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Authors: Roderick Graham
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of her nurses and governesses than her mother, so often preoccupied with state business.
Artus de Maillé, Sieur de Brézé, a member of the Guise faction and a relative of Diane de Poitiers, Henri’s mistress, had been sent by the king as the royal representative and escort. He kept Marie well informed with letters sent whenever the ship made landfall, and on 31 July he wrote, ‘the queen your daughter fares as well and is, thank God, as cheerful as you have seen her for a long time’. In his next letter he assured Marie, ‘the queen fares exceedingly well and has not yet been ill on the sea’; then, on 3 August, he informed her that that ‘in spite of very strong winds which tossed the galley most severely, the queen has never been ill. This makes me think she will suffer little on the open sea.’ DeBrézé’s ease of communication and anticipation of ‘the open sea’ is made clear on 6 August when their ship had only travelled as far as Lamlash on the Isle of Arran, eighty miles from Dumbarton. Lady Fleming, in particular, was impatient at the lack of progress and demanded to be put ashore until the weather improved. Villegaignon, who was a professional sailor and observed no niceties towards imperious ladies, told her that she had two options. She could either stay on board or drown. Better weather did arrive and now gave them a quicker journey, although off the coast of Cornwall de Brézé reported, ‘[the] weather was wondrous wild with the biggest waves I ever saw in my life’. Heavy seas smashed the ship’s rudder but the crew, being the most expert in France, replaced it, and on 15 August, after a voyage of seventeen days, the royal party landed at Roscoff in Brittany. Mary, de Brézé wrote, ‘prospers as well as ever you saw her. She has been less ill upon the sea than any one of her company so that she made fun those that were.’ We must presume that her green, vomiting ladies forgave her, although her two guardians, the lords Erskine and Livingstone, took some days to recover. The royal party then travelled down the headland to St Pol-de-Léon, where an official welcoming party was waiting for them. Mary Stewart had arrived in the country of which she would, one day, be queen.
PART II
France, 1548–61
CHAPTER THREE
We may be very well pleased with her
The voyage had been no more eventful than any other of the time, dependent on wind and tides. The galley slaves would not have been used if there had been a favourable wind, since they could make little headway against strong contrary winds, and they only represented an additional force in calm weather, though were crucial while manoeuvring in harbour. Mary may have seen the lash used on them, as it was a practice she later forbad, whatever the circumstances. The ships would have been only lightly armed since they offered no promise of profit for pirates, and an attack by English forces was extremely unlikely. Seizing the child on land could always be disguised as a ‘rescue’, but to take her from the King of France’s personal galley while she was under his protection would have provoked an international incident from which even the hot-headed Somerset would draw back.
From Roscoff on 15 August 1548 Villegaignon had sent notice of Mary’s arrival, and when they reached St Pol a first welcoming party was waiting for them, including a mâitre d’hôtel, who acted much as a local tour guide, and, bizarrely enough, the Duchesse d’Étampes, the mistress of François I. There was no official court position for the mistresses of dead kings; she, presumably, had got news of Mary’s arrival through her gossip network, paid her own expenses and came out of curiosity. The entire nobility of France were agog to see the youngest monarch in Europe, who had already gained the status of a fairy queen. Villegaignon bade a relieved farewell to the royal party and was sent back to Scotland with men and ammunition for Marie’s continuing siege
Artus de Maillé, Sieur de Brézé, a member of the Guise faction and a relative of Diane de Poitiers, Henri’s mistress, had been sent by the king as the royal representative and escort. He kept Marie well informed with letters sent whenever the ship made landfall, and on 31 July he wrote, ‘the queen your daughter fares as well and is, thank God, as cheerful as you have seen her for a long time’. In his next letter he assured Marie, ‘the queen fares exceedingly well and has not yet been ill on the sea’; then, on 3 August, he informed her that that ‘in spite of very strong winds which tossed the galley most severely, the queen has never been ill. This makes me think she will suffer little on the open sea.’ DeBrézé’s ease of communication and anticipation of ‘the open sea’ is made clear on 6 August when their ship had only travelled as far as Lamlash on the Isle of Arran, eighty miles from Dumbarton. Lady Fleming, in particular, was impatient at the lack of progress and demanded to be put ashore until the weather improved. Villegaignon, who was a professional sailor and observed no niceties towards imperious ladies, told her that she had two options. She could either stay on board or drown. Better weather did arrive and now gave them a quicker journey, although off the coast of Cornwall de Brézé reported, ‘[the] weather was wondrous wild with the biggest waves I ever saw in my life’. Heavy seas smashed the ship’s rudder but the crew, being the most expert in France, replaced it, and on 15 August, after a voyage of seventeen days, the royal party landed at Roscoff in Brittany. Mary, de Brézé wrote, ‘prospers as well as ever you saw her. She has been less ill upon the sea than any one of her company so that she made fun those that were.’ We must presume that her green, vomiting ladies forgave her, although her two guardians, the lords Erskine and Livingstone, took some days to recover. The royal party then travelled down the headland to St Pol-de-Léon, where an official welcoming party was waiting for them. Mary Stewart had arrived in the country of which she would, one day, be queen.
PART II
France, 1548–61
CHAPTER THREE
We may be very well pleased with her
The voyage had been no more eventful than any other of the time, dependent on wind and tides. The galley slaves would not have been used if there had been a favourable wind, since they could make little headway against strong contrary winds, and they only represented an additional force in calm weather, though were crucial while manoeuvring in harbour. Mary may have seen the lash used on them, as it was a practice she later forbad, whatever the circumstances. The ships would have been only lightly armed since they offered no promise of profit for pirates, and an attack by English forces was extremely unlikely. Seizing the child on land could always be disguised as a ‘rescue’, but to take her from the King of France’s personal galley while she was under his protection would have provoked an international incident from which even the hot-headed Somerset would draw back.
From Roscoff on 15 August 1548 Villegaignon had sent notice of Mary’s arrival, and when they reached St Pol a first welcoming party was waiting for them, including a mâitre d’hôtel, who acted much as a local tour guide, and, bizarrely enough, the Duchesse d’Étampes, the mistress of François I. There was no official court position for the mistresses of dead kings; she, presumably, had got news of Mary’s arrival through her gossip network, paid her own expenses and came out of curiosity. The entire nobility of France were agog to see the youngest monarch in Europe, who had already gained the status of a fairy queen. Villegaignon bade a relieved farewell to the royal party and was sent back to Scotland with men and ammunition for Marie’s continuing siege
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