Introduction

Abstract

On 24 September 1562, Thomas Randolph, the English ambassador to Scotland, rested himself at a table in Aberdeen with parchment, ink and quill before him. In all likelihood, his table was lit by a candle that flickered as it illuminated the page. He began to compose a letter to Sir William Cecil, Elizabeth I’s secretary and primary adviser, describing in great detail the tumultuous events of the past six days. During this time, the Earl of Huntly, the greatest lord in northeast Scotland and a Catholic, had threatened Mary Queen of Scots and her continued governance of the country. Randolph wrote hastily, his handwriting worsening as the four-page letter proceeded towards its conclusion. He discussed events happening across Scotland in great detail, even ones from the south of the kingdom, far from his current location in Aberdeen. He commented on the growing tensions between France and his homeland, of which he appeared intimately knowledgeable. In his last paragraph, Randolph referred briefly to the letter he had just received from Cecil. A letter that had been dated the ‘viii^th of this instant’, or sixteen days earlier.¹