STIRLING. — COURT FESTIVAL. 163 



the royal stem. The Countess of Argyll vpas appointed to stand the royal 

 proxy for Queen Elizabeth, as godmotlier ; for at this advanced season it was 

 not thought expedient to send a representative from among the ladies of the 

 English court, particularly as the Countess of Argyll stood high in the favour 

 of Queen Mary, and the selection might be received as a compliment. 



Till the day fixed for the ceremony of baptism, the ambassadors and their 

 suites were entertained with a continued round of courtly festivities, in which 

 were blended the characteristic features of the Scottish and French courts. But, 

 where so many were -assembled, the force of national jealousy and antipathy 

 was occasionally exemplified. At one of the great banquets a mask was got up 

 by a French servant of Queen Mary's, named Sebastian — a man who enjoyed 

 among his companions no small reputation for his wit and ingenuity. The 

 pantomime, contrived for the occasion, was in the shape of a large table, which, 

 on the doors of the banquet hall being thrown open, moved in of its own 

 accord, and exhibited a profusion of delicacies, of which the guests were invited 

 to partake. A band of musicians, dressed in female costume, and accompanying 

 various instruments with a vocal chorus, surrounded the pageant. In front 

 a number of men — furred and painted in imitation of satyrs — with the .classic 

 appendages of a shaggy skin and cloven feet, and with whips in their hands, 

 kept up a grotesque dance round the table, to the great amusement of the 

 guests assembled. But the jealousy, which had hitherto slightly manifested 

 itself between the respective retinues of the Enghsh and French ambassadors, 

 now seized the opportunity of expressing itself by less equivocal symptoms; for 

 the satyrs not only continued their gambols according to the rules of classic 

 fable, but had the audacious efii-ontery to wag their tails in the faces of the 

 English courtiers — so at least the latter construed the act — which so exasperated 

 them, that one of their number, declaring that it was done in despite of 

 the open preference shown by the queen for the English gentlemen, vowed 

 that, saving her Majesty's presence, he would have sent his dagger to the 

 heart of that French knave Sebastian, who had made his dumb-show the 

 vehicle of such personal insult. This spirit of animosity, which might 

 otherwise have led to serious consequences, attracted the timely observation 

 of the queen and the Earl of Bedford, who, thoroughly convinced that the 

 whole was a mere farce, succeeded in allaying that party spirit which had more 

 than once in both kingdoms disgraced the festal board with bloodshed. 



Of these festivities, however, Mary was condemned to a melancholy 

 participation. Darnley, retiring with sullen reserve from the festal scene, 

 had shut himself up in his private apartment, resolved to take no share in 



