Sir John Skene, Lord Curriehill (1549–1617) was aScottish prosecutor, ambassador, and judge. He was involved in the negotiations for the marriage ofJames VI andAnne of Denmark.He was regent inSt Mary's College, St Andrews from 1564 to 1565 and became anadvocate in 1575.
He was born atCurriehill Castle south of Edinburgh in 1549. He was the sixth son of James Skene ofWester Corse (b.1505) and Janet Lumsden. The physicianGilbert Skene was an elder brother.[1] Their lands were at Bandodle or Wester Corse, a manor in Aberdeenshire.[2]
In his own writings he mentions his travels, describing the appearance of a travelling salesman inKraków in 1569. The writerThomas Dempster mentions Skene's travels in the countries of Northern Europe and his fluency in their languages.James Melville of Halhill said he could give long speeches in Latin, and was "good, true, and stout".[3]
Skene enrolled or matriculated at theUniversity of Wittenberg on 16 March 1570.[4]
As an advocate in 1578 he was involved in the case of Hew Campbell ofLoudoun regarding his Provostship ofAyr.[5]
Skene's career was advanced by the marriages of his sisters toAlexander Hay,Lord Clerk Register, andLord Blantyre, an exchequer official and one of theOctavians.[6] He made an inventory of exchequer records, completed in April 1595, and made notes of the crown revenue and suggestions for the profitable management of royal parks.[7]
As jointLord Advocate from 1589 to 1594, he was zealous in theprosecution of witches. He was appointedLord Clerk Register andLord of Session, with the judicial title of Lord Curriehill in 1594, serving until 1611.
As a diplomat, Skene went to Denmark to seek an agreement over rights toOrkney, and presented a memorandum on that topic toSophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and the four regents ofChristian IV of Denmark atHelsingør on 20 August 1589. He was also given instructions to negotiate the terms of the royal marriage.[8] His companions were;George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal,Andrew Keith, James Scrimgeour ofDudhope the Constable ofTay and standard bearer of Scotland, andGeorge Young.[9]John Craig wrote toTycho Brahe to introduce other members of this embassy, including the poetWilliam Fowler.[10]
Skene returned on to Scotland 23 July 1589 with his colleagues Andrew Keith, and George Young and went toJames VI of Scotland atBoyne Castle. An English observerThomas Fowler reported their news including the Danish opinion that James VI asked for too high a dowry, but they had seen extensive preparations for the marriage including a coach made of silver. According to their report, Anne of Denmark was keen for the marriage to go ahead, and Fowler wrote; "the young lady is so far in love with the king's majesty as it were death to her to have it broken off, and has made good proof (in) diverse ways of her affection, which his majesty is apt enough to requite".[11]
On 22 October 1589, he accompanied James VI on his voyage from Leith to Norway and Denmark to meet his wifeAnne of Denmark, and attended the meeting of thePrivy Council of Scotland at Oslo on 25 November.[12]
James VI had given Anne of Denmark a "morning gift" of lands and palaces. In the week before her coronation in Scotland the Danish ambassadors travelled to view these places and take formal possession. On 12 May 1589 the envoys were welcomed atFalkland Palace by the keeper, James Beaton of Creich. Skene produced a printed charter of the queen's lands inFife and as a traditional symbol of the transfer of ownership (sasine), theDanish AdmiralPeder Munk was given a handful of earth. After this ceremony, the party rode to the Newhouse ofLochleven Castle to stay the night, then repeated the ritual atDunfermline Palace, and on 14 May atLinlithgow Palace.[13]
In June 1590James VI of Scotland sent Skene andColonel William Stewart,Commendator of Pittenweem, withJohn Geddie as secretary, as ambassadors to Denmark and Germany.[14] The mission was to intended to cement a peaceful league in Europe.[15] They met the mother ofAnne of Denmark,Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow atBraunschweig, then went on to meetWilliam IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel atRotenburg an der Fulda andChristian I, Elector of Saxony at Dresden, andJoachim Frederick son of theElector of Brandenburg at Potsdam. Skene was ill when he returned to Edinburgh.[16]
James VI gave his wife Helen Somerville £333 from the English subsidy money around this time.[17] On 27 1590 November, Edinburgh town council made his cook, John Lillo, a burgess, for free at his request.[18]
He served as ambassador to Holland from 1591.
In April 1597 he wrote to theSecretary and joked about the expense connected with 30 deer sent from England for the park ofFalkland Palace, as "deer of that ilk". He said he hadgout or "podagra". James VI was hunting atHatton House inWest Lothian with Sir James McConneil. Another James McConneilalias McSorley was to be knighted, possibly with the designation "ofInchgarvy". They were grandsons ofSorley Boy MacDonnell.[19]
His compilation of old Scots lawRegiam Majestatem is a source of the laws of Scotland previous toJames I.[20] He was granted a pension byRegent Morton for preparing a digest of laws. He also produced aScots law dictionary,De Verborum Significatione. According to the Dictionary of National Biography, "In 1592 he was named one of a commission to examine the laws and acts of parliament, and to consider which of them should be printed, and he was finally entrusted with the preparation of the work. It was published by Robert Waldegrave on 15 May 1597, under the title 'The Lawes and Actes of Parliament maid be King James the First and his successors kings of Scotland, visied, coffected, and extracted forth of the Register,’ and on 3 June the privy council remitted to the lords of session to enforce the purchase of it by all subjects of sufficient 'substance and habilitie'."[21]
As a member of the Privy Council, Skene went with others toStirling Castle in May 1603 to discuss and investigate a controversy involving Anne of Denmark who wished to take custody of her son,Prince Henry.[22] In 1604 he bought the lands of Curriehill Castle. Curriehill is north ofCurrie, a village to south ofEdinburgh.[23] He took "Lord Curriehill" as his title.
He is buried inGreyfriars Kirkyard inEdinburgh. His memorial stands on the north face of the church.
John Skene wrote an account of his embassy to Denmark in 1590, known from a copy made by the antiquaryRobert Mylne. This is in the form of a journal of events.[24] Skene left Edinburgh with William Stewart on 9 June 1590 and rode toBerwick upon Tweed and on to London. Their secretary John Geddie spoke toWilliam Cecil to arrange an audience withElizabeth I of England atGreenwich Palace. On 17 June they came to court again and spoke toChristopher Hatton the Chancellor, the Treasurer (Cecil), theAdmiral,Lord Cobham, andLord Buckhurst. They also spoke to the French ambassador Jean de la Fin, seigneur de Beauvoir La Nocle. They embarked on theGeorge Noble atLeigh on Sea, and after some difficulty sailed toHeligoland andStade, then crossed theElbe intoHolstein.[25]
On his return, in London, they stayed at an inn onGracechurch Street. Skene got an appointment with William Cecil, who received him lying on his bed atCecil House, because he was old and weary. Skene told him details of his negotiations in Denmark, Germany, and the Low Countries. The next day he went with Cecil toSomerset House and waited in the Chamber of Presence until the queen came out at 11 o'clock on her way toRichmond Palace. Skene then went toYork House in Westminster and met the French ambassadors Beauvais andHenri de la Tour, Viscount of Turenne.[26]
He was married to Helen Somerville ofCambusnethan. Their children included;
