Decline and Fall: The earls and earldom of Mar c.1281-1513

367 Pages·2017·3.48 MB·English

Decline and Fall: The earls and earldom of Mar
c.1281-1513

Katy Samantha Jack
University of Stirling

Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
December 2016

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To Alasdair, for everything.

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Contents
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... 9
Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 11
Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................12
Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 15
Chapter One Landscape .................................................................................................. 34
Current perceptions .................................................................................................... 34
Following the money: Finding an earldom in the Exchequer Rolls ........................... 40
Lordships .................................................................................................................... 42
1436 to 1466: Testing the waters ............................................................................. 43
Strathdee and Braemar ........................................................................................... 48
Strathdon ................................................................................................................. 49
Cromar ..................................................................................................................... 50
Auchindoir ................................................................................................................ 51
Mukwale .................................................................................................................. 52
Baronies ...................................................................................................................... 52
Forbes ...................................................................................................................... 56
Kinaldie ................................................................................................................... 58
Brux ......................................................................................................................... 58
Invernochty and Kildrummy ................................................................................... 59
Power Centres ............................................................................................................. 64
Kindrochit and Aboyne ........................................................................................... 64
Migvie ...................................................................................................................... 70
Midmar .................................................................................................................... 72
Invernochty and Kildrummy ................................................................................... 73
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 79
Chapter Two Politics (I): The early earls of Mar c.1281-1388 ....................................... 81
The Quiet Years: The three earls of Mar and the development of Scottish lordship .. 83
Donald (I), earl of Mar (c.1270 – c.1297) ................................................................ 84
Gartnait, earl of Mar (d. b. 1305x1307) ................................................................. 100
Donald (II), earl of Mar (1293-1332) ..................................................................... 102
‘energetic and impressive’: Thomas, earl of Mar ...................................................... 105
William 1st earl of Douglas and Mar .......................................................................... 128
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James Douglas, 2nd earl of Douglas and Mar ............................................................ 137
Chapter Three Politics (II): The Fortunes of Mar 1388-1408 ....................................... 139
The Last Countess and the ‘lord of Mar’ 1388-1402 ................................................. 139
‘no way under compulsion’: Isabella and the Wolf cub 1402-1404........................... 145
‘headstrong and wild’: Alexander Stewart and the earldom of Mar 1404-1408 ....... 173
Going it alone: The widower and his earldom 1408-1435 ......................................... 189
Chapter Four Politics (III): The Decline and Fall of the Earldom of Mar 1435-1503 ....211
A family affair? The death of Alexander and the power of the crown ........................211
A king inspired? Reassessing James I’s involvement in Mar .................................... 213
The importance of local support: The Forbes Family ............................................... 225
‘I think, therefore I am’: Sir Robert Erskine, earl of Mar? (d.1452) .......................... 229
Sir Thomas Erskine and the fight for Mar ................................................................. 243
Son of the king (I): John (I) Stewart, earl of Mar (1457-1480) ................................ 248
Son of the king (II): John (II) Stewart, earl of Mar ................................................... 251
Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 253
Appendix A: Genealogical Tables .................................................................................. 262
Table 1: House of Mar ................................................................................................ 262
Table 2: House of Bruce ............................................................................................264
Table 3: House of Comyn .......................................................................................... 265
Table 4: House of Keith-Menteith .............................................................................266
Table 5: House of Erskine.......................................................................................... 267
Table 6: House of Lyle .............................................................................................. 268
Table 7: House of Crawford .......................................................................................269
Table 8: House of Keith-Marischal ........................................................................... 270
Table 9: House of Douglas ......................................................................................... 271
Table 10: House of Atholl .......................................................................................... 273
Appendix B: Rental values of Mar in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland 1438-1565 ...... 275
Appendix C: Mar Charters and Witness Lists ............................................................... 291
Appendix D: Lands in Mar 1365-1565.......................................................................... 300
Auchindoir ............................................................................................................ 300
Lordship of Mar .................................................................................................... 300
Lordship of Braemar ............................................................................................. 302
Lordship of Strathdee ........................................................................................... 303
Lordship of Strathdon ............................................................................................ 307
Lordship of Cromar............................................................................................... 320
Lordship of Mukwale ............................................................................................. 325
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Fynlarg ................................................................................................................... 325
Barony of Forbes [Oct. 1429] ................................................................................ 326
Barony of Forbes [July 1477] ................................................................................. 326
Barony of Kennay [1481] ....................................................................................... 327
Barony of Abiryeldy [1501/1506/1534/1535] ........................................................ 327
Barony of Burchis [Brux?] [1504-1505] ................................................................ 327
Free Forest of Glenkervy and Glenconry [1504-1505] .......................................... 328
Barony of Invernochty [Aug. 1507] ....................................................................... 329
Barony of Invernochty [Dec. 1507] ....................................................................... 330
Barony of Kildrummy [Jan. 1509/10] ....................................................................331
Barony of Kildrummy [Aug. 1513] ......................................................................... 334
Barony of Kildrummy [1513] ................................................................................. 337
Barony of Kinaldie [July 1429] .............................................................................. 341
Barony of Kynnaldy [1521] .................................................................................... 341
Barony of Forbes [Lordship of Mar] [1532] .......................................................... 341
Barony of Auchterarne [1540] ............................................................................... 342
Barony of Strathbogy [Lordship of Mar] [1541] .................................................... 342
Lordships ............................................................................................................... 342
Forests ................................................................................................................... 344
Baronies ................................................................................................................. 345
Castles/Power Centres/Place-dates/Courts [?] .................................................... 346
Earldom of Mar/Unidentified ............................................................................... 348
Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 352

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Table of Figures
Figure 1. Doune of Invernochty, original caput of Mar ................................................... 73
Figure 2. Kildrummy castle, with gatehouse in foreground ........................................... 76
Figure 3. Kildrummy Castle - E. curtain with chapel and Warden's Tower ................... 77

Maps
Map 1. Medieval Lordships in Mar ................................................................................. 41
Map 2. Medieval Lordships and Parishes in Mar ........................................................... 53
Map 3. Original interpretation of medieval caputs in Mar (Simpson) ........................... 65
Map 4. Revised interpretation of medieval caputs in Mar (Jack) ................................... 67

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Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank Alasdair Ross. His guidance and
support over the past 6 years as I transitioned from undergraduate to PhD has
been unparalleled. I would thank him, also, for helping me find such a
fascinating thesis topic; I hear it helps if you enjoy what you’re doing.
Secondly, I would like to thank Alastair Mann, my secondary supervisor.
Both his kindness and his timely advice have been most welcome as I’ve
progressed through my academic career.
I would also like to thank Richard Oram. His valuable insights into this
project, offered in both his own work on Mar and chance meetings in coffee
queues, shaped much of what I chose to explore in this thesis. His enthusiasm is
really quite infectious.
Special thanks must also go to Michael Penman. I was inspired by him as
an undergraduate, and it was under his tutelage that I chose to pursue a career
in academia. His passion for this subject has informed so much of what I have
done over these past 9 years, and will undoubtedly inform much of what I do in
the future. I hope that he sees his influence in the following pages; I know I do.
I must also express my gratitude to the staff of the National Library of
Scotland, the National Records of Scotland, and the Stirling University Library.
The staff of the NLS and NRS, in particular, have made my attempts to eke out
any and all evidence pertaining to my earldom as painless as possible.
I also gratefully acknowledge the substantial bursaries awarded to me by
the Scottish Historical Review Trust, and the Geoffrey Barrow Award. Their
generosity allowed me to conduct far more research in Edinburgh than I would
have been able to do without them.
It goes without saying that the support of my friends and my family has
formed the backbone of this thesis. To the first, I say only that I count myself
lucky to have stumbled upon one of the most loyal, funny, and encouraging
groups of people that I have ever had the privilege of sharing my time with. In
particular, I would like to thank Victoria Hodgson, for her endless
encouragement and boundless compassion; Ben Fanstone, a kindred spirit in
both humour and outlook (and an excellent cartographer); and Lucy Dean,
without whom this thesis would be a shadow of itself.
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To the second, I say only that without my family, this would never have
been possible. I will never know how they managed to endure four years of
incessant mutterings about the earls of Mar, or my endless homilies on the
intricacies of medieval Scottish lordship, the imminence of which was signalled
by the now ominous phrase ‘so I found this charter today...’. There are simply no
words that can do justice to the love and support that I’ve received from them
not only in this, my grandest academic adventure, but in all things. To my Mum,
in particular, who both funded this PhD and drove me around the north-east in
an attempt to recreate an earldom, I express my deepest gratitude.
Finally, to Bailey. My furry (not so) little muse. Thank you for the gentle
nudges reminding me that it was time to go for a walk. You’re the cutest drill-
sergeant I’ve ever seen.
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