Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 38 on 11/04/2008.

This article is 8 months old and some information provided may be time sensitive. Please check all details of events, tours, opening times and other information before travelling or making arrangements.

A serious and thoughtful monarch

James, son of Mary, Queen of Scots was the first monarch to rule both Scotland and England. And he didn’t do a bad job. James Irvine Robertson reports.

The Queen was dead. Next in line as sovereign was a remote cousin, James, king of a nation with which she and her predecessors had been at war for centuries; conflicts still grumbled on either side of the Border. Her father had sacked the enemy Capital and killed in the region of 20,000 and more.

She had executed her heir’s mother. Her people held their rivals in contempt. They were barbarians living in a poverty-stricken, cold, infertile backwater and they seemed to be licking their lips in anticipation of rich pickings when their monarch succeeded to the rival throne. Queen Elizabeth had once described her successor as ‘That false Scotch urchin.’ What is more, he did not seem to be taking his future responsibilities seriously. He had refused support in 1588 when the Spanish Armada tried to invade England, and was now dabbling in diplomacy with the Pope and with Spain, allegedly hinting that he might convert to the Catholic faith of his mother and, second only to her peoples’ hatred of the new King’s nation, was hatred and distrust of Catholicism.

Anxious to avoid what would otherwise be a catastrophic succession crisis, the English Privy Council invited King James of Scotland to London. He accepted and asked them to give ‘thanks to God for the blessing about to come among them.’ They were unhappy.

King James did not hurry south, instead delaying his departure to ensure affairs in Scotland were left in order. There was an immediate clash of styles. James believed in getti.....

To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue or subscribe to Scotland Magazine to have every issue delivered direct to your door.

By James Irvine Robertson

Section : Scottish History

Page number : 38