Murdoch Walker (d. 1580) was a stonemason in 16th-century Edinburgh.
Murdoch Walker frequently worked on public buildings for Edinburgh's burgh council. In November 1560 he contracted to rebuild the hospital for poor bedesmen attached to Trinity College Kirk. He was to take down old buildings and repair the dyke or boundary wall. [1]
The master of work for building the new hospital in November 1567 at Trinity College Kirk, Adam Fullarton, sold stones, lime, and sand in the Blackfriars kirk yard to the masons Thomas Jackson and Murdoch Walker. [2]
In December 1565 a colleague in the Canongate, Andrew Hunter, named his son after him. [3]
On 20 February 1570 Murdoch Walker and Jean Ryotel, a French master mason, were contracted to build a tomb in St Giles Kirk for Regent Moray. [4] The contract was made between the two masons and John Wood on behalf of the Regent's widow, Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray, and written out by a notary Robert Ewyn. Ewyn, brother of the goldsmith Thomas Ewyn, was clerk to the Edinburgh incorporation of wrights and masons, and also a copyist of manuscript books. [5] The tomb was to be built by the two masons over the Regent's grave in Saint Anthony's aisle, according to a "pattern and draft". [6] A brass memorial plaque for the tomb, which cost £7, was engraved by a goldsmith, James Gray, for £20 Scots. [7]
Walker was employed to mend the "west bulwark" at Leith in 1574 after storm damage. This was a pier extending the line of the Shore into the sea. [8]
He died in July 1580. [9]
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. At times a supporter of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, he was the regent of Scotland for his half-nephew, the infant King James VI, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570. He was the first head of government to be assassinated with a firearm.
John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl, called the Fair, was a Scottish nobleman and courtier. He was favoured by Mary, Queen of Scots, but later turned against her.
Trinity College Kirk was a royal collegiate church in Edinburgh, Scotland. The kirk and its adjacent almshouse, Trinity Hospital, were founded in 1460 by Mary of Guelders in memory of her husband, King James II who had been killed at the siege of Roxburgh Castle that year. Queen Mary was interred in the church, until her coffin was moved to Holyrood Abbey in 1848.
Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray was a Scottish noblewoman. She was the wife of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, regent of Scotland and the illegitimate half-brother of Mary, Queen of Scots, making her a sister-in-law of the Scottish queen. As the wife of the regent, Agnes was the most powerful woman in Scotland from 1567 until her husband's assassination in 1570.
William MacDowall or McDougall(died 1580) was a Scottish priest and Master of Works to Mary, Queen of Scots, her mother Mary of Guise, and James VI of Scotland. The title 'sir' was used in Scotland by a priest without a master's degree. The name appears variously as McDowgall, McDougall, McDowall etc., in printed records, he signed accounts MAKDOUELL.
Master John Wood, was a Scottish courtier, administrator and secretary to the Earl of Moray. He was assassinated on 15 April 1570.
Nicholas (Nicol) Uddert or Udward or Udwart or Anglicised as Nicol Edward was a 16th century Scottish merchant who served as Provost of Edinburgh in 1592/93.
Thomas McCalzean, Lord Cliftonhall was a 16th-century Scottish judge, rising to be a Senator of the College of Justice and a local politician who was briefly Provost of Edinburgh in 1562 at the personal request of Mary Queen of Scots who sought a moderate influence during these troubled times.
John Acheson was a Scottish goldsmith, mining entrepreneur, and official of the mint.
Alexander Clark of Balbirnie was a Scottish merchant and Provost of Edinburgh. He was closely involved with English diplomacy.
Archibald Stewart was a Scottish merchant and Provost of Edinburgh.
Walter Binning, or Bynning was a painter in 16th-century Edinburgh.
Michael Gilbert was an Edinburgh goldsmith and financier.
Robert Colville of Cleish (1532–1584) was a Scottish courtier.
James Barroun or Baron was a wealthy Scottish merchant based in Edinburgh and supporter of the Scottish Reformation.
James Gray was a Scottish goldsmith working in Edinburgh during the reigns of Mary, Queen of Scots and James VI of Scotland. Gray is known for the "Galloway mazer", a gilt cup now held by the National Museums of Scotland. He also engraved the brass plate for the tomb of Regent Moray in St Giles, Edinburgh.
Thomas Ewyn was a Scottish goldsmith working in Edinburgh.
David Schang was a Scottish carpenter and fortune-teller working in 16th-century Edinburgh.
Drinksilver was a kind of tip or gratuity given to artisans in Early Modern Scotland, a sum of money suitable for buying drinks and celebrating. Records of payments give insights into labour, service, and patronage.
Nageir the Moor was a servant of African origin at the Scottish royal court.