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182
p o ra ry accounts w idely v a ry as to the date o f his
decease.
D a n tz a y , in a letter w hich he w ro te to
the C ourt of F ra n c e , the 24 th . of N ovem ber 1575
repo rts him to be dead in th at y e a r , w hile others
h av e stated th a t he died in 1576, an d this seem s
to h av e been the opinion of Q ueen M ary herself.
T h e b e st a u th o ritie s, h o w e v e r, D an ish as w ell as
Scottish, a p p ea r to establish it as a fact th a t B o th -
w ell died on the 14th. o f A pril, 1 5 7 8 , at the
castle o f D ra c h s h o lm , and th a t his rem ain s w ere
consigned to a v a u lt o f the P a rish C hurch o f
F aarev eile.
It s e e m s , to o , th a t th e D anish a u
th o ritie s , w earied by the S cottish and E nglish
dem ands on the one h an d and the F ren ch en treaties
on the o th e r, w illingly perm itted the re p o rt to be
sp read ab ro ad th a t B othw ell died in 1 5 7 5 : this
w ould p u t an end to a course o f diplom acy w hich
w as beginning to ru n unsm oothly, and th e D anish
g o vernm ent h ad it in its p ow er to keep him so
closely confined a t D rachsholm th a t he m ight, as
reg arded F o reign p o w e rs , be the sam e as dead to
all intents an d pu rposes.
" F o r an a n alag o u s re a so n , som e do ubt m ay
be e n te rta in ed , alth o u g h D a n tza y ’s v e rac ity is en
tirely unim peachable, w h eth er B othw ell w as h a rsh ly
treated a fte r his rem o val to D ra c h s h o lm ; b u t such
a re p o rt w ould in som e m easu re be agreeable and
conciliatory to the S cottish go vernm ent, w hich h ad