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Falkland Palace

December 25, 2023

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,[1] and is also open to the public and reserved for Catholic worship.[2]

Falkland Palace
Location in Fife, Scotland
General information
LocationFalkland, Fife, Scotland
Coordinates56°15′14″N 3°12′23″W / 56.25389°N 3.20639°W / 56.25389; -3.20639
Falkland Palace, north wing from NW
Falkland Palace, 'South Quarter' from the Courtyard

History edit

Early years edit

 
Falkland Palace from the gardens
 
Real tennis court

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5] Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs and queens consort. 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.[6]

Mary of Guelders edit

James II of Scotland granted Falkland to his queen consort Mary of Guelders, and the palace or castle became a favourite residence.[7] As a widow, Mary of Guelders employed her stewards Henry Kinghorn and William Blair to supervise improvements at Falkland Palace in 1461–2. The works included a stairway from the queen's chamber to the pleasance, new stables, a coal shed, repairs and an extension to the counting house, and a smith made andirons or firedogs for the queen's bedchamber and the fire grate of the great hall. The royal carpenter was Andrew Lesouris.[8] New structures included a "galry" with two chambers, apparently the earliest use of the French-derived term "gallery" in Britain.[9]

Works in the grounds included the construction of two ponds in the hay yard. A new lawn was laid near the queen's chamber, and a doorway was made for her to access the garden.[10] Similarly, in other countries, Margaret of Anjou at Greenwich Palace and Isabella of Portugal at Bruges had access from their lodgings to the garden,[11] and at the Castello Estense in Ferrara, Eleanor of Naples built new lodgings and a terrace garden.[12] At Linlithgow Palace, a door leads out to the garden and pele at the foot of what may have been the queen consort's tower under the oriel windows of the royal chambers.[13] Mary of Guelders is said to have had a garden walk made between two oak trees, known as "Queen's Quarrels", a name suggestive of the practice of archery, a "quarrel" being a name for a crossbow bolt, while another walk was called the "Gilderland".[14] The hay meadow of Falkland is regularly mentioned in the royal accounts, as are onions, because the palace gardener's pay was based on four barrels of onions.[15]

James III and Margaret of Denmark came to Falkland in September 1473.[16] The court of the Exchequer met at Falkland yearly to finalise the accounts of the jointure lands of his mother, Mary of Guelders,[17] who may have intended to make Falkland Palace her residence and spiritual retreat in widowhood.[18]

James IV at Falkland edit

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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21] James IV was entertained at Falkland by the "Wild Lady", who received £10 for her appearances in 1513.[22]

James IV brought deer-nets from Kinneil House in November 1503. Andrew Matheson built a fold for deer in November 1505.[23] A trap was made to "slay foxes in the park of Falkland".[24] For a time in 1507 the horse of the French herald Montjoie, Gilbert Chauveau, was kept in the palace stables.[25] In May 1508 James IV and John Methven stalked deer in the park with a firearm called a culverin.[26] Later, wild boar, imported from France, were kept in the Park, within a fence made by the Laird of Fernie.[27] There were also dairy and beef cattle.

James V and Mary of Guise edit

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.[28]

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.[29] The Queen's Chamber was hung with tapestry for Margaret Tudor in September 1534.[30] James V extended his father's buildings in French renaissance style from 1537 and built a Royal Tennis Court in the garden in 1541.[31] 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.

 
The arms of the King of Scots at the gatehouse

Admidst the building works and renovations, 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.[32] James V held a tournament at Falkland on or around May Day 1539.[33]

Mary of Guise spent time embroidering her husband's shirts at Falkland with gold thread in October 1539.[34] 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.[35] 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.[36] 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.[37]

Robert Murray, the plumber who maintained the fountain at Linlithgow Palace, also provided lead work for a long vanished fountain at Falkland.[38] 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.[39] 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".[40]

Reign of Mary, Queen of Scots edit

 
Mary of Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, frequently stayed at Falkland.

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. Falkland and Stirling palaces were official residences of Mary of Guise as a widow, and she continued to keep wild boars for hunting in Falkland park.[41] Mary of Guise frequently stayed at Falkland, especially in autumn, and was recorded there in October 1546,[42] and in September 1549.[43]

Mary of Guise asked the Earl of Bothwell to escort her from Falkland to Stirling Castle for a convention or council in December 1549.[44] In October 1552, Regent Arran (who ruled Scotland on behalf of Mary) wondered if Mary of Guise would come from Falkland for a Privy Council meeting because the palace and town was too small for the number of expected attendees, writing "they will be a great company of folks and can not be easily lodged in Falkland".[45] Regent Arran's daughter, Anne Hamilton, joined Mary of Guise at Falkland in June 1553.[46]

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.[47] 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.[48] 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.[49]

Mary, Queen of Scots, returned from France in September 1561, and hosted a group of diplomats at Falkland.[50] She held her Maundy Thursday or "Skyris Thurisday" ceremony at Falkland in March 1562, washing the feet of 19 young women. John Balfour bought new linen cloth for the aprons and towels which she gave to the maidens. The number of young women matched her age.[51] She came for Easter in April 1563 and 1564.[52] The queen's many visits to Falkland have been tracked in archival sources.[53]

James VI and Anne of Denmark edit

James VI of Scotland was considered an adult ruler after October 1579, and in preparation for his visits to Falkland a cooper in Leith, William Todd, supplied barrels and brewing equipment for the palace.[54] 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. In June 1583, Schaw spent £100 on refurbishing the court at Falkland.[55] 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.[56] In 1584 James VI had the roofs repaired, and requested Agnes Leslie, Lady of Lochleven, and his tenants in Fife to send horses and help carry slates, tiles, timber, sand and lime to the palace. In July and August 1584, James welcomed Albert Fontenay, a French envoy sent by his mother, at Falkland, and lent him a horse to join in the hunting.[57] James 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.[58] 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.[59]

In August 1586, James VI was at Falkland with the French diplomat Charles de Prunelé, Baron d'Esneval.[60] In September he received a gift of books and hunting horses from Elizabeth I, and news of the discovery of the Babington Plot.[61] The Master of Gray wrote from Falkland to the Scottish ambassador in London that James was "content for the law to go forward", if her life was safe.[62]

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.[63]

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.[64] 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.[65] 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.[66] Around this time an African servant of Anne of Denmark, known only as "the Moir",[67][68] 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.[69]

Raid of Falkland edit

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.[70] The Earl of Erroll and Colonel William Houston were at Falkland and they were arrested on suspicion of being inside-men.[71]

Bothwell's men attempted to batter down the back gate but were repulsed by gunshots before midnight on 27 June.[72] 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.[73] 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.[74]

The English border reiver Richie Graham of Brackenhill and his companions sacked the town of Falkland, taking horses, clothing, and money.[75] 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.[76]

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.[77]

Palace staff in the 1590s edit

The royal couple returned to Falkland in 1593, enjoying five tuns of wine which were shipped to nearby Levenmouth. At this time, James Beaton of Creich was keeper of the palace.[78] Robert Arnot of Kilquhus, Chamberlain of Fife, looked after the park and the meadow, and took receipt of local produce including the onions from the palace garden. Andrew Fairny maintained the dykes and ditches. The tenants of the village of Casch were compensated for damage done by escaped deer. James VI's master stabler David Murray kept the king's mares and stags in the park. Guilliam looked after the hay, and George Strathauchin was the palace gardener.[79]

Deer from England edit

Queen Elizabeth sent deer for the park in 1586 and 1587, and again in 1591 from parks near Colchester. These were diplomatic gifts. In May 1586, James VI went to Falkland the deer taken out of carts and set loose in the park.[80] James asked the English ambassador Thomas Randolph for some of Elizabeth's huntsmen, Yeoman prickers and Grooms of the leash, and some horses.[81] A Yeoman pricker was employed to manage and guide the hunted deer.[82]

English huntsmen and bucks were sent to James VI in August 1586 by Randolph and the Scottish ambassador in London, Archibald Douglas.[83] 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.[84]

In November 1586, Archibald Douglas wrote to Francis Walsingham that a gift of bucks from Elizabeth might help James with his grief at the forthcoming loss of his mother.[85] 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.[86] In April 1597, the carpenter and "master wright" James Murray was in charge of transporting 28 English deer from Leith to Falkland. Robin the Hunter kept hounds for James at Falkland. Anne of Denmark sent deer hounds as gifts to her brother, Christian IV of Denmark.[87]

A royal quarrel edit

 
James VI and Anne of Denmark spent time at Falkland during their quarrel about Prince Henry

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.[88] 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.[89]

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. It was said that James were Anne were now "being so lovingly together at Falkland".[90]

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.[91]

Last years as a royal palace edit

When Anne of Denmark visited in September 1598 her bed chamber was hung with tapestry brought from Holyroodhouse. Rhenish, "Rence", wine was brought to Falkland for her.[92] 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, after James VI wrote to the Laird of Wemyss for the loan of his best hackney horse and saddle.[93]

In July 1600 herons nested in the park, and James VI hoping to have them "increase and multiply" forbade anyone to kill herons in neighbouring lands.[94] In August a French acrobat danced on a tightrope in the palace courtyard for the king and the queen.[95]

James VI played cards with the English diplomat George Nicholson at Falkland in May 1602.[96] In September 1602 Anne of Denmark and the Master of Gray entertained Anne de Gondi, the wife of French ambassador the Baron de Tour, at Falkland, while he went on a progress with the king.[97] Lord Henry Howard noted that the Master of Gray had spent this time with Queen Anne and it affected the conceit of his writing style.[98]

David Murray became keeper of the garden, park, and Lomond Hills and was allowed to build a house on the site of the old castle, called the Castlestead or Nether Palace of Falkland. Lord Walden stayed for a night in August 1613.[99] This house was inherited by the next keeper of the park, John Murray, 1st Earl of Annandale.[100] The palace was occasionally used as a prison.[101] In November 1608 James instructed David Murray to keep James Elphinstone, 1st Lord Balmerino, prisoner in the tower of the palace, for treasonable correspondence with the Pope. Balmerino was released in October 1609.[102] After hearing Anne of Denmark speak of her love of Scotland, the Venetian ambassador Antonio Foscarini came to Falkland in September 1613.[103]

Union of the Crowns edit

After the Union of the Crowns in 1603, Andrew Murray of Balvaird kept a watchful eye on the palace and in 1615 he advised John Murray of the bedchamber that the king should send a commission for repairs, because otherwise "it will not fail to fall all to the ground. The back galleries are already decayed".[104] The architect James Murray repaired the palace for the visit of King James in 1617.[105] Some courtiers were lodged in the house of Nicol Moncrieff, which still stands in Falkland, opposite the palace gate.[106] At the celebrations to welcome the king on 19 May, David Wedderburn provided a Latin poem, in which the King, after a day of hunting, was asked to contemplate the memorials of Scotland's past, victories over the Romans and Vikings, the wars of Scottish Independence, and the present union of the kingdoms of Britain.[107]

The palace was repaired in 1629. Roofing slates were shipped from Dundee to Newburgh. A glazier, David Masterton, painted the iron window grills or yetts with red lead. A new set of wooden armorial panels were made for the gatehouse and painted by Valentine Jenkin.[108]

Civil war edit

Charles I, and Charles II also visited Falkland. Accounts survive for Charles II's stay in July 1650, when proclamations had to be made to reduce the inflated prices of lodgings and horse-hire charged in the village. Charles' food was seasoned with saffron, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. Every tart provided for the king's table had a pound of sugar, while tarts for lesser courtiers required only half a pound.[109] The mining entrepreneur James Hope of Hopetoun visited on 18 July and met the king's physician Dr Fraser, and various officials. In the privy chamber, Charles thanked him for a previous gift of a piece of Scottish gold, and later they talked about mining and technology.[110]

A fire partially destroyed the palace during its subsequent occupation by Cromwell's troops, and it quickly fell into ruin.

19th century edit

 
Arms of the Marquis of Bute

In 1887 John, 3rd Marquis of Bute, purchased the estates of Falkland and started a 20-year restoration of the palace using two architects: John Kinross and Robert Weir Schultz. At the time the Palace was a ruin with no windows or doors. Thanks to his restoration work and considerable budget the Palace remains standing today. Many features in and around the Palace show evidence of his work, such as the "B" on the guttering and portraits of his children carved into a cupboard door in the Keeper's Dressing Room.

During the time of Lord Bute, the ornamental kitchen garden was enhanced by a pergola and decorative vases. The north part of the "upper garden" was redesigned to express the foundations of Falkland Castle and Palace North Range which were uncovered during the Marquis's archaeological excavations. Walls were built atop the foundations for the Well Tower and the Great Hall to emphasise the structures.

The Orchard and Palace gardens were linked to the House of Falkland by the private walk and new bridges. Houses were built near the palace and connected into the ornamental kitchen garden and orchard by a system of new public and private paths. The ground around the curling pond (to the North East of the orchard) was planted with trees and shrubs and laid out in flower plots.

The enclosing yew hedge around the pond garden is a typical feature of period. The lime tree avenue which is north of the palace gatehouse was built sometime between 1894 and 1912–13 according to the Ordinance Surveys of those periods. The Victorian glass house was built in 1890 by Mckenzie and Moncur from Edinburgh for Lord Bute and was used mainly to grow flowers and exotic plants. Plant hunting was popular at that time and wealthy people would travel the world to find specimens, and plant in their gardens for display to friends. There is also evidence that there was a second glass house in the garden near the existing one.

Modern era edit

 
A 1902 view of the palace

In 1952, the Hereditary Keeper Major Michael Crichton Stewart decided to appoint the National Trust for Scotland to take care of the Palace. The National Trust thus became Deputy Keeper of the Palace, and they now care for and maintain the Palace and its extensive gardens. The NTS website offers an array of articles and images exploring the Palace and grounds.[111]

National Galleries Scotland have created a digital project exploring how the palace would look if reimagined in a warmer setting due to climate change.[112]

Gardens edit

Falkland Palace stands on three hectares of ground on a sandstone ridge which is dominated by the Lomond Hills in the background. Those walking around the garden will see a distinct and overlapping timeline which reveals the ever-changing purpose and style of the grounds.

The first record of a garden here was in 1451. In 1500, a new gardener, John Strathachin or Strachen, was to be paid 4 merks yearly with grazing for his horse and cows. He was to provide fruit, onions and herbs.[113] At that time the garden had a courtyard and stables in the gatehouse, where King James IV kept his great Belgian steed. There was also a fish pond which provided the King with fresh fish. Fruit, vegetables and herbs were grown in the area for the royal plate and meat could be hunted in the ancient forest (known as Falkland Forest) surrounding the Palace, by hawking and hunting wild boar and deer.

James VI met the English ambassadors Sir Robert Bowes and Sir William Bowes in the garden at 8 o'clock on 21 June 1597 and listened to their speeches about border affairs.[114] In August 1602 James VI received the French ambassador, the Baron de Tour, in the garden. They talked for three quarters of an hour and the ambassador made the king laugh. A few days later they hunted together in the park.[115]

Garden designer Percy Cane redesigned the gardens in the 1940s. He had designed the palace grounds at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Cane was born and educated in Essex where he studied horticulture and architecture. In 1930 Cane founded and edited the quarterly journal Garden Design and wrote many books on garden design. Cane's style can best be described as Arts and Crafts and his curvy borders were seen as innovatory at the time.

Conservation in the garden is achieved through general maintenance, which includes clearing leaves, mowing the main lawn, tidying the flower beds and planting, enhancing and creating wildlife habitats. A wildflower meadow, native hedges and spring flowering bulbs have been planted to provide food and protection to various small insects and small mammals. Conservation means work has to be carried out in a sympathetic way throughout property, not only to the aesthetics and history of the palace but also for the climbing plants and bats that live in the cellars. Bats are endangered and protected in Scotland and it is important that they are not disturbed. The walls of the palace have been repointed (replacing the cement between the stones) and replaced with lime mortar which is a traditional material and better suited for this purpose as it is breathable and prevents dampening.

The current Head Gardener Sonia Ferrás Mañá is restoring the Percy Cane garden to the original design and flower choice. Mañá, the garden staff and volunteers have been working on various project in recent years to conserve the garden and encourage wildlife.

The garden team at Falkland Palace are now encouraging wildlife by bringing back the meadow. To create the meadow the grass has been cut only once a year for the last four years and more than 10,000 wild flowers and a similar number of spring flowering bulbs have been planted. This work is thanks to the garden staff, volunteers and support from Fife Environmental Trust, Scottish Natural Heritage, NTS Member Centres and other donations. These flowers and un-mown grasses encourage beneficial insects to the orchard which aid in the fruit trees pollination and in turn attract other animals. There are currently forty different fly species in the orchard, some of which are rare or unusual and some are found nowhere else in Scotland. The insects, especially the moths, have attracted Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelle bats which have been seen hunting and living here. There have also been sightings of red squirrels in the forest which are now considered endangered animals due to the disappearance of their habitat and the competition from grey squirrels. A Red Squirrel Project is carried out at Falkland Palace to encourage them back into the gardens. A shelter was built in the orchard for invertebrate (i.e. insects and worms) and small animals which will encourage them to stay longer in the garden and perhaps live there. The orchard has been planted with native trees such as hawthorn, oak and willows which would have been growing here in the 15th century. The Maspie Burn running between the garden and the orchard is a habitat for water wildlife, including trout.

Building materials edit

 
Falkland Palace, entrance façade
 
Chapel Royal inside the South Range of Falkland Palace

Some sandstone for the palace was quarried locally. Limestone for lime mortar was found and burnt on the Lomond Hills. In 1540, harder sandstone was quarried at Kingoodie near Dundee and shipped across the Tay to the haven of Lindores Abbey. Much of the timber, including imported "Eastland boards", deals, and rafters supplied by a Danish merchant called "Kinnereis", was bought at St Andrews and Dundee, where it was bound together into rafts called "floats" and towed to Newburgh or Lindores and Levenmouth. Other timber was bought at Leith at Kirkcaldy.[116]

Description edit

The palace has two wings arranged in an 'L' shape, now called the South and East Quarters or Ranges. The palace courtyard is entered through the gatehouse tower at the west end of the South Quarter. The external ashlar façade of the South Quarter has gunloops at basement level. Above these are the small windows of the private lodgings, and on the second level the large paired windows of the Chapel Royal. Between these windows are weathered niches and statues. The corbels show the instruments of the passion; the chapel at Falkland was dedicated to St Thomas and is the Catholic parish church for Falkland with Mass every Sunday at 9 a.m.[117]

The wallhead is finished with a decorated cornice and battlement which continues around the west side of the gate tower. To the east of the chapel there is small rectangular sectioned tower which once housed a circular staircase, and beyond is the partly reconstructed gable of the East Quarter. Although some writers have attributed part of the South Quarter to the time of James IV, the form of the gunloops, the continuous parapet, and the documented payments to Peter the Flemishman for the 5 statues in 1539 adequately demonstrate that the present appearance dates from the works of James V.[118] The entrance tower was built in 1541, and the accounts record the work of two master masons: "to John Brownhill and Henry Bawtie for complete ending of the fore entry and tower ... and raising of certain chimneys in the south quarter."[119] Within the gate tower and south quarter, visitors can view the Keeper's Apartments in the tower, the Chapel Royal and gallery.

The East Quarter, apart from its courtyard façade is ruined. The centrally placed access tower, the Crosshouse, was reconstructed by the Marquis of Bute. The National Trust's architect, Schomberg Scott recreated the King and Queen's bedchambers within. The northern section of the East Quarter was originally a lodging built by James IV. The East Quarter was remodelled by the mason John Merlioun in 1538.[120] This part of the building, with its "back galleries" overlooking the garden was decayed in 1615.[121] In 1616 the master of works, James Murray was ordered to repair the flat roof of the King and Queen's galleries and the roof of the lodging of the East Quarter in anticipation of the visit of James VI.[122]

 
Comparable façade at Villers-Cotterêts

The South and East courtyard façades were decorated and unified with pilasters in a French Renaissance style between 1537 and 1542. Their appearance is comparable to the French Chateau of Villers-Cotterêts. The buttresses on the East are dated 1537, and on the South, where the masonry is more sophisticated, 1539. The later work may be connected with the arrival of Nicolas Roy, a French mason sent to Scotland in March 1539 by Antoinette of Bourbon, the mother of Mary of Guise.[123]

The chapel ceiling dates from the time of James V, as recent dendrochronology work by the AOC Group has confirmed.[124] It was constructed by the carpenter Richard Stewart, and was re-decorated for the visit of Charles I in 1633. James Murray, master of works, was ordered to repair the roof of the South Quarter in 1625, with instructions to "have a special care and regard" that the great ceiling of the Chapel be "preserved and kept as far as possibly may be."[125]

The courtyard was originally completed on the north with a great hall to the north. The footprint of the building was established by excavation and laid out with paving slabs by the 3rd Marquis of Bute. Beyond this area are the reconstructed footings of Falkland Castle. This was the site of the short-lived Nether Palace or Castlestead in the 17th century, known from a plan and elevation drawn by Alexander Edward.

Real tennis court edit

On the lower ground in the gardens, slightly beyond the remains of the medieval castle uncovered c. 1900, lies the original real tennis court. The masons William Mason and Alexander Allardice, and others built the tennis court. Its walls were finished by Callum the pargeoner, or lime plasterer.[126] It is the world's oldest tennis court still in use. The roofed spectator area is home to a number of swallows during spring and summer. The court is home to the Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club.

References edit

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Further reading edit

  • Dunbar, John G. (1999). Scottish Royal Palaces. Tuckwell Press. ISBN 1-86232-042-X.
  • Dunbar, John G., (1991), Some 16th century French parallels for Falkland, in Review of Scottish Culture, vol. 7, 3–8.
  • Bentley-Cranch, Dana, (1986), An early 16th century French architectural source for Falkland, in Review of Scottish Culture, vol. 2 85–96.
  • Higgins, James, (2020), 'Scotland's Stewart Monarchs'. At https://sites.google.com/view/stewartscotland

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Falkland Palace.
  • National Trust for Scotland profile of Falkland Palace
  • Rampant Scotland feature
  • Engraving of Dunkeld in 1693 by John Slezer at National Library of Scotland
  • Jennifer Melville, 'Africans at the court of James IV', National Trust for Scotland
  • Falkland Palace and James VI: Jackie Bird and Steven J. Reid

December 25, 2023
falkland, palace, falkland, fife, scotland, royal, palace, scottish, kings, favourite, places, mary, queen, scots, providing, escape, from, political, religious, turmoil, today, under, stewardship, ninian, stuart, delegates, most, duties, national, trust, scot. 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 1 and is also open to the public and reserved for Catholic worship 2 Falkland PalaceLocation in Fife ScotlandGeneral informationLocationFalkland Fife ScotlandCoordinates56 15 14 N 3 12 23 W 56 25389 N 3 20639 W 56 25389 3 20639Falkland Palace north wing from NWFalkland Palace South Quarter from the Courtyard Contents 1 History 1 1 Early years 1 2 Mary of Guelders 1 3 James IV at Falkland 1 4 James V and Mary of Guise 1 5 Reign of Mary Queen of Scots 1 6 James VI and Anne of Denmark 1 7 Raid of Falkland 1 8 Palace staff in the 1590s 1 9 Deer from England 1 10 A royal quarrel 1 11 Last years as a royal palace 1 12 Union of the Crowns 1 13 Civil war 1 14 19th century 1 15 Modern era 1 16 Gardens 2 Building materials 3 Description 4 Real tennis court 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksHistory editEarly years edit nbsp Falkland Palace from the gardens nbsp Real tennis courtA 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 3 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 4 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 5 Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs and queens consort 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 6 Mary of Guelders edit James II of Scotland granted Falkland to his queen consort Mary of Guelders and the palace or castle became a favourite residence 7 As a widow Mary of Guelders employed her stewards Henry Kinghorn and William Blair to supervise improvements at Falkland Palace in 1461 2 The works included a stairway from the queen s chamber to the pleasance new stables a coal shed repairs and an extension to the counting house and a smith made andirons or firedogs for the queen s bedchamber and the fire grate of the great hall The royal carpenter was Andrew Lesouris 8 New structures included a galry with two chambers apparently the earliest use of the French derived term gallery in Britain 9 Works in the grounds included the construction of two ponds in the hay yard A new lawn was laid near the queen s chamber and a doorway was made for her to access the garden 10 Similarly in other countries Margaret of Anjou at Greenwich Palace and Isabella of Portugal at Bruges had access from their lodgings to the garden 11 and at the Castello Estense in Ferrara Eleanor of Naples built new lodgings and a terrace garden 12 At Linlithgow Palace a door leads out to the garden and pele at the foot of what may have been the queen consort s tower under the oriel windows of the royal chambers 13 Mary of Guelders is said to have had a garden walk made between two oak trees known as Queen s Quarrels a name suggestive of the practice of archery a quarrel being a name for a crossbow bolt while another walk was called the Gilderland 14 The hay meadow of Falkland is regularly mentioned in the royal accounts as are onions because the palace gardener s pay was based on four barrels of onions 15 James III and Margaret of Denmark came to Falkland in September 1473 16 The court of the Exchequer met at Falkland yearly to finalise the accounts of the jointure lands of his mother Mary of Guelders 17 who may have intended to make Falkland Palace her residence and spiritual retreat in widowhood 18 James IV at Falkland edit 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 19 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 20 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 21 James IV was entertained at Falkland by the Wild Lady who received 10 for her appearances in 1513 22 James IV brought deer nets from Kinneil House in November 1503 Andrew Matheson built a fold for deer in November 1505 23 A trap was made to slay foxes in the park of Falkland 24 For a time in 1507 the horse of the French herald Montjoie Gilbert Chauveau was kept in the palace stables 25 In May 1508 James IV and John Methven stalked deer in the park with a firearm called a culverin 26 Later wild boar imported from France were kept in the Park within a fence made by the Laird of Fernie 27 There were also dairy and beef cattle James V and Mary of Guise edit 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 28 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 29 The Queen s Chamber was hung with tapestry for Margaret Tudor in September 1534 30 James V extended his father s buildings in French renaissance style from 1537 and built a Royal Tennis Court in the garden in 1541 31 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 nbsp The arms of the King of Scots at the gatehouseAdmidst the building works and renovations 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 32 James V held a tournament at Falkland on or around May Day 1539 33 Mary of Guise spent time embroidering her husband s shirts at Falkland with gold thread in October 1539 34 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 35 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 36 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 37 Robert Murray the plumber who maintained the fountain at Linlithgow Palace also provided lead work for a long vanished fountain at Falkland 38 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 39 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 40 Reign of Mary Queen of Scots edit nbsp Mary of Guise mother of Mary Queen of Scots frequently stayed at Falkland 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 Falkland and Stirling palaces were official residences of Mary of Guise as a widow and she continued to keep wild boars for hunting in Falkland park 41 Mary of Guise frequently stayed at Falkland especially in autumn and was recorded there in October 1546 42 and in September 1549 43 Mary of Guise asked the Earl of Bothwell to escort her from Falkland to Stirling Castle for a convention or council in December 1549 44 In October 1552 Regent Arran who ruled Scotland on behalf of Mary wondered if Mary of Guise would come from Falkland for a Privy Council meeting because the palace and town was too small for the number of expected attendees writing they will be a great company of folks and can not be easily lodged in Falkland 45 Regent Arran s daughter Anne Hamilton joined Mary of Guise at Falkland in June 1553 46 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 47 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 48 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 49 Mary Queen of Scots returned from France in September 1561 and hosted a group of diplomats at Falkland 50 She held her Maundy Thursday or Skyris Thurisday ceremony at Falkland in March 1562 washing the feet of 19 young women John Balfour bought new linen cloth for the aprons and towels which she gave to the maidens The number of young women matched her age 51 She came for Easter in April 1563 and 1564 52 The queen s many visits to Falkland have been tracked in archival sources 53 James VI and Anne of Denmark edit James VI of Scotland was considered an adult ruler after October 1579 and in preparation for his visits to Falkland a cooper in Leith William Todd supplied barrels and brewing equipment for the palace 54 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 In June 1583 Schaw spent 100 on refurbishing the court at Falkland 55 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 56 In 1584 James VI had the roofs repaired and requested Agnes Leslie Lady of Lochleven and his tenants in Fife to send horses and help carry slates tiles timber sand and lime to the palace In July and August 1584 James welcomed Albert Fontenay a French envoy sent by his mother at Falkland and lent him a horse to join in the hunting 57 James 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 58 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 59 In August 1586 James VI was at Falkland with the French diplomat Charles de Prunele Baron d Esneval 60 In September he received a gift of books and hunting horses from Elizabeth I and news of the discovery of the Babington Plot 61 The Master of Gray wrote from Falkland to the Scottish ambassador in London that James was content for the law to go forward if her life was safe 62 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 63 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 64 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 65 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 66 Around this time an African servant of Anne of Denmark known only as the Moir 67 68 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 69 Raid of Falkland edit 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 70 The Earl of Erroll and Colonel William Houston were at Falkland and they were arrested on suspicion of being inside men 71 Bothwell s men attempted to batter down the back gate but were repulsed by gunshots before midnight on 27 June 72 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 73 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 74 The English border reiver Richie Graham of Brackenhill and his companions sacked the town of Falkland taking horses clothing and money 75 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 76 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 77 Palace staff in the 1590s edit The royal couple returned to Falkland in 1593 enjoying five tuns of wine which were shipped to nearby Levenmouth At this time James Beaton of Creich was keeper of the palace 78 Robert Arnot of Kilquhus Chamberlain of Fife looked after the park and the meadow and took receipt of local produce including the onions from the palace garden Andrew Fairny maintained the dykes and ditches The tenants of the village of Casch were compensated for damage done by escaped deer James VI s master stabler David Murray kept the king s mares and stags in the park Guilliam looked after the hay and George Strathauchin was the palace gardener 79 Deer from England edit Queen Elizabeth sent deer for the park in 1586 and 1587 and again in 1591 from parks near Colchester These were diplomatic gifts In May 1586 James VI went to Falkland the deer taken out of carts and set loose in the park 80 James asked the English ambassador Thomas Randolph for some of Elizabeth s huntsmen Yeoman prickers and Grooms of the leash and some horses 81 A Yeoman pricker was employed to manage and guide the hunted deer 82 English huntsmen and bucks were sent to James VI in August 1586 by Randolph and the Scottish ambassador in London Archibald Douglas 83 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 84 In November 1586 Archibald Douglas wrote to Francis Walsingham that a gift of bucks from Elizabeth might help James with his grief at the forthcoming loss of his mother 85 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 86 In April 1597 the carpenter and master wright James Murray was in charge of transporting 28 English deer from Leith to Falkland Robin the Hunter kept hounds for James at Falkland Anne of Denmark sent deer hounds as gifts to her brother Christian IV of Denmark 87 A royal quarrel edit nbsp James VI and Anne of Denmark spent time at Falkland during their quarrel about Prince HenryAnother 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 88 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 89 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 It was said that James were Anne were now being so lovingly together at Falkland 90 Anne was joined at Falkland by her friend and servant Margaret Vinstarr She had returned from visiting the queen s mother Sophie of Mecklenburg Gustrow whose message to her daughter was that she ought to obey her husband s will in all things 91 Last years as a royal palace edit When Anne of Denmark visited in September 1598 her bed chamber was hung with tapestry brought from Holyroodhouse Rhenish Rence wine was brought to Falkland for her 92 A French ambassador Philippe de Bethune 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 Bethune 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 after James VI wrote to the Laird of Wemyss for the loan of his best hackney horse and saddle 93 In July 1600 herons nested in the park and James VI hoping to have them increase and multiply forbade anyone to kill herons in neighbouring lands 94 In August a French acrobat danced on a tightrope in the palace courtyard for the king and the queen 95 James VI played cards with the English diplomat George Nicholson at Falkland in May 1602 96 In September 1602 Anne of Denmark and the Master of Gray entertained Anne de Gondi the wife of French ambassador the Baron de Tour at Falkland while he went on a progress with the king 97 Lord Henry Howard noted that the Master of Gray had spent this time with Queen Anne and it affected the conceit of his writing style 98 David Murray became keeper of the garden park and Lomond Hills and was allowed to build a house on the site of the old castle called the Castlestead or Nether Palace of Falkland Lord Walden stayed for a night in August 1613 99 This house was inherited by the next keeper of the park John Murray 1st Earl of Annandale 100 The palace was occasionally used as a prison 101 In November 1608 James instructed David Murray to keep James Elphinstone 1st Lord Balmerino prisoner in the tower of the palace for treasonable correspondence with the Pope Balmerino was released in October 1609 102 After hearing Anne of Denmark speak of her love of Scotland the Venetian ambassador Antonio Foscarini came to Falkland in September 1613 103 Union of the Crowns edit After the Union of the Crowns in 1603 Andrew Murray of Balvaird kept a watchful eye on the palace and in 1615 he advised John Murray of the bedchamber that the king should send a commission for repairs because otherwise it will not fail to fall all to the ground The back galleries are already decayed 104 The architect James Murray repaired the palace for the visit of King James in 1617 105 Some courtiers were lodged in the house of Nicol Moncrieff which still stands in Falkland opposite the palace gate 106 At the celebrations to welcome the king on 19 May David Wedderburn provided a Latin poem in which the King after a day of hunting was asked to contemplate the memorials of Scotland s past victories over the Romans and Vikings the wars of Scottish Independence and the present union of the kingdoms of Britain 107 The palace was repaired in 1629 Roofing slates were shipped from Dundee to Newburgh A glazier David Masterton painted the iron window grills or yetts with red lead A new set of wooden armorial panels were made for the gatehouse and painted by Valentine Jenkin 108 Civil war edit Charles I and Charles II also visited Falkland Accounts survive for Charles II s stay in July 1650 when proclamations had to be made to reduce the inflated prices of lodgings and horse hire charged in the village Charles food was seasoned with saffron nutmeg cinnamon cloves and ginger Every tart provided for the king s table had a pound of sugar while tarts for lesser courtiers required only half a pound 109 The mining entrepreneur James Hope of Hopetoun visited on 18 July and met the king s physician Dr Fraser and various officials In the privy chamber Charles thanked him for a previous gift of a piece of Scottish gold and later they talked about mining and technology 110 A fire partially destroyed the palace during its subsequent occupation by Cromwell s troops and it quickly fell into ruin 19th century edit nbsp Arms of the Marquis of ButeIn 1887 John 3rd Marquis of Bute purchased the estates of Falkland and started a 20 year restoration of the palace using two architects John Kinross and Robert Weir Schultz At the time the Palace was a ruin with no windows or doors Thanks to his restoration work and considerable budget the Palace remains standing today Many features in and around the Palace show evidence of his work such as the B on the guttering and portraits of his children carved into a cupboard door in the Keeper s Dressing Room During the time of Lord Bute the ornamental kitchen garden was enhanced by a pergola and decorative vases The north part of the upper garden was redesigned to express the foundations of Falkland Castle and Palace North Range which were uncovered during the Marquis s archaeological excavations Walls were built atop the foundations for the Well Tower and the Great Hall to emphasise the structures The Orchard and Palace gardens were linked to the House of Falkland by the private walk and new bridges Houses were built near the palace and connected into the ornamental kitchen garden and orchard by a system of new public and private paths The ground around the curling pond to the North East of the orchard was planted with trees and shrubs and laid out in flower plots The enclosing yew hedge around the pond garden is a typical feature of period The lime tree avenue which is north of the palace gatehouse was built sometime between 1894 and 1912 13 according to the Ordinance Surveys of those periods The Victorian glass house was built in 1890 by Mckenzie and Moncur from Edinburgh for Lord Bute and was used mainly to grow flowers and exotic plants Plant hunting was popular at that time and wealthy people would travel the world to find specimens and plant in their gardens for display to friends There is also evidence that there was a second glass house in the garden near the existing one Modern era edit nbsp A 1902 view of the palaceIn 1952 the Hereditary Keeper Major Michael Crichton Stewart decided to appoint the National Trust for Scotland to take care of the Palace The National Trust thus became Deputy Keeper of the Palace and they now care for and maintain the Palace and its extensive gardens The NTS website offers an array of articles and images exploring the Palace and grounds 111 National Galleries Scotland have created a digital project exploring how the palace would look if reimagined in a warmer setting due to climate change 112 Gardens edit Falkland Palace stands on three hectares of ground on a sandstone ridge which is dominated by the Lomond Hills in the background Those walking around the garden will see a distinct and overlapping timeline which reveals the ever changing purpose and style of the grounds The first record of a garden here was in 1451 In 1500 a new gardener John Strathachin or Strachen was to be paid 4 merks yearly with grazing for his horse and cows He was to provide fruit onions and herbs 113 At that time the garden had a courtyard and stables in the gatehouse where King James IV kept his great Belgian steed There was also a fish pond which provided the King with fresh fish Fruit vegetables and herbs were grown in the area for the royal plate and meat could be hunted in the ancient forest known as Falkland Forest surrounding the Palace by hawking and hunting wild boar and deer James VI met the English ambassadors Sir Robert Bowes and Sir William Bowes in the garden at 8 o clock on 21 June 1597 and listened to their speeches about border affairs 114 In August 1602 James VI received the French ambassador the Baron de Tour in the garden They talked for three quarters of an hour and the ambassador made the king laugh A few days later they hunted together in the park 115 Garden designer Percy Cane redesigned the gardens in the 1940s He had designed the palace grounds at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia Cane was born and educated in Essex where he studied horticulture and architecture In 1930 Cane founded and edited the quarterly journal Garden Design and wrote many books on garden design Cane s style can best be described as Arts and Crafts and his curvy borders were seen as innovatory at the time Conservation in the garden is achieved through general maintenance which includes clearing leaves mowing the main lawn tidying the flower beds and planting enhancing and creating wildlife habitats A wildflower meadow native hedges and spring flowering bulbs have been planted to provide food and protection to various small insects and small mammals Conservation means work has to be carried out in a sympathetic way throughout property not only to the aesthetics and history of the palace but also for the climbing plants and bats that live in the cellars Bats are endangered and protected in Scotland and it is important that they are not disturbed The walls of the palace have been repointed replacing the cement between the stones and replaced with lime mortar which is a traditional material and better suited for this purpose as it is breathable and prevents dampening The current Head Gardener Sonia Ferras Mana is restoring the Percy Cane garden to the original design and flower choice Mana the garden staff and volunteers have been working on various project in recent years to conserve the garden and encourage wildlife The garden team at Falkland Palace are now encouraging wildlife by bringing back the meadow To create the meadow the grass has been cut only once a year for the last four years and more than 10 000 wild flowers and a similar number of spring flowering bulbs have been planted This work is thanks to the garden staff volunteers and support from Fife Environmental Trust Scottish Natural Heritage NTS Member Centres and other donations These flowers and un mown grasses encourage beneficial insects to the orchard which aid in the fruit trees pollination and in turn attract other animals There are currently forty different fly species in the orchard some of which are rare or unusual and some are found nowhere else in Scotland The insects especially the moths have attracted Pipistrelle and Soprano Pipistrelle bats which have been seen hunting and living here There have also been sightings of red squirrels in the forest which are now considered endangered animals due to the disappearance of their habitat and the competition from grey squirrels A Red Squirrel Project is carried out at Falkland Palace to encourage them back into the gardens A shelter was built in the orchard for invertebrate i e insects and worms and small animals which will encourage them to stay longer in the garden and perhaps live there The orchard has been planted with native trees such as hawthorn oak and willows which would have been growing here in the 15th century The Maspie Burn running between the garden and the orchard is a habitat for water wildlife including trout Building materials edit nbsp Falkland Palace entrance facade nbsp Chapel Royal inside the South Range of Falkland PalaceSome sandstone for the palace was quarried locally Limestone for lime mortar was found and burnt on the Lomond Hills In 1540 harder sandstone was quarried at Kingoodie near Dundee and shipped across the Tay to the haven of Lindores Abbey Much of the timber including imported Eastland boards deals and rafters supplied by a Danish merchant called Kinnereis was bought at St Andrews and Dundee where it was bound together into rafts called floats and towed to Newburgh or Lindores and Levenmouth Other timber was bought at Leith at Kirkcaldy 116 Description editThe palace has two wings arranged in an L shape now called the South and East Quarters or Ranges The palace courtyard is entered through the gatehouse tower at the west end of the South Quarter The external ashlar facade of the South Quarter has gunloops at basement level Above these are the small windows of the private lodgings and on the second level the large paired windows of the Chapel Royal Between these windows are weathered niches and statues The corbels show the instruments of the passion the chapel at Falkland was dedicated to St Thomas and is the Catholic parish church for Falkland with Mass every Sunday at 9 a m 117 The wallhead is finished with a decorated cornice and battlement which continues around the west side of the gate tower To the east of the chapel there is small rectangular sectioned tower which once housed a circular staircase and beyond is the partly reconstructed gable of the East Quarter Although some writers have attributed part of the South Quarter to the time of James IV the form of the gunloops the continuous parapet and the documented payments to Peter the Flemishman for the 5 statues in 1539 adequately demonstrate that the present appearance dates from the works of James V 118 The entrance tower was built in 1541 and the accounts record the work of two master masons to John Brownhill and Henry Bawtie for complete ending of the fore entry and tower and raising of certain chimneys in the south quarter 119 Within the gate tower and south quarter visitors can view the Keeper s Apartments in the tower the Chapel Royal and gallery The East Quarter apart from its courtyard facade is ruined The centrally placed access tower the Crosshouse was reconstructed by the Marquis of Bute The National Trust s architect Schomberg Scott recreated the King and Queen s bedchambers within The northern section of the East Quarter was originally a lodging built by James IV The East Quarter was remodelled by the mason John Merlioun in 1538 120 This part of the building with its back galleries overlooking the garden was decayed in 1615 121 In 1616 the master of works James Murray was ordered to repair the flat roof of the King and Queen s galleries and the roof of the lodging of the East Quarter in anticipation of the visit of James VI 122 nbsp Comparable facade at Villers CotteretsThe South and East courtyard facades were decorated and unified with pilasters in a French Renaissance style between 1537 and 1542 Their appearance is comparable to the French Chateau of Villers Cotterets The buttresses on the East are dated 1537 and on the South where the masonry is more sophisticated 1539 The later work may be connected with the arrival of Nicolas Roy a French mason sent to Scotland in March 1539 by Antoinette of Bourbon the mother of Mary of Guise 123 The chapel ceiling dates from the time of James V as recent dendrochronology work by the AOC Group has confirmed 124 It was constructed by the carpenter Richard Stewart and was re decorated for the visit of Charles I in 1633 James Murray master of works was ordered to repair the roof of the South Quarter in 1625 with instructions to have a special care and regard that the great ceiling of the Chapel be preserved and kept as far as possibly may be 125 The courtyard was originally completed on the north with a great hall to the north The footprint of the building was established by excavation and laid out with paving slabs by the 3rd Marquis of Bute Beyond this area are the reconstructed footings of Falkland Castle This was the site of the short lived Nether Palace or Castlestead in the 17th century known from a plan and elevation drawn by Alexander Edward Real tennis court editOn the lower ground in the gardens slightly beyond the remains of the medieval castle uncovered c 1900 lies the original real tennis court The masons William Mason and Alexander Allardice and others built the tennis court Its walls were finished by Callum the pargeoner or lime plasterer 126 It is the world s oldest tennis court still in use The roofed spectator area is home to a number of swallows during spring and summer The court is home to the Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club References edit Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland vol 5 2 Edinburgh 1957 p 61 no 2676 VIPA Falkland Palace POWIS database Chapel Royal in Falkland Palace Archived from the original on 7 March 2021 Retrieved 22 March 2022 John Gilbert Hunting and Hunting Reserves in Medieval Scotland John Donald 1979 pp 219 235 George Burnett Exchequer Rolls of Scotland vol 3 Edinburgh 1880 pp lxxxix xcii Charles Mackie The Castles Palaces and Prisons of Mary Queen of Scots London 1853 p 272 John Gilbert Hunting in Medieval Scotland John Donald 1979 pp 219 20 Annie I Dunlop The Life and Times of James Kennedy Bishop of St Andrews Oliver amp Boyd 1950 p 385 Anne Hargreaves Falkland Palace The Oxford Companion to British History 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Danish Court in Scotland The Court Historian 24 2 2019 p 140 doi 10 1080 14629712 2019 1626110 See Mor e Moir Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue Nandini Das Joao Vicente Melo Haig Z Smith Lauren Working Blackamoor Moor Keywords of Identity Race and Human Mobility in Early Modern England Amsterdam 2021 pp 40 50 Michael Pearce Anna of Denmark Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland The Court Historian 24 2 2019 pp 143 4 National Records of Scotland Treasurer s Accounts July 1591 E22 8 fol 121r Item be his maiesties spetiall command for ye buriall of a moir in Falkland amp expensis thairupoun vij li vj s viij d See REED transcriptions edited by Sarah Carpenter Royal Court of Scotland 1590 1592 Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol 10 Edinburgh 1936 pp 704 5 707 8 Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol 10 Edinburgh 1936 pp 709 713 718 Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol 10 Edinburgh 1936 p 708 John Mackenzie A chronicle of the kings of Scotland Edinburgh 1830 p 145 Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol 10 Edinburgh 1936 pp 708 711 2 Joseph Bain Calendar of Border Papers 1560 1594 vol 1 Edinburgh 1894 p 516 Register of the Privy Council vol 4 Edinburgh 1881 p 761 Historie of James Sext Edinburgh 1825 Memoir of James Melville of Halhill Edinburgh 1827 pp 407 8 Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol 10 Edinburgh 1936 pp 708 9 743 Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol 10 Edinburgh 1936 pp 735 41 Exchequer Rolls XXII Edinburgh 1903 p 269 Exchequer Rolls XXII Edinburgh 1903 pp 49 270 326 328 388 9 407 Henry Ellis Original Letters series 2 vol 3 London 1827 p 121 Henry Ellis Original Letters series 2 vol 3 London 1827 p 123 Harry Hieover Sporting Facts and Sporting Fancies London 1853 p 247 Letters and Papers Relating to Patrick Master of Grey Edinburgh 1835 p 111 William Murdin Collection of State Papers left by William Cecill Lord Burghley London 1759 pp 558 569 Robert S Rait amp Annie I Cameron King James s Secret London Nisbet 1927 p 46 Calendar State Papers Scotland vol 9 Glasgow 1915 p 160 Henry Ellis Original Letters Illustrative of English History 2nd series vol 3 London 1827 pp 121 3 Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol 10 Edinburgh 1936 pp 458 468 519 671 677 8 See also British Library Harley MS 291 ff 199 200 Letters to King James the Sixth etc Edinburgh 1835 pp lxxii lxxiv Register of the Privy Council of Scotland vol 5 Edinburgh 1882 p 135 Annie I Cameron Calendar State Papers Scotland vol 11 Edinburgh 1936 pp 376 7 Joseph Bain Calendar of Border Papers vol 2 Edinburgh 1896 p 50 no 109 citing TNA SP 59 30 f 141 Calendar State Papers Scotland 1593 1595 vol 11 Edinburgh 1936 pp 679 no 635 681 2 no 636 Exchequer Rolls 24 p 289 Rins Dost DSL Calendar State Papers Scotland 13 1 Edinburgh 1969 pp 514 5 521 523 526 HMC Salisbury Hatfield vol 9 London 1902 p 285 David Masson Register of the Privy Council vol 6 Edinburgh 1884 p 131 Robert Pitcairn Autobiography and diary of James Melville Edinburgh 1842 p 487 Letters to King James the Sixth from the Queen Prince Henry Prince Charles etc Edinburgh 1835 p lxxxii Steven Veerapen The Wisest Fool The Lavish Life of James VI and I Birlinn 2023 p 214 Calendar State Papers Scotland 13 2 Edinburgh 1969 p 1041 David Dalrymple The secret correspondence with James VI King of Scotland Edinburgh 1766 pp 165 6 Robert Chambers Domestic Annals of Scotland vol 1 Edinburgh 1858 p 451 Alexander Nisbet A System of Heraldry vol 2 reprint 1984 pp 204 6 Register of the Great Seal of Scotland vol 6 no 1101 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland vol 4 Edinburgh 1816 p 665 Falkland Palace www douglashistory co uk Retrieved 19 March 2021 HMC Laing Manuscripts in the University of Edinburgh vol 1 London 1914 p 112 Allen Hinds Calendar State Papers Venice 1613 1615 vol 13 London 1907 p 46 no 95 Original Letters Relating To The Ecclessiastical Affairs of Scotland vol 2 Edinburgh Bannatyne Club 1851 p 419 modernised here David Masson Register of the Privy Council of Scotland 1613 1616 vol 10 Edinburgh 1891 pp 517 8 HMC Mar amp Kellie vol 1 London 1904 p 81 Roger P H Green The King Returns The Muses Welcome Steven J Reid amp David McOmish Neo Latin Literature and Literary Culture in Early Modern Scotland Brill 2017 pp 137 8 John Imrie amp John Dunbar Accounts of the Masters of Works vol 2 Edinburgh 1982 pp 278 288 292 David Stevenson Minute Book of the Board of Green Cloth Miscellany of the Scottish History Society XV Woodbridge 2013 pp 66 77 James Balfour Paul Diary of Sir James Hope Third Miscellany of the Scottish History Society Edinburgh 1919 pp 113 5 147 8 National Trust for Scotland National Trust for Scotland Retrieved 4 December 2022 Introducing the National Galleries of Scotland Environmental Response Plan National Galleries of Scotland Retrieved 25 January 2022 M Livingstone Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland 1488 1529 vol 1 Edinburgh 1908 p 74 no 518 Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol 13 Edinburgh 1969 p 24 Calendar State Papers Scotland vol 13 Edinburgh 1969 p 1033 David Adshead David Jones William Kay Properties of Stone St Andrews 1986 p 28 Henry Paton Accounts of the Master of Works vol 1 HMSO 1957 pp 261 3 269 271 286 8 Register of the Privy Seal vol 1 Edinburgh 1908 p 583 no 4018 2 Jan 1529 Henry Paton Accounts of the Master of Works vol 1 HMSO 1957 p 256 Dunbar 1991 6 Henry Paton Accounts of the Master of Works vol 1 HMSO 1957 pp xxxiii 279 Henry Paton Accounts of the Master of Works vol 1 HMSO 1957 pp 256 7 Letters Relating to the Ecclesiastical Affairs of Scotland 1614 1625 vol 2 Edinburgh 1841 p 419 David Masson Register of the Privy Council of Scotland vol 10 Edinburgh 1891 p 518 Dunbar 1999 33 36 Dunbar 1991 4 5 The French master mason started at Falkland on 20 April 1539 Treasurer s Accounts vol 7 Edinburgh 1907 330 Exploring the Structural Development of Falkland Palace AOC Archaeology Group Retrieved 19 March 2021 David Masson Register of the Privy Council of Scotland vol 13 Edinburgh pp 706 707 Accounts of the Master of Works vol 1 HMSO 1957 pp 278 80 Further reading editDunbar John G 1999 Scottish Royal Palaces Tuckwell Press ISBN 1 86232 042 X Dunbar John G 1991 Some 16th century French parallels for Falkland in Review of Scottish Culture vol 7 3 8 Bentley Cranch Dana 1986 An early 16th century French architectural source for Falkland in Review of Scottish Culture vol 2 85 96 Higgins James 2020 Scotland s Stewart Monarchs At https sites google com view stewartscotlandExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Falkland Palace National Trust for Scotland profile of Falkland Palace Rampant Scotland feature Engraving of Dunkeld in 1693 by John Slezer at National Library of Scotland Jennifer Melville Africans at the court of James IV National Trust for Scotland Falkland Palace and James VI Jackie Bird and Steven J Reid Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Falkland Palace amp oldid 1190936170, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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