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Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sir John Maxwell, Master of Maxwell, 4th Lord Herries
Sir John Maxwell was born circa 1512 He died on 20 January 1582/83
He was the son of Robert Maxwell, 4th Lord Maxwell and Janet Douglas. He married Agnes Herries, Lady Herries of Terregles, daughter of William Herries, 3rd Lord Herries of Terregles and Catherine Kennedy, before 18 December 1547.
On 8 May 1566 he obtained a new charter of the territorial Baronies of Terregles and Kirkgunzean to him, his wife and heirs male whatsoever.
As a result of his marriage, Sir John Maxwell was styled as Lord Herries of Terregles on 14 April 1567, suo uxoris. In 1568 he suffered confiscation for supporting Mary, Queen of Scots. He fought in the Battle of Langside in 1568. In 1569 he suffered incarceration.
From Sir John Maxwell of Terregles, Lord Herries. 1512-1583 by the Maxwell Society
In 1561 the young catholic Queen Mary returned from France after the tragic end to her marriage to the Dauphin and John was again appointed Warden of the Western Marches. Henceforth his attitude towards the reform party was uncertain, for while he continued normally as a Protestant, his political sympathies where with the new Queen.
When the Queen decided to marry Darnley, Moray and the other reform lords were outraged and marched on Edinburgh, but John was able to meditate with them and sent them to his own house in Dumfries to wait for word from him.
His success with the rebellious lords was not shared in his approach to the Queen who still did not trust him as he had not broken with Moray. Finally, Maxwell sent Moray into England out of range of Mary who sought revenge on her rebel lords.
In 1566 Mary absolved John of the treasonable charges brought against him for his association with the rebels and henceforth he may be reckoned to have been one of Mary's staunchest supporters. He was created Lord Herries on 17th December 1566 at the baptism of the infant Prince James. Earlier that year he had obtained from his wife's sisters their shares of their father's estate and on 8th May 1566 obtained a charter to the Barony of Terregles
Herries was one of the assize lords who acquitted Bothwell of the murder of Darnley, he was however an enemy of Bothwell rather than a friend and on hearing of Mary's plans to marry Bothwell, Herries sought the young queen on his knees to eschew "sic utter wrak and lncovenientis as that wuld bring on". Still he remained faithful to the Queen when the marriage proved a disaster for her. The Lords of the Congregation under Moray, outlawed Bothwell, imprisoned Mary and proclaimed her son, James VI of Scotland. Herries refused to hold conference with Moray whilst Mary was held at Lochleven Castle and would not allow the proclamation of Moray's regency at Glasgow Cross. Eventually Herries "bent" and rode to Edinburgh, he recognised Moray and gave a remarkable speech to the effect that those who had put the Queen in Lochleven had "done the duty of noble men" and that others of the Queens loyal lords should give their acknowledgement to the infant King's party. Notwithstanding these sincere professions within three months Herries had subscribed to the band of armed men who liberated Mary and quickly came to her side as she face the Regent, Moray in a final confrontation at Langside on the 13th May 1568. It was to Herries that Mary entrusted herself when her cause was lost and when their flight to Dumbarton was blocked they turned south and sought refuge in Herries' own territories. They spent the night of 16th May at Herries' home of Terregles and the following night under the protection of his son Edward, commondator at Dundrennan Abbey. The following night Mary fled into England and her miserable demise under the English Queen Elizabeth.
Herries pleaded with Mary not to put herself at the mercy of the English Queen to no avail. Again Herries put himself at risk when he went ahead of Mary to prepare the way for her but his interviews with the English held no sway. All the same, Herries was usually held in high regard by the English, Throckmorton is recorded as saying that "the cunning horse-leech is the wisest of the whole faction". Herries returned to Scotland in August when his estates were forfeited. Moray intended to pull down his castle but when he was informed that it was Herries' intention to rebuild Terregles himself the Regent not wishing "to be a barrowman for his old walls" allowed it stand. Proceedings against Herries were suspended pending negotiations with England where Herries' wise councils would be needed. Over the next four years, Herries switched allegiances on a regular basis, sometime favouring the King's party, at other time the captive Queen's cause. After Moray was assassinated, Herries was restored to his estates and seeing that Mary was lost to Scotland, put his influence behind those who opposed the new Regent Morton.
He showed great restraint in his politicking, always keeping in favour with the English who's threat held sway over his lands. He played an instrumental part in depriving Morton of the Regency and supported the young King when he tried to settle his troubled kingdom in 1578. Douglas, Earl of Morton had pitched the Maxwells against the Johnstones in August 1578 by giving the wardenship of the Western Marches to the Johnstone laird. Now in his mid sixties Herries saw Morton off to his execution in 1581 and true to his Marian sympathies supported the Earl of Lennox. He joined Lennox in Edinburgh in August 1582 and acted as intermediary between him and the young King James. On Sunday 20th January 1583, in his seventy first year this grand old man of political intrigues who over his long life had often been called on to act as Scotland's senior statesman died quite suddenly at William Fowler's lodgings in Edinburgh.
John Maxwell, Lord Herries goes down in Scottish history as one of Mary, Queen of Scots staunchest allies, although he never openly embraced the Catholic faith in his manhood, he saw no harm in his sovereign lady's practice of it. He mediated with all political and religious factions of the day and spent much of his life soothing the great agitation's that embroiled the great northern kingdom.
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Chapter Twenty-Nine
James Stewart, 1st earl of Moray, (born c. 1531—died January 21, 1570, Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland), half brother of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, who became regent of Scotland after her abdication.
The illegitimate son of King James V and Lady Margaret Douglas, Stewart led the Protestant lords in their conflict with Mary Stuart's mother, Mary of Lorraine, the queen regent. When Mary Stuart assumed control of the government upon the death of her mother in 1560, however, he supported her, despite her Roman Catholicism. In 1561 she made him Earl of Moray and in 1562 Earl of Mar, but he lost her favour by supporting the Calvinist reformer John Knox and by opposing the queen's marriage (July 1565) to Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley. From August to October 1565, Moray attempted to arouse Edinburgh citizens against Mary's authority. She personally led the force that drove him and his supporters across the border.
The outlawed Moray fled to England but was pardoned and allowed to return to Scotland the following year. When Mary abdicated in 1567, Moray was appointed regent for her year-old son, King James VI. He suppressed her final effort to regain power when he routed her forces at Langside on May 13, 1568, and she, in turn, fled to England.
A substantial portion of the nobility continued to maintain Mary's right to rule, however, and Moray had difficulty putting into practice his vigorously Protestant and pro-English policies. In January 1570 he was assassinated by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, who favoured Mary, while riding through Linlithgow.
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In 1562 he led Mary's forces to put down a rebellion by the 4th Earl of Huntly: and in the same year married Agnes Keith, daughter of William Keith, 4th Earl Marischal.
In 1565 James Stewart strongly opposed the marriage between Mary and Lord Darnley. When the marriage went ahead anyway, Stewart raised a rebellion against Mary in Ayrshire. On 26 August 1565, Mary led an army out of Edinburgh to put down the rebellion, pursuing the rebels over much of southern Scotland in what became known as the Chaseabout Raid. James Stewart escaped and sought sanctuary in Queen Elizabeth I's England, a country with which he had been trying to negotiate closer links.
Stewart w
as among those who plotted a coup attempt against the now heavily pregnant Mary in March 1566, the first step of which was the murder of her Private Secretary, David Rizzio. The coup was defeated after Mary turned Lord Darnley against the other consiprators, and he helped her to safety at Dunbar Castle under the protection of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell.
Mary's ruthless suppression of the conspirators against her overlooked Stewart, partly because he was in England at the time, and partly because his involvement remained unknown to her. As a result he was able to returning to Scotland in 1566, being pardoned by Mary for his rebellion following her marriage to Darnley. By luck or design, he happened to be in France when Lord Darnley was murdered, and during the period of uproar that followed Mary's marriage to the Earl of Bothwell culminating in Mary's forced abdication in favour of her infant son James VI.
James Stewart returned to Scotland to be appointed Regent to the young James VI. When Mary later escaped from Lochleven Castle and attempted to regain power, it was James Stewart who led the forces that defeated her at the Battle of Langside on 13 May 1568, leading to her ill-judged flight to, and imprisonment in, England.
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray ruled Scotland as a very effective Regent for James VI until 23 January 1570. During a visit to Linlithgow he was assassinated by James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a supporter of Mary.
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Chapter Thirty
Sir James Balfour, in full Sir James Balfour of Pittendreich (born c. 1525—died 1583), Scottish judge who, by frequently shifting his political allegiances, influenced the course of events in the early years of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland.
Educated for the priesthood, Balfour became a follower of the Reformation and in May 1546 was involved in the assassination of Cardinal David Beaton at St. Andrews Castle, Fife. When the castle surrendered to the French in June 1547, Balfour was made a galley slave, but he won his freedom by renouncing Protestantism two years later. He then supported the Roman Catholic regent, Mary of Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, in her struggle against the Protestant nobles. In 1559 Balfour rejoined the Protestants as a spy for Mary of Guise.
After the Roman Catholic Queen Mary began her personal rule in Scotland (1561), Balfour became a judge and a leading royal adviser. He probably helped Mary's favourite, James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, arrange the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley (Feb. 9/10, 1567). When the Protestant lords rebelled against Mary and Bothwell—by then her husband—in June 1567, Balfour again changed sides and revealed the queen's military plans to her enemies. Mary was deposed in July, and in December Balfour became lord president of the Court of Session. His testimony led to the conviction and execution in 1581 of James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, for complicity in the murder of Darnley. Despite his political treachery, Balfour displayed competence as a judge and juridical writer.
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James Balfour, Lord Pittendreich (c.1525–1583) was a Scottish legal writer, judge and politician.
The son of Sir Michael Balfour of Montquhanny, he was educated for the legal branch of the Church of Scotland.
Balfour was involved in the murder of Cardinal Beaton and the Siege of St Andrews Castle. In June 1547, following the capture of the castle by French forces he was condemned to be a galley-slave rowing galleys together with John Knox and others captured at St Andrews, Fife. He was released in 1549, denounced Protestantism, entered the service of Mary of Guise, and was rewarded with important legal appointments.
He subsequently joined the Lords of the Congregation, a group of Protestant nobles who opposed the marriage of the young Mary, Queen of Scots, to the Dauphin of France (later to become Francois II of France), but betrayed their plans.
After Mary's arrival in Scotland he became one of her secretaries, in 1565 being reported as her greatest favourite after David Rizzio. He obtained the parsonage of Flisk in Fife in 1561, was nominated an Extraordinary Lord of Session, and in 1563 one of the commissaries of the court which now took the place of the former ecclesiastical tribunal. In 1565 he was made a privy councillor, and in 1566 Lord Clerk Register, and was knighted.
According to Mary his murder was planned together with Rizzio's in 1566. An adherent of Bothwell, he was deeply implicated in Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley's murder, though not present at the commission of the crime. By his means Darnley was lodged at Kirk o' Field, his brothers' house. He was supposed to have drawn up the bond at Craigmillar Castle for the murder; he signed it, was made under Bothwell deputy-governor of Edinburgh Castle, and is said to have drawn up the marriage-contract between Bothwell and Mary. When, however, the fall of Bothwell was seen to be impending he rapidly changed sides and surrendered the castle to James Stewart, Earl of Moray, stipulating for his pardon for Darnley's murder, the retention of the priory of Pittenweem, and pecuniary rewards. He was appointed Lord President of the Court of Session on resigning the office of Lord Clerk Register.
He was present at the battle of Langside, and was accused of having advised Mary to leave Dunbar Castle to her ruin, and of having betrayed to her enemies the casket letters. The same year, however, in consequence of renewed intrigues with Mary's faction, he was dismissed, and next year was imprisoned on the charge of complicity in Darnley's murder.
He escaped by means of bribery, which he is said to have paid by intercepting money sent from France for Mary's aid. In August 1571, during the regency of Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, an act of forfeiture was passed against him, but next year he was again playing traitor and revealed the secrets of his party to James, Douglas, Earl of Morton. He obtained a pardon from Morton in 1573 and negotiated the pacification of Perth the same year. Distrusted by all parties, he fled to France, where he seems to have remained till 1580. In 1579 his forfeiture was renewed by act of parliament.
In January 1580 he wrote to Mary offering her his services, and in June made a similar offer to Queen Elizabeth I of England, in which he criticised the influence of the Jesuits, and proposed to make a journey to Dieppe to attend Protestant services.
On 27 December the same year he returned to Scotland and effected the downfall and execution of Morton by producing a bond, probably that in defence of Bothwell and to promote his marriage with Mary, and giving evidence of the latter's knowledge of Bothwell's intention to murder Darnley. In July 1581 his cause was reheard; he was acquitted of murder by assize, and shortly afterwards in 1581 or 1582 he was restored to his estates and received at court.
His career, one of the blackest in the annals of political perfidy and crime, closed shortly before 24 January 1584. He was the greatest lawyer of his day, and part-author at least of Balfour's Practicks, the earliest textbook of Scottish law, not published, however, till 1754. He married Margaret, daughter and heir of Michael Balfour of Burleigh, by whom, besides three daughters, he had six sons, the eldest of whom was created Lord Balfour of Burleigh in 1607.
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BALFOUR, (Sir) JAMES, an eminent lawyer and public character of the sixteenth century, was the son of Balfour of Monquhanny, in Fife, a very ancient family. In youth, being designed for the church, he made considerable proficiency, not only in ordinary literature, but in the study of divinity and law: which were all alike necessary in those times for an ecclesiastic, on account of the mixed character which the age admitted to be assumed by such individuals. Balfour, while still a young man, was so unfortunate as to join with the conspirators who, after assassinating Cardinal Beaton, held out the castle of St. Andrews against the governor Arran. He seems, however, not to have been a very cordial partisan of the conspirators. John Knox, in his own vigorous and plain-spoken manner, styled him the Blasphemous Balfour, on account of his having refused to communicate along with his reforming associates. Balfour shared the fate of his companions in being sent to the French galleys [The following anecdote of Balfour in connexion with Knox is related by Dr M'Crie. "The galleys returned to Scotland in summer 1548, as near as I can collect, and continued for a considerable time on the east
coast, to watch for English vessels. Knox's health was now greatly impaired by the severity of his confinement, and he was seized with a fever, during which his life was despaired of by all in the ship. But even in this state, his fortitude of mind remained unsubdued, and he comforted his fellow-prisoners with hopes of release. To their anxious desponding inquiries, natural to men in their situation, "If he thought they would ever obtain their liberty," his uniform answer was, 'God will deliver us to his glory, even in this life.' While they lay on the coast between Dundee and St. Andrews, Mr. (afterwards Sir) James Balfour, who was confined in the same ship, desired him to look at the land and see if he knew it. Though at that time very sick, he replied, 'Yes; I know it well, for I see the steeple of that place where God first opened my mouth in public to his glory; and I am fully persuaded, how weak soever I now appear, that I shall not depart this life till that my tongue shall glorify his godly name in the same place.' This striking reply Sir James repeated in the presence of many witnesses, a number of years before Knox returned to Scotland, and when there was very little prospect of his words being verified." Life of Knox, 1st Edit. p. 53.] and was confined in the same vessel along with Knox, from which he escaped in 1550, along with the rest, by the tacit permission of the French government.
Balfour seems to have afterwards joined in the proceedings of the Reformers, but only with courtier-like temperance, and without exhibiting much zeal in the Protestant cause. He was preferred to the ecclesiastical appointment of official of Lothian, and afterwards became rector of Flisk, a parish in his native county. In 1563, he was appointed by Queen Mary to be a Lord of Session, the court then being composed partly of churchmen, and partly of laics. In 1564, when the Commissary court was instituted in place of the ecclesiastical tribunal, which had been dissolved at the Reformation, Balfour became one of the four commissaries, with a salary of four hundred merks, while the others had only three hundred. In July, 1565, the Queen extended the further favour of admitting him into her privy council.
A Love Beyond: A Scottish Historical Romance (The Reivers Book 2) Page 11