The Scottish History of James the Fourth 1598 — A Reader’s Guide

A Court of Conspirators and Comic Servants

The excerpts show a sharp contrast between the high-flown rhetoric of the Scottish court and the earthy humor of its servants. Ateukin, a manipulative courtier, flatters the king while plotting against the queen. In one scene, he berates his servant Andrew for losing important writings, leading to a comic exchange where Andrew retorts, “can I loose that you neuer had.” The Frenchman Iaques, speaking a mix of English and French, agrees to stab the queen, saying “me thrusta my weapon into her belle, so me may be gard per le roy.” Greene uses these linguistic contrasts to underscore the gap between noble ambition and base reality.

The Queen's Voice Amidst Intrigue

Queen Dorothea appears as a figure of constancy in a treacherous court. In her scene with Sir Bartram, she insists that “loue the faithfull lincke of loyall hearts” banishes fear, even as she senses danger: “Me thinke no craft should harbour in that brest, / Where Maiestie and vertue is mstaled.” Her language is measured and idealistic, a foil to Ateukin's scheming. The excerpts do not reveal her fate, but her awareness of potential betrayal—that her beauty “should not cause my death”—adds dramatic irony, as the audience knows the plot against her.

Textual Peculiarities and Editorial Choices

The Malone Society reprint, edited by A. E. H. Swaen, preserves the original quarto's inconsistencies: “bog” for “dog,” “a fraid,” “harpe” for “sharp,” and missing speech prefixes for lines 2400–2405. The transcriber's note retains all irregular spelling and punctuation. The play's structure includes choral interludes (five, one per act) and a list of doubtful readings. Readers should note that the text is a diplomatic edition, not a modernized one, and that the leaf A4 is missing from the British Museum copy, supplied by a modern reprint. These details matter for anyone studying the play's transmission.

Greene's play resists easy categorization: it is neither pure history nor pure comedy, but a hybrid that uses the fairy frame to comment on human folly. Readers coming to this edition should attend to the stage directions and speech prefixes, which sometimes blur character identities. The play's incomplete ending—the promised battle of Flodden never appears—leaves the historical narrative suspended, inviting speculation about Greene's original design.

I keep thinking about how Greene’s fairy interlude softens the harsh court politics, like a pause in a heavy conversation. It reminded me of evenings spent over The Game of Chess: A Play in One Act — Edition Insights, where strategy and stillness mingle the same way. Both linger quietly, asking me to sit with their silences rather than rush their outcomes.