Casket letters
[1] In particular, the text of the letters was taken to imply that Queen Mary colluded with Bothwell in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley.
[3] Historian Antonia Fraser similarly argues that the documents were whole or partial forgeries, pointing to various inconsistencies in the texts, both with the Queen's known style and with details of geography, date, and relationships with persons mentioned.
[4] The Queen's husband, Lord Darnley, was killed in mysterious circumstances at the Kirk o'Field in Edinburgh on 10 February 1567, and she married the Earl of Bothwell on 15 May 1567.
At the end of July 1567, the Earl of Moray, who was in London, told Guzman de Silva, Spanish ambassador to England, that he had heard of the finding of a letter in Mary's own handwriting to Bothwell which implicated her in the murder of Lord Darnley.
[7] According to the document called "Hay's Book of Articles," compiled by Alexander Hay for the Confederate Lords in November 1568, which narrates events from Darnley's murder to Moray's Regency, the casket and letters were found and made known before Queen Mary agreed to abdicate, and public opinion after their discovery had brought her to that decision.
They made and signed a statement in preparation for the Parliament to enact Mary's abdication, which stated the letters demonstrated Mary's involvement in the murder; in so far as by diverse her previe letters writtin and subscrivit with hir awin hand and sent by hir to James erll Boithvile chief executor of the said horrible murthour, ... it is maist certain that sche wes previe, art and part (complicit) and of the actuale devise (plot) and deid of the foir-nemmit murther of her lawful husband the King our sovereign lord's father.
Nearly a year later, in October 1568, the Earl of Moray produced the Casket letters and the "Ainslie Tavern Bond" at a conference in York, headed by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk.
[10] Moray produced the schedule of accusations known as the "Book of Articles" on 6 November 1568 at Westminster, and showed the casket letters again on 7 December.
[12] On 8 December, Moray showed the commissioners seven papers written in French in the "Roman hand" or italic, including a "sonnet" beginning, "O Dieux ayez de moy".
Copies and translations were made of these papers, which Moray claimed showed his sister's love for Bothwell and her involvement in Darnley's murder.
John Lesley, Mary's secretary, heard from one of her accusers, William Maitland of Lethington, that Elizabeth's purpose was "not to end her cause at this time, but to hold the same in suspense".
[19] The contemporary historian, George Buchanan, who was present at York amongst the Scottish commissioners, described Norfolk and Lethington's ride, and their agreement not to reach a decisive conclusion.
[26] After the York-Westminster conference, on 22 January 1569, Queen Elizabeth wrote to the Earl and Countess of Mar, who were the keepers of James VI at Stirling Castle, to counter rumours that Moray had made speeches and secret treaties in England to ensure that he would become King of Scotland to the prejudice of the young King.
[28] Morton testified in December 1568 that on 20 June 1567,[29] Dalgleish offered, under the threat of torture, to take his captors to a house in Potterrow, Edinburgh.
Under a bed, they found a silver box engraved with an "F" (perhaps for Francis II of France), containing the Casket letters and a number of other documents, including the Mary-Bothwell marriage certificate.
Bowes argued that recent events and establishments were confirmed by acts of parliament and public instruments and the letters were not now significant.
The copies do not reproduce signatures or dates, and they contain endorsements made by the copyist that indicate how the letters were to be used against Queen Mary.
[44] Versions of some of the letters and sonnets were printed in George Buchanan's polemic Detectio Mariæ Reginæ and Detectioun, and reprinted by James Anderson in 1727.
One of the letters invokes the imagery of the gift of a memento mori ring or locket in the context of Bothwell's absence and Mary's regret.
[50] A French version of the letter describes the object as a jewel containing his name and memory joined with a lock of her hair, comme mes chevaulx en la bague.
