Of Mary Livingston's life after the death of her husband but little is known. From an Act of Parliament passed in November, 1581, it appears that tardy justice was done her by James VI, who caused the grants formerly made to "umquhile John Semple, of Butress, and his spouse, to be ratified". Her eldest son, James, was brought up with James VI, and in later life was sent as ambassador to England. He was knighted in 1601. There were three other children--two boys, Arthur and John, and one girl, Dorothie. The exact date of Mary Livingston's death is not known, but she appears to have been living in 1592. FOOTNOTES: for MARY LIVINGSTON [79] G. Chalmers' _Life of Queen Mary_, vol. i, p. 109. [80] _Inventories_, p. 139. [81] _Ibid._, p. 145. [82] Teulet, _Papiers d'Etat relatifs à l'Histoire de l'Ecoss_, t. ii, p. 32. [83] Miss Strickland's _Lives of the Queens of Scotland_, vol. iv, p. 95. [84] _Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland_, vol. i, p. 204. [85] _Ibid._, p. 207. [86] _History of the Reformation_, vol. ii, p. 415. [87] Prince Labanoff, _Lettres de Marie Stuart_, t. iv, p. 341. [88] _Inventories_, pp. xlvii, 31, 65, 68, 70. [89] _Ibid._, p. xlvii. [90] Teulet, op. cit., p. 167. MARY BETON The family to which Mary Beton, or, as she herself signed her name, Marie Bethune, belonged, seems to have been peculiarly devoted to the service of the house of Stuart. Her father, Robert Beton, of Creich, is mentioned amongst the noblemen and gentlemen who sailed from Dumbarton with the infant Queen, in 1548, and who accompanied her in 1561, when she returned to take possession of the Scottish throne. His office was that of one of the Masters of the Household, and, as such, he was in attendance at Holyrood when the murderers of Rizzio burst into the Queen's chamber and stabbed him before her eyes. He also appears under the style of Keeper of the Royal Palace of Falkland, and Steward of the Queen's Rents in Fife. At his death, which occurred in 1567, he recommends his wife and children to the care of the Queen, "that scho be haill mantenare of my hous as my houpe is in hir Maiestie under God". His grandfather, the founder of the house, was comptroller and treasurer to King James IV. His aunt was one of the ladies of the court of King James V, by whom she was the mother of the Countess of Argyll. One of his sisters, the wife of Arthur Forbes of Reres, stood high in favour with Queen Mary, and was wet-nurse to James VI. His French wife, Jehanne de la Runuelle, and two of his daughters, were ladies of honour. Of the four Marys, Mary Beton has left least trace in the history of the time. It seems to have been her good fortune to be wholly unconnected with the political events which, in one way or another, dragged her fair colleagues into their vortex, and it may be looked upon as a proof of the happiness of her life, as compared with their eventful careers, that she has but little history.