On Wednesday 8th February 1587 Mary awoke to a bright and sunny morning – a sign, so the Protestants claimed, that God approved of her execution. As her servants dressed her, she wept bitterly at the thought of saying goodbye to them. But she had regained her composure by eight o’clock, when she entered the great hall of Fotheringay Castle, where a crowd of around three hundred people had assembled to witness her death.
Mounting the black draped scaffold, she told her ladies in waiting that they had “cause rather to joy than to mourn, for now shalt thou see Mary Stuart’s troubles receive their long-expected end”. As she removed her gown, a murmur of disapproval rippled through the onlookers when they saw that she was wearing a scarlet petticoat, the catholic colour of martyrdom. A white silk cloth, embroidered with gold, was used to blindfold her. Then, she was placed upon the block, where she lay so still that the executioner became quite unnerved, and his first blow, although cutting deep into the back of her head, failed to sever it. “Sweet Jesus” she was heard to cry softly, before a second stroke finished the job. The spectators watched in stunned silence as her lips continued to move, as if in silent prayer.
Then, in time honoured fashion, the executioner stooped to pick up the head, and hold it aloft to cry “God Save the Queen”. But, as his fingers gripped the mass of auburn ringlets, it was discovered that she had been wearing a wig. To a general gasp of horror, the grey stubbly head fell to the ground and rolled across the floor. Nor did the gruesomeness of the spectacle end there. As the bloodstained petticoat was being removed, something began to howl within its folds. It was Mary’s lapdog, a Skye terrier that clung tenaciously to its mistress’s garments. When it was finally prised away, it was so caked in Mary’s blood, that it proved impossible to wash it all off. Thereafter, the dog refused food, languished and died shortly afterwards.
