Born on July 7, 1648, James Drummond was the son of James Drummond, 3rd Earl of Perth, and Lady Anne Gordon. His wife was Lady Jane Douglas, daughter of William Douglas, 1st Marquess of Douglas, whom he married at Holyroodhouse, January 10, 1670. He became the chief of Clan Drummond and 4th Earl of Perth upon the death of his father, June 2, 1675. Lord Perth also held the offices of lord justice-general and extraordinary lord of session. He was appointed lord high chancellor of Scotland in 1684.1 Although raised in the Protestant religion, upon the accession of the Catholic King James VII (King James II of England), he converted to the Catholic Faith. He was the great-grandson of Patrick, 3rd Lord Drummond, who had abandoned the Catholic religion for the Protestant one. It is said that he and his brother were converted to the true Faith after reading some papers found in the strong box of King Charles II, who himself had converted to the Catholic Faith on his deathbed.2 He used his position as chancellor of Scotland to help promote the Catholic Faith. Although importing items for use in Catholic worship and devotion was forbidden by law, statues of the saints, rosaries, crucifixes, chalices, vestments, and other items for the Mass were brought from the Continent to the earl. He then had a Catholic chapel outfitted in the chancellor's home.3 The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was regularly offered for the living and the dead. The Mass, the true spiritual strength for the Catholic, had returned to Edinburgh. Because of his Catholic Faith, and in consequence of his bringing the holy objects and the Mass to Edinburgh, a riot broke out. A mob of Protestants tore the bars off the window of the chancellor's home, the troops were called out, but the crowd merely pelted them with rocks; in return, the troops fired on the people, killing several citizens.4 After the Revolution of 1688 that forced King James VII to flee to France, Perth first fled to Drummond Castle, his ancestral home. It was James who had built the beautiful mansion house next to the old castle. In attempting to leave, the earl was cruelly taken to the common jail of Kirkcaldy, after which he was transferred to Stirling Castle and held a prisoner. For four years he endured this imprisonment. Regaining his freedom in 1693, he went to the Eternal City of Rome for two years, after which, King James VII asked the earl to join him at the Jacobite court at the Palace of St. Germains. Lord Perth was appointed first lord of the bedchamber, chamberlain to the queen and governor to the Prince of Wales, James Stuart.5 The king made James Drummond the 1st Duke of Perth, 1695, a title confirmed by King Louis XIV of France, 1701.6 James Drummond, 1st Duke and 4th Earl of Perth, died in the Catholic Faith at St. Germains on May 11, 1716.7 He was buried in the city of Paris. Copyright © 2004-2008 S. Archer 1
Burke,
John and Sir Bernard Burke. Burke's Genealogical and
Heraldic History of the Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage.
Ed. L.G. Pine. 101st ed. (London: Burke's Peerage
Limited, 1956) 1713. Note - The illustration of James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth (Copyright © University of Leicester), is used at ClanDrummond.com with the written permission of Dr. Andrew Lacey and the University of Leicester Library. It may not be copied or reproduced in any form. |
