# David Beaton of Melgund

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Beaton_of_Melgund
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/David_Beaton_of_Melgund.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Beaton_of_Melgund
> Source revision: 1352659368
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Scottish courtier and landowner

Melgund Castle

**David Beaton of Melgund** (died 1598) was a Scottish courtier and landowner.

## Career

David Beaton was the son of [Cardinal David Beaton](/source/Cardinal_David_Beaton) and [Marion Ogilvy](/source/Marion_Ogilvy). He inherited [Melgund Castle](/source/Melgund_Castle).

Beaton was appointed as a steward or cupbearer in the household of [Mary Queen of Scots](/source/Mary_Queen_of_Scots).[1] In June 1562, Mary requested a "safe conduct", a kind of passport, for Beaton to travel to and from France through England.[2] The English diplomat in Scotland, [Thomas Randolph](/source/Thomas_Randolph_(diplomat)) wrote that he was going to represent the queen at the christening of [Marie (1562-1623)](/source/Marie_of_Luxembourg%2C_Duchess_of_Penthi%C3%A8vre), the daughter of [Sébastian de Luxembourg, Vicomte de Martigues](/source/S%C3%A9bastien%2C_Duke_of_Penthi%C3%A8vre). Martigues had fought at the [siege of Leith](/source/Siege_of_Leith).[3]

On 5 August 1586 he wrote from Dundee to [Charles de Prunelé, Baron d'Esneval](/source/Charles_de_Prunel%C3%A9%2C_Baron_d'Esneval), a French envoy currently in Scotland, who he had received at court in February and was now about to leave Scotland.[4] D'Esneval had commissioned a copy of a portrait of James VI from a painter in Edinburgh, probably [Adrian Vanson](/source/Adrian_Vanson), at the request of [Mary Queen of Scots](/source/Mary_Queen_of_Scots).[5]

Beaton was Master of the Household for [James VI of Scotland](/source/James_VI_and_I) from 1583,[6] and also for [Anne of Denmark](/source/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, [Harry Lindsay of Careston](/source/Henry_Lindsay%2C_13th_Earl_of_Crawford), 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.[7]

## Family

David Beaton of Melgund first married Margaret Lindsay, third daughter of the [John, 5th Lord Lindsay of the Byres](/source/John_Lindsay%2C_5th_Lord_Lindsay) (d. 1563). In 1575, he married Lucretia Beaton (d. 1623), daughter of [Robert Beaton](/source/Robert_Beaton_of_Creich) of [Creich](/source/Creich_Castle) and Jeane de la Ramvell (d. 1577). Lucretia was the sister of [Mary Beaton](/source/Mary_Beaton), the attendant of [Mary Queen of Scots](/source/Mary_Queen_of_Scots) and a maid of honour in the royal household.[8][9][10] 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](/source/Aberlemno) church.

- Dr David Beaton, physician.

- Christian Beaton. In 1599 her brother, James Beaton of Melgund, undertook to pay her dowry.[11]

Lucretia Beaton had been a maid of honour to Mary, Queen of Scots, until [Carberry Hill](/source/Battle_of_Carberry_Hill).[12] After David Beaton's death, Lucretia Beaton married Andrew Wishart of Mylneden.[13]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Andrew Lang, "The Household of Mary Queen of Scots", *Scottish Historical Review*, 2 (Glasgow, 1902), p. 350.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** *CSP Foreign Elizabeth*, vol. 5 (London, 1867), no. 163: Labanoff, vol. 1, p. 143.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Joseph Bain, *Calendar State Papers Scotland*, vol. 1 (London, 1898), p. 635.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** *Calendar State Papers Scotland*, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1914), pp. 590-1 no. 676.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Agnes Strickland, *Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots*, vol. 2 (London, 1843), p. 172.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Gordon Donaldson](/source/Gordon_Donaldson), *Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-84*, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 264 no. 1619.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Michael Pearce, "Anna of Denmark: Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland", *The Court Historian*, 24:2 (2019) pp. 140, 147. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/14629712.2019.1626110](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F14629712.2019.1626110): D. Murray Rose, *Revenue of the Scottish Crown, 1681* (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1897), pp. xli–xlii.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [Margaret Sanderson](/source/Margaret_Sanderson), *Mary Stewart's People* (Edinburgh, 1987), p. 19.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Thomas Thomson, *Menu de la Maison de la Royne, faict par Mons. De Piguillon* (Edinburgh, 1824), p. 11.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** [Rosalind K. Marshall](/source/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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Winifred Coutts, *The Business of the College of Justice in 1600* (Edinburgh: Stair Society, 2003), pp. 509-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Winifred Coutts, *The Business of the College of Justice in 1600* (Edinburgh: Stair Society, 2003), p. 509.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [David Beaton of Melgund](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Beaton_of_Melgund) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Beaton_of_Melgund?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.