royal entry The ceremonies and festivities accompanying a formal entry by a ruler or their representative into a city in the Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe were known as the royal entry, triumphal entry, or Joyous Entry. The entry centred on ...

into

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

marked the

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

of King

James VI of Scotland James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

as an adult ruler on 19 October 1579. The 13-year-old king came to Edinburgh to begin his adult rule, having spent his childhood at

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...

. A royal entry was the usual way across Europe of marking a new monarch, or one making his first visit to a city. A representation of the astrologer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

signalled the transition of James to adulthood, and he was given a sword and sceptre, symbols of kingship, known as the

Honours of Scotland The Honours of Scotland (, ), informally known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, are the regalia that were worn by List of Scottish monarchs, Scottish monarchs at their Coronation_of_the_British_monarch#Scottish_coronations, coronation. Kept in the ...

Events

According to

David Moysie David Moysie () was a Scottish notary public, known as the author of the ''Memoirs of the Affairs of Scotland, 1577–1603''. Life He was by profession a writer and notary public. A notarial attestation of a lease by him occurs in 1577. From 1582 ...

, James VI left Stirling on 29 September 1579 despite a storm. He had lunch at

Dunipace Dunipace () is a village in the west of the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is south of Stirling and north-west of Falkirk. The village is situated on the north bank of the River Carron and adjoins the town of Denny, to the sout ...

and dinner at

Linlithgow Palace The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland in the 15th and 16th ce ...

where he stayed the night, and came to

Holyroodhouse The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...

the next evening. The town lined the road with men in armour and a salute was fired from

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...

. James arrived from

Dalkeith Palace Dalkeith Palace is a country house in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. It was the seat of the Duke of Buccleuch, Dukes of Buccleuch from 1642 until 1914, and is owned by the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. The present palace was built 1701–1711 ...

. The processional route went from the West Port, to the Overbow, to the

Tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scotland, Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of th ...

, to St Giles Kirk, the

Mercat Cross A mercat cross is the Scots language, Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scotland, Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or ...

, the Salt Tron, the Nether Bow, Canongate Cross, and Holyrood Palace. The gates of the town, the tolbooths of Edinburgh and the Canongate, and other buildings were painted white with limewash, called "calk". Householders along the route were asked to hang the external stairs with tapestry and "Arras works". At the West Port the king was met by 32 burgesses of Edinburgh, whose names are recorded, who carried a canopy made of purple velvet. John Shairp gave a speech in Latin. There was a

tableau vivant A (; often shortened to ; ; ) is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrically illuminated. It thus combines ...

of the

Judgement of Solomon The Judgement of Solomon is a story from the Old Testament in which Solomon ruled between two women who both claimed to be the mother of a child. Solomon ordered the baby be cut in half, with each woman to receive one half. The first woman accept ...

. At the Overbow Cupid gave James the keys to the town. Cupid was played by a boy who descended in a globe. At the Tolbooth four maidens (probably played by boys) represented Peace, Justice, Plenty and Policy, a scene relating to the four Cardinal Virtues. At St Giles, Dame Religion invited the king to hear a sermon on the duty of kings and

Psalm 21 Psalm 21 is the 21st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The king shall joy in thy strength". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a book of the Christian Old Testame ...

was sung. Afterwards, at the Mercat Cross

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

shared out wine. At the Salt Tron the genealogy of the Scottish monarchy was presented, perhaps using portraits. The king's

horoscope A horoscope (or other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, star-chart, cosmogram, vitasphere, radical chart, radix, chart wheel or simply chart) is an ast ...

was described by an actor playing

at the Netherbow Port. At the Canongate Cross a scene represented the abolition of the Pope's authority in Scotland. At

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...

a new lodging was prepared for the king's favourite Esmé Stewart next to the royal apartment. A course or tournament ground made of sand for "

running at the ring Running at the ring, riding at the ring or tilting at the ring is an equestrian tournament activity originally practiced at European royal courts and likely derived from other lance games like Quintain (jousting), quintain. It gained new popularity ...

" was laid at Holyroodhouse. Celebrations continued at

, hosted by the former

Regent Morton James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton (c. 1516 – 2 June 1581) was a Scottish nobleman. He played a leading role in the murders of Queen Mary's confidant, David Rizzio, and king consort Henry Darnley. He was the last of the four regents of Scot ...

The account of the event in Scots

A short account of the events occurs in the chronicle, ''The historie and life of King James the Sext'', written in

Middle Scots Middle Scots was the Anglic language of Lowland Scotland in the period from 1450 to 1700. By the end of the 15th century, its phonology, orthography, accidence, syntax and vocabulary had diverged markedly from Early Scots, which was virtual ...

;

The silver cupboard

The king was given a cupboard of

silver gilt Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling) which has been gilded. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually silver-gi ...

plate made by the Edinburgh goldsmiths Edward Hart,

Thomas Annand Thomas Annand (died 1591) was a Scottish goldsmith based in Edinburgh. One of his earliest recorded works was a contribution to a gift for James VI from the burgh of Edinburgh. James VI had been living at Stirling Castle, and towards the end of 1 ...

George Heriot George Heriot (15 June 1563 – 12 February 1624) was a Scottish goldsmith and philanthropist. He is chiefly remembered today as the founder of George Heriot's School, a large independent school in Edinburgh; his name has also been given to H ...

, Adam Craig and William Cokky. It was valued at 1000 English marks. This included a basin and a laver, two flasks, six cups and covers, four candle holders, a salt, a silver salver, and dozen silver plates.

William Fairlie William Fairlie or Fairley (floruit, fl. 1570–1600) was an Edinburgh merchant and burgess. Fairlie (surname), Fairlie was frequently asked by Edinburgh town (Royal burgh, burgh) council to survey and account for public works for the town counci ...

was asked to oversee the gilding of the silver on 8 October and assist Henry Nesbit make an account of the expenses. The wealthy merchant and "Customar" of Edinburgh Robert Gourlay, a supporter of

, complained to the

Privy Council of Scotland The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. During its existence, the Privy Council of Scotland was essentially considered as the government of the Kingdom of Scotland, and was seen as the most ...

when he was asked to contribute £30.

Repairs to Holyrood Palace

An account for repairs and building work at Holyrood Palace in August and September 1579 survives. The works were supervised by

William MacDowall William MacDowall or McDougall (died 1580) was a Scottish priest and Master of Works to Mary, Queen of Scots, her mother Mary of Guise, and James VI of Scotland. The title 'sir' was used in Scotland by a priest without a master's degree. The nam ...

, the royal Master of Work. Mention is made of slating the roof of a "Dancing House", carpenters who made a great chest for the king's pantry, glazing the chamber for "Lord Lennox", and a pavement in the chapel. New rooms were made for William Murray, and for

Jerome Bowie Jerome Bowie (died 1597) was a servant of James VI of Scotland as a sommelier and Master of the Wine Cellar, in charge of the purchase and serving of wine. Family background Jerome Bowie's family was from Stirling. His father is thought to have ...

, Master of the Wine Cellar. George Wallace or Vallance and his workman plastered the old hall, the chapel and the gallery, and painted the council house with chalk distemper paint. Women worked cleaning chambers in the tower, the old hall, the forework, and the gallery, and the inner close or courtyard.Henry Paton, ed, ''Accounts of the Master of Works'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1957), pp. 302–307.

References

''Documents relative to the reception at Edinburgh of the Kings and Queens of Scotland: 1561–1650''
(Edinburgh, 1822), pp. 11–31. {{DEFAULTSORT:Entry of James VI into Edinburgh 1579 in Scotland Renaissance in Scotland Court of James VI and I European court festivities 16th century in Edinburgh Old Town, Edinburgh Scottish plays Drama at the Scottish royal court Royal entries in Britain