[MR] Wikipedia: Death of King of Scots James V

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, especially fellow Scots,

On this date in 1542 King of Scots James V died at the age of just 30 at
Falkland Palace.

James was one of the better Stuart kings, a line noted more for their
tragic failures than for successes. Like his father James IV, he was
intelligent and creative, a fine musician, spoke several languages,
interested in science, and took an active role in European diplomacy. In
other words, James was a true Renaissance prince. Despite James' best
intentions, his reign was brief, tragic and brought little to Scotland.

James was also noted for an interest in his common subjects. He is said to
have roamed the roads of Scotland in a rather thin disguise as the "Gudeman
of Ballengeich", listening to the concerns of his subjects. His activities
were rather transparent, and there is even a contemporary statue of him in
his disguise at Stirling Castle.

The cause of James' death has been widely debated. The shocking defeat of
his army at Solway Moss by a much smaller English force on 24 November, and
the news that his only legitimate child had just been born, the future Mary
Queen of Scots, are both mentioned as causes. Well, maybe, but something
physical was  probably going on too. He was already ailing and had been in
decline for two weeks.

One of his dying comments, "It came wi a lass, it'll gang wi a lass" ("It
began with a girl and it will end with a girl"), could have been a
prediction about his daughter Mary, or it might have meant Scotland as a
whole, which was supposedly founded by Princess Scotia. In a way, it did
come true: the last Stuart line to rule Scotland (then united England as
Great Britain) was Queen Anne, who died without issue in 1714. Or it could
just have been delirious rambling.

You can read more about James at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_V_of_Scotland .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆