Mary, Queen of Scots (56 page)

Drury reported on 6 May that Maitland had announced his intention of escaping to join the Lords at Stirling. “The reason why of late he was suspected to have been Bothwell’s was for certain letters he was compelled to write, but immediately, by a trusty messenger, he advertised not to give credit to them.” But Maitland did not turn up at Stirling; instead, he remained with the Queen. Drury was soon of the opinion that, although he feared Bothwell, he had decided to remain at court until the Lords had increased in strength. In his letter of the 6th, Drury added that Balfour was now installed in a room in Edinburgh Castle and enjoyed equal authority to its Governor, Cockburn of Skirling.
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On the evening of 6 May, as the castle guns fired a salute “most magnificently,” Bothwell, on foot and respectfully bare-headed, escorted Mary into Edinburgh through the West Port, leading her horse by the bridle as if she were his prisoner;
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Maitland and Huntly and a “peaceful train”
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of Hepburn retainers were in attendance. That night, the Queen and Bothwell took up residence in Edinburgh Castle, where Bothwell had 200 arquebusiers stationed outside the Queen’s rooms, day and night, so that none might speak with her without his knowledge.
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The next day, Archbishop Hamilton granted Bothwell an annulment, stating that his marriage had been “null from the beginning in respect of their contingence in blood, without a dispensation obtained before.”
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Mary cannot but have been aware that this was an outright falsehood, nor that the action had been collusive, and that therefore the annulment was fraudulent and undoubtedly illegal; her doubts are evident from the fact that she asked the advice of “two or three Catholic bishops” before marrying Bothwell.
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However, both the Catholic Church and the Kirk had now ensured that Bothwell was free to remarry.

On that same day, Bothwell asked John Craig, who had replaced Knox as Minister of St. Giles,
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to proclaim the banns of marriage for himself and the Queen, but Craig, who was convinced that Mary was being forced into this union against her will, bravely refused to do so, and demanded her written consent and declaration that she had not been constrained by Bothwell. The response was a written order to Craig, signed by the Queen and delivered by Justice Clerk Bellenden that same day, 7 May, ordering him to proclaim the banns and declaring that she had neither been “ravished nor yet detained in captivity.” But Craig was not satisfied, and refused to proclaim any banns “without consent and command of the Kirk.”
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Although Lord Herries had signed the Ainslie’s Tavern Bond, he was no friend to Bothwell. Aware of mounting public concern that the Queen would marry the Earl, and, fearful of the consequences, he came to Edinburgh and obtained an audience of Mary. He told her what people were saying throughout the country about her and Bothwell, “requesting Her Majesty most humbly on his knees to remember her honour and dignity and the safety of the Prince, with many other persuasions to show the utter wreck and inconveniences [that] would thereby be occasioned. Her Majesty appeared to wonder how these reports could go abroad, seeing there was no such thing in her mind,” whereupon Herries begged her pardon and withdrew.
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Mary dared not risk a confrontation with Herries, with Bothwell in so volatile a mood, nor would she have wished to alienate a loyal supporter.

Melville was also going to warn Mary about marrying Bothwell, but before he could do so, he received a letter from a Scotsman called Thomas Bishop, who had lived for a long time in England. Bishop “adjured me to show the letter to Her Majesty, declaring how it was bruited that she was to marry the murderer of her husband, who at present had a wife of his own, a man full of all vice; if she married him, she would lose the favour of God, her own reputation and the hearts of all England, Ireland and Scotland.” Melville showed Mary this outspoken missive, but, after reading it, she gave it back to him without saying anything, then called Maitland and asked him to read it. When he asked her what it was, she answered accusingly that it was “a device of his own, tending to the wreck of the Earl of Bothwell.”

Maitland took Melville aside and asked what had been in his mind that he should show such a letter to the Queen, for “so soon as Bothwell gets notice hereof, as I fear he will shortly, he will cause you to be killed.” Melville replied, “It is a sore matter to see that good Princess run to utter wreck, and nobody to be so far concerned in her as to forewarn her of her danger.” Maitland told him he had “done more honestly than wisely; and therefore, I pray you, retire diligently before Bothwell comes up from his dinner.” Mary herself begged Bothwell to do Melville no harm, but “notwithstanding, I was inquired after, but was flown, and could not be found till his fury was slaked; for I was advertised there was nothing but slaughter in case I had been gotten. Whereat Her Majesty was much dissatisfied, telling him that he would cause her to be left of all her servants, whereupon he renewed his engagements that I should receive no harm.”
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This episode suggests that Bothwell was doing everything in his power to keep from Mary the true extent of the opposition to their marriage until such time as it had been publicly announced; it also reveals that Bothwell had succeeded in turning Mary against Maitland.

Robert Melville informed Cecil on 7 May that the Lords at Stirling wanted English support against Bothwell, even though France had already offered aid (which was subsequently found not to be the case). He had heard that “the Lords have gone to their countries to assemble their friends” and that Bothwell was expected to go to Stirling to seize the Prince, but that Mar was determined not to surrender his charge, and was preparing for a siege. Melville also explained that Mary’s sharp response to Elizabeth’s letter was due rather to “the counsel of those about her than of herself. For you have experience that Her Majesty behaved herself most moderately when she had liberty to be at her own wise counsel.”
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It was clear that an armed rebellion was on the point of breaking out, its ostensible aim being the removal of Bothwell; however, its real objective was to place the government in the hands of the Protestant Lords—or the Confederate Lords, as they were now calling themselves. Argyll had ridden to the West to arouse support, Atholl to the North and Morton to Fife, Angus and Kincardineshire, while Mar was holding Stirling and keeping an eagle eye on the Prince.
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On 8 May, the General Assembly of the Kirk overrode John Craig and ordered him to publish the banns of the Queen’s marriage on the next three Sundays. Buchanan says they “dared not refuse” the Queen’s command, but it was Bothwell they really feared, Bothwell, who held all Edinburgh in his grip. A grim Craig demanded to speak his mind in the presence of the Queen and the Earl, “to give boldness to others.” That afternoon, he was summoned before Bothwell and the Council to justify his insolence, but instead of craving pardon, he vehemently denounced the marriage: “I laid to his charge the law of adultery, the ordinance of the Kirk, the law of ravishing, the suspicion of collusion between him and his wife, the sudden divorce and proclaiming within the space of four days, and last, the suspicion of the King’s death, which his marriage would confirm.” Bothwell held his temper and gave a fair answer, but it was “nothing to his [Craig’s] satisfaction.” The Councillors seemed to him “so many slaves, what by flattery, what by silence, to give way to this abomination.”
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Before Craig went away, Bothwell threatened to hang him if he did not call the banns.

That day, Bothwell, thinking Balfour a trustworthy ally, and perhaps hoping to buy his silence, appointed him Governor of Edinburgh Castle in place of Skirling,
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who was compensated with the post of Controller of Customs on 1 June. Melville says that Balfour got the governorship because “the Earl and he had been great companions, and he was also very great with the Queen.”
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The placard campaign was still continuing, and Grange was actively inciting the English against Bothwell. Bedford reported on the 8th that Grange had sent him a placard that had not yet been set up: it named Bothwell, Black Ormiston, Hepburn of Beanston, Hepburn of Bolton, Hay, Cullen and James Edmonstoun as Darnley’s murderers. Grange had added that James Murray had offered to prove their guilt according to “the laws of arms.”
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Most of these names had been listed by Drury in his report to Cecil sent on 15 March.
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Grange wrote to Bedford on the 8th, informing him that the Lords intended to overthrow Bothwell, and asking for Elizabeth’s help. As added inducements, he claimed that the “barbarous tyrant” Bothwell had tried to poison Prince James, and that du Croc had offered French aid against Bothwell and undertaken to join the Confederate Lords, who were about to be joined by Glencairn, Cassilis, Eglinton, Montrose, Caithness, Boyd, Ochiltree, Ruthven, Drummond, Gray, Glamis, Innermeath, Lindsay, Home and Herries—many of whom had signed the Ainslie’s Tavern Bond—“with all the West, Merse [the Border area west of Berwick], Teviotdale, the most part of Fife, Angus and the Mearns” (the old colloquial term for Kincardineshire). The Lords’ chief concern was to get Bothwell out of Edinburgh Castle and keep him away from Dunbar, “not for fear of him in the field, but besides these two strengths, he has all the [am]munition.”

According to Grange, du Croc had tried to dissuade Mary from marrying Bothwell, threatening her with the loss of France’s friendship if she went ahead, but “she will give no ear.” If true, her refusal must have stemmed either from fear of Bothwell, who had her utterly in his power, or from fear that she was pregnant. Grange also alleged that Mary had Elizabeth’s christening font melted down to raise money, but this was untrue. He enclosed letters for Moray and asked Bedford to forward them in haste to the Earl, urging him to come to Normandy and wait in readiness until the Lords sent for him.
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Clearly, then, Moray knew what was planned. Robert Melville also wrote to Moray via the English ambassador in Paris on 10 May.
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In order to still the clamour and speculation, Mary—probably at Bothwell’s instigation—issued a proclamation on 8 May, announcing that she had resolved to marry him.
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The Book of Articles points out that, “in all this time, she never required the advice and opinion of her Council and nobility towards her marriage,” yet many Lords had signed the Ainslie’s Tavern Bond, and the Council had sent Maitland and Bellenden to Seton to urge Mary to marry Bothwell. Nevertheless, Mary could not but have been aware of the increasing opposition to the marriage. The Confederate Lords, meanwhile, wanted the Ainslie’s Tavern Bond destroyed.
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Early in May, Bothwell, well aware that the Lords were uniting against him, began raising troops and consolidating support in the Borders by offering the Cessford Kers a pardon for the murder of the Abbot of Kelso. Putting a brave face on things, Mary publicly declared that she was content with her nobility, and that, “praise to God,” there was “no trouble or insurrection within her realms.”
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On 10 May, she formally pardoned five men who had assisted Bothwell in her abduction;
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he himself was shortly to receive a public pardon.

On 10 May, Thomas Randolph, who had kept an interested eye on Scottish affairs and was as avid as ever for gossip, informed the Earl of Leicester that Mary was fully resolved to marry Bothwell, and was minded to make Leith a free burgh named Marienburgh and create Bothwell Duke of Marienburgh; however, she had fears that he would do away with the Prince or send him to France. The latter would in fact have been a wise move, for it would have put James beyond reach of those who were plotting to depose his mother and rule in his name, but, naturally, Mary would not have wanted him to go so far from her. Randolph stated that Elizabeth was incensed at Grange’s “vile” letters, which made Mary sound “worse than any common woman,” and was refusing to give any support to the Scottish Lords who had dared to rebel against their anointed Queen.
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John Craig duly published the banns of marriage between Mary and Bothwell on Sunday, 11 May at St. Giles, but condemned their union in his sermon, calling upon Heaven and Earth to witness that he “abhorred and detested that marriage as odious and scandalous to the world; and, seeing the best part of the realm did approve it either by flattery or by their silence, I desired the faithful to pray earnestly that God would turn to the comfort of the realm that which was done against reason and good conscience.”
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For this, Craig was summoned to appear before the Council two days hence.

Mary moved from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace on 11 or 12 May.
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On the 12th, attended by an armed guard, she appeared before the Chancellor (Huntly), and the Lords of Session in the Tolbooth and declared that she was marrying Bothwell of her own free will, and that in this marriage she foresaw much peace for the realm. Contradicting her earlier protestations that he had not held her under restraint, she went on to say that, “although at first commoved [angered] against Bothwell, yet, from his good behaviour towards her, from her knowledge of his past, and for a reward of his future services, she freely forgave him for the imprisonment of her person, and being now at full liberty, she intended to promote him to further honours.”
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Under Scottish law, this public pardon, which signified the Queen’s acquiescence, had the effect of nullifying any charge of rape, and was almost certainly granted at Bothwell’s instance, for his procurator ensured that the pardon was formally recorded. According to Maitland, a pardon for treason, such as this was, would also have covered the crime of regicide, but this is doubtful; it will be remembered that the
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suggested that the obtaining of a general remission had been one of Bothwell’s aims in abducting the Queen.