Rizzio: Darkland Tales

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David Rizzio, an Italian, was private secretary to Mary Queen of Scots, and on March 9, 1566, he was stabbed to death in the Queen's chambers, in front of the pregnant Queen, by dozens of Scottish noblemen, each of whom had a go so none could be singled out and prosecuted for the murder. Mary doesn't know that her Palace is surrounded - that, right now, an army of men is creeping upstairs to her chamber. They're coming to murder David Rizzio, her friend and secretary, the handsome Italian man who is smiling across the table at her. Mary's husband wants it done in front of her and he wants her to watch it done ... Fraser, Antonia (1994) [1969]. Mary Queen of Scots. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. p.236. ISBN 0-297-17773-7. A Drunk Woman Looks at the Thistle (2007), inspired by Hugh MacDiarmid's modernist poem, A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle, and first performed by Karen Dunbar.

Told from the perspective of several of the characters involved, the story focuses on a 1566 plot to kill Mary, Queen of Scots’ friend and private secretary David Rizzio. Denise captures the dramas of the sixteenth century intrigue but is glad to link to more contemporaneous themes. “There are so many resonances,” she points out. Not least that, “there is no justice that can reach you if you are rich.”Denise Mina was born in East Kilbride in 1966. Her father worked as an engineer. Because of his work, the family moved 21 times in 18 years: from Paris to The Hague, London, Scotland and Bergen; she has also professed an affection for Rutherglen, her mother's home town. [4] Mina left school at 16 and worked in a variety of jobs, including as a kitchen porter, a cook and behind a bar. She also worked for a time in a meat-processing factory. In her twenties she worked in auxiliary nursing for geriatric and terminal care patients, before returning to education and earning a law degree from Glasgow University. [5] It is pleasantly cool in the tennis court but Rizzio is sweating. His clothes are damp and his heart is hitting a steady fast rhythm. He’s still fit and able and gives thanks to God for it. Good health is a rare gift at the age of thirty-two. HMC Calendar of the manuscripts of the Most Honourable the Marquess of Salisbury preserved at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, vol. 1 (London, 1883), p. 333, and in Thomas Wright, Queen Elizabeth and her Times, vol. 1 (London, 1838), pp. 226-235. Ruthen, Lord (1815). Some Particulars of the Life of David Riccio, chief favourite of Mary Queen of Scots. London: Triphook.

Then for a historical account there were too many tiny details, feelings and unimportant bits that no one probably has ever recorded for them to be factually accurate. Which would make them unnecessary then and bad historical material as it is full of unimportant bits.

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McDonald, Alan (12 October 2017). "The winner of the Gordon Burn Prize 2017 is announced". New Writing North . Retrieved 16 March 2018. Where Mina began to lose me was with her modernisation of the thought processes of her characters – they began to feel as if they were too 21st century. I’m not sure that Mary would ever have had a thought that we would recognise as feminist. These Queens fought for their own power and the passing of that power to their sons if they had them, not to liberalise the world for other women, not even their daughters. They did not challenge the patriarchy – they upheld it. Not that Mina has Mary out in the streets with “Votes for Women” placards, but when she (Mina, not Mary) sneered that the Lords were all men, white and entitled, I was forced to grit my teeth. Of course they were “entitled” – they were “titled”. Entitlement in that era wasn’t pejorative as it is now – it was aspirational and came about through loyalty and service to the monarch of the day. Of course they were men – it was a patriarchy that worked on the basis of male primogeniture. And, oh dear, of course they were white. What other colour was there in 16th century Scotland? People of colour were not oppressed or marginalised in Scotland in 1566, for the simple reason that there were none. The issue of white entitlement only becomes a thing when society is not 100% white. Even today, Scotland is 96% white. While some of Mary’s problems were undoubtedly exacerbated by her sex, how many Kings were usurped and murdered too in those days? Her Catholicism was at least as much of an issue as her sex, and she was just as white and entitled as her Lords. So I found the modern sensibilities grated rather than adding any enlightenment to the history. This is a very male list but the recent explosion in true crime podcasts and documentaries and the predominantly female communities that have formed around them will, I suspect, lead to more women choosing to write these books. The book seems like it is trying to be fiction and biographical account at the same time but succeeds in neither. Ellis, Maureen (13 December 2010). "Face to Face: Denise Mina". The Herald. Glasgow . Retrieved 14 December 2010.