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Chapter Nineteen
Mary married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, her first cousin at Holyrood Palace on 29 July 1565. It was a turbulent marriage. Their son James was born on 19 June 1566 but within two years Lord Darnley was to die. In February 1567, he was recuperating after an illness in a house at Kirk o' Field within the city wall of Edinburgh, when an explosion occurred in the house, and Darnley was found dead in the garden.
Mary took great pleasure in a magnificent jewellery collection. She brought many splendid pieces from France in 1561. In Scotland she inherited jewels from her mother and continued to buy new items: there were finger rings, pendants, bracelets, belts, earrings, buttons, crucifixes, rosaries and furs complete with bejewelled gold heads. All were made of gold, enriched with enamelling in bright colours and set with precious stones especially rubies, diamonds, emeralds and sapphires.
She played the lute, was an exceptional needlewoman, enjoyed card games long into the night, and loved hunting and hawking as well as masques, dancing and playing music. A range of objects represent these pursuits, including a gaming board with silver tablemen and gold dice said to have been presented by Mary to her friend and confidante, Mary Seton, one of the so-called 'four Maries', her closest female attendants. During this period, the reckless Mary is known to have taken to the streets of Edinburgh disguised as a young man and accompanied by the four Maries.
Raised in a sophisticated and glittering environment, Mary loved fine clothing and amassed a spectacular wardrobe of elegant and fashionable dresses.
Physicians
On her return to Scotland she brought Dr. Lusgerie, her chief physician, in her train. She sent him to attend Darnley in his illness at Glasgow in 1566.
The most serious attack she sustained was at Jedburgh in I566, when she seemed dead, 'her eyes closed, her mouth fast, and her feet and arms stiff and cold'. She was restored to life by her surgeon Arnault, 'a perfect man of his craft'. Certainly [writes Armstrong Davison] it is difficult to imagine better treatment of a case of haemorrhagic shock, other than transfusion, than that which he employed. He bandaged very tightly her great toes, her legs from the ankle upwards, and her arms; then he poured some wine into her mouth, which he caused to be opened by force. He also gave a clyster (enema). Later, she vomited a great quantity of corrupt blood.
A lot has been said about the relationship between Mary and Bothwell, and although she relied on his influence and power at a time when she was ill, depressed and abandoned by all her advisers, it is not my opinion that Mary ever felt the passion for Bothwell that is often described. The Casket Letters are now commonly accepted to have been forgeries designed to besmirch Mary's character and make her the accomplice of Bothwell in the murder of Darnley. This was done at a time when Moray, Mary's treacherous half-brother, was keen to dissociate himself from the crime and to make sure that Mary would not return to Scotland from her prison in England, and take away the Regency he had coveted for so long. As such, the Casket Letters throw no light on Mary's relationship with Bothwell. The facts though, do. Her marriage to Bothwell was a speedy and squalid affair compared to her previous two weddings. No masques, lavish ceremony and rich presents but a simple meal which everyone ate in silence. On the very day she got married to Bothwell, Mary told Du Croc that she had no desire to be merry, and to Leslie, she announced in floods of tears how much she regretted what she had done, especially her Protestant wedding. The next day, she was heard begging for a knife in front of her equerry Arthur Erskine, so that she may kill herself, and threatened to drown herself instead if he did not do as she wished. Besides Mary's desperate state of mind, Bothwell's attitude towards her was brutal. According to Melville, not a day passed without Mary crying because of the way he treated her. He was jealous, resented her happy nature and forbade her music, hawking and all her other pastimes, and used appalling language in her presence. Although he had had his marriage to Lady Jean Gordon annulled in order to marry Mary, Bothwell seemed to keep the relationship going, assuring Jean that Mary was just his concubine and that she remained his only wife. Further, Bothwell's attitude towards women was notorious, from the blacksmith's daughter, Bessie Crawford who he seduced in a corner of the kitchen, Alison Craik, allegedly Arran's mistress, who he attempted to rape to take revenge on his enemy Arran, the distraught Anna Throndsen who he dumped after promising to marry her, to Janet Beaton, aunt of Mary Beaton one of the four Maries, a woman old enough to be his mother. After Mary saw Bothwell for the last time at Carberry Hill, she does not seem to have made any attempt at contacting him. Neither did she show any interest during her nineteen years of captivity in England. Are these the signs of a wild, passionate romance?
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Chapter Twenty
MARY QUEEN SCOTS' PROGRESSOctober 1566
A fresh, but this time in-depth reading of Mary Queen of Scots' romantic ride to Hermitage castle to see her lover the Earl Bothwell, was suggested by an e-mail from Don Tudhope of Montana. In this, he mentions that he has had passed down to him as his family-lore, that a member(s) of his ancestry rode as part of 'Mary Queen of Scots' bodyguard during her 'Progress' through the Borders in the month of October 1566.
Don's evidence is the first to be offered that has a member(s) of the family taking part in an historic event, and in what is thought of as one of the most romantic episodes in Scottish history. The two known family settlements in existence at this time, Tudhope hill only a short distance from Hermitage Castle and Tudhope farm at Jedburgh, were probably occupied by family members and we could expect one or both to have been involved in a peripheral manner with the events that took place in the month of October 1566.
This provided the raison d'être for revisiting this romantic event. One of the historians of the period George Buchanan, who was a highly educated man and tutor to Queen Mary has left a vivid (and lurid) account of both the Queen's great love for Earl Bothwell and her 'Progress' through the Borders. It is clear that most of the older published books that we read on this period have been based on his work, and his influence can still be detected in most modern books on the life of 'Mary Queen of Scots.'
It is surprising that this highly valued legacy of Don's folk-lore has survived the span of the centuries, and if anyone else has similar family-lore I'm sure we would all be grateful if you would pass it on, as it is clearly of great interest to all members of the family.
THE BORDER ROMANCE - the folk-lore
Before beginning her 'Progress' through the south eastern part of the Scottish Borders in October 1566, Mary commissioned James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell; who the year before she had made 'Lord of Liddesdale,' to enforce royal authority in the Borders, and present a number of unruly Borderers for trial at the Queen's Assizes at Jedburgh, thus allowing her subjects to see the Queen's justice being enacted.
Bothwell left ahead of the Queen's main party, riding to Hermitage Castle with an estimated two hundred mounted Borderers. Having been successful, the Earl imprisoned a number of persons in the dungeons of Hermitage Castle with a view to presenting them at Jedburgh for the Queen's justice.
The next event that the general literature tells us, is Bothwell's chance encounter with little Jock 'o' the park (John Elliot) whilst hunting deer in the Billhope area, this encounter is generally accepted to have taken place on the 8 Oct. 1566.
Bothwell shot Elliot from the saddle, and whilst carelessly inspecting the body, allowed Elliot to be all over him, stabbing him in the face, hand and chest with Elliot escaping. Bothwell being badly injured was carried on a litter to Hermitage castle, where on arrival they found that the prisoners had escaped and had taken possession of the Castle, and Bothwell's party was locked out until negotiations had taken place, and an agreement to all charges being dropped had been made.
Unaware of Bothwell's plight, two days later Mary Queen of Scots left Edinburgh on the 10 Oct. 1566 to begin her 'Progress' thoug
h the Borders and the south east of Scotland.
Buchanan writes, ''At her arrival at Jedburgh, she heard sure news of Bothwell's life, yet her affection, impatient of delay, could not temper itself, but must need betray her outrageous love … she betook herself headlong to her journey, with ane company such as na man of honest degree would have adventured his life and goods among them.''
Hence, on arrival at Jedburgh, the Queen despite being informed that Bothwell was still alive; left on the fateful journey to Hermitage to see him, placing herself in the company of men who looked like thieves and ruffians, and who no one would dare trust his life or valuables to - 'Borderers!'
The journey to Hermitage is over 20 miles each way and the route taken is not documented, she stayed only two hours, and on the return journey her horse stumbled and she was thrown into a bog, and in doing so is said to have lost a valuable silver object. On her arrival back at Jedburgh, and as a result of the stress of the tiring wet journey, she became ill and proceeded repeatedly to slip into and out of a coma, her nobles, and Mary herself thought she was dying and a priest was called to read her the last rites.
On the 25 Oct. 1566, Bothwell still ill arrived on a horse litter, and on the 28 Oct. Darnley, Mary's husband, the King consort arrived and was forced to lodge in a private house in the high street next to the Eagle, which was already occupied by Lord Home.
However, by the 30 Oct. 1566, Mary was showing signs of recovery, and was ordering silks from Edinburgh to be sent to Jedburgh, for a new dress (presumably to replace the dress that was ruined by being thrown into the mire).
Although the subject of debate in many books, it is generally accepted that the Queen stayed at the house now called 'Queen Mary's house ( Bastle)' in Jedburgh, and it was here that she recovered after her visit to Hermitage.However, one author suggests the possibility of Ferniehirst castle as a more likely place where she would have lodged.
On the 9Nov. 1566, the Queen and her entourage left Jedburgh to continue her 'Progress.'
MAKING SENSE OF THE FOLK-LORE
The above is a distillation of many books and articles concerning the events for the month of October 1566. Primary sources exist for some of the days of this month, but out of the many modern authors who have written about Mary Queen of Scots, only one seems to have accessed all the known primary sources, similarly most authors were not particularly interested in the skirmish between Earl Bothwell and Elliot, but more with the interactions between Mary, her nobles, and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I of England. The Jedburgh – Hermitage ride generally comes into their accounts, only as a cause of the serious illness that it seems to have precipitated.
Only some of the above events have been written down, and with time and authors having had a distorting effect on the description of these events, it is still important to try to ascertain which of the many endings – to various events - might be closest to the actual occurrence.
BOTHWELL – ELLIOT SKIRMISH
The story above began with the skirmish between Earl Bothwell and Little Jock 'O' the Park, so it seems sensible to begin with the same event. Firstly, the name 'Little Jock' is most likely an ironic nickname for John Elliot, he was almost certainly one of the 'strapping Elliots' referred to in a letter by Sir John Forster; the English Middle March warden who passed on a thousand English pounds from Queen Elizabeth I the year before to the Elliots, bribing them to break loose and cause mischief in the Borders. Bothwell on the other hand, if we are to believe that the mummy at Faarvejle church in Denmark is the remains of the Earl, was red haired and approximately five foot six inches in height.
Because of its proximity to Tudhope hill, Bothwell's skirmish with Elliot is of family interest, and the story has, as might be expected, various endings; Elliot was shot from the saddle and killed; Elliot was killed in the fight; he escaped and was caught some ten years later and hanged; he lived another twenty or so years and died in his bed. These are some of the various endings encountered, and are probably the result of authors simply copying from each other and adding embellishments without checking the primary sources associated with the event, something that unfortunately few of us are in a position to do.
There are only a few primary sources concerning the skirmish between Bothwell and Elliot accessible to the amateur, these are in the form of translations of letters from the English March Wardens and the 'Diurnal of Occurrents,' whilst the Diurnal is full of errors, it is deemed to be useful because it does not seem biased and is a somewhat dry account of the events.
Writing from 'Berwick on Tweed' on the 6 Oct. 1566, Lord Henry Scrope wrote to Cecil the English Secretary of State, that:
''I have presently gotten intelligence out of Scotland that the Earl of Bothwell, being in Liddesdale for the apprehension of certain disordered persons there, had apprehended the Lairds of Mangerton and Whitehaugh, with sundry other Armstrongs of the surname and kindred, whom he had put within the Hermitage. And yesterday, going about to take such like persons of the Elliots, in pursuit of them, his Lordship, being foremost and far before his company, encountered one John Elliot of the Park hand to hand, and shot him through the thigh with a dag (horse-pistol); upon which wound, the man, feeling himself in peril of death, with a two-handed sword so cruelly assailed him that he killed him ere he could get any rescue or succor from his men.''
Hence, in his first sweep of Liddesdale, Earl Bothwell had taken captive a number of Armstrongs, including the Lairds of Mangerton and Whitehaugh, which were duly imprisoned in Hermitage castle. The next day, the Earl and his troop of Borderers performed a second sweep, this time for members of the Elliot family, and came across Little Jock O' the Park (now Newcastleton). We know that Elliot did not succeed in killing Bothwell, and for a more informative account of the fight, it is necessary to use a translation of the 'Diurnal of Occurrents' written in Victorian prose by E and A. Strickland in 1855 as follows:
''Instead of being slain, as erroneously reported, Bothwell, having in reality wounded and overcome Elliot in single combat, admitted him to quarter. Elliot, after he had surrendered, asked his captor 'whether he would save his life?' 'If an assize will make you clean, I shall be heartily content,' replied the Earl; 'but it behoves you to pass to the Queens's Grace.' Hearing this, John Elliot slipped from his horse to run away; the Earl perceiving his purpose, fired his pistol at him, wounded him in the body, and alighted with intent to have retaken him, but unluckily slipped over a slough, and fell. Elliot threw himself on him, gave him three wounds – one in the head, one the hand, one in the body – and effected his escape, but not before the Earl had stabbed him twice in the breast with his whingar (short sword). Mortal thrusts they proved, for Elliot died when he ascended a hill about a mile from the spot. Bothwell's servants found their lord in a state of insensibility, weltering in his own blood, and carried him to Hermitage Castle. But as misfortunes never come singly, the thieves whom he had left in ward there had broken loose, made themselves masters of his fortress, and would not allow him or his servants to enter till Robert of the Shaw came up, and told them, 'if they would let my Lord of Bothwell in, he would save all their lives and let them gang hame.'
The sisters, Elizabeth and Agnes Strickland have coloured their translation of the 'Diurnal of Occurrents,' as far as can be determined there is no mention of Earl Bothwell wounding Elliot in personal combat during the initial arrest, although there may be other documents which state this, but from the Diurnal the statement is:
''...chancit vpon ane theif callit Johne Eluat of the park. And efter he had takin him, the said Johne speirit gif he wald saif his lyff...'' This may imply personal combat, but there is no mention of the wounding of Elliot.
Also, the word 'slough/sough' needs further thought as it has a discernible effect on the events, it has several meanings which are difficult to apply, those that can be are - a narrow trench or drainage ditch and a depression with a mire or bog at the bottom, and from the Diurnal:
''The said Earl slipit ower ane sough
, and tomblit doun the same, quhair throw he was fa hurt that he swownit. The said Johne persaueand himself schot, and the erle fallin, he 'yeid' to him quhair he lay, and gaif him thrie woundis, ane in the bodie, ane in the heid, ane in the hand; and my lord gaif him twa straikis with ane quhingar at the paip, and the said thief depairtit; and my lord lay in swoun, …''
In the above, two characters could not be reproduced here and these have been replaced – the long 'S' by a normal 's' and a character similar to a lower case hand written 'z' which has been replaced here by the letter 'y,' giving the word 'yeid.'
From our point of view, this is interesting additional information and indicates that as many authors as possible should be consulted. The 'Diurnal of Occurrents' shows clearly that Elliot was not shot from the saddle, but was either subdued, or surrendered, making a break for freedom only when it became clear that he was likely to hang.
This is an interesting event with little being recorded about it, however, there are a few possible hints as to what may have occurred, how each of these is interpreted is at best just an educated guess, but probably the most important of these is – on tumbling down the 'sough' he was so hurt that he swooned - he tripped and fell, most likely into a ditch, stunning or winding himself just long enough to allow Elliot to reach him. Then the fight would have begun in earnest, Lord Henry Scrope's letter suggests that a two handed sword was used by Elliot, however, Bothwell with his training seems to have defended himself well against Elliot's attack, delivering according to the ''Diurnal'' two thrusts to Elliot's chest with his short sword resulting in him eventually dying, probably from loss of blood.
A Love Beyond: A Scottish Historical Romance (The Reivers Book 2) Page 7