Walter Scott of Branxholme and Buccleuch Sir Walter Scott , 1st of Branxholme , 3rd of Buccleuch ( c . 1495 – killed 4 October 1552 ) , known as " Wicked Wat " , was a nobleman of the Scottish Borders and the chief of Clan Scott who briefly served as Warden of the Middle March . He was an " inveterate English hater " active in the wars known as The Rough Wooing and a noted Border reiver . He was killed in the streets of Edinburgh in a feud with Clan Kerr in 1552 . His great - grandson was Sir Walter Scott , 1st Lord Scott of Buccleuch , the " Bold Buccleuch " ( 1565 – 1611 ) , a border reiver famed for his role in the rescue of Kinmont Willie Armstrong . Early life . Walter Scott was the son of Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch , 2nd lord of Buccleuch , and Elizabeth Kerr , daughter of Walter Kerr of Cessford . The elder Sir Walter succeeded his grandfather , David Scott , 1st lord of Buccleuch , as baron of Branxholme in 1492 and died before 15 April 1504 . The younger Walter was knighted on the field at the battle of Flodden on 9 September 1513 , where he lost many of his kinsmen . He was named heir to his father 27 October 1517 , and was appointed Baillie of the lands of the Melrose Abbey in 1519 , a position that was soon after made hereditary and confirmed in Rome in 1525 . He was warded in Edinburgh in 1524 following a dispute with Margaret Tudor , the Queen Dowager of James IV , regarding her dower lands in Ettrick Forest , but he escaped the same year and associated himself with the opposing party of her husband Archibald Douglas , 6th Earl of Angus and Matthew Stewart , 4th Earl of Lennox . He received letters of pardon under the Privy Seal , 9 May 1526 , for an attempt to capture the Earl of Arran . Later that year the young king James V enlisted Scott ' s help to free himself from the tutelage of the Douglas faction led by Angus . Scott led 600 lances to intercept the king and his train , which included Kerrs of Ferniehurst and Cessford , but was defeated by Angus ' s forces at Darnick near Melrose on 25 July . The Scotts lost 100 men and were driven off , hotly pursued by the Kerrs . In the pursuit , a rider in Scott ' s service killed Kerr of Cessford , an action that led to a bloody feud between the Kerrs and Scotts that would culminate 26 years later in Scott ' s murder . Scott was exiled for his role in the affair under a penalty of £10 , 000 Scots , but he was pardoned under the Great Seal on 10 February 1528 , and by Act of Parliament on 5 September 1528 . In October 1532 the Earl of Northumberland burned Branxholme Tower , and Buccleuch retaliated by leading 3000 lances on a formidable raid into England . In 1535 he was accused of assisting the English Warden Lord Dacre , and warded in Edinburgh , 19 April 1535 , at the King ' s will , but was released before 13 May 1536 , though again imprisoned in 1540 . Marriages and children . Scott married , first , before 4 September 1523 , Elizabeth Carmichael who died before 1530 . They had two sons : In a short - lived attempt to resolve the Scott - Kerr feud , in 1530 the widowed Sir Walter married as his second wife Janet Kerr , daughter of Andrew Kerr of Fernihirst , widow of George Turnbull of Bedrule . They had no children . They were divorced , and she was still living in 1555 . Sometime before June 1544 , he married his third wife , Janet Beaton or Betoun ( 1519 – 1569 ) , daughter of John Beaton of Creich , widow of Sir James Crichton of Cranston Riddelm and divorced wife of Simon Preston of Craigmillar . Their children were : Later , Dame Janet favoured the alliance of James Hepburn , Earl of Bothwell and Mary , Queen of Scots , and was said to have infiuenced them by witchcraft . Rough Wooing . After the death of James V in 1542 , Scott was among those who opposed the proposed marriage of the infant Mary , Queen of Scots , to Henry VIII ' s son Prince Edward , and became active in the wars with England later known as The Rough Wooing . He was made Keeper of Newark Castle for nineteen years in 1543 . In 1545 , Scott joined the unlikely alliance of Arran and Angus against the invading English at the Battle of Ancrum Moor , leading a contingent of borderers in the ambush and rout of the English forces . Scott also fought in the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh on 10 September 1547 . Following the Scottish defeat , Scott submitted to Edward VI , now king of England , with the consent of the Regent , Governor Arran , but in 1548 the English took and burned Newark . Scott ' s mother , Elizabeth Kerr , was burned to death when the tower of Catslack was fired by the English on 19 October 1548 . In 1550 Scott was made Warden of the Middle Marches , and in 1551 Warden and Justiciar of Liddesdale . Murder . Scott was walking in the High Street of Edinburgh on 4 October 1552 when a band of Kerrs and their retainers attacked him . John Hume of Coldenknowes ran Scott through with his sword , " shouting to one of the Kerrs ' Strike ! Ain strike for they [ sic ] father ' s sake ! ' " , and when the wounded Scott was found to be alive his body was repeatedly stabbed until he died . He was succeeded by his grandson , also called Sir Walter Scott ( d . 1574 ) , son of William Scott of Kincurd and father of Sir Walter Scott , 1st Lord Scott of Buccleuch , the " Bold Buccleuch " ( 1565 – 1611 ) . Representation in fiction . Scott plays a significant role in the historical fiction series the Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett . He appears in the first novel of the series , The Game of Kings and his death is a key plot point in the third novel of the series , The Disorderly Knights .