A campaign has been launched to repatriate the body of Mary Queen of Scots from Westminster Abbey.
Nothing like dealing with priorities...
The Nationalist MSP Christine Grahame has lodged a motion in parliament calling for the monarch's remains to be buried in Scotland.
There is just an ever so small problem here; Mary's body "was exhumed in 1612 when her son, King James I of England and VI of Scotland, ordered that she be re-interred at Westminster Abbey." Her son, not some dastardly Sassanach, decided that here final resting place as a matter of utmost respect should be at Westminster.
"She was an iconic historical Scots figure and ultimately the victim of English plotting," said Ms Grahame.
She was an "iconic historical" figure not only for some Scots, but also many English Roman Catholics who fought and died for her cause, which makes Ms Grahame's anti-English baiting here particularly inappropriate.
3 comments:
Ahhh, the scourge of nationalism. I suppose I'm a British nationalist, mind you!
Tim
She was also widely loathed in Scotland which is why she had to flee the place.
And as for the plotting, it was Mary's plotting to murder Elizabeth and take her place that finally sealed her fate.
Some historical accuracy please!
Whilst Mary was undoubtedly run out of town in Scotland, there was universal outrage at her execution in Scotland and a call for war with England. Indeed there were protests and the English Ambassador was kicked out.
However James naturally calculated the odds of such a war were not good and he would also lose his unofficial status as heir to the English Throne.
It was one thing to exile her, it was another to behead a former foreign head of state to be beheaded for "treason" against a monarch whom she had not sworn allegiance to.
(For those confused about this Scottish chutzpah, lets look at Scottish treatment of Charles I. The Covenanters rebelled against him and brought him down but were outraged when the Roundheads (their erstwhile allies) chopped off his head and backed Charles II against Cromwell.
Closer to O'Neill's patch - continuing with Charles I - there was and maybe still a trend of Irish unionists loyal to crown who worship Cromwell - who er abolished the Crown and instituted a Republic. A good illustration of this was Basil Brooke's "Cromwell Clubs" set up by Ulster Protestants to take on the IRA during the 1919-1922 period)
As for Ms Graehame (spokesman for eccentric causes, hair and behaviour) nothing surprises me. However it must be noted that she did receive cross-party support for the call.
Mary from what I could gather wanted her remains returned to Scotland. However James chose otherwise - he had already sold the Royal vault at Dunfermline to the Earls of Elgin and probably felt Holyrood Abbey was inappropriate due to it being the burial place of his father Lord Darnley - whose murder Mary had been alleged to have had a hand in.
Concerning Mary today, I am not bothered. I am interested if the body of James IV was found (killed at Flodden - rummoured to buried at Sheen) that his bones were repatriated and buried at what is left of Holyrood Abbey.
Generally in Scotland Mary is looked on as a romantic, tragic figure who screwed up. But whose death was out of order.
Some bones get shifted back. Recently the colourful Carol II of Romania was reburied at the royal burial place of the monastery of Curtea de Arges after fifty years of being buried in Portugal. He was exiled in WWII after being hounded out for amongst other things handing Romanian territory to Hungary and screwing a Jewess. His son - ex-king Michael did not turn up for the reburial.
Another noted reburial was Pedro I of Brazil and IV of Portugal. Pedro is the father of Brazilian state. A disgusting separatist if you like.
Pedro turned up in Brazil with the rest of the Portugese royal family during the Napoleanic Wars who fled there fearing the invasion of Portugal by the French. Pedro - heir to the throne of Portugal - quite liked Brazil and remained as regent when the rest of the family went home. He then overthrew the Portugese Empire in Brazil, declared independence and made himself Emperor.
However the chuztpah does not end. When his father died in Portugal, he went back and seized the throne and became Pedro IV. However he was ousted and had to abdicate in favour of his daughter. He then abdicated from the Brazilian throne as well in favour his son.
He then fought a civil war for his daughter against his brother who claimed his brother by his sepratist acts had disinherited his line of the family. Eventually Pedro cut a deal with his BROTHER that HE COULD MARRY HIS DAUGHTER (I.E. NIECE and UNCLE) to keep the peace - with Papal blessing!
His brother however turned on the deal and was defeated in another civil war. Pedro- destroyer of the Protugese Empire was buried with full honours by Portugal and was buried there in 1831 in the royal mausoleum of Sao Vincente de Faora in Lisbon. In 1972 on the request of the Brazilans his body was sent to Sao Paulo for reburial.
Chutzpah indeed.
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