Moira de Leche

• Preferred Name: Moira de Leche^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}
  
• Alternate Name: Moria Mora Moira Leitch of Scotland
  
• Alternate Name: Mariot Of Scotland
  
• Alternate Name: Christian Mora Leitch
  
• Gender: F
  
• FSID: LZ6F-GY1
  
• Mistress+of+King+Robert+II+of+Scotland+and+mother+of+one+of+his+sons+Sir+John+Stewart,+Sheriff+of+Bu: with note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_II_of_Scotland#Marriages_and_issue
  
• Birth: 2 MAR 1320 in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, Scotland at LATI: N5.6154 LONG: E4.4995 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• Burial: in Paisley Abbey, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland at LATI: N5.8449 LONG: E4.4203 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• Death: 1356 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland at LATI: N5.8474 LONG: E4.4395 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Concubine
  
• Notes:

  King Robert II by Moira Leitch (according to tradition), daughter of the Laird of Ardmaleish in Bute:
  1. Sir John Stewart, Sheriff of Bute (1360 – d.1445/9), ancestor of the Marquesses of Bute
  
  === !Name,Spouse,children-Ancestry.com 2002 ===
  !Name,Spouse,children-Ancestry.com 2002
  
  === Name Suffix: Concubine 8 Ancestral ===
  Name Suffix: Concubine 8 Ancestral File Number: 9FVD-W6
  
  === Line 8381 from GEDCOM File not recogniza ===
  Line 8381 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long: NAME Mariot Concubine 8 Of /SCOTLAND/ Line 8381 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long: NAME Mariot Concubine 8 Of /SCOTLAND/
  
  === Association - no marriage ===
  Association - no marriage
  
  === PEDIGREE RESOURCE FILE, VOL 6, LDS GENEA ===
  PEDIGREE RESOURCE FILE, VOL 6, LDS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY;
  
  === From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 J ===
  From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996. From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
  
  === Name Suffix: [Concubine 2] Ancestr ===
  Name Suffix: [Concubine 2] Ancestral File Number: 9FVD-93
  
  === MARION WAS ROBERT'S MISTRESS. ===
  MARION WAS ROBERT'S MISTRESS.
  
  === Name Suffix: Concubine 2 Ancestral ===
  Name Suffix: Concubine 2 Ancestral File Number: 9FVD-93
  
  === Association - not married ===
  Association - not married
  
  === Still Living. ===
  Still Living.
  
  === From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 J ===
  From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996. From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
  
  May 01, 2018 - https://www.geni.com/people/Moira-Leitch/6000000003615392908
  
  The Leche family was an ancient family of physicians and surgeons on the Island of Bute in the early 14th century. There are many references to the family in the old texts relating to the Island of Bute.
  
  Loch na Leiche. Leitch's loch; the physician's loch. Lubas. Dr M., "A small bay." 1440, Lubas; 1449, Lowpas [5]
  
  Their descent was from the le Leche family of Carden, Chatsworth, Cheshire, and the Durham area. One ancestor of the family of Leche (John le Leche) of Chatsworth, was the surgeon of King Edward III. [1],[3]
  
  Moira was the daughter of Robert le Leche, Laird of Ardmaleish, Bute, a Physician on the Island.
  
  Moire Leche [7] was married to Robert Stewart [6], however, due to his first marriage not being fully recognised by the church, he had to re-marry his first wife in 1348, and legitimize the 4 sons and five daughters from his first marriage to Elizabeth Mure.
  
  Moire was the mother of John Stewart "The black Stewart", on account of his dark complexion. This family gave line of descent to the Earls of Bute and Orkney, and ultimately John Steward, 1st and last Earl of Carrick.
  
  Moire Leitch may have lived on the island of Bute for a time, and also possibly with the Mure family of Rowalla castle in Kyle. She was originally from Eggleston, near Durham. This is approximately 25 miles from Neville's Cross.
  
  The Leitch name (more modern spelling), or Leche, was originally from Cheshire and also found around the Berwick / Roxburgh area of the Scottish Borders in this time period.
  
  Moire would have been around 26 years of age at this time, and there is a high probability, she met the Stewarts here.
  
  She lived, after 1340, with Robert at Dundonald Castle, in Dundonald, Ayrshire (Carrick at that time). She became ill in 1356, and was taken to Paisley Abbey, where she died shortly after.
  
  Given Moire died in 1356, and is buried at Paisley Abbey, she is clearly not the same person as Christian Leche (often confused with Moira) , who was alive between c.1445-1450, and mentioned in the 'The Stewarts of Ballintoy'.
  
  Robert Stewart, was not yet, the first Royal Stewart, and Moire died some 15 years before he became the first monarch of the house of Stewart in 1371.
  
  Here is one reference to another early member of the Leche (Leitch) family on the island of Bute, most probably the "Christian Leche" often confused with Moire:
  
  "From 1445 to 1450 we find the crown lands of Scoulogmore, in the Southern Division of Bute, were held by a descendant of the Leche family, Christian Leche[1] , and the rents, together with one mart, due yearly out of those lands, were regularly remitted to her by gift from James II." [2]
  
  Background:
  
  In 1346 David II of Scotland was captured at the Battle of Neville's Cross (to the west of Durham, England), on 17 October 1346 , and taken prisoner by Sir John Copeland, who imprisoned him in the Tower of London.
  
  On 3 October 1357, after several protracted negotiations with the Scots' regency council, a treaty was signed at Berwick-upon-Tweed under which Scotland's nobility agreed to pay 100,000 marks (to be paid at the rate of 10,000 marks per year) as a ransom for their king. This was ratified by the Scottish Parliament at Scone on 6 November 1357. David returned to Scotland (Dundonald) in 1357. The southern border of Scotland was somewhat further south, than of the present day.
  
  Moira married Robert in what is now England, but lived the remainder of her life at Dundonald Castle in Dundonald, Ayrshire. Marjorie de Bruce was the mother in law of Mora. Mora died in 1356 aged 40, and is buried in Paisley Abbey,Scotland, beside Robert.[4]
  
  Marjorie Bruce suffered head trauma, while pregnant and falling from her horse, in Gallowhill (Renfrew), Scotland on 2 March 1316. She was taken to Paisley Abbey, and the second only, ever recorded Caesarean section was performed to deliver her son Robert Stewart. Robert was the first Stewart monarch. Marjorie died shortly after the birth, from the injuries received in the fall.
  
  The quality of the caesarean procedure, and the surgical instrument used, was far from modern standards.
  
  During the procedure, the instrument came into brief contact with the baby's eye, causing some slight damage.
  
  Robert suffered from impaired sight in this eye, and later in life was referred to as "Old Bleary".
  
  Leitch was the name given to the medieval "Doctors" , physicians or surgeons, who had medical skills at this time. Modern DNA ancestry shows this name originated in a very particular region of Southern Germany, many hundred of years ago, before spreading throughout Europe and America .... This name is still traceable to this region today. One medical "technology" used at this time was the Annelida the "Leech".This animal was named after its practitioners "Leitch/Leche/Leich....".
  
  Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes, such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. They were used to extract blood believed to be "infected". This old practice has been discontinued, and has been replaced by other contemporary uses of leeches, such as the reattachment of body parts and reconstructive and plastic surgeries and, in Germany, treating osteoarthritis++.
  
  Sources: [1] 'Genealogical data of the families of Burt, Dewey, Mears, Darbyshire, Leach, Maude and Fenton'.
  
  [2] 'The Stewarts of Ballintoy : with notices of other families of the district in the seventeenth century'. Author: Hill, George, 1810-1900; ISBN: 9785518839304
  
  [3] "The Stewarts of Ballintoy : with notices of other families of the district in the seventeenth century" , 1801-1900, by George Hill. ISBN: 9781153165747 "A later descendant of the Bute family was Henry Leche (1520). He was a medical practitioner of the time. In 1510, James IV., confirmed to Master Henry Lech, the lands of Kerry- lamond, Meikle I.owpas, and Little Lowpas, in the lordship and sheriffdom of Bute, of the old extent of £6 16s 8d, which had been held by his father Thomas Lech, and his predecessors beyond the memory of man, the grantee paying yearly a silver- penny as blenche ferme, and giving his services as chirurgeon* when required.
  
  [4] The abbey official web site: www.paisleyabbey.org.uk/history "For that reason, the Abbey claims to be the 'cradle of the Royal House of Stewart.' Our present Queen is descended from Robert. In fact, the Abbey is the final resting place of six High Stewards of Scotland, Princess Marjory Bruce, the wives of King Robert II and King Robert III for whose tomb, Queen Victoria provided a canopy in 1888"
  
  [5] The Isle of Bute in the olden time : with illustrations, maps, and plans" ,UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY.
  
  [6] Bute in the Olden Time,JAMES KING HEWISON, M.A., F.S.A. (Scot.),MINISTER OF ROTHESAY,WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS EDINBURGH AND LONDON, p 141
  
  [7] Citations: [S11] Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy (London, U.K.: The Bodley Head, 1999), page 226. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Families.
  
  ++ Wikipedia
  
  Chirurgeon {Old spelling of (French : chirurgien, chirurgienne) for Surgeon}
  
  === Ancestral File Number: 9FVD-W6 ===
  Ancestral File Number: 9FVD-W6
  
  === Name Suffix: Concubine 1 Ancestral ===
  Name Suffix: Concubine 1 Ancestral File Number: 9FVD-H4
  
  === TITLE: Concubine 2 ===
  TITLE: Concubine 2
  
  === !Name,Spouse-Ancestry.com 2002 ===
  !Name,Spouse-Ancestry.com 2002
  
  === Line 806 from GEDCOM File not recognizab ===
  Line 806 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long: NAME Mariot Concubine 8 Of /SCOTLAND/ Line 880 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long: NAME Mariot Concubine 8 Of /SCOTLAND/ Line 766 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long: NAME Mariot Concubine 8 Of /SCOTLAND/ Line 2363 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long: NAME Mariot Concubine 8 Of /SCOTLAND/ Line 2530 from GEDCOM File not recognizable or too long: NAME Mariot Concubine 8 Of /SCOTLAND/
  
  === MOIRA WAS ROBERT'S MISTRESS. ===
  MOIRA WAS ROBERT'S MISTRESS.
  
  === From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 J ===
  From Ancestral File (TM), data as of 2 January 1996.
  
  === Title: concubine ===
  Title: concubine
  
  === !Name,Spouse,child-Ancestry.com 2002 ===
  !Name,Spouse,child-Ancestry.com 2002
  
  === Mistress of Robert Stewart. [Eva K Stamp ===
  Mistress of Robert Stewart. [Eva K Stamper
  
  === All details for this living person have ===
  All details for this living person have been suppressed.
  
  === !#189-v2-p286; ===
  !#189-v2-p286;
  
  === Mistress of Robert II Stewart. [Eva K St ===
  Mistress of Robert II Stewart. [Eva K Stamper Name Suffix: Concubine 1REFN: HWS43528 Ancestral File Number: 9FVD-H4
  
  === Ref: The Story of the Stewarts, The Stew ===
  Ref: The Story of the Stewarts, The Stewart Society, 1901, 1993, pp. 140-142.
  
  === TITLE: concubine 1 ===
  TITLE: concubine 1

1. Title: The Stewarts of Ballintoy: with notices of other families of the district in the seventeenth century
   Author: archive.org: "The Stewarts of Ballintoy: with notices of other families of the district in the seventeenth century." by Hill, George (Rev), 1810-1900. Stewart, J. Adger (Joseph Adger) private publisher, Louisville, KY. 1900. p. 3
   Publication: Name: https://archive.org/details/stewartsofballin00hill/page/n9/mode/2up;
   Note: "Whilst the young Prince, Robert, resided in Bute, he formed an unauthorized union with a lady whose name was Christian Leitch, by whom he left one son, John Stewart, created the first sheriff of Bute." p. 3, paragraph 2.
   
2. Title: Genealogy of Sir James Mor Stewart, his wife and children and his son James Beag Stewart and wife Annabel Buchanan
   Author: A personal Stewart family research website: http://www.chuckspeed.com/stewart.ged/d1.htm#c8
   Publication: Name: http://www.chuckspeed.com/stewart.ged/d1.htm#c8;
   Note: 1. James Mhor (Of Albany And Baldorran) Stewart The GREAT was born in Scotland and died circa 1451 in Ireland. James reacted to his father's execution by leading an attack on Dumbarton, burning it and killing the governor of the castle, John Stewart. He fled to Ireland where he later died. He was ancestor to the Stewarts of Ardvorlich. James and Lady MacDonald were not married. Events in his life were: • Occupation: 1st of BALDORRAN. James married Lady MACDONALD, daughter of John Mhor (1St Earl Of Antrim) MACDONALD and Margery BISSETT. Children from this marriage were: 2 M i. Andrew STEWART 3 M ii. Murdoch (Of Albany) STEWART 4 M iii. Arthur STEWART + 5 M iv. James Beag (1St Of Baldorran) STEWART 6 M v. Robert STEWART 7 F vi. Matilda STEWART 8 M vii. Alexander STEWART 5. James Beag (1St Of Baldorran) STEWART James married Annabel BUCHANAN, daughter of Sir Patrick BUCHANAN and Galbraith. Children from this marriage were: 9 M i. John STEWART was born circa 1450 in Scotland. + 10 M ii. William (2Nd Of Baldorran) STEWART was born circa 1455 in Baldorran, Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland. + 11 M iii. Andrew (1St Of Gartnafueran) STEWART was born circa 1460 in Baldorran, Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland. 12 F iv. Matilda STEWART was born circa 1465 in Scotland. Matilda married William (1St Of Culloden And Duntreath) EDMONSTON. William was born circa 1425 in , Culloden, Strathblane, Sterlingshire, Scotland and died in 1486 at age 61.
   
3. Title: The Scots Peerage
   Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9C5-QVNT;
   Note: p.17 describes ilegitimate children of King Robert II. Illegitimate son John, Sheriff of Bute, is not to be confused with the King's first legitimate son John (King Robert III--whose name was John Stewart "Earl of Carrick"--born of Elizabeth Mure of Rowallan, p. 15). There were also two other illegitimate sons of King Robert II named John: Sir John Stewart of Cardney (or Cairny) and Sir John Stewart of Dundonald "The Red Stewart".
   
4. Title: Copy of The Isle of Bute in the olden time : with illustrations, maps, and plans
   Author: archive.org: "The Isle of Bute in the Olden Time: With Illustrations, Maps, and Plans." by Hewison, James King. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London, MDCCCXCV. p.152
   Publication: Name: https://archive.org/details/isleofbuteinolde02hewiuoft/page/n173;
   Note: Stuart, House of, Bute, Island of (Scotland) -- History, Bute, Island of (Scotland) -- Antiquities, Scotland -- Church history
   
5. Title: The Scots peerage
   Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99C5-QVKP;
   Note: The Stewart Kings, starts page 9; Robert III, page 17
   
6. Title: The Royal Line of McCurdy
   Author: Google Books: "The Royal Line of McCurdy" by Nichols, Grant Allen Lee McCurdy. Rose Dogs Books, Pittsburgh, PA. 2013. pp. 33-34
   Publication: Name: https://books.google.com/books?id=duHq2aVg7cAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Royal+Line+of+McCurdy&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjoy7mJk4j3AhUUEEQIHT-CAfAQ6AF6BAgEEAI;
   Note: Sir John Stewart was the son of King Robert II of Scotland. Janett Semple of Eliotstown was his wife.
   
7. Title: Moira Leitch Profile - clanmacfarlangenealogy
   Publication: Name: https://www.clanmacfarlanegenealogy.info/genealogy/TNGWebsite/getperson.php?personID=I2804&tree=CC;
   Note: Showing Moira is unmarried partner / concubine to King Robert II Stewart of Scotland, and had son John Stewart, Sheriff of Bute
   
8. Title: The Ancestral McCurdys: Their Origin and Remote History
   Author: archive.org: "The Ancestral McCurdys: Their Origin and Remote History" by Blanchard, H. Percy. The Covenant Publishing Co, 6 Buckingham Gate, S.W.I., London. 1930. page 32.
   Publication: Name: http://ia600905.us.archive.org/27/items/ancestralmccurdy00blan/ancestralmccurdy00blan.pdf;
   Note: Sir John was the son of King Robert II of Scotland. Janett Semple of Eliotstown was John Stewarts wife (p.32)