pathway at this hamlet, still in verdure, which, according to tradition, the villagers point out as having been planted by Mary. In the eventful 1566, Craigmillar seems to have been the principal resort of that Queen. It was here that she held, with her deceitful and double-dealing ministers, some of those dark and mysterious counsels which terminated in Darnley's death and her own ruin. It was in this Castle that her privy council proposed to the Queen the divorce of her husband Darnley. It originated with the justly despised Earl of Bothwell, then a cabinet minister, and officer of state, who prevailed on Moray, Huntly, Argyll, and Lethington, to join him in his diabolical proposition. Lethington, whose eloquence was superior to that of the rest, moved the proposal to Mary in the most cautious and persuasive manner. The Queen desired to avoid the subject, when Bothwell stepped forward and took up the argument; she with dignity replied, “I will that you do nothing by which any spot may be laid on my honour and conscience, therefore I pray you rather let the matter be in the estate as it is abiding, till God of his goodness put a remedy to it" she then added, "that which you believe would do me service, may turn to my hurt and my displeasure." As to Darnley, she expressed an anxious hope that he would soon change for the better: with this mild, but resolute answer, she dismissed Bothwell and his associates, who retired to meditate new plots.* "This answer," adds Blackwood, "was far from being agreeable to the Lords, proving to them that her Majesty's present estrangement from her husband was more from the necessity of the times, than because she had ceased to love him." About this period Darnley resided also at Craigmillar, *Goodall, vol. ii. p. 316. Keith, p. 355. Bell's Life of Mary, vol. 2. p. 6. and afterwards accompanied the Queen to Edinburgh, from whence he went to Stirling, and Mary followed after him, to make the necessary arrangements for the baptism of her son, which she determined to celebrate with that pomp and magnificence which his future prospects justified.* It was during her stay, about Christmas 1566, that Mary was prevailed upon to grant pardon to the Earl of Bothwell and seventy-five of his accomplices, who had been charged with the murder of Rizzio. On the 17th November 1566, the Queen arrived at Craigmillar, from Bothwell's Castle of Hermitage, where the Earl then lay wounded in an affray which he had with the marauders of Liddesdale. The anxiety of her mind and the rapidity of this imprudent journey, threw her into a severe illness, and we believe this was the last visit which she paid to this favoured residence. In point of architectural beauty and accommodation, Craigmillar surpasses the generality of Scottish Castles. These considerable ruins consist of a square tower or keep, several stories high, and connected with inferior buildings, encompassed by a square machicollated wall, flanked by four circular towers, one on each angle, and again inclosed by an outer wall. The barnikin or rampart wall, is thirty feet high, with turrets and parapets; beyond the extreme wall there was in several places a deep ditch or moat. Above the principal gate of the Castle, are the figures 1427, but whether the inscription was designed to record the date of this part of the erection, or an after repair, is uncertain. In this edifice there are a great variety of apartments. The hall of the Castle is at once spacious and well lighted, considering the mode of ancient times. The length of this apartment is 36 feet, and the breadth 22. At the east end there is an immense fire-place and chimney, which measures 11 feet. The ceiling is of a semicircular form :-in one of Chalmers, vol. ii. p, 173. the stone window seats or benches, is cut a diagram for playing at the game called the walls of Troy.* The apartment which is shown as that occupied by Queen Mary, is in one of the upper turrets; it measures only 5 feet in breadth, and 7 in length, but notwithstanding the narrowness of its dimensions, has two windows and a fire-place. The ascent to the tower or keep, is by an easy flight of broad stone stairs. Beyond the exterior wall of the fortress there appears to have been a deep ditch or moat, which has been filled with water. On the east of the outer walls are the arms of Cockburne of Ormeston, Congalton of that ilk, Moubray of Barnbogle, and Otterburne of Redford, with whom the ancient family of Preston were nearly allied. Over a small gate under three unicorns couped, is a wine press and a barrel or ton, the rebus of Preston.+ Besides the above, there are a variety of armorial bearings over all the outside of the building. The ruin is happily surrounded by some fine old trees, which, with the varied form of the structure, imparts to the prospect a diversified and romantic effect, while the associations connected with it inspire feelings of the deepest interest. In a low green on the south side of the Castle, there are still perceptible traces of a sort of water course which forms the figure of a huge P. the initial of the name of the possessor, which, when originally filled with water, must have had a very picturesque and imposing appearance. On the north side of the Castle is the quarry from which the pale sandstone, used for the building of the edifice, appears to have been extracted. There is a popular tradition that the stone used in the earliest construction of the neighbouring Castle of Edinburgh, was also taken from this quarry,—and which was transported by the Pictish architects by means of a line of men, who handed the materials * Gaming boards of this description were frequently fixed at the bottom of the hall windows in the days of James IV. + M. de Cardonel,-Grose, vol. i. p. 50. |