David Ramsay David Ramsay is one of British horology’s most glamorous figures. He was a mechanical genius and produced some of the world’s most incomparably beautiful horological masterpieces – clocks and watches that are arguably works of art unto themselves. We do know that his life was a series of highs and lows. Although he rose to the top of his field as a watchmaker, operating from the seat of power in London, he struggled chronically with money, eventually falling out of royal favour and winding up in a debtors’ prison. Although we know the details of much is his early life in Scotland, as well as his time in London, there are great gaps in Ramsay’s story. We know nothing about his horological training or how he spent his time in Paris, and how he financed the production of his luxurious watches and clocks is a mystery.[1] Here we have provided an overview of Ramsay’s life and discuss scenarios that may shed light on how he was able to produce some of the world’s greatest horological masterpieces. Ramsay’s early life: ‘Scotus me fecit’ Fittingly, Ramsay signed most of his work Scotus me fecit which translates to ‘Scotland made me’. Around 1580, he was born at Langaw Farm in Fife, Scotland, and grew up as part of a well-off family in a proudly Scottish household. His father, George Ramsay, traced his ancestry back to John Ramsay of Auchterhouse, who, in 1314, fought together with Robert the Bruce to defeat the English King Edward III at the Battle of Bannockburn. Around 1570, George married Margaret Gourlay and traded more with the Continent than the old enemy, England. The Ramsays had six children who survived past childhood. David was their fourth child. David enjoyed a well-rounded education at St Andrews. On 24 May 1594, he was apprenticed to the master armourer Henry Smith. Shortly thereafter, Smith was appointed Royal Armourer to King James VI of Scotland. David’s training in metalworking certainly played a crucial part in his later development as a clock- and watchmaker. Creating a sword, a defensive breastplate or a pistol barrel required specialist knowledge and training, such as in hardening and tempering steel, and in smelting iron ore to obtain a more uniform steel of higher quality. This required finding, purchasing and processing the highest purity of raw materials to produce a superior grade of steel. David also would have been trained in quality control, finishing and engraving. These skills would serve him well in the production of the most difficult part of all in any clock or watch: the main steel driving springs. Normally, an apprenticeship was completed after seven years, and then the apprentice was allowed to take up a free citizenship to practise his trade. Ramsay did not follow this path. He did not take up a free citizenship of St Andrews (thus allowing him to work as a journeyman), and there is no record of him working in Scotland. Indeed, we have no idea what he was doing or where, until he appears in Paris in 1610. In a letter home to Fife, dated to 1610, the nobleman John Carnegie wrote of searching Paris with Ramsay. The two were trying to find and buy alarm clocks made by the French king’s clockmaker, Denis Martinot, to bring home to Scotland. We also know, from Ramsay’s son, that in 1613, Ramsay was summoned to London by the King from France. This suggests that Ramsay was in France from at least 1610 to 1613. Exactly what he was doing there is unclear. The consensus is that he probably received some sort of training as a clockmaker. The Finches suggest that while in Paris he learned watchmaking as a journeyman,[2] and horologist Dr John C. Taylor suspects that Ramsay was being trained by and working for Martinot. These scenarios certainly go towards explaining the Continental influences evident in Ramsay’s clocks and watches. Although Ramsay is usually thought of as a watchmaker, he also made clocks. One survives from this period, pre-dating Ramsay’s arrival in London. This is the ornately engraved gilt table clock, made around 1610, at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A; Accession Number M.7-1931). The baseplate of its movement is signed by Ramsay. The clock’s hour-striking movement is in a gilt case with the four sides finely engraved with arabesque foliage and mythological spirits. Each side features a central engraved silver plaque showing one of the Four Evangelists. The bell is mounted on top of the movement, and sits inside a beautifully pierced engraved basket, which allows the bell to sound out each hour. The gilt chapter ring has a central silver dial plate enriched with translucent enamelling. Four little gilt lions support the corners. Experts at the V&A argue that the movement was made in Scotland and that the case was made in France. Dr Taylor thinks that these attributions are unlikely. First, the movement is very much in the French style and more likely to have been made in France before Ramsay was summoned to London by King James in 1613. Second, the scene engraved on the bottom plate of the case is decidedly anti-Catholic, and this sentiment would not have been tolerated in France, a Catholic state at the time. In the scene, a Catholic cardinal and three friars look on in horror as King James VI and his two sons, the Princes Henry and Charles, hold the Pope’s nose to a grindstone. According to the V&A, the scene is taken from a German engraving and was inspired by the settlement made in 1609 between Spain and the Estates General of the Netherlands. At the time, the settlement was seen as great blow to papal power, as it was an alliance between a Roman Catholic and a Protestant state. Also, the depiction of Prince Henry indicates that the clock was probably created before the Prince’s death from typhoid fever in 1612. Additionally, the whole case, including this engraving, has been gilded. This indicates that the engraving is contemporary with the case construction and finishing. All this suggests that (i) the clock was created sometime between 1609 and 1612, (ii) the movement was probably created while Ramsay was still in France, and (iii) based on the engraving’s anti-Catholic subject matter, the case was created outside of France or at least it was intended for a Protestant buyer or owner.[3] Ramsay in London at the heart of power In 1613, Queen Elizabeth I died, and King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England. Upon ascension, he inherited Elizabeth’s Royal Clockmaker, Randolph Bull, who was under a life stipend. Despite his obligation to Bull, James summoned Ramsay from France and offered the Scottish watchmaker two coveted positions in the royal household: Groom to the Privy Chamber and Page to the Bedchamber. Ramsay was also tasked with the responsibility of caring for the King’s clocks and watches, effectively becoming James’ de facto Royal Clockmaker. His joint royal stipend was £250 per annum.[4] Ramsay had truly arrived. As a member of the King’s Privy Council, he found himself at the very heart of power in London and had the private ear of the King; he was thus in a far more influential position than of the person merely tending to the King’s clocks and watches. Although Ramsay’s salary was generous on paper, he was always short of money. He presented bills of about £300 per year beyond his stipend of £250.[5] Also, his royal stipend was always in arrears if paid at all. He even borrowed £50 to live in a manner expected of his position and had trouble paying this back.[6] To make ends meet, he orchestrated multiple income streams in addition to his salary. His son William implied that Ramsay also operated as a clockmaker in his own right, securing commissions form heads of state as a senior journeyman.[7] Ramsay acted as royal agent on many projects and appears as the author of numerous patents granted by the King during this time. As a privileged confidant of the King and servant of the Bedchamber, clients would routinely lobby Ramsay (and other servants of the Bedchamber) by first seeking an introduction. Ramsay would listen to their request and, if so disposed, would bend the ear of the King to his clients’ cause to obtain the necessary writs. In exchange, Ramsay would receive ‘such part or share of the profits thereof’.[8] He appears to have been the go-to agent for metallurgy projects and patents, which speaks to his expertise and training as an armourer and gunsmith. One of the petitions that Ramsay did not support was for the chartering of a clockmakers’ guild. In 1622, sixteen London clockmakers petitioned King James, asking that no foreigner clockmakers should be allowed to work in London. Unsurprisingly, with his foreign Royal Clockmaker bending his ear, James did nothing, and the petition was dropped. Royal commissions Ramsay’s surviving watches were commissioned during the reign of King James. The Stuart king ordered at least three watches for his son, Henry, Prince of Wales, and around 1618 Ramsay created his masterpiece, the King James Portrait Watch. It is an outstandingly well-crafted astrological watch, probably commissioned by the King as a gift, and is the most developed and sophisticated of Ramsay’s surviving watches. There are two other surviving Ramsay watches that are similar to the King James Portrait Watch. These are the silver pocket watch made around 1615 and held by the National Museum of Scotland (Museum Reference H.NL 63), and the silver-and-brass watch engraved with the Annunciation and the Nativity, made around 1615 at the V&A (Accession Number M.558-1910). They are described by Camerer Cuss in The English Watch.[9] There is also Ramsay’s silver-and-gilt oval watch, made around 1620 (coming soon to Clocktime). It is typical of Ramsay’s general style of watch production. The outer face of the silver top cover is engraved with a figure of Athena holding a serpent and a hand mirror. She stands by an altar with two doves. The gilt case has a silver band with rabbits among the floral scrollwork. The silver bottom cover is engraved with a figure of Leukothea (a Greek sea goddess first mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey) offering her anchor of hope to sailors. Both engravings are surrounded by scrolling foliage inhabited by half human-half animal figures. The silver chapter ring surrounds a miniature engraving with a city view. The four-train movement has the balance wheel support cock pinned on. There is a fourth surviving Ramsay watch, made around 1620, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (Accession Number: 17.190.1550). Its case is by the French enameller I. R. (probably Jean Reymond of Limoges), who was active around 1615–1632. Finally, there is the oval gilt watch with alarm, made around 1615, at the British Museum (Museum number 1888,1201.171). It is also worth considering that Ramsay may have had a hand in producing another complex watch signed by Simon Bartram, which bears an uncanny similarity to Ramsay’s King James Portrait Watch made around 1618.[10] The Bartram watch is of unknown date and has no provenance, so it not possible to determine when or where the Bartram was made, or how this relates to Ramsay’s watch. Dr John C. Taylor has analysed the similarities between the Ramsay and Bartram watches in a forthcoming article (publication details will be updated shortly). Ramsay’s design was used as a template for, or at the very least heavily influenced, the design of the Bartram watch. What is more, it is probable that the engraving on Bartram’s was undertaken by Gérard de Heck – the same engraver who worked on Ramsay’s watch. Bartram was a watch- and clockmaker who was active in London from around 1630, so it is likely that the watch is datable to the 1600s. Although Bartram was younger than Ramsay, they certainly knew of one another, as they were both London clockmakers and members of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. However, details of their professional relationship are not known. Dr Taylor suggests several scenarios that may explain the similarity between the watches, and he convincingly argues that there is no doubt that the two watches were made in the same workshop by the same watchmakers, under the same leadership and using the same engraver. If so, the Bartram watch would have been produced before or around 1618, while Bartram was still an apprentice. This seems unlikely, because an apprentice would never have been trusted with such an expensive commission, nor is there any reason to explain why an apprentice would sign a watch made by a master watchmaker at the height of his career. Alternatively, the Bartram watch could have been made after 1630, when Bartram was a journeyman. Perhaps Bartram subcontracted or licensed the design from Ramsay. This is certainly possible (but not provable), as Bartram was by this time successful in his own right (even rising through the ranks of the Clockmakers’ Company to become Master in 1650). Ramsay may have been open to this arrangement, because after 1630, he experienced a rather spectacular reversal of fortune, which is discussed below. On 27 March 1625, King James VI and I died. Later that year, David married Frances Poe, who was about 25 years his junior and daughter of the Royal Physician. His son, William, was born on 13 March 1626 or 1627 and his daughter, Frances, was born two years later. Although Ramsay remained in royal employ during the reign of James’ successor, King Charles I, his influence waned and his money troubles continued. Money troubles We have no idea how Ramsay managed the financing of his watches, as no invoices survive for any of his works. We also know that King James got away with not paying Ramsay promptly, as indicated by a bill from 1616 requesting the sum of £234 for ‘clocks and watches repaired …’.[11] Making a complex watch at Ramsay’s level required thousands of man hours, technical prowess, and generous upfront financing to procure expensive materials. Presumably, lack of cash would have made it difficult for him to pay anyone he employed or subcontracted. Also, with his multiple roles in the royal household and management of varied income streams, it is unlikely that Ramsay had the time to supervise, let alone pay, workers on an ongoing basis over the time required to create the complex watches described above. Equally, it is unlikely that he would have had the financial substance to have access to the credit required to cover materials and pay the labour costs in fulfilling royal orders. Just how did Ramsay finance the manufacture of his royally commissioned watches? Dr Taylor suggests that Ramsay probably made the most of his French contacts, subcontracting Martinot and acting as an agent of King James to secure financing from the French King Henry IV. You can read more about this theory within the context of Ramsay’s King James Portrait watch made around 1618. Dr Taylor asserts that Ramsay was either the worst businessman or the best, given the lengths to which he must have gone to produce his watches. The ‘foreign’ Master of the London Clockmakers In 1627, Huguenot clockmakers petitioned King Charles I for the grant of a letters patent, allowing them freedom to control their work throughout London. Like their earlier petition, this one also failed after lobbying by the Blacksmiths’ Company. When the clockmakers again approached the King in 1631, both Ramsay and Charles were strapped for cash and much more receptive to their project. In 1631, Charles was both at odds with Parliament over taxation and short of money. The clockmakers of London got together and shrewdly raised £61 to support the grant of a full livery company: the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. This time around, Ramsay and Charles’ support came at a price, and the clockmakers agreed to install Ramsay as their first Master. Their charter was granted, and Charles pocketed the £61. Ramsay’s appointment as Master surely put many of the London clockmakers’ noses out of joint. The mission of the Company was to regulate the use of foreign workers and to ensure that all those who had freedom of the city had served their time under a master clockmaker in London. As a Scot, Ramsay was a foreigner, and he certainly did not train in London. The irony of Ramsay’s appointment was lost on no one. As it happens, Ramsay had little interest in his role as Master. Although he was formally appointed as the first Master in 1632, he rarely attended any meetings, leaving the running of the Company to his deputy and the wardens. In fact, he did not attend his first meeting until 1634. Instead, he appears to have busied himself with improving the supplies of ores and their smelting techniques to refine the metals necessary for his workshop set up in the liberties around Westminster. In these workplaces, he probably employed skilled Huguenot workers in direct violation of the Clockmakers’ Charter. Later in life, Ramsay became heavily involved with the Company between 1652 and 1654, when, having suffered continued financial duress, he voted to award himself a grant from the Company’s funds. Falling from grace While Ramsay had been a favourite of King James, he never enjoyed the same level of confidence with Charles I. When Charles became King, he inherited his father’s Privy Council, including Ramsay. Charles was keen to replace these older men with his friends – younger men already in his employ as Prince. Ramsay was retained on the royal books but was summarily demoted, becoming a King’s agent (which kept him involved in patents), acting as an ambassador on behalf of the King and managing the estates of royal wards.[12] For instance, Ramsay was sent on several trips as the King’s emissary to Scotland to try to smooth over the troubles arising from the introduction of the new Book of Common Prayer. Ramsay’s status as a clockmaker and his production of watches declined during this time, as King Charles slowly changed his patronage from Ramsay to the clockmaker Edward East. To make matters worse, in 1626 Ramsay presented a questionable petition to the King. The project was spearheaded by a radical preacher who was arrested for heresy, and Ramsay’s reputation was irreparably tarnished by association.[13] His spectacular fall from favour was complete in 1638, when he displeased Charles by remaining in London when the King travelled north with his army to put down the insurrection of the Scots.[14] As relations between the King and his Parliament deteriorated even further, the Chancellor had virtually no money with which to pay the King’s servants. Ramsay’s income became critical: he was owed some £2000 by the King for unpaid wages and commissions by the King. In 1641, when the first English Civil War broke out, the King was away at the head of his army. Without Charles’ protection, Ramsay was incarcerated in in the Gatehouse Prison for debtors. Ramsay languished in prison for four years.[15] After the defeat of the King, Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the new Commonwealth, asked Ramsay to disclose to whom the King had given gifts and to help him track down any of the King’s possessions. Cromwell enlisted Ramsay’s help so that he could repossess these ‘gifts’ and auction them off to raise money for new state. In exchange for this, he offered Ramsay–a 30% commission. To pay off his debt and get out of jail, the watchmaker abandoned his loyalty to his previous royal employer and took up Cromwell’s offer. With the execution of King Charles I on 30 January 1649, the whole London clock trade was hit by recession. Ramsay’s workshop slowly ran out of work, and his patrons and customers melted away. By 1653, Ramsay was living in Holborn, London, within two doors of the Wounded Hart public house. Around 1660, he died a pauper, leaving behind his wife Sarah and their son William. Ramsay lived a precarious life right at the centre of power, serving two consecutive kings and circumnavigating a civil war and the Commonwealth's Lord Protector, Cromwell. Despite his chronic insolvency and the tumultuous times, he managed to produce some of the finest, most complex watches the world has ever seen. Dr John C Taylor OBE and Dr Kristin Leith, Senior Curator of Clocktime November 2023 End Notes [1] The Finch family – Anthony, Valerie, and their son, Adrian, a professor in the School of Earth and Environment Sciences at the University of St Andrews – recently published the most complete account to date of Ramsay’s life in Antiquarian Horology: see Finch et al. 2019. [2] Finch et a.l 2019, 177. [3] Note that the movement of this spring-driven, striking table clock has been extensively altered, probably in the late 17th century. The V&A asserts that some of the later alterations to the clock were done by the French clockmaker Louis David, whose name appears on the brass plate that covers Ramsay’s signature. The V&A maintains that the case was produced in France, because French clocks of this period have the same square base and domed bell cover pierced with openwork. [4] Finch et al. 2019, 183. It is also possible that King James VI and I knew of Ramsay through relations serving in his inner circle. He may have also kept tabs on Ramsay through Edward Herbert, who spent time in Paris in 1608 and met with France’s King Henry IV. In 1610, Herbert served the Prince of Orange in the Low Countries, returning to England in 1611. Eventually, in 1619, King James appointed Herbert as his ambassador in Paris. [5] Finch et al. 2019, 189. [6] Finch et al. 2019, 185. [7] Finch et al. 2019, 183. [8] Finch et al. 2019, 189, no. 35. [9] Camerer Cuss 2008, 34, pl. 10. [10] Bartram’s watch was recently auctioned at Sotheby’s in Geneva (2019, Sale Lot No. 58; see also Clutton and Daniels 1979, figs 109–111). [11] Finch et al. 2019, 188. [12] Finch et al. 2019, 177. [13] Finch et al. 2019, 192. [14] Finch et al. 2019, 196, no. 72. [15] Finch et al. 2019, 177. References Clutton, S. and G. Daniels. 1979. Watches: A complete history of the technical and decorative development of the watch (third edition). London: Sotheby Parke Bernet Publications. Cuss, T. C. 2008. The English Watch 1585–1970. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club. Finch, A. A., V. J. Finch and A. W. Finch. 2019. ‘David Ramsay, c. 1580-1659’ in Antiquarian Horology 40:2. Further Reading Dawson, P. G., C. B. Drover and D. W. Parkes. 1994 [1982]. Early English Clocks: A discussion of domestic clocks up to the beginning of the eighteenth century. Jaggar, C. 1983. Royal Clocks: the British monarchy and its timekeepers 1300–1900. London: Robert Hale. Loomes, B. 2014. Clockmakers of Britain: 1286–1700. Mayfield, Ashbourne: Mayfield Books.
