Hi history lovers and welcome or welcome back to the channel, where I bring you new videos
every week on all aspects of the past. Today on History Calling I bring you a royal jewels
documentary, as we look at the House of Stuart and decode the many secrets held within one
of the most famous Stuart jewels from the 16th century. I’m speaking of the beautiful,
clever and complex treasure that is the Darnley or Lennox jewel (it goes by both names). We’ll
also be looking at the life of Margaret Douglas, countess of Lennox, who commissioned it and
who was one of the many famous royal women of this time. This spectacular heart-shaped
jewel isn’t just studded with precious stones, but also with hidden meanings. Stick around
to learn what its shape has to do with King Robert the Bruce’s dead body and how its
symbols and mottos relate to Margaret’s husband Matthew, her murdered son, Henry,
Lord Darnley, who was the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, her own periods of imprisonment
at the hands of Elizabeth I and her long-held dynastic hopes for her grandson, James VI
of Scotland.
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If you check out the description box below, you’ll also find a link to my Instagram
account, where my username is History Calling and to some books, movies and other sources
about this branch of the Stuart family and this infamous jewel.
To understand the layers of meaning in the Darnley/Lennox jewel, you first have to understand
where, or more specifically who, it came from. Lady Margaret Douglas was the daughter of
Princess Margaret Tudor through the Princess’s second marriage to Archibald Douglas, Earl
of Angus. Princess Margaret’s first marriage however, had been to King James IV of Scotland
and through him, she was also mother to King James V. Margaret Douglas ultimately married
the Scottish nobleman, Matthew Stewart, Earl of Lennox and one of their many children was
Henry, Lord Darnley. She was also a first cousin of Mary I and Elizabeth I of England
and during the former’s reign, Mary often treated the Catholic Margaret better than
the Protestant Elizabeth and as though she was the heiress presumptive. Margaret herself
considered her claim stronger too, as she viewed Elizabeth as illegitimate and she publicly
said after the death of Mary, Queen of Scots’ first husband, that her son Henry would marry
the young Queen (who was his half-cousin) and that they would ultimately obtain the
English throne. Her ambitions and indiscretion earned herself, her husband and their children
a spell of imprisonment in 1561 and 1562. Nevertheless, she got her wish. By 1565 both
Henry and his father were in Scotland where Darnley did indeed marry the Queen that July.
This union brought together their separate claims to the English throne through their
shared descent from Margaret Tudor and it so infuriated Elizabeth I, that she had the
Countess of Lennox locked up again, this time in the Tower of London, as a punishment. Lord
Darnley and Queen Mary would have only one child, in whom both parents’ claims to the
English crown were combined. This was James VI of Scotland, who later became James I of
England.
In just a few short years, Lady Margaret Douglas and her husband Matthew would become fatally
entangled in the messy breakdown of Mary, Queen of Scots’ rule. Their son, Lord Darnley,
was murdered in February 1567 while his mother was still in the Tower and their daughter-in-law
was soon afterwards forced to abdicate in favour of her one year son and ultimately
fled to England where she remained a prisoner of Elizabeth I, until Elizabeth had her executed
in 1587. I have videos on the two Queens’ relationship and on Mary’s execution, both
of which I’ll leave linked in the description box for you. Back in Scotland, the young King’s
regent, Mary’s half-brother, the Earl of Moray, was assassinated in 1570 and so Matthew
Lennox was made the new regent for his grandson. However he too was killed in 1571. So with
this backstory in mind, let’s look at the Darnley jewel.
The jewel can be divided up into five sections, front, back and 3 interior compartments. As
you can see, I do have my own photographs of it, however as it’s held within a glass
case which caused some reflections and I couldn’t alter the lighting on it either, these photos
aren’t as crisp as I would have liked, nor could I photograph its interior, so I’m
going to show you a combination of my pictures and some drawings of the jewel published in
an 1843 book by Patrick Tytler which is freely available online and which I’ll leave linked
in the description box. I think the drawings provide clearer images of the jewel’s intricate
details, though they aren’t always perfectly copied to scale and you get a better idea
of the colours of the stones from the photographs, so this seems like the best option.
The jewel most likely dates to the 1570s between the death of Matthew and Margaret’s own
demise in 1578 (though some have suggested it might have been created in the 1560s).
It’s designed to be worn around the neck or on the chest and measures 6.6 x 5.2 cm.
On the Royal Collection Trust website (linked in the description box), there is speculation
that it was made here in Edinburgh, though its actual creator is unknown. At some point
it made its way into the hands of eighteenth century writer and politician Horace Walpole
and stayed with his descendants until 1842 when it was bought by a London jewel dealer
and sold to Queen Victoria the following year for the princely sum of 130 guineas. It has
been in the hands of the British royal family ever since.
The jewel is in the shape of a heart as this was the symbol of the Douglas family. This
was in recognition of the fact that their ancestor, Sir James Douglas, had been given
the task of removing King Robert the Bruce’s heart in 1329 (after the King’s death of
course!), so that he could take it to Jerusalem. In the top centre of the jewel is a crown
topped by three fleurs-de-lis and boasting three rubies and a rectangular emerald. It
is backed by an azure shield. This is a clear reference to the Lennox coat of arms, which
also included three fleurs-de-lis on an azure background. The crown can represent Margaret’s
claim to the English throne, Matthew’s own links to the Scottish royal family, Darnley’s
occupation of the Scottish throne as King consort and his son’s position as King James
VI of Scotland. This crown and shield sit over the top of a tear-shaped blue glass cabochon
with wings made of gold and precious stones. Wings and cabochon together make another heart
shape in the centre of the jewel and Patrick Tytler speculated that the wings represented
the family’s ambitions to soar within royal ranks. Four allegorical figures picked out
in white enamel flank this motif. In the top left you can see Victory, holding an olive
branch. In the bottom left is Faith, with a cross and a lamb. In the top right is Truth,
with a tiny mirror in her hand while Hope sits beneath her with an anchor. The entire
thing is bordered in more white enamel with the phrase, written in old Scottish and all
capitals
QVHA. HOPIS. STIL.CONSTANLY. VITH PATIENCE SAL. OBTEAIN. VICTORIE. IN YAIR. PRETENCE.
When turned into modern English, this reads ‘Who hopes still constantly with patience
shall obtain victory in their claim’. When taken in conjunction with the symbols just
described, the front of the jewel is telling the viewer that Margaret hoped that with patience,
her bloodline (which she saw as truly deserving of the English crown), would be victorious
in obtaining it. She didn’t live to see it, but we know that that is exactly what
happened in 1603 when her grandson succeeded Queen Elizabeth.
The front of the jewel has two miniscule compartments. The first is beneath the crown, which lifts
up to show the initials M, L and S, standing for Matthew and Margaret Stewart Lennox. This
is surmounted by a crown of leaves, once again alluding to their royal connections. Above
them, on the underside of the tiny hinged door are two hearts (likely representing this
husband and wife), held together by a blue buckle and golden love knot. They have two
arrows through them in opposite directions and are encompassed by the motto QUAT WE RESESOLV
meaning ‘What we resolve’. This may refer to their resolution to see their grandson
unite the Scottish and English crowns while the buckles echo the buckles seen in both
the Lennox and Douglas coats of arms.
The little blue glass cabochon also pops open to reveal a skull and crossbones with two
hands above it, clasped together and holding what Tytler calls ‘a ruby fillet’ from
which hangs a green hunting horn. Again we have a motto, this time reading DEATHE SAL
DESOLVE or ‘Death shall dissolve’. These symbols suggest that the jewel is meant to
be a mememto mori. This type of jewellery can both commemorate a death (in this case
the Earl of Lennox and/or his son Darnley seem the most likely candidates) and remind
the viewer that death will come for them too (the Latin literally means ‘remember that
you must die’).
The main interior compartment of the jewel where the most private symbols were hidden
away contains a series of images which are hard to interpret but which seem to refer
to the great losses and difficulties the Lennox/Douglas clan had endured. In the top left is a stake,
a symbol of religious persecution in this era (remember the Lennox family were Catholic
in the increasingly Protestant England and Scotland). Next to it is a woman enthroned
with the words GAR TEL. MY. RELAES, meaning ‘Cause tell my release’ above her head.
Perhaps this represents Margaret victorious over her difficulties? The top right portion
of the image shows what the Royal Collection Trust describes as:
a two-faced winged figure of Time with cloven feet holding an hour-glass in its left hand
and extending its right hand to a naked female figure in a pool of water, with scrolls bearing
mottos: TYM. GARES AL LEIR (Time causes all to learn) above and ZE SEIM. AL MY. PLESVR
(You seem all my pleasure) below and the mouth of hell to the right.
The meaning is obscure, but according to the 1843 book the fire and demons the hellmouth
is spewing forth may represent lies told about Margaret, especially attempts by Elizabeth
to show she was illegitimate, while the figure of time pulling the figure of truth out of
a well, demonstrates that in time, the truth will always win out.
In the lower left we see two fighters wearing opposite coloured clothing and dressed in
kilts or ancient-style armour. One lies dying at the feet of the other and pointing at a
crowned, red shield. This is likely a reference to the fate of Matthew, Lord Lennox, who died
whilst Regent for his grandson. At the bottom and slightly to the right, we see a crowned
male figure dragging a female figure by her hair and with a sword at the ready to kill
her. Patrick Tytler interpreted this as Mary, Queen of Scots’ supporters triumphing over
the Countess of Lennox through the death of her husband and her loss of influence over
her grandson. I wondered though if it was a more direct reference to Mary’s loss of
her throne?
On the reverse of the jewel we see the sun (possibly Queen Elizabeth), the moon (with
a man’s face in it which may be James VI, looking to Elizabeth and her throne) and the
stars. Once again they are all backed onto blue azure. Just below the sun, on the upper
left portion of the image there is a salamander with a crown on its head sitting within a
fire. The salamander was the crest of the House of Douglas and the crown upon it is
pretty self-explanatory for a family with their royal connections and aspirations. Opposite
it, beneath the moon, is a phoenix rising up out of the ashes, demonstrating the great
difficulties and losses the family had faced but suggesting that they would overcome them
and rise again. In the bottom left is a pelican stabbing itself in the chest to feed its offspring
with its own blood. This symbolises a mother’s devotion to her children and may allude both
to Margaret’s spells of imprisonment in aid of her children’s advancement (especially
Darnley’s) and to her husband’s death as Regent of Scotland.
In the bottom right is a reclining man surely meant to represent Darnley himself (who I
believe was dead by the time this jewel was made as I think it dates to the 1570s) and
from whose loins grows a sunflower. This flower represents the family’s new hope, Darnley’s
son James VI and in the photograph (though not in the slightly inaccurate drawing), you
can see that it is touching the sun’s rays. Above the reclining man is a bird sitting
on a laurel branch looking towards the sun, just as the moon is. Tytler sees this as a
message to the young James VI that he must look to Queen Elizabeth and her throne for
his advancement. Once again, the entire image is surrounded by a motto in Scots which reads:
MY STAIT TO YIR I MAY COMPAER FOR ZOV QVHA IS OF BONTES RAIR meaning ‘My state to these
I may compare for you who are of rare goodness’. This makes it even clearer that the family’s
experiences are intended to be connected to these images of trauma, love, resilience and
rebirth.
Some of these interpretations are only guesses though and the jewel still retains some out
and out secrets too. What is the meaning of the green hunting horn in one of its interior
compartments for instance, or the small, lizard-like creature climbing through the sunflower on
the reverse side? Margaret Douglas will have known, but sadly we do not. For me though,
the fact that we can’t decode all of its meanings just adds to its allure and it’s
one of my favourite pieces of royal jewellery. Nowadays it’s housed here, in Holyrood Palace,
or the Palace of Holyroodhouse if you prefer, in Edinburgh and for those of you who like
historical irony, this jewel, which likely commemorates Darnley’s violent death is
currently kept in this room, which is the same one in which Darnley and his cronies
dumped the body of Queen Mary’s favourite, David Rizzio, after they dragged him away
from her and murdered him. You can see the fake blood stain which has been applied in
the corner where Rizzio was left.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this study of what the Darnley or Lennox jewel does and might
be intended to convey. Let me know in the comments what your favourite aspect of it
is, or if you would interpret any of the symbols differently. If you’d like to learn more
about Mary Queen of Scots, here are some videos on her, or if treasure is your thing, why
not watch my video on the supposedly cursed Hope Diamond? Whatever you select, please
enjoy and until next time, keep learning.