, 1877-01-12
A Wonderful Watch.
THE "MEAENTo-MoRI" THAT TOLD THE
HOURS FOR MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS.

The associations connected with this
relic of the beautiful and ill-starred
Queen Of Scots invest it with an interest
at once profound and melancholy. On
the evening of February 7th, 1887, the
night previous to her execution at
Fotheringsy Castle, Mary perused her
will, read over the inventory of her
goods and jewels, and wrote down the
names of her attendants and domestics
to whom she had bequeathed each arti-
Gle. Among the bequests of this sad
hour was the memeDto-mN1i watch,
which was left to Mary Seton, one of
the four Marys who were her maids of
honor. From this lady it descends to
its present possessor, Sir Thomas Dick
Lander, of Grange and Fountainhall.
The watch is Of silver, shaped like a
skull. On the forehead is q figure of
Death, armed with his customary
emblems, the scythe and the hour
glass. He is standing between palace
aud o cottage, with one foot at each
door. Surrounding this figure is the
appropriate legend from Horace
PdIIidd n1ors GeQuo pIisdt pede pdupsrum
tdbsnas regunpQ1te terres. On the back
part Of the skull is Time, with his
scythe, devouring all things; near him
is the ancient symbol of Eternity, q
serpent with the tail in his mouth, and
around all is another legend from Hor-
ace TempUs edaz Verum, etc. The up
per portion is divided into compart-
ments; on one, our first parents in the
garden of Eden, with the motto, Pre-
clTd0 peridiOHe niSeridm deterNam pos
tsris meyIere. The other compartment
is occupied with the subject Of mans
salvation by the death Of the Redeemer;
with the crucifx is the motto, S,o
justiiidm sdtifecit, Dsortem sHpeyarit,
sdIutes conlpdr0vit. Running below
these compartments on both sides
is an open work to permit the sound to
be heard more freely when the watch
strikes. This is formed of designs Of
the instruments Of the cruci6xion, name
ly, the cross, the chalice, the fagon, the
scourge, thongs, ladder, dice, spear,
nails and hammer, the reed with the
sponge, the coat without seam. and the
crown Of thorns; beneath the motto Scala
caek 0Ioridm cid. The watch is opened
by reversing the skull, and then lifting
the under Jaw, which rises on hinge.
Inside this, which may be called the
lid, is o representation of THE Holy
Family in the Stable" 1.-THE Infant
Jesus with His Mother and Joseph"
in the distance are the shepherds. The
works of the watch occupy the space
which the brains do in living skull,
the dial-plate being on q fat, where the
roof Of the mouth is. The plate is Of
silver, and it is fixed within q golden
circle, richly carved. Hours are
marked in large Roman letters, and in
the midst is figure of Saturn devour-
ing his children, with the motto, Sicla
n1eis sic ct omnibus idem. All the works
are astonishingly perfect. The makers
name and the place Of manufacture,
.Moye, Blois," are legibly engraved,
but there is no date, and it is supposed
that the watch was made expressly for
Queen Mary, either when she went to
Blois, accompanied by her first hus-
band, the Dauphin of France, or soon
after his death. It still performs we'll,
though it requires TO be wound mp every
twenty-six hours to insure tolerable ac-
curacy. This curious relic must have
been intended to stand on o prie dieu,
or small altar, as its weight is much
too great to allow Of its being carried
about the person. 1t was bequeathed,
as has been said, to Mary Seton, the life
long friend and companion of the un-
fortunate Mary Stuart, in the palace
and in the prison. even to the scaffold,
the only one left to her royal mistress
of the -four Marys" mentioned in the
old distich:
-'Yestreen the Queen had four Maya
This night she'll haze but three;
There was Mary seton. Mary Beton.