William Schaw (c. 1550–1602) was Master of Works to James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark for building castles and palaces, and was an important figure in the development of Freemasonry in Scotland.
Early life William Schaw was the second son of John Schaw of Broich, and grandson of Sir James Schaw of Sauchie. Broich is now called Arngomery, a place at Kippen in Stirlingshire. The Schaw family had links to the Royal Court, principally through being keepers of the King's wine cellar. The Broich family was involved in a scandal in 1560, when John Schaw was accused of murdering the servant of another laird. William's father was denounced as a rebel and his property forfeited when he and his family failed to appear at court, but the family were soon re-instated. At this time William Schaw may have been a page at the court of Mary of Guise, as a page of that name received an outfit of black mourning cloth when Mary of Guise died. William the page would have been in Edinburgh Castle with the Regent's court during the siege of Leith, while the Master of Work, William MacDowall, was strengthening the castle's defences.David Stevenson, The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's century: 1590 – 1710 (Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 27: Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland: 1556–67, nos. 810, 811: Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1916), p. 23 John Schaw of Broich was appointed as chamberlain of the lands of Kelso Abbey in August 1566.Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 5:2 (Edinburgh, 1957), p. 190 no. 3023.John Hill Burton, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), p. 493.
Career The name "William Schaw" appears in a satirical note about courtiers made by an informant or spy at the royal court in 1580, the letter was sent to England. Schaw was described as the "clock-keeper" amongst followers of the King's favourite Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, while another man, the master hunter, John Hume was the keeper of "ratches", an old word meaning a kind of tenacious hunting scent hound.John Strype, Annals of the Reformation, vol. 2 part 2 (London, 1824), p. 325: Steven J. Reid, The Early Life of James VI, A Long Apprenticeship (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2023), pp. 278–9 for John Hume.
Schaw signed the negative confession whereby courtiers pledged allegiance to the Scottish Reformation. On 11 April 1581, he was given a valuable gift of rights over the lands in Kippen belonging to the Grahams of Fintry.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 8 (HMSO: Edinburgh, 1982), p. 35 no. 210. In May 1583, he was in Paris at the death of the exiled Esmé Stewart and it was said that he took Esmé's heart back to Scotland.Calendar of State Papers Foreign, Elizabeth: January–June 1583 and addenda, vol. 17 (London, 1913), no. 362, 9 June 1583Gareth Russell, Queen James: The Lives and Loves of Britain's First King (London: William Collins, 2025), p. 78.
Great Master of Work
On 21 December 1583, James VI appointed Schaw principal Maister o' Wark (Master of Work) to the Crown of Scotland for life, with responsibility for all royal castles and palaces. Schaw had already been paid the first instalment of his salary £166-13s–4d as "grete Mr of wark in place of Sir Robert Drummond" in November.National Records of Scotland E22/6 Treasurer's Accounts f. 133v. The replacement of the incumbent Robert Drummond of Carnock with Schaw, known as a Roman Catholic, may have been a reaction to the Ruthven Raid that had removed Lennox from power.Stevenson, p. 28 By the terms of his appointment, Schaw for the rest of his life was to be;
Grit maister of wark of all and sindrie his hienes palaceis, biggingis and reparationis, and greit oversear, directour and commander of quhatsumevir police devysit or to be devysit for our soverane lordis behuif and plessur(In modern spelling) Great master of work of all and sundry his highness' palaces, building works and repairs, and great overseer, director and commander of whatsoever policy devised or to be devised for our sovereign lord's behalf and pleasure.Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland: 1581–1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), pp. 276–277 no. 1676.
In November 1583, Schaw travelled on a diplomatic trip to France with Lord Seton and his son Alexander Seton, a fellow Catholic with an interest in architecture. The Seton family remained supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots who was exiled in England. Schaw returned in the winter of 1584, and was involved in building work for the Seton family.Walter Scott (ed.), James Somerville, Memorie of the Somervilles, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1815), p. 460 In 1585, he was one of three courtiers who entertained three Danish ambassadors visiting the Scottish court at Dunfermline and St Andrews.Thomas Thomson (ed.), Sir James Melville, Memoirs of My own Life (Edinburgh, 1827), p. 366. In 1588 Schaw was amongst a group of Catholics ordered to appear before the Edinburgh Presbytery, and English agents reported him as being a suspected Jesuit and holding anti-English views during the 1590s. He met an English Catholic, George More at Dalkeith Palace in September 1598.Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:1 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 293.
In September 1591 Richard Cockburn of Clerkington was admitted as a Lord of Session. According to the English ambassador Robert Bowes, Cockburn had been "Master of Ceremonies" and this office was transferred to William Schaw. These appointments followed the death of Lewis Bellenden.David Stevenson, Origins of Freemasonry (Oxford, 1988) p. 27: Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 567 no. 606. An account of the baptism and banquet for Prince Charles on 23 December 1600 mentions that Schaw was absent, and the role of Master of Ceremonies was taken by two other men.John Nichols, Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. 3 (London, 1823), pp. 526–8.
In May 1596 an English paper listing reasons to suspect James VI of being himself a Roman Catholic, included the appointment of known Catholics to household offices, noting Schaw as 'Praefectum Architecturae,' his friend Alexander Seton as President of Council, and Lord Hume as the King's body guard.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 12, (HMSO: Edinburgh, 1952), pp. 227–8 By this time he had acquired the barony of Sauchie.
Some payments for Schaw's building work, at Falkland Palace and Stirling Castle are documented by exchequer vouchers in the National Records of Scotland.See especially National Records of Scotland NRS E23/7/3 for £1,000 Scots dated 22/23 July 1596. A record of the building work at the Palace of Holyroodhouse he supervised in 1599 survives. The works involved masons, slaters, plumbers, and joiners making repairs to the court and the king's kitchens, the steeple and clock, and the King's billiard table, and other alterations to the palace. Schaw signed off the account weekly with his name, or as "Maistir of Wark".Henry M. Paton, Accounts of the Masters of Works for Building and Repairing Royal Palaces and Castles: 1529–1615, vol. 1 (HMSO: Edinburgh, 1957), pp. 315–323. On 8 July 1601, James VI sent Schaw to consult with Master John Gordon on the construction of a monument to the King's rescue from the Gowrie House conspiracy the previous year. James VI wrote to Gordon that William would "conferre with yow thairanent, that ye maye agree upon the forme, devyse, and superscriptionis".William Fraser, Sutherland Book, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1892), pp. 10–11 no. 13]
Arrival of Anne of Denmark in Scotland
In March 1589, Schaw was granted £1000 Scots of tax money to begin repairs at Holyroodhouse in advance of the reception of the bride of James V, Anne of Denmark.Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, "James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588–1596", Scottish History Society Miscellany XVI (Woodbridge, 2020), pp. 14–15: J. T. Gibson Craig, Papers Relative to the Marriage of King James the Sixth of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1836), Appendix 2, p. 10. He was amongst the courtiers who accompanied James VI to Denmark to fetch his queen in October. He returned on 15 or 16 March 1590, ahead of the rest of the party to prepare for their subsequent return.Thomas Rymer, Foedera, vol. 15 (London, 1715), pp. 41–2, 51: Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 245, 252, 256, 261: James Dennistoun, Memoirs of the Affairs of the Scotland by David Moysie (Edinburgh: Maitland Club, 1830), p. 81. He brought King James's letter written on 19 February at Kronborg to the Privy Council and his request that the Provost of Edinburgh, John Arnot, to supply him with a ship and good mariners. James VI also asked the Provost of Edinburgh to provide Schaw with the "many good craftsmen" necessary to complete the repairs at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.Grant G. Simpson, 'The Personal Letters of James VI', Julian Goodare & Michael Lynch, The Reign of James VI (East Linton: Edinburgh, 2000), pp. 150–153: George Akrigg, Letters of King James VI & I (University of California, 1984), pp. 104–5: Thomas Thomson, The History of the Kirk of Scotland, 5 (Edinburgh, 1844), p. 82: Robert Chambers, The Life of King James the First, 1 (Edinburgh, 1830), pp. 148, 150: James Thomson Gibson-Craig, Papers relative to the marriage of King James the Sixth of Scotland, with the Princess Anna of Denmark (Edinburgh, 1830), pp. 29–34
David Moysie, a contemporary writer, wrote in his Memoir that Schaw also brought news that Anne of Denmark was pregnant, and Chancellor Maitland included this news in a letter to Robert Bruce.William Cunningham, Sermons by the Rev. Robert Bruce (Edinburgh: Woodrow Society, 1843), 164: James Dennistoun, Memoirs of the Affairs of the Scotland by David Moysie (Edinburgh: Maitland Club, 1830), pp. 81–82 Anne of Denmark may have suffered a miscarriage at Dunfermline Palace in September 1590, where she was attended by the physician Martin Schöner and a midwife.Maureen Meikle, 'Anna of Denmark's Coronation and Entry', Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), p. 293.
William Schaw brought with him a Danish locksmith called Frederick who would join the queen's household.Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, "James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588–1596", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, XVI (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2020), pp. 14, 39–40, 69, later records identify Frederick as a locksmith. Schaw busied himself repairing Holyrood Palace and Dunfermline Palace which had been assigned to the queen. He was given £1,000 Scots from tax money raised in Edinburgh for the royal marriage to spend on the repairs at Holyroodhouse.Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1585–1592, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1881), p. 471. Queen Elizabeth gave a further 625 gold crowns to spend on Holyrood.Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, (Woodbridge, 2020), pp. 13–4, 55. Schaw was also responsible for the elaborate ceremony greeting her arrival at Leith and the decoration of St Giles' Kirk with tapestry for her coronation.Marguerite Wood, Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: 1589–1603 (Edinburgh, 1927), p. 329 He subsequently became Master of Ceremonies to the court, as his epitaph carved on his tomb states.