1561 — 2nd September. The Queen’s Public Entry Into Edinburgh
Thomas Randolph to Cecil. Wright’s Elizabeth , vol. i. p. 63.
Upon Tuesday last she made her entry. She dined in the Castle. The first sight that she saw after she came out of the Castle was a boy of six years of age, that came as it were from heaven out of a round globe, that presented unto her a Bible and a Psalter, and the keys of the gates, and spake unto her the verses which I send you. Then, for the terrible significations of God upon idolatry, there were burnt Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, in the time of their sacrifice. They were minded to have a priest burned at the altar, at the elevation. The Earl of Huntly stayed {stopped} that pageant, but hath played many as wicked as that since he came hither. He bare that day the sword.
[The following are the lines to which Randolph referred. As only the first stanza has appeared in print before, the verses are given in their original form.]
A “NEEDEFULL” GIFT