John Mylne of Perth (c. 1585 – 1657) was a

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master mason who served as

Master Mason to the Crown of Scotland Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

. He was born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, the son of John Mylne, also a master mason, and Helen Kenneries. He married Isobel Wilson in 1610 and had two sons, John and Alexander, both of whom followed him into the building profession, and a daughter, Barbara, who was later accused of

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Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. He learned his craft through assisting his father on his Tay Bridge construction project at Perth.Colvin, p.568-9 In 1616 he was invited to Edinburgh to work on a statue of James VI for the Netherbow Port, or city gate, after the previous mason, Frenchman Benjamin Lambert, had died before completing the commission. Mylne also rebuilt the mercat cross in the High Street, and was made a

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of Edinburgh in June 1617. In 1620 he was contracted to build a new church at Falkland in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

for David Murray, Lord Scone. The contract stipulated that the church was to be built precisely to Lord Scone's specifications, and left Mylne little room for architectural input. Between 1622 and 1629 he built 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 essen ...

steeple in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, and was rewarded by being made a burgess of that royal burgh in May 1622. In 1627 he was further made a burgess of

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

in right of his father. Following this he carried out alterations to Drummond House for David Drummond, Earl of Perth, which included the sundial in the grounds. On the death of William Wallace in 1631, Mylne was appointed Master Mason to the Crown, and returned to Edinburgh. His first royal commission came shortly before this, in 1629, when he was tasked with the construction of a large pond at the palace of Holyroodhouse. With the assistance of his two sons, he also erected a large polyhedral

sundial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...

at Holyrood for

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, on the occasion of his Scottish coronation in 1633. The sundial, which bears numerous

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emblems, is the earliest surviving polyhedral example in the country. Mylne was paid £408 15s 6d ( Scots) for the work.Howard, p.44 He held his royal post for five years, before resigning it in favour of his eldest son John in 1636, when he left Edinburgh. In 1643 Mylne was made a burgess of

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

, following his work to repair and enlarge the parish kirk. Over the following years he was engaged on several public works in

, including the church steeple, tolbooth, and the royal burgh's fortifications. Mylne was also a prominent

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, a member of the Lodge of Edinburgh from 1633, and Master of the Lodge of Scone from 1621 to 1627. He is buried against the southern wall of

Greyfriars Burial Ground Greyfriars Burial Ground is an historic cemetery in Perth, Scotland, dating to 1580. It is now Category A listed. It occupies the former location of the Greyfriars Monastery, founded by Laurence Oliphant, 1st Lord Oliphant, in 1496 and destroy ...

in Perth, close to the southern pedestrian gate. The stone was erected by Robert Mylne and has been restored many times.

References

*Colvin, Howard (1978) ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600 - 1840'' John Murray *''Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 1921–22 *Howard, Deborah (1995) ''Architecture of Scotland: Reformation to Restoration, 1560-1660'' Edinburgh University Press *McEwan, Peter J. M. ''Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture'', Antique Collectors’ Club, 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mylne, John 1580s births 1657 deaths People from Perth, Scotland Burgesses in Scotland Scottish architects Master Masons to the Crown of Scotland