NORMALLY the sea fog seeps in slowly from afar. Not today. Today it presses on the Port of Leith like mud pouring from the sky, filling crevices and…
Mary, Queen of Scots was a headstrong trailblazer who cannot be defined by poetic tragedy forced upon her by historical narrativesNORMALLY the sea fog seeps in slowly from afar. Not today. Today it presses on the Port of Leith like mud pouring from the sky, filling crevices and corners, hiding everyone and everything.
Almost exactly 430 years later, another teenage girl made her way from the continent to Scotland to begin a new life.When I arrived in a very foggy Edinburgh in the summer of 1991 to commence my studies, I too was more comfortable in another language. In those heady days of EU membership, I was free to study in Scotland despite my German passport – and while I initially only planned to stay for the four years of my degree, I married a Scot and have remained here for 33 years and counting.
When Mary stepped ashore at the Port of Leith in August 1561, Scotland had only been an officially Protestant country for a single year, following a bitter struggle for control. Despite Catholicism now being illegal, the north of the country remained largely Catholic, while in the Central Belt, key reformers like the preacher John Knox and Scottish Protestant nobles called the Lords of the Congregation dominated religious discourse.
Her vivacious and cheerful personality had previously won over the French court when King Henri II called her “the most beautiful child he had ever seen”. The winner was Mary Fleming, one of the famous “Four Maries”, Mary’s closest friends who all shared her first name. Fleming was allowed to wear the Queen’s dress for the day and take her seat on the throne, all in the name of revelry and fun.
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