Part 2
1. A passport for her, with a clause that if she arrives in any part of England, she may tarry there, and purchase provisions and necessaries, and if it seems good to her, that she may leave her ships and pass by land to Scotland.
2. Another safe conduct for her to pass through England to Scotland with her train, and one hundred horses, mules, &c.
3. Another safe conduct, with commission for the said M. D'Oysel to go and return through England to Scotland.
[D'Oysel had an interview with Elizabeth, who inquired about the ratification of the Treaty of Edinburgh, and declined to grant the safe-conduct "except she (Mary) shall first accord to do those things that by her promise, under her hand and seal, she is bound to do."--_Foreign Calendar, July 13th, 1561._]
_A WORDY WARFARE_
1561.--July 26. Throckmorton to Queen Elizabeth.
_Cabala_, pp. 345-349.
_LANGUAGE THAT BECOMETH A QUEEN_
... The 20th of this present, in the afternoon, I had access to the said Queen of Scotland ... the said Queen sat down, and made me sit also by her; she then commanded all the audience to retire them further off, and said: Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, I know not well my own infirmity, nor how far I may with my passion be transported, 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'Oysel. There is nothing that 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 well enough pass home into my own realm, I think, without her passport or license; for though the late King, your master (said she), used all the impeachment he could both to stay me and to catch me when I came hither, yet you know, Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, 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.... Let the Queen, your mistress, think that it will be thought very strange amongst all princes and countries, that she should first animate my subjects against me, and now being widow, to impeach my going into my own country. I ask her nothing but friendship. I do not trouble her State, nor practise with her subjects; and yet I know there be in her realm that be inclined enough to bear offers; I know also they be not of the mind she is of, neither in religion or other things. The Queen, your mistress, doth say that I am young and do lack experience! indeed (quoth she), I confess, I am younger than she is, and do want experience. But I have age enough and experience to use myself towards my friends and kinsfolks friendly 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 it becometh of a Queen, and my next kinswoman.... I answered, madam, I have declared unto you my charge commanded by the Queen, my mistress, and have no more to say to you on her behalf, but to know your answer for the ratification of the Treaty. The Queen answered, I have aforetime showed you, and do now tell you again, that it is not meet to proceed in this matter, without the advice of the nobles and states of mine own realm, which I can by no means have until I come amongst them.... But I pray you, Monsieur l'Ambassadeur (quoth she), tell me how vieth this strange affection in the Queen, your mistress, towards me? I desire to know it, to the intent that I may reform myself if I have failed. I answered ... As soon as the Queen, my mistress, after the death of her sister, came to the crown of England, you bore the arms of England diversely quartered with your own, and used in your country notoriously the style and title of the Queen, my mistress, which was never by you put in use in Queen Mary's time.... Monsieur l'Ambassadeur (said she), I was then under the commandment of King Henry, my father, and of the King, my lord and husband; and whatsoever was done then by their order and commandments, the same was in like manner continued until both their deaths, since which time, you know, I neither bore the arms nor used the title of England.... It were no great dishonour to the Queen my cousin, your mistress, though I, a Queen also, did bear the arms of England; for, I am sure, some, inferior to me, and that be not on every side so well apparented as I am, do bear the arms of England. You cannot deny (quoth she) but that my grandmother was the King her father's sister, and (I trow) the eldest sister he had. I do assure you, Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, and do speak unto you truly as I think, I never meant nor thought matter against the Queen, my cousin.... And so I took my leave of the said Queen for that time.
_TO DIE MIGHT BE BETTER THAN TO LIVE_
... And to the intent I might better decipher, whether the Queen of Scotland did mind to continue her voyage, I did, the ... 21st of July ... repair to the said Queen of Scotland to take my leave of her.... The said Queen made answer, Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, if my preparations were not so much advanced as they are, peradventure 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 (quoth she) the wind will be so favourable, as I shall not need to come on the coast of England; and if I do, then, Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, 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; peradventure that casualty might be better for me than to live; in this matter (quoth she) God's will be fulfilled.
"_ADIEU, PLAISANT PAYS DE FRANCE_"
1561.--August 12. The Voyage from France to Scotland.
_Cecil to the Earl of Sussex. Wright's Elizabeth_, vol. i. p. 69.
The Scottish Queen was the 10th of this month at Boulogne, and meaneth to take shipping at Calais. Neither those 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. I think they will be sorry to see her pass.
_Cecil to Throgmorton_, August 26. _Hardwicke's State Papers_, vol. i. p. 176.
The 19th of this present, in the morning early, she {Mary} arrived at Leith with her two galleys, her whole train not exceeding sixty persons of meaner sort.... The Queen's Majesty's ships that were upon the seas to cleanse them from pirates saw her and saluted her galleys, and staying her ships examined them of pirates and dismissed them gently. One Scottish ship they detain, as vehemently suspected of piracy.
_From the Charges against the Countess of Lennox in Foreign Calendar_, 1562. (May 7.)
She loves not the Queen ... hearing that the Queen of Scots had passed through the seas, she sat down and gave God thanks, declaring to those by how he had always preserved that Princess at all times, especially now, "for when the Queen's ships were almost near taking of the Scottish Queen, there fell down a mist from heaven that separated them and preserved her."
SECTION II
FROM MARY'S ARRIVAL IN SCOTLAND TO THE DARNLEY MARRIAGE
_CONTENTS_
1. Knox's description of Mary's reception, and his opinion of the Queen.
2. Randolph's account of Mary's public entry into Edinburgh.
3. Illustrations of the religious difficulty. (_a_) Proclamation of the Privy Council. (_b_) Randolph's account of Mary's first High Mass. (_c_) Popular Songs against the Pope.
4. Mary on the Treaty of Edinburgh.
5. The conduct of affairs at the beginning of the reign. (_a_) Cecil's opinion. (_b_) Randolph's impressions of Murray, Lethington, and Knox. (_c_) The Huntly Rebellion as narrated by Randolph. (_d_) The passing of the sentence on Huntly's embalmed corpse.
6. Knox's account of the Chatelar affair.
7. Knox's account of the famine of 1563.
8. Knox on the opening of Parliament.
9. One of Knox's interviews with the Queen.
10. Mary's marriage-troubles. (_a_) References Selected from the diplomatic correspondence from March 1561 to March 1564. (_b_) Early suspicions of the Darnley marriage. (_c_) Melville's experiences in London. (_d_) Further diplomatic correspondence.
_SORROW, DOLOUR, AND DARKNESS_
The Queen's Arrival in Scotland.
_Laing's Edition of Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland_, vol. i. pp. 267-271.
_THE FIRST MASS_
The 19th day of August 1561, betwixt seven and eight hours before noon, arrived Mary, Queen of Scotland, then widow, with two galleys out of France. In her company (besides her gentlewomen, called the Maries) were her uncles, the Duc d'Aumale, the Grand Prior, the Marquess d'Elbeuf. There accompanied her also D'Amville, son to the Constable of France, with other gentlemen of inferior condition, besides servants and officers. The very face of the heaven at the time of her arrival did manifestly speak what comfort was brought into this country with her (to wit) sorrow, dolour, darkness, and all impiety; for in the memory of man that day of the year was never seen a more dolorous face of the heaven, than was at her arrival, which two days after did so continue: For besides the surface wet, and corruption of the air, the mist was so thick and dark that scarce might any man espy another the length of two pair of butts; the sun was not seen to shine two days before nor two days after. That forewarning, God gave unto us; but alas! the most part were blind.... Fires of joy were set forth at night, and a company of most honest men with instruments of music, and with musicians, gave their salutations at her chamber window: The melody (as she alleged) liked her well; and she willed the same to be continued some nights after with great diligence. The Lords repaired to her from all quarters, and so was nothing understood but mirth and quietness, till the next Sunday, which was the 24th of August, when preparations began to be made for that Idol of the Mass to be said in the Chapel; which pierced the hearts of all. The Godly began to bolden, and then began openly to speak, _Shall that Idol be suffered again to take place within this Realm? It shall not._ The Lord Lindsay (then but Master) with the Gentlemen of Fife, and others, plainly cried in the close or yard, _The idolatrous Priests should die the death, according to God's Law_. One that carried in the candle was evil afraid; but then began flesh and blood fully to show itself. There durst no Papist, neither yet any that came out of France, whisper: But the Lord James, the man whom all the Godly did most reverence, took upon him to keep the Chapel-door. His best excuse was, that he would stop all Scotsmen to enter in to the Mass; but it was and is sufficiently known, that the door was kept that none should have entry to trouble the Priest, who, after the Mass was ended, was committed to the protection of the Lord John of Coldingham and the Lord Robert of Holyrood House, who then were both Protestants, and had communicate at the Table of the Lord. Betwixt them both was the Priest conveyed to his chamber. And so the Godly departed with grief of heart, and after noon repaired to the Abbey in great companies, and gave plain signification, that they could not abide that the land, which God by His power had purged from Idolatry, should in their eyes be polluted again.
_A PROUD MIND AND A CRAFTY WIT_
Knox's Opinion of the Queen.
_Ibid._, p. 286.
John Knox his own judgment, being by some of his familiars demanded what he thought of the Queen, said, "If there be not in her a proud mind, a crafty wit, and an indurate heart against God and His truth, my judgment faileth me."
1561.--2nd September. The Queen's Public Entry into Edinburgh.
_Thomas Randolph to Cecil. Wright's Elizabeth_, vol. i. p. 63.
Upon Tuesday last she made her entry. She dined in the Castle. The first sight that she saw after she came out of the Castle was a boy of six years of age, that came as it were from heaven out of a round globe, that presented unto her a Bible and a Psalter, and the keys of the gates, and spake unto her the verses which I send you. Then, for the terrible significations of God upon idolatry, there were burnt Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, in the time of their sacrifice. They were minded to have a priest burned at the altar, at the elevation. The Earl of Huntly stayed {stopped} that pageant, but hath played many as wicked as that since he came hither. He bare that day the sword.
[The following are the lines to which Randolph referred. As only the first stanza has appeared in print before, the verses are given in their original form.]
Illustration: HOLYROOD.
_A "NEEDEFULL" GIFT_
A Ballad of Welcome.
Welcome, O Souveraine! Welcome, O natyve Quene! Welcome to us your subiects great and small! Welcome, I say, even from the verie splene,[1] To Edinburgh your syttie principall. Whereas your people with harts both one and all Doth here{in} offer to your excellence Two proper volumes[2] in memoriall As gyfte most gainand[3] to a godlie prince.
Wherein your Grace may reade to understande The perfett waye unto the hevennes hie, And how to Rule your subiects and your land, And how your kingdom stablished shalbe, Judgment and wysdome therein shall ye see. Here shall you find your God his due commande, And who the contrarie does wilfullie, How them he threatens with his scurge and wand.
Ane gyfte more precious cold[4] we none present Nor yet more needefull to your Excellence, Qwylk[5] is Gode's lawes his words and testament Trewlie translate with frutefull diligence, Qwylk to accepte with humble reverence The Provist present most hartelie you exorte With the hole subiects due obedience, Together with the keyes of their porte.
In signe that they[6] and all that they possess Bodie and good shall ever reddie be To serve you as their souveraine hie mistress Both daye and {night} after thair bound dutie: Besechinge[7] your Grace in this necessitie Thair {too} shorte tyme and {their} godwill[8] consether[9] Accepte their harts and take it pacientlie That may be done, seing all is yours together.
-------------------------------------------------------------------- [1] Spleen.
[2] The volumes were a Bible and a Psalter "coverit with fine purpour velvet." _Cf._ the _Diurnal of Occurrents_, September 2, 1561, which gives some additional details, and mentions that the child "delivered also to her hieness three writings, the tenour whereof is uncertain."
[3] Gainful.
[4] Could.
[5] Which.
[6] MS. to them.
[7] Beseeching.
[8] Goodwill.
[9] Consider. --------------------------------------------------------------------
_A TOLERANT PROCLAMATION_
Illustrations of the Religious Difficulty--Proclamation regarding Religion.
_Register of the Privy Council of Scotland_, August 26, 1561.
Forasmuch as the Queen's Majesty has understood the great inconveniences that may come through the division presently standing in this realm for the difference in matters of religion, that her Majesty is most desirous to see pacified by a good order, to the honour of God and the tranquillity of her realm, and means to take the same by the advice of her Estates as soon as conveniently may be; and that her Majesty's godly resolution therein may be greatly hindered in case any tumult or sedition be raised among the lieges, if any sudden innovation or alteration be pressed or attempted before that the order may be established. Therefore ... her Majesty ordains letters to be directed to charge all and sundry, lieges, ... that none of them take upon hand, privately or openly, to make any alteration or innovation of the state of religion, or attempt anything against the form which her Majesty found public and universally standing at her Majesty's arrival in this her realm, under the pain of death, ... Attour, her Majesty, by the advice of the Lords of her Secret Council, commands and charges all her lieges, that none of them take upon hand to molest or trouble any of her domestic servants or persons whomsoever come forth of France, in her Grace's company, at this time, in word, deed, or countenance ... under the said pain of death....
_AN UNRULY PEOPLE_
1561.--November 1. The Queen's first High Mass.
_Thomas Randolph to Cecil. Wright's Elizabeth_, vol. i. p. 83.
Upon All Hallow Day the Queen had a song mass. That night one of her priests was well beaten for his reward by a servant of the Lord Robert's. We look to have it proclaimed again that no man, under pain of confiscation of goods and lands here, say or come unto her own mass, saving her own household, that came out of France....
It is now called in question whether that the Princess being an idolater may be obeyed in all civil and politic{al} actions. I think marvellously of the wisdom of God that gave this unruly, inconstant, and cumbersome people no more substance than they have, for then would they run wild.
_THE HUNT IS UP_
Popular Songs.
[The stanzas which follow are selected from the popular songs of the period. They date from a year or two before Mary's arrival in Scotland, but will serve to illustrate the extreme difficulty experienced by a Roman Catholic queen in dealing with such a people.]
_The Gude and Godly Ballates._ Reprint of 1868, p. 153.
The hunt is up, the hunt is up,[10] It is now perfect day, Jesus, our King, is gone in hunting, Who likes to speed, they may.
A cursed fox lay hid in rocks This long and many a day, Devouring sheep, while he might creep, None might him scare away.
It did him good to lap the blood Of young and tender lambs; None could he miss, for all was his, The young ones with their dams.
The hunter is Christ, that huntis in haste, The hounds are Peter and Paul; The Pope is the fox, Rome is the rocks, That rubs us on the gall.
_THE POPE, THAT PAGAN FULL OF PRIDE_
_Ibid._
The Pope, that pagan full of pride, He has us blinded long; For where the blind the blind does guide, No wonder they go wrong; Like prince and king, he led the ring Of all iniquity; "Hay trix, tryme go trix," Under the greenwood tree.
But his abomination The Lord has brought to light; His Popish pride, and threefold crown, Almost have lost their might. His plack pardons are but lardouns[11] Of new found vanity; "Hay trix, tryme go trix," Under the greenwood tree.
* * * * *
Of late I saw these limmers[12] stand Like mad men at mischief, Thinking to get the upper hand, They look after relief; But all in vain, go tell them plain That day will never be; "Hay trix, tryme go trix," Under the greenwood tree.
O Jesus! if they thought great glee To see God's word down smorit,[13] The Congregation made to flee, Hypocrisy restorit; With masses sung, and bellis rung, To their idolatry; Marry, God thank you, we shall gar brank[14] you, Before that time truly.
------------------------------------------------------------- [10] _Original reads_, With huntis up.
[11] Lumps.
[12] Worthless persons.
[13] Smothered.
[14] Put the barnacles on you, as on a restive horse. -------------------------------------------------------------
_MURRAY, LETHINGTON, AND KNOX_
The Conduct of Affairs in the Early Years of the Reign--Randolph on Mary's Ministers.
_Randolph to Cecil_, October 24, 1561. _Keith's History_, vol. i. pp. 98-99.
I receive of her Grace at all times very good words. I am borne in hand {assured} by such as are nearest about her, as the Lord James and the Laird of Lethington, that they are meant as they are spoken; I see them above all others in credit, and find in them no alteration, though there be that complain that they yield too much unto her appetite; which yet I see not. The Lord James dealeth according to his nature, rudely, homely, and bluntly; the Laird of Lethington more delicately and finely, yet nothing swerveth from the other in mind and effect. She is patient to hear, and beareth much. The Earl Marischal is wary, but speaketh sometimes to good purpose.... Mr. Knox cannot be otherwise persuaded, but many men are deceived in this woman; he feareth yet that _posteriora sunt pejora primis_; his severity keepeth us in marvellous order. I commend better the success of his doings and preachings than the manner thereof, tho' I acknowledged his doctrine to be sound: His prayer is daily for her--"That God will turn her obstinate heart against God and His truth; or, if the Holy Will be otherwise, to strengthen the hearts and hands of His chosen and elect, stoutly to withstand the rage of all tyrants," &c., in words terrible enough.
_PROTESTANT RULE_
_Cecil to Challoner (English Ambassador in Spain). Foreign Calendar_, 1562, June 8, 1562.
In Scotland ... the Earl of Huntly is in no credit with the Queen. The whole governance rests in Lord James, being Earl of Mar, and the Laird of Lethington. The others that have credit are the Earls Marshal, Argyll, Morton, and Glencairn, all Protestants. The Queen quietly tolerates the reformed religion throughout the realm, who is thought to be no more devout towards Rome than for the contentation of her uncles.
[Cecil's suspicion was quite unfounded. Throughout her reign Mary was always in correspondence with the Pope, to whom she appealed for money to help her in her efforts for the restoration of Catholicism in Scotland.]
Mary on the Treaty of Edinburgh.
_Queen Mary to Queen Elizabeth_, January 5, 1562. _Keith's History_, vol. ii. p. 134.
How prejudicial that Treaty is to such title and interest as by birth and natural descent of your own lineage may fall to us, by very inspection of the Treaty itself ye may easily perceive, and how slenderly a matter of so great consequence is wrapped up in obscure terms. We know how near we are descended of the blood of England, and what devices have been attempted to make us, as it were, a stranger from it. We trust, being so near your cousin, ye would be loth we should receive so manifest an injury as all utterly to be debarred from that title which in possibility may fall unto us.
_THE WAY TO INVERNESS_
1562.--Randolph's Account of the Huntly Rebellion.
_Randolph to Cecil from Old Aberdeen_, August 31, 1562. _Foreign Calendar_, 1562.
The Queen in her progress is come to Old Aberdeen, where the university is.... Her journey is cumbersome, painful, and marvellous long; the weather extreme foul and cold, all victuals marvellous dear; and the corn that is, never like to come to ripeness.
_Randolph to Cecil from Spynie, Morayshire_, September 18.