Background
Born in Scotland c. 1428, she was the third daughter of James I of Scotland and Joan Beaufort.
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Joan Stewart
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She was known, in Latin, as the muta domina of Dalkeith. She had “the misfortune to be deaf and dumb”, and was known as muta domina or “the mute lady”. Joan was reported to have used sign language to communicate, even in public (although it was considered at that time to be impolite).
Joan was originally contracted to marry James Douglas, 3rd Earl of Angus on 18 October 1440, but he died (without issue) in 1446 before the marriage could take place.
In 1445 she was sent to France and did not return home to Scotland until 1457. She had been promised in marriage to the Dauphin of France but the marriage did not take place, probably due to her inability to articulate.
They were granted a dispensation on 7 January 1463-1464 for being consanguineous in the second and third degrees. The Earl and Countess of Morton were buried together in the choir of the parish church of Saint Nicholas Buccleuch, known as the Dalkeith Collegiate Church, in Dalkeith, south of Fife and east of Edinburgh, in Midlothian, Scotland.
Known as the Morton Monument, their tombs are covered with their stone effigies, complete with their armorial bearings.
This is believed to be the world’s oldest image of a known deaf person. The choir is now in the ruins, leaving the tombs out in the open, where, in a few centuries, the elements have erased their faces. Their hands, pressed together in prayer, were likely to have been destroyed during the Reformation.
Today, as one of the visitors remarked, “nce crisply carved and detailed with heraldic devices”, the tombs have “the look of sand sculptures after the tide has washed in and retreated”.
Due to their historical value, in 2005 a team of volunteers and preservationists created a protective canopy over their effigies. Sir John Douglas, 2nd Earl of Morton (bef 1466- bef 1515), killed at the Battle of Flodden
James, (d aft 1480) appeared in several writs 1466-1480.
Janet, married bef. 1 February 1480-1481 to Sir Patrick Hepburn, 1st Earl of Bothwell.
Elizabeth, mentioned in a charter of 1479 after which nothing further is known of her.
