On Friday, June 10, 2016 at 1:30:15 PM UTC-7, ravinma...@yahoo.com wrote: > Sir Francis Stewart (later 5th Earl of Bothwell), the legitimate son of Lord John Stewart, aka Lord Darnley, is mentioned at least twice as a reversionary heir of one of more children of Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney, in vol. 1 of _Diplomatarium Orcadense Et Hialtlandense_ (pp. 173, 188): Dear John, Excellent research job - my hat off to you. The illegitimate sons of James V, and their children, are not easy trees to assemble, and I'm impressed with your level of knowledge and compilation of sources. I ended up on this line last year when I traced the ancestry of a spouse of a late-Victorian British officer, and so waded through Ruvigny's book on the Mudie family. Your solution to the identity of Christian Stewart, wife of Adam Mudie - that she was Christian Stewart, daughter of Lord John Stewart, a rocker in the nursery of King James VI in 1567, whose further history is otherwise unknown - works perfectly chronologically. I find it preferable to Ruvigny's conjecture of her as sister to James Stewart of Graemsay solely because of her later association with some land holdings of that family. Of course this is still far from proved. How strong is the possibility that Christian Stewart was not a daughter of any of the sons of James V? Were there other branches of the widespread Stewart family who were prominent in Orkney at this time, and who could claim Christian as one of them? If so, then the new question arises of what became of the Christian Stewart who rocked James VI in 1567? I think you are well on the right track. I've adjusted my database, and my blogpost that looked into this line: http://royaldescent.blogspot.ca/2015/05/james-v-descents-for-maj-charles-mt.html Thank you for sharing your research. Cheers, -----Brad

Hi Brad, As you note, there are still two other possibilities in the absence of proof of my suggestion: (1) Christian Stewart, wife of Adam Mudie, was a member of a different Stewart family. (2) Christian Stewart was in fact a daughter of the Earl of Orkney, older than her half-sister Christian Stewart, spouse of John Mouat/ Mowat. It is possible that the 1564 reference to Grizel Stewart, dau. of Robert, feuar, "apparent spouse" to Adam Mudie, is a mistake for CHRISTIAN Stewart. I'm uneasy with the last solution for a number of reasons, including the fact that Adam Mudie did not have his first ecclesiastical appointment until 1577, thirteen years later. There is also the inclusion of the important words "apparent spouse" in the grant. It really does seem as those this was some kind of pre-contract between children or teenagers. Then, the fact that a Grizel, daughter of Robert, was mentioned as engaged to Hugh Sinclair in 1577, makes me feel that this could indeed be the same Grizel from 1564, and that her name was probably correctly stated in 1564. Ruvigny doesn't actually state that Christian Stewart herself was associated with Graemsay properties, just that her son Francis was: "Francis, ... [Adam's] son and heir, is constantly associated and acting with the Stewarts of Graemsay, and appears to have possessed some interest in that property; and, as will be noted later, he married a daughter of the above-named James." Well, yes, there's THAT ...., i.e., his wife was a daughter of James Stewart of Graemsay, hence the possible interest in certain Graemsay properties. While it's not probative in any way, we could note the extreme feud that existed between Patrick, Earl of Orkney (the legit. son of Robert) and Francis Mudie and his mother Christian Stewart. While we don't have any proof that Christian the rocker, daughter of "Lord Coldingham" survived beyond 1567, if she was indeed "a young woman," as assumed by Amy Juhala, she could well be a youthful indiscretion (b. ca. 1550-55) of Lord Darnley (b. ca. 1532). And if she survived to become a "young woman" that means she had escaped the most lethal period of life in this era (early childhood). I agree, she was almost certainly NOT a legitimate child of Lord Darnley and his wife Lady Jean Hepburn. I would say we probably have to assign two illegitimate children to Lord Darnley; (1) Hercules Stewart, executed for "treasonable practices" in 1595, known "base" brother to the Earl of Bothwell; (2) Christiane Stewart, made a rocker of the infant king in 1567. The Bellenden charter of 1568, printed in _Diplomatarium Orcadense Et Hialtlandense_ 1:162-178, concerned property to go to Robert of Orkney and Jean Kennedy's legitimate daughter Mary Stewart. The structure of the reversionary clauses indicates that Robert of Orkney was well-aware of the illegitimate progeny of his father, King James V. On the decease of this Mary Stewart of Orkney, the property went to her brothers-german, Henry and Thomas Stewart, children of Robert, Earl of Orkney, by his spouse Jean Kennedy. Failing these two, it went to Robert and James Stewart, their base brothers, illegitimate sons of Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney. Failing these, to the Regent James Stewart, Earl of Moray, elder illegitmate brother of said Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney. Failing the Earl of Moray and heirs legitimate, then to Sir Francis Stewart, only a young child, "son and heir of the deceased John, Lord Darnley." Failing Sir Francis Stewart and heirs, then to Robert Stewart, "natural brother" to Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney (i.e., another illegitimate son of James V). https://books.google.com/books?id=AhchAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA173&dq=%22Francis+Stewart+son+and+heir+of+the+deceased%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvo9axtq_NAhWIOCYKHXXmD8oQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=%22Francis%20Stewart%20son%20and%20heir%20of%20the%20deceased%22&f=false The structure of the reversionary grants implies an intimate knowledge of the existence of these heirs and (probably) of their ages respective to one another. It seems Robert of Orkney would have known of Sir Francis Stewart's natural brother Hercules and natural sister Christiane, as well. John P.S. The reason for assigning Barbara Stewart, wife of Henry Halcro, to Lord Adam Stewart is that his tombstone in St. Magnus, Kirkwall, Orkney, is stated to have been built by "domina de Halcro," ie., this same Barbara: https://books.google.com/books?id=l5RnAAAAMAAJ&q=%22henry+halcro%22+barbara&dq=%22henry+halcro%22+barbara&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt09L6kJ7NAhWHOCYKHTOFCLMQ6AEIRDAH If she raised his tomb, she was likely his daughter, not daughter of his brother, the Earl of Orkney.