Mary, Queen of Scots used buttons and dress fastenings made of gold, which were set with jewels and pearls and enamelled. Some were made in Portuguese style. These are detailed in her inventories (which have been published), and also in receipts written by James Mosman, one of her goldsmiths. On 6 January 1572, a large…
Jacob Kroger (d. 1594) was a German goldsmith who worked for Anna of Denmark in Scotland and stole her jewels. Jacob Kroger was a citizen of Lüneburg, ruled by Anna of Denmark's brother-in-law, Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.[1] He completed his apprenticeship as a goldsmith in 1575 instructed by the master goldsmiths Tönnies Dierssen and…
London-made furniture was popular in Scotland. John Gilmour, a rising advocate who prospered and bought Craigmillar Castle at the Restoration, bought eight chairs in London in March 1636. John Campbell, younger laird of Glenorchy had a great bundle of chairs and seven bundles of chair frames shipped from London to Perth in 1657. The wills…
A reference from 1600 to gold lockets or ‘tablets’ can be found in Edinburgh’s ‘Register of Decreets’.[1] This is the record of a court convened by baillies and burgesses that dealt with debts. Anyone in the town, or anyone owed money by anyone from Edinburgh, could come to this baillies’ court, and obtain a…
This post is based on research for the National Trust for Scotland presented at a Gladstone’s Land Study Day, 11 November 2015, and discusses makers and the materials of the fabric of Gladstone’s Land in Edinburgh. Thomas Gladstones bought the house around 1618, planning to extend the property southward into the Lawnmarket, and use the…
Scottish aristocrats went to France to learn French conversation and the accomplishments of dancing, fencing and riding horses in manège in the Parisian riding academies. Meeting and making friends with French aristocrats was a bonus and tutors hoped their pupils would get an audience with the king and kiss his hand. Antoine de Pluvinel’s L’Instruction…
Anna of Denmark, National Galleries of Scotland Edinburgh's welcome for Anna of Denmark: The paill canopy When Anna of Denmark was newly arrived in Scotland, Edinburgh performed a ceremony of royal entry on Tuesday 19 May 1590. Anna was conveyed around the town in a coach at walking pace under a canopy called a paill or…
James V of Scotland left an extensive archive with the treasurer’s accounts (in Scots, published with some abbreviation) and exchequer rolls (published, Latin). In addition there are two series of household books (National Records of Scotland E31 & 32, Latin, unpublished) and some inventories of household goods. Much of the building work on royal palaces…
In 1890 William Fraser recorded a household and teind income account book for Coldingham Abbey in 1592. Fraser noted the physical condition of the booklet as 'partly decayed' or 'much mutilated at the beginning'. He printed a brief summary of the contents and the historical background, and while 'none of the entries contain special historic…
The National Records of Scotland has a series of letters from a minor courtier David Cunningham of Auchenharvie to his younger cousin David Cunningham of Robertland in Ayrshire. [1] The writer lived in London and had the office of 'Receiver of rents the king had when he was Prince' or 'Receiver General of the Principality…
Objects and the archive 