John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl (1566-1603) was a Scottish landowner. John Stewart was sixth

Lord Innermeath Lord Innermeath is an extinct title in the Peerage of Scotland created c. 1471 for Walter Stewart, 1st Lord Innermeath. Stewart had previously been Lord of Lorne, but resigned that title - which came with substantial comital power - under pressur ...

and made

Earl of Atholl The Mormaer or Earl of Atholl was the title of the holder of a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl (''Ath Fodhla''), now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is repor ...

in 1596. His parents were

James Stewart, 5th Lord Innermeath James Stewart, 5th Lord Innermeath (died 1585) was a Scottish courtier and landowner. He was the son of John Stewart, 4th Lord Innermeath and Elizabeth Beaton, daughter of David Betoun of Creich. She was a former mistress of James V of Scotland ...

and Helen Ogilvy, a daughter of James Ogilvy, Lord Airlie, and Helen Sinclair. His uncle was the court poet,

John Stewart of Baldynneis John Stewart of Baldynneis (c. 1545–c. 1605) was a writer and courtier at the Scottish Court. he was one of the Castalian Band grouped around James VI. He was the son of Elizabeth Beaton, a former mistress of James V, and John Stewart, 4th Lo ...

. In March 1592 his brother Robert Stewart, who had been a servant of the murdered

Earl of Moray The title Earl of Moray, Mormaer of Moray or King of Moray was originally held by the rulers of the Province of Moray, which existed from the 10th century with varying degrees of independence from the Kingdom of Alba to the south. Until 1130 th ...

, stole the a trunk of money belonging to the

Earl of Huntly Marquess of Huntly (traditionally spelled Marquis in Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: ''Coileach Strath Bhalgaidh'') is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existing ...

and twice tried to assassinate him by entering his house in disguise armed with a pistol. He married Margaret Lindsay, daughter of

David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford David Lindsay, 9th Earl of Crawford (died 10 September 1558) was a Scottish peer and Member of Parliament. First known as David Lindsay of Edzell, he inherited the earldom from David Lindsay, 8th Earl of Crawford by nomination. His second wife ...

and Katherine Campbell.

Earl of Atholl

In March 1596, he married, secondly, Marie Ruthven, the widow of

John Stewart, 5th Earl of Atholl John Stewart, 5th Earl of Atholl, (1563–1595) was a Scottish landowner. John Stewart was the son of John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl and Margaret Fleming, daughter of Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming and Janet Stewart. In 1578 he married Ma ...

, and a friend 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 The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

. She was a daughter of

William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, 4th Lord of Ruthven (c. 1541May 1584) was a Scottish peer known for devising the Raid of Ruthven. Life and career William Ruthven was born in 1541 in Ruthven Castle, in Perthshire, Scotland, the son of Patr ...

and Dorothea Stewart. He was newly created

Holyrood Palace 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 Edinbu ...

on 25 March, after Marie Ruthven had bought back the rights to the earldom for £10,000 Scots. The king knighted five of his followers as part of the ceremony. There had been competition for the Earldom from

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 ...

, and Esmé Stewart the brother of the Duke Lennox. The English diplomat George Nicholson heard that the Countess of Atholl had made an alternative plan to have her daughters marry the

and his younger brother Francis Stewart, and so the Earl of Moray would also be Earl of Atholl, and the brother become

. In April 1597 he wrote from

Blair Atholl Blair Atholl (from the Scottish Gaelic: ''Blàr Athall'', originally ''Blàr Ath Fhodla'') is a village in Perthshire, Scotland, built about the confluence of the Rivers Tilt and Garry in one of the few areas of flat land in the midst of the Gr ...

to Ogilvy of

Inverquharity Inverquharity is a Roman fortlet in Scotland, close to the Highland Line about north of Kirriemuir, Angus. Although very little archaeological work has taken place, it is assumed that Inverquharity forms part of the Roman occupation during th ...

mentioning a previous meeting with the Ogilvy family at

Cupar Cupar ( ; gd, Cùbar) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fif ...

to discuss their business with the Laird of Balfour, and suggesting a meet-up at Blair or Dunkeld. In November 1597, Atholl and Marie Ruthven armed their followers and marched to the House of Moircleuch and besieged Walter Leslie, and brought him back to

and imprisoned him. Around this time he and his followers attacked Andrew Spalding at Ashintully Castle in Strathardle, bringing great guns, hagbuts, and pistols and raising fire at his house. Marie Ruthven and Atholl arrested Agnes McCawis and Bessie Ireland as suspected witches. The two women accused two more women from

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to t ...

of witchcraft, Margaret Stewart and Isobel Douglas, who complained in 1598 of their unjust imprisonment to 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 ...

. Marie Ruthven and the Earl were ordered to bring the four women to Edinburgh. According to the ''Chronicle of Perth'', Bessie Ireland, Jonet Robertson, and Marion McCauss were burnt on the South Inch on 9 September 1597. John Stewart died in 1603. The next earl was his son from his first marriage,

James Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

(died 1625). In October 1603 his widow Marie Ruthven wrote to Lord Cecil from Dunkeld asking for his help in her lawsuits. In 1605 she was in litigation with the new earl.''Melros Papers'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1837), pp. 8-10.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, John 1603 deaths Earls of Atholl 1566 births Witchcraft in Scotland

Atholl Atholl or Athole ( gd, Athall; Old Gaelic ''Athfhotla'') is a large historical division in the Scottish Highlands, bordering (in anti-clockwise order, from Northeast) Marr, Badenoch, Lochaber, Breadalbane, Strathearn, Perth, and Gowrie. Histor ...