BOTH WELL, JAMES HEPnraN, fourth Earl of ( ?I536-78). A Scottish nobleman, husband of Mary. Queen of Scots. Ile was born probably in 1536 or 1537, and was brought up and edu cated by his granduncle. Patrick Hepburn. Bishop of Moray. at Spynie Castle. Ile was reputed a good scholar. His character, however, was vicious and unruly. On his father's death in 1556, as Earl of Bothwell and one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland, he proved himself an irreconcilable enemy of the English. At first he opposed the Reformation party, but on their accession to power changed his politics, and in 1561 formed one of the deputation of lords sent to convey the youthful Queen of Scotland to her kingd . Ile was shortly after made a privy councilor; but his violence and misconduct be came intolerable, and he was ordered to quit Edinburgh. In March, 1562. lie and the Earl of Arran were committed to the castle for conspir ing to seize the Queen's person. Bothwell made his escape, was recaptured at Holy Island, again got free, and sailed to France. lb- speedily re turned, but, finding Moray close on trail, em barked for the Continent. Not appearing at his trial, he was outlawed. In 1565, after the Queen's marriage with Darnley, he reappeared, and. having strongly espoused her cause against Moray and his party, was restored to favor and high influence. In October, 1566, while perform ing a judicial tour in Liddesdale, he was attacked by an outlaw and wounded, and the Queen mani fested her interest in his danger by riding 20 miles and back to see him, a journey which brought on a dangerous fever. At Craig,millar, some time after, Both \•ell attempted. unsuccess
fully, to overrule her objections to a divorce from Darnley. A more thorough method presented itself to him, and on the night of February 9, 1567, Darnley was blown up at the Kirk of Field. Public opinion charged Bothwell with the murder, and he was formally indicted. March 28. He came to the trial attended by 4000 followers and received an easy acquittal. Two days after he carried the sword of State before the Queen at the opening of Parliament, and at its close all his lands and ()films were confirmed to him. The leading nobles signed a bond approving of Both well's acquittal, and. commending him as a tit husband to the Queen. pledged themselves to stand by him. On April 24 Bothwell, accom panied by a strong force, carried off the Queen to Dunbar Castle; on May 6 he was divorced from his wife, and on the 15th his marriage with was solemnized at Holyrood. He had pre viously been created Duke of Orkney. His tri umph was short; the wrath of the nation was roused; at the end of one mouth Mary was a prisoner in Edinburgh. and Bothwell, pursued in his voyage to the Orkneys, where he had collected a small navy and turned pirate, fled to Norway, whence he was sent under arrest to Denmark. and there imprisoned for the rest of his life. The confinement drove him insane, and he died at Castle in 157S, leaving no heirs. His titles and estates were forfeited to the Crown. Consult : Salem. Life of Bothwell (Edinburgh, 1880) ; Ellis, Later Years of James Hepburn (1861); Burton, History of Scotland (Edin burgh, 1873.