The last letter written by Mary Queen of Scots will be read by thousands

Around 10,000 people are expected to read the last words ever written by Mary, Queen of Scots, as her poignant final letter goes on first public display in nearly a decade.

Mary wrote the letter at 2am on 8 February 1587, just six hours before her execution at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire.

She had fled to England to find the protection of her cousin, Elizabeth I, but was held captive for 19 years before she was beheaded for conspiring against the English queen.

Mary wrote her last letter in French to Henry III of France – the brother of her late first husband Francois II – asking that he put her affairs in order.

It was kept in the archives of the Scots College in Paris until the French Revolution, and it now forms part of the collection of the National Library of Scotland (NLS) in Edinburgh.

Rarely seen due to its age, the four page letter has gone on display at Perth Museum for three months as the centrepiece of an exhibition celebrating the monarch.

A “once-in-a-generation opportunity”, the fragile letter was last displayed in Edinburgh in 2017, for just a few hours, and since then it has been kept in a darkened vault.

Stone of Destiny

This is part of a programme of events around Scotland to mark the centenary of NLS, and the letter is being displayed in a secure glass display case in a gallery directly above the room housing another important relic of Scottish history, the Stone of Destiny.

Levels of light temperature and relative humidity will be carefully controlled via a series of monitors in the room to prevent the historic document from deteriorating.

The letter has been opened to show pages two and three, containing the majority of the text, including Mary’s distinctive signature.

Condemned to death, Mary writes to the French king: “I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning.

“I have not had time to give you a full account of everything that has happened, but if you will listen to my doctor and my other unfortunate servants, you will learn the truth, and how, thanks be to God, I scorn death and vow that I meet it innocent of any crime, even if I were their subject.”

After describing the reasons she has been condemned – “The Catholic faith and the assertion of my God-given right to the English crown” – she asks Henry to help put her affairs in order.

She then signs off: “Your very loving and most true sister,  Mary R.”

Exhibition

Ashleigh Hibbins, Head of Audiences and Learning at Culture Perth and Kinross, said: “We are proud to welcome Mary, Queen of Scots’ last letter to Perth Museum.

“This is the culmination of about two years of work. It’s the first time in recorded history that the letter has traveled north of the central belt, but Perth and Kinross is at the heart of Mary’s story.

“Her imprisonment and dramatic escape from Lochleven Castle was the start of Mary’s exile so the story of the letter starts here in Perth and Kinross. Within a few weeks, she had made her way to England and thrown herself on Elizabeth’s mercy.

“It’s quite striking when you see how neat her handwriting is, her hand so steady just a few hours before her execution. She folded it up herself and gave it to her physician directly.”

She added: “The Stone of Scone was in Westminster when Mary was on the Scottish throne so she never sat on it. It seems quite poetic that her last letter is on display directly above the Stone.”

David Freeburn, Exhibitions Officer with Culture Perth and Kinross, said the letter was “a pilgrimage object”, adding: “We feel incredibly honoured that of all the institutions across the world who would have loved to display Mary’s last letter, we have that privilege.

“It’s a once in a generation opportunity. We anticipate a lot of people will make a pilgrimage to see it while they can.”

Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Stuart was born in 1542, the only legitimate child of King James V. She became Queen of Scots at only six days old following the death of her father, but spent most of her childhood in France while Scotland was ruled by regents.

She returned to Scotland in 1561 not long after the death of her husband, Francois, at the age of 16, and she later married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who was murdered in 1567.

Later she married the main suspect, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, but was imprisoned and forced to give up her crown in favour of her one year old son, James VI.

She fled to England to find the protection of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth I, but was confined in various castles for 19 years before she was beheaded.

At the time of the French Revolution, her last letter passed into the hands of the Chevalier d’Hervilly, and subsequently became the property of Messieurs Feuillet de Conches and B Fillon. Eventually it became part of the celebrated collection of autographs formed by the great 19th-century collector Alfred Morrison.

In 1917 the letter was bought from Morrison’s widow by 26 subscribers and presented to the Scottish nation through the National Art Collections Fund (now Art Fund) in 1923.

It was held by the Advocates Library until 1925, when it was presented to the National Library of Scotland on its foundation the following year.

Other items from the National Library’s collections are on display nearby at AK Bell Library to complement the letter in an exhibition entitled “The Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots”.

They include Robert Burns’ “Lament of Mary, Queen of Scots, On the Approach of Spring”, written in his own hand in a love letter to Clarinda in 1790, and original drafts of Liz Lochhead’s 1987 play “Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off”.

Lochhead, who attended the official launch of the two exhibitions, said: “The National Library of Scotland shared the text of Mary, Queen of Scots’ Last Letter with me way back when I was working on Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off.

“It is thrilling to know that the actual letter that Mary Queen of Scots wrote in the hours before her execution – so moving, so brave – is to be on display in Perth Museum.”