John DRUMMOND

1st Lord of Drummond "James IV, after his accession to the throne, granted a lease for five years, on 6th June, 1489, infavour of John, Lord Drummond, of the Crown lands of Drummond, in the shire of Stirling. On the expiry of the lease, the Kg. made a perpetual grant of the lands to him by a charter under the Great Seal, dated 31st January, 1495, bearing that the grant was made for the good and faithful services rendered by Lord Drummond, and for the love and favour which thhe Kg. had for him. After the death of James IV, Lord Drummond exerted all his influence to promote the marriage between his grandson, the Earl of Angus, and the widowed Queen Margaret. 'This marriage begot such jealousy,' says Lord Strathallan, 'in the rulers of the State, that the Earl of Angus was cited to appear before the Council, and Sir William Cummin of Inneralochy, Knight, Lyon Kg.-at-Armes, appeared to deliver the charge; in doing whereof he seemed to the Lord Drummond to have approached the Earl with more boldness than discretion, for which he gave the Lyon a box on the ear; whereof he complained to John, the Governor, to give ane example of his justice at his first entry to his new office, caused imprison the Lord Drummond's person in the Castle of Blackness, and forfault his estate to the Crown for his rashness. Bot the Duke, considering, after information, what a fyne man the lord was, and how strongly allyed with most of the great families of the nation, was well pleased that the Queen-mother and Three Estates of Parliament should interceed for him, as he was soone restored to his libertie and fortune.' It would have been well for Lord Drummond if he had remembered, on this occasion, the motto of his family, 'Gang warily,' and his own maxim, in his paper of 'Constituted Advice,' 'In all our doings discretion is to be observed, otherwise nothing can be done aright.' " "Sir John Drummond, the head of the family in the reign of James IV, held the great office of Justiciar of Scotland, was Constable of the castle of Stirling, took a prominent part in public affairs, and was created a peer 29th January, 1487-8, by the title of Lord Drummond. Although this honour, as we have seen, was conferred upon him by James III, Lord Drummond joined the party of disaffected nobles, who took up arms against their sovereign, with the Prince at their head, and was rewarded for his service after the death of the Kg. at Sauchieburn by a lease, subsequently converted into a grant, of the Crown lands of Drummond in the county of Stirling.t they were conspicuous for their handsome persons and gallant bearing. Good looks ran in their blood, and the ladies of the family were famous for their personal beauty, which no doubt led to the great marriages made for them, generation after generation, with the Douglases, Gordons, Grahams, Crawfords, Kers, and other powerful families, which greatly increased the influence and possessions of their house." "John, first Lord Drummond, died in 1519, upwards of eighty years of age."

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