The parentage of Mariota Stewart, wife of John Mure
John P. Ravilious
Hello All,
In the recent past there has been discussion concerning
the marriage of John Mure, Master of Rowallan (dvp 1495) to
one Elizabeth Stewart. The account provided by Sir William
Mure of Rowallan states that she was " elizabethe steuard
dochtir to ye lorde euindaill " [1]. Most secondary
sources follow the account in Scots Peerage that Andrew
Stewart, 1st Lord Avondale, died without issue [2]: based
on this, John Mure's wife is variously shown as the
daughter of (A) Walter Stewart of Morphie, Andrew
Stewart's brother; (B) Alexander Stewart, Walter's son,
and (C) even of Alexander's son Andrew Stewart, the 2nd
Lord Avondale. Andrew MacEwen has put forward a well
reasoned argument that the 1st Lord likely died with
female issue, but had resigned the lands and barony of
Avandale on 4 Jan 1485-86 in order to preserve his
Stewart heritage for his nephew Alexander Stewart
[see the SGM archives re: this]. Based on this, the
known chronology concerning these individuals and the
statement by Sir William Mure, I supported the
placement of John Mure's wife as a daughter of Andrew
Stewart, 1st Lord Avondale.
I continue to agree with Andrew (MacEwen) that there
was most likely a daughter of the 1st Lord, but evidence
has been found that properly places the Stewart wife of
John Mure. The Protocol Book of the Burgh of Stirling
provides the following record of the marriage of a
daughter of Walter Stewart of Morphie to John Mure, an
abstract of which was printed in The Scottish Antiquary
in 1896:
' 1474. Nov. 22. In presence of Andrew, Lord
Avandale, chancellor of Scotland, Henry Abbot
of Cambuskynneth, Sir Nicholas Franche, curate
of the parish church of Striueline, in the
chapel of St. Michael, within the Castle of
Striueline, married John Mure, son and
heir-apparent of the Lord of Rowalan, with
Mariota Steuart, daughter of Walter Steuart
of Morphy. Page 126. ' [3]
Further research concerning this family is ongoing:
in particular, Walter Stewart also had a daughter who
married Ninian Bonar of 'Garthpot', who may have been
the mother of his son Sir Walter Bonar (later of Keltie,
Fife). Confirmation of this and other additional
information re: Walter Stewart of Morphie and his
descendants will hopefully be provided shortly.
Cheers,
John
NOTES
[1] Sir William Mure of Rowallan, The Historie and
Descent of the House of Rowallan (Glasgow:
printed for Chalmers and Collins, 1825), p. 73.
[2] SP VI:510.
[3] Abstract of Protocol Book of the Burgh of
Stirling, in Rev. A. W. Cornelius Hallen, F.S.A.
(Scot.), ed. The Scottish Antiquary: Or, Northern
Notes & Queries, Vol. X, No. 39 (Jan 1896),
p. 128.
Douglas Richardson
I enjoy your Scottish posts very much.
I happened to speak with Andrew MacEwen earlier today. Without
reference to your post, he mentioned in passing that Mariota was the
Latin form of the given name, Marion.
If Andrew is correct, you would appear to be discussing the parentage
of Marion Stewart, not Mariota Stewart. My cursory check of the
internet suggests that Andrew is likely correct that Mariota is the
Latin form of Marion. Can you confirm that for us?
Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
John P. Ravilious
Thanks for the kind words.
My understanding is that you are correct, in that Mariota is the
Latin rendering of Marion. At the same time, I would hesitate to take
every "Mariota" I find and convert the name to Marion. I have seen
the names of individuals better known as Mary, Marjory, even Margaret
rendered as "Mariota" in contemporaneous Latin documents, making such
a rendering a bit dangerous.
In this particular instance, Mariota (presumably Marion) Stewart
had a paternal aunt named Marion Stewart, one of the many wives (1440)
of Colin Campbell of Glenorchy. If my theory re: her mother is
correct, her maternal grandmother was named Marjory. There is only
one (contemporary) record I have found to date, in which she is called
Mariota: unless another record is found which makes it certain what
her non-Latin name was, I will leave her as "Mariota".
Cheers,
John
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