Tom Durie

Tom Durie appears on record at the Scottish court in May 1603, when he was bought clothes to accompany Anne of Denmark on her journey to England after the Union of the Crowns.

At Denmark House in London his portrait was displayed in an antechamber or passage between the queen's withdrawing room and the gallery and was recorded in an inventory as the picture of "Thomas Derry" in 1619.

Allison Steenson has drawn attention to a short note written by Anne of Denmark' secretary, William Fowler, "for Tho Duryes portrait".

[13] Another fool at court, Archibald Armstrong, wore a crimson velvet coat with gold lace at the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate in 1613.

[19] In 1623 a Roman Catholic, Thomas Rant, recorded a story about Anne of Denmark and a fool, probably meaning Tom Durie, at Dunfermline Palace in 1600, which he had heard from a Mr Gray.

The point of the story for Thomas Rant was to show King James' indifference to his wife's religion, who was frequently claimed to be sympathetic to Roman Catholicism.

[22] Robert Cecil once wrote a letter of apology to Adam Newton for a breach of manners, saying that "had I done so because I knew it not to be my duty, then am I worse than Tom Dyrry", suggesting that Durie did not adhere to court etiquette.

[25] In 1607 there was competition for an office in the Queen's household, which caused some amusement at court, and the Scottish courtier George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar reported to Robert Cecil a joke of the King's, that "Thom.

[26] After the death of Anne of Denmark, one of her longserving Danish or German courtiers, William Belo, complained that he had been poorly rewarded for his service and paid less than Tom Durie, who was "a natural fool", or Archie Armstrong, "a counterfeit".