Note 168 — Chapter III · SUMMARY.

Tytler, vol. v. p. 72. From Lord Dacre’s Dispatch, Calig. iii. B. British Museum. James V. was not eighteen months old at the time of his father’s death; for, after much inquiry, Pinkerton fixes the day of his birth as April 10, 1512. We have fixed April 11, from Bishop Lesley, as Mary Queen of Scots must have known her own father’s birth-day; and she was his informant. No two historians quote the day of his birth alike; in several instances even the year is matter of dispute. His father’s birth-day is as difficult to ascertain. It is probable these dates were left matters of mystery, in order to baffle the impertinent dealers in astrology, by setting at fault the calculators of nativities, who were the pests of Europe at that era. Pinkerton affirms, from Lindsay of Pitscottie, that the coronation took place at Perth—probably at Scone, near Perth.