The courtroom of Mary, Queen of Scots was a spot of betrayal, demise and tragedy. Jean Gordon is the exception to that: the lady who bought a cheerful ending.
By the summer time of 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots’ rule in Scotland was successfully at an finish. Her military had surrendered at Carberry Hill, and she or he was on her method to imprisonment in Lochleven Fortress. In the meantime, two folks have been individually making their manner north: Jean Gordon, and Jean’s ex-husband Bothwell.
Mary, Queen of Scots, Jean Gordon and Bothwell: a love triangle?
Bothwell and Jean had divorced simply months earlier, in order that Bothwell might marry Mary, Queen of Scots. This closing, disastrous marriage to the person accused of killing her second husband Darnley had eroded a lot of Mary’s help. Jean too had been left in a troublesome place, so she was returning residence to her Gordon household in Huntly Fortress, within the north-east of Scotland.
Once I first learnt the story of Mary, Queen of Scots’ downfall, I turned fascinated by Jean Gordon. What occurred to this different girl? Jean had by no means needed to marry Bothwell within the first place, as she’d been in love with another person. Nonetheless, she later resisted their divorce. What might she do now because the ex-wife of the person who introduced down the queen?
Girl Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell, 1544 – 1629. By an unknown artist. Bought 1917, Nationwide Galleries of Scotland.
Huntly Fortress
Exploring the websites related to Jean Gordon was a method into her life. Huntly Fortress gave me an perception into the size of the place she lived. It’s a large stronghold, showcasing the ability of her household.
Huntly Fortress is now a noble spoil.
When Jean was slightly woman, she had grown up in luxurious. A few years earlier than, Jean and her dad and mom had been visited by the mom of Mary, Queen of Scots, the formidable Mary of Guise. As a Frenchwoman, Mary of Guise was used to considering of Scotland, and significantly the northern components of the nation, as a provincial backwater. Nonetheless, as she rode up a wise cobbled path to Huntly Fortress, to be met with a guard of honour of 1000 Gordon males, she needed to change her opinion.
A portrait of Mary of Guise alongside her second husband, James V of Scotland (Public area, through Wikimedia Commons)
Contained in the Huntly Fortress complicated, Mary of Guise was proven monumental stone rooms lined with tapestries exhibiting intricate footage of birds and ‘nice leaves of bushes’. There have been velvet cushions to take a seat on and yellow, violet, blue, inexperienced and crimson velvet and silk coverings and curtains on the beds. The shop-rooms have been full of meals and provisions. Right here within the north-east Jean Gordon’s father was often called ‘The King of the North’.
It was not all the time advisable to indicate royalty how wealthy and highly effective you have been. Mary, Queen of Scots got here to see Jean Gordon’s household as a risk. Nonetheless, Jean’s marriage to Bothwell had been a part of the rehabilitation of the Gordons. The union was a part of the queen’s technique to unite households who have been loyal to her.
Bothwell
Bothwell was a troublesome character. Clever and uncompromising, he made sturdy associates – and stronger enemies. His loyalty to Scotland meant that Mary got here to depend on Bothwell’s recommendation, and he superior at courtroom. The end result of his ambition was to imagine that he might take over as King of Scots. He compelled Jean Gordon to divorce him, kidnapped Mary, Queen of Scots, and persuaded Mary to marry him. It was a surprising sequence of occasions, and Bothwell and Mary didn’t have sufficient help to rule.
Portrait of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, by an unknown artist, c 1535 – 1578. Bought 1917, Nationwide Galleries of Scotland.
Bothwell was allowed to flee as Mary was taken away to be imprisoned in Lochleven Fortress. Like Jean Gordon, Bothwell too went north – and, maybe surprisingly, he went first to Huntly Fortress. He had been shut associates with Jean’s brother, who was now Earl of Huntly. Nonetheless Jean’s brother refused to assist Bothwell.
Spynie Palace
Bothwell then went on to Spynie Palace, nonetheless within the north-east, near Huntly. Though Bothwell was a Border lord, he had really grown up partly within the north, together with his great-uncle the Bishop of Moray at Spynie.
Spynie Palace close to Elgin.
The ruins of Spynie will not be maybe as well-known as a few of the castles in the identical space, however they’re imposing. They show the ability of the church within the time of Mary, Queen of Scots. A lot of the difficulty that Mary had discovered herself in was on account of change in faith in Scotland from Catholic to Protestant. Mary was Catholic, as was Jean Gordon. Bothwell was a staunch Protestant. Loyalties have been confused.
Once I first learnt that Bothwell had sturdy connections with the north, and had spent his childhood at Spynie, it modified how I noticed his alliance with Jean Gordon. As a substitute of being strangers thrown collectively for political causes, really Bothwell would have been effectively conscious of the world that Jean had grown up in. Their marriage was a intelligent union of the north and the Borders. Had issues turned out in another way, it might have introduced the queen help from many components of the nation.
Nonetheless, at Spynie, Bothwell didn’t discover the sanctuary he was searching for. As a substitute he turned embroiled in a sophisticated plot involving an English spy. Bothwell’s uncle had many illegitimate sons, who resented the sudden look of Bothwell and the chaos he introduced with him. There was an try and kill each Bothwell and an English spy who was being held prisoner in Spynie – a convoluted plan which will have been designed to additional blacken Bothwell’s identify.
Bothwell escaped, to journey additional north, on to Orkney and Shetland, and at last to a depressing and grotesque imprisonment and demise in Scandinavia.
Jean Gordon: essentially the most highly effective girl within the north
Jean Gordon, nonetheless, survived and prospered. Regardless of what had occurred between her, Bothwell and the queen, Jean’s household turned a few of the most vital Marian supporters. The Gordons campaigned on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots as she fell into imprisonment in England.
The Gordons supported the reason for Mary, Queen of Scots.
Jean remarried, to the Earl of Sutherland, and, by means of this marriage, the Gordon household prolonged their powerbase across the coast of the Moray Firth and from the north-east proper as much as the Far North of Scotland. And, it was Jean that was in cost. Many sources describe her husband as a considerably weak man.
Jean took what she had learnt from the politicking of Mary, Queen of Scots’ doomed courtroom, and utilized it to her life going ahead. She knew how simple it was to lose all the things, and was decided to carry on to what energy she had. She wrote letters to the brand new Regent’s spouse, Agnes Keith, asking for land for her husband. Her identify seems on property paperwork, a sole feminine amongst ‘sundry different nation gents’.
‘White Gold’
When Jean’s second husband died, Jean managed the household estates within the minority of her son. Then, when her son additionally tragically died younger, Jean managed the property within the minority of her grandson. She turned essentially the most highly effective girl within the north, and personally oversaw the event of the Sutherland estates, beginning a coal mine and salt pans. Salt at the moment was an extremely vital commodity, not least due to its significance in preserving meals: it was typically often called ‘white gold’.
Jean and her Gordon household had an enormous and lasting affect on the north-east and Far North of Scotland.
Love
And, in addition to all this, Jean discovered private happiness as effectively. She had by no means needed to marry Bothwell, as a result of she had been in love with a person known as Alex Ogilvie, a minor nobleman who had been judged unsuitable for her. Late in life, Jean met Alex Ogilvie once more. He had been married to Mary Beaton, one of many well-known ‘4 Maries’, the attendants who served Mary, Queen of Scots as a younger woman.
Mary Beaton. Girl in ready to Mary, Queen of Scots. By an unknown artist. Bought 1913, Nationwide Galleries of Scotland.
Nonetheless, by this time Ogilvie was a widower – so he and Jean lastly married. It was a outstanding completely satisfied ending for 2 individuals who had survived the tragedy of Mary, Queen of Scots’ courtroom.
Jean lived till she was in her eighties, an extended and wealthy life stuffed with incident. When she died, she was given the grand funeral and full honours often reserved for a male Earl.
Jean Gordon’s time at Mary, Queen of Scots’ courtroom was the beginning of my curiosity in her. Nonetheless, her later, full life within the north of Scotland deserves extra consideration. My visits to places like Huntly Fortress and Spynie Palace helped me to know the size and influence of her life – and helped me to visualise her residence life and people private relationships that finally introduced her happiness.
Comply with within the footsteps of Jean Gordon
Huntly Fortress is open yr spherical and Spynie Palace is open from April to September.
Concerning the creator
Jennifer Morag Henderson is a author from Inverness. Her ebook “Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots” is presently longlisted for the Highland Ebook Prize.
Jennifer’s specific curiosity is in historical past and biography. Different writing and analysis has included work on Twentieth-century Scottish writers together with together with Josephine Tey and M.E.M. Donaldson, on the Seventeenth-century adventurer Donald McBane, historic Inverness, and extra.
“Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots” is revealed by Sandstone Press, and that can be purchased as a hardback in all good bookshops, in addition to in e book and audiobook. For extra data go to Jennifer’s web site.
Function picture credit:
Girl Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell, 1544 – 1629. By an unknown artist. Bought 1917, Nationwide Galleries of Scotland.
Copy of a sketch of Huntly Fortress taken from a lantern slide @ Courtesy of HES.
