Lilias Grant

Lady Lilias Grant (née Murray d. 1643/4) was a Scottish letter-writer and matriarch of the Grant clan of Freuchie. Family background Lady Lilias Murray was the second daughter of Sir John Murray of Tullibardine, Master of the King's Household, who in 1606 was created Earl of Tullibardine, and his wife, Catherine Drummond, daughter of David Lord Drummond. According to the titles of poems by James VI, her sister Anne Murray was the king's mistress. Wedding at Tullibardine The marriage-contract of Lilias Murray and John Grant Laird of Freuchie was dated at Gask on 15 April 1591. An eighteenth-century author Lachlan Shaw stated that King James the Sixth and his Queen attended the marriage. James attended and performed in a masque with his valet, probably John Wemyss of Logie. They wore Venetian carnival masks and helmets with red and pink taffeta costumes, made by the Edinburgh tailor Alexander Miller. James had taken dancing lessons in 1580. James returned to Edinburgh, and Anne of Denmark went on to Perth alone, where on 29 June she made a ceremonial entry to the town. While the king was at the wedding on 21 and 22 June at Tullibardine Castle, Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell escaped from Edinburgh Castle. In early modern Scotland married women did not usually adopt their husband's surnames. She continued to be called "Lilias Murray" after her marriage. One of her brothers was killed at battle of Glenlivet in 1594.