Mary Queen of Scots 1542-1587 Part 29

The nar the fyre I go The grittar is my heit.

The turtour for hir maik, Mair dule may nocht indure Nor I do for hir saik, Evin hir quha hes in cure My hairt, quhilk salbe sure, And service to the deid, Unto that lady pure, The well of woman heid.

Schaw shedfull to that sueit My pairt so permanent That no mirth quhill[101] we meit, Sall cause me be content; But still my hairt lament, In sorrowfull siching soir, Till tyme s...o...b.. present, Fairweill, I say no moir.

_Finis quod King Hary Stewart._

------------------------------------------------------------------------ [98] Man.

[99] Think.

[100] Sweet.

[101] Till.

This lament for Darnley (also printed by Maidment) was doubtless used as a political weapon against Queen Mary:--

To Edinburgh about six hours at morn, As I was pa.s.sing pansand out the way; Ane bonny boy was sore making his moan, His sorry song was Oche, and Wallaway!

That ever I should lyve to see that day, Ane king at eve, with sceptre, sword and crown; At morn but a deformed lump of clay, With traitors strong so cruelly put down!

Then drew I near some tidings for to speir, And said, My friend, what makis thee sa way.

b.l.o.o.d.y Bothwell hath brought our king to beir, And flatter and fraud with double Dalilay.

At ten houris on Sunday late at een, When Dalila and Bothwell bade good night, Off her finger false she threw ane ring, And said, My Lord, ane token you I plight.

She did depart then with an untrue train, And then in haste and culverin they let craik, To teach their feiris to know the appoint time, About the kinge's lodging for to clap.

To dance that night they said she should not slack, With leggis lycht to hald the wedow walkan; And baid fra bed until she heard the crack, Whilk was a sign that her good lord was slain.

O ye that to our kirk have done subscryve, These Achans try alsweill traist I may, If ye do not, the time will come, belyve, That G.o.d to you will raise some Iosuay; Whilk shall your bairnis gar sing Wallaway, And ye your selvis be put down with shame; Remember on the awesome latter day, When ye reward shall receive for your blame.

I ken right well ye knaw your duty, Gif ye do not purge you ane and all, Then shall I write in pretty poetry, In Latin laid in style rhetorical; Which through all Europe shall ring like ane bell, In the contempt of your malignity.

Fye, flee fra Clynemnestra fell, For she was never like Penelope.

With Clynemnestra I do not fain to fletch, Who slew her spouse, the great Agamemnon; Or with any that Ninus' wife doth match, Semiramis quha brought her gude lord down.

Quha do abstain fra litigation, Or from his paper hald aback the pen?

Except he hate our Scottish nation, Or then stand up and traitors deeds commend?

Now all the woes that Ovid in Ibin, Into his pretty little book did write, And many mo be to our Scottish Queen, For she the cause is of my doleful dyte.

Sa mot her heart be fillet full of syte, As Herois was for Leander's death; Herself to slay for woe who thought delyte, For Henry's sake to like our Queen was laith.

The dolours als that pierced Dido's heart, When King Enee from Carthage took the flight; For the which cause unto a brand she start, And slew herseif, which was a sorry sight.

Sa might she die as did Creusa bright, The worthy wife of douty Duke Jason; Wha brint was in ane garment wrought by slight Of Medea through incantation.

Her laughter light be like to true Thisbe, When Pyramus she found dead at the well, In languor like unto Penelope, For Ulysses who long at Troy did dwell.

Her dolesome death be worse than Jezebel, Whom through an window surely men did thraw; Whose blood did lap the cruel hundis fell, And doggis could her wicked bainis gnaw.

Were I an hound--oh! if she an hare, And I an cat, and she a little mouse, And she a bairn, and I a wild wod bear, I an ferret, and she cuniculus.

To her I shall be aye contrarius-- When to me Atropos cut the fatal thread, And fell deithis dartys dolorous, Then shall our spirits be at mortal feid.

My spirit her spirit shall douke in Phlegethon, Into that painful filthy flood of h.e.l.l, And then in Styx, and Lethe baith anone-- And Cerberus that cruel hound sa fell, Sall gar her cry with mony gout and yell, O Wallaway! that ever she was born, Or with treason by ony manner mell, Whilk from all bliss should cause her be forlorn.

(C.) CONTEMPORARY WRITERS.

GEORGE BUCHANAN.

The writings of George Buchanan with which we are concerned are his "Detection" of Queen Mary, and his "History of Scotland." Buchanan was the friend and adviser of Mary's enemies, and his references to her are polemical, not historical. His "Detection" is based on the "Book of Articles" (_cf._ p. 144), and it is not always consistent with the statements in his "History." Sheriff aeneas Mackay admits with regard to it that "it must be deemed a calumnious work." The reader must decide for himself what credit to attach to statements made by Buchanan, and otherwise unattested. He occupies among Mary's accusers the position held by Lesley among her friends. His t.i.tle to fame is not confined to the Marian controversy. He was a very distinguished humanist, and his writings possess both learning and charm. (_Cf._ Mr. Hume Brown's recent volume ent.i.tled "George Buchanan.")

CONAEUS.

George Conn belonged to an Aberdeenshire family of Roman Catholic sympathies, and was educated at Douay, Paris, and Rome. He was Papal agent accredited to Queen Henrietta Maria from 1636 to 1639.

He died in 1640. The date of his birth is unknown, and he is not quite strictly a contemporary author. But he lived in Paris at a time when people must have been alive who could remember Queen Mary's residence in France, and his "Life of Mary Stuart,"

published in 1624, has all the freshness of a contemporary source.

LORD HERRIES.

John Maxwell, fourth Lord Herries, was, although a Protestant, a staunch supporter of Queen Mary. He opposed the Bothwell marriage, but remained faithful after the surrender at Carberry Hill. He joined the Queen after her escape from Lochleven, was present at the Battle of Langside, and accompanied her in her flight to England. In spite of some temporising with her enemies, he was selected, along with the Bishop of Ross, to defend her at York and Westminster, and he was probably involved in the Norfolk plot. When he became convinced of the hopelessness of Mary's cause, he came to an arrangement with the victorious party, and took a part in politics till his death in 1583. He seems, however, always to have been ready to a.s.sist the Queen had there been any chance of success. His "Memoirs" possess an unusual interest in virtue of his intimate knowledge of the secret history of the reign.

JOHN KNOX.

The extracts from Knox's "History of the Reformation in Scotland"

are interesting as bearing the impress of their author's vigorous personality. But it must be remembered that, as the leader of the Protestant clergy, he was a strong partisan, and his descriptions cannot be accepted literally. Different readers will decide differently as to the credit to be given to Knox's statements. The most valuable edition of Knox is the large one by the late Mr.

David Laing, which contains much important annotation. The concluding portion of the "History" is not from Knox's own pen, but is the work of an unknown writer, who is generally described as Knox's Continuator.

JOHN LESLEY.

The Bishop of Ross was a native of Inverness-shire, and was educated at the University of Aberdeen. The first public capacity in which he was employed was as one of a deputation of Roman Catholic n.o.bles to invite Queen Mary to return to Scotland, after the death of Francis II. He became Bishop of Ross in 1566. He rendered his chief services to Queen Mary as one of the agents for her defence at the Conferences at York and Westminster, and he was thereafter involved in most of the schemes for Mary's release. He survived the Queen for nine years, and died in 1596 at Guirtenburg, near Brussels. He was about seventy years of age.

Lesley's chief work is his "History of Scotland from 1437 to 1561."

The Scots edition was first published in 1830, but the Latin version, which is more complete, appeared during the author's lifetime, and was translated into Scots, as early as 1596, by Father James Dalrymple of Regensburg. For the period with which we are concerned Lesley is a contemporary authority; but he wrote with a purpose, and was inclined to exaggeration. His "Defence of Queen Mary's Honour" was a reply to Buchanan's "Detection."

LINDSAY OF PITSCOTTIE.

Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie was a cadet of the family of Crawford.

He was born about 1500, and died about 1565, and took no part in public affairs. His "History" was not published till 1728. It is a work to which we are indebted for much gossip, and it contains many humorous anecdotes. The writer was a strong Protestant, and shared with many of his contemporaries a fondness for moralising. His book is not absolutely reliable by any means; but in the pa.s.sage quoted he appears to best advantage.

SIR JAMES MELVILLE.

Sir James Melville had been an attendant on Queen Mary since her childhood. In 1549, when he was fourteen years of age and she seven, he became her page. After some military, and diplomatic service he became one of the gentlemen of the Bed Chamber on the Queen's return to Scotland. His two visits to London as amba.s.sador from Mary to Elizabeth are recorded in the pa.s.sage quoted in the text. After the fall of the Queen Melville attached himself to the ruling party, and was prominent in politics till James's accession to the throne of England. Thereafter, he lived quietly at his estate of Hallhill, in Fife, where he died in 1617. During his retirement he wrote his "Memoirs," which were published by his grandson in 1683. His memory was not invariably trustworthy; but his fascinating style has made his writing one of the most popular chronicles of the time. His picture of the rival queens is one of the most characteristic pa.s.sages in his work (pp. 46-53).