History Scotland Magazine

Vol. 5 No. 1 January/February 2005

Contents

Yule in the Court of King James IV

Mairi Cowan

In general, winter was not a happy season in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Scotland. William Dunbar, a poet in the royal household during the reign of James IV (1488-1513), wrote of winter's "dark and drublie days", its "mystie vapouris, cluddis and skyis", and nights that lengthened in hours, "with wind, with haill and havy schouris". But dark winter was not entirely without bright cheer, however; and in fact it was during the darkest time of the year that the royal court of Scotland enjoyed some of its brightest revelry. This article discusses the origins of "Yule" and the religious and secular activities indulged in by the Court of James IV.

Scottish Slavery in 17th-Century New England

Diane Rapaport

Oliver Cromwell's triumph over Scottish royalists in the British Civil War brought at least 425 Scots to New England for a limited kind of slavery. While these captive Scots did not face a lifetime of servitude - most earned their freedom in five to eight years - they were unwilling immigrants, and their story has until now, received scant attention from historians.

The Monk, the Cottage & the Ballad

Crawford Mackie

It is easier to cherish a Scottish ballad if it turns up on your own doorstep, has a good story, and links with places with which you are familiar. This happened Crawford Mackie a few years ago when he came across a little-known Fife ballad "The Lady of Balwearie", which had associations with three things in his home town of Kirkcaldy - a ruined castle that not many local people are familiar with, a 19th century cottage in his own street, and the upheavals of the Reformation back in the 16th century. This article looks at some of the history associated with this ballad.

Miscarriage at Lochleven

John Irvine

An important event in the life of Mary Stuart while a prisoner at Lochleven in 1567 has been little investigated, but is crucial in settling the controversy about her relations with James Hepburn, 4th earl of Bothwell, before her marriage to him. The event is recorded by Claude Nau, her French secretary and closest advisor in the last years of her life, in his Memoirs which were only discovered and published in 1883. Although Nau was with her only during the last eleven years of her life, there is every reason to believe that the details of earlier events were given to him personally and privately by Mary herself. He records that some time about the middle of July 1567 Mary miscarried of twin foetuses. The author discusses the credibility of this claim and the story behind Mary's imprisonment at Lochleven.

The End of the Earl of Bothwell

Prue Mosman

This article charts the events which led to the flight of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell to Denmark in 1587. It discusses the intrigues in the Court, Bothwell's relationship with Mary Stewart and Anna Throndsen and his subsequent imprisonment and death in a Danish prison.

Scotland & the Spanish Match

Noah Millstone

Though the famous Spanish Match - the proposed marriage alliance between Prince Charles and Dona Maria of Spain - has been a favoured topic of historians of England since Gardiner, Scottish historians have commonly neglected the incident. The standard narrative of the Spanish Match seems to have been filched from a John Buchan novel: sudden diplomatic reverses, the prospect of religious betrayal, and all those bizarre anecdotes about the Prince's trip to Madrid. With only the odd riot and ecclesiastical fight, the story of the Scottish reaction to the Spanish Match is almost dry by comparison. However, a detailed narrative of the Scottish context and reactions to the Spanish Match provides the author with the opportunity to examine some of the religious and political issues confronting the men and women of late Jacobean Scotland.

Iron Age death, burial and metalworking at Westray's Knowe of Skea

Sigurd Towrie

The summer of 2000 saw excavations begin on what were soon to become two of Orkney's most enigmatic archaeological sites. While Minehowe in Tankerness attracted most of the attention, out in the island of Westray, work on the Knowe of Skea on Berstness began almost unnoticed. Now, with the 2004 season of work finished on both, the parallels between the pair seem almost too good to be true. Not only is the Knowe of Skea proving to be incredibly significant in terms of Iron Age burial practice, but it could be the key to understanding some of the mysteries of Minehowe.