King James VI's thank you letter to 'Lady Minny' was brief but touching

Thank you letters can be daunting for any young child, even royalty

Many will remember the excitement of receiving a gift as a child. Some will also recall the seemingly inescapable chore that followed: the ‘thank you’ letter. What, after all, could one say to an aged relative after “thank you for my present”? Surely that would be too short.

However, it turns out there’s a historic, royal precedent for keeping such messages brief. At the age of seven, King James VI wrote a note to his guardian’s wife, Annabella Murray, which will feature in a new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery this month.

A childhood thank you letter written by King James VI is to go on show later this month as part of a new exhibition at National Galleries Scotland: Portrait. (Picture: National Galleries Scotland) | PA

“This is to schaw you that I have re-ceiuit your fruite & thankes you theifoir... I will not trouble you farther...,” he wrote. And that, apart from a “fair ye weill”, was pretty much that.

But while the letter, in handwriting that would be good for a seven-year-old today, is not long, we have no doubt that Murray, who looked after James when he was young, was moved. For James addressed her as “Lady Minny”, using an affectionate Scots term for mother.

Sometimes, brevity is no barrier to an expression of heartfelt emotions.