Alexander Livingston of Phildes

Alexander of Feldes or Phildes, Perthshire was Constable of Stirling Castle, Captain of Methven Castle, and the ancestor of the Dunipace branch of the family.

While Sir Alexander Livingston, the elder, was in England occupied by the duties of his embassy, King James the 2nd, for reasons which are very obscure, and can be only surmised, had the chief members of his family and their principal adherents suddenly arrested and thrown into prison, their estates and castles, seized, every officer appointed by them expelled from his post, and according to the actual words of the contemporary chronicler of this reign, 'all put down that thai put up.' The first members of the family to be arrested were James of Livingston, who, since his relinquishment of the guardianship of the king on his coming of age, had been appointed Great Chamberlain of Scotland, Robert Callendar, Captain of Dumbarton Castle, David Livingston of Greenyards, and John of Livingston, Captain of Doune Castle. These were all seized by the king's officers on Monday, the 23rd of Sept. 1449, at the bridge of Inchbelly. Shortly afterwards, Sir Alexander Livingston on his return from his mission to England, and his kinsman Robert of Livingston, burgess of Linlithgow, the Comptroller, were also arrested and placed under confinement. James of Livingston, his younger brother Alexander (this Alexander) and Robert of Livingston, the Comptroller, were imprisoned in Blackness Castle. The prisoners were all brought to trial and arraigned before the parliament which met at Edinburgh on the nineteenth of Jan 1449-50, but details are lacking as regards the nature of the offences with which they were charged. They were all found guilty of high treason, and while Alexander of Phildes, the 2nd son of Sir Alexander, and Robert of Livingston the Comptroller, were beheaded two days later (21 January 1449-50) on the Castle Hill, Edinburgh. Sir Alexander himself, with his brother-in-law, James Dundas of Dundas, the younger, and Robert Bruce, brother to the Laird of Clackmannan, were only attainted and confined in Dumbarton Castle. The member of this family who suffered least from this wholesale proscription of his kindred and friends was James of Livingston, the Great Chamberlain, who, evidently owing to the king's personal interference in his behalf, was quickly released and allowed to return to his attendance on James at his Court then being held at Holyrood.

According to Lindsay of Pitscottie:---'Alexander (the younger) when upon the scaffold turned to the people and made a great oration, deploring the mutability of fortune, exhorting all gentlemen and nobles of the realm to take example by him of the fragile facility of the world. At one time he was a man of singular good wit and prudence. His father was chosen governor of the realm, where he bore himself, his friends, and charges so prosperously, and with so great commendation of all men, that his father loved him above all things. But yet through change of court they were forced to draw themselves to strengths (fortresses) for the defence of their lives, and preservation of themselves for better fortune, until at last their innocence was tryed, they were reconciled to the King's favour which endured not long; for a short time thereafter, by the false suggestions of flattering courtiers, they were warded again. Now his father warded (imprisoned) himself not judged by neutral men of sincere good conscience, but by this deadly enemies, to underly a shameful death, as if he had been a traitor; and therefore he desired all noblemen not to desire great offices at court, albeit they did appear to (gain) both honour and commodity, for they that are promoted to great offices, when they slide, they get the sorest fall, and they are put down; if they be loved on the one part by good men for their worthy behaviour, they will be reproached on the (other) side by wicked men.' These words being said, he fell down upon his knees, and stretched out his neck to the sword; a lamentable sight to behold, to the displeasure of the people. His sad fate is also alluded to by Master Michael Livingston of Bantaskine, in his poem Patronus Redux (published in 1682, in honour of the second Earl of Callendar), in the following lines: "with what a courage did he brave his fate, Who fell by too powerful foes o'erborn. And with his dying breath pronounc'd it great, Court Grandeur and all earthly pomp to scorn"

The above speech, of course, only gives Lindsay's own idea of the events which led to the fall of the Livingstons from political power, and he wrote quite a century after these events had happened, but there may be a certain amount of truth, however, conveyed in this fictitious oration. For owing to the increasing influence of their old rival Crichton over the young king, now his own master, the Livingstons may have been engaged in a plot for the overthrow of that unscrupulous minister, and the fact that the chiefs of the Livingston party were arrested at the bridge of Inchbelly, which crosses the river Kelvin on the road from Stirling to Dumbarton, at which place the Countess of Ross, the Great Chamgerlain's daughter, was evidently awaiting their arrival, points to the conclusion that the conspirators had arranged to hold a meeting of their adherents under the protection of the strong walls of Dumbarton Castle, which at this date was commanded by their kinsman and ally Robert of Callendar. Unfortunately for the Livingstons someone must have betrayed them."

ALEXANDER LIVINGSTON OF PHILDES

EVIDENCE FROM THE NATIONAL RECORDS OF SCOTLAND

7 March 1450: Charter by James II in favour of Alexander Napier, Comptroller, for service to king's late mother and in recompense to him for injury done at time of her incarceration by Alexander Livingston, kt, James Livingston, his son, and their accomplices, of lands Philde [Meikle Fildie], in lordship of Methven and sheriffdom of Perth, forfeited by Alexander Livingston, son of said Alexander, held blench. Witnesses: James, Bishop of St Andrews; William, Bishop of Glasgow; William, Lord Crichton, Chancellor; William, Earl of Douglas; George, Earl of Angus; Andrew, Abbot of Melrose, Confessor and Treasurer; William, Lord Somerville; Patrick, Lord Glamis; Andrew, Lord Gray; Master Nicholas Otterburn, Secretary; Master John Arous [Arras], Archdeacon of Glasgow; and Master George Schoriswood [Shoreswood], parson of Culter. Signed by king. Great seal, about half remaining, appended. RMS', ii, no 324. National Records of Scotland, Papers of Napier Family, reference GD430/53