John Ramsay, 1st Lord Bothwell ( – 9 September 1513), also known as Sir John Ramsay of Trarinzeane, was a Scottish peer and courtier. He was the son of John Ramsay of Corstoun in Fife (kin to the Ramsays of Carnock otherwise Pitcruvie) and Janet Napier presumed to be of the Merchiston Napiers. Janet Napier later married John Wilson a Burgess of Edinburgh (Parliamentary records of 1484). John Ramsay was married to Isabel Cant in 1484. He then married

Janet Kennedy Janet Kennedy (c. 1480 – c. 1545), was a Scottish noble and the mistress of King James IV of Scotland. Life She was the eldest daughter of John Kennedy, 2nd Lord Kennedy and Lady Elizabeth Gordon. Through her father, she was a great-great-gran ...

, daughter of John Kennedy, 2nd Lord Kennedy, and Lady Elizabeth Seton, c. 6 November 1505. Janet Kennedy was a favourite mistress of

King James IV of Scotland James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

and this may have been a marriage of political convenience. He and Janet Kennedy were divorced. He then married Isobel Livingston, before February 1507/8. He was attached to the court of King

James III of Scotland James III (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) was King of Scots from 1460 until his death at the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488. He inherited the throne as a child following the death of his father, King James II, at the siege of Roxburgh Ca ...

and was resented by the traditional aristocrats. The principal charge against the King was his reliance on "low-born favourites", and Ramsay was clearly regarded as one of these. In parliament on 24 February 1484, the king bestowed the barony of Bothwell on him. In July 1482 he escaped execution by the King's opponents at

Lauder The former Royal Burgh of Lauder (, gd, Labhdar) is a town in the Scottish Borders in the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Berwickshire. On the Southern Upland Way, the burgh lies southeast of Edinburgh, on the western edge of the Lamme ...

Bridge by leaping on the King's horse, the only one of the King's

favourite A favourite (British English) or favorite (American English) was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In post-classical and early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated si ...

s to survive. According to another version, he clung to the King and pleaded for his life: the King persuaded the lords to spare him on account of his extreme youth ( he may still have been only 18 ). He sat in Parliament in 1485 and 1487 as Lord Bothwell. He upset the aristocrats by obtaining a royal mandate that he alone could carry arms within the precincts of the royal residence, probably acting as a royal bodyguard in his role as Master of the Household. He was an Esquire of the King's Chamber, an auditor of the Exchequer in 1484, and a Commissioner for letting the Crown lands. He was Ambassador to England in 1485 and 1486. His reputation declined further after the death of Queen Margaret, whom he was accused of poisoning, although there is no evidence at all to support the charge. On 8 October 1488, after the death of James III at the battle of

Sauchieburn The Battle of Sauchieburn was fought on 11 June 1488, at the side of Sauchie Burn, a stream about south of Stirling, Scotland. The battle was fought between the followers of King James III of Scotland and a large group of rebellious Scottish n ...

, John Ramsay lost his title. He remained in England, acting as a spy for

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort ...

, and took payment to deliver the Scottish King James IV to Henry. Under James IV he was allowed to return to Scotland in 1496, and on 8 September 1496 wrote from

Berwick upon Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census reco ...

advising Henry VII how he might defeat the planned invasion of

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

by James IV and

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( 1474 – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called "Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he alive, ...

.Pinkerton, John, ''History of Scotland'', vol.2 (1791), 438-441
/ref> He was rehabilitated on 8 April 1497 under the Great Seal, although not restored to his peerage or all of his former titles. He had liferent grants of the lands of Tealing and Polgavie in Fife, Trarinzeane near Cumnock in Ayrshire and half the lands of Kirkandrews in Wigtownshire. He took the title of Sir John Ramsay of Trarinzeane. On 13 May 1498 he had a charter of a tenement in the

Cowgate The Cowgate (Scots language, Scots: The Cougait) is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about southeast of Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's Old Town, Edinburgh, ...

, Edinburgh and another of lands in Forrester's Wynd on 6 November 1500. In 1503 he was Captain of

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...

, probably of the palace there. He negotiated the marriage of James IV to the daughter of Henry VII, thereby laying the cornerstone of the United Kingdom. On 13 May 1510, he had a grant from the King ''pro bono servitio et ex special favore'' of the lands and barony of Balmain in

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and w ...

, erected into a free barony for him and his successors. He died on 9 September 1513 at

Flodden Field The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

, killed in action. His son William born around 1510 was entrusted to the

Bishop of Dunblane The Bishop of Dunblane or Bishop of Strathearn was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunblane or Strathearn, one of medieval Scotland's thirteen bishoprics. It was based at Dunblane Cathedral, now a parish church of the Church of Scotland ...

, James Chisholm, uterine brother of Sir John Ramsay. William was the ancestor of the Ramsays of Balmain.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bothwell, John Ramsay, 1st Lord 1460s births 1513 deaths Lords of Parliament (pre-1707) Deaths at the Battle of Flodden 15th-century Scottish people 16th-century Scottish people Scottish knights People from Fife English spies 16th-century spies Year of birth uncertain Peers created by James III