(Mary, Queen of Scots) A gold-mounted yew-wood box, circa 1816

By descent in the collection of the Earls of Home at The Hirsel, Berwickshire.

The present piece may have belonged to Henry, Lord Montagu of Boughton (1776-1845), he was close friend of the writer Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) both men shared a love of history and were antiquarians. He and Sir Walter were to become guardians of Lord Henry's 12-year-old nephew, Walter Francis, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry (1806-1884) on the death of the boy’s father.

Sir Walter was a collector of Scottish ‘relics’ and in 1818 he is said to have commissioned a quaich from the Crookston yew tree. 

A. W. Chisholm, Inventory of Antique Silver, Miniatures, Curious &c. belonging to the Right Hon. The Earl of Home [etc…], Edinburgh, February 1904, […] Content of Cabinets [The Montagu Heirlooms, 'From the Ditton Park Collection’], Lady Home's Sitting Room, Light Wood Cabinet, p. 57;

Lofts & Warner, Valuation of Jewels, Curiosities, etc at The Hirsel, Coldstream, The Property of the Right Hon. The Earl Home, K.T, London, June 1938, Lady Home's Sitting Room, Satinwood Cabinet, p. 14.

The 'Cruxton' [Crookston] yew stood near Crookston Castle in Pollok, Glasgow. This estate was entwined with the history of Scotland, through a familial connection to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley (1546-1567). It was believed that Lord Darnley concluded an agreement of marriage to Mary Queen of Scots beneath the boughs of this ancient tree. Sir Walter Scott, in his 1820 novel, The Abbot, fancifully suggests Mary watched the Battle of Langside in its shelter. The yew was felled in 1816 and there were relics made at this time from the timber.

The use of wood from this ancient tree to create a box to hold a locket with hair reputedly from the fabled Scottish Queen must have been the perfect commission.