HOLYROOD PALACE
To those who see it for the first time, Holyrood Palace is distinctly
disappointing. All the glamour of its romantic history seems out of
place in connection with the somewhat prosaic looking mansion, which
bears little outward sign of its eventful life. Nothing is left of the
medieval abbey which once stood upon the site, save a ruined portion
of the abbey church. And of the Stuart palace, so associated with the
fascinations of Scotland's most famous Queen, only a small part is
left, though luckily the fire which attacked the palace at the end of
the Civil War spared the apartments used by Mary Queen of Scots. Yet,
disappointing as a first impression may be, Holyrood Palace, to
those who know anything of Scotland's story, can never fail to be
interesting.
The palace was never a fortified building, for it was not used as
a regular royal residence until the more fierce days of warfare had
vanished. Originally an abbey stood at the foot of Arthur's Seat,
being founded by David I., in gratitude for his miraculous escape when
out hunting. According to monkish tradition, the King was saved by the
providential appearance of a cross which interposed between him and
the infuriated stag. Therefore the name of the abbey was called the
Holyrood.
[Illustration: The Bedchamber of Mary Queen of Scots, in Holyrood
Palace.]
Though not a palace until the time of the Stuarts, the early Kings
often held councils there, and continued to show royal favour to the
monks, who had given the name of Canongate to the burgh which arose
outside the city walls. James II., who lies buried in the royal vault
in the chapel, was the first to erect any kind of royal apartments in
the abbey. His successor, James III., lived there, but it was James
IV. who really was the builder of the palace, to which he brought his
wife, Margaret Tudor, the English bride who was eventually to bring
about the union of the crowns. James V. carried on the brilliance of
his father's Court, his two French wives bringing many of the fashions
of their own country to grace their new home. His first wife died soon
after her arrival, but his second wife, Mary of Guise, lived to rule
Scotland through many anxious years of regency, while her infant
daughter was being brought up away from her in distant France.
But it was under Mary Queen of Scots that Holyrood became really
famous. She made it her constant and favourite residence. After her
many years of education in France, and her brief career as the wife of
the sickly Francis II., she returned to her native country in August,
1561. John Knox, with the superstition of the age, comments upon the
peculiar fogginess and darkness of the weather which marked the young
Queen's arrival, saying, "that forewarning gave God unto us, but alas!
the most were blind." Bonfires were lit, and great demonstrations of
joy were manifested when Mary took up her abode at Holyrood. A band of
musicians with much zeal but little skill played outside her bedroom
window, being courteously thanked by the Queen; but Brantôme, the
French courtier, who had accompanied Queen Mary from France, complains
in his memoirs of the terrible noise of these musicians who sang
psalms all out of tune; "Quelle musique! et quel repos pour sa nuit"
he writes. The very first Sunday after her arrival was marred by a
tumult outside the Chapel Royal, where Mass was being performed, a
disturbance which was only checked by Lord James Stuart, the Queen's
natural brother, who stood in front of the chapel door, and being a
zealous Protestant himself, managed to check the Reformers.
The palace witnessed three interviews between the great reformer,
John Knox, and his young and beautiful Queen. Using his pulpit as the
opportunity for declaiming against the doings of the Queen and that of
idolators generally, John Knox was called to task by Mary, who ordered
him to appear before her at Holyrood. The first interview took place
in the audience-chamber, leading into the Queen's bedchamber. Only
Lord James Stuart, afterwards the Regent Moray, was present at
the interview, in which Knox answered the Queen's accusations very
cleverly. The second interview was held in the Queen's bedroom, the
room which remains much as she left it, with the actual bed in which
she slept. Off this room were two small rooms, in one of which she
was supping with her Italian secretary, David Riccio, when the band of
armed men, headed by her husband Darnley, burst into the room. Riccio
clung to the Queen's dress, but was torn apart, stabbed, and dragged
out to be despatched with many wounds at the top of the staircase.
Queen Mary's son, James VI., spent some time of every year in the
palace, and restored it when he was expecting his Danish bride.
Charles I., who had been crowned King of Scotland in the chapel at
Holyrood, restored the building, which was wrecked by a mob in 1688,
after James VII. (James II. of England) had endeavoured to set up the
Roman Catholic worship there. The chapel suffered another disaster
about the middle of the eighteenth century, when the architect who
had been entrusted with the work of restoring the building put on too
heavy a roof, which fell in, destroying all but the bare walls.
The royal vault at the east end of the south aisle still remains,
containing the bodies of David II., James II., James V., and his
Queen, Magdalen of France, and Henry Lord Darnley.
From the time of Charles II., who rebuilt the palace much as we see
it now, and James VII., who stayed in the palace when Duke of York,
Holyrood became deserted, the later Stuarts and the Georges not
visiting their northern capital. But in September, 1745, the palace
once more broke into gaiety and splendour, when Prince Charles Edward
entered Edinburgh and held high court in the home of his ancestors.
His father was proclaimed as King James VIII., ladies flocked to
the balls to win a gracious smile from the handsome Prince, and
the kingdom seemed almost won. But in the midst of all the apparent
brightness, the Prince realized that his cause was not so successful
as he had at first hoped; the Highlanders, indeed, were flocking
in, but the Lowlanders held aloof. After a few weeks Prince Charlie
determined to risk all on the desperate march into England, leaving
Edinburgh never to return again.
Since then Holyrood has only once rejoiced in the presence of the
monarch, when in 1822 George IV. visited Edinburgh and received an
enthusiastic welcome, chiefly through the fervid loyalty of Sir Walter
Scott, who devoted all his energies to the success of the first royal
visit since the time of Charles I.
For nearly a century the palace has not been used as a royal
residence, but is merely occupied once a year when the Lord High
Commissioner to the Assembly comes in state to the capital.