Mary, Queen of Scots, was born at Linlithgow Palace, married at Holyrood Palace, was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle and was beheaded at Fotheringhay Castle in 1587.
The route follows her life from the cradle to the scaffold: the murder of David Rizzio, the stand-off at Carberry Hill and her escape across Loch Leven. Several of the sites can still be visited, though Fotheringhay is now earthworks and a few remains.
In the summer of 1588 a Spanish fleet appeared off Cornwall with a plan to join Parma's army. Beacons carried the news to London, the English fleet came out of Plymouth, and within weeks fireships, a day of heavy gunnery and autumn storms had ended the plan.
The route follows the campaign through seven places, from the first sighting to a beach in County Sligo where three ships broke up. Most of the fighting was at sea, so the pins mark the nearest coast landmark, and the story of Drake and his game of bowls at Plymouth is labelled as legend.
