James Paton (1522 – 1596) was a 16th-century Scottish cleric from Ballilisk, an estate in the parish of

Muckhart Muckhart () commonly refers to two small villages in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, Pool of Muckhart () and Yetts o' Muckhart. Muckhart is one of the Hillfoots Villages, situated on the A91 road, A91 around northeast of Dollar, Clackmannanshire, ...

, west of

Kinross Kinross (, ) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth, Scotland, Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinro ...

. As Ballilisk appears to have been a rectory serving the adjacent chapel at Muckhart his family are presumed to have included priests who served the parish in Pre-Reformation days. He matriculated at St Salvator's College,

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

on 26 November 1540. He appears to have trained in Theology and was likely a priest pre-Reformation. At the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process whereby Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church, and established the Protestant Church of Scotland. It forms part of the wider European 16th-century Protestant Reformation. Fr ...

of 1560 he adopted the Protestant stance, and certainly by January 1565 is listed as minister of

parish, which was then in

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

. After the forfeiture of Bishop Robert Crichton in 1571, Paton became

Bishop of Dunkeld The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the firs ...

in July 1572. This seems to have been arranged for him by

Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll (1532/1537 – 12 September 1573) was a Scottish nobleman, peer, and politician. He was one of the leading figures in the politics of Scotland during the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the early par ...

, to whom Paton handed over his farm at Muckhart Mill in addition to promising the Earl a share of episcopal revenue. This later brought him into disrepute with the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

, as did his failure to proceed against the allegedly

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl (died 25 April 1579), called the Fair, was a Scottish nobleman and courtier. He was favoured by Mary, Queen of Scots, but later turned against her. Biography Stewart was the son of John Stewart, 3rd Earl of Ath ...

. In December 1580 he was accused of conspiracy and treason and Paton failed to defend himself satisfactorily, and thereafter a decree was made depriving him of his bishopric. Paton resisted his forfeiture, but by 1585 was replaced by Peter Rollock. Paton returned to his old parish of Muckhart, though not in the capacity of a minister. He died there on 20 July 1596. He is buried in Muckhart churchyard. The grave is marked by a "table stone" just east of the Christie enclosure east of the current church.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott

Family

He is known to have had four children, including Archibald Paton, who served in

Dunkeld Cathedral Dunkeld Cathedral is a Church of Scotland place of worship which stands on the north bank of the River Tay in Dunkeld, Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Built in square-stone style of predominantly grey sandstone, the cathedral proper began in 1260 a ...

during his father's episcopate. His descendants stayed in Muckhart until 1760 when James and Andrew Paton left to live in Alloa, working as weavers and dyers. James' son John Paton (1768-1848) established the successful Kincraig cotton thread mill, which spawned Paton's cotton company. The later descendants included the eminent Forrester-Paton family which included Ernest Forrester Paton, Colin Forrester-Paton and Catherine Forrester Paton.Clackmannan and the Ochils by Adam Swan ISBN 07073 0513 6

References

* Henderson, T. F., "Paton, James (c. 1522–1596)", rev. Duncan Shaw, in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200
, retrieved 19 Feb 2007
* Watt, D. E. R., ''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae Medii Aevi ad annum 1638'', 2nd Draft, (St Andrews, 1969) {{DEFAULTSORT:Paton, James 1522 births 1596 deaths Bishops of Dunkeld (Church of Scotland) Clergy from Perth and Kinross Alumni of the University of St Andrews 16th-century bishops of the Church of Scotland 16th-century Scottish bishops