“ Being on a visit to the young prince at Stirling, on her return to Edinburgh, she was met by Bothwell at Cramond Bridge with a thousand horse. Having disarmed her attendants, he seized the bridle of the Queen's palfrey, and without much resistance on her part, carried her to the strong Castle of Dunbar in East Lothian. Mary, soon afterwards with the most unpardonable indiscretion, came to Edinburgh, and publicly married this profligate and ambitious nobleman. ”

“ This last step she determined upon, contrary to the advice of her wiser attendants, who kneeled and entreated in vain.
In throwing herself upon the protection of the English Queen, Mary seems to have acted from the impulses of her own generous nature, and trusted to her feelings as a woman, and a near relation. But Elizabeth considered the Scottish Queen, not as a sister or friend in distress, but as an enemy, and determined to reduce her to the condition of a captive. ”

“ The very children of the towns and villages are said to have formed themselves into bands for King James or Queen Mary, and fought inveterately with stones, sticks, and knives.
The Earl of Murray, being now Regent of the kingdom, had attained to the height of his ambition. But it happens frequently, that when men appear most secure of the object they have been long toiling for, their views are suddenly and strangely, disappointed. ”

“ Mary had been left a widow without children; and she was sole heir not only to the Scottish throne, but also to that of England, after the death of Queen Elizabeth. Her subjects were therefore very desirous that she should marry a second husband, a purpose which she herself encouraged and entertained. Several noblemen at home were proposed, and her hand was also solicited by foreign princes. Her view's, however, were drawn towards Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, eldest son of the Earl of Lennox. ”

“ She was eminent for beauty, for talents, and accomplishments, nor is there reason to doubt her natural goodness of heart, and courageous manliness of disposition Yet she was, in every sense, one of the most unhappy princesses that ever lived, from the moment when she came into the world, in an hour of defeat and danger, to that in which a bloody and violent death closed a weary captivity of eighteen years. ”

“ The death of Murray seems to have been expected by Mary's friends, for the very night after it happened, the Scotts and Kerrs, two border clans, broke into England, and laid waste the country in all directions. When threatened with the vengeance of the Regent, a borderer replied that the Regent was as cold as his bridle bit.
In consequence of the murder of the Regent, men's minds were much exasperated against one another. Various castles still held out for Many, and among others was Dumbarton Castle. ”

“ He was, moreover, no favourite with Queen Elizabeth of England, who began at this time to have very great influence in the affairs of Scotland. The Queen's illegitimate brother, the Earl of Murray, a man of great abilities and power, was also strongly opposed to the marriage, and used all influence to prevent it. Notwithstanding of all these obstacles, they were married at Edinburgh on the 29th, July, 1565.
But she soon found to her cost, that she was to experience any thing but happiness in the husband she had chosen. ”

“ The Regent Murray was lying at Glasgow, and although his troops were much inferior to Mary's in point of number, yet, with a just confidence in his own abilities, assisted by the experience of Kirkaldy, Morton, and other tried officers, he determined to meet the Queen’s Lords, and give them battle. ”

“ In scaling the second precipice, another accident took place: One of the party, subject to epileptic fits, was seized by one of those attacks, brought on perhaps by terror, while he was in the act of climbing up the ladder. ”