Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 4

THE CELTIC MA^GAZINE. 31
have escaped the critical notice of Riddell, in his remarks upon the
marriage under notice, and to which I have to acknowledge my obligations;
though it is strange that he has given the dates of " 20th October 1478,"
for October 22, and " 8th of March, and 4th of July in the same year,"
for June 4, 1478, and March 18, 1479, which was the following year —
citing Acta Dominorum Concilii, and Acta Auditorum.* The date of
]\Iarion, Lady Crechtoun's, death is not recorded, but she was certainly
tlic first, if not only, wife of William, Lord Crechtoun, and mother of his
son and heir, James, above-mentioned ; who must have been of full age
in the year 1492 and 1493, when he is found receiving grants of lands,
as proved by the Eecords of the Great Seal, already referred to. It also
appears from a process of October 23, 1493, that " James Crechtoun, the
son and are of vmquhile William, sumtyme lord Crechtoun," without the
concurrence of any tutor or curator, had previously assigned twenty-seven
ounces of gold to a certain Sir Thomas Tod, Knight for the " wranguis
detentioun," of which he now sought a remedy from the Lords of Council
in Civil Causes, who postponed consideration of his complaint until
February 12 following. ["Acta Dom. Cone," ut supra, p. 311], which
conclusively proves that James could not have been a son of the Princess
Margaret, as hitherto asserted. An interesting fact also transpires from
this marriage (as Riddell observes), which is, that Marion Livingstone
had obviously been a peace-offering to reconcile the feuds and animosities
of the great families of Crechtoun and Livingstone, previously, as is weU-
known, keen rivals for political power, during the troublous times in the
reigns of Kings James II. and III. The notices of William, in the first
years after his succession to the family title, are scanty, but the name of
" dominus Crechtoun " appears as attending the following Parliaments of
Scotland under James III., November 20, 14G9 — May 6, 1471 — Novem-
ber 20, 1475— July 1, and October 4, 1476— April 6, 1478— March
1, and October 4, 1479, at Edinburgh, which is the last occasion on
which his name is found in the Parliamentary rolls. ["Acta Pari,
Scot.," voL ii. pp. 93, 98, 108, 111, 115, 121, 122, 124.] There are
also five references to "ye lord Crechtoune," from October 15, 1478,
to June 13, 1480, amongst the Acts of the Lords of Council in Civil
Causes, consisting chiefly of claims made against him for the repayment
of sums of money, &c., which had been lent to him, by various persons,
at different times. ["Acta Dom. Concil." ut supra, pp. 12, 14, 19, 44,
50.] Before the Lords Auditors of Causes and Complaints " ye lord
Crechtoune" is found at varioixs periods, between August 5, 1473, and
October 1 483, to answer charges of " skathis and danpnage " preferred
against him, and other matters, in some of which, however, he was com-
plainant. ["Acta Auditorum," ut supra, pp. 29 et seq., to 122.]
There is no positive reason for alleging that, up to October 1479,
Lord Crechtoun had engaged in treasonable proceedings against his
sovereign, nor does he appear to have been dii-ectly implicated in the first
rebellion of Alexander, Duke of Albany ; which took place in the above
year, and was quickly suppressed by the decision and energy of the King,
when Albany escaped to France. There is no doubt, however, that he
was a.i active adherent of the Duke in his second rebellion and treasonable
'Jicmarka on Scottish Peerage Law," &c., "By .John Riddell, Esq., advocate
Edinburgh ; T. Clark," 8vo., 1833, p, 194 note.