William Schaw
Schaw was described as the "clock-keeper" amongst followers of the King's favourite Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, while another man, the master hunter, John Hume was the keeper of "ratches", an old word meaning a kind of tenacious hunting scent hound.
[4] On 21 December 1583, James VI appointed Schaw principal Maister o' Wark (Master of Works) to the Crown of Scotland for life, with responsibility for all royal castles and palaces.
[5] The replacement of the incumbent Robert Drummond of Carnock with Schaw, known as a Roman Catholic, may have been a reaction to the Ruthven Raid that had removed Lennox from power.
[9] In 1588 Schaw was amongst a group of Catholics ordered to appear before the Edinburgh Presbytery, and English agents reported him as being a suspected Jesuit and holding anti-English views during the 1590s.
[11] An account of the baptism and banquet for Prince Charles on 23 December 1600 mentions that Schaw was absent, and the role of Master of Ceremonies was taken by two other men.
Some payments for Schaw's building work, at Falkland Palace and Stirling Castle are documented by exchequer vouchers in the National Records of Scotland.
[15] On 8 July 1601, James VI sent William to consult with Master John Gordon on the construction of a monument to the King's rescue from the Gowrie House conspiracy the previous year.
James VI wrote to Gordon that William would "conferre with yow thairanent, that ye maye agree upon the forme, devyse, and superscriptionis.
"[16] In March 1589, Schaw was granted £1000 Scots of tax money to begin repairs at Holyroodhouse in advance of the reception of the bride of James V, Anne of Denmark.
[19] He brought King James's letter written on 19 February at Kronborg to the Privy Council and his request that the Provost of Edinburgh, John Arnot, to supply him with a ship and good mariners.
James VI also asked the Provost of Edinburgh to provide Schaw with the "many good craftsmen" necessary to complete the repairs at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
[25] Schaw was also responsible for the elaborate ceremony greeting her arrival at Leith and the decoration of St Giles' Kirk with tapestry for her coronation.
[27] Schaw was involved in discussions with the Danish ambassadors Steen Bille and Niels Krag who came to Edinburgh in May 1593 to secure Anne of Denmark's property rights.
[28] On 6 July he was appointed as Chamberlain to the Lordship of Dunfermline,[29] which was an office of the household of Queen Anne,[18] where he worked closely with Alexander Seton and William Fowler.
He was said to have built a steeple, and a porch at the north door, added some of the external buttresses and fitted the interior for Presbyterian worship as a burgh and Parish church between 1594 and 1599.
[41] Mowbray, an erstwhile English agent, wounded Schaw with a rapier in a quarrel, was subsequently arrested for plotting against the king, and died following an escape attempt from Edinburgh Castle.
[43] His tomb in Dunfermline Abbey was constructed at the expense of his friend Alexander Seton and Queen Anne,[44] and survives with a lengthy Latin inscription recording Schaw's intellectual skills and achievements.
[45] The tomb inscription remains the most valuable source of biographic information, and was composed by Alexander Seton, translated it reads: This humble structure of stones covers a man of excellent skill, notable probity, singular integrity of life, adorned with the greatest of virtues – William Schaw, Master of the King's Works, President of the Sacred Ceremonies, and the Queen's Chamberlain.
Queen Anne ordered this monument to be erected to the memory of this most excellent and most upright man, lest his virtues, worthy of eternal commendation, should pass away with the death of his body.
These "territorial" lodges ran parallel to another set of civic organisations, incorporations, often linking masons with other workers in the building trades, such as wrights.
In places like Edinburgh, where the proliferation of wooden buildings meant a predominance of wrights, the territorial lodge offered a form of craft self-governance distinct from the incorporation.
"[54]Two letters were drawn up in 1600 and 1601 and involved the lodges of Dunfermline, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Aitchison's Haven and Haddington, and were signed by Schaw himself in his capacity of Master of Works (but not General Warden).
