On Sunday 25th September 1586 Mary Stuart reached the last stage of her weary pilgrimage. As she passed through the gloomy gateway of Fotheringay Castle the captive Queen bade farewell to hope and to life. Well read as she was in the history of England, Mary must have keenly realised the ominous nature of her prison. The name of Fotheringay had been connected through a long course of years with many sorrows and much crime, and during the last three reigns the castle had been used as a state prison. Catherine of Arragon, more fortunate than her great-niece, had flatly refused to be imprisoned within its fatal walls, declaring that "to Fotheringay she would not go, unless bound with cart ropes and dragged thither." Tradition, often kinder than history, asserts that James VI., after his accession to the English throne, destroyed the castle;[17] and though it is no longer possible to credit him with this act of filial love or remorse, time has obliterated almost every trace of the once grim fortress. A green mound, an isolated mass of masonry, and a few thistles,[18] are all that now remain to mark the scene of Mary's last sufferings. Very different was the aspect of Fotheringay at the time of which we write. Then, protected by its double moat, it frowned on the surrounding country in almost impregnable strength. The front of the castle and the great gateway faced to the north, while to the north-west rose the keep. A large courtyard occupied the interior of the building, in which were situated the chief apartments, including the chapel and the great hall destined to be the scene of the Queen's death. [Footnote 17: "Beat down the castle in a fit of revenge."--_Archæologia_, xv. 221; Gough's _Camden_, ii. 181.] [Footnote 18: It is a curious fact that the thistle is to be found growing near all the places in which Queen Mary resided or was imprisoned, both in England and Scotland.] Mary, as we know, reached Fotheringay under the care of Sir Amyas Paulet and Sir Thomas Gorges.[19] Sir William Fitzwilliam, castellan of the castle, whose constant courtesy and kindness obtained the Queen's ready gratitude, had also accompanied her. As soon as Mary was safely consigned to her prison Sir Thomas Gorges was despatched to inform Queen Elizabeth of the fact. His report of the journey which he had made in company with the royal prisoner and the arrival at Fotheringay (which must have afforded him many opportunities of ascertaining Mary's sentiments regarding the position in which she was now placed) would be full of the deepest interest for us, but although, no doubt, Elizabeth eagerly inquired into every detail regarding her cousin, no record of this report has been discovered. [Footnote 19: Bourgoing's Journal; see Chantelauze, p. 493.]