threatened the outbreak also in France of a dangerous conflict with the adherents of the Reformation, had compelled the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal of Lorraine to think only of their own defence. During BothwelFs first sojourn in France, one 1 Letter from the English Mini- Andens Kr&nicke. Kjobenhavn, ster, Johannes Spithovius Monas- 1680, fol. S. 42. "Boudevild" teriensis, to Cecil, dated Copen- we take here to be a slip of the hagen, 20th June 1560, contained pen or a misprint for Boudevill. in Calendar of State Papers, ^ Hardwick, Miscellaneous State Foreign Series, 1560-1561, p. 132. Papers. London, 1778, 4to, i. p. 2 Eesen, Kong Fredericks den 143. DEATH OF MAEY OF GUISE. 21 messenger after another brought him from Scotland chap. nothing but news of the victory of that party against w^—^ which he had given his aid. Shortly after his i^^o. departure from Scotland, the sickness of the Kegent had taken such a turn that she herself could foresee that death was at hand. She then caused the Scottish leaders of the rebellion to be summoned to meet her in Edinburgh Castle, prayed their forgiveness for that wherein she had erred, or if she had happened to wrong any one, and recom- mended to their hearty regard her young and inex- perienced daughter. The dying princess's magnani- mous and gentle words were not without their impression on the rugged leaders of the Reformed party, and when they wished on their side to show their attachment by asking her to receive one of their favourite pastors, John Willock, she also dis- played her superiority to the prejudices of the times by yielding to their request in this matter. The wish which Mary of Guise specially impressed on the minds of the lords of the Reformed party, that they ought to save Scotland from being the battle-field of foreigners, was almost immediately fulfilled after her death on the 10th of June, inas- much as the country, by a treaty concluded at Edinburgh 6th July 1560, was evacuated by the French troops, and thereafter was likewise aban- doned by the English. But to this result their respect for her death-bed wishes was wholly con- fined. The hope which Mary of Guise had cherished, that the old alliance between France and Scotland would be revived with new strength, was never realised, for as the cause of the Reformation had no success in France, while its victory in 22 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. England was followed by its victory in Scotland; v^.^^ so also that intimate union which earlier in the 1560. century bound Scotland to France came to an end, and in its stead was planted the germ of that new development which soon would place both crowns on one head, and thus make the two kingdoms one. After the treaty of Edinburgh had been concluded, and had indicated the wane of the French influence, William Cecil, who especially had prompted the intervention in Scotland, with the clear glance of the genuine statesman, wrote to Elizabeth that "it would finally procure that conquest of Scotland which none of her progenitors with all their battles ever obtained, namely, the whole hearts and goodwills of the nobility and people."^ The provisional govern- ment which was formed in Scotland, and which after the Regent's death acquired the ascendency, among other illegal measures, took upon it, without royal authority, to call together the Parliament which abolished the episcopal jurisdiction, prohibited the Romish mass, and, on the whole, laid the foundation of the edifice of Protestantism in Scotland. Mary Stuart said with truth, in the month of November 1560, to Sir Nicholas Throck- morton, the English ambassador in Paris : — " My subjects in Scotland do their duty in nothing, nor have they performed one point that belongeth unto them. I am their Queen, and so they call me ; but they use me not so."^ The English statesman just named, in his communications to his govern - 1 Letter of Sir William Cecil ^ Letter of Sir Nicholas Throck- and Sir Nicholas Wotton to Queen morton to Queen Elizabeth, dated Elizabeth, dated Edinburgh, 8th Paris, 17th November 1560, con- July 1560. Tytler, Historij of tained in Tytler's History of Scot- Scotland. Edinburgh, 1841-43, land, vi. 193. vi. 170. HIS RETURN TO SCOTLAND. 23 ment, could not help at that time praising the young chap. Queen " for the great wisdom for her years, modesty, •.^'^^ and also great judgment" she displayed in these 1560. difficult circumstances,^ but with these qualities it was only very little she was able to accomplish in her remote kingdom. To bring back her turbulent subjects to obedience she sent a number of Scot- tish Lords from Paris to Edinburgh, for the pur- pose of forming in her name a legal government. But this project they were unable to carry out. Equally fruitless proved the Queen's desire to get the illegal parliament, assembled without royal authority, dissolved by one opened in a lawful manner. This object she could not in the present case overlook, because of the position she had therein reserved for Bothwell. For the Queen had designated him as one of the commissioners empowered to call together a new Parliament, and accordingly the Earl having suddenly left Paris in November, hastened through Flanders to Scotland,^ where, meanwhile, he soon found that under present circumstances he could have no opportunity of effecting anything in the service of the Queen. He was thus induced to return again to the Con- tinent, where, by the sudden death of the young King Francis ii. at Orleans on the 5 th December 1560, Mary Stuart had in the meantime become a widow at the age of eighteen. Bothwell in the spring of 1561 again got an opportunity at Joinville 1 Throckmorton's letter con- fore it were meet for his adversaries tained in Tytler's History of Scot- to have an eye to him, and also to land, vi. 199. keep him short." Throckmorton's ^ Throckmorton describes him letter of 2d November 1560, con- on this occasion to Queen Elizabeth tained in Hardwicke's Miscella- as " a vainglorious, rash and neous State Papers, i. 149. hazardous young man ; and there- 24 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, of saluting the Queen, and remained at her court in France until she herself, in the month of August 1561. 1561, was obliged with deep regret to bid farewell to the land of her youth/ Devoted subjects had called upon her to return. To the master-spirits of the period, the real rulers in Scotland as well as in England, on the contrary, the idea of her return was anything but welcome, for we now know how the thought had already begun to be entertained of despoiling her of her crown, and how in her native land while she still stood on French soil it was announced that " wonder- ful tragedies" would not fail to happen when she set her foot on Scottish ground. But if her crown was not to be utterly lost no choice was left her. Fol- lowed by three of her six uncles, Claude Duke d'Aumale, Rene Marquis d'Elbeuf, and their brother Francis of Guise, Knight of Malta, renowned for his naval engagements against the Turks, along with a multitude of other French gentlemen, and again attended by her "four Maries," who, when little girls, had accompanied the Queen, also a girl, on her journey to France, Mary Stuart em- barked at Calais 14th August 1561, and a few days afterwards the squadron, bearing the mourn- ing-clad Queen, who was returning after thirteen years' absence, lay at the mouth of the Firth of Forth. A Scottish fog, which made it impossible to see from stem to stern, and forced the ships con- ^ Languet writes from Paris et dies flere dicitur." — Huherti 13th July 1561, about the two Langueti Epistoloe. secretae ad elder of the Guisean brothers : — principem suum Augustum Sax. " Ipse cardinalis et frater prose- ducem et S. JR. I. Septemvirum. quuntur jam in Normanniam Ed. I. P. Ludovicus. Halae, 1699, Reginam Scotia^ redeuntem in 4to, p. 127. patriam. Misera juvencula noctes MADE MEMBER OF PRIVY COUNCIL. 26 tinually either to take soundings or to anchor, met chap. her there as the first greeting from home, and in w,^ — - the opinion of many of her attendants as a bad omen. Twenty-four hours elapsed ere the fog lifted ; Scotland showed her rugged coasts, the port of Leith came in sight, and Mary's eyes rested on Arthurs Seat and the castle of Edinburgh. After Mary had on the 19th August set foot on her native land and put herself at the head of the Government, Bothwell received his reward. His father. Earl Patrick, had had in his time a place in the privy council, and when the Queen on the 6th September formed her privy council the new Earl of Bothwell, although still absent on the Continent, also became a member of the same.^ On his return home, the Queen, to prevent disturbances of the peace of the country, caused, on the 11th November 1561, some of his chief enemies, particu- larly her half-brother Lord James Stuart, whom she had made her first minister of state, and John Cockburn, laird of Ormiston, to enter, after the fashion of the times, their recognisances not to make war on Bothwell, who in turn was also obliged to pledge himself not to attack them. Friends and foes could not but praise the young Queen's whole conduct, commend the attention with which, when called to consider business of importance in the Council, she listened to the suggestions made for disposing of it, and asked for good advice, and / the tact she also showed in choosing the proper method of disposing of legal matters. But she was ^ Keith, History of the Affairs tion to the retreat of Queen Mary of Church and State in Scotland, into England. Edinburgh, 1734, from the beginning of the Beforma- fol. p. 187. 26 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, nevertheless unable to prevent the violent and ^^^^ often bloody feuds which were in such a high 1561. degree characteristic of the Scottish nobles ; they must still longer continue to weaken the country to the advantage of its neighbours. At the close of the fifteenth century the power of the feudal barons in many of the western countries of Europe showed a marked decay ; what in this respect took place in France or Spain through the rise of commerce and the increase of towns was, in Eng- land, for the most part, the consequence of the long-continued and destructive contests in which the nobles were divided between the houses of York and Lancaster. But in Scotland there was, as yet, no corresponding development of this kind ; its nobility was not like that of England, weakened through wars occasioned by any contested right of succession ; its towns had, as yet, not reached any special political importance. In England, during the reigns of Henry viii., Edward vi., Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth, the power of the sovereign over the nobles, and the influence of the crown, were infinitely greater than in Scotland, where Sir Ralph Sadler then found only what in one of his letters home he calls " a beastly liberty." ^ Mary Stuart was soon compelled to witness with her own eyes its manifestation. The Earl of Arran, owing to the border wars waged in the reign of the Queen Dowager, had become one of the most notorious of the enemies of Bothwell, and had hitherto resisted all overtures for reconciliation with ^ The different modes of thought Mr. Thomas Martyn to Queen Mary prevailing among the nobles of the Tudor of England, dated Carlisle, two countries are also brought June 11, 1557, given in Tytler's strongly into view in a letter from History, vi. 380-81. OBLIGED TO LEAVE EDINBURGH. 27 him. Accordingly in the winter, when Bothwell chap. resided in Edinburgh, where he Hved on terms of the most intimate friendship with the Queens i^^^- uncle, the Marquis d'Elbeuf, who had not yet re- turned to his own country, it needed only a frivolous occasion, a contest about a respectable merchant's daughter who passed for the Earl of Arran's mis- tress, but whose favour the Marquis d'Elbeuf was supposed to have gained, to make Edinburgh become the scene of the violent street riots or causeway fights between the Hamiltons and the Hepburns, which remind us of the bloody street brawls between the factions of the Itahan cities, and which the Queen's government only succeeded with no little trouble in finally preventing.^ The Queen issued a proclamation which, in severe language, reprobated these disturbances ; and the Earl of Bothwell was, by her command, obliged for a time to leave Edin- burgh. But no sooner had the Earl obeyed this order than similar outrages recurred in another place, for we next hear of a new conflict between the Earl and John Cockburn, laird of Ormiston, in East Lothian. The latter having, with his wife and eldest son, ventured too far out hunting, was sur- prised by Bothwell, who actually took prisoner his son, Alexander Cockburn, and carried him away to Crichton Castle.^ 1 A complaint from a now for- that " he starte to ane halbart, and midable body, from the Protestant ten men were skarse able to hald clergy (the Assembly of the Kirk), him" — inasmuch as he was a in which punishment was demand- foreigner, but promised for the ed for these riots, and especially future that such scenes should be upon the Queen's uncle, is given in prevented. At last, in February, Knox's History of the Reformation the Marquis d'Elbeuf left Scotland in Scotland, vol. ii. 316-17. The where he had a bastard son " de Queen excused her uncle, the Mar- Marguerite Chrestien, demoiselle quis d'Elbeuf— of whom it is said Ecossoise." in Knox's description of the riots, ^ Thomas Randolph's letter to 28 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. However little Both well's character in itself seems to have been able to awaken any very deep sym- 1562. pathy among his countrymen, there yet occurs a moment in which even Scotland's famous Reformer, John Knox, appears to have shown special interest in him. Bothwell set at liberty young Cockburn, who had been a follower of Knox, and caused him to entreat the latter to employ his great influence to bring about a reconciliation between him and his enemies. Bothwell himself belonged to the Beformed Kirk ; and Knox, in whose eyes the con- test between the Lords of the Reformed party was a scandal to the cause, readily fell in with the Earl's wish for a meeting. This took place in what is still held as a relic by the Scottish Church — the un- disturbed and carefully preserved house in the High Street of Edinburgh, where Knox resided from the year 1560 until his death in 1572. Here, in the room occupied as a study, sat the Earl one night right over against the Reformer, expressing regret for his past life,^ and complaining of his powerful foes, Cecil of the 31st March 1562 — reminded of what a well-known Fr. V. Raumer's Die Koniginnen German author has said of the Elizabeth und Maria Stuart nach despatches of an English states- dew Quellen im britischen Museum man of a more recent date : " Die und Beichsarchive, Leipzig, 1836, ganze misere der Depechen wird p. 18. Randolph's statements, mir wieder recht deutlich ; was which are always directly un- fiir elende Nachrichten geben favourable to Bothwell, become diese in den meisten Fallen ! und different as soon as Mary Stuart, jede Liige, jede Albernheit, jeder contrary to the wish of the English Irrthum ist durch das Geheimnis government, united herself to Darn- gedeckt. Wehe dem, der aus De- ley, the respect and good-will with pechen vorzugsweise die Geschichte which they speak of the returned schopfen will." — Tagebucher von Queen changed to the keenest K. A. Varnhagenvon Ense. Leip- opposition. They have become a zig, 1861, ii. 406. chief source of the severe state- ments of Raumer and so many ^ " The said Earle lamented his others against Mary Stuart ; and formare inordinate lyef." — Knox, by the intriguing Randolph's des- History of the Reformation in patches one may very often be Scotland, ii. 323. HIS INTERVIEW WITH ARRAN. and of the circumstance that, for the sake of his own safety, he was obliged to keep so many wild and ex- pensive men about his person, while otherwise a single page and a couple of servants could suffice for his attendance at court. ^ Knox, who has left on record the words which he then uttered to the Earl prayed him, first of all, to be reconciled to God, so should reconciliation with men certainly follow, as God would, beyond doubt, incline their hearts to him. Even he himself, in the first place as a minister of the Gospel, and next also as one, many of whose ancestors had fought, and some fallen, under the banner of the Earls of Both well, would labour to help him to peace. ^ Knox at length succeeded both in getting Cockburn and Bothwell to submit themselves to the arbitration of the Earl of Arran, and subsequently, on the 25th March 1562, in bring- ing about a meeting between Arran and Bothwell. In Hamilton's lodging of the so-called Kirk-of- Field in Edinburgh, Knox saw the two Earls meet. As Bothwell entered, and was about to pay the marks of respect agreed upon by those mutual friends, Gawin Hamilton, prior of Kilwinning, and Henry Drummond, laird of Biccarton, the Earl of 1 " I wald await upoun the Court with a page and few servandis, to spair my expensis, whare now I am compelled to keap, for my awin saifty, a number of wicked and unprofitable men to the utter destruction of my living that is left." — Knox, History of the Be- formation in Scotland, ii. 323. 2 " For albeit that to this hour it hath nott chaunsed me to speik with your Lordship face to face, yit have I borne a good mynd to your house ; and have bene sorry at my heart of the trubles that I have heard you to be involved in. For, my Lord, my grandfather, goodsher, and father have served your Lordshipe's predecessoris, and some of thame have died under their standartis ; and this is a part of the obligatioun of our Scotishe kyndnes." — Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, ii. 323. This passage in Knox's History is remarkable as furnishing the only information we have about his kinsmen. 30 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Arran hastened up to him and embraced him. Thereupon Knox gave them a lengthened exhorta- 1562. tion. Afterwards the two Earls were seen at a window talking together in a friendly manner, and the following morning the Earl of Bothwell came again, and went with the Earl of Arran to church, " whereat many rejoiced." " But God," says Knox, had another work to do than the eyes of men could espy." The meeting, which was intended to effect the reconciliation of the Earls of Arran and Bothwell, took place on the 25th March 1562. A few days later the Earl of Arran, whose ambition had led him at an earlier period to dream of winning the hand of either Elizabeth or Mary, was seized with mental disease, which never left him ; and no sooner had Bothwell ridden to Kinneil House to pay a visit to his father, the Duke of Chatelherault — the castle still belongs to the Dukes of Hamilton — than the Earl of Arran fled by night from the castle, and presented himself on the 29 th March in the palace of Falkland before the Queen and BothwelFs implacable enemy, her half-brother, James Stuart, with the accusation that Bothwell, along with his father, the old duke, and Gawin Hamilton, had formed a plot to surprise the Queen during her stay at Falkland, when she was hunting deer in the neighbouring woods, to carry her off to Dumbarton Castle, and to remove her powerful half-brother, and others of her too in- fluential counsellors, out of the way. Subsequent events might seem to add confirmation to this ^ "Modica in propinquo silva est, — aluntur." — Buchanan, Eerum in qua platycerotes cervini generis Scoticarum Historia. — quas vulgo damas falso appellant IS IMPRISONED BY MURRAY. 31 accusation, if there were not the weighty words of chap. Knox to furnish proof against it. To him the Earl of Arran, in a very bewildered state of mind, had 1562. addressed himself before coming forward with his charge, and in his presence had stated that every- thing would be reported by Bothwell to the Queen, and that it was only calculated to ruin himself Knox therefore immediately warned the govern- ment that the Earl of Arran had become insane, and that consequently much weight was not to be attached to his words.^ Meanwhile James Stuart seized this opportunity to cause, on the 31st of March, both the Earl of Bothwell, who had come to Falkland, and Gawin Hamilton, to be imprisoned in the castle of St. Andrews. That Knox was nevertheless right was soon very plainly seen, when Bothwell and the Prior of Kilwinning were there confronted with the Earl of Arran in presence of the Queen and the privy council, — the Earl's malady having now increased to such a degree that he spoke altogether wildly and confusedly, and it was found necessary to take him into custody. His father, the old Duke of Chatelherault, had himself ventured to come to St. Andrews, and in presence of the Queen begged, with tears in his eyes, that he should not be made a sacrifice to the accusation of a demented son. With respect to him the Council contented itself with resolving, on the 18 th April, that, as a security for the future, he should give up to the Queen's government Dumbarton Castle, of which he had been appointed keeper ^ " He did planelie foirwarne the oure great credytt to be gevin unto Erie of Murray that he espyed the his wordis and inventionis." — Erie of Arrane to be stricken with Knox, History of the lieformation phrenesy, and thairfoir willed not in Scotland, ii. 328. JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. during the rule of Mary of Guise, but on the under- standing that this post of great trust could be at any time withdrawn at the pleasure of the Crown. ^ And although even the English ambassador in Scot- land at that time himself owned that there was no sufficient evidence on which to raise any accusation against Bothwell,^ yet the examination, which had thrown light upon the recklessness of the Earl of Arran's charge, produced no other result either for him or for Gawin Hamilton than to cause their removal under the custody of a troop of horsemen to Edinburgh castle, after they had lain for six weeks in the castle of St. Andrews. It was while Bothwell still lay imprisoned there that he received intelligence of the outbreak of the first important conflict in Scotland since the return home of Mary Stuart. If her now very powerful half-brother had attributed greater weight to the reckless charges of the Earl of Arran than they deserved, he was hardly wrong when he regarded the most of Scotland's magnates as envious of the power which he possessed, and which he was pre- pared to let them feel.^ Especially had he at this time his enemy in the representative of the power- ^ Buchanan, Berum Scoticarum Historia, p. 204. 2 Sir Thomas Randolph's letter to Sir William Cecil, dated St. Andrews, the 25th April 1562. Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen of Scots^ ii. 213, and Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland, I 180. ^ John Lesley, Catholic Bishop of Ross, thus writes of James Stuart in his History of Scotland : " Jacobus, quum nobilium omnium in se animos probe agnosceret, quoscumque vel infensos, vel in- festos sibi putant, maxime autem eos, qui prudentia ac potentia ex- cellerent — etsi sub imagine iustitiae et Regiae auctoritatis velo, cuncta se gerere ab omnibus dignosci cu- peret — legis alien jus violationem praetexens aut carcere, aut capite, aut certo exilio damnari provide curavit." — De origine moribus et rebus gestis, Scotorum libri decern, auctore loanne Leslaso, Episcopo, Eossensi, 4to, p. 552. Romae, 1578. A NEW STBEET BRAWL. 33 fill families of the north, George Gordon, Earl of chap. Huntly. The latter had become chancellor of the w^! — * kingdom. He was also the head of the party of ^^^2. the nobles who still retained their preference for Catholicism, and along with other adherents of the old church, he had formerly made the proposal to Mary Stuart, that, on her return to Scotland, she should land at Aberdeen, where twenty thousand soldiers would be at her command — a proposal obviously intended to induce her to strike yet a great blow for the old religion. Mary nevertheless chose, as we have seen, to land at Leith, and in her new council the Earl of Huntly did not suc- ceed in occupying the first place, as she found it most prudent to admit to it a majority of the reforming nobles. A new street brawl, of which Edinburgh was witness on a summer evening in the year 1562, furnished not indeed the cause, but became at length sufficient occasion, for the previously anticipated conflict in the north. John Gordon, a younger son of the Earl of Huntly, had formerly had a quarrel with Lord Ogilvie : they met each other in Edinburgh ; both were attended by an armed band of followers ; swords were drawn, and Lord Ogilvie was dangerously wounded by his antagonist. To avoid the punishment with which James Stuart, at the demand of the authorities, and as representative of the Queen's government, showed himself very ready to avenge this new violation of law and order, young Gordon sought and found opportunity to escape to his powerful father, and now ensued an open breach between the latter and the existing rule in Scotland. On learning this the Earl of Bothwell could no longer bear to remain c JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. inactive, and accordingly, on the 28 th of August 1562, he broke one of the iron bars of his prison window, and by means of a rope boldly let himself down from the castle rock during the night. ^ Both- well sought refuge in Hermitage Castle, in Liddes- dale, and was about to fortify it.^ But at this stage disheartening news reached him from the north. The Earl of Huntly, with his Highlanders, was speedily overthrown. On the 28th October 1562, he fell at Corrichie, in an action with the Queen's troops, led by her half-brother ; his young son, who had given the immediate occasion to the breach, was a few days afterwards beheaded at Aberdeen ; his eldest son, George Gordon, who at a later period was to be related by marriage to Bothwell, was indeed spared the infliction of the fatal penalty to which he had also been doomed, but this favour only subjected him to a life-long imprisonment in the castle of Dunbar ; the possessions of the Gordons were confiscated, and at their cost James Stuart ^ Eisdem forte diebus, Bothuelius, per funem e fenestra demissus, ex arce Edinburgensievasit. — Buchan- an, Rerum Scoticarum Historia, p. 205. Some say that he brack the stancheour of the wyndo ; utheris whispered that he gat easye passage by the yettis. — Knox, His- tory of the Reformation in Scot- land, ii. 347. When Knox adds here, "one thing is certane, to wit, the Quene was litill offended at his eschaiping," there seems some discrepancy with what he afterward (ii. 351) states : that he himself, shortly after BothweU's escape, had, through a friend, Sir John Maxwell of Terregles, written hira to keep himself quiet, so as not to increase the Queen's dis- pleasure. Bothwell himself, at a later date, asserted that before his escape from prison, he had con- sidered "par quelz moyens je pour- rois au vray sgavoir, quelle velont6 la dicte Koyne me portoit, et j&z tant qu'il me fust diet qu'elle cog- noissoit bien que j'avois este accus^ par hayne et envye, mais que, pour lors, elle ne me pouvoit aulcune- ment ayder ne secourir pour n'auoir eUe mesme autorite quel- conque ; mais que je fisse, du mieulx que je pourrois." — Both- weU's Representation j' Teulet, Let- tresj p. 162. 2 Thomas Randolph's letter to Sir William Cecil, written in Spy- nie Castle, 18th September 1567. — Calendar of the State Papers re- lating to Scotland, i. 184. BOTHWELL AGAIN LEAVES SCOTLAND. was now created Earl of Murray, the title by which he was afterwards most frequently designated, Murray was now more powerful than ever ; his position in the government seemed so firm that the Earl of Both well no longer saw any prospect of security for himself in Scotland. Finding it ad- visable to return to France, he embarked in the winter at North Berwick, and was once more out upon the stormy North Sea. His voyage proved far from successful. Tem- pestuous weather drove the ship that carried him in- to the Holy Island, on the coast of Durham, and here he was detained and placed in custody.^ Both well immediately wrote to the nearest of Ehzabeth's commanding officers, the Earl of Northumberland, that it was only a winter storm which drove him into the Holy Island ; at the same time he did not conceal his apprehension of being sent back to Scot- land, and prayed the English earl to desire his Queen to grant him protection.^ But hardly had the tidings of the disastrous issue of his journey reached Scotland ere Thomas Bandolph, the English ambassador in Edinburgh, at the request of Murray and his friends, hastened to remind Elizabeth's government of Both well's bad disposition towards England, and how desirable it was that England's enemy should be made incapable of doing harm." 1 The Erie of BothweU fleing 2 Bothwell's letter of 7th Janu- out of Scotland, was taken besyde ary 1563, to the Earl of North- Tynmouth, where he is in prison umberland. — Calendar of the State in the castle. — William Cecil's Papers relating to Scotland^ i. 187. letter to Sir Thomas Smith, dated Westminster, 7th February 1563, ^ Thomas Eandolph's letter to given in Thomas Wright's Queen Sir William Cecil, dated Edin- Elizabeth and Her Times : A burgh, the 22d January 1563. — series of Original Letters. London, Calendar of the State Papers re- 1838, i. 123. lating to Scotland, i. 187. 36 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. 1564. Queen Elizabeth did not hesitate at this time to cause a Scottish peer, who in time of peace had sought refuge on the EngHsh coast, to be kept in custody as a prisoner for more than a year,^ until Mary Stuart, in the beginning of 1564, after urgent requests by Bothwell's mother and his other rela- tives, herself interceded with her good sister in England, in favour of her hitherto highly trusted servant, and at length succeeded in getting permis- sion for him to continue his journey to France.^ Here letters of recommendation from Mary Stuart to the King of France and the good word of the latter procured for him also an appointment in the Scottish guard, which from the time of Lewis xi. had become a hereditary part of the French king's military force, ^ and which had lately had Bothwell's Scottish antagonist, the Earl of Arran, for its com- mander, Bothwell was nevertheless far too restless a man to be able long to submit to an inactive life in France. When his impatience had found vent for itself — if we dare beheve one of his bitterest enemies, — not only in complaints against Elizabeth, but also in injurious words about Mary Stuart,* it ^ An order to bring Bothwell to and was offered to have been ren- London was issued by Elizabeth, dered by the Quene of England. 18th March 1563 {Calendar of But our Queue's answer was : That State Payers, 1563, p. 127), but he was no rebell, and thairfoir she must have afterwards been recalled, requeasted that he should have a fact which has not been noticed libertie to pas whair it pleiseth by Chalmers {Life of Mary, ii.213). him." 2 Mary Stuart's letter to Eliza- ^ " Je fuz faict capitaine de la beth, dated Holyrood, 5th Febru- garde Escossoise," says Bothwell ary 1564. — Calendar of the State himself. — Teulet, Lettres, p. 163. Papers relating to Scotland, i. 195. * Randolph's despatches from Knox also {History of the Befornm- Edinburgh to Cecil, of 19th tion in Scotland, ii. 361) has made and 30th March 1565, and to the remark about Bothwell's arriv- Throckmorton, of 31st March al in England : — " He was stayed 1565. — Calendar of State Papers, HIS RETURN TO SCOTLAND. 37 drove him, in the month of March 1565, in spite of chap. the risks he thereby ran, after two years' absence, v^^^ back again to his native land, where he first visited 1565. his mother ; but afterwards, roaming restlessly about, was eagerly sought for on the Borders by the Eng- lish officials, who were stirred up by requisitions from the authorities in Scotland to take action against him, and there also was keenly pursued by Murray himself, who still continued his deadly enemy. On receiving tidings of Bothwell's return, Murray had immediately gone to his sister and had demanded how far it was according to her will and advice that Bothwell had come home, adding that either he himself or Bothwell would require to quit the country. The Queen answered that the Earl of Bothwell was a nobleman who had formerly done her so good service that she could not hate him, but that she would not do anything prejudicial to her brother, although she would rather see the matter dropped.^ A few days afterwards, Bothwell was again summoned in the Queen s name to defend himself as to his connection with the insane Earl of Arran's alleged conspiracy, and also for having thereafter broken out of his prison. In the end of March 1565, Bothwell still remained in Hermitage Castle, where he showed himself surrounded by a large retinue of his vassals in Liddesdale, and thence he gave, at the Queen's citation, a promise of his Foreign Series, 1564-5, pp. 315, subsequently "complained of the 325. Randolph also writes at the evil opinion conceived of the Queen same time to Cecil about Mary of England against him, and de- Stuart, that " she hath sworn upon dared that he never spoke but her honour, that he shall never re- honourably of her." — Calendar of ceive favours at her hands," and he State Papers, Foreign Series, also explains that these new accus- 1566-8, p. 28. ations against Bothwell originated ^ Knox, History of the Reforma- with Murray, and that Bothwell tion in Scotland^ ii. 473. 38 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, willingness to appear before the court of justice which was to be held in Edinburgh on 2d May 1565. following. But when Murray and his brother-in- law, Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll and Justi- ciary of the Court, made their entrance into Edin- burgh on the 1st May, at the head of five or six hundred men, Both well at length despaired of being able, in any manner, to enter the lists against such opponents. Accordingly he let the matter rest for the present by getting his kinsman, Alexander Hep- burn of Whitsum, to appear before the court with the assurance of his innocence, and protest against the Earl's absence being interpreted otherwise than as arising from a natural reluctance to present him- self before so powerful antagonists.^ He had already embarked anew at North Berwick, and this time he escaped without impediment to the Continent, con- vinced that he could not venture on any new step so long as he found no firm support from either of the two rival queens.^ At this time occurred that important change in Scotland which was also to bring about for Both well a season of exaltation. Bothwell was as yet not far away from the coasts of Scotland, when the Queen expressed herself dissatisfied at the keenness with which Murray continued to persecute him, and, after sentence, on the ground of Bothwell's non- appearance on the occasion mentioned above, had gone against him, she interposed and forbade the court to take any further proceedings. At length the breach between Mary Stuart and her half-brother had become complete, for " she ^ Bedford's letter to Cecil. — Tyt- ^ Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen ler, History of Scotland^ vi. 325. of Scots, ii. 215. Mary's claim to the English crown. 39 saw," she said, " whereabout he went, and that he chap. would set the crown upon his own head."^ We — venture here upon a brief statement in reference to this matter. After the death of the CathoHc Queen Mary Tudor, the throne of England fell to her half- sister Elizabeth, although by an act of the EngHsh ParHament, passed in the reign and at the wish of Henry viii., his daughter by Anne Boleyn was de- clared illegitimate. On the other hand, Mary Stuart had, after the death of Queen Mary Tudor, and during her stay in France, been induced, along with the Dauphin, to assume in her seal the arms of England, for the purpose of indicating the heredi- tary rights which she claimed as a grand- daughter of Margaret Tudor, the eldest sister of Henry viiL, who had married James iv. of Scotland. " Francis- cus et Maria, Dei gratia rex et regina Francise, Scotise, Angliae et Hibernise," — so Mary Stuart and Francis ii. designated themselves during the short time that the sovereigns of Scotland and France were united in marriage. Although this conduct of itself was not more particularly offensive than that of Elizabeth continuing to call herself, just as many of her successors have done, sovereign not only of England but also of France, yet to her such rivalry was intolerable. In accordance therefore with her wish, one of the articles of the Treaty made in Edinburgh 6th July 1560, had expressly acknowledged that the crown of England belonged to her, and stipulated that Mary Stuart should lay aside the use of the English title and the English arms. But Mary refused unconditionally to ratify ^ Thomas Randolph's account of History of Scotland, vi. 325-331. 3d May 1565, given in Tytler, 40 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, this treaty/ and Elizabeth then again manifested . her unchanged disposition when Mary Stuart was 1565. on the point of returning from France; for the latter through d'Oysel, the brave defender of Leith, whom she had sent to London, having requested a letter of safe- conduct in case she might be obliged to touch on the English coasts, or come in contact with English ships on her journey, Elizabeth re- fused to grant it, alleging the Treaty of Edinburgh as her reason ; her English counsellors being afraid lest Mary Stuart might now come to take part with those of her religion in the north of England, while Mary's Scottish friends were still more anxious, be- cause she would not turn back, but would venture over the sea, close past the English ships that were then in the German Ocean to search whether any of the vessels sailing there had not ''pirates" on board. Through the sheltering mist, however, Mary Stuart got safely to land in her own kingdom, and for a long time flattered herself with the hope that now by friendly concession on her part an end would be put to the strife between them. " When Elizabeth," so she expressed herself at this time to Thomas Eandolph, shall treat me as if I were her sister or daughter, then will I, according as she wishes, demean myself either as the one or the other, and will not show less readiness to obey and honour her than I would towards a sister or mother."^ Of the festive entertainments and per- 1 To the ratification of the Treaty dits royaulmes, et aultres nos of Edinburgh Mary Stuart and droicts." — De la Barre Duparcq, Francis ti. added this proviso: — Histoire de Frangois 11. Paris, " N'entendant toutefois, par ceste 1867, p. 191. ratification, quieter ne renoncer aucune chose des droicts qui nous ^ Randolph's account, Raumer, peuvent comporter et appartenir es S. 33. MARY AND ELIZABETH. formances of which Holyrood was the scene after Mary's home-coming, a pageant during Shrovetide is noted as especially magnificent, in which, while the nobles appeared in the same costumes as did Mary and her Court ladies, there might have been heard a choir singing various pieces in verse, and among these pieces still extant of February 1564, which Randolph, who was present on the occasion, sent to Elizabeth, were also stanzas which Mary had at the same time caused to be composed by Buchanan, and which openly announced that Scot- land's Queen would always love England's Queen, the English Queen always the Scottish/ Mary Stuart wished now only to see herself recognised by her relative on the mother's side as nearest heir to England, and for this purpose she would have prepared for Europe the unwonted spectacle of an interview between Britain's two reigning Queens, but Elizabeth who never desired to show herself by the side of her younger and more beautiful rival, after having promised Mary a meeting first at Nottingham and next at York, finally terminated her many delays with altogether refusing to meet her. Mary then, since it was wished in Scotland to see her again married, had at last, to evince her willingness to respect Eliza- beth's admonition not to unite one of the crowns of ^ Eandolph's statement to Cecil of 21st February 1564.— Keith's History of Church and State in Scotland, p. 249 ; Georgii Bucha- nani Poemata quae extant, Lug- duni Batavorum, 1628, p. 417. Of Buchanan's Stanzas for the festival in the year 1564, which have in the collection the heading Mutuus amor," the following are the concluding ones : — " Durabit nsque posteris Intaminata saeculis Sincera quae Britannidas Nectit fides Heroidas, Eerum supremus terminus Ut astra terris misceat Regina Scota diliget Anglam, Angla Scotam diliget. ' 42 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Britain to any of those of the Catholic princes on the , Continent, listened to her wish to the effect that as 1565. a security against future dispeace she would rather prefer one of England's nobles, and when to the astonishment of most Elizabeth bethought herself of recommending her own favourite, Lord Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, she did not absolutely refuse him, and accordingly the latter had actually begun to correspond with her. By such means she strove to remove the main scruple which had arisen on Elizabeth's side, and which proceeded from a fear lest an express acknowledgment of Mary Stuart as England's nearest heir might one day become dangerous to her own and her Protestant kingdom's security, should Mary afterwards be united in mar- riage to a Catholic prince. But Elizabeth after having for a long time laboured with apparent zeal in behalf of the person proposed by her had allowed her jealousy again to end the matter by refusing the condition constantly put forth on Mary's side, that before any such marriage took place her right of succession to the English throne must be assured to her by a formal Act of Parliament. At length Scotland's young Queen impatiently fastened her eyes upon a relative of her own, her still younger cousin, who at this time also resided in England as one of Elizabeth's subjects. Mary Stuart's grandmother, Margaret Tudor, sister to Henry viii. of England and consort of James iv. of Scotland, after seeing her royal husband fall in the fight at Elodden against her brother's army, had at a later period married the Earl of Angus, Archibald Douglas, who for a length of time ruled Scotland until James v. her royal son attained his majority. Mary's future husband. 43 and drove him as an enemy of the State into exile cmp. in England. Margaret Douglas, a daughter of n , Archibald and the widowed Queen, married the Scottish Earl of Lennox, Matthew Stuart, who having been also driven at a subsequent period out of the northern kingdom had likewise betaken himself to England, and by him, five years after the birth of Mary Stuart in Scotland, she there became the mother of Henry Stuart Lord Darnley. His ambitious father, who himself was collaterally related to the royal race of the Stuarts, had at one time before Mary Stuart was born been led by James v. to entertain the hope, on the ground of the King's dislike to the Hamiltons, that he might be preferred as his successor, and although Mary Stuart's birth caused the dream to vanish, yet the Earl of Lennox never forgot it. Lady Margaret Lennox always recollected on her part that she was descended from the sister of Henry viii., and that his daughter, Queen Mary of England, had even favoured her at her half-sister Elizabeth's cost, and from a mother who was at once Elizabeth's cousin and Mary Stuart's aunt, young Darnley could hardly fail early to hear accounts of his exalted descent, and receive encouragement to win a dignity to which he was said by his birth to be called. While the Earl of Lennox himself re- mained not disinclined to the Reformed doctrine, his wife, who was zealously devoted to the old religion, took care that their castle in Yorkshire should resemble a little Catholic court, she deeming it to be so much the more important to have her son trained up in all the Catholic ceremonies, since a union between him and his royal relative in 44 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Scotland was the hope she had long cherished.^ ^^^^ When Mary Stuart returned from France she 1565. had, at the news of her happy arrival in Scotland, joyfully fallen upon her knees, and with uplifted hands had thanked God because the Queen had so successfully escaped Elizabeth's cruisers. At a later period she had addressed herself in writing to Mary Stuart in reference to her project, and at length in the year 1564 she saw it on the eve of being realised. The Earl of Lennox sought and received at this time from Queen Elizabeth, who. as yet did not suspect any mischief, six months' leave of absence in order with Mary Stuart's permission to appear again in Scotland, whence for more than twenty years he had been exiled, and which he had not visited since the time he had carried arms against his native land along with an Enghsh host. He was graciously received by Mary, got his formerly forfeited estates restored to him, and in the beginning of the year 1565 was followed to the north by his son Darnley, who also had ob- tained permission to make a half-year's visit to Scotland. It was at Wemyss Castle, on a weather- beaten rock rising from the Forth, that Darnley for the first time had an opportunity of saluting the Scottish Queen. Her eyes rested with pleasure on her handsome cousin, then in his nineteenth year, who did not long hesitate to present himself as her ^ In a statement of the reasons even so early as the year 1562 which Mary Stuart gives for Knox (History of the Reformation resolving upon marriage with in Scotland, ii. 336) makes the Darnley, she points out in the remark that " the Erie of Levenax year 1565 that he was " de mesme and his wyff war committed to the religion que moy." — Labanoff, Towre of London for trafiquin with Lettres, instructions et memoires de Papistis." Marie Stuart, i. 295-99. And Mary's choice of darnley. suitor ; and though Mary at first refused the ring which Darnley offered her, yet she speedily resolved on a union which seemed to combine with it the advantage that it would give double weight to her claim in England. In the spring of 1565 the Scottish Queen declared to the assembled nobles of her kingdom that she intended to marry Lord Darnley her near kinsman, whose main recom- mendation in her esteem was that he bore the name of Stuart, so dear to Scotland. At the meeting of the Scottish nobles in Stirling not a single voice raised itself against this marriage, but how much ill-will broke out ere long against it both from Elizabeth and her ministers in England, and from Murray and his followers in Scotland ! The English Queen in vain sent Sir Nicholas Throckmorton to Mary to induce her to give up her intention. Mary only replied by expressing astonishment at this request at the very moment when she was in reality complying with her wish to prefer a nobleman born in England. Equally in vain Elizabeth reminded Lennox and his son of their limited leave of absence, and ordered them as her vassals to return, and when they would not obey but still remained in Scotland, her irritation was turned upon Lady Lennox, who, as she was staying behind in England, was vdth her younger son Charles Stuart committed to prison, while the English possessions of the family were confiscated. In Scotland Murray had, at least according to the words of Mary, at that time fancied the possibility of one day being able to reach the throne of the childless Queen ; at all events he perceived that his hitherto all-predominant influence would be at an 46 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, end after her union with the Lennox family. Young Darnley had unwarily, when a map of 1565. Scotland one day lay before him, let fall the re- mark that the possessions of the Earl of Murray were too great. ^ Regard for religion was once more put forth as a reason for opposing the marriage with Darnley ; it would, so it was now again said, bring " the Evangel " into danger. But while Mary had never concealed that "she believed in the Church of Rome as God's true church," she had also early declared that " albeit she did not belong to those who every year changed their religion, and though she could wish that all her subjects were herein agreed with her, yet she did not think of compelling any of them." And these had not been empty words. So far is it from being true, as older and more recent authors have reiterated, that Mary Stuart had joined the league against the Reformation, which after her return to Scotland was entered into by the mighty Catholic powers on the Continent, that, on the contrary, it has been matter of bitter com- plaint on their side that she remained deaf to all the ambassadors secretly sent to her on this errand. ^ But for herself she had claimed the same reli- gious liberty as she conceded in the case of her Protestant subjects ; she had on her return to Scotland been openly attended by the Catholic ^ Thomas Randolph's letter to signor Damblanen et il padre Cecil, written in Edinburgh the Edmondo per persuaderla ad 20th March 1565. — Keith's History abbracciar questa savissima im- of Church and State in Scotland, presa. — Letter from the Bishop of p. 274. Mondovi, the Papal Nuncio in 2 Ma ella non Vha voluto mai France, to Cosmo i., Grand Duke intendere, non ostante che siano of Tuscany, dated Paris, 16th stati mandati alia Maesta Sua Mon- March 1567. Lahanoff, vii. 107. MARY IS MARRIED TO DARNLEY. 47 priest, Rend Benoist, who, during his stay in Edin- chap. burgh, challenged Knox to a public disputation, — and afterwards became confessor to Henry iv. of France, to whose conversion to Eomanism he is said to have essentially contributed.^ For so far as con- cerned the Queen, that intolerant Parliament had also agreed to make an exception to the strictness with which, in the case of every other, it had for- bidden all Catholic ceremonies in Scotland. Nor could it be doubted that when the nuptials of the Queen and Darnley took place on the 29th July 1565, there would also be on their part an endeavour made not to cause offence. The marriage was celebrated in the chapel of Holyrood — the single re- maining relic of the old church of Holyrood Monastery — where so many of Mary's ancestors were crowned and married ; Darnley put three rings on the Queen's finger, they kneeled side by side, and when the marriage ceremony had been performed by John Sinclair, Bishop of Brechin, Darnley kissed the Queen, and went back to his apartments in the palace, leaving her alone in the chapel to hear her Catholic mass. Nor did Darnley neglect to visit the Kirk of St. Giles, where John Knox preached ; but neither this nor any similar con- ciliatory act was able to disarm the dictatorial Reformer, in whose opinion the Bishop of Brechin was only "an arrant hypocrite,"^ and who with regard to the Queen's own religious service, had ^ Niceron, Memoires pour servir not only ganesaid he the doctrin a Vhistoire des hommes illustres of justificatioun and of prayer dans la republique des lettres. which befoir he had tawght, but Paris, 1729-45, xli. 1-49. also he sett up and manteaned the 2 Knox assails John Sinclair Papistrie to the' uttermost prick." more severely as follows : — " No — History of the Beformation in goodly man did creditt him ; for Scotland, i. 266. 48 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, long before declared in a voice of thunder, that " he would rather see ten thousand Frenchmen in Scot- 1565. land than one single mass/' It was also, at the time, beheved by some in Scotland, that a secret Catholic marriage had already, before the public nuptials, united the Queen to her cousin/ And when the latter after the wedding, on the 19th August, attended to hear Knox, the Reformer spoke with such vehement words about the "regiment" of women and boys, that young Darnley in just displeasure hurried out of St. Giles' Kirk.^ By his union with the Queen, occasion had now been taken to make the assertion that she also should give up her Catholic mass, and when Mary refused to do so, there were from this denial only a few steps to open insurrection. This new insurrection, in which Murray, secretly supported by Elizabeth, took the lead, had as its aim to get Darnley put out of the way, or to deliver him and his father up to England, to imprison the Queen in Scotland, and to have Murray himself placed as Regent at the head of the kingdom. But this insurrectionary movement was subdued with vigour and success by Mary. She herself accom- panied her army during the campaign. Like an Amazon, the young Queen was to be seen on horse- back crossing over Scotland's rivers, or advancing against the foe. Again she issued a proclama- tion, assuring her dear subjects that she had ^ In an Italian account of the Darnley : — " Fossero da un capel- events in Scotland furnished in the lano catolicamente sposatiin camera year 1566, after David Riccio's di esso David." murder, to Cosmo i., Grand Duke of Tuscany {Labanoff, vii. 67), it is ^ Knox, History of the Refor- said regarding Mary Stuart and mation in Scotland, ii. 497. HIS ARRIVAL IN SCOTLAND. never thought, nor would at any time think, of forcing a single one's conscience. While she repaired to the contest, she had also taken care to collect all Murray s enemies about her ; she released young Gordon, the Earl of Huntly, who since his father s defeat and fall in the year 1562, still remained a prisoner in Dunbar Castle, and now amongst others she recalled from France — the Earl of Both well. The summons was not given him in vain. But just as formerly, so also at this time his enemies sought to prevent his return to Scotland by again applying to the representative of Elizabeth there. " Yt is saide," so writes the latter to Cecil, " that the Earle of Bothewell and Lord Seaton are sente for, which hathe appearance of trothe, and are knowne to be feet men to serve in thys worlde. Yt is wyshed if theie do arryve in Englande that theie myghte be putte in good suerty for a tyme, [to] passe their tyme ther."^ Meanwhile, Both well having left France, struck out another path for himself, and thus in the autumn. Queen Elizabeth could, with bitterness, complain to the Spanish ambassador in England, that at Flushing in the Spanish Nether- lands, the Scottish Earl had been permitted to equip a couple of ships of war.^ A few days after Eliza- beth had made this complaint in London, BothweD arrived in Scotland. An English harbour-master, Charles Wilson, who had been commissioned to pre- vent the arrival of the Scots who were return- ing from Flanders, happened to detain the Earl of ^ Randolph's letter to Cecil of ^ Paul de Foix's account to 4th July 1565. — Keith, History of Catherine de Medici, dated the Affairs of Church and State in London, 18th September 1565. Scotland, p. 295. — Teulet, Papiers d'etat, ii. 78. 50 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. 1565. Sutherland/ but was not able to stop either Lord Seton or the Earl of Bothwell, the latter having, by the immediate use of the oars, taken his two small vessels out of the reach of Wilson's cannon.^ On the 17th of September 1565, Bothwell landed at Eyemouth,^ and immediately betook himself to the Court, which by an act of oblivion of the 5th of August, had already pardoned him " his breaking out of the castle of Edinburgh without permission;" and on the 20th September he was graciously received by Mary at Holyrood, who restored to him all his former dignities and offices, especially his place in the privy council, where his influence speedily became conspicuous/ In conjunction with the Earl of Lennox, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the army which Mary Stuart and Darnley personally accompanied. He had come in sufficient time to ^ Wilson, having been in wait for Bothwell and others returning from Flanders, chanced to hit upon the Earl of Sutherland. — Letter of the Earl of Bedford to Cecil, dated Berwick, 11th November 1565. — Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1564-5, p. 516. The Earl of Sutherland, like Both- well formerly, was now for a long time imprisoned in England, and was first set at liberty on the 19th February 1566. — Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-8, p. 19. ^ The escape of Bothwell hap- pened in this sort. He had two small boats with oars, and getting under sail with the help of their oars, went his way, albeit Wilson shot at him, but did no harm. He landed at Eyemouth, and brought with him six or eight men, certain pistolets and jerne armour. . . . Lord Seton comes home with armour, and his ship is very well furnished ; Wilson shall not be able to encounter with him. — Letter of the Earl of Bedford to Cecil, dated Berwick, the 19th September 1565. — Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1564-5, p. 464. 3 " Upoun the samin xvii day James erle Bothuill arryvit in Scotland out of France," is said under I7th September 1565, in a Diurnal of Piemarkable Occurrents that passed within the country of Scotland, from the death of King James iv. till the year 1575. From a manuscript of the sixteenth century in the possession of Sir John Maxwell of Pollok, Baronet. Edinburgh, 1833, 4to, p*. 83. ^ In October 1565, Eandolph, with his usual sarcastic bitterness, writes to Cecil :— " My Lord Both- well, for his great virtue, doth now all, next to the Earl of Athole." Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 217. MADE WARDEN OF THE BORDERS. take part in the consultation held by the Queen on the 10th October 1565, at Castlehill, on the way to Dumfries, and to see the fate which he had long endured now befall the man who had pre- pared it for him. Murray himself was now sent into exile along with his friends, and accordingly, on the 14th September, they escaped from Dumfries over the Borders. Here, where the Government of Mary appeared stronger than ever, fear might well be entertained lest the Scottish feudal army, which had grown to 18,000 men, would follow after them : it was even reported that the Scottish Queen would now seriously enforce her claims, and intended to lead her forces to London, and hence, for the sake of precaution, the suspicious Elizabeth took occasion, under some pretext or another, to summon the Catholic Earls in the North of England- to her Court. The Queen of Scotland did not go over the Borders, but while she herself went back to Edin- burgh, she left as Warden the recently returned Earl of Bothwell, on whom, in particular, devolved the task of watching with two bands " of footmen and two " bands " of horsemen, so that no emissaries from the rebels who had fled into England should stir up new disturbances on the Scottish side. And although Francis Earl of Bedford, commander on the English frontiers, hated Bothwell personally, and continually complained of him, yet Mary would not be induced to supersede him. " I told the Queen of Scots," writes Bandolph at that time to Cecil, " that Bothwell was a person hated by the English Queen, and known not to incUne to peace. So that if bad consequence followed upon her choice, she had herself to blame. She answered that she 52 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. also could make exceptions against Bedford, and so would not name another in the place of Bothwell."^ 1560-G. The history of Bothwell very much resembles that of Scotland. His political life had been stormy, nor had his private life known greater quietness. The latter reflected Scotland's unruliness combined with an impress of the characteristics of France in the sixteenth century. The new Presbyterian strict- ness had, after the Queen's return to Scotland, already pronounced judgment upon him, since, dur- ing her uncle's visit to Edinburgh, he had as the Marquis d'Elbeuf 's companion also taken part in the French wantonness of the latter. At a later period, while Bothwell was so long kept a prisoner in Eng- land, Randolph, who specially had occasioned his detention, thus writes to Cecil — "I beseech your Grace, send him where you will, only not to Dover Castle, not so much for fear of my aged mother, but my sister is young and has many daughters."^ In spite of this and similar utterances, we must not overlook the fact that in this direction we have now only the traits of his early life drawn by his bitterest enemies, who do not hesitate to paint them in the darkest colours,^ and whose accusations must by no ^ Diurnal of RemarkahU Occur- Stuarta Regina, p. 54. " Is enim, rents, p. 85. Letter of Randolph luxuriosa adolescentia inter scoria to Cecil of 24tli January 1566. et popinas acta, eo reductus erat, — Keith, History of Church and ut aut civile bellum ei foret exci- State in Scotland, Appendix, p. tandum, aut audaci aliquo facinore 166. extremse inopijB metus propel- 2 Randolph's despatch to Cecil, lendus. — Buchanan, Rerum Scoti- dated Edinburgh, 3d June 1563. carum Historia, p. 204. In a Calendar of State Papers, Foreign letter from the Earl of Bedford to Series, 1563, p. 383. Cecil, dated Berwick, 6th April ^ Ubi adolevit, in alea et scortis 1566, these words occur in refer- ita patrimonium amplissimum pro- ence to Bothwell : — " I assure you degit ut etiam, (uti poeta quidam he is as naughty a man as liveth ait) deesset egenti aes, laquei pre- and much given to that vile and tium. — Buchanan, De Maria detestable vice of sodomy" {Calen- HIS ALLEGED MISTRESSES. means be received here without qualification/ He seems at least not to have had any other issue than one illegitimate son, for to this son, born of some unknown imion, his mother Agnes Sinclair left by her testament all that she possessed.^ That Lady Margaret Reres, one of the Beaton family, so called after her marriage with Arthur Forbes of Reres, and who was one of Mary Stuart s court ladies, and the nurse of her son, was at an earlier period one of Both well's mistresses, rests entirely upon Buch- anan's unreliable statement.^ Of her sister, Janet Beaton, widow after her last marriage with Sir Walter Scott of Branksome and Buccleuch, it was likewise maintained, during a legal process in the year 1559, that she either stood in an illicit relation, or, at all events, was by betrothment bound to the Sheriff of Edinburghshire,^ and that, therefore, the latter, who was none other than Bothwell him- self, was not qualified to be judge in her cause. But betrothment, or "hand-fasting" as it was dar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1564-5, p. 301). Also in a letter from Sir William Drury to Cecil, on the 13th March 1567, mention is again made about Both well's "inordinateness towards women " {Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, p. 229). ^ At the same time, while Ran- dolph so bitterly persecuted Both- well, one of the young Earl's keepers in England, Sir Henry Percy, recommended him to Cecil, with the testimony that "he is very wise, and not the man he was reported to be." "His behaviour has been courteous and honourable, keeping his promise." — Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1563, p. 129 ; 1564-5, p. 83. Sir John Forster also writes at that time to Cecil, that Bothwell "all time of his abode here behaved himself as to him appertained." — Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1564- 1565, p. 75. ^ Item, the said nobiU Lady left hir hail gudis, the saidis dettis beand payit, to William Hepburn, son natural to James Erie Bothuel. — Testamentet of 21 March 1572 in the Bannatyne Miscellany, iii. 304. ^ Quse inter pellices Bothuelli fuerat. — De Maria Stuarta Begina, p. 7. * Queytly mariit or handfast. — Eiddell, Inquiry into the Law and Practice of the Scottish Peerage. Edinburgh, 1842, i. 427. Robert-' son, Preface to Inuentaires de la Boijne Descosse, pp. xcii. xciii. 54 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, called in Scotland, would not involve any engage- ment that constituted a valid marriage,^ and while 1560-6. the Lady of Branksome was not ashamed openly to attribute to herself earlier blame in another in- stance,^ yet she has not in the least owned to any guilty connection with young Bothwell. On the other hand, it appears quite a different thing with Anne, a daughter of the Norwegian nobleman, Christopher Throndsson, of the Rustung family, who, after an eventful career, had become one of the admirals of Christian iii., and of his wife, Karine, a daughter of Knud Pedersson Skanke, deacon of the Chapter in Throndhjem.^ She latterly complained that Bothwell " had taken her from her fatherland and paternal home, and led her into a foreign country away from her parents, and would not hold her as his lawful wife, which he with hand and mouth and letters had promised both them and her to do."* As to the time at which this must have happened, we may certainly connect it with the already mentioned journey of Bothwell in the year 1 Bothwell's sister, Jane Hep- burn, was on the 24th July 1556 bound by hand-fasting to Robert Lauder of Bass, but on 1st Sep- tember in the same year this en- gagement was again broken off. — Bannatyne Miscellany, iii. 279. 2 Liber Officialis Sandi Andrece, curios metropolitance Sancti An- drece in Scotia Sententiarum in causis consistorialibus quce ex- tant Edinburgi, 1845, p. 86. The Lady of Branksome is the same person who at a later period came to be designated as " Lady Buccleuch," and who in one of the many vague reports about Both- well — it is contained in one of the anonymous placards in Anderson's Collections, ii. 156 — as late as the year 1567, was branded as the in- dividual believed to have helped him by witchcraft to fascinate the Queen. 2 " L. Daae, Christopher Thrond- sson Rustung, his son Enno and his daughter the Scottish wife,'' Historisk TidssJcrift, published by the Norse Historical Society, vol. ii. Christiania, 1872, p. 116. ^ Ahsalon Pederssons Dagbog over Begivenhederne, iscer i Ber- gen, 1552-1572. Udgiven efter offentlig Foranstaltning med An- mcerkninger og Tillceg af N. Nicolaysen. Christiania, 1860 p. 148. BOTHWELL AND ANNE THRONDSSON. 55 1560, when it was falsely rumoured in Scotland that he had contrived during his stay in Denmark to make a rich match. ^ In as far as the complaint i^so-c. of Anne Throndsson affirms that Both well had taken her with him from her " ancestral home/' it may also be remarked that her father in the year 1556, in presence of Christian iii., who at this time made over to him some landed property in Norway, had pledged himself "during his lifetime to reside in Denmark, and not in any other place." Christo- pher Throndsson had here in the year 1544 been enfeoffed in the monastery of Ebelholk on Zealand, which, in 1560, he exchanged for the fief of Tryg- gevselde, but he certainly had also his home in Copenhagen, where his daughter Anne thus seems to have resided in the year 1559.^ After having accompanied the young Scottish Earl from Denmark to the Netherlands, Anne was there abandoned by * Bothwell, and being left by his friends among strangers, was obliged to dispose of her jewels and dowry. ^ She seems afterwards for a time to have taken up her abode in Scotland itself, so far as one may infer from a passport which was issued by ^ It is said that the Earl of an order come to the former to Bothwell is married in Denmark send Duke John the elder a ship- to a wife, with whom he has 40,000 builder, is dated Copenhagen, 11th yoendallers. The author of this March 1559. tale is Lady Buccleugh, his old ^ " Ein schottischer Graf, Borth- friend and lover. — Randolph's uil geheissen, welcher in unser letter to Cecil, dated Edinburgh, Behaftung gerathen und vor etzlich 23d September 1560. Calendar jharen unsers Herrn Vaters Ad- of State Papers, Foreign Series, mirall Christoflfer Thrundtheim 1560-1561, p. 311. "Yoensdallers" Tochter einer die Ehe zugesagt und means doubtless Jochims or Joa- mit ihme hinweg gefhuret, aber ihm chimsdoUars, so called from the sil- in Niederlandt sitzen lassen" is ver mine Joachimshab in Bohemia. stated latterly in a letter from 2 A letter from Anne Thrond- Frederick ii. to the Elector Augus- sson preserved in the Privy Ar- tus of Saxony, dated Engelholm, chives of Denmark, in which dur- 22d June 1568. (Ausldndische Be- ing her father's absence she answers gistranter in Privy Archives.) 56 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. Mary Stuart in the year 1563, to this Anne Trundtze, a daughter of Christopher Trundtze," 1560-6. formerly naval commander of the King of Denmark, and which assigns as the occasion of its being given, the desire of Anne to sail to Norway.^ Another daughter of Christopher Throndsson appears to have been married to one John Stuart in Shetland,^ and perhaps Anne resided some time there with her sister. Perhaps too it is Anne Throndsson to whom allusion is made in one of Randolph's letters of the year 1563, which speaks of a gift that Both well still retained in remembrance of a union with a dis- tinguished lady in " the north country " — phraseo- logy which may possibly be intended as a circum- locution for Shetland.^ This, or other like unions, had, however, not left any permanent impression with him,^ since after his last return to the land of his birth, he seems at some moments to have thought of beginning a quieter life/ A few years previously he had seen his sister marry the half- brother of Mary Stuart, John Stuart, prior of Cold- ingham, also one of the many illegitimate children ^ Note A, Appendix. — " duas uxores nondum dimissas 2 Compare the genealogical table Bothuelium habuisse, tertiam nec of Christopher Throndsson's chil- legitime nuptam, nec rite dimis- dren in Samlinger til det norslce sam." — De Maria Stuarta Begina, Folks Sprog og Historie; Chris- p. 91. In like manner it is said in tiania, 1833-38, 4to, vi. 253. his History of Scotland, that Both- 2 A Portugal piece which he well, before his marriage with the received for a token out of the Queen, " duas uxores adhuc vivas, North from a gentlewoman, that if habuit, tertiam ipse nuper suum ever she be a widow, shall never fassus adulterium dimisisset." — be my wife. — Randolph's letter to Rerum ScoticarumHistoria, p. 357. Cecil, dated Edinburgh, 3d June ^ " Je deliberay," he himself 1563. — Calendar of State Papers, has written about this period, "de Foreign Series, 1563, p. 383. me reposer et vivre paisiblement, * The above-mentioned betrothals apres les emprissonnements et exil are nevertheless represented as que j'avois soufferts." — Both well's marriages by Buchanan, who in his Representation ; Teulet, Lettres, p. highly-coloured descriptions says 167. ESPOUSES LADY JANE GORDON. of James v., Lady Jane Hepburn's marriage having then taken place on Sunday, llth January 1562, " with much good sport and many pastimes,''^ in the Queen's own presence at Crichton Castle. Wishing now to follow his sister s example, the Earl ot Bothwell determined to marry, and, accordingly, at the age of thirty, he espoused a good, modest, and virtuous woman," ^ Lady Jane Gordon, then in her twentieth year, the daughter of the powerful Catholic Earl in the North, who fell in 1562 at Corrichie, in the battle against Murray, and sister to the young Earl George of Huntly, and his own relative in the fourth degree.^ A likeness of her taken in her advanced years, and still preserved in Dunrobin Castle, displays large but well-formed features, with a thoughtful expression.* In this painting she holds a cross and a rosary, she having like her ancestors, and in contrast to her brother, who had gone over to Protestantism, adhered until her death to the Catholic faith, to which she also belonged when her marriage-contract with Bothwell was subscribed on the 9th February 1565-6. In it the bridegroom settles on the bride the lands and ^ Note B, Appendix. 2 The Earl of Bothuell had to his vyffe a good, modest, and ver- tuous woman, sister to ye Earle of Huntley. — The Diarey of Robert Birrel, burges of Edinburghe, in Fragments of Scottish History, Edinburgh, 1798, 4to, p. 9. In an English account (given by Baumer, p. 99), sent 16th February 1566 from Berwick by Sir William Drury, it is said, on the contrary, in reference to Bothwell's approach- ing marriage, that the Earl of Huntly's sister, whom he was about to marry, was a vaga- bond woman (a prole), and that his future brother-in-law had on that account dissuaded him from uniting himself with her. Such a statement shows very conspicu- ously how one in general must be cautious in regard to all English reports which concern Bothwell. ^ See the genealogical table in the Bannatyne Miscellany, iii. 308. * [The above-mentioned painting has been engraved for Dr. John Stuart's Lost Chapter in Queen Mary^s History y Edin. 4to, 1874. — Translator.] 68 ^AMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, castle of Crichton, etc. But they are heavily mort- V— gaged ; and the bride's dowry of twelve thousand 1566. merks is to be applied to the redemption of the mortgages. The contract is signed by the Queen, with whose " aduiss and express counsale" the marriage is contracted ; by the Earl of Huntly, the bride's brother, who undertakes to pay her dowry ; by the Countess Dowager of Huntly, who, as she cannot write, subscribes " with my hand led on the pen by the Lord Bischope of Galloway by the bride, "Jane Gordoun with my hand;" by the bridegroom, " James Erie Boithuille ;" . . . and by George Lord Seton, Alexander Lord Hume, David Lord Drummond, and Laurence Master of Oliphant, who are sureties for payment of the bride's dowry. The witnesses to the contract are the Earl of AthoU, the Earl Marischal, the Bishop of Galloway, the Commendator of Lindores (John Lesley, afterwards Bishop of Boss), Mr. James Balfour, parson of Flisk (afterwards Sir James Balfour, Lord President of the Court of Session), and Mr. David Chalmers, Chancellor of Koss.^ Although the Queen had also at this time a Popish husband, yet Bothwell, like others of the nobility, and in opposition to those of them whom the example of Darnley had drawn over to the Bomish Church, refused to be married according to its rites. ''The Queene desired," says Knox, who in this instance is an unexceptionable witness, "that the marriage might be made in the Chappell at the Masse, which the Earle Bothwell would in no wise grant." ^ But ^ J oseph Robertson's Preface to ^ Knox, History of the Reforma- Inuentaires de la Boyne Descosse, tion in Scotland, ii. 520. In a p. xciii. letter to Cecil written two weeks HIS MARRIAGE TO LADY JANE GORDON. this refusal on his part did not hinder Mary Stuart from herself celebrating right royally the wedding of one who had proved himself such a servant to her kingdom as the Earl ; and who, in this service, had never yet betrayed the motto — Keip Trest — which he bore on his arms/ The marriage ceremony took place in the royal chapel of Holyrood the 24th Feb- ruary 1566, and was performed by the bride's uncle, Alexander Gordon, Bishop of Galloway, and titular Archbishop of Athens, who had abandoned the old faith; the wedding feast, which was kept "with great splendour," lasting with its tournaments and chival- rous sports for five days.^ • before the Earl's wedding, or on the 7th February, Randolph names Bothwell as likewise among the Scottish Lords who would not be present at any mass, while, even on this occasion, he cannot forget to add : " And of them all Both- well is stoutest but worst thought of." — Thomas Wright'^ Queen Elizabeth and her Times, i. 220. ^ Bothwell's coat-of-arms, which is found preserved in the seal attached to one of his writings in the Danish Archives, has been re- stored in Les A ffaires du Conte de Boduel, Edinburgh, 1829, after an impression on his copy of Les dovze Livres de Robert Valtvrin. 2 Diurnal of Bemarkable Occur- rents, p. 88. Lindsay of Pit- scottie, History of Scotland. Glas- gow, 1749, p. 394. / CHAPTER IL CHAP. Darnley was also present by the side of Mary ^^J^J;^ Stuart at this splendid entertainment which sealed 1566. the union between the chiefs of the two families that had especially supported his cause. But the relation betwixt him and the Queen had become cold even when the Earl's wedding was being cele- brated, and there elapsed only a space of fourteen days between it and the ruinous catastrophe to which that coldness at last beguiled Darnley. Mary had been warned by her own relatives on the Continent against choosing Darnley ; ^ and he was not long in showing how ill fitted he was to bear his sudden exaltation. Ere even his marriage with the Queen he had been knighted by her, created Earl of Ross, and Lord of Ardmanach, later also Duke of Albany. At the festive repast in Holy rood, which followed the nuptial ceremony, and during which the Queen was served by the Earl of Atholl as master of ceremonies, the Earl of Morton as carver, and the Earl of Crawford as cup- bearer ; Darnley was likewise waited upon by the ^ The Cardinal of Lorraine asked given in Teulet, Pajjiers ductal, her to remember that he was only ii. 42. "a young pretty fool.'' Letter HONOURS CONFERRED ON DARNLEY. Earls of Eglinton, Cassilis, and Glencairn, with hat in hand/ During the evening there was a dance in Holyrood which lasted until the exalted pair with- drew to their apartments ; at the same time one of the proclamations put forth by the Queen publicly notified that Darnley should in future be entitled King, and all letters issued hereafter should be made out in both names jointly.^ There can scarcely be a doubt that the bestowment of the royal title previously required the assent of parliament, but Mary's mild rule caused at that time so unusual an exercise of the Crown's authority to pass without opposition. Certainly the royal title did by no means make Darnley really sovereign of the realm, yet one saw, nevertheless, his name by the side of, and in some instances even before that of Mary on Scottish coins from the year 1565, and in Scottish state papers from the same date.^ Even in foreign countries, with the single excep- tion of England, the same respect was shown him as to crowned kings. During the winter that the Queen and Darnley continued to reside in Holy- rood, a deputation reached him from the King of France, headed by Jacques d'Augennes, Lord ^ According to a letter from Randolph to the Earl of Leicester, dated Edinburgh the last day of July 1565 ; Wright, Queen Elizabeth and her Times, i. 203. Randolph remarks in the same letter : " I was sent for to have been at the supper, but like a churlisch or uncourteous carle I re- fused to be there." ^ " The Proclamation, which is dated the day before the marriage, the 28th of July 1565, is printed in Anderson's Collections, i. 33. ^ As an instance of this there is in the Danish Privy Archives a letter to Frederick ii., which begins : " Henricus et Maria, Dei gratia Scotorum Rex et Regina," and which concludes : " Datum ex regia nostra Edinburgensi, Oal. Octobris, Anno 1565, et regnorum nostrorum annis primo et vicesimo tertio." In the subscription the order is on the contrary reversed, the first signature, being : "S[ere- nitatis] T[u8e] Soror et consan- guinea Maria R, ; " and immedi- ately following it : " S. T. Prater et consanguineus Henry R." €2 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Rambouillet, who was charged to confer on > — him the order of St. Michael/ — the same dis- 1566. tinguished order as another deputation of French nobles, with white cloaks on/' had some time pre- viously, in Flensborg, presented to the young King of Denmark and Norway, Frederick ii.^ When the investiture, preceded by the celebration of the Catholic mass, had taken place in the royal chapel, this new mark of honour was again followed by a splendid banquet in the Palace, and in the evening by a masquerade, in which the Queen, along with all her " Maries " and the rest of her ladies, appeared clad in male attire, as usual to the great scandal of the Protestant party. ^ But Darnley aimed at some- thing higher ; he wished not merely to be king in name, but to rule as an actual king, and obtain what, in the language of the times was designated " the crown matrimonial ; " that is, the right to the crown after the Queen's death. Mary's affection for him did not, however, extend so far. This he lost at the same time as he deprived himself of the favour with which a part of the people in spite of his popish leanings welcomed him at first. Mary had, before the marriage, with great tenderness, nursed Darnley during his illness ; she had doubtless thought to give not merely her hand, but also her heart, to the noble, handsome youth, but this he speedily lost by his exaggerated notions of himself, which so little accorded with his puerile abilities, and by his immature rawness, which made this ^ Usually called the Cockle ^ Resen, Kong Fredericks den Order, from the golden cockle- Andens Kronike, p. 60. shells of which the chain of the Order was composed. It was in- ^ Note C, Appendix, stituted by Louis xi. darnley's misconduct. pride still more intolerable to her. At this time Mary Stuart ordered Thomas Kandolph to leave the country within fourteen days, because it had come to light how he, after having held the rebels together, and supported them with money, still served as a bond of union between the exiles in England and their friends remaining in Scotland, and instead, therefore, of his letters from the capital, where he had done his best to fan the dangerous flame, ^ the English Government continued at this critical juncture to receive communications from the border town of Berwick, giving intelligence of what was doing in Scotland, and these could now indicate how much addicted Darnley was to the besetting sin of the times — intemperance in drinking bouts. One instance was especially detailed which occurred at a social party in the house of a merchant in Edinburgh, at which the Queen, advanced in preg- nancy, had been present, and where Darnley, in reply to her request not to drink too much himself, nor to entice others to do so, answered with such words, that she left the place in tears.^ Also, on another occasion, he had pained his wife still more keenly, so that it is impossible to restrain the thought of what a different direction the life of Mary and of her people might have taken by a union with a better man than Darnley. Elizabeth's agents, who ^ A Diurnal of Remarkable be set on fire, so Mr. Randolph Occurrents, p. 88. What Sir delighted to see such fire by his James Melvill {Memoirs, p. 109) craft kindled in Scotland, which writes in respect of Randolph's was in all probability like to burn renewed activity in Scotland at a it up." later period, may well in part be applied to it on this occasion : — ^ Sir William Drury's account " Now as Nero stood upon a high from Berwick of 16th February part of Rome to see the town 1566. Keith, History of Church burning, which he had caused to and State in Scotland, p. 329. JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. had in strong language described the passionate fondness of the honeymoon, quickly came to the unanimous conclusion that the Queen of Scotland was tired of Darnley, and frequently avoided his company. She no longer permitted, as she had done at the beginning of their married life, his name to stand before hers in state papers or on coins/ She also endeavoured from this period to reserve to herself alone the actual authority in the management of the state, and she would by no means allow that Daxnley, to the injury of the Hamiltons, should like her first husband also acquire the crown matrimonial." The fiery passionate youth did not regard his own conduct as the cause of this alienation, but made the breach wider by laying the blame of it on the Queen s favourite companions. Above all, his hatred directed itself upon one amongst them who had lately laboured successfully for his own ad- vancement, the Queen's gifted and highly trusted secretary for foreign correspondence, David E-iccio, an Italian, who had in December 1564 attained to this position on the decease of the Frenchman Eaulet, and whose services were so richly re- compensed, that the citizen-born foreigner could maintain a degree of magnificence which cast into the shade that of many a Scottish nobleman.^ As ^ He "was wont in all writing to ^ Riccio, who had come in the be first named, but now he is year 1562 to Scotland in the placed second. Lately pieces of retinue of the Savoyard Ambas- money were coined with both sador, Count Morreta, and was at their faces, " Hen. et Maria " ; that time a " huomi di 28 anni these are called in, and others in circa, accorto, savio et virtuoso " framed. — Randolph to Cecil, Edin- {Labanoff, vii. 86), got for the burgh, the 25th December 1565. times special gifts from the Queen, Calendar of State Fo,pers, Foreign who likewise at her marriage with Series, 1564-5, p. 541. Darnley, which he had contributed MARY AND RICCIO. 65 Kiccio's duty was to lay before the Queen whatever chap. required her signature, he was among those who v had their residence in the palace, and had at all 1564-6. times easy access to her. He was likewise in another capacity often welcome to her ; for Mary, who had inherited her father's fondness for uncon- strained sociality, was renowned for her singing and playing,^ and the Itahan was — according to the words of Sir James Melvil, who himself warned him not to allow the Queen to thrust him forward so much^ — also a lively companion and good musician," and so much to bring about, gave him for a festive garb ten ells of black velvet brocaded with gold {Inuen- taires de la Royne Descosse, p. 155). But how he, according to the gen- eral impression of the Scottish nobles, was able to attain his posi- tion, and to gather his fortune, was, notwithstanding, for a long time an enigma which was first solved by one of the papers in Teulet, Papiers d'etat. In this is found the so- called " Estat des gaiges des dames, damoiselles,gentilzhommes et autres officiers domesticques de la Royne Escosse, Douairiere de France, pour une annee commengant le premier jour de Janvier 1566 et finissant le dernier jour de d6cembre ensui- vant." The document which is signed in Edinburgh 13th February 1567, by Mary Stuart and Riccio's successor and younger brother, Joseph Riccio, was designed to serve as an assignment in France for the benefit of the persons therein named. The whole amount of the rewards and pensions which were to be paid out of Mary Stuart's income as Queen Dowager of France exceeds £1000— an im- mense sum in those days. It may be added in passing, that Both- well's name does not occur in the long list. ^ Ad cantus excellentiam multum ei profuit natura quaedam nou adscita vocis inflexio ; testudinem lyram et clauicymbalum quod vocant, apte pulsabat.— Georgius Conaeus, Vita Mariae Stuartae. Jebb, De vita et rebus gestis Marue, Scotorum Begince, ii. 15. 2 " I told him that strangers were commonly envied when they meddled too much in the affairs of other countries. He said he being secretary to her Majesty in the French tongue, had occasion thereby to be frequently in her Majesty's company, as her former secretary used to do. ... I remembered her Majesty's command lately laid upon me, when she particularly injoined me, to forewarn her of any circumstance to be observed in her carriage which I thought could tend to her prejudice. . . . I told her Majesty very freely what advice I had given Rixio. She answered me that he medled no further than in her French writings and affairs, as her other French secretary had done formerly. And that whoever found fault therewith, she would not be so far restrained, but that she might dispence her favours to such as she pleased. . . . And she gave me her hand, that she would take all in good part E 66 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, could, at her musical entertainments, supply a part in which she might be wanting. Recently it had 1566. been Murray who would gladly have seen Riccio hanged, because the latter promoted Darnley's marriage ; now it was Damley himself, who was instigated by the enemies of the foreigner not only to see in the influential Italian his political antagonist who caused his highest wish to mis- carry with Mary, but under the blinding influence of jealousy, to regard his intercourse generally with the Queen as intolerable, and to find in his person, although Riccio was ugly,^ what he might thank for the Queen's coldness.^ In a fit of silly passion, Darnley (if we may credit one of Randolph's earlier accounts),^ once when the Court Secretary brought him the intelligence that the drawing up of the patent of his elevation to the dukedom must be postponed for some time, wished to strike him down with his poniard. With like temper he now resolved, in order to get rid of Riccio, to enter into, union with his foes, and stretch out his hand to the enemies of the Queen and her government, who found in the facile king a ready instrument for ' carrying out their plans. On the 10th of February, Darnley, whose mother was a Douglas, had sent his kinsman, George whatever I did speak, as proceed- Riccio were inflamed against him, ing from a loving and faithful when in a letter to the Earl of servant. Desiring me also to Leicester from Randolph, after his befriend Rixio, who was hated expulsion from Scotland, one meets without a cause." — Memoirs of with words like these : — " Woe is Sir James Melvil, pp. 54, 55, 56, me for you when David's sone shal 58. be kynge of England." — Randolph ^ For Riccio's ugliness we have to the Earl of Leicester, Berwick, Buchanan's own testimony in his 29th January 1566. Calendar of Rerum Scoticarum Historia,^. 209. State Papers, Foreign Series, p. 13. 2 An idea is obtained of the ^ Randolph's Letter to Cecil of mode in which the enemies of 21st May 1565. Baumer, p. 63. ruthven's hatred of riccio. 67 Douglas, to the powerful lord, Patrick Rutliven, chap. who was united by marriage to the same family, for the purpose of asking his support against E-iccio. i^^^- Ruthven was then so ill with a distemper which was soon to lay him in the grave, that " he scarce could go to the end of his room but he readily promised to help the king to gain his object. The Italian was equally hateful to him — hateful as a papist who might become the Queen's right hand in schemes for the advantage of Catholicism, hateful, too, as a foreigner — ^just as we afterwards see Concini hated in France — and hateful as a man of humble birth. That the son of a Piedmontese musician should have influence in the government of the kingdom, and even be named, as he already was, as a future peer — nay more, that an Earl like the exiled Murray should now have to stoop so far as to send him a costly diamond to induce him to speak a word in his favour to his sister, — all this was something as intolerable to Scotland's proud nobles, as the favouritism of Christian ii. had been to the Danes. Lord Kuthven was closely allied to the exiled Lords as well as to their Protestant friends still remaining in the country, and just at this time Parliament was about to meet for the purpose of sanctioning that forfeiture of their rank and pos- sessions to which Mary's government wished to subject them. It was also rumoured that a new proposal in favour of Catholicism was about to be transmitted from the King of France and the Cardinal of Lorraine, who had recently returned from the Council of Trent, and that Riccio was endeavouring to overcome Mary's scruples with respect to it. But what above all was feared was JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. the probability of a claim being now put forth by the government for the restoration to the crown of the many estates, which the nobility during the Queen's minority had " under pretence of religion " appropriated to themselves, — there being a Scottish law which empowered the wearer of the crown within four years after having attained his majority to resume all such previous alienations or transfers. Accordingly at this juncture, a league was concluded between the Queen's husband and her systematic enemies. Lord Patrick Lindsay, who, like Lord Kuthven, was allied by marriage to the Douglas family, and James Douglas, Earl of Morton, who was a cousin of Lady Lennox, and the most powerful member of the Douglas family, along with many others in Scotland, were won over to lend it their support, while the ungrateful Earl of Lennox himself hastened into England, where his wife and youngest son then lay in prison, for the purpose of acquainting the exiles with the plan of the proposed coup dfetat. According to it they were to be prepared, as soon as it was effected, to rush from the Borders to Edin- burgh. There Riccio was to be put out of the way, the other opponents of the party in the government in like manner either killed, imprisoned, or in some other mode made harmless, the parliament again dis- solved ; the judicial prosecution, already begun, was to be quashed, and the Queen put in confinement. On the part of the exiles it was also stipulated that Murray and his friends should meauAvhile do their utmost to get Darnley's mother and brother released by the English government, and in Scotland to help their tool to " the matrimonial crown,"so that " if the Queen remained childless," Darnley should be MARY OPENS THE NEW PARLIAMENT. 69 upheld as King of Scotland in preference to any chap. of the Hamiltons. Murray's accession to the con- ^^-y— spiracy is placed beyond question by his subscription i^^^- to the bond, in which the conspirators oblige them- selves " to extirpe out of the realme of Scotland, or tak or slay " every person whom the King " sail pleis to command " as opposing his right of succes- sion to the Scottish crown in default of the Queen s issue. ^ Darnley took upon himself the responsibility of the whole matter, and promised in writing on his honour as a prince that the participators in this conspiracy, to which Elizabeth was also made privy, should be defended by him against all and sundry. The 7th of March was a great day in Edin- burgh. Darnley alone was absent, being unwilling to make his appearance on this occasion in company with Mary, and accordingly, he rode with a small retinue down to Leith. But the Queen herself, as yet suspecting no mischief, went on horseback, and richly attired, in solemn procession from Holy- rood up to Edinburgh to open the new Parlia- ment that was to assemble there, and in which she had at length secured to the Scottish prelates their former places among the other estates of the kingdom, of which under the revolution they were deprived, and this with the hope, as she herself has owned, of thereby once more being able to obtain some relief for the still down-trodden Catholic Church.^ The so-called " Lords of Articles," or ^ The bond, dated eight days It was Murray who first signed the before Riccio's murder, is printed bond, in the Miscellany of the Mait- land Club, Edinburgh and Glas- ^ Letter of Mary Stuart to the gow, 1833-1850, iii. 188-191, from Archbishop of Glasgow, dated 2d the original in the Charter-room April 1566. LabanofF, Lettres de of the Earl of Leven and Melville. Marie Stuart, i. 341. 70 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, members of that important committee, upon whose proposal every measure rested in the old Scottish 1566, Parliament, were appointed, and the choice, for the most part, fell on such persons that the motion of the government for the punishment of the exiles assumed a still more threatening aspect. Among the members chosen were Bothwell and Huntly. The friends of the exiles had now no time to lose. The intention of striking the blow while Kiccio was in attendance on Mary Stuart during a visit she paid at Seton, had at an earlier period been frustrated through the vigilance which Sir George Seton, always a devoted friend of the Queen, had shown on this occasion in pro- tecting her. Another plan, according to which it was proposed to strike down Riccio while playing balls with Darnley, had likewise to be given up, because one of the conspirators said that the Queen ought not to be altogether exempted from the shadow of suspicion which might fall upon her if it should afterwards be reported that Riccio was seized by her side.^ At all events it was to her royal palace that on Saturday evening, 9th March 1566, the conspiring Lords might have been seen passing down through the Canongate at the head of five hundred armed men without any resistance being offered to them. How this happened, whether froni the smallness of the royal guard, or because its pre- sence had been prevented on this occasion by the interference of Darnley, is uncertain ; for though the powerful Scottish nobles, who were themselves always attended by crowds of vassals, would not allow their sovereigns to maintain household troops ^ The Italian account given by Labanoff, vii. 72. HOLYROOD DESCRIBED. 71 like the princes on the Continent ; yet we cannot chap. well admit with later, and even Scottish authors, that Mary Stuart was entirely without a royal i^^^- guard, since the original authorities very often make mention of a " garde " which usually attended her.^ While certain detachments of the conspira- tors were ordered to watch the environs of the palace, and Morton and Lindsay with a hundred and sixty men occupied the chief entrance to the palace and the palace garden, Ruthven and some others of the leaders were able to ascend to Darnley's rooms where " the king " awaited their coming. How many wanderers from the regions of the old and new worlds have visited the palace of Holyrood and the picturesque remains of its beau- tiful old chapel, and who amongst them, at all ac- quainted with Scotland's history or its poetry, has really been able to look upon the double towers which ornament its front, without being reminded of the sad fortunes of the Scottish monarchy, so stormy and so continually threatened with dangers ; or to tread those silent and yet eloquent rooms without being affected with emotions of sadness and sympathy ? If Mary Stuart's French attendants, as well as herself, were struck with the sight of so much poverty and rudeness in Scotland, yet in one respect they made an exception, for even in their eyes, though accustomed to behold what the riches of France and the revived art of Italy had already created in Amboise and Fontainebleau, Holyrood ^ About his stay at Holyrood, in asseoit ordinairement la garde, qui the beginning of the following year, estoit de cinquante hommes;" Teu- Bothwell writes thus: — " Aussi let, Lettres, ]). 168. j'estois loge dans le circuit, on Von 72 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, seemed a beautiful building.^ The external form .^^.^w which Holyrood then presented was altered after it 1566. ^as burned during its occupation by Cromwell's soldiers, and its subsequent rebuilding in the reign of Charles ii.; but one still sees, in the old part of the palace, and in its lowest range of apartments, Darnley's bedroom and audience -chamber, and in that right above it, those in which Mary Stuart resided, and in which everything, as far as possible, is retained in its ancient condition. Through the first of these apartments, which is usually called " Queen Mary's audience-room," one enters " Queen Mary's bed-chamber," in the north side of which a small door, half hidden by tapestry, leads to a little stair which, alongside the main stair, leads up from Darnley's apartments. At the south-west corner of the bed-chamber, a narrow door opens into the Queen s " little dressing-room," while at the north- easterly corner is an entrance to a corresponding room, which also contains a space of twelve feet square, but as " Queen Mary's supping-room " has become specially famous in Scottish history. Here on that Saturday evening sat the young Queen at one of the small social parties of which she was so fond. At the table where she was, sat her half-sister Lady Jane. Stuart, who, a couple of years previously, had been divorced from Archibald Campbell, Earl of Argyll. There were also present with her, her half-brother Lord Robert Stuart, Prior of Holyrood-house, her High- Steward Robert Beaton the laird of Creich, who likewise was ^ Est certes un beau bastiment (Euwes du Seigneur de Brantdme. et ne tient rien du pays. — Bran- A la Haye, 1740, i. 143. tome, Vies des Dames illustres, in MURDER OF RICCIO. 73 " keeper " of her palace at Falkland, her Master chap. of the Horse the young Arthur Erskine of Black- wJ-^ grange, younger brother to the Earl of Mar, and in i^ee. Knox's eyes "the most pestilent papist within the realme," and lastly, her secretary David Riccio. Suddenly the curtain which concealed the secret entrance to the bed-chamber from Darnley s apart- ments was lifted aside, and the king entered the little room where Mary sat, and as she turned her- self kindly towards him he took his place by her side, putting, in an affectionate manner, his arm round her waist/ In another instant the arras in the adjoining room was again lifted, and Lord Ruthven now stalked into the midst of the company with helmet on his head, and his lofty form clad in armour, and with his countenance marked ahke by the pallor of sickness, and the wildness of unbridled frenzy, while he ordered Riccio to take himself away from a spot which was no place for him. Disturbed by so strange and menacing an appari- tion the Queen sprang up, and commanded Ruth- ven, with a severity which she could assume when necessary, to leave her royal apartments, adding that if Riccio had incurred any blame, she would get him punished by the Parliament.^ At the same moment after these words w.ere uttered, as Robert Stuart, Arthur Erskine, Beaton of Creich, and some of the servants were about to lay hold of Lord Ruthven, and as the latter with drawn dagger ^ " With his hand about her the said David before the Lords of waste." — Lord Ruthven's account Parliament, to be punisht, if any of the murder written at Berwick, sorte he had offended. — Mary 30th April 1566. Keith, History Stuart's letter to the Archbishop of Church and State in Scotland, of Glasgow, of 2d April 1566. Appendix, p. 123. Labanoff, Lettres de Marie Stuart, ^ Declaring we should exhibite i. 344. 74 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, threateningly exclaimed, " Lay no hands on me, for I will not be handled," the noise was heard of 1566. many persons rushing up the secret stair, then the tramping of heavy feet in the adjoining bed-chamber, and the next moment there rushed, amid the glare of torches borne after them, George Douglas, Andrew Ker of Faldonside, Patrick Bellenden of Stanehouse, and some others into the little room, with swords and daggers gleaming in their hands, — " so rudely and irreverently," says a contemporary, " that the table with the candles and dishes upon it was over- turned on the floor." The table in its fall struck the Queen, then in the sixth month of her preg- nancy, and the Countess of Argyll was obliged to seize one of the candles, as Ruthven brandishing his dagger cried out to the Queen, " No harm is in- tended to you, madam, but only to that villain." Who does not know the scene which ensued ? Who has not pictured to himself the unhappy wretch in his deadly terror springing behind the Queen, clutching her robe with the energy of despair, and drowning the noise itself with his cries, " Madama, io son morto, giustizia, giustizia ; " or who has not called up before his mind's eye the scene as the conspirators press on, — Darnley striving to wrest Riccio's hand from the Queen s person, the brutal Ker of Faldonside menacingly presenting a pistol towards her breast, or George Douglas snatchmg the king's dagger from its sheath, striking Kccio with it over Mary's shoulder, and leaving it in his body ? Who has not followed, in imagination, the furious actors as they subsequently dragged away from the Queen, whom Darnley held fast, their trembling victim through the bedroom and the REASONS FOR RICCIO'S MURDER. 75 audience -chamber, striking him as they went, until chap. at last on reaching the doorway of the latter, where w^-^ others of the conspirators, having ascended by the 1^66. main stair, awaited him, and where alleged traces of his blood are still pointed out — he expired pierced with fifty-six sword and poniard stabs ? Mary remained behind with Darnley in the little room in which the onslaught had taken place, trembling at the horrid scene which was being enacted a few steps from her, and weeping incessantly. " My poor David," she exclaimed, in words interrupted by sobs, my good and faithful servant, God have mercy on thy soul Describing the murder in a letter to her ambassador in Paris, James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow, she writes : — " After this deed immediately the said Lord Ruthven, coming again in our presence, declared how they and their complices foresaids were highly offended with our proceedings and tyranny, which was not to them tolerable ; how we was abused by the said David, whom they had actually put to death, namely, in taking his counsell for mainten- ance of the ancient religion ; debarring of the lords which w^ere fugitive, and entertaining of amity with foreign princes and nations with whom we were confederate ; putting also upon council the lords Bothwell and Huntly, who were traitors, and with whom he (Biccio) associated himself"^ When Ruthven also declared that everything was under- taken only in agreement with the king's wish, the ^ " Ah povero Davit, mio buono October 156G, as given by Laban- et fedel servitore, Dio habbi miseri- off, vii. 92. cordia di vostra anima." — The ^ Mary Stuart's letter to the account from Edinburgh of 8th Archbishop of Glasgow of 2d April 1566. Labanoff, i. 345. 76 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. Queen, deeply moved, turned to Darnley, and vehemently upbraided him for his Judas-kiss," 1566. and for having had the heart so to injure her. " Traitor, son of a traitor," she exclaimed, " thus you requite her who has done you so much good, and conferred on you so great an honour ; this is the acknowledgment which you make me for having elevated you to so high a dignity. What injury have I done to you that you have willingly caused me such shame ? " ^ Darnley answered by saying how different for a long time past had been her conduct from that at the first period of their married hfe, by shunning him on every occasion when he wished to approach her, and how he had reason to believe that Riccio had persuaded her to show such coldness towards him.^ " My Lord,^' at last replied the Queen, " all the offence that is done me, you have the wite thereof, for the which I shall be your ^ Allora voltatasi la Reina verso every day before dinner you were il Re gli disse : " Ha traditore, fig- wont to come to my chamber, and liuolo di traditore, questa e la past the time with me, and this ricompensa che hai dato a colui long time you have not done so ; che t'ha fatto tanto bene et honor and when I came to your Majesty's cosi grande ; questo e il reconosci- chamber, you bare me little com- mento che dai a me per haverti pany except David had been the inalzato a dignita cosi alta." — Ac- third person ; and after supper count communicated to the Grand your Majesty used to sit up at Duke of Tuscany, dated 8th Octo- the cards with the said David ber 1566. Labanoff, vii. 75, till one or two after midnight ; and this is the entertainment that 2 My lord, why have you caused I have of you this long time. Her to do this wicked deed to me ; Majesty answered, that it was not considering that I took you from a gentlewoman's duty to come to low estate, and made you my her husband's chamber, but rather husband ? What offence have I the husband to come to the wife's, given you that you should do me The king answered : How came such shame ? The king answered, you to my chamber in the begin- I have good reason for me, for ning, and ever till within these since yonder fellow David came six months, that David fell into in credit and familiarity with your familiarity with you ? — Lord Ruth- Majesty, you neither regarded me, ven's account as given in Keith's entertained me, nor trusted me History of Church and State in after your wonted fashion ; for Scotland, Appendix, pp. 123, 124. maby's adherents threatened. 77 wife no longer, nor ly with you any more, and shall chap. never like well till I cause you have as sorrowful a heart as I have at this present."^ 1566. The altercation between the Queen and Darnley had reached its height, when a loud knocking was heard at the door of the larger room into which, followed by Ruthven, they had meanwhile entered from the little one where the onslaught had taken place. It was stated that there was fighting in the palace garden, and Lord Ruthven, whose presence had been long intolerable to the Queen, seized the opportunity to get away leaving Darnley behind. On the rumour of what had happened in the Queen's presence getting abroad, the uproar became quickly transferred to other parts of the palace, and divers of the Queen's adherents who had their residence within its precincts, and especially the Earls Bothwell, Huntly, and Atholl, put themselves at the head of some hastily armed men and hurried to the Queen s assistance. When Ruthven arrived they were already driven back to their apartments by their more numerous and better armed oppon- ents,^ and were being threatened by the Earl of Morton that it should fare badly with them if they ventured again to leave their quarters. Accord- ingly it only remained for Lord Ruthven to endeav- our to quiet them by assuring them in the King's name that their lives were not in any danger. But scarcely was the alarm put an end to within the ^ Lord Ruthven's account. parte coenabant, qnum prorumpere — Keith, History of the Church vellent, ab iis, qui in area adserva- and State in Scotland, Appendix, bant, intra ccenacula sua sine noxa p. 124. sunt cohibiti. — Buchanan, JRerum 2 Comites Huntilseae, Atholi.T et Scoticarum Historia, p. 211. Bothuelii, qui in diversa palatii 78 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, palace than it began outside. The report of the outrage also extended up to the city, and then 1566. "the cry and noyas rais," says a contemporary, '^in sic manner throw the Cannogait, that it was said that the Quenis grace was haldin in captivitie and seignour David slane, quhairthrow the com- mon bell rang in sik sort that euerie man past to armour, and rusheit down with Symon Prestoun of Craigmillar, thair pro vest, to Halyrudhous, will- ing to haue delieverit the Quenis grace and revengit the caus forsaid."^ When Mary mean- while wished to speak to the crowd, she was not allowed by the murderers, " who," she writes, " in our face declared, if we desired to have spoken them, they should cut us to collops and cast us over the walls. Darnley showed himself in her stead, and assured the citizens that the Queen was safe and sound. When the Provost desired that they might nevertheless hear the Queen herself speak, he answered him with the words : — Provest, know you not that I am king ? I command you to pass home to your houses."^ The citizens obeyed, and in the evening Darnley gave the keys of the palace gates to the Earl of Morton, who, dismiss- ing all untrustworthy persons, took upon himself along with Lord Ruthven to keep all things secure for the night. One thing nevertheless happened otherwise than had been looked for. Bothwell and others of the Queen's adherents were found ' in the morning to be no longer present. In spite of the peaceful ^ Diurnal of Remarkable Occnrrents, p. 91. 2 Mary's letter of 2d April 1566, Labanoff, i. 346. ^ Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, ii. 522. HIS ESCAPE. 79 assurance given by Lord Ruthven their fears re- chap. mained, especially as they knew that Murray and v_^L^ their other ecemies were expected to return on the 1566. following day, and although the armed hosts of the murderers watched the gates of the palace, yet the darkness made it possible for them to effect their escape with safety. "If," writes Both well subsequently, after having spoken of the murder of Riccio, *'some noblemen and I myself, in order to avoid such a peril, had not escaped through a window in the back of the palace, we should not have received any better treatment, since they had so resolved among themselves, or we had at the least been compelled to approve of an action so very base and detestable."^ Like Bothwell, the Earl of Huntly, his brother-in-law, also escaped, as did in other similar modes John Stuart Earl of Atholl, Lords John Fleming and William Living- ston and Sir James Balfour, "against whom," writes the Queen, "the enterprise was conspired as well as for David (Biccio) ; and at whose flight the conspirators were therefore specially chagrined, and found themselves much disappointed in their enter- prise." When Mary Stuart, after that sorrowful night, during which she was so apprehensive of a mis- 1 Et si (pour ^viter ce p^ril) James Melvil likewise says that quelques seigneurs et moy n'eus- Bothwell in company with the sions passe par une fenestre Earls Atholl and Huntly escaped derriere le-dict logis, nous n'eus- " by leaping over a window toward sions eu meilleur traictement, the little garden where the Lyons d'aultant qu'il avoit ainsi este were lodged." — Memoirs, p. 64. resolu entre eux, ou pour le moins Lastly, Mary Stuart herself re- eussions este contraintz de ap- marks : — " Yet, by the providence prouver un si raeschant et detest- of God, the Earls of Huntly and able actc. — Bothwell's Eepresenta- Bothwell escaped forth of their tion : Teulet, Lettres, p. 164. Sir chambers in our palace at a back- 80 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, carriage that she had a midwife sent for,^ found ^^.^^^ herself on Sunday morning a prisoner in the palace 1566. of ]^er ancestors, she suddenly hit upon a new idea for effecting her liberation. She saw Sir James Melvil, who as yet had not fled with her other adherents, but had now got permission to repau* to the city, going across the palace garden, throw- ing up a window, she prayed him to call in the aid of her faithful subjects that she might be delivered out of the hands of traitors. Wisbet, the steward of the Earl of Lennox, was sent after him with a troop of soldiers, but Melvil nevertheless got leave to proceed, as he pretended that he was only going to sermon at St. Giles's Church."^ He gave the Provost information as to his errand, but the latter relying on the contrary orders of Darnley, although still not unwilhng to summon the citizens together, was so divided in his inclinations between the one and the other that nothing was done. On the other hand there were published the same day two proclamations which were subscribed by Darnley. In the one it was forbidden, under pain of death, for any persons to carry weapons in the streets of Edinburgh. In the other Parliament was dissolved by Darnley, who as King, in his own name alone issued in it orders, commanding all members of Parliament, with the exception of such as he might window by some cords." The become the subject of a well- above-mentioned letter of the known representation, is still Queen of 2d April 1566 is given commonly adduced as an instance in Labanoff, i. 346. of how the incidental mood of the ^ Account given by Raumer in mother during pregnancy may his I)ie Koniginnen Elimbeih operate on the whole after-life und Maria Stuart, p. 113. The of the child. — Andrew Combe's nervous timidity of James vi., Principles of Physiology. which in Sir Walter Scott's novel, ^ Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, The Fortunes of Nigel, has p. 65. RETUEN OF THE EXILED LORDS. 81 specially exempt, to leave Edinburgh within three chap. hours. In the palace the Queen was the whole day so closely watched, lest she might escape in dis- 1^66. guise, that none of her ladies or women were permitted to leave her apartments wearing veils. ^ And in the evening the arrival in Edinburgh was also witnessed of the Earl of Murray and other gentlemen of the exiled nobility who immediately rode to Holyrood, where they were welcomed by Darnley, while the captive Queen was still so ignor- ant of Murray's complicity in the murder that she, forgetting the old wrong in the new, threw herself into his arms, kissed him, and exclaimed : — " If he had been at home he would not have suffered her to have been so uncourteously handled."^ The account which speaks most fully of these days so crowded with events, but which as it pro- ceeds from the conspirators themselves has no claim to implicit confidence, tells that this day or Sunday did not close without the Queen at last consenting that Darnley should pass the night wdth her.^ She knew the weakness which was combined with his roughness, and that she might be able to use her influence over him for the purpose of separating him ^ So the King commanded him to give attendance thereunto, and put certain to the doors and let no gentlewomen pass forth muffled. — Lord Ruthven's account given in Keith, History of Church and State in Scotland, Appendix, p. 127. ^ Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, p. 65. ^ Lord Ruthven's account. — Keith, History of Church and State in Scotland, Appendix, p. 128. A draft of this account dated 30th April 1566, had already on the 2d April been sent from Berwick to William Cecil by Lord Ruthven in conjunction with the Earl of Morton, and in an accompanying letter (Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 57 ; Calendar of State Pajjers re- lating to Scotland, i. 232) they had requested him to correct their draft in order that they might thereupon cause such an account to circulate in Scotland and France. 82 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, from those guilty of the murder was probably the ^ ' wish which sprang up in her trembling heart. 1^^^- Darnley was himself, certainly to her advantage in this respect, so overcome by the foregoing events, that he remained sunk in a deep sleep till the morning was far advanced, and then betook him- self to the room in which the Queen had sought I'epose. When Darnley subsequently appeared again among his confederates his behaviour was altogether changed. Formerly they had intended to confine the Queen until by means of a new parliament they had procured for Darnley the so-called "matrimonial crown," and full authority as King ; now it was he himself who represented the needlessness of such a step, since the Queen was disposed in favour of a reconciliation. He also himself afterwaxds led the Queen by the hand into the large hall where the conspiring Earls and Lords were assembled, who knelt to receive her. Having first heard the Earl of Morton as their spokesman, she reminded them of her lenity, that she had never shown herself bloodthirsty, and then ordering them to rise up, she subsequently passed some time walking up and down the room with Darnley on one side, and Murray on the other. When Mary declared herself prepared to subscribe whatever articles the con- spirators might deem necessary for their safety, the adherents of the King, as they still called them- selves, drew up a few. Darnley received them and found nothing objectionable in them, but, neverthe- less, made a request to the effect that the Lords should forthwith withdraw their retainers, and again leave the custody of the palace in the hands of the Queen's guard, since a letter of safety such as they MARY AND DARNLEY LEAVE HOLYROOD. S3 desired would by no means agree with any appear- chap. ance of imprisonment on the part of the giver of it. Lord Ruthven, quhome (the Queen) wald not thole ^^^^ lo come in hir presens/'^ and who especially began to suspect mischief, " protested to Darnley that what bloodshed and mischief should ensue thereof, should fall upon his head and his posterity, not upon theirs." ^ But because of the expected letter of safety, and, perhaps also, because Murray did not show himself so frank towards them as they had anticipated, the Earl of Morton and the other leaders were disposed to submit to the request made by Darnley. After the revolution had, in all essential respects, apparently succeeded, they left the palace on the afternoon of Monday with their retainers. In the evening Archibald Douglas was sent from Morton s house in Edinburgh, where they had assembled for supper, to Holyrood to ask for the letter, but the only answer he got from Darnley was, that the Queen was sick, and that it would be subscribed the following day. For meantime the Queen had exerted her influence more and more upon the facile King, had in private vividly repre- sented to him what humiliation he had been on the point of preparing for the kingdom and the Catholic religion. In the middle of the same night, after the custody of the palace had been given over to Darnley, he and the Queen, with only one of her ladies, secretly passed out of Holyrood,^ and having ^ Diurnal of Remarkable Occur- with the Queen's wish, had been rents, p. 92. communicated to her by Bothwell ^ Lord Ruthven's account given and Huntly, according to which, in Keith's History, Appendix, p. as she herself writes, it was pro- 128. posed by them, " that we should ^ It was thus unnecessary to try have come over the walls of our a plan of escape that, in compliance palace in the night upon towes and 84 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, mounted horses which Sir John Stuart of Traquair and the young Arthur Erskine had in readiness for 1566. them outside, after a brisk trot the whole way they arrived on Tuesday morning at the Castle of Dunbar. From Dunbar Mary Stuart summoned her vassals to arms, and, at the same time, she, who, during the whole of this catastrophe, had shown, for a woman, an admirable bearing, issued a proclamation against the audacious persons that had violated her royal dwelling with bloodshed, and kept herself a prisoner. In a letter sent to France to the Cardinal of Lorraine, immediately after her arrival at Dun- bar, she subscribed herself " Yostra Nepote Maria E,egina senza regno but in a very short time she saw crowds from all quarters hasten to her help, the first to come being led by Bothwell, and Huntly, who, after Riccio's murder, had escaped from Holy- rood to Crichton Castle. These were now very graciously received at Dunbar by the Queen, and here she saw her forces so much increased, that Bothwell himself reports the army, with which the Queen a few days afterwards marched towards Edinburgh, as numbering four thousand men.^ She understood how to divide her enemies. Accordingly she forgave her half-brother Murray, who deserted his fellow-conspirators, and also the other insurgents that had come back to Scotland, provided they had chairs, which they had in readiness to that effect." Mary's letter dated 2d April 1566. — Labanoff, i. 348. 1 Labanoff, vii. 78. She herself forcibly relates afterwards as to Bothwell's ser- vices " how suddanlie be his pro\7^dence not onlie wer we deliverit out of the pressoun, bot alswa that haill cumpany of cou- spiratouris dissolvit and we re- coverit oiire forniar obedience." — Labanoff, ii. 35. PUNISHMENT OF RICCIO'S MURDERERS. 85 not abetted Riccio's murder. The latter, after Mary .chap. Stuart had on the 19th March returned in triumph v___^ to Edinburgh, ventured thither also, either in obedi- isgg. ence to the Queen's summons to appear before the court of justice, or to make some special resistance to her; but they speedily found, in most cases, that now their turn had come to flee again to England. Of those who remained behind, the greater number were imprisoned, yet the Scottish Queen did not let her kingdom become the scene of such a series of executions as those with which Queen Elizabeth, a few years later, punished the Catholics in the north of England who rose in defence of Mary Stuart ; for while Elizabeth, in the county of Durham alone, caused the impotent insurrection of 1569 to be followed by three hundred executions,^ only two of those guilty of E-iccio's murder, Thomas Scott of Cambusmichael, under-sheriff of Perth, and Henry Yair, formerly a Catholic priest, were executed. When William Harlaw and John Mowbray, two Edinburgh burgesses, who had been condemned to death the same day as the two others, were standing at the foot of the gallows, the Earl of Bothwell appeared " with the Queen's ring," and announced that the Queen's grace had commuted the punishment of death to banishment.^ Among others who were indebted to Bothwell for the pardon of their guilty complicity, Knox expressly names the lairds William Lauder of Halton, John Sandilands of Calder, and John Cockburn of Ormis- ^ C. Sharpe, Memorials of the Bothwell presented the Queen's Rebellion of 1569. London, 1840, ring to the Provest, which then p. 140. was justice, for the safety of their Diurnal of Remarhahle Occur- life." — Knox, Hidory of the Befor- rents, p. 98. " But the Earl mation in Scotland, ii. 527. 86 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, ton, the last of whom will be remembered as Both- well's former deadly enemy. Although Murray, 1566. who now took his place again in the Council of State, and also set his name to its notification of "sharp punishment" for the murder of Riccio, certainly did what he could to allow other accom- plices in it to remain in Scotland unpunished, yet one readily catches a glimpse also of Bothwell's share in this freedom from prosecution, for which Knox himself had reason to thank him.-^ During the Fast week which had been prescribed by the Reformed Kirk before the onslaught that proved so fatal to Riccio, the Reformer had made mention of his unhappy end while discoursing of the Lord's sudden judgment on His enemies, but when the hour of judgment came for the authors of that bloody work, Knox withdrew from Edinburgh, which he did not see again until after Mary's deposition from the throne ; but he went only to the west country — he did not leave Scotland. The Earl of Lennox was merely forced to keep away from the Court ; while his son stigmatised himself by a declaration which on the 20th March was posted up in Edinburgh, and in which he cleared himself from all blame of the murder. He owned indeed that he had so far erred inasmuch as through the persuasion of the conspirators with- out the Queen's consent, he let himself be beguiled into giving his approval of the recall of the exiled Lords, but to refute the slanderous reports in which he was charged with having had a share "in the ^ For he (Bothwell) showed relieved of great trouble. — Knox, favour to such as liked him .... History of the Reforrfiation in that by his favour they were i^cotland, ii. 527. DARNLEY PROTESTS HIS INNOCENCE. 87 horrid murder which was committed in the Queen's chap. II. presence, and in the criminal detention of her v^-y-^ Majesty's exalted person it is also stated that i^^^- " His Grace had before her Majesty and in the presence of the Lords of Council declared upon his honour, faith, and word as a prince, that he never had the slightest knowledge of the perfidious treason whereof he was unrighteously and falsely accused, and never had either counselled, com- manded or approved of it.^ Darnley went still further ; he not only informed against his late con- federates, but was as zealous in getting them brought to justice as if he had been an absolute stranger to their proceedings. To foreigners the Queen made it appear as if she too admitted Darnley 's guilt to be merely second- ary,^ but she herself knew better, and was unable to forget his "Judas-kiss." The accomplices whose names Darnley revealed had taken ample care to communicate to her the agreement in which he had in writing both stipulated for the Crown to himself, and assumed the responsibility of Riccio's murder. More and more must her heart have turned away from him, and less than ever could he be allowed to take part in the government. Yet it ought not to be said, as many earlier and more recent authors have repeated, that Mary Stuart had after Riccio's murder maintained an implacable disposition towards him. In the summer, when the period of her con- finement approached, she prepared herself for death ; she drew up at that time a testament, a copy of ^ Darnley's Declaration. — Keith, ^ Compare her letter dated 2d History of Church and State in April 15(57 to the Archbishop of Scotland, Appendix, p. 167. Glasgow. — Labanotf, i. 34U. 88 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, which she also sent to her relatives in France, but v^^-Y-^ which is not now extant, or at all events has 1506. Yiot hitherto been found, although a contemporary supplement to it came to light by a fortunate discovery, in 1854. This document professes to be a complete inventory of her jewels to the number of two hundred and fifty- three, and on the margin, opposite every number, is a note in the handwriting of Mary Stuart, stating to whom she wished to leave it, if she and the child should die : — for should the child continue to live," so she con- cludes, " then shall it be heir to all.'''^ The follow- ing are her keepsakes to all her relations and friends as marked in this inventory : — A ruby " to my sister," a diamond " to my brother Murray," four other diamonds "to the four Maries;" at one num- ber she has written " to Earl Bothwell," but at three "to Lady Bothwell." No one however is so often remembered as Darnley to whom she be- queaths twenty-six difPerent objects, among which she marks a diamond ring, adding at the same time : — " It is that wherewith I was espoused ; to the king, who gave it me."^ To her father-in-law she also left a diamond, and two to her mother- in-law. On the other hand, when in the Castle of Edinburgh, on the 19th June 1566, she had been safely delivered of a son, who was to become both Scotland's and England's king, we find that 1 The Inventory was discovered que lanfant ne me suruiue mays in the Register House in Edin- si il vit ie le foys heritier de tout "burgh, and is printed by Robert- Marie R." son in Inuentaires de la Royne Descosse, pp. 93-115. The con- '■^ Cest celui de quoy ie fus eluding words in the Queen's espousee. Au Roy qui la me handwriting are : — " lentands que donne— Inuentaires de la Royne cestuissi soyt execute au cas Descosse, p. 112. darnley's relations with the queen. 89 Darnley himself, with great joy, immediately, sent chap. the tidings to the Continent, to her maternal uncle w-y— the Cardinal of Lorraine/ Even in the month of 1566. August strangers still imagined the possibility, after some days, of more friendly relations arising between them.^ But if Mary Stuart, even after the birth of James vi., really did perhaps for some moments cherish a young mothers feelings towards her husband, these nevertheless procured for him at all events only a passing regard. In one of her letters to her aunt the Duchess of Guise, the Queen complains of the loss of the gay temper of mind of past times.^ In the autumn of the same year her former lively manner seemed to give way to utter dejection ; she openly fretted. Heferring to the King a contemporary writes : — " That is ane heart- break for her to think that he sould be hir husband, and how to be free of him scho sees no outgait."* " She repeats," writes another, " always these words : — I could wish to be dead.^'^ "So many great sighs 1 The letter dated Edinburgh which Queen Elizabeth in the year the 19th June 1566, is printed in 1586 unexpectedly laid an arrest F. V. Raumer's Briefe aus Paris in Chartley, one also meets with a zur Erlduterung der Geschichte " petit livret d'or," in which Mary des sechzehnUn und siebzehnten had miniature likenesses of herself, Jahrhunderts (Leipzig, 1831), ii. Darnley, and their child. 94-95. ^ Je layrray ces belles parolles 2 " I have heard," it is said in pour vous dire combien, en peu an account from the Earl of Bed- de temps, j'ay change de rolle> ford, dated 12th August 1566 qui est de la plus contante en (Raumer, Die Koniginnen Elisa- soi-mesmes et a son ayse, en heth und Maria ^Stuart, p. 120), continuels troubles et fascheries. " that since Mauvissiere, the — Letter of Mary Stuart to the French messenger, was with them. Duchess Anne of Guise, dated the King and Queen have slept May 1566. — Labanoff, i. 354. together, from which it is thought * Maitland's letter of 24th that theymaycometo better terms." October 1566 to the Archbishop In a list (given by Labanoff, vii. of Glasgow. — Laing, History of 242-49) of articles belonging to Scotland, ii. 74. the imprisoned Mary Stuart, upon ^ Letter of the French Am- 90 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, she would give," remembered later a third who was ' — — ' then always with her, " that it was a pity to hear 1566. her."^ The disagreement had become aggravated at the time of the young prince's baptism. This was solemnised on the 17th December 1566 with great splendour in the Chapel of Stii'ling Castle. On this occasion Queen Elizabeth had been invited to become godmother, but excused herself on the ground that however willing she was to be present, she was unable to come to Scotland, and as she could not well send an English lady so far in winter, so she caused herself to be represented by Mary's favourite half-sister, the Countess of Argyll, and likewise sent the Earl of Bedford as bearer of a baptismal font of gold to be used in the baptism of the prince. The ceremony of baptism was performed according to the ritual of the Romish Church by the Archbishop of St. Andrews, Lord John Hamilton, a half-brother of the Duke of Chatelherault, assisted by three other bishops.^ The sovereigns of France and Savoy were also represented on this festal occa- sion, and after the religious part of the rite was over the Queen gave a splendid banquet to the foreigners and the Scottish lords, many of whom, including Bothwell himself, had refused to be present in the chapel during the ceremony so obnoxious to the Reformers.^ But Darnley, who bassador Du Croc of 2d December ^ In reference to this ecclesiasti- to the Archbishop of Glasgow. — cal transaction it is incorrectly Keith, Church and State in Scot^ said by Tytler, History of Scot- land, Pref. p. vii. land, vii. 54) and by Mignet, ^ The Memoirs of Sir James Histoirede Marie Stuart, i.2l9,iha.t Melvil, p. 74, although Bothwell was a Protes- - Quha was executour officij in tant, yet he it was who directed pontificalibus with staf, mytoure, the Popish ceremony. This asser- croce, and the rest. — A JDiurnal of tion can hardly be regarded as Bemarlcable Occurrents, p. 103. warranted by anything in the DARNLEY S ABSENCE FROM HIS SON S BAPTISM. was present in the castle, did not make his appear- ance at all during the festive season. Elizabeth, who, as long as Darnley lived, would never give her runaway vassal the royal title, had on this occasion specially charged the Earl of Bedford and his suite not to designate him by it,^ and thus before his own countrymen also Darnley, who had lately lifted his head so high, found himself now in an intolerable position. The French Ambassador, who had ad- mired the behaviour of Mary Stuart in the presence of her foreign guests, perceived how much this self- command had cost her when a couple of days later she allowed him to pay her a visit, and he found her resting herself with tearful eyes, and complaining of a violent pain in her side.^ The idea of taking advantage of these feelings, which could no longer remain any secret, had about this time been conceived. It originated per- haps with the Macchiavellian but highly-gifted Sir William Maitland, laird of Lethington, of whose letter of John Forster from Berwick appealed to, and this letter is at any rate six days older than the baptismal ceremony, about which a contemporary (in Diurnal of Remarkable Occur- rents, p. 104) expressly remarks : — " At this tyme my lordis Huntlie, Murray, Bothwill, nor the Inglis Ambassador, come nocht within the said chappell, because it was done against the poyntis of thair religioun." The Countess of Argyll, who had overcome her scruples, and been present at the baptismal ceremony, the Reformed Church found itself called on to subject to a reprimand. — Keith, History of Church and State in Scotland, p, 569. ^ Jussitque expresse, ut nec ille, nec Angli ilium comitati, Darlium regio titulo dignarentur. — Annxiles rerum Anglicarum et Hiherni- carum regnante Elizabetha, Guillel- mo Camdeno authore (Londini, 1615), fol. p. 109. When Ran- dolph in the beginning of the year had got orders to leave Scotland he would not, as he himself reports to Cecil from Edinburgh 25th February 1565, receive a passport " because it was subscribed by Lord Darnley." — Calendar of State Fapers, Foreign Series, 1566-68, p. 23. 2 Letter of Du Croc of 23d December 1566 to the Archbishop of Glasgow. — Keith, History of Church and State in Scotland, Pref. p. vii. 92 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, abilities, his contemporaries, both fiiends and foes, w-^^ speak with high admiration, as being, in an age so 1566. rich in talented men, perhaps the greatest of them all/ Some of his retainers had also been present at the murder of Kiccio, while he himself had under- taken the part of entertaining the Earl of Atholl rmtil this was accomplished. For such conduct he had been dismissed from his office as Secretary of State and banished to Caithness. This Scottish statesman was one of the first of the conspirators against Riccio that obtained pardon ; for the Queen after her confinement had, at the intercession of the Earls Atholl and MmTay, but at first much against Both well's wish, taken him into favour, and made him again Secretary of State. On the 17th September 1566 he once more took his seat in the Council of State. Recently this man, so fertile in devices, had seen the conspiring nobles supporting Darnley against Mary in order to compass the return of Murray and of the other insurgents who had fled to England ; and might it not be possible now by helping Mary against Darnley to obtain from her the same favour for the betrayed accom- phces of the latter, Lethington's good friends ?^ One condition seemed nevertheless inevitable. Scotland had lately seen both Murray's insurrection and the conspiracy to which Riccio became a victim miscarry through the action of the political party ^ Vir inter Scotos maximo till obteine the said Erie of Mour- rerum usu, et ingenio splendid- toimis perdoun, was to pronieise to issimo, si minus versatili. — Cam- the Quenis Majestie, to fynde an den, Annalcs rerum Anglicaruvi, moyen to make devorcement be- p. 241. twixt hir Grace and the Kinge hir husband, — Declaration of the Earls 2 Lethingtoiin proponet and Huntly and Argyll. Anderson, said that the nerrest and best way Collections^ iv. 189. bothwell's influence. 93 of nobles that supported the Queen, to which [ chap. Bothwell adhered. It was therefore necessary on this occasion to win over these old enemies, and 1566. above all Bothwell himself For though it can hardly be deemed correct to represent his will as all-powerful subsequently to Riccio's death, as has been attempted to be done by the contemporaries of Bothwell and particularly Knox,^ yet his influence with the Queen had now become greater than ever. The many instances which she had already witnessed both under the government of her deceased mother and her own, of his readiness to venture his life in her cause, convinced her that in him she had found a most trustworthy servant. The behaviour too which he had shown during the last trying occasion had recently drawn from her a fresh proof of her favour, inasmuch as she had rewarded him with the appointment of " Keeper " of the Castle of Dunbar, the strongest of all the Scottish sea-fortresses, which was likewise an arsenal for the whole kingdom in which the most of its gunpowder was kept, and which by its proximity to Both well's estates was of special importance to him.^ Nor was this all ; for it ^ Knox, History of the Beform- to have lofIg;ed there, but were ation in Scotland, ii. 527. In refused." — Chalmers, Life of opposition to the statement which Mary, ii. 264. he there makes, that "the Earl ^ Bothwell's own words on this Bothwell had now, of all men, point deserve perhaps to be greatest access and familiarity quoted : — " lis se floyent bien fort with the Queen," it is sufficient to en moy, a cause de la faveur que refer especially to Eandolph's sa Majeste me portoit et de I'accez letter to Cecil of date 7th June que j'avois aupres d'elle ; ce que 1566 respecting the relations sub- j'avois acquis seulement par le sisting in Edinburgh during the fidele debvoir que je feis tantes es Queen's confinement. His words guerres de feu Madame sa mere, are : — " The Earls of Argyle and que aussi es siennes propres, Moray lodge in the castle, and esquelles je mis plusieurs fois ma keep house together, the Earls of vie en hazard, y faisant de grandz Huntly and Bothwell wished, also, fraiz, dont elle m'a tres liberale- 94 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, has been believed that shortly after the bu-th of ^^^-^^ James vi. the Queen began to show an interest in 1566. the Earl which was of another and more tender nature than simply political. The idea just mentioned has been chiefly based on what took place when the Earl in the autumn of 1566 left Edinburgh and entered upon the charge of the turbulent Border regions intrusted to him, and the peace of which happened at this period to be specially disturbed by the Elliots, the Arm- strongs, and the Johnstons. Both well had already laid hold of some of the many lawless foresters in Liddesdale and put them in custody in Hermitage Castle in order to have them brought to justice ; when one day — the 7th of October — in a wood close in front of the castle, he having gone bravely in advance of his attendants, met face to face with a notorious outlaw, John Elliot, also known by the name of John of the Park. On coming up with him the latter demanded whether the Earl would spare his life, to which Bothwell answered that he would be heartily satisfied should the Court set him at liberty, but that he must appear before the Queen's court of justice. When the outlaw heard these words he slipped down from his horse, and at- tempted to run away through the wood ; Both well then wounded him with a pistol-shot, and sprang from his horse to seize him, but while hastily pur- suing after him he stumbled over the stump of a tree, and fell so violently upon it that he lay for some moments completely stunned. As soon as Elliot saw the Earl fall he came back to where he nient recompense, tant par presens, quels Sa Majeste m'a honore." — que aultres gouverneaients, des Teulet, Lettres, p. 167. HIS ENCOUNTER WITH ELLIOT. 95 lay, and with his sword gave him in return for chap. the shot by which he himself had been struck ^^^^ three wounds in succession, one in his body, one i^^^^- in the head, and one in the hand, until at length Both well, recovering himself, with his dagger stabbed his adversary twice in the breast, so that he staggered away mortally wounded.^ The Earl had again swooned when his followers reached him, and his servants bore him back to Hermi- tage, where the imprisoned bandits had mean- while been able to effect their liberty and to take possession of the Castle, so that it was only after having promised to them in Bothwell's name that their lives should be spared, and they themselves allowed to go away, that the Earl could be brought in and have a resting-place. During this time the Queen was staying in the neighbourhood, having, according to the royal Scot- tish custom of holding Assize-Courts throughout the country, just arrived for this purpose at Jed- burgh, the chief town in Roxburghshire, near the foot of the Cheviot Hills. Here she immediately got tidings of the accident the Earl had met with, and when she afterwards found an opportunity on the 16th October she rode attended by her half- brother, the Earl of Murray, and some other lords, notwithstanding the insecurity of the district, over to Hermitage to visit the wounded Both well. With him she passed a couple of hours, and immediately rode back to Jedburgh, having thus accomplished a distance of about fifty miles in one day. The con- ^ And the said theif that hurt woimdis gottin fra my Lord Both- my Lord Bothwill, deceissit with- will of befoir. — A Diurnal of Re- in ane myle, vpone ane hill, of the markahle Occurrents, p. 101. 96 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. II 1566. CHAP, sequence of this forced ride was to bring upon herself the next day a fever so severe that, on the 26th October, it was ordered that prayers be made for her life in the churches. During many days she was given up by her physicians. For two w^hole hours she lay as if she were dead.^ She also believed herself at this time near death, expressed her readi- ness either to depart or to live according as her Creator's good pleasure had determined, exhorted, as her mother had done, with impressive words the nobles of the kingdom to peace and unity as the only safety and blessing for the people, charged the French ambassador to carry her last greeting to her relatives in his country, requested the lords present to pray to God for her soul, and decla-red that she was dying in the Catholic faith. ^ Like many in later times, contemporaries thought, as the tradition in the district still indicates, when it tells how her white steed sank in a morass, now called " The Queen s My re," that it was on the wings of love that Mary Stuart flew backwards and forwards. To us the conclusion nevertheless seems more doubtful ; for while the reigning princess might well show her faithful vassal such attention, a pas- sionately loving woman would not have easily waited for eight days ere doing so. Bothwell was a man of high rank, and occupied a high position. He had ^ For she lay two hours long cold dead, as it were without breath, or any sign of life ; at length she revived, by reason they had. bound small cords about hershacklebones, her knees, and great toes. — Knox, History of the Reformation in Scot- land, ii. 534. - Knox adds : " She said the creed in English, and desired my Lord of Murray, if she should chance to depart, that he would not be over extreme to such as was of her Religion ; the Duke and he should have been Regents." — His- tory of the Beformation in Scot- land, ii, 535. Mary's love for him. 97 recently endangered his life in her service, and it chap. was said by himself even from the first that he could w-^--^ not survive the wounds which he had received/ 1566. The sympathy and anxiety which Mary Stuart showed by her visit to Hermitage, and at a later period when the wounded Earl was able, during the Queen's own sickness, to drive over to Jedburgh, may therefore be as well explained by solicitude to preserve the most trustworthy counsellor and sup- port of her government, and this conjecture is all the more probable since Bothwell is described by those who must have seen him as quite otherwise than handsome, and as wanting in those external advantages which ordinarily help to captivate.^ The haste with which the Queen urged her steed for- ward on the way to Hermitage, and back again to Jedburgh, may also be sufficiently explained by her knowledge of the dangerous region through which she was passing, full of outlaws, who only required a few hours to enable them to convey the Queen over the English Border. And just as Mary Stuart, on the 16th October, even during her flying visit to Hermitage, did not avoid putting her name to a state document, so she also, as we find re- ^ For he believed surely to have Visne eloquentiae? an formae dig- departed forth of this life, and sent nitas ? an virtus animi, quae rerum word thereof to the Queen's Ma- fortuitarum accessione commen- jestie. — Knox, History of the Be- darentur ? At de eloquentia et formation in Scotland, ii. 543. forma non est opus oratione longa, 2 Ce Bothuil estoit le plus laid cum et qui eum viderint, vultus et homme et d'aussi mauvaise grace incessus corporisque totius qui qu'il se pent voir. — Brantome, Vies fuerit habitus, meminisse possint ; des dames illustres in (Euvres du et qui audierint hominis infantiam Seigneur de Brantome, i. 147. et hebitudinem non ignorent. — Quern amorem qui non viderit Buchanan, De Maria Scotorum ilium autem viderit, incredibilem Begina, p. 51. In reference to his fortassis opinabitur. Quid enim showy dress Bothwell is described erat in eo, quod mulieri pauluni in the same book (p. 41) : " Tan- honestiori, concupiscendum foret? quam simius in purpura." 98 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, corded, caused immediately after her return to w^;^ Jedburgh, "a mass of \^itings'' to be transmitted 1566. to Bothwell,^ which certainly does not look like any love-message or amorous greeting. That the Earl, on the other hand, by the manliness which the Queen trusted to find in him, and for the possession of which he was most anxious to have the reputa- tion,^ might have made a stronger impression upon her than the two husbands to whom she had hitherto been united, each of fewer years than herself, was nevertheless not at all an absurd idea. And at all events, where such a persuasion was entertained, the gaining over of the Earl manifestly became more of a necessity for the pohtical friends of Morton, Lindsay, and the other fugitives. The Scottish communications arriving in England in the year 1566 fully evince how Both well, after the murder of Biccio, by the greater influence which now fell to his share, had become more insufierable than ever to his opponents of the former absolutist party,^ but subsequently this political position sud- 1 " To ane boy passand off Jed- burgh with a mass of writings of our Soverane to the Earl Both- well," — so we meet under date 17th October 1566, with an item in the abstracts of the Treasurer's ac- counts, which are given by Chal- mers in his Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 111. A letter from Mary- Stuart to her brother-in-law Charles IX. of France, dated Jedburgh, 16th October 1566, is also found in Labanoff, i. 372, 373. 2 " Fortitudinis opinionem cap- tavit," says Buchanan, who never- theless immediately, so as not to attribute to Bothwell any supe- riority whatever, hastens to add: " Sed inter equites sedens in equo pernicissimo sui securus, alienae pugnae spectator." — Be Maria Scot- orum Begina, p. 51. ^ " I hear," so reports the Earl of Bedford, after these Scottish communications on 12th August 1566 from Berwick, " that there is a plan in contemplation with re- spect to the Earl of Bothwell, about which I could indeed obtain precise information, but since such things are not addressed to me, I do not wish to hear any more of them. Bothwell has gradually become so detested that matters cannot go on long mth him as now." If the Earl of Bedford in this letter (which is here given WHAT PROSPECT HE HAD OF THE THRONE. 99 denly appears altogether changed. No one of the opposite party is seen so completely placed in sharp antagonism to Bothwell as Maitland, the estate, for- ^^^^ merly belonging to a cloister or nunnery in Hadding- ton, having become an apple of discord between them which increased their ancient enmity,^ yet now the wily Laird of Lethington seems to have been the very one who gained over the potent Earl, and with him his adherents. He was won over by the prospect presented to him of perhaps being able to reach the throne which Darnley had vainly striven to obtain. This allurement acted upon Bothwell as the greeting of the witches on the heath did upon Macbeth. Why should the Earls of Bothwell not bear a resemblance to the Earls of Lennox ? Had Bothwell's ancestors not actually lifted their eyes as high as the latter ? Had not his own father been a rival with Darnley's father for the hand of Mary of Guise when the latter, as Queen Dowager, ruled after Raumer, p. 120) had com- title to the property — A Diurnal municated the precise particulars of Remarkable Occurrents, p. 94. of that "plan," it might perhaps At a subsequent period, on the have thrown much light upon re-entrance of Maitland into the coming events. Council of State, he was required by her as a pledge of peace between ^ In Haddington, midway be- him and Bothwell to relinquish a tween the possessions of the Hep- part of the apple of discord. Ac- burn family, stood an ancient cording to an anonymous letter nunnery endowed by the same from Alnwick of 3d April 1566 family, in which Bothwell's father, (given by Keith, Appendix, p. Earl Patrick, had, during his time, 167), the breach between the two got Elizabeth Hepburn, a relative antagonists had in spring been of his own, appointed abbess. She nevertheless so wide that " one of died in the year 1563 ; and, during Bothwell's servants confessed that the time of Bothwell's adversity himself and four more of his fellow- and exile, Maitland had contrived servants had conspired to murther to come into possession of the or poison the said Bothwell, and landed property of the nunnery ; that Lethington had engaged them but after the participation of the in that design. The other servants latter in the assault upon Riccio, that were concerned iu that design Bothwell had been able, w^ith the upon examination confessed the aid of the Queen, to make good his same." 100 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Scotland during Mary Stuart's minority ? Might w-Y^ ^® ^o^j therefore, with better success follow in his 1566. father s footsteps by one day marrying the Queen herself? Both among his contemporaries and in after ages this ambition has been recognised as the passion which would hereafter drive Bothwell onwards in his dark ways. Along with this we can well imagine to have been conjoined, what was equally in accordance with his character, his feeling himself captivated by the almost demoniacal power with which Mary's beauty so often contrived to enforce its sway. She was still in her twenty-fourth year the same beautiful woman whom no one, during her early stay in France, could look upon without losing his heart — according to the assurance of Brantome, who accompanied Mary on her return voyage to Scotland ; the same who, in Highland garb, or, as he describes it, " estant habillee a la sauvage," had transported him with admiration; the same, of whom the recollection caused him at a later period to exclaim : " Ah royaume d'Escosse ! ]e crois que maintenant vos jours sont encore bien plus courts qu'ils n'estoient, et vos nuits plus longues, puisque vous avez perdu cette princesse qui vous illuminoit." ^ In behalf of the new aristocratic confederacy Maitland had also become spokesman to the Queen. The latter, on her recovery from sickness, and after distributing alms among the poor of the place, ^ had, on the 9th of November, left Jedbm-gh for the purpose of being present in Stirling at the approach- ing baptism of her son. Attended by a splendid ' Note D, Appendix. the pure in Jedburgh £20," re- marks the Treasurer under the 2 " By the Queenis precept to 31st October in the abstracts of Maister John Balfour, to gif accounts given by Chahners, ii. iii. PROPOSALS MADE AT CRAIGMILLAR. 101 retinue of eight hundred horsemen, and the nobles chap. of the country with their retainers, she then passed slowly through the picturesque valley of the Tweed to Berwick, the English Border town, which saluted her with all its cannon, and outside of which Sir John Forster, the English commander, paid his respects to her. Subsequently continuing her jour- ney along the sea-coast, on the 20th November, she arrived, by way of Dunbar, at Craigmillar Castle, — its ruins still exist about three miles south from Edinburgh, — and stayed in this old castle until she went forward to Stirling. It was during her sojourn here that Maitland, in presence of the Earls Murray, Argyll, Huntly, and Bothwell, first ventured to strike the chord from which it was certainly be- lieved that an echo would be awakened. From respect to such combined advocacy, she, at that time, showed herself not at all disinclined to pardon the Earl of Morton, Lord Lindsay, and the most of the other exiles, in whose behalf these leaders peti- tioned her. But though they all subsequently joined in trying to induce her to separate from a husband who had caused her so much injury, and the king- dom no less harm, who, as they said, plagued you and us all," yet she would only listen to any dis- course on the subject under two conditions : first, that the separation should be brought about in a legal manner, and, next, that it should not involve detriment to her son, " for otherwise she would rather endure all torments and dare all dangers which might befall her during her whole lifetime." The Earl of Bothwell replied that he did not in the least doubt that a divorce could be effected without any detriment whatever to his Highness the prince. 102 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, alleging himself as an example, since he also had, w^l^ without the least difficulty, succeeded his father, 1566. although there had been a separation between the latter and his mother. It was next proposed that after a dissolution of the marriage the King should live alone in some part of the country, and the Queen in another ; or that he should retire alto- gether to another kingdom ; but to this the Queen replied that she would rather "go over to France and remain there for a time until he came to a know- ledge of himself and perceived his errors. The Laird of Lethington still continued : " Madame, fancie ye not we ar heir of the principall of your Graces Nobili- tie and Counsale, that sail fynde the Moyne, that your Majestie sail be quyte of him without prejudice of your sone, and albeite that my Lord of Murraye heir present be lytill les scrupulus for ane Protestant nor your Grace is for ane Papist, I am assurit he will looke throw his fingeris thairto, and will behald our doeings, saying naething to the same. The Quenis Majestie answerit — I will that ye do nathing quhair- to any spot may be layit to my honor or conscience, and thairto I pray you rather let the matter be in the estait as it is, abyding till God of his goodnes put remid thairto ; that ye beliefing to do me service, may possibill turne to my hurt and displeasor." ^ As the Laird of Lethington throughout this re- markable negotiation had merely said that " Her Grace sail si nathing bot gud, and approvit hy Parliament,'' and as the Earl of Murray at a later period likewise bore witness that there had not been proposed at Craigmillar in his presence ^ The declaration of the Earls at Craigmillar. — Anderson, Collec- Huntly and Argyll of what passed tioris, iv. 192. CHARACTER OF DARNLEY. 103 anything " tending to ony unlawfull or dis- chap. honorable end,"^ we have in all this sufficient cause for assuming that it was only intended at that i^^e. time to make use of the near relationship in this case also as a ground for divorce, or at all events simply to get Darnley prosecuted by Parliament, because he had himself joined in the plot to hold the Queen a prisoner in her own palace. Only a few days elapsed however after these expressions of the Queen had been heard before a considerable portion of Darnley's enemies found it necessary to take a further step. Darnley certainly stood at this period very much alone ; Sir James Melvil, who first wrote his Memoirs when his son had become king, mentions with special sympathy his being now so greatly deserted ; but contemporaries themselves did not see, as Melvil did, in Darnley only " the good young prince, who failed rather for want of good counsel and experience than from any bad inclinations.''^ In their eyes he also appeared as the poor wretch who not only wished to pass for being more Papistically-inclined than the Queen, but who, while really cherishing a natural horror of the return of his deceived and fugitive accomplices, gave reason to believe that he wanted to assume the government in his infant son's name, and con- sequently they, whom after Riccio's death he had disowned, had as little pity for him as those whom, before his slaughter, he had been able to drive out of the country. Sir James Balfour of Pittendreich drew up the new bond. He had become a member ^Murray's Declaration, dated ^ Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, London, the 19th January 1569. — p. 67. Anderson, Collections, iv. 194. 104 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, of the Council of State in the spring of 1565, and w-Y^^ — ' afterwards had been one of those whose life had 1566. been threatened during the assault at Holyrood, Mary Stuart, in her letter about Riccio's murder, saying even that Darnley's confederates had also at that time intended to hang Balfour.^ In this bond they engaged, " that sick ane young fool and proud tirrane sould not reign nor bear reull over thame and explained " that for diverse causes, thairfoir that thay all had concludit that he sould be put off by ane way or uther, and quhosoevir sould take the deid in hand or do it, they sould defend and fortifie it as thamselffis, for it sould be every ane of their awin, recknit and halden done be thamselffis."^ The great probability of murder being the result certainly had not much deterring influence on the subscribers ; the first thing noted in a contemporary diary of a citizen in Edinburgh is significant to this effect : " There hes beine in this kingdome of Scot- land ane hundereth and fyve kinges, of quhilk ther wes slaine fyftie sex."^ Besides the Earl of Both- well, the Earls of Huntly and ArgyU, Maitland the Secretary of State, and Sir James Balfour,* as the first subscribers are mentioned, and Lethington, and especially Bothwell, seem after this to have ^ And namely to have hanged had learned by heart, and could the said Sir James. The Queen's still remember at his last confes- letter to Archbishop Beaton. — sion, the 13th December 1573. It Labanoff, i. 346. is given in Laing, History of Scot- land, ii. 291-6. 2 This document disappeared ^ Robert Birrel's Diary, Frag- afterwards, having been burnt by merits of Scottish History, p. 3. Maitland, but the words quoted * Quha lute rae sie ane contract above, " that he sould be putt olf subscryvit be four or fyve hand- by ane way or uther," etc., are writtes, quhilk he affirmit to me taken from a larger fragment of was the subscription of the Erie of the agreement which James Ormis- Huntlie, Argyll, the Secretar Mait- ton, who had read it with Bothwell, land, and Sir James Balfour, and MARY PARDONS THE EXILED LORDS. 105 been those who chiefly urged the matter forwards, chap, just as they also, by sending Archibald Douglas to England, already sought helpers among the enemies 1566. of Darnley there before the latter had yet again set foot on Scottish ground. This happened in the close of the year, when Mary, on the 24th December 1566, yielding to the request of almost the whole of her nobles, as well as to the warmly supported representations of Ehzabeth, granted a full pardon to the Earl of Morton, Lord Lindsay, and seventy- six other fugitives,^ — the same, who six months later, tore from her the crown. alleaged that mony mae promisit, other lords helped therein, or else wha wald assist him gif he were such pardons could not so soon put at. — The Confession of the have been gotten." — Chalmers, laird of Ormiston : Laing, History Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. of Scotland, ii. 293. 175. None but Andrew Ker of ^ The Earl of Bedford writes Faldonside and George Douglas thus on 30th December 1566 from were excluded from the amnesty, Hallyards, in Fife, about those the former because he had pointed pardoned : " The Earl of Murray his pistol at the Queen herself, the hath done very friendly towards latter because he had wounded the Queen for them ; (so have I Riccio in her presence. Lord according to your advice.) The Patrick Ruth ven had died in New- Earls Both well, and Athol, and all castle the 13th May 1566. CHAPTER III. Mary Stuart has herself commended her name to posterity. She has asked : " Ayez memoire de Tame et de I'honneur de celle qui a este vostre royne/' and here accordingly, in the History of Scotland^ meet us the two questions, which, beyond all others, have been so debated, that one is able to name two long lists of authors who have, during a period of three hundred years, answered them in opposite ways^^-^he first of these questions is : Was Mary Stuart made aware by Bothwell of the itiurderous design to be carried out against her husband?'- The other question relates to what extent she already had really thrown herself into the arms of Bothwell before Darnley's death, and her own abduction to Dunbar. The answer to the first-mentioned question de- pend especially upon the weight we place on two "iiistorical authorities of a very doubtful nature. The one of these is the collection of different writ- ings— -autogr^^ letters and sonnets, along with the so-called contracts, or properly promises of marriage — which the Queen is alleged by Tier enemies to have sent to Bothwell, and to which, in the first instance, we shall confine our attention ; afterwards the other authority shall come under review. THE SILVER-GILT CASKET. 107 In what wayLJtJie--£^ Queen had been chap. able to get possession of the writings attributed to w^---' l^er, and which brought such ruin juipon^her, they 1567» have themselves told us. A few days after the rising against Bothwell had finally succeeded in snatching Mary out of his hands, he sent, as her opponents have declared, one of his servants, George Dalgleish, to the commander of Edinburgh Castle, Sir James Balfour, in whose custody he had left a silver-gilt casket, not quite a foot long. This casket, afterwards produced in England, had, as a distinctive mark in many places, the Roman letter FHbeneath a royal crown, and therefore had, in all likelihood, previously belonged to Mary Stuart, and been a present to her from her first husband, Francis ii.^ Sir James Balfour still held Edinburgh Castle ostensibly in the Queen's name, but had never- theless been secretly won over some time before by the Laird of Lethington to the cause of the revolt. Accordingly he delivered the casket to Dalgleish, but at the same time gave a hint of the fact to the confederate lords, so that Dalgleish, on the 20th June 1567, when on his way to Dunbar bringing the casket to Bothwell, fell with it into the hands ^ This gilt casket, whose con- tents have made it a veritable Pandora's box for Mary Stuart, has been latterly, since the loss of its contents, pretended to be again found in Hamilton Palace, near Glasgow. But in this instance we have only another example of the credulity which everywhere and at all times habitually distinguishes relic-hunters. For while Mary Stuart's contemporary opponents declared that the casket " in many places" — or as Buchanan expresses it, "alleveque" (undique) — was marked with a Eoman F beneath a royal crown, the casket which in later times has been taken for it has this letter marked upon it only in two places, and no crown above it. This remark has already been made by Henry Glassford Bell {Life of Mary Queen of Scots, 1828, ii. 294), who adds : " Antiquaries however have investigated subjects of less curiosity, and have been willing to believe upon far more slender data." 108 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, of the Earl of Jiiorton. In the casket w as at that time found a cpUection^of writings and sonnets in- 1567. t he Fre nch language, penned by the Queen to- Both well, besid^'assurances in which she engaged- to_ marry him. These were certainly at first the more precise explanations of her later opponents respectmg^ their alleged discovery,^ TduI ere a"month after it had taken place. Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, who had now been sent by Queen Elizabeth to" Scot- land, had nevertheless been able, on the 25th July 1567, to report thus_ from Edinburgh : " Thirdly, They mean to charge her with the murder of her husband, whereof (they say) they have as apparent proof against her as may be, as ivell by the tes- timony of her own handwriting, which they have recovered, as also by sufficient witnesses."^ The catastrophe which caused the fall of Bothwell, and made Mary Stuart a prisoner, recalled at that time her half-brother Murray from France, whither he had betaken himself to await the issue of the crisis, and accordingly there now elapses some time before such papers from the Queen are again mentioned, but on the 4th December 1567, Murray anew pro- duced, in the Scottish Council of Government, " her previe lettres, written and suhscrivit with her awin hand, and sent by hir to James Erll of Boithwell, cheilfe executor of the said horrible murder."^ When, ^ Murray's acknowledgment for having received the casket from Morton, given at Edinburgh, 16th September 1568, contained in Walter Goodall's Examination of the Letters said to be written by Mary Queeyi of Scots to James Earl of Bothwell, ii. 90. Edin- burgh, 1754. — Buchanan, Berum Scoticarum Historia, p. 191 ; Knox, History of the Reformation, in Scotland, i. 562. ^ Throckmorton's Letter : Keith, History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland, pp. 424-27. ^ Goodall's Exarnination, ii. 64. THE LETTEES ASCRIBED TO MARY. 109 moreover, few d ays afterwards the Scottish Par- liament met, which declared Mary Stuart to be — deposed, it was also with reference to the same i^^7-8. papers that this was done, since the Parliament, oir~the 15th iJecember 1567, adjudged that ^th e ' ground thereof was the Queen's own guilt, in as far as^By diners of her preuie letteris, written~7iaTelie 'mith Mr cmin hand, and send be hir to James, sum- ^ tyme Erie of Bothwell, chief agent of that horrilDle murder, as well before as after its execution, it was absolutely certain that she had been privy to and a partaker in it."^ About a year later, when Queen Ehzabeth offered a mediation which apparently had as its object to reconcile Mary Stuart, who had then escaped from her Scottish prison to England, to the Lords of the opposition party, who, in her name, ruled Scotland, they met ojD^this accasion in a oon- ^renca.^hich was opened the 4th October 1568 at York, but afterwards removed to London, or more correctly, according to the distinction then made, to Westminster, and here also Murray, after receiving a promise of secrecy, produced before the English cdnmiissioners both the silver casket and in it the papers brought from Scotland, sfn^egard to the letters, said by those authorised to act~in behalf^of " the^cottish Government to have beerr sent Hby the Queen to Bothwell, it is expressly stated in the English official account of the proceedings which t^ook_^glace_at_ JS^_estminster in presence of the com- missioners empowered by Elizabeth, that " of which le^tres the originals, supposed to be written with- the Queue of Scott's own hand, were then also pre sentl y produced and perused; and being read, ^ The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 27. 110 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, were duly conferred and compared, jfer the manner w^-^ of Tia7idwr{ting ' and fashion of orthography, witlT" 1567-8. sundry other lettres long since heretofore written and sent by the said Quene of Scotts to the Quene's majesty : And next after these was produced and read a declaration of the Erie Morton, of the manner oT^the finding of the said lettres, as the same was exhibited upon his oath the 9 th of December : In the collation whereof no difference was found. The original papers produced in England are known to have descended from one to another of Scotland's four regents during the minority of James vi., from the Earl of Murray to the Earls of Lennox, Mar, and Morton, and afterwards, in the year 1582, to have belonged to a son of Lord Patrick Kuthven, William Ruthven, Earl of Gowrie, who also had taken part in the murder of Riccio, and who, having latterly been pardoned along with the other con- spirators who fled to England, had again joined in the new rebellion that ultimately precipitated Mary Stuart from the throne. We have still four letters, written in the year 1582 by Robert Bowes of Aske, Elizabeth's ambassador in Scotland, to Sir Francis Walsingham, the English Secretary of State, which show with how much interest even then the possession or preservation of those important papers was sought ^ Goodall, The Journal of the and reading of all these foresaid Commissioners apud Westminster, writings, there was no special ii. 256. How far this collation, choyce nor regard had to the order which failed to discover any dilfer- of the producing thereof : but the ence in the things mentioned above, whole writings, lying altogether can yet in reality be described as upon the counsel table, the same proper and sufficient, every one were one after another shewed will be able to judge after what rather hy hap, as the same did ly follows in this official English upon the table, than with any choyce account itself (Goodall, ii. 258) : made, as by the natures thereof, if " It is to be noted, that at the time had so served, might have, time of the producing, showing, been." IN WHOSE POSSESSION THE LETTERS WERE. after/ Bowes had in Elizabeth's mission at length been so fortunate as to discover that the papers in question were in the hands of the Earl of Gowrie at Ruthven Castle, and accordingly represented again and again to him what a valuable gift they would be to the English Queen, to whom they had been promised before they came into his possession, and who was best qualified to defend them against all foolish objections,^ while no man who lived in Scot- land could secure or possess them without danger to his person. The Earl of Gowrie would not at first admit that he really was in possession of them; next he asked if Bowes had perhaps got information about them from the sons of the Earl of Morton ; reminded him that this Earl, like the other preced- ing regents, never ventured to let them out of his keeping ; emphatically declared that he himself also could not do so without permission, not only from the king, who likewise knew that he now had them, but from the noblemen who took part in the rebellion against Mary after her nuptials with Both well ; and ended at last with saying that when he had again returned home to his possession he would take forth the letters and more precisely consider whether he ^ The letters, which are dated Edinburgh the 8th, 12th, and 24th November, and the 2d December 1582, are to be found summarily- printed in Robertson's History of Scotland during the reign of Queen Mary and of King James vi. till his accession to the crown of Eng- land, (the sixth edition, Dublin, 1772, ii. 431-434,) and now more completely in The Correspondence of Robert Bowes of Aske, Esquire (a volume of the publications of the Surtees Society edited by the Rev. J. Stevenson), London, 1842, pp. 236-266. That these writings may be with secrecy and good order com- mit to the keeping of her Majesty, that will have them ready whenso- ever any use shall be for them, and by her Highness' countenance de- fend them and the parties from such wrongful objections as shall be laid against them. — Bowes' let- ter to Walsingham of 24th Novem- ber 1582. — The Correspondence of Robert Bowes, p. 254. 112 JAMES HEPBUKN EARL OF BOTH WELL. ,CHAP. dared comply with Elizabeth s wish. Accordingly, v^.^^ at a later period, he declared that, after having now 1582. looked over those papers, he must necessarily refuse to part with them.^ This is the last time those papers are mentioned as still extant. After the Earl of Gowrie had taken part in the plot in which James VL, in the year 1582, was suddenly surprised at Ruthven Castle, and the Earl had in consequence of this deed been executed at Stirling in 1584, those original writings altogether disappear. Previously to their being finally lost, a short time after they had been produced in England, they had meanwhile been speedily made pubHc through the press in different languages.^ And that these printed versions or translations agree in their con- tents with the originals, as the latter had been produced by those whom the Scottish Government authorised, seems sufficiently plain from the still preserved abstracts of them which one of the Eng- lish commissioners at York, the methodical Sir Ralph Sadler, has, in this instance, made, inasmuch as he had immediately noted down the decisive passages for his own use.^ 1 And he concluded flatly, that after he had found and seen the writings, that he might not make delivery of them without the pri- vity of the king. — Bowes' letter of 24th November 1582— The Corre- spondence of Eohert Bowes, p. 254. 2 The first three of the letters were previously published in Latin as a supplement to the Latin pamphlet which, in the year 1571, washurledby the hand of Buchanan against Mary Stuart, and when this publication was immediately afterwards followed by translations in Scots and French, the docu- ments appealed to were then issued as a supplement to these editions, and in these instances entirely in the Scottish and French languages. Besides the above-named editions of Buchanan's pamphlet, these documents are now found in their different foreign versions, along with many other passages, reprinted in Laing's History of Scotland, ii. 146-210, 222-234, and in Teulet, Lettres de Marie Stuart, pp. 3-76, 105-110. 3 The State Fajnrs of Sir Ralph Sadler, ii. 337. THE EVIDENCE OF MARY S GUILT. While Mary Stuart's guilt in respect of Darnley's murder, according to those printed documents, cer- tainly seems undeniable, yet her antagonists have sought still further to confirm their genuineness, alleging that her guilt does not appear in them so manifest, but that some of her most zealous sup- porters have, even from the point of view furnished by them, believed that they could find it to be capable of dispute ; for, her opponents have asked, would any one really, after forging the whole of the documents, or falsifying portions of the genuine ones, have allowed the least doubt to remain on the subject of her guilt ? Another and more weighty argument than this criticism, which really strikes against the unlucky defenders more than against the thing itself, is, however, the remarkable agree- ment, which has been pointed out, between two letters Mary Stuart, when on a visit to Darnley as he lay sick in Glasgow, had sent to Bothwell, and a seemingly independent testimony, which was fur- nished during the conference in England by a retainer of the Earl of Lennox, one Thomas Craw- ford of Jordanhill, who subsequently, in the civil war in the year 1569, won a name as captor of Dumbarton, and who, agreeably to his sworn declara- tion during Darnley's alleged sickness, not only was secretly informed by the King of all things which had passed betwixt the said Queene and the King," but also, in obedience to the request of the Earl of Lennox, " did immediately at the same tyme write the same word by word, as near as he possibly could carry the same away." ^ As it may also be ^ Goodall, Journal of Meetings of the English Commissioners^ ii. 246. H 114 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, regarded as unquestionable that the partisans of Mary Stuart would latterly wish to have in their 1568. possession all those original letters and remaining documents ascribed to her, so they not unwilhngly have found it necessary to assume that these may, on the execution of the Earl of Gowrie, have fallen into the hands of James vi., and that the latter had felt himself inclined to destroy whatever might really show his mother to be guilty of murder ; the disappearance of the documents themselves, it is now accordingly said, demonstrates that they were genuine."^ In short, the fact that both letters and sonnets are without signature, without statement of time and place, and have not any direct indication whatever of the person to whom they are addressed, has simply been regarded by those who maintain the genuineness of the writings in question as a consequence of that prudent mysteriousness in which it would readily be sought to envelop the crime. On the part of Mary Stuart and her partisans the genuineness of those documents has at no time, been acknowledged. While the conference at York was going on in the autumn of 1568, she herself was not without a knowledge of the dangerous weapons which were being brought from Scotland to her detriment. William Maitland, who, since his sepa- ration from Bothwell, and the latter s fall, had now a^ain appeared among her enemies, seems by this xime to nave begun to repent of his conduct towards her. For whether it was that having accompanied Murray to the conference in England, he felt his national sentiment wounded by a scene which only ^ Malcolm Laing, History of Scotland, i. 230. MARY DENIES THE LETTERS TO BE HERS. too much reminded him of the independent part enacted by his fatherland in the time of Edward i., or that more probably he had been influenced by his wife, who did not forget the feelings under whose sway she had grown up as one of the Queen's " Maries"; at all events it is certain that he then communicated to Mary Stuart secret information that her half-brother had at length resolved to get her irrevocably condemned/ Accordingly when the Queen, imprisoned in England, drew up full instruc- tions for the Bishop of Eoss and her other represen- tatives at the expected conference, she did not now rest satisfied with stating in general terms that she, more than all her subjects, had lamented over the tragic death of her husband,^ but also expressly de- clared with respect to her alleged preparation for Darnley's murder : "In cais thay alledge thay have ony writingis of mine, quhilk may infer presumptioun aganis me in that cause, ze sail desyre the principallis to be producit,and that I myself may have inspectioun thairof, and mak answer thairto. For ze sail aflirm in my name, I niver writ onything concerning that matter to ony creature. And gif ony sic writings he, they are false and feinzeit, forgit and inventit he thamselfis, onlie to my dishonour and sclander : and ^ That the Erie of Murray was wholy bent to utter all that he could aganes the Queue, and to that effect had carid with hym all the lettres which he had to produce aganes the Queue for prove of the murther. — Declaration of Bishop Lesley, made in the Tower the 6th November 1571, and printed in A Collection of State Papers relating to affairs in the reign of Queen Elizabeth from the year 1571 to 1596, transcribed from original papers and other authentic me- morials never before published, left by William Cecil, Lord Burgh- ley, and deposited in the library at Hatfield House, by William Mur- din (London, 1759), fol. p. 52. ^ Ze sail answer that I lament mair heichlie the tragedie of my husband's deith nor any uther of my subj ectis can do. — Mary Stuart's Instruction from Bolton Castle, dated the 29th September 1568 : Labanoflf, il 201. 116 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, tjimr ar divers in Scotland, hath men and women, -•^-y^ that ca'ii^count^i^eit my handwriting, and write the 1^68- like maner of loriting quhilh I use as iveill as myself, and prmcipallie sic as ar in cumpanie ivith tham- selfis. And I doubt iii)t„gi£_X had remanit in my awm realme, bot I wald have gottin knowledge of tHal^ftv^taris and writeris of sic writingis or now, to the declaratioun of my innocencie and confusion n of tliair falset.''^ That there really was at that time, especially in Scotland, a very general and strong incUnation to counterfeit and falsify the writings of others is also evinced Avith sufficient clearness by thejegal provisions which it was found necessary to issue againsT"tTiis~ cfinre, and which followed each other in rapid succession, there having appeared in tliejear 1540 a law for the punishment of false notaries, then an ordinance in the year 1551 ex- tending the punishment against the makers and users of false legal documents to the falsifiers of any writings whatsoever, while the preamble to a sub- sequent Act, passed in the year 1555, speaks of " the great and mony falsettis day he done within this Realme be Notaris."^ That there was at that time no less tendency shown to such forgeries when the object was a political one is an historical fact,^ and therefore there cannot but arise suspicion of forgery ^ Mary Stuart's Instruction from ably to Labanoff (vi. 396-398) and Bolton Castle. — Labanoff, ii. 203. Tytler {History of Scotland, viii. 439-451), also add one furnished 2 The Acts of the Parliaments of by Walsingham's forgery of Mary Scotland, ii. 360, 487, 496. Stuart's cij)hers in the document which was employed as the prin- ^ Whitaker, Mary Queen of cipal motive for her execution. Scots vindicated (London, 1790), Compare likewise Mignet, JJisiom iii. 1-54 and 516-543. To the de Marie Stuart (Paris, 1851), ii. series of examples adduced by 347-349. Whitaker we may now, agree- Mary's demand for copies refused. 117 in connection with the documents produced by the chap. representatives of the Scottish government before the Enghsh commissioners at the conference in the ^^^s. neighbouring kingdom, more especially seeing that the oft-repeated desire of the Scottish Queen to be allowed to inspect them was invariably unheeded. Her request for ^jfrhf. of the l e tters produced as representatives at the conference simply to. procure lref~copies"'^ those letters from " our said guid sister;"-^ but copies it was just as impossible for her to obtain, so that, according to her wish, and accord- ing to what even EngHsh jurists^ of high standing were then obliged, in opposition to the government, to acknowledge to be her right, she might be able in presence of the Queen of England, the whole of England's nobles and all the foreign ambassadors, to rej^ly to all that was urged against her by her calumniators.^ As an excuse for Elizabeth, it has Feen assumed by the enemies of the Scottish Queen that the latter in reality did not wish to get the documents adduced against her, however often she proposed to become acquainted with them. But one circumstance which has been too long over- looked decidedly testifies to the contrary, namely this : that she also asked the French ambassador in ^ Ze sail require our said guid sister that copies be gevin zou thairof to the effect that thay iii ay- be answerit particularlie. — Letter of Mary Stuart from Bolton Castle, the 19th December 1568: La- banoff, ii, 263. ^ Opinion of the English jurists in the supplement to La Motte F^nelon's account of 15th Decem- ber 1568 to Charles ix. and Ca- therine de Medici. — Correspond- ance diplomatique de Bertrand de Salignac de la Motte Fenelon, ambassadeur de France en Angle- terre de 1568 a 1575. Publiee pour la premiere fois sur les manu- scrits conserves aux archives du Royaume (Paris et Londres, 1838- 1840), i. 51-54. 3 Goodall, iL 185. 118 JAMES HEPBUKN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. England, La Motte Fenelon, to interest himself in her request. During a long audience which Fenelon 1569. had in consequence with Elizabeth, he expressed his hope that the letters produced on Murray's side would be communicated to the representatives of the . Scot- tish Queen ; but although Elizabeth was at that time induced to promise this^ — still only, with pretended fear of thereby causing injury to the Queen, — and although the French ambassador, after the lapse of some days, again personally reminded her of her promise,^ yet the English government again drew back, this time because Mary had hinted that it had not shown impartiahty towards her during the con- ference. This was the last and weakest of all the pretexts of Elizabeth and Cecil under which her desire was rejected ; and if it has certainly been unfortunate for the memory of Mary that afterwards, when she was able to see at least the printed trans- lations of the letters ascribed to her, she did not leave any more precise information as to her judg- ment of them, still the keeping back of the real documents becomes on this account not less strange, by means of which at a decisive moment there was denied to the Scottish Queen a right conceded even to the worst criminal, the cutting injustice of which rendering the act not the less suspicious, seeing that the honour of the Queen was assailed in writings which would not be shown her. Rather than let her become acquainted with the originals, the Eng- ^ Je vous diray en substance, Correspondance de la Motte Fene- Sire, qu'elle me promit, que le Ion, i. 133. lendemain elle accorderoit aulx ^ The account of La Motte depputez de la dicte Dame la dicte Fenelon to Charles ix., dated communiquation. — The account of London, 30th January 1569. — La Motte Fenelon to Charles ix., Correspondance de la Motte Fenelon, having been present at the reading over of the con- 1569. fession before Paris, and his acknowledgment of the same. Add to this that Buchanan himself seems finally to condencm the principal testimony here treated of against the Queen. It was only two years after the execution of Paris that Buchanan put forth his severe attack on Mary, accusing her of comphcity in the murder of Darnley ; but in this famous polemical pamphlet, in which he usually does not disdain to use any argument which could disgrace the Queen, he has not made any use what- ever of, or so much as named, an authority which must, from his point of view, have been so impor- tant. In the History of Scotland, which Buchanan afterwards pubhshed, although he frequently men- tions Paris, he is equally silent respecting the declarations ascribed to the latter, and therefore we may thus justly conclude that in reahty he never either knew or valued any confession such as that at which he with his two companions is said to have been present.^ The alleged confession of Paris was also concealed from Mary, even more than the writings ascribed to herself ; during the whole lifetime of the Queen it was manifestly kept a profound secret from both her and her friends, and it was not until nearly a century and a half after her death that for the first time it was made public.^ On the side of herself noul, was Justice-Clerk from the sentence pronounced on Paris we year 1547 until his death in the altogether want, year 1577. — Consult Brunton and ^ In Anderson, Collections to the Haig, Historical Account of the History of Mary Stuart, Queen of Senators of the College of Justice, Scotland, ii. 192-205, where never- pp. 91-95 and 171-177. theless the remarkable concluding 1 Buckingham, Memoirs of Mary sentence about the witnesses, sub- Stuart, Queen of Scotland. Lon- sequently added for the first time don, 1844, i. 365. A copy of the by Chalmers, was still omitted. Lesley's defence of mary. 143 and her friends at the time there was, therefore, chap. Ill never any difficulty in directly replying to the de- claration which, for the first time, has latterly been 157L set up as the second chief evidence of her acquaint- ance with the design of the murder ; but it is so far from being the case that her adherents have avoided mentioning Paris, that some of his last words to the advantage of the Queen are appealed to in a publica- tion which is nearly contemporaneous with the de- claration ascribed to him. In the year 1571 Lesley, Bishop of E-oss, published at Li^ge his well-known Defence of Mary Stuart,^ and in it he ventured not only to state a direct charge against her political opponents as those who themselves had perpetrated the murder on Darnley, but also added a positive assertion to the effect that some of the subordinates and condemned assistants in this deed, and especi- ally Paris, had before their execution, by their con- fessions, quite exempted the Queen from all blame. " We can tel you," says Lesley, " that John Hay of Galoway, that Powry, that Dowglish, and last of al that Paris, al being put to death for this crime, toke God to recorde, at the time of their death, that this murther was by your Counsayle, In- uention and Drift committed ; who also declared, that they neuer knew the Queene to be participant or ware thereof Wei we can farther tel you of the greate goodnes of God and of the mightie Force of the Truth ; whereby, though ye have wonderfully turmoiled and tossed, though ye have racked and put to death aswel Innocents as Gultie, your owne ^ A Treatise concerning the de- Marie, Queene of Scotlande and fence of the honour of the right Dowager of France. Li^ge, 157L high, mightie, and noble princesse, 144 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. III. 1571. confederats, God hath so wrought, that as for no torments nor fayer Promises they could be brought falsly to defame their Mastresse, so without tor- ments at al they haue voluntarily purged her, and so layed the burden upon your necks and shoulders, that ye shall never be able to shake it of"^ In opposition to the declarations, which we now know that the Queen's enemies privately ascribed to Paris, Lesley repeats distinctly, with respect to his general assertion, that Paris, just before his execution, is also said to have called heaven to witness that he never, at any time, had been the bearer of such letters as those whose falsehood Lesley maintained.^ ^ Lesley, Defence of the Honour of Marie, Queene of Scotlande, re- printed in Anderson's Collections, i. 77. The judicial proceedings were secret, and that they did not scruple to employ torture against the subordinate persons who were imprisoned on the occasion of the murder of the king, the records of the council themselves furnish evi- dence. These contain, under the 27th June 1567, an order that William Blacater, James Edmon- ston, John Blacater, and Mynart Eraser, who had been made prison- ers, should be " put in the irins and tormentis for furthering of the tryall of the veritie." — Keith, His- tory of the Affairs of State and Church in Scotland, p. 407. On the one side there is in the official account of the confessions which, immediately before their execution on the 3d January 1568, were made by John Hay of Tall a, William Powrie, and George Dal- gleish (Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 263-65), no declaration concern- ing the Queen such as that men- tioned by Lesley, and what con- cerns Paris, as we know at least now no more with respect to him beyond the declarations ascribed to him, so as for the others, have we not any confession made before execution to the priests in addition to those emitted under judicial ex- aminations. Only in the confes- sion which Laird James of Ormi- ston, some years later in Edin- burgh Castle, made immediately before his execution on the 13th December 1573, to priest John Brand (Laing, History of Scot- land, ii, 291-296), do we meet with a passage which could answer to the assertion previously put forth by Lesley : " Being inquyred gif ever the quein spake unto him at any tyme or gif he knew what wes the quenis mynd unto it, ansrit, as I shall ansuer to God, shoe spake never to me nor I to hir of it, nor I knaw nathing of hir part but as my Lord Bothwell shaw me ; for I will not speike bot the trewth for all the gold of the earth." 2 " For as for him that ye surmise was the bearer of them, and whome you haue executed of late for the said murther, he, at the time of his said execution, tooke it upon his death, as he should answere before God, that he neuer caried any such letters, nor that the Queene was Mary's guilt how to be determined. 145 Considering how the enemies of Mary Stuart, when chap. they began to use the press to spread their charges against her, did not usually disdain any weapon, 1568. it becomes, after a challenge like Bishop Lesleys, doubly strange that they continued to find it ad- visable to keep secret the mysterious declaration ascribed to Paris. ^ While there cannot rationally be entertained any question as to Bothwell's criminahty,^ the writings ascribed to Mary Stuart whose originals are lost, and the so-called confessions of Paris, remain always the sources which must essentially determine whether the Queen is to be held as having had a share in his murderous deed, or is to be acquitted of any compli- city in it. In connection with the whole questions in dispute, there are indeed various other considera- tions on which stress has been laid, but no advance towards a solution is made by such general consider- ations as, for instance, that the sixteenth century under the universal deep passionateness which was nourished by the world-wide contest between Catho- licism and Protestantism had in general another standard for political murder than after ages, or by maintaining that Mary Stuart was in this respect participant, nor of counsayle in the knoun from whense it cumeth ; " cause." — Lesley's Defence of the but his request was fruitless. Honour of Marie, in Anderson, ^ Qj^jy ^j^h Goodall the his- Colledions, i. 19. torical scepticism is carried so far ^ Dr. Thomas Wilson, one of that he devotes a whole chapter Cecil's most zealous assistants also (Examination, i. 332-404) to esta- wished to be able to publish the blish his doubt as to " whether the declarations ascribed to Paris. In Earl of Both well had a hand in the a letter to Cecil of the 8th Novem- murder of King Henry," and still ber 1571 (printed in Murdin, State in a later publication he has, ac- Papers relating to Affairs in the cording to Laing {History of Scot- Reign of Queen Elizabeth, p. 57), land, i. 36), reiterated the assertion Wilson begged that he might get " that there are people who do those declarations " closely sealed," not believe that he, Bothwell, was and added that " it shall not be guilty of that murder." K 146 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, only a daughter of her age, as evinced especially by the way in which she afterwards, during her im- 1570. prisonment in England, received the news of the murder of her half-brother, Murray by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, and settled on this Bothwellhaugh, a relative of the archbishop, a pension out of her estate as dowager queen of France.^ Mary's conduct on this occasion we shall not here justify ; but, on the one hand, it may be pointed out how she, at that time, steadily main- tained that what had happened had happened with- out her command or knowledge,^ and on the other hand it may be pleaded as an extenuating circum- stance, that this same Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh had seen himself ruined for his fidelity towards her, since, after having fought at Langside, he had, along with the other Hamiltons, been outlawed, and by Murray's party been stripped of all he pos- sessed.^ In particular it is of importance to re- ^ About this Mary wrote her brance of herself and of the prince ambassador in France, the Arch- who had given it her, Mary- bishop of Glascrow, in these terms : wrote on this occasion to Murray's — " Ce que Bothwelhach a faict, a widow, and in the letter, which 6st6 sans mon commandement de is dated 28th March 1570 (to be quoy je luy S9ay aussi bon grt^ et found in Strickland, vii. 62, 63) meilleur, que si j'eusse 6ste du it is said : — " Albeit your late conseil. J'attend les memoires husband had so unnaturally and qui me doivent estre envoyez de unthankfuUy offended us, . . . we la recepte de mon douaire, pour desired not his blood shed . . . but faire mon estat, oil je n'oublieray maun be sorry for his death." la pension du dit Bothwelhach." — ^ [The story of Crawfurd about Labanotf, iii. 354. Murray's treatment of Hamilton's 2 When, at Murray's death, it wife, although given in the original came to light that among other Danish edition of this work, has crown diamonds, which he had been omitted here with the author's presented to his wife, he had also consent. He is not, indeed, quite made over to the latter the famous satisfied that Burton {History of " Great Henry," which was a gift Scotland, v. 13) has completely to Mary Stuart from her father- made out its want of authenticity, in-law, Henry ii. of France, and He remarks that in the Acts of the which the Queen had bequeathed Parliament of Scotland, iii. 133 to the Scottish crown, as a remem- nothing is said of Hamilton's wife Mary's early character. 147 member here that Mary had for a long time accus- chap. tomed herself to look upon Murray in the same light in which he was also afterwards regarded by 1567. her son, King James, namely, as the chief cause of all her misfortunes.^ In order to form a just opinion of Scotland's Queen in the year 1567, we ought not to take into account what she may have become during years of imprisonment and sufferings, nor to judge of her character from a few outbursts of an exasperation which is more recent than the catastrophe by means of which it was called forth, but rather to consider what impression her previous character had left be- hind her. And the friends of her youth tell us that they had never found in her the harsh or cruel dis- position which opponents all at once ascribe to her ; in the eyes of her French friends she appeared only as "gentleness itself;"^ they fondly remembered how that, during her stay in France, she never had had pleasure or the heart to see others suffer, and how she had, upon her journey back to Scotland, expressly forbidden her uncle, the grand-prior, to let any of the crew be punished on the galley which carried her, as she could not bear to see it.^ If, and that the question is not, what length of time she survived, but whether she was not for some time really mad. — Translator.] ^ Of James vi. Camden writes in a letter of 22d November 1607 {Sylloge Scriptorum de Vita Thu- ani, Londini, 1733, fol. p. 9) to De Thou : " Rex taraen noster, Buchanano infensissimus, Moravi- um noxse maximse damn at, ut maternse calamitatis fontem et fundum, idque a secretorum eo sevo participibus edoctus, ut fertur." ^ Encore qu'elle fust la douceur mesme. — Brantome, Vies des Dames Illustres, in (Euvres du Seigneur de Brantome, i. 495. ^ Jamais en France elle ne fit cruaut^, mesme n'a pris plaisir, ny eu le coeur de voir defaire les pauvres criminels par justice, comme beaucoup de Grandes que j'ai connues, et alors qu'elle estoit dans sa galere ne voulut jamais permettre, que Ton battit le moins de monde un seul forQat, et en pria le Grand-Prieur son oncle et le comnianda tres-expressement au comit^, ayant une compassion ex- 148 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, after all, we are to look away from the proper means w-Y^ proof under dispute, or from what is stated re- 1567. specting these, we think, on the other hand, that a general regard to the other contemporary averments, by which the accusers have long ago exposed them- selves, must of necessity, on the whole, very soon weaken confidence in theio^ charges ; just as the altered behaviour which latterly many of those were led to adopt, who, after Darnley's removal, had begun to take part against the Queen, or at least had entertained the suspicion of her complicity in his murder, cannot easily be understood other- wise than as their acknowledged reversal of the testimony which they had formerly advanced, or, at any rate, had not openly rejected. The political party that accused Mary Stuart of complicity in the catastrophe which ended Darnley's days, is the same which has also accused her of having formerly wished to poison him. Accordingly when Darnley, after the baptism of his son at Stirhng, had repaired ±o his father in Glasgow, and had become violently sick, partisans sought afterwards to explain the bluish pustules which everywhere broke out on his body as the consequence of poison which was said to have been handed to him by Mary.^ Yet un- suspicious contemporaries, who wrote while Darnley was still alive, have left express testimony to the effect that it was the smallpox, which then raged in Glasgow, by which Darnley became so seriously treme le leur misere, et le coeur luy dolore, et omnium partium vexa- en faisoit mal. — Brantome, Vies de tione, ut exigua vitte spe duceret Dames Illustres, in CEuvres du spiritum, quum interim Regina ne Seigneur de Brantome, i. 146. medicum quidem euni adire sit ^ Cujus fraudis indices liuentes passa. — Buchanan, X>e Maj-m /Scoi- pustulse, quum Glascuam venisset, orum Begina, p. 13. toto corpore eruperunt, tanto cum THE FALSE CHARGES MADE AGAINST MARY. 149 affected.^ By contemporary incontestable historical testimony it has been transmitted to posterity how the young Mary Stuart took to heart the death of her first consort, Francis ii. ; from it we know how she day and night watched by his sick-bed, how her own health after his death was weakened by the exer- tion ; but yet opponents were by no means ashamed to spread the absurd report that she had already poisoned her first husband in France, that she next in Scotland took part in the murder of her second husband, and here finally she had also destined for the third, meaning Both well, the same fate.^ With however much solicitude both Scottish and English contemporary rulers, who specially wished to put a gulf between Mary and her son, willingly sought to cut ofi* every connection between them, they have yet not been able to deprive after ages of all evidence of the cordial sympathy with which the imprisoned mother in England clung to her " poor ^ The King is now at Glasgow Remarkable Occurrents, p. 105) ; with his father, and there lieth full and in another Diary it is said as of the smallpohes; to whom, the Queen to this about the same time : " King hath sent her physician. — The Earl Henrey wes layand seike in Glas- of Bedford's words in a letter to gow of the small poks, bot some Cecil, dated Berwick, 9th January sayed he had gottene poysone." — 1567, and cited in Chalmers, Life The Diarey of Robert Birrell, in of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 178. Fragments of Scottish History, p. My Lord Darnley lieth sick at 6. The above-cited account of Glasgow of the small pocks, which Bedford, that Mary had sent one disease beginneth to spread thene. of her physicians to Darnley, stands — Sir William Drury's letter to also in direct opposition to the Cecil, dated Berwick, 23d January accusation which makes any such 1567, cited in Chalmers, ii. 548, care to be denied him. and more completely communi- ^ Dr. Thomas Wilson's Account cated in Tytler, Hist, of Scot., of the year 1571 in Murdin, State vii. 364-365. The Diary of a Papers relating to affairs in the contemporary likewise mentions, reign of Queen Elizabeth, p. 57. on the 14th January 1567, Mary's Although Wilson as his authority consort as " the kingis grace, here even refers to the Bishop of hir husband, quha then was Ross then imprisoned in the Tower, lying seik in the Castell of Glas- yet such an appeal to one of Mary gow in the polkis" {Diurnal of Stuart's faithful friends, and de- 1567. 150 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, child" left behind in Scotland.-^ Yet not the less there came to be added to the other charges by 1568. which she was formerly persecuted by her antago- nists this also, that she was said likewise to have attempted the life of her child, an accusation which Mary herself has already met with these words which remind us of the reply of Marie Antoinette to the tribunal of the Revolution : "A mother s love to her child confutes them."^ Soon after there appears a change in the conduct of most of her antagonists. The year after the conferences fenders makes the charge certainly not the less absurd. ^ Among the gifts which Mary during her imprisonment in Eng- land frequently sent to her little son, left behind in his fatherland, but which, both on the Scottish and English side, found hinder- anccs in the way of reaching their destination, are mentioned small articles of dress, a pair of ponies, eight small cannons cased in vel- vet, and similar presents. One of her letters to him, which was stopped and taken from him, speaks thus : " Deir sone, I send ze this bearer to see zow and bring me word how ze do, and to remember zow that ze have in me a loving moder that wishes zow to learne in tyme to love, knaw, and feir God, and nixt that, conform to Goddis command and gud nature to re- member ye dowtie anent hir yat hes borne zow in her sydes. I send zow a bulk to learne the samyn, and I pray God zow may learne yat beginning, and that He vill give zow His blessing, as I do hartlie give zow myne, in hoip zow sail deserve it quhan zow come to discretion, quhilk I pray God to send zow with ane long and gud lyf, and to me a blyth sicht of zow as of my deir belovit sone. — Your loving and gud moder, Marie R." The letter, which is written from Tutberry, 22d January 1569, and addressed " To my deir sone, James Charles, Prince of Scotland," has, with several more after a copy in the British Museum, been com- nmnicated by L. Wiesener in his Marie Stuart et Jacques VI., cine lettres inedites de Marie Stuart, in Revue des Questioris Historiques (deuxieme ann^e, tome troisieme, Paris, 1867), pp. 459-97. 2 And as to that quhair thay alledge " that we sould have bene the occasioun to cause our sone fol- low his father haistelie," thay cover thameselfis thairanent with a weit sack ; and that calumnie sould suffice for pruif and inquisitioun of all the rest ; for the natural love of a mother towarclis hir bairn con- foundis thame. — Letter of Mary Stuart from Bolton Castle, 19th December 1568 ; Labanoff, ii. 258. At the accusation for also having wished to destroy her own son, Marie Antoinette at a later period burst forth (Poujoulat, Histoire de la Revolution Frangaise. Tours, 1848, ii. 81) : " Si je n'ai pas re- pondu c'est que la nature se refuse a une pareille accusation faite a une mere ; j'en appelle a toutes les meres." Mary's former accusers take her side. 151 in England saw William Maitland, laird of Lething- chap. ton, William Kirkaldy, laird of Grange, and others of ^Jf^ the Queen's former accusers take her side ; for after 1573. Kirkaldy had liberated Maitland from the prison in which he had been lodged by Murray, both the deliverer and the delivered set themselves for an obstinate defence of Edinburgh Castle ; with the brave garrison of which, or the so-called " Castilians," they held the fortress in Mary's name, until at length, on the 29th May 1573, they were compelled to yield to the Earl of Morton's besieging army, now rein- forced by English auxiHaries and English artillery. Vacillation was indeed generally characteristic of party men during Scotland's agitated Reformation time,^ and though in 'their heart these thought very little of the crime of regicide, yet that a wife should have brought about the death of her consort in the way in which the Queen had been charged could only awaken abhorrence in every age. The charge seems therefore to have been also rejected even by those who, like Kirkaldy and Maitland, ended their politi- cal life as open partisans of the Queen, and as victims to her cause. ^ The subsequent conduct of the English commissioners still more strongly tells ^ This fickleness of political char- selves to the English commander, acter has, in Maitland's case, been Sir William Drury, and sent Queen portrayed in the at that time Elizabeth a written petition to well-known personal satire " Cham- rescue them. She chose however seleon, written by Mr. George to hand them over to the Earl of Buchanan against the laird of Morton, but before the latter caused Lethington." — Georgii Buchanan! the chivalrous Kirkaldy, " the Opera omnia, curante Thoma Bud- second Wallace," to be hanged, dimanno (Edinburgi, 1715), fol. Maitland had ended his days, ac- ii. 13-18. cording to the supposition made by some, by taking poison, or as Sir ^ The lairds of Grange and Leth- James Melvil (Memoirs of Sir ington preferred, when Edinburgh Jamea Melvil, p. 122) expresses it, Castle could no longer be kept " after the old Roman fashion, as possession of, to surrender them- was said." 152 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, against the trustworthiness of the proofs of the Queen's alleged guilt with which they had been 1568. made acquainted. It has been remarked that the English commissioners, whose number was increased on the removal of the conferences to Westminster, could not, during the very cursory collation made of the letters which the Scots passed oif as written by Mary with those which Elizabeth furnished for comparison with them, find any difference in the handwriting, and it was in consideration of this that they so far met the secret wish of Eliza- beth, as, without in other respects then pronouncing for or against the guilt of the Scottish Queen, to find it not quite becoming for Mary to be granted admission to Elizabeth's presence so long as the dismal affair stood as it now did.^ But just as the Earl of Sussex, both a prudent and zealous partisan of Elizabeth, and also one of her commissioners at York, after there seeing the privately produced proofs which the Scots brought along with them, was not then so fully convinced as to be able to withhold the opinion that should the matter be taken up in a purely legal way, the Scottish Queen would, by such an examination of the evidences, have the advantage on her side,^ and as at least the Spanish ambassador in England was able after- wards during the conference in Westminster to state that some of the English statesmen who took part ^ Goodall, ii. 260. fall best out, as it is thought. — If her adverse party accuse her Letter from the Earl of Sussex to of the murder by producing of her Cecil, dated York, 22d October letters, she will deny them, and 1568 ; Lodge, Illustrations of accuse the most of them of manifest British History in the reigns of ■ consent to the murder, hardly to Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, be denied, so as upon the trial on Elizabeth, and James I. (London, both sides her proofs will judicially 1791), 4to, i. 458. THE DUKE OF NORFOLK PROPOSES TO MARY. 153 in this had complained of, and partly resisted, the ^Y^^- pressure which the English government sought to exercise to the ruin of the Scottish Queen,^ so only 1569-72. a short time elapsed ere Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, the foremost and most powerful of the English commissioners at York and Westminster, appeared as suitor for the hand of the imprisoned Mary Stuart, and this suitor is supported by several of the other English grandees, who along with him had had at Westminster the best opportunity for enabling them to form a judgment about the forth- coming proofs against the Scottish Queen. Certainly it may be said that the Duke of Norfolk by his pro- posed marriage, for which Elizabeth first sent him to the Tower and afterwards to the scaffold, allowed himself to be led away by ambition ; certainly the Catholic sympathies, animating the Earls of North- umberland and Westmoreland, contributed to the warmth with which these especially also embraced, to their own ruin, the design of the Protestant Nor- folk ; but none of them could yet have forgotten how they had recently seen Mary represented by the renegade Scots at the conference as a murderess of the worst description, and human nature must certainly have, during the last three hundred years, undergone an incredible change if the Duke of Nor- folk still continued to retain any confidence in that representation when he was seized with the desire of laying this woman's hand in his, or of placing her in the highest circles of the English aristocracy, 1 Dichos senores havian mostrado aldo de Espes to Philip ii. of 1st algun valor y contrastado un poco January 1569 ; Lingard, History la furia terribile con que el secre- of England (fifth edition, Piiris, tario Cecil queria perder aquella 1840), v. 162. senora. — Acccamt from Don Guer- 154 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ^HAP. and these at the same time approving of the idea, accepted from the beginning, that she should 1^^^- also become the recognised successor of Elizabeth. The most remarkable evidence of a change in the judgment regarding Mary is however one which more recent times have enabled us to procure ; it concerns Darnley s own mother. Lady Margaret Lennox had at last been able to see her son approach the splendour to which he seemed to her by his rela- tionship to be called both in England and Scotland ; she had lived to enjoy the happiness of being able to greet her son with the regal title. When this glory had come so abruptly to an end on Darnley's murder, Lady Lennox is found at first also among those who forthwith unhesitatingly condemned Mary as a murderess ; but a mother's strong feeling now drove her forward in an opposite direction. After Mary had fled to Engla.nd she wrote in her despair to Ehzabeth, asking her to take judicial proceedings against the fugitive,^ and in this she was backed up by those English statesmen who at once had wished to have Mary considered as a prisoner of war, in remembrance of the use which she had formerly allowed herself to make of the English coat of arms, and with reference to Darnley's having been born an Enghsh subject. The mother-in-law's dis- position could not long remain unknown, and some years passed ere Mary from her prison at Chats- ^ Darnlii enim mater, Comitissa Elizabetha, p. 138. In a painting Lenoxise, jam pridem lachrymis of Lady Lennox of the year 1565 oppleta, suo maritique nomine apud her hair is still fair ; in the paint- Elisabetham gravem instituerat ing in Hampton Court, in which querimoniam, utque in judicium she is represented in widow's dress, de filii cxde vocaretur, obsecrarat. she appears as an old lady with — Camdeni AnnaUs rerum Angli- snow-white hair. carum et 'Hibernicarum regnante Mary's letter to lady lennox. 155 worth thus wrote on the 16th July 1570 to her :— chap. " Madam, if the wronge and false reportes of ^ — ennemies, well knowen for traytors to you, and alas too muche trusted of me by your advise, had not so far sturred you against my innocency, (and I must saie against all kindnes,) that you have not onelie, as it were, condemned me wrongfullie, but so hated, as your woordes and deedes hath testefied to all the worlde a manifest misliking in you against your owne blood, I would not have obmitted thus long my duehe in writing to you, excusing me of those untrew reportes made of me ; but hoping, with Goddes grace a-nd tyme, to have my innocencie knowen to you, as I trust it is alreadie to the most part of all indifferent persons, I thought best not to trouble you for a tyme'."^ When Lady Lennox received the letter from which these words are taken she sent it to her husband, who had by this time, in consequence of the death of Murray, become Regent of Scotland, and in a confidential reply which the Earl of Lennox on this occasion wrote his wife, he declared that he was assured of Mary s guilt not only by his " own knowledge, but by her handwrit, the confessions of men gone to the death, and other infallible experience."^ The Earl, who assuredly knew Mary's handwriting, refers here also to the disputed documents contained in the silver casket. He con- tinues thus : "It will be a long time, which will be necessary to bring so notorious an aifair into forget- fulness, to make black white, or to show innocency where the opposite is so well known. The most 1 The letter, which is addressed ^ Letter of the Earl of Lennox. "To my Ladie Lennox, my mother- — Robertson, History of Scotlandy in-lawe," is found in Labanolf, iii. ii. 348. 77-78. 156 JAMES HEPBUKN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, impartial persons upon whom I rely doubt not about v^^^J^/ the justice of your and my cause and about the 1577-8. righteous occasion of your displeasure. Her right obligation towards you and me, as the parties in- terested therein, would be a true confession and her sincere repentance for that dolorous deed, as offensive for her to speak of as it is sorrowful for us to think upon. God is just, and will not in length of time let himself be deceived ; but as he has revealed the truth, so will he punish the wrong." After the Earl of Lennox meanwhile had during the continued party strife been slain like Murray, and was suc- ceeded by the Earl of Morton as Regent in Scot- land, we find Mary, in one of her letters' from Sheffield to her ambassador in Paris, the Arch- bishop of Glasgow, expressing her joy at the good understanding which had now arisen between her and the widow of Lennox : "I praise God," writes the Queen, " that she now day by day comprehends still more the falseness and the evil designs of those who formerly made use of her name against myself."^ We meet still more decidedly with the same assur- ance of. her mother-in-law's acknowledgment of her "innocence," in a later letter from the imprisoned Queen, when Lady Lennox was dead, dated Sheffield, 2d May 1578, and likewise addressed to James Beaton in Paris : " Lady Countess Lennox, my mother-in-law," so it is said in this letter, " is dead a month ago. This good lady had, God be praised ! given me good amends, since we have for five out of six years been in correspondence, and has by letters 1 Je loue Dieu qu'elle congnosse contre nioy mesmes. — Letter of de jour en jour I'mfidellite et per- Mary Stuart of 5th November verse intention de ceulx qui se sont 1577 ; Labanoff, iv. 398. aultres-foys aydes de son nom LADY LENNOX RECONCILED TO MARY. 157 written with her own hand, which I preserve, chap. avowed to me the wrong which she had done me by ^^J^ her unrighteous prosecutions, set on foot as she has 1583. let me understand with her consent, because she had been badly informed."^ With this letter entirely agree some words in a report furnished to Elizabeth the 16th April 1583 by the Earl of Shrewsbury and Robert Beal, the clerk of the Privy Council, who had, in the name of the English Queen, been sent to Mary in her prison. Among other expressions of hers they mention also this : " Not the less doubt I not that my innocence is already well known to all the princes of Christendom. Also I am confident that many others, who at first thought hardly of me, have now been satisfied, as, for example, my mother-in-law before her death, whereof I have letters and tokens." At these words she pointed to a little diamond ring on her finger as showing^ that Lady Lennox had acknowledged that she had been deceived, and that Mary was guiltless of her husband's death. Mary's letter to the Archbishop of Glasgow, which has already been long known, and her expressions to Shrewsbury and Beal, which later times first brought to light, have been as a mere self- written testimony pronounced unworthy of credit by those authors who are in general most disposed to see in her only the lying deceiver.^ But in the most recent times a proof has come to light which, at least in this respect, justifies the ^ Et m'a avou6 par lettres ecrites ^ « qj^q declaring." — The Ae- de sa main, que je garde, le tort count of Shrewsbury and Beal to qu'elle m'avoit fait en ses injustes Elizabeth. — Raumer, Die Kbnig- poursuites, dressees, comme elle me innen Elisabeth und Maria, p. I'a fait entendre, par son consente- 332, ment, pour avoir dt6 mal informee. ^ By Laing, Historij of Scotland, — LabanofF, v. 31. ii. 176, and by Raumer, 335. 158 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Queen. It is a letter from the Countess of Lennox III. w.^-^ Mary, found among the English State papers. 1575. It is written from Hackney, 6th November 1575. The letter dwells upon their common solicitude for " our sweet and peerless jewel in Scotland/' Darn- ley's and Mary's son, the little King James vi., and on their common care lest " the wicked governor (the Earl of Morton) should have power to do ill to his person ;" it expresses the warmest sympathy for the Queen, and is subscribed, " Your Majesty's most humble and loving mother and aunt, Margaret Lennox." I beseech your Majesty," thus writes Darnley's mother, " fear not, but trust in God that all shall be well ; the treachery of your traitors is known better than before."^ It is the mother of the murdered one who thus writes. ^ Letter of Margaret Lennox to reprinted by Teulet, pp. 246-48. Mary Stuart in Agnes Strickland's Miss Strickland found it among Lives of the Queens of Scotland Cecil's papers ; forgotten or over- (London, 1852-59), v. 374. Miss looked among these, this justifica- Strickland has for the first time tion now comes forward from the communicated this remarkable same side from which the crudest letter and accompanied it with a persecution of Mary Stuart for- facsimile ; later it has again been merly proceeded. CHAPTER IV. Different from the question about Mary's share chap. in the murder of Darnley, although often mixed up v^I^— with it, is the question whether she had before 1567. the death of Darnley thrown herself into the arms of Bothwell. As positive testimonies on this point, there meet us again in the first rank those much controverted documents formerly mentioned. The declaration of Paris has been readily referred to as an evidence of an unusual intimacy which had even before the death of Darnley sprung up between the Queen and Bothwell,^ and in one of the sonnets ascribed to Mary she herself bluntly says : " Pour lui aussi ie jett6 mainte larme, Premier qu'il se fust de ce corps possesseur, ^ Item interroge des premier es Monsieur de Boduel durant le pryveaut6 qu'il a connu estre entre temps que le Roy gysoit a Kirk-of- la Royne et Monsieur de Boduel ? Field ? Respond, que Monsieur Respond que c'estoit alors que de Boduel lui avoit diet que, toutes ledit Sieur de Boduel conduysoit les nuyts, Jehan Hepburn feroit la Royne vers Glasgow, quand elle le guet soubs les galleries a Saincte- alloit qu^rir le Roy. A Calandar Croix, ce pendant que Lady Reires apres souper assez tard, Lady Rey- yroyt bien tard le quMr pour res vint a la chambre de Monsieur I'amener a la chambre de la Royne ; de Boduel, et voyt ledict Paris la lui deffendant, assavoir a Paris, et demande : " Que faict ce Paris sur la vie, de dire que sa femme ici " C'est tout un, ce dit-il ; estoyt avecques luy. — The Exami- Paris ne dyra chose que je luy nation of Paris, the 10th August deffende de dire." Et la-dessus 1569; ItMng, History of Scotland^ elle I'am^ne a la chambre de la ii. 284-288, and in Teulet, Lettres, Royne. — Interroge, s'il scavait au- pp. 97-103. cune privaut^ entre la Royne et 160 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHAVELL. Duquel alors il n'avait pas le coeur ; Puis me donna un autre dur alarme, Quand il versa de son sang mainte dragme, Dont de grief me vint lesser douleur Qui m'en pensa oster la vie, et frayeur De perdre, las ! le seul rempar qui m'arme. Pour luy depuis j'ay mesprise I'honneur, Ce qui nous peult seul pourvoir de bonbeur ; Pour luy j'ay bazard^ grandeur et conscience ; Pour luy tous mes parentz j'ay quit6 et amis ; Et tous autres respetz sont apart mis ; Brief de vous seul je cbercbe Talliance."^ While on the side of the defenders of Mary the first three of these famous hnes have been thus explained, that the forgers have here from want of attention been led themselves to disclose an historical fact, namely, that the Queen's affection for Both well first was shown after he had carried her off by force to Dunbar Castle,^ and that the two following lines must be understood of some hidden fact or other which has not become known to us ; on the side of her assailants it is stated, on the contrary, as an unquestionable assertion that by the lines in question there can only be intended the manner in which Bothwell had, on the 8th October 1566, been wounded by John Elliot in front of Hermitage Castle, and the violent fever of the Queen consequent on her visit to him, and her return on horseback to Jedburgh, and that we thus have the sonnets attributed to her, a confession from herself that she had even before that event, long ere Darnley's death, entirely given herself up to Bothwell. When and how this had really come to pass, that 1 Tbe Sonnets; Laing, History ^ Mary Queen of Scots vindicated, of Scotland, ii. 230, and Teulet, by Jobn'Wbitaker (London, 1790), p. 73. iii. 78, 83-105. CHAP. 1566-7. Buchanan's standpoint. 161 author undertook to tell the world whom Mary's chap. • IV contemporaries, both countrymen and foreigners, w^-^ willingly recognised as the most gifted in Scotland. 1 506-20. George Buchanan wrote his interpretation of the letters and sonnets ascribed to Mary Stuart, and his description received such an impress of his energetic and bright genius that, after the lapse of three centuries, it still retains its influence. Buchanan's famous pamphlet is still the foundation for the common representation of the relations of Mary to Bothwell, whether it be made use of at first hand or not. In order to form a general estimate of the value of this work, the standpoint must not be left out of consideration on which its author was then placed. Born in the year 1506 at a farm-house, in the parish of Killearn, in the county of Stirhng, where the vernacular language at that time may be assumed to have been Gaelic, of an ancient race, but of poor parents, he was sent, when still a youth, by a maternal uncle, who had early noticed his great talents, to the University of Paris in the year 1520. His uncle's death and his own poverty compelled him after two years to give up his studies there, and he then enlisted among French auxiliaries who, at that period, were sent over for service in Scotland against the English ; but a night march through deep snow speedily threw him upon a bed of protracted sickness, and sent him back again to his books. He then became at the University of St. Andrews one of the students of John Major, the same who, in applying the doctrine maintained by the councils of the fifteenth century that the Pope indeed received his power from God, but in case of need could be L 162 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, deprived of it by the Church, in the sixteenth taught that kings hkewise certainly possessed a power trans- 1534. mitted from father to son, but that equally in the secular sphere the fundamental authority lay with the community, so that a ruler injurious to the people, who showed himself incorrigible, could be deposed by them. Following Major to Paris, Bu- chanan became for some time professor in the College of Saint-Barbe, until the affection shown him by a young Scottish nobleman, the Earl of Cassihs, Gilbert Kennedy, induced him to accom- pany the Earl for five years as tutor ; and this position, when the Earl had come of age, after their return to Scotland in the year 1534, again procured him a similar appointment — James v. having chosen him as tutor for one of his sons.^ By this time Buchanan's inclination toward Protestant ideas manifested itself in the poem which he pub- lished against the Franciscans, entitled Somnium, in which he represents St. Francis as appearing to him in a dream, and requiring him to enter his Order, against which step Buchanan then adduces his reasons. James v. , who was at that time displeased with the Franciscans, encouraged him to proceed further against them, and accordingly Buchanan next wrote the poem Franciscamis, one of the most biting satires which any language contains, and consequently found himself assailed, not merely 1 For James Stuart, whose named James Stuart, but whose mother was Elizabeth Shaw of the mother was Margaret Erskine, Sauchie family. This son, who latterly married to Sir Robert died in the year 1548, has often Douglas of Lochleven. — David been confounded with the most Irving, Memoirs of the Life and celebrated of the natural sons of Writings of George Buchanan James v., the afterwards so famous (Edinburgh, 1817), p. 17. Earl of Murray, who was also BUCHANAN CHARGED WITH HERESY. 163 by the monks, but by the whole Church. The chap. charge of heresy, specially pressed by Cardinal w.^-^ David Beaton, and his abandonment by James v., i539. caused him in the year 1539 to be cast into prison. Many of the Scots, who were at the same period like him committed to prison for Lutheranism, were burnt at the stake, and others were obliged publicly to recant their heresies, but Buchanan suc- ceeded in escaping, and by way of England again reached Paris. ^ But as he here once more met his deadly foe Cardinal Beaton, who was Scottish Ambassador in France, he found it advisable to pass right on to Bordeaux. There for three years he acted as teacher in the College of Guyenne, which was under the charge of the learned Portu- guese Andreas Govea. In accordance with its rules, which required that there should be every • year new dramatic performances, he penned two specimens of his poetic genius (Latin tragedies), and translated two of the Greek plays of Euripides. Here also he took occasion, in the name of his college, to celebrate the passage through the city of the Emperor Charles v., in a poem which the latter graciously accepted at Bordeaux on the 1st Decem- ber 1539. To this city also he was, however, pursued by the malignity of Cardinal Beaton, the Cardinal having written to the Archbishop of Bordeaux that Buchanan was a heretic who had fled from a just punishment in his native country ; but the intervention of French friends was able to stop the persecution here. It was the plague which in the year 1543 first drove him from Bordeaux, ^ In his fuit Georgius Buchan- cubiculi fenestram evaserat. — anus, qui sopitis custodibus per Bucbauani, Ber. Scot. Hist. p. 167. 164 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, and thus it came about that the celebrated Mon- V taigne is able to tell in his Essays how in his 1547-51. youth, on his family estate, he had had Buchanan for one of his instructors. Buchanan s friend and well-wisher, Andreas Govea, was some years after- wards recalled to his native land for the purpose of undertaking the direction of the newly-instituted University in Coimbra. Hither, in the year 1547, Buchanan followed, at the siunmons of Govea that he should not only come himself, but also bring with him from France a colony of teachers to Portugal, which, at a tune when almost the whole of Europe besides was, or was about to be, involved in external or internal war, Buchanan considered (as he has himself said) the corner of the world where it was most hkely that he would be able to find rest. . But after a brief season of good fortune, persecution by the Church woke up anew on the death of his protector in the year 1548, there being now added to the old complaints about his poem Franciscanus new ones for his violation of Lent, and his utter- ances in favour of the doctrines of the Beformers. When Buchanan for two years and a half had had the Portuguese inquisitors for his tormentors, he was shut up in a monastery in order the better to be taught the principles of the Romish Church ; and it was here that he began his famous Latin transla- tion of the Psalms. On being set at liberty John III. sought still to retain him in his service ; but, without waiting for permission, Buchanan seized the opportunity of getting away offered him by the arrival at Lisbon of a Candiote ship bound for England. From England he again went imme- diately to France, where some time afterwards Buchanan's attack on mary. 165 Marshal Brissac, commanding a French army m chap. Piedmont, engaged him as tutor for his son. After w^-^ having passed a series of years in this situation, now 1560-71. in Italy and now in France, and having among other things written a poem on the occasion of Mary Stuart's nuptials with the Dauphin, Buchanan at length returned to his native country in the year 1560 just as Catholicism there was virtually overthrown. As Murray had become the head of the Government, he made Buchanan, who henceforward appeared as his most devoted adherent, Bector of St. Leonard's College in the University of St. Andrews. Later he was, though a layman, appointed Moderator of the General Assembly in the year 1567, and in the fol- lowing year Murray, after Mary's flight to Ehzabeth, sent him to England as one of the Scots designated to attend the Conferences at York and Westminster, an opportunity of which he then availed himself to dedicate some verses to Elizabeth. This was George Buchanan's position, and thus had he been prepared for the anonymous publication against Scotland's Queen which, after Murray's death, issued from his pen at the close of the year 1571, and was printed in London and addressed to Ehzabeth — the first and most dangerous of all the writings that have attacked the name of Mary Stuart.-^ In this work Buchanan relates how the Queen, being delivered of a son in the castle of Edinburgh, in June 1566, afterwards made her escape by the river Forth from Edinburgh to Alloa, the residence ^ De Maria Scotorum Regina, et rabie, horrendo insuper et de- totaque ejus contra Regeni conjura- terrimo ejusdem parricidio : plena tione, fcedo cum Bothuellio adul- et tragica plane historia, Londini, terio, nefaria in maritum crudelitate 1571, 8vo. 166 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, of the Earl of Mar, and on her return in September ^ some days take up her abode in Holy- loGG. rood Palace, but instead, according to the frequent custom of the Scottish monarchs,^ first stayed in a private dwelling, and afterwards in the so-called Exchequer House " in Edinburgh, while Both well resided in the vicinity with his adherent David Chalmers of Ormond, also well known as an author. Not without a certain amount of ready sarcasm, which does not exactly suit well with the " tragic " character of his history, but in an eloquent style, ^nd in the flowing Latin in which that period sought to vie with antiquity, Buchanan sets forth circumstantially enough how Bothwell is said to have surprised the Queen by night, but how the violence of which Buchanan says she afterwards complained must in reality only pass as feigned, because she herself, without necessity, some nights afterwards suddenly caused Bothwell to be sum- moned to her, employing as her messenger Lady Beres, one of her Court ladies, who is here desig- nated as a former mistress of Bothwell^ On the ground of this representation, Buchanan then finds only too explicable the interest which in the fol-. lowing month took the Queen from Jedburgh to visit the wounded Earl, and thus, according to him, the relations between the Queen and Bothwell were before that time plainly enough settled. ^ Thus when Mary Stuart, after {Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 94.) having fled from Holyrood on the Some days afterwards she removed occasion of the murder of Eiccio, to a house on the eminence to- had returned victorious to Edin- wards the castle, where her mother bnrgh, she would not immediately the Queen Regent had formerly take up her abode in the Palace, dwelt [on the site now occupied but resided at first in " my Lord by the Free Church College]. Home's lodging, callit the auld bishope of DunkelJ, his lodging." ^ Note F, Appendix. Mary's indignation against buchanan. 167 With a hberty which only the Latin muse permits, chap. he represents her as one who, long before the death ^^^^^ of Darnley, was wont openly to rest in Bothwell's i^^^- arms, and who also, after her husband's death, had, without shame, already clung to Bothwell ere he carried her away to Dunbar. In its form the work reminds us of the most celebrated Philippics of classic antiquity, in which one single Hght colour, one single softening in the picture would have been contrary to the rules of rhetoric, and the accusation rises gradually to a climax. The attack of Buchanan on Mary Stuart called forth on her part the deepest indignation. Nor even yet can one easily free himself from an un- favourable impression when he turns over the leaves of one of the volumes in which Buchanan's collected writings were published after his death, when in one part of this volume he finds Buchanan's hateful attack on the Queen, and in another his beautiful verses in celebration of " Caledonia's Nymph,"-^ or turns over the leaves in the other poems in which his muse at an earher period, on more than one occasion, had presented incense to her. Mary who, since her sojourn in France, was wont to spend a fixed part of the day in reading,^ had been, after her return to Scotland, instructed by Buchanan in Latin, in which she had already as a child made great progress. In Scotland, when in her twentieth year, she read every afternoon a ^ In the dedication to Mary of ^ Tant qu'elle a est6 en France, his translation of the Psalms : — elle se reservoit tousjours deux "Nympha, Caledoniae quse nunc feliciter heures du jour pOUr estudier et orae lire. — Brantome, Vies des Dames Missa per innumeros sceptra tueris avos ; rn^ „4.^„,. n?^...n.„^ cr • QusB sortemantevenismeritis.virtutibus lUustres, m (Euvres du Seigneur annos, de Brant ome, i. 125. Sexum animis, niorum nol)ilitate genus." 168 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, portion of Livy with him/ Nor had she withheld her assistance from him ; for though it is not indeed 1564. certain that Buchanan is, in so many words, said to have been indebted to Mary for protection from the dangers which had threatened him while in France, yet it is undoubted that in the year 1564 she rewarded his Hterary and poetical services by granting him the revenues of the Abbey of Cross - raguel on the death of Quintin Kennedy.^ No wonder then that Mary Stuart, at a later period, described Buchanan's attack as an abominable pro- ceeding. After the publication of his shameless production, she saw in him only a " lewd and atheistical man,"^ and during her imprisonment in England regarded it as the bitterest injury that the Scottish government resolved to select this man for instructor to her son.* When James vi. reached his majority, he also owned himself to be actually of his mother's opinion against Buch- anan ; for though he had the latter not the least to thank, as his teacher, for his learning and the inclination to study, which even in his eighteenth year made him an author, and afterwards led him to publish so great a series of writings, yet the young King caused the Scottish Parlia- ^ The Queen readeth daily after book of Buchanan, " that lewd her dinner, instructed by a learned and atheistical man." — Account of man, Mr. George Buchanan, some- Shrewsbury and Beal to Elizabeth, what of Livy. — Randolph's Letter of 16th April 1583, Raumer's Die to Cecil, dated 7th April 1562 ; Koniginnen Elisabeth imd Maria Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Stuart, p. 332. Series, 1561-1562, p. 584. * In a letter from Sheffield of 2 David Irving's Lives of Scot- 4th March 1571, she beseeches the tish Writers, Edinburgh, 1851, i. French Ambassador in London, la 80. Motte Fenelon, to get Elizabeth to 3 She said that the worst that exert her influence that her son was possible had already been done might obtain another teacher in against her, namely, that one had the room of Buchanan. — Labanoff, in London and France printed the iii. 201. Buchanan's works condemned. 169 ment, in the year 1584, in an Act against de- ^hap. faming the King or his ancestors, also to issue a condemnation of the most important of Buchanan's 1^84. works, dedicated to the young King himself, namely, his famous, almost republican, dialogue De jure Regni apud Scotos, first printed in Edinburgh in the year 1579, and his great History of Scotland, first printed in Edinburgh in the year 1582, shortly before the author s death. Before Buchanan, in the eighty- seventh year of his age, ended his days (on the 28th September 1582), his royal scholar repeatedly re- quired him to recall what he had, in the seventeenth and eighteenth books of his History, again so posi- tively reiterated about the King's mother, and to leave to posterity an evidence of his regret ; but Bu- chanan declined to obey this order, and on the con- trary left it to the King so to deal with his writings after his death as the King might think proper. The mother's resentment and the son's dis- pleasure have been alike unable to paralyse the effect of Buchanan's attack. Even more recent authors, as the elder Robertson, Malcolm Laing, and Mignet, have not feared to appeal to Buchanan as a valid witness where there was a question about Mary's relations to Bothwell. But we may well ask — Has he a real title to be so regarded ? Can a really unbiassed critic find in his attack a reliable historical representation 1 A contemporary of Buchanan has already remarked that, especially in his older days, he had become too prone to allow himself to be led by his associates, so that, without taking heed, he wrote according to what these said to him ; that he willingly followed the current of public opinion, and was by no means 170 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, free from an inclination to persecute those against ^^-.^ whom he had become prejudiced.^ Because he thus made himself an echo of what his associates accepted or mentioned as notorious, we need not perhaps pronounce him destitute of good faith ; the change in the mood in which Buchanan at the beginning had bowed himself before the splendour that sur- rounded Mary's first appearance, may possibly in part have resulted from the feudal feeling which bound him to the family of Lennox, just as it had attracted Knox with a special interest to Bothwell, partly from the affection which led Buchanan, in one of his poems, to address a Prince hke Darnley as " optime r6x,"^ and which certainly also caused him, more than many others, to be shocked, and to feel resentment at the tidings of Darnley's murder ; but the exaggerations and distortions which filled the whole atmosphere which Buchanan breathed cannot by that means be made sure historical evi- dence. His attack on Mary Stuart can only be considered, and must necessarily be judged, as a party production. At the time Buchanan accom- panied Murray to the Conference in England, the Scots, having brought from Scotland the letters ascribed to Mary, drew up a general view of her previous conduct in Scotland as a means, of guid- ance to the English Commissioners for their understanding of the letters. This partial charge Buchanan made the foundation of his rhetorical 1 He was also religious, but was the vulirar opinion ; for he was easily abused, and so facile, that he naturally popular, and extremely was led by every company that he revengeful against any man who haunted, which made him factious had offended him, which was his in his old days, for he spoke and greatest fault. — The Memoirs of wrote as those who were about him Sir James Mehil, p. 125. informed him ; for he was become ^ Geori^ii Buchanan! Poeniata careless, following in many things quce extant, p. 392. FOUNDATION OF BUCHANAN's ATTACK. 171 declamation ; and as he followed it so far as it chap. ascribed to Mary a guilty hand in Darnley's murder, w^!^ so did he also in his representation of the love-rela- i57i. tions to Bothwell ascribed to her. In some places he has rendered the language in that accusation almost verbatim, in others he has either abridged or expanded it. The last remark holds good of the manner in which Buchanan's pamphlet represents the origin of the Queen's dealing with Bothwell through Lady Beres, Mary's messenger to him. Admitting that suspicion might thus have been easily awakened, as there at least occurs in the declaration which was made by Darnley's valet, Thomas Nelson, when examined after his master's death — an expres- sion to the effect that the Queen, when at Darnley's last place of residence, was usually pleased of an evening with Lady Beres to go down into the garden to sing and make sport ; ^ might it not be some natural frolicsomeness of the youthful Queen similar to that which she had shown on an earlier occasion, which was also misconstrued by her asso- ciates as a criminal errand ? The authorities to which Buchanan here refers cannot, at all events, awaken confidence. He has, indeed, added that the Queen herself is said to have spoken before different persons of her misconduct as having occurred in the manner stated by him ; but of these persons he has, however, expressly adduced only two, and these two in any accusation against Mary are not entitled to confidence, since they are no other than Murray himself and his mother, Margaret Erskine, sister of the Earl of Mar, one of the mis- ^ For upon the nyt sche usit with pastyme. — The Declaration of the lady Rereis to ga furth to the Thomas Nelson.— Laing, History garding and ther to sing and use of Scotland, ii. 267. 172 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, tresses of James v. before he married Mary of IV • _^_/ Guise. She had never forgiven Mary for being 1566-7. the legitimate child of James v., and even after her marriage to Sir Robert Douglas of Loch- leven had been, when Buchanan wrote, the Queen s jailor on her son Murray's behalf^ It might seem to have greater weight that Buchanan appeals in support of his narrative to a corresponding declara- tion made by George Dalgleish, Bothwell's valet, as confession which is preserved in the Acts but here also, the suspicious circumstance meets us, that neither in the examination of Dalgleish, which was held on the 26th June 1567, nor in the confes- sion which he made immediately before his execu- tion on the 3d January 1568, as we have them now before us,^ is there the least ground for such a charge against the Queen as that so trenchantly set forth by Buchanan. The untrustworthiness, however, of the accusations, which Buchanan has taken upon him to pen, shows itself most conspicu- ously in that part of his pamphlet where he relates how the Queen in the autumn of 1566 visited the sorely wounded Bothwell. After telling how Both- well had been wounded by Elliot, and how his life was in imminent danger in Hermitage Castle, the description of the visit is thus introduced : — " When 1 [There seems a slight inaccur- Erskine could not therefore have acy here. It was Sir William, the been the " Queen's jailor," although eldest sou of Sir Robert Douglas, there is reason to believe that she to whose custody Mary was com- was still alive and residing in the mitted on Lochleven in 1567. He neighbourhood of Lochleven while was served heir to his father in Mary was a prisoner in its castle. 1555. He married Agnes Lesley, See Nat 3ISS. FieL — Translator.] daughter of the Earl of Eothes, ^ Examination of Dalgleish, and and in 1588 became sixth Earl of Dalgleish's Confession. — Laing, Morton. — Robert Douglas, The History of Scotland, ii. 249-251, Peerage of Scotland. Margaret and 264, 265. THE queen's journey TO HERMITAGE. 173 this was announced to the Queen at Borthwick she chap. flew like one mad, in spite of the severe winter, in v long daily journeys first to Melrose and then to Jed- i^ee. burgh ; and, although certain tidings were got here that Bothwell's life was not in danger, yet she could by no means persuade herself to stop." ^ Now every one who reads this description must have the idea, if he knew no better, that the Queen had hurried at full gallop from Borthwick to Hermitage Castle. Yet it is demonstrable that Bothwell's fight with Elliot took place on the 7th October 1566, the Queen s arrival at Jedburgh on the 8 th, and that it was only after being detained here a week by judi- cial business that on the 16th she rode over to the neighbouring Hermitage. So the Queen's journey did not take place in midwinter, as Buchanan's readers must believe, but in the middle of October, which in the south of Scotland it is as unreasonable to reo-ard as real winter, as it was for Buchanan to take great offence at the Queen's retinue,^ in which were to be then seen " the Earl of Murray and other Lords." ^ The very grave and most disingenuous neglect of the chronological order to which the sojourn at Jedburgh has led Buchanan, however, still remains to be noticed. After telling how the Earl of Both well, when he began to recover, was brought over to Jedburgh, Buchanan makes the Queen give 1 Id ubi Borthuicum ad Regi- paulo honestior, suam vitam aut nam delatum est magnis itineribus, fortunam committere auderet. — aspera jam tunc hyeme primum Ihid. p. 9. Melrosiam, inde Jedburgum, velut insana, pervolat. Eo etsi certi ^ Pour ceste occasion elle y alia de ejus rumores perferebantur, en diligence, accompagne du Conte tamen impatiens morae animus, de Murray et autres seigneurs, sibi temperare non poterat. — Be — Compend of a contemporary Maria Scotorum Begina, p. 8. French historical sketch in Tytler's 2 Cum eo comitatu, cui nemo. History of Scotland, vii. 48. 174 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, such loose reins to her passion for Bothwell that he , leaves us to judge whether this licentiousness may 1566. not, with great probability, be considered as the real cause of the long hopeless illness which at that time brought her near death. ^ For not to dwell on the little likelihood that a man dangerously wounded, and but newly risen from a bed of severe sickness, should immediately be made the object of such a passion, it cannot be assumed that Bothwell arrived at Jedburgh before the 21st October,^ while, on the other hand, it is absolutely certain that the Queen's violent illness began immediately after her hurried ride on the 16th had brought her back from Hermi- tage Castle. A letter to the Scottish ambassador in Paris, the Archbishop of Glasgow, written on Wednesday morning the 23d, by the members of the Scottish Privy Council at Jedburgh, communi- cates the critical news, that her Majesty had been sick for the last six days ; ^ and another letter to the same ambassador, written at Jedburgh by John Lesley, Bishop of Boss, and dated Saturday and Sunday morning the 26th and 27th, fully agrees with the foregoing, in so far as it states that, with a ^ Eoque, illuc transducto, eonun ^ That ze be not ignorant of the conuictiis et consuetudo, paruni ex trewth, quhilk is, that hir Majestie utriusque, dignitate fuit. Ibi, hes been sick thir sex dayis by- siue ob nocturnos diurnosque past." Among the signatures to labores, ipsis parum decoros, this letter from Jedburgh of 23d vulgo infames, sive occulta aliqua October 1566 (Keith, History of Numinis prouidentia, Regina, in Church and State in Scotland, p. morbuni adeo sa^uum et exitia- 352), Bothwell's is still not bilem incidit, vt nulla prope spes found. On the other hand, he de ejus vita cuiquam superesset. — took part with the rest of the JJe Maria Scotorum Regina, p. 9. Council in the issue of a procla- 2 The Earl of Bothwell came to mation, which is dated Jedburgh, Jedburgh the 21st instant in a 25th October 1566 (Keith, p. 352), horse litter.— Letter of Sir John and this accords with the fact that Forster to Cecil, dated Berwick, in Lesley's letter of 27th October October 1566. — Calendar of State he is spoken of as newly arrived Papers, For. Series, 1566-8, p. 141. at Jedburgh. Buchanan's statements not correct. 175 heavy perspiration, an improvement in the Queen's chap. condition took place on Friday the 25 th, which w.^— ^ was considered a favourable turn of the sickness 15^6. because it was on the ninth day.^ Thus both these letters in the most decisive manner trace back the beginning of Mary's sickness directly to the first day of her home-coming from Hermitage. On one point of time Buchanan, in his bitter charges, even comes into collision with himself According to his pamphlet it was when the baptism of James vi. took place at Stirling that the illicit behaviour of the Queen and Both well became so shameless, that it seemed as if they aimed at revealing it to all.^ But we may now ask, where then was Buchanan himself at this period ? The answer must be that he himself was present at the baptismal ceremony in Stirling, and that he also there contributed to the festivities of the joyous occasion. On this occasion there was seen in the Castle Hall, ere the day ended with a display of fireworks from an artificial fort, one of those grand masked pageants, which the festivals of that period seldom wanted, this time consisting of a procession, — satyrs, naiads, mountain nymphs, and the like ; each group having some stanzas to recite at the throne, and these Latin stanzas, of which again some, celebrating the Queen as a paragon of virtue, were composed by no other than — Buchanan,^by the same Buchanan, whose ^ Quhilk was halden the releif tory of Church and State in of the seykness, because it was on Scotland, Appendix, p. 134. the nynth day, quhilk commonlie ^ Ad consuetam redierunt pal is callet the creisis of the seykness. a^stram : idque adeo aperte, ut — Lesley's letter to the Archbishop nihil magis timere viderentur, of Glasgow, dated Jedburgh, " this quam ne ignota esset sua nequitia. Sunday the 26 day of October, — De Maria Scot. Beg., p. 10. 1 ait at even," and " at morning, the ^ Pompae Deorum Rusticorum 27 October 1568."— Keith, His- dona ferentium Jacobo vi. et Marise JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. pamphlet, speaking of the same period, only seeks to excite belief in the flagrant unchastity of the Queen at the period mentioned.^ Still more mani- fest, according to what the pamphlet adds, should that amour have also become, after one saw on the occasion of the festival at Stirling the care the Queen took for Bothwell's splendid appearance, as if she had been — these are Buchanan's words — " I will not even say his wife, but his handmaid." Buchanan s representation has here a certain amount of truth, but, as usual in his pamphlet, it does not set this in the correct light. For it is certainly the case, as Buchanan's pamphlet represents, that the splendid dress in which Bothwell appeared on the holiday in question was the gift of the Queen; but Buchanan either conceals, or has been ignorant of the fact that the Queen had presented exactly similar gifts to her other nobles. It is a fortunate circumstance that among Mary Stuart's Inventories which recent times have brought to light, are two giving information of the large collection of silk- stuffs and other materials for wearing apparel which she had brought with her from France, or had acquired in Scotland, and the remarks subjoined by Servais de Conde, one of her French servants, whom matri ejus, Scotorum Regibus, in coena quae Regis baptisma est consecuta ; Georgii Buchanani Poemata quce extant, p. 402. The Queen is here greeted thus : — " Virtute, ingenio, Regina, et mimere form 86 Felicibus felicior maioribus ; Conjugii fructu sed felicissima, cujus Legati honorant exteri cunabula." ^ One of the Queen's earliest defenders, and not the least, has already called attention to this contradiction on the part of Bu- chanan. — Thomas Innes, in his Critical Essay on the Ancient In- habitants of Scotland, London, 1729, i. 348-352. 2 Hie vt Bothuelius inter Pro- ceres conspicuus esset, partim el ad vestimenta coemenda pecuniam erogabat, partim mercatoribus emebat : omnibusque conficiundis tanta diligentia prseerat, quasi non dico vxor, sed ne ancilla quidem foret.— De Mar. Scot. Beg., p. 12. THE FESTIVAL AT STIRLING. she made " keeper " in Holyrood, and on whom devolved the superintendence of its inventory, not only show in general how wiUingly she would have distributed from her stores right and left, but ex- pressly state how Servais de Conde, while giving the silver-edged stuff to Both well, was required to give similar silver or gold-edged stuff to the Earl of Huntly, to the Earls Murray and Argyll, and to Maitland of Lethington/ Even in September the Queen, as also Sir John Forster was then able to report to Cecil, had, with womanly interest, selected the colours in which her trusted friends should appear at the coming festival before the expected foreigners, and had arrayed them in the dresses, as she herself intended to bear the cost.^ It may further be regarded as a pendant to the feature just exposed of Buchanan s mode of representation, when in his pamphlet, referring to Mary's flight, after Darnley s death, to Seton Castle, to Lord Wilham Seton and his wife Isabella, a daughter of Sir Wil- liam Hamilton of Sanquhar, he foolishly lays stress on the circumstance that one so high in position as the Earl of Bothwell could appear satisfied with a small and unsightly apartment, merely because it was not far from the Queen s bed-room.^ In order 1 Inuentaires de la Royne Descosse, Douairiere de France, pp. 69, 166. 2 Letter of Sir John Forster to Cecil, from Berwick, 19th Sep- tember 1566. Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, v. 222, 223. 2 Ad Setonum cum paucis, nee iis adeo maestis, aduolat, Ibi Bothuelius, quamquam summa, qua tum erat in aula gratia, et majorum nobilitas, et honores postulare viderentur, vt splendid- issime, secundum Eeginam, acci- peretur, tamen proximum Culinse cubiculum ei datur, neque tamen omnino incommodum ad luctus minuendos ; erat enim Reginse cubiculum subjectum, et si quid repentini doloris accidisset, scalae erant angustae quidem illae, sed quse aditum tamen Bothuelio ad eam consolandam prseberent. — De Maria Scotorum Regina, p. 24. M 178 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, that the impression intended may be produced, the reader must here behold the Queen and Both well pro- 1566. ceeding on their flight " with only some few attend- ants;" we know, however, from other sources, that the Queen, when she made her visit to Seton, was accompanied by a court of not less than a hundred persons, a larger retinue than any Scottish mansion- house could at that period accommodate with due regard to the rank of each person.^ By nothing else than its daring charges the attack of Buchanan on Mary had meanwhile succeeded in becoming one of the pamphlets which won the widest circulation and immense influence, both in the original edition, showing his mastery of the Latin tongue, arid in the subsequent enlarged trans- lations pubHshed during the conflict between Catho- Hcism and Protestantism in the second half of the sixteenth century. It was by no means only the new Scottish Government which, during the minority of James vi., made this circulation of the utmost importance ; the same thing holds good also, and perhaps in a still higher degree, of the Enghsh Government, since Queen Elizabeth gave Buchanan a pension of one hundred pounds, congratulated Cecil, her most trusted minister, and had, with uncommon eagerness, both the original printed in London,^ and ^ It was on the 16th February sheriff of this shire), Arbroath, the 1567, that the Queen, under the Archbishop of St. Andrews, the advice of her physicians, set out Lords Fleming and Livingston, from Edinburgh to Seton, and in with the Secretary, who followed, one of the letters from Sir William amounting to a hundred people." Drury to Cecil, dated Berwick, — Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen 17th February, the former reports of Scots, i. 208. thus : — " She this last night, the ^ ^ letter to Sir Francis 16th of February, lay at the Lord Walsingham and Sir Henry Killi- Seyton's, accompanied by Argyle, grew in Paris, Cecil mentions Huntly, Bothwell (he was high Buchanan's pamphlet as "newly MEANS TAKEN TO SPREAD BUCHANAN's BOOK. 179 copies sent over to the Enghsh ambassador in Paris, chap. ordering him *'to present it, if need be, to the king (Charles ix.), as from yourself, and likewise 1571. some of the other noblemen of his council ; for they will serve, to good effect, to disgrace her; which must be done before other purposes can be obtained."^ The year after a French translation also appeared, which seems to have been superintended by a Huguenot and a decided enemy of the Scottish Queen. ^ But Buchanan's pubhcation did not accomplish the effect intended ; if the support which Charles ix. and Henry iii. afterwards ren- dered to Mary^ certainly did not reahse the ex- pectations she cherished, and though we can trace in the historical representation of Mary by De Thou the influence of Buchanan, yet in Catholic France, there was always preserved, from the time of Mary's youthful sojourn, a sympathy for her fate, which followed her even to her affecting death.* In Pro- printed in Latin, and I hear it is France did not do more for the to be translated into English with Scottish Queen is ascribed partly many supplements of the like con- to the unfavourable influence of dition." The letter, dated Eich- Catherine de Medici. The latter mond, 1st November 1571, is given is said to have formerly felt her- in Digges, Complete Ambassador, self put in the background by or two Treaties of the Intended Mary Stuart, and could we believe Marriage of Queen Elizabeth. a letter from the Papal Nuncio in London, 1655, foL, p. 151. Paris, "la Eegina di Scotia un ^ Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen giorno gli disse, che non sarebbe of Scots, ii. 52. mai altro che figlia di un mercante " 2 Histoire de Marie Boyne (Cheruel, Marie Stuart et Catherine d^Escosse touchant la conjuration de Medicis. Paris, 1858, p. 17). faicte contre le Boy et Vadultere commis avec le Comte de Bothwell. * See the "Oraison funebre" of Traduicte en Francois par Thomas the Archbishop of Bruges over Waltem. Edinbourg, par moy Mary Stuart in the Church of Thomas Waltem, 1572. Notre-Dame in Paris — the same ^ Cheruel, De Maria Stuarta, in which she had been married to utrum Henricus iii. eam in suis Francis 11. — in Jebb, De vita et periculis tutatus fuerit, an omni rebus gestis serenissimce principis ope destitutam Anglis prodiderit. Marice, Scotorum Begince, Fran- Eotomagi, 1849. The cause why cice Dotairce, ii. 671. 180 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, testant England, on the contrary, the soil was far better prepared for the venomous plant ; the English Queen's envoys in Scotland, and her commanders on the borders, and still more, the unreliable Scots news-mongers, who depended on the authority of these, had ever since Mary's union with. Darnley, been able only too frequently to pander to Eliza- beth's well-known humour, by reporting much idle talk about her rival, and after Mary's im- prisonment in England, they went still further in the same direction. To what a height the calumnies previously set on foot against Mary, after the pubHcation of Buchanan's book, at last rose in England, is evinced in a striking manner by the correspondence which Mary, during her imprisonment in England, carried on with Castelnau de Mau- vissiere, the French ambassador in London. In the year 1584 the report was spread in England, that she stood in an illicit relation to her own jailer, the Earl of Shrewsbury — the same who afterwards, with the Earl of Kent as Ehzabeth's plenipotentiary, stood by the scaffold on which Mary's head fell, — and Mauvissi^re beheved that he ought not to con- ceal this report from her. " I dare neither," he writes, " conceal from you, that your enemies have spread a report that you have had a child, and that now, through connection with your keeper, you have become enceinte a second time."^ With justifi- able warmth Mary answered : — " There is nothing I would not venture for my honour, which, even though I had not been placed so high on earth, is yet dearer to me than life. Therefore I most ^ Mauvissiere's Letter. — Raumer, Die K'oniginnen Elisabeth und Maria Stuart, p. 378. INFLUENCE OF BUCHANAn's WORKS. 181 earnestly beseech you that you will untiringly per- ^^ap. severe in the course taken for the annihilation of w-^-^ this abominable slander, until I get sufficient 1^84. satisfaction for it, either by a public notification through the whole kingdom, on which you shall particularly insist, or by the exemplary punishment of the authors."^ In this instance also, her name obtained a decisive vindication,^ although the whole picture Buchanan had presented of the Cathohc Queen was not thereby effaced. One of the chief steps towards the scaffold, which so many in England constantly wished to see her ascend, may indeed be said to have been formed by Buchanan's works. In Scotland Buchanan had himself taken care that the attack on Mary, which had at first been pubhshed in the universal language of the learned, should likewise become accessible to and effective with the common people of the country ; his Scottish translation of his Latin original became a striking example of the power of the old Scots tongue, and showed its ability even to compete in force with the language of the Bomans.^ Before Buchanan, in his Latin History of Scot- land, which he pubhshed twenty years later, put forth anew the accusations made in his pamphlet, the hideous picture of Mary which he first pre- sented to the eyes of the world had been still more coloured by his friend and contemporary John Knox, ^ Letter of Mary Stuart to vi. 69. — Raumer, Die Kbniginnen Mauvissiere of 26th February 1584. Elisabeth und Maria Stuart, p. 392. Labanoflf, v. 426. ^ Ane Detectioun of the Doinijis ^ In a letter of December 1584 of Marie, Queue of Scotland, twich- Mary Stuart relates that the ing the murther of hir Husband. Countess of Shrewsbury, from Translated out of the Latine, whom those calumnies had origi- quhilk was written be M. G. B. nated, had been compelled upon Sanctandrois be Eobert Leck- her knees to recall them. LabanofF, previk, 1572. 182 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. the second of the authors whose representation has latterly been so much the ground of the opinion com- 1572. monly held of the Scottish Queen. Knox's dehnea- tion of the history of the Keformation in Scot- land has been definitely placed above all that Great Britain can show of an earlier date in prose hterature. It has been thought that we must come down to the middle of the eighteenth century ere it is possible to meet with any work, at least in Scot- land, which can compete with it ; but along with this it must be said that the hero of the Reforma- tion, in his historic work, also exhibits the same recklessness and violence which characterise all his discourses and writings, and by which he occa- sioned a sensation even among his own harsh con- temporaries.^ No Dominican monk, as has with reason been remarked,^ could, in intolerance, surpass Knox, who, in the most peremptory manner, main- tained that it was a duty to punish " idolaters " with death, and who in his History of the Refoi^mation bluntly describes the murder of E-iccio as " that just act, and most worthy of all praise." ^ By Scotland's Reformer, Scotland's Catholic Queen, ever since her return home, had been already condemned on the ground of her creed, and the verdict was certainly not softened after the meeting which she had with him, and in which, according to his own account of it, the superiority, both in argument and modera- ^ It was earlier assumed that the Reformation by David Laing, the most oflFensive passages in this which has been followed in this work which circulated in manu- examination, script before it was spread in 2 ^^^^ Constitutional History print, were only later interpola- . EnglaJ, London, 1842, 1 138 tions, but this supposition is no *^ ^ ' ' ' longer tenable after the last and ^ Knox, History of the Beforma- carefiil edition of the History of tion in Scotland, i. 235. KNOX's REPRESENTATION OF MARY. 183 tion, seems on the side of the young princess.^ ^^y^' Equally, according to Knox's statements, the dis- w^-l-^ puted letters contained in the silver casket are i^^^. to be regarded as undoubted evidence of Mary's early passion for Both well. ^ Although the picture of the Queen grows by no means brighter in the History of the Reformation than it is in Buchanan's pamphlet, yet in other respects it is not, as in the former, her conduct towards Bothwell which must lend the darkest colouring, Bothwell being never mentioned in Knox's work without a certain unmistakable sympathy. So far Knox added new weight to all the charges in Buchanan's pamphlet, inasmuch as he has represented life at Mary Stuart's court generally as if it were fit only for a " bordell.^'^ In his eyes nothing at this court could find favour. Even from the Queen's return from France, it had only been a mark for his unwearied attacks. For she was not then the heroine whom the more sentimental delicacy of a succeeding age, and the romance of younger poets, afterwards created ; she was gay and full of life ere more bitter experiences and sufierings moulded the character whose serious- ness of mind knew even how to raise her above the terrors of death. As one of her earhest defenders emphatically pointed out in opposition to Buchanan's pamphlet,* she had brought with her, from her sojourn in France, its freer manners, in contrast to Scotland's ^ Knox, History of the Beforma- ^ Knox, History of the Reforma- tion in Scotland, ii. 277-286. See tion in Scotland, ii. 368. also the same, ii. 331-335, 371-377, * II ne voit et considere point, 387-389, 403-411. que ceste Royne ayant este nourrie 2 He kept her letters, to be an en France se ressentoit des libertes awe-bond upon her, in case her honnestes de ceste royaume, ou affection should change. — Knox, les soup9ons sont ^loignez des History of the Reformation in privaut^s. Contre les peruerses Scotland, ii. 562. calomnies des trahistres accusans 184 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, semi-barbarous, and almost savas^e enthusiasm for IV. . ^ " The Reformation." That an old head upon young 1561. shoulders is contrary to nature was something not taken into consideration by Presbyterian strictness ; her youthful inclination for music, dancing, and masked balls was ever stamped as an abomination in this ultra- Calvinistic country, where the tend- ency had already appeared, which subsequently caused all places of public entertainment to be closed on Sundays, and even means of escape into the country to be interdicted, and where it is still reckoned almost a sin to visit a theatre. To the picture of life at the Scottish court which Knox s History would leave on the mind, the fate of an unhappy foreigner must especially furnish the background. Among the large retinue of French lords that accompanied Mary when, in the year 1561, she turned homewards to Scotland, was Chatel- lard, a nobleman from Dauphine. The celebrated Bayard had been his granduncle on the mother's side,^ and he further distinguished himself both by genius and bravery, but still more by highly refined manners. With the sentimentahsm of a troubadour he hovered about the beautiful young Queen as the moth flutters round the light. On the journey to Scotland he sailed in the same ship vnth Mary, and when, owing to the darkness, it was necessary to Hght the lanterns and torches, he seized an oppor- la tres-illustre, tres-chaste et a reference by Joseph Robertson d^bonnaire Princesse, Madame (Imientaires de la Boyne Descosse, Marie, Royne naturelle, legitime, Preface, p. Ixxv.) to a Journal et souveraine de Escosse, 1572. La France Protestante, which we Again printed by Jebb, i. 457. have not in this instance been able ^ Brantome, Vies des Dames to consult, this relative of Bayard Illustres, in (Euvres du Seigneur is properly called Pierre de Boc- du Brantome, i. 183. According to sozel, Lord of Chastelard. MARY AND CHATELLARD. tunity of remarking that " this lantern and this torch are not in the least required to make our way over the sea clear, for the beautiful eyes of our Queen are so sparkhng that with their fire they are able to illuminate the whole ocean, yea to kindle it if need- ful." Before returning to the Continent with the Duke de Danville, afterwards Constable of France, who had brought him along with the other French lords to Scotland, he, according to the fashion of the times, presented French sonnets to the Queen, which she at times answered with similar ones, and when in France he saw the first rehgious war break out between the Catholics and the Huguenots, though he himself belonged to the latter, yet he would neither fight against his co-religionists, nor bear arms against his patron above-mentioned, but after a short absence, passed over again to Scotland with a letter of recommendation from the duke. The troubadour brought with him a small volume of new poems which he presented to Mary. He became once more a welcome guest in Holyrood, where he often had the honour to have her as his partner in the dance, and again overwhelmed the Queen with flatteries which indeed won for him only her smiles, but smiles which became to him most fatal, for they tempted him, as Brantome expresses it, " hke Phaethon" to strive after a sun so high that he perished. In February 1563 he presumed to steal, armed with sword and dagger, into the Queen s bedroom, where he sought to hide himself under her bed until she went to rest. But ere she retired he was discovered, and when the Queen, whom it was felt undesirable to disturb at the time, learned next morning the news of his audacious conduct, she for- 186 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. 1563. ^?v^' indeed, but dismissed him hereafter from her near presence.^ Two days after, on the 14th February, when the Queen was on a journey from Edinburgh to St. Andrews, and was passing the night at Burntisland, Chatellard, notwithstanding, again followed her to her bedroom, under pretence of wishing to clear himself from her censure. Mary ordered him instantly to withdraw, and as he delayed doing so, she called with loud screams for help. Chatellard was committed to prison, an action was raised against him for high treason, he was condemned to death, and on the 2 2d February was executed in the market-place of St. Andrews. Before his departure from the prison he again read the Hymn to Death, one of the odes of his friend the poet Eonsard. On the scaffold he turned to- wards the place where he supposed the Queen to be, and is said to have sent her his last greeting in these words : — " Adieu, the most beautiful and the most cruel princess of the world. » 2 ^ Mais la Reyne, sans faire The judgment would besides pre- aucun scandale luy pardonna. — sent itself in a new light, if Chatel- Brantome, Vies des Dames Illus- lard really had, before his deaths tresy in CEuvres du Seigneur de acknowledged having only acted as Brantome, i. 188. Chatellard had, the tool of the Protestants and the before his second journey to Scot- enemies of the Guises, who, by the land, given Brantome, at parting, Queen's disgrace, wished to see her the adieu : " Car nous estions debarred from a then dreaded new bons amis." princely marriage. But it is only ^ Adieu, la plus belle et la plus in a statement of 3d May 1563 cruelle princesse du monde. — Bran- from Perrenot de Chantounay, the tome, Vies des Dames Illustres, in Spanish ambassador in Paris (given CEuvres du Seigneur de Brantome, i. in Teulet, Papiers d'Etat, iii. 6), 188. Brantome adds : — " Aucuns that this account of Chatellard can ont voulu discourir a quoy il Tap- now be met with, in which it is pelloit tant cruelle, ou si c'estoit, stated, " enemigos de la casa de qu'elle n'eut pitie de son amour ou Guisa le avian persuadido de de sa vie. La-dessus qu'eust-elle passar en Escocia y procurar por s9en faire ? Si, apres le premier todos las vias possibles de hazer pardon, elle eut donne le second, alcuna cosa con la qual la honra de elle estoit scandalizee partout." la dicha Reyna viniesse a' disputa." THE EPISODE ABOUT CHATELLARD. That an occurrence like this was fitted to set malicious reports in circulation, the young Queen, who took occasion from it to let one of her four Maries share her bed-chamber,^ might well imagine, and indeed it was forthwith notified by Thomas Randolph, who was still Elizabeth s ambassador at that time in Scotland. Randolph, whose accounts then and to a much later period — until Mary's union with Darnley crossed the English plans — otherwise always speak of the Scottish Queen as being " so worthy, so wise^ so honourable in all her conduct,"^ nevertheless only charges the Queen in his report of that " deplorable occurrence, with having shown too much unguardedness imto so unworthy a creature and abject a varlet,"^ and one who at last wished by force to obtain a favour he could not get in any other way.* In Knox s His- tory there is also an episode about Ch4tellard, or, as he is incorrectly called by the writer, " the poor Chattelett," in which, without distinguishing be- tween the two culpable attempts, the idea on the contrary is sought to be conveyed to the reader that the incensed Queen really wished to have him secretly put to death, in order that he should not ^ She chose for this purpose Mary Fleming, afterwards the wife of Maitland. Randolph's letter to Cecil, dated St. Andrews, 10th March 1563. — Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1563, p. 193. Randolph's statement to Cecil of 21st May 1565.— Raumer, Die Kbniginnen Elisabeth und Maria Stuart, i. 64. ^ Randolph's account to Cecil of 14th February 1563. — Raumer, Die Kbniginnen Elisabeth und Maria Stuart, i. 26. ■* He died with repentance, and confessed privately more than he spoke openly. His purpose was, that night he was found under her bed, to have tried her constancy, and by force to have attempted what by no persuasions he could attain to. Thus your Honour understandeth the effect of the whole matter as truly, I believe, as any man can report it. — Randolph to Cecil, 28th February 1563.— Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1563, p. 167. 188 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ^HAP. xitter anything to her dishonour, and that when the > — ^ — ^ story could not be suppressed the French Protestant 1563 ^g^g arraigned and condemned, the conclusion of the whole being : — " And so receaved Chattelet the reward of his dansing ; for he lacked his head that his tonng should not utter the secreattis of our Queue." But if, as has long ago been shown,^ we often cannot rely on Knox s reports where these relate to things of which he was personally cognisant, his History is in general specially suspicious in those passages in which it gives descriptions of the court. And here in the case just hinted at, the connection between Buchanan and Knox seems also to acquire a peculiar importance. As there is in Knox's History of the Beformation a reference to Buch- anan's pamphlet,^ so Buchanan, although the tend- ency of Knox to exaggeration was not unknown to him,^ has yet in his History so often satisfied him- self with copying Knox that his complete omission of the story about Chatellard may well be deemed suspicious.* The reason why he has not in this instance followed Knox is also sufficiently obvious. According to Knox, that vdsh to see Chatellard secretly put to death, which he sought to ascribe to the Queen, must have been frustrated by the oppo- sition of Murray ; but the reports of Randolph make ^ By Lord Hailes. Annals of in Wright's Queen Elizabeth and Scotland, Edinburgh, 1819, iii. her Times, i. 429. 260-262. 2 Knox, History of the Beforma- * Joseph Robertson has already tion in Scotland, ii. 562. called attention to this circum- ^ In the year in which the Re- stance of Buchanan's " omission of former died, Buchanan writes to the story of Chatellard, which," he Randolph: — " As to Maister Knox, adds, "the Reformer tells with his hystorie is in hys freindes scandals, so far as I have observed, handes, and thai ar in consultation told by no one else." — Inuentaires to mitigat sum part the acerbite of de la Royne Descosse, Preface, p. certain wordis." — Buchanan's letter Ixxvi. MARRIAGE OF MARY LIVINGSTONE. it manifest that it was Mary herself who desired to save Chatellard from death, and that on the con- trary it was the still all-powerful Murray who, with the other members of the Privy Council, urged the carrying out of the sentence.^ The judicial records in which a more precise explanation of the offence for which Chatellard suffered might surely be met with, are now lost for the whole period from May 1 562 to May 1563, but even Chatellard's own verses simply complain that his burning love for the Queen had met with invincible coldness.^ The confidence with which Knox has in this instance sought to ascribe to the Queen an illicit connection weighs no more than the confidence with which for example one of his other attacks on Mary's court thus states : — " It was well known that shame hastened the marriage betwixt John Sempill, called the dancer, and Mary Livingstone, surnamed the lustie."^ What is intended by this is the marriage between Mary Livingston, one of the Queen's four Maries, a daughter of Lord Alexander Livingston, and the young John Sempill of Belltreis, a son of Lord Robert Sempill, Mary Stuart having shown her approbation of the union by a deed of gift of 9th March 1565, conveying to the young couple a portion of landed property because it had now ^ Randolph's Report ; Raumer's Die Koniginnen Elisabeth und Maria Stuart, p. 29. 2 They are to be found printed in the Supplements to Memoires de Messire Michel Castelnau Seig- neur de Mauvissiere. Illustrez par T. le Laboureur. Bruxelles, 1731, vol. i. 549-550, and contain such lines as these : — " Et neantmoins la flfime, Qui me brule et enflauie, De passion, N'emeut jamais ton ame D'aucune aflfection." 2 Bot yit wes not the courts purged of hureis and huredome quhilk was the fontane of sik enormities, for it wes weill knawn that schame haistit mariage be- twix Johne Sempill, callit the Danser, and Marie Livingstoune, surnanieit the Lustie. — Knox, History of the Reformation, ii. 415. 190 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, pleased God to move their hearts to enter into the s^..^^ estate of matrimony."^ But so far was there from 1565. being any haste with the marriage, that even months beforehand we find it announced in the reports of the foreign ministers, of whom Randolph then in- forms the Earl of Bedford of an expected invita- tion to the approaching nuptials.^ Knox also stands alone when he does not even exempt Mary Stuart's mother, the Queen-Dowager of Guise, from his accusations, but unhesitatingly speaks in the most offensive manner of the Catholic Regent, as if she had been the mistress of Cardinal David Beaton, and almost seems to insinuate that she had stood in a like connection to d'Oysel, commander of the French mercenary troops in Scotland.^ Thus the matter stands with the authorities whence so many later writers have derived their facts, when they represent Mary as having before Darnley's death abandoned herself to Bothwell in frenzied love. Taken in connection with ec- clesiastical and pohtical passions, which willingly credit all that is bad of a dangerous enemy, they may explain why with contemporaries and their immediate successors the prevalent opinion both in Scotland and England so quickly came to an agree- ment about a point which has so long been matter ^ The Acts of the Parliaments of It is a Nemesis that Knox from Scotland, ii, 559. the Catholic side has himself 2 Randolph's letters to Cecil and become down to the latest times the Earl of Bedford, both of 9th an object of like accusations January 1565, Calendar of the as he was ready so lightly to State Papers relating to Scotland, i. spread about others. See for ex- 204. Paul de Foix's letter to ample The Life and Times of John Catherine de Medici, of January Knox. Two lectures delivered to 1565. Teulet's Papiers d'Mat, ii. the members of the Edinburgh St. 32. Patrick's Catholic Young Men's 2 Knox, History of the Beforma- Society,Edinburgh,1868,pp. 69-71, Hon in Scotland, i. 92, 203, ii. 70. 92-93. HOW FAR MARY WAS GUILTY. 191 of dispute in after times. By themselves they are chap. positive evidence of Mary's earher union with ^J^' Bothwell, yet they are of such a nature that one i567. may most readily be induced to see in Mary in this respect simply a victim of such vague reports as so commonly plague those in high places. Therefore it is now also the case that in direct opposition to the many descriptions which both make Mary take part in the murder of Darnley, and re- present her as having become before this the aban- doned mistress of Bothwell, there stands a series of writings by which the Queen is not only acquitted of any suspicion of participation in the murder of her husband, but also with the same positiveness of assertion is acquitted of any connection with Bothwell before he carried her off to Dunbar. But this assurance may nevertheless be too strong. A middle way seems still capable of being found, which may come nearer the truth. While it is certainly not necessary to see the hand of Mary Stuart in the catastrophe which ended Darnley s days, and while we may with reason admit the untrustworthiness of the positive evidence against the Queen of a previous connection with Bothwell, yet it becomes always difficult, without the supposition of such an earlier connection, to comprehend her whole subse- quent behaviour in respect to Bothwell's proceed- ings. Without this supposition it is difficult to understand how she could so shortly after Darnley's death agree to marry the Earl, to marry one who had recently been accused of being — the murderer of Darnley.^ ^ Note G, Appendix. CHAPTER V. CHAP. The murder of Darnley took place on the night V J . between Sunday the 9th and Monday the 10th of 1567. February 1567. After he had for a lengthened period lived virtually in a state of divorce from the Queen, and in Glasgow, on the return of the pardoned relbels, was actually revolving in his mind to leave Scotland and repair to France or Spain, as if from a presenti- ment of impending danger, a reconcihation took place about the time of the new year. For when Darnley was seized with smallpox during his stay in Glasgow, the Queen sent him her physician, wrote him many friendly letters,^ and at last went herself to him with the view, when his strength permitted, of having him conveyed in a sedan chair ^ back to Edinburgh. Here she arrived with the King in the evening of the 30th January 1567. In order, as was said, not to expose others, and especially the young prince, to infection, and at the same time to procure for Darnley himself freer air during his con- valescence, he was not immediately brought to the low-lying Holyrood, but since he himself objected to reside in Craigmillar Castle, south of Edinburgh, ^ Buchanan, Berum Scot Hist. where as having conveyed the Earl p. 213. of Arran to Edinburgh. — Diurnal 2 [Birrel calls it " ane chariott." of Occurrents, p. 72. Robertson's — Diarey, p. 6 : Fragments of Preface to Inuentaires, p. xxi. — Scottish History, Probably it v^as Translator.] the Queen's coach mentioned else- darnley's house in kirk-of-field. 193 was taken, as had from the first been intended/ to ci^p. a dweUing which the Earl of Bothwell had previously > — ^ undertaken to prepare for the reception of the in- i^^^- valid, and which yet lay close enough to Holyrood to enable the Queen easily to visit him. Bothwell, who met the King and Queen on the way with the intelligence of the accomphshment of his errand,^ had chosen a lonely and retired house surrounded by gardens in the vicinity of the so- called " St. Mary's, or our Lady Kirk-in-the-Fields." Long before the Scottish capital had extended it- self on both sides of the steep and narrow ridge which stretches from Holyrood up to Edinburgh Castle, this church stood on the same spot where the University, instituted in the year 1582 by Darnley's and Mary's son^ has now its site. The church received its name from the circumstance that it was originally situated outside the city wall, but afterward, as the city increased in size, this wall was extended so as to surround the church with its adjacent buildings, an hospital or almshouse, and a parsonage. The wall however had not saved these buildings from being devastated by the EngHsh invasion in 1544, during which for three days and three nights Edinburgh was in flames, and ten years later the ruined hospital had come into the possession of the Duke of Chatelherault, who caused ' It is one of the many arbitrary ley himself who would not go to distortions of facts of which Froude Craigmillar, and that the arrange- is guilty, that he represents Darn- ment was therefore altered, ley as being eager to go to Craig- ^ ^^And'Bothu.elljkeippingtryid, miliar, and as only prevented by i.e. trust, met hir upon the way," the Queen. — History of England, it is said about this, with an allu- viii. 363. Darnley's servant, sion to BothwelFs motto, in the Thomas Nelson, who accompanied Journal of William Cecil, given them from Glasgow, has very ex- in Laing, History of Scotland, pressly remarked that it was Darn- ii. 87. N 194 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. a dwelling to be reared for himself on the spot where it stood. The parsonage or deanery had also recently 1567. been restored, and as a prebend had been made over to Robert Balfour, a brother of the then adherent of Bothwell, Sir James Balfour. This dwelling its possessor^ had now left to make way for Darnley. The house, which certainly bore marks of ancient Scottish plainness, judging even from the striking description of it by contemporaries,^ contained six or seven rooms, divided into two stories, connected by means of a winding stair. It had one principal door to the north, another to the east leading out to a garden, and through the city wall, against which the south gable of the house stood, a back-door led down to a cellar or vault. ^ Buchanan, who has not been able to conceal that the reason for the choice of the house in the Kirk- of-Field had reference partly to the necessary pre- vention of infection in Holyrood,* partly to the ^ With respect to him it is later ^ In Begistrum Domus de Soltre, said in the declaration of the laird Charters of the Hospital of Soltre^ of Ormiston regarding the proceed- Edinburgh, 1861, edited for the ings of Bothwell and his followers: Bannatyne Club by David Laing, " For they had 13 fals keys of the there is a drawing of the ground at lodging maide and givin, as they the Kirk-of-Field at the time Darn- said to me, be him that aught the ley was murdered. The original house." — Laing, History of Scot- was sent by the English ambassador land, ii. 292. in Scotland to the palace in White- 2 The English ambassador, Sir hall, and is now preserved in the Nicholas Throckmorton, who, later English Royal Archives, in the year, stayed for some time * Ducitur Edinburgum non in with Lord Hume in Fast Castle, de- Palatium. Cur ita ? Ne videlicet scribes it in a letter to Cecil of the contagio pestilentis morbi filio 12th July 1567 (Tytler, History of adhuc tenello noceret. — Buchanan, Scotland, vii. 128), as "very little, a De Maria Scotorum Regina, p. 67. place fitter to lodge prisoners than Some years before this there occurs folks at liberty ;" and when Bran- in a letter from Randolph himself tome speaks of Holyrood as a very to Cecil, dated Edinburgh, Novem- beautiful building, he does not for- ber 3d, 1564, this remarlc : " Three get immediately to add, that it of his men are sick of the smallpox, "ne tient rien du pays." — Vies des so thinks that he for a time must Dames Illnstres, in CEuvres du Sei- absent himself from the court." — gneur de Brantome, i. 143. State Bapers (F. S., 1564-5), p. 236. Mary's visits to darnley in kirk-of-field. 195 healthy situation of the place/ — which, in later chap. times, has also caused a neighbouring spot to be v ^ selected as a site for an infirmary, — is nevertheless 1567. unable to understand how there should be fresh air " among dead men's" graves, and seeks after all to represent the choice of this place of residence as a setting aside of all decent respect. Perhaps it deserves not to be passed over in silence that, in consequence of a discovery made in more recent times, we are still able to see the list of the tapestries for the walls, the velvet cushions, and all the other sorts of furniture, which, on the occasion of Darnley s residence in the house of the Kirk-of- Field, had been brought thither from Holyrood, and which subsequently went amissing. Darnley, whose sick and bath-room was in one of the uppermost suites, had also in it "a bed of violet velvet, trimmed with lace of gold and silver,'' ^ and in the "Hall" or "Saloon" there had, amongst other furniture, been also erected " a dais of black velvet." Although Mary, during the ten days Darnley spent in the house of the Kirk-of-Field, had her own residence at Holyrood, yet she was frequently to be seen on a visit to him during this time. She very often sat with Darnley in his sick- room, and as she found pleasure in walking in the neighbouring garden of what was formerly a monas- tery of the Dominicans, or brought her choir of musicians along with her from the palace to the house in the Kirk-of-Field, so she also chose at least ^ Cur hie potissimum delectus James Melvil {Memoirs, p. 77) we est locus ? Aeris salubritas prse- find the Kirk-of-Field also men- tenditur. — Buchanan, De Maria tinned " as a place of good air." Scotorum Begina, p. 68. By Sir Note H, Appendix. JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. two days a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays, rather to remain there all night than return late to Holyrood. In view of such occasional stays one of the lower rooms right under that of the king had been arranged as a sleeping apartment for her. At this time Darnley also wrote to his father, the Earl of Lennox, who, being sick, had remained behind in Glasgow, of the greater friendliness the Queen now showed him, and how, as she one day found him about to write this letter, she lovingly kissed him. Her older as well as her more recent enemies have laid stress on the contrast between Mary's former ill-will towards Darnley,^ which she continued to express a few days before her departure for Glas- gow,^ and the whole of this behaviour on her part, in which accordingly they choose to see the most abominable hypocrisy, fitted only to lull her destined victim to sleep. Her contemporary friends and later defenders have, on the contrary, seen in the Queen's sympathy with Darnley's illness the germ of a returning affection for him,^ and have assumed that ^ Buchanan, Berum Scoticarum Historia, p. 213. 2 In her letter to her ambassador in Paris, dated from Edinburgli, 20th January 1567. But in the same letter she nevertheless writes : " And for the king, our husband, God knawis alwayis our part to- war tis him." And likewise : " Al- wayis we persave hira occupeit and bissy aneuct to haif inquisitioun of our doyings, quhilkis, God willing, sail ay be sic as nane sail haif occasioun to be oflfendit with thame, or to report of us any wayis but honorably."— LabanoflF, i. 329. 2 Telle malaventure est ad venue au temps, que sa Majesty et le roy estoient au meilleur mesnaige, que I'on pouvait desirer. — Note of the French envoy, De Clernault, at Berwick, the 12th February 1567, contained in Chalmers, Life of Mary Stuart, i. 133. The French nobleman just named resided in Scotland, while the French min- ister, du Croc, had got leave to pay a visit to his home (Sandret, Ambassade de Philibert du Croc en Ecosse, Etude Historique, Paris, 1870, p. 12), and had departed from Edinburgh two days previously, in order to give, without delay, to Catherine de Medici and Charles IX, more precise intelligence about Darnley's death. He carried with him also a letter to these about the catastrophe, which had been im- mediately drawn up on the Monday in the Scottish Privy Council, but THOSE ENGAGED IN DARNLEY's MURDER. 197 it was the fear of this which hastened the work of chap. the murderers. ^ As there cannot be a doubt that the Earl of i567. Bothwell had from the beginning been the only one who conceived the design of removing Damley in one way or another, so also the belief was long pre- valent in Scotland that, not only the different per- sons of lower rank, who were afterwards seized and executed for complicity in the murder, had given their assistance to it, but that likewise many of higher rank and authority had taken an active hand in the murderous transaction itself One of the first of the subordinate agents to suffer for com- plicity in the murder declared that in the evening of the 9 th February he had met on the way to the King s dwelling other conspirators whom he did not know, as they had their faces muffled up ^ just as the conspirators against King Eric Glipping came to Finderup " cloaked and masked " — and among the earhest reports of the perpetration of the murder that reached England from Scotland we meet with the statement, that some one had seen, on the night of the murder, Andrew Ker of Faldonside, the still unpardoned, banished rebel, and other accompHces with him " on horseback in the vicinity of the spot in order to assist in the cruel project, if it had been necessary." During the stormy years which hadlikewiseby his journey through gow," gives these the superscrip- to Berwick enjoyed an opportunity tion : " Amantium irse amoris here to give an account of the redintegratio est." tragedy that had happened, which ^ Quhilks had cloakes about yare was sent from Berwick to the Eng- faces. — William Powrie's confes- lish court. Chalmers {Life of Mary sion ; Laing, History of Scotland, Queen of Scots, ii. 113-115), who ii. 243. has also printed the note of Cler- ^ Letter from Sir William Drury nault among his " Proofs of Mary's to Cecil of 13th May 1567.— Oa/- Reconcilement to Damley before endar of State Papers, Foreign she set out to bring him from Glas- Series, 1566-1568, p. 229. 198 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, followed the murder, not only was a disclosure gradually made, as the changed position of parties 1571. permitted, of several who had been more or less engaged in the conspiracy, but new accusations of comphcity in the perpetration of the murder itself were also brought forward. Thus in the year 1571, during the regency of Darnley's father, when Cap- tain Thomas Crawford of Jordanhill had taken Dumbarton Castle, where the Queen's party had constantly maintained themselves since the begin- ning of the civil war, among others John Hamilton, the Cathohc Archbishop of St. Andrews, fell as a prisoner into his hands. He was forthwith conveyed to Stirling, and, without any proper trial, there hanged ; and to the fact of his having been the first bishop in Scotland who perished by the hangman's hand were owing, in no small degree, the numerous suspicions about his conduct in connection with Darnley's murder. The proofs of this on which Buchanan, with the recklessness not unusual with him, has rehed, in the first instance, in his pamphlet, and afterwards in his History, are however, on the whole, but weak. Thus Buchanan urges that the archbishop, who had accompanied the Queen in her journey to Glasgow, did not, while in Edinburgh in the winter of 1567, reside, as formerly, in the more populated part of the city, but in the building be- longing to his brother, the Duke of Chatelherault, nearest to Darnley's residence during his illness, and that from the highest part of Edinburgh there had been here seen, during the night, a light which was only extinguished when the catastrophe took place.^ ^ Auxit hominum suspicionem, pinquas, in qua Rex occisus erat quod turn in 9ed.es fratris Comitis cum semper antea in celebri urbis Aranite divertisset, ei domui pro- loco habitaret, ubi commode, et THE ARCHBISHOP OF ST. ANDREWS. 199 Buchanan, who always shows hhnself blinded by the hereditary hatred of the Lennoxes against the Hamil- tons, may himself have found sufficient evidence i567 when, after the archbishop had been made prisoner, he along with Lord Wilham Ruthven and Justice - Clerk, Sir John Bellenden of Auchinoul, brought forward the accusation against him at Stirling. He also subsequently represented it in his Scottish His- tory as a thing incontrovertible, that many different divisions of conspirators from different quarters met for the accomphshment of the murderous deed, and that one of them consisted of six or seven of the Hamilton vassals who had been sent by the arch- bishop. But, while the latter a few moments before his execution confessed with regret that he had subsequently promoted the murder of Buchanan's favourite, Eegent Murray, he continued on the con- trary to the last to repel every accusation of having had any share whatever in Darnley's murder.^ In the year 1581, when the Earl of Morton, after James VI. had assumed the reins of government, was executed on the ground of having been privy to the conspiracy, his cousin, Archibald Douglas, was also accused of complicity in the murder, and only saved himself by escaping into England, but a man named John Binning, who had been in his service at the time the murder took place, and who was himself salutationibus celebrari, et epulis ^ His answer to the first heid popularem gratiam coUigere pos- wes, that he knew nathing of the set : item, quod, e superioribus Kingis murther, and that he wes urbis locis, lumen et pervigilia3 sa innocent thairaf that he wald in ejus sedibus tota nocte con- not ask God mercie thairfoir. . . . spiciebantur, ac turn demun, ubi And sua he continowit to the ruinoe, propinquse fragor inso- death in his denyall that he haid nuit, lumina sunt exstincta ; et na knowlege of the Kingis mur- clientes, qui frequentes, armati thour. — Diurnal of Occurrents, p. vigilaverant, vetiti egredi.— Bu- 204. chanan, Berum Scot. Hist, p. 214. 200 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, executed in June 1581 for his connection with it, V. . declared that his master also had actually gone out 1567. in the evening to the accomphshment of the deed along with him and his fellow-servant Gaimer.^ But in the year 1586 Douglas, after being acquitted in a manner which somewhat recalls Bothwell's own acquittal, was even taken into favour by James vi. Binning, before his death, also denounced John Maitland of Coldingham, and Bobert Balfour, the proprietor of the house in the Kirk-of-Field, as accomphces, and against the brothers of these two, namely, the Secretary of State, Wilham Maitland of Lethington, and Sir James Balfour, the same accusation had been previously directed, but it seems that contemporaries nevertheless, with respect to them, confounded the preceding general con- federacy against Darnley, and the knowledge of its intended object, with the execution of the deed itself The ringleader in this was, at all events, un- doubtedly the Earl of Bothwell. As his immediate assistants he had selected four of the smaller Scottish lairds, vassals of his own, namely, James, laird of Ormiston, in Teviotdale, the latter s uncle (or as he is called in Scots, his father's brother). Hob Ormiston, John Hay of Talla, and John Hep- burn of Bolton, a cousin of the Earl. Along with these, whom he had won over for the work by con- fidmg to them the agreement of the nobles at Craig- millar,^ the Earl employed or took with him on the ^ That his master passed to the he alledged, I was ane man of deid doing, the said Binning and activeness (akce theirfor !), quhair Gaimer, his servants, being with I utterly refuisit, and said, God him in company. — Declaration ; forbid, bot, gif it were upon the Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 337. field, to fight with your Lordschip 2 The earle requyred me to take unto the death, I sould not feir my pairt with him therein, because, as skiun cutting. Then the said Earle OTHER ACCOMPLICES IN THE MURDER. night of the murder, of his own servants, Wilham Powrie, Patrick Wilson, and George Dalgleish, the last of whom solemnly declared, before his execution, that he then followed Bothwell not knowing that it concerned the king's death, until this had taken place. ^ Among the servants of the Queen he had moreover made sure of the positive assistance of the Frenchman, Nicolas Hubert or Paris, who had formerly been in his own service ; to him he apphed for, and through him he at length obtained, the key of the Queen's room in Balfour's house ; this he wished also to get possession of, although he had beforehand been able to procure the keys which could open every apartment in it. Besides the more subordinate agents in this transaction already named, the Act of Parliament, which was issued against Bothwell on the 30th December 1567, finally mentions also Symon Armstrong and William Murray as accomphces in the murder.^ Lord Robert Stuart, Prior of Holyroodhouse, Mary's half-brother, had, under promise of silence, confided to Darnley that imminent danger threat- ened his Hfe if he did not quickly leave the place where he was staying.^ Darnley repeated this to the Queen, who, on this occasion, as she was passing the Friday night in Balfour's house, wrote to her said to me, Tuishe, Ormistoune, ye need not to take feir of this, for the haill lords hes concluded the samen langsyne in Craigmiller. — Confession of the Laird of Ormis- ton ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 291. ^ Daglishe sayd, as God shall be my judge, I knew nothing of the kingis daith befoir it was done. — Confession of Dalgleish ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 264. 2 Anderson, Collections, iv. 152. Six years later the declaration of the Laird of Ormiston named also of the Queen's people Archibald Beaton along with Paris : — " Pareis and Archie Betoun com and met us, and said all wes ready preparit for the setting of the lunt." — Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 292. ^ Memoirs of Sir J ames Melvil, p. 78. 202 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, half-brother about it : but Eobert Stuart denied V. ... that he had said any such tiling, and, if we are 1567. to beheve the Queen's enemies, this denial led to an altercation between him and Darnley so sharp that each laid his hand upon his sword. ^ The fatal hour had, however, really drawn near. At first it had been intended to kill the king while walking in the neighbouring gardens during his convalescence, but this plan was abandoned, as the murder would thus be more easily found out. By means of barrels of gunpowder, which Bothwell had caused to be brought from Dunbar Castle to his rooms in Holyrood, it was deemed that the object in view could be attained with greater security, and its execution had accordingly been fixed for the same Saturday night on which Darnley had the altercation with Robert Stuart. All the prepara- tions were not indeed, at this time, in readiness, but that scene, which could not be hidden from Bothwell, showed that no longer delay was advis- able. On the afternoon of Sunday the 9th February 1567, the final consultation was held for two hours in Bothw ell's rooms at Holyrood, between the Earl, both the Ormistons, John Hepburn, and John Hay. The Queen had promised that she would be present at a dance and merry-making in the evening, at the palace, on the occasion of the wedding, that day, of one of her servants, Sebastian Pagez, a Frenchman from Clermont, to a Scots girl.^ The time could not be more opportune. 1 Buchanan, who always knows um advocat, velut ad litem diri- how to explain Mary Stuart's mendam : re vera, ut ipse quoque thoughts, makes her not only re- per occasionem tolli posset."— jKe- joice at the huff of the young men, rum Scoticarum Historia, p. 213. but says:— "Regina hoc spectaculo ^ He was married to Christily l£eta, . . . alterum fratrem Jacob- Hogg. Two days later the wedding PREPARATIONS FOR THE MURDER. 203 When the consultation was concluded, Both well chap. repaired to a banquet, given the same day, on v^T^ accoimt of the approaching departure of the Savoy- 1567. ard ambassador Moretta, by the Bishop of Argyll, who resided in John Balfour's house in Edinburgh, and which the Queen, who had attended the mar- riage in the forenoon, had also promised to honour with her presence.^ But on rising from table, and when all was enveloped in the darkness of a winter night,^ Bothwell betook himself alone to meet with his assistants in the vicinity of the parsonage. The powder had been put on a couple of horses by William Powrie and Patrick Wilson, at the order of John Hepburn, and, at ten o'clock, was con- veyed, not through the city, but outside the city wall up towards the house, the quantity being so great that it required to be brought in two succes- of Margaret Carvvod, one of the Queen's ladies, also took place ; she was married on the 11th February 1567, to John Stuart of Tully- powreis (Joseph Robertson's Pre- face to Les Inuentaircs de la Royne, Descosse, p. Ivii). These closely occurring marriages have given occasion to considerable confusion with more recent authors. Thus Malcolm Laing {History of Scot- land, i. 35), Mignet {Histoire de Marie Stuart, i. 302), Wiesener {Marie Stuart et le Comte de Both- luell, p. 253 ; Revue des Questions Historiques, iii. 5, 103), Froude {History of England, viii. 367), and Gauthier {Histoire Marie Stuart, i. 333), all incorrectly make Sebastian Pagez to be married, on the 9th February, to Margaret Carwod, the Queen's confidential lady. Buchanan's pamphlet {De Maria Scotorum Regina, p. 18) mentions him as "Sebastianus, Ar- vernus genere ob psalendi peritiam et sales Reginse admodum gratus," and at the baptism of James vi. in Stirling he had the management of the masked ball then given. On the 16th June 1567, when Mary Stuart was dethroned, he also was imprisoned on suspicion of compli- city in the murder of the king {Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 115), but he must have afterward been set at liberty again, as, in the year 1586, he is still named (Labanoff", vii. 250) among Mary Stuart's ser- vants during her imprisonment in England. ^ John Hepburn's Declaration ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 257. The so-called Diary of Cecil, Ibid., p. 87. Burton {History of Scot- land, Second Edition, iv. 188) in- correctly names the Countess of Argyll as the person who gave this entertainment. ^ Sua sone as it was mirk. — De- claration of John Hay ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 253. 204 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, sive loads. The back-door was opened by Paris, ^.^.^^^ and the opportunity was favourable ; for the Queen 1567. shortly beforehand, in high spirits, had left the banquet in the city to return to the marriage festivities, but on the way had come, accompanied by the Earls of Argyll, Huntly, and Cassihs, to pay a visit to the king, with whom she remained a couple of hours before the dancing should begin at the palace, and the Queen, after the old custom, should " conduct the bride to bed." As a large barrel, into which the murderers had at first in- tended to put the bags of powder, could not be got through the back-door, the bags had to be carried in separately by the laird of Ormiston, Hepburn, and Hay, and so Bothwell, who was impatiently looking on, asked whether all were not ready, and " bade them make haste before the Queen came back from the King, for if she returned ere they were ready, they would not find another oppor- tunity so good."-^ When the powder was conveyed in, and a large portion of it heaped up in the very room used by the Queen on the preceding nights, Hay and Hepburn were shut in underneath, in order to prepare everything for the explosion,^ while the Earl of Bothwell went up-stairs to Darnley s guests. The Queen was still engaged in conversa- tion with Darnley ; at the same time the Earls who accompanied her were busy with a game of dice. ^ My Lord come and speirid ^ Be force of gun poulder, qlke gyf all was redy, and bad yanie a lytle afore was plasit and imput haist before the Queene cum furth be him and his foresaids under the of the Kingis house, for gyf she grund and angular stains, and with- come furth before yay wer reddy, in the voltis, in laich and darnit yay wald not find sic commodity. (low and hidden) pairts and places. — Deposition of John Hepburn ; — Sentence on the Earl of Morton ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 257. Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 320. Mary's last interview with darnley. 205 This final interview between Darnley and Mary c^p. Stuart bore the impression of a cordiality long wanting ; the Queen, full of thoughts of the mar- riage, oftener than once kissed the king, and gave him a ring,^ and the king, after her departure, con- tinued, until he went to sleep, to speak to his servants of the joy which her affection now promised him, only that he had become again disconcerted when she once happened to mention Riccio's name.^ Of his servants, William Taylor remained during the night in the king's room ; besides him there were also in the house Thomas Nelson, Edward Symonds, Andrew Mackay, and the boy Glen. The Earl of Both well accompanied the Queen, when, at eleven o'clock, she came down from the king — and past her room, which, if she had been able to enter, she would now have found filled with gunpowder — and, with torches carried before her, she wended her way with her retinue back to the entertainment in Holyrood.^ Both well left the feast at midnight, and, in his own rooms in the palace, doffing his silver-embroidered court dress of black silk and velvet, putting on a simple dress, and ^ " None but those wives," says Chalmers, " who stand recorded, for their barbarity and wickedness, could have given her husband such a pledge of her fidelity and afl'ec- tion ; knowing that he was to be put to death soon after her depai - ture." — History of Mary, Queen of Scots, ii. 181. 2 Ibi, cum hilarius solito per aliquot horas coUocuta esset, sa3pe euni deosculata, annulum etiam tradidit. Post dicessum Reginse, quum Rex, inter paucos qui ad- erant ministros, illius diei dicta factaque retractaret, inter alios ser- mones, ad bene sperandum ejus animum erigentes, paucorum verb- orum recordatio Isetitiam non nihil turbavit ; — injecta est ab ea mentio Dauidem Rizium, superiore anno, circa id ipsum tempus interfectum fuisse, — Buchanan, Berum Scoti- carmn Bistoria, p. 214. •^"Yay carryit the saids maill and tronk again to the Abbay, and as yay came up the Blaik Frier Wind, the Queenes grace was gangand before yame with licht torches," it is said in William Powrie's Declaration ; Laing, His- tory of Scotland, ii. 244. 206 JAMES HEPBUHN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, enveloping himself in a trooper's cloak, he forthwith w-Y^ hurried back to the parsonage, taking with him 1567. Paris and Dalgleish, and followed by Powrie and Wilson, who like him had returned to Holyrood. This time the way taken was not round outside the city wall, but through the suburb of the Canongate, which then occupied the space between Holyrood and the Canongate Port, and thence through the city itself. They left the Palace through its garden, but did not succeed in eluding, at the outlet of the latter, the sentinels, who, standing at their posts, challenged them with the question, Who is there ?" but they rephed, that they were " Friends, " — " Friends of Lord Both well," and this potent name put an end to further question.^ When they reached the Canongate Port, and found it now shut, as it was past midnight, they were obHged to call out here again to the porter, John Galloway, to open for " Friends of Lord Bothwell,'^ and were once more obeyed. Arriving at the garden-wall of Balfour's house, Bothwell ordered three of his attendants to wait quietly, whatever they might see or hear, while he himself, although his progress was impeded by his hand not yet being wholly healed since the fight with ElHot, sprang along with Paris over the wall. Half-an-hour after, they returned, having with them Hay and John Hepburn, who had now set fire to the one end of a thick match leading to the gunpowder, ^ Thus it is said in the Declara- is yat ? and answerit — Friends, tion of William Powrie (Laing, The sentinel speirit, quhat friends ? History of Scotland, ii. 245) : — and yai answerit, my Lord Both- " And deponis, yat as yai came by well's friends." A corresponding the gait of the Quenes south statement is likewise found in the garden, the two sentinellis yat Declaration of George Dalgleish, stude at the zet yat gangis to the Ibid. ii. 249. uther cloiss, speirit at yame, quha darnley's murder. 207 and forthwith retired, lockino^ the door behind them. chap. It was two o'clock. As it was some time ere the match had burnt out, Both well, who would not leave i^^y. until he saw the end of the matter,^ became im- patient, and asked whether there was any window- in the house through which one could see if the match was yet burning. While they were still speaking, the explosion took place, and they hurried away, the report sounding frightfully in the still night. ^ Buchanan even writes, that some buildings in the neighbourhood were shaken by the explosion, and that people in the most distant parts of the city, who were reposing securely in the arms of sleep, awoke in terror.^ Darnley, along with his servants, Taylor and Mackay, lay like corpses on the ground ; Mackay and Glen were crushed ; Nelson and Symonds were so far unhurt, as to be able to rise from among the ruins. As Darnley, who at some distance outside the garden wall, lay under a tree, in his hnen only, but with his remaining clothing and his boots by his side, and was neither ^ And quhen my Lord saw yat ye matter came not hastily to pass, he was angre, and wald have gen in himself in the house, and the said John Hepburn stoppit him, saying this wordis, ze neid not. — Hay's Declaration ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 255.. And speirit gyf yair was ony part of the house yat they mycht se the lunt, gyff it was burnand anouch. — The De- claration of Hepburn, Ibid. ii. 258. ^ In the Declaration which is ascribed to Nicolas Hubert or Paris, it is said about himself and Bothwell : — " Voyla comme ung tempeste on ung tonnoyre qui va eslever. De la peur que j'eu je cheus en terre, les cheveux dresses comme allaines, dysant : Helas, Monsieur, qu'est-ce cecy? II me diet. Je me suis trouv6 a des entreprises grandes, mais jamais ne me feit sy grand peur que cest- ycy." — Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 279. • Tanto cum fragore, ut sedes aliquot vicinse quaterentur, et in longinquioribus urbis partibus, qui somno gravissimo erant oppressi, velut attoniti expergiscerentur, — Buchanan, Berum Scoticarum Historia, p. 214. Swa that thair remainit nocht ane stane upoun uther undistroyit. — Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 106. JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. bruised by any fall, nor had his body scorched/ this circumstance occasioned afterwards, when the explosive action of gunpowder was less known than it is now, the suspicion that before being blown up, he had been suffocated with a pocket-handkerchief stuffed into his mouth, — a suspicion which the rumours current about the period coloured with increased exaggeration.^ But as the body of Darnley, had he been really murdered beforehand, would certainly not have been laid so far away from the house, so it is expressly said in the declaration about the explosion, which we still have from Damley's servant, Thomas Nelson, who slept in the room just by the side of the king's, that he and his comrades had not been sensible of the least thing before the house in which they lay fell about them.^ In later times, when by and by John Hepburn, John Hay, and James Ormiston were apprehended, they too unani- mously protested before their execution, that the king died by the blowing up of the house, without having been suffocated by any one's hand/ The ^ Sir James Melvil tells in his Memoirs, that Bothwell him- self, the morning after the murder, called his attention to this circum- stance : — " He desired me to go ujd and see him, how that there was not a hurt nor a mark on all his body." — Memoirs, p. 78. 2 Memoirs of Sir J ames Melvil, p. 78. One of the earliest rumours has recently been again brought to light by a despatch from the Papal Nuncio in Paris to Cosmo i. de Medici, which Prince Labanoff has printed in his well-known collection. In this we meet not only with the report to the effect that the fugitive Darnley had been suffocated, but even with a kindred story, according to which " alcune donne, che allogia- vano vicino al giardino, affermano d'haver udito gridar il Re. ' Eh fratelli miei, habbiate pieta di me per amor di Colui che hebbe misericordia di tutto il mondo.' " —Labanoff, vii. 108, 109. 2 QuhUks newir knew of ony thing, quhill the hous quherin thay lay wes fallin about thame. — Declaration of Thomas Nelson ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 268. ^ In the confession of John Hepburn of 3d January 1568, it is said :— " He knowis nat other, but that he was blowin in the ayre, for he was handilit with na men's handes as he saw, and if he was, it SIMILAR ATTEMPTS AT MURDER. 209 belief that by such an explosion one could quite chap. certainly be got rid of by his enemies, seems also at a later period, during the Reformation contest, to ^^o^- have gained general acceptance. Already, under the government of Elizabeth, the CathoHcs ot England had proposed to blow up the Queen, together with her parliament.-^ And when the rule of James vi. failed to realise sufficiently all the expectations which the CathoHcs had formed, they actuaUy attempted in London, in the year 1605, by the so-caUed Gunpowder Plot, to repeat on a larger scale the Scottish tragedy. On this occasion, when Thomas Percy had written one of his friends. Lord Mounteagle, the note intended to warn him against being present at the opening of Parliament, and the latter felt that he ought to show it to the Secretary of State, Lord Salisbury, and when Salisbury showed the king himself the note in the Privy Council, it was he who first guessed the meaning of the mysterious warning. The words with which it concluded, " The danger is past as soon as you burn this letter," reminded him of his father's sudden death, and accordingly having, on the evening before the opening of Parliament, was with others, and not with tham." In the confession of John Hay of the same day, we likewise read :— " He affirmit, that in Setoun my Lord Bothwell callit on him and sayd, quhat thought you quhen thOu saw him blowin in the ayre." In the confession of the ^ Laird of Ormiston of 13th Decem- ber 1573, are found furthermore these words : — " Being requyrit be the said minister, gif he knew not that the king was utherways handilit be menes handes, for it is commonlie spokin he was brought fiirth and wirryit, quha anserit, as I sail answer to my God, I knew nothing but he was blawin up ; and did enquyre the samyn maist dilligentlie at John Hep- burne and John Hay, and all that tarreit behind me, quha swore unto me they never knew nae uther thing bot he was blawin up." — Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 263, 264, 293. ^ Ranke, Englische Geschichte vornehmlich im sechszehnten unci siebzehnten Jahrhundert, i. 587. O 210 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, caused a search to be made of the cellars under the v^.^,.^ house in which it was to meet, Guy Fawkes was 1567. there seized while he was, with a hght in his hand, in the act of making the same preparations with gunpowder which John Hepburn and John Hay completed for the Earl of Both well. When at daybreak the people of Edinburgh assembled about the ruins of the parsonage, the Earl of Bothwell was also among the first to step towards the corpse of the king. As soon as he had seen his work accomphshed, and the echoes from Arthur's Seat and SaHsbury Crags caused the crash to reverberate over Holyrood, he had as quickly as possible hurried with his confederates back to the palace. They would now have wilHngly avoided passing again through the Canongate Port, and have rather climbed over the city wall at a part where it was partially broken down, but Bothwell, notwithstanding, found the place too high for his weak hand, and they were obliged once more to wake the gate-keeper, John Galloway, in order to get through, and had after that to submit a second time to describe themselves as "Friends of Lord Bothwell " to the guard at the palace, who in vain inquired what the great crash meant. ^ They had nevertheless reached the palace so speedily, that Bothwell himself, after demanding something to drink, could lay himself in bed, and half-an-hour later, pretend to be terrified when some one knocked ^ Twa of the watchis speirit Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 258. quliat yai were, and ye deponar Als speirit quhat crak yat was, answerit : — We are servants of and yai answerit, yai knew not. — the Erie Bothwell, gangand to Declaration of William Powrie ; him with news out of the town. Ibid. ii. 246. — Declaration of John Hepburn ; EXAMINATION OF DARNLEY's CORPSE. 211 at his door, and, almost speechless with fright, chap. succeeded at length in telling what had happened.^ y— He immediately rose, put on again the magnificent i^^''- dress of the previous day, and repaired along with his brother-in-law, the Earl of Huntly, and several others, to the Queen's apartments, where she also was now informed of the death of the King. The Earl, to whom, as Sheriff of Edinburghshire, it immediately belonged to institute judicial investiga- tion in the matter, next appeared, followed by a company of soldiers, before the spectators at the Kirk-of- Field, and caused Darnley s corpse to be carried to a private house in the neighbourhood, where, by command of the Queen, it was examined by surgeons, who pronounced death to have resulted from the explosion, and where, at the same time, it was also viewed by the other members of Council. From this place it was borne to Holyrood, where it was embalmed, and lay in state. Amongst those who, during this latter proceeding, scanned the body, and could notice that it had no trace of external violence, was also Mary herself, who for a long time in silence fixed her eyes upon Darnley's corpse.^ On the evening of Saturday the 15th of February, the body was quietly deposited by torch Hght in the Eoyal Chapel of Holyrood,^ ^ Mr, George Hacket come to raise and pat on his claiths. — the zet (palace gate) and knocks, Declaration of William Powrie ; and desired to be in ; and quhan Laing, History of Scotland, ii, 246. he came in, he appeared to be in ^ Ipsa corpus, omnium illius ane greit effray, and was black as setatis formosissinium, avide spec- any pik (pitch), and not ane word tavit, nullo in alterutram partem to speik. My Lord enquirit, indicio, animi secreta prodente. quhat is the matter, man ? And — Buchanan, Berum Scoticarum he answerit, the kingis hous is Historia, p. 214. A subject for a blawn up, and I trow (believe) the painter. king be slayn. And my Lord ^ The ceremonies indeede were cryet, Fy, treasoun ! And yan he the fewer, bycause that the greatest 212 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, and Darnley's coffin obtained a place in the same v^.^]^ vault which had already received the earthly remains 1567. of Mary's father, James v., and of the latter's first consort, Magdalene, daughter of Francis i. — the body of Mary of Guise had been conveyed over to Rheims in France — as well as the two little coffins con- taining the dust of Mary's brothers that died im- mediately after their birth. On Sunday the 23d of March, by command of the Queen, a solemn re- quiem was there sung over the remains of the King thus cut down in his prime, and five days after- wards, on Good Friday the 28th of March, the Queen, accompanied by only two of her ladies, came over to Holyrood Chapel and remained in prayer from eleven o'clock in the evening till three next morning.^ From the very first, after Darnley's death, Mary had kept away from the Palace of Holyrood. As for greater security, before the birth of her son James vi., she had repaired to Edinburgh Castle, so now also, after the murder of the King, by which all were surprised, she got like occasion for again taking refuge in the rocky fortress. Henry Killigrew, the English ambassador, who had been immediately sent by Elizabeth to Edinburgh to assure her of the sympathy of the Queen of England, on the 8th March, still found " Her Majesty here in a dark room, so that he could not see her counten- ance, but by her words she seemed to be very sorrowful." ^ Three weeks later it is stated in part of the Counsaile were Pro- Cecil from Berwick, 29th March testantes, and had before enterred 1567. — The CalcTida/r of State their owne parentes, without ac- Pap&rs, For&ign Series, 1566-8, p. customed solemnities of cere- 198. monies. — Lesley's Defence of the ^ Killigrew's letter to Cecil, Honour of Marie Queene of Scot- dated Edinburgh, 8th March 1567. lande ; Anderson, Collecti&Tis, i. 23. — The Calendar of State Papers, 1 Letter of Sir William Drury to Foreign Series, 1566-8, p. 185. Mary's conduct after the murder. 213 another English correspondence about the state of chap. matters in Scotland : — " The Queen has been for the v^Zj^ most part either melancholy or sickly ever since, 1567. , especially this week — upon Tuesday and Wednesday often swooned." ''The Queen/' continues Drury, " breaketh very much. Upon last Sunday divers were witness, for there was mass of requiem and dirige for the King's soul." ^ That Mary nevertheless, during the forty days required by the strictness of the Scottish custom of mourning, did not submit to pass the time amid the light of candles burning in the day-time, but permitted the windows to be opened for the admission of the sunshine, and latterly, in order to enjoy the fresh air, undertook journeys from Edinburgh on two occasions to Seton, was soon eagerly laid to her charge, and was, by those of the party recently meditating the ruin of Darnley, interpreted in the bitterest manner as a sign of her satisfaction at the murder.^ In this instance her friends not only pleaded that Darnley could not be placed on a level with the crowned kings of former times, but her most zealous defender, the Bishop of E/Oss, who himself was then a member of the Privy Council, also goes on to say, after de- scribing her mode of life in the apartments from which the daylight was excluded : — " who had a longer time in this lamenting wise continued, 1 Letter of Sir William Drury simulatum quidem luctum agressa of 29th March 1567, given by est, sed, animi superante leetitia, Strickland, v. 229. foribus occlusis, fenestras aperit, et — coelum solemque adspicere sus- 2 Buchanan writes : " Nam, tinuit : Et ante diem duodecimum, quum in more esset, a priscis confirmato adversus vulgi rumores usque temporibus, ut Reginse, animo, in agrum Setonium, ad post maritorum obitum, complures septem ab oppido millia passuum, dies, non modo coetu hominum, excurrit." — Rerum Scoticarum sed lucis etiam obstinerent aspectu, Historia, p. 215. 214 JAMES HEPBUKN EAKL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, had she not ben moste ernestly dehorted by the vehement exhortations and perswasions of her coun- 1567. saile, who were moued therto by her physitians informations, declaring to them the great and im- minent dangers to her health and life, if she did not with al spede breake vp and leaue that kind of close and solitarie Hfe." ^ The same day on which Darnley was found dead judicial examinations began to be instituted.^ The day after, Tuesday the 11th of February, Mary wrote to the Earl of Lennox in reference to his son's death, and in a letter, giving the intelli- gence about it, on the same day sent to her ambas- sador in Paris, the Archbishop of Glasgow, she expresses the confidence that God in His grace had preserved her in order that she might bring weightier punishment on the crime. " Allvayes quha ever,'' she adds, " have taken this wicked interprys in hand, we assure ourself it wes dressit als Weill for us as for the king ; for we lay the maist part of the last oulk (week) in that same loging, and wes thair accompayit with the maist part of the lordis that are in the town that same night at midnight, and of very chance tarryit not all night, be reason of sum mask in the abbaye ; bot we beleive it wes not chance, bot God that put it in our hede." ^ In conformity with such utterances an announcement was made on the 11th February ^ Lesley's Defence of the Honour greuous sinne against the Holy of Marie, Queen of Scotlande, — Ghoste." Anderson, Collections, i. 24. The ^ In the Declaration of Thomas bishop adds : " Al which yet, not- Nelson it is said that " on the withstanding, this her fact is with Monounday at efter none he was these most seuere and graue callit and examinat." — Laing, His- censors taken for and reputed as tory of Scotland, ii. 268. the very next sin of al to the most ^ Mary's letter of 11th Feb- STEPS TAKEN TO DISCOVER THE MURDERER. 215 promising, in the Queen's name, a reward of two thousand pounds Scots, and an annuity to the first person who would give information of 1567. the murderers ; and he, if he had himself been their accomplice, was also assured of forgiveness. Bothwell, who, the same morning on which the crime was committed, sought at first to explain it as caused by lightning,^ was himself obliged later in the day to subscribe his name to a letter to the Queen -dowager Catherine de Medici and Charles ix. of France, in which the Scottish Council state their assurance that God would never allow such an atrocity to remain concealed or un- punished,^ and some days afterwards Parliament was summoned in consequence of the king's death. Bothwell still assumed that the death of Darnley would not call forth any great sympathy, at least in Scotland, where the king had wellnigh been mortally hated alike by the powerful family of the Hamiltons, who, through his marriage, had seen their hereditary pretensions to the throne set aside by Murray, who, with arms, had resisted his preferment, and by Morton and his confederates, whom he had betrayed ; ruary 1567 to the Archbishop of qu'une si grande honte luy de- Glasgow.— Labanoff, ii. 4. nieure sur les espauls, qui serait 1 T ^.^.r. +^ 4-1.^ .1^^^ ^-^ 4- bastante pour la rendre odieuse ^ 1 came to the door the next , f /-.i • morning after the murther, and V^"^" la Christiannete, si sem- the Ear! of Bothwel said that her malheuretez demeurassent Majesty was sorrowful and quiet, T^'lf ^f' i ? ' ' which occasioned him to come forth: dated Edmburgh (Lislebourg) the He said the strangest accident had i^?^ February 1567, is printed in fallen out which ever was heard of, f^'^.^y, f f ^ a'^^v' i^^' for thunder had come out of the subscribed by the Archbishop sky, and had burnt the King's if ^^^'T' *^^,^^^^P« «J house— The Memoir'^ of Sir Jame^ ^'^^^ Galloway, the Earls of Mdvil ^'^y*^''^^''^^''^'^*'^^'*'^'^ Atholl, Argyll, Cassilis, Huntly, ' P* ■ i>oi/«.weZ/,Caithness,and Sutherland, 2 Vostre Majesty et tout le monde the Lords Fleming and Livingston, cognoistra, que le pays d'Ecosse the Justice-Clerk, Bellenden, and ne vouldra longuement endurer, the Secretary of State, Maitland. 216 JAMES HEPBUKN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CRAF. where the king had been despised by the people for v^^-Y^ whole behaviour after the murder of Riccio ; and 1567. where, in the sixteenth century, all classes were so far removed from the more recent humaneness of feehng which, among the people as a whole, has but a short history, that even men hke Buchanan and Knox depict to us such events as the death of Riccio not only with a characteristic coolness, but some- times almost with manifest pleasure. Should never- theless any lively sjmapathy make its appearance, Both well might moreover suppose, not without reason, that suspicion would more readily turn against the older enemies of Darnley than against him who thought that he had acted prudently, and believed that he could safely rely on the fidehty of his more immediate accomphces. He had the morn- ing after the murder given Hay of Talla a brown steed and Hepburn of Bolton a white one, caused the last-named to throw the keys used into the crevice of a stone-quarry between Holyrood and Leith,^ promised Powrie and Wilson that he would send them to the Castle of Hermitage where they should enjoy an honourable maintenance, and in the evening charged all his followers of the previous night " to hold their tongues, for they should never want so long as he had anything." Bothwell was however disappointed in both his suppositions. Had Darnley died a natural death he would have been quickly forgotten, but the tragical circumstances in which the young sick king was called from sleep into the arms of death now 1 Quhilk the deponar keist in Hepburn ; Laing, History of Scot- the quarie hole betwixt ye Abbay land, ii. 259. and Leith.— Declaration of John BOTHWELL SUSPECTED OF THE MTTRDER. 217 awakened in a portion of the people a sympathy chap. which was purposely fostered by the older enemies of Bothwell. For while, both in foreign countries 1567. and in Scotland, it was at first certainly thought that Murray and Morton were originators of the murder,^ yet the most common suspicion speedily turned against him who had actually accomphshed it. Nor indeed had the caution used in its per- petration been very great, since the Earl's accom- plices had, during the fatal night, been repeatedly challenged, and had as repeatedly replied that they were the Earl of Bothwell' s friends. Very soon it was commonly said that Bothwell was the per- petrator ; voices were heard at night crying out that Bothwell was the murderer : " Some drawing his pourtraict to the life, set above it this superscrip- tion : ' Here is the murtherer of the king,' and threw the same into the street ;" ^ placards were secretly posted up which also named him at the head of those charged with the crime. But although Bothwell's expectations were thus far disappointed, and notwithstanding that even now, under the suspicion threatening him, he was usually seen, when he spoke with strangers, to lay his hand on ^ Morton had however remained at Whittingham, and Murray had been so prudent, or, according to Buchanan, on account of a pre- mature delivery by the Earl's wife, so fortunate, as to leave Edinburgh on the same Sunday, which was the last day of the king's life. If we may believe a report communi- cated by the Bishop of Ross, Murray is nevertheless alleged, after having crossed the Forth, and was riding on his way through Fife, to have said in the evening to a confidential servant : " This night ere morning the Lord Darnley shall lose his life. " — Lesley's Defence of the Honour of Marie, Queene of Scotlande ; Anderson, Collections^ i. 75. * Spottiswood, History of the Church of Scotland, beginning the year of our Lord 203, and continued to the end of the Reign of King James the VI. (the third edition, London, 1668), fol. p. 200. There is not now to be found in the whole of Scotland any portrait of Both- well. 218 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. his dagger/ yet he could still rely on the influence which he, the highly exalted Earl, and his powerful 1567. friends in the council, were able to bring to bear on the mode in which the investigation into the murder was conducted.^ Some few persons, and especially some poor people who dwelt in the neighbourhood of the parsonage, were examined, but good care was taken to prevent any greater light on the subject from appearing. The Queen, whose earHer breach with her husband was generally known, and in reference to whom therefore the first guesses con- cerning Darnley's death were far from favourable, had been reminded by her exalted relatives in France and from other quarters of the necessity of a grave judicial prosecution in connection with it ; but in a matter hke this a queen must still lean upon her council, and feehng herself to be really innocent, and being then, as Mary protested she was, ignorant of who had been the actual perpetrator,^ she must also have been so much the less inclined to permit another, a member of her Privy Council, to be imprisoned in consequence of those denunciations by anonymous writers, who themselves refused to come forward. As the Queen's own name was by no means always spared,* it was so much easier for ^ And his hand, as he talks with ' writes : " For she, good innocent any that is not assured unto him, Ladie, hath, upon her honour, pro- upon his dagger. — Report of Sir tested and plainly declared, that William Drury to Cecil from Ber- afore her taking and imprisonment wick, dated 28th February 1567 ; she neuer knew, who were either Tjtler, History of Scotkind,yii.27l. principal or accessarie, or by any - Sed quis auderet Eothuelium meanes culpable and blame-worthy attingere, quum idem reus, judex, concerning the said murther." — quaesitor, paenae exactor, esset Lesley's Defence of the Honour of futurus? — Buchanan, Rerum Scoti- Marie Queue of Scotlande ; Ander- . carum Historia, p. 215. son, Collections, i. 42. 2 The Bishop of Ross, who at * According to the reports of Sir that time constantly took part in William Drury to Cecil in England the meetings of the Privy Council, the market women could even one LENNOX WRITES THE QUEEN ABOUT IT. 219 Bothwell, on the other hand, to give the investiga- tion begun such a direction that the prosecution for the murder was almost swallowed up by the prose- ^^^7. cution of the lampooners.^ The matter first became really dangerous for Bothwell when at length a man ventured openly to put his name to the charge. Darnley's father, the Earl of Lennox, whom the Queen had immediately apprised of his son's death, had in consequence been in correspondence with her about the institu- tion of a judicial process in reference to it. As Lennox, who, in a letter from his castle at Hous- ton, of the 20th February, had been still unable to bring forward any definite accusation, subse- quently stated in a letter of the 26th of the same month, that he had heard of certain placards posted up in Edinburgh, denouncing certain persons as guilty of the murder, and that therefore he must desire these persons to be taken into custody, Mary, on the 1st of March replied to him, that there were so many placards, with so many different names, but that if the Earl himself would fix upon some of these names, the parties concerned should be pro- day be heard, when Mary was State-Secretary, the laird of Leth- passing the market of Edinburgh, ington, also Bothwell at dinner crying out : " God preserve your with him three weeks after that the grace, if you are saikless (guiltless) latter had been publicly accused of of the king's death." — Tytler, His- the murder. This is proved by tonj of Scotland, vii. 83. Killigrew's letter, written on the above-mentioned day, to Cecil. — ^ Ita omissa de Eegis morte Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen of quaestione, subit altera, multo Scots, ii. 231. Under a proclama- acrior, adversus libellorum auctores, tion from the Privy -Council of et (ut ipsi loquebantur), Bothuelli 14th March 1567 (printed in An- calumniatores. — Buchanan, Rerum derson, Collections, i. 38) against ScoticarumHistoria, 1^.215. There some of the offensive caricatures of was then no opposition against the Queen which had been posted Bothwell in the Council. On the up in Edinburgh, we meet with 8th March Murray had, beside tlie Murray's name also along with Earls Huntly and Argyll and Bothwell's and those of his friends. 220 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, secuted, and, if guilty, should be punished according ^^^-^ to their deserts. Damley's father then at last took 1567. courage, and in a letter of the 17th March, in which he expresses his surprise that these names seemed to have been concealed from Her Majesty, he alleged as persons whom, for his part, he also highly sus- pected,^ according to one placard, the Earl of Bothwell, James Balfour, David Chalmers, and a certain John Spens ; according to another, among the servants of the Queen, the foreigners Francisco de Bisso, Sebastian Pagez, Jean de Bordeaux, and Joseph Biccio, the brother of David. The Queen laid this letter before her council, at the meetings in which Bothwell also was constantly present, and the answers, consisting of two documents. One of these is a letter to Lennox from Mary, dated Edinburgh, 24th March, in which the Queen apprises him that the persons named by him shall be subjected to such a judicial examination as the laws of the king- dom authorise, and desires him quickly to make his appearance in Edinburgh in order to see that the cause was conducted in a right manner.^ The other is 1 Quhilk personis, I assuyre and England ;" in the year 1573 to zour majestie, I, for my part, Catherine de Medici " A Discourse greitlie suspect. — Letter of the on the Legitimate succession of Earl of Lennox to Mary Stuart, of Women ;" and in 1579 to Mary 17th March 1567; Anderson, Stuart, " La Recherche des Singu- Collections, i. 48. David Chal- laritez plus remarquables concern- mers of Ormond, originally trained nient le Etat d'Escosse." Sub- for the Church, had afterwards sequently, on being pardoned, he become a spiritual member of the got back his place in the Supreme Supreme Court, as well as a mem- Court, and died in Scotland in the ber of the Privy Council. He year 1592. — Brunton and Haig, supported the side of Mary Stuart Historical Account of the Senators on her escape from Lochleven, and of the College of Justice, pp. 123, after her flight to England he re- 125. tired to Spain and France. Here he dedicated in the year 1572 to ^ And thairfore we pray zou, gif Charles ix., his " Abridgment of zour lassour and commoditie may the History of Scotland, France, sut, addres zou to be at ws heir in A COURT OF ASSIZE SUMMONED. 221 an Act issued on the 28th March by the members of chap. the council, Both well being also among them, which, after stating how the Earl of Lennox had wished i^^r. the Earl of Bothwell, and the other persons named in certain anonymous placards, to be put in custody and prosecuted, without agreeing to their imprison- ment, appoints a court of assize to be held the 1 2th of April next, and this to be pubhcly proclaimed at the market-places of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dum- barton, and other places where it was judged necessary, in order that all and every one who wished to accuse the Earl, or the other persons suspected by Lennox, might be able to meet before the court in Edinburgh at the appointed time. On the side of Lennox, who assuredly saw that it was easier to accuse than to convict a man so powerful as Bothwell, it was matter of complaint that the respite was too short, while Bothwell, on his part, pretended that he found the time too httle for the preparation of his defence ; but in fact it was simply the law of Scotland that fifteen days should elapse betwixt the summoning and the holding of the court of assize.^ As the court day drew near, a scene was repeated similar to that which had been witnessed in 1565, when Bothwell himself wanted courage to make his appearance. But this time it was Bothwell who assembled the immense following, the Hepburns, his vassals and other adherents thronging into Edinburgh this oulk approcheaDd, as befoir this, and now presentlie quhair ze may see the said triall, we haue writtin and promist. — and declair thay things quhilk ze Letter of 24th March 1567 to the knaw may further the same ; and Earl of Lennox, signed " Zour gud thair ze sail haue experience of Dohter, Marie R. ; " Anderson, our ernest will and eflFectuus mynd CoUecUons, i. 49. to haue an end in this mater, and ^ Hume, Law of ScoiloAnd re- the auctours of saunworthiea deid specPing Trial for Grimes. Edin- reaUe punist, als far furth, in effect, burgh, 1800, 4to, ii. 257. 222 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ci^p. Edinburgh in so great a multitude, that when the ^^^^^ Earl, on the morning of the 12th April, rode from 1567. Holyrood to the Assize court, he was accompanied by a whole host of friends. The Earl of Lennox could not present a similar array of attendants ; his vassals had, during his long exile in England, become accustomed to a certain measure of independence, and he had not been able as yet to regain the strong authority over them which a Scottish chief was wont in other circumstances to exercise. Imme- diately before the holding of the assize, he wrote on the 11th April to the Queen from Stirhng, stating that he had become sick, and craving the postpone- ment of the case, just as he had also begged Ehza- beth to write Mary to the same effect. The bearer of EHzabeth's letter, which was written on the 8 th April, did not reach Edinburgh till six o'clock in the morning of the 12th April; he was not in time with his message, to be able to press through the crowds of Bothwell's followers, who were swaying backwards and forwards while waiting in front of Holyrood for the Earl, and who met him with threatening speeches about " such Englishe vilaynes as sought and procured the stay of the Assiss,''^ and refusals to see to the dehvery of his letter. Only when all the noblemen and vassals had mounted their horses, and Bothwell, along with Lethington, came out from the palace, could these even receive Ehzabeth s letter, with which they turned back to the palace ; and when, on the lapse 1 Letter of Sir William Drury to at ten o'clock in the evening, re- Cecil, dated Berwick, 15tli April ceived Elizabeth's letter at Berwick, 1567. — Chalmers, Life of Mary and thence without delay trans- Queen of Scots, ii. 245. Sir mitted it by " the Provost Mar- William Prary on the 11th April, schall " to Edinburgh. THE TRIAL OF BOTHWELL FOR THE MURDER. 223 of a short time, they rejoined the waiting crowds of chap. horsemen, Lethington told EHzabeth's messenger, ^^^^ in answer to his question whether it had really been i^^^- given to the Queen, that she was still asleep, that therefore he had not given it, and that on this busy day there would hardly be time for doing so until after the assize was held. Attended by a large number of noblemen and vassals, which the envoy of Elizabeth estimated at four thousand,^ Bothwell rode to the assize. This was held at that time in a building reared in 1561, and finally demolished in 1817, which was called the Tolbooth, but which has become better known through Sir Walter Scott's novel, under the name of " The Heart of Mid-Lothian." As assessors in the court we find named James Macgill, Henry Balnaves, of Hallhill, Robert Pitcairn, Prior of Dum- fermline, and Lord Lindsay f it was presided over by the Earl of Argyll as chief justice, the latter, although two years before the enemy of Bothwell, during his contest with Murray, having now for a length of time been his poHtical confederate. When Bothwell, however, advanced to the bar, he was pale and downcast. The laird of Ormiston, one of his associates, who had followed him to the process, which in reality also concerned himself, approached him, and in a low voice said to him : — ''Eye, my lord, what devill is this ye are doand ? Your face shawes what ye are, hald up your face, for ^ So giving place to the thronge ^ Keith, History of the Affairs of of people that passed, wch was the Church and State in Scotland, greate, and by the estimacon of i. 375. Laing {History of Scot- men of good judgments above land, i. 69), however, holds that jjjjM. gentelmen besids other. — this statement must only be con- Letter of Sir William Drury quoted sidered as a mere guess by Keith, by Chalmers, ii. 246. 224 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Godis sake, and luik blythlie ; ye might luike swa and ye were gangand to the deid. AUace, and wo 1567. worth them that ever devysit it, I trow it sail garr us all murne.'' Both well, however, only answered him : — " Had your tongue ; I wald not yet it wer to doe ; I have ane outgait fra it, cum as it may, and that ye will knaw belyve." ^ The Earl of Lennox had really not ventured to appear in court ; on his behalf stepped forward only Robert Cunningham, a member of the Lennox clan, who had taken part in the plot against Kiccio, and who now moved the postponement of the process. On Both well's side, on the contrary, it was maintained that the case should be proceeded with, and this course was at last adopted. The jury, numbering fifteen members, consisted of the Earls Andrew of Bothes, George of Caithness, and Gilbert of Cassihs, Lord John Hamil- ton, a son of the Duke of Chatelherault, Lords James Boss, Bobert Sempill, John Herries, Laurence Oli- phant, and Bobert Boyd, John " Master" of Forbes, and Lairds John Gordon of Lochinvar, James Cock- bum of Langton, James Somerville of Cambus- nethan, John Mowbray of Bambowgall, and Alex- ander Ogilby of Boyne. Some negotiations in the matter seem to have taken place before the court, for the meeting, which began in the morning, only ended at seven o'clock in the evening. After a little hesitation the jury, through the Earl of Caith- ness, a nobleman related to Bothwell by marriage, whom they had chosen as their foreman, gave in the 1 The declaration of James Or- well appear on this occasion alto- miston. — Laing, History of Scot- gether otherwise : — " L'accuse, le land, ii. 294. This account must Comte de Bothwell, se presenta have been overlooked by Mignet d'un air assur^ et confiant devant (Histoire de Marie SPuart, i. 323), la cour de justice." who, in his narrative, makes Both- HIS ACQUITTAL. 225 unanimous verdict of " Not Guilty." The general chap. accusations of Cunningham against those impeached w^J-^ by Lennox, who were said to be notoriously i^^''. known" as the perpetrators of the murder, were certainly valued as by no means any proof On the other hand, some of the jurymen were even quite ignorant up to that moment, how far the guilt of Both well extended, and the members of the jury who were not previously favourably decided towards him, had by this got a special ground for quieting their conscience, since the literal interpretation was as characteristic of the Scottish as of the English legal proceedings, and the question, perhaps not inadvertently, had been so put to the jury that they were asked about the murder as having taken place on the 9th of February, whereas it had not actually occurred until two hours after midnight, or on the next day.^ Immediately after his acquittal Bothwell, in conformity with a custom which had not then quite gone out of use in Scotland, finally issued a public declaration of his willingness to fight a duel with any one who should hereafter ascribe to him the guilt of the king's murder, on which account the Earl of Lennox, as soon as he received intelligence of the issue of the trial, sought and obtained permission to leave Scotland. After visit- ing his grandson in Stirling Castle, he embarked on the 17th April, in the " Thirteenth," a ship on the west coast of Scotland, and sailed through the Irish Sea to England,^ in order to seek out Lady Lennox ^ Sir James Melvil writes about part in expectation of advantage. — the jurymen that they " cleansed Memoirs, p. 78. and acquitted him. some for fear, ^ Diurnal of TienmrTcahle Occur - some for favour, and the greatest rents, t^. 119. P 226 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ci^p. whom Elizabeth, at the news of Darnley's union w^Y^ with Mary Stuart, had formerly deprived of liberty, 1567. but whom, on now receiving tidings of Darnley's death, she had set free again, after having, at her despotic caprice, for about two years, kept her shut up in the Tower. CHAPTEE VL The Parliament summoned in consequence of the chap. death of Darnley was opened almost immediately v after the court of assize was held, an interval merely i''^^^. of two days elapsing between them. It sat only from the 14th to the 19th of April, but during this short period made various important enactments. Among these was a parliamentary recognition of the recovered rights of the Earl of Huntly, which some in more recent times have sought to ascribe to the presumed influence of Both well, who, in view of his approaching divorce, is said to have wished by this means to secure his brother-in-law's consent. The possessions of the Gordons had, after the battle of Corrichie, been confiscated, but when Murray manifestly proved himself a rebel, Mary restored to George Gordon the earldom of Huntly, and made him chancellor. In consequence of a parliamentary enactment dating from the preceding century, none of the possessions which had devolved to the crown could be finally alienated without the assent of Parliament ; ^ the confiscation of the estates of the Gordons having been meanwhile ratified by Parlia- ^ But avyz deliverance and The Acts of the Parliaments of decret of the haill parliament. Scotland, ii. 42. —The Act of 4th August 1455 ; 228 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, ment, it was thus necessary that their restoration w-^^ should be similarly confirmed, and this Parliament 15G7. of April 1567 was the first that Mary Stuart had seen assembled since the one which at the murder of Riccio had been immediately dissolved. It was thus no new favour to the Earl of Huntly which in this instance was in question. The promise of the Queen to Huntly was already twenty months old, six months older than Bothwell's marriage to his sister. Besides, it was not Huntly alone who now obtained the final confirmation of his possessions and dignities, but the same favour was shown at this time to many others of the nobility whose earlier conspiracies were in no small degree occasioned by the fear lest Mary should re- sume, in name of the crown, the numerous eccle- siastical estates which the nobles, under her minor- ity, had either appropriated, or at least got trans- ferred to themselves, but whose tenure they had nevertheless seen threatened by that other enact- ment according to which the sovereign, during the first four years after his majority, could, in cases where full payment had not been given, still forbear to confirm such transfers, and instead thereof revoke them. Amid the turbulence which ensued on the murder of Darnley, many from the most opposite factions now endeavoured to get their titles con- firmed. Accordingly in this Parliament there were so confirmed about thirty such deeds from the crown, some of which were really in favour of those who had been the w^orst enemies of the Queen. In respect to what concerned himself Bothwell also obtained the ratification of his possession of Dunbar Castle, but so far as any special influence exerted AINSLIE S SUPPER. by Bothwell during this brief meeting of Parlia- ment is in question, we may more readily find this in certain legal provisions enacted to the advantage of Protestants, just as certainly as that the Earl of Huntly from this period, and soon undoubtedly in combination with his sister, must be assumed to have come to an agreement with his brother-in-law Bothwell about the latter s rapidly following divorce. Parliameint also expressly ratified the acquittal of the Earl of Bothwell by the Court of Assize, at the same time issuing a threatening Act against those who presumed after the king's death to circulate infamous placards against diverse persons. At the close of Parhament, ere its members had returned to their homes, Bothwell did not neglect, on the 19th of April, to meet with almost the whole of the principal nobility at the evening entertain- ment, which, from the inn where it was held, is known in Scottish history under the name of " Ainshe's Supper."^ When the entertainment was at its height there was laid before those present a document for signature, with which Bothwell gave them to understand that the Queen would be well pleased, and in which they not only anew declared themselves convinced of Both well's innocence, and engaged to defend the Earl against every calumnia- tor, but besides, in consideration of his birth and ^ Bothwell mentioned later in with which the enemies of Mary Denmark the place and those Stuart afterwards came forward present thus : " Apres que j'eus during the conferences in England, gaigne ma cause, vindrent deuers it is said on the contrary that the moy en mon logis du diet park- members of Parliament had been ment de leur franche et propre "callit to suppar be Boithuille at volont^, sans estre pryez, qui es- his hous than kepit within the toyent douze contes, huict evesques Palace of Halyroudehouse." — et huict seigneurs." In the apology Hosack, Mary Queen of Scots and of the so-called Booh of Articles, her Accusers, p. 542, 230 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. VI. 1567. services/ recommended this noble lord, being a native, in preference to any foreign prince, so truly " as we are nobillmen, and will answer to God," as a befitting husband for the Queen, whose continued widowhood was hurtful to the country. Bothwell's most intimate followers, and those who were afraid that if he were disappointed of the Queen's hand he would expose them as leaders in what had been done,^ first set the example of subscribing ; after this the others promised likewise to forward his claim to the Queen's hand, with theu- honour, life, and estate, and to consider all who should hinder it their common enemies and foes." Among those as present on this occasion are also mentioned the Bishop of Ross, Lord Herries, and other individuals,^ 1 Coiisiddering the anciencie and nobillenes off his Houis, the honor- able and guid service done be his predecessoris, and speciallie hini- selfte, to oure soverane, and for the defence of this her Hienes Eealme againis the enemyeis thairof, and the amitie and friendshipe quhilk sa lang hes perseverit betwix his Houis and everie ane of us, and utheris our Predecessoris in par- ticular. — Document in Anderson, Collections, i. 108. 2 Ne Bothuelius, promissis nup- tiis exclusus, eos ut totius sceleris arch ite etas insimularet. — Camdeni , Annales, p. 138, ^ During the conference at West- minster Cecil received a copy of the Bond which had been entered into by the Scottish gentlemen on the 19th of April 1567 in favour of Bothwell. The copy was however without the undersigned names, and the person who brought it to Cecil, John Read, a wq-iter with Buchanan, was obliged then from memory to state the names to Cecil, who, with his own hand, noted them down on that copy which is still preserved in the Cot- tonian Library with these words appended : " The names of such of the nobility as subscribed the band, so far as J ohn Read might remem- ber, of whom I have this copy, being in his own hand, being com- monly called in Scotland Ayns- lie's Supper." The first of the alleged names (in Anderson, Col- ledions, i. 112) can however by no means awaken implicit confidence in the correctness of the list, for this name is— Murray's, who, at the period treated of, was not in Scotland, but, foreseeing the com- ing storm, had sought and obtained the Queen's permission to repair to France. He was still present in Scotland the 2d April 1567, when, in striking contrast with his later accusations against Mary Stuart as a murderess, by a testament he in- stalled the Queen as guardian of his only child, or, according to the language then used, as " oueris- wonian to se all thingis be handillit and reulit for the weil of my said BOTHWELL RECOMMENDED AS A HUSBAND FOR MARY. 231 who were the Queen's faithful and devoted ad- chap. VI herents, and however low the moral sense had then Wy-*-- sunk in so many of the gentry of Scotland, yet the 15^7. conduct which they are said now to have shown can only be understood of a part of them on the supposi- tion that they really did not know at the time Both- welFs share in Darnley's murder. Afterwards, for the first time, when it was wished to give the affair the appearance of having been submitted to only as a matter of necessity, the assertion was put forth on the other side that the place where the banquet was held was surrounded by two hundred arquebusiers, and that therefore only Earl Hew Eglinton was able to escape without subscribing. The whole occurrence, almost as strange, reminds us of the bond which, at the well-known similar banquet at Pilsen, was afterwards subscribed by the adherents of Wallenstein, and in which the guests likewise promised not by any means to separate their cause from his, to give him the last drops of their blood, and to prosecute every one acting otherwise as a perfidious and infamous person.^ Of Wallenstein's forty-two colonels, who, on the 12th January 1634, subscribed the bond at Pilsen, there were, as is well known, not a few natives of Scotland. What took place at " Ainslie's Supper" could certainly not long remain a secret. And when Mary dochter {Begistrum Honoris cle still held to be valid, it must be Morion A Series of ancient Char- by assuming that Murray may ters of the Earldom of Morton, with either have signed the document in other original Papers, Edin. 1853, question before his departure, or 4to,i. 17), but on the 19th April it is have empowered some other to expressly said in one of the Acts sign it in his behalf, of Parliament of this day, that he was then out of the kingdom of ^ Hurtur, Wallensteins vier leMe Scotland. If notwithstanding, in Lehensjahre. Wien, 1862, pp. 364- this instance, the list of Cecil is 366. JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. Stuart also during the action brought against Both well continued to keep him in her favour ; when, accord- ing to a report made by Sir Wilham Drury to Cecil in England, it was even said, that from a window in Holyrood, while standing by the side of Lady Mary Lethington, she had nodded a greeting to Both well when he rode up to the Court of Assize, or still later, during the sitting of the court, had sent a message to learn how it was going with him,^ it began henceforward, especially in England, to be foreseen what was at hand, and the rumour got quickly into general circulation that Bothwell was about to marry the Queen. Sir James Melvil tells in his Memoirs that good subjects who loved the Queen were pained by this rumour, and adds, that there were several who, at their own risk, ventured to remonstrate with the Queen. Thus he relates that Lord John Herries came well attended to Edinburgh, confided to the Queen all that was said about Both- well and his designs, and kneeling, begged her not to marry the Earl. The Queen seemed to wonder how such rumours could have got abroad, and assured him that she had no thought of anything of the kind. Lord Herries besought the Queen to put a good construction on his remonstrance, and from fear of Bothwell, immediately rode home from Edinburgh after causing every one of the fifty horsemen with whom he had come to purchase a new spear. But this tale does not seem to agree well with the fact that Herries was in Edinburgh during the session of Parhament, or ^ According to Drury's account however, also brings forward as a to Cecil (Tytler, History of Scot- specially noticeable sign of favour Zajic?, vii, 375, 376). It is founded for Bothwell after the death of on a misunderstanding when Tytler, Darnley, the fact that the Earl, THE QUEEN ADJURED NOT TO MARRY HIM. with the statement that he also subscribed the document at " AinsHe's supper/' just as he generally about this period showed himself as a facile ad- herent of Bothwell, having accordingly been one of the witnesses to the subsequent marriage-contract between Bothwell and the Queen, and three days afterwards, on the 17th May, having attended a meeting of the Privy Council over which Bothwell presided.^ More remarkable is another tale of a hke nature told by Melvil, inasmuch as this is communicated by him from personal knowledge. He likewise tells that another Scotsman, Thomas Bishop, who had resided long in England, and had laboured there with zeal for the rights of Mary, wrote him a letter which he adjured him to show the Queen, and in which this devoted adherent of hers expressed himself to the same effect as Lord Herries, but with the greater freedom which absence in a foreign country permitted ; if the Queen married the Earl, so it was said in this letter, she would lose God's favour, and all hearts in England, Ireland, and Scotland. Sir James Melvil actually showed the letter to the Queen, who, after reading it, silently returned it to him, but called the Secretary of State, William Maitland, and asked him also to read this remarkable paper. The laird of Lethington then when the Queen rode to the Par- liament both at its opening and at its close, bore the royal sceptre before her, while the Earl of Argyll bore the crown and the Earl of Crawford the sword (see Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents, pp. 108, 109). This was a manifest conse- quence of his position, and had already been the case long before the year 1567. When Mary Stuart, on the 7th of March 1565, proceeded to the Parliament then opened in Edinburgh, it is said : " In hir Majesties cuming thairto, George Lord Gordoun, eldest sone to vmquhile George, Erie of Huntlie, bure the croune, James, Brie of Bothwill, the ceptour, and Dauid, Erie of Crawfurd, the sword ot' honour." — Diurnal of Remarhahle Occurrents, p. 89. 1 Goodall, ii. 61. 234 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, said to Melvil that he had acted more honourably ^^-Y^ than wisely, and advised him to withdraw ere Both- 1567. ^qII came forth to the Queen, an advice which Melvil found it well to follow, for the Earl imme- diately burst out in a rage at what the Queen now communicated to him, until Mary Stuart — so much sway had she still over his savage temper — quieted him by beseeching him not to deprive her of her best servants/ Melvil relates this as something which occurred before the Queen's abduction to Dunbar, but his Memoirs, which he first penned when advanced in life, prove, on the whole, not very reliable wherever dates are in question,^ and as the rumour of the purpose of marriage between Mary and Both well can hardly have gained entrance into England before the news of the subscription of the Bond on the 19th April, so neither can the above- mentioned warning be easily assumed to have reached Scotland until after the Queen's abduction, when it woTild arrive too late. But, even if any such warning had come forward earher, it was at all events not the same thing as a direct accusation against Bothwell, so unanimously acquitted, and recommended by the nobles, that he had really had a share in the murder of Darnley, and that at least no such accusation whatever was brought before her by any of her subjects previously to their rising against Bothwell, Mary Stuart at a later period 1 Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, called on to marry Bothwell, to the pp. 78-79. period after her abduction, al- though it had previously occurred - Thus Melvil represents the on the 19th April ; he makes also visit of Mary Stuart to Jedburgh, Daloleish be first taken prisoner us if it had taken place after the in Orkney in the autumn of 1567, baptism of James vi. ; he refers to while he had already been im- the signing by the nobles of the prisoned in Edinburgh in June document, in which the Queen was {Memoirs, pp. 77, 80, 85). ABDUCTION OF THE QUEEN. solemnly protested, with the additional assurance that if she had had any idea of it, she would cer- tainly never have allowed things to go so far as they did.^ It was only a few days after the close of Parlia- ment and the subscription of the Bond that Both- well undertook the famous surprise by which he carried off Mary as a prisoner. On Monday the 21st of April Mary left Edinburgh with a small retinue, to pay a visit to her little son in Stirling Castle, where, in view of the threatening period which the murder of Darnley seemed to herald, he had, on the 2d of March, been intrusted to the care of John Erskine, who formerly, while he was known only as Prior of Inchmahome, was one of Mary's earliest instructors, but now, since the death of his father and of his elder brother, had become Earl of Mar.'^ When returning homewards after a short stay in the beautiful castle of Stirling, where Mary now saw for the last time her little son, and where this child of hers had afterwards to remain during the whole of his minority, on the 23d of April she was suddenly seized by the way with such violent ^ With respect to Darnley's ^ ^g^g ^j^g occasion of this murder, she says : - " For nane of visit to Stirling that the blind my subjectis did declair unto me, hatred against Mary culminated befoir my taking and imprisoun- in such a way as to lead to her nient, that thay quha ar now being even accused of having there haldin culpabill and principal attempted to destroy her little son : executouris thairof, wer the prin- — " She offered him an apple, but cipal auctoris and comniittaris of it would not be received of him ; the samin ; quhilk gif thay had and to a greyhound bitch having done, assuritlie I wald not have whelps was thrown, who eat it, and proceidit as I did sa far." — Instruc- she and her whelps died presently." tion of Mary Stuart to her repre- — Letter of Sir William Drury to sentatives at the Conference in Cecil, dated Berwick the 20th England, dated, Bolton Castle, the May 1567 ; Calendar of State 29th September 1568. Labanoft", Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-8, p. ii. 202. 235. JAMES HEPBURN EAllL OF BOTHWELL. pains, that she was obhged for some time to take up her abode in a small cottage. On recovering, she continued her journey, and had passed the night in the palace of her birth at Linlithgow, when on Monday, the 24th April, she was surprised by Both- well at a bridge over the river Almond.^ The Earl of Bothwell had made it appear as if he intended to repair again to the unquiet Border districts ; he had thus spoken in presence of his associates, and had accordingly been able to assemble so many men, that he was accompanied on this occasion by nearly a thousand mounted spearmen, so that the inconsider- able retinue which attended the Queen had not any hope of being able, even if they had been wilhng, to make a stand against the superior force with which they were now surrounded. Bothwell spoke only some hurried words about the Queen's being threatened by an impending danger from which he wished to save her,^ and while some of her attend- ants got permission to pass on without hindrance, he himself took hold of the bridle of the Queen's horse, his men in like manner secured George Earl of Huntly, William Maitland, laird of Lethington, ^ Vide Note I, Appendix. ^ Onde Ini un giorno che la Regina se ne andava, quasi sola per videre il figlio, la assalto in strada con mold de suoi, et con buone parole et con mostrarle che la Maesta Sua si trovava in grandis- simo pericolo, la condusse in uno delli suoi castelli." The Repre- sentation sent from Mary Stuart's side to the Christian Princes, written at Carlisle in June 1568. LabanofF, vii. 317. Froude under- stands much more fully how to re- present this occurrence, and it may serve as a small example of his romancing way of writing histor}', that, without any warrant whatso- ever from authorities, he relates (History of England, ix. 64) the surprisal thus : — " As the royal train appeared, he (Bothwell) dashed forward with a dozen of his followers, and seized her bridle- rein ; her guard flew to her side to defend her, when, with singular composure, she said she would have no bloodshed ; her people were outnumbered, and rather than any of theiu should lose their lives, she would go wherever the Earl of Bothwell wished. Uncer- tain what to do, they dropped their swords." Mary's account of her relations with bothwell. and Sir James Melvil, and these prisoners were then hurried off to the well-fortified castle of Dunbar, lying at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, which had been given up to Bothwell in reward for his services. When, at a later date, Mary, during her imprison- ment in England, was asked about Both well's rela- tions to her, she either answered only with vague words, or began to weep.^ But at a period not long after her abduction, we have from herself a more precise account of what had taken place between her and Bothwell, ere she gave him her hand. It is contained in an instruction which, immediately after her marriage to Bothwell, she communicated to William Chisholm, Bishop of Dunblane, who was deputed to explain to the King of France, the Queen- Dowager Catherine de Medici, the Cardinal of Lorraine and her other relatives on the Continent, the step she had then taken, just as Sir Bobert Melvil, brother of Sir James, was de- puted to explain it to Elizabeth in England. After touching on the never-to-be-forgotten meritorious services which the Earl of Bothwell had rendered at the beginning of her reign, she goes on to say that it was first " sen the deceis of the King oure husband, yat his pretensis began to be heichar.'* " His deportmentis," she remarks, " in this behalf may serve for ane exempill, how cunninglie men can cover yair designeis, quhen thai haif ony greit inter- pryis in heid quhill yai haif brocht yair purpois to pas. We thocht his continewance in the awayting upoun ws, and reddines to fulfill all oure command- mentis, had procedit onelie upoun the aknawlegeing ^ The account of Sir Francis nen Elisabeth und Maria Stuart, Knollys. — Raumer, Die Konigin- p. 221. 238 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, of his dewtie, being oure borne subject, without furder hid respect ; quhilk movit ws to mak him the 1567. bettir visage, thinking nathing less yan that the same being bot ane ordinarie countenance to sic nobellmen as we fand affectionate to oure service, sould encourage him, or gif him bauldnes to luke for ony extraordinar favour at oure handis."^ At the outset Bothwell, when he ventured to reveal his thoughts to the Queen, only sought to gain her assent by humble attention, but he found her answer anything but corresponding to his wishes.^ It was then in consideration of the Queen's unwillingness, of the hindrances which her friends or his foes might put in his way, and of the possible change of their mind, whose consent he had already obtained, that the Earl determined to try his good fortune, and undertook the surprise at Almond Bridge, and the abduction to Dunbar. " In quhat part we tuke that maner of dealing, bot speciallie how strange we fand it of him, of quhome we doubtit less than of ony other subject we had, is easie to be imagined. Being thair (at Dunbar) we reprochit him, (reminding him of) the honour he had to be sa estimit of ws, the favour we had alwayis schawn him, his ingratitude with all uther remonstrances quhilk mycht serve to red ws out of his handis. Albeit we fand his doings rude, zit wer his answer and wordis bot gentill, that he wald honour and serve us, and nawayis offend us ; askit pardoun of the bauldnes he had tane to convoy ws to ane of oure awin housis, quhairunto he wes drevin be force, als Weill as constrainit be lufe, the vehemencie quhairof ^ Instruction of Mary Stuart to ^ " But finding oure answere the Bishop of Dunblane. — La- nathing correspondent to his de- banoff", ii. 32-44, and 45-49. syre." — Ihid. ii. 37. Mary's reasons for marrying him. 239 maid him to set apart the reverence quhilk naturallie chap. as oure subject he bure to ws as alswa for saiftie of Wy-!-^ his awin lyff. And thair began to mak ws a dis- i^^^. cours of his haill lyff, how unfortunate he had bene to find men his unfreindis quhome he had nevir offendit ; how thair mahce had nevir ceasit to assault him at all occasiounis, albeit onjustlie ; quhat cal- umpnyis had thai spred upoun him twiching the odious violence perpetrated on the persoun of the King oure lait husband ; how unabill he was to safe himself from conspiraceis of his innemeis, quhome he mycht not knaw, be ressoun everie man professed him outwartlie to be his friend ; and zit he had sic malice, that he could not find himself in suirtie, without he wer assurit of oure favour to indure without alteratioun ; and uther assurance thairof could he not lippin in, without it wald pleis ws to do him that honour to tak him to husband ; protesting alwayis that he wald seik na uther soveraintie bot as of befoir, to serve and obey ws all dayis of oure lyff, joyning thairunto all the honest language that could be usit in sic a cais. And quhen he saw ws lyke to reject all his sute and offeris, in the end he schowed ws how far he was procedit with oure haill nobilitie and principallis of oure estaittis, and quhat thai had promeist him undir thair handwrittis. Gif we had caus yan to be astoneist, we remit ws to the jugement of the King, the Queue, oure uncle, and utheris oure friendis. Seing oure self in his puissance, sequestrat frome the cumpany of all oure servandis, and utheris of quhome we mycht ask for counsale ; zea, seing thame upoun quhais counsale and fidelitie we had befoir dependit, quhais force aucht and mon manteine oure authoritie, without quhome in a 240 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, maner we ar nathing : — for quhat is a Prince without ^ — ^ a peopill — befoir hand abeddie zealded to his ape- 1567. tyte, and swa we left allane as it wer a pray to him ; mony thingis we revolved with oure self, but nevir could find ane outgait. And zit gaif he ws lytill space to meditate with oure self, evir pressing ws with continewall and importune sute."^ Among the many thoughts which had then forced themselves on the Queen she mentions expressly that she now felt herself almost broken down by the frequent rebel- lions, that the kingdom rent asunder into parties needed to have a man at its head, and how difficult it was to get her people to accept of a foreigner, and then it is finally said in reference to Bothwell : — " Eftu- he had be this meanis, and mony utheris, brocht ws agaitward to his intent, he parthe ex- torted, and parthe obtenit oure promeis to tak him to oure husband. And zit not content thairwith, fearing evir sum alterationis, he wald nocht be satis- feit with all the just ressounis we could allege to have the consummatioun of the mariage delayit, as had bene ressounabill, quhill we mycht com- municat the same to the King, the Queen, oure uncle, and utheris oure friendis; bot as be a bravado in the begynning he had win the fyrst point, sa ceased he nevir till be persuasionis and importune sute, accumpaneit notheles with force, he hes finalie drevin ws to end the work begun at sic tyme and in sic forme as he thocht mycht best serve his tume."^ At the same time as Mary gave the Bishop of Dunblane this instruction, she also wrote to her ambassador asking this very devoted friend of hers 1 Labanoff, ii. 38-39. - Ihid. ii. 41. DID MARY CONSENT TO HER OWN ABDUCTfON ? 241 to afford, in the way he deemed best, assistance to the Bishop in his difficult commission to her relatives, w^-^ And just as on this occasion she repeated that all she had said in that instruction was truth,^ so at a later period, when she empowered another envoy in Rome to labour for the dissolution of her marriage with Bothwell, she again repeated that only against her will, only by force, had she entered into this marriage.^ With the substance of Mary's representa- tion, according to which it was contrary to her knowledge and will that Bothwell took her prisoner, the first proclamations and writings which the leaders of the rebellion against Bothwell afterwards issued also agree. For these simply advance as one of the chief complaints against the Earl that he had now become guilty of high treason by having used force against the Queen's most noble person.^ It is of still greater significance that Sir James Melvil, who along with the Queen was taken a prisoner to Dunbar, likewise expresses himself to the same purport. In his Memoirs we read that after the arrival at Dunbar in the evening, Bothwell boasted that he would marry the Queen whether she would or would not,^ and in the same place it is sub- sequently stated that the Queen could not help marrying him after he had forcibly carried her off ^ In our instructioun to the ^ Contro nostra volunta — contro Bischop of Dunblane we have maid nostra voglia. — Instruction of discours of the verie trewth of the Mary to Robert Ridolfi, of March mater ; we have mentionat the 1571 ; Labanoff, iii. 232. samyn sincerelie from the very Note K, Appendix, beginning. — Letter of Mary to . * There the Earl of Botbwel the Ambassador in Paris, the boasted he would marry the Queen, Archbishop of Glasgow, dated who would or who would not, yea Edinburgh, 27th May 1567; La- whether she would herself or not. banoff, ii. 54-56. — Memoirs, p. 80. Q JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. and dishonoured her/ Finally, what a contemporary also relates is in harmony with the substance of the Queen s representation : — " The rumour of the re- vissing of hir Majestie come to the Pro vest of Edin- burgh, incontinent the commoun bell rang, and the inhabitants thairof ran to armour and wappynnis, the portes wes steikit, the artailzerie of the castell schot. — Upon the samin day, it wes alledgit that it wes devisit, that William Maitland, zounger of Lethington, secretare to our souerane ladie, being in hir cumpany the tyme foirsaid, suld have been slane."^ This impression was however soon forced to give way before the opinion which subsequently prevailed in Scotland, according to which no doubt could be entertained, even from the beginning, that what Bothwell had undertaken was done in conse- quence of an agreement with Mary/ His conduct was more precisely accounted for at the time in three ways. It was in Scotland an old practice that when papers were drawn up, by which any one obtained pardon for crimes, this was so done that only the chief crime was expressly mentioned, while merely a clause was added, describing in general terms what offences the person concerned had besides committed. Buchanan accordingly holds that as the murderers of the King, and especially Bothwell, were afraid that there might ^ And then the Queen could not announced during the abduction but marry him, seeing he had itself to Dunbar by one of Both- ravished her and lain with her well's own confidants : — " Capitain against her will. — Memoirs of Sir Blachater, who has taken me, James Melvil, p. 80. alledged, that it was with the 2 A Diurnal of Remarkable Queen's own consent," it is said in Occurrents, p. 110. the Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, 3 Tytler's History of Scotland, p. 80. vii. 88. This opinion was even EXPLANATIONS OF THE ABDUCTION. 243 come a time when it would be seriously resolved to punish them for the deed, they had found out that by the help of such a clause they would be able to i^^^- get the crime pardoned, the express mention of which in a document might appear as dangerous to the perpetrators as it would be unseemly for the pardoner/ The murder of the Queen's husband could not be mentioned, but another crime of high treason, which was less odious, must be found out, under screen of which the murder of the King as by a piece of sophistry could be concealed and forgiven. An attack upon the Queen's exalted person was such an aggravated crime, and therefore nothing more fitting for the purpose could be contrived than that feigned abduction. Others explained the strange transaction by alleging that its design was to stop the mouths of those who had long thought that the Queen stood in a too intimate relation to the Earl.^ More natural than both these far-fetched explana- tions is that which, while still seeing in the abduc- tion merely a pre-concerted piece of acting, inter preted it as a direct result of an immoderate love for BothwelP which made her impatiently long to be able to call him her own. As they who favour ^ Nam, quum in Scotia mos esset, erle wes mair familiar with hir ut diplomata, quibus scelerum grace lang of befoir, nor honestie gratia fit, qui veniam petit, gravis- requyrit.— J. Diurnal of Remark- simum facinus nominatim expri- able Occurrents, p. 110, mant, ac cetera generalibus verbis ^ Already on the 20th April adjiciat, decreverunt paricidii pub- 1567, Kirkaldy of Grange wrote lici conscii, nominatim de manus in a letter to the Earl of Bedford injectione in principem veniam that the Queen of Scotland was petere, deinde velut in cumulum reported to have said that "she subjicere, caeteris nefariis factis. — cared not to lose France, England, Buchanan, Rerum Scoticarum His- and her own country for him, and toria, p. 217. . shall go with him to the world's 2 Bot it was rather done for the end in a white petticoat before stanche of the mouthes of the she leave him." — Ty tier's History peopill, that allegit that the said of Scotland, vii. 88. JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. this mode of explaining the hurried marriage pro- ceed upon the supposition that the passion had long before led Mary to give herself up to the Earl, so one of her later defenders behoves that he is able to expose the foohshness of any such explanation by asking the questions : — " Where was the necessity for a precipitate marriage at all ? Was Mary so eager to become Both well's wife, with whom she indeed had long been indulging in an ilhcit inter- course, that she could not wait the time demanded by common decency to wear her widow s garb for Darnley ? Was she really so entirely lost to every sense of female dehcacy and pubhc shame, — so utterly dead to her own interests and reputation, — or so very scrupulous about a little longer continuing her unlicensed amours, that, rather than suffer the de- lay of a few months, she would thus run the risk of involving herself in eternal infamy 1"^ These questions are not without force for those against whom they are directed, but if the relation be ap- prehended somewhat differently, it would be possible to meet them. There is with regard to the abduc- tion and the subsequent sudden marriage a circum- stance which is not ordinarily taken into consider- ation in this connection, but to which we might refer as an answer. Immediately after Mary's third marriage her opponents declared that she had again become pregnant,^ and when the Queen was con- fined a prisoner at Lochleven, Sir Nicholas Throck- morton, who had been sent by Elizabeth to 1 Bell's Life of Mary Queen of the Earl of Bedford to the Earl Scots, ii. 86. of Leicester, dated Garendon the The Prince is in greater dan- 15th of June 1567 ; Calendar of ger than before, by reason the State Papers {Foreign Series) 1566- Queen is with child.— Letter of 1568, p. 252. WHY THE QUEEN DID NOT REJECT BOTHWELL. 245 Scotland to negotiate her release, wrote in a letter from Edinburgh of 18th July 1567, to his mistress : ^ — ^ — " I have also persuaded her to conform herself to renounce Bothwell for her husband, and to be con- tented to suffer a divorce to pass betwixt them ; she hath sent me word that she will in no ways consent unto that, but rather die, grounding herself upon this reason, taking herself to be seven weeks gone with child ; by renouncing Bothwell, she should acknowledge herself to be with child of a bastard, and to have forfeited her honor, which she will not do to die for it."^ Might not Mary, under the sup- position of which she makes mention, have at this time or earlier beheved her pregnancy to be of older date ? And, if the Queen had such fear after Darn- ley's death, might not Bothwell then have found the final encouragement to venture on the abduction, and the Queen afterwards an incentive for not at this time rejecting his hand ? Even if the abduction to Dunbar had not taken place with the Queen's will, yet the opposition which she there exhibited to Bothwell was at all events so small in comparison with her former brave behaviour during the catas- 1 Letter of Throckmorton, Ro- real fact. Mary herself, in July bertson's History of Scotland, ii. 1570, names James vi. in her let- 311. "Elle eut du Comte de ter to Lady Lennox, " Your little Bothuel, son troisieme Mary, une sonne {i.e. grandson) and my onelie fiUe qui fut Religieuse a Notre childe " (Labanoff, iii. 78), and Dame de Soissons," it is said, in seems even to have felt proud of accordance with this, in La- only having borne one child, in as boureur's Supplement to Memoires far as we may venture to con- de Messire Michel de Castelnau, i. elude from one of her favourite 648. But although it has been devices, which shows a lion and its stated by one on the other side of young one, with the legend unum the Channel that Mary Stuart quidem, sed leonem (Selectus Di- was delivered of a child at Loch- plomatum et Numismatum Scotise leven (Wright's Queen Elizabeth Thesaurus, Collegit J. Andersonus, and her Times, i. 266), yet not Edinburghi, 1739, fol. tab. clxxvii. many will, with Prince Labanoff, nr. 4). ii. 63, find in such legends any 246 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. trophe which put an end to Riccio's life, that this weakness becomes the weightiest — and properly the only incontrovertible — reason for assuming an earlier and more intimate understanding between her and the Earl than she has plainly admitted. When some one mentioned to David Hume that a new treatise had been published, the author of which was believed to have successfully vindicated Mary, the historian only asked : " Has he also proved that the Queen did not marry Bothwell f and when no affirmative answer could be given, he signified that the attempt had failed.^ While the Queen's sojourn at Dunbar continued, Bothwell hastened a divorce from his former wife, in the way which, during the disorganisation of the Reformation period, was so common, that it caused foreigners to say, that " in England, and still more in Scotland, they had a strange custom, being able to divorce each other when they were no longer pleased with one another,"^ — an easy mode of which Mary, even in her own family, had immediate examples, siace her grandmother, Queen Margaret, after the death of James iv. , had married Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus — father to the Countess of Lennox — a,nd Henry Stuart, Lord Methven, and ^ Taylor's Pictorial History of Scotland. — London, 1859, ii. 57. 2 " II ont une coustume estrange en Angleterre, mais plus prattiquee en Escosse, de pouvoir se repudier I'un I'aultre quant ilz ne se trou- vent bien ensemble. La chose est remarquable par les exemples qui s'en sont ensuivis." — Letter of the French minister Du Croc to the king, of 27th May 1567 ; Teulet, Papier s cfEtat, ii, 157. Du Croc conjectures here that this custom in royal families dates " de Matilde, fille Henry i®^, troisiesme filz de Guillaume le Conquerant, laquelle ayant espouse Henri iii., empe- reur, elle le laissa pour prandre Galfroy de Plantagenet." Both- well expresses himself in a like manner in Denmark : — " Au mesme instant ils consulterent comment je pouvrois legitement repudier ma premiere princesse, selon les lois divines de I'Eglise et la cous- tume du pays." BOTHWELL SEEKS A DIVORCE. 247 afterwards got a divorce from both of them, and chap. her grand-uncle, Henry viii., the brother of Queen ^ Margaret, had followed in his sister's footsteps by 1567. his divorces from Catherine of Arragon and Anne of Cleves. Bothwell's process for obtaining a divorce from his wife was however begun before the abduc- tion of the Queen,^ and was being carried on at once under the jurisdiction of both the new and the old churches. The previous authority of the Catholic clergy to judge in processes of marriage and divorce had been aboHshed by the Parhament which was summoned by the provisional government set up in 1560, after the death of Mary of Guise, and which abrogated the Episcopal jurisdiction. In order to supply the want of a jurisdiction in causes such as those mentioned, a special court indeed was afterwards constituted in 1563, in which four com- missioners had seats, but the abolition of the Episcopal jurisdiction in the country nevertheless was one of the acts of the Reformed party, to which the Queen had never given the assent of the Crown, and by an ordinance of the Queen the Consistorial Court had been at a later date formally re-established with the Archbishop of St. Andrews at its head. This had already taken place on the 23d December 1566, a few days after the Archbishop and the other Catholic Prelates celebrated the baptism of the young prince at Stirhng, and that ordinance which was then issued plainly therefore cannot by any means be connected with the divorce which Both- well now sought to obtain, as some have held. Before this resuscitated Catholic ecclesiastical court he raised an action against his wife for the dissolu- ^ Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 83. 248 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, tion of their marriage, because entered into within w-Y-^ '^^^ ^^^^ ^ degree of relationship. That his wife 1^67. must now have been gained over to the cause, either by Bothwell, or by her brother, the Earl of Huntly, cannot be doubted, nothing being more improbable than the assertion that there did not exist any collusion between the parties. It may here be remarked that, just as it was not unusual in those days for prudent relatives of the bride to procure even before marriage the dispensation of the Catholic Church as a security against its being made null and void in consequence of near relationship, so Buchanan has alleged that such a dispensation was really obtained at the time of Bothwell's marriage with Jane Gordon, but that it was kept concealed during the process,^ and in this instance his asser- tion seems not to be without foundation, since that dispensation was itself discovered a short time ago.^ At the same time as the Protestant Earl sued the Catholic Lady Jane Bothwell before the Bomish Court, she on her side also raised an action of divorce before the Beformed Court against her husband for previous infidelity. With so great speed was the process carried on, that the mar- riage was declared by the Protestant, or the so- called Commissary Court, on the 3d of May, to be ^ Cailato interim pontificis Ro- issued by the Pajml Legate in mani diplomate, quo venia ejus Scotland, the Archbishop of St. culpse facta erat. — Be Maria Scoto- Andrews, and must be assumed to rum Begina, p. 29. have been taken by Bothwell's divorced wife along with her to 2 Report of the Records and Dunrobin. [A fuller discussion Manuscripts at Dunrobin, belong- of this subject will be found in ing to His Grace the Duke of the admirable monograph of Dr. Sutherland, in Second Beport of the John Stuart, entitled, " A Lost Boyal Commission on Historical Chapter in the History of Mary Manuscripts. London, 1871, fol. Queen of Scots Recovered," 4to. pp. 177-180. The Dispensation is Edinburgh, 1874.] LADY JANE GORDON MARRIES AGAIN. dissolved, and that a corresponding decision was given by the CathoHc Consistorial Court, on the 7th May. The process unquestionably had been insti- tuted in both courts, so that Protestants as well as Papists should have every assurance that the Queen's subsequent marriage with Bothwell was lawful. On the separation Bothwell surrendered to Lady Jane Gordon for life the estate and village of Nether Hales in Haddingtonshire, a transfer which after his marriage with the Queen was confirmed by letters- patent issued under the Great Seal.^ Bothwell's young divorced wife subsequently, in the year 1573, married at Strathbogie, Alexander, Earl of Suther- land, who likewise had at that time got a divorce from his former spouse — Barbara Sinclair — under the charge of infidelity. After the Earl's death in 1594, she entered into a third marriage with Alex- ander Ogilvy, laird of Boyne, one of the judges who acquitted Bothwell, and was now a widower in consequence of the death of his wife Mary Beaton, one of the Queen's " four Maries." After surviv- ing both Mary and her three husbands, Both- 1 Of 10th June 1567.— Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 234. Perhaps it is only this deed of gift which forms the ground of an expression of William Mait- land in the letter of the French ambassador, Du Croc, to Queen Dowager Catherine de Medici, of 17th June 1567 (Teulet, Papiers d'Etat, ii. 170), to this eflfect:— " Mais nous ne doubtons point en ce royaulme, qu'il n'aime mieux sa premiere femme que la Eoyne." If there is reported in the same letter another of the many un- favourable utterances about Both- well, according to which the latter was said to have written letters to his divorced consort, " par les- quelles il mande a ladicte contesse la tenir pour sa premiere femme et la Eoyne pour sa concubine," yet this utterance stands at least in direct conflict with Du Croc's own testi- mony in a second letter (of 27th May, Teulet, Papiers d'Etat, ii. 157), according to which Bothwell is on the contrary reported to have said regarding his first spouse, " qu'il ne I'avoit jamais espousee, et I'avoit toujours tenue pour con- cubine." 250 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, well's former wife ended her days at the age of ^^-.^^ eighty-four.^ By prudence she was able to keep 1629. until her death the estate transferred to her by Bothwell, without seeing it confiscated at the for- feiture of his other possessions, and after her second marriage, by which she became the mother of five sons and two daughters, she understood how to manage with ability the Sutherland estates during the minority of her eldest son. She was the first who took care to have the coal mines of Suther- land worked on the banks of the Brora, and to begin salt-making there. On her death at Dun- robin Castle, the 14th May 1629, her remains were deposited by her sons in the Cathedral of Dor- noch, in the family burying-place of the Earls of Sutherland, and she left behind her the reputation of having been " a vertuous and comlie lady, judi- cious, of excellent memorie, and of great vnderstand- ing above the capacitie of her sex."^ After a sojourn under Both well's roof, from the 24th of April to the 3d of May, the same day on which the sentence of divorce between him and Lady Jane Gordon was pronounced by the Com- missary Court, the Queen left Dunbar and rode to Edinburgh in company with the Earl and his men.^ 1 Joseph Robertson : Preface to which her name is very often found Inuentaires de la Hoyne Descosse, written, seems also to show that pp. xliii., cxiv. Lady Jane Gordon was a woman, ^ A genealogical History of the who, according to the circnm- Earldom of Sutherland, from its stances of her times, was not with- origin to the year 1630. Written out culture. by Sir Robert Gordon of Gordon- ^ Diary of William Cecil ; ston. Edinburgh, 1813, fol. pp. Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 89. 168,409. The author of this work, According to another authority, created by James vi. Baron of which on this occasion also men- Nova Scotia, was the second of her tions George Earl of Huntly and sons by the Earl of Sutherland. the Secretary of State, William A fine copy of the Legenda Aurea Maitland, as having been among — the edition of the year 1470— in the attendants of the Queen, the JOHN CRAIG REFUSES TO PUBLISH THE BANNS. 251 Before Mary Stuart in this fashion entered her capital, chap. Bothwell's attendants put away their spears as if to ^^J^^, show that the Queen was at liberty, and the Earl 1567. himself, dismounting from his horse, took the Queen's ambling steed by the bridle, and led it with seeming respect. The Queen entered the city by the West Port, and rode through the Grassmarket up to the Castle of Edinburgh, all the way conducted by Bothwell — a sight to which Mary's friends were witnesses only with sorrow, while it made the enemies of her government exult. A week afterwards, during which Mary remained in Edinburgh Castle, constantly attended by Both- well, a message was sent from her to the authorities of the Reformed Church to publish the banns of the marriage into which the Queen now wished to enter. A verbal request to this effect was brought by one of Bothwell's kinsmen, Thomas Hepburn, to John Craig of St. Giles Kirk, and subsequently a written one by the Justice-Clerk, Sir John Bellenden, as the minister had refused to comply with the first order, unless he saw the Queen's signature. Never- theless the bold pastor, whose character seems to have resembled that of the Danish master, Ole Yind, did not yet cease from his opposition, but demanded beforehand to be admitted into the presence of the parties themselves, otherwise he would either entirely abstain from publishing the banns of marriage, or at the same time openly tell what he thought about the matter in the Chiu'ch. Afterwards, on being called before the Privy Council, at which Bothwell was present, he remonstrated with the latter in the return of the latter to Edinburgh Diurnal of BemarTcahle Occurrents, first took place on the 6th May. — p. 110. JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. most serious manner about all that was laid to his charge — infidehty, abduction of the Queen, and even participation in the murder of the King ; and when Both well did not answer him satisfactorily/ he con- cluded with saying, that he could not but publicly state his conviction before the congregation. At divine service in St. Giles Church, on Sunday the 9th May, he did indeed obey the order given so far as to announce the approaching marriage, but after that he added : — " I tuck heaven and erth to witnes that I abhorred and deteastit that mariage, because it wes odious and sclandrous to the warld ; and seing the best part of the realme did approve it, ather be flatterie or be thair silence, I desyrit the faithful to pray earnestlie that God wald turn it to the comfort of this realme, that thing quhilk they intend it agains reason and guid conscience. ^'^ After the decree of divorce between Bothwell and Lady Jane Gordon was pronounced by the Pro- testant and Catholic Courts, and the approaching marriage of the Queen with Bothwell duly announced by the publication of banns in the Church of St. Giles, and by proclamation on the same day at Holyrood, the Queen passed on the 12th May from the Castle of Edinburgh down to the Palace.^ On 1 The Declaration of Mr. John Craig, minister of Edinburgh, concerning his proclaiming the banns of marriage betwixt Mary- Queen of Scotland and James, Earl of Bothwell ; Anderson, Col- lections, ii. 280. 2 The Declaration of Mr. John Craig ; Anderson, Collections, ii. 280. Craig, on the ground of having in this instance overstepped his calling by describing the mar- riage of the Princess as " odious and sclandrous to the warld," was afterwards again summoned to appear before a meeting of the Privy Council ; but when at last he wished here, in presence of Both- well, to show that his impression agreed with God's Word, with good law and order, the meeting ended, as he himself writes, with this, that " my Lord pat me to silence, and sent me away." 3 Diary of Wm. Cecil ; Laing, Hist of Scotland, ii. 90. The 11th BOTHWELL CREATED DUKE OF ORKNEY. 253 the way, however, she stopped at the Chief Court of chap. Justice, or the so-called Court of Session. Here she presented herself in person, and made a declaration 1567. before the Chancellor and judges of the court, and before an assembly of the nobles whom she sum- moned to meet in this place. She declared that she had learned that the judges entertained some doubt whether they could constitute the court after their sovereign was detained in imprisonment at Dunbar by the Earl of Bothwell, but she charged them now to give up these scruples ; for though she had at first been offended at the said Earl for his abduction of her person, yet in consideration of his previous good services, and of the good services she further expected of him, she had afterwards for- given him, as she forgave all the accomplices that had been in league with him, and intended to exalt him even to still higher dignity.^ In the evening of the same day, the Earl was with great pomp created Duke of the Orkneys — and with these the trans- ferred Shetland Isles — and the Queen herself put the ducal coronet on his head. To add greater splendour to the stately occasion, four gentlemen were at the same time knighted, namely, the lairds James Cockburn of Langton, Alexander Hepburn of Benston, Patrick Whitlaw, and James Ormiston, whom we know as one of the ringleaders in the catastrophe which ended Darnley's life. Another of Bothwell's adherents. Sir James Balfour, who had drawn up in writing the bond to be entered into by those who were to put Darnley out of the way, and whose brother. Canon E-obert Balfour, had vacated the May is stated as the day, in Diurnal ^ Declaration of Mary Stuart ; of Remarkable Occurrents, p. 111. Anderson, Collections, i. 87-89. 254 JAMES HEPBUKN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, house in which Darnley passed his last days, had pre- viouslj been made Commander of Edinburgh Castle, 1567. in the room of Sir James Cock burn, laird of Skirhng. Although Mary had already pubhcly forgiven all the accomplices of Bothwell, yet the nobles still did not deem themselves secure from the consequences of having at " Ainslie's supper " subscribed the bond for Bothwell, but by which perhaps they had hardly supposed, at the tune, that he would consider himself warranted to employ force for gaining the object to which it referred. They must have demanded that Bothwell, whose power over the Queen so unmis- takably showed itself in these days, would procure for them from the Queen a special assurance of immunity, and this two days later was also granted. On the 14th May, Mary put her name to a short declaration which was subjoined to the bond given by the nobles to Bothwell, and which was expressed in these words : — " The Queenes Majestie haveing sene and considerit the band above writtine, promittis in the word of a princesse, that she, nor her successoris, sail nevu" impute as cryme or offence to onie of the personis subscryveris thairof, thaire consent & subscriptioun to the matter above writtin, thairin contenit ; nor that thai, nor thair heires, sail nevir be callit nor accusit thairfoir ; nor zit sail the said consent or subscryving be onie derogatioun or spott to thair honor, or thai esteemit undewtiful subjectis for doing thairof, notwithstanding quhat- sumevir thing can tend or be allegeit in the contrare. In witnes quhairof her Majestie hes subscryveit the samyne with her awin hand." ^ The same day also ' The Declaration of Mary noff, ii. 22. Bell adds in reference Stuart of 14th May 1567; Laba- to this declaration: "Here is MARRIAGE OF MARY AND BOTH WELL. a marriage-contract was at length signed which had been very cleverly drawn up, striving as it does with adroitness to hide the inequahty of the match between the royal widow and " the richt noble and potent Prince James, Duke of Orknay, erle Boith- vile, lord Halis, Chreichtoun and Liddisdall, greit admirall of this realme of Scotland." One of the articles stipulates that all state documents shall hereafter have the signatures of both parties, both the Queen s and her intended husband's.^ The day after, or the 15 th May, the marriage took place in Holyrood Palace. Of the higher nobility of Scotland, civil or clerical, there were pre- sent only Earls Crawford, Huntly, and Sutherland ; Lords Aberbrothock, Oliphant, Fleming, Livingston, Glammis, and Boyd ; the Archbishop of St. An- drews and the Bishops of Dunblane and Boss ; the rest present — among whom, however, could also be observed John Craig — were mostly insignificant petty nobles in Both well's train. ^ To those who knew the Queen's character, the mode in which the marriage was performed must have been the most striking sign of the sway which Bothwell now exercised over her ; for just as when he married the another argument against tlie idea of collusion between Mary and Bothwell ; for in that case, so far from having anything to fear, Bothwell's friends would have known that nothing could have recommended them more to Mary, than the countenance they gave his marriage." — Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 94. ^ " Furthermair, it is concluded and accordit be hir Majestic, that all signatours, lettres, and writ- ingis to be subscrivit be hir Majestic in tyme to cum, efter the completing and solemnizatioun of the said mariage, othir of giftis, dispositionis, graces, privilegis, or utheris sic thingis quhatsumevir sail be alsua subscrivit be the said noble Prince and Duke, for his interesse, in signe and takin of his consent and assent thairto, as hir Majestie's husband." — Marriage- Contract of 14th May 1567 ; in LabanofF, ii. 4-28. 2 Diurnal of Remarkable Occur- rents, p. Ill ; Tytler, History of Scotland, vii. 97. 256 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. Catholic Jane Gordon, he had secured the celebration of the ecclesiastical ceremony by one of the Reformed 1567. clergy, so he was now able to enforce the same thing when the Queen was to give him her hand. The Queen, who, on this occasion, still made her appear- ance in her widow's weeds, was early in the morning married to the new Duke by Adam Bothwell, the Protestant Bishop of the Orkneys,^ who prefaced the ceremony with a sermon on the second chapter of Genesis, in which he enlarged on the regret of the bridegroom at the past, and his purpose in future to conform himself to the discipline and order of the Reformed Church. The festivities which it was customary to witness at a princely wedding were now wanting ; Bothwell had in vain sought to per- suade the French ambassador, Du Croc, who had returned to Scotland, to honour it with his presence ; the people looked on with dislike, and Sir James Melvil, a contemporary very unfavourable to Both- well, who was present as an eye-witness on the marriage day, had not, even when in his old age he wrote down his recollections, forgotten the dismal impression it made upon him.^ The day after an ^ Adam Bothwell was no relation stored. — Anderson, Collections, ii. of the Earl of Bothwell, but had 283, 284. been one of the four Scottish Pre- I found my Lord Duke of lates who joined themselves to the Orkney sitting at his supper, who Reformers. His action at the welcomed me, saying, I had been marriage was charged against him a great stranger, desiring me to sit by the Reformed Church ; it gave down and sup with him ; the Earl Knox occasion to say: "If there of Huntly, the Justice-Clerk, and be a good work to be done, a diverse others being sitting at bishop must do it.'' — History of the table with him. I said, I had Reformation in Scotland, ii. 555 ; already supped; then he called for and Adam Bothwell was after- a cup of wine and drank to me, wards suspended by the Church saying. You had need grow fatter, for his conduct in this instance, for, says he, the zeal of the com- and was obliged to make a public monwealth hath eaten you up, and apology before he was again re- made you lean. I answered, That HOW THE MARRIAGE WAS CELEBRATED. 257 unknown hand wrote on the gate of Holyrood the ^y^^- Ovidian hne : — ^ — v — " Mense Maio malas nubere vulgus ait." ^ And the wide-spread popular behef made marriages in May be long afterwards regarded among all classes as unlucky. It is said that among the people in Scotland, since this wedding-day, there are still but few marriages contracted during this month. ^ It has been a subject of dispute how far the solemnisation of the marriage in the first instance after the Protestant mode was subsequently re- peated according to the rites of the Romish Church, and this question is not without significance with respect to the attitude which the Queen afterwards assumed towards Bothwell. In the account to Philip II. from the Spanish ambassador, Don Frances de Alava, the latter states, in accordance with what the Bishop of Dunblane, just arrived from Scotland, had communicated to him, that the whole of the re- ligious ceremony was only after the Calvinistic mode ; Sir James Melvil also mentions only one marriage ceremony according to the fashion of the Reformed Church, and a corresponding testimony is likewise furnished in the diary of an anonymous Scotsman which records contemporaneously the events of the period.^ Other contemporaries assert, on the every little member should serve who expressed much satisfaction to some use, but that the care of at my coming. — Memoirs of Sir the commonwealth appertained James Melvil, p. 80. most to him, and the rest of the ^ Keith, History of Church and nobility, who should be as fathers State in Scotland, p. 386. The of the same. I knew well, says he, line is from Ovid, Fast, lib. v. 1. he would find a pin for every bore. 490. Then he fell in discoursing with ^ Taylor, Pictorial History of the gentlewomen, speaking such Scotland, ii. 57. filthy language that they and I ^ Toda la cerimonia fue a la left him and went up to the Queen, Calvinista. — Letter of Don Frances 1567. 258 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, contraiy, that the marriage on that morning was solemnised after the rites of both the Cathohc and 1567. the Reformed Churches/ There seems, however, no room for donbt in reference to this when we notice the way in which Mary has herself expressed her dissatisfaction with Bothwell on account of the form in which the marriage was celebrated. " Quhairin," she writes immediately after her marriage to her relatives in France, " we cannot dissembill that he hes usit ws utherwayis than we wald have wyssit, or zit have deservit at his hand, having mair respect to content thame by quhais consent grantit to him befoir hand he thinkis he hes obtenit his purpois, althoch thairin he had bayth frustrate ws and thame, than regarding oure contentatioun, or zit weying quhat wes convenient for ws, that hes bene norissed in our awin rehgioun, and nevir intendis to leif the samyne for him or ony mon upoun earth." ^ de Alava to King Philip ii., dated Anderson, Collections, i. 136. After Paris, 16th_ June 1567 ; Teulet, bathe the sortis of the kyrk, re- Papiers d'Etat, iii. 31. In the formed and unreformed. — Diary- great hall, where the council useth of William Cecil ; Laing, History to sit, according to the order of of Scotland, ii. 90. There are the reformed religion, and not in other concordant authorities to be the chappel at the mass, as was the found in Laing's History, i. 90-91. King's marriage. — Memoirs of Sir ^ Mary Stuart's instructions to James Melvil, -p. 80. Within the the Bishop of Dunblane. — Laba- auld chappel, not with the mess, noff, ii. 41. She immediately adds but with preitsching. — Diurnal of after stating what is given above : Remarkable Occurrents, p. 111. — "For now sen it is past, and There is, however, in the latter cannocht be brocht bak agane, account with respect to the place we will mak the best of it, and it where the marriage was held, an mon be thocht, as it is in effect, obvious contradiction to Melvil's that he is oure husband, quhome statement. we will bayth luff and honour, swa that all that professis thame- ^ Accomplishit on baith the sellis to be oure friendis mon profess fashionis. — The bond of the Scot- the lyke friendschip towartis him tish nobles of 16th June 1567; quhais inseperabliejoynit with ws." CHAPTEH VII. At the same time that Mary, after the wedding, gave her instructions to the Bishop of Dunblane and to Sir Eobert Melvil of Murdocaimy, whom she sent to Paris and London to explain her sudden mar- riage with the Earl of Bothwell, the latter also him- self wrote to the monarchs of France and England. His words to Charles ix., whose Scottish guard he had formerly commanded, were only a respectful greeting ;^ his letter to Queen Elizabeth was on the contrary written in a bold, almost kingly tone. He was, so he expressed himself, not unacquainted with the Queen's dislike towards him, but he asserted that this was undeserved, and declared his resolution to maintain friendship between the two kingdoms. Men of higher rank than he, so he con- cluded, might have been chosen for the exalted position which he now occupied, but none, he dared say, was more willing than he to show the English Queen every attention. The style was different from the servility which ordinarily marked the utter- ances of contemporaries to England's proud mistress, ^ Letter of Bothwell to King d'Etat, relatifs a Vhistoire de Charles ix., dated Edinburgh the VEcosse au xvi^ siecle, ii. 156. 27th May 1567.— Teulet, Papiers 260 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ^^AP. an evidence of the self-importance which, as well as v^--^ — ' his guilt, distinguished this audacious man.^ 1567. Wilham Cecil, the trusty minister of Elizabeth, was at the same time also written to by Bothwell, as well as by Mary herself, both of whom expressed their hope that he would do his best to preserve friendly relations between the two Queens ; ^ but when these letters were written, Elizabeth had already promised her assistance to the enemies of Bothwell in Scotland.^ Those who even had joined with him in the plot against Darnley, or who after- wards recommended him as the most fitting husband for theu* Queen, were, nevertheless, speedily filled with rancour at " his immoderate ambition," at see- ing the chief castles of the kingdom in his hands, with the object which they ascribed to him, " that he might be able to invest himself with the crown of the realm." To them it indeed seemed as if they had only been originally attached to him in order to become tools against him who was now away, and they began to fear, not less than formerly, the intro- duction of French absolutism into Scotland. The nobles were obhged, so they expressed themselves, after overthrowing Bothwell, to see the monarch " environed with a continual guard of two hundred harquebusiers as well day as night wherever she went, 1 Abstract of Bothwell's letter to written to, that " he is to give them Queen Elizabeth, dated Edinburgh, comfort" (Calendar of State 1st June 1567. — Tytler, History of Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-1568, Scotland, vii. 103-104. p. 202), and on the 23d of May 2 Letters of Mary Stuart and 1567 it was notified to the Earl of Bothwell to Cecil, both from Edin- Morton that in England they could burgh, the 1st of June 1567; " by no means allow of Bothwell," State Papers, Foreign Series, 1566- and that, therefore, assistance was 1568, p. 242. to be also expected of " such as 3 Already the 8th April 1567, before and after the murder were had the Earl of Bedford, Com- deemed to allow of Bothwell." — mander on the Borders, been Caird, Mary Stuart, p. 148. WHY THE NOBLES ROSE AGAINST BOTHWELL. 261 besides a number of his servants." Both well had chap. " by these means brought the nobility to that v^^.^!. miserable point, that if any man had to do with the 1567. prince, it behoved him, before he could come to her presence, to go through the ranks of harquebusiers under the mercy of a notorious tyrant, as it were to pass the pikes : a new example, and wherewith this nation had never been acquainted, and yet few or none admitted to her speech ; for that his suspi- cious heart brought in fear by the testimony of an evil conscience, might not suffer her subjects to have access to Her Majesty, as they were wont to do."^ Others among the grandees of the realm also found it intolerable that the young son of the king, the heir to the throne, should so soon come into the hands of the man who passed for his father's murderer, and to whom were already ascribed, either seriously or feignedly, designs threatening danger to the child's life.' Finally, as a further reason for rising against Bothwell, solicitude for Mary Stuart herself was also alleged. It seems quite certain that, whether passion or other views induced Mary to com- mit the irreparable mistake of marrying Bothwell, it was not long ere she was awakened from every dream that her new connection could bring happi- ness. Even before the marriage was consummated, ^ Answer of the Scottish Lords pore, per occasionem de medio of 11th July 1567 to Sir Nicholas toUeret, ne vel csedis Eegiae ultor Throckmorton, who had then, as superesset, vel ne esset, qui liberos Queen Elizal3eth's ambassador, suos, in haereditate regni adeunda, arrived in Scotland, printed in prseiret. — Buchanan, Berum Scoti- Keith, History of Church and carum Historia, p. 220. Compare State in Scotland, i. 418-20. letter of Kirkaldy of Grange of 8th May 1567 to the Earl of 2 Is autem, nemo dubitabat, Bedford ; Tytler, History of Scot- quin puerum, primo quoque tern- land, vii. 92-93. 262 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, it was said in Scotland that Bothwell, by his ex- ^^^.y^ traordinary jealousy, would make it an unhappy 1567. one,^ and the French minister, Du Croc, who had refused to be personally present at the ceremony, but who conversed with the Queen shortly before, heard her state, when he saw her sadness on the wedding day, that it was because she would never more be glad, and only wished herself dead.^ If we may beheve in this instance the enemies of Bothwell, she quickly found in him no longer that tender regard of which she had previously been the object. So far we can neither be surprised that Bothwell's foes, when they rose against him, likewise stated that they were also anxious to deKver the Queen from her new husband, — from the man who, as they asserted, would otherwise, in half a year, hand over the mother to the same death as he had prepared for the father, and destined for the son.^ But it ^ There has been a great unkind- ness between her and Bothwell for half a day. He is held the most jealous man that lived, and it is believed that they will not long agree after the marriage. — Letter from Sir William Drury of 13th May 1567 ; Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-1568, p. 229. 2 Teudi {i.e. 15th May) sa ma- jeste m'envoya querir, oil je m'apperceus d'une estrange fa^on entre elle et son mary ; ce qu'elle me voullut excuser, disant que, si je la voyoy's triste, c'estoit parce qu'elle ne se voulloit resjouyr, comme elle dit ne faire jamais, ne desirant que la mort. — Letter of Du Croc to Catherine de Medici, 18th May 1567 ; Teulet, Papiers cVEtat, ii. 155. When Du Croc goes on to add : — " Hier, estant renfermez tons deux dedans ung cabinet avec le comte de Boudoell, elle cria tout hault que on luy baillast ung couteau pour se tuer. Ceux, qui estoient dedans la chambre, I'entendirent," his state- ment agrees with what Sir James Melvil {Memoirs, p. 81) has at a later period related : — " In pre- sence of Arthur Arskine, I heard myself her ask for a knife to stab herself, or else, said she, I shall drown myself." ^ In the answer of the Scottish Lords of 11th July 1567, among the chief explanations of their insurrection is mentioned also this, that they had had " Bothwell suspected, seeing him keep another wife in store, to make the Queen also to drink of the same cup, to the end he might invest himself with the crown of the realm.'' Further, in the same document, it is likewise said that they were THE SECRET ALLIANCE OF THE NOBLES. 263 may indeed be questioned whether this reason was chap. yet very sincerely entertained by at least the real leaders of the movement. Nor does it accord 1567. with this view, that hardly was Mary out of Bothwell's hands, before they themselves imprisoned her, and removed her from the throne. Although the Scots Lords would so far explain this contra- diction by alleging that " plat contrary to our ex- pectation," they had now discovered her passion for Bothwell to be as strong as ever,^ and that, there- fore, they had previously been obliged to hold her in custody, yet this agrees but ill with the testi- monies from their own side which more recent times have brought to light. These more recent dis- closures not only sufficiently show that the secret alliance of the Lords, which older historians have represented as first formed after Both well's marriage with the Queen, was really entered into a month previous, but also that her enemies, while seeking support from England, even before Bothwell carried her off to Dunbar, had already been anxious to ascribe to Mary the same unbounded devotion to Bothwell, the surprising discovery of which, after they rose in rebellion, they subsequently brought afraid not only for the life of the King's young son, but also for that of the Queen, "who should not have lived with him half a year to an end, as may be conjectured by the short time they lived together, and the maintaining of his other wife at home at his house." — Keith, History of Church and State in Scotland, p. 418. Instead of with Bell (Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 102) inferring from the above expressions about Jane Gordon, that Bothwell's divorce from her had only been an act pro forma, it may perhaps be more correctly assumed that they are founded on the fact that, after the divorce, he made over Nether Hales to his former wife. ^ For plat contrary to our ex- pectations, we found her passion so prevail in maintenance of him and his cause, that she would not with patience hear speak anything to his reproof, or suffer his doings to be called in question. — Written answer of the Scottish Lords to Sir 264 JAMES HEPBURN EAKL OF BOTHWELL. ^vn^' ^"^^'^^^^ ^ reason for the imprisonment of the Queen/ 1567. xhe sojourn of the little prince in Stirling Castle happened at this time to furnish a point of union to the nobles of Scotland for their new conspiracy, — for a conspiracy which, in this instance no less than formerly, found its support from the neighbouring country. The Earl of Mar, whose duty it was to see to the security of the heir to the throne, had formerly, as Prior of Inchmahome, been an adherent of the old faith, but, like so many others who both separated from the Catholic Church and, at the same time, were careful to preserve to themselves the abbeys received from the latter, he had, since the previous year, been also enfeoffed with Stirling Castle by a deed of gift bearing the signatures of Mary Stuart and Damley. It was his sister Mar- garet Erskine who had by James v. become mother of James Stuart, afterwards Earl of Murray, and in now taking part with the other Lords that began the insurrection, the Earl of Mar had certainly been specially influenced by his sister s son, who had so long coveted the supreme power in Scotland, and who, although previously absent, was nevertheless, from a distance, also making his influence felt. The safety of the King's son, punishment for the King's murder, and the rescue of the Queen, had already, during the Queen's stay with Bothwell at Dunbar, been chosen as the watchword which even the cir- cumstances seemed to offer; with it the Earl of Argyll rode from StirHng to the west country, the Nicholas Throckmorton of 11th ^ See letter of Kirkaldy of July 1567 ; Keith, History of Grange to the Earl of Bedford, of Church and State in Scotland, p. 20th April 1567.— Tytler, History 419. of Scotland, vii. 87. bothwell's expedition to the borders. 265 Earl of AthoU to the northern districts, and the chap. VII Earl of Morton to Fife, Angus, and Montrose ; with w.^— a watchword like this they gained adherents every- 1567. where among the nobihty of Scotland, always too easily moved. Even to the most intimate associates of the Queen and the Earl the secret alhance ex- tended ; William Maitland, laird of Lethington, Sir Robert Melvil, and his brother Sir James Melvil had secretly joined it,^ and the Lords confidently anti- cipated the issue of the movement when, a few weeks after the marriage, there seemed to present itself an easy prospect of taking the Earl by surprise. The first week after the wedding Bothwell and Mary remained at Holy rood, during which time meetings of the Privy Council were very often held.^ Bothwell intended, at this time, to set about in earnest an expedition to the Border districts intrusted to his special care, the same by whose wild inhabitants he had, in the previous year, been so nearly losing his life, and whose untamed population had latterly very seriously disturbed the more peaceable inhabitants. The Queen on this occasion caused proclamations to be issued in her name and " with advice of hir derrest spouse, James Duke of Orknay, Erie of Bothwell, Lord Hails, ^ Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, how Bothwell had likewise very p. 82. As Melvil relates that nearly effected the destruction of Bothwell, when he began to ob- Murray. — Buchanan, Rerum Sco- serve that William Maitland too ticarum Historia, p. 215. was joined to his opponents, had wished to put him out of the way, ^ Thus we have still Acts of the if the Queen had not saved him. Privy Council of the 17th, 22d, so Buchanan, who seems not to and 23d of May 1567. On the 22d have had correct knowledge of the of May the Secretary of State, period, since the Earl of Murray William Maitland, was still pre- had left Scotland, gives a corre- sent. — Keith, History of Church spending, but more romantic story and State in Scotland, p. 386. 266 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ^y^- Chrichtoun, and Liddisdaill, Greit Admirall of this ^^^-y^ Realme, and Lordis of Secreit Counsall." ^ The pro- ^^^7^ clamations contained a command to her vassals in the southern parts of the country to meet her and the Earl on a certain day at Melrose. As mean- while the report was spread that the special design of summoning the troops to arms did not concern the Borders, but that in reality it was intended to march with them to Stirling Castle, with the view of securing the surrender of the King's son by the Earl of Mar, so when these rumours came to the ears of the Queen she forthwith caused them to be met on the 1st June 1567, by a " Declaration upon the Brutis (rumours)."^ In this declaration the subjects are reminded that since the Queen had returned home to the realm they had not felt the pressure of any foreign host, but had enjoyed peace with other countries ; that neither had any internal disturbances shown themselves without these being immediately suppressed, " so that they might justly compare their state, in this her Majesty's reign, to the most happy time that has occurred in man's memory." " But," so it is subsequently said, " as envy is enemy to virtue, and that seditious and unquiet spirits ever seek to entertain trouble and unquietness, so can Her Majesty never mean so sincerely and uprightly, nor ever direct her doings so perfectly, but instead of thankful hearts and good obedience, Her Highness' clemency is com- monly abused and recompensed with untowardness and ingratitude ; when she thinks least of any 1 The proclamations are printed the Brutis. — Keith, History of in Keith's History, pp. 395, 396. Church and State in Scotland, pp. 2 The Quenis declaration upoun 396, 397. THE QUEEN AND HE LEAVE EDINBURGH. 26? novation, ever some invention or other is brought chap. in, and the people persuaded to beheve it." In so far as it was now said that she designed to reject 1567. the assistance of the nobles in the government of the country and, in opposition to the custom of past times, to decide all things alone, Her Majesty, in reference to this, declared that it was not her inten- tion to subvert the laws " in any single iota." As it was hkewise reported that the troops which the Queen had caused to be summoned against the Borderers, who were harassing her peaceable sub- jects, were to have another destination, the truth on this point would show itself in a few days, and when finally her maternal heart was adjudged to be destitute of right feeling for her very dear son, she also confidently trusted to time, so evidently would it manifest to all her motherly afiection for him.-^ After the issue of this declaration, the Queen, in company with Bothwell, left Edinburgh on the 7th June attended by two hundred arquebusiers, who now formed her guard. The remainder of the troops summoned for the expedition had as yet only met in so small numbers that Bothwell, as well as the Queen, was obliged to betake himself, for some few days, to Borthwick Castle, which is situated on an acclivity surroimded by the Httle stream Gore, about fourteen miles from Edinburgh, and which, in the following century, was strong enough to with- stand, for some time, the victorious host of Crom- well. On the 10th of June, as they were sitting at table in Borthwick Castle, they received the un- expected news that the Earl of Morton and Lord 1 Sa sail hir Majesties inoderlie aflfectioun towartis him appeir evi- dentlie.— Keith, p. 397. 268 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Alexander Hume, with a troop of twelve hundred w.^^^ horsemen, were hastening to the castle, in order, 1^67. after their hurried night-ride, to take its guests prisoners. The surprise did not however succeed. The troop that first arrived called out indeed before the castle that they came as fugitives pursued by rebels, but Bothwell did not allow himself to be caught by this stratagem. As he nevertheless did not consider the castle strong enough to enable him to hold out, he made his escape by a secret postern gate, accompanied only by a son of the Laird of Crookstone.^ Some of Lord Hume's men, while advancing, met the two fugitives and made chase after them, but when their enemies were only a bowshot from them they separated in different directions, and their pursuers taking the wrong direction, Bothwell escaped to Haddington. As after Both well's escape the hostile troops did not believe that they could long maintain themselves before Borthwick Castle, the Queen also subse- quently found an opportunity of getting away from the castle, mounted on horseback and clad in men's clothes.^ Bothwell, turning back, waited her arrival at some distance, and now again repaired with her to Dunbar, which they reached on the 11th June at three o'clock in the morning. 1 Understanding the weakness of Mary's imprisonment: — "It ap- of the place, he escaped. — Sir peared well when at first we William Drury's letter to Cecil, came about Borthwick, we meant dated Berwick, 12th June 1567 ; nothing to the Queen's person in Calendar of State Papers, Foreign so far that hearing he (Bothwell) Series, 1566-68, p. 248. was escaped out of the house, we 2 With respect to this escape of insisted no further to pursue the the Queen the Lords stated after- same, it being most easy to have wards in an answer to Sir Nicholas been taken," — Answer of the Lords Throckmorton, who, as ambassador to Throckmorton of 11th July from Queen Elizabeth, had been 1567 ; Keith, History of Church sent to Scotland in consequence and State in Scotland, p. 419. THE LORDS TAKE POSSESSION OF THE CITY. 269 The same day the enemies of Bothwell, on the contrary, being disappointed before Berth wick, v^-y^ marched towards Edinburgh, and on the way were joined by the Earl of Mar, Lord Lindsay, the Lairds of TuUibardine, Lochleven, and Grange, with another band of seven hundred horsemen.-^ The Earl of Mar, when he found the gates of Edinburgh shut, caused these to be broken open, and without any hindrance from the citizens the Lords marched in. The adherents of the Queen who had repah-ed to Edinburgh, George Gordon, Earl of Huntly, John Lesley, Bishop of Boss, John Hamilton, Archbishop of St. Andrews, Gawin Hamilton, Prior of Kilwin- ning, and Lord Claude Hamilton, Prior of Paisley, sought to rouse the citizens to oppose the entrance of the Confederate Lords, but only few of these joined their armed men, so that they found them- selves forced to retire into the Castle of Edinburgh.^ Its commander, Sir James Balfour, indeed admitted them, and also gave them, some mornings after- wards, on the 15th June, means of escaping unhurt on the opposite side, but even he did not allow the castle to fire a single shot against the Confederate Lords. Sir James Melvil had, as he relates in his Memoirs, already frightened Balfour, by stating that one of Bothwell's confidants, the commander of ^ The contemporary French ac- count of the events in Scotland from the 11th to the 15th of June 1567. — Teulet, Papiers d'Etat, ii. 159. The anonymous author speaks of himself in this account as commander over " I'lsle aux chevaux," which was the ordinary name among the French for the little island of Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth, and has therefore certainly been one of the French soldiers who remained behind in the service of Mary Stuart. 2 Hi, quum sensissent hostes suos in urbem acceptos, in forum provolantes, duces multitudini sese offerunt. Sed quum rari admodum ad eos sese aggregarent, retro cedendo ad arcem usque compulsi fuerunt. — Buchanan, Rerum Sco- ticarum Historia, p. 220. 270 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Dunbar Castle, Laird Patrick Whitlaw, had assured him that Bothwell intended to take Edinburgh 1567. Castle from Balfour, and to give the command of it to the Laird of Benston, a member of the Hep- burn family/ Without openly breaking with either party the lukewarm Sir James Balfour now wished only to wait till he saw which of them showed itself ■the stronger. He obeyed the orders which the Queen sent him so far as in compHance with them to call upon the Lords to leave the city, but he was disobedient to them in so far as he forbore to use force in expelling them from the town. When the Confederate Lords assembled in Edin- burgh the French minister, Du Croc, at the Queen s wish, offered them his mediation, and they repaired in consequence to his residence. Here he put them in mind that Bothwell had been acquitted by the assize-court, that the Parhament itself had recently confirmed this acquittal, and that subsequently very many Earls, Bishops, and other leading men of the realm had subscribed the declaration which recom- mended Bothwell as a husband for the Queen, and which he had laid before her at Dunbar Castle. The Lords demanded three days to give a decided answer, but yet, in the interval, they did not omit to print and circulate proclamations against Bothwell, and promised five pounds a month to all who should join them and serve against the Earl. In Edin- burgh, nevertheless, adherents did not flock to them to the number they expected, some of the associates of the Lords of the same rank remaining neutral, and, as they were exposed to the great guns of the castle, they were on the eve of giving up the whole ^ Memoirs of Sir J ames Mehil, p. 8 1 . THE QUEEN MARCHES FKOM DUNBAR. 271 undertaking. Even Buchanan and Knox expressly chap. declare that if Bothwell had only for two days w^-L^ remained quiet with the Queen in the fastness of 1567. Dunbar, which the Lords were unable to capture, those in Edinburgh would have disbanded, and every one would have sought to care for himself alone. ^ But flatterers at this juncture represented that all would throw away their weapons if the Queen but showed her face in the field. For Both- well had by no means been idle ; a summons had gone forth from Dunbar caUing upon all loyal men between sixteen and sixty capable of bearing arms to fight in the Queen's service, and besides Both- well's own kinsmen and vassals there are others mentioned who showed themselves willing to obey this call, viz.. Lords George Seton, John Borthwick, and Wilham Hay of Tester, along with a consider- able number of lesser noblemen.^ On the morn- ing of Saturday, 14th June, Mary Stuart marched from Dunbar with her guard of two hundred arque- busiers, together with sixty horsemen and several cannon, and passed on towards Edinburgh, on whose castle it was still supposed that she could reckon, and into which she therefore believed herself sure of making her entry on the following day. The expedition from Dunbar was to some extent delayed in consequence of arms having had to be distributed by the way to the rural population ^ Buchanan, Berum Scoticarum Archbishop of Glasgow ; it is Historia, p. 221 ; Knox, History dated from Edinburgh, I7th June of the Reformation in Scotland, ii. 1567, and is printed among the 558. supplements to Laing's History of ^ These Lords are mentioned in Scotland, ii. 106-115. Their names a letter, addressed by Sir James likewise occur in the French eye- Beaton to his brother Andrew witness' account. — Teulet, Papiers Beaton, for the information of the d'Etat, ii. 158-170. 272 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, summoned from the surrounding country, by whose , influx the force drawn from Dunbar was constantly 1567. increased. Bothwell did not, however, stop at Had- ington as had been expected, but in order to gain time continued his march right to the castle of Seton, where he arrived with the Queen in the evening, and where they remained over night, while then* numerous troops were quartered in the ad- jacent villages of Preston and Prestonpans. At sun- rise on Sunday morning, 15th June, at the news of the approach of the enemy, the expedition advanced, and a new proclamation in the Queen's name was issued to her soldiers, in which all the charges made by the rebels were contradicted as idle inventions. They spoke, she said, of wishing to avenge the former King's death, but no one had a better title to avenge him than the Queen herself, if she only knew the authors of his murder ; they came for- ward with accusations against the Earl of Bothwell, although he had used all possible means to manifest his innocence, although the court of law had acquit- ted him, the Parliament had to the utmost confirmed this acquittal, and he himself in the fullest manner had announced his willingness to decide the matter by a duel with any accuser of equal birth ; they talked of wishiag to defend the young prince, and yet this young prince was really in theu* own hands. " The samyn day the Quenis majestie causit mak pro- clamatioun in the camp, that quha sould sla ane erle suld have XL pund land, ane lord xx pd. land, ane barroun x pd. land, and ane gemane his escheit." ^ It was still morning when they reached the top of Carberry Hill, and the enemy came in sight. On ^ Diurnal of BemarJcahle Occurrents, p. 115. THE ENCAMPMENT ON CARBERRY HILL. 273 Carberrj Hill, which is only about seven miles from ^^ap. Edinburgh, were still found some old redoubts and trenches which the English had thrown up when at 1567. Pinkie, in the immediate vicinity of this point, they gained their victory over the Scots in the year 1547. The Earl of Bothwell, who rode on a splendid charger, and with the royal banner which displayed the lion rampant of Scotland,^ posted his troops behind these redoubts. Near them was a stone which is still pointed out as that on which the Queen for a long time was seated, having dis- mounted from her steed to enjoy some rest. She sat here with velvet hat and veil on her head, and wearing a simple dress with sleeves laced together, and a red skirt which scarcely reached down to the calf of the leg.^ It was almost midnight when the Lords in Edin- burgh became aware that Bothwell and the Queen ^ La Royne en sa bandiere por- to be brought hither from Peter- toyt ung lion, qui sont les armes borough — now rests right over de ce royaurae. — Letter of Du against those of Queen Elizabeth, Croc to Charles ix. of I7th June there is seen the Scottish lion 1567 ; Teulet, Papiers d'Etat, ii. carved above on the lower part of 177. Monsieur le Due portoyt le her splendid sepulchral monument, lion rouge. — Account of a con- ^ ^he Queen's apparel in the temporary eye-witness ; Ihicl. ii. field was after the fashion of the 167. The lion, which occurs in women of Edinburgh, in a red the Scottish arms as early as the petticoat, sleeves tied with points, twelfth century (Taylor, Pictorial a partlyte, a velvet hat and muffler. History of Scotland, ii. 71, 72), and —Letter of Sir William Drury to which reappears in those of Nor- Cecil, dated Berwick, 18th June way, Denmark, Holland, Hainault, 1567 ; Calendar of State Papers, Flanders, Normandy, and, in Foreign Series, 1566-1568, p. 254. reality, in those also of England Elle estoyt abill^e d'une cotte (the leopard), corresponds generally ^ rouge qui ne luy venoyt que a in the arms of North-westerly demie de la jambe. — The contem- Europe to the eagle in those of porary account ; Teulet, Papiers Easterly Europe. In the chapel d'Etat, ii. 162. Tunicula tantum of Henry vii. in Westminster vestita, eaque vili et detrita, ac Abbey, where Mary Stuart — her paulum infra genua demissa. — Bu- son King James vi. in the year chanan, Berum Scoticarum His- 1612 having caused her remains toria, p. 221. 274 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, had taken the field with a view to compel them to VII. . v^^.^-^ leave the city. The Lords then mounted their 1567. horses, and in the middle of the night their troops were heard by the inhabitants marching out with the blare of trumpets and the noise of drums. From Leith they hurriedly passed along the Fn-th of Forth onwards by the shore road which now nearly unites the hamlets and villas bordering it into one unbroken suburb of Edinburgh. At daybreak they reached the village of Musselburgh, and after passing this, it was seen that Bothwell, by hastening his march, had arrived first on Carberry Hill, which lies more than two miles to the south-east. The Lords never- theless secured the bridge for themselves — Magda- lene Bridge, which led over a brook rushing down in front of the hill — and here they drew up their men in two divisions, the first of which was under the command of the Earl of Morton and Lord Alexander Hume, and the second under that of the Earls of Mar, Glencairn, and Atholl. The strength of the Lords is variously stated, but was about as great as that of their opponents ; according to the highest estimate given both armies amounted alto- gether to 8000 men.^ The Lords, who were entirely wanting in cannon, had, on the other hand, this advantage over Bothwell, that all their men were trained soldiers. Their banner, which was calculated ^ Son armee estoit de quatre mil 17th June 1567 from James Bea- liommes. Les enemys ne pouvoient ton, for the Archbishop of Glas- estre plus de trois mil cinq cens gow, the army of the Lords was hommes au plus. Les deux armees "jugit to be 18 hundereth horse- faisoient nombre de huit mil men, and better and four hundereth hommes. — Letter of du Croc ; Teu- futmen or ma," and the Queen's let, ii. 176. The statement of the "hail companie on hors and fut force present on this occasion by wus noucht nommerit to twa other authorities is only half as thousand men."— Laing, History large. According to the letter of of Scotland, ii. 110, 111. NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE HOSTILE PARTIES. 275 to make an impression on the multitude, had on it a chap. picture of Darnley s corpse lying under the tree, where in the morning it was found, with the little 1567. prince kneeling at his side, and underneath the words : " Judge and avenge my cause, O Lord." About the catastrophe, of which Carberry Hill was on this Sunday the scene, there are not few accounts, but they are difficult to harmonise, espe- cially because they ascribe to the events of the day a different order. So much however is clear that there was no real battle, that the final decision did not take place till late in the evening, and that before this, as a contemporary tells, messengers were to be seen the whole day passing to and fro between the armies.^ The first of these messengers was the French ambassador, Du Croc. In Edinburgh he had, during the night, been witness to the departure of the Lords, but had remained in the city for three hours later, so that he might not seem to have taken part with them. Subsequently, with a small retinue, he rode after the warlike array that had set out before, and at eight o'clock in the morning overtook it in the neighbourhood of Musselburgh, on the bank of the stream at the foot of Carberry Hill. The French- man, who, in a letter to his king, has himself left behind a. detailed description of the mediation attempted by him, represented to the Lords, that however otherwise they might judge of the circum- stances, they yet stood now in direct opposition to their sovereign ; that perhaps, if they should be 1 The uther armey stoode over — The Diarey of Robert Birrel, against it, messingers going be- burges of Edinburghe ; Fragments twixt them all day till neir night. of Scottish History, p. 10. 276 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, fortunate enough to gain the battle, they might v^.^^ afterwards find themselves in greater perplexity 1567. than ever ; and moreover, that he had always found so much goodness in the Queen that possibly he might still be able along with her to discover a way out of the present difficulty/ The Lords made answer to him, that they would rather be buried alive than that the truth with regard to the King's death should not be known, believing, as they did, that if in this they neglected to do their duty God would make them smart for it. " They knew only two possible ways to avoid the shedding of blood : either the Queen must withdraw from those un- happy ones who now had her in their power,^ in which case they, as humble and obedient subjects, would receive her on their knees ; or Bothwell must place himself in the midst of the two armies, when, in such an event, one from their ranks would go forth to fight with him as being the former King's real murderer ; yea, should one or even four not be enough for him, ten or twelve would not be wanting." The Lords with these words gave the French am- bassador a company of horsemen to accompany him over the bridge to Carberry Hill, where another band of horsemen from the Queen came to meet him, and conducted him to Mary. After greeting her and kissing her hand, Du Croc again. began to talk about reconciliation with those who were still equally her subjects, and who even called themselves her respectful and devoted servants. The Queen ^ Que je I'avois toujours cognue Edinburgh, 17th June 1567 ; Teu- princesse de si grande bont^ que, let, Papiers d'Etat, li. 174. peult-estre, je trouverois quelque ^ Si la Royne se voulloyt tirer a moyen avec elle. — Letter of Du part de ces malheureux qui la Croc to King Charles ix., dated tenoient. — Ibid. ii. 173. BOTHWELL PROPOSES SINGLE COMBAT. 277 answered him : " They now show it very badly chap. VII. indeed by acting contrary to what they, themselves v^.^-^ have subscribed, and by still accusing him whom 1567. they have acquitted, and to whom they have given me in marriage. Yet I am ready, if they only will repent and ask forgiveness, to receive them with open arms." Bothwell, who had been much oc- cupied with the marshalhng of his army,^ came forward at this moment and inquired in a confident voice, which he purposely raised so high that it might be heard by the troops :^ " Is it I with whom they want to pick a quarrel ? what have I done to them ? I never intended to harm a single one of them, but, on the contrary, only sought to satisfy them. What they now say, they say simply from envy at my elevation. But fortune belongs to him who can seize it, and there is not one among them that does not wish to be in my place." He added, however, that he had deep sympathy with the Queen in the painful position in which he now saw her,^ and that therefore, in order to avoid bloodshed, in God's name he was ready, notwithstanding his royal marriage, to try single combat with any one that would meet him between the two armies, provided he was his equal in rank. Accordingly he besought the ambassador to report this to the Lords, for his quarrel with them was so just that he relied upon having God on his side. As the Queen meanwhile would not hear of this proposal, and Bothwell at ^ Qui estoyt fort ententif a la toyt a luy qu'ils en voulloient. — conduicte de sonarmee. — Letter of Ibid. ii. 175. Du Croc ; Teulet, Papiers d'Etat, ii. 175. 3 Pour mettre la Eoyne hors de ^ II me demanda tout hault, la peine ou il la voyoit, de la affin que son arniee I'entendist, quelle il disoit porter une peine d'une parolle fort assuree, si c'es- extreme. — Ibid. ii. 175. 278 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, the same time saw his enemies cross over the stream, VII. . . v^..^-^ Croc was obHged, with deep regret, to say fare- 1567. well to the Queen, whom he left with tears in her eyes,^ and descended the hill only to say to the Lords that he had found the Queen full of kindness, and prepared for granting them forgiveness if they went to her themselves for it. Alexander Earl of Glencau-n — one of the violent zealots of the period, who some days after went with his men into the Queen's chapel at Holyrood and pulled down its altar and sacred images^ — answered in the name of the Lords : " We are not come hither to beg for- giveness for ourselves, but to grant it to them who have themselves offended.'' The Lords again put on then- helmets, and the mediation, which had occupied two 'hours, was broken off. ^ Du Croc was obhged to return to Edinburgh without gaining his object. It deserves to be particularly noticed that although this French ambassador was by no means favourably disposed towards Bothwell, yet he con- fesses that he witnessed with great interest the superior ability with which Bothwell managed every- thing. If Bothwell could only rely upon his troops, Du Croc did not doubt that he would be victorious, for while he was sole commander on Carberry Hill, there were contrary orders passing from one to the other in the army of the Lords,^ and the French ^ La laissant la larme a I'oeul. — la main. — Letter of Du Croc ; Teu- Letter of Du Croc ; Teulet, Pajners let, Pawners cVEtat, ii. 1 77. d'Etat, i\. 177. * Et aussi I'estimois beaucoup 2 Knox, History of the Reforma- qu'il commandoit tout seul, et je tion in Scotland, ii. 561. faisois doubte des autres pour ce ^ Et prirent oppinion que parle- qu'ils estoient plusieur testes, et y ment leur porteroit dommage, pour- avoit une grande cryerie parmi quoy misrent tous leur morions en eulx. — Ibid. ii. 177. THE BATTLE IMMINENT. 279 ambassador also reported to his sovereign thus ; "I chap, cannot but say that I saw a great captain present himself with the utmost confidence, and one who i^^T. led his troops with bravery and prudence."^ How certain Bothwell still was of the issue of the day at the departure of Du Croc, he also showed, when, on seeing his foes cross the stream, he advised this mediator " to imitate him who wished to establish peace and friendship between the armies of Scipio and Hannibal when these two armies were about to come to blows, just as the two before them were going to do, but who, when he could do nothing and was unwilling to take part with either side, chose for himself a place as a spectator, and thus became witness of the grandest sight which he had ever seen ; if Du Croc would now do the same he would never live to witness a greater entertainment, for he should see them fight bravely."^ The battle which Bothwell had imagined at hand when he saw his enemies pass over the stream did ^ II fault que je dise que je veiz inissa and the Carthaginians, about ung grand cappitaine parler de whose internal contest Appian grande asseurance et qui con- (viii, 71) on this occasion thus duisoit son armee gaillardement relates : " Scipio looked from an et sagement. — Letter of Du Croc ; elevated spot at this battle as at Teulet, Papiers d'Etat, ii. 176. a spectacle. He often said after- ^ Du Croc, who replied, " que wards that, though he had been ce n'estoit pas de la Royne et de present at many battles, he had ces deux armees que je vouldrois never found any pleasure such as veoir ce plaisir, mais que au con- in this. For only once at this traire je n'aurois jamais veu chose, martial exploit, where an hundred qui m'enyast tant que ce que je and ten thousand men stood against verrois (Teulet, ii. 176), has pro- each other, had he been a sorrow- bably misrepresented Bothwell's less spectator." He adds however reference to antiquity, or Bothwell with a feeling of self-complacency, has himself confounded together P. " that only two before him had Cornelius Scipio Africanus niajor seen such a sight, viz., in the and Africanus minor. We may con- Trojan war, Zeus from Ida and jecture that he had rather in view Poseidon from Samothrace." — Vide the last named, who in vain came Homer, Iliad, viii. v. 51-67, and forward as mediator between Mas- xiii. v. 10-16. 280 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, not however take place. On the one hand, the latter vn. . ... w^J^ perceived the preponderance which the position 1567. chosen by their opponent gave him, the hill being too steep to be seized from the westward without very great danger, while they would have to expose themselves to the cannon which the Earl had brought with hun,^ and to fight with the sun right in their eyes ; on the other hand, Bothwell having so many untrained soldiers, would not abandon his strong position in order to throw himself upon the more experienced troops of his enemies, especially as it was said that the Hamiltons, Lord Herries, and others of the Queen's adherents, had assembled large bands of horsemen, and were already in the neigh- bourhood, or might be expected the following day. Only now and then Bothwell made his artillery fire some shots on their out-posts, but these were too far distant to allow of them being struck by the cannon. After crossing the stream the Lords con- tracted their lines, made a movement to the right in the direction of Dalkeith, and occupied a height beyond the range of the cannon where they no longer had the sun in their faces, and whence access to Carberry Hill was less difiicult. . Dalkeith be- longed to the Earl of Morton, and thence, on the clear, hot summer day, when, according to" the custom of the country, the horsemen dismounted and fought on foot, and while the two armies only stood watching each other,^ was brought abundance ^ Maiores machinae. — Buchanan, avoit trois pieces de campagne. — Berum Scoticarum Historia, p. 22L Letter of Du Croc ; Teulet, ii. 176. And thair plaissit 7 or 8 pieces of Ung double et deux simples fau- artillerie, the quhilk they had conneaux. — Contemporary Ac- broucht wyth thaim of Dunbar. — count, Ibid. ii. 162. Letter of James Beaton ; Laing, ^ Ug furent depuis les onze heures History of Scotland, ii. 111. II du matin jusqu'a cinq heures du PKOPOSALS FOR SINGLE COMBAT RESUMED. 281 of meat and drink to the armed companions of chap. VII Morton. In the Queen's army, on the contrary, w.^^ notwithstanding all the attempts of the commanders 1567. to maintain order, large bands were to be seen com- pletely exhausted leaving the ranks to seek refresh- ment in the neighbourhood ; only the arquebusiers of the Queen, under Captains Alexander Stuart and Hew Lauder, and another troop of Both well's firmest adherents, steadily kept the ranks, but these, the Lords trusted, would also become so tired out that in the evening they would be obliged, in order to refresh themselves, to give up the advantage of their position. Before that time, however, another way of escape from the impending fight offered itself. While the Earl of Bothwell could not rely upon his own kinsmen and vassals, others were to be found in the Queen's army who " were of opinion that she had intelligence with the Lords," while " part of them believed that her Majesty would fain have been quit of him, but thought shame to be the doer thereof directly herself"^ And thus it happened that at the out-posts, before the two armies, a parley was held in which it was concluded that it would be best to leave the decision of the quarrel to a duel. The Queen, who had in the morning been unwilling to hear this expedient spoken of, could not with the same confidence refuse it, seeing the proposal for thus preventing further bloodshed was brought forward by her own people. For such a mode of deciding the matter still harmonised with soir a se regarder, ayant tous mis Croc ; Teulet, Painers d^Etat, ii. piedz a terre, comme c'est la fa9on 178. du pais, qui vout a cheval jusqu'au ^ Memoirs of Sir James Melvil^ point de combattre.— Letter of Du p. 82. 282 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, the spirit of the times ; not many steps from Car- berry Hill the former Earl of Huntly, immediately 1567. before the battle of Pinkie in 1547, had, as com- mander of the Scottish army, offered to meet the Duke of Somerset, the leader of the English in- v^ading army, in knightly fashion, with a company of twenty against twenty, of ten against ten, or only man against man,^ and it was only a few years more than a generation since, that in the South, during the second of the wars between Francis i. and Charles v., the French King was seen to send, and the Emperor to accept, a challenge to single combat, and even at a later period in the North, during the Kalmark war, the King of Sweden is known to have addressed a hke challenge to the King of Denmark and Norway.^ Mary sent for Sir William Kirkaldy, the laird of Grange, the most distinguished warrior in the hostile army, and to him the task was intrusted of bringing Bothwell's readiness for the proposed combat to the knowledge of the Lords. ^ As, however, the duel of those princes did not really take place, so neither was the duel on Car- berry Hill actually carried out. What happened 1 Burton, History of Scotland, Historia, Kjobenliavn, 1754, pp. iii. 211. 30-32). ^ Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, 2 At a more distant period, to p. 82. Melvil, who also makes the mention here only the wars in laird of Grange in vain offer him- the North, Frederick iii. is said, on self for the duel, has about this the second attack of Charles Gus- first conference between the Queen tavus upon Denmark, to have and Kirkaldy volunteered the offered the Swedish king to decide statement that " as he was speak- the contest by single combat {Me- ing with Her Majesty, the Earl of moires du Chevalier de Terlon, Bothwel had appointed a soldier Paris, 1681, i. 254), just as King to shoot him, until the Queen gave Charles xii. still later wished to a cry, and said that he would not do have challenged Peter the Czar her that shame, seeing she had pro- to a duel (Norberg, Anmdrk- mised that he should come and ningar wed Konung Carl XII.'s return safely." BOTHWELL REJECTS THE CHAMPIONS OFFERED. 283 there vividly recalls the circumstances in the North chap. . . . VII. in olden times where it was not deemed becoming v^-^^ for kings or earls to appear against men of lower 1^67. origin or of less renown.^ After Bothwell rode forth in front of his army, willing now to redeem the offer he made on his acquittal,^ the first that wished to accept his challenge was James Murray, a young nobleman who had in Edinburgh been engaged in posting up the secret placards against the Earl. As he was meanwhile rejected by the other side as beneath Bothwell in rank, his elder brother, Sir William Murray, laird of TuUibardine, offered in his stead to fight out the quarrel, asserting at the same time that neither with respect to the antiquity of his family nor in point of fortune would he yield to the Earl. Yet was he also rejected, as he was not like Bothwell one of the Peers of the realm ; the Queen and the kinsmen of Bothwell wishing to have only an Earl or a Lord as his opponent, and Bothwell himself accordingly named the Earl of Morton, who is said to have stated his readiness for the combat. Lord Patrick Lindsay, who along with Morton and Lord Ruthven, had played his part at the murder of Kiccio, now begged that it might be allowed him, as a reward for his services, to under- take it in room of the Earl. It is related that the ^ N. M. Petersen, Danmarks Historie i Hedenold, Kjobenhavn, 1834-37, iii. 394. About the challenge of the Polish Crown - General Zamoiski by Duke Charles of Sudermania, afterwards Charles IX., Lelewell remarks {Histoire de Pologne, Paris et Lille, 1844, ii. 86) : — " Le Grand Zamoiski m^me, qui refusa en republicain le titre de Prince, vouloit dans sons age avance obtenir le titre de comte, afin de se mesurer en duel avec Charles due de Sudermanie Prince, usurpateur de la SuMe." Ibi Bothuelius, equo insigni ante aciem provectus, per prse- conem postulat, quo cum ipse sin- gulari certamine decernat. — Buch- anan, Eerum Scoticarum Historia, p. 221. 284 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP. Lords at first would not permit Lindsay to take ^J^^^^, upon himself alone a business which was as much 1567. theirs as his/ but that afterwards they expressed their satisfaction at his readiness. Morton, who drew back in his favour, lent him for the approach- ing duel an old two-handed sword, which one of his ancestors, Archibald Earl of Angus, had formerly made famous, and Lindsay was then seen to fall on his knees in presence of the whole army, and with a loud voice to pray God that His favour would preserve the innocent and make His justice strike the murderer who bore the guilt of the King's innocent blood. The warrant of arrest issued at a later period by the Lords against Bothwell affirms, as both Buchanan and Knox also do, that, as the result of cowardice on the part of the Earl, the Queen also rejected Lord Lindsay as of unequal birth to her husband,^ but Bothwell protests that he himself induced both the noblemen who came with him, and also the Queen, to accept Lord Lindsay, and as his testimony does not in this instance stand alone, it can hardly be pronounced 1 The Laird of Grange being re- refusit singular combat, baith of a tornit to the Lords wyth that Baron and gentleman undefamid, anser, the Laird of Trebrowne and of a Lord and Baron of Parlia- was sent sone after him to knaw, ment. — The Scots Privy Council's quhair the plaiss sould be appointit, warrant of arrest of 26th June and in quhat appareill thay suld 1567 ; Anderson, Collections, i. cum to the feild, quha, at his 140. Ibi quoque quum Bothuelius retorning, rapported to the Queinis tergiversaretur, nec se honeste ex- Majestie and to my Lord Duk, pedire posset, Regina suam inter- that the Lordis wald noucht sufFar posuit auctoritatem, atque, eo de- my Lord Lindsay to faicht, and to pugnare vetito, contentionem dire- tak all the haill hording upon him mit. — Buchanan, Rerum Scoti- that was equallie thairs and his ; carnm Historia, p. 221. Bothwell and swa that proposs stayit. — seeing that there was no more Letter of James Beaton of 17th subterfuge nor excuse, underhand June 1567 ; Laing, History of Scot- made the Queen to forbid him. — la7id, ii. 112. Knox, History of the Reformation ^ Efter that he had cowardlie i7i Scotland, ii. 561. WHY THE DUEL WAS NOT FOUGHT. 285 destitute of weight.^ All that remained now was that the seconds, five noblemen from each side who w-y-L^ were to be present at the duel as eye-witnesses,^ 1567. should agree about the place and the conditions of the combat. Why was the quarrel not then brought to an issue by the final decision of single combat ? Why did not Lindsay and Bothwell meet for its deter- mination in the manner for which the latter has subsequently said that he in vain waited until far on in the summer evening P It seems as if the Lords at the last moment preferred another mode of deciding the quarrel after the frequent parleying had given them better knowledge of their opponents' want of unity, and possibly they were also influ- enced by fear lest the affair should be protracted in order that the Queen's friends might obtain their reinforcements. After Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, Sir William Douglas of Drumlanrig, Sir William Kerr of Cessfurd, and Sir John Home, laird of Coldingknowes, with two hundred horse- ^ The Queinis Majestie was lang or sche could be persuad.it to that, bot at the last, albeit sche fand it not noucht gud, sche consentit to it noucht wythout grat difficultie. — Letter of James Beaton, of 17th June 1567 ; Laing, History of Scot- land, ii. 112. A la fin ung nomme milord Lindesay s'y presenta : on faisoit semblant d'accepter ccluy-la. — Letter of Du Croc in Teulet's Papier s d'Etat, ii. 178. Et Monsieur le Due se travaille et ses barons, de son coust^, envers la Royne pour luy faire accorder de permectre. Et, apres avoir long- temps persuade, elle feust contante plustot que d'avoir entr6 en effu- sion de sang, et fut longtemps apres devant qu'elle le vouleust accorder. —The contemporary account ; Ibid. ii. 164. 2 Thair was 20 gentlemen in ether syd to see thair partes. — Letter of James Beaton of 17th June 1567 ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 112. 3 "Pen apres" Bothwell protested in Denmark, "je allay au lieu du combat pour y attendre mon en- nemy, oil je demeuray jusques au soir bien tard, sans qu'il se mon- trast, ne feist semblant de vouloir comparoir, comme je prouveray (quand il en sera besoing) par ung mille de gentilzhommes, sur peyne de perdre la vye." — Teulet, Let- tres, p. 175. 286 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, men, had gone before eastward round the hill s^-Y^ for the purpose of cutting off Both well from Dun- 1^^"- bar, the Lords were seen about eight o'clock in the evening to be on the point of assailing the hill in front. The Queen, who had again mounted her steed, found at this crisis, that though the kinsmen and vassals of Both well and her own arquebusiers were ready to fight for the Earl,^ yet the army was in a state of complete disintegration,^ and she forth- with announced in consequence her determination to repair to the army of the Lords. She caused Kirkaldy of Grange to be again summoned, and as he had lately told her how willingly the Lords would receive her as their mistress, if she abandoned Both well, she said that if they promised this, she was now prepared to comply with their wish. In vain would Bothwell, while Grange rode down the hill with this message to the Lords, have even then besought Mary rather to turn back to Dunbar, and let him fight with her subjects ; in vain would he have warned her against the fair words which only concealed treachery f he saw — as he has himself remarked, and which but little accords with the blind passion for him that Mary's enemies have ascribed to her — that for him it " was impossible to move her from her purpose, or to get her to listen ^ Bothuelii propinqui et clientes wards wrote, " je la pryai d'adviser confligere cupiebant.— Buchanan, a ce qu'elle vouloit faire, et que Rerum Scoticarum Hisioria, p. par sa bonte elle ne se perdist, ear 221. je congnoissois assez leur cueur 2 On the oder partie the Queinis plain de trahison." — Teulet, Lettres, Majestie's folks haid na will of p. 176. James Beaton also notices straiks bot rather was drawand in his letter this separation of the thamselfs asyd, and sum of thaim Queen from Bothwell as that "the steilland away. — Letter of James quhilk hir Majestie haid persuadit Beaton ; Laing, History of Scot- to him nocht wythout gryat diffi- land, ii. 113. cultie."— Laing, History of Scot- 3 " Sur quoy," Bothwell after- Zand. ii. 113. THE QUEEN SURRENDERS TO THE LORDS. 287 to any objection/' and he could simply beg of her, chap. ere she carried it into effect, to obtain all necessary security from the Lords. The shades of evening had 1567. already spread themselves over Carberry Hill, when Bothwell held this conversation with Mary, and was seen not without emotion to part from her, in order, with a small company of horsemen, to gallop back to Dunbar.^ It was the last time they met in life. When Kirkaldy of Grange again ascended the hill, and met the Queen alone, she was prepared to follow him, if the Lords promised not to seek to do injury to her men, but to permit every one to return to his own home. As soon as Kirkaldy gave her an assurance to this effect,^ and Bothwell was now a good way off, she said aloud : — " Laird of Grange, I render myself unto you, upon the conditions you rehearsed unto me, in the name of the Lords. Upon this the Queen gave him her hand, which he kissed ; he then took her horse by the bridle, and led it down from the hill. When she reached the first rank of the army of the Lords, where, on . bended knee, these received her with wonted respect, she told them that it was not from fear or doubt of victory, but only to spare blood that she now came to those to whose counsel she would rather listen.* But when she spoke about wishing to advance to ^ Et plus souventefois s'entre- the Lordis, they causit mak ane besserent au departit. Sur la fin, proclamation incontinent defendant Monsieur le Due luy demanda si all, that was of thair parte, to per- elle ne vouUoit de sa part garder sue or invaid any, that was of the la promesse de fidellit^ que elle Queenis parte. — Letter of James luy avoit faicte, de quoy elle luy Beaton ; Laing, History of Scot- assura. La dessus, luy bailla sa land, ii. 113. main ainsi que il d^partoit -The 3 Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, anonymous contemporary s -p 33 count ; Teulet, Papiers d^Etat, ^' ii. 165-66. * Knox, History of the Reforma- 2 The quhilk being fund gud be tion in Scotland, ii. 561. 288 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. 1567. ^vn!*' ^^^6t the Hamiltons, she encountered a dismal cold- ness, and on approaching the second division of the army, she was stunned with a cry which saluted her as a murderess/ Her emotion was violent, resem- bling what she displayed at the murder of Riccio, and her despair at being, as she complained, deceived by her own subjects, knew no bounds." It was not as a princess, but as one vanquished, over whom they triumphed, that late in the same evening she was obliged to make a humiliating entrance into Edin- burgh. In agreement with a promise with which Bothwell says that she separated from him, and according to which she was to let him hear from her in Dunbar, she is said during the night secretly to have written him a letter, but the letter was given up to the Lords, and they, interpreting it as her own opinion, that she neither had left, nor would leave him,^ declared it to be unavoidably necessary to re- tain her in custody, and accordingly she was taken as a prisoner, the night after, from Edinburgh to the island castle in Lochleven, the same prison as had been intended for her at the rebellion of Murray two years previously, long before any one could plead her connection with Bothwell. This investigation cannot 1 Quum ad secundam aciem per- which process of time might have venisset, concors ab omnibus accomplished." — Memoirs of Sir clamor sublatus est, ut meretricem, James Melvil, p. 84. But against ut parricidam cremarent. — Buch- the whole assertion about the com- anan, Rerum Scoticarum Historia, promising letter, speaks strongly the p. 222. fact, that no such letter was ever 2 Minas, maledicta, lacrymas et produced at the conferences in cetera, quse muliebris amat dolor, England, instead of which the profundebat. — Ihid. p. 222. document brought forward there, 2 Sir James Melvil, always so the so-called " Book of Articles " very mild in his treatment of (Hosack, p. 547), only says, that " in Mary Stuart, whose representation farther pruif of hir inordinat affec- makes it appear that she had now tioun towardes him she convoyit a in fact left him, adds here : — " For purs with gold to him be David she could not do that so hastily Kintor the same xvi. day." Mary's subsequent career. 289 follow her in her subsequent escape, effected during chap. the following year from this Scottish imprisonment, ^ nor in her fatal flight to the neighbouring country, 1567-87. after the adverse battle at Langside, nor in the new and long-continued confinement that there awaited her, nor in her passage to the tragical death which was at last prepared for her by the same hand that had been the primary cause of her misfortunes, by the kinswoman who had never been able to forgive her for being beautiful, CathoKc, and successor of the Tudors, by that " false woman, Her sister and her fae." T CHAPTEK VIII. CHAP. The history of Bothwell and Mary Stuart, till VIII ... the events on Carberry Hill divided them from 1567. each other, is so entwined together, that a sketch of the fortunes of the one can rarely be separated from an account of those of the other. After that fateful day — the 15th of June 1567 — drove them away in opposite directions, the condition of the one, in spite of the increasing distance between them, did indeed still continue to exercise an influence upon that of the other, yet they never more met, and from this period the remainder of Bothwell's life demands its own history. But a difficulty now meets us in respect to this, that while the Scottish sources of information, although almost incessantly conflicting with each other on every single point, have been hitherto sufficiently munerous, they now suddenly and all but entirely cease, the stormy and eventful times continuing henceforward uninterrupt- edly to occupy the attention of Scotland, so that the conclusion of Bothwell's life became only a misty re- collection to the next generation. It is only in more recent times, and especially from the North, that some greater light has been shed over his latter SOURCES OF THE HISTORY OF BOTHWELL's LATTER DAYS. 291 days. After Suhm, at the close of the last century, chap. had directed attention to the manuscripts in the North which could throw Hght on Bothwells later for- 1779-1829. tunes/ one of the literati in Denmark, while engaged not many years afterwards in issuing a translation of a sketch by Gentz of the History of Mary Stuart, was enabled from a communication by Thorkelin from the Danish Privy Archives, to bring to light other contributions relating to the subject.^ On the other hand, it was longer ere a leading document giving information from Bothwell himself, to the presence of which, in a Swedish manuscript Suhm had previously called attention,^ became more widely known on the other side of the North Sea,* but after this happened, a copy of it was obtained from the library of Drottningholm, where it was then pre- served, and was combined with the contributions drawn from the State Archives in Denmark, in a special pubhcation which was printed for the Ban- natyne Club.^ As, however, only very few copies of the Bannatyne Club Pubhcations are printed, this httle volume became very soon a bibliographic rarity even in Scotland, and as good as unobtain- able on the Continent, so that even Prince Alex- ander Labanoff-Rostoffski, in whom Mary Stuart has almost found a new lover in the nineteenth century, was ignorant of its existence when he pub- ^ Samlinger til den danske His- ^ Note L, Appendix. torie. Kjobenhavn, 1779-1784, 4to, 4 . Enp-lish translation of it ii. 2, 99, 101-102. Nye Samlinger • at a/t Ti L til den danske Historie. Kj5ben- §^7? ^.^f il^^ havn, 1792-1795, 4to, iv. 108. ^^"^^ ^^"^^ 1^"^)' ^ Den Skotske Dronning Maria ^ Les Affaires du Conte de Boduel, StiLorts Historie med et Anhang Van 1568. Presented to the mem- af forhen utrukte Papirer af M. C. bers of the Bannatyne Club by Bergenhammer, og en Fortale af Henry Cockburn and Thomas K. L. Rahbek Kjobenhavn, 1803. Maitland. Edinburgh, 1829, 4to. 292 JAMES HEPBURN EAEL OF BOTHWELL. ^vnf * ^^^^^^ extensive collection of his unhappy v^-Y—' heroine's letters, with illustrative notes. The con- 1837-62. tributions to Bothwell's history drawn from Den- mark and Sweden were therefore printed, first in a separate small volume by Prince Labanoff,^ and later, as this did not come into the hands of the book- sellers, in a supplement to the letters which Alexan- der Teulet has added to his great edition of political documents connected with the History of Scotland in the sixteenth century.^ The papers thus hitherto obtained from the Danish royal archives constituted meanwhile but a part of what they contained, which was fitted to throw fight on Bothwell's later fortunes, and accordingly the learned Icelander, Thorleifr Gudmundson Repp, who, while in Edinbiu"gh hold- ing an appointment in the Advocates' Library, had rendered his assistance to the editing of the Banna- tyne Club's costly publications, undertook, on his return to Denmark in 1837, to procure a fuller collection from the Danish State Archives. He did not, however, succeed in getting his work, which was written in English,^ pubfished, and from the ^ Pieces et Documents relatifs au Siveden, including a visit to the Isle Comte de Bothivell. St. Peters- of Gotland, London, 1862, i. 13- bourg, 1856. 20), but fails to distinguish be- 2 Lettres de Marie Stuart. — Par tween Earl James Both well, the A. Teulet, Membre de la Societe husband of Mary, and the for- Imperiale des Antiquaires de mer's nephew, Earl Francis Both- France. Paris, 1859. well. Captain Marryat wished also ^ The manuscript a few years himself to have instituted re- after his death was, through the searches with respect to Bothwell intercession of Counsellor of State in the State Archives, but in Worsaae, made over by the family reference to this it is said in the to the English tourist, Captain survey of visits to the archives' Horace Marryat, who has given office during the year 1860 : — notices of Bothwell in his sketches " Captain Marryat wished in April of travels in Denmark (A Besidence to be obliged with the communi- in Jutland, the Danish Isles, and cation of notices of Earl Bothwell's Copenhagen, London, .1860, i. 410- sojourn in Denmark ; but after 419), and in Sweden {One Year in having previously learned the HE IS ADVISED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY. 293 extracts made from it, given in other works, it is ^^^j- manifest that he too has not had his eye upon all ^y-^ the documents which the archives can furnish, i^^^- From this the conclusion seems obvious that although the Danish State Archives furnish most of the contributions to the later history of Bothwell, yet these necessarily require, in order as far as possible to clear up the subject, to be combined with the information which to the careful investi- gator is supplied by other sources. In some of the Scottish records of the history of Mary, which have been brought to Hght in more recent times, it is related that when Kirkaldy of Grange was sent to the Queen to negotiate with her while still on Carberry Hill, he carried with him a secret message and token from the Earl of Morton to Bothwell, by which the latter was advised on the ground of the rage of the multitude to betake himself out of the country for some time till the Earl could bring matters into another course, and it was also intimated by the same means that no one would be allowed to pursue Bothwell.^ This testi- mony about such an express understanding between Bothwell and his opponents is indeed too unsup- ported for confidence to be placed in it,^ yet the way in which Bothwell was suffered in the evening nature of the documents preserved botsford Club by Eobert Pitcairn. here (they are almost all in Danish) Edinburgh, 1836, 4to, pp. 94. he withdrew his request." — Weg- ^ Yet Camden seeks to maintain : ener, Aarsheretninger fra det — " Ee vera submonuerunt, ut sibi Kongelige Geheimearkiv^ Tredie fuga consuleret, non alio consilio, Bind, p. xi. quam ne apprehensus totam machi- ^ Historical Memoirs of the nationem renudaret, et ipsius fugam reign of Mary Queen of Scots, and in argumentum ad Reginam regi- a portion of the reign of King cidii accusandam arriperent." — An- James the Sixth, by Lord Herries. nales Rerum Anglicarum et Hiber- Edited and presented to the Ab- nicarumregnanteElizabetha, -p. 117. 294 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. VIII. 1567. to withdraw seems capable of being understood only ' when it is remembered that both the Earl of Mor- ton and the other chief leaders in the army of the Lords had taken part with Bothwell in the transac- tions connected with the league which was entered into against Darnley in the previous year, and thus were they even in a position to convict Bothwell of his crime, yet on the other hand he might become a dangerous witness against themselves, so that they must have felt at the outset that their own inter- ests would be best served if he would privately steal away. But when this had happened, and they had returned with Mary to Edinburgh, a bond was subscribed on the following day in which they not only banded themselves together upon honour, word, and promise, to get the Queen's marriage with Both- well dissolved, but as solemnly, as they had formerly assured the Earl of assistance, they now pledged themselves not to rest till they got him duly punished, " as truly as we are noblemen, and love the honour of our native country." ^ A week afterwards a herald was heard in the Market Place of Edinburgh, and in similar places throughout the towns of the realm, making a proclamation from the Privy Council, which forbade all and every one from affording the Earl of Bothwell shelter or support by land or sea, and offering a reward of a thousand crowns to whoever should seize and deliver him into the hands of justice.^ ^ Bond of the nobles of Scotland i. 139-141. Anderson does not against Bothwell, subscribed in mention here that this proclama- Edinburgh the 16th June 1567. — tion had also been circulated in a Anderson, Collections, i. 138. printed form. — Imprentit at Edin- ^ Proclamation of the Privy burgh be Robert Lekpreujk. Anno Council of 26th June 1567, Ibid. Do. 1567. WHY HE LEFT THE CASTLE OF DUNBAR. 295 After learning at Dunbar that Mary had met ^^j^- from the Lords the fate which he had foreseen, w-^^ Bothwell left the castle on the 27th June/ and, i567. with a couple of vessels fitted out by him, sailed past the Firth of Forth northward. The reason why Bothwell did not remain in Dunbar Castle can hardly have been any fear as to his safety, as some allege," for he had a trusty commander at that time in charge in Patrick Whitlaw, who had been made knight • when he himself was created Duke ; many faithful members of the Hepburn family voluntarily repaired to Dunbar^ to take part in its defence, and in spite of repeated summonses to surrender, the castle con- tinued to be held for Bothwell, and that even after Sir James Balfour had betrayed Edinburgh Castle to his enemies ; nor was it till after having made 1 " Le Due, mary de la Royne," Du Croc communicated on the 30th June 1567 from Edinburgh to Charles ix., " est sorti, il y a trois jours, et s'est mis sur un navire, Ton ne sgait pas oii il a fait voille. Si croy-je qu'il ne c'esloignera point de la coste de ce^ royaulme," — Teulet's Fapiers d'Eiat, ii. 186. This letter of Du Croc is referred by other authorities, probably in- correctly, to the 21st of June {State Papers relating to Scotland, i. 248. State Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-68, p. 258), but that Bothwell before finally leaving Dunbar Castle had made thence a short visit to Fife is hinted at in the accounts of Sir William Drury from Berwick of the 16th and 27th of June 1567 {Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1566- 1568, pp. 255, 263). 2 For that he feared to be en- closed. — Spottiswood, History of the Church of Scotland, p. 213. ^ Among the members of the Hepburn family, who along with Patrick Whitlaw took part in de- fending Dunbar for Bothwell until the fortress, on the 1st October 1567, came into the hands of Murray, are mentioned William Hepburn of Gilmerstoun, Patrick Hepburn of Wauchton, the latter's brother, Adam Hepburn of Smea- ton, and Thomas Hepburn of Auldham stocks (see Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents, p. 122). Besides those who had taken re- fuge in Dunbar, and for whose surrender the new government of Scotland laid claim by a specially threatening summons of the 26th August 1567 (printed in Ander- son's Collections, 148-150), was also Patrick Wilson, who in company with William Powrie, had brought the gunpowder with which Both- well caused Darnley's dwelling to be blown up. Wilson is still men- tioned in a document of the 30th July 1572 as not apprehended {Dinrnal ■ of Pema^liahle Occur- re/iits, p. 309), and had therefore probably saved himself. 296 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ^viiT ^ serious resistance, and the heavy guns from the — Castle of Edinburgh had been brought against it, 1567. that by a capitulation it came in the autumn fol- lowing into the. power of the new Government/ The real cause why Bothwell fled from the fastness of Dunbar to the north-west of Scotland may with more correctness be affirmed, as he hmiself states, that he had wished there to eflect a meeting with the Hamiltons and the many other friends whom the Queen still had in these districts, and who during the following year, when she succeeded in escaping from Lochleven, actually rose to fight against her enemies.^ When, on the other hand, Bothwell also asserts that it was in consequence of a consultation held between him and the adherents of the Queen that he was obhged to repair to the Continent to procure assistance in opposition to the new order of things caused by the catastrophe on Carberry Hill, there is certainly ground to call in question his veracity. For supposing an advice had really been given him to withdraw from the coun- try, yet as this could hardly be accompanied with any warrant or authority to speak in the name of others on the Continent about the aflairs of Scot- land, it must have had its origin merely in the fact that it had become e\ddent to the adherents of the Queen that his presence in Scotland just then fur- nished a main hindrance to the cause of Mary. Where any such consultation was held, whether in the north or west of Scotland, he has not by any means exactly indicated. That Bothwell on the ^ Diurnal of RemarJcahle Occur- Scotland from 1559 to 1568. — rents, p. 125. Teulet, Lettres, pp. 178-180. ^ Botliwell's account of events in HE VISITS SPYNIE CASTLE. 297 contrary had not at this time omitted to visit his chap. . VIII former brother-in-law may be assumed from one of the accounts sent to Queen Ehzabeth by Sir ^^^7. Nicholas Throckmorton, in which the latter, on the 16th July 1567, announces from Edinburgh that Bothwell had recently been staying in the north with the Earl of Huntly at Strathbogie, and had sought to enlist troops and raise a rebellion, but that the Earl, although the new rulers were not on good terms with him, had yet seen that Bothwell in all quarters had only small support, and therefore would not venture anything for him.-^ " I also hear," the Enghsh ambassador adds, " that Bothwell during the night has suddenly de- parted from the Earl's residence ; that he has gone to Spynie, and will probably proceed to the Orkneys, but will hardly find there a good reception." The letter shows, as will be seen, how well informed they were then in Edinburgh about the position of matters in the North, although they did not put any serious hindrance in the way of Bothwell's withdrawal. It is evident from an Act which was drawn up a day or two after by the Scottish Govern- ment, that Bothwell must have for some time found refuge with his granduncle, Patrick Hepburn, Bishop of Moray, in Spynie Castle, near Elgin, where he had been brought up as a child, since the Act on this ground forbids under threat of punishment all lessees in the bishopric of Moray to give any pay- ment or service either to the bishop or to any of his agents.^ An offer was also sent at this time from 1 Throckmorton's account of 16th Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-68, July 1567. — Raumer, Die Koni- p, 286. ginnen Elisabeth und Maria Stuart, ^ This Act, issued by the govern- pp. 153-54, and Calendar of State ment on the 21st of July 1567 is to 298 JAMES HEPBUKN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Spynie to Edinburgh to seize Bothwell, or to put v^,^^ him to death. The offer came from an adventurer, 1567. an English Cathohc, who had fled from London to escape arrest for debt, and had afterwards under- taken to serve Cecil as a spy in Scotland. Having by his conduct incurred suspicion, the Scottish Government had caused him the year previously to be apprehended and examined, and as the letters which were found upon him, and which exposed Cecil, substantiated his guilt, he was compelled to remain a prisoner for a length of time in the strong castle of Spynie. By connections which he had here estabhshed, he beheved he was now in a posi- tion to lay hold of Bothwell or to put him out of the way, and a brother of his, Anthony Bokesby, presented a proposal to this effect to the ambassador of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, who was still in Edinburgh. The wary diplomatist, thinking that it would not be very easy to seize Bothwell alive, and not wishing to authorise murder, let the matter rest after referring Bokesby with his proposal to the Laird of Lethington at Stirling, and this Scottish statesman probably preferred to see Bothwell withdraw from the country than to see him again a prisoner.^ Bothwell at all events had be found printed in Anderson's Co^ 1566-68, p. 305, The same letter lections, i. 142-45. The Bishop also states that it was said that was afterwards, on the ground of Bothwell, during his stay at Spynie that reception of Bothwell, prose- Castle, had killed one of the Bishop cuted as accessory to the murder of of Moray's illegitimate sons, but Darnley, but w^as acquitted on the this statement is not more credible 28th November 1567 {Calendar of than the story told in one of the State Papers, Foreign Series, accounts from Sir William Drury at 1566-68, p. 367). Berwick of 27th June 1567, in 1 Letter of Throckmorton to reference to Bothwell, that " it is Queen Elizabeth, dated Edin- said, that since his retreat, by his burgh, 31st July 1567. — Calendar consent a French page, whom he of State Papers, Foreign Series, had, who knew of his proceedings, HE LANDS IN ORKNEY. 299 met with no hindrance as yet when he parted with chap. his aged relative at Spynie Castle to pass from Morayshire to the Orkneys. 1567. When Bothwell first determined on leaving Scotland the idea of previously visiting the Orkneys must have been uppermost in his mind. It was only two months since he had received his ducal title, and the islands of Orkney and Shetland were by their situation in a greater or less degree with- drawn from the party-movements prevailing in the rest of Scotland. They had also a population that had not yet lost its Norse nationaUty, and whose disposition and interests had always shown them- selves very widely different from those of the Scots. When Bothwell embarked in the north of Scotland and for ever retired from its coasts, he caused the two small vessels conveying himself and his fol- lowers to steer their course towards " the dukedom" which had as yet not seen its master. He landed on the Mainland of Orkney. But here disappoint- ment speedily met him. The bailiff of Orkney was Gilbert Balfour of Westray, who also held the office in Bothwell's name of "Keeper" of the castle in Kirkwall. Gilbert, like Sir James Balfour, belonged to those whom contemporaries in some cases accused of having a share in Bothwell's crime,^ but Gilbert is drowned." — Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-68, p. 262. The last mentioned report, which manifestly points to Paris, is undoubtedly false, and the Scot- tish communications to English- man became in general at this time so unreliable, that even Sir William Drury found himself ob- liged to complain to Cecil that " they -so often fail in their re- ports." — Cal&ndar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-68, p. 254. 1 Among " those that laid hands on the King to kill him, by Both- well's direction," Knox could thus along with Sir James also name Gilbert Balfour. — History of the Reformation in Scotland, ii. 551. Gilbert Balfour afterwards became with Archibald Euthven chief commander of the three thousand 300 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. c^AP. Balfour, if the suspicion really had any ground, hastened, like Sir James, to turn round just as 1567. those in power turned. Even before the latter contrived to sell the castle of Edinburgh to Scot- land's new government, Gilbert Balfour refused, in the castle of Kirkwall, to come to any terms with Both well — nay, showed him such opposition that, as Both well subsequently states, his stay there lasted only two days.'^ Like a strange passing meteor the Orkney Isles saw their duke vanish towards the north. On the Shetland Isles, whose baihff, Olaf Sin- clair, belonged to the same family as Bothwell's mother, Jane Sinclair, circumstances proved more favourable. For the maintenance of the men whom Bothwell brought with him, every benefice in Shet- land submitted to give the duke an ox and two sheep, — a voluntary gift, which in consequence of the system of oppression and extortion so long enforced by the Scottish Lords upon the old Norse population of the islands of Orkney and Shetland, still continues to be exacted as one among the more Scots that entered into military service with John iii, of Sweden. Here he was accused in the year 1573 of taking part in the con- spiracy by means of which Chailes Mornay is said to have wished to put John III. out of the way. and to again elevate the imprisoned Eric XIV. to the throne. King John was to have been cut down while they represented for his di- version in the palace of Stockholm the Scottish sword-dance, which was performed by a band of warriors armed with helmet, coat of mail, and drawn sword. The project was not, however, carried into execution, but the conspiracy afterwards became divulged, and among those committed to prison in consequence was also Gilbert Balfour, who was condemned to death and beheaded in the year 1576. — Celsius, Koming Erik den xivcZes Historia, Stockholm, 1774, p. 288-90. Girs, Konung Johan den Hides Chrdnika, Stockholm, 1745, 4to, pp. 41-42. Tryxell, Ber- dttelser ur SvenskaHistorien, Stock- holm, 1828-73, iii. 333-35. ^ Barry, History of the Orkney Islands, Edinburgh, 1808, 4to, p. 248. David Balfour, Odal Eights and Feudal Wrongs. A memorial for Orkney, Edinburgh, 1860, p. 56. OBTAINS MOUE SHIPS IN SHETLAND. 301 recent taxes imposed on them.^ Bothwell since chap. leaving Dimbar had only had two small vessels with him, but now he met off the Mainland of 1567. Shetland with some that were larger and armed as the times required, and of these he also got command. At this time commerce had begun in these islands. Ships in multitudes from the Hanse Towns as well as from Denmark brought to them corn, beer, Danish whisky, and linen cloth, and re- ceived in payment fish, wadmal (a coarse cloth), and horses. Thus at Bothwells arrival a Hanseatic merchant, Geert Hemelingk, from Bremen, was staying in Dunrossness, the southernmost parish on the Mainland, where a ship of his named " The Pelican " was lading at Sumburgh Head, the most southerly point of the island, on which a Hghthouse now stands. Hemelingk consented that Bothwell should have command of the ship and its crew ; he concluded a contract with the Earl by which the latter was to give him a certain sum as long as he retained " The Pelican " in his service, and compen- sation if the ship was lost or not returned.^ In like manner Bothwell succeeded in securing another Hanseatic ship belonging to a Hamburg merchant, then also residing on the Mainland. Both ships were taken by his own men up Bressay Sound or ^ The exaction is recorded in the Schvineborchouett den vofftein- Exchequer under the name of " Ox denn Augnsti nha der gebort and Sheep Silver,"and is paid at the Christi 1567." That the name present day. — Hibbert,p.288. [Not Sumburgh must previously have correct. For a more accurate and had the form of Svinborg was con- fuller account of this exaction, see jectured by Munch in his " Geo- note M, Appendix. — Translator.'] graphiske Oplysninger om de i 2 The contract between Both- Sagaerne forekommende skotske well and Geert Hemelingk, of og irske Stednavne." — AnnaUr for which a copy exists in the Danish NordisJc OldJcyndighed, 1857, Kjo- Privy Archives, is dated " jnn benhavn, p. 376. 302 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. OHAP. VIII. 1567. the Sound which, close beside the town of Lerwick, separates the Mainland from the lesser island of Bressay, lying to the east.^ His prospect of being able either to remain in safety in Shetland, or to betake himself whither he would, seemed now so much greater as the autumnal storms of the North Sea were at hand. To the charges of which Bothwell had already been the object a new one was now added. The same maligners who, while he was still in the hey- day of his power, readily spoke of Bothwell as sur- rounded with a band of " pirates,"^ now asserted that with his visit to the Orkney and Shetland Isles he had begun in due form the hfe of a pirate.^ This representation was, however, contradicted by a con- ^ Bressay Sound is the old " Brideyarsund" where King Hakon IV., HakoESSon, arrived after two days' sailing, when on his expedi- tion against Scotland in the summer of 1263, and where he lay almost half a month before he sailed to the Orkneys, — Annaler for Nordish Oldhjndighed, 1857, Kjobenhavn, p. 349. ^ After Mary was delivered of a son, in Edinburgh Castle, on the 19th of June 1566, she paid a visit on the 20th July to the Earl of Mar at Alloa House. As she could not bear to ride, she em- barked at Newhaven on board a small ship, and sailed up the Forth to Alloa, accompanied by Murray, Mar, and Bothwell, the High Admiral of Scotland. Those who eagerly wished to spread the belief that Mary was at this period the mistress of Bothwell, represent these few hours' sail in such a way that in the Diary dictated by the Scottish enemies of the Queen but ascribed to Cecil, we read regard- ing it thus : — " She fled the King's company and past be boytt with the pyrattis to Alloway." — Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 85. In the same manner Buchanan like- wise states, as well in his pamphlet {De Maria Scot. Reg., p. 5), as afterwards in his History {Eerum Scot. Hist, p. 212) :— " Apparav- erunt autem eam naviculam Guliel- mus et Edmundus Blacateri, Eduardus Robertsonus et Thomas Dicsonus, Bothuelii clientes et notie rapacifatis pirata^." 2 Forsamekill as James Erie of Bothuile — accumpaneit with certane notorious pyrattis, ar past to the sey, mynding to con tine w in thair reif and piracie, bayth aganis the subjectis of this realme, and all nationis ; and first ar begun at his Majesties propir landis of Orknay. — Letter of the Scottish Privy Council to the Municipal Government of Dundee of 10th August 1567. Anderson, Collec- tions, i. 145. Bothuelius rerum omnmm inopia circumventus pira- ticam facere coepit. — Buchanan, Rerum Scot. Hist, p. 222. [See also The Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1545-69, i. 544-5.] IS CHARGED WITH BEING A PIRATE. 303 temporary only a few years after Bothwell's death/ chap. and unless we explain the accusation as based on some pressure exerted on those Hanseatic mer- 1567. chants,^ it ought certainly to be regarded as having had its origin in a misconception or in a too one- sided view of the matter. For it is well known that, during the Scandinavian seven years' war then being waged, the North Sea not less than the Baltic swarmed with privateers, and those who suflfered from them were at all times ready to stamp them as pirates. It will, for example, be remem- bered how Christopher WalkendorflP, a generation later, in the same century, caused, at the demand of Queen EHzabeth, the famous Magnus Heinesen to be condemned and executed as a pirate for having taken a London ship, although it was afterwards proved to his satisfaction that he had done so by authority from the Duke of Parma, Alexander Farnese, then Spanish Governor of the Netherlands, ^ Mais les conjurez, voyans qu'il ne se retiroit, mais qu'il se pour- menoit de lieu a autre sans faire demonstration de vouloir abandon - ner le royaume, semerent un bruit qu'il faisait le corsaire et escunieur de,mer. Adam Blackwood, Mar- tyre de la Roijne d'Escosse, Edin- burgh 1587, according to the copy in Jebb, De Vita et Rebus Gestis Marice Scotorum Regince, ii. 227. The author, Adam Blackwood, whose name occurs in the letters of Mary, had received, through her recommendation, an appointment in France, and was at this time member of the Superior Court of Justice in Poitiers. 2 One of them, Geert Hemelingk of Bremen, subsequently explained, when he knew that "The Pelican" had been captured, his assent to the contract which he entered into regarding it, by a representa- tion of, " wie das mir inn Hittlandt ein Herr ausz Schottlandt mitt etzlich hundertfc Mannen unvohr- sehnlich angeszenn, der alszbald mein Schifi' eingenommen denn fisch vnnd andere wahre, zu meinem mercklich vnnd vnniiber- windtlich schadenn vnnd nachteil, an den strand t auszgeworfen vnnd micli dahin gedrungen Ime mein vnnd meiner SchiflFsfreunden Schiff entweder zu verkaufFen oder aber an die zwey Monatt lang zu ver- hurenn zu willigen." Representa- tion of Geert Hemelingk to the Burgo-master and Counsellors of Bremen, dated the 3d of March, preserved in the Privy Archives of Denmark. 304 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ^vm' during the naval war between England and Spain, issued letters of marque with a hberal hand.^ 1598. Nothing is more likely than that among the Scottish seamen, with whom Bothwell, as High Admiral, was previously in contact, were some who had either by Dano-Norwegian or Swedish authorisation taken part in privateering, and it can likewise hardly be matter of doubt, after what was subsequently ex- plained, that at least a portion of the crews on board the Hanseatic ships which Bothwell found lying in the Shetland Isles, and chartered for his greater journey, were privateers. But this being the case, how easily might the Earl of Bothwell be represented as a pirate, how nearly identical with it was this made by the very term used. The Latin language, still so common at that period, did not furnish any expression for the more recent notion of privateers, but designated both these and the real sea-rovers, as " piratae." In 1598, when the Historio- grapher, Niels Krag, Doctor-of-Law and Professor in the University of Copenhagen, was sent, in the reign of Christian iv., to Queen Ehzabeth on a diplomatic errand, having, as its object, to demand back the ships of Danish subjects, which the Enghsh, during their war with Spain, had plundered or con- demned as prizes, he kept a diary of his sojourn in England, and specially of his negotiations with the EngHsh Commissioners ; and here we read, that while the English " Senators asserted that he could not call those pirates, who, by pubhc authority, at their own cost, carried on privateering," yet in reply it was maintained that " in the Latin language this ^ C. P. Rothe, Christoffer Walkendorffs Liv. og Levnet. Kjobenliavn, 1754, pp. 54-57. MURRAY MADE REGENT. 305 distinction did not admit of being: made."^ And chap. VIII just as the old term from the South then caused confusion, the same thing has happened from the 1567. use of the newer one from the North. A privateer during the seven years' war was called a freebooter (in the Dano-Norwegian privateering regulations of Frederick ii., or, as its provisions were named, "Freebooters' Articles "),^ but when privateers did not at once learn to respect the conclusion of the war, this word soon became synonymous with pirate. When the West Indian waters presented in the seventeenth century the same spectacle which in the olden times the Cihcian pirates, rooted out by Pompey, had so long caused the Mediterranean to show, the more recent piratical Repubhc was inscribed on the page of history with the name of " Flibustier," which is but the French form of free- booter.^ It was, however, not any intention of suppress- ing piracy which at length brought Bothwell's foes to Shetland. When the Scottish Lords had deposed the imprisoned Mary Stuart, and put the crown upon the head of her child at Stirling, on the 29th of July 1567, Murray, as First Regent during the minority of James vi., was recalled from France, where he had been waiting the foreseen outbreak of the storm. He arrived in England on the 23d of July, and having paid a visit to Elizabeth, by whom ^ Niel Krag's Relation of his communicated "by Werlauff in Nije Embassy to England, 1598-99. danske Magazin, vi. 215, 216. Nye danske Magazin, udgivet af ^ Formed exactly after the det kongelige danske Selskab til English Freebooter. — Archenholz, den nordiske Histories og Sprogs Histoire des Flihustiers. Paris, Forbedring, iv. 191. 1804, p. 42 ; Jal, Glossaire Nauti- que J Repertoire polyglotte des termes de Marine Anciens et 2 The privateer regulations are Modernes. Paris, 1848, 4to, p. 701. U 306 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, he also saw with srladness some Ens^hsh war-ships VHI . . o j- v_Y_;^ despatched in pursuit of Both well/ he passed on the 1567. 8th of August, after an absence of four months, over the Scottish Borders, and on the 11th he entered Edinburgh. At once the previous want of vigorous proceedings against Bothwell ceased. After the municipal authorities of Dundee had, on the 10th of August, been communicated with about procuring the requisite crews and fitting out the ships necessary for the King's service,^ Murray, the same day on which he arrived in Edinburgh, issued com- missions for these ships, ^ and under the influence of his old grudge against Bothwell, he so hastened their equipment, that a Scottish squadron was able to start on the 1 9th of August in pursuit of his mortal enemy.* It consisted of the ships Unicorn," " Primrose," " James," and " Robert," was well pro- vided with cannon, and had, besides the seamen, a company on board of four hundred arquebusiers.^ Two of Bothwell's chief antagonists on Carberry Hill, Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, and Sir William Murray of TuUibardine, acted as leaders of the expedition. They were accompanied by the brother-in-law of Gilbert Balfour, Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, the same who had lately mar- ried Mary to Bothwell, but who sought to blot out the recollection of this deed by a zeal which, 1 According to the letter of Fragments of Scottish Historij, p. Throckmorton to Elizabeth, dated 26. According to Buchanan the from Edinburgh, 22d August 1567. equipment of the ships was also — Keith, History of Church and assisted by the Earl of Morton State in Scotland, ip. 448. "qui turn impendio privato ^ The letter is in Anderson's publicae necessitatis onus sus- Collections, i. 145-147. tinuit." — Historia, p. 224. ^ The Authorisation. — Ibid. i. 147-148. 5 Diurnal of Bema/rJcable Oc- * The Diarej'^ of Robert Birrel. — currents, p. 119. PURSUED AMONG THE SHETLAND ISLES. before this, had led him to perform at Stirhng the ceremony of anointing the little King James vi., and which afterwards caused him, as one of the agents of Murray, to appear against the Queen at the Con- ferences in York and Westminster. Authority was given to him and the two other commanders to hold a court-martial on Bothwell should they be able to capture him. After touching at the Orkneys, in order to pro- cure more exact tidings of the Earl, the four Scottish ships sailed, on the 25th of August, into Bressay Sound. Here the four ships of which Bothwell had command lay at anchor, but part of their crews had gone ashore, as well as Bothwell himself, who happened to be just then the guest of the Bailiff, Olaf Sinclair.^ When those on board Bothwell's ships caught sight of the enemy, the cables were at once cut, and all sail was set, with the view of running through the northern channel of Bressay Sound. Kirkaldy of Grange confessed his want of seamanship, but had promised before his departure from the South, that if he only met Bothwell, the Earl would not escape from him this time, but that either Bothwell would take him prisoner, or he would bring the Earl, alive or dead, to Edinburgh.^ Kirkaldy, along with Bishop Adam ^ Being in the tyme foirsaid vpoun the He of Zetland, at his dinner with Olave Sinclare, foude of Zetland. — Diurnal of Remark- able Occv/rrents, p. 123. This authority is corroborated by Both- well's own representation (Teulet, Lettres, p. 181) :— " Mais quelques ungs de mes ennemys snrvindrent cependant que j'estois en terre au logiz du receveur." 2 And for my owne part, albeit I be no gud seeman, I promess unto your Lordship, gyff I may anes enconter with hym, eyther be see or land, he sail eyther carie me with him, or ellis I sail bryng him dead or quik to Edinburgh. — Letter of William Kirkaldy to the Earl of Bedford, dated Edinburgh, 10th August 1567, preserved in "The State Paper Office," and 308 JAMES HEPBURN EAEL OF BOTHWELL. CTAP. Bothwell, was on board " The Unicorn " as com- mander, and he now ordered all sail to be set. The 1567. helmsman not being acquainted with the channel, was somewhat afraid, but was forced to obey. Forward it rushed at flying speed, and Kirkaldy gained more and more on the hindmost of Both well's ships. . This was a bad sailer, but its helmsman being better acquainted with the channel, held away from the deep water, and close in upon a sunken rock, over which it slipped, although not without damage. The unwary Kirkaldy, still pur- suing, ran his ship, one of the strongest in Scotland, with so great force upon the rock, that it broke in pieces and went down. While he and Bishop Adam Bothwell, with very great difiiculty, saved them- selves and their crew by getting on board the ships that followed, those of the Earl escaped to Unst or Ornist, the most northerly of the islands. The rock in Bressay Sound on which " The Unicorn foundered still bears the name of the ship.^ When Bothwell heard of the arrival of his enemies in Shetland, he succeeded, ere the latter had landed, in escaping unobserved across Yell Sound and the island of Yell, to his ships at Unst. Thence he sent back one of them to the west coast of Shetland, where it had orders to run into the printed in Ellis, Latter Years of James Hepburn Earl of Bothwell. London, 1861, 4to, p. 9. ^ From the accident that befell Kirkaldy's ship, the bank has ever since, from the name borne by the vessel, acquired the title of " The Unicorn Rock." — Hibbert, Descrip- tion of the Shetland Islands, p. 289. With the exception of this fact, the rest of Hibbert's traditional account, which has been dissemi- nated through more recent repre- sentations, is only confusion. " The circumstance that James Bothwell was Duke, and Adam Bothwell Bishop of Orkney, has," as one remarks, " involved local history in a strange comedy of errors." — Balfour, Odal Bights and Feudal Wrongs, p. 57. HIS ENGAGEMENT WITH HIS PURSUERS. 309 Bay of Scalloway to get those of his men on board ^.^j^^- that had been left on the island, and then to follow ^ ^ him farther, as the Earl had now determined to i^^^- withdraw altogether from Shetland. Before, how- ever, he was able to retire from it, he was overtaken by his pursuers.^ For many hours the three Scottish ships, which carried the enemy, fought with Bothwell's ships, the best of which had its main- mast snapped by a cannon-shot, and Bothwell him- self simply owed his dehverance to the south-west wind, which, rising to a gale, drove the Earl with two of his ships far out on the North Sea. Only one of his vessels had fallen into the hands of his enemies, probably the same bad sailer that struck in Bressay Sound, and which he may possibly have himself in consequence determined at Unst to give up f but when the three Scottish ships returned on the 13th and 14th of September to Dundee and Leith, Kirkaldy of Grange, Murray of TulHbardine, and Adam Bothwell were obliged to report that Bothwell himself had escaped.^ 1 "Les diets seditieux," writes since some years ago the usual Bothwell (Teulet, Ldtr^8, p. 182), Danish " Catalogue of the Works "me poursuyvirent et presserent of Art publicly exhibited at the de telle fagon que fusmes au com- Royal Academy of the Fine Arts " bat I'espace de trois heures, et (Copenhagen, 1858, p. 12) described enfin d'un coup de canon couperent a painting by Anton Melby, thus : le grand matz du meilleur de — "A Danish man-of-war attacks mes navires." One of Mary's and overcomes Bothwell in the superficial biographers (Dargaud, neighbourhood of Shetland. After Histoire de Marie Stuart, Paris, Dargaud, Histoire de Marie 1850, i. 384) has confounded this Stuarts attack on Bothwell in the vicinity ^ Note N, Appendix, of the Shetland Isles with his sub- ^ The Diarey of Robert Birrel. sequent seizure in Norway, and — Fragments of Scottish History, this confusion has in turn given p. 12 ; Diurnal of Eemarkable Oc- rise to an unhistorical sea-piece, CHAPTEE IX. CHAP. BoTHWELL has more than once taken occasion to ^^-y^ assert that it was his original intention when on the 1469. other side of the North Sea to visit Frederick ll. of Denmark, and then to go to Charles ix. of France. And certainly such a plan in the second half of the sixteenth century might have special attraction for the Scottish peer. Ever since Christian i., king of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, had given, in the year 1469, his daughter Margaret in marriage to James iii. of Scotland, the most intimate relations had existed between the lines of kings of the same descent ruling on both sides of the North Sea.-^ The Scottish troops that followed Christian i., King John, and Christian ii. in their expeditions against Sweden had been led to the North by the same warlike spirit which long previously made so many Scotsmen enter the service of France;^ they had only been forerunners of the increasing emigration that through two centuries was to continue to lead Scotland's sons to take part in so many wars in foreign lands, ^ and to give the Scottish race a place 1 Note p, Appendix. don, 1864, ii. 131-223. Lists of ^ Les Ecossais en France, et les some of the Scotsmen who at a Frangais en Ecosse. Par Francisque later period entered into the Michel. Londres, 1862, vol. i.-ii. Danish military service are given The Scot Abroad. By John in Robert Monro's work : Fxpedi- Hill Burton. Edinburgh and Lon- Hon with the worthy Scots Begimentj INTERCOURSE BETWEEN SCOTLAND AND DENMARK. of honour among the elite of so many foreign nations. CR Even in the year 1567, when Both well finally left v ^ Scotland, a large number of his countrymen were in ^^^^ the army of Frederick ii. during the Northern seven years' war. Besides the political or military ties between the two peoples were others of a more peaceful kind. The capital of Denmark had, as we learn from a " grace for the Scottish nation" issued in the year 1539 by Christian iii., an entire guild of Scotsmen, which, during the sway of Catholicism in the sixteenth century, established ecclesiastical institutions at Copenhagen, and after the Eeforma- tion founded special " Scottish beds" for their sick countrymen requiring hospital treatment.^ As we meet with a series of Scotsmen as Professors in the University of Copenhagen during the first half of the century, including, for instance, Peter David and Johannes Macchabseus (John Mac-Alpyne) in the Theological Faculty, Alexander Kynghom in the Medical, Thomas Alame in the Philosophical,^ Uvud in August 1626, hy Sir Donald Mackey, Lord Rhees, Colonell for his Majesty's service of Denmark, and reduced after the battle of Nerling to one com'pany in September 1634 (London, 1637, fol.). From this work Sir Walter Scott has mainly drawn the ma- terials for his characteristic de- scription of a Scotsman that had returned from these military emi- grations, Captain Dugald Dal- getty in The Legend of Montrose. ^ Hofmann, Samling of Funda- tioner og Gavebreve, som forejindes udi Danma/rk og Norge. Kjoben- havn, 1755-65, 4to, x. 155. The St. Nyman^s Altar in Lady Kirk mentioned in this work is only a mistake for St. Ninian'sj this was Ninian, who as Beda (iii. 4) reports, had, in the year 394, converted tlie Picts in South Scotland to Chris- tianity, — Bedoe, Historia ecclesias- tica gentis Anglorum. Cura Eoberti Hussey. Oxonii, 1846; p. 122. When, as is very often the case in Danish works of the sixteenth century, "skotter" are found men- tioned, it must not be assumed without further investigation that men from Scotland are meant, for " skotter " has sometimes only the same import as sutlers or merchants who carried on a retail business in petty wares. — Cronholm, Skdnes Folitiska Historic. Lund and Stock- holm, 1847-1851, i. 536 ; ii. 623.^ 2 WerlaufiP, Kjobenhavns Uni- versitet fra dets Stiftelse indtil Be- formationen. Kjobenhavn, 1850, 4to, pp. 60, 61, 65, 66, 72. A more 312 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, so we also find until the close of the century not v^^w odIj many Danish students at the University of 1567. Aberdeen/ but likewise Scots at that of Copen- hagen.^ Thus the Scottish peer might, as a rule, be sm^e of obtaining, on his arrival as guest with Frederick ii., a favourable reception both from the king and the people of the country. Only Bothwell himself seems not to have been able to reckon upon any specially kind reception. With re- gard to this, however, too much importance need not be attached to the fact that Frederick ii., like his opponent, Eric xiv., had himself been a suitor for Mary's hand when she became a widow on the death of Francis ii. of France,^ although certainly this circumstance would not be in the Earl's favour if he meant to present himself before the still un- married king as the husband of Mary. It is of more importance, on the other hand, that in a letter addressed to Frederick ii. in the name of James vi. , still a minor, written and sent off on the same day detailed biography of Johannes son from Aberdeen, who, while he Macchabseus is given, by Holger was studying at the University of Rordam in Kjdbenhavns Universi- Copenhagen, translated into Latin tets Histoire fra 1537 til 1621. the poems of his renowned country- Forste Deel (Kjobenhavn, 1868- man, Sir David Lindsay, and sub- 69), p. 587-597. sequently, in the year ]591, pub- Un The Autobiography and lisli^ed them in a Danish translation Diary of Mr. James MeMl, edited ^'^^^ ^^i'^'!? f Madsen Sir David by Robert Pitcairn, Edinburgh, Lmdsay had himself visited Copen- 1842, p. 418, we find it said in fhe ^'^S'.^ Jf.^"^ 1^44 on a year 1597 of the author's uncle, ^'''''^l ^° Christian iii., and at the famous Andrew Melvil, thus : Copenhagen, the place where it " Ther was a number of strangers, P^^,*^^' ^^''^uT' 'T^ Polonians, Deuces (Danes), Bel- p.^^s afterward : " Ane Dialog be- gians, and Frenchmen, schollars, tuix Experience and ane Courteour, wha, at the fame of Air. Androes ^'''''^ l^'J'^^'t^ lerning, came to the Vniuersitie of Mont and imprentit at the St. Andros that yeir, and war command and expensis off Doctor resident within the sam." Machabeus, m Copmanhoum," loo2, 4to. 2 For instance, Andrew Robert- ^ Note P, Appendix. MEANS TAKEN TO THE PEEJUDICE OF BOTHWELL. 313 as Bothwell's ships began to be chased among the chap, Shetland Isles, Murray has asserted that the reason w-y-— why a Scottish warrior, whom Frederick had sent i^^^. home to enrol more of his countrymen for service, was not able for a long time to accompHsh this object, was simply that Bothwell, in the hey-day of his power, had put obstacles in the way.^ The day after, the 26th of August, when all in Scotland must have been quite ignorant whither Bothwell would direct his course, his enemies, according to their subsequent communication to Frederick ii. when seeking to prejudice him against Bothwell, sent abroad an open letter in the king's name, which was ordered to be published in the market-places of all mercantile cities. In this letter Scotland's new government solemnly revoked a privilege issued under the former government through the influence of BothweU, granting to two of his adherents, WiHiam Blacater and James Edmonston, liberty everywhere to pursue and capture the enemies of the King of Sweden.^ Of these Scotsmen William ^ Sed ei in hoc negocio Comes rumque virorum, qui illi in consilio Boithuallus, qui turn forte malis adsunt, pervenit, carissimam suae artibus summam in rebus admi- maiestatis matrem circumuentara nistrandis auctoritatem obtinuit, atquedeceptamacomiteBoithuallo, impedimento fuit quo minus, quod magno omnium qui regno ac di- a Eegina, matre nostra, petierat, tione sua vivunt incommodo, impetraret. — Recommendatory let- Jacobo Edmonston atque Gulielmo ter of Murray issued in name of Blacader priuilegio sub secreto suo James vi. in behalf of John Clark, sigillo concessisse, ut omnes om- written at Stirling (Ex regia nostra niumregionum homines, quibuscum Striuiligensi), 25th of August 1567, regi Suetiae bellum esset, vi et in Danish Privy Archives. The armis terra marique impune perse- letter arrived previously in Copen- querentur." The words are taken hagen the 9th September. from a copy of the letter verified ^ This open letter of 26th August by Alexander Hay, then Clerk of 1567 began thus: "Ad aures Maies- the Privy Council. In other re- tatis Regise carissimique avunculi spects it is remarkable that while sui Jacobi comitis Moravise domini the letter, according to this very Abirnethise prorege ac summi regni plain copy, bears as having been sui administratoris amplissimo- issued in the first year (anno primo) 3U JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Blacater is well known as one of Bothwell's IX. v__^^ companions at the abduction of Mary at the 1567. bridge over the Almond. He was captured at sea two days after the catastrophe on Carberry Hill, and was hanged on midsummer day, 24th June 1567, but continued till the last moment to protest his innocence of Damley's murder.^ According to what was afterwards asserted he had formerly been able, along with his fellow-prisoner, Edmonston, to secure through Bothwell's influence an authorisation from the Scottish Government to sail in the character of a Swedish privateer, and this justified his enemies in alleging that by it there was given the King of Denmark every occasion to break off his earher friendship.^ In so far as the Earl of Bothwell really had the intention of visiting one of the kings in the North before proceeding to France, we should rather suppose that this visit was designed for Eric xiv. of Sweden. When, however, a higher Power had brought the Earl to the kingdom of Frederick ii. of Denmark, it may be easily imagined that he found of the reign of James vi., the latter is marked side by side as " Anno Dominicse incarnationis millesimo quingentesimo sexagesi- mo sexto," instead of septimo. 1 A contemporary discloses his cautious criticism of the sentence of death in this case by these words about the court : " The assyise wer of the gentilmen of Lennox, for the niaist pairt vassallis and servandis to the erle thairof." — Diurnal of llemarhabU Occurrents, p. 116. ^ Quo quidem privilegio non modo ipsius regis maiestas violata civibusque suis iniuria allata, sed etiam regi Danioe, aliisque suae maiestatis sociis ac confuederatis, ansa a pristina amicitia ac societate descedendi si quidem illi aliive illorum permissione potestate con- cessa usi I'uissent supeditata vide- tur. In opposition to the letter mentioned above, from which these words are also taken, nevertheless speaks a letter written to Frederick II. by Mary on the 3d of June 1566, and likewise preserved in the Royal Archives. The King, on 25th April 1566, had informed the Queen about a rumour of some one in Leith who was fitting out a ship for the service of the King of Sweden (nomine regis Sueciae), but the Queen answers, that after hav- ing instituted exact inquiries, no ground whatever had been found for any such suspicion. HE IS DRIVEN BY A STORM TO NORWAY. 315 it most prudent to give his coming the appearance of a definite errand, but here so httle confidence w^-i-^ was placed in Both well's veracity that no words of his as to his intentions were sufficient to dispel suspicion. When the storm of the wild North Sea, on whose billows were formerly borne to Scotland swarms of Vikings, had driven the Earl towards the rocky land whence these issued on their marauding expeditions, he found himself on the south-west coast of Norway, without any knowledge of its navigable waters, and, owing to his hurried departure from Shetland, with- out provisions. Outside the populous island of Karm, where he first caught sight of land, he was however so fortunate as to meet in the evening with a Hanseatic vessel from Rostock, the master of which undertook next morning to pilot Bothwells two ships into Karm Sound, the arm of the sea which, north of Bukkefjord, separates the island of Karm from the mainland.^ But scarcely had they gone so far, and had cast one of their anchors, before there appeared a new sail carrying the Danish flag. This was the Dano- Norwegian war-ship " Bjornen," which is more than once mentioned in the history of the Northern Seven Years' War before its capture by the Swedes, and the expulsion of the Danish ^ " En un lieu appel^ carmesund," The Abstract of Crawford's manu- writes Botliwell (Teulet, Lettres, script, Histoire and Life of King p. 282). Perhaps the reported James the Sextj Keith, History of meeting by the Earl with " ung Church and State in Scotland, p. navire de Rostock" has had its 459. On the contrary, Cecil still share in originating the subsequent wrote in a letter of 2d October mmour in Scotland to the efl'ect 1567: " Bothwell is not yet taken, that Bothwell, on the coast of Nor- to our knowledge, though it be said way, had taken " ane ship of Lubky he should been taken on the seas (Lubeck)," which at last became by a ship of Bremen." — Keith, p. " a ship of Turkey." — Diurnal of 458. Remarkable Occurrents, p. 123. 316 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ^?x^' ^^^^ ^^^^ Baltic into the Sound by Admiral ^ — ^ — / Claes Fleming in the last year of the war. It was commanded by Captain Christiern Aalborg, one of Frederick Second's highly distinguished sea- men, whom the king selected next year to con- duct an expedition to Greenland, the explora- tion of which he had again resolved on during the war.^ Bothwells two ships, or, as they were called in Norway, the two Scottish " Pinker," ^ saluted the foreign war-ships, casting anchor beside them,^ whose captain demanded to see their ships' papers, which they were obliged to have " in His Royal Majesty's seas and rivers." Bothwell made answer that " they were Scottish gentlemen who wished to proceed to Denmark to serve His Majesty," and ordered one of his companions, or, as he himself calls him, " one of my gentlemen," ^ to repau- to Captain Aalborg to explain to him that he whose duty it was to issue such papers in Scotland was now in close confinement. As, therefore, Christiern Aalborg found these Scottish " Pinker," as he himself ^ Grdnlands Historiske Mindes- ^ " Je commanday," writes Both- mcerker. Udgivne af det kongelige well, " qu'on feist rhonneur accous- nordiske Oldskriftsselskab. Kjo- tume es mer et juridiction des benhavn, 1838-1845, iii. 200, 203, princes estrangers/' — Both well's 634. By letter from Fredericks- Representation ; Teulet, Lettres, p. burg of 15th April 1568, the King 183. also permitted that " Os Elskelige * Ung de mes gentilzhommes. — Christiernn Olborg maa bekomme Ihid. p. 183. In a letter from nogenn AnndworskouflF closters Frederick u. (in the Royal Archives) Boder vdj vor kjopsted Kjopnne- in which, on the 14th November haffnn vdi Kattesund liggendes." 1567, he communicated from — 0. Nielsen, Kjdbenhavns Diplo- Aalborg the news of the detention matarium. An det Bind. Kjoben- of the Scots to his father-in-law, havn, 1874, p. 332. Duke Ulrich of Mecklenburg, it is said that there were among them 2 Two-masted lesser war-ships forty " gentlemen." The same are called " Pinker." — Garde, Ben letter makes Bothwell, when met davslce-norslce SoTiiagts Historie, by Christiern Aalborg at Karm 1535-1700. Kjobenhavn, 1861, Sound, to have in all with him two p. 95. hundred men. IS TAKEN BY A DANISH WAR-SHIP. 317 afterwards reported, " without any passport, sea- chap. brief, safe-conduct, or commissions which honest ^^^^ seafaring people commonly use and are in duty 1567. bound to have," he determined to bring them to Ber- gen. The task, however, was not so easy. The men on board Bothwell's two ships, amounting, according to his own statement, to an hundred and forty, were more numerous than the crew of the " Bjornen," and Bothwell, had he suspected the captain's intentions, might, in his own words, " have been able to show him and his company what seemed to me best." But the Danish Admiral knew how to help himself. During the night he summoned the Norse peasants around Karm Sound to arms, teUing them they must assist the King's naval force to take some priva- teers (freebooters) prisoners.-^ He also got eighty of Bothwell's men on board his own ship under pretence of wishing to furnish them with provisions. Next, he put on shore another part of Bothwell's men, and distributed them among the peasants. Having thus separated the Scots, and also manned the vessels in which they had come with a part of his own crew, he then declared before the strangers, whom he had detained on board, that he would take them and their ships along with him.^ In vain did 1 " Pour venir secourir les the war-ship " Bjornen " (I'Ours) navires de Roy de Dannemarch," in Karm Sound, and the case is the it is said in Bothwell's account same with the examination after- (Teulet, ietires, p. 184), One could wards made at Bergen. Absalon be tempted to see more in these ex- Pedersson (Daghog over Begiven- pressions than an incorrect phrase- heder, iscer i Bergen, p. 148) con- ology, more especially as the rumour founds the war-ship " David " with went in Scotland that " The capitane the war-ship "Bjornen," but never- of Birrame (Bergen) in Norro- theless instances only one ship, way addressit tua greit schippis to tak the said erle." — Diurnal of ^ Darauf unser Hauptmann die Remarkable Occurrents,^. 123. But Capitenen und die von Adel zu sich Bothwell expressly mentions only genommen und das ander Volk zu 318 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Bothwell, who had hitherto kept in the background, make himself known to the Danish commander. In 1567. vain did the Earl offer objections to a course of pro- cedure which to him was unaccountable, since he had never either injured His Majesty, or wronged the least of his subjects, or acted against the laws of the sea, or even taken the worth of a farthing without payment. Bothwell, as he subsequently explained, had his clothes in the ship which he sent back from Unst to the Mainland of Shetland, and Christiem Aalborg could, with difficulty, see in the man who now appeared before him " attired in old torn coarse boatswain's clothes, the highest of the rulers in all Scotland." Accordingly Bothwell was obliged to accompany Captain Aalborg when the latter, with the war-ship under his command, and the two Scot- tish " Pinker,^' sailed out of Karm Sound. On the 2d of September 1567, a week after Bothwell's companions had escaped out of Bressay Sound, the three ships anchored outside of Bergen, and Christiern Aalborg gave to the commandant of Bergen Castle, Eric Ottesson Bosenkrands of Yalso, an account of the remarkable foreigner whom he had brought with him. This functionary then ordered an examination to be made by a commission, consisting of George Daa of Udsteen-monastery, Axel Gynstersberg of Torgen, Eric Hansen, Judge of Nordmor, the Bishop of Bergen, Dr. Jens Skjel- derup, along with a number of Norse freemen, councillors in Bergen and representatives^ of the Lande gesetzt und bis an weitern Ulrich of Mecklenburg, in Danish Bescheid unter die Bauern vertheilt Privy Archives, und ihre Schiffe mit unsern Volk ^ Of " Garpsrne," that is to say, besetzt. — Letter of Frederick ii., of " the counting-house clerks " or 14th November 1567, to Duke " the eighteen at the pier." TREATMENT OF EOTHWELL IN BERGEN. 319 Association of German merchants in Ber2:en. This chap. IX Commission, which numbered together four-and- > twenty members, proceeded on board the war-ship i567. "Bjornen,"and to them the Earl of Both well explained that he was " the husband of the Queen of Scotland," that he came from that country, and that he was going to His Royal Majesty of Denmark, and after that to France. On being asked if he had any passport or sea-brief with him, he only answered " disdainfully, and inquired of us from whom he should get passport or letter, being himself the supreme ruler in the country." Both well desired permission to be given him to take up his residence at an inn in the town, and there to stay at his own expense, and this permission was willingly granted by Eric E/Osenkrands. In Bergen, where so many Scottish merchants usually resided at this period, that the Earl's re- cognition was in the highest degree probable,^ he remained during the month of September. He could walk about in the city wherever he pleased, and enjoyed much outward attention from the provincial governor. In a contemporary diary, which for twenty years gives very full notes about Bergen and the life of its inhabitants, we thus read under date of 25th September 1567 : — "The Earl came to the castle and Eric Bosenkrands showed him great honour;" and again, under date of 28th of the same month : — " Eric Bosenkrands made the Earl and his gentlemen a magnificent banquet."^ But this outward respect could not outweigh the ^ Note Q, Appendix. mentioned in this statement we ^ Absalon Pedersson, Daghog are led to think of lairds James over Begivenheder, iscer i Bergen, and Hob Orniiston, of whom the p. 149. By the "gentlemen" last is never known to have been 320 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, series of mortifications to which the Earl was sub- jected from the beginning of his stay in Bergen. 1567. First, he could not but feel himself an object of suspicion to the German traders in regard to the way in which he had come into possession of the largest of his ships " The Pelican," they knowing that it had formerly belonged to a Bremen merchant, although to this suspicious circumstance the Earl could now reply that he had arranged about it with the owner, and, without being requested, he was prepared to let both ships lie at Bergen so as to permit of any one coming who had cause of complaint with respect to them.^ He had next the mortification of seeing one of his companions sent to prison. For the crew with whom he had come to Norway were likewise judicially examined, and as we may assume that when he came on board at Shetland, he kept his seized in Scotland, and the first to get back " The Pelican," or to was not imprisoned before the 10th obtain the sum of indemnification of November 1573. — Diurnal of promised him by Bothwell. To Bemarkable Occurrents, p. 338. support his representation he had Respecting James Ormiston's life, affixed to it a certificate, dated during the years 1567-1573, we "Lassefirde" (Laxfirth), the 15th have only a general remark by September 1567, in which Olaf himself in the confession which he Sinclair of Bru, " Kemener vnd made before his execution to the ouerste principall van Hidtland," priest John Braw, and in which it " mit miner handt op de fedder is said — " For it is not mervell gevohrdt " attests that Hemelingk, that I have bein wickit, for the from his first arrival in the country, wickit companie that ever I have had shown himself a true and bein in, bot speciallie within this honest merchant. Both Heme- seaven yearis bypast, quhilk I lingk's representation and Sinclair's never saw twa guid men or ane attestation have, like Hemelingk's guid deid, bot all kind of wicked- contract with Bothwell, been ness." — Lsiing, History of Scotland^ added as vouchers to a letter to ii. 295. King Frederick ii., in which the ^ Geert Hemelingk, who was Burgomaster and counsellors of still remaining in Shetland, having Bremen, on the 8th March 1568, received intelligence of Bothwell's recommended the representation, detention, afterwards applied to and are therefore now found to- the authorities in Bremen with a gether with the latter in the Danish request that they would assist him Archives. AN ACTION IS RAISED AGAINST HIS CAPTAIN. 321 name concealed from all but his most intimate friends, so the rest must necessarily have been ^—y^ ignorant of it. Accordingly the most of them unani- i^^^- mously declared, that, as far as they knew, the Earl of Both well was still in Scotland ; and affirmed that their captain was a certain David Woth.^ Since rumour in Bergen indicated that such a man had shortly before captured " a ship trading to the country," and had taken from it twenty-two barrels of beer and four barrels of bread, this captain of Both well's, who had conducted his " Pinker " across the North Sea, was immediately subjected to a pro- secution by the German merchants,^ and as he could not deny the charge, he was therefore placed in close confinement in the Town-house of Bergen. This action of the merchants was followed by a quite unexpected complaint from Lady Anne, daughter of Christopher Throndsson, who had been the Earl's bride, and who now, under altered circumstances, met in Bergen with her faithless lover. After her ^ " Tha gaffue the AUe samptli- peated thus : — " That they knew gen enn Berettniing och thet met nothing of this gentleman, but theris Eeder bekrefftede At de that he was still a wanderer," and icke wiiste aff thenn herre att siige again in the latest reprint by anndet ennd hand enndda wor y Teulet, thus: — "Qu'ils ne con- skotlanndt." Thus it is said in naissaient rien de ce gentilhomme, the original examination which is si ce n'est qu'ils le regardaient preserved in the Danish Archives. comme un aventurier." Bergenhammer first printed it among the supplements to his ^ " Och strax bleff aff de kon- translation of Gentz's Sketch of the torske her for rethe thillthallet." History of Mary Stuart, but he The here necessary " aff," which is has given in this document, per- found in the original examination haps by a misprint " y skotrnndt," in the Danish Archives, has been in place of " y skotlanndt," and left out in the reprint of Bergen- this has since bred the most per- hammer, and subsequently in the plexing confusion. In the reprint following copies, of which the by the Bannatyne Club, the idea Bannatyne Club's so incorrectly of Repp, who understood the renders "de kontorske" by "the meaningless word as corresponding Custom-house Officers," and Teulet's to the Isl. Sk6garma6r, was re- by " les gardes-cotes." 322 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, brief union with Both well, and her eventful flight abroad, Lady Anne, or " The Scottish Lady,'' as she 1505-7. was commonly called by her countrymen, took up her residence in Norway, whither her mother, on the death of her father, Christopher Throndsson, also returned from Denmark. In 1565 Anne Throndsson is mentioned as being in Bergen,^ but her real place of abode was perhaps at some one of the farms of her sisters or brothers-in-law in the southern part of the diocese. When the tidings of Bothwell's unexpected arrival reached her, she at once seized this opportunity of seeking redress for the losses she had suflered for his sake ; she sum- moned the Earl before the Court, and read in his presence the letters in which he had promised to marry her, " Lady Anne being of opinion that this promise had been of no weight in his eyes, since he had three wives alive, first herself, another in Scot- land from whom he had procured his freedom, and the last, Queen Mary.''^ By promising Lady Anne an annuity to be sent from Scotland, and handing 1 In one and the same month of this year, she is named as being present at two noble entertain- ments, first at a christening feast on the 18th August with George Daa, feudatory of Utsteei: -Cloister, whose son Herluf was then bap- tized, and next on 27th August at the wedding of the noble maiden Brynhild Benkestok with the young nobleman Eric Hanson, the entertainment being given at the expense of Eric Rosenkrands in his house, which is still preserved in Bergen (Absalon Pedersson, Daghog, p. 104 and p. 107). From the manner in which Lady Anne is spoken of in the latter instance, she seems, since her sojourn in foreign countries, to have acquired greater taste for foreign magni- ficence than was common in her native land. It is said in the description of Absalon Pedersson with respect to the bride : — " And Lady Anne Trons,the Scottish lady, was decked out as a Spaniard, that is, that she had a gold chain round the forehead, and besides, a necklace, full of precious stones, and a wreath of pearls, and feather of pearls in it, with a red damask tunic." ^ Absalon Pedersson, Dagbog, p. 148. HIS WISH TO LEAVE BERGEN REFUSEDc 323 over to her the smallest of his ships, Bothwell got this prosecution also quashed/ v--^ But yet the most humiliating thing for the i^^^. Earl was that, in spite of the outward respect shown towards him, he could not but feel that in Bergen he was no longer free. When he spoke of wishing to go to Holland or France, or even of returning to Scotland, his words were unheeded. In vain did he write to Eric Bosenkrands, requesting him to issue a passport for him, in order that he might as speedily as possible go " in a yacht or boat along the coast" to Denmark, and there get access to the king, his knowledge of the geographical positions of the two countries seeming not to be very great. Scotland's High Admiral has explained, that on the North Sea he had suffered from sea-sickness, and that therefore he now wished to be rowed along the coast ; but suspicion in Bergen interpreted his wish to mean that it " was mainly his desire with a yacht or boat to reach Varbjerg, or where he could soonest get to Sweden." In a courteous manner Eric Rosenkrands refused his request, telling him that it was to be feared that when he arrived at the Swedish frontiers, he would perhaps be obliged to cross the enemy's country, and the wished-for pass- port would in that case very speedily become a hindrance to him in his errand. The Governor, ^ Like Jane Gordon, the Norse bride, whom Bothwell cast off, also long survived him. In his Visitation-book Bishop Jens Niel- sen of Oslo, has noted in the year 1594, that "Anne Thronsdatter " was present on the 21st of April in Ide Church in Smaaland, and that on the following day he spoke with her in Berg's Parsonage {Noi'slc Magazin, ii. 151-152), and in the year 1607, Lady Anne made over her father's principal farm Seim in Kvind district, of which she had become proprietress, by exchange to her sister Else {Sam- linger til det norsJce Folks Sprog og Historie, vi. 242). 324 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CE^p. under the hostile relations then existing between Denmark and Sweden, therefore found it imadvis- 1567. able to give him such a passport, but " perpetually and unceasingly " counselled him to proceed to Den- mark on board the royal war-ship. If Eric Rosenkrands entertained any doubt as to how far he ought to comply with the Earl's wish, this certainly was removed by the discovery of the papers which the latter had brought w^ith him, and in which, before any accusation by his enemies could reach him, he carried along with him to Denmark the most unfavourable proofs against himself Dur- ing the judicial examination made on board the war-ship " Bjornen," the Earl was asked whether there were in his ships gold, silver, j ewels, clothes, or letters, as in that case he required only to make that fact known in order immediately to receive what- ever of these he wished. Bothwell rephed, "that he had really nothing which he either valued or desired." But towards the close of his stay in Bergen, when he probably foresaw that he would very soon be separated from his ships, he sent, as is stated in the official record of his residence in Bergen, " three of his servants to the castle to say that their master had deposited in the ballast of one of the ' Pinker,' a letter-case with some letters, and was therefore desirous of obtaining it, although he had before denied that there was such on board. George Daa and Christen Aalborg immediately went, and with the three servants of the Scottish Lord, took up the aforesaid letter-case, and carried it to the castle. The next day the good man, Eric Bosenkrands, summoned to the castle certain freemen, certain counsellors, and certain of the UNFAVOURABLE LETTERS FOUND IN ONE OF HIS SHIPS. 325 ' eighteen/ with some of the Earl's servants, who ^^x^' had keys to the same letter-case, and, in the pre- v^^^ sence of all these good men, it was opened. There were then found in the afore -mentioned letter-case in particular, many and diverse letters, written or printed in the Latin or Scottish tongue, which we immediately glanced over, and caused to be read and explained to us, so that we could understand them. And among the afore-described letters was one on parchment in Latin, in which the Queen appointed the Earl of Bothwell Duke of Orkney and Shetland, vesting in him and the male descend- ants begotten of him the perpetual possession and inheritance of these islands. Next there were found many diverse letters, both in print and in writing, which the Council of the realm, with the nobility of Scotland, had published, in which they severely impeached the aforesaid Lord with being a tyran- nical murderer, robber, and traitor, alleging that with his own hand he put to death his rightful Lord and King ; and in the same letters of theirs declared him an outlaw, and offered to all who would lay hands on and apprehend the said Lord of Bothwell, and would send him to Edinburgh, a thousand crowns for their pains. Besides, it was stated, that the Scottish Lords in question had fitted out some war- ships, and sent them to sea, in order to seek for him. We also found among the aforesaid papers a letter written with the Queen's own hand, in which she bewailed herself and all her friends, so that, in the same letter which he had with him, we could clearly remark, that he had for no good reason withdrawn from his native country." All these documents, along with the declaration 326 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, drawn up regarding Both well's detention, were afterwards sent from Bergen to Denmark, and were 1^7. at one time in the Archives there, but have now for the most part disappeared, and among the rest, which is specially to be lamented, the letter of com- plaint written by Mary Stuart to Both well. ^ Bothwell subsequently complained in Denmark that Captain Christiern Aalborg had deceived him ^ at Karm Sound, since the Earl, in his declaration, stated that he had given his word of honour that the Scots should be free to return from his ship " Bjornen,'' to their own, and to set sail if they wished.^ On the other hand, he mentions only with favour the Governor of Bergen Castle, or, as he calls him, " ce bon sieur Erik Bosenkrands." But from the Scottish Earl's point of view, the treatment which he met with in Bergen must nevertheless appear in such a light that it may well be believed, since the men who drew up the account of Bothwell's residence in Bergen have alleged it, that "he heard daily there many diverse mocking words, which he publicly declared he would repay some day in the future." The prudent citizens and merchants there- fore add the remark, that the Scottish Earl ought to be required " to enter into an agreement never at any time to inflict injury on the kingdom, or on any subject of His Majesty, or even on any of those who trade to His Majesty's country." But every such assurance was rendered super- ^ The Patent by which Orkney Archives, but only in a Danish and Shetland, on the 12th May translation. 1567, three days before Bothwell's marriage to Mary, were erected ^ He has even added : — " Dont il into a dukedom for him, is still nous donna lettres cachettees de son found in the Danish Privy cachet." — Teulet, Lettres. p. 184. IT IS RESOLVED TO SEND HIM TO DENMARK. 327 fluous by the fate that awaited Bothwell. After chap. • IX the twenty-four men whom Eric E-osenkrands had v^^.^!^ appointed for Bothwell's examination subscribed in i567. Bergen Castle on the 23d September 1567 the declaration made by them regarding the detention of Bothwell, the latter was given to understand, that he must hold himself in readiness to sail to Denmark in' one of the King's war-ships, and that on this voyage he could take along with him only four or five of his servants, the rest of his followers being left free either to return to Scotland, or to proceed whither they would. Accordingly, when Christiern Aalborg set sail from Bergen on the 30th of Sep- tember, Mary's husband, whom he had brought to Bergen, again accompanied him to Copenhagen. As a result of the Earl's detention, the ship which had followed him across the North Sea, and had actually arrived on the coast of Norway, suddenly turned about. " The ship," writes Bothwell, " which I had sent to Shetland to take on board my men that I had left there, and in which I had my pro- perty, my silver-service, clothes, and jewels, had already sailed along the coast of Norway, but after having learned that I was detained, and my followers had been sent away, it turned back." A number also of the Earl's men who had followed him to Bergen went back to Scotland on the 10th October 1567, m a little ship which was given them by Eric Rosenkrands, and report in Norway subsequently stated that on their arrival they were put to death. ^ Perhaps it is to them that Mary's ambassador, James ^ " Droge een part aif Grevens Sigis de were afliuede, da de hiem karle til Skotland paa en lideii komme." — Absaloii Pedersscin, pinke, Erik Rosenkrantz lente dem. Dagbog, p. 149. 328 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow, alludes in a letter of the 8th February 1568, in which he gives the 1568. Cardinal of Lorraine the latest news from Scotland, and thus has occasion to mention that about last Christmas there were twelve or fifteen of the Earl of Both well's chief servants taken prisoners in Orkney by the Prior of Holyrood, one of the illegitimate brothers of the Queen, who has now made himself Lord of the said islands. A storm on the sea had forced them to land there, and having been conveyed to Edinburgh and charged as murderers, they were condemned to death, and executed in prison."^ ^ " Pour ce que," it is added, dit Conte leur maitre en Dane- "quelques ungs d'eux, ayant de- mark."— Letter of the Archbishop mande de grace estre ouy par le of Glasgow ; Laing, History of Conte de Mourray, confesserent Scotland, ii. 24-25. Laing, who bien avoii- merite la mort, declar- was not acquainted with the Nor- ant I'innocence de la Royne et wegian Journal, however, assumes accusant les plus grands et princi- that the sole ground for the whole paux de son conceil, qui assistoient of the Archbishop's account is his lors avec lui, et mesmes le Conte mistaking the execution of Hay, de Morthon et le secretaire Ledin- Hepburn, Dalgleish, and Powrie on ton et Balfour, qui estoit capitaine the 3d January 1568, for that of de chatteau de Lislebourgh, et le those mentioned above. CHAPTER X. After being conveyed in the foreign ship of war chap. past the coasts of Norway and Denmark, the Earl of Bothwell at length saw, on one of the last days of i567. the autumn of 1567, the metropolis of the latter country — " Cawpmanhowin," as the Scots called it^ — lying before him. He did not, however, meet here with Frederick ii., he being then, as was very often the case during the seven years' war, absent from the capital on a journey into the provinces. He was, however, received by the High Steward of the realm, Peter Oxe of Gisselfeld. The latter had been able since the 9th of September to make him- self acquainted with the account which Murray had sent to the Dano- Norwegian Government of the events in Scotland in the early part of the year,^ and therefore found it now advisable to retain in custody in the castle of Copenhagen the unexpected guest who had arrived under so peculiar circumstances. Here the Earl hastened to write two French letters. One of these he addressed to Charles ix. of France. In it he mentions that he had left Scotland to lay before the Danish king the wrongs to which his near ^ Knox, Historij of the Beforma- ray's letter written in the name of Hon in Scotland, i. 55. King James vi., dated the 25th ^ Ceterum quae in Scotia superi- August 1567, but which did not oribus hisce mensibus gesta sint, et arrive in Copenhagen till the 9th quo in statu nunc res nostrse ver- September, and the original of santur, ut S. T. exponeret, loanni which is in the Danish Privy Clerk in mandatis dedimus. — Mur- Archives. 330 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAR relative, the Queen of Scotland, had become a victim, and after that to repair to France, but that a storm 1567. had driven him upon the coast of Norway before he reached Denmark. He begs the French king favour- ably to take into account the good-w^ill with which through his whole life he had striven, and would further strive, to be of service to him, and requests him to grant a. gracious answer, as his hope now rested, next to God, upon his Majesty alone. Both- well also met in Copenhagen with Charles Dancay (Carolus Dancaeus), the French minister, who, after visiting Denmark as ambassador in the reign of Christian ill., subsequently resided there, in the same capacity, from the accession of Frederick ii. till his death in 1589, at the advanced age of about eighty, having probably held this office at the Danish court longer than any. As he was one of the medi- ators in behalf of Denmark at the peace of Stettin, which at last put an end to the war between the Scandinavian kingdoms, and as the friend of Tycho Brahe had laid the foundation-stone of Uranienburg upon Hveen,^ so he was also expressly instructed by the French sovereigns, Henry ii., Francis ii., and Charles ix., to use his influence in Denmark in the interests of the Scottish Government. For this reason, Mary of Guise and her daughter Mary Stuart, ^ Comme a celuy qui n'a, apres ^ J acohsen, Bidrag til DanmarJcs Dieu,aultre esperancequ'enVoustre Personal-og Tids - Historie i det Majeste. The letter, the original I6de Aarhundre; Historish Tids- of which is now found in the great skrift, v. 481-495, Library in Paris, was dated by [Hveen or Huen, a small island Bothwell, "De Copenhaguen, le in the Sound, granted by 'Frederick douziesme jour de Novembre," and ii, to Tycho Brahe, with a magnifi- is subscribed "Vostre tres-humble cent castle erected upon it for the et tres-obeissant serviteur, James purpose of making astronomical ob- Duc of Orknay." It has been servations. — Translator.] printed by Teulet in Lettres, p. 150. BOTHWELL WRITES TO FREDERICK II. 331 never sent any ambassador to Denmark without en- chap. joining upon him to regulate his actions by the counsel v^^-^-^ of Dancay. The latter could therefore testify that he 1567. had just as much trouble in acting for the Scots as in behalf of his fellow- subjects of France.^ Bothwell, who had given the French minister a circumstantial explanation of his whole position, begged him, not by any means in vain, to hasten to transmit his words to Charles ix. by a special messenger. In another letter, also composed in French, Bothwell endeavoured to give Frederick ii. a corresponding explanation of the circumstances under which he had arrived in Copenhagen. From Peter Oxe, whom he made acquainted with its contents, he obtained per- mission to get the letter conveyed to the King by one of the servants that had accompanied hhn from Scot- land, and had still been allowed to remain with him. Frederick ii. was staying in North Jutland when he received the tidings of the detention of Bothwell in Norway and his arrival in Copenhagen. The earliest documents in which Peter Oxe conveyed the news to the King have gone amissing, as well as those which would have shown what was the first impression this surprising news made on the King. But after Frederick ii. received a later account which Peter Oxe sent him by the man who could himself give the fullest information on the subject, namely, by the captain of the war-ship " Bjornen," Christiern Aalborg, he wrote, on the 1 8th November 1567, from Aalborg to the High Steward an answer which, as it has not been hitherto printed, deserves 1 In one of his letters preserved June 1570 : — " Et pour vray, Sire, in the Danish Privy Archives he ie n'ay moins eu de peine pour les himself writes to King Charles ix. Ecossais que pour voz propres sub- from Copenhagen, the 10th of iectz." JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. to be communicated to the reader because of the peculiar way in which Both well is still designated in it : — " Our particular Favourite. We have received, along with our naval commander, Christiern Aalborg, your letter, read it over and understood what you therein mention, and which you make known about the Scottish King. As we have before written you about him, we trust the same, our letter, has come to hand ; and it seems to us to be best that he remain in the castle till our arrival, or until our further writ- ten communication therea,nent be received by you." Three days afterwards, and before this reply could have reached its destination, the King received a written advice from Peter Oxe and John Friis of Hesselager, how in their opinion he ought to act towards his foreign guest. In this advice, which was drawn up in the Castle of Copenhagen on the 13th November, it is said that " according as I Peter Oxe very lately wrote your Royal Majesty about the Scottish Earl who was married to the Queen in Scotland, how he came hither to the city, and I asked him up to the castle, as I have here with a good guard caused him to be kept safely. But since he is very cunning and inventive, accord- ing as I John Friis will furthermore inform your Royal Majesty when I return again to your Royal Majesty, we think it not advisable nor convenient for him to be long here in the castle. But we con- sider it advisable, with your Majesty's pleasure, that your Royal Majesty should order him to go to one of your Royal Majesty's castles in Jutland, wherever it may be most convenient, and may be done with least danger. At the same time he has desired of me Peter Oxe that he might write by his own BOTHWELL's letter to rnEDERICK II. 333 messenger to your Royal Majesty, which I, in your chap. Royal Majesty's behalf, have not refused to allow v^i^ him to do. And whereas he let me see the letter, i567. and I knew not whether there were any one with your Royal Majesty that could understand French, I have caused the same letter of his to be translated into Danish, so that your Majesty may learn his meaning therein. And we consider it to be well, that when your Royal Majesty has decided in which castle your Royal Majesty wills that he shall be kept, that your Royal Majesty then write to him, that since your Royal Majesty cannot so speedily come hither, he repau" to the same castle there to await infor- mation and answer from your Royal Majesty." In the following not quite tasteful translation of Bothwell's letter, which accompanied the advice of Peter Oxe and John Friis, the King could read how, according to the representation of the former, " after the last alliance, imprisonment, and invention of false complaints against the Queen of Scotland, your Royal Majesty's kinswoman and descendant, and against me, both her coimcillors, your Majesty's obedient servants, as also the greatest part of the nobihty of the Scottish kingdom, have considered it to be right, that I come before your Majesty to declare her cause, and to desire your Majesty's good counsel and assistance for her deliverance, as from the Lord and Prince on whom, both on account of kinship and descent, as also on account of the ancient alliance which has been between both your kingdoms from time immemorial, she altogether relies. I was forced by stress of weather into Norway at a place which is called Arsond (Karmsund), where I intended to stay and wait for some of my ships which, by the 334 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, same stormy weather, after that I had hastily fled w^J^ from Scotland, were scattered from me at sea. 1567. Thereupon came one of your Majesty's ships which detained me for two-and-a-half months until now, as I had not a passport. I have come hither to Copenhagen, that your Royal Majesty should know the whole ajffair, uproar, and clamour which have happened in Scotland. As I have been so long hindered and detained, and since I am not quite certain what time your Majesty returns, I have requested your Majesty's Stadtholder, Peter Oxe, that, by this bearer, my servant, I might learn your Majesty's good- will and intention." ^ Frederick ii., after, being made acquainted with BothwelFs account, did not feel inclined to follow the advice given by Peter Oxe and John Friis as to sending Bothwell to one of his castles in Jutland. The King allowed the Earl, according to his former arrangement, to remain at Copenhagen till he him- self, at the end of the year, returned to Zealand. But he could not any longer delay coming to a more precise determination with respect to the fate of Bothwell. For already, towards the close of the month of September, information reached Scotland of Bothwell's detention in Norway through the return home, it is said, of Scottish merchants. Accordingly, on the same day as Christiern Aalborg sailed from Bergen to convey Bothwell to Denmark, Murray wrote in the name of James vi. from Stirling a request to Frederick ii. for the surrender of the Earl ; ^ This Danish translation of the previously written reply of the Bothwell's letter, which is sub- King to Peter Oxe, still preserved scribed " James Duke of Orkney," in the Danish Archives, but there is, also with the advice of Peter is wanting the French original of Oxe and John Friis, and a copy of Bothwell's letter to the King. mEDEKICK REFUSES TO SURRENDER HIM. 335 and the Scottish Herald, Sir William Stuart, who departed with it on the 7th October,^ was at length, after being long detained by stormy weather, able, on the 15th December 1567, to deliver this request into the hands of the Danish king in Zealand. The King would not now hear of the surrender of the Earl. On the one hand the Scottish Govern- ment accused Bothwell of being the murderer of Darnley ; on the other he maintained to Peter Oxe that he had already in Scotland been legally acquitted of this charge, that he was himself the real Regent of Scotland, that the Queen was his consort, and that his opponents were only rebels.^ One thing was indeed certain, that Mary Stuart was 1 Upoun the sevinth day of October 1567 my lord regent di- rectit Williame Stewart Ross, herauld, away to Denmark to the king thairof, to obtene his favour for delyuering to thame of James Erie of Bothwill, upoun thair expenssis. — Diurnal of Remark- able Occurrents, p. 125. The herald is mentioned in this authority (pp. 137, 146) only as William Stuart, but as Sir William Stuart in the Diarey of Robert Birrel, who re- ports his appointment as herald of the kingdom thus : " The 22 day of Februarii Sir Villiam Steuarte wes inaugurat Lyone king of armes in the kirk, after sermone in ye forenoone, in presence of ye Regent and Nobilitie." — Frag- ments of Scottish History, p. 14. ^ Intelleximus autem ex rela- tione nostrorum, se, cum de his argueretur, purgandi sui causa plurima in medium adduxisse ; inter csetera, purgationem ejus, cujus insimularetur, criminis, in Scotia a se legitime factam, ideoque in decisorio judicio per sententiam absolutam, se Regem Scotorum, serenissimam Reginam, consan- guineam nostram, conjugem suam, contrariam factionem subditos re- belles asserens, nec uUam hac in causa ReginiB accusationem inter- venire. — Reply of Frederick it. of 30th December 1567, according to a copy in the Danish Privy Archives. This letter was first printed from another copy in the State Paper Office among the many supplements to Laing's History of Scotland, ii. 300-302, and there- from reprinted in the writings about Bothwell by the Bannatyne Club by Prince Labanoff, as also by Teulet. It is thus incorrect, when Ellis {Latter Years of J ames Hep- burn Earl of Bothwell, pp. 10-11), who once again has reprinted this letter, thinks that he is giving it as "not hitherto printed." On the other hand the latter gives the subscrip- tion of the letter correctly as " ex Kegia nostra Haffnia," instead of that by Laing, " ex Eegia nostra Hostenia," which Teulet (p. 151) translates by " Palais de Holstein." [Haffnia, the true reading, is the Latin name for Copenhagen. — Translator.] 336 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. CHAP, now kept in confinement and cut off from all com- munication on the solitary Lochleven, and it was 1567. consequently not from her, — not from Scotland's imprisoned Queen, that any complaint against Bothwell was now sent to her Danish relative, who readily recognised as here applicable the old proverb to which he himself had recently given utterance during persecutions in another country, that genuine friends are only to be known in the hour of need.^ It is thus not difficult to understand that Frederick II. would, in a consultation with Peter Oxe at Kron- borg, agree with him, that even without taking into account the violation of the royal jurisdiction which would seem to be involved in the surrender of Both- well, it would not be proper for him m the circum- stances to accede to any such measure. The matter was accordingly allowed to rest with the offer of permission to the Scottish envoy himself to pro- secute Bothwell in Denmark for the crimes alleged against him, as soon as the council of the kingdom ^ When William of Orange, in ihrer landt in sorgen schwebtenn, tlie year 1567, went into exile from wollen die sich, zu verhiittung und the Netherlands at the approaching abwehrung desselbigen, unges- arrival of the Duke of Alva, cheucht herein ins Reich begebenn Frederick ii. wrote him with fine und die gelegeuheit dieser orter zu sympathy a letter from Soroe, 9th freundtlichem gefallen und so gut March 1567, in which, in conse- als wir habenn." — Archives ou Cor- quence of that event threatening resj)ondance ineclite de la Maison danger of life (leibsgefahr) to the d' Orange Nassau. Premiere serie, Silent, he invites him to come to iii. 109, 110. William of Orange him in Denmark. It is said leaf thanked the king in a letter from A in this letter : "Weil dann die Dillenburg, 22d July 1567, for the rechtenn, wahrenn freundt, dem ofier of which he had not taken alten sprichwort nach, inn der nott advantage {Ihid. iii. 111-113), and erkandt und wir E. L. dafiir gehal- subsequently, 12th June 1584, ten, auch dieselbigen im werck named his renowned son, Frederick gegen uns bis daher nit anderst Henry, after Frederick ii. and erspurt, woUten wir dasselbig nit Henry iii. of Navarre and iv. of vvenigers auch rait der that erweis- France. — Motley, Bise of the Dutch senn. Da sich demnach E. L. Eepuhlic (London, 1856), iii. 597. dergestalt zubefahren und ausser FREDERICK RESOLVES TO SEND HIM TO MALMOE. 337 met, — a course however which Sir WilHam Stuart chap. did not presume immediately to undertake.^ On the w.—- contrary, he was satisfied on receiving an assurance 1^67. that for the present they would take care that Bothwell remained in Denmark, where, for the sake of greater security, the King now resolved to assign him a residence in Mahnoe. This assurance was expressly stated in the written reply with which Sir William Stuart returned home, and in which the views already mentioned were set forth in a courteous way, they being supposed to be in accordance with the wishes of the Scottish Government. Before the departure of Sir William Stuart with that promise it was felt that both the answer and the demand which had called it forth ought to be communicated to the Earl in the Castle of Copen- hagen. How Bothwell received the tidings, a letter from Peter Oxe, written in the same place the 30th December 1567, furnishes the following information : " Your Boyal Majesty, my most wilhng, plighted, faithful, obedient service as always heretofore. Most mighty, high-born Prince, most gracious Lord and King, I very lately, in Elsinore, spoke with your Royal Majesty about the Scottish Earl who remains here in the castle, and your Boyal Majesty then saw proper that he should be sent to Malmoe Castle, and there be held in safe custody for further information till such time as his case could be better considered, and your Royal Majesty could arrive at additional knowledge of everything about it. As I 1 " Memorato vero Serenitatis fecimus, in proximo procerum nos- Vestrse feciali, cui prosecutionem troram conventu, legitimo judicio Imjus causae, et rei accusationem contra eundem experiundi, discep- commissam esse, literae Serenitatis tandique." — Answer by Frederick vestrse testabantur, potestatem ii. of 30th December 1567. Y JAMES HEPBURN EAUL OF BOTHWELL. could not myself go out, I sent to him to-day licen- tiate Casper Yaselich and Niels Kaas, who informed him of your Majesty's intention, and that the Scot- tish herald had come hither with letters and instruc- tions from the King of Scotland, in which were orders to accuse him as a murderer, and as one who had taken part in the counsel and act of putting to death the King of Scotland, and they read the same Scottish letter to him. But for as much as your Royal Majesty had learned from me the state- ments which he had alleged in opposition to the same accusation, and that in reference to it your Majesty might be able to obtain further and com- plete knowledge, and might not act unjustly to- wards any of the parties, they also informed him that your Royal Majesty at this time wrote to the King of Scotland an answer which was also read to him, and that meanwhile your Royal Majesty would cause him to be kept in custody in another place, and be provided with suitable maintenance till such time as the matter could come to a judicial examina- tion, and all things be treated according to justice, your Royal Majesty as a Christian and wise prince taking care that none of the parties should meet with any wrong. He then complained most vehemently that his enemy and defamer should be free to charge him with unfair accusations, and to spread lying stories about him, while he himself was held in arrest and custody, since it was his meaning and purpose to repair to your Royal Majesty, and from your Majesty, as the next kins- man and blood relation of the Queen, to ask help and comfort. But for what concerned the court of justice, he would in no way be apprehensive, only bothwell's wishes granted. 339 he desired that he might have Kberty to send one chap of his servants to Scotland and France for his letters, k^^^ proofs, and v^itnesses as to hov7 the event had i567. happened, so that he might be able to defend him- self before the court. And it appears to me, with your Majesty's pleasure, that your Majesty may most prudently allow this to be done ; your Majesty will deign to make known to me your Royal Majesty's command thereanent." In a postscript to the fore- going letter, Peter Oxe added these words : — " Most gracious Lord and King, since this letter was penned, the Scottish Earl has sent me a note in which he desires that he may have possession of a copy of the letter which the King of Scotland has written your Koyal Majesty as to the complaints the Scots have against him ; your Royal Majesty will deign to let me know if your Eoyal Majesty wishes him to receive a copy of the said letter."^ Frederick ii. being made acquainted with the Earl's wishes on New Year's Eve at Fredericksburg, allowed both to be granted on the first day of 1568, with the condition, however, "that, should he write anything, he should as heretofore show the letters before they were sealed and sent ofi*." On the same day as Bothwell at Copenhagen was made aware of this decision, the King, as he had before determined, wrote from Fredericksburg to Bjorn Kaas, the commander of Malmoe Castle, in these words : — " Know that we ourselves have given ^ The letter of Peter Oxe in the nothing with which to buy clothes. Danish Archives having the above Your Koyal Majesty will therefore postscript, concludes thus about deign to write me as to whether I Bothwell : — " At the same time he shall advance him anything on also desires that he may obtain your Koyal Majesty's behalf." 200 dollars on loan, for he has JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. orders to beloved Peter Oxe, our trusty servant, councillor, and High Steward of the Kingdom of Denmark, to send the Scottish Earl, who is detained in the Castle of Copenhagen, to our Castle of Malmoe, there to remain for some time. Therefore we command you, and will that you cause the arched chamber in the same castle, which High Steward Eyler Hardenburg had for his room, to be put in order, and that you also wall up the secret closet in the same chamber, and if the windows with the iron trellis be not strong and quite secure, that you see to that, and when he arrives, that you let him he in the same chamber, and procure him a bed and good maintenance as Peter Oxe may further instruct, and that ye above all things have strict watch and care of the same Earl, in the way you may think best, so that he do not get away. Such is our will and pleasure."^ ^ Copies of both the letter of the King to Peter Oxe, dated Frede- ricksburg, New Year's Day, 1568, and of that to Bjorn Kaas, are found in the Danish Privy Ar- chives. The last-mentioned letter has already been printed by Bergen- hammer, subsequently by Henry Cockburn and Thomas Maitland in a publication for the Bannatyne Club, likewise by Prince Labanoff, and lastly by Teulet. All these, however, have taken the statement " written in Fredericksburg, 28th December, after the birth of Christ 1568" too literally, which is equally the case in T. Becker, Skildring af Adelersborg i Folke- halender for Danmark. Tredie Aar- gang, p. 53. The old custom, which is followed in this statement, of reckoning the beginning of the year from the birth-day of our Lord, or from Christmas day, 25th of December, and the different countries in which it prevailed, are treated of in detail by Brinck- meier in his Handbuch der His- torischen Chronologie. Leipzig, 1843, pp. 67-73. CHAPTEE XL It was on a day in January 1567, that Bothwell chap. rode out from Edinburgh to receive Mary when w-^w she returned with the sick Darnley from Glasgow, 1568. and on a day in January 1568, after the lapse of a year, to which he could look back as the stormiest of all in his past Hfe, he was conveyed from the Castle of Copenhagen across the Sound to the Castle of Malmoe. Of the present Malmoe Castle, only the northern wing with the tower over the gate on the north was built in the time of Christian iii. ; the great western wing, which some years ago was destroyed by fire, was first built by Christian iv. , and the rest probably at a stiU. later time. The portion which formed the state-prison in 1568 must conse- quently be sought for in the northern wing, and here there is actually shown an old apartment, con- sisting of a large, oblong, vaulted hall with windows to the south, which, according to the description, apparently must be the room that Eyler Harden- berg occupied as Governor of the Castle, and which, through many years, was now to form a residence for the most distinguished state-prisoner of Frede- rick 11.^ ^ Neither the records of the Danish period ; the archives of castle, nor those of the command- the Government, which correspond ant in Malmoe, extend back to the to those of the former commanders JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. During his stay in the Castle of Copenhagen, Both well composed a detailed memoir for the pur- pose of justifying to the 'King and the Danish Council his complaint of the restraint by which it was now forbidden him, on the part of the other princes and lords, to operate for the deHverance of the Scottish Queen ; and " in order that the King and his Council might better and more clearly know the malice and treasons of his accusers, he had, as concisely as it was possible for him, comprehensively and truthfully explained the causes of the disturb- ances and movements that had taken place, of which they themselves were alone the special instruments and sources from the year 1559 until this present day." ^ This account, which is written not without a certain ability, has very often been made use of in the foregoing narrative, though only with great caution, since in it Bothwell not merely clears him- self of all share in Darnley's death, but even entirely passes over such plain facts as the surprise of the Queen at Almond Bridge and her abduction to Dun- bar. In concluding this account on the 5th of Janu- ary 1568, in the Castle of Copenhagen,^ Bothwell not only affirmed that he came with authority -both from the Queen's friends and also from Mary her- of Malmoe, also contain only few documents which go so far back, and although many documents from the Castle archives, during the Danish period, have found their way to those of the Council- house in Malmoe, yet these are equally destitute of any informa- tion with respect to Bothwell's sojourn there. ^ Afin que le Roy de Danne- marck, et le Conseil de son Royaume puissent mieulx et plus clairement congnoistre les mes- chancetez et trahisons des mes accusateurs, cy-dessous nommez ; J'ay, le plus sommairement qu'il ni'a este possible, coniprins et veritablement declair^ les causes des troubles et esmotions aduenues, desquelles eux seulz les principaulz autheurs et commencement, depuis I'an 1559 jusques aujourd'huy. 2 A Copenhaguen, la veille des Roys, MDLXVIII. BOTH WELL S OFFER TO FREDERICK. 343 self, who, notwithstanding her close confinement on chap. Lochleven, was said to have found an opportunity v^--^-^ of confirming in every particular what these had i^^s. admitted,^ but also still assigned as the sole object of his mission to Frederick ii. that he should ask the latter for assistance by counsel and deed.^ But when a few days afterwards he saw himself a prisoner within the walls of Malmoe Castle he went a step further. He now appended a smaller docu- ment in which he did not rest satisfied with repeat- ing that he had come to beg help by land and sea, but specially added that he was empowered to offer the King as a recompence for this the islands of Orkney and Shetland,^ and that if only the King and his council would themselves state how they wished bonds to be drawn up with respect to the surrender of these islands, the Earl became surety that they would be so drawn up and sealed by the Queen, by himself, and by the Scottish Privy Council.^ This document which Both well penned on the 13th of January,^ he gave along with the ^ Mais pour plus grande securete, je feiz tant, que j'en euz son advis, qui estoit, qu'elle trouvoit fort bou, tout ce que les Seigneurs m'avoy- ent conseille, me pryant d'elfec- tuer le tout, le plus diligentment qu'il seroit possible. ^ Estimans pour vray que cecy pourroit induyre le diet Roy a me donner son bon conseil, secours, ayde et faveur, et pour I'obtenir plus facilement, je luy debuois presenter mon service, et tout ce qui estoit en ma puissance. ^ Premierement, que je debuois demander a Sa Majeste de Danne- marck, comme allie et conf^dere de la Royne, ayde, faveur et assist- ance, tant de gens de guerre, que de navires, pour la d^livrer de la captivity oil elle est. Item, Pour les fraiz, qui y pourroyent estre faictz, que je fisse offre a Sa dicte Majesty de rendre les Isles de Orquenaj et de Schetland libres et quittes, sans aulcun empeschement, a la couronne de Dannemarck et de Norvegue, comme ils avoyent cy- devant quelque temps este. ^ Et je prometz en bonne foy, que les dictes lettres seront scellees de la Royne, de moy et du Conseil du Royaume d'Escosse, et signees de chascun de nous de noz propres mains. ^ De Malmoe, le xiii® de Jan- vier 1568. 3U JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, preceding on the same day in Malmoe to the French w-Y^ ambassador, Charles Dancay, who must have visited 1568. him, and who has remarked that three days after- wards, on the 16th January 1568, he had the oppor- tunity in Helsingborg of delivering them to Peter Oxe and John Friis.-^ Whether the offer of the islands of Orkney and Shetland which Bothwell now proposed really was the "intention and final will"^ of the Scottish Queen and council, or whether only a reminiscence of the period when Bothwell attended the meetings of the Scottish Privy Council caused him in Mal- moe to seize this idea as the last means of safety, he could yet reckon with tolerable certainty upon such an offer meeting with ready attention. The step which Christian i. took when, instead of the marriage portion with which his daughter should have been dowered, he pledged Orkney and Shet- land to Scotland, has not brought this king greater praise in the history of Norway than he obtained in that of Denmark for the way in which, in order to be chosen Prince of Hoist ein, he also allowed Sleswig to be united to a foreign country. Under Christian iii. the Danish government had begun the great series of attempts by which it was vainly sought at a later period to win back the islands.^ To no purpose had Clnistian iii. offered the Scots to pay the sum of money which had been promised as dowry by his grandfather. French mediation also induced him to abandon the idea he had for a long time afterwards entertained of enforcing his 1 Note R, Appendix. la dicte Royne, et de Messieurs de son Conseil. 2 L'intention et finale volonte de ^ jq-Q^g Appendix. WHY HIS OFFER WOULD BE LISTENED TO. 345 claims upon the islands by a great naval armament.-^ chap. Frederick ii. had likewise, from his accession to the v^^^Jl^ throne and until the northern seven years' war 1529-68. wholly occupied his attention, in vain prosecuted his father's negotiations with Scotland to get the islands back again. And what then is more reason- able than to take for granted that the offer of Both- well did not a httle contribute to the lenity and care with which the Scottish state prisoner was through many years protected in Denmark ? How could it be otherwise than that King Frederick and his council would indeed hsten to such an offer now made by a man who was himself " Duke of Orkney," as the patent brought with him showed, — an offer which was proposed in the Scottish Queen's name, and which the constantly continued party-contests in Scotland might well make more than a dream before a period should elapse that was only removed a little more than a generation from the day of the battle of Summerdale — 7th June 1529 — when once more the abandoned Norse population of the Orkneys were victorious over the invading foreigners from Scotland ? It is indeed only a mere guess whether Bothwell from a distance exercised any influence on the attempts made in favour of Frederick 11. by his successor in the feudal proprietorship of the islands which at last led the Scottish government ^ The French Minister, Charles Henri pour I'advertir que le Roi Da ncay, writes in a memoir of 12th Christiern de Dannemark dressait April 1575, after having mentioned une grande armee de mer, pour se his first embassy to Denmark : — joindre avec celle de la Reine " Apres que j'eus satisfait a cette Marie d'Angleterre, pour I'esper- charge, je retournai en France, oil ance qu'il avait de recouvrer par je ne fut longtems, que Marie, ce moy en les isles Oread es et autres Reine Douairiere d'Ecosse, mere de terres que les Ecossais tiennent." — la Reine d'Ecosse qui est a present Nya Handlingar rorande SJcandi- envoya devers Monseign. le Roi naviens Historia, i. 46. 346 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, for a long time to imprison him during Bothwell's stay in Denmark/ but it is not without significance 1567-71. that, when in the year 1570 some war-ships appeared on the northern coasts of Scotland, rumour declared that it was the Earl of Both well who had come back from Denmark." It is also of importance to remark that his opponents, even in the following year, con- tinued to entertain the fear lest Mary should find opportunity to despatch from her prison in England the bonds promised by Bothwell,^ and that Frederick II. wished to fit out ships and crews for Both well, so that he might restore to him the islands unjustly separated from the kingdom of Norway."^ The Scottish Government had, however, not failed to make repeated attempts to induce Frederick II. to surrender Both well. While Sir William Stuart, towards the close of 1567, was in Denmark as bearer of Murray's first request for the surrender of Both- well, the ParHament met in Scotland which con- ^ This was the Queen's half- brother, Lord Robert Stuart, whose " dangerous and treason- able practices with Denmark " are vaguely hinted at by David Bal- four in his Odal Bights and Feudal Wrongs, p. 62. ^ Les aultres disoient que c'estoit le comte de Boduel qui venoit de Danemarc avec quelques gens qu'il avoit ramassez.— Account of La Motte Fenelon to King Charles ix. and Catherine de Medici of 27th of March 1570 ; Correspondance Diplomatique de la Motte Fenelon, iii. 98. ^ Lettres of favour from the Kynges moder to this king that the mordorer Bothwell be not delivered to be punished, with sum promes of kyndnes to hym thairfore of the yles of Orknay and Schetland, — Letter of Thomas Buchanan to Cecil, dated Copen- hagen the 19th January 1571, and given from copy in the State Paper Office in Ellis's Later Years of James Hepburn, p. 13. * Ceulx cy avoient eu adviz que le roy de Dannemark estoit apres a accomoder le corate de Boudouel de quelque nombre d'hommes et de vaysseaulx, pour faire une de- scente en Escose, et que le diet Boudouel luy promettoit de luy niettre entre les mains les Orcades, niais cella n'a pas continue dont ceulx cy n'ent sont plus en payne. — Account of La Motte Fenelon to King Charles ix. of 6th March 157i ; Correspondance de Bertrand de Salignac de la Motte FeneloUy iv. 8. EFFORTS MADE TO SECURE HIS SURRENDER. 347 firmed in every particular the regulations of the new chap. government and demanded the complete overthrow v^^^J^ of Catholicism. At the same time the fugitive Earl 1568. and the rest of those supposed to be accompHces in Darnley's murder that were still at large were summoned to appear before the Parliament which, on the 20th December, condemned the absent Both- well to the forfeiture of nobility, honours, life, and possessions.^ When Sir William Stuart, in the be- ginning of 1568, returned from Denmark without having effected his object, it was taken up by Murray with increased zeal. Murray apphed both to Queen EHzabeth, who had always shown herself an enemy to Bothwell, and also to Charles ix., desiring that they would support the demand of the Scottish Government to the King of Denmark. Elizabeth willingly complied with this request, and wrote to Frederick ii. from Westminster on the 21st March, and again from Greenwich on the 4th May 1568. In these letters, while pledging her royal word that Bothwell, if surrendered, should have his cause tried anew in Scotland with the utmost impartiahty and equity, she specially insisted that Darnley was her relative, and that it was a matter which concerned every monarch, whose majesty ought, according to a higher law and God's own will, always to be sacred, and never violated without punishment.^ On the other hand, Murray was not so fortimate in France, for, in spite of the very ^ Parliamentary Decisions y Acts which are in the Danish Archives, of the Parliaments of Scotland. and that just named being first Edinburgh, 1814-1844, fol. iii. 5. printed by Bergenhammer (p. Compare Anderson s Collections, 324) : — " Hoc facinus, privati in iv. 152. principem, subditi in suum do- 2 It is said in the second of minum, re exsecrabile, exemplo those letters from Elizabeth, both of intolerabile plane existit, cunctis 348 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. forcible representations of one of his agents, he did not succeed in leading Charles ix. or Catherine de Medici in the same direction. So far was Dancay from receiving instructions to support the proposal of the Scottish Government as had been desired/ that the French King, whom Bothwell had so urgently addressed from the Castle of Copenhagen, on the contrary charged his minister to put forth his efforts in opposing the Earl's surrender. In these circumstances it was deemed in Scotland most suitable to transfer the accomplishment of the matter to a Scotsman for whom there was reason to suppose Frederick ii. had a personal regard, and such a person was beheved to be found in Captain John Clark, or, as he was called in Denmark, Captain Johannes Clark. At the beginning of the Northern seven years' war this Scottish gentleman had repaired to Denmark with recommendations from both Mary and Elizabeth, and had received a command in the army.^ In this capacity he had during the war done Frederick ii. good service ; ^ quidem hominibus, prsecipue vero Scottish Queen still gets the name regibus, quorum majestatem, of her dearest sister (sororis ratio vult, et Deus ipse sacro- nostras charissimae), Mary had sanctam esse jubet." This notion just escaped from Lochleven, of the sanctity of majesty, how- and was still at the head of an ever, Elizabeth did not continue army of devoted adherents who to hold at a later period, when, in were destined on the 13th May to the year 1587, she addressed the suffer such a defeat at Langside. letter concerning Mary Stuart's ^ Memorandum of an anonymous execution to Frederick ii. (given agent sent by Murray to the King from the original in the Danish and Queen-Dowager of France. — Archives in I^ye dansk Magazin, Teulet, Papiers d'Etat relatifs a iv. 268-69), yea, it was really given VHistoire de FEcosse, ii. 943. up a couple of weeks afterwards, ^ His commission as captain when a fishing-boat had conveyed over 206 Scottish cavalry soldiers, the fugitive Queen across the dated Bordesholm, the 15th June Solway Firth to the coast of 1564, is to be found in the Danish Cumberland. But when Elizabeth Privy Archives, wrote her letter at Greenwich on ^ By Resen, who describes him the 4th May 1568, in which the as "the distinguished Captain CAPTAIN JOHN CLARK. 349 and in the year 1567 was sent from the country to chap. France, England, and Scotland to enlist more ^^^^^ mercenary troops for the Danish king.^ On this 1567. occasion he went first to France, but, as he after- wards explained, when relating the history of his mission, the impending outbreak of a second religious war having prevented him from obtaining a sufficient number of soldiers to enhst in that country, he had, on the contrary, in Scotland got what he sought, and had recently returned to Denmark with the hired troops. It was during his stay in Scotland that the plot against Bothwell was formed, and Clark did not hesitate on this occasion to join the insurrection ; an eye-witness, who has described the expedition of the Lords from Edinburgh on the night between the 15th and 16th June, expressly mentions Captain Clark and the soldiers, already enhsted by him,^ as present among the troops that marched out to Carberry Hill to meet in hostile array Bothwell and his men from Dunbar. Sub- sequently, on the 17th of June, Clark, with equal Johannes Clark, an erudite, well- trained, widely-experienced brave soldier who, at the beginning, was brought here from England," it is laid to his charge that in the year 1565, while he was ordered to lie at Varbjerg with his lieutenant, David Stuart, and the best part of the troops, he, of his own will, betook himself down to Daniel Rantzau at Halnistad, which the Swedes, during the latter's absence, unexpectedly besieged, and, after a bloody engagement, retook the castle. — Kong Fredericks Den Andens Kronicke, pp. 131, 261. ^ He had undertaken to enlist " vier feindlein hackenschiitzen, jedes drittehalb hundert starck." — Commission by Frederick ii., dated Frederiksburg, 2d March 1567, in the Danish Privy Archives. The King, who here describes Clark as " den erbare vnd man- hafften vnsern Obristen," on the day after, in a letter to Mary Stuart {Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1566-68, p. 184), recommended Clark to the favour- able support of the Queen's party. 2 And Captain Clark with sa many as he had luftit on his awin expense in deliberation to pass thairefter in Danmark to the nomnier of fourscoir of men or thairby. — Letter of James Beaton, dated Edinburgh, 17th June 1567 ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 110. 350 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. 1567. zeal, also distinguished himself by capturing at sea William Blacater, one of Bothwell's con- fidants, who was the first to be executed as an accompHce of the Earl/ When Captain Clark passed in autumn to Denmark with his re- cruits, the new Scottish Government, to which he had rendered such service, gave him a letter to Frederick ii. In this letter his share in the fight against Bothwell was carefully concealed, and his long- continued absence excused as a consequence of his having had at first obstacles put in the way of his recruiting. At the same time it was added that they did not know better hands in which to confide the task of representing to the Danish King the causes of the insurrection of the Lords and of the Queen's imprisonment, and of proposing an alhance between the kingdoms to meet the imminent peril with which the evangelical party seemed to be threatened by the adherents of the Pope.^ On his return to Den- mark this zealous Presbyterian did not however rest satisfied with merely communicating these represen- ^ William Blacader capitane, suspectit in lykwise for the said slauchter, wes takin be Capitane Jolme Clerk, servand to the King of Denmark, quha come heir to raise men of weir, vpoun the sey, quhen he wes fleand away.— Diwr- nal of Remarkable Occurrents, p. 115. Cappitaine Blarkatonna ete priz sur la mer par le Cappitaine Clerque. — An account by a con- temporary French soldier of the events from the 7th to the 15th June, 1567; Tenlet, Papiers d'Etat, ii. 168. Sir Nicholas Throck- morton, who describes Clark as " Captain Clark, which hath so long served in Denmark and served at Newhaven," expressly speaks of this achievement of his in his letter to Queen Elizabeth, dated Edinburgh, 18th July 1567.— Robertson, History of Scotland, ii. 311. 2 To the recommendatory letter of Murray to Clark on his return, written in the name of James vi., and dated Stirling Castle, 25th August 1567, and which is pre- served in the Danish Privy Archives, there is joined a " Brevis declaratio eorum, quse Illustrissi- nuis Dominus vicerex et consiliarii Regni Scotiae Serenissimo et potentissimo principi Frederico Ilo. Danorum etc. Regi, et sui Eegni consiliariis per nobilem virum Joannem Clarck Scotum, ejus Mis Capitaneum, significari voluerunt." CLARK PROPOSES A LEAGUE AGAINST THE PAPISTS. 351 tations and proposals in the name of the Scottish chap. Government, but accompanied them with a memoir ^^^^ from himself^ In this is set forth as an indubitable 1567. fact, that, on the arrival of Alva in the Netherlands, a conspiracy against the common cause of the evan- gelical party had been entered into by the Pope, the chief Italian princes, the Emperor, the King of Spain, and Dukes of Savoy and Bavaria. Clark also affirmed that, during a late visit paid to the Netherlands, he had had opportunities of convincing himself that the first blow would be aimed at Denmark by the conspirators;^ that there was there- fore a common ruin impending over the evangelical party if every one sought to fight only by himself, while the King, by placing himself at their head, would be able to form an ecclesiastical alliance such as the world had never seen from the days of our Saviour.^ The Danish King, in his reply to these proposals which he addressed to the Scottish Govern- ment from Copenhagen, 1st October 1567, rather coldly dismisses the idea of any such common league against the Papists, convinced as he was that God well knew how to protect His Church from un- righteous violence, and contents himself with a renewed assurance of his own unalterable attach- ment to the Protestant cause.* On the other hand, ^Monita qusedam privata dicti nefariae conjurationis potius abejus- Capitanei Clarck. — The Danish dem Maj estate quam a quo vis alio Archives. faciant. Monita qusedam privata ^ Praeterea postrema mea in Bel- dicti Capitanei Clarck. — Ibid. gium profectione ego omnes fere ^ Futurus enim ille est caput et incolas tantopere a Serenissimo dux talis actionis, qua3 omnium, Danorum Rege alienatos reperi, et quae ab adventu Salvatoris Jesu tam aperte de impedimentis et in- Christi tentatae sunt, erit maxinie commodis, quae in hujusce baltici memorabilis. — Ibid. maris angustiis, hoc bello perpessi ^ Etenim nos in professione doc- sunt, conquerebantur, ut maxime trinae caelestis, quae nobis a Domino metuam, ne Hispani initiura istius parente nostro tradita est, et quae 352 JAMES HEPBURN EAKL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, he expresses his ready acceptance of the excuse w^-!^ made by the Scottish Government for Clark's pro- 1568. longed absence, highly eulogises Clark's proved bravery and fidelity, and states that in his opinion his countrymen could not have found any more fitting advocate for the prosecution of Bothwell than the agent whom they had selected. Murray continued to press on the matter with'^all his accus- tomed energy. On the 16th July 1568, he wrote Frederick ii. an urgent request that he would allow Captain Clark to make a short visit to' Scotland in order to have a personal interview with him about a matter of the greatest importance,^ and before the Danish King had an opportunity of complying with this request, Murray hastened to draw up on the 21st August an authorisation for Bothwell's execu- tion in Denmark. At the same time he again wrote Frederick ii., calling attention to the fact that, according to the judicial procedure of Scotland, the Act of Parhament of the 20th December condemning Bothwell had the most complete legal validity, and consequently it was certainly much to be preferred that Bothwell should be sent to suffer his punish- ment in Scotland. As, however, he could not doubt that so long as the North Sea swarmed with privateers, there was no possibility of his being conveyed across without such an armed naval force Domini beneficio in ecclesiis et scholis Eegnorum nostrorum viget, perpetuo perseveraturi sumus. — Letter of King Frederick ii., dated 1st October 1567 ; Danish Privy Archives. ^ Eem nobis gratissimaiu Tua Serenitas factura est, si, remisso ad breve tempus militari, quo est ille jamdiu obstrictus, sacramento, veniam largiri veUt in Scotiam transmittendi et nobiscum, qui hoc a Serenitate Tua vehementer con- tendimus, coUoquendi. — Letter of Murray in the name of James vi., as yet a minor, preserved in the Danish Privy Archives, dated Stirling Castle, 16th July 1568, BOTHWELL's execution in DENMARK DEMANDED. 353 as could not be readily obtained/ he would restrict chap, his demand to the surrender of Bothwell into the v-f^ hands of Clark, so that he might cause the Earl's i^^^. head to be taken off, and this at least transmitted for exhibition at the place where his crime had been committed.^ To insure the consent of the Danish King, Murray, although Scotland's own troubles might seem to forbid such a step, with great friend- liness gave permission to Axel Wiffert of Naes, another of Frederick's recruiting officers, to enlist two thousand new mercenaries for the military service of Denmark ; and this gentleman accordingly believed himself also obliged, on the same day on which Murray wrote Frederick ii., to write the King that he found the clamour of the Scots against Bothwell so great that he ventured most humbly to request him to comply with their desire.^ On the following day another Scottish gentleman, who had also entered the King's mihtary service, Gawin Elphinstone, left Edinburgh, carrying with him the sentence of Parhament against Bothwell, which, in the opinion of the ruling party in Scotland, abun- dantly supplied the proofs demanded last year by ^ Verum quum per ssevitiam bel- tatem Tuam maxime rogamus, ut lorum, quibus vicina regna atque ilium eidem Capitaneo ad ex- adeo universus fere Christianus tremurn supplicium dedi caret, orbis conflictatur, niare a piratis utque is abscissum a cervicibus obsessum sit, satis tutum non vide- parricidse caput ad nos in Scotiam batur, ilium mari committere, sine transmittat, quod pro more palo valenti navium et strenuorum mili- prsefixum in loco, quo caedes per- tum comitatu, ut in Scotiam sine petrata est, defigendum curemus. periculo transportari posset. — — Ibid. Letter of Murray, drawn up in the ^ Do ist mein gants vnderthenigst name of James vi., dated Edin- vnd demuethiges bitt Euer Kon. burgh, 21st August 1568, and first Mat. woUe Innen solches gnedigst printed from the original copy in zulassen vnd vergunnen. — Letter the Danish Archives by Bergen- of Axel Wiffert to Frederick ii,, hammer, pp. 328-333. geschreben zu Edinburg jn Schott- ^ Quara ob causam igitur Sereni- landt am 21 tag Augusti 1568. — lb. 354 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, the Danish Government, and the letters of Murray discharged his commission, a few days later followed Elphinstone to Denmark, Murray furnished him, on the 26th of August, with a new letter to Frederick II., in which he again represented that, if Both well could not be safely brought over to Scotland, the King must at least not suffer " this pirate, con- demned ahke by divine and human laws," to escape also in Denmark his deserved punishment.^ When Captain John Clark presented himself in October at Roskilde with the special authorisation given by the Scottish Government, Frederick had meanwhile received increased encouragement not to comply with a desire so singular. On the supposi- tion that the Scottish Government would not allow the matter to rest, he had before Clark's arrival applied to other princes, to whom he represented how difficult and doubtful any complete satisfaction of the Scottish Government seemed to him, on the ground alike of his own jurisdiction and supremacy, his near relationship to the Scottish Queen, care for his royal reputation, and consideration of the dis- turbed and altogether insecure condition in which things still stood in Scotland, and had concluded with begging that other Christian authorities'' Vpoun the xxij day of the said transportetur, aut meritas in Dania moneth of August thair wes ane poenas luat, suppliciumque de eo commissioun send be my lord sumatur ab iis, quorum fidei, sen- regent with ane gentilman callit tentise a senatu latae exsecutio, a Gawin Elphingstoun to the King of nobis mandata est. This letter Denmark. — A Diurnal of Remark- from Murray, dated Edinburgh, ^ Ut divina humanaque sententia printed by Bergenhammer, pp. damnatus latro, aut tuto in Scotiam 325-328. able Occurrenis, p. 137. 26th August 1568, and issued in name of James vi., was also first ADVICE GIVEN TO FREDEBICK BY OTHER PRINCES. 355 would assist him with their enhghtened counsel, chap. The princes thus appealed to had, for the most part, k^..^!^ thrust the matter aside in a polite and almost ironical 1568. manner, expressing themselves persuaded that the Danish King and the Danish Council, with their "highly-gifted understanding," would themselves be quite able to know how to advise in such an affair. In as far, however, as the princes consulted inciden- tally touched upon the question itself, about which the King of Denmark asked their opinion, only one of them declared himself at all in favour of comply- ing with the wish of the Scottish Government. This was his brother-in-law. Elector Augustus of Saxony, who alleged that such an " extradition" of criminals had been established between himself and the Em- peror and Crown of Bohemia, and he thought in this case such a course much less doubtful for the King, if, as was reported, the Earl of Bothwell had during the Northern war been opposed to him, and had in Scotland rather favoured the Swedish King.^ The King's uncle, Adolphus Duke of Sleswig and Hol- stein, Julius Duke of Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel, and Ulrich Duke of Mecklenburg, were on the contrary of opinion that regard to his royal jurisdiction demanded that the case should be tried within the King's own dominions, before impartial judges, with the assistance of advocates for both parties, — a view which the King had last year maintained in his ^ Vnd weil wir den auch aus Euer Kon. Wirden hieuorigen an vns ergangenen scliriefften vor- nehmmen, dass der Graff Euer Kon. W. in werendem Schwedischen Kriege fast zu wieder gewesen, vnd nicht alleine Euer Kon. W. in der bey Schottlandt gesuchten nach- barlich hulflfe vnd beistand gehin- dert, dem Konige zu Schweden aber alle fiirderung erzeigt. — Letter of Elector Augustus of Saxony, dated Dresden, 1st September 1568, in the Danish Privy Archives. JAMES HEPBURN EAUL OF BOTHWELL. reply to the Scottish Government/ The other of the King's uncles, John the Elder, Duke of Sleswig and Holstein, did indeed admonish Frederick ii. to avoid offending the Scots and English, who, during the King's war with Sweden, had shown themselves well-disposed neighbours, but confined himself only to exhorting him to wait for time to bring him the best counsels, and that, to meet the pressure of the Scottish Government, he should suggest entering into the negotiations for peace then opened up. In this way the King might perhaps in the future be able to get an opportunity of effecting something for the unhappy Scottish Queen, if not towards her complete restoration to her throne, yet at least with the result of obtaining for her " a respectable State allow- ance,"^ since what in this matter they ought above all things to remember was their near relationship to the Queen, originating in their common ancestor, Christian i.^ To such opinions was wholly opposed the demand which, solely on the ground of the sen- tence pronounced in Scotland, required, without further delay, the execution of Bothwell in Den- mark. After receiving these the King needed no ^ Letters of Adolphiis Duke of Sleswig and Holstein, Jnlius Diike of Brunswick- Wolfenbiittel, and Ulrich Duke of Mecklenburg, dated Gottorp, 27th August 1568, Wolfenbiittel, 11 th September 1568, and Wismar, 19th September 1568, all in the Danish Privy Archives. 2 Wo E. Ko, W. vnter solcher handlung was gutes zu erledigung der Khonigin, vnd wo nicht zu der vuUenkhomenen Khoniglichen Ee- gierung, jedoch vff ein stadtlich leibgedings gelegenheit werden vor sich vnd durch andere befurdern khonnen, Die woUen an Ihrem muglichen vleisse, wie wir dann E. Ko. W. darzu ohne das woll geneigt wissen, nicht erwinden lassen. — Letter of Duke John the Elder, drawn up " in abwesen unserer re the," and dated " uff vnserm hausse Hans burgh, 25th Aug. 1568," in Danish Archives. ^ Fiirnemblick aber die nalie Bluttsverwandtniss der Khoniginn von vnserm loblichen Grossvattern Khonig Christian, Christmilter gedechtniss, dem Ersten, herru- rendt. — Letter of Duke John the Elder, in Danish Archives. SURRENDER OF MURRAY AND PARIS. 357 longer to fear for his reputation among his princely chap. friends and relatives, because he quite agreed with them not to allow Bothwells head to fall by the 1568. hand of a foreigner. But though Clark's authorisation, as far as it concerned the execution of Bothwell in Denmark, could not be carried into effect, yet in other respects it was not without fruit. It has already been stated, that when Bothwell was separated from his followers in Bergen, he was nevertheless allowed to take with him a few of his servants ; and in order to effect the prosecution of two of those who were held in Scot- land to have been accomplices in the murder of Darnley, the powers vested in Clark were extended so as also to embrace them.^ What the Scottish warrant aimed at . may here be given in his own words: — "I John Clark," so he wrote in Boskilde the 30th October 1568, "commander of the Scottish military detachments, acknowledge, by this my handwriting, to have received from the noble and distinguished gentleman, Master Peter Oxe of Gisselfeld, High Steward of Denmark, two men, namely, William Murray and the Frenchman, Paris, who are impeached as traitors and murderers of Henry King of Scots of blessed memory, which before-mentioned men I engage to produce before the judges of the Scottish realm, in order to have their case examined and themselves punished if they be guilty, and to have them set at liberty if ^ Dantes, concedentes et commit- de dicto crudeli murthiro delates tentes illi nostram plemim potesta- et convictos de manibus talium, tem speciale mandatum, expressum cum quibus presentialiter detenti prseceptum et onerationem, memo- sunt, recipiendi. — The Scottish ratum Jacobum dim comitem de authorisation for Captain Clark in Boithuile, Paridem Galium et alios the Danish Privy Archives. 358 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, they be acquitted, yet so as that they shall have the space of one month allowed them to summon 1567-8. witnesses or friends, if they have any, who can or may purge them of the charge which rests upon them ; and in order that this acknowledgment shall be firm and certain I have here willingly attested it with my family seal." ^ As the Wilham Murray mentioned above was also one of the men that, by the Act of the Scottish Parliament of 20th December 1567, were condemned as accomplices of Both well ;^ so there can be no doubt that in the Frenchman Paris we find here again the Nicolas Hubert called Paris, through whom the enemies of Mary were now enabled to produce those declarations, which, along with her alleged letters and sonnets, became so damaging to her while in hfe, .and also since her death in the controversy that has raged for nearly three hundred years round her memory, and that has found in them a chief ground for charging her with a share in Darnley's murder. A main point of contention in this controversy has been the question as to when Paris can be assumed to have come into the hands of the new government.^ But while this question is now solved by the document given ^ Note T, Appendix. older authors, Keith, Tytler, 2 The Acts of the Parliaments of Guthrie, Gilbert Stuart, imagined, Scotland, iii. 5. Compare Ander- as Whitaker remarks, but incor- son, Collections, iv. 152. rectly, Paris to have been detained 3 " When Paris was first seized in prison over two years, before by the rebels, does not appear," is his declarations were made ; his said by Whitaker ; and this point, stay in Denmark, on which light upon which he lays so much stress, is here thrown, having been alto- recurs again in the question : — gether unknown to him and them. " When then shall we seek for the Agnes Strickland {Lives of the time of seizing Paris ? We cannot Queens of Scotland, vi. 201) and find it in the seizure of so many Wiesener {Marie Stuart et le Comte others of the murderers in the de Bothwell, pp. 183, 483, 495) Shetland Isles." — Mary Queen of make him indeed first fall into the Scots Vindicated, i. 470, 471. The hands of Murray at a much later WHAT WAS DONE WITH PARIS. above, the dispute has taken another turn, for just as WiUiam Murray altogether disappears after having been surrendered to Clark, so it becomes a problem what was done with Paris during the long period which elapsed before his landing at Leith in the middle of June in the following year. That Paris did actually re-appear for the first time in Scotland at this date, the Earl of Murray is at all events himself a witness in the autumn of 1569. Elizabeth had then hastily sent the Earl a message requesting the postponement of the execution of Paris, and in the letter of excuse returned by him for not complying with her desire these words occur : — " As to that quhilk your Majestie writes of ane Paris, a Franchman, partaker with James sumetyme Earl Bothwel in the murther of the king my soverains fader, trew it is that the said Paris arrivit at Leyth about the middes of June last ; I at that time being in the north partes of this realme far distant."^ The Earl continues : — " Upon it fol- lowed that at my returning, efter diligent and cir- cumspect examination of him and lang tyme in that behaulf, upoun the xvi. day of August bypast he sufferit death by order of law, so that before the recept of your hieness letter be the space of 7 or time, but the date is already- assigned to January or February 1568. ^ Letter of the Earl of Murray from Stirling, 5th September 1569 ; Laing, History of Scotland, ii/269, 270. Hosack, who lays much weight upon the information given by me about the surrender of Paris by Denmark, and who has printed the document in reference to it that I had brought to light and communicated to him {Mary Stuart and her Accusers, Preface, p. vii. and pp. 245, 246), remarks, not without ground in regard to the above-cited words of Murray about the arrival of Paris at Leith : — " We are not informed why he was sent away from Edinburgh, where it was usual to bring poli- tical offenders to trial, and where all the other murderers of Darnley, without exception, had been tried and executed." JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. 8 days he wes execute. Otherwise your Majesties requisitioun towardis the deferring of his executioun by way of death suld have been maist willingly obeyed, bringand with it sa gude reason. But I trust his testimonie left sail be fund sa authentick as the credit thairof sail not seame doubtfull neyther to your hienes, neyther to thame quha be nature hes graitest cause to desire condigne punishment for the said murther." This behef that the testi- mony left behind by Paris must appear authentic to all was not, as is well known, afterwards realised. What still renders suspicious that famous testimony furnished by Paris on the 9th and 10th of August 1569, while imprisoned in Murray's castle at St. Andrews, is the fact that there had also been other declarations extorted from him. For the same day on which Paris was executed there followed him to death that Sir WilHam Stuart who two years before had been sent to Denmark as herald to demand the surrender of Bothwell, and against whom it was now expressly stated as a chief accusation, that he had taken part in a plot against the life of the Regent, the Earl of Murray.-^ What Bothwell felt on hearing of his latest ^ The Scottish Diary already so often referred to, which in more recent times was first brought to light, reports : — " Upoun the fyft day of August 1569, Williame Stewart, sumtyme lyoun king of Armes, being suspectit for airt and pairt of the conspirand of my lord regentis slauchter, and brocht to the castell of Edinburgh out of Dunbartane, and als Pareis frenche- man, being brocht out of Denmark, and ane of the slayaris of our sou- erane lordis fader, to the said castell of Edinburgh, wer baith tane owt of the said castell to Sanctandrois, thair to be puneist according to thair demerittis." — " Upoun the xvi. day of the said moneth, Williame Stewart being convictit for witcherie, wes brunt, and the said Pareis convictit for ane of the slayaris of the King, wes hangit in Sanctandrois." — Diurnal of B,&- markable Occurrents, p. 146. May not one assume perhaps that William Stuart during his stay in Denmark had by Bothwell, through Paris, been won over to such a plot i CAPTAIN CLARK FALLS INTO DISFAVOUR. 361 associates being carried away to the wretched doom chap. threatened against himself is not indeed expressly v^.^-— ' reported, but fortune quickly gave the Earl an 156^ opportunity of manifesting his disposition towards his countr3rman who had shown himself his bitterest persecutor, first in Scotland and then in Denmark, while engaged in the service of a foreign prince. After executing his commission as plenipotentiary for the Scottish Government, Clark remained in the mihtary service of the Danish King, and in the winter of 1569, as a mark of favour, his Scottish troops were granted quarters in Landskrone ;^ but in the autumn previous he drew down upon himself the King's unconquerable displeasure, because at the new siege of Yarbjerg, which cost the lives of Daniel E/antzau and Francis Brockenhuus, he took advan- tage of the King's embarrassment to demand a new contract in lieu of the one formerly agreed upon between them. He obtained what he asked, but it did not avail much ; the rupture was increased by the way in which the commissariat was then arranged, inasmuch as the commanders of the en- listed troops were obliged to furnish advances of money now for one thing now for another, and there might easily arise uncertainty regarding points that were not sufficiently treated of in the orders given. At the conclusion of the war, when the King dis- banded the greater part of the foreign soldiers, and Clark also came forward with his account, the King, ^ In the Danish Archives there pledge for proper behaviour to- is a Latin bond, signed in Copen- wards the inhabitants and tlie hagen the 16th of March 1569 by laws, and without any respect to Clark along with his lieutenant their pay that they shall again Andrew Armstrong, in which they leave the fortress free and in good render thanks " pro quo quidem preservation, regio erga nos favore," give a 362 JAMES HEPBUEN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, now learning what the amount was — seventeen thousand dollars — made assertions so extravagant 1570. about his outlay, that Clark, in spite of daily renewed petitions and entreaties, soon saw that he would not be paid. Accordingly, before the peace was settled at Stettin, he requested his discharge in order to leave the kingdom, at the same time imprudently letting it be known, that even if he could not get his pay in Denmark he would nevertheless, in other places and by other ways, seek to obtain his due. Just at this period, when he had fallen into dis- favour, and was seriously suspected of having an evil design against the King, Clark's own country- men provided weapons to be used to his dis- advantage. For it would appear that the party strife, which, on the death of Murray, again rent Scotland asunder, was at this time transplanted to her sons serving in Denmark, so that some of the Scottish captains in this country now denounced as traitors, not merely Captain Clark, but also Alexander Campbell, a relative of the Earl of Argyll, and Archibald Stuart, a relative of Lord Ochiltree.^ Captain Aikman declared that Alex- ander Campbell had been in the Swedish camp, and afterwards had negotiated with some of Aikman's men about passing over to Sweden, and that he had " Alter e nobilissima comitura Argathelise, alter item ex aeque nobili Domini de Uchiltre familia," it is said in the Earl of Lennox's letter to Frederick ii. dated Edin- burgh 18th July 1570, preserved in the Danish Archives. Of the accusers named in this letter Gawin EljDhinstone was he who in the year 1568 had brought over to Clark the power of plenipotentiary. Captains Walter Aikman and Eichard Skowgall are subsequently mentioned in the years 1571 and 1572 for their participation in the party war in Scotland, during which the last-named was mortally wounded at the siege of Merchis- ton. — A Diurnal of Kemarkable Occurrents, pp. 137, 238, 258, 262, 263, 294, 296, 297. CHARGES AGAINST CLARK. in vain, through his Heutenant, Thomas Robinson, called upon Captain Clark to imprison Campbell, and subject him to punishment. Gawin Elphinstone at the same time produced a copy of a letter which he asserted had formerly been conveyed by Clark to the Earl of Murray, and which must have given no less offence to the Danish Government. This letter had been sent to Murray on the news reaching Den- mark of the escape of Mary Stuart from the prison of Lochleven ; and in it Clark, after upbraiding the Earl of Miirray for allowing the Queen an oppor- tunity of flight — or, as the vehement Calvinist expresses it, that he had " given that unmerciful Jezebel too much liberty, and had not, according to the teaching of God's Word, given her to the dogs to devour her flesh and bones " — had presumed to add a peremptory order not to permit Axel Wiffert to bring more soldiers from Scotland to the ser- vice of Frederick ii. before it was agreed on the Danish side to surrender the imprisoned Bothwell, whom " they retained as a great and precious relic." ^ Captain Clark was summoned to appear for judicial examination at Copenhagen, which took place on the 16th of June in presence of Peter Oxe, John The words are taken from the Danish translation of Clark's letter to the Earl of Murray, which is preserved in the Privy Archives, along with a duplicate of the Latin original. In the original letter the words about Mary are : " Doleo autem vestra dementia adeo in- circumspecte tantam licentiam isti crudeli Jesabellse permisisse, et non potias secundum prsescriptum verbi Dei carnem ipsius et ossa canibus devoranda prsebuisse ; " about Bothwell : " Reputant enim eum tanquam reliquias preciosas, existimantque vos eum multo re- dempturos precio," Notice of this remarkable letter was immediately communicated to Sir William Drury at Berwick, who, on 14th June 1568, was able from it to tell Cecil, that Clark's demand had as its object that the Danish ambassador "should be stayed, until they heard further from him." — Calendar of State PajJers, Foreign Series, 1566-68, p. 500. 364 JAMES HEPBURN EAUL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Friis, Bjorn Andersen of Steenholt — then the King's commander of the Castle of Copenhagen — and many 1570. others both noble and of common rank. As it is expressly stated that the Scottish informers were known at an earlier period while in their native land as adherents of Bothwell/ so one is tempted to believe that it was the Earl who had from Malmoe first incited them to act, and had thus become the special cause of the imprisonment of these Scottish gentlemen. That Both well, at all events, immediately joined their accusers, is evident from a letter to Frederick ii., in which Peter Oxe and John Friis thus wrote to him on the 22d June 1570 from the Castle of Copenhagen : — " There came here also to us yesterday some of the Scottish captains, and gave us to understand that the Scottish Earl, who is imprisoned in Malmoe, has had his own messenger over here, and desires to tell us that he would convict Captain Clark of three rascally actions, the first of which he had done against your Royal Majesty, the second against the King of France, and the third against the King of Scotland ; and if he did not succeed in making good this charge, then would he be what he ought to be, all of which we could not help making your Royal Majesty aware of And it seems to us best, with your Royal Majesty's most gracious pleasure, that one or two of the Scottish captains be despatched to Malmoe, a step we do not wish to take before advising your ^ Walter Aiknian is characterised esse audio nonnullos regiae caedis in tile Earl of Lennox's letter of ministros," in his letter to 18th July 1570 as " notse in Gallia Frederick ii., dated Copenhagen, rapacitatis et doini omnium scele- 19th March 1571, preserved in rum comitis Bothuellii admini- the Danish Privy Archives, and ster." Thomas Buchanan also first printed by Bergenhammer, speaks of " delatoribus illis quos, p. 355. BOTHWELL's accusation against CLARK. 365 Majesty of it, in order that they may on the spot chap. make inquiry, by means of which the Earl, who is w-^^ a prisoner, might convict Captain Clark of such 1570. treachery." ^ In his reply the King gave his consent, and desired them " to send some of the Scottish with some of the German captains to Malmoe to the Earl, who is prisoner there, and learn by inquiry of him what accusation he can bring against Captain Clark. ''^ Scottish letter-writers and journalists, in the year 1567, remarked the zeal with which the soldier de- spatched by Frederick ii., as above-mentioned, threw himself, during the rebellion against Mary and Both- well, into the conflict with all the forces he could command ; but this was, as yet, altogether unknown to the Government in Denmark. After Bothwell's ex- planation of the events which attended or followed the catastrophe on Carberry Hill, it became possible to add to the two other heads of complaint against Clark the following as a third : — " That he has used the soldiers of your Royal Majesty in your . Majesty's employment against the Queen of Scot- land." A court-martial to judge in the matter met in the Castle of Copenhagen on the 28 th of June, consisting of the German captains, Jacob Wins, Jiirgen von Schweinitz, Jtirgen von Minden, and Edward Meffen ; and of the Scottish cap- tains, Alexander Durham, Richard Skowgall, and ^ Letter of Peter Oxe and John comparison with the letter of the Friis to Frederick ii., " Schretfuit Earl of Lennox of 18th July 1570. paa E, M. s. Siott Kjobnehafth The letter is printed in Ryge, thennd 22 dag Junij aar 1570," Peder Oxes Liv og Levnets Beskri- in the Danish Archives. That in velsey Copenhagen, 1765, 4to, this letter, instead of " Alexander pp. 248-9. Cawall" we ought to read " Alex- ^ The rough draft of the King's auder Campbell," and instead of answer preserved in the Danish " Captain Egmund,'' " Captain Privy Archives is dated from Aikman," seems evident from a Frederiksburg, 24th June, A. 70. 3G6 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. Lorenzo Cagnioli, of whom the last named was undoubtedly a brother or relative of David Riccio's 1570. Itahan countryman Timotheo Cagnioli, Mary's banker in Scotland.-^ The court desired at the out- set, until Clark had made explanations about the heads of complaint, to restrict itself to the first, or his conduct towards Alexander Campbell. With respect to this the seven captains gave, as reported to the King, a verdict, in which they " have unani- mously seen it right, and advise that we should take strict security from him so that he do not escape, since he has been so unfaithful to his oath and knew the traitor to your Majesty wdthout wishing to punish him." In the letter in which Peter Oxe and John Friis reported to the King from Copenhagen the issue of the trial, they also add : " And we still keep him here in the castle until he provide proper security for himself, which we verily believe he will hardly be able to get."^ And in vain did Clark then and afterwards emit a detailed statement in which he sought to excuse his conduct as complained of under the different heads that had at his desire been communicated to him in writing.^ The King, ^ The document drawn up in just as Timotheo Cagnioli was. German, and attested by the seals Lorenzo Cagnioli is found men- of the seven captains, in which tioned as being still present in they declare their verdict, is Scotland in the year 1567 in a " gegeben zu Coppenhagen Mit- letter of Joseph Riccio to Joseph wochens post Johannis Baptistse Lutyni. — Tytler, History of Scot- A°. 70" {i.e. the 28th of June 1570), land, vii. 367. and is contained in the Danish ^ Letter of Peter Oxe and John Privy Archives. An Alexander Friis to Frederick ii., " SchrifFuit. Durham, who was in the service of pa a Eders May. S. slott Kiobne- Darnley, had, after the death of haffn thend 28 dag Junij, aar the latter, got a pension from Mary, 1570," preserved in the Danish and on this account had been a Archives. This letter is printed in long time imprisoned (Laing, His- Pyge, Peder Oxes Liv og Levnets tory of Scotland, ii. 49 ; Diurnal Beskrtvelse, pp. 249-250. of EemarJcable Occurrents, p, 121), ^ Note U, Appendix. DEATH OF THE EARL OF MURRAY. who, at the close of the seven years' war, had come to regard the Scottish soldiers with strange dislike,^ raised latterly so many difficulties every time the Scottish Government or Ehzabeth wished to be surety for Clark, that this enemy of Bothwell had to die a prisoner in Denmark. The French minister in Denmark, Charles Dan- cay, remarks in one instance that he had learned that the Earl of Murray, who, after permitting Frederick ii. to draw thousands of Scots from the country to serve in his army, before his death ex- pressed himself highly offended at the manner in which nevertheless he had seen all his demands about Bothwell disregarded by the King.^ On the 23d of January 1570, Murray, while riding through Linhth- gow, the birthplace of Mary, was shot in open day from the house of one of the adherents of the exiled Queen, James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, and it was not until after a bloody fight, and only by the support of Ehzabeth, that the Earl of Lennox was enabled to succeed him as Regent. As the Scots, who, at the close of the seven years' war had returned about this period, not only disclosed the ^ " Mais il a ^te d'une fort grand rigueur enuers les Ecossais," writes Dancay on the 2d April 1571 from Copenhagen to King Charles ix., adding : " Combien que durant ceste guerre ilz ayent tres bien fait leur debuoir, neantmoins le Roy de Dannemarck leur est meruelleuse- ment ennemy." The French mini- ster mentions that the King has forbidden the remainder of the Scottish riflemen, who were then in Jutland, but perishing with hun- ger, to come over to Zealand with- out a pass, that three hundred of them had endeavoured to leave the country for Germany, and that " les aultres esperant trouer nauires au port de Helseigneur pour retourner en Ecosse passerent a pied quatre grand lieues de mer sur la glace ou plusieurs d'eux se perdirent." The letter is contained in the collected copy of Dancay's letters in the Danish Archives. 2 J'ay bien entendu que ledict feu Regent d'^lcosse se sentoit grandeiiient o£Fens^ de ce que le Roy de Dannemarck ne s'y com- portoit aultrement. — Letter of Dan- cay to Charles ix., dated 10th June 1570, in Danish Archives. JAMES HEPBURN EAKL OF BOTHWELL. secret of Clark's imprisonment in Denmark, but also put in circulation a report of Bothwell's having been set at liberty/ Lennox, as the father of the mur- dered Darnley, consequently felt himself still more pressingly called on than his predecessor to apply again to the Danish King. Elizabeth was not less willing to support him than she was Murray on former occasions by her representations to Frederick 11.,^ and, in the name of both, an ambassador was accordingly sent to Frederick upon whose prudence, eloquence, and high character the utmost reliance was placed. Resen is however altogether mistaken when he speaks of this envoy as follows : " The Queen of England and the King of Scotland have caused the King to be visited by a distinguished ambassador, the famous Mr. George Buchanan, the former King's private tutor and historian of the Scottish kingdom,"^ and this mistake has not been rectified by others, since of two authors who have more recently treated of Bothwell's imprisonment, the one, omitting the Christian name, confines him- self to making the Scottish Government " send the well-known historian, Buchanan, King James's tutor. ^ "Verum quum nuper prseter omnium expectationem audiamus, eum non modo carcere liberatum, sed in bonorura etiam perniciem incumbere, et accusatoribus etiam poenas, quas ipse meriius erat, minari," it is said in a letter of the Earl of Lennox to Frederick ii., written in the name of James vi., and dated from Stirling 26 August 1570. — The Danish Archives. ^ Compare letter of Elizabeth to Frederick ii., printed for the first time by Laing in History of Scot- land, ii. 304, 305- Clark received in the letter this recommendation : " Intelligat igitur Vestra Serenitas Joannem Clerk prseclare hie in Anglia, nobis nostrisque diu esse notum, nec vero quicquam unquam in ejus moribus pravum aut fucat- um vidisse quemquam, contraque potius ea hominem virtue, fide, integritate cognovimus atque audi- vimus, ut nuUa ratione nos dubi- temus, quin ab audacissimo homine Bodovellio comite, haec innocenti crimina afficta sint." ^ Eesen, Kong Fredericks den Andens Kronike, p. 261. THOMAS BUCHANAN. 369 as ambassador to Denmark,"^ the other names the chap XI ambassador " The historian Thomas Buchanan."^ ^^r— The truth of the matter is in reality this, that Scot- 1570. land's famous historian is imdoubtedly named George Buchanan, but it was by no means he who, in the year 1570, arrived in Denmark as ambassador,^ this being, on the contrary, a relative of his, Thomas Buchanan, a man also highly distinguished in the times of the Scottish Beformation.'* Thomas Buchanan arrived in Copenhagen in the autumn of 1570, but in spite of repeated demands he firmly re- fused, during the absence of Frederick ii. , to deliver the letters he had brought with him from his Government and from EHzabeth.^ At length, on the return of the King, he was admitted to his pre- sence in the castle of Copenhagen, where, on the 14th December 1570, in an elegant Latin oration, he fully explained the object of his mission. In a skilful representation he ascribed the murder of the late Begent, the Earl of Murray, no less than that ^ T. Becker, Adelersborg, in Equitis Dani,Astronomorum Cory- Danish Folkehalender. Tredie phcei Vita. Parisiis, 1654, 4to, p. Aargang, p. 53. 123. 2 Worsaae.jBoi/i.'weZrs Gh-av iFaa- ± -d- ^„v,;^oi v,^+;^«„ rru^^oc We (lUustreret Trdende), BJchanf^KepW^f tleX" rru ' f • -u- - -I 4. torian, are communicated by David The confusion, which IS also to t - • td j- ^^l o -i be met with el.^here (We.ene. ^/^^^'^r^Jl^lf.: fZt^ 1 ' ' J V. ^ provost of KirkhiU, and died on has perhaps been occasioned by a ^, g,, . . ' portrait of George Buchanan which ^^^^ ^P"^'^ hung alongside of those of Coper- ^ German account by the royal nicus and other celebrated men in secretary, EliasEysenberg, of his ne- the Museum of Uranienburg. But gotiations with Thomas Buchanan, this portrait was only a gift from dated " Kopenhagen, the 26th Nov. one of the Scottish ambassadors, 1570," and the letter of Buchanan who, at a later period, was sent to to the King about the same affair, Denmark, Sir Peter Young, or " a Dat. Hafnise, M. Vestrae, 30 No- Petro Junio," as the name is given uemb. die, anno 1570, both in the by Gassendi in his Tychonis Bmhei, Danish Archives, 2 A 370 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, of Darnley, to one and the same party, and demanded w-Y-^ ^^^^ Bothwell, as its chief head, should be punished 1571. or surrendered.^ By this oration, a written copy of which he afterwards furnished by request, having paved the way for his mission, the Scottish ambas- sador subsequently endeavoured by another narra- tive to make sure of the Danish Government's com- pliance. As at this period Mary had the hope, or more correctly, was under the delusion, a delusion fostered by the ruling party in Scotland and Eliza- beth, of again being restored as Queen to her king- dom, Buchanan knew how, in accordance with this delusion, sharply to distinguish between Mary, who " altogether blindly" had been hurled into misery, and her seducer, whose sudden attack upon the Queen's person could now be no longer hidden from the Danish Government. " That abominable traitor," Buchanan urged, " will never be able to deny that he has openly practised violence towards Scotland's exalted Queen, and by force dragged her away to the strongest fortress intrusted to him in the kingdom," an inexpiable infamy in Buchanan's judgment, " as that honourable and mighty princess, endowed with God's greatest gifts, and for her distinguished vir- tues and rare excellencies of mind and body to be reckoned among the chiefest princes for centuries. ^ Sed acie victi simile parricidium commiserunt, comiteMoravioe,bonse memorise, Regis avunculo et regni ejus regente interfeeto, quale antea commiserunt in Rege trucidando. This "Oratio Mag^^ et Gensi yiri Thomse Buchanani Legati ac Ora- toris Scotici coram ipsa Serenissa Regia M^e amplissimisque regni Senatoribus habita Hafniae die 14 Decembris, die vero 16 hoc scripto exhibita, anno 1570," is found, as well as the answer by the Danish Government of the 9th March 1571, and the later Representation of the 19th March 1571, by Thomas Buchanan, in the Privy Archives of Denmark, from which these documents have for the first time been printed by Bergenhammer, pp. 333-359. A PROSPECT OF BOTHWELL's SURRENDER. 371 would never have fallen, if those qualities had not been debauched and destroyed by that monster in v — nature, through his spells, love-potions, enchant- ^^^i- ments, sorceries, and other evil arts."^ Buchanan, before leaving Copenhagen, had by such means so far succeeded, that there was a greater disposition shown to meet the wishes of the Scottish Govern- ment than ever. For though again reminded of Bothwell's earlier acquittal by the Scots themselves, and though reiterated reference continued to be made to their former ofPer to let the charge against the Earl be prosecuted before the Courts in Den- mark, yet a prospect was now given them of being able to secure at last the required surrender of Both- well, provided that the Queen of England and the Scottish Government would, before the approaching Bartholomew's Day, or the 24th of August 1571, hand to the Danish King their sureties that Both- well's case would be tried and decided according to all the rules of justice and equity, that his surrender would never be urged to the injury of the King or his successors in the kingdom of Denmark and Nor- way, and finally that the Queen of England and the King of Scotland would, in future occurrences of the kind, bind themselves to reciprocity towards the Dano-Norwegian Government.^ On the return of ^ Scelus meo judicio inexpiable ; malis artibus, corruptae subversae- nam princeps ilia illustrissima po- que non essent. — Representation of tentissimaque, summis Dei donis Thomas Buchanan, "Dat. Hafnice ornata, meritoque inter prsecipuos Majestatis Vestrae. 19 mensis multorum seculorum principes ob Martii, anno Domini 1571."— The ipsius singulares virtutes rarissi- Danish Archives, masque tum corporis tum animi De quo Regia ipsius Majestas dotes numeranda [numquam pec- ante diem Bartholomsei currentis casset], si hge ab isto naturae mon- anni certam declarationem exspec- stro, fascinationibus, filtris, incanta- tabit, ac re ipsa praestabit, ut expe- tionibus ac veneficiis ceterisque riantur Serenitates ipsorum earn JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. Thomas Buchanan to Scotland, Bothwell's fate thus seemed settled. Again, however, the hand was stretched out from a distance that had once already saved him. Charles ix. had not only been made aware by his minister in Denmark, Charles Dancay, of the approaching surrender of Bothwell on St. Bartholomew's Day,^ but the French minister in England, La Motte Fenelon, also reported to him that the Begent, the Earl of Lennox, had stated that the King of Denmark had at last fixed upon this particular period for fulfilling his wish, and that even Dancay in Denmark was said to agree to it. " Therefore," wrote the French minister in England, "the friends of Scotland's Queen humbly implore your Majesty that you will never permit any such thing, but as speedily as possible will prevent it, since the return of Bothwell will entirely destroy the good order which you have begun to establish in that kingdom, and he himself will only be brought completely to ruin the affairs and reputation of this poor princess."^ "I am again," thus writes the same minister some days later, " earnestly requested to entreat your Majesty by all means to hinder the return of the Earl of Bothwell ; for it is admitted that nothing in the world would become a greater mutas et auctse conjunctionis, cum ipsis et florentissimis Anglise et Scotife re^s, augendse et dila- tandse cupidissimam esse. — Reply of the Danish Government of 9th March 1571, in Privy Archives. ^ Dancay's Report to the King about Thomas Buchanan's mission, dated " de Copenhaguen ce ij® Auril 1571," in the Danish Archives. 2 Dont les amys de la Royne d'Escosesupplient tres humblement Vostre Majesty de ne vouloir per- mettre telle chose, ains de la reme- dier, le plus promptement que faire se pourra, de tant que le retour du diet Boudouel viendroit traverser tout le bon ordre qu'avez com- manc6 de donner aulx choses du diet royaulme, et luy mesmes seroit conduict icy pour achever de ruyner les aflfaires et la r(^putation de ceste pauvre princesse. — Letter of 20th June 1571 ; Correspondance diplo- matique de la Motte Fenelon^ iv. 147. LIBERTY ENJOYED BY HIM IN MALMOE. 373 scandal to the reputation of this poor princess, or a chap. greater confusion to her affairs, and to your own interests in this quarter."^ Dancay received in i^^^^. Denmark new and decisive orders from his King to prevent Bothwell's surrender, and he knew how to enforce them.^ The storm impending over Both- welFs head again passed away. From the statements made above, and especially from the mode in which Both well assisted in effect- ing the ruin of Clark, it will be evident that the Earl was allowed no small liberty in Malmoe. An evidence of this liberty is found in a letter written in Copenhagen, 12th May 1569, and sent to Cecil by an Englishman, Peter Adrian, a native of the town of Bye, in Sussex, who was then serving as captain on board one of the Danish fleet. The writer explains that before Clark effected the surrender of Paris and William Murray, the last named, who was once the Queen of Scotland's chamberlain,"^ resided in Copenhagen in a merchant's house in which ^ Je suys de rechef fort instant- ment sollicite de supplier Vostre Majeste d'empescher en toutes sortes le retour du Comte de Bou- douel, car I'on estime que nul plus grand escandalle a la reputation de ceste pauvre princesse, ny nul plus grand destorbier a ses affaires et a ceulx de vostre service par deqa, ne sgauroit venir de nulle aultre chose qu'on peult praticquer au monde. — Letter of 24th June 1571; Corresponclance diplomatique de la Motte Fenelon, iv. 152. ^ Letters of Dancay to King Charles ix., dated respectively Copenhagen, 15th July and 1st September 1571, and the corre- sponding letters of the same dates to Catherine de Medici, in the Danish Archives. In the letter of Dancay to the King of 1st Septem- ber 1571, he however allows him- self this remark with respect to Mary's interest : — " Aussi tous ceux qui sont venuz en Danemarc pour poursuyvre ledict conte I'ont toujours excus^e et rejects toute la culpe sur ledict conte comme seul autheur et cause des calamitez ad- venues en Escose, tellement qu'il semble s'il estoit mort que la cause de ladicte Eoyne serait d'autant plus facile et plus fauorisee d'un chascun." ^ Letter of Peter Adrian to Cecil, dated Copenhagen, 16th May 1569. — Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1569-71, p. 70. 374 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Adrian himself also resided, and where the latter, at K^^^^!^ the instigation of Clark, expressed so great an interest 1569. about the Earl of Bothwell, and pretended so much sympathy for his fate, that Murray was induced to write to the Earl in Malmoe regarding the friendly disposed Enghshman he had met with, and that in consequence of this Bothwell himself wrote to the effect that Adrian should come along with him to Malmoe. Accordingly Adrian visited the Earl, and " remained with him four days, and lacked no cheer. Bothwell, who all the time spoke with great freedom about his proceedings — freeing himself from any direct share in Darnley's murder, yet not denying that it was committed with his approval as well as with theirs who now made him so black, but who, should he once be at liberty, would be shown to be far blacker than he^ — requested Adrian to repair to France with letters from him to Charles ix., Catherine de Medici, the Cardinal of Lorraine, a Scottish bishop (undoubtedly the Archbishop of Glasgow), and Monsieur de Martigues, adding that if he himself only succeeded by the help of France in getting out of Denmark, and had some French troops with him, he would land at Dumbarton and tread down all Mary's and his own enemies. According to the assertion of the writer, Bothwell was on the eve of penning the above-mentioned letters which Adrian had promised to Clark to transmit to Cecil, but the Earl had given up his intention of doing so, owing to tidings having come that a new breach had occurred between England and France — or more ^ Calendar of State Papers, he denies, but denies not that it Foreign Series, p. 71. was with his consent. — Ibid. p. ^ " That he murdered the King 72. MARY SENDS TIDINGS TO HIM IN DENMARK. 375 likely, as we venture to suppose, because in the chap. meanwhile it came to be suspected that he had to do with an Enghsh spy. i568. To the conclusion, that for a length of time Both well was not put in confinement for any auda- cious transaction, we are further led by taking into account his relations during this period with Mary Stuart. While the Queen, at the beginning of her imprisonment in Lochleven, had in vain tried to write to Bothwell before his arrival in Norway and Den- mark,^ she was able, a few hours after her eventful escape on the 2d May 1568 from the mansion of Lord George Seton at Niddrie, to intrust a message to one of the Earl's friends, Alexander Hepburn of E-iccarton, who, in her name, was to endeavour to take possession of Dunbar, and after that to carry tidings from her to Bothwell in Denmark.^ When, after the loss of the battle of Langside and her flight into England, Mary expressly declared herself wilHng to be separated in a legal manner from Bothwell,'"^ and it became a main object with the adherents of her cause, both in England and Scotland, to bring about her marriage with Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk, afterwards beheaded by ^ She is said, while in Lochleven, from Mary's English prison at according to the report of Sir Bolton, 21st October 1568, she Robert Melvil, that, when the thus writes : — " Item, in cais ony latter, at one of his visits, talked thing beis proponit concerning the with her in private, and had refused marriage of the erle BothweU, and to undertake the care of a letter unlauchfulnes thairof, ze sail for Bothwell, to have thrown it answer that we are content that into the fire. — Tytler, History of the lawis be usit for separatioun Scotland, vii. 135. thairof, sa far as the samin will 2 Tytler, History of Scotland, permit. Item, anent the punisch- vii. 175, 177. ment of the slauchter of my laitt ^ In an authorisation for the husband, the executouris thairof to Bishop of Ross, Lord Herries, and be punisht according to law and the Prior of Kilwinning, dated ressoun." — Labanoff, ii. 221. 376 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP. Elizabeth, we find her friends carrying on negotia- ^^^y^ tions about the matter with Bothwell in Malmoe. 1569. It is certain that Bothwell in the year 1569 there drew up an authorisation for Lord Robert Boyd, one of Mary s representatives at the Conference in England, in which he expressed himself willing to have his marriage with the Queen annulled.^ It is likewise certain that the failure of Lord Boyd's mission, although he made his appearance in Scot- land with the authority of both the Queen and the Earl, was entirely the result of the opposition of the Presbyterians, as Murray and a portion of the Scottish nobles whom the Begent had summoned to meet in a convent at Perth on the 25th July 1569, answered the Queen's proposal with the declaration that they would never agree to her separation from Bothwell.^ Accordingly William Maitland, whohad passed over to her side, could speak with biting scorn of the conduct of these same opponents, in formerly setting forth Mary's union to Bothwell as the ground of her deposition, and in now striving with no less zeal to maintain it.^ Perhaps one of the reports which Buchanan sent home during his stay in Copenhagen, shows in the clearest manner that Bothwell's residence in Malmoe had hitherto been what one ^ This authorisation from Both- well was subsequently pre&erved by the descendants of Lord Boyd among the family papers, and is mentioned as still extant in the year 1746 (Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 242). It is to be wished that one or other of the Scottish investigators may be able to bring it to light again. 2 At the quhilk day it is said that it wes decreitit [be the] coun- sale, that ane honourable man should pas to the queue and coun- sale of Ingland with ane wreitting, declaring that my lord regent nor his counsale wald nather consent that the quenis grace of Scotland sould be separated fra the said erle Bothwile, nor zit that sho sould marie agane, nor wald ressaue hir auctoritie, realme nor honour, — Diurnal of Eemarkahle Occurrents, p. 145. ^ Tytler, History of Scotland, vii. 235. OTHER EVIDENCES OF HIS LIBERTY IN MALMOE. previously described as "an honourable imprison- ment/'^ In a letter to William Cecil, Buchanan called attention to the fact that, as he had got reasons from men of high standing for supposing that the Earl, when in Malmoe, had received letters from Mary, so Both well also kept up a constant cor- respondence with the Queen when she was a prisoner in England. So much was this the case, that there was now occasion to keep a watchful eye upon a certain Horsey, who had recently been sent off " pairthe be Both well and also be the cheifest of this land," to investigate the course of affairs both in England and Scotland, and that finally, Hkewise, one of Both well's pages had two months before been sent by him as a messenger to Mary, " which page is a Danish borne, zit not easilie to be knowin by a Scott be reasone he speketh perfyet Scottes."^ Buchanan therefore requested Cecil to take steps so that these persons might not be able to reach Mary, but might be seized and punished. It is also in perfect agreement with this liberty allowed to Bothwell in Malmoe, that Frederick ii. not only assisted him while there with money, but also took care that he should be able to make his appearance in velvet and silk clothes according to his rank.^ ^ Resen, Kong Fredericks den Andens Kronihe, p. 229. 2 Letter of Thomas Buchanan to Cecil, dated Copenhagen, 19th January 1571 ; Ellis, ia^fer Years of James Hepburn, p. 13. ^ In the settlement of accounts by the king, "with our beloved Olulf Bagger, citizen in our market- town of Odense," it is said that the latter has "jointly supplied our beloved Bjoern Kaasz, our man, councillor, and officer in our Castle of Malmoe, according to his ex- cellency our High Steward's orders, English velvet and silk-stuflF for Ixxv dall, vj B, which we have conveyed for clothes to the Scottish Earl who is detained a prisoner in the same place." — From the draught of a settlement of accounts, dated " Hafnie, 2 Martii anno 69," in the Danish Archives. Sketches of Oluf Bagger, famous for his com- mercial activity and great building undertakings, are given by J. 378 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. ^HAP. Jt was in the year 1573 that there occurred for w-Y-^ ^^^^ fi^s^ time a radical change in the treatment 1573. which Bothwell previously experienced in Den- mark. The moving causes which led to it we have not been able to ascertain. It is possible that Buchanan, while seeking to place the early history of the Earl in a new light, may have prepared the way for the change by weakening his reputation with Frederick ;^ but as for other causes, it is pro- bable that unless the change was called forth by some alteration in Bothwell's personal affairs, we must seek for an explanation of it in the circum- stances of other countries. Perhaps we may see in it one of the consequences of the French St. Bartho- lomew's night in the year 1572 ; that massacre in which five hundred Protestant nobles and ten thousand persons of lower rank were sacrificed, which destroyed in all Protestant countries the respect for the king who, from the windows of his own palace, made himself a spectator to the murder of his subjects, which called forth curses upon the name of the Guises, and everywhere lessened sym- pathy with the fortunes of Mary Stuart. Perhaps also the result of the party strife in Scotland may have decided the change. Although the Earl of Lennox had been surprised at Stirling on the 4th September 1571 by a party of the Queen's adherents, led by the Earl of Huntly and Lord Claude Hamilton, and shot by Captain Calder, yet the Trtitzschler Hanck, Kong Frederik II. og Oluf Bagger,Odense 1837, by Vedel Simonsen, Bidrag til Odense Byes celdre Historie. Odense, 1842-44, iii. 72-143 ; and by 0. T. Engelstoft, Odense Byes Historie. Odense, 1862, pp. 131, 147-152. 1 " This ambassage was not with- out fruit, and put Bothwell out of all credit," writes Spottiswood, History of the Church of Scotland^ p. 243. WHY HE WAS COMMITTED TO CLOSER CONFINEMENT. 379 enterprise came to nothing, and the third R-egent, the Earl of Mar, having hkewise died on the 28th October 1572, not without suspicion of being 1^73. poisoned, the Earl of Morton at length undertook the government of Scotland in the name of James VI., who was still in his minority. Supported by Elizabeth, Morton succeeded in finally breaking the power of the small party that still continued to bear arms in the name of Mary, and at whose head William Maitland and Kirkaldy of Grange sought through many years to atone for the guilt of having so largely contributed to the Queen's fall. Thomas Buchanan, during his stay in Copenhagen, learned that a main reason why Bothwell was not sur- rendered by Denmark was to be found in the atten- tion with which the Danes followed party strife in his country, but this strife was at last at an end, after the Earl of Morton, supported by an Enghsh detachment under Sir William Drury, was able on the 25th April 1573 to begin the siege of Edin- burgh Castle, and the brave garrison of which, or the so-called " Castilians," were forced on the 20th May following to surrender at discretion. Whether in this or in other events the moving causes for the severer treatment to which Bothwell was now sub- jected are to be sought for, the fact of the change itself is at all events undoubted. " The King of Denmark," so concludes Dancay, on the 28 th June 1573, a letter from Copenhagen to Charles ix., " has hitherto treated the Earl of Bothwell very- well, but a few days ago he put him m a much worse and closer prison."^ Where this prison lay ^ Le Eoy de Dannemark auoit tenu le Conte de Baudouel. Mais jusques a present assez bien entre- depuis peu de jours il I'a faict 380 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, Dancay in this letter does not state, but perhaps V he may have disclosed its name in one of his letters 593-1603. of the year immediately following, which are now lost. It is at all events a countryman of his own, the celebrated French historian, James Augustus de Thou, who from his vast erudition for the first time gave publicity to the name of the prison in the far North where Bothwell is said to have ended his days. From his earliest youth De Thou had set before him as his life's work to continue Paolo Giovio's Historiarum sui Temporis Lihri xlv. To the execution of this task he had directed all his studies, all his travels. After collecting materials for the 138 volumes of the work, he began in October 1593 to write it, and the 38th volume, in which he touches on Bothwell's history, was pro- bably written a long time before the year 1603.^ He names in this volume the old Dragsholm as the castle in Zealand to whose more rigorous prison Bothwell was transferred from Scania.^ It was latterly called Adelsborg. This name first origin- mettre en un fort mauluaise et estroite prison. — Letter of Dancay to Charles ix., dated Copenhagen, 28th June 1573, in the Danish Privy Archives. 1 Diintzer, Jacques August de Thous Lehen, Schriften und His- torische Kunst verglichen mit der der Alien, Darmstadt, 1837, p. 56. 2 In arctissima vincula Drach- holmii trusus est. — Jac. Aug. Thuani, Historiarum sui Temporis, Opera, OfFenbachi, 1609, fol. p. 804. It is remarkable that the authorities whence De Thou drew his information have also made him aware of the fact, that Both- well after his flight from Scotland had been "accusatus ab amicis cujusdam nobilis virgin is Norve- gic£e, quam ante plures annos pacto matrimonio violatam, alia super- inducta deseruerat." Yet Mignet, Labanoff, and Teulet, who make Bothwell, so long as he lived, remain in Malmoe, have over- looked this passage in De Thou, which, by the fuller knowledge of the relations in the North it fur- nishes, forms a pendant to his sketch of the expedition against the inhabitants of Ditmarsh in the year 1559. — De Thou, Bericht von den Vorf alien in Ditmarsen. Mit einem Vor-und Nachwort begleitet von E. C. Kruse, in Kieler Blatter, Kiel, 1815-19, iv. 212-35, 407-26. SENT TO DRAGSHOLM. 381 ated from the time when Dragsholm, after being escheated to the Crown, devolved to the family of the famous Cort Adeler. Here, according to a con- temporary Danish account,^ the prison doors were for the first time closed upon Both well on the 16th of June 1573. 1 " Anno 1573. Bleff den skot- iske GrefFue indseth paa Drags- holm," so states a note to "Der xvi. Tag Junii " in one of Paul Eber's Calendars which is now con- tained in the library of Karen Brahe in Odense {Calendarivm Historicum von dem ehrwurdigen Herrn Paulo Ehero, von seinen Sonen verdeutschet, Witteberg, 4to, p. 232). Only a part of the written notes, which are added to this copy of the Eherskian Calendar, has formerly been printed from a transcript of them which belonged to Christen Testrup (in Magazin til den dansJce Adels Historie. Udgivet af det kongelige danske Selskab for Fsedrelandets Historie og Sprog, Kjobenhavn, 1824, i. 93-120), but they are now com- municated from the original in a more complete form under the title of " Eiler Brockenhuus''His- toriske Kalendaroptegnelser for 16^® Aarhundrede, Udgivne af Joh. Grundtvig, Kjobenhavn, 1873." The most of the notes were written by Eiler Brockenhuus of Damsbo and NakkeboUe, who died in the year 1602, and who during his life owned the Calendar, and this re- mark also holds good of the notes about the state prisoners in Drags - holm. 1573. CHAPTER XIL The changeful life whose early days were patssed on " Both well Bank" beside the brown Clyde, or in Spynie Castle with the Bishop of Moray, was brought to as lonely and unnoticed a close behind the prison walls of Dragsholm. Here tradition still points out, in the part of the prison called Bothwell's cell, two iron bars in the wall to which the Earl's fetters are said to have been so fastened that he could move round with them.^ An historical critic has, however, repeatedly shown of late how such traditions first arose at a period too recent for any one fully to believe the unauthenticated report. Yet it may be added that one in another country relates " that the King of Denmark caused cast him in a lothsome prisone, where none had access unto him, but onlie those who carried him such scurvie meat and drink as was allowed, which was given in at a little window."^ ^ Prospekter af danske Herre- that Bothwell in Dragsholm "never- gaarde. Udgivne af Fr. Richardt theless got permission to go a og T. Becker. Tredie Binds tredie hunting." og fjerde Hefte. Kjobenhavn, 1847, It must only be a mistake which ^ Historical Memoirs of the has led T. Becker elsewhere (in his Reign of Mary Queen of Scots, and sketch of Adelersborg in Folke- of a Portion of the Reign of King kalender for Denmark. Tredie James the Sixth, by Lord Herries, Aargand, p. 53) incorrectly to state p. 96. RUMOUR OF BOTHWELL'S DEATH. 383 1575. After Bothwell was incarcerated in Dragsholm he soon ceased to be known to the world. But seldom some brief intelHgence about his latter days found its way out, and, when not contradicted at the time, passed into a wider circle. In the year 1575 the rumour got abroad that he was dead. Com- munications from Denmark in the spring brought to Scotland a story to this effect, and by the close of the year a corresponding report was received in France. In Scotland, however, it was not long before this news was again contradicted, the Earl of Morton having at midsummer written to Peter Oxe forcibly reminding him of his still unfulfilled promise regarding Bothwell, made to Thomas Buchanan.^ What is said to have given rise to the foregoing incorrect intelligence is hinted at in a passage in the journal of William Cecil. Among 1 Letter of the Earl of Morton to Peter Oxe, dated Edinburgh 26th June 1575, in the Danish Archives. Morton's letter, which he requested to be answered as speedily as possible (" quam celer- rime first arrived in Copenhagen on the 29th of September, and on the 24th of October, Peter Oxe died at Fredericksburg. In the account from Copenhagen, in which Dancay, on the 24th November, announces to King Charles ix. that the kingdom of Denmark had lost its famous High Steward, these words subsequently occur : " Le Comte de Baudouel ecossais est aussi d^ced^. Le Roi d'Escosse aussi derechef a envoy^ devers le Roy de Dannemarck pour en faire punition digne de ses faits" {Nya Handlingar rorande Skandi- naviens Historia, i. 116). The connection in which the requisition of the Scottish Government makes its appearance with the early report of Bothwell's death has led Repp to explain the latter as an expedient, by means of which the Danish Government might possibly get free of further importunity in the matter. Repp remarks : " It seems that the Danish authorities, wearied by the Scottish and Eng- lish demands on the one side, and the French entreaties on the other, willingly permitted the report to be spread abroad that Bothwell died in 1575 ; this would put an end to a course of diplomacy which was beginning to run unsmoothly." The remark is contained in the abstract of the above-mentioned manuscript of Repp which, before its transference to Captain Marryat, was communicated by Ellis {The Traveller's Handbook to Copen- hagen and its Environs. By Anglicanus. Copenhagen and Lon- don, 1853, p. 182 ; Latter Years of James Hepburn Earl of Both- well, p. 4). 384 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, other notes of this usually well-informed statesman v_^J_. we find under date 1575 the following passage : — 1571-5. " There came news out of Denmark, that the Erie Botheville and Captain Clarke were ded in prison ; howbeit, since that, the death of Captain Clarke is confirmed, and that Botheville is but great swollen, and not ded." ^ Such a mistake as that which is mentioned here by Wilham Cecil would more easily receive credence from the fact that the walls behind which Bothwell had to spend the last years of his life were the same within which his countryman and foe was also confined. John Clark, after his condemnation in the Castle of Copenhagen, had been conveyed in the year 1571 to Dragsholm, and thus the two Scotsmen who had stood face to face with sword in hand on Carberry Hill were destined to end their days as prisoners under the same roof. In vain the Earl of Lennox, who, during the party conflict in Scotland, wished to avail himself of Clark's military skill, sought to ascribe to him a privileged character as Scottish ambassador in Denmark.^ Equally in vain did the Earl of Morton in the year 1574 make a further attempt to procure his freedom, for though in order to get him released he then sent to Denmark a new guarantee for Clark,^ yet Frederick declined to consider this guarantee sufficient."^ In harmony with the notes of William 1 Murdin, State Papers relating 19th August 1574, in the Danish to Affairs in the Reign of Queen Archives. Elizabeth, p. 285. * The King wished to have the 2 Letter of the Earl of Lennox guarantee so expressed, that, pro- to Frederick ii. issued in name of vided Clark or his adherents tried James vi., and dated Leith, 5th to procure compensation for them- July 1571, in the Danish Archives. selves at the cost of the King's 2 Letter of Earl of Morton to subjects, there should in it be ex- Frederick II. issued in name of pressly promised the King " facul- James vi., and dated Stirling tas et potestas Scotorum naves et DEATH OF BOTHWELL. 385 Cecil, according to which Clark did not long survive chap. this the last known mediation by Morton in his behalf, ^ the Danish annotated Calendar represents Captain 1578. John Clark as dying in Dragsholm in 1575.^ As for Bothwell there are not wanting statements which show that in his case death was some years longer in reaching its victim. Thns we have a Scottish statement according to which Bothwell's imprison- ment lasted for ten years, a statement which is first met with in the History of Scotland by Bothwell's bitterest enemy George Buchanan, and subsequently repeated in the equally contemporary Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, as well as in the Church History of Archbishop Spottiswood, and in the Notes of Lord Herries. Eesen's History of Frederick II. also alleges 1578 as the last year of Bothwell's long continued imprisonment,^ and one of the notes in the Calendar of Eiler Brockenhuus of the sixteenth century states not only the year but the day of Bothwell's death, assigning the 14th of April 1578 as the date.'^ It was in Dragsholm that Bothwell ended his days, and the foreign island that had furnished him bona, in salo ac statione nostra, Brockenhuus, Historishe Kalen- tantisper arrestandi detinendique, derantegneJser, pp. 34, 36). By donee subditis de damnis istis "Johannes Capitanius" is un- illatis, ex aequo et bono, plane doubtedly meant in these passages satisfiat." — The copy of the reply Captain John Clark ; for that the of Frederick ii., dated Skanderborg, latter was lodged as a prisoner and 18th October 1574, in the Danish died in Dragsholm is also remarked Archives. by Eesen in his Ko7ig Fredericks ^ Eiler Brockenhuus in his copy den Andens KroniTce, S. 262. of Eher's Kalendarium, under date ^ " Same time," writes Eesen 8th August, has remarked, that under date 1578, " died also the "Anno 1571 blelf Johannes Capi- Scottish Earl Botuel in his pro- tanius indseth paa Dragsholm," tracted imprisonment in Drags- and under that of 14th April, that holm." — Ko7ig Fredericks den " Anno 1575 dode Johannes Capi- Andens Kronihe, p. 315. tanius paa Dragsholm" (Eiler ^ Note V, Appendix. 2b 386 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTH WELL. <^HAP. with a prison finally yielded him a grave. His mother, Agnes Sinclair, or " the Lady of Morham," 1573-8. had died in 1573, retaining to the last, as may be inferred from her will, a deep sympathy for her unhappy son ; his grand-uncle, the old Bishop of Moray, had also died in the same year at Spynie Castle, and events showed that in Bothwell's native land there was no living relative, either his sister or her son, that ever entertained a wish to recover his remains. The Earl's coffin was brought from Drags- holm to the nearest church at Faareveile."^ This church, which stands away from the village, on the west bay of Ise^ord, in a' lonely and quiet spot, the haunt of gulls and sea-fowl, is said to be the last resting-place of him who once was the husband of Scotland's Queen. As tradition still points out in Dragsholm the room which was Bothwell's prison, so among the coffins in Faareveile Church, it continues to indicate one without any inscription or adornment as the coffin of the famous Scotsman. To ascertain the truth of the legend, this coffin was opened on the 31st of May 1858, but without any positive mark being seen that the corpse found in it was really Bothwell's. It has been well remarked by one, that a manifest simphcity in the decoration of the coffin, and a great economy in the silk material of the grave clothes, " might make it readily thought to be the grave of a distinguished state -prisoner, on whose interment no more expense was bestowed than was absolutely necessary."^ But this remark ^ Eiler Brockenhuus, Historiske ^ Worsaae, BothwelVs grav i Kalmderantegmlser, p. 42 ; Resen, Faareveile Kirke. lUustiei et Kong Fredericks den Andens His- Tidende, iii. 148. torie, p. 315. DID BOTHWELL DIE INSANE ? 387 is weakened by the obvious reflection that a whole series of state-prisoners have, during the period w-y^ between the E-eformation and the estabhshment i^^^. of the sovereign power in Denmark, been im- mured in the adjoining Dragsholm. It has indeed been said " that the head " of the corpse in question **had an unmistakable Scottish cast,"^ but this evidence loses its force, as it can be affirmed that Bothwell was not the only Scotsman that was buried in Faareveile Church.^ In regard to the mental condition of Bothwell when he ended his life, only one report at all pre- cise has come down to us. It is to the effect that the Earl had lost his reason before he died. This report was first communicated by George Buchanan in his History of Scotland, which was pubHshed in 1582, only a few years after Both- well's death. As Buchanan in his History refers this 1 This is adduced as the opinion of the deceased anatomist Pro- fessor Ibsen, by Worsaae in his Bothwell's grav i Faareveile Kirke. Illustreret Tidende, iii. 148. The English tourist, Captain Marryat, likewise declares : — " I defy any impartial Englishman to gaze on this body without at once declar- ing it to be that of an ugly Scotch- man" {A Residence in Jutland, the Danish Isles, and Copenhagen, i. 418). How much of the " ugli- ness" alleged here ought to be ascribed to the fact of the body having passed three hundred years in the grave, it is certainly not so easy to determine. 2 The note of Eiler Brockenhuus in his Eherske Kalendarium at 14th April, is to the eifect under the same date : — " Anno 1575, dode Johannes Capitanius paa DragshoUm och bleff begraffuen i Faareueil Kircke ved DragshoUm. Anno 1578, dode den Skotske Greffue paa Drasholm. BleflF och begraffuen y samme Kircke." The cause why the fact has so long been overlooked that both Clark and Bothwell found their graves in Faareveile Church, originates from the incorrect mode in which the note just cited was formerly given, particularly in Magazin til den danshe Adels Historie, i. 115. For there, as in the copy after which it is printed, it reads not " Johannes Chapitanius," but "Johannes Capelaen," and this error in turn led to these words in the note adduced being translated, "The Chaplain of Drachsholm," by Repp (Ellis, Traveller's Hand- book to Copenhagen and its En- virons, p. 183 ; Latter Years of James Hepburn Earl of Bothwell, p. 4). JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. event to the year 1578, so he also expressly states, in connection with it, that the Earl died insane/ The same report is repeated by a whole series of contemporary writers : by a Catholic author, who, in 1587, immediately after the death of Mary, wrote a book about her execution ; by Sir James Melvil in his Memoirs ; by Archbishop John Spottiswood in his History of the Scottish Church ; by De Thou in his story of Bothwell's imprisonment in Dragsholm ; and lastly, in the Memoirs of Lord Herries,^ so that we would not expect in this matter to meet with any contradiction. But just as almost every point 1 Ac fere post decennium, ad sordes aliasque miserias accedente amentia, vita turpiter acta dignum habuit exitum. — Buchanan, Berum Scoticarum Historia, p. 224. As one of the sources whence Bu- chanan may have drawn his know- ledge of Bothwell's condition at his death, we may venture to in- stance the Scotsman William Lummisden. The latter, during the Northern Seven Years' War, served under Captain John Clark, and seems, after his leader's im- prisonment, to have had personal entrance to Dragsholm. A letter to Frederick preserved in the Danish Archives, written by Mor- ton in name of James vi,, and dated Edinburgh, 8th October 1576, recommends Lummisden, who had done his imprisoned master so many services (" honesta illius in patronum suum difficilli- mis etiam temporibus officia"), and by the death of Clark, saw himself deprived of recompense for his per- petual journeys between the king- doms (" totiesque inter duo regna repetitsD expeditionis fructum "), to obtain now the pay from the King which was still owing him for his share in the Seven Years' War. That the Scottish historian knew Lummisden personally, and received explanations from him about other Danish circumstances, is proved by a letter from Bu- chanan, dated Stirling, 6th Sep- tember 1576, which he then sent with Lummisden to Tycho Brahe (Georgii Buchanani, Opera Omnia, torn, ii., Epistolce, p. 14). ^ Qui in Dania captus amens obiit. Narratio supplicii et mortis MarifB Stuartce, Regince Scotice, Dotalis Francice, decollatce in Anglia decimo octavo Februarii, 1587, Stylo novo, in Castello Fod- ringhayCj Jebb ii. 116. Kept in a strait prison, wherein he became mad and dyed miserably. — The Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, p. 85. He was put in a vile and loathsome prison, and falling in a frensie, made an ignominious and desperate end. — Spottiswood, History of the Church of Scotland, p. 213. Desperate of liberty he turned mad. — Spottiswood, 1. c. p. 243. Accedente ad sordes alias- que miserias amentia,— Thuani, Historiarum sui temporis Opera, p. 804. Being overgrown with hair and filth, he went mad and died. — Historical Memoirs by Lord Herries, p. 96. turner's account of his death. In Both weirs career has become a subject of con- tention, so also has this about the state in which he died. In a defence of Mary Stuart pubHshed anony- mously, but written by a Catholic, Robert Turner, in 1588, and intended to counteract the unfavour- able impression of the Queen's memory produced in Germany by Buchanan's History, he is accused of having purposely penned falsehood, when he states that Bothwell died insane. Turner relates that Frederick ii., as Mary's near relative, more than once during Bothwell's residence in Denmark, is said to have endeavoured to find out the truth from him about the Queen's comphcity in the murder of Darnley, and, when the Earl lay at the point of death, to have adjured him by that higher tribunal before which he was shortly to stand, freely to testify regarding her innocence or guilt. In a style of highly-coloured romance. Turner proceeds to tell how Bothwell is reported then with a loud voice to have acquitted Mary of all share in Darnley's murder, ascribing the whole guilt to Murray and Morton, and to have confirmed all this in a written confession left behind him. And if, then. Turner concludes, Bothwell has given forth such a declara- tion before he ended his life, he cannot have been mad when he lay on his deathbed, and the alle- gation to this effect is only a new invention of Buchanan for the purpose of depriving the testi- mony left by Bothwell of any significance.^ The conclusion, however, is not so satisfactory as this Catholic writer wishes to represent it. At best it woiild only prove v/hat is desired, if Bothwell ^ Note W, Appendix. 390 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, never had been at the point of death before he XII ended his days in Dragsholm. But it is clear that 1576. during the lengthened imprisonment of the Earl in Denmark, it might very well at an earlier occasion have been assumed that he was dying, although he afterwards recovered. And that the declaration or " Testament " of Bothwell, to which Turner above alludes, supposing that such a document ever existed, must in fact be referred to the time when the Earl still remained — but did not die — in Malmoe, is un- mistakably evident from the way in which this alleged declaration is spoken of by Mary herself. In a letter from her of 1st June 1576, written in her prison at Sheffield to her faithful ambassador in France, the Archbishop of Glasgow, these words occur : — " Notice has been given me that the Earl of Bothwell is dead, and that before his departure, he made an ample confession of all his faults, and denounced himself as the originator and guilty agent of the murder of the late King, my husband, of which he most expressly acquits me, testifying by his soul's salvation to my innocence ; if this is so, then such a testimony will be of much importance to me against the false aspersions of my enemies, and I pray you therefore in every possible way to investigate the truth hereof" Subsequently in the letter the Queen gives the names of the Danes before whom Bothwell was said to have made this declaration, and among such are adduced the then Bishop of Scania and several members of the Scanian nobihty.-^ The contemporary French or English ^ Ceulx qui assisterent a ia dicte d'Elcembro, Paris Braw du declaration, depuis par eulx signee chasteau de Vascut, mons. Gullun- et sellee, en forme de testament, starne de chasteau de Fulkenster, sonfc Otto Braw du chasteau Vevesque de Skonen, et ouatre bail- HIS SO-CALLED "TESTAMENT. abstracts of the declaration which have come down to us/ equally refer this testimony, if it ever was made, not less decisively to one or other of the first years of Bothwells imprisonment in Scania. These abstracts of Bothwells so-called " Testament," in which he entirely acquits the Queen of all share in Darnley's death, but accuses as parties to it, besides himself, Murray, Morton, and others, agree so far with the abstracts procured by some one for the Queen, in that they name as the Danish witnesses before whom the dying Earl was said to have made his Declaration only such as were all inhabitants of Scania, and besides expressly indicate Malmoe as the place where the Earl was then in his last moments. As witnesses are adduced, although under the distortion of names usual with foreigners,^ besides the Bishop of Scania and the four magistrates of Malmoe, Bjom Kaas, lord of Malmoe Castle, Otto Brahe, lord of Helsingborg, Henry Brahe of Yid- skofle, and Morgens Gyldenstjerne of Fultofte. Of these Henry Brahe died 19th February 1587, and Bjorn Kaas 26th March 1581, but Otto Brahe, lifz de la ville. — J etter of Mary to the Archbishop of Glasgow, dated from Sheffield, 1st June 1576, in Labanotf, iv. 330. ^ Note X, Appendix. 2 As a fitting pendant to these distortions of names it may be mentioned that Both well's seizure by Eric Eosenkrands is spoken of as accomplished " a magnifico viro, Erico Kofisincmyis, S. T. subdito, Beronensis civitatis prsefecto." — Murray's letter of 30th September 1567 in the Danish Archives. Nor is this distortion of Danish names greater than that to which the names of Scotsmen are sub- jected in contemporary copies of Danish Records. Thus one finds in these " Her van Sitoudt " (Lord Seton), " Her van Levenste " (Lord Livingston), Her van Lindsen (Lord Lindsay), Juncker Charnickill (the laird of Car- michael), Juncker Kaudenscraus (the laird of Coldingknowes). These examples, amongst many more, are selected by P. A. Munch, and given in a paper in Norske Sam,- linger, udgivne af et historiske Samfund i Christiania. Chris- tiania, 1852-1860, i. 490. The distortion of the Danish name.-* in these foreign abstracts would there- fore be by no means sufficient to deprive them of credit. 392 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, father of Tycho Brahe, had ahready deceased 9th v_Y_^ March 1571, and the old Morgens Gyldenstjerne, 1568-9. who carried the principal Danish banner in the expedition of Christian ii. against the Swedes in 1520, and afterwards in the years 1531-32 defended Akershus against his former king, had died 8th October 1569. The Declaration whence these abs- tracts are said to be derived could therefore have only been made in one of the very earhest years of Bothwell's imprisonment in Denmark, or during the period between January 1568 and October 1569. This Declaration, or so-called " Testament" of Bothwell, which he is alleged when dying to have made in Malmoe, from which an excerpt reached the eye of Mary, and which, as one of her adherents also reports, was sent by Frederick ii. to different princes of Christendom, and notably to Elizabeth,^ has never in any form been discovered. In vain did Mary seek by writing to the Archbishop of Glasgow on the occasion already mentioned, to obtain the original document or an attested copy of it from Denmark. In her letter to him she had added these words : If de Monceaux, who has formerly conducted negotiations in that country, would make a journey thither to institute more exact inquiries regarding it and bring back attestations, I would very willingly employ him for the purpose, and let him have money for his journey." In James Beaton's letter from Paris the reply is given : " We ^ Lesquels propos ayant este Adam Blackwood, Martyre de la fidellement reciieillis de la bouche Boyne cVUscosse(EdmhouYg, 1587), de Bodvel, et raportez au Roy de from a reprint in Jebb, De vita et Dannemarck, furent depuis envoyez rehus gestis Marice Scotorum Be- a plusieurs princes chretiens, nom- gincB. ii. 227. mement a la Eoyne Elisabeth. — MARY WISHES TO PROCURE A COPY OF IT. received the news of the Earl of Bothwell's death a good space ago, since which time the Queen-mother here (as Mons. Lansac acquaints me) has written to the King, her son's ambassador in Denmark, to transmit hither a copy of the Testament in form ; but this hath not hitherto been done. I would think it very proper to send over into these parts Mons. de Monceaux, and I know also he would will- ingly enough undertake the journey ; however, your Majesty cannot but see that I am in no capacity to afPord him money necessary for such a journey."^ In a subsequent letter of 4th January 1577 the Archbishop mentions how this pecuniary embarrass- ment had prevented the accomplishment of the intended journey,^ while Mary, about the same time in another letter from Sheffield, wrote the Archbishop on the 6th January 1577, that she also gave up the idea of any such special mission as might procure the " Testament" in question from Denmark.^ Perhaps in the meantime she was informed that it was not Malmoe but Dragsholm which had since 1573 become Bothwell's prison, and perhaps this information taught her to judge other- wise about the worth of the whole report. Yet the 1 Letter of James Beaton, Arch- bishop of Glasgow, to Mary of 30th July 1576. — Keith, Appendix, p. 142. 2 Monceaux n'a voulu entre- prendre le voiage sans avoir argent, contant. Les 500 livres qu'il a receu par votre liberalite avoient est6 dependus a ce qu'il, avant qu'ils etoient receus. — Letter of the Archbishop of Glasgow to Mary, written from Paris, 4th January 1577 ; Ibid., Appendix, p. 142. 3 J'ay eu avis que le roi de Dannemarcque a envoy6 a cette reine (Elisabeth) le testament du feu comte de Bothwel, et qu'elle I'a supprime secretement, le plus qu'il luy a ^te possible. II me semble, que la voyage de Mon- ceaux n'est plus necessaire pour ce regard, puisque la Keine mere y a envoye, comme vous me mandez. — Letter of Mary to the Archbishop of Glasgow, from Sheffield, 6th Januaiy 1577 ; LabanofF, iv. 340. 394 JAMES HEPBUEN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, belief of " Bothwell's Testament" has continued to be cberislied by many down to our own day ; for so 1838. late as the year 1838 Lord Palmerston was induced to order the British minister at Copenhagen, Sir Henry Wynn, to institute researches regarding its existence ; and although the latter gave with good reason Httle prospect that any such Declaration was to be found in Denmark, this only tended to pro- duce the impression that something of the kind lay hid in one of the English Archives.^ Even in the most recent times it is only very few of the writers who have endeavoured to throw light upon Mary's history that omit to base their representations on this supposed Declaration which Bothwell was alleged to have made during his detention in Malmoe.^ They specially refer to the fact that a so-called " Testament" of Bothwell at the time when Frederick ii. was still alive had actually been pro- duced as criminal evidence in a celebrated trial in Scotland. When the country had experienced the rule of its four Begents, who rose to this dignity on the deposition of Mary, the young King James VI., after a lengthened minority, put himself at the head of the kingdom, and one of the first steps of ^ Three years after the giving of document sent to Queen Elizabeth, this order by Lord Palmerston whether original or copy, may yet Lord Stanhope writes in an article lurk in some of the recesses of our in The Quarterly Review (vol. own State Paper Office." Ixvii. p. 342) : "Although this ^ ^yigggngj. ^as indeed found him- suggestion came from a quarter self forced to assume that the opposed to Lord Palmerston in extracts from " the Testament " politics, it was received by his have received " interpolations," but Lordship with the utmost courtesy nevertheless expresses himself as and readiness, and he wrote accord- decidedly as any one, that " la de- ingly to Copenhagen : but the claration premiere enianait d'une answer of Sir Henry Wynn gave source etrangere et independante, little hope that a paper of that la chancellerie danoise." — Marie remote period could be now re- IStuart et le Comte de Bothwell, covered. Perhaps, however, the p. 508. BOTHWELL's testament produced against MORTON. 395 his reign was to cause his mother s bitterest enemy, the Earl of Morton, the last of the Eegents, to be v^-y— himself prosecuted as an accomplice in Darnley s i^si. murder. The judicial records of this affair have, with the exception of the sentence of death, been purposely destroyed, or through mischance gone amissing, but only two days after Morton's execu- tion, on the 2d June 1581, Sir John Forster, Eliza- beth's commander of the middle Border regions, stated in a letter of 4th June 1581 to her Secretary, Sir Francis Walsingham, the five articles which had in Scotland been produced against Morton in con- nection with the murder of Darnley, and among them he expressly alleges that " the fyrst is lorde Bothwell's Testament.''^ Meanwhile there is every ground to assume that what is here meant is only one of the unproved abstracts of the " Testament '' with which we are sufficiently familiar.^ On the other hand, the idea does not seem after all inad- 1 The original letter of Sir John niond of Hawthornden in 1626, Forster, which is dated " at my was one entitled The Earl of Both- howse nighe Alnewicke, the 4th of welVs Confession, dated at Malraoe June 1581," is still preserved in Castle ; but this document, with the British Museum, in the Har- some other papers, has been un- leian Library, Num. 6999, Art. 97, fortunately missing since some- and has been printed by Chalmers time in the last century." [This mYd^ Life of Mary Queen of Scots, document has recently been re- ii. 97-98. In it, with respect to covered, and, through the kindness Morton, it is said: — "And, there of the Senatus Academicus, is al- was XXII. articles put against him, lowed to be printed in the Appen- but there was none that hurt him dix, Note Y. —Translator.] except the murder of the king, ^ g^p j^^jj Forster concludes his which was layde unto him by iv letter thus : — " Postscript : The or V sondrye witnesses. The fyrst man, that brought me this newes, is the lorde BothwelVs testament, came from Edenburghe, on Friday e o. s. V." The remark, added in last, at two of the clock, and then the preface to the copy of Les the said Earl of Mortone was Affaires du Conte de Boduel, pub- standinge on the scaffold ; and yt is lished by the Bannatyne Club, thought, that the accusations that still holds good : — " Among the were laid against him were verie MSS. presented to the library of slender, and that he dyed very the College of Edinburgh by Drum- stowtlye."— OA a^mm, ii. 98. 396 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, missible that we meet here with only another ot XII . vj..^^ the forged documents of which the deadly conflict 1568. between Catholicism and Protestantism has been so especially fruitful in the British Isles. Mary and her friends have always asserted that those lost letters and sonnets, which were said to establish the Queen's share in Darnley's death, had been forged or falsified by the Presbyterians ; it is just as con- ceivable that conversely one or other among the Catholics first fabricated the abstracts, gradually copied and circulated, of an imaginary confession, in which the exiled Bothwell, in the far North, was alleged to have decided the whole controversy, and made any further investigation superfluous. We certainly cannot say — with Malcolm Laing — that those abstracts name purely fictitious persons in Denmark, for we have shown above what Danish noblemen may be intended by the bungled names, and it must be admitted that those abstracts could have come only from a soiu-ce which was no stranger either to the earher history of Bothwell, or to the conditions under which he lived in Scania, in regard to which it is specially to be noticed that the magis- trates in Malmoe, in accordance with a previously fixed provision of Christian ii., are correctly stated as four in number.^ Neither will we lay too much weight upon the fact that the abstracts plainly enough proceed on the false supposition that Both- well, after putting forth his confession in Malmoe, also died in the same place, it being quite possible ^ Note Z, Appendix. vinge, Samling af gamle danske Love. Kjobenhavn, 1821-1840, 2 Ordinances of Christian Se- 4to, iv. 76. Cronholm, Skdnes cond. Cap. 4, Kolderup-Rosen- politislca Historia, i. 314. bothwell's use of witchcraft. 397 that this might only be founded upon an error of the transcribers. Still less would we build any v^-y-l^ objection upon the circumstance that, as Thomas i^^^- Buchanan maintained during his stay in Denmark, Bothwell had by magic and love-potions been able to fascinate the Queen, so, according to those abstracts, the Earl in his confession has acknow- ledged the same thing about himself^ For in those times of witches and trials for witchcraft, it was not merely behoved about others that they were able to bewitch, but people had everywhere, and especially in superstitious Scotland, the same belief regarding themselves, although the crime which legislation stamped as witchcraft could not in reahty be com- mitted should the person be conscious of the criminal intentions with which the imagination was operated upon for the purpose, and it is therefore possible that Bothwell, who was held by his contemporaries to be well versed in the black art,^ might have con- ^ Poursuit apres, comme par Correspondance diplomatique de la enchantement, auquel, des sa Motte-Fenelon, i. 20. That Mary jeunesse a Paris et ailleurs, il had not emancipated herself from s'estoit teaucoup addon^ il avoit the belief of the age in magic tir6 la Royne a I'aymer. — The Knox shows when, relating the abstract in Keith's History of famous conversation she had with Church and State in Scotland, him after his return to Scotland, Appendix, p. 144. Lykewise he he states how she also declared sayd that all the frendship which " that it was said to hir that all he had of the Queene, he gatt which he did was by necromancy e," alwayes by witchcraft, and the in- and when he subsequently tells, how ventions belanginge thereunto, in the year 1563 she said to him specially by the use of sweete that she could not endure Lord water. — The abstract in Teulet, Ruthven, " for I know him to use Lettres, p. 244. enchantment " {History of the 2 Comme il en sgait bien le mes- Reformation in Scotland, ii. 278, tier, n'ayant faict plus grande pro- 373), When Knox in his sixtieth fession, du temps qu'il estoit aux year succeeded in getting married cscolles, que de lire et estudier en to Margaret Stuart, a daughter of la n^gromancie et magic deffendue. Andrew Stuart Lord Ochiltree, — Account of La Motte-Fen^lon in her fifteenth year, this new mar- to King Charles ix., dated from riage, which both from the bride's London, 29th November 1568; high rank and youthful age seemed 398 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, founded effect and cause. But there still remains one consideration with which any behef in the con- 1566. fession which the Earl is alleged to have made does not admit of being reconciled. When on 19th June 1566 Mary gave birth to James vi. in Edinburgh Castle, and Darnley came to visit her and see the child, the Queen is reported to have said in allusion to the common talk that Darnley's conduct had occasioned : — " My Lord, God hes given you and me a sone, begotten by none but you." ^ At these words the King blushing bent down and kissed the child, and the Queen taking it in her arms, and uncovering its face, added : — " And I am desyrous that all heer, both ladies and others, bear witnes ; for he is so much your owen son, that I fear it be the worse for him heerafter." ^ During a long reign first in Scot- land and subsequently also in England, these words showed themselves to be truly prophetic, Darnley's indecision and want of self-dependence reappearing in James vi. side by side with a love of knowledge and an aptitude for learning which seemed an in- heritance from his mother. Only once did he suc- ceed in a way that amazed his friends in overcoming this peculiarity of his nature. After lengthened nego- tiations a marriage was at last fixed between Scot- land's young King and " Lady Anne of Denmark."^ not very natural, gave the Catho- vitam apparuit " (Davidis Came- lics so much the more occasion to rarii de IScotorum fortitudine doc- ascribe to the Reformer magic art : trina et jyietate, ac de ortu et pro- — " Quacumque iter faceret, secum gressu liceresis in Begnis Scotioe, et aliquot mulieres circumducebat, Anglim Libri quatuor. Parisiis, quibus ad explendam libidinem 1631, 4to, p. 277). uteretur, donee magicis artibus ^ JSistorical Memoirs by Lord allectam filiam comitis Ochiltriae Herries, p. 79. pro uxore habuit. Erat enim ^ Ibid. magus, ut in multis per totara ^ According to a " conversation ASTOHM Pll EVENTS JAMES' BRIDE GETTING TO SCOTLAND. 399 Instead of the connection which had been intended chap. XII between Mary and Frederick ii., a union was to take place between their children. The bride was 1^89. upon the journey to Scotland, accompanied by a fleet of eleven war-ships, which bore the Admiral of the kingdom, Peter Munk of Estvadgaard. She had set sail from Copenhagen on the 5th September 1589, when a continuous storm of tempestuous weather forced the fleet to run to Norway. The same boisterous weather also long prevailed on the coasts of Scotland. One of Mary s maids of honour whom she loved best, Jane Kennedy, who had the previous year bound the handkerchief over the eyes of the Queen, when at Fotheringay Castle she laid her head on the fatal block, and who after returning home to Scotland had married a brother of James and Eobert Melvil, Sir Andrew Melvil of Garvock, perished on this occasion, because in spite of the storm she persisted in crossing the river Forth to Edinburgh, whither the wish of the King had called her to be lady of honour to his expected bride. On both sides of the North Sea it was agreed that witchcraft had conjured forth the extraordinary weather ; the Scottish witches confessed this on their part, and in Denmark their coadjutors were burnt, having been accused by Peter Munk of attempting " to bewitch and destroy the King's fleet." ^ But James VI. on this occasion cared for between the Queen of Scotland and me, Mr. Somer, on our journey from Sheffield Castle to Wingfield Castle the 2d September 1584," Mary Stuart then told the just named Englishman, a son-in-law of Sir Kalph Sadler, that such a union was broached, "but as the crown of Denmark went by elec- tion, her son was not sure of any influence longer than the reigning king lived, and therefore he had no great inclination in that direction." — The State Papers and Letters of Sir Ralph Sadler^ ii. 389-90. ^ The words are quoted from a 400 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, neither witchcraft nor storm : " like as Leander of xn yore hastened to Hero " he would himself over the 1589. tumultuous billows seek out his bride. After a perilous voyage James vi., on the 3d of November 1589, landed with five Scottish ships on the island of Flaekker in Norway, and, after an address in French by his Scottish chaplain, David Lindsay, was married on the 23d of the same month to the Princess, who as yet did not understand the Scottish tongue. Meanwhile the stormy autumn was followed by an early winter for whose severity contemporaries did not know language strong enough, and accord- ingly the King received an invitation from his mother-in-law. Queen-dowager Sophie, and from Christian iv., who was still in his minority, to pass the winter on Zealand. In sledges sent from Denmark the newly wedded pair journeyed thither through Baahouse across the frozen-over Gotha-Elf and the Swedish Landflig, which at that time alone separated Norway and Denmark, through Varbjerg, Halmstadt, and Helsingborg. By nothing did the son of Mary during the quarter of a year he remained in Zealand attract greater notice from his contemporaries than by the letter-patent, dated from Colding- liouse 22d July 1590, and given in Danske Magazin, Tredie Rsekke, i. 62. Sir James Melvil (Memoirs, p. 180) remarks, after having related how his sister-in-law was drowned : — " This the Scottish witches con- fessed to His Majesty was procured by them ; " and likewise with re- spect to the storm that continued to prevent the Princess Anne's arrival : — " Which storm of wind was alleged to be raised by the witches of Denmark, as by sundery of them was acknowledged, when they were for that cause burnt." About one of these unhappy Danish witches, Anne Coldings, more pre- cise mention is made in the sen- tence passed upon her by Christian IV. and the Senate 5th August 1590, given in Kolderup-Rosen- vinge tidvalg af Gamle danske Domme, Kjobenhavn, 1842-48, 4to, pp. 226-9. Compare also Garde, Dansk-norske Somagts Historiey 1535-1700, Kjobenhavn, 1861, p. 108. DESIRE OF JAMES VI. FOR INFORMATION IN DENMARK. 401 1590. desire for information which led him to hsten to every means of enhghtenment, and by the love of knowledge which made him ask questions every- where. The foreign legal proceedings and the whole system of foreign jurisprudence received so much attention from him that some have been dis- posed to attribute to this circumstance the close agreement which the statutes of his reign latterly have with the Danish ordinances.^ In like manner the university to which, in memory of his interest in it, he gave the silver goblet that was lost during the British siege of Copenhagen in this century, saw him each day for three hours in succession a listener to its lectures.^ Outside the university and beyond Copenhagen this desire for knowledge also led him to give attention to one man of science after another, and to one train of ideas after another. From Uranienburg, where he was the guest of Tycho Brahe, and from Kronborg, whence he wrote letters home,^ his eye glancing across the Sound could rest on the towers of Malmoe Castle, beneath which the Earl that had been his father's murderer so long lay 1 Barrington's Observations on ken Carlyle, Edinburgh, 1861, p. the more Ancient Statutes from 492. One of his letters, which is Magna Charta to the Twenty-first dated " from the Castell of Crone- of James I. The fourth edition, burg, quhaire we are drinking and London, 1725, 4to, p. 553. Bar- dryuing our on the auld manner," rington remarks that " it is remark- alludes probably to the wedding able also that three of the statutes feast at Kronborg, 19th April 1590, of this reign for the punishment of on occasion of the marriage of criminals agree exactly with the Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick- Danish ordinances on the same Wolfenbiittel with Elisabeth, an- head." other of the sisters of Christian iv. 2 Slange, Geschichte Christian des Vierten, mit Anmerhungen von the Scotsman, Thomas Kmgo J. R. Schlegel Kopenhagen und ^^^^^father of the bishop and poet T ^;^r,;^ 17/^71 Ai-^ ; no Thomas Kmgo.— N. M.Petersen, Leipzig, 1757-71, 4to, 1. 112. ^.^^.^^ ^.^ ^^^^.^ Literaturs ^ D'dvid lT\'m^, History of Scot- Historic, Kjobenliavn, 1853-61, iii. tish Poetry. Edited by John Ait- 634. 2 c 402 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, imprisoned. At Koskilde, where he visited not only the cathedral, but also old Niels Hemmingsen, 1590. he stood on the same firth on whose shore a few miles off the peaceful grave covered the remains of him who had been his mother's lover. Was it possible that in spite of his thirst for information, which was so manifest everywhere, he could forget the Earl of Bothwell alone ? While yet a child he had been greatly moved when the abstract of Both- well's " Testament " came under his notice ^ — could he restrain every inquiry about it now when he himself stood where the Earl had lived ? United to the King of Denmark's daughter, surrounded by the 6lite of the kingdom, no information which he could wish would be withheld from him. Followed home by Danish war-ships, filled by countrymen of his consort, he could still behold in Holyrood, when he and she were crowned on the 17th May 1590, a complete representation of Denmark's nobility, in- cluding, among others, Eric Kaas of Yaargard, Steen Brahe of Knudstrup, George Brahe of Gunde- 1 This is stated by James Beaton, silently returned it and sat down Archbishop of Glasgow, on the 4th again to write. But the whole of January 1577, to Mary in a letter the remainder of the day he was printed by Keith, History of unusually gay, and when he was Church and State in Scotland, ii. asked the occasion he replied, 142, 143. The little James vi. " Tullibardine, have I not good was one day sitting and writing in reason, after seeing so frequent Stirling Castle, where Sir William and so many accusations and Murray of Tullibardine was present calumnies printed against Her in the same apartment and reading Majesty the Queen, my mother, the copy of Bothwell's Testament I have to-day seen so manifest an (la copie du dit testament) to an- attestation of her innocency ? " other nobleman. The young king Archbishop Beaton, who wished to suddenly rose from the table at gladden his mother, then a prisoner which he sat, and asked to see in England, with this trait of her what it was Sir William held in son, adds that the circumstance his hands, which, after several re- had been told him by a nobleman fusals, he obtained. After having who himself heard it from Murray read it through word for word he of Tullibardine. CORONATION OF JAMES VI. AND PRINCESS ANNE. 403 strup, Hannibal Gyldenstjerne of Eestrup, all sons ^^j^^- of the men before whom at one time the Earl of Wy-L Bothwell in Malmoe was said to have written the i^^^- Testament " in question.^ All these now stood where Mary had formerly set the dncal crown on his head, face to face with his sister s son, Francis Earl of Bothwell, Scotland's new High Admiral, and a member of the Government which had been installed during the royal progress, side by side with his countess, Margaret Bothwell, a daughter of David, Earl of Angus, and now one of the ladies that held the Queen's train at the coronation. That in these circumstances James vi., who "better than any one" knew his mothers history,^ never then nor afterward sought to bring to light any such attestation of her innocence as that alleged, never caused it to be communicated to any of the historians whose works he followed with such interest, either De Thou, Archbishop Spottiswood, or Camden, is therefore the strongest proof against its authenticity. While the winter sojourn of James vi. in Den- mark demolishes all belief in any such confession as ^ Contemporary account of the J ames vi. had invited to stay with marriage of Princess Anne, sister him, wrote thus to the author : — of Christian iv., with King James " Rex ipse, quo nemo est hodie the Sixth of Scotland, communi- callentior istarum rerum, singula cated by P. A. Munch in Norske recenset, at que ad exactissimam Samlinger, udgivne af et historisk veritatis trutinam exigit, missurus Samfund i Christiania, i. 450-512. statim ad te, ut veram narrationem The above-mentioned nobleman tuse historise inseras, falsam et we find here, pp. 490-491, given in calumniarum plenam rejicias." the list of the accompanying The letter, which Casaubon dated Danish gentlemen who were pre- from London, 27th March 1611, sent at the coronation in Scotland. is printed in the introduction to the English edition of De Thou's ^ When the two first volumes of History {Jac. Aug. Thuani, Hist. De Thou's History were published sui temjporis. Londini, 1733, fol. i. in Paris, Isaac Casaubon, whom 44). 404 JAMES HEPBURN EARL OF BOTHWELL. CHAP, the abstracts mentioned above are alles^ed to have XII w-,^^ had for their foundation, on the other hand it serves 1590. to confirm the account given of Bothwell's insanity. Among the Scotsmen in the retinue of the King who had wintered in Zealand, and whom it is impossible to fancy indifferent as to Bothwell's latest destiny, was Chancellor John Maitland, the younger brother by twenty years of Scotland's famous Secretary, Wil- liam Maitland, so often named in this inquiry ; and among the authors in Scotland that first wrote after theii' countrymen's return home was Sir James Melvil. In the Memoirs of the latter, in which he speaks of the rigorous imprisonment under which Bothwell " became mad, and died miserably," he also states that, during the whole time the Danish gentlemen who were present at the coronation of the King and Queen remained in Scotland and were entertained in many ways,^ he was ordered " to bear them com- pany."^ With the testunony of foreign authorities, ^ Thus, in reference to the 20th - His Majesty at his landing was May 1590, the remark is made pleased to send to me to bear them by Robert Chambers (Domestic company, which I did until their Annals of Scotland, from the parting, to his Majesty's great con - Reformation to the Revolution. tentment. — The Memoirs of Sir Edinburgh and London. 1858, James Melvil, p. 182. With re- i. 200) : " This evening, being a spect to the Danish embassy of the Sunday, the Danish nobles and year 1585 — consisting of Manderup gentlemen, who had conveyed the Parsbjerg of Haxholm, Henry Belov Queen to Scotland, received a of Spotterup, and Dr. Nicholas Theo- formal entertainment from the philus— which was sent to Scotland magistrates of Edinburgh. A with the first proposal about the handsome alcoved room, which marriage, Melvil remarks (Me- still exists, in the house of the ?/tom, p. 162) in like manner : " So master of the mint, in the Cowgate. soon as the Danish ambassadours was appropriated for the purpose." arrived by ship in this country, Sunday was in these old times the His Majesty ordered me to enter- day which was commonly chosen tain them, and bear them com- for merry-makings and feasts, of pany." That Melvil had access to which examples are adduced by good Danish authorities is further Joseph Robertson in his Preface to evident from the fact that he was Inuentaires de la Royne Descosse, also ordered in the years 1593 and p. Ixxix. 1594 to receive and look after two NO HECORD OF HIS LAST MOMENTS. 405 there finally agree the saddest annals of the human race, the annals of those in whom disease has at last devoured the very soul. Upon only too many pages of these one may read what great terror and anguish of mind, incessant excitement, or bitterly disappointed expectations, can awaken.^ What passed in Bothwell's mind during his long imprison- ment, in the lonesome moments in which the scenes of former times again flitted across the mind, and the unseen Judge spoke, no pen has been able to transmit to us. But no statement was needed to unfold what he must have suffered when at last he saw the men who had followed him to Denmark sent back in misery as new victims for the old offence, and when the only thought that daily pressed upon him was that the next morning might see him also given up to an ignominious and horrible death ; or with what feelings, during many dark hours, he must have contrasted these anxious years with the proud expectations that had lured him to a career so different. Few men have more heedlessly than he striven to attain the highest pinnacle of honour and power, and few men have more speedily than he been hurled down from the giddy height. other embassi^s which at these and Christian Barnekov of Birk- periods were sent to Scotland by hohn, who were to be present at those having charge of the Govern- the solemn baptism of Prince ment during the minority of Henry, the eldest son of James vi. Christian iv. {The Memoirs of Sir and Queen Anne. After the last- James Mehil, pp. 203-204). The mentioned embassy returned to one of these embassies consisted of Denmark, Sir James Melvil was Steen Bilde of Bildesholm, and Pro- still in the year 1595 in correspond- fessor Niels Krag, who were to pro- ence with Christian Barnekov. — cure Queen Anne the possessions I)e la Gardiska Archivet. Lund., movable or immovable that by her 1831-43, v. 113-116. marriage had, on the Scottish side, ^ Prichard, Om Sindssygdom- been expressly assured her ; the onene. Oversat af H. Selmer. Kjd- other consisted of Steen Bilde benhavn, 1842, pp. 217-235. APPENDIX. Note A, p. 56. The passport given to Anno Throndsson by Queen Mary :— " Noveritis nos recepisse ac per prsesentes reciperc in fidem tu- telamque nostram Annam Trundtze, filiam Christophori Trundtze qui regi Danorum prasfectus maris fuerat, omniaque ejus bona niobilia et immobilia, eique liberam fecimus ac dedimus potestatem habitandi et commorandi in nostro regno atque inde discendendi ac redeundi quovis ei e re sua visum erit." 0. Nielsen on Passport issued by Mary Stuart for Anne Rostung the Scottish wife, in Danske Samlinger, 1st Bind. Kjobenhavn, 1865-66, pp. 397-398. The passport, which is given from a manuscript in the Royal Archives of Denmark, concludes thus : — '"Datum sub sigillo nostro ac manu nostra subscriptum decima septima die Februari anno regni nostri tricesimo primo. Maria R." The editor correctly assumed that there is here a misprint for "vicesimo primo." L. Daae (Historish Tidskrift, udgivet af den norske historiske Forening. Andet Bind. Christiania, 1872, p. 344) thinks that Anne Thrond- sson is also referred to in the old Scottish song, which is entitled, "Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament," in which a young woman com- plains of being forsaken with her child by her husband or lover ; but this idea is certainly untenable. The heroine in this ballad is Anne Bothwell, a daughter of Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney, by whom Mary and Bothwell were married. This young lady had had, according to historical accounts, a passion for a son of the Earl of Mar, Alexander Erskine, who forsook her, and was after- wards killed by an explosion of gunpowder at Dunglass. — Aytoun, Ballads of Scotland. Second Edition. Edinburgh, 1858, ii. 49. Note B, p. 57. Account of John Stuart and his son Francis Stuart. Randolph's words to Cecil, as given in Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen of Scots, ii. 212. John Stuart had already died at Inver- 408 APPENDIX. ness about the close of 1563. His widow entered, in the year 1666, into a second marriage with John Sinclair of Caithness, and after the death of the latter, in 1573, into a third, with Archibald Douglas, a relative of the Earl of Morton. Bothwell's sister, during her first brief union to John Stuart, bore a son, Francis Stuart, to whom Mary became godmother, and of whom his maternal uncle at a later period assumed the ofl&ce of guardian. Named, as it would seem after Mary's first husband, and by his father's early death specially commended to her care, Francis Stuart received, even in his childhood while the Queen was still at the head of the Government of Scotland, many proofs of her kindness, and was afterwards, in a testament made at Sheffield during her imprison- ment, recommended as her brother's son and her own godson to the favourable regard of James vi. particularly in order that he might succeed to the Bothwell estates. James vi. consequently con- sidered Francis Stuart as his cousin, and although belonging to an illegitimate branch of the family, created him, in 1581, Earl of Bothwell and Lord High Admiral of Scotland, having at the same time made over to him all the rest of his uncle's long forfeited possessions and offices. His character was notwithstanding too much like that of his uncle, and his political life was also as stormy as his. However ungrateful the new Earl of Bothwell afterwards showed himself towards James vi., he never in the least forgot the kindness with which Mary had followed him from his cradle. He told James vi. to his face that if he submitted to Elizabeth's pro- secution against his imprisoned mother, he deserved to be hanged, and when the tidings of her execution reached Scotland, he exclaimed that a coat of mail was now the only mourning he should wear, and put forth all his efforts to set on foot a hostile attack upon England. Seven years afterwards he was obliged to seek refuge in the wild Highlands of the North, and subsequently to betake himself to the Orkneys, whence he at length continued his flight over the Shetland Isles to France. In 1600 the French Government compelled him to withdraw into Spain, whence he betook himself to Naples, and there, after he had gone over to Bomanism, he ended his life in the year 1612, having, it is alleged, died of grief at the death by accident of the eldest son of James vi., Prince Henry Frederick. After Earl Francis Bothwell's forfeiture, the hereditary office of Lord High Admiral of Scotland was trans- ferred to the younger family of Lennox (properly Aubigny) until the latter's extinction in the reign of Charles ii., when it was finally APPENDIX. 409 abolished. — Vide Chalmers, Caledonia, ii. 473-479. Robertson's Preface to Inuentaires, pp. xl. xli. Note C, p. 62. The Queen's "Maries." " In the quhilk the quenis grace, and all hir Maries and ladies wer all cled in men's apperrell." — Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents, p. 87. The Queen's " Maries," who, when little girls of the same age with herself, had been chosen to accompany her to France, were four in number — Mary Livingston, who married, in 1565, John Sempill of Beltreis ; Mary Beaton, who married, in 1566, Alexander Ogilvy of Boyne ; Mary Fleming, who, in 1567, married William Maitland, laird of Lethington, her senior by eighteen years ; and lastly, Mary Seton, who, after losing by death her lover, Andrew Beaton, remained unmarried, and, having for fifteen years shared the Queen's imprisonment, subsequently entered a convent at Rheims, where she ended her days. — Robertson's Preface to Inuentaires, pp. xlvi.-li. In the Scottish national song called " The Queene's Maries," given in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, the names occur differently; there Mary Hamilton names them thus : — " Yestreen the Queen had four Maries, The nicht she'll hae but three. There was Marie Seaton, and Marie Beaton, And Marie Carmichael and me." Note D, p. 100. Testimonies to Mary Stewart's rare beauty. Brantome, Vies des Dames IJlustres, in (Euvres da Seigneur de Brantome, i. 129. Brantome's statement that the Queen in her Highland dress "resembled a true goddess," is accompanied with these words : — " Ceux qui I'ont veue habillee le pourront ainsi confesser en toute verite ; et ceux, qui ne I'ont veue en pourront avoir veu son portrait, estant ainsi habillee." The painting to which he refers has long ago been lost, but of the Highland female dress of this period there is a description by Bishop Lesley, who calls it very becoming {De rehus gestis Scotorum, p. 58). In the series of old writings about Mary, which Jebb collected together and printed under the title, De Vita et Rehus gestis serenissimm principis Marice, Scotorum Regince, Francioe Dotarice : Londini, 1725, fol., we find other testimonies from contemporaries agreeing with Brantome's in reference to her rare beauty. Thus F. Strada states :—" Ipsam quatuor regnorura insignia ornavere ; sed forma 410 APPENDIX. cui parem ea setate fuisse nullam memorant, digna EuropsB totius imperio habebatur." (Jebb, ii. 105.) In like manner Robert Turner testifies : — " Audivi a multis, iisque sane in hoc genere bene lynceis, quicquid viderant in Anglia, Gallia, Italia, Germania, Flandria pulchri et venusti, id totum, quantum et quantulum erat , prse hac confirmatione membrorum, hac venustate, hac maiestate, hac hujus Regiuai suavitate penitus sorduisse." (Jebb, i. 385.) Adam Blackwood speaks of her in such terms as these : — " Inter omnes suae setatis Reginas admirabili atque incomparabili corporis pulchritudine prsedita." (Jebb, ii. 177.) Also in De Thou {Historia sui temporis, t. iv. : Londini, 1733, fol. p. 435) we meet still with the same testimony, where he describes the execution of the Queen : — " Etiam post tsediosi carceris molestiam pristinum oris decus ac pulchritude, quo tot homines in sui amorem rapuerat, integre adhuc relucebant." Note E, p. 128. Poems of Mary Stuart. " EUese mesloit d'estre poete, et composoitdes vers, d'ont j'en ay veu aucuns de beaux ettres-bien faictz et nullement resemblans a ceux qu'on luy a mis a sus avoir fait sur 1' amour du comte de Bouthe- ville ; ils sont trop grossiers et mal polls pour estre sortis d'elle. M. de Ronsard estoit bien de mon opinion en cela, ainsi que nous en discourrions un jour, que nous les lisions." — Brantome, Viesdes Dames lllustres in (Euvres du Seigneur de Brantome^ i. 112. Mary's " Quatrains a son Fils," which she composed for the instruction of James vi., by whom they were prized as a precious relic, and of which there were still to be found, in the year 1627, more than one copy, have latterly disappeared, and now we have only a few undisputed poems from Mary's hand, hardly more than six, consist- ing in all of scarcely three hundred lines. These poems have all been printed, although not in a collected form, but only scattered through various works. (Cited in Robertson's Preface to Inuen- taires^ p. cxvii.) Here we shall only more particularly refer to the most easily accessible which the reader may find in Laing's History of Scotland^ ii. 217-221, and in LabanofF, vii. 346. That the two lines of verse, which Mary Stuart wrote with a diamond on a pane of glass in Fotheringay Castle, and which she has got the name of composing (Ballard, Memoirs of several Ladies of Great Britain who have been celebrated for their Writiiig and Learning : Oxford, 1752, 4to, p. 161), were in reality only a reminiscence from a well-known collection of poetry in the Queen's time (Songs APPENDIX. 411 mid Sonnettes, written by the honourable Lord Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and others : London, 1557, 4to, p. 53) has been remarked by Warton (History of English Poetry : London, 1774- 1781, 4to, iii. 56), and that the well-known stanzas beginning "Adieu, plaisant pays de France," which reappear in Schiller's " Griisset mir freundlich mein Jugendland," are only a literary mystification of the journalist Anne-Gabriel Meusnier de Querlon, who first — as "tiree du manuscrit de Buckingham" — communicated this poem in his Anthologie, published in 1765, has been made clear by Edouard Fournier {U Esprit dans VHisioire. Recherches et curiosites sur les mots historiques. Troisieme Edition. Paris, 1867, pp. 181-187). Note F, p. 166. The accusation of Buchanan against Mary in reference to her conduct with Bothwell. " Ubi vero Edinburgum rediit, non in suum Palatium, sed in privatam, in proximo Joannis Balfurij, domum diuertit. Illinc in alias aedes commigravit, ubi conventus anniuersarius, qvem scac- carium vocant, turn habebatur. Has enim aedes erant laxiores, et hortorum aderat amoenitas, et juxta hortos pene solitudo. Sed erat et aliud, quod omnibus his magis inuitaret. Habitabat in propinquo David Camerius Bothuelij cliens : cujus posticum erat hortis aedium Reginae propinquum. Per id posticum Bothuelius, quoties libitum erat commeabat. Caetera quis nescit? Nam et rem ipsam Regina cum multis aliis, turn proregi et matri ejus est confessa : sed culpam in Reresiam, profligatae pudicitiae mulierem conferebat, quae inter pellices Bothuelij fuerat, ac turn in intimis Reginae ministris erat. Ab hac (quae aetate inclinata a meretricio quaestu ad Lenonium se contulerat) Regina, vt ipsa dicebat, prodita est. Nam Bothuelius per hortum in cubiculum Reginae introductus, eam inuitam vi compressit. Sed quam inuitam Reresia prodiderit, tempus veritatis parens ostendit. Nam post paucos dies, Regina vim vi, ut reor ulcisci cupiens, destinat Reresiam (quae et ipsa vires hominis antea erat experta) quae eum ad se captivum addu- ceret. Regina vna cum Margareta Caruodia, omnium secretorum conscia, eam e zona suspensam, per maceriem, in hortum propin- quum demittuut. Sed nunquam in re militari omnia sic prouideri possunt, vt non aliquid incommodi interueniat. Ecce zona repente frangitur. Reresia mulier et aetate, et corpore grauis, cum magno strepitu cadit. Sed veterna miles, nihil tenebris, nihil altitudine marceriae, nihil inexpectato casu perterrita, ad Bothuelij 412 APPENDIX. cubiculura penetrat : foribus reclusis, hominem e lecto, e coraplexu conjugis, semisomnuni, seminudum adduxit ad Reginam. Hunc 5ferum gestarum ordinera, non modo maxima pars eorum qui cum llegina erant, sunt fassi : Sed et G-eorgius Dalglesias, Bothuelij cubicularius, paulo ante quam poenas luit, denarrauit, quae ejus confessio in Actis continetur." — De Maria Scot. Reg. p. 6, 7. Note Gr, p. 191. Notices of recent works on Mary Stuart's connection with Darnley's murder. Since this historical inquiry was first published in 1863, there has been an increase in the number both of those who with respect to the two questions treated of in this work have taken part against Mary and of those who have acquitted her. To the class of her accusers have been added James Anthony Froude in his History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth^ and John Hill Burton in his History of Scotland. By Froude, who has set himself the task of clearing Henry viii. and Elizabeth of all charges of cruelty, and of finding in their whole acting only sacrifices for the social welfare, there is shown, where he speaks of Mary, a hastiness in the use of his authorities which has led to a series of positive mistakes. To many of these mistakes attention was directed in 1868 in an article on Marie Stuart et ses derniers Historiens by L. Wiesener in Revue des Questions Historiques, Deuxieme Annee, iv. 385-436. Trmsihme Annee, v. 49-106, 353- 425. Thus with Froude we meet with one of Mary's half-brothers represented as " the Abbot of St. Cross," because he has failed to notice that Sancte-Croix was the French translation of Holyrood ; we have Whittinghara Castle in East Lothian, where Arcliibald Douglas resided, spoken of as " the hostelry " in which Bothwell and Maitland met with Morton ; we find Darnley raving about wishing to retire " to the Scilly Isles," although the expression " au- de-la des mers " in the French letter referred to, as in all records of that period, only has the meaning of the Continent ; and when by the side of like mistakes we too often stumble upon the bad custom, adopted for the purpose of making the representation more vivid, of introducing the historical personages speaking in such a manner that the same inverted commas in Froude embrace both utterances which are sanctioned by the authorities, and utterances which originate entirely from the author's fancy, we can by no means regard as groundless the admonition with which the French critic cautions against any such levity : Si Ton n'y prenait garde, elle APPENDIX. 413 ferait dechoir 1' Angleterre du rang ou Tavait portee le fort et droit genie de tant generations d'historiens." Wiesener's judgment of the way in which the history of Mary Stuart had been treated by Burton was not much more favourable, but to the complaints which he made, the new edition of Burton's great and meritorious work published in the year 1873 in many respects gives no longer the same occasion. Wiesener himself had, before he produced his critique of the sketches of Froude and Burton, given to the public a new work [Marie Stuart et le Comte de Bothwell : Paris, 1863) which in all respects acquitted Mary of guilt, but this representation was equally unable to gain universal acceptance (see Historische Zeitschrift, herausg. von H. v. Syhel, xiv. 521-524) ; latterly Alex- ander M'Neil Gsiird (Mary Stuart, her Guilt or Innocence : second edition ; Edinburgh, 1866), Jules Gauthier (Histoire de Marie Stuart: Paris, 1869, t. i.-iii.), and John Hosack (Mary Queen of Scots and her Accusers: Edinburgh, 1869) have taken the same side as he has. Gauthier attaches peculiar importance to a report which he has succeeded in bringing to light from the Archives of Simancas, according to which Elizabeth had herself in 1568, in presence of the Spanish Ambassador, spoken of the letters ascribed to Mary Stuart as false ; but regarding this it ought to be remarked that the statement of Elizabeth in question is older than the open- ing of the conference in England, and the production of those documents before the commissioners at Westminster, that it is found, as Gauthier himself alleges, previously in an account from Guzman da Silva of the 21st July 1568 (Dixome que no era verdad, aunque Ledington avia tratado esto, y que si ella le viese, le divia algunas palabras que no le harian buen gusto). Beyond comparison the chief of the most recent apologies for Mary is Hosack's, who has, for the first time, made public the general view of the preceding relations of Mary Stuart in Scotland, or the so-called Book of Articles which Murray communi- cated along with the alleged letters of his sister to the English Commissioners at Westminster (Hosack, AiDjjendix, p. 522-548). It is manifest that Buchanan, if he did not actually take part in the composition of the text, has certainly borrowed from it the most of the touches for his subsequent pamphlet. Malcolm Laing, who had never himself seen the document now brought to light, has however erred in so far as he seeks to maintain that it was " un- doubtedly the same " with the pamphlet of Buchanan {History of Scotland, i. 241) ; the better instructed Camden (Annales rerum 414 APPENDIX. Anglicarum et Hihernicarum regnante Elizahetha, p. 144) having with greater justice distinguished between both. A new complaint is met with in this charge of Murray against his sister, in so far as it also maintains against her that in her testament made in 1566 she had chiefly favoured Bothwell, and, on the contrary, had not granted Darnley the least part of her possessions (she disponit also hir haill movables to uthers beside hir husband) — an accusation which can now be most successfully disproved by the aid of those autograph testamentary provisions of hers already appealed to, which were found in the year 1854. Note H, p. 195. Darnley's bed in the house of the Kirk-of-Field. " Premierement ung lict de veloux vioUet a double pante, passe- men te d'or et d'argent." So it is described in the inventory of Servais de Conde, and " Decharge des meubles que j'avoye faict porter au logis du feu Roy, lesquelz meubles ont este perdu sans en rien recouver," in Les Inuentaires de la Royne Descosse, Douairiere de la France, pp. 177-178. This description of the bed is hardly in accordance with the articles of complaint against Mary which Murray and her other enemies laid before the Com- missioners in England, and one of which (Hosack, p. 536) alleges that the Queen had before the murder of Darnley caused certain articles of value to be brought to Holyrood, namely, some tapestries and a bed in the room of which " ane uther wors " had been set up. They refer to a declaration by Thomas Nelson, the only one of Darnley's servants who survived the catastrophe, according to which the Queen had caused " a new bed of blak figurat welwet " to be removed from Darnley's sick-chamber, as she was afraid it might suffer damage from the baths, and in its room had had " ane auld purple bed " substituted. But as the sole bed of black figured velvet, which was found in Holyrood, could only be improperly designated " ane new bed," as it had previously come into the Queen's possession in the year 1562, so Darnley's bed, which was destroyed by the catastrophe at the Kirk-of-Field, could by no means be justly represented as an old bed, but was a richly got-up present from the Queen to him in the previous year, as is unmis- takably evident from the official inventory lists furnished by Servais de Conde. Confidence in the whole history of this exchange might besides have been previously weakened, if it had been noticed that Buchanan, who is assumed to have assisted in the drawing up of the articles of complaint communicated to the APPENDIX. 415 English, has afterwards in his Rerum Scot. Hist., p. 214, made the Queen's bed, and not the King's, to have been exchanged. Nearly three hundred years nevertheless required to pass away before the entire accusation received a correct elucidation by the discovery of the inventories of Servais de Conde of all the furniture lost in the catastrophe of February 1567, — a discovery which was fortunately made during the examination of some juridical docu- ments belonging to the beginning of the sixteenth century. Not without reason did Sir James Simpson immediately after bring for- ward in a discourse this discovery as one of the most remarkable examples of how " disputed points in Scottish history have occa- sionally been decided by manuscript discoveries which were altogether accidental " {Archaeology, its past and its future work : Edinburgh, 1861, p. 44). But even if such an historical elucida- tion and correction of the facts of the case had not been forth- coming, it may, from a purely psychological point of view, awaken surprise that the command ascribed to Mary already referred to, — or, indeed, even the circumstance that one of her ladies, Margaret Carwod, is said, according to the declaration of Paris, one day to have caused the latter to bring back a black counterpane from the Queen's own room in Darnley's dwelling — could have been repre- sented even by many more recent authors, and still by Teulet (Lettres, p. 88), as something so aggravating. I should like to know if indeed any wife, not to say a magnificent Queen, who was about to murder her husband, would, in order to preserve from injury some article of furniture, make light of all else ? " Where shall we find," as Lord Stanhope well remarks in a review of Tytler's History of Scotland {Quarterly Eevieiv, vol. Ixvii. p. 339), — " Where shall we find another case of a Queen exclaiming : Strangle my husband in his bed, but spare, oh spare, the curtains and the coverlet !" Note I, p. 236. The particular place where Mary was seized by Bothwell. The act by which Bothwell, on the 20th December 1567, was outlawed states that he had surprised the Queen " in via sua inter Linlytgow et oppidum Edinburghi prope pontes vulgo vocatos foull hrigges." {The Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, iii. 6.) The name of the place mentioned has by some in more recent times been identified with Fountainbridge, now a sort of suburb to the west of old Edinburgh, having the suburban villages of Grreenhill 416 APPENDIX. and Merchiston to the south. This is the opinion of Burton (History of Scotland, second edition, iv. 216). It is not, however, Buchanan alone who makes Bothwell meet the Queen " ad Almonis pontem " (Rerum Scot. Hist., p. 217), but previously in an order of amnesty issued 1st October 1567, in favour of one Andrew Beidpeth, — who had been among Bothwell's followers at the seizure, and subsequently in his service, took part in the defence of Dunbar Castle, — it is likewise said that the Queen had been made prisoner " prope aquam de Aiumond " (Hosack, Mary Queen of Scots and Jwr Accusers, p. 667). Bobert Chambers (Domestic Annals of Scotland, second edit. 1859, i. 42) thinks with better reason that he finds the place where the Queen was seized on the road from Linlithgow to Edinburgh two miles from this, and in the vicinity of which one bridge passes over the Almond and another over Gogar-burn. Of the two contemporary diaries which have recorded the events, the one makes the seizure occur " at ane place callit the brigyis " (Diurnal of Remarkable Occurrents, p. 109), the other (The Diary of Robert Birrel : Fragments of Scottish History, p. 8) "at the bridge of Craumoiit." Note K, p. 241. Account given in contemporary public docu- ments of the abduction of the Queen. In " A Declaration in name of Scotland's nobles," dated 11th June 1567, there is spoken of " the ravishing and detentioune of the Quenis majesties persoune." In "a Proclamation by the Lords of the Privy Council and the nobles," dated the 12th June 1567, it is said : — " James Erie Bothwell put violent handes on our Soveraine Ladies maist nobill persoune." In the bond of union of the nobles of Scotland," dated 15th June 1567, the language is used : — " He ambesett hir Majesties way, tuke and ravishit hir maist nobill person." Further speaks "an Act and Proclamation about seizing the Earl of Bothwell," dated the 26th June 1567, of " Hir Hieness awin persoun tressonabille ravischit." In " the answer from the Lords of Scotland to Sir Nicholas Throckmorton," dated the 11th July 1567, the words occur: — " How shamefully the Queen our Sovereign was led captive, and by fear, force, and (as by many conjectures may be well suspected) other extraordinary and more unlawful means compelled to be the bed-fellow to another wife's husband." In " an Act of prohibition against paying rents to the Bishop of Murray, and about arresting him for his support of Bothwell," dated 21st July 1567, it is finally APPENDIX. 417 said of the latter : — " Efter he had alswa tresonabilie revesit hir Majesties maist nobill persoun, and led hir captive to Dunbar." Anderson's Collections, i. 130, 131, 136, 139, 142.— Zez^/i, i. 418. These various statements hardly agree with the story told by Buchanan {Rerum Scot. Hist.^ p. 217) : — " Interea Sterlini collecta sincerior pars nobilitatis ad Reginam mittunt, qui rogarent; spontene, an invita, teneretur; Nam si invita illic asset, se, coacto exercitu, earn liberaturos. Ilia, nuncio non sine risu recepto, respondit; Se invitam eo adductam, sed ita humaniter tractari, ut de priore injuria non habeat quod multum queratur." Note L, p. 291. Bothwell's own account of his life written in Denmark. Suhm had previously stated with accuracy the title of this manuscript which is now found in the Royal Library of Stockholm : — " Les Affaires du Conte de Boduel, I'an 1568, nec non Caroli Dantzaei, Galliarum Regis Legati Literae ab anno 1575 ad annum 1586, ad Regem, Reginam, Proceresque Galliae, datae durante legatione in Dania." The title-page has this superscription : — " Ex donatione excellentissimi viri Dni Claudii Plumii J. U. D. et in Regia Acad. Hafniensi Prof, anno Messije Regis -^terni mdxliv die xviii Augusti," and the manuscript is supposed to have come to Sweden at the time when the Library of the Royal Historiographer Stephanius was sold to the Swedish Chancellor, M. G-. de la Gardie. See Molbech, Danske Haandskrifter fornemlig af Jiistorisk Inhold, i det Kongelige Bihliotheh i Stochholm. Historisk Tidsshrift, iv., 143. Werlauff, Historishe Efterretninger om det store kongelige Bibliothek, Kjobenhavn, 1844, p. 19. The portion of Dancay's correspondence likewise preserved in this manuscript has been published as the 11th part of Handlingar rbrande Skandinaviens Historia (or Nya Handlingar rorande Skandinaviens Historia^ 1st part), with the special title : — Corre- spondance de Charles Dantzai, Ministre de France d la Cour de Dannemarc, Stockholm, 1824, while the portion of Dancay's correspondence which is preserved in the Danish Privy Archives still awaits publication. Note M, p. 301. The exaction of Ox and Sheep Silver" in Shetland. The origin of this exaction is involved in obscurity, but Schiern is wrong in representing it as a separate tax imposed by government 2 D 418 APPENDIX. and as levied also in Orkney, the fact being that it is simply a part of the cumulo duties payable to the Earl of Zetland as owner of the ancient lordship. As such, Gifford, writing in the year 1733, ex- pressly says that it was paid that year in money. In the year 1812, the then Lord Dundas, predecessor of the subsequent Earls of Zetland, obtained a private Act of Parliament empowering him to disentail. In the schedule attached to the Act the revenues of lordship are specified, consisting of, I. " Feir and Umboth duties," and II. " Scatt, wattle, sheep and ox money," the respective amounts from which in each parish being also given. Following upon the Act of disentail, these duties have to a large extent been bought up by the landowners, and are therefore extinguished. Those not so bought ufj are still levied. There is therefore no doubt that the " ox and sheep silver" was levied directly in the islands of Shetland, the fact being that no such exactions imposed were ever known to have been removed. For the information contained in this note I am indebted to the kindness of Colonel Balfour of Balfour Castle, Orkney, and Gilbert Goudie, Esq., Edinburgh. — Translator. Note N, page 309. The pursuit of Both well in Shetland and the fate of some of his companions. " Ye Laird of Grange with ye Constabill of Dunde is landit in Schytland, and hes tain ye pryncepall man of ye cuntre, and hes takin ane of the lord Bothelles shippis." — Letter of David Sinclair to the Earl of Bedford, 15th September 1567. Ellis, Latter Years of James Hejphurn Earl of Bothwell, p. 10. Leaving his ship behind him, which Grange took, and therein the Laird of Tallow, John Hepburn of Bantoun, Dalgleesch, and divers other of the Earl's servants." — Memoirs of Sir James Melvil, p. 85. Melvil's account of what occurred in Shetland is, however, far from correct. For instance, it is undoubted that of Bothwell's servants, both George Dalgleish and William Powrie had two months previously fallen into his enemies' hands, the first examination of them, which is still extant (Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 243-251), having been held on the 23d and 26th of June 1567. Then as regards John Hay, laird of Talla, we know that having, with one of his servants, James Ross, hired a fishing-boat to convey him back to Scotland, he was on the 11th July betrayed to Lindsay, and by him was brought a prisoner to Edinburgh Castle, where he was examined on the 13th of September. " This Johne Hay," expressly says an original authority (Diurnal, p. 121), " past to Orknay with James Erie APPENDIX. 419 Bothwill, and quhen the schippis send be the Regent and Lordis to Orknay and Zetland for (in order to) invaid the said erle and his schippis, the said Johne, and James Ross, ane servant man, con- ducit ane fischeing boit of Pittinweme to transport thame to Lowthiane, quhilk bote come to Pittinweme, and causit shaw to the Lord Lindsay, that sik ane man and servant wes come thair with thame." The only one of the witnesses against Bothwell mentioned by Melvil, whom the enemies of the former succeeded in bringing back from their expedition to the Shetland Isles, is there- fore John Hepburn, laird of Bolton. In the confession, which the latter before his execution made to the priest (Laing, History of Scotland, ii. 263), he himself also says, that he saw in it the Pro- vidence of Grod, that "I had schippis providit to flie, but coulde not escape," which most precisely intimates that he also had been taken on land, not on sea. Note 0, page 310. Intercourse between the kings of Denmark and those of Scotland. P. W. Becker, De rebus inter Joannem et Christianum II., Danice Reges, ac Ludovicum XII. et Jacohum /F., Gallice Scotiwque Eeges, actis. Hafniae, 1835, p. 35. In the beginning of the year 1558, Christian iii. was invited by Mary and the Dauphin to come to Paris in order to be personally present at his relative's approach- ing marriage, but in consequence of his then impaired health, the King had himself represented on the occasion by a Danish Ambas- sador (Stephanii, Historice Danice lihri duo, regnante Ghristiano Tertio; Sor^, 1650, 4to, p. 102). The branch of the Oldenburgh royal race, which was expelled by the dethronement of Christian ir., also sought during their exile like that remaining to cultivate con- nection with the royal family in Scotland. The idea that one of the exiled king's daughters might marry the father of Mary, James v., and bring the latter the whole of Norway as dowry, was cherished by the Emperor Charles v. (Tytler, History of Scotland, V. 196.) To the importance of the bond which subsisted between the Duchess Christine of Lorraine, the most renowned daughter of Christian ii., and Mary, "propter conjunctionem sanguinis, quae est inter ipsam et Reginam Scotiae," Languet believed that he ought to call the attention of the Elector of Saxony in a letter from Paris of 17th November 1565 (Epistolce ad Joachimum Came- rarium ; Lipsise et Frankfurti, 1685, p. 231). Duchess Christine also visited Mary before the latter, in the year 1561, retired from 420 APPENDIX. France [Negotiations^ Lettres, et Pieces diverses, relatives au Regne de Frangois 11.^ tirees du portefeuille de Sehastien de VAuhespiiie, Eveque de Limoges. Par Louis Paris. Paris, 1841, 4to, p. 752). Note P, page 312. Royal Danish suitors for Mary's hand. William of Orange wrote from Breda, in April 1561, to the Elector of Saxony, that he had got secret intelligence from the Court in Paris, " das der Kunig von Dennemark neulich seine Bothschaf das gehabt und um des verstorbnen Kunigs Wittwe hab lassen werben mit vielem erbieten." (Archives ou correspondance inedite de la 3Iaison d' Orange Nassau. Recueil public par Gr. Groen van Prinstern. Premiere Serie. Leide, 1835-1847, i. 57.) In the same year, Languet wrote from Paris on the 9th October 1561 : — "Audio ex iis, qui e Scotia veniunt, Scotos non abhorrere a conjugio Danico." (Huberti Langueti Epistolce secretes ad princi- pemsuum Augustum, Sax. ducem et S. R. I. Septemvirum. Primus e museo ed. J. P. Ludovicus. Halae, 1699, 4to, p. 146.) The pro- ject of marriage referred to had certainly been intrusted to the ambassadors, whose mission both to Mary, who was still remaining a widow in France, and to the Grovernment in Scotland, is found mentioned, along with the statement of another commission, by Resen in 1561. (Kong Fredericks den Andens Kronike^ p. 53.) The subsequent negotiations in the same matter, in course of which the sister of Frederick n., Anne Electress of Saxony, sent a portrait of Mary to Denmark, and which continued till the union of the Scottish Queen with Darnley, are more particularly noticed in the communications of G. Droysen in the so-called " danische Biicher " in Weber, Archiv fur die sdchsische Geschichte (Fiinfter Band) Leipzig, 1867, pp. 7-8; and in F. Krarup, Oplysninger om Kong Frederih den Andens ^gteslahs-Forhandlinger ; Kjobeuhavn, 1872, pp. 27-30. Much earlier, while Mary was but a child, before she was betrothed, in 1548, to the Dauphin, her hand had been offered in marriage during the reign of Christian iii. by a French diplomatist to the King's young son (Ribier, Lettres et Memoires d'Estat des Rois, Princes, Ambassadeurs et aiitres Ministres sour les regnes de Frangois /., Henry 11. et Frangois II. Paris, 1676, fol. i. 606-607.) Note Q, p. 319. By whom Both well was detected in Bergen. Being detected by some Scottish merchants." — Spottiswood, p. 213. " Where he was knowen by some Scots merchants, that APPENDIX. 421 acquented the Earle of Murray at their returne." — Herries, Histori- cal Memoirs^ p. 96. " Cognitus tandem partim vultus serenitate partim indicio mercatorum." — Maria Stuarta,ReginaScotioe,Dotaria Francice, Hceres Anglice et Hybernice^ Martyr ecclesioe, innocens a ccede Darnleiana. Vindice Oberto Barnestapalio (Roberto Turnero). In- golstadii, 1588, Jebb, i. 415. In these instances, however, Norway- is confounded with Denmark. A proof of the residence of many Scottish merchants in Bergen is furnished in a letter by Frederick II., of 27th December 1567, in which, in consequence of the great conflagration of the city in the previous year, he grants the same the tithe-money which was exacted for the English and Scots that died in Bergen. (Absalon Pedersson, Baghog, p. 283.) Another proof of the intercourse between the two countries we have in the importation at that period of horses from Norway to Scotland. (James Paterson, James the Fifth, or the " Gudeman of Ballangeich,'^ Ms poetry and adventures ; Edinburgh, 1861, p. 264.) During the stormy epoch in the history of Scotland in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Bergen afterwards saw more than, once Scottish exiles as guests. Thus, in 1646, James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, came to Bergen in a Norwegian ship, whence he journeyed overland to Christiania to King Christian the Fifth (Mark Napier, Memoirs of the Marquis of Montrose ; Edinburgh, 1856, ii. 643, 656. Mikel Hofnagel, Optegnelser i Norsk Magasin (udg. N. Nicolaysen); Christiania, 1860-1870, ii. 212), and in the year 1746, thirteen, mostly leading Jacobites who had escaped after the battle of Culloden, arrived in Bergen on board the vessel of a foreign skipper, which they had taken possession of. (L. Daae, Christopher Throndss'dn Rustung hans son Enno og hans Datter Skot- tefruen, i Historisk Tidsskrift, udgivet af den norske historiske Forening, i. 160-161.) Note B, p. 344. The memoirs written by Bothwell during his imprisonment in Denmark. Of the memoirs named there are two contemporary transcripts. One of these, which was formerly found at Drottningholm, and which, as already stated, is now preserved in the Boyal Library in Stockholm, has this attestation by Dancay attached to it : Je receus cette instruction au chasteau de Malmeu, le xiii®. jour de janvier, I'an 1568, du Sieur Jacques de Boduel, conte de Boduel, due des isles de Orquenay, Mary de la Royne d'Escosse, etc. ; et Fay presente a Helsingbourg au sieur Peter Oxe, present le sieur Jehan Friz, 422 APPENDIX. Chancellier, le xvi. de Janvier. Sarquoy je receus d'eux mesmes la response au chasteau de Copenhagen le xxi. du diet mois." This duplicate has therefore been a copy which Dancay reserved to himself, since in Helsingborg he delivered the original memoirs to Peter Oxe. It was printed for the first time by the Bannatyne Club. The other contemporary transcript which is preserved among the family papers of d'Esneval in the Castle of Pavilly in Normandy, has marginal notes which, in a couple of words consecutively state the contents of the text, and conclude with this addition : " Le diet conte a luy mesmes ecris les annotations qui sont en la marge." It has, therefore, without doubt been sent by Bothwell himself to France, where it was probably on account of his own explanations afterwards given up to Baron d'Esneval, Lord of Courcelles, when the latter went in the year 1585 as French Ambassador to Scotland. This copy was first made use of by Prince Labanoflf in his Pieces et Documents relatifs au Comte de Bothioell. With some few variations both copies have nearly a perfectly harmonious text, which has been cited in this work after the printed copy in Teulet, LettreSj pp. 155-189. Note S, p. 344. Attempts made by the Danish Government to regain possession of the Islands of Orkney and Shetland. The last book of Torfseus's Orcades (p. 207-228) is merely a statement "De indefessis potentissimorum Begum Daniae Nor- wegiseque studiis jus suum in Orcades adjacentemque Hetlandiam pacifice repetendi." At the close of the reign of Christian iv., who, notwithstanding his own adverse circumstances endeavoured with both money and men to aid Charles i. during the civil war in England, this object was believed in Denmark to be so nearly gained, that according to Torfgeus it was said to be a question as to which of the members of Council should have the management of these islands. During the naval war against England in which Frederick m., along with the Dutch, took part in the years 1666-7, it is also said to have been intended that Vice-Admiral Nicolaus Heldt should attempt the conquest of the Orkney Isles, and at the Peace of Breda an express reservation was still made by the Danish Ambassadors protecting their rights in this matter {Sam- linger til DenmarJcs Historic wide}' Kong Frederilo den Tredie, Udgivne af P. W. Becker; Kjobenhavn, 1847-57, ii. 152, 195- 96, 408). The publication itself of Torfasus's Orcades at the close of the century may be considered as a reservation from the Dano- APPENDIX. 423 Norwegian side, since Torfaeus in the dedications of his work to Christian expressly designates the islands as " provinciam Tuam." The king's ministers, on account of the pointed way in which the right of redemption of the islands was insisted upon, would not give their consent to the printing of the work, but Christian v. himself subsequently commanded that the claims (in question) so far from being deemed forbidden, the book must, on the contrary, by no means see the light, unless they were fully detailed " (Eriksen, Thormod Torfesens Biographi. Minerva for December Maaned 1787, p. 307). Finally, in the middle of the eighteenth century Frederick v. once more repeated the demand for the restoration to Denmark of the Orkney and Shetland Isles [Historiscli-genealo- gische Naclirichten von den vornelimsten Begehenheiten welclie sich an den europdischen Ho/en zugetragen. Leipzig, 1741-1752, cxl. 695). Note T, p. 358. Clark's acknowledgment of the surrender to him of William Murray and Paris in Denmark. As this remarkable document has not hitherto been printed, we give it here from the contemporary copy in the Danish Archives : " Ego Johannes Klarck, Scoticorum cohortium Capitaneus, profiteor hoc meo chirographo accepisse me a Nobili ac prsestanti Dno, D. Petro Oxe de G-islefeldt, Regni Danici Magistro curiae, duos viros, utpote Vilhelmum Murranum et Paridem Grallum, qui dicuntur proditores necnon interfectores Sereniss : Regis Scotorum piiss : memoriae Henrici etc : quos praefatos me obligo sisturum judices Regni Scotici, ibi examinandos ac puniendos, si sontes reique fuerint, liberosque pronunciatos demissurum, hac tamen lege, ut eis concedetur (sic) tempus unius mensis, amicos ac propinquos sues sollicitandos (sic) si quos habuerint, qui eos de crimine, quo sunt inusti, purgare possint aut velint. Hasc ita firma atque vera esse, sigillo meo proprio atque nativo muniendum volui. Datum Roschildias 30 Octobris, Ao. 1568." This document, agreeing most completely as it does with the fact, elsewhere mentioned, that Clark was also able in a letter from Roskilde of 20th November 1568, himself to report to Cecil the surrender of "both Bothwell's servants" [Calendar of State Papers^ Foreign Series, 1566-68, p. 575), best discovers with how great injustice it has formerly been asserted by one, that " the papers found in the Danish Ar- chives contain nothing besides which can throw the least light on Mary's history " {Bergenhammer, p. 226). Only lack of more pro- 424 APPENDIX. found knowledge of that on which the critical investigation of Mary Stuart's history specially depends, can have overlooked the signi- ficance of a contribution as that just given. Note U, p. 366. Answers of Clark to the charges brought against him in Denmark. His written declaration, in reference to the complaints com- municated to him 1st July, is preserved in the Danish Archives. With respect to the accusation of Aikman, its main contention is that the latter had allowed day after day to elapse without pro- ducing witnesses, while Aikman and Campbell, who had long been personal enemies, were, subsequently to the date of the first-men- tioned charge, reconciled, and had exchanged gifts as a sign of friendship. The letter to the Kegent in Scotland complained of, Clark acknowledges to be from himself, but he assumes that by writing it he cannot have erred, considering that he had received full power to negotiate about Bothwell's surrender. In respect to the third charge, viz., his conduct in Scotland in the year 1567, he maintains that Mary, when at that unquiet period she departed from Edinburgh, had in vain summoned him to enter her service, in which case she would send Frederick ii. as much money back as Clark had brought with him from Denmark ; that he had cer- tainly with good counsel and plans assisted the rebels against the Queen " and the traitor who called himself her husband," but that at Carberry he had nevertheless been followed only by four Swedes, the other soldiers having been enlisted by him twelve days later ; and that if any one could prove that at the time the Queen was made prisoner he had given away or lent any of the money intrusted to him, " he would submit to lose both life and honour." Note V, p. 385. The date of Bothwell's death. Eiler Brockenhuus' Hidoriske Ecdenderantegnelser, p. 42. Against the weight of this and other statements which make Bothwell's imprisonment last for ten years, and refer his death to the year 1578, J. Grundtvig has brought forward a new testimony, which however does not possess the value he wishes to attach to it. The accounts themselves for Dragsholm are now wanting, but if we take the short abstracts " of the feudal accounts by themselves, it is found that the abstracts relating to the yearly accounts for 1573- 1574, 1574-1575, and 1575-1576, state that the expenses for APPENDIX. 425 Dragsholm, among various not always specified purposes, were also for "the Scottish Earl." The abstracts of the following year's accounts on the contrary present no longer under the heading of accounts for Dragsholm this laconic statement, and from this it is concluded that Bothwell must by that time have been dead. But the abstract relating to the accounts for the year 1571-1572 men- tions also that the expenses of Dragsholm, among diflFerent other purposes, had been for " Captain Klerck, who was there kept a prisoner." The abstract of the next year's accounts, however, contains under the heading of accounts for Dragsholm no such statement, and yet it is acknowledged on all hands that Captain Clark for some years after this date still "remained there a prisoner." If then in this case it is altogether impossible to draw any conclusion from silence on the part of the abstract of accounts as to death having occurred during the year, a similar conclusion can with no certainty be inferred from corresponding silence in the other abstracts of accounts. Note W, p. 389. Turner's account of the death of Bothwell. Carcerem Bothuelli vide Reginse theatrum, et ipsam mortem testem innocentias. Siquidem Rex Dania? pro communione san- guinis et familiae, quae illi perpetua est cum regibus Scotis, cum ssepenumero minis illecebrisque conatus fuerit exprimere e Bothuello veritatem, turn in mortis articulo aggressus hominem, per Dei paulo post futuri judicis obtestationem, ut liberam iam tandem vocem mitteret indicem innocentiae, aut sceleris Reginae indicem. Post multum variumque sermonem de multa variaque re, quem cum Rege habuit, libera altaque voce ita sibi Deum propitium precabatur, ut Regina caedis Darleianse nec conscia, nec praescia. Regi de percussore pergenti quaerere, Murranius spurius, inquit, orsus est, Murtonius duxit, ego caedis hujus telam pertexui. Literas relinquit scriptas, modum praescriptum, locum notatum, conjuratorum numerum, fidem datam, alias res indices csedis et authorum. Moritur Bothuellus, vivit Danus princeps vestrarum partium testis. Bothuellium amentia perditum exhalasse scribit Buchananus, scilicet ut populus credat has voces fuisse insanige, non veritatis. Maria Stuarta regina Scotice, Dotaria Francice Hceres Anglice et Hyhernice^ martyr ecclesice, innocens a ccede Darnleiana. Yindice Oberto Barnestapalio. Ingolstadii, 1588, from a reprint by Jebb De vita et rebus gestis Marice Scotorum Regincs, i. 415. The ascription of Turner's Dedication to " D. 426 APPENDIX. G-ulielmo Alano, S. R. E. Cardinali " shows that he executed the work " Venetiis, idibus Februarii 1588." Note X, p. 391. Bothwell's dying declaration or so-called " Testament." The French abstracts of this document have come to us from the Scots College or le College des Ecossais, which was founded in the University of Paris in 1333, by James Bishop of Moray. It was united in 1639 with a seminary for Scots Catholic priests that had been established by the Archbishop of Glasgow, James Beaton, for many years Mary's Ambassador in France, who died in 1603. The college, which at first stood in Rue des Amandiers, was re- moved in 1665 to Rue des Fosses-Saint- Victor, where in the chapel is preserved in a gilt urn the brain of James ii., the last of the Stuart kings of Great Britain. Along with very many other colleges and seminaries the Scots College was also abolished during the Revolution in 1792, but was re-established under the Imperial Government, united with the Irish College, and placed under the superintendence of the French University, and has still its domicile in Rue du Cheval Vert or Rue des Irlandais (Belin et Pujol, Histo ire civile f morale^ et monumentale de Paris, Paris, 1843, pp. 134, 358). Among the many documents belonging to the history of Mary which were preserved in the Scots College from the period of Beaton's long-continued embassy, but which latterly went amissing, was a contemporary abstract of the declaration ascribed to Both- well. This abstract, however, was one of those contributed by the college, which Keith was able to make use of, and which was long ago reprinted in his History of State and Church in Scotland, Appendix, p. 144. It begins thus : — " Le Comte de Bothuel, malade a I'extremite, au chateau de Malmay, a verifie ce qui s'enauit. L'Evesque de Scone, avec quatre grands Seigneurs, a sgavoir : les Seigneurs Berin Gowes, du chateau de Malmay, Otto Braw, du chateau d'Ottenbrocht, Paris Braw, du chateau de Yescut, et M. Gullunstarne, du chateau de Fulcenstrie, avec les quatre baillifs de la ville, prierent ledict Comte de declarer librement ce qu'il sgavoit de la mort du feu Roy Henry et des autheurs d'icelle, comme il vouloit repondre devant Dieu et au jour du jugement, la ou toutes choses, tant cachees soyent-eUes, seront manifestees. " In the British Museum are two contempo- rary abstracts of the Declaration, written in the English language, both in the Cottonian Collection, Manuscr. Caligula, D. H. fol. 519, APPENDIX. 427 and in Manuscr. Titus, c. vii. fol. 39. Somewhat different in the editing, they agree in their contents with the French abstract. The beginning is as follows : — " The confession of my Lord Bothwell before y dyed in presence of dyvers lords of Denmarke, being maire lang in latin and danisk. The lords present weare these : Baron Growes of Malmye Castle, Otto Brawe of Elsinbronche Castell, Monsieur Gullionestarne of Fowltostie Castell, the bishop of Skone and four baylies of the towne, who desired him that he would declare his conscience and say nothinge but the truth concernand the Kinge and Queene of Scotland with the childe." The abstract contained in the English manuscripts has been printed by Miss Agnes Strickland in her Letters of Mary Queen of Scots and documents connected ivith her personal history ; London, 1843, iii. 123-125 ; more accurately by Prince Labanoff in his Pieces et documents relatifs au Comte de Bothwell, pp. 47-49, and by Teulet in his Lettres, pp. 243-245. Note Y, page 395. The testament and latter will of the Lord Boduell. [Two MSS. with this title, differing somewhat in their spelling and handwriting, are now in the library of the University of Edin- burgh. How they came into the hands of Drummond is not known, but the probability is that he obtained possession of them through some friend who had been in the court of James vi. It would appear from the fact that two other mss. of the same document, almost identical with the two in the University Library, are still extant in the British Museum, that numerous copies, all derived from the same original, existed at one time in the country. The reader who is desirous of seeing how very much alike all these MSS. of Bothwell's so-called testament are, may compare the one printed verbatim in this note with that given by Miss Strickland from the MSS. in the British Museum, Letters of Mary Queen of Scots, vol. i. pp. 304-6. The two mss. now in the library of the University of Edinburgh were recovered, along with some others, in 1875. They had been taken home for some purpose by a former librarian, and he having died suddenly while they were in his possession, they fell into the hands of one of his relations, who, on learning subsequently their nature, restored them to the present librarian, John Small, M.A. — Translator.] " The confessione of the Lord Bothuell, before he dyed, in the presence of 4 Lords of Denmarke uith many uthers in Malmye 428 APPENDIX. Castle, under the King of Denmarks jurisdictione ; being more at length in the Latine and Danes tongue written. And these be their names, Berreis Cowes of Malmy Castle, Otta Braw of Alflfen- browghe Castle, Pieris Braw of Veseull Castle, Mouns. GruUiam Starne of Sentoftira Castle. With the Bishope of Skene and four Baylyves of the Toune, desyreing him that he would declare his confession, and say nothing but the truth, concerning the King and Queene and childe hir sone. " Secondly, he did take it upon him with his death, That the Queen did never knou nor consent to the death of the King ; but he and his freinds by his appoyntment and devyse ; and likuyse divers uther Lords consenting therunto, which uas not there at that present deide doing. And thes be ther names, The Lord Mortoun nou regent, The Lord James, The Erie of Glencairne, The Erie of Argyle, The Lord Robert, The Lord Lethiugtoune, The Lord Boyde, The Laird of Grange, The Lord Erie Huntley, The Erie of Crawfourd, The Laird of Buckleuche, The Lord of Pharnyharst (Fernyhurst) uith many others. " Thridly, he did confesse, that all the freindship he had at the Queens hands, was by means of witchcraft, and all inventions that belong therto, to make hir to love him : and he did find the moans to put his maryed uif away. He did confesse that after the mariage he did seek all the means possible to destroy the young child : And also he sought all the means he could to destroy many Lords of Scotland, and that by treason. " Fourthly, he confessed that he had deceived many Gentlewomen both of France and England, uith many other uilde facts uhich he said uare too long to rehearse, asking God forgivenes therfore : And likuyse did confesse, that he had taken auay tuo Ladys Daughters out of Denmark into Scotland, and made them both beleive he would marry ym, and did defloure yem of their vir- ginitie, and likuyse many Gentlewomen of Scotland. " Fifthly, he confessed that he had deceived tuo of the Borrou maister's daughters of Hokirks,i with many moe deids in that place ; uhich he said uould be too long to declare at length : But these expressed and all his offences he did since his birth, he did aske forgivenes, and did forgive all the uorld, and uas sorrowful for his offences, and did receive the sacrament, that this uas good and true. And therafter dyed. 1 Ltlbeclc, according to the copy printed by Miss Strickland. APPENDIX. 429 Note Z, p. 396. Alleged forged documents produced during the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism. As a pendant to the statement in the text on this subject, we may certainly adduce from contemporary Continental literature the so-called " Discours du Roy Henry troisiesme a un personnage d'honneur et de qualite estant pres de sa Majeste sur les causes et les motifs de la St. Barthelemy." It professes to be an account of how Henry of Anjou, two days after having arrived as King of Poland in the year 1573, in the, to him, altogether foreign city of Cracow, being tormented by agony of mind, is said, during a sleepless night in the palace to have called an unnamed confidant of his, to whom he confessed that the frightful images of St. Bar- tholomew's night would not allow him to sleep, and then by a discourse as to how everything on that occasion took place, to have sought ease to his mind. Against the genuineness of this account, which Sis- mondi, Michelet, and Henri Martin accepted as authentic, Mackin- tosh {History of England, London, 1830-1836, iii. 230) in the first instance, and more recently Ranke (Franzdsische Geschichte, vor- nehmlich im sechszeJinten und siehzehriten Jalirhundert^ Stuttgart und Tiibingen, 1852-1861, i. 330) have with reason declared them- selves. INDEX. Aalborg, Captain Christiern, the captor of Bothwell ia Norway, 316, 318, 327, 331. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland against falsifiers of legal docu- ments, 116. Adrian, Peter, 373-5. Africanus, Scipio, the story about, 279. x^ikman, Captain Walter, 362, 364, 365. " Ainslie's Supper," 229, 231. Alame, Thomas, Professor in Copen- hagen, 311. Alava, Don Frances de, his account of the religious ceremonial of the Queen's marriage to Bothwell, 257. Albany, Duke of, one of Darnley's titles, 60. Almond, river of, place of Mary's abduction, 236, 415. Alva, Spanish governor of the Netherlands, 351. Amboise, plot of, its effect upon the Guises, 20. Angus, Archibald Douglas, Earl of, grandfather of Darnley, 43, 121. Anne, Princess of Denmark, bride of James vi., 398 ; prevented from coming to Scotland by a storm, 399 ; marriage to James vi., 400 ; coronation, 403. Antoinette, Marie, reply of, to the tribunal of the Revolution, 150. Ardmanach, Lord of, one of Darn- ley's titles, 60. Argyll, Archibald Campbell, Earl of, Chief Justice, 38, 72, 104, 223. Jane Stuart, Countess of, 72, 90, 91. Bishop of, gives banquet to Morreta, 203. Aristocracy, feudal, decay of the power of, in Western Europe, 26. Armadas, French, 18. Arms of Scotland, Royal, 273. Armstrong, Symon, an accomplice in Darnley's murder, 201. Arran, James Hamilton, Earl of, chief nobleman in Scotland, 7 ; an adherent of the Reformation, 15; challengedby Bothwell, 15-16; the most notorious of Bothwell's enemies, 26 ; contest with Marquis d'Elbeuf, 27 ; reconciliation to Bothwell, 29-30 ; seized with mental disease, 30 ; accuses Both- well, his father, and Gawin Hamil- ton of a plot to surprise the Queen at Falkland, 30 ; taken into custody for madness, 31. AthoU, John Stuart, Earl of, 50, 58, 77, 79. Aumale, Claude Duke d', 24. Axel Wiffert of Naes, an officer of Frederick ir. See Wiffert. Balfour, Sir James, of Pittendreich, alleged design of Riccio's mur- derers against, 79, 104 ; draws up bond for putting Darnley out of the way, 103; delivers the silver casket to Dalgleish, 107 ; supposed by some to be the author of the writings ascribed to Mary, 135 ; suspected of Darnley's murder, 200 ; made commander of Edin- burgh Castle, 253-4; how he acted towards the Queen's adherents, 70, 269 ; betrays Edinburgh Castle, 295 ; his political vacillation, 300. Canon Robert, brother of Sir James, connected with the murder of Darnley, 194, 200, 253. Gilbert, of Westray, bailiff of Orkney, his reception of Both- well there, 299, 300. John, Mary's treasurer, 100. 432 INDEX. Balnaves, Sir Henry, of Halhill, assessor at Bothwell's trial, 223. Bannatyne Club, publication of Both- well's manuscript by, 291. Banner of Scotland, 273. Bartholomew, St., massacre of, 378. Beal, Robert, report of, 157. Beaton, Archibald, one of the Queen's servants present at Darnley's mur- der, 201. Cardinal David, persecutes Buchanan, 163. James, Archbishop of Glasgow, letter of Mary to, 75 ; letter of, regarding execution of Bothwell's men that returned to Scotland, 328 ; correspondence between him and Mary about getting the testa- ment of Bothwell, 392-3. Janet, her alleged illicit re- lation to Bothwell, 53. James, 271, 274, 280, 284-5, 287, 349. Margaret. See Reres. Mary, 249, 409. Robert, Mary's High Steward, 72. Beaufort, Jane, widow of James i., 3. Bedford, Francis, Earl of. Com- mander on the English frontiers, 51-2, 90, 91, 98, Bell, Henry Glassford, his attempt to refute the opinion that the ab- duction was concerted between Mary and Bothwell, 244. Bellenden, Patrick, of Stanehouse, one of Riccio's murderers, 74. Bellenden, Sir John, Justice-Clerk, 141. Bergen, Bothwell's arrival and de- tention in, 318-26. Residence of Scotsmen in, 420-21. Berwick, treaty of, 17. Binning, John, executed for Darn- ley's murder, 200. Bishop, Thomas, his letter to Mary, 233-4. Bisso, Francisco de, charged with the King's murder, 220. Bjorn Kaas, Commander of Mal- moe Castle, letter of Frederick ii. to, 339-40. Blacater, John, 144. Blacater, William, 144, 313, 314,350. Blackwood, Adam, 303. Boleyn, Anne, mother of Elizabeth, 39. " Book of Articles," 229, 288,413-14. Bordeaux, Jean de, charged as an accomplice in Darnley's murder, 220. Borthwick Castle, 267. "Bothwell Bank," song of, 2. Bothwell Castle, 1-3, 7. Bothwell, Adam, Protestant Bishop of the Orkneys, marries the Queen and Bothwell, 256 ; accompanies expedition against Bothwell, 306, 307-8. Francis, Earl of, Bothwell's nephew. See Stuart, Francis. Lady. See Gordon. Lady Anne, a daughter of Adam Bothwell, "Lament" of, 407. Margaret, Countess of, wife of Earl Francis, 403. James Hepburn, Earl of, date of his birth, 3 ; early train- ing in Spynie Castle, 5 ; books belonging to, 6 ; succeeds as Lord of Bothwell Castle, etc., 7; earliest martial exploit, 8 ; makes an in- road upon England, 9 ; appointed member of Scottish Commission for settling all disputes about the Borders, 10 ; sides with the Re- gent, 12 ; captures the laird of Ormiston at Dunpender Law, 13- 14 ; pursuit of, 14 ; takes refuge in Crichton Castle, 15 ; sent to secure Stirling Castle, 16 ; de- spatched to France, 19 ; appointed as Gentilhomme de la Chambre at the Court of France, 20 ; leaves Paris for Scotland, 23 ; made a member of Mary's Privy Council, 25 ; makes prisoner of the eldest son of John Cockburn, 27 ; be- longed to the Reformed Kirk, 28 ; interview with Knox, 28-9 ; agrees to refer his difference with Cock- burn to the decision of Arran, 29 ; imprisoned by Lord James Stuart, 31 ; removed to Edinburgh Castle, 32 ; escapes to Hermitage Castle, 34 ; embarks for France, 35 ; made captain of the Scottish Guard in France, 36 ; returns to Scot- INDEX. 433 Both well, Earl oi- - continued. land, 37 ; summoned to answer for complicity in Arran's con- spiracy, 37 ; again embarks for the Continent, 38 ; recalled from France, 49 ; lands at Eyemouth, 50 ; left warden of the Borders, 51 ; espouses Lady Jane Gordon, sister of George Earl of Huntly, 51 ; private life, 52 ; mistresses, 53 ; charge against, by Anne Thronds- son, 54 ; his betrothals, 56 ; his marriage contract with Jane Gor- don, 57-8 ; where and how^ mar- ried to Jane Gordon, 58-9 ; chosen member of the New Parliament, 70 ; comes to the assistance of the Queen in Holyrood, 77 ; escapes with his confederates from Holy- rood, 78-9 ; joins Mary at Dunbar, 84 ; secures the i)ardon of some of the murderers of Biccio, 85 ; legacy of Mary to, 88 ; refuses to be present at Bomish ceremony of the baptism of James vi., 90 ; opposed to Maitland being again made Secretary of State, 92 ; his appointment as Keeper of Dunbar Castle, 93 ; his encounter with John Elliot, 94 ; his person not handsome, 97 ; cause of his quarrel with Maitland, 99 ; won over to the cause of the opposite party by the prospect of reaching the throne, 99-100 ; his opinion about Mary's divorce from Darnley, 101- 102 ; one of the first subscribers to the bond for Darnley's destruc- tion, 104 ; his relations to Mary before Darnley's death, 106 ; con- fession of, 119; why his testi- mony about the alleged letters is not admissible, 119 ; his inter- view wdth Morton at Whitting- ham, 122; obtains a letter of assurance from Mary protecting his supporters to her hand, 127 ; no doubt about his criminality, 145 ; Buchanan's account of his intercourse with Mary while stay- ing in so-called Exchequer House, 166; favourably mentioned by Knox, 183 ; main proof of Mary's early understanding with, 191 ; 2 Bothwell, Earl of — continued. motto of, 193; the only originator of the murder of Darnley, 197 ; holds consultation with the Or- mistons, Hepburn and Hay, about the murder of the king, 202 ; causes gunpowder to be brought from Dunbar for blowing up Darnley, 202 ; accompanies the Queen to Holyrood on the night of Darnley's murder, 205 ; leaves the festivities in Holyrood for the scene of Darnley's murder, 205-6 ; returns to the Palace after Darn- ley's murder, 210 ; informs the Queen about her husband's death, 211 ; as Sheriff of Edinburgh- shire, institutes judicial investi- gations into the murder, 211 ; his explanation of the death of Darnley, 215 ; reasons why he thought the King's death would call forth no great sympathy in Scotland, 215-6 ; means taken by him to turn suspicion of Darnley's murder from himself, 216; dis- appointment of his suppositions as to Darnley's death, 216 ; popular opinion ascribed the murder to him, 217 ; no portrait of him known to exist, 217 ; assize appointed for his trial, 221 ; how he appeared before the assize-court, 221-2; his trial, where held, 223 ; names of jury- men at his trial, 224 ; his acquit- tal, and the grounds of it, 225 ; issues challenge to single combat, 225 ; his possession of D unbarCastle confirmed by Parliament, 228 ; Bond subscribed in his favour by the Scottish nobles at ' ' Ainslie's Supper," 229-31 ; abduction of Mary, 236 ; how his abduction of Mary was explained, 242-3 ; why he ventured on abducting the Queen to Dunbar, 245-6 ; seeks a divorce from his former wife, 246-7 ; his divorce from Lady Jane Gordon granted by both the Protestant and Catholic Courts, 248-9 ; created by the Queen Duke of Orkney and Shetland, 253 ; how he got his marriage to 434 INDEX. Both well, Earl of — continued. the Queen celebrated, 255-6 ; writes Elizabeth and Charles ix. on his marriage to Mary, 259 ; rising of the Scottish nobles against, reasons for, 260-2 ; ob- jects of the alliance of the nobles against, 264-5 ; proposes an ex- pedition to the Border regions, 265 ; leaves Edinburgh and be- takes himself with the Queen to Borthwick Castle, 267 ; escapes from Borthwick, 268 ; summons the Queen's vassals to fight for her, 271 ; arrives with his army on Carberry Hill, 274 ; his pro- posal for single combat at Car- berry Hill, 277 ; reason why he refused all the champions of the Lords at Carberry, 283-4 ; his final interview with the Queen, 287 ; his history after parting with Mary on Carberry Hill, 290 ; his own account of his life, 291 ; why he was not pursued on leav- ing Carberry Hill, 293-4 ; Bond entered into by the nobles against, 294 ; why he did not remain in Dunbar Castle after the affair of Carberry Hill, 295-6; takes re- fuge with his grand-uncle in Spynie Castle, 297 ; passes from Morayshire to the Orkneys, 298 ; reason for his retiring to the Orkneys, 299 ; maintenance pro- vided for him in Shetland, 300 ; obtains additional ships in Shet- land, 301 ; charged with piracy, 302-5 ; pursued by Scottish squadron, 306 ; overtaken in Shetland, 307-8 ; his escape to Unst, 308 ; engagement with his pursuers off Shetland, 309,418; his intention of visiting the continent, 310; is driven on the coast of Norway, 315 ; his ships taken to Bergen, 316-18 ; examined by a commission in Bergen, 318-19, 420 ; his treatment there, 319 ; meets with his Norwegian bride, 321-2 ; mortifications to which he was subjected, 320-24 ; refused passport to leave Bergen, 323-4 ; examination of his letters and Bothwell, Earl of — continued. papers found in one of his ships, 325-6 ; is conveyed to Copenhagen, 327-9 ; writes Charles ix. and Frederick ii. of Denmark, 329-30 ; how he is called by Frederick ii., 332 ; proposal to send him to some castle in Jutland, 332-34 ; his surrender refused, 335-6 ; im- prisoned in Malmoe Castle, 342 ; memoir drawn up by him while in the castle of Copenhagen, 342-3, 417, 421 ; his ofi"er to Frederick II. of Orkney and Shetland, 343-4 ; condemned by Parliament to death, 347 ; his execution in Den- mark demanded by Murray, 353 ; joins accusers of Clark, 364-5 ; report of his being set at liberty, 368 ; why his surrender when agreed to was not made, 372-3 ; liberty enjoyed by him in Mal- moe, 373-7 ; correspondence be- tween him and Mary while in Denmark, 375-7 ; his mandate for his divorce from Mary, 376 ; why he was latterly subjected to harsher treatment in Denmark, 378 ; where his new prison was, 380-1 ; when and where he died, 385-6,424; attem])ts made to iden- tify his remains, 386-7 ; his mental condition when he died, 387-8, 425 ; his so-called " Testament," 390, 426-7 ; witnesses before whom his dying declaration was made, 390-2 ; date of his " Testament," 392; his so-called "Testament" adduced as evidence on Morton's trial, 394-5 ; copy of his " Testa- ment" presentedto library of Edin- burgh University, 395 ; why his so-called " Testament " cannot be accepted as genuine, 396-8 ; no account of his last moments, 405 ; Testament and latter will of, 427. Bowes, Eobert, letters of, 110-11. Boyd, Lord Robert, 127, 376. Brahe, Tycho, astronomer, 330, 401. Branksome. See Janet Beaton. Brantome, opinion of, regarding the sonnets ascribed to Mary, 128 ; his representation of Mary's dis- position, 147. INDEX. 435 Bressay Sound, 301-2, 307-8. Brissac, Marshal, 165. Buchanan, George, verses of, in cele- bration of Mary's return to Scot- land, 41 ; statement on the early life of Bothwell, 52 ; his editions of the contested letters, 112 ; not the writer of the documents as- cribed to Mary, 135 ; his name attached to the deposition of Paris, 141 ; makes no mention of the confession of Paris, 142 ; famous pamphlet, 161 ; early life, 161 ; chosen tutor by James v. 'for one of his sons, 162; incurs persecution for his writings and escapes to the Continent, 163-4 ; returns to his native country, 165 ; his position when he wrote his pamphlet against Mary, 165 ; his charges against Mary and Both- well, 166-7, 411-12 ; rewarded for his literary and poetical services by Mary, 168 ; selected as tutor for James vi., 168 ; his works condemned by Parliament, 169 ; required by James vi. to recall what he had said about Mary, 169 ; his attack on Mary a party production, 170 ; foundation of his pamphlet against JNIary, 171 ; his statements about Mary not trustworthy, 172-5; verses in celebration of the Queen, 175-6 ; statement about Both- well's splendid dress at Stirling, 176 ; representation of Both well's accommodation in Seton Castle on Mary's visit, 177 ; version of pamphlet against Mary not suc- cessful in France, 179 ; his works the chief means of bringing Mary to the scaffold, 181 ; remark about Knox's History, 188 ; omits story of Chatellard, and the reason of this, 188-9 ; his remark about the choice of the house in Kirk-of- field, 194-5 ; his opinion about the issue of the enterprise of the Lords against Bothwell, 271; con- founded with his nephew Thomas, 368-9 ; confirmation of his account of Bothwell having died mad, 388. Thomas, provost of Kirkhill, Buchanan, Thomas — continued. correspondence of, with Cecil, 136 ; ambassador to Frederick ii., 368- 371, 376-7, 397. Buccleuch, Lady. See Janet Beaton. Burton, John Hill, notice of his History of Scotland, 412-13. Cagnioli, Timotheo, Mary's banker, 366. Lorenzo, 366. Caithness, Earl of, foreman of the jury on Bothwell's trial, 224. Calais, capture of. See Guise. Camden, William, 92, 135-6, 147, 154, 230. Campbell, Alexander, 362, ■ Archibald, See Argyll. Carberry Hill, encampment upon, 273. Carwod, Margaret, one of the Queen's ladies, marriage of, 203. Casaubon, Isaac, letter of, about James vi., 403. Castelnau de Mauvissifere. See Mau- vissi^re. Cateau-Cambresis, peace of, 10. Catholic Church, efforts of Mary for the relief of, 69. Catherine de Medici. See Medici. Cecil, William, Lord Burghley, opinion of, regarding the Treaty of Edinburgh, 22 ; letter of Ran- dolph to, 49 ; letter of Randolph to, 52 ; letter of Thomas Buchanan to, 137 ; so-called Diary of, 139 ; letter by Bothwell and Mary to, after their marriage, 260 ; his em- ployment of Kokesby's brother as a spy in Scotland, 297-8 ; letter of Peter Adrian to, 373-4; his correction of the report of Both- well's death, 383-4. Chalmers, David, of Ormond, 166 ; suspected by Lennox to be one of Darnley's murderers, 220; account of, 220. Charles v. accepts poem of Buchanan, 163. IX. of France, letter to, con- cerning death of Darnley, 215 ; Bothwell's purpose to visit, 310 ; prevents Bothwell's surrender, 372 ; Dancay's letter to, 379. 43G INDEX. Chatelherault, Duke of, 18, 80, 31-2. origin of the title of, 8. Chatellard, story of, 184-6 ; why omitted by Buchanan, 188-9. Chisholm, William, Bishop of Dun- blane, deputed by Mary to ex- ])lain her marriage to Bothwell to Charles ix., Catherine de Medici, 237 ; Mar3''s instruction to, in reference to her marriage, 237- 240. Christian i., 310, 344. II., 310. in., 311, 330, 344, 419. Clark, Captain John, choice of, to secure Both well's surrender, 348- 350 ; recommendatory letter given to, 350 ; proposal to Frederick ii., 351 ; acknowledgment of the sur- render of certain of Bothwell's servants, 357-8, 423 ; why he fell under the displeasure of Frederick ni., 361-2 ; letter to Murray, 363 ; examination, 363-6 ; charges against him, 365-6, 423 ; efforts made for his release, 384 ; con- fined in Dragsholra, 384 ; death in Dragsholm, 385, 425. Clernault, De, French envoy at Berwick when Darnley was mur- dered, 196-7. Cockburn, Alexander, son of the laird of Ormiston, 27-28. John, capture of, 13 ; re- quired to enter his recognisances not to make war on Bothwell, 25 ; submits to have his quarrel with Bothwell arranged by A.rran, 29 ; pardon of, 85. Commendator, meaning of, 14. Cond^, Servais de, remarks of, sub- joined to Mary's Inventories, 176-7, 414-15. Copenhagen, Bothwell's arrival in, 229. Cosmo I., Grand Duke of Tuscany, 46, 48, 76, 208. Craig, John, minister of St. Giles' Kirk, asked to publish the banns of the Queen's marriage, 251 ; his refusal to publish the banns, 251- 252 ; his declaration on the occa- sion, 252 ; present at the Queen's marriage with Bothwell, 255. Crawford, David, his story about Murray's treatment of Hamilton's wife, 146. Earl of, sword-bearer, 233. Thomas, of Jordanhill, his declaration, 113, 130-1. Crichton Castle, one of Bothwell's fortresses, sack of, 15. Croc, Du, French ambassador, his refusal to be present at marriage of Mary and Bothwell, 256 ; let- ters about Mary's sadness after the marriage, 89, 91, 262; offers to mediate between the Queen and the Confederate Lords, 270 ; futile attempt made by him to reconcile the hostile parties on Carberry Hill, 275-8 ; his opinion of Both- well as a general, 278-9. Croftes, Sir James, 13. Crown, Matrimonial, the meaning of, 62. Cunningham, Robert, appears for Lennox, 224. Dalgetty, Captain Dugald, source of the character, 310-11. Dalgleish, George, falls into the hands of Morton with the casket,. 107, 206,418 ; engaged in Darnley 's murder, 201 ; his deposition, 123, 140, 172; execution, 328. Dancay, Charles, French ambassador in Denmark, 330, 344, 367, 379. Danish Government, attempts to re- gain possession of the Orkney and Shetland Isles by, 422-23. Danish Royal suitors for Mary's hand, 420. Darnley, Henry Stuart Lord, birth of, 43 ; permitted by Elizabeth to visit Scotland, 44 ; first meet- ing with Mary, 44 ; accompanies the army against Murray, 50 ; present at Bothwell's marriage to Jane Gordon, 60 ; his estrange- ment from the Queen, 60 ; in- vested by Mary with the royal title, 61 ; aims at the Crown matrimonial, 62 ; intemperance and brutal conduct, 63; blames Riccio for the Queen's alienation from him, 64 ; seeks the aid of Ruthven against Riccio, 66-7 ; INDEX. 437 Darnley, Lord — continued. enters into a league with Mary's enemies to confine her and put E/iccio out of the way, 68 ; takes upon himself the responsibility of the plot, 69 ; his connection with lliccio's murder, 70 ; his excuse to Mary for joining in the con- si)iracy against Riccio, 76 ; his orders to Symon Prestoun, 78 ; makes Mary a prisoner in Holy- rood, 78 ; two proclamations issued by, after lliccio's murder, 80-1 ; welcomes the exiled nobles on their arrival at Holy rood, 81 ; agrees to the demands of Morton and the rest, 82 ; reconciled to the Queen, 82 ; secretly leaves Holyrood with the Queen, 83 ; his declaration anent lliccio's murder, 86-7 ; his confederates in Kiccio's murder reveal to the Queen his agreement with them, 87 ; legacies of Mary to, 88 ; sends tidings of the birth of his son to Mary's uncle, 89 ; absent from his son's baptism, 91 ; re- fused by Elizabeth the royal title, 91 ; position during the Confer- ence at Craigmillar, 103 ; bond drawn up for his destruction, 104 ; alleged conversation of Crawford with, 131; the letters Eiscribed to Mary may have been written to him, 133 ; real nature of his ilhie^s in Glasgow, 148-9 ; when his murder took place, 192 ; is brought by the Queen to Edin- burgh, 193 ; why he was taken to reside in Kirk-of-Fiekl, 192-3 ; his house in Kirk-of-Field de- scribed, 194 ; furnishing of his residence in Kirk-of-Field, 195, 414-15 ; his quarrel with Lord Eobert Stuart, 202 ; his impres- sion of his final interview with the Queen, 205 ; murder, 206 ; treat- ment of his corpse, 211-12; judicial proceedings in reference to his death, 214 ; reasons why his death would not awaken much sympathy, 215-6 ; how his cori)se was represented on banner of the Lords at Carberry Hill, 274-5 ; I Darnley, Lord — continued. j his visit to Mary after the birth of James vi., 398 ; his bed, 414-15. Dauj)hin of France. See Francis ii. David, Peter, Theological Professor in Copenhagen, 311. Denmark, intercourse between the kings of, and those of Scotland, 419. visit of Bothwell to, 19-20, 310, 329. " Diary," Cecil's or Murray's, 139. Dispensation, the, got for the mar- riage of Bothwell and Lady Jane Gordon, 248. Divorce, frequency of, in former times, 246-7. Don Gueraldo de Espes, Spanish am- bassador, statement of, about the Conference at Westminster, 152- 3. Douglas, Archibald, Earl of Angus. See Angus. Archibald, a cousin of the Earl of Morton, 83, 105, 199, 121-2. George, one of the murderers of Piccio, 66, 74, 105. Lord James. See Morton. Margaret. See Lennox. Sir Eobert, of Lochleven, 172. Sir William, the Queen's jailor, 172. Dragsholm, account of, 380-2. Dress of the women of Edinburgh in Mary's time, 273. Drummond, Henry, laird of Eiccar- ton, 29. of Hawthornden, presentation of, 395. Drury, Sir William, Cecil's agent in Berwick, how he speaks of Darn- ley's conduct towards Mary, 63 ; story about Bothwell, 297-8. Du Croc. See Croc. Dudley, Lord Eobert, proposed as husband to Mary Stuart, 42. Duels, frequency of, 282. Dumbarton, instruction of Scots nobles drawn up at, 134. Dunbar Castle, arsenal of Scotland, assignment of, to Bothwell, 93. Durham, Alexander, 365-6. Edinburgh, old, 193, 205-6, 415-16. treaty of, 21, 39-40. Edmonston, James, 313-14. 438 INDEX. Eglinton, Hew, Earl of, 231. "Eighteen at the Pier, the," 318, 325. Elbeuf, E-ene Marquis d', one of Mary's uncles, 24, 27. Elizabeth, Queen of England, acces- sion of, 9 ; always strove to weaken the independence of Scot- land, 10 ; assists the rebellion in Scotland, 12 ; enters into treaty with the Keformed Lords to expel the French troops from Scotland, 16-17; sends an army into Scotland, 18 ; imprisons Bothwell, 36; offended at Mary Stuart for her assumption of the English arms, 39 ; refuses a safe- conduct to d'Oysel for Mary Stuart, 40 ; proposes a husband for Mary, 42 ; refuses the only condition on which Mary would marry Dudley, 42 ; opposed to the marriage of Mary with Darn- ley, 45 ; complains to the Spanish ambassador about Bothwell, 49 ; summons the Catholic earls of the North of England to court, 51 ; report of her agent as to Mary's estrangement from Darnley, 64; how she punished the Catholic rebels, 85 ; is invited to be god- mother to James vi., 90 ; always refused to give Darnley the royal title, 91 ; supports petition to Mary for the pardon of the mur- derers of Eiccio, 1 05 ; her attempt to reconcile Mary and her op- ponents, 109 ; desirous of pos- sessing the contested papers, 111 ; her promise to communicate the alleged letters to Mary, and why it was withdrawn, 118 ; report furnished her by Shrewsbury and Beal, 157 ; interest shown by her in spreading Buchanan's attack on Mary, 178-9 ; attempt of the Catholics to blow her up with her Parliament, 209 ; letter to Mary craving postponement of Both- well's trial, how received, 222-3 ; letter to Frederick ii. urging the surrender of Bothwell, 347-8. Elliot, John, Bothwell's fight with, 94. Elphinstone, Gawin, 353-4, 363. Eric XIV. of Sweden, a suitor for Mary's hand, 312. Erskine, Alexander, 407. Arthur, of Blackgrange, 73, 84. John, prior of Inchmahome. See Mar. Margaret, mother of the Earl Murray, her enmity to Mary, 172. Exchequer House, the so-called, 116. Fenelon, Bertrand de Salignac de la Motte, French ambassador in England from 1568-1575, 117-18, 372-3, 397. Fleming, Admiral Claes, 316. Lord, 178, 215. Mary, one of the Queen's " Maries," 187, 409. Flodden, battle of, 3. Forbes, Arthur, of Peres, 53. Forgeries, legal and political, ex- amples of, 116, 134, 396, 429. Forster, Sir John, his account of Bothwell, 53 ; report of, to Cecil regarding Mary's dresses to her trusted friends, 177. France, influence of, in Scotland, 7. Francis of Guise, Knight of Malta, 24. II., first husband of Mary, 8, 11, 23, 107, 133, 149. Eraser, Mynart, tried for the mur- der of Darnley, 144. Frederick ii. of Denmark requested by Elizabeth to lend his fleet, 20 ; reason of Bothwell for visiting him, 310-1], 314, 330, 331, 343; suitor for Mary's hand, 312 ; let- ter from Murray to, 312-13 ; how likely to receive Bothwell's offer of Orkney and Shetland, 345 ; his reply to Clark's proposal, 351 ; consults other princes about surrendering Bothwell, 354 ; their replies, 355-6 ; letter about Clark from Peter Oxe and John Friis to, 364-5 ; representation made by Buchanan to, 370-1 ; terms on which he agreed to surrender Bothwell to the Scottish Govern- ment, 371. Freebooter, derivation of, 305. Friis, John, of Hesselager, 332, 344, 364-5. INDEX. 439 Froude, James Anthony, error of, about Darnley's wish to go to Craigmillar, 192 ; how he de- scribes Mary's abduction, 236 ; mistakes of, in his History of England, 412. Gather, Binning's fellow-servant, 200. Galloway, John, porter of the Canongate, 206, 210. Garperne, meaning of, 318-19. Glen, boy, blown up with Darnley, 205, 207. Glencairn, Alexander, Earl of, 278. Goodall, 109-10, 124, 145. Gordon, Alexander, Bishop of Gallo- way, 59. George, Earl of Huntly, 34, 49, 70, 77, 79, 84, 104, 134, 227-8, 236-7, 269. Lady Jane, is selected by Both- well for his wife, 57 ; likeness of, in Dunrobin Castle, 57 ; Mary's legacies to, 88 ; the dispensation obtained for her marriage with Bothwell, 248 ; provision made for her by Bothwell on his divorce from her, 249 ; her subsequent marriages, 249 ; her death and character, 249-50. Lord John, quarrel of, with Lord Ogilvie, 33. Sir Robert, of Gordonstoun, 250. Govea, Andreas, the learned Portu- guese, a friend of Buchanan, 163, Government, Provisional, formed in Scotland, its actings, 22. Gowrie, Earl of, the last in whose possession Mary's alleged writ- ings were, 110, 112. Guise, Duchess Anne of, Mary's letter to, 89. Duke Francis of, 11. Mary of. See Mary of Guise. Guises, political influence of, 11, 17, 20. Gunpowder Plot, English, 209. Hamilton, Lord Claude, Prior of Paisley, joins the Queen's ad- herents in Edinburgh, 269. Gawin, Prior of Kilwinning, 29, 31, 32, 269. Hamilton, James, of Bothwellhaugh, Mary's pension to, 146, 367. Lord James. See Arran. Lord John, Archbishop of St. Andrews, 90, 198-9, 269. William, of Sanquhar, 177. Hamiltons, fights of the, with the Hepburns, 27. Hand-fasting, nature of, 53-4. Harlaw, William, banishment of, 85. Hay, Alexander, Clerk of the Privy Council, 141. John, of Talla, one of Bothwell's assistants in Darnley's murder, 140, 144, 200, 206, 418. Hemelingk, Geert, a Bremen mer- chant in Shetland, hires his ships to Bothwell, 301, 303, 320. Henry ii. of France, death of, 11, 17. VIII., how he regarded his daughter Elizabeth, 39. Hepburn, Adam, second Earl of Bothwell, 3, 5. Adam, of Smeaton, 295. Alexander, of Benston, 253, 270. Alexander, of Whitsum, ap- pears in Bothwell's stead, 38. Ehzabeth, 99. James. See Bothwell, Earl of. Jane, Bothwell's sister, 4, 54, 57. John, of Bolton, one of Both- well's assistants in the murder of Darnley, 200, 203, 206, 208-9, 418. Lord Patrick, of Hailes, created first Earl of Bothwell, 3, 5. Patrick, third Earl of Both- well, marriage of, 3, 4-5. Patrick, of Wauchton, 295. Patrick, Bishop of Moray, 5, 297-8. Thomas, of Auldhamstocks, 295. William, of Gilmerstoun, 295. William, illegitimate son of Bothwell, 53. Hermitage Castle, 9, 95. Herries, Lord, Mary's representative at the Westminster Conference 127 ; his remonstrance with Mary about marrying Bothwell, 232-3. INDEX. Hibbert, account of Orkney and Shetland Isles by, not reliable, 301, 308. Holyrood Palace, description of, 71-2. Home, Countess of. See Both well Castle. Lord, Bishop of Dunkeld, house in Edinburgh of, 166. Hosack, John, notice of his work on Mary, 413. Howard, Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, his offer of marriage to Mary, 153. Hubert, Nicolas, or Paris, a servant of Queen Mary, his confessions, 138, 140, 140-1, 142, 144-5, 159- : 60 ; connection with Darnley's murder, 201, 204, 206-7; sur- render to Clark, 357-8 ; execution, 359 ; reason for regarding his testimony suspicious, 360. Hume, Lord Alexander, accompanies Morton in the pursuit of Mary and Bothwell, 268. David, his opinion of Mary's marriage with Bothwell, 246. Huntly, Earl of, 33, 34. George Gordon, Earl of. See Gordon. Innes, Thomas, his exposure of Buchanan's contradictions, 176. Inventory of Mary's Jewels, 88. James v. chooses Buchanan to be tutor for his son James Stuart, 162. VI., nervous timidity of, accounted for, 80 ; baptism of, 90 ; legacy of his mother to, 88 ; in whose possession the original writings produced against Mary were during his minority, 110; supposed destroyer of the original letters, 114 ; how he looked upon Murray, 147 ; his opinion of Buchanan, 168 ; the only cliild of Mary, 245 ; his sojourn in Stir- ling Castle, 264 ; made king by the Lords, 305 ; goes to Norway and is married there, 400 ; his stay in Denmark, 390, 400 ; makes no inrjuiry about Both- ! James vi. — continued. well or his so-called " Testament " in Denmark, 402 ; his coronation in Holyrood, 402-3. Jedburgh, visit of Mary to, 95. John Tii. of Portugal releases Buch- anan, 164. III. of Sweden, conspiracy against, 300. Kakm Sound, place of BothweU's seizure in Norway, 315. Kennedy, Gilbert, Earl of Cassilis, one of Buchanan's patrons, 162. Jane, 399. Quintin, 168. Ker, Andrew, of Faldonside, one of Kiccio's murderers, 72, 105, 197. Sir Walter, 10. Killigrew, Henry,. English Am- bassador, how he found Mary after Darnley's death, 212. Kirk-of-Field, house in, where situ- ated, 193. Kirkaldy, Sir William, of Grange, 151, 287, 306, 307-8, 309. KnoUys, Sir Francis, 123, 237. Knox, John, influence of, on Scottish Reformation, 10 ; his account of the Regent's conduct at the as- sault on Leith, 18, 19 ; interest in Bothwell, 28 ; his house de- scribed, 28 ; BothweU's inter- view with, 28-9 ; relations to Bothwell, 29 ; reconciles Bothwel. to Arran, 29 ; comment of, on the renewed friendship of Bothwell and Arran, 30 ; pi'oof given by, of the groundlessness of Arran's charge, 31 ; displeasure of, at the marriage of Mary and Darnley, 47-8 ; his reference to Riccio's death, 86 ; leaves Edinburgh, 86 ; indebted to Bothwell for freedom from prosecution, 86 ; the second of the authors whose works have given rise to the common opinion about Marj^ 181-2 ; his History of the Reformation char- acterised, 182 ; adds new weight to all Buchanan's charges against Mary, 183 ; his account of Chatel- lard, 187-8 ; charge against Mary of Guise, 190. INDEX. 441 Krag, Professor Niels, Copenhagen, 304, 405. Kynghorn, Alexander, Professor in Copenhagen, 311. Labanoff-Rgstoffski, Prince Alex- ander, his publications in reference to Mary and Bothwell, 129, 208, 292. "Lady of Morham/' See Sinclair, Agnes. Laing, Malcolm, 114, 121, 159. Lauder, Captain Hew, 281. William, of Halton, 85. Leicester, Earl of. See Dudley. Lennox, Matthew Stuart, Earl of, marriage of, 43 ; returns to Scot- land, 44 ; appointed Commander- in-Chief of the Scottish army, 50 ; his conduct in reference to the plot against the Queen, 68 ; forced to keep away from the court, 86 ; one of Mary's accusers at Westminster, 130 ; letter of, to Crawford for further materials of accusation against Mary, 131 ; Morton's letter to, 137 ; letter of Thomas Buchanan to, 137 ; letter of, in reference to Mary's guilt, 155-6 ; the first to charge Both- well with being the murderer of Darnley, 219; summoned to at- tend the trial of the alleged mur- derer of his son, 220 ; why he did not appear at the assize, 222 ; withdraws to England, 225 ; his wife liberated from confinement in the Tower, 226 ; becomes Re- gent, 367 ; applies for the sur- render of Bothwell, 368. Lady Margaret, her mar- riage, 43 ; the hopes she cherished, 43-4 ; how she regarded Mary after Darnley's murder, 154 ; the ])ortrait of her in Hampton Court, 154 ; Mary's letter to, 155 ; letter of, to Mary, 158 ; imprisonment in England, 226. Leith, defence of, by the French, 16, 18-19. Lesly, Bishop of Ross, declaration of, about Murray, 115 ; his defence of Mary, 143 ; letter about the Queen's illness at Jedburgh, 174- Lesly, Bishop of Ross — continued. 5 ; reason assigned by, for Mary's conduct after Darnley's death, 213-14 ; joins the Queen's ad- herents in Edinburgh, 269. Lethington, Laird of. See Maitland. Lindsay, Sir David, of the Mount, 312, Lord Patrick, an accom- plice in the murder of Riccio, 71, 105, 223, 283. Livingston, Mary, Knox's account of, marriage of, 189. " Lords of Articles," 69. Lorraine, Cardinal of, 67, 84, 89. MacAlpyne, Professor in Copen- hagen, 311. Macchabseus, Johannes. See Mac- Alpyne. Macgill, James, of Nether Rankeillor, 137, 223. Mackay, Andrew, one of Darnley's servants blown up with him, 205, 207. Maiden, the, 120. Maitland, Sir John, letter of, to Camden, 135. Sir Richard, 10. Sir William, Laird of Leth- ington, Secretary of State, the first to suggest the divorce of Mary from Darnley, 91-2 ; his dismissal from his office of Secre- tary of State and banishment to Caithness, 92 ; his pardon by Mary and restoration to his Secre- taryship, 92 ; gains over Both- well, 99 ; breach between him and Bothwell, 99 ; his representation anent the Queen's divorce from Darnley, 102 ; name at the bond against Darnley, 104 ; appears to liave gone over to the side of the Queen, 114-115 ; meeting with Bothwell and Morton at Whit- tingham, 122 ; not the M'riter of the documents ascribed to Mary, 135 ; ended his days as an ojjen partisan of Queen Mary, 151 ; manner of his death, 151 ; accused of Darnley's murder, 200 ; takeu })risoner by Bothwell to Dunbar, 236-7 ; rumour of his being slain at the Queen's abduction, 242 ; 442 INDEX. Maitland, Sir William — continued. among those who join the alliance against Bothwell, 265. John, of Coldingham, accom- plice in Darnley's murder, 200. ! Major, John, Professor in the Uni- versity of St. Andrews, 161-162. Mar, Earl of, 166, 2.35, 264, 269, 274, 302. " Maries," the Queen's four, 24, 62, 88, 115, 118, 249, 409. Marriages in May, why regarded unlucky, 257. Marryat, Captain Horace, his notices of Bothwell, 292-3. Martyn, Thomas, letter of, 26. Mary Queen of England, effect of her death in dissolving the league between Spain and England, 9-10, 17, 39. Mary of Gueldres, widow of James TI., 5. Mary of Guise, widow of James v., Queen Eegent, her promise of marriage to Patrick, Earl of Both- well, 5 ; orders the Scottish troops to make a raid into England, 8-9 ; reason for the troops not com- plying with her orders, 9 ; helped hy her uncles in France against the Scottish Reformers, 11 ; her character as P^egent of Scotland, 1 12-; occupies Edinburgh, 16 ; re- I)ulses the combined assault of the English and Scots upon Leith, 18 ; sends Bothwell to France for further assistance, 19 ; death, 21 ; her hojie of continued alliance be- tween France and Scotland dis- appointed, 21 ; her appointment of the Duke of Chatelhei-ault as Keeper of Dumbarton Castle, 32 ; house in Edinburgh, 166 ; charge of Knox against, 190. Mary Stuart, her betrothal to the Dauphin of France, 8 ; opinion of, about her subjects in Scotland, 22 ; attempts to get a new Parlia- ment called, 23 ; becomes a widow, 23 ; embarks for Scotland, 24 ; compelled to witness the lawlessness of the Scots, 26 ; first conflict after her return home, 32 ; her treatment of the Earl of [ary Stuart — continued. Huntly, 33 ; succeeds in getting Elizabeth to allow Bothwell to go to France, 36 ; breach with her half-brother, Earl Murray, 38-9 ; assumes the arms of England, 39 ; home - coming, how celebrated, 41 ; desired interview with Eliza- beth, 41 ; selects her young cousin to be her husband, 42 ; announces to Parliament her in- tention of marrying Darnley, 45 ; her marriage to Darnley objected to, 46 ; where and by whom they were married, 47 ; accompanies the army against Murray, 48 ; proclam.ation, 48-9 ; returns from the Borders to Edinburgh, 51 ; her celebration of Bothwell's wedding, 59 ; warned by her friends before her union to Darn- ley, 60 ; festive entertainment after her nuptials with Darnley, 60-1 ; her name and Darnley's conjoined in coins and state papers, 61 ; offends the Protest- ants, 62 ; refuses Darnley the right to the crown after her death, 62 ; her increased estrangement from Darnley, 62-3 ; pension list, 65 ; goes in solemn procession to open Parliament, 69 ; her royal guard, 70-1 ; fondness for social parties, 72 ; her defence of Eiccio, 73 ; her account of the reasons given for Biccio's death, 75 ; her alter- cation with Darnley after Biccio's murder, 76 ; threat of the mur- derers of Biccio against, 78 ; her apprehension in consequence of her treatment by Biccio's mur- derers, 79-80 ; scheme for being liberated from her imprisonment in Holyrood, 80 ; her language to Murray about her treatment by Biccio's murderers, 81 ; en- deavours to detach Darnley from Biccio's murderers, 81-2 ; sum- mons her vassals to arms at Dun- bar, 84 ; her account of Both- well's services, 84 ; returns in triumph to Edinburgh, 85 ; her treatment of Biccio's murderers, 85 ; increased estrangement from INDEX. 443 Mary Stuart — continued. Darnley after Riccio's death, 87 ; her Testament, 87-8 ; contem- porary accounts of her feelings towards Darnley, 89, 90 ; how she felt Darnley's conduct at his son's baptism, 91 ; her supposed more tender interest in Bothwell after the birth of James vi., 94 ; goes to Jedburgh to hold Assize- court, 95 ; she visits Bothwell at Hermitage Castle, 95 ; her illness at Jedburgh, 96 ; her hasty visit to Hermitage explained, 97 ; her surpassing beauty, 100, 408-9 ; leaves Jedburgh, 100 ; arrival at Craigmillar, 101 ; journey to Stirling, 101 ; refuses separation from Darnley unless on certain conditions, 101-2 ; ground on which her divorce from Darnley was urged by Murray and his friends, 102-3 ; grants a full pardon to the accomplices in Eiccio's murder, 105 ; her know- ledge of the murderous design against Darnley, 106; the letters, etc., ascribed to her, 106 ; whence obtained, 107 ; the ground of her deposition by Parliament, 109 ; her guilt undeniable according to the printed documents, 113; her instructions to her representatives at the conferences in England, 115 ; denial of the authenticity of the letters ascribed to her, 115-16; request for copies of the letters ascribed to her refused, 117 ; her use of the French language in her letters, 123-4; the alleged letters of, not originally French, 124 ; letter to Sir Francis Knollys, 124 ; the alleged letters of, pro- duced in the Scottish tongue at York, 125 ; her assurance given to the nobles supporting her mar- riage with Bothwell, 126-7 ; her poems, 128, 410-11; alleged letters of, objections to, 129-30; alleged agreement of a letter of, with Crawford's declaration, 130 ; how her alleged letters have no date nor address accounted for, 1 33 ; diflferent way in which her Mary Stuart — continued. alleged letters are described by the Scottish Government suggests their forgery, 132-3 ; second prin- cipal ground for regarding her as guilty of Darnley's murder, 138 ; confession of Paris concealed from her, 142 ; no advance made in determining her innocence or guilt by general considerations, 145 ; settles a pension on Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, 146 ; her letter to Murray's w4dow, 146 ; in what light she regarded Murray, 147 ; the charges brought against her, 148-50, 235 ; her letter and gifts to her son, 150 ; her letter to Lady Lennox, 155 ; letter to James Beaton in reference to the changed feeling of Lady Lennox towards her, 156-7 ; letter from the Countess of Lennox to, 158 ; her relations with Bothwell before Darnley's death, 159 ; sonnets ascribed to her, 159-60 ; whether they contain a confession of her intimacy with Bothwell before the death of Darnley, 160-1 ; in- structed in Latin by Buchanan, 167 ; how she regarded the attack of Buchanan, 167-8 ; gives Buch- anan the revenues of Crossraguel Abbey, 168 ; her retinue when going to Hermitage, 1 73 ; her in- ventories, 176; her flight to Seton Castle, 177 ; attack of Buchanan upon her more success- ful in England, 179 ; charged with an illicit connection with the Earl of Shrewsbury, 180 ; letter of Mauvissi^re to, 180 ; picture given of her by Knox, 183; attempts of Ch^tellard upon her, 185-6 ; gift to Mary Livingston and John Sempill on their mar- riage, 189 ; no positive evidence of her direct participation in Darnley's murder, 191 ; must have had a connection with Both- well before her husband's death, 191 ; often visits Darnley in Kirk- of-Field, 195 ; her greater friend- liness shown to Darnley while residing in Kirk-of- Field, 196 ; 444 INDEX. Mary Stuart — continued. attends banquet to Morreta, 203 ; her last visit to Darnley, 204-5 ; how she acted in reference to Darnley 's body, 211-12 ; her visits to Seton, how interpreted, 213 ; offers reward for discovery of Darnley's murderers, 214-15; ]>rotests her ignorance of the actual murderer of Darnley, 218 ; popular opinion as to her share in the deed, 218 ; invites Lenuox to be present at the trial of the alleged murderers of Darnley, 220-21 ; her conduct towards Bothwell in connection with his trial, 232 ; her protestation of ignorance of Bothwell's guilt be- fore her marriage to him, 235 ; her abduction, 235 ; where her abduction took place, 236, 415- 416; her account of what hap- pened between her and Bothwell before marrying him, 237-240 ; letter to her ambassador in Paris, 241 ; popular opinion in Scot- land about her abduction, 242 ; agreement of her accounts of her abduction with the proclamations of the Lords, 241, 416-17; more natural explanation of her abduc- tion, 243-4 ; her reason for not separating from Bothwell, 245 ; examples of divorce in her family, 246-7 ; re-establishes the jurisdic- tion of the Bomish clergy in pro- cesses of divorce, 247 ; returns to Edinburgh, 250 ; how she entered the city, 251 ; orders her marriage with Bothwell to be proclaimed, 251 ; visit to the Court of Session and declaration to the judges, 253 ; her declaration in connec- tion with the bond entered into by the nobles at " Aiuslie's Suj)- per," 254 ; marriage contract with Bothwell, 255 ; contradictory accounts of the place and manner of her marriage with Bothwell, 258 ; her own account of the way in which her marriage was cele- brated, 258 ; her unhappiness after her marriage with Both- well, 262-3 ; how she spent the Mary Stuart- -continued. first week after her wedding with Bothwell, 265 ; issues two pro- clamations immediately after her marriage, 265-6 ; her procla- mation upon the Brutis, 266-7 ; goes with Bothwell to Borthwick Castle, 267 ; escape from Borth- wick Castle to Dunbar, 268 ; marches from Duubar with an ai'my to Carberry Hill, 271 ; issues two proclamations to her soldiers, 272 ; her dress on Car- berry Hill, 273 ; consents to the determination of the conflict at Carberry by single combat, 281 ; what induced her to repair to the army of the Lords rather than fight with them at Carberry, 286 ; her surrender at Carberry and subsequent treatment, 287-9 ; is deposed, 305 ; her willingness to be separated from Bothwell, 375 ; her account of Bothwell's alleged " Testament," 390 ; her fruitless attempts to obtain the original of Bothwell's "Testament," 392-3; how she was bewitched by Both- well, 397 ; her language to Darn- ley about his son James vi., 398 ; her passport to Anne Throndsson, 407 ; accusation of Buchanan against, 411 ; notices of recent works about, 412-14. Mauvissi^re, Castelnau de, corre- spondence of, with Mary, 180. Medici, Catherine de, Queen-Dowager of France, 179, 215, 237, 262. Melvil, Andrew, 312. Sir Andrew, of Garvoch, 399. Sir James, of Halhill, his warning to Eiccio, 65-6 ; asked by Mary to summon the aid of her subjects against Riccio's mur- derers, 80 ; his opinion about Darnley, 103 ; his opinion about Buchanan, 170 ; how he speaks of the rumour of Mary's union to Bothwell, 232 ; his Memoirs not always correct as to dates, 234 ; taken prisoner along with Mary to Dunbar, 237 ; his account of Bothwell's boast about marrying the Qu6en, 241-2 ; how he re- INDEX. 445 Melvil, Sir James — continued. presents the Queen's marriage to Bothwell, 256-8 ; his account of Bothwell's death contirmed, 404. Sir Eobert, deputed by Mary to explain to Elizabeth her mar- riage to Bothwell, 237, 259. Methven, Henry Stuart, Lord, 246. Metz, defence of. See Guise. Montaigne, statement of, about Buchanan, 164. Morreta, Count, Savoyard ambassa- dor, 203. Morton, James Douglas, Earl of, one of the accomplices in Riccio's murder, 71 ; his assault on Mary's friends, 77 ; one of Darnley's con- federates, 82 ; his pardon for Biccio's murder, 105 ; seizes Dal- gleishwith the silver casket, 107-8; his execution for Darnley's mur- der, 120, 395 ; maiden of, 120 ; confession, 121 ; reasons for re- garding him to be the author of the documents ascribed to Mary, 136-7 ; letter to Lennox, 137 ; Murray's receipt to, 138 ; takes the castle of Edinburgh, 151 ; causes Kirkaldy of Grange to be hanged, 151 ; suspected as origi- nator of Darnley's murder, 217 ; his pursuit of Mary and Bothwell to Borthwick Castle, 267-8 ; com- mands first division of the army of the Lords at Carberry Hill, 274 ; his secret message to Both- well on Carberry Hill, 293 ; his succession to the Regency and its result, 379. Mowbray, John, banishment of, 85. Munk, Peter, admiral of Danish fleet, 399-400. Murray, James Stuart, Earl of, prior of St. Andrews, half-brother of Mary, 14 ; receives possessions of the Gordons and his title, 35 ; demands Bothwell's expulsion from the country, 37 ; how he regarded the contemplated mar- riage with Darnley, 45 ; heads the movement to get rid of Darn- ley, 48 ; is sent into exile, 57 ; his accession to the conspiracy against Marj^, 09 ; arrival in Murray, James Stuart, Earl of — continued. Edinburgh, 81 ; forgiven by Mary, 84 ; endeavours to screen his accomplices, 86 ; legacy of Mary to, 88 ; joins in urging Mary's divorce from Darnley, 102 ; pro- duces in the Scottish Council Mary's letters, 108 ; produces at Westminster the silver casket, 109 ; Lesly's declaration about, 115; rewarded by the English Government for bis services at the conference, 119; his receipt to Morton, 138 ; his instruc- tions to Robert Pitcairu, 140 ; sends Buchanan to the conferences in England, 165; suspected of originating the murder of Darn- ley, 217 ; made First Regent, 305-6 ; his pursuit of Bothwell, 306 ; his letter about Bothwell to Frederick ii., 313 ; new efforts by him to secure Bothwell's sur- render, 347 ; not successful with Charles ix., 348; authorises Both- well's execution in Denmark, 352- 53 ; urges the execution of Both- well, 354 ; his letter to Elizabeth about Paris's execution, 359-60 ; his death, 146, 367 ; his opposi- sition to Mary's separation from Bothwell, 376. James, one of tliose who offered to fight Bothwell at Carberry Hill, 283. William, an accomplice in Darnley's murder, 201, 357-8, 359, 373. Sir William, of Tullibardine, 283, 306, 309, 402. Names, distortions of, 391. Naples, dispute about, 8. Nelson, Thomas, Darnley's valet, 171, 205, 207. Ninian, St., account of, 311. Norfolk, Thomas Howard, Duke of, 17, 153, 375. Northumberland, Earl of, a supporter of Mary's cause, 35, 153. Ogtlvie, Lord, wounded by John Gordon, 33. 446 INDEX. Ogilvy, Alexander, of Boyne, his marriage to Jane Gordon, 249. Orange, William the Silent, Prince of, 336, 420. Orkney Isles, attempts made to regain. See Danish Government. Ormiston, Hob, assistant of Bothwell at the murder of Darnley, 200, 319. James, one of Bothwell's assistants at the murder of Darn- ley, 104-5, 200, 202, 208, 223-4, 319-20. Laird of. See Cockburn. Oysel, Henry Clutin d', French am- bassador, 13, 40. " Ox and Sheep Silver," account of the exaction of, 300-1, 417. Oxe, Peter, of Gisselfeld, High Steward of Denmark, 329, 331, 332-4, 337-9, 344, 364-5. Pagez, Sebastian, a servant of Mary, 202, 220. Palmerston, Lord, orders search to be made in Denmark for Both- well's " Testament," 394. Pardon for crimes, how anciently expressed, 242-3. Paris. See Hubert. Parliament, meeting of, after Darn- ley's murder, 227. Parma, Alexander Farnese, Duke of, 303-4. Margaret of, half-sister of Philip IT., 17. "Pelican," Hemelingk's ship hired to Bothwell, 301, 303. Percy, Sir Henry, testimony of, about Bothwell, 53. Thomas, 209. Philip II., second consort of Mary Tudor, 8, 17, « Pinker," the Scottish, 316. Pirate, explanation of the term, 304- 305. Pitcairn, Bobert, Prior of Dunferm- line, and ambassador at the Eng- lish court, 137, 140, 223. Powrie, William, an accomplice in the murder of Darnley, 201, 203, 206, 328, 418. Prestoun, Symon, of Craigmillar, Provost of Edinburgh, 78. Protestantism and Catholicism, al- leged forged documents produced during the conflict between, 396, 429. QiJEEN Regent. See Mary of Guise. Ramsay, Robert, writer of Paris's declaration, 141. Randolph, Thomas, English ambas- sador at the court of Mary Stuart, 28, 35, 40, 50, 52, 63, 187, 190. Raulet, Foreign Secretary to Mary, 64. Rene Benoist, Queen Mary's priest, 47. Rene, Marquis d'Elbeuf. See Elbeuf . Repp, Thorleifr Gudmundson, his collection of papers from Danish Archives, in reference to Both- well, 292-3. Reprieve, how signified, 85. Reres, Lady Margaret, her relation to Mary and Bothwell, 53, 166, 172, 411. Riccio, David, succeeds Raulet as Secretary to the Queen, 64-5, 67, 70, 74-5. Joseph, brother of David, sus- pected of having had a hand in Darnley's death, 220. Robertson, Andrew, 312. Robinson, Thomas, 363. Rokesby, Anthony, offer of, to seize Bothwell at Spynie, 298. Ronsard, the French poet, his lan- guage regarding Mary 's poetry, 1 28. Rosenkrands, Eric Ottesson, Com- mandant of Bergenhus Castle, 318, 319, 323-4, 326. Ross, Bishop of. See Lesly. Earl of, one of Darnley's titles, 60. Ruthven, Archibald, 299. Lord Patrick, an accomplice in the murder of Riccio, 67, 73, 77, 83, 105. William. See Gowrie. Sadler, Sir Ralph, agent of Eliza- beth, 13, 26, 112. Salisbury, Lord, English Secretary of State under James vi., 209. Sandilands, John, of Calder, 85. Thomas, of Cambusmichael, execution of, 85. INDEX. 447 Scott, Sir Walter, of Branksome and Buccleuch, 53. Scottish aristocracy, bloody feuds of, 26. *' Scottish Lady." See Anne Thronds- son. Scots students at University of Copenhagen, 312. Sempill, John, of Belltreis, his mar- riage to Mary Livingston, cause of, according to Knox, 189. Seton, Sir George, his devotion to Mary, 70. Lord WiUiam, 49-50, 177. Shavr, Elizabeth, mother of James Stuart, 162. Shetland Isles, attempts to regain possession of, 344-5, 422-3. Shrewsbury, Earl of, his relations to Mary Stuart, 157, 180. Silver-gilt Casket, the, 107-8. Sinclair, Agnes, Bothwell's mother, 3, 4, 53, 386. Andrew, 4. Colonel George, 4. John, Bishop of Brechin, mar- riage of Mary and Darnley by, 47. Major Malcolm, 4. Olaf, Bailiff of Shetland, his reception there of Bothwell, 300. " Skotter," meaning of, 311. Skowgall, Richard, 362, 365. Sovereign, power of the, less in Scotland than in England, 26. Spain, war of, with France, 8. Spens, John, suspected of Darnley's murder, 220. Stirling Castle, capture of, 16. Stuart, Archibald, 362. Captain Alexander, 231. Charles, brother of Darnley, 45. Francis, Earl of Bothwell, 292, 407. Henry Lord Darnley. See Darn- ley. James, illegitimate son of James v., 162. James Charles. See James vi. John, Prior of Coldingham, half-brother of Mary, 56. John. See Atholl. John, account of, 407. John, son-in-law of Christopher Throndsson, 56. Stuart, Lady Jane. See Argyll, Countess of. Andrew, Lord Ochiltree, 397. Lord James. See Murray, Earl of. Lord Bobert, Prior of Holy- rood House, 72, 201, 346. • Margaret, the young wife of Knox, 397. Mary, Queen of Scots. See Mary. Matthew. See Lennox. Sir John, of Traquair, 84. Sir William, Scottish Herald, 335, 336-7, 346-7, 360. Suhm, the first to throw light on Bothwell's later fortunes, 291, 417. Sumburgh Head, original name of, 301. Sunday, how observed formerly in Scotland, 202, 204, 404. Sussex, Earl of, his opinion of the documents ascribed to Mary, 152. Sutherland, Alexander, Earl of, his divorce and subsequent marriage to Jane Gordon, 249. Svinborg. See Sumburgh. Symonds, Edward, servant of Darn- ley, blown up with him but not killed, 205, 207. Taylor, William, a servant of Darn- ley in the room with him when blown up, 205, 207. " Testament," Bothwell's so-called, 390-97, 402, 426-7. Teulet, Alexander, his edition of letters and political documents connected with the history of Mary and Bothwell, 292. Thou, James Augustus de, 380, 388. Throckmorton, Sir Nicholas, Eliza- beth's ambassador in Scotland, 22, 23, 108, 244-5, 260-3, 297,298. Throndsson, Christopher, 54, 55. Lady Anne, Bothwell's Nor- wegian bride, 54, 54-5, 55, 56, 321-3, 407. Time of freedom, meaning of, 4. Tolbooth of Edinburgh, the, 223. Torfseus, Thormod, Orcades of, 422, 423. Torture, use of, in judicial pro- ceedings, 144. 448 INDEX. Tudor, Margaret, sister to Henry VIII., widow of James iv,, becomes the wife of Archibald Douglas, Earl of Angus, 39, 42. Mary, Queen of England, 8, 17, 39. Tullibardine. See Murray of. Turner, Robert, account of Both- well's death by, 389-90, 425-6. Tytler, William, critical examina- tion of the letters ascribed to Mary by, 124. Unicokn Rock in Bressay Sound, origin of the name of the, 308. Valturin, Robert. See Books belong- ing, to Bothwell. Walsingham, Sir Francis, English Secretary of State, Bowes's letters to, 110-11 ; his forgery of Mary's ciphers, 116. Westminster, Conference at, 109, 119. Westmareland, Earl of, a supporter of Mary's cause, 153. Whitlaw, Laird Patrick, commander of Dunbar Castle, 253, 270, 295. WifFert, Axel, of Naes, a recruiting officer of Frederick it. in Scot- land, 353, 363. Willock, Pastor John, 21. Wilson, Charles, an English harbour- master, 49. Dr. Thomas, his request to publish confession of Paris, 145. Patrick, a servant of Bothwell engaged in Darnley's murder, 201, 203, 295. Wilton, William Lord Grey de, 18. Wisbet, steward of Lennox, 80, Witchcraft, the belief in, 397, 399, 400. Wood, John, of Tilliedavy, Earl of Murray's secretary, 131, 141. Woth, David, captain of BothwelVs ships, 321. Yair, William, execution of, 85. Year, former mode of reckoning the, 340. York, conference at, 109, 126. and Lancaster, wars of the houses of, 26. PRINTED BY T. AND A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO HER MAJEPTV, AT THE EDINCtlRGH UNIVERSITY PRESS. NOTE. 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