MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (1542 - 1587)

Details

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (1542 - 1587)
, A lock of hair given by the Queen to John Hamilton of Udsden before the battle of Langside, 13 May 1568, together with a note in the hand of Lady Charlotte Campbell, 'Friday November 30th 1816. Queen Mary's Hair given to me by Lord Belhaven and Stenton from out his Cabinet which said cabinet pertained also to Her Majesty. The Hair was sent to some of her adherents previous to the Battle of Langside', the lock of fine red gold hair and the note affixed to a leaf of ivory paper (220 x 175 mm), framed and glazed, a copy of the note written by Lady Russel, is included with the lot

Provenance

Mary, Queen of Scots to John Hamilton of Udsden before the battle of Langside, in which he was killed, then by descent to Robert, 8th Lord Belhaven and Stenton (1793-1868). He gave it to Lady Charlotte Campbell (1775-1861, Lady Charlotte Bury after her second marriage in 1818), who left it to her grand daughter, Constance (daughter of Lord Arthur Lennox). She married Sir George Russell Bt., in 1867, and it came by descent to Maureen, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava (Lady Russell's grand daughter).

Lot Essay

According to a note by Lady (Constance) Russell, the lock of hair is a portion of a lock of Mary Queen of Scots' hair which came by descent to Robert, 8th Lord Belhaven and Stenton, from his ancestor, John Hamilton of Udsden. The larger portion and the cabinet in which it was kept, which had also belonged to the Queen, were presented by Lord Belhaven to Queen Victoria, and are now in the Palace of Holyrood.

The disastrous battle of Langside, fought shortly after Mary's escape from Lochleven, was observed by the Queen from a nearby hill. Many of her Hamilton supporters perished in it, and the defeat precipitated her flight to England and imprisonment.

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