Masque at the baptism of Prince Henry

But some principal officers and courtiers, remembering the many enterprises executed at Sterlinge and fearing like events to succeed in that place, are seeking means to stay the Queen's remove thither and to allure her to the Castle in Edinburgh.

[18] John Colville reported a rumour in July that James VI had conceived a jealousy against Anne of Denmark, and even thought the Duke of Lennox might be the father of Prince Henry.

[20] The report of the Dutch ambassadors Brederode and Valck mentions dinners at Stirling Castle in the days before the baptism, a hunt in the park, and James VI dancing in the Great Hall.

[23] An engraving published in 1764 illustrating William Fowler's True Reportary purports to represent a painted allegory from the chapel or a decorative ensemble like a carved screen.

[34] The historian Clare McManus describes how these performances relate to the tournament of the Wild Knight and the Black Lady, serving to defuse the "threat of diversity" through theatrical representation.

"[38] A previous event in France, at Amboise had involved Mary's uncle Francis, the Grand Prior, dressed as a gypsy with a baby, and the Duke of Nemours as a townsman's wife with a bunch of keys.

[50] The Bishop of Aberdeen spoke again, describing the genealogy of the prince, his English descent, and also the recent history of the diplomatic relations of Scotland and alliances with the ambassadors present, and then the Chapel service concluded.

[52] Cunningham's second speech was problematic for its overt reference to the English succession, reminding the audience of a controversial poem by Andrew Melville, Principis Scoti Brittanorum Natalia[permanent dead link‍].

The names of the newly made knights were proclaimed from the terrace at the forefront of the palace with sound of trumpets, and gold and other coins were cast amongst the people in the garden below as largesse.

[66] The substitution of the African actor for the lion at Stirling was suggested by Edmond Malone and others as a source of an allusion in Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was written soon afterwards.

The ship was laden with all kinds of fish made from sugar, including herring, whiting, flounders, oysters, whelks, crabs and clams, served in Venetian glasses tinted with azure, which were distributed while Arion seated on a dolphin played his harp.

"[74]William Fowler explained the theme of the ship, attributing it King James, and showing that it related to the sea journeys of James VI and Anne of Denmark in 1589, "The Kings Majestie, having undertaken in such a desperate time, to sayle to Norway, and like a newe Jason, to bring his Queene our gracious Lady to this Kingdome, being detained and stopped by the conspiracies of Witches, and such devillish Dragons, thought it very meet, to followe forth this his owne invention".

During the baptism ceremony Sussex carried the child from his bedchamber for the day in the queen's inner hall in the Palace to the Chapel Royal, closely supervised by the Countess of Mar.

[82] Sir James Melville of Halhill, a gentleman in the queen's household, described the audience with Anne of Denmark for the ambassadors in the palace of Stirling Castle, when she received their gifts.

[86] The Earl of Sussex brought gifts of plate from Elizabeth including some older pieces, noted by Melville as "cunningly wrought" and as "ancient" with "stones of small value" in a Scottish inventory.

A cup decorated with snakes, newts, frogs coloured in enamels with a stag hunt on the cover had been admired by Lupold von Wedel in 1584 in the Tower of London.

[95][96] Bassewitz brought a chain or necklace for the queen made up of rubies, chrysolites, and hyacinths, which he told the English diplomats represented the roses of York and Lancaster.

However, the representatives of the "States of Flanders", Brederode and Valke, traveled from the Baptism to Berwick upon Tweed where they were entertained by John Carey on 18 September, and on to Newcastle upon Tyne where they were welcomed with lavish civic festivities.

[106] They were treated to a banquet including baked rabbit, fish, and swan, a barrel of London beer, and sugar confectionaries, to the accompaniment of music by the town's waits.

Anne however was forced to stay in Norway by accidents and bad weather, the circumstances which gave rise to Fowler mentioning thanksgiving for deliverance from witchcraft.

"[110] It was usual for the king to appoint companions for ambassadors in Scotland to entertain and assist them, and James VI wrote to Sir John Gordon of Pitlurg in June 1594 offering him this role.

Sir William Keith of Delny could not speak French, Latin, or Flemish, and the laird of Easter Wemyss was chosen only because he happened to be travelling to London and Paris on his own business.

Melville states that Peter Young went to Denmark, Brunswick, and Mecklenburg, and was rewarded with gifts of three gold chains, but the dukes felt they would have been better honoured by a separate ambassador to each of them.

Melville claimed that Elizabeth was more enthusiastic to be represented at the event when she learned that Henry IV of France was not sending an ambassador, despite the invitation delivered by the laird of Wemyss.

John Colville wrote that the day after the ambassadors arrived Anne of Denmark took the ferry to Fife and went to Falkland Palace to avoid them because she felt her accommodation at Holyroodhouse was not up to scratch.

[122] James VI also wrote letters to his lairds, asking them to send "quick stuff", live animals especially deer and wild fowl, such as they "may have in readiness and spare" as gifts.

[123] Some items, like the transport of the unused lion from Holyroodhouse to Stirling, and clothes for James's former nurse Helen Littil and her daughters Grissel and Sarah Gray, were paid for through the usual Royal Treasurer's account.

[127] Anne of Denmark received £18,796 Scots from Thomas Foulis from the English subsidy money between July 1591 and 13 September 1594, which may have been available to meet the costs of her household and some expenses of the baptism.

The interiors of the Great Hall, Chapel Royal, and Palace have been returned to their original layout and proportions, and subdivisions made during the later use of the castle as army barracks removed.

[138] Ian Campbell and Aonghus MacKechnie argue that the proportions of the new building and a partition or barrier in the original interior mentioned by William Fowler matched ratios in the Bible for the measurements of the Temple of Solomon.