John Lindsay, 1st Lord Lindsay of The Byres
1395 - 1482 (86 years)-
Name John Lindsay Title 1st Lord Lindsay of The Byres Birth 27 Dec 1395 East Lothian, Scotland 
Gender Male FSID MCSP-ZK8 Burial 1482 Scotland Death 6 Feb 1482 East Lothian, Scotland Person ID I517 footsteps Last Modified 1 Jul 2025
Father William Lindsay, 2nd Lord of the Byres , b. Abt 1359, East Lothian, Scotland d. 1 Jul 1414, Linlithgowshire, Scotland (Age 55 years) Relationship natural Mother Christiana Keith, b. 1 Mar 1363, East Lothian, Scotland d. Abt 1435, East Lothian, Scotland (Age 71 years) Relationship natural Marriage Mar 1363 Kincardineshire, Scotland Family ID F624 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family Agnes Stewart, b. Apr 1407, Argyleshire, Scotland d. 1477, East Lothian, Scotland (Age 69 years) Marriage Abt 1425 East Lothian, Scotland Children + 1. Christian Elizabeth Lindsay, Lady , b. Abt 1430, East Lothian, Scotland d. 11 Mar 1496, Dumfries-shire, Scotland (Age 66 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]+ 2. John Lindsay, 3rd Lord of the Byres , b. 1435, East Lothian, Scotland d. 26 Oct 1498, East Lothian, Scotland (Age 63 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]+ 3. Patrick Lindsay Of Kirkforthar, 4th Lord of the Byres , b. 1439, East Lothian, Scotland d. 8 Mar 1526, Orkney Islands, Scotland (Age 87 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]+ 4. Margaret Lindsay, b. Abt 1445, Scotland d. Aft 12 Jul 1481, Scotland (Age > 36 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]+ 5. Jean Lindsay, b. 1454, East Lothian, Scotland d. Yes, date unknown [Father: natural] [Mother: natural]Family ID F618 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 1 Jul 2025
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Notes
In 1424 he was a hostage for King James I's ransom by the English. He w a s c r e a ted 1st Lord Lindsay of the Byres [SCOTLAND] circa October 1444. H e h e l d t h e office of Justiciar of Scotland, North of the Forth in 1457. H e h e l d t h e office of a Lord of Session in March 1457/58.
In 1378 Squire Alexander Ramsay of Dalhousie with only 50 men seized Be r w i c k c astle from the English by scaling the walls at night. The surpri s e d g a r rison, thinking a large Scots army was attacking, abandoned thei r p o s t s a nd fled to the town of Berwick. However the tables were quickl y t u r n e d when the English garrison called on the Percy family of Northu mb e r l a nd with a huge army to besiege Berwick castle.
Ramsay called on help from his two Uncles Archibald 'the Grim' Douglas a n d L o r d L yndsay of Byres castle. However these two Lords were only able t o m u s t e r 500 men at Haddington at such short notice to march on Berwick .
As Douglas and Lyndsay's army approached Berwick scouts reported the En g l i s h a rmy encircled around the castle numbered 10,000 with archers, si e g e e n g ines, heavy horse and ships blockading the river. There was no a v e n u e f or their nephew Ramsay to escape as any attempt to create a dive r s i o n w ould be suicidal.
As Douglas and Lyndsay reluctantly withdrew towards Melrose they were p u r s u e d and attacked by some of the English heavy horse. Fortunately for D o u g l a s and Lyndsay they were aided to victory by the arrival of the Dou g l a s e s of Tantallon castle. the Dunbars of Dunbar castle and their vass a l s t h e G ordons. Despite this surprise victory Berwick fell back into t h e h a n d s of the English and all the Scots garrison killed apart from Ra m s a y w h o was held to ransom.
In 1513 Lord Lyndsays of Byres fought bravely at Flodden but the Scots w e r e c o m pletely routed and King James IV of Scots (1488-1513) killed.
During the English invasions of fire and sword from 1544-1550, known as t h e w a r s o f the 'Rough Wooing' to force the marriage of the infant Mary Q u e e n o f S cots to the English Prince Edward, it may be that Byres castle w a s s l i g hted in 1548 while t h e English built a huge earth and timber f o r t a t H a ddington. However the orchard tower escaped this destruction a n d r e m a ins an intriguing ruin.