Grisel Meldrum, Lady of the Mount.

 

They say patience is a virtue and for we researchers who perhaps err on the overly conservative side, it is an aspect of our approach which is well worth the rewards when evidence to conclusively prove a point of genealogy finally comes to hand. A case in point is the identity of the father and ancestry of Grisel Meldrum, wife of Sir David Lindsay of the Mount, Lord Lyon King of Arms, nephew, namesake and successor to his more illustrious uncle who died sans issue in 1555. An absence of evidence to prove that particular Lady of the Mount's parentage has been a not infrequent point of discussion with those with an interest in that family and often they have said to me  that she "must have" and "can only have been" a daughter of Meldrum of Seggie. While not disagreeing that a descent from that family was likely, whether a daughter of a laird of Seggie, or otherwise nearly related in some degree, I refused to commit to on the basis of not having viewed records which proved that point one way or another. In the end, patient prevailed and the entry below recorded in the 50th register of the first series of Acts and Decreets finally yielded the required evidence which refers to the marriage of David Lindsay, eldest son and heir of Alexander Lindsay of the Mount, one the one part and "Maist[e]r George Meldrum, Burgess in Craill and Grisell Meldrum his douchter" on the other.

What of this "Master George Meldrum"? Conveniently, several writs already discovered during prior research proved his parentage: on 10 January 1547/48, he was bailie to a Sasine in favour of his father, Mr. Thomas Meldrum of Seggie, and he witnessed a subsequent charter by his father conveying the lands of Seggie to the grandson and heir, James Meldrum, on 20 March 1563. Master George had settled in Crail with his wife, Christina Ramsay, by 20 June 1556 when they were infeft in a tenement with garden there upon Sasine of that date, and by her he had issue; a son, also George, who following his father's death, was served heir to him in the lands of Drumloche on 21 February 1581, and the daughter Grisel, wife of Sir David Lindsay of the Mount. 

In the end the presumption of Lady Mount's descent from Meldrum of Seggie was correct but it is the accuracy of that relationship which is of importance as it gives precision and, therefore, proper context to that and all other relationships paternal, maternal and in-law stemming from it. 

 

NRS CS7/50/134r-v.