In 1603 James VI of Scotland inherited the throne of Elizabeth I and moved to London with his wife, Anna of Denmark, to become James I of England. Their English court is renowned for its masquing activity, with Anna and her ladies, in particular, enthusiastic participants in the spectacular masques designed and composed by Inigo Jones and Ben Jonson. Until now little has been known of the couple’s involvement in such performances during their reign in Scotland; scarcity of evidence of masquing at the Scottish court has contributed to a loose impression that James was indifferent and that Anna’s interest flowered only in England. But surviving evidence in clothing accounts, at least during the early years of their marriage, shows the King and Queen both engaging in maskerie on a number of occasions. This essay explores what this as yet little-known evidence can show us about the materials, activities, and occasions of royal maskerie in Scotland.

We are dependent on the records of expenditure on royal clothing for this evidence. In the early years of James’s reign, these are recorded in the Scottish Treasurer’s Accounts. But in 1590, perhaps following James’s marriage, it seems to have been decided that the King’s and Queen’s wardrobe should be funded directly out of the yearly subsidy granted to James by Elizabeth I throughout most of his reign. From that time onwards, most wardrobe payments disappear from the Treasurer’s Accounts. However, there survives a detailed account of materials supplied for clothing for James VI and Anna of Denmark at the Scottish court through the 1590s, made by the merchant and financier Robert Jousie, and funded largely from the subsidy paid by Queen Elizabeth. On at least four occasions in 1591 and 1592, fabrics for clothes were bought for maskerie. These entries will be discussed below. The records give a vivid picture of colours and fabrics but describe ensembles only as ‘maskerie clothes’ rather than giving any particular garment names. These costumes and the masques at the Scottish court in early 1590s are not well known. No maskerie costumes appear to have been bought after 1592, perhaps because of a lack of occasion, or the pregnancies of the Queen.