Margaret Hartsyde or Hairtsyde (died 1642) was a Scottish servant and landowner accused of a theft of jewels. As a servant of the queen, Anne of Denmark, Hartsyde's duties included looking after the royal jewels, dealing with the goldsmith George Heriot, and handling large sums of money.Archibald Constable, Memoirs of George Heriot (Edinburgh, 1822), pp. 207-209.
Servant of a queen Margaret Hartsyde was a daughter of Malcolm Hartsyde of Kirkwall, Orkney.Walter Bell, 'Armorial Stone at Carrick House', PSAS (1908), p. 239: Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 1634-1651 (Edinburgh, 1897), pp. 500-2 no. 1344. She is first recorded as one of the serving women in Anne of Denmark's chamber in 1601.National Records of Scotland GD16/31/6. She came with the queen to England at the Union of the Crowns in 1603. When the court moved to Winchester in September 1603, to avoid plague in London, Anne of Denmark ordered fabrics for new clothes for Hartsyde and other women who had made the journey from Scotland, including Anne Livingstone, Margaret Stewart, and Jean Drummond.Jemma Field, Anna of Denmark: Material and Visual Culture of the Stuart Courts (Manchester, 2020), pp. 123, 146 fn. 21.
In 1603, the French ambassador, the Marquis de Rosny, gave Anne of Denmark a mirror of Venice crystal in a gold box set with diamonds, and a gold table clock with diamonds to Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford, and a gold box with the French king's portrait to Lady Rich. Rosny also gave a diamond ring to "Margaret Aisan, a favourite lady of the queen's bedchamber". This may have been Margaret Hartsyde. The ambassador had recognised her importance although she lacked the aristocratic status of the other women.Memoirs of the Duke of Sully, vol. 2 (London, 1890), p. 421, "fille de chambre". The nuance of a gift to such a minor courtier as "Margaret Aisan" was noted by older historians, including Nathaniel Wraxall.Nathaniel Wraxall, History of France, vol. 6 (London, 1814), pp. 212-3.
In December 1603 Arbella Stuart discussed with Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury the delicate issue of buying New Year's Day gifts for Anne of Denmark. Stuart recommended asking Hartsyde because she was discreet, and would let her "understand the Queenes minde with out knowing who asked it".Sarah Gristwood, Arbella: England's Lost Queen (London: Bantam, 2004), p. 282: Sara Jayne Steen, Letters of Arbella Stuart (Oxford, 1994), pp. 194-5. The role of chamberers and chamber women in giving valuable advice to gift-givers can be seen in records of the court of Elizabeth I, and conferred prestige and power.Adam Eaker, The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England (New York, 2023), p. 111: Catherine L. Howey, 'Dressing a Virgin Queen', Early Modern Women, 4 (Fall 2009), pp. 201–208.
Anne's Scottish secretary William Fowler complained to Sir Robert Cecil about "Margaret", one of the queen's servants, meaning Margaret Hartsyde.Alison Findlay, Playing Spaces in Early Women's Drama (Cambridge, 2006), p. 118. Fowler was clearly jealous of her position and claimed that paperwork sent for Anne to sign was delayed by her women, and "Margaret" had too much authority, and was able to prompt the queen to act for others and "importune procurers".HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 16 (London, 1933), pp. ix, 114-5: Alison Findlay, Playing Spaces in Early Women's Drama (Cambridge, 2006), p. 118.Henry Meikle, Works of William Fowler, 3 (Edinburgh: STS, 1940), xxxiv
One of her letters to Sir William Livingstone of Kilsyth described how Anne of Denmark was surprised by his leaving the court, and had expected him to deliver a jewel to her which he ought to send to queen as soon as possible. She was hoping to buy a house in Libberton in Lanarkshire with her husband.Archibald Constable, Memoirs of George Heriot (Edinburgh, 1822), pp. 207-209.
The Privy Council suggested economies in the royal households by reducing the amount of food allowed in October 1605. Food allowances were assigned to individual members of the household in "messes" and "dishes". The allowance for one aristocratic courtier, Jean Drummond was a "diet of 7 dishes" and this might be reduced to the "chamber mess of two" which other ladies at court received. Evidently Drummond enjoyed special favour and had a number of servants and followers. Margaret Hartsyde's allowance, though not as generous as Drummond's, was also proposed to be reduced, from "4 dishes of meat".HMC Salisbury Hatfield, vol. 17 (London, 1938), p. 463.
Hartsyde handled large sums of money, and in 1606 paid the goldsmith George Heriot £500 towards the queen's bill for jewels. In 1607 Heriot gave Hartsyde a ring worth £30 for the queen, and wrote in his account that she had told him the purchase was "by her Majesty's direction", evidence that Hartsyde was trusted with the queen's business.Archibald Constable, Memoirs of George Heriot (Edinburgh, 1822), pp. 205, 207-8.
Marriage Hartsyde married one of King James's servants, John Buchanan, a sergeant of the king's buttery, before 11 August 1603, when they were given a joint pension of 100 marks annually.Mary Anne Everett Green, CSP. Domestic, 1603-1610, p. 31: A page of the bedchamber to Anne of Denmark was named as "Thomas Buchanan", he was replaced by John Allen, CSP Domestic, Addenda 1580-1625, p. 536 citing TNA SP15/40 f.54. John Buchanan was a son of Robert Buchanan of Leny near Callander.John Guthrie Smith, Strathendrick, and its inhabitants from early times, p. 293.
Acquisition of lands and property In September 1604, Dudley Fortescue of Chilton in Suffolk hanged himself at Blunt's Hall in Little Wratting. As a suicide, his property and goods were forfeited to the crown. King James awarded his goods to Margaret Hartsyde, and the Privy Council wrote to Sir Nicholas Bacon to make sure she got full benefit.Diarmaid MacCulloch, Letters from Redgrave Hall (Suffolk Record Society, Boydell, 2007), pp. 82-3 nos. 132, 133. Hartsyde received a cash gift from Robert Sidney, the queen's chamberlain. His steward noted her name as "Mrs Hartshead".Francis Grose, Antiquarian Repertory, 1 (London, 1807), 284.
Margaret Hartsyde and her husband acquired lands in Scotland, possibly exciting jealousy by their rise in status.Robert Chambers, Domestic Annals of Scotland, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1859), p. 413. This included a plot of land close to the back gate of Holyrood Palace, which they obtained from the royal carpenter and architect John Murray in April 1606.Register of the Privy Seal of Scotland, 1634-1651 (Edinburgh, 1897), p. 466 no. 1242. On 12 June 1606 Anne of Denmark gave them a charter for the Mains of Edmonston near Niddrie and Cauldcotts, lands in the Musselburgh portion of her Dunfermline Abbey estate.Cosmo Innes, Registrum de Dunfermelyn (Edinburgh, 1842), p. 499 John Buchanan was made a burgess of Edinburgh in August 1606 and the town gave him a gold angel coin for spices and wine for a celebratory banquet.Marguerite Wood, Extracts from the Burgh Records of Edinburgh, 1604-1626 (Edinburgh, 1931), p. 22.
Arrest and scandal Margaret Hartsyde stole jewels and peals from Anne in London and attempted to sell them back to George Heriot.Maria Steuart, "Scots Pearls", Scottish Historical Review, 18 (Glasgow, 1921), p. 292. The French ambassador Antoine Lefèvre de la Boderie gave an account of the story in a letter of 30 October 1607. He said that Margaret Hartsyde had obtained permission to leave court and visit her friends in Scotland. As soon as she left, she was accused of making speeches against the King and Queen. King James was outraged. She was arrested in Scotland and was found to have 30,000 Écu in silver or jewels. Boderie heard she would be executed. He heard that Anne of Denmark regretted Hartsyde's involvement with her brother, Ulrik of Denmark (1578–1624), during his last visit to England. He thought there was a wider "aromatic" scandal.Ambassades de Monsieur de La Boderie, 2 (Paris, 1750), pp. 414–416.
Trial and sentencing Margaret Hartsyde was sent for trial in Edinburgh and convicted of "unlawful subracting and detening" in June 1608, even though she had signed a confession. It was alleged she had concealed stolen jewels by adding them to the costumes of the royal children's dolls,Archibald Constable, Memoirs of George Heriot (Edinburgh, 1822), p. 207 in the phrase of the time, "to busk babeis".Pitcairn, Ancient Criminal Trials, p. 553.
She was not sentenced to death but banishment to Orkney was proposed. John Buchanan was found not guilty. King James and Anne of Denmark were displeased by this verdict. The king's advocate Thomas Hamilton and the Privy Council wrote to King James on 24 June saying that Hartsyde had the best lawyers in Edinburgh on her side, including Thomas Hope, and that in clearing her of a charge of "theft", the assize had "very far mistaken their duty." He recommended the king order her "to be declared infamous in all time coming" as "a restraint and terror to all other servants".Melros Papers, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1837), pp. 49-51.
Anne of Denmark had hoped Hartsyde would be convicted and condemned by the laws of Scotland and wrote to Lord Balmerino expressing her disappointment.HMC 9th Report (Lord Elpinstone), part 2 (London, 1884), p. 105 (now National Records of Scotland). The jewels, it was claimed, had been a gift from the queen. It was rumoured that Margaret had been indiscreet with the queen's secrets, revealing what a "wise chambermaid" would not have done.Robert Pitcairn, Ancient Criminal Trials in Scotland, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1833), pp. 544-557.William Fraser, Haddington vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1889), pp. 101-2.Archibald Constable, Memoirs of George Heriot (Edinburgh, 1823), 208-9.James Balfour, Annals: The Historical Works of James Balfour, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1824), p. 26. King James wrote to lawyers in Edinburgh querying their judgement, calling them "pettyfoggeris", and ordered the Privy Council to interview anyone who had set their hands to the case.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council, 1607 -1610, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 79-80.
The Privy Council replied to King James on 18 August 1608. They did not then have a statement from the lawyers at the trial and so could not begin a formal process or challenge against them.James Maidment, Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James the Sixth (Edinburgh, 1838), p. 147. A second hearing in Linlithgow pronounced Hartsyde guilty of an "infamous" crime against the royal persons, and she was imprisoned in Blackness Castle.David Masson, Register of the Privy Council, 1607 -1610, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 516-7.
Appeals and intercession for John Buchanan