1910–1911
Britannica 11th
Encyclopaedia Britannica · 11th edition
ARMSTRONG, ARCHIBALD (d. 1672), court jester, called " Archy," was a native of Scotland or of Cumberland, and according to tradition first distinguished himself as a sheepstealer; afterwards he entered the service of James VI., with whom he became a favourite. When the king succeeded to the English throne, Archy was appointed court jester. In 1611 he was granted a pension of two shillings a day, and in 1617 he accompanied James on his visit to Scotland. His influence was considerable and he was greatly courted and …
- Source status
- OCR text aligned to scanned pages
- Pages
- Vol. 2, pp. 590-602