I read with interest Tom Dowd's letter calling for a search for the body of James IV and expressing his regret that so little remains of Scotland's most popular king ("Trace the remains of King James IV", The Herald, February 14).
It is not widely known that the College of Arms in London keeps in its library the sword, dagger and ring taken from James's body and donated by the descendants of the Earl of Surrey, victor of Flodden, who was later created Duke of Norfolk.
Several years ago I attempted to have these objects returned to Scotland and was helped by many people, notably four leading armourers, two Scottish, one Spanish and one English, who were kind enough to give me their opinions.
Though a striking drawing of the relics exists, no close photographs could be obtained – the college refused to provide them. My attempts failed due to the lack of interest of the Museum of Scotland which informed me it intended sending someone to London to examine the objects, but never did and stopped replying to my inquiries.
One of the Scottish armourers believes, as I do, the sword and dagger are of Spanish manufacture – indeed the name Domingo, possibly the maker, can be seen in the drawing. It seems likely the weapons were a diplomatic gift from Spain, which was at the forefront of weapon design at that time. The turquoise and gold ring is believed to be the one sent by Anne of Brittany, twice Queen of France, as an inducement to James to attack England. As such it would be a rare emblem of the Auld Alliance.
I have spoken to two people who have seen the relics in the College of Arms. One of them told me they are "lying in an old fish tank with some Zulu spears and other trophies of war".
It seems neither King James nor his belongings have been accorded any dignity in death – a completely unacceptable situation. I commend the efforts of Tom Dowds and, recently, Gary Stewart of the Wallace Society and interested MSPs in looking into this and hope the king's belongings can be brought home for the first time in 500 years.
Elspeth Crocket,
84 Strathleven Drive, Alexandria.
King James IV of Scotland was buried at Sheen Monastery in Surrey.
It has been suggested that remains may be buried under the course at Richmond Golf Club.
I have read that, after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the king's head was hacked off by a workman.
As I recall, James IV's head was associated with a London city church, Holy Trinity, Minories. After its closure, the king's reputed head was said to have been kept in a black deed box at St Botolph's, Bishopsgate, which is still in existence as a church.
Graeme Allen,
3 The Terrace,
Ardbeg Road, Rothesay.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article