Online Encyclopedia

SIR JAMES MELVILLE (1535-1617)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 103 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:
SIR JAMES MELVILLE (1535-1617)  , Scottish diplomatist and memoir writer, was the third son of
See also:
Sir John Melville, laird of Raith in the county of Fife, who was executed for treason in1548 . One of his brothers was Robert, 1st Baron Melville of Monimail (1527–1621) . James Melville in 1549 went to France to become page to Mary Queen of Scots . Serving on the French side at the
See also:
battle of St Quentin in 1557 Melville was wounded and taken prisoner . He subsequently carried out a number of
See also:
diplomatic missions for Henry II. of France . On Mary's return to Scotland in 1561 she gave Melville a pension and an appointment in her household, and she employed him as
See also:
special emissary to reconcile Queen Elizabeth to her
See also:
marriage with Darnley . After the
See also:
murder of Darnley in
See also:
February 1567, Melville joined Lord Herries in boldly warning Mary of the danger and disgrace of her projected marriage with Bothwell, and was only saved from the latter's vengeance in consequence by the courageous
See also:
resolution of the queen . During the troubled times following Mary's imprisonment and abdication Melville
See also:
con-ducted several diplomatic missions of importance, and won the confidence of James VI. when the king took the government into his own hands . Having been adopted as his heir by the reformer Henry Balnaves, he inherited from him, at his
See also:
death in 1579, the estate of Halhill in Fife; and he retired thither in 1603, refusing the request of James to accompany him to
See also:
London on his accession to the
See also:
English
See also:
throne . At Halliill Melville wrote the
See also:
Memoirs of my own
See also:
Life, a valuable authority for the
See also:
history of the period, first published by his grandson, George Scott, in 1683 . Sir James Melville died at Halhill on the 13th of November 1617 . By his wife, Christina Boswell, he had one son and two daughters; the elder of these, Elizabeth, who married John Colville, de jure 3rd Baron Colville of Culross, has been identified with the authoress of a poem published in 16o3, entitled Ane Godlie Dreame .

See the Memoirs mentioned above, of which the most

See also:
modern edition is that prepared by T . Thompson for the Bannatyne Club (
See also:
Edinburgh, 1827) .

End of Article: SIR JAMES MELVILLE (1535-1617)
[back]
JAMES MELVILLE (1556-1614)
[next]
MEMBRANELLE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click and select "copy." Paste it into a website, email, or other HTML document.