Robert Boyd Boyd

BOYD, ROBERT BOYD, LORD (d. c. 1470), Scottish statesman, was a son of Sir Thomas Boyd (d. 1439) and belonged to an old and distinguished family, one member of which, Sir Robert Boyd, had fought with Wallace and Robert Bruce. Boyd, who was created a peer about 1454, was one of the regents of Scotland during the minority of James III., but in 1466 he secured the person of the young king and was appointed his sole governor, and in 1467 he obtained the offices of chamberlain and justiciary for himself and the hand of the king's sister Mary, with the title of earl of Arran, for his eldest son Thomas. In 146g he arranged the marriage between James III. and Margaret, daughter of Christian I., king of Denmark and Norway, and secured the cession of the Orkney Islands by Norway. But Boyd's enemies were now growing too strong for him, and he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death in the same year. He escaped to England, and the date of his death is unknown.

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ROBERT, 4th LORD (d. 1590), took a prominent part in Scottish politics during the troubled time which followed the death of James V. in 1542. At first he favoured the reformed religion, but was afterwards a trusted adviser of Mary, queen of Scots, whom he accompanied to the battle of Langside in 1568. During the queen's captivity he was often employed on diplo matic errands, and was suspected of participation in the murder of the regent Moray. In great favour under the regent James Douglas, earl of Morton, he was banished in 1583 for his share in the Raid of Ruthven, a plot to seize James VI. He retired to France, but was soon allowed to return to Scotland. He died on Jan. 3 1J90.