James Mor Stewart

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James Mór Stewart, also known as James the Fat, was born around 1400 in Scotland, the youngest son of Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany, and Isabella of Lennox. After his father and brothers were executed for treason in 1425, James led a rebellion against King James I. He burned the town of Dumbarton and killed the keeper of Dumbarton Castle, but the castle held out. The rebellion failed, and James fled to Ireland to live in exile.

In 1429 a plan was made to sail a fleet to bring him back to Scotland so he could be king, but he died in Ireland before the fleet sailed. His eldest son, James “Beag” Stewart, later gained a royal pardon and returned to Scotland, becoming an ancestor of the Stewarts of Ardvorlich.

James’s brother Walter was executed in 1425; Walter’s son Andrew Stewart later became 1st Lord Avondale and, in 1459, Lord Chancellor of Scotland. Not much is known about James before his father’s arrest, but the Albany estates, including Doune Castle and Falkland Palace, were seized and the family was imprisoned.

James had supporters in Lennox and from the Bishop of Argyll, and he was helped by the Clan Galbraith. About 600 Galbraiths fled into exile and took the name MacBhreatneaich (son of the Briton).

After the failed rebellion, James fled to Antrim, Ireland, with the sons of his dead brother Walter and never returned to Scotland. In Ireland, he is said to have had a long-time partner with the surname MacDonald, and they had seven illegitimate children.

His mother, Isabella of Lennox, was imprisoned after the executions but was released in 1437 after the death of King James I. She later governed parts of Loch Lomond from Inchmurrin and helped raise her grandchildren there.