Has anyone been arrested after Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was blown up at Kirk o’ Field in Edinburgh?

QUESTION Was anyone arrested after Lord Darnley, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, was blown up at Kirk o’ Field in Edinburgh?

Mary, Queen of Scots, was barely a week old when she came to the throne in 1542. The murder 25 years later of her second husband, Lord Darnley, the father of the child who would become King James I of England and James VI of England Scotland is one of history’s most infamous unsolved crimes.

On the night of February 9-10, 1567, Darnley was on the top floor of an Edinburgh house at Kirk o’ Field, where he was recovering after an attack of smallpox, although many think it was syphilis. Conspirators had been covering the cellars of the house with gunpowder for some time, and around 2 a.m. the building exploded, the blast being heard and felt throughout the city.

Darnley’s body and that of his servant William Taylor were found outside. Darnley was dressed only in his nightgown, indicating he had fled from his bedroom. Sources said one or both men had been strangled, suggesting the explosion was a cover-up.

Lord Darnley, whose full name was Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, was handsome but of bad character. He was vain, arrogant, violent in nature and unreliable, qualities that threatened the well-being of the state.

Mary, Queen of Scots, was barely a week old when she came to the throne in 1542

After the explosion, suspicion fell on James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, and his supporters, the powerful Douglas family and on Mary herself. Bothwell had long been suspected of plotting for the throne, and it was rumored that he and Mary were lovers.

The events following Darnley’s murder were dramatic, brutal and bloody. Bothwell was kidnapped, raped (or so Mary claimed) and married to the queen, but was acquitted. Instead, the need to satisfy justice focused on his accomplices, some of whom may have been innocent.

Captain William Blackadder, an associate of Darnley, who claimed he had merely walked away from a nearby inn when he heard the explosion, was the first to be captured; he was hanged, drawn, and quartered, and his limbs were nailed to the gates of the principal cities of Scotland.

Shortly afterwards, William Powrie, who had been in charge of transporting gunpowder through the streets of Edinburgh, was captured, tortured and hanged. Two of Bothwell’s servants, John Hepburn of Bolton and John Hay of Tallo, were captured and executed before the New Year; in each case they made self-incriminating statements under torture.

It took another year before Bothwell’s servant Nicolas Hubert, known as Paris, was captured and extradited from Norway. By this time Mary was beginning her long captivity in England, and Scotland was ruled by a regent, the Earl of Moray. Paris did everything he could to save his life with a confession involving Bothwell and Mary and no one else.

When William Cecil, Elizabeth I’s chief advisor, sent a request from London to send the servant down for cross-examination, he was promptly hanged at St. Andrews.

Bothwell’s acolyte, the Black Laird of Ormiston, was also captured and hanged. The next to be executed was Bothwell’s tailor George Dalgleish, who was said to have disguised Bothwell during the plot.

Bothwell himself fled to Norway, where he was arrested, and spent the rest of his life as a prisoner in Denmark, where he died in 1578. Mary spent 18 and a half years in captivity in England. She was found guilty of a plot to murder Elizabeth I in 1586 and was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle the following year.

Heather McAllister, Stirling.

QUESTION Why is castor oil called that?

Castor oil is extracted from the seeds of the castor plant, scientifically known as Ricinus communis. Digestive enzymes break down castor oil in the body into ricinoleic acid. This has laxative, anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties. The seed also contains ricin, a very potent water-soluble toxin.

Castor is a strange name because it means ‘beaver’ in Latin. It is believed that the common name ‘castor oil’ comes from its use as a substitute for castoreum, a perfume base made from the dried perineal glands of the beaver. It has another common name, Palm of Christ or Palma Christi, which is derived from the medicinal properties of castor oil.

Taxonomist Carl Linnaeus gave it the scientific name Ricinus because it is a Latin word for tick; this is because the seed has markings and a bump on the end that resemble some types of ticks.

M. M. Smith, Crewe, Cheshire.

QUESTION What is the oldest unit of measurement still in use?

What is the oldest unit of measurement still in use?

The oldest units date from ancient times, although their precise parameters may have changed over time. Dating back to about 3000 BC, the cubit was a unit of length used by the ancient Egyptians and other Near Eastern civilizations.

It was based on the length of the forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger – 45 cm. God gave Noah the dimensions of the ark in cubits: “This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark is 300 cubits, its width 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits.” Traditional hedgerows use cubits to spread out the plants.

The body was in charge when it came to measuring. The length of a foot, the width of a finger, the length of a hand, and the distance of a step were all accepted measurements in 2500 BC, and they remain so today.

The foot was a common unit of length in many ancient cultures. Traditionally it is said that the current 12 feet is derived from the length of King Henry I’s foot and that the meter should be ‘the distance from the tip of the king’s nose to the end of his outstretched thumb’.

The crescent dates from about 2000 BC. This unit of weight and currency was used in the ancient Near East, including Mesopotamia and Israel. The Roman scales or ‘pound’ dates back to 500 BC. The scale was a unit of weight and formed the basis for the Roman system of measurement.

Edward Flower, Milton Keynes, Bucks.

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