The Ainslie Tavern Bond was a document signed on about 20 April 1567 by a number of Scottish bishops and nobles. The bond approved the Earl of Bothwell's

James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell

James Hepburn, 1st Duke of Orkney , better known by his inherited title as 4th Earl of Bothwell, was hereditary Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He is best known for his association with and subsequent marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, as her third husband...

 acquittal on 12 April of implication in the murder of Lord Darnley

Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley

Henry Stewart or Stuart, 1st Duke of Albany , styled Lord Darnley before 1565, was king consort of Scotland and murdered at Kirk o'Field...

, recommended him as an appropriate husband for Mary, Queen of Scots, and pledged to assist in defending such a marriage.

Context

Lord Darnley had married Mary on 29 July 1565, but their marriage proved disastrous. On 9 March 1566, Mary's Italian private secretary, David Rizzio

David Rizzio

Davide Rizzio, sometimes written as Davide Riccio or Davide Rizzo , was an Italian courtier, born close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts de San Paolo et Solbrito, who rose to become the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots...

, was murdered in the Queen's presence at Holyrood. The murderers were led by Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven

Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven

Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven , played an important part in the political intrigues of the 16th century. He succeeded to the lordship in December 1552...

, but it was widely believed that the murder arose from Darnley's jealousy. There followed a carefully choreographed series of events, aimed at substituting Bothwell for Darnley as Mary's husband. The extent of Mary's own complicity was and remains intensely controversial, but the preponderant view has been that she is likely to have been an accomplice in Bothwell's designs.

On 10 February 1567, the bodies of Darnley and his servant were discovered in Kirk o'Field in Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. Suspicion immediately fell on Bothwell. On 12 April 1567, he was formally acquitted of involvement in Darnley's murder, but suspicions about the nature of his trial were not allayed by the fact that he had attended the meeting of the Privy Council

Privy Council of Scotland

The Privy Council of Scotland was a body that advised the King.In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of material on the political, administrative, economic and social affairs of Scotland...

 at which the trial had been arranged.

The Bond

Following his acquittal, Bothwell invited the leading temporal and spiritual peers to a dinner in an Edinburgh tavern, kept by one Ainslie, as a result of which the event became known as "Ainslie's Supper" and the document associated with it "the Ainslie Tavern Bond". The bond was subscribed by eight bishops, nine earls and seven lords. It was subsequently alleged that Mary had previously on 19 April 1567 signed a warrant authorising the Lords to sign the Bond. Other sources suggest that the Bond was ratified by the Queen following its execution.

Signatories

According to a note by William Cecil

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...

 the signatories were; James Stewart, Earl of Moray; the Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll

Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll was one of the leading figures in the politics of Scotland during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the early part of that of James VI.-Biography:...

; the Earl of Huntly

George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly

George Gordon, 5th Earl of Huntly , was Lord Chancellor of Scotland and major conspirator of his time.-Biography:...

; the Earl of Cassillis

Gilbert Kennedy, 4th Earl of Cassilis

Gilbert Kennedy, 4th Earl of Cassilis, PC was a Scottish peer, the son of Gilbert Kennedy, 3rd Earl of Cassilis. He succeeded to the titles of 6th Lord Kennedy and 4th Earl of Cassillis on 28 November 1558...

; the Earl of Morton

James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton

James Douglas, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Morton was the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of King James VI. He was in some ways the most successful of the four, since he did manage to win the civil war which had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of...

; the Earl of Sutherland

Earl of Sutherland

Earl of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created circa 1230 for William de Moravia. The Earl of Sutherland is also the Chief of Clan Sutherland...

; the Earl of Rothes

Andrew Leslie, 5th Earl of Rothes

Andrew Leslie, 5th Earl of Rothes was a Scottish nobleman. He was the son of George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes, and his third wife Agnes Somerville, daughter of Sir John Somerville of Cambusnethan and Elizabeth Carmichael. He succeeded his father as 5th Earl in 1558...

; the Earl of Glencairn

Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn

Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn was Scottish nobleman and Protestant reformer, prominent in the Scottish Reformation.-Biography:...

; and the Earl of Caithness

Earl of Caithness

Earl of Caithness is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of Scotland, and has a very complex history. Its first grant, in the modern sense as to have been counted in strict lists of peerages, is now generally held to have taken place in favor of Maol Íosa V, Earl of...

 with Lord Boyd

Robert Boyd, 3rd Lord Boyd

Alexander Boyd, 3rd Lord Boyd Scottish noble.-Biography:Alexander Boyd, uncle and heir, and, but for the attainder of 1649, Lord Boyd , being second son of Robert 1st Lord Boyd. He became head of the family on the death of his 15 year old nephew James, 2nd Lord Boyd in 1484...

; Lord Seton

George Seton, 7th Lord Seton

George Seton V, 7th Lord Seton was a Lord of the Parliament of Scotland, Master of the Household of Mary, Queen of Scots and Provost of Edinburgh. He was the eldest son of George Seton, 6th Lord Seton and Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of John Hay, 3rd Lord Hay of Yester...

; Lord Sinclair

Lord Sinclair

Lord Sinclair is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1449 for William Sinclair, 3rd Earl of Orkney. In 1470, Lord Orkney surrendered the earldom in return for the earldom of Caithness. In 1477, Lord Caithness wished to disinherit his eldest son from his first marriage to Lady...

; Lord Sempill

Lord Sempill

Lord Sempill is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in circa 1489 for Sir John Sempill, founder of the collegiate Church of Lochwinnoch. Sempill was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. His grandson, the third Lord, was known as "The Great Lord Sempill"...

; Lord Oliphant

Lord Oliphant

Lord Oliphant is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It has been created twice; both creations are extinct. It was first created in 1456 for Laurence Oliphant, but this creation became extinct on the death of the fifth lord in 1631...

; Lord Ogilvie; Rosse-Hacat

James Ross, 4th Lord Ross

James Ross, 4th Lord Ross of Halkhead was a Scottish nobleman and an adherent to the cause of Mary, Queen of Scots.-Origins:Ross was the second, but oldest surviving son of Ninian Ross, 3rd Lord Ross, who died in February 1555/6...

 (sic); Carleil of Torthorwald

Lord Carlyle of Torthorwald

The Lordship of Parliament of Carlyle of Torthorwald was created in the Peerage of Scotland around 1473 for Sir John Carlyle. In 1638, the sixth lord resigned the lordship to the Earl of Queensberry....

; Lord Herries; Lord Home

Alexander Home, 5th Lord Home

Alexander Home, 5th Lord Home was the son of George Home, 4th Lord Home and Mariotta Haliburton. He became Lord Home on the death of his father who was injured in a skirmish with the English two days before the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh.-Marriages:...

; and Lord Innermeath. The Bishop of Ross

John Lesley

John Lesley was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch.-Early career:...

 and Lord Elphinstone

Lord Elphinstone

Lord Elphinstone, of Elphinstone in the County of Stirling, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1510 for Alexander Elphinstone who was killed at the Battle of Flodden three years later. He was succeeded by his son, the second Lord, killed at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547....

 slipped away without signing.

Other copies add the Earl of Erroll

George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll

George Hay, 7th Earl of Erroll was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He was a member of the Privy Council of Mary, Queen of Scots in 1561. He was also the Earl of Erroll. In April 1567, Erroll was a signatory to Ainslie's Tavern Band agreeing to the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to the Earl...

, Lord Glamis, Lord Fleming and the Archbishop of St Andrews

John Hamilton (archbishop)

The Most Rev. Dr. John Hamilton , Scottish prelate and politician, was an illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran....

, with the Bishops of Aberdeen

William Gordon (bishop)

William Gordon was a 16th century Scottish noble and prelate, the last of the pre-Reformation bishops of Aberdeen owing allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church....

, Whithorn, Dunblane

William Chisholm (d. 1593)

William Chisholm II , bishop of Dunblane and bishop of Vaison, was a son of Chisholm of Cromlix, and nephew to William Chisholm I, bishop of Dunblane from 1527 to 1564, to whom he was appointed coadjutor by a brief of Pope Pius IV dated 1 June 1561....

, Brechin

Alexander Campbell of Carco

Alasdair Caimbeul or Alexander Campbell of Carco was a Scottish noble and prelate. Coming from a branch of Clan Campbell in the allegiance of the Earl of Argyll, his career began in the 1560s still only a minor, serving the Earl of Argyll's interest...

, Ross, and Adam Bothwell Bishop of Orkney.

Aftermath

On 24 April 1567, Bothwell waylaid Mary on the road from Stirling (whether with or without her connivance) and conducted her to Dunbar Castle

Dunbar Castle

Dunbar Castle is the remnants of one of the most mighty fortresses in Scotland, situated over the harbour of the town of Dunbar, in East Lothian.-Early history:...

, where (with or without her consent) he allegedly ravished her. There remained significant obstacles to performance of the bond, not the least of which was the fact that Bothwell had married Lady Jean Gordon

Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell

Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell was a wealthy Scottish noblewoman and the first wife of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell who became, after his divorce from Lady Jean, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Lady Jean herself had a total of three husbands...

 on 24 February 1566. Their marriage was formally and conveniently annulled on 7 May 1567. A week later, on 15 May 1567, Bothwell and Mary were married at Holyrood, to the general scandal of Europe. The marriage divided Scotland into two camps and led to the Battle of Carberry Hill

Battle of Carberry Hill

The Battle of Carberry Hill took place on the 15th June 1567, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, a few miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. It was part of the ongoing civil war that surrounded Mary, Queen of Scots and the ever changing sides that opposed her and supported her.-The conflict:In May of...

on 15 June 1567, at which Mary was defeated and captured, though Bothwell escaped.

External links

For the text of one copy of the bond, see John Hosack, Mary Queen of Scots and her accusers (William Blackwood and Sons, 1869), Appendix K