The Royal Stewarts
The ancient form and original name, as spelt by the Royal Family, is Stewart, taken from the office of Lord High Steward of Scotland, which they held for nearly two…
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From The Scottish Clans and Their Tartans: With Notes, 1900.
Badge: Darag (Oak).
There are four ways of spelling this surname—Stewart, Steuart, Stuart, and Steward—besides the Gaelic version of it—Stiubhard. The ancient form and original name, as spelt by the Royal Family, is Stewart, taken from the office of Lord High Steward of Scotland, which they held for nearly two centuries before they came to the throne. The first traceable progenitor of this gallant and royal race was a Norman, Alan, Lord of Oswestry, in Shropshire, whose family, almost immediately after their settlement in Scotland, became completely identified with the nationality of their new country, and were associated with all its brightest achievements and deepest calamities. Walter, the son of Alan, obtained from David I., in the twelfth century, a charter of the burgh and lands of Renfrew; and Malcolm IV., by charter, made the office of High Steward hereditary in the family.
In 1263, Alexander, the Lord High Steward, together with the King, led the Scottish army at the battle of Largs, when the Norwegians, under King Hacho, were totally defeated. King Alexander III. was wounded in the face by an arrow, and the Great Steward, fighting in the van, was slain. In 1286, his son, James the Steward, was appointed one of the Regency on the death of the young Queen Margaret; during the Treaty of Paris in 1303, he was one of the commissioners sent to watch over Scottish interests.
Walter, the High Steward, when in the flower of his youth, with Douglas, led the left wing of the Scottish army at Bannockburn, and was knighted on the field by King Robert. In 1315, he married Marjory, the only daughter of the latter monarch. From this union sprang that race of sovereigns under whom the two kingdoms were eventually united, and whose descendant at this moment wears the British crown. Walter, the High Steward, died at Bathgate in 1328.
On the death of David II., the High Steward ascended the throne as Robert II., and first of the House of Stewart.
So numerous were the descendants and nobles of the House of Stewart, that we can but refer to them briefly. One of the most famous of these was John Stewart of Coul, afterwards Earl of Buchan and Constable of France. He was the youngest son of Robert, Duke of Albany, and of his second wife, Muriela Keith, of the House of Marischal, and was born about 1380. His father, brother of Robert III., on the death of that unfortunate monarch, became Regent of Scotland; and by his intrigues James I., the good and gentle poet-king, was detained till manhood in the Castle of Windsor.
On the 16th of August 1424, the Earl of Buchan led a combined army of French, Scotch, and Italians at Verneuil, but was defeated and slain by the troops of Henry V., who buried him with every honour in the church of St. Gration at Tours. His elder brother Murdoch, who succeeded, in 1420, to the Dukedom of Albany and Regency of the kingdom, was condemned and executed for malpractices by James I. After Mary bestowed the title of Albany on her husband, Henry, Lord Darnley and Mar, it became finally vested in the crown.
The Stewarts, Lords Invermeath and Earls of Athole (from whom sprang the houses of Bonkil, Dreghorn, Dalswinton, Buchan, Traquair, etc.), were descended from Alexander, the Lord High Steward, who died in 1283, and was great-grandfather of Robert II.
On the death of the Constable of France at Verneuil, without heirs, his earldom of Buchan was conferred on Sir James Stewart, second son of the Black Knight of Lorn, and his line ended with the death of Christian Stewart, daughter of John, Master of Buchan, who was killed at the battle of Pinkie in 1547.
The family of Bute are descended from Sir John Stewart, who obtained from his father, Robert II., a grant of the Island of Bute, the ancient patrimony of the Stewarts.
The Earls of Galloway are descended from Sir John Stewart, second son of Alexander, sixth Lord High Steward, who received from his father a gift of the lands of Garlies and was killed at the battle of Falkirk, 22nd July 1298.
The first of the Stewarts, Earls of Angus, was Sir John of Bonkil, who was created Earl by David II. on his coronation in 1330. Three years after, he was killed at the Battle of Halidon Hill; on the death of Thomas, third Earl of Angus in 1377, his titles and honours devolved on his nephew, George, who became the first Earl of Angus of the name of Douglas.
The Stewarts, Dukes of Lennox, descended from Sir John of Bonkil, killed at Falkirk. Few families were more distinguished in war and peace than this line, from which were descended the families of Halrig, Barscob, and John, Lord d'Aubigny, famous in the Neapolitan wars under Charles VIII. and Louis XII. of France. The male line of this family ended with the death of Charles, Duke of Lennox, of fever, at Elsinore, in 1672, when on an embassy to Denmark.
The male line of the Royal Stewarts (or Stuarts) terminated with Cardinal York in 1807. He was the second son of James VIII. or "the Old Chevalier," and was born at Rome in 1725, and was baptised Henry. In 1745 he was at the head of 15,000 French troops assembled at Dunkirk to assist his brother. Prince Charles, when the fatal news of Culloden came, after which he exchanged the sword for the cowl. With him expired all the descendants of James VII.
Hunting Stewart
Although we have failed to trace the history of this tartan, or fix the date of its introduction, as it has long been a favourite with the people of Scotland, we thought it right to preserve in this work a record of one of the most beautiful tartans associated with the Royal Stewarts.
The Dress Stewart
The old dress tartan of the Royal Stewarts is also known at the present day as the "Victoria Tartan," Her late Majesty representing the Stewart family through James VI. of Scotland and I. of England, from whom she was descended. James I. left, with other children, a daughter, Elizabeth, who married Frederick V., Duke of Bavaria, Elector Palatine of the Rhine.
His youngest daughter, Sophia, married in 1658 Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick-Luneburg, Elector of Hanover. The son of the Elector, George Lewis, became King of Great Britain and Ireland as George I., and died in 1727, leaving behind him a son, afterwards George II. He was succeeded by his grandson, George III., who left thirteen children, two of whom succeeded to the throne under the titles of George IV. and William IV. The fourth son of George III., Edward, Duke of Kent, married in 1818 Victoria Maria Louisa, daughter of His Serene Highness, Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield. His daughter, Alexandrina Victoria, on the death of her uncle, William IV., ascended the throne on the 20th June 1837, as Queen Victoria. Her Majesty died 22nd January 1901, and was succeeded by her eldest son, King Edward VII.
Prince Charles Edward Stuart Tartan
This tartan, which is associated with the memory of that unfortunate Prince, whose name is still a household word in Scotland, is nowise different from the Stewart (or Stuart), excepting that the broad red stripe in the latter is very much contracted.
His achievements and adventures in the ever-memorable campaign of 1745-46 are too well known to be referred to here, but his last days and funeral may be less so.
"To the last his heart was with Scotland," and with those who suffered and perished in that lost cause, which has filled the land with song and melody.
On the 30th of January 1788 he died in the arms of the Master of Nairn. His funeral obsequies were celebrated on the 3rd of February 1789, in the cathedral of Frescati, of which See his brother, the Cardinal Duke of York, was Bishop. The church was draped with black and gold lace and silver tissue, which, with the many wax lights, gave it a very solemn aspect. On the walls were many texts from Scripture emblazoned. A large catafalque was erected on steps in the nave of the edifice, on which lay the Prince's coffin, covered by a superb pall, whereon lay the Garter, George, and St. Andrew, which are now in the Castle of Edinburgh. It was embroidered with the arms of Britain. On each side stood gentlemen servants of the deceased in mourning cloaks, with wax tapers, and within a square formed by the troops in Frescati.
At 10 A.M. the old Cardinal came to the church in a sedan, and, seating himself at the altar, began in a broken voice to sing the office for the dead. "The first verse was scarcely finished, when it was observed that his voice faltered, and tears trickled down his furrowed cheeks, so that it was feared he would not have been able to proceed; however, he soon recollected himself, and went through the function in a very affecting manner, in which manly firmness, fraternal affection, and religious solemnity were happily blended."
So with that solemn scene ended many a century of stirring Scottish history. From thenceforward the reigning family were prayed for in the Scottish Episcopal Churches. The monument erected to him, his father, and brother, the work of Canova, in St. Peter's, and
by desire of George IV., has been justly deemed the most graceful tribute ever paid by Royalty to misfortune. It is inscribed thus:
JACOBO III.
JACOBI. II. MAGNAE. BRIT. REGIS. FILIO.
KAROLO. EDVARDO.
ET. HENRICO. DECANO. PATRVM. CARDJNALIVM.
JACOBI. III. FILIIS.
REGIAE. STIRPIS. STVARDIAE. POSTREMIS.
ANNO. MDCCCIX.
The Scottish Clans and Their Tartans: With Notes. W. & A. K. Johnston, 1900.
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