Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Erroll

Last updated

Elizabeth Douglas, Countess of Erroll (died 1631) was a Scottish aristocrat.

Contents

Elizabeth was the youngest daughter of William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton and Agnes Leslie, Countess of Morton. Morton had seven daughters, alleged to have been called the "pearls of Lochleven".

Marriage negotiations

She married Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll on 27 June 1590. The wedding was held in private, possibly on the 27 June, for fear that King James VI might try to prevent it. He wanted the Kirk of Scotland to be satisfied first that the couple would adhere to the Protestant religion. The Earl of Morton was threatened with legal action. [1]

Despite the King's objections the marriage had been backed by powerful courtiers. The Master of Glamis wanted it to strengthen a political faction. Sir Robert Melville encouraged the marriage believing it would reduce the influence of the Earl of Huntly on Erroll. [2] There was opposition too, on 21 April 1590 the Earl of Montrose and others at Megginch Castle had tried to persuade Erroll not to marry her, but Erroll argued he could change his wife's friends' alliances. [3]

There had been negotiation between the Earl of Morton and the Earl of Erroll about which daughter he would marry. Morton tried to make Erroll marry one of her older sisters, but he liked the youngest. [4]

The marriage bands were authorised at the Newhouse of Lochleven on 2 June 1590, and proclaimed at the Kirk of Slains by Alexander Bruce. [5]

Catholic life in Protestant Scotland

In February 1593 King James came north to punish and subdue the earls of Huntly, Angus, and Erroll for plotting on behalf of the Catholic faith but they went into hiding. Henrietta, Countess of Huntly and the Countess of Erroll came to him at Aberdeen and he allowed them to keep their houses and estates. [6] In 1594 the Earl of Erroll led a rebellion which was put down by James VI. Their castle of Slains was destroyed with gunpowder and cannon. Next year, according to Dr James MacCartney, the Countess of Errol hired masons to repair the building. [7] The English diplomat George Nicolson heard that Anne of Denmark had offered the jewel called the "Great H of Scotland" to her friend the Countess of Erroll as recompense for the demolition of Slains. [8]

The ministers of the Kirk of Scotland petitioned the king in March 1595 that she and the Countess of Huntly should be forced to live in or near Edinburgh. [9] She was pregnant and the Privy Council ordered she should go to Dalkeith Palace after the child was born. [10] She had a child in September 1595 and John Bothwell, Abbot of Holyroodhouse was sent as the king's representative to the christening. [11]

At the ceremony of the Riding of the Parliament in Edinburgh in January 1598, she and Anna of Denmark and the Countess of Huntly rode to Mercat Cross and watched the symbolic restoration of the forfeited earls of Angus, Erroll and Huntly, by the Lyon King of Arms to the sound of trumpets. It was said that the queen had so much favour to Elizabeth Douglas and the Countess of Huntly that sometimes she shared a bed with one or the other, and was often seen kissing Elizabeth. [12]

It has been suggested that she was the "E. D." who composed two sonnets addressed to the poet and secretary of Anne of Denmark, William Fowler. [13] However, Fowler wrote an epitaph in 1594 for another Elizabeth Douglas, the wife of an East Lothian laird and diplomat, Samuel Cockburn of Templehall, and she may have been the author "E.D". [14]

Family

Elizabeth Douglas and Francis Hay had five sons and eight daughters:

Related Research Articles

Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll

Francis Hay, 9th Earl of Erroll was a Scottish nobleman. A convert to Catholicism, he openly conspired with the king of Spain to try to unseat the Protestant Queen Elizabeth.

William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton was the son of Robert Douglas of Lochleven and Margaret Erskine, a former mistress of James V of Scotland.

Agnes Leslie, Countess of Morton

Agnes Leslie, Countess of Morton was a Scottish noblewoman, being the daughter of George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes as well as a great-granddaughter of King James II. She was the wife of William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton, who as Laird of Lochleven Castle was the custodian of Mary, Queen of Scots during her captivity from June 1567 until her escape on 2 May 1568. Agnes was Queen Mary's chief female companion throughout her imprisonment; thus it was while Lady Agnes was recovering from childbirth that the queen successfully escaped from Lochleven.

Sir John Carmichael was a Scottish soldier, the Keeper of Liddesdale, a diplomat, and owner of Fenton Tower at Kingston, East Lothian.

Robert Bowes (1535?–1597) was an English diplomat, stationed as permanent ambassador to Scotland from 1577 to 1583.

Old Slains Castle

Old Slains Castle is a ruined castle near Collieston in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Anne Lyon, Countess of Kinghorne, was a Scottish courtier said to be the mistress of James VI of Scotland.

John Seton, Lord Barns was a Scottish diplomat, courtier and judge.

John Murray, 1st Earl of Tullibardine

John Murray, 1st Earl of Tullibardine was a Scottish courtier and leader of the Clan Murray.

Marie Stewart, Countess of Mar Scottish courtier

Marie Stewart, Countess of Mar (1576-1644) was a Scottish courtier. She was the daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, a favourite of James VI of Scotland, and Catherine de Balsac. After her marriage, as was customary in Scotland, she did not change her name, and signed her letters as "Marie Stuart".

Helenor Hay, Countess of Linlithgow was a Scottish courtier and writer.

John Stewart, 5th Earl of Atholl, (1563–1595) was a Scottish landowner.

Henrietta Stewart Scottish courtier

Henrietta Stewart (1573–1642) was a Scottish courtier. She was the influential favourite of the queen of Scotland, Anne of Denmark.

Margaret Fleming, Countess of Atholl (1536-1586) was a Scottish courtier and landowner rumoured to be involved in the occult. She served as lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots.

James Scott of Balwearie

James Scott of Balwearie was a Scottish landowner and supporter of the rebel earls.

Margaret Douglas, Countess of Bothwell was a Scottish aristocrat and courtier.

George Douglas of Longniddry was a Scottish landowner and courtier.

Patrick Gordon of Auchindoun

Patrick Gordon of Auchindoun (1538–1594) was a Scottish landowner and rebel.

Anna Hay, Countess of Winton

Anna Hay, Countess of Winton (1592-1628) was a Scottish courtier.

James MacCartney was a Scottish medical practitioner and apothecary in Edinburgh in the 1590s who collected information for the English diplomat Robert Bowes. MacCartney was a relation of Thomas Hamilton of Priestfield.

References

  1. Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 335, 347.
  2. Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 281.
  3. Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 281, 285, 347: Register of the Privy Council, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1881), pp. 506-7.
  4. Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 281.
  5. Registrum Honoris de Morton: Original Papers of the Earls of Morton, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1853), pp. 165-6.
  6. Historie and Life of King James the Sext (Edinburgh, 1830), p. 268.
  7. Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), p. 10 no. 8.
  8. Maureen M. Meikle & Helen M. Payne, 'From Lutheranism to Catholicism: The Faith of Anna of Denmark (1574-1619)', Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 64:1 (2013), p. 55: Joseph Bain, Border Papers, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1894), p. 504.
  9. Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 295.
  10. Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1882), p. 212.
  11. M. S. Giuseppi, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1595-1597, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), p. 13.
  12. Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1597-1603, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1969), pp. 161-2.
  13. Sarah Dunnigan, 'Douglas, Elizabeth, Countess of Erroll', New Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women (Edinburgh, 2018), p. 118.
  14. Sebastiaan Verweij, The Literary Culture of Early Modern Scotland (Oxford, 2017), pp. 84-87.