A Young King’s Curse

King Charles I was the last monarch to be born in Scotland and lived the first part of his life in Dunfermline Palace. His reign would have a tragic end and according to a local story, that’s because Charles was cursed from a young age.

He was a sickly child, and the sound of his crying echoed around the palace walls. One night, after being interrupted by wailing one too many times, his father King James VI stormed through to the prince’s rooms. To his surprise, it wasn’t Charles screaming but his nurse.

She claimed that the figure of an old man had crept inside, thrown his cloak around the cradle and started to drag it towards the door. Unsurprisingly, the nurse had screamed when she saw the dark figure and he disappeared as fast as he had arrived.

Coldly, James remarked that he wished the boy really had been taken. Not only was he weak but now the Devil had cast his cloak over him. If he ever became King, his reign would surely be tragic. The King turned out to be right and Charles was a disastrous monarch, eventually losing his head to the executioner.