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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