Background
He was born to Mary, Countess of Menteith and her husband Walter "Bailloch" Stewart, Earl of Menteith jure uxoris.
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Other photo of John John Menteith of Ruskie
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John John Menteith of Ruskie
Edit ProfileCareer
John possessed the land of Ruskie in Stirlingshire,
He was Governor of Dumbarton Castle, an appointment made by Edward I who was keen to secure the fortification as a major access route into Scotland by sea. Tradition has it that Menteith betrayed Sir William Wallace to English soldiers, which led to Wallace"s capture and torturous execution and his later nickname Fause Menteith ("Menteith the treacherous, false"). Wyntoun, whose "Metrical Chronicle" was written in 1418, says:
The English chronicler Piers Langtoft states that Menteith discovered the retreat of Wallace through the treacherous information of Jack Short, his servant, and that he came under cover of night and seized him in bed.
A passage in the Scalachronica, quoted by John Leland, notes, "William Walleys was taken of the Counte of Menteith, about Glasgow, and sent to King Edward, and after was hanged, drawn, and quartered at London."
Menteith, by an unknown spouse, had issue:
Sir John de Menteith the younger, married Helen daughter of Gartnait, Earl of March
Walter Menteith
Johanna Menteith, married (1) Malise, 7th Earl of Strathearn, (2) John Campbell, Earl of Atholl, (3) Maurice de Moravia, Earl of Strathearn, (4) William de Moravia, 5th Earl of Sutherland.
