Excerpt from Lives of the Queens of England, Vol. 4 of 6: From the Norman Conquest James received the Danish ambassadors who brought this civil offer at Dunfermline, but advised them instantly to depart from St. Andrew's, as the plague was raging in the palace: he said he would send his own horses to carry them thither. An unfortunate misunderstanding oc curred, for the Danish ambassadors, having sent on their own horses and baggage, and finding the promised escort did not arrive, actually left Dunfermline on foot. James was in consternation when he found the neglect that his perverse and disobedient people had put Upon the envoys of his courteous ally. This was the more tobe regretted, since king Frederic had ordered the Danish embassy, in case king James was not eager for the marriage, to demand restitution of the Orkney and Shet land isles, which were the rightful property of Denmark. J ames's mar riage was at this juncture an object of interest and contention between his mother, the captive Mary queen of Scots, and his godmother queen Elizabeth. The views of these queens were, of course, in direct contra diction to each other. Mary wished her son to offer his hand to one of the daughters of Philip king of Spain, by Elizabeth of France, her early friend. The queen of England insisted on his marriage with the princess of Sweden, grand-daughter of Gustavus Vasa, and a Protestant; if he accepted this offer, Elizabeth declared she would be at the whole expense of the wedding. The Scottish government were more inclined to the Danish alliance than any other; but Mary queen of Scots, who hoped to see her son marry a Roman catholic of her recommendation, opposed his marriage with either of the northern princesses, under the plea that their fathers, being but elected to their dignities, were not of equal rank with hereditary monarchs.l The Scotch government, however, did not relish the idea of a naval war with the powerful king of Denmark for the possession of the Orkneys: they had, as well, a shrewd idea that his daughter would have a rich tocher, and therefore sent Peter Young, the king's old schoolmaster, to inquire all needful particulars in Denmark. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.