Dear Susan:
The NEXT Earl of Bothwell, his nephew (?) Frances , was accused of gathering
about him, in a plot to kill James VI of Scotland (later James I of England), a
large band of significantly lesser lights later accused of witchcraft, many of
whom--mostly women--were subsequently found guilty of the "abomynable cryme of
wytchcraft," strangled and then burned on Edinburgh's castle hill. It is
believed that at least one was burned, if you can possibly imagine, alive.
Surprisingly she was one of the more high born of the bunch. Frances was found
not guilty, however, one of his jury of peers being a Sinclair of Roslin, but
was later forced to flee the country, and died in poverty (or so it's said) in
Italy. The Trial of the North Berwick Witches, as it's come to be known, kicked
off over a hundred years of witch hunts in Scotland, and King James a.k.a. "the
wisest fool in Christendom," later wrote a nifty little treatise called
"Daemonologie," which was used as a handbook of "judicial" procedure during all
that time. The last recorded witch burning in Scotland, one of the last in all
of Europe, was at Dornoch in the 1720s, recently the place where pop star
Maddonna was married, and which has therefore acquired a shiny new image to
replace its darker and almost forgotten one. The victim was reportedly so
senile, and therefore had so little sense of what was happening to her, that she
actually attempted to warm her hands in the flames that would consume her. I
too, for several reasons, am interested in the body of Mary Queen of Scots'
paramour. It is said he died insane. I too have heard that his body is still
on display, and am VERY interested in why the body of a Scotsman, dead these 500
years or so, has been kept intact and fresh-as-possible in Denmark since then.
Perhaps our knowledgeable Norman cousin can enlighten us.
Expecting All the Usual Degree of Interest in What I Have to Say, All Best for
Now!
Jeff
SusanG1400@aol.com wrote:
> Dear Mr. Quarterman,
>
> Would you please post this message on the Clan Sinclair Discussion Group?
> Thank you very much.
>
> Hi!
>
> The third husband of Mary Queen of Scots was James Hepburn, Fourth Earl
> of Bothwell. His mother was Agnes, daughter of Henry, Lord Sinclair. His
> father was Patrick, Third Earl of Bothwell. James Hepburn was born in
> Scotland in 1536 and died in a prison in Denmark in 1578.
> There is a very interesting article about James Hepburn in the Scottish
[ Excess quotations omitted. ]
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