7th of May

St Benedict II., Pope, confessor, 686. St Stanislaus, Bishop of Cracow, martyr, 1079.

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Born. – Gerard Van Swieten, physician, 1700, Leyden.

Died. – Otho the Great, emperor, 973, Magdeburg; Jacques Auguste de Thou (Thaunus), French historian, 1617; Patrick Delaney, D.D., miscellaneous writer, 1768, Bath; William, Marquis of Lansdowne, 1805.

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On this Day in Other Sources.

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Yet, the conscience of the English Queen, was not altogether settled, whatever Cecil might think, what was fittest to be done, with regard to the Queen of Scots. A consultation was held, on the 7th of May [1570]; to come to some end, regarding the Scotish Queen. How such a consultation would end, may easily be conceived. Cecil, soon after, wrote to the ambassador Norris: “By your letters of late time, it hath seemed, that your opinion was, for the Queen’s majesty, to be delivered of the Scotish Queen; but, surely, few here among us conceive it feasible, with surety.” This supplies an additional instance, of Cecil’s practice, of deluding the English ambassadors, at Paris, by his delusive style of writing, for imposing on the French court. In various dispatches to Norris, Cecil expressed himself, as if Elizabeth, and her ministers, wished, to free themselves of the Scotish Queen; but, that the states of Scotland would not restore her: yet, Norris, not perceiving this artifice, which had been thrown out, to delude the French ministers, was himself deluded, and expressed an opinion, which was not relished, by Cecil, though it led to the true policy. 

– Life of Mary, pp.235-244.

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[The Admirable Crichton] again refers to Cornaro’s letters for further information, and concludes announcing his early return. Something must have happened to change his plans, however, for not until three weeks later do we find him reporting his arrival to Zibramonti. 

Most Illustrious and Respected Sir,  

                    At last I have reached Mantua, as a longed-for haven, after so many and so grave perils and hardships sustained by me during my absence. And, although some of my affairs are still imperfect, I trust, nevertheless, to have so arranged them that none of them may alienate or divert me further from the service of my most serene patron. Nor do they in themselves grieve me so much as the trouble which Signor James Aloise Carnaro gave himself for my troubles, as he writes to you in the enclosed letter. There remains one only sorrow, for which I find no remedy, caused by my having lost the opportunity of seeing the wedding of the Most Serene Archduchess, for certainly it behoved me to be present more than anyone else, as a foreign servant, honoured beyond my deserts by a great Signore. But I believe that when you will have heard what new and bitter trouble came upon me while I was at Padua, occupied in the business for which I left the Court, according to the permission kindly granted me by his highness, you will sigh once for the love you condescend to bear towards me, in return for the infinite which I bear towards you. Besides if I had been informed in time that the marriage was to take place so soon, I should have sent everything else to perdition.17 And if it seems well to you, you can present to his highness my humble and too… true apologies.  

I have come, thank God, in time for the disputes, although I expressed myself on things of this kind some time ago. I have not yet seen the conclusions, but, as I cannot consult the demon of Socrates, I shall avail myself of the spirit of Homer, extemporising as well as it shall please God.18 May He always preserve in His favour your lordship, whose hands I humbly kiss.  

Your Illustrious Lordship’s

Most Affectionate Servant,

JAMES CRICHTON. 

Mantua, 7th May, 1582. 

– Scots Lore, pp.181-192.

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May 7 [1585]. – The pest, which had commenced in Perth in the previous September, was believed to be now brought thence by a servant-woman to the Fishmarket in Edinburgh (Moy.), where it ‘was first knawn to be in Simon Mercerbanks’s house.’ (Bir.) From accident or otherwise, the king acted on this occasion exactly as he had done at Perth, when the plague first declared itself there. On the very day when the disease appeared in Edinburgh, he left the city, and ‘rode to Dirleton to a sumptuous banquet prepared by the Earl of Arran.’ (Cal.) The pest continued in the capital till the subsequent January, sometimes carrying off twenty-four people in a single night. ‘The hail people whilk was able to flee, fled out of the town: nevertheless there died of people which were not able to flee, fourteen hundred and some odd.’ (Bir.) 

– Domestic Annals, pp.81-98.

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To this alley, wherein the cannon shot of Kirkaldy fell with such dire effect during the great siege of 1573, Moyse tells us the plague was brought, on the 7th of May, 1588, by a servant woman from St. Johnston. 

– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.242-246.

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Among other offences dealt with and prohibited by the presbytery was “the playing of bagpipes on Sondaye from sun rising to its going doun,” and practising other pastimes after canonical hours under pain of censure.¹ This limitation of the time for indulging in amusements appears to have been only carrying out an extraordinary order which the presbytery had issued a few years before prescribing the limits of the Sabbath.

– Old Glasgow, pp.189-215. 

¹  7th May, 1594.

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[James VI.] entered London [on] the 7th day of May, this same year [1603]. His progress is at length set down by [John] Stow in his [‘Annals of England’]. 

– Historical Works, pp.340-416.

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A parishioner of Campsie is enjoined penance for having “interrupted his minister in the pulpit by mony proud wordes before the lettir prayer.”¹

– Old Glasgow, pp.189-215. 

¹  7th May, 1606.

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Lord Aboyne had not been idle during this interval, having collected about 2000 horse and foot from the Highlands and Lowlands, with which force he had narrowly watched the movements of the covenanters. Hearing, however, of the adjournment of the Turriff meeting, his lordship, at the entreaty of his friends, broke up his army, and went by sea to England to meet the king, to inform him of the precarious state of his affairs in the north. Many of his followers, such as the lairds of Gight, Haddo, Udney, Newton, Pitmedden, Foveran, Tippertie, Harthill, and others, who had subscribed the covenant, regretted his departure; but as they had gone too far to recede, they resolved to continue their forces in the field, and held a meeting on the seventh of May at Auchterless, to concert a plan of operations. 

– History of the Highlands, pp.314-341.

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The [post] office, the chief one for all Scotland, cost, including the site, £120,000, and was first opened for business on the 7th of May, 1866. The entire staff, from the Surveyor-General downwards, consisted in 1880 of 429 persons; whose salaries, wages, and allowances, amounted to £38,427. Connected, of course, with the head office, there were in Edinburgh, Leith, and the suburbs, in 1880, receiving-offices and pillar-boxes.¹

– Old and New Edinburgh, pp.353-358. 

¹ By a Government return it appears that in 1880 there passed through the Scottish Post-office 101,948,300 letters, 12,284,700 post-cards, 22,140,500 book-parcels, and 14,570,700 newspapers. In the same year, the average number of letters delivered to each person in the population of the three kingdoms was 35 in England, 26 in Scotland, and 13 in Ireland.