William Danielstoun or Dennestoun was keeper of Linlithgow Palace for James V of Scotland.
Danielstoun was made keeper of Linlithgow Palace on 19 November 1540, replacing Thomas Johnston.David Hay Fleming, Register of the Privy Seal, 1529-1542, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1921), p. 553 no. 3691. His annual fee was £50 Scots.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 480.
He was a Bailie of Linlithgow and Sheriff-depute of Linlithgowshire.James Beveridge & Thomas Johnsoun, Protocol Books of Dominus Thomas Johnsoun (Edinburgh, 1920). He found some gold coins in Linlithgow in 1540.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), p. 246. James V granted him lands in Linlithgow on 6 December 1542, presumably rewarding him for his work at the palace for his wife. This was one of the last grants made by the king before his death.Register of the Privy Seal, 1513-1546, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1883), no. 2852.
Thomas Johnson had been supervising repair works at the palace. In April 1541, Danielstoun was paid for bringing timber to prop up the north quarter of the palace.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 415, 480. This part of the building eventually collapsed in 1607.The Spottiswoode Miscellany, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1844), p. 369: John Duncan Mackie, Calendar State Papers Scotland vol. 13 part 2 (Edinburgh, 1969), p. 623. Danielstoun completed some of the palace chimneys and re-roofed the chapel.James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 7 (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 456, 472.
Mary of Guise came to the palace for her confinement when pregnant with Mary, Queen of Scots and remained at Linlithgow until July 1543 when she moved to Stirling Castle.John Guy, My Heart is my Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots(London, 2004), p. 26. Details of her household at Linlithgow were recorded in the Latin household books of Regent Arran and the French records of the queen's household, including an allowance of coal and soap for her linen laundress Margaret Balcomie, repairs to make the fountain flow in June 1543, and furnishings packed for the move to Stirling.National Records of Scotland, NRS E32/8, E33/3.
After Mary, Queen of Scots, left the palace, Regent Arran made Matthew Hamilton, and then Robert Hamilton of Briggis, Keeper and Captain of Linlithgow Palace in August 1543.David Hay Fleming & James Beveridge, Register of the Privy Seal, 1542-1548, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 67 no. 460: James Balfour Paul, Accounts of the Treasurer, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1908), p. 223.
He had a son, James.Register of the Privy Seal, 1513-1546, vol. 3 (Edinburgh, 1883), no. 2358.
John Danielstoun, Parson of Dysart His brother, John Danielstoun, was Parson of Dysart. He signed an audit of an account of royal income in 1538.Athol L. Murray, "The Revenues of the Bishopric of Moray in 1538", Innes Review, 4 (Spring 1968), p. 56. After the death of James V, the wardrobe servant John Tennent delivered pictures from the royal collection to John Danielstoun on the orders of Regent Arran. The pictures taken by Danielstoun included Adam and Eve and other unspecified subjects. Danielstoun left behind a picture of Our Lady worked in silk and gold, and a picture of Lucretia.John G. Harrison, Wardrobe Inventories of James V: British Library MS Royal 18 C (Historic Scotland: Edinburgh, 2008)
Robert Danielstoun, Parson of Dysart (1551–1573) wrote an inscription in a book now held by the University of Aberdeen, "Robertus Danyelston a Dysert et amicorum. Spes fove".Diui Aurelii Augustini Hippone[n]sis episcopi Enarrationes siue commentarii in psalmos mysticos, (Paris, 1542): Aberdeen UL, (SC) BCL fAA347. The motto "spes fove" was used by one of the clerks writing the household accounts of James V.Andrea Thomas, Princelie Majestie (John Donald, 2005), p. 202-3.
References