Scotland
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Mary, Queen of Scots Part III- Prisoner Queen
Mary, Queen of Scots was in a world of hurt. Her husband, Lord Darnley, had been murdered and she was being implicated in his death. It was well known the relationship was on the rocks. He was constantly drunk and kept company with whores. The last straw was his involvement in the death of her secretary, David Rizzio. His house in Kirk of the Field had exploded, but Darnley’s body had been found strangled in the garden. It could have caused nothing but relief for Mary. However, suspicion for his murder fell on several nobles, including James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. Mary had consulted Bothwell and a council of nobles…
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TAY BRIDGE DISASTER
It was a miserable evening in Dundee on the 28th December 1879. The rain was pouring and the wind, estimated to be gusting up to 80mph was howling. The storm registered around 10 to 11 on the Beaufort scale. At a little after 7pm, the Edinburgh train entered the newly opened Tay Bridge…… Designed and built by Sir Thomas Bouch, it was opened officially the year before. Bouch was famous for his design of the world’s first roll-on/roll off train ferry, which had been in operation across the Firth of Forth for almost thirty years. He was also responsible for the construction of several rail lines, Portobello Pier, a number…
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Boxing Day
It falls on the day after Christmas, when servants and tradesmen would receive gifts, known as a “Christmas box”, from their bosses or employers. It seems to have started around the 1830s. In Britain, it was a custom for tradespeople to collect “Christmas boxes” of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year. This custom is linked to an older English tradition: since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts,…
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Mary, Queen of Scots Part 2- A match made in hell
On paper it was a glittering match. She was a beautiful queen, and he was a handsome lord. They were both descendants of Henry VII, and combined the Catholic claim to the throne of England into one claim. However, the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots and Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley turned into a disaster. Mary was eighteen years old when she arrived in Scotland for the first time since she was five years old. She was the Queen, but her mother Marie of Guise had held the fort as Regent so to speak. Mary was raised a pampered and doted on Princess of France. Eventually she became France’s Queen,…
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The Unknown Bairn
Nothing strikes a body like the tragic loss of a child. But when that child is never identified nor claimed it seems particularly sad. On 23rd May 1971, local postman John Robertson, ‘Ian the Postie’ was walking along the beach in the small village of Tayport, which butts up to one side of the Tay Estuary facing onto Dundee across the river. He had his young son with him. Up front, he saw something laying still on the sand and on approach found it to be a young boy aged two to four years of age. Sadly the little chap had no signs of life. Examination revealed the boy appeared…
