Search
06 Sept 2025
Search
06 Sept 2025
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.
Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.
If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .
Support our mission and join our community now.
To continue reading this article, you can subscribe for as little as €0.50 per week which will also give you access to all of our premium content and archived articles!
Alternatively, you can pay €0.50 per article, capped at €1 per day.
Thank you for supporting Ireland's best local journalism!
A letter featuring the handwriting of Mary Queen of Scots has sold for £32,500 at auction, more than double the asking price.
Auction house Lyon and Turnbull said there was international interest in the document, signed with a message in French, as it went under the hammer live and online on Wednesday.
The letter is an appeal from Mary Queen of Scots to the French ambassador in England to allow the safe passage of Scottish nobleman, George Douglas, to France.
It was written in Carlisle Castle two months after her escape from Lochleven Castle in Perthshire on May 2 1568, where she had been imprisoned for nearly a year following a forced abdication in favour of her infant son, James VI.
Mary hoped that by helping to ensure a safe journey to France for George Douglas, he would intercede with the French king on her behalf to help secure her freedom.
Cathy Marsden, rare books, manuscripts and maps specialist at Lyon & Turnbull, which has its headquarters in Edinburgh, said: “There was international interest in this letter, the sum achieved at auction reflecting the enduring fascination with one of the best known monarchs in history.
“There are 12 lines written by a secretary, and an additional six lines in Mary’s own hand. The letter is signed, ‘Votre bien bonne amye, Marie,’ which translates as ‘Your very good friend, Mary.’
“A letter bearing her personal mark is rare and we’re delighted to have been involved in the sale of such an important text.”
The letter sold for more than double the asking price of £14,000.
The document asks the French ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I to lend George Douglas, the bearer, 300 ecus (gold coins) and to negotiate with the French royal family to secure George’s trouble-free passage.
Mary’s escape from Lochleven had been helped by George Douglas and his cousin, William Douglas.
She was apprehended by Richard Lowther, deputy governor of Cumberland, and escorted to Carlisle Castle.
Mary was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I for 19 years before she was beheaded in Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire on February 8 1587 at the age of 44.
The price includes buyer’s premium.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.
This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.
