West Port The "
Entry" took place on Tuesday 19 May 1590. The queen entered the town at the West Port, a gate to the west part of Edinburgh, west of the
Grassmarket. A lawyer,
John Russell, gave a speech in Latin. The town gate was decorated with tapestry and above the roadway there was a platform for musicians. A globe was lowered to the queen's coach; it opened to reveal a boy (Russel's son) dressed in red velvet with a white taffeta cloak. He gave the queen a Bible, a key to the city, and a jewel, while reciting a verse. The globe, which had been borrowed from Dundee, closed up and was winched up again. The boy represented "Edina", the female embodiment of Edinburgh. The Bible was bought from
Nicoll Uddart, bound in gilt Morocco leather, and presented in a pocket made of purple velvet supplied by
Robert Jousie. Two symbolic silver keys were made by an Edinburgh goldsmith,
John Cunningham.
The Convoy of the Moors As part of the ceremony, when Anne of Denmark was in the town, fifty people walked in front of her coach, to make way through the crowds. Some wore masks of the colour of the base metals: lead, copper, or iron. Some had blackened their faces and arms, others had masks, black sleeves, and gloves, and they wore black ankle boots with white buskins or leggings on their calves. These were young men from Edinburgh representing African people, described at the time as "Moors". The leader of this group was an African man holding a sword, while his followers had long white staffs to make room. Some wore costumes like sailors' tunics of white taffeta or silver cloth, and gold necklaces, and wore gold links set with precious stones at their noses and ears or mouths. They wore short trousers and had blackened their legs to the thigh. The painting and make-up cost 42 shillings. Their performance included walking stiffly, or half in dance, with high steps like a stork in water, staggering as if drunk, or crouching forwards as they passed. The poet
John Burell described the variety of precious stones worn by the "Moirs" in nineteen stanzas of verse. According to Burrell, these men represented the "Moirs" of "the Inds" who lived in comparative ease and comfort by the golden mountain of "SYNERDAS" and came to honour the queen in Edinburgh, unlike the followers of
Faunus who scratched a living in the wilderness;"Into the seruice of our Queene,Thay offert thair maist willing mynds,Thir are the MOIRS, of quhom I mene,Quha dois inhabit in the ynds:Leving thair land and dwelling place,For to do honour to hir Grace.Thay have na scant, nor indigence,Quhair thay do dwell, and have exces,Nor yit thay have na residence,With PHAUNUS, God of wildernes:Bot thay do dwell, quhair thay were wont,Beside SYNERDAS goldin mont." Mary, Queen of Scots had been accompanied by the same performance during her
Entry to Edinburgh in September 1561, and their costumes then were made from white taffeta. They were called the "convoy". At
Mary's wedding to Lord Darnley in 1565, a similar offer of service to the queen was made by actors representing Ethiopian and Libyan people, who offered their hands and minds. An African man described as "
ane Moir" was a member of Anne of Denmark's household in October 1590 and was bought clothes with the queen's pages, although it not known if this was the same person as the leader of the "moors" at the Entry.
Jemma Field and other scholars including
Miranda Kaufmann propose that the same man was the performer in both events and was also the man recorded as the member of the queen's household. The African servant in the queen's household is not recorded in later years and may have died in July 1591. In 1594 an African actor took part in the
masque at the baptism of Prince Henry, and he may have been the performer at the 1590 Entry.
The Horoscope Anne progressed in her coach under a canopy called the "paill" up the narrow street from the Grassmarket called the West Bow, where a boy with mathematical instruments played the female personification of Astronomy, "
Astronomia" or "
Astrologia", reciting Anne's fortune and the children she would bear in Latin verse composed by the
schoolmaster Hercules Rollock. The actor predicted a hail storm and white sugar sweets were thrown from the windows of houses overlooking the scene, near
Riddle's Court. The child said this rain would fall into her lap, proving the truth of his prediction, alluding to the legend of
Danaë. The 12 boxes of sweets, described as "scrotcherts and confects", cost £3-2s–8d
Scots. Anna's canopy was carried by six men, three teams were appointed to serve in stages through the streets of Edinburgh. They were mostly merchants, the crafts were represented by the saddler
Robert Abercromby.
The Muses At the top of the street on the
Royal Mile there was a weigh house for butter, called the "Butter Tron". There nine young women from Edinburgh were dressed as the
Muses. They had elaborate costumes, and held gilt books. John Burrell described the costume in verse. They curtsied, and sang, but did not speak; instead another schoolboy spoke for them in verse, explaining to Anne that the muses served the king and she would be their refuge and mother.
The Virtues Outside
St Giles Kirk there was a large stage, on which stood the mother Virtue or Piety crowned with her four daughters dressed in black silk with chaplets of flowers on their head. Virtue took off her crown and gave it to the queen. Virtue's speech exhorted Anne to welcome her daughters,
Prudence,
Justice,
Fortitude and
Temperance into her home where they would watch over her. Each daughter then came forward, Prudence with an
astrolabe in her hand, who counselled against the laziness that brings misfortune; Justice, with her sword and scales, explained that strong castles are built on the principle of equity; Fortitude, with the club of
Hercules and a shield, advised humility in success and patience in failure to disregard sorrow. Temperance, with her hourglass and bridle, counselled self-control. Mother Virtue concluded that the Word of God was the greatest wealth. Then
Psalm 120 was sung. The five actors were young men dressed as women. Another account of the event says they held the usual traditional attributes, Prudence a serpent and dove, Fortitude a broken pillar, and Temperance a cup of wine. This discrepancy could be resolved by assuming that the performance involved the virtues picking up these alternative objects.
Banquet of Bacchus and Ceres spoke from
Psalm 107 on those 'went down to the sea in ships' Anne of Denmark got out of her coach and walked into St Giles under the red velvet canopy or "paill" flanked by Peder Munk and Lord Hamilton, while a choir sang
Psalm 19. Robert Bruce preached on the subject of
Psalm 107, a reflection of thanksgiving for the safe return of mariners; then
Psalm 23 was sung. Outside the church, where the
Mercat Cross is now situated, the next pageant showed the ancestry of the kings of Denmark and the arms of previous Scottish queen consorts. Nearby were
Bacchus and
Ceres, played by schoolboys, offering a banquet referring to the abundance of the lands of the queen's "morning gift". A big older actor, who had been seated on a wine barrel, got up and threw food gifts into the crowd of spectators.
The Family Tree At the place where salt was weighed, the "Salt Tron", where the
Tron Kirk is now, an artificial tree had five stages or branches with boys representing kings and queens with the arms of the monarchs of Denmark and Scotland. At the base of the tree a king in armour resting on a couch was
Christian I of Denmark, a common ancestor of James VI and Anne, from whom these monarchs descended, as the Biblical kings
sprang from Jesse. For Anne's benefit, a boy rehearsed her family tree. The display would have highlighted the marriage of
Margaret of Denmark to
James III of Scotland in 1469.
Solomon and the Queen of Sheba The final pageant of the Entry took place at the East Port or Netherbow, the gate on the Royal Mile to the Canongate that leads to Holyroodhouse. A dialogue between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was dramatised. The queen said she had come to Solomon to study his unequalled wisdom. She brought him the balsam that does not grow in Scotland, and thanked him for his company which was like drinking at Pallas Athena's breast. Solomon replied that she should always remain in his respect and honour, and so good-night. Then another schoolboy explained to Anne of Denmark that as the Queen of Sheba had desired to meet Solomon, so James had travelled to meet her, and now all Scotland would serve her. He gave Anne of Denmark the town's gift of a jewel, which was lowered from the Netherbow with a length of silk ribbon. Anne returned down the Canongate to Holyroodhouse, according to John Burrell, still accompanied by the 40 or 50 young men in costume as "moors".
Adrian Damman explains that at Holyrood they tied bronze bells to the white buskins or shanks they wore on their lower legs, and began to dance, in contrast to their slow processional walk, as if they were
Corybants followers of the goddess
Cybele. After supper at Holyrood Palace, James and Anne watched a
sword dance by the light of bonfires. Seventeen dancers wore bells and newly made suites or "stands" of
Highland clothes, made by David Paterson.
The Jewel The town of Edinburgh had obtained a royal jewel in security for a loan of £6,000
Scots to the king in 1584, a locket set with a diamond and emerald. In October 1589 the Provost
John Arnot cancelled the loan and gave the jewel back to the king as a gift as a marriage gift. The jewel had remained in the family of a previous Provost,
Alexander Clerk, and was delivered to William Fairlie, who commissioned the goldsmith David Gilbert to remake and enlarge it as a gift to present to the queen. It is sometimes said the purpose of the original loan had to been to finance ambassadors sent to England to plead for the life of
Mary, Queen of Scots, but that loan seems to be a different transaction, for £4,000.
David Calderwood said the jewel was called the "A", probably referring to the crowned initial or cipher of "A" on its case. An account of payments made by William Fairlie for making the jewel, its case, the books given to the queen during the Entry, the "paill" canopy and other items, and the town treasurer's account with payments for building the scaffold, props and some costume, are still in Edinburgh City Archives.
The Danish party Danish gentlemen in Edinburgh included the councillors: Admiral Peder Munk,
Steen Brahe,
Breide Rantzau, and Dr Nicolaus Theophilus; and the gentlemen: Ove Liunge, Jørgen Brahe (1553–1601),
Hannibal Gyldenstierne of Restrup (1548–1608), Henning Giøye (marshal), Anders Thot, Steen Biter, Jakob Krabbe, Erik Kaas, Christian Friis, Cirsysest Tinshome, Bekis Linffinkit, Henning Reventlow (1551–1624), and "Pachin Webenn" or Joachim von Veltheim (1564–1621) from
Braunschweig. The officers of the ships included: Peder Munk, the admiral on the
Gideon; Steen Madsen his lieutenant; Henrik Gyldenstierne the vice-admiral on the
Josaphad with his lieutenant, Hans Concellour; Alexander Duram of the
Raphael with his lieutenant Klaus Bold; Neils Skink of the
Gabriel with his lieutenant Jakob Trugard; Hans Rostok of the
Dove with Ove Winshour; Kild Bauld of the
Blue Lion; Herwick Braun of the
Little Sertoun; Hans Symonsoun of the
Mouse; John Syde, captain of the
Rose; Jørgen Mowst of the
Falcon of Birren. Several of these men, with Scottish partners, rode before the queen's coach to the Entry on 19 May from Holyroodhouse to the West Port. ==Aftermath==