Janet Beaton
| Janet Beaton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1519 Creich, Scotland |
| Died | January 1569 (aged 49-50) Scotland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Known for | Mistress of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell; immortalised as Sir Walter Scott's Wizard Lady of Branxholm in his narrative poem "Lay of the Last Minstrel" |
| Spouse(s) |
Sir James Crichton (m. 1538–39) Sir Simon Preston (m. 1540–43) Sir Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch (m. 1544–52) |
| Children | Walter Scott David Scott Grisel Scott Janet Scott Margaret Scott |
| Parent(s) | Sir John Beaton, 2nd Laird of Creich Janet Hay |
Janet Beaton, Lady of Branxholme and Buccleugh (1519–1569) was an aristocratic Scottish woman and a mistress of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. She had a total of five husbands. One of her nieces was Mary Beaton, one of the four ladies-in-waiting of Mary, Queen of Scots, known in history as the four Marys. In her lifetime, she was accused of having been a witch. Janet was immortalised as Sir Walter Scott's Wizard Lady of Branxholm in his celebrated narrative poem "Lay of the Last Minstrel".
Janet was born in 1519, one of the eleven children of Sir John Beaton, 2nd Laird of Creich and Janet Hay, daughter of John Hay, provost of Dundee by his wife Elizabeth Crichton. Her father was the hereditary keeper of Falkland Palace. Her brother was Robert Beaton, 4th Laird of Creich, and her sister, Elizabeth Beaton was a mistress of King James V of Scotland, by whom she had an illegitimate daughter, Jean. Her niece was Mary Beaton, one of the celebrated ladies-in-waiting of Mary, Queen of Scots, known as "the four Marys". Janet was also related to Cardinal David Beaton and Queen Mary's ambassador to France, James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow.
Janet married her first husband, Sir James Crichton of Cranston Riddell in 1538 when she was nineteen years of age. In 1540, a year after Sir James's death, she married Sir Simon Preston of Craigmillar Castle; they were divorced in 1543 on grounds of consanguinity and her own admitted adultery with her future third husband. Sometime before June 1544 Janet married, as his third wife, her paramour Sir Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch, Chief of the Clan Scott (1495- 4 October 1552), by whom she had five children:
...
Wikipedia