Thursday February 19th 2026
1633 Primrose
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
History has been unearthed at Scotland’s oldest inhabited house in the Borders.
A recent find in the archives has generated much excitement at Traquair House in Innerleithen when a dusty “nondescript” document was retrieved from a box of papers from the 1600’s by Margaret Fox, the archivist at Traquair.
Margaret decided to try and decipher the document and it has revealed a fascinating part of Traquair’s history previously unknown.
The fragile paper, a staggering 393 years old, revealed that on the 5th of February 1633, John Lord Stewart of Traquair, was entrusted to take delivery of the ‘Honours of Scotland’ to prepare them for the visit of King Charles I to Edinburgh to be crowned King of Scots later that year – eight years after his coronation in London.
The Honours (also known as the Scottish Crown Jewels), consisting of a jewelled crown crafted in 1540 for James V, a sceptre, a gift from Pope Alexander VI to James IV in 1494, and a sword, a 1507 gift from Pope Julius II also to James IV, were first used for the coronation of Mary Queen of Scots in 1543.
Most recently, they were presented to King Charles III during a ceremony in Edinburgh in 2023, and are now housed in the Crown Room in Edinburgh Castle.
The extravagant signature at the end of the letter, in Latin, is that of James Primrose, clerk to the Privy Council. It goes some way to enhancing the appearance of an otherwise less-than-attractive document.
For his sterling efforts in making the Honours fit for presentation at the coronation ceremony in the Palace of Holyroodhouse on 18 June 1633 – and for his undoubted loyalty – the king granted Lord Stewart an earldom.
Having performed this important function, the Earl’s loyalty to King Charles I continued – but he was to suffer the consequences.
Captured in 1648 at the Battle of Preston fighting on the Royalist side during the English Civil War, he endured four years’ imprisonment in Warwick Castle, with long-lasting consequences for the Stuart family at Traquair.
Catherine Maxwell Stuart, 21st Lady of Traquair, commented: “Living in a house with a history such as Traquair is a constant process of discovery.
“Our archives are the most extraordinary glimpse into the past and although we have catalogued the collection the contents of many individual documents remain to be discovered.”
A copy of the document will be on display when the House opens to the public again this year on April 1.
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