[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note; inconsistent and archaic spellings in quoted material have been retained as they appear in the original.] The Tragedy of Fotheringay [Illustration: _Walker & Boutall, Ph. Sc._ _Mary Queen of Scots, from the Memorial Portrait in the possession of the Trustees of Blairs College, Aberdeen._] The Tragedy of Fotheringay FOUNDED ON THE JOURNAL OF D. BOURGOING, PHYSICIAN TO MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS, AND ON UNPUBLISHED MS. DOCUMENTS BY THE HON. MRS. MAXWELL SCOTT OF ABBOTSFORD LONDON ADAM & CHARLES BLACK 1895 PREFACE In compiling this book, my original intention was to deal with the material afforded by Bourgoing's Journal, supplemented by the Letters of Sir Amyas Paulet. Both narrate the events of the last few months of Queen Mary's prison life, the details of which have been hitherto little known. As time went on, however, and further new and valuable matter was offered to me by the kindness of friends, the scope of the work gradually expanded. Many details regarding the Queen's execution and burial have been added, and I feel that some apology is due for possible repetitions and other errors of style which almost necessarily follow such a change of plan. Many of the illustrative notes regarding Queen Mary's last moments are culled from original contemporary accounts of the execution, for the use of which I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. Joseph Stevenson, S.J., LL.D. Some of these narratives are printed in the Appendix in their entirety. The valuable collection of the Calthorpe MSS. has furnished many interesting details, and I am especially indebted to the courtesy of the present Lord Calthorpe for permission to publish the two curious contemporary drawings of the trial and execution. The value of these drawings is materially increased by the annotations in Beale's handwriting. To him we owe several of the most interesting notes regarding the execution, etc., and the knowledge that these MSS. have come down to us under the direct guardianship of Beale's descendants lends additional value to their testimony. Robert Beale, whose name occurs so frequently in my narrative, had long been employed in a subordinate position by Elizabeth's Government, and in 1576 was sent by the Privy Council on an embassy to the Prince of Orange. He was later appointed Clerk of Council to the Queen, the office in which he comes before us at the time of Queen Mary's trial and death, and his daughter Margaret married Sir Henry Yelverton, Attorney-General, the ancestor of the Calthorpe family, who thus became the possessors of the documents I have referred to.