{{Short description|Scottish courtier and administrator}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''David Seton of Parbroath''' (died 1601) was a Scottish courtier and administrator.
== Family background == He was the son of Gilbert Seton of Parbroath and [[Helen Leslie, Lady Newbattle|Helen Leslie]], a daughter of the [[George Leslie, 4th Earl of Rothes|Earl of Rothes]].<ref>Margaret Sanderson, ''Mary Stewart's People'' (Mercat Press: Edinburgh, 1987), p. 169.</ref> Gilbert Seton was killed during the [[battle of Pinkie]] in 1547, making him successor to his grandfather Andrew Seton of Parbroath (died 1563).<ref name=SoPiEaA>[https://archive.org/details/setonofparbroath00seto/page/18/mode/2up Robert Seton, ''Seton of Parbroath, in Scotland and America'' (New York, 1890), p. 19]</ref>
His home was [[Parbroath Castle]] in [[Creich, Fife]]. His surname was sometimes written "Seyton" or Seytoun".<ref name=SoPiEaA /> In 1566, David Seton made a contract to marry [[Nicolas Wardlaw, Lady Bonnyton|Nicholas Wardlaw]], a gentlewoman in the household of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], in 1566, but instead she married Patrick Wood of Bonnyton.<ref>George Seton, ''History of the family of Seton during eight centuries'', 1 (Edinburgh, 1896), p. 292.</ref>
== Career in royal finance == In March 1588 he was made keeper of the East and West [[Lomond Hills]] of [[Fife, Scotland|Fife]], hills near [[Falkland Palace]]. He was [[Comptroller of Scotland]], in charge of a branch of royal finance and expenses of the household from November 1588 to 1597.<ref name=SoPiEaA /> On 25 May 1590 he was made Chamberlain of [[Dunfermline Palace|Dunfermline]] for [[Anne of Denmark]], an office which passed to [[William Schaw]].<ref>George Seton, [https://digital.nls.uk/histories-of-scottish-families/archive/96850926?mode=fullsize ''History of the family of Seton during eight centuries'', vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1896) pp. 881-2]</ref> The position of comptroller left him with debts.<ref>[[Julian Goodare]], 'The debts of James VI of Scotland', ''The Economic History Review'', 62:4 (November 2009), pp. 926-952 at pp. 934, 937.</ref>
Seton audited an account of money spent during [[Anne of Denmark and contrary winds|James VI's voyage to Norway and Denmark]] by the [[Chancellor of Scotland|Chancellor]], [[John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane|John Maitland]].<ref>George Seton, [https://digital.nls.uk/histories-of-scottish-families/archive/96739976?mode=fullsize ''History of the family of Seton during eight centuries'', 1 (Edinburgh, 1896), pp. 292–3]</ref> Maitland passed the remaining [[English subsidy of James VI|Danish dowry money]] given to [[James VI of Scotland|James VI]] to Seton.<ref>Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, "King James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588–1596", ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society'', XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), pp. 6, 53–54.</ref> He invested it with several Scottish "burghs" or towns at 10% interest. James VI withdrew the money by 1594, much of it to finance the [[masque at the baptism of Prince Henry]].<ref>A. Montgomerie, 'King James VI's Tocher Gude and a Local Authorities Loan of 1590', ''Scottish Historical Review'', 37:123:1 (April 1958), pp. 11-16.</ref>
In May 1590 Seton drew up a rental of the income and expenditure of the lands of [[Dunfermline Abbey]] for the benefit of two Danish ambassadors, [[Steen Bille]] and [[Niels Krag]], who came to Scotland to assess Anna of Denmark's marriage settlement. Outgoings include the wages of several kirk ministers and of [[John Gibb (courtier)|John Gibb]], keeper of [[Dunfermline Palace]] and others.<ref>[[Annie Cameron|Annie I. Cameron]], ''Calendar of State Papers: 1593-1595'', vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 109-114.</ref>
On 6 May 1593 the [[Ludovick Stuart, 2nd Duke of Lennox|Duke of Lennox]] and 15 friends including Seton subscribed to a frivolous legal document swearing to abstain from wearing gold and silver trimmings on their clothes for a year, and defaulters were to pay for a banquet for all of them at [[John Kinloch (post master)|John Killoch's]] house in Edinburgh. This "[[Passementerie|passement]] bond" was in part inspired by cheap counterfeit gold and silver thread used in "passements great or small, plain or ''à jour'', bissets, lilykins, cordons, and fringes" which quickly discoloured. The signatories included; [[Alexander Home, 1st Lord Home|Lord Home]], the [[John Erskine, Earl of Mar (1558–1634)|Earl of Mar]], [[Alexander Lindsay, 1st Lord Spynie|Lord Spynie]], the [[Thomas Lyon (of Auldbar)|Master of Glamis]], [[Thomas Erskine, 1st Earl of Kellie|Sir Thomas Erskine]], [[Walter Stewart of Blantyre]], [[William Keith of Delny]], and [[George Home, Earl of Dunbar|Sir George Home]].<ref>''Historical Manuscripts Commission, Appendix 4th Report: Mrs. Erskine Murray'' (London, 1874), p. 527.</ref>
In 1593 he was involved in a boundary dispute at [[Torwood]] forest with John Drummond of Slipperfield, father of the poet [[William Drummond of Hawthornden]]. The Torwood belonged the lands of the Chapel Royal and had a boundary with Forrester's Mansion, or [[Torwood Castle]]. [[Alexander Forrester of Garden]] assembled a company of armed men to intimidate commissioners intending to walk the boundary.<ref>''Register of the Privy Council of Scotland'', vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1882), pp. 98-100.</ref>
In December 1593, David Seton was appointed to a committee to audit the account of money spent by the [[Chancellor of Scotland|Chancellor]], [[John Maitland of Thirlestane|John Maitland]] of [[Thirlestane Castle|Thirlestane]], on the [[Anne of Denmark and contrary winds|royal voyages]]. The funds in question came from the [[English subsidy of James VI|English subsidy]] and the dowry of Anne of Denmark.<ref>Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, "James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596", ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society'', XVI (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2020), p. 6.</ref> In 1594 the [[Parliament of Scotland]] recognised that he was "superexpended" in his comptrollery account by £8,297 [[Pound Scots|Scots]].<ref>[[Thomas Thomson (advocate)|Thomas Thomson]], ''Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland: 1593-1625'', vol. 4 (1816), pp. 78-9.</ref>
He died in 1601.
==The Seton portrait miniature of Mary, Queen of Scots== [[File:British (English) School - Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587) - 499953.1 - National Trust.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] at [[Lyme Park]]]] The author [[Robert Seton (bishop)|Robert Seton]] mentions a portrait miniature of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] that descended in the family from David Seton of Parbroath.<ref>Robert Seton, ''Seton of Parbroath, in Scotland and America'' (New York, 1890), p. 20.</ref><ref>[[George Seton]], [https://archive.org/details/historyoffamilv100seto/page/298/mode/2up ''A history of the family of Seton during eight centuries'', vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1896), p. 299 with image]</ref> The queen's hair is "Titian gold", the background is dark blue, with the inscription, "Maria Regina Scotorum".<ref>[[Laurence Hutton]], [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.213913/page/n81/mode/2up ''From The Books'' (New York, 1892), pp. 72-3]</ref> The image of the queen resembles another portrait called "Mary, Queen of Scots" at [[Lyme Park]] made in the 18th century.<ref>[https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/mary-queen-of-scots-15421587-132653 'Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587)'British (English) School, National Trust, Lyme Park]</ref><ref>[http://www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk/object/499953.1 Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), National Trust Collections]</ref> The Lyme image was probably taken from a mezzotint engraving by [[John Simon (engraver)|John Simon]] made around the year 1715. Simon's model was a sixteenth-century miniature which belonged to [[James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton]]. Another example of this portrait belonged to William Maule of [[Panmure Castle|Panmure]] and was engraved for the frontispiece of ''State Papers of Ralph Sadler'', 2 (1809). The woman depicted in these images does not look like accepted portraits of the queen.<ref>[https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw62134/Unknown-sitter-called-Mary-Queen-of-Scots 'Unknown sitter, called Mary, Queen of Scots', National Portrait Gallery]</ref>
==Marriage and children== David Seton married circa 1590 Mary Gray, daughter of [[Patrick Gray, 5th Lord Gray]] and Barbara Ruthven. Their children included:<ref name=SoPiEaA /> * George Seton of Parbroath, who married Jean Sinclair * John Seton, who emigrated to the [[Virginia Colony]] in 1635. * Margaret Seton, who married [[John Scrymgeour, 1st Viscount of Dudhope|John Scrimgeour]], a son of [[James Scrimgeour]] of [[Dudhope Castle|Dudhope]], Constable of Dundee. As "Lady Dudhope" she was a friend of [[Jean Ker, Countess of Roxburghe|Jane Drummond, Countess of Roxburghe]], who bought her clothes and visited her at Dudhope in 1619.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/manuscriptsofrox00greauoft/page/46/mode/2up ''HMC 14th Report: Roxburghe'' (London, 1914), p. 46]</ref> * Mary Seton, who married David Skene of Potterton, and became ancestors of the family of Skene of Rubislaw. * Elizabeth Seton.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seton, David}} [[Category:Court of James VI and I]] [[Category:1601 deaths]] [[Category:Year of birth unknown]] [[Category:Seton family|David]] [[Category:Comptrollers of Scotland]]