An experienced Scotsman of Calvinist stock arrives to take over the rule of England. Worried by grumbling both north and south of the border, he spends his first few years as ruler talking obsessively about the need for a ‘Great Britain’. Yet he cannot win over the malcontents, and eventually abandons his rhetoric. Some Scots fear that he has become too Anglicized to rule over them, while the English complain about a group of Scottish advisers surrounding his person. They are also unhappy at the money spent on the Scots, to the detriment of the English. Such financial profligacy only makes matters worse in an era of increasing inflation, and government debt begins to spiral out of control. In the country at large, religious extremists, some of whom have received training abroad, target this ruler, and attempt to blow him up. Peerages are sold freely, in order to raise money for this leader. Trade with India grows. The Church of England is in trouble, and the Archbishop of Canterbury is very unpopular with some members of the Church. A previous time when a particular female ruled is looked on as a golden age by some.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and Gordon Brown seems to be in a similar situation to James I. King James VI of Scotland and I of England was often short of money, so took to selling Baronetcies at £1,095 each, raising a total of about £90,000. Scottish courtiers and officials received about £280,000 during the first seven years of James’ English reign, as opposed to the £70,000 given to English ones (despite England have over five times the population of Scotland). The East India Company was beginning its operations, while the anti-Puritan stance of Archbishop Bancroft upset many Puritan-leaning members of the Church. Guido Fawkes tried and failed to kill the King, and now makes his living saying nasty things about Peter Hain. James I was King of England and Scotland (and Wales and Ireland) on a personal level, but the parliaments refused to entertain the notion that the English and Scottish systems could ever be fully merged. Thus it was a union of the two crowns, rather than the two kingdoms. James’ enthusiasm even led to him designing what we now know as the Union Jack, albeit one slightly different from the modern one.

There the similarities end though. Despite his Scottish favourites, James I was popular with the English. Thanks to his experiences in Scotland, he was a skilful manager of people. He was able to moderate many of the religious issues, which was arguably the thorniest problem of the age. Even many of the more extreme Puritans accepted that he was a good ruler, moving the Church in the right direction, albeit a bit slowly. Contrast that with his son, Charles I, whose errors with regards to religious reform were the main causes of the ‘War of the Three Kingdoms’ (aka the ‘English Civil War’). Catholics enjoyed some freedom of worship, and most were contented under the regime. To sell so many honours, which diluted the power of the old nobles, and still retain the latter’s support, was impressive indeed. Gordon Brown, a student of history, could perhaps learn something from James’ reign, not only how to avoid his failures, but more importantly how to replicate the successes of perhaps the greatest English monarch of the 17th century.