About Precious Stones and Emblems

There is considerable romantic interest in the "Lennox" or "Darnley" jewel, now in the possession of the Queen. It was formerly in Horace Walpole's collection at Strawberry Hill, but, much to be regretted, he has not recorded how he became possessed of it. The jewel is thus noticed in the description of Strawberry Hill (1784):-- "A golden heart set with jewels, and ornamented with emblematic figures enamelled, and Scottish mottoes made by order of the Lady Margaret Douglas, mother of Henry, Lord Darnley, in memory of her husband, Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lennox and Regent of Scotland, murdered by the Papists." By the command of the Queen, a description of this jewel was published in 1843 by the late Mr. Patrick Fraser Tytler.

The jewel is a golden heart, measuring two inches and one-eighth in each direction. Around it is this verse--

"Qvha hopis stil constanly vith patience

Sal obtein victorie in yair pretence;"

signifying, Who hopes still constantly with patience shall obtain victory in their claim. The old Scottish word "pretence" for claim appears to be of French derivation. On the outer face is a crown, surmounted with three white fleurs-de-lys upon an azure ground, and set with three rubies and an emerald. Beneath it is a heart formed of a sapphire, with wings enamelled blue, red, green, and yellow. These emblems are supported by enamelled figures representing Faith, Hope, Victory, and Truth. The jewelled crown opens, and within the lid is this device:--Two hearts united by a blue buckle, and a golden true-love knot pierced with two arrows, feathered with white enamel and barbed with gold, and above them the motto, "Qvhat ve resolv" ("What we resolve"). Below this device, in the cavity within the crown, are the letters "M.S.L." in a cipher, enamelled white, blue, and red, with a verdant chaplet over it. The heart of sapphire also opens, and within the lid is this device:--Two hands conjoined, holding a green hunting horn by red cords, with this motto, rhyming to the former-- "Deathe sal desolve" ("Death shall dissolve"). Within the cavity is a skull, with cross-bones, enamelled. The reverse of the heart is covered with devices, and bears the following verse around the margin:--

"My stait to yir I may comper

For zoo qvha is of bontes rair."

("My state to these I may compare

For you who are of goodness rare."

The emblems are the sun in glory, amidst the azure starry skies, and the crescent moon. Below the sun is a salamander, crowned, amidst flames, and underneath this is the pelican in piety. Beneath the moon is the phoenix in the flames, and under it a man lying on the ground, with something resembling a royal crown on his side, so small as to be seen only with a magnifying glass; out of the crown issues a sunflower. Behind him is a laurel (?), in which sits a bird, and on the leaves of the sunflower is a lizard. The heart opens, being hinged at the top, and within the lid are the following emblems:--A stake, such as is represented in pictures of martyrs, surrounded with flames, and in the flames a number of little crosses; near it is a female figure on a throne, with a tiara on her head; and above her appears a scroll, inscribed, "Gar tel my reloes" ("Cause tell my relief"). There appears next a complicated group of emblems--a figure with two faces and two bodies, the upper part evidently representing Time, with his forelock, wings, and hourglass; the back of his head presents a second face or mask; and the lower portion of the figure, separated by a marked line, is that of a demon, with cloven feet, standing on a celestial sphere. On one side, Time is pulling a naked female figure, meant for Truth, out of a well; on the other side is a representation of hideous black jaws, like the hell-mouth of mediaeval art, from which issue flames and three winged demons. Above Time is a scroll, inscribed, "Tym gares al leir" ("Time causes all to learn"). Below Time, and immediately connected with the sphere under his feet, is another scroll, "Ze seim al my plesvr" ("You seem all my pleasure"). Lastly, in the lower part are two groups; a warrior with sword and shield, standing over another who is vanquished and overcome; on the ground, by his side, lies his shield, red, surmounted by a crown, and charged with a face; the fallen man seems to be pointing towards it. The other group is a crowned warrior with a drawn sword, holding a female by her dishevelled hair, as if about to kill her. To neither of these groups is attached any legend.

It will be seen that the jewel contains three distinct divisions, the front, the reverse, and the interior, in which are twenty-eight emblems, and six verses, or mottoes. All these emblems point to the truth of the tradition that the jewel was made for Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox, in memory of her husband. He, by maternal descent, was of the royal blood of Scotland, his mother being the Lady Anne Stuart, a daughter of John, Earl of Athol, brother of James II. She was of the blood royal of England, her mother being Margaret Tudor, the only daughter of Henry VII., and widow of James IV. of Scotland. Her father was Archibald Douglas, sixth Earl of Angus. The letters M. S. L. are the initials of the name of the Countess of Lennox and her husband, Matthew Stuart Lennox, and Margaret Stuart Lennox. The salamander is the crest of the house of Lennox; the circumstance that here it is crowned may be in allusion to the royal descent of the Lady Margaret. The three fleurs-de-lys on an azure ground are the arms borne in the first quarter by Matthew Stuart, Earl of Lennox, being the royal arms of France, granted to his ancestor, Sir John Stuart, of Darnley, by Charles VII. of France.

The heart also is most emphatic, for it is the well-known emblem of the house of Douglas. The wings represent the soaring ambition of that house. The two little hearts, joined together not only by a true-love knot, but by a blue buckle, point to Lennox and Douglas, for both these ancient houses bear buckles in their arms.

The emblems, the pelican and the salamander, express great affection and great trials. The recumbent figure on the grass seems to represent the unfortunate Darnley. "He was not," says Mr. Tytler, "in his own right a king, but a king sprang from him, and the crown, as I have interpreted the little figure, placed, not upon his head, but in his side, expresses this; whilst the sunflower growing out of the crown, equally clearly denotes a royal scion, his son King James VI." The sun and phoenix Mr. Tytler regards as emblems of Queen Elizabeth.

The two warriors are supposed to allude to the death of Lennox, who being mortally wounded points to the crowned shield with a face on it, an emblem of the young king, as if saying, "If the babe is well, all is well."

The crowned warrior seizing a lady by the hair, may indicate the temporary triumph of the Scottish Queen's party over the fortunes of the Countess of Lennox and the young king.

The stake surrounded by flames, the lady liberated and seated on a chair of state, and the emblems of Time and Truth, have to be considered. The first is an emblem, doubtless, of religious persecution. Lady Lennox had been reported a Roman Catholic, and as such became an object of suspicion and persecution by Queen Elizabeth. Three points in her life may offer a key to the complicated emblems in the group of Time and Truth. Her being slandered and threatened with loss of honour, birthright, and royal descent, is indicated by the jaws vomiting forth fire and lies, whilst Time pulling Truth from the well, marks the triumph of truth in the establishment of her legitimacy. The celestial sphere, with the words ze seim, etc., may allude to the bright influences which seemed to reign over her early days, her education at the court of Henry VIII., her marriage, and the favour she enjoyed from her sovereign, Mary of England--these were succeeded by her becoming under Elizabeth the victim of persecution and dissimulation. This temporary triumph of evil over celestial influences is represented by the double face of Time, and by half his body, in the shape of a demon, resting on the celestial sphere, and checking its motions. The lady enthroned, last feature of the group, points to the same story. "She is no longer" (to use Mr. Tytler's own words) "at the mercy of her enemy, no longer in the miserable state in which she appears below, dragged by the hair, wretched and discrowned. She has regained her liberty, her honours are restored, her diadem sparkles on her brow, and she proclaims her release, Gar Tel My Relaes."

From this examination it appears that this curious and ancient jewel contains internal evidence that it was made for Margaret, Countess of Lennox, in memory of her husband, the Regent, as a present to her royal grandson, the King of Scots.

Mr. Tytler supposes it to have been made about 1576 or 1577. He concludes by pointing out that in the spirit of the times, which delighted in concetti, the three inscriptions in the interior of the heart, may be anagrammatic, and they may be so transposed as to include the names of the countess, her husband, and Queen Elizabeth. Tym gares al leir will read, "Margaret is leal;" Gar Tel My Relaes--Mat. S. L. Ye. Real. Reg., for Matthew Stuart Lennox, the royal Regent;" and Ze Seim. Al. My. Plesvr, may be read, "My P. L. Eliza rvles me."