The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
HISTORY’S LOST KING
James VI loved going hunting in Fife and Perth, but how much that we think we know about the king who united the crowns of Scotland and England is true? Michael Alexander discovers the man behind the propaganda
King James VI was famous for uniting the crowns of Scotland and England. He was also the king who survived the Gunpowder Plot and who loved hunting in the royal forests of Fife. But according to author and academic Dr Steven Veerapen, King James VI of Scotland, who also became King James I of England, would be “horrified” at British politics and the power of ordinary people today.
While the Union of the Crowns in 1603 is often described as his greatest legacy, the king wanted even more comprehensive ties than the Act of Union between Scotland and England that would unite the parliaments in 1707. Steven thinks he’d be disappointed it didn’t go far enough.
“I think James would be horrified at the power common people have,” said Steven, who teaches English at the University of Strathclyde, and who has just written a new book which documents many of King James’s visits to Fife and Perth.
“Looking at it from the perspective of an absolute monarch with this inflated sense of role, he’d be horrified people are allowed to vote. I don’t think he’d be surprised there’s still a lot of moral division in Scottish politics. He’d be looking at all the factionalism, the shuffling of chairs, and he’d recognise that.
“Scottish politics in James’s time was just as fractious and full of infighting as it had ever been.
“But I think he’d be disappointed that Scotland retained its own Scottish kirk. James wanted the Scottish church to follow the English one. He wanted the Scottish legal system to follow English common law.
“Neither of those things obviously happened because Scotland reserved some matters.”
James VI and I, the first monarch to reign over Scotland, England and Ireland, has long endured a mixed reputation.
The son of Mary, Queen of Scots, to many he is simply the homosexual king, the inveterate witch-roaster, the smelly sovereign who never washed, the colourless man behind the authorised Bible bearing his name, or the drooling fool whose speech could barely be understood.
But who was he really? To what extent have myth, anecdote and rumour obscured him?
“And what he meant was people were not giving him enough deference.
“He had an inflated view of his own position in life. He took the idea of absolute monarchy very seriously. That’s why he had a correspondingly sunny view of England.
“He overlooked rebellion and said: ‘They do what their monarch tells them.’ He called England ‘The Promised Land’.”
Born and raised in Paisley, Dr Steven Veerapen, 36, studied English up to PhD level at Strathclyde University before going on to teach there. Other historical figures he’s written about include James’s wife Anna of Denmark, Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex, and Mary, Queen of Scots.
What he’s always found interesting is the “human stories”– and this was no less so than when he started looking at King James VI.
“The thing that always interested me about James was I’d read a lot about him that wasn’t specifically about him,” he explained. “It was him as a side character.
“There was a lot of caricature-type stuff written about James – right up until fairly recently. His tongue was too big for his mouth, he was smelly and dirty.
“Because I’d looked at Elizabeth and Mary, what I found a lot with them is that a lot of the stories were untrue or based on political attack. If you dug a bit deeper, you found it wasn’t actually what was going on at all.
“That really interested me with James because there was so much negativity and so much caricaturing again.
“I thought: ‘How much of this is true? What was the real James like beneath that image?’ That was enough of a hook for me.”
Steven explained that a lot of the “malice” written about James stemmed from Sir Anthony Weldon. His 1650 book The Court And Character Of King James was the source of some of the most lasting stereotypes.
“It turns out it was all just political,” said Steven. “He’d had a falling-out with James in his later years and he wrote this really scathing account of him.
“It was so powerful, it’s almost obscured him.”
Steven said there was lots of “interesting truth” amid tales of James lavishing money, attention and titles on handsome young men. Stories often led to “unease” during his reign.
There was also considerable paranoia on his part, having been brought up to “fear” his incarcerated Catholic mother, Mary.
But he’s concluded that James’s greatest legacy was, in actual fact, probably peace.
“It was a noble goal,” he added. “He wanted universal Christian teachings, especially when he came to the throne in England.
“The idea was that he would unite these protestant sects as a prelude to uniting with the Catholic Church again – if not uniting, then reaching an accord.
“James had seen throughout his childhood, throughout his life, that the whole age of Reformation was bloody, it was messy and led to intolerance and religious violence. He wanted to put an end to that.
“He couldn’t. He was only one man. “As we know from history, there are still religious differences, sectarianism and things around. But I think his view was that was bad. Not a good thing.
“And unity was important and Christian coming together was a good thing.
“I think he’d want to be remembered as a great peacemaker.”
The Wisest Fool: The Lavish Life Of James VI And I by Steven Veerapen is published by Birlinn, priced £25.