MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

WALKING THROUGH FOTHERINGHAY CASTLE

WAS A YOUNG WOMAN WITH HEAD HELD HIGH;

SHE FORGAVE THOSE THAT WERE TO KILL HER

AND SHE CALMLY PREPARED HER SELF TO DIE.

 

ONE OF THE EXECUTIONERS KNELT BEFORE HER

A STURDY BUILT MAN BY THE NAME OF BULL;

HE BEGGED FOR HER TOTAL FORGIVNESS

BEFORE BEHEADING HER IN THE CASTLE HALL.

 

IT WAS 1587 AND THE WORLD WAS A SCARY PLACE,

SO MUCH BLOOD SPILLED ON WELL TRODDEN TURF;

AND NOW ANOTHER LIFE WAS BRUTALLY TAKEN,

A WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN BORN OF NOBEL BIRTH.

 

WHEN MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS WAS SENTENCED TO DIE

IT WAS HER COUSIN ELIZABETH THAT SIGNED THE DEED.

MARY STAYED CLOSE TO HER CATHOLIC FAITH TIL THE END

& IT WAS TO HER GOD, THAT DAY, SHE WAS HEARD TO PLEAD

 

HER ACCUSED CRIME WAS SAID TO BE ONE OF TREASON,

PLOTS AGAINST QUEEN ELIZABETH WERE SITED IN COURT

LETTERS SAID TO BE IN MARYS OWN HAND WERE SEIZED;

WORDS THAT SHE PROTESTED AND BRAVELY FOUGHT.

 

HISTORY TELLS OF A BABY GIRL BORN IN SCOTLAND

HER BIRTH WAS ON THE 8TH OF DECEMBER 1542,

SHE WAS THE ONLY DAUGHTER OF KING JAMES V

A FATHER THAT SHE NEVER EVER KNEW

 

MARYS FATHER DIED SIX DAYS AFTER HER BIRTH;

AND NINE MONTHS LATER SHE WAS CROWNED

A BABY QUEEN WHOSE LIFE WAS MAPPED OUT

& WHO WAS TO BECOME WORLD RENOWNED

 

SHE MARRIED SO YOUNG IN THE YEAR OF 1558

HER GROOM WAS THE DAUPHIN OF FRANCE;

SHE THEN ASCENDED THE FRENCH THRONE

AND BECAME A QUEEN BY CIRCUMSTANCE

 

WIDOWED A YEAR LATER SHE WAS LEFT ALONE

SHE SOUGHT OUT A RETURN TO SCOTTISH TURF;

SHE PACKED UP ALL HER REGAL BELONGINGS

AND RETURNED TO THE PLACE OF HER BIRTH

 

FOUR YEARS WENT BY, A NEW MARRIAGE LOOMED

HER COUSIN HENRY ‘’LORD DARNELY’’ WAS HER MATE;

BUT HE COULD BE A BRUTAL MAN AND RATHER MEAN

WHICH, IN THE END, WOULD DIRECTLY LEAD TO HIS FATE

 

MARRIED IN 1565 BUT WIDOWED THE FOLLOWING YEAR,

HER HUSBAND WAS MURDERED BY ANOTHERS HAND

AN EXPLOSION WAS RIGGED TO CONCEAL THE TRUTH;

HIS DEATH HAD BEEN EECUTED AND WELL PLANNED

 

MARY HAD ONLY ONE SON WITH LORD DARNELY

A BOY CALLED JAMES WHOSE FATHER WAS BUT A BLUR;

A CHILD THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY TAKE HER CROWN

AND AT THE AGE OF JUST ONE; WOULD SUCCEED HER

 

MARY MARRIED JAMES HEPBURN AFTER BEING WIDOWED

HE WAS A TITLED MAN; THE 4TH EARL OF BOTHWELL;

MANY SAY HE MURDERED ‘’DARNELY’ FOR HER SAKE

BUT THE WHOLE TRUTH MAY BE HARDER TO TELL

 

IMPRISONMENT WAS FATED FOR QUEEN MARY

LONG YEARS THAT SAW HER WELL CONFINED;

HER PLEADS OF INNOCENCE WERE IGNORED

AND HER DEATH WARRANT FINALLY SIGNED

 

WHATEVER THE TRUTH OF HER WRONG DOING

WHATEVER THE HISTORY BOOKS MIGHT SAY

MARY STOOD PROUD AT HER DEPARTURE

AND FACED DEATH IN A DIGNIFIED WAY

Reviews

[cartera]

Lots of facts put down in an interesting and human way. Always wondered about the mind of the executioner, the legal and brutal killer.
ATB
Alex.

[J Todd Underhill]

Well done on another historical poem, these are some of the most fun I do, and I am glad to see others out there doing them as well!