Biography: Mary Queen of Scots – Makers of History (Annotated) (English Edition)

CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I. MARY'S CHILDHOOD 13
II. HER EDUCATION IN FRANCE 37
III. THE GREAT WEDDING 56
IV. MISFORTUNES 76
V. RETURN TO SCOTLAND 99
VI. MARY AND LORD DARNLEY 124
VII. RIZZIO 147
VIII. BOTHWELL 168
IX. THE FALL OF BOTHWELL 198
X. LOCH LEVEN CASTLE 218
XI. THE LONG CAPTIVITY 244
XII. THE END 260

ENGRAVINGS.
Page
DUMBARTON CASTLE, ON THE CLYDE Frontispiece.
MAP OF THE CENTRAL PART OF SCOTLAND.
PLAN OF THE PALACE OF LINLITHGOW 22
VIEW OF THE PALACE OF LINLITHGOW 25
PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH 91
MARY'S EMBARKATION AT CALAIS 105
VIEW OF THE PALACE OF HOLYROOD HOUSE 114
VIEW OF WEMYS CASTLE 137
PLAN OF HOLYROOD HOUSE 160
PRINCE JAMES'S CRADLE 174
VIEW OF EDINBURGH 179
PLAN OF THE HOUSE AT THE KIRK O' FIELD 182
VIEW OF DUNBAR CASTLE 193
PLAN OF LOCH LEVEN CASTLE 221
VIEW OF LOCH LEVEN CASTLE 236
RUINS OF LOCH LEVEN CASTLE 241
VIEW OF FOTHERINGAY 271
MARY'S TOMB IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY 285

[Illustration: CENTRAL PARTS OF SCOTLAND.]

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
CHAPTER I.
MARY'S CHILDHOOD.
1542-1548
Palace where Mary was born.--Its situation.--Ruins.--The room.--Visitors.--Mary's father in the wars.--His death.--Regency.--Catholic religion.--The Protestants.--England and France.--The Earl of Arran.--The regency.--Arran regent.--New plan.--End of the war.--King Henry VIII.--Janet Sinclair.--King Henry's demands.--Objections to them.--Plans for Mary.--Linlithgow.--Plan of the palace.--Fountain.--The lion's den.--Explanation of the engraving.--The coronation.--Stirling Castle.--Its situation.--Rocky hill.--The coronation scene.--Linlithgow and Stirling.--The Highlands and the Highlanders.--Religious disturbances.--Lake Menteith.--Mary's companions.--The four Maries.--Angry disputes.--Change of plan.--Henry's anger.--Henry's sickness and death.--War renewed.--Danger in Edinburgh.--Aid from France.--New plan.--Going to France.--Dumbarton Castle.--Rock of Dumbarton.--Journey to Dumbarton.--The four Maries.--Departure from Scotland.
Travelers who go into Scotland take a great interest in visiting, among other places, a certain room in the ruins of an old palace, where Queen Mary was born. Queen Mary was very beautiful, but she was very unfortunate and unhappy. Every body takes a strong interest in her story, and this interest attaches, in some degree, to the room where her sad and sorrowful life was begun.
The palace is near a little village called Linlithgow. The village has but one long street, which consists of ancient stone houses. North of it is a little lake, or rather pond: they call it, in Scotland, a loch. The palace is between the village and the loch; it is upon a beautiful swell of land which projects out into the water. There is a very small island in the middle of the loch and the shores are bordered with fertile fields. The palace, when entire, was square, with an open space or court in the center. There was a beautiful stone fountain in the center of this court, and an arched gateway through which horsemen and carriages could ride in. The doors of entrance into the palace were on the inside of the court.
The palace is now in ruins. A troop of soldiers came to it one day in time of war, after Mary and her mother had left it, and spent the night there: they spread straw over the floors to sleep upon. In the morning, when they went away, they wantonly set the straw on fire, and left it burning, and thus the palace was destroyed. Some of the lower floors were of stone; but all the upper floors and the roof were burned, and all the wood-work of the rooms, and the doors and window-frames. Since then the palace has never been repaired, but remains a melancholy pile of ruins.
The room where Mary was born had a stone floor. The rubbish which has fallen from above has covered it with a sort of soil, and grass and weeds grow up all over it. It is a very melancholy sight to see. The visitors who go into the room walk mournfully about, trying to imagine how Queen Mary looked, as an infant