[The corrections have been embodied in the text. E.A.]
Sir Robert Carey,
Lord Warden of the Middle Marches;
and afterwards Earl of Monmouth.
Account of the Death of Queen Elizabeth; and of
his ride to King James at Edinburgh,
25th-27th March 1603.
[Memoirs, pp. 135-156; written about 1627,
but first published by Lord Cork in 1759.]
IN this state was this Middle March when James came in King of England: and in all the time I continued Officer there, GOD so blessed me and all the actions I took in hand, that I never failed of any one enterprise: but they were all effected to my own desire and the good of that Government. Thus passed I forty-two of my years; [? 1560-1602], GOD assisting with his blessing and mighty protection.
After that all things were quieted and the Border in safety, towards the end of five years [1598-1603] that I had been Warden there; having little to do, I resolved upon a journey to Court, to see my friends and renew my acquaintance there. I took my journey about the end of the year [which, according to the old reckoning, ended on the 24th March: say then, March 1603].
When I came to Court [at Richmond], I found the Queen ill disposed, and she kept her inner lodging.