of his year age. On his recovery from a severe illness he had been placed, for the benefit of a salubrious air, in a house called the Kirk of Field, which is supposed to have been situated nearly on the same spot where the house of the Principal of the University of Edinburgh now stands. Mary had left him about nine o'clock in the evening to be present at a mask at Holyrood, and about three hours afterwards the house in which he lodged was blown up with gunpowder. The whole city of Edinburgh was alarmed at the noise which it occasioned, and the next morning the bodies of Darnley and his servant were found in a garden near the spot, without any apparent mark of violence having been used towards them. It is generally supposed that the murderers, having strangled them, removed their bodies to the place where they were discovered, and afterwards blew up the house. Two thousand pounds were offered to whoever should discover the perpetrators of the crime. Note 4, page 68. The ruthless actor of that deed proclaim, And breathe--thy dearest friend—thy Bothwell's name. There can be little doubt, whoever were accessaries to it, that Bothwell was the principal at Darnley's murder. Those who have never read it, will find some interesting subjects for controversy in the " Dissertation on King Henry's Murder" at the end of Robertson's History of Scotland. Note 5, page 68. What snatch'd the murd'rer from his fate? By the entreaties of Lord Lennox, the father of Darnley, Bothwell was brought to trial on the 5th of April, 1567. On the day appointed he appeared, but with such a formidable retinue, that it would have been dangerous to condemn, and impossible to punish him. The jury, consisting of peers and barons of the first rank, found him not guilty of the crime. It is remarkable that Bothwell sat as a member at that meeting of the privy council which gave directions with regard to the time and manner of his trial.-Robertson. Note 6, page 70. A venal murder, and a mean divorce. Bothwell was divorced from his wife, Lady Jane Gordon, the sister of the Earl of Huntly, on the 29th of April, 1567. On the 15th of May following, after being created Duke of Orkney, his marriage with Mary was solemnized, according to the rites of the Protestant Church, by Adam Bothwell, Bishop of Orkney. Note 7, page 70. His country's cause her brother hath embrac'd. The nobles, being disgusted at Mary's conduct, at the instigation of Murray took up arms against her and Bothwell; the latter, being obliged to fly the kingdom, turned pirate, but, being taken by the Norwegians, was thrown into prison. He remained here ten years; melancholy and despair deprived him of reason, and at last he ended his days, unpitied by his countrymen, and unassisted by strangers.—Robertson. Note 8, page 71. Bennarty's hill. Bennarty is situated on the south side of Lochleven: the castle where Mary was confined stands on a small island in the middle of the lake. She was brought here on the 18th of June, 1567. Note 9, page 72. Once more o'er dauntless hosts to rule awhile, 'Mary had been so often disappointed in her attempts to escape from Lochleven, and was so little sanguine of any new enterprise, that on the first of May (the eve of her deliverance) she wrote to Catharine de Medicis that she was watched day and night, the girls of the castle sleeping in her chamber; and that, unless the French king interposed, she should remain in prison for life. The next afternoon, William Douglass (a poor dependant on the house of Lochleven) had the address to steal the keys from the hall in which Sir William and his mother were sitting at supper. The queen being apprized of this circumstance, once more descended, with her maid, to the lake, where a boat was waiting, into which they both entered, the maid assisting William in rowing; and, as they approached the shore, he flung into the lake the keys of the castle they had just quitted. Scarcely had she landed, when she was mounted on a palfrey, and conveyed to Niddry, the seat of Lord Seaton, where, surrounded by friends, Mary might exclaim with ecstacy, 'I am once more a queen!' How often, in succeeding years of captivity, must the recollection of that rapturous welcome have imparted a momentary sensation of pleasure to her oppressed heart!"-Benger. Note 10, page 74. Queen of a thousand griefs! those dreams have flown, On the thirteenth day after Mary's escape from Lochleven, the army, which had crowded to her standard, was totally defeated at Langside, and she herself obliged to fly to England, after a narrow escape from her enemies. She arrived at Workington in Cumberland on the 15th of May, 1568, accompanied by her faithful adherent Lord Herries, and Mary Seaton, the companion of her childhood. Note 11, page 78. The gloomy turrets of proud Fotheringay. After an imprisonment of eighteen years in different parts of England, Fotheringay castle was destined to be the scene where Mary should close her unfortunate life. It was here that she composed the following beautiful little poem : Que suis-je helas? et de quoi sert la vie? |