Mary, Queen of Scots established a royal guard with archers in 1562. This force travelled with her during her progresses in Scotland. The personnel were Scottish and French.Gordon Donaldson, All the Queen's men: Power and Politics in Mary Stewart's Scotland (Batsford, 1983), p. 67.

Formation James Savoy, a French trumpeter, and other soldiers were given wages for service before the "listing of the guard" in 1562. Savoy's equipment included a red taffeta banderole.Accounts of the Treasurer, 11 (Edinburgh, 1913), p. 245: Miscellany of the Maitland Club, 1 (Edinburgh, 1831), p. 31. Savoy was a military trumpeter and shawmer in Scottish royal service since January 1549.James Beveridge, Register of the Privy Seal, 4 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1952), p. 12 no. 73.

The number of the guard was "complete and erect" on 1 April 1562.Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949), p. 118.David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (London, 1897), p. 271. The wages of the whole contingent would amount to £9,000 Scots yearly.Robert Kerr Hannay, "The Earl of Arran and Queen Mary", The Scottish Historical Review, 18:72 (July 1921), p. 259: Gordon Donaldson, Thirds, p. 155.

George Buchanan claimed the guard was a force of foreign mercenaries, though French soldiers were in a minority.Julian Goodare, State and Society in Early Modern Scotland (Oxford, 1999), pp. 145–146. Lord Herries, in his Historical Memoirs, claims that Mary's brother Lord James publicly objected to the guard as a forerunner of tyranny.Lord Herries, Historical memoirs of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 1836), p. 61. Buchanan asserts that David Rizzio was wary of the loyalty of the Scottish guards to the Scottish nobility and tried to have more foreign "soldiers of fortune" employed, such as Germans or Italians. A number of Frenchmen can be identified in the records.James Aikman, History of Scotland by George Buchanan, 2 (Glasgow, 1827), pp. 474–475.

The guard was funded in part from the Thirds of Benefices, money which might otherwise have funded church ministers. John Knox complained that in 1563 "the gaird and the effairis of the kytcheing wer so gryping that the mynisteris stipendis could nocht be payit".Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949), p. xxv. Some funds were received from William Fowler (father of the poet William Fowler), who was a treasurer of the Queen's French revenue.Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, 17 (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), p. 15.William Craigie, Works of William Fowler, 3 (Edinburgh: STS, 1940), p. x.

Buchanan and Knox both suggest that Mary's motivation for establishing a guard include an incident in November 1561 while at Holyrood Palace,Retha M. Warnicke, Mary Queen of Scots (Routledge, 2006), p. 78.John Parker Lawson, History of Scotland by Robert Keith, 2 (Edinburgh: Spottiswoode Society, 1845), p. 115.Marguerite Wood, "The Imprisonment of the Earl of Arran", The Scottish Historical Review, 24:94 (January 1927), p. 120. when she became frightened "as if horsemen had been in the close, and the Palace been enclosed about". Knox thought her fears of kidnap this occasion may have been caused by "hir awin womanlie fantasye" or a rumour spread by courtiers. Buchanan proposed the fictive incident or rumour was concocted by Mary with John Stewart, Commendator of Coldingham in order to forward the establishment of a palace guard.John J. McGavin, Theatricality and Narrative in Medieval and Early Modern Scotland (Ashgate, 2007), pp. 26–28.David Laing, Works of John Knox, 2, pp. 293–294.

In Buchanan's version, the rumour was that James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran planned to abduct Mary and take her to his castle (Kinneil House), fourteen miles from Edinburgh.James Aikman, History of Scotland by George Buchanan, 2 (Glasgow, 1827), pp. 422–423. Arran had fought for the Scottish Reformation, and when Mary arrived in Scotland he commanded a guard of men at arms for Edinburgh burgh council.James David Marwick, Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1557–1571 (Edinburgh, 1875), pp. 118–119.

Personnel

James Stewart of Cardonald was the overall captain and commander of the guard, supported by a lieutenant Alexander Stewart and an ensign Robert Stewart.Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949), p. 118: Accounts of the Treasurer, 11 (Edinburgh, 1913), p. 393.Robert Kerr Hannay, "The Earl of Arran and Queen Mary", Scottish Historical Review, 18 (Glasgow, 1921), p. 272. Alan Stewart was "fourrier" or quartermaster of the guard,Charles Rogers, Rental Book of the Cistercian Abbey of Cupar-Angus, 2 (London: Grampian Club, 1880), p. 279. and Aulay McAulay was clerk of the watch. Robert Anstruther was captain of the garrison on the island of Inchkeith.Joseph Bain, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1547-1563, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 544: James Beveridge & Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1556-1567, 5:1 (Edinburgh, 1957), p. 196 no. 826.Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949), pp. 185, 191. Andrew Ferrier, a French archer based at Linlithgow,Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, 17 (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), p. 23. became keeper of Linlithgow Palace.Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, vol. 5:2 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1957), p. 254 no. 3182: vol. 5:1, p. 696 no. 2421.

The names of 75 guards and archers were recorded in the accounts of the Thirds of Benefices.Miscellany of the Maitland Club, 1, pp. 30–31. Several received rewards as grants made under the privy seal. Captain Jean Belloc alias Delamis, a French archer,Register of the Privy Seal, 5:2 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1957), p. 54 no. 2655.Gordon Donaldson, All the Queen's Men: Power and Politics in Mary Stewart's Scotland (London: Batsford, 1983), p. 67. appears in the records of the Canongate Kirk Session, for having a child with Jonet Leddell (who claimed they were to be married) and baptising the child by Catholic ceremony in the chapel of Holyroodhouse. Charles La Brosse was a witness or "gossip" at the christening, and was both an archer and an embroiderer to the Queen. Jonet Leddell said she "held house" with Belloc, suggesting he did not live in a barrack within the palace.Alma Calderwood, Buik of the Kirk of the Canagait (SRS: Edinburgh, 1961), pp. 11–12, 28.Maureen Meikle, The Scottish People (Lulu, 2013), p. 269.

The guard was entrusted with keeping James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran at Edinburgh Castle in 1562.Thomas Thomson, History of the Kirk of Scotland by David Calderwood, 2 (Edinburgh: Wodrow Society, 1842), p. 177. In that year, Mary made a progress to the north. Captain Huw Lauder, promoted from Corporal, was paid £400 Scots in October to raise a company of 100 musketeers or "hagbutters".Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, 11 (Edinburgh, 1913), p. 204: Gordon Donaldson, Thirds, p. 99. The accounts mention the straw-filled canvas palliasses used by the soldiers. Five palliases were made by Pierre Martin from the poor quality canvas used to wrap Mary's furnishings for transport.Joseph Stevenson, Inventaires (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 129.

Nine archers who formed her guard at Aberdeen were paid £100 Scots.Miscellany of the Maitland Club, 1 (Edinburgh, 1831), p. 31. A servant messenger was paid £10 for bringing £1000 to Aberdeen for the quarterly payment to the guard.Gordon Donaldson, Accounts of the Collectors of Thirds of Benefices, 1561-1572 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1949), p. 160. At Inverness, Mary made her famous remark about the life of a soldier, according to Thomas Randolph, she repented nothing but "that she was not a man to lie all night in the fields, or to walk on the causeway, with a jack and knapscall [helmet], a Glasgow buckler, and broad sword". These were presumably arms carried by her foot soldiers and guards.George Chalmers, Life of Mary Queen of Scots, 1, p. 133.

Royal guards led by a son of Captain James Stewart in an attempt to blockade or besiege Findlater Castle were ambushed in the night and had to surrender their weapons to John Gordon alias Ogilvie.Jennifer Morag Henderson, Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots (Whittles, 2025), p. 41.Anne L. Forbes, Trials and triumphs : the Gordons of Huntly in sixteenth-century Scotland (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2012), p. 28.

Soon after this event, and before the battle of Corrichie, the royal accounts mention the movement of a sum of money to Aberdeen, £1,213 Scots destined for paying the guard and defraying the Queen's expenses:for thre men and ane boy and ane horse expenssis for careing and convoying owt of Murray to Abirdene in the troublous tyme immediatlie befoir the feild of Correchie, quhilk [which] wes bestowit on the garde and in our soverane ladeis house.Gordon Donaldson, Thirds of Benefices (Edinburgh: SHS, Edinburgh, 1949), p. 104.

According to some accounts of the battle, the Earl of Huntly was captured at Corrichie by Andro Rippeth, a member of the Queen's guard. The Earl died shortly afterwards.Historical memoirs of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 1836), p. 66.

The quartermaster Allan Stewart was given £2,250 Scots for pay in the first quarter of 1564. Part payments for the quarter of April, May, and June 1564 were made to the archers Andrew Ferrier in Linlithgow, Robert Douglas, Charles de la Bros, Captain Gibson, and Bellok.Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, XVII (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), p. 23. Mary made another progress in 1564, and Allan Stewart was paid for their "removals" and palliasses "during the tyme of the quenis grace passing fra Edinburgh to Atholl to the huntis to Inverness and throuch the north cuntrie and to hir grace cumming agane to Edinburgh".Michael Pearce, "Account of George Wishart of Drymme", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, XVII (Edinburgh: SHS, 2025), p. 24.

In January 1565, several members of the Hume family fought with the guard on Edinburgh's High Street, injuring James Stewart of Cardonald. The privy council ordered Jasper, Patrick, and Alexander Hume to enter themselves in ward in Stirling Castle.John Hill Burton, Register of the Privy Council, 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), pp. 318–319.

Mary now had a detachment of foot soldiers. Alexander Stewart was one of Mary's "four captains of war", the other captains of the footmen were James Cullen, Robert Lauder, and Hew or Hugh Lauder.David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (London, 1897), pp. 498–499: Charles Thorpe McInness, Accounts of the Treasurer, 12 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1970), pp. 11, 22, 395, 398. Hugh Lauder had been promoted from Corporal.Gordon donaldson, Thirds, p. 99. According to the English diplomat Thomas Randolph, Robert Lauder of the guard had raised 300 men in July 1565. Randolph wrote that Robert Lauder had struck a kirk minister (Robert Pont), and Hew Lauder had killed a man at Dunbar. Darnley was in charge of the musters.David Laing, History of the Reformation by John Knox, 2 (Edinburgh, 1848), p. 395: Calendar State Papers Scotland, 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 183 no. 214. Captain James Stewart had a quarrel with a servant of the Earl of Moray named Grant, and it was said their feud might be an occasion to harm Moray at Perth.John Parker Lawson, History of the affairs of Church and State in Scotland by Robert Keith, 2 (Edinburgh, 1845), pp. 300–301.