Sir Andrew Leslie

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VI. SIR ANDREW DE LESLIE, DOMINUS EJUSDEM.

Sir Andrew de Leslie succeeded his father, Sir Norman de Leslie, as VI. Dominus Ejusdem before 1320.

Sir Andrew de Leslie married Mary Abernethy, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Sir Alexander Abernethy, Lord of Abernethy, who died about 1312.

With his wife, Mary Abernethy, Sir Andrew de Leslie got the baronies of Ballinbreich in Fifeshire, Cairney in Forfar, and various other lands, and, it is said, Rothes in Elgin, but of this no record has been found. He got charters of Ballinbreich and Cairney from King Robert I., and quartered the arms of Abernethy with his own.

This marriage between Sir Andrew de Leslie and Mary Abernethy is documented by an indenture between Andrew de Leslie, son and heir of Norman de Leslie, Chevalier, with the consent of Mary, his wife, as heiress of the deceased Sir Alexander Abernethy, on the one part, and Sir William Lindsay, Rector of Ayr, and Chamberlain of Scotland from 1312 to 1322, on the other part, whereby the said Sir Andrew obliges himself to infeft Sir William Lindsay in twenty-four merks land in the tenement of Cairney, to be held of the granter, dated 25th December 1316.

By his marriage with Mary Abernethy, Sir Andrew de Leslie had the following issue : -

• I. Andrew, who succeeded as VII. Dominus Ejusdem.
• II. Norman, of whom presently.
• III. Leslie, ancestor of the Earls of Rothes, of whom hereafter under " Records of the Earls of Rothes."
• IV. Walter, Earl of Ross, of whom hereafter.
• V. George, 1st Baron of Balquhain, of whom hereafter.

Norman de Leslie, Sir Andrew's second son, was a man of great abilities, and was much employed in the public transactions of his time. During the reign of King David II. we find him mentioned in the following extracts from public documents : -

" Et nihil hie per firmam Baronie de Comnay (Kemnay) que est in manu magistri Normani de Lesley ex concessione Roberti senescalli Scotiae locum tenentis Domini Regis ratione warde super quo consulatur Rex."

"Ex comp. Domini Alexandri Fraser, vicecomitis de Aberdeen" (1348).

Norman de Leslie, Domicellus de Scotia (and not Dominus Ejusdem), is a witness to the commission issued by the Steward of Scotland, 10th May 1356, to treat for the liberation of David II. when at Durham.

Norman Lesselyn et Wauter, son frere, Esquires d'Ecosse, had a safe conduct to pass through England on their way to Prussia, 20th August 1356.

Norman de Lesseley had a safe conduct into England, 11th May 1358, and again, 24th March 1359, as one of the Scottish commissioners appointed to treat with the English.

Norman de Leslie was, in 1358, sent along with Sir Robert Erskine as ambassador to Rome, to solicit the Pope for a grant of the tenth part of the ecclesiastical revenues of Scotland, towards payment of the ransom of David II., which they obtained for three years.

It appears by the following extract that Norman de Leslie was Deputy-Chamberlain to Thomas Earl of Angus, Chamberlain of Scotland : -

" Et lxvi. vi. viij. (£66 : 6 : 8) liberat Normano de Lesley, tunc locum tenenti camerarii Scocie confident receptionem super compotum de quibus respondeat" (1358).

In the accounts of customs and money paid by Aberdeen to government from 1328 to 1399, we find the following charge : - " Compotum Normani de Lesley, locum tenentis Thome Comitis de Angus dudum camerarii Scocie reddit apud Dunde IXmo die Aprilis, Anno Domini Millio ccc q'nq g nono" (1359).

Norman de Leslie is styled by King David II. "Armiger noster," i.e. King's armour-bearer, in a commission dated at Edinburgh, 10th May 1359, whereby Sir Robert Erskine, Norman de Leslie, and Sir John Grant were constituted plenipotentiaries to treat with Charles, the Dauphin of France, then Regent of France, to renew the old league thitherto inviolably observed between the two kingdoms, in which mission they succeeded.

Norman de Leslie had a safe conduct to go into England as one of the ambassadors sent to treat in the affairs of King David II., then a prisoner in England, 15 th April 1362; and again, 14th March 1363, for himself and eight esquires.

Norman de Leslie was a member of the assembly held at Inchmurdoch, 14th May 1363, when the Steward of Scotland entered into an obligation to adhere to King David II.

It appears by Robertson's Index of Missing Charters of David II., No. 46, that Norman de Leslie received "ane pension enduring the ward of Balenbreich," between 1330 and 1370.

Norman de Leslie married Margaret Lamberton, granddaughter and heiress of Alexander de Lamberton, and with her he got a good fortune. The marriage is documented by a charter granted by Margaret de Leslie, relict of the deceased Norman de Leslie, Knight, to her cousin, William Cuppyld, and Norman his son, of all and whole of the lands which formerly belonged to Alexander de Lamberton, her grandfather - namely, Lumlathyn and Cragoe in the county of Forfar, and Asdory in the county of Fife. This charter is witnessed by "nobili viro Domino Waltero de Lesley," who is styled her brother (in law). "Nobili Domina Margarita Comitissa Angusie, nobili viro Domino Alexandra de Lindsey, milite, Laurentio Archidiacono Brehinensi, et multis aliis," and was confirmed by David II., an. reg. 37, 11th February - i.e. A.D. 1366."

This proves that Norman de Leslie died before 11th February 1366. And he does not seem to have had any children by his marriage with Margaret Lamberton, since, according to the above charter, that lady's property, apparently in default of direct heirs, passed into the possession of her cousin, William Cuppyld.

Sir Andrew de Leslie, VI. Dominus Ejusdem, was one of the great barons or Magnates Scotiae, who signed the memorable letter, dated at Arbrothawik, 6th April 1320, addressed to Pope John XXII. , asserting the independence of Scotland in opposition to the Pope's orders to excommunicate King Robert Bruce and his followers on every Sunday and festival throughout the year.

Sir Andrew de Leslie, VI. Dominus Ejusdem, died before 1325, as in that year Mary Abernethy, his wife, after her husband's death, married Sir David Lindsay of Crawford, ancestor of the Earls of Crawford, as is proved by a dispensation from Pope John XXII. , which dispensation was found by Andrew Stewart in the Vatican.

By Sir David Lindsay, Mary Abernethy had issue -

• I. Sir James Lindsay, Sir David's successor, who married Lady Egidia Stewart in 1346, and died after 1357, leaving a son -
  • I. Sir James, who married Christian Keith, and died 1397.
• II. Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk, who married Catherine Stirling, and died 1382, leaving a son -
  • I. Sir David, created Earl of Crawford, 1398.
• III. Sir William Lindsay, of the Byres, who married Catherine Muir, and died after 1375, leaving a son, Sir William, who carried on that branch of the family.

Walter Leslie, Earl of Ross, in several charters, styles Sir Alexander Lindsay of Glenesk and Sir William Lindsay of Byres "carissimi fratres," they being his uterine brothers.

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Note B. - "Laurus Leslæana " Account of Sir Andrew de Leslie's Marriage and Issue.

The Laurus Leslæana states that Sir Andrew de Leslie, VI. Dominus Ejusdem, married Elizabeth Douglas, daughter of Lord Douglas, whose successors became Marquises of Douglas, and with whom he got as her dowry the lands of Woodfield, now called Bomain, which in those days were reserved for hunting, as lying near the royal castles of Fettercairn and Kincairn, and that he had by her -

     I. John, who succeeded him ; 

     II. George, to whom he gave the baronies of Syde and Balquhain, and who became the founder of that branch of the family of Leslie ; 

     III. Margaret, married to Sir John Innes of Innes ; 

     IV. Ann, married to Sir Alexander Dunbar of Westfield. 

It has been shown that these two ladies were the sisters, not the daughters, of Sir Andrew, being the daughters of Sir Norman de Leslie, V. Dominus Ejusdem. The Laurus is also decidedly wrong in giving the name of Sir Andrew's wife as Elizabeth Douglas instead of Mary Abernethy. That Sir Andrew de Leslie had a son John, who succeeded him, and who, according to the Laurus, married Lady Margaret Hay, daughter of Sir Thomas Hay of Errol, by whom he had a son, David, who succeeded him, and another son Norman, who became the founder of the Rothes family, is unquestionably a mistake, there being no mention of a John Leslie, Dominus Ejusdem, in any of the public records or Peerages, and these details, as given by the Laurus, do not agree with the records of the time, and with known historical facts. A John Leslie is certainly mentioned in some Peerages as having married a daughter of Sir Thomas Hay of Errol in 1376, but he, as has been shown, was not the son, but the great-grandson of Sir Andrew de Leslie, VI. Dominus Ejusdem.