Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542-1587; Queens -- Scotland -- Biography; Scotland -- History -- Mary Stuart, 1542-1567
The skin remains; the nose, very prominent and arched, is complete; the
mouth _very_ broad. The jawbone is prominent (partly on account of the
drying up of the flesh). The hind part of the skull is broad and deep. The
arms are folded on the chest, below which the body is still wrapped in its
winding sheet, only the feet emerging from it. The head lies on some white
stuff which seems to be silk. All about the body is a quantity of
vegetable remains, looking like broken sticks; they told me it was hops,
supposed to have preserving qualities.
As for the authenticity of the relic, there is no absolute proof. It is
probable and likely; not certain. That Bothwell died in Dragsholm and was
buried in Faarvejle church is certain. The coffin has no mark, no
inscription, no sign whatever allowing identification. But, if not
Bothwell, who can this be--for there _it_ is? That careful embalming is
not a usual process; the other people buried in the church either have
their names on their coffins or are not of such importance as to justify
such a costly process.
A careful burial and no name on the tomb tally rather well with the
circumstances: for the man was a great man, the husband of a Queen; and
yet what was to be done with his body? would he not be sent back to
Scotland some day? what rites should be allowed him? Even before his
death Bothwell had become, so to say, anonymous; and, to get rid of
importunities, the Danish King, Fred. II., had allowed the rumour of his
death to be spread several years before it happened.
The question remains an open one. J. J. A. Worsaae believed in the
authenticity of the relic. The professor of anatomy, I. Ibsen, has also
pronounced in its favour. Others have disagreed. Anatomici certant.
APPENDIX B
THE BURNING OF LYON KING OF ARMS
Among the mysteries of Mary’s reign, none is more obscure than the burning
of Sir William Stewart, the Lyon King at Arms: at St. Andrews, in August,
1569. In 1560, Stewart was Ross Herald, and carried letters between Mary
and Elizabeth.[404] On February 11, 1568, when Moray was Regent, we find
Stewart sent on a mission to Denmark. He was to try to obtain the
extradition of Bothwell, or, at least, to ask that he might be more
strictly guarded.[405] Now we know that, according to Moray, Bothwell’s
valet, Paris, did not arrive in Scotland from Denmark till June, 1569,
though he was handed over to Captain Clark in October, 1568. Miss
Strickland conjectured that Sir William Stewart, now Lyon Herald, brought
back Paris from Denmark, learned from him that Mary was innocent, and
Moray’s associates culpable, and so had to be put out of the way. But the
Lyon Herald returned to Scotland without Paris, a year before Paris; for
he was in Scotland by July, 1568, and Paris did not land till June, 1569.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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