{{Short description|Scottish courtier and landowner}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Melgund Castle Photo.JPG|thumb|right|Melgund Castle]] '''David Beaton of Melgund''' (died 1598) was a Scottish courtier and landowner.
== Career == David Beaton was the son of [[Cardinal David Beaton]] and [[Marion Ogilvy]]. He inherited [[Melgund Castle]].
Beaton was appointed as a steward or cupbearer in the household of [[Mary Queen of Scots]].<ref>Andrew Lang, "The Household of Mary Queen of Scots", ''Scottish Historical Review'', 2 (Glasgow, 1902), p. 350.</ref> In June 1562, Mary requested a "safe conduct", a kind of passport, for Beaton to travel to and from France through England.<ref>''CSP Foreign Elizabeth'', vol. 5 (London, 1867), no. 163: Labanoff, vol. 1, p. 143.</ref> The English diplomat in Scotland, [[Thomas Randolph (diplomat)|Thomas Randolph]] wrote that he was going to represent the queen at the christening of [[Marie of Luxembourg, Duchess of Penthièvre|Marie (1562-1623)]], the daughter of [[Sébastien, Duke of Penthièvre|Sébastian de Luxembourg, Vicomte de Martigues]]. Martigues had fought at the [[siege of Leith]].<ref>Joseph Bain, ''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 1 (London, 1898), p. 635.</ref>
On 5 August 1586 he wrote from Dundee to [[Charles de Prunelé, Baron d'Esneval]], a French envoy currently in Scotland, who he had received at court in February and was now about to leave Scotland.<ref>''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1914), pp. 590-1 no. 676.</ref> D'Esneval had commissioned a copy of a portrait of James VI from a painter in Edinburgh, probably [[Adrian Vanson]], at the request of [[Mary Queen of Scots]].<ref>Agnes Strickland, ''Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots'', vol. 2 (London, 1843), p. 172.</ref>
Beaton was Master of the Household for [[James VI and I|James VI of Scotland]] from 1583,<ref>[[Gordon Donaldson]], ''Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-84'', vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 264 no. 1619.</ref> and also for [[Anne of Denmark]] and audited her household accounts. This position was not as lucrative as he hoped, and in 1592 with a cousin and fellow Master of Household to the queen, [[Henry Lindsay, 13th Earl of Crawford|Harry Lindsay of Careston]], he complained about their arduous roles and low wage compared to other officers, and missing allowances for the meals of ladies in waiting and other courtiers.<ref>Michael Pearce, "Anna of Denmark: Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland", ''The Court Historian'', 24:2 (2019) pp. 140, 147. {{doi|10.1080/14629712.2019.1626110}}: D. Murray Rose, ''Revenue of the Scottish Crown, 1681'' (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1897), pp. xli–xlii.</ref>
==Family== David Beaton of Melgund first married Margaret Lindsay, third daughter of the [[John Lindsay, 5th Lord Lindsay|John, 5th Lord Lindsay of the Byres]] (d. 1563). In 1575, he married Lucretia Beaton (d. 1623), daughter of [[Robert Beaton of Creich|Robert Beaton]] of [[Creich Castle|Creich]] and Jeane de la Ramvell (d. 1577). Lucretia was the sister of [[Mary Beaton]], the attendant of [[Mary Queen of Scots]] and a maid of honour in the royal household.<ref>[[Margaret Sanderson]], ''Mary Stewart's People'' (Edinburgh, 1987), p. 19.</ref><ref>Thomas Thomson, ''Menu de la Maison de la Royne, faict par Mons. De Piguillon'' (Edinburgh, 1824), p. 11.</ref><ref>[[Rosalind K. Marshall]], ''Queen Mary's Women: Female Relatives, Servants, Friends and Enemies of Mary, Queen of Scots'' (Edinburgh, John Donald, 2006), pp. 160–161.</ref> Their children included: *James Beaton (d. August 1609), feuar of Melgund from 1586, who married Margaret or Helen Menzies, daughter of James Menzies of that ilk (d. 1585) and Barbara Stewart. A stone with their heraldry dated 1604 is built into the wall of [[Aberlemno]] church. *Dr David Beaton, physician. *Christian Beaton. In 1599 her brother, James Beaton of Melgund, undertook to pay her dowry.<ref>Winifred Coutts, ''The Business of the College of Justice in 1600'' (Edinburgh: Stair Society, 2003), pp. 509-10.</ref>
Lucretia Beaton had been a maid of honour to Mary, Queen of Scots, until [[battle of Carberry Hill|Carberry Hill]].<ref>Rosalind K. Marshall, ''Queen Mary's Women: Female Relatives, Servants, Friends, and Enemies of Mary, Queen of Scots'' (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2006), pp. 160–161: Teulet, 'Maison de Marie-Stuart', ''Relations Politiques'', vol. 2 (Paris, 1862), p. 269.</ref> After David Beaton's death, Lucretia Beaton married Andrew Wishart of Mylneden.<ref>Winifred Coutts, ''The Business of the College of Justice in 1600'' (Edinburgh: Stair Society, 2003), p. 509.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaton, David}} [[Category:1598 deaths]] [[Category:Household of Anne of Denmark]] [[Category:Masters of the Scottish royal household]]