party by those assembled at Douglas Castle, but on his way he was (1 Nov.) seized in the High Street of Edinburgh and shut up in Edinburgh Castle, whence he was moved (6 Nov.) to Blackness at the mouth of the Firth of Forth. He was now in great danger. He and his second son tried to get his eldest son back again, and successfully. But after trying in vain to bribe the keeper, he, perhaps by means of a secret pact with Arran, got out, being set at liberty some time before 2 April 1544. He died in 1549, and was buried in Carnwath church. He gave much money to the hospital of St. Mary Magdalen, Edinburgh. By his wife Janet, daughter of William Maitland of Lethington, he had James, sixth lord (see below); John, Hugh, and three daughters. His wife died about the same time as he did, and is buried in the same tomb.
James Somerville, sixth Lord Somerville (d. 1569), when he took his father's place in England in 1543, lived with the Duke of Suffolk, who described him as courageous, although not personally attractive. He returned to Scotland about December 1543, Henry's wish to recall him coming too late. He is said to have told Angus that, whatever understanding his father might have with Arran, he would stand by him. He was hampered by his father's extravagance. In the main issue of the time which followed he took the catholic side. He was of Mary of Guise's party, and she employed him in negotiating with Châtelherault; and though in 1560 he is noted as a waverer, he was certainly strongly opposed to the lords of congregation. He signed the band of the lords and barons of the west country of 1565, took up arms, marched to Hamilton, and fought at Langside on 13 May 1568. There he was wounded in the thigh and face, and, going home to Cowthally, he died about December 1569. By his wife Agnes, daughter of Sir James Hamilton of Finnart, he left, with other children, Hugh, seventh lord (1535–1597), who was served heir to his father in 1571, and built the mansion of Drum in 1584. He did not take part in the catholic rebellion of 1589, but took part in the trial of the insurgents [see Gordon, George, sixth Earl and first Marquis of Huntly] (cf. Teulet, Papiers d'État, Bannatyne Club, iii. 524–5). He died, after much trouble with various members of his family, at the Raploch on 24 March 1597, and was buried in the choir of Cambusnethan church. By his wife Eleanor, daughter of George, lord Seaton, he had sixteen children. He was succeeded by his son Gilbert, eighth lord. One of the sons, Robert, was accidentally killed by his brother William about 1587 (Teulet, op. cit. i. 244).
[Somerville's Memorie of the Somervilles, esp. vol. i. (many of the errors in this account are corrected by Sir Walter Scott in the notes); Douglas's edition of Wood's Peerage, ii. 506; Sadler Papers, i. 72, 96, &c.; Stoney's Life of Sadleir; State Papers, iv. 115, v. 232, &c.; Reg. Privy Council of Scotland, i. 21, &c.; Hamilton Papers, vols. i. and, ii.; Wriothesley's Chron. i. 138.]
SOMERVILLE, JAMES (1632–1690), family historian, baptised on 24 Jan. 1632 at Newhall, was eldest and only surviving son of James Somerville of Drum (by right, tenth Lord Somerville) and Lilias, second daughter of Sir James Bannatyne of Newhall, a lord of session. James's father had gained military experience as an officer in the Scots guard of Louis XIII at the siege of Montauban and of other towns held by the Huguenots. On the outbreak of hostilities between Charles I and the covenanters in 1639, the elder Somerville joined the covenanting levies under General Leslie [see Leslie, Alexander, first Earl of Leven], and with the rank of major had a leading command at the siege of Edinburgh Castle in 1640.
James joined his father's company at this siege. In 1645 he was present at David Leslie's first cavalry muster on the Gleds Muir, Tranent. The death of both his younger brothers in 1647 left him the only heir male of his house, and his parents resolved that he should never leave Scotland. In 1648 his father, having purchased from his cousin the old family seat at Cambusnethan in Lanarkshire, removed thither from the Drum, and arranged for his son's marriage with Martha Bannatyne of Corhouse. Owing to Cromwell's advance into Scotland, more serious affairs required attention. The Scots levies concentrated at Edinburgh. Thither the father took his son and placed him in the retinue of the Earl of Eglinton, captain of the king's guard of horse. The son's duty as an officer of the guard was to attend the earl both at camp and court. He thus saw a good deal of service, and was witness of most of the military actions which took place between the two armies, including the rout at Dunbar (3 Sept. 1650).
After Dunbar, Somerville returned to Cambusnethan, and found it partially occupied by the associate levies, with whom he had a sharp skirmish. Subsequently, in company with Bannatyne of Corhouse, his intended father-in-law, he went north to Perth, where Charles II held his court. Towards the close of November he returned with his cousin,
