July 25, 1394 is the date ascribed to James I's birth by rampantscotland.com. James was born in Dunfermline to King Robert III and Anabella Drummond. James was indirectly impacted by circumstances that Walter Scott employed in his "The Fair Maid of Perth". James' older brother David was the Duke of Rothesay, who Scott has trying to abduct the maid Catherine Glover. Rothesay himself later falls afoul of his uncle Robert Stewart, the Duke of Albany, who kills him in hiscastle. In real life, Rothesay died in Albany's Falkland Castle.
In the novel and in real life, Albany was exonerated by parliament of involvement in Rothesay's death, but James' life was nonetheless considered endangered, and he was sent to France for his safety. He made it as far as Bass Rock in the Forth where he spent several months in hiding, then tried to sail to France, only to be captured and turned over to King Henry VI of England. James was detained in England for the next 18 years, before ransom was paid, and James freed.
From "The Fair Maid of Perth": 'Far different had been the fate of the misguided heir of Scotland from that which was publicly given out in the town of Falkland. His ambitious uncle had determined on his death, as the means of removing the first and most formidable barrier betwixt his own family and the throne. James, the younger son of the King, was a mere boy, who might at more leisure be easily set aside. Ramorny's views of aggrandisement, and the resentment which he had latterly entertained against his masters made him a willing agent in young Rothsay's destruction. Dwining's love of gold, and his native malignity of disposition, rendered him equally forward. It had been resolved, with the most calculating cruelty, that all means which might leave behind marks of violence were to be carefully avoided, and the extinction of life suffered to take place of itself by privation of every kind acting upon a frail and impaired constitution. The Prince of Scotland was not to be murdered, as Ramorny had expressed himself on another occasion, he was only to cease to exist. Rothsay's bedchamber in the Tower of Falkland was well adapted for the execution of such a horrible project. A small, narrow staircase, scarce known to exist, opened from thence by a trapdoor to the subterranean dungeons of the castle, through a passage by which the feudal lord was wont to visit, in private and in disguise, the inhabitants of those miserable regions. By this staircase the villains conveyed the insensible Prince to the lowest dungeon of the castle, so deep in the bowels of the earth, that no cries or groans, it was supposed, could possibly be heard, while the strength of its door and fastenings must for a long time have defied force, even if the entrance could have been discovered. Bonthron, who had been saved from the gallows for the purpose, was the willing agent of Ramorny's unparalleled cruelty to his misled and betrayed patron....'
Showing posts with label Dunfermline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dunfermline. Show all posts
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Charles I of England
Yet another Dunfermline connection. Charles I was born on November 19, 1600, in Dunfermline Palace. Charles appears as an infant in Scott's "The Fortunes of Nigel". This novel focuses on King James I, who enjoyed bestowing nicknames on people he was fond of. In this passage, "Steenie" (George Villers) and "Babie Charles" (Charles I):
"To grant the truth," he said, after he had finished his hasty perusal, "this is a hard case; and harder than it was represented to me, though I had some inkling of it before. And so the lad only wants payment of the siller due from us, in order to reclaim his paternal estate? But then, Huntinglen, the lad will have other debts—and why burden himsell with sae mony acres of barren woodland? let the land gang, man, let the land gang; Steenie has the promise of it from our Scottish Chancellor—it is the best hunting-ground in Scotland—and Babie Charles and Steenie want to kill a buck there this next year— they maun hae the land—they maun hae the land; and our debt shall be paid to the young man plack and bawbee, and he may have the spending of it at our Court; or if he has such an eard hunger, wouns! man, we'll stuff his stomach with English land, which is worth twice as much, ay, ten times as much, as these accursed hills and heughs, and mosses and muirs, that he is sae keen after."
"To grant the truth," he said, after he had finished his hasty perusal, "this is a hard case; and harder than it was represented to me, though I had some inkling of it before. And so the lad only wants payment of the siller due from us, in order to reclaim his paternal estate? But then, Huntinglen, the lad will have other debts—and why burden himsell with sae mony acres of barren woodland? let the land gang, man, let the land gang; Steenie has the promise of it from our Scottish Chancellor—it is the best hunting-ground in Scotland—and Babie Charles and Steenie want to kill a buck there this next year— they maun hae the land—they maun hae the land; and our debt shall be paid to the young man plack and bawbee, and he may have the spending of it at our Court; or if he has such an eard hunger, wouns! man, we'll stuff his stomach with English land, which is worth twice as much, ay, ten times as much, as these accursed hills and heughs, and mosses and muirs, that he is sae keen after."
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