Walter Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1258) was the son of William Comyn, Justiciar of Scotia and

Mormaer In early medieval Scotland, a mormaer was the Gaelic name for a regional or provincial ruler, theoretically second only to the King of Scots, and the senior of a '' Toísech'' (chieftain). Mormaers were equivalent to English earls or Continenta ...

Earl of Buchan The Mormaer () or Earl of Buchan () was originally the provincial ruler of the medieval province of Buchan. Buchan was the first Mormaerdom in the High Medieval Kingdom of the Scots to pass into the hands of a non-Scottish family in the male l ...

by right of his second wife.

Life

Walter makes his first appearance in royal charters as early as 1211–1214. In 1220, he accompanied King

Alexander II of Scotland Alexander II ( Medieval Gaelic: '; Modern Gaelic: '; nicknamed "the Peaceful" by modern historians; 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was King of Alba (Scotland) from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined t ...

during the latter's visit to

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. He appears as "

Lord of Badenoch {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Lord of Badenoch was a magnate who ruled the lordship of Badenoch in the 13th century and early 14th century. The lordship may have been created out of the territory of the Meic Uilleim, after William Comyn, ju ...

" as early as 1229, after the defeat of the Meic Uilleim by his father. Like his father, Walter was given the hand of an heiress, Isabella, Countess of Menteith. By 1234, Isabella had inherited the Mormaerdom of Menteith, and so Walter became Mormaer or

Earl of Menteith The Mormaer or Earl of Menteith was the ruler of the province of Menteith in the Middle Ages. The first mormaer is usually regarded as Gille Críst (or Gilchrist), simply because he is the earliest on record. The title was held in a continuou ...

by right of his wife (''

jure uxoris ''Jure uxoris'' (a Latin phrase meaning "by right of (his) wife"), citing . describes a title of nobility used by a man because his wife holds the office or title '' suo jure'' ("in her own right"). Similarly, the husband of an heiress could beco ...

''). Walter appears to have had a son named Henry who witnessed a charter, dated to 1250, of Maol Domhnaich,

Mormaer of Lennox The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the region of the Lennox in western Scotland. It was first created in the 12th century for David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and later held by the Stewart dynasty. Ancient earls The first e ...

. His daughter Isabel was given in marriage to Gilchrist Mure. Walter was one of the leading political figures in the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a Anglo-Sc ...

, especially during the minority of King Alexander III, when, along with

Alan Durward Alan Hostarius (or Alan Durward) () (died after 1264, or in 1275) was the son of Thomas de Lundin, a grandson of Gille Críst, Mormaer of Mar. His mother's name is unknown, but she was almost certainly a daughter of Máel Coluim, Mormaer of ...

, he essentially ran the country. He died suddenly in either the October or November 1258. By this time, his son Henry must have been dead. Isabella remained countess until 1260–1261, when Walter Stewart, husband of Isabella's sister Mary, seized the province. As Walter had no surviving male children, the Lordship of Badenoch passed to Walter's nephew

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. John was unable to inherit

Menteith Menteith or Monteith () is a district of south Perthshire, Scotland, roughly comprises the territory between the River Teith, Teith and the River Forth, Forth. Historically, the area between Callander and Dunblane was known in English by the si ...

. He is remembered primarily in the proverbial expression ''Walter of Guiyock's curse'', encountered in Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

's '' Rob Roy'', under the English and Lowland form of his name, ''Walter Cuming'', where it appears in chapter 29: The origin of this is related in Sir

's note at that page: An accident such as this was supposed to be a curse akin to that dealt upon Walter Cuming for his sins. It was thus that the expression originated.''"Funk and Wagnall's New Standard Dictionary"'', The Standard Dictionary Company, London and New York, 1929

Notes

References

* * Paul, James Balfour, ''

The Scots Peerage ''The Scots Peerage'' is a nine-volume book series of the Scottish nobility compiled and edited by Sir James Balfour Paul, published in Edinburgh from 1904 to 1914. The full title is ''The Scots Peerage: Founded on Wood's Edition of Sir Rober ...

'', Vol. VI, (Edinburgh, 1909) * Young, Alan, ''Robert the Bruce's Rivals: The Comyns, 1213-1314'', (East Linton, 1997) {{DEFAULTSORT:Comyn, Walter 1258 deaths Nobility from Highland (council area)

Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...

13th-century mormaers Year of birth unknown Mormaers of Menteith Lords of Badenoch