My Devotion to Mary Queen of Scots, Martyr for the Catholic Faith.

My interest in Mary Stuart began in my twenties when I read a book by a Church of England woman Agnes Strickland.    She was a 19th Century Historian and wrote very much in favour of Mary which was quite out of step with her time.   Mary was still the villainess who murdered Darnley, pursued her lust for Bothwell, and plotted to overthrow Elizabeth.  Many of these charges still stand of course but perhaps there is a little more sympathy ands understanding of her position, surrounded by five illegitimate sons of of her father James V, and resented for being a woman and a Catholic.    The latest contribution was from a Dr John Guy with his book My Heart is My Own where he boasted that he had written a book which had debunked many of the myths about Mary and his history was the Truth.    However when it came to the murder of Darnley he concluded that although there was no evidence that she was implicated 'she must have been', the most historic 'cop out' I have ever read.
Why would Mary, finding her husband sick of the small pox in a slummy room in Glasgow, decide to take him to Edinburgh to nurse him to health.    She could have just left him in the slums to die.   But Mary gave everything to his care, and even had a military band playing outside his window.   And yes, there is evidence that he had sexual relations with him.    In the June that followed the blowing up of Kirk O'Fields where Darnley died the Spanish Ambassador wrote to the King of Spain informing him that Mary was pregnant.   Dr John Guy dismisses this report on the grounds that it would have beern well known.    Again this is a poor observation since she had her four loyal Marys, her maids, surrounding her who loved her dearly.   In the event when she was imprisoned in Loch Leven she gave birth to a stillborn baby.   With unbelievable stupidity some historians have tried to say the child belonged to Bothwell, who had kidnapped her just three months previously.   The baby had to be Darnley's.   But why did Mary have anything to do with the man, who had betrayed her almost from the day they were married.   He was a drunkard and utterly useless.   But Mary was a fervent Catholic and probably felt it was her duty as his wife to look after him.   Though little thanks she got.

On the trial of Mary for plotting with Babbington to overthrow Elizabeth, the so called search for truth by John Guy completely breaks down.   But then he i not alone in this.   The only book I have read which mentions the trial in any detail is that of her champion Agnes Strickland.    She tell us how Mary protested her innocence.  And when COPIES OF HER LETTERS TO BABBINGTON were produced she pointed out that you can write anything in copies.   Mary asked for a letter in her own handwriting with her own seal to be produced as evidence, but this never happened.
   Now we could say that perhaps Agnes Strickland was so much on the side of Mary that she made this up.    And further you would expect historians to be queueing up to examine the originals. But strangely this does not happen.  No historian it seems has ever wanted to find out what the correspondence between Marty and Babbington amounted to, indeed Mary denied she even knew Babbington.    No, Mary had to be found guilty.

On the night before her execution the Earl of Kent visited her and told  her she had to die so that his faith the Protestant faith could survive.     Elizabeth had no heirs and on the death of Elizabeth the throne would pass to Mary and despite the record of Mary in showing tolerance for other religions they could not trust her not to start persecuting the Protestant Church.    Mary gasped, "So I am to die for my Catholic Faith"    The next morning the wore red as she went to be beheaded showing that she was indeed a martyr and close by all her other possessions were put into a fire so that there would be no relies left for Catholics to honour.

Mary at one time was to be declared a Martyr among the other martyrs of England.   But because of the controversy this could arouse her name was withdrawn.


My favourite story of Mary is that when she was Queen of France, married to King Francis, the couple were invited to watch the hanging of French Hugenots.    Mary could not take it and ran off the stage erected for the royal couple.    Her husband followed and supported her.   Then there is the story of Scottish Protestant assembling to attack a Catholic Church.  Mary rode up to them and fiercely told them that under her reign all religions would be respected.  They dispersed    Mary was a beacon of religious tolerance in a very dark age but she received little tolerance in return.

On the other hand there is the story of her great humiliation when having been captured by Bothwell she found herself facing a well trained Scottish Army with just her own army of ordinary people.   she knew there would be a terrible slaughter so she negotiated with the Scottish Lords and agreed to surrender to them if they still treated her as their Queen.   They agreed, but as soon as she was in their hands, they mocked her, swore at her and dragged her through the streets of Edinburgh whee people sneered and ridiculed her.   Mary was in tears.   She was with Jesus on the way to Calvary.

I would love a book to be written on the true story of Mary.   I do not have the skills and I ams too old, but who knows, one day she may be declared a Martyr, something she really deserves.