Mary Queen of Scots had a little dog, a Skye terrier, that was devoted to her. Moments after Mary was beheaded, the people who were watching saw her skirts moving about and they thought her headless body was trying to get itself to its feet. But the movement turned out to be her dog, which she had carried to the block with her, hidden in her skirts. Mary Stuart is supposed to have faced her execution with grace and courage (she wore a scarlet chemise to suggest she was being martyred), but I don’t think she could have been so brave if she had not secretly been holding tight to her Skye terrier, feeling his warm, silky fur against her trembling skin. . Elizabeth Wein
About This Quote

The story of Mary Queen of Scots is quite sad. Mary was the daughter of King James IV of Scots and Mary, Queen of France. She was born in France in 1542. When she was thirteen, she was betrothed to the Dauphin Henry II, who later became King Henry II of France.

The marriage never happened because the English ambassador warned the King that his son would become king over England rather than marry a foreign princess. She married Francois II, Duc de Guise, who died within weeks of their wedding for unknown reasons. She remarried Henri de Guise, but this marriage too ended in tragedy when Henri was killed by falling rocks during a battle with the English. Mary went on to marry the duke of Lorraine who died before Mary could conceive a child. After her husband died, she married Lord Bothwell, but he died after only two months of marriage from wounds sustained at a Protestant uprising.

She married her fourth husband, Lord Darnley who became king James VI of Scotland after he married Mary in 1565. He proved to be her last husband because he too was murdered by an employee hired by John Knox, one of Mary's greatest enemies. Mary’s final moments were spent holding her dog close to her chest as she knelt to pray for forgiveness for all her sins. The Scottish people witnessed this moment through an embroidered prayer book sewed into her clothing and were moved by it so much that they moved their allegiance from Elizabeth back to Mary's side during negotiations that led up to the Treaty of Edinburgh-Glasgow in 1603 after which Mary was executed.

Source: Code Name Verity

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