Mary Queen of Scots

The daughter of King James V and Mary of Lorraine, Queen Mary was the last Catholic ruler of Scotland. Lacking the political prowess of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, and dogged by religious unrest, Mary was a poor and uncertain ruler. 

At the age of sixteen she was married to Frances the Dauphin of France. After his death in 1560, Mary was forced to return to Scotland by his mother, Catherine De Medici, who made it clear that Mary was no longer welcome in the French court. 

Along with becoming involved in religious disputes with the Protestant reformer, John Knox, a catalogue of political intrigues plagued Mary. The murder of her secretary, David Rizzio by her second husband, Lord Darnley led to suspicion landing on Mary's new favourite, the earl of Bothwell, when Darnley himself was murdered soon after. Public opinion then strengthened against her when she married Bothwell, her husband's suspected killer. They demanded her removal and Mary was forced to abdicate in favour of her infant son, James, and was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle. 

Mary escaped from the island where she was being held and raised an army of her loyal followers, but they were defeated by the Regent Moray at the Battle of Langside. Mary fled to England to seek the protection of her cousin Queen Elizabeth. The English Queens advisors regarded far too dangerous for Mary to remain at large, a focus for Catholic hopes, and so Mary found herself a prisoner for the rest of her life. She was eventually beheaded for treason, after allegedly plotting against Elizabeth and was buried at Peterborough Cathedral. She was later re-interred at Westminster Abbey by her son James who inherited the English throne as James VI of Scotland and I of England. 

Mary Queen of Scots and East Ayrshire. 

In 1503 James IV married Margaret, daughter of Henry VII of England, as part of her dowry she was given the lands of Kilmarnock and Dean Castle, which had been confiscated from the Boyd family in 1469 for treason. 

The Queen however allowed the Boyds to rent the Castle and Estate until, after she died the property was restored to the Fourth Lord Boyd, along with all his family's previous honours, by Mary Queen of Scots 

His son Robert, Fifth Lord Boyd, remained a warm supporter of Mary, and fought for her at the Battle of Langside. He was also entrusted with the management of her affairs during her imprisonment in England by her cousin, Elizabeth I. 

A passport signed by Elizabeth allowing Boyd safe passage through England to meet with Mary survives within the museum collections at Dean Castle as does a letter from Mary Queen of Scots asking for his council.