James Hay, 7th Lord Hay of Yester (1564-1609) was a Scottish landowner and courtier. He was a son of

William Hay, 5th Lord Hay of Yester William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

and Margaret Ker eldest daughter of Sir John Ker of Ferniehirst. His older brother William Hay, 6th Lord Hay of Yester and his nephew died before him, so he became

Lord Hay of Yester Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...

in 1591. His homes were

Yester Castle Yester Castle is a ruined castle, located southeast of the village of Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. The only remaining complete structure is the subterranean Goblin Ha' or Hobgoblin Ha' (Goblin Hall). It is a Scheduled Ancient Monumen ...

and nearby Bothans, replaced by

Yester House Yester House is an early 18th-century mansion near Gifford in East Lothian, Scotland. It was the home of the Hay family, later Marquesses of Tweeddale, from the 15th century until the late 1960s. Construction of the present house began in 1699 ...

, in East Lothian, and

Neidpath Castle Neidpath Castle is an L-plan rubble-built tower house, overlooking the River Tweed about west of Peebles in the Borders of Scotland. The castle is both a wedding venue and filming location and can be viewed by appointment. History An early cast ...

in the Scottish Borders. He died on 3 February 1609. His will was dated at the Place of Bothans, 24 January 1609.

Family

He married Margaret Ker, a daughter of

Mark Kerr, 1st Earl of Lothian Mark Kerr (or Ker), 1st Earl of Lothian (15538 April 1609) was a Scottish nobleman and politician. He became the first Earl of Lothian in 1606. Family He was a member of the "famous border family" of Ker of Cessford. He was the son of Mark Ke ...

. Their children included: * John Hay, 8th Lord Hay of Yester later

Earl of Tweeddale Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

. * William Hay of Linplum, who married Anne Murray (d. 1658), a daughter of William Murray of Dunearn. * Robert Hay * Margaret Hay of Yester (d. 1659), married in 1607 (1)

Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline (1555–1622) was a Scottish lawyer, judge and politician. He served as Lord President of the Court of Session from 1598 to 1604, Lord Chancellor of Scotland from 1604 to 1622 and as a Lord High Commiss ...

, and (2)

James Livingston, 1st Earl of Callendar James Livingston, 1st Earl of Callendar (s – March 1674), was a Scottish army officer who fought on the Royalist side in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Early life Livingston was the third son of Alexander Livingston, 1st Earl of Linlithgow an ...

.George Seton, ''Memoir of Alexander Seton'' (Edinburgh, 1882), pp. 150-4. In 1644 his widow Margaret Ker founded

Lady Yester's Kirk Lady Yester's Kirk was a parish church of the Church of Scotland and one of the burgh churches of Edinburgh. Founded in 1647, it served the south-eastern part of Edinburgh's Old Town until its union with Greyfriars Kirk in 1938. Margaret, Lady ...

in Edinburgh.

References

{{s-end 16th-century Scottish people 16th-century Scottish peers 17th-century Scottish people 17th-century Scottish peers 1609 deaths 1564 births