James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell

“ Amongst those who first agitated this scheme was James, Earl of Bothwell, a man in middle age, and the head of the powerful family of Hepburn in East Lothian. He had always shown great zeal for Mary's service, and being one of those who strongly opposed the murder of Rizzio, this naturally led her to distinguish him with many marks of her favour and regard; so much so, that the public voice, and among others that of John Knox, the distinguished reformer, accused her of being fonder of Bothwell than she ought to have been, he being a married man, and herself an married woman. ”

“ He spent the next two years in attendance on his father at Calder, and in 1588 he entered the king's service. In October 1589 he accompanied James VI as gentleman-usher on his voyage to meet his bride [see Anne of Denmark, (1574–1619) ] , and on 27 Dec. 1591 he raised the alarm which saved James from seizure by the Earl of Bothwell [see Hepburn, Francis Stewart, fifth Earl of Bothwell] . ”

“ Bothwell, James Hepburn, Earl of, one of the envoys sent in 1560 to convey Mary, Queen of Scots, from France home; was made Privy Councillor the year after; had to flee to France for an act of conspiracy; was recalled by Mary on her marriage with Darnley; was a great favourite with the queen; was believed to have murdered Darnley, though when tried, was acquitted; carried off Mary to Dunbar Castle; pardoned; was made Duke of Orkney, and married to her at Holyrood; parted with her at Carberry Hill; fled to Norway, and was kept captive there at Malmöe ”

“ Elizabeth was persuaded by Cecil to send 4,000l. for the support of the Scottish confederates. The Earl of Bothwell [see Hepburn, James, fourth Earl of Bothwell, 1536-1578] waylaid the messenger and took the money. ”

“ Earl of Traquair’s rigorous measures with at Jedburgh, ii. 100. Borrowing Days, storm of, i. 552, 553. Borrowstounness, curious witch-trial at, ii. 405, 406; Sweet Singers of, 414-416. Bothwell, Adam, Bishop of Orkney, letter of, on plague, i. 55; his character, 145. Bothwell, Countess of, her humble supplication to James VI., i. 243; inconstancy of James’s favour to, 264. Bothwell, Hepburn, Earl of, his abduction of Queen Mary, i. 41. Bothwell, Stuart, Earl of, demands 5000 merks from city of Edinburgh, i. 189; his attempt to seize James VI. at Holyroodhouse, 229 ”

“ 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?" ”

“ A smile, both dubious and scornful, lit the face of the Highland Earl, who played ominously with his long dagger, while Bothwell reflected bitterly on—
"What a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive."
"I conjure your majesty not to hear her!" he urged; "and yet, why should I fear? The honour of the house of Hepburn has been sustained untarnished since old Adam of Hailes and Trapraine first unfurled his pennon by the side of Bruce! and assuredly it cannot suffer now by the artful story of a despicable gleewoman—Ha! ha!—a minion of the gallant Lord of Morton." ”

“ And well may he be forgiving, if I, the administrator of the laws (St. Mary help me!) can afford to be so."
"Your majesty is right," said the Earl of Bothwell, who was anxious for Konrad's removal on any terms. "I crave that he may be re-delivered to me, to be treated as he deserves; and I hope your majesty knows me well enough to believe that his usage will be generous."
"Then be it so. Sir John Hepburn, deliver this prisoner to your lord the Earl, who must bring him to me again, for I am dying with curiosity to learn his story."
"Away with him, Bolton!" said the Earl, in a hasty whisper ”

“ Hepburn, in half armour, with his visor up, entered the gardens by that ancient doorway which faces the south, and is ornamented by the Scottish arms and order of the Thistle. The clock of the chapel tolled ten, and on passing the corner of James V.'s tower, he looked up to the tall casements of the Queen's apartments, to discover the usual light in that of Mariette, though he knew she would not be visible to him to-night. Every window was dark as that of the deserted chamber in which Rizzio was murdered, and the floor of which was yet stained with his blood. ”

“ The Earl kissed his hand as he reined back his horse.
"Courage, brave Bothwell!" cried the gay Countess of Argyle; and all the ladies clapped their hands and cried, "A Bothwell!—a Bothwell!"
"Now, ho, for Hepburn!" exclaimed the Earl, spurring his beautiful charger. "Come on, Ormiston! and we will meet all yonder tall fellows in battle à l'outrance, if they will."
"I am right well content," growled the giant; "but whom shall I encounter—yonder grasshopper, d'Elboeuff?" ”

“ Like the lads of the snaffle, spur, and spear.’
We have seen Bothwell in his harness,—the loyal nobleman, the true knight, the Warden of the Marches, and Lieutenant of the Borders in the service of his Queen. A different personage, in truth, from wild James Hepburn, with his father’s hot blood rioting in his veins, and his own propensities for [81] evil, encouraged by a strong will and vigorous temperament, acting on a bad education, a weak brain, and a heart with just enough of good in it to make him lonely and unhappy. ”

“ Rage and jealousy swelled the heart of Bolton. He panted rather than breathed; and though his long-desired hour of vengeance on them both had come, he too was paralysed, trembling, and irresolute. The Earl gave him a glance of uncertainty; but Bolton saw only Mariette. Conscience whispered "to pause," while there was yet time; but the bond had been signed, the stake laid, and to waver was to die!
For a moment a blindness fell upon his eyes, and a sickness on his heart; and the Earl said to Hepburn in a hollow accent—
"Thy poniard—thy poniard! Thou hast it! The king, the king! ”

“ Tush! they should give thee hope. The world"—
"Malediction on the world; it smiles on all but me."
"For thy comfort, I will tell thee a project which hath just been put into my head.'
"By whom?"
"The devil, who, as thou knowest, never lies dead in the ditch. Approach me"—and, raising his visor, Ormiston whispered something to the Earl, who started; and Hepburn, who watched them with a keen eye, exclaimed—
"Speak forth, Hob of Ormiston; for I see there is assassination in thine eye, and here stand I, John Hepburn of Bolton, ready to be thine abettor, in any deed of stouthrief or bloodshed ”

“ The nobles, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, now immediately united to effect his destruction. In June Mary and Bothwell fled from Holyrood to Borthwick Castle, whence Bothwell, on the place being surrounded by Morton and his followers, escaped to Dunbar, Mary subsequently joining him. Thence they marched with a strong force towards Edinburgh, meeting the lords on the 15th of June at Carberry Hill. Bothwell invited any one of the nobles to single combat, but Mary forbade the acceptance of the challenge. Meanwhile, during the negotiations, the queen’s troops had been deserting ”

“ James Hepburn succeeded in 1556 to his father’s titles, lands and hereditary offices, including that of lord high admiral of Scotland. Though a Protestant, he supported the government of Mary of Guise, showed himself violently anti-English, and led a raid into England, subsequently in 1559 meeting the English commissioners and signing articles for peace on the border. The same year he seized £1000 secretly sent by Elizabeth to the lords of the congregation. ”

“ Again imprisoned, this time on a charge of witchcraft, he escaped from captivity in 1591, and was deprived by parliament of his lands and titles; as an outlaw his career was one of extraordinary lawlessness. In 1591 he attempted to seize Holyrood palace, and in 1593 he captured the king, forcing from him a promise of pardon. But almost at once he reverted to his former manner of life, and, although James failed to apprehend him, he was forced to take refuge in France about 1595. ”

“ The spaces between were filled up by gorgeous flower-pieces, and the armorial coats of the Earl's alliances on trees covered with shields; but chief of all appeared the blazon of the house of Hailes. Now little known, the arms of Bothwell are worth recording, as they appeared above the stone chimney of that apartment. Gules on a cheveron argent, two Scottish lions rending an English rose, (which had been the characteristic cognisance of Patrick Hepburn of Hailes at the great battle of Otterburn,) quartered azure with a golden ship ”

“ It was his son John—not he, as usually stated–who was married to Lady Margaret Hepburn, daughter of the first Earl of Bothwell. The grandson of the 'outlaw,' Patrick Murray of Falahill, obtained on 28 Jan. ”

“ JAMES HEPBURN Earl of Bothwel was a wicked vicious man from his very infancy. At first he inclined as seemed to the protestant side, but becoming the queen's principal minion, he apostatized to popery, because it was her religion. He vigorously opposed the work of reformation, attempted to murder the good Earl of Murray, but was prevented. After the slaughter of Rizio, he succeeded in his place, and became a partaker of the king's bed. ”

“ On 10 July 1588 he had a controversy, in the king's presence, with Francis Stewart Hepburn, fifth earl of Bothwell [q. v.] , when each gave the other the lie; and, after the king crossed the Forth a brawl occurred on 30 July between them in the High Street of Edinburgh. Sir William stabbed one of Bothwell's followers, whereupon he was attacked by Bothwell, and, after being stabbed with a rapier, fled to a hollow cellar in the Blackfriars Wynd, where he was despatched (30 July 1588) . ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Chancellor Maitland, a notorious enemy of the kirk, was, he added, the sole accuser of himself and Home, in the hope that by destroying them he, ‘a puddock stool of a night,’ might take the ‘place of two ancient cedars.’ About 8 April the king, on learning that Bothwell had crossed the Tay at Broughty on his way to Caithness, suddenly left Edinburgh for Dundee. At a meeting of the parliament on 29 May James denounced Bothwell, and asserted that he aspired to the throne, although he was ‘but a bastard, and could claim no title to the crown’ (ib. p. 161) . ”

“ To revenge himself on the Scottish king he desired to become the subject of the king of England, and to serve against Scotland with one thousand gentlemen and six thousand commoners (Earl of Northumberland to Henry VIII, 27 Dec. 1531, in Cal. State Papers, Henry VIII, v. 609) . Northumberland described Bothwell in very flattering terms, and recommended that his offer should be accepted. Nevertheless the negotiations do not appear to have gone further. About June or July 1533 Bothwell and James Beaton, archbishop of St. ”

“ How—why?" asked Mary in an agitated voice, as she gazed on the face of the Earl, which was pale as death; for the magnitude of the crime he contemplated, had for a moment appalled even himself. "With what am I menaced? Is there a raid among the Lennox men—an invasion of the English—or what? Who is my enemy?"
"James of Bothwell, as this sword shall prove!" exclaimed the young Earl of Huntly, making a furious blow at the noble's tempered helmet—a blow that must have cloven him to the chin, had not Bolton and Hob Ormiston crossed their lances, and interfered with the speed of light ”

“ So far from giving James assistance to prosecute the Catholic conspirators, the queen rather contributed to increase his inquietude, by countenancing the turbulent disposition of the earl of Bothwell, [*] a nobleman descended from a natural son of James V. Both well more than once attempted to render himself master of the king’s person; and being expelled the kingdom for these traitorous enterprises, he took shelter in England, was secretly protected, by the queen, and lurked near the borders, where his power lay, with a view of still committing some new violence. ”

“ In retaliation Arran occupied and stripped his castle at Crichton, whereupon Bothwell in November sent Arran a challenge, which the latter declined. In December he was sent by the queen dowager to secure Stirling, and in 1560 was despatched on a mission to France, visiting Denmark on the way, where he either married or seduced Anne, daughter of Christopher Thorssen, whom he afterwards deserted, and who came to Scotland in 1563 to obtain redress. He joined Mary at Paris in September, and in 1561 was sent by her as a commissioner to summon the parliament ”