Beautiful song. It is so fitting - the music is haunting, foreboding, expectatious and tragic. Perfect for the subject, as Mary Stuart's story and life are all of those things. She became Queen of a country of which she had little understanding. Scotland and France, where she grew up, were very different and contrasted worlds in the 16th century. Mary carried a deep religious conviction with her into a land which was becoming ever more hostile and wary of that religion. She was armed with little more than a young girl's naivety in a dangerous land. She was gullible and often led astray by those with more devious intent. Passionate, she was involved in a few romantic trysts, Lord Bothwell, et al. In the end, hunted by the Virgin Queen (ironically, someone who had less a birthright claim to the English crown than did Mary), numerous plans for her escape. Alas, she never did get to France. The tale of Mary Stuart is fantastic and captivating - Mike Oldfield pays it honourable tribute with this beautiful song and Maggie Reilly's incomparable voice.
Beautiful song. It is so fitting - the music is haunting, foreboding, expectatious and tragic. Perfect for the subject, as Mary Stuart's story and life are all of those things. She became Queen of a country of which she had little understanding. Scotland and France, where she grew up, were very different and contrasted worlds in the 16th century. Mary carried a deep religious conviction with her into a land which was becoming ever more hostile and wary of that religion. She was armed with little more than a young girl's naivety in a dangerous land. She was gullible and often led astray by those with more devious intent. Passionate, she was involved in a few romantic trysts, Lord Bothwell, et al. In the end, hunted by the Virgin Queen (ironically, someone who had less a birthright claim to the English crown than did Mary), numerous plans for her escape. Alas, she never did get to France. The tale of Mary Stuart is fantastic and captivating - Mike Oldfield pays it honourable tribute with this beautiful song and Maggie Reilly's incomparable voice.