"The Gudeman of Ballangeich": rambles in the afterlife of James V

This is the king on disguise seeking a holiday, recreation. But the other main type of king in disguise story stresses the opposite. The king is not escaping his responsibilities, but showing how seriously he takes them. He goes unrecognised among his people in order to find out what people think and how they are treated by his regime, so he can govern better. He is very much on duty, on an under-cover, fact-finding mission. Again it is easy to see why this kind of tale is popular. It is flattering to think the king cares so much about you, although you are only a common man, and thinks you worth consulting (Fradenburg 1991, 70). In all this there are good reasons for kings to like disguise stories about themselves--it indicates either that you are "one of the lads" who prefers mixing with the commons instead of stuck-up courtiers, or that you are deeply concerned about their problems. Either way, such stories are likely to increase your popularity. Kings in disguise stories have happy endings. Sometimes the humble person who has helped a disguised king fears the worst when the latter's identity is revealed--has he behaved disrespectfully, or said anything seditious or incriminating?--but he is soon reassured and rewarded. Those who had something to fear from a king who went among ordinary folk were the oppressive and unjust. It was they whose misdeeds might be exposed by the covert king. Good poor men's kings were bad rich men's kings.

References Cited

Airy, Osmund, ed. The Lauderdale Papers. 2 vols. London, 1884-5.

Bain, J. "A Scottish Royal Tradition." Genealogist new series 2 (1885): 121-3.

Bingham, Caroline. James V King of Scots. London, 1971.

Briggs, Katharine M. A Dictionary of British Folk Tales: Folk Legends. 2 vols. London, 1971.

Brown, P. Hume. History of Scotland. 3 vols. Cambridge, 1911.

Burke, Sir John B. A Selection of Arms Authorised by the Laws of Heraldry. London, 1860.

Burton, John Hill. The History of Scotland. 9 vols. Edinburgh, 1873.

Cameron, Jamie. James V: The Personal Rule. East Linton, 1998.

Chambers, Robert. Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. 4 vols. Glasgow, 1835.

Charlton, E. "Jacobite Relics of 1715 and 1745." Archaeologia Aeliana new series 6 (1865): 29-34.

Chronicle. Chronicle of the Kings of Scotland. Translation by David Chalmers of Ormonde's Latin continuation of Hector Boece's Scotorum Historiae, 1572. Glasgow: Maitland Club, 1830.

Dodsley, Robert. The King and the Miller of Mansfield. London, 1737.

Donaldson. Gordon. Scotland: James V to James VII. Edinburgh, 1965.

Edington, Carol. Court and Culture in Renaissance Scotland. Sir David Lindsay of the Mount. East Linton, 1995.

Fergusson, Robert. Poems of Robert Ferguson, ed. M. P. McDiarmid. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1954-6.

Fradenburg, Louisa O. City, Marriage, Tournament: Arts of Rule in Late Medieval Scotland. Madison, 1991.

Groome, Francis H. Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. New ed. Edinburgh, 1901.

Herd, David. Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1973 (first published 1769).