David Borthwick, Lord Lochill (c. 1505 – 1581) was a 16th-century Scottish landowner,

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

and

Lord Advocate of Scotland His Majesty's Advocate, known as the Lord Advocate (), is the principal legal adviser of both the Scottish Government and the Crown in Scotland for civil and criminal matters that fall within the devolved powers of the Scottish Parliament. T ...

Life

He was born in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

around 1505 and studied Canon Law and Civil Law at St Leonards College in

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

. In early life he is known as David Borthwick of Auldistone or Admistone. At some time in the mid 16th century, either through inheritance or purchase, he became laird of

Balcarres House Balcarres House lies 1km north of the village of Colinsburgh, in the East Neuk of Fife, in eastern Scotland. It is centred on a mansion built in 1595 by John Lindsay (1552–1598), second son of David, 9th Earl of Crawford. The house became t ...

and the nearby Balniel estate.ODNB: David Borthwick, Lord Lochill In March 1540 he was one of nine

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

s called before the Court of Session in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

to explain their actions and causes. In 1552 he was one of the Scottish commissioners meeting with the English to discuss the boundary between England and Scotland including a long debate on

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 recor ...

. In May 1562 he oversaw the trial of Wright and Ferguson for the " hamesucken" murder (murder in the victim's house) of his distant cousin, John Borthwick of

Restalrig Restalrig ( ) is a small residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland (historically, an estate and independent parish). It is located east of the city centre, west of Craigentinny and to the east of Lochend, Edinburgh, Lochend, both of which it ...

. Sometime around 1561/62 he obtained Ballencrieff Castle in

East Lothian East Lothian (; ; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In ...

, and renamed it Lochill Castle. The building is more correctly a fortified house rather than a true castle. It still survives, not far from Haddington. In June 1564 he defended the city magistrates in a prosecution against them by the Crown (possibly relating to election of the Lord Provost). In May 1569 he defended the

Earl of Bothwell Earl of Bothwell was a title that was created twice in the Peerage of Scotland. It was first created for Patrick Hepburn in 1488, and was forfeited in 1567. Subsequently, the earldom was recreated for the 4th Earl's nephew and heir of line, F ...

in relation to his actions against

Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

. This extremely curious case was effectively an accusation of rape of the Queen in April 1567 but was a precursor to her marriage to Bothwell in May 1567, the whole case being effectively to defend the Queen's honour. In 1573, alongside Robert Crichton, together as joint King's Advocate to King James VI, and most records also accept that they first to be titled as

. He was at the same time elected as a

under the title of "Lord Lochill". He died in January 1581. In 1608 the Ballencrieff estate was bought by Sir Bernard Lindsay and then to Sir Patrick Murray in 1632, In 1679 it passed to Sir Peter Wedderburn and in 1755 was bought by George Murray,

Lord Elibank Lord Elibank, of Ettrick Forest in the County of Selkirk, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1643 for Sir Patrick Murray, 1st Baronet, with remainder to his heirs male whatsoever. He had already been created a Baronet, of ...

, great-grandson of Sir Patrick Murray.Archaeologica Scotica

Family

His daughter Isobella Borthwick, married his colleague Robert Crichton (Lord Advocate). Isobella died around five years later (possibly in childbirth).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borthwick, David 1581 deaths People from Fife Alumni of the University of St Andrews Senators of the College of Justice Lord advocates Year of birth uncertain