[6] Delny arrived in London on 5 November 1586 to intercede for the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, carrying the king's letter of instructions for Archibald Douglas.
[8] They requested that any proceedings against Mary should be delayed until members of the Privy Council of Scotland were present, and that nothing should prejudice James VI's succession to the English throne.
[10] William Cecil wrote to Delny about "so strange and unseasonable message, as did directly touch her noble father (Henry VIII), herself, and all the estates of her present Parliament."
[13] After Mary was executed, their speeches and manner of mediation were said to have been counter-productive, and when Sir John Seton of Barnes was dismissed from household service in July, it was thought Delny would lose his place.
[17] On 17 March he wrote to Walsingham mentioning the arguments in favour of James VI marrying Catherine de Bourbon the sister of Henry of Navarre.
[18] At this time he transferred £10,000 Scots to the Lord Chancellor, John Maitland of Thirlestane, from the English subsidy money which Elizabeth gave to James VI.
[19] In July 1589 it was expected that Delny and the English courtier Roger Aston would lose their positions at court because they had been supporters of the Master of Gray, who was now out of favour.
[27] During their time in Denmark, the king sacked Delny as keeper of the wardrobe, allegedly for appearing in richer clothing than himself, and appointed Sir George Home in his stead.
[28] In the days before Delny lost his place, Robert Douglas, Provost of Lincluden on 4 April 1590 wrote "Sir William Keith is lyke to be casin, and to tyne his offices, credit and all.
[30] Archibald Douglas suggested Keith's allies were a threat to Maitland, and a royal guard raised by Sir John Carmichael was chiefly to protect the Chancellor.
In the last week of July, Delny stayed at the house of Dorothea Stewart, Countess of Gowrie, near Holyrood Palace, hoping to regain the king's favour.
[32] Possibly unaware of his increasing difficulties, Christian IV of Denmark wrote to James VI on 3 August 1590 interceding for Delny's return to favour.
[34] The English ambassador Robert Bowes noted in July 1591 that Delny "lay in bed" once or twice at Morham Tower with the owner, the rebellious Bothwell.
On 6 May 1593 the Duke and 15 friends subscribed to a frivolous legal document swearing to abstain from wearing gold and silver trimmings on their clothes for a year, and defaulters were to pay for a banquet for all of them at John Killoch's house in Edinburgh.
[40] In February James VI confirmed his grant of the barony of Delny and gave him the patronage of three parish churches, noting his devotion to spreading the Gospel.
They were instructed to confirm previous peace treaties and to give good report of Adrian Damman van Bijsterveld, the resident diplomat of the States General at the court of Scotland, and ask that Scots soldiers serving in the Eighty Years' War be paid.
[46] The ambassadors from the Dutch Republic at the baptism, Walraven III van Brederode (1547–1614) and Jacob Valke, treasurer of Zeeland, brought Prince Henry a gift of a guaranteed income.
Such practices are known as "letterlocking" a term first coined by Jana Dambrogio:I close his majesties lettir, swa that giff he taik not ane knyff and cott it owt, it will ryff; lykwys I have cloissit roidlie, that it be not brokin owt or kend, sua exquisse my roidnes lowrd in this.I close his majesty's letter so that if he does not use a knife and cut it open, it will tear, also I have sealed it rudely, so it might not be picked out and known, so exuse my rough rudeness in this.
[56] A charter of July 1601 mentions his death, and an earlier note in the royal wardrobe accounts made in 1599 by Thomas Foulis and Robert Jousie also refers to his decease.