Anne of Denmark and the spa at Bath

Anne of Denmark (1574–1619) was the wife of James VI and I. She visited Bath, Somerset, in the belief that drinking and bathing in mineral waters could improve her health.Susannah Lyon-Whaley, 'Hot Waters, Cold Waters, and Green Spaces: Stuart Queens Consort and Medical Treatment at English Spas', Histoire, Médecine et Santé, 24 (Winter 2023), pp. 41–47 The warm springs at Bath had been used for medicinal purposes since Roman times. During her progresses to Bath she was entertained at country houses along the way.James Knowles, 'Anna of Denmark, Elizabeth I, and Images of Royalty', Clare McManus, Women and Culture at the Courts of the Stuart Queens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), pp. 33–41. The court physician Théodore de Mayerne left extensive notes in Latin describing his treatment of Anne of Denmark from 10 April 1612 to her death.Brian Nance, Turquet de Mayerne as Baroque Physician (Brill, 2001), pp. 9, 23–65. : Joseph Browne, Theo. Turquet Mayernii Opera medica: Formulae Annae & Mariae (London, 1703), pp. 1-97 Primarily, she was seeking help for gout or dropsy, a swelling of the legs and feet which made walking difficult.Phyllis May Hembry, The English Spa, 1560-1815: A Social History (London, 1990), p. 39. Her companion and servant Jean Drummond described an occasion when the queen was unable to set her swollen foot on the ground.William Drummond, The genealogy of the most noble and ancient House of Drummond (Glasgow, 1879), p. 280 During these progresses, Anne of Denmark visited or came near some of the lands and manors included in her jointure lands, including Corston, and was able to promote the image of the Stuart monarchy.Jemma Field, 'Anna of Denmark', Aidan Norrie, Carolyn Harris, J. L. Laynesmith, Danna R. Messer, Elena Woodacre, Tudor and Stuart Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022), p. 221: Colin J. Brett, Crown Revenues from Somerset and Dorset (Somerset Record Society, 2012), pp. 8-9.

At Bath in 1613 In April 1613, after the wedding of her daughter Princess Elizabeth, Anne of Denmark went to Bath to take the water.Hugh Trevor-Roper & Blair Worden, Europe's Physician: The Various Life of Sir Theodore de Mayerne (Yale, 2006), p. 113. Mayerne recorded that the onset of her severe gout, podagra dolorem, had been around Christmas Day 1612.Joseph Browne, Theo. Turquet Mayernii Opera medica: Formulae Annae & Mariae (London, 1703), pp. 10, 12. Her party included the Lord Chancellor and his wife Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby, Anne Clifford, Countess of Dorset, the Earl of Worcester, Lord Danvers, and Jane Drummond. She went to Windsor then to Reading.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 628-9: William Fraser, Memorials of the Montgomeries, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1859), p. 191. The ambassador of Savoy, the Marquess de Villa followed her bringing a gift of a crystal casket mounted with silver gilt, "reported to be of transcendent value" like all far-fetched rarities.Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1610-1613, vol. 12 (London, 1905), p. 537 no. 836: HMC Downshire, 1613-1614, vol. 4 (London, 1940), p. 106. He abandoned his journey, and waited in London for her return to present the gift.Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 464.

Masque at Caversham At Caversham Park on 27 April, William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury and Lady Knollys put on an entertainment written by Thomas Campion.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), p. 629. A description of the entertainment was printed in 1613.James Knowles, 'To Enlight the Darksome Night, Pale Cinthia Doth Arise: Anna of Denmark, Elizabeth I and the Images of Royalty', Clare McManus, Women and Culture at the Courts of the Stuart Queens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), p. 35. The queen was met by a 'Cynic' dressed in calico as a wildman who debated with a 'Traveller' in elaborate costume. These two rode the short distance to the park gate and were met by two park keepers dressed in green perpetuana with Monmouth caps with two of Robin Hood's men dressed in green and black, who sang for the queen in her coach.Julie Sanders, 'The Two Noble Kinsmen', Richard Dutton & Jean E. Howard, A Companion to Shakespeare's Works: The Poems, Problem Comedies, Late Plays, vol. 4 (Oxford, 2003), pp. 457-8.Beverly Lemire, "Floral Culture in a New Imperial Era: Indian Textiles in English Courts and Commons", Susannah Lyon-Whaley, Floral Culture and the Tudor and Stuart courts (Routledge, 2025), p. 343.

The entertainment continued in the hall of the house after supper. Eight pages in green satin introduced eight masque dancers (the four sons of the Earl of Suffolk, with the Earl of Dorset, Dudley Baron North, Henry Cary, and Henry Rich). Costumed in rich emboidered suits of green satin and high hats, their faces were disguised with vizards. They wore invited the ladies in waiting to dance, and finally Anne of Denmark agreed to make "herself head of their revels, and graciously to adorn the place with her personal dancing".David Lindley, Court Masques (Oxford, 1995), pp. 92–101, 241–243. When she left Caversham, the Gardener and his workmen and three country maids gave a speech and sang.Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), pp. 446, 450: John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 629-39 The three maids presented gifts of linen, an apron, and a mantle which "were wrought by their hands", and John Chamberlain reported other gifts including a "dainty coverlet or quilt", a carcanet necklace and a "curious cabinet".David Lindley, Court Masques (Oxford, 1995), pp. 100–101, 243.

Bath in May Théodore de Mayerne gave some medications to Anne of Denmark at Lacock Abbey in May 1613. Mayerne held a meeting about her health, attended by her chamberlain George Carew, at Badminton or a house in Bath belonging to the Earl of Worcester on 5 May. Mayerne built up the queen's water treatment over a number of days, before she bathed in King's Bath. Mayerne noted the warm and gently bubbling water.Joseph Browne, Theo. Turquet Mayernii Opera medica: Formulae Annae & Mariae (London, 1703), pp. 10 (date "1617" is incorrect), 14, 20-2 noting "ingressa est balneum, majus Regis, usque ad ischion, dixitque calorem aquae etiam circa scaturigines non esse ninus vehementum".Susannah Lyon-Whaley, 'Hot Waters, Cold Waters, and Green Spaces: Stuart Queens Consort and Medical Treatment at English Spas', Histoire, Médecine et Santé, 24 (Winter 2023), pp. 41–47.

While bathing, this year or in 1615, it was said that Anne of Denmark was surprised by a flame caused by natural gas in King's Bath, and thereafter used the New Bath or Queen's Bath where a column with a globe and crown and the inscription "Anna Regnum Sacrum" was added in her honour.John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 640, 643: vol. 4 (London, 1828), p. 1094. A drawing dated 1672 and 1675 of the bath and the Hart Lodging in Bath, where she stayed, shows a related inscription "Annae Reginae Sacrum, 1618" across the parapet of the building, and the globe on top of the crowned column in the centre of the Queen's Bath. The drawing is held by the British Museum.Austin J. King & B. H. Watts, 'Some Visitors to Bath during the Reign of James I, part II', The Antiquary, 13 (London, 1886), p. 69: See external links.

Pageant at Bristol

Anne of Denmark went to Bristol on 4 June where there were various entertainments.Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 459: David M. Bergeron, English Civic Pageantry (London: Edward Arnold, 1971), pp. 98–99.David M. Bergeron, "Are we turned Turks?: English Pageants and the Stuart Court", Comparative Drama, 44:3 (September 2010), pp. 255–275. A seat was built for her at Canon's Marsh near the Cathedral, where she watched a staged battle at the confluence of the Avon and Frome, fought between an English ship and two Turkish galleys. An English victory was signalled by the release of six bladders of pig's blood poured out of the ship's scupper holes.John Evans, A Chronological Outline of the History of Bristol (Bristol, 1824), pp. 169-170. Some Turkish prisoners were presented to her and she laughed at this, saying both the actors' red costumes and their "countenances" were like the Turks. The entertainment at Bristol was described in verse by Robert Naile, who mentions the Turks were played by sailors, "worthy brutes, who oft have seen their habit, form and guise", who were made to kneel before Anne of Denmark and beg for mercy as the final act of the pageant.Susan Doran, From Tudor to Stuart: The regime change from Elizabeth I to James I (Oxford University Press, 2024), p. 200. A sea-battle against the Turks had been staged on the Thames at London in February for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate.Bernard Capp, British Slaves and Barbary Corsairs, 1580-1750 (Oxford, 2022), pp. 7-8. After the pageant at Bristol, the lady in waiting Jane Drummond had dinner with the Mayor, Abel Kitchin, and gave him a ring from the queen, set with diamonds.Ethel. C. Williams, Anne of Denmark (Longman, 1970), p. 163: John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 646-7, 661, 664.

She stayed a night at Siston Court, the house of Sir Henry Billingsley.James Knowles, 'To Enlight the Darksome Night, Pale Cinthia Doth Arise: Anna of Denmark, Elizabeth I and the Images of Royalty', Clare McManus, Women and Culture at the Courts of the Stuart Queens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), p. 34. She was then either at Lacock Abbey or Corsham Court on her way to Bishops Cannings near Devizes. Corsham was one of the manors included in her jointure lands. The vicar of Bishops Cannings, George Ferebee, produced a pastoral entertainment for her on the downs at the Wansdyke on 11 June.Ethel. C. Williams, Anne of Denmark (Longman, 1970), p. 164: John Nichols, Progresses of James the First, vol. 2 (London, 1828), pp. 666-9

She returned to Greenwich Palace, where Mayerne gave her a "dry" or steam bath, recommended for dry skin,Joseph Browne, Theo. Turquet Mayernii Opera medica: Formulae Annae & Mariae (London, 1703), p. 22 noting "ad faciem cuius ab usu balnei siccior erat cutis et aliquantulam scabia". and moved to Somerset House by 8 July.HMC Marquis of Bath at Longleat, vol. 2 p. 63: Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, 1611-1618 (London, 1858), p. 190: Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), pp. 461-2. Around 12 July, as mentioned in John Chamberlain's letter of 1 August, she was at Theobalds and accidentally shot the king's "most principal and special hound" with a crossbow.Austin J. King & B. H. Watts, 'Some Visitors to Bath during the Reign of James I, part II', The Antiquary, 13 (London, 1886), p. 68: Norman Egbert McClure, Letters of John Chamberlain, vol. 1 (Philadelphia, 1939), p. 469. On 27 July King James was at Lydiard Park, where he fell down the stairs, and also signed a warrant for £200 for Anne's usher John Tonstall for the expenses of another trip to Bath.Mary Anne Everett Green, Calendar State Papers Domestic, 1611-1618 (London, 1858), p. 195: Henry Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd series vol. 3 (London, 1827), p. 199.

Wells and Bath in August Anne came back to Bath in August 1613.Phyllis May Hembry, The English Spa, 1560-1815: A Social History (London, 1990), p. 39. The two trips are mentioned in the accounts of her goldsmith George Heriot, who billed her "for jewelles retained unto her Maj[esty's] own handis, to be carried on her first and second journeys to the Bathe, viz., in April 1613 and August following".William Jones, Precious stones, their History and Mystery (London, Bentley 1880), p. 293: Archibald Constable, Memoirs of George Heriot (Edinburgh, 1822), p. 219.