23 January 1570

On this day, 23 January 1570, James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland, was shot and killed in Linlithgow—a dramatic moment in the turbulent years after the Scottish Reformation.

Moray was the half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a committed Protestant who played a leading role in defending Scotland’s Reformed settlement. After Mary’s forced abdication in 1567, he governed as Regent for her infant son, James VI, and earned the nickname “the Good Regent”.

The background to the assassination lay in the bitter conflict now known as the Marian Civil War. Moray had led the forces that defeated Mary’s supporters at the Battle of Langside (1568), a defeat that drove Mary south into England—where she would become an exile and, ultimately, a prisoner. The kingdom split between the king’s party and the queen’s party.

His killer was James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of Mary who had fought against Moray’s side at Langside and—after being captured—was later released. On the day itself, Hamilton positioned himself in an upper room overlooking the route Moray would take through Linlithgow. As the Regent’s party rode past, Hamilton fired a carbine (a short firearm), striking Moray. The wounded Regent was carried to shelter, but died later that day.

Hamilton escaped out the rear of the building, mounting a waiting horse, and disappearing before pursuit could close in. The killing sent shockwaves through Scotland.

This is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s first assassination by a firearm.

The event is remembered in a huge stained glass window in St Giles Kirk, Edinburgh and a plaque at the location of the assassination in Linlithgow.