Thistle and rose entwined

James VI and I God's sillie vassal?

His father was blown up, his mother was beheaded; he was favoured by the greatest queen England had ever had and by right of birth and a twist of fate he united two kingdoms; he wrote and talked in Scots but authorised the translation of the Bible that was to profoundly influence the English language as no other book; he detested tobacco and witches and authorised the torture of the latter, but his writings helped to inspire one of the greatest of English plays Macbeth. James was a mass of contradictions, summed up accurately maybe in the epithet 'the wisest fool in Christendom'.

The beginnings of Britain

The union of the crowns brought a peace between the two nations after centuries of fighting, both in pitched battles and border raids. There would be fighting yet to come, even after the Act of Union in 1707 when the parliaments of both nations became one, particularly with the risings of the Stuart 'Pretenders' to the Crown, James Edward and Charles Edward Stuart. It was, however, the beginning of the United Kingdom, or Great Britain as James called it, and the King's authorisation of a union flag incorporating the red and white cross of St George and the blue and white saltire of St Andrew has been a symbol of unity ever since.

At the time the union didn't please everyone by any means, but James's greatest diplomatic achievement undoubtedly was his approach to religion, the most contentious of subjects which had been the cause of war and turmoil, including his mother's troubles with her Scottish subjects and her English cousin, Queen Elizabeth. His authorisation of a new translation of the Bible into common English, so that everyone could understand it, was not only an inspired move politically, it also added one of the greatest works in English to the literary canon and helped shape the language as no other book in history.

looking south

There was an irony in this that encapsulated James's not unnatural opportunism. He was himself a writer and in 1597 had published his book 'Daemonologie' (the analysis of witchcraft that Shakespeare drew on for 'Macbeth') and in 1604 wrote 'Counterblaste to Tobacco' one of the best argued cases against the noxious weed and he was later to write a number of theological works arguing the case for the Divine Right of Kings. But his mother tongue was Scots, not English, as was the tongue of his tutor, the stern George Buchanan, himself no believer in divine rights. The bounty that the King James Bible, published in 1611, gave to the English language, also reflects the bias James showed after 1603, favouring the English court and English writers like Shakespeare and Johnson. He had promised to return to Scotland every three years but only returned once in 1617.

Branching out

The truth is that, in many ways, there was more in it for the Scots than the English in 1603, certainly economically. James was canny enough to know this and he certainly encouraged the Scots to start colonisation along with the English, particularly in Virginia and Nova Scotia. And one of the other benefits his absence brought was a better postal service from London to Edinburgh!

The English, or many of them, may have chosen to ignore the union and the new relationship with neighbours 'north of the border'. They wondered what the Scots brought to the table. Since then, of course, Scots have brought many wonderful things to the table, especially in the fields of science, medicine and engineering, things that would enrich not only England but the world.

Modern Scotland

Today, it could be argued, the boot is on the other foot. Not only does Scotland have a devolved parliament and not only does it maintain its own legal and educational systems, it offers a high tech, modern economy, with an outstanding creative industry and a rich contemporary culture that embraces internationalism. Plus, of course, an outstanding natural environment and a great quality of life: a resource, in fact, that more and more of our 'neighbours at the table' are cottoning on to. At last*.

*Around 50% of people living in England have never visited Scotland! Maybe now's the day and now's the hour.