William Cunningham, 4th Earl of Glencairn, 5th Lord of Kilmaurs (c. 1480–1548) was a Scottish nobleman, soldier, and "notorious intriguer".

Family

He was the eldest son and heir of Cuthbert Cunningham, 3rd Earl of Glencairn, by his spouse, Lady Marjory, the eldest daughter of

Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus Archibald may refer to: People and characters *Archibald (name), a masculine given name and a surname *Archibald (musician) (1916–1973), American R&B pianist * Archibald, a character from the animated TV show ''Archibald the Koala'' Other uses ...

.
Genealogy of the Roberdeau Family : Including a Biography of General Daniel Roberdeau, of the Revolution....; page 14; via ancestry.com paid subscription site, accessed September 2018. Cuthbert was the son of Robert Cunyngham / Cunningham, 2nd Earl of Glencairn, 3rd Lord of Kilmaurs by his wife Elizabeth Lindsay, daughter of Lord Lindsay of Byers. Finlaystone House and estate in

Inverclyde Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which ...

was the seat of the

Earl of Glencairn Earl of Glencairn was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. King James III of Scotland, James III created the title in 1488 by royal charter for Alexander Cunningham, 1st Earl of Glencairn, Alexander Cunningham, 1st Lord Kilmaurs. He held the e ...

and chief of clan Cunningham from 1405 to 1796.

Divided loyalties

While still Lord Kilmaurs, this nobleman was one of the principal adherents of the English Court in Scotland, and accepted a pension from

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

. He was one of the party which joined the force of the Earls of Arran and Lennox on 23 November 1524, when they took possession of

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 ...

, and endeavoured to withdraw the young king

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

from the Queen Mother. He was appointed Lord High Treasurer of Scotland on 26 June 1526 but held the office only until 29 October the same year. In 1538 he accompanied David Bethune, Bishop of Mirepoix, afterwards a celebrated

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

, to France to conclude a treaty for James V's marriage with

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1538 until 1542, as the second wife of King James V. She was a French people, French noblewoman of the ...

Intrigues

Lord Kilmaurs succeeded as 4th Earl of Glencairn upon the death of his father just before 1542, and he and his eldest son, Alexander, now Lord Kilmaurs, were engaged in all the intrigues of the Anglo-Scottish Party at this period of history, and supported the religious Reformers. In 1542 the earl was taken prisoner by the English at the

Battle of Solway Moss The Battle of Solway Moss took place on Solway Moss near the River Esk on the English side of the Anglo-Scottish border in November 1542 between English and Scottish forces. The Scottish King James V had refused to break from the Catholic Chu ...

and committed to the custody of the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...

, but was released on payment of a ransom of a thousand pounds and subscribing by his own hand to support Henry VIII's project of a marriage between the young Prince Edward and the Scottish Queen. In March 1543 he met with the English ambassador Ralph Sadler and the

Earl of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish Provinces of Scotland, province of Angus, Scotland, Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldes ...

at the Blackfriar's Monastery in Edinburgh. Sadler interrogated the Scottish earls on the progress they had made on Henry VIII's projects. Glencairn said he had little silver, but would willingly fight France with 5000 men for Henry. Later on the same day, Glencairn offered to put his promises in writing, and at night he brought them to Sadler. Glencairn added that if he was appointed a keeper of

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 ...

, Henry would be sure to have her in his hands one way or another. Allied with the

Earl 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 ...

in 1544 he was, with his 500 vassals as spearmen, attacked on Glasgow Muir by

Regent Arran In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

and defeated "with great slaughter", his second son amongst the slain. Glencairn managed to flee to

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, almost alone, and in September he and his son Lord Kilmaurs abandoned the cause of Henry. In November Glencairn, now pardoned by the Regent, was with the latter's army that laid siege to

Coldingham Coldingham is a village and parish in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. It lies a short distance inland from Coldingham Bay, three miles northeast of the fishing village of Eyemouth. Parish The parish lies in the east of the Lammermuir ...

, then held by the English, but which was dispersed by an English force from Berwick. In March 1544 Glencairn and his son renewed their communications with the English government in support of the English Party in Scotland, and is said to have been party to the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of Cardinal Bethune. Glencairn died in March 1548, and was then receiving a French pension for loyalty to the

Auld Alliance The Auld Alliance ( Scots for "Old Alliance") was an alliance between the kingdoms of Scotland and France against England made in 1295. The Scots word ''auld'', meaning ''old'', has become a partly affectionate term for the long-lasting asso ...

Marriage

William Cunningham was twice married, firstly to Catherine Borthwick, second daughter of William Borthwick, 3rd Lord Borthwick, and had issue with her: * Alexander Cunningham, 5th Earl of Glencairn, the zealous Protestant reformer. * Hon. Andrew Cunningham, ancestor of the Cunninghams of Corsehill, later baronets. * Hon. Hugh Cunningham, progenitor of the Cunninghams of Carlung. * Hon. Robert Cunningham, ancestor of the Cunninghams of Montgrenan. * Hon. William Cunningham, Bishop of Argyll. * Lady Elizabeth Cunningham, married to Sir John Cunningham of Caprington. * Lady Janet Cunningham, married to Robert Ferguson. He married secondly to Margaret (or Elizabeth) Campbell, daughter and heiress of John Campbell of West Loudon.

References

* Anderson, William, ''The Scottish Nation'', Edinburgh, 1867, vol.v, p. 310-311.

External links

Google Books excerpt

Bernard Burke Sir John Bernard Burke, (5 January 1814 – 12 December 1892) was a British genealogist and Ulster King of Arms, who helped publish ''Burke's Peerage''. Personal life Burke, of Irish descent, was born at London and was educated in London an ...