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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene ii.

In Shakespeare’s England, roses were more than poetic symbols of love and beauty—they were political emblems, medicinal ingredients, culinary flavorings, and the foundation of a flourishing perfumery trade. From the red and white blooms of civil war to the distillation practices in early modern households, the rose occupied a central place in the sensory world of the 16th and 17th centuries.

This week, we’re speaking with historian Dr. Aysu Dincer, whose research uncovers the real-life role roses played in Shakespeare’s lifetime. From cultivation and trade to the recipes for perfumes and rosewaters that would have been familiar to Shakespeare’s contemporaries, Aysu joins us to share the historical backstory of this iconic flower and explore what it meant to smell sweet in the Elizabethan age.

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Linlithgow Palace, set between Edinburgh and Stirling, was one of the great royal residences of the Scottish crown. It was the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots and a favored court for the Stuart monarchs long before the Union of the Crowns in 1603. When her son, James VI of Scotland, ascended the English throne as James I—the very monarch under whom William Shakespeare's company became the King's Men—the cultural and political world of Linlithgow directly fed into the world Shakespeare inhabited and wrote for.

While Shakespeare likely never visited Linlithgow himself, the palace remained symbolically important in his lifetime. In fact, when part of the palace collapsed in 1607, a formal report was sent to James—now James I of England—detailing the damage and requesting royal attention. That connection between a crumbling Scottish stronghold and an English king who patronized Shakespeare makes for a compelling link between the palace and the playwright.

Admittedly, exploring Linlithgow as part of Shakespeare’s world requires a slight chronological and geographical stretch—but it’s a leap well worth taking. The palace was a cultural and ceremonial stage for the Scottish monarchy, and its chapel in particular would have resonated with sacred music and royal spectacle that shaped the theatricality of early modern power on both sides of the border.

Today’s guest, James Cook, is a scholar and musician who led a remarkable project to recreate the sound of choral music as it might have been heard at Linlithgow Palace in that very year—1512. Using a blend of historical research, vocal performance, and virtual reality technology, James and his team brought this long-lost acoustic experience back to life.

In our conversation today, we’ll explore Linlithgow Palace itself—its significance in the lives of Mary Queen of Scots, James VI, and Anne of Denmark—and how music played a role in shaping royal image, religious devotion, and political theater. We’ll also talk with James about the recreation of the 1512 performance, how virtual reality is reshaping historical interpretation, and what it might have sounded like if you were a member of the royal household, listening to sacred music in that chapel over 500 years ago.

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