Janet Beaton

Janet Beaton, Lady of Branxholme and Buccleugh was an aristocratic Scottish woman and a mistress of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. She had a total of five husbands. One of her nieces was Mary Beaton, one of the four ladiesinwaiting of Mary, Queen of Scots, known in history as the four Marys. In her lifetime, she was accused of having been a witch. Janet was immortalised as Sir Walter Scotts Wizard Lady of Branxholm in his celebrated narrative poem Lay of the Last Minstrel.

Janet was born in 1519, one of the eleven children of Sir John Beaton, 2nd Laird of Creich and Janet Hay, daughter of John Hay, provost of Dundee by his wife Elizabeth Crichton. Her father was the hereditary keeper of Falkland Palace. Her brother was Robert Beaton, 4th Laird of Creich, and her sister, Elizabeth Beaton was a mistress of King James V of Scotland, by whom she had an illegitimate daughter, Jean. Her niece was Mary Beaton, one of the celebrated ladiesinwaiting of Mary, Queen of Scots, known as the four Marys. Janet was also related to Cardinal David Beaton and Queen Marys ambassador to France, James Beaton, Archbishop of Glasgow.

Source: Wikipedia