Series 3 > Foreign correspondence with Marie de Lorraine, Queen of Scotland, from the originals in the Balcarres papers > Volume 7

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BALCARRES PAPERS
and her family,1 the Queen seized the opportunity which
presented itself and made the voyage. The precise date
of her departure is uncertain. It was after the 7th Septem¬
ber 1550,2 and she arrived in France on the 19th of the
month, escorted by galleys commanded by Piero Strozzi
and sent by the King of France ; and her return to Scotland
on the 27th November 1551 is confirmed by an entry in
the Defenses de la Maison Roy ale.3
There is a long document in the fifth volume of the
Balcarres Papers which shows the preparations for this
visit; it gives in complete detail the furnishings and con¬
veyances needed for the Queen during her journeys to and
with the Court. The Depenscs de la Maison Royale for
July 1551 give some idea of the amount of travelling which
she must have done, for in that one month, save for two
days spent at Blois and ten days at Joinville, she was
journeying constantly, and spending no more than one
night in each stopping-place. Together with the list of
furnishings is the account of the clothing supplied for
herself and her train, from which some extracts are given.
She had, besides her eight ladies, of whom four at least
were Scots, pages and footmen ; and for all these mourn¬
ing clothes had to be provided on account of the death of
her father in April of that year. The following list gives
a few of the more personal entries :—
{Translated)
Articles Furnished the Queen of Scotland by Robert
Fichepain, Rene Tardif and Pierre Gaillard, Mer¬
chants and the King’s Treasurer.4
15 ells of excellent black velvet sent by the command of the
Cardinal of Lorraine to make a gown and sleeves lined with the
same for the said Lady (the Queen Dowager) given to Jehan de
la Vallee, tailor to the Bishop of Alby.
1 Burton, Hist., iii. p. 281.
3 Register House, 1549-55.
2 Diurnal of Occurrents, pp. 50-1.
4 The prices are omitted.