James Kirkcaldy of Grange (died 1556), a Fife laird and treasurer of Scotland. He married Janet Melville, aunt of Sir James Melville of Halhill. Their heir was William Kirkcaldy of Grange. His main property was called

Hallyards Castle Hallyards Castle ( sco, Hall yairds "the yards at the hall"), located to the north-west of the village of Auchtertool, is reputed to have been a hunting seat of Malcolm Canmore. With the establishment of the Roman Church, Halyards became the local ...

. The name is sometimes spelled ''Kirkaldy''.

Treasury business

Sir James Kirkcaldy accompanied

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...

on his trip to France in 1536 to marry Madeleine of Valois. His duties included paying the sailors and organising repairs to the ships for the return voyage. On 13 October 1537, Janet and James received a gift of lands at

Kinghorn Kinghorn (; gd, Ceann Gronna) is a town and parish in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, opposite Edinburgh. According ...

from the king, taken from John Lyon, 7th Lord Glamis. On 4 October 1539, James V granted him the fishing rights on the

Tay Tay may refer to: People and languages * Tay (name), including lists of people with the given name, surname and nickname * Tay people, an ethnic group of Vietnam ** Tày language *Atayal language, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan (ISO 639 ...

Tentsmuir Tentsmuir Forest is in north east Fife, Scotland. Covering some , the forest was originally sand dunes and moorland before acquisition by the Forestry Commission in the 1920s. The forest consists mainly of Scots pine and Corsican pine, and is now ...

both fresh and saltwater. In February 1540 James V requested the auditors of the accounts to reward Kirkcaldy and the comptroller David Wood of the Craig. As their twelve servants had to attend court but would not be housed and fed as household men in the newly reformed royal household, Wood and Kirkcaldy each got £333-6s-8d each yearly. Kirkcaldy also got extra payments, to "sustain the treasurer's house", when the exchequer followed the king on justice ayres; to Dumbarton in 1540, and

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

in 1541. Kirkcaldy witnessed king James's will on the ''

Salamander Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten ...

'' at Leith on 12 June 1540 before his voyage to Orkney and the Western Isles.

Against persecution

George Buchanan mentions Kirkcaldy's Protestant faith in his account of the arrest and execution of

James Hamilton of Finnart Sir James Hamilton of Finnart (c. 1495 – 16 August 1540) was a Scottish nobleman and architect, the illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran, and Marion Boyd of Bonshaw. Although legitimated in 1512 while still a minor, he contin ...

. James Melville of Halhill credits Kirkcaldy with a lengthy speech to James V which narrates the events of the king's early years. According to Melville and

John Knox John Knox ( gd, Iain Cnocc) (born – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgat ...

, the Catholic clergy had given James V a list of all the Protestants in Scotland, hoping the king would persecute them and seize their lands. James Kirkcaldy, in Melville's story, by his speech persuaded the king not to do this. James V confronted the clergy with his dagger saying; "Wherefore gave my predecessors so many lands and rents to the kirk? Was it to maintain hawks, dogs and whores to a number of idle priests?" But now the priests knew the king's intentions, and when Kirkcaldy was away from court, securing the marriage of his second son to Helen Leslie of Pitcaple, his enemies at court moved against him. Melville thought these courtiers persuaded James V against travelling to York to meet

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, who hoped that Scotland would become a Protestant country. The breaking of this arrangement was thought to have led to the

Battle of Solway Moss The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish border in November 1542 between English and Scottish forces. The Scottish King James V had refused to break from the Catholic Chu ...

. John Knox told the same story in his ''

History of the Reformation ''The History of the Reformation in Scotland'' is a five-volume book written by the Scottish reformer, John Knox, between 1559 and 1566. Knox and his ''History'' In 1559 during the Scottish Reformation, the leaders of the Protestant nobility, t ...

''. Regent Arran mentioned the king's list of 360 Protestants to

Ralph Sadler Sir Ralph Sadler or Sadleir Privy Council of England, PC, Knight banneret (1507 – 30 March 1587) was an English statesman, who served Henry VIII of England, Henry VIII as Privy Council of England, Privy Councillor, Secretary of State (England) ...

in March 1543. On 25 October 1542, the king confirmed Janet and James in possession of their lands at Grange. After the death of James V, as treasurer of Scotland, Kirkcaldy ratified the

Treaty of Greenwich The Treaty of Greenwich (also known as the Treaties of Greenwich) contained two agreements both signed on 1 July 1543 in Greenwich between representatives of England and Scotland. The accord, overall, entailed a plan developed by Henry VIII of En ...

on 25 August 1543.

Within St Andrews Castle

James Kirkcaldy joined the Protestant Fife Lairds who killed David Beaton then held

St Andrews Castle St Andrews Castle is a ruin located in the coastal Royal Burgh of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland. The castle sits on a rocky promontory overlooking a small beach called Castle Sands and the adjoining North Sea. There has been a castle standing a ...

against Regent Arran. In February or March 1547 James joined with other lairds in the Castle to witness Patrick, Lord Gray's pledge to

Edward VI of England Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first En ...

. The other witnesses on 11 March 1547 were; Norman Leslie, Master of Rothes;

Henry Balnaves Henry Balnaves (1512? – February 1570) was a Scottish politician, Lord Justice Clerk, and religious reformer. Biography Born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, around 1512, he was educated at the University of St Andrews and on the continent, where he adopt ...

of Halhill; Alexander Whitelaw of Newgrange. A French fleet came and took the castle. James Kirkcaldy was taken to France as a prisoner with Norman Leslie, Henry Balnaves, Henry Moneypenny and others. The lairds and

were eventually released.

Family

James and his younger brothers George, John and Patrick are all described as "familiar servants of the king", courtiers, in a Great Seal letter. On 19 October 1539 the brothers were forgiven for not joining James V on an excursion to Solway and for their connivance in the murder of three Fife lairds. The most famous of James Kirkcaldy's children was the soldier-statesman Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange, who fought for the Protestant lords during the reformation, and accepted the surrender of the Queen of Scots at

Carberry Hill The Battle of Carberry Hill took place on 15 June 1567, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, a few miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland. A number of Scottish lords objected to the rule of Mary, Queen of Scots, after she had married the Earl of Bothwel ...

in 1567. He later regretted his role in her defeat and held

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

in her name, until it fell in 1573 and he was executed. His daughters: * Marjory married Harry Ramsay younger of Colluthie. * Agnes married Robert Drummond of Carnock, Master of Work to the Crown of Scotland. * Marian married William Sempill of Cathcart.Douglas, Sir Robert, Bt., ''The Baronage of Scotland'' (Edinburgh, 1774), p. 468. * Elspeth or Elizabeth Kirkcaldy, who married John Mowbray of

Barnbougle Castle Barnbougle Castle is a historic tower house on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, between Cramond and Queensferry, and within the parish of Dalmeny. It lies within the Earl of Rosebery's estate, just north-west of Dalmeny House. Although ...

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkcaldy of Grange, James 1556 deaths Edinburgh Castle Treasurers of Scotland 16th-century Scottish people Court of James V of Scotland Scottish people of the Rough Wooing Lairds Year of birth unknown