He gazed long and wistfully at the grassy tomb, and tottered away to return no more.
Where that poor priest died, no man knew.
And there lay the deserted grave in its loneliness, by the shore of the northern sea, with the long grass waving on its solemn ridge, till in time it became flattened and effaced, and its memory was forgotten; for no kind hand ever raised a stone to mark where that memorable instance of ambition and misrule, the last Earl of the old line of Hailes and Bothwell, lay.
NOTES.
ANNA ROSENKRANTZ.
The foregoing story has been conceived from a passage in SUHM'S "SAMLINGES," or Collections for the History of Denmark.
As stated in the romance, there is every reason to believe that James Hepburn, the famous Earl of Bothwell, was married early in life to a Norwegian lady, Anne Throndson (daughter of Christopher Throndson), prior to his marriage with Lady Jean Gordon, of the house of Huntly, and that his possessing, by her, certain lands in Orkney, was the reason for his obtaining the Dukedom of these Isles in 1567.—(See Les Affaires du Conte de Boduel: Bannatyne Club.)
After his battle with, and defeat at sea by, the celebrated Sir William Kirkaldy of Grange, Bothwell entered Karmesound, a harbour between the island of Karm and the mainland, where he was found by Captain Christian Alborg, commander of the Biornen, or Great Bear, a Danish ship of war. He immediately demanded Bothwell's passports and licence for sailing with flag displayed and cannon bent in the Danish seas; and, failing their production, requested the Earl to follow him to Bergen up the Jelta Fiord. In his declaration or report, Alborg states, "That among the Scottish crew there was one dressed in old torn and patched boatswain's clothes, who, some time afterwards, stated himself to be the supreme ruler of all Scotland."
This was the Earl, with whom he reached the castle of Bergen on the 2nd September, 1567.
The governor of the castle and province, as stated in the romance, was Erick Rosenkrantz, a wealthy Danish noble, who, on the captain's report, appointed a committee of twenty-four gentlemen to examine the captive. They met on the 23rd September; among them were the bishop and four councillors of Bergen, who successively questioned Bothwell. He requested and obtained leave to reside in the city. Among his followers, we are told, there was found "one David Wood, a famous pirate."