THE END
_CONTENTS_
1. Connecting Note.
2. Contemporary Verses on the Babington Conspiracy.
3. Queen Mary's Letter to Queen Elizabeth on hearing the
announcement of her sentence.
4. Clauses from Queen Mary's Will.
5. Appeal for Spiritual Faculties.
6. "O Domine Deus, speravi in te."
7. Contemporary Official Report of the Execution.
_CONNECTING NOTE_
Queen Mary's life, after the conclusion of the conference at
Westminster, was occupied with plots and negotiations for her
escape from captivity. The proposal for her marriage with the Duke
of Norfolk was opposed both in Scotland and in England; and an
insurrection was raised by the Earls of Northumberland and
Westmoreland, which was speedily suppressed (November, 1569). In
January of the following year the Earl of Moray was assassinated at
Linlithgow, and the Earl of Lennox, Darnley's father, succeeded him
as Regent. Maitland of Lethington finally seceded from the "King's
party," and allied himself with Kirkaldy of Grange, who held
Edinburgh Castle for Mary. The Norfolk conspiracy continued to
raise the expectations of the Marians till the capture, in the
spring of 1571, of Charles Baillie, who was carrying letters from
the papal agent, Rudolfi, for Queen Mary, Norfolk, the Spanish
ambassador, and the Bishop of Ross. On the strength of Baillie's
disclosures, Norfolk was put to death in June 1572. Elizabeth
declined to gratify the English Parliament by executing her
prisoner, but attempted to arrange for her delivery to the Earl of
Morton, now Regent of Scotland, with a view to his accepting the
responsibility for Mary's death. Morton broke off the negotiations
as Elizabeth refused to give her open sanction to the deed.
Edinburgh Castle surrendered in June 1573, and its fall, and the
loss of Lethington and Grange, gave the death-blow to the hopes of
the Queen of Scots. She maintained, however, a constant
correspondence with Elizabeth and with Spain and Rome, clutching
eagerly at any hope of release, however vague. In 1586 she became
involved, to what extent is disputed, in what is known as the
Babington Conspiracy, which had for its object the assassination of
Elizabeth and her ministers, and the restoration of Catholicism
throughout Great Britain. Walsingham received information as to the
plot, and obtained possession of letters alleged to be written by
Mary to Babington. The conspirators were put to death, and Mary was
tried by a Commission of Peers in the end of 1586. The following
verses, addressed to the conspirators, indicate the common feeling
in England at the time. They are quoted from a poem by William
Kempe, published in 1587, and entitled "A Dutiful Invective against
the moste haynous Treasons of Ballard and Babington ... together
with the horrible attempts and actions of the Queen of Scottes....
For a New Yeares gift to all loyall English subjects." The author
of the verses is not Kemp the player, but a writer of some
treatises on Education. _Cf._ "Dict. Nat. Biog."
_A DUTIFUL INVECTIVE_
The Scottish Queen, with mischief fraught, for to perform the will
Of him whose pupil she hath been hath used all her skill;
By words most fair, and loving terms, and gifts of value great:
For to persuade your hollow hearts, your duties to forget,
And for to be assistant still, her treacheries to further,
Wherein she reckons it no sinne though you commit great murther.
Such is her heinous hateful mind, who long hath lived in hope,
By such her subtle lawless means (and help of cursed Pope)
Both to deprive our sovereign Queen of her imperial crown,
And true religion to repel, God's Gospel to put down.
* * * * *
Wherein you fully did conclude that it could never be,
Except you first conspired her death, by secret treachery.
And thereupon consulted oft, and sundry ways did seek
For to perform this devilish act, which you so well did like.
Next unto this your promise was to lend your help and aid,
With all the force and power you could, to foes that should invade.
And thereby for to set at large that Queen whom I did name,
Who always in her treacherous mind, doth nought but mischief frame.
* * * * *
_THE CAUSE OF ALL OUR TROUBLES_
For plainly hath it fallen out, by sundry proofs most true,
She was the only maintainer of all this treacherous crew:
For trial whereof we may see, how that our gracious Queen,
Both having care the very truth most plainly might be seen,
And she with honour might be tried, in that she was a Prince,
Did cause the chiefest peers her faults by justice to convince:
Who did assemble at her place, by name called Fotheringay,
There to examine out the truth, and hear what she could say;
And to that end did then direct to them a large commission
For to examine every one in whom they found suspicion.
Who meeting at that place, it plainly did appear,
How that she was the chiefest cause of all our troubles here.
And that she by persuasions did seek for to withdraw
The subjects' hearts from this our Queen, who erst had lived in awe;
And that the treasons named before were all by her consent,
And that she author was thereof, and did the same invent,
Whereto her answer was so light, and to so small effect,
As that the weakness of the same her treasons did detect.
And thereupon these peers of State, having a due regard
To what she could object thereto, and likewise nothing spared
By circumstance to search out truth, did forthwith then pronounce
That she was guilty of these crimes, and could not them renounce.
Which sentence so by them declared, was by our Queen's consent,
Plainly revealed to all estates in court of Parliament;
And was by them considered of, who then did all agree
To join in suit unto her Grace, the same to ratify.
Queen Mary's Letter to Queen Elizabeth.
_Strickland's Letters of Mary Queen of Scots_, vol. ii. p. 200.
FOTHERINGAY, December 19, 1586.
MADAME,--Having with difficulty obtained leave from those to whom you
have committed me to open to you all I have on my heart, as much for
exonerating myself from any ill-will, or desire of committing cruelty, or
any act of enmity against those with whom I am connected in blood; as
also, kindly, to communicate to you what I thought would serve you, as
much for your weal and preservation as for the maintenance of the peace
and repose of this isle, which can only be injured if you reject my
advice. You will credit or disbelieve my discourse, as it seems best to
you.
I am resolved to strengthen myself in Christ Jesus alone, who, to those
invoking Him with a true heart, never fails in His justice and
consolation, especially to those who are bereft of all human aid; such
are under His holy protection: to Him be the glory! He has equalled my
expectation, having given me heart and strength, _in spe contra spem_,
to endure the unjust calumnies, accusations, and condemnations (of those
who have no such jurisdiction over me) with a constant resolution to
suffer death for upholding the obedience and authority of the
Apostolical Roman Catholic Church.
Now, since I have been on your part informed of the sentence of your
last meeting of Parliament, Lord Buckhurst and Beale having admonished
me to prepare for the end of my long and weary pilgrimage, I beg to
return you thanks on my part for these happy tidings, and to entreat you
to vouchsafe to me certain points for the discharge of my conscience.
But since Sir A. Paulet has informed me (though falsely) that you had
indulged me by having restored to me my almoner, and the money that they
had taken from me, and that the remainder would follow; for all this I
would willingly return you thanks, and supplicate still further as a
last request, which I have thought for many reasons I ought to ask of
you alone, that you will accord this ultimate grace, for which I should
not like to be indebted to any other, since I have no hope of finding
aught but cruelty from the Puritans, who are at this time, God knows
wherefore! the first in authority, and the most bitter against me.
I will accuse no one: nay, I pardon with a sincere heart every one, even
as I desire every one may grant forgiveness to me, God the first. But I
know that you, more than any one, ought to feel at heart the honour or
dishonour of your own blood, and that, moreover, of a queen and the
daughter of a king.
_A LAST REQUEST_
Then, Madame, for the sake of that Jesus to whose name all powers bow, I
require you to ordain that when my enemies have slaked their black
thirst for my innocent blood, you will permit my poor desolated servants
altogether to carry away my corpse, to bury it in holy ground with the
other queens of France, my predecessors, especially near the late queen,
my mother; having this in recollection, that in Scotland the bodies of
the kings, my predecessors, have been outraged, and the churches
profaned and abolished; and that as I shall suffer in this country, I
shall not be given place near the kings, your predecessors, who are mine
as well as yours: for according to our religion, we think much of being
interred in holy earth. As they tell me that you will in nothing force
my conscience nor my religion, and have even conceded me a priest,
refuse me not this my last request, that you will permit free sepulchre
to this body when the soul is separated, which, when united, could never
obtain liberty to live in repose, such as you would procure for
yourself; against which repose--before God I speak--I never aimed a
blow: but God will let you see the truth of all after my death.
And because I dread the tyranny of those to whose power you have
abandoned me, I entreat you not to permit that execution be done on me
without your own knowledge, not for fear of the torment, which I am most
ready to suffer, but on account of the reports which will be raised
concerning my death unsuspected, and without other witnesses than those
who would inflict it, who, I am persuaded, would be of very different
qualities from these parties whom I require (being my servants) to stay
spectators, and with witnesses of my end in the faith of our sacrament,
of my Saviour, and in obedience to His Church. And after all is over,
that they together may carry away my poor corpse (as secretly as you
please), and speedily withdraw, without taking with them any of my goods
except those which in dying I may leave to them, which are little enough
for their long and good services.
_ELIZABETH'S JEWEL_
One jewel that I received of you I shall return to you with my last
words, or sooner if you please.
Once more I supplicate you to permit me to send a jewel and a last adieu
to my son, with my dying benediction, for of my blessing he has been
deprived since you sent me his refusal to enter into the treaty whence I
was excluded by his wicked council; this last point I refer to your
favourable consideration and conscience as the others, but I ask them in
the name of Jesus Christ, and in respect of your consanguinity, and for
the sake of King Henry VII., your grandfather and mine, and by the
honour of the dignity we both hold, and of our sex in common, do I
implore you to grant these requests.
_MARY'S TREATMENT_
As to the rest, I think you know that in your name they have taken down
my dais, but afterwards they owned to me that it was not by your
commandment, but by the intimation of some of your privy council. I
thank God that this wickedness came not from you, and that it serves
rather to vent their malice than to afflict me, having made up my mind
to die. It is on account of this, and some other things, that they
debarred me from writing to you, and after they had done all in their
power to degrade me from my rank, they told me "that I was but a mere
dead woman, incapable of dignity." God be praised for all!
I could wish that all my papers were brought to you without reserve,
that at last it may be manifest to you that the sole care of your safety
was not confined to those who are so prompt to persecute me. If you will
accord this my last request, I would wish that you would write for them,
otherwise they do with them as they choose. And, moreover, I wish that
to this, my last request, you will let me know your last reply.
To conclude, I pray God, the just Judge, of His mercy that He will
enlighten you with His Holy Spirit, and that He will give you His grace
to die in the perfect charity I am disposed to do, and to pardon all
those who have caused, or who have co-operated in, my death. Such will
be my last prayer to my end, which I esteem myself happy will precede
the persecution which I foresee menaces this isle, where God is no
longer seriously feared and revered, but vanity and worldly policy rule
and govern all. Yet will I accuse no one, nor give way to presumption.
Yet while abandoning this world, and preparing myself for a better, I
must remind you that one day you will have to answer for your charge,
and for all those whom you doom, and that I desire that my blood and my
country may be remembered in that time. For why? From the first days of
our capacity to comprehend our duties, we ought to bend our minds to
make the things of this world yield to those of eternity!
From Fotheringay, this 19th December, 1586.
Your sister and cousin,
Prisoner wrongfully,
MARIE ROYNE.
The Will of the Queen of Scots.
_Strickland's Letters of Mary Queen of Scots_, vol. ii. p. 237.
[The Will contains clauses relative to the payments of her debts,
and of legacies to her servants. The selections given are of more
general interest.]
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, I, Mary,
by the grace of God, Queen of Scotland and Dowager of France, being on
the point of death, and not having any means of making my will, have
myself committed these articles to writing, and I will and desire, that
they have the same force, as if they were made in due form.
In the first place, I declare that I die in the Catholic, Apostolic, and
Romish faith. First, I desire that a complete service be performed for
my soul in the Church of St. Denis in France, and another in St.
Peter's, at Rheims, where all my servants are to attend, in such manner
as may be ordered to do by those to whom I have given directions, and
who are named therein.
Further, that an annual obit be founded for prayers for my soul, in
perpetuity, in such place, and after such manner, as shall be deemed
most convenient....
I appoint my cousin, the Duke of Guise, principal executor of my will.
After him, the Archbishop of Glasgow, the Bishop of Ross, and Monsieur
de Ruissieu, my chancellor....
I recommend Marie Paiges, my god-daughter, to my cousin, Madame de
Guise, and beg her to take her into her service, and my aunt de Saint
Pierre to get Moubray some good situation, or retain her in her service,
for the honour of God.
Done this day, 7th February 1587.
MARY, QUEEN.
_APPEAL FOR FACULTIES_
Queen Mary's Appeal to the Pope for Spiritual Faculties.
[The following document is here printed for the first time, so far
as is known to the Editor. It is from a MS. at Blairs College, and
is published by kind permission of the Right Reverend the Rector,
and with the advantage of revision by the Reverend Professor Welsh.
It is dated {158-}, and probably belongs to the last year of Queen
Mary's life.]
Cum Serenissima Regina Scotiae multis ab hinc annis in Anglorum
haereticorum custodias sit inclusa atque ob id non possit Catholicae
Ecclesiae sacramenta suscipere et rebus divinis praesertim vero missae
sacrificio nisi clam et magno cum periculo interesse, supplex petit a
Sanctissimo Domino Nostro quam diu in illa custodia retinetur, ut
sacerdoti catholico suo capellano pro tempore existenti concedatur,
facultas non modo exercendi omnia munera episcopalia exceptis ordinis et
confirmationis sacramentis, et Chrysmatis consecratione; sed etiam
absolvendi ab haeresi, et haereticos poenitentes gremio sanctae matris
Ecclesiae reconciliandi; quod frequentes ibi se offerant huiusmodi
occasiones.
Deinde cum in hac rerum calamitate ipsi Reginae opus sit ad sua secreta
consilia et commercia tractanda et exsequenda, uti opera nonnullorum
Anglorum, qui nisi profanis haereticorum et schismaticorum precibus et
communioni intersint, vel a praefectis carceris prohiberentur, ne
Reginae inservirent, vel non possent ita commode illa consilia et
commercia juvare; dignetur Sanctitas Sua sacerdoti capellano, quem
Regina delegerit hanc potestatem illos ab omni censura et poena in tali
casu absolvendi; et quoties opus fuerit in gratiam Sanctae matris
Ecclesiae reducendi; ii tamen, quoad fieri potest, vitare debent impiam
huiusmodi communionem et rerum sacrarum prophanationem.
Permittat quoque Sanctitas Sua, ut tales etiam ante absolutionem possint
sine scrupulo tum Reginae tum sacerdotis celebrantis et aliorum qui
missae intererunt, praesentes adesse in ea missa quae coram Regina,
durante ejus captivitate celebrabitur.
Petit etiam Regina, ut 25 numero viri catholici, per eam nominandi, quo
commodius et securius ipsi inserviant, possint sine scrupulo et sine
periculo et metu censurarum et peccati, hujusmodi precibus et
communionibus haereticorum interesse, ita tamen, ut cum illis non
communicent, ac nefandis illorum actibus ne verbo quidem consentiant.
Concedat quoque sua Beatitudo ipsi Reginae plenam indulgentiam et
remissionem omnium peccatorum in forma jubilei, quoties genibus flexis
orat confessa coram sacra Eucharistia, vel eam suscipit, ac quoties
patienter fert injuriam ab haereticis sibi illatam; eam dem quoque
obtineat indulgentiam in articulo mortis ore dicendo Jesus Maria vel
idem corde saltem memorando.
Postremo Regina summis precibus Sanctissimum Dominum Nostrum orat, ut
quem sibi delegerit sacerdotem, possit ab eo in confessione sacramentali
absolvi a cunctibus casibus etiam Sedi Apostolicae reservatis, atque in
bulla coenae Domini contentis.
[It is not known what reply was sent; but the forthcoming volume of
"Vatican Papers," to be edited for the Scottish History Society by
Father Pollard, S.J., may throw light on the subject.]
TRANSLATION.
Since Her Most Serene Majesty, the Queen of Scotland, has been for
these many years a prisoner in the hands of the English heretics,
and on that account is unable to receive the sacraments of the
Catholic Church, or to be present, except secretly and at great
risk, at divine service, and especially at the Sacrifice of the
Mass, she humbly supplicates of His Holiness that, so long as she
is kept in that restraint:
That to a Catholic priest, her chaplain for the time being, there
may be granted the faculty, not only of exercising all the powers
of a bishop, except the sacrament of Orders and Confirmation, and
the consecration of the Chrism, but also of absolving from heresy
and receiving penitent heretics into the bosom of Holy Mother
Church. Such opportunities frequently offer themselves.
Secondly, since, in this sad condition of her affairs, the Queen
herself has need, in connexion with her secret counsels and
negotiations, of the assistance of some Englishmen, who, unless
they attend the blasphemous prayers and communion of the heretics,
would be excluded, by her gaolers, from the Queen's presence, or
would have difficulty in aiding her counsels and plans, let His
Holiness grant to a priest, whom the Queen may choose as chaplain,
the power of absolving them from all censure and penalty in such
circumstances, and restoring, as often as there is need, to the
grace of Holy Mother Church, it being understood that, as far as
possible, they shall avoid this impious communion and profanation
of Holy Things.
Let His Holiness also permit that such persons, even before
absolution, may without scruple either to the Queen or to the
celebrating priest, or to all others who may be present, be present
and assist at the Mass which shall be celebrated in presence of the
Queen during her captivity.
The Queen also begs that Catholic men, twenty-five in number,
nominated by her, in order that they may serve her more
conveniently and safely, may without scruple and without danger or
fear of censures and of sin, be present at such prayers and
communions of the heretics, it being understood that they shall not
communicate with them or give even verbal consent to their
nefarious acts.
Let His Holiness grant also to the Queen herself a plenary
indulgence and remission of all her sins, in the form of a jubilee,
as often as, having confessed her sins, she may pray on bended
knees before the Holy Eucharist, or receive it, and as often as she
patiently endures injuries inflicted on her by heretics. May she
obtain also the same indulgence at the moment of death by invoking
with her lips, Jesu, Maria, or at least meditating on them in her
heart.
Finally the Queen begs His Holiness with many prayers, that
whomsoever she shall choose as a priest, she may be by him, in
sacramental confession, absolved from all censures, even from those
reserved to the Holy Apostolic See, and contained in the Bull
"Coena Domini."
Illustration: SILVER-GILT HAND-BELL. Height 4-1/2 inches. (_Used by Queen
Mary in Captivity._)
_"IN THEE HAVE I TRUSTED"_
Poem composed by Queen Mary in view of her Approaching Death.
O Domine Deus, speravi in te!
O care mi Jesu, nunc libera me!
In dura catena, in misera poena,
Languendo, gemendo, et genu flectendo,
Adoro, imploro ut liberes me.
_Tr. Mr. Swinburne, Mary Stuart_, Act V.
O Lord my God,
I have trusted in thee;
O Jesu my dearest one,
Now set me free.
In prison's oppression,
In sorrow's obsession,
I weary for thee.
With sighing and crying,
Bowed down as dying,
I adore thee, I implore thee, set me free!
_PARTING WITH ROBERT MELVILLE_
1587.--February 8. Narrative of the Execution, sent to the Court.
_Ellis's Letters_, Ser. ii. vol. iii. p. 113, from the
Lansdowne MS. 51, Art. 46.
First, the said Scottish Queen, being carried by two of Sir Amias
Paulett's gentlemen, and the Sheriff going before her, came most
willingly out of her chamber into an entry next the Hall, at which place
the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Kent, commissioners for the
execution, with the two governors of her person, and divers knights and
gentlemen did meet her, where they found one of the Scottish Queen's
servants, named Melvin, kneeling on his knees, who uttered these words
with tears to the Queen of Scots, his mistress, "Madam, it will be the
sorrowfullest message that ever I carried, when I shall report that my
Queen and dear mistress is dead." Then the Queen of Scots, shedding
tears, answered him, "You ought to rejoice rather than weep for that the
end of Mary Stuart's troubles is now come. Thou knowest, Melvin, that
all this world is but vanity, and full of troubles and sorrows; carry
this message from me, and tell my friends that I die a true woman to my
religion, and like a true Scottish woman and a true Frenchwoman. But God
forgive them that have long desired my end; and He that is the true
Judge of all secret thoughts knoweth my mind, how that it ever hath been
my desire to have Scotland and England united together. Commend me to my
son, and tell him that I have not done anything that may prejudice his
kingdom of Scotland; and so, good Melvin, farewell;" and kissing him,
she bade him pray for her.
_AN ENGLISH NOBLEMAN_
Then she turned to the Lords and told them that she had certain requests
to make unto them. One was for a sum of money, which she said Sir Amyas
Paulet knew of, to be paid to one Curle her servant; next, that all her
poor servants might enjoy that quietly which by her Will and Testament
she had given unto them; and lastly, that they might be all well
entreated, and sent home safely and honestly into their countries. "And
this I do conjure you, my Lords, to do."
Answer was made by Sir Amyas Paulet, "I do well remember the money your
Grace speaketh of, and your Grace need not to make any doubt of the not
performance of your requests, for I do surely think they shall be
granted."
"I have," said she, "one other request to make unto you, my Lords, that
you will suffer my poor servants to be present about me, at my death,
that they may report when they come into their countries how I died a
true woman to my religion."
Then the Earl of Kent, one of the commissioners, answered, "Madam, it
cannot well be granted, for that it is feared lest some of them would
with speeches both trouble and grieve your Grace, and disquiet the
company, of which we have had already some experience, or seek to wipe
their napkins in some of your blood, which were not convenient." "My
Lord," said the Queen of Scots, "I will give my word and promise for
them that they shall not do any such thing as your Lordship has named.
Alas! poor souls, it would do them good to bid me farewell. And I hope
your Mistress, being a maiden Queen, in regard of womanhood, will suffer
me to have some of my own people about me at my death. And I know she
hath not given you so straight a commission, but that you may grant me
more than this, if I were a far meaner woman than I am." And then
(seeming to be grieved) with some tears uttered these words: "You know
that I am cousin to your Queen, and descended from the blood of Henry
the Seventh, a married Queen of France, and the anointed Queen of
Scotland."
"_BESIDE THE BLOCK--ALONE_"
Whereupon, after some consultation, they granted that she might have
some of her servants according to her Grace's request, and therefore
desired her to make choice of half-a-dozen of her men and women: who
presently said that of her men she would have Melvin, her apothecary,
her surgeon, and one other old man beside; and of her women, those two
that did use to lie in her chamber.
After this, she being supported by Sir Amias's two gentlemen aforesaid,
and Melvin carrying up her train, and also accompanied with the Lords,
Knights, and Gentlemen aforenamed, the Sheriff going before her, she
passed out of the entry into the Great Hall, with her countenance
careless, importing thereby rather mirth than mournful cheer, and so she
willingly stepped up to the scaffold which was prepared for her in the
Hall, being two feet high and twelve feet broad, with rails round about,
hung and covered with black, with a low stool, long cushion, and block,
covered with black also. Then, having the stool brought her, she sat her
down; by her, on the right hand, sat the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl
of Kent, and on the left hand stood the Sheriff, and before her the two
executioners; round about the rails stood Knights, Gentlemen, and
others.
Then, silence being made, the Queen's Majesty's Commission for the
execution of the Queen of Scots was openly read by Mr. Beale, clerk of
the Council; and these words pronounced by the Assembly, "God save the
Queen." During the reading of which Commission the Queen of Scots was
silent, listening unto it with as small regard as if it had not
concerned her at all; and with as cheerful a countenance as if it had
been a pardon from her Majesty for her life; using as much strangeness
in word and deed as if she had never known any of the Assembly, or had
been ignorant of the English language.
_A THEOLOGICAL CONTROVERSY_
Then one Doctor Fletcher, Dean of Peterborough, standing directly before
her, without the rail, bending his body with great reverence, began to
utter this exhortation following: "Madam, the Queen's most excellent
Majesty," &c, and iterating these words three or four times, she told
him, "Mr. Dean, I am settled in the ancient Catholic Roman religion, and
mind to spend my blood in defence of it." Then Mr. Dean said: "Madam,
change your opinion, and repent you of your former wickedness, and
settle your faith only in Jesus Christ, by Him to be saved." Then she
answered again and again, "Mr. Dean, trouble not yourself any more, for
I am settled and resolved in this my religion, and am purposed therein
to die." Then the Earl of Shrewsbury and the Earl of Kent, perceiving
her so obstinate, told her that since she would not hear the exhortation
begun by Mr. Dean, "We will pray for your Grace, that it stand with
God's will you may have your heart lightened, even at the last hour,
with the true knowledge of God, and so die therein." Then she answered,
"If you will pray for me, my Lords, I will thank you; but to join in
prayer with you I will not, for that you and I are not of one religion."
_THE EARL OF KENT_
Then the Lords called for Mr. Dean, who, kneeling on the scaffold
stairs, began this prayer, "O most gracious God and merciful Father,"
&c, all the Assembly, saving the Queen of Scots and her servants, saying
after him. During the saying of which prayer, the Queen of Scots,
sitting upon a stool, having about her neck an _Agnus Dei_, in her hand
a crucifix, at her girdle a pair of beads with a golden cross at the end
of them, a Latin book in her hand, began with tears and with loud and
fast voice to pray in Latin; and in the midst of her prayers she slided
off from her stool, and kneeling, said divers Latin prayers; and after
the end of Mr. Dean's prayer, she kneeling, prayed in English to this
effect: "For Christ His afflicted Church, and for an end of their
troubles; for her son; and for the Queen's Majesty, that she might
prosper and serve God aright." She confessed that she hoped to be saved
"by and in the blood of Christ, at the foot of whose Crucifix she would
shed her blood." Then said the Earl of Kent, "Madam, settle Christ Jesus
in your heart, and leave those trumperies." Then she little regarding,
or nothing at all, his good counsel, went forward with her prayers,
desiring that "God would avert His wrath from this Island, and that He
would give her grief and forgiveness for her sins." These, with other
prayers she made in English, saying she forgave her enemies with all her
heart that had long sought her blood, and desired God to convert them to
the truth; and in the end of the prayer she desired all saints to make
intercession for her to Jesus Christ, and so kissing the crucifix, and
crossing of her also, said these words: "Even as Thy arms, O Jesus, were
spread here upon the Cross, so receive me into Thy arms of mercy, and
forgive me all my sins."
_SMILING CHEER_
Her prayer being ended, the executioners, kneeling, desired her Grace to
forgive them her death; who answered, "I forgive you with all my heart,
for now, I hope, you shall make an end of all my troubles." Then they,
with her two women, helping of her up, began to disrobe her of her
apparel; she never changed her countenance, but with smiling cheer she
uttered these words, "that she never had such grooms to make her
unready, and that she never put off her clothes before such a company."
Then she, being stripped of all her apparel saving her petticoat and
kirtle, her two women beholding her made great lamentation, and crying
and crossing themselves prayed in Latin; she, turning herself to them,
embracing them, said these words in French, "Ne criez vous; j'ay promis
pour vous;" and so crossing and kissing them, bade them pray for her,
and rejoice and not weep, for that now they should see an end of all
their mistress's troubles. Then she, with a smiling countenance, turning
to her men servants, as Melvin and the rest, standing upon a bench nigh
the scaffold, who sometime weeping, sometime crying out aloud, and
continually crossing themselves, prayed in Latin, crossing them with her
hand bade them farewell; and wishing them to pray for her even until the
last hour.
"_INTO THY HANDS_"
This done, one of the women having a Corpus Christi cloth lapped up
three-corner ways, kissing it, put it over the Queen of Scots' face, and
pinned it fast to the caul of her head. Then the two women departed from
her, and she kneeling down upon the cushion most resolutely, and without
any token or fear of death, she spake aloud this Psalm in Latin, "In te,
Domine, confido, non confundar in eternum," &c. {Ps. xxv.}. Then,
groping for the block, she laid down her head, putting her chin over the
block with both her hands, which holding there, still had been cut off,
had they not been espied. Then lying upon the block most quietly, and
stretching out her arms, cried, "In manus tuas, Domine," &c, three or
four times. Then she lying very still on the block, one of the
executioners holding of her slightly with one of his hands, she endured
two strokes of the other executioner with an axe, she making very small
noise or none at all, and not stirring any part of her from the place
where she lay; and so the executioner cut off her head, saving one
little grisle, which being cut asunder, he lifted up her head to the
view of all the assembly, and bade "God save the Queen." Then her
dressing of lawn falling off from her head, it appeared as grey as one
of threescore and ten years old, polled very short, her face in a moment
being so much altered from the form she had when she was alive, as few
could remember her by her dead face. Her lips stirred up and down a
quarter of an hour after her head was cut off.
Then Mr. Dean said with a loud voice, "So perish all the Queen's
enemies;" and afterwards the Earl of Kent came to the dead body, and
standing over it, with a loud voice said, "Such end of all the Queen's
and the Gospel's enemies."
Illustration: EFFIGY AT WESTMINSTER.
_THE LAST COURTIER_
Then one of the executioners pulling off her garters, espied her little
dog which was crept under her clothes, which could not be gotten forth
but by force, yet afterward would not depart from the dead corpse, but
came and lay between her head and her shoulders, which being imbrued
with her blood, was carried away and washed, as all things else were
that had any blood was either burned or clean washed; and the
executioners sent away with money for their fees, not having any one
thing that belonged unto her. And so, every man being commanded out of
the Hall, except the Sheriff and his men, she was carried by them up
into a great chamber lying ready for the surgeons to embalm her.
A full account of Queen Mary's last days will be found in "The
Tragedy of Fotheringay," by the Hon. Mrs. Maxwell-Scott. In August
1587, the Queen was buried, with great ceremony, in Peterborough
Cathedral, and, in 1612, was reinterred in Westminster Abbey by her
son James VI. and I.
APPENDICES
_CONTENTS_
(A.) Genealogical Tables.
(B.) Lord Darnley.
(C.) Contemporary Writers.
(D.) Authorities.
(E.) Controversial Books.
_APPENDIX A._
(A.) TABLE SHOWING THE RELATIONSHIP OF MARY TO LORD DARNLEY AND TO
THE DUKE OF CHATELHERAULT.
JAMES II., King of Scotland.
|
+----------------------+-------------------+
| |
James III. Mary = James, Lord Hamilton.
| |
James IV. = Margaret, = Archibald, +-----+-------+
| dau. of | Earl of | |
| Henry VII. | Angus. | |
| of England. | James, Elizabeth, _m._
| | 1st Earl Matthew, Earl
| | of Arran. of Lennox.
James V. = Mary of | | |
| Guise. | James, |
| | 2nd Earl |
| | of Arran |
Mary Stuart. | and Duke of John, Earl
| Chatelherault. of Lennox.
| |
+----------------+ |
| |
Margaret = Matthew, Earl
| of Lennox.
|
Henry, Lord Darnley.
TABLE SHOWING THE POSITION OF MARY AND DARNLEY WITH REGARD TO THE
CROWN OF ENGLAND.
HENRY VII.
|
+-------------------+---------+------------+
| | |
Henry VIII. James IV. = Margaret = Archibald, Mary = Charles, Duke
+------+----+ | | Earl of | of Suffolk.
| | | | | Angus |
Edward VI. | Elizabeth. James V. | +---+-----+
| | | | |
Mary. | Margaret, _m._ | |
Mary. Matthew, Earl | |
of Lennox. | |
| Frances, Eleanor,
| _m._ _m._
Henry, Lord Henry, Henry,
Darnley. Duke of Earl of
Suffolk. Cumberland.
| |
+-----------------+-----------------+ |
| | |
Lady Jane Grey. Catherine, _m._ |
Edward, Earl of |
Hertford. |
|
+--------------------------+
| |
Margaret, _m._ Henry, Earl of Derby.
_APPENDIX B._
(B.) LORD DARNLEY.
It may be of some interest to collect a few contemporary opinions
regarding the unfortunate Lord Darnley. The extracts from Sir James
Melville and Randolph (pp. 46-53, 54-56) sufficiently illustrate
the personality of Mary, and we need only add Knolly's description
of the Queen of Scots on her arrival in England (Wright's
"Elizabeth," vol. i. pp. 280-1). He wrote to Cecil: "This ladie and
princess is a notable woman. She semeth to regard no ceremonious
honour beside the acknowledging of her estate regalle. She sheweth
a disposition to speake much, to be bold, to be pleasant, and to be
very famylyar. She sheweth a great desire to be avenged of her
enemies: she sheweth a readiness to expose herself to all perylls
in hope of victorie; she delyteth much to hear of hardiness and
valiancye, commending by name all approved hardy men of her
cuntrye, altho' they be her enemies: and she commendeth no
cowardice even in her friends. The thing that most she thirsteth
after is victory, and it semeth to be indifferent to her to have
her enemies diminish, either by the sword of her friends, or by the
liberall promises and rewards of her purse, or by division and
quarrells raised among themselves; so that for victorie's sake,
payne and perrylls semeth pleasant unto her, and in respect of
victorie, welthe and all thyngs semeth to her contemptuous and
vile."
Our best picture of Darnley comes from the pen of the continuator
of Knox. "He was of a comely stature, and none was like unto him
within this island; he died under the age of one and twenty years;
prompt and ready for all games and sports; much given to hawking
and hunting, and running of horses, and likewise to playing on the
lute; and also to Venus chamber he was liberal enough; he could
write and dictate well; but he was somewhat given to wine, and much
feeding, and likewise to inconstancy; and proud beyond measure, and
therefore contemned all others; he had learned to dissemble well
enough, being from his youth misled up in Popery" (Laing's "Knox,"
vol. ii. p. 551). Incidental references to Darnley's character will
be found on pp. 47-8, 64-5, 87-8, &c. The author of the "Histoire
of James the Sext" wrote of him, "He was a comelie Prince, of a
fayre and large stature of bodie, pleasant in countenance, and
affable to all men, and devote, weill exercised in martiall
pastymes upoun horseback as ony Prince of that age, but was sa
facile as he could conceal no secret, although it might tend to his
own weill." Of Darnley's literary abilities we possess two
indications--a letter written to Mary Tudor, and the following
ballad, both printed in Maidment's "Scottish Songs and Ballads,"
vol. ii. It may be noted that the figure of the turtle-dove or
wood-pigeon occurs in the ballad and in one of the "Casket
Letters."
Gife langour makis men licht,
Or dolour thame decoir,
In earth there is no wicht,[98]
May me compair in gloir.
Gif cairfuill thoftis restoir
My havy heart from sorrow
I am for evir moir
In joy, both evin and morrow.
Gif plesour be to pance,[99]
I playne me nocht opprest,
Or absence micht avance,
My heart is haill possesst,
Gif want of quiet rest
From cairis micht me convoy,
My mynd is nocht mollest,
Bot evir moir in joy.
Thocht that I pance in paine,
In passing to and fro,
I laubor all in vane,
For so hes mony mo,
That hes nocht servit so,
In suting of thair sueit,[100]
The nar the fyre I go
The grittar is my heit.
The turtour for hir maik,
Mair dule may nocht indure
Nor I do for hir saik,
Evin hir quha hes in cure
My hairt, quhilk salbe sure,
And service to the deid,
Unto that lady pure,
The well of woman heid.
Schaw shedfull to that sueit
My pairt so permanent
That no mirth quhill[101] we meit,
Sall cause me be content;
But still my hairt lament,
In sorrowfull siching soir,
Till tyme sho be present,
Fairweill, I say no moir.
_Finis quod King Hary Stewart._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[98] Man.
[99] Think.
[100] Sweet.
[101] Till.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
This lament for Darnley (also printed by Maidment) was doubtless
used as a political weapon against Queen Mary:--
To Edinburgh about six hours at morn,
As I was passing pansand out the way;
Ane bonny boy was sore making his moan,
His sorry song was Oche, and Wallaway!
That ever I should lyve to see that day,
Ane king at eve, with sceptre, sword and crown;
At morn but a deformed lump of clay,
With traitors strong so cruelly put down!
Then drew I near some tidings for to speir,
And said, My friend, what makis thee sa way.
Bloody Bothwell hath brought our king to beir,
And flatter and fraud with double Dalilay.
At ten houris on Sunday late at een,
When Dalila and Bothwell bade good night,
Off her finger false she threw ane ring,
And said, My Lord, ane token you I plight.
She did depart then with an untrue train,
And then in haste and culverin they let craik,
To teach their feiris to know the appoint time,
About the kinge's lodging for to clap.
To dance that night they said she should not slack,
With leggis lycht to hald the wedow walkan;
And baid fra bed until she heard the crack,
Whilk was a sign that her good lord was slain.
O ye that to our kirk have done subscryve,
These Achans try alsweill traist I may,
If ye do not, the time will come, belyve,
That God to you will raise some Iosuay;
Whilk shall your bairnis gar sing Wallaway,
And ye your selvis be put down with shame;
Remember on the awesome latter day,
When ye reward shall receive for your blame.
I ken right well ye knaw your duty,
Gif ye do not purge you ane and all,
Then shall I write in pretty poetry,
In Latin laid in style rhetorical;
Which through all Europe shall ring like ane bell,
In the contempt of your malignity.
Fye, flee fra Clynemnestra fell,
For she was never like Penelope.
With Clynemnestra I do not fain to fletch,
Who slew her spouse, the great Agamemnon;
Or with any that Ninus' wife doth match,
Semiramis quha brought her gude lord down.
Quha do abstain fra litigation,
Or from his paper hald aback the pen?
Except he hate our Scottish nation,
Or then stand up and traitors deeds commend?
Now all the woes that Ovid in Ibin,
Into his pretty little book did write,
And many mo be to our Scottish Queen,
For she the cause is of my doleful dyte.
Sa mot her heart be fillet full of syte,
As Herois was for Leander's death;
Herself to slay for woe who thought delyte,
For Henry's sake to like our Queen was laith.
The dolours als that pierced Dido's heart,
When King Enee from Carthage took the flight;
For the which cause unto a brand she start,
And slew herseif, which was a sorry sight.
Sa might she die as did Creusa bright,
The worthy wife of douty Duke Jason;
Wha brint was in ane garment wrought by slight
Of Medea through incantation.
Her laughter light be like to true Thisbe,
When Pyramus she found dead at the well,
In languor like unto Penelope,
For Ulysses who long at Troy did dwell.
Her dolesome death be worse than Jezebel,
Whom through an window surely men did thraw;
Whose blood did lap the cruel hundis fell,
And doggis could her wicked bainis gnaw.
Were I an hound--oh! if she an hare,
And I an cat, and she a little mouse,
And she a bairn, and I a wild wod bear,
I an ferret, and she cuniculus.
To her I shall be aye contrarius--
When to me Atropos cut the fatal thread,
And fell deithis dartys dolorous,
Then shall our spirits be at mortal feid.
My spirit her spirit shall douke in Phlegethon,
Into that painful filthy flood of hell,
And then in Styx, and Lethe baith anone--
And Cerberus that cruel hound sa fell,
Sall gar her cry with mony gout and yell,
O Wallaway! that ever she was born,
Or with treason by ony manner mell,
Whilk from all bliss should cause her be forlorn.
(C.) CONTEMPORARY WRITERS.
GEORGE BUCHANAN.
The writings of George Buchanan with which we are concerned are his
"Detection" of Queen Mary, and his "History of Scotland." Buchanan
was the friend and adviser of Mary's enemies, and his references to
her are polemical, not historical. His "Detection" is based on the
"Book of Articles" (_cf._ p. 144), and it is not always consistent
with the statements in his "History." Sheriff AEneas Mackay admits
with regard to it that "it must be deemed a calumnious work." The
reader must decide for himself what credit to attach to statements
made by Buchanan, and otherwise unattested. He occupies among
Mary's accusers the position held by Lesley among her friends. His
title to fame is not confined to the Marian controversy. He was a
very distinguished humanist, and his writings possess both learning
and charm. (_Cf._ Mr. Hume Brown's recent volume entitled "George
Buchanan.")
CONAEUS.
George Conn belonged to an Aberdeenshire family of Roman Catholic
sympathies, and was educated at Douay, Paris, and Rome. He was
Papal agent accredited to Queen Henrietta Maria from 1636 to 1639.
He died in 1640. The date of his birth is unknown, and he is not
quite strictly a contemporary author. But he lived in Paris at a
time when people must have been alive who could remember Queen
Mary's residence in France, and his "Life of Mary Stuart,"
published in 1624, has all the freshness of a contemporary source.
LORD HERRIES.
John Maxwell, fourth Lord Herries, was, although a Protestant, a
staunch supporter of Queen Mary. He opposed the Bothwell marriage,
but remained faithful after the surrender at Carberry Hill. He
joined the Queen after her escape from Lochleven, was present at
the Battle of Langside, and accompanied her in her flight to
England. In spite of some temporising with her enemies, he was
selected, along with the Bishop of Ross, to defend her at York and
Westminster, and he was probably involved in the Norfolk plot. When
he became convinced of the hopelessness of Mary's cause, he came to
an arrangement with the victorious party, and took a part in
politics till his death in 1583. He seems, however, always to have
been ready to assist the Queen had there been any chance of
success. His "Memoirs" possess an unusual interest in virtue of his
intimate knowledge of the secret history of the reign.
JOHN KNOX.
The extracts from Knox's "History of the Reformation in Scotland"
are interesting as bearing the impress of their author's vigorous
personality. But it must be remembered that, as the leader of the
Protestant clergy, he was a strong partisan, and his descriptions
cannot be accepted literally. Different readers will decide
differently as to the credit to be given to Knox's statements. The
most valuable edition of Knox is the large one by the late Mr.
David Laing, which contains much important annotation. The
concluding portion of the "History" is not from Knox's own pen, but
is the work of an unknown writer, who is generally described as
Knox's Continuator.
JOHN LESLEY.
The Bishop of Ross was a native of Inverness-shire, and was
educated at the University of Aberdeen. The first public capacity
in which he was employed was as one of a deputation of Roman
Catholic nobles to invite Queen Mary to return to Scotland, after
the death of Francis II. He became Bishop of Ross in 1566. He
rendered his chief services to Queen Mary as one of the agents for
her defence at the Conferences at York and Westminster, and he was
thereafter involved in most of the schemes for Mary's release. He
survived the Queen for nine years, and died in 1596 at Guirtenburg,
near Brussels. He was about seventy years of age.
Lesley's chief work is his "History of Scotland from 1437 to 1561."
The Scots edition was first published in 1830, but the Latin
version, which is more complete, appeared during the author's
lifetime, and was translated into Scots, as early as 1596, by
Father James Dalrymple of Regensburg. For the period with which we
are concerned Lesley is a contemporary authority; but he wrote with
a purpose, and was inclined to exaggeration. His "Defence of Queen
Mary's Honour" was a reply to Buchanan's "Detection."
LINDSAY OF PITSCOTTIE.
Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie was a cadet of the family of Crawford.
He was born about 1500, and died about 1565, and took no part in
public affairs. His "History" was not published till 1728. It is a
work to which we are indebted for much gossip, and it contains many
humorous anecdotes. The writer was a strong Protestant, and shared
with many of his contemporaries a fondness for moralising. His book
is not absolutely reliable by any means; but in the passage quoted
he appears to best advantage.
SIR JAMES MELVILLE.
Sir James Melville had been an attendant on Queen Mary since her
childhood. In 1549, when he was fourteen years of age and she
seven, he became her page. After some military, and diplomatic
service he became one of the gentlemen of the Bed Chamber on the
Queen's return to Scotland. His two visits to London as ambassador
from Mary to Elizabeth are recorded in the passage quoted in the
text. After the fall of the Queen Melville attached himself to the
ruling party, and was prominent in politics till James's accession
to the throne of England. Thereafter, he lived quietly at his
estate of Hallhill, in Fife, where he died in 1617. During his
retirement he wrote his "Memoirs," which were published by his
grandson in 1683. His memory was not invariably trustworthy; but
his fascinating style has made his writing one of the most popular
chronicles of the time. His picture of the rival queens is one of
the most characteristic passages in his work (pp. 46-53).
CLAUDE NAU.
Claude de la Boisselierre Nau was sent by the Cardinal of Lorraine
to Queen Mary as a Secretary in 1575. Thenceforward he remained her
confidential adviser, although his loyalty to his own interests was
more marked than his devotion to his mistress, and he was generally
believed to have betrayed her in connection with the Babington
conspiracy. After her death he was released by Queen Elizabeth, and
entered the service of Henry IV. of France. The MS. known as "Nau's
History of Mary Stewart" is in the British Museum, and was printed
in 1883 by Father Joseph Stevenson, S.J. The evidence on which Mr.
Stevenson attributes it to Nau is given in his introduction.
LORD RUTHVEN.
Patrick, third Lord Ruthven, was one of the Protestant nobles who
formed the body known as the "Lords of the Congregation" during the
absence of Queen Mary in France. He was not popular even on his own
side, for we find mysterious accusations of sorcery and enchantment
attaching to his name. At the murder of Rizzio he appeared in the
Queen's room, gaunt and haggard, having risen from a sick bed in
the neighbouring house. After the murder he fled to England and
wrote for the benefit of Queen Elizabeth his "Relation" of the
circumstances. He makes numerous accusations against Mary, which
have generally been received with suspicion owing to the position
of the author as an exiled rebel anxious to justify himself before
a foreign sovereign. He died at Newcastle in June 1566, three
months after the murder. The "articles" are printed, not only in
the "Relation," but in the first column of Goodall's _Examination_,
and the third volume of Keith's "History," while those signed by
Darnley are copied from the original in the Appendix (p. 641) to
the Sixth Report of the Historical MSS. Commissioners.
DIURNAL OF OCCURRENTS.
The "Diurnal of Occurrents in Scotland" was first printed by the
Bannatyne Club in 1833 (from a MS. then in the possession of Sir
John Maxwell of Pollock). It deals with the history of Scotland
from 1513 to 1575. During the period with which we are concerned,
it is clearly the diary of an Edinburgh citizen, and it is of great
value, especially in fixing dates. The anonymous diarist was not a
partisan of the Queen, but his work is more impartial than any
other of the period. Another contemporary diary, by Robert Birrell,
is published in Dalyell's "Fragments of Scottish History," 1798.
GUDE AND GODLY BALLATES.
The controversy of the sixteenth century gave rise to many
political songs and ballads, which became known to the Protestant
party as the "Gude and Godly Ballates." Most of them were aimed
against Roman Catholicism in general, but some are invectives
against Queen Mary herself. The specimens given are among the best
known. They are slightly earlier in date than the arrival of Mary
in Scotland; but they serve to illustrate the bitterness of the
struggle.
(D.) AUTHORITIES.
The remaining contemporary authorities are to be found in the
letters of ambassadors, and the other diplomatic correspondence of
the time. But it must be remembered that a statement can by no
means be implicitly believed because it appears in such documents.
The circumstances of the writer, his opportunities of obtaining
information on the particular topic, his personal prejudices, the
impression that he wished to convey to his correspondent, must all
be allowed due weight. The correspondence and other information is
largely contained in the following books:--
(1.) OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.
_Acts of Parliament of Scotland._
_Reports of the Royal Commission upon Historical MSS._
_Register of the Privy Council of Scotland._
_Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland_, preserved in the
Public Record Office.
_Calendar of Papers relating to Foreign Affairs_, 1542-1587.
_Calendar of Papers relating to English Affairs_, preserved in the
Archives of Simancas.
_Calendar of Papers relating to English Affairs_, preserved in the
Archives of Venice.
_Calendar of Border Papers._
_The Hamilton Papers._
_Calendar of Papers relating to Scotland and Mary Queen of Scots_,
1898.
(2.) BOOKS WHICH CONTAIN ORIGINAL LETTERS, &c.
_Faedera, Conventiones, Literae, &c., inter Reges Angliae et alios_,
ed. by Thomas Rymer. London, 1704-1735.
_Queen Elizabeth and her Times_, by Thomas Wright. London, 1838.
_History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland_, by the
Right Rev. Robert Keith, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
Edinburgh, 1734 (reprinted by the Spottiswoode Society).
_Miscellaneous State Papers from 1501 to 1726_, edited by Philip,
Earl of Hardwicke. London, 1778.
_The Annals of Aboyne_, edited by George, 11th Marquis of Huntly.
(New Spalding Club.)
_Life of Queen Mary_, by George Chalmers. London, 1818.
_History of Scotland_, by William Robertson, D.D.
_History of Scotland_, by Patrick Fraser Tytler.
_Inventories of Mary Queen of Scots_, edited by Joseph Robertson.
_Examination of the Letters said to have been written by Mary Queen
of Scots, to James, Earl of Bothwell_, by Walter Goodall, 1744.
_History of Scotland_, by Malcolm Laing.
_Illustrations of British History_, by Edmund Lodge.
_Elizabeth and Mary_, by Fred. Von Raumer.
_Original Letters, Illustrative of British History_, ed. Ellis.
_Mary Queen of Scots and her Accusers_, by John Hosack, 1870-74.
_Mary Queen of Scots, from her Birth to her Flight into England_,
by D. Hay Fleming.
_Recueil des Lettres de Marie Stuart_, ed. Labanoff.
_Letters of Mary Stuart_, ed. Agnes Strickland.
_Cabala, sive Scrinia Sacra._ London, 1691.
_Collections relating to Mary Queen of Scots_, by James Anderson.
_A Lost Chapter in the Life of Mary Stuart_, by John Stuart.
_Queen Mary at Jedburgh_, by John Small.
_Illustrations of the Reign of Mary Queen of Scots._ (Maitland
Club.)
_Relations Politiques de la France et de l'Espagne avec l'Ecosse_,
edited by Teulet.
_The Tragedy of Fotheringay_, by the Hon. Mrs. Maxwell-Scott.
These are the main authorities. A complete list of publications
dealing with the question up to 1700, will be found in "A
Bibliography of Works relating to Mary Queen of Scots, 1544-1700,"
by John Scott, C.B. (Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, 1896). Very
full references will be found in Mr. Hay Fleming's notes. The list
of authorities appended to the articles "Mary Stuart," in the
_Dictionary of National Biography_, should also be consulted.
(E.) CONTROVERSIAL WORKS.
The general historians who deal with the period--Hume, Robertson,
Tytler, Laing, Froude, and Hill Burton--are usually ranked among
Queen Mary's opponents. Hume and Froude occupy the most decided
position. Among other writers who are definitely against the theory
of Mary's innocence, must be reckoned Mignet ("Life of Mary Queen
of Scots"), Mr. D. Hay Fleming ("Mary Queen of Scots"), and Mr. T.
F. Henderson (articles, "Mary Stuart," "Henry Stewart, Lord
Darnley," "James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell," &c., in the
_Dictionary of National Biography_). No one can hope to understand
the present position of the controversy without the writings of Mr.
Fleming and Mr. Henderson. Among general controversialists on the
side of Queen Mary, may be mentioned the works already quoted, by
Walter Goodall, George Chalmers, and John Hosack, William Tytler's
"Inquiry into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots" (1790),
Whitaker's "Mary Queen of Scots Vindicated" (1778), Miss Agnes
Strickland's "Lives of the Queens of Scotland," Mr. Alex. Walker's
"Mary, Queen of Scots," Mr. M'Neel-Caird's "Mary Stuart," and Sir
John Skelton's "Impeachment of Mary Stuart," "Maitland of
Lethington," and "Life of Mary Stuart." Mr. Swinburne's "Mary Queen
of Scots" is one of the most attractive works on the subject. The
reader will recollect that the "false Duessa" in Spenser's "Faerie
Queen" is the Queen of Scots.
The last few years have seen the publication of many important
works dealing with the problem of the Casket Letters, _e.g._:--
Bresslau: "Die Kassettenbriefe der Koenigin Maria Stuart," in the
_Historisches Taschenbuche_, 1882.
Sepp: _Die Kassettenbriefe_, 1884.
Gerde: "Geschichte der Koenigin Maria Stuart," 1885.
T. F. Henderson: "Casket Letters, and Mary Queen of Scots." 2nd ed.
1890.
Philippson: "Histoire du Regne de Marie Stuart," 1891-92.
The English reader will find the material in Mr. T. F. Henderson's
work ample for his purpose. The preface to Mr. Hay Fleming's "Mary
Queen, of Scots" promises a second volume, which will contain the
life in captivity, and, of course, deal with the letters. No Marian
apologist has, as yet, attempted an answer to the more recent
evidence on the other side, and Hosack's great work is now
considerably superseded. The foregoing lists are, of course,
selected. A full Bibliography is a great task, not yet attempted.
THE END
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. Edinburgh & London
_Published by_ DAVID NUTT, _270-271 Strand, London, and Sold by all
Booksellers throughout Scotland, England, and Ireland._
SCOTTISH VERNACULAR LITERATURE
A SUCCINCT HISTORY
By T. F. HENDERSON
Printed at the Constable Press, 1898
Crown 8vo, x, 464 pp. Buckram, top gilt, 6s.
CONTENTS:--The Scottish Vernacular--Minstrelsy and
Romance--Historical Poetry--The Scottish Fabliau and the Decay of
Romance--The Early Chaucerians--Dunbar and Walter Kennedy--Gavin
Douglas and Sir David Lyndsay--Minor and Later Poets of the 16th
Century--Anonymous Poetry of the 15th and 16th
Centuries--Vernacular Prose--Traditional Ballads and Songs--Before
Ramsay--Ramsay to Burns--Burns and afterwards.
=_Some Press Notices_=
=Outlook.=--"Truly admirable for its conciseness and adequacy of
critical treatment."
=Literature.=--"A work of great merit and interest, and unique in
its field."
=Scotsman.=--"Will be of great use to those who wish a general
guide to Scottish literature in prose, such as there was, as well
as in verse."
=North British Daily Mail.=--"A model of what such a handbook
should be--thorough, concise, well balanced."
=Saturday Review.=--"Excellent in every respect."
=Morning Post.=--"It is not easy to recall another volume,
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scholarly, so thorough, so agreeable."
=Glasgow Herald.=--"Deserves a hearty welcome and no
stinted=praise."
=Arbroath Herald.=--"Few readers will fail to appreciate the
justice and the suggestive force of his general survey of Scottish
literature."
Transcribers Note
Headings printed at the top of pages in the original have been
converted to sub-headings and placed and the head of the most relevant
paragraph.
Much of the text being letters and transcripts, inconsistant spellings
have been retained.
Footnote 64 had no anchor in the text. Since it appears to relate
to the whole of letter III an anchor has been inserted at to top of the
letter.
Ligature oe has been represented as [oe].
End of Project Gutenberg's Mary Queen of Scots 1542-1587, by Various