King James VI and I With the Union of the Crowns in 1603, King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England; thereafter, he reigned over both kingdoms until his death in 1625. Like his predecessor, Queen Elizabeth I, he too was fascinated by clocks and watches. Early in his reign, he appointed the gifted Scottish clock- and watchmaker David Ramsay as his Royal Clockmaker. James was born on the morning of 19 June 1566 at Edinburgh Castle. His mother was Mary, Queen of Scots, and his god mother was Queen Elizabeth I of England. At the time of his birth, the Kingdom of the Scots was in chaos. His father, Lord Darnley, had been assassinated when James was just seven months old. Then, just two months after his father’s death, his mother married Darnley’s assassin, Lord Boswell, who was suspected of Darnley’s murder but had been acquitted of the crime. By 1567, the Scottish lords had had enough of the intrigue and subterfuge. They incarcerated Queen Mary in Lochleven Castle and forced her to abdicate the throne of Scotland in favour of her son. Thus, at just one year of age, James was crowned King James VI of Scotland. Mary managed to escape her Scottish prison and fled south to seek protection from her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. Mary never saw her son or Scotland again, as Elizabeth famously imprisoned her for 19 years. On 8 February 1587, Mary was beheaded for treason at Fotheringhay Castle in England. Queen Elizabeth, James’ god mother, died on 24 March 1603. Because she had no children, James VI of Scotland was the heir apparent. He succeeded to the English throne and was crowned in London on 25 July 1603 as King James I of England. James inherited Queen Elizabeth’s latest Royal Clockmaker, Randolph Bull, who had been appointed to this position under a life stipend issued by the monarch. Despite this, James summoned the Scottish watchmaker David Ramsay from Paris and, in 1613, offered him two positions in the King’s household for a joint remuneration of £250 p.a. The watchmaker was appointed as Groom to the Privy Chamber and Page to the Bedchamber. He was also responsible for looking after the King’s clocks and watches. Ramsay found himself at the heart of power. The Privy Chamber was where the King met the Privy Councillors to discuss matters of state. The Bedchamber was even more exclusive, because it was here that the King was attended only by Ramsay. Thus, Ramsay, a Scot, had the King’s ear – a far more influential position than merely tending to the King’s clocks and watches. It may be presumed that the instalment of Ramsay in the royal household put the London clockmakers’ noses out of joint, as the Scot was a foreigner and had not served his time apprenticing under a master clockmaker in London. Around 1618, Ramsay made the exquisite King James Portrait Watch, which was most likely commissioned by the King. Inside its silver back cover is an engraved portrait of James picked out in red wax. The image is a copy of an etching of the King made by Simon de Passe and found in Bazilologia, a series of portraits of British monarchs published in 1618.[1] Documents also indicate that James ordered three watches from Ramsay for his son, Henry, Prince of Wales. The King and his two sons, Princes Henry and Charles, are depicted in an engraved scene on the bottom plate of the case of an outstanding table clock commissioned by the King and made by Ramsay between 1610 and 1615 (now housed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Accession No. M.7-1931). Horologist Dr John C Taylor argues that the movement is very much in the French style and was probably made before Ramsay was summoned back to London by the King in 1610. The engraved scene is provocatively anti-Catholic in sentiment, as it depicts a Catholic cardinal and three friars watching the proceedings in horror as King James and his two sons hold the Pope’s nose to a grindstone. In 1622, sixteen London clockmakers petitioned King James, asking that no foreign clockmakers be allowed to work in London. Unsurprisingly, with his Scottish Royal Clockmaker in his ear, James ignored the petition, and nothing came of it. King James VI and I died on 27 March 1625. His Royal Clockmaker, Ramsay, had been working in arrears throughout much of his tenure in the royal household.[2] Apparently, James rarely paid his royal servants on time, and Ramsay spent the bulk of his professional and remaining life strapped for cash and debt-ridden. Here on Clocktime, you can read more about Ramsay's career and struggles. End Notes [1] Clayton 1977, 30. [2] Finch et al. 2019. References Clayton, H. 1977. Royal Faces: 900 years of British monarchy. London: HMSO. Finch, A. A., V. J. Finch and A. W. Finch. 2019. ‘David Ramsay, c. 1580–1659’ in Antiquarian Horology 40:2. Further Reading Cuss, T. C. 2008. The English Watch 1585–1970. Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club. 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. Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors’ Club. 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.
