Duncan Forestar of Torwood and Skipinch was a Scottish courtier and financial administrator. He also served as Provost of Stirling. His family home was

Torwood Castle Torwood Castle is a ruined 16th-century L-plan castle near the village of Torwood, in the Falkirk Council area of central Scotland. It was designated as a Category A listed building in 1979. The Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland originally l ...

near Stirling. "Skipinch" was an alternative name for

Skipness Castle Skipness Castle stands on the east side of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, near the village of Skipness. Together with the nearby Kilbrannan Chapel it is a scheduled ancient monument. History The main structure of the castle was built in th ...

James IV of Scotland 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 Sauc ...

gave him a barony of the lands of Skipness and the keepership of the castle on 3 July 1495. Skipness Castle

Duncan Forestar was also called "of Garden", from another property near Stirling.

Alexander Forrester of Garden Alexander Forrester of Garden (fl. 1550-1599) was a Scottish landowner. He was the son of David Forrester of Torwood and Garden and Elizabeth Sandilands, daughter of James Sandilands of Slamannan. The name may be spelled "Forester" or "Forster". ...

was a member of a later generation of the same family. He was

Comptroller of Scotland The Comptroller of Scotland was a post in the pre-Union government of Scotland. The Treasurer and Comptroller had originated in 1425 when the Chamberlain's financial functions were transferred to them. From 1466 the Comptroller had sole responsib ...

from 1492 to 1499 and from 1508 to 1509, serving

. The Comptroller was in charge of collecting and spending royal revenue. In 1508 he was "Great Purveyor to the Queen" or "Magnus Provisor", in charge of purchasing food and other items for the household of

Margaret Tudor Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Ma ...

, the wife of James IV. For a time there were separate household accounts for Margaret Tudor, but these records do not now survive. His accounts written in Latin mention royal servants, including the king's tailor John Steel, his barber James Jacklin, and the master cook Thomas Schaw. Some expenses were met for the Spanish ambassador

Pedro de Ayala Don Pedro de Ayala also Pedro López Ayala (died 31 January 1513) was a 16th-century Spanish diplomat employed by Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile at the courts of James IV of Scotland and Henry VII of England. His mission to ...

, and details are given of

Perkin Warbeck Perkin Warbeck ( 1474 – 23 November 1499) was a pretender to the English throne claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, who was the second son of Edward IV and one of the so-called " Princes in the Tower". Richard, were he ali ...

(called the Duke of York) and the raids in England to

Norham Castle Norham Castle (sometimes Nornam) is a castle in Northumberland, England, overlooking the River Tweed, on the border between England and Scotland. It is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle saw much action durin ...

and

Heaton Castle Heaton Castle (anciently Heton) in the parish of Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland, England, is a ruined historic castle near the Scottish border. It is situated in an elevated position above the south bank of the River Till, 4 miles north-east o ...

.P. Gouldesbrough, 'Accounts of the Comptroller Duncan Forestar', ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, IX'' (Edinburgh, 1958), pp. 72, 74, 79, 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forestar, Duncan Comptrollers of Scotland Household of Margaret Tudor Court of James IV of Scotland Monarchy and money