Adrian or Adriaan Damman of Bysterveldt (died 1605), a native of Ghent, was a diplomatic agent of the Dutch Republic in Scotland in the 1590s.Katrien A. L. Daemen-de Gelder, "The Letters of Adriaan Damman, Dutch Ambassador at the Court of James VI and I", Lias, 31 (2004), pp. 239–248.Esther Mijers, 'Diplomatic Visit', Steven J. Reid, Rethinking the Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland (Boydell, 2024), 266: Esther Mijers, "Addicted to Puritanism: Philosophical and Theological Relations between Scotland and the United Provinces in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century", in A. Broadie, History of Universities, XXIX, Number 2 (2016), pp. 69-95. Damman was an author, and taught at the University of Edinburgh.James Maidment, Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James the Sixth (Edinburgh, 1838), p. 23.Jacques Alexandre de Chalmot, Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden, vol. 5 (Amsterdam, 1800), pp. 206-8. He was knighted at the baptism of Prince Robert in May 1602.John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:1 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1969), pp. lxv, 977.
Early career
He may be the subject of a portrait engraving of "Hadrianus Damman" dated 1578 attributed to Jacob de Gheyn II or Claes Jansz. Visscher,I. Q. van Regteren Altena, Jacques de Gheyn, three generations, 1 (Boston, 1983), pp. 10–11, 23. and in 1576, 1577, and 1578 he provided forewords for three costume books illustrated with woodcuts by Abraham de Bruyn.Ulrike Ilg, The Cultural Significance of Costume Books in Sixteenth-Century Europe, Catherine Richardson, Clothing Culture, 1350–1650 (Ashgate, 2004), pp. 32-33 fn. 5: Omnium poene gentium imagines ... (Caspar Rutz: Cologne, 1577); Imperii ac Sacerdotii Ornatus ... (Cologne, 1578); Divesarum Gentium Armatura Equestris ... (Cologne, 1576).
Adrian Damman wrote a letter from "Bassevelde" on 2 May 1583 describing the activities and extortions of a Captain Yorck at Zaamslag and mentioning John Norris.Frans de Potter, Petit cartulaire de Gand (Gand, 1885), pp. 90–91.
Diplomacy and community in Scotland An account of royal expenses made around November 1588 includes a payment of £266 Scots to "Adriane Dammane and some workmen Flemings".Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, "James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, XVI (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2020), pp. 21, 61. Damman wrote a poem De Introitu describing the royal entry and coronation of Anne of Denmark in June 1590,Jamie Reid Baxter, 'Politics, Passion and Poetry in the Circle of Lennox: John Burel and his surviving works', L. A. J. R. Houwen, Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sally Mapstone, A Palace in the Wild: Essays on Vernacular Culture and Humanism in Late-medieval and Renaissance Scotland (Peeters, 2000), pp. 227. 232. and corresponded with Justus Lipsius. Lipsius was rector of Leiden University where Damman had lectured on Aristotle's Politics.Pieter Burman, Sylloges epistolarum: a viris illustribus scriptarum, 1 (Leiden, 1727), p. 453.
In May 1591 (or 1592) a German aristocrat Johann Peter Hainzel von Degerstein and his tutor Casper Waser came to Scotland during a tour. They met Thomas Seggate or Seget (a former student of Lipsius) and Damman at Edinburgh University, and Waser wrote to Damman from Ayr a few weeks later mentioning Damman's work on a translation of Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas's Creation. Damman published the translation in 1600 and included the letter.James K. Cameron, "British Itinerary by Casper Waser", Zwingliana, 15 (1980), pp. 266–267, 282.Peter Auger, Du Bartas' Legacy in England and Scotland (Oxford, 2019), p. 63: T. C. Smout, Scotland and Europe, 1200–1850 (Edinburgh: John Donald, 1986), p. 49.
In June 1592, the Parliament of Scotland created a new office, the Master of Metals to be in charge of mines and refining, and John Lindsay of Menmuir was appointed. Pressure was exerted on a prospector, Eustachius Roche, to resign his rights. Information damaging his reputation was collected from the Dutch Republic and Flanders by the means of the Adrian Damman, Robert Denniston, and a Scottish merchant in Antwerp, Jacob Barron (who was involved in lead mining in Scotland, and it was said that Eustachius was of "evil fame".Robert William Cochran-Patrick, Early Records Relating to Mining in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1878), pp. 48-51.
Baptism of Prince Henry Damman described James VI urging the people of Edinburgh to fight against the Earl of Bothwell in April 1594 in a letter to Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.Geeraert Brandt, The History of the Reformation, and Other Ecclesiastical Transactions, 1 (London: Timothy Childe, 1720), pp. 455–456: Alexander Courtney, James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth's Heir, 1566–1603 (Routledge, 2024), p. 147. His position as resident agent in Scotland was confirmed by the ambassadors William Keith of Delny and William Murray of Pitcarleis on 19 June 1594.Register van Holland, 1593–1594, p. 397.Esther Mijers, 'Diplomatic Visit', Steven J. Reid, Rethinking the Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland (Boydell, 2024), p. 265: Annie Cameron, Warrender Papers, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1932), pp. 242-5.
In August 1594, Damman met the Dutch ambassadors Walraven III van Brederode and Jacob Valcke. They asked for him to be included in their commission and negotiations and he went with them to Stirling for the baptism of Prince Henry. On the day after the ceremony, the ambassadors sent "Agent Damman" to James VI to ask for permission to leave.James Ferguson, Papers illustrating the history of the Scots brigade, vol. 1 (Edinburgh: SHS, 1899), pp. 155, 160, 165: Register van Holland, 1593–1594 (not dated), pp. 674, 679, 685: Esther Mijers, "Diplomatic Visit", Steven J. Reid, Rethinking the Renaissance and Reformation in Scotland (Boydell, 2024), pp. 268, 270.
Flemish barque A "Flemish barque" was impounded at Montrose on 27 April, suspected of bringing money to aid the Catholic earls, and brought to Leith. The English diplomat Robert Bowes heard that letters and gold from the ship were carried to Huntly Castle.Annie Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 329 no. 261, 332 no. 262: Calendar State Papers Scotland, 2 (London, 1858), p. 649 (April 1594). Adrian Damman acted with the Flemish painter Adrian Vanson to free the sailors. They made a bond of £1000 Scots to release the skipper, Hendrick Michelsoun of Middelburg, Zeeland, from the Tolbooth of Edinburgh into house arrest.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1592-1599, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1892), p. 622. Vanson and Damman also put up a bond of £2000 "making caution" for Peter Herimansoun and Peter Mattiesoun, two sailors who had arrived in the ship at Montrose. The sailors were to remain in Edinburgh, Canongate, or Leith until the issues were settled.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 1592-1599, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1892), p. 622.
In March 1595, a Scottish Jesuit, John Myreton, was arrested at Leith. He was found to be carrying a gold jewel which was subsequently given to Anne of Denmark.Maureen M. Meikle, "Once a Dane, Always Always a Dane? Queen Anna of Denmark's Foreign Relations and Intercessions as a Queen Consort of Scotland and England, 1588–1619", Sara Ayres, The Court Historian, 24:2 (August 2019), p. 174: Maureen M. Meikle & Helen M. Payne, "From Lutheranism to Catholicism: The Faith of Anna of Denmark (1574–1619)", Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 64:1 (2013), p. 52. The English ambassador Robert Bowes shared what he knew about the incident with Damman.Annie Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 564 no. 504. The Chancellor, John Maitland died on 3 October 1595. James VI composed an epitaph and Damman translated it into Latin.Thomas Thomson,Historie and Life of James the Sext (Edinburgh, 1826), p. 350-1Pieter Christiaanszoon Bor, Oorsprongk, begin, en vervolgh der Nederlandsche oorlogen, beroerten, en borgerlyke oneenigheden (Amsterdam, 1679), p. 138.
Damman was godfather or a baptismal witness in 1596 to a son of Adrian Vanson, the portrait painter, and to a daughter of Jacques de Bousie a confectioner,'Extracts from the Register of Baptisms', Edinburgh', The Scottish Antiquary, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1888), p. 174: Michael Apted & Susan Hannabuss, Dictionary of Painters in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1978), p. 98, citing National Records of Scotland, Old Parish Records, Edinburgh, vol. 1, fols. 9, 32, 59, 101. and in October 1600 a witness to the baptism of Adrian, a son of a Flemish clockmaker in Edinburgh Adrian Bowdowingis.'Extracts from the Register of Baptisms, Edinburgh', The Scottish Antiquary, vol. 5 (Edinburgh, 1891), p. 90.
Religious riots and witch trials Damman mentioned James's financial committee, the Octavians, in a letter to Oldenbarnevelt in March 1596.Pieter Christiaanszoon Bor, Oorsprongk, begin, en vervolgh der Nederlandsche oorlogen, beroerten, en borgerlyke oneenigheden (Amsterdam, 1679), pp. 190–191, letter of 29 March 1596 in Dutch. He went to the Low Countries on business connected with the exiled Earl of Erroll, and was not Edinburgh in December 1596 during a protest at the tolbooth about religious and political issues.Alexander Courtney, James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth's Heir, 1566–1603 (Routledge, 2024), pp. 168-176: Julian Goodare, "The Attempted Scottish Coup of 1596", Julian Goodare & Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), pp. 311-336. After his return to Scotland on 19 February 1597, he wrote reports for the States General about the events and David Black, who had called the royal court the "devil's house", the Edinburgh women who shouted the name "Haman" at the King, and about subsequent occurrences, apparently partly based on "official" versions supplied by James VI. The King imprisoned the laird of Buccleuch in Edinburgh Castle to please Elizabeth I which made people "rumble in their teeth" (grondée entre les dents) and caused bad feelings against England. Meanwhile, King James was involved in a witch hunt in Aberdeen and Dundee, and was nearly drowned in a ferry boat in a storm conjured on the Tay in May. Damman wrote that James's ship was safely towed to shore by several row boats, "il passoit en une navire tirée de plusiers esquifs à la rame".Thomas McCrie, The Life of Andrew Melville, 2, p. 86: Jacobus Arminius, Praestantium ac eruditorum virorum epistolae ecclesiasticae et theologicae (Amsterdam, 1704), pp. 35-38, in French. The English ambassador Robert Bowes included similar details in his reports.James Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 13:1 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1969).
Succession tract In February 1598, Damman became involved in controversy when he contributed to a succession tract, a pamphlet arguing that James VI of Scotland should become King of England. The English diplomat George Nicholson reported that David Foulis had directed the printer Robert Waldegrave to publish a Latin succession tract written by Walter Quinn, a tutor to Prince Henry and corrected and edited by Damman. Such works argued that James VI should be Elizabeth's successor. Waldegrave was reluctant to print it. No copies of this work are known to have survived.John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1597–1603, 13:1 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 167: Nicholas Tyacke, 'Puritan Politicians and King James VI and I', Thomas Cogswell, Richard Cust, Peter Lake, Politics, Religion and Popularity in Early Stuart Britain: Essays in Honour of Conrad Russell (Cambridge, 2002), p. 35. This work was A Pithie Exhortation to her Majesty for Establishing a Successor to the Crown, printed by Waldegrave in 1598.Tara L. Lyons, 'Male Birth Fantasies and Maternal Monarchs', in Helen Ostovich, Holger Schott Syme, Andrew Griffin, Locating the Queen's Men, 1583–1603 (Ashgate, 2009), pp. 196, 259.
Gowrie House