Elizabeth I (1533-1603)
Autograph letter, signed, to James VI of Scotland
ca. March 1593

Although Elizabeth did not wish to declare a successor during her lifetime, she certainly had James VI of Scotland (1566-1625) in mind. She paid the younger man an allowance and kept up a correspondence with him.

In this letter she warns him to deal more forcefully with a group of belligerent Catholic earls in Scotland who were planning to support a Spanish invasion of the country.

At the end of the letter, when she is running out of paper, she apologizes for her handwriting:

"Now do I remember your cumber to read such scribbled lines."