James Stewart, earl of Arran

James Stewart, earl of Arran (died 1595, near Symington, Lanarkshire, Scot.) was the earl of Arran, cousin of the 3rd earl, whose honours he claimed and for a short time legally enjoyed, from 1581 to 1585.

Both Stewart and his rival, Esmé, duke of Lennox, were deprived of office when the Protestant lords seized power by the raid of Ruthven (1582); but a year later they in turn were overthrown and driven into exile by Stewart. His tyranny and insolence, however, alienated many and caused his rapid fall from power. He was accused by Elizabeth I of England of the murder of Lord Russell on the border in July 1585 and was imprisoned; the banished lords returned and Stewart, proclaimed a traitor, fled in November 1585. From that time his movements are uncertain. He was ordered to leave Scotland in 1586 but may not have done so, and he returned to Edinburgh in 1592 and managed to have himself reinstated at court. He was assassinated near Symington by Sir James Douglas, nephew of the regent Morton, whose imprisonment and execution in 1581 Stewart had precipitated.