Alexander Bothwell

“ Oct. 1559, Bothwell was put in possession of the temporalities of the vacant see. He placed himself a few years later on the side of the protestant party; but there is no reason to suppose that he had much interest in the reforming movement as such, or in the ministry for its own sake. His career is essentially that of one who trimmed his sails to suit the winds of fortune. He was not, however, a merely ‘tulchan bishop.’ He was duly elected by the new chapter of Orkney, constituted by charter on 28 Oct. ”

“ We next meet him on the occasion which alone is enough to make him a conspicuous person in history. On 15 May 1567 Mary was married to James Hepburn, earl of Bothwell, who on 12 May had been created duke of Orkney. The banns had been proclaimed, much against his will, by John Craig, minister of Edinburgh. The marriage was celebrated, after the protestant form, by the Bishop of Orkney, in the council chamber at Holyrood House. Calderwood says that ‘the Bishop of Orkney, at the marriage, made a declaratioun of the Erle of Bothwell his repentance for his former offensive life ”

“ He paused, and the blood rushed to his brow at meeting even him at such a moment.
"Ha—whither goest thou?" he asked.
"To the tower of Black Agnes," replied Bothwell in a husky voice, while he staggered from his emotions, and the effects of the wine.
"Thou darest then at last to act like a man."
"Like a fiend, if my fate wills it! What may I not dare now, after all I have dared and done? But hark!" said the Earl, as a ghastly pallor overspread his face; "didst thou hear?" ”

“ Starting back a pace, the queen withdrew her hand; her brow crimsoned, and her flashing eyes were firmly bent on Bothwell.
"Lord Earl," she replied, in a voice that trembled between anger and dread, "what is this thou hast dared to do?"
"To love thee—is it a crime?"
"No, if it be such love as I may receive; but such is not thine, Lord Earl."
"Oh! visionary that I have been!" exclaimed the astonished noble, as he clasped his hands; "and to a dream have I given up my soul, my peace, my honour! Oh, madam! ”

“ I go; but, while life remains, I will bear in sad remembrance thy goodness, thy beauty, and thy wrongs. I go—to exile and despair!"
And turning his horse's head, attended only by Ormiston and Bolton, he galloped down the hill to his castle of Dunbar, never once daring to look back towards that fair being whom a reverse of fortune had delivered to his enemies; and, save a message she sent to Denmark on her escape from Lochleven, never once from that hour did the name of Bothwell sully the lips of Mary. ”

“ Come—be once again the daughter of stout old Svend of Aggerhuis, the conqueror of Lubeck—be once again a Norwegian!"
Like a ray of sunlight across a cold sky, a faint and sickly smile spread over Anna's face, and she kissed the hand of Konrad, who was deeply moved by the humility of the action.
"In an hour the night will be dark; have all prepared for flight, and then I will meet thee here. Meanwhile I go to Hans."
"Ah! if Hans should be mistaken, and Bothwell returning find me gone."
"Honest Hans is not mistaken; for Bothwell's marriage is known throughout all Scotland and the isles. ”

“ Giles, were all unclosed for business, and carlins were brawling with the acquaoli at the Mile-end well, ere the company separated; and the Earl, accompanied by Hob Ormiston and the knights of Tallo and Bolton, with their eyes half closed, their cloaks and ruffs awry, and their gait somewhat oscillating and unsteady, threaded their way down the sunlit Canongate, and reached Bothwell's apartments in Holyrood—that turreted palace, where the unconscious Mary was perhaps asleep with her child in her bosom, and little foreseeing the storm that was about to burst on her unhappy head. ”

“ And with one hand twisting his mustaches, and the other playing with the pommel of his dagger, the Earl strode away, and left his friend and vassal to his own confused reflections.
Bothwell, who had ever been the creature of impulse, without delay sought old Sir Erick of Welsöö, whom he found seated in a nook of the ramparts, basking in the long lingering sunshine, and sheltered from the evening wind by the angle of the turret. ”

“ Hob, do thou take the bridle-path that leads to the tower of Clelland; after the drubbing thou gavest him overnight, the laird will not likely molest thy pennon. Scatter twenty lances to prick among the woodlands. Bolton, thou wilt ride with ten men by Calderside, and do likewise; while I cross the Clyde, and search by Blantyre Priory. Keep tryste on Bothwell-muir! So now adieu, sirs!—Forward, my stout prickers, and remember, my merry men all—twenty unicorns of gold to the finder of this knave! He is a tall fellow, with a fair curly head, a corselet, and black hosen. ”

“ Darnley declines to lead his vassals to the field; but thinkest thou he will permit their being led by another? Thy friends, the knights of Ormiston and Bolton, have not as yet come in with their lances."
"Ha—my own people, sayest thou!" exclaimed Bothwell, as, shading his eyes with his hand, he gazed keenly along the glittering files, which were arrayed on the sunny side of the quadrangle. "They are not wont to lag when blows are expected; and, by St. Bothan! yonder they come! I see steel glittering among the copsewood." ”

“ Good morning, my Lord Glencairn!—good Lindesay, I kiss your hand! Athole, and ma bonne soeur, Jane of Argyle, come, we will retire; and as the king, my husband, seems so much better occupied, we will leave him to his reflections. My Lord of Bothwell, favour me with your hand!"
The queen's brother, James Stuart, Earl of Moray, on seeing Darnley's inattention, had approached and drawn off his leather glove; but on hearing Bothwell summoned thus, he drew back with a smile on his lip, and a shade on his open brow. ”

“ A strange fatality has woven our adventures together. Thou didst save me once from the waves of this very ocean, when last for my sins I was traversing these Norwegian seas; and I saved thee twice from drowning—first in the crystal Clyde, under the windows of my own castle of Bothwell; and once again when thou wert chained like a baited bear to yonder pillar in the North Loch of Edinburgh. But come," added the Earl, clapping him on the shoulder; "let us be friends; are the faith or falsehood of a woman matters for two brave men to quarrel about?" ”

“ Paul! we find kenned faces wherever we go;" said Ormiston to Bolton; "this old sea-dog hath brought us to the right haven. We will have free-house and free-hold here, I doubt not."
"Madam," said the stout captain of the Biornen, bowing as low as his great paunch and long basket-hilted espadone would permit him, "allow me to introduce to you the terrible pirate who, for the last month, has been the terror of our Fiords, and the scourge of the Sound, and whom we find to be no other than the great Earl of Bothwell, with whose astounding misdeeds all Europe has been ringing." ”

“ The Earl started and arose; he grew pale, and his eyes sparkled with anger and confusion; but he had still sufficient tact to avert his face, that the countess might not perceive his emotion.
"Saidst thou a gentleman of Norway?" he stammered; "now, what in the fiend's name brought him to swim in the Clyde at midnight?"
"I know not, my lord."
"The fool—in armour, too!"
"That was the only wise part of his proceedings; for no man ventures abroad in these days without his iron case."
"Silence, sirrah! Norway," muttered Bothwell, in great confusion; "ass and jolt-head that I have been! ”

“ Seest thou not that he buffets the water a furlong further down?"
"Right, my little fellow! thou hast the very eyes of a true huntsman!" said the Earl; "'tis a man's head; I see him; he floats like a cork on the strong current. Shout, boys, while I wind my bugle, to let him know that aid is nigh!"
The pages placed their hands to their mouths, and uttered a loud hunting holloa, while Bothwell repeatedly wound his silver bugle. Then a faint cry came from the hissing water, and the drowning man waved an arm with the action of despair. ”

“ Hob of Ormiston, and Hepburn, the captain of Hermitage, came in last, with the same tidings; and, with uplifted hand, the wrathful Earl made a vow of vengeance upon the fugitive.
The armour of the whole troop was covered with summer dust, and their horses were jaded by hard and devious riding.
"And now, my lord," said Hepburn of Bolton, "whither wend we?"
"To court—to court! As warden of the three marches, I have received a summons to attend the queen, who holds her court at Linlithgow; and I will return to Bothwell no more—not to night at least," added the Earl; "are all our knaves come up?" ”

“ Though Bothwell was not to be executed for his crime, he was destined to be married; which, next to the capital penalty, was perhaps the highest he could pay, particularly as Mary, who had already seen out a couple of husbands and a favourite, was the lady destined for his future partner. Bothwell had the audacity to give a supper at a tavern in Edinburgh, at the close of the session of Parliament—an entertainment somewhat similar to our ministerial whitebait arrangement at Blackwall—when he drew from his pocket a recommendation of himself as a fitting husband for the Queen of Scotland. ”

“ We all know the Lord Darnley's scarlet mantle, sirs, with its gold embroidery; and doth its splendour not contrast curiously with this foreigner's rags and tatters?"
"By cock and pie!" said Ormiston under his helmet, as he pushed through the crowd at this juncture, "I would swear to it as I would to my own nose, or to the king's toledo sword, which I now see by the side of this double thief and traitor! We all know him, sirs! The unco'—the foreigner—who with John of Park attempted to assassinate my Lord of Bothwell in Hermitage glen. Last night he escaped from the tower of Holyrood." ”

“ The stars were veiled in vapour; the moon was sailing through masses of flying cloud, and, by its fitful light, Konrad, as he unclosed his heavy eyes, could perceive a boat approaching. It contained two figures, which, as they were between him and the light, appeared in dark and opaque outline.
They were Bothwell and Hepburn of Bolton; both were masked as usual to the mustache, and wore their mantles up to their chins.
"If we are not too late," said the first, as they approached; "perhaps this act of mercy may be an atonement—yea, in somewise a small atonement—ha! heardst thou that cry?" ”

“ There was not a sound heard in the mansion, which, at that moment, had no other occupants than the doomed prince, his two pages, (or chamber-cheilds as the Scots name them,) and five other attendants,—William Taylor, Thomas Neilson, Simpson, Edwards, and a boy. These occupied apartments at the extremity of the house, but on the same floor with the king. All the other attendants had absconded, to partake of the festivities at Holyrood, or had gone there in the queen's retinue.
"French Paris—Nicholas Hubert," said Bothwell in a husky voice, "the keys!" ”

“ Yes—land me once in Scotland, and I will soon make my way to Bothwell."
"Thou art perhaps without money, and knowest not the Scottish tongue."
"Love and despair will sustain me without the first, and I shall soon acquire the second. How I will upbraid, how I will implore him; but he cannot have deceived me—Hans must be mistaken."
"But if he is not," said Konrad, piqued at the excess of her regard for another.
"Then I will throw myself at the feet of his sovereign; she is a woman, and, feeling as a woman, will do me justice."
"Wherever thou goest, Anna, permit me to be thy protector ”

“ As he approached James V.'s tower, where the queen occupied those apartments that are now daily exhibited to the curious, a man in a complete suit of black armour jostled him.
"Ormiston!" he exclaimed.
"Well met, Lord Earl—good-morrow!" replied his evil mentor, in a whisper. "The whole city is agog now, and every voice is raised against the Lord Moray—a lucky infatuation for us. The blue banner hath been displayed by the convener of the corporations, whose thirty-three pennons are all unfurled; so the rascally craftsmen are fast mustering in their helmets for trouble and tulzie ”

“ At times, the red rays of the moon shot forth tremulously between the flying vapour upon that dreary spot, and the high sepulchral dwelling, throwing light and shadow fitfully upon its dark discoloured walls.
The conspirators drew close together.
They were all pale as death; but their masks concealed the trepidation that would, nevertheless, have been visible in every face, as their voices betrayed it to be in every heart.
"Hist! dost thou not hear groans?" whispered Bothwell, plucking Black Ormiston by the cloak. ”

“ Bothwell raised his eyebrows slightly, and a very unmistakeable frown gathered on tall Ormiston's swarthy brow; but here very opportunely old Rosenkrantz, pausing in the midst of some enthusiastic speech, shouted Gammle Norgé! and struck his empty flagon on the table.
"Ho!" said the Earl, "my brave friend, thou seemest a tall fellow, and art used, I doubt not, to mail and arms?"
"A little to the use of the salade, steel hauberk, crossbow, and dagger."
"And art a good horseman, both at the baresse and on the battle-field?" added Bothwell, with a slight tinge of scorn in his manner. ”

“ Is it the hour at which Picauet the leech desired his grace to receive the ptisan?"
"I have no horologue," replied the aged Countess. "Beside, I deem them the work of sorcerers; but Sir John Hepburn can see the dial-stone at the corner there. What sayeth the gun?"
"'Tis three by the dial, noble lady," replied the archer, peering through the grated casement.
"Jesu!" exclaimed the Queen; "comme le temps passe! 'Tis time I were busking me for Sebastian's bridal. Lord Bothwell—thou knowest the Chevalier Sebastian? ”