Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Murder of Lord Darnley

by Alison Weir

  “Whatever bloodshed follows will be on your head,” Ruthven told the King grimly. Imprudently, he and his fellow conspirators left the palace and went to Morton’s house for supper, without waiting until the Queen had actually signed their pardons.82

  Bothwell and Huntly had by now received Mary’s message and, “being without fear and willing to sacrifice their lives,”83they summoned their “best friends, the most loyal of Her Majesty’s subjects”84 and rode to Seton, there to await the Queen. “The plan of the escape was due to the Queen’s ingenuity”85and, indeed, her courage and resolve. During the evening of 11 March, she enlisted the support of John Stewart of Traquair, the Captain of her Guard, Arthur Erskine, her Master of Horse, and the page Anthony Standen the Younger, all loyal men who could be relied upon to assist her. They agreed to have horses waiting outside the Canongate cemetery at midnight. Finally, Mary left word with one of her ladies for Melville, that he “should be earnest to keep the Earl of Moray from joining with the other Lords.”86

  All the arrangements were now in place but, at the last minute, Darnley demanded that Lennox accompany them, for his father was in terror of what the conspirators might do to him once they found their captive flown. Mary angrily refused on the grounds that Lennox “had been too often a traitor to her and hers to be trusted on an occasion so hazardous as the present”: she had always paid Lennox the respect due to a father-in-law, and had even castigated Darnley for not showing proper deference to his parent, but as Lennox had “forgotten himself and joined her enemies, nothing could happen to him but what he deserved.” Darnley was her husband, “therefore in her conscience she could not abandon him.”87In the face of her anger, Darnley backed down.

  As twelve o’clock approached, Mary and Darnley, accompanied just by Standen and a gentlewoman, Margaret Carwood, crept down the back stairs, through the service quarters and out of an insecurely fastened back door in the wine cellar,88emerging into the Canongate cemetery. They nearly tripped over an earthen mound, and Darnley, sighing, confessed to Mary that it marked the place where Rizzio lay buried. He added ruefully, “In him I have lost a good and faithful servant, the like of whom I shall never find again. I have been miserably cheated.” Mary hushed him, for fear that they should be overheard.89 Lennox later alleged that she warned Darnley “it should go very hard with her, but ere a twelve month was over, a fatter than he should lie beside him,”90 but this was written with the benefit of hindsight, probably in a deliberate attempt to show that Mary was thinking of doing away with Darnley long before any murder plot was ever hatched; if Mary did say such a thing to Darnley, she may well have been referring to Morton or Ruthven.

  Beyond the cemetery, Traquair and Erskine were waiting with four horses. Mary mounted behind Erskine;91Darnley was shaking with fear, and had to be steadied by the page, Anthony Standen, who rode pillion behind him. The tension was high as they trotted through the silent streets of Edinburgh, but, once they reached open country, they could canter non-stop to Seton, which was ten miles to the east. As they neared their destination, Darnley espied a group of horsemen blocking the road and, dreading that it was Morton and Ruthven come for him, cried in panic to Mary, “Come on! Come on! By God’s blood, they will murder both you and me if they can catch us.” With no regard to her pregnant state, he savagely whipped on her horse and spurred his own, but when, “worn out by fatigue and in great suffering,” she pleaded with him “to have some regard to her condition,” he replied, “Come on! In God’s name, come on! If this baby dies, we can have more.” Mary scathingly told him “to push on and take care of himself,” which, to the disgust of everyone with them, he did, not caring that he might be abandoning her to the tender mercies of her enemies.92 It has been suggested that Darnley still had design on the throne and was hoping that hard riding would accomplish what Rizzio’s murder had failed to do,93 but, if so, he was not thinking very logically, since he had alienated all his supporters.

  In the event, the sinister-looking horsemen proved to be Bothwell, Huntly, Seton, Fleming, Livingston and other loyal Lords and gentlemen who had heeded Bothwell’s summons.94They were waiting to escort the Queen to Dunbar, fifteen miles further on. At Seton, they changed horses and Mary “took a horse to herself” for the rest of the way.95

  At 5 a.m., after five gruelling hours in the saddle, the exhausted royal party reached the safety of Dunbar. It was later reported in Italy that, as soon as they arrived, the Queen insisted on cooking eggs for everyone’s breakfast.96 Whether this is true or not, it aptly illustrates her buoyant mood. In cunningly escaping from her captors with Darnley, she had deprived them, not only of the cloak of legality that had masked their treasonable proceedings, but also of the means of achieving their political goals. With the help of her loyal Lords and gentlemen, she was now ready to fight back and reassert her regal authority.

  9

  “AS THEY HAVE BREWED, SO LET THEM DRINK”

  THE ROYAL CASTLE OF DUNBAR had stood on its cliff jutting out over the North Sea since at least the thirteenth century, and was one of the most important strategic fortresses in Scotland. Besieged, sacked and reduced on several occasions, it had been mostly rebuilt during the reign of James IV, and its royal chambers were of the same proportions as those inhabited by that monarch in Edinburgh Castle. Here were kept the national arsenal and the kingdom’s reserves of gunpowder.1

  Mary was safe in this mighty stronghold, and it was here that, over the next five days, in response to her summons and Bothwell’s efforts in the Borders, her loyal supporters and over 4,000 Borderers gathered.2 Among them were Atholl, Balfour, Bishop Leslie, Lord Home, John Maxwell, Lord Herries “and an infinity of others.”3Here too came Glencairn, Rothes and other rebels, seeking and receiving pardon. All pledged themselves to restore their Queen to her throne and overthrow the conspirators. Soon, as word spread, men came flocking from further afield.

  When, on the morning of 12 March, the conspirators found the Queen and Darnley gone, they were understandably aghast and dismayed, realising that without the promised pardons they were doomed. Lennox was furious with Darnley for having left him behind, unaware that it was Mary who had refused to allow him to accompany them, and galloped off to Dunbar to take his son to task.4That day, Moray and other rebels went to the Tolbooth and publicly protested that they were ready to answer any charges that might be made against them in Parliament, “well knowing that no one could be found who would venture to accuse them.”5The next day, Morton, Ruthven and Lindsay sent Robert, Lord Sempill, who was not tainted by involvement in the plot, to the Queen to ask her to fulfil her promise to grant them their pardons. Mary refused, and kept Sempill with her.

  On 15 March, as a reward for his outstanding services over the past few days, Mary awarded Bothwell the prestigious wardship of the castle and Crown demesne of Dunbar,6of which she had deprived Sir Simon Preston, the Provost of Edinburgh, as punishment for his complacency during her captivity.

  That same day, Mary dictated a letter to Queen Elizabeth, giving a dramatic account of how “some of our subjects and Council, by their proceedings, have declared manifestly what men they are, as have taken our house, slain our special servant in our own presence and thereafter holden our proper persons captive treasonably, whereby we were constrained to escape to the place where we are for the present, in the greatest danger for our lives and evil estate that ever princes on Earth stood in. Which handling no Christian prince will allow, nor yourself, we believe.” She apologised for not writing in her own hand, “but, of truth, we are so tired and ill at ease through riding twenty [sic] miles in five hours of the night with a frequent sickness and evil disposition for the occasion of our child that we could not.”7In her letter to Charles IX, written a few days later, Mary refers to “the bodily indisposition of our person” and states she is not “in robust health”;8 clearly the events of the past few days had taken their toll on her.

  Darnley had been largely shunned by Mary’s supporters. “Some would not sp
eak to him or associate with him. Others, especially Lord Fleming, openly found fault with his conduct towards the Queen his wife and all of them who he had consigned to death.” Darnley confided to Mary that he feared her Lords would revenge themselves upon him and begged her “to bring about a reconciliation with them. He offered to promise, upon his oath, to enter into a close and perfect friendship with them for the future, and never to abandon them. The Queen exerted herself to the utmost to accomplish this,” but without success, for the Lords had had experience of his promises. Moreover, they had risked their lives for him during the Chaseabout Raid, “and in return he had betrayed them to their greatest enemies.” Although Mary had permitted Darnley to share her bed, “their obedience was to her alone, and to no other person. For the future, neither his promises nor his orders should move them.”9From now on, their attitude towards Darnley was to be one of ill-concealed contempt.

  On 17 March, the Queen issued a proclamation summoning the local lieges to muster their troops at Haddington on the 18th with provisions for eight days.10 She also sent orders to Mar to close the gates of Edinburgh “unless the Lords departed out of it.”11 That day, she left Dunbar, “well attended,” and arrived in the evening at the abbey of Haddington.12 On the way, she encountered Melville, and received him with great thanks for his “care of her honour and welfare.”13

  Melville brought with him a letter from Moray, who had been urged by Morton to make his peace with the Queen in order to put himself in a strong enough position to intercede on the conspirators’ behalf. Melville, however, had told Moray that, if he dissociated himself from them, “I should procure a pardon to him and all his followers.” Moray had no doubt already decided that reconciliation with Mary was a far better move than supporting traitors, and in his letter to her again asked pardon for his offences and assured her “never any more to have to do with such as had committed this vile act, nor intercede for them.”14 Clearly, Moray was determined to be on the winning side. Argyll also sent a message seeking the Queen’s favour.15

  On the morning of the 17th, having heard that the treacherous Darnley had defected to the Queen, and knowing that they were outnumbered and outwitted, Morton, Ruthven, Lindsay, George Douglas and Fawdonside, “being destitute of all assisters,”16 had fled to England, seething in mortal hatred at the King’s perfidy, and thirsty for revenge. In betraying them, Darnley had as good as signed his own death warrant.

  Maitland had not been directly involved in Rizzio’s murder, but had certainly had foreknowledge of it. Hearing that both Darnley and Bothwell had denounced him to Mary, and that she had ordered him to withdraw to Inverness, Maitland instead sought refuge at Dunkeld with Atholl, whom he hoped would speak for him to the Queen. Failing that, he would try to purchase his pardon from her, although Randolph thought that would “be as hard as may be.”17

  On the night of 17 March, at Haddington, Mary complained bitterly to Melville of the King’s folly, ingratitude and misbehaviour. I excused the same the best I could, imputing it to his youth, which occasioned him easily to be led away by pernicious counsel, laying the blame upon George Douglas and other bad counsellors; praying Her Majesty, for many necessary considerations, to remove out of her mind any prejudice against him, seeing that she had chosen him herself against the opinion of many. But I could perceive nothing, from that day forth, but great grudges that she entertained in her heart.18

  Darnley also sought out Melville and asked if Moray had written to him. Melville diplomatically answered that Moray’s letter to Mary had been written in haste “and that he esteemed the Queen and he but one.”

  “He might also have written to me,” grumbled Darnley sulkily. He then asked what was to become of Morton and the rest, whereupon Melville told him he thought they had fled.

  “As they have brewed, so let them drink,” commented Darnley. It seemed to Melville “that he was troubled he had deserted them, seeing the Queen’s favour but cold.”19

  Mary’s army now numbered 8,000 men, but it was soon obvious that there would be no obstacles to her return to the capital, and the next day, 18 March, riding with Darnley at the head of her troops and accompanied by Bothwell, Huntly, Home, Seton, Archbishop Hamilton and the Earl Marischal, she made a triumphal entry into Edinburgh. It was only nine days since Rizzio’s murder, yet she had already regained control of her realm without bloodshed. This is sure testimony to her popularity with her subjects. The people of Edinburgh welcomed her with great acclaim and escorted her to the residence of Lord Herries on the High Street;20 on 26 March, she moved to a larger house owned by the Bishop of Dunkeld, which was situated on the Cowgate, behind the present Tron Kirk.21 She had made it very clear that she had no wish to return to Holyrood for the present, as the horrifying memories it held were yet very fresh; nor did she feel safe there.

  Mary was most anxious that arrangements for her security should be tightened, and immediately ordered cannon to be positioned outside Herries’s house. She also “raised certain bands of soldiers, by the advice of Bothwell, whom she made General of the said bands, besides the force of the Hamiltons, which she called into her service to wait upon her, being the ancient enemies of the King her husband’s House.”22

  Moray, fearing that Mary still believed he had supported the rebel Lords, had retired to Linlithgow, where, in the company of Argyll, he waited to see what she would do. But Mary wisely recognised the need for conciliation and clemency. In order to consolidate her victory, she needed strong aristocratic support, and at present many of her chief Lords were either technically outlaws or fugitive traitors. It was necessary therefore to exercise a degree of pragmatism, and on the day after her arrival in Edinburgh, Mary wisely pardoned some of the conspirators not actively involved in Rizzio’s murder, and obliged several others to find surety for their good behaviour. Furthermore, in order to ensure Moray’s loyalty and drive a wedge between him and her other enemies, she sent him a message confirming her willingness to pardon him, Argyll and others involved in the Chaseabout Raid, but insisting there would be no forgiveness or mercy for those who killed Rizzio. Moray’s pardon was conditional upon him breaking off relations with the conspirators and retiring for the present to Argyll.23

  “The investigation of David’s death was harshly pursued.”24 On 19 or 20 March, the Queen issued a writ summoning Morton, Ruthven, Lindsay, Fawdonside, George Douglas and sixty-three other conspirators to appear before the Privy Council to answer for their crimes, on pain of outlawry. On 20 March, Morton was deposed from the office of Chancellor and replaced by Huntly, whose father had once held the post.25 Balfour replaced James MacGill as Clerk Register. Atholl, Seton, Livingston and Fleming now made up the backbone of the Privy Council, over which Mary now made a point of presiding frequently. “By that Council, the affairs of the realm were quieted, and for a time, all was at peace. And in this state of calm they might have remained, but for the turbulence of the King, who could not long continue on good terms with anyone.”26

  Bothwell, who had provided such strength and support during the crisis, “now began to be in great favour,”27 and in effect became for a time Mary’s chief adviser. Months afterwards, Mary was still full of praise for his “dexterity,” recalling “how suddenly, by his providence, not only were we delivered out of prison, but also the whole company of conspirators dissolved, and we recovered our former obedience. Indeed, we must confess that service done at that time to have been so acceptable to us that we could never to this hour forget it.”28

  Both Moray and Darnley had proved treacherous, but Bothwell had a record of loyalty to the Crown stretching back many years, and was obviously a man upon whom the Queen could rely. Almost alone amongst the Scottish nobility, he never took bribes from a foreign power; this was perhaps one of the reasons why he was unpopular with his peers. However, he commanded the loyalty of the Borderers, who were ever willing to rise at his bidding. Bothwell’s influence may perhaps be detected in wise new laws recorded in the Register of the Privy Counci
l, which clamped down on counterfeit coinage, the poaching of fish in Scotland’s rivers by alien fishermen, and the pardoning of offenders in serious cases.

  But the prestige of the Crown, as well as Mary’s reputation, had suffered as a result of Rizzio’s murder, which had also signalled an end to the Queen’s pro-Catholic policies. The fact that Darnley had taken such drastic action against his wife gave rise to suspicions that he had had just cause. Furthermore, the rift between the royal couple was now public property, which in itself was a scandal.

  Mary did not help matters when, shortly before 20 March, she had Rizzio’s body reburied with Catholic rites in “a fair tomb” in the abbey church of Holyrood, which gave offence to many of her subjects.29 However, Buchanan was wrong in stating that Rizzio was buried in the royal vault of James V in the chapel royal: his coffin was nowhere to be seen when the vault was opened in the seventeenth century.

  Given the embarrassment that now overshadowed her marriage, Mary had to embark on a damage limitation exercise. She could quite lawfully have had Darnley executed for treason, but she needed to ensure that there were no doubts as to the legitimacy of her child, and so, on 20 March, Darnley appeared before the Privy Council and signed a declaration protesting, “upon his honour, fidelity and the word of a prince,” that he had “never counselled, commanded, consented, assisted nor approved” Rizzio’s murder;30 he had merely given consent for Moray to return to Scotland, without the Queen’s knowledge.31 On the following day, his innocence was publicly proclaimed at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh, “and that not without laughter.”32Randolph commented, “The King has utterly forsaken the conspirators.”33