Falkland Palace

Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of Ninian Stuart, who delegates most of his duties to The National Trust for Scotland. The Chapel Royal in the Palace is dedicated to Thomas the Apostle, and is also open to the public and reserved for Catholic worship.

History

Early years

A hunting lodge existed on the site in the 12th century. The lodge was expanded in the 13th century and became a castle which was owned by the Earls of Fife – the famous Clan MacDuff. The castle was built here because the site sits on a slight hill which could be defended. The surrounding land eventually became the Palace gardens.

There was a great oak wood to the north between the royal stable and the River Eden, with many groves merging into the surrounding parkland. Timber was occasionally cut in the forest for royal ships of war. The castle would have been surrounded by meadows, fields, orchards, glades and Falkland Park which was a managed forest surrounded by a pale, a ditch with a fence on top of it. The pale would have been used to keep game inside the park for the royal family and courtiers to hunt. A park keeper maintained the Pale, and in 1469 the keeper Bannatyne lost his wages for not repairing it.

In 1371 Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Fife acknowledged Robert Stewart, Earl of Menteith, son of Robert II, as her heir and made him keeper of the castle and forest of Falkland. In 1402 Stewart, by now Duke of Albany, imprisoned his nephew and rival David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, the eldest son of Robert III, at Falkland. The incarcerated Duke eventually died from neglect and starvation. Albany was exonerated from blame by the Parliament of Scotland, but suspicions of foul play persisted, suspicions which never left Rothesay's younger brother the future King James I, and which would eventually lead to the downfall of the Albany Stewarts. After the execution of Albany's son Murdo in 1424, James I took possession of Falkland for the crown.

Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs. They practised falconry there and used the vast surrounding forests for hawking. Red deer and fallow deer were kept in the park for hunting, some brought from the Torwood Forest near Stirling. Henry Kinghorn and William Blair, two stewards of Mary of Guelders, the widow of James II of Scotland, were responsible for improvements at Falkland Palace in 1461-2. These included a stairway from the queen's chamber to the pleasance, new stables, a coal shed, repairs and an extension to the counting house, making andirons or firedogs for the queen's bedchamber and the fire grate of the great hall, and other works including the construction of two ponds in the hay yard. The royal carpenter was Andrew Lesouris. Improvements included a "galry" with two chambers, apparently the earliest use of the French-derived term "gallery" in Britain.

James III and Margaret of Denmark came to Falkland in September 1473. The court of the Exchequer met at Falkland yearly to finalise the accounts of the jointure lands of his mother, Mary of Guelders.

James IV at Falkland

Between 1497 and 1541 James IV and James V transformed the old castle and royal lodgings into a beautiful renaissance royal palace. James enjoyed imported oranges at Falkland in April 1497 and gave a tip to the gardener and workmen building the dyke around the park. In May 1501 James IV hired two stonemasons from Dundee to work at the palace, and an hour glass was bought for time-keeping. On 13 December 1501 he was entertained at Falkland by the female minstrel Quhissilgibboun, and in September 1504 by fiddlers, lutenists, and an African drummer known as the "More taubronar". A man from Pittenweem brought a live seal on 25 September 1502 and James IV gave him 14 shillings in reward. A new chapel (perhaps on the site of the present south quarter) was roofed in 1512 and masons were working on the Great Hall and the garden wall. James IV was entertained at Falkland by the "Wild Lady", who received £10 for her appearances in 1513.

James IV brought deer-nets from Kinneil House in November 1503. Andrew Matheson built a fold for deer in November 1505. A trap was made to "slay foxes in the park of Falkland". For a time in 1507 the horse of the French herald Montjoie, Gilbert Chauveau, was kept in the palace stables. In May 1508 James IV and John Methven stalked deer in the park with a firearm called a culverin. Later, wild boar, imported from France, were kept in the Park, within a fence made by the Laird of Fernie. There were also dairy and beef cattle.

James V, Mary of Guise, and Mary, Queen of Scots

The teenage James V was kept at Falkland Palace by the Earl of Angus, and according to Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie, escaped to Stirling Castle which was held by his mother Margaret Tudor. His plan involved announcing an early morning deer hunt in the park then riding away in the middle of the night dressed as a stable hand.

To address the poor state of the garden and park, James V appointed a new Captain and Keeper, William Barclay, Master of Rhynd, in March 1527. The Queen's Chamber was hung with tapestry for Margaret Tudor in September 1534. James V extended his father's buildings in French renaissance style from 1537 and built a Royal Tennis Court in the garden in 1541. The court still survives to this day and is the oldest in Britain. Mary, Queen of Scots, became especially fond of the game, and it is said that she scandalised the people of Scotland by wearing men's breeches to play.

Limestone was quarried on the Lomond Hills and burnt in kilns to make mortar. The coping stone or "allering" for the tennis court was quarried at Kingoodie near Dundee and shipped to Lindores, north of the Palace on the River Tay. Admidst these building works, the court still came to Falkland and in February 1539 one of Mary of Guise's French courtiers Marie Pieris married Lord Seton by handfasting. The French apothecary was also at Falkland on that day.

Mary of Guise spent time embroidering her husband's shirts at Falkland with gold thread in October 1539. James V played cards with Mary of Guise during their visit in April 1540. While they were at the palace the clothes of his infant daughter by Elizabeth Beaton, the Lady Jean Stewart, were washed. Thomas Melville's wife kept the royal family's pets. In August Mary of Guise went riding at Falkland in a new cloak of scarlet cloth edged with crimson velvet. The goldsmith John Mosman made a gilt chalice for their short-lived son Prince James and in July 1541 they sent it to Falkland to be used in the palace chapel.

Robert Murray, the plumber who maintained the fountain at Linlithgow Palace, also provided lead work for a long vanished fountain at Falkland. James V died at Falkland Palace in December 1542, from an illness induced by the shock and grief of his army's defeat at Solway Moss and of his wife's failure to give him a male heir, instead giving birth to the future Mary, Queen of Scots. His body lay in the Chapel Royal for almost a month and the chapel was draped in black. On 4 January 1543 messengers ordered the gentlemen of Fife to convey the king's body to North Queensferry on its way to Holyrood Abbey. An inventory recorded a green velvet bed in the wardrobe at Falkland Palace with velvet covered posts, packed in coffers and travel bags called "sowmes".

Mary, Queen of Scots was born at Linlithgow Palace and moved to Stirling Castle in July 1543. Her mother, Mary of Guise, sometimes travelled without her to stay at Falkland Palace. Mary of Guise was at Falkland in October 1546, and September 1549. Regent Arran's daughter, Anne Hamilton, joined Mary of Guise at Falkland in June 1553.

Nearby Myres Castle was the home of the Royal Macers and Sergeants at Arms who served Falkland Castle since at least the 16th century. John Scrimgeour of Myres supervised building at the Palace from 1532 to 1563. He wrote to Mary of Guise about repairs to Falkland and its lead roofs, delayed by the frosts, and the carts he needed to bring stones to the palace and timber from the harbour at Levenmouth. In May 1559 Scrimgeour repaired the stables and employed Adam Symmers to fix the palace windows, and he designed new ditches and fences for the garden.

Mary, Queen of Scots, held her Maundy Thursday or "Skyris Thurisday" ceremony at Falkland in March 1562. She washed the feet of 19 young women, and John Balfour bought new linen cloth for aprons and towels which she gave to the maidens. The number of young women matched her age. She came for Easter in April 1563 and 1564. The queen's many visits to Falkland have been tracked in archival sources.

James VI and Anne of Denmark

In April 1582, James VI of Scotland made John Killoch and Robert Schaw keepers of all his tennis courts, and suppliers of his balls and rackets. James VI spent the summer of 1583 at Falkland, and the English diplomat Robert Bowes noted it was a "little house" unsuitable for holding a parliament. In 1584 James VI had the roofs repaired, and requested his tenants in Fife help carry slates, tiles, timber, sand and lime to the palace. He stayed in the palace during the plague in July 1585 and for fear of infection ordered people with no business in Falkland or at court to stay away. His guests in Fife in the summer of 1585 included the English ambassador Edward Wotton and three Danish envoys who came to discuss the Orkney and Shetland islands and the king's marriage. James VI held a meeting at Falkland in September 1587 to discuss his marriage plans after hearing from his ambassadors that the elder Danish Princess Elizabeth was promised to another.

James VI married the younger Princess Anne of Denmark, and Falkland was included in the "morning gift" that James VI gave to his bride. On 12 May 1590 the Danish ambassadors rode from Wemyss Castle to Falkland to evaluate the palace and her Fife lands. They were welcomed by the keeper James Beaton of Creich. The lawyer John Skene produced a charter of the queen's lands and as a traditional symbol of ownership the Danish Admiral Peder Munk was given a handful of earth and stone. After this ceremony, they rode to the Newhouse of Lochleven Castle. Another Danish ambassador Paul Knibbe came to Falkland in July 1591. He brought a Danish gentlewoman, probably Margaret Vinstarr, to join the Queen's household. Around this time an African servant of Anne of Denmark, known only as " the Moir", identified as a "page of the equerry" who wore clothes of orange velvet and Spanish taffeta, died and was buried at Falkland, probably at the kirkyard of Kilgour.

Raid of Falkland

For five hours in the morning of 28 June 1592 Francis Stewart, Earl of Bothwell, with the Master of Gray, James Lumsden of Airdrie, the Laird of Niddrie, John Colville, and Spott with others including men from Cumbria attempted to capture the palace and James VI and Anne of Denmark. James VI had been warned of Bothwell's approach and had stayed at Falkland rather than go to Perth as he had planned. Bothwell's plans had been revealed to the English ambassador in Edinburgh, Robert Bowes, and he had told Richard Cockburn, the Earl of Morton, and the Master of Glamis that the king should "look narrowly about him". Bothwell crossed the Forth at Queensferry on 27 June with 400 men. The Earl of Erroll and Colonel William Houston were at Falkland and they were arrested on suspicion of being inside-men.

Bothwell's men attempted to batter down the back gate but were repulsed by gunshots before midnight on 27 June. The king withdrew to the gatehouse tower and his guard shot at Bothwell's men. According to James Melville the defenders who favoured Bothwell loaded their guns with paper rather than bullets. Bothwell abandoned the attack at 7 o'clock in the morning, and rode away with the king's horses. James Sandilands gave chase. He captured nine men whose horses tired, five were hanged in Edinburgh's Canongate, the others were ransomed. One of John Colville's servants was hanged, a packet of coded letters and a cipher was found in his possession.

The English border reiver Richie Graham of Brackenhill and his companions sacked the town of Falkland, taking horses, clothing, and money. It was said that Bothwell had given a pep talk to his supporters, encouraging them to kill Sir John Carmichael, Sir George Home, and Roger Aston.

A month later it was said that Bothwell was advancing towards Falkland again from Stirling Bridge, and some of his men had landed in boats at a creek near Aberdour Castle. The king was forewarned by Harry Lindsay and prepared for another fight. The Earl of Argyll rode from his wedding party at Dalkeith Palace to help the king. Men in arms were summoned from Edinburgh, Haddington and Linlithgow to fight the rebel earl. However, Robert Bowes was told it was a deliberate false alarm, possibly intended to make the king move from Falkland to a less secure location. Bothwell also attempted to corner the King in Holyroodhouse.

Deer from England

Queen Elizabeth sent deer for the park in 1586 and 1587, and again in 1591 from parks near Colchester. Some huntsmen and bucks were sent to James VI in August 1586 by the English ambassador Thomas Randolph and the Scottish ambassador in London, Archibald Douglas. Randolph wrote:

I have sent the Kynge two hunting men, verie good and skillful, with one footman, that can hoop, hollow and crye, that all the trees in Fawkland will quake for fear. Pray the Kynge's Majestie to be mercifull to the poor bucks; but let him spare and look well to himself.

In May 1592 the English ambassador Robert Bowes went to Barnard Castle, Raby Castle and Brancepeth Castle with the English-born royal huntsman Cuthbert Rayne to catch deer for James VI and managed to catch only six, which he shipped from Sunderland to Kirkcaldy.

A royal quarrel

Another Danish commission including Steen Bille and Niels Krag visited in 1593, which resulted in the keeper James Beaton of Creich giving more rights over the lands and buildings to the queen, Anne of Denmark. She came to stay on 12 July 1594 before the baptism of Prince Henry at Stirling Castle. It was said she left Edinburgh for Falkland because Holyrood Palace was not magnificent enough to receive the Danish ambassadors Steen Bille and Christian Barnekow.

James VI arranged for Prince Henry to stay at Stirling Castle with the Earl of Mar. This did not suit the queen. Courtiers took sides as the quarrel deepened. In August 1595 James persuaded Anne, who was now reluctant to leave Edinburgh, to come to Falkland and meet the Earl of Mar for a reconciliation. The kirk minister and royal chaplain Patrick Galloway gave a sermon about Adam and Eve and the duties of man and wife to each other, and it was thought that "she gave good ear to his advice". Another church minister David Lindsay, had a "long conference" with Anne at Falkland, hoping to heal the quarrel. Anne was joined at Falkland by her friend and servant Margaret Vinstarr. She had returned from visiting the queen's mother, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, whose message to her daughter was that she ought to obey her husband's will in all things.

Last years as a royal palace

When Anne of Denmark visited in September 1598 her bed chamber was hung with tapestry brought from Holyroodhouse. A French ambassador Philippe de Béthune, brother of the Duke of Sully, came in July 1599. The English diplomat Sir William Bowes was reluctant to come to Falkland, where James VI might show more favour to the French ambassador. Béthune fell ill, needing a surgeon and a physician to bleed him. It was rumoured he had been poisoned. He recovered and went on a progress with the king to Inchmurrin and Hamilton Palace

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