Digitised extract from 'the Buik of the Kirk of the Canagait'

'Henry duk of Albany erll of Rois. Marie be the grace of God quen souerane of this realme. 1 2 3. Maried in the chappell.' (Henry, Duke of Albany, Earl of Ross. Mary, by the grace of God, queen sovereign of this realm. The deletion of the figure 3 probably means that the Royal pair were married after being twice 'cryit'.)

It was Mary's misfortune that she lived her life surrounded by ruthless, selfish, and unpleasant men. It was a further blow that, by upbringing and temperament, she needed love and reassurance, and had one talent by which to them: her now legendary charm. But hers was no world in which to depend on the kindness of strangers. To the Scottish noblemen who gathered about her, she represented an opportunity. The man who wed her could become in practice, and perhaps, in title, King of Scotland.

David Rizzio

In the midst of the factional jockeying for position, between Catholics and Protestants, Highlanders and Lowlanders, or just between feuding families, it was natural that Mary should seek solace from those who had nothing to do with the situation. One such was David Rizzio. He was an Italian musician, whose talents and continental culture recommended him to her, and who rose through Mary's household to become her secretary.

ary sought something more than an urbane servant, however. She wanted romance. She selected as the object of her affection Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, son of the Earl of Lennox, and with royal Scottish and English blood flowing in his veins. He was a handsome if somewhat immature-looking young man. While he thought he had anything to gain he could be charming enough; and in the Queen of Scotland he had everything to gain. Marriage to her would bring him and his family great power. Mary was soon infatuated with him. She gave him costly gifts, and she clothed him head to toe in the most lavish attire. Thus adorned, for the time being Darnley was the apple of her eye. Oblivious to the annoyance of her powerful half-brother, James (now Earl of Moray), and of Protestant nobility, Mary pressed ahead with the marriage, which was solemnized on 29 July 1565, in the Chapel Royal at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh.

James Stewart, Earl of Moray

Trouble was not far behind, Moray rebelled. The Rebellion was put down, but with little help from Darnley, who, notwithstanding having acquired the title King of Scotland, showed himself more concerned for his family than the kingdom by insisting that military command be given to Lennox, who was manifestly not the best person for the job.

The rebellion dealt with, Mary confronted problems even closer to home. Darnley may have had something of the charm of gilded youth, but it came with a childish, callow arrogance which now made itself felt. Determined to have his own way, he would be petulant and peevish if thwarted. Having got Mary, he was less inclined to charm her, and his faults became clear to her. He drank heavily, was absurdly overbearing, and whored his way around Edinburgh.

he Protestant lords had suffered a setback with Moray's defeat. Now they saw a chance to reassert themselves, and use Darnley as a mask for their real motives. They had long disliked Rizzio; he was a Catholic, he was foreign, and they leapt to the conclusion that he must be a spy for a Catholic power intent on conquering Scotland and reimposing Catholic uniformity. They would be glad of the chance to murder him. However, they also wanted Darnley in on the plot, so they persuaded him that Rizzio had cuckolded him. Thus the assassination could be presented as a matter of honor, while Mary would get the message that she could not afford to displease the conspirators.

The murder of Rizzio

On the evening of 9 March, Mary, who was pregnant, was having an informal supper in her apartments at Holyrood. Rizzio was in attendance. The conspirators burst in upon her, Lord Ruthven, then mortally ill, cutting a particularly ominous figure, clad in armour with his deathly face under a helmet. They demanded that Rizzio come away with them. Terrified, Rizzio clung to the Queen, but was snatched away. Darnley restrained his wife, while Rizzio was hauled, writhing, from the room to a gruesome death from some fifty dagger thrusts.

Imminent danger cleared Mary's head. As she heard Rizzio's death screams, she determined on vengeance. She had been taken prisoner in her own palace, and had to escape. She had once been infatuated with Darnley, but now she knew his weaknesses only too well - well enough to exploit them. The reality of bloodshed had already done something to shake Darnley out of the egotistical delusion that the evening's proceedings were mainly concerned with his honor. Manifestly, the conspirators were pursuing their own agenda, on which Darnley did not figure very highly. He was frightened enough for his loyalty to waver. Mary talked him round. To escape, they would have to have the soldiers who had been sent to guard her dismissed. This she did by claiming that, in her pregnant condition, she found them disturbing. Darnley was left as her sole guard overnight. The Queen and Darnley slipped away across a burial ground to waiting horses, and then on to Dunbar Castle.