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Sir Aymer de Maxwell¹

• Father: Herbert de Maxwell Sheriff of Teviotdale² b. 1138, d. c 1206

• Relationships: 16th great-grandfather of Margaret MacDonell, 21st great-grandfather of Donald James MacFarlane

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• Birth*: Sir Aymer de Maxwell was born circa 1190 in Teviotdale, Roxburghshire, Scotland.^1,3
• Marriage*: He married Mary de Mearns, daughter of Robert de Mearns, circa 1260 in Scotland.¹
• Biography*: He held the office of Justiciar of Galloway. He was also known as Eumerus. He was also known as Homer. He held the office of Chamberlain of Scotland between 1257 and 1260. He held the office of Sheriff of Dumfries-shire. He held the office of Sheriff of Peebles-shire. He acquired the territorial barony of Mearns, Clydesdale thorugh his wife.
  
  Sir Aymer de Maxwell; Chamberlain Scotland c 1257-60, Sheriff of Dumfiesshire & Peebleshire, Justiciar Galloway; married Mary, possibly daughter of Robert de Mearns, by whom the Maxwell's would thus have acquired the territorial barony of Mearns, Clydesdale, which they undoubtedly did possess from about now.
  
  SIR AYMER DE MAXWELL, son of John, or his brother, succeeded him. There is evidence of his presence at Court from 1232 onwards, He sat in the Parliament of 1244; belonged to the "national" party, headed by the Comyns and the Earl of Mar, which came into power about 1251, and was removed from all offices about the young King, Alexander III (by command of Henry III), in 1255. The Act for their removal includes the only woman in the list, Mary, wife of Aymer de Makeswell, as well as her husband. She probably had some office about the King's person. The "national" party returned to power in 1257, and Maxwell was Chamberlain of Scotland till about 1260, and later sheriff of Peebles and of Dumfries, and justiciar of Galloway.
  
  From "My Clan": "Sir John Maxwell, Chamberlain of Scotland, died without issue and was succeeded by his brother, Aymer, from whose sons sprang many branches of this family throughout the south-west of Scotland. "Peter Barns-Graham also shows Aymer as the younger brother of John.
  
  Aymer de Maxwell, fourth Lord of Maxwell, second of Carlaverock, and first of Mearns, Chamberlain of Scotland, Sheriff of Dumbries and Justiciar of Galloway, 1241-1266.
  
  The name of Aymer de Maxwell, who succeeded his brother, John Maccuswell, in the year 1241, occurs in various deeds previous to that period. Under the designation of 'brother to John de Mackuswel,' he is witness to a charter by Roger Burnare, granting to the monks of Melrose thirteen acres of his land and one particate in the territory of Farningdun. This charter is without date, but from a confirmation of it by King Alexander the Second, which also is without date, it was probably granted during his reign, and its date must therefore have been after the year 1214.
  
  During the lifetime of his brother John, Aymer de Maxwell was a frequent attendant at the Court of Alexander the Second, and was often a witness to royal charters. He was a witness to a charter granted by that monarch in favour of the monks of Coldingham, dated at Berwick, 16th May 1232; to a confirmation by the same King, dated at Traquair, 4th February 1232-3, of that donation of land in the territory of Mackestoun which John de Normanville made to the Church of St Mary of Melrose, and to the monks there serving God; to a charter by King Alexander the Second, dated at Stirling, 16th March, in the nineteeth year of his reign (1232-3), granting to Patrick, son of William, the son of Orm, the lands of Glengeych, Ardauch, and others; and to a charter by King Alexander, dated at Selkirk, 21st February 1235, granting to the same Monastery of Melrose his waste land of Ettrick, as therein described. His brother John was also a witness to this last-mentioned charter, and among the other witnesses were William, Bishop of Glasgow, Chancellor; Walter, Abbot of Dryburgh; Robert, the King's Chaplain; Mr David de Bernham, Chamberlain; and Mr William de Lindesay, Dean of Glasgow.
  
  Aymer de Mackiswell, along with Malcolm Earl of Fife, Malcolm, son of the Earl of Lennox, Thomas Croc, Galfrid Marschall, and others, was witness to a charter by Walter, Steward of the King of Scotland, son of Alan, granting to St James and St Mirin of Paisley, and the monks there serving God, the churches of Dundonald, Senechar, and Achinlec. The charter is without date, but it had been assigned to the year 1239. In that year, on the Sabbath immediately after the Nativity of the blessed Virgin Mary, it was confirmed by William, Bishop of Glasgow, with the assent of his chapter.
  
  After the death of his brother John, in the year 1421, and his succession to the baronies of Maxwell and Carlaverock, Aymer was still an attendant at the Court of Alexander the Second, though he does not appear to have held any office in the State during the reign of that monarch. He was witness to a confirmation by King Alexander, dated at Roxburgh, 7th February 1244, granting to William, Bishop of Glasgow, the land of Mosplat, in the bailiary of Lanark, to be held by him and his successors, bishops of Glasgow. Aymer of Maxwell is especially mentioned as one of the members of the Parliament of Alexander the Second, which met on Monday next after the Feast of St Scolastick, 1244.
  
  He was a witness to a charter by Walter, the King's Steward, son of Alan, confirming to St Mirin of Paisley, and to the monks there serving God, all the rents in the lands, mills, pastures, fishings, and other goods which he had formerly conferred on the canons and monks of Simpringham, and which they, of their own free will, afterwards resigned, to be held for a pure and perpetual alms, for rendering to the foresaid canons, and monks forty merks annually in the house of Dryburgh. This charter is without date, but it has been assinged to the year 1246.
  
  Alexander the Second having died at Kerrera, an island in the Sound of Mull, in the year 1249, in the fifty-first year of his age and thirty-fifth of his reign, he was succeeded by his son Alexander the Third, who was then a child of only eight years of age.
  
  During the minority of Alexander the Third the administration of public affairs was successively in the hands of two conflicting factions. The one was headed by Alan Durward (Hostiarius), Lord Juticiary of Scotland, who had married Alexander's natural sister, Marjory. At the head of the other were Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, Alexander Comyn Earl of Buchan, and William Earl of Mar, the chiefs of what has been called 'the national or Scottish party.' Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, had given proof of his fidelity by demanding the coranation of Alexander the Third immediately after his succession, when Alan Durward, under various pretexts, strenuously pressed its delay; and in this Comyn was supported by many of the chief of the nobility, and also by the most influential of the dignitaries of the Chruch. To this party Aymer de Maxwell belonged. With them he steadily acted, and, his fortunes corresponding with theirs, he lost political power when they lost it, and attained to offices of dignity in the State when they acquired the ascendency. As he was a prominent actor in the most stiring public transactions that took place in the early part of the reign of Alexander the Third, or was mixed up with them, it is necessary, in order to render intelligible what is known of his life, to relate - which, however, shall be done as briefly as possible - some of the leading facts of our national history during this period.
  
  Towards the end of the year 1251, two years after his succession to the Crown, Alexander went to York, attended by a large retinue, to be united in marriage with Margaret, daughter of Henry the Third of England. On Christmas day (25th December) that year, he was invested with the honour of knighthood by the hands of Henry, and on the following day his marriage with Margaret was celebrated with much splendour and festivity. By the marriage-settlement Henry came under various obligations, and Alexander bound himself to follow the counsels of Henry in the administration of the affairs of his kingdom. At that time Alexander's chief counsellor was Alan Durward. But from that position he was speedily dismissed for alleged treasonable practices, which appear to have had some foundation in truth. While the festivities of the Scottish King's marriage were going on at York, this intriguing statesman was accused by Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, and William Earl of Mar, of sending messengers with presents to the Pope, to obtain, if possible, from his Holiness letters of legitimation in favour of his daughters, who had been born to him of his marriage with the King's natural sister, that, should the King die without heirs of his own body, they, or their issue, might succeed to the Crown; an attempt in which he was supported, among others, by Robert, Abbot of Dunfermline, the Chancellor, who is said to have moved in the Council that a legitimation under the Great Seal of the kingdom should be granted in favour of Durward's daughters. For this alleged treasonable plot, Durward and others suspected of being implicated were, by the advice of Henry King of England, deprived of their placed as guardians of the Scottish King, and others deemed it prudent to return to Scotland.
  
  Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, and the principal men of his party were the new guardians of the young King, appointed by Henry, whose resentment was excited against Durward for his plot to open to his own children the succession to the Crown of Scotland, upon which the English King himself had fixed a covetous eye. Aymer of Maccuswell was one of the new guardians, and with these statesmen he was constantly associated in the discharge of the duties with which they were jointly intrusted. Accordingly his name, along with theirs, frequently occurs among the witnesses to charters granted by Alexander the Third. He was witness to a confirmation by that King, dated at Roxburgh, 30th April 1251, of that donation with Maldouen Earl of Lennox made to Malcolm, son of Duncan and Eve, sister of the Earl of Lennox, of the lands of Glaskhel and Brengoenis, and of the Church of Moniabrocd; and to a confirmation by the same King, dated at Newbottle, 8th June 1252, of that sale which Richard Burnard of Franingdun, Knight, made to the Abbot and Convent of Melrose of the meadow of Farningdun, which is called East Meadow. Among the witnesses to this last-mentioned confirmation were Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan; William, Earl of Mar, Chamberlain; and Robert de Ross.
  
  Aumer de Maxwell was again a witness to a confirmation by Alexander the Third, dated at Roxburgh, 12th November 1253, of that donation which Isabella de Valoniis, Lady of Killebrick, made to Saint Kentigern and to the Church of Glasgow of fifteen pounds of land in the feu of Kirkpatrick, being her whole forest, which was called Dalkarn. The other witnesses were Matthew, Abbot of Melrose; William, Earl of Mar, Chamberlain; Robert de Ros; Walter de Moravia; and Richard de Mariscall.
  
  Under the designation of 'dominus,' Aymer was witness to a charter by John Auenel, son of Geruasius Auenel, granting to God and St Mary, and the port of Melrose, for the use of the poor coming there, that half carucate of land in the territory of Torthorald, which William, son of Glay, gave to the granter for homage and service.
  
  In the year 1255, Aymer de Maxwell was deprived of his place as one of the guardians of the King along with the others with whom he had been conjoined in that trust for several years. The circumstances which led to and attended this deprivation may be briefly narrated.
  
  Alan Durward having, in the year 1253, accompanied the King of England, who had gone to Guienne to defend his transmarine possessions, regained, by his valour and address, the friendship of Henry. Taking advantage of this favourable turn in his fortunes, he retaliated upon his former accusers and their accomplices by incriminating them in turn before the English King. Queen Margaret had brought with her to Scotland many English persons of rank and consideration as her attendants. Between these persons and the Scottish nobles, who were extremely jealous of their rights and privileges, differences and irritations arose. The Queen was chagrined on finding that the less refined Court of Scotland had not the attractions of the English Court, in which she had been brought up. She complained that she was in a manner kept a prisoner in the Castle of Edinburgh; that her English attendants were not allowed to wait upon her person, and that she was excluded from the society of her husband. Of these grievances, which were much exaggerated, Aymer de Mackeswell and his co-guardians of the King were accused of being the authors, and a representation of them was made to the Court of England. It was even reported that by the same party the Queen's physician had been poisoned because he remonstrated against the hard treatment of the Queen. Durward availed himself of these complaints, on which he expatiated to the King in highly coloured terms. The effect upon Henry's mind was that he resolved on removing from their places, as the Scottish King's guardians and counsellors, the Earls of Menteith, Buchan, and Mar, Aymer of Maccuswell, and others, the more especially as their zeal for the hounour and independence of their country led them to oppose the designs of the English King to subject it to England. He according despatched the Earl of Gloucester and Maunsell, his chief secretary, accompanied by the Earl of Hereford, William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, and R Walerand, Seneschal, to the Court of Scotland, for the purpose of dismissing them. In his commission to these ambassadors Henry pledged himself that he would do nothing against the person of King Alexander, or in the way of disinheriting him, or breaking the marriage-settlement; engagements which suggest that he had been suspected or accused of meditating the overthrow of the independence of Scotland by bringing that kingdom into vassalage to the Crown of England.
  
  In the year 1255, when a meeting was held at Edinburgh, composed of the natu majores of Scotland on the one side, and of Alan Durward and his favourers, who had greatly increased in number, on the other, there was some prospect of a reconciliation between the two factions. But these hopes were spedily disappointed. It was agreed upon that the two parties should meet again within a few days at Stirling, with a view to their coming to some amicable agreement, and that the King's councillors, with other magnates, should go thither to make the necesary preparations for the approaching meeting. But in the meantime Patrick Earl of Dunbar and others of the Durward faction suddenly entered the Castle of Edingburgh, armed, and having ejected those who were of the royal family, took the King and Queen, whom they professed to deliver from their real or pretended captivity, and conducted them to the bridal chamber, though the King was scarcely fourteen years of age, while the fortified the Castle with their men, commanding others of their associates to be in readiness to assist them in conveying the King whither they pleased. If the Durward party ever really had any intention of composing the differences between them and their opponents, it is certain that they abandoned that intention; and this invasion of the Castle of Edingburgh, and seizure of the person of the King, perpetrated by the counsel of the Earl of Gloucester, and the English statesmen who had accompanied him ot Scotland, which was regarded by Aymer de Makeswell and the other legal guardians of the King as a treasonable action, completely destroyed all hopes of reconciliation between the two factions. Henry, with his Queen, followed the Earl of Gloucester to Scotland, attended by a numerous body of military tenants, and though it was believed that his purpose was the subjugation of Scotland, he disclaimed, in a declaration from Newcastle, dated 25th August 1255, all intention, in this progress to visit his son-in-law, of doing anything to the prejudice of the King of the Scots, or of the liberties of his kingdom.
  
  Intelligence of the seizure of the King by Patrick Earl of Dunbar, and his faction, soon reached the ears of the Earl of Menteith, Buchan, and Mar, Aymer of Maxwell, and the other counsellors and tutors of the King. Affected equally with surprise and resentment, they collected their forces. But their antagonists, with a powerful body, conducted the King and his Queen to the Castle of Roxburgh. King Alexander and his Queen met Henry at Werk Castle, upon the Borders, and after some friendly intercourse between them the King of Scots departed on the same day for Scotland, leaving his Queen in that place with her mother. Henry entered Roxburgh Castle on the day of the Assumption of the blessed Mary (15th August), and was met and welcomed by his son-in-law, Alexander, who conducted him, with a large imposing procession, into the Abbey of Kelso. On tha occasion of this visit, Henry personally expressed his purpose that the Earls of Menteith, Buchan, and Mar, Aymer of Maxwell, and others, should be dismissed from their posts as guardians of the King of Scots, and that Durward and the principal of his partisans should be appointed in their place. Having commended his son-in-law to the Earl of Dunbar, one of the chief of the Durward faction, and having partaken of a royal refreshment, he returned to England, much offended with the Bishop of Glasgow, the Elect of St Andrews, Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, and other magnates of the kingdom, with whom Aymer of Maxwell was closely connected in political opinion and action, because they would not place their seals to a certain writing, described as most nefarious, which Durward and his party had made and confirmed by their seals, containing, it was said, many things which would imperil or destroy the rights and liberties of the King and kingdom of Scotland.
  
  In the Parliament which met at Roxburgh on 20th Septemter 1255, effect was given to the wishes of King Henry. Aymer of Maccuswell, and the other guardians and counsellors of the King, were removed from their places of trust 'as they deserved,' to use the words of the Act. It may not be unimportant to give the names of all the persons to whom this Act of exclusion extended, as showing the persons with whom Aymer de Makeswell was accustomed to act. The Act specially mentions that this exclusion was made by King Alexander at the instance of Henry King of England, whom he styles 'our dearest father,' who, 'for our honour and advantage, and for the honour and advantage of our kingdom, had by his favour personally come to the borders of the kingdoms of England and Scotland; and by the consel of his magnates.' The names of the magnates by whom this counsel was given may also be quoted entire from the Act, as this also serves to illustrate the then state of parties.
  
  After excluding the persons named from the King's consels, the Act proceeds: 'And we will not admit them or their complices or favoureres to our counsels, and to manage the affairs of our kingdom, or any one to our favour or friendship, till they shall have made amends in full, by agreement or judgment, to the foresaid King, and to us, for the delinquencies committed by them: to do which in all the ways in which it shall be just we will compel them, should it be necessary. It is also agreed and conceded on both sides that should any foreign prince invade or attack the kingdom of Scotland, it shall be lawful for us to admit and to call in the foresaid magnates, now removed from our Council, and others whomsoever to our assistance.' The new guardians of the King are next named, as ordained 'by the counsel of Richard and Peter, Bishops of Dunkeld and Aberdeen, Malcolm Earl of Fife, Patrick Earl of Dunbar, Malise Earl of Strathern, Neil Carl of Carrick, Alexander, Steward of Scotland, Robert of Bruce, Alan Durward (Hostiarius), Walter of Morrevia, David of Lindesay, William of Brechin, Robert of Meyners, Gilbert of Hay, and Hugh Giffard;' and it is ordained that, 'being appointed for our councils and the government of our kingdom and the guardianship of our person and of our royal spouse, for the term of seven years complete, beginning at the Feast of the Translation of St Cuthbert (4th Septembein the year of the Lord 1255, or a shorter term, on which the said King or his heirs, and we in common, shall think it proper to agree, they shall not be removed unless they manifestly deserve it, by taking less interest in our councils and in the affairs of our kingdom than they ought.'
  
  Thus early did the King of England, taking advantage of the circumstances that the Scottish King was a minor, and his son-in-law, interfere with the affairs of the kingdom of Scotland, and seek to reduce it to the power of England; a scheme which afterwards formed the principal policy of Edward the First, during his long reign, and of succeeding English monarchs.
  
  To these sinister designs of Henry the Third against the honour and independence of Scotland Aymer de Maxwell was a conspicuous and strenuous opponent.
  
  Aymer de Maxwell and his friends did not quietly submit to their exclusion from the guardianship and councils of the King, and they gradually regained their former ascendency. The Comyns were formidable, there being then in Scotland thrity-two knights and three earls of that name. They could thus assemble numerous vassals, and they were supported by many of the nobility. The old guardians of the King, after Durward and his friends had established their authority, were summoned by the latter to give an account of their administration, but this they refused to do, and circumstances arose which greatly increased their power. Gamelin, the Bishop Elect of St Andrews, who was deprived of the Chancellorship by the new guardians, had been named to the Chapter of St Andrews by their predecessors, as a fit person to occupy the Episcopal seat of that place, which was then vacant; and he was consecrated, on the 26th of December 1255, to that bishopric by William, Bishop of Glasgow, notwithstanding a prohibition by the new counsellors of th King, by whom he was also outlawed, and who seized upon the revenues of his bishopric. The case was brought before the Papal Court at Rome; and the Pope, having heard both sides, pronounced in judgment that the Bishop was free from all the crimes laid to his charge, and was worthy of his bishopric, while he excommunicated the Bishop's accusers, and the dilapidators or invaders of the episcopate, commanding the Bishop of Dunblane and the Abbots of Melrose and Jedburgh to publish the sentence pronounced by him against the King's counsellors, at first without expressly naming them, and then by name should they prove contumacious. A general sentence was published against them at Stirling, and repeated, 'with book, bell, and candle,' in every church and chapel of the kingdom; and disregarding this they were excommunicated by name, as contumacious offenders, in the Abbey Church of Cambuskenneth.
  
  The judgment of the Pope in favour of Gamelin, and the fulmination of the Papal sentence of excommunication against Gamelin's enemies, greatly strengthened the friends of Aymer de Maxwell, who could now wield against their enemies the weapon - a very formidable one in those days - that the King was in the hands of excommunicated persons, and that unless he was wrested from their powere, the whole kingdom would speedily be laid under Papal interdict - a sentence still more terrible. Aymer's friends also gained something by the accession of Mary de Cousi, the widow of Alexander the Second, who, with John de Brienne, her husband, passed at that time through England into Scotland, to visit the Court of her son, and whose influence was exerted on their side. Emboldened by these favourable circumstances, they invaded, during the night of the 29th of October 1257, the chamber of the King, who was with his court at Kinross, seized upon his person when he was in bed, and, having gained possession of the Great Seal of the kingdom, carried him and his queen to Stirling Castle, where he was again surrounded by his former guardians. Alan Durward hastily fled to England, and his faction was dispersed. Teh result was that the principal power fell anew into the hands of the old guardians of the King, four of the other faction having, for the object of conciliation, been united with them.
  
  Under the new administration, Aymer, in the year 1257 or 1258, was made Lord Chamberlain of Scotland in the room of Sir David Lindsay, Lord of Crawford, who had been appointed to that office in 1256, but who was deprived of it when his party was driven from power, and who afterwards lost his life in one of the Crusades.
  
  Still further to strenghten themselved, Aymer and his friends entered into a treaty of mutual confederation and friendship with Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, and other magnates of that kingdom, which was then at war with England, dated 18th March 1258, engaging that they would not make peace or a truce with the King of England, or with such of the magnates of the kingdoms of England and Scotland as were then enemies or rebels to the Prince and grandees of Wales, and Aymer's friends, without the consent of the foresaid Prince and grandees; and that they would not permit any power, such as an army of horse or foot, to leave Scotland, nor would they succour or favour in any thing the foresaid King of England against them. They also thereby granted liberty to the merchants of Wales to come to Scotland, to sell their wares there to the best advantage under their protection, and to depart without molestation whenever they pleased; and engaged that they would endeavour to persuade the merchants of Scotland to go to Wales with their merchandise; a proof of the enlightened interest which Aymer and his friends took in matters of commerce. In this treaty Aymer is designed 'Camerarius Scotiæ.'
  
  How long Aymer held the office of Chamberlain is uncertain. He appears under the designation of 'Chamberlain' witnessing a letter by King Alexander the Third, dated at Inverness, 18th August 1260, to the provosts and bailies of the north of Scotland, concerning the accommodation and entertainment rightfully or reasonably due, in burghs and in the King's manors, to the Bishop of Aberdeen. This is the last instance in which his name occurs as bearing this designation. In that office he was succeeded by Gilbert de Lempedlar, who is designated 'the King's Chamberlain,' in a charter of mortification by Richard de Lincoln and Matilda, his wife, daugther and heiress of Anselm de Molle, whereby they gave to the Abbey of Kelso, the whole land, meadow and grove, in the territory of Molle. The deed is undated, but Crawfurd, by the exactest computation which he could make, assigns it to the year 1260 or thereabout.
  
  A brief was addressed by Alexander the Third to Eymer de Mackiswell, as Sheriff of Peebles, commanding him to cause inquiry to be made, by upright and faithful men, into a dispute between Robert de Cruik and the burgesses of Peebles, dated at Lanark 7th October 1262.
  
  In the reign of King Alexander the Third, Aymer Maxwell was Justiciar of Galloway. Under this designation he was witness to a charter by that King, dated at Selkirk, 9th December 1264, whereby, following in the footsteps of his dearest father, from his special favour for the Monastery of Melrose, he confirmed to the Abbot and Convent of that Monastery all the charters, confirmations, liberties, and rights granted to them by his predecessors, Kings of Scotland. The other witnesses were Hugh de Berkeley, Justiciar of Lothian; Nicholas de Corbeith; Guydon de Baliol; and John de Lamberton.
  
  About the same time, Aymer appears as Sheriff of Dumfriesshire. As holding this office, he rendered an account, of which an extract, as printed from extracts from a roll of accounts in the reign of King Alexander the Third, 1263-1266.
  
  In an account of Hugh of Abernethy, Sheriff of Roxburgh, are entered twenty chalders of barley, which were taken from the lordship of Aymer de Maccuswell for the Castle of Roxburgh; and in the account of W of Saint Clair, Sheriff of Haddington, under the head of expenses, are entered - Itme, for the charge for four prayers for mercy remitted to Aymer of Maccuswell by a letter of the King, besides the tithe of the Abbot of the Holy Cross, lxiij s.xd.
  
  Aymer is said, in the genealogical history of the family of Maxwell to have been killed at the battle of Largs. But as this battle took place in October 1263, and as he was certainly alive at the close of the year 1264, this must be a mistake. He probably died soon after the last mentioned year. The year 1266 may be stated as an approximation to the time of his death.^4,3