FROM THE MURDER OF DARNLEY TO THE FLIGHT INTO ENGLAND
_CONTENTS_
1. Introductory Note.
2. Mary's seizure by Bothwell.
(_a_) The Ainslie Bond.
(_b_) Mary's description.
(_c_) Description in the Diurnal of Occurrents.
(_d_) Guzman de Silva to Philip II.
3. The Bothwell Marriage.
(_a_) The Divorce.
(_b_) The Dukedom of Orkney.
(_c_) The Marriage.
(_d_) Mary's demeanour, as described by Du Croc and Drury.
4. Carberry Hill.
5. Mary in Lochleven.
(_a_) Guzman de Silva on the nature of the Rebellion.
(_b_) Elizabeth's intervention.
(_c_) De Silva's conversation with Murray--the first suggestion
of the Casket Letters.
6. The escape from Lochleven.
_LENNOX AND THE QUEEN_
1567.--April 19. Mary's Capture by Bothwell.
[The Register of the Privy Council tells that, on February 12th,
the Queen offered to the first revealer of the crime, "although he
be one culpable and participant of the said crime," a reward of two
thousand pounds and "ane honest yeirlie rent." Public opinion
pointed to Bothwell as the murderer, and anonymous placards
appeared in the streets of Edinburgh accusing him. Lennox
approached the Queen demanding a trial. On March 1st (in reply to
his letter of February 26th) Mary wrote asking a list of names. He
sent, on the 17th, the names of Bothwell, Sir James Balfour, David
Chalmers, John Spens, Francis Bastian, John de Bourdeaux, and
Joseph Riccio,--the last four were attendants on the Queen. On
March 28th the Privy Council fixed the trial for April 12th. On the
11th, Lennox wrote asking a postponement of the trial and the
imprisonment of the persons he had named, or whom he might suspect.
The request was not granted, and the trial took place on the 12th.
The Earl of Argyll, hereditary Lord-Justice, took his place as
President of the Court, and the Earl of Caithness was Chancellor of
the jury. Lennox put forward his demand for a postponement, which
was refused, Bothwell urging that the Privy Council had fixed an
early date in accordance with Lennox's own request. No witnesses
were produced by the prosecution, and Bothwell was acquitted. He
then challenged to single combat any one who might accuse him, and
the challenge was not accepted. In the Parliament which met on the
16th, various confirmations of grants were made--the Castle of
Dunbar to Bothwell, the Earldom of Angus to Bothwell's nephew, and
various lands to Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington. No Parliament
had assembled since Mary's marriage to Darnley, and, accordingly,
the restoration of Murray and Morton to their titles and estates
was confirmed by statute. Although Parliament thus put its seal on
Bothwell's acquittal, by securing Dunbar to him, the popular
impression of his guilt was in no way lessened.]
_THE AINSLIE BOND_
A Bond by a Number of the Nobility to promote Bothwell's Marrying of
Queen Mary.
_Anderson's Collections_, vol. i. pp. 107-112, from
Cott. Lib. Calig., C. i. fol. 1.
We undersubscribing, understanding that although the noble and mighty
Lord James, Earl Bothwell, ... being not only bruitit {reported} and
calumniated by placards, privily affixed on the public places of the
Kirk of Edinburgh, and otherwise slandered by his evil willers, as art
and part of the heinous murther of the King, ... but also by special
letters sent to her Highness by the Earl of Lennox, and debated
{accused} of the same crime ... he by condign inquest and assize of
certain noblemen his peers and other barons of good reputation is found
guiltless and innocent of the odious crime objected to him ... and we
considering the anciency and nobleness of his house, the honourable and
good service of his predecessors, and specially himself to our
Sovereign, and for the defence of this her Highness' Realm against the
enemies thereof, and the amity and friendship which so long has
preserved betwix his House and every one of us.... Therefore obliges us,
and every one of us, upon our Faith and Honours, and Truth in our
bodies, as we are noblemen, and will answer to God, that in case
hereafter any manner of person or persons ... shall happen to insist
farther to the slander and calumniation of the said Earl of Bothwell, as
participant, act or part, of the said heinous murther, ... we ... shall
take ... plain and upright part with him, to the defence and maintenance
of his quarrel.... Moreover, weighing and considering the time present,
and how our Sovereign the Queen's Majesty is now destitute of a husband,
in the which solitary state the Commonwealth of this Realm may not
permit her Highness to continue and endure; ... and, therefore, in case
the former affectionate and hearty service of the said Earl ... may move
her Majesty so far to humble herself, as preferring one of her native
born subjects unto all foreign princes, to take to Husband the said
Earl, we, and every one of us undersubscribing, upon our Honours and
Fidelity, obliges us, and promises, not only to further, advance, and
set forward the marriage to be solemnised and completed betwix her
Highness and the said noble Lord ... but in case any would presume
directly or indirectly, openly, or under whatsoever colour or pretence,
to hinder, hold back, or disturb the said marriage, we shall in that
behalf, esteem, hold and repute the hinderers, adversaries or disturbers
thereof as our common enemies and evil willers.... In witness of the
which we have subscriyved these presents, as follows, at Edinburgh, the
19 Day of April, the year of God, 1567 years.
_SIGNATORIES TO THE BOND_
The names of such of the nobility as subscribed the bond, so far as John
Read {a dependent of Murray} might remember, of whom I had this copy,
being in his own hand, being commonly termed in Scotland, Ainslie's
Supper.
The Earls--Murray, Huntly, Cassilis, Morton, Sutherland, Rothes,
Glencairn, Caithness.
Lords--Boyd, Seton, Sinclair, Semple, Oliphant, Ogilvie, Rosse-Hacat,
Carlisle, Herries, Hume, and Innermeith.
[This note is appended to Cecil's copy of the bond. It should be
noted that Murray was not in Scotland at the time, and that his
name does not appear in a copy of the bond in the Scots College at
Paris, for which we have the authority of Sir James Balfour.]
_THE QUEEN CAPTURED_
1567.--May. Mary on her Capture. Instructions to the Bishop of Dunblane
for the French Court.
_Keith's History_, vol. ii. p. 592.
In our returning he awaited us by the way, accompanied with a great
force, and led us with all diligence to Dunbar.... And when he saw us
like to reject all his suit and offers, in the end he showed us how far
he was proceeded with our whole nobility and principals of our estates,
and what they had promised him under their handwrites.... In the end,
when we saw no esperance to be rid of him, never man in Scotland once
making an attempt to procure our deliverance, ... so ceased he never
till by persuasions and importune suit, accompanied not the less with
force, he has finally driven us to end the work begun at such time and
in such form as he thought might best serve his turn, wherein we cannot
dissemble that he has used us otherwise than we would have wished, or
yet have deserved at his hand.
_Diurnal of Occurrents in Scotland._
And upon the twenty-fourth day of April, which was Saint Mark's even,
our sovereign lady being riding from Stirling, whereto she passed a
little of before to visit her son, as said is, to Edinburgh, James, Earl
of Bothwell, accompanied with seven or eight hundred men and friends,
whom he caused believe that he would ride upon the thieves of
Liddesdale, met our sovereign lady betwix Kirkliston and Edinburgh, at a
place called the Bridges, accompanied with a few number, and there took
her person to the castle of Dunbar.
_BOTHWELL AND MARY AT DUNBAR_
_Guzman de Silva to the King, from London._ May 3, 1567.
_Spanish State Papers._
On arriving six miles from Edinburgh, Bothwell met her with four hundred
horsemen. As they arrived near the Queen with their swords drawn they
showed an intention of taking her with them, whereupon some of those who
were with her were about to defend her, but the Queen stopped them,
saying she was ready to go with the Earl of Bothwell wherever he wished
rather than bloodshed and death should result. She was taken to Dunbar,
where she arrived at midnight, and still remains. Some say she will
marry him, and they are so informed direct by some of the highest men in
the country who follow Bothwell. They are convinced of this, both
because of the favour the Queen has shown him, and because he has the
national forces in his hands. Although the Queen sent secretly to the
governor of the town of Dunbar to sally out with his troops and release
her, it is believed that the whole thing has been arranged, so that if
anything comes of the marriage, the Queen may make out that she was
forced into it.
_A FATAL MARRIAGE_
The Bothwell Marriage.
_Diurnal of Occurrents in Scotland._
Upon the third day of May 1567, the sentence of divorce was pronounced
by the comissaries of Edinburgh, decerning and ordaining ... Jean Gordon
{Countess of Bothwell} to be free to marry when she pleased, and the
said Earl Bothwell to be an adulterer. This divorcement was made to the
effect that the said Earl should marry the Queen's Majesty.
_Ibid._
Upon the twelfth day thairof {of May}, betwix seven and eight hours at
even, James, Earl Bothwell, was made Duke of Orkney and Zetland, with
great magnificence, ... and there were few or none of the nobility
thereat.
_Ibid._
Upon the fifteenth day of May 1567, Mary, by the grace of God, Queen of
Scots, was married on James, Duke of Orkney, Earl Bothwell, ... in the
palace of Holyrood-house, within the old chapel, by Adam, Bishop of
Orkney, not with the mass but with preaching, at ten hours afore noon.
There were not many of the nobility of this realm thereat, except the
Earl Crawford, the Earl Huntly, the Earl Sutherland, my Lords Arbroath,
Oliphant, Fleming, Livingston, Glamis, and Boyd, John, Archbishop of St.
Andrews, the Bishop of Dunblane, the Bishop of Ross, Orkney, with
certain other small gentlemen, who waited upon the said Duke of Orkney.
At this marriage there was neither pleasure nor pastime used, as use was
wont to be used when princes were married.
_NEITHER PLEASURE NOR PASTIME_
1567.--May. Mary's Demeanour.
_Du Croc to Catherine de Medici. Von Raumer's
Elizabeth and Mary_, p. 99.
It {the Bothwell marriage} is too unhappy, and begins already to be
repented of. On Thursday the Queen sent for me, when I perceived
something strange in the mutual behaviour of her and her husband. She
attempted to excuse it, and said, "If you see me melancholy, it is
because I do not choose to be cheerful; because I never will be so, and
wish for nothing but death." Yesterday, when they were both in a room,
with the Earl d'Aumale, she called aloud for a knife to kill herself;
the persons in the ante-chamber heard it. I believe that if God does not
support her, she will fall entirely into despair.
_Sir William Drury to Cecil, from Berwick_, May 25. _Foreign Calendar._
The Queen uses often with the Duke {Bothwell} to ride abroad, and they
now make outward show of great content, but the company at Court
increases not of one nobleman more than were at the marriage.
_Ibid., May 27._
The Duke openly uses great reverence to the Queen, ordinarily
bareheaded, which she seems she would have otherwise, and will sometimes
take his cap and put it on.
"_NO HEARTS TO FIGHT IN THAT QUARREL_"
1567.--June 15. Carberry Hill.
_Melville's Memoirs_, p. 181.
All Scotland cried out upon the foul murther of the King.... Whereupon
the lords that had the enterprise in their heads were hasted forward to
take arms.... The Earl of Bothwell again, having the Queen in his
company, convened a greater number out of the Merse and Lothians, and
out of all parts where he had means of friendship, at over her Majesty's
proclamation, which was not well obeyed for the time; and so many as
came had no hearts to fight in that quarrel. Yet the Earl Bothwell
marched forward out of Dunbar {which was threatened by the lords},
taking the Queen with him, towards Edinburgh. The lords again, with
their companies, passed out of Edinburgh upon foot, with a great energy
and fierceness to fight; both the armies not far from Carberry. The Earl
Bothwell's men camped upon the hill head, in a strength very
advantageous; the lords camped at the foot of the hill.
Albeit her Majesty was there, I cannot name it to be her army, for many
of them that were with her had opinion that she had intelligence with
the lords; chiefly such as understood of the Earl Bothwell's mishandling
of her, and many indignities that he had both said and done unto her,
since their marriage was made. He was so beastly and suspicious, that he
suffered her not to pass over a day in patience, not making her cause to
shed abundance of salt tears. So part of his own company detested him;
other part believed that her Majesty would fain have been quit of him,
but thought shame to be the doer thereof directly herself.
_BOTHWELL'S COWARDICE_
In the meantime the laird of Grange rode about the brae.... When the
Queen understood that the laird of Grange was chief of that company of
horsemen, she sent the laird of Ormiston to desire him to come and speak
with her under surety, which he did, after he had sent and obtained
leave of the lords. As he was speaking with her Majesty, the Earl
Bothwell had appointed a soldier to shoot him, until the Queen gave a
cry, and said that he should not do her that shame, who had promised
that he should come and return safely. For he was declaring unto the
Queen how that all they would honour and serve her so that she would
abandon the Earl Bothwell, who was the murderer of her own husband....
_MARY'S LAST DAY IN EDINBURGH_
The Earl Bothwell hearkened, and heard part of this language, and
offered the singular combat to any man that would maintain that he had
done it. The laird of Grange promised to send him an answer shortly
thereanent.... He offered himself first.... The Earl Bothwell answered
that he was neither lord nor earl, but a baron, and so could not be his
peer. The like answer he made to Tullibardine. Then my Lord Lindsay
offered to fight him, which he could not plainly refuse, but his heart
cooled aye the longer the more. Then the Queen sent again for the laird
of Grange, and said to him, that if the lords would do as he had spoken
to her, she should put away the Earl Bothwell and come unto them.
Whereupon he asked at them, if he might promise it to her Majesty in
their name; which they willed him to do.... Her Majesty was that night
conveyed to Edinburgh, and lodged in the middle of the town, in the
provost's lodging. As she came through the town, the common people cried
out against her Majesty at the windows and stairs, which it was a pity
to hear. Her Majesty again cried out, to all gentlemen and others that
passed up and down the causeway, declaring how that she was their native
princess, and doubted not but all honest subjects would respect her as
they ought to do, and not suffer her to be mishandled. Others again
showed their malice, in setting up a banner or ensign, whereupon the
King was painted lying dead under a tree, and the young prince sitting
upon his knees, praying, "Judge, and revenge my cause, O Lord!"[19]
That same night it was alleged that her Majesty wrote a letter unto the
Earl Bothwell.... Upon the which letter the lords took occasion to send
her to Lochleven to be kept, against promise as she alleged.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[19] Ps. xliii. 1.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1567.--July 12. Lochleven Castle.
_Guzman de Silva to the King. Spanish State Papers._
[Mary was a prisoner in Lochleven from 17th June 1567 to 2nd May
1568. The chief events of her captivity were her compulsory
abdication on 24th July, the coronation of her infant son on the
29th of the same month, and the proclamation of the Earl of Murray
as Regent on August 22nd. Her escape was preceded by at least one
unsuccessful attempt. Murray visited Mary in Lochleven, and was by
her asked to undertake the Regency, according to a letter from
Throgmorton to Elizabeth, 20th August 1567 (in "Foreign Calendar,"
and in Keith's "History," vol. ii. p. 737).]
Illustration: LOCHLEVEN CASTLE.
... Croc, who was French Ambassador in Scotland, has passed here on his
way to France, and there is nobody now representing his King.
_THE CASKET LETTERS_
The Ambassador here assures me that the King (of France) has in his
favour both those who have assembled to detain the Queen (of Scots) and
those who are against them, and has their signatures promising to keep
up the friendship and alliance that the country has had with his
predecessors. For this reason the King had proceeded in such a way as
not to lose the support of the one side by taking up the cause of the
other, but he could not avoid giving his aid to the Queen, whose
adversaries assert positively that she knew she had been concerned in
the murder of her husband, which was proved by letters under her own
hand, copies of which were in his possession.
[This is the earliest known reference to the Casket Letters.]
_Guzman de Silva to the King, from London_, July 26.
_Spanish State Papers._
Four days ago the preacher and confessor of the Queen of Scotland
arrived here. He is a Dominican Friar, a Frenchman named Roche Mameret,
and was at the Council of Trent.... He is much grieved at events in
Scotland, and the imprisonment of the Queen, but more than all at the
marriage with Bothwell, since he already has a wife.... He assured me
that those who had risen against the Queen had not been moved by zeal to
punish the King's murder, as they had been enemies rather than friends
of his; nor in consequence of the marriage, as they had been all in
favour of it, and had signed their names to that effect without
exception, either lay or clerical, apart from the Earl of Murray, but
their sole object had been a religious one, as they thought the Queen,
being a Catholic, might settle religion in a way not to their liking.
_ELIZABETH'S INTERVENTION_
_Queen Elizabeth to Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, in Scotland_,
July 27, 1567. _Keith's History_, p. 702.
You shall plainly declare unto them {the lords}, that if they shall
determine anything to the deprivation of the Queen their sovereign lady
of her royal estate, we are well assured of our own determination, and
we have some just and probable cause to think the like of other Princes
of Christendom, that we will make ourselves a plain party against them,
for example to all posterity.
[This intervention by Elizabeth on Mary's behalf was the result of
reports which reached London that Mary's life was in danger. Her
death was demanded by certain of the Protestant clergy, and the
more ardent of their following.]
_OPINION OF MARY'S CONFESSOR_
_Guzman de Silva to the King, from London_, August 2.
_Spanish State Papers._
The Earl of Murray went to Scotland on the last day of July.... I
visited him.... He repeated how displeased he was at the action of the
lords in taking the Queen.... I said that her confessor had told me that
as regarded the King's murder she had no knowledge whatever of it, and
had been greatly grieved thereat.... He opened out somewhat, saying that
my good will towards him prompted him to tell me something that he had
not even told this Queen {Elizabeth}, although she had given him many
remote hints upon the subject. This was that he considered it very
difficult to arrange matters, as it was certain that the Queen had been
cognisant of the murder of her husband, and he, Murray, was greatly
grieved thereat. This had been proved beyond doubt by a letter which the
Queen had written to Bothwell, containing three sheets of paper, written
with her own hand, and signed by her, in which she says in substance
that he is not to delay putting into execution that which he had
arranged, because her husband used such fair words to deceive her and
bring her round that she might be moved by them if the other thing were
not done quickly. She said that she herself would go and fetch him, and
would stop at a house on the road, where she would try to give him a
draught, but if this could not be done, she would put him in the house
where the explosion was arranged for the night upon which one of her
servants was to be married. He, Bothwell, was to try to get rid of his
wife either by putting her away or by poisoning her, since he knew that
she, the Queen, had risked all for him, her honour, her kingdom, her
wealth, and her God, contenting herself with his person alone. Besides
this she had done an extraordinary and unexampled thing on the night of
the murder in giving her husband a ring, petting and fondling him after
plotting his murder, and this had been the worst thing in connection
with it. Murray said he had heard about the letter from a man who had
read it, and the rest was notorious.... He says he will do his best for
her. I am more inclined to believe that he will do it for himself if he
finds a chance, as he is a Scotchman, and a heretic....
_END OF MARY'S FIRST IMPRISONMENT_
The Escape from Lochleven.
_Giovanni Correr, Venetian Ambassador in France to the Signory,
from Paris_, May 26, 1568. _Venetian Calendar._
"_A LOYAL HOST A ROYAL BANNER BORE_"
Guard was continually kept at the castle day and night, except during
supper, at which time the gate was locked with a key, every one going to
supper, and the key was always placed on the table where the Governor
took his meals, and before him. The Governor is the uterine brother of
the Earl of Murray, Regent of Scotland, the Queen's illegitimate
brother, and her mortal enemy. The Queen, having attempted to descend
from a window unsuccessfully, contrived that a page of the Governor's,
whom she had persuaded to this effect, when carrying a dish, in the
evening of the second of May, to the table of his master with a napkin
before him, should place the napkin on the key, and in removing the
napkin take up the key with it and carry it away unperceived by any one.
Having done so, the page then went directly to the Queen and told her
all was ready; and she, having in the meanwhile been attired by the
elder of the two maids who waited upon her, took with her by the hand
the younger maid, a girl ten years old, and with the page went quietly
to the door, and he having opened it, the Queen went out with him and
the younger girl and locked the gate outside with the same key, without
which it could not be opened from within. They then got into a little
boat which was kept for the service of the castle, and displaying a
white veil of the Queen's with a red tassel, she made the concerted
signal to those who awaited her that she was approaching.... The
horsemen ... came immediately to the lake and received the Queen with
infinite joy, and having placed her on horseback, with the page and the
girl, they conveyed her to the sea coast, at a distance of five miles
from thence, because to proceed by land to the place which had been
designated appeared manifestly too dangerous. All having embarked, the
Queen was conducted to Niddry, a place belonging to Lord Seton, and from
thence to Hamilton, a castle of the Duke of Chatelherault, where his
brother, the Archbishop of St. Andrews, with other principal personages
of those parts, acknowledged her as Queen....
All Scotland is in motion, some declaring for the Queen, and some
against her and for the Earl of Murray.... With regard to her flight, it
is judged here, by those who know the site, and how strictly she was
guarded, that her escape was most miraculous, most especially having
been contrived by two lads under ten years of age, who could not be
presupposed to have the requisite judgment and secrecy.
To the greater satisfaction with the result may be added that the
inmates of Lochleven Castle perceived the flight; but being shut up
within it, and thus made prisoners, they had to take patience, and to
witness the Queen's escape, while they remained at the windows of the
castle.
_THE DISASTER AT LANGSIDE_
But now, if the current report be true, the Queen of Scotland, following
the course of her fickle fortune, gives news of her troops having been
routed near Glasgow, all her chief adherents being killed or made
prisoners.
_Ibid._ June 6.
The news of the defeat of the troops of the Queen of Scotland was true.
She had assembled about eight thousand men, who had flocked to her from
divers parts, and for greater security she wished to shut herself up in
Dumbarton, which is a very strong castle, but she could not get there
without crossing the Clyde, over which there is but one bridge near
Glasgow, and that was already occupied by the enemy. It was therefore
determined to cross the river where it flows into the sea, a number of
boats being sent to the spot for that purpose. The Regent, aware of
this, went in pursuit with four thousand men; whereupon the Queen
appointed as her Lieutenant-General the Earl of Argyle, who had just
joined her, and who is her brother-in-law through his wife, Queen Mary's
natural sister, and he with six thousand men gave Murray battle.
_MARY SEEKS ENGLISH PROTECTION_
The contest lasted for three-quarters of an hour, when the Queen's
troops were worsted, but only one hundred and fifty of her followers
were killed, for the Regent exerted himself extremely to prevent his
troops shedding blood. The prisoners exceeded three hundred, including
many noblemen, amongst whom, moreover, is that Lord Seton who was the
chief instrument and leader in effecting the Queen's escape. Finding
herself defeated, the Queen set out for England, accompanied by a son of
the Duke of Chatelherault, by Lord Fleming, by the Earl of Maxwell, and
some twenty-five other attendants, and she travelled a distance of one
hundred and twenty-five miles without any rest. She stopped at a place
called Workington, which is four miles within the English border. She
did not discover herself, but was recognised by a Scotsman, who informed
the warden of the castle, and the latter went immediately to receive
her, with great marks of respect, and posted guards on all sides to
prevent pursuit by the enemy.