Charles was in Durham in 1633 and was entertained at Raby and Auckland castles, where he had stayed as a child on his way to London with his father, James I. When Charles I rode north in 1639 to treat with the Scots, he was again royally entertained at Raby and attended service in Durham Cathedral on 5 May. In Newcastle, the city greeted him with the ringing of church bells and cannon fire. This may have been prompted by the favour the English king had shown Newcastle in encouraging the coal trade from the North East to the capital - to the detriment of the London wood-suppliers. The hostmen, or middle-men of Newcastle used a fleet of three hundred vessels to ferry the wealth of the 'Black Indies' to London, which became an almost entirely coal-fired city. While in Newcastle Charles made a progress along the Tyne to Shields.
The Scots had formed their 'Solemn League and Covenant' to resist the king's religious policy north of the border, and Charles ordered Newcastle to be fortified. From Newcastle he marched north via Alnwick, where the castle was so ruinous that he had to sleep in the nearby abbey. He set up his troops under tents on The Birks at Berwick and eventually concluded a hollow peace with the rebels still in arms.
On 13 May 1646, King Charles saw Newcastle again. He had given himself up to the Scots at Newark and a plaque in Market Street marks the house where he was kept in Newcastle. While there, alone among enemies, he played for time and attempted to gain favour with the Scots. He also made several abortive efforts to escape. he relaxed by playing chess and golf ('goff'), and rested at a small house in Shieldfield, the King Charles House, demolished some years ago. The king attended services at St Nicholas . It is said that the preacher delivered the opening lines of Psalm Lii: 'Why dost thou, tyrant, boast abroad thy wicked works to praise.' The king, however, stood up and asked for Psalm Lvi instead, beginning 'Have mercy, Lord, on me, I pray, for men would me devour.'
On 2 January 1647, Charles agreed to go to Holdenby House in Northants, telling the Scots they had sold him to Cromwell too cheaply. On 30 January, the Scots marched out of Newcastle, past the king's window, with drums beating and colours flying, pursued by the jeers of the fish-wives, brickbats and cries of 'Judas'.