The Bonnie Earl of Moray had an untimely death. It would impact my father’s childhood. My Dad grew up in Darnaway. Every Christmas, there would be a party for the local children at Darnaway Castle. Darnaway Castle has been the seat of the Earl of Moray since the 14th century, when King Robert the Bruce gave the land to his kinsman, Thomas Randolph. The land had once belonged to the Comyns, but as a result of Bruce slaying the Red Comyn, the Comyns were bitter enemies of the King.
However, thoughts of warring clans were far from the thoughts of the young boys as they gathered there each Christmas. No, there were more delicious horrors to be hunted down. A painting hung on the castle walls of the Bonnie Earl of Moray, his broken body pierced and slashed by his murderers. My Dad and his friends would attempt to leave the hall in search of the murdered Earl’s ghost.
The Bonnie Earl Of Moray and the Earl of Huntly Rivals
Rivalry between James Stewart, Earl of Moray and George Gordon, Earl of Huntly, culminated with the death of Stewart on the 7th February 1592. James Stewart was known as the Bonnie Earl of Moray because of his striking good looks. He became Earl by marrying the previous Earl of Moray’s daughter, Elizabeth, at the behest of King James VI. Elizabeth was the daughter of the Regent Moray, the half-brother of Mary Queen of Scots, and the illegitimate son of James V.
This rankled the Gordons, for in the past, they had set their sights on the Earldom of Moray. When Moray became vacant, they thought it would be theirs for the taking, particularly as they were Catholic like the reigning young queen at the time, Mary Queen of Scots. Mary, however, chose to give the earldom to her brother. The Gordons rose up in revenge at the Battle of Corriche. Years later, they were still smarting from their defeat. The Bonnie Earl was instantly seen as a rival. Moray, in return, did little to appease the situation.
An Unwise Friendship
A faithful Protestant, Moray was appointed commissioner to counter the Spanish Armada. However, during this time, he allied with his wife’s cousin, Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell. Francis was the nephew of the 4th Earl of Bothwell, James Hepburn, Mary Queen of Scots’ third husband and the man implicated in the death of Darnley. The 5th Earl was a cousin to King James VI, but they did not have a harmonious relationship. Bothwell had been implicated in the North Berwick Witch Trials, but broke out of prison.
Meanwhile, the Gordons had the Laird of Grant under siege, so the Bonnie Earl came to Grant’s aid along with the Earl of Atholl. Huntly, immediately set out for Edinburgh and petitioned the king against Moray for his “having taken part with the malefactors in the north.”
The Killing of the Bonnie Earl of Moray
The King gave Huntly a commission to hunt down Bothwell and his associates, as he feared they were planning a rebellion. Immediately, the Gordons saw this as a chance to exact their revenge on Moray. The Bonnie Earl set off to his mother’s house at Donibristle, in Fife. Huntly and his men immediately surrounded the house, and when Moray refused to surrender, they set fire to it. Moray fled from the house, but the burning tassel on his helmet betrayed him. The Gordons promptly fell on him and slashed him to death. Legend has it that his dying words to Huntly were, “Ye hae spilt a better face than yer ain”.
A Mother’s Retribution
The next day, his mother, Margaret Campbell of Argyll collected his body along with that of Dunbar, Sheriff of Moray, who had also been killed at the same time. She confronted the King and demanded justice. Huntly should be punished for what he had done. The King proclaimed his innocence. But Margaret was a formidable woman who would not be cowed. She had her son’s body taken to the Church of Saint Giles, where it was publicly displayed. She commissioned a painting of her son’s murdered body. Alas, grief overcame her, and she died a few months later. The body was still on display for another 5 years until the king commanded Moray’s son to bury the body.
There was a public outcry. As a result, a wounded Gordon captain was executed for the crime. The poor man’s injuries had prevented him from escaping north with the rest of the clan. But this was not enough to appease public sentiment, forcing the King to move to Glasgow. Eventually, Huntly presented himself at Blackness Castle.
Huntly was released six days later. The Earl of Moray was a mere 27-years-old. A ballad would be written in his memory.
The Bonnie Earl Of Moray
It is highly unlikely that my dad would ever have seen the Bonnie Earl’s ghost, for it is also said to haunt Donibristle House where he died.
