Anne Erroll

Anne Erroll (5 January 1656 – c. 1719) was a Scottish Jacobite conspirator and naturalist.

Family
She was born Anne Drummond, youngest child of James Drummond, 3rd Earl of Perth, and his wife Lady Anne Drummond, who died as a result of the childbirth.

On 1 October 1674 she married John Hay, becoming Anne Hay, countess of Erroll, when her husband succeeded as the 12th earl of Erroll that year. They had four surviving children: Charles, Thomas, Mary and Margaret. Charles and Mary each inherited the title of Erroll and were also involved with the Jacobite movement.

Natural history
In the 1680s, Anne submitted contributions of text and plates to Robert Sibbald’s Scotia Illustrata, a collaborative natural history book published in 1684. She illustrated the redwing and the black-winged stilt (or goosander) and sent texts containing descriptions of a sea eagle eyrie and a fin whale.

Jacobite movement
In the early eighteenth century, Anne was an important figure in the underground Jacobite movement in Scotland. She distributed correspondence to the network of conspirators; oversaw Jacobite communications between Scotland and France; and corresponded with Queen Mary about the Scottish Jacobites’ terms. Twice, she hosted Nathaniel Hooke on his visits to Scotland, receiving him at her castle, New Slains, in 1705 and 1707, and communicating with him using invisible ink and linen signals in the windows of New Slains Castle. Hooke described her as "a lady of about fifty, with a sound, penetrating mind. All the [Jacobites] have confidence in her."

Later life and death
She spent most of her later life at her country house at Delgatie, and died in or before August 1719, having outlived her husband and all of her children but Mary.