The remaining contemporary authorities are to be found in the letters of ambassadors, and the other diplomatic correspondence of the time. But it must be remembered that a statement can by no means be implicitly believed because it appears in such documents. The circumstances of the writer, his opportunities of obtaining information on the particular topic, his personal prejudices, the impression that he wished to convey to his correspondent, must all be allowed due weight. The correspondence and other information is largely contained in the following books:—

(1.) OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Acts of Parliament of Scotland.

Reports of the Royal Commission upon Historical MSS.

Register of the Privy Council of Scotland.

Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, preserved in the Public Record Office.

Calendar of Papers relating to Foreign Affairs, 1542-1587.

Calendar of Papers relating to English Affairs, preserved in the Archives of Simancas.

Calendar of Papers relating to English Affairs, preserved in the Archives of Venice.

Calendar of Border Papers.

The Hamilton Papers.

Calendar of Papers relating to Scotland and Mary Queen of Scots, 1898.

(2.) BOOKS WHICH CONTAIN ORIGINAL LETTERS, &c.

FÆdera, Conventiones, LiterÆ, &c., inter Reges AngliÆ et alios, ed. by Thomas Rymer. London, 1704-1735.

Queen Elizabeth and her Times, by Thomas Wright. London, 1838.

History of the Affairs of Church and State in Scotland, by the Right Rev. Robert Keith, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Edinburgh, 1734 (reprinted by the Spottiswoode Society).

Miscellaneous State Papers from 1501 to 1726, edited by Philip, Earl of Hardwicke. London, 1778.

The Annals of Aboyne, edited by George, 11th Marquis of Huntly. (New Spalding Club.)

Life of Queen Mary, by George Chalmers. London, 1818.

History of Scotland, by William Robertson, D.D.

History of Scotland, by Patrick Fraser Tytler.

Inventories of Mary Queen of Scots, edited by Joseph Robertson.

Examination of the Letters said to have been written by Mary Queen of Scots, to James, Earl of Bothwell, by Walter Goodall, 1744.

History of Scotland, by Malcolm Laing.

Illustrations of British History, by Edmund Lodge.

Elizabeth and Mary, by Fred. Von Raumer.

Original Letters, Illustrative of British History, ed. Ellis.

Mary Queen of Scots and her Accusers, by John Hosack, 1870-74.

Mary Queen of Scots, from her Birth to her Flight into England, by D. Hay Fleming.

Recueil des Lettres de Marie Stuart, ed. Labanoff.

Letters of Mary Stuart, ed. Agnes Strickland.

Cabala, sive Scrinia Sacra. London, 1691.

Collections relating to Mary Queen of Scots, by James Anderson.

A Lost Chapter in the Life of Mary Stuart, by John Stuart.

Queen Mary at Jedburgh, by John Small.

Illustrations of the Reign of Mary Queen of Scots. (Maitland Club.)

Relations Politiques de la France et de l'Espagne avec l'Écosse, edited by Teulet.

The Tragedy of Fotheringay, by the Hon. Mrs. Maxwell-Scott.

These are the main authorities. A complete list of publications dealing with the question up to 1700, will be found in "A Bibliography of Works relating to Mary Queen of Scots, 1544-1700," by John Scott, C.B. (Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, 1896). Very full references will be found in Mr. Hay Fleming's notes. The list of authorities appended to the articles "Mary Stuart," in the Dictionary of National Biography, should also be consulted.