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On this day Mary, Queen of Scots, was born at Linlithgow Palace, West Lothian in 1542.

The only surviving child of James V and Mary of Guise, Mary ascended to the Scottish throne following her father's death when she was only six days old. Mary was next in line to the English throne, following Henry VIII's children, as the great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England. The infant Mary was betrothed to the six-year-old Edward in 1543, but within a year, the vacillating Scots parliament had reneged on the agreement and taken the young Mary to Stirling Castle. The Scots wanted to return to the traditional alliance with France. Hence began the series of savage attacks on Scotland known as 'The Rough Wooing', which saw the Borders being ravaged and the Abbey of Holyroodhouse being set fire to.The Scots whisked Mary off to France in 1548, after arranging her betrothal to the French Dauphin.

On this day in 1174, William I 'the Lion' was released under the terms of the Treaty of Falaise, following a five-month imprisonment after invading Northumberland. William was forced to surrender Stirling and Edinburgh Castles to Henry II, whom he agreed to accept as his feudal overlord as part of the treaty's terms. William is credited with adopting the Lion Rampant as the Royal Emblem of Scotland, hence his nickname.

Today's recipe: Nick Nairn's warming winter meal of .