Jean Stewart, Lady Bargany (c.1577 – 1605) was a Scottish lady in waiting to Anne of Denmark. She was a younger daughter of Andrew, Master of Ochiltree and

Margaret Stewart, Mistress of Ochiltree Margaret Stewart, Mistress of Ochiltree (died 1627) was a courtier in the household of Anne of Denmark in Scotland and looked after her children Prince Henry, Princess Elizabeth, and Charles I of England Career Margaret was the daughter of Henr ...

. Jean was a maiden in the household of

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 ...

and her mother was the senior lady in waiting. Her marriage is of special interest to historians

Marriage

Jean Stewart married

Gilbert Kennedy of Bargany and Ardstinchar Gilbert Kennedy of Bargany and Ardstinchar (c. 1577 – 1601) was a Scottish landowner and murder victim. Kennedy had inherited a long-standing family feud with John Kennedy, 5th Earl of Cassilis, on the death of his father, Thomas Kennedy of Barg ...

, the third son of

Thomas Kennedy of Bargany Thomas Kennedy of Bargany (died 1597) was a Scottish courtier and landowner. Life Military career Thomas Kennedy and his father fought for Regent Moray at the Battle of Langside on 13 May 1568. Inheritance In May 1585 Thomas Kennedy took possessi ...

and Agnes Montgomerie daughter of Hugh Montgomerie, 2nd Earl of Eglinton. Bargany Castle, demolished in the seventeenth century, was on the south side of the Water of Girvan in Dailly parish in Ayrshire. Two chronicles, possibly by the same author, state that James VI of Scotland arranged this marriage for Kennedy to a bride without a dowry to punish the family because Thomas Kennedy laird of Bargany had taken part in a riot in Edinburgh on 17 November 1596. The older laird of Bargany had appeared with others in the

Tolbooth A tolbooth or town house was the main municipal building of a Scottish burgh, from medieval times until the 19th century. The tolbooth usually provided a council meeting chamber, a court house and a jail. The tolbooth was one of three esse ...

of Edinburgh and made a religious protest. James VI was in the

of Edinburgh with most of the Privy Council and the Octavians. After a sermon given by

Walter Balcanquhall Walter Balcanquhall (1586? – 1645) was a Scottish clergyman who became a staunch royalist and supporter of the church policy of Charles I of England. He was chosen by James I as a delegate from the Church of Scotland to the Synod of Dort. ...

St Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

, the congregation came out crying "the sword of Gideon" and some called for arms. The royal guard escorted James VI back to

Holyroodhouse The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace or Holyroodhouse, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh ...

. The incident came to be regarded as a conflict between the gentlemen of the king's household known as 'cubiculars' and the financial officers called the '

Octavians The Octavians were a financial commission of eight in the government of Scotland first appointed by James VI on 9 January 1596. James VI's minister John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane had died on 3 October 1595, and his financial sit ...

' who were unpopular with some, and thought to be led by

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

interests. As the two chronicles mention, after this disturbance Lord Lindsay of the Byres' property was forfeit, and the old Laird Bargany was punished by a marriage for his son Gilbert that was to "the wreck of his house". Some details known about the marriage contract and settlement appears to contradict the story found in the chronicles. James VI bought clothes for Jean Stewart and paid for food and musicians at the wedding in Edinburgh in 1597. Anne of Denmark first tried to obtain Lord Lindsay's forfeit as a dowry for her favourite, Jean Stewart. Then she arranged a loan for the dowry, asking Sir William Stewart of

Traquair Traquair ( gd, Cille Bhrìghde) is a small village and civil parish in the Scottish Borders; until 1975 it was in the county of Peeblesshire. The village is situated on the B709 road south of Innerleithen at . History Traquair, said to mea ...

, Jean Stewart's brother-in-law, to be a guarantor. He had protected the king on the day of the riot, and became a cautioner for the money. Years later, in 1615 the loan for dowry or "tochter" money was still not paid, and their son claimed the sum from John Stewart of Traquair and his legal tutor Robert Stuart. It was noted that Jean Stewart had been a "gentlewoman married out of the queen's company". In April 1615 the

Privy Council of Scotland The Privy Council of Scotland ( — 1 May 1708) was a body that advised the Scottish monarch. In the range of its functions the council was often more important than the Estates in the running the country. Its registers include a wide range of m ...

wrote to King James that Traquair ought not to be liable because Sir William had been following the queen's direction "whose commandment was ever unto him a law". The Privy Council noted that the king and queen were also cautioners for the loan and "personallie bound in the contract". In May, Anne of Denmark asked her lady-in-waiting

Jean Ker, Countess of Roxburghe Jean Ker, Countess of Roxburghe, ''née'' Drummond (c.1585–1643) was a Scottish courtier, serving Anne of Denmark in Scotland and England. Courtier and Governess Jean or Jane Drummond was the daughter of Patrick Drummond, 3rd Lord Drummond a ...

to write to her husband to intercede with James to the same effect, to pay what Traquair owed for the dowry. Thomas Kennedy of Bargany died on 7 November 1597 and Gilbert Kennedy became the laird of Bargany and Ardstinchar. James VI settled the barony of Bargany on Thomas Kennedy and Jean Stewart on 12 August 1597. Jean Stewart continued to be known as "Lady Bargany". They had a son Thomas and two daughters who died young.

The Jean Stewart sonnet

Among sonnets possibly by the poet William Fowler in the Hawthornden manuscripts held by the National Library of Scotland, one is dedicated to a "Jean Stewart". The subject of the poem is blessed with an anagram, a "dowry deck'd". This poem may refer to Jean Stewart, Lady Bargany. However, Sebastiaan Verweij has suggested another lady was the subject, "Jean Stewart", Jean Campbell, who was a great-granddaughter of King James IV of Scotland, and the second wife the

Duke of Lennox The title Duke of Lennox has been created several times in the peerage of Scotland, for Clan Stewart of Darnley. The dukedom, named for the district of Lennox in Dumbarton, was first created in 1581, and had formerly been the Earldom of Lenno ...

. The sonnet is given here below with a suggested modernised version:

Kennedy feud

Bargany was drawn into the long-standing family feud with

John Kennedy, 5th Earl of Cassilis John Kennedy, 5th Earl of Cassilis (1575 – 14 November 1615) was a Scottish peer, the son of Gilbert Kennedy, 4th Earl of Cassilis and Margaret Lyon. He succeeded to the titles of 7th Lord Kennedy and 5th Earl of Cassillis on 14 December 1576 ...

. On 3 January 1598 Thomas Kennedy of Culzean, called the Tutor of Cassilis, shot pistols at Bargany's servants Alexander Kennedy and David Mure and others at Maybole and pursuing them the next day at the Place of Auchendrane. The Tutor claimed that Alexander Kennedy had been insinuated into his household, and he had been ambushed in Maybole. Although Bargany had helped the earl at Inch Castle, on 11 December 1601 he met the earl and his followers at Pennyglen near

Maybole Maybole is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of in . It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is bypass ...

and was killed with a lance thrust in his back. The Earl claimed in his defence to the Privy Council that Bargany's party that day included men who had been denounced by the king as rebels. The Earl had a commission to pursue these rebels with fire and sword. The lawyer Thomas Hamilton challenged this defence, but Cassilis and his followers (all named) were found not guilty. Jean Stewart Lady Bargany was required to deliver her houses of Ardstinchar, Bargany,

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

, and her house in Ayr to the king's herald in 1603. She continued the feud by legal means, but also received several royal gifts by privy seal letter.

Death

Jean Stewart fell ill from some sort of fever and went to see the queen's physician

Martin Schöner Dr Martin Schöner or Schönerus (died 1611), physician to James VI and I and Anne of Denmark. Schöner was born in Głogów in Lower Silesia, then a part of the Habsburg Empire, but was considered to be from Thuringia. He is said to have been a ...

at court in London, but he gave her no hope and she died at

Stilton Stilton is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England, about north of Huntingdon in Huntingdonshire, which is a non-metropolitan district of Cambridgeshire as well as a historic county of England. History There is evidence of Neo ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

on her way back to Scotland on 16 August 1605. The chronicle said she died of "eittik" or "hectic", meaning pulmonary consumption. Jean Stewart was buried with her husband in the new burial aisle she had built at

Ballantrae Ballantrae is a community in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The name probably comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Baile na Tràgha'', meaning the "town by the beach". Ballantrae has a primary school. The beach consists of shingle and sand an ...

close to Ardstinchar Castle. The monument has been discussed in connection with the architecture of Anna of Denmark and

David Cunningham of Robertland Sir David Cunningham of Robertland, in Ayrshire, was Master of Works to the Crown of Scotland from 1602 to 1607, and Surveyor of the King's Works in England from 1604 to 1606 Career Exiled for murder Involved in the murder of the Earl of Eglinto ...

. It has been suggested the monument may be the work of the master mason David Scoughall.

The will of Lady Bargany

The will of Jean Stewart gives an insight the clothes worn by a Scottish courtier, some of which were gifts from the queen, with the furnishings she owned at Ardstinchar and Bargany, and her farmstock including the four English milk cows at Bargany, her coach horses and six nags. Personal jewelry included three gold chains, three pairs of gold bracelets, a gold belt, two gold hangers of brooches, two small jewels set with diamonds and rubies, two pairs of gold garnishings (back and fore, to wear in her hair), eight knops and finger rings, a pearl "shadow". Among the silverware there was a little silver gilt mazer or quaich. Her wardrobe included six gowns, with their doublets, skirts and vasquines, each valued at £76-13s-4d. Scots, five cloaks of silk, velvet grosgam, and taffeta at £40 each, a gown of green figured velvet, four "stands" of velvet clothes that had belonged to Gilbert Kennedy, more cloaks, red, blue, and yellow taffeta bed curtains, a scarlet embroidered "pinnacle", black figured taffeta bed curtains, red and white embroidered curtains with a red velvet "pinnacle", green damask bed curtains, gray, blue, green curtains and a scarlet canopy, red stemming, red grosgrain, and tartan curtains, tablecloths, pots, pans, spits and racks, and other household goods. There were two "hagbuts" or muskets and six small "iron pieces" or pistols. The executor of the will was Josias Stewart of Bonytoun, sometime friend of the rebel Hercules Stewart.

Thomas Kennedy of Bargany and Margaret Stewart

Their son, Thomas Kennedy of Bargany married his cousin Margaret Stewart, the daughter of Jean Stewart, Lady Bargany's brother Josias Stewart of Bonytoun, who had been the executor of Jean's will and his legal tutor. Margaret Stewart left him in 1619, complaining of his lack of respect to her and her father. On 6 October 1619 after her usual morning prayers at Bargany Castle, she was walking in the garden with her psalm book in her hands, and was surprised by her husband's servant Patrick Kennedy, who asked where she had been. Patrick complained to Thomas about her answer and said she called him "his tutor". This enraged Thomas who found her in the gardener's house and he punched and kicked her. Although the gardener Thomas Todie intervened as she tried to escape Thomas caught up with her again and dragged her by the hair back towards Bargany House (the distance of three archery butts), and up a narrow stair to the gallery, banging her head against the sides. Thomas left her unconscious on the gallery floor and locked her alone in the castle. Margaret found her way out of the back door and escaped through the hedge and waded through the deep water of the Girvan, hiding in the woods and reaching the safety of her aunt's house at Dailly the next day. Then she rode to Ardstinchar Castle hoping to find her father but had to stay in a barn until

Lord Ochiltree Lord Ochiltree (or Ochiltrie) of Lord Stuart of Ochiltree was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. In 1542 Andrew Stewart, 2nd Lord Avondale (see the Earl Castle Stewart for earlier history of the family) exchanged the lordship of Avondale with Si ...

arrived. She came to Edinburgh where her father and John Jolie, doctor of physic looked after her. Meanwhile, in November Thomas was at Ballintrae and played golf on the links called the Green of Ardstinchar with his friends. The

upheld her complaint.''Register of the Privy Council of Scotland'', vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1895), pp. 144, 147-8, 227-9, 236, 347.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Jean 1605 deaths 16th-century Scottish people 16th-century Scottish women Year of birth unknown Court of James VI and I Violence against women in Scotland Household of Anne of Denmark Scottish ladies-in-waiting