John Mylne (died 1621) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

master mason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, the first of three successive generations of the name to serve as Master Mason to the Crown of Scotland. He was born in

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into a family of master builders. His great-grandfather, also John (died 1513), had been Master Mason to both James III and

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. He was the son of Thomas Mylne (d. 1605), Master Mason to the Crown and burgess of Dundee. His grandfather may have been Robert Mylne (d. 1549) former provost of Dundee. Mylne was well established as a mason by the 1580s. He was made a burgess of Dundee in 1587 for various works in the city, and in particular his renewing of the

royal burgh A royal burgh ( ) was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished by law in 1975, the term is still used by many former royal burghs. Most royal burghs were either created by ...

's harbour.Colvin, pp.567-8 He also built the

mercat cross A mercat cross is the Scots language, Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scotland, Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or ...

which formerly stood in the High Street. In 1584-5 he was engaged on alterations to The Drum, a tower house in

Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...

, for the 7th

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. In 1589 he built or extended Bannatyne House in Newtyle,

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, for justice Thomas Bannatyne.Colvin (pp.567-8) states Mylne carried out extensions, but the Historic Environment Record for Bannatyne House names Mylne as the building's architect. Mylne was Master of the Mason's Lodge at

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at a time when the mason's lodges were moving away from being simply

craft guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

s, and he admitted

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until ...

to the lodge as a Freeman Mason. From 1604 to 1617 Mylne was engaged planning and executing an eleven-arched bridge across the

River Tay The River Tay (, ; probably from the conjectured Brythonic ''Tausa'', possibly meaning 'silent one' or 'strong one' or, simply, 'flowing' David Ross, ''Scottish Place-names'', p. 209. Birlinn Ltd., Edinburgh, 2001.) is the longest river in Sc ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Mylne was made a burgess of Perth in 1607, although his bridge was destroyed by a flood in October 1621, just four years after completion, and shortly after Mylne's death. In 1620 he was engaged by the

Laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

to build a new church at Falkland, which he worked on with the assistance of his son until his death. Mylne married Helen Kinnereis, or Kenneries, and had one recorded child, his son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. He died in early 1621, and was buried in

Greyfriars Burial Ground Greyfriars Burial Ground is an historic cemetery in Perth, Perth and Kinross, Perth, Scotland. Dating to 1580, it is now Category A listed building, listed, with its collection of gravestones considered one of the best in Scotland. The cemetery ...

in Perth, where his monument, including a 1774 tablet added by his descendant Robert Mylne, still stands.

References

Bibliography

*''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1921–22. * Colvin, Howard (1978) ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600–1840''. 4th edition,

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, . *Howard, Deborah (1995) ''Architecture of Scotland: Reformation to Restoration, 1560-1660'',

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. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mylne, John (d. 1621) 17th-century Scottish architects 1621 deaths Burgesses in Scotland People from Dundee Master masons to the Crown of Scotland Year of birth unknown