Mary, Queen of Scots and Jame Hepburn, Earl Bothwell Wed

On May 15, 1567, Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Earl of Bothwell, James Hepburn married.  Their time together was to prove short, and they were on the run for most of that time, as there were powerful interests opposed to their marriage.  Only a month later (June 15, 1567), Bothwell left Mary at the Battle of Carberry Hill, where their forces, consisting largely of Hamilton men, were defeated by a larger, well-trained force under Earls Morton, Hume, Mar, Glencairn, and Atholl.

The two sides met, with the Lords offering terms to Bothwell and Mary's.  The options to avoid all out battle were for Bothwell to meet one of the Lords in a one-on-one duel, or for Mary to leave Bothwell for the Lords, who promised their loyal support. 

Bothwell chose the duel, and Lord Patrick Lindsay was selected to oppose him.  In the meantime, the Lords' forces were maneuvering for position to gain advantage.  As told in "Life of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell" by Frederik Schiern, before the duel began, Mary mounted her steed, and summoned the Laird of Grange, who had offered terms saying "Laird of Grange, I render myself unto you, upon the conditions you ' rehearsed unto me, in the name of the Lords."  Mary thus surrendered to the Lords, while Bothwell left the field of battle.

Just prior to their marriage (May 12, 1567), Mary had conferred on Bothwell the title Duke of Orkney.  Orkney, until 1472, had been under the rulership of the Sinclair's from which family Hepburn's mother Agnes Sinclair derived.  It was to Orkney that Bothwell fled, after Carberry Hill.  Mary, as Bothwell had forseen, was betrayed, and was ultimately imprisoned at Lochleven Castle.

Walter Scott's "The Abbot" focuses on Mary, beginning at the time of her incarceration at Lochleven.

James Hepburn

Earl James Hepburn of Bothwell went down in history with mostly unfavorable notoriety.  Hepburn went through acrimonious relationships in his engagement to Anna Tronds and marriage to Jean Gordon before possibly forcibly marrying Mary, Queen of Scots.  It was Hepburn's relationship with the first of these women that ultimately did him in. 

Hepburn was the son of Patrick Hepburn, the 3rd Earl of Boswell, and Agnes Sinclair, daughter of Henry, the 3rd Lord Sinclair.  Bothwell was forced to escape the Scottish mainland in June 1567, after Scottish Lords signed a bond denouncing the newly married James and Mary.  Mary was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle that same month, and forced to abdicate the throne in favor of her son James I.  Mary escaped from Lockleven Castle on May 2, 1568, with one of those aiding her being Hepburn's grandfather Henry Sinclair (http://www.clansinclair.org/Timeline13.htm).

Many in the 16th century, and now, have speculated on when the relationship between James and Mary became intimate.  Mary made a famous visit to Bothwell in October 1566, while he was ill.  Bothwell was married to Jean Gordon at the time.

In "A Vindication of James Hepburn", author John Watts De Peyster turns to Walter Scott on this question: "Sir Walter Scott, who is by no means favorable on any occasion to Bothwell, admits that it is an open question " whether she (the Queen) visited a wounded subject, or a lover in danger." The Wizard of the North adds: "The Queen's Mire is still a pass of danger, exhibiting, in many places, the bones of the horses which have been entangled in it. For what reason the Queen chose to enter Liddesdale, by the circuitous route of Hawick, is not told. There are other two passes from Jedburgh to Hermitage Castle; the one by the Note of the Gate, the other over the mountain called Winburgh. Either of these, but especially the latter, is several miles shorter than that by Hawick and the Queen's Mire. But, by the circuitous way of Hawick, the Queen could traverse the districts of more friendly clans than by going directly into the disorderly province of Liddesdale."..."

Bothwell's escape to Scandanavia and Norway ended in his capture by Danish authorities.  Here Anna Tronds found revenge, lodging a complaint against Hepburn.  Bothwell spent the last ten years of his life in prison, dying on April 14, 1578.