The King, the Queen, her lover and his death – the Bonnie Earl of Moray – Introduction.
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| James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray |
This week in Murder Ballad Monday we return to the murky, murderous past of Scotland, as we explore another one of Francis James Child’s collected ballads from Scotland and England. The plot reads like a Hollywood historical blockbuster. Two nobles in dispute over land and power. Claims and counter claims made to the King. Add to this mix a lingering suspicion at the heart of power that one of these nobles is favoured by the Queen.
James Stewart, the 2nd Earl of Moray was born around the year 1565. Stewart gained the title Earl of Moray through marriage, and sought about establishing himself as a serious and key player within the north-east corner of Scotland. Around this time in Scotland King James VI was establishing himself as a powerful Protestant monarch.
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| King James VI of Scotland 1586, aged 20. |
James was obsessed with witches and witch hunts. He tried to attend as many witch trials as he could, and was convinced that witches were against both his understanding of theology and against him personally. He attended the trial of Agnes Sampson, who was convicted of being a witch in East Lothian and burnt at the stake in 1591. James believed the ‘evidence’ against Sampson that said she has sent storms to try and kill him and his new wife Anne of Denmark on their return to Scotland from Denmark.
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| From the trial of Agnes Sampson |
King James VI of Scotland also had his heart set on becoming King of England after Queen Elizabeth of England died. As the nearest heir to the throne of England, James was keen to let nothing get in the way of this desire. He signed in 1586 the Treaty of Berwick which set in place his accession to the throne of England after the death of Elizabeth.
As part of this new treaty, King James promised Queen Elizabeth that the Scots would seek to fight against the coming Spanish Armada, and in 1588 he appointed James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray to be a commissioner to fight against the Armada. It was exactly the kind of important and ambitious appointment that James Stewart was seeking. In particular he had set his eye on forcing out one of his neighbours, George Gordon, the 1st Marquess of Huntly.
James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Moray had one other aspect in his favour. He was regarded as being very handsome and soon acquired the nickname of ‘Bonnie’.
This introduction has set the scene for the next chapter, which will look at the rivalry between James Stewart and George Gordon and the bitterness that existed between them. We will also look at how James Stewart starts to fall foul of another ambitious man the King himself.
To set the scene here is the Old Blind Dogs singing their version of the Bonnie Earl of Moray.