Stuart dynasty

The Church at Bay. 81
have passed since that time,* — bent on finding some tasteful
gift for the lady soon to be his bride. James, on these ex-
peditions, was recognised by the Parisian loungers of that
day, every carter pointing with his finger at " le Eoi
d'Escoisse."f
After a magnificent religious ceremony at Notre Dame, on
January 1, 1537, and at the expiration of a happy eight
months' sojourn in Paris, James took his wife home by the
long sea voyage, a safe-conduct through England having been
unceremoniously refused by the King's irate uncle, Henry
of England, notwithstanding that Francis acted as mediator.
So this tender flower, which, to do him credit, James prized
highly, was subjected to the caprices of winds and waves.
She reached Leith on May 19, 1537. On descending from
the ship, Magdalen knelt upon the beach, and taking up some
portion of the sand, kissed it, and asked a blessing upon her
new country, where she was received with great popular
enthusiasm. But alas ! she speedily sickened, and died on
July 7, not two months after the incidents just recorded.
Royal hearts had no time allowed them to break in Scotland
at this period, and the susceptible King seems to have roused
himself from his sorrow, and allowed a mission, with David
Beaton at its head, to proceed straightway to France and
demand the hand of the widowed Mary of Lorraine, Duchess
de Longueville, and daughter of the Duke of Guise, head of
the Catholic party in France. James V. is said to have been
captivated by the fine figure, bordering upon embonpoint,
which characterised his second wife. A description of her
comely proportions had previously fired the ardour of no less
a personage than Henry V1IL, who contemplated becoming
a suitor for her hand, but was deterred by considerations of
policy. At a juncture when the Beformation doctrines were
patronised by Henry VIIL, his nephew's alliance with the
house of Guise meant war with England, not long to be de-
ferred. Nevertheless, the alliance with Mary of Lorraine
was celebrated in the cathedral of St. Andrews in June 1538,
the clear year of mourning for the lost Magdalen not having
expired.
Meantime other events happened in Scotland which it is
necessary to mention. The impression of the Court of Stir-
ling (whence James V. took his poetic name, " Snowdoun's
* Pinkerton's 'History of Scotland,' vol. ii. pp. 490-494.
t Ibid.
G