Mary Beaton

Mary Beaton (about 1543–1597), or Bethune as she wrote her family name, was a Scottish courtier. She is remembered in history as one of the four girls who were companions of Mary, Queen of Scots from childhood, known as The Queen's Maries or The Four Maries, and has also entered folklore through the traditional ballad of Marie Hamilton. Origins Born about 1543, she was the daughter of Robert Bethune (died 1567), 4th Laird of Creich in Fife, and his French wife Jeanne de Gresnoir or Gryssoner (died 1577). Her mother had come to Scotland as a maid of honour to the French princess Marie de Guise, who became the wife of King James V of Scotland from 1538 until his death in 1542, and had remained in Marie's entourage until 1560 while she acted as Regent of Scotland for her infant daughter Mary. Her father, originally a page of honour and later Master of the Household, came from a family with a long tradition of royal service in different ways. His father had been steward and chamberlain of the county of Fife and keeper of the royal castle of Falkland, and his grandfather had been Lord High Treasurer of Scotland. One of his sisters was Elizabeth Beaton, who was a mistress of King James V, and another was Janet Beaton, a mistress of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was the last husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Life In 1548 the five-year-old Queen Mary was sent to safety in France, where she became the wife of the future King François II of France. As her companions, her mother chose four young girls of good family who were all about the same age: Mary Beaton, Mary Seton, Mary Fleming, and Mary Livingston. When the party arrived at the French court, King Henri II was dismayed to find that the young queen did not speak fluent French and, so that she would be immersed among French speakers, sent her four companions away to be taught at a convent in Poissy.