Sir Peter Young (1544–1628) was a Scottish diplomat, Master Almoner, and tutor to James VI of Scotland.
Early life Young was the second son of John Young, burgess of Edinburgh and Dundee, and of Margaret, daughter of Walter Scrymgeour of Glasswell, and was born at Dundee on 15 August 1544. His mother was related to the Scrymgeours of Dudhope (later ennobled with the title of Earl of Dundee), and his father settled in Dundee at the time of his marriage (1541).
Peter Young was educated at the Dundee Grammar School, and probably matriculated at St. Andrews University, though no record of his attendance there has been found. When he was admitted burgess of Dundee he was designated 'Magister', a title exclusively used by masters of arts. In 1562 he was sent to the continent to complete his studies under the care of his uncle, Henry Scrimgeour, by whom he was recommended to Theodore Beza, then professor of theology at Geneva. Scrymgeour was appointed to the newly founded chair of civil law at Geneva in 1563, and Young resided with him until in 1568 he returned to Scotland.
Tutor of James VI of Scotland Young's reputation as a scholar was so great that in the beginning of 1570 Regent Moray appointed him joint-instructor of the infant James VI along with George Buchanan. As Buchanan was then advanced in years, it is probable that the chief share of teaching the infant king fell upon Young. He is referred to in complimentary terms in Buchanan's Epistolæ. From the account given by Sir James Melville of Halhill it appears that while Buchanan was "wise and sharp", Young was more of the courtier, in a household controlled by Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar. Young's attitude won the affection of the king, and Young was his favourite counsellor up till the king's death.
Young was involved in building the king's library. An inventory of the king's books written by Young survives, interspersed with exercises by the royal pupil.George F. Warner, 'The Library of James VI, 1573-1583', Miscellany of the Scottish History Society (Edinburgh, 1893), from British Library Add. MS 34275. He wrote about buying books for the king, George Buchanan, and for the Countess of Mar, to Lewis Bellenden, Lord Justice Clerk who was better able to persuade Regent Morton or the Treasurer, Lord Ruthven to expedite payments.'Library of Queen Mary and of King James VI', Miscellany of the Maitland Club, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1833), pp. 13-4
In January 1580 he bought books for the king from the printer and stationer Thomas Vautrollier costing £100.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1574-1580, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 304. He lost £70 sterling worth of books ordered from London which were taken from a ship, the Jesus of Bo'ness, by pirates in March 1582.Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1581-1583, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1910), p. 334 no. 355. Young had many of the king's books bound in Edinburgh by John Gibson.'Library of Queen Mary and of King James VI', Miscellany of the Maitland Club, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1833), pp. 17-21.
Young also deciphered letters captured from the agents of Mary, Queen of Scots and wrote out alphabets or cipher keys for the English ambassador Henry Killigrew.William Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 37. On 25 October 1577 Young was made master almoner, a post in the king's household, and received numerous gifts and pensions, several of which are recorded in the acts of parliament. The treasurer's accounts record a gift of £2,000 in September 1580 to buy land for a "resting place to him and his wife and bairns".Amy Juhala, "For the King Favours Them Very Strangely", Miles Kerr-Peterson and Steven J. Reid, James VI and Noble Power in Scotland (Routledge, 2017), p. 169 fn. 86. In April 1581 the king's favourite Esmé Stewart gave him a lease, or tack, of the lands of Seytoun, near Arbroath.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 42 no. 248.
Diplomatic missions to Denmark Royal Marriage
In July 1586 he was sent with Colonel William Stewart on his first embassy to Frederick II of Denmark on business concerning Orkney.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1914), p. 566. The English ambassador Thomas Randolph thought they would discuss other secret matters. Randolph wrote that Young was "wise, honest, and learned", but some thought him unfit for the ambassador's role because he was not from a noble family or the holder of an important state office.William Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1914), p. 336 no. 362. Courcelles, a French diplomat in edinburgh, noted that Young's negotiations included the subject of the king's marriage to a Danish princess.Extract from the Despatches of M. Courcelles: French Ambassador at the Court (Edinburgh: Bannatyne Club, 1828), pp. 9, 57–58.
Young was instructed to bring back portraits of the Danish royal family.David Stevenson, Scotland's Royal Wedding (Edinburgh:John Donald, 1997), p. 6. Another French diplomat in Scotland, Charles de Prunelé, Baron d'Esneval, noted that a portrait of James VI had been made to be sent to Denmark.Kate Anderson, "Certane Picturis of His Majesties Visage: Tracing James VI’s Succession Campaign through Visual and Material Display and Dissemination", British Art Studies 29 (December 2025). Agnes Strickland, Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, vol. 3 (London, 1843), p. 104: BnF Fr. 4736 f.319 & f.420
Young's copy of the Latin letter written by James VI recommending him to Frederick II was discovered in one of his books in 1801, and published in the Gentleman's Magazine.Gentleman's Magazine, vol. 71 part 2 (1801), p. 980 He wrote to James VI from Helsingør at the end of July. Frederick II of Denmark had gone to Lüneburg to see the family of his sister Dorothea of Denmark, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and any ambassadors arriving at the palace of Kronborg were told to lodge in Copenhagen to await his return. Fredrick's wife, Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow was away at Frederiksborg Castle, where she expected a visit from her parents, Ulrich, Duke of Mecklenburg and Elizabeth of Denmark, Duchess of Mecklenburg.William Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1914), p. 556 no. 635.
On his return he was admitted to the Privy Council of Scotland on 7 November 1586.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1585-1592, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1881), p. 113. From that date until July 1622 he attended the meetings of the council. On 17 March 1587 he had a meeting with James VI at Crichton Castle, planning his next embassy.Robert Vans-Agnew, Correspondence of Sir Robert Waus of Barnbarroch, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1887), p. 382. James VI wrote again to Frederick II, recommending Young and Sir Patrick Vans of Barnbarroch as ambassadors.James Orchard Halliwell, Letters of the Kings of England, vol. 2 (London, 1846), pp. 79-81.
The embassy to Denmark of June 1587 was mostly with a view to the marriage of one of the king's daughters with James VI. The ambassadors hired John Gardiner's ship the Lion of Leith for £1000 Scots. They had their first audience at Antvorskov on 27 June with the Chancellor Niels Kaas, Manderup Parsberg, and Henrik Belo, while Frederick II declined to meet them for a few days because he had toothache. It was mentioned that there had been an exchange of portraits in 1586.Annie Isabella Cameron, Warrender Papers, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1932), pp. 35-42: Correspondence of Sir Patrick Waus of Barnbarroch, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 396-40. Frederick II wrote to James VI that their audience was deferred.William Dunn Macray, 'Report on Archives in Denmark', 46th Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (London, 1886), p. 30.
Young recommended Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Frederick II, as the most suitable match. The overtures for the hand of this princess were declined as she had been promised to another. Richard Douglas heard in August 1587 that the ambassadors had returned, and Elizabeth was promised to Archduke Mathias (she married Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg). The marriage plans were to be discussed at Falkland Palace in September 1587.Edmund Lodge, Illustrations of British History, vol. 2 (London, 1791), pp. 350-1.
A letter of Alexander Young of Eastfield, probably his brother, mentions that Peter Young was ill on his return from Denmark, but joined the king at Falkland on 19 September 1587. In June 1588 another embassy was contemplated, and Young wrote to Barnbarroch, "As for my part I shall be ready to serve, and as willing to lie idle, and serving with my books, the wife, and bairns (children), if his Majesty will permit me."Robert Vans Agnew, Correspondence of Sir Robert Waus of Barnbarroch, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 408, 422.
It was then suggested that the king should wed the second daughter, the Princess Anne. It was said that although "Madam Elizabeth were the more beautiful, Anna was not unattractive, as the years would prove, of stature and height exceeding the first-born".Annie Isabella Cameron, Warrender Papers, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1932), p. 41, (Scots and Latin in original). The death of Frederick in 1588 delayed the negotiations. Early in 1589, Young was sent once more to Denmark to complete the marriage negotiations. In June 1589, Edinburgh merchants protested against the possibility of James VI marrying Catherine of Bourbon, making "unreverent speeches" about her. According to Thomas Fowler, Young and William Stewart told James that she was "old and crooked".Papers of the Master of Gray (Edinburgh, 1835), pp. 161–62
Young set out with James VI on 23 October 1589 to attend the nuptials at Oslo. According to James Melville of Halhill, Young did not sail with the king, but in one of three other ships, along with Lewis Bellenden, John Carmichael, the Provost of Lincluden, William Keith of Delny, George Home and James Sandilands.Thomas Thomson, James Melville Memoirs of his own life (Edinburgh, 1827), p. 372
Managing the Queen's Morrowing Gift As part of the marriage, on the day after the wedding at Oslo (Upslo), on 24 November 1589 Anne of Denmark was given estates in Scotland, including; the lordship of Dunfermline, Linlithgow Palace, and the earldom of Fife with Falkland Palace. This was called the "morrowing gift" or the "morganatick donation" or "morning gift". These lands were given to Anne on 10 May 1590 with a confirmation charter presented to Danish ambassadors at Holyroodhouse on 17 May 1590 with the assent and seals of representatives of the Scottish estates and burgh towns. The Danish Admiral Peder Munk travelled to the three palaces and took possession by sasine in a ceremony where he was given a handful of earth and stone. In July 1593 Young was appointed by the Scottish parliament as one of a committee of nine to manage Anne of Denmark's income from the gift. The others were; Alexander Seton, Lord Urquhart, Walter Stewart of Blantyre, Master John Lindsay of Balcarres, James Elphinstone of Innernochty, Thomas Hamilton of Drumcairne, and Alexander Hay of Easter Kennet. These men were to advise the queen in "all things tending to her honour and commodities", auditing the accounts, appointments of kirk ministers, and making new tenancy agreements. In 1595 this group of administrators briefly controlled the Scottish exchequer and were known as the Octavians. On the death of Elizabeth I of England, the Privy Council of Scotland gave the committee a new commission to manage the queen's lands on 2 April 1603, adding Thomas Hamilton of Preistfield in place of Lindsay and Hay who had died.Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1816), pp. 24-7: David Stevenson, Scotlands Last Royal Wedding (John Donald: Edinburgh, 1997), pp. 102-03: National Archives of Scotland, Privy Seal Register PS1/74 f42r.
Baptism of Prince Henry