John Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar (died 28 October 1572) was a Scottish aristocrat and politician. He was the custodian of the infant James VI of Scotland and Regent of Scotland.
Erskine was a son of John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine and Lady Margaret Campbell, a daughter of Archibald Campbell, 2nd Earl of Argyll. His father was a guardian of King James V and afterwards of Mary, Queen of Scots.
John was Commendator of Dryburgh Abbey from 1547, [1] He succeeded his father as 6th Lord Erskine in 1552. Erskine joined the religious reformers in 1559 but was never very ardent in the cause. [2] He did subscribe to the letter asking the Calvinist reformer John Knox to return to Scotland in 1557. The custody of Edinburgh Castle was in his hands during the struggle between the regent, Mary of Guise, and the Lords of the Congregation, during which he appears to have acted consistently in the interests of peace. [2]
When Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to Scotland in 1561 Lord Erskine was a member of her council and was in favor of her marriage with Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. His wife was Annabella Murray, daughter of William Murray of Tullibardine and sister of William Murray of Tullibardine, Comptroller of Scotland in 1563. She was a frequent companion of Queen Mary; John Knox called Annabella a "verray Jesabell".
In 1565 Erskine was granted the earldom of Mar when the queen restored the charter to him and his heirs "all and hail the said earldom of Mar". [3] Prior to this the title of Earl of Mar was held by Mary's half-brother James Stewart. John Erskine is regarded as both the 18th earl (in the 1st creation) and the 1st earl (in the 7th). Some sources deem him the 17th Earl, still others as the 6th Earl.
Mar was made Sheriff of Stirlingshire and Keeper of Stirling Castle and the parks of Raploch and Gallowhill on 18 July 1566. He became the keeper of Queen Mary's son, James, at Stirling Castle on 19 March 1567. [4] He prevented the young prince from falling into the hands of Lord Bothwell, and when the Scottish nobles rose against Mary and Bothwell, Mar was one of their leaders. He took part in the government of Scotland when Mary was imprisoned at Lochleven Castle and abdicated. [2] Regent Moray asked him to repair the fore-entry of Stirling Castle in December 1568. [5] When Mary escaped from Lochleven, on 5 May 1568 Regent Moray ordered Mar to increase security at Stirling by reducing the number of retainers in the castle. [6]
On 5 September 1571, he was chosen Regent of Scotland, but he was overshadowed and perhaps slighted by James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton. [2] One of Mar's first actions was to execute two prisoners, George Bell and George Calder, by having them broken on the wheel. This method of execution was said to be after the manner of France. Bell had guided the Queen's men in the raid on Stirling and Calder was thought to have shot Regent Lennox. [7] Bell confessed, after torture, that he had shouted "Shoot the Regent!". [8]
As the Marian Civil War continued, Mar came to Leith and made preparations to besiege Edinburgh and its castle, which was held for Queen Mary by William Kirkcaldy of Grange. He placed artillery at the Pleasance to the east of the city. The guns were brought from Dumbarton Castle, Stirling, Dundee, and Dunbar. [9] Mar's guns were directed at first at Adam Fullerton's house, and then at the town wall. The walls were damaged but Mar gave up and returned to Leith. He sent to Queen Elizabeth I for armed support from England, following Morton's advice. [10]
The King's cause suffered a number of reverses. At Aberdeen, the forces of Forbes family were defeated at the battle of Craibstone and Corgarff by the Marian Adam Gordon of Auchindoun. Broughty Castle near Dundee fell to the Marian Laird of Parbroath. [11] Lord Maxwell planned to marry Elizabeth Douglas at Dalkeith but Marian forces ambushed those carrying food, silver ware, and wine to the banquet at the handfasting. [12] Queen Elizabeth sent two ambassadors to Scotland, Thomas Randolph to speak with Regent Mar, and Henry Carey, Marshall of Berwick to the Laird of Grange in Edinburgh Castle. [13]
Mar was in touch with William Cecil and William Drury in England, particularly by letters and messages carried by Nicolas Elphinstone. On 1 August 1572, he declared a two-month truce with the Queen's party, known as an Abstinence. [14] He wrote in September to Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox about the progress of the Abstinence and the mint operated in Edinburgh Castle by his enemies. Mar assured her that her grandson, the six-year-old James VI, would soon be able to speak to her for himself. At this time he was disturbed by news that one of the jewels of Mary, Queen of Scots had been marketed in France and sold to Charles IX. Mar's last surviving letter to Cecil expressed his hopes to settle border disputes during the continued abstinence. [15] Queen Elizabeth wrote to congratulate him on becoming Regent on 2 October and discuss the "pernicious practices" of Mary, Queen of Scots, to regain power to the prejudice of her son James VI. She urged him to punish and execute anyone implicated in the murder of Regent Lennox. [16]
He died at Stirling on 29 October 1572 after a short illness, widely agreed to have been natural causes. However, some sources indicate that he may have been poisoned at the behest of the Earl of Morton. Mar's illness, according to James Melville, followed a banquet at Dalkeith Palace given by Morton. [17] James VI continued to regard Annabella Murray with affection and wrote to her as "Minnie". She was the governess of his son Prince Henry at Stirling.
John Erskine began building the house at Stirling called "Mar's Wark", now a ruin under the care of Historic Scotland. The other seat of the family was Alloa Tower. An inventory mentions his silver plate, table linen, and a bed with curtains of red and yellow chequered silk. The posts of the bed were made of walnut and turned (probably carved). [18]
James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton was a Scottish nobleman. He played a leading role in the murders of Queen Mary's confidant, David Rizzio, and king consort Henry Darnley. He was one of the last of the four regents of Scotland during the minority of James VI and I. He was in some ways the most successful of the four since he won the civil war that had been dragging on with the supporters of the exiled Mary, Queen of Scots. However, he came to an unfortunate end, executed by means of the Maiden, a predecessor of the guillotine.
James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray was a member of the House of Stewart as the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland. At times a supporter of his half-sister Mary, Queen of Scots, he was the regent of Scotland for his half-nephew, the infant King James VI, from 1567 until his assassination in 1570. He was the first head of government to be assassinated with a firearm.
John Stewart, 4th Earl of Atholl, called the Fair, was a Scottish nobleman and courtier. He was favoured by Mary, Queen of Scots, but later turned against her.
John Erskine, 2nd Earl of Mar was a Scottish politician, the only son of another John Erskine and Annabella Murray. He is regarded as both the 19th earl and the 2nd earl.
Sir John Bellenden of Auchnole and Broughton was, before 1544, Director of Chancery, and was appointed Lord Justice Clerk on 25 June 1547, succeeding his father Thomas Bellenden of Auchnoule. John was knighted before April 1544.
Lady Margaret Erskine was a mistress of King James V of Scotland and mother of Regent Moray.
John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine was a Scottish nobleman.
The Battle of Carberry Hill took place on 15 June 1567, near Musselburgh, East Lothian, a few miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland. A number of Scottish lords objected to the rule of Mary, Queen of Scots, after she had married the Earl of Bothwell, who was widely believed to have murdered her previous husband Lord Darnley. The Lords were intent to avenge Darnley's death. However, Bothwell escaped from the stand-off at Carberry while Queen Mary surrendered. Mary abdicated, escaped from prison, and was defeated at the battle of Langside. She went to exile in England while her supporters continued a civil war in Scotland.
George Seton V, 7th Lord Seton (1531–1586), was a Lord of the Parliament of Scotland, Master of the Household of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Provost of Edinburgh. He was the eldest son of George Seton, 6th Lord Seton, and Elizabeth Hay, a daughter of John Hay, 3rd Lord Hay of Yester. His childhood and schooling were in France.
Mar's Wark is a ruined building in Stirling built 1570–1572 by John Erskine, Regent of Scotland and Earl of Mar, and now in the care of Historic Scotland. Mar intended the building for the principal residence of the Erskine family in Stirling, whose chief had become hereditary keeper of the nearby royal Stirling Castle where the princes of Scotland were schooled. Wark is a Scots language word for work, and here it means building. The house is also called "Mar's Lodging."
Alexander Erskine of Gogar was a Scottish landowner and keeper of James VI of Scotland at Stirling Castle.
The Marian civil war in Scotland (1568–1573) was a period of conflict which followed the abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots, and her escape from Lochleven Castle in May 1568. Those who ruled in the name of her infant son James VI fought against the supporters of the Queen, who was exiled in England. Edinburgh Castle, which was garrisoned in her name, became the focus of the conflict and surrendered only after an English intervention in May 1573. The conflict in 1570 was called an "intestine war in the bowels of this commonwealth", and the period was called soon after an "intestine war driven by questions against authority."
The Cunninghams of Drumquhassle were a family of the landed gentry in Scotland from the early 16th century to the mid-17th. They are linked to the Cunninghams of Kilmaurs in Ayrshire, being descended through junior lines via the Cunninghams of Polmaise. At their greatest extent, their lands included Mugdock-Mitchell and the house at Killermont, covering the part of parishes of Strathblane and New Kilpatrick. John Cunningham, the third laird held several positions of responsibility within the Scottish court, including Master of the Royal Household for James VI and a Collector General of tax during the regency of the Earl of Lennox, but his involvement in the power struggles between the Scottish nobility and the court of Elizabeth I of England also led to his demise and he was executed for treason in 1585. Over the next century, the family lost its land and power – in the mid-17th century, the Cunninghams sold their country house in Drumquhassle in rural Stirlingshire and it passed to the Govane family.
Adam Gordon of Auchindoun (1545–1580) was a Scottish knight, younger brother of the Earl of Huntly and military leader during the Marian civil war on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots in north west Scotland. In Scottish ballad lore, Adam became known as Edom o'Gordon.
Patrick Lindsay, 6th Lord Lindsay of the Byres, (1521–1589), Scottish courtier and Confederate lord.
Marie Stewart, Countess of Mar (1576-1644) was a Scottish courtier. She was the daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox and Catherine de Balsac d’Entragues (d. c.1631) and a favourite of James VI of Scotland. After her marriage, as was customary in Scotland, she did not change her name, and signed her letters as "Marie Stewart".
Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar (1536–1603), was a Scottish landowner, courtier and royal servant, the keeper of the infant James VI and his son Prince Henry at Stirling Castle
Margaret Fleming, Countess of Atholl (1536-1586) was a Scottish courtier and landowner rumoured to be involved in the occult. She served as lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots.
John Erskine, 3rd Earl of Mar was a Scottish landowner.
Adam Erskine, Commendator of Cambuskenneth, was a Scottish landowner and courtier.
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