[126] Throckmorton, in one of his letters, mentions explicitly, that Mary had given him the very reasons stated above for refusing to renounce Bothwell. But as Throckmorton could communicate with Mary only through the channel of the rebel Lords, who, he says, "_had sent him word_," it is not at all improbable, that her message may have been a good deal garbled by the way. The passage in Throckmorton's letter is as follows:--"I have also persuaded her to conform herself to renounce Bothwell for her husband, and to be contented to suffer a divorce to pass betwixt them. She hath sent me word, that she will in no wise consent unto that, but rather die: grounding herself upon this reason, taking herself to be seven weeks gone with child; by renouncing Bothwell, she should acknowledge herself to be with child of a bastard, and to have forfeited her honour, which she will not do to die for it. I have persuaded her to save her own life and her child, to choose the least hard condition." Robertson--Appendix to vol. i. No. XXII. It was, perhaps, this passage in Throckmorton's despatch to England, that gave rise to a vulgar rumour, which was of course much improved by the time it reached France. Le Laboureur, an historian of much respectability, actually asserts that the Queen of Scots had a daughter to Bothwell, who was educated as a religieuse in the Convent of Notre Dame at Soissons. _Vide_ Laboureur Addit. aux Mem. de Castelnau, p. 610. Of course, the assertion is altogether unfounded. [127] Some historians have asserted, that Lord Ruthven accompanied the two Commissioners mentioned in the text. But this is not the case, for he was present at a conference with the English ambassador, Throckmorton, on the very day the others were at Lochleven. Throckmorton in Keith, p. 426. [128] Pennant, in his "Tour in Scotland," thus describes Lochleven, and the island where the Queen resided:--"Lochleven, a magnificent piece of water, very broad but irregularly indented; is about twelve miles in circumference, and its greatest depth about twenty-four fathoms. Some islands are dispersed in this great expanse of water, one of which is large enough to feed several head of cattle; but the most remarkable is that distinguished by the captivity of Mary Stuart, which stands almost in the middle of the lake. The castle still remains, consists of a _square tower_, a small yard with two round towers, a chapel, and the ruins of a building, where (it is said) the unfortunate Princess was lodged. In the square tower is a DUNGEON, with a vaulted room above, over which had been three other stories."--Tour in Scotland, vol. i. p. 64. [129] Keith, p. 431. [130] Keith, p. 426.--Whittaker, vol. i. p. 299. [131] Goodall, vol. ii. p. 166, and 344. [132] Leslie, p. 37.--Jebb, vol. ii. p. 221 and 222. [133] Goodall, ibid.--Freebairn, p. 147.--Whittaker, vol. i. p. 301. _et seq._--Chalmers, vol. i. p. 248. [134] Keith, p. 436. [135] History of James VI. p. 17. Keith, p. 438.