Michael Gardiner (died 1584) was a Scottish artilleryman based at Stirling Castle. The surname also appears as Gardner and Gardenar. He provided fireworks for royal ceremonies.Philip Butterworth, "The Providers of Pyrotechnics", Clifford Davidson, Material culture & medieval drama (Kalamazoo, 1999), p. 66.
Career
In 1538 he was transferred from the garrison of Dunbar Castle to Stirling, and he was put on the regular pay-roll at £3 per month.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 122. In June 1541 he was sent to Kelso Abbey to collect a broken bell and three brass pots to be melted down in the gun-foundry at Edinburgh Castle.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 498: His signature appears on a receipt for 30 crowns paid to him by Lady Livingstone in 1548, National Records of Scotland E34/14/25. He joined a small force of artillerymen with Master Hans in the household of Mary of Guise. In August 1544 he was stationed at Dumbarton Castle.Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1908), p. 314: NRS E34/23 (1). By 1555 his wage increased to £6 monthly.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1913), p. 301.James Beveridge, Register of the Privy Seal, 4 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1952), p. 477 no. 2763.
Michael Gardinar was in charge of cannons at Stirling Castle as a Master Cannoner. He was also a burgess of Stirling. In 1546 his wages, the wage of the gunner Hans Cochrane, and the watchmen, porters, and "garytours" (garrison soldiers) of Stirling Castle were paid by Thomas Erskine of Haltoun from the income of Mary of Guise's lands of Brechin and Navar.John Stuart, 'Pittodrie Papers', Spalding Club Miscellany, 2 (Edinburgh, 1842), p. 201.
Gardinar worked with John Chisholm making fireworks for Mary, Queen of Scots for the baptism of Prince James at Stirling in December 1566. The account mentions that he was the powder maker in Edinburgh Castle, and travelled to Stirling while working on the fireworks project. Gardiner requested advice on "weak powder" from the Laird of Roslin. Another gunner, James Hector, went to Dunbar Castle and Craigmillar Castle to discuss the progress of the fireworks.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1566-1574, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1970), pp. 404, 406.
Marian Civil War During the Marian Civil War Gardiner and his son Robert sided with Regent Lennox who was based at Leith, against the supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots and his former colleagues who garrisoned Edinburgh Castle.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1567-1574, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1963), p. 293 no. 1530. In May 1571 Gardiner provided ropes and other equipment to transport cannon from Stirling to Edinburgh.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1566-1574, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1970), p. 242. In October 1571 Gardiner was paid for refurbishing cannon at Stirling and transporting a "gross culverin" from Glasgow to Stirling. The guns were shipped to Leith. Robert Gardiner travelled to Perth, Dundee, and Broughty to buy iron, timber, and cannon balls, to be deployed in the Canongate. In November Gardiner's assistant David Haliburton took a boat load of "bullettis", cannon balls, from Leith to Blackness Castle.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1566-1574, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1970), pp. 287-288, 292. In August 1572 Michael dismantled some of the artillery and shipped it to Stirling in six boats guarded by Captain Mitchell's company, while Robert Gardiner was sent to Berwick with the Regent's letter for Lord Hunsdon.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1566-1574, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1970), p. 324.
At the end of the 'lang siege' of Edinburgh Castle, in June 1573, Gardiner dismantled the culverins used as siege cannons against the castle and took them to Holyrood Palace and then to Leith. He was paid for cables and rope, soap, tallow, axles, wedges, and other equipment.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer: 1566-1574, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1970), p. 350-1.
The blacksmith and gunner at Stirling was David Smith. He died in 1578 and was replaced by John McBen.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland: 1575-1585, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1966), p. 254 no. 1603. Archibald Gardinar or Gardnar, one of Michael's son, joined the garrison of Stirling Castle as a gunner in June 1578.Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, 13 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1978), p. 208.
Later life In 1579 the Hamilton family were suppressed for their support for Queen Mary, and for the murders of Regent Moray and Regent Lennox. The family fortified their houses and castles including Craignethan Castle and the Castle of Hamilton (Cadzow Castle).David Moysie, Memoir (Edinburgh, 1830), p. 22. Cadzow was bombarded by Michael Gardiner, and fell on 19 May 1579. Gardiner was given £100 for his efforts, and the cost of deploying the artillery was £2,099 Scots. The castle was slighted by Captain Thomas Craufurd.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 13 (Edinburgh, 1978), pp. 265-6.
Death and will Michael Gardiner became depute-keeper of Stirling Castle in March 1581 during the illness of the Constable, Mr John Stewart. A note from 1581 states that "Michaell kens all thing in the place, what ammunition and other gear is your Majesty's and what pertains to my Lord of Mar."HMC Mar & Kellie, vol. 1 (London, 1904), p. 33. An inventory of cannon of brass and iron, and some of the gunners' equipment including a crane and vices was made in April 1581.HMC Mar & Kellie, vol. 1 (London, 1904), pp. 34-6.
He died on 3 May 1584.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 349 no. 2036. He left a will made in 1579, and his inventory mentions the king owed him £140 Scots of unpaid wages. Gardener had borrowed money from his wife's relatives in Stirling, Jonet Ray and Isobel Ray a butcher's widow. Amongst his possessions was a "locked case with instruments contained therein for my craft", brass, iron and wooden rulers, and "certain writs pertaining to his craft."'Gardener, Michaell', Wills and testaments Reference CC8/8/13, Edinburgh Commissary Court, pp. 380-3.
Other items mentioned in his will include his military clothing and weapons; a hat, spurs, and helmet, a whinger on a belt, a sword, a bag, a powder horn, armour (a harness), and a halberd.David Caldwell, Edinburgh Castle's Role as a Gun House (Historic Environment Scotland, 2018), p. 22
Family and children In 1584 his pension, which he had received since 1534 was transferred to his widow Margaret Ray.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 349 no. 2036.Exchequer Rolls, XXII (Edinburgh, 1903), p. 202. Some of their children were also gunners: Robert Gardiner, gunner at Stirling Castle from 1570,Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1567-1574, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1963), p. 164 no. 882. in August 1571 Regent Lennox sent him to collect a yetling cannon from Broughty Castle,Papers of the Master of Gray (Edinburgh, 1835), Appendix p. xii he was in Flanders in 1579, and died in 1582.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 134 no. 811. Crystal Gardiner, gunner at Stirling Castle, who died in 1582.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 172 no. 1067. Archibald Gardiner, gunner at Edinburgh Castle. In 1584 he was given a house in Stirling confiscated from Adam Erskine, Commendator of Cambuskenneth, next to the house of the Earl of Argyll and the king's embroiderer, William Beaton.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 413 no. 2370. James Gardiner, gunner at Stirling Castle, appointed in 1582 in succession to his brother Robert, and Master Cannoner 1 October 1584 in succession to his father.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581-1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), pp. 134 no. 811, 430 no. 2460. He brought ammunition from Stirling to Leith to salute the arrival of Anne of Denmark in 1589. James Gardiner took the cannon to Kirkwall in 1615, to besiege the Earl of Orkney.HMC Mar & Kellie, vol. 1 (London, 1904), p. 75. He also had a son Christian and a daughter Helen.
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