Jedburgh

In 1666 Mary Queen of Scots stayed for a time here in Jedburgh while she was presiding over a Circuit Court in the Borders where there were continuing skirmishes.  During her stay she rode 30 miles to visit the Earl of Bothwell who had been trying to quell the notorious Border Reivers and on the way back fell in a bog and became dangerously ill on her return.  She became blind and lost her speech and was feared to have died on 25th October but she recovered after her French physician saved her life.  Meanwhile her husband Lord Darnley visited her only once despite staying in Jedburgh and this period was then to become the start of her troubled reign after having been popular until then.
Today tourists were sheltering from the cold damp weather and happy to wander around the visitor centre looking at memorabilia.  Among Mary’s possessions on show is the watch which she lost in the bog and was unearthed 250 years later in a mole hill.

This is part of an occasional series on places connected with the famous, but tragic, Mary Queen of Scots

(Mary Queen of Scots  5)