On a small island of Loch Leven, near Kinross, Lochleven Castle raises its tower in the midst of the waters. This island castle was one of the major scenes of Mary Stuart's drama: it was here that she was imprisoned, forced to abdicate, and that she staged one of the most romantic escapes in history.
The captivity and the abdication
After her defeat at Carberry Hill (15 June 1567), Mary Stuart was taken prisoner to Lochleven, from 17 June 1567 to 2 May 1568. On this isolated island, guarded by the Douglas family, the queen lived terrible months: she suffered there a miscarriage of twins in the Glassin Tower, exhausted and despairing. Above all, on 24 July 1567, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her son, the little James VI, aged one year. Lochleven thus marks the end of Mary's personal reign: dispossessed of her crown, a prisoner on a rock in the middle of a loch.
The escape of 1568
But Mary did not give up. She managed to win the sympathy of the Douglas household, and on 2 May 1568, she escaped with their complicity: young Willie Douglas stole the castle keys, locked the doors behind them and rowed the queen across to the shore, where her supporters awaited her. This romantic escape briefly revived her cause — before the final defeat of Langside and her flight to England, where nineteen years of captivity and the scaffold awaited her. Lochleven thus remains the scene of the last surge of freedom of the Queen of Scots. To see: the five-storey tower house (vaulted cellar, kitchen), the round Glassin Tower (embrasures, oriel), the court and outer defences, the boat crossing to the island.
Did you know?
Mary Stuart first tried to escape from Lochleven disguised as a laundress: hidden under the clothes of a washerwoman named Margaret Aitkin, she got into a boat with the linen. But the boatman, intrigued by the whiteness and fineness of her hands — too fine for a servant's —, lifted her veil and recognised the queen, whom he brought back captive. It took a second attempt, and the cunning of young Willie Douglas, for Mary to regain her freedom at last.
Notes
Lochleven Castle lies on Castle Island, Loch Leven, near Kinross, Perth and Kinross; a castle run by Historic Environment Scotland, reached by boat. GPS to reconfirm. Seasonal hours to check.
Quiz
- What was Mary Stuart forced to do at Lochleven in 1567?
- To abdicate in favour of James VI
- To marry
- To go on crusade
- How did she escape in 1568?
- With the complicity of Willie Douglas (stolen keys, boat)
- By digging a tunnel
- By bribing the army
- How did her first attempt fail?
- Disguised as a laundress, she was recognised by her hands
- She drowned
- She changed her mind