a life of John earl of Buchati. y^ly IT. 



second wife, (Muriella or Maurielle Keith) daughter 

 of Sir William Keith, great marifhal of Scotland. 

 He was born about the year 1380, and trained from 

 his early youth to the profefsion of arms. 



His father, the duke regent, gave him for his es- 

 tablifhrnent the lands and lordfhip of Coule * ; and 

 from thence he was called among the people, the 

 brave John o' Coule. In the year 1406, he was 

 named one of the hostages that were to go to Eng- 

 land for the ransom of the earl of Douglas, who had 

 remained a prisoner since the battle of Shrewsbury, 

 in the year 1401 ; but the negotiation for the libera- 

 tion of Douglas having proved abortive, he, with 

 fhe other intended hostages, remained in Scotland t« 



The earldom of Buchan, having been vested in the 

 duke of Albany, since the death of his brother Alex- 

 ander in the year 1394, he, upon his appointment 

 to the regency, conferred the lands of the earldom 

 on his son, John of Coul, resigning to him, at the 

 same time, the office of great chamberlain of the 

 kingdom, which the duke had held since the year 



1383 t. 



The letters patent, under the great seal, granting 

 this office to Stuart, design him laird, or lord, of 

 Buchan only ; and by the same designation only he 

 is named in a grant from his grandfather Sir Wil- 

 Jiam Keith, the mariflial, and Margaret Fraser his 

 grandmother, of the lands of Touch, and fheriiFship 

 of Stirlingfliire, which sufficiently prove that the ter, 



* Charter in the public archives ofSeotlcind. 

 -f Rymer's Foedcra, torn. viii. p. 429. 

 ,3 Charter ir. ths rcUs of Robert dii.te of Alhsnw. 



