Gideon Murray of Elibank (died 1621), was a Scottish courtier and landowner.
Gideon Murray of Elibank (died 1621), was a Scottish courtier and landowner.
Gideon Murray was the third son of Sir Andrew Murray of Black Barony, Peebleshire, and Grisel Beaton, a daughter of Sir John Beaton of Creich, Fife. [1] Regent Arran paid a dowry for her of £133. [2] Gideon was a grandson of Isobel Hoppar.
In July 1595 his sister Margaret Murray married Robert Halkett, Laird of Pitfirrane, and there was a banquet in Edinburgh attended by Anne of Denmark. Their son James married the writer, Anne Murray, Lady Halkett. [3]
He was educated at the University of Glasgow.
He was a prisoner in Edinburgh Castle in October 1585, and released with a caution of £5,000 Scots from his brother, James Murray of Blackbarony, to remain in Edinburgh. [4]
In July 1592 Murray was commanded to demolish the towers of Harden and Dryhope, belonging to Walter Scott of Harden, because Scott had taken part in the assault on Falkland Palace led by Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell in June. [5]
Murray was appointed a border official in 1603, and a member of the Privy Council of Scotland in 1610. In August 1610 his son was challenged by the second son of Lord Cranstoun to fight a duel, which the Privy Council was anxious to prevent. Cranstoun's son James was imprisoned in Blackness Castle, young Murray in Edinburgh Castle for concealing the meeting. Lord Cranstoun was questioned by the Council on suspicion that he had encouraged his son for personal advantage. James Cranstoun was banished. [6]
In 1612 he was made a Lord of Session as Lord Elibank.
Gideon Murray was the uncle of Sir Robert Kerr, Lord Rochester and Earl of Somerset, the favourite of King James. Somerset's influence led to the appointment of Murray as Treasurer Depute of Scotland. [7] The role involved management of the repairs to the royal castles and palaces in Scotland, as well as work on Glasgow Cathedral in 1620. [8]
In June 1614 he wrote to the king about silver mines in Scotland at Hilderston which were now yielding metal. [9] In March 1615 he was made keeper of the Scottish crown jewels, known as the Honours of Scotland, which he received from John Arnot of Birswick, Provost of Edinburgh. The condition of the crown and sword were recorded. [10]
To help finance the visit of King James to Scotland in 1617, Murray borrowed £66,666 Scots from William Dick, a merchant burgess of Edinburgh, and the advocate Alexander Morrison. He repaid them through tax receipts. A further £96,000 was sent from England, including some money from the privy purse. Preparations for the royal visit included repairs at Linlithgow Palace, the palace block at Edinburgh Castle, works at Stirling Castle, and fireworks at Edinburgh Castle and the masque and morris dance at Holyrood Palace on the king's birthday, 19 June. [11] King James gave particular instructions for the chapel in Holyroodhouse, and encouraged Gideon Murray to contract the London stonemason Nicholas Stone to design and supervise the decoration. [12]
In 1618 King James gave a gold basin which the burgh of Edinburgh had given to him the year before, with two gilt cups, one in the form of a salmon, from the burgh of Glasgow, a gold cup presented by Carlisle, with some valuable musk and ambergris, and an iron chest that had belonged to the Earl of Gowrie. [13]
In June 1620 he explained how a ban on the circulation of foreign coins in Scotland had damaged the economy. [14]
In 1621 James Stewart, Lord Ochiltree accused Murray of misusing public money, and this brought about a nervous breakdown and his death on 28 June 1621. [15]
He was buried at Holyrood Abbey in Edinburgh.
Elibank Tower was sited on the Eliburn stream near Walkerburn. The L shaped building had two towers and two terraced gardens to the south and west, described as Italianate in inspiration. Murray also had a lodging in Edinburgh and another border home at Langshaw where there was another terraced garden. [16] Other courtiers who remained as officers in the administration of Scotland after 1603 also made substantial gardens, including Alexander Seton at Pinkie and Fyvie, and George Foulis at Ravelston. [17]
At Ballencreiff in East Lothian, the hall ceiling had plaster ciphers of "SGM" and "DMP" for Sir Gideon Murray and his wife Dame Margaret Pentland, and the fetterlock and stars (mullets) from his heraldry. [18]
The children of Gideon Murray and Margaret Pentland included:
The ruins of Linlithgow Palace are located in the town of Linlithgow, West Lothian, Scotland, 15 miles (24 km) west of Edinburgh. The palace was one of the principal residences of the monarchs of Scotland in the 15th and 16th centuries. Although maintained after Scotland's monarchs left for England in 1603, the palace was little used, and was burned out in 1746. It is now a visitor attraction in the care of Historic Environment Scotland.
Lord Elibank, of Ettrick Forest in the County of Selkirk, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1643 for Sir Patrick Murray, 1st Baronet, with remainder to his heirs male whatsoever. He had already been created a Baronet, of Elibank, in the Baronetage of Nova Scotia in 1628. His great-great-grandson, the fifth Lord, was an author and economist. He was succeeded by his younger brother, the sixth Lord, who was an admiral in the Royal Navy. On his death the titles passed to his nephew, the seventh Lord. He represented Peeblesshire in the House of Commons and also served as Lord Lieutenant of Peeblesshire.
Falkland Palace, in Falkland, Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace of the Scottish Kings. It was one of the favourite places of Mary, Queen of Scots, providing an escape from political and religious turmoil. Today it is under the stewardship of Ninian Stuart, who delegates most of his duties to The National Trust for Scotland. The Chapel Royal in the Palace is dedicated to Thomas the Apostle, and is also open to the public and reserved for Catholic worship.
John Erskine, 2nd Earl of Mar was a Scottish politician, the only son of another John Erskine and Annabella Murray. He is regarded as both the 19th earl and the 2nd earl.
James Murray of Kilbaberton, (d.1634), was a Scottish master wright and architect. He served as the King's Master of Works under James VI, and Charles I. He was one of the first men in Scotland to be called an architect.
Patrick Murray, 1st Lord Elibank was a Scottish peer.
Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell was Commendator of Kelso Abbey and Coldingham Priory, a Privy Counsellor and Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He was a notorious conspirator who led several uprisings against his first cousin, King James VI, all of which ultimately failed, and he died in poverty in Italy after being banished from Scotland. Francis's maternal uncle James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, was the chief suspect in the murder of James VI's father Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.
William Cranstoun, 1st Lord Cranstoun was a Scottish Lord of Parliament, who played a prominent part in the pacification of the Anglo-Scottish border in the early 17th century.
Sir David Murray of Gorthy (1567–1629) was an officer in the household of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, in England from 1603 to 1612, and poet.
The Comptroller of Scotland was a post in the pre-Union government of Scotland.
Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Selkirk elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates.
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