Isobel Colt was the nurse of

Robert Stuart, Duke of Kintyre and Lorne Robert Bruce Stuart, Duke of Kintyre and Lorne (18 January 1602 – 27 May 1602) was the fifth child of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. He was born at Dunfermline Palace, Fife. On 2 May 1602 he was created Duke of Kintyre and Lorne, Mar ...

, a son of James VI of Scotland and

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and Eng ...

. She may have been a daughter of an Edinburgh lawyer Oliver Colt and his wife Isobel Henryson, who was a daughter of Edinburgh merchant Thomas Henryson. Isobel Colt was the wife of Patrick Smith, an Edinburgh lawyer and

writer to the signet The Society of Writers to His Majesty's Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors, dating back to 1594 and part of the College of Justice. Writers to the Signet originally had special privileges in relation to the drawing up of document ...

Women in early modern Scotland Women in early modern Scotland, between the Renaissance of the early sixteenth century and the beginnings of industrialisation in the mid-eighteenth century, were part of a patriarchal society, though the enforcement of this social order was no ...

did not change their surnames on marriage. For the baptism of Duke Robert at

Dunfermline Abbey Dunfermline Abbey is a Church of Scotland Parish Church in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. The church occupies the site of the ancient chancel and transepts of a large medieval Benedictine abbey, which was sacked in 1560 during the Scottish Reforma ...

on 2 May 1601, Isobel Colt was given new clothes including, taffeta from

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...

for her gown, black velvet for a skirt and to border the gown, and black velvet for a "mutch" to wear on her head. She was dismissed shortly before the death of Duke Robert, as it was thought a change of nurse would improve his health. Isobel was given £200 Scots as a reward for her service by the English courtier Roger Aston on 25 May 1602. The payment was witnessed by John Buchanan, who later married

Margaret Hartsyde Margaret Hartsyde or Hairtsyde ( fl. 1600–1640) was a Scottish servant, jewel thief, and landowner. A servant of the queen, Anne of Denmark, Hartsyde's duties included looking after the queen's jewels, dealing with the goldsmith George Heriot, ...

, a servant of Anne of Denmark.''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 988 no. 801:

National Records of Scotland , type = Non-ministerial government department , logo = National Records of Scotland logo.svg , logo_width = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = National Archives of Scotland , preceding2 = General Regi ...

, NRS E23/11.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colt, Isobel Royal nurses 16th-century Scottish women 17th-century Scottish women