William Hay, 4th Earl of Erroll

William Hay, 4th Earl of Erroll (1470 – 9 September 1513), styled as Lord Hay until 1507, was a Scottish peer and soldier. He was killed at the Battle of Flodden.

The Earl of Erroll
Arms of the Earl of Erroll
8th Lord High Constable of Scotland
In office
1507–1513
Preceded byWilliam Hay
Succeeded byWilliam Hay
Personal details
Born1470
Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Died9 September 1513 (age 42 or 43)
Battle of Flodden, Northumberland, England
Spouse(s)Christian Lyon
Margaret Kinloch
ChildrenWilliam Hay, 5th Earl of Erroll
Lady Isabel Hay
Parent(s)William Hay, 3rd Earl of Erroll
Lady Isabel Gordon

Biography edit

William Hay was the son of William Hay, 3rd Earl of Erroll. He had double royal lineage: his grandfather, William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll was a great-great grandson of King Robert II of Scotland; and his maternal grandfather was James I of Scotland.[1]

He served as the Lord High Constable of Scotland, a hereditary title that was, after the king, the supreme officer of the Scottish army. He was killed on 9 September 1513 in the Battle of Flodden,[2] near Branxton, Northumberland. He died alongside his younger brother Thomas, King James IV of Scotland and more than a dozen dukes and earls in a decisive English victory.[3]

Marriage and issue edit

He married Christian Lyon, daughter of John Lyon, 3rd Lord Glamis, and had two children:

  1. William Hay, 5th Earl of Erroll (c. 1495, Errol, Perthshire, Scotland – 28 July 1522 in Edinburgh)
  2. Lady Isabel Hay

He married secondly Margaret Kinloch of Cruvie, widow of Sir James Sandilands, 5th feudal baron of Calder.

Ancestry edit

References edit

  1. ^ Mackintosh, John (1898). Historic Earls and Earldoms of Scotland. W. Jolly.
  2. ^ Guthrie, William (1767). A General History of Scotland. Vol. 4. Paternoster Row, London: A. Hamilton, Robinson and Roberts. pp. 371-372. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  3. ^ James Balfour Paul (1906). The Scots Peerage: Volume 3. D. Douglas. pp. 565–566.
Military offices
Preceded by Lord High Constable of Scotland
1507–1513
Succeeded by
Peerage of Scotland
Preceded by  
Earl of Erroll

1507–1513
Succeeded by