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Ellen or Elen More () was an African servant at the Scottish royal court. There are records of clothing and gifts given to her, although her roles and status are unclear. Some recent scholarship suggests she was enslaved. She is associated with a racist poem by
William Dunbar William Dunbar (born 1459 or 1460 – died by 1530) was a Scottish makar, or court poet, active in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He was closely associated with the court of King James IV and produced a large body of work in ...
, and may have performed in Edinburgh as the "Black Lady" at royal tournaments in 1507 and 1508.


Career

Ellen More was employed in
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on t ...
in the household of Lady Margaret, the daughter of
James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...
and his mistress Margaret Drummond. Ellen More was later an attendant of
Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Ma ...
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 Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although mai ...
. She was first mentioned by name, "Elen More", in the royal accounts in December 1511. Possibly remaining in the household of the young
James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and dur ...
, she was last mentioned in the accounts in August 1527, as "Helenor the blak moir".


Scotland, Portugal, and privateers

The name "More" recorded in the Scottish accounts seems to be from the word "moor", meaning an African person. Four African people, known as the "More lasses", in Scotland in 1504 were accompanied by a Portuguese man and imported animals. The reign of James IV (1488 to 1513) coincided with the era of
Portuguese exploration Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...
which established firm contact between Europe and Africa. At this time the Portuguese royal court became known for collecting exotic and rare animals from distant lands. Portuguese monarchs sent diplomatic gifts of rare animals to other courts. A pet monkey at the Scottish court was recorded as the "
Marmoset The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are 22 New World monkey species of the genera '' Callithrix'', '' Cebuella'', '' Callibella'', and '' Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term "marmose ...
of
Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
", reflecting Portuguese activity both on the
Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...
and on the coast of Brazil. A portrait of Margaret Tudor includes a Brazilian marmoset, and may be a copy of a picture once in the collection of
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
, described in his
inventory Inventory (American English) or stock (British English) refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the sha ...
as a "woman having a monkey on her hand". A monkey in a portrait of
Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previousl ...
, painted around 1531, appears to be a pet Marcgrave's capuchin, a type brought from Brazil by Portuguese traders. Catharine's portrait may follow an allegory of Christian faith. James IV licensed Scottish
privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s like Andrew Barton to attack Portuguese shipping by " letter of marque". The context was a dispute about the loss of a valuable cargo at
Sluis Sluis (; zea, label= Zeelandic, Sluus ; french: Écluse) is a town and municipality located in the west of Zeelandic Flanders, in the south-western Dutch province of Zeeland. The current incarnation of the municipality has existed since 1 Jan ...
belonging to John Barton of
Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...
back in the reign of James III. The Scottish kings gave Barton and his successors letters of reprisal to recover the loss. James IV and James V continued to send reminders to
Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, a ...
. Privateer activity may have provided a potential route for African people to reach Scotland, although there is no direct evidence of this. Archival references to the "More lasses", a Portuguese man, and exotic animals were re-discovered in the early 19th-century by William MacGregor Stirling (1771-1833) and others. A privateer connection between the "More lasses" and the Barton family was suggested by
Patrick Fraser Tytler Patrick Fraser Tytler FRSE FSA(Scot) (30 August 179124 December 1849) was a Scottish advocate and historian. He was described as the "Episcopalian historian of a Presbyterian country". Life The son of Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhous ...
. He conjectured that the African presence at the Scottish court was due to "the success of the Scottish privateers". James IV had other connections to Portuguese shipping and exploration including the employment of Portuguese craftsmen in his shipyards, and his patronage of an Italian merchant and financier in Bruges Jerome Frescobaldi, whose company funded voyages. James IV bought wax, wine, and a grounded ship on the west coast from a Portuguese merchant, John Farnhae, in April 1498. These African people have been described as "human booty" in terms of their relationship with the
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...
. While details of their journeys and arrival in Scotland remain obscure, the accounts of the
treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...
and comptroller of Scotland record the employment of African people at the court of James IV. The Scottish royal household included "Peter the More" and the " More taubronar", a drummer who travelled around Scotland in the king's retinue. In the same years in England, African servants were recorded in the household of the Spanish princess
Catherine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previousl ...
, the wife of Prince Arthur and
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...
, including a trumpeter John Blanke, and a groom Francis Negro. The lawyer
Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lor ...
was surprised by the appearance of Africans in Catherine of Aragon's entourage in procession during her formal Entry to London in November 1501. He wrote about them in racist terms to John Holt.


Ellen More in the archival record


The More Lasses in Dunfermline and Inverkeithing

In October 1504 Margaret Tudor was at
Dunfermline Palace Dunfermline Palace is a ruined former Scottish royal palace and important tourist attraction in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. It is currently, along with other buildings of the adjacent Dunfermline Abbey, under the care of Historic Environmen ...
, across the
Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotl ...
from Edinburgh in Fife. James IV was in the north at Elgin. There was a suspected outbreak of plague at
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Acco ...
. The queen and her household decided to leave Dunfermline. Four African women, called "More lasses", went to
North Queensferry North Queensferry is a village in Fife, Scotland, situated on the Firth of Forth where the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, and the Queensferry Crossing all meet the Fife coast, some from the centre of Edinburgh. It is the southernmost ...
and
Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an imp ...
on 8 November, looked after by the court
apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Americ ...
, John Mosman. There were also "folkis with them" at Inverkeithing, people accompanying the "lasses" and some animals. After a few days, they went on to Edinburgh. The accounts record that a woman "tursit" the "More lasses" from Dunfermline, a word that usually means the packing and transport of household goods with cord but can also mean the transport of people.


Edinburgh

James IV arrived in Edinburgh, and came to
Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, 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 ...
by 18 November, where on 22 November he rewarded a man who had brought animals with 20 gold crowns, these animals had been with the African women, the "More lasses", at Inverkeithing. They included a Portuguese horse with a red tail, and a
civet A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term civet applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species diversity ...
or "must cat". In England, Henry VII also bought animals from Portuguese travellers, including, in 1505, parrots and "cats of the mountain". On 26 November James IV gave the woman who had brought the "More lasses" from Fife 4 shillings. On 27 November James IV ordered that two suspected plague victims, who had been excluded from Dunfermline town, should have 14 shillings. At first the four African people, recorded by a clerk as "Ethiopians", were lodged in the house of James Hommyll, a wealthy Edinburgh merchant who bought tapestries for the king. Hommyll also hosted the Portuguese man who was escorting the African people, who had brought them to Scotland, and the two horses and other animals. They stayed with James Hommyll and his wife Helen for 40 days. The clerk recorded the payments as "extra domicilium", meaning the expenses of royal servants residing away from the royal household for a time. Property records mention that James Hommyll's house or land was on the south side of the
High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym ...
in the tenement of Lord Borthwick beyond the Over Bow, near to Edinburgh Castle. The street is now called Castlehill. Homyll's house was damaged by a fire in 1511 that started in a bakery. The king had sent his brother, William Hommyll, on an errand to Portugal in December 1503, a connection to Portuguese trade and shipping.


William Wod

In July 1505 a Leith mariner and timber merchant William Wod received a reward of £12 Scots from the king for bringing the African people to the Scottish court accompanied by the white horse from Portugal, a
jennet A jennet or Spanish jennet was a small Spanish horse. It was noted for a smooth naturally ambling gait, compact and well-muscled build, and a good disposition. The jennet was an ideal light riding horse, and as such spread across Europe and prov ...
horse, and a must cat. No reason is given for the later date of this reward. It remains unclear if the mariner Wod had brought the Africans and the Portuguese man to Scotland from a ship he captured under " letters of Marque" or whether the King had requested him to obtain the African people to be his servants, attendants to his daughter Lady Margaret. The apothecary Mosman came to
Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological f ...
on 6 November to fetch the must cat.


Baptism and naming

One "More las" was christened on 11 December 1504, and probably given a new name. Perhaps this marked the end of the stay at James and Helen Homyll's house when the "More lasses" returned to the royal household. Ellen More may have been renamed after a courtier, Eleanor Pole, or
Helen of Troy Helen of Troy, Helen, Helena, (Ancient Greek: Ἑλένη ''Helénē'', ) also known as beautiful Helen, Helen of Argos, or Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was believe ...
, and her sister named Margaret after the queen. There was another "Eleanor" in the household, Eleanor Johns. Ellen was a very common choice of girl's name in
Early Modern Scotland Scotland in the early modern period refers, for the purposes of this article, to Scotland between the death of James IV in 1513 and the end of the Jacobite risings in the mid-eighteenth century. It roughly corresponds to the early modern perio ...
, as later baptismal records show. The historian Bernadette Andrea notes that Ellen More and other African people arriving in Scotland and Britain in the 16th-century may have followed the
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
ic
faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...
. The age of these arrivals is unclear, a "lass" could be as old as a teenager, as the word was most commonly used.


Ellen More

These records concerning the "More lasses" in 1504 may refer to the arrival of Ellen and her sister Margaret. Ellen and Margaret seem to be the two "More lassis" at Edinburgh Castle who attended Lady Margaret and were bought shoes. The shoemaker was John Davidson, who also made shoes for "Little Martin the Spaniard" and the Danish noble, Christopher or Christiern, said to be a son of Elizabeth of Denmark, but his identity remains unclear. In 1506 Ellen and Margaret were both given gowns of russet cloth with velvet bands, with red skirts or kirtles. In 1507 they, and another girl in the castle, Marjory Lindsay, were given red skirts with green ribbons. In later years they joined the court of
Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Ma ...
and were bought clothes, and given New Year's day gifts, comparable to those given to the queen's English lady in waiting, Mistress Musgrave. Ellen is known to have worked for the queen at Linlithgow Palace. This is an example from the accounts of a New Year gift of money, five French gold crowns worth £3-10s Scots, given to Ellen More on 1 January 1512 at
Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, 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 ...
; "Item, to Elene Moire, v Franch crounis, iij li x s." The same amount was given to two "maidens", servants of Elizabeth Barlow, Lady Elphinstone.
Elizabeth Sinclair Elizabeth McHutcheson Sinclair (26 April 180016 October 1892) was a Scottish homemaker, farmer, and plantation owner in New Zealand and Hawaii, best known as the matriarch of the Sinclair family that bought the Hawaiian island of Niihau in 186 ...
got 10 crowns. Ellen or Elen More was first mentioned by name in the royal account for December 1511. She was given her livery clothes, an allowance of clothing given to many royal servants in the days before Christmas, on 15 December 1511. This included a gown made of "Rissillis broun" (russet cloth from Rijsel or
Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...
) trimmed with velvet, with yellow taffeta sleeves, a velvet hood, and skirt of English brown or russet woollen cloth with a crimson hem. Margaret More is mentioned less often in the accounts, but she was at Linlithgow Palace in April 1512, when
James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and dur ...
was born. The "two black ladies" were given 10 gold crowns on 1 January 1513. The historian Imtiaz Habib connects this reference to Ellen and Margaret More as black ladies to the earlier Black Lady tournaments. The king's daughter, Lady Margaret Stewart married John Gordon, Lord Gordon and then Sir John Drummond of Innerpeffray. Ellen More was given 40 shillings in July 1527, recorded as a payment to "Helenor, the blak moir". No further details of the lives of Ellen and Margaret More are known for certain. It may be that one "Margaret Prestoun", an attendant of Margaret, Lady Gordon who rode north with her and John Sinclair over the
Mounth The Mounth ( ) is the broad upland in northeast Scotland between the Highland Boundary and the River Dee, at the eastern end of the Grampians. Name and etymology The name ''Mounth'' is ultimately of Pictish origin. The name is derived from ' ...
towards
Huntly Castle Huntly Castle is a ruined castle north of Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where the rivers Deveron and Bogie meet. It was the ancestral home of the chief of Clan Gordon, Earl of Huntly. There have been four castles built on the site that ...
on 19 November 1512, was the same person as Margaret More. Lady Gordon's place at court was taken by her half-sister, also Margaret Stewart, a daughter of
Janet Kennedy Janet Kennedy (c. 1480 – c. 1545), was a Scottish noble and the mistress of King James IV of Scotland. Life She was the eldest daughter of John Kennedy, 2nd Lord Kennedy and Lady Elizabeth Gordon. Through her father, she was a great-great-gran ...
summoned from Darnaway in April 1513.


Of Ane Blak-Moir

William Dunbar William Dunbar (born 1459 or 1460 – died by 1530) was a Scottish makar, or court poet, active in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He was closely associated with the court of King James IV and produced a large body of work in ...
wrote a poem for the court of James IV with the title '' Of Ane Blak-Moir'' which describes the appearance of a black woman involved in a tournament in unflattering and racist terms. James IV staged two elaborate tournaments called "The justing of the wyld knicht for the blak lady", held in June 1507 and again in May 1508. The part of the "Black Lady" was played by a woman of the court. and James IV was the Wild or Black Knight, a character based on one of
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...
's knights of the
Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that ...
who had been brought up in a forest. A later 16th-century author,
Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie Robert Lindsay of Pitscottie (also Lindesay or Lyndsay; c. 1532–1580) was a Scottish chronicler, author of ''The Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, 1436–1565'', the first history of Scotland to be composed in Scots rather than Latin ...
, wrote, "The king iustit oustedhim selff dissaguysed onknawin and he was callit the blak knicht". It is not clear if William Dunbar's poem was directly connected to these events, or that Ellen More played the part of the Black Lady in the tournaments. The identity of Ellen, or Elen More, is discussed in scholarship as the subject of Dunbar's poem, the woman named in the accounts, and the actor in the tournaments. Martin the Spaniard, who appears in the accounts linked with the "More lasses" in payments for their shoes, performed with the Black Lady at the tournament banquet. The role of the Black Lady as a prize was perhaps not unusual in the conventions of medieval tournament, but seems also to emphasise a chattel status for an African performer. The opening lines of Dunbar's poem refer to the arrival of the woman in Scotland on a ship. Dunbar explains that he writes in contrast to his previous poems describing white women of the court. The poem "creates a very unfavourable contrast between black female physiology and that of white ladies at court"; :Lang have I made of ladies white, :Now of ane black I will indite, :That landit furth of the last ships, :Who fain I would descrive perfyte.


The Black Lady Tournaments

The expenditure on these lavish events, imitating the "
Round Table The Round Table ( cy, y Ford Gron; kw, an Moos Krenn; br, an Daol Grenn; la, Mensa Rotunda) is King Arthur's famed table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that ...
of
King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...
of England", was recorded in the treasurer's accounts, and the tournaments were described in Scottish chronicles. The invitation to the tournament sent to France was illuminated with gold leaf. It was issued by the Marchmont Herald on behalf of the 'Chevalier Sauvage à la Dame Noire', the Wild Knight to the Black Lady, and gave details of the events to be held at Edinburgh. Bluemantle or Rothesay Herald, sent abroad in March 1507 with news of the birth of James, Duke of Rothesay, may have carried the invitation to the courts of France, Spain, and Portugal. The Black Lady's gown was made from Flanders damask figured with gold flowers, bordered with yellow and green taffeta, with outer sleeves of black gauze called "plesance", inner sleeves, a drape of the same black gauze about her shoulders and arms, and she wore long gloves of black chamois or "semys" leather. She had two lady companions dressed in gowns of green Flanders taffeta edged with yellow. William Ogilvy and Alexander Elphinstone, probably
Alexander Elphinstone, 1st Lord Elphinstone Alexander Elphinstone, 1st Lord Elphinstone (died 9 September 1513) was a Scottish peer. He was the son of Sir John Elphinstone of that ilk and of Pittendreich. He was first known as "Alexander Elphinstone of Innernochty". He was made Baillie o ...
, dressed in English white damask as the "Squires of the Black Lady" and escorted her from Edinburgh Castle to the field of the tournament. She was carried in a "triumphal chair" draped with Flanders taffeta with
appliqué Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique ...
flowers.
Antoine d'Arces Antoine d'Arcy, sieur de la Bastie-sur-Meylan and of Lissieu, (d. 17 September 1517) was a French nobleman involved in the government of Scotland. The White Knight Antoine d'Arces, or d'Arcy, is usually known as "De la Bastie" or "Labatie" in S ...
was the "White Knight". James IV himself played the part of the Wild or Savage Knight. The horses pulling the pageant carts and triumphal chairs were dressed with rich fabrics. One horse was disguised as a
unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
, with a caparison of black and white damask lined with canvas. The Black Lady was carried (in her triumphal chair) by 12 men from Edinburgh Castle to the tournament ground beneath the castle and to
Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, 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 ...
. "Wild men" at the course or barriers were dressed in goat skins and wore hart horns from Tullibardine. In 1508 the Black Lady's costume was renewed with a green woollen skirt, and new black leather sleeves and gloves. Her two maidens wore Bruges satin. On the first day of the first week of the five week-long event, challengers were to assemble at the "Tree of Esperance" at the tournament ground beneath the castle, where the Black Lady kept the week's white shield, accompanied by the wild men. Combats and jousts were scored by judges and the ladies, women of Margaret Tudor's household and the court. The tree of Esperance or Hope was decorated with artificial flowers, pears, and painted heraldic shields, moulded in leather by Simon Glasford, a buckler-maker. In England, Margaret Tudor attended a Christmas 1516 banquet where a garden of Esperance or Hope was presented as a stage set for a masque inside the hall of
Greenwich Palace Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
. Events concluded with three days of banqueting at
Holyroodhouse The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, 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 ...
. There was a
masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...
and a dance organised by Lady Musgrave, Mistress of the Queen's Wardrobe. The Black Lady came into the hall with Martin the Spaniard who was equipped with an archery bow and dressed in yellow. A cloud descended from the roof and swept them both away.


Africans represented in court drama

Records of 16th-century court and civic drama include both performers of African origin and perfomers wearing costumes representing imagined African people or "moors". In 1504 and 1505 James IV employed an African drummer known as the " More taubronar". James IV travelled with him and four Italian minstrels on his trip to the north to Darnaway and Elgin. The drummer devised a masque or dance for the tournament held on Shrove-Tide, called "Fasterins Eve". Twelve dancers wore costumes in black and white fabrics. The "taubronar" was paid a fee, an annual salary, of the same value as that paid to another drummer, Guilliam, and to Margaret Tudor's English attendant Mistress Elizabeth Barley, who later married
Lord Elphinstone Lord Elphinstone is a title in the Peerage of Scotland created by King James IV in 1510. History The title of Lord Elphinstone was granted by King James IV in 1510 to Sir Alexander Elphinstone of Elphinstone, who was killed at the Battle ...
. Later Stewart court festivities and drama with African actors and actors portraying Africans, include; the
Entry of Mary, Queen of Scots into Edinburgh On 19 August 1561, the 18-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots returned to Scotland from France. On 2 September the town of Edinburgh organised a celebration of royal entry for her. Events Tailors and "boys" made black mourning "dule" riding cloaks ...
in 1561, the baptism of James VI at Stirling in December 1566, the Entry of Anne of Denmark to Edinburgh (1590), the baptism of Prince Henry (1594), and The Masque of Blackness (1605). Clare McManus identifies "markers of difference, foreigness and liminality" and "compact symbols of blackness and femininity initially encapsulated in the body of the Black Lady" of James IV's tournaments which reappeared at the baptism of Prince Henry, and were suited to Scottish conventions of court theatre and performance. A "threat of diversity" was defused through theatrical representation. The costume of the "Black Lady" at James IV's tournaments included a black lightweight fabric called "plesance" around her arms. Costume used at court in England in this period had some similarities: female courtiers performing in a masque in 1510 covered their arms and faces with a similar black fabric, "lumberdynes, whiche is marveillous thinne, so that the same ladies seem to be nigrost or blacke Mores". At the court of
Edward VI of England Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first En ...
actors in masques were dressed as "Mores" with long black velvet gloves reaching above the elbow, with bells attached to costumes made from goat's skins. Such revels costumes at the English court were designed and made by an Italian artist, Niccolo da Modena. He made wigs or "perukes" of hair used by female actors disguised as "Mores". The painter William Lyzard worked on the "More's Masque" for Elizabeth I in 1579. The use of black sleeves, gloves, and fabrics as part of the costume in Edinburgh has raised some doubt that the vanishing Black Lady was played by an African performer. A contemporary description of the 1590 Edinburgh event by a Danish observer distinguished between townspeople who wore masks and had had painted legs and arms, and "an absolutely real and native blackamoor". An African servant at the Scottish court was buried at Falkland in July 1591. It is not clear if he was the participant in 1590 Entry of Anne of Denmark. An African performer appeared to pull a pageant cart in the Great Hall of Stirling Castle at the baptism feast in August 1594. In
Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
''
Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cy ...
'',
Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Veneti ...
recalls her mother's maidservant, a Moorish woman called "Barbary". Barbary had lost her love, a man who had lost his mind, and she sang a song of mourning and loss called "Willow". The play was performed at
Whitehall Palace The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. H ...
on 1 November 1604.
Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Engl ...
and her ladies performed in black face in the ''Masque of Blackness'' in the same space on 6 January 1605. Kim F. Hall draws attention to ''The Masque of Blackness'' and the documented reactions of its audience, in the context of the "growth of actual contact with Africans, Native Americans, and other ethnically different foreigners" and a "collision of the dark lady tradition with the actual African difference encountered in the quest for empire".


Representation in Media

Ellen More is featured in a short animation titled "The Tournament of the African Lady", which also depicts John Blanke, a trumpeter at the English court, written and directed by Jason Young. The story of Ellen More forms the basis of a stageplay ''James IV: Queen of the Fight'', written by
Rona Munro Rona Munro (born 7 September 1959) is a Scottish writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television. Her film work includes Ken Loach's '' Ladybird, Ladybird'' (1994), '' Oranges and Sunshine'' (2010) for Jim Loach and '' Aimée ...
for performance in 2022.Megan McEachern, 'James IV: New Rona Munro play to give black people their rightful but forgotten place in history of Scotland', ''Sunday Post'', 20 June 2022
/ref>


See also

*
Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...


External links

* Onyeka Nubia
'Africans in England and Scotland, 1485–1625', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (10 October 2019). Retrieved 5 November 2020
''subscription or UK public library membership required''
Miranda Kaufmann'Africans in Britain, 1500-1640', University of Oxford, DPhil thesis, 2011, see pp. 43-4, 64, 193, 197-8, Appendix, table 5
* June Evans
'African/Caribbeans in Scotland: A socio-geographical study', University of Edinburgh, PhD thesis, 1995, see pp. 42-6

Minjie Su, 'Elen More: The Moorish Lass in James IV’s Court', Medievalists.net.

Mairi Cowan, 'Moors at the Court of James IV, King of Scots', Medievalists.net.

Bess Rhodes, ''Edinburgh Castle Research: The Tournaments'' (Historic Environment Scotland, 2019).

Lesley Mickel, 'Blackness and Wildness: James IV and Highland Cultural Identity'.

Arkady Hodge, ''Edinburgh Castle Research: The Medieval Documents'' (Historic Environment Scotland, 2019).

'The King’s Daughter and the "Moorish Lassies"', Historic Environment Scotland blog
* Paul Edwards
'Early African Presence', ''Occasional Papers'', no. 26 (Edinburgh, 1990)

Jennifer Melville, 'Africans at the court of James IV', National Trust for Scotland

Of Ane Blak Moir: A modern English translation


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellen More Court of James IV of Scotland Household of Margaret Tudor Black British history 16th-century African people 16th-century Scottish people Scottish slaves 16th-century slaves African presence at the Scottish royal court People of Linlithgow Palace 16th-century Scottish women Drama at the Scottish royal court