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Crown, the king granting it by a fresh creation to him and certain heirs, with reversion to the Crown. On the earl's death in 1435 the earldom was claimed by Robert, Lord See also:

Erskine, as heir of Gratney, earl of Mar, through a daughter; but the Crown claimed as reversionary under the creation of 1426. A See also:

long struggle followed, till in 1457 See also:

James II. obtained from a See also:

JUSTICIARY, HIGH COURT OF

justiciary See also:

court at Aberdeen a recognition of the Crown's right to the earldom and its lands, and shortly after bestowed them on his son See also:

John as earl of Mar and Garioch. He died unmarried in 1479, and in 1483 his See also:

elder See also:

BROTHER

brother Alexander See also:

DUKE (corresponding to Fr. duc, Ital. duca, Ger. Herzog)

duke of See also:

Albany received the earldom, but was soon forfeited. James III. created his son John earl of Mar and Garioch in 1486, and after his death unmarried in 1503, James IV. alienated to Lord See also:

Elphinstone (1507–1510) many of the Mar lands, including Kildrummy. The See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title was not revived till 1562, when James Stewart, earl of See also:

Murray, held it for a few months. In 1565 John, Lord Erskine, succeeded in getting returned heir to the earldom, and shortly after (June 23, 1565) See also:

Queen Margaret restored the charter to him and his heirs " all and See also:

HAIL (O. Eng. kcegl and hagol, 1 cf. the cognate Teutonic hagel, as in German, Dutch, Swedish, &c.; the Gr. K&XX17E, pebble, is probably allied)

hail the said earldom of Mar." As earl he took part against the queen in 1567, and in 1571 was made regent of Scotland, which See also:

POST

post he retained till his death (1572). His son, earl John (c.1558–1634), played a great part in the See also:

HISTORY

history of the See also:

FAMILY

family. His great achievement was the recovery of the Mar estates, alienated by the Crown during the long See also:

period that his family had been out of See also:

possession, including Kildrummy, the " See also:

head " of the earldom. It was in his time that the See also:

PRECEDENCE (from Lat. praecedere, to go before, precede)

precedence of the earldom (see below) was settled. John, the next earl (c. 1585–1654) was a Royalist, as was his son John (d.

1668), much to the injury of the family See also:

FORTUNE, ROBERT (1813-188o)

fortune, which was further impaired by the See also:

ATTACHMENT

attachment of the family, after the Revolution, to the Stuarts. His son See also:

Charles (1650–1689) was arrested by the See also:

government just before his death (1689), and the next earl, John (1675–1732), a prominent Jacobite (see below), was attainted, the earldom remaining under See also:

FORFEITURE (from " forfeit," originally an offence, and hence a fine exacted as a penalty for such; derived through the O. Fr. forfeit, from the late Lat. foris factum, a trespass, that which is done foris, outside)

forfeiture for lo8 years; by the Old Pretender he was created duke of Mar. See also:

ALLOA

Alloa and other Erskine estates of the attainted earl were re-See also:

PURCHASED

purchased for the family, and descended to John See also:

Francis Erskine (1741–1825), his heir-male, who was also his heir of See also:

LINE

line through his daughter. To him, in his eighty-third See also:

YEAR

year, as See also:

GRANDSON (Ger. Grandsee)

grandson and lineal representative of the attainted earl, the earldom was restored by act of See also:

PARLIAMENT (Anglo-Lat. parliamentum, Fr. parlement, from parler, to speak)

parliament in 1824. His grandson, who succeeded him in 1828, inherited the earldom of Kellie (1619) and other Erskine dignities by decision of 1835. At his death in 1866, his earldom of Mar was the subject of See also:

RIVAL

rival claims, and the right to the succession was not determined till 1875. His estates passed to his See also:

cousin and heir-male, who succeeded to his earldom of Kellie and claimed " the See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour and dignity of earl of Mar." But the latter was also claimed by a Mr Goodeve, whose See also:

FATHER

father had married the See also:

LATE

late earl's eldest sister, and who assumed the title. It was not suggested that the late earl had more than one earldom of Mar, but Lord Kellie claimed it as descendible to heirs-male under a creation by Queen See also:

Mary, and Mr Goodeve as descendible to heirs of line under an earlier creation. The See also:

House of Lords decided (Feb. 25, 1875) that Lord Kellie was entitled to the earldom as having been created by Queen Mary in 1565, with a See also:

LIMITATION, STATUTES OF

limitation which must be presumed to be to heirs-male of the See also:

BODY

body. This decision gave great dissatisfaction, but was described as " final, right or wrong, and not to be questioned " by Lord See also:

Selborne and the lord See also:

CHANCELLOR (M. Eng. and Anglo-Fr. canceler, chanceler, Fr. chancelier, Lat. cancellarius)

chancellor in 1877, and Lord Kellie was thenceforth recognized as holding the earldom on the See also:

Union See also:

Roll, the only one known, though Mr Goodeve continued to assume the title. The Lords' decision could not be reversed, but in 1885, after much agitation, a means was found of evading it in practice by the " Earldom of Mar Restitution Act." By " an equivocation on the facts of the See also:

case," it was recited that " doubts may exist whether the said ancient honour, dignity, and title of See also:

peerage of earl of Mar .

. . was or was not . . . by any lawful means surrendered or merged in the Crown" before 1565, and that the House of Lords had decided that Queen Mary's known charter of 1565 applied only to lands and " did not operate or extend to restore " the peerage dignity, and enacted that " John Francis Erskine Goodeve Erskine " (which last name the claimant had added) should be " restored to " the ancient earldom. His previous See also:

ASSUMPTION, FEAST OF

assumption of the title was thus rejected as invalid, but from the passing of the act two earldoms of Mar were in existence, that of Lord Kellie being confirmed and allowed the precedence of 1565, while the restored earldom was allowed that of the dignity on the Union Roll, the only one known till then. This precedence had been assigned to it by the Decreet of Ranking (16o6), and assigns to it an origin in 1404 (or, as some say, 1395). It is frequently, but absurdly, stated to have been " created before 1014," and wrongly spoken of as the Premier Scottish Earldom (see EARL). A See also:

BARONY

barony of Garioch is also wrongly said to be annexed to it, but the title is used by the earl's eldest son in See also:

DEFAULT (Fr. defaut, from defailler, to fail, Lat. fallere)

default of any other.

End of Article: MAR, EARLDOM OF

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