Margaret Stewart, Lady Gordon (born ca 1497) was the daughter of James IV of Scotland and his mistress Margaret Drummond.
Early life Margaret Stewart was born around 1497. Her mother, Margaret Drummond, was the daughter of John Drummond of Cargill, Lord Drummond, and his wife Elizabeth Lindsay. According to the Spanish ambassador Pedro de Ayala, King james IV kept Margaret Drummond "in great state" in a castle before arranging her married.Adrian William Jaime, Valeria Tapia Cruz, Mairi Cowan, "Tudor England and Stewart Scotland Through Spanish Eyes: A Complete Transcription and Translation of Pedro de Ayala's Letter of 1498 to King Ferdinand of Castile and Queen Isabella of Aragon", Renaissance Studies (2026), p. 41 & fn. 135. Although no record of the marriage survives, she was granted the rents of land in Strathearn. Margaret Drummond died in 1502 and was buried at Dunblane Cathedral.
As a child, Margaret known as "Lady Margaret"— lived at Edinburgh Castle under the care of Sir Patrick Crichton and his wife, Katrine Turing. Her attendants and companions included Marjory Lindsay and the African servants Margaret and Ellen More, who were referred to in contemporary records as the "More lasses".Miranda Kaufmann, Black Tudors (London, 2017), pp. 17–18: Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), pp. li, 330, 478: Mairi Cowan & Laura Walkling, 'Growing up with the court of James IV', Janay Nugent & Elizabeth Ewan, Children and Youth in Premodern Scotland (Boydell, 2015), pp. 20–1: Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1901), lxxxv, 114, 155, 172, 175, 310–11, 321–2, 336, 361, 371, 387: Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1902), pp. 339, 324, 401, 404.
In February 1505, Lady Margaret started dancing lessons with a drummer called Guilliam.Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1901), pp. 117, 129. There were records of her clothing, including, in June 1506; a gown of brown or russet cloth bordered with velvet, with velvet sleeves lined with taffeta, a satin kirtle or skirt, a hat and a tippet, a veil of "crisp", and ribbons for her hair.Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1901), pp. 114–15.
Marriages and Family She married, first, John Gordon, Lord Gordon, the son of Alexander Gordon, 3rd Earl of Huntly. Lord Gordon's aunt Catherine Gordon's first husband was Perkin Warbeck. She rode from the lowland royal court north over the Mounth towards Huntly Castle with her servants John Sinclair and Margaret Prestoun on 19 November 1512. It has been suggested that Margaret Prestoun was the sister of Ellen More.Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1902), pp. 398, 427. Their children included: George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, m. Elizabeth Keith, Countess of Huntly Alexander Gordon (bishop of Galloway), m. Barbara Logie James Gordon, Chancellor of Moray
She married, secondly, on 20 January 1530/31, Sir John Drummond of Innerpeffray.Malcolm, David, A Genealogical Memoir of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Drummond and of the Several Branches That Have Sprung From it (Edinburgh, 1808), p. 78. After their marriage, James V of Scotland made John Drummond Forester of the Royal Forest of Glenartney in Strathearn. A charter making Innerpeffray a free barony in 1536 recognises Margaret Stewart as "sororis regis", the sister of the king.David Hay Fleming, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 2 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1921), p. 342 no. 2298: Joseph Anderson, Oliphants in Scotland, with a selection of original documents from the charter chest at Gask (Glasgow, 1879), pp. 44, 46
Margaret and Sir John Drummond had five daughters, including: Agnes Drummond, m. (1) Hugh Campbell of Loudon, (2) Montgomerie, 3rd Earl of Eglinton, (3) Patrick Drummond Isabell Drummond, m. Matthew Campbell of Loudoun Margaret Drummond, m. Robert Elphinstone, 3rd Lord Elphinstone Jean Drummond, m. James Chisholm of Cromlix
The National Museums of Scotland has a group of carved oak panels, which include the heraldry of John Drummond and Margaret Stewart and may have decorated their residence in Edinburgh.Stephen Jackson, Scottish Furniture, 1500–1914 (National Museums of Scotland, 2024), pp. 12–14.
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