John Mosman or Mossman was a Scottish goldsmith based in Edinburgh who served the royal court and was involved in gold mining. He was warden of the mint from 24 August 1539.David Hay Fleming, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 1529–1542, 2 (Edinburgh, 1921), pp. 463 no. 3131.
Family background There is some confusion between the John Mosman who served King James V and the activities of other members of the family. Another John Mosman of a previous generation was an Edinburgh apothecary. A branch of the family including a John Mosman and his son Robert Mosman was recorded in February 1490 in connection with their tenancy of the lands of "Easter Gledstanis".The Acts of the Lords Auditors of Causes & Complaints (Edinburgh, 1839), p. 134.
In 1508, a John Mosman and his servant John Bykat were involved in a violent struggle involving several Edinburgh goldsmiths. Daggers were drawn and William Currour cut James McCalyean's lip with a goldsmith's file.Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1908), p. 254 no. 1700. This John Mosman was married to Agnes Bartholmew in 1512. Alan Mosman was also a goldsmith in Edinburgh at this time,Protocol Book of John Foular, p. 162 no. 860. and was involved in organising a pageant of the Passion in 1507.David Robertson and Marguerite Wood, Castle and Town (Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1928), pp. 208–209.
Another John Mosman was a public notary in Glasgow. He worked for Agnes Sinclair, Countess of Bothwell, the mother of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell in the 1550s."Letters of Assedation to Agnes Countess of Bothwell", Bannatyne Miscellany, 3 (Edinburgh, 1855), p. 298.
Career One of John Mosman's early recorded works was a set of silver clasps for the king's haubergeon, a piece of chain-mail armour in February 1534.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1905), p. 406. Mosman made gold buttons for king's clothes, some sewn to his hats and bonnets.Rosalind K. Marshall, 'To be the Kingis Grace ane Dowblett: The Costume of James V, King of Scots', Costume, 28:1 (2014), 18.
Scottish gold Mosman was involved in gold mining in Scotland. In 1538 Mosman made a hat badge or ensign, called in the Scots language, featuring a mermaid, set with diamonds, from the "Kingis awne gold" with some gold provided by James V.Sally Rush, 'Looking at Marie de Guise', Études Epistémè, 37 (2020) Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1905), p. 414. Mosman also made a gold heart from the king's "own gold", although it is not clear if this phrase means only that James V provided the gold used by Mosman.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1905), pp. 414–5.
In 1539 French-speaking miners arrived from the Duchy of Lorraine sent by the Duchess of Guise. Mosman paid their expenses from Edinburgh to the mines at Crawford Moor and for their equipment. The royal accounts specify that several pieces made by Mosman were fashioned from Scottish gold. He made "chafferonys", gold ornaments for coifs or French hoods for gentlewomen, using "gold of [the] mynd" mixed with gold from coins.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 159: Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland: Mary of Lorraine, 1 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1850), pp. 377–382. Mosman was paid for a nugget of gold, "unwrocht gold of the mynde", that was sent to the Duke of Guise, the father of the queen consort Mary of Guise.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 182, 193-4, 289.
Queens of Scotland In May 1538 the fool of Madeleine of Valois was bought a green velvet gown and Mosman made her a "chaffron" of gilded silver.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1905), p. 418. In April 1539 Mosman was given gold coins and gold from a Scottish mine to make hair pieces called "chafferonys" for the women of the court of Mary of Guise.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 159. He made a "chafferoun" of gold in "Paris work" or fashion for a "hood of the French sort" one of the daughters of James V, probably Lady Jean Stewart.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1905), p. 406. This was a Scots word for a jewelled strip bordering the front of a hood or coif.'Schaffroun', DOST/DSL In an inventory of Margaret Tudor's jewels in 1516 a "chaffron" comprises the jewelled border and also the velvet hood or hair bag, embroidered with pearl.Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1850), pp. 135-9Thomas Thomson, Collection of Inventories (Edinburgh, 1815), pp. 21-28
Another goldsmith, Thomas Rynd, who was based in St Andrews sold a "chaffron" to Mary of Guise in May 1539, when she was staying at Pitlethy near Leuchars, and James V bought chains and pendants from Rynd to give to the queen's gentlewomen at this time. The gifts to the women of the queen's household bought from Mosman and Rynd were occasioned by the queen's pregnancy.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 163.
In December 1539 Mosman made a zibellino for Mary of Guise from Scottish gold, comprising the head and feet of a marten fashioned in gold to be worn with the fur.Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 265: Agnes Strickland, Lives of the Queens of Scotland: Mary of Lorraine, 1 (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1850), p. 382.Alison Rosie, "A Queen's Jewel Box: The 1566 Inventory of Mary Queen of Scots' Jewels", Royal Studies Journal, 12:1 (2025), p. 62. Mary, Queen of Scots gave this fur with a gold head and feet to Mademoiselle Rallay in December 1561 to mend and re-line, described as an item to wear around her neck.Joseph Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne Descosse: Catalogues of the jewels, dresses, of Mary Queen of Scots (Edinburgh, 1863), pp. 130-1, 'a mettre a lentour du col'.
Mosman made Mary of Guise a belt from Scottish gold with a sapphire.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 278: Rosalind K. Marshall, 'Hir Rob Ryall: the Costume of Mary of Guise', Costume, 12:1 (1978), p. 4. He supplied a fastening for her belt called a "cleik" on 4 March 1540. Mosman was given gold coins called by "riders" by the king's pursemaster John Tennent to make some items.Athol Murray, "Pursemaster's Accounts", Micellany of the Scottish History Society, 10 (Edinburgh, 1965), pp. 33, 39.
Mosman made rings for James V from Scottish gold and stones described as "Scottish diamonds." He also made silver reliquaries for bones of St Malo and Adrian of May.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 395-6. He made at least two whistles for the king from Scottish gold, and one had a dragon coloured with enamel.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 320. The whistles may have been used by the king on his ships, including the Salamander. Mosman made a silver whistle for the "patroun", the commander of the king's new ships.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. xlviii, 195, 197. James V was also fond of hawking, and Mosman fashioned a silver clam shell as a luxurious accessory to hold the meat used to train the birds.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 326. He made a second clam shell for hawk meat in December 1541 with another, half the size, for the king's tooth powder. In February 1541 he made the king two gold bells for hawks and a silver case for tooth-picks. In June 1542 he was asked to enlarge the second clam shell for hawking.Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1908), pp. 44, 57, 89.
Armour Mosman made or decorated several items of armour for James V. He gilded a copper horse armour in March 1539. The barding for the king's great horse of velvet was completed by the silkwoman Helen Ross who made tassels and passementerie. Her work also decorated the king's books.Melanie Schuessler Bond, Dressing the Scottish Court (Boydell, 2019), p. 640: Alastair J. Mann, Embroidery to Entereprise: The Role of Women in the Book Trade of Early Modern Scotland, Elizabeth Ewen & Maureen Meikle, Women in Scotland, p. 137. Decorative metalwork made William Forrest and gilded by Mosman for use on tournament armour and horse trapping included buckles, thistles, lion's heads, and pendants.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 145–146, 166.
Gifts for kings In 1540 James V sent hackney riding horses as gifts to Francis I, the Dauphin, and the Duke of Guise. The horses were equipped with elaborate harnesses and cover cloths, fitted with buckles, and decorative thistles and lion's heads, which Mosman gilded using mercury. The weaver Helen Ros made silk fringes for this horse tack, and she also made passementerie for chairs.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 285, 391. The king's former favourite James Hamilton of Finnart was executed in August 1540, and his silver was brought from Craignethan Castle to Edinburgh, where Mosman engraved it with the heraldry of the king's infant eldest son, James, Duke of Rothesay.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 397.
John Mosman was bought clothes like others regarded as members of the royal household, including black satin for a doublet, and a black cloak.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1905), p. 439. He was not an exclusive maker or supplier of jewelry to the Scottish royal court, the king frequently bought pieces from the goldsmith Thomas Rynd, especially for the New Year's Day gifts which he distributed to courtiers.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. li, 265. Thomas Rynd was a relation of Jonet Rynd, who founded Edinburgh's Magdalen Chapel.Mairi Cowan, Death, life, and religious change in Scottish towns c. 1350–1560 (Manchester, 2012), p. 142.
The crown of Scotland James V employed Adam Leys to repair and augment the crown in the 1530s.Papers Relative to the Regalia of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1829, p. 30. Mosman is known for making and refurbishing the crown of Scotland in January 1540.Charles J. Burnett, 'Outward Signs of Majesty', Janet Hadley Williams, Stewart Style, 1513-1542: Essays on the Court of James V (East Linton, Tuckwell, 1996), pp. 293–294: Andrea Thomas, Glory and Honour (Edinburgh, 2013), p. 187. He included ciphers of "JR5".Thomas Thomson, Collection of Inventories (Edinburgh, 1815), pp. 238-239: Alexander Brook, 'Regalia of Scotland', Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 24 (1890), p. 52 The crown is kept at Edinburgh Castle with other items known as the Honours of Scotland. The treasurer's accounts mention Scottish "gold of the mine",Andrea Thomas, 'Coronation Ritual and Regalia', Julian Goodare & Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), p. 60. three great garnet stones and a great emerald or amethyst.Andrea Thomas, 'Coronation Ritual and Regalia', Julian Goodare & Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), p. 60. Mosman delivered the finished crown to James V at Holyrood Palace on 7 February. The tailor Thomas Arthur made a bonnet to line the crown from purple velvet.Andrea Thomas, 'Coronation Ritual and Regalia', Julian Goodare & Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), p. 61. John Paterson made a case to keep it in.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 278, 285.Charles J. Burnett, 'Outward Signs of Majesty', Janet Hadley Williams, Stewart Style, 1513-1542 (Tuckwell, 1996), pp. 293-4.