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THE SCOTS PEERAGE
Edinburgh : Printed by T. and A. Constable'
FOR
DAVID DOUGLAS
LONDON . . . aiMPKlN, MAB8HALL, HAMILTON, KENT AND CO., LIMITED
CAMBKIDOE . . MACMILLAN AND BOWES
GLASGOW . . JAMRS MAOLEHOSE AND SONS
THE
SCOTS PEERAGE
FOUNDED ON WOOD'S EDITION OF SIR ROBERT DOUGLAS'S
peerage of ^cotlanD
CONTAINING
AN HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL ACCOUNT
OF THE NOBILITY OP THAT KINGDOM
EDITED BY
SIR JAMES BALFOUR PAUL
LORD LYON KING OF ARMS
WITH ARMORIAL ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME IV
EDINBURGH: DAVID DOUGLAS 1907
All rights reserved
'V—iy-— -/~^'
-H-
f\(^f^U^
CONTENTS
AND LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS
PAGE
FIFE, THE ANCIENT EARLS OF, 1
FINDLATEB, OGILVY, EARL OF, 16
FORBES, FORBES, LORD, 42
With full-page Illustration.
FORBES OF PITSLIGO, FORBES, LORD, .... 69
FORFAR, DOUGLAS, EARL OF 77
FORRESTER, FORRESTER, LORD 80
FORTH, RUTHVEN; EARL OF, 101
ERASER, ERASER, LORD, 107
FRENDRAUGHT, CRICHTON, LORD, 123
GALLOWAY, ANCIENT LORDS OF, 135
GALLOWAY, STEWART, EARL OF, 145
With full-page Illustration.
GARNOCK, LINDSAY, VISCOUNT, "*
GLASFOORD, ABERCBOMBY, LORD 179
■GLASGOW, BOYLE, EARL OF, 183
With full-page Illustration.
GLENCAIRN, CUNNINGHAM, EARL OF,
222
GOWBIE, RUTHVEN, EARL OF, 254
vi CONTENTS
FAGK
GRAY, GRAY, LORD, 269
With full-page Illustration.
HADDINGTON, RAMSAY, VISCOUNT OF, ... . 297
HADDINGTON, HAMILTON, EARL OF 303
With full-page Illustration.
HALIBURTON OF DIRLETON, HALIBURTON, LORD, . . 330
HAMILTON, HAMILTON, DUKE OF, 339
With full-page Illustration.
HERRIES OF TERREGLES, LORD, 398
With full-page Illustration.
HOLYROODHOUSE, BOTHWELL, LORD, . . . . 42»
HOME, HOME, EARL OF, 440
With full-page Illustration.
HOPETOUN, HOPE, EARL OP, 485
With full-page Illustration.
HUNTLY, GORDON, MARQUESS OF, 506
With full-page Illustration.
HYNDFORD, CARMICHAEL, EARL OF, 563
LIST OF CONTRIBUTOES TO VOL. IV.
J- A.-, . . . Rev. John Anderson, Curator Historical De- partment, H.M. General Register House.
J. A., LL.D., , . Colonel Allardtce.
R. E. B., . . Colonel the Hon. Robert Boyle.
E. G. M. C, . . Evelyn G. M. Carmichael.
E. M. F., . . Mrs. E. M. Fullarton, nee Home.
C. T. G., . . Charles T. Gordon.
A. T. G., , . Rev. Alex. Thomson Grant.
F. J. G Francis J. Grant, Rothesay Herald.
D. C. H., . . David C. Herries.
A. W. I., . . Alexander W. Inglis.
"W. A. L. . . William A. Lindsay, K. C, Windsor Herald,
J. B. P., . . . Sir James Balfodr Paul, Lyon King of Arms.
A. R., . . . Andrew Ross, Boss Herald.
A. F. S., . . .A. Francis Stetjart.
J. K. S., . . . J. K. Stewart.
THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE
IFE (with Fothreve, the modern Kinross) was one of the seven provinces into which ancient Scot- land was divided, and which were governed each by its regulus or mormaer in subjection to the Ard-Ri, the King of Scotland.
Douglas in his Peerage begins the line of Earls of Fife with Macduff, whom he styles Thane of Fife, but John of Fordun, who flourished in the latter half of the fourteenth century, was theflrst to create Macduff Thane and Earl of Fife, and his story has been embellished and handed on by Wyntoun, Boece, and Buchanan. The whole narrative, however, has been discredited by later historians, first by George Chalmers,' and more recently by Dr. Skene, while the writer of the article ' Macduff ' in the Dictionary of National Biography calls him ' a half or wholly mythical personage.' The early English chronicles, too, will be searched in vain for the name of Macdufl in connection with the defeat of Macbeth and the placing of Malcolm Oanmore on his throne. They are unanimous in giving the credit of that act to Siward, the great Earl of Northumberland, and uncle of Malcolm, at the instigation of King Edward the Confessor. And with this statement agrees the Chronicle
1 Caledonia, ii. 712.
VOL. IV.
2 THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE
of Melrose, under date 1054, which is the date given by all the English chronicles.'
Of the existence, then, of Macduff, Thane or Earl of Fife, there is not a particle of proof. In the Cartulary of the Priory of St. Andrews, where one might have expected to find him named, he nowhere appears. If it be objected that charters of MacduS's date could hardly be found in Scotland, there will be found in that Cartulary memo- randa of grants of land by persons not only contemporary with, but of an earlier date than, that of the supposed Macduff.'
I. Edelrad, or Etlielred (the name is found with both spellings), the third son of King Malcolm Canmore, was undoubtedly the first Earl of Fife.^ He is so designed in a grant of land made by him to the Ouldees of Loch Leven. This gi'ant appears in two versions, the shorter of which probably follows the original,* while the notice in the Register of St. Andrews is evidently of later date. In both forms Ethelred describes himself as ' son of Malcolm, King of Scotland, Abbot of Dunkeld, and also (et insuper) Earl of Fyf.'
A difficulty has been found in the description of this grant as given in the Register of the Priory of St. Andrews. It is the presence of two Earls of Fife, Ethelred and Con- stantino, existing apparently at the same period, but the
' Chronicle de Mailros, 50 ; see also Skene's Chronicles of the Picts, etc., 210. 2 jieg_ Prior. S. Andree, 113-117. ^ Douglas, after Macduflf, inserts a Duflfagan as Earl of Fife, but while a 'Dufagan comes' appears as a witness to the charter to Scone by King Alexander i., it is more probable he was of Angus, rather than of Fife. The editor of the Complete Peerage makes Beth the first Earl of Fife. As 'Beth comes ' he heads the seven Earls who witness the foundation charter of Scone, and is also a witness to the charter' by King Alex- ander I., granting the privilege of holding courts (Liber Ecclesia de Scon., 4, 9). Nothing more is known of him, and the same remark applies to ' Ed. comes ' or ' Head comes,' who appears as a witness to King David's charter of confirmation to the Abbey of Dunfermline, circa A.D. 1128 (Reg. de Dunfermelyn, 4) (which charter is probably not alto- gether genuine), and to the same King's charter of confirmation to the same abbey of the shire of Kircalden (Z6td. , 16). He is only men- tioned here, as it has been suggested (Complete Peerage, s. v. Fife) that he was Earl Ethelred, and 'contemporary with Earl Beth, and with Earl Constantine his successor,' thereby making confusion worse confounded. * Early Scottish Charters, 243.
THE ANCIENT EARLS OF PIPE 3
solution of the puzzle is simple. The Latin memorandum of Ethelred's grant was written a considerable time after the grant was made, and the scribe adds that Ethelred's charter was confirmed by his brothers, David and Alex- ander, i.e. after 1107. It is to this confirmation that Earl Constantine was a witness.
Nothing further is known of Ethelred, and he apparently died before 1098, when his next brother Edgar became King. Lord Hailes says of him ' he became a churchman,' ' forgetting for the moment that Ethelred's being Abbot of Dunkeld did not make him an ecclesiastic in the sense of not being a layman. He was a great lay-abbot, as was Crinan, the progenitor of the great race of Celtic Kings of Scotland. , . ,
II. Constantine. — "Who he was, and how he became to be Earl of Fife, there is apparently no means of knowing. His name is suggestive of a regal origin. The Earl is called, at least once, ' Constantine Maedufe,' but it is in a charter of King Edgar's, the genuineness of which, though maintained by able authorities, is open to doubt.^
It is not known at what date Constantine became Earl, but it was apparently about, if not before, 1107, as he wit- nessed the confirmation of Ethelred's grant to the Ouldees of Loch Leven, and the translator of the Gaelic memorandum of the grant styles him ' a man of the greatest discretion.' He next appears as the leading arbiter in a dispute about the boundaries of Kirkness belonging to these Culdees, and those of Lochore belonging to Sir Robert of Burgon, when he is called ' a discreet and eloquent man,' and is also designed Magnus Judex in Scotia.' As Constantinus comes he witnessed King David's confirmation charter to Dun- fermline, the date of which is variously given as 1126 and 1128." He engaged in a quarrel with the Abbey of Dun- fermline about the lands of Kirkcaldy, which he by force kept from the Church.* This was not the only occasion on which there was bad blood between the church of Dun-
1 Annals, i. i9. ^ Early Scottish Charters, ix. 245. ^ Reg. S. Andree, 116, 117. ' Magnus Judex ' is apparently the Latin rendering of the Gaelic Mormaor. * Beg. de Dunfermelyn, i ; Early Scottish Charters, 323. * Beg. de Dunfermelyn, 16.
4 THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE
fermline and Earl Oonstantine. There is a letter to him from King David, couched in severe terms, commanding him to allow that church all the ' customs ' that were its due, and threatening if he refused to compel him to do so.' If Earl Oonstantine married, the name of his wife is not found. The date of his death has been given as in 1127 or 1129, on what authority is not stated.' He left an heir or heirs,' but nothing apparently is known of them.
III. GiLLEMicHABL succecded to Earl Oonstantine. It has been assumed that he was the son of the latter, but there is no evidence of the relationship. In King David's charter of the ' shire ' of Kirkcaldy and its church to Dun- fermline* there is a clause prohibiting any one of the heirs of Oonstantine, Earl of Fife, from calling in question the grant. From the language of the charter it may be as- sumed that Oonstantine was then dead,^ and it is note- worthy that Gillemichael is not mentioned either as heir of Earl Oonstantine, or as a witness to the charter. His identity is doubtful : whoever he was, his position among the magnates of Scotland was a high one. In King David's confirmation charter to Dunfermline he appears as ' Gillemichael Macduf,' and is ranked immediately after the Earls and before Herbert the Chancellor, and a great noble like Hugh de Morevill, afterwards Constable."
' Gillemichell ' appears to have rendered great services to the King, and it is not improbable that the territorial earldom became for the first time hereditary to him and his heirs.' He witnessed several other charters of King David to Dunfermline, and also the same King's charter of confirmation to Holyrood.
Earl Gillemichael did not hold the earldom many years, and there is some doubt as to the year of his death, which has been given as 1139, but he appears in a charter dated about 1133, while Duncan is styled Earl in 1136, if not earlier.'
• Beg. de Dunfermelyn, 13. ^ Wood's Douglas's Peerage. ^ Reg. de Dunfermelyn, 16. * Ibid. ' Sir A. C. Lawrie gives circa 1130 as the date of this charter ; Early Scottish Charters, 76. « Heg. de Dunfermelyn, i. ' Complete Peerage, iii. s. v. Fife. * Beg. de Dunfermelyn, 15 ; Beg. Epia. Glasguensis, 9.
THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE 5
Tlie name of Gillemichael's wife has not come down to us. He Lad at least two sons and one daughter : —
1. DcNCAN, his successor.
2. Hugh, father of Hugh (sometimes called Egius and
Eugenius).' (See title Wemyss.)
3. Ete, wife of Gartnait, Earl of Buchan, is described as
the daughter of Gillemichael, and it is not improbable that she was the daughter of this Earl, as there is no other Gillemichael of that period known to history on record. Gillemichael may have had another son, Adam, pro- genitor of a family designed from its lands De Syras, and who is a frequent witness to charters of King William, Earl Duncan, and Robert and Richard, bishops of St. Andrews.^
IV. Duncan, fourth Earl of Fife, succeeded sometime before July 1136,^ and was probably, though not certainly,the son of Gillemichael. He is a constant witness to charters of King David i. to religious houses generally. In 1147, as Comes Duncanus, he is found witnessing the foundation charter of Oambuskenneth.* About 1150 he is a witness to King David's charter to the monks of Deer, declaring them to be free from all lay duty or exaction.' He was himself a benefactor to the church, and in an especial degree to the Benedictine Nunnery of North Berwick, of which he would seem to have been actually the founder. Immediately after the death of his son Prince Henry, King David i. sent his grandson Malcolm, in charge of the Earl, on a solemn progress through Scotland, and ordered him to be pro- claimed heir to the crown.
' And als he depute hys Counsale The Erie of Fyflfe mast specyalle All governyd by hym to be In his atate, and hys reawte.'*
Earl Duncan is said to have died in 1154, and was certainly dead before 1160. By his wife, whose name is unknown, he had issue at least two sons and a daughter : —
1 Reg. Prior. S. Andree, 216. " Registers of St. Andrews and Dun- fermline passim. ^ Reg. Epis. Glasguensis, 9. * Registrum Monasterii de Cambuskenneth,'12. i' Book of Deer, Spalding Cluh, 95. « Wyntoun's Cronykil, ed. Laing, ii. 191 ; Lord Hailes' Annals, i. 104.
6 THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE
1. Duncan, his successor. ' •..•'■
2. Adam. In 1163 or 1164 'Adam, son of the Earl,'
witnessed the conflrmation by Richard, Bishop of
St. Andrews, of the church of Oupar to the church
of St. Andrews. His name occurs third in a list of
sixteen witnesses.^ He may have been the ' Adam,
son of Duncan,' who, with Orabilis his wife, witnessed
about 1172 the grant of the church of Lochres by
Nes, the son of William, to the church of St. Andrews.*
Orabilis his wife apparently survived him. She had
previously been the wife of Sir Robert de Quincy,
from whom she was probably divorced, and she
married thirdly Gilchrist, Earl of Mar.
. 3. Aft-eka, wife of Harold the elder. Earl of Orkney,
and mother by him of two sons and two daughters.^
Some writers have held that the families of Spens,
M'Intosh, Duff, and Fife, are descended from this Earl of
Fife, but without proof, and it is now certain that the
origin of the M'Intoshes is to be looked for elsewhere.
V. Duncan, fifth Earl of Fife, succeeded his father Earl Duncan in 1154. In one of his early charters (it must be dated at least before 1177), confirming a grant by his father to the nuns of North Berwick, he styles himself in regal fashion 'Duncan, by the Grace of God Earl of Fife.'" He is a witness to many charters of King Malcolm iv. and King William the Lion to religious houses, and was himself a liberal benefactor to such. Douglas says he founded the nunnery of North Berwick, but the credit of that must be given to his father; although he confirmed and added to his father's donations to that house. This Earl seems to have been much about the person of King William, and, as in the case of former Earls of Fife, is given precedence over the other Earls of Scotland as witnesses to the King's charters. By King William he was made Justiciar of Scotland, being so styled for the first time in the charter of the church of Ecclesgreig to the church of St. Andrews,^
■ Beg. Prior. S. Andree, 137. ^ jlid., 287 ; Matthew, Bishop of Aber- deen, also a witness, became bishop in 1172. ^ Orkneyinga Saga, Edin- burgh, 1873, xlii and 188. ^ Carte Monialium de Northberwic, Bannatyne Club, 4. 5 Beg. Prior. S. Andree, 218.
THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE 7
dated between 1171 and 1178, and he held the office for more than twenty years, as the latest reference to him as such is on 28 December 1199.' He heads the list of Scottish Earls and Barons who joined with King William in doing homage to King Henry ii. of England at Falaise in Nor- mandy in December 1174, and was one of the hostages for the due performance of King William's obligations.'
Sir Robert Sibbald ^ prints a charter of King Malcolm rv. granting to Earl Duncan, with his niece Ada, ' the lands of Strathmiglo, Falkland, Kettle, Rathillet in Fife, and of Strathbran in Perthshire.' The charter, from the witnesses, must be dated between 1160 and 1162, but the name of Earl Duncan's wife was not Ada but Bla or Hela,' as she is so named in a grant which he made to the Abbey of Dunferm- line of the church of Oalder Comitis, or Earl's Calder, which is confirmed by Ela his wife and by Robert, Bishop of St. Andrews, who died in 1158 or 1159.' The terms of the writ by Countess Ela suggest that she was heiress of Earl's Oalder. Earl Duncan may have acquired that barony also by his marriage with her. She was, according to the charter quoted, the niece of King Malcolm, but it has been objected that Malcolm, who was born in 1142, could scarcely have had a niece marriageable in 1160. Yet it is possible that Ada or Ela might be the child of an illegitimate son or daughter born to Malcolm's father Earl Henry, in his youth, as he had at least one illegitimate child, and may have had others.
Duncan, fifth Earl of Fife, died in 1204. He had three sons and one daughter : —
1. Malcolm, his successor. ' "
2. Duncan, who as ' Duncan, son of Earl Duncan,' is a
witness to the grant made by Oristina Corbet to the church of St. Andrews of certain serfs," and also affixed his seal to the confirmation by William, son of Earl Patrick of Dunbar, and husband of Oristina Corbet,
^ Beg. Moraviensi, No. 17. ^ Rhymer's Fcedera, i. 39, 2nd ed. ' History of Fife, Cupar ed., 228. * The charter is printed by Sir Robert Sibbald from a copy by Sir James Balfour of Denmylne, who assigned a wrong date to it, and who may have misread Ada for Ela. The latter was certainly the name of the Countess, as she appears in several writs. * Meg, de Dunfermelyn, 55, 89. ^ Reg. Prior. S. Andree, 263.
8 THE ANCIENT EARLS OP FIFE
of the same grant. He is also a witness with his brother David to the charter of Earl Malcolm, their brother, of the church of Abircrumbie to the Abbey of Dunfermelyn/
He married ' the lady Aliz Corbet,' who is described as his wife in the charter cited above.' Douglas says her father was Walter Corbet of Makerstoun.' He had issue, so far as known : —
(1) Malcolm, who became seventh Earl.
3. David, who is a witness as above. He got from his
father the lands of Strathbogie, forming one of the five districts of Aberdeenshire. He was father of John de Strathbogie, who became Earl of AthoU by his marriage.
4. , a daughter, name unknown. In 1188 Earl Duncan
gave 500 marks to the King of England (250 of which was then paid, and 250 in 1190) for the custody of Roger de Merlay's land in Northumberland, and the ward of his son, and for leave that the son might marry the Earl's daughter.*
VI. Malcolm, sixth Earl of Fife, succeeded his father, Duncan, in 1204. Before 1177 he is found witnessing his lather's charter of Gillecamestone to the nuns of North Berwick, to whom also he confirmed his father's and grand- lather's gifts.' Soon after his succeeding to the earldom, he had from King William a charter of the lands of Bingouer, which Uchtred of Bingouer had, in the King's presence, and in his lull court, resigned in favour of Earl Malcolm, on the ground that he, Uchtred, had no other heir nearer than Earl Malcolm.' He founded in 1217, the Cistercian Abbey of Culross.' He made a grant to the see of Moray, to which Duncan and David his brothers are witnesses. Malcolm, sixth Earl, died in 1228, leaving no issue, and was buried in Culross Abbey. The site of his tomb is unknown. He married, in the lifetime of his father, Matilda, daughter
1 Beg. de Dunfermelyn, 83. ^ Sgg_ Prior. S. Andree, 278. 3 Peerage, i. 574. ■> Cal. Doc. Scot., Nos. 191 and 202. ' Carte Monialium de Northberwic, passim. ° Acta Pari. Scot, i. 390. ' Chron. de Mail- ros, 129, 270.
THE ANCIENT EARLS OP FIFE 9
of Gilbert, Earl of Stratlierne, and got with her the lands of Glendovan, Aldie, and Fossoway.'
VII. Malcolm, son of Duncan, nephew of the last Earl, succeeded his uncle in 1228 as seventh Earl of Fife. He was one of the guarantors of a treaty with the English at York, 25 September 1237, and of another treaty in 1244, by which King Alexander ii. engaged to live at peace with England, and he joined with other nobles in a letter to the Pope to the same effect.' In the reign of King Alexander iii. Earl Malcolm was one of the faction of King Henry in., and was appointed one of the Regents of Scotland and guardians of the young King and Queen 20 September 1255. On 24 April 1256 Earl Malcolm of Fife was fined in North- umberland for not coming before the justices on the first day of a court.^ He was one of the Scottish nobles to whom King Henry made oath that he would restore the Queen of Scotland and her child, when she went to England lor her first confinement in 1260. The Earl died in 1266, having married Helen, a daughter of Llewellyn, Prince of Wales. She survived him, and married, secondly, Donald, Earl of Mar. She was alive in 1291, and was still drawing her terce from her first marriage.' He had issue : —
1. OoLBAN, eighth Earl of Fife.
2. Macduff, who is the occasion of an interesting episode
in Scottish history. He received from his father the lands of Reres and Croy in Fife, but was dis- possessed of them by William, Bishop of St. Andrews, guardian of the earldom during the minority of Duncan, ninth Earl of Fife. He complained to King Edward i., who ordered the Regents of Scotland to try his cause. They restored him to possession. But in Baliol's first parliament held at Scone on 10 February 1292-93 Macduff was required to answer for having taken possession of these lands, which were in the custody of the King since the death of the last Earl of Fife. Macduff acknowledged the possession but denied the trespass. He pleaded that his father
1 Liber Insule Missarum, Appendix xxiii., Bannatyne Club. ^ Cal. Doc. Scot, i. 1358 and 1655. ^ Ibid., i. 397. ♦ Fordun a Goodall, ii. 58, 104 ; Stevenson's Hist. Documents, i. 410, 414.
10 THE ANCIENT EARLS OP FIFE
Malcolm had made a grant of the lands to him, and that King Alexander in. had, by charter, coniirmed that grant. It was testified by the nobility present that Alexander in. had the custody of the lands in controversy after the death of Malcolm by reason of the nonage of Oolban, and in like manner, after the death of Oolban. That after the death of Duncan, the son of Oolban, the lands were in the custody of the sovereign, by reason of the nonage of Duncan, the son of Duncan. Macduff was therefore condemned to imprisonment for his trespass; but action was reserved to him against Earl Duncan, his grand- nephew, when he should come of age. Macduff was confined for a few days ; as soon as he was set at liberty, he petitioned Baliol for a re-hearing, and offered to prove his title of possession by written evidence, but the petition was rejected. Macduff appealed to King Edward i., and in his appeal set forth the judgment of the Regents which had put him in possession. Edward ordered Baliol to appear in person before him, and to make answer to Macduff's complaint. Baliol at first yielded no obedience to the order, but at last presented himself before Edward, who decreed in favour of Macduff.' When Wallace erected the standard of national independence, Macduff joined him, and fell, gallantly fighting, at the battle of Falkirk 22 July 1298.'
VIII. Oolban, eighth Earl of Fife, succeeded Earl Mal- colm in 1266. He was knighted by King Alexander in. in 1264,' when he can have been only in his 'teens, as he was in nonage when he succeeded his father two years later. He must also have married while yet a youth, as at his death in 1270 his son and successor was eight years of age. He married a lady of whom we know only the Ohristian name. A charter of his to a Master William Wyschard (probably the same who was afterwards Bishop of St. Andrews) of the lands of Glensallauch in the Mearns, is said to be granted with the consent and goodwill of Anna
1 Acta Pari. Scot., i. ; Hailes, Annals, i, 247. ^ Wyntoun's Cronyhil, Laing's ed., ii. 347. ^ Fordun a Goodall, ii. 102.
THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE 11
his spouse, and the suggestion may be hazarded that Countess Anna was one of the three daughters and co-heiresses of Sir Alan Durward. Earl Oolban's arms on the seal are paly of six.' Earl Colban left a son, '
IX. Duncan, ninth Earl of Fife, who succeeded his father in 1270, being then a boy of eight years of age. His ward was granted to Alexander, Prince of Scotland, son of King Alexander iii. He was admitted to possession of his earldom in 1284, and was chosen one of the six Regents of the Kingdom after the death of Alexander iii. in the Parlia- ment of Scone 2 April 1286. He was in England in 1286-87, and by deed, dated at Westminster 5 February, when about to set out for Scotland, appointed two attorneys for a year, to act for him in his absence.' He was in England again on 5 July 1287.^ He was murdered at Petpollock on 25 Sep- tember 1288 by Sir Patrick Abernethy and Sir Walter Percy. Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell seized Percy and Sir Hugh Abernethy, the real instigator. Percy was executed, and Sir Hugh Abernethy condemned to per- petual imprisonment in the castle of Douglas, where he died. Sir Patrick Abernethy made his escape to France, and died there."
Duncan, Earl of Fife, married Johanna de Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester. On 6 June 1292 Johanna de Clare, Countess of Fife, widow of Duncan, Earl of Fife, granted bond to King Edward i. in a thousand marks of silver for his leave to marry.* She was subsequently married to Sir Gervase Avenel, and was living in 1322-23.°
The Earl had issue one son and one daughter : —
1. Duncan, tenth Earl.
2. Isabel, married to John Comyn, second Earl of Buchan.
She it was who crowned Bruce, and for that deed was, by order of King Edward i., confined in a room called a cage within the Castle of Berwick.
X. Duncan, tenth Earl of Fife, was only three years of age at the time of his father's death in 1288. Being still under age at the coronation of John Baliol at Scone, 30
' From the original charter belonging to the Earl of Kinnoull. ^ Cal. Doc. Scot., ii. No. 310. ^ Ibid., 317. * Hist. Doc. Scot., i. 69 ; EotuU Scot., i. 2. s Cal. Doe. Scot., ii. No. 602. « J^id., iii. Nos. 566 and 804.
12 THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE
November 1292, King Edward i. appointed John de St. John to officiate for him. In 1294 that King gave to Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, the ward of the Earl's lands of Oalder till his majority,' and Walter de Oamehou was made keeper of the Earl's lands in the counties of Fife, Stirling, Perth, and Moray.' Sometime before 25 July 1302 Edmund de Mortimer had obtained the marriage of Duncan, son and heir of the late Duncan, Earl of Pife.^ In 1306 Pope Clement v., at the request of King Edward i., granted a dispensation for the marriage of Duncan, Earl of Fife, with King Edward's granddaughter Mary de Mon- thermer, daughter of Ralph, Lord Monthermer, sometime (in right of his wife) Earl of Gloucester, by the Lady Joan Plan- tagenet, dowager Countess of Gloucester, daughter of King Edward, and he was then nineteen years of age.* On 28 January 1319-20 King Edward ii. granted a safe-conduct to his beloved niece Maria, Countess of Fife, to go into Scot- land to join her husband. This Earl, like so many more of his compeers, changed sides, sometimes holding with the English faction, at other times with the patriot Scots. He was the first of the Earls who signed the famous letter to the Pope, asserting the independence of Scotland in the Parliament at Aberbrothock on 6 April 1320. On attaching himself to King Robert Bruce he had got from that monarch charters of the earldom of Fife, the baronies of O'Neil in Aberdeenshire, Kinnoul in Perthshire, and Calder in Mid- lothian.' He was taken prisoner at the battle of Dupplin on 12 August 1332, submitted to Edward Baliol, and assisted at his coronation at Scone on 24 September following. On the return of King David ii. from France in 1341 the Earl joined his party, and accompanied him in his unfortunate ex- pedition to England in 1346. At the battle of Durham, 17 October that year, he was taken prisoner, and having sworn fealty to Baliol, was condemned to suffer death as a traitor, but obtained mercy. He was allowed to return to Scot- land to raise money for his ransom in 1350. He died in 1353. By Mary de Monthermer, who survived him, and was alive on 30 March 1371, he had, so far as is known, only one daughter : —
1 Cal. Doc. Scot, ii. No. 700. s Ibid., 708. ^ j6i^__ y^n^ 4 (j^i^ ^f Papal Letters, ii. 30. ' Robertson's Index, 16, No. 28 ; 25, No. 72.
THE ANCIENT EARLS OF FIFE IS
Isabella, his heir and successor.
XI. Isabella, succeeded as Countess of Fife, as heir to her father, Earl Duncan, in 1353. While still young she was made prisoner at Perth in 1332, by Edward Baliol. She was married, first, to Sir William Ramsay of Colluthie in Fife, who, in her right, became Earl of Fife. He is designed William, Earl of Fife, knight, as witness to a charter of King David ii. 12 April 1358,* and he obtained from that monarch a charter erecting Cupar into a free burgh. He died soon afterwards, leaving a son, but by a former wife.^
The Countess was married, secondly, to Walter Stewart, second son of Robert, afterwards King Robert ii. He is generally said to have died in 1360, but a payment to Walter Stewart, Lord of Fife, in the Chamberlain's Ac- counts, audited in August 1362, shows that he was alive within about a year of that date.^ He died without issue. The Countess was married, thirdly, to Sir Thomas Byset of Upsetlington, who, in prospect of the marriage granted to her his barony of Glasclune in Perth, his share of the lands of Erth and Slamanane, in Stirling, and his lands of Cuthil- drayne, in Fife, which charter, dated on 10 January 1362-63, was confirmed by King David ii. to Isabella for her life. Sir Thomas Byset being then dead, on 17 April 1365.'' The same monarch had granted a charter to Thomas Byset, knight, of all the earldom of Fife, to be held to him and the heirs-male to be procreated betwixt him and Isabella de Fif , whom failing, to return to the King and his heirs, 8 June, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign, 1364.* Thomas Byset, Earl of Fife also dying without issue. Countess Isabella was married, fourthly, to John Dunbar. Among the missing charters of King David n. is one to John Dunbar and Isabella, Countess of Fife, of the earldom of Fife." They had no issue.
Isabella, Countess of Fife, entered into an indenture with
1 Confirmed by King Robert ii., Reg. Mag. Sig., fol. 148, No. 107. 2 Exch. Bolls, i. pp. cxlviii note, and 609. ^ Ibid., ii. pp. Ixxxi and 115. * Beg. Mag. Sig., fol. 44. * Ibid., 31. ' Kobertson's Index of Missing Charters, 52, No. 4. Thia charter is not in the existing book of King David's charters, though the rest of the charters on the same Roll are. Is it possible that it proceeded on Isobel's resignation ' by force and fear ' alluded to in the indenture with Albany,
14 THE ANOIBNT EARLS OF FIFE
Robert, Earl of Menteith, afterwards Duke of Albany, third son of King Robert ii., on 30 March 1371, narrating an entail made by uniquhile Duncan, Earl of Fife, her father, to Alan, Earl of Menteith, grandfather of the Lady Margaret, spouse of Earl Robert, and an entail made by Isabel herself, and her late husband Walter Stewart, brother of Earl Robert, to the said Earl. In terms of these she acknowledges the Earl of Menteith to be her lawful heir-apparent, and upon his assisting her to recover her earldom, which she had by force and fear otherwise resigned, she binds herself to resign it in the King's hand in favour of the Earl himself, reserving for her life the frank tenement of the earldom, except the third part, allotted to Mary, Countess of Fife, the granter's mother. The Earl, upon the death of the Countess Mary, shall have her whole third part.
Among the Dupplin charters is one by King David ii. to Sir Robert Erskine, knight, and Christian of Keith, his spouse, of the barony of Kinnoul, by resignation of Isabel Fyfe, heir to Duncan, sometime Earl of Fife, dated 22 July anno regni 31 (a.D. 1360). King Robert II., on 30 June 1373, confirmed a donation which Isabella, late (dudum) Countess of Fyff, made of an annualrent out of the lands of Over and Nether Sydserf.' The last reference to the Countess is in August 1389. She is said to have resigned in the hands of King Robert ii. the barony of Strathurd, Strathbran, Discher, Toyer, with the Isle of Tay, in Perthshire, the barony of Coull and O'Neil in Aberdeenshire, the baronies of Oromdale and Affyn in Inverness-shire, the lands of Strahorie and Abbrandolie in Banffshire, the lands of Logy- achry, in Perthshire, the barony of Calder in Edinburgh- shire, and the lands of Kilsyth in Stirlingshire. Accord- ing to Skene, De Verhorum Significatione, article ' Arage,' the resignation took place on 12 June 1389 ; but the true date is 12 August 1389.'
XII. Robert Stewart, Earl of Menteith, third son of King Robert ii., in virtue of the above indenture, and sub-
■ Eeg. Mag. Sig., i. 99, No. 16. ^ Antiq. ofAherd., ii. 31,wliere the charter of Coull and O'Neil is given ; for the other lands, see original charter in Gen. Reg. Ho., No. 196.
THE ANOIBNT EARLS OP FIFE 15
sequent resignation in his favour, became twelfth Earl of Fife (see title Albany). His eldest son was
XIII. MuRDACH, second Duke of Albany, and thirteenth Earl of Fife. On his attainder and execution all his honours were forfeited, and the earldom of Fife was annexed to the Grown by Act of Parliament on 4 August 1455.
Obeation.— Circa 1090.
Arms. — The seal of Malcolm, Earl of Fife, bears an armed tnight on horseback to sinister, with drawn sword in right hand and a shield on his left arm, but no arms visible in impression.'
Oolban, Earl of Fife, had a seal with a shield paly of six.'
Duncan, tenth Earl, bears on his seal a similar design to that of Malcolm, the arms on the shield being a lion rampant.'
Isabella, Countess of Fife, bore as her own arms a lion rampant.'
Robert, Earl of Fife and Menteith and Duke of Albany, had several seals : 1st, a fess chequy with a star in dexter chief ; 2nd, a fess chequy surmounted of a lion rampant ; 3rd, a lion rampant ; 4th, quartei'ly 1st and 4th, a lion rampant, 2nd and 3rd, a fess chequy with a label of five points in chief.'
Murdach, Earl of Fife and Menteith and Duke of Albany bore a shield similar to that on his father's fourth seal, with the crest of a boar's head between two trees, and for supporters two lions sejant guardant coue.°
[a. t. g,]
' Macdonald's Scottish Armorial Seals, No. 924. ^ Ibid., No. 925. 3 Ibid., No. 926. « Ibid., No. 927. ' Ibid., Nos. 2562-2565. « Ibid., No. 2566.
OGILVY, EARL OF FINDLATER
IR WALTER OGILVY of Auchlevyn and Desk- ford, ancestor of the Earls of Findlater, was the eldest son of Sir Walter Ogilvy of Car- cary and Lintrathen, ancestor of the Earls of Airlie (see vol. i. pp. Ill, 112) by his second wife Isobel, one of the three daughters and heirs - portioners of Sir John Glen of Balmuto by his wife Margaret Brskine. The date of Walter's birth is un- certain, but his father and mother were married 1390-1406,' and he was a witness to a charter by his father on 28 January 1426.^ The earliest references to him are those contained in his grandmother's charters. On 20 November 1419, Margaret of Glen, lady of Inchmartine, relict of Sir John of Glen, knight, granted the lands of Achlewyne in the lordship of Garioch, to her son-in-law Walter of Ogilvy, Lord of Luntrethyn, and Isobella, his spouse, her daughter, with remainder to Walter their son, the substitutes being Walter's four brothers-german, David, Alexander, Patrick, and George successively.^ Crawfurd quotes a Findlater writ to prove that Walter's marriage to Margaret Sinclair, heiress of Deskford, took place in 1437,' but he was Lord of Deskford in 1436, when he presented plate and vestments
1 Robertson's Index, 150, No. 61. 2 jj^g_ Mag. Sig., 3 February 1426-27. ' Spalding Club Miscellany, iv. 115. * Peerage, voce Findlater.
OGILVY, EARL OP PINDLATER 17
to the altar of St. John the Evangelist in the cathedral church of Aberdeen.' On 12 November 1440 he excambed with his brother Sir John Ogilvy of Lintrathen the lands and fishings of Wardropstoun in Kincardineshire for the lands and fishings of Balhawel in Forfarshire.^ In 1450 he had a lease of Murelettir, in the lordship of Brechin, from the Orown.^
Sir Walter occasionally acted as Deputy Sheriff of Angus for his relative Alexander Ogilvy of Auchterhouse. The fact that Walter Ogilvy of Beaufort and Oures also acted as deputy for Alexander, who was his immediate elder brother, has occasioned confusion in the minds of some writers. In 1440 Sir Walter was present with the King in Council, and again in 1441." In 1455 he obtained a royal licence to fortify the Castle of Findlater.' The sheriff- dom of Banffshire, formerly in possession of the Auchter- house branch, was, in 1454, conferred upon Sir Walter. His last accounts were audited at Edinburgh on 25 October 1456 for the period from 17 July 1454 to that date.°
He married, at least as early as 1436, when he is described as Lord of Deskford,' Margaret, daughter and heiress of Sir John Sinclair of Deskford and Pindlater. The marriage may have been in 1435. He had a charter, 11 August 1440, of the lands and baronies of Deskford and Finlater,^ to himself and his wife, who had resigned them while still in sua virginitate.
The children who have been traced are : —
1. James, his successor.
2. Sir Walter of Auchlevyn and Boyne. (See title Banff.)
Sir James Ogilvy. He inherited the estates of Deskford and Findlater, the patrimony of his mother, and made large additions to them during his life. As Sir James of Deskford, knight, he is a witness to a precept of sasine dated 24 October 1464, by Alexander, Earl of Huntly." By an indenture, dated at Banff 24 March 1471-72, in return for a guarantee of protection, the town council of Banff leased
1 Eeg. Epis. Aberd., ii. 147; Third Sep. Hist. MSS. Com., App. 403. 2 Eeg. Mag. Sig. ^ Exch. Bolls, v. 394, 450. ^ Acta Pari. Scot., ii. 55, 57. 5 Third Rep. Hist. MSS. Com,., App. 404. " Exch. Rolls, vi. 171. ' Reg. Eins. Aberd., ii. 147; Third Rep. Hist. MSS. Com., App. 403. » Reg. Mag. Sig. ^ Family of Innes, 78.
VOL. IV. B
18 OGILVY, EARL OF FINDLATER
to him and his assignees, who were required to be one of his sons or his brother-german Walter, three nets upon the King's water of Dovern for nineteen years from Whitsunday 1472.' On 22 October 1473 he received a Grown grant of the lands of Blareschannach in Banffshire.' In the same year he sold his lands of Balfoure, Balconquhaile, Petmedy, and Balyorde in Forfar.' In 1474 he acquired from David, Earl of Crawford, the lands of Bauchlo, with the fishings in the Dovern,* and between this date and his death he acquired many lands and fishings in the counties of Banff and Aberdeen, including the Constabulary of Cullen, with the pertinents, as may be gathered from the Great Seal Record, all afterwards erected into the barony of Ogilvy. On 22 October 1479 he entered into a bond of manrent with the bailies of Cullen.'
Sir James took an active share in public affairs. In 1475 he and