SCOTTISH historians yesterday hit out at claims by a leading American expert that King James VI of Scotland was openly homosexual.

In a new book on the life of King James VI and I, Professor Michael Young, of Illinois Wesleyan University, says the king was unabashedly gay.

He said the Stuart king, whose version of the Bible is frequently quoted for its denunciation of homosexuality, lusted after the young men of his court.

He believes James's sexuality endangered both the monarchy and the English political system.

But Professor Young's views are in direct contrast to those of Scottish historians.

They feel James, who became the first king of both Scotland and England after the Union of the Crowns in 1603, was wrongly identified as being gay because he used the flowery language which was fashionable at the time.

Mr Archie McKerracher, an expert on Scottish history from Stirling, said it was unlikely James's sexuality had political repercussions.

He said: ''It has been hinted at before that King James VI was homosexual but it is unlikely he was actually a practising homosexual.

''Had he been open about his sexual orientation then it would have been more widely reported.

''It is true he had close relationships with some of the younger men of the court but it is impossible to tell if that went into the bedroom.

''I think he may have preferred the company of these young men more because he himself was very unattractive.

''He had a very difficult up-bringing after his mother's death and probably felt a little uncomfortable around women - but it does not mean he was homosexual.''

Dr Grant Simpson, an honorary reader of history at Aberdeen University, said: ''Who knows what happened behind the bedroom door? He did have seven children, the last at the age of 50 years old.''