13 Sep 1489 - Letters of fire and sword directed to Sir John Symple of Elyotstoun, kt., against certain rebels, Matthew Stewart, Robert sometime Lord Lile, and others, in the castle of Dunbertane.
The National Archives of Scotland - Record GD45/1/1
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John Sempill, 1st Lord Sempill of Eliotstoun (died 9 September 1513) was a Scottishpeer.
Sir John Semple, the only son of Thomas Semple, was created a Peer by King James IV of Scotland, though the precise date is not ascertained, but Crawfurd says in 1488, the year his father fell in battle. He sat as a Peer in Parliament, March 18, 1503-1504. He rected, or rather rebuilt, near the eastern end of the Loch (Lochwinnoch) the castle of Castleton, the name of which he changed to Castle Semple, near which he founded the Castle Semple Collegiate Church of Lochwinnoch, 1505, “to the honour of God and the blessed Virgin Mary, for the prosperity of his sovereign, James IV of Scotland, and Margaret, his queen; for the soul of Margaret Colville, his former spouse; and also for the salvation of his own soul and that of Margaret Crichton, his present wife, and of all his predecessors and successors, and of all the faithful deceased.” This foundation was confirmed by King James IV of Scotland at Edinburgh, June 5, 1506. It was richly endowed by Lord Semple with a large revenue for the maintenance of a prebend and six chaplains, for celebrating divine service, and became a place of sepulture to this family. John, first Lord Semple, fell at the Battle of Flodden, September 9, 1513. He married, first Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Colville of Ochiltree, by whom he had two sons, William and Gabriel… He married, secondly, Margaret daughter of Sir James Crichton of Ruthvendeny, relict of Sir William Stirling of Keir, but by whom he had no issue.
The first Lord Semple was John, son and heir to Sir Thomas, who lost his life with honor while he was fighting in support of his king, which Sir John being much in favor with King James IV of Scotland, was by him created Lord Semple 1488; but attending his Majesty to the Battle of Flodden, 1513, he there with his royal master lost his life and was buried in the collegiate church of Semple, which he had founded. He left two sons, William, his heir, II Lord, and Gabriel, ancestor of the Semples of Cathcart. Sir John Semple, created a peer by James IV of Scotland, the year his father fell in battle; sat in Parliament as a peer 1503-4. He married, first, Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Colville; issue, William and Gabriel. He married, secondly, Margaret, daughter of Sir James Crichton; no issue.
Page 440 - As this noble Lord was always very faithful to his Prince in his Life, for it is certain he went with him to the Battle of Flodden, where he was slain, fighting gallantly in the Service of his Country, on the memorable 9th September 1513. After the Battle his Body was brought off the Field, and buried in the Collegiate Church of Semple, where a Monument is erected over him, embellished with his Arms, without any other Inscription, than signifying him to be the Person there interred. His first Wife was Margaret, Daughter of Sir Robert Colvil, Lord of Ochiltree, by whom he had Two Sons, William his Successor, and Gabriel Semple of Ladymure, the Ancestor of the Semples of Cathcart.
Page 533 and 535 - Children of John Sempill, 1st Lord, by his first wife: 1. William, second Lord Sempill 2. Francis, who was, along with his father, sued by John Montgomery of Corsecraig regarding the warrandice of the lands of Soutarflat, 4 March 1501-2. 3. Gabriel of Cathcart and Ladymure… 4. Marian, contracted to be married to George, son of Patrick Maxwell of Newark. 5. Isabel, contracted to be married to Robert Crawford, son and heir of Malcolm Crawford of Greenock, prior to 11 March 1502-3. A dispensation for her marriage to George Chalmers was procured before 20 July 1518.
Page 607, 608, 609 – Southannan Chapel and Castle, West Kilbride, Ayrshire. – About one mile south from the Fairlie railway station of Fairlie, North Ayrshire, on the level ground facing the sea, and with its back close to the railway, stands the ruin of Southannan Castle. It has been an extensive structure (Fig. 1591), having had a high enclosing wall, with a courtyard and an arched entrance porch to the west, defended with shot-holes (Fig. 1592). There has been a considerable range of dwelling-house accommodation, two stories in height, along the north side, and samller buildings on the east side, leaving a large courtyard in the centre, now forming the garden of the adjoining farmhouse (Fig. 1593). The situation is fine, and the edifice is backed by the high range of thickly wooded hills which extends between Largs and Kilbride.
The lands of Southannan were granted to Lord Semple in 1504. Chalmers says in (Caledonia, Vol. III. P. 561), that John, Lord Semple, in the reign of James IV of Scotland, built a chapel, which was dedicated to St. Annan, or St. Ennan (ie. Saint Inan), and granted for the support of the chaplain in it an annual rent of 10 merks from certain lands, “with two sowmes of pasture grass in the mains of Southannon, and an acre of land on the north side of the cemetery belonging to the said chapel for the chaplain’s manse. This grant was confirmed by the king in June 1509. The ruins of the chapel are still extant in the front of the fine mansion of Southannan, which is also in ruins.” “Saint Inan, or Innan is said to have been a confessor at Irvine, and to have died in 839.”
The castle was much enlarged by Robert, fourth Lord Sempill, ambassador to the Court of Spain in 1596; but some of the existing remains have the appearance of being still more modern. The old mansion was dismantled towards the end of the last century, and the materials used in the erection of farm-buildings and dykes. “What remains are chiefly the outer walls to the left (north) of the courtyard and some more ancient looking remnants at the back (east), attached to which are remains of what may have bee the chapel of the saint (Pont’s Cunningham, by Dobie, p. 325.)” This may be the case, as some of the walls are old and have been altered; but the baulted chamber to the east has the appearance of being much more modern.
On the whole, we fear that the chapel has entirely disappeared, and that this acoount of Southannan should rather have appeared amongst the castles than the churches of Scotland.
Page 692, 693 – Chapter VI. – Lanerk-sire. – Sect. VIII. – Of its Ecclesiastical History. – The lands of Glasford appear to have been comprehended, in the extensive barony of Kilbride, which was granted by Robert I. to Walter the Stewart of Scotland. In the beginning of the reign of Robert II., John Sempill, the son and heir of Thomas Sempill, obtained, from the king’s eldest son, John, Earl of Carrick, a grant of lands of Glasford, with the advowson of the church thereof, and of several other lands, in the barony of Kilbride, to him, and the heirs male of his body, whom failing, to the lawful heirs of his father. This grant was confirmed, by a charter from the king, in July, 1374. (u) The lands of Glasford, with the patronage of the church, continued, in the Sempill family more than three centures. (v) In Bagimont’s Roll, the rectory of Glasford, in the deanry of Rutherglen, was taxed 5l. 6s. 8d.; being a tenth of its estimated value. John, the first Lord Sempil, annexed the rectory of Glasford to the collegiate church of Sempil, which he founded, in 1504; and it continued to belong to that establishment till the Reformation; Lord Sempil, and his heirs, being the patrons. After the Reformation, John Sempil of Beltrees, the provost of the collegiate church of Sempil, reported, that the revenues of the parsonage of Glasford were leased of old, for the yearly payment of 40l. in money, and two chalders of oats; whereof hhe had received nothing, since his appointment to the provostry. (w) The patronage of the church of Glasford continued with the family of Sempil, in the beginning of the 18th century. (x) It afterwards passed to the Earl of Eglintoun; and it now belongs to Lady Mary Montgomery. The parish church of Glasford was built, in 1633, and continues a reproach to the taste of the times, and to the heritors; ...
John, 1st Lord Sempill “was one of the ambassadors sent to England, and received a gift of £20 from King Henry VII at Michaelmas 1492.” £20 of income in 1492 would be equivalent to £13,240 (historic standard of living), £361,600 (economic status) or £5,202,000 (economic power).Cites Sir James Balfour Paul (1910) The Scots peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas. Vol. 7. Pages 526 & 531-3. Uses Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson (2014) Five Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a UK Pound amount, 1270 to Present.
