https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/elizabeth-monarchy/letter-dictated-by-mary-queen-of-scots/
Above: Mary, Queen of Scots, painted by François Clouet.
Above: Queen Elizabeth of England, artist unknown.
(image courtesy of the National Archives of the United Kingdom)
Mary, Queen of Scots (born December 8, 1542, died February 8, 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, reigned over Scotland from 14 December 1542 to 24 July 1567.
Mary, the only surviving legitimate child of King James V of Scotland, was six days old when her father died and she acceded to the throne. She spent most of her childhood in France while Scotland was ruled by regents, and in 1558, she married the Dauphin of France, Francis. Mary was queen consort of France from his accession in 1559 until his death in December 1560. Widowed, Mary returned to Scotland, arriving in Leith on 19 August 1561. Four years later, she married her half-cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, and in June 1566 they had a son, James.
In February 1567, Darnley's residence was destroyed by an explosion, and he was found murdered in the garden. James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was generally believed to have orchestrated Darnley's death, but he was acquitted of the charge in April 1567, and the following month he married Mary. Following an uprising against the couple, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle. On 24 July 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son. After an unsuccessful attempt to regain the throne, she fled southward seeking the protection of her first cousin once removed, Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Mary had once claimed Elizabeth's throne as her own and was considered the legitimate sovereign of England by many English Catholics, including participants in a rebellion known as the Rising of the North. Perceiving Mary as a threat, Elizabeth had her confined in various castles and manor houses in the interior of England. After eighteen and a half years in custody, Mary was found guilty of plotting to assassinate Elizabeth in 1586, and was beheaded the following year at Fotheringhay Castle.
"This letter, which is written in broad Scots, describes the murder in Mary’s presence at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh of her Italian secretary David Rizzio. The murder had been orchestrated by her husband, Lord Darnley, and a group of Protestant Lords who were jealous of the influence that Rizzio enjoyed over the Scottish queen. It took place on the evening of 9 March 1565 when Mary had been taking supper with Rizzio in her private apartments. Her husband held her down and one of his fellow conspirators pointed a pistol at her belly while her hapless secretary was dragged out of the room, clutching at her hem and screaming for her to save him. He was then stabbed to death, in all receiving 56 wounds. After the murder, Mary was held prisoner at Holyrood but persuaded Darnley to run away with her. They reached Dunbar on 12 March, and it was from here that Mary dictated this letter, breathlessly describing the horrific episode to Elizabeth, to whom she always referred as a ‘sister queen’. Although Elizabeth replied in the same affectionate terms, she never trusted Mary and must have derived some satisfaction from hearing about the collapse of her rival’s regime."
The letter:
As first hes takin our houss slane our maist speciall servand in our awin presence & thaireftir haldin our propper personis captive tressonneblie, quhairby we war constrainit to escaipe straitlie about midnyght out of our palice of halliruidhouss to the place quhair we ar for the present, in the grittest danger feir of our lywis & ewill estate that evir princes on earth stuid in….
We thotht to have writtin to you this letter with oure awin hand, that therby ye myght have better onestand all our meaning & takin mair familliarlie therewit. Bot of trewt we ar so tyrit & ewill at eass, quhat throw rydding of twenty millis in v horis of the nyght as wit the frequent seikness & weill dispositioun be th’occasioun of our child/that we could not at this tyme as we was willing to have done…
Your richt gud sister and cusignes Marie R.
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