The Scottish king who wanted us to hear the gods and fly
10 May 2017 | Part of the series
James IV, wanted to change his country. A well-educated man, he was responsible for introducing some revolutionary ideas to Scotland, like .
But not all of his plans were this sensible. He apparently backed a bizarre, and rather cruel, experiment on Inchkeith island in the Firth of Forth. His aim? To find what language was spoken by the gods.
Inchkeith - the abandoned Scottish island with a mysterious past
From bizarre experiments to its time as a refuge to its involvement in world wars...
His schemes weren’t limited to Inchkeith though. James IV also supposedly backed attempts by one of his courtiers, John Damian, to fly.
covered in feathers, breaking his thigh when he landed.
Damian blamed his failure on using the wrong kind of feathers – he had used feathers from a hen.
These, he thought, were attracted to the ground.
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