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Mary Stewart, Countess of Arran (13 May 1453 – May 1488) was the elder daughter of KingJames II of Scotland andMary of Guelders. KingJames III of Scotland was her eldest brother. She married twice: firstly, toThomas Boyd, 1st Earl of Arran; secondly, toJames Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton. It was through her children by her second husband that the Hamiltonearls of Arran and the Stewartearls of Lennox derived their claim to theKingdom of Scotland.^[1]

Mary was born atStirling Castle on 13 May 1453, the eldest daughter ofJames II of Scotland andMary of Guelders. She had five siblings, includingJames III, who ascended the Scottish throne in 1460 upon their father's accidental death by an exploding cannon.^{[citation needed]} Mary's mother died in 1463, leaving her an orphan at the age of ten.

Mary was married to her first husband, Thomas Boyd, Earl of Arran, when she was 13 years old before 26 April 1467. TheIsle of Arran was given as her dowry upon her marriage.^{[citation needed]}Law Castle inNorth Ayrshire was built for the couple.

In 1467, Mary's husband Thomas was sent to Denmark to escort King James III's bride,Margaret of Denmark. During his absence, Mary's brother, the King, became alienated from Mary's husband by the enemies of theClan Boyd who brought false charges oftreason against Thomas and his father,Robert Boyd, 1st Lord Boyd. Mary, upon hearing that her husband was to be summoned before the king andParliament to answer the charges, immediately went to the harbour ofLeith when Thomas' ship docked in July, to forewarn him. Mary and Thomas then promptly sailed to Denmark.^[2]

On 22 November 1469, Mary's husband was attainted, and his title, honours, and estates were forfeited to the crown. She later returned to Scotland in an attempt to have her husband cleared of all charges laid against him. Upon her arrival in Scotland, her brother James detained her in custody atDean Castle inKilmarnock, until her marriage was annulled. Mary's marriage to Thomas was then declared void in 1473, and she was forced to marryJames Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton.

Thomas and Mary together had two children:

• Lady Margaret Boyd (1468–1533^[3]), married, firstly,Alexander Forbes, 4th Lord Forbes; secondly, SirDavid Kennedy, 1st Earl of Cassilis. Although she was married twice, neither marriage produced children.
• James Boyd, 2nd Lord Boyd of Kilmarnock (1469–1484), died unmarried. He was killed at the age of 15 byLord Montgomerie, which ignited a feud that lasted for over 70 years.

In early 1474, Mary married, as her second husband, James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, who was almost forty years her senior. They received a papaldispensation on 26 April 1476 thus legitimising the two children already born to them. Together, James and Mary had three children:

• Hon. Elizabeth Hamilton (died after April 1531), married, on 9 April 1494,Matthew Stewart, 2nd Earl of Lennox, by whom she had issue. The Stewarts of Lennox, of whomHenry Stuart, Lord Darnley, the second husband ofMary, Queen of Scots, was the most notable, who derived his claim to the Scottish throne from Elizabeth's sonJohn Stewart, 3rd Earl of Lennox.
• James Hamilton, 1st Earl of Arran (1475–1529), married, firstly, in 1490, Elizabeth Home by whom he had two daughters; he divorced Elizabeth in 1504. He married, secondly, in 1516, Janet Bethune, daughter of SirDavid Bethune, 1st of Creich and Janet Duddlingston,^[4] by whom he had three children including his heir,James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault, 2nd Earl of Arran (c. 1516 – 22 January 1575),heir presumptive to the Kingdom of Scotland (2 July 1536 – 22 May 1540), (April 1541– 8 December 1542), (14 December 1542 – 19 June 1566), and (29 July 1567 – 22 January 1575);Regent of Scotland (1542–1554).
• Robert Hamilton, Seigneur d'Aubigny (21 March 1476 – 1543). He was born atBrodick Castle, Isle of Arran, Scotland. He died in 1543 in Torrence,Lanarkshire, Scotland, when he was 66 years old. According to some records,^[which?] he married (Elizabeth?) Campbell, the daughter of Campbell (Goodman) of Glaister, or Glacester (Angus), the niece of the Sheriff of Ayr (the latter of whom also had connection to the earls of Lennox). They had at least two (claimed) children: Janet Hamilton, born in 1500, who married Alexander Burnet, 4th Baron & 9th Laird of Leys; and Matthew Hamilton, born in 1512, who married Jean Muirhead of Torrence.

Mary died in May 1488 at the age of 35.

Due to their proximity to the throne, Mary's descendants, the Hamiltons of Arran and the Stewarts of Lennox, would obtain considerable power, and play conspicuous roles in 16th-century Scottish politics; especially affecting the life and reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, the great-granddaughter of her brother, James III.

• 1453 births
• 1488 deaths
• House of Stuart
• Scottish princesses
• Scottish countesses by marriage
• Ladies of Parliament
• 15th-century Scottish women
• 15th-century Scottish nobility
• Daughters of kings

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