Royal legend
Queen Mary's thistles
Purple heads on a silent mound.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Grassy motte and thistles
- Legend from
- Fotheringhay tradition
- Tone
- Melancholy
Scottish thistles on an English mound.
Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned and executed at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587. Thistles grow on the castle mound, and tradition links them to her: the BBC piece says they are said to have begun growing spontaneously on her death; the RSGS says her grieving attendants planted them.