The Ainslie Tavern Bond (also known as the "Ainslie Band", or the "Ainslie Tavern Band") was a document signed on about 20 April 1567 by a number of Scottish bishops and nobles. The bond approved the Earl of Bothwell's acquittal on 12 April of implication in the

murder of Lord Darnley The murder of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, took place on 10 February 1567 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Darnley's lodgings were destroyed by gunpowder; his body and that of his servant were found nearby, appar ...

, recommended him as an appropriate husband for

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, and pledged to assist in defending such a marriage.

Context

Lord Darnley had married Mary on 29 July 1565, but their marriage proved disastrous. On 9 March 1566, Mary's Italian private secretary,

David Rizzio David Rizzio ( ; ; – 9 March 1566) or Riccio ( , ) was an Italian courtier, born in Pancalieri close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts di San Paolo e Solbrito, who rose to bec ...

, was murdered in the Queen's presence at Holyrood. The murderers were led by Lord Ruthven, but it was widely believed that the murder arose from Darnley's jealousy. There followed a carefully choreographed series of events, aimed at substituting Bothwell for Darnley as Mary's husband. The extent of Mary's own complicity was and remains intensely controversial, but the preponderant view has been that she is likely to have been an accomplice in Bothwell's designs. On 10 February 1567, the bodies of Darnley and his servant were discovered in Kirk o'Field in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Suspicion immediately fell on Bothwell. On 12 April 1567, he was formally acquitted of involvement in Darnley's murder, but suspicions about the nature of his trial were not allayed by the fact that he had attended the meeting of the Privy Council at which the trial had been arranged.

The Bond

Following his acquittal, Bothwell invited the leading temporal and spiritual peers to a dinner in an Edinburgh tavern, kept by one Ainslie, as a result of which the event became known as "Ainslie's Supper" and the document associated with it "the Ainslie Tavern Bond". The bond was subscribed by eight bishops, nine earls and seven lords. It was subsequently alleged that Mary had previously on 19 April 1567 signed a warrant authorising the Lords to sign the Bond. Other sources suggest that the Bond was ratified by the Queen following its execution. The historian

Julian Goodare Julian Goodare is a professor of history at University of Edinburgh. Academic career Goodare studied at the University of Edinburgh in the 1980s, afterwards engaged as a postdoctoral fellow. He lectured at the University of Wales, and at the Univ ...

notes that only one of various texts of the bond mentions "Aynsley's supper". He suggests an alternative reading, that the Lords convened to discuss the bond in Bothwell's lodging in Edinburgh and Ainslie was the caterer who provided the supper. Chronicle writers including

James Melville of Halhill Sir James Melville (1535–1617) was a Scottish diplomat and memoir writer, and father of the poet Elizabeth Melville. Life Melville was the third son of Sir John Melville, laird of Raith, in the county of Fife, who was executed for treason ...

and Claude Nau describe a meeting in Bothwell's house or lodging in

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...

Signatories

According to a note sent to William Cecil, the signatories were the Earl of Moray; the

Earl of Argyll Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used. The titl ...

; the

Earl of Huntly Marquess of Huntly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existing marquessate in Scotland, and the second-oldest in the British Isles; only the English ma ...

; the Earl of Cassillis; the

Earl of Morton The title Earl of Morton was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1458 for James Douglas of Dalkeith. Along with it, the title Lord Aberdour was granted. This latter title is the courtesy title for the eldest son and heir to the Earl of Morton. ...

; the

Earl of Sutherland Earl of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa 1230 for William de Moravia, 1st Earl of Sutherland, William de Moravia and is the premier earldom in the Peerage of Scotland. The earl or countess of Sutherland is al ...

; the Earl of Rothes; the

Earl of Glencairn Earl of Glencairn was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. King James III of Scotland, James III created the title in 1488 by royal charter for Alexander Cunningham, 1st Earl of Glencairn, Alexander Cunningham, 1st Lord Kilmaurs. He held the e ...

; and the

Earl of Caithness Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and it has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to hav ...

with the Lord Boyd; the Lord Seton; the Lord Sinclair; the Lord Sempill; the

Lord Oliphant Lord Oliphant was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created twice and de facto under Peerage Law a third time. The first creation is in abeyance of the law, the second extinct and the third creation is dormant. The title was certainly ...

; the Lord Ogilvie of Airlie; the Rosse-Hacat (sic); Carleil of Torthorwald; the Lord Herries; the Lord Home; and the Lord Innermeath. The Bishop of Ross and the

Lord Elphinstone Lord Elphinstone is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created by King James IV in 1510. History The title of Lord Elphinstone was granted by King James IV in 1510 to Sir Alexander Elphinstone of Elphinstone, who was killed at the Battle ...

slipped away without signing. Other copies add the

Earl of Erroll Earl of Erroll () is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay. The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are ''Lord Hay'' (created 1449) and ''Lord Slains'' (1452), both in the Peerage of Scotland. ...

, the Lord Glamis, the Lord Fleming and the

Archbishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews (, ) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews (), the Archdiocese of St Andrews. The name St Andrews is not the town ...

, with the Bishops of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, Whithorn (Galloway),

Dunblane Dunblane (, ) is a town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links to much of the Central Be ...

Brechin Brechin (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Scottish Reformation, Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which contin ...

, Ross, and

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

. Julian Goodare notes that one copy of the bond text derives from the recollection of John Reid, an associate of the Earl of Morton. Goodare suggests that the signatories named by Reid were those aristocrats who planned and discussed the bond before the supper meeting.

Aftermath

On 24 April 1567, Bothwell waylaid Mary on the road from Stirling (whether with or without her connivance) and conducted her to

Dunbar Castle Dunbar Castle was one of the strongest fortresses in Scotland, situated in a prominent position overlooking the Dunbar Harbour, harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian. Several fortifications were built successively on the site, near th ...

, where he allegedly ravished her. There remained significant obstacles to performance of the bond, not the least of which was the fact that Bothwell had married Lady Jean Gordon on 24 February 1566. Their marriage was formally annulled on 7 May 1567. A week later, on 15 May 1567, Bothwell and Mary were married at Holyrood, to the general scandal of Europe. The marriage divided Scotland into two camps and led to the Battle of Carberry Hill on 15 June 1567, at which Mary was defeated and captured, though Bothwell escaped. The bond of 19 April 1567 was discussed in at the York Conference in October 1568, and mentioned in the document called "

Hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

's Book of Articles", which narrates events from Darnley's murder to Moray's regency from the Confederate Lords' viewpoint. The articles say that the Lords were trapped at the supper into signing the bond. The Earl of Morton became Regent of Scotland, and in 1581 he was put on trial and executed. Before he was beheaded, he told some kirk ministers that he had signed the bond on the queen's orders, "therefore I subsryvit to the quenis marriage with the erle Bothwell, as sindrie utheris of the nobilitie did, being chargit therunto be the quenis writ and command". John Graham Dalyell, ''Journal of the Transactions in Scotland, by Richard Bannatyne'' (Edinburgh, 1806), p. 497.

References

{{Authority control 1567 in Scotland 1567 works Political scandals in Scotland 16th-century documents 1567 in politics History of Edinburgh Politics of Edinburgh Marriage, unions and partnerships in Scotland Mary, Queen of Scots