The Stuart dynasty ruled in Scotland from 1371 to 1603, and as a result James IV's marriage to Margaret Tudor, Henry the VIII's older sister, in 1503, were the natural monarchical choice to succeed Queen Elizabeth I on her death i 1603, as rulers ofthe two kingdoms. Although the removal of the Scottish Royal Court from Edinburgh to London resulted in a serious loss of local patronage in Scotland, the Stuarts were patrons of all the arts throughout their period in England, especially music.

Historical coverage begins with the Scottish Royal Court in the sixteenth century, extends to James II/VII, then to the court in exile and the end of the Jacobite era. It thus omits the reigns of William and Mary, and Queen Anne. While these reigns were by persons of undoubted Stuart lineage, in the minds of those of Jacobite persuasion, there was a question of their legitimacy as sovereigns. Jacobites (from the latin 'Jacobus' = James) saw legitimate succession as passing through James II/VII to his son, James Francis, born 1688, later known as James III/VIII to adherents of the Stuart cause, the 'Old Pretender' to supporters of the Whig government in the eighteenth century.