The complicated life and passionate love affairs of Great Britain’s first monarch

Five years before the gunpowder plot, an attempt was made on the life of James Stuart. That was what he claimed, at any rate. Yet the facts of the matter remain mysterious. The story goes that James – already king of Scotland and future king of England – was out hunting, when one of his entourage, the handsome young Alexander Ruthven, suggested they stop in at his family seat of Gowrie House. After lunch, he invited James to accompany him to another part of the castle. As they made their way, he locked one door after another behind them, the king apparently making no objection.

Minutes later, a tower window was flung open and James’s soldiers in the courtyard below caught a glimpse of their master screaming, “Treason! Treason! Treason!” before he was dragged back out of sight by Alexander. Using hammers to smash their way through the series of locked doors, they burst in to find the king holding Alexander at bay with his hunting knife. They instantly slew Alexander, and soon after, his older brother the Earl of Gowrie, who was racing to his aid.