Crookston (14)
As stated earlier, Crookston became the property of the Stewarts of Darnley, and eventually became the property of Henry, Lord Darnley. Henry spent his youth in England, his father, the Earl of Lennox, having been banished from Scotland. He arrived in Scotland in 1565, a gallant young man of 22. He immediately became a favourite of the young Queen, and they were eventually betrothed.
The match was dynastically ideal for the Scotland as it avoided the uncertainty of a foreign match and promised a monarchy free of ties with England and France, while strengthening the Scottish claim to the English throne - Darnley being the grandson of Henry VIII's sister Margaret, who had been married to King James IV.
They were married in July 1565 and according to tradition, it was to here at Crookston that Darnley brought his Royal bride on their honeymoon. Of their time here, the poet William Motherwell wrote:
"Beneath yon tree—
Now bare and blasted—so our annals tell
The martyr Queen, ere that her fortunes knew
A darker shade than cast her favourite yew,
Loved Darnley passing well—
Loved him with tender woman’s generous love,
And bade farewell awhile to courtly state
And pageantry for yon o’ershadowing grove—
For the lone river’s banks whose small birds sing,
Their little hearth with summer joys elate—
Where tall broom blossoms, flowers profusely spring;
There he, the most exalted of the land,
Pressed with the grace of youth a Sovereign’s peerless hand."
However happy they may have been here, stolling under 'yon o’ershadowing grove', it was sadly, not to last. From not long after their marriage, Mary gradually became aware that the 'gallant' Darnley was in reality, vain, arrogant and unreliable. He was three years younger than Mary and not particularly mature. He was also unpopular with the other nobles and had a mean and violent streak, aggravated by a drinking problem. (Apart from that, he was perfectly fine!)
Things came to a head at 2 am on the night of February 10, 1567, when two explosions rocked the foundation of Kirk O'Field - a property in Edinburgh that Mary had bought for Darnley's use. The explosions were later attributed to two barrels of gun powder that had been placed in the small room under Lord Darnley's sleeping quarters. The explosions, however, were not what killed him. His body, along with that of his valet William Taylour, was found outside the building. Darnley was dressed only in his nightshirt, suggesting he had fled in some haste from his bedchamber. It was determined that they had both been killed by strangulation!
Crookston (14)
As stated earlier, Crookston became the property of the Stewarts of Darnley, and eventually became the property of Henry, Lord Darnley. Henry spent his youth in England, his father, the Earl of Lennox, having been banished from Scotland. He arrived in Scotland in 1565, a gallant young man of 22. He immediately became a favourite of the young Queen, and they were eventually betrothed.
The match was dynastically ideal for the Scotland as it avoided the uncertainty of a foreign match and promised a monarchy free of ties with England and France, while strengthening the Scottish claim to the English throne - Darnley being the grandson of Henry VIII's sister Margaret, who had been married to King James IV.
They were married in July 1565 and according to tradition, it was to here at Crookston that Darnley brought his Royal bride on their honeymoon. Of their time here, the poet William Motherwell wrote:
"Beneath yon tree—
Now bare and blasted—so our annals tell
The martyr Queen, ere that her fortunes knew
A darker shade than cast her favourite yew,
Loved Darnley passing well—
Loved him with tender woman’s generous love,
And bade farewell awhile to courtly state
And pageantry for yon o’ershadowing grove—
For the lone river’s banks whose small birds sing,
Their little hearth with summer joys elate—
Where tall broom blossoms, flowers profusely spring;
There he, the most exalted of the land,
Pressed with the grace of youth a Sovereign’s peerless hand."
However happy they may have been here, stolling under 'yon o’ershadowing grove', it was sadly, not to last. From not long after their marriage, Mary gradually became aware that the 'gallant' Darnley was in reality, vain, arrogant and unreliable. He was three years younger than Mary and not particularly mature. He was also unpopular with the other nobles and had a mean and violent streak, aggravated by a drinking problem. (Apart from that, he was perfectly fine!)
Things came to a head at 2 am on the night of February 10, 1567, when two explosions rocked the foundation of Kirk O'Field - a property in Edinburgh that Mary had bought for Darnley's use. The explosions were later attributed to two barrels of gun powder that had been placed in the small room under Lord Darnley's sleeping quarters. The explosions, however, were not what killed him. His body, along with that of his valet William Taylour, was found outside the building. Darnley was dressed only in his nightshirt, suggesting he had fled in some haste from his bedchamber. It was determined that they had both been killed by strangulation!