Catherine Murray, Lady Abercairny

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Catherine Murray was a Scottish aristocrat and courtier.

Contents

Life

She was a daughter of William Murray of Tullibardine (died 1562) and Katherine Campbell. She married Robert Murray of Abercairny (died 1594) in 1560. His father, John Murray, had been killed at the battle of Pinkie, and his older brother William Murray, who had married Margaret Oliphant, died in 1558. [1]

In 1577 the Laird of Abercairny became involved in the trial of Violet Mar, who was accused of witchcraft and plotting the downfall of Regent Morton. They took advice from Lady Abercairny's sister Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar. [2] On 10 October 1577 a royal messenger, Robert Binning, was sent from Edinburgh to summon Margaret Murray, Lady Clackmannan (another sister of Catherine Murray, Lady Abercairney and the Countess of Mar), the Laird of Abercairny and his wife Catherine Murray, and others, to come before the Privy Council on 18 October. Binning also brought the summons for the assize of Violet Mar for witchcraft, to be held on 24 October. [3]

James VI wrote to them for "venison, wild fowls, fed capons" to serve at the wedding of Henrietta Stewart and George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly in July 1588. [4] Robert Murray enjoyed the confidence of Anne of Denmark, and in March 1592 she wrote to him, asking for help in administrative changes and to protect her husband from the Chancellor, John Maitland of Thirlestane, who she regarded as an enemy. [5]

Lady Abercairny joined the household of Prince Henry at Stirling Castle in 1594 as a "dame of honour". The other ladies were her sisters Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar and Margaret Murray, Lady Clackmannan, with Lady Morton, Lady Dudhope, Lady Cambuskenneth, and the late Justice Clerk's wife. [6]

In 1603 her sister, Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar, bequeathed to her a gown of chamlet of silk with broad velvet passementerie, breasts lined with plush, with a doublet and skirt of plain black velvet. [7]

Family

Anne of Denmark ordered William Murray to build a bonfire in the market place at Salisbury in November 1603 Salisbury, Market Square - geograph.org.uk - 2357241.jpg
Anne of Denmark ordered William Murray to build a bonfire in the market place at Salisbury in November 1603

Her children included:

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References

  1. ↑ George Harvey Johnston, Heraldry of the Murrays (Edinburgh, 1910), p. 62.
  2. ↑ Michael Wasser, 'Scotland's First Witch Hunt', Julian Goodare, Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), p. 29: HMC 3rd Report (London, 1872), p. 419: NRS GD24/5/57/10.
  3. ↑ Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer, 1574-1580, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 182.
  4. ↑ HMC 3rd Report: Moray (London, 1872), p. 419.
  5. ↑ Maureen Meikle, 'A meddlesome princess: Anna of Denmark and Scottish court politics 1589–1603', Julian Goodare & Michael Lynch, The Reign of James VI (Tuckwell: East Linton, 2000), p. 132.
  6. ↑ Henry Paton, HMC Mar & Kellie, 1 (London, 1904), p. 41.
  7. ↑ David Erskine, Earl of Buchan, 'Legacies of Dame Amabel', Edinburgh Magazine, 12 (1799), p. 329.
  8. ↑ Register of the Great Seal, 1580-1593, p. 717 no. 2102.
  9. ↑ Alexander Courtney, James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth's Heir, 1566–1603 (Routledge, 2024), p. 31.
  10. ↑ Roll of Eminent Burgesses of Dundee (Dundee, 1887), pp. 119-20.
  11. ↑ Maurice Lee, Dudley Carleton to John Chamberlain, 1603-1624 (Rutgers UP, 1972), p. 35.
  12. ↑ HMC 3rd Report (London, 1872), p. 419: National Records of Scotland GD24/5/57/22.
  13. ↑ John Maitland Tomson, Register of the Great Seal, 1580-1593, p. 717 no. 2102: Register of the Great Seal, 1593–1608 (Edinburgh 1984), nos. 222, 1326.
  14. ↑ Frederick Devon, Issues of Exchequer: Pell Records (London, 1836), pp. 151-2, 158, 160.
  15. ↑ John Maitland Tomson, Register of the Great Seal, 1580-1593, p. 717 no. 2102.
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