Evening star., 1937-07-03

her successor. Carey had brought the
news, in our vernacular, off his own
bat" antlclpa ting some mark Of
royal favor in reward. He had ridden
the 400 miles between London and
Edinburgh in less than three days. a
record in time and endurance that
was not broken till the age of steam.
The man in the street, and the
woman, too, might ask why Scot
lands James VI should step into the
shoes of Elizabeth Tudor. The an
sWer is-through family connection
the loom on which much of the fabric
OF history is woven. Just century
before, in 1903, Elizabe aunt, Mar
garet Tudor, sister IF much
Henry VIII, had married James w
OF Scotland. 1t was for her that
Holyrood Palace was built anew, and
the union was POLITICALLY celebrated
by the laureate of the day in his
work, THE Wedding of the Thistle
and the Rose"
Although Margaret Tudor was TO
be widowed within 10 years and to
become divorce. at the time of her
marriage in Holyroods Chapel RovaI
she won all hearts. She was a moth
erless child of IL. pawn in the game
OF international politics. even II she
was marrying the most eligible bach
elor OF the age and the best-loved of
the Stuart kings. James had passed
81, and the question of a suitable
bride for him had burned for some
time. The Earl Of Surrey brought
the little Tudor princess down the
aisle of the ancient chapel. her fair
hair flowing over her gorgeous we'd
ding gown, and few PAGES behind
walked the elderly governess who had
shared the month-long journey from
England with her little charge.
HE sixth of the Stuart Jameses was
grandson of this union, and
when Elizabeth died childless our
cousin of Scotland" was her next
heir.
The day after Sir Roger Carev's
dramatic arrival King James VI rode
forth in state from Holyrood for his
much larger and richer English cap
ltal. He told his Scottish subjects he
would revisit them every second year.
but the lure of London proved more
powerful than his promise, and IA
years went by before Edinburgh saw
him again. Travel in these times was
diffcult-at least that served as an
excellent eXcuse-and until railroads
effected a revolution in this respect
the kings of Great Britain did not
favor Scotland much with their pres
ence.
1t was Queen Victoria who redis.
covered Scotland and King Edward
VII wisely revived the practice of
holding royal court in Holyrood Tho
palace also resumes her air Of an
clent splendor for two weeks everv
Spring, during the annual meeting
OF the General Assembly of the
Church of Scotland Since the union
OF 1907 the King has sent a high
commissioner to represent him per-
Sonally at this essentially Scottish
kirk ceremonial The high commits
sloner, who resides in Holvrood and
holds state functions in his sover-
elgns name, is always some one Of
much prominence. The present King
and Queen filled the office in 1929,
as did the Duke and Duchess of Kent
in 1885, and John Buchan, now Can
adas governor general and Lord
TNeedsmuir to boot. was high COM
missioner in 1888 and 1884
The environs of Holyrood have all
tered greatly in the course of the
centuries. and today breveries pre-
vail in the immediate neighborhood.
AS long ago as last January the off,
clals of these concerns arranged that
the coopers tmakers of casks, who
usually begin work at $50 am, will
not start their hammering till
O'Clock during the week of the roval
visit. Such a courtesy will permit
the court inhabitants some extra
sleep. and the working populace will
be reviving Sir Harry Ladders roll
licking song:
oh. it's nice to get up in the mornin'
But it's nicer to lie in your bed"