NOTICE ON TWO MINISTERS OF ROXBURGH 387 



In this paragraph Dr Scott has confounded two men, both 

 of the name of James Betoun, one of whom was the imme- 

 diate successor of the other in the ministry of the parish, 

 as appears from the following extract from the Register of 

 Assignations and Presentations, preserved in the Register 

 House, Edinburgh : — 



Ure Soverane Lord Ordanis ane Ire to be maid under the 

 privy seill nominatand and presentand Maister James betoun 

 to the psonage and vicarage of auldroxburgh vacand be 

 Dimissioun of James betoun of creich last vicar and possessar 

 yof Direct to the superintendent or comissar wtin the boundis 

 of Teviotdaill Subscrivant at holyruidhous the xxij Day of 

 October 1579. 



The principal object of these notes is to distinguish these 

 two men, and to furnish a few facts regarding each. 



The first James Betoun, as we have seen, succeeded Sir 

 John Ker, and was admitted to the parish presumably about 

 the year 1570. There are many facts known with regard 

 to himself and his family, which was an important one in 

 Fifeshire, known as the Betouus of Creich. This estate was 

 acquired by Sir David Betoun (or Bethune) in 1502. He 

 was the second son of Sir John Bethune of Balfour and 

 Marjory Boswell, daughter of the Laird of Balmuto. His 

 eldest daughter, Janet, became, by a second marriage, the 

 third wife of James, first Earl of Arran, nephew of James 

 III. Her eldest son, by this marriage, was James, second 

 Earl of Arran and Duke of Chatelherault, who became 

 Regent of the Kingdom. This Sir David Betoun was an 

 elder brother of James, Archbishop of St. Andrews, and an 

 uncle of the Cardinal, being a younger brother of his father, 

 the Laird of Balfour. 



His son and heir was Sir John Betoun, second proprietor 

 of Creich. Sir John's eldest daughter, Janet, married Sir 

 Walter Scott of Buccleuch, ancestor of the Dukes of Buc- 

 cleuch. She possessed, says Sir Walter Scott, the hereditary 

 abilities of her family in such a degree that the superstition 

 of the vulgar imputed them to supernatural knowledge. This 

 belief in her witchcraft and the spirit of faction led to the 

 foul accusation against her of having instigated Queen Mary 



