Edinburgh Castle. 44
old one with France. So their young queen was
betrothed to the Dauphin, and 6,000 French
auxiliaries came to strengthen the power of Mary
of Guise, widow of James V., who was appointed
Regent during the minority of her infant daughter.
During the year 1545-6, the Castle was for a brief
period the scene of George Wishart?s captivity.
Mary of Guise was imprudent, and disgusted the
haughty nobles by bestowing all places of trust
upon Frenchmen, and their military insolence soon
roused the rage of the people, who were at all
sword in hand, and the ports closed upon them.
and well guarded.
On March 28, 1559, Mary of Guise, with a
sorely dinhished court, took up her residence in
the fortress ; she was received with every respect
by Lord Erskine, who, as the holder of the Queen?s
garrison, was strictly neutral between the contending
parties. The Reformers were now in arms with
the English auxiliaries, so the French, who had
waged war through all Fife and the Lothians, were
compelled to keep within the ramparts of Leith,
times impatient of restraint. Thus fierce brawls
ensued, and one of these occurred in the city in
1554, between an armourer and a French soldier ;
a quarrel having arisen concerning some repairs on
the wheel-lock of an arquebuse, the latter, by one
blow of his dagger, struck the former dead in his
own shop. The craftsmen flew to arms; the
soldier was joined and rescued by his countrymen ;
and a desperate conflict ensued with swords, pikes,
and Jedwood axes. Sir James Hamilton of Sbnehouse,
who was now Provost of the city as well as
governor of the Castle, marched at once to aid the
citizens. He was slain in the m2Z8e1 and left lyinz
on the causeway, together with his son James and
the operations against which the fair Regent, though
labouring under a mortal illness, which the cares of
state had aggravated, watched daily from the summit
of David?s Tower. Her illness, a virulent dropsical
affection, increased. She did not live to see the
fall of Leith, but died on the 10th of June, 1560.
Her death-bed was peaceful and affecting, and by
her own desire she was attended by Knox?s particular
friend, John Willox, an active preacher of
the Reformation. Around her bed she called the
* Pinkerton is of opinion that this painting was a species of satire
directed at the intrigues of the persons depicted. The figurt behind
the Queen is believed to be that of a Scots Guard ; and the butterfly,
inkstand, dice, and other minute accessories, are all rupposed to have a
significance that would be re3dily understood at the time when the
