Transcriber's Note
Obvious printer errors have been correctedwithout note; inconsistent and archaic spellings in quoted materialhave been retained as they appear in the original.
The Tragedy of Fotheringay
Mary Queen of Scots,
from the Memorial Portrait
in the possession of the Trustees of Blairs College, Aberdeen.
Enlarge
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ON UNPUBLISHED MS.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 dealwith the material afforded by Bourgoing's Journal, supplemented bythe Letters of Sir Amyas Paulet. Both narrate the events of the lastfew months of Queen Mary's prison life, the details of which havebeen hitherto little known. As time went on, however, and further newand valuable matter was offered to me by the kindness of friends,the scope of the work gradually expanded. Many details regarding theQueen's execution and burial have been added, and I feel that someapology is due for possible repetitions and other errors of stylewhich almost necessarily follow such a change of plan. Many of theillustrative notes regarding Queen Mary's last moments are culledfrom original contemporary accounts of the execution, for the use ofwhich I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. Joseph Stevenson,S.J., LL.D. Some of these narratives are printed in the Appendix intheir entirety. The-vi- valuable collection of the Calthorpe MSS. hasfurnished many interesting details, and I am especially indebted tothe courtesy of the present Lord Calthorpe for permission to publishthe two curious contemporary drawings of the trial and execution. Thevalue of these drawings is materially increased by the annotations inBeale's handwriting. To him we owe several of the most interestingnotes regarding the execution, etc., and the knowledge that theseMSS. have come down to us under the direct guardianship of Beale'sdescendants 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'sGovernment, and in 1576 was sent by the Privy Council on an embassyto the Prince of Orange. He was later appointed Clerk of Council tothe Queen, the office in which he comes before us at the time ofQueen Mary's trial and death, and his daughter Margaret married SirHenry Yelverton, Attorney-General, the ancestor of the Calthorpefamily, who thus became the possessors of