James VII and Mary of Modena

On the 21^st of November, 1673, James Duke of York and Mary of Modena were married in an Anglican ceremony, upon Mary's arrival to England.  From the perspective of a legal marriage, the Anglican ceremony was irrelevant, as the couple had been wed as Catholics two months earlier.  The fifteen year old Mary held some strong opinions on certain topics, as shown in the anecdote Sir Walter Scott  presents in his “Tales of a Grandfather” (vol 50).

‘…The Duke of York, it is said, became aware of the punctilious character of the Scottish nation, from a speech of the well known Tom Dalziel. The Duke had invited this old cavalier to dine in private with him, and with his Duchess, Mary of Este, daughter of the Duke of Modena. This princess chose to consider it as a derogation from her rank to admit a subject to her table, and refused to sit down to dinner if Dalziel should remain as a visiter. " Madam," said the undismayed veteran, " I have dined at a table where your father might have stood at my back." He alluded to that of the Emperor of Germany, whom the Duke of Modena must, if summoned, have attended as an officer of the household. The spirit of the answer is said to have determined James, while holding intercourse with the Scottish nobles and gentry, to exercise as much affability as he could command or affect, which, with the gravity and dignity of his manners, gave him great influence among all that approached his person. He paid particular attention to the chiefs of Highland clans, made himself acquainted with their different interests and characters, and exerted himself to adjust and reconcile their feuds. By such means, he acquired among this primitive race, alike sensible to kind treatment, and resentful of injury or neglect, so great an ascendency, that it continued to be felt in the second generation of his family…’

James Hogg Passes

The Ettrick Shepherd, who helped Walter Scott collect ballads for "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border", and became a friend, died on November 21, 1835.  Hogg's work is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance in the past twenty years or so.  His novel "The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner" is believed to have inspired Robert Louis Stevenson's writing of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".  Hogg also authored "The Domestic Manner and Private Life of Sir Walter Scott".

Sir Thomas Gresham

Sir Thomas Gresham died on November 21, 1579. Gresham was a merchant and financier whose career included stints with King Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth I. His father, Sir Richard Gresham had been knighted by King Henry VIII, for his efforts in securing foreign loans for Henry.

Sir Thomas also made his mark in financial dealings, being called in by Edward VI to restore the value of the Pound, which had fallen due to financial mismanagement. Though initially out of favor, when Mary succeeded Edward, he was soon reinstated. Elizabeth I gained the crown in 1558, continuing to rely on Gresham for financial matters. In 1559, Elizabeth asked Gresham to serve as ambassador at the court of the Duchess of Parma, and he was knighted soon before he departed on his mission.

In 1565, Gresham proposed a plan for an exchange, based on the Antwerp Bourse. This plan was adopted, and became the Royal Exchange.

Sir Walter Scott was familiar with Gresham, and among the inclusions in Scott's work is a reference in the Waverley Novels to Gresham college. The college itself was comprised largely of Gresham's own property in London. Lectures commenced in June 1597, one year after the death of Thomas' widow Anne.