were stained with blood. But he wore a mantle of crimson, lined with fur, cast around him, which supplied the deficiency of his dress. On his head he wore a crimson velvet bonnet, looped up on one side with a small golden chain of many links, which, going twice around the hat, was fastened by a medal, agreeable to the fashion among the grandees of the time.

In a poem by Aytoun of Bothwell at that time, Lord Seton is described, as we learn in “An Old Family," as follows:

"He was of a noble stamp

Whereof this age hath witnessed few;
Men who came duly to the camp,

Whene'er the Royal trumpet blew.
Blunt tenure lords, who deemed the Crown
As sacred as the Holy Tree,

And laid their lives and fortunes down

Not caring what the cause might be."

CHAPTER XII.

THE FLIGHT FROM LOCHLEVEN.

LOCHLEVEN CASTLE, where Mary Seyton and Mary Fleming were in attendance upon their beautiful and otherwise charming, but ever unfortunate queen, is described by Scott as "a sequestered, water-girted fortress consisting of one large donjon keep, surrounded with a court-yard with two round flanking towers at the angles, which contained within its circuit some other buildings of inferior importance. A few old trees, clustered together near the castle, gave some relief to the air of desolate seclusion. The gate of the court-yard was kept locked so no one could pass in or out without the consent of the owner of the castle."

While confined in Lochleven, Queen Mary had some of her maids of honor with her, as well as a page or two, who tried to entertain their beloved sovereign by reading, singing, and friendly converse, and it is even said that they danced for her, perhaps at her request, to keep the time from passing too slowly for her followers.

The following is taken from Scott's description of the flight from Lochleven Castle, and is the most interesting of any of the accounts at hand and probably as reliable, if what Napoleon said of history is true. Here is his definition of history. Who can improve upon it? "What is history, but fiction agreed upon?"

"We have but brief time'," said Queen Mary; 'one of the two signal lights in the cottage is extinguished-that shows the boat is put off.'

"They will row very slow,' said the page, 'or keep where depth permits, to avoid noise. To our several tasks. I will communicate with the good father.'

"At the dead hour of midnight, when all was silent in the castle, the page put the key into the lock of the wicket which opened into the garden, and which was at the bottom of the stair-case

which descended from the Queen's apartment. 'Now turn smooth and softly, thou good bolt,' said he, 'if ever oil softened rust!' and his precautions had been so effectual that the bolt revolved with little or no resistance. He ventured not to cross the threshold, but exchanged a word with the distinguished Abbot, asked if the boat were ready.

"This half-hour,' said the sentinel. 'She lies beneath the wall, too close under the islet to be seen by the warden, but I fear she will hardly escape his notice in putting off again.'

"The darkness,' said the page, and our profound silence may take her off unobserved, as she came in. Hildebrand has the watch-tower-a heavy-headed knave who holds a can of ale to be the best head-piece upon a night-watch. He sleeps for a wager.' "Then bring the Queen,' said the Abbot, ‘and I will call Henry Seyton to assist them to the boat.'

"On tiptoe, with noiseless step and suppressed breath, trembling at every rustle of their own apparel, one after another the fair prisoners glided down the winding stair, under the guidance of Willie Douglas, and were received at the wicket-gate by Henry Seyton and the churchman. The former seemed to take instantly upon himself the whole direction of the enterprise. 'My Lord Abbot,' he said, 'give my sister your arm and I will conduct the Queen-and that youth (Willie Douglas) will have the honor to guide Lady Fleming.' Catharine Seyton, who well

knew the garden path, tripped on before like a sylph, rather leading the Abbot than receiving assistance. The Queen, her native spirit prevailing over female fear, and a thousand painful reflections, moved steadily forward, by the assistance of Henry Seyton; while Lady Fleming encumbered with her fears and her helplessness, Willie Douglas, who followed in the rear, and who bore under the other arm a packet of necessaries belonging to the Queen. The door of the garden, which communicated with the shore of the islet, yielded to one of the keys of which Willie had possessed himself, although not until he had tried several-a moment of anxious terror and expectation. The ladies were then partly led, partly carried, to the side of the lake where Lord Seyton, George Douglas and several others awaited them. Henry Seyton placed

the Queen in the stern; the Abbot offered to assist Catharine, but she was seated by the Queen's side before he could utter his proffer of help.

"They rowed to the mainland, where they found horses awaiting them, and long before daylight they ended their hasty and perilous journey before the gates of Niddry, a castle in West Lothian nearly midway between Edinburgh and Linlithgow, belonging to Lord Seyton. When the Queen was about to alight, Henry Seyton, preventing Douglas, received her in his arms, and kneeling down, prayed her Majesty to enter the house of his father, her faithful servant. 'Your grace,' he added, 'may repose yourself here in perfect safety. Do not dismay yourself should your sleep be broken by trampling of horses, but only think that here are some score more of saucy Seytons come to attend you.'

"And by better friends than the saucy Seytons, a Scottish Queen cannot be guarded,' replied Mary. 'Rosabell went fleet as the summer breeze, and well-nigh as easy; but it is long since I have been a traveler, and I feel that repose will be welcome.Catharine, ma mignonne, you must sleep in my apartment to-night and bid me welcome to your father's castle.""

The next day the Queen with her attendants proceeded to Hamilton Palace, where six thousand men were soon assembled in her defense. While Mary's headquarters were at Hamilton the regent and his adherents had, in the king's name, assembled a host at Glasgow to oppose the Queen's followers. And when the latter came opposite Glasgow on the way to Dumbarton, they were attacked near Cathcart Castle, in which battle, called the battle of Langside, Henry Seyton met his death while defending the Queen.

The Queen's forces were defeated, and nearly suffered annihilation in this battle. Mary is said to have fled sixty miles from the field of battle before she halted at Sanquhar, and for three days of flight, according to her own account, she had to sleep on the ground and live on oat-meal and sour milk. On the third day she crossed the Solway and landed at Workington, in Cumberland, May 16, 1568. After this disastrous encounter Lord Seyton was obliged "to retire abroad for safety." and was an exile for two years, during

which time he was reduced to the necessity of working for his daily bread like common people. The work he succeeded in securing was driving a team in Flanders. He is said to have risen to favor in King James VI.'s reign, and returned to his home and resumed his accustomed life. As a reminder of his trip abroad he had a picture painted on one of the walls of the picture gallery at Seton Castle in his wagoner's costume as though driving four of those stocky Flemish horses..

Robert Seton says: "Lord Seton here displayed the hereditary valor of his race, repeatedly charging the rebel heights with the cry, 'God and the Queen! Set on! Set on!' He was wounded and taken prisoner and came near being put to death. When he was brought into the presence of Moray, he was bitterly rebuked by him as having been the prime author and the chief performer in this tragedy; whereas, according to Moray, it was his duty to have been one of the first to protect the infant king. Seton answered that he had given his fidelity to one prince, and that he should keep it as long as he lived, or until the Queen should have laid down her right of government of her own free will. Irritated by the reply. Moray asked him to say what he thought that his own punishment ought to be, and threatened that he should undergo the extreme severity of the law. 'Let others decide,' said Seton, 'what I deserve. On that point my conscience gives me no trouble, and I am well aware that I have been brought within your power, and am subject to your will. But I would have you know that even if you cut off my head, as soon as I die there will be another Lord Seton.""

"As it was, he got imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle, but after a year's confinement went into exile," as above stated. "Lord Seton returned to Scotland in January, 1571, and is then constantly mentioned in letters and state papers, and always as an incorruptible and untiring agent of the imprisoned Queen and the Catholic cause.

"Lord Seton died on the 8th of January, 1585, and was buried in his family church, where on a slab of black marble embedded in the wall there is a lengthy epitaph from the pen of his son Alexander, who was an elegant Latin scholar."