Lyon visits the Crown Room

 The Lord Lyon attended a reception for the reopening of the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle.

Photo credit © Historic Environment Scotland

The Honours now contain the Elizabeth Sword designed by the late Mark Dennis and made by Scottish craftsmen to replace for ceremonial use the very fragile Sword of State given to James IV by Pope Julius II della Rovere in 1507.

The Late Mark Dennis with the Elizabeth Sword.

Image credit: Press Association

 The Elizabeth Sword was first designed by Mark Dennis as "The Thistle Sword" for the late Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 but the project only came to fruition in 2023 culminating in the Sword's presentation to The King with the Honours of Scotland, of which it is now a constituent.

International Heraldry Day

 Today, June 10th is International Heraldry Day!

To mark this, here are some portraits of Scottish knights in the service of the King of Sweden:

Two new Knights of the Thistle

 Huge congratulations to Sir Jim McDonald and  Sir James Macmillan on their appointment by the King to the Order of the Thistle. The photograph shows Sir James in the Armoury of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, where The Sixteen has performed his music as part of their choral pilgrimage. 

 The Armoury organ was bought in 1609 as part of a consignment of luxury goods from the Dutch merchant John Haan. Its maker is unknown, but it is currently thought to be English. It was set up by Thomas Dallam at Hatfield in 1611 when it received its lavish decoration by the artist Rowland Buckett for £26 13s 4d. It was substantially rebuilt by Robert Gray in 1738.

The 1609 organ at Hatfield House
(Photo  PictureThisuk.org
"limited cc" (Creative Commons License))

The central coat of arms is that of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury and his wife Elizabeth Brooke, the daughter of William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham by his second wife, Frances Newton.

The left coat is that of their daughter, Lady Francis Cecil (1593–1644) and her husband Henry Clifford, 5th Earl of Cumberland.

The coat of arms on the far right is their son, William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury and his wife Lady Catherine Howard (daughter of the 1st Earl of Suffolk) whom he married in 1608.