by Derek Gorman
She passed away in 1609 after a brief illness aged 63, being buried near her first husband, Lord Maitland.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Anne of Denmark
After the formal marriage in November 1589, a month of celebrations followed before the happy couple spent a prolonged honeymoon firstly visiting Anne’s family at Kronborg Castle, where a young Anne spent a happy childhood. The couple then spent some time in Copenhagen attending the wedding of Anne’s older sister. This took them through into May 1590 when Anne made her formal debut in Edinburgh in a silver coach bought over from Denmark with King James riding alongside on horseback.
Her coronation was a major event with her becoming the first Protestant Queen in Scotland. It was Lord Maitland who placed the crown upon her head.
Anne and King James were madly in love, but after his eye wandered, she changed her demeanour and her happiness dissipated. Anne was also heartbroken that their firstborn, Prince Henry, was kept away from her to prepare him for his first steps to becoming King. In 1594, she began a campaign to regain custody of Prince Harry garnering the support of Lord Maitland, who perhaps wanted to get her on side. King James refused and instructed his staff to never allow Prince Henry to be alone in Anne’s company. This reached a climax in 1595 when Anne suffered a miscarriage and then withdrew into her shell, giving up her campaign for custody. Anne did eventually gain custody when King James moved to London, as this was her demand to join him in England.
There were rumours that Anne had enough of King James and plotted with conspirators against the King. In 1600, she was linked to a plot to assassinate the King. Her ladies-in-waiting were dismissed for their link to the plot, but Anne refused to support the dismissal. She remained in bed for two days, refusing to eat until they were reinstated. King James even hired a famous acrobat to entertain her. Eventually he folded and agreed to reinstate the ladies-in-waiting, which alarmed the Government who viewed that as a security risk.
Anne didn’t like King James’s drinking and frequently commented on it. The couple lived apart after 1607, with Anne moving between residences. The death of Prince Henry in 1612 hit Anne very hard, and she never recovered from it. Her health deteriorated, and she was rarely seen in public.
There was however a bizarre confrontation in 1613 when Anne shot the King’s favourite dog during a hunting session, which caused a massive argument. Eventually, the King, not Anne apologised, with him giving Anne a £2,000 diamond in memory of his dog who was called Jewel.
In 1614, she had pain in her feet which worsened into 1615 and she was thought to have dropsy, an illness where excess fluid is stored within the body. She continued on with her conditioning worsening in 1617, finding it difficult to move.
Anne did however go on a shopping trip to Central London which drew quite a crowd and also was prescribed an odd treatment by her Doctor. She was told to saw wood as it would improve the blood flow but sadly it just made her more tired. Eventually, she passed away in 1619.
Although King James visited Anne only three times during his illness, he was distraught by her death. He was heartbroken and was seen sighing, fainting, and was truly broken. She was buried in Westminster Abbey in London.
During her life, she gave birth to seven children who survived childbirth, but four of them died in childhood.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The Others
The Ambassador
The Ambassador was already in declining health, so he sadly passed away a year after the banquet. He didn’t leave much financially in his estate. He never used his political connections to benefit himself financially or to create business ties for his own purposes. Instead, he viewed his role as one of State, and an honour that would have been cheapened had he used it as a tool to enrich himself.
Andrew Melville.
Andrew was devastated by the death of his wife and found it difficult to gain closure given the exposure that the North Berwick witch trials had for several years. After Jane’s death, he remained loyal to the King and was a key part in protecting the King, including the episode when the Earl of Bothwell attacked Holyroodhouse in 1591.
He continued to work for King James and was knighted in 1604 and then retired to his own country mansion. In 1611, his pension was further topped up by King James, ever grateful and loyal to those who were loyal to him. Andrew eventually passed away in 1617 when he was in his mid-70s.
William Fowler.
William continued to be close to the King, he became Private Secretary and Master of Requests for Anne post the marriage and continued to write poetry. His account of the baptism of Prince Henry and the banquet & celebrations that took place in 1594 were similar to what happened in the banquet that took place at Knockhall Castle.
In 1598, William became a spy for the English Court, sending back secret messages to Queen Elizabeth. It is unclear whether King James ever found out about this or whether it was uncovered in the history books many years later.
William fell in love in 1603 with Arabella Stuart and wrote two poems for her including Upon an Horologe of the Clock at Loseley which includes a partial anagram of her name and described her as the eight wonder of the world.
As mentioned earlier, in 1611 King James granted William 2,000 acres (8 Sq Km) of land in Ulster as a reward for his service. Most of the land he received was in an area called Moyglass, and the islands of Inishfomer, Galleran, and Lougherne. He sold it all in 1615 to Sir John Hume.
He passed away in 1613, aged 52. He was always fond of jewellery, as per his poem to the King at the banquet, so the jewels he received from Anne and King James over his years of service were bequeathed to his Brother.
His collection of poems remains in the library of the University of Edinburgh.
Mark Boyd Alexander
The King’s artistic influence really inspired Mark who wrote his best work in 1590 and 1592 whilst living in South West France. He returned to Scotland in 1596 and passed away in 1601, aged only 39. He is now best remembered for one poem, the Sonnet of Venus and Cupid.
The Moore
The Moore stole the show at the banquet and is thought to have also performed at the entry of Queen Anne in 1590. William Fowler’s account of the baptism of Prince Henry in 1594 also listed The Moore as performing a similar routine to that as seen at the banquet at Knockhall Castle. He is listed as The Moir in Anne’s records as being a member of her household but sadly there are no further records so it remains a mystery what happened to him.
See Photos and Portraits of some of the people, places and events that occurred in the book including:
• Knockhall Castle
• King James VI
• Anne of Denmark
• Lord Maitland
• The North Berwick Witch Trials
• The New World Expedition
• King James VI's lovers
Just go to http://www.derekgorman.com. You can also get added to my mailing list to find out when my next book will be released and get in touch with me
MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Hopefully, you found this book entertaining whilst also learning about the impact that King James made on the world, and gaining a glimpse into the real lives of the supporting cast.
The best way to say thank-you to me if you enjoyed this book would be to please leave a review on Amazon, this would justify all those countless hours over an entire year to get this book done and will motivate me to write another one.
* * *
[1] A Counterblaste to Tobacco, King James VI and I, 1604.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
As is typical in the modern world, the Internet played the key role in research and whilst this novel strived to be accurate and influenced by history, as described in the prologue, it isn’t a non-fiction, historical book. It will therefore be no surprise that Wikipedia was the principal source, including the following pages on Wikipedia - there may be some others I haven’t listed
• King James
• A
nne of Denmark
• Lord Sinclair
• Lord Maitland
• Jean Fleming
• William Fowler
• Mark Alexander Boyd
• Jane Kennedy
• Thomas Randolph - the Ambassador
• Knockhall Castle
• Clan Udny
• Coronation of Anne
• Masque at baptism of Henry
• James VI personal relationships
• North Berwick Witch Trials
• Banquo and Macbeth
• Divine right of kings
• Plantation of Ulster
• Castalian Band
Other significant sources included these websites:
• Cassidycash.com - instructions on playing noddy | True Law of Free Monarchies - https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-true-law-of-free-monarchies-by-king-james-vi-and-i
• Daemonologie | https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/king-james-vi-and-is-demonology-1597
• Scotland landscape in the 16th Century | https://www.thereformation.info/scotland16c/
• Tudor Dining in the 16th Century | https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/tudor-dining-a-guide-to-food-and-status-in-the-16th-century/
• Tower of London Menagerie | https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/history-and-stories/the-tower-of-london-menagerie/#gs.ym0tia
• King James Finances | https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/stuart-england/james-i-and-royal-revenue/
• Banqueting House | https://www.hrp.org.uk/banqueting-house/history-and-stories/the-story-of-banqueting-house/#gs.0lx2oy
• Life in a Castle | https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/castles/life-in-a-castle/
• Andrew Melville of Garvick | http://venitap.com/Genealogy/WebCards/ps48/ps48_433.html
• Lord Sinclair | http://www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk/online/content/sinclair1677.htm
• History of King James and Tobacco | https://medium.com/historys-ink/an-introduction-to-this-vile-habit-king-james-counter-blast-to-tobacco-9c985373b2ac
• Holinshed Chronicle | https://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/heritage/archives/picture-this/holinsheds-chronicles-macbeth-banquo-and-three-weird-sisters-ccl-w-g-5-15/
• Knockhall Castle - Estate Agent | https://search.savills.com/property-detail/gbabrsabs160078
• Knockhall Castle | https://canmore.org.uk/site/20348/knockhall-castle
