220 DOTJNE CASTLE 



can have been deficient in neither, for she encouraged 

 the addresses of that flower of chivalry, James iv., and, 

 in fact, became his mistress. James, it will be remem- 

 bered, was an exceedingly devout young man, and 

 outlay on behalf of 'the lady,' as the fair Janet is 

 discreetly termed in his household accounts, appears 

 sandwiched with expenses on his frequent pilgrimages 

 to St. Ninian's shrine at Whithorn and other religious 

 exercises, as well as those incurred at golf and 'the 

 tables.' 



Bell-the-Cat had made over to his betrothed the 

 lands of Braidwood and Crawf ord- Lindsay ; these the 

 pious king quietly annexed, on the plea that Angus had 

 conveyed them to Janet without the necessary royal 

 licence ; and when the lover claimed his bride without 

 the lands, he was promptly imprisoned in Dunbarton 

 Castle. His faithless love bore a son to her paramour* 

 being then at Doune Castle, as shown by the following 

 entry in the accounts : 



'Item. ye xx day of December (1501) for viii elne small 

 quhit (white) to be blancatis and wylycottis (blankets and 

 petticoats) to ye barne (child) in Doun, ilk elne iis. viiid., 

 summa xxiis viiid.' 



This ' barne ' lived to become James, Earl of Moray, 

 and his mother was splendidly endowed with the lands 

 and castle of Darnaway. But the king gave Doune 

 to his consort, Margaret Tudor, who in turn passed it 

 on to her third husband, Henry Stuart, from whom it 

 has descended to the Earl of Moray, its present 



