The Murderous Affairs of King James

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Against the paranoid backdrop of the Scottish witch trials, a murder plot involving King James and some of his lovers took place.

To make matters more juicy, it centres around the Bonnie Earl of Moray, who is said to be the most handsome man in Scotland.

How does this situation create a conflict of interests for King James VI & I?

Joining Kate today is the wonderful Gareth Russell, author of Queen James: A New History About the Life and Loves of Britain’s First King, James Stuart, to help us unravel this twisty and tantalising murder plot.

This episode was edited by Tim Arstall. The producer was Stuart Beckwith. The senior producer was Charlotte Long.

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All music from Epidemic Sounds.

Betwixt the Sheets: History of Sex, Scandal & Society is a History Hit podcast.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm your host, Kate Lister.
0:02.4	If you would like betwixt the sheets, add free and get early access, sign up to History Hit.
0:08.7	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of original documentaries with top history presenters.
0:16.0	And enjoy a new release every single week.
0:19.8	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:24.5	Hello, my lovely betwixters.
0:26.3	It's me, Kate Lister.
0:27.7	You are listening to Betwixt the sheets,
0:30.5	and we like to get mucky about history around here.
0:33.8	And because we do, I have to tell you.
0:37.0	This is an adult podcast spoken by adults to other adults about
0:39.7	adulty things in an adulty way covering a range of adult subjects and you
0:42.3	should be an adult too and we have to keep telling you that in case you
0:45.6	have a forgotten or be a newbie has wandered in completely unaware
0:49.5	and it's going to clutch their pearls and go running to their mum to tell tales
0:53.0	oh right on with the show.
0:59.7	King James Ith of Scotland was a very smart man,
1:04.0	with a very snazzy beard, it has to be said.
1:07.1	He was a prolific writer of everything from political theory to sonnets, and of course,
1:12.3	his mad, mad ramblings on witchcraft, which was a bestseller.
1:17.1	He spoke French and Latin fluently, as well as English, which was his second language, after Scots.
1:23.0	But apparently, and as we will learn today, his sense of logic and reason could all be swept away by one beautiful man in a kilt.
	...

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