Robert Davidson was the Provost of Aberdeen, Scotland and the leader of Aberdeen City Council. He was killed leading a force from the city at the Battle of Harlaw on 24 July 1411 against Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles.
Robert Davidson had been tried for piracy, including against Richard Whittington who was the Lord Mayor of London. [1] However, Davidson also had legal privateer status which gave him authorisation from the government to carryout attacks. A court case raised against him by the Dutch Government was cancelled after he managed to get the French Government to intervene for him. [2] He was also known to have been an innkeeper, wine importer and customs inspector. He became the Provost of Aberdeen and the leader of Aberdeen City Council. [3] [1]
It is possible that he was the son of either Laurence Davidson, who granted a charter in Aberdeen in 1360, or of William Davidson, son of David, who witnessed a charter in April 1350. In 1395, Robert Davidson is recorded, along with William Chalmers, as joint collector of King's or Great Customs at the port of Aberdeen, and he continued in this position until 1410. In 1398, he is recorded as a bailie and member of the council. This continued until Michaelmas in 1405 when he was elected as an Alderman. Historic references show that he occupied the civic chair of the council in 1406 and 1407. His position in the burgh was as a general merchant which included being a wine merchant. He often appeared in the burgh court. [4]
He served as an agent collecting the pensions and annuities for several people of high rank, including: Sir Malcolm Drummond who was the first husband of Isabel Douglas, Countess of Mar, James Stewart the brother of Robert III of Scotland, and David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay. Davidson was clearly a friend of the Stewarts and in his position as Alderman, he appears on more than one occasion as a witness to the deeds of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar that were made at Kildrummy Castle. One of these occasions was in December, 1410, and the other guests included Gilbert de Greenlaw who was the Bishop of Aberdeen, Henry Leighton and Sir Alexander Irvine of Drum. This meeting may have been to discuss rumours of the future invasion by Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles. [4]
In 1411, Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, was at feud with Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany, over the right to the earldom of Ross. This resulted in the Battle of Harlaw on 24 July 1411, which was fought just north of Inverurie. Davidson led a force of the Burgesses of Guild of Aberdeen in support of Albany's commander, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. [3] [5] [6] Davidson was the legal advisor to the Earl of Mar. [2] Davidson was killed in the battle along with the burgesses. His body was interred in the Kirk of St Nicholas where a memorial service was held for him. [3] [5] [6] According to Francis Douglas in his 1782 publication, A General Description of the East Coast of Scotland, after Davidson's death at the battle, Aberdeen Council passed an act forbidding the chief magistrate to go outside the city walls on future expeditions. This story was repeated by Walter Scott but there is no historical evidence to support it. [4]
Munro relates a ballad regarding Robert Davidson at the Battle of Harlaw: [4]
From Aberdeen five hundred warriors came, All clad in steel and not unknown to fame; There Provost Davidson led the chosen band, And brave Hugh Ross next him had the command. Both men of prowess and superior force; One led the foot and the other ruled the horse.
It is recorded that Davidson had one daughter, Margaret, but an entry in the Aberdeen burgess register in 1400 possibly shows that he had two sons, Henry and Thomas, who he was cautioner for. [4]
In the entrance hall of the council's Aberdeen Town House, there is on display a suit of armour that was allegedly worn by Robert Davidson at the Battle of Harlaw. [8] His tomb can still be seen in the Kirk of St Nicholas. [9] The National Library of Scotland holds a drawing of the effigy of Robert Davidson. [10] In 1911, the Harlaw Monument was erected in memory of Provost Robert Davidson and the Burgesses of Aberdeen who were killed at the Battle of Harlaw in 1411. [7]
Clan Ross is a Highland Scottish clan. The original chiefs of the clan were the original Earls of Ross.
The Battle of Harlaw was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland and those from the west coast.
Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany was a member of the Scottish royal family who served as regent to three Scottish monarchs. A ruthless politician, Albany was widely regarded as having murdered his nephew, the Duke of Rothesay, and brother to the future King James I of Scotland. James was held in captivity in England for eighteen years, during which time Albany served as regent in Scotland, king in all but name. He died in 1420 and was succeeded by his son, Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany, who was executed for treason when James returned to Scotland in 1425, almost causing the complete ruin of the Albany Stewarts.
The Earl or Mormaer of Ross was the ruler of the province of Ross in northern Scotland, as well as chief of Clan Ross.
Clan Donald, also known as Clan MacDonald or Clan Mc Donald, is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest Scottish clans. The Lord Lyon King of Arms, the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grants of coats of arms, and serving as the judge of the Court of the Lord Lyon, recognises under Scottish law the High Chief of Clan Donald. Historically the chiefs of the Clan Donald held the title of Lord of the Isles until 1493 and two of those chiefs also held the title of Earl of Ross until 1476.
Clan Maclean is a Highlands Scottish clan. They are one of the oldest clans in the Highlands and owned large tracts of land in Argyll as well as the Inner Hebrides. Many early MacLeans became famous for their honour, strength and courage in battle. They were involved in clan skirmishes with the Mackinnons, Camerons, MacDonalds and Campbells, as well as all of the Jacobite risings.
Clan Davidson is a Highland Scottish clan and a member of the Chattan Confederation.
Alexander Stewart was a Scottish nobleman, originally the Earl of Moray, he became the Earl of Mar from 1405. He acquired the earldom through marriage to the hereditary countess, and successfully ruled the northern part of Scotland.
Donald, Lord of the Isles, was the son and successor of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. The Lordship of the Isles was based in and around the Scottish west-coast island of Islay, but under Donald's father had come to include most of the isles and the lands of Somerled, the King of the Isles in the 12th century, Donald's predecessor, including Morvern, Garmoran, Lochaber, Kintyre and Knapdale on the mainland.
Alexander of Islay or Alexander MacDonald was a medieval Scottish nobleman who succeeded his father Domhnall of Islay as Lord of the Isles (1423–1449), later rising to the rank of Earl of Ross (1436–49). His lively career, especially before he attained the earldom of Ross, led Hugh MacDonald, the 17th century author of History of the MacDonalds, to commemorate him as "a man born to much trouble all his lifetime". Alexander allied himself with King James I of Scotland against the power of the Albany Stewarts in 1425 but, once the Albany Stewarts were out of the way, Alexander quickly found himself at odds with the new king. War with King James would initially prove Alexander's undoing, and would see the King's power in Scotland greatly increased, but at the Battle of Inverlochy Alexander's army prevailed against the forces of the King. Alexander died in 1449, having greatly extended his family's landed wealth and power. He was buried, not in the Isles of his ancestors, but at Fortrose Cathedral in his mainland Earldom of Ross.
Mariota, Countess of Ross was the daughter of Euphemia I, Countess of Ross and her husband, the crusading war-hero Walter Leslie, Lord of Ross. Upon the death of her brother, Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross, she became the heiress presumptive of her niece Euphemia II, Countess of Ross although her husband Domhnall of Islay, Lord of the Isles pressed Mariota's superior claim to the earldom.
The Battle of Dingwall was a Scottish clan battle said to have taken place in the year 1411, in Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands. It was fought between the Clan Mackay and the Clan Donald.
Hugh Munro, 9th Baron of Foulis was a 14th – 15th century Scottish soldier and said to be 12th chief of the Clan Munro in the Scottish Highlands. He was seated at Foulis Castle in Ross-shire, Scotland. Although he is traditionally the 9th Baron and 12th overall chief of the clan, he is only the 2nd Munro chief that can be proved by contemporary evidence.
The Battle of Lochaber was fought in 1429, in the Scottish Highlands, between the forces of Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross, Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald against the Royalist army of King James I of Scotland.
Thomas Maule, 2nd Baron of Panmure and Benvie, was the eldest son of Sir William Maule, Baron of Panmure and Benvie and Marion Fleming. Thomas succeeded as Baron on his father's death before 1407. He was killed on 24 July 1411 at the Battle of Harlaw, fighting under Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. He is mentioned in the Child ballad, The Battle of Harlaw:
John Mór Tanister MacDonald, Scottish-Gaelic lord, died 1427.
Alastair Carragh MacDonald was a son of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles and Margaret Stewart, daughter of King Robert II of Scotland and Elizabeth Mure. He is the eponymous ancestor of Clan MacDonald of Keppoch.
Angus Du Mackay, 7th of Strathnaver was the seventh chief of the Clan Mackay, a Highland Scottish clan. He is recorded in the 15th-century Scottish chronicle, Scotichronicon, as Enneas-en-Imprissi meaning Angus the Absolute due to his power of commanding 4000 men.
Kinkell is a former parish in the Garioch region of Aberdeenshire. It was named Kinkell because its parsonage oversaw six subordinate churches.