Mary Queen of Scots's chair to be returned to Scotland after more than 450 years

AN agreement has been struck to return a chair used by Mary Queen of Scots to her homeland for the first time in more than 450 years.

The personal devotional prayer chair has not been in Scotland since Mary’s capture and incarceration in 1568.

It is now to form the centrepiece of an exhibition on the monarch’s life and legacy to be unveiled this spring at the Borderlands Museum at Teviothead.

The exhibition organisers say the chair is subject to a very strict loan agreement, and disclosure of its ownership is not permitted.

Following Mary’s execution in 1587 the chair was most likely secretly recovered by her supporters and has remained hidden ever since.

The exhibition will also include modern commemorative tapestries made by the Royal Ateliers, Hand and Locke, and a musical composition by piper and fiddler Kathryn Tickell, "The Highway to Hermitage", inspired by Mary’s dramatic ride along the prehistoric path, The Queens Mire, to visit her injured lover The Earl of Bothwell at Hermitage Castle.

The Borderlands Museum displays artefacts from the Iron Age through to the age of the Reivers.

Meanwhile, Eric Kenneth Erik Moffatt, museum curator, hopes the exhibition will shine a light on the need to protect the area’s cultural heritage.

He has appealed to Scottish Borders councillors to support a call for Teviothead Volcanic Complex to gain protected status.

Although this land today is included in UNESCO’S World Heritage Frontiers of the Roman Empire, it does not as yet have any designated or adequate protection, nor a programme of care.

Moffatt said: “We have made appeals to the Scottish and Westminster Governments, the Scottish affairs committee, MP John Lamont, MSP Rachael Hamilton, and landowner the Duke of Buccleuch, to initiate and support gaining protected status for the Teviothead Volcanic Complex, and for the region to be recognised for its intangible cultural heritage.

“The question has to be asked as to why, to date, no consequent positive response or interest has been taken or expressed for this concept.

“The now impassable prehistoric path, The Queens Mire, which starts in Jedburgh and arrives at Hermitage Castle – runs through the region, where in 1566 Mary Queen of Scots rode in a dramatic journey to visit her injured lover, James Hepburn, The Earl Of Bothwell.

“Mary Queen of Scots is an international female icon, and we believe this route should be preserved and developed as an incredible asset for the Borders."