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Grooms were raised. And what was practically a new department was brought into existence in the Bedchamber, which had a staff of Gentlemen, Grooms, and Pages, independent of the Lord Chamberlain and controlled by their own First Gentleman, who was also known as Groom of the Stole.^[1] The Bed Chamber, chiefly composed of Scots, furnished James with his most confidential servants.^[2] As might be expected, James enlarged his hunting establishment, and one of his new appointments was a Cockmaster.^[3] He had a conspicuous Fool in Archie Armstrong.^[4] And he instituted in the Lord Chamberlain's department an officer known as the Master of the Ceremonies, whose function was to look after the lodgings and the general well-being of ambassadors, and to grapple with the knotty problems entailed by their inveterate stickling for precedence and etiquette.^[5] A separate household was formed for the Queen, to which the various grades of ladies

↑ The order of 1526 for the Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber prescribes that one of them, Henry Norris, 'shall be in the roome of Sir William Compton, not only giveing his attendance as groome of the Kings stoole, but also in his bed-chamber, and other privy places, as shall stand with his pleasure' (H. O. 156). Naturally the post had lapsed during female reigns, although a hope of Sir Robert Sidney for a 'Bedchamber lordship' in 1597 suggests that a renewal may have been contemplated (Hatfield MSS. vii. 225). James had had Gentlemen of the Bed Chamber in Scotland. Later court usage, represented already by Chamberlayne, 262, in 1669, interpreted 'stole' as 'vestment', but I suspect that in origin it was the close stool, which was kept c. 1478 by the Wardrobe of Beds (H. O. 40); cf. Marston, Fawn, I. ii. 46, 'Thou art private with the duke; thou belongest to his close-stool'.
↑ Goodman, i. 389, says that the prime gentleman of the bed chamber and groom of the stole was 'a man of special trust' and had a table for guests 'employed in the king's most private occasions'. Viscount Fenton combined the post with that of Captain of the Guard under James. According to Newcastle, 213, the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke laboured in vain to be of the Bed Chamber throughout the reign. Carey, Memoirs, 79, 91, describes the heart-burnings to which the office gave rise. Robert Carr, afterwards Earl of Somerset, began his career as a Page of the Bed Chamber (Nichols, James, i. 600).
↑ S. P. D. Jac. I (8 Nov. 1604). The French ambassador wrote in 1606 (Boderie, i. 56) that the king 'vit combattre les cocqs, qui est un plaisir qu'il prend deux fois la semaine'.
↑ Cf. D. N. B.. Anne also had a 'jester', Thomas Derry, in 1612 (Cunningham, xliii).
↑ Abstract, 46; Devon, 17, 72 and passim; Cott. MS. Vesp. C. xiv, f. 108; Addl. MS. 33378, f. 34^v; V. P. x. 102; Sully, 443; Boderie, i. 39, 272, 362. Sir Lewis Lewknor received a formal appointment as Master of Ceremonies by patent, with a salary of £200, on 7 Nov. 1605, but had in fact been exercising the functions since 1603. Amongst his assistants were Sir William Button, who was employed by 1607 and obtained a reversion of the post on 10 Sept. 1612, and John Finett, who ultimately himself became Master, and published a record of his service from 1612 in his Philoxenis (1656).

[1] The order of 1526 for the Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber prescribes that one of them, Henry Norris, 'shall be in the roome of Sir William Compton, not only giveing his attendance as groome of the Kings stoole, but also in his bed-chamber, and other privy places, as shall stand with his pleasure' (H. O. 156). Naturally the post had lapsed during female reigns, although a hope of Sir Robert Sidney for a 'Bedchamber lordship' in 1597 suggests that a renewal may have been contemplated (Hatfield MSS. vii. 225). James had had Gentlemen of the Bed Chamber in Scotland. Later court usage, represented already by Chamberlayne, 262, in 1669, interpreted 'stole' as 'vestment', but I suspect that in origin it was the close stool, which was kept c. 1478 by the Wardrobe of Beds (H. O. 40); cf. Marston, Fawn, I. ii. 46, 'Thou art private with the duke; thou belongest to his close-stool'.

[2] Goodman, i. 389, says that the prime gentleman of the bed chamber and groom of the stole was 'a man of special trust' and had a table for guests 'employed in the king's most private occasions'. Viscount Fenton combined the post with that of Captain of the Guard under James. According to Newcastle, 213, the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke laboured in vain to be of the Bed Chamber throughout the reign. Carey, Memoirs, 79, 91, describes the heart-burnings to which the office gave rise. Robert Carr, afterwards Earl of Somerset, began his career as a Page of the Bed Chamber (Nichols, James, i. 600).

[3] S. P. D. Jac. I (8 Nov. 1604). The French ambassador wrote in 1606 (Boderie, i. 56) that the king 'vit combattre les cocqs, qui est un plaisir qu'il prend deux fois la semaine'.

[4] Cf. D. N. B.. Anne also had a 'jester', Thomas Derry, in 1612 (Cunningham, xliii).

[5] Abstract, 46; Devon, 17, 72 and passim; Cott. MS. Vesp. C. xiv, f. 108; Addl. MS. 33378, f. 34^v; V. P. x. 102; Sully, 443; Boderie, i. 39, 272, 362. Sir Lewis Lewknor received a formal appointment as Master of Ceremonies by patent, with a salary of £200, on 7 Nov. 1605, but had in fact been exercising the functions since 1603. Amongst his assistants were Sir William Button, who was employed by 1607 and obtained a reversion of the post on 10 Sept. 1612, and John Finett, who ultimately himself became Master, and published a record of his service from 1612 in his Philoxenis (1656).

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