Between 1587 and 1593 Walter Stewart held the barony of Glasgow, in place of the young Duke of Lennox, and so he appointed the magistrates and Provost of Glasgow.[6]
Stewart was knight of Cardonald, Prior of Blantyre, Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland from 1582 to 1596, an Extraordinary Lord of Session from 1593, an Octavian from 1596, and Treasurer of Scotland from 1596 to 1599.[7]
James VI sent John Carmichael and Blantyre to arrest Elizabeth's Irish rebel Brian O'Rourke and take him to England on 3 April 1591.[8] This caused a riot in Glasgow, because the arrest was thought likely to damage the Irish trade, and Blantyre and Carmichael were cursed as "Queen Elizabeth's knights" and the king for taking "English angels", the annuity or subsidy received from Queen Elizabeth. Carmichael and Blantyre hoped Elizabeth might spare O'Rourke so the inhabitants of Glasgow would be reconciled to them, but he was executed.[9]
After the Kinmont Willie affair, on 8 July 1596 Blantyre wrote to David Foulis, the Scottish ambassador in London, that he should return if Elizabeth's attitude did not improve. He also discussed the case of a counterfeit coiner.[12]
Blantyre was responsible for the prisoner, a son of Sorley Boy MacDonnell, and his wife and servants from August 1596. They were moved from Dumbarton Castle to a house in Dumbarton town, then to Blantyre's own Cardonald Castle, and then lodged in Glasgow.[13]
Blantyre fell off his horse and broke his leg in Edinburgh in February 1597, and while he recovered Lord Ochiltree was treasurer.[14]Roger Aston wrote in April 1597 that his health was weakening and it was feared that he was bewitched.[15] In 1599 he was imprisoned and compelled to resign by James VI, influenced by a group of courtiers in king's bedchamber.[16]
Walter Stewart married Nicola Somerville, daughter of Sir James Somerville of Cambusnethan and Katherine Murray, in December 1582.[18] Their children included;
Sir James Stewart, Master of Blantyre (died 1609), married Dorothy Hastings, but was killed on 8 November 1609 at Islington, in a duel with Sir George Wharton, who also died.[19][20]
^Amy L. Juhala, 'For the King Favours them Very Strangely', in, Miles Kerr-Peterson & Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland: 1578-1603 (Routledge: Abingdon, 2017), p. 161.
^Paul Goatman, 'James VI, noble power and Glasgow', in, Miles Kerr-Peterson & Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland: 1578-1603 (Routledge: Abingdon, 2017), pp. 83-4, 90.
^Amy L. Juhala, 'For the King Favours them Very Strangely', in, Miles Kerr-Peterson & Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland: 1578-1603 (Routledge: Abingdon, 2017), p. 161.
^Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1589-1593, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 495-6, 505.
^Annie I. Cameron, Calendar of State Papers: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 697.
^Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, 'James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596', Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 7.
^Thomas Birch, Memorials of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 2 (London, 1754), pp. 44-5.
^Register of the Privy Council, Addenda 1540-1625, pp. 382-3.
^Julian Goodare, 'The Octavians', in Miles Kerr-Peterson & Steven Reid, James VI and Noble Power (Routledge: Abingdon, 2017), p. 184: Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), pp. 476, 500.
^Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), pp. 505-6 no. 406.
^Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 444 no. 356.
^Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1597-1603, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 1023 no. 832.
^Joseph Stevenson, Bowes Correspondence (London, 1842), p. 316.
^HMC Manuscripts of the Duke of Portland, vol. 9 (London, 1923), pp. viii, 119, 154.
^Peter Cunningham, Extracts from the Revels at Court (London, 1842), p. xxxiv.
Sources
Balfour Paul, Sir James (1904). Scots Peerage. Vol. IX. Edinburgh.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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