James Murray (died 1613) was a Scottish courtier as Master of the Wardrobe, and a keeper of the royal jewels from 1578 to 1583. English diplomats were unable to reinstate him in this influential role.
Family background During his career, James Murray was identified as a brother of William Murray, laird of Polmaise (died 1569), who married Agnes Cunningham,Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, 3 (1814), p. 421. and in later years as the uncle or "father brother" of the laird John Murray. He was also known as "Mr James Murray". As a grandson of Robert Erskine, 4th Lord Erskine, he was a close relation to the Erskine family, including Margaret Erskine, mother of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray and Regent of Scotland. James Balfour Paul, Scots Peerage, 8 (Edinburgh, 1911), p. 387.
Margaret Murray, his sister, married Adam Bothwell.Jamie Reid Baxter, "Esther Inglis's Discours de la foy and her 'pourtraict de la RELIGION CHRESTIENNE' gifted to Elizabeth Tudor", Journal of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, 17 (2022), p. 89 fn. 13. His niece Jean or Janet Murray married James Sandilands, 1st Lord Torphichen (died 1579), the lawyer John Graham (died 1593), and thirdly the king's tutor Peter Young.Hardy Bertram M'Call, The history and antiquities of the parish of Mid-Calder, with some account of the religious house of Torphichen (Edinburgh, 1894), p. 69: Annie I. Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593-1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 49. John Murray, his nephew, became laird of Polmaise by 1581 and had a son called James Murray. Calendar of Laing Charters, p. 254 no. 1025.
Another courtier, James Murray of Pardewis, a brother of William Murray of Tullibardine, was active in this period as an opponent of James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell.James Aikman, History of Scotland by George Buchanan, 2 (Glasgow, 1827), p. 520. Another James Murray was a foreman and master cook in the royal kitchen, while James Murray, a carpenter and gunner at Edinburgh Castle, was the father of the architect James Murray of Kilbaberton.<ref>Alan Stewart, The Cradle King: A Life of James VI & I''' (Pimlico, 2004), p. 34.</ref>Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 287 no. 1729. Another of the king's servants called James Murray may have been his great nephew.Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, "James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, 16 (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 41.
Career
James Murray had a role in connection with the clothes and furs of the Earl of Moray. After the battle of Corrichie in 1562, James Murray, described as a "gentleman to the earl of Moray", was in charge of confiscated tapestries and furnishings shipped from Huntly Castle to Edinburgh. Some items were later used to furnish the lodging for Lord Darnley at the Kirk o' Field.Thomas Thomson, Collection of Inventories (Edinburgh, 1815), pp. 153–157: Joseph Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne Descosse (Edinburgh, 1863), p. 51.
He is mentioned in inventories of the clothing, jewels, and books of Mary, Queen of Scots, made with John Wood after her abdication in 1567. Murray took receipt of vestments, painted cloths, and some masque costume, possibly for a Christmastime performance. According to William Kirkcaldy of Grange, Murray had keys to the coffer of Mary's jewels in Edinburgh Castle.Amy Blakeway, Regency in Scotland (Boydell, 2015), p. 152: Joseph Robertson, Inventaires de la Royne Descosse (Edinburgh, 1863), pp. 179, 184–187: HMC 6th Report: Moray, pp. 655, 672: National Records of Scotland E35/9/3.
After Regent Moray was assassinated in January 1570, the Regency council summoned Moray's widow Agnes Keith and James Murray to produce jewels in their keeping.Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, 12 (HMSO, 1970), p. 229. His niece Janet Murray and her husband James Sandilands, Lord Torphichen, were questioned about royal furnishings thought to be in their possession.John Durkan, "The Library of Mary, Queen of Scots", Mary Stewart, queen in three kingdoms (Oxford: Blackwell, 1988), pp. 72–73.
The English diplomat Thomas Randolph put in a good word for James Murray with Regent Morton in April 1575, as Murray was suffering under the Regent's "heavy displeasure". Murray was at the English court in June, Elizabeth I and Francis Walsingham wrote to Morton with their good opinions of him.William K. Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 118 no. 115, 154–155 nos. 161, 162.
"James Murray of Pomais" presented a Greek New Testament to the royal library in April 1577, and his niece Janet Murray, as "Lady Torphichen", gave a copy of Jean Maugin's Le Parangon de Virtu (Lyon, 1556). She may have been a long-term friend of the king's tutor Peter Young and eventually married him. In 1573, her husband, James Sandilands, had delivered books which had belonged to Queen Mary to Peter Young.John Durkan, "The Library of Mary, Queen of Scots", Mary Stewart, queen in three kingdoms (Oxford: Blackwell, 1988), pp. 72–73: G. F. Warner, "Library of James VI", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society (Edinburgh, 1893), pp. xxxi–xxxiv, xlvii, lvii.
Master of the Wardrobe In 1578, James Murray was appointed Master of the Wardrobe to James VI. He helped make an inventory of jewels in February 1578 at Holyrood Palace and was present with his niece's husband John Graham when the coffer containing the remainder of the jewels of Mary, Queen of Scots, was sealed and returned to Edinburgh Castle to be held in the keeping of his kinsman Alexander Erskine of Gogar.Thomas Thomson, Collection of Inventories (Edinburgh, 1815), p. 273.
He also went twice to the court of Elizabeth I as a diplomat.Maria Hayward, Stuart Style (Yale, 2020), p. 163. His mission with the Abbot of Dunfermline concerned border administration, the death of George Forster, assurances of support in any future crisis, and an appeal for money to help James VI rule.William K. Boyd, Calendar State Papers Scotland, 5 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 340–342 nos. 412, 415, 420 no. 489: Puttick and Simpson, Catalogue of a Very Important Collection of Royal Letters (London, 1859), p. 22 no. 77: Julian Goodare, "James VI's English Subsidy", in Julian Goodare & Michael Lynch, The Reign of James VI (Tuckwell, East Linton, 2000), p. 112. To help fund his journey to London in July 1579, money was borrowed from his kinsman the Laird of Lochleven by George Douglas of Helenhill.Registrum Honoris de Morton, 1 (Edinburgh, 1853), p. 119: Cuthbert Sharp, Memorials of the Rebellion of 1569 (London, 1840), p. 390. Murray also received £666 Scots from the treasurer for his expenses.Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, 13 (Edinburgh: HMSO, 1978), p. 274.
Murray took receipt of royal jewels and costume from Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar at Stirling Castle including gold buttons and jewels to be sewn on a cloak. One of Mary's jewelled "back garnishings" was earmarked to be broken up for jewels to set on the king's clothes.Thomas Thomson, Collection of Inventories (Edinburgh, 1815), pp. 277-284, 295. Murray bought elaborate clothing including satin doublets for the young king, and costumes for his musicians, the English Hudson brothers.Maria Hayward, Stuart Style (Yale, 2020), pp. 46, 49: Charles Thorpe McInnes, Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland, 13 (HMSO, 1978), pp. xxvi, 271, 274, 297-301, 307. These purchases for Christmastide 1579 may include items for staging The Navigatioun and The Cartell of the Thre Ventrous Knights'' by Alexander Montgomerie.Sarah Carpenter, "Researching court performance", Pamela M. King, The Routledge Research Companion to Early Drama and Performance (Routledge, 2017), pp. 148–149.
Lennox and the royal wardrobe In October 1580, John Forster reported potential changes at the Scottish court, due to the new favourite Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox. He heard that John Stewart of Traquair would become Comptroller of Scotland and his brother William Stewart would be Master of the Wardrobe in Murray's place.Joseph Bain, Border Papers, 1 (Edinburgh, 1894), p. 26.
James VI gave Murray a property and income confiscated from Robert Hamilton of Dalserf. Another courtier, Sir John Carmichael, claimed the king had already given him this reward. The Privy Council decided in Murray's favour in January 1581. On 12 August 1581, James VI appointed his favourite Esmé Stewart, Duke of Lennox, as keeper of the wardrobe.Steven J. Reid, The Early Life of James VI, A Long Apprenticeship (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2023), p. 195: David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 3 (Edinburgh, 1880), pp. 341–342, 416: David Masson, Register of the Privy Council: Addenda, 14 (Edinburgh, 1898), p. 359.
The Parliament of Scotland made a sumptuary law in November 1581, an act against the excess of "coistlie cleithing" which intended to prevent those of "mean estate" counterfeiting the courtly fashion for gold embroidery and imported luxury fabrics. Banqueting with imported confections was similarly proscribed and these measures were intended to promote manufacture at home.Maria Hayward, Stuart Style (Yale, 2020), p. 28: Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, 3 (1814), pp. 220–221. At court however, Lennox promoted French fashions.Alexander Courtney, James VI, Britannic Prince: King of Scots and Elizabeth's Heir, 1566–1603 (Routledge, 2024), p. 49. Murray seems to have continued in his role in the royal wardrobe, and with Elizabeth Stewart, Countess of Arran, he witnessed the handover of a selection of royal jewels including the Great H of Scotland to Esmé Stewart in October 1581.Thomas Thomson, Collection of Inventories (Edinburgh, 1815), pp. 307-308.
A button for Lennox In June 1583, the English ambassador in Paris, Henry Cobham, noted that the king's "pleasant servant" Murray had been sent to France with a gold button from the king's doublet, worn next to his heart, as a gift for Lennox. James VI had given Murray the button in secret at the royal kennels in the weeks before the end of the Gowrie Regime. Cobham heard that Murray had lost the button at Doncaster and had a replacement made in London.Jason O'Toole, Exploring Early Modern Sexualities: The Desires of King James VI & I (Bloomsbury, 2025), pp. 48–49: Arthur John Butler, Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Elizabeth, 17 (London: HMSO, 1909), p. 396 no. 363: Karl Stählin, Der Kampf Um Schottland Und Die Gesandtschaftsreise Sir Francis Walsinghams Im Jahre 1583 (Dersden, 1902), p. 41.
A pawned jewel Murray was mentioned in the documentation of an emerald and diamond jewel subsequently pledged by James VI to the burgh council of Edinburgh for a loan in April 1584.Thomas Thomson, Collection of Inventories (Edinburgh, 1815), pp. 310-12, 315: James Marwick, Extracts from the Burgh Records of Edinburgh: 1573-1589 (Edinburgh, 1882), p. 336.David Masson, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland: 1585-1592, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1881), p. 420. The jewel, after a series of paper transactions, was upgraded and refashioned by the goldsmith David Gilbert and presented to Anne of Denmark during her Entry to Edinburgh in May 1590.Maureen Meikle, "Anna of Denmark's Coronation and Entry", Julian Goodare & Alasdair A. MacDonald, Sixteenth-Century Scotland (Brill, 2008), p. 290: Marguerite Wood, Extracts from the Burgh Records of Edinburgh: 1589-1603, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1927), p. 7.
Sacked