New scent that whiffs of a 'misunderstood' Scottish king linked to Mary, Queen of Scots

The heady days of James VI court have been captured in a new scent created for a major exhibition on the Stuart monarch who was the first to rule over Scotland, England and Ireland.

With just one sniff, you might find yourself transported into the presence of a king.

A new scent has been created to evoke the life and times of James VI and I as part of a major exhibition on the “often misunderstood” monarch born to Mary, Queen of Scots. James VI became king aged just one and was then the first to unite the crowns and rule over Scotland, England and Ireland.

Clara Weale has created a new scent connected to James VI as a new exhibition about the monarch is launched. The scent has been name 'Prescence'. Picture: Lisa Ferguson | Lisa Ferguson

The scent, called Presence, features strong hints of damask rose, clove, lemon and marjoram. The perfume gives way to the heavy musk of civet, which originates from the anal secretions of the small mammal found in Asia and Africa. For this new perfume, however, it has been artificially recreated.

The Scotsman’s Heritage newsletter highlights our rich history - subscribe today

Presence has been devised by perfumier Clara Weale using some of the ingredients listed in a 17th-century apothecary receipt found in Royal Household records. The items were used to perfume the privy chamber, the royal bedchamber and a banqueting house.

Double Portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI, 1580s. James VI is said to have had no memory of his mother, who he last saw when he was just 10-months old. PIC: Collection at Blair Castle, Perthshire. | Collection at Blair Castle, Perthshire.

Now, a sense of these highly perfumed 17th-century royal spaces can be experienced at The World of King James VI and I at National Galleries of Scotland: Portrait, with visitors able to open a display box and take a whiff of the heady scent.

 A new scent - called Presence - has been created to evoke life in the Royal Household during the reign of James VI. Portrait attributed to Attributed to Adrian Vanson. PIC: National Galleries of Scotland. | National Galleries of Scotland

Ms Weale said: “From the receipt you can really see that every element of royal life was fragranced. Scent is another form of decoration. It is a way of decorating the air around you and making sure that anyone who enters the space knows how special it is.

“If you smell of damask roses and civet, it means you are extremely wealthy. It is like a type of jewellery, or another crown.”

Ms Weale said using scent in exhibitions allowed visitors to “interact more deeply” with the subject.

This miniature portrait of James VI features in the exhibition along with this waistcoat, which reflects the decadence enjoyed in Royal circles during his reign. The garment, which is embroidered in silk and metal thread and finished with pink bows, dates to 1610. PIC: Collection of the Buchanan Society/Fashion Museum Bath. | NMS/ Collection of the Buchanan Society/Fashion Museum Bath.

She said: “I think everyone has experienced how powerful scent can be in triggering memories and transporting somewhere different from where you are in that moment in space and time .”

The World of King James VI and I will feature more than 140 rare objects to explore the story of the king, with the exhibition marking the 400th anniversary of his death.

Born at Edinburgh Castle into the the political and religious maelstrom of the 16th century, the first attempt on James VI’s life was when he was in womb of his mother, who was present during the murderous attack on her secretary, David Rizzio, at Holyrood in 1566.

James’ father, Lord Darnley, was killed in 1567 close to his Edinburgh home following an explosion at the property. The Earl of Bothwell, who became the third husband of the king’s mother just three months later, has long been the suspect-in-chief. James VI last saw his mother when he was ten months old, before she fled to England, and he had no memory of her.

Kate Anderson, who curated the exhibition, said: “He is quite a complex character and he's quite often misunderstood. His father was killed when he was a baby. He was taken away from his mother and raised away from her. And he had guardians that were really loving, but he didn't have brothers or sisters or a mother or a father.

“His early life has had quite an impact on him and I think when he's a teenager, he is surrounded by a lot of people that are trying to influence him. He had tutors and he had a series of regents that governed on his behalf and I think in a way, he felt a lot of the time quite suspicious about what people's motives were.

“There is all this rivalry and power play for positions of power, so I think he became a little bit paranoid, perhaps.

“Then, when he begins to look for a wife, he's very much wanting somebody that can produce a family. And I think because he has lacked that as a child, he's really keen that then he himself can have a family, not only to have an heir, but also he wants that kind of support system, that love.”

James VI married Queen Anne of Denmark in 1589, with the couple having three children, Henry, Elizabeth and Charles, who later became Charles I.

The king’s sexuality has long been debated given his close relationships with a number of men, with his detractors in the English court decrying him as “morally and literally dirty” and lecherous to men.

Ms Anderson said: “Absolutely James did have these like intimate relationships with males, so you could say that he has same-sex relationships. But we don't know what the nature of those relationships are. So, in terms of levels that of intimacy, we can't prove anything. But it's really clear that he did surround himself with men, often younger, attractive men, and he really enjoyed their company, and he certainly lavished them with attention.

“He was quite a physical king, so he touched people, he showed people affection, you know, in ways that maybe people weren't used to particularly in England.

“You have a lot of kind of propaganda and criticism of him as a king because he's too affectionate, and that's because they were used to Elizabeth I and then James comes in as a foreign king from a different country.”

It was his marriage to Queen Anne that spurred his paranoia about witchcraft. The deeply religious James VI launched the North Berwick witch trials in 1590 after becoming obsessed that a coven had conjured storms to try and kill his wife on a journey from Norway to Scotland.

Several items in the exhibition relate to his persecution of those accused of witchcraft, including a copy of Daemonologie, a treatise on witchcraft and the supernatural, and two charms which were carried during the time to ward off dark forces.

Objects which illuminate the “amazing court culture” that developed under the reign of James VI and Anne are also on show.

Ms Anderson said: “They were real patrons of the arts and they both commissioned beautiful jewels, paintings and important texts. There are all these craftspeople, the artists, the scholars, the musicians that are working in Scotland.

“I think quite often we see this period as being a really dark period that is to do with blood feuds and poisoning and kidnaps, but there really was this amazing court culture.”

The World of King James VI and I opens at the National Galleries of Scotland: Portrait on Saturday.