Mary, queen of castle cells
QUESTION Where was Mary Queen of Scots imprisoned in England?
Mary Queen of Scots was executed in Fotheringhay Castle, Northamptonshire, in 1587 after she had spent almost 19 unhappy years under house arrest in various manors, halls and castles.
Mary Stuart was born on December 8, 1542, in Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian. Her father James V died when she was just six days old, making her Mary Queen of Scots.
She was married three times, to Francis, dauphin of France; the vain and arrogant Lord Darnley, with whom she had a son, the future James VI of Scotland and James I of England; and Lord Darnley’s probable murderer, the Earl of Bothwell.
Mary’s marital and political decisions provoked rebellion among Scottish nobles, forcing her to flee to England, where she sought the protection of her cousin, Elizabeth I.
Mary crossed the Solway Firth in a fishing boat on May 16, 1568, and spent two nights as an honoured guest at Workington Hall in Cumbria.
She was escorted to magnificent Carlisle Castle, built by William II to keep the Scots out of England, where she spent a number of weeks in its Warden’s Tower before being moved to Bolton Castle, 75 miles further south.
at the entrance to Wensleydale and built by richard le Scrope, Lord Chancellor to richard II, in 1378, this magnificent rectangular fortress still dominates the surrounding countryside.
In January 1569, Mary was taken to ripon and then Wetherby, staying a night at Hazlewood Castle, then on to Pontefract, rotherham and Chesterfield.
She was entrusted to the care of George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, one of the wealthiest peers in England, with vast estates in yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. His enormous income from lead mines, forests and farms enabled him to maintain various manors, halls and castles.
For the next 15 years, Mary was moved between three of his properties: Sheffield Castle, Wingfield Manor in Derbyshire
Doomed: Mary, Queen of Scots. Inset: Bolton Castle, where she lived in 1568 and Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire. She hated Tutbury, which was damp and cold, with her chambers above a latrine.
In 1584, the Earl of Shrewsbury was relieved of his duties and Mary was put into the care of Sir ralph Sadler and then Sir amyas Paulet. The last years of her life were spent at Chartley, Staffs, owned by Sir robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, where she was lodged in the manor because the castle was uninhabitable.
Seen as a roman Catholic threat to the English throne, she was implicated in the Babington Plot to kill Elizabeth I.
In 1586, Mary made her final journey to Fotheringhay Castle, near Oundle, where she was tried and beheaded in the Great Hall on February 8, 1587.
Jean McMurray, Inverness.
QUESTION Why was Billy Bleach put into the witness protection scheme?
Billy Bleach is not a real person, but a Fast Show character developed by Simon Day. an interfering pub bore, he’s a know-it-all who can’t resist giving others the benefit of his wisdom.
In 2003, the character was given a BBC Three spin-off series called Grass. When Billy witnesses the gangland killing of a local nightclub owner, he has to go into witness protection to avoid the attentions of gang boss Harry Taylor (Ian Burfield).
Leaving his beloved East London, he ends up in a small country village in Norfolk — he was hoping for the Florida Keys — where he is given a new identity
QUESTION My nickname for jam roly-poly is dead man’s leg! Are there other macabre names for various foods?
IN THE royal Navy, there is a macabre terminology for practically every dish that’s served up.
Sauteed kidneys on fried bread are referred to as s*** on a raft. Despite the name, it’s delicious. Other dishes are…
Herrings in tomato sauce: dead marines. Steak and kidney puddings: babies’ heads. Cheddar cheese: bunghole. Dumplings: 20-minute floaters. Spaghetti in tomato sauce: worms in red lead. Kippers: Spithead pheasants.
Rod Gudge, Hayling Island, Hants. WE Had a host of unsavoury terms for rations in the Navy — many of them unprintable in a family newspaper.
My favourites include smoked haddock: yellow peril. Tinned corned beef: corned dog. Tinned tomatoes and bacon: car smash. Tinned tomatoes and sausages: train smash.
Toast: Holy Ghost. Stewed prunes and custard: devils on horseback. Jam or treacle: beetle bait. Spam slices fried in batter: elephant footprints.
Toad in the hole: frog in a bog. Tapioca: frog spawn. rabbit: spring- loaded chicken. Beans on toast: dead skinheads on a raft.
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