Notes on The Game of Kings

Page numbers are taken from the following editions: G.P. Putnam's Sons (New York, 1961); Century Publishing Co. (London, 1982); and Vintage Books' trade paperback.  Numbers in brackets after an entry refer to sources listed in the bibliography. Translations are mine unless otherwise noted.

References are in the order they appear in the book.  To search for any item, hit control-F and type the word.

The Dedication - p. 5
 Alastair MacTavish Dunnett - Dorothy Dunnett's husband (d. 2000)
Dorothy Eveline Millard Halliday - Dorothy Dunnett's mother

Opening Gambit: Threat to a Castle - pp. 11 to 31 -  August, 1547
 

Page	Item
11	"First of ye chekker..."  The colophon is from The Game and Playe of the Chesse" by William Caxton. (London, 1477) (3)
11	Campvere (51 30N, 3 35E) (4) the modern port of Veere in the Netherlands
11	Edinburgh - capital city of Scotland (55 57N, 3 13W)  (4) [For a picture of the city and of Edinburgh castle,  click here.]
12	Nor' Loch A loch (Scottish lake) that existed in the 16th century below Edinburgh castle, in the area that now contains a park and the railway station.
12	snipe any of several wading birds of the genus Gallinago, which breed in marshes and have a long, sharp bill (1)
12	woodcock - a genus of birds related to snipes, bulk the body is bulkier and the leg shorter (1)
12	the baillie a Scots magistrate who is presides in a burgh court, elected by the town council from among the councillors, or a Chief magistrate of a barony or county   (1)
12	The Earl of Arran (3) James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran, 3rd Baron (c. 1515-1575) Regent and tutor of Mary Queen of Scots from to 1554.
12	The Queen Mother, Marie de Guise, also known as Mary of Lorraine (2) [Picture here] Widow of James V of Scotland, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, daughter of the powerful Claude de Lorraine, 1st Duc de Guise (1519-1563).
12	"the redheaded baby Queen" Mary Queen of Scots (1542-1587) (2), daughter of James V of Scotland, born at Linlithgow castle while her father was dying at Falkirk
12	"the boy King Edward, aged nine" Edward VI, Protestant King of England from 1547 to 1553, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, his third wife. (2)
12	Holyrood Palace A royal residence in Edinburgh, build by James IV in 1498.  [For a picture of it,  click here.]
12	"the total defeat ... at Flodden" (53 37N, 2 8W)  (4) The site of a battle between the English and the Scots on September 9, 1513.  Flodden Field is near the River Till.  A description of the war and of this battle can be found here.
12	oriflamme (1) a small banner made of red silk, split into two points, as the ancient royal standard of France. [For picture click here.]
12	High Street Part of the main street of Edinburgh at the top of the cliff leading to Edinburgh Castle. [For picture click here.]
13	Charybdis (1) From Homer's Odyssey, a monster who swallowed the sea three times a day and then threw it up.
13	dogtooth violet (1) any plant of the lilaceous genus Erythronium; a pretty blue wildflower that grows in shade.
13	Gosford Close One of many closes on top of the Edinburgh escarpment, near Edinburgh High Street.  A close is a short, quiet dead-end street or narrow passage.
13	"boar's head in chief" The Tennant coat of arms.  "In chief" means that the boar's head is shown in the upper part of the shield. (1)
13	Kurdistan carpet Turkish carpet - Kurdistan is a mountainous region of Turkey.  Mungo Tennant is rich.
14	"a voice like St. Columba's" (521-597) (2) Irish apostle of Christianity in Scotland.  According to his biographer Adamnan: "I must not pass over another well-authenticated story, told, indeed, by those who heard it, regarding the voice of the blessed man in singing the psalms. The venerable man, when singing in the church with the brethren, raised his voice so wonderfully that it was sometimes heard four furlongs off, that is five hundred paces, and sometimes eight furlongs, that is one thousand paces."
14	Stirling Castle (56 8N, 3 57N) (4) Historic seat of the Scots kings.  [Pictures here.]
14	"Protector Somerset" (2) Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1506-1552).  Protestant English soldier and statesman, ruled England with the title "Protector" for his nephew Edward VI when Henry VIII died in 1547.
14	Cumberland (4) Hilly county of NE England, south of the western border of Scotland.
14	"Buccleuch's whispers promenaded" A typo in some editions.  The text (corrected in later editions) should be, "Buccleuch's whiskers promenaded."
14	Wild Jagd (5) A ghostly hunter who, with his horses and dogs, was heard (but seldom seen) in the forests of Germany, France, and Scotland.  Burger wrote a poem about him which was imitated by Scott.  The legend is retold in his notes to Ballads From the German.
15	dislimned (1) - effaced
15	"As my lady of Suffolk saith, God is a marvelous man." (5)  - Katherine Parr in a letter to Thomas Seymour, quoted in C. Goff, A Woman of the Tudor Age, p. 173; a book about Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk. Also: Sitwell, Fanfare for Elizabeth, p. 187.
15	“Nouvelle amour, nouvelle affection; nouvelles fleures parmi l’herbe nouvelle.”  "A newly-found love, a newly-found affection, new flowers among the freshly-grown grass." [My translation.] From a poem by Maurice Scève, French Renaissance poet (1510-1564). (2)
15	Sea-Catte The name of the ship on which Lymond came back to Scotland.  "Sea cat" is a name used for a number of fish species, including the wolf fish and the shark. (1)
15	Sea-Scorpion (1) A scorpion-fish, with spiney head and fins (Cottus scorpius).  Lymond is making a play of words on his astrological sign.
15	"The city is not full great but it hath good baths within him." (5)  - Geoffrey de Mandeville (14th century), Travels, Ch. 14. The city in question is Tiberias. (2)
15	"And tonight the frogs and the mice fight." (5) In the Batrachomyomachia (see the Hesiod and Homeric Hymns volume of Loeb) the Frogs have the power to lead a double life, "and so we both leap on land and plunge beneath the wator."  Or perhaps "like the Kite in Aesop that when the mouse and frog fought, carried them both away."  Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, Introduction.
16	“O mea cella, vale” (5) From Alcuin's Farewell to his Cell, c. 800.  The English Alcuin was a Christian teacher and scholar at Charlemagne's court. O mea cella, mihi habitatio dulcis, amata Semper in aeternum, o mea cella, vale Oh my cell, my sweet home which I will love forever in eternity, oh my cell, good-bye. - my translation [Lymond is threatening to reveal Mungo Tennant's smuggling to his guests.]
16	spilth - anything spilled or poured out lavishlly, excess  (1)
17	There was a lady loved a hogge      Honey, quoth she, Wilt thou lie with me tonight?      Hoogh, quoth he.  - Opie, Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, p. 262 under "Lady," which in turn cites a play from the time of James I, called Grobiana's Nuptialls. (5)
17	Clyde - the Firth of Clyde, a stretch of water to the west of Scotland, between Arran and the mainland.  Glasgow is situated on the River  Clyde.   (55 22N, 5 1W) (4)
18	Lindsay (or Lyndsay), Sir David of the Mount (c. 1486-1555) Popular Scottish poet and satirist; a courtier, parliamentarian and ambassador in the time of James V.  "His poems, often coarse, are full of humour, good sense and knowledge of his world, and were said to do more for the Reformatin in Scotland than all the sermons of Knox." (2)
18	Calvinist A follower of John Calvin (1509-1564), French theolgian and one of the founders of the Reformation.  (2)
18	Lutheran A follower of Martin Luther (1483-1546), Protestant German theologian and precipitator of the Reformation. (2)
18	Erasmian A reader of Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466-1536), Dutch humanist and scholar. (2)
18	Anabaptist - A name given by opponents to a person who holds that baptism should be of adults only; one of a Protestant sect of German origin (1521) rejecting infant baptism and seeking establishment of a Christian communism. (1)
18	George Wishart George Wishart (c. 1513-1546) was a Scottish reformer and martyr, burned at the stake for heresy, i.e., Protestantism. (2) the Castillians  the name given to the men who occupied the Castle of St. Andrew's after the assassination of the Archbishop and Cardinal of Scotland, David beaton, in 1546.
18	Aristotle Greek philospher (384-322 B.C.) and tutor of Alexander the Great. (2)
18	Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severius  Roman philosopher and statesman (c. 480-524), author of The Consolations of Philosophy (De Consolatione Philosophae), which he wrote in prison and which was extremely influential in the middle ages.  (2)
18	dreicher (Scots) - more long drawn out, tedious, dreary  (1) spiel - drawn out line of talk or story, with the implication that it is untrue or suspect  (1)
18	The Chevalier de Bayard,  Pierre du Terrail (1476-1524) A French soldier, "the knight without fear and without reproach" (sans peur et sans reproche), famous for his courage. (2)
18	Bo Tree The tree under which the eastern philosopher Buddha found enlightenment. (1)
19	Hawick Scottish town on the river Tewe, about 50 miles south of Edinburgh. (55 26N, 2 47W) (4)
19	The Ghibellines and the Guelphs Two warring factions in the Holy Roman Empire and in Italy during the 13th century.
20	at the horn - In Scots law, a person was outlawed by three blasts of a horn at the Cross of Edinburgh (1)
20	brazil - a reddish dye made from the tropical tree Caesalpina (1)
20	serpentine - twisted, winding, complex  (1)
20	nautilus a Mediterranean cephalopod wrongly believed by Aristotle to use its arms as sails  (1)
20	cluricane a troublemaking Celtic fairy who "makes himself drunk in other people's cellars", according to Lymond in Queen's Play (6)
20	Come dance with me in Ireland.  - A poem ca. 1300 beginning "I am of Ireland," found in The Oxford Book of English Verse, among other places.  (5)
20	mouldiewarps Scots word for a mole. (1)
20	traces d'amour (French) - the path of love
20	mount like Jacob to the matriarchal cherubim above Jacob was the founder of Israel (The Bible, Genesis xxv-lx).  He had a dream of a ladder ascending to heaven, with angels climbing up and down. (7)
21	palimpsest - a manuscript in which old writing has been erased for new material; the original writing is often still visible  (1)
22	Milo with the ox on his shoulders Milo was a Greek (c. 6th century BC) famous for his feats of strength
22	Angra-Mainyo prepared to do battle with Zoroaster.  Angra-Mainyo was another name for Ahriman "the principal of evil in Persian mythology."  (5)  Zoroaster (c. 633-c.553 BC) was the founder of the Persian religion which postulated eistence as a struggle between good and evil.
22	the Golden Ass A novel in Latin by Lucius Apuleius (2nd century), satirizing the vices of his age. (2)
22	"the poem I know at least"  (5) The red is wise, the brown trusty The pale envious, and the black lusty... To a red man rede thy rede With a brown man break thy bread At a pale man draw thy knife From a black man, keep thy wife.  - Robert Tofte, Blazon of Jealousy, 21 (1615).   - Also: Fergusson: Scottish Proverbs (1641)
22	"Weeping soft tears of myrrh."  The mother of Adonis (Smyona, according to Graves) turned herself into a myrrh-tree.  The drops of gum shed by the tree are supposed to be tears shed for Adonis.   - Graves: 18,7.  See Ovid, Metamorphoses, X, 500 ff. (5)
22	climacteric menopause, or any major change of condition (1)
22	uncials - a form of witing in manuscripts of the early middle ages, using majiscule letters of rounded form (e.g., Carolingian script) (1)
22	Full, as the poet said, of fruit and seriosity.  - Henryson, "Orpheus," the Morality at the end of the poem. (5)
22	Henry VIII (1491-1547) Tudor King of England 1509-1547.  Known for five stormy marriages, creation of the Church of England, and a powerful personality. (2)
22	the month of Mary's birth Mary Queen of Scots was born at Linlithgow Castle on December 8 or 8, 1542.  Her father James V died December 14 in Falkland.
22	James V (1512-1542), father of Mary Queen of Scots, King of Scotland 1513-1542.  Early in his reign Scotland was reduced to anarchy with the wars between the English and the French factions; he became a strong and arrogant king, playng the Church against the factions and allying with France to rebuilt Scotland's treasury.  (2)
22	Solway Moss A battle between the Scots (led by Oliver Sinclair of Pitcairns, who died in the battle) and the English under Sir Thomas Wharton on November 24,  1542.   The Scots were in total disarray, fighting amongst themselves and deserting.
23	Boghall Lanarkshire Castle and village, home of the Fleming family.  See geneology information here.
23	Flemings Important Scots family in the 16th century.  See geneology information here.
24	barmkin - a battlement or turret on the outer wall of a castle, or the wall itself. (1)
24	byre - a cowhouse (1)
24	Dacres An important family in Cumberland.
24	Howards The family of the Dukes of Norfolk.  One of King Henry VIII's wifes, Catherine Howard, was a member of this family.
24	Seymours An important Devonshire family.  Henry VIII's wife Jane Seymour was the mother of Edward VI, and her brother was Lord Protector and Regent of England.
24	Mugraves An important Scots/English broder family with a long history.
24	Berwick (Berwick-upon-Tweed) (55 46N, 2 0W) (4) A city on the North Sea Coast near the Scottish-English border.  It has belonged to each country many times.
24	Fife (56 16N, 3 1W) (4) A Scottish county on the east coast, north of the Firth of Forth.
25	Douglas An important noble Scots family and clan. (2)
25	kistful - a chest- or coffin-full  (1)
25	Sir George Douglas, 3rd Earl of Moron (d. 1553), Scots nobleman (2)
25	Lothian (4) An area of Scotland just south of Edinburgh.
25	wheen (Scots) - a few, a good many (1)
25	skelly-eyed (Scots) - squinting  (1)
25	Golden Gates - heaven
25	slats - slate or roofing slabs, or thin strip of wood (1)
25	corbelling, from corbel - architectural term for a projection  from the face of a wall, supporting a weight (1)
25	Biggar (55 38N, 3 32W) (4) South Lanarkshire town in the Scottish lowlands.
25	Ayrshire (55 28N, 4 38W) (4) County on the west coast of Scotland, south of Glasgow.
26	bill - a concave battle-axe with a long wooden handle  (1)
26	lucent - shining, bright  (1)
27	buskins - a high thick-soled boot worn in anceint timesby actors in tragedy; tragedy a dramatic genre  (1)
27	socks - a light sole worn by Greek and Roman actors of comedy  (1)
27	"Oimè el cor, oimè la testa."  (Spanish/Catalan) - A song by Marco Cara, quoted with music in Gustave Reese "Music in the Renaissance", p.163. (5) Alas my heart, alas my head. - my translation
27	Attic - refines, classical, pure  (1)
27	pile - (obs.) the reverse of a coin  (1)
27	"De los alamos, vengo, madre."   (Spanish)  - A 16th century villancico by Fuenllana. (5) I come from the trees, mother. - my translation
28	strophe and antistrophe in a Greek play,  the song sung by the chorus as it moved towards one side, answered by an exact counterpart as it returned; any ode answered insocks  (1)

28	epode lyric poem in which a longer verse is followed by a shorter one; the last part of a lyric ode, sung after the strophe and the antistrope  (1)
28	Blackbeard is Turkey Matt
28	Brusley, noyez, pendez, ampallez, descouppez, fricassez, crucifiez, bouillez, carbonnadez ces mechantes femmes.  - Rabelais (naturally): Quart livre, Chapter 53.The original says "ces mechants heretiguis." (5) (i.e., 'these evil heretics'.) Burn, drown, hand, impale, dismember, fry, crucify, boil, char these wicked women. - my translation
28	Female Telemachus.  (Janet Beaton).   - Telemachus, son of Odysseus,  stands up to the suitors on his own in Odyssey:  Book 20 (5)
28	Calliope the muse of eloquence and heroic poetry. (7)
28-29	Qu’es casado, el rey Ricardo (Spanish) King Richard is married. (3)
29	Their eyes lit like corpse candles.  - To the Welsh, the ignis fatuus.  Also a large candle used at wakes.  See Brewer’s Dictionary, under Corpse candle. (5)
29	Olla Podrida - Spanish stew made of miscellaneous meat and vegetables. (3)
29	God hath a thousand handes to chastise.   - Lydgate, Fall of Princes, I, 1331. (5)  Lydgate was an English monk and poet (c. 1370-c. 1451). (2)
29	chamfered - bevelled, furrowed, wrinkled, grooved  (1)
30	Mohammed (c. 570-c. 632) founder of Islam. (2)
30	King Francis of France (1494-1547) Valois King of France (1515-1547).  "Brilliant, flamboyant and cultured." (2)  Father of Henri II.
30	Venice (45 27N, 12 21E)  (4) Wealthy and important maritime trading city on the Adriatic Sea.
30	Rome (41 45N, 12 29E) (4) Wealthy and important Italian city, seat ofthe Roman Catholic Popes.
30	Paris (48 50N, 2 20E) (4) Wealthy and most important city in France, location of the Sorbonne University.
30	Brussels (50 51 N, 4 21E) (4) Main city of Flanders.
30	Charles of Spain, Holy Roman Emperor (1500-1558) Holy Roman Emperor from 1515 to 1556, King of Spain 1516-1556.  (2)
30	Prague (50 5N, 14 22E) (4) The Czech capital.
30	Henry, new King of France (1519-1559) King of France 1547-1559. (2)
30	Savoy (45 26N, 6 25E) (4) Duchy of the French/Italian border area.
30	Boulogne (50 42N, 1 36E) (4) A port city on the French side of the English channel.
30	The Netherlands (52 0N, 5 30E) (4) The Low Counties, on the eastern side of the North Sea.
31	opening gambit The the sacrifice or offer of a sacrifice of a piece for the sake of an advantage in timing or position in the opening stages of a game of chess; and initial move in any strategy or battle of wits, especialy one with an element of trickery. (1)