Quite by chance, and it was an entirely fortuitous thing, whilst I was researching an entirely different topic today I came upon a reference I had not seen before to a Scottish royal custom that is very similar to the English Royal Maundy.
In the new circumstances of the Union of the Crowns and the consequent absence of the King in London the Scottish Privy Council discussed continuing the established tradition of royal charity linked to the age of the monarch, which is usually presented as a particularly English custom, created by King Henry IV. How ancient the Scottish custom was, or when it fell into dissuitude I have not had time to discover, nor whether it was linked to Maundy Thursday.
The extract from the Privy Council records is as follows:
June 2 [1607]. – The Privy Council refer to ‘a very ancient and lovable custom’ of giving a blue gown, purse, and as many Scotch shillings as agreed with the years of the king’s age, to as many ‘auld puir men’ as likewise agreed with the king’s years; and seeing it to be ‘very necessary and expedient that the said custom should be continuit,’ they give orders accordingly.
No comments:
Post a Comment