HISTORY
OF
SCOTLAND.
THE
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND,
FROM THE
ACCESSION OF ALEXANDEE III. TO
THE UNION.
BY
PATRICK FRASER TYTLER,
F.R.S.E. AND F.A.S.
NEW EDITION.
IN TEN VOLUMES.
VOL. VI.
EDINBUKGH:
WILLIAM P. NIMMO.
1866.
J)fi
MURRAY AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
CONTENTS OF THE SIXTH VOLUME.
CHAP. I.
MARY,
1645-1554.
Page
STATE of Scotland after the murder of Cardinal Beaton, , I
Knox and others join the Conspirators, 2
Convention at Stirling, 3
Huntley made chancellor, 5
Parliament assembled, . . . , ... 6
Siege of the castle of St Andrew's, 7
Knox called to the ministry, 10
Death of Henry Eighth and Francis First, . . . . ib.
Policy of the Protector Somerset, 11
Commencement of the war, 12
French fleet arrives, yr 13
Castle of St Andrew's surrenders to Leo Strozzi, . . .14
Knox and others carried to France, 15
Difficulties of the governor, 16
Treachery of the nobles, ib.
Fiery Cross sent through the country, 19
Scottish army assembles at Musselburgh, . . . .20
Somerset invades Scotland, ib.
Scottish cavalry defeated, ..... .23
Attempt to arrest hostilities, ..... .24
Battle of Pinkie, 27
Angus defeats the English cavalry, 30
Panic of the highlanders, 32
The Scots defeated with great slaughter, . . . .33
Tl CONTENTS.
Page
Retreat of the protector, 34
Invasion of Scotland by Wharton and Lennox, . . .35
Spirited conduct of the queen-dowager, 36
She proposes to send the young queen to France, . .37
Intrigues of the Scottish nobles in the service of England, . 38
They desert Lord Wharton and defeat him, . . . .39
His severe retaliation, 41
Invasion of Scotland by Lord Grey, 42
Monsieur D'Esse, with six thousand men, from France, . . 44
Haddington invested, ib.
Parliament Marriage of the young queen to the dauphin deter-
mined, ib
She passes over to France, 45
Ferocity of the war, 47
Reinforcements from France, 49
Peace concluded, 50
Intrigues of the queen-dowager, ib.
She passes over to France, 51
Her projects to possess herself of the government of Scotland, . 53
Opposition of the Governor Arrau, 56
He resigns the regency to the queen-dowager, . . .57
CHAP. II,
MARY.
1554-1559.
Character of Mary of Guise, 59
Her promotion of Frenchmen, 60
Disturbances in the North, 61
Parliament assembled, 63
Tax to support a standing army resisted, 64
Mary of Guise joins the league between France and the Pope, . 66
The Scottish nobles refuse to invade England, . . . . ib.
Parliament assembled, 67
Scottish commissioners sent to France, 68
Marriage of Mary queen of Scots to the dauphin, . . .69
Treachery of the Guises, 70
Sudden deaths of the Scottish commissioners, . . . . ib.
Parliament assembled, . 71
CONTENTS. Vll
Page
Accession of Elizabeth, ........ 72
Her general policy, ib.
Peace of Chateau Cambresis, 73
Peace with Scotland, 74
Retrospect of the progress of the Reformation in Scotland from
1547 to 1558, 75
Knox's intercourse with Calvin, ib.
His return to Scotland, (1555,) . . . . . . 76
Its influence upon his party, 78
His chief supporters, . . 79
He leaves Scotland for Geneva, 80
Progress of the Reformation in his absence, . . . . 81
First covenant, (3d Dec. 1557,) 83
Alarm of the Romish clergy, 85
Cruel execution of Miln, 87
Remonstrance of the Protestants, . . . . . . ib.
Their demands, . . 88
Parliament in 1558, 91
Duplicity of the queen-regent, ib.
Protest of the reformers, 92
Policy of the queen-regent at the accession of Elizabeth, (1558,) 93
Course of the history resumed, ib.
Plan of the Guises for the destruction of the Protestants in Europe, 94
Mission of Bettancourt to Scotland, ib.
Change in the policy of the queen-regent, . . . .95
Collision between the Protestant and Romish parties, . . ib.
Boldness of the reformers, 96
The preachers summoned, ib.
Arrival of Knox in Scotland, May 2, 1559, . . . .97
The Protestant lords accompany their preachers to Perth, . 98
Interview between Erskine of Dun and the queen-regent, . ib.
Her dissimulation, ib.
Knox's sermon against Idolatry, 99
Demolition of the religious houses, 100
The queen-regent joined by Argyle and the Lord James, . .101
Address of the Protestants to the queen, ib.
To the nobility, 102
To the Catholic clergy, 104
Armistice between the two parties, ib.
New bond, or second covenant, 105
The queen departs from the articles of the armistice, . .106
Argyle and the Lord James desert her, 107
Vlli CONTENTS.
Page
Preaching of Knox, . . . . . . ... 108
Franciscan and Dominican monasteries destroyed, . . .109
Great numbers join the Congregation, 110
They make themselves masters of Perth, Ill
Knox's letter to Cecil, 112
Destruction of the abbey church, and palace of Scone, . .114
Congregation take possession of Edinburgh, . . . .115
CHAP. III.
MARY.
1559-1560.
Views of the Congregation, 116
Knox's letter to Percy, 117
Kirkaldy meets Percy, . . .118
Elizabeth favours the Congregation, ib.
Proceedings of the queen-regent, 120
Letter of the Congregation to Cecil, 121
His remarkable reply, 123
The Congregation retire from Edinburgh, . . . .124
Mission of Sir James Melvil from France, . . . .125
Knox despatched to Berwick, 127
The negotiation with England, 129
Cautious policy of Elizabeth, 130
Her real views, ib.
Letter of the Congregation to Cecil, 131
They resolve to depose the queen-regent, 132
Character of Arran, 133
Character of the Lord James, 134
Knox's letter to Cecil, 136
Sir Pvalph Sadler sent to Berwick, 138
He meets Balnaves, ib.
Arrival of Arran in Scotland, 140
Mission of Bettancourt from France, ib.
First French auxiliaries arrive, ..... ib.
Mission of the Bishop of Amiens, . . . . . .141
Arrival of Pvandolph in Scotland, 143
Lethington joins the Congregation, ib.
Debate on deposing the regent, 145
CONTENTS. IX
Page
She is deposed, .... .... 146
Commencement of the war, 147
Efforts of Knox, 149
Mission of Lethington to Elizabeth, 151
Policy and intrigues of Knox, 152
Violent proceedings of the Duke, 155
Arrival of the English fleet, 156
Treaty of Berwick, 158
Lord Grey enters Scotland, . . . . . . .159
Progress of hostilities, 160
Unsuccessful attempt at mediation, 161
Congregation defeated at Leith, 162
Death and character of the queen-regent, 164
CHAP. IV.
*
MARY.
1560-1561.
Anxiety of all parties for peace, . . . . . .166
Cecil and Wotton sent to Edinburgh, 167
Their negotiations with the French commissioners, . . .168
Treaty of Edinburgh, 170
Reflections, 171
Peace proclaimed 8th July, 1560, 174
Parliament assembled, 175
Its important deliberations, 177
CONFESSION OF FAITH, 181
It is sanctioned by parliament, 184
Act abolishing the Papal power, ib.
BOOK OF DISCIPLINE, 186
Some of its provisions, 187
It is violently opposed, 188
Bill against the bishops, 189
Council of Twelve, 190
Proposal of a marriage between Arran and Elizabeth, . . ib.
Lethington sent to England, 191
Sir James Sandilands sent to France, ib.
Interview of Throckmorton and the Cardinal Lorraine, . .192
Interview of Mary queen of Scots with Throckmorton, . . 193
X CONTENTS.
Page
She refuses to confirm the treaty of Edinburgh, . . .194
Her audience with Sandilands, 195
Secret policy of France, . . . 196
The real designs of the Guises, 197
Death of Francis the Second, 199
Throckmorton's character of the young Queen of Scots, . . ib.
Her conduct after her husband's death, 200
Parliament assembled at Edinburgh, . . . . . 203
Proceedings of the Congregation, 204
Proceedings of the Romanists, ib.
Intrigues of the Lord James, 205
Arrival of commissioners from the Scottish queen, . . . 207
Their affectionate message and letters, ib.
Lethington's description of the state of parties in Scotland, . 208
Mission of the Earl of Bedford to the Queen of Scots, . . 209
His interview with that princess, 211
Second audience, 213
Mary's prudent replies, ib.
The Lord James's intrigues with Elizabeth and Cecil, . .214
His visit to the Queen of Scots at Rheims, . . . .216
Mary disregards the advice of the Romanists . . . .217
She treats the Lord James with confidence, . . . . ib.
Her openness, 218
Proposals of marriage to her, 219
The Lord James offered a cardinal's hat, 220
He betrays Mary's intentions to Throckmorton and Elizabeth, . 221
Elizabeth secures his services, 222
Mary's caution, 223
She determines not to make him Governor of Scotland, . . 224
Treachery of the Lord James, ib.
His secret intrigues with Cecil and Elizabeth, .... 225
Schemes for intercepting Mary on her voyage, .... 228
Elizabeth refuses her a passport, ib.
Mary's remonstrance to Throckmorton, 231
Her prudent and dignified conduct, 232
She sets sail, 234
Her arrival in her dominions, 19th August, 1651, . . . 235
CONTENTS. XI
CHAP. V.
MARY.
1561-1565.
Page
Enthusiasm of Mary's first reception, 236
Sudden change to discontent, ib.
Attack on the mass in her chapel, 237
Proclamation as to religion, 238
Mary's interview with Knox, . . . . . . . ib.
His injudicious violence, 240
Lethington's character of Mary, 241
Mary's title to the English throne, 243
Her anxiety to have it recognised by Elizabeth, . . . ib.
Lethington's letter to Cecil, 244
The Lord James's letter to the English queen on the same subject, ib.
Mary depresses the Romish party, 246
Their discontent, . . 247
Lethington's mission to Elizabeth, 248
Sir Peter Mewtas sent to Mary, ib.
General Assembly of the Church and schisms amongst the Pro-
testants, 249
State of ecclesiastical property, 251
Discontent of Knox and the ministers, 252
Proposals of a meeting between Mary and Elizabeth, . . 253
Opposed by Knox, . 254
Madness of the Earl of Arran, 255
His accusation of himself and Bothwell, . . . . ib.
Randolph's testimony to Mary's justice and clemency, . . 256
Her prudent administration, 257
Marriage of the Lord James, who is made Earl of Mar, . .258
He is sent to reduce the Borders to obedience, .... 259
Proposals of Marriage by Sweden, ...... ib.
Elizabeth agrees to an interview, 260
Mary's satisfaction, 261
Hostile policy of France, . ib.
Mission of Sir Henry Sidney into Scotland, .... 262
Elizabeth delays the interview, ib.
Arrival of a messenger from the Pope, 263
Mary's progress to the North, . ib.
Xll CONTENTS.
Her suspicions of Huntley, 264
She summons Inverness castle, 265
Huntley rises in arms, ib.
His defeat and death, 266
Reflections on his fall, 267
War between France and England, 268
Mary's anxiety, 269
Violence of Knox, ib.
Randolph censures him, 270
Knox's interview with Mary, 271
His criticism on the court dancing, 272
Story of Chartellet, 273
Mission of Lethington to England, ...... 275
Miserable state of France, ib.
Mary anxious to have Elizabeth's advice as to her marriage, . 276
Mystery of Cecil, 277
Violence of Knox, ib.
Policy of his party, 278
His interview with the queen, 279
Bishop of St Andrew's, and others, arraigned for saying mass, . 280
Imprisoned, ib.
Quarrel between Knox and the Lord James, . . . .281
Knox's pulpit address to the Protestant nobles, . . . 282
He attacks the queen's marriage, 283
His violent interview with Mary, 284
He apostrophizes the court ladies, 285
Lethington blames Knox's violence, ib.
Knox's letter to Cecil, 286
Elizabeth proposes Leicester as a match for Mary, . . . 287
Mary's reply to Randolph, 289
Reflections, 290
Lethington's remonstrances to Cecil, 291
Elizabeth's perplexity, 292
Her pretexts for delay, ib.
Proposed restoration of Lennox, 293
Elizabeth's duplicity on this subject, ib.
Spirited replies of Moray and Lethington, .... 294
Return of Lennox to Scotland, 296
Mary's favour to him, 297
Elizabeth's Latin letter to Cecil, 299
Sir James Melvil's mission to England, ib.
His account of the English queen, 300
CONTENTS. Xlli
Page
Elizabeth again proposes Leicester, 304
Randolph's testimony to Mary's sincerity, . . . . ib.
Elizabeth's dissimulation, 305
Protracted negotiations, 306
Cecil's mysterious diplomacy, 307
Restoration of the Earl of Lennox, 308
Randolph's graphic picture of Mary, 309
Her conversation with him, 310
Her sentiments on her marriage, ib.
Her opinion of Leicester, 313
Darnley arrives in Scotland, 314
His favourable reception, ib.
Moray and Lethington urge the marriage with Leicester, . .316
Elizabeth refuses to recognise Mary's title, . . . .317
Mary's feelings, 318
She is disappointed, and indignant, 319
Difficulties of her situation, 320
She resolves to marry Darnley, 321
Her solicitude and affection for him, ... . 322
He is spoilt by his prosperity, 323
Lethington sent to England, 324
Feud between Bothwell and Moray, 325
State of factions in Scotland, 326
Randolph's letters, . . . . ib.
Caution against Randolph's misrepresentations, . . . 332
Mary's attempt to gain Moray, 333
Her instructions to Lethington, 334
Lethington's treacherous conduct, 335
Convention at Stirling, 336
The nobles agree to Mary's marriage, ib.
Arrival of Throckmorton at Stirling, 337
Mary's dignified reply to him, ib.
English privy-council protest against the marriage, . . . 338
Strength of the Papists in England, 340
State of English parties, 341
Randolph's crafty and false representations, .... 342
Mission of Hay to Elizabeth, ib.
Schemes of the Protestants for assassinating Darnley, . . 343
They solicit Elizabeth's assistance, ib.
She recalls Lennox and Darnley, 344
Moray and his party pretend that religion is in ianger, . . 345
Falsehood of this assertion, . ib.
XIV CONTENTS.
Page
Proved by his own letters, 345
Observations on the conduct of Knox, 346
Tumultuous meeting of the Protestants at Edinburgh, . . 347
Heads of their supplication, . 348
Mary's temperate reply, 349
Conspiracy of Moray and Argyle, ib.
They intend to seize or murder Darnley, 350
Mary defeats the plot, ib.
Her vigorous measures against the rebels, . . . .351
Moray's schemes detected, 353
Elizabeth intercedes for him, 354
Mary's reply, ib.
Her marriage with Darnley, 356
CONTENTS. XT
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM
UNPRINTED MANUSCRIPTS.
No. Page
I. Fiery Cross sent through Scotland, . . . .359
II. State of Scotland after the battle of Pinkie, . . ib.
III. Arrival of the French auxiliaries, . . . 368
IV. Embarkation of the young queen for France, . . 369
V. Ferocity of the war, 370
VI. Arrival of the queen-dowager in France, . . .371
VII. Letters from Sir John Mason's Correspondence, . . 372
VIII. Cardan and the Bishop of St Andrew's, . . .379
IX. Comparative power of the English and Scottish nobles, 380
X. Lord James and the queen-dowager, . . . .381
XI. Letters and public papers of Knox, .... 383
XII. Sir Ralph Sadler's Instructions, 387
XIII. Cecil's Scottish spies, 388
XIV. Treaty of Berwick, 391
XV. Letters of the Lord James, afterwards the Regent Moray, 393
XVI. Character of the Earl of Huntley, . . . .395
XVII. An Irish ambassador in 1560, 397
XVIII. Mary's aversion to Knox, 398
XIX. Mary and Lethington, 399
XX. Elizabeth's refusal of a passport to Mary, . . . 400
XXI. Lethington and Cecil, 402
XXII. Characteristic letter of Knox, 403
HISTORY
OF
SCOTLAND
CHAP. I.
MARY.
(CONTINUED.)
15461554.
CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS.
England.
Henry VIII.
Edward VI.
Mary.
France.
Francis I.
Henry II.
Spain.
Charles V.
Portugal.
Emanuel
the Great.
John III.
Germany.
Charles V.
Popet.
Clement VDL
Paul III.
Julius III.
THE murder of Cardinal Beaton was followed, as might
have been anticipated, by results the most important,
It removed from the head of affairs a man, whose talents
for political intrigue, and whose vigorous and unscru-
pulous character, had for some time communicated
strength and success to the government ; it filled with
alarm that party in Scotland which was attached to
the ancient faith, and cherished the freedom and inde-
pendence of the country ; whilst it infused new spirit
into the powerful faction which had been courted and
kept in pay by Henry the Eighth, and through whose
assistance this monarch looked forward to the accom-
plishment of his favourite schemes the marriage of
the youthful queen of Scotland to his son the Prince
VOL. VI. A
2 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1546.
of Wales, the establishment of the Reformation, and
the entire subjugation of this country under the do-
minion of England.
If the fact had not been already apparent, the events
which immediately succeeded the assassination of the
cardinal rendered it impossible for any one to escape the
conclusion, that the conspiracy had been encouraged
by the English monarch. Scarcely was the act perpe-
trated, when letters were despatched to Lord Wharton
the English warden, by some of those numerous spies
whom he retained, describing the consternation which
the event had produced in the capital, the change in
affairs which was likely to ensue, and the necessity for
immediate exertion on the part of his master.* On
the other hand, the conspirators, who had seized the
castle of St Andrew"^, were soon joined by many ad-
herents, previously the most zealous supporters of the
English interests ; and who, although not present at
the murder, believed that it would subject them to
suspicion and persecution ; *f* amongst these the most
noted was John Knox, the great advocate and sup-
porter of the Reformation.
This extraordinary man, whose future career was
connected with so many great events, was now forty
years old. Born in 1505 of parents in the middle
rank of rural life, and wealthy enough to give him a
learned education, he had been sent in 1521 to the
university of Glasgow, where he distinguished himself
in philosophy and scholastic theology, and took priests 1
* MS. Letter in State-paper Office. Original from Lord Wharton, June
2, 1546, enclosing three letters which he had received from Scotland.
"t Anderson's MS. History, vol. ii. p. 80, dorso. They amounted to seven
score persons ; among them the Laird of Grange, Henry Balnaves, a Senator
of the College of Justice, Henry Primrose, the Laird of Pitmillie, Mi
John Lesley, Sir John Auchenleck, and sundry gentlemen of the name of
Meivin.
1546. MARY. 3
orders, previous, it is said, to his having attained the
regular canonical age. It is difficult to fix the time
when his mind became unsettled on the grounds of his
adherence to the communion of the Roman Catholic
church, and it is remarkable that the labours of his
numerous biographers have left his history from birth
to middle age almost a blank. The fact asserted by
Beza, of his having been condemned as a heretic and
degraded from the priesthood, rests on no certain evi-
dence. It has been stated, also, by Dr M'Criethathe
publicly professed himself a Protestant in 1542. But
this learned author has given no satisfactory authority
for this fact, and I have found no trace of such a pub-
lic declaration of his belief previous to the capture and
execution of George Wishart in 1545. But the step
which he now took was decisive. By casting in his
lot with the assassins of the cardinal, he openly de-
clared his approval of the principles on which they
acted; and they, as we may easily believe, warmly
welcomed such an accession to their party.
Whilst such was the conduct of the English faction,
the Governor Arran, and the queen-regent, exerted
themselves to maintain the cause of order, and to
bring to punishment those bold and daring men w r ho
had so unscrupulously taken the law into their own
hands.* A convention of the nobility, spiritual and
temporal, was held at Stirling, on the tenth of June ;
and nothing was left unattempted by which a cordial
union might he promoted amongst the parties which
separated and distracted the state. The meeting was
attended by the chief persons of both factions : by the
Earls of Angus, Cassillis, and Glencairn, to whose
devotion to the English interests many of the late
* Knox's History, p. 74. Maitland, vol. ii. p. 8G6.
4 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1546.
disorders might be attributed ; as well as by Huntley,
Argyle, and the Lords Fleming and Elphinston, who
were the leaders in the faction attached to France, and
interested in the support of the ancient faith.* To
conciliate the lords of the English party, Arran the
governor solemnly renounced the contract for the mar-
riage of the young queen to his son ; the " bands 11 or
feudal agreements by which many of the nobles had
promised to see this alliance carried into effect were
annulled, and, at the same time, the queen-regent
released from their written obligations all such barons
as had stipulated to oppose the ambitious matrimonial
designs of the governor.*)* On the other hand, the
Earl of Angus, Sir George Douglas, and Lord Maxwell J
cordially embraced the interest of the queen-regent ;
approved of the late act of the Scottish parliament,
which had dissolved the peace with England ; derided
all idea of a marriage between Prince Edward and
the young queen ; and renounced for ever all those
" bands" by which they had tied themselves to Henry,
and which had been repeatedly renewed, or forgotten,
as their private interest seemed to dictate : Maxwell,
who was now made warden of the west marches, once
more took possession of the strong castle of Lochma-
ben ; and twenty peers were selected, out of which
* MS. Book of the Privy-council of Scotland. Entitled, Liber Secret!
Consilii, 1545, fol. '28. p. 2. The members present were the Bishops of
Orkney and Galloway ; the Earls of Angus, Huntley, Argyle, Bothwell,
Glencairn, and Sutherland ; the commendator of Kelso, the Abbots of Mel-
rose, Paisley, Dunfermline, Cupar, Crosregal, Dryburgh, and Culross ; with
the Lords Fleming, Ruthven, Maxwell, Somerville, Hay of Yester, Inner-
meith, Elphinston, Livingstone, Erskine, Sir George Douglas, and Sir Wil-
liam Hamilton.
f MS. Book of Privy-council, fol. 30, p. 2.
t In Anderson's MS. History vol. ii. p. 81, we find that Robert lord
Maxwell died in July, 1546, and his second son John returned home out of
England, and took upon him the government of the country within the
wardenry.
1546. MARY. 5
number four were directed to remain every successive
month with the governor as his secret council.*
The Lords Erskine and Livingston were continued
in their charge of the person of the young queen ; and
the important office of chancellor, now vacant by the
assassination of Beaton, was conferred upon the tried
fidelity of the Earl of Huntley.f Peace having been
lately concluded between England and France, and a
clause inserted in the treaty, of which Scotland might,
if she chose, avail herself, it was determined by the
Privy-council that " the comprehension should be
accepted, without prejudice to the queen, her realm,
and its liberties. 11 A conciliatory reply was at the
same time directed to be made to the English monarch,
who had complained of the depredations committed by
Scottish privateers upon his merchantmen. J
Having endeavoured to secure the kingdom from
* On the expiration of the month, their place wns to he occupied hy other
four chosen from the remaining sixteen, and so on throughout the year. Care
was also taken to select at this convention, each party of four who were to
serve in rotation, and to intimate to them the month during which they were
to give their attendance on the governor ; and it was agreed, that when five
months had expired, the same councillors should resume their duties in the
same order. MS. Book of the Privy-council, fol. 29, p. i. " It is devised
jueen's grace, my lord governor, and hail lords convened
in this convention, that certain lords remain with my lord governor, and be
of secret council with him, and they to remain monthly with him, and that
to the numher of four. The 1st month to begin this day the 10th of June.
The 1st month, 3d month.
10th June to 10th of July. William bishop of Dunblane.
Robert bishop of Orkney. Arch, earl of Argyle.
George earl of Huntley. William earl of Glencairn.
William lord Ruthven. Donald abbot of Cupar.
Sir George Douglas of Pittendreich, 4th month,
knight. Patrick bishop of Moray.
2d month. Patrick earl Bothwell.
Gavin arch, of Glasgow. Gilbert earl Cassillis.
Arch, earl of Angus. Malcolm lord Fleming.
Hew lord Somerville. 5th month.
George abbot of Dunfermline. William earl Marshal.
William earl of Montrose.
Andrew bishop of Galloway
Sir Wm. Hamilton of Sanquhar,
t MS. Book of Privy-council, fol. 28, p. ii.
J Ibid. fol. 38, p. i. Ibid. fol. 40, p. ii.
6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1546.
without, it only remained to appease its internal
commotions by adopting decided measures against
the conspirators who held the castle of St Andrew"^.
Accordingly, after an ineffectual attempt to negotiate,
a parliament was convoked (twenty-ninth July, 1546)
in which they were declared guilty of treason :* pro-
clamation was made, interdicting all persons from af-
fording them the slightest assistance in their rebellion,
and the governor having assembled an army commenced
the siege, with a determination speedily to reduce the
fortress. This, however, was found a task of no easy
execution : it was naturally strong, and its fortifications
had been repaired at great expense by its late master ;
on the one side the sea rendered it impregnable, and
on the land quarter the thickness of its walls defied the
imperfect and ill-served artillery of the times. Beaton,
from a principle of security had provisioned it fully
against attack, and even were it attempted to starve
out the garrison, the English fleet which commanded
the Firth might at any time throw in supplies. To
secure this support the conspirators, or Castilians as
they were termed, lost no time in opening a communi-
cation with Henry the Eighth. Kirkaldy of Grange,
Balnaves, and John Lesley, were sent as envoys to
that monarch ; and they returned with an assurance
of his assistance, on condition that they would promote
the marriage between the young queen and the Prince
of Wales, and retain in their hands the eldest son of
Arran, who had been made prisoner at the time they
seized the castle.-f- Confident in their strength, the
besieged derided all the efforts of the governor ; and,
despising the prayers and remonstrances of those ene-
* Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 478, 479.
+ Anderson. MS. Hist. vol. ii. p. 82.
1546. MARY. 7
raies of the Catholic church, men who, with a mistaken
zeal for the Reformation, had joined their party, they
abandoned themselves to every species of intemperate
indulgence.* Meanwhile, month after month stole
away without any perceptible progress in the siege.
Application for assistance was made to France, by
Panter secretary to the queen, who was sent ambassa-
dor to that count ry.*f- Remonstrances against any
intended interference for the defence of the Castilians
were addressed to England, J but after every effort
had been exhausted, it was discovered that the only
prospect of success lay in an endeavour to cut off all
supplies and starve out the garrison. It may convey
to us some idea of the imperfection of the military art
in these times, when we find a single castle, with a
small garrison, resisting for a long period the utmost
efforts of the governor. To make himself master of it
he divided the kingdom into four great districts, and
the military force of each division was brought succes-
sively to bear upon the fortress, yet without any
nearer prospect of success. At length, towards the
end of December, the garrison showed a disposition
to capitulate; their principal defences were greatly
injured by the artillery, and they began to suffer from
a scarcity of provisions and sickness. || Had Arran
been aware of this, instead of listening to any offer for
* Knox, History of Reformation, p. 83.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 31st March 1547. Panter to the Pro-
tector Somerset.
J The governor consented to an act hy which his eldest son, James Ha-
milton, then a prisoner, was disinherited till he should recover his freedom,
and his second son appointed in his place. This precautionary measure was
adopted to make it impossible that under any circumstances, the throne should
be occupied by a prince who was a captive in the hands of the enemy. Acts
of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 474.
MS. Book of Privy-council, fol. 40, p. i. Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 42.
|| MS. State-paper Office. Report of the Proceedings relative to the castle
of St Andrew's. It fixes the date of the appointment or armistice, which
is variously given by our historians, to have been the 17th December.
8 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1616.
a cessation of hostilities, he might within a short period
have made himself master of the place ; but, ignorant
of the real condition of the besieged, he accepted terms
dictated to him by men who were at the last extremity.
They consented to deliver up the castle as soon as a
papal absolution was obtained for the slaughter of the
cardinal ; they stipulated for a free pardon ; and, in the
interval between the commencement of the armistice
and the arrival of the absolution, insisted on retaining
the fortress, and keeping possession of the governor's
son as a hostage for the performance of the treaty. At
the same moment that these proposals were transmitted
to Arran, the Castilians sent an envoy to Henry the
Eighth, informing him of their proceedings, declaring
that their only object was to gain time to re victual the
castle ; that they had no intention whatever of abiding
by their agreement ; and would thus be able to perform
their first promises to the English monarch. For this
purpose they requested Henry to write to the emperor,
causing him to intercede with the Pope " for the stop-
ping and hindering of their absolution," by which
means a longer time would be given them to accomplish
their purposes.*
Meanwhile Arran accepted the conditions of the
armistice, being solicitous, as has been alleged, to pro-
tract the time till the arrival of foreign assistance; and
intending to be as little faithful to his agreement as his
opponents. He had despatched Panter the secretary
as ambassador to France, with an earnest request, that
the French monarch would fulfil those treaties of alli-
ance which had so long connected the two kingdoms ;
he called upon him, if Henry would not consent to
peace with Scotland, to declare war against him ; he
* Ibid. MS., State-paper Office.
1546. MARY. 9
entreated him to increase his fleet, the surest arm of
defence against the enterprises of England ; requested
an immediate supply in money, arms, and artillery,
and in consequence of the ignorance of the Scottish
engineers, required the assistance of some experienced
men, learned in the attack and defence of fortified
places, and who understood the "ordering of battles."*
In the meantime an extraordinary and interesting
scene took place within the besieged fortress. Kiiox,
as we have seen had retreated into the castle and joined
the conspirators. He was accompanied by the barons
of Ormiston and Lang-Niddry and their sons, whose
education he conducted. In the chapel within the
fort he catechised his pupils, and delivered lectures on
the Scriptures, where a little congregation was soon
assembled, who earnestly entreated him to preach pub-
licly to the people. This, however, he at first peremp-
torily declined, observing " that he would not run
where God had not called him ;"f but they who were
deeply interested in his assuming the office of the
ministry, for which they believed him to be eminently
qualified, determined to overcome his reluctance. John
Rough, whom we have seen dismissed, on account of
his zeal for the Reformation, from the situation of
chaplain to Arran the governor, had taken refuge with
the rest in the fortress, and on a certain day which had
been agreed on, having selected as the subject of his
discourse the power resident in a congregation to elect
their minister, and the danger of rejecting their call,
he, on the conclusion of the sermon, turned abruptly
to Knox who was present " Brother," said he, "I
* MS. Book of Privy-council, fol. 51, p. 2. fol. 52, p. 1. Articles to be
desired at the King of France, for the help and supply to be given to thia
realm against the King of England.
f Knox's History, vol. i. p. 74.
10 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1546.
charge you in the name of God, in the name of his
Son, and in the name of this congregation, who now
call upon you by my mouth, that you take upon you
the office of preaching, and refuse not this holy vocation,
as you would avoid God's heavy displeasure." The
address was solemn, and totally unexpected by Knox,
who, confused and agitated, in vain attempted to reply,
but bursting into tears, retired from the assembly.*'
After a few days of great conflict and distress of mind,
he accepted the invitation ; and without any further
ceremony or ordination than that already received
previous to his adoption of the reformed opinions, he
assumed the public office of a preacher.*!* The re-
former was then in the forty-first year of his age.
In the midst of these scenes occurred the death of
Henry the Eighth, which was followed not long after
by that of his great contemporary Francis the First ;
but these events did not materially alter the policy of
either kingdom. Francis, notwithstanding his occa-
sional political predilection for the Protestants, had
been an earnest disciple of the Roman Catholic church ;
and the great preponderance of the house of Guise,
under his successor Henry the Second, inclined that
monarch more vigorously to support the same party in
Scotland. Immediately after his coronation, Monsieur
D'Osell was despatched to that country to confirm the
league which had so long bound its interests to France ;
assurances of support were liberally held out against
the ambitious designs of England ; and D'Osell, who
enjoyed the intimate confidence of the queen-dowager,
remained as ambassador at the Scottish court. J
In England, the accession of Edward the Sixth, then
* Knox's History, p. 75.
f M'Crie's Life of Knox, p. 40. Edition 1812. Ibid. p. 43. Ibid. p. 11.
j Lesley, Bannatyne edition, p. 193. 31st March, 1547.
1547. MARY. 11
a promising boy in his tenth year, and the assumption
of the protectorate by his uncle the Earl of Hertford,
now Duke of Somerset, brought no change of policy
in dealing with Scotland. Henry, it is said, on his
death-bed had earnestly recommended the prosecution
of the war with that country, under the mistaken idt>a
that the Scots would be compelled at the point of the
sword to fulfil the treaty of marriage ; and Somerset,
by one of the first acts of his government, showed a de-
termination to carry this injunction into effect. On
the sixth of February, Balnaves repaired to the Eng-
lish court as envoy from the Castilians, and received
from the protector a confirmation of the annuities
which had attached to England the conspirators against
Beaton. It was resolved to strengthen the garrison of
the castle by remitting money for the maintenance of
troops ; Lesley, one of the assassins, was commanded
to remain at court to communicate with his friends ;
and Balnaves received injunctions, on his return to
Scotland, to use his utmost efforts to seduce the nobility
from their allegiance to the governor.*
Somerset at the same time determined to lead an
army into Scotland. He addressed a letter to the
nobility of that realm, reminding them of the league
by which they had bound themselves to assist the late
King of England in the accomplishment of his designs ;
he called upon them for a performance of their promises ;
and so successful was Balnaves in his intrigues, that
many of the Scottish nobles and barons showed a readi-
ness to repeat the same disgraceful game by which they
had enriched themselves under the former
* MS. Privy-council Records of Edward VI., p. 9. Transcript by Gregory
King, Lancaster herald.
+ MS. Letter, State-paper Office. Laird of Langton to the Protector Som-
erset, Aug. 18, 1547. Also Patrick lord Gray to the Protector. Aug. 28, 1547.
12 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
In the midst of these difficulties which disturbed hia
government, Arran exerted himself to create a vigorous
union against the enemies of the country. Suspicious,
from the experience of the former reign, that other
designs than a simple matrimonial alliance were con-
templated by England, and aware of the preparations
for invading the kingdom, he laboured to attach the
chief nobility to his service, to strengthen the Border
defences, and to train the people, by weapon-schawings
or armed musters, which had been of late much disused,
to greater skill in military exercises ; he encouraged
the equipment of privateers and armed merchantmen,
as the only substitute for a national fleet ; and he
anxiously endeavoured to compose those destructive
and sanguinary feuds amongst some of the principal
barons which had of late years greatly increased, and,
even in the midst of peace, exposed the state to all the
horrors of war.*
Such being the threatening aspect of both countries,
hostilities could not be long delayed. A Scottish pri-
vateer, named the Lion, was captured by the Pevensy,
an English ship : in reply to the remonstrances of the
queen-dowager, it was affirmed that the former had
been the aggressor :( and not long after a force of five
thousand English broke across the western Borders,
plundered the country, made prisoner the Laird of
Johnston, with others of his surname, and seized and
garrisoned many of the towers upon the marches. J
To repel this aggression, which was loudly complained
of as an open declaration of war, Arran assembled an
army, advanced rapidly to the Borders, stormed and
* MS. Record of Privy-council of Scotland, sub annis 1546, 1547.
f Carte, vol. iii. p. 205. MS. Letter, State-paper Office. Queen-dowager
to the Protector, 18th April, 1547.
J Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 43. Maitland, vol. ii. p. 867.
1547. MARY. 13
razed the castle of Langliope, and was about to pursue
his advantage,* when he received intelligence that a
French fleet had entered the Firth, and required his
co-operation in the bombardment of St Andrew's.
Nothing could be more welcome than this event. Dur-
ing, the armistice, the garrison, notwithstanding the
remonstrances of Knox and others, who, for conscience 1
sake, now acted with their party, had abandoned them-
selves to the most flagrant excesses, ravaging the coun-
try, and behaving in a brutal and licentious manner to
the poor victims who fell into their hands. ( Trusting
to the support of England, they had, on frivolous
grounds, refused to abide by their agreement, when
the papal absolution arrived from Rome; and the
governor, convinced that he had been the dupe of a
convention which they had never meant to fulfil, was
deeply incensed against them.
Hastening back, therefore, to the scene of action, he
found in the bay a squadron of sixteen armed galleons,
commanded by Leo Strozzi prior of Capua, a knight
of Rhodes, of great military experience. The vessels
took up their line with much skill, so as at full tide
completely to command the outworks towards the sea.
The greater ordnance were landed, raised by engines
and planted on the steeples of the abbey and St Salva-
tor's college, which overlooked the inner court of the
fortress ; whilst some large battering mortars were
dragged near the gates. During such preparations,
the interior of the castle presented an extraordinary
scene. Knox, disgusted by the licentiousness of the
* Diurnal of Occurrents, pp. 43, 44. MS. Records of Privy seal. July
24, 1547. Letter to George earl of Huntley, of the Gift of the Gudis of
George earl of Caithness. The army was summoned to assemble at Peebles,
10th July, 1547.
f Keith, p. 52. Knox's Hist. p. 83. Herries' Memoirs of the Reign of
Mary, p. 17.
H HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547,
garrison, raised his awful voice, and denounced their
speedy captivity as the just judgment of God. To
the scoffs of the soldiers, who boasted of the strength
of their towers and anticipated assistance from Eng-
land, he declared that their sins had found them out,
that their walls would shiver under the cannon, and
their bodies be manacled in foreign prisons. Nor was
the sentence long in finding its accomplishment. The
fortifications which had resisted the ill-directed bat-
teries of the Scottish governor, crumbled under the
more effective cannonade of the Italian commander. A
breach was soon effected ; a proposal of the garrison
for a sortie canvassed and abandoned as hopeless ; and,
within less than a week, a flag of truce was seen ap-
proaching. It brought from the besieged an offer to
surrender, their lives and property being secured ; but
the condition was scornfully rejected by the governor
and the queen. Strozzi declared that it was beyond
his commission even to grant them their lives ; and if
he did so, it must be with reservation that it was after-
wards approved of by the king his master. To this
the garrison were compelled to submit. They would
acknowledge no lawful authority in Scotland ; the gover-
nor, they affirmed, had treacherously betrayed them,
and their only transaction therefore should be with the
King of France.* They were accordingly conveyed
* Anderson's MS. History, vol. ii. pp. 94, 95. Lesley, p. 194. Anderson
says expressly, " At length he [Strozzi] was content to pardon them their
lives, if the King of France should think it good,else to stand to his pleasure."
Lesley, p. 194, repeats the same terms. Knox, in his History, gives a different
account. The heads of the appointment, he affirms, were 1 st, that their lives
should he secured to them ; '2d, that they should be safely conveyed to France ;
3d, that, if they chose to embrace the conditions proposed to them by the
King of France, they should have their freedom, and be at liberty to enter
his service ; 4th, that if they refused, they should be conveyed, at the ex-
pense of France, to what country they chose, except Scotland. I have pre-
ferred the account of the terms of capitulation given in the text, as it appears
best supported by the circumstances of the case ; and it is confirmed not only
1547. MARY. 15
prisoners on board the fleet, the plunder of the castle
was seized and divided by the victors ; and Strozzi, by
the advice of the governor, who dreaded it should fall
into the hands of the English, dismantled the fortress,
and levelled its defences with the ground. Others,
however, ascribe its destruction to the zeal of fulfilling
an injunction of the canon law, declaring the vengeance
of extermination against any mansion that had wit-
nessed the murder of a cardinal. The booty, which
included the personal property of the prelate, amounted
in plate, copes, vestments, and jewels of great value, to
a hundred thousand pounds, a prize which no doubt
tempted the return of the French auxiliaries to Scot-
land. Beaton's death was now amply revenged, and
Knox's predictions fulfilled ; for the conspirators and
their associates, on arriving in France, were partly dis-
tributed in the dungeons of various castles in Brittany ;
whilst others, including the reformer himself, were kept
chained on board the galleys, and treated with the
utmost rigour.*
With this success the governor was highly gratified.
He already possessed Dumbarton, which the English
had in vain attempted to recover ; St Andrew^s, so
lately an object of anxiety, and for the occupation of
which the protector was making every effort, had now
fallen ; he had been partially successful in his enter-
prise upon the Borders, and could he have succeeded
in imparting a spirit of honour and unanimity to the
great body of the nobility, there was little reason to be
alarmed by the threatened invasion of England.
by Anderson and Lesley, but partially by Buchanan, book xv. cap. 46.
" Leonti Strozzio, incolumitatem modo pacti, se dediderunt." I have been
thus particular because an able author has stated that the terms of the capi-
tulation were violated, (M'Crie's Life of Knox, p. 52,) of which I see no proof,
* Lesley, p. 195.
16 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
But a discovery was made in the castle which threw
a gloom over all his sanguine anticipations. In the
chamber of Balnaves the agent of the Castilians, was
found a register book which contained the autograph
subscriptions of two hundred Scottish noblemen and
gentlemen, who had secretly bound themselves to the
service of England. Amongst these were the Earls of
Bothwell, Cassillis, and Marshal, with Lord Kilmaurs,
and Lord Gray. The noted Sir George Douglas the
brother of the Earl of Angus, had, it appeared, sent
in his adherence by a secret messenger, whilst Bothwell
had agreed to give up his castle of the Hermitage, and
renounce all allegiance to the governor, for which ser-
vice he was to receive in marriage the Duchess of Suffolk
aunt to the English monarch.* So much was apparent
to the governor, but other disgraceful transactions were
in progress of which he was ignorant ; Lord Gray had
not only himself forsaken his country, but was tamper-
ing with the Earls of Athole, Errol, Sutherland, and
Crawford, whom he found well disposed to declare their
mind, provided they were " honestly entertained." He
accordingly advised that some money should be given
them according to their good deserving.-)- Glencairn,
at the same time, transmitted to the protector a secret
overture of service, in which he declared himself ready
to assist the King of England in the accomplishment
of his purposes ; to co-operate in the invasion with his
friends and vassals, who were favourers of the word of
God ; and to raise two thousand men, who should be
ready either to join the army or keep possession of
Kyle, Cunningham, and Renfrew. He also gave as-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office. Laird of Langton to the Protector
Somerset, 18th Aug. 1547.
f Lord Gray to the Protector Somerset, 28th Aug. 1547. MS. Letter,
State-paper Office.
1547. MARY. 17
surances of the devotion of Cassillis and Lennox to the
same cause; requested money to equip a troop of horse,
with which he would hold the governor in check till
Somerset's arrival ; and added directions for the forti-
fication of some " notable strengths'" on the east and
west Borders, by which the whole country might be
commanded to the gates of Stirling. It was to be ex-
pected that such offers would be highly welcome to the
English government, although distrust must have been
O O 7 O
felt in dealing with persons whose oaths had been so
repeatedly and unscrupulously violated. Not a year
had elapsed since all these noble barons had solemnly
given their adherence to the government of Arran,
most of them had been appointed members of the privy-
council, they had approved in parliament of the dis-
solution of the marriage and peace with England,* and
they were now prepared to change sides once more, and
promote the purposes of the protector. Even after such
repeated falsehood their overtures were graciously ac-
cepted, and they received a pardon for their desertion
of their agreement with the late king, under condition
that they should perform its conditions in every respect
to his son and successor.*f* It is material to notice these
terms, as they prove on the one hand, that, under the
cloak of marriage, Edward like his father Henry con-
cealed a design for the subjugation of Scotland; and on
the other, that the party who favoured this project were
disposed to accomplish their purposes, although at the
sacrifice of the independence of the country. J
* Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 476. MS. Book of Privy-
council, fol. 32, p. 2.
t MS., State-paper Office, entitled, Overture of Service and other Devices,
by the Earl of Glencairn. These important facts, which are new to this
portion of Scottish history, were found in the Original Letters and Overtures
of the actors, preserved in the State-paper Office.
Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 476. MS. Record of
Privy-council, fol. iii.
VOL. VI. B
18 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
The discovery of such intrigues placed the governor
in an embarrassing situation. To defeat machinations
O
which had spread so widely, required a union of reso-
lution and talent which he did not possess : he was
aware that the country was on the point of being in-
vaded by the protector in person ; to have attempted
to bring his enemies to justice might have thrown his
preparations for resistance into confusion, and spread
distrust and dismay throughout the people at a time
when vigour and confidence were imperatively required.
Either he ought to have pretended a total ignorance,
silently taking the best measures to defeat the designs
of his enemies ; or he should resolutely have seized the
chief conspirators ; but Arran unfortunately adopted
that middle course which was sure to lead to a calami-
tous result : he dissembled for the moment, and delayed
all proceedings against the great body of his opponents,
but he threw Bothwell into prison, and thus gave an
opportunity to his associates of providing for their own
safety.*
Yet in the midst of this political irresolution he was
not remiss in his military preparations. A line of
beacons had been established during the summer upon
the hills near the coast, making a chain of communi-
cation from St Abb's Head to Linlithgow ; horsemen
were kept at each station to carry intelligence ; and
it was proclaimed that no person should leave their
habitations, or remove their goods, as the governor
and noblemen of Scotland had determined to repel the
invaders, and defend the realm, with the help of God,
and at the hazard of their lives. -f-
On the twenty-seventh of August the protector
* MS. Accounts of Lord Treasurer, June 27, 1547.
f MS. Book of Privy-council, fol. 68, p. ii. Epistolse Reg. Scot. vol. ii.
p. 387.
!
1547. MARY. 19
arrived with his army at Newcastle, and at the same
time a fleet of thirty-four ships of war and thirty
transports, commanded by Lord Clinton, anchored off
that port. The English force consisted in all of four-
teen thousand two hundred men, of which four thou-
sand were men-at-arms and demi-lances, two thousand
light horse, and two hundred Spanish carabineers
mounted. The remaining eight thousand were foot-
men and pioneers.* This force was divided into three
principal wards or battles. The van ward was led by
Dudley earl of Warwick, afterwards the noted Duke
of Northumberland, a captain of great experience and
resolution, who had been bred to arms in the French
wars of Henry the Eighth ; the main battle by the
protector in person ; and the rear by Lord Dacre of
the North, a veteran who still possessed all the fire
and vivacity of youth. Each battle was strengthened
by wings of horse, consisting of men-at-arms, demi-
lances, hagbutteers, and some pieces of artillery "every
piece having its guard of pioneers to clear the way , v )
Lord Grey of Wilton high marshal of the army, com-
manded the cavalry, having under him Sir Francis
Bryan, Sir Peter Mewtas, Sir Francis Fleming mas-
ter of the ordnance, and Don Pedro de Gamboa, who
conducted a fine body of mounted Spanish carabineers.
We have seen that, during the whole of the preced-
ing year, the Scottish governor had been engaged in
war, and being apprehensive that the people, fatigued
with perpetual hostilities, might be remiss in obeying
his summons, he adopted an expedient for assembling
an army, which was seldom used except in cases of
imminent peril. He sent the fiery cross throughout
* Patten in DalyePs Fragments of Scotish History, pp. xxv, xxvi.
')* Hayward in Kennet, vol. ii. p. 280. Carte, vol. iii. p. 206. Patten,
p. 32.
20 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
the country a warlike symbol of Celtic origin, con-
structed of two slender rods of hazel, formed into the
shape of a cross, the extremities seared in the fire and
extinguished when red and blazing in the blood of a
goat, slain for the occasion. From this slight descrip-
tion, it is evident that the custom may be traced back
to Pagan times; and it is certain that, throughout
the highland districts of the country, its summons,
wherever it was carried, was regarded with awe, and
obeyed without hesitation. Previous to this, we do
not hear of its having been adopted in the lowlands ;
but on the present emergency, being fastened to the
point of a spear, it was transmitted by the heralds and
pursuivants throughout every part of the realm ; from
town to town, from village to village, from hamlet to
hamlet, the ensanguined symbol flew with astonishing
rapidity ; and such was its effect, that in a wonderfully
short space of time an army of thirty-six thousand men
assembled near Musselburgh.
The Duke of Somerset now entered Scotland, on the
second of September, 1547, and without interruption,
advanced along the coast, in sight of the English fleet,
till he arrived at the defile, then called the Peaths, a
deep ravine, over which at the present day is thrown
the Pease Bridge. It has been well described by
Hay ward as a " valley stretching towards the sea six
miles in length, the banks of which were so steep on
either side, that the passage across was not direct, but
by paths leading slope-wise, which being many, the
place is for that reason called the Peaths, or paths."*
It was reported in the English host, that the Scots
were here prepared to resist the further advance of the
English, and undoubtedly such was the advantage of
* Hayward in Kennet, voL ii. p. 281
1547. MARY. 21
the ground, that with even a small portion of military
skill, a far inferior force might have discomfited their
whole army ; yet this opportunity was neglected : a cir-
cumstance which can only be accounted for by the fact,
that most of the proprietors of the country through
which the enemy held their march, were attached to
the interests of the enemy. We know that in Henry
Balnaves' register were the names of two hundred
gentlemen, who were under promise to England ; and
when his army lay at Newcastle, the protector received
a visit from the Laird of Mangertown, and forty barons
of the east Borders, who tendered their services and
were courteously received.* The little obstruction
which Somerset m^t during the whole course of his
march, may be thus explained.
Having employed the greatest part of a day in con-
ducting the army, and dragging the artillery through
this rugged pass, the duke made himself master of the
neighbouring castles of Dunglass, Thornton, and Iri-
nerwick, and leaving Dunbar within a gunshot on his
right he pushed forward to east Linton, where the
army crossed the Tyne by the narrow bridge which
still remains, whilst the horsemen and carriages forded
the river. Here the enemy neglected another excellent
opportunity of attacking the English force when de-
filing across Linton bridge. They contented themselves
with pushing forward some of their prickers, or light
horse, under Dandy Car, a noted borderer, whose little
squadron was put to flight by a charge led by Lord
Warwick. Advancing past Hailes castle, which opened
upon them an ineffectual cannonade, they proceeded, on
the seventh of September, to Lang-Niddry, where they
encamped for the night. [ Here the protector com-
* Patten's Expedition, p. 27. t Ibid. p. 42.
22 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
municating by signal with his fleet, which lay near
Leith, Lord Clinton the admiral came ashore; and
after a conference it was resolved that the larger ships
should leave the road at Leith, and cast anchor beside
Musselburgh, whilst the transports and victuallers
should beat in as near as possible to the shore. The
English were now aware that the Scottish army lay
beside Musselburgh, and during the march of the suc-
ceeding day there were generally in view some small
bodies of their light cavalry, which kept galloping
backwards and forwards on the eminences overhanging
their line of march.
On September the eighth, the protector halted for
the night and encamped near a town, called Salt
Preston, now Prestonpans, within view of the enemy's
camp, at Edmonstone Edge, about three miles distant :
on his right to the north was the Firth, and towards
the south, not far distant, rose the hill of Faside.
Upon the long elevated ridges which formed the roots
of the hill, the Scottish cavalry showed themselves
early next morning, and approached the English van-
guard, whooping, shaking their lances, and attempting
to provoke them to an onset. They formed a force of
one thousand five hundred light horse, led by Lord
Hume, and near them lay in ambush a body of five
hundred foot. Somerset, however, from the forward-
ness of these prickers, suspected that they reckoned
on some nearer support than was discernible, and gave
strict orders to his men to preserve their ranks ; but
Lord Grey, impatient of such provocation, extorted
leave to try the effect of a charge : accordingly as soon
as they came, " scattered on the spur," within a stone-
cast of the English, and after their usual shouting
were beginning to wheel about, Grey with his demi-
1547. MARY. 23
lances, and a thousand men-at-arms, charged them at
full speed, upon which they faced about, and firmly
received his onset. The weight of the men-at-arms,
however, and their barbed steeds, was an overmatch
for the slight, though hardy hackneys of the borderers ;
and after maintaining the conflict for three hours, they
were entirely broken, and the greatest part of them cut
to pieces. The chase continued for three miles, from
Faside hill to the right wing of their army which lay
to the south. In this unfortunate affair thirteen hun-
dred men were slain within sight of their camp, Lord
Hume was severely wounded, his son the Master of
Hume taken prisoner, and the whole body of the
Scottish cavalry nearly destroyed, a loss seriously felt
in the next day's battle.*
After this success the protector, accompanied by a
small party, descended from Faside hill, by a lane which
led directly north, to the church of Inveresk. His
object was to examine the position occupied by the
Scots, and he was enabled to do so effectually, as the
course he took ran almost parallel to their camp, which
he could see distinctly. Nothing could be better chosen
for strength and security, than the ground whereon
they lay : defended on the right by a morass which
stretched towards the south, on the left by the Firth,
and in front, looking eastward, by the river Esk, which
took its course between them and the enemy. Over
this river, to the north and near the Firth, was the
bridge of Musselburgh, upon which they had placed
their ordnance, so that it was evident to the English
commander, upon a slight inspection, that if they chose
to keep their position, it would be impossible to attack
* Patten, pp. 46, 47.
Kennet, vol. ii. p. 282.
Anderson's MS. History, p. 98. Hay ward in
24 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
them with advantage, or bring them to a battle.
Somerset, however, did not fail to observe, that their
camp was partially commanded by the hill of Inveresk,
and by the higher parts of the lane which led from
Faside hill ; and having resolved to occupy these places
with his ordnance, with the object of forcing them to
dislodge from their strong ground, he rode back to his
own camp.
On the road he was overtaken by a Scottish herald,
with his tabard on, accompanied by a trumpeter, who
brought a message from the governor. The herald
said his first errand was for an exchange of prisoners,
his second to declare, that his master, eager to avoid
the effusion of Christian blood, was willing to allow him
to retreat without molestation, and upon honourable
conditions. The trumpeter next addressed the duke
informing him that, in case such terms were not ac-
cepted, his master the Earl of Huntley, willing to
bring the quarrel to a speedy conclusion, was ready to
encounter him twenty to twenty, ten to ten, or, if he
would so far honour him, man to man. To these mes-
sages Somerset made a brief and temperate reply. He
declared, turning to the herald, that his coming into
Scotland had been at the first to seek peace, and to
obtain such terms as should be for the good of either
realm. His quarrel, he added, was just ; he trusted,
therefore, God would prosper it ; and since the gover-
nor had already rejected such conditions as would never
again be proffered, he must look now to its being de-
cided by arms ; " and as for thy master," said he,
addressing the trumpeter, " he lacketh some discretion
to send his challenge to one, who, by reason of the
weighty charge* he bears, (no less than the government
of a king^s person and the protection of his realm,)
1547. MARY. 25
hath no power to accept it ; whilst there are yet many
noble gentlemen here, his equals in rank, to whom he
might have addressed his cartel, without fear of a re-
fusal." At this moment the Earl of Warwick broke
eagerly in, telling the messenger that he would not
only accept the challenge, but would give him a hun-
dred crowns if he brought back his master's consent.*
" Nay," said Somerset, " Huntley is not equal in rank
to your lordship : but, herald, tell the governor, and
the Earl of Huntley also, that we have now spent some
time in your country : our force is but a small com-
pany yours far exceeds us ; yet bring me word they
will meet us in a plain field, and thou shalt have a
thousand crowns for thy pains, and thy masters fight-
ing enough."
The herald and his companion were then dismissed,
and the protector pursued his way to the camp, where,
after a consultation with his officers, it was thought
proper, notwithstanding the challenge so lately given,
to make a final effort to avert hostilities. A letter was
accordingly addressed to the governor, in which Som-
erset declared his readiness to retreat from the king-
dom on the single condition, that the Scots would
consent to keep their youthful queen in her own
country, unfettered by any agreement with the French
government, until she had reached a marriageable age,
and was able to say for herself, whether she would
abide by the matrimonial treaty with England. Had
such moderate and equitable proposals been made
previous to the declaration of hostilities, they would
probably have been accepted ; but coming at so ques-
tionable a moment, they appeared to the governor to
be dictated rather by a conviction in the protector,
* Fatten, pp. 49, 50.
26 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
that he could no longer support his army in an enemy's
country, than by any real love of peace. On showing
the letter to Hamilton archbishop of St Andrew's,
who was much in his confidence, he expressed the
same opinion ; and it was agreed to suppress the com-
munication entirely, whilst a report was spread that
an insulting, instead of a conciliatory message had been
transmitted, requiring the Scots to deliver up their
queen, and submit themselves to the mercy of their
enemy.*
Such being the result of this last attempt, nothing
was left to either party but an appeal to arms ; and
early on the morning of the tenth of September, the
Duke of Somerset broke up his camp, and gave orders
for the army to advance towards the hill of Inveresk,
his design being to encamp near that spot, and to plant
his ordnance on the eminence commanding the Scottish
position. This movement was no sooner perceived by
the Scottish governor, than he embraced the extrava-
gant idea that the protector had commenced his retreat
towards his fleet, which had removed two days before
from Leith, and now lay in Musselburgh bay, with the
design of embarking his army. He instantly resolved
to anticipate him, by throwing himself between the
English and their ships ; and disregarding the advice
of his best officers, who earnestly recommended him to
keep his strong position till, at least, the demonstra-
tions of the enemy became more definite, he gave orders
for the whole army to dislodge and pass the river.-f-
Angus who led the vanward, deeming it madness to
throw away their advantage, refused to obey ; but
being charged on pain of treason to pass forward, he
* Hayward in Kennet, vol. ii. p. 283.
f Maitland, voL ii. p. 874. Hayward, 284.
1547. MARY. 27
forded the river, and was followed, although after some
delay, by the governor, who led the main battle, and
the Earl of Huntley with his northland men, who
formed the rear. The advance mustered ten thousand
strong, embracing the strength of Fife, Mearns, Angus,
arid the West country ; it was flanked on the right by
some pieces of artillery drawn by men, and on the left
by four hundred light horse ; it included also a large
body of priests and monks, who marched under a white
banner, on which was painted a female kneeling before
a crucifix, her hair dishevelled, and, embroidered
underneath, the motto " Afflictse Ecclesise ne oblivis-
caris."*
In the main battle was the power of Lothian, Fife,
Strathern, Stirlingshire, and the great body of the
barons of Scotland, having on the right wing the Earl
of Argyle, with four thousand West highlanders, and
on the left the islesmen, with Macleod, Macgregor, and
other chieftams.f It was defended also on both flanks
by some pieces of artillery, as was likewise the rear,
but the guns were clumsily worked, and seem to have
done little execution ; whilst the Scots, though greatly
superior in number, were inferior in military strength,
from their having neither hagbutteers nor men-at-
arms.
This movement of the Scots, in abandoning their
advantage and crossing the river, was viewed with
equal astonishment and pleasure by the English com-
mander. He had dislodged from his camp, and com-
menced his march at eight in the morning ; and before
he was half way to Inveresk, the enemy, having sur-
mounted the hill, were seen advancing towards the
* Hayward in Kennet, vol. ii. p. 286. Anderson's MS. History, vol. ii.
p. 101.
t Pitacottie by Dalyel, vol. ii. p. 49G.
28 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
English. Somerset and the Earl of Warwick, who hap-
pened to be riding together at this moment, instantly
perceived their advantage, thanked Godfor the fortunate
event, ordered forward their artillery, and taking a
joyful leave of each other, proceeded to their respective
charges ; the former to the vanward, and the duke
to the main hat tie, where was the king's standard.*
Warwick immediately arranged his division upon the
side of the hill ; the protector formed his battle chiefly
on the hill, but his extreme right rested on the plain ;
the rear, under Lord Dacre, was drawn up wholly on
the plain ; whilst Lord Grey, with the men-at-arms
and the mounted carabineers, were stationed at some
distance on the extreme left. His orders were to take
the enemy in flank, yet he was strictly interdicted from
making any attack till the foot of the vanward were
engaged with the enemy, and the main battle was near
at hand for his support. By the time these arrange-
ments were completed, the Scots were considerably
advanced, their object being to throw themselves be-
tween the English and their fleet ; but in accomplishing
this, the wing of their rearward, which moved nearest
to the Firth, found themselves exposed to the fire of
one of the English galleys, which galled them severely,
slew the Master of Graham, with some others who were
beside him, and threw Argyle's highlandmen into dis-
order.^f* Checked in this manner, their army fell back
from the ground which was thus exposed, and declining
to the southward, took a direct line towards the west end
of Faside hill .{ Their object was to win this side of the
* Hayward in Kennet, vol. ii. p. 284.
f This fact is stated both in the English and Scottish accounts of the
battle, but in walking over the field I found it extremely difficult to account
for it. See Patten, p. 55.
Ibid.
1547. MARY. 29
hill, and, availing themselves of the advantage, to attack
the enemy from the higher ground ; but as soon as the
protector perceived this movement, he commanded Lord
Grey and Sir Ralph Vane, with the veteran bands of the
men-at-arms, called Bulleners,* and the demi-lances
under Lord Fitzwaters, to charge the right wing of the
Scots, and if they could not break it, at least to keep it in
check till their own vanward might advance further on
the hill, and their centre and rear coming up, form a
full front against the enemy. This manoeuvre, although
aware of its perilous nature, was executed by Lord Grey
with the utmost readiness and gallantry. Observing
the Scottish infantry advancing at so round a pace,
that many deemed them to be rather cavalry than foot,')'
he waited for a short space, till Lord Warwick was
pretty well up with the enemy, and then, commanding
the trumpets to sound, charged down the hill at full
gallop, right against the left wing of Angus's division.
The shock at first was dreadful, but the superiority of
infantry over cavalry was soon evinced. The Scottish
foot were armed with spears eighteen feet in length,
far exceeding that of the lances of the men-at-arms,
and they knew well how to avail themselves of this
advantage. Angus, on observing the intention of the
English, had commanded his men to form in that for-
midable order which had often effectually resisted the
chivalry of England. Nothing could be more simple,
but nothing more effective: the soldiers closed inwards,
so near as to appear locked together shoulder to shoulder ;
the front line stooped low and almost knelt, placing
the butt-end of their pike against the right foot, grasp-
ing it firmly with both hands, and inclining its steel
* Prom their having been employed as the garrison at Boulogne,
t Patten, p. 56'.
30 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
point breast-high against the enemy; the second rank
crossed their pikes over their shoulders ; the third as-
sumed the same position, and so on to whatever depth
the column might be, giving it the appearance of a
gigantic hedge-hog covered with an impenetrable skin
of steel bristles.* Against such a body, if the men
stood firm, the finest cavalry in the world could not
make any serious impression. It happened, also, that
a broad muddy ditch or slough lay between the English
and the Scottish foot, into which the horses plunged
up to the counter, and with great difficulty cleared it.
Yet, undismayed by these adverse circumstances, Lord
Grey, heading his men-at-arms, struggled through, and
with his front companies charged full upon the enemy's
left. No human force, however, could break the wall
against which he had thrown himself; and in an in-
credibly short time two hundred saddles were emptied,
the horses being stabbed in the belly with the spears,
and the riders who had fallen, speedily despatched by
the whingers, or short double-edged daggers, which the
Scots carried at their girdle. Such was the fate of
Shelly, Ratcliff, Clarence, Preston, and other brave and
veteran commanders of the Bulleners. Flammock, who
carried the English standard, saved the colours, but
left the staff in the hands of the enemy. ) Lord Grey
himself was dangerously hurt in the mouth and neck.
Many horses, furious from their wounds, and plunging
in their agony, carried disorder into their own com-
panies ; and such was soon the inextricable confusion
into which the whole body of the men-at-arms was
thrown, that a portion of them, breaking away, fled
* So that it were as easy, to use the words of an eye-witness, for a bare
finger to pierce the skin of an angry hedge-hog, as for any one to encounter
the brunt of their pikes. Patten, p. 59.
f Lord Herries' Memoirs, p. 20.
1547. MARY. 31
through the ranks of their own division, whilst Lord
Grey had the greatest difficulty in extricating the rest,
and retreating up the hill with their shattered and
wounded remains. At this critical moment, had Angus
been supported by the rest of the army, or had the
Scots possessed any body of men-at-arms, who by a
timely charge might have improved their advantage,
the English would in all probability have been undone.*
But the cavalry had been nearly cut to pieces in the
action of the day before, and the centre and rear under
the governor and Huntley were still at a considerable
distance ; the vanward, therefore, unable to pursue the
fugitives, and not choosing to advance against the main
body of the enemy till certain of support, halted for
a brief space. The opportunity was thus lost, and the
Earl of Warwick, aware of the infinite value of a few
minutes gained at such a juncture, galloped through
the wavering ranks of the advance, re-established their
order, disengaged the men-at-arms from the infantry,
and rallying them, with the assistance of Sir Ralph
Sadler, pushed forward the company of the Spanish
carabineers. These fine troops, armed both man and
horse in complete mail, galloped up to the brink of the
broad ditch, and, coming within half-musket range,
discharged their pieces full in the faces of the Scottish
infantry. This attack was seconded by Sir Peter Mew-
tas, who brought up his foot hagbutteers : the archers,
now moving rapidly forward, discharged a flight of
arrows ; and at the same moment the artillery, which
had been judiciously placed on the hill, were made to
bear upon Angus's division, who, dreading the effect of
so complicated an attack, began to fall back, though
* Hayward in Kennet, vol. ii. p. 284. Patten, pp. 61, 62, 65.
} Patten, p. 65. Holinshed, p. 239.
32 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547
in good order, to the main battle. At this instant
the Highlanders, who, unable to resist their plundering
propensities, were dispersed over the field stripping the
slain, mistook this retrograde movement for a flight,
and seized with a sudden panic began to run off in all
directions. Their terror communicated itself to the
burgh troops : these formed a main portion of the
centre, and, starting from their ranks although still a
quarter of a mile distant from the enemy, they threw
away their weapons and followed the highlanders. In
the midst of this shameful confusion, the governor,
instead of exerting himself to rally the fugitives, shouted
treason, a cry which only increased the disorder. The
Earl of Warwick meanwhile was coming fast forward,
the horsemen once more showed themselves ready to
charge, and the English centre and rear hastened on
at an accelerated pace. Had the Scottish vanward
been certain that support was near at hand, they might,
even alone, have withstood this formidable attack ; but,
deserted by the rest of the army, they did not choose
to sacrifice themselves ; and the body which so lately
had opposed an impenetrable front to the enemy begin-
ning first to undulate to and fro, like a steely sea
agitated by the wind, after a few moments was seen
breaking into a thousand fragments and dispersing in
all directions. Everything was now lost : the ground
over which the flight lay was as thickly strewed with
pikes as a floor with rushes ; helmets, bucklers, swords,
daggers, and steel caps, lay scattered on every side, cast
away by their owners, as impeding their speed; and the
chase, beginning at one o'clock, continued till six in the
evening with extraordinary slaughter. The English
demi-lances and men-at-arms, irritated by their late
defeat,, hastened after the fugitives with a speed height-
1547. MARY. S3
ened by revenge,* and passing across the field of their
late action, were doubly exasperated by seeing the bodies
of their brave companions, stript by the highlanders,
lying all naked and mangled before their eyes. Crying
to one another to remember Panierheugh, the spot
where Sir Ralph Eure and his company had, in the
former year, been cut to pieces by the Earl of Angus,
they spurred at the top of their speed after the fugi-
tives, cutting them down on all sides, and admitting
none to quarter, but those from whom they hoped for
a heavy ransom. The Scots fled in three several ways,
some straight upon Edinburgh, some along the coast
to Leith, but the most part towards Dalkeith, with the
object of throwing the morass, which had defended the
right of their camp, between them and their pursuers.-f-
Yet this proved so ineffectual a security, that, before
the chase was ended, fourteen thousand were slain, the
river running red with blood, and the ground for five
miles in distance and four in breadth being covered,
says an eye-witness, as thick with dead bodies as cattle
in a well-stocked pasture field. J It was recorded, that
in Edinburgh alone this day's battle made three hun-
dred and sixty widows. Little pity was shown to the
priests, multitudes of whom were slain, || and found
mingled amongst the dead bodies of the common soldiers,
whilst their sacred banner lay trampled under foot and
soiled with blood.
The evening was now advancing to night, the pur-
suit had lasted for five hours, and the protector causing
a retreat to be sounded, the army mustered again on
the ridge of Edmonstone Edge, beside the Scottish
tents, where, joyous at their victory, they gave a long
* Patten, p. 66. f Ibid. J Ibid. p. 67.
Herries' Memoirs, p. 21. || Patten, p. 72.
VOL. VI. C
34 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
loud shout, which, as they afterwards were told, was
so shrill and piercing, that it was heard in the streets
of the capital.*
This great defeat, named from the adjoining fields
the battle of Pinkie, if immediately followed up by
Somerset, might have led to results most fatal to Scot-
land. Had he pursued the fugitive governor to Stirling,
where the young queen was kept ; made himself master
of its castle, which could not have held out long against
such a force as he commanded ; occupied Edinburgh,
seized and fortified the town and harbour of Leith, and
after leaving a garrison to defend it, taken his progress
through the country, and offered a general protection
to the Scots, the consequences must have been emi-
nently hazardous. But providentially for Scotland,
the protector at this moment received information of
secret plots against him in England ; and he resolved
to hurry home, that he might confront and defeat his
enemies. His measures, in consequence of this abrupt
decision, were confused and ill-digested. Their cruelty
alienated the minds of the people, and their impolicy
shook the confidence of the Scottish barons who were
attached to his service. Advancing from Edgebuck-
ling Brae, where he had encamped after the battle, to
Leith, he quartered his horse in the town ; ravaged the
neighbouring country ; received the submission of the
Earl of Bothwell, whom the governor had released from
prison ;-f- burnt Kinghorn, with some petty fishing ports
upon the coast of Fife, and garrisoned a deserted mon-
astery upon Inchcolm, a small island in the Firth. He
next spoiled the abbey of Holy rood, from which he tore
off the leaden roof; set fire to Leith; and having remain-
ed no longer than a week, commenced his retreat on the
* Patten, p. 71. t Anderson, MS. Hist. vol. ii. p. 106.
1547. MARY. 35
eighteenth of September, 1547.* The fleet at the same
time weighed anchor, and in their passage homeward
took possession of the strong castle of Broughty, situ-
ated at the mouth of the Tay, which, by the treachery
of Lord Gray, its owner, was, on the first summons,
delivered to the enemy.-)- It was newly fortified and
garrisoned, after which Clinton returned with his navy
to England. During the retreat of Somerset through
the Merse and Teviotdale he received the submission
of the chief men of these districts, who swore fealty to
King Edward, and surrendered their castles to the
protector. Amongst these were the Lairds of Cess-
ford, Fernyhirst, Ormiston, Mellerstain, and many
others. He then seized and garrisoned the strong
castle of Hume, and repaired Roxburgh, building a
new fort upon the site of the old castle. For the speedy
completion of this he was so earnest, that he put his
own hand to the spade and shovel, encouraging his
lords and officers to the like exertions, so that within
a few days it was ready to receive a garrison. {
While still at this place intelligence reached the
army of the success of the Earl of Lennox and Lord
Wharton, who, two days before the battle, had entered
Scotland by the west marches at the head of a body
of five thousand men. The object was to create a di-
version in these parts, and prevent them from sending
their force to join the main army of Scotland. In this
inroad they took Castlemilk, giving it in charge to Sir
Edward Dudley ; wasted the country with fire and
sword ; and razed to the ground the town of Annan,
* Lesley, Hist. pp. 200, 201. Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 45.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office. Lord Clinton, Andrew Dudley, &c.
to the Lord Protector, 24th Sept. 1547.
J Anderson, MS. Hist. vol. ii. pp. 100, 107. Stevenson's Illustrations of
the Reign of Queen Mary. Sir E. Dudley to the Earl of Shrewsbury, llth
Sept. 1547-8, p. 24.
36 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547
blowing up the church and steeple, where a brave
officer named Lyon, with the Master of Maxwell and
the Lairds of Johnston and Cockpool, made a desperate
defence, and were permitted to retire with their lives.*
In consequence of this success, the whole of Annandale
was struck with such terror, that it submitted to Eng-
land, the borderers swearing allegiance to Edward,
and giving pledges for their fidelity. ( Of these ad-
vantages, however, Somerset neglected to avail himself;
and whilst such was his impolitic conduct, the measures
on the part of the Scots, who still remained true to
their allegiance, were prompt and decisive. The cruelty
of the slaughter at Pinkie, and the subsequent severi-
ties at Leith, excited universal indignation ; and the
idea that a free country was to be compelled into a
pacific matrimonial alliance, amid the groans of its
dying citizens and the flames of its sea-ports, was
revolting and absurd. The queen-mother, a woman
of much spirit and political talent, seized the oppor-
tunity to infuse vigour and decision into the national
councils. Meeting the governor, who immediately
after his defeat had hurried to Stirling, she assembled
the nobility around her, and proposed that a new
army should be levied, whilst ambassadors should be
despatched to France with a request for instant assist-
ance. As the enemy still occupied Leith, the infant
queen for the sake of security was conveyed from Stir-
ling to the monastery of Inchmahome, situated in a
little island in the lake of Menteith, where she re-
mained with her governors, Lords Erskine and Living-
ston, till the retreat of the protector. j Immediately
* Anderson, MS. Hist. vol. ii. p. 111. MS. Letter, State-paper Office.
The Earl of Lennox and Lord Wharton to the Protector, Carlisle, Sept. 16,
1547.
f Anderson, MS. Hist. p. 111. Lesley, Bannatyne edit. p. 200.
1 547. MARY. 37
after that event, however, a council was held by the
governor and the queen-dowager at Stirling, in which
it was determined, that as the education of the young
queen could not be conducted with any safety or ad-
vantage in a country exposed to daily war, she should
be sent to the court of France. D'Osell, the French
ambassador, assured the nobility that no more likely
method could be adopted to secure the speedy assist-
ance of his master ; and finding the proposal agreeable
to them, the queen-mother suggested that the French
dauphin, under the circumstances in which the kingdom
was now placed, would be an infinitely more appropriate
match for their queen, when she arrived at a marriage-
able age, than the English monarch, whose hand had
been so rudely forced upon her. This scheme could
not fail to be disagreeable to Arran the governor, who
had designed her for his own son ; but his influence
was on the wane ; and although nothing definitive was
settled, the ambassadors to the French court were per-
mitted to sound the inclinations of Henry the Second,
who eagerly embraced the overture.*
Although the resolute measures adopted by the
queen-dowager, and the retreat of Somerset, supported
in some degree the spirit of the country, it was scarcely
to be expected that, under the circumstances in which
Scotland stood, the struggle against England could be
much longer continued. The land was shamefully
deserted by the greater part of its nobility. The Earls
of Angus, Glencairn, Cassillis, and Lennox ; the Lords
Maxwell, Boyd, Gray, and Cranston ; the Lairds of
* Lesley, p. 204. MS. Letter, B. C. State-paper Office, Glencairn to the
Protector, 23d Oct. 1547. Also, MS. Letter, Lord Grey to the Protector
with the enclosure, 31st Oct. 1547. Same to the same, MS. Letter, State-
paper Office, 16th Nov. 1547. MS. Letter, B. C., Grey to the Protector,
with news from Scotland, 24tb Nov. 1547.
38 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547.
Ormiston and Brunston, with many other barons, had
entered the service of England, given hostages for their
fidelity, and sworn to secret articles which bound them
to obey the orders of the protector.* On the side
of the queen, indeed, Argyle, at this time one of the
most powerful barons in Scotland, had advanced (Jan-
uary, 1 547-8) at the head of a large force to Dundee, with
the determination of making himself master of Broughty
castle, and compelling the English to abandon that
part of the country .-) A seasonable bribe, however, of
one thousand crowns caused an immediate and discredit-
able change of purpose ; and, imitating the example of
his brethren, he embraced the service of England and
retired from Dundee^ (5th February, 1547-8.) Both-
well, whose power was great upon the marches, vacillated
alternately between the one party and the other ;
Huntley, the main stay of the Catholics, who had
been taken prisoner at Pinkie, was allowed to proceed
to Newcastle on a solemn engagement to further the
views of Edward. Lord Maxwell, another of the
prisoners, unscrupulously imitated his example ; and
Sir George Douglas, the ablest and most unprincipled
of the party, not only signed the secret articles, but
communicated a plan for an invasion, by which the
whole country might be brought in a short time under
* Lord Grey to the Protector, MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 20th Oct.
1547 ; also MS. Letter, B. C. Glencairn to Lord Wharton, 23d Oct. 1547 ;
also MS. Letter, 3d Oct. 1547, Kirkpatrick of Closeburn to Lord Wharton,
State-paper Office, B. C. ; also MS. Letter, 18th Oct. 1547, Grey to the
Protector, State-paper Office, B. C.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Sir And. Dudley to the Protector, 27th
Dec. 1547.
J MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 5th Feb. 1547-8, Sir And. Dudley to the
Protector. Ibid. Lord Gray of Scotland to the Protector, 7th Feb. 1547-8.
The first being a receipt of Grey for a thousand crowns to be paid to Argyle ;
the second stating " that Argyle's mind is wonderfully given to further the
king's godly purpose." MS. Letter, Feb. 15th, 1547-8. Thomas Wharton
to the Protector, State-paper Office, B. C.
15-17. MARY. 39
the subjection of England.* With such men, however,
no promises or oaths were held sacred ; and, extra-
ordinary as it may appear, to those barons who had
selfishly and basely engaged with the enemy, Scotland
at this time owed her preservation. On the eighteenth
of February, 1547-8, Lord Wharton assembled the
power of the western marches; he was joined by the
Earl of Lennox, who commanded the Scottish borderers
in the service of England; and, according to their
agreement, he expected to be strengthened by the whole
power of the Douglases, and the Master of Maxwell,
who held the chief command in these parts. Maxwell,
however, after having given pledges to England, was
bribed to desert his agreement, by a promise that he
should marry the heiress of Terregles, a rich ward of
the governor's ; and Angus, notwithstanding his near
connexion with Lennox, deserted him. On his advance
Wharton found in his allies, to use his own expressive
phrase, " an accustomed fashion of untruth." The
Scottish earl made his appearance, but afterwards
escaped to his own men ; and, enraged at this breach
of promise, Wharton determined to waste the country
and take vengeance on such treachery. Incautiously
dividing his little army, which consisted of three thou-
sand men, he sent forward the cavalry under his son
Henry, and himself followed with the foot. But scarce
had he proceeded a few miles through a wild and
wasted country, when he was attacked and entirely
routed by the Earl of Angus. ( The Scottish lord
* Grey to the Protector, 20th Oct. 1547, MS. Letter, State-paper Office.
MS. Letter, 21st Nov. 1547, Lord Grey to the Protector. MS. Letter, 31st
Oct. 1547, Lord Grey to the Protector ; also, 24th Nov. 1547, Lord Gvey to
the Protector ; also, 20th March, 1547-8, Lord Huntley to the Protector ; also
Grey to the Protector, 20th Oct. 1547 ; also, B. C., 15th Nov. 1547, Lord
Wharton to the Protector.
t MS. Lrtter, 15th Nov. 1547, State-paper Office, B. C., Lord Wharton
40 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547
had first dispersed the party in advance; and the
" assured' 1 * Scots under the Master of Maxwell, who
composed a considerable portion of the English force,
no sooner saw the day likely to turn against their
employers, than following the example shown at An-
cram, they tore away their red crosses and slaughtered
their a'llies without honour or mercy.-f Yet, although
successful, it was a dear bought victory to the Scots,
six hundred being slain or drowned in the river Nith,
and many of the principal barons made prisoners in a
charge of cavalry, which checked the triumph of the
enemy though it could not restore the day. Wharton,
after making extraordinary efforts, by which he extri-
cated himself from his perilous embarrassment, re-
treated with the remnant of his force to Carlisle, J
and Lord Grey, who at the same time had pushed
forward to Haddington, was compelled by the news of
this severe reverse to retire to Berwick. He had been
joined by the Lairds of Orrniston, Brunston, and many
of the barons of Lothian, to the number of one thousand
horse ; their houses, on his precipitate retreat, were
sacked by the governor ; and in one noted instance
Arran haifged every man in the garrison which held
out against him. This impolitic cruelty drew after
it a stern and terrible retaliation. Pledges, as we have
to the Protector. Ibid. 18th Feb. 1547-8, the same to the Protector. MS.
Letter, Ibid. Lord Wharton to the Protector, Lochmaben, 21st Feb. 1547-8.
Ibid. B. C. MS. Letter, 23d February, 1547-8. Thomas Wharton to the
Protector.
* The assured Scots were those who had entered into bands or covenants
with England.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, B. C., 23d Februray, 1547-8, Carlisle.
Thomas Wharton to the Protector.
I Earl of Lennox and Lord Wharton to the Protector, 25th Feb. 1547-8.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office.
MS. Letter, Grey to the Protector, 23d Feb. 1547-8, State-paper Office ;
also 27th Feb. 1547-8, Grey to the Protector, State-paper Office; andsam*
to the same, 1st March, 1547-8, State-paper Office.
1547. MARY. 41
seen, had been given by the Scots in the English ser-
vice as hostages for their fidelity, and amongst these
were many young and noble youths. Lord Wharton,
smarting under his defeat, and exasperated by the de-
sertion of Maxwell and the assured Scots, held a court
for the trial of the pledges, at the " Moot Hill," be-
side Carlisle, and condemned ten to be hanged : four
of these were instantly executed, amidst the tears and
lamentations of their friends who vainly implored de-
lay ; six were respited, whilst some priests and friars,
who had been caught in the Scottish army, were
dragged along with halters round their necks, and
threatened to be tied up to the nearest trees.*
In the midst of these difficulties, when the governor,
despairing of foreign assistance, was about to give up
the contest, the conduct of the queen-mother deserved
much praise. Upon the retreat of the protector, she
brought back the young queen from the monastery of
Inchmahome to the castle of Dumbarton, and took im-
mediate steps for transporting her into France. )
Alarmed by so decisive a measure, the protector
determined to make an attempt at conciliation, and
some months after his retreat, addressed a manifesto
to the governor, J in which he disclaimed all views of
subjugating the realm, or subverting the government
of Scotland. His only object, he declared, was, by
marriage, to unite the two kingdoms upon a footing of
perfect equality; and he desired that the names of Eng-
land and Scotland, which had for so many centuries
been arrayed in mortal hostility against each other,
* MS. Letter, Lennox and Wharton to the Protector, 25th.Feb. 1547-8,
State-paper Office ; also Wharton to the Protector, 18th March, 1547-8,
State-paper Office, B. C.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, B. C., 27th Feb. 1547-8, Lord Grey
to the Protector. Ibid. 4th March, 1 547-8, A Scottish Spy to Lord Wharton,
J Dated February 5, 1547-8.
42 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1548.
should henceforth be sunk under the common appella-
tion of Britain.* These advances, however, came too
late ; and having been disregarded by the governor,
Lord Grey, at the head of a powerful force, once more
entered the country ; carried his ravages through the
Merse and Mid- Lothian up to the gates of the capital ;
razed Dalkeith and Musselburgh; took and fortified
Lauder and Haddington ; and after leaving in the last
place a strong garrison, returned to England.-f- This
expedition was rendered remarkable by the taking of
the castle of Dalkeith, the stronghold of the crafty and
able leader, George Douglas ; who, after his old fashion,
represented himself as favourably inclined to England.
In accomplishing his purpose the English commander
imitated his own cunning. " I pretended no manner
of enmity against him," (I use his own words, in a
letter to the protector,) " but that still I had hope of
his conversion, to breed in him such trust, that the
less doubting, the sooner 1 might be revenged or get
him into my hands." Trusting to these assurances
the Scottish baron lay secure, as he believed, in his
castle; whilst Gamboa, a Spanish leader in the service
of England, and sixty mounted hagbutteers, scoured
and burnt the country in his neighbourhood ; but be-
before the least intelligence could reach him, Captain
Wilford, with six hundred foot and one hundred horse,
had crossed the Esk, and pushing forward his advance,
summoned the castle. Even then Douglas boldly
encountered him at the head of his pikemen. By
superiority of numbers, however, he was driven back
through a postern. The English gained the base court
* Carte, vol. iii. p. 222.
f Diurnal of Occurrents, pp. 46, 47. MS. Letter, State-paper Office,
Grey to the Protector, 23d April, 1548. Also, MS. Letter, same to same,
12th June, 1548. Ibid.
1548. MARY. 43
after a desperate struggle, in which forty of the Scots
were slain ; and Wilford was proceeding to undermine
and blow up the walls, when the garrison yielded with-
out conditions. Much wealth was found in the place,
as, according to Grey's account, " all the country had
brought their goods together, thinking that nothing
could prevail against George's policy ."* He himself
escaped ; but his wife, his eldest son the Master of
Morton, afterwards regent, the Abbot of Arbroath a
natural son of Angus, Home the laird of Wedderburn,
and many of the Douglases, fell into the hands of the
enemy. To be thus overreached and entrapped in his
own devices was peculiarly mortifying to this long-
practised intriguer, and seems to have sunk deeper
into his spirit than the loss either of his wife or his
castle.
Meanwhile the governor had been repulsed in an
attempt against Broughty fort ; and the chief citizens
of Dundee, amongst whom the doctrines of the Refor-
mation were making great progress, declared for
England.-f- Many of the leading Scottish barons had
already, as we have seen, signed articles of submission
to the protector ;J and so successful was Wharton,
that six thousand men had bound themselves to join
his force, giving hostages for their fidelity. Under
these circumstances, we can scarcely be surprised that
the people, worn out by the continuance of war, and
the ravages of the plague which now desolated the
* MS. Letter, Grey to the Lord Protector. State-paper Office, June 4,
f They offered to hold their town against all the efforts of the governor,
and, in return, requested some good preacher to be sent them, with a supply
of English bibles and other godly books. MS. Letter. State-paper Office,
Dudley to the Protector, Nov. 1, 1547.
J Lord Grey to the Protector, 20th Oct., 1547. State-paper Office.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, B. C., Wharton to the Protector, Car-
lisle, Nov. 12, 1547.
44 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1548.
country, were on the point of falling into despair. At
such a time, therefore, it was with no ordinary feelings
upon the part not only of the queen-mother and her
friends, but of the nation, that a French fleet was seen
to enter the Firth, and an army of six thousand
foreign troops soon after disembarked at Leith (16th
June).* It was commanded by Andrew de Monta-
lembert Sieur D^sse, an experienced officer ; and,
besides an excellent train of artillery, included three
thousand Germans under the Rhinegrave, and a body
of Italians led by the two Strozzi's, Leo prior of
Capua, and Peter his brother, captain-general of the
galleys. Arran instantly joined them with a force
of five thousand men ; and after a few days spent
in consultation, the united armies invested Hadding-
ton, whilst a parliament assembled (1 7th July) in the
abbey beside the town."f* At this meeting of the three
Estates, Monsieur D^Esse brought from his royal
master an affectionate assurance of his anxiety to assist
his allies in defence of their independence against, what
he termed, the cruelty and arrogance of England. He
declared he was ready, in addition to the army now
sent, to grant them every further aid that might be
necessary, in troops, money, and arms ; and he con-
cluded by expressing the anxiety of the French mon-
arch that the league, which for so many centuries had
bound the nations to each other, should now be fur-
ther strengthened by a marriage between his son the
dauphin, and their youthful queen, J whose education, if
they would commit her to his charge, he would super-
intend with the utmost care and affection. To these
proposals the Scottish parliament unanimously agreed,
* De Thou, Book v. p. 250.
f Lesley p. 207-209. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Grey to the Pro-
lector, June 19, 1548. Ibid. July 14, 1548, Lord Wharton to the Protector.
J Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. ii. pp. 481, 482.
1548. MARY. 45
under the single condition, that the French monarch
should solemnly promise to preserve the laws and
liberties of the realm of Scotland as they had existed
under the race of her own kings. Measures were im-
mediately adopted for the passage of the infant queen
to France ; and as it was known that the protector,
aware of the design, had sent Clinton with a fleet to
intercept her, great caution was used in the prepara-
tions.
Monsieur Villegagnon, with four galleys, weighing
anchor from Leith, pretended to sail for France, but
on clearing the mouth of the Firth, he changed his
course, and passing through the Pentland Firth round
Scotland, came before Dumbarton,* where the queen
awaited his arrival. Mary, who was now a beautiful
infant in her sixth year, was delivered by her mother
to Monsieur de Breze, who conveyed her on board the
royal galley. She was accompanied by her governors
the Lords Erskine and Livingston, and by the Lord
James her natural brother, afterwards the regent
Moray, then a youth in his seventeenth year ; whilst
along with her embarked her four Marys, children of
a like name and age with herself, selected as her play-
mates from the families of Fleming, Beaton, Seton,
and Livingston.^ Scarce had she embarked when the
English admiral, with his fleet, was seen off St Abb's
Head ; but setting sail about the seventh of August,
the little squadron with its royal freight escaped every
danger, and cast anchor in the harbour of Brest on the
thirteenth of August, 1548. From this place the young
thirteenth of August, 1548. From this place the young
queen took her progress to the palace of St Germain,
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 29th July, 1548, Brende to the Protec-
tor. Lesley, p. 209, Bannatyne edit. Lord Merries' Memoirs, p. 23.
f Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 47. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Ghrey to
the Protector, 4th August, 1548.
46 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 154S.
where she was joyfully received by the French mon-
arch, and an honourable court and household appointed
for her at the public expense.* Having completed these
arrangements, Henry directed his ambassador Mon-
sieur de Selves, to inform the protector and his council
that, as father of the dauphin, the affianced husband
of the Scottish queen, and to whom the Estates of her
realm had already given the investiture of the kingdom,
he had taken Scotland under his protection, and con-
sidered it as included in the peace between France
and England. He required him, therefore, to abstain
from all hostilities against that country, and promised
that a like cessation should be observed by the Scots. f
It was not to be expected that this intimation should
produce any effect, and the war continued with equal
animosity as before, but at first the success was on the
side of England. Haddington held out against every
effort of the foreign troops ; and although a body of
one thousand five hundred English horse who escorted
a supply of ammunition, were defeated with great
slaughter, such was the bravery of the garrison under
Sir James Wilford, that the siege was first turned into
a blockade, and afterwards abandoned on the approach
of the Earl of Shrewsbury at the head of an army of
twenty-two thousand men. To co-operate with the
land troops, a fleet under Lord Clinton appeared in the
Firth, and making a descent at St Monans, on the coast
of Fife, were encountered and defeated with great
slaughter by the Laird of Wemyss, assisted by the
Lord James, { who, on the first intelligence of danger,
had mustered the strength of Fife, and here first gave a
proof of that cool and determined character which
* Lesley, p. 210.
f Memoires D'Estat, par Ribier, vol. ii. p. 152. Carte, vol. iii. p. 223.
i Lord Herries' Memoirs, p. 24. Carte, vol. iii. p. 223.
1548. MARY. 47
afterwards raised him to such a height of power.* To
balance this success, however, Haddington was fully
supplied, and its garrison strengthened by four hun-
dred horse; Dunbar was burnt, Dundee taken, a strong
fort raised at Broughty,-)- which overawed the country,
another begun at Dunglas, and a force of three thou-
sand German troops encamped in the neighbourhood
to complete the work, and reduce that district. J
On the retreat, however, of Shrewsbury to England,
affairs began to assume a different aspect, and the tide
of success soon turned completely in favour of the
Scots and their foreign allies. The war, too, assumed
a character of more than common ferocity. The Scots,
not contented with the slaughter of the captives who
fell into their hands, purchased their English prisoners
from the French, that they might have the gratification
of subjecting them to the most ingenious and protracted
kinds of death. Of such excesses, disgraceful as they
undoubtedly were, the causes were to be found in the
conduct of the English themselves. The cruel slaughter
at Pinkie, the burning their seaports and shipping,
the destruction of their harvest, and the pitiless
severity with which the repeated invasions of the
country had been accompanied, had at length animated
the Scots with a universal feeling of revenge, which
manifested itself in the most shocking excesses : one
example of such scenes may be given as illustrating
the times. Fernyhirst castle, on the east Borders,
had submitted to the English ; it was strongly garri-
soned, and the commandant and his soldiers had made
* Anderson's MS. History, vol. ii. p. 122, dorso.
t It was called the Brakehill,.MS. Privy- seal, 1548-9, Feb. 3.
t Lesley, pp. 211, 212, 214, 215, 21.6. Carte, vol. iii. pp. 222, 223.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 19th Oct. 1550. Mason to the PriTj-
council.
48 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1548.
themselves obnoxious to the common people by many
shameful excesses of rapine and licentiousness. Siege
was laid to it by the Scottish and foreign troops ; the
base court was gained, the English archers were driven
by the fire of the hagbutteers into the keep, and the
engineers had effected a breach in the inner wall, when
the commander, afraid of falling into the hands of the
Scots, stole forth, and surrendered to the Sieur D'Esse,
imploring his protection ; but it was in vain : a borderer
beholding in him the brutal ravisher of his wife, broke
through every impediment, and, ere his arm could be
arrested, at one blow carried his head four paces from
his body.*
The English had repaired and garrisoned the ruinous
fortress of Roxburgh immediately subsequent to the
battle of Pinkie; the chiefs on the east Border had
sworn allegiance to the protector, and the west bor-
derers submitted universally to Lord Wharton ; but
the submission which had been extorted by fear was,
on the first success of the foreign troops, exchanged
for the bitterest hostility; and in a short space of time,
the country which had been occupied by the enemy was
wrested from their hands. The castle of Hume was re-
taken; the governor of Haddington, Sir James Wilford,
made prisoner, and the party he commanded entirely
defeated; the German garrison, which had been left in
Coldingham, were cut to pieces ; the enemy expelled
from their fortifications in Inchkeith ; the important
strength of Fastcastle recovered by stratagem ; and
the English at length compelled to abandon Hadding-
ton, the defence of which had cost them so much blood
and treasure, f But the employment of foreign troops
* Lesley, p. 224.
f Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 49. Lesley, pp. 231, 23Z
1548-9. MARY. 49
generally brings some calamity along with it : if suc-
cessful, they insist on a monopoly of the glory ; if
defeated, they throw the blame upon their employers,
and in either case jealousy and heartburnings arise.
These causes seem to have operated to their full extent
during the campaigns of the French in Scotland, and
at last broke out in a tumult in the capital, which was
only appeased after the death of the Laird of Sten-
house the provost, and the slaughter of many of the
citizens.*
In the course of these transactions a reinforcement
of a thousand foot and three hundred horse arrived
from France,f under the command of De Thermes, an
experienced officer, who prosecuted the war with such
vigour and ability that the English were everywhere
defeated, and compelled at last to surrender the castle
of Droughty, their strongest remaining fortress in
Scotland. J Having obtained this advantage, the go-
vernor laid siege to Lauder, and in a successful attack,
had already driven the enemy into the inner court,
when intelligence was brought that peace had been con-
cluded at Boulogne between France and England, upon
which hostilities were immediately suspended. It
was found that the French monarch had stipulated
very favourable terms for his allies. The English
agreed to evacuate Scotland ; || to demolish the forts
which they had raised at Dunglas, Roxburgh, and
Eyemouth; to surrender Lauder, and to abstain from
any invasion, unless upon some new provocation. IT To
these conditions the governor lost no time in giving in
his adherence, sending the Master of Erskine as his
* Lesley, pp. 217, 218. f June 23, 1549.
Lesley, pp. 227, 228, 231. Ib
MS. Book of Privy-council, fol. 5, p. 1.
VOL. VI.
50 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1550.
ambassador into France for that purpose,* and peace
was proclaimed at Edinburgh in the month of April,
1550.f
Thus after a war of nine years were the English
obliged to abandon their extravagant projects of com-
pelling the Scots, by force of arms, into a matrimonial
alliance. Had their measures been more judicious,
and the mode of courtship less boisterous, the match,
under due restrictions, might have proved acceptable
to the governor, the nobles, and the common people ;
but the violence of the protector defeated his object,
threw his enemy into the arms of France, and ren-
dered the breach between the two nations still wider
than before.
To the queen-mother nothing could be more accept-
able than this successful termination of hostilities.
The betrothing of the infant queen to the dauphin, the
brilliant successes of the foreign troops, and the terms
of the peace, established the ascendancy of the French
interest, and gave Henry the Second an influence in
the management of Scottish affairs, of which she now
resolved to avail herself. She had long been dissatis-
fied with the conduct of the governor; and, instigated
alike by her own ambition and the advice of her brothers
the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal Lorraine, she
formed the bold design of supplanting him in the pos-
session of the supreme power. To accomplish this by
force was impossible. Towards the conclusion of the
war the people and the nobles had become jealous of
the French auxiliaries, } the feeling was increased by
* MS. Book of Privy-council, fol. 4, p. 2.
t Ibid. Proclamatio Pacis, 20th April, 1550.
Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary, p. 30-31. Thomas Fisher to
the Protector, Oct. 11, 1548. Some minute and interesting particulars of
the war in Scotland, and the conduct of the French auxiliaries under D'Esse
1 550. MARY. 51
the obligations which they owed to them, and the
slightest appearance of compulsion employed towards
Arran would have roused a spirit of universal opposi-
tion. Mary of Guise determined to gain her purpose
by the more artful weapons of intrigue and bribery:
she knew the venality of the Scottish nobles, she was
familiar with the timid and irresolute character of the
governor, and she did not despair so to manage mat-
ters, that he should at length be reduced to save
himself from increasing unpopularity by a voluntary
demission of the regency.
Her first step towards the prosecution of these views
was to repair to the court of France : her ostensible
object being a visit to her daughter; her real purpose
to obtain the advice and co-operation of the French
monarch. In the month of September, Strozzi prior
of Capua, brought a small squadron of French ships
to anchor at Newhaven, and the queen-mother em-
barked for France. She was accompanied by De
Thermes, La Chapelle, and other French officers, and
by some of the principal nobility of Scotland, amongst
whom were the Earls of Huntley, Cassillis, Suther-
land, and Marshal, the Lords Home, Fleming, and
Maxwell, with the prelates of Caithness and Galloway.*
Landing at Dieppe (19th September, 1550,) they im-
mediately proceeded to Rouen, where the court was
then held, and were received with much distinction.-)-
and De Thermes, will be found in the above valuable volume of original
letters (the contribution of Mr Kirkman Finlay to the Maitland Club.)
See also in the same volume, p. 36, Letter from Sir Thomas Holcroft to
the Lord Protector Somerset, 24th July, 1549, pp. 36, 39 ; also same to
game, 25th September, 1549.
* Lesley, p. 235. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Privy-council of Eng-
land to Sir John Mason ambassador in France, llth August, 1550. Vol. of
Sir John Mason's Correspondence, State-paper Office, p. 82-83.
f Sir John Mason to the Privy-council. MS. Letter, 6th October, 1550.
Same vol. p. 118, State-paper Office. Lesley, p. 236.
52 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1550-
Amidst the festivities which welcomed her arrival,*
Mary of Guise explained her graver schemes against
Arran to the French cabinet, and found them warmly
encouraged by the Cardinal of Lorraine and the Duke
of Guise. Nor did they find it difficult to bring over
the French monarch to their opinion. They contended,
that on the success of superseding the governor de-
pended the preservation of the French influence and
of the ancient religion in Scotland. If the first failed,
the other, they said, must inevitably decay ; and it
was to be feared, from the great progress of heresy in
that country, that a reformation would be established
in Scotland, similar to that which had taken place in
the sister kingdom. On the contrary, if the pre-emi-
nence of French councils could be secured all would go
well ; and Ireland, which was universally ripe for in-
surrection, would throw off her allegiance, and needed
but a token from France to be wholly at her devotion. -f-
Nor was this last a vain boast. The Archbishop of
Armagh, a busy envoy of the papal government, who
had been sent into that country with a commission to
encourage a revolt against England, had arrived at the
French court soon after the queen-dowager; and after
giving an encouraging description of the universal
discontent which prevailed in that unhappy country,
proceeded to Rome. {
* Sir John Mason the English ambassador describes her as almost wor-
shipped as a goddess. Sir John Mason to Privy- council, State-paper Office.
Correspondence, p. 246, 23d Feb. 1550.
f MS. Letter, Mason to the Privy-council. Correspondence, p. 134, 19th
Oct. 1550. The talk of this court amongst the baser sort is very large of
our things : especially since the arriving of the Scots. * * * Ireland,
they say, is theirs when the king shall give but a token.
Sir John Mason to Privy-council. MS. Letter, 8th Feb. 1550-1. Cor-
respondence, p. 231. The archbishop's name was Wauchop. It is affirmed
by Lesley the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ross, that he was blind from his
infancy. But I suspect there must be here some mistake, as such blindness
was a fatal objection by the laws of the church. Sir John Mason, in speaking
1550. MARY. 53
Convinced by such arguments, Henry declared his
satisfaction with the projects of the queen-mother; and
Panter bishop of Ross, the Scottish ambassador at the
court of France, with Sir Robert Carnegie and Hamil-
ton abbot of Kilwinning, repaired to Scotland for the
purpose of breaking the affair to the regent. This they
did in an artful manner : they represented to him the
dilapidation of the revenue and the crown-lands which
had taken place during his government, the rigid rec-
koning to which he must be called when the young
queen came of age, and the impossibility of obtaining
an honourable discharge, if he remained in his dangerous
elevation. On the other hand, they held out the
splendid bribe of the dukedom of Chastelherault for
himself, and an establishment at the French court for
his eldest son, if he agreed to resign the government;
whilst they strengthened the party of the queen-mother
by liberal promises to the Scottish nobles.* It hap-
pened that at this moment the governor was deprived
of the counsels of the Archbishop of St Andre w^s, who
then lay on what was supposed a death-bed. The in-
fluence of a talented opponent of the queen-mother was
thus removed ; and Arran, left to himself, gave a reluc-
tant and conditional assent.-)- Having so far succeeded,
Mary of Guise took leave of her daughter the Scottish
queen, and passed over from France to the court of
England, where she had an amicable interview with
Edward the Sixth. J This was politic and judicious.
It evinced her resolution to preserve pacific relations
of him says, " The blind Scot that nameth himself Archbishop of Armachan."
See Lesley, p. 242.
* Maitlancl, vol. ii. p. 884. Anderson, MS. History, vol. ii. p. 153. The
Earl of Huntley was promised the earldom of Moray ; and the youngest son
of the Earl of Rothes, whose mother was a Hamilton, was to be created an
earl.
f Lesley, p. 238. MelvilPs Memoirs, pp. 20, 2L
Anderson, MS. History, vol. ii. p. 155.
54 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1550-51.
with this country, and formed part of that system of
universal conciliation which for the present she had de-
termined to maintain. Some timebefore thisthe Master
of Erskine, and Sinclair the President of the Session,
had proceeded on an embassy to Flanders, where they
concluded a peace with the emperor ; * and tranquillity
being thus established abroad, the queen, on her return
to Scotland, devoted her undivided energy to the com-
position of all differences amongst the nobility, and the
establishment of order and good government. Injustice
to Arran the regent it ought to be stated, that, during
her absence in France, he had exerted himself to accom-
modate those Border differences which had ever been
so fertile a cause of exasperation ; and in a convention
signed by commissioners of both kingdoms at Norham,
some wise regulations were introduced for the deter-
mination of the boundaries, the tranquillity of the
Debateable Land, and the security of the commercial
intercourse between the two countries.^
Nor was this all, two parliaments were held at Edin-
burgh, in the spring and the winter of the year 1551,
in which, amid much of that rude and narrow legislation
which marks the age, some salutary laws were intro-
duced. A vain attempt was made to fix the prices of
wine and of provisions, and repress the inordinate
luxury of the table. J An enactment was passed against
the sins affirmed to be scandalously common : of adultery,
bigamy, blasphemous swearing, and indecent behaviour
during public worship ; and the press, which it is de-
* Sir John Mason, Correspondence, pp. 203, 204. State-paper Office. MS.
Letter, Sir John Mason to the Privy-council, 20th Jan. 1550-1. Anderson,
MS. History, vol. ii. p. 152.
f Maitland, vol. ii. p. 885. Rymer, vol. xv. p. 265.
No archbishop, bishop, or earl, was permitted to have more than eiglt
dishes of meat at his table ; to the abbot and prior six were allowed ; baron a
and freeholders were restricted to four ; and wealthy burgesses to three, with
one kind of meat in each.
1551. MARY. 55
clared had teemed with lewd rhymes and ballads, with
scandalous songs and tragedies, was subjected to the
censorship of an ordinary, and restricted by a law, which
compelled every printer to obtain a licence from the
queen and the governor.*
Subsequently to this, Arran took his progress through
the northern parts of the kingdom, holding justice
courts in the principal towns, and proceeded afterwards,
accompanied by the queen-regent, to visit for the same
purpose the western and southern districts of the realm.
During the late war licentious disorders of all kinds
had grown up amongst the lower classes ; the restrictions
of the laws were despised ; the clergy, forgetful of the
sanctity of their character, had quarrelled regarding the
disposal of many rich vacant benefices ; their friends
had fiercely espoused their claims, and the country
presented one wide scene of civil broil and ecclesiastical
commotion. To compose this rude state of things re-
quired a union of energy and address which might have
been deemed beyond the abilities of Arran, but his
exertions were seconded by the queen-mother, who bent
all her efforts to the task ; and it says much for her
talent, temper, and good sense, that the measures which
she adopted were successful. The clergy were satisfied,
the nobles reconciled amongst themselves, the lower
orders induced rather than compelled to respect the
laws ; and Mary of Guise, by her prudence and popular
manners, so firmly attached all orders to her party,
that the governor began to dread he would be univer-
sally deserted.-)-
This moment was artfully seized by her to remind
Arran that it was now time for him to fulfil his promise,
* Maitland, vol. ii. p. 886, 889. Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol.
ii. pp. 483, 490, inclusive.
f Lesley, p. 245.
56 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1552.
and resign the regency in her favour; but she met with an
indignant refusal. He declared his resolution to retain
the high office, which belonged to his rank as nearest
heir to the crown; insisted that no such overtures could
be entertained till the young queen had at least reached
the age of twelve years ; and so deeply resented the
proposal, that he remained in Edinburgh with the few
lords who still embraced his party, whilst the dowager
held a brilliant court at Stirling.* He contended, and
with truth, that since the peace with England he had
devoted himself with unremitting assiduity to the
duties of his office, to the assembling of the parliaments,
the administration of justice, the improvement of the
moral character of the people, the recovery of the coun-
try from the ravages committed during the war ; and
now, in return for all this, it was requested that he
should at once descend from an almost royal rank, to
the condition of a private subject, and lay down his
authority at the mandate of a woman. These proud
and resentful feelings, so opposite to the sentiments
which he had expressed in 1551, were supposed to be
instilled into the mind of Arran by his brother the pri-
mate of St Andrew^s, who had now recovered his health,^
and with it his influence over the easy temper of his
relative. A determined opposition was thus reorganized
against the queen-mother: the archbishop represented
to his brother the madness of retiring from the supreme
power, when nothing stood between him and the crown
but the life of a feeble girl ; { and nearly a year was spent
in mutual crimination and intrigue.
* Maitland, vol. ii. p. 891. Lesley, p. 245.
"I* By the means of the famous Cardan, " who hung him certain days by
the heels, and fed him with young whelps." MS. Letter, State-paper Office,
Randolph to Cecil, 15th Jan. 1551-2. See Illustrations.
J Sir James Melvill's Memoirs, p. 21, 73. Lesley, p. 245.
1554. MARY. 57
The party of the governor, however, at length became
so insignificant, that the primate was the only man of
consequence left to him ; and the queen, confident in
her strength, threatened to call a parliament and exact
an account of his administration of the royal revenue.
She at the same time procured the young queen her
daughter to select as her guardians the King of France,
with her uncles the Cardinal Lorraine and the Duke of
Guise. They then devolved their authority upon the
queen-dowager, and although Arran pleaded justly that
the transaction was illegal, the young Mary being still
in her minority, the objection was overruled, and he at
last reluctantly consented to his abdication.
A parliament accordingly assembled at Edinburgh,
on the twelfth of April, 1554, in which this solemn
transaction was completed. The various instruments
of agreement which had been entered into with Arran
were first produced. They conferred on him the
duchy of Chastelherault, and gave him an ample ap-
proval of the mode in which he had managed, and the
purposes to which he had applied the revenue of the
crown ; he was permitted to retain the castle of Dum-
barton till the Scottish queen attained majority ; and
he was lastly declared the second person in the realm,
and, failing the queen, nearest heir to the crown. To
these contracts the spiritual and temporal peers having
affixed their seals, the Duke of Chastelherault, in the
presence of the Estates of the realm, resigned the
ensigns of his authority into the hands of the queen-
dowager ; a commission by the Queen of Scotland was
next produced and read, which appointed her mother,
Mary of Lorraine, regent of her realm ; and that
princess, rising from her seat, accepted the office,
and received the homage and congratulations of the
58 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1554.
assembled nobility. She was then conducted in a
public procession with great pomp and acclamation
through the city to the palace of Holyrood, and
immediately entered upon the administration of the
government.* Meantime, in the midst of these trans-
actions, the death of Edward the Sixth (July sixth,
1553) had occasioned a great revolution in England.
The accession of Mary, the restoration of the Roman
Catholic faith, and the marriage between England and
Spain, produced important effects upon Scotland, both
in its internal state and its foreign policy, the consi-
deration of which, however, belongs to a subsequent
period of this history.
* Lesley, pp. 247, 249, 250. Anderson's MS. Hist, of Scotland, vol. ii. pj>,
1.58, 159, 162.
1554.
MARY.
CHAP. II.
MARY.
CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS.
Mary.
Elizabeth.
France.
Henry II.
Francis II.
Charles IX.
Spain.
Charles V.
Philip II.
Portugal.
John III.
Sebastian.
Germany.
Ferdinand I.
Maximilian II.
Popes.
Paul III
Julius 1IL
Paul IV.
Pius IV.
MARY OF GUISE, who now assumed the supreme au-
thority, was in many respects well qualified for her
high station. She possessed a calm judgment ; good,
though not brilliant, natural parts ; manners which,
without losing their dignity, were feminine and en-
gaging ; and so intimate a knowledge of the character
of the people over whom she ruled, that, if left to her-
self, there was every prospect of her managing affairs
with wisdom and success. Her abilities, indeed, were
sufficiently apparent in the quiet and triumphant
manner in which she had brought about the revolution
which placed her at the head of affairs. Although of
a different religion, she had so entirely gained the
affections of the Protestant party, that their support
was one chief cause of her success. Nor by the pru-
dent concessions which she made to their opponents,
had she alienated from herself the hearts of the adhe-
rents of the ancient faith, whose leaders she attached
to her interest by gifts of the vacant benefices, and the
fiO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1554.
exertion of her influence at the papal court.* It was
chiefly by her management that the fierce and sangui-
nary feuds, which for a long period had distracted the
Scottish aristocracy, were composed ; and her assump-
tion of the regency was viewed with equal satisfaction
by the clergy, the nobility, and the people.
But the possession of power is fraught with danger
to the best. She had incurred many obligations to the
court of France, which her gratitude or her promises
impelled her to repay, by intruding foreigners into
the offices hitherto filled by natives ; and, unmindful
of the extraordinary jealousy with which the Scottish
people were disposed to regard all interference of this
kind, she lent herself to measures dictated more by the
ambition of the house of Guise, than by a desire to
promote the happiness of her daughter's kingdom.
Her first act went far to disgust the nobility and
the nation. Huntley the chancellor, )- although per-
mitted to retain the name, was superseded in all real
power by Monsieur de Rubay, who obtained the place
of vice-chancellor and possession of the great seal.
Villemore was made comptroller, a place of high re-
sponsibility ; and D^Osell, although placed in no office,
became her confidential adviser in all matters of
state. J These imprudent preferments excited a dis-
satisfaction, which was indeed smothered for the time,
* Lesley, pp. 241, 242. MS. Records of Privy-council, fol. 8, p. 2, in a
State Paper, entitled " Answers to the most Christian King of France's
Memorial," given to Thomas master of Erskine, Ambassador to the court
of France.
j* This powerful and able nobleman, who was the head of the Catholic
party in Scotland, had .been taken prisoner in the battle of Pinkie, by Ralph
Vane (Anderson's MS. Hist. vol. ii. p. 130, dorso), but made his escape in
1548, and on his return to Scotland was restored to his office of chancellor.
An interesting account of his escape will be found in Anderson's MS.
Hist. vol. ii. pp. 130, 131.
Keith's Eccl. Hist. pp. 69, 70. Lesley, pp. 250, 251. Anderson's MS.
Hist. vol. ii. p. 174, dorso.
1554. MARY. 61
but afterwards broke out with fatal force against the
regent.
In the meantime the kingdom became disturbed in
the north, where the fierce and powerful clan Ranald,
under their leader John of Moydart, resumed their
career of misrule and spoliation. The general policy
hitherto pursued in these districts, was that introduced
by James the Fourth. It was the practice of this
monarch to keep the various clans in subordination by
encouraging their mutual rivalry, and employing them
as checks upon each other. In the event of any sept
rising into a dangerous pre-eminence, or, as was not
unusual, into open rebellion, one of the most powerful
northern nobles. Athole, Huntley, or Argyle, was in-
trusted with a commission of lieutenancy; and, on
repairing to the disturbed districts with an armed force,
they engaged some of the rival clans to assist in putting
down the insurrection. There can be no doubt that
such commissions, of which the powers were indefinite,
had been often abused to the purposes of individual
ambition. The great lords looked for forfeitures of the
lands of the highland chiefs, to reward themselves and
their followers ; and, on many occasions, rather encou-
raged treason than promoted submission. It was a
consequence of this miserable system that these chiefs
continued in rebellion, not so much from any unwilling-
ness to acknowledge the authority of the government,
as from a dread of the influence and misrepresentations
of their enemies.
In 1552, when the Regent Arran and the queen-
dowager held their court at Inverness, John of Moy-
dart, the leader of the clan Ranald, had treated with
proud contempt their summons to appear before them ;
and although Argyle afterwards promised to compel
62 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1554.
'his attendance, or to expose him to the extremity of
fire and sword, both the promise and the penalty appear
to have been forgot. In 1554, he and his adherents
once more bid defiance to the government; and Hunt-
ley, armed with a commission of lieutenancy, and
leading an army chiefly composed of lowland barons,
proceeded against him as far as Abertarff in Inverness-
shire. His attempt, however, was singularly unsuc-
cessful ; for when it became necessary to pursue the
daring outlaw into his mountain fastnesses, his low-
land leaders declined acting in a country unsuited for
cavalry ; whilst his highland auxiliaries reproached him
for the execution of Mackintosh captain of the clan
Chattan,* and showed such marked symptoms of dis-
affection, that Huntley deemed it prudent to conclude
his inglorious expedition, and return to court.
His enemies eagerly seized this opportunity to con-
spire his ruin. His conduct, they contended, amounted
to treason; and they insisted that nothing but Hunt-
ley^s confidence in his exorbitant power could have
induced him to have acted with such flagrant contempt
of the orders which he had received from his sovereign.
To such accusations the queen lent a willing ear. The
earl was cast into prison, stripped of his high offices,
and sentenced to be banished for five years to France. ~f*
When we consider the services so lately performed by
Huntley, in the revolution which gave Mary of Guise
the regency, it is difficult to understand the causes of
that sudden resentment to which he fell a victim. That
he had abused the high powers intrusted to him, in
the administration of the northern counties, is not
improbable ; and his imperious demeanour had perhaps
* Lesley, p. 251, 252. Maitland, vol. ii. p. 893.
f Gregory's History of the Western Highlands and Isles, p. 183-184.
1555. MARY. 60
provoked the resentment of the queen's foreign advisers.
One of these, Monsieur de Bontot, superseded him
in his government of Orkney. De Rubay, we have
already seen, in his character of vice-chancellor had
monopolised all the powers of the great seal, which
properly belonged to Huntley as chancellor ; and al-
though he still kept the name of this office, and, by the
payment of a heavy fine, procured the remission of his
sentence of banishment, he remained stripped of his
strength, and confined to the solitude of his estates.*
Notwithstanding these occasional demonstrations of
severity against her Scottish nobles, the exertions of
the queen-regent were for some years successfully de-
voted to the maintenance of peace, and the promotion
of the real welfare of the kingdom. Commissioners
from England and Scotland met and established tran-
quillity upon the Borders. She received assurances
from Mary of England of her anxious desire for the
preservation of friendly feelings between the two coun-
tries, and in return expressed a hope that this princess
would not only be a " peace-keeper, but a peace-maker,"
in promoting a reconciliation between the French
monarch and the emperor.')*
At home a parliament assembled at Edinburgh, J in
which many wise and judicious laws were introduced
for the abbreviation of legal processes, and the admi-
nistration of equal justice throughout the country.
Upon this subject, the regent was principally guided
by the sage counsels of Henry Sinclair dean of Glasgow,
a man of profound legal knowledge, and almost equal
* He was compelled to resign some lucrative gifts of lands, particularly
the earldoms of Mar and Moray. Gregory's History, p. 184.
t State-paper Office, Mary to the Queen-regent, Jan. 12, 1553. MS.
Letter, Original Draft. Also, State-paper Office, MS. Letter, Lcrd Conyers
to the Council. B. C., March 12, 1554-5, Berwick.
J June 10, 1555.
64 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1555.
eminence as a scholar and a statesman.* It appears
by one of these statutes, that the maintenance of French
soldiers within the realm, a subject which proved sub-
sequently a fertile source of revolt, had even then
occasioned discontent. Another evinces the growth
of that spirit of reform which too austerely proscribed
such unruly personages as Robin Hood, Little John,
the Queen of May, and the Abbot of Unreason ; and
prohibited those ancient games and festivals in which
women, " singing about summer trees," (to adopt the
poetic phraseology of the statute,) disturbed the queen
and her lieges in their progress through the country .-[
From this statute, we may infer, that Mary of Guise
was still disposed to favour the Protestant party, to
whose support she owed much of her success ; and had
she been permitted to follow the dictates of her own
good sense, her administration would have continued
popular. But, unfortunately, the war between France
and England, and the influence which her brothers,
the princes of the house of Guise, had acquired over
her mind, compelled her about this time to the adoption
of a measure, which occasioned amongst the minor
barons and the great body of the people extreme jeal-
ousy and disgust. She proposed to take an inventory
of every man^s estate and substance, and to impose a
tax for the support of a large body of troops, which
should serve instead of the usual national force com-
posed of the barons and their feudal retainers. The
idea, which was none other than a scheme for a standing
army, originated with the French and some of the
highest Scottish nobility; but it met with a stern and
prompt opposition. Three hundred barons and gentle-
* Life of Sir Thomas Craig, pp. 79, 80, 81.
+ Acts of the Parliament of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 500.
1555. MARY. 65
men assembled in the abbey church of Holyrood, and
despatched the Lairds of Wemyss and Calder with
their remonstrances to the regent. Their fathers,
they said, had for many centuries defended their native
country against every attack, with their faithful vassals
and their good swords. It was the ancient custom of
the realm they held their lands by that tenure ; and
as they trusted they had not degenerated from their
ancestry, they besought the queen to use them as
heretofore in that honourable service. Their monarch,
they contended, was called King of Scots, with a spe-
cial reference to his authority over the men, rather
than over the substance of the country; and loath
should they be, they declared, to intrust to any waged
and mercenary soldiers, the protection of their wives,
their children, and their hearths, when they were
ready and able with their own hands to defend them
at the peril of their lives. It evinced the good sense
of the queen-regent that she instantly desisted from
the project, and acknowledged her error in having ever
proposed it.*
This wise conduct was for some time followed by
the triumph of pacific counsels in Scotland. The ablest
amongst the clergy and the most influential of the
nobility, both Catholic and Protestant, strongly advo-
cated their adoption ; and commissioners having met, a
treaty for the continuance of peace was concluded between
the two nations ;t but war having broken out between
France and Spain, a sudden revolution appears to have
taken place in the mind of the queen-dowager. On
the one part, she beheld the Spanish or imperial party
* Lesley, p. 255. Keith, p. 71. Herries' Memoirs, pp. 29, 30. Ander-
don's MS. History, vol. ii. pp. 181, 182.
f Lesley, pp. 258, 259. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 18th July, 1557.
Earl of Westmoreland and the Bishop of Durham to Queen Mary.
VOL. VI. E
66 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1557.
in Italy, headed by Philip, and now, since his marriage
with Mary, strengthened by the accession of England ;
on the other the Pope supported by the French king.*
To the latter side the daughter of the house of Guise
naturally leant; and Henry the Second, aware of the
importance of procuring such a diversion, omitted no
effort to induce the regent to invade England. En-
couraged by these symptoms of approaching hostilities
the Scottish borderers, who seldom waited for a declara-
tion of war, broke violently across the marches, cruelly
ravaged the country in successive inroads, f and were
only checked by a severe defeat, which lord Hume
received at Blackbrey. { D^Osell in the meantime, one
of the dowager's foreign advisers, and lately ambassador
from the French court, raised a fort at Eyemouth, near
Berwick, anticipating a speedy visit from the English,
who instantly attacked him. This was all that was
required ; war was denounced, and the queen-dowager
having assembled an army at Kelso, proposed an im-
mediate invasion. She was met by a positive and
mortifying refusal : Chastelherault, Huntley, Cassillis,
and Argyle, declared that the national honour had been
amply asserted by the Border successes during the
preceding months; they were ready, they said, to act
on the defensive, but to plunge into war during the
minority of their sovereign, with the single object of
assisting France, would be as injurious as it was un-
called for. All parties, except the queen-regent and
the French auxiliaries, agreed in the wisdom of this
conduct; but the queen-regent was deeply incensed: she
* Lesley, pp. 258,259.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, B. C., Council to Lord Wharton, 29th
July, 1557.
J MS. 10th Nov. 1557, State-paper Office, B. C. Orig. Minute, Names
of the Gentlemen taken at the battle of Blackbrey ; since printed by Mr Ste-
venson in his Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary, p. 70.
1557. MARY. 67
attempted to precipitate hostilities by commanding the
foreigners to attack Wark, and having failed in this
last resource, dismissed the army with expressions of
anger and disgust.*
It is from this moment that we may date that unhappy
division between the queen-regent and the Scottish
nobles, which formed afterwards one of the principal
causes of the war of the Reformation. At present,
however, religious differences did not enter into the
dispute. The great object of Mary of Guise was to
bridle the power of Chastelherault, Argyle, and Hunt-
ley, who had opposed the councils of France ; and it
is remarkable that, at this moment, James prior of St
Andrew's, styled by Lord Wharton, "one of the wisest
of the late king^s base sons," and afterwards the Regent
Moray, made his appearance in public life as an adherent
of the dowager. Sir William Kirkaldy, with young
Maitland of Lethington the secretary, a man of great
talents and ambition, espoused the same faction ; and
it was proposed to recall, secretly, into Scotland, the Earl
of Lennox and the Lady Margaret Douglas, whose re-
storation to their former rank and power might prove,
it was hoped, an effectual counterpoise to the influence
of their opponents. -f-
Some unforeseen impediments, however, interrupted
the execution of this scheme, and the regent had re-
course to a more effectual mode of strengthening her
O W
influence. A parliament assembled at Edinburgh,!
in which a letter was presented from the King of
France, earnestly recommending that the intended
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, B. C., Lord Wharton to the Council,
14th Nov. 1557, Berwick. Maitland, vol. ii. p. 900. Lesley, Hist. pp. 260,
2G1. Anderson's MS. Hist. pp. 184, 185.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, B. C., Lord Wharton to the .Council.
14th Nov. 1557.
J Dec. 14, 1557.
68 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. ] 558.
marriage between the dauphin and the young Queen of
Scots should be carried into effect. He requested that
commissioners should be sent over to give the sanction
of their presence to this solemnity ; and, in compliance
with his wishes, Beaton the Archbishop of Glasgow,
Reid president of the Session, Cassillis lord high-trea-
surer, the Lords Fleming and Seton, with the Prior
of St Andrew's, and Erskine of Dun, the leaders of
the Protestant party, were chosen to execute this im-
portant mission. They were instructed not to consent
to the marriage until they had obtained from the queen
and the dauphin a promise, in the most ample form,
for the preservation of the integrity of the kingdom,
and the observation of its ancient laws and liberties.
The young queen and her husband were to be required
at the same time to grant a commission for a regent,
to whom the supreme power was to be delegated.
The commissioners, after a perilous passage in which
two of their convoy were wrecked, disembarked at
Boulogne, and proceeding to the French court, received
an honourable reception, and found a ready compliance
with all their demands. Having secured, as they
imagined, the rights of the kingdom, they proceeded
to arrange the conditions of the marriage.* It was
provided that the eldest son of the marriage should be
King of France and Scotland ; the dauphin, by consent
of the French king his father, and the queen his consort,
was to bear the name and title of King of Scotland ;
to be allowed to quarter the arms of that crown with
his own ; and, on his accession to the throne of France,
to assume the title and arms of both kingdoms united
under one crown. In the event of there being only
* This was on 19th April, 1558. Keith, Hist. pp. 72, 73. Ibid. Appendix,
p. 13.
1558. MARY. 69
daughters of the marriage, the eldest was to be Queen
of Scotland ; to have, as a daughter of France, a por-
tion of four hundred thousand crowns; and to be dis-
posed of in marriage with the united consent of the
Estates of Scotland and the King of France. The
jointure of the young queen was fixed at six hundred
thousand livres if her husband died after his accession
to the throne ; but if she became a widow when he was
dauphin, it was to be reduced to half that sum. Lastly,
the commissioners agreed, immediately after the mar-
riage, to swear fealty to the dauphin, in the name of
the Estates of Scotland, and on the ground that their
sovereign the dauphiness was his consort.* These
preliminaries having been arranged, the marriage was
solemnized at Paris by the Cardinal Bourbon, in the
cathedral church of Notre Dame. It completed the
almost despotic power of the house of Guise ; and the
proud princes of this family, who saw their niece, already
a queen, now promoted to the rank of dauphiness, were
solicitous to impart to the ceremony all imaginable
splendour. The King and Queen of France, four car-
dinals, the princes of the blood, and the flower of the
French nobility surrounded the altar ; and the classic
genius of Buchanan hailed the event in an Epithala-
mium, which is one of the sweetest effusions of his muse.
Such were the outward forms which preceded and
accompanied this important union, and in appearance
the conduct of the French court was fair and honour-
1 able ; but another, and a far different scene of Guisian
treachery and ambition had been acting within the
recesses of the cabinet. Ten days previous to her
marriage, three papers were presented to the young
* Keith, Appendix, p. 21. "A cause de la dite Dame Reyne Dauphine
nostre Souveraine, son Espouse et Compaigne." The meaning is, that they
rwear fealty to the dauphin as the husband of their queen.
70 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1558.
queen. By the first, she made over her kingdom of
Scotland, in free gift, to the King of France, if she
died childless ; by the second, drawn up to meet the
very probable case of a resistance by the Scots to
so extraordinary a transfer, she assigned to the same
monarch the possession- of her kingdom, till he should
be reimbursed in the sum of a million pieces of eight,
or any such greater sum as he should have expended
upon her education in France ; and by the last she
was made to declare, that these two deeds contained
the genuine sense of her mind, whatever might appear
to the contrary in any declarations which she should
publish, in compliance with the desire of her parlia-
ment.* These secret deeds the Guises induced their
niece to sign ; she was only fifteen, completely under
their influence, and probably dreamt not of resistance;
but when they brought the Scottish commissioners
before the French council, and required them not only
to swear fealty to the king-dauphin, but to agree
that he should receive the ensigns of royalty, they
were met in this step of their ambition by a peremp-
tory refusal : our instructions, said the ambassadors,
are distinct, and embrace no such matter, and even if
free, it is little the part of faithful friends to name to
us a proposal, which, if agreed to, would cover us with
infamy.-f
Disguising their resentment, the princes of the house
of Guise, requested that the commissioners would at
least support their interests in the parliament ; and '
the Scottish prelates and nobles set out on their re-
turn. On reaching Dieppe, Eeid the Bishop of Ork-
ney, one of the wisest and most upright men in Scot-
land, died suddenly on the sixth of September ; after
* Keith, p. 74. f Maitland, p. 903.
1558. MARY. 71
two days, he was followed to the grave by the Earl of
Rothes ; Cassillis, within a very brief interval, was
seized with a similar illness, which carried him off;
Fleming did not long survive him ; and although no
infectious disease was then prevalent in the country,
several of their retinue sickened and expired. It was
not surprising that men should connect these circum-
stances with the scenes lately acted at Paris ; and
there arose a suspicion that the commissioners were
poisoned by the Duke of Guise and his brothers, who
had thus determined to get rid of an influence which
they knew would be exerted against them.* The
Archbishop of Glasgow, the Prior of St Andrew's,
Lord Seton, and the Laird of Dun, continuing their
voyage, arrived in Scotland in October, and the queen-
regent immediately summoned a parliament, which
assembled at Edinburgh in the beginning of December.
Its proceedings were brief, but important. On re-
ceiving from the surviving ambassadors an account of
their mission, the three Estates approved and ratified
their transactions. It was agreed at the same time,
that the crown matrimonial should be given to the
dauphin ; that he should have the name of King of
Scotland, during the continuance of the marriage ;
that all letters in Scotland should henceforth run in
the style of " Francis and Mary, King and Queen of
Scotland, Dauphin and Dauphiness of Vienne," and
that the great seal of the kingdom, and the current
money of the realm should be changed. [ During the
progress of these negotiations, hostilities with Eng-
land had continued, and the war between that country
and France was carried on with signal success upon
* Keith, p. 75. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, lOtfx
August, 1560. Ibid. Ledington to Cecil, 15th August, 1560.
t Lesley, p. 268. Ke'.th, p. 77.
72 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1558.
the side of the Duke of Guise, whose arms were
crowned with the long coveted conquest of Calais.
But this triumph was soon after followed by the death
of Mary of England, and the accession of Elizabeth to
the throne ; an event which occasioned an immediate
change in the councils of that kingdom, and produced
consequences especially worthy of attention.
It is well known, that this great princess commenced
her reign by the complete establishment of the Refor-
mation in her own dominions, and by placing herself
at the head of the Protestant party in Europe. In-
different herself to religion, as far as it influences the
individual character, she hated the Puritans, and was
attached to the pomp and show of prelacy. But her
masculine understanding had early detected the errors
of the Roman Catholic faith; her mind, naturally
imperious, refused equally to acknowledge in man a
spiritual or a temporal superior; and her discernment,
aided by the councils of the far-reaching Cecil, taught
her, that to continue faithful to the principles of the
Reformation offered the best hopes for the preservation
of peace, the restoration of her exhausted finances, and
the security of her kingdom. At home, two great
principles regulated her government : a determination
to avoid war even at considerable sacrifices, and to
enforce, in every department of the state, a rigid eco-
nomy. To the great majority of her subjects, her
accession to the throne was a joyful event ; yet Eliza-
beth was aware that a large proportion of the people,
far larger indeed than is commonly imagined, were
still attached to the ancient faith, and she was natu-
rally jealous of everything that tended to increase the
political power of Rome. Whilst she thus carefully
watched the state of the two parties within her own
1 559. MARY. 73
dominions, she saw on the continent the same struggle
of opinion dividing the leading states into two great
factions ; and by skilfully balancing them against each
other, she contrived to keep them too much occupied
at home, to be able to give her any serious annoyance.
The loss of Calais, which for two centuries had been
in the possession of England, and still more, the reso-
lution on the part of the Guises to assert the title of
their niece, the Queen of Scotland, to the English
throne, in exclusion of Elizabeth, whom they pro-
nounced illegitimate, were circumstances calculated
to rouse the indignation of this princess. At a future
period she clearly showed, that Mary's assumption of
the arms of England, whilst still Queen of France, had
not been forgotten by her ; but for the present, policy
got the better of resentment, and after having de-
clined a proposal, upon the part of the French monarch
to enter into a private and separate peace, she became
a party to the public treaty concluded between France
and Spain, at Chateau Cambresis (25th May, 1559.)*
Her chief difficulties lay on the side of Scotland.
In her instructions to the Bishop of Ely, Lord William
Howard, and Dr Nicholas Wotton, whom she sent
soon after her accession to negotiate the treaty with
France, we find her laying down the principle, that
peace with Scotland is of greater consequence than peace
with France, and that unless the Scots should be in-
cluded, it were needless to continue the negotiations, f
Nor did the queen-regent appear unwilling to meet
these advances : she despatched her able secretary,
* MS. State-paper Office, Original oath signed by Elizabeth, to observe the
treaty of Chateau Cambresis, State-paper Office. French Correspondence,
May, 1559, and attestation of the taking the oath, by Sir W. Cecil, Ibid.
f MS. State-paper Office. Instructions to Lord Win. Howard, Thomas
Thirlby bishop of Ely and Dr Wotton, 28th Feb. 1558-9. Sir J. Williamson's
Collection, first series, vol. xix. p. 433, in Cecil's handwriting, corrected by
the queen. See also Forbes' State Papers, vol. i. p. 59.
74 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
Maitland of Lethington, to assist at the conferences
in France ;* and at the same time that a pacification
was concluded between England, France, and Spain,*f*
a separate treaty for the cessation of hostilities was
entered into between England and Scotland. J It was
declared, that from this time a firm and lasting peace
should be concluded between the two countries ; that
to remove all ground of controversy, Eyemouth, and
the new fortifications raised by the king-dauphin and
the Queen of Scots, should be destroyed, and that all
castles or strengths lately built by the English on the
Borders, should be cast down. Some minor points
were reserved for the determination of commissioners,
sent mutually by both kingdoms ; and these envoys
having met at Norham, (31st May, 1559,) the nego-
tiations were brought to a successful termination.
Elizabeth had thus apparently accomplished the
object which she so much desired; yet she knew too
well the internal state of France, and the seeds of
division, which had been planted in Scotland, to rely
on the continuance of amicable relations : the strong
footing which the French had already gained in that
kingdom, the late marriage of the young queen with
the dauphin, and the vast ambition of the house of
Guise, rendered her anxious to adopt every method
for the strengthening of the Protestant cause, and the
dismissal of the French auxiliaries from the service of
the queen-dowager. But before we attempt to fathom
* MS. State-paper Office, Queen Dowager to Elizabeth, March 4, 1558-9.
f 2d April, 1559.
Rymer, Fcedera, vol. xv. p. 513. Ibid. p. 527. Also MS. Instructions
of Elizabeth to Lord William Howard ; Lord Howard of Effingham, Dr
Wotton, and Sir N. Throgmorton, 6th May, 1559, State-paper Office ; Sir
J. Williamson's Collection, vol. xix. p. 419; also Letter of Elizabeth to
Mary of Guise, 30th May, 1559, State-paper Office.
MSS. Treasurer's accounts in Register Office, Edinburgh, under March
3, 1558-9 : To William Maitland of Lethington, passing to London and France
in the Queen's Grace's affairs, 750.
1547-58. MARY. 75
her deep and somewhat unscrupulous policy for the
attainment of these objects, it becomes necessary to
look back for a moment that we may trace the progress
of the Reformation in Scotland.
The history of this great revolution in the history
of the human mind, is in Scotland connected almost
exclusively with one extraordinary man the intrepid
and unbending Knox. When we last parted with
him, it was after the surrender of the castle of St
Andrew's, (1547,) when he and other fellow-sufferers
were carried prisoners aboard the galleys, into France.
After a long and tedious captivity, he regained his
liberty, (1550,) in consequence of the intercession of
Edward the Sixth with the French monarch;* and
having repaired to England, he found himself cordially
welcomed and supported by the ministers of the young
sovereign. Here he willingly gave his powerful aid to
Cranmer, in the establishment of that reformation
which had been left imperfect by Henry the Eighth ;
but the sudden death of the king, and the accession of
Mary, compelled him to fly to the continent. During
his exile, he was called to be minister of the English
refugees at Frankfort; but his attachment to the
doctrines of Calvin, with whom he had formed an in-
timate friendship, made it impossible for him to adopt
the principles of those who preferred the service book
of Edward the Sixth to the more simple and, as it
appeared to Knox, the more scriptural form of Pres-
byterian worship, which at first, in compliance with
their wishes, he had introduced amongst them. Re-
ligious dissensions arose. Dr Cox, who had been tutor
to Edward, vehemently contended for the service
* The proofs of this fact will be found in a work which the author pub-
lished in 1839, " England under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary," vol. i.
p. 295.
76 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547-58.
book. His party became all powerful ; and the Scot-
tish Reformer, driven from his pulpit and accused by
his opponents of treason against the emperor, once
more retreated into his native country, and took up
his residence in the capital. Before leaving the con-
tinent, he had again visited Calvin, at Geneva. The
conversation of this celebrated man, then in the height
of his reputation, confirmed Knox in his affection to
that form of worship which had been established at
Geneva. His solitary reflections in exile, and under
persecution, had, as we learn from his eloquent and
pathetic letters, assumed an extraordinary bitterness
of self-reproach : they seemed to upbraid him as one
who had fled from the fold, and deserted his flock
when the spiritual conflict most required his presence ;
and he returned to Scotland in 1555 with the stern
resolution to " spare no arrows," to abide at his post,
and to sacrifice everything for the complete establish-
ment of the Reformation, according to those principles
which he believed to be founded on the Word of God.
During his absence from his native country, the
persecutions of Mary had driven some of the reformers
to take refuge in Scotland. Harlow, originally a
tradesman in the lower ranks of life, but afterwards a
zealous preacher under Edward the Sixth, took up his
abode in Ayrshire, and assembled around him a little
congregation ; John Willock, a Scottish Franciscan
Friar, who had been converted to Protestantism, and
afterwards admitted a chaplain to the Duke of Suffolk,
was another of these labourers. He had been sent
twice, in 1555 and 1558, on missions from the Duchess
of Friesland, in whose dominions he had sought refuge,
to the queen-regent ; and as his affability, moderation
and address were equal to his learning and piety, he
1547-58. MARY. 77
was received with distinction, and privately permitted
to address his exhortations to all who were anxious for
instruction.
The second arrival of Willock gave a great impulse
to the cause of the Reformation. The images, says
Knox, were stolen away, in all parts of the country ;
and in Edinburgh, that great idol called St Giles was
first drowned in the North Loch, and afterwards burnt,
which raised no small trouble in the town. Notwith-
standing this marked demonstration, it was resolved
by the queen-regent and the bishops, that the usual
procession appointed for the Sainfs day should not be
omitted ; and having procured another image from the
Grey Friars, and fixed it to a wooden barrow, which
was borne on men^s shoulders, the cavalcade, headed
by the regent herself, surrounded by priests and canons,
and attended by tabors and trumpets, proceeded down
the High Street towards the cross. The sight in-
flamed the passions of the Protestants ; and various
bands of the citizens, abhorring what they esteemed an
abomination, resolved upon revenge. Nor was it long
before this was accomplished : for scarce had the queen-
dowager retired, when some of these, under pretence of
assisting the bearers, caught hold of the barrow, cast
down the image, and dashed it to pieces on the pave-
ment; and then (I use Knox's words) "the priests
arid friars fled faster than they did at Pinkie-cleuch :
down go the crosses, off go the surplices, round caps,
coronets, with the crowns. The Grey Friars gaped,
the Black Friars blew, the priests panted and fled, and
happy was he that first gat the house, for such a sud-
den fray came never among the generation of Anti-
christ, within this realm before. 11 *
* Knox, p. 104.
78 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547-58.
Yet although some progress had been made, and
Knox hailed with gratitude the co-operation of Wil-
lock, it was with feelings of astonishment, bordering
upon horror, that he found the friends of the Protestant
opinions unresolved upon the great question, whether
it was their duty openly to separate from the Roman
Catholic Church. Many of them continued still to
sanction by their presence the celebration of the mass;
and as the queen-dowager had found it necessary, in
the prosecution of her political objects, to extend her
favour to the Protestants, they were anxious to stretch
their conformity to the national Church, as far, perhaps
even farther, than their consciences permitted. The
discourses of the Reformer, who at first preached pri-
vately to a few friends in the house of James Syme, a
burgess of Edinburgh, soon threw a new light upon
the danger of such concessions.* Men^s consciences
became alarmed. A solemn disputation was held upon
the point between Maitland of Lethington and Knox.
The secretary, a man of remarkable learning and in-
genuity, exerted his powers to defend the practice
which he and his brethren had adopted. But Knox.
deeply read in the Scriptures, undaunted in his adhe-
rence to what he esteemed the truth, and master of a
familiar and fervid eloquence, which was adapted to
the age and the audience, triumphed over his more
elegant and subtle disputant. Maitland acknowledged
his error ; the practice was renounced ; and it was
agreed by the congregation which now surrounded the
Reformer, that a public and formal separation must
henceforth be made from the Catholic Church in
Scotland.*)*
* Knox, pp. 98, 99. Keith, p. 64. M'Crie, vol. i. p. 176.
f* M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. i. p. 177. Anderson's MS. Hist. vol. ii. pp.
173, 174. The disputation was held at a supper given by the Laird of Dun.
1547-58. MARY. 79
Amongst his hearers and followers at this time
(1555) we find some men who became afterwards
noted in the history of their country : Erskine of Dun,
a baron of ancient family, whose learning was superior
to the times ; Sir James Sandilands, commonly called
Lord St John, a veteran in his adherence to the Re-
formation ; Archibald lord Lorn, afterwards Earl of
Argyle ; the Master of Mar ; the Lord James, after-
wards regent; the Earl of Glencairn, and the Earl
Marshal, were usually present at his sermons, and
ardent admirers of his doctrine. At length the Catho-
lic clergy, hitherto unaccountably indifferent, roused
themselves from their lethargy, and Knox was sum-
moned to appear before an ecclesiastical convention in
the capital.* He repaired to Edinburgh, prepared to
defend his principles, and to his astonishment found
the diet deserted, and his pulpit surrounded, not by
his accusers, but by crowds of affectionate and zealous
disciples, to whom for a short season he was permitted
to preach without interruption or disturbance. This
liberty he probably owed to the toleration of the queen-
regent ; but when at the request of the Earl Marshal,
he carried his boldness so far as to address to this
daughter of the house of Guise a letter, in which he
exhorted her not only to protect the reformed preachers,
but to lend a favourable ear to their doctrine, he found
his propositions received with derision and contempt.
Receiving his letter from Glencairn, and glancing care-
lessly over it, the dowager handed it to the Archbishop
of Glasgow, asking him if his lordship was solicitous
to read a pasquil ; a mode of proceeding which the
Reformer treated afterwards with uncommon severity.^
* Anderson's MS. Hist. p. 175.
t M'Crie's Life, vol. i. p. 138.
80 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547-58.
At this critical period, when rejoicing in the success
of his preaching, and congratulating himself that the
time of the Church's deliverance was drawing nigh,
Knox received an invitation to become pastor of the
reformed congregation at Geneva; and the readiness
with which he obeyed the summons is an inexplicable
circumstance in his life.* Although his labours had
been singularly rewarded, the infant congregation
which he had gathered round him still required his
nurture and protection. During his last journey into
Angus, the threatenings of the friars and bishops had
increased, and the clouds of persecution were seen
gathering around him. The state of the Reformation
at Geneva, on the contrary, was prosperous. He had
before bitterly upbraided himself for deserting his ap-
pointed charge in the hour of peril, yet he now repeated
the same conduct, left his native country, and settled
with his family on the continent. It was in vain to
tell his followers, as he did, that if they continued in
godliness, whenever they pleased they might command
his return. They were continuing in the truth, as he
has himself informed us, and they earnestly but un-
successfully endeavoured to detain him. The rage,
indeed, of his opponents was about to assume at this
time a deadly aspect. They had delated him to the
queen as an enemy to magistrates, as well as a seducer of
the people, and possibly by retiring he saved his life ;[
but judging with all charity, it must be admitted, that
* Keith, p. 65.
f Such is the opinion of his late able biographer Dr M'Crie. Anderson's
MS. Hist. vol. ii. p. 175, dorso. In a collection of manuscript letters rela-
tive to Scottish History, in the possession of Mr Dawson Turner, and which
the kindness of that gentleman permitted me to look over, there is an ano-
nymous Paper, entitled " The Apology of our Departure," which appears
to me to be the composition of the Reformer at this interesting crisis. I*
proves that Knox fled for fear of his life.
1547-58. MARY. 81
whilst his writings at this season had all the impas-
sioned zeal, his conduct betrayed some want of the
ardent courage, of the martyr.
His retreat had an immediate and unfavourable effect
on the progress of the new opinions. The bishops and
the friars increased in boldness and violence. Knox,
whose personal encounter they dreaded, now that his
appearance was impossible, received a summons to
stand his trial; condemnation followed, and he was
burnt in effigy at the high cross of the capital.*
Previous to his departure, the Reformer exhorted his
followers to continue their private meetings, which he
said they ought to open and conclude with prayer, to
read the Scriptures, and to listen to the word of exhor-
tation from any experienced brother, provided his in-
structions were given with modesty and a desire to
edify. Such directions they willingly obeyed ; and
secure in the countenance and protection of the queen-
mother, who at this- time courted their assistance, they
became less the objects of jealousy and persecution to
their adversaries of the Catholic faith. Nor were they
long left without preachers. In the year succeeding
the retirement of Knox, John Douglas, a converted
Carmelite friar, who was chaplain to the Earl of
Argyle, not only addressed a private congregation, but
spoke openly at the court, against some superstitions
of the times. Paul Methven, originally a tradesman,
began to teach in Dundee ; others exhorted the people
in Angus and Mearns ; and the Roman clergy taking
alarm, so far succeeded in working upon the fears of
the regent, that she issued a proclamation summoning
the preachers to answer for their conduct. This they
prepared instantly to obey ; but the gentlemen of the
* In 1556.
VOL. VI. F
82 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547-58.
west of Scotland, who formed the chief part of their
congregations, resolved to accompany them to their
trial, and many already had arrived in the capital ;
when the queen, dreading a tumult, commanded all
who had no express exemption, to repair for fifteen
days to the Borders. Far from submitting to an order
of which they easily detected the object, the barons
surrounded the palace, obtained an audience, and in re-
ply to the remonstrances of the regent, thus addressed
her : " We know, Madam, that this is the device of
the bishops who now stand beside you. We avow to
God we shall make a day of it. They oppress us and
our poor tenants to feed themselves ; they trouble our
ministers, and seek to undo them and us all. We will
not suffer it any longer." This bold address was de-
livered by Chalmers of Gathgirth, one of the barons of
the west ; and it is said, as he concluded it, his com-
panions, who had hitherto been uncovered, with an air
of defiance put on their steel caps. The regent was
intimidated, declared that she meant no violence against
their teachers, revoked the proclamation, and promised
to be herself the judge of the controversy.*
This success, and a period of tranquillity which
succeeded to it, emboldened the leaders of the reform
party, the Earl of Glencairn, Lord Lorn son of the
Earl of Argyle, Erskine of Dun, and the Prior of St
Andrew^s, afterwards the celebrated Regent Moray, to
request the return of Knox to his native country. In
a letter addressed to the Reformer, they informed him
that the " faithful of his acquaintance were steadfast
to the belief in which he had left them, that they
thirsted for his presence, and were ready to jeopard
their lives for the glory of God. Little cruelty/ 1 they
* Knox's Hist. p. 103. Spottiswood, B. ii. p. 94. Keith, p. 65.
1547-58. MARY. 83
observed, " had been used against them ; the influence
of the friars was decreasing, and they had good hopes
that God would augment his flock."
Obeying this invitation, Knox resigned his charge
at Geneva, and arriving at Dieppe on his way to Scot-
land, was met there, to his grief and mortification, by
letters which arrested his journey. They stated, that
the zeal of the reformers had suddenly cooled ; that
many, contented with the toleration they enjoyed, pre-
ferred the security of worshipping God in private ac-
cording to their conscience, to the peril attending a
public reformation ; and that the scheme which had
given rise to their letter had been precipitately aban-
doned. It did not belong to the disposition or principles
of the Reformer to bear this vacillating conduct in
silence. He addressed to them an immediate and in-
dignant remonstrance, urged upon them the sacred
duty of accomplishing the great work which they had
begun ; assured them, that although dangers and trials
must be met with in its prosecution, their relinquish-
ing it would not save them from the most tyrannical
proscription ; and concluded by reminding them, that
so vitally important a matter as the reformation of
religion belonged to them, the nobility, even more than
to the clergy or chief rulers called kings.*
This epistle which was accompanied by a detailed
address to the nobles, and by private letters to Erskine
of Dun and Wishart of Pitarrow, two leading men
amongst the reformers, produced an astonishing effect.
The lords deplored their weakness ; a new impulse was
given to the cause ; zeal and resolution animated their
repentant followers ; and, on the third of December,
1557, that memorable bond or covenant was drawn up,
* Keith, pp. 65, 66.
84 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1547-58.
which henceforth united the Protestants under one
great association, which was subscribed immediately
by their principal supporters, and could not be deserted
without something like apostacy. It described, in no
mild or measured terms, the bishops and ministers of
the Roman Catholic Church, as members of Sathan.
who sought to destroy the gospel of Christ and his
followers; and declared, that they felt it to be their
duty to strive in their Master's cause even unto death
certain as they were of victory in Him. For this
purpose it declared that they had entered into a solemn
promise in the presence of "the Majesty of God and his
Congregation," to set forward and establish with their
whole power and substance his blessed Word to la-
bour to have faithful ministers to defend them, at the
peril of their lives and goods, against all tyranny ; and
it concluded by anathematizing their adversaries, and
denouncing vengeance against all the superstition,
idolatry, and abominations of the Roman Church.*
This bond, which was drawn up at Edinburgh, re-
ceived the signatures of the Earls of Glencairn, Argyle,
Morton, Lord Lorn, Erskine of Dun, and many others.
It was evidently an open declaration of war against
the established religion toleration and compromise
were at an end ; and their next step showed that the
Congregation, for so the reformers now named them-
selves, were determined to commence their proceedings
in earnest. They passed a resolution declaring "that
in all parishes of the realm, the common prayers," (by
which was meant the service book of Edward the
Sixth, )f "should be read weekly, on Sunday and other
festival days, in the parish churches, with the lessons
* Keith, p. 66. Knox's Hist. p. 110.
f This will be afterwards proved.
1558. MARY. 85
of the Old and New Testament, conform to the order of
the book of Common Prayer; and that, if the curates of
parishes be qualified, they shall be caused to read the
same ;" but if they refuse, then the most qualified in the
parish were directed to supply their place. It was
resolved at the same time, that " doctrine, preaching,
and interpretation of Scripture be used privately in
quiet houses, avoiding great conventions of the people
thereto, until such time as God should move the
prince to grant public preaching by true and faithful
ministers."*
These resolutions the Lords of the Congregation
proceeded to put in execution in such places as were
under their power. The Earl of Argyle encouraged
Douglas his chaplain to preach openly in his house ;
other barons imitated his example ; a second invitation
was addressed to Knox,-f- requesting his immediate
presence amongst them, and a deep alarm seized the
whole body of the Roman clergy. They represented,
not unreasonably, the declarations of the Congregation,
and their subsequent conduct, as acts bordering upon
treason ; the Catholic faith, they said, was still the
established religion of the state ; it enjoyed the sanction
of the laws, and the protection of the sovereign ; and
it was now openly attacked, and attempted to be sub-
verted by a private association of men, who, although
no ways recognised by the constitution, had assumed
the power of legislation. To what this might grow it
was difficult to say ; but it was impossible to view so
bold a denunciation of the national religion without
apprehension and dismay. J
These remonstrances were addressed to the queen-
* Keith, p. 66. Knox, p. 111. f November, 1558.
Cook, vol. ii. p. 35. Spottiswood, p. 117.
86 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1558.
regent at that critical season, when the marriage be-
tween her daughter and the dauphin, although proposed
in the Scottish Parliament, had not been fully agreed
to. It was necessary for her to manage matters warily
with the principal nobles, and she expressed a steadfast
disinclination to all extreme measures against the Con-
gregation. The Archbishop of St Andrew'' also, a
prelate whose character partook nothing of cruelty,
though his morals were loose, addressed an admonitory
letter to Argyle, persuading him to dismiss his here-
tical chaplain, promising to supply his place with a
learned and Catholic instructor, complaining of the
reproaches to which his ecclesiastical lenity had ex-
posed him, and insinuating that repeated provocations
might compel him, as the spiritual guardian of the
Church, to adopt a severer course.* Nor was it long
before this severity was experienced, although there
seems good ground for believing that the prelate was
innocent of having instigated it. Walter Miln, a
parish priest of Lunan, in Angus, had early embraced
the doctrines of the Reformation ; and having been
seized and condemned as a heretic in the time of Bea-
ton, was so fortunate as to escape from prison and
remain in concealment in his native country. Encou-
raged by the subsequent leniency of the queen-dowager,
this venerable minister, who was past eighty, had openly
preached to the people ; but the severity of the clergy
again compelled him to seek his lurking places, and
being discovered at this time, he was tried for heresy
at St Andrew's, and condemned to be burnt. From
his feeble frame and great age it was expected that he
would say little in his defence, but the old man ex-
hibited uncommon spirit, and so deeply moved wore
* March, 1558.
1558. MARY. *7
all who heard his pathetic and ardent appeal, that after
the clergy had pronounced him guilty, no secular judge
could be found to pass sentence. The odious office,
however, was at last performed by a dissolute retainer
of the Archbishop, and he was led to the stake amid
the tears and sympathy of an immense multitude, who
execrated the cruelty of which he was the victim. Even
when surrounded by the flames, he yet asserted that
the cause for which he sacrificed his life was the defence
of the truth of Jesus Christ. " As for myself," said
he, "I am fourscore and two years old and cannot live
long by the course of nature ; but a hundred better
shall rise out of the ashes of my bones : and I trust
in God I am the last that shall suffer death in Scotland
for this cause."* And his wishes were happily fulfilled :
he was the last victim in that country of a cruel and
short-sighted persecution. (April, 1558.)
This execution was viewed by the people with horror,
and excited the utmost indignation in the leaders of
the Congregation. They remonstrated in firm terms
to the queen-regent, and when this princess assured
them that she was no party to such sanguinary pro-
ceedings, their whole animosity was directed against
the clergy. Emissaries, commissioned by the reformers,
travelled through the country, exposing the supersti-
tion, wickedness, and injustice of such conduct; many
of the lesser barons, and the greater part of the towns
joined the party ; a majority of the people declared
themselves ready to support the cause, and the Pro-
testant lords presented an address to the dowager, in
which they claimed redress at her hands " of the unjust
tyranny used against them by those called the estate
ecclesiastical. "f " Your Grace," said they, " cannot
* M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. i. p. 234. Knox, p. 30. Spottiswood, p. 95.
f Keith, p. 78.
88 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1558.
be ignorant what controversy hath been and yet is,
concerning the true religion and right worshipping of
God, and how the clergy (as they will be termed) usurp
to themselves such empire over the consciences of men,
that whatsoever they command must be obeyed, and
whatsoever they forbid avoided, without respect to
God's pleasure revealed in his Word, or else there
abideth nothing for us but faggot, fire, and sword."
They then noticed the cruel executions of their breth-
ren, and declared that, although at the time they had
neither defended these martyrs nor demanded a redress
of their wrongs, they were now convinced that, as " a
part of that power which God had established in the
realm, it was their duty either to have protected them
from such extremity, or to have borne along with them
open testimony to their faith. It was evident," they
said, " that abuses had now grown to such a head that
a public reformation was necessary, as well in religion
as in the temporal government of the state, and they
therefore implored her grace and her grave council,
whom they willingly acknowledged as the only autho-
rity placed in the realm for the correction of ecclesias-
tical and civil disorders, that she would listen to their
requests, unless by God's Word it could be shown that
they were unjust and ought to be denied. 1 ' 1 * The
following requisitions were appended to the supplica-
tion ; they were drawn up with force and clearness,
and involved, if granted, a complete reformation. It
was demanded, first, that the Congregation should be
allowed to meet in public or in private, to hear common
prayers in the vulgar tongue, that they might increase
in knowledge, and be led with all fervour and sincerity
to offer up their petitions for the Universal Church, the
* Keith, pp. 78, 79. Knox, Hist. p. 127.
1558. MARY. 89
queen their sovereign and her royal consort, the regent,
and the whole estates of the realm. Secondly, That
it should be lawful for any one present, who was well
qualified in knowledge, to interpret any obscure passages
in the Scriptures which should be read. Thirdly, That
baptism and the Lord's supper should be administered
in the vulgar tongue, and this last sacrament in both
kinds according to our Saviour's institution ; and lastly,
that the present wicked and scandalous lives of the
clergy should be reformed, in obedience to the rules
contained in the New Testament, the writings of the
Fathers, and the godly laws of the Emperor Justinian
which three standards they were willing should de-
cide the controversy between them and the Romish
clergy.*
These proposals, and the supplication which intro-
duced them, although expressed with apparent mode-
ration, could not be viewed without alarm by the queen-
dowager. The Lords of the Congregation acknowledged
her indeed as the sole constituted authority within the
realm, yet, with some inconsistency, they not only re-
presented themselves as part of that power which God
had established, but declared it to have been pusillani-
mous in them not to have actively interfered in defence
of their brethren, against the tyranny by which they had
been oppressed. As Barons of Parliament, they were
certainly part of the established power in the realm ;
but to have defended their oppressed brethren by any
faction or assembly out of parliament, would have
been unconstitutional and illegal. Again, when in their
first petition they asked permission to use the common
prayers in the vulgar tongue, we know, by certain
evidence, that the service book of King Edward was
* Spottiswood, book iii. p. 119. Keith, p. 80. Knox, p. 129
90 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1568.
here meant ; but when they required that any lay person
sufficiently learned should be allowed in their meetings
to interpret obscure passages, they appear to have de-
manded a liberty unknown to the most zealous Pres-
byterians of the present day.
However unpalatable such requests might be, it did
not suit the views of Mary of Guise to give them a
decided refusal. The marriage between her daughter
O o
and the dauphin had indeed been concluded, but at this
moment she required all the influence of the Protestant
lords in parliament to obtain the crown matrimonial,
and the title of king, for the dauphin. When, there-
fore, the petition was presented to her at Holyrood-
house, by Sir James Sandilands the preceptor of the
Knights of St John, she received it with respect, pro-
mised them that their proposals should have her anxious
consideration, and in the meantime assured them of her
protection.*
Very different were the effects produced by this con-
duct on the Catholic clergy and the Lords of the Con-
gregation. Grateful for her forbearance, and relying
upon her promises, the Protestants abstained from all
public exercise of their religion, and silenced one of their
ministers who attempted to preach at Leith. But the
Romanists arraigned the pusillanimity of the regent in
condescending to temporize with heretics ; and in a con-
vention which was held at Edinburgh soon after, loaded
Erskine of Dun, who supported the claims of the Con-
gregation, with mingled threats and reproaches. f
Yet, after further consideration, they made some
advances towards a compromise. The terms, however,
were such as the Protestants could not accept. It was
* Knox's History, pp. 126, 130. MCrie'sKnox,vol. i. p. 236. Keith, p. 80.
f Keith, p. 80.
1558. MARY. 91
insisted that the mass, purgatory, prayers to saints and
for the dead, should remain parts of the established
creed of the Church, which if they granted, the re-
formers were to be allowed to pray and baptize in the
vulgar tongue, provided these innovations were confined
to their private assemblies.*
In the parliament which assembled at Edinburgh,
in December, 1558 when, as we have already seen,
the three Estates received from the ambassadors who
had returned from France, an account of their proceed-
ings the leaders of the Congregation presented a
supplication, to which they annexed some important
requests, in their own name and that of their breth-
ren. They desired that all acts of parliament by which
churchmen were empowered to proceed against heretics
should be suspended until the present controversies in
religion were determined by a general council of the
Church: and that, in the meantime, churchmen should
be permitted only to accuse, but not to judge : lest,
however, this should seem to countenance licentiousness
of opinion on sacred subjects, it was requested that all
such as were accused of heresy should be carried before
a temporal judge, should be permitted to speak/in their
defence, to state objections to witnesses, and to explain
their own belief; nor ought they, it was added, to be
condemned, unless proved by the Word of God to have
erred from that faith which is necessary to salvation.^
On presenting these articles to the regent, she exerted
all her influence to avert their immediate discussion in
parliament. This, she contended, would be followed
by exasperation on the part of the clergy, which might
be fatal to the attainment of those great political objects
tor which she and the Protestant lords were alike
* Knox, pp. 129, 130. t Keith, p. 81.
92 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1558.
anxious. ' v Let them," she said, " but wait for a brief
season, and all their wishes might be accomplished ;
but at present it was evident, that such a debate as was
likely to follow their introduction, would be dangerous
and premature."
Convinced by such a representation, or at least
anxious to avoid all appearance of obstinacy or pre-
cipitation, the Lords withdrew their Articles, and
contented themselves with presenting a protestation,
which was read in parliament. In this solemn instru-
ment, they alluded to the controversy which had of
late years arisen between those called prelates and
rulers in the Church, and the nobles and commons of
the realm, regarding the worship of God, the duty of
ministers, and the right administration of the sacra-
ments ; they had already repeatedly complained, they
said, that their consciences were burdened with un-
profitable ceremonies, and many idolatrous abuses, and
it was their intention to have sought in this present
parliament the redress of such enormities. This reso-
lution the troubles of the time had compelled them for
a season to delay. Yet, fearful lest their silence
should be misinterpreted, they now protested, that
since they could not at present obtain a just reforma-
tion, it should be lawful for them to use themselves
in matters of religion and conscience as they must
answer to God, and in the true faith which is grounded
upon Holy Scripture : and this without incurring any
danger of life and lands,_for the neglect or contraven-
ing of such Acts as had been passed in favour of their
adversaries. In conclusion, they declared, that no
blame ought to attach to them if any tumult or uproar
should arise among the subjects of the realm on ac-
count of diversity of religion, or if it happened that
1558. MARY. 93
those abuses which had been so long neglected, should
at last be summarily or violently reformed.* It is
obvious, from the terms of this energetic paper, that
the Congregation felt their own strength, and did not
shut their eves to those calamitous results, in which
a continuance of religious persecution might possibly
involve the country. They were anxious for a quiet
and temperate reform of those ceremonies which they
alleged did violence to their conscience, and it was
their wish to see removed, without any public tumult,
the general profligacy which degraded the hierarchy ;
but it is also evident, that they foresaw the probability
of resistance, and were prepared to meet it ; nor were
they to be terrified into a renunciation of their belief,
by the prospect of any sufferings which awaited them-
selves or their country, They had prepared themselves
for the worst and it was fortunate they had done so,
for at this crisis the accession of Elizabeth to the
throne, and the alteration in the policy of the Guises,
produced a sudden revolution in the mind of the
queen-regent.
This princess, to resume the course of our history, -f-
was now possessed of the great objects to which all her
efforts had been so long directed. She had obtained
the supreme power ; her daughter the queen was
married to the dauphin, and the title of King of Scot-
land, and the crown matrimonial, had been solemnly
conferred upon him by the Scottish parliament. For
the attainment of these objects, she had been greatly
indebted to the assistance of the Protestant leaders.
But she was also under obligations to France, espe-
cially tp her brothers, the princes of the house ot
Guise ; and these ambitious and unscrupulous men
* Spottiswood, pp. 120, 121. Knox, pp. 133, 134. f See supra, p. 75.
94 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1558.
now claimed as a return, that she should join that
league for the destruction of the Protestants, and the
re-establishment of the Roman Catholic faith in Eu-
rope, to which they had become parties with the pope,
the King of Spain, and the emperor. As one part of
their vast and unprincipled design, it was necessary
to put down the Reformation in Scotland, and to
secure the French ascendancy in that country ; and
having accomplished this, they trusted it would be no
difficult matter to expel Elizabeth from the throne, to
place the crown on the head of Mary the young Queen
of Scotland, whom they had already induced to assume
the title of Queen of England, and under her to unite
the two kingdoms in the profession of the ancient faith.
These plans, and her expected co-operation in them,
were communicated to the queen-regent, by Monsieur
de Bettancourt, who arrived in Scotland on a mission
from the King of France, soon after the conclusion of
the peace of Cambrai.* The disposition of Mary of
Guise was inclined to moderate measures, and being
attached to some of the leaders of the Protestants, to
whose abilities and friendship she had been indebted,
it was not without emotion and regret that she re-
ceived the proposals of France. But she was deeply
attached to the Roman Catholic faith, she had been
educated in a profligate court, her brothers the cardinal
and the duke, had acquired an extraordinary influence
over her mind, the great body of the papal clergy
in Scotland urged upon her the necessity of adopting
decided measures to check the rapid growth of heresy,
and after a feeble and unsuccessful remonstrance to
the court of France, she abandoned her better resolu-
* Maitland, vol. ii. pp. 909, 910. Carte, vol. iii. p. 378. Melvill'a
Memoirs, pp. 77, 78, Bannatyne edit.
1559. MARY. 95
tions, and resigned herself to the entire direction of
the Guises.
This fatal change in the policy of the queen-regent
was followed by an immediate collision between the
Protestant and the Catholic parties in a convention
of the clergy which assembled at Edinburgh, (March,
1559 ;) the Lords of the Congregation presented a
petition, in which, in addition to their former demands,
they now insisted that bishops should be elected with
consent of the gentlemen of the diocese, and parish
priests by the votes of the parishioners. To these
they not only received a decided refusal, but the
Synod, contrary to the spirit of improvement and
conciliation exhibited in the preceding year, declared
that no language, except the Latin, could be used in
the public prayers of the Church, without violating its
express decrees, and offering offence to the majesty of
God. Nor was this all : the queen, with a rigour for
which it is difficult to account, issued a proclamation
for conformity of religion ; all were commanded to
resort daily to mass ; and in an interview with some
of the Protestant leaders, she exhibited to them the
injunctions she had received from France, warned them
of the peril in which they stood, and summoned the
most distinguished among the reformed ministers to
appear before a parliament to be held at Stirling, and
defend themselves from the accusations which were to
be brought against them.*
Alarmed by these rash and unwise proceedings, the
Earl of Glencairn, and Sir Hugh Campbell sheriff of
Ayr, requested an audience, in which they delivered
a strong remonstrance. But when they besought her
not to molest their preachers, unless their doctrine
* Spottiswood, p. 120. Knox, p. 134. Keith, p. 82, 83b
96 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1550.
could be proved to be repugnant to the word of God,
she broke into expressions of reproach and anger, de-
claring that their ministers should be banished, though
they preached as soundly as St Paul.* Glencairn and
Campbell calmly reminded her of the promises of
toleration which she had made them. " Promises,"
she replied, " ought not to be urged upon princes, un-
less they can conveniently fulfil them." So flagrant
a doctrine was received by the Scottish Lords with
merited indignation ; to offer arguments against it
would have been ridiculous, but they did not shrink
from their duty. " If, Madam,'" said they, " you
are resolved to keep no faith with your subjects, we
will renounce our allegiance ; and it will be for your
grace to consider the calamities which such a state of
things must entail upon the country ."-f-
The boldness of this language, produced a return to
calmer reason, and she appeared willing to avert the
storm ; but at this moment the reformed opinions
were publicly embraced by the town of Perth, and the
queen, in great disturbance, commanded Lord Euthven
the provost to suppress the alleged heresy. His reply
was, "that he could bring the bodies of his citizens to
her grace, and compel them to prostrate themselves
before her, till she was fully satiate of their blood
but over their consciences she had no power." She
upbraided him for his " malapert" reply ; commanded
Dundee, Montrose, and all other places which had ab-
jured the ancient faith, to be ready to attend mass
and profess their adherence to the liturgy of the Roman
Catholic church at Easter, and again summoned the
* Keith, p. 82. Spottiswood, p. 121.
+ Ibid. Calderwood's MS. History, vol. i. p. 310. British Museum
Ayscough's Cat. No. 4734.
1559. MARY. 97
preachers to appear at Stirling, to answer for their
conduct, upon the tenth of May.*
It was at this critical season, that the adherents of
the Reformation received an important accession of
strength, by the arrival of Knox in Scotland (May
second, 1559.) The remonstrances which he had
transmitted to the Lords of the Congregation from
Dieppe, had produced the most favourable effects ; and
in obedience to the second invitation, addressed to
him in the month of November 1558, he now came
to take his part with Willock, Douglas, and other
preachers, who, during his absence, had laboured, at
the peril of their lives, for the establishment of the
truth. He found the cause of the Congregation in a
condition very different from that in which he had
left it at the period of his retreat from Scotland in
1557. Then, the seed had indeed been sown, and in
some places began to spring up; but the Catholic
party were predominant, and " matters had not yet
ripened for a general reformation. ") Now, the Pro-
testant faith was espoused by large masses of the
people, professed by the most powerful of the nobles,
and in the event of attack it could look with some
confidence to the countenance and support of England.
But it acquired a wonderful accession of strength in
the return of this bold, uncompromising, and eloquent
adherent, who, without delaying in the capital, repaired
directly to Dundee. Here, when he learnt the pro-
ceedings against the ministers, he earnestly required
that he might be permitted to assist his brethren,
and to make confession of his faith along with them, a
request which we may believe was readily granted.
* MS. Calderwood, British Museum, Ayscough, 4734, fol. 311.
f M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. i. p. 192.
VOL. VI. G
98 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559
It was now resolved by the leaders of the
/
tion, that they would accompany their preachers to
Stirling, and the principal barons of Angus and Mearns
took their journey for this purpose to Perth. They
wore no armour, but declared, that they came as peace-
able men, and solely to make confession of their faith,
and to assist their ministers in their just defence.*
Lest their numbers might create alarm, Erskine of
Dun, a grave and prudent man, noted for his early
adherence to the reformed opinions, leaving his breth-
ren in Perth, went forward to Stirling, and requested
an interview with the queen. On this occasion the
recent acted with much dissimulation : she listened
O
with apparent moderation ; and when the envoy as-
sured her that the single wishes of the Congregation
were, to be permitted to worship God according to
their conscience, and to secure liberty to their preach-
ers, she declared, that if the people would disperse, the
preachers should be unmolested, the summons dis-
charged, and new proceedings taken, which should
remove all ground of complaint. Relying upon this
promise, Erskine wrote to his brethren, who were at
Perth ; their leaders sent home the people; and it was
expected that peace and toleration would be restored.
But with the removal of the danger, the regent thought
it politic to forget her promises ; and, with a precipi-
tation which was as treacherous as it was short-sighted,
the summons was continued ; the ministers who did
not appear were denounced rebels, and all were prohibit-
ed, under the penalty of high- treason, from receiving or
supporting them.-f- Enraged at such perfidy, the Laird
of Dun withdrew indignantly from court ; rejoined his
* MS. Calderwood, British M'iseum, Ayscough, 4734, fol. 311.
f Ibid. Keith, pp. 83, 84.
1559. MARY. 99
brethren, who were still at Perth, excused himself foi
having too implicitly trusted a princess, who, he wa3
nbw convinced, was resolved upon their destruction,
and warned them to prepare for those extreme mea-
sures which were meditated against them. His repre-
sentations made a deep impression ; and Knox seized
the moment to deliver to the people a sermon against
Idolatry, with all that fervid and impassioned elo-
quence, for which he was so remarkable. He described
how odious this crime appeared in the sight of God;
what positive commands had been given in Scripture
for the destruction of its monuments ; and concluded
by a denunciation of the mass, as one of the most
abominable forms in which it had ever appeared to
ensnare and degrade the human mind.*
It is by no means clear that the preacher, or the
leaders of the Congregation who supported him, enter-
tained at this moment any intention of exhorting the
multitude to open violence ; on the contrary, the Con-
gregation after the conclusion of the sermon quietly
dispersed, and a few loiterers, or, to use Knox's ex-
pressions, " certain godly men 1 ' alone remained in the
church. Scarce, however, had the preacher retired,
when a priest, with a spirit of hasty zeal, perhaps of
ill-timed defiance, unveiled a rich shrine which stood
above one of the altars, and disclosing the images of
the Virgin and the Saints prepared to celebrate mass.
A youth, who . had listened to Knox's exhortations,
exclaimed that this was intolerable. He appealed to
those who stood by, and conjured them not to permit
that idolatry which God had condemned to be used in
their despite and before their face.-f- The priest, in-
dignant at the interruption, struck him, and he retail-
* MS. Calderwood, fol. 313, vol. i. t Ibid.
100 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
ated by casting a stone at the altar, which broke one
of the images. In an instant all was uproar and con-
fusion : those who till now had been only spectators,
and whose minds, from the recent eloquence of Knox,
were highly excited, broke in upon the shrine, tore
down its ornaments, shivered it to pieces, and, being
joined by others whom the noise had attracted, demo-
lished every monument or relic which they imagined
to savour of idolatry in an incredibly short space of
time. (May 11, 1559.) The confusion now increased,
and they who had inflicted this summary vengeance
being joined by the " rascal multitude," as Knox de-
nominates them, rushed with headlong fury to the
religious houses of the Gray and Black Friars. They
seem to have found them deserted no defence at least
was made ; and in a few hours these magnificent edi-
fices were spoiled of their wealth ; and their altars, con-
fessionals, and every ancient and hallowed relic which
adorned them, torn down and defaced. The same fate
was experienced by the Charterhouse or Carthusian
monastery, a building of extraordinary strength and
magnificence, of which within two days nothing was to
be seen but the bare and melancholy walls. The first in-
vasion or impulse appears to have been solely against
" idolatry;" but although the preachers had been careful
to warn their hearers not to put their hands to a refor-
mation for covetousness sake, the people, stimulated by
the extraordinary wealth and luxury of the Gray Friars,
began to spoil. No honest man, however, according
to the words of Knox, was enriched to the value of a
groat, " and the spoil was permitted to the poor."
The probability seems to be, that the poor took the
liberty of helping themselves.* Nor was this ebulli-
* Printed Calderwood, p. 7. Spottiswood, 121, 122. Knox, p. 136.
1559. MARY. 101
tion of popular fury confined to Perth ; the infection
spread to Cupar, a small town which had embraced the
Protestant opinions, and here similar excesses, though
on a smaller scale, took place.
It was with feelings of deep resentment that the
queen-regent heard of these violent and illegal pro-
ceedings. She lamented especially the destruction of
the monastery of Carthusians, a royal foundation, and
honoured by her as holding the ashes of James the
First. In the first paroxysm of her anger she vowed
vengeance against all who were connected with the
disturbance, and declared her resolution to raze the
town of Perth to the ground, and sow it with salt, as
a monument of perpetual desolation.* These were not
meant to be empty threats. She instantly summoned
to her defence the Duke of Chastelherault, with Athole,
and D'Osell the French commander ; she remonstrated
with the leaders amongst the Congregation, who, though
attached to the doctrines of the Reformation, were
inimical to the excesses which had been committed ;
two of these, the Earl of Argyle and the Lord James,
disclaiming all intentions of affording encouragement
to rebellion, joined her with their forces ; and on the
18th of May she advanced towards Perth, where the
Protestants had begun to collect their strength. Soon
after they drew up three letters in justification of their
proceedings. In the first, which was addressed to the
queen-regent, they informed this princess, that, al-
though they had till now served her with willing hearts,
they should be constrained, if she continued her unjust
persecution, to take the sword of just defence. They
were ready, they added, to obey their sovereign and
her husband under the single condition that they
* Knox, 137. MS. Calderwood, vol. i. pp. 313, 314.
102 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
might live in peace, and have the word of Jesus Christ
truly preached, and his sacraments rightly adminis-
tered. Without this they were determined never to
be subject to mortal men. They declared that they
were about to notify what they had done, to their
sovereign and the King of France ; and they conjured
her, in the name of God, and as she valued the peace
of the realm, not to invade them till they had received
their answer.* The second letter of the Congregation,
which was a more elaborate defence, was directed to
the nobility of Scotland. They knew, they said, that
the nobles were divided in opinion: some regarded
them as a faction of heretics and seditious men who
troubled the commonwealth, and against whom no
punishment could be too severe; others were per-
suaded of the justice of their cause, nay, had for some-
time openly professed it, and, after having exhorted
them to the enterprise, had deserted them in their ex-
treme necessity. To the first they alleged, that none
could prove such offences against them, all that they
had done being in obedience to God, who had com-
manded idolatry and its monuments to be cast down
and destroyed. " Our earnest and long request," they
continued, "hath been and yet is, that in open assem-
bly it may be disputed, in presence of indifferent
auditors, Whether that these abominations, named
by the pestilent papists, Religion, which they by fire
and sword defend, be the true Religion of Jesus Christ
or not ? Now, this our humble request being denied
us, our lives are sought in a most cruel manner ; and
ye, the nobility, whose duty is to defend innocents
and to bridle the fury and rage of wicked men, were
it of princes or emperors, do, notwithstanding, follow
* Keith, p. 86. 22d May, 1559.
1559. MARY. 103
their appetites, and arm yourselves against us, your
brethren and natural countrymen. * * If ye think
that we be criminal because we dissent from your
opinions, consider, we beseech you, that the prophets
under the law, the apostles of Christ Jesus after his
ascension, the primitive church and holy martyrs did
disagree with the whole world in their days ; and will
ye deny but that their action was just, and that all
those who persecuted them were murderers before God?
May not the like be true this day ? What assurance
have ye this day of your Religion, which the world
had not that day of theirs ? Ye have a multitude
that agree with you, and so had they ; ye have anti-
quity of time, and that they lacked not ; ye have
councils, laws, and men of reputation that have estab-
lished all things, as ye suppose ; but none of all these
can make any religion acceptable before God, which
only dependeth upon his own will, revealed to man in
his most sacred Word. Is it not then a wonder that
ye sleep in so deadly a security, in the matter of your
own salvation?" . To the second class, those of the
nobles who had first espoused their cause, and now
deserted it, they directed an indignant remonstrance.
" Unless," said they, " ye again join yourselves to us,
we declare, that as of God ye are reputed traitors, so
shall ye be excommunicated from our society, and from
all participation with us in the administration of the
sacraments. The glory of this victory, which God will
give to his church, yea, even in the eyes of men, shall
not appertain to you ; but the fearful judgments that
apprehended Ananias and his wife Sapphira, shall
apprehend you and your posterity.*" The spirit and
contents of the third letter of the Congregation may
* Knox,pp. 139,140,141.
I(H HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. J559.
be divined from its extraordinary superscription. It
was directed, " To the generation of Anti-Christ, the
pestilent prelates, and their shavelings within Scot-
land." It contained a tremendous anathema against
those who in their blind fury had caused the blood of
martyrs to be shed ; it warned them, that if they pro-
ceeded in their cruelty, they should be made the sub-
jects of a war of extermination such as Israel carried
on with the Canaanites ; it arrogated to themselves
the appellation of the congregation of Christ ; it stig-
matized their opponents as the offspring of the man of
sin ; and concluded by uniting, in a manner which
none can read without sorrow, expressions of extrein-
est vengeance and wrath with the holy name of God,
and* the gospel of peace and love which was preached
by his Son.*
It was not to be expected that such violent measures
should be attended with pacific effects ; the army of
the Protestants was inferior to their opponents, and
the queen-regent, confident of victory, had disdainfully
rejected all proposals of negotiation, when the arrival
of Glencairn in the camp of the Congregation, at the
head of two thousand five hundred men, induced her
to hesitate. By the mediation of the Earl of Argyle
and the Lord James a cessation of hostilities was agreed
on. Both armies consented to disperse ; the town was
to be left open to the queen-regent ; no person was to
be troubled or brought to answer for the late changes
in religion, termed by their authors the abolishing
of idolatry ; the religion begun was to be suffered to
go forward; no Frenchman was to approach within
three miles of the town ; when the queen retired no
French garrison was to be left within it ; and in the
* Keith, p. 87.
1559. MARY. 105
meantime all controversies were to be reserved till the
meeting of parliament.*
This treaty having been concluded, Willock who
had arrived with Glencairn, and Knox who had re-
mained at Perth since the demolition of the monas-
teries, sought an interview with Argyle and the Lord
James, and upbraided them with their desertion of the
brethren. They repelled the accusation with warmth,
declared their steady attachment to the cause, but said
that they had promised the queen to labour for peace,
and that the terms which she had offered were too
reasonable to be refused. If, however, she proved false
to her word, they called God to witness, that they
would assist and concur with their brethren in all time
to come.^ Satisfied with this explanation, Knox as-
cended the pulpit. It was right, he observed, before
they left the scene of their labours, that all men should
be exhorted to constancy and thankfulness. It had
pleased God to stay the rage of the enemy without the
effusion of blood ; but he added, with that discernment
into human motives and character with which he was
eminently gifted, that he was well assured the queen
meant no truth, " that it became no brother to be weary
or faint, since he was certain the treaty would only be
kept till the regent and her Frenchmen became the
strongest."!
Profiting by these warnings, the Lords of the Con-
gregation before they separated framed a new bond or
Covenant, in which it was agreed " to unite together"
in doing all things required of God in his Scripture
that might be to his glory, and to put away all things
* These conditions of the capitulation are in the express words of Knox,
p. 146, and Spottiswood, p. \'2'2. Hume contends that the articles of capitu-
lation -were not violated, but, as it appears to me, on insufficient grounds.
f Knox, p. 146. $ Ihid. p. 150.
106 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
that dishonoured his name, and hindered his pure and
true worship. They solemnly obliged themselves to
defend the Congregation or any of its members when
trouble was intended against them, and they promised
in the presence of God to spare neither labour, life, nor
substance, in maintaining the liberty of the whole
brethren, against whatever person should trouble them
for the cause of religion or any other cause thereon
depending. This agreement was signed by the Earls
of Argyle and Glencairn, the Lord James, Lord Boyd,
Lord Ochiltree, whose daughter Knox afterwards mar-
ried ; and Matthew Campbell of Taringhame.*
It was soon seen how necessary were these measures
to the existence of the Protestants. They had left
Perth on the twenty-ninth of May ; that day the
queen-regent entered the town ; and, with the duplicity
which Knox had anticipated, violated the promise
which she had made. Chastelherault, D'Osell, and a
body of French soldiers 'accompanied her; the chief
magistrates who had been favourers of the Reformation,
were deprived of their authority; Charteris of Kinfauns,
a man of profligate manners, was made provost ; and
many of the inhabitants abandoned their houses and
submitted to a voluntary exile, rather than witness
the re-establishment of that worship which they ab-
horred. It had been stipulated that Perth should not
be left in the occupation of a French garrison ; and
the regent congratulated herself upon her ingenuity
in observing the letter, whilst she broke the spirit, of
the treaty. A body of troops in the pay of France,
though natives of Scotland, were intrusted with the
custody of the town; and the princess, when reminded
of her engagements, of which the real meaning, could
* MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 324.
1559. MARY. 107
not be easily misunderstood, defended her conduct on
the common and untenable maxim, that no faith was
to be kept with heretics.
These dishonourable proceedings, however, produced
important effects, and were favourable to the cause they
were intended to destroy. The Earl of Argyle and
the Lord James, faithful to their promise, deserted the
regent, and departed secretly to St Andrew's. Lord
Ruthven, the Earl of Menteith, and Murray of Tul-
libardine, disgusted at the hypocrisy with which they
had been treated, accompanied them ; and on receiving
a summons from the queen-dowager to repair instantly
to court on pain of her highest displeasure, they an-
swered that they dared not, with a safe conscience, be
partakers of the manifest tyranny which was committed
by her and her council, the prelates, against their
brethren who professed a like faith with themselves. *
It was now no time for delay: letters were despatched
by Argyle and the Lord James to the Lairds of Dun
and Pitarrow, the Provost of Dundee, and others of
their brethren, to assemble for the Reformation at St
Andrew's; and on the fourth of June they were joined,
not only by many devoted brethren, but by Knox, who,
in the short interval between this and the treaty of
Perth, had preached with great success in Fife.
It is from this period of the assembly of the Protes-
tants at St Andrew's, that we can discern the appearance
of a new principle in their conduct. The defence of the
country against the domination of the French troops,
and the tyranny with which the regent wielded her
military power, became a paramount object in their
proceedings. They began to have a deeper insight
than hitherto into the unprincipled schemes of France.
* MS. Calderwood, vol. i. pp, 325, 326, 333, 334. 1st June, 1559.
108 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
In the efforts of the queen-regent to put down the
Reformation, they believed that they saw a determi-
nation to overthrow the liberties of the country ; and
there can be little doubt, that whilst this feeling added
strength to those whose predominating motive was
the establishment of what they believed the truth, it
induced others to join them, who, under other circum-
stances, would have remained quiet spectators of the
struggle.
The zealous spirit and popular eloquence of Knox
now found daily employment, and was followed by
violent effects. After a sermon at Crail, a small sea-
town in Fife, in which he exhorted his hearers to die
like men, or to live and be victorious in the great
struggle in which they were engaged, the multitude
demolished the altars and images in the church, and
the same scenes were repeated after an equally stirring
address at Anstruther, another sea-port not far distant.
But his greatest effort was reserved for St Andrew's,
the seat of the Metropolitan of Scotland, and the scene
which was associated in the mind of the Reformer with
his earliest labours and sufferings. The leaders of the
Congregation, however, became apprehensive of the
consequences which, in this centre of Romish pomp,
might follow a public address. The archbishop, hearing
that his cathedral was to be reformed, entered the town
on Saturday evening with a hundred spears. He sent
Colville of Cleish to inform Knox, that on his first
appearance in the pulpit, he should be saluted with a
dozen culverins,* and the Reformer was earnestly re-
quested to be silent. But no persuasions of his friends,
no threats of his enemies, could shake his resolution.
He ascended the pulpit ; chose as the subject of his
* MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 325. Knox's Hist. p. 149.
1559. MARY. 109
sermon that portion of Scripture which describes our
Saviour driving the buyers and sellers out of the
temple, and delivered an address in his usual strain of
familiar and indignant eloquence. Whatever may have
been his sentiments or those of the leaders of the Con-
gregation as to the first excesses of the people, it was
now evident that Knox, in a spirit of erroneous and
misdirected zeal, no longer doubted that it was their
duty, as professors of the truth, to put down by actual
violence the idolatry which he condemned ; to hazard
all the evils of civil war and popular commotion, rather
than suffer the alleged abominations of the Romish
church and the tyranny of the French faction to pol-
lute the faith and endanger the liberty of the country.
Animated by this feeling, he drew a parallel between
the abuses of the Jewish worship and the- corruptions
of Popery; he explained to the magistrates and to the
commonalty that it was their duty to imitate Christ's
example, and remove all monuments of idolatry; and
so ready were they to follow his instructions, that the
congregation sallied from the sermon to the monasteries
of the Dominican and Franciscan orders, and, encour-
aged by their chief magistrates, levelled these proud and
wealthy edifices with the ground.*
In the midst of this destruction the archbishop flew
to the queen-regent, who lay with her Frenchmen at
Falkland. Inflamed by his account of the riot, the
regent gave instant orders to advance upon St Andrew's ;
and as Argyle and the Lord James were but slenderly
accompanied, she trusted to assemble an army and crush
them before they could receive assistance. But here
she was mistaken. On the first knowledge of their
danger, men flocked in so rapidly that, to use Knox's
* Keith, p. 91. M'Crie's Life of Knox, vol. i. p. 269.
110 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559
phrase, " they seemed to rain from the clouds ,"* and
when the regent mustered her army, it was found that
the Congregation, who had encamped on Cupar Moor,
greatly outnumbered her. It was evident, too, that
there were experienced officers amongst them. Their
ordnance was judiciously placed, and the ground oc-
cupied by their horse and their infantry chosen with
considerable military skill. Fearful of attacking them
with an inferior force, the queen-regent again entered
into a negotiation, and a truce of eight days was agreed
on. It was stipulated that no Frenchman should re-
main within the boundaries of Fife, except the garrisons
which, previous to the raising of the last army, lay in
some of the coast towns ; and that certain noblemen,
appointed by the queen and council, should meet the
leaders of the Protestants to decide on the best method
for the restoration of peace to the country.
It was soon seen, however, that the single object of
the queen-regent was to procure delay : no commis-
sioners arrived at St Andrew's, where the Lords of the
Congregation for some days anxiously expected them.
Accounts were brought in the meantime of the tyranny
exercised by Charteris the provost and the garrison in
Perth ; and the Protestants, pitying the condition of
their brethren, who had been driven from their houses
to subsist on the charity of their friends, determined
to assemble in force and expel the foreign troops from
this city. Late events had taught them their own
strength ; habits of discipline, watchfulness, and active
communication had been introduced by that sense of
mutual danger which is the best instructor ; and Sir
William Kirkaldy of Grange, a soldier of great mili-
tary experience and undaunted determination, had
* Knox, pp. 151, 152. MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 327.
1559. MARY. Ill
joined their party at this conjuncture. His accession
was of much importance to the Congregation, and ap-
pears to have been the result rather of a wish to rescue
his native country from becoming an appanage of
France, than of a determination to overthrow the
Romish faith. As early at least as March first, 1557,
he had expressed himself with the utmost indignation
against the yoke of the Frenchmen, and had offered
his services to restore Scotland to its former liberty,
and to promote an amity with England.*
Intimation had been sent to the brethren (so the
Congregation were generally termed by their ministers)
to assemble in the vicinity of Perth, on the twenty-
fourth of June; and so strongly did they muster on
the day appointed, that a summons was instantly given
to the town, charging the garrison to abandon it, and
commanding the provost to open the gates, and leave
it free to the subjects of the realm. On his refusal,
and after a vain attempt by the regent to procure de-
lay, the batteries were opened by Lord Ruthven on
the west, and on the east quarter by the citizens
of Dundee. It was evident, after the first discharge,
that resistance would be vain ; and the garrison,
having stipulated that they should march out with
military honours, delivered the town to the Congre-
gation, on Sabbath the twenty-fifth of June.-f-
This success, owing to the strength and importance
of Perth, at that time one of the few fortified towns
in Scotland, was highly encouraging to the Protestants.
On the day of the capitulation, public thanksgiving
* Sir N. Wotton to Lord Paget privy-seal, and Sir William Petre prin-
cipal secretary ; MS. Letter, 1st March, 1556-7, State-paper Office. French
Correspondence, MS. State-paper Office, Sir William Kirkaldy to Sir Wil-
liam Cecil, 23d June, 1559.
f MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 330. State-paper Office, Sir William Kir-
kaldy to Sir H. Percy, 25th June, 1559.
112 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
was returned to God for their victory; England, it
was hoped, would espouse their cause more openly ; and
Knox, whose work against female sovereigns, or as he
termed it, the " Monstrous Regimen" of women, had
made him odious to Elizabeth, addressed a remarkable
letter to Secretary Cecil, in which he endeavoured to
deprecate her resentment. He intended to have en-
closed at the same time an epistle to the queen herself,
but this he delayed, owing to the sudden departure of
the messenger. " I understand," said he, in that
honest and undaunted style of writing, which was un-
acceptable to the courtly taste of the English secretary,
" I am become so odious to the queers grace, and to
her council, that the mention of my name is unpleasing
in their ears ; but yet I will not cease to offer myself,
requiring you, in God's name, to present to the queers
grace this my letter, smelling nothing of flattery, and
therefore, I hope it shall be the niore acceptable. Why
that either her grace, either that the faithful in her
realm, should repute me as an enemy, I know no just
cause. One thing I know, that England by me this
day hath received no hurt, yea, it hath received, by
the power of God working in me, that benefit which
yet to none in England is known, neither yet list I to
boast of the same : only this will I say, that when
England and the usurped authority thereof was enemy
to me, yet was I friend to it ; and the fruit of my friend-
ship saved the Borders in their greatest necessities.
My eyes have long looked to a perpetual concord be-
twixt these two realms, the occasion whereof is most
present, if you shall move your hearts unfeignedly to
seek the same. For humility of Christ Jesus crucified,
now begun here to be practised, may join together the
hearts of those whom Satan, by pride, hath long dis-
1559. . MARY.
severed: For the furtherance hereof I would have
license to repair towards you. God move your heart
rightly to consider the estate of both the realms, which
stand in greater danger than many do espy. The com-
mon bruit, I doubt not, carrieth unto you the troubles
that be lately here risen for the controversy in religion.
The truth is, that many of the nobility, the most part
of barons and gentlemen, with many towns and one
city, have put to their hands to remove idolatry and
the monuments of the same. The Reformation is
somewhat violent, because the adversaries be stubborn ;
none that professeth Christ Jesus with us usurpeth
anything against the authorities, neither yet intendeth
to usurp, unless strangers be brought in to subdue and
bring in bondage the liberties of this poor country :
if any such thing be espied, I am uncertain what shall
follow."*
The Lords of the Congregation were now to discover,
that it is infinitely more easy to excite, than to direct
or to check the fury of the people. In the immediate
vicinity of Perth, was the ancient abbey church of
Scone, regarded with peculiar reverence as the spot in
which for many centuries the Scottish monarchs had
held the ceremony of their coronation. Beside it stood
the palace of the Bishop of Moray, a prelate of profli-
gate life, and hated by the men of Dundee as a chief
instrument in the martyrdom of Walter Miln. It was
thought proper, therefore, that some " order* should
be taken with him ; and a message was sent by the
leaders of the Congregation, requiring him to join them
with his servants, otherwise they would neither spare
nor save his abbey. He consented to this, and added,
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 28th June, 1559, St Johnston, John
Knox to Secretary Cecil.
VOL. VI. H
114 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
that not only would he meet them with all his force,
but vote with them against the clergy in parliament.
But before this answer arrived, the citizens of Dundee
had seized their weapons, and rushed forward to the
abbey, followed by Knox and their chief magistrate,
who in vain attempted to restrain them. It was the
earnest wish of the Reformer and of the leaders of the
Protestants, to save both the palace and the abbey,
and in this they at first so far succeeded, that nothing
but the images were pulled down ; Argyle and Moray
then drew off the multitude, and receiving intelligence
7 o o
in the evening that the queen-regent meditated to gar-
rison Stirling, and preoccupy the passes of the Forth,
so as to prevent a junction between the northern re-
formers and their lowland brethren, these two leaders
made a rapid night march, took possession of the town,
and, according to the expression then commonly used,
purged it of idolatry. Their absence was fatal to Scone :
some of the poor, in hope of spoil, and others with a
lingering wish of vengeance, returned on the morrow
and began to prowl about the abbey. The prelate in
the interval had barricaded his mansion ; his servants
had armed themselves ; and a citizen of Dundee ap-
proaching near the " Girnel" or granary, was thrust
through with a rapier by one, reported to be a son of the
prelate. In a moment all was tumult : the air rung with
shouts and cries of vengeance the story flew to Perth
a multitude which no power could control attacked
the ecclesiastical palace and the abbey and within a
few hours, both were in flames:* many, even of the
most zealous of the brethren lamented this destruction,
and Knox appears personally to have exerted himself
to prevent it ; but an aged matron who stood by,
* MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 331.
1559. MARY. JJ5
viewed the scene with exultation and thankfulness;
"Now," said she, "I see that God's judgments are
just, and none can save where he will punish ; since
ever I can remember aught, this place hath been
nothing else than a den of profligates, where these filthy
beasts, the friars, have acted in darkness every sort of
sin, and specially that most wicked man the bishop :
if all knew what I know, they would see matter for
gratitude, but none of offence." *
Although Argyle and the Lord James mustered only
a small force at Stirling, the greater part of the army
of the Congregation having returned to their homes,
such was the terror inspired by the rapidity and deci-
sion of their movements, that on their advance to
Linlithgow, the queen-regent and the French forces
evacuated the capital and retreated to D unbar. The
intelligence of this movement gave fresh spirits to the
reformers, and having taken possession of Linlithgow,
pulled down the images and destroyed the relics, they
entered Edinburgh in triumph on the twenty-ninth of
June, 1559.
* ilS. Caldenvood, vol. i. p. 331. Keith, p. 93.
H6 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
CHAP. III.
MARY.
15591560.
CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS.
England,
Elizabeth.
France.
Francis II.
Charles IX.
Spain.
Philip II.
Portugal.
Sebastian.
Germany.
Ferdinand I.
Popes.
Paul IV.
Pius IV.
THE occupation of the capital by the army of the
Congregation, was an event of great importance. It
convinced the queen-regent that all hope of avoiding
a civil war was at an end, unless she was prepared to
agree to a total alteration of the established religion,
it was equally decisive on the minds of the reformers.
In the eye of the law. they had gone too far in resist-
ance to dream of retreat ; and considerations of safety
urged them to press forward in the work which they
had begun. It becomes an interesting inquiry at this
moment, what was the exact object which they pro-
posed to themselves, and fortunately we have their own
evidence upon the subject. In an original letter from
Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, one of the ablest
leaders of the Protestants, written to Sir Henry Percy
the day after they entered Edinburgh, he thus speaks,
" I received your letter this last of June, perceiving
thereby the doubt and suspicion you stand in for the
coming forward of the Congregation, whom I assure
you, you need not to have in suspicion ; for they mean
1559. MARY. J J 7
nothing but reformation of religion, which shortly,
throughout the realm, they will bring to pass, for the
queen and Monsieur D'Osell, with all the Frenchmen,
for refuge are retired to D unbar. The foresaid Con-
gregation came this last of June, by three of the clock
to Edinburgh, where they will take order for the main-
tenance of the true religion and resisting of the King
of France, if he sends any force against them. * *
The manner of their proceeding in reformation, is this :
they pull down all manner of friaries, and some abbeys,
which willingly receive not the Reformation. As to
parish churches, they cleanse them of images and all
other monuments of idolatry, and command that no
masses be said in them ; in place thereof, the Book
set forth by godly King Edward is read in the same
churches. They have never as yet meddled with a
pennyworth of that which pertains to the Church, but
presently they will take order throughout all the parts
where they dwell, that all the fruits of the abbeys and
other churches shall be kept and bestowed upon the
faithful ministers, until such time as a further order
betaken. Some suppose the queen, seeing no other
remedy, will follow their desires, which is, a general
reformation throughout the whole realm conform to
the pure word of God, and the Frenchmen to be sent
away. If her grace will do so, they will obey her, and
serve her, and annex the whole revenues of the abbeys
to the crown ; if her grace will not be content with this,
they are determined to hear of no agreement. 11 *
At the same time that Kirkaldy directed this letter
to Percy, with the object of explaining their real in-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Sir William Kirkaldy to Sir Henry
Percy, endorsed Cecil. Mr Kirkaldy to Sir Henry Percy, Edinburgh, 1st
July, 1559. Also, Cecil to Throckmorton. Forbes, vol. i. p. 155, and Lin-
gard, vol. vii. p. 311.
118 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
tentions, and quieting his fears regarding any hostile
designs upon England, Knox addressed the English
knight in the name of the whole Congregation. He
entreated, that through them a correspondence might
be opened betwixt the faithful in both realms. " The
troubles of this realm," says he, " you hear, but the
cause to many is not known. Persuade yourself, and
assure others, that we mean neither sedition, neither
yet rebellion against any just and lawful authority,
but only the advancement of Christ's religion, and the
liberty of this poor realm. If we can have the one
with the other, it will fare better with England ; which
if we lack, although we mourn and smart, England
will not escape without worse trouble." * Soon after
this Kirkaldy had a private meeting with Percy at
Norham. The interview took place with the concur-
rence and under the directions of Cecil ; and the Scot-
tish baron having explained more fully the intentions
of the Protestants, returned to them with the grateful
intelligence that England was disposed to favour their
views, and to enter into a league with them, for the
attainment of their designs. The news was received
with much exultation ; and Grange, in a letter ad-
dressed to the English secretary, declares that " all
Europe shall know that a league made in the name of
God hath another foundation and assurance, than pac-
tions made by man for worldly commodity."-)-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Knox to Sir Henry Percy, Edinburgh,
1st July, 1559.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Sir William Kirkaldy to Cecil, Edin-
burgh, 17th July, 1559. Also, State-paper Office, Knox to Cecil, 12th July,
1559, Edinburgh. See also, original draft, State-paper Office, 8th July,
1559, Sir William Cecil to Sir James Crofts. * * * In any wise do
your endeavour to kindle the fire, for if it should quench, the opportunity
thereof will not arise in our lives ; and that the Protestants mean to do
would be done with all speed, for it will be too late, when the French power
cometh. To a wise man few words serve. * * * Also, Cecil to Mr Percy,
4th July, 1559.
1559. MARY. 119
There is every reason to believe that these letters
contain an honest statement of the views of the Con-
gregation. The establishment of the reformed religion
in opposition to the Romish faith, the expulsion of the
French troops from Scotland, and the conclusion of a
league, offensive and defensive, with Elizabeth, were
the great objects which they proposed to themselves.
Nor, although they had agreed and acted upon the
necessity of pulling down all religious houses which
adhered to the ancient faith, were they as deeply
inimical to prelacy at this moment as they became not
long after. They used the Service-book of King Ed-
ward the Sixth,* an extraordinary circumstance when
we consider the violent opposition raised by Knox
against this same form of Liturgy, only a few years
before, at Frankfort. Their hands were clean from
any appropriation of ecclesiastical property, and on
condition that the regent gave her consent to a general
reformation, they were ready to annex the whole of the
abbey lands to the crown, to be employed in the sup-
port of the faithful ministers of the Church. Their
great fear was the arrival of a new army from France;
they were aware that the warlike levies in that country
were preparing against them ;. they dreaded the de-
sertion of some amongst themselves, whose poverty
exposed them to corruption ;( and they were so well
aware of the extreme caution and parsimony which
marked the policy of Elizabeth, that they could not
look with much confidence to her assistance, either in
men or money.
* This important fact, which is now set at rest, has been much disputed,
and some a^le writers have come to a contrary conclusion.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Sir William Kirkaldy to Cecil, 1 7th July .
1551), Edinburgh.
120 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
Still they did not despair. The people were in their
favour; the most powerful amongst the barons had
espoused their cause; and Cecil's politics, though
timid, were decidedly opposed to the establishment of
anything like a permanent French influence in Scot-
land.
The Congregation, however, had a formidable enemy
in the queen-regent. Could she but temporise and
procure delay, she reckoned with confidence on the
arrival of a large auxiliary force from France; and
former experience had shown, that against this the
irregular feudal infantry, which the Scottish barons
brought into the field, was unable to contend for any
length of time. She spread reports that her adver-
saries contemplated not only an alteration of the estab-
lished religion, but a more daring change : that their
great leader, the Lord James, aspired to the crown ;
and that, under pretence of religious reformation, they
sought to overturn the existing government.* A
proclamation to this effect was made in the name of
Francis and Mary king and queen of Scotland : It
arraigned the Protestants of sedition ; accused them
of having seized the irons of the Mint, and of main-
taining a correspondence with England; and com-
manded all, under pain of treason, to depart from the
capital, which they had violently entered. It declared
at the same time, that the regent had already offered
to call a parliament, in which, by the advice of the
Estates of the realm, a universal order in religion should
be established, and in the meantime had given a full
liberty of conscience to her subjects.
These representations produced a considerable effect.
The Duke of Chastelherault fell off from the Congre-
* Keith, p. 95.
1559. MARY. 121
gation ; others grew lukewarm in the cause, and the
leaders trembled for the overthrow of their party. In
a letter to the queen they repudiated, with more in-
dignation than consistency, the charge of rebellion ;
declared they would, in civil matters, conduct them-
selves as obedient subjects ; and professed their sole
object to be the promotion of God's glory, the defence
of their preachers, and the destruction of idolatry.*
An attempt was soon after made to compose matters
by negotiation, and commissioners from both sides met
at Preston in Mid-Lothian ; but the regent insisted not
only that she should have the free exercise of her mass,
but that wherever she came, the Protestant preachers
should be silent. To the last condition, which they
justly contended would leave them without a church
at all, it was impossible for the Lords of the Congre-
gation to agree ; yet fearful of coming to extremities,
they prolonged the conferences, and evinced an earnest
desire for peace. This, however, did not prevent them
from sending a letter to Queen Elizabeth, and at the
same moment a more impassioned epistle to Cecil.
This crafty minister had comforted them by promises
of assistance, should they be invaded by any foreign
power, and had requested them to explain fully the
purposes for which they had taken arms. " Our whole
purpose," say they in reply, " is, as knoweth God, to
advance the glory of Christ Jesus, and the true preach-
ing of his Evangel within this realm ; to remove
superstition, and all sorts of external idolatry; to
bridle, to our power, the fury of those that have cruelly
shed the blood of our brethren, and to our uttermost
to maintain the liberty of this our country from the
* Keith, p. 96.
122 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
tyranny and thraldom of strangers.""* The minister
of Elizabeth, however, had pressed them upon a deli-
cate point : the allegation of the queen-regent that
they intended not only a change of religion but of
government. Their reply is remarkable. " True it
is," they observe, " that as yet we have made no men-
tion of any change in authority, neither yet hath any
such thing entered in our hearts, except that extreme
necessity compel us thereto. But perceiving that
France, the queen-regent here, together with her
priests and Frenchmen, pretend nothing else but the
suppressing of Christ's Evangel, the maintenance of
idolatry, the ruin of us, and the utter subversion of
this poor realm, we are fully purposed to seek the
next remedy : to withstand their tyranny, in which
matter we unfeignedly require your faithful counsel and
furtherance at the queen and council's hands, for our
assistance ."-f- Along with these letters, Knox address-
ed an apologetic epistle to Elizabeth, in which he de-
clared, that her displeasure conceived against him was
a burden so grievous and intolerable, that, but for the
testimony of a clean conscience, he would have sunk in
desperation. J
It did not suit the policy of Cecil, in the uncertain
state of the contest between the reformers and the
Catholic party, to grant them immediate assistance,
still less did he wish to see them put down, and peace
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, in the handwriting of Knox, signed by
Argyle, Glencairn, the Lord James, Ruthven, Boyd, and Ochiltree. Edin.
19th July, 1559. Addressed to Sir William Cecil.
f Ibid. See also, MS. Letter from the same lords to Queen Elizabeth ;
also in the handwriting of Knox, dated, Edinburgh, 19th July, 1559.
$ MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Knox to Elizabeth, 20th July, 1559.
This letter is printed in Knox's History, p. 226, correctly, with the excep-
tion of the date, which ought to be 20th instead of 28th July, and this brief
sentence, which occurs about the middle of the letter, " going to mass under
your sister Mary her persecution of (rod's Saints." This sentence is not in
the original.
1559. MARY. 123
established ; and with this object of delay he directed
a remarkable letter to the Congregation, in which he
incited them to continue the struggle, and to weaken
their principal enemies, the popish clergy, by despoil-
ing them of their riches. " Ye know," said he, " your
chief adversaries, the popish kirkmen, be noted wise
in their generation ; they be rich also, whereby they
make many friends, by their wit with false persuasions,
by their riches with corruption. As long as they feel
no sharpness, they be bold; but if they be once touched
with fear, they be the greatest cowards. In our first
reformation here in King Henry the Eighth his time,
although in some points there was oversight for the
help of the ministry and the poor ; yet if the prelacy
had been left in their pomp and wealth, the victory
had been theirs. I like no spoil, but I allow to have
good things put to good uses, as to the enriching of
the crown, the help to the youth and the nobility, the
maintenance of ministry in the Church, of learning in
schools, and to relieve the poor members of Christ,
being in body and limbs impotent. * * But ye
may say there is now no season to write of this : the
present time requireth defence of yourselves. True it
is and this that I mentioned not impertinent thereto,
and to me the more marvel, that ye omit also such
opportunity to help yourselves. Will ye hear of a
strange army coming by seas to invade you, and seek
help against the same, and yet permit your adversaries,
whom ye may expel, to keep the landing and strength
for others ? Which of these two is easiest : to weaken
one neighbour first, or three afterwards ! * * What
will be the end, when these be the beginnings ? Will
they favour you in Scotland, that burn their own daily
in France ? What may the Duke^s Grace there look
124 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559
for, when his eldest son was so persecuted, as, to save
his life, he was forced to flee France and go to Geneva,
not without great difficulty ; his second brother, the
Lord David, now cruelly imprisoned by Monsieur
Chevigny, one chosen out to show cruelty to your
nation ; divers Scots of the earl's family put to tor-
ture, and, finally, all the duchy of Chastelherault seised
to the crown. And to show you their purposed tragedy,
the young queen so sweareth, so voweth, so threateneth,
to destroy all the house of Hamiltons, as it is beyond
all marvel to see your old regent there so enchant the
Duke's ears, as to hear nothing hereof. God open his
heart according to his knowledge. 1 " 1 In the end, Cecil
assured them, that although the peace so lately con-
cluded with France made it a matter of difficulty to
decide how they were to be assisted, yet that Elizabeth
could not but favour their purposes, and would neither
neglect them nor see them quail.*
Before this letter could arrive, conceived in too
general terms to afford them any great encouragement,
the regent, animated by the accounts she received of
the daily desertions in the army of her opponents, ad-
vanced from Dunbar towards Edinburgh. The Lords
of the Congregation found themselves too weak to defend
the capital, and a truce was concluded between the
two parties till the tenth of January. The reformers
agreed to evacuate the town, deliver up the coining
irons of the Mint, obey the regent, and abstain from all
molestation of churchmen, or destruction of religious
houses. The regent, for her part, permitted to the
citizens of Edinburgh the free choice of their religion,
* MS. State-paper Office, Original Draft in Cecil's handwriting, much
erased and interlineated. Endorsed " Copy of my Letter to the Earls ol
Argyle, Glencairn, Prior of St Andrew's, Lords Boyd and Ochiltree, 28th
July, 1559. See also Knox's History, pp. 225, 226, 227, 228.
1559. MARY. 125
gave full liberty of speech to the preachers, and pro-
mised that no persons should be molested, either in their
persons or estate, on account of their faith. It was
lastly stipulated, that no men of war, either French
or Scots, should be placed in garrison within the town.*
Such were the conditions agreed on and signed by
the Duke, the Earl of Huntley, and D'Osell, to whom
the negotiation was intrusted by both parties. It is
asserted, however, by Knox,-f- that these were not the
articles to which the brethren consented ; and before
leaving the town they issued a proclamation, in which
they artfully omitted everything which would have
been prejudicial to their own party, and added some
conditions not to be found in the written appointment. J
On neither side was this convention expected to lead
to any permanent pacification. The regent was now
in daily hopes of having succour from France ; her
representations of the state of Scotland had produced
a strong sensation in that country ; and Sir James
Melvill, who had been brought up from early youth in
the service of the constable Montmorency, was sent
from Paris on a secret mission into that country, to
examine the state of parties, and ascertain whether the
accusation of the regent, that the Lord James aimed
at the crown, had any foundation in fact. Melvill was,
probably, from his connexion with the constable, pre-
disposed to favour the cause of the Congregation ; and
the manner in which he executed his commission
argues either extreme simplicity, or a predetermina-
tion not to seek the truth. On his arrival, repairing
to the Lord James, he interrogated him whether he
meditated any designs against the throne ; and being
* Keith, p. 99. f Knox, p. 166.
t Keith, p. 99. Knox, p. 166. And MS. Proclamation, State-paper
OiEce, backed by Cecil, 25th July, Proclamation of the Congregation.
126 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
assured by this able leader that nothing could be farther
from his intention his desire, and that of his associates,
being only to obtain liberty of conscience, the ambas-
sador returned through England into France perfectly
satisfied upon the subject.* That Moray at this
moment encouraged any such daring project may be
doubted, but certainly he was not likely to criminate
himself upon so serious an accusation.
The death of Henry the Second of France took place
during this mission, and on his return to France, Melvill
found the Guises triumphant, and nothing but threats
of war and vengeance against the party of the Congre-
gation in Scotland. Nor could this change of views
remain for any time a secret in that country, or in the
court of Elizabeth : the Protestant faction in France
kept up an intimate and constant correspondence with
their brethren in Scotland ; Cecil, by his secret agents,
was fully informed of the intrigues of the French
cabinet ; and both were prepared to watch and to re-
sist, when necessary, the meditated designs, not only
against the reformed opinions, but against England
itself. Previous to their leaving the capital, in con-
formity to the late convention, the brethren proclaimed
by sound of trumpet the conditions which they had
accepted, and added, that if any of these should be
violated, the leaders of the party would assist their
friends as they had already done, with their whole
power, and zealously contend for the glory of God,
and the relief and defence of every member of the true
Congregation. f
* Melvill's Memoirs, Bannatyne edit. pp. 81, 82. Melvill arrived when
the army was arrayed in order of battle on Cupar Moor. This was on the
12th of June, 1559. See Keith, p. 91.
j" MS. State-paper Office. Proclamation of the Congregation, Edinburgh.
25th July, 1559. It is backed by Cecil, and dated 31st July, 1559.
1559. MARY. 127
From Edinburgh the chiefs of the Protestants re-
O
tired to Stirling, where, dreading the craft of their
adversaries, who had endeavoured to sow jealousies
amongst them, they entered into a new bond, by which
they engaged that none of them should receive any
message from the regent, without imparting it to the
rest, and holding a consultation on the proposals it
conveyed.* From the same city Knox was despatched
to Berwick, where he had a secret interview with Sir
James Crofts the governor. ] It appears from the
original instructions committed to this indefatigable
reformer, that his mission was almost warlike. He
proposed to seize and garrison Stirling, provided the
English would send money for the payment of the
troops, describing it as " the key and principal place 1 '
which might separate the northern part of the kingdom
from the south. He represented that some assistance
by sea would he required for the safety of Dundee and
Perth, and suggested the fortification of Broughty
craig, to which work the barons in its neighbourhood,
who were zealous for the cause, would give every as-
sistance. He pointed out the necessity of the fort of
Eyemouth being seized by England, to prevent its
occupation by the French ; and he required the queen's
majesty to influence the Kers, Homes, and other
borderers, in favour of their party. Under the term
" comfortable support," which the Congregation looked
for from Elizabeth, he explained that not only soldiers
must be sent, and men and ships be ready to assist
them if assaulted, but " that some respect must be had
* August 1, 1559. Keith, pp. 100, 101.
f Knox came to Berwick on the 3d Aug. 1559, and on the night of the
same day returned with Alexander Whitelaw into Scotland. MS. Letter,
State-paper Office, Sir James Crofts to Cecil, in cipher, with the decipher,
dated Berwick, 4th Aug. 1559.
128 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
to some of the nobility, who were not able to sustain
such households as now, in the beginning of these
troubles, were requisite, the practice of the queen-
regent being to stir up enemies against every nobleman,
even in the parts where he remaineth." In plainer
terms, the Scottish nobility who had joined the cause
of the Congregation, were anxious, like their predeces-
sors under Henry the Eighth, to receive pensions from
England. On such conditions the reformers, Knox
declared, were ready to enter into a strict league with
Elizabeth, to bind themselves to be enemies to enemies,
and friends to friends, and never to agree with France
without the consent of that princess; he lastly observed,
that although the league was as yet only proposed to
the Privy-council of Scotland, so anxiously was it desired
by the whole barons, that they accused the council of
negligence for having so long delayed it.*
In this mission, Knox, who was accompanied by
Alexander Whitelaw, an adherent of the party, incurred
considerable personal risk, their little convoy having
been furiously attacked by the French garrison of Dun-
bar.-|- He returned, however, to Stirling in safety ;
but mortified by the cold and dilatory policy of Eliza-
beth, who, whilst she avoided giving them immediate
assistance, did not scruple to throw suspicion upon their
motives, and to act with an inconsistency and mystery,
which put them at fault. She addressed a letter to
the queen-dowager, full of the most earnest wishes for
* MS. Instructions, State-paper Office, 31st July, 1559, in the hand of
Knox. These Articles and Instructions appear to have been left by Knox
with Sir James Crofts, to be shown to Sir Henry Percy, whom he had no
time to see ; and to Cecil, to whom bethought it superfluous to write, having,
as he says, opened the whole case to Sir J. Crofts. They have never been
printed, and throw much light upon a period which, in Knox's own history,
is perplexed and obscure.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Knox to Sir J. Crofts, 6th Arg. 1559.
1559. MARY. 129
the preservation of peace between the two countries ;
yet she accused the leaders of the Congregation of luke-
waramess and inactivity, in not rising against her au-
thoritv, expressing her astonishment that they had not
more vigorously exerted themselves for the great objects
they had in view. It was her desire, as far as we can
discover it, to incite them to revolt against the estab-
lished government, but herself to incur no expense or
risk. In her instructions to Sir Ralph Sadler, whom
at this time she determined to send on a mission into
Scotland, he was directed to " nourish the faction be-
twixt the Scots and the French, so that the French
may be better occupied with them, and less busy with
England. Whilst he was to explore the very truth,
whether the Lord James did mean any enterprise
towards the crown of Scotland for himself, or not."*
These strange delays and suspicions irritated the
reformers; and their leaders, the Lord James and the
Earl of Argyle, addressed letters of remonstrance to
Crofts governor of Berwick, and to Cecil, in which they
complained of the treatment they had experienced. To
be judged slow, negligent, and cold in their proceedings,
gave them, they declared, great distress. " Ye are not
ignorant, sir," said they, addressing Crofts, " how
difficult it is to persuade a multitude to the revolt of
an authority established. The last time that we were
pursued, our enemies were in number thrice more than
we, besides that the castle of Edinburgh declared plain
enemy to us at our uttermost necessity, which was one
cause of our appointment * *. Our strength, substance,
and number being considered, we mean nothing but
plain simplicity, and a brotherly conjunction without
* MS. Instructions, State-paper Office, 8th Aug. 1559. Backed in Cecil's
hand, Sir Half Sadler.
VOL. VI. I
ISO HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
long delay, for we hate all doubles."* In terms equally
strong, Knox, in a letter sent at the same time (sixth
August, 1559) to Sir James Crofts, arraigned the delay
and suspicions of the English Privy-council. " 1 must
signify to you," said he, " that unless the council be
more forward in this common action, ye will utterly
discourage the hearts of all here, for they cannot abide
the crime of suspicion; they will not trifle: but if they
cannot have present support of them, they will seek the
next remedy (not that I mean that ever they intend
to return to France) to preserve their. own bodies,
whatsoever become of the country, which our enemies
may easily occupy ; and when they have so done, make
your account what may ensue towards yourself."f
It was the policy of Elizabeth, at this time, to distress
France through Scotland. The establishment of the
Reformation, according to the model dictated by the
stern anti-prelatical opinions of Knox, was not the aim
to which she directed her efforts: she hated the man,J
and considered the book which he had written against
female government, an audacious and inexpiable offence.
No concessions or explanations could disarm her resent-
ment; she forbade him to set foot within her dominions ;
and to his repeated applications, -that he might be per-
mitted to preach in the north of England, Cecil her
minister was compelled to turn a deaf ear. Nor is this
any matter of wonder, when we consider that the indi-
vidual attachments of this princess were strongly on
the side of Romanism, and that Knox considered the
Reformation in England as scarcely one remove from
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, backed by Cecil, Earl of Argyle and
Prior of St Andrew's to Sir James Crofts, 6th Aug. 1559, Stirling. It is
signed by both Argyle and Moray, but the body of the letter is in the hand-
writing of Knox.
+ MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Knox to Sir J. Crofts, 6th Aug. 1559.
J Sadler, vol. i. pp. 569, 570. Also, Ibid. 532, 535.
1559. MARY. 131
Popery. But although lukewarm in the cause of the
Reformation, and desirous of peace with France, she
was well aware of the gigantic schemes of ambition
conceived by the house of Guise. Her jealousy had
been roused to the last degree by the attack upon her
right to the throne, and assumption of her arms and
title, which had been early made by the Queen of Scots ;
and she dreaded the effect which the establishment of
French influence and the overthrow of the party of the
Congregation must produce upon the great body of her
Roman Catholic subjects in England and Ireland.
Under these circumstances, without actually breaking
with France, she encouraged the Protestants to revolt
against the authority of the queen-dowager ; and, in
reply to their repeated applications for money, Cecil
hinted in his letters, as we have already seen, that they
ought not to neglect the opportunity now afforded them,
to strip the Romish Church of its pomp and wealth,
and apply " good things to good uses,"* It is impor-
tant to attend to the reply made by the Lord James
and Argyle (in name of the rest of the brethren) to
such advice. " We are not ignorant," they said, "that
our enemies, the popish kirkmen, are crafty, rich,
malicious, and blood-thirsty, and most gladly would we
have their riches otherwise bestowed. But, consider,
sir, that we have against us the established authority,
which did ever favour you and Denmark both, in all
your reformations; and therefore, that without support
we cannot bring them to such obedience as we desire.
The danger imminent by the army prepared against
us in France moved us first to seek your support, and
after to send our other messenger, Maister Knox, with
fuller instructions to Sir James Crofts, which we sup-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, quoted above, (p. 123), 28th July, 1559.
132 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
pose ye have received * * *. * We have tempted the
Duke by all means possible, but as yet of him have no
certainty other than a general promise that he will not
be our enemy. * * * We cease not to provoke all
men to favour our cause, and of our nobility we have
established a Council ; but suddenly to discharge this
authority ( till that ye and we be fully accorded, it is
not thought expedient."!
From this avowal it is evident that the intentions
of the Congregation had undergone a material altera-
tion. Some little time before they had declared in
their letter to Cecil, that any alteration in authority,
by which we must understand a revolt against the
queen-dowager for the purpose of introducing a change
in the civil government of the country, had not entered
into their hearts, unless extreme necessity compelled
them to it; their single purpose being to advance the
glory of Christ, to remove superstition and idolatry,
and to maintain the liberty of their country against
the tyranny of strangers : the remonstrances and en-
couragement of Elizabeth had now effected an important
change. They had earnestly laboured to seduce the
Duke of Chastelherault from his allegiance, with a
view, probably, of restoring him to the regency ; they
had established a Council; and only waiteda full agree-
ment with England to depose the queen-dowager from
her authority, and substitute some more favoured in-
dividual of their own party in her stead.
Who this should be was a question which did not
* This alludes to the instructions quoted above in p. 127, dated 31st July,
1559. MS. State-paper Office.
\- " To discharge this authority : M the phrase appears to be equivalent to
" the renunciation of their allegiance and setting up a rival government."
J MS. State-paper Office, 13th Aug. 1559, Glasgow. Subscribed, your
loving and assured friends, in the name of the rest.
On the 19th July, 1559.
1559. MARY. 133
fail to present itself to the English court, and Elizabeth
seems to have looked to two noble persons. The first
was the Earl of Arran, eldest son to the Duke of Chastel-
herault, next heir to the crown after the young queen,
and lately Captain of the Scottish Guard in France.
Having embraced the opinions of the reformers, and
engaged in intrigues with England, he had become an
object of suspicion to the French government, which
had stript him of his preferments, and was about to
throw him into prison when he escaped to Geneva. It
had early occurred to Cecil, that the presence of this
young nobleman in Scotland would be useful as a check
on the influence of the queen-dowager. Letters were,
therefore, sent to recall him home, and every means
taken to persuade his father to resist the regent. In
Elizabeth's instructions to Sir Ralph Sadler, when she
was about to send him into that country,* this minister
was directed to exhort the Duke, for " preservation of
the expectant interest which he hath to the crown if
God call the young queen before she have issue, to with-
stand [resist] the governance of that realm by any other
than the blood of Scotland." He was directed to quote
the late example of the King of Spain, who, although
husband to the Queen of England, committed no charge
of any manner of office, spiritual or temporal to a
stranger and of his father Charles the Fifth, who
governed his countries of Flanders and Brabant by
their own nation ; and to warn Arran that the French,
under pretence of putting down the Reformation, would
never be satisfied till they had subjugated the realm,
and utterly extirpated his house.-f- Neither the Duke,
* 8th August, 1559.
f MS. Instructions. State-paper Office, 8th Aug. 1559. Backed in Cecil's
hand, Sir Ralf Sadler. Memorial of things to be imparted to the Queen's
Majesty.
134 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
however, nor his son the earl of Arran, possessed abili-
ties sufficient for the high and difficult part thus allotted
to them. Chastelherault, tirnid, irresolute, and indolent,
was content to be neutral, and coveted repose. On the
other hand, Arran his son was willing enough to engage
in any schemes which promised advantage to himself,
and his ambition even aspired so high as to a marriage
with the English queen ; but the vigour, ability, and
self-command, requisite in the leader of a party were
completely wanting in this young nobleman : vain,
passionate, and capricious, his designs were adopted
without consideration, and, upon the first appearancf
of difficulty, abandoned with precipitation and disgusv
All this weakness, however, was not yet discovered, and
for the present he was employed and flattered with the
hopes of advancement.
But Elizabeth, and, still more, her able minister
Cecil, had their eye upon another and a very different
person, the Lord James, natural son of James the
Fifth, afterwards the noted Regent Moray, and re-
garded even at this time, when he had not completed
his twenty-sixth year, * as the most influential leader
in the Congregation. There is every reason to believe
that his attachment to the principles of the Reforma-
tion was sincere, and that at first he proposed no other
end in taking so prominent a lead than to procure
liberty of conscience, and the free exercise of his religion
for himself and his adherents. But personal ambition
and the love of power were deeply planted in his char-
acter ; his mind was one of no ordinary cast ; and
when he began to busy himself in public life, a very
short period sufficed to make him feel his talents, and
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office. Randolph to Killigrew, April, 15GO.
Backed by Cecil.
1559. MARY. 135
take pleasure in the eminence they conferred upon him.
Educated for the Church, first in his own country and
afterwards at the schools in France, he acquired habits
of study, and a cultivation of mind superior to the
barons by whom he was surrounded. He had early
attached to himself some of those able and unscrupu-
lous men, who at this time were to be found in the
profession of the law, or in the Church ; men who
combined the craft and intrigue of civilized life, with
the ferocity of a still feudal age. But whilst he used
their assistance, his own powers of application were so
great, as scarcely to require it ; his acquaintance with
European politics, superior to most of those with whom
he acted, enabled him to transact business, and conduct
his correspondence with uncommon clearness, brevity
and precision ; his knowledge of human nature was
profound : he possessed that rapid intuitive insight
into the dispositions of those with whom he acted,
which taught him to select with readiness, and to em-
ploy with success, those best calculated to carry forward
his designs ; and it was his peculiar art to appear to
do nothing, whilst, in truth, he did all. There was a
bluntness, openness and honesty about his manner,
which disarmed suspicion and disposed men to unbosom
themselves to him with equal readiness and sincerity ;
yet when the conference was ended, they were often
surprised to find that the confidence had been altogether
on one side: they had revealed their own purposes, and
Moray, with all his apparent frankness, had betrayed
none of his secrets. There is, perhaps, no kind of man
more dangerous in public life, than he who conceals
matured purposes under a negligent and careless ex-
terior; and if to this we add, that his talents in war
were of a superior order that he was brave, almost
136 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
to rashness, that his address was dignified, and his
countenance noble and kingly, we shall be at no loss
to comprehend the extraordinary influence which such
a man had acquired, not only over his own party, but
in England and on the continent.
It had begun to be whispered in France, as we have
seen, and at the English court, that Moray aimed
secretly at the crown. When Cecil drew up his in-
structions for Sir Ralph Sadler, he was directed to
investigate whether the Lord James, whose power with
the Congregation appeared to be daily on the increase,
did really look so high ; and it was added, " if he do,
and the Duke be found very cold in his own causes, it
shall not be amiss to let him follow his own device
therein, without dissuading or persuading him anything
therein."* A letter written a few days after this by
Knox to Sir William Cecil, describes the condition of
the reformed party, and their anxiety for assistance
from England, in strong terms. " The case of these
gentlemen standeth thus: that unless without delay
money be furnished to pay their soldiers, who in num-
ber are now but five hundred, for their service by past,
and to retain another thousand footmen, with three
hundred horsemen for a time, they will be compelled
every man to seek the next way for his own safety. I
am assured (as flesh may be of flesh) that some of them
will take a very hard life before that ever they compone
either with the queen-regent or with France ; but this
I dare not promise of all, unless in you they see greater
forwardness to their support. To aid us so liberally
as we require to some of you will appear excessive, and
to displease France to many will appear dangerous ;
but, sir, I hope that ye consider that our destruction
* MS. State-paper Office, Aug. 8, 1 559. Backed by Cecil, Sir Ralf Sadc'ler.
1559. MARY. 137
were your greatest loss, and that when France shall
be our full master (which God ave:'t) they will be but
slender friends to you. Lord Bettancourt* bragged in
his credit after he had delivered his menacing letter to
the Prior, ( that th'e king and his council would spend
the crown of France, unless they had our full obedi-
ence : I am assured, that unless they had a farther
respect, they would not buy our poverty at that price.
They labour to corrupt some of our great men with
money; and some of our number are so poor, (as before
I wrote,) that without support they cannot serve.
Some they threaten, and against others they have
raised up a party in their own country. In this mean-
time, if you lie as manacled, what will be the end you
may easily conclude. Some of the council, immediately
after the sight of your letters, departed, not well ap-
peased. The Earl of Argyle is gone to his country
for putting order to the same, and mindeth shortly to
return with his force, if assurance be had of your sup-
port ; and likewise will the gentlemen in these lower
parts put themselves in readiness to enterprise the
uttermost, if ye will assist with them : and therefore,
in the bowels of Christ Jesus, I require you, sir, to
make plain answer what they may lippenj to, and at
what time their support shall be in readiness. Some
danger is in the drift of time, in such matters ye are
not ignorant. It was much marvelled that the queen's
majesty wrote no manner of answer, considering that
her good father, the most noble and most redoubted
of his time, disdained not, lovingly, to write to men
fewer in number and far inferior in authority and
* The Sieur de Bettancourt, ambassador from the French court. Se
postea, p. 140.
+ The Lord James. He was Prior of St Andrew's.
$ To lippen ; to trust.
138 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
power, than be those that wrote to her Grace."* This
concluding sentence is worthy of notice, for Knox
evidently alludes to the correspondence of Henry the
Eighth with the murderers of the cardinal Beaton ;
and his expressions go far, I think, to intimate his ap-
proval of their conduct and of Henry^s encouragement
of them.
These strong representations had the desired effect.
Sir Ralph Sadler was sent to Berwick for the purpose
of managing the correspondence between the reformers
and the English court. -f- He assured them of imme-
diate pecuniary assistance, and carried with him three
thousand pounds, J which Elizabeth directed to be ap-
plied with such secrecy and discretion, as not to impair
the treaties of peace lately concluded with Scotland.
On his arrival, he found a messenger from Knox, by
whom he was assured, that if the queen would furnish
them with money to pay a body of fifteen hundred
arquebuses, and three hundred horse, they would soon
not only expel the French from Scotland, but achieve
their whole purpose. || Some little time after this. 1 !!
Balnaves, a zealous adherent of the Congregation and
an intimate friend of Knox, repaired privately to
Berwick, where he held a long consultation with Sir
Ralph Sadler, and fully explained the views of the
Protestants. He assured him that the breach between
* Original MS. Letter, State-paper Office, St Andrew's, 15th August,
1559, backed in Cecil's hand, Mr Knox. I have gone into greater length
in this part of the History, which involves the causes and motives connected
with the early annals of the Reformation, because many of the letters which
I have given, were unknown to Dr M'Crie, others have been printed in his
Life of Knox, but incorrectly, with many passages omitted, (owing to his not
having had the originals before him,) and the period, one of great importance,
has been far too slightly treated by our general historians.
f 20th August, 1559.
As to the mode in which the money was to be advanced to the Protes-
tants, see Sadler, vol. i. p. 439.
Sadler's State Papers, by Scott, vol. i. pp. 392, 399. H Ibid. p. 400.
11 Uth September, 1559.
1559.
MARY.
139
them and the queen-regent was now incurable ; that
having advanced so far in their resistance, they must
go forward with the matter or lose their lives ; that
whatever pretence they made, the principal mark they
shot at was, to introduce an alteration of the state and
authority, to depose the regent, place the supreme
power in the hands of the Duke, or his son the Earl of
Arran, and then enter into open treaty with England
according to the exigency of the case. So well satisfied
was Sadler with the representations of this zealous
partisan, that he paid him two thousand pounds, to be
delivered to the leaders of the Congregation for the
maintenance of their troops, and assured him that some
steps should be taken for the relief of Kirkaldy, Ormis-
ton, Whitelaw, and others. These men, it appears,
were in distress, owing to the sums they had already
spent in this service, and to their pensions from France
having been stopped since they had taken part with
the Congregation.*
It happened, by a singular coincidence, that whilst
these schemes for the advancement of Arran formed the
subject of a midnight conference in the castle of Ber-
wick, that young earl himself alighted at the gate, only
three hours after the entrance of Balnaves ; but all was
managed so secretly, that both were for some time
under the same roof without bein* aware of the circum-
o
stance. It was judged right, however, that they should
meet, and after a brief but joyful interview, Balnaves
departed, under cover of night, to Holy Island ; from
which, carrying the money with him, he arrived at the
head-quarters of the Congregation. Arran, having
disguised himself, assumed the name of Monsieur de
* Sadler, vol. i. pp. 434, 435. Arrival of the French, Sadler, vol. i. p.
403-411. Keith, pp. 101, 102.
140 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
Beaufort, and passed into Teviotdale, from whence he
was conducted to his father in the castle of Hamilton.*
Yet all this was transacted, according to the express
directions of Cecil, with such secrecy, that for some-
time it was not known that he was in Scotland.-f-
This assistance from Elizabeth came very oppor-
tunely to enable the Congregation to resist the decided
measures of France and the queen-regent. In the
beginning of August, the Sieur de Bettancourt had
arrived from the French court. He assured the queen
that an army, commanded by her brother the Marquis
D'Elbeuf, would speedily embark for Scotland. He
brought letters from the King and Queen of France to
the Lord James, whom they regarded as the chief
leader of the Protestants. They reminded him of the
benefits he had received from France, upbraided him
with his ingratitude, and threatened him with absolute
ruin if he persisted in his rebellious courses. To these
accusations Moray directed a temperate, though an
insincere reply. He professed himself to be solely ac-
tuated by a zeal for the truth and the glory of God ;
and he declared for himself and the rest of the Congre-
gation, that, except upon the subject of religion, they
would be faithful to their sovereign, and detested the
crime of sedition. J
Preparations for war now rapidly advanced. In the
end of August a force of a thousand men, under the
command of an Italian officer named Octavian, had
disembarked at Leith ; and with these the queen-
dowager began to intrench and fortify that port.
She despatched their leader back to France, with
an earnest request for a larger reinforcement; she
* Sadler, vol. 5. pp. 435, 450, 4G1.
f For Arraii's Arrival, Kith September, see Sadler, vol. i. p. 447.
J Knox, p. K>7. Spottiswood, p. 131.
1559. MARY. 14-1
warned the French court that her adversaries were in
active correspondence with England, Germany, and
Denmark ; stated the necessity for immediate exer-
tion, before they were allowed to concentrate their
strength ; and assured them, that with four ships of
war to cruise in the Firth, an additional thousand men
and a hundred barbed horse, she would undertake to
reduce the kingdom to peace.* This, however, was
not so easily effected. The people had been long dis-
satisfied with the French troops, whose stay in Scot-
land was expensive and troublesome. The partiality
of the regent to her own nation had excited disgust ;
the reformed preachers perambulated the country, and
in their discourses won the people to their devotion,
not only on the great subject of religion, but so elo-
quently declaimed against the alleged conspiracy of
the regent for the subjugation of the realm under a
foreign yoke, that the arrival of a new auxiliary force
was viewed with the utmost jealousy and aversion.*)-
A more pacific mission, indeed, succeeded this warlike
demonstration, consisting of the Bishop of Amiens and
two learned doctors of the Sorbonne ; but although
this foreign prelate came as legate a latere from the
pope, and his companions earnestly laboured to recon-
cile the reformers to the ancient faith, their united
efforts to " purge the church and the people from here-
tical pollutions'" were unavailing. Nor was the legate
completely a messenger of peace ; for along with him
came La Brosse a French officer, two hundred men, J
and a company of eighty horse.
* Keith, p. 102.
+ British" Museum, Caligula, book x. fol. 38. MS. Letter, Henry Balnaves
to Sir R. Sadler and Sir J. Crofts, Stirling, 22d September, 1559.
J Sadler, State Papers, vol. i. pp. 417, 464, 470, 475.
They arrived in three ships on 24th September, 1559. Caligula, book x.
fol. 39. Sadler and Crofts to Cecil, Berwick, Sept. 27, 1559.
142 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
Both sides LOW resolved on war ; and on the arrival
of Arran, a secret consultation having been held at
Hamilton with the principal leaders of the Congrega-
tion,* the Duke, who had hitherto been neutral, agreed
to join their party, and signed those covenants by which
they bound themselves to subvert the Roman Catholic
faith, to overturn the government of the regent, and
to expel the French from the country. *f* A message
was then transmitted to the queen, requiring her to
desist from the fortification of Leith ; to which she
answered with spirit, that it was as lawful for her
daughter to strengthen her own seaport, without ask-
ing leave of the nobility, as for the Duke to build at
Hamilton, nor would she stay her proceedings unless
compelled by force. This challenge on the the part of
the reformers was premature and ill-judged. They
could not, at the earliest, assemble their whole force
before the fifteenth of October ; they were not certain
of a second supply of money from England ; the Duke,
although now one of their party, was timid and irre-
solute ; Argyle was occupied in a struggle against
Macconnell in his own country; and Huntley, al-
though disposed to favour their proceedings, was not
yet separated entirely from the queen-regent. Instead,
therefore, of being able to follow up their warlike mes-
sage by any hostile attack, they contented themselves
with the occupation of Broughty craig, a strong forti-
fied castle in the mouth of the Tay, and granted a
commission to Glencairn and Erskine of Dun to recom-
mence their proceedings against the religious houses,
* See an important Letter .n Mr Stevenson's Illustrations of the Reign of
Mary, p. 73. Arran to Sir William Cecil, 21st September, 1559.
f MS. Letter, British Museum, Caligula, book x. foL 38. Henry Balnaves
to Sadler and Crofts, 22d September, 1559.
1559. MARY. 143
by suppressing and purging the abbey of Paisley of
idolatry.*
Soon after this their cause gained an important
accession. Thomas Randall or Randolph, afterwards
Sir Thomas Randolph, who had become acquainted
with the Earl of Arran at Geneva, at the earnest re-
quest of this young nobleman was sent after him into
Scotland. What was the particular tie which attached
so able and busy an intriguer as Randolph to the for-
tunes of Arran, does not appear ; but Cecil lost no time
in seconding his wishes : and the presence of this
English agent, who arrived with much secrecy at
Hamilton in the end of September,^ was of essential
service in imparting energy and promptitude to the
measures of the reformers. But this was not all :
Maitland of Lethington, the secretary to the queen-
regent, a man whose talents as a statesmen were of the
highest order, and who had long professed himself a
friend to the reformed doctrines, now secretly joined
their party ; and although he openly adhered to the
queen, betrayed her councils and most private affairs
to her enemies.
Matters now proceeded with more decision and
rapidity. { On the fifteenth of October the Congre-
gation assembled their force : it amounted to twelve
thousand men ; and next day they advanced to Edin-
burgh, which they occupied without resistance, the
regent having retired within the fortifications of Leith.
One council for civil affairs and another for matters of
religion was then appointed. In the first were iu-
* Sadler, vol. i. p. 465. Also, pp. 500, 507.
t Ibid. p. 474.
t Ibid. p. 498. MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 383.
Original, State-paper Office, backed by Cecil, 10th November, 1552.
Intelligence out 4 f Scotland.
144 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
eluded the Duke, his son the Earl of Arran, the Earls
of Argyle and Glencairn, the Lord James, with the
Lords Ruthven, Boyd, Maxwell, the Laird of Dun,
Henry Balnaves, Kirkaldy of Grange, and the Provost
of Dundee. The second for religion embraced Knox,
Goodman, and the Bishop of Galloway, who had re-
nounced his former faith, and embraced the principles
of the Protestants. They next addressed a letter to
the queen, requiring her instantly to command all
foreigners and men-at-arms to depart from the town
of Leith, and leave it free and open to the subjects of
the realm. She replied, that their letter appeared, from
its tone, rather to come from a prince to his subjects
than from subjects to a prince ; that it was ridiculous
to talk of foreigners making a conquest of the realm,
since Frenchmen were neutralized subjects, and Scot-
land united to France by marriage ; and she concluded
by commanding the Duke and his company, under pain
of treason, to depart from the capital.
The Lord Lion who brought this message from the
queen was requested to await his answer; and the
whole Congregation, consisting of the nobles, barons,
and burgesses of their faction, assembled in the Tol-
booth of the city on the twenty- first of October.
At this meeting the question of the deposition of the
regent was debated with much solemnity. It was
urged by Lord Ruthven, who was chosen president,
that since she, who was not their natural born sove-
reign, but only a regent, had contemptuously refused
the requests of those who by birth were councillors of
the realm, and since her pretences threatened to bring
the commonwealth into bondage, she ought no longer
to be permitted to domineer over them : he proposed,
therefore, that she should be deposed ; and much di-
1559. MARY. 115
versitj of opinion having been expressed, they requested
the advice of their preachers.
On this delicate subject much thought and discussion
had already taken place. We have seen, indeed, that
the deprivation of the queen, and the alteration of the
civil government, had been contemplated some time
before. Willock spoke first, and having enlarged on
the Divine Ordinance of Magistracy, he stated its
limitations by the Word of God, and quoted the ex-
amples of the depositions of kings which occurred in
the Scriptures ; he then adverted to the oppression
inflicted on them by the queen-regent, whom he deno-
minated an open and obstinate idolatress. She had
refused them justice, she had invaded their liberties,
she had prevented the preaching of God's Word, and
had not scrupled to declare that their country was no
longer a free and independent realm, but an appanage
of France : such being her conduct, he could see no
reason why they, the born councillors of the realm,
should scruple to divest her of all authority amongst
them.* This judgment was corroborated, though
somewhat more guardedly, by Knox. He approved,
he said, of the sentiments of his brother, but warned
them that no malversation of the regent ought to
withdraw their hearts from the obedience due to their
sovereigns, and protested that they ought deeply to
examine their own motives. If, he said, the present
grave and momentous proceeding originated not from
the desire to preserve their commonwealth, but was dic-
tated by private malice and envy, they need not expect
to escape the wrath of God ; and lastly, he observed,
that upon her repentance and submission to the nobi-
lity, they were undoubtedly bound to restore her to
* Keith, pp. 104, 105.
VOL. VI. I
146 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
the same honours of which she was now deprived.*
Such being the decision of their ministers, the votes of
the assembly were individually taken : it was resolved
without a dissenting voice, that the regent should be
suspended from her authority, and the act for this
purpose was immediately drawn up, and proclaimed
publicly to the people. ( It remained only to com-
municate it to the regent ; and for this purpose a
letter was addressed to her and delivered to the Lion
herald. It informed her that they had received her
message, and understood from the terms in which it
was conceived her determined opposition to the glory
of God, the liberty of the realm, and the welfare of the
nobles ; for saving of which, it continued, we have in
our sovereign lord and lady's name suspended your
commission, and all administration of the policy your
grace may pretend thereby; being most assuredly per-
suaded, that your proceedings are direct contrary to our
sovereign lord and lady's will, whom we ever esteem to
be for the weal and not for the hurt of this our com-
monweal. And, it proceeded, " as your grace will not
acknowledge us, our sovereign lord and lady's true
barons, for your subjects and council, no more will we
acknowledge you for any regent or lawful magistrate
unto us. Seeing, if any authority ye have, by reason
of our sovereign's commission granted unto your grace,
the same for most weighty reasons is worthily sus-
pended by us, by name and authority of our sovereigns,
whose council we are, of native birth, in the affairs of
this our commonweal."}
It must be admitted, that this violent and unprece-
dented measure, although attempted to be concealed
* MS. Calderwood, vol. i. pp. 386, 387 ; and British Museum, Caligula,
book x. fol. 42.
f 22d October, 1559. J Keith, p. 105.
1559. MARY. H7
under the name and authority of the sovereign, was an
act of open rebellion, and that to attempt to justify
their proceedings under the allegation that they were
born councillors of the realm, was a specious but un-
sound pretence. Their birth entitled some of them to
sit in parliament, but could never bestow upon them
the power to constitute themselves a self-elected coun-
cil, without the intervention of the royal authority or
any meeting of the three Estates. Having, however,
thus boldly begun, it was judged right to proceed in
the same strain : on the twenty-fifth a herald was sent
to summon all French and Scottish soldiers to leave
the town of Leith, within twelve hours. This being
disregarded, preparations were made for the assault,
and scaling ladders were ordered to be prepared in the
aisles of the High Church of St Giles, much to the
annoyance of the preachers, who predicted that an
enterprise begun in sacrilege, must end in defeat.*
Nor was it long before these gloomy anticipations were
fulfilled : the money given to Balnaves, and a small
additional sum brought by Randolph, was now spent;
the soldiers of the Congregation clamoured for pay,
and breaking into mutiny offered their services to any
Catholic or Protestant master who would pay them their
wages ; the army, lately twelve thousand strong, but
composed of inferior vassals who could not remain long
in the field, diminished daily ; consternation seized the
minds of their leaders ; and it was evident that, without
additional assistance, their great enterprise was at an
end. To comfort them, Elizabeth, at the earnest en-
treaties of Cecil, forgot her parsimony, and intrusted
four thousand pounds to Cockburn of Ormiston, a
* Knox, p. 200. British Museum, Caligula, book x. fol. 47, dorso. TLa
Scottish Lords to Sir Ralph Sadler, 6th November, 1559.
148 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
zealous adherent of the cause, who undertook the dan-
gerous commission of carrying it to head-quarters ; but
he was waylaid, wounded, and robbed of the whole by
the Earl of Bothwell, and the Congregation thrown
into extreme distress.* The action was the more
treacherous, as Bothwell, afterwards so notorious for
his crimes, was at this moment in secret correspondence
with the reformers, and had professed attachment to
their cause. To this succeeded another calamity :
Haliburton provost of Dundee, and reputed one of the
best military leaders in the country, conducted a party
of his townsmen to besiege Leith, and had planted some
great ordnance on an eminence near Holyrood. Dur-
ing the absence of many of the leaders of the Congre-
gation, who had gone to the sermon, which lasted till
noon, the French attacked the battery, and defeating
his party with great loss, pursued them into the streets
of the city, where they had the cruelty to slay not only
several aged persons who could make no resistance, but
to murder a woman in cold blood, with an infant at her
breast. ( On their return to Leith, the queen-regent
sitting on the ramparts welcomed her victorious sol-
diers, and smiled to see them loaded with the homely
and multifarious plunder of the houses of her poor
citizens. We cannot wonder that the popularity of
this princess was on the wane, yet her affairs continued
to prosper ; and her enemies, divided in opinion and
despairing of support, became weakened by desertion
and spiritless in their exertion. On the fifth Novem-
ber the French sallied from Leith, with the purpose of
intercepting a convoy carrying provisions into Edin-
burgh. Arran and the Lord James attacked them at
* Sadler's State Papers, pp. 538, 539. MS. Caldenvood, vol. i. p. 393. MS.
State-paper Office, Intelligence out of Scotland, 10th November, 1559.
t MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 394.
1559. MARY. 149
the head of a small company, but pushing into difficult
ground, they got entangled between the morass of
Restalrig and the moat surrounding the park, and
falling into confusion, were defeated with great loss.
Haliburton, to whose exertions it was owing that they
were not entirely cut to pieces, fell in this action ; and
although the Lord James and Arran escaped, its con-
sequences were so fatal, that the Congregation aban-
doned the town at midnight, and retired precipitately,
first to Linlithgow and afterwards to Stirling.* The
capital had generally been esteemed peculiarly favour-
able to the reformers ; but the late disasters cooled the
ardour of many of their proselytes, and they retreated
amidst the shouts and insults of a great proportion of
the citizens. f
At this season of trial and distress, the courage and
eloquence of Knox wonderfully supported his party.
Whilst yet in Edinburgh he had commenced a sermon,
on the 80th Psalm, in which he demonstrated that the
felicity of God's people was not to be measured by ex-
ternal appearances, since, in the course of their history,
it had often happened that his chosen flock suffered
more severely than the ignorant and idolatrous hea-
then. At Stirling he continued the subject ; warned
the Congregation of their sin in trusting too much to
an arm of flesh ; reminded them of their humility and
holiness, when, at the commencement of this great
struggle, they had only God for their protector ; and
bade them beware, lest they had more respect to the
power and dignity of their leader, the Duke, than to
the favour of heaven, and the equity of their cause.
* 6th November, 1559.
t MS. Calderwood, pp. 399, 400. Sadler, vol. i. p. 554. MS. Letter,
State-paper Office, 10th November, 1559, Intelligence out of Scotland. Also,
MS. State-paper Office, Randolph to Sir Ralph Sadler, llth Nov. l.-0.
150 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 155,9.
Passing from this to a personal exhortation, he re-
proached Chastelherault with his slowness to join the
reformers, and pointed out the sin he had committed
in giving assistance to their enemies. " I am uncertain,"
said he, " if my lord's grace hath unfeignedly repented
of his assistance given to the murderers who unjustly
pursued us ; I am uncertain if he hath repented of the
innocent blood of Chrisfs martyrs, which was shed
through his default. But let it be that so he hath
done, (as I hear he hath confessed his offence before
the Lords and brethren of the Congregation,) yet, sure
I am that neither he nor his friends did feel before this
time the anguish and grief of heart which we felt when
their blind fury pursued us ; and, therefore, hath God
justly permitted both them and us to fall in this con-
fusion : us, because we put our confidence in man ;
and them, to make them feel how bitter was that cup
which they had made othersto drink before them. What
then remaineth, said he, but that both they and we
turn to the Eternal, our God, who beateth down to
death that he may raise up again, to leave behind the
remembrance of his wondrous deliverance to the praise
of his own name, which, if we do unfeignedly, I no
more doubt that this our dolour, confusion, and fear,
shall be turned into joy, honour, and boldness, than I
doubt that God gave victory to the Israelites over the
Benjamites, after they were twice with ignominy re-
pulsed and driven back. Be assured, he concluded,
with that fervour of expression and manner which gave
weight and entrance to every syllable this cause,
whatever becomes of us and our mortal carcasses, shall,
in despite of Satan, prevail in this realm of Scotland :
it is the eternal truth of God ; and, however for the
time oppressed, must in the end be triumphant.*
* Knox's History, p. 210.
1559. MARY. 151
Animated by this address, the leaders met in council,
and after prayer by Knox it was resolved instantly to
despatch Maitland of Lethington to solicit assistance
from Elizabeth; at the same time, being unable to
keep the field, they determined, till an answer arrived
from England, to separate into two parties. The Duke,
with the Earl of Glencairn, and the Lords Boyd and
Ochiltree, remained at Glasgow with their friends, for
the comfort and defence of the brethren ; Arran, the
Lord James, the Earl of Rothes, the Master of Lind-
say, and their adherents, continued in Fife;* and it
was resolved, that on the sixteenth December a con-
vention should be held at Stirling, with the view of
deciding upon more active operations.
On the retreat of the Protestants from the capital,
the town was immediately occupied by the queen-regent,
but all her attempts to procure possession of the castle
were unavailing. Its governor, Lord Erskine, declared,
that as it had been committed to his charge by the
Parliament of Scotland,-)- nothing but an order of the
same great council would induce him to surrender it ;
and although alternately flattered and threatened by
both parties, he appears honestly to have kept his re-
solution. Yet, it was evident that the regent had
gained important ground; her successes imparted
confidence to her soldiers ; and the news having been
carried to France, great preparations were made to
send such a force into Scotland, as should at once crush
the Congregation and put an end to the war.
But Elizabeth became at length convinced that such
a result would weaken the power and endanger the
tranquillity of England ; nor could the reformers have
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Balnaves to Cecil, 19th Nov. 1559.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 10th December, 1559. Alexander
Whitelaw to Cecil.
152 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
selected a more able envoy than Maitland of Lething-
ton to confirm her in this idea.* He represented to
her, in strong terms, the impossibility of their being
able to cope with the veteran troops of France, unless
she supported them by an open demonstration in their
favour, and sent a naval and military force to their
assistance. The great difficulty lay in the circum-
stance, that both countries were at peace, and that
any active co-operation with the reformed faction
would justly be considered as an open declaration of
war. Some time before this-f- Knox had suggested
to Sir James Crofts the Governor of Berwick, a crafty
political expedient, by which a thousand or more men
might, without breach of league with France, be sent
to their assistance in Scotland. J It was free, he said,
for English subjects to serve any nation or prince in
war who paid their wages ; and if this was questioned,
he recommended that Elizabeth should first send the
auxiliaries into Scotland, and then declare them rebels
after they had embraced the service of the Congrega-
tion. Crofts either was, or affected to be, shocked by
such advice at the time ; || but on the arrival of Mait-
land at the English court, his representations of the
desperate condition of the affairs of the Protestants
induced Elizabeth and her council to adopt a line of
policy essentially the same as that recommended by
the Reformer. It was resolved to enter into an agree-
ment or league with the leaders of the Congregation.
the terms of which were to be discussed in a secret
meeting of commissioners from both countries, to be
* Sadler, vol. i. p. 565. f On the 25th October, 1559.
British Museum, Caligula, book x. fol. 43. Knox, under the feigned
name of John Sinclair to Crofts, 25th October, 1559.
Keith, Appendix, pp. 39, 40, 41.
li Sadler, vol. i. pp. 523, 524.
1559. MARY. 153
held at Berwick. Preparations, at the same time, were
made for the equipment of a fleet, which was to cruise
in the Firth ; and orders were given to assemble an
army, which might co-operate with the reduced forces
of the Protestants. This grateful intelligence was
brought to the reformers on the fifteenth of December,
by Kobert Melvill, who, along with Randolph, had
accompanied Lethington to the English court, and en-
joyed the confidence of Elizabeth.*
It is curious to observe the extraordinary circum-
spection and care used by the English queen in the
steps which she now took. She transmitted to the
reformers exact directions regarding the manner in
which they were to apply to her for relief. The in-
structions to Lethington, when he took his journey to
the English court, were drawn up in strict conformity
to a paper sent by Cecil ; and special pains were taken,
that in the application which they made, there was no
mention of religion. The single ground upon which
they entreated succour from England, was the tyranny
of France, the evident intention of that kingdom to
make a conquest of Scotland, and ultimately to dis-
possess Elizabeth of the throne.f " Most true it is,""
say they, " that this practice of the French is not at-
tempted only against this kingdom of Scotland, but
also against the crown and kingdom of England and
Ireland ; for we know most certainly, that the French
have devised to spread abroad, though most falsely,
that our queen is right heir to England and Ireland;
and, to notify the same to the world, have, in paintings
at public jousts in France and other places, this year
caused the arms of England, contrary to all right, to
* Sadler, vol. L p. 647. Also, British Museum, Caligula, book x. fol. 57.
MS. Instructions to Winter,
t Sadler, vol. i. p. 569.
154 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559
be borne quarterly with the arms of Scotland, meaning
nothing less than any augmentation to Scotland, but
to annex them both perpetually to the crown of
France.""* We have here a strong presumption that
Elizabeth was inimical to what she esteemed the ultra-
Protestant Reformation established in Scotland; nor
can it be denied, that this transaction presents us
with a somewhat mortifying view of the early reformers
in this country, when we find, that after all the solemn
warnings denounced against trusting too exclusively
to an arm of flesh, Knox, who then acted as secretary
to the council of the Congregation in the west, and
Balnaves, who filled the same situation in the council
established at Glasgow, consented to purchase the co-
operation of mere human power, by omitting all allusion
to that great cause of religious reformation which they
had so repeatedly represented as the paramount object
for which they had taken up arms, and were ready to
sacrifice their lives.
During the interval occupied by the mission of Leth-
ington to England, neither party was idle. The queen-
dowager eagerly availed herself of the advantages she
had gained. She despatched Monsieur de Rubay to
remonstrate with Elizabeth against the support which
she had given to her rebellious subjects;^ she occupied
the capital, and afterwards carried the war into Fife,
where she exerted herself to disperse and defeat the
little band there commanded by Arran and the Lord
James. These leaders, however, who had gained in
military experience, were able to keep the French in
* This sentence is, in great part, a transcript of the instructions drawn up
by Elizabeth. See Sadler, p. 570.
f MS. Letter, draft by Cecil, State-paper Office. Queen Elizabeth to the
Queen-dowager, 28th November, 1559. See also Mr Stevenson's Illustra-
tions, p. 78. The Lord James to Sir R. Sadler and Sir J. Crofts, Nov. 17,
J 559. Also, Caligula, British Museum, book x. 53 dorso.
1559. MARY. 155
check ; and a seasonable supply of money, which they
received early in December, communicated fresh spirits
to their party, and encouraged them to levy dii addi-
tional force of one thousand foot and two hundred
horse.* At Glasgow, the Duke confined his efforts to
what was termed the " abolition of idolatry. 1 " 1 His
reformation, however, was one of a very active and
violent description : not only did he cause all the im-
ages, altars, and relics within the churches to be pulled
down, but he attacked and took possession of the palace
of the archbishop, from which he was with difficulty
expelled by the French. Soon after this,~f* a proclama-
tion was made at Glasgow. It ran in the name of
Francis and Mary king and queen of Scots, and informed
those misguided subjects who still respected the autho-
rity of the queen-dowager, that her whole power had
been devolved upon the Lords of the Privy-council who
were reformed. Their chief aim, they declared, was to
advance the glory of God, and to remove idolatry ; for
which end they commanded all such clergymen as had
not yet made open confession of their faith, to appear
before the council at St Andrew's, and there give full
proof of their conversion by a public renunciation of all
manner of superstition, under the penalty of losing their
benefices and being reputed enemies to God.J Nor
was this all. In the beginning of the following month,
the council of the Congregation at Dundee, in the
name of the king and queen, directed their denunciations
against the Consistory, which they denominated the
court of Antichrist, whose cursings and threatenings,
they affirmed, had greatly oppressed and deluded the
people. They commanded that no such assembly should
* Sadler, vol. i. pp. 631, 632.
t 30th Nov. 1559. J Keith, p. 111.
156 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559.
afterwards be held, and interdicted such wicked persons
as had dared to disobey this injunction, from any re-
petition of their offence under pain of death.* It is
certain, therefore, that the Congregation, although
Elizabeth did not permit them to name the subject of
religion, had in no respect departed from their resolu-
tion to destroy the ancient faith, and to plant, what
they esteemed, a purer form of doctrine and worship
upon its ruins.
The eyes of both parties were now anxiously turned
to the sea. The French were aware that the Marquess
D'Elbeuf had sailed from Calais with a powerful fleet ;(
the Protestants knew that Winter the English admiral,
was embarked for Scotland, with a squadron of fourteen
ships of war : uncertain, however, of the time they
might be detained, it was not judged prudent to risk
a defeat ; J and D'Osell the French commander, en-
couraged by some trifling successes, concentrated his
force at Dysart, and began his march along the coast,
with the design of attacking St Andrew's. At this
moment some large vessels were descried bearing up
the Firth ; and the French soldiers, believing them
to be their friends, expressed the utmost exultation.
In a short time, however, these hopes were turned into
dismay. The stranger ships, hoisting the English
colours, proved to be Winter, who, having first seized
two victuallers which lay in their course, proceeded and
cast anchor in the road. Their arrival intimidated
D'Osell; but making a forced and circuitous march by
Stirling, in which his troops were dreadfully harassed,
not only by the snow drifting in their faces, but by the
* Keith, p. 112, (14th Dec. 1559.)
f The exact time of the marquess sailing for Scotland is uncertain. On
the 30th Dec. Cecil writes he had not sailed. Sadler, vol. i. p. 669.
Sadler, vol. i. p. 690. Ibid. p. 697, (January 23, 1359-W.)
1559-60. MARY. 157
attacks of the Lord James and his cavalry,* he at
last, with difficulty, regained his fortifications of Leith.
Meanwhile the regent having sent on board the admiral
to demand the cause of this visit in a time of peace, was
answered, " that his intentions were pacific, and having
gone to sea in search of pirates, he had entered the
Firth to watch for them there."-)- A remonstrance
which she directed to be made to Elizabeth by the
French ambassador De Sevre, was met by a reply
equally evasive. The queen solemnly assured him she
respected the treaties, and thought of nothing less than
war ; but she added, that she saw with uneasiness the
increase of the French force in Scotland, and deemed
it prudent to strengthen her Border garrisons, and ob-
serve the progress of their arms. De Sevre then replied,
" that what chiefly gave discontentment to his court
was, the aid which the Queen of England had given to
the Scottish rebels ;" to which she answered, " that she
could not consider the nobility and nation of Scotland
as rebels; she deemed them, on the contrary, wise arid
faithful subjects to the crown of Scotland, since they
had ventured to offend the French king in defence of
the rights of his wife their sovereign."" " And truly,"
added she, " if these barons should permit the govern-
ment of their kingdom to be wrested out of their hands
during the absence of their queen ; if they tamely gave
up the independence of their native country, whilst she
used the counsel, not of the Scots, but solely of the
French, her mother and other foreigners being her
advisers in Scotland, and the cardinal and Duke of
Guise in France, it were a good cause for the world to
speak shame of them : nay, if the young queen herself
* Sadler, vol. i. p. 699. Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 55.
t British Museum, MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 407. Keith, 116. Sadler,
vol. i. p. 697.
158 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1559-60.
should happen to survive her nusband, she would in
such a case have just occasion to condemn them all as
cowards and unnatural subjects."*
Having returned this answer, in which there was
some little truth, and a large proportion of duplicity,
Elizabeth proceeded to give still more decided encou-
ragement to the Congregation. In the end of January,
(1559-60,) the Duke of Norfolk arrived at Berwick,
and being afterwards met by Maitland, Balnaves,
Pitarrow, and Lord Ruthven, who were sent by the
Congregation as commissioners,')' a treaty was con-
cluded, by which the English queen took under her
protection the kingdom of Scotland, with the Duke of
Chastelherault and his party. She engaged to send
them assistance, and continue her support till the
French should be expelled from the country, and not
to abandon the confederated lords as long as they recog-
nised Mary for their queen, and maintained inviolate
the rights of the crown. On the other hand, it was
agreed by the Duke and his friends, that they would
join their forces with the army of England; they pro-
mised that no other union of their country with France
than that which then existed should ever receive their
sanction ; they agreed to consider the enemies of Eng-
land as their own, and if that country should be attacked
by France, to furnish the queen with an auxiliary force
of four thousand men ; they promised, in the last place,
that hostages should immediately be given for the
performance of these articles, and protested that they
would continue loyal to the Queen of Scotland and the
king her husband, in everything which did not tend to
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 17th February, 1559. Backed by Cecil,
answer made to the French ambassador, by Sir W. Cecil and Sir .
I- Sadler, vol. i. p. 708. Lethington did not leave London to go to Ber-
wick till Feb. 18. See also, British Museum, MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 411.
1560. MARY. 159
the overthrow of the ancient laws and liberties of their
country.*
This treaty being concluded, and the hostages having
arrived at Berwick, the English army, under the com-
mand of Lord Grey, entered Scotland on the second
of April, 1560. It consisted of two thousand horse
and six thousand foot, and was joined at Preston by the
army of the Congregation, f led by the Duke, the Earls
of Argyle, Glencairn, and Menteith, the Lord James,
and other principal officers amongst the reformers, and
estimated at nearly eight thousand men.
On the advance of the enemy the queen-regent was
received by Lord Erskine within the castle of Edin-
burgh, and the united armies having pushed forward
from Preston to Restalrig, a sharp skirmish of cavalry
took place, in which the French were beat back with the
loss of forty men and a hundred prisoners. J Having
determined to besiege Leith, Lord Grey encamped on
the fields to the south and south-east of that sea-port ;
Winter the English admiral opened a cannonade from
the fleet, whilst a battery of eight pieces of ordnance
commenced firing on the land side, by which the French
guns placed on St Anthony's steeple, were speedily
silenced and dismounted. But this advantage, which
produced in the combined armies an over confidence
and contempt of discipline, was followed by a more
serious action, in which Martiques attacked the Eng-
lish trenches, entered the camp, spiked three cannon.
* Keith, pp. 117, 118, 119. Also, British Museum, MS. Calderwood, vol. i.
pp. 410, 414, for Instructions to the Scottish commissioners, and Ratification
of the Treaty by the Congregation.
f Sadler, vol. i. p. 712. British Museum, MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p.
416.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 6th April, 1560. Randolph to Cecil.
MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 416. Lesley's History, Bannatyne edit. p. "^2.
160 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
and put about six hundred men to the sword, after
which he retreated with little loss to Leith.*
The Congregation were discouraged, not only by this
defeat, but by the coldness and continued neutrality
of some of the principal barons who had promised to
join their party. Of these, the chief was Huntley,
whose power in the northern parts of the realm was
almost kingly, whilst his attachment to the Catholic
faith, and to his own interest, rendered him difficult
to be dealt with. He had at length secretly engaged
to make common cause with the reformed party, but
he delayed from day to day, watching the progress of
events, and calculating the probabilities of success,
before he declared himself, and he took the precaution
of entering into a separate treaty with the Duke and
the Lords, by which he stipulated for the preservation
of his authority, and the security of his great posses-
sions in the north. -f- The original papers drawn up on
this occasion disclose an interesting fact, not formerlv
O f
stated by any historian : the French, it appears, had
gained so much influence in the northern parts of the
country, that they procured a league to be made
amongst the northern nobles and certain clans and
islemen, by which they engaged to defend, with their
whole power, the Catholic faith, and to maintain the
French authority within the kingdom. Huntley as-
serted, and probably with some foundation, that as soon
as he joined the Congregation, he would be attacked
as a common enemy by the members of this league ;
and he was answered by the reformed Lords, that as
their agreement bound them to mutual defence, as soon
* 15th April, Lesley, p. 285. Keith, p. 124.
f* MS. State-paper Office, My Lord earl of Huntley's desires and council.
Backed by Randolph. Also, MS. State-paper Office, The Lord's answer to
the Earl of Huntley, 18th April, 1560.
J560. MARY. 161
as he joined the party, he would participate in this
obligation, and enjoy its benefits.*
On the twenty-fifth of April, Huntley entered the
camp, accompanied by sixty horse; and soon after
arrived the Bishop of Valence, a commissioner from
the court of France, instructed to attempt a mediation
between the queen-dowager and the Lords of the Con-
gregation. As Elizabeth had requested he should be
heard, the reformers, although indisposed to the ne-
gotiation, could not refuse to give him audience ; but
they insisted that the only basis upon which they could
consent to treat should be, the demolition of the for-
tifications of Leith, and the expulsion of the French
from Scotland. These terms were rejected by the
prelate, who upon his part demanded an express re-
nunciation of the league with England : this, it was
said, could not be done without the consent of Eliza-
beth ; but they offered to produce the contract to the
Estates of Parliament, and if they found the league
prejudicial to the liberty of Scotland, or against their
allegiance as true subjects, to use every means to have
it dissolved. f Under such circumstances, the confer-
ence having broken off, a second covenant was drawn
up by the Congregation, J in which they obliged them-
selves, not only to support the reformation of religion,
the freedom of preaching, and the due administration
of the sacraments, according to the Word of God, but
to resist the tyranny of the French, and to unite for
* MS. State-paper Office, My Lord earl of Huntley's desires and coun-
cil. Backed by Randolph. Also, MS. State-paper Office, The Lords' answer
to the Earl of Huntley, 18th April, 1.560.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 26th April, 1560.
Also, MS. Letter ibid., Randolph to the Duke of Norfolk, 25th April, 1560,
from the Camp. Also, British Museum, Caligula, book x. fol. 88, Memorial
to the Queen-dowager, by Chaperon, llth April, 1560.
t 27th April.
VOL. VI. L
162 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
the expulsion of strangers, and the recovery of their
ancient liberty.*
After many delays, Huntley at last consented to
sign this agreement, and a reinforcement having arrived
from England, Lord Grey determined to concentrate
his whole efforts upon the siege of Leith, which began
to suffer dreadfully from famine. Early in May a
general assault was made, but treachery had entered
the English camp : Sir James Crofts, to whom the
attack upon the quarter towards the sea had been com-
mitted, failed to bring forward his division in time; the
scaling ladders on being applied to the wall were found
too short, and the English, after their utmost efforts,
were driven back with severe loss.-f- The queen-regent
availing- herself of this success, expressed her deep
commiseration for the afflicted state of the country,
and requested an interview with the Earls of Huntley
and Glencairn, with whom she was ready to enter into
a negotiation. Instead however of these two noblemen,
the Lord James, with Lethington, Lord Ruthven and
the Master of Maxwell waited upon her; they offered
to dismiss their troops, to return to their allegiance,
and acknowledge her authority, under the single con-
dition that the French soldiers should depart the realm:
and if these terms were accepted, they were ready, they
said, to refer all other subjects in dispute to the decision
of a parliament. There seems every reason to believe
that the regent, if permitted to follow her own opinion,
would have closed with these proposals, but her hands
were tied by her French advisers: she requested time
to consult La Brosse, D'Osell, and the Bishop of
* Keith, p. 125.
H- Keith, p. 124. See Mr Stevenson's Illustrations of the reign of Mary,
p. 80. Litter of the Dowager to D'Osell.
1560. MARY. 163
Amiens ; this was refused apparently tiiireasonably
refused, and the conference came abruptly to an end.*
The anxiety of the queen-dowager for peace was dic-
tated by her own precarious health. Her constitution,
worn out by fatigue and anxiety, was now completely
broken : since her retreat within the castle of Edin-
burgh, she had been repeatedly attacked by severe fits
of sickness, and feeling that her period of life would be
brief, she laboured to compose the troubles of the king-
dom. This charitable design it was not permitted her
to accomplish ; but finding herself reduced to such a
state of weakness, that death was rapidly approaching,
she requested an interview with the leaders of the
Congregation.-)- The Duke, the Earls of Argyle,
Marshal, and Glencairn, with the Lord James, imme-
diately repaired to the castle, and, entering her bed-
chamber, were welcomed by the dying queen with a
kindness and cordiality which deeply moved them.
She expressed her grief for the distracted state of the
nation, and advised them to send both the French and
English forces out of the kingdom ; she declared her
unfeigned concern that matters had been pushed to
such extremities ; ascribed it to the perverse councils
of the French cabinet, which she found herself obliged
to obey, and denounced the crafty, and interested ad-
vice of Huntley, who had interrupted the conference
at Preston, when she was herself ready to have agreed
to their proposals. She recommended to them a faithful
adherence to their league with France, which was in
no degree inconsistent with, but rather necessarily
arose out of the obedience they owed to their lawful
sovereign and the maintenance of their national liberty.
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 14th May, 1560, Lethington to Cecil
t Ibid. 8th June, 15()0, Randolph to Cecil.
164 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
To these advices she added many endearing expressions,
and with tears asked pardon of all whom she had in any
way offended, declaring that she herself freely forgave
the injuries she might have received, and trusted that
they should all meet with the same forgiveness at the
bar of God. She then, with an expression full of
sweetness, though her countenance was pallid and
emaciated, embraced and kissed the nobles one by one,
extending her hand to those of inferior rank who
stood by, as a token of dying charity. It was im-
possible that so much love, so gently and unaffectedly
expressed, should fail to move those to whom it was
addressed. The hardy barons who had lately opposed
her with the bitterest rancour, were dissolved in tears;
they earnestly requested her to send for some godly and
learned man from whom she might receive, not only
consolation, but instruction, and on the succeeding day
she willingly admitted a visit from Willock;* mild
in his manner, but faithful to his belief, the minister
spoke to the dying princess of the efficacy of the death
of Christ, and the abomination of the mass as a relic
of idolatry. To the first point, she assured him, that
she looked for salvation in no other way than in and
through the death of her Saviour ; to the second, she
quietly declined to give an answer, and, on the succeed-
ing day, expired full of faith and hope.f
Had she been permitted to follow her own excellent
understanding, there seems little doubt that the queen-
regent would have succeeded in composing the differ-
ences which so grievously distracted the kingdom, and
threw so deep a gloom over the concluding years of her
government. Possessed, according to the testimony of
* Keith, p. 128. Also, MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 8th Jur, 1560,
Randolph to Cecil,
f Ibid. She died on the 10th of June, 1560.
1560. MARY. 165
writers, whose opposite principles render their evidence
unsuspected, of a sound and clear intellect, a kind heart,
and a generous and forgiving temper, she had gained
the affections of the people, and the confidence of the
nobility, by the wisdom, liberality, and prudence with
which she conducted the affairs of the country during
the first years of her regency. These were eminently
popular and successful, nor did the tide turn against
her, till, surrounded by the perils and difficulties of the
Reformation, she was compelled to adopt the violent
principles of the house of Guise, and to forsake the
system of conciliation which she at first adopted. It
is sad to find that intolerance and persecution pursued
her even after death. " Question, 1 " says Calderwood,
" being moved afterwards about her burial, the preach-
ers boldly gainstood to the use of any superstitious
rites in that realm, which God of his mercy had begun
to purge. Her burial was deferred till further advise-
ment ; her corpse was lapped in a coffin of lead, and
kept in the castle from the tenth of June till the nine-
teenth of October, at which time it was carried by some
pioneers to a ship,"* and transported to France.
* British Museum, MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 421.
166 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
CHAP. IV.
MARY.
15601561.
CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS.
France. \ Germany, j Spain. I Portugal. \ Popes.
Elizabeth. | Charles IX. | Ferdinand I. | Phillip II. I Sebastian. | Pius IV
PREVIOUS to the death of the queen-regent all parties
had become averse from the continuance of the war.
From the first, Elizabeth had expressed to her minis-
ters her earnest wish to remain at peace, if it could be
accomplished with security and honour ; and although
she at length consented to send an army into Scotland,
during its march and even after the opening of hosti-
lities, her negotiations for an amicable settlement with
France were earnest and uninterrupted : nor were the
ministers of that kingdom less anxious to bring matters
to an adjustment. They were convinced that the
sagacity and penetration of Cecil and Throckmorton
had fully detected their ambitious designs upon Eng-
land; they agreed, that the vast and impracticable
project of the house of Guise for the destruction of the
reformed religion, and the union of the kingdoms of
England, Scotland, and France under one head, must
be for the present abandoned. The extraordinary ex-
pense of the Scottish war could no longer be borne ;
and in the present state of France, itself torn by reli-
1560. MARY. 167
gious persecution, and weakened by frequent conspira-
cies and popular commotions, peace appeared the
only remedy for the country. Nor were the Lords of
the Congregation prepared to prolong the struggle :
experience had shown them, that even with the assis-
tance of England, France was a more formidable enemy
than they had imagined. The fortifications of Leith
were so strong, that Lethington acknowledged in one
of his letters, it might defy, if well victualled, an army
of twenty thousand men.* It was impossible for them
to keep the great body of their forces, composed of the
feudal militia, for any long time under arms ; and
without money, which was exceedingly scarce amongst
them, their hired soldiers were ready to mutiny and
sell themselves to the enemy. They were as willing
therefore to negotiate as the other belligerents ; and
under these circumstances, after some time spent in
correspondence and preliminary arrangements, Cecil,
the able minister of Elizabeth, and Sir Nicholas Wot-
ton, repaired to Edinburgh in the middle of June.
Here they met the French commissioners, the Bishops
of Valence and Amiens, La Brosse, D^Osell, and the
Sieur de Randan, who being the bearer of a letter from
his master the French king to Elizabeth, had in his
passage through England been admitted to an inter-
view with that princess. *f*
The treaty which was now about to be concluded
embraced two great objects; it was necessary to settle,
first, the differences between France and England, and
secondly, to secure the interests of the Lords of the
Congregation. They had taken up arms against their
natural sovereign for the expulsion of the French troops
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Norfolk, 9th April, 1560.
t Forbes, vol. i. p. 43'2. State-paper Office, MS. Letter, Cecil to Elizabeth,
Edinburgh, 19th J- ,ie, 1560.
168 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
from their country, and to restore, as they alleged, the
kingdom to its ancient liberty : with this end in view
they had entered into a separate treaty with Elizabeth,
who had afforded them assistance both in money and
by the presence of an army. It was necessary therefore
to protect them from the probable vengeance of their
own sovereign, and this could only be done by includ-
ing, in the agreement between England and France, a
recognition of the treaty between Elizabeth and the
reformed Lords. The complaint that the arms and
title of the monarchs of England had been unjustly
assumed by the King and Queen of France, was easily
adjusted. The French commissioners, with little diffi-
culty, agreed to renounce it, and even to consider the
claim of compensation made by Elizabeth for the in-
jury which she had sustained. But serious debates
arose upon the second point. The negotiations here
included that large portion of the nobles and commons
of Scotland, which had embraced^ the Reformation.
They had taken arms in the beginning of the war to
protect themselves from persecution, and to secure
liberty of conscience : as it proceeded they had bold-
ly announced their determination to overthrow the
established religion ; they had carried this resolution
into effect by an attack upon the religious houses,
whose revenues had been seized ; they had placed their
lands in the hands of agents or factors, and the ecclesi-
astical proprietors had been reduced to poverty. Nor
was this all : this same party had suspended the
queen-regent from the exercise of her authority, and
had assumed the supreme power, not only without any
commission from their sovereign, but contrary to her
express injunctions. It was not without reason, there-
fore, that they were regarded in France as guilty of
1560. MARY. 169
rebellion ; and with justice it was pleaded by the
French commissioners, that the treaty of Berwick,
between the Queen of England and the Lords of the
Congregation, could never be recognised as binding by
their sovereign, without compromising her dignity in
the most serious manner.
But if the French lords were thus anxious to dissolve
this obnoxious league, Cecil, who saw its advantages,
was as resolute that it should be maintained. He de-
clared it to be the fixed intention of his mistress that
the treaty of Berwick should be not only recognised
but confirmed. The commissioners of Mary and
Francis remonstrated. " They had' received no au-
thority, 1 ' they said, " on this point ; it was even part
of their instructions, that any allusion to it, should be
carefully avoided." The superior diplomatic craft of
Cecil was successfully exerted to meet the difficulty.
He affected to be indignant and inflexible, " all con-
ference," he said " must be broken off. The Duke of
Norfolk should receive orders to advance with his army
into Scotland, arid th matter must once more be com-
mitted to the arbitrement of the sword." Nay, so
vigorously did he exert himself, that, on some question
raised by the French regarding Elizabeth's right to the
kingdoms of England and Ireland, the minister threw
his defiance in the teeth of the French commissioners,
and offered in that quarrel to spend his blood upon any
of them that would deny it.* How this bravado was
received does not appear ; but in the end the dexterity
of Cecil was triumphant. By his directions, an article
was framed which flattered the vanity of the French,
and preserved the dignity of their sovereign, whilst it
secured the real interests of the Congregation, without
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Cecil and Wotton to Elizabeth, 2d July, 15GO.
170 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
including any formal declaration that the concessions
made to them by France proceeded from the alliance
they had made with England. The sentence of the
letter in which the minister communicates this result
to his royal mistress, is characteristic. " To make a
cover for all this, those ambassadors were forced by us
to take a few good words in a preface to the same
article, and we, content with the kernel, yielded to
them the shell to play withal." *
The treaty now concluded was in every way advan-
tageous to the English queen. The claims of France,
and the pretensions of this power, had been a source
of great annoyance to her from the commencement of
her reign : they were now finally renounced. It was
agreed that the French army should leave Scotland ;
all anxiety regarding an attack upon her kingdom,
through this country was removed ; and her influence
over the Lords of the Congregation was confirmed by
the gratitude they felt for the assistance she had given
them, as well as by the anxiety she had manifested in
the negotiations to protect their interests and interpose
her power between them and their offended sovereign.
In a letter to his mistress, Cecil justly observes, " that
the treaty would be no small augmentation to her
honour in this beginning of her reign, that it would
finally procure that conquest of Scotland which none
of her progenitors with all their battles ever obtained ;
namely, the whole hearts and goodwills of the nobility
and people, which surely was better for England than
the revenue of the crown."-|-
* Haynes, State Papers, vol. i. pp. 352, 353.
f Original Draft, State-paper Office, Cecil and Wotton to the Queen, 8th
July, lob'O. Also, British Museum, Titus, book ii. fol. 451. MS. Letter,
Lord Clinton to the Earl of Sussex. " This peace is greatly to the Queen's
honour and of these realms."
1560. MARY. 171
That portion of the treaty which embraced the affairs
of the Congregation is particularly worthy of notice,
as it led to the full establishment of the Reformation,
and is intimately connected with the subsequent course
of events. It provided, that an act of oblivion should
be passed for all wrongs or injuries committed, from
the sixth of March, 1558> to the first of August, 1560;
and that a general peace and reconciliation of all differ-
ences should take place amongst the nobility and subjects
of the land, including the members of the Congregation
and those who still adhered to the ancient faith. The
Duke of Chastelherault, and other Scottish nobles or
barons, who possessed lands in France, were to be re-
stored to their possessions ; redress was to be given by
parliament to the bishops and other churchmen who
had received injury, and no man was to molest them
in the collection of their revenues. For the better
government of the realm, a council of twelve was to be
constituted, of which the queen was to appoint seven,
and the Estates five. It was to be their duty to take
cognizance of everything during the absence of their
sovereign the Queen of France. No fewer than six were
to assemble on any occasion ; and the whole, or at least
a majority, were to meet upon all matters of moment.
Peace and war were never to be declared without the
concurrence of the Estates. It was anxiously provided,
that in all time coming the realm should be governed
by its native subjects; no foreign troops were to be
brought within the kingdom; no strangers to admin-
ister justice; none but Scotsmen to be placed in the
high offices of chancellor, treasurer, or comptroller ;
and all ecclesiastics, although Scotsmen, were excluded
from these two last dignities. The nobility were
interdicted from assembling soldiers or making any
172 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
warlike convocations, except in such cases as were
sanctioned by established usage; and it was determined
that the army of England should return home immedi-
ately after the embarkation of the French troops.* It
was lastly agreed, that a parliament should be held in
the succeeding month of August, for which a commis-
sion was to be sent by the King and Queen of France ;
and it was added, that this meeting of the Estates
should in all respects be as lawful as if the same had
been convoked by command of those royal persons,
provided only that all who ought to be present, resorted
without fear to the parliament, and that its proceedings
were free and unfettered.-f-
The conclusion of this treaty by the French com-
missioners, La Rochefoucault lord of Randan and the
Bishop of Valence, was a great triumph to Elizabeth
and the Congregation. The French cabinet had in-
structed their commissioners to beware of alluding, in
the most distant manner, to the treaty of Berwick,
which had been entered into between the reformers and
England ; and if they could not procure the consent
of the queen to the dissolution of this league, to be on
their guard, at least, that no clause should be intro-
duced which should have the effect of including the
leaders of the Protestants within the protection of the
treaty. Baffled, however, in their diplomacy by the
superior tactics of Cecil, (whose cold, equable temper
seems to have been seized with a fit of unusual exulta-
tion in alluding to the result,) Randan and Monluc,
contrary to their instructions, agreed to the insertion
* Spottiswood, p. 147. Maitland,vol. ii. p. 926. MS. Letter, State-paper
Office, 26th June, 1560, Cecil to . Also, British Museum, MS. Calder-
wood, vol. i. pp. 422, 427.
f Forbes, vol. i. p. 432, State-paper Office, MS. Letter, Cecil to Elizabeth.
Edinburgh, 19th Juue, 1560.
1560. MARY. 173
of a sentence which virtually protected the reformers,
and preserved their treaty with Elizabeth. Nay, so
wary had been the conduct of Wotton and Cecil, that,
to use their own words, " even if the said treaty shall
not remain in force, the special points tending to keep
Frenchmen out of Scotland be well and assuredly
provided for.""* The reformed lords were not tardy
to acknowledge the great obligations conferred upon
them by the issue to which Elizabeth had brought the
negotiations. They addressed a letter to the queen,
containing the warmest expressions of gratitude, and
acknowledged that, in providing for the security and
liberty of Scotland, the realm was more bounden to her
majesty than to their own sovereign. ( Nor was this
excess of gratitude at all unnatural. By the various
provisions above detailed, it is evident that the Pro-
testants had amply secured their own interests. One
only objection existed to this part of the treaty, but it
was a fatal one : the commissioners of Mary and Francis
had no authority from their sovereign to enter into any
negotiation with the Congregation, and the Queen of
Scotland refused to be bound by an agreement to which
she was no party.
It is remarkable that the treaty included no express
provision on the subject of the reformed religion, whilst
the bishops and ministers of the ancient faith were
treated with uncommon lenity ; their property re-
stored, their persons protected, their right of sitting in
parliament acknowledged. The cause of all this is not
difficult to discover: the assistance given by Elizabeth
had no reference to religion ; she had agreed to sup-
port the Protestants with her army, on the sole ground
* Haynes, vol. i. p. 352.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 17th July, 1560. Haynes, vol. i. pp.
174 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
that they had taken arms to preserve the liberty of
their country, and to expel the French, who, through
Scotland, threatened her own dominions, and questioned
her title to the throne. Individually, the queen was
not disposed to favour the religious views of the Con-
gregation, whose ultra-Protestantism she regarded with
aversion. Cecil, therefore, was instructed not to meddle
with the subject ; and the point was left open to be
afterwards settled between the reformers and their own
sovereign. Yet, in gaining the power to assemble a
parliament, for which their queen was to send over a
commission, and whose proceedings were to be esteemed
as valid as if called by her own writ, they obtained
their utmost wishes. The great body of the people,
the cities, burghs, and middle classes, were, they knew,
favourable to the Reformation; and they reckoned with
confidence on a majority amongst the nobles, many of
whom had already tasted the sweets of ecclesiastical
plunder, and were little disposed to give up what they
had won. For these reasons, although certain articles
concerning religion were presented to the commissioners
on the part of the nobles and people of Scotland, their
refusal to enter into discussion upon them does not
appear to have occasioned either fear or disappointment.
They looked to the. convention of Estates, which was
so soon to meet, and felt confident that all would be
there settled to their satisfaction.*
The treaty having been concluded and signed by the
commissioners, peace was proclaimed at Edinburgh on
the eighth July, 1560. Soon after, the French army,
consisting of four thousand men, were embarked in
English ships for France ; the English forces at the
same time began their march homeward; and, on
* Keith, p. 142, article 17.
1560. MARY. 175
reaching Eyemouth, demolished the fortifications, ac-
cording to the agreement.* A solemn public thanks-
giving was held by the reformed nobles and the greatest
part of the Congregation in St Giles's church, where
the preacher, who was probably Knox, in a prayer
preserved in his history, described the miseries of their
country, lately groaning under the oppression of a
foreign yoke and a worship which he pronounced abo-
minable and idolatrous. He acknowledged the mercy
of God in sending, through the instrumentality of
England, a deliverance which their own policy or
strength could never have accomplished ; called upon
them all to maintain that godly league entered into
with Elizabeth, and implored God to confound the
counsels of those who endeavoured to dissolve it.-f-
Ministers were then appointed to some of the chief
towns in the kingdom, Knox being directed to continue
his charge at Edinburgh, whilst Goodman was sent to
St Andrew's, Heriot to Aberdeen, Row to Perth, and
others to Jedburgh, Dundee, Dunfermline, and Leith.
Superintendents were next chosen for the districts of
Lothian, Glasgow, Fife, Angus and Mearns, and lastly
for Argyle and the Isles. J
On the tenth of July the parliament assembled, to
adjourn, as had been determined, to the first of August,
on which day the proceedings were opened with great
solemnity. So grave and important a meeting of this
great council of the nation had not taken place for many
years ; and the attendance of all ranks was, we know
from Lethington, more numerous than had ever been
seen in his time. One cause of this crowded attendance
* Rymer, Foedera, vol. xv. pp. 493, 601.
f Knox, pp. 251, 252. British Museum, MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 428.
J Keith, p. 145.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 15th Aug. 1560
176 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
was a proceeding adopted by the lesser barons. Many
of these persons, notwithstanding their right to sit and
vote in the assembly of the three Estates, had ceased
to claim their privilege. Indifference to public affairs,
occupation upon their own demesnes, and the expense
of a journey to the capital, had occasioned their absence.
But it was amongst these persons that the reformed
doctrines had made the greatest progress; and, aware
that the subjects to be debated must involve the great
religious principles in dispute between the Congregation
and the Catholics, they attended in their places, and
presented a petition, in which they prayed to be restored
to their privilege, and to be allowed to give their counsel
and vote in parliament. After some trifling opposition,
they were permitted to take their seats, although a
final decision on their claims does not appear to have
been given. The accession, however, of so many votes
(their number being a hundred) was of no small con-
sequence to the Protestants, who were anxious that
they should immediately proceed to the business of the
parliament. On this, however, there arose a serious
difference of opinion. It was pleaded by many, that
no parliament could be held till the commission arrived
from their sovereign, or, at least, till some reply was
received to the message which had been sent to France,
informing her of their proceedings.* Others alleged,
that by one of the articles of the peace, it had been
determined that a meeting of the three Estates should
be held in August, which should be as lawful as if it
* It does not appear who were despatched on this mission to inform their
sovereign. As late as the 9th of August, 1560, the French king expressed
to Throckmorton the English ambassador, his surprise that he had heard
nothing from his commissioners, and affirmed that he had not yet seen the
treaty of Edinburgh. The Bishop of Glasgow and the Lord Seton had ar-
rived at Paris on the 3d of August. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French
Correspondence, Sir N. Throckmorton, 9th August, 1500.
1560. MARY. 177
were summoned by express command of their queen,
and the question having been put to the vote, it was
decided that the parliament should continue its sit-
tings.* A week, however, was spent in the debate.
Many, on learning the result, departed from the capital,
and of the spiritual Estate very few attended.
These preliminary questions having been settled,
the crown, the mace, and the sword, were laid upon the
seat or throne, usually occupied by the queen ; ( and
Maitland, who possessed great influence with the Con-
gregation, being chosen Speaker, (the term then used
was " harangue maker,") opened the proceedings in an
oration, of which Randolph has given us the principal
heads. He excused his insufficiency to occupy that
place ; made a brief discourse of things past ; showed
what necessity men were forced into for defence of their
country ; what remedy and support it had pleased God
to send them ; and how much they were bound heartily
to acknowledge and requite it. He took away the
persuasion which had then entered into many men^s
minds, that other things were intended than those
which had been attempted; he advised all Estates to re-
nounce their individual feelings, and to bend themselves
wholly to the true service of God and their country
describing the miserable condition to which it had been
long reduced for lack of good government and exercise
of justice. He exhorted them to mutual amity and
hearty friendship one to live with another as mem-
bers all of one body ; using the example of the fable,
"when the mouth, having quarrelled with the members,
refused to receive sustenance for so long a time that
the whole body perished." In conclusion, he prayed
* Spottiswood, p. 149.
t Keith, p. 149, erroneously states that the royal ensigns of the kingdom
were omitted to be carried into the parliament.
VOL. VI. M
178 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
God long to maintain amity and peace with all princes,
and especially betwixt the realms of England and
Scotland, in the love and fear of God.* The Clerk-
register now rose, and having inquired of the three
Estates, to what matter they would proceed ; it was
judged proper that the articles of the peace should be
read over, which having been done, they received the
unanimous approbation of the assembly, and were di-
rected to be sent over to France for the ratification of
their sovereign. The Lords of the Articles were next
chosen, the order of which, says Randolph, "is, that the
Lords Spiritual choose the Temporal, and the Tem-
poral the Spiritual the Burgesses their own."* Great
complaint was here made by the prelates, that in the
selection of the Lords Spiritual, none were chosen but
such as were known to be well affected to the new
religion, nor was it unnoticed that some upon whom
the choice had fallen, were mere laymen. So great
was the majority, however, of the friends of the Con-
gregation, that it was impossible to have redress. " This
being done," says Randolph, in an interesting letter
to Cecil, where he describes the proceedings of the
parliament, " the Lords departed, and accompanied
the Duke as far as the Bow, which is the gate going
out of the High Street, and many down unto the palace
where he lieth ; the town all in armour, the trumpets
sounding, and all other kinds of music, such as they
have. Other solemnities have not been used, saving
in times long past the Lords have had parliament robes,
which are now with them wholly out of use ; the Lords
of the Articles sat from henceforth in Holyrood-house,
except that at such times as, upon any matter of im-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office. Randolph to Cecil, 9th and Oth Aug.
1560. MARY. 179
portance, the whole Lords assembled themselves again,
as they did this day, in the Parliament House."*
Having proceeded thus far, a petition was presented
to the parliament by some of the most zealous of the re-
formers. It prayed, that the doctrines professed by the
Roman Catholic Church, and tyrannically maintained
by the clergy, should be condemned and abolished ;
and, amongst the errors, it particularly enumerated
transubstantiation, the adoration of Christ's body under
the form of bread, the merit of good works, purgatory,
pilgrimages, and prayers to departed saints. It de-
clared, that God of his great mercy, by the light of his
word, had demonstrated to no small number within the
realm, the pestiferous errors of the Roman Church ;
errors which the ministers of that Church had main-
tained by fire and sword, and which brought damnation
Upon the souls that embraced them. It stated, in
strong and coarse language, that the sacraments of our
Lord were shamefully abused by that Roman harlot
by whom the true discipline of the Church was extin-
guished; and proceeded to give an appalling picture
of the corrupt lives of those who called themselves the
clergy. Embracing the whole Papal Church in one
sweeping anathema, the petitioners offered to prove,
that "in all the rabble of the clergy," there was not one
lawful minister, if the word of God, and the practices
of the Apostles and primitive Church, were to be taken
as authority upon this point; it denominated them
thieves and murderers, rebels, traitors, and adulterers;
living in all manner of abominations, and unworthy to
be suffered in any reformed commonwealth. Lastly,
using that blessed name, which ought to be the bond
of love and charity, as an incitement to railing and
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 9th and 10th Aug. 1SGO.
180 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560
persecution, it called upon the parliament, in the bowels
of Jesus Christ, to employ the victory which they had
obtained with wholesome vigour ; to compel the body
of the Romish clergy to answer these accusations now
brought against them ; to pronounce them unworthy of
authority in the Church of God, and expel them for
ever from having a voice or vote in the great council
of the nation ; which, it continued, if ye do not, we
forewarn you, in the fear of God, and by assurance of
his word, that as ye leave a grievous yoke and a burden
intolerable upon the Church of God within this realm,
so shall they be thorns in your eyes, and pricks in
your sides, whom afterwards, when ye would, ye shall
have no power to remove. In conclusion, it virtually
declared that this extraordinary petition was not theirs
but God's, who craved this by his servants ; and it
prayed Him to give them an upright heart and a right
understanding of the request made through them.*
The names of those who signed this violent produc-
tion, which it is difficult to read without emotions of
sorrow and pity, do not appear. Knox, whose fiery
zeal flamed high at this period, seized the sitting of the
parliament as a proper season for a course of sermons
on the prophecies of Haggai, in which he tells us, he
was peculiarly " special and vehement,"" the doctrine
being proper to the times, -f* Many of the nobles,
however, who had prospered upon the plunder of the
Church, demurred to the sentiments of the preacher,
when he exhorted them to restore their lands for the
support of the ministers ; and Lethington exclaimed
in mockery, " We must now forget ourselves, and bear
the barrow to build the house of God."J Yet, although
* British Museum, MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 430. Knox, p. 252.
t Knox, p. 254.
Ibid. The name is not given in the printed Knox.
1560. MARY. 181
some were thus foolish, others of the barons and bur-
gesses assembled, and we are informed by Knox that
the petition emanated from them. There can be no
doubt that it received the sanction, if it was not the
composition of the Reformer.
On being read in parliament, this petition occasioned
a ^reat diversity of sentiment : to the sincere Catholic
it justly appeared an impious denouncement of all that
he esteemed sacred, and even the more moderate of
those who had embraced the tenets of the Reformation
might well doubt whether it was not calculated to in-
flame rather than to heal the wounds it proposed to
cure; still there can be little doubt, that as the majority
in the parliament supported the changes proposed, it
would have been favourably received but for one cir-
cumstance, which touched some of the highest and most
influential of the Protestant leaders. It called upon
them to restore the patrimony of the Church, of which
they had unjustly possessed themselves, to the uses
for which it was originally destined ; the support of the
ministers, the restoration of godly learning, and the
assistance of the poor. This, according to Knox, was
unpalatable doctrine to the nobles, who for worldly
respects abhorred a perfect reformation.* Waving
therefore the practical part of the question, and retain-
ing for the present the wealth they had won, the ma-
jority of the parliament commanded the ministers to
draw up a Confession of their faith, or a brief summary
of those doctrines which they conceived wholesome,
true, and necessary to be believed,-)- and received with-
in the realm. This solemn and arduous task was
achieved apparently with extraordinary rapidity; but
although only four days were employed in its pre-
* Knox, p. 252. f Spottiswood, p. 150.
182 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560
paration, it is evident that the Confession of Faith
embodied the results of much previous study and con-
sultation. It is a clear summary of Christian doctrine,
grounded on the Word of God. On most essential
points, it approximates indefinitely near, and in many
instances, uses the very words of the Apostles' 1 Creed,
and the Articles of the Church of England as estab-
lished by Edward the Sixth. Thus, in the section on
Baptism, the Scottish Confession of Faith declares,
"We assuredly believe, that by Baptism we are in-
grafted into Jesus Christ, to be made partakers of his
justice, by the which our sins are covered and remitted."
Compare this with the article of Edward the Sixth
and of Elizabeth " Of Baptism." It is there said to
be a sign, not only of profession, but of regeneration,
whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive bap-
tism rightly, " are grafted into the Church" Again,
of the Lord's Supper, the Scottish Confession of Faith
declares, " We most assuredly believe, that the bread
that we break is the communion of Christ's body,
and the cup which we bless is the communion of his
blood ; so that we do confess and believe that the faith-
ful in the right use of the Lord's table, so do eat the
body, and drink the blood of the Lord Jesus, that he
remaineth in them and they in him." In the articles
of Edward the Sixth, the same precise words are used.
Indeed it is worthy of remark, that in these holy mys-
teries of our faith, this Confession, drawn up by the
primitive Scottish reformers, keeps in some points at
a greater distance from the rationalizing of ultra-Pro-
testantism than the Articles of Edward. But to
return : before the authors of the Confession agreed
O
finally on every point it should embrace, the treatise
was submitted to the revisal of the Secretary Lething-
1560. MARY. 183
ton, and the sub- Prior of St Andrew's, who mitigated
the austerity of many words and sentences, and ex-
punged a chapter on the limits of the obedience due by
subjects to their magistrates, which they considered
improper to be then discussed. So at least, says
Randolph ; but it is certain that a chapter " Of the
Civil Magistrate," forms a portion of the Confession
of Faith as it is printed by Knox,* and that it not
only prescribes in strong terms, the obedience due by
subjects to princes, governors, and magistrates, as
powers ordained by God, but pronounces all who at-
tempt to abolish the " Holy State of Civil Policies,"
as enemies alike to God and man.
When thus finished, this important paper was laid
before parliament; but all disputation upon its doc-
trines appears to have been waved by a mutual under-
standing, that on the one side it was unnecessary, and
on the other it would be unavailing. The Roman
Catholics knew that against them was arrrayed a vio-
lent and overwhelming majority ; so keen were the
feelings of some of their leaders, that the Duke of
Chastelherault had threatened his brother, the Arch-
bishop of St Andrew"^, with death if he dared to exert
himself against it,*)" nor is it by any means improbable,
that similar arguments had been used with other dig-
nitaries. Of the temporal peers present, the Earls
of Cassillis and Caithness alone dissented; of the
spiritual, the primate, with the Bishops of Dunkeld
and Dunblane. Time, they said, had not been given
them to examine the book : they were ready to give
their consent to all things which were sanctioned by
the Word of God, and to abolish the abuses which had
* Knox's Hist. p. 270. MS. Letter, State-paper Office. 7th September,
1560, Randolph to Cecil,
f Keith, pp. 150,487.
184 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560
crept into the Church, but they requested some delay
that the debate upon a question which branched into
so many intricate, profound, and important subjects,
might be carried on with due study and deliberation.*
To these sensible and moderate representations, no
attention appears to have been paid, the treatise was
laid upon the table, the bishops were called upon to
oppugn it upon the instant, and having declined the
contest, the consent of the parliament was given almost
by acclamation ; some of the lords, in the enthusiasm
of the moment, declared they would sooner end their
lives than think contrary to these doctrines ; many
offered to shed their blood in the cause. The Earl
Marshal, with indignant sarcasm, called upon the
bishops, as the pillars of the papal Church, to defend
the tenets of their master ; and the venerable Lord
Lindsay, rising up in his place, and alluding to his
extreme age, declared that since God had spared him
to see that day, and the accomplishment of so worthy
a work, he was ready with Simeon to say, " Nunc
dimittis."t
This Confession having been sanctioned by parlia-
ment, as the standard of the Protestant faith in Scot-
land, it was thought proper to complete the work by
passing three acts. The first abolished for ever in
that country the power and jurisdiction of the pope ;
the second repealed all former statutes passed in favour
of the Roman Catholic Church ; the third ordained
that all who said mass, or who dared to hear mass,
* MS. Letter, State- paper Office, 18th August, 1560, Lethington to Cecil.
In the letter of Randolph to Cecil, quoted below, (Note f,) he says, " of the
Temporal Lords, the Earl of Cassillis, and the Earl of Caithness, said
'Nae'; the rest of the Lords with common consent allowed the same."
Yet Knox and Spottiswood mention Athole, Borthwick, and Somerville, as
dissentient.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 19th August, J5GO.
1560. MARY. 185
should, for the first transgression, be punished with
confiscation of goods; for the second, incur the penalty
of banishment from the kingdom ; and if guilty of a
third offence, be put to death. Few blessings have been
of slower growth in Europe than religious toleration
The same men who had groaned so lately under per-
secution, who upbraided their brethren, and with per-
fect justice, for the tyranny of maintaining their errors
by fire and sword, now injured the cause they advo-
cated by similar severities, and compelled the reception
of what they pronounced the truth, under the penalty
of death.
In these transactions, Randolph, who was now
resident in Edinburgh, in the character of Elizabeth's
envoy at the Scottish court, took a prominent part.
The spirit in which he carried on his intrigues will be
understood from a passage in one of his letters relating
to a subject about to be brought before the parliament
the signing the contract made between Elizabeth
and the Congregation at Berwick. " The Bishop of
Dunblane," says he, " is also now come ; it is not to
reason upon religion, but to do, as I hear, whatsoever
the Earl of Argyle will command him. If God have
prepared him and his metropolitan to die obstinate
Papists, yet I would wish that before they go to the
devil, they would show some token that once in their
lives they loved their country, and set their hands to
the contract, as hardly I believe they will." * These
uncharitable and intolerant feelings, however, were not
cherished against the Roman prelates alone. It was the
opinion of many of the leaders of the Reformation now
in progress in Scotland, that the hierarchy of England,
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to , (Cecil, I think,)
but the name does not appear. 15th August, 15CO.
186 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
as established under Elizabeth, was nearly as corrupt
as Rome itself. In a letter addressed by Goodman,
originally a minister of the English Church, but now
one of the most active preachers of the Congregation,
to Cecil, he exhorted that powerful statesman to
"abolish all the relics of superstition and idolatry
which, to the grief and scandal of the godly, were still
retained in England, and (alluding probably to Bonner
and Gardiner) not to suffer the bloody bishops and
known murderers of God's people and your deal-
brethren, to live, upon whom God hath expressly pro-
nounced the sentence of death, for the execution of
which he hath committed the sword into your hands,
who are now placed in authority." It was this delay,
he declared, this leniency in Cecil, (who was happily
not animated by the same fiery spirit of persecution
which guided the proceedings of Goodman,) that stiek-
eth most in the hearts of many.*
The " Confession of Faith" having been passed in
parliament, the clergy next proceeded to compose a
"Book of Discipline," for the future government of
the Church. Into the contents of this celebrated form
of Church polity, it is of course impossible to enter at
any length ; but it is important to remark, that it
committed the election of ministers to the people,
using the precaution that the person so chosen, be-
fore he was admitted to the holy office, should be
examined by the ministers and elders openly upon all
points then in controversy between the Church of
Rome and the Congregation, and generally upon the
whole extent of sound Christian doctrine. Such having
O
been done, the person elected and approved of, was to
be considered an ordained minister, and to be publicly
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Goodman to Cecil, 26th October, 1559.
1560. MARY-. 187
introduced by his brethren to his congregation in the
church to which he was appointed, it being expressly
declared, " that any other ceremonies than the appro-
bation of the people, and the declaration of the chief
minister, that the person presented is appointed to
serve," are not approved of by the Congregation ; for
albeit, they add, the Apostles used the imposition of
hands, yet, seeing the miracle is ceased, the using the
ceremony we judge not to be necessary. The same
form appointed " readers'" to such churches as, owing
to the rarity of learned and godly men could not im-
mediately be provided with ministers. It was their
office simply to read the Common Prayers and the
Scriptures, not to administer the sacraments. Lastly,
the country was divided into ten dioceses, and over
them were appointed ten ministers, who were named
superintendents. These were not to be " suffered to
live idle, as the bishops had done heretofore," neither
were they to be stationary, but to be ambulatory
preachers, continuing about three or four months in
one place, after which they were to enter into a visi-
tation of their whole bounds, preaching thrice a-week
at the least, and not intermitting their labours until
the churches were wholly planted. They were directed
to inquire into the life and behaviour of the ministers,
the manners of the people, the provision for the poor,
and the instruction of the youth ; and under this last
head may be noticed, as first appearing in this " Book
of Discipline," that wise and admirable institution of
parish schools, to which Scotland has owed so much of
her prosperity. " It was necessary, "* such are nearly
the words of the Congregation, " that care should be
had of the virtuous and godly education of the youth,
wherefore it was judged in every parish to have a pro-
188 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
per schoolmaster, able to teach at least the Grammar
and Latin tongue, where the town was of any reputa-
tion." But it adds, " in landwart, (that is country
parishes,) where the people convened to doctrine only
once in the week, there must either the reader or the
minister take care of the youth of the parish, to instruct
them in their rudiments, and especially in the Cate-
chism of Geneva." *
This Book of Discipline was almost as bitterly
opposed as the Confession had been warmly and un-
animously supported. Some of the nobles and barons
positively refused to subscribe it ; others signed it,
but eluded its injunctions ; others, who dreaded the
punishment of their vices or the curtailing of their
revenues, mocked at its provisions and pronounced
them devout imaginations. " The cause," says Knox,
" we have before declared : Seme were licentious,
some had greedily gripped f the possessions of the
Church, and others thought that they would not lack
their part of Christ's coat. * * The chief great
man," he continues, "that professed Christ and refused
to subscribe the Book of Discipline, was the Lord
Erskine. And no wonder; for besides that he had a
very evil woman to his wife, if the poor, the schools,
and the ministry of the Church had their own, his
kitchen would lack two parts and more of that
which he now unjustly possesseth. Assuredly some
of us have wondered how men that profess godliness
could of so long continuance hear the threatenings of
God against thieves and against their houses, and
knowing themselves guilty in such things as were
openly rebuked, that they never had remorse of con-
science, neither yet intended to restore anything of
* Spottiswood, p. 151-160, inclusive. f Seized.
1560. MARY. 189
that which long they had stolen and reft. There were
none within the realm more unmerciful to the poor
ministers than those which had the greatest rents of
the churches."*
But if severe to the Presbyterian clergy, the parlia-
ment was still more decisive against the Catholic
prelates. Of these, many who had considered the
meeting illegal absented themselves ; others took
their seats, and having protested against the injustice
of excluding them from being chosen Lords of the
O O
Articles, declined all interference with the proceedings.
A bill of complaint was then presented by the barons
against them, " containing," says Randolph, " rather
a general accusation of all living bishops, than any
special crime that they were burdened with." To this
apparently no answer was returned : the Bishops of
Dunblane, St Andrew's, and Dunkeld, were specially
called upon to pursue their complaint ; and, as they
neglected to appear, a decree was passed for the "stay
of their livings .") But this was not all. The Catholic
prelates, in their anxiety to preserve their estates
from the grasp of the barons of the Congregation, had
adopted the expedient of granting conveyances, or
leases of their lands, to those who agreed to pay them
the rents, and to reconvey them to their original pro-
prietors in more prosperous times. Against these
alleged alienations of the estates of the Church, which
had been sanctioned by the pope, the parliament di-
rected its censure, ordaining that all such leases should
be void without further process of law. J
One of the last subjects which occupied the attention
* Knox, p. 276.
+ Original Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil. 27th August,
1560. Keith, p. 151.
Keith, pp. 151, 152,
190 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
of the parliament, was the selection of the twenty-four
members, out of which number the Council of Twelve
was to be chosen. It was scarcely to be expected that
the choice should be impartial. Yet, although care
was taken to include all the principal leaders of the
Congregation, it embraced some of the opposite party.
It consisted of the Duke, the Earl of Arran, the Earls
of Huntley, Argyle, Glencairn, Morton, Athole,
Menteith, Marshal, and Rothes. The Lords James,
Erskine, Ruthven, Lindsay, Boyd, Ogilvy, St John,
and the Master of Maxwell ; the Lairds of Lundy,
Pitarrow, Dun, Cunninghamhead, Drumlanrig, and
young Lethington ; * and it was appointed that, until
the commission from the king and queen's majesty had
been sent from France, and the part which they had
chosen was openly declared, six of the former council
should sit continually in Edinburgh, for the adminis-
tration of justice. If, however, any measure of impor-
tance involving the general interests of the kingdom
was brought before them, no fewer than sixteen of the
above number were bound to attend. The treaty of
Berwick, which had been entered into between Eliza-
beth and the Lords of the Congregation was next con-
firmedj-f- and it was proposed that, as the surest basis
of a perpetual amity between the two realms, an over-
ture for a marriage between the Earl of Arran, eldest
son to the Duke of Chastelherault, heir-apparent to
the throne, and Queen Elizabeth should be sent to
England. It was earnestly recommended by Leth-
* Keith, from a work entitled " Memoirs of Scotland," vol. i. fol. 1G8,
preserved in the Scottish College at Paris, now unfortunately lost amongst
the MSS. of that ancient house.
f The Lord James, for himself and the contractors, protested that they
might have an instrument that this their act was allowed to be good, lawful,
and not prejudicial to the crown of Scotland. MS. Letter, State-paper
Office, Randolph to Cecil, 27th August, 1SGO.
1560. MARY. 191
ington, that, until they understood in what manner
Cecil was affected towards this measure, no hasty
proceedings should take place; but although much
disunion existed on other subjects, a singular unani-
mity appears to have here pervaded the assembly; and
it was resolved, "that suit should be made to the Queen
of England, in the best manner, that it may please her
majesty, for the establishing of a perpetual friendship,
to join in'marriage with the Earl of Arran." * It was,
last of all, determined that Sir James Sandilands of
Calder grand-prior of the Knights of St John of Jeru-
salem within Scotland, should carry an account of
their proceedings to France ; whilst Lethington, with
the Earls of Morton and Glencairn, should be sent on
the same errand to Elizabeth. Having brought these
important matters to a conclusion, the parliament was
dissolved on the twenty-seventh of August. (
On his arrival at the French court, Sir James Sandi-
landsj was received with the utmost coldness. Nor
could the Congregation have expected it to be otherwise.
He brought intelligence to the Queen of Scotland that,
without waiting for her ratification of the treaty con-
cluded by her commissioners, or giving her time to send
her commission for the calling a parliament, the three
Estates had assembled of their own authority, and by
a series of acts more sweeping than any that had ever
passed in the preceding history of the country, had
introduced innovations which it was impossible could
* Original MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 18th
August, 15CO. Also, Acts of Parliament, vol. ii. p. 60.5.
t Keith is at a loss to know how long they sat after the 24th. The point
is_settled hy a letter of Lethington to Cecil, MS. State-paper Office, Original,
27th August, 1 560. " Although our Parliament be not ended, it is for the
present on good respects dissolved.'"
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 7th September, 15M.
" The Lord St John departeth, as it is said, the 12th of this present."
192 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
be regarded without alarm ; they had overturned the
established religion, and let loose against all who ven-
tured to adhere to the belief of their fathers, the fury
of religious persecution; they had entered into a league
with another kingdom ; and, as if conscious of the illegal
nature of their proceedings, had attempted to protect
themselves against the punishment of the laws, by
giving a pretended parliamentary sanction to the most
violent of their measures. The truth of these assertions
could not be denied ; and when the young queen, and
her advisers the Guises, contrasted the conduct of the
parliament towards Elizabeth with the manner in which
they treated their sovereign, to whom they pretended
all loyalty and affection, they could not fail to be
mortified with the difference. So completely were
English interests predominant in the assembly of the
Estates, that Lethington and Moray in all important
measures received the advice of Elizabeth and her
ministers; and so far was this carried, that Cecil drew
up and transmitted to them the scroll of the act, which
was to be passed in their assembly.* In an interview
which took place soon after Sandilands"* arrival, between
Throckmorton the English ambassador and the Cardi-
nal Lorraine, the feelings of this proud minister upon
the subject were strongly intimated : " I will tell you
frankly," said the cardinal, " the Scots, the king's sub-
jects, do perform no part of their duties; the king and
the queen have the name of their sovereigns, and your
mistress hath the effect and the obedience. They would
bring the realm to a republic, and say, in their words,
they are the king's subjects ; to tell you of the parti-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 29th August, 1560, Lethington to Cecil.
It appears by this letter, that Cecil had framed the draft of an act for the
Scottish Parliament, confirming the treaty of Berwick, but it came too late.
Their own act, however, was the same in substance, and almost in words.
1560. MARY. 193
cular disorders, were too long : every man doth what
he lists. All this is too far out of order ; and when fault
is found with them, they threaten the king with the
aid of the queen your mistress. Let your mistress
either make them obedient subjects, or let her rid her
hands of them ; for rather than they shall be at this
point, the king will quit all. They have made a league
with the queen your mistress without us : what manner
of dealing is this of subjects? Thereupon it is they
bear themselves so proudly.* * They have sent hither
a mean man, in post to the king and queen their sove-
reigns, and to the queen your mistress a great and solemn
legation.* * This great legation, quoth he, goeth for
the marriage of the queen your mistress with the Earl
of Arran. What shall she have with him? I think
her heart too great to marry with such a one as he is ;
and one of the queen's subjects."*
Immediately after this, the English ambassador was
admitted to an audience of the young Queen of France.
It is interesting to observe Mary's first appearance :
Throckmorton entreated her to ratify the treaty, and
complained that this had been too long deferred.
" Such answer,"" said the young queen, " as the king
my lord and husband, and his council, hath made you
in that matter, might suffice ; but, because you shall
know I have reason to do as I do, I will tell you what
moveth me to refuse to ratify the treaty: my subjects
in Scotland do their duty in nothing, nor have they
performed one point that belongeth unto them. I am
their queen, and so they call me ; but they use me not
so. They have done what pleaseth them; and though
I have not many faithful subjects there, yet those few
* MS. Letter, French Correspondence, State-paper Office, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, 17th November, 1560.
VOL. VI. N
194 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1 560
that be there on my party, were not present when these
matters were done, nor at this assembly. I will have
them assemble by my authority, and proceed in their
doings after the laws of the realm, which they so much
boast of and keep none of them. They have sent hither
a poor gentleman to me, whom I disdain to have come
in the name of them all to the king and me in such a
legation. They have sent great personages to your
mistress : I am their sovereign, but they take me not
so. They must be taught to know their duties." " In
this speech," continues Throckmorton, " the queen
uttered some choler and stomach against them. I said,
as to the Lord of St John, I know him not; but he
is Great Prior of Scotland, and you know by others
what rank that estate hath, equal to any earl within
your realm. The queen answered, I do not take
him for Great Prior, for he is married; I marvel
how it happeneth they could send other manner of men
to your mistress. I said, madam, I have heard, that
if your majesty do proceed graciously with the Lord
St John, in observation of all that which was by the
Bishop of Valence and Mons. de Randan promised in
the king^s and your name, the nobles and states of
Scotland do mind to send unto the king and you, a
greater legation. Then the king and I, quoth she,
must begin with them. Madam, quoth I, T am sorry
the ratification of the treaty is refused ; for that matter,
together with other injuries offered to the queen my
mistress, (as, contrary to the express articles of the
treaty, the king and you do bear openly the arms of
England,) will give the queen my mistress occasion
greatly to suspect your well meaning unto her. Mine
uncles, quoth she, have sufficiently answered you in this
matter; and for your part, I pray you, do the office of *
]560. MARY. 195
good minister betwixt us, and so shall you do well. And
so,' 1 concludes Throckmorton, " the queen dismissed
me, and Mons. de Lansac brought me to my horse."*
When it is recollected that the young queen was now
only sixteen, it must be admitted, that in this conver-
sation with one of the ablest ministers of Elizabeth, she
acquitted herself with uncommon spirit and good sense.
Nor can we blame either her or the Guises for their
steady refusal to ratify the treaty. Her commissioners,
Monluc and Randan, had received positive instructions
from Mary to treat with England, but not to include
her Scottish subjects, or recognise their league with
Elizabeth ; yet they suffered themselves to be over-
reached by the crafty diplomacy of Cecil, and not only
included them, but virtually recognised their whole
proceedings. Encouraged by this, the Protestants had
assembled a parliament ; had adjourned for so short a
period that it was impossible for the ratification and
commission of their sovereign to arrive ; had hurried
forward its proceedings ; formed a council of regency,
composed chiefly of those who were opposed to France;
entered anew into the league with England; and lastly,
had directed to that country an embassy, the object of
which was to place themselves under the guidance and
protection of Elizabeth. When Lord St John arrived,
therefore, and in the name of the Congregation requested
the queen to confirm these proceedings, we need not
be surprised that he met with a positive and somewhat
peremptory refusal. But although Mary complained
of his inferior rank, as compared with Glencairn, Mor-
ton, and Lethington, the ambassadors to England, St
John was received with courtesy. He was admitted
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Queen Elizabeth, 17th November, 1560. The letter, which has nevea
been printed, is highly interesting.
196 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
to an audience with the young queen and the Cardinal
of Lorraine ; exhorted, with earnestness, to act the part
of an upright minister between his sovereign and her
subjects ; and dismissed with a letter addressed by the
king and queen to the Estates of Scotland.* Before
his departure, however, Sandilands, alarmed at the
prospects of the Congregation, had a private interview
with the English ambassador, in which he entreated him
to recommend " the ordering of their affairs in Scot-
land"" to the English queen, observing, that unless she
undertook the management, he foresaw that they would
inevitably fall out amongst themselves and be undone.-f-
The secret policy of France at this period towards
Scotland, was watched and detected by Throckmorton
with much ability. The Guises had resolved at present
to remain at peace, and wait till they discovered in
what manner Elizabeth received the embassy which
was to propose to her a marriage with Arran. If she
declined the match, and treated the overtures of the
Protestants with coldness, they determined to sow
jealousies between the reformers and their patroness ;
to persuade the Scots, that she had acted solely from
* Letter, MS. State-paper Office, French Correspondence, 17th Nov. 1560,
and 28th Nov. 1560, to the Queen. I am the more careful to note the man-
ner of his reception and dismissal which I take from Throckmorton, who
was on the spot, and in daily intercourse with him hecause it has heen
erroneously stated, that, "the Cardinal of Lorraine loaded him with reproaches,
accused him of perjury, denominated his friends execrable heretics, and dis-
missed him without an answer." This is the account of Dr Cook, (History
of the Reformation, vol. ii. pp. 341, 342,) who was misled by Keith, whilst
Keith was himself misled by Buchanan. Contrast this with the following
passage from Throckmorton's Letter of 28th Nov. 1560, to Queen Elizabeth.
" The Lord St John had his depesche here the 26th of this month. He took
not his leave of the king by reason of his indisposition, but of the queen and
the Cardinal Lorraine. He had very good words, and was required to use
the part and office of a good minister towards the Estates of Scotland, and
of a good subject towards his sovereigns. He hath a letter from the king
and queen to the said Estates, the copy whereof, I send your majesty here-
with."
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, 28th Nov. 1560.
]o60. MARY. 197
a desire to aggrandize herself; and induce them to
continue the old amity with France. With this view,
they proposed to detach Arran from the Congregation
by high offers : he was to marry a daughter of France,
to be made lieutenant for the king and queen in Scot-
land, to have the whole revenue of that realm for his
entertainment, and to want nothing but the name of
a king.* If, on the other hand, they found the queen
disposed to follow the advice of Cecil, and entertain
the league of mutual friendship and defence with Scot-
land, they had projected to weaken the Congregation,
by creating jealousies amongst its leaders, to sow
dissension between Arran and the Lord James, and
to bestow the whole of the benefices and offices of the
kingdom in raising a party against England. To
traverse these schemes, the English ambassador ad-
vised Elizabeth to employ Clark, one of the archers of
the French Guard, a subtle and intriguing agent of
his, who had been bred up as a spy in France ; he
accordingly left that country with letters of recom-
mendation to the queen, and being sent into Scotland,
pursued his treacherous vocation with great activity
and success.f
Although the policy of the Guisian faction was for
the moment watchful and pacific, their motive was
merely to gain time: their main purpose continued the
same as before the destruction of the party of the
Reformation in Europe. To put down the Huguenots
in France, to encourage the Romanists in England and
Scotland, to sow dissensions amongst the Protestant
princes of Germany, to support the Council of Trent
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, 10th Octoher,
1 560, Throckmorton to the Lords of the Council.
f MS. Letter, French Correspondence, State-paper Office, Throckmorton
to the Queen, 28th Nov. 15GO.
198 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560
now sitting, and, in a word, to concentrate the whole
strength of France, Spain, Italy, and the Empire,
against that great moral and religious revolution, by
which light and truth were struggling to free them-
selves from the trammels of many long established
errors, was the chief object to which they directed their
efforts.
Under the regency of the queen-dowager, the affairs
of Scotland had been intrusted principally to D'Osell,
a man of talent and a good officer, but rash, and over-
bearing. On the return, however, of Monluc bishop of
Valence, with Martignes, to the French court, D^Osell,
who it was generally supposed would have the chief
voice in Scottish affairs, lost the royal favour, and found
himself entirely passed over. The cause of his dis-
grace, as stated by Throckmorton, in a letter to Eliza-
beth, presents us with an appalling picture of the dark
policy of the Guises. At the commencement of the
religious troubles in Scotland, the Bishop of Amiens,
De la Brosse, and Martignes, advised the queen- dowager
to dissemble with the Congregation, to call a parliament
at Leith or Edinburgh, and having got the chief leaders
under one roof, to seize and put to death the most
violent.* The queen-regent' revolted from so base a
proposal, and D^Osell compelled his less scrupulous
associates to abandon it. But he now reaped the
consequences : the prelate arraigned him as the origin
of all the ill success in Scotland, and he found himself
deprived of the favour of his sovereign. (
At this interesting crisis, when the Congregation
regarded with anxiety the designs which were medi-
tating against them ; when Elizabeth hesitated upon
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to the Queen, 10th October, 15GU f Ibid. Poissy.
1560. MARY. 199
the expediency of continuing to give them her active
support, and the Guises waited only " till they had
got money in their purses to follow their enterprises;' 1 *
an event took place which drew after it important
changes. The young French king, Francis the Second,
who had for some time laboured under a languishing
state of health, expired at Orleans on the sixth of De-
cember.-)- His youthful consort, the Scottish queen,
by whom he was ardently beloved, had watched over
him with devoted care and affection, and for some time
appeared inconsolable; but the energy of her character
soon recovered its ascendancy, and recalled her to the
duties she had to perform, and the difficulties by which
she was surrounded. Throckmorton, an eye-witness
of her behaviour, soon after the event, addressed the
following letter to the council, which contains an in-
teresting view, not only of the character of the young
queen, but a sketch, by the hand of a master, of the
position of parties, and the projected policy of England.
" My very good lords : Now that God hath thus dis-
posed of the late French king, whereby the Scottish
queen is left a widow, in my simple judgment, one of
the special things your lordships have to consider,
and to have an eye to, is the marriage of that queen.
During her husband's life there was no great account
made of her ; for that, being under band of marriage
and subjection of her husband, who carried the burden
and care of all her matters, there was offered no great
occasion to know what was in her. But since her
husband's death, she hath showed, and so continueth,
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, 10th Oct. 1560,
Throckmorton to the Council.
t I note the day, as it is differently stated by our general historians. MS.
Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, 6th Dec. 1560. Throck-
morton to Elizabeth. " The 6th of this present, at 1 1 o'clock of the night
he departed to God."
200 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560.
that she is both of great wisdom for her years, modesty,
and also of great judgment, in the wise handling her-
self and her matters ; which, increasing in her with
her years, cannot but turn to her commendation, repu-
tation, honour, and great benefit of her and her country.
And already it appeareth, that some such as made no
great account of her, do now, seeing her wisdom, both
honour arid pity her.
"Immediately upon her husband's death, she changed
her lodging, withdrew herself from all company, became
so solitary and exempt of all worldliness, that she doth
not to this day see daylight, and thus will continue out
forty days. For the space of fifteen days after the
death of her said husband, she admitted no man to
come unto her chamber, but the king, his brethren,
the King of Navarre, the constable, and her uncles.
About four or five days after that, she was content
to admit some bishops, and the ancient knights of the
order, and none of the younger, saving Martignes, who
having done her good service, and married the chief
gentlewoman of her chamber, had so much favour
showed him among the rest. The ambassadors also
were lastly admitted, as they came, who have been all
with her to condole, saving I, which I have forborne
to do, knowing not the queen's majesty's pleasure in
that behalf.
" Amongst others, the ambassador of Spain hath
been with her above an hour together, which is thought
to be for more than the ceremony of condoling required.
He hath also since that time dined, and had great
conference with the Cardinal of Lorraine ; and though
I cannot yet think that it be about any matter of mar-
riage for her with the Prince of Spain for 1 think the
Council of Spain too wise to think upon it without
1560. MARY. 201
other commodity yet, it is not amiss to hearken to the
matter ; for she, using herself as she beginneth, will
make herself to be beloved, and to lack no good means of
offers. But to conclude herein: as long as the matter
shall be well handled in England, and that now, in time,
good occasions be not let pass, the King of Spain will
have little mind that way. As for my part, I see her be-
haviour to be such, and her wisdom and queenly modesty
so great, in that she thinketh herself not too wise, but
is content to be ruled by good counsel and wise men.
(which is a great virtue in a prince or princess, and
which argueth a great judgment and wisdom in her,)
that by these means she cannot do amiss. And I can-
not but fear her proceedings with the time, if any means
be left, and offered her to take advantage by.
" I understand very credibly," continued the am-
bassador, " that the said Scottish queen is desirous to
return into Scotland : marry, she would so handle the
matter as that the desire should not seem nor appear
to come of herself, nor of her seeking, but by the re-
quest and suit of the subjects of Scotland. To compass
which device she hath sent one Robert Lesley (who
pretendeth title to the earldom of Eothes) into Scot-
land, to work by such as are hers ; and besides them,
doubteth nothing to procure to her a good many of
those that were lately against her ; and among others,
she holdeth herself sure of the Lord James, and of all
the Stewards, wholly to be at her devotion. She
mistrusteth none but the Duke of Chastelherault and
his party ; and besides these, she nothing doubteth to
assure to her, with easy persuasions, the whole, or the
most part, of those that carried themselves indifferently
as neuters all this while, who are thought to be many
besides the common people. And now to have their
'202 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560
queen home [they] will altogether, she thinketh, lean
and incline to her. Upon request, thus to be made to
her by these nobles, requiring to have her return ; she
will demand that the principal forts and holds of the
realm be delivered into her hands, or to such for her
as she will appoint, to the end that she may be more
assured against the evil meaning of the hollow hearted,
or such as fear the worst towards themselves. She
doth also work that those that shall thus request her
to come into Scotland, shall offer and promise all obe-
dience and duty belonging to loving and obedient
subjects ; whom she will, for her part, recompense, by
all the favour, assurance, and benevolence, that a prince
can promise and owe to good subjects. This matter,
my lords, being worth good consideration, I leave to
your lordships'* grave wisdoms to consider of it."*
The news of the young king's death was received by
the party of the Congregation in Scotland with extra-
ordinary exultation. The ministers not only justly
considered the event as a great deliverance, but in the
intolerant spirit of the times, represented it as a special
judgment inflicted upon an infidel and stubborn prince. (
Throckmorton, with greater charity, called upon his
royal mistress to thank God, who by these incompre-
hensible means had provided for her surety and quiet-
ness. J Lethington, with the quick prospective glance
of a statesman, pronounced that the king's death must
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to the Council, 31st December, 1560.
f* " When all things," says Knox, " were in readiness to shed the blood
of innocents ; the Eternal, our God, who ever watcheth for the preservation
of his own, began to work, and suddenly did put his own work in execution ;
for as the king sat at mass, he was suddenly struck with an aposthume, in
that deaf ear which would never hear the truth of God. * " When his
glory perished, and the pride of his stubborn heart evanished in smoke."
Knox, p. 280.
+ MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, 6th December, 1560.
1560. MARY. 203
have the effect of changing materially the line of their
policy;* whilst the leaders of the opposite parties,
which had so long separated the state, transmitted
assurances of fidelity, and offers of service, to their
youthful sovereign.
In the meantime, all agreed that a parliament must
be summoned ; and the three Estates having assembled
at Edinburgh on the sixteenth of January, Lord St
John, who had been overtaken on his journey by the
news of the king's death, laid before them the letter
with which he had been intrusted by their sovereign
and her late husband. It informed them that their
envoy had assured her of their earnest wish to remain
faithful and obedient subjects ; but in the account
which she had received of the proceedings of their late
assembly, (so she termed the parliament in which they
had established the reformed faith,) she lamented to
observe, how far their conduct had deviated from their
professions. Yet so anxious was she for their return
to their duty, that she had resolved to despatch two
noble persons as her envoys into Scotland, bearing her
commission to convene a legal parliament, in which
their requests should be fully considered, and their
faults buried and forgotten. f
It was evident to the Lords of the Congregation,
that the king's death, which happened three weeks
after this letter was written, must have the effect of
altering, in a great degree, the mutual relations be-
tween them and their sovereign; they saw, at the
same time, that much would depend upon the policy
of England ; and they therefore turned with anxiety
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 6th Feb., 1560-1,
Scots Correspondence.
+ MS. Letter, copy, State-paper Office, Orleans, 17th November, 1560.
204 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560-1.
to receive the reply of Elizabeth to their late embassy.*
It was favourable, so far as she assured them that their
thankful acceptance of her assistance, and the good
fruits which had resulted from it, would encourage her
to proffer the same aid, should they ever require it in
their defence. She declined the offer of marriage
with the Earl of Arran, but in terms flattering to the
Estates and to himself, acknowledging their goodwill
in offering to her the choicest person whom they had,
and pronouncing him a noble gentleman of great
worthiness: she concluded by earnestly recommending
unanimity amongst themselves, warning them of the
practices which might still be attempted against them,
and (with a glance towards France) declared her readi-
ness to enter into a common defence against any com-
mon enemy. (
Having weighed these answers it was determined
by the parliament that their sovereign, who was now
unfettered by any ties to France, should be invited to
return to her own dominions, and that her brother the
Lord James, the chief leader of the Congregation,
should instantly proceed as an ambassador to that
kingdom, to declare their wishes upon this point. It
might have been imagined that this potent person, who
had made himself so obnoxious to the Guisian faction,
would have declined this dangerous mission. But al-
though the task was delicate and difficult, there were
circumstances which convinced him, that if he was to
retain the power he now possessed, he must embrace it.
The Earl of Huntley, the head of the Roman Catholic
* The Ambassadors returned 3d January, MS. Letter, State-paper Office,
Randolph to Cecil, 3d January, 1560-1.
*t* British Museum, Caligula, book x. fol. 133. A copy from the origi-
nal in Lord Burleigh's hand. 8th December, 15fiO. Printed iu Keith,
f. 156.
1560-1. MARY. 205
party, his principal rival, and the only man whose
strength and abilities he dreaded, had already assem-
bled his friends, and he was anxious to anticipate any
message they might send to France.* Even before
the king's death, the Lord James had entered into a
correspondence with the young queen, in which he
solicited the renewal of his French pension ; and, in
reply, Mary had assured him, that if he would return
to his duty, not only the pension awaited him, but the
highest favours that could be conferred, whether he
disposed himself to be ecclesiastical or temporal.*)"
But whilst he thus prepared the way for a reconcilia-
tion with his own sovereign, and hoped to be intrusted
with the principal management of her affairs, the Lord
James had no intention of deserting the lucrative
service of England. At the same moment he applied,
through Throckmorton, to Cecil, requesting a recom-
pense out of some abbey, or pension in his own country,
for the losses he had sustained. J He resolved also to
visit London, on his road to France, and, in an inter-
view with Elizabeth, to acquaint that princess with
the purport of his message, and the course of conduct
which he and his party had determined to follow : If
the Congregation found that their sovereign, listening
to the counsel of the house of Guise, which had already
occasioned a civil war, meant to renew its horrors by
bringing with her a foreign force, they had resolved
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Scots Correspondence, Randolph to
Cecil, Edinburgh, 23d December, 1560. Also, original MS. State-paper
Office, Randolph to Cecil, 7th September, 1560. Also, MS. Letter, State-
paper Office, original, Randolph to Cecil, '23d September, 1560.
f MS. Letter, French Correspondence, State-paper Office, 29th Novem-
ber, 1560, Throckmorton to Queen Elizabeth.
+ MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Cecil, 29th November, 1560. "If," says Throckmorton, "the allotment
of his recompence could be so used as the Earl of Arran might be seen to le
the principal doer thereof, it would, in my opinion, do no harm."
206 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560-1.
not to receive her, but to communicate the matter to
the Queen of England, who, says Lethington, will have
power to command what she thinketh rathest * to be
followed, without whose advice, he adds, " we dare not
enterprise any great thing."-)- If, on the contrary,
Mary was content to come home, unaccompanied by
any foreign force, and to repose her confidence in her
own subjects, he was to assure her of their loyalty and
affection, and to advise her to take her journey through
England, where she might have an interview with
Elizabeth, and from which her subjects would accom-
pany her honourably to her own country.
One difficulty remained on the subject of religion.
The young queen rigidly adhered to the Roman Catho-
lic faith, yet it had by parliament been pronounced
death for any one to hear mass ; and the ministers of
the Kirk admonished him, that if he consented that
she should have that service performed either publicly
or privately, they would consider him as betraying the
cause of God, and exposing religion to the utmost peril.
He answered that he should never consent to the
establishment of this idolatrous worship in public, but
that he could not consent to the violent advice of those
who would stop her from the private exercise of her
own form of worship. { Having thus received his in-
structions, the parliament was prorogued till the
twenty-first of May.
At the same time that the three Estates committed
this important mission to the Lord James, a secret
convention was held by the Catholic party, which was
* Rathest ; earliest if used in its old English meaning ; but here, from
the context, it seems rather to be used in the sense of " preferable."
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 6th February,
1560-1.
J British Museum, MS. Calderwood, vol. i. p. 458.
1560-1. MARY. 207
attended by the Archbishop of St Andrew's, the
Bishops of Aberdeen, Moray, and Ross ; the Earls
of Huntley, Athole, Crawford, Sutherland, Marshal,
Caithness, and many other barons, who intrusted
Lesley, then official of Aberdeen and afterwards Bishop
of Ross, with a commission to repair to the French
court, and present to their sovereign their offers of
service and expressions of devoted attachment.
The departure of both envoys, however, was delayed
by the arrival of four commissioners from the queen.*
These were Preston of Craigmillar, Ogilvy of Findlater,
Lurnsden of Blanern, and Lesley of Auchtermuchty.
The message which they brought from their royal mis-
tress was full of affection and conciliation. She assured
them that she meant shortly to return home ; that all
offences should be forgiven, and that the few French
soldiers who still remained in garrison within Dunbar
and the Inch should be sent out of the country. She
informed them that offers of marriage had been already
made to her on the part of the Prince of Spain and
the Kings of Sweden and Denmark, but that she had
resolved to entertain none of these proposals till she
could in person consult her nobles and receive the as-
sent of her people. To them she looked, and to their
support, as the only sure foundation of her greatness. +
They presented at the same time a commission directed
to seven leading men in Scotland, the Duke of Chas-
telherault, Argyle, Athole, Huntley, Bothwell, the
Lord James, and the Archbishop of St Andrew's,
directing them to summon a parliament, and notifying
that the French king had resolved to despatch Mon-
sieur de Noailles to propose to the three Estates the
* 20th February, 1560-1.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 26th February,
J 560-1.
208 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560-1.
renewal of the ancient league between France and
Scotland, a proposal which met with her hearty con-
currence. Mary seized this moment, earnestly to
recommend to her subjects, of all parties, the duty of
mutual forbearance and forgiveness. She addressed
letters to almost every leading man in Scotland, as-
suring those who had most offended against her, that
she was determined to forget all injuries, and to con-
tinue them in their offices of trust if they would but
faithfully serve her.*
At the time when these messengers arrived from the
queen, Scotland was divided, as we are informed by
the Secretary Lethington, into three parties.-)- The
first he denominates the neutrals, who, as they were
before this, careless of the commonweal, were now ready
to receive whatever was propounded to them under the
shadow of the prince's command, without examination
either of its justice or its consequences. The second
faction consisted of the Duke of Chastelherault and
the friends of his house : he considered his only
security to be a marriage, between Arran his eldest
son, and Mary. In advising this, the sole councillor
and confidant of Arran was Knox ; to promote it,
Forbes, a confidential friend of the Hamiltons, had
already proceeded on a secret mission to France ; and
although the queen was too cautious to commit herself,
the messenger was received with favour, and an answer
returned which at least did not extinguish his hopes. J
The third party is described by the same acute states-
* MS. Letter, French Correspondence, State-paper Office, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, 23d January, 1560-1. MS. Instructions to the four Commis-
sioners, State-paper Office, without date.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 26th February, 1560-1, Lethington to
Cecil.
J MS. letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 3d Jan. 1560-1
156*0-1. MARY. 209
man, himself an eye-witness and principal leader
amongst them, as important alike in numbers, rank,
and power. It was their opinion that every method
should be adopted to persuade their sovereign to return
into her own realm, where they were ready to secure
for her a favourable reception, under the single condi-
tion that she came without a foreign force, and was
content to govern by her own subjects. If she con-
sented to this, it was his belief that ways would easily
be found to induce her to favour the religion, confirm
the treaty with England, and reform all abuses. Leth-
ington concluded the letter which gives us this infor-
mation, by pointing out to Cecil the dangers which
must follow the renewal of the league with France,
and anticipated his own certain ruin if the amity with
England were dissolved. " I pray you," says he,
" consider what danger it is for me to write. Many
men's eyes look upon me ; my familiarity with that
realm is known, and so far misliked, that I learn it
shall be my undoing, unless the queen may be made
favourable to England, which I fear shall be hard to
do."* Nor was he singular in this opinion, the whole
party of the Congregation looking to Elizabeth as their
surest protection against the designs of France and the
anticipated resentment of their sovereign.
On the first intelligence of the death of Francis, this
princess prepared to pursue that cautious and double
policy which should preserve her interest in Scotland
at the least possible expense to herself. She despatched
the Earl of Bedford to present her condolences to Mary,
and to assure her of her warmest wishes for the con-
tinuance of peace between her own kingdom and Scot-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 26th February,
J 560-1.
VOL. VI, O
210 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560-1.
land, but to require at the same time the confirmation
of the treaty of Edinburgh, concluded by her comrah -
sioners, and of which the ratification, she contended,
had been delayed on frivolous pretences.* It was to
be a main part of Bedford's duty to persuade the queen
to give the same freedom to her country that it had
enjoyed during the reign of her father, James the Fifth,
which consisted chiefly in its being governed by its own
laws, and ruled by means of its " natural or born"
people. He was to remind her how quiet the kingdom
had remained since the removal of the French troops ;
to declare that for the last hundred years the Borders
had not enjoyed so much peace as at present ; and if
he discovered any disposition in the house of Guise to
promote her marriage with Spain or Austria, he was
to incite the King of Navarre, and the Protestant party
in France, to oppose it as contrary to his own greatness
and the best interests of Christendom. -f- Soon after
this, Elizabeth instructed Randolph, then resident as
her enVoy at the Scottish capital, in the policy which
he ought to pursue. He was directed to inform the
leaders of the Protestants of the league lately renewed
amongst the princes of Germany for their mutual de-
fence against the pope and his adherents, and to show
them how earnestly they had exhorted her to continue
firm in her religion. He was to express her determina-
tion to adhere to the great principles of the Reformation,
to exhort the Scottish reformers to labour for the con-
tinuance of the peace with England, and to persuade them
against the renewal of the ancient unprofitable alliance
with France. {
* MS. Instructions, State-paper Office, Sir J. Williamson's Collection, first
series, vol. xix. p. 547, 20th January, 1560-1.
f Ibid.
J Haynes, State Papers, p. 366, 17th March, 15GO-1.
1560-1 MARY. 211
Bedford arrived at Paris on the third of February,
and on the fifteenth of that month proceeded to the
court at Fontainbleau, where he delivered his message
to the Scottish queen.* He was received by Mary
with the courteous and winning manners for which she
was so remarkable : she expressed her kindly feelings
towards Elizabeth, and her desire to remain in amity
with England, but steadily declined to ratify the treaty
of Edinburgh till she had returned to her kingdom
O O
and consulted the wishes of her parliament. The
interview is minutely described in an original letter
of Bedford and Throckmorton to the Privy-council.
They were conducted to the presence of the Queen of
Scotland by D^Osell, who had been restored to favour
and made her knight of honour ; and, on being pressed
to show her desire of peace with Elizabeth, by con-
firming the treaty of Edinburgh without more delay,
Mary replied, " that there were more reasons to per-
suade to amity between Elizabeth her good sister and
herself, than between any two princes in allChristendom;
we are both (said she) in one isle, both of one language,
both the nearest kinswomen that each other hath, and
both queens. As to the treaty of Edinburgh, I am
here, (she continued,) as you see, without all counsel ;
my uncle, (the Cardinal of Lorraine,) who hath the
ordering of all my affairs, and by whom (as reason is)
I ought to be advised, is not here presently; and, Mons.
TAmbassadeur, it is also the queen my good sister's
advice, that I should take the counsel of the nobles and
wise men of mine own realm, as hath been declared by
you unto me. You know well enough, (quoth she,)
here are none of them, but I look to have some of them
* State-paper Office, French Correspondence, 12th February, 1 560-1 ; also
State-paper Office, Sir J. Williamson's Collection, first series, vol. xix. p.
te-pa
, Re
port ot Bedford and Throckmorton to the Privy-council.
212 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560-1.
here shortly; and then will I make the queen such an
answer as she shall be pleased with." The Earl of
Bedford again insisted, that she was bound in honour
immediately to grant a ratification, which had been
already too long delayed. " Helas, my lord, (inter-
rupted Mary,) what would you have me do? I have
no council here; the matter is great to ratify a treaty;
and especially for one of my years :" she was then
eighteen. The sagacious Throckmorton then attempted
to reply to these reasonable scruples: "Madam," said
he, " Mons. de Guise your uncle, is here present, by
whom, I think, as reason is, you will be advised. I
see others here also, of whom you have been pleased to
take counsel; the matter is not such but that you may
proceed without any great delay, seeing it hath been
promised so often that it should be ratified." " Helas,
Mons. FAmbassadeur, (quoth she,) for those things
that were done in my late husband's time, I am not to
be charged, for then I was under his obedience ; and
now I would be loath to do anything unadvisedly; but
because it is a great matter, I pray you give me re-
spite till I speak with you again ;" with which answer
the ambassadors were contented for the time. But
when taking their leave Mary recalled Throckmorton;
" Mons. TAmbassadeur," said she pleasantly, "I have
to challenge you with breach of promise: you can
remember that you promised me, in case I would send
to the queen my good sister my picture, that I should
have hers in recompense thereof; and because I made
no small account of the same, I was very glad that that
condition was offered me to have it. You know I have
sent mine to the queen my good sister according to
my promise, but have not received hers : I pray you,
therefore, procure, that I may have it, whereof I am so
1560-1. MARY. 213
desirous, and now more than before, that I shall think
the time long till I have it."
On the morrow, Bedford and Throckmorton having
obtained a second audience, reminded Mary of her pro-
mise to give them her final answer: " My Lord," quoth
the queen, " inasmuch as I have none of the nobles of
my realm of Scotland here, to take advice of, by whom
the queen, my good sister, doth advise me to be coun-
selled, 1 dare not, nor think not good, to ratify this
said treaty ; and, as you know, if I should do any act
that might concern the realm, without their advice and
counsel, it were like [likely] I should have them such
subjects unto me, as I have had them. But for all such
matters as be past, I have forgotten them ; and, at the
queen my good sister's desire, I have pardoned them,
trusting that I shall find them hereafter, by her good
means, better and more loving subjects than they have
been. Whether I have cause to think amiss of them
or no, I durst put it to her judgment. This, my Lord,
I pray you think concerning the ratification of the
treaty : I do not refuse to ratify it because I do not
mind to do it ;* nor I use not these delays as excuses
to shift off the matter ; for if my council were here, I
would give you such an answer as should satisfy you.
And I pray you to tell the queen my good sister I trust,
ere it be long, some of the nobility and council of Scot-
land will be here, for I do hear they mean to send some,
shortly, unto me : peradventure you know it as well as I.
And when I shall have communed with them, I mind
to send my good sister the queen, your mistress, such
an answer, as I trust she shall be pleased with it ; for
I mean to send one of mine own unto her ere it be long.
* She means to say " my present refusal does not proceed from any reso-
lution not to ratify it."
214 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1560-1.
In the meantime, I pray you, declare unto her from
me, that I would we might speak together, and then
I trust we should satisfy each other much better than
we can do by messages and ministers. This the queen
my sister may assure herself of, that she shall find
none more willing to embrace her friendship and amity
than I ; and there is none that ought to take more
place with her, than me. She can consider in what
state I am in, and what need I have to have the amity
of such a one as she is. Tell her, I pray you, how
much I am desirous to see her. and also that I am in
good hope it will come to pass." " And thus, (con-
cluded the ambassadors in their letter to the Privy-
council,) after many good words to and fro, we took
our leave of her: marry she forgot not to pray us both
once again, to remember to procure that she might
have the queen's majesty's picture."*
Not long after the return of Bedford, the Lord James
having consulted with Lethington and his party, on
the policy which they should pursue, repaired to the
English court : there, in an interview with Elizabeth,
who pressed him to procure the ratification of the treaty
of Edinburgh, he assured that princess, that in his
present visit to the queen his sister, he bore no public
commission ; it was dictated, he said, solely by his own
private feelings ; and the only message he conveyed
from the nobility and council, was a general declara-
tion of their duty and devotion to their sovereign. (
But although Moray declined to press Mary on this
subject of the treaty, he did not fail to inform Elizabeth
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office. The Earl of Bedford and Sir N.Throck-
morton, to the Privy-council, 26th February, 1560-1. Sir J. Williamson's
Collection, vol. xix. p. 54.
f MS. Letter, Elizabeth to Sir N. Throckmorton, State-paper Office,
Draft by Cecil, 29th March, 1561. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Scot"
Correspondence, 7th Feb. 1560, the Lord James to Cecil.
1560-1. MARY. 215
minutely regarding the intended proceedings of himself
and his friends. " The Lord James," said Lethington,
addressing Cecil and alluding to the journey, "mindeth
to sue to the queen's majesty [Elizabeth] for a passport,
and in his passage to make her highness participant as
well of that he hath in charge, as what he mindeth to
do. You know somewhat of his nature, and I dare
undertake that he is no dissembler.' 11 * With Cecil
also the same ambitious and able man held a private
consultation ; and it is curious to observe, that between
two such consummate politicians as Cecil and Throck-
morton there existed a difference of opinion as to the
propriety of permitting him to take his journey into
France. Throckmorton, then minister at the French
court, a witness to the skilfulness of Guisian diplomacy,
and not insensible to the fascination of the manners of
the young queen, dreaded that he would be gained over
by the bribes which were preparing for him ; or, should
his integrity or his self interest resist these temptations,
that some means would be found to detain him in
France. " I understand," says this ambassador, in a
letter to Queen Elizabeth, " that the Lord James of
Scotland is appointed to come hither to the Queen of
Scotland. I am very sorry for it, and so shall be still,
till I see the contrary of that fall out, which I yet fear
by his coming. I learn that this king, by means of
the Queen of Scotland, deviseth all the means he can
to win him to his devotion ; and for that purpose hath
both procured the red hat for him if he will accept it,
and also mindeth to endow him with good abbeys and
benefices in this realm. If advancement or fair words
shall win him, he shall not want the one or the other.
If he so much esteem the religion he professeth, and
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, Feb. 6, 1560-1.
216 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
the honour of his country and himself that none of
these things shall win him to this devotion, then it is
to be feared that they will work ways to keep him still
by fair or foul means. * * On the other side, if he
will be won, then your majesty knoweth he may be,
and it is like he will be, the most perilous man to your
majesty and your realm of all the realm of Scotland,
and most able to stand this king in his best stead for
the matters there: so that his coming cannot but pre-
judice every way ; and I believe verily if he come, he
will not return into Scotland so soon as he thinketh."*
Cecil, however, knew that the Lord James was de-
votedly attached to England. From the correspondence
with Lethington, he was aware that both Maitland and
he considered their own safety as inseparably connected
with the maintenance of their fidelity to Elizabeth ; and
having concerted their measures together, the English
secretary felt little disposition to distrust the Scottish
envoy, but treating him with the highest courtesy,
dismissed him with earnest injunctions to attend to his
personal safety.-f*
Having arrived at Paris, Moray found that the queen
his sovereign was then at Rheims, to which place he
proceeded, after having consulted with Throckmorton,
and delivered to that minister the letters he had re-
ceived from Cecil. J He found himself anticipated by
Lesley the envoy of Huntley, who professed to repre-
sent the Catholic party. This able man, the very day
before her brother was admitted, had solicited and
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to the Queen, Paris, March 31, 1561.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Cecil to Throck-
morton, April 4, 1561.
J He arrived sometime hefore the 9th of April, and did not see his sove-
reign the queen, till the 14th of the same month. MS. Letter, State-paper
Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton to Cecil. 9th April, 1561.
1561. MARY. 217
obtained an interview with the queen. It seems how-
ever, to have produced little effect upon the mind of
Mary. She had been impressed with an unfavourable
opinion of Huntley, from his late wavering and crafty
conduct. Although he professed an unshaken attach-
ment to the Romish faith, and made the warmest
professions of loyalty to his sovereign, this powerful
noble had, scarcely a year before, joined the party of the
Congregation, upon an understanding that he should
be supported in his power in the north, and share in
the ecclesiastical prizes which the leaders were then
dividing amongst them.* When, therefore, Lesley
brought from him his assurances of fidelity, warned his
mistress to beware of the intrigues and ambition of her
brother the Lord James, and hinted that he had
designs against the crown, it is not surprising that
Mary listened to his communication with incredulity. (
She, however received the envoy with kindness, and
commanded him to remain near her person. }
To Moray her behaviour was more warm and con-
fidential. He came to her, as he stated, not with any
public commission, but impelled by his affection, and
anxious to offer her his services, as one who knew the
state of parties in her dominions ; and so completely
did his blunt and open deportment impress her with
an opinion of his integrity, that in a few days he had
gained a decided influence over the mind of his sove-
reign. He appears, in his manner of managing this
difficult mission, to have acted with great address and
duplicity. His object, according to the expressive
phrase of Lethington, was to " grope the mind of the
* MS. State-paper Office, " My Lord of Huntley 's desires and counsel.
1 8th April, 1560.
f Keith, p. 160.
Lesley, Bannatyne edition, p. 294.
218 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561
young queen," and, having discovered her intentions,
to shape his counsels and his conduct so as best to
secure the interests of the Congregation, the friendship
of Elizabeth, and the preservation of his own power.
Had Mary been aware that the man in whom she was
about to confide, had already made Elizabeth and Cecil
participant in his intentions, and that nothing was to
be done in Scottish matters without consulting the
English queen, she would have hesitated before she
gave entire credit to one so likely to abuse it ; but of
this she was ignorant ; and the Catholic party, who had
attempted to put her on her guard, were not them-
selves above suspicion. D^Osell, in whom she placed
much confidence, was untrue to her ; and, acting in
the interest of Elizabeth,* advised her to confide
implicitly in the Lord James. Her temper was open
and unsuspicious; and one of the most fatal faults
in her character was the facility with which her
affections were engaged, and the dangerous and rapid
reliance she was disposed to place in all whom she
trusted. She listened, therefore, to her brother with a
generous forgetfulness of the part which, as she believed,
his conscientious adherence to the reformed faith had
compelled him to take against her ; and when he pressed
her to return to her dominions, and assured her of a
cordial welcome from himself and her subjects,-}- she
flattered herself his protestations were sincere, and dis-
closed to him her intentions with an imprudent preci-
pitation. She declared that she would never ratify
the treaty of Edinburgh till she came into Scotland
arid took the advice of her parliament. She did not
* This is quite apparent from the secret correspondence of Throckmorton
and Cecil, in the State-paper Office.
fMS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmortou
to Cecil, 26th July, 1561, Paris.
1561. MARY. 219
scruple to admit, that the amity between England and
Scotland was little agreeable to her, and that, consi-
dering the terms of the league lately made betwixt
the two realms, she was anxious to have it dissolved.
It was evident also to the Lord James, from the ex-
pressions of the queen, that she would never marry the
Earl of Arran ; but was anxious to procure the consent
of her subjects to a union with some foreign prince.
She had sent her commands that no parliament should
be assembled, and no business of importance concluded,
till she had personally met with her people ; and she
confessed that her present intention was to return to
Scotland, not through England, but by sea.*
Notwithstanding all this, there is reason to believe
that an immediate return to her kingdom was not at
this moment very anxiously desired by Mary. To
leave France, where, as the queen of one of the first
monarchies in Europe, she was accustomed to all the
splendour and adulation attendant upon so high a rank,
where she had been the attractive centre of a refined
court, to repair to an inferior kingdom, inhabited by a
ruder people, who spoke of her as an idolatress and an
enemy, was sufficiently appalling. But other reasons
weighed with her, and produced delay. Her hand was
now solicited by some of the greatest princes on the
continent ; and the same suitors who had courted
Elizabeth, and whom that queen felt a pride in keep-
ing in her train, now offered an unpardonable affront
to her vanity by transferring their admiration to her
beautiful rival. The King of Denmark, reputed to be
by sea the strongest prince in Christendom, had offered
to enter into a strict league with France, should he
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, 29th April, 1561.
220 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
succeed in his addresses to Mary.* The King of
Sweden had despatched an embassy proposing himself
in marriage ; and at this very time the jealous and
busy eye of Throckmorton had detected a secret over-
ture for a matrimonial alliance with the Prince of
Spain, which created alarm to the English ambassador,
and did not escape the watchful observation of the
Lord James. *( To gain time to conclude this negoti-
ation was one great object of the Scottish queen ; and
with this view she was inclined to delay her immediate
journey home, and intrust her affairs in the mean sea-
son to the management of the Lord James. But, prior
to her final resolution, both the queen and the Guises
endeavoured, with great earnestness, to induce him to
embrace the creed of Rome. He was offered a cardi-
naPs hat, and the highest advancement, should he
prefer an ecclesiastical to a civil career ; but he resist-
ed every bribe, remaining true to the reformed faith
and his engagements with England. This firmness
in his purpose rather raised than lowered him in the
esteem of the queen his sister. She imagined, but
erroneously, that he who was thus guided by a con-
scientious adherence to the party of which he formed
the head, would be equally true to her. She confided
to him her intended measures regarding Scotland; and
when he parted from her, she had promised him her
commission to assume the government of the country
till her arrival in her dominions, and engaged to send
it to him by a gentleman whom he left behind for this
purpose. J
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, March 31, 1561.
*t* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Cecil, April 23, 1561.
State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton to the Queen,
v Elizabeth,) 1st May, 1561.
1561. MARY. 221
On taking leave of his sovereign, the Lord James
returnecUo Paris, and having secretly met the English
ambassador, insidiously betrayed to him everything
that had passed between Mary and himself. These
particulars Throckmorton immediately communicated
to Elizabeth,* observing that the Scottish lord would
himself detail the circumstances more particularly to
her majesty when he came to her presence. It is of
importance at this moment, to the full understanding
of the secret history of this period, to attend to some
of the passages of the letter addressed by the ambas-
sador to that princess. " At this present," (twenty-
ninth April, 1561,) says he, " thanks be to God, your
majesty hath peace with all the world, and I see no
occasion to move unto your majesty or your realm,
any war from any place or person, but by the Queen
of Scotland and her means ; neither do I see any
danger that may grow to your realm but by Scotland.
Then, wisdom doth advise your majesty to buy your
surety, quietness, and felicity, though it cost you dear.
The means to assure this is, in time, before any other
put in his feet, his hire, and practices, to win unto your
majesty's devotion and party, the mightiest, the wisest,
and the most honest of the realm of Scotland. And
though it be to your majesty great charge, as twenty
thousand pounds yearly, yet it is in no wise to be
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to the Queen, 29th April, 1561. It is to the preservation of this letter in
the Correspondence of the State-paper Office, that I owe the detection of
Moray's intrigues with Elizabeth, and the disclosure of the duplicity with
which he acted. I subjoin the passage which proves the assertion in the
text, as it is of importance : " When the Lord James, being the same day
[22d April] arrived at this town, came to my lodging secretly unto me, and
declared to me at good length, all that had passed between the queen his
sister and him, and between the Cardinal Lorraine and him. The circum-
stances whereof he will declare unto your majesty particularly when he
cometh to your presence. I suppose he will be in England about the 10th
or 12th of May."
222 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
omitted or spared. And in sorting your entertainment
to every person, there should be some special considera-
tion had of the Earl of Arran, because he is the second
person of that realm, whose quality and credit your
majesty knoweth better than I ; and in like manner of
the Lord James, whose credit, love, and honesty is
comparable, in my judgment, to any man of that
realm. It is now your majesty"^ time, and never shall
you have a better opportunity, to work the Scottish
affection to your devotion." Another passage from the
same letter, eulogising the Lord James, proves that
Elizabeth had already, by some substantial considera-
tion, or as Throckmorton expresses it, " some good
turn," engaged him in her service ; and demonstrates
in strong language the system of corruption by which
Throckmorton advised that the assistance of the lead-
ing lay reformers of Scotland should be secured.
" Lastly," said he, "I do well perceive the Lord
James to be a very honourable, sincere, and godly
gentleman, and very much affected to your majesty,
upon whom you never bestowed good turn better than
on him, in my opinion. He is a man, in my simple
judgment, for many respects, much worthy to be
cherished, and his amity to be well embraced and en-
tertained : for besides his own well deserving, he is as
well able to serve your majesty by himself and his
friends, as any man there in Scotland ; though the
queen his sister will -seek to bring in thither some
puissant foreign power, to subject all upside down, or
though she would seek to serve her turn and affection
by some others of her nation that be inclined to greater
legerity, inconstancy, and corruption. * * For, if
I be not greatly deceived, no man can tell yet, nor is
able to ground a certain judgment, what shall become
1561. MARY. 223
of the realm of Scotland. And therefore it shall be
good for your majesty upon all events to retain and win
as many friends there as you can, that if one will not
serve your turn another may. There be attending
here on the Lord James, two men amongst others that
are to be cherished by your majesty. The one is the
Laird of Pitarrow, a grave wise man, and such a one
as the Queen of Scotland, for God's cause and yours,
doth much mislike. The other is Mr John Wood,
secretary to the Lord James, a man in whom there is
much virtue and sufficiency. There be two others
which are well known to your majesty, which are in
like case to be well cherished : the one is Alexander
Clark, the other is Robert Melvin." * These passages
sufficiently explain the extraordinary difficulties of
Mary's situation, the venality of the times, and the
lamentable want of principle in that class from which
she was compelled to choose her counsellors.
The queen, on taking leave of her brother, had ear-
nestly dissuaded him from visiting the French court
or passing through England. She naturally dreaded
the influence of the Protestant party in France, and
of Elizabeth in England ; and when she found that her
wishes were not obeyed, she dismissed the gentleman,
by whom he expected to receive the commission ap-
pointing him governor, with a brief intimation that she
meant to intrust that authority to no person till her
own arrival in her dominions. " The special cause,"'
says Throckrnorton in writing to the Queen of Eng-
land, "why she hath changed her opinion for the
Lord James, as I hear, is that she could by no means
dissuade him from his devotion and good opinion to-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, 29th April, 1561, Paris.
224 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
wards your maiesty, and the observation of the league
between your majesty and the realm of Scotland ; and
also, that neither she nor the Cardinal Lorraine could
win nor divert him from his religion, wherein they used
very great means and persuasions. For which respects
the said Lord James deserveth to be the more esteem-
ed ; and seeing he hath dealt so plainly with the queen
his sovereign on your behalf, and showed himself so
constant in religion, that neither the fear of his sove-
reign's indignation could waver him, nor great promises
win him, your majesty may, in my opinion, make good
account of his constancy towards you : and so he de-
serveth to be well entertained and made of, as one that
may stand you in no small stead for the advancement
of your desire. And in case your majesty would now
in time liberally and honourably consider him with
some good means, to make him to be the more beholden
to you, it would, in my simple judgment, serve your
majesty to great purpose. 11 *
Moray having left Paris, passed over to Dover, and
from thence to the English court. The step taken by
the Scottish queen in withholding his promised com-
mission as governor, convinced him that, since their
interview, her policy had changed ; his measures,
therefore, experienced a similar alteration. He was
suspected ; the queen had resolved to return to her
dominions sooner than he had contemplated ; and it
became necessary for him to provide against it. He
knew from Throckmorton, whose sagacity penetrated
into the whole system of the French intrigues in
Scotland, that a strong Romish party was forming
against him ; love-days had been made amongst the
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to the Queen, 1st May, 1561, Paris.
1561. MARY. 225
papists * by Mary's advice ; Lethington, in a letter to
Throckmorton, informed that minister, that French
gold, which had before this worked so much mischief
in the country, might have the same effect again, if
England grew lukewarm, and hinted at the necessity
of bribing the leading men in Scotland. " I remember,"
said he, "one old verse of Chaucer, 'With empty hand
men should no haukis lure,' sapienti pauca""^
Meantime Moray, who remained at the English
court, consulted with Elizabeth on the adoption of
every method by which Mary might be detained in
France: if this failed, and she set out on her journey,
it was devised that means should be taken to intercept
her on her passage to her dominions. { Having acted
this disingenuous part, he repaired to Scotland fully
instructed by Cecil in the policy which they thought
proper to adopt. He found there Noailles the French
ambassador, who, during his absence, had been sent by
Mary to communicate her wishes and intention ; and
soon after his arrival, in the end of May, a convention
of the nobility was held, in which the Protestant party
carried some violent resolutions against renewing the
league with France. || At this assembly Noailles the
French ambassador received his audience, and having
urged them to break with England-, met with a decided
refusal. They reminded him of the late cruel war
which the French had carried on in Scotland, of the
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office: French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Cecil, 21st May, Paris.
f* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, copy, Lething-
ton to Throckmorton, 10th June, 1561, Edinburgh.
J Copy sent at the time to Elizabeth. State-paper Office, French Cor-
respondence, Throckmorton to the Lord James, 26th June, 1561. Camden
apud Kennet, vol. i. p. 387. Keith, p. 179.
Neither Keith nor Knox fix the precise date of Moray's arrival at Edin-
burgh. By a Letter of Throckmorton to the Lord James, it appears that
he was in London on the 20th May, and at Edinburgh, on the 3d June.
II Keith, p. 161.
VOL. VI. P
226 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
seasonable assistance of Elizabeth, and of the tyranny
of the Romish clergy, whom, instead of pastors, they
had found to be wolves, thieves, and murderers of the
flock. To dissolve a righteous league which had been
cemented in the name of God, and to enter a;ain into
alliance with those who were the sworn vassals of that
papal tyranny, which they had cast off, was, they
declared, a proceeding to which they never would give
their consent.
With this reply Noailles returned to France, and
Elizabeth^ judging this a proper conjuncture to make
a last effort to procure from Mary the ratification of
the treaty of Edinburgh, instructed Throckmorton,
her ambassador at Paris, to visit her for this purpose.
His request was temperately, but decidedly denied.
The Scottish queen informed him, that she had now
finally resolved to return to her dominions in Scotland,
where she would have an opportunity of consulting the
Estates of her realm, without whose advice it would
be improper for her to act in this matter ; she added,
that she had resolved to withdraw all Frenchmen from
Scotland; that she regretted their presence had given
discontent to her subjects and excited jealousy in her
good sister ; but that nothing should be left undone
to satisfy the Queen of England, from whom she ex-
pected the like good offices in return. Throckmorton
observed in reply, that it seemed superfluous to delay
the ratification of the treaty, till she had obtained the
advice of her nobles and the Estates of the realm, of
whose opinion there could be no doubt, as the treaty
was made by their consent ; "Yea," said Mary, "by
some of them, but not by all.* It will appear when
1 come amongst them, whether they be of the same
* Keith, p. 166.
1561. MARY. 227
mind that you say they were then of. But of this 1
assure you, Monsieur FAmbassadeur, 1 for my part
am very desirous to have the perfect and the assured
amity of the queen my good sister, and I will use all
the means I can to give her occasion to think that I
mean it indeed." " I answered," (says Throckmorton,)
"Madam, the queen my mistress, you may be assured,
will use the like towards you, to move you to be of
the same opinion towards her." " Then," said she,
" I trust the queen your mistress, will not support nor
encourage any of my subjects to continue in their dis-
obedience nor take upon them things which apper-
taineth not to subjects. You know," quoth she, " there
is much ado in my realm about the matters of religion;
and though there be a greater number of a contrary
religion to me than I would there were, yet there is
no reason that subjects should give a law to their so-
vereign, and specially in matters of religion, which I
fear," quoth she, "my subjects will take in hand." In
reply to this the ambassador adverted to the great
changes in religion which had taken place in Scotland,
and to the fact that the majority in that kingdom were
Protestants. Mary does not appear to have denied this ;
and, in answer to a remark of Throckmorton, admitted
that she had often heard her uncle the cardinal say
there was much room for reformation in the discipline
of the Church of Rome, but observed, at the same time,
that she was none of those who would change their
religion every year. " I mean," said she, " to constrain
none of my subjects, but would wish that they were
all as I am ; and I trust they shall have no support
to constrain me."*
Mary, as we see from this interview, had resolved
to visit her dominions ; but although she could thus
* Keith, p. 167.
228 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
ably reply to so experienced a diplomatist as Throck-
morton, it was her peculiar misfortune, that she gave
her confidence to those who betrayed it to her adver-
saries. Amongst these was D'Osell, who enjoyed much
credit with her, and had been despatched to solicit a
passport from the English Queen. He was accom-
panied by a gentleman,* who was to bring it to France,
whilst he pursued his journey into Scotland to prepare
for his mistress's reception. But D'Osell was altogether
unworthy of the trust reposed in him ; he communicated
to Throckmorton, previous to setting out, the intended
movements of the queen, and, on being admitted to an
audience, disclosed them to Elizabeth, and advised with
her how she ought to proceed. She accordingly refused
the passport ; with much acrimony and violence gave
secret orders for the preparation of some ships of war,
which, under pretence of scouring the seas for pirates,
were to watch for the Scottish queen ; and, instead of
permitting D'Osell to continue his journey to Scot-
land, sent him back to Paris to inform Mary of her
resolution, and secretly to communicate her intentions
to Throckmorton.
This ambassador, in a letter to Cecil, expressed sur-
prise and regret at this change of measures. " I do
somewhat marvel," said he, " at this resolution on the
Queen of Scotland's demand for a passage ; and the
rather, that by all former writings and messages it
seemed to me that her majesty was of the mind to have
the said queen enticed to go from hence, and to be
advised by the councillors of her own realm, where,
as I take it, many occasions of unquietness and prac-
tice might be taken away that her being here might
work, both by the heads of such as here she is ruled
* Original, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton to
Cecil, June 30th, 1561.
1561. MARY. 229
by, and also by the solicitation of such princes as like
to entertain cumber, and be desirous of her: which
to do, neither the one nor the other, cannot have such
commodity if she were in Scotland. I think also upon
that you write, that your friends in Scotland will most
allow that resolution; whereat I somewhat muse, seeing
the Lord James, at his late being here, wrought what
he could, and in the same mind hath continued, to
persuade the said queen, his sister, to come home; and
if he be now of another mind, I know not what he meaneth.
But if he persist in his former opinion, then it may be
feared, that you shall offend more than the Queen of
Scotland." Throckmorton next alluded to the idea of
intercepting Mary. * * * " Because," said he, " I
hear nothing of such as come from thence [England]
of any equipage or force by sea in readiness to empesche
the Queen of Scotland's passage, or to make that good
that Monsieur D'Osell hath reported here her majesty
said unto him which was, that her majesty would
provide to keep the Queen of Scotland from passing
home I have thought good to say thus much to you,
that better it had been if no such thing had been said,
but passage granted, if no provision or show be made
to empesche her indeed. * * * And yet I will
not advise you to counsel the queen to be at any great
cost, inasmuch as the truth and certainty of the Queen
of Scotland's journey is not known, nor the certain
place of her embarking." To this letter this emphatic
postscript was added: " If you mind to catch the Queen
of Scots, your ships must search and see all, for she
meaneth rather to steal away than to pass with force.'**
There is another passage, in a letter from Cecil to
* MS. Letter, French Correspondence, State-paper Office, Throckmortou
to Cecil, Paris, 2Gth July, 1561.
230 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
the Earl of Sussex, which throws a clear light on this
refusal of the passport, and establishes the point that
Moray and the Protestant party in Scotland were
anxious that she should not be permitted to return to
her kingdom. " Monsieur D'Osell," says he, " came
from the Scots queen, with the request that the queen
his mistress might have a safe conduct to pass along
our sea-coasts, and himself to pass into Scotland to
provide for her coming. Many reasons moved us to
mislike her passage, but this only served us for answer,
that where she had promised to send the queen's ma-
jesty a good answer for the ratification of the last league
of peace, made at Edinburgh, and now had sent none,
her majesty would not disguise with her, but plainly
would forbear to show her such pleasure until she should
ratify it, and that done, she should not only have free
passage, but all helps and gratuities. Monsieur D'Osell
was also gently required to return with this answer :
what will follow we shall shortly see. This proceeding
will like the Scots well"*
At this moment the seas were much infested by
pirates, and the English queen, who dreaded the expense
and the obloquy to which she would be exposed if she
openly prepared a fleet to intercept Mary, took advan-
tage of this circumstance to put out to sea some ships
of war, with the avowed object of protecting her mer-
chants, but with secret instructions to be on the watch
for the Scottish queen, and not to suffer her to pass, -f-
* British Museum, MS. Letter, Cecil to Sussex. Titus, book xiii. 42,
dorso. Dated, Newhall, 25th July, 1561.
f* This important fact seems to me to be established by a letter which
Cecil addressed to Sussex. " The Scottish Queen," says he, " was the 10th
of this month at Bulloign, and meaneth to take shipping at Calais. Neither
they in Scotland, nor we here, do like her going home. The queen's majesty
hath three ships in the North Seas, to preserve the fishers from pirates. /
think they will be sorry to see her pass." MS. Letter, Cecil to Sussex,
Smallbriclge, Mr Smalldegrave's house, the 12th of August, 1561. British
Museum, Titus, book xiii. 44, dorso. Keith, p. 1 78.
1561. MARY. 231
The refusal of a passport by Elizabeth deeply wounded
Mary; but although she dreaded the hostile intentions
of that queen, her preparations were now so far ad-
vanced, that she determined they should not be coun-
termanded. On the twenty-sixth July, she gave a
final audience to the English ambassador, and of this
interview we have fortunately a minute and interesting
account, transmitted by Throckmorton to his royal
mistress. It is impossible to read it without forming
a favourable idea of the prudence, dignity, and spirit
of the young Queen of Scotland. When the ambas-
sador was introduced, she commanded all the audience
to retire. " I know not well," said she, " my own
infirmity, nor how far I may with my passion be trans-
ported, but I like not to have so many witnesses of my
passions as the queen your mistress was content to
have when she talked with Monsieur D^Osell." She
then continued, " There is nothing Monsieur TAm-
bassadeur, doth more grieve me, than that I did so
forget myself, as to require of the queen your mistress
that favour which I had no need to ask. I needed no
more to have made her privy to my journey than she
doth me of hers. I may pass well enough home into
mine own realm, I think, without her passport or
license ; for though the late king your master used all
the impeachment he could, both to stay me and catch
me when I came hither, yet you know, Monsieur
TAmbassadeur, I came hither safely; and I may have
as good means to help me home again as I had to come
hither, if I would employ my friends. Truly, 1 was
so far from evil meaning to the queen your mistress,
that at this time I was more willing to employ her
amity to stand me in stead than all the friends I have;
and vet vou know, both in this realm and elsewhere,
232 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
I have both friends and allies, and such as would be
glad and willing to employ their forces and aid to stand
me in stead. You have oftentimes told me, that the
amity between the queen your mistress and me, was
very necessary and profitable for us both ; and now I
have some reason to think, that the queen your mis-
tress is not of that mind ; for I am sure, if she were,
she would not have refused me thus unkindly. It
seemeth she maketh more account of the amity of my
disobedient subjects than she doth of me their sove-
reign, who am her equal in degree though inferior in
wisdom and experience, her nighest kinswoman and her
next neighbour * * * . Indeed, 11 continued the queen,
withgreat animation, "your mistress dothgive me cause
to seek friendship where 1 did not mind to ask it. But
Monsieur FAmbassadeur, let your mistress think that
it will be deemed very strange amongst all princes and
countries, that she should first animate my subjects
against me, and now, being a widow, impeach my
going into my own country. I ask of her nothing but
friendship ; I do not trouble her state, nor practise
with her subjects. And yet, I know there be in her
realm some that be inclined enough to hear offers. I
know also, they be not of the same mind she is of,
neither in religion, nor in other things. The queen
your mistress doth say that I am young, and do lack
experience : but I have age enough and experience to
behave myself towards my friends and kinsfolks friend-
ly and uprightly ; and I trust my discretion shall not
so fail me, that my passion shall move me to use other
language of her than is due to a queen and my next
kinswoman."
Nothing could be more dignified, yet nothing more
severe than this remonstrance of Mary; and the man-
1561. MARY. 2.33
ner in which she glanced at the violence into which
Elizabeth had been betrayed in her interview with
D^Osell, could not fail to touch this proud princess to
the quick. Throckmorton, in reply, excused the con-
duct of the English queen, and fell back upon the old
topics of complaint, the assumption of the arms and
title of England, and the delay to ratify the treaty of
Edinburgh. On both points Mary was prepared to
answer him. " You know," said she, " that when I
assumed the style and arms of England, I was under
the commandment of King Henry my father, and of
the king my lord and husband : whatsoever was then
done, was their act, not mine ; and since their death.
I have neither borne the arms, nor used the title of
England." With regard to the treaty, upon which so
much has been said, she contended, that without the
advice of the council of her realm, it was impossible
she could come to a decision on so grave a matter,
which required the mature deliberation of the wisest
amongst them. " This," said she, " I cannot have,
until I return to my dominions ; I am about to haste
me home, as fast as I may, to the intent the matters
may be answered : and now the queen your mistress
will in no wise suffer me neither to pass home, nor him
that I sent into my realm, so as, Monsieur PAmbassa-
deur, it seemeth the queen your mistress will be the
cause why in this matter she is not satisfied, or else she
will not be satisfied, but liketh to make this matter a
quarrel still betwixt us, whereof she is the author."*
On the twenty-first of July, Throckmorton took
leave of Mary, regretting that the terms upon which
she then stood with regard to the English queen, did
not permit him to wait upon her at her embarkation.
* Keith, pp. 174, 175.
234 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
Her reply was affecting, and seemed almost to shadow
forth her future fate. " If," said she, " my prepara-
tions were not so much advanced as they are, perad-
venture the queen your mistress's unkindness might
stay my voyage ; but now I am determined to adventure
the matter, whatsoever come of it. I trust the wind
will be so favourable, as I shall not need to come on
the coast of England ; and if I do, then, Monsieur
TAmbassadeur, the queen your mistress shall have me
in her hands to do her will of me ; and if she be so
hard hearted as to desire my end, she may then do her
pleasure, and make sacrifice of me : perad venture, that
casualty might be better for me than to live : in this
matter *Go<Ts will be fulfilled: 1 *
These melancholy forebodings were not, however,
at this moment destined to be realized. Mary, having
left Paris on the twenty-first of July, was accompanied
as far as St Germain by the King of France, the queen-
mother, the King of Navarre, and other persons of the
first rank. Here, after a few days' stay, she bade adieu
to the royal family ; and, attended by the Duke of
Guise, the Cardinals of Lorraine and Guise, the Grand
Prior, who was general of the French galleys, and
other noble persons, she proceeded to Calais, where,
after waiting some time for a fair wind, she embarked
on the fourteenth of August. ( Alt that day she
ceased not to direct her eyes toward the shore of
France, until her view was intercepted by night. She
then commanded a couch to be spread for her on deck,
and gave injunctions that she should be awakened at
sunrise if the land were still in view. It happened
that there was a calm during the night, the ships made
* Keith, p. 176.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Paris, 19th
August, 1561, Throckmorton to the Council.
1561. MARY. 235
little way, and in the morning, the French coast was
still discernible.* The queen sat up in bed, and
straining her eyes till the shore faded from her sight,
pathetically bade adieu to the beautiful country where
she had passed her happiest years. " Farewell France,' 1
said she, "beloved France, I shall never see thee
more !" Soon after this, a favourable wind sprung up,
accompanied by a fog, under cover of which the queen's
galleys escaped the English ships, and arrived in the
port of Leith on the nineteenth of August, 1561. One
vessel, however, in which was the Earl of Eglinton, was
captured by Elizabeth's cruisers, and carried into port;
but as soon as it was discovered that the young queen
was not on board, the prize was released, and pursued
her voyage into Scotland. The incident, however,
demonstrated clearly the sinister intentions of the
English queen.
* Brantome, vol, ii. p. 326.
236 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
CHAP. Y.
MARY.
15611565.
England.
Elizabeth.
CONTEMPORARY SOVEREIGNS.
France.
Charles IX.
Germany. 1 Spain.
Ferdinand. Phillip II.
Maximilian. |
Popes.
Pius IV.
ON her arrival in her dominions, Mary was received
with great joy by all classes of her subjects, and for
a while those unhappy feelings which exasperated the
various factions of the state against each other, were
softened down and forgotten in the general enthusiasm.*
She was conducted by her nobility with rude state from
Leith to her palace of Holyrood. The pomp of the
procession, if we may belie veBrantome, an eye-witness,
was far inferior to the brilliant pageants to which she
had been accustomed. She could not repress a sigh when
she beheld the sorry palfreys prepared for herself and
her ladies ; and when awakened on the morning after
her arrival, by the citizens singing psalms under her
window, the unwonted strains seemed dissonant to
courtly ears. But the welcome, though singular, was
sincere ; the people were delighted with their young
queen ; her extreme beauty, and the gracefulness of
her manners, created a strong prepossession in her
favour ; her subjects crowded round her with expres-
* Instructions to Lethington, sent Ambassador to England. Keith, p. 185.
1561. MARY. 2,37
sions of unfeigned devotedness, and for a time she
believed that her forebodings of difficulties and dis-
tresses were unfounded.*
Within a few days after her return, however, the
celebration of mass in her private chapel occasioned a
tumult, which was with difficulty appeased. Mary
had stipulated for the free exercise of her own form of
worship, and the Lord James, previous to his depar-
ture for France, maintained, in opposition to Knox
and the strictest reformers, that this liberty could not
possibly be denied to their sovereign. Here the matter
rested till the queen's arrival ; but the more intolerant
of the Protestants had early made up their minds to
resist by force every attempt to raise the " Idol," as
they termed the mass, once more in the land. They
drew no distinction between the idolatry of the Jews,
which was punished by death, and the alleged idolatry
of the adherents of the creed of Rome : both were in
their eyes maintainers of the accursed thing which was
hateful to God. It was even argued by Knox, that
the Jews were more tolerable in their tenets than the
Romish Church : he would rather see, he said, ten
thousand French soldiers landed in Scotland, than
suffer a single mass. And when the Master of Lindsay,
a furious zealot, heard that it was about to be cele-
brated, he buckled on his harness, assembled his fol-
lowers, and rushing into the court of the palace, shouted
aloud that the priests should die the death. The Lord
James, however, opposed this violence, placed himself
at the door of the chapel, overawed the multitude, and
preserved the lives of the chaplains who officiated,
* Brantome, vol. ii. pp. 123, 124. Mary arrived unexpectedly early in the
morning of the 19th August ; and the weather was so dark and stormy,
that the ships were not seen for the fog. This circumstance must have in-
terrupted the preparations.
238 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
for which he was bitterly and ironically attacked by
Knox.*
The queen, although she claimed for herself the
toleration which she extended to her subjects, was
anxious to prevent any misconception of her intentions
with regard to religion . It had been declared in council
that no alterations should be made, and she now pub-
lished a proclamation, in which she assured her subjects
of her determination to maintain the Protestant form
of worship, which she found established at her arrival,
and added, that no one should be permitted, under pain
of death, to attempt, either publicly or privately, any
innovation upon the national faith.-f- Nor was this
all : although Knox's sincere, but ill-advised zeal, had
done much to excite her opposition, the queen, to the
astonishment of her own party, desired to have an
interview with the Reformer, who has himself left us
an account of their conversation. She blamed him for
the violence of his book against female government,
and with a clearness and vigour of argument, for which
he was probably not prepared, pointed out its evil con-
sequences, in exciting subjects against their rulers.
She then advised him to treat with greater charity
those who differed from him in opinion. " If, madam, 11
said he, " to rebuke idolatry, and to persuade the people
to worship God according to his Word, be to raise sub-
jects against their princes, I cannot stand excused, for
so have I acted ; but if the true knowledge of God and
his right worshipping lead all good subjects (as they
assuredly do) to obey the prince from their heart, then
who can reprehend mef As for his book, he allowed
it was directed against female government, but excused
* Knox's History of the Reformation, p. 306.
t Knox, p. 307. Corroborated by a Letter of Randolph's to Cecil, 3d June,
1563. Keith, p. 239.
1561. MARY. 2.39
its principles as being more matters of opinion than of
conscience, and professed his willingness to live in all
contentment under her majesty's government, as long
as she kept her hands undefiled by the blood of the
saints of God. He contended, that in religion subjects
were bound to follow, not the will of their prince, but
the commands of their Creator. " If," said he, " all
men in the days of the Apostles should have been
compelled to follow the religion of the Roman emperors,
where would have been the Christian faith ? Daniel
and his fellows were subjects to Nebuchadnezzar and
Darius, and yet they refused to be of their religion."
" But," interrupted the queen, " these men did not
resist." " And yet," replied Knox, " they who obey
not the commandment, may virtually be said to re-
sist." "Nay," rejoined Mary, "they did not resist
with the sword." " That," said Knox, " was simply
because they had not the power." " What," cried the
queen, starting and speaking with great energy, " do you
maintain that subjects, having power, may resist their
princes?" " Most assuredly," continued the reformer.
" if princes exceed their bounds. God hath nowhere
commanded higher reverence to be given to kings by
their subjects, than to parents by their children; and
yet, if a father or mother be struck with madness, and
attempt to slay his children, they may lawfully bind
and disarm him till the phrenzy be overpast. It is
even so, madam," continued this stern champion of
resistance, fixing his eyes upon the young queen, and
raising his voice to a tone, which almost amounted to
a menace, "it is even so with princes that would mur-
der the children of God, who may be their subjects.
Their blind zeal is nothing but a mad phrenzy, and
therefore, to take the sword from them, to bind their
240 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
hands, and to cast them into prison, till they be brought
to a more sober mind, is no disobedience against princes,
but just obedience, because it agreeth with the Word
of God." At these words Mary stood for some time
silent and amazed she was terrified by the violence
with which they were uttered. She thought of her
own youth and weakness ; of the fierce zealots by whom
she was surrounded ; her mind pictured to itself, in
gloomy anticipation, the struggles which awaited her,
and she burst into tears. On beino- comforted and
o
soothed by Moray, who alone was present at the in-
terview, she at length collected herself, and said, turn-
ing to Knox, "Well then, I perceive that my subjects
shall only obey you, and not me ; they must do what
they list, not what I command ; whilst I must learn
to be subject unto them, and not they to me. 11 "God
forbid," said the reformer, " that it should ever be so ;
far be it from me to command any, or to absolve sub-
jects from their lawful obedience. My only desire is,
that both princes and subjects should obey God, who
has in his Word enjoined kings to be nursing fathers,
and queens nursing mothers to his church." " Yea,"
quoth Mary, " this is indeed true ; but yours is not
the church that I will nourish. I will defend the
Church of Rome, for I think it the true Church of
God." At this strong assertion of her belief, the in-
dignation of Knox flamed fierce and high. " Your
will," said he, " madam, is no reason ; neither doth
your thought make that Roman harlot to be the im-
maculate spouse of Christ. And wonder not, madam,
that I call Rome an harlot, for that Church is alto-
gether polluted with every kind of spiritual abomina-
tion, as well in doctrine as in manners. Yea, madam,
I offer myself to prove, that the Church of the Jews
1561. MARY. 241
who crucified Jesus Christ, when they manifestly denied
the Son of God, was not so far degenerated from the
ordinances and statutes which God gave by Moses and
Aaron unto his people, as the Church of Rome is
declined, and for more than five hundred years hath
declined, from that purity of religion which the apostles
taught and planted." " My conscience, 11 said Mary,
" is not so." " Conscience," said Knox, " requires
knowledge ; and I fear of right knowledge you have but
little." After some farther exhortations, the Reformer
exposed the idolatry of the mass, and threw down his
defiance to the most learned Papists in Europe, de-
claring his earnest wish that he might have an oppor-
tunity of engaging with them in controversy before
the queen herself. " In that wish," said Mary, " you
may, perhaps, be indulged sooner than you expect."
She was then called to dinner ; and Knox, on taking
his leave, prayed that she might be blessed in the com-
monwealth of Scotland, as richly as ever was Deborah
in the commonwealth of Israel.*
I have given this interview at some length, and
almost in the words of the Reformer, because in the
determined and sincere resolution of the queen, that
she would support the ancient faith and Church of her
fathers, and in the conscientious and violent declaration
of Knox, that all such efforts would be met by open
resistance, (as far as he had influence,) the causes of
the collision which was about to take place are clearly
brought out. Alluding to the conferences between
Mary and Knox, Lethington, in a letter to Cecil, did
justice to the gentleness of the queen, and contrasted
it with the harshness of her opponent. " You know,"
said he, " the vehemency of Mr Knox's spirit, which
* Knox, History, p. 311-315, inclusive.
VOL. VI. Q
242 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
cannot be bridled, and yet doth sometimes utter such
sentences as' cannot easily be digested by a weak sto-
mach. I could wish he would deal with her more gently,
being a young princess unpersuaded. For this I am
accounted too politic; but surely in her comporting
with him, she doth declare a wisdom far exceeding her
age. God grant her the assistance of his spirit : surely
I see in her a good towardness, and think that the
queen your sovereign shall be able to do much with her
in religion, if they once enter into a good familiarity ."*
That they might enter into this familiarity, was now
the great object of Mary and her ministers. Elizabeth
had congratulated her on her happy return to her
dominions, and she soon after (first September, 1561)
despatched Lethington, her chief secretary, on a mis-
sion to England, to express her earnest wishes for the
continuance of peace.f
Not long after, she took a triumphant progress from
her palace to the castle of Edinburgh. Five black
slaves, magnificently apparelled, received her at the
west gate of the city;J twelve of the chief citizens
bore a canopy, under which she rode in state ; and a
public banquet was given to the queen and the noble
strangers by whom she was accompanied. The pageants
exhibited on this occasion, marked, indeed, the character
of the times. An interlude was performed, in which
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were destroyed as they
offered strange fire upon the altar; and it required the
interference of Huntley to prevent an indecent parody
of the mass, in which the effigy of a priest was to have
been burnt as he elevated the host. To the zealous
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 25th October, 1561.
f Keith, p. 185. Stevenson's Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary,
p. 90, Mary to Elizabeth, Sept. 1561.
; Keith, p. 189.
1561. MARY. 243
burghers these dramas contained a wholesome signifi-
cation of God's vengeance against idolaters ; to others,
as sincere but less fanatical, they appeared unwise in-
citements to persecution ; by those against whom they
were directed, although not unnoticed, they were passed
over in silence.*
It was the anxious desire of the queen to give her
kingdom time to recover the effects of the war and
anarchy to which it had been so long exposed. She
had determined, before leaving France, to make every
sacrifice to conciliate Elizabeth ; nor was this resolu-
tion adopted without a great end in view. Her title
to the throne of England was still present to her mind.
Her claim to the crown, and her assumption of the
arms of this kingdom, had, as we have seen, been in-
judiciously published by her uncles, when she was still
Queen of France. Mary had, indeed, apologised for
such conduct, and transferred the blame of so strange
and premature a measure to her advisers, the Guises ;
but it was still her earnest desire to have her title to
the crown of England recognised by that princess,
should she persevere in her vows of celibacy ; and, as
the surest means to obtain this object, she committed
the chief management of her affairs to Moray and
Lethington, the great leaders of the Protestant party.
Lethington had proposed this scheme to Cecil soon
after the death of the French king, and when, antici-
pating the return of Mary to her dominions, he felt all
the peril of his own situation : should he be able to
carry this point for the Scottish queen, he knew he was
safe ; if he failed if she broke with Elizabeth, and
threw herself into the interest of France he looked
upon it as certain ruin. " I made you," says he, in a
* Keith, p. 189.
244 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
letter to Cecil, " some overture at London, how to salve
all matters. I wrote to you more amply in it from
Sir Ralph Sadler's house. I would be glad to under-
stand what you think in it, or how the queen's majesty
can like of it, and how it shall be followed. I know
the queen my sovereign is so informed against me, that
unless I be able to do her some service, I cannot long
be suffered to live in her realm ; and I will never press
to continue in service longer than the amity betwixt
both realms shall continue."* Lethington was no
doubt perfectly sincere in his desire to carry this point
in favour of his mistress ; and it is remarkable, that
about six months after he had written to Cecil, and
shortly previous to Mary's arrival in Scotland, the
Lord James had addressed a letter to the Queen of
England on the same delicate subject. In this epistle,
which is ably and powerfully written, he congratulated
this princess that the ancient enmity between the two
nations had been miraculously converted into reciprocal
attachment, and expressed his earnest desire, that the
members being thus amicably disposed, the heads
(meaning Elizabeth and Mary) should be as heartily
joined in love. " You are tender cousins," said he,
"both queens, in the flower of your ages, much re-
sembling each other in excellent and goodly qualities,
on whom God hath bestowed most liberally the gifts
of nature and of fortune, whose sex will not permit
that you should advance your glory by wars and blood-
shed, but that the chief glory of both should stand in
a peaceable reign." The only point which had occa-
sioned dissension between them was, he goes on to ob-
serve, the premature discussion of his mistress's title.
" I wish to God," said he, " my sovereign lady had
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 6th Feb., 1560-1.
1561. MARY. 245
never, by any advice, taken in head to pretend interest,
or claim any title to your majesty's realm, for then I
am fully persuaded you should have been and continued
as dear friends as you be tender cousins ; but now, since
on her part something hath been thought of it, and first
motioned when the two realms were in war together,
your majesty knoweth, I fear, that unless that root
may be removed, it shall ever breed unkindness between
you. Your majesty cannot yield; and she may on the
other part think it hard, being so nigh of the blood of
England, so to be made a stranger from it." The Lord
James then ventures on the dangerous ground of the
succession. " If," says he, " any midway could be
picked out to remove this difference to both your con-
tentments, then it is like we should have a perpetual
quietness. I have long thought of it, and never durst
communicate it to the queen my sovereign, nor many
of my countrymen, nor yet will hereafter follow it far-
ther than shall seem good to your majesty. The
matter is higher than my capacity is able to compass,
yet upon my simple overture your highness can lay a
larger foundation. What inconvenience were it, if
your majesty ""s title did remain untouched, as well for
yourself as the issue of your body, to provide, that to
the queen my sovereign, her own place were reserved
in the succession to the crown of England, which your
majesty will pardon me if I take to be next, by the
law of all nations, as she that is next in lawful descent
of the right line of King Henry the Seventh, your
grandfather ; and in the meantime this isle to be
united in a perpetual friendship ? The succession of
realms corneth by God's appointment, according to his
good pleasure, and no provision of man can alter that
which he hath determined, but it must needs come to
246 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561,
pass ; yet is there appearance, that without injury of
any party, this accord might breed us great quietness.
Everything must have some beginning. If I may
receive answer from your majesty, that you will allow
of any such agreement, I will travel with the queen my
sovereign, to do what I can to bring her to some con-
formity. If your majesty dislike it, I will not farther
meddle therewith/ 11 *
This sensible letter its author enclosed to Cecil,
directing him to advise on it, and present it, or with-
draw it, as he judged best. Whether it ever reached
the queen's eye is uncertain ; and as the Scottish baron
had fearlessly ventured on ground which the more wary
Cecil scarcely dared to tread, it is probable he did not
risk its delivery; but it proves that the Lord James
was sincerely attached on this subject to the interests of
his sister the queen. It is worthy of remark, also, that
in this grand design, we are furnished with the key to
the policy adopted by Mary during the first years of
her government. Thus, the same reasons which in-
duced her to favour the Protestants, led her to depress
the Romanist party, at the head of whom was Huntley,
one of the most powerful, crafty, and unscrupulous
men in the country, against whom the Lord James
placed himself in mortal opposition. -f-
It was not to be expected that the bishops and the
Catholic peers should bear this with equanimity : they
had suffered severely in the cause of the queen ; they
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Edinburgh, 6th August, 1561, the Lord
James to Queen Elizabeth.
f Soon after the queen's arrival, Randolph informed Cecil that Huntley
and this potent baron greatly discorded. Some alleged, that the cause of
the quarrel was a boast of Huntley, that if the queen commanded him, he
could set up the mass in three shires ; to which the other answered, that it
was past his power to do so, and so he should find the first moment he at-
tempted it. Keith, p. 190.
1561. MARY. 247
naturally looked to her return as the season when their
fidelity was to be rewarded ; and their feelings were
proportionally bitter when they found themselves
treated with neglect, and saw those who had been
lately stigmatized as traitors, advanced to the chief
offices in the state.* They accordingly recommenced
their intrigues with the Guises, but these crafty diplo-
matists would not commit themselves too deeply: it
was their present policy to temporize. In an overture
to Throckmorton the English ambassador, the Duke
of Guise repeated the proposal of the Lord James,
that Elizabeth should declare Mary her successor.-)-
It was their object at the same time to procure the
renewal of the league with France, and the co-operation
of the queen their niece in their vast and unprincipled
schemes ; and if they failed if Mary declined their
great offers, and refused to " hang her keys at their
girdle," they had resolved to form a faction against her,
at the head of which should be Chastelherault, Arran,
Huntley, and Hume.J
Without appearing to notice the plots of the Ro-
manists with France, Mary steadily followed out her
design of conciliating the Protestants, and obtaining
the friendship of England. She appointed a council
of twelve, of whom seven were reformers, and she
continued to follow the advice of her brother, the Lord
James, on all important subjects, and sent him at the
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 15th Jan. 1561-2.
" I thank you for your good advice towards our Papists, which hath been as
yet mostly followed, and I trust since the queen's arrival they have obtained
no great advantage, but, to be plain with you, be in worse case a great deal
than before."
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, 8th October, 1561.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, French Correspondence, Throckmorton
to Elizabeth, 13th December, 1561. Ibid, same to Cecil, 5th Dec. 156.1.
Spottiswood, p. 179.
248 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
head of a large force, and armed with almost absolute
power, to reduce the Borders to obedience.* To
Randolph, whom Elizabeth appointed her resident at
the Scottish court, she behaved with the utmost cour-
tesy ; and a correspondence by letters was begun be-
tween the princesses, in which all was peace, amity,
and playful affection. In his mission to the English
court, Lethington urged upon Elizabeth the necessity
of declaring Mary her successor. His public instruc-
tions, indeed, did not authorize him to enter upon
this delicate subject, which has led Keith to question,
whether it was now broached at all ; but we know from
Throckmorton's letters, not only that the proposal was
made, but that Cecil was much embarrassed by it.
44 For the matter," says he, 44 lately proposed to her
majesty by the Laird of Ledington, in which to deal
one way or other you find difficulties, even so do I
think, that not to deal in it at all, no manner of way,
is more dangerous ; as well for the queen's majesty, as
for the realm, and specially if God should deal so un-
mercifully with us, as to take the queen from us with-
out issue; which God forbid, considering the terms
the state standeth in presently ." -f- For the moment
Elizabeth evaded the point by despatching Sir Peter
Mewtas to Scotland, with a request that Mary should
confirm the treaty of Edinburgh, a proposal which she
well knew the Scottish queen must decline. J
Meanwhile, the Lord James exhibited an example
of prompt and severe justice upon the Borders. Pro-
ceeding to Jedburgh and Dumfries, with an army which
* 8th November, 1561. MS. Letter, Lord James to Cecil, State-paper
Office.
f Throckmorton to Cecil, MS. Letter, French Correspondence, State-
paper Office, 9th October, 1561.
Treasurer's Accounts, 19th October, 1561. Maitland, vol. ii. p. 935.
1561. MARY. 249
rendered opposition useless, he pursued the thieves into
their strongholds, razed their towers to the ground,
hanged twenty of the most notorious offenders, sent
fifty more in chains to Edinburgh, and in a meeting
with the English wardens, Lord Grey and Sir John
Foster, restored order and good government to the
marches.*
During his absence, the Romish clergy resorted to
court, but found a colder reception than they antici-
pated, and although Mons. de Moret, who had been
sent from the Duke of Savoy, endeavoured to influence
the queen in favour of the Romanists, his power was
either very slight, "f or it suited the tortuous politics
of the Guises, to encourage at this moment the amity
between Mary and Elizabeth. In speaking of an in-
tended interview between the princesses, the proposal
of which had come from Mary, Lethington assured
Cecil, that France earnestly desired it ; J and so far did
they carry this real or pretended feeling, that it was
affirmed by the Lord St Colm, lately arrived from that
country, that the Cardinal of Lorraine, in his anxiety
to promote the amity between the kingdoms, and to
secure to his niece the succession to the English throne,
had persuaded her to become a Protestant. To these
feelings it is probable we are to ascribe the severe mea-
sures against the Roman Catholic clergy, which were
adopted at this time in the General Assembly of the
Church held in the capital : as the subject is impor-
tant, it is necessary to treat it with some detail.
Notwithstanding the full establishment of the Re-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lord James to Cecil, 8th Nov., 1561.
Maitland, vol. ii. p. 93(> ; also Randolph to Cecil, 7th Dec. 1561. Keith,
p. 205.
f Randolph to Cecil, 17th December, 1561. Keith, p. 209.
J MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethingtoii to Cecil, 29th Jan. 1561-2.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 30th Jan. 1561-2.
250 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
formation, the Protestant ministers were in a state of
extreme poverty, and dependent upon the precarious
assistance of their flocks ; whilst the revenues of the
Church were divided hetween the nobles, who had
appropriated them, and the Romish prelates, who still
retained part of their ancient wealth. On the meeting
of the General Assembly, the ministers determined to
use their most strenuous efforts to procure some sup-
port out of the ecclesiastical revenues, yet the attempt
was resisted by many of the barons who had been
zealous supporters of the Reformation, but loved its
plunder better than its principles. The rulers of the
court began, as Knox says, to draw themselves apart
from the society of their brethren, and to fret and
grudge.* Lethington, learned, acute, and worldly,
openly scoffed ; and Knox, who dreaded his powers of
argument, as much as he suspected his sincerity, at-
tacked him with bitterness. Wood, too, the secretary
of the Lord James, the chief adviser of the queen,
joined the opponents of the ministers ; it was even
debated, whether the General Assembly, being held
without the presence or authority of the queen, was a
lawful or constitutional convention. The barons, who
had been accustomed to take a part in its proceedings,
separated from their brethren ; and although, after a
violent discussion, they reluctantly concurred in its
legality, yet they steadily refused to pass the Book of
Discipline, and thwarted, though they did not openly
oppose, the measures for the provision of the clergy.
After some consultation, however, an act was passed
ordaining the annual revenues of the whole benefices
in the realm to be calculated, and out of this gross
sum, the Catholic clergy consented to give a third to
* Kuox, p. 318.
1561. MARY. 251
the queen, being permitted to retain two-thirds for
themselves. This third was to be applied to the main-
tenance of preachers, the endowment of schools, the
support of the poor, and the increase of the revenue of
the crown.*
Before this proposal was made, the funds of the
Church, previously immense, had been greatly dilapi-
dated. On the overthrow of Popery, the bishops and
other dignified clergy had entered into transactions
with their friends or kinsmen, by which large portions
of ecclesiastical property passed into private hands ; in
some cases, sales had been made by the ancient incum-
bents, or leases had been purchased by strangers, which
the pope, zealous to protect his persecuted children,
had confirmed ; the crown, too, had appointed laymen
to be factors or administrators of bishopricks and
livings : so that, by these various methods, the property
of the Church was so much diffused and curtailed,
that the third of all the money collected fell far below
the sum necessary to give an adequate support to the
clergy. There was much fraud also practised in making
up the returns. Many of the Catholic clergy evaded
the production of their rentals, some gave in false
estimates; and although the persons appointed to fix
the rate of provision had been the firm supporters of
the Reformation, though the Lord James and Maitland
of Lethington, with Argyle and Morton, superintended
every step, the result disappointed the expectations of
the ministers. It was asserted, that the only effect of
the change was, to secure a large share for the lay
proprietors of church lands, to transfer a considerable
portion to the crown, and to leave a wretched pittance
for the ministers. Yet, when fairly viewed, the change
* Knox, p. 321-324, inclusive.
252 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1561.
was certainly creditable to the queen, and involved a
concession which ought to have been considered valu-
able and important. It was a legal recognition of the
right of the Presbyterian ministers to be supported by
the state, and ought to have convinced all gainsayers
that Mary, though she insisted on her private mass,
considered the reformed religion as the established faith
of the country. This was no little matter, yet no
party was pleased. Knox and the ministers were dis-
contented, not only that they received so little, but
because in the same assembly the mass was permitted,
and the Book of Discipline refused : the Roman Ca-
tholic party, were still louder in their complaints, and
declared, that nothing now was wanting, but an inter-
view between Mary and Elizabeth, to the utter over-
throw of the ancient faith. Cecil, whilst he rejoiced
that the bishops were spoiled, lamented that their
riches should, even in part, have fallen to the crown ;
and the satirical vein of Randolph ascribed all to the
worst motives. " Where your honour," says he, ad-
dressing Cecil, " liketh better the diminution of the
bishops and other livings, than the augmentation of
the crown therewith, what can I better say than that
which I find written. ' Merx meritricis, et ad mere-
trices reversa esC " I find it neither done for zeal to
Christ's religion, nor hatred to the viciousness of their
lives that had it. If she did it for need, they them-
selves, to have enjoyed the whole, offered much more;
I find not also, that all other men, besides the queen,
are pleased with this : the Duke beginneth now to grieve
he must depart from seven parts of Arbroath ; the
Bishop of St Andrew's from as much of his livings ;
the Lord Claud, the Duke's son, in England, future
successor to Paisley, also the seventh : the Abbot of
1561-2. MARY. 253
Kilwinning, as much, besides divers others of that race;
so that many a Hamilton shall shortly be turned a
begging. ' * * I know not whether this be able to
make the Duke a Papist again ; for now " Conferunt
consilia ; the bishop and he."*
Cecil had earnestly advised Lethington to encourage
a meeting between the two queens ;( and although the
Scottish secretary felt the danger of negotiating in such
a case, observing, that if anything should frame amiss,
it would be his utter ruin,J the ardent feelings of Mary
relieved him of the difficulty, by herself proposing the
interview in a letter which she addressed to Elizabeth.
France, also, and the cardinal her uncle, encouraged
the overture; and even Randolph, whose judgment
when in favour of Mary, none can suspect of bias, ex-
pressed his opinion of the sincerity, upright dealing,
and affection of that princess. || Early in the spring
(May twenty-third, 1562) her anxiety upon this sub-
ject induced her to despatch Secretary Lethington to the
English court, that he might arrange the preliminaries ;
and the Lord James, her chief minister, who had lately,
upon the occasion of his marriage, received from the
queen the earldom of Mar, requested leave, when the
meeting took place, to bring Christopher Goodman
along with him, as the minister of the Protestants.
He described him as the most temperate and modest
of the learned ;1F and Randolph, in a letter to Elizabeth,
alluded in emphatic terms to the anxiety for the inter-
view, expressed by the more wise and moderate amongst
the Protestants, and the happy effects they anticipated
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 15th January, 1561-2.
t Ibid. f Ibid.
MS. Letter, State-pap9r Office, Lethington to Cecil, 29th Jan. 1561-2.
|i MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 30th Jan. 1561-2.
H MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 26th May, 1562.
254 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562.
from it. " The hope," said he, " which they have,
that your majesty shall be the instrument to convert
their sovereign to Christ, and the knowledge of his true
word, causeth them to wish, above measure, that your
majesties may see the one the other. 1 '*
It is a mortifying but an instructive fact that Knox,
and the more violent portion of the reformers, in a
conscientious but narrow spirit opposed the meeting
with bitterness, and attacked it in the pulpit. They
regarded the Prelacy of England as little better than
the Popery of Rome, and preferred that their queen
should remain an obstinate Papist, rather than take
refuge in a religion which had as little ground in the
Word of God. " Our Papists," said Randolph, ad-
dressing Cecil, "greatly mistrust the meeting; our
Protestants as greatly desire it ; our preachers, to be
plain with your honour, at one word, be more vehement
than discreet or learned, which I heartily lament. The
little bruit that hath been here of late, that this queen
is advised by the cardinal to embrace the religion of
England, maketh them now almost wild, of the which
they both say and preach, that it is little better than
when it was at the worst : I have not so amply con-
ferred with Mr Knox in these matters as shortly I
must, who upon Sunday last gave the cross and the
candle such a wipe, that as wise and learned as himself
wished him to have held his peace. He recompensed
the same with a marvellous vehement and piercing
prayer, in the end of his sermon, for the continuance
of amity and hearty love with England." (
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Scots Correspondence, Randolph to the
Queen, 26th May, 1562.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 12th Feb. 1561-2.
It was matter of great regret to the more rigid Protestants in England, that
Elizabeth (whose predilection for the ceremonial part of the Romish religion
was well known) always kept candles burning on the altar, in her private
chapel : Knox's attack was against these.
1562. MARY. 255
In the midst of these negotiations and heartburnings
the Earl of Arran, eldest son to the Duke of Chastel-
herault, went suddenly mad; and in his frenzy accused
himself, his father, and the Earl of Bothwell, of a con-
spiracy to seize the person of the queen, murder the
Lord James (Earl of Mar,) and possess themselves
of the government.* The violence of this unhappy
nobleman, and the deep mortification with which he
beheld the chief power intrusted to the Lord James,
had already occasioned much disquiet to the queen,
and it was reported shortly after her arrival from
France, that he meant to attack the palace and carry
her off. This disposed people to give some credit to
the present conspiracy. It was observed that Arran
showed no symptoms of insanity when he first discovered
the enterprise ; and the profligate character of Both-
well confirmed their belief. It was he, as Arran in-
sisted, that had invented the whole plot ; which, being
imparted to him secretly, he agreed to join in the
enterprise, and revealed it to his father the Duke,
trusting to have him for an accomplice. At first he
explained the intention of the conspirators with great
clearness, but soon after his disclosures exhibited signs
of derangement : he began to talk of devils and en-
chantments ; affirmed that he had been bewitched by
the mother of the Lord James, whom he spoke of as a
noted sorceress ; retracted much of his former story,
and became so incoherent, that, for security rather than
punishment, he was committed to ward in the castle.f
His alleged accomplices, Bothwell and the Abbot of
Kilwinning, were imprisoned, some things appearing
suspicious in their conduct; but to the aged Duke, who
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 31st March, 1562.
+ MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 7th April, 1562.
Same to same, 9th April, 1562.
256 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562.
protested his innocence, and with tears bewailed the ruin
of his house, Mary behaved with great tenderness : a
passage from a letter of Randolph to Elizabeth is im-
portant in the picture it gives of her gentleness, justice,
and impartiality, upon this trying occasion. The Eng-
lish queen and Cecil, who knew well the violence with
which Arrau had opposed himself to the queen, imagined
that Mary, in her resentment, might be ready to believe
anything against him. Randolph, however, completely
refutes this unworthy notion. " For the likelihood,"
says he, " that the queen is not moved with any evil
mind towards the Duke or his, besides that which I
have heard her grace say, I will only declare unto your
majesty that which I myself (having many times had
suspicion thereof) have observed and marked. I never
saw yet, since her grace's arrival, but she sought more
means to win the Duke of Chastelherault's good will,
and my Lord of A Iran's, than ever they had will to
acknowledge their duties as subjects unto their sove-
reign. She knoweth herself in what place God hath
appointed them, and that he is the revenger of all in-
justice. To separate them from her, being her subjects,
there is no cause but disobedience and transgression
of her laws. She is not ignorant also of the affection
of many in this realm towards that house, how many
they are, and how they are allied, wherein to attempt
anything against them unjustly, or that should not be
manifest unto the world what their fault were, it should
be her own ruin. These things an't like your majesty,
are no small stays to the appetite of man's will, and
much more unto hers, being a woman, lately returned
into a country where never yet such obedience hath been
given unto the prince or princess, as is due unto them.
In token also that no such thing was meant of her part,
1562. MARY. 257
it appeared in nothing more than in the usage of his
father, of himself, and their friends, with all gentleness,
the more to let them know, and the world judge, that
she did love them as her kinsmen, esteemed them as
her successors, (if God gave her no issue,) and favoured
them as her subjects, if their doings do not merit the
contrary. Unto the one, not long since, she promised
a reasonable support towards his living, for the time
of his father's life ; and remitted unto the other many
things that, both by law and conscience, he was in
danger forSboth body and goods. After the detection
of this crime, the queen's grace so well conceived of my
Lord of Arran, and judged so well of his sincere mean-
ing towards her, that she devised with her council what
yearly sum, either of money or other thing, she might
bestow upon him. What grief this is unto her heart,
it hath appeared in many ways, and she hath wished
that it could be known unto your majesty, without
whose advice, I believe, she will not hastily determine
anything against either the one or the other. Of these
things," concludes Randolph, "because the whole coun-
try doth bear witness, my testimony needeth the less."*
Everything, indeed, at this time, in the conduct of the
Scottish queen, evinced her sincere attachment to Eng-
land ; and her desire, not only to suppress every intrigue
which might disturb the tranquillity of her own king-
dom, but where these plots originated, as they some-
times did, with the English Papists, to assist Elizabeth
in their detection and punishment. This was clearly
shown at the present moment ; for the English queen,
having discovered some suspicious intercourse between
the Earl of Lennox and the Romish faction, believed
it to be a plot for the marriage of the Scottish queen
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Elizabeth, 9th April, 15G2.
VOL. VI. R
258 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 15G2.
with Lord Darnley; and suddenly committed Lennox,
and his Countess lady Margaret, the niece of Henry
the Eighth, to the Tower. On being informed of it,
Mary approved of the severity, derided the practices
of Lennox, and declared her resolution never to unite
herself with any of that race.* About the same time,
the Bishop of St Andrew's and the Earl of Elginton,
having disobeyed the laws regarding the re-establish-
ment of the mass, a royal proclamation was set forth,
denouncing death against all who bore a part in this
idolatrous solemnity, or countenanced it by their pre-
sence,-f- reserving only the queen's mass in her palace.
To the Lord James her brother, of whose warm at-
tachment to the English interest we have already met
with many proofs, the Scottish queen extended so much
favour, that his influence became the chief channel to
success at court. On his marriage to the daughter of
the Earl Marshal, she created him Earl of Mar, and
gave a banquet, the splendour of which, with the pa-
geants and masking, called forth the reproof of the more
zealous part of the ministers.^ " At this notable mar-
riage," says Randolph to Cecil, "one thing there was
which I must testify with my own hand, which is, that
upon Shrove Tuesday, at night, sitting among the lords
at supper in sight of the queen, and placed for that
purpose, she drank unto the queen's majesty, and sent
me the cup of gold, which weigheth eighteen or twenty
ounces. After supper, in giving her majesty thanks,
she uttered, in many affectionate words, her desire of
amity and perpetual kindness with the queen, and re-
turned and talked long with me thereof, in the hearing
of the Duke and the Earl of Huntley."
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 31st March, 1562.
+ MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 3d June, 1562.
J Knox, p. 327.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 12th Feb. 1561-2.
1562. MARY. 259
During the absence of Lethington at the English
court, the tumults upon the Borders again demanded
the prompt interference of the government. Murder,
robbery, and offences of all kinds, prevailed to an in-
tolerable degree; and men who had been publicly out-
lawed, walked abroad, deriding the terrors of justice.
Of these crimes, the great centre was Hawick ; and the
queen, who was determined to make an example, armed
the Earl of Mar with full powers against the offenders.
Nor was his success less than on his former expedition.
Making a sudden and rapid march, he encompassed the
town with his soldiers, entered the market-place, and
by proclamation forbade any citizen, on pain of death,
to receive or shelter a thief. Fifty-three of the most
noted outlaws were apprehended, of these, eighteen were
instantly drowned " for lack of trees and halters." Six
were hanged at Edinburgh, and the rest either acquitted
or imprisoned in the castle. By this memorable ex-
ample of severity, the disturbed districts were reduced
to sudden and extraordinary quietness, whilst the cou-
rage and success of Mar contributed to raise him still
higher than before in the favour of his sovereign.*
Mary had already declined many royal offers of
marriage, and aware that any alliance which she made,
must be an object of deep and jealous interest to Eliza-
beth, she was anxious to have the approval and advice
of that princess. It was this feeling, probably, which
induced her to receive with caution, though with her
accustomed courtesy, the ambassador of the King of
Sweden, who, about this time, (June third, 1562,)
arrived on a matrimonial mission in Scotland. He
brought with him a whole-length portrait of his master,
which he delivered to one of the Marys,-)- to be pre-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 8th July, 1562.
f See supra, p. 45.
260 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562.
sented to the queen, who hung it up in her private
cabinet, and dismissed him with letters and a safe-
conduct for the Swedish monarch and his navy to land
within any port of her realm which they might find
most convenient.* This prince had already made pro-
posals to Elizabeth, which were coldly received ; but
Mary was aware of the jealousy of her nature, and the
danger of appearing to interfere with her admirers, and
she now looked anxiously for the return of Lethington.
At length this minister arrived with the welcome
intelligence that the English queen had consented to
the interview. She sent her picture, with many expres-
sions of affection to the queen, and zeal for the continued
amity between the kingdoms. Mary instantly com-
menced preparations for her journey. " This present
day," saysRandolph, " she hath directed her letters again
to all the noblemen of her realm, to be with all con-
venient speed with her at Edinburgh, and for this cause
departeth herself hitherward to-morrow, as the most
convenient place to take resolution in all things she
hath to do. It pleased her grace immediately after she
had conferred with the Lord of Ledington, and had
received my sovereign's picture, to send for me. After
she had rehearsed many such purposes, as by the Lord
of Ledington's report unto her grace had been spoken
of her by my sovereign, touching her sisterly affection
towards her, her good will and earnest desire to con-
tinue in peace and amity, and, in special, that they
might see each other, she showeth unto me my said sove-
reign's picture, and asketh me how like that was unto
her lively face ? I answered unto her, that I trusted
that her grace should shortly be judge thereof herself,
and find much more perfection than could be set forth
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 3d June, 1562.
1562. MARY. 261
by the art of man." " That," saith she, "is the thing
that I have most desired, ever since I was in hope
thereof, and she shall well assure herself there shall be
no stay in me, though it were to take any pains, or to
do more than I may well say ; and I trust by that
time that we have spoken together, our hearts will be
so eased, that the greatest grief that ever after shall
be between us, will be when we shall take leave the
one of the other. And let God be my witness, I honour
her in my heart, and love her as my dear and natural
sister. Let me be believed of you, that I do not feign."
* * Since, therefore," concludes Randolph, " the
princesses' hearts are so wedded together, as divers ways
it is manifest that they are ; seeing the purpose is so
godly, without other respect but to live in love, I doubt
not but, how much soever the world rage thereat, the
greater will be the glory unto them both, and the suc-
cess of the enterprise the happier. To resolve, there-
fore, with your honour herein, I find in this queen so
much good will as can be possible ; in many of her
subjects no less desire than in herself; the rest not
such that any such account is to be made of, that
either they can hinder the purpose, or do great good,
whatsomever they become."*
All things being thus in readiness for the interview,
and Mary looking forward to it with the ardent and
sanguine feelings which belonged to her character, an
unexpected obstacle arose from the quarter of France.
In that country, the religious and political struggle
between the Catholic party and the Protestants sud-
denly assumed a more fierce and sanguinary aspect ;
and the Queen of England, who steadily supported
Coligni and the Protestants, resolved to remain for the
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 15th July, 1562.
262 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562.
whole summer at home, to watch the proceedings of
the league which France, Spain, Savoy, and Rome, had
organized against the common cause of the Reformation.
It may, indeed, be doubted, whether Elizabeth was
ever sincere in her wish to have a meeting with Mary.
It is at least certain that she read ly seized this causo
of delay, and in July despatched Sir Henry Sidney
into Scotland to defer the interview of the two queens
till the ensuing summer. Mary received Sidney with
expressions of unfeigned disappointment and sorrow.
She listened to his embassy, as he himseli reports, "with
watery eyes ; " and Mar and Lethington assured him,
that had she not already found a vent for her passionate
grief in her private chamber, the expression of it would
have been still more violent.* It is evident that her
heart was intent upon this object, and the delay may
have caused a painful suspicion of the sincerity of the
English queen, for whose sake she had already made
no inconsiderable sacrifices. Yet the message of Eliza-
beth was warm and cordial. She assured Mary, that
to have seen her dear sister that summer was her earnest
desire ; that she now delayed the meeting with the
utmost reluctance, and had so fully determined to enjoy
her company in the spring, that she had sent by Sidney
her confirmation of the treaty for the interview, leaving
it to her to fix upon any days between the twentieth of
May and the last of August.-)- Mary was reassured, and
would instantly have accepted the treaty and named
the day of meeting, but most of her council being
absent, Lethington thought it prudent to delay, and
promised within a month to send her final resolution. J
The queen, relieved from this anxiety, now resolved
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Sidney to Cecil, 25th July, 1562, Edin.
f Instructions to Sir H. Sidney. Haynes, p. 392.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethingtonto Cecil, 29th July, 1562.
1562. MARY. 263
to visit the northern parts of her dominions ; and, fol-
lowing her own inclination rather than the advice of
o
her council,* made preparations for her progress as far
as Inverness ; but before she set out, a Jesuit arrived
in Scotland with a secret message from the Pope. So
violent at this time was the feeling of the common
people against any intercourse with Rome, that Mary
did not dare to receive him openly ; but whilst the
Protestant nobles were at the sermon, Lethington con-
veyed him by stealth into the queen's closet. The
preacher, however, was more brief than usual in his
discourse, and the Earl of Mar coming suddenly into
the antechamber, had nearly discovered the interview ;
so that the papal envoy was smuggled away by the
Marys with much speed and alarm, yet not before
Randolph had caught a glimpse of " a strange visage,"
which filled him full of suspicion. " The effect of his
legation," says this ambassador, "was to know whether
she could send unto the General Council, (he means
the Council of Trent, then sitting,) and he was directed
to use his influence to keep her steadfast in her religion ;
so, at least, the secretary assured him, but he believed
there was more under this commission than he or Leth-
ington was permitted to see.-f- The messenger, who was
a bishop, narrowly escaped ; for no sooner was it known
that a papal emissary had dared to set his foot in Scot-
land, than his death was resolved on ; and nothing
saved him but the peremptory remonstrance of Mar.J
Mary now set out on her progress northward, accom-
panied by most of her principal nobles. At Aberdeen
she was met by the Earl of Huntley the head of the
Romish party and the great rival of Mar. This noble-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 10th August, 1562.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 1st August, 1562.
Ibid.
264 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562.
man was nearly allied to the Duke of Chastelherault,
by the marriage of his eldest son Lord Gordon to the
daughter of Hamilton; and both Huntley and the
Duke, although separated by difference of religious
faith, were jealous of the power of Mar, and enemies
to the strict amity with England. Huntley, indeed,
had felt keenly the neglect and want of confidence with
which he had been treated by the queen. She had
received with coldness the advances made by him and
his party immediately after the death of her husband ;
his offer to re-establish the ancient religion on her ar-
rival in her dominions had been repelled; although he
held the high office of chancellor, and sat in the privy-
council, his influence was merely nominal ; and, which
cut deeper than all, he discovered that Mar intended
to possess himself of the earldom of Moray, an extensive
and opulent appanage, of which he, for some years back,
had enjoyed the revenues and wielded the power. Shortly
before this, one of his sons, Sir John Gordon, having
a private feud with Lord Ogilvy, had attacked and
desperately wounded this nobleman in the streets of
the capital. The assailant being seized and imprisoned,
broke from his confinement and fled to his estates.
Mary was exasperated ; but the eloquence of the coun-
tess his mother assuaged her resentment, and brought
her son to reason. The offender appeared before his
sovereign, and was ordered to ward in the castle of
Stirling. When on his road thither, he again repented
of his submission, escaped from his guards, and gather-
ing a thousand horsemen, bid defiance to the royal
power. Such was the state of things when Huntley
heard of the queen's resolution to visit his country,
accompanied by Mar and her principal nobility. He
had long envied the influence of that earl with the
1562. MARY. 265
queen ; and being strong in friends, and possessed of
almost sovereign authority in those northern districts,
he seems to have had the temerity to believe that the
moment had arrived when a revolution might be accom-
plished, which would rid him of his rival, and place in
his hands the chief power of the government. But
Mary suspected his practices and dreaded his ambition.
On being pressed by him to visit his house at Strath-
bogie, of which the magnificence rivalled her own palaces,
she declined paying that honour to the father of a rebel ;
and pushing forward to the castle of Inverness, where
it was her intention to remain for some time, she found
its gates insolently shut against her. On the place
being summoned, it was answered by the captain, a
retainer of Huntley's. that without the orders of Lord
Gordon, for whom he held it, the castle should not be
given up. This was open rebellion; and Mary, having
raised the force of the country, prepared to carry the
place by assault. On this occasion the queen evinced
something of the warlike spirit of her ancestors. In-
stead of lamenting that she had engaged in a journey
so full of peril, " she repented she was not a man, to
know what life it was to lie all night in the fields, or
walk the rounds with a jack and knapscull."* Her
military aspirations, however, were not gratified by an
actual siege: the captain, having surrendered, was
hanged ; and Mary, although informed that Huntley
watched to intercept her in the woods on the banks of
the Spey, advanced against him, crossed the river
without seeing an enemy, and returned at the head of
three thousand men to Aberdeen. There was a romance
and danger about the expedition which pleased the
queen, and awakened some knightly enthusiasm in
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 18th Sept. 15621
266 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562.
Randolph the English envoy, who accompanied her.
" What desperate blows," says he, in his letter to Cecil,
" would that day have been given when every man
should have fought in sight of so noble a queen, and
so many fair ladies, our enemies to have taken them
from us, and we to save our honours and not to be
bereft of them your honour may easily imagine."*
Huntley seems to have overrated his strength, but
it was now too late to recede ; and his animosity was
stimulated to the highest pitch, by Mary rewarding
Mar, on her return to Aberdeen, with the prize he had
long coveted, the earldom of Moray. He persuaded
himself that nothing short of his ruin was contemplated ;
and having made a last and ineffectual attempt to mol-
lify the royal resentment, he fortified his castles of
Findlater, Achendown, and Strathbogie, assembled his
vassals, and pushed rapidly to Aberdeen, in the hope
of seizing the queen. But the result was disastrous ;
as he marched forward, his force melted away, and with
scarce five hundred men, he found himself attacked by
the Earls of Moray, Morton, and Athole, at the head
of two thousand men. The position where he made
his last stand, was a hill named Corrichie, about twelve
miles from the city. From this, being driven by the
fire of the arquebuses into a low marshy level, he was
set upon by the spearmen of Moray, and completely
defeated; himself slain, whether by the sword or suffo-
cation from the weight of his armour, was uncertain :
his two sons made prisoners, and the rest of his com-
pany either killed, dispersed, or taken.-f-
Sir John Gordon, the second son, who was reported
to have been the chief contriver of this rebellion, and
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 24th Sept. 1562.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 2d November, 1562.
Also, same to same, 2d Nov. 1562.
1562. MARY. 267
whose ambition aspired to the hand of the queen, was
immediately executed ; and the body of Huntley, ac-
cording to a savage feudal practice, after having been
embowelled, was kept unburied till parliament should
pronounce upon it the sentence of treason (second
November, 1562.) His third son, Adam Gordon, a
youth of eighteen, received a pardon ; but the eldest,
Lord Gordon, was found guilty of treason and impri-
soned; the immense estates of the family were
seized by the crown, the title forfeited, and this all-
potent house reduced in a moment to insignificance
and beggary.
Some authors, guided by their prejudices rather
than their research, have imagined that the fate of this
great baron may be traced to a premeditated conspiracy
of Moray, who carried the queen north, and prevailed
on her to provoke Huntley into rebellion by her sus-
picions and neglect. This is mere conjecture : it is
certain that the northern progress was planned by the
queen herself, and that her council, of whom Moray
was the chief, so far from exciting Mary against
Huntley, urged her to visit him at Strathbogie.* Sir
John Gordon confessed his treasonable designs, and
laid the burden of them on his father ; two confidential
servants of Huntley, Thomas Ker and his brother,
acknowledged that their master, on three several occa-
sions, had plotted to cut off Moray and Lethington ;
and the queen herself, in a conversation with Randolph,
thanked God for having delivered her enemy into her
hand. " She declared," says this minister, who was
an eye-witness and companion of the northern progress,
" many a shameful and detestable part that he thought
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, Edinburgh, 10th
August, 1562. Ibid., same to same, 31st August, 1562.
268 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562.
to have used against her, as to have married her where
he would, to have slain her brother, and whom other
he liked ; the places, the times, where it should have
been done ; and how easy a matter it was, if God had
not preserved her." * It was natural that Moray should
rejoice in the fall of so potent an enemy to the Pro-
testant party, as Huntley. It is true that he availed
himself of his offences to strengthen his own power; but
that, prior to the rebellion, he had laid a base design
to entrap him into treason, is an opinion founded on
conjecture, and contradicted by fact.
Mary now returned to her capital f and devoted
herself to the cares of government ; but the difficulties
of her situation increased. War had begun (to use the
words of Secretary Maitland) between the two coun-
tries of the earth which, next to her own, were most
dear to her, J France and England being descended of
the blood of both of them by her father, and one of
them by her mother. France was ready to urge her
by the love she bore her relatives there, by the recol-
lections of her early education in that country, and by
the ties of a common faith, not to desert her friends
when her assistance might be of essential benefit.
Elizabeth, on the other hand, explained by her am-
bassador, the causes which compelled her to send an
army into France. The French king^s subjects in
Normandy had urged her, she said, to relieve them
from the unjust tyranny of the house of Guise ; and as
that monarch was unable to give them assistance, she
had entered into a treaty with the Prince of Conde, by
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 23d October, 1562.
Ibid., same to same, 28th October, 1562. Ibid., same to same, 2d Novem-
ber, 1562.
f 21st November, 1562.
$ Keith, p. 232.
1562. MARY. 269
which it was agreed he should receive support both in
forces and money.*
When Randolph communicated this information to
Mary, she did not dissemble her sorrow, nor conceal
her affection for her uncles. " This," said she, " I
must say in their defence : I believe them to be true
subjects to their prince, and that they do no more than
execute his orders ; but," she added, " that she was
not so unreasonable as to condemn those who differed
from her in opinion, still less was she inclined, on their
account, to abate anything of the friendship she felt for
his mistress the Queen of England (second November,
1562.) It was, in truth, scarcely possible for Eliza-
beth to entertain at this moment any serious fears of
Mary's intrigues in France, when we find Randolph
assuring Cecil, that she heard almost as seldom from
that country as the King of Muscovy. (
Everything, indeed, seemed to favour the growing
strength of the party of the Congregation in Scotland :
the fall of Huntley, the amity with England, the
queen's partiality to Moray, the decided favour shown
to the Protestants, and the gentleness with which she
pleaded for her uncles, all evinced a determination in
the queen, not to allow her personal convictions on
the subject of religion to interfere with her duties as a
sovereign. It was only to be regretted, that the con-
duct of Knox, and the more violent of his brethren,
occasionally excited feelings of resentment, when there
was a predisposition to peace ; and that his endeavours
to secure the triumph of his party, (conscientious as
they undoubtedly were,) were seldom accompanied by
sound discretion, or Christian love. Even Randolph,
* MS., State-paper Office, Sir J. Williamson's Collection, 2d series, vol.
ii. pp. 169, 179.
f State-paper Office, MS. Letter, Randolph to Cecil, 30th Dec., 1562.
270 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562,
their partial friend, was shocked by the manner in
which the preachers prayed for the queen. " They
pray," says he, in his letter to Cecil, " that God will
keep us from the bondage of strangers ; and for herself,
as much in effect as, that God will either turn her heart
or send her short life." He added, ironically, " of
what charity or spirit this proceedeth, I leave to be
discussed by the great divines." * Although the queen,
as we learn from Lethington's letters, behaved towards
the Reformer with much forbearance, it seems to have
created no impression in her favour. As long as she
retained her own faith, and permitted the celebration
of mass in her private chapel, nothing could disarm his
suspicions, appease his wrath, or check the personality
of his attacks. His natural disposition was sarcastic,
he had a strong sense of the ludicrous, and when pro-
voked, his invectives were so minute, coarse, and
humorous, that they alternately excited ridicule or
indignation. Lethington scoffed, Morton commanded
him to hold his peace, and Randolph, as we have seen,
regretted that his proceedings had more zeal than
charity.
News having arrived about this time of the restora-
tion of peace to France, the queen, who took a deep
interest in her uncles, was disposed to be merry ; and
the court, reflecting the countenance of the prince, was
much occupied in masques and dancing; but to the
news of peace were added suspicions of an intended
persecution of the Protestants by the Guises ; and
Knox, grieving for his brethren, and scandalized at
the prevailing gaieties, fulminated a complaint in the
pulpit against the ignorance, tyranny, and malevolence
of princes. His words were meant chiefly to apply to
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 28th Feb., 1562-3.
1562. MARY. 271
the Guises, but he was reported to have spoken irre-
verently of his sovereign, and brought before her to
answer for his attack. His defence, which he has him-
self preserved in his history, was calculated rather to
aggravate than extenuate the provocation. " Madam,"
said he, " this is oftentimes the just recompense which
God gives the stubborn of the world, that because they
will not hear God speaking to the comfort of the peni-
tent, and for amendment of the wicked, they are oft
compelled to hear the false report of others, to their
great displeasure. I doubt not that it came to the
ears of Herod, that our Master Jesus Christ called him
a fox ; but they told him not how odious a thing it
was before God, to murder an innocent, as he had lately
done before, causing to behead John the Baptist, to
reward the dancing of a harlot's daughter. If the re-
porters of my words had been honest men, they would
have repeated my words, and the circumstances of the
same ; but because they would have credit in court,
and wanting virtue worthy thereof, they needs must
have somewhat to pleasure your majesty, if it were but
flatteries and lies ; but such pleasure, if any your ma-
jesty take in such persons, will turn to your everlast-
ing displeasure ; for, Madam, if your own ears had
heard the whole matter that I treated, if there be in
you any spark of the spirit of God, yea of honesty and
wisdom, you would not justly have been offended with
anything that I spake. And because you have heard
their report, please your majesty to hear myself re-
hearse the same, so near as memory will serve [it was
even next day after that the sermon was made]. My
text, Madam, was this : ' And now, oh, kings, under-
stand; be learned, ye judges of the earth.' After I
had declared the dignity of kings and rulers, the hon-
272 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562.
our wherein God has placed them, the obedience that
is due unto them, being God's lieutenants, I demanded
this question : But oh, alas, what account shall the
most part of princes make before that supreme Judge,
whose throne and authority so manifestly and shame-
fully they abuse ? The complaint of Solomon is this
day most true, that violence and oppression do occupy
the throne of God here on this earth, for whilst that
murderers, bloodthirsty men, oppressors, and malefac-
tors dare be bold to present themselves before kings
and princes, and that the poor saints of God are
banished and exiled, what shall we say, but that the
devil hath taken possession in the throne of God, which
ought to be a dread to all wicked doers, and a refuge
to the innocent and oppressed ? And how can it be
otherwise, for princes will not understand, they will
not be learned as God commands them ; but they de-
spise God's law, his statutes and holy ordinances they
will not understand ? For in fiddling and flinging they
are more exercised, than in reading or hearing God's
most blessed word ; and fiddlers and flatterers (which
commonly corrupt youth) are more precious in their
eyes than men of wisdom and gravity, who by whole-
some admonitions may beat down in them some part
of that vanity and pride wherein we are all born, but
which in princes takes deep root and strength by evil
education. And of dancing, Madam, I said, that albeit
in Scripture I found no praise of it, and in profane
writers, that it is termed the gesture rather of those
that are mad and in frenzy than of sober men ; yet I
do not utterly condemn it, providing that two vices be
avoided: the former, that the principal vocation of
those that use that exercise be not neglected for the
pleasure of dancing ; secondly, that they dance not as
1562. MARY. 273
the Philistines, their fathers, for the pleasure that they
take in the displeasure of God's people ; for if they do
these, or either of them, they shall receive the reward
of dancers, and that will be, to drink in hell, unless
they repent."" " Your words are sharp enough even
now," said Mary; "and yet r they were told me in
another manner. I know that you and my uncles are
not of one religion, and, therefore, I cannot blame you
for conceiving so ill an opinion of them ; but for my-
self, if you disapprove of aught, come to myself, speak
openly, and I shall hear you." " Madam," answered
Knox, " I am assured that your uncles are enemies
to God, and unto his Son Jesus Christ, and for the
maintenance of their own pomp and worldly glory, that
they spare not to spill the blood of many innocents :
and, therefore, I am assured,, their enterprises shall
have no better success than others have had, who be-
fore them have done as they do now."*
A melancholy story soon after occurred, which in
some measure justified Knox in his censure of the
licentious manners of the court. Mary, who was pas-
sionately fond of music, had shown much favour to
Chartellet, a French gentleman of good family, highly
skilled in that science, and in other respects a hand-
some and accomplished person. Such encouragement *h
from a beautiful woman, and a queen, turned the un-
fortunate man's head ; he aspired to her love, and, in a
fit of amorous frenzy, .hid himself in the royal bed-
* Knox, pp. 334, 335. The time of this conversation between the Re-
former and the queen, is fixed by a passage in a MS. Letter from Randolph
to Cecil, dated 16th December, 1562, State-paper Office. " Upon Sunday
last, he [Knox] inveighed sore against the queen's dancing, and little ex-
ercise of herself in virtue and godliness. The report hereof being brought
unto her ears, yesterday, she sent for him. She talked long time with him ;
little liking there was between them, of the one or the other, yet did they so
depart as no offence or slander did rise thereon."
f Keith, p. 231.
VOL. VI. 8
274 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562-3.
chamber, where, some minutes before she entered it,
he was discovered by her female attendants. The
circumstance was not disclosed to the queen till the
succeeding morning, when, with an ill-judged lenity,
she contented herself with commanding him to leave
the court. Desperate in his attachment, however, he
secretly followed her to Burntisland, and at night,
when the queen was stepping into bed, and none beside
her but her ladies, Chartellet again started from a re-
cess, where he had concealed himself. The shrieks of
the women soon roused the court, and when seized by
those who rushed in, on hearing the uproar in the royal
apartment, he audaciously acknowledged that he had
meditated an attempt on the honour of the queen.
Mary, glowing with indignation at the insult, com-
manded Moray, who first ran to her succour, to stab
him with his dagger ; but he preferred securing him
to this summary vengeance : a formal trial followed,
and the miserable man was condemned and executed
within two days after his offence.* On the scaffold,
instead of having recourse to his missal or breviary, he
drew from his pocket a volume of Ronsard, and read-
ing the poetfs Hymn to Death, resigned himself to his
fate with gaiety and indifference.-)- It was a lament-
able spectacle : men blamed, but at the same time
pitied him ; they had not forgotten the recent flight
of Captain Hepburn, who had behaved with brutal in-
delicacy to Mary; it seemed strange that, within a
short time, two such outrageous insults should have
been offered, and some did not scruple to blame the
indiscriminate condescension of the queen, whose love
of admiration made her sometimes forget the dignity
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 28th Feb., 1562-3.
t Brantome, vol. ii. p. 332. Randolph says, he died with repentance.
1562-3. MARY. 275
and reserve which is so sure a protection of female
purity.
Shortly after this, the Scottish queen became dis-
turbed by a rumour, that some measures, prejudicial
to her right of succession, were contemplated in the
English parliament, and she despatched Lethington
to England, that he might watch over her interests
(twelfth February, 1562-3.)* He was enjoined not
only to attend to the affair of the succession, but to
endeavour to promote a reconciliation between Eliza-
beth and the party of the Guises ; and, after he had
concluded his transactions, to pass over to France with
the same object. The secretary undertook the mission
with reluctance ;[ yet, with his usual ability, he suc-
ceeded in accomplishing the most important of his ob-
jects. No discussion of Mary's title took place; and the
good understanding between the two queens continued,
apparently at least, as firm as before.
It w r as beyond his power, however, to heal the wounds
of France, and although Mary, in pathetic and earnest
terms, offered herself as a mediatrix between her good
sister, Elizabeth, and that country, the recent course
of events there had assumed an aspect which precluded
all hopes of success, and were viewed by her with the
deepest emotions. A zealous Catholic, and warmly
attached to her uncles, she watched with interest the
progress of events, and rejoiced in the successes which,
at Bruges, Rouen, and Dreux, attended the arms of
the Duke of Guise; but she was shocked with the
ferocious character which the war had assumed. It was
melancholy to see the country which was so dear to her,
*MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Moray to Cecil, 12th February, 1562-3.
Keith, p. 235, complains that the date of Maitland's Mission is irrecoverably
lost. It is fixed by the above letter.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 6th Feb., 1562-3.
276 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1562-3.
the land of her infancy, where she had passed her
happiest years, flooded with the blood of its citizens ;
its towns stormed and razed, and its brave nobility
opposed in mortal strife to each other , even the news
of their successes raised such conflicting feelings, that
she heard them with tears;* and on receiving accounts
of the assassination of the Duke of Guise, her grief was
poignant ;} yet she continued to make every effort for
the restoration of concord in that country, and the
preservation of amity with England. The insincerity
and caprice of Elizabeth ; the intrigues of Randolph,
who secretly encouraged Scottish volunteers to assist
the Huguenots ;J the violence and suspicion of Knox,
which even Randolph pronounced unreasonable ; and
the intrigues of Cecil, could not deter her from that
npright policy, which persuaded her, that many sacri-
fices should be made rather than break with England.
She was cast down, indeed, when she beheld the in-
creasing difficulties which were gathering around her;
and the letters of the English minister present us with
many painful pictures of her grief and embarrassment.
Yet, when Cecil was disposed to doubt her sincerity,
the same acute observer derides the vain fears of this
statesman, and bears testimony to the friendly dispo-
sition of the queen, her councillors, and her people,
towards England.
The two great objects which now filled Mary's mind,
and employed the earnest deliberations of her ministers,
were her right of succession to the English throne, and
her marriage. On both points she was anxious, as
indeed it was her interest, to consult the wishes of
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 5th Jan. 1562-3.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 18th March, 1562-3.
J MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 10th March, 1562-3.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 16th Dee. 1562.
1563. MARY. 277
Elizabeth.* She had now remained in a widowed state
for three years : she was convinced that a speedy mar-
riage was the best measure for herself and her kingdom ;
her opinion was fortified by that of Moray and Leth-
ington, and her hand had been already sought by the
King of Sweden, the Infant of Spain, and the Archduke
Charles, second son of the emperor ; yet Elizabeth,
although ever ready to oppose every foreign match,
continued to preserve much mystery in stating her
own wishes on the subject. It was evident it could
not long suit the dignity of an independent princess to
listen to ingenious objections, and repress every royal
suitor in submission to the wishes of a sister queen.
About this time a report having reached the English
court, that the successful candidate was one of the
emperor's lineage, Cecil wrote in much alarm to Moray,
who replied with firmness, and good sense, that nothing
serious had been yet concluded. But he added, that
neither was it for her honour, nor could he advise her,
to repress the suit of princes, however deeply interested
in the continuance of the friendship between the two
queens, and the mutual love and quietness of their
subjects.*)-
Mary's difficulties, however, arose not merely from
the interference and jealousy of the English queen, and
the mysterious diplomacy of Cecil : the violence of the
party which was headed by Knox and the reformed
preachers occasioned her infinite disquiet, and was at
length carried to such a height as to occasion a schism
amongst the Protestants themselves. We have seen
that this party disapproved entirely of the lenity with
which Mary had been permitted the private exercise
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 15th May, 1563.
Keith, p. 239, printed in Robertson's Appendix, No. vii.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Earl of Moray to Cecil, 23d Sept. 1563.
278 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1563.
of her religion. The laxity with which the enactments
against the mass were carried into execution excited
their constant suspicion, and they persuaded them-
selves it was in vain to look for the favour of God till
Presbyterianism, in its most rigid form, was estab-
lished throughout the country. In this view, some
whispers which began to float about regarding the
marriage of Mary to a noble person recommended by
Elizabeth, and, as a basis of this union, the restoration
of complete amity between the two queens, gave them
no little alarm. They knew the aversion of the Eng-
lish queen, as well as of Mary, to the form of worship
which they believed the only system founded on Scrip-
ture ; and it was really more tolerable for them to see
their royal mistress a confirmed Papist and the enemy
of England, than the friend and (as had been antici-
pated more than once by .Randolph and Lethington)
the convert of Elizabeth to the Church of England.
To excite suspicions and interrupt the good under-
standing between the two queens became, therefore,
a favourite object with Knox, and the more violent of
the reformers. They did not hesitate to blame Moray
and Lethington for their anxiety to accomplish an
interview, and traversed their praiseworthy efforts, by
representing all the friendship professed by Mary as
hollow and insidious. And yet, even from Knox
himself, we learn some facts which might have con-
vinced him of the contrary.
During the absence of Lethington in England, the
Papists, encouraged by the Bishop of St Andrew's and
the Prior of Whithern, had disregarded the queen's
proclamation. Mass was celebrated secretly in many
private houses ; and, when this was found dangerous,
the votaries of the Eomish faith fled into the woods
1563. MARY. 279
and mountains, where, amidst their silent solitudes,
they adhered to the worship of their fathers.* Upon
this the Presbyterians, despairing, as they alleged, of
any redress of such abuse from the queen, took the
law into their own hands, pursued and seized some
priests, and sent word to the Romish clergy, that
henceforth they would neither complain to the queen
or council, but, with their own hands, execute upon
idolaters the punishment contained in God's Word.-f-
Mary, justly alarmed at this, sent for Knox to Loch-
leven, where she then resided, and remonstrated in
earnest terms. She recommended toleration, and
argued with him upon the cruelty of religious persecu-
tion. The Reformer pleaded the laws in force against
idolatry ; these, he said, it was the duty of princes to
execute ; if they failed so to do, others must do it for
them ; nor would God be offended if men, who feared
Him, albeit, neither kings nor magistrates, took it upon
them to inflict judgment. " Samuel," said he, "spared
not to slay Agag the fat and delicate King of Amalek,
whom Saul had saved ; nor did Elias spare Jezabel's
prophets and Baal's priests, although King Ahab
stood by. Phinehas was no magistrate, but he feared not
to strike Zimri and Cozbi. These examples proved,"
he contended, " that subjects might lawfully punish,
although they were not clothed with the authority of
the magistrate ; but he besought the queen not to com-
pel any one to this last resource, but herself administer
the laws. Think, madam," he concluded, " think of
the mutual contract, and the mutual duties between
yourself and your subjects. They are bound to obey
you : ye are bound to keep the laws unto them. You
* Randolph to Cecil, 1st May, 1563. Keith, 239.
f Knox, p. 352.
280 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1563.
crave of them service : they demand of you protection
and defence against wicked doers.""*
This bold exposition produced a favourable effect.
Mary, for the moment, seemed offended, but soon after
she sent for Knox, who met her next day as she pur-
sued her pastime of hawking. Their interview was
amicable almost confidential. The queen, alluding
to the intended election of a superintendent for Dum-
fries and the adjacent country, warned the Reformer
against the Bishop of Caithness, who was a candidate
for that preferment ; and she informed him with great
frankness, that his reasoning of yesterday had con-
vinced her that the offenders should be summoned,
and justice duly administered.*)-
Nor was this promise forgotten. On the nineteenth
of May, a few days before the meeting of parliament,
the Archbishop of St Andrew's, the Prior of Whithern,
the Parson of Sanquhar, and other Papists, were ar-
raigned before Argyle the Justice-general, for the
crime of celebrating mass ; and, having pleaded guilty,
were subjected to a temporary imprisonment. J
The parliament now met, and was held with unusual
pomp. Mary, surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade,
rode in procession to the Tolbooth, where the Estates
assembled; the hall was crowded, not only by the
members, but glittered with the splendid dresses of
the royal household and the ladies of the court, who
surrounded the throne and filled the galleries. The
extreme beauty of the queen, and the grace with which
she delivered the address in which she opened the
* Knox, p. 353.
t Ibid., p. 354, 19th May, 1563.
J Knox, p. 356. Keith, p. 239. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph
to Cecil, 28th February, 1562-3. Also Keith, p. 23 From the shattered
MS. Randolph to Cecil, 20th May, 1563.
1563. MARY. 281
proceedings, surprised and delighted her people : many
exclaimed, " May God save that sweet face ! she speaks
as properly as the best orator among them !"
Amidst this general enthusiasm, the preachers took
great offence at the liberty of the French manners, and
the extravagance of the foreign dresses. " They spake
boldly," says Knox, " against the superfluities of their
clothes, and affirmed, that the vengeance of God would
fall, not only on the foolish women, but on the whole
realm." To check the growing licentiousness, an at-
tempt was made to introduce a sumptuary law; articles
against apparel were drawn up, and it was proposed to
take order with other abuses ; but, to the extreme
mortification of the Eeformer, he was arrested in his
career of legislation by the hand of the Lord James.
This powerful minister deemed it impolitic at this
moment to introduce these enactments. " The queen,"
he said, "had kept her promises, the religion was
established, the mass-mongers were punished : if they
carried things too high, she would hold no parliament
at all." Knox smiled significantly Mar, he hinted,
trembled for his new earldom of Moray, and all must
be postponed to have his grant confirmed, lest Mary
should repent of her munificence; he denounced, in
strong terms, such selfish motives, reminded him of his
solemn engagements to the Church, and accused him of
sacrificing truth to convenience, and the service of his
God to the interests of his ambition. The proud spirit
of Moray could not brook such an attack, and he replied
with asperity ; the two friends parted in anger, and the
Reformer increased the estrangement by addressing a
letter in which, in his usual plain and vehement style of
* Knox, p. 357. Randolph to Cecil, 3d June, 1563. Keith, p. 239. The
address had been written in French, but she translated it, and spoke it in
English.
282 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1563.
reproof, he exonerated himself of all further care in his
lordship's affairs, committing him to the guidance of his
own understanding, whose dictates he preferred to the
advancement of the truth. " I praise my God," said he,
" I leave you victor over your enemies, promoted to great
honour, and in authority with your sovereign. Should
this continue, none will be more glad than I ; but if you
decay, (as I fear ye shall,) then call to mind by what
means the Most High exalted you: it was neither
by trifling with impiety, nor maintaining pestilent
Papists." So incensed was Moray with this remon-
strance, that, for a year and a half, he and Knox scarcely
exchanged words together.*
Far from being intimidated by this desertion, the
Reformer seized the opportunity of the parliament to
address the nobility upon the subject of God's mercies
to them as a commonwealth, and their own ingratitude.
He had been with them, he declared, in their most
desperate temptations ; he was now with them in the
days of their success and forgetfulness, and it was some
relief to pour forth the sorrows of his heart, to remind
them of the perils they had survived to warn them of
the duties they had neglected. " I see," said he, getting
animated in his subject, and suddenly stretching out
his arms as if he would leap from the pulpit and arrest
the vision passing before him,-(- " I see before me the
beleaguered camp at St Johnston : I see your meeting
on Cupar Muir ; I hear the tramp of the horsemen as
they charged you in the streets of Edinburgh : and,
most of all, is that dark and dolorous night now present
to my eyes in which all of you, my lords, in shame
and fear left this town and God forbid I should ever
* Knoy, p. 357.
t Melvil's Diary, p. 26. " He was like to ding the pulpit in blads [tatters]
and flee out of it."
1563. MARY. 283
forget it ! what was then, I say, my exhortation unto
you? and what is fallen in vain of all that God ever
promised you by my mouth? Speak, I say, for ye your-
selves live to testify. There is not one of you against
whom death and destruction was threatened who hath
perished in that danger; and how many of your enemies
hath God plagued before your eyes ? And is this to
be the thankfulness ye shall render unto your God, to
betray his cause, when you have it in your hands to
establish it as you please ? The queen says, ' ye will
not agree with her.' Ask of her that which by God's
Word ye may justly require ; and if she will not agree
with you in God, ye are not bound to agree with her
faction in the devil. Let her plainly understand so
far of your minds ; forsake not your former courage in
God's cause, and be assured he will prosper you in your
enterprises. And now, my lords," he concluded, " to
put an end to all, I hear of the queen's marriage: dukes,
brethren to emperors and kings, strive all for the best
gain. But this, my lords, will I say note the day,
and bear witness hereafter : whenever the nobility of
Scotland, who profess the Lord Jesus, consent that
an infidel (and all Papists are infidels) shall be head
to our sovereign, ye do as far as in you lieth to banish
Christ Jesus from this realm, and to bring God's
vengeance on the country."*
This extraordinary license, and the boldness with
which the Reformer availed himself of his sacred char-
acter to attack the sovereign, and dictate to the council,
called forth the indignation both of Catholics and Pro-
testants. ) He was summoned to answer before the
queen, and, coming to court after dinner, was brought
* Knox, p. 359.
f Knox, p. 359. " These words," says he, "and this manner of speaking,
was judged intolerable. Papists and Protestants were both offended."
284 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1563.
into her cabinet by Erskine of Dun the superintendent
of Angus and Mearns. Mary, whose feelings were
keen, upbraided him with his ingratitude ; she had
borne, she said, with all his severest censures ; she had
sought his friendship, had offered him audience and
preferment, but all in vain; nothing would mollify,
nothing would silence him ; and as she said this, she
began to weep and lament aloud, exclaiming, that he
had nothing to do with her marriage, and warning him,
with broken words and passionate gestures, to beware
of her revenge. As soon as he could be heard, Knox
attempted to defend himself, affirming, that in the
pulpit he was not master of himself, but must obey
His commands who had bade him speak plain, and
flatter no flesh ; as for the favours which had been
offered to him, his vocation, he said, was neither to
wait in the courts of princes, nor in the chambers of
ladies, but to preach the gospel " I grant it so,"
reiterated the queen, " but what have you to do with
my marriage, or, what are you within the common-
wealth !" " A subject born within the same," said
the Reformer, "and albeit, Madam, neither baron, lord,
nor belted earl, yet hath God made me, how abject soever
in your eyes, a useful and profitable member. As such,
it is my duty, as much as that of any one of the nobility,
to forewarn the people of danger ; and, therefore, what
I have said in public, I here repeat to your own face.
Whenever the nobility of this realm shall so far forget
themselves as to consent that you shall be subject to
an unlawful husband, they do as much as in them lieth
to renounce Christ, to banish the truth, betray the
freedom of the realm, and, perchance, may be but cold
friends to yourself."*
* This must have been in May, 1563. Knox, p. 361.
1563. MARY. 285
This new attack brought on a still more passionate
burst of tears, and Mary, who could scarcely he ap-
peased by the soothing speeches of the Laird of Dun,
commanded Knox to quit the apartment. In obeying
this, a scene occurred which was strikingly characteris-
tic : the Reformer, passing into the outer chamber, found
himself shunned and avoided by the nobles of the court,
who looked strangely on him, as if they had never
known him before. His temper was not, however, of
the kind to be cast down by the desertion of these
summer friends ; and, observing a circle of the ladies
of the queen's household sitting near, in their gorgeous
apparel, he could not depart without a word of admo-
nition. " Ah, fair ladies," said he, between jest and
earnest, "how pleasant were this life of yours, if it
should ever abide, and then in the end we might pass
to heaven with this gear ! But fie on that knave,
Death that will come whether ye will or not ; and
when he hath laid on the arrest, then foul worms will
be busy with this flesh, be it never so fair and tender ;
and the silly soul, I fear, shall be so feeble, that it can
neither carry with it gold, garnishing, targating, pearl,
nor precious stones." * In the midst of these speeches,
the Laird of Dun came out of the queen's cabinet, and
requested Knox to go home ; nor does it appear that
Mary took any further notice of his officious and un-
called-for interference with her marriage.
Wtan Lethington returned from his prolonged
embassy to England and France, he expressed much
indignation against the violence of Knox and his party;
he affirmed that the reports which they had raised, re-
garding a match with Spain, tended directly to excite
* Knox, p. 361. " He merrily said." The speech is in the very vein of
Hamlet : " Get ye to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch
thick, to this favour she must come make her laugh at that."
286 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1563.
the jealousy of Elizabeth, and to create unworthy sus-
picions between the Scottish queen and her Protestant
subjects. To discredit the Reformer, who had already
quarrelled with Moray, became his great object, and
this added bitterness to the schism which divided the
more moderate from the more violent of the Protestants.
We cannot wonder, indeed, that the fearless and de-
clared opposition of this extraordinary man, who pos-
sessed great power, not only over his own friends, but
over the people, provoked and thwarted so refined and
crafty a politician as Lethington ; and as Knox cor-
responded with Cecil, and was indefatigable in procuring
secret information both from England and thecontinent,
the secretary found him no easy enemy to deal with.
Not long after the return of Lethington, and when
every proceeding on the part of Mary and her ministers
was dictated by an anxious desire to conciliate Eliza-
beth, the Reformer, instead of seconding these efforts,
addressed to Cecil a letter full of suspicion and alarm.
He assured him, that out of the twelve who formed the
queen's council, nine had been gained over to that
which, in the end, would prove their destruction.*
Everything, he added, depended on the firmness of
Moray ; if he failed or faltered, all was lost. As for
himself, he declared, he was prepared for the worst,
and had little to fear on his own account ; but it was
lamentable to see the dark cloud of calamities which
were preparing to burst upon his country, and all be-
cause men must follow the inordinate affections of her
who was born to be the plague of her realm. The key
to part of this despondency is to be found in a sentence
of the same letter, which, alluding to a late progress
of the queen, informed Cecil, that " the conveying of
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Knox to Cecil, Gth Oct. 1563.
1563-4. MARY. 287
the mass through these quarters, which longest had
been best reformed, had dejected the hearts of many,
and caused him to disclose the plainness of a troubled
heart." * Yet although, probably, he was over-excited,
and too much alarmed, it is certain that Knox had
good ground to believe that intrigues, for the marriage
of the queen with some foreign potentate of her own
religion, were then secretly agitated both in Scotland
and on the continent.
It was probably her conviction of the truth of this
which at the last drove Elizabeth from all her delays
and excuses, and compelled her to point out plainly to
Mary, some prince or noble person, whom she judged
worthy of her hand. To the astonishment of her
council, she proposed her favourite Leicester, then the
Lord Robert Dudley, and sent instructions to Ran-
dolph to sound the inclinations of the Scottish queen,
and confer with Moray and Lethington upon the sub-
ject. As, however, he was not yet authorized to give
the name,*f* these wary ministers, although they saw
to whom he pointed, hesitated to meddle in so delicate
a matter. They suspected, and not without good
ground, the sincerity of the English queen; and
hinted that, considering the affection which bound her
to Dudley, and him to his royal mistress, it could not
be believed that she would part with her lover, or he
be so base as to forsake her even for a crown. Ran-
dolph's perplexity in conducting these nice and difficult
negotiations, was strongly expressed in a letter, which
at this time he addressed to Cecil. " To persuade the
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Knox to Cecil, 6th Oct. 1563.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 21st February, 1563-4, Randolph to
Cecil. " For whom the Queen's Majesty's Instructions licenseth me not to
name, of him it shall not almost become me to have one word."
$ MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 21st Feb., J 563-4.
288 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1563-4.
Queen of Scotland." he observed, "to marry any man
under the rank of a prince, would be a dangerous and
dishonourable task for any subject to adventure ; and
even if Mary was ready to forget her royal dignity,
and listen for a moment to the proposal of Elizabeth,
there remained," he said, "a greater difficulty behind.
In offering the noblest in England, none could be at a
loss to divine who was meant. But how unwilling,"
he continued, " the queen's majesty herself would be
to depart from him, and how hardly his mind could be
divorced or drawn from that worthy room where it is
placed, let any man see, where it cannot be thought
but it is so fixed for ever, that the world would judge
worse of him than of any living man,. if he should not
rather yield his life than alter his thoughts. Where-
fore, this they (he alludes to Moray and Lethington)
conclude, as well for her majesty's part, as for him who
is so- happy to be so far in her grace's favour, that if
this queen would wholly put herself into Elizabeth's
will, as to receive a husband of her selecting, either she
should not have the best, or at least match herself with
him that hath his mind placed already elsewhere; or
if it can be withdrawn from thence, she shall take a
man unworthy, from his disloyalty and inconstancy, to
marry with any, much less with a queen. Whereupon,
they, knowing both their affections^ and judging them
inseparable, think rather that no such thing is meant
on my sovereign's part, and that all these offers bear a
greater show of good will than any good meaning."* 1
Hitherto Randolph had not been permitted to name
any one ; but shortly after, Elizabeth having caught
alarm at the continued intrigues for the marriage of
Mary with some foreign prince, sent him a more dis-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 21st Feb., 1563-4.
1563-4. MARY. 289
tinct commission on the subject ; and, choosing a mo-
ment when Moray and Lethington were at the council,
and Mary slenderly attended, he informed her of the
wishes of his mistress, and named Lord Robert Dudley.
She complained that, after long delay, he was now
needlessly precipitate, and had taken her by surprise.
She looked, she said, to have heard of peace between
France and England, and of no such difficult matter
as he had abruptly introduced. The English minister
urged the necessity of a speedy decision on so important
a point as her marriage, and the fair and honourable
offer which was now made her. " Your own mistress,"
replied Mary, " has been somewhat longer of deciding
than I have been ; and you know she hath counselled
me to have regard to three points, whereof the special
one was honour. Now, think you, Master Randolph,
that it will be honourable in me to imbase my state,
and marry one of her subjects? Is this conformable
to her promise to use me as her sister or daughter, to
advise me to marry my Lord Robert to ally myself
with her own subject? 1 "*
To this Randolph, waving the point most difficult
to answer, urged the advantage which might result to
the tranquillity and happiness of both kingdoms, and
intimated that the Queen of England, by the honour
and preferments with which she intended to endow
Dudley, would render him not unworthy of so exalted
an alliance. Mary perceived he wished her to believe
that his mistress might acknowledge her right of sue-
c o o
cession, and settle the kingdom upon her and Dudley ;
but even this did not tempt her. " Where is my as-
surance," said she, " in this ? What if the queen your
mistress should marry herself, and have children?
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 30th March, 1564, Randolph to Cecil.
VOL. VI. T
290 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1563-4.
What have I then gotten ; who will say I have acted
wisely to take this step, which requires long consi-
deration, on so sudden a proposal as this? I have
conferred with no one; and although willing not to
mistrust your mistress, the adventure is too great."
In reply, Randolph begged the queen to speak on the
subject to Moray, Lethington, and Argyle. She
agreed; and communicated Elizabeth's proposal to
them the same day after supper ; but Lethington in-
formed the English envoy, that although his mistress
was pleased that, after so much obscure dealing, the
Queen of England at last began to speak plainly, she
deemed it prudent, when all was yet so vague, to give
no more definite answer than that sent to her last
letter.*
If the English queen had been sincere in this pro-
posal; had she consented, as the basis of Mary^s
marriage with Dudley, to acknowledge her right of
succession, and agreed to confirm it by an act of the
legislature, settling the crown upon their children
Moray and Lethington were ready to use all their in-
fluence to promote the union, and it is very probable
that the Scottish queen would have embraced theofler.-f-
Upon no other supposition can we account for her con-
duct during this trying and tantalizing negotiation.
She exhibited no indignation when the overture was
first made by Randolph ; she bore every delay with
patience, and evinced every disposition to oblige Eliza-
beth. At her request and earnest recommendation,
the Earl of Lennox, who had for many years been
banished from Scotland, and whose proceedings against
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 30th March, 1564.
h On the 18th March, 1563-4, the Queen issued a Proclamation, declaring
her determination to support the " Religion" as she found it on her arrival.
MS. Book of PriYfcouncil, fol. J26.
1564. MARY. 291
his native country had been hostile and treasonable,
obtained permission to return, and was allowed to hope
that his royal mistress would receive him with favour.*
For some time nothing had been said of the intended
interview between the two queens, and it had broken
off on the part of Elizabeth ; but when this princess
now suddenly renewed her proposal for a meeting, al-
though Mary's ministers, aware that it was merely a
colour for delay, declined the overture, the Scottish
queen herself was grieved that they did so, and ear-
nestly desired it.-f-
On her part, therefore, and in the conduct of Moray
and Lethington, everything at this moment was open
and friendly. On the side of Elizabeth and Cecil, on
the other hand, there had been pursued, for the last
three years, such a complicated system of delay, mys-
tery, and caprice, as to create a suspicion in the minds
of the Scottish ministers that the English queen was
really hostile to the marriage, that she had not the
slightest intention of giving up Leicester, and still less
of settling the succession upon Mary. " If," said
Lethington, addressing Cecil, " a conjunction be real-
ly meant, and you will prosecute the means to draw it
on which were opened up by the queen my mistress's
last answer, I doubt not but you will find conformity
enough on this part ; but if time be always driven
without farther effect than hath yet followed upon any
message which hath passed between them these three
years, I am of opinion he shall in the end think him-
self most happy who hath least meddled in the matter.
Gentle letters, good words, and pleasant messages, be
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Elizabeth to Mary. Draft by Cecil, 16th
June, 1563.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil. 5th June, 15G4.
Also same to Lord Robert Dudley, same date.
292 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564.
good means to begin friendship amongst princes ; but
I take them to be too slender bands to hold it fast.""*
He then adds a remark which is strikingly descriptive
of Cecil's mysterious diplomacy. " In these great
causes between our sovereigns, I have ever found that
fault with you, that as in your letters you always wrote
obscurely, so in private communications you seldom
uttered your own judgment : you might well acade-
mico more dispute in utramque partem, leaving me in
suspense to collect what I would. So, I fear, in giving
advice you will walk so warily, rather [being intent]
to speak nothing that may any time thereafter hurt
yourself, than to speak all things that might further
the matter ; and I will confess I have of late enforced
my natural [disposition] to learn this same lesson of
you, for the reverence I bear you, that your manner
of doing serves me for instruction to direct my pro-
ceeding. Marry, I fear the common affairs do not fare
a whit the better for our too great wariness." [
Elizabeth was at last driven by the conduct of Mary
and her ministers, to that perplexity which is the ge-
neral fate of duplicity when opposed to plain and direct
dealing. As a last pretext for delay, she availed her-
self of some secret information transmitted by Knox
to Randolph, regarding the alleged intrigues of Lennox
in Scotland.
This highly-allied noble had, as we have seen,
obtained permission to return to that country a short
time before this, J and at the earnest entreaty of Eliza-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 6th June, 1564.
f Ibid.
J The return of Lennox to Scotland is described by Keith, p. 254, as oc-
curring on the 27th September ; and the same accurate author corrects the
error of Buchanan and Spottiswood, who place his return in September, 1563.
The Diurnal of Occurrents, p. 77, states that Lennox came to Edinburgh on
the 23d September. From a letter of Bedford to Cecil, MS. State-paper
1564. MARY. 293
beth, Mary promised to lend a favourable ear to his
suits. Strictly speaking, Lennox was still an outlaw,
for the sentence of his forfeiture could only be removed
by an act of the legislature ; yet the entreaty of the
English queen, the recommendation of Cecil, and the
powerful interest of Moray and the Secretary Lething-
ton, were successfully exerted in his behalf. Randolph
also had instructions from Elizabeth to promote his
views ; and when about to leave the English court, he
not only received Mary's permission, under her great
seal, to revisit his native country, but was flattered
with the hope that his forfeiture would be removed,
and himself replaced in the high station which belong-
ed to his birth.
This anticipated restoration caused immediate alarm
to Knox and his party. It was more than suspected
that both Lennox and his son were Papists ; and the
Reformer, in a gloomy letter to Randolph, strongly
deprecated their return.* His fears were instantly
communicated to Elizabeth; and this princess, who was
watching for a pretext to delay any negotiation on the
subject of the marriage with Dudley, eagerly availed
herself of this circumstance to commence a fresh sys-
tem of duplicity and delay. She instantly took steps
to detain the earl in England ; and, although it was
to gratify her own wishes, most earnestly expressed to
Lethington, that Mary had consented to receive him
into favour, yet, with extraordinary inconsistency,
she now commanded Cecil to address letters to Moray
and Lethiugton, requiring them to persuade the Scot-
Office, dated 25th September, 1 564, compared with another letter, from the
same to the same, dated 19th September, MS. State-paper Office, B.C., I
believe this authority to be correct.
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 3d, 1564. The date, I suspect,
(from internal evidence, and a comparison with other letters,) must be 3d of
September.
294 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564.
tish queen to revoke her promise, and countermand his
return into her kingdom. These able men, however,
at once detected her object, and met her with a per-
emptory refusal. The correspondence which passed
upon the subject is extremely important, in reference
to the events which soon after occurred ; and their re-
ply to Cecil was so sarcastic and severe, that it gave
offence both to the English queen and her pliant mi-
nister.* Alluding to the secret information which the
English secretary had stated he had received from
some of his best friends in Scotland, " I cannot tell, 11
said Lethington, "whom you take to be your best
friends ; but I think you ought to judge those to be
best, who most earnestly go about to maintain quiet-
ness between the two realms, and intelligence between
the princesses, wherein I am well assured my Lord of
Moray and myself have done as good offices as any
other ; and for us, I am bold to say, neither of us have
any misliking in the matter, but rather have been
instruments to further than to hinder his coming; and
if any other report of our meaning be made from hence,
the author thereof (he here probably alludes to Knox)
hath followed his own passion, being nothing privy to
our intents, abusing our names on a purpose which we
do not allow." [
He next adverted to the sudden change in the queen's
mind upon the subject of Lennox's return. That
Elizabeth should now oppose it, was " not a little
marvellous," he observed, " seeing how earnestly her
majesty did recommend unto me my Lord of Lennox's
cause and my lady's, at my last being in that court ;
nay," he continued, " suddenly after I had taken my
* Elizabeth's Instructions to Randolph, 4th October, 156'4. Keith, p. 257.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 13th July, 1564.
1564. MARY. 295
leave, you yourself, at ier majesty's commandment,
did send after me by post her letters to the queen's
majesty, my mistress, very affectionate in their favour,
willing me to present the same with recommendation
from the queen." He next remarked, that the sole
cause which had moved him to exert his influence for
Lennox, was the request of the English queen, which
he believes also to have been his chief recommendation
to Mary. "And now," said he, " having once, under
her great seal, permitted him liberally to come, it will
be a hard matter to persuade her majesty to revoke it;
and I dare little presume to enter into any such com-
munication with her majesty, knowing how much she
doth respect her honour where promise is once passed,
and how unwilling she is to change her deliberations
being once resolved ; which," he adds, " as she will
not do herself, so doth she altogether mislike in all
others."
He then alluded to Knox's apprehensions regarding
the effects which Lennox's return might produce upon
the state of the reformed religion. " The religion here,"
he observed, " doth not depend upon my Lord of Len-
nox's coming, neither do those of .the religion hang
upon the sleeves of any one or two that may mislike
his coming. For us, whether he come or not come, I
take to be no great matter, up or down. Marry, that
the stay should grow upon the queen's majesty's side
here, it should somewhat touch her majesty in honour,
having once permitted his license so freely ; unless she
might shadow the change of her mind by the queen,
her good sister's request, and forbid it for her pleasure,
which I perceive is not your sovereign's meaning ; who
wishes* she would take the matter upon herself, which
* In the original, " who would."
296 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564.
she thinketh too hard."* Moray, in a letter of the
same date as the above, which he addressed to Cecil,
expressed himself in terms more brief, but still more
emphatic. " As to the faction,"" says he, " that his
coming might make for the matters of religion, thanks
to God, our foundation is not so weak that we have
cause to fear if he had the greatest subject of this realm
joined to him, seeing we have the favour of our prince,
and liberty of our conscience in such abundance as our
hearts can wish. It will neither be he nor I, praised
be God, can hinder or alter religion hereaway ; and his
coming or remaining in that cause will be to small
purpose." ( The English queen had addressed to Mary
a letter at the same time, and to the same effect ; but
she replied with so much spirit, and used so little care
to conceal her opinion of such inconsistent conduct,
that Elizabeth was deeply offended. J
Thus foiled in this secret intrigue against Lennox,
Elizabeth withdrew her opposition. She had been
careful to have all evidence of it destroyed ; and, to
the world, therefore, everything appeared open, and
consistent. The earl received her license to leave
England, and on the twenty-third of September, he
arrived in Edinburgh, bringing with him a strong
letter of recommendation from the English queen, ||
which Mary, who knew her real sentiments, must have
read with no very favourable opinion of her sincerity.
This princess was then absent, on a northern progress,
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 13th July, 1564.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Earl of Moray to Cecil, 13th July,
1564.
J Melvil's Memoirs, p. 116. Bannatyne edit.
Lethington says to Cecil, " I have used the best means I could to recover
the queen's letter, that I might have returned it again to her highness, hut
I was answered, that the letter was burnt at her own request. * * J have,
according to your desire, returned unto you your own letter."
|| Keith, p. 254.
1564. MARY. 297
but she returned before the end of the month; and
Lennox, having been invited by his royal mistress to
present himself at court, obeyed her injunction with
much state and ceremony. He rode to the palace of
Holyrood, having twelve gentlemen before him, splen-
didly mounted and clothed in black velvet ; behind
him came a troop of thirty attendants bearing his
arms and livery: having dismounted, the queen in-
stantly sent for him, and their interview, which took
place in the presence of the nobility, was flattering and
cordial. * Mary immediately communicated these
particulars to Elizabeth, informing her, that from her
anxiety to show deference to her request, she had not
only already given the earl some proof of her goodwill,
but meant also to " proceed further to his full resti-
tution, whereby he should be able to enjoy the privi-
leges of a subject, the liberty of his native country, and
his old titles ."[ Soon after, the restored lord invited
Randolph to dinner ; and the ambassador wrote to Cecil
an account of the entertainment, which proves, that
the Scottish queen had been as good as her word. " I
dined with my Lord of Lennox," said he, " being by
him required in the morning. I found nothing less
for the beautifying and furniture of his lodging than
your honour hath heard by report ; the house well
hanged, two chambers, very well furnished, one special
rich and fair bed, where his lordship lieth himself, and
a passage made through the wall to come the next way
into court when he will. I see him honourably used
of all men, and that the queen's self hath good liking
of his behaviour. There dined with him the Earl of
* Diurnal of Occurrents in Scotland, p. 77.
f Keith, p. 255, Mary to Elizabeth. Keith printed from a contemporary
copy, -which leaves the day of the month blank. The original is in the State-
paper Office, dated 28th September, 1564.
298 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564
Athole, in whom he reposes singular trust, and they
are seldom asunder, saving when the Earl of Lennox
is at the sermon. [Athole was a Roman Catholic.]
There was also his brother, the Bishop of Caithness a
Protestant, who sometimes preacheth. His lordship's
cheer is great and his household many, though he hath
despatched divers of his train away. He findeth occa-
sion to disburse money very fast, and of his d(?700
brought with him, I am sure that much is not left.
If he tarry long, Lennox may, perchance, be to him a
dear purchase. He gave the queen a marvellous fair
and rich Jewell, whereof there is made no small account ;
a clock, and a dial curiously wrought and set with
stones ; and a looking-glass, very richly set with stones,
in the four metals : to my Lord of Lethington, a very
fair diamond in a ring : to my Lord Athole, another,
as also somewhat to his wife I know not what : to
divers others somewhat, but to iny Lord of Moray
nothing. He presented, also, each of the Marys with
such pretty things as he thought fittest for them ; such
good means he hath to win their hearts, and to make
his way to farther effect. The bruit is here, that my
lady herself, and my Lord Darnley are coming after,
insomuch that some have asked me, if she were upon
the way. This I find, that there is here marvellous
good liking of the young lord, and many that desire to
have him here."*
Whilst Lennox found himself thus happily restored
after so long a banishment, and when Mary enjoyed
the satisfaction of extending to him her favour and
forgiveness, Elizabeth^ mind was torn with doubt and
reduced to a state of the greatest perplexity. We learn
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 24th October, 1564.
A long, minute, and most interesting letter, of which Keith, p. 259, had only
teen a brief abstract in the Cotton Collection.
1564. MARY. 299
this from tLs following remarkable letter written in
her own hand to Cecil. This minister, her director in
every difficulty, was then confined to his chamber by
sickness, and the queen, snatching a sheet of paper,
wrote to him these few lines in Latin : " In ejusmodi
laberintho posita sum de response meo reddendo R.
[reginse] Scotise, ut nescio quomodo illi satisfaciam,
quum neque toto isto tempore illi ullum responsum
dederim, nee quid mihi dicendum nunc sciam. Invenias
igitur aliquid boni quod in mandatis scriptis Randoll
dare possem, et in hac causa tuam opinionem mihi in-
dica."* This secret confession of the English queen
is of much value in determining the truth. There is,
we see, no accusation of the policy of Mary, or her
ministers Moray and Lethington. Their open deal-
ing upon the two great points of the marriage and the
succession is virtually admitted. She complains, that
it had at last reduced her to a dilemma in which she
knew not what to do or what to say, and throws upon
Cecil the burden of finding, or inventing, some plausible
apology which she may transmit by Randolph, then
about to leave the English court for Scotland.
In the meantime the Scottish queen despatched Sir
James Melvil, whom she had lately recalled from
France, on a mission to Elizabeth. Melvil was an
accomplished gentleman, who had been educated in the
household of the Constable Montmorency; he was
personally acquainted with most of the leading men in
* " I am involved in such a labyrinth, regarding the reply to the letter of
the Queen of Scots, that I know not how I can satisfy her, having (iblayed
all this time sending her any answer, and now really being at a total loss
what I must say. Find me out some good excuse, which I may plead in
the despatches to be given to Randolph, and let me know your opinion in
this matter." MS. State-paper Office, entirely in the queen's hand- writing,
and thus backed by Cecil, " 23d September, 1564. At St James's, the Queen
writing to me, being sick."
300 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564.
France and Germany ; and being a Protestant, Mary
believed he would be acceptable to her sister, and might
do much to remove any unpleasant feelings which the
late embarrassment regarding Lennox had occasioned
between them. He was instructed to insinuate himself
as much as possible into the confidence of the English
queen ; to mingle merry discourses with business, and
gain her familiar ear ; to discover, if possible, her real
intention and wishes on the subject of the marriage,
and to keep a strict and jealous eye upon any measures
which might be contemplated, regarding Mary's right
of succession to the English crown.* On both points,
he conducted the negotiation with success, and the ac-
count of it which he has left in his memoirs, presents
us with the best portrait of Elizabeth, " as a woman,"
that has ever been given. The English queen was
much pleased with his lively and elegant manners, with
his fund of court anecdotes, and the tone of gallantry
and devotion with which he addressed her. She fre-
quently sent for him three times a-day, questioned him
upon the beauty of his royal mistress as compared with
her own, insisted on knowing which of them he found
fairest, which the best shaped, and whether he liked
her most when habited in the English, French, or
Italian costume. On one occasion, taking him into
her bed-chamber, and opening an escritoire, she showed
him some small miniatures, wrapped up in a paper,
upon which the queen had written their names in her
own hand. Taking one from among these, she kissed
it and held it to Melvil : it was the picture of his
royal mistress ; and the gallant envoy snatching Eliza-
beth"^ hand, who was not displeased with the familiarity,
kissed it "for the love he saw she bore his queen."
* Melvil's Memoirs, Bannatyne edit. p. 112-114, icclusive.
1564. MARY. 301
His eye then caught another on which was w r ritten
" My Lord's Picture ;" Elizabeth would have put it
aside ; it had been a present from her favourite Leices-
ter ; but Melvil earnestly begged a sight : she put it
into his hand, and he then playfully said, he would
carry it to his own queen in Scotland. " Nay, I have
but that one," said she, "True," he replied, "but your
majesty possesses the principal," glancing his eye to-
wards the earl, who stood talking to Secretary Cecil at
the farther end of the chamber.* During Melvil's stay
at the English court, the Lord Robert Dudley, whom
Elizabeth had proposed as a husband for Mary, was
created Earl of Leicester with great solemnity ; and at
the inauguration, Lord Darnley, Lennox's eldest son,
bore the sword, as nearest prince of the blood. The
ceremony took place at Westminster, " herself," says
Melvil, " helping to put on his ceremonial, he sitting
on his knees before her, keeping a great gravity and
discreet behaviour, but she could not refrain from
putting her hand in his neck to kittle [tickle] him,
smilingly the French ambassador and I standing be-
side her. Then," he continues, " she asked me how
I liked him. I said, as he was a worthy subject, he
was happy in having encountered a princess that could
discern and reward good service. ' Yet,' she said,
' ye like better yonder long lad,' pointing to Lord
Darnley. My answer again was, that no woman of
spirit would make choice of such a man, who was more
like a woman than a man; for he was very lusty,
beardless, and lady-faced." In this last sarcasm on
Darnley's feminine appearance, the ambassador had an
end in view. Mary had given him a secret commis-
sion to deal with Lady Lennox, that her son should
* Melvil's Memoirs, Baunatyne edit., p. 122.
302 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564.
pass into Scotland to see the country and visit his
father, and he was anxious that Elizabeth should have
no suspicion of any such overture on the part of the
Scottish queen.* During the nine days that he re-
mained at the English court, Melvil continued to be
treated with much confidence and familiarity. Eliza-
beth assured him that the subject of Mary's right to
the succession of the crown of England, should be
treated of in an approaching meeting of commissioners
from both countries, and declared her anxiety to declare
her the second person in the realm, provided she lis-
tened to her advice on the subject of her marriage.
She added, " that it was her own resolution at this
moment to remain till her death a virgin queen, and
that nothing would compel her to change her mind,
except the undutiful behaviour of the queen her sister ."
Melvil smiled incredulously, and shook his head, ob-
serving, "that he knew she would never marry, because
let Mary do what she would, the Queen of England
had ' too stately a stomach 1 to suffer a commander ;"
adding, " you think if you were married, you would
be only Queen of England, and now ye are king and
queen both."-f- She earnestly wished she could see
Mary. " Why should not your highness," said the
ambassador, " disguise yourself as a page, and let me
carry you secretly into Scotland ; it would occupy but
a few days, and for the time, it might be given out in
the palace that you were sick and kept your chamber." 1 '
" Alas," said the queen, much pleased with the ro-
mantic proposal, "would that it could be done." When,
some time after this, he begged to have his answer, that
he might return home, she upbraided him with being
sooner tired of her company than she was of his, and
* Melvirs Memoirs, Bannatyne edit., p. 120, f Ibid. p. 122.
1564. MARY. 303
laid a little plot, by which he might be witness to her
musical skill, and yet save her vanity from the appear-
ance of a studied exhibition. Lord Hunsdon, after
dinner, drew him aside to a quiet gallery, where he
might hear some music, laying his finger on his mouth,
and whispering that Elizabeth was playing on the
virginals. The corridor was separated from the royal
chamber only by a curtain, behind which Melvil listened
for a while, then drawing it softly aside, and perceiving
that her majesty's back was towards him, he slipt into
the chamber, and heard her execute a piece admirably
well. The queen, however, suddenly turned round,
and running forward, as if ashamed, threatened to strike
him with her left hand. "She was not used," she said.
" to play before men," and asked him, " how he came
there." The ambassador did not find it difficult to
appease the royal anger. " He was walking in the
gallery," he said, " with Lord Hunsdon, when his ear
was ravished with her melody, which drew him into the
chamber he could scarcely tell how ; he implored her
pardon, but he had been brought up in a foreign court,
where the manners were less grave than in England,
and was ready to bear any punishment her highness
chose to inflict." Elizabeth was much pleased, she sat
down on a cushion, and when Melvil knelt beside her.
asked him, whether she or Mary played best. He gave
her the delight of hearing, that in music she excelled
Mary, and she declared she would not let him away
till he had seen her dance.*
On his return to Scotland the ambassador informed
his mistress of Elizabeth's strong protestations of
friendship and attachment, but being pressed by the
Scottish queen to give his opinion of her sincerity,
* Melvil's Memoirs, p. 125.
.HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564.
declared his conviction that she had little upright
meaning ; on the contrary, he had detected, he said,
much dissimulation and jealousy: she had already
hindered her marriage with the Archduke Charles, and
she now offered Leicester, who was the last man she
would part with.* In the meantime Randolph, who
for a considerable period had been resident at the Eng-
lish court, was despatched into Scotland with instruc-
tions to renew the proposals regarding Leicester ; but
his promises were so vague, and his answers, when
pressed by Moray and Lethington, so obscure, evasive.
and dilatory, that these ministers could arrive at no
definite conclusion,-]- and dreaded to commit themselves.
A secret meeting was held between them and the Earl
o
of Bedford at Berwick, but it led to no more satisfac-
tory result. J Repeated conferences then took place
with Randolph. This crafty and discerning envoy
assured Cecil and his royal mistress, that although
Mary was worn out with delays, pressed by foreign
suitors, and agitated by idle and malicious rumours
arising from her remaining unmarried, still she con-
tinued to be animated by the same friendly feelings
towards Elizabeth, she spoke of her with affection and
respect, and seemed inclined to think her sincere
regarding the marriage with Dudley. Her ministers
assured him, that if his royal mistress would perform
their sole and simple request if she would procure it
to be declared by act of parliament, that Mary was next
to herself in succession to the English crown, they
would undertake to overthrow all foreign practices for
* Melvil's Memoirs, p. 129.
f MS. Instructions, State-paper Office, Draft by Cecil, 7th October, 1564.
Also, MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Letbington to Cecil, 4th Nov., 1564.
J MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 12th Nov., 1564.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 2d December, 1564, Randolph to Cecil.
1564. MARY. 305
her marriage, and accomplish the union with Leicester.*
That nobleman had in the meantime written such
humble and flattering letters to Mary that she was
much prepossessed in his favour ; she showed herself
averse to the foreign offers made to her through her
uncle the cardinal, and, judging impartially from the
whole tenor of the negotiations, there seems little doubt
that the Scottish queen, upon the conditions mention-
ed, would have agreed to marry Leicester.
On the fourteenth December Randolph again wrote
to Cecil ; he referred to the letter lately addressed to
this minister by Maitland and Moray, and he then
observed, " The stay now standeth either in the
queen's majesty to have all this performed, or in his
Lordship's self, [Leicester,] that hath the matter so
well framed to his hand, that much more, I believe,
there need not be than his own consent, with that which
may be for the queen's majesty's honour to do for him.
It abideth now no longer deliberation. You have the
offer, you have the choice. * * * It is now looked
for, that to the letter written to your honour there
come a full and resolute answer." He proceeds to
enumerate the causes which move them thus earnestly
to solicit an end. " Age," says he, " time, necessity
of her state, compel her to marry; her people, her
friends, press her thereunto. The offers made are such,
as not without good cause they can be refused, though
some inconveniences may arise sooner, in matching
with one than with another; practices there are divers
in hand." Alluding to the two great suitors, Leicester
and Darnley, of whose intended journey into Scotland
many whispers now ran in the country, he observes.
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 3d December, 1564, Moray and Leth-
ington to Cecil. Also, Ibid. 24th December. 1564. Moray and Lethington
to Cecil.
VOL. VI. U
306 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564-
" That which in this case is not a little to be consi-
dered, is, that I have inquired of themselves, and find
it true by others, that there is no man for whom,
hitherto, any suit hath been made to match with this
queen, that shall be more grateful or more acceptable
to the people, than shall be my Lord Robert. There
hath been more thought of my Lord Darnley before
his father's coming, than is at this present. * * *
The father is now here well known ; the mother more
feared a great deal than beloved of any that knoweth
her. To any other than yourself, if I should write in
this sort, my wit would greatly fail me.*" * * * These
urgent requests of Randolph produced little effect.
Cecil, completely under the control of his mistress,
did not venture to move a step without her warrant,
and as he found it impossible to induce her to make
any special offer, or to consent to the demands of Mary's
ministers, he was compelled to involve his answers in
passages of such interminable length and obscure mean-
ing, that to use Randolph's phrase, " Lethington and
Moray were worked up to great agonies and passions."')'
Nor was it wonderful it should be so. They had en-
gaged in a perilous negotiation, on their sole responsi-
bility ; the queen their mistress, had intrusted them,
indeed, with a general commission, but they had gone
far beyond their instructions, and had expressed them-
selves in such terms as, if once discovered, must have
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 14th December,
1564. He adds this sentence, which mentions a fact I have not elsewhere
seen noticed, the influence which Lady Lennox had over the mind of Mary
queen of England. " To think that Lord Darnley should marry this queen,
and his mother to bear that stroke [have that influence] with her, that she
bore with Queen Mary, (which she is like to do, as you can conjecture the
causes why,) would alienate as many minds from the queen's majesty, my
sovereign, by sending home as great a plague into this country as that which,
to her majesty's great honour and perpetual love of the faithful and godly,
she drove out of the same wien the French were forced to retire themselves."
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 9th January, 1564-5, Randobh to Cecil.
1564. MARY. 307
brought them into immediate suspicion. In writing
to Cecil they allude to his situation, as contrasted with
their own, in the following remarkable passages : "We
immediately resolved to answer you without any drift
of time, being more easy for us, for one respect, so to
do, than it was for you to answer our former letter ;
forasmuch as we have none with whom we either dare
or will communicate anything passed between us, and
you were compelled to make your sovereign privy to
our letter, before you might answer it. Truth it is,
that in another point you have more advantage, in that
you have a sufficient warrant for what you write, and
so work surely, writing nothing but that your mistress
both knoweth and doth allow ; and we, without any
commandment or warrant, write such things as, being
brought to light, were sufficient matter to overthrow
our credit at our sovereign's hand, and put all we have
in danger. Although our conscience doth not accuse
us that we intend any prejudice to her majesty, yet in
princes' affairs, matters be as they list to take them ;
and it will not be allowed for a good reason, when they
call their ministers to account, to say we meant well."
" In your letter," they observe, " you have well pro-
vided that we shall find no lack for shortness thereof ;
yet, to speak squarely our opinion, we think you could
in fewer lines have comprehended matter more to our
contentation ; and better for furtherance of the purpose
intended, if you had a sufficient warrant, and there-
withal a mind to fall roundly to work with us. * * *
When we came to those words that seeing us mean to
fall roundly to work, you will go also roundly to work
with us, and proceed plainly we looked for a plain re-
solution ; but, having read over that which followed,
you must bear with us if we find ourselves nothing
308 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564.
satisfied : * * * for in that same plain speech, there be
many obscure words and dark sentences, and, (pardon
us that we say so,) in a manner, as many words as
there be, as many ambiguities do result thereof."*
In the midst of these protracted negotiations, a par-
liament was held at Edinburgh, in which Mary fulfilled
her promise to the Earl of Lennox. His forfeiture
was reversed, his estates and honours restored, whilst
the queen, to give the greater solemnity to this act of
favour, came herself to the House, and in a short ad-
dress informed the Estates, that one of the chief causes
which moved her to replace this baron in his former
power and station, was the earnest suit of the queen,
her good sister of England.-)- At the same time the
act against the mass was confirmed in all its severity.
To be present at its celebration was made punishable
by the loss of lands, goods, and even life, if the prince
should think fit ; nor were any exempted from the full
penalties of the statute, except the queen and her
household. This confirmation of a severe and unjust
law might, at least, have convinced the more rigid Pro-
testants that Mary remained true to the promise she
had made on her first arrival ; whilst her continued
favour to Moray, and the parliamentary sanction given
to the late grant of his new earldom, manifested the
sincerity of her dealing towards him to whom she com-
mitted the chief management of her affairs.
Shortly after this, the great affair of the marriage
with Leicester seemed, from what cause is not easily
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Moray and Lethington to Cecil, 24th
December, 1564.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 15th December,
1564. His restoration was proclaimed with great solemnity by five heralds,
at the cross, which was hung with tapestry, and surrounded by the Lords
sitting on horseback. Stevenson's Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary,
p. 111.
1561-5. MARY. 309
discoverable, to assume a more decided form. Leth-
ington thanked Cecil for a friendly and gentle letter,
and rejoiced in the hopes it led him to entertain of the
ultimate successof that goodworkwhich he had begun.*
Mary also, who had retired for some time to St An-
drew's, to throw off the cares of state and the restraints
and formalities of her court, received Eandolph with
expressions of unfeigned friendship and openness, de-
claring her determination, if Elizabeth agreed to the
dffer made by her ministers, to abide by her wishes,
and to be guided by her instructions in all things. At
first, indeed, she playfully refused to listen to any
introduction of grave and weighty matters : it was, she
said, her holiday time; she had thrown aside her pomp,
and lived with a small train in a merchant's house at
St Andrew's, intent on nothing but to be quiet and
happy. Randolph, however, was not to be thus put
aside. He dined and supped with her every day, and
at last ventured to speak of business. " I had no sooner
spoken the word," says he, " but the queen said, ' I
see now well that you are weary of this company and
treatment. I sent for you to be merry, and to see
how like a bourgeois wife I live, with my little troop,
and you will interrupt our pastimes with your great
and grave matters. I pray you, sir, if you be weary
here, return home to Edinburgh, and keep your gravity
and great embassade until the queen cometh thither,
for I assure you, you shall not get her here ; nor I
know not myself where she is become. You see neither
cloth of estate, nor such appearance, that you should
think I am she at St Andrew's that I was at Edin-
burgh.' C I said,' (continues Randolph,) 'that I was
very sorry, for that at Edinburgh she said that she
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 1st Feb. 1564-5.
310 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564-5.
did love my mistress the queen's majesty better than
any other, and now I marvelled how her mind was
altered."' Mary upon this became merry, and "called
him by more names than were given him in his Christen-
dom." * * * "Well, sir, "said she, "that which
then I spoke in words shall be confirmed to my good
sister your mistress in writing. Before you go out of
this town you shall have a letter for her: and for your-
self go where you will, I care no more for you."* The
next day he was commanded to be at the queen's table,
and placed the next person (saving worthy Beaton) to
Mary herself. After dinner she rode abroad, and it
pleased her, most part of the time, to talk with him.
As the queen's conversation at this ride was important,
it is perhaps best to give it in her own words, as they
were instantly afterwards reported to Elizabeth by Ran-
dolph himself. " She had occasion," says the ambassador,
" to speak much of France, for the honour she received
there to be the wife unto a great king, and for the
friendship showed unto her in particular by many, for
which occasions she was bound to love the nation, to
show them pleasure, and do them good. Her acquain-
tance," she said, "was not so forgotten there, nor her
friendship so little esteemed, but yet it was divers ways
sought to be continued. She hath of her people many
well affected that way, for the nurture they have had
there, and the commodity of service, as those of the
guard and men-at-arms ; besides, great privileges for
the merchants, more than ever were granted to any
nation. What privately hath been sought (she con-
tinued, turning the discourse to her marriage) for a
long time, and yet is sought, [namely,] that I should
* Randolph to Elizabeth, 5th Feb. 1564-5. Printed by Chalmers, Life
of Mary, vol. i. p. 190, 8vo edition.
1564-5. MARY. 311
yield myself unto their desires in my marriage, your
mistress cannot be ignorant of it, and you have heard.
To leave such friends, and to lose such offers, without
assurance of as good, nobody will give me advice that
loveth me. Not to marry, you know, it cannot be for
me. To defer it long, many incommodities ensue;
how privy to my mind your mistress hath been herein,
you know. How willing I am to follow her advice
I have shown many times, and yet I can find in her
no resolution or determination. For nothing I cannot
be bound unto her ; * and I have of late given assurance
to my brother of Moray, and Lethington, that I am
loath to frame my will against hers, and so do now
show unto yourself, which I wish you to bear in mind,
and to let it be known unto my sister, your mistress.
And, therefore, this I say, and trust me, I mean it :
if your mistress will (as she hath said) use me as her
natural born sister or daughter, I will take [consider]
myself either the one or the other, as she please, and
will show no less readiness to obey her, and honour her,
than my mother or eldest sister; but if she will repute
me always as her neighbour the Queen of Scots, how
willing soever I be to live in amity, and to maintain
peace, yet must she not look for that at my hands,
that otherwise I would, or she desireth.-f- To forsake
friendship offered, and present commodity [advantage]
for uncertainty, no friend will advise me ; nor if I did,
would your mistress 1 self approve my wisdom. Let
her, therefore, measure my case as her own, and so will
I be hers. For these causes, until my sister and I
have further proceeded, I must apply my mind to the
* She means, " I cannot be required to bind myself to Elizabeth, and get
nothing in return. "
f That is to say, " thv she desires, and in other circumstances 1 would
willingly give."
312 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564-5.
advice of those that seem to tender most my profit, that
show their care over me, and wish me most good. 1 '
" I have disclosed to you," said she, " all my mind,
and require you to let it be known to your sovereign.
My meaning unto her is plain, and so shall my dealing
be. I know how well she is worthy, and so do esteem
her ; and, therefore, I will say thus much more that
as there is none nearer of kin unto her than I am, nor
none more worthy to whom I may submit myself, so
is there none to whom with better will I desire to be
beholden unto than unto her, er to do anything that
may be with my honour."
In the midst of this discourse Mary stopt suddenly,
protesting " that she had been drawn on to talk on a
subject upon which she had hitherto kept to him a
profound silence." Randolph admitted it to be so, but
said he knew her mind from her ministers. " I charged
them," rejoined the queen, "to consider what was best
for me, and I find them bent towards you, and yet I
believe they will advise the best ; but your mistress
may use me [so] that I will leave their advices, and
follow hers alone." The ambassador earnestly trusted
it might be so. " Remember, then, what I have said."
continued the Scottish queen : " this mind cometh
not upon the sudden ; it is more than a day or two
that I have had this thought, and more than this
too, that you shall not know." " I desired her grace
(proceeds Randolph) not to cut off her talk there, it
was so good, so wise, so well framed, and so comfortable
unto me, as nothing could be more, to hear that mind
in her towards your majesty."
" I am a fool," said Mary, " thus long to talk with
you ; you are too subtle for me to deal with." Ran-
dolph protested upon his honesty, that his meaning
1564-5. MARY. 313
was only to nourish a perpetual amity between his
mistress and her, and that this could only be done by
honest means. " How much better were it," said she,
" that we two, being queens, so near of kin, neighbours,
and living in one isle, should be friends, and live to-
gether, like sisters, than by strange means divide our-
selves to the hurt of us both. And to say that we
may, for all that, live friends,* we may say, and pro-
mise what we will, but it will pass both our powers.
You repute us [Scots] poor, but yet you find us cum-
bersome enough. We have had loss ye have taken
skaith.*f* Why may it not be so between my sister
and me, that we, living in peace and assured friendship,
may give our minds, that some as notable things may
be wrought by us women, as by our predecessors have
been before. Let us seek this honour against some
other [rather] than fall at debate among ourselves."
" I asked her grace here," says Randolph, " whether
she would be content one day, whenever it were, to give
her assistance for the recovery of Calais ?" At this
question Mary laughed, and said, " many things must
pass between my good sister and me before I can give
you answer ; but I believe to see the day that all our
quarrels shall be one ; and assure you, if we be not, the
fault shall not be in me." Randolph, encouraged by
her frankness, pressed her to say " how she liked the
suit of my Lord Robert earl of Leicester, that he might
write her opinion of him to Elizabeth." " My mind,
towards him," replied Mary, " is such as it ought to
be of a very noble gentleman, as I hear say by many ;
and such a one as the queen your mistress my good
sister does so well like to be her husband, if he were not
* That is to say, " that nothing hinders us to live in friendship, continuing
as we are now is vain. We may promise what we will, but we cannot per-
form it. " f Hurt.
314 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564-5.
her subject, ought not to raislike me to be mine. Marry !
what I shall do, lieth in your mistress' will, who shall
wholly guide me and rule me."*
Ten days after this letter was written, Henry lord
Darnley, having obtained the permission of Elizabeth,
and with strong letters in his favour from Leicester and
Sir William Cecil, repaired to Scotland. His avowed
errand was to visit his father, and assist him in some
private affairs which required the personal presence of
the heir of his house; ( but there is no doubt that other
and deeper schemes hung upon this journey. The
Countess of Lennox his mother, an ambitious and
intriguing woman, looked forward to his ingratiating
himself with Mary ; and Elizabeth, who dreaded lest
her simulated offer of Leicester should involve her in
difficulties, and compel her to part with her favourite,
was nowise averse to make the Scottish queen acquainted
with this young prince, who, next to herself, was the
nearest heir to the English throne. He was received
with much distinction by the Earl of Bedford, and
having passed a night at Ledington, the seat of Secre-
tary Maitland, arrived at Edinburgh, twelfth February,
1564-5. { Having learnt that the queen was absent
in Fife, he passed over the Firth, and was introduced
to Mary at the castle of the Wemyss, where, during a
short progress, she then resided. His reception was
flattering; and his manners and address created a pre-
possession in his favour, not only amongst the Scottish
courtiers, but in the more severe and sarcastic mind of
Randolph the English ambassador. As he was aware
that his sudden appearance in Scotland must draw the
* Chalmer's Life of Mary, vol. i. p. 190, from the original in the State-
paper Office, Randolph to Elizabeth, 5th Feb. 1564-5.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lennox to Cecil, 10th March, 1564-5.
J MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 12th Feb. 1564-5.
1564-5. MARY. 315
eyes of many upon him, it was his object to conciliate
all parties. It was suspected that both his father and
himself were Papists ; but the young lord put himself
under the guidance of Moray, and went to hear Knox
preach. After the sermon they returned to the palace ;
he was introduced to the beauties of the court, and in
the evening, at the suggestion of Moray, Darnley danced
a galliard with the queen.*
But although whispers began to circulate regarding
the motives which had brought him to Scotland, there
can be no doubt that Mary and her ministers were still
intent upon the matrimonial negotiation with England.
At this moment she treated with great coldness the
overtures of her uncle the Cardinal of Lorraine, who
proposed to procure a papal dispensation for her mar-
riage with the King of France.-f- It was even surmised
that she was becoming more open to conviction on the
subject of religion ; and Randolph playfully accused
her of beginning to savour of the Huguenots, request-
ing her to take counsel of his sovereign. " This must
be," said Mary, " when I come to England ;" alluding
to their long-intended interview. The ambassador
asked when that would be. " Whenever your mistress
wishes it," was the answer ; " and as to marriage, my
husband must be such a one as she will give me." He
alluded to Leicester. " Of that matter," she replied,
" I will say no more till I see greater likelihood ; but
no creature living shall make me break more of my will
than my good sister, if she will use me as a sister; if
not, I must do as I may."J
* " His courteous dealing with all men deserved great praise, and is well
spoken of. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Leicester, 19th Feb.
1564-5. Also, MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 27th Feb.
1564-5.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 4th March, 1564-5.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 4th March, 1564-5.
316 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564-5.
Whilst Mary was thus open and candid with the
English ambassador, Moray,in still more urgent terms,
implored him to bring matters to a conclusion, and
persuade his royal mistress to acknowledge Mary's title,
and expedite the marriage with Leicester. If this took
place, he was content, he said, to lose (as he must do)
much of his power and honour, for the satisfaction of
having discharged his duty; but if he failed in this, it
was almost certain ruin. The queen would dislike
and suspect him, because he had deceived her with
promises which he could not realize ; he was the coun-
sellor and deviser of that line of policy which, for the
last five years, had been pursued towards England ; he
it was that had induced her to defer to Elizabeth, to
desert her ancient friends, to renounce every foreign
offer. "If," said he, " she marry any other than
Leicester, what mind will the new king bear me, that
knoweth I have so strongly opposed his advancement.
If he be a Papist, either we must obey, or fall into
new misery and difficulty, whilst I shall be regarded
as the ringleader of the discontented. But what need
to say more of this, you have often heard me say as
much before ; and yet we see nothing but drift of time,
delays from day to day, to do all for nothing and to
get nothing for all."* In the same spirit, Lethington
besought Cecil to act with more stoutness and courage,
and bring the matter to a conclusion. Elizabeth had
described the Scottish ministers as transforming the
negotiation too much into a matter of bargain ; " they
looked," she said, " for her death, and hunted after a
kingdom;" whilst she jocularly told Melvil, that Mait-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 4th March, 1564-5.
This conversation with Randolph took place at a dinner at the Earl of
Moray's, where none were present but the countess his wife, and Pitarrow
the comptroller.
1564-5. MARY. 317
land, in his constant allusions to the succession, was,
like a death-watch, ever ringing her knell in her ears.
The secretaryably repelled this unworthy notion. " In
good faith," said he, "that is not my mistress' meaning.
Rather doth she seek, and we also, a probable reason
to lay against the objections which shall be made in
foreign nations contrary to this match ; that they may
see it is no vain or light conceit hath moved her to
yield to the Queen of England's request in her marriage.
* * The matter itself hath not so many difficulties,
but you may soon remove them all if you list. " * In
a later letter, he eloquently alludes to the honour which
would redound to Cecil and himself, if their measures
to promote the union of the two kingdoms by this mar-
riage were at last successful. Such a stroke of policy,
he remarked, would secure for them a more glorious
memory, a more unfading gratitude in the ages to come,
than belonged to those " who did most valiantly serve
King Edward the First in his conquest, or King Robert
the Bruce in his recovery of the country. "(
These fond anticipations of present felicity and post-
humous honour were not destined to be realized. It
became at last necessary for Elizabeth to come to a
decision ; and Randolph was instructed to impart to
the Scottish queen her final resolution. It amounted
to a peremptory and mortifying denial of every pro-
posal of her ministers. She refused to recognise Mary's
title, or to adopt any measures regarding her right of
succession, till she had made up her own mind whether
she would marry or not. J If Mary chose to accept
Leicester as a simple earl, and trust to the after muni-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, Christmas Day,
1564.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 1st Feb. 1564-5.
J Keith, p. 270.
318 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564-5.
ficence of the English queen, she would not have any
reason to repent her confidence; but this was the same
vague and delusive expectation so long held out, which
seemed to promise all, and actually meant nothing.
The message of Elizabeth, in short, at once put an end
to all negotiation. When Randolph communicated
her letter to the Scottish queen, it was evident to him
that she was deeply moved, and he heard afterwards
that their interview had been followed by a passionate
fit of weeping.* Lethington at once declared, that
after such a communication, no one could honestly
advise Mary to delay; and Moray, who seemed deeply
disappointed, prognosticated a speedy dissolution of all
friendship between the two queens. His knowledge
of the character of his royal mistress led him to this
conclusion. It was Mary's weakness to be hurried
away by the predominating influence of some one feeling
and object. Warm, generous, and confiding, but, at
the same time, ambitious and tenacious of her rights,
it had been her favourite and engrossing object for the
last four years, to prevail upon Elizabeth to recognise
her title to the English throne. With this view she
had given credit to her professions, borne every delay
with patience, checked the advances of foreign suitors,
treated her nearest relatives with coldness, and pro-
moted to the highest offices of wealth and power, those
of her nobles who were most attached to England.
Everything had been sacrificed to an imprudent de-
pendence upon the promises of Elizabeth. Almost to
the very last she hoped against hope, and showed an
affection which, to the piercing and suspicious eyes of
Randolph, was sincere and unequalled. (* Are we to
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 17th March, 1564-5.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 15th March, 1564-5.
1564-5. MARY. 319
wonder, that when she suddenly was awakened to the
duplicity with which she had been treated ; when,
in a moment, the mask of pretended amity and affec-
tion, so long worn by the English queen, fell to the
ground, and the features of fraud, falsehood, and sel-
fishness, came out in all their deformity, Mary recoiled
with mortification and disgust. Her confidence had
been abused ; she was the dupe of successful artifice ;
she might soon be the victim of intrigues of which she
knew not the ramifications and extent. Can we be
surprised, that, under this state of mind, the reaction
was immediate and violent. She had long submitted
her opinion to others ; she now determined to choose
for herself. The influence of her uncles and of the
court of Rome had been for years on the wane ; she
was not indisposed now to see it revived. The Pro-
testant nobility and the reformed clergy had been
treated ever since her arrival in her dominions with
high favour, and the great body of her subjects who
adhered to the ancient faith, were kept under and
neglected ; it was right now that the balance should
be held with a more equal hand between them. Moray
had been chosen by her as her chief minister and
adviser since she left France; to him she had com-
mitted almost regal powers ; she had pardoned his
rebellion, had accumulated upon him estates and hon-
ours, and placed him at the very head of her nobles ;
she had committed herself to his guidance, it was by
his advice she had shaped her policy towards England,
it was the road marked out for her by him and Leth-
ington that had led her on to mortification, insult, and
defeat. Was it possible that she could continue to those
two men the confidence with which she had formerly
regarded them ? was it unnatural that, when she dis-
320 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564-5.
covered their entire devotedness to Elizabeth, she
should begin to consider them as merely instruments
in her hands, and regard them with suspicion and
resentment ? Yet, although these feelings must at
this moment have influenced her secret resolutions, it
was the unhappiness of Mary to be surrounded by
those whom she could not trust, or to whom she dared
not give power. Had she selected as her counsellors
any of the wisest amongst the Roman Catholic clergy,
the measure would have been probably met by an
instantaneous rising of the people and the reformed
preachers ; whilst her nobility, alike Catholic and
Protestant, had successively shown themselves venal,
selfish, and treacherous. She was compelled, therefore,
to temporize and conciliate ; and when we consider the
fearful elements by which she was surrounded craft,
cruelty, fanaticism, in their worst shapes, all the
fierce and uncontrollable passions which marked a
feudal age, and much of the refined vices which her
subjects had imported in a lengthened and constant
intercourse with France and the continent, it is diffi-
cult to withold our pity from this still youthful queen,
placed without advisers in a situation of such peril and
responsibility.
It was necessary, however, to come to a determina-
tion. Mary had resolved already on a speedy marriage,
and her mind naturally turned to Darnley. His de-
scent was royal, his grandmother being the sister of
Henry the Eighth, and his mother cousin-german to
Queen Elizabeth.* At the installation of Lord Robert
Dudley as Earl of Leicester, the reader may remember
* Darnley stood in the relation of cousin to Mary though by the half-
blood only. His mother the Countess of Lennox was daughter of Archibald
Earl of Angus by the widow of James the Fourth, consequently half-sistez
of James the Fifth, Mary's father.
1564-5. MARY. 321
that Sir James Melvil saw Darnley, as first prince of
the blood, bear the sword of state before the queen.*
Hs own title to the throne of England was second
only to that of the Queen of Scotland ; he bore the
royal name, and by a marriage with him, she believed
that she would secure to their children an undoubted
and unchallengeable title to the English crown. He
was now in his nineteenth year ; his conduct since his
arrival in Scotland, if we may believe Randolph, (a
witness whose feelings against him gives weight to his
praise,) had been prudent and popular.*)* He had come
to the Scottish court not only with the full approba-
tion, but with the warm recommendation of Elizabeth; J
and this queen had repeatedly assured Mary, that
although she decidedly opposed her marriage to a
foreign prince, she might choose any of her English
nobility, and be certain of her approbation. When,
therefore, she selected Darnley, the Scottish queen
had reason to expect the approval of Elizabeth, and, if
we except Knox and his party, the concurrence and
support of all classes in the state. Nor, although Len-
nox and his. son were both suspected of being Papists,
could Mary augur that the English queen would be
much dissatisfied on that account. At this very mo-
ment, a negotiation was suspected to be carrying on
for a marriage between England and France. Eliza-
beth, it was reported in the Scottish court, was every
day manifesting a greater favour for the ceremonies of
the Roman Church ; she had determined to impose
upon the English clergy a particular habit, copied from
that worn by the clergy of the Church of Rome. She
* Supra, p. 301.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 27th February,
J MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Bedford to Cecil, 1 1th February, 1564-5.
VOL. VI. X
322 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1564-5.
had publicly reproved a preacher, desiring him to return
to his text or to hold his peace ; she had been seen to
wear a rosary and a crucifix; and Bonner had affirmed,
with impunity, that there was not one real bishop in
England.* All this held out encouragement to Mary: it
was soon manifest that her choice was fixed on Darnley ;
and in a dangerous and infectious illness which seized
him about this time, she attended him in person with
the utmost care, earnestness, and affection, sitting up
with him till midnight, watching his convalescence,
and showing delight at his recovery.-)- In a sister to
a favourite brother, such devotedness would have been
commendable; in a queen to her subject, and still more
in an affianced mistress to her future husband, it was
undignified and indecorous, and gave a handle to the
injurious constructions of her enemies. But it was
the misfortune of her ardent disposition that she was
always under the domination of some strong and en-
grossing feeling, which sometimes led her to disregard
appearances, and to believe she could never sacrifice
enough for the object of her approval; nor did she
think of the miserable effects of such flattery and at-
tention upon the youth who was exposed to it. To be
thus cherished by a queen and the most beautiful
woman in Europe by her, for whose hands so many
kings and princes had sued; to have love, honour, and
power, soliciting his acceptance ; to be raised from a
subject to supreme command, and to find a crown
dropping on his head, would have been trying to the
best balanced and the firmest mind : are we to wonder
that, on the weak and unstable disposition of Darnley,
it operated with fatal and almost instantaneous effect ?
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 30th March, 15fi:>.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Bedford to Cecil, 23d April, 1565.
1564-5. MARY. 323
He became proud and overbearing ; and, treating the
ancient nobility with neglect, attached himself princi-
pally to Riccio, the queen's secretary for her French
correspondence, an Italian, who, being first introduced
into the royal household as a musician, had been pro-
moted to this office in consequence of the disgrace of
Raulet, her former French secretary.* He began also
to show symptoms of a passionate and unmanageable
temper; talked with great imprudence of the strong
party he had in England ; -f- declared openly that
Moray ""s power was exorbitant and dangerous ; and
made himself in a short time so many enemies, that
it was whispered, he must soon either change his con-
duct, or lose his life. j Nor were the consequences of
this extraordinary favour shown to Lennox and his
son less injurious in other quarters. Those who knew
best the disposition of the queen began to dread that
these nobles would wrest from her the whole power in
the state, and that she would herself become nothing
but a passive instrument in effecting their purposes
of ambition and aggrandizement. The Duke, under
whose regency Lennox had been banished and forfeited,
anticipated the total ruin of his house : the party of
the Protestants, led by Knox and the preachers, cried
out "that they were undone." Moray, with the design
of strengthening his faction, but under colour of his
aversion to the Popish ceremonies, retired from court ;
and Randolph reported that the people were univer-
sally discontented, whilst he hinted, that if Elizabeth
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, March 4, 1564-5.
Ibid., same to the same, 15th January, 1564-5.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 21st May, 1565.
Also, Ibid. MS. Letter, same to same, 3d May, 1565.
$ Randolph to Cecil, 20th March, 1564-5, printed in Keith, p. 274. Also
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 3d June, 1565.
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 17th March, 1564-5.
A Iso, same to same. MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 1 8th April, 1 565. Also,
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Bedford to Cecil, 28th April, 1565.
o24 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
felt herself disposed to raise factions in Scotland, and
embroil that country, there never was a fitter time to
carry her wishes into execution.* Even this was not
all : Many brought an accusation against Elizabeth,
from which her minister found it difficult to defend
her. It was affirmed, that she had herself sent Darnley
into Scotland, with a purpose to bring about the very
events which had occurred ; that her object was to
hinder any potent foreign alliance; to match the queen
meanly, and to interrupt the friendly intercourse be-
tween the two kingdoms. *f*
In the midst of these unpleasant rumours and sur-
mises, Mary despatched Lethington to the English
court, with injunctions to communicate her resolution
regarding Darnley, and to use all his influence to
procure the approbation of the queen. He arrived at
Westminster on the eighteenth of April, and, as he
had anticipated, found Elizabeth not only hostile to the
projected alliance, but expressing herself with much
bitterness against the Scottish queen. She submitted
the proposal to her privy-council; and, after long deliber-
ations, they declared themselves unanimously opposed
to it, pronouncing the measure " prejudicial to both
the queens, and consequently dangerous to the weal of
both count ries."J What these dangers were, the coun-
cillors did not think proper to describe, nor do we learn
from any contemporary letters that Lethington exerted
his ingenuity to dissipate this alarm.
In the meantime, during his absence, some important
events were taking place in Scotland. Bothwell, the
mortal enemy of Moray, returned suddenly from
France ; but the suspicions of treason under which he
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office! Randolph to Cecil, 15th April, 1565.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 18th April, 1565.
J Iftt May, 1565. Keith, pp. 270, 274, 275.
1565. MARY. 325
lay, and the reports which had reached tne queen's
ears of his abandoned and profligate character, induced
her to treat him with the utmost severity. * The Earl
of Moray, whose life he had repeatedly threatened,
demanded justice ; and Mary summoned him to stand
his trial for high treason in conspiring with the Earl
of Arran three years before to seize the person of the
queen. These events were communicated by Randolph
to Cecil, in this graphic and interesting letter, from
which (although coloured with his own views and pre-
judices) we may understand something of the state of
parties in Scotland. He first alludes to the expected
trial of Both well. " Upon Tuesday, at night, (the first
of May,) there came to this town my Lords of Moray
and Argyle, to keep the day of law against the Earl
Both well, who appeared not, nor is it yet for certain
known what is become of him, though the common
report is, that he embarked at North Berwick. The
company that came to this town in favour of my Lord
of Moray, are esteemed five or six thousand, and for
my part, I assure your honour, I never saw a greater
assembly. More also had come, saving that they were
stayed by the queen, who hath showed herself now of
late to mislike, that my Lord of Moray so earnestly
pursueth him, [Bothwell,] and will not give his advice
to take the like advantage upon some others, whom
she beareth small affection unto.
"In this matter thus far they have proceeded: upon
Wednesday he was called, and for lack of appearance
was condemned in the sum ; farther, the queen would
not that the justice-clerk should proceed, which hath
bred so much misliking, and given occasion of such
kind of talk against her grace, for bearing with such
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Bedford to Cecil, 24th March, 1564-5.
326 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565,
men in her own cause,* that that which is already
spoken passeth all measure."
This was an unfair representation of Randolph. The
queen, instead of showing good will to Bothwell, was
strongly prejudiced against him ; and, in consequence
of his coarse and violent conduct, had recently declared
he should never receive favour at her hands. -f- As to
the accusation of a conspiracy, it may be remembered
that Arran, when he made the disclosure, thirty-first
March, 1562, J was mad; he then implicated not only
Bothwell, but his own father, and had continued insane
ever since. What evidence Moray had collected during
the lapse of nearly three years, we cannot tell; but as
this potent accuser came to attend the trial with an
army of five thousand men, Bothwell justly considered
that his life would be in danger if he appeared, and
sent his kinsman, Hepburn of Whitsum, to protest
his innocence, and to declare his readiness to answer
the charge when made quietly, without tumult or in-
timidation.
The ambassador proceeds to notice the obstinacy of
the queen, the discontent of her subjects, and the
threatenings which began to circulate, " that if good
advice was despised, remedy must be sought by sharper
means." " This," he continues, " is not the voice of
one or two ; they are not the meanest that spake it, nor
the unlikeliest to put it in execution, if that way they
go to work. I write that but shortly, which in many
words and by many men I have heard. * * * The
* In an affair where the crown was prosecutor. See the Summons of
Treason. Pitcairn, Criminal Trials, vol. i. p. 462*.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 30th March, 1564-5.
Bothwell had used coarse and scandalous epithets in speaking of the queen
herself, so Randolph affirms in this letter.
J Supra, p. 255.
Pitcairn, vol. i. p. 4G4*.
1565. MARY. 327
speech of this marriage to any of them all, as divers
ways I have attempted to know their mind, is so much
contrary to their desires that they think their nation
dishonoured, the queen shamed, and country undone.
"A greater plague to herself and them, there cannot
be a greater benefit to the queen's majesty could not
have chanced, than to see this dishonour fall upon her,
and to have her so matched, as it shall pass her power
at any time to attain unto that which hitherto so
earnestly she looked for * * *. She is now, to be
short, almost in utter contempt of her people, and so
far herself in doubt of them, that without some speedy
redress, worse is to be feared. Many grievous and
sore words have of late escaped her against the Duke.
Mortally she hateth my Lord of Argyle; and so far
suspecteth my Lord of Moray, that, not many days
since, she said, ' that she saw whereabout he went, and
that he would set the crown upon his own head.' How
these men have need to look unto themselves, your
honour doth perceive.
" To this point it is come, that my Lord of Moray
and Argyle will at no time be in the court together,
that, if need be, the one may relieve or support the other.
The Duke is content to live at home, and thinketh
himself happy if he may die in his bed. The preachers
look daily, by some means or other, to have their lives
taken from them, or to be commanded to silence, as
already she hath done one Mr Thomas Drurnmond, a
godly and learned young man, that preached at Dun-
blane.
"With my Lord of Argyle there came to this town
the Lord David, the Duke's son, with most part of the
Duke's friends. Assured bands and promises are made
between the Duke and Lord of Moray, that nothing
328 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
shall be attempted against each other, but it shall be
defended to the uttermost of their powers. The Earl of
Glencairn having been required by the Earl of Lennox
to enter into the like band, hath refused it, and joined
with the Duke. My Lord of Morton this time was
absent, but so misliked, that I have not heard any man
worse spoken of. He is now in hopes that my Lady's
Grace [the Countess of Lennox] will give over her
rights of Angus, and so [he] will become friend to that
side. In this Lethington laboureth, not much to his
own praise.. The Lord Ruthven, Lethington's chief
friend, is wholly theirs, and chief counsellor amongst
them. Suspicions do rise on every side, in which I
have my part, as of late, because I was at the west
Border, and am thought to practice with the Master
of Maxwell I know not what myself. My Lord of
Moray was willed not to have to do with me; and
when he said, ' he could not choose but speak well of
me' c Well, 1 saith she, [the queen,] ' if you will, let
not Argyle have to do with him' for all that I have
supped twice with my Lord of Moray. My Lord of
Argyle took the pains to come to my lodging: he
brought with him the Lord David. He hath been plain,
and, to be short, misliketh all * * *. The country
is now so far broken, that there is daily slaughter,
without redress, between the Scots and Elliots steal-
ing at all hands, and justice almost nowhere.
" Now, touching Mr Fowler, [the confidential servant
of Lennox,] he came, as I wrote, upon Saturday at
night, late. He communed long that night with the
queen and his lordship, and brought her grace a letter
of five or six sheets of paper, all in cipher, from the
Lord of Lethington. Thus much is known, that the
queen's majesty hath an utter misliking of the matter
1565. MARY. 329
what else is contained in the same letter, few, I believe,
will come by the knowledge. Part of it was shown
to my Lord of Moray, the rest, at his departure from
her grace, was not deciphered. Fowler hath reported
that the queen's majesty [Elizabeth] should say openly
that she had no liking of the matter, and that if it took
effect, then the Duke should be put down within one
month after, and the good Protestants driven out of
the country, which she would not suffer. These words
are now in many men's mouths, and many glad to hear
it, and believe it the better because that, he doth re-
port it.
" Through this and somewhat else that I have spoken,
many are now well satisfied of the queen's majesty that
he was not sent hither for any such purpose as now
undoubtedly shall take effect. Whatsoever may be
borne in hand, that it shall no farther than the queen's
majesty's will is, and doth assent to, I know it already
past that point. It may be said that my Lord of
Moray may be the doer and the contriver thereof, which
I know to be otherwise, for if that had been, he would
not have refused to have been present at the assurance
and contract making. I know much more than this,
but I trust this will suffice you for that part.
" What practices are in hand, or how long this
matter hath been a brewing, I know not ; but this I
know hath been said by the father, that he is sure of
the greatest part in England, and that the King of
Spain will be his friend. If this be their fetch, your
honour knoweth what time it is to look about you.
How little is to be feared from hence, and what her
power is at this time, she standing in such terms as
she doth, your honour is not ignorant of.
" It is feared that her majesty [Elizabeth] will over
330 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 156*5.
soon allow hereof, and over hastily accord unto this
queen's desire, at least, it is wished that there may-
be some open show of her majesty's discontentment.
Lethington is suspected to favour more that way (1
mean to my Lord Darnley) than he would seem ; and
yet, I assure you, he is scarcely trusted amongst them
[Lennox's party,] and of late despiteful words have been
spoken against him, upon certain words which he wrote
to my Lord Moray, that he should persuade the queen
to make no haste in the matter, but keep it in the stay
it was when he left it.
"The chief dealers in these matters, are David Riccio
the Italian, Mingo valet-de-chambre, Athole and Euth-
ven, whom I should have named first.
" Thus your honour seeth our present estate, and
how things do frame amongst us. So much pride, such
excess in vanities, so proud looks and despiteful words,
and so poor a purse I never heard of. My Lord of
Lennox is now quite without money ; he borrowed five
hundred crowns of my Lord of Lethington, and hath
scarcely enough now to pay for his horse meat ; if he
have no more from you, we shall see him presently put
to his shifts. His men are bolder and saucier, both
with the queen's self and many noblemen, than ever I
thought could have been borne : divers of them now
resort to the mass, and glory in their doings. Such
pride is noted in the father and the son, that there is
almost no society or company amongst them. My
young lord, lying sick in his bed, hath already boasted
the Duke to knock his pate when he is whole.* * *
"I write these things with more sorrow and grief
of mind than in any passion or affection to any part,
[farther] than that I am desirous that the work wherein
I have been a labourer, almost six years, with care
1565. MARY. 331
sorrow, and greater burden than I have been able to
bear, which is to maintain a perfect amity between my
native country and this, should not be overthrown and
quite destroyed, nor that the good will which my mis-
tress hath gotten through her deserts amongst this
people, should here take an end when most desired, and
most earnestly looked for. Before, she was their friend
against foreign nations ; now the danger is as great at
home. Other refuge they have none to none more
willing to obey, and of her majesty alone they desire
support : counsel is now more worth than men or
money.* *
"This day [Thursday, third May] the chief of the
Protestants that at this time are present with the
ministers assembled in the church. Consultation was
had what order might be put unto that confusion that
had grown up, wherein every man might do and say
what he would without reproof against God's glory and
his Word. Their deliberation contained three heads :
First, how to remove idolatry out of the realm, con-
taining in that as well the queen's chapel as others ;
next, that her own laws might be put in execution
without offence; the third, that liberty might be
granted, without inhibition or reproof, to such as are
admitted to preach the true Word of God. Long
reasoning hath been hereupon. It was determined that
the request should be put in writing, and certain ap-
pointed as messengers for the rest. More hereof your
honour shall know hereafter." *
In perusing this letter, we must beware of giving
implicit confidence to the representations of Randolph.
The picture it conveys of universal discontent, and the
symptoms of rising wrath and incipient rebellion which
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 3d May, 15G5.
332 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
it describes, were coloured highly to suit the purposes
of this crafty minister and to favour the views of the
English faction. The Duke, Moray, and Argyle, with
Knox, and all, or the greater portion of the Protes-
tants, were, no doubt, violently opposed to the marriage,
and had already adopted precautions, not only for their
own defence, but had begun to repeat the same game
which they had already played so successfully. They
had solicited Randolph to procure for them the support
and countenance of the English queen, and had declared
their readiness to rise in arms against their sovereign.
All this was true ; but when this minister asserted,
that the union with Darnley was odious to the whole
nation, when he represented the queen as having fallen
into universal contempt, and when he described the
lives of the Protestant preachers as being in danger,
from the measures adopted against them, he stated
what was contradicted by subsequent events, and even
disproved by his own letters. It was soon seen, that
Mary, if she had some enemies, had also many power-
ful friends. Besides Lennox and his son, now restored
to their estates and, with their lands, to great feudal
strength, she could reckon firmly on the support of the
Earls of Athole and Caithness, the Lords Hume and
Ruthven, with the Lord Robert, and all the ancient
barons and families who were still secretly attached to
the Catholic religion.* It was surmised, also, that
Lethington, whose counsel and experience were of such
value to any party which he cordially embraced, would
be unwilling to declare openly against her; and the
mind of the queen herself, far from being overwhelmed
by the difficulties which surrounded her, seemed to
gain energy by the struggle, and led her to act with a
* Keith, p. 272.
1565. MARY. 333
promptitude, spirit, and vigour, for which her oppo-
nents were not prepared.
Before, however, she proceeded to more decisive
measures, she resolved to make a last attempt to gain
Moray, and obtain his consent to her marriage with
Darnley. He was flattered and caressed, both by the
queen and the Earl of Lennox, but to little effect.
Mary then seizing a moment when he was off his guard,
and in Lord Darnley's chamber, took him aside and
placed a paper in his hands, to which she required him
to put his name. It contained an approval of her mar-
riage, and an engagement to promote it with his whole
power, and this she insisted he should consent to, as he
would show himself her faithful subject, and avoid her
displeasure. Moray firmly, but respectfully declined.
" Her resolution," he said, " was over hasty, and her
demand upon him too sudden and peremptory. What
would foreign princes think of such precipitation ? What
must be the opinion of the Queen of England, with
whom her ambassador was even then in treaty, and
whose answer she daily expected ? But most of all, 1 '
he said, " he would be loath to consent to the marriage
of any one, of whom there was so little hope that he
would be a favourer of Christ's true religion, which
was the thing most to be desired; of one who hitherto
had shown himself rather an enemy than a preserver
of the same." * Indignant and surprised at this refusal,
Mary remonstrated, entreated, and even threatened:
but all was to no purpose. To her " many sore words."
he replied with great calmness and humility, yet he con-
tinued firm in his resolution, and was dismissed from
the presence of his sovereign with a bitter accusation
of ingratitude, and expressions of her high resentment
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 8th May, 1565,
334 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
This interview occurred on the eighth of May, and
the queen summoned a convention of her nobility to
meet at Stirling: on the fifteenth of the same month.
O
Her object was, to obtain their consent to her marriage
previous to the return of Lethington with the answer
of Elizabeth, and to accomplish this, she despatched
Beaton, a gentleman in whom she had much confidence,
with new instructions, to be delivered to her secretary.
They were drawn up in terms very different from his
first commission : Mary commanded him to return to
the Queen of England, and declare unto her, that since
she had been so long trained with fair speeches, and,
in the end, beguiled of her expectation, she had now
resolved, with the advice of the Estates of her realm,
to use her own choice in her marriage, and to select
such a one as in her opinion should be most worthy of
the honour to which he was to be raised. The letter
which contained these instructions was written wholly
by herself. " It wanted," says Throckmorton, who
had seen the original, "neither eloquence, despite,
anger, love, nor passion," * and was evidently dictated
by a keen feeling of the ingratitude, duplicity, and
selfishness with which she had been treated by Eliza-
beth. He was also directed, after he had finished his
negotiation in England, to pass over to France, and
use his influence there to procure from the French king
and that court, an approval of her choice. To induce
her secretary to enter cordially into her views, Mary
at the same time wrote to him with her own hand,
" the most favourable and gentle letter that ever queen
did address to her servant." She sent him also a bill of
credit, on the receivers of her dowry in France, em-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Throckmorton to Cecil and Leicester,
llth May, 1565.
1565. MARY. 335
powering him to draw for any sum he pleased, and, in
the event of his success in this mission, promised him
the highest preferment which it was in her power to
bestow.*
Before, however, her messenger could reach London,
Lethington had left that city on his return, and Eliza-
beth had despatched Sir Nicholas Throckmorton (her
late ambassador in France) on a mission to Scotland.
He was instructed to communicate to the Scottish
queen the resolution of the English privy-council, to
notify her entire disapproval of her union with Darnley,
and to take measures to prevent its precipitate con-
summation. When on the way to the English court,
Beaton encountered Lethington, near Newark, and
communicated his message to the Scottish secretary.
Nothing can more strikingly show the treachery of
Mary's ministers, and the entire license they assumed
of disobeying, when it was convenient for them, the
commands of their sovereign, than Lethington's con-
duct on this occasion. He heard the message, received
the queen's letters, put them in his pocket, refused
alike to return to London, or to pass into France, and
posting forward with all speed, overtook Throckmorton
at Alnwick ; here he basely communicated to him the
secret instructions he had received, and breaking into
expressions of extreme rage and indignation towards
his royal mistress, regretted that the English ambas-
sador was not empowered to denounce war against her
in case she resolved to proceed in this marriage with
those whom he denominated the rebels of the English
queen. ( The two ambassadors then pursued their
journey towards Scotland in company. " He was en-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Throckmorton to Cecil and Leicester,
llth May, 1565. f Ibid.
336 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565
joined," said Throckmorton, (speaking of Lethington,
and writing to Leicester and Cecil,) " to stay me, that
I should not come into Scotland, and contrary to that,
he will not go without me/ 1 * Are we to wonder that,
when Mary's affairs were managed by such men, she
was anxious to change her counsellors, and to seek for
fidelity in another faction.
In the meantime the convention of the nobility which
had been summoned to deliberate upon the marriage,
assembled at Stirling on the fifteenth May. It was
most numerously attended, and included, with the ex-
ception of Lord Ochiltree, and a few others, the whole
of the most influential nobles in the kingdom. There
O
were present the Duke, with the Earls of Argyle,
Moray, Morton, Glencairn, Athole, Crawford, Eglin-
ton, Cassillis, Rothes, and Caithness. The Lords
Hume, Gray, Glammis, Borthwick, Yester, Fleming,
Livingston, Semple, Ross, Lindsay, Lovat, Boyd, and
Somerville. Besides these, there were the Officers of
State, including the Secretary, the Justice-clerk, the
Treasurer, and the Advocate, with the Commendators
of Holyrood, Kilwinning, Jedburgh, St ColnVs Inch,
and Balmerinoch.*!* At this solemn assembly of her
nobles, the queen announced her intention of marrying
Darnley, and the measure was approved of without a
dissentient voice. Moray and his faction, whose real
sentiments were strongly hostile to such a proceeding,
appear to have been overawed into a temporary consent,
whilst the great majority of her barons, admitted its
expediency, and advised that it should be carried into
effect. { Thus confirmed in her purpose, Mary on the
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Throckmorton to Cecil and Leicester,
IHh May, 1665.
f Keith, p. 277.
t MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, llth May, 1565.
1565. MARY. 337
same day conferred the honour of knighthood upon
Darnley, and immediately after created him Lord of
Ardmanach and Earl of Ross. He then took the
oaths, was girt with the sword, and, on rising from his
knees before the queen, himself bestowed the dignity
of knighthood upon fourteen gentlemen of ancient and
loyal families, who knelt before the throne.* In the
midst of these proceedings, word was brought that Sir
Nicholas Throckmorton ambassador of the Queen of
England, was then at the gate of the castle, and ur-
gently demanded an audience. On being admitted, he
delivered, in strong language, the remonstrance of his
royal mistress : he expressed her surprise at the unad-
vised proceedings of the Scottish queen ; and complained
lou(?]v of the presumption of Lennox and Darnley, her
own subjects, who, without giving her any previous
notice, had dared to engage in such an enterprise.
To this Mary replied with great calmness and dignity
She said, " That as soon as she had formed her reso-
lution on the subject of her marriage, she had commu-
nicated her intentions to Elizabeth, which was all that
she had ever promised to do. As to her good sister's
great dislike to the match, 11 she observed sarcastically,
" that this was indeed a marvellous circumstance, since
the selection was made in conformity to the queen's
wishes, as communicated by Mr Randolph. She had
rejected all foreign suitors, and had chosen an English-
man, descended from the blood-royal of both kingdoms,
and the first prince of the blood in England ; and one
whom she believed would, for these reasons, be accept-
able to the subjects of both realms." "f*
It was difficult for the ambassador to answer this
* Keith, pp. 276, 280, inclusive. Also, MS. Letter, State-paper Office,
Randolph to Cecil, 21st May, 1565.
f Throckmorton to Elizabeth, 21st May, 1565, printed in Keith, p. 278.
VOL. VI. T
338 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
temperate remonstrance, which he knew to be founded
in truth ; and as the queen treated him with much
courtesy, and agreed to postpone the ceremony of
creating Dariiley duke of Albany, till she heard again
from Elizabeth, he judged it right neither to push
matters to an extremity, nor to hold out any encour-
agement to her discontented nobles.
The English queen, however, resorting to severer
and more decided measures, ordered Lady Lennox into
custody, having suspected her of intriguing with the
Earl of Northumberland and other leaders of the Papists
in England. At the same time, she again (twelfth June,
1565) submitted to her privy-council the question of
the marriage of the Scottish queen. Their decision, as
it is preserved in the original draft by Cecil, is of much
importance in the light it throws on the state of parties
in England. Two questions were propounded to the
council : 1st, What perils might ensue to the queen's
majesty and her realm, upon the marriage of the Queen
of Scotland with Lord Darnley ? 2d, What was meet
to be done to avoid the same ? " The perils," says
Cecil, in his minute of what took place, "being sundry
and very many, were reduced by some councillors to
only two : 1st, That by this marriage, the queen's
majesty being unmarried, a great number in this realm,
not of the worst subjects, might be alienated in their
minds from their natural duties to her majesty, to
depend upon the success of this marriage of Scotland,
as a mean to establish the succession of both the crowns
in the issue of the same marriage, and to favour all
devices and practices that should tend to the advance-
ment of the Queen of Scots."
" Under the second peril it was observed, that, con-
sidering the chief foundation of that [party] which
1565. MARY. 339
favoured the marriage with the Lord Darnley was
laid upon the trust of such as were Papists, as the only
mean left to restore the religion of Rome, it was plainly
to be seen that, both in this realm and in Scotland,
the Papists would most favour, maintain, and fortify,
the marriage of the Lord Darnley ; and would, for
furtherance of their faction in religion, devise all means
and practices that could be within this realm, to dis-
turb the estate of the queen's majesty, and the peace
of the realm, and, consequently, to achieve their purpose
by force rather than fail."
The paper proceeds to point out, by way of warning
to Elizabeth, that when Mary's power was the greatest,
namely, during her marriage with the dauphin, she
evinced her real mind to dispossess that princess of her
title, both by assuming the style and arms of England,
and by troops sent into Scotland to accomplish her
ambitious purposes. It then proceeds in these remark-
able words: "It is also to be remembered, that seeing
now, before this attempt of marriage, it was found and
manifestly seen, that in every corner of the realm the
faction that most favoureth the Scottish title is grown
stout arid bold, yea, seen manifestly in this court, both
in hall and chamber, it could not be but (except good
heed were speedily given to it) the same faction would
speedily increase by this marriage, and by the practice
of the fautor [author] thereof, and grow so great and
dangerous, as the redress thereof would be almost des-
perate. And to this purpose it was to be remembered,
how, of late, in perusing of the substance of the Justices
of Peace in all the counties of the realm, scantly a third
part was found fully assured to be trusted in the matter of
religion, upon which only string the Queen of Scots"
title doth bang ; and some doubts might be that the
340 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
iriends of the Earl of Lennox had more knowledge of
this than was meet, and thereby made their vaunt no win
Scotland, that their party was so great in England that
the queen's majesty dared not attempt to oppose the mar-
riage. " In this sort was the sum of the perils declared.
Upon the second question, What was best to be done
to avoid these dangers ? it was determined, that the
first way was to obtain that the queen's majesty would
marry, and hold them with no long delay. Secondly,
that measures should be taken to advance and fortify
the profession of religion, both in Scotland and in Eng-
land. Third, that proceedings should be commenced,
either altogether to break oft' this intended marriage,
or at least to procure the same not to be so hurtful to
the realm as otherwise it might be ; and lastly, that
some intelligence should be used in Scotland with the
party opposed to the marriage, and comfort given them
from time to time. *
It will be seen from this authentic paper, that the
apprehensions entertained regarding the effects of this
union with Darnleyupon the Popish faction in England
(which was far stronger than is generally believed) were
not altogether ideal. There seem to have been two
parties amongst the English Protestants, who viewed
the match with different feelings. Elizabeth herself,
with the Earl of Leicester, and the powerful anti-
Cecilian faction which supported him, were suspected
to regard the marriage with no great dislike, although
for the moment she judged it prudent to dissemble, and
to appear deeply offended. It delivered the English
queen from the fear that Mary should make some
potent foreign alliance with Austria or Spain, and it
kept at court her favourite Leicester. These senti-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Original Draft by Cecil, June 4, 1565.
1565. MARY. 34!
ments, too, were well known at the Scottish court, and
Bandolph was repeatedly met by the observation, that
the resentment of his royal mistress was mere dissimu-
lation.* But the other party were more sincere and
determined in their opposition. Cecil, Bedford, and
Randolph, had deeply intrigued with Scotland ; they
believed that the overthrow of their friends, the Earls
of Moray, Argyle, and Lethington, would put an end
to English influence in that country ; they dreaded
lest Lennox and Darnley might in time be won over by
the queen to re-establish the Romish faith, which it
was known they secretly professed, and they adopted
every means to thwart the designs of the Scottish
queen. Nor were these means of the purest or most
upright kind : as long as Mary, deceived and drawn
on by the protestations and duplicity of Elizabeth,
placed herself under the guidance of this princess, she
was represented in the letters of Randolph, as amiable,
truthful, affectionate, and popular. The Protestants
were described as contented, excepting only the most
violent, whose conduct this envoy repeatedly censures ;
and, (which is very remarkable,) not a year before this,
both Moray and Lethington had assured the Queen of
England, that the conduct of their royal mistress in
respect to the reformed religion entitled her to high
praise : its foundation, they said, was perfectly secure ;
whilst they enjoyed liberty of conscience, and the favour
of their prince, as abundantly as heart could wish.-f-
From that moment till the present, not a step had
been taken by the Queen of Scotland which could create
* Throckmorton to Sir William Cecil, 21st May, 1565, printed in Keith,
p. 280. Also, Randolph to Cecil, 2d July, printed in Keith, p. 288. Also,
MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 15th April, 1565. Ibid,
same to same, 29th April, 1565.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Moray to Cecil, 13th July, 1564.
342 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
suspicion in any reasonable mind, that she meditated
aught against the national religion. On the contrary,
the Catholic party had been treated with undue severity ;
the private exercise of her religion had been threatened
to be abridged; the sanctity of her chapel and her
palace invaded; and the laws against the mass carried
into the strictest execution, even where the offenders
were of the highest rank in the Church. These were
all facts with which Randolph the English minister
was perfectly familiar, and which can be proved from
his own letters. Yet, no sooner did Mary fix her
choice on Darnley ; no sooner did it become apparent
to Moray that his power was on the wane, and to
Randolph that the English faction in Scotland was
likely to lose ground and to be superseded in their
authority, than the letters of this pliant envoy abounded
with complaints and misrepresentations. The reformed
religion was described as not only in danger, but already
ruined, and the godly undone ; the queen was said to
be fallen into universal contempt ; we are told, that
her whole character had altered within a few days,
that even her countenance and beauty were decayed, so
that many thought she was bewitched ; and lastly,
that an irresistible party had resolved to oppose the
marriage and avert the ruin of their country.
The events which now occurred, and the conduct
respectively pursued by Mary, the Protestants, and
Elizabeth, proved these statements to be exaggerated
and unfounded. The measures of the Scottish queen,
under an irritating opposition, were temperate and
conciliating. She sent Hay, her Master of Requests,
a prudent and able man, a favourer of Moray, and a
friend of Randolph, on a mission to the English queen.
He was to labour not onlv to reconcile Elizabeth to her
1565. MARY. 343
union with Darnley, but to state her anxiety to pre-
serve peace, her resolution to postpone her marriage
for a short time, and her desire that there should be a
meeting of commissioners from both countries, to deli-
berate on the best means of composing the differences
which had occurred.* On the other hand, the Protes-
tants, led by Moray and Argyle, attempted to overawe
their sovereign ; they solicited earnestly the assistance
of the English queen, and debated among themselves,
whether it would be best to assassinate Darnley, or to
seize him and his father, and deliver them up to Eng-
land. Some time before the mission of Hay, Randolph,
describing the pride and passionate temper of this young
favourite, thus writes to Cecil. " Her [Mary's] coun-
cillors are now those whom she liked worst, the nearest
of her kin, the farthest from her heart. My Lord of
Moray liveth where he lists. My Lord of Ledington
hath now both leave and time enough to make court
unto his mistress.-f- * * David is he that now worketh
all, chief Secretary to the Queen, and only governor
to her good man; the bruits here are wonderful men
talk very strange the hazard towards him and his
house marvellous great; his pride intolerable, his words
not to be borne, but where no man dare speak again.
He spareth not also, in token of his manhood, to let
some blows fly where he knoweth that they will be
taken. Such passions, such furies, as I hear say, that
sometimes he will be in, is strange to believe. What
cause this people hath to rejoice of this their worthy
prince, I leave it to the world to think. When they
have said all, and thought what they can, they find
nothing but that God must send him a short end, or
* Keith, p. 283. Instructions to Mr John Hay. Also, MS. Letter, State-
paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, 12th June, 15G5. Ibid. Mary to Elizabeth,
St Johnston, 15th June, 1565. f Ibid.
344 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
themselves a miserable life, to live under such estate
and government as this is like to be I What comfort
can they look for at the queen's majesty's hands, or
what support if aught should be attempted, seeing the
most part are persuaded that to this end he was sent
into this country. I spare here to speak so much as
I have heard; and knowing so little of the queen's
mind as I do, I know not what counsel or advice to
give." * * * The letter then alludes to the great
hazard of Moray and his party in these remarkable
words. " To see so many in hazard, as now stand in
danger of life, land, and goods, it is great pity to think
only to remedy this mischief, he [Darnley] must
be taken away, or such as he hateth find such support,
that whatsoever he intendeth to another may light
upon himself. A little now spent in the beginning,
yieldeth double fruit. What were it for the queen's
majesty, if she list not to do it by force, with the ex-
pense of three or four thousand pounds to do with this
country what she would."*
The proceedings of Elizabeth were at this moment
marked by that duplicity and desire to embroil Mary
with her own subjects, which had all along character-
ized them. She had already placed the Countess of
Lennox under restraint, but she now committed her to
the Tower, a severity which could not fail to encourage
Moray and his friends.-f- She sent a summons to the
Earl of Lennox and his son Lord Darnley, command-
ing them, on their allegiance as English subjects,
instantly to repair to her court. J Not long after, she
addressed a letter to the Scottish queen, declaring
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Leicester, 3d June, 1565.
+ Mr Stevenson's Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary, p. 140.
J MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Queen Elizabeth to Queen Mary, 18th
June, 1565. (A Copy.)
1565. MARY. 345
her entire disapproval of her proceedings ; and she
instructed Randolph not only directly to communicate
with Moray "s faction, but to assure them that she
would support them against the malice of their enemies
as long as their efforts were directed to maintain the
religion, and to preserve the amity between the two
kingdoms.*
Nothing upon the part of Moray could be more futile
and unfounded than the pretence that the Protestant
religion was in danger, or that the queen at this mo-
ment had adopted any measures which threatened its
security. It is happy for the -truth, that on such a
point we have the declaration of Moray and Lethington
themselves. On the thirteenth of July, 1564, they
stated to Cecil, that the presence of Lennox in Scotland,
even if he should be fortunate enough to ally himself
with the most powerful person in the state, would be
totally ineffectual to shake the national religion from
that firm foundation on which it rested.-)- These de-
clarations, indeed, were made a year before this, but
during the course of that year, not only had the Scot-
tish queen introduced no one measure which could by
any ingenuity, be deemed an attack upon the national
religion, but she had shown the most decided determi-
nation to support it as the religion of the state, and
to enforce the cruel and unjust laws against those who
adhered to the public exercise of a contrary faith. It
is evident, therefore, that the Earl of Moray and the
party of the nobles, who opposed the marriage, had
raised the cry of " danger to the Church" merely to
cover their own designs.
O
The same remark does not apply to Knox, who, after
* The Queen of England to Randolph, 10th July, 1565. Printed by Keith,
p. 296.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lethington to Cecil, 13th July, 1564.
Also, Ibid. Moray to Cecil, same date.
346 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
his long estrangement from Moray, now once more
acted in concert with him. To the stern uncompro-
mising mind of this Eeformer, the mass was idolatry;
so long as it maintained its place in the queen's private
chapel, he believed that the Protestant faith was in
danger, and that in permitting its use, the preachers
and the people committed a deadly sin. Moray had
always contended for the right of the queen to have
the private exercise of her religion : Knox had as
obstinately denied it. He contended that, by the
Word of God, and the laws of the land, every priest
who dared to celebrate, and every person who ventured
to attend, the mass, was obnoxious to capital punish-
ment; and he evidently considered that the sufferance
of the "idol," as he named it,. under any circumstances,
was a direct infringement upon the rights and the
security of the national religion. He is to be judged
therefore by a different standard from that which must
be applied to his ambitious and potent ally. Moray
was the slave of private ambition : his paramount desire
evidently was to retain the great power which he pos-
sessed, and in his efforts to effect this, he repeated the
same game which ambition has so often played : he
masked his selfish projects under a zeal for religion.
Knox, on the other hand, however fierce, dictatorial,
and even unscrupulous as to means, was perfectly
honest. No Church plunder can be traced to his
hands ; no pensions from England or France secured
his services ; nor is there the slightest evidence (at least
I have discovered none) that at any time he pursued a
scheme of personal aggrandizement, separate from that
spiritual authority which attached itself to him as the
great leader of the Reformation. His character was
great, irregular, and imperfect: his views were often
3565. MARY. 347
erroneous. In his mind many subjects assumed an
undue importance and magnitude ; whilst others, es-
pecially those connected with the practical influence
of the gospel upon the heart and conduct, were often
neglected or forgotten. But in his public career, he
was consistent, fearless, sincere ; the single object to
which he devoted himself was, to establish, on a sure
foundation, what he believed to be the only true faith
the only form of worship consistent with the de-
clarations of Scripture, and the glory of God. It is
needless to point out to what a height this raises him
above Moray, Argyle, Lethington, and the crowd of
venal barons by whom he was surrounded.
Mary had summoned a convention of her nobility, to
be held at St Johnston on the twenty-second of June.*
It was her intention in this assembly to procure their
final consent to her union with Darnley, and to fix the
period of her marriage. Instead of obeying her wishes,
the discontented barons vigorously exerted themselves
to traverse all her schemes. Moray refused to come
to Perth, alleging that his life was in danger from a
conspiracy formed by Darnley ; Argyle, in concert
with Knox and the preachers, appointed the General
Assembly of the Church to be held at Edinburgh, whilst
the convention was sitting at Perth. There seems to
be no doubt that the faction of Moray and the party
of Knox now acted in concert ; and the Reformer, who
possessed great influence with the people, bestirred
himself so successfully against the queen, that, in a
convocation of the citizens, held in the fields near
Edinburgh, it was resolved to arm and organize the
burgesses, to choose captains, and to seize the weapons
of such as were believed favourable to the marriage.
* Letter, Randolph to Cecil, in Keith, p. 287, 2d July, 1565.
348 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1566.
At the same time, after lengthened debates, the General
Assembly drew up a supplication to their sovereign.*
It requested that the blasphemous mass, and all Popish
idolatry, should be abolished, not only throughout the
kingdom, but also in her royal person and household;
that true religion, as it is founded on the Word of God,
should be professed as well by herself as by her sub-
jects, and that it should be made obligatory upon all
persons to resort to the preaching of the Word, and
to prayers, if not every day, at least every Sunday.
It proposed that some sure provision should be made
for the support of the ministers of the Gospel. That
pluralities should be abolished; a strict examination
instituted into the appointment of all teachers of youth
in schools and colleges ; a fund set apart for the main-
tenance of the poor, out of those lands which of old
were destined to hospitality, and some relief devised
for the poor labourers of the soil, who were oppressed
in the payment of their tithes by unreasonable and
illegal exactions.^
This petition was intrusted to the Earl of Glencairn,
with five commissioners, who repaired to Perth, (first
July, 1565,) and presented it to the queen. Her con-
duct at this crisis, is entitled to much praise. She
was alarmed by the accounts of the hostile and tumul-
tuous assembly of the citizens in Edinburgh, and when
she read the demands of the Church, it was evident
that they approached indefinitely near to the compell-
ing herself, and all who adhered to the Catholic faith,
to renounce what they believed to be true, and embrace
what they were persuaded was false. Yet her answer
was temperate and conciliatory ; she declared that it
was impossible for her to renounce the mass herself,
* Spottiswood, p. 190. f Ibid.
1565. MARY. 349
or to abolish it in her household, not being yet per-
suaded that there was any impiety in this great service
of the Church. She reminded the commissioners how
completely liberty of conscience, since her arrival in
her dominions, had been permitted to all her subjects,
and she expected in return, she said, " the same liberty
to be granted to herself. As for the establishment of
religion in the body of the realm, she declared, that
she was ready to abide by the decision of the three
Estates of Parliament, as soon as they were convened,
and to whom alone, as they were well aware, the de-
termination of so important a question belonged. 11 *
A more gentle and reasonable reply to an extravagant
demand, could hardly have been given ; but the discon-
tented lords were still unsatisfied : they were undone
if the queen was left to follow her own wishes, and the
marriage went forward; and, acting under this con-
viction, they resolved either to compel her to submit
to their dictation, or to put it out of her power to carry
her designs into effect. With this purpose, Moray,
Argyle, and Lord Boyd, held a secret meeting at
Lochleven,-)- and from thence sent a confidential mes-
senger to communicate their designs to Randolph, and
to understand from him, whether Elizabeth would re-
ceive Lennox and Darnley if they were seized, and sent
prisoners to Berwick. The ambassador answered, that
the queen his mistress would receive her own subjects
" in what sort soever they came ;" and thus encour-
aged, these daring men formed a plot to attack the
Scottish queen as she rode, with Darnley in her
company, from Perth to Callander, a seat of Lord
Livingstones. The route to be travelled afforded two
* Spottiswood, p. 190. Keith, p. 289. Randolph to Cecil, 2d July, 1565.
>t* Mr Stevenson's Illustrations of the Reign of Mary, p. 118, Argyle and
Moray to Randolph, 1st July, 1565.
350 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
favourable situations for such a surprise ; the one a
wild narrow defile near Perth, called the Pass of Pi on,*
the other a tract of broken and difficult ground near
Beith, some miles north of the Queensferry. It was
intended, according to Randolph's account, to have
carried Mary to St Andrew's, and Darnley to castle
Campbell ; but these were only preliminary steps :
Moray's ultimate object (if we may believe the asser-
tion of a brother conspirator) was to murder Darnley,
seize the government, and imprison the queen for life
in Lochleven.-f-
This traitorous plot was signally defeated by the
courage and celerity of Mary's movements. Having
received some hint of her danger, she commanded
Athole and Ruthven to assemble their followers, and
leaving Perth with an escort of three hundred horse in
the dawn of the morning, traversed the country with
the utmost speed, passed Lochleven and Kinross with-
out drawing bridle, pushed on to the ferry, and cross-
ing the Firth, reached Callander house in safety. Two
hours after she passed, Argyle appeared at Kinross,
but the prey had escaped him ; and their treacherous
enterprise becoming publicly known, excited the ut-
most indignation in the country. J Disappointed in
this attempt, Moray and his associates made a last at-
tempt to rouse the people. They resumed in a still
louder tone the cry, that the queen was determined to
overthrow religion, to break the amity which had of
late united them to England, and to commence anew
her persecution of the brethren. They implored the
* Knox, p. 412.
t Randolph to Cecil, 4th July, 1565, in Keith, p. 291. Also, "Instruc-
tions and Articles addressed to the Commissioners of the Queen of Scots,
12th Sept. 15(58." Goodall, vol. ii. pp. 358, 359.
Randolph to Cecil, in Keith, p. 291. Melvil's Memoirs, p. 135.
1565. MARY. 351
assistance and support of Elizabeth ; assured her that
Bothwell, the mortal enemy of English influence, had
been sent for ; besought her to let loose " some strap-
ping Elliots" upon Lord Hume, Mary's great partisan,
on the marches towards Lothian, who might keep his
hands full at home ; and attempted to rouse her jeal-
ousy by spreading rumours of an intercourse with
France and Rome.* But from neither quarter did
they receive much sympathy or encouragement ; Eliza-
beth fed them with empty promises, the people grew
lukewarm or suspicious. They were aware of no act
upon the part of the queen which manifested hostility
to their religion ; on the contrary, when at Callander,
she had for the first time in her life, attended the Pro-
testant sermon. She declared her readiness to hear
Erskine of Dun, one of the leading reformers, but a
man of a mild and peaceable disposition, in his expo-
sition of the errors of the Church of Rome; and she
hastened, by a solemn proclamation, to assure her sub-
jects, that no alteration was meditated in the national
religion ; that the same liberty of conscience which,
since her arrival in her dominions, had been enjoyed by
ail classes of her people, should still be maintained in
its fullest sense.-f-
At the same time, Mary exerted herself with un-
common vigour against the insurgent lords: as Argyle,
her great enemy, and the most powerful ally of Moray,
had collected his vassals, and was about to attack
Athole, a nobleman who strenuously supported her, she
despatched Lethington and the Justice-clerk to arrest
hostilities, and commanded them in her name, to dis-
* Randolph to Cecil, 4th July, 1565. Keith, pp. 294, 295.
+ MS. Privy-council Book, p. 73. It is printed in Keith, Appendix, pp,
106, 107.
352 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
band their forces.* Aware that a convocation of
Moray's adherents was to be held at Glasgow, she sent
a herald to that city, to forbid all such illegal assem-
blies, under pain of treason ;-f- and at the same time she
prorogued the meeting of the three Estates from July
to September, justly thinking that it would have been
vain and premature to attempt to hold a calm legislative
assembly, whilst a powerful faction, assisted and sti-
mulated by the intrigues of England, were plotting to
raise a civil war, and seemed not unlikely to succeed.
But her last measure was the most decisive of all. She
summoned her subjects to meet her instantly in arms
in the capital, with fifteen days 1 provision, that she
might proceed against her enemies. J
Yet, whilst Mary felt herself compelled to adopt
these severe proceedings against her insurgent barons,
she made a final effort to reclaim Moray, the head of
the revolt. He had refused to attend the convention
at Stirling ; alleging, that his life was in danger, from
a conspiracy of Lennox and Darnley. These noble-
men indignantly repelled the charge; and the Scottish
queen, anxious to do justice to both parties, summoned
him to appear, and make good his accusation. Lest
he should plead that his obedience to her commands
might expose him to the attacks of his enemies, she
sent him her letters of safe-conduct. This passport
extended protection not only to him, but to eighty
attendants no insufficient body-guard certainly; and
* MS. Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, under July 6,
1565.
f Ibid, under July 12, 1565.
J Keith, p. 298. She at the same time addressed close letters to the prin-
cipal nobles and gentry of her kingdom, requiring their instant attendance.
Keith, p. 299.
Keith, p. 1 08, Appendix ; Assurance to the Earl of jloray. Also, p. 1 10,
Appendix.
1565. MARY. 353
to prevent all possibility of cavil, it was signed, not by
the queen alone, but by all her privy-council. At the
same time Darnley transmitted a friendly message;
and Lennox, for himself and his son, not only dis-
claimed the base designs imputed to them, but besought
him to give up his informer, and offered to fight any
one who dared avow the slander.* This peremptory
summons Moray did not think proper to obey, and his
refusal was favourable to the cause of the queen. It
warned Mary that nothing but open force could reduce
her opponents; and it convinced many who were
wavering, that the alleged conspiracy was an invention
of his own, equally unfounded with the alarm regard-
ing the overthrow of the Protestant religion, and got
up for the same purpose, of veiling his attempt for the
recovery of the power which he had lost.
Meanwhile he had no mean assistant in Randolph.
The character of this crafty agent of Cecil was of that
accommodating and equivocal kind, which, without
loving misrepresentation (to use a mild word) for its
own sake, did not hesitate to employ it, when he
thought it would forward the designs of his royal mis-
tress, or of her principal minister. As long as all went
smoothly in Scotland, as long as the queen, deceived
by the promises of Elizabeth, and acting under the
guidance of Moray, was willing to consult the wishes
of her royal sister, the letters of Randolph convey to
us a pretty fair picture of the conduct of Mary, and
the progress of events ; but as soon as she began to
act for herself as soon as her brother, the friend of
England, was stript of his power and lost his influence,
this minister transmitted to Cecil, and to the English
queen, the most false and distorted accounts of the state
* Keith, p. 302.
VOL. VI. Z
354 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
of the country. His object was, to induce Elizabeth
to assist the insurgent lords with money and troops,
as she had already done in the war of the Reformation,
and to accomplish this end, he not only concealed the
truth, but did not scruple to employ calumny and
falsehood. He represented Mary's proceedings to her
nobles as tyrannical, when they were forbearing ; he
described her as earnestly bent on the destruction of
religion, when for five years she had maintained it
exactly as she found it on her arrival, and had recently,
by a solemn proclamation, declared her determination
to preserve the fullest liberty of conscience ; he painted
her as an object of contempt to her subjects, when she
was popular and beloved; and as deserted by her nobles
and her people, when, in consequence of the late sum-
mons, her barons and vassals were daily crowding into
the capital.* On the other hand, Moray and his fac-
tion were equally falsely depicted as so strong, that
the country lay at their mercy, whilst they waited only
for the advice and the money of England, to sweep
away every opposition, and compel the queen to place
herself once more at their disposal. These accounts,
however, made little impression upon the English queen,
and it is probable that she was aware of their being in-
consistent with the truth. She directed her ambassador,
however, to intercede for Moray ; but the application,
as might have been expected, met with no success.
Mary thanked her good sister for her advice, but
lamented that she should be so entirely misinformed.
"Those," said she to Randolph, " whom your mistress
calls my best subjects, I can never account so, as they
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to Cecil, July 7, 1 565. Also,
Keith, p. 301. Randolph to Cecil, 19th July, 1565. Again in Keith, p. 287,
Randolph to Cecil, 2d July, 1565. Again in Keith, p. 304, Randolph to
Cecil, 21st July, 1565. And MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Randolph to
the Queen, 23d July, 1565.
1565. MARY. 855
resist my authority ; and the queen must not be
offended if I pursue the remedy which I have in my
own hands.* The ambassador then addressed himself
to Lennox and Darnley, reminding them of Elizabeth's
peremptory order for their repair into England, and
charging them, as her subjects, to obey it ; but he met
with a decided refusal : from the father in terms of
respect, from the son in so proud and insolent a tone
that Randolph turned his back upon him, and they
parted in contempt and anger.-)*
In the midst of these transactions, the insurgent
lords became daily convinced, that if not speedily sup-
ported by England, their struggle must be brought to
a calamitous termination. Every hour added to the
strength of the queen ; her solemn public assurances,
that no alteration was meditated in the national reli-
gion ; her successful detection of the interested schemes,
and false representations of her enemies; the vigour
and decision with which she acted, and the anxiety she
evinced to preserve amity with Elizabeth, although
irritated by the constant misrepresentations and sedi-
tious intrigues of Randolph; all these circumstances
produced the most favourable effect, and convinced the
great body of her subjects that Moray, and the faction
who opposed her measures, were actuated by no other
motives than selfishness and ambition.
It was now the end of July, and Chisholm bishop
of Dunblane having arrived from Rome with a dispen-
sation for the marriage, it was intimated to the people,
by a public proclamation, that the queen had resolved
to take to her husband an illustrious prince, Henry
duke of Albany, for which reason she commanded her
subjects henceforth to give him the title of king.
* Keith, p. 303, Randolph to Cecil, 21st July, 1565. f Keith, p. 304-
356 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND. 1565.
Next day, being Sunday, the twenty-ninth of July, the
ceremony was performed in the royal chapel of Holy-
rood, at six in the morning. Mary was habited in
deep mourning, and it was superstitiously observed,
that it was the same dress which she wore on the me-
lancholy day of her late husband's obsequies. After
the solemnity, and when the youthful pair had risen
from the altar, Darnley embraced and kissed the bride,
and, retiring from the chapel, left her to hear mass alone,
surrounded only by those nobles who adhered to the
ancient faith. On the conclusion of the service, being
conducted back to her chamber, she consented, at the
earnest entreaty of her husband, to renounce her weeds,
and assume a costume more suited to the happiness of
the day. The banquet succeeded, in which the queen
was served by the Earl of Athole as sewer, Morton as
carver, and Crawford as cup-bearer. The king, sitting
beside her, was waited on by the Earls of Eglinton,
Cassillis, and Glencairn. Money in abundance was
scattered amongst the guests, the hall rang with music,
and cries of " largess," and the evening closed with
the dances and joyous revelry which generally accom-
pany such regal festivals.* -Mary was then in her
twenty- third, and Darnley had probably just completed
his nineteenth year.
* Randolph to Leicester, July 31 ; in Robertson's Appendix, No. xi.
This noted letter, which had been printed by Robertson, has been printed,
as if for the first time, by Von Raumer. Also Keith, p. 307. Chalmers'
Life of Mary, vol. ii. p. 1^7.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM
MANUSCRIPTS;
CHIEFLY IN
HER MAJESTY'S STATE-PAPER OFFICE,
HITHERTO UNPRINTED.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
No. I.
Fiery Cross sent through Scotland, p. 19.
" He sent the fiery cross throughout the country." On this sub-
ject there is the following interesting entry in the MS. Books of the
Lord High Treasurer of Scotland under the date, 28th August, 1547.
Item My Lord Governor's grace being surely advertised, that the
army of England was at hand ; to Mungo Strathern, messenger, let-
ters of Proclamation, with the Fire Cross, to Kincardine, Aberdeen,
Banff, Elgin, Forres, Cromarty, Nairn, Inverness, and Bills again,
to the Earls of Huntley, Errol, and the Master of Forbes, iiii. ft>.
Item To Normand, pursuivant, same letters, with the Fire Cross,
to Linlithgow, Stirling, Clackmannan, Kinross, Perth, and all other
quarters.
No. II.
State of Scotland after the Battle of Pinkie, p. 37.
* The land was shamefully deserted by the greater part of its no-
bility."
This is a severe charge ; but the following letters, selected from
many others which I have transcribed from the State-paper Office,
will prove that it is not unmerited. The leading nobles in Scotland
at this time were the Earls of Angus, Huntley, Argyle, and Sir George
Douglas brother to Angus. All of them deserted the governor, and
o60 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
entered into secret and treasonable transactions with England. I
proceed to prove this by the evidence of original letters :
On the 10th of September the Battle of Pinkie was fought, and on
the 18th of the same month the Protector Somerset commenced his
retreat. On the 20th of October, Lord Grey of Wilton addressed a
letter to the Protector,* in which he gives the substance of an inter-
view which passed between him and Sir George Douglas. He, (Dou-
glas,) says Grey, "liked well all the Articles, (alluding to the Secret
Articles of Agreement mentioned in the text, p. 38,) except that by
which, in the event of the young queen's marriage to any other than
Edward the Sixth, they bind themselves to serve the king's majesty
against their own country." He began, (I use the words of Grey's
letter,) " he began to allege what it was to forsake his native coun-
try and living there ; he showed me also that he had yearly of the
queen, a stipend of one thousand crowns, and of the French king as
much ; and now, since his being with me, the governor sent for him,
to speak to him, and offered him an abbey of another thousand crowns
by year : but he came not at him, nor will not do, but if I would
mitigate that article, he was contented with the rest. I showed
him, that if he refused part, he must refuse the whole. * * And
then at the last he granted thereunto, and hath both made his othe
upon the testament to observe them, and subscribed the same for a wit-
ness thereof, in sort as all others have done." Douglas entreated
Grey to induce the Lord Protector to erase this article, which Grey
assured him he was not likely to do. He then communicated his
"device," which, with certain requests on his own behalf, Grey enclosed
to Somerset. Douglas declared that he intended to go with them
(the English army) himself and be their guide ; but enjoined secrecy
of this private transaction, as, if it transpired, he should not be able
to win his friends. I subjoin a brief abstract of the paper, given in
by Douglas, entitled, " The order of an Invasion into Scotland, de-
vised by Sir George Douglas, to be attempted within a month after
the date hereof, or six weeks at the farthest." He states that the
number ought to be six thousand men two thousand five hundred to
be horse and victuals in carriages sufficient for four days, for the
whole. They should direct their march,
First, To Jedburgh to meet the Lairds of Fernyhirst and Cessford,
and the rest of the gentlemen of Teviotdale, who must be sent for
no manner of spoil or hurt to be done.
Second, Journey to Selkirk where they will meet Buccleugh and
the rest of the gentlemen.
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Lord Grey to the Protector, 20th Oct.
1547.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 361
Third, To Peebles to meet Lord Hay of Yester. (Sister's son to
Douglas.)
Fourth, To Lanark where the governor is sheriff. Here he would
that the Earls of Angus, Cassillis, Glencairn, and the Lord Boyd,
should come in.
Fifth, To Glasgow ; and Sixth, To Stirling.*
This crafty baron next handed in a paper, which he probably
considered not the least important part of the transaction. It is
entitled,
THE REQUESTS OF GEORGE DOUGLAS
For his own part : and consists of four stipulations. 1st, To have
one thousand pounds sterling, within eleven days, to support himself,
friends, and strengths, against the authority, and to have a yearly"
stipend of five hundred pounds sterling. 2d, His friends not to be
opprest. 3d, That he may have his goods, silver, money, plate, and
apparel, that he left in his hostess' house in Berwick, delivered to
him. 4th, To have from the English King, the keeping of the fort
at Eyemouth. The Lord Grey, addressing Somerset, adds
this emphatic sentence : " Your Grace, I doubt not, considereth that
this man would not be won without money, and albeit he demandeth a
thousand pounds in hand, I doubt not but he will be satisfied with a
thousand marks" These extracts sufficiently prove the venality and
desertion of his country by Sir George Douglas. The following letter
from Angus his brother, to Sir Andrew Dudley, the English gover-
nor of the fort of Broughty, (see text, p. 35,) establishes the same fact
against that nobleman.
THE EARL OP ANGUS TO SIR ANDREW DUDLEY.
" Trusty cousin and hearty friend. After most hearty commenda-
tions, may it please you I have received your writing the 16th day of
December, at Douglas, and understand the same, thanking you greatly
of your kind offers. And as anent my assurance, in this manner I
have assured my kind friends and servants, because my bands is sae
* From a curious paper, 'published for the first time by Mr Stevenson in
his " Illustrations of the Reign of Queen Mary," p. 99, (from the Harleian
MS. 289, fol. 73,) we leatn that this intended invasion was stopt by the ad-
vice of Thomas Bishop, an adherent of Lennox, who, on good grounds, sus-
pected that Douglas was acting treacherously.
" My device to him" [the Protector,] says Bishop, " and the Duke of
Northumberland, at Shene, stopt my Lord Grey from entering Scotland with
six thousand men, whereof the greatest force horsemen, being then the flower
of England his journey being devised by George Douglas, to have brought
them to the butchery, as well was known after. The article [communication]
to him in that matter at good length will declare."
SG2 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
meikle, whose names could not be specified *******
praying you heartily as my special trust is in you, to be good and
friendful to my servants and friends, as Patie Lynn, James Ander-
son, and my servants of Arbroath, which no more I cannot specify
unto you shortly. And as for my servants and friends, I shall use
them as ye do. And as anent the siege of the King's Craig-house of
Broughty, I was warned to the same by the queen's grace and the
governor. I had business I showed them, that I might not come.
They sent special of the council to me, and offered me great rewards
to come to the same. / cause all my friends and servants to stop and
remain. * * * He could not make any more on this side the Firth,
but sixty of honest men. And as long as he was at the siege, I had
posts running daily forth of my lands of Hermitage, to see how you
fared in all causes, and have my answers, the which I shall show you
at our meeting. And as anent the coming in the country, I should
have been with you ere now, were not the coming of the Earl of Len-
nox in Scotland * *. And I have appointed friends to convene the
18th day of this instant month, towards that matter, to set him for-
ward in his affairs, the which shall be shortly, will God. And I [mean
to] advertise my Lord of Lennox, with two of my honest friends, Glen-
cairn, Cassillis, or Lord Boyd, or Creichton, of all purposes three days
afore. This is the principal stop that holds me from you longer,
Thereafter I shall be at you with diligence. Anything that you
would advertise me of shortly, send it to Arbroath, and they will haste
it to me. Thus, fare ye well, most heartily. At Douglas, the 1 8th
of December.
" Your cousin,
" LORD EARL OF ANGUISH."*
I have mentioned two other powerful noblemen, as deserting the
governor and embracing the English interest : the Earls of Huntley :
and Argyle. Huntley was a Roman Catholic ; his possessions and
power in the north were almost kingly ; he had been taken prisoner
at Pinkie, and was anxious to be permitted to return to Scotland on
his parole. Argyle, on the other hand, was the great rival of Hunt-
ley in the north ; he had escaped at Pinkie ; he was a supporter of the
Reformation, and one of the most able and ambitious men in Scotland.
The Protector Somerset played the one against the other. Argyle,
on the 25th December, 1547, had come to St Johnston with an army
of highlandmen, thinking to annoy Dudley, the English Governor of
Broughty, and ravage the country, which had taken assurance of the
English. Some time after this, he threatened to join the French in
* MS. Letters, State-paper Office, December 18, 1547.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 363
besieging Broughty,* and continued these hostile denunciations till the
5th of February, 1547-8, when Sir Andrew Dudley addressed a let-
ter to the protector in which he informed him, that at the suit of Lord
Gray (of Scotland) and other gentlemen of Angus, he had granted
Argyle an assurance for twenty days for the whole country of Angus.
There then follows this sentence : " There were two assurances
made between the Earl of Argyle and me [Dudley] : the one open to
the bishops and council, the other secret between Argyle, Gray and
me, to be a favourer of the king's godly purpose, and to take the
king's majesty's part in the same ; on which communing, the Lord
Gray borrowed one thousand crowns of me to give the Earl of Argyle
to make him the more earnest in the same, as appeareth by a bill . .
. . . . sent your grace ... it shall please your grace . .
to send some man shortly, with a commission and authority to com-
mune with the Earl of Argyle. The Lord Gray putteth no doubt but
that, for a pension and a certain sum of money, your grace shall win
him to the king's majesty's godly purpose, and to be an earnest setter
forth of the same"^
On the 7th February, 1547-8, Lord Gray of Scotland addressed a
letter to the protector, in which he informed him, that he had bor-
rowed five hundred ryals (one thousand crowns) and had given them
to Argyle, " for the good causes he had done to his grace's affairs."
He adds, that a commissioner must be sent from England to treat
with Argyle, who is " wonderfully given to favour the king's [Ed-
ward's] godly purpose."
The Commissioner sent to treat with Argyle, was John Brende,
muster-master of Berwick. On the 6th March, 1547-8, Dudley in-
formed the protector, that the Scottish earl had come to Coupar,
and that Lord Gray (of Scotland) had ridden with Mr Brende that
morning to communicate with him there [MS. Letter, State-paper
Office, 6th March, 1547-8. Sir Andrew Dudley to the Protector.]
The result of this communication appears from a letter of Brende to
the protector [MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 9th March, 1547-8.]
It states, that on the 6th of that month, he with Lord Gray met Ar-
gyle near St Johnston's. Brende thanked him for the good disposi-
tion which he had shown to the purpose of the marriage. Argyle re-
gretted the damage done by the war, and professed his willingness to
work some mean for the redress thereof. Brende then wished to
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, Dudley to the Protector, 22d January,
1547-8.
f MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 5th Feb. 1547-8. Sir Andrew Dudley
to the Protector.
J MS. Letter, State paper Office, Lord Gray to -the Protector, 7th Feb.
364 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
draw him on to make some proposal or some promise. This he wari-
ly declined, requesting him to show what the protector required
Brende then proceeds thus, " And when I was about to declare, he
bad stay : ( I am held,' quoth he, ( in a marvellous jealousy ; and
there be,' he said, * certain of the council mortal enemies to your
part. I would, therefore,' quoth he, ' to colour the matter, ye should
devise to speak somewhat openly to me, before them, of such matter
as ye think good, which shall be a mean that, without suspicion, ye
may treat secretly with me of such things as be of moment.' Then
called he before him the Abbot of Coupar, the Lord called Stuard,
Sir John Cammel, and divers others. * This gentleman,' quoth he,
* hath commission to me ; and, because it partly toucheth you, ye
shall hear what he will say.' " Brende then proceeded to declare the
purpose of the marriagej the opposition of evil men, and the cause of
the war. "And thereupon," says he, " I plucked forth, and presented
to the earl a parcel of my instructions, which I had drawn forth for
that purpose, (nothing mentioning the Earl [Argyle] nor any proffer
made unto him,) but only purporting a present contract of marriage,
&c., the delivering the castles of Edinburgh and Dunbar as pledges
for the queen's entry into England, and the conditions of peace.
When this was done, the earl somewhat spoke, ' how greatly fair
means might prevail in this matter, and how much violence made
against the purpose,' which words confirmed with a churme [murmur]
of those that stood about ; somewhat I did speak again to the pur-
pose when violence should be used, and in what cases it was lawful for
princes to use the sword. Then did he draw me aside, and allowed
my device. * Hereupon,' quoth he, ' tee shall colour our treaty, and
blind these 'wolves' eyes,' and willed me to proceed in my secret commis-
sion."
Brende then thanked him for his good disposition, and told him,
they knew he had the power, wherefore if good will were joined in
him with power, there would be no further doubt of success. He
(Brende) showed the great advantages which would ensue, besides
the honour to himself, * and so declared his reward for bringing it to
pass,' that is, for accomplishing the first point of his instructions,
viz : the delivery of the queen. " ' If all things,' said he [ Argyle],
' had chanced well, she had been in my hands ere this ; for if, after
the battle [Pinkie] pursuit had been made, she had come into my
country : and she wrote to me for the same purpose at the last entry
of the Lord Grey. But now,' quoth he, ' she is in Dumbarton,' ' And
you may easily come by her,' quoth I, ' or else devise how she may
be had.' ' No,' said he, 'it is impossible ; the castle is stark [strong],
and if force could prevail, it were unfitting for me to enforce my
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 365
natural lady.' * * * After great persuasion, he agreed with me
upon that point, like as it may appear unto your grace by the paper
of articles subscribed with his hand, and sealed with his seal, sent
herewith unto your grace. And because his resolution therein was
not to the full effect of my instructions, I took advantage of his pro-
mise therein, and passed to the
" 2nd point, which he liked well, (except the authority of the
priests, not provided for in the articles,) saying, ' he would pass to
the court, and persuade the governor and the queen immediately to
send ambassadors for the accomplishment of it.' ' And if,' quoth I
' they will not agree to your request, what will ye do then V 'What
would you I should do ?' quoth he. Then I plucked forth a paper of
the third degree, as I had them all four severally written, touching
the taking of open part with the king's majesty, and showed it him :
he required to have it, that he might read it, and examine it with
himself.
" When he had put the same in his bosom, we fell in the re-
hearsal of divers things ; and knowing of a certain envy between the
Earl of Huntley and him, I took occasion to talk of the said earl.
When he heard him named, he started, and beating his fist upon the
board, said, * If ye let him home, ye mar all.' Whereupon I took
occasion. ' My lord,' quoth I, ' therefore it behoveth you to take this
matter on hand ; for if you will not, he may perchance be so per-
suaded, that he himself will enterprise this thing,' which words
moved him marvellous much, and he said, ' Marry ! I will do it in-
deed.' Then proceeded I, ' If the governor will still see the ruin of
the country, and still stand on the contrary part, what shall become
of him ?' * No governor,' quoth he. ' Who, then,' quoth I, ' is so
meet as your lordship V ' I think,' quoth he, ' I have most friends
and power.' ' If, then,' quoth I, ' we have the favour and power of
England joined thereunto, who shall withstand you V ' It is true,'
quoth he. Finally, he condescended to the third article in this
effect : That if the queen and the governor would not agree to
these covenants, then would he straightway repair to Argyle, there
call all his friends about him, declare to them his mind, and require
them to take his part in this purpose, and then to send one unto your
grace, to conclude upon certain points of his proceeding before he do
further. * * I perceive he would covenant to have aid against his
enemies in the north by sea, and require that the Earl of Lennox
should have no power on his lands in the west parts. When I saw
he had thus condescended, I did not touch the fourth degree, other-
wise than that he should lett [hinder] the conveyance away of the
queen."
366 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
Brende then promised him an assurance for his country for fifteen
days. At first Argyle would not subscribe, or set his seal to the
agreements which Brende had drawn. The English envoy then broke
off; but late in the night, when all were in bed, he sent Lord Gray
to urge Argyle, " and finally, after four or five times going and com-
ing betwixt us in the dead time of night, he at last was brought to
such case, that in the morning he signed." Argyle's character as
given by Brende, is this : " I have heard him reported to be much
constant. I found him humane, wise, and grave, in whom I could
have believed all things that he said, if I had not determined in them
to trust nothing at all. I judge him greedy of gear, desirous of au-
thority, * * * and therefore moved unto this by the envy he
beareth to the governor, and the emulation he hath with the Earl of
Huntley, which will be ever of the contrary part to him : therefore
the matter, in my opinion, consisteth in this point, whether your
grace's purpose may take better effect in letting the Earl of Huntley
home so as to raise factions betwixt them, or else by 'detaining him
to have the Earl of Argyle wholly in that part, if so be he will stand
unto his promise." The letter which contains the above interesting
details, is dated Warkworth, 9th March, 1547-8, and signed, JOHN
BRENDE.
Notwithstanding the promise to Argyle, the protector entered into
a secret agreement with the Ea-rl of Huntley, who engaged, if allowed
to return home, to embrace the English faction, and further the king's
(Edward VI.) majesty's affairs. This appears from the following
letter of Huntley to the protector, dated Newcastle, 20th March,
1547-8.*
THE EARL OF HUNTLEY TO THE PROTECTOR.
" MY LORD, After most humble commendations of service unto
your grace, it pleases you to wit : We arrived at Newcastle, 18th,
and has heard no word of Scotland yet, except a man of mine who
came with my Lord Gray, Lieutenant, and met me by the way. My
said Lord Gray has informed you how all passes
in Scotland, better nor I can presently. My lord, I am credibly ad-
vertised that our governor repents that our mistress is past to Dum-
barton, and is labouring to bring her grace again to . [Stirling]
which is promised to him, how soon her grace bees whole in person.
She has been very sick in the small pox, and not yet whole. My
Lord Governor, as I am advertised, will be brought
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. SG7
I lyppenyt [trust] to get hasty word by his gra^e of the same ; and
if commissioners shall come to the Borders for end of all these affairs,
may it please your grace to show my Lord Gray who shall meet with
them, and of your grace's mind in that behalf. Your grace shall be
sure of such service as I may do, to the furthering of the king's ma-
jesty's affairs, in all sorts as your grace will command, as my duty is
shall shortly know indeed, and shall ....
to him, as I can get intelligence, not doubting . . . the best
part, and favour the peace better nor .... and your grace's
purpose ; which I pray God send to the weal and union of both the
realms, that have so long been at discord. And further, your grace
may command me ; and, in what place I may do best service, shall
be aye ready at your grace's charge. My lord, I am not able to give
your good grace most humble thanks for the great goodness and hu-
manity shown to me, who have ever yet deserved the contrar ; albeit,
gif it be in me possible, I shall make such amends as my wit or power
may serve. My lord, I pray the living God have ever your grace in
his tuition at the New Castle, the 20th day of March.
Your grace's humble servant at power.
The signature of this letter, some words of which are illegible, iie
gone, but there is a contemporary docquet on the back, " xx March.
Th' Erie of Huntley to my L. P."
It is stated in this volume, p. 39, that in the enterprise or invasion
of the Lord Wharton, on 18th February, 1547-8, the Earl of Lennox
commanded the Scottish borderers in the service of Edward VI. The
result of this disastrous expedition is given in the text ; but the fol-
lowing letter of Lennox, addressed to the Protector Somerset after
his return, will convince the reader of the calm treachery with which
this Scottish nobleman could talk of the king's majesty's (Edward
VI.) possessions in the west parts of Scotland.
EARL OF LENNOX TO THE LORD PROTECTOR.*
" Pleased your most noble grace to be advertised, that whereupon
my'suit, it pleased your grace to be so much my good lord, to grant
my entry into Scotland, for the service of the king's majesty, with
such Scottish men as be lately come to his highness's devotion, for the
which I most humbly thank your grace, according to the same ; and
at command of your grace's several letters to my Lord Wharton for
that purpose, I entered, and by his lordship's advice, proceeded, as
your grace hath been here before advertised. And of intent your
* State-paper Office, original, 2Gth December, 1547, Castle of Wrissel.
368 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
grace should know more at large the order thereof, and also my re-
pair again to Carlisle at your grace's pleasure, for the full accomplish-
ment of such service as, for divers occasions, at this time could not
have been done, my friend Thomas Bishop, the king's majesty's ser-
vant, is instructed to declare the same at length, to whom it will
please your grace give firm credence. And by him would be most
glad to know your grace's further pleasure and commandments, which
I shall obediently, God willing, to the uttermost of my poor power
accomplish.
" It will also please your grace to be advertised, that there is a
little Abbacy, called Holywood, of a hundred pounds a-year, now va-
cant, and within the precincts of the king's majesty's possessions of the
west parts of Scotland, which the governor has given to the Sheriff
of Ayr, as will appear by a letter, with other writs, sent to me of late
forth of Scotland, which I send unto your grace herewith. I would
most humbly beseech your grace, at my poor suit, to grant your grace's
gift of the same to my cousin, the Laird of Closeburn, who serves the
king's majesty very well, and is a man of power, for whose constancy
and honesty in his highness's service, I will be bounden, and to my
friend Thomas Bishop, whom with him he would were
And God willing, with your grace's aid and favour, the same shall be
defended contrar the Sheriff of Ayr, or any others, enemies to the
king's majesty in that realm. And thus prays Almighty God to pre-
serve your grace in most long and prosperous life, with much increase
of honour. At the king's majesty's castle of Wrissel, 16th Dec. 1547.
" Your grace's most humbly, with his service,
" MATTHEW LENNOX."
No. III.
Arrival of the French.
As some obscurity hangs over the arrival of the French auxiliaries
in Scotland, it will be useful to fix precisely the dates, which are not
very clearly given either by Keith or by Robertson. The following
abstract of a letter from Sir R. Bulmer to the protector, marks the
arrival of the first band of French, chiefly officers, to have been on the
25th December, 1547.
SIR RALPH BULMER TO THE PROTECTOR.
He sends his grace these news, which had been brought by the
Lord of Cessford. " Christmas day last past, two French ships came
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 369
to Dumbarton there landed with fifty French captains, bringing
money to wage ten thousand Scots for a year, which money is sent
by the Bishop of Rome. There came three of the chief captains to
Stirling, to the queen and the lords, on St Stephen's day at night
apparelled all in white satin, and told the queen and the council the
cause of their coming. They showed her there was six thousand
Frenchmen on the sea for Scotland, waiting a wind. As soon as the
ten thousand Scots are mustered, and these six thousand are landed,
then a post is to be sent to the French king, who had an army in
readiness to land in England, and a fleet of ships is also promised by
Denmark, but this not so certain." The letter concludes by advising
his grace to grant power to the Lord of Cessford, to collect the rents
Mernis, for two reasons. "1st, It will be most for the king's benefit.
2d. It will set Buccleugh and Cessford at variance, which were a good
policy ; for although Buccleugh had taken assurance, yet he was playing a
double part, assuring the queen and governor that he is yet a true
Scotsman."*
We learn by a letter from Lord Wharton to Somerset, MS. State-
paper Office, B. C., first January, 1547-8, that Monsieur de ia Chapelle
was the leader of these Frenchmen, which proves the accuracy of De
Thou, Book v. c. 15. Vol. i. p. 189. Buckley edit.
By another letter from Lord Grey to the Protector, dated at Ber-
wick, June 17, 1548 [MS. State-paper Office,] it appears that the
second arrival of auxiliaries, conducted by Monsieur D'Esse, must
have been June 15th or 16th, 1548. This was the great force, in-
cluding Suisses and Almains, as well as French. Lord Grey diminishes
their number to twelve hundred men-at-arms, and eight hundred light
horsemen ; but they were at the least six thousand strong, as is proved
by a letter, State-paper Office, Lord Wharton to the protector, dated
14th July, 1548.
No. IV.
Embarkation of the young Queen for France, p. 45.
Neither Keith, p. 55, nor Chalmers, p. 10, are able to fix the exact
time of the young queen's sailing for France. A letter in the State-
paper Office, from Lord Grey to the protector, which is dated August
4th, 1548, mentions, that he is informed the young queen is not yet
transported, but lieth in a galley accompanied with other galleys, and
four or five ships, a little from Dumbarton, where, he adds, she un-
* MS. Letter, State-paper Office, 30th December 1547. Sir R. Bulmer
to the Protector.
VOL, VI. 2 A
370 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
doubtedly was yesterday, at twelve of the clock at noon. And lie
continues, " the Lady Fleming, her mistress, making request to the
captain of the galley, whose name is Villegaigno, to have her on land
to repose her, because she hath been long on the sea : He answered,
she should not come on land, but rather go Into France, or else drown
by the -way" Grey advises the protector to fit out some ships that
way, with the hope of meeting her.
In the Egerton collection of MSS. No. 2, preserved in the British
Museum, the contents of which are inaccessible to the public from the
want of catalogues, there is a volume of transcripts, from original
letters, during the reign of Henry the Second of France. My atten-
tion was directed to it by my learned friend Mr Holmes of the British
Museum, who pointed out the following passages. In the first of them.
Henry the Second, writing to Monsieur de Humyeres, the governor
of his children, who were then brought up at the Palace of St Germain-
en-Laye, informs him (on the 27th July, 1548) that the little Queen
of Scotland may soon be expected there, to be educated with the
dauphin and his other children.
" Mais pour cela je ne veulx que vous bougez avec mes enfans, at-
tendu maintenant que ma fille la petite Royne d'Escosse y pourra lors
ou plustot arriver pour y estre nourrie avee eulx.
" 27th July, 1548."
In another letter from the king to Monsieur de Humyeres, he sends
the dauphin and the young Queen of Scots a dancing master Paul de
Rege, to whom he gives a high character. The letter is dated 10th
January, 1549.
Mon Cousin. Pour ce que Paule de Rege present porteur est fort
bien balladin, et a ce que j'en y peu coagnoistre honneste et bien con-
ditionne'e, j'ay advise' de le donner a mons filz le Dauphin pour luy
monster a bailer, et pareillment a ma fille la Royne d'Escosse et aux
jeunes gentilhommes et damoiselles estant a leur service, et de mes
autres enfans ; "a ceste cause -vous le presenterez a mon filz, et le
ferez loger et manger avec ses autres officiers."
No.V.
Ferocity of the War, p. 47.
" The war assumed a character of more than common ferocity."
In addition to what is mentioned in the text, this fact is strikingly
illustrated by a paper [MS. State-paper Office, 19th May, 1549]
entitled Memorial (it should rather be scroll of a memorial) for Ed-
ward Atkinson, alias Bluemantle, sent by the protector to the Governor
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 371
of Scotland. This document states, that after having obtained audi-
ence, the said Bluemantle, putting on his coat of arms, and making
reverence unto him, (the governor,) without any other salutation, shall
boldly say as ensueth. The substance is, that understanding that
sundry the king's majesty's his grace's sovereign lord's subjects and
servants, born within the realm of Scotland, have now a good while,
and yet do, according to their bounden duty, serve his majesty in these
wars the governor had published a proclamation, commanding, that
if any Scotsman so serving, shall be taken in the field bearing arms
against him, they shall not be used as prisoners but immediately put
to death as rebels. Bluemantle is enjoined to demand this procla-
mation to be immediately recalled, otherwise "all Scottish prisoners,
of whatever rank they be, shall be put to death as soon as they are
taken." This paper is followed by a " Minute of a Proclamation for
not taking of Scottishmen, dated 22d May, 1549." It commences
thus Edward by the Grace of God, &c. ' * * " Whereas the Earl
of Arran, pretending himself to be Governor of Scotland," and goes on
to speak of the people of Scotland not acknowledging, or giving obe-
dience to " their superior and sovereign lord the king's majesty of Eng-
land, in consequence of which the countries are at war, and Scotland
grievously afflicted with slaughter and devastation, as with a just
plague of God." It then proceeds thus " Not content with all this,
the governor hath devised a most cruel, unnatural, and deadly procla-
mation, that every Scotsman serving the King of England, should be
slain as soon as taken, by means of which some of his majesty's subjects,
Scotsmen born, have been put to open and cruel death :" therefore,
it continues, "that cruelty may be punished, and repelled with cruelty,"
he, the protector, straightly commands all his highness's wardens,
deputy-wardens, officers, &c., that they do not from henceforth take
any Scotsmen serving against 7m highness in the field, but do kill the
same out of hand without ransoming them, until the Governor Arran
have revoked his proclamation, under penalty of death, if this is dis-
obeyed.
No. VI.
Arrival of the Queen-dowager in France, pp. 51, 52.
The exact date of this princess's arrival in France, has not been
given by any of our historians.
In an original letter of Anne de Montmorency constable of France,
to Mr de Bassefontaine ambassador to the Queen of Hungary, (for
the knowledge of which I am indebted to Mr Holmes of the British
372 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
Museum,) there is the following notice of the arrival of the queen-
dowager in France. The letter is in the British Museum. Additional
MSS. 10,012, and is dated 27th September, 1550.
" Je vous advise que la Royne d'Escosse est puis trois ou quatre
jours arrived au Havre de Grace en bonne sante et tresbonne com-
pagnie ; elle fit hier son entrde a Rouen. En dimanche prochain
viendra trouver le Roy a 1'Abbaye de bonnes nouvelles, ou il va de-
main coucher poure faire sa Feste St Michael ; apres que les seigneurs,
1'aura venu et parle elle, on vous fera entendre (ce que) sera requis
ur les propos qui ont este entamez touchant la fait d'Escosse."
No. VII.
Sir John Mason's Correspondence.
Some interesting particulars, illustrating the intrigues of the queen-
dowager in France, a subject hitherto slightly passed over by our
historians, may be derived from a volume in the State-paper Office,
containing the correspondence of Sir John Mason, the English ambas-
sador at the court of France. Its authenticity is unquestionable, as
it is Sir John's own Letter-book.
"We learn, by a letter from Mason to the privy-council, dated
Rouen, 6th October [Correspondence, p. 118,] that he had that day
visited the Queen-dowager of Scotland, who arrived there on the 25th
of September, accompanied by a numerous train of Scottish gentlemen,
and was received with much honour."
On the 19th of the same month and year, (1550,) Mason addressed
a letter to the privy-council, dated Dieppe. He observes, that since
their coming the principal of the Scots had visited him except the
Earl of Huntley and George Douglas. "They lamented their estate,
and showed why we [the English] had not our desire, [the king's
marriage to Queen Mary,] which was ' the rude handling of them at
all times, and especially in the notable slaughter made upon them at
the great battle [Pinkie.]'" .He then continues, "I gave ear unto them
as unto Scots, and framed mine answers accordingly, and told them
that they had refused that, that I did not doubt but, within a short
time, they would wish they had taken we sought their own honour,
profit, and commodity, which, forasmuch as they would not embrace,
they were like to drink such as themselves had brewed, who had lively
played the part of the horse that J2sop, in his fables, telleth, sought
the help of man against the hart. The Earl of Glencairn much com-
plaineth of the detaining of his two sons, his father being dead, for
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 37S
whom they were pledges, but specially of the ill handling of them by
the archbishop, who, he saith, kept them two years in his kitchen."
I shall subjoin a few brief abstracts of some important letters, ad-
dressed by the same ambassador to the Privy- council. They throw
considerable light on the relative politics of France, England, and
Scotland at this period.
In a letter dated Blois, 4th December, 1550, he remarks that "the
Scots bear a fell rout in this court, and be much made of, of all
estates." He proceeds to say, that whatever differences of opinion
they might have on other points, on one they all agreed, viz., that the
English shall not have one foot of ground in Scotland peaceably, more
than we had before the wars, but they will have the thanks for it all
together, if we like, and not forego it by piece meal. Ireland, he
adds, is ready to revolt and deliver themselves to a new master on a
moment's warning.*
In a subsequent letter dated Blois, 7th February, 1550-1, he states,
that the blind Scot, named the Bishop of Armagh, who had lately been
in Ireland with commission to make a stir among the people, passed
five or six days ago by this court, and had been much made of ;
adding, he was departed to Rome.
Again on the 23d February, 1550-1, writing to the council, he in-
forms them, that there were rumours of war secretly intended by
France against England. England had refused a passport to the
Master of Maxwell, at which the French king was much incensed.
Exclaiming, " Vraiment, voyez ci une pauvre vengeance." " There
is in these men no love." The Queen of Scots and her house beareth
in this court the whole swing. * * * The queen-dowager desireth
the subversion of England, " whose service in Scotland is so highly
taken here, as she is in this court made a goddess." These men, the
French, are in great readiness for the wars.
In a letter of the Lords of the Privy-council to Mason, dated at
Greenwich, the 28th of January, 1550, it appears that a spy had been
sent, whom Balnaves the Scot recommended as proper to be trusted,
and who would take care to bring the English ambassador as much
intelligence as the Scots have.f In Sir John Mason's answer to the
Privy-council, dated Blois, 26th February, 1550-1, he informs them
that this bearer arrived on the 24th February, but dared not tarry, as
he found himself likely to be waylaid. He, however, had one who
would fill his place, viz., the Lord Grange. " I talked with him," says
Mason, "of the queen's departing, and of the men-of-war she was said
* Mason to the Privy-council, 4th December, 1550. Blois.
f Ibid. p. 250. Lords of Privy-council to Mason, 28th January, I. r 50.
Greenwich. Ibid. p. 251.
374 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
to have with her." He said, "this would not take any effect this
year. He [Grange] promised to communicate everything he could
learn to the English ambassador, who when he speaks of him, is to
call him Corax."* By a letter of Mason to the Privy-council, 23d
March, 1551, dated at Blois, it appears, that the Vidame of Char-
tres was at that time in Edinburgh, on a mission from France. In
another letter of the 18th April, 1551, from the same to the same, it
is stated, that one George Paris had arrived from Ireland. " He brags
much," says Mason, "associates with the Scots, and has offers from
the Irish to league with France and throw off England. He hopes
to have the dauphin shortly proclaimed King of Scotland and Ireland.
It is said they are to have no open assistance from France, but that
the Queen of Scotland laboureth to have them holpen underhand by
means of the Earl of Argyle and James Kennalt [Macconnell.] " He
goes on to observe, that John a Barton had arrived from Scotland at
the French court, and brought word that the governor (Arran) had a
great party in his favour to keep him in his place till they should have
a king. This, he adds, was ill taken by the queen-dowager, who was
determined either to have the government herself, or to set a French-
man of her house in it. Corax (Grange) thinks if the meeting of the
commissioners for the Borders goes on smoothly, all things will be
quiet for this year.
The Earl of Huntley had obtained one part of his suit from the
Queen of Scots, which was, that when she came of age, he should
have the earldom of Moray. " This king [the King of France] hath
bound himself by writing thereunto, but the custody of the bond is to
be in the hands of the dowager. All the Scots are against him in
this, especially Sutherland and Cassillis. It will breed a great stab
amongst them." " The Queen is all for herself and for a few other
friends, whose partiality, showed more to some than others, maketh a
great heartburning." Lord Maxwell at his departing, had a chain
of five hundred crowns ; Drumlanrick had nothing, and used rude
speech to the queen.
" The Scottish queen's shipping is hasted very much. It is thought
she shall embark a month sooner than she intended. The Lady Fleming
departed hence, with child by this king.f And it is thought that
immediately upon the arrival of the dowager in Scotland, she will
come again to fetch another. If she so do, here is like to be a
combat, being the heartburning already very great ; the old \\ orn
* Sir J. M. to Privy-council, Blois, 26th February, 1550-1.
f* This was, 1 suspect, the Dowager Lady Fleming, a daughter of James
IV. by the Countess of Bothwell. Douglas' Peerage, p. 698.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 375
pelf* fearing thereby to lose some part of her credit, who presently
reigneth alone, and governeth without empeasche."
We learn something of the French intrigues in Ireland by a letter
of Mason to the Privy-council, dated at Amboise, 22d April, 1551.
He states, that a gentleman who had come from Ireland with George
Paris, was named Cormac Ochonor, eldest of nine brothers who are
alive. He braggeth his father hath been the great worker of all this
rebellion; he never would submit to England, although he hath a
house within a stone's cast of the English pale. Last Saturday he ex-
hibited to the constable a paper, showing what force, both horse and
foot, his father could bring into the field ; asked for prompt assistance,
as it was by the French intrigues this rebellion had wholly been
stirred up. He begged for five thousand men at the French king's
charges. He was paid with fair words. " The Dowager of Scotland
would fain have them holpen, and I am assuredly informed the Vidame
is nothing behind them, who, since his coming hither hath been very
highly and friendly entertained by the king." He hath had many
secret conferences with the king, the dowager, and the constable.
" The Vidame had come from a mission into Scotland." By another
letter, dated 27th April, 1551, it appears " that the Scottish queen's
departure * * * * was again delayed, and some thought the
occasion thereof was some fancy the French king hath to some of he r
train." f
In his next letter, 29th April, 1551, at Amboise, Sir John Masot-
informed the English Privy-council, that he had made diligent search
as to the news brought by a post from Scotland. " I have learned,'*
says he, " that there is come to light a practice (or at the least a great
suspicion thereof) for the poisoning of the young queen. He that took
the matter upon him is an archer of the guard, who is escaped into
Ireland. There is as much diligence made as can be devised for the
getting of him from thence ; and, as they say here, he is already stayed
to be sent back again to Scotland, and so into France. The old queen
is fallen suddenly sick upon the opening of this news unto her. By
whose means this thing should principally be moved, I cannot yet
understand, but it is thought that it was devised by some miscontent-
ed Scots. This is told me for a great secrecy ; whether it be true or
not your Lordships may know farther with time. * * The said post
hath brought word, that the Lady Fleming is brought to bed of a man
child, whereat our women do not much rejoice."
* The " old pelf was the king's mistress, Diana of Poictiers," a woman
at this time of fifty-three years. Mezeray, p. 623.
f Mason to the Privy-council, 27th April, 1551, Amboise.
Mason to the Privy-council, p. 309, May 10, 1551. From court.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
On the 10th of May, 1551, Sir John Mason, writing from court to
the English Privy-council, observes, "There hath been lately a great
consultation touching the marriage of the dauphin to the Scottish
queen, which the constable and the chancellor would in any case to
be deferred." " The Dowager of Scotland maketh all at this court
weary, from the high to the low such an importunate beggar is she
for herself. The king would fain be rid of her, and she as she pre-
tendeth would fain be gone. Marry, the hucking is about many mat-
ters, the king being desirous she should depart upon promise of the
sending thereof to her, and she desiring to have the same with her.
The sums are two hundred thousand francs of old debts, which is in
a manner all paid ; and besides that, fifty thousand francs more, partly
for the payment of other pensions accorded among the Scots, and partly
to remain at her disposition as she shall see cause, and fifty thousand
for her own pension for that year. Talking yesterday with the Re-
ceiver-general of Bretagne, of Scottish matters, he told me wishing
that Scotland were in a fish-pool that out of his receipt and of the
receipt of Guienne, there had been sent thither since the beginning of
the wars, nineteen hundred thousand francs : how much had passed
otherwise he knew not," p. 312. On the 19th May, Mason alludes to
the French intrigues in Ireland. * * "I saw," says he, "yesterday,
a letter sent from Rome to an Italian in this court, wherein was
written, that the Bishop of Armachan, as he calleth himself, which is
the blind Scot that lately passed this way, is thoroughly and very well
despatched touching the matters of Ireland." It appears by a sub-
sequent letter of June llth, that the "blind Scot," the Bishop of
Armagh, had departed with his despatch towards Ireland. The last
letter in this valuable volume of Sir John Mason's Correspondence, is
dated July 20th, 1551.
Sir William Pickering, and soon after him Sir Nicholas Wotton,
succeeded Mason as ambassadors at the French court, and their let-
ters, which are preserved in the French Correspondence of the State-
paper Office, vol. vi., contain many interesting illustrations, not only
of the politics of France and England, but of the condition of Scotland
and of Ireland during the last years of Edward and the commencement
of the reign of Mary. Indeed, I.might rather say, they illustrate the
history of Europe ; for it was the business of the English ambassador
at the court of France, to have his agents or spies in Spain, Italy,
and the Netherlands, and to transmit to the sovereign, the prime mi-
nister, and the Privy-council of England, reports of all the informa-
tion which he received.
Mary of Guise's interview with Edward the Sixth took place on the
4th of November, 1551, and she appears to have returned to Scotland
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 377
about the 24th of the same month, as, in the books of the Lord High
Treasurer of Scotland, under the date 21st November, 1551, we find
an order directed to Sir Andrew Ker of Littledean, directing him to
send letters of proclamation to Jedburgh, Selkirk, Dunse, &c., charg-
ing the lords, lairds, and other gentlemen, to meet the queen at our
Lady Kirk of Steil, in their most honest manner, on the 24th November.
In a letter dated September 19, 1552, preserved in the French Corre-
spondence, we find a paper, entitled Secret Information of Thomas
Stukely, which details " a plan of the French king for the conquest
of England." First, he would order that the Scots should enter into
Northumberland with all their power ; then he himself would come
to Falmouth, and the Duke of Guise with another army to land at
Dartmouth. He would proclaim and restore the old mass, putting
the people to their full liberty as he doth in Scotland.
In a letter from Sir N. Wotton to the Privy-council, dated at Me-
lun, 28th December, 1553, he informs them, that the report of the
Queen of England's marriage with the Prince of Spain made the
French begin to speak of war with England ; and he adds, that the
French king had already despatched Monsieur D'Osell with the same
commission that he had on his former mission, and that he meant to
send after him the Vidame of Chartres with a certain number of
soldiers.
We find by a letter of Wotton's to the council, Melun, January 9,
1553-4, that the Queen of Scots now kept her table and lodging apart,
to show that she had come to her years to have the whole rule in her
own hands.
I shall conclude these short notices of the valuable matter which
may be found in the French Correspondence of the State-paper Office,
by the following letter of Wotton to the Lord Paget, privy-seal, and
Sir William Petre, knight, principal secretary. It is dated 1st March,
1556-7, and is written wholly in cipher, but fortunately the contem-
porary decipher accompanies it.
" My duty remembered to your honours. I have heretofore certi-
fied the queen's majesty, what good will this bearer, Kirkaudrie [Kir-
kaldy,] seemed to bear to her majesty, and to the realm of England,
and how little he is contented with the present state of Scotland, and
how desirous he is to see it delivered from the yoke of the Frenchmen,
and restored to their former liberty ; and also what offers he hath
divers times made to serve the queen's majesty the best he could.
Whereupon, although I have had no answer, yet forasmuch as he re-
turneth now into Scotland, and thereby hath occasion to pass through
England, I advised him to do that thing which I perceived he was
before of himself minded to do, that is to say, to visit you by the way:
378 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
thereby you may, by communication with him, the better understand
his mind ; * * and, in case you like him, appoint him how he is to
serve. Marry, this he earnestly requireth, that in case the queen's
highness shall think him meet to do her majesty's service, that yet,
nevertheless, his matters may pass only through ycur hands, for he
feareth greatly that, all the council being privy to it, it were not easy
to be kept secret, thereby he should stand in danger of his life.
" Now, in case you should ask me what I think of him, first I must
say, that I have had no acquaintance with him, but sith my coming
hither. Marry, by the communication I have had with him now and
then here, either he must be a very great and crafty dissembler, or
else he beareth no good will at all to the Frenchmen, and next unto
his own country he beareth a good mind to England.
" Marry, what service he shall be able to do now, he intending to
continue in Scotland, your wisdoms can better consider than I. For,
because, I trust he will declare at length unto you of the return of
his father and of Balnaves into Scotland, and for what purpose it is
thought they are revoked ; and also, that Melvin, who accused the
Bishop of Durham, is come hither, recommended to the French king
by the Dowager of Scotland's letters ; and of the arrival of the four
Scottish bands of horsemen, and of a plott [plan] of Berwick, which
the French king hath, howsomever he came by it ; and how these men
are nothing sorry for the Earl of Douglas's death ; and of a Scottish
physician married in London, named Durham, as I remember, who is
a spy for the French king and the Dowager of Scotland, and hath a
pension of her, three hundred crowns by the year, therefor ; and how
ill the Bishop of St Andrew's can away with the Frenchmen in Scot-
land ; and also of the arrival of one of the Landgrave of Hesse's sons
into the court here, and how he is made of, and how sorry they were
here for Marquis Albert's death ; and generally of such news as are
spoken of here in the court : I shall therefore the less need to unite
them at this time, but making here an end, &c., &c.
" Paris, 1st March, 1556-7."
In the following passage, which occurs in a letter of Wotton to the
queen, I find the first notice of the afterwards active and intriguing
Randolph.
" Postscripta. I have received," says he, "a letter from a scholar
of Paris named Thomas Randall, who writeth thus : ' Thomas Stafford
took his ship on Easter-day, at night. There are gone with him more
French than of our nation. He went in the Flower de Luce, whereof
is captain John Rybande, and another ship with him laden with artil-
lery.' Thus far writeth the said Randall. * * The voice is at
Dieppe, that they go into Scotland, which I believe not well."
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 379
We see here how soon Randolph began to show his talents as a
diplomatic spy.
No. VIII.
Cardan and the Bishop of St Andrew's, p. 56.
This celebrated and eccentric physician, who was brought to Scot-
land to cure the Scottish primate, gives us a few particulars of his
journey, in his amusing work "De Vita Propria." Unfortunately
he is very brief, and more communicative on the extent of his fees
than the state of the country. He calls the primate Amulthon (Hamil-
ton,) and declares, that after his case (a kind of periodic asthma) had
defied the skill of the physicians of the emperor, and the French king,
he made the bishop smack whole in twenty-four hours. " Intra xxiv.
horas nullo vel plane levi remedio liberabatur." He came to Edin-
burgh on the 3d of June, and remained till the 13th of September.
He returned to Italy, January, 1523.
His mode of cure, as described by Randolph in the following extract
from one of his letters to Cecil, [15th January, 1561-2, MS. State-
paper Office,] was not quite so simple as Cardan himself would have
us believe. He sinks the " young whelps, and hanging the poor pre-
late by the heels."
" I will be bold," says Randolph, "to trouble your honour a little
with a merry tale : Cardanus the Italian, took upon him the cure of
the Bishop of St Andrew's, in a disease that, to all other men, was
judged desperate and incurable. He practised upon him divers foreign
inventions : he hung him certain hours in the day by the heels, to
cause him to avoid at the mouth that the other ways nature could not
expel : he fed him many days with young whelps : he used him some-
times with extreme heats, and as many days with extreme colds.
Before his departure, he roundeth, for the space of six days, every
day, certain unknown words in his ears, and never used other medi-
cine after. It is said that at that time he did put a devil within him,
for that since that he hath been ever the better, and that this devil
was given him on credit but for nine years ; so that now the time is
near expired, that either he must go to hell with his devil, or fall
again into his old mischief, to poison the whole country with his false
practices."
380 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
No. IX.
Power and License of the Nobles in Scotland, p. 67.
In England, during the reigns of Henry the Eighth, Edward, Mary,
and Elizabeth, the power of the sovereign over the nobles, and the
influence of the wishes of the crown, was infinitely greater than in
Scotland, during the same period. In Scotland, the nobles lived in
what Sir Ralph Sadler denominates in his despatches, " a beastly
liberty." They reasoned and acted for themselves, they looked to
the course which they thought promised best for the country, or for
their own interest ; and the idea of following this, in opposition to
the commands of the crown, was familiar to them ; nay, not only
this, but they often contemplated the idea of compelling the sove-
reign to follow their wishes. The different feelings of the nobles in the
two countries are strongly marked in the following letter of Mr Tho-
mas Marty n to Mary queen of England, dated at Carlisle, llth
June, 1557. [MS. State-paper Office.]
After alluding to their conferences on the Borders, he goes on to
state a conversation between the Earls of Westmoreland and Cas-
sillis, in these terms : " My Lord of W. sayeth to th' Erie of Cas-
sillis in this wise : My Lord, I think it but folly for us to treat now
together, we having broken with France, and ye being French for
your lives : Nay, by the messe, quoth the Earl of Cassillis, I am no
more French than you are a Spaniard : Marry, quoth my Lord of
Westmoreland, as long as God shall preserve my master and mistress
together, I am, and shall be a Spaniard, to the utmost of my power :
By God, quoth the Earl of Cassillis, so shall not I be French : And I
told ye once, in my Lord your father's house, in King Henry the
Eighth his time, that we would die, every mother's son of us, rather
than be subjects until England : even the like will ye find us to keep
with France ; and I may tell you there are seven hundred Gascons
arrived at Dumbryton, more than we will be known to you of, which
were sent to serve in the Borders here ; but we would not let them
pass the river, and they, being allowed but three pence a-day, have so
scattered abroad, that three hundred of them be licked up by the
way : sic [such] is the favour that our menbeareth unto the French-
men here. My Lord of Durham telleth me that the Bishop of Ork-
ney ministered talk unto him to this effect, wishing in any wise res-
titution to be made of both parties equally, whereby the amity might
be preserved betwixt us, notwithstanding the French. Mr Makgill
told Mr Henmar there was no cause why they should break with us,
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 381
though we broke with France, for the emperor's wars with the French
empeacheth not our legal amity with the emperor. Likewise Mr
Carnegy gave me his faith as a Christian man, and honour of a Scot-
tish knight, that his mistress meant the like : marry, for saving his
oath, he added at the end, as far as we yet ken.'*
No. X.
Coalition between the Lord James and the Queen-dowager, p. 67.
Some new particulars regarding this coalition mentioned in the
text, may be gathered from a letter of Lord Wharton to the Lords of
the Council, [MS. State-paper Office, 14th Nov. 1557.] It gives an
account of a secret meeting which he had with William Kirkaldy of
Grange.
He (says Lord Wharton, alluding to Kirkaldy) saith, "that the Prior
of St Andrew's, who is accounted the wisest of the late king's base
sons, and one of the Council of Scotland, the Earl of Glencairn, and
the Bishop of Caithness, did agree to write the letters in the pacquet ;
and that the dowager is of council, and consenting therewith ; and
that she wrote her letters to Mr D'Osell, to cause Kirkaldy make devise
to send the letters to me, that they might pass in haste ; and that the
dowager's letter did meet D'Osell beside Dunbar, towards Edinburgh,
the 13th of this month. D'Osell returned [sent back] Kirkaldy, upon
the sight of the dowager's letter, with the pacquet forthwith, who
saith to me, it is the queen and D'OselPs device, and D'Osell very
earnest therewith, with many words that he hath given to Kirkaldy
of the great displeasure that the queen and D'Osell beareth, especially
against the Duke Chastelherault and the Earl of Huntley, and against
others whom D'Osell nameth the feeble and false noblemen of Scotland.
Amongst others, he said, when their army retired, and their ordnance
was to be carried on the water, D'Osell sent word to the Duke that
he would see the ordnance returned over the water again, and that it
might be put in safety. The messengers said to the Duke that D'Osell
was angry with their retire, and breach of their promise, and also not
regarding the safety of their ordnance. The Duke's answer was, let
Monsieur D'Osell gang by his mind an he will ; for as we, the noble-
men of Scotland, have determined and written to the queen, so will
we do, and let him look to his own charge : and so was D'Osell left.
Dpon which words, and their manner of dealing, D'Osell will seek
their displeasure by all the ways and means he can, and so will the
dowager do also, as Kirkaldy saith.
" In talk with him, I said it was a great matter to enterprise to
.382 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
bring into that realm my Lady Margaret Lennox, and my Lord her
husband that it required power of noblemen, with others, and houses
of strength. He said, the coming of my lady to the dowager, with
their friends there, would order that matter ; and said, they might
first have the castle of Tantallon, which is in the keeping of the Laird
of Craigmillar, and at the dowager's order. He speaketh liberally that
they would have many friends, and also have on their side the authority
that now is. This matter, as I think in my poor opinion, may be
wrought for my Lady Margaret and my Lord of Lennox, and to con-
tinue the displeasure now standing amongst the greatest of that
realm."
Kirkaldy goes on to propose a truce, as introductory to a peace ;
Wharton answered, the Scots only pretended an anxiety for a truce
when it suited themselves, and broke it when they pleased ; but should
it be entertained, whom would he propose to send ? Kirkaldy said,
the Lord Seton, Captain Sarlabarosse, who had been one before, the
Laird of Craigmillar, and the young Laird of Lethington, or two of
them. These are the dowager's, and great with her. He said Scot-
land would agree to an abstinence for twenty days or for two months,
but they must have a license for an especial man to pass through
England, and communicate with the French king. Wharton asked
the news. He said, on Sunday last, 7th November, arrived a ship at
Leith, with letters and money from the French king. He had seen
a letter from the French king to D'Osell, in which it was said he should
have all his desires of men and money. That four ensigns, twelve
hundred foot, and two hundred horse, were despatched to come into
Scotland by the West Seas, and daily looked for.
It is not unimportant to notice (on account of the light it throws
on the character of the Lord James, afterwards the Regent Moray)
that we here find him, Kirkaldy of Grange, Glencairn, and the Bishop
of Caithness, acting with the queen-dowager against Huntley, Chastel-
herault, and Argyle. We find them receiving money from the French
king, and stipulating for the presence of a French army in Scotland.
Kirkaldy has generally been represented as a mirror of chivalry : con-
sistency certainly was not his forte. In a letter of Wotton, (see supra,
p. 377,) dated 1st March, 1556-7, he is determined on putting down
all French influence in Scotland ; here we find him, nine months after,
inviting a French army into that country, and subsequently, in 1559,
he returned to his first opinion. [See this vol. pp. 110, 111.]
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 333
No. XI.
Letters and Papers of Knox.
Not a few original letters of Knox are preserved in the State-paper
Office, besides various public papers in his handwriting, and evidently
his composition. Of these, some appear in his History, but often very
incorrectly printed, many words being altered, and parts entirely
omitted. Others are to be found in the MS. Calderwood, in the
British Museum. The letter quoted p. 11 8, and addressed to Percy,
dated 1st July, 1559, which has not been printed, commences thus :
" The mighty comfort of the Holy Ghost for salutation. Right
honourable, having the opportunity of this bearer unsuspect, I thought
good to require of you such friendship, as that, from time to time,
conference and knowledge might be betwixt us ; I mean not myself
and you, but betwixt the faithful of both these realms, to the end that
inconveniences pretended against both, may, by God's grace and mighty
power, be avoided. Your faithful friend, Mr Kirkaldy, hath reported
to me your gentle behaviour and faithful fidelity in all things lawful,
honest, and godly. Continue this, and God, by you, shall work more
than now appeareth." Then follows the sentence quoted in this vol.
p. 118, after which he concludes in these words " but all this had I
rather communicate face to face, than commit to paper and ink. This
other letter I have direct to Mr Secretary, which, if your honour will
cause to be delivered, I suppose you shall not offend him. Other
things I have, which now I cannot write for continual trouble hanging
on my wicked carcass, by reason of this tumult raised against Christ
Jesus in his [infancy.] I pray you, seek to know the mind of the
queen, and of the council, touching our support if we be pursued by
an army of Frenchmen ; and let me be assured by advertisement rea-
sonably. And thus, committing you to the protection of the Omnipo-
tent, I most heartily desire you to approve my love enterprise
and enterprise not altogether without deliberation, as the troubles of
these times do suffer.
" Yours to command in Godliness,
"JOHN KNOX.
" From Edinburgh the 1st of July, 1559. "
Knox's letter to Cecil, dated 12th July, 1559, is preserved in the
State-paper Office in the original. It enclosed his celebrated apology
to Elizabeth, and has been printed incorrectly, and in a garbled state,
in his History, p. 224. The postscript of the same letter, which has
not been printed, is as follows :
384 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
" After the scribbling of these former lines, came Mr Whitlaw, of
whom, after conference, I understood the match in which I have
laboured ever since the death of King Edward, now to be opened unto
you : God grant you and others wisdom with humility. Immediately
after Mr Whitlaw, came a servant from Sir Harry Percy to Mr
Kirkaldy, who, departing from us at Edinburgh to speak the said Sir
Harry, brought news, to the hearts of all joyful, whensoever they shall
be divulgat. It was thought expedient to communicate the matter
only with those that are strongest, till farther knowledge of the queen's
majesty's good mind towards this action. We doubt not the good
mind of the whole Congregation, which is great, as I doubt not but
by others you will understand ; but it is not thought expedient that
so weighty a matter be untimeously disclosed. True and faithful
preachers in the north parts cannot but greatly advance this cause.
If a learned and godly man might be appointed to Berwick, with
license also to preach within Scotland, I doubt not but to obtain unto
him the hands of the most part of the gentlemen of the east Borders.
Advert one thing, sir, that if the hearts of the borderers of both parts
can be united together in God's fear, our victory shall be easy. The
fear of no man, I trust, this day to cause any of those that have pro-
fessed themselves enemies to superstition within Scotland, to lift their
hand against England, so long as it will abide in the purity of Christ's
doctrine. Continual labours oppressing me, (most unable for the
same,) I am compelled to end with imperfection. The source of all
wisdom rule your heart to the end.
" So much I reverence your judgment, that I will ye first see my
letter, or ye deliver it, and therefore I send it open. Read and pre-
sent it if ye think meet."
At the same time that the Lords of the Congregation addressed to
Cecil the letter mentioned in the text, pp. 121, 122, as written and com-
posed by Knox, the same indefatigable man prepared for them a letter
to the queen. It is dated Edinburgh, 19th July, 1559, and as it has
never been printed, I subjoin it here from the original, in the State-
paper Office, and in Knox's handwriting, and signed by the principal
leaders of the Congregation.
LORDS OF THE CONGREGATION TO QUEEN ELIZABETH.
" Right mighty, right high, and right excellent princess, with our
most humill commendations unto your majesty. Albeit that hereto-
fore divers men have wished, and as occasion hath offered prudent
men have devised, a perpetual amity betwixt the inhabitants of these
our two realms ; and yet that no good success hath to this day ensued
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 385
of such travel and labours taken, yet cannot we, the professors of
Christ Jesus in this realm of Scotland, cease to be suitors unto your
grace, and unto your grace's well advised council, to have eye to this
our present estate. We have enterprised to enter in battle against
the devil, against idolatry, and against that sort of men, who, before
abusing, as well us as our princes, made us enemies to our friends,
and the maintainers of strangers, of whom we now look [for] nothing
but utter subversion of our commonwealth. If in this battle we shall
be overthrown, (as that we stand in great danger as well by domes-
tical enemies, as by the great preparation which we hear to be sent
against us by France,),we fear that our ruin shall be but an increase
to a greater cruelty. And therefore we are compelled to seek remedy
against such tyranny, by all such lawful means as God shall offer.
And knowing your grace to have enterprised like reformation of reli-
gion, we could not cease to require and crave of your grace, of your
council, subjects, and realm, such support in this our present danger,
as may to us be comfortable, and may declare your grace and council
unfeignedly to thrust [thirst] the advancement of Christ Jesus, [and]
of his glorious gospel : and whatsoever your grace and council can
prudently devise, and reasonably require of us again for a perpetual
amity to stand betwixt the two realms, shall, upon our parts, neither
be denied, neither (God willing) in any point be violated, as at more
length we have declared in a letter written to your majesty's secretary,
Mr Cecil.
" Right mighty, right high, and right excellent princess, we pray
Almighty God to have your grace in his eternal tuition, and to grant
you prosperous success in all your godly proceedings, to the glory of
his name, and to the comfort of all those which earnestly thrust the
increase of the kingdom of Christ Jesus.
"From Edinburgh, the 19th of July,
" By your grace's most humble and faithful friends,
"ARCHD. ERGYLL.
"ALEXANDER GLENCAIRN.
" JAMES SANCTANDROS.
" PATRICK RUTHVEN.
" ROBERT BOYD.
" ANDRO OCHILTRE."
The proclamation, published by the Congregation on the 25th July,
1559, alluded to in this volume, p. 125, is an important document,
and has never been printed. It is as follows :
" Apud Edinburgh, 25th July, Anno 1559.
" Forasmuch as the Lords of Congregation and Secret Council
that has remained in this town (this sum time) bygane, are now to
VOL. VI. 2 B
386 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
apart forth of the same, upon compromitt made betwixt them and
the lords sent from the queen's grace regent, containing these heads :
That no idolatry shall be erected where it is already suppressed. And
that no member of the Congregation shall be troubled for religion, or
any other cause dependent thereupon, in body, lands, or goods ; and
that their minister shall have full liberty not only to preach, but also
to ministrate the sacraments, publicly and privately as they think
good, without trouble or impediment to be made to them by the queen,
or any other, openly or quietly. And also that no band or bands
of men of war, French, Scots, or others, shall be laid, nor remain
within the town of Edinburgh. Therefore the said Lords of Congre-
gation has thought good to notify the said, by this present proclama-
tion, to all whom effeirs, and especially to their brethren of the
Congregation now within this town ; certifiand them, and promising
faithfully, if any of the foresaid points be violated or broken, that the
said Lords of the Congregation will in that case fortify, concur, and
assist with their whole power and substance, as they have done in
times bygane, to the reformation thereof, supporting of their brethren,
relieving of every member of the true Congregation that shall be open
to be invaded or molested, and to the furthering of God's glory, up-
on their honours, and as they will answer therefor in presence of
Eternal God.
"Proclaimed by voice of trumpet at the market cross of Edinburgh,
the day aforesaid."*
Not only did the Lords of the Congregation, as stated in this volume,
(p. 131) address their remonstrances to Cecil, but Knox directed to
the same minister a vigorous letter, dated at St Andrew's, 15th Aug.,
1559. It is garbled, and changed in his History, but the passages I
have given in this volume, pp. 136, 137, are taken from the original
in the State-paper Office. On the 23d of August, 1559, he ad-
dressed the following letter to Sir James Crofts, under the fictitious
name of John Sinclear. It is preserved in the State-paper Office, and
endorsed, in Cecil's hand-writing, " Mr Knox."
" Immediately upon the receipt of your letters, right worshipful, I
despatched one to the Lords, from whom I doubt not ye shall receive
answer according to your desire, with convenient expedition. The
queen-regent here, as before I have written unto you, is marvellous
busy in assembling all that she can. She hath addressed ordnance,
and other munition, to Stirling. She hath corrupted, as is suspected,
the Lord Erskine, captain of the castle of Edinburgh, and hopeth to
receive it ; but that will not so much hurt us as our enemies suppose,
* This Paper, which is in the State-paper Office, is endorsed in Cecil's
hand, 25th July, apud Edinburgh. Proclamation of the Congregation.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 387
if all other things be prudently foreseen. She [breatheth] nothing but
treason and revolt from her daughter's authority ; but men begin to
foresee somewhat more than they did not long ago. I wrote unto you
before in favours of my [wife,] beseeching you yet eftsones to grant
her free and ready passage ; for my wicked carcass, now presently
labouring in the fevers, needeth her service. I beseech you to grant
unto the other man that cometh for my wife, passport to repair to-
wards her for her better conducting. The spirit of all wisdom rule
your heart, in the true fear of God to the end. From Londye, in Fife,
the 23d of August, 1559.
"Yours to power,
" JOHN SINCLEAR.
fc Read, write, and interpret " In the midst of the exess."
all to the best. (exies.) *
No. XII.
Sir Ralph Sadler's Instructions) p. 129.
These Instructions mentioned in this volume, are preserved in the
State-paper Office, and are endorsed in Cecil's hand, " 8th August,
1559, Sir Ralff Saddler." They are important in the strong light they
t : nrow upon Elizabeth's policy towards Scotland ; and, as they have not
been printed, I subjoin them here.
" MEMORIAL OP THINGS TO BE IMPARTED TO THE QUEEN'S MAJESTY
THE MATTER OF MR SADLER'S.
" First. That he understand how the proceedings there differ from
our intelligences Ijere, and thereafter to proceed either the quicklier
or the slower.
" Item. The principal scope shall be to nourish the faction betwixt
the Scots and the French, so that the French may be better occupied
with them, and less busy with England. The means whereby may
be those as follow, beside such as Mr Sadler of himself shall think
meet. First, to provoke all such as have stirred in the last assem-
bly, to require the queen-regent to perform her promise, both for re-
storing of religion, and sending away the Frenchmen, and to persuade
them, that although they may be reconciled with promises or rewards
yet shall they never be trusted by the Frenchmen.
" Item. To procure that the Duke may, for preservation of the
expectant interest which he hath to the crown, if God call the young
* The exies the ague ; Jamieson's Supplement.
388 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
queen before she have issue, instantly withstand the governance of that
realm by any other than by the blood of Scotland : like as the King
of Spain, being husband to the Queen of England, committed no
charge of any manner of office, spiritual or temporal, to any stranger ;
neither doth he otherwise nor his father before him, in his countries
of Flanders, Brabant, or any other, but suffereth them to be governed
wholly by their own nation. In this point, if the Duke mean to pre-
serve his title, ought he to be earnest ; for otherwise he may be as-
sured that the French, under pretence of subduing of religion, will
also subdue the realm, and exstirpe his house.
" Item. If this may be compassed, then may the nobility of Scot-
land also require of their queen, that, to avoid such mortal wars and
bloodshed as hath been betwixt England and Scotland, there might
be a perpetual peace made betwixt both these realms, so as no inva-
sions should be made by either of them by their frontiers, and for
the answer of an objection which may be made to disturb this purpose,
it may be well said, that although the Scottish queen do falsely pre-
tend title to the crown of England, yet doth she it but as descended
from the blood of England, that is to say, of the body of King Henry
the Seventh, whereunto none of Scotland either doth or can make pre-
tence, and therefore none -ought to be abused by any of such persuasion.
" Item. The Duke may pretend as good cause to arrest Monsieur
D'Oysell or some other of the French, as for answering for his two sons,
the earl, and the L. David, as the French have done, in driving away
the one and imprisoning the other, being neither of them his subjects
nor offenders against him.
" Item. It shall do well to explore the very truth whether the
Lord James do mean any enterprise towards the crown of Scotland
for himself or no ; and if he do, and the Duke be found very cold in
his own causes, it shall not be amiss to let the Lord James follow his
own device therein, without dissuading or persuading him anything
therein.
" Item. Finally, if he shall find any disposition in any of them to
rid away the French there, he may well accelerate the same, with
this persuasion, that if they tarry until the aid come out of France,
they shall find these to abide longer than they would."
No. XIII.
Intelligence from Scotland, p. 149.
The paper quoted in this volume, under the title " Intelligence
out of Scotland," contains the Journal of one of Cecil's numerous spies.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 389
It is dated and marked with his own hand ; and although its infor-
mation is not implicitly to be relied on, it furnishes us with some curi-
ous details.
INTELLIGENCE OUT OF SCOTLAND, THE lOra NOVEMBER, 1559.
First, the Earl Bothwell, the Lord Borthwick, and the Lord Seaton,
are with the queen-dowager of Scotland, and taketh a plain part with
her, and no other noblemen of Scotland. All the rest of the noblemen
of Scotland taketh part with the Governor of Scotland.
" The governor's eldest son, the Earls of Argyle, Huntley, Glencairn,
the Lord Revill [Ruthven,] the Prior of St Andrew's, the Master of
Maxwell, the Lord of Livingston [Lethington,] are made regents of
the realm of Scotland by the Congregation, to have the governance
of the same realm until they have a righteous prince amongst them ;
the which regents with their trains came to Edinburgh the 23d day
of October last with twelve thousand men with them, and sat in coun-
cil, and there deprived the said queen-dowager of all rule in Scotland,
for that she did not keep promises with them, nor follow the counsel
of the nobility of Scotland for the weal of the realm and the liberty
of the same.
" At the coming of the said lords to Edinburgh, the queen with her
party, being three thousand French and four hundred Scots, removed
to Leith.
" The last of October last past, in the night, the Earl Bothwell,
accompanied with twenty-four men, met the Lord of Ormiston accom-
panied with six men, about Haddington, and there took from him six
thousand crowns sterling, which the said lord was carrying to the
governor, and hurt the same lord upon the face with a sword sore ;
that he lieth upon the same at his house of Ormiston.
" The advertisements of the taking of the same money came to the
governor, who sent his eldest son, the Master of Maxwell, the prior of
St Andrew's, and others, being seven hundred men or thereabout, to
the castle of Crichton, the Earl BothwelPs chief house, distant from
Edinburgh eight miles, who entered into the same, and put garrison
into it upon Allhallows-day, and lay that night there, and came to
Edinburgh on the morrow.
" Upon Allhallows-day, after the riding forth of the said governor,
his son, and the others, the same was declared to the queen by a
servant of the Bishop of Dumblain, and immediately after the same
declaration, about one thousand five hundred French and Scotsmen,
issued out of Leith, and skirmished with about 1 1 c. [eleven hundred]
Scotsmen that had laid two pieces of great ordnance upon a little hill
beside Holyrood House, to shoot at Leith, and the Frenchmen W.PII
390 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
the one piece, and the other was bursted. And the same Frenchmen
entered into Canongate, and spoiled the same to the port of the town,
and slew twenty-one Scotsmen and three women ; and six Frenchmen
were slain at the same skirmish. And forty men of arms of France
rode in at the Port, and went almost to the Tron, where they were
put back by the governor and his party. The castle of Edinburgh
shot two cannons at the French party at the said skirmish, for the
which the queen reproved the Lord Erskine, who made answer, that
he would shoot at any person that went about to annoy the town of
Edinburgh.
" The 3d of November present, the governor sent his son and the
Master of Maxwell with three hundred horsemen to Crichton castle,
who at their arrival there, sent to the Earl Bothwell, being at the castle
of Borthwick, and willed him to come and take part with the lords,
which he refused to do; and then the governor's son spoiled the castle
of Crichton, and had the spoil and all his evidents to the governor.
" The 4th November aforesaid, the queen sent to the lords, and
moved them to quietness, saying, she would keep all promises with
them, if they would do the like ; whereunto they would not agree,
saying, they had found her so false and unnatural, that they would
never trust her, nor have to do with her nor France but by the
sword.
" The 6th November instant, the Congregation and the French
skirmished together, at which was slain Alexander Halyburton,
brother to the tutor of Pitcur, one of the best captains of Scotland,
and thirty footmen of Scotland, and divers taken ; and of the French
six or seven slain, and six taken. The Lords of Scotland perceiving
that their skirmishes chanced not well with them, and that they were
not in a perfect readiness for the wars, put all the ordnance in Edin-
burgh castle upon band of the Lord Erskine, to have the same safely
delivered to them again, and the said 6th of November about midnight
removed to Lithgow, where they remained in consultation and pre-
paring for the wars, and will set up a coin, saying they shall coyne
a good part of their plate for maintenance of the word of God, and
the wealth of Scotland.
" The morrow next after, being the 7th of November, the queen
removed to Edinburgh about ten of the clock before noon, where she
remaineth, having all things there at her will ; the most part of the
inhabitants of Edinburgh fled out of the town with bag and baggage
before her coming hither, and put a great part of their best stuff in
Edinburgh castle for the safety thereof.
"The Bishops of St Andrew's and Glasgow are with the queen, and
the Bishops of the Out Isles and Galloway with the Lords and Con-
gregation."
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 391
No. XIV.
Treaty of Berwick, p. 158.
At the time of the Treaty of Berwick, described in this volume,
Cecil sent queries to the Scottish lords, to which he required them
to make definite answers. The following paper, preserved in the
State-paper Office, contains these questions and the replies. It is
endorsed in Cecil's hand, " 20th February 1559," and is in the hand-
writing of Sir R. Sadler.
CERTAIN QUESTIONS PROPONED TO THE LORDS OF SCOTLAND,
ANSWERED AND RESOLVED BY THEM.*
1. Whether they be able of themselves to resist the French power,
and expel them out of Scotland ?
Answer. In respect of the fortresses which the French occupied
in the time the queen-dowager bare rule, and yet do possess, we are
not able without the queen's majesty's support to expel them, seeing
the whole body of the realm is not as yet united.
Question. What aid then is required ?
Answer. They require England to join with Scotland in league to
expel these their enemies, and promise on their part to unite with
England at all times against her enemies, and refer the specialty of
the aid to herself.
Question. What power, horse and foot, can they levy, and how soon?
Answer. We would be able to bring five thousand men into the
field, of which two thousand should watch and ward in company with
the English soldiers according to the rate of their number, and with
the other three thousand we shall keep the country in obedience, and
make them be sure on all sides, night and day ; that they shall need
to attend upon nothing, saving the French within the fort, and we
shall meet their army at Acheson's Haven, the 25th day of March
next coming.
Question. How long they be able to abide and continue in the field?
Answer. The whole nobility and landed men, with their house-
holds, shall remain continually, so long as the queen's majesty's power
shall remain, how long soever it be, and the remanent number the
space of twenty days after the meeting and joining of both the armies,
upon their own charges, and at the end of the said twenty days, shall
have in readiness two thousand footmen, or thereby, to receive wages
of the queen's majesty, and continue so long as need shall be, and three
* Scots Correspondence, 20th February, 1559.
392 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
or four hundred light horsemen,if it be thought convenient in like man-
ner to receive wages. And as to the number of the nobility, landed
men, and their households, which shall remain after the said twenty
days, it shall be declared unto you before the end of the said twenty
days, that you may be assured what you shall trust to.
Question. What ordnance for battery, and what munition can they
bring ?
Answer. It is not unknown to you that all the artillery and mu-
nition of Scotland is in the hands of the queen and the French, and
[in] the strengths that are not in our hands.
Question. What carriages can they furnish for the transport of great
ordnance ?
Answer. The artillery and draught gear being brought to Acheson's
Haven by sea, the lack of carriage horses supplied from thence to Leith.
Question. What number of pioneers they can help us with ?
Answer. We believe, assuredly, that on the queen's majesty's
charges, we shall levy three or four hundred, or more if need be.
Question. What necessaries they have for scaling and assaulting
of forts ?
Ansicer. They have none in store, but whatsoever is in the country
will be at their command ; and there is wood and broom enough
within four miles of Leith.
Question. How they can furnish the army with victuals for horse
and men ?
Answer. Plenty of oats for horses ; as to forage, they cannot say
much till they see how far the country is destroyed ; as to men, com-
missaries with a convenient sum of money should be sent into Scotland,
to buy up victuals, of which there will be plenty. There is arrested
in merchants' hands in Dundee, two hundred tuns of wine, which will
be delivered into the commissaries' hands for thirty-four pounds Scot-
tish the tun, viz., eight pounds ten shillings sterling.
Question. Where and when their powerand ours shall join together I
Answer. It shall be the greatest ease for us to meet you in some
part of Lothian where ye think good, but always we reserve that to
your discretion.
Question. Are they able to take and occupy Edinburgh ? What
as to the Lord Erskine 1
Answer. It is too great a hazard to attempt Edinburgh before the
joining of the armies, because we doubt the French, as desperate men,
will enterprise a battle. As to Lord Erskine, they will promise no-
thing assuredly, but hope he will be no enemy.
Question. How the borderers in Scotland may be reduced to take
part with the said lords in this cause \
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 393
Answer. They are labouring presently, and are in good hope to
reduce the most part of them thereto ; for the obstinate they will take
order as you may advise.
Question. What number of ships for the wars ?
Answer. No great number at their command, but there are some
which will make forth against the French at their own adventure.
Question. Where they shall be able to lodge in towns together,
six hundred demi-lances and six hundred light horsemen ?
Answer. They shall be placed in Edinburgh, if it may be had, fail-
ing thereof, in towns thereabouts, the most commodious to be left to
them in all sorts.
Question. Where we may best land our artillery and munition ?
Answer. At Acheson's Haven ; there is good hard ground from
thence to Leith.
No. XV.
Letters of the Lord James, afterwards Regent Moray.*
THE LORD JAMES ST ANDREW'S TO SIR WILLIAM OSCIL.
" Right Honourable Sir After all loving commendation. Albeit
1 have in a general letter with my brethren presently written unto
you, and as the present bearer, my good friend, may sufficiently in-
struct you of all things needful, yet have I thought necessary, to gratify
in one part, your good mind at all times shown not only towards our
common cause, but also in particular towards me, which, as it is in
all sorts undeserved on my side, so am I the more affected unto you
therefor, which, God willing, you shall apperceive indeed, if ever the
goodness of God shall grant, the good opinion and expectation that
causeless ye have conceived of me, shall come to good maturity and
fruit God of his mercy grant it may. And as I have found this your
good mind unrequired, having found it, I am bold to desire you most
earnestly to continue in the same, as well towards the weal of our
common cause as of myself, as I persuade myself ye will ; and to that
effect, I have my good friend the young Laird of Lethington, bearer
hereof, and his proceedings towards the premises, most heartily re-
commended him unto your honour's wisdom and good council, whom
God mot prosper to his glory. At Sanct Andrew's, the 15th day of
November, 1559.
" By your assured friend,
"JAMES SANCTAND."f
* Preserved in State-paper Office.
f MS. Letter, State- paper Office, endorsed by Cecil, Lord James St An-
drew's, 15th Nov. 1559.
394 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
THE LORD JAMES TO THE DUKE OF NORFOLK.
"Please your grace, after my departing from Berwick, I safely
arrived in Fife, and found my Lord of Arran in St Andrew's, ready
to depart towards my Lord of Huntley in St Johnston, with whom I
departed towards him, and after mutual conference, has found him to
see throughout thir present matters, and willing to show himself to
the furtherance of the same at this present, which I suppose he testi-
fies by his writings to the queen's majesty, and also to Mr Cecil with
his own servant, who is also instructed with credit, and if it shall
please your grace, in my opinion these writings .should be kept in
store for all adventures. Since my returning from my Lord of Huntley,
which was the 1st of this instant, I have been continually travelling
in the towns here upon the sea coast for preparation of victuals against
the arrival of the commissaries, and also upon the preparation of our
folks, assuring ourselves of meeting upon che day appointed. And in
case any let come on your side, (as God forbid,) it will please your
grace to make us an advertisement, because we look for none, and so
commits your grace to the protection of the Eternal. At Pittenweem,
the 8th March, 1559.
" By your grace to command,
" JAMES STEWART."
LORD JAMES TO SECRETARY CECIL.
" After most hearty commendation ; as travelling with my Lord
Duke's Grace of Norfolk, and all times before, I have found the
favour of God prospering his work in the hands of his servants, even
so perceive I still and sensyne his blessing always to continue there-
with. My Lord of Huntley, with a great part of the north, as I look
for, will keep the affixed [time] betwixt my Lord Duke and us,
whereof I trust you shall be certified by his own writing, which I
would wish were kept in store. And further, I hope in God there
shall be very few of the nobility that shall not join them at this time ;
and if God shall grant us good luck and success in this journey, I am
persuaded the matter that all godly men so long have desired, and
wise men travelled to bring to pass, shall be, by the tender mercy of
God, most happily achieved, to the great comfort of us, and the great
felicity of the ages to come ; and seeing it cometh near the birth, let
no earnest labourer (as you are) faint in the Lord's work ; who mot
prosper the same in your hands. From Pittenweem, the 8th of
March, 1559.
"By your assured good friend,
" JAMES STEWART."
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 395
No. XVI.
Cliaracter of the Earl of Huntley, pp. 1 60, 1 6 1 .
This nobleman, perhaps the most powerful baron in Scotland, has
been somewhat undeservedly lauded. Like his brethren, he was
crafty, selfish, and ambitious. The following letter from his brother,
the Bishop of Caithness, and the interesting paper which follows it,
disclose his secret transactions with the Lords of the Congregation,
and throw light on the severity with which he was afterwards treated
by Mary.
LETTER FROM A. GORDON TO THE DUKE OF NORFOLK.
" After hearty commendations to your grace, it will please you to
wit, that in consideration of the relation made by the queen-dowager
to divers of your grace's countrymen, quha spak her in the castle of
Edinburgh, that my lord my brother, the Earl of Huntley, would by
no way assist or concur with us in defence of this our common and
godly action, I will be so bold, with your grace's pardon, to assure
you of the contrary. Notwithstanding the great policy and craft used
by the said queen-dowager to empesche the same, who has done utter
diligence to break the whole nobility of his country against him, which
was the principal and chiefest occasion of his tarry ; who beis un-
failand in our camp, the 20th or 21st of this present April, to assist
and set forward these our proceedings and godly union, at the utter-
most of his power.*
" 18th April, 1560, Edinburgh."
The second paper to which I allude is endorsed by Randall, THE
REQUESTS OF THE EARL OF HUNTLEY TO THE LORDS, and dated in
Cecil's hand- writing, part of which is torn away, 18th April, 1560.
" Forsomuch as by the labour, persuasions, and suborning of the
French part, and others their favourers and part takers within this
realm, there is a con[tract] and league mad,e by their means among
a great number of the nobles of the north parts of this realm, certain
clans, and islemen of the same, that they shall maintain, and with
their power extreme defend, the auld manner of religion, and French
authority within this realm ; nothingless to the resistance of my Lord
Duke's grace, and others his part takers, nor for invading of me, my
* Endorsed by Cecil, Bishop of Athens to the Duke of Norfolk.
396 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
friends, and part takers, and destroying of our rowmes that shall assist
with his grace, of the which they have begun one part already.
Wherefore, the said Earl of Huntley, since he adventures his body,
life, rents, and lands, with his whole friends that will do for him,
desires that my Lord Duke, and others the noblemen assisters to his
grace's proceedings, make him, his friends and part takers, an assured
promise under their hand writs to their maintenance in their lives,
rents, lands, and possessions. And that, by his grace and them, the
said earl and his assisters might have the queen's majesty of Eng-
land's aid and support when he shall [require] the same, as well for
to defend their incursions and pursuits, as to pursue them and their
rowmes that will not concur with him to the Duke's grace's effect,
and the maintaining the liberty of this realm, and commonweal thereof,
so far as we are within the north parts of the Mount.
" Item. Desires in like manner, that where he understands the
Duke's grace with his council is already disponing to sundry men
certain rowmes in these north parts, and to them in special which
shall be found of the said confederacy ; that in that respect his grace,
nor his council and part takers, shall dispone nothing of the lands and
duties of the kirk escheats, and casualties of thir parts, but to such as
shall be his concurrents, and join themselves with him to the forth-
setting of the action of the common weal, or at the least, without his
[lordship's] consent and advice, and that within the shires of Aber-
deen, Banff, Moray, Nairn, and Inverness.
* Item. Because it is not unknown his lordship and his predecessors
to have been, under his sovereign, the man to have had the supreme au-
thority in the north in time by past, and power given to them by their
sovereigns for the time, desires to have suchlike power and authority as
before times, with assistance and maintenance of his grace and his as-
sisters both of Scotland and England, so that not only shall any of his
own pretend to disobey or ly aback in this action, but by the said power
assistance, and authority, he may inbring them with the rest of their
adherents, so that the liberty and common weal of this poor realm
might be more easily preserved, and he and his part takers may,
through such authority and help, the more heartily concur and ware
their lives, and hazard their heritages in the said action : And who
shall be required by the Duke, and the lords his grace's assisters, to
concur in the forthsetting of the said action, and refuses the same,
and the rest at his grace's command, shall be pursued by the said Earl
of Huntley in that case ; their escheats and rowmes to be disponed to
him and such other gentlemen and barons that serves with him."
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 397
THE LORDS' ANSWER, TO THE EARL OF HUNTLEY.*
To the 1st. The answer made is, " That by the band entered into
by the Congregation, they are bound mutually to defend each other ;
and if Hantley joins them, he will participate in this obligation and
enjoy the benefit."
To the 2d. " Huntley has seen the copy of the contract between
them and the queen's majesty, by which she obliges herself to support
and defend them ; and if Huntley joins them, he will be included in
the benefit of this contract as one of themselves."
Where in the second article it is alleged that the said earl under-
stands they are already disponing certain rowmes to sundry men in
the north parts, * * it is answered, " That the lords have made no
disposition of anything to any persons, but only constitute factours,
****** and no factours made of any row T mes in these parts ;
and his lordship coming and adjoining him to the said lords, no dis-
position of factorie shall be made by [contrary to] his advice."
To the 3d. That he have the same authority as his predecessors
have had before him in the north parts, it is answered " That the
lords as yet have never taken upon them the disposition of escheats
or office of lieutenandrie, fearing, if they icould pretend any such matter,
it icould be sinisterly interpreted^ and the adversaries would calumniate
them as usurpers of our sovereign's authority. Nevertheless, perceiving
my Lord of Huntley's good affection to haste a moyen, whereby all
men may be adjoined to this cause, they are content to grant to my
lord at his coming hither to them, all and whatsoever things may so
further the cause that he himself will think that they may do, remain-
ing obedient subjects, and reserving their obedience to their sovereign ;
and for that they may see he requires this only for furtherance of the
common cause, and not for any commodity, they will in this article
follow his good advice and counsel after his coming. At which time,
in this as in all others, he shall be satisfied. "
No. XVII.
An Irish Ambassador in 1560.
The following extract from a letter addressed by Randolph to Cecil,
is amusing, in the vivid portrait it gives us of O'Neil's ambassador ;
and in showing also that the Irish language was written and under-
stood by the inhabitants of the north of Scotland as late, at least, as
August 25, 1560, the date of this letter. It is preserved in the State-
paper Office.
* Scots Correspondence, dated m Cecil's hand, 18th April, 15GO.
398 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
" May it please you to understand, that the 1 6th of this present,
there came to the Earl of Argyle, out of Ireland, an ambassador from
O'Neil. What was his message, and effect of his embassy, your honour
may perceive by these letters which the Earl of Argyle hath sent,
beside also some other matter that he requireth to be advertised of
from your honour as you see time. The letter that he received fromO'Neil,
he caused to be translated into English, and hath, notwithstanding,
sent you the original, ad faciendam majorem fidem, and also for you
to see the strangeness of their orthography : this he desireth to be
sent unto him again.
" The manner and behaviour of him from whom the letter came,
is not so strange as it was wonderful to see the presence of his ambas-
sador. A man that exceedeth many in stature. He walked afoot out
of Erland hither alone ; his diet, by reason of the length of his journey,
so failed him, that he was fain to leave his safron shirt in gage. The
rest of his apparel such, that the earl, before he would give him audi-
ence, arrayed him new from the neck downwards ; for razor he would
none ; his lodging was in the chimney, his drink chiefly aquavitse and
milk. Though the message that he came of was such as the Earl of
Argyle by no means will consent unto for divers respects ; as, chiefly,
the ungodliness of the person, and the worthiness of his sister, of whom
I hear great commendation : yet will he not utterly shake him off, or
give him any resolute answer, but intendeth awhile to entertain him,
to see what good may be done upon him, either to bring him to Gol
or more civility."
No. XVIII.
Mary's aversion to Knox.
The following 'extract from a letter of Throckmorton's to Queen
Elizabeth, dated 13th July, 1561, Paris, and preserved in the French
Correspondence of the State-paper Office, evinces the strong aversion
which the young Queen of Scots had conceived against this reformer,
previous to her arrival in her dominions.
" The said queen's [Scotland] determination to go home continues
still ; she goeth shortly from the court to Fescamp, in Normandy,
there to make her mother's funerals and burial, and from thence to
Calais, there to embark. * * The late unquietness in Scotland
hath disquieted her very much, and yet stayeth not her journey. The
5th of this present, the Earl of Bothwell arrived here in post. * *
I understand that the Queen of Scotland is thoroughly persuaded that
the most dangerous man in all her realm of Scotland, both to her in-
tent there, and the dissolving of the league between your maj : and
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 399
that realm, is Knokes. And therefore is fully determined to use all
the means she can devise to banish him thence, or else to assure them
that she will never dwell in that country as long as he is there ; and
to make him the more odious to your maj : and that at your hands he
receive neither courage nor comfort,she mindethto send very shortly to
your maj: (if she have not already done it) to lay before you the book
that he hath written against the government of women, (which your
maj : hath seen already,) thinking thereby to animate your maj : against
him : but whatsoever the said queen shall insinuate your maj : of him,
I take him to be as much for your maj : purpose, and that he hath
done, and doth daily, as good service for the advancement of your
maj: desire in that country, and to establish a mutual benevolence
and common quiet between the two realms, as any man of that nation :
his doings wherein, together with his zeal well known, have suffi-
ciently recompensed his faults in writing that book : and therefore
[he] is not to be driven out of that realm. "
No. XIX.
Mary and Lethington.
It has been stated in this volume, p. 208, that, previous to her setting
out from France, Mary addressed letters of forgiveness and kindness,
to nearly all her subjects who filled offices of trust. The following
letter she sent to Secretary Lethington: it is printed from a copy
endorsed by Cecil, " Queen of Scots' letter to the L. of Lethington,
29th June, 1561, preserved in the State-paper Office."
" Lethington. Jay receu vostre lettre du X me de ce moys. Et vous
employant en mon service et faisant bien suyvant la bonne volunte*
q m'asseurez en avoir ; il ne fault point que vous craignez les calom-
niateurs ny rapporteurs, carils n'auront jamais bonne part aupres de
moy. Je prend garde aux effects devant q'adjouster foy en tout a
ce que Ton me dit. Et quant au scrupule que pourroit proceder de
1'accointance qu'avez en Angleterre il cessera avec Pintelligence que
vous y pouvez avoir. A quoy il vous est ayse remedier si vous voulez.
Et pour ce vous avez este 1'instrument, et principal negociateur de
toutes les practiques que ma noblesse a eu en Angleterre, si vous
desirez que oultre ce que J'ay deja oublye toutes offences passees
comme Je vous ay escript cy devant, Je me fye a bon (effient) et me
serve de vous, faictes que les ostages qui sont au diet pays en soyent
retirez, et vous employez a dissouldre ce que vous avez moyenne et
solicite en c'est endroict, avec tel effect, Je me puisse asseurer de
vostre bonne affection. Vous avez 1'entendement et dexte'rite' de faire
plus que cela, et ne se passe rien entre ma noblesse dont vous n'ayea
400 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
cognoissance, et que vostre advice n'y soit receu. Aussl Te ne veula
rons celer, que s'il se faict quelque chose qui n'aille dro'it par cy apres
me fiant de rows vous estez celluy a qui je m'en prendray ie premier.
Je veulx vivre doresnavant en toute amytie et bonne voisinance avec
la Royne d'Angleterre, et suis sur mon partement pour passer en mon
Royaurae ou j'espere estre danz le terns que J'ay mande par le Prieur
de St Andre A mon arrivee par dela jauray besoing trouver quelques
deniers pour subvenir a ma maison, et autres necessitez. II en est
sort y depuis ung an une bonne somme du proffict de ma monnoye e
y a assui dautres casualitez. Vous me ferez.plaisir de tener la main
que de coste ou dautre J'en puisse trouver de prestz pour men ayder
promptement. Et cependant vous me scrivez et donnerez advis de tout.
Jay veu par vostre lettre comme vous avez faict publier et executer
celles que n'aguieres je vous avez envoyees touchant les alienations
des terres ecclesiastiques Et quant a la declaration de mon intention
plus avant, estant sur mon diet parlement Je lay remyse apres mon
arrivee. Je feray bien ayse de voir et intendre comme les choses sont
passes en cest endroict tant auparavant les troubles que depuis le
commencement d'iceulx, priant Dieu, Letliington vous avoir en sa
saiucte garde. Escript a Paris, le xxix me Jour de Jung, 1561.
No. XX.
Elizabeth's violent refusal of a Passport to Mary.
It appears from the following letter of Lethington to Cecil, dated
at Edinburgh, 15th August, 1561, that the English queen had so far
suffered herself to be overcome by passion, as openly to declare to
D'Osell that she would not suffer his mistress to come into her own
dominions.
" Sir, Hither came yesternight from France a Scottish gentleman
called Capt. Anstruther, sent by the queen our sovereign, who left
her Maj : (as he saith) at Morin, six leagues from the court at St
Germain's, where she had left the king, and was coming towards
Calais there to embarque. He hath letters to the most part of the
noblemen, whereby she doth complain, that the queen's majesty not
only hath refused passage to Monsieur D'Osell, and the safe conduct
which she did courteously require for herself, but also doth make
open declaration that she will not suffer her to come home to her own
realm ; yet is her affection such towards her country, and so great
desire she hath to see us, that she meaneth not for that threatening
to stay, but taketh her journey with two galleys only, without any
forces, accompanied with her three uncles, the Duke D'Aumall, the
Marquis d'Elboef, and the Great Prior, one of the constable's sons,
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 401
Monsieur Damville, "and their trains, and so trust her person in our
hands. In the meantime, thinking that the queen's maj : will by
some means practique the subjects of this realm, she hath written to
divers, and specially those whom she knoweth most affectioned, to
continue the intelligence, willing them in anywise that they receive
no ambassador from her majesty, nor renew any league with her high-
ness, unto such time as she be present with us : the bearer saith that
she will arrive before the 26th day of this instant. What this mes-
sage meaneth I cannot judge : I marvel that she will utter anything
to us which she would have kept close for you ; and if two galleys
may quietly pass, I wish the passport had been liberally granted. To
what purpose should you open your pack and sell none of your wares,
or declare you enemies to those whom you cannot offend. It passeth
niy dull capacity to imagine what this sudden enterprise should mean.
We have determined to trust no more than we shall see, yet can I not
but fear the issue for lack of charges and sufficient power. If any-
thing chance amiss, we shall feel the first dint, but I am sure you see
the consequence. It shall be well done that the Q. maj : keep some
ordinary power at Berwick, of good force, so long as we stand in
doubtful terms, as well for safety of the peace as our comfort. The
neighbourhood of your men will discourage our enemies and make
us the bolder. My wit is not sufficient to give advice in so dangerous
a cast, but I mean well. God maintain his cause, and those that mean
uprightly. I pray you send me your advice what is best to be done,
as well in the common cause, as in my particular, who am taken to
be a chief meddler and principal negotiator of all the practiques with
that realm : though I be not in greatest place, yet is not my danger
least, specially when she shall come home, having so late received at
the Q. maj : hands (as she will think) so great a discourtesy. This
Capt. Anstruther hath also a commission to receive from the French
captains the castle of Dunbar, and the fort of Inchkeith, and to send
home all the soldiers. I have heard that the queen meaneth to draw
home the Earl of Lennox furth of England, and to make him an in-
strument of division in this realm, setting him up against the Duke
of Chastelherault. I trust the queen's maj : will have good regard
thereto. In anywise let me hear, I pray you, often from you. If I
may receive every four or five days a line or two from you, it shall
be my greatest comfort ; and because I must now be jealous of my
letters, I pray you make some mention in yours of the receipt of so
many as I have sent you this month. (This is the third.) * * Edin-
burgh, the 15th day of August, 1561.
" Yours at commandment,
W. MAITLAND."
VOL. VI.
402 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
No. XXI.
Leihlngton and Cecil.
As an example of Lethington's lighter epistolary style, the reader
may be interested in the following letter, written to Cecil when the
Scottish secretary was in love with Mary Fleming, one of the queen's
Marys, whom he afterwards married. It is amusing to find that he
had chosen so grave a confidant as Cecil. There is preserved in the
British Museum, a pathetic letter of this Mary Fleming, written to
Lord Burleigh, entreating him to use his influence with Morton, that
the body of Lethington, her husband, might suffer no shame. It has
been printed by Chalmers, from the original in the Cotton collection.
Life of Mary, vol. ii. p. 502.
LEDINGTON TO CECIL.*
" SIB I have of late been somewhat perplexed, understanding that
you were sick, the rather that I could not have certain knowledge
whether it was the cough which universally did reign, or other more
dangerous disease, which did trouble you. I am glad to hear, by the
report of such as come from hence, that you have recovered your health,
and yet will not be fully assured thereof, until such time as I shall see
the same testified by some letter, written with your own hand. I am
not tarn cupidus rerum novarum that I desire any change ; and if my
fortune should be at any time to come in that realm, I wish not to
have occasion to make any new acquaintance. I confess I have found
in you some lacks, and points which I have wished to be reformed,
and shall still find, so long as you do not fully satisfy my affections
(such is the nature of man and phylantye (p/Av) which maketh us
fancy too much our own conceptions.) Yet, I do not look for any full
reformation of you in that behalf, and not the less when I do indif-
ferently and without passion behold your proceedings ; and even such
as I appear most to mislike, I am constrained to think, that if any
other occupied the same place, I might, perhaps, have matter minis-
tered unto me of more misliking. Therefore, how far soever I mislike
you, I wish you to do well to yourself, and suffer neither the evil
weather nor evil world kill you. As there are in you many good
parts which I require in myself, so I find in me one great virtue,
whereof, for your commodity,! wish you a portion: to wit, the common
affairs do never so much trouble me, but that at least I have one merry
hour of the four and twenty; and you labour continually without in-
termission, nothing considering that the body, yea, and the mind also,
* MS. Letter State-paper Office, Edinburgh, 28th February, 1564-5.
PROOFS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 403
must sometime have recreation, or else they cannot long last. Such
physic as I do minister unto myself, I appoint for you. Marry, you
may, perhaps, reply, that as now the world doth go with me, my body
is better disposed to digest such than yours is, (for those that be in
love, are ever set upon a merry pin ;) yet I take this to be a most
singular remedy for all diseases in all persons. You see how I abuse
my leisure, and do trouble your occupations with matters of so light
moment. It is not for lack of a more grave subject, but that I pur-
posely forbear it, not knowing in what sort I may touch it and avoid
offence. I will, with better devotion, look for other matter in your
next letter, than for any answer to this foolish letter of mine, and yet,
rather to be advertised of your convalescence. You can impart those
news to none that will be more glad of them. Like as, if you will
command anything that lieth in my power conveniently to do, you
will find none, next your son, over whom you have more authority.
And so, after my most hearty commendations, I take my leave.
From Edinburgh, the last of February, 1564,
"Yours at command,
W. MAITLAND."
No. XXII.
Characteristic Letter of Knox.
The following letter of this reformer (alluded to in this volume,
p. 293) is addressed to Randolph, and dated at Edinburgh, 3d ,
1564. Some few words are unreadable, but, as a whole, it is very
characteristic.
" Both yours are come to my hands, with your bow, for the which
I heartily thank you. Rollet's tidings are as yet buried in breasts of
two within this realm, but Maddye telleth us many news. The mess
shall up ; the Bishop of Glasgow and Abbot of Dunfermline come as
ambassadors from the General Council. My Lord Bothwell shall
follow with power to put in execution whatsoever is demanded and
our sovereign will have done, and then shall Knox and his preaching
be pulled by the ears. Thus with us raves Maddye every day, but
hereupon I greatly pause not. The Earl of Lennox servant is fami-
liarly in court ; and it is supposed that it is not without knowledge,
yea, and labour, of your court. Some in this country look for the lady
and the young earl or it be long : it is whispered to me that license
is already procured for their hithercoming. God's providence is in-
scrutable to man before the issue of such things as are kept close for
a season in his council ; but, to be plain icith you, that journey and
progress I like not. The Q. maj : remains at St Johnston, as I hear
404 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND.
yet eight days, yea, and perchance longer ; as for Edinburgh, it likes
the ladies nothing. In these last ships from France and Flanders, I
have received some news, and some are coming ; certain of the salt-
maker's labourers are arrived with mattocks, schooles, and certain
other instruments ; more are looked for : I fear their traffic shall be
to make salt upon salt. Divine what I mean. I hear, of credible
report, and that of such as are privy in the court of France, that the
journey of Loraine goes forward. Letters I received dated in * * *
in Champagne, assuring that the king was so far in journey, if other
impediments occurred not. The Papists of France (of Paris especially)
threaten destruction to all Protestants. The Germans, almost in
every city and province, amass men of war, and no man can tell at
whose devotion. If ye know, I am content ; if not, my counsel is,
you look to it. Two barges, in form and fashion like hoys, came in
our Firth, abone [above] the Inch, and viewed all places, Sunday and
Monday last. They sailed from land to land, round about the Inch,
but would suffer no man to enter in them ; and so are departed. Our
Solan geese use to vesey [inspect] the bass before the great company
take possession : I say yet again, take heed. I hear (but not of cer-
tainty) that Sweden will yet visit us with an ambassador. I pray you
yet again salute my Lord of Bedford, of whose good mind towards me
I never doubted, and say to his lordship, that I think I shall have as
great need of comfort ere it be long, as that I had when his L. and I
last parted in London, if God put not end to my battle shortly ; for
here wanton and wicked will empires, as it were, above wisdom and
virtue : God send remedy. And thus ye know a part of my mind ;
and yet, if I were not I would trouble you longer. My
purpose is, if God permit, to be in Langton the 3d Sunday of May.
You may appoint the place, and I will meet you : whom the Eternal
preserve. Of Edinburgh, the 3d of this present (or instant) 1564.
" Salute in my name Mr and the Italian, to whom great busi-
ness suffers me not to write.
" Yours, to his power,
"JOHN KNOX."
END OF VOLUME SIXTH.
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