Stuart dynasty

172 THE STUART DYNASTY.
and her husband." "If I saw her sad (added Le
Croc) it was because she could not rejoice, for she
did nothing but wish for death." ''Yesterday
being shut up in her cabinet with Bothwell, she
screamed aloud and then sought for a knife to stab
herself."* Sir James Melville, moreover, in his
'Memoirs' (p. 81), recounts how the wretched
Queen at this time seriously entertained the idea of
courting death by steel or drowning.
Pitiful outcome of a train of events, as inexplicable
as unexampled !
Not against Mary Stuart's personal rule then, but
to sunder her connection with Bothwell, did the
Lords collectively strike, when nearly surpi'ising the
Queen and Bothwell at Borthwick Castle, they drove
them in hasty flight to Dunbar, where the unhappy
lady, who was Queen of Scotland, appeared disguised
as a page.f
The Confederated Lords now marched their forces
towards the retreat of Mary and Bothwell, resolved
that matters should be brought to an issue before
any friendly forces could reinforce the Queen's little
army which speedily advanced to meet their
opponents. It is said that the Hamiltons were on
the march to rescue her, and that they were in force.
The two rival armies confronted one another at
Carberry Hill, near Musselburgh, June 16, 1567.
Bothwell having offered to prove his innocence by
* ' Letters of Mary Queen of Soots, and Documents connected with her
Personal History.' Edited by Miss Strickland, vol. iii. p. 19.
t Sir Walter Scott's ' Tales of a Grandfather,' edition 1880, p. 118.