Latest news with #LordDarnley
BBC News
18-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Rare Mary Queen of Scots letters to be auctioned
Letters signed by Mary, Queen of Scots and her husband Lord Darnley urging a Highland family to keep the peace in and around Inverness are to be auctioned were written almost 500 years ago when rival families and clans were vying for control of land across Roses of Kilravock Castle, about 10 miles (16km) east of Inverness, were loyal supporters of of the letters asks the Roses to help maintain law and order, while another gives them control of Inverness Castle. The letters jointly signed by Mary's husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, have been described as providing a rare example of harmony in their troubled couple later fell out and Henry became infamous for leading a group that murdered Mary's loyal servant David Rizzio in front of her in 1566. Henry was murdered himself the following year. The letters are part of a collection of papers from Kilravock Castle, near Croy, that are being sold by auctioneers Lyon and are five in total being sold, and they have been valued at between £10,000 to £15,000. Mary stayed with the Roses at Kilravock while on a visit to the Highlands in Inverness Castle, a fortress on the site of today's 18th Century building, was strategically important but under control of Gordon, the 4th Earl of Huntly, who was not so sympathetic towards the was refused entry to Inverness Castle and, angered by the snub, she made attempts to wrest it from the Gordons' hold on September 1565 she and Henry appointed Hugh Rose of Kilravock as the castle's it was back in the Gordons' hands within a writer Jennifer Morag Henderson describes these events in her book Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of said the letters signed by Mary and her husband, using their signatures Marie R and Henry R, were rare."Darnley is almost never called 'King Henry' - and indeed Mary ultimately refused to give Darnley the Crown Matrimonial, meaning he was not king in his own right, but only the queen's husband," she said."This is one of the few documents I have seen that is signed in this way, from the very early, almost literally honeymoon period of Mary and Darnley's marriage. "It's so interesting to see their signatures side-by-side like this – Mary's is first, so she's still the most important, but Darnley has signed his name in large, sprawling letters."
Edinburgh Live
27-04-2025
- General
- Edinburgh Live
Photo of historic lost Edinburgh pub discovered during house renovations in Australia
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info A vintage photograph of two figures standing outside a lost Edinburgh pub has been unearthed during a home renovation more than 10,000 miles away in Australia. Believed to have been taken in the early 1950s, the tattered picture shows a pair of uniformed men posing at the entrance of the long-since-demolished Lord Darnley Tavern in the Canongate. Now, decades on, the well-travelled snap has turned up in the most unlikely of places - behind the wall of a house in the surfer's paradise that is Wollongong, just one hour's drive south of Sydney, Australia. A local woman, Lisa Doherty, rediscovered the photo during renovations to the dwelling, which was originally built in the 1950s to house '£10 poms' migrants from the UK. The migrants were called Ten Pound Poms due to the charge of £10 in processing fees for Brits to start a new life in Oz. Commenting on her find, Lisa said: "I found this in a wall while renovating a house in Australia and thought it might be of interest. It looks like a cool old pub. Shame it's no longer there. "The house that we found the photo in was originally built in the '50s for migrants from the UK. The area used to be called Commonwealth Cottages in Unanderra." While the identity of the two uniformed men in the photo, which has been posted to the Lost Edinburgh page on Facebook, is unknown, it's understood they were officers in the Royal Navy. Writing on Lost Edinburgh, Stephen O'Neil said: "They are two Royal Navy Petty Officers. The badge on the arm denotes which branch, but I can't quite make it out." Situated at the foot of the Canongate, the tenement housing the pub was razed in the 1970s, with the watering hole relocating to the West Port. Others shared their memories of the legendary pub, which displayed a waistcoat purportedly owned in the 1560s by the real Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the father of James VI of Scotland and I of England. Andrew McFadden wrote: "First pub I played guitar in with my mate singing early '60s. Lord Darnley's waistcoat was up on the wall in a glass case." Lesley Scott commented: "Incredible. Photo discovered in Wollongong! I remember the Lord Darnley and other treasured buildings in the Canongate with such character, now demolished. I wonder, is one of the uniformed chaps in the photo the former owner of it?" Bobby Robert Frazer added: "What a fantastic photo it brings back some amazing memories to me of my childhood in the Canongate. We lived at Whitehorse Close from 1940 till 1955. The Lord Darnley was a smart looking pub."
