“Were sub-Saharan Africans part of the court of James IV, King of Scots?”

Mairi Cowan, a lecturer at the University of Toronto raised this question in 2013.¹ Her question and study helped answer my own question, “Where did my 0.1% sub-Saharan African DNA come from?”

Using a 23&me program, and Family Search, I traced my small fragment of African DNA on my chromosome 11 to my fifth great-grandmother, Jean Mitchell, born in 1755, Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. The story of how my African ancestors arrived in Scotland began centuries earlier.

War on the high seas

In 1476, Capitan John Barton and his crew were voyaging from Flanders, homeward bound toward Scotland. His merchant ship, the Juliana, was laden with valuable cargo. Suddenly, two armed Portuguese vessels launched an attack upon them. Barton and his crew put up substantial resistance. Nevertheless, the pirates captured the ship.² Some of the crew were killed and many were wounded. They thrust Barton and other survivors into a fishing boat and cut it adrift.³

Barton went to Lisbon to seek redress for his losses.² The court trifled with or evaded the matter.  John persisted in the effort and was murdered.³

King James III, also made attempts to persuade Alfonso V, King of Portugal in the case. These efforts also were unsuccessful. The king, therefore, granted a letter of marque to John Barton’s three sons, Andrew, Robert and John Jr. Thus granting them authority to seize Portuguese vessels and cargoes until they had made good their father’s losses valued at £6,000.² Today (2021), about £4,485,000 or $5,750,000.⁴

Andrew was the most active brother capturing richly laden Portuguese ships returning from India and Africa. Of course, the Portuguese were quick to retaliate and for years, a war on the high seas ensued between the Barton privateers and the Portuguese.²

“Moor Taubroner” an African drummer taken from a Portuguese ship

The Barton brothers imported into the port at Leith, damask cloth, timber and other valuable cargo for King James IV.⁵ Their raids on Portuguese ships built their reputation as famous privateers.

Historians believe that the privateers captured Peter the Moor during a raid of a Portuguese cargo ship.⁶ The earliest reference to “the Moreyn” in Scotland was in 1501.¹ “Moore Taubroner”, an African drummer, is often mentioned in the accounts of James IV. Historians believe he is Peter the Moor.⁷

King James IV was a fun-loving, enthusiastic king with numerous interests. He welcomed and enjoyed the company of popular artists and singers. His official records provide accounts of “lively entertainment” that took place in the royal court.⁶ The drummer travelled with the king to provide entertainment at various locations in the country. The shows also included fiddlers, lutists and four Italian “menstrales”.^1,5

Peter the Moor was free to travel. At one time he was given five French crowns, at the king’s request, for a journey to France. Moor Taubroner had a family, and records mention a payment to the his wife and child.⁵ They also paid a doctor 35 shillings to attend to his needs for two weeks. Peter the Moor continued to appear in royal records until August 1504, when he received a large and final payment of £3, presumably to go find work elsewhere.^1,6  (£3 has a 2021US equivalent of about $2875.)⁴

“Moorish lasses” presented to King James IV in 1506

In 1506, the Barton privateers created quite a sensation when they arrived a Leith with their prize. Some historians believe that within their capture were two negro maids carried off from the west coast of Africa to be sold as slaves.² According to contemporary records, they had been “rescued” from a Portuguese ship.⁵ The two “Moorish lasses”, as they were called, were presented to the king. Though considered slaves, in keeping with other European courts,¹ a much more kindly destiny was in store for them.²

King James IV accepted them as a gift and took great interest in their welfare. They were incorporated into the queen’s household, converted to Christianity and baptized as Margaret and Hellen. One of the women, (Hellen it is believed), became an attendant of the queen described as the “Quenis blak madin”.⁵

The exotic lady then won a position reserved for the most beautiful member of the court. She won the leading role in the medieval play, “The Justing of the Wild Knight for the Black Lady”.  The king himself played the part of the Wild Knight.^1,5 He overcomes the opposing forces to win her hand. The kings tournaments were magnificent and expensive spectacles held in June 1507 and again in May 1508.⁵

The Moors at Stirling Castle, 1549

Kings, James IV, V and VI of the Stewart Dynasty constructed Stirling Castle between 1490 and 1600. James IV died in battle and his successor, seventeen-month-old James V, was crowned in 1513.

James V grew up in Stirling Castle under the guardianship of Lord Erskine. He also died young, and his widow, Mary of Guise continued the unfinished work. Their infant daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots, was brought to Stirling Castle for safety. She was crowned queen there on 9 September 1543. In 1548, the five year old queen was sent to France while Scotland was ruled by regents.⁸

The “Morys”, (Moors) were living at Stirling Castle in 1549. Historian John Harrison studied “The Bread Book” at Stirling Castle. The book tells how white rolls “pain de bouche” and light brown wheaten rolls “pain commun” were made daily by the queen’s baker. They distributed bread loaves to lords and ladies, military officers, servants, muleteers and the palace cleaner. Records show that they often granted a loaf of bread to the Moors.⁹

In a 2010 article, Harrison said he believed these Moors were black Africans or Arabs from North Africa. He said that historians dismissed previous hints of Africans in Scotland’s pageants as Scots just costumed and blacked up. “Just who the Moors were, and what they were doing is difficult to say. They were quite low in the court hierarchy, but were part of the household and getting bread at royal expense”.⁹

Earl of Mar became hereditary governor of Stirling castle in 1566.

Queen Mary returned to Scotland in 1561 and married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. They had a son, James VI in 1566. John, Lord Erskine, the Earl of Mar became hereditary governor of the castle in 1566.

After the death of Darnley in February 1567, Queen Mary married James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. Many believed he orchestrated Darnley’s death which caused an uprising against the couple. On July 24, 1567 Mary abdicated in favor of her son, James VI.¹⁰

Lord Erskine, the Earl of Mar became guardian for the infant king. When Mary escaped from Lochleven Castle in May 1568, they ordered the Earl to step up security at Stirling around the king and expel from the castle all but his closest friends and relatives.¹⁰ It is likely the Moors had to leave Stirling Castle at this time. Even though there was a Moor associated with the royal household in the 1590s during the reign of James VI.⁹

James Frazer, “of a black complexion”, Alloa, 1777

Stirling Castle is six miles from Aloa, Clackmannanshire. John Erskine, born in Alloa in 1675, was the 6th Earl of Mar. He created industrial Alloa, developing the town as a coal-mining center. Erskine, a leader of the failed Jacobite uprising of 1715, died in exile. His brother later purchased the forfeited estates and restored them to the Erskine family.¹¹

Evidence that descendants of the Moors of King James IV lived in Alloa Clackmannanshire showed up in an ad in the Newcastle Courant, September 6, 1777. The ad offered a reward of two guineas for information leading to the apprehension of James Frazer. Frazer, a twenty-two-year-old black man, was a valuable pitman, “belonging to John Francis Erskine, Esquire of Marr” He had run away from the Alloa Colliery.¹²

“Run Off, from Alloa Colliery, Clackmannanshire, North Britain, belonging to John Francis Erskine, Esq., of Marr.”

“James Frazer, abound pitman, aged about 22, wore his own hair, of a black complexion, stout made, very much in-kneed. Whoever gives any information, so as to apprehend the said James Frazer, either to Mr Nelson, the Black Bull and Post-Boy, or William Ritchie, at the Edinburgh Tea Warehouse, Newcastle, shall have two guineas reward.” [Newcastle Courant 6 September 1777]¹²

23&me Advanced DNA Comparisons

Advanced DNA Comparisons, a 23&me program, compares and matches your DNA with  your relatives. It will show exactly where on your chromosomes you match. When two or more people match at the same location, they have a certain ancestor in common.

My West Africa DNA came from Agnes Izatt Adams

My 23&me test results show that 99% of my DNA is from Great Britain and Scandinavia. No surprise. However, the small segment of sub-Saharan African DNA on Chromosome 11 was very interesting. Where did it come from? Was my African ancestor from my father or my mother’s line?

One day while exploring my chromosome 11, I found a relative who matched with the same chromosome location and same 0.1% Western African DNA. My relative listed his family surnames, so I recognized immediately that he was my third cousin. Our common ancestors are Alexander S. Izatt and Jeanette Williamson. This means that I inherited this DNA segment from their daughter, my great-grandmother Agnes Izatt Adams born in 1866.

My family tree in FamilySearch showed that all ancestors in my Izatt-Williamson lines were born in Scotland. There were no hints of any African ancestry. After months of useless speculation, I knew I had to find a more distant ancestor.

John Dick Thomson and Agnes Izatt (4th cousins), share common ancestor.

By comparing all of my relatives who also have DNA matches with my third cousin, I found two more matches on chromosome 11. They were a brother and a sister who are my fifth cousins once removed. Their father and grandfather were born in Scotland. Their grandfather was John Dick Thomson.

There was no family tree connection between myself and John Dick Thomson. However, from the DNA matches, I was 100% certain there was a family connection somewhere beyond my second great-grandparents Izatt-Williamson. The connection was not known, so I had to find it.

John Dick Thomson’s mother was Mary Paterson. I found that my fifth great-grandmother, Jean Mitchell, had a sister, Janet. Janet Mitchell married James Paterson and they had two sons, Alexander Paterson and William Paterson.

Bingo! I then knew our common ancestors were Jean and Janet’s parents, Alexander Mitchell and Agnes Michie.

Now, all I had to do was prove it!

My task was to connect either Alexander Paterson or William Paterson with an apparent granddaughter, Mary Paterson. After several grueling hours of Scottish genealogical research, I was able to present a well documented connection.

Two hundred years in Alloa, Clackmannanshire

An act of Parliament in 1606 bound coal miners in Scotland, and their families, to the owner of the colliery in which they worked. This act made coal miners and their families virtual slaves to the land owners.¹² It stated that:

“no person should fee, hire or conduce and salters, colliers or coal bearers without a written authority from the master whom they had last served”. Therefore, a collier lacking such written authority could be “reclaimed” by his former master “within a year and a day”.

This law was class slavery and applied to all races. It continued in Scotland until 1799 when an Act was passed that all colliers were “to be free from their servitude”.¹²

Coal mining began in Clackmannanshire about 1710, which explains why our family remained in Clackmannanshire for two hundred years. Our common ancestors, Alexander Mitchell and Agnes Michie were born in 1727 and 1729. Alexander married Agnes on September 1, 1741 in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland.

Genealogical records show these two families had lived in Alloa for many generations. The Michie paternal line goes back four more generations to Alexander Mitchie born 1605. He married Margaret Wardlaw in 1626, Clackmannanshire, Scotland. The record of the Mitchell paternal line goes back five generations to John Mitchell. He was born in 1591 in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, near the foot of Stirling Castle during the reign of the Scottish King James VI.¹³

King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England on March 24, 1603.

Summary of our African ancestors

DNA evidence presented by The Chamberlain Story website confirms historical research findings that suggest sub-Saharan Africans were members of the royal court of James IV, King of Scotland.

In the early 1500s, our African ancestor was kidnapped in Africa and sold to Portuguese slave traders . According to 23&me this person was from West Africa, either Senegambian & Guinean or Nigerian.

Scottish Privateers, the Barton brothers, attacked the Portuguese ship.  They captured the Africans, and took them to Scotland, and presented them as a gift to King James IV.

In the king’s court, they served as entertainers, traveling and interacting with the king. The king paid them were and treated quite well. After their employment with the king, they and their families lived in Stirling Castle for about two generations, where they were likely employed as servants.

The queen’s mother, Mary of Guise, was very inclusive and interacted with the commoners. The “Moors” knew and possibly cared for Mary Queen of Scots at Stirling Castle until she was five years old. The Regents sent Mary off to live in France in 1548.

Eventually, the “Moors” left Stirling Castle, probably during a time of the turmoil in 1568, and made their home in Alloa, Clackmannanshire. The Erskine family and the Earls of Mar owned the land.

Coal mining began in Clackmannanshire about 1710. Our ancestors had to work in the coal mines under the harshest conditions. Bound to the Erskine family, men, women and children had to work the mines six days a week.

Jean Mitchell was about ten generations from her ancestor kidnapped in Africa. Undoubtedly, her DNA was a blend of both black and white races.

Connection to the Izatt family line

On August 8, 1778 William Izatt married Jean Mitchell in Alloa. They were the first generation to leave Clackmannanshire. Their grandsons, William and Andrew Izatt, were Scottish coal miners. A mining explosion killed Andrew in 1850. William and his family went to America in 1862. See their story beginning with  Chapter E13.

Other Links:

Summary Page 4- Alexander Spowart Izatt Family History

Summary Page 3- Other DNA Studies

Dr. Catherine Mills’ research project about the legacies of coal mining in Clackmannanshire.

© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, All rights reserved. The Chamberlain Story, 2021.

References

1- Mairi Cowan, Moors at the Court of James IV, King of Scots, https:www.medievalists.net/2013
2-Leith’s Sea-Dogs: The Fighting Bartons, https://electricscotland.com/history/leith/17.htm
3- Barton Historical & Genealogical Society Database, Capt. John Barton, https://www.bartondatabase.com
4- Measuring Worth.com
5- Jennifer Melville, Africans at the court of James IV, https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/
6- King James IV of Scotland, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_IV_of_Scotland
7- Africans in the Scottish Royal Court
8- Stirling Castle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_Castle
9- History of Stirling Castle becomes a little Moorish, The Herald, 26 Jan 2010
10- Mary Queen of Scots, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Queen_of_Scots
11- The Bobbing John, https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/
12- http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/8.html Early Mining History
13- Familysearch.org