Genealogy Richard Remmé, The Hague, Netherlands » John Lyon 2nd Earl of Kinghorne (1596-1647)

Personal data John Lyon 2nd Earl of Kinghorne 

• He was born on August 13, 1596.
• He died on May 12, 1647, he was 50 years old.
• He is buried in Glamis Castle, Angus, Scotland.
• A child of Patrick Lyon and Anne Murray
• This information was last updated on December 4, 2022.

Household of John Lyon 2nd Earl of Kinghorne

He is married to Elisabeth Maule.

They got married on August 25, 1641 at Kinghorne, Fife, Scotland, he was 45 years old.

Child(ren):

1. Patrick Lyon  1643-1695 
2. Elizabeth Lyon   

Notes about John Lyon 2nd Earl of Kinghorne

     The 2nd Earl of Kinghorne, it is said, 'coming to his inheritance
the wealthiest peer in Scotland, he left it the poorest'. This was largely because of his friendship with James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, with whom he joined forces. Montrose was at first a fierce Covenanter (against Popery and episcopacy) but later became more of a Royalist. There came a point when Kinghorne's conscience forced him to part company from his old friend when the latter took up arms against the Covenanters, and to throw in his lot against him. He even helped finance the Covenanting army against Montrose and thus beggared himself in the process.

     In 1606, William Shakespeare wrote and staged his Scottish play ' Macbeth '. It was a tragedy with as much dramatic content as he could include. The plot is generally considered to contain some non-Shakespearian material and was almost certainly written to be performed for James VI and I, patronage, as ever, being extremely important. According to Holinshed, author of ' The Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland ' in 1587, King James was supposed to be a descendant of Banquo, the Scottish general and companion of Macbeth. Holinshed believed that Banquo was the founder of the House of Stuart. It was well known that James had a fascination for the occult and witches in particular. During his reign, hundreds were burnt to death. It is possible that Shakespeare himself may have visited Glamis, although there is no record of it. We do know that in 1599 he travelled with a theatre company to Aberdeen, Queen Elizabeth of England having dispatched the company to perform for James VI. If this is correct, Shakespeare is likely to have heard the many ghost stories surrounding Glamis and the story of the burning of the 6th Lady Glamis in Edinburgh (see Burned at the Stake! in the history section). Shakespeare may also have learned of the Glamis family's royal connections. Another explanation for the inclusion of Glamis in the play is the confirmed presence of the 1st Earl of Kinghorne at the court of King James VI and I in London, where he may well have met Shakespeare. There are many references to Glamis in the play. However, Shakespeare had little regard for historical fact and was more interested in writing dramatic entertainment. Macbeth is titled ' Thane of Glamis ' in Act I Scene iii several times, and again in Scene V by Lady Macbeth herself :

' Glamis thou art, and Cawdor;
  and shalt be what thou art promised.
  Yet do I fear your nature;
  it is too full of the milk of human kindness to catch the nearest way;
  thou wouldst be great, art not without ambition;
  but without the illness should attend it;
  what thou wouldst highly, that wouldst thou holily;
  wouldst not play false, and yet wouldst wrongly win;
  thou'dst have, great Glamis...'

Research would have shown Shakespeare that neither Glamis nor Cawdor were thaneages in the 11th century. Indeed, Glamis makes its first appearance as a thaneage in 1264. Also, modern historians tend to give King Macbeth a much better report than the play suggests. He ruled a major part of Scotland for 17 years and died in 1057 at Lumphanan, 25 miles west of Aberdeen, not at Dunsinane as Shakespeare would have us believe. And what of the infamous bloody murder of Duncan by Macbeth? Unfortunately, this also is Shakespeare's invention, Duncan having almost certainly been killed in battle with Macbeth near Elgin.

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Timeline John Lyon 2nd Earl of Kinghorne

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