It was one of Mary Queen of Scots most prized possessions which provided her with spiritual comfort during her long years as a captive in England.
The Scottish monarch’s personal prayer chair is thought to have been constructed to her design, and contains hidden messages which let her display her forbidden Catholic devotion under the noses of her Protestant captors.
Once thought destroyed along with the rest of Mary’s personal possessions after her execution in 1587, the chair was smuggled away by her supporters and lovingly restored.
And now it is to be exhibited in Scotland for the first time in more than 400 years.
Mary’s prayer chair is to form the centerpiece of a new exhibition on the life of the tragic queen to be held at the Borderlands Museum in Teviothead this spring.
The exhibition will also include modern commemorative tapestries made by the Royal Ateliers Hand and Locke, and musical composition by piper and fiddler Kathryn Tickell.
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The piece has been inspired by Mary’s dramatic ride along the borderlands Queens Mire path to visit the Earl of Bothwell at Hermitage castle after he was injured in battle with the Border reivers.
But it is the chair that the museum hopes will draw visitors keen to see one of the few surviving relics known to belong to Mary which have survived.
Museum Curator Kenneth Moffat said: “As far as we know many of Mary’s personal possessions were destroyed after her execution to prevent them from becoming relics for her Catholic supporters.
“There are signs that the chair was broken up – it's been lovingly reassembled and restored – so we can only imagine the pieces were spirited away by her supporters after her death.”
The chair has been kept in a private collection and is being loaned to the museum for the duration of the exhibition.
Decoratively carved, the walnut chair’s symbols carry hidden meaning which may speak to Mary’s desire to proclaim her faith while in captivity.
Ten revolving pegs are set into the back, intended as a hidden rosary for the queen to turn, while her personal monogram as seen on tapestries she made while in captivity is visible on one of the panels.
A second panel appears to contain the initials JHB - possibly a reference to her third husband James Hepburn Bothwell.
A delicate palm tree has also been carved into one small section, reminiscent of palm motifs Mary sewed while a prisoner, while the Fleur de Lys design refers to her first marriage with Francis II of France.
There is also a hidden message within a rose carved into the chair. In 1561 Mary is said to have brought a particular variety of Rose from Scotland to France, and the flower represents herself.
A sly cut has been made into one of the petals, making it appear as though a snake, or a worm, is consuming the rose – thought to be a reference to her captor Queen Elizabeth.
Mary Queen of Scots remains a cultural icon centuries after her death and a vibrant part of Scotland’s history.
Ascending to the throne while still a teenager, she was ill-prepared for life in Scotland, which was in the throes of the Catholic-Protestant split caused by the Reformation.
Plots and counter-plots swirled around her and she was eventually forced to abdicate after being overthrown by the nobles of the land.
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Fleeing to England, she was placed under house arrest and for 19 years, and executed after it was claimed she was plotting against Queen Elizabeth. She was 44 when she died.
Mr Moffat said that the English authorities would not have wanted the chair to survive, as it could have been regarded as a relic capable of bolstering the Catholic cause.
He said: “It’s remarkable it still exists as much of what she had at the time of her death was destroyed. They didn’t want her personal items kept as relics by her supporters, or turned into sacred objects.
“And this chair, where she would have prayed and kept her connection to her ‘forbidden’ religion, is one of the most personal items of them all.
“We’re incredibly lucky it survived and very happy to be exhibiting it for the first time in Scotland since Mary Queen of Scots' death.”
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