Holders of the office of Lord Chamberlain of Scotland are known from about 1124. It was ranked by King Malcolm as the third great Officer of State, called Camerarius Domini Regis, and had a salary of £200 per annum allotted to him. He anciently collected the revenues of the Crown, at least before Scotland had a Treasurer, of which office there is no vestige until the restoration of King James I when he disbursed the money necessary for the maintenance of the King's Household.
The Great Chamberlain had jurisdiction for judging of all crimes committed within burgh, and of the crime of forestalling; and was in effect Justice-General over the burghs, and held Chamberlain-ayrs every year for that purpose; the form whereof is set down in Iter Camerarii, the Chamberlain-ayr. He was a supreme judge and his Decrees could not be questioned by any inferior judicatory. His sentences were to be put into execution by the baillies of burghs. He also settled the prices of provisions within burghs, and the fees of the workmen in the Mint.
The Chamberlain lost his financial functions after 1425 to the Treasurer. The position was vacant from 1558 to 1565 and again from 1569. It was occupied in 1580 for the cousin of James I, Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, whose appearance as a Great Officer of State in 1581 is attributable to his personal standing with the king rather than his office. But following the Raid of Ruthven, 24 August 1582, the Great Chamberlain lost his supervision of the royal burghs.
Thereafter the office was held by successive Dukes of Lennox (heritably from 1603) until resigned to the Crown ad perpetuam remanentiam by the Duke of Richmond and Lennox in 1703, since which time no Great Chamberlain has been appointed. In 1711 a form of the office was revived in a Commission of Chamberlainry and Trade, which lapsed on the death of Queen Anne.
Lord Chamberlains David I of Scotland () Edmund, witnessed a charter granting Annandale to Robert de Brus in 1124. 1130-1153: Herbert Malcolm IV of Scotland () 1153-1160: Herbert 1160-1165: Nicolaus, later Lord Chancellor William the Lion () 1165-1189: Walter de Berkeley of Redcastle 1205-14: Philip de Valognes Alexander II of Scotland () 1214-19: William de Valognes Hugo de Giffard, Lord of Yester and Morham John de Melville 1216: Henry de Balliol (d. 1246) 1228: David de Bernham (later Bishop of St Andrews) 1231-41: Sir John de Maccuswel (or Maxwell) Alexander III of Scotland () c.1250/1: Sir Robert de Meyners 1252-1255: William, Earl of Mar 1255-1257: David de Lindsay of Barnweill and Byres 1257-60: Aylmer de Maxwell lord of Caerlaverock, Sheriff of Dumfries, son of Sir John Maxwell. 1260: William, Earl of Mar, again 1267: Sir Reginald Cheyne 1269: Sir Thomas Randolph, father of Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, 1278: John de Lindsay Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland (First Interregnum)(1286-1292) 1287-1292: Alexander de Baliol John Balliol () 1292-1296: Alexander de Baliol Guardians of the Kingdom of Scotland (Second Interregnum) (1296-1306) 1297-1307: John Sandale Robert the Bruce () 1307: Eustace de Cotesbache 1319: William de Lindsay 1325: Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie (who married Mary, the King's sister) David II of Scotland () 1329: John Baptista 1327-1329: Robert de Peebles 1329-1333: Reginald de Mure 1333: Sir Robert Lauder of Quarrelwood and The Bass (d. 1337) (also Justiciar of Scotia) 1334: William Bullock, under Edward Balliol 1334-1340: Reginald de Mure 1341-1342: William Bullock, again 1343-1346: John de Roxburgh c.1350-1357: Sir Robert de Erskine 1357-1358: Thomas Stewart, 2nd Earl of Angus 1358-1359: Thomas, Earl of Mar 1359-1363: Walter of Biggar c1363-1364: Sir Robert de Erskine, again 1364-1371: Walter of Biggar, again Robert II of Scotland () 1371-1376: Walter of Biggar, continues 1376: Michael de Monymusk, Bishop of Dunkeld 1377-1382: Sir John Lyon 1382: Robert Stewart, Earl of Fife Robert III of Scotland () James I of Scotland () 1424-1448: Sir John Forrester of Corstorphine, Knt.The Scottish Nation, Edinburgh, 1867, vol.v, p.250.The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland edited by George Burnett, Lord Lyon King of Arms, vol.v, 1437-1454, Edinburgh, 1882, pps:108, 258, and 297 - the last mention as Chamberlain. James II of Scotland () 1448-1450: James Livingston, 1st Lord LivingstonThe Exchequer Rolls of Scotland edited by George Burnett, Lord Lyon King of Arms, vol.v, 1437-1454, Edinburgh, 1882, p.312, first mention in this capacity. 1450-1454: James Crichton, 2nd Lord Crichton and Earl of MorayAnderson, William, The Scottish Nation, Edinburgh, 1867, vol.iii, p.725, which states he held this position from 1440 until death.Haydn, Joseph, Book of Dignities, London, 1851, also states that he held this position 1440-1454. 1454-1467: James Livingston, 1st Lord Livingston James III of Scotland () 1467: Robert Boyd, 1st Lord Boyd 1477: James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan 1483: David Lindsay, 5th Earl of Crawford James IV of Scotland () 1488: Alexander Home, 2nd Lord Home 1509: Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home James V of Scotland () 1515: John Fleming, 2nd Lord Fleming (resigned 1 Aug 1524)Hannay, Robert Kerr, Acts of the Lords of Council in Public Affairs: 1501-1554, General Register House, 1932, p.204. 1524: Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming (d. 1547 at Battle of Pinkie) Mary, Queen of Scots () 1547: James Fleming, 4th Lord Fleming (d. 1558) James VI of Scotland () 1565: John Fleming, 5th Lord Fleming (d. 1572)Cracrofts Peerage 1581: Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox 1594: Ludovick (or Louis) Stewart, Duke of Lennox (made heritable Chamberlains).
References
The Staggering State of the Scots' Statesmen, by Sir John Scot of Scotstarvet, Director of Chancery, Edinburgh, 1754, pps: 137-8. The Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, edited by George Burnett, Lord Lyon King of Arms, vol.II, 1359–1379, Edinburgh, 1878, in the appendix to the Preface is a list of Chamberlains of Scotland to 1406 only. See also p.cxxiii. A History of the House of Douglas, by James Balfour Paul Vol II p. 3, London 1902.