Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange ( – 3 August 1573) was a Scottish politician and soldier who fought for the Scottish Reformation. He ended his career holding Edinburgh castle on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots and was hanged at the conclusion of a long siege.Harry Potter, Edinburgh Under Siege (Tempus, 2003), p. 146.
Family William Kirkcaldy of Grange held lands at Hallyards Castle in Fife. William's father, James Kirkcaldy of Grange (died 1556), was Treasurer of Scotland from 1537 to 1543 and a determined opponent of Cardinal Beaton, for whose murder in 1546 William and James were partly responsible.
William Kirkcaldy married Margaret Learmonth, a sister of Sir Patrick Learmonth of Dairsie and Provost of St Andrews, and George Learmonth of Balcomie.Harry Potter, Edinburgh Under Siege (Tempus, 2003), p. 9. Kirkcaldy's heir was a nephew.Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 378, no. 2197.
A few days before Kirkcaldy's execution in August 1573, Ninian Cockburn reported that he had a child with a young woman. Kirkcaldy wrote a letter in code to the woman from his captivity, which was intercepted and decoded.Harry Potter, Edinburgh Under Siege (Tempus, 2003), p. 146: Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1905), p. 601 no. 710. Later, Mary, Queen of Scots, corresponded in cipher with the French diplomat Michel de Castelnau about this woman and her daughter.George Lasry, Norbert Biermann, Satoshi Tomokiyo, "Deciphering Mary Stuart's lost letters from 1578–1584", Cryptologia, 47:2 (8 February 2023), pp. 53-4, 61, 70, 72. Mary arranged to give the daughter 40 crowns in 1582.Agnes Strickland, Letters of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1 (London, 1842), p. 273 She may have been the Susanna Kirkcaldy who attended Mary's funeral at Peterborough in 1587.La Morte de la Royne D'Escosse (1589), quoted in Memoirs of John Napier (Edinburgh, 1834), p. 144: Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 9 (Edinburgh, 1915), p. 462.R. Prescott-Innes, The funeral of Mary, Queen of Scots. A collection of curious tracts (Edinburgh, 1890), p. 22.Régis de Chantelauze, Marie Stuart, son procès et son exécution: d'après le journal inédit de Bourgoing, son médecin, la correspondance d'Amyas Paulet, son geôlier et autres documents nouveaux (Paris: Plon, 1876), p. 583.
War with England, service with France, and the Reformation William Kirkcaldy, with other courtiers, was a witness to the instrument made at Falkland Palace at the deathbed of James V of Scotland in 1542 which Cardinal Beaton used to attempt to claim the Regency of Scotland.Historical Manuscripts Commission 11th Report Part 6, Manuscripts of the Duke of Hamilton (London, 1887), pp. 219–220. However, he participated in the Cardinal's murder in May 1546, and when St Andrews Castle surrendered to the French in July the following year Kirkcaldy was sent as a prisoner to Normandy. He escaped in 1550.
Kirkcaldy was employed in France as a secret agent by the advisers of Edward VI, being known in the ciphers as "Corax". He received an english pension of £100.Walter G. Richardson, The Report of the Royal Commission of 1552 (West Virginia University Library, 1974), p. 88. Later he served in the French army, where he gained a lasting reputation for skill and bravery. Kirkcaldy was in London in December 1553, discussing border issues with the French ambassador, Antoine de Noailles.Abbé de Vertot, Ambassades de Messieurs de Noailles en Angleterre, vol. 2 (Leyden, 1763), p. 236.
The sentence passed on Kirkcaldy for his part in Beaton's murder was removed in 1556. Returning to Scotland in 1557, he became prominent by killing Ralph Eure, the brother of the Governor of Berwick upon Tweed, in a duel. As a Protestant he was one of the leaders of the Lords of the Congregation in their struggle with the Regent of Scotland, Mary of Guise. Kirkcaldy fought the French troops in Fife and they destroyed his house at Halyards. In January 1560 he took down part of Tullibody bridge to delay the return to Stirling of French troops commanded by Henri Cleutin.
Mary, Darnley, and Bothwell Kirkcaldy was knighted at Holyrood Palace by Mary, Queen of Scots on 8 February 1562 during the festivities at the wedding of the queen's half-brother Lord James Stewart and Agnes Keith.Thomas Thomson, Diurnal of Occurrents (Edinburgh, 1833), pp. 70–1 He opposed Queen Mary's marriage with Lord Darnley, and was associated with her half-brother, Lord James, now Earl of Moray, during the Chaseabout Raid. For his participation in this rebellion, he was forced for a short time to seek refuge in England. He returned to Scotland, and was an accessory to the murder of Rizzio. He had no share in Darnley's assassination.
Kirkcaldy was opposed to Mary's marriage with Bothwell and regarded the proceedings in the Scottish Parliament with dismay. He wrote to the Earl of Bedford, an English diplomat, that Mary did not care if she lost France, England and Scotland for Bothwell's sake, and Mary had said she would go with him to the world's end in a petticoat;Conyers Read, Mr. Secretary Cecil And Queen Elizabeth (New York, 1961), p. 377: Gordon Donaldson, The first trial of Mary, Queen of Scots (New York: Stein and Day, 1969), 66.sho caris not to lose France Ingland and her owne countrie for him, and sall go with him to the warldes ende in ane white peticote or she leve him.Victoria Smith, 'Perspectives on Female Monarchy', in J. Daybell & S. Norrhem, Gender and Political Culture in Early Modern Europe (Abingdon, 2017), p. 153: Julian Goodare, 'The Ainslie Bond', Kings, Lords and Men in Scotland and Britain, 1300-1625 (Edinburgh, 2014), p. 305: Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 322. Elizabeth however disapproved of Kirkcaldy's opinions of a fellow queen as if she were "worse than any common woman".Victoria Smith, 'Perspectives on Female Monarchy', in J. Daybell & S. Norrhem, Gender and Political Culture in Early Modern Europe (Abingdon, 2017), p. 153. Yet Kirkcaldy was one of the lords who banded themselves together to rescue Mary after her marriage with Bothwell. After the Carberry Hill the queen surrendered to Kirkcaldy. Bothwell escaped and Kirkcaldy sailed in pursuit with William Murray of Tullibardine to Shetland.John Hill Burton, Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 545–546. He was made Lord High Admiral of Scotland for the time. Some of their ships came from Dundee, including the James, the Primrose, and the Robert.Jennifer Morag Henderson, Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary, Queen of Scots (Whittles, 2025), p. 109: John Hill Burton, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1545–1569, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1877), p. 544. Edinburgh town council lent him their guns.James David Marwick, Extracts from the records of the Burgh of Edinburgh, 1557–1571 (Edinburgh, 1875), p. 240. He was determined to capture Bothwell and declared to the Earl of Bedford, Governor of Berwick:Albeit I be na gud seeman, I promes unto your lordschip, gyf I may anes enconter with hym eyther be see or land, he sall eyther carre me with hym, or ellis I sall bryng hym dead or quik to Edinbrucht.Calendar State Papers Scotland Papers, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), 378.
However, they did not meet, Kirkcaldy's ship, the Lion, ran aground north of Bressay.David Reid, Hume of Godscroft's History of the House of Angus, vol. 1 (STS: Edinburgh, 2005), p. 171: Agnes Strickland, Letters of Mary Queen of Scots, vol. 1 (London, 1842), pp. 244–248. The Unicorn, belonging to Andrew Lamb of Leith, was also lost.John H. Ballantyne & Brian Smith, Shetland Documents, 1195–1579 (Lerwick, 1999), p. 249 no. 266. Sir James Balfour surrendered Edinburgh Castle to Regent Moray, and William Kirkcaldy was appointed as keeper.John Parker Lawson, History of Scotland by Robert Keith, 2 (Edinburgh: Spottiswoode Society, 1845), pp. 754–756, 788
After Mary escaped from imprisonment at Lochleven Castle, his military command was mainly responsible for her defeat at the Battle of Langside. Kirkcaldy seems to have believed that a peaceful settlement with Mary was possible. He was influenced by William Maitland of Lethington. In September 1569 Kirkcaldy released Maitland by a stratagem from his confinement in Edinburgh Castle. Kirkcaldy was now vehemently suspected by his former allies.
The "Lang Siege" of Edinburgh Castle
After the murder of Regent Moray in January 1570, William Kirkcaldy of Grange ranged himself definitely among the friends of the imprisoned queen. Grange attended a sermon at St Giles on 24 December 1570 with Agnes Keith, Countess of Moray,Robert Pitcairn, Memorials of Transactions in Scotland by Richard Bannatyne (Edinburgh, 1836), p. 81 and heard John Knox criticise him with an allusion to the Biblical story of Naboth's vineyard.Jane Dawson, John Knox (Yale, 2015), pp. 294–296.Harry Potter, Edinburgh Under Siege, 1571–1573 (Stroud: Tempus, 2003), pp. 48–49. Defying Regent Lennox, Grange began to strengthen the fortifications of Edinburgh castle and town, of which he was captain and Provost, and now held for Mary. On 2 March 1571, Grange organised a military exercise, with some of his troops pretending to be an English army attacking Edinburgh Castle.John Graham Dalyell, Journal of the Transactions in Scotland, by Richard Bannatyne (Edinburgh, 1806), pp. 98-99.
Kirkcaldy forcibly released one of his supporters from imprisonment in Edinburgh's tolbooth, a step which led to an altercation with his former friend John Knox, who called him a murderer and throat-cutter. He arrested some leading burgesses on 29 April 1571. The King's party established their headquarters in Leith. The subsequent period has become known as the "Wars between Leith and Edinburgh." Kirkcaldy began to strengthen the spur fortification at the entrance of the castle, and in May built fortifications in the town, on the Royal Mile and on St Giles Kirk.Michael Lynch, Edinburgh and the Reformation (John Donald, 2003), pp. 125–131. In October 1571 the town council established itself in Leith, and Grange's men fortified Edinburgh by blocking the ends of streets and closes and burning houses on the outskirts of the city, such as Potterrow. The "lang siege" of Edinburgh castle began in mid-October, when Regent Mar brought artillery from Dumbarton and Stirling Castle.Michael Lynch, Edinburgh and the Reformation (John Donald, 2003), p. 137.
Raising money for Mary's cause Grange received supplies and money from France, England, and the Spanish Netherlands where George Seton, 7th Lord Seton negotiated with the Duke of Alva. John Chisholm, Master of the Scottish Artillery, obtained money and arms from the exiled Bishop of Glasgow and Charles IX of France.Correspondance Diplomatique De Bertrand De Salignac De La Mothe Fenelon, vol. 4 (Paris, 1840), pp. 203–4 He sailed from Dieppe in June 1571 but was captured at North Queensferry.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1903), pp. 478–480, 485–7, 529, 532–3, 535, 620–1, 623–4, 636.
Grange established a mint in the castle to coin silver with the goldsmiths James Mosman and James Cockie, and raised loans by pawning jewellery belonging to Mary, Queen of Scots.Michael Lynch, Edinburgh and the Reformation, (Edinburgh, 1981), 138–9, 145, 147. On 27 January 1573, William's brother, James Kirkcaldy arrived at Blackness Castle with arms and money from France, but the castle was besieged by Regent Morton, and James Kirkcaldy was captured.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1905), pp. 477, 478, 482, 483–4, 486–7Martin Hume, Calendar State Papers Spain, Simancas, 2 (London: HMSO, 1894), p. 465 no. 380.