George Young

George Young (fl 1584-1615), Scottish churchman, courtier, member of the Privy Council of Scotland, diplomat, and secretary depute.

George Young was appointed Archdeacon of St Andrews by James VI of Scotland on 12 October 1584.

In February 1581 he was clerk of the Privy Council, and brought writings and letters from James VI of Scotland to the English ambassador, Thomas Randolph.

He was sent as an ambassador to England in 1585 with David Lindsay, and Queen Elizabeth gave them gifts of markedly small value.

He was an ambassador to Denmark in 1589 in connection with the marriage of James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark. He returned on 23 July 1589 with his colleagues Andrew Keith, Lord Dingwall, and John Skene and went to the king at Boyne Castle. An English observer Thomas Fowler reported their news including the Danish opinion that James VI asked for too high a dowry, but they had seen extensive preparations for the marriage including a coach made of silver. According to their report, Anne of Denmark was keen for the marriage to go ahead, and Fowler wrote; "the young lady is so far in love with the king's majesty as it were death to her to have it broken off, and has made good proof (in) diverse ways of her affection, which his majesty is apt enough to requite".

Young also served on Border commissions in 1588, 1596, and 1598.

In the summer of 1590 he became involved in the case of a woman from Lübeck because he could speak German. The woman had arrived in Scotland and presented herself to the court of Anne of Denmark. She said she brought a prophecy from magicians of the east, of a great king in north-west Europe and his noble future actions, meaning James VI. The king in the prophecy had a wound or mark on the side of his body. The woman had a letter written in Latin saying she brought news of the king's good fortune. She had tried to meet James VI at Elsinore but missed seeing him there. In Edinburgh, she had an audience with Anne of Denmark, speaking in German. James VI thought she was probably a witch, but asked Young to interview her. At first she was reluctant to speak to him, preferring to talk to a "wise man" of her own choice and see the mark on the king's body first. The English diplomat Robert Bowes heard that she had come to Scotland because of her "inordinate love" for one of the queen's servants, and so her story of a prophecy was disregarded and her "credit cracked".

A memo written by the king for Young on 17 April 1594 outlines a variety of concerns; the problem of the Earl of Bothwell and the complicity of the English ambassador Lord Zouche; fears that Bothwell might kidnap Prince Henry; Danish support for James against England; Peter Young's mission to Denmark; Anne of Denmark's household and her lordship of Dunfermline.

In 1596 Young was part of the financial administration known as the Octavians from its eight key members.

On 19 May 1597 Young and Sir George Home of Wedderburn met the English ambassadors Robert Bowes and William Bowes in Edinburgh. The next day Young and Sir William Stewart of Traquair brought them into the garden of Holyrood Palace to meet the king.

In 1601 Young was selected to interview the goldsmith Thomas Foulis and the cloth merchant Robert Jousie who had become major financiers of the royal household.

He married Margaret Murray.