The story begins..

Charles 1 was born in Dunfermline on 19th November 1600 the last British Monarch to be born in Scotland. He was a sickly child unable to speak until the age of five, and so weak in the legs that he had to travel around on his hands and knees until the age of seven.

Charles became the heir apparent following the death of his older brother Henry in 1612. The death of the vigorous and athletic Henry was a blow to the establishment who were hoping for a manly King after two Queens, Elizabeth and Mary and the aged James 1.

Charles, however, developed quickly to fill his brothers shoes. Apart from a stammer, he outgrew his defects and became a skilled horseman and marksman, taking great pleasure in hunting. He was also an accomplished musician scholar and student of theology.

As a young man Charles was influenced by the Duke of Buckingham, who accompanied him in 1623 when he went to woo the Spanish Infanta, The attempt was doomed to failure, as Charles would have had to convert to Catholicism for Spanish consent, an impossibility for the heir to the British thrones.

The relief felt in Britain was swiftly quashed by Charles' engagement to the French Princess Henrietta Maria, as the marriage articles pledged her freedom to practice Catholicism, and allowed upbringing of any, children until the age of 13.

Charles was married in 1625, the year he succeeded, to the throne. The marriage had a difficult start and within a year, despite the Queen's tearful protestations he deported her entire troublesome retinue of 30 priests and over 400 attendants. After this the relationship, settled down.

Charles tried to dispense with parliament as far as possible, and was an absolute monarch by nature. He was cool, obstinate, and quite devious if need be. He relied on favourites such as Buckingham who were able to gain great personal profit from their privileged positions. After Buckingham's murder in 1628, there were two spheres of influence on the King. One a Catholic tendency from the Queen, Treasurer Weston, and Cottington the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The other was a high Anglican style Protestantism, known as Arminianism espoused by Bishop Laud. Both trends were anathema to the attitudes and beliefs of most people in Britain and especially to the Calvinism widespread in Scotland, with its rejection of hierarchy and its dour sense of predestination.

King Charles was a great lover of art and culture and amassed a huge collection of paintings from all over Europe. He w as also very fond of drama, poetry and music Britain had never before or since experienced the magnificence of Charles' court which rivalled that of any court in Europe at the time. The style at the court was a reflection of the King, a mannered high culture, in contrast to the more riotous, nature of his father's court. Yet it still placed a great burden on the Exchequer, and was characterised by those on the outside as "popery, pictures and play acting".

The 1630's were times of change in the country. Having dissolved the English Parliament in 1629, Charles was ruling as an absolute monarch, all decisions on internal government and foreign policy were his. He had instigated some action for poor relief and other social measures, but the government constantly spent more than it raised.

The economy was in recession bringing widespread hardship to the common man. Bad weather led to poor harvests 1630 being particularly bad. A trade slump especially in textiles, had been affecting the economy since 1629. This combined with rent and food price rises had led to unemployment and poverty.

Increasing numbers of people were on the move from country to the towns or to the new colonies overseas, and in the case of the Scottish male population. many thousands were finding employment as mercenaries on, mainland Europe and as far afield as Central Asia.

Charles' elder sister Elizabeth had married Frederick V, a German Prince, the Elector Palatine in 1613. As one of the leading European Protestant ruling families, many Scots fought for him at the outset of the 30 Years War when he took the crown of Bohemia in 1619.  His defeat in 1620 led the Scots to support the Danish and Swedish royal families. Gustavus Adolphus the King of Sweden's entry into the 30 Years War in 1630 was accomplished with an army that included over 12,000 Scots.

By 1631 Charles was instructing the Duke of Hamilton to raise further men for. the European War and he campaigned with the Swedes in 1632. The death of Gustavus Adolphus in November of 32, had brought a lull in the war and during the summer of 1633 a conference was held in Heilbronn, attended by Sir Robert Anstruther as Ambassador Extraordinary, to discuss the continued prosecution of the Protestant cause.

The depressed state of the country and unsettled nature of European politics, still dealing with the aftermath of the Reformation encouraged the spread of many diverse religious cults, superstition and belief in astrology and witchcraft.

"Thoughts are things". Witchcraft and sorcery are based in the belief that certain persons within a community may harm their fellow man through supernatural means by use of charms, spells curses enchantments and the creation of storms. Belief in witch craft or black-magic was age old and had a powerful hold on the superstitious mind. Witches and sorcerers were believed to be able to kill others or make them ill by invisible means, or cause people to become victims of accidents, or to destroy the property of others. Many ‘epidemics’ of witchcraft occurred in medieval Europe, they are now recognised by anthropologists as a psychological social symptom attributable to political and religious upheaval and economic changes of the time. The 16^th and 17th centuries were particularly affected by "witch-crazes" becoming more hysterical as the centuries progressed. It is also Suggested that the Reformation removed magic from religion, so people looked elsewhere for the miraculous.

The Scottish Coronation of Charles 1 was intended to cement the relationship between the Monarch and the nation. And after eight postponements, many felt he was ruling his native and ancient Kingdom with scant respect.

The Scots had waited eight years for Charles' visit and were determined to put on a spectacular show. The King was equally determined to make his mark on Scotland and travelled up in splendid self-sufficiency with a huge entourage of 250 lords and courtiers, nearly one thousand servants and all their baggage including a silver gilt banqueting service for over 200 people.

The rivalry between the Scots and the English is nothing new. Edward Kellie, Director of Music at Holyrood, went to London to convince the King that he and his musicians could organise the music better "than could be done by strangers". Nevertheless 26 singers and musicians came north with the King. Clan chiefs from the Highlands were invited "in their best order, before the English and make a display."

The actual form of the ceremony was much discussed, disputed and revised, with overall-responsibility falling to The Lord Lyon King of Arms, Sir James Balfour, from whose account much of this story has come to light. Coins and medals were specially minted by Nicholas Briot which were to be thrown to the crowds as the King passed, by while "the trumpets sounded and were answered by the castell of Edinburgh whith the thundering of great ordinance."

Great care was taken to organise the order of the procession. In an age when pecking-order was so important it was very difficult to avoid giving offence to someone or other.

For the King's progress through the country each parish was ordered to make road repairs and all the towns on the route to be well-furnished :

"With all kynde of provision for men and horse, with lodgings cleane, handsome, and neat. Bedding and naperie to be clean and weill smelled. And no middins or beggars to be seene in the streets."

The pageantry in the streets of Edinburgh was organised by William Drummond of Hawthornden. He presented a tableau, where the gods of Olympus, the. Kings of Scotland and other Scottish worthies appeared with the spirit of Scotland. A nymph representing the spirit of Edinburgh with Religion on her right and Justice on her left, presented Charles with the keys to the city in a silver basin.

One of the Lords accompanying the King was Sir James, Hay, Earl of Carlisle, born at Carnbee in Fife. He was the keeper of the Great Wardrobe and concentrated on the finer things of life. Possibly the most extravagant Scot ever, he received nearly half a million pounds from the Crown during his life, (not including his own, extensive property) yet died leaving nothing whatsoever. He was probably the organiser of the banqueting during Charles' visit.

Among his well documented stunts was the "Ante-Supper". When the guests arrived they were greeted by the sight of a Magnificent banquet laid out on the tables. After they had walked around and admired everything it was, naturally, getting cold. So, the entire wonderful feast was removed and replaced with an identical banquet which was then eaten, hot!

His charm and generosity (at the exchequer's expense) meant that despite being an "upstart Scot", he had no enemies, only friends at the English court.

Throughout Charles' visit, despite the efforts by both the Scots and the King, all the pomp and pageantry could not paper over the cracks that were beginning to show in their relationship.

Firstly the long delay,- before the Kings visit had caused resentment.   Secondly the extravagant religious trappings of the Coronation Ceremony were widely perceived as "Popish" by the Calvinist Scots. This was followed by a rowdy banquet which disrupted neighbouring church services and the King's seemingly cold personality, all served to undermine the "public relations" element as far as Edinburgh was concerned.

Third, the King was trying to kill too many birds with one visit. While he was touring central Scotland, his favourite bishop William Laud was on a separate tour, canvassing support for a new prayer book and changes in the form of worship practised by the Scots, while sympathetic bishops were being appointed to senior positions in the Scottish Church.

In addition Charles angered parliament by his attempts to reclaim former church property acquired by the Scots Lords during the Reformation. The Lords were equally angered by the King; one such, the Earl of Dunfermline was pointedly snubbed by Charles. Whilst the Earl awaited the King's arrival at Dunfermline with an escort of 2,000 horsemen. Charles altered his route to avoid them and only sent word several hours after his arrival.

Charles was not very good at making friends, nor did he realise how much he would need them in the future.  After the coronation, the plan was for Charles to tour central Scotland, to confer honours and receive tributes. He was to stay at his Royal Palaces: Linlithgow, Stirling, Dunfermline and Falkland in that order. The only alteration in the actual journey was a trip from Falkland to Perth, (then known as St. Johnstoun), where he spent the night at Gowrie House. He attended a banquet "on the banks of the Tay" where there was Morris Dancing, a play and "real highlanders".

The Royal Palaces were cleaned up, repaired and any occupants removed. At each palace, extravagant banquets were laid on by the King to entertain his guests. This is why he travelled with such a large retinue of cooks and servants and a dining service to seat over 200 people. The exception to this was Falkland Palace, where the prime purpose was for the King to indulge his passion for hunting on Saturday, and to spend a quiet religious Sunday as was his custom. He never travelled or worked on a Sunday.

The banqueting was exceptionally lavish and at that time viewed, as a statement of style and taste by which a person could be judged. To the extent that the nobility tried to outdo one another in extravagance.

A year later Privy Council records tell of a group of Lancashire witches accused of, amongst other things, causing the shipwreck. Several of them were brought to London for investigation. It is not clear how country folk in England managed to sink a ship several hundred miles away, but it does indicate an official desire to blame the sinking on the Devil's mischief rather than God's judgement.

Charles I's Scottish visit does however, mark the beginning of a chain of events which led to the Covenanter Wars five years later. They led directly to the English Civil War, the execution of Archbishop Laud and the King himself.

None of this was inevitable but the Scots were not prepared to compromise on matters of religion and Charles was not prepared to compromise on anything. So the ominous portents and undercurrents of 1633 were not just false alarms, and the loss of the ship and its contents off Burntisland was just the first of a series of losses for King Charles.

Charles returned to London largely empty handed, doubtless hoping to put this public relations disaster behind him. After crossing the border he rode to London in four days, over 100 Miles per day.

The Firth of Forth has been an internationally important shipping area since Roman times when, according to the historian Tacitus, Agricola explored the anchorage and harbours on the North side in the summer of 83 a.d. Burntisland was possibly the base for these operations, having the deepest and safest anchorage and being easily defendable

In those days and on into the middle ages, Fife was densely forested, with rough mountainous terrain and a deeply indented coastline. All this made overland travel and communication difficult and dangerous; so water transport was as vital to the Romans as it was to the Scottish Kings who needed a system of ferries and coastal shipping to ensure effective Government.

Even so, it was not really until the 18th Century that the remoter parts came under central control. By this time the great oaks and, pines of Fife had been used up in the building of ships.

After the Romans withdrew from Scotland, a series of visitors came into the Forth, most notably the Vikings and the Norsemen. but although battles were fought they did not manage to colonise as they did in Eastern England, Western Scotland and Ireland. Perhaps the natives were too fierce whatever the reason., there is little evidence of settlement.

The strategic importance of Burntisland and the Forth was illustrated during the wars of the Reformation in 1559 when Mary the Queen Regent sent over 2,000 French troops to capture the town without which it would have been impossible to move against the Protestant Lords' in Fife.

A century later in 1651, Cromwell's army under General Monck was unable to move North until, after several failed attacks, and the slaughter of 5200 Scots troops at Pitreavie, the town was able to negotiate an honourable surrender.

In 1633, when King Charles crossed the Forth, the ports were busy and prosperous. There was ferry traffic, and the newly developing coal industry as well as the traditional trade links with Scandinavia, the Baltic states and the Low Countries.

Fishing was less important as the Dutch fleets controlled much of the North Sea fishing grounds. This was a recurring grievance, which combined with the trade disruption caused by the Civil War led to encourage local merchant captains to indulge in piracy, especially against Dutch vessels. In 1666 this activity was legitimised by the Privy Council issuing Letters of Marque allowing Privateering, provided half the proceeds were handed to the Crown.

The Dutch were sufficiently annoyed to send a fleet into the Forth in 1667 and attacked Burntisland. The Privateers were trapped in the harbour and had to rely on the shore batteries to reply to the naval bombardment. When more Dutch vessels arrived the situation looked bleak, but a strong westerly wind forced them to retreat.

The ports of the Forth, and the East of Scotland in general, never recovered the prestige and vitality they enjoyed in the Middle Ages. The ravages of war, the shift of emphasis toward transatlantic trade in the 18th century and the Union with England in 1707, all contributed to the decline. There was a fishing and whaling bonanza during the last century, now all but gone

Today activity in the Forth centres around the oil industry. Rigs are now part of the landscape and so are the huge tankers making their way to Grangemouth and Mossmorran. The large naval base at Rosyth has now gone.