In Her Majesty's Service

We looked at William Graham and the Graham family in Scotland a bit last time. The Graham clan in Scotland, in the Family Search genealogy, reaches back to the 10th century before we run out of relatives. I can do a good deal of exploring along the branches of that part of the tree, but on a quick inspection, I found at least two connections to the First War of Scottish Independence. If that doesn't ring a bell for you, this is the period covered in a little movie called Braveheart, starring a still-liked actor named Mel Gibson. He played William Wallace.

One connection to Wallace is through a great-to-the-x uncle of William Graham who was considered to be one of Wallace's close confidants. John de Graham, who once rescued Wallace during the conflict. If you wondered, he doesn't appear as a character in the movie. 

The other connection that appears is a fella by the name of Robert the Bruce, king of Scotland, who also appears in the movie, though not always in a favorable light. Two important people in today's narrative can trace their lineage back to the king -- Mary, Queen of Scots and William Graham. They appear almost 200 years after the Bruce.

William, according to The Scots Peerage (1909), inherited his title as the second earl of Montrose on his father's death. Twelve years later he was among a number of lords appointed to "attend to the King's person quarterly." The king mentioned is James V, Mary's father, a distant cousin of William. 

When the king married, William was appointed an ambassador to France and became a member of the Commission of Regency, which ran the government in Scotland while the king was off marrying the king of France's daughter. When that wife died, he married the daughter of French duke. All this took place to renew and solidify an alliance between Scotland and France.

James died without a male heir, leaving his daughter Mary, six days old at the time, as the new queen. Whenever a child took the throne under such circumstances, parliament would a regent to conduct the government until such time as the child reached the proper age. But this came at a time when Henry VIII ruled England. Henry was Protestant; James was Catholic. The appointed regent thought Scotland should be Protestant and ran afoul of the Cardinal of Bethune, who wanted the nation to remain Catholic. 

William supported the cardinal, but his service toward the Queen was rewarded with land. Parliament would end the controversy years later by ending the Pope's authority in Scotland. 

For her part, the child Mary would become a sort of political pawn, with Henry VIII wanting her to be married to his son Edward. The Scots said "No," and Henry did what any good king and father would do -- he went to war with Scotland, a conflict dubbed "The Rough Wooing." Scotland refused to acquiesce and shipped Mary off to France, where she eventually, at the age of 15, married the dauphin, who became king with Mary as his queen consort. That didn't last long, though, as the king died young. The French didn't really want Mary hanging around and shipped her back to England. 

In England, she became betrothed after falling for Henry, Lord Darnly, but the marriage didn't meet the expectations of the courtship. Not everyone was pleased with the match because of his Tudor lineage. You know, all the politics involved in royal succession. William supported it, but then tried to steer a middle course as trouble developed. The couple produced one child, James, later James VI of Scotland and James I of England.

In a twist worthy of a mystery novelist, Henry at one point took a trip, leaving Mary behind. A castle where he stayed during the trip blew up while he was there. His body was later found in a courtyard, but he was unharmed by the explosion -- he had been strangled.

In what was considered to be too short a time afterward, Mary began a romantic relationship with the Earl of Bothwell. Rumors began to swirl that he had forced himself on her, that she was pregnant, and that the pair had conspired to kill Henry. Both were later found not guilty of any crime related to Henry's death, and the pair married.

A group of Protestant peers called the Lords of Congregation didn't approve of the match and locked Mary up, a move William opposed even though he wanted Bothwell out of the picture. She escaped, and William joined her to show his loyalty and support, though unlike some, he never fought any physical battles for her. He died three years later.

Mary's story is fascinating and is worth taking the time to look up. Several English and Scottish sites tell the tale.

Image: Mary, Queen of Scotts by François Clouet. Public domain