Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Ramsay, John (d.1513)
RAMSAY, Sir JOHN (d. 1513), Lord of Bothwell, was the son of Sir John Ramsay of Corstoun—descended from the Ramsays of Carnock in Fife—by his wife, Janet Napier. While a page of James III he was at Lauder Bridge in July 1482, when Cochrane and other favourites were seized by the insurgent nobles and hanged over the bridge; but he saved himself by leaping on the king's horse behind the king, who interceded successfully for his life, as he was but a youth (Lyndsay of Pitscottie, History, ed. 1814, p. 193). Notwithstanding the changes following the coup of the nobles, he retained the favour of James III; the lordship of Bothwell was granted or confirmed to him on 16 Feb. 1483 (Acta Parl. Scot. ii. 15), and in 1484 and subsequent years he was an auditor of the exchequer (Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, I. ix. p. 232). On his marriage about 1484 to Isabel Cant of Dunbar, he received a grant of a part of the mill of Strathmiglo in Fife (ib. p. 255). In 1486 he is mentioned as master of the household (ib. p. 405); and in 1487 he held the custody of the castle of Dunbar (ib. p. 523). On 6 May 1485–6 he was sent with other ambassadors to conclude a peace with England (Cal. Documents relating to Scotland, iv. No. 1520), and he concluded a three years' truce at London on 3 July (ib. No. 1521). He was also ambassador to the English court in 1487 and in April 1488. After the defeat and death of James III he was forfeited at a parliament held at Edinburgh on 8 Oct. 1488, and the lordship of Bothwell was bestowed on Lord Hailes, who, on 17 Oct. 1488, was created Earl of Bothwell. Ramsay took refuge in England, where he was kindly received by Henry VII. At Easter 1488 he obtained from Henry a gift of 13l. 6s. 8d. (ib. iv. No. 1534), and at Michaelmas his wife received a gift of 20l. (ib. No. 1544). At Easter term 1489 twenty-five marks were paid him as annuity (ib. No. 1549); at Easter of the following year he wrote a letter reminding the authorities that his annuity was due (ib. No. 1560); and at Easter 1491 his annuity had increased to fifty marks (ib. No. 1598). In 1491, along with Sir Thomas Tod, he entered into an agreement to secure the person of the Scottish king, James IV, and his brother, the Duke of Ross, and to deliver them into the hands of Henry VII. To assist him in carrying out the scheme, Henry undertook to advance him a loan of 266l., which, however, was to be restored on a certain date if Ramsay failed to go on with his undertaking. For the fulfilment of this agreement Tod gave his son as hostage (ib. No. 1571). The project came to nothing, but Ramsay continued in the receipt of his annuity of fifty marks until at least Michaelmas 1496. It was probably about 1496 that Ramsay returned to Scotland, where he continued to act in the interests of England. He gave Henry a full account of the preparations for the invasion of England by the king of Scots in support of the claims of Perkin Warbeck (Letters of Ramsay in Pinkerton's Hist. of Scotland, ii. 438, 443, republished in Ellis's ‘Original Letters,’ 1st ser. i. 22–32); and he succeeded in inducing the king's brother, the Duke of Ross, to agree to act as opportunity might offer in the interests of England. He also projected the seizure of Warbeck at night in his tent, but the plot miscarried. The treacherous dealings of Ramsay appear never to have been discovered by the king of Scots, who ultimately received him into confidence. In 1497 he was in attendance on the king at Norham (Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, i. 354) and also at Kintyre (ib. p. 379). Although his title was not restored to him, he obtained on 17 April 1497 remission and rehabilitation under the great seal (Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1424–1513, No. 2348). On the 27th of the same month he obtained charters of the lands of Tealing and Polgavie, Forfarshire (ib. No. 2349); on 30 May 1498, of a house and garden in the Cowgate, Edinburgh (ib. No. 2412); on 13 Sept. of the lands of Terrenzeane, Ayrshire (ib. No. 2453); and on 6 Nov. 1500 of other lands in Edinburgh (ib. No. 2554). Finally, on 13 May 1510, he had a charter of the lands of Balmain and others in the county of Kincardine erected into a free barony, to be called the barony of Balmain (ib. No. 3460). Such was the trust placed in him by the king that, in connection with the negotiations preceding Flodden, he was sent in January 1512 as ambassador to Henry VIII (Letters and State Papers Henry VIII. ed. Gairdner, vol. i. No. 2069). He also went on similar missions in December 1512 (ib. No. 3569) and in January 1513 (ib. No. 3676). He died in 1513, leaving a son William Ramsay, whose son, Gilbert Ramsay of Balmain and Fasque, was created a baronet of Nova Scotia on 3 Sept. 1625. On the death, without issue, of Alexander, sixth baronet of Nova Scotia, 11 Feb. 1806, his kinsman, Thomas Ramsay, colonel in the East India service, became seventh baronet, but died without issue in 1830, when the Nova Scotia baronetcy became extinct. The estates of Sir Alexander Ramsay were left to his nephew, Alexander Burnett, son of Sir Thomas Burnett of Leys, baronet, by Catherine Ramsay, Sir Alexander Ramsay's sister, who assumed the surname and arms of Ramsay, and was father of Edward Bannerman Ramsay [q. v.]
[Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, vols. ix.–x.; Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. vol. i.; Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. i.; Cal. Documents relating to Scotland, vol. iv.; Letters and State Papers, Reign of Henry VIII, vol. i.; Ellis's Original Letters, 1st ser. vol. i.; Lyndsay of Pitscottie's Chronicle; Douglas's Scottish Peerage (Wood), i. 221–2.]