圣十字架宫16

The future of Scotland lay once more with a small fatherless child.

James was proclaimed king at just one year old.

But his father's family, the Darnleys, had even bigger ambitions for the young king,

and no one more than his scheming grandmother Margaret,who would commission an extraordinary object.

This is one of the most important early jewels in the entire royal collection.

It's gold with enamels,and rubies,and emeralds and it's full of complex symbols,

which would have been clear at the time,but some of which we can no longer decipher.

And it has lots of little hidden compartments,like here where you can see a skull and cross bones.

And then inside more symbols and figures.

Here you can see Time, with his cloven hooves, and the mouth of hell here.