The palace was among the finest royal residences in Scotland and was also a handy stopover during journeys between Edinburgh and Stirling. Superb architecture, comfortable rooms, and the lovely loch just outside – it was an impressive place. This was where Mary of Guise gave birth to her daughter, Mary, the only one of her five children to survive into adulthood. A few days later she received news that her husband, James V, had died at Falkland Palace. Mary’s week-old baby was now the Queen of Scots.

Like other royal palaces, Linlithgow was a place to relax and enjoy great occasions – reveling in feasts and entertainments. This was also a time when the artists, like playwrights and poets could influence politics. Just after Christmas in 1540 the royal couple were treated to a performance of Sir David Lyndsay’s Satire of the Three Estates which criticised the behaviour of Catholic clergy. Despite being a committed Catholic, the king was stirred to tell the archbishop of Glasgow to sort matters out or James would send half a dozen priests as a gift to his Protestant uncle, Henry VIII of England.