A Nice Day Out .. or Six Months Inside

Ah, how idyllic … Bolton Castle in Wensleydale.  Perfect for a summer’s day out.

Not if you were Mary Queen of Scots though. She spent six months imprisoned here in 1568.  Although even that incarceration was relative.  She was attended by 30 of her household, which included  knights, servants, ladies-in-waiting, cooks, grooms, a hairdresser, an embroiderer, an apothecary, a physician and a surgeon.  The remaining 20 or so lodged in the nearby village of Castle Bolton.  She went hunting.  She had her hair done.  She learnt English, since up to this point she could speak only Scots, French and Latin.

Imprisonment.  It’s all relative.

Square Perspectives

Author: margaret21

I'm retired and living in North Yorkshire, where I walk as often as I can, write, volunteer, and travel as often as I can.

44 thoughts on “A Nice Day Out .. or Six Months Inside”

    1. Not a great deal Sue. Really, you’re best enjoying the outside and the views, maybe taking in a bit of outdoor theatre in the grounds if you get the chance – not this year, obviously.

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      1. Well, quite! I had. A feeling there wasn’t a lot left, probably why we didn’t get taken there when we were in the area many moons ago

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  5. Relative imprisonment could hardly be a more topical subject! I wonder if MQoS felt something of the same we do, who have been subject to ‘shielding’ and who can’t see their way to travelling beyond very limited confines for the foreseeable future! We know we are fortunate in so many ways, and yet…. I suppose getting deliveries online from supermarkets = many a servant doing the foraging! But at least she wouldn’t have to wait for a hairdresser’s appointment, or a doctor’s, and she went hunting to supplement what the online service couldn’t provide…

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    1. Now come on Ros. You don’t want to go hunting for your supper on horseback! But yes, 30 people at your beck and call seems, well, de trop.

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  7. Royal women generally had a tough time didn’t they – sounds great but not sure it really was (or is) apart from one or two. Still having said that, just look at that view! Fabulous 😀

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    2. No, I’m sure she was lonely and frightened and rightly aware that death was just round the corner. No fun at all … apart from the view.

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  9. I always felt sorry for Mary and if we can believe history it seems that she was essentially a good person. I’m sure that six months here wasn’t a bed of roses, even with her entourage of household staff! Lovely photo and a very ‘English’ scene for the Queen of Scots.

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    1. It is very English. And I agree. I don’t believe at all that MQS was one of history’s villains. At least she didn’t end up shackled in the Tower of London.

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  11. I looked at this post during a power failure (using our Heath Robinson small inverter and battery arrangement) when the Internet signal was dwindling and I could not see the photo. The next day I could see the photo and appreciate the low angle (and the dry stone wall), and I wrote a comment but then I managed to disappear it! I gave up somewhat disgruntled, but now I am back again.
    Interesting about Mary’s huge entourage while she was imprisoned, but all of that didn’t manage to prevent her from losing her head in the end. A rather gruesome fate …

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    1. I saw your comment, and I think I replied, but it’s not here now. How odd. Yes, I wouldn’t have chosen to be a person of privilege back then. All too often it ended badly. Have you read Hilary Mantel’s trilogy about Thomas Cromwell? Nobody’s head was safe on his or her shoulders.

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