James Learmonth, Lord Balcomie (1600–1657) was a 17th-century Scottish judge and

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice in Scotland are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court ...

Life

He was born at Balcomie Castle near

Crail Crail (; ) is a former royal burgh, parish and Community council#Scotland, community council area (Royal Burgh of Crail and District) in the East Neuk of Fife, Scotland. The locality has an estimated population of 1,630 (2018). Etymology The ...

, the eldest son of Sir John Learmonth (1567-1625) of Balcomie and Birkhill and his wife, Elizabeth Myreton of Randerston. He was descended from James Learmonth (1504-1547) Provost of

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

and Master of the Household to King

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 ...

. His grandfather Sir James Learmonth was killed at the

Battle of Pinkie Cleugh The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk, Lothian, River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the U ...

in 1547. His father's main claim to fame was as one of the twelve

Gentleman Adventurers of Fife The Gentleman Adventurers of Fife or Fife Adventurers were a group of 11 noblemen-colonists, largely from eastern Fife, awarded rights from King James VI to colonise the Isle of Lewis in 1598. Background In 1597, the MacLeod clan chiefs were s ...

, whose plan to usurp the Clan Macleod from the

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis () or simply Lewis () is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as if they were separate islands. The t ...

seriously backfired and apart from the loss of at least 80 lives, resulted in the imprisonment of John Learmonth for six months. His second claim to fame was as a co-signatory to the

Union of crowns The Union of the Crowns (; ) was the accession of James VI of Scotland to the throne of the Kingdom of England as James I and the practical unification of some functions (such as overseas diplomacy) of the two separate realms under a single i ...

in 1606. James inherited Balcomie Castle, a small Scottish tower house on the death of his father. James was trained as a lawyer and admitted to the Scottish bench as an advocate. In 1627 he was elected a

in place of Archibald Acheson, Lord Glencairnie. He died in unusual circumstances, dying unexpectedly at 9am on 26 June 1657 whilst sitting on a bench in

Parliament Hall Parliament House (), located in the Old Town in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a historic parliament and court building containing several buildings which now houses the Supreme Courts of Scotland, the Scottish Land Court and the Lands Tribunal for ...

next to

St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alteratio ...

, much to the grief of those around him. He was buried with much pomp at

Greyfriars Kirkyard Greyfriars Kirkyard is the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located at the southern edge of the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town, adjacent to George Heriot's School. Burials have been taking place since the late 1 ...

with over 500 mourners in his funeral procession. Lord Balcomie's distinctive 17th century monument has been reinscribed to Lord Balcomie's descendant

John Learmonth John Learmonth of Dean, DL FRSE (26 May 1789 – 17 December 1858) was Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1831 to 1833. He was co-funder of the Dean Bridge project in western Edinburgh and gives his name to many of the streets in Comely Bank, the ...

Lord Provost of Edinburgh The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Edinburgh is elected by and is the convener of the City of Edinburgh Council and serves not only as the chair of that body, but as a figurehead for the entire city, ex officio the Lord-Lieutenant of ...

in the 1830s. It lies in the inaccessible sealed section to the south known as the "Covenanters Prison".

Family

He married Margaret Sandilands daughter of Sir William Sandilands of

St Monans St Monans (, ), sometimes spelt St Monance, is a village and parish in the East Neuk of Fife and is named after the legendary Saint Monan. Situated approximately west of Anstruther, the small community, whose inhabitants used to make their liv ...

. Their children included John Learmonth, Lord Balcomie, Regent of

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

. He died young and the estate then passed to the eldest daughter who married Sir William Gordon of Lismore thereafter known as William Gordon of Balcomie.

Trivia

His family home, the Balcomie estate is now a golf course and is home to the

Crail Golfing Society The Crail Golfing Society is a Scottish golf club established in February 1786 in the Golf Hotel, Crail, Fife. The society is the seventh oldest golf club in the world. Its oldest course, Balcomie, was formally laid out by Old Tom Morris in 1 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Learmonth, James 1600 births 1657 deaths People from Fife Senators of the College of Justice Burials at Greyfriars Kirkyard