Trish Lawrence <charli@iinet.net.au> shared: >Hi Lauren <snip> >I remember having an email conversation with you about your Boyd >ancestry and you being surprised at just how active an ancestor >[William Boyd 4th Earl of Kilmarnock] had been in the Jacobite >movement and that he was the leader of the Templars because that sort >of information was not 'mainstream'. I believe some Stuart >descendants fall into the same category. <snip> Trish--- It is a well known fact that William Boyd, 4th Lord Boyd was a Jacobite. AND that he led some 125 Boyds and followers into the Battle of Culloden. AND that he was among the last 4 Clan Chiefs who were tried at Tower Hill and beheaded for their part in the Battle of Culloden, and support of Prince Charles Edward Stuart and the Jacobite cause. He is buried with his bones co-mingled with Lord Fraser and Lord Balmorino. From Burkes Peerage: .............................. WILLIAM, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, Grand Master Mason of Scotland 1742, commanded Prince Charles Edward's Horse Grenadier Guards with the rank of General in the '45 Rising, was captured at Culloden, and beheaded on Tower Hill as a Jacobite 18 Aug. 1746. He m Lady Anne Livingstone, dau and heir of James, last Earl of Linlithgow and Callendar (an attainted Jacobite), by his wife Lady Margaret Hay, dau of John, 12th Earl of Erroll, and had issue, 1a William, Lord Boyd, d.v.p. 2a JAMES, Lord Boyd, afterwards 15th EARL OF ERROLL. 3a Charles, Capt in the Jacobite Life Guards at Culloden, escaped abroad, m twice, and d 3 Aug. 1782, leaving issue. 4a William, Midshipman RN 1745, Capt 87th Foot 1760, d Dec. 1780. Having been attainted for high treason, Lord Kilmarnock was not s in the family honours by his son and heir, JAMES, Lord Boyd, Grand Master Mason of Scotland 1751, fought in the King's Army at Culloden. In 1751 he recovered Dean Castle and the forfeited Kilmarnock lands, but later sold them, as in 1758 he s his great-aunt as 15th Earl of Erroll and took the surname of HAY (see ERROLL E). .................................................. Also, it was Robert, Lord Boyd who was Mary Queen of Scots' confidant while she was locked away in the Tower for 25 years. Boyds and Stewarts have familial and other connections going back to the Senechals of Dol in Britany before the surnames existed. Our ties continue today, with the cooperative efforts between our clan organizations. Yours Aye, Lauren Stewart List Admin aka Lauren M. Boyd, FSA Scot President House of Boyd Society, Inc. http://www.clanboyd.org