Adam Leys or Leis was a Scottish goldsmith based in Edinburgh. He worked for

James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

and, in the 1530s, repaired and refashioned the Scottish crown jewels known as the

Honours of Scotland The Honours of Scotland (, ), informally known as the Scottish Crown Jewels, are the regalia that were worn by List of Scottish monarchs, Scottish monarchs at their Coronation_of_the_British_monarch#Scottish_coronations, coronation. Kept in the ...

. James V gave him a house at the royal mint as a reward for his services.

Works

The Queen at the Scottish Parliament - crop

In 1530, Adam Leys made a silver chandelier or candleholder for Edinburgh's town council, probably for St Giles' Kirk. He made a silver chalice for James V's

almoner An almoner () is a chaplain or church officer who originally was in charge of distributing money to the deserving poor. The title ''almoner'' has to some extent fallen out of use in English, but its equivalents in other languages are often used f ...

in August 1535. On a larger scale, Leys worked on panels of royal heraldry and a "great image" of

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Church stems from the Gospel of Jo ...

to be carved and cast in lead for

Holyrood Palace The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...

. Leys added the arms of

Mary of Guise Mary of Guise (; 22 November 1515 – 11 June 1560), also called Mary of Lorraine, was List of Scottish royal consorts, Queen of Scotland from 1538 until 1542, as the second wife of King James V. She was a French people, French noblewoman of the ...

beneath the saint for her

Royal Entry The ceremonies and festivities accompanying a formal entry by a ruler or their representative into a city in the Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe were known as the royal entry, triumphal entry, or Joyous Entry. The entry centred on ...

to Edinburgh. James V employed Adam Leys to repair and augment the

crown of Scotland The Crown of Scotland (, ) is the centrepiece of the Honours of Scotland. It is the crown that was used at the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, and it is the oldest surviving crown in the British Isles and among the oldest in Europe. A ...

in 1532 and 1536. The treasurer's accounts mention that he added new "spryngis" in 1532. It is perhaps unclear which elements these were, but the record may refer to new Imperial-style arches. In October 1533,

James Hamilton of Finnart Sir James Hamilton of Finnart (c. 1495 – 16 August 1540) was a Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish nobleman and architect, the illegitimate son of James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran, and Marion Boyd (mistress), Marion Boyd of Bonshaw. Although legitim ...

was paid for three ounces of gold used to repair the crown. The crown was comprehensively reworked again by John Mosman in January 1540, into the form it has today. Leys also worked on the

Sword of Honour The ''Sword of Honour'' is a trilogy of novels by Evelyn Waugh which loosely parallel Waugh's experiences during the World War II, Second World War. Published by Chapman & Hall from 1952 to 1961, the novels are: Men at Arms (Waugh novel), ''M ...

, a gift from

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II (; ; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death, in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope, the Battle Pope or the Fearsome ...

, and the silver

sceptre A sceptre (or scepter in American English) is a Staff of office, staff or wand held in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of regalia, royal or imperial insignia, signifying Sovereignty, sovereign authority. Antiquity Ancient Egypt and M ...

, a gift to

James IV James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...

from

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

in 1494, which he extended from around 53 to 86 cm and gilded. He seems to have cast new elements moulded from the Italian originals. These works to the Honours were probably in connection with ceremonies planned for James V's bride,

Madeleine of Valois Madeleine of Valois (10 August 1520 – 7 July 1537) was a French princess who briefly became Queen of Scotland in 1537 as the first wife of King James V. The marriage was arranged in accordance with the Treaty of Rouen, and they were marrie ...

. The royal accounts recorded these works in the Scots language as: * Item, deliverit to the said James chesounto Adam Leis, goldsmyth, to mend the sword of honour, thre unce of Inglis grotis * Item deliverit to Adam Leys, goldsmyth, xj unce and ane half of silver, attour the auld sceptour of silver weyand xv unce, to mak ane new sceptour of ilver* Item, for gold to gilt the samin

ame #REDIRECT AME {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

Leys made an engraved silver seal for

David Beaton David Beaton (also Beton or Bethune; 29 May 1546) was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation. Life David Beaton was said to be the fifth son of fourteen children born to John Beaton (Bethune) of Balf ...

in 1539.

Marriage and a house at the mint

Adam Leys married Marjorie Edmonstoun. After his death, the date of which is unknown, on 2 December 1561

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, confirmed her possession of gifts awarded to Marjorie and her late husband for his service to her father

James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was List of Scottish monarchs, King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV a ...

and to herself, including the house she occupied at the Scottish mint or "cunzie hous" in Edinburgh. The mint at this period was close to the

Palace of Holyrood The Palace of Holyroodhouse ( or ), commonly known as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. Located at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood has s ...

. The gift of the house was made by James V, and confirmed by

in July 1554 when she was Regent of Scotland and Adam was still alive. The property was adjacent to the house of the Master Coiner James Achesoun and the mint yard, perhaps indicating that some of Adam's work was connected with the coinage. James Achesoun was involved in supplying the gold Adam Leys used to mend the crown.Andrea Thomas, "Coronation Ritual and Regalia",

Julian Goodare Julian Goodare is a professor of history at University of Edinburgh. Academic career Goodare studied at the University of Edinburgh in the 1980s, afterwards engaged as a postdoctoral fellow. He lectured at the University of Wales, and at the Univ ...

& Alasdair A. MacDonald, ''Sixteenth-Century Scotland'' (Brill, 2008), p. 59.

References

External links

Sketchfab model of the Sceptre, Honours of Scotland

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) () is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the merger of government agency Historic Sc ...

Sceptre, Edinburgh Castle, Historic Environment Scotland EDIN054
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leys, Adam Businesspeople from Edinburgh Court of James V of Scotland Scottish goldsmiths Scottish jewellers 16th-century Scottish businesspeople Material culture of royal courts