General Notes

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knighted 1270.
THE old district of Mar was very extensive. It commenced in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen, and extended to the border of Badenoch, comprising nearly the whole of the valleys of the Dee and Don and the territory lying between them. As mentioned in the Introduction, in Celtic times the Mormear was the ruler of the tribe of the land; and the old Earls of Mar were descended from the Celtic Mormears, and can be traced from the tenth century onward.

In 1014 Donald, son of Emin, was Mormaer of Mar, and in that year he proceeded to Ireland to assist the Irish in repelling the attacks of the Danes, and he fought and fell in the battle of Clontarf. In the reign of Alexander I. Ruadri was Mormaer of Mar, and he became the first Earl of Mar. He was one of the Earls who gave consent to the foundation charter of the Abbey of Scone by Alexander I., in 1120. He was also a witness to the important charter of David I. to the monks of Dumfermline, about 1126.

Ruadri was succeeded by Morgund, second Earl of Mar. Between the years 1165 and 1171 he granted the church of Tarland to the canons of St. Andrews, with its tithes and oblations, land and mill, and also the second tithes of the Earl’s land, and timber from his woods for building purposes. This grant was confirmed by a charter of William the Lion. Earl Morgund and Agnes, his countess, also granted the church of Migvie to the canons of St. Andrews.

Morgund was succeeded by Gilchrist, third Earl of Mar. It seems probable that he built the Priory of Monymusk, and by charter he granted to it the churches of St. Marnan of Leochel, St. Wolock of Ruthven, St. Andrew of Alford, and Invernochty in Strathdon. He contested the claims of the patronage of the church of St. Marnan, of Aberchirder, with William the Lion and the Bishop of Moray, and granted it to the monks of the Monastery of Arbroath.

Gilchrist was succeeded by Gratney, fourth Earl of Mar, of whom little is known. But he appeared, with his son Malcolm, as a witness of charters, under the title of Earl of Mar, and one at least of these charters was confirmed by William the Lion. About the year 1224 he was succeeded by Duncan, fifth Earl of Mar. Earl Duncan granted St. Andrew’s Church, in Braemar, to the Priory of Monymusk, with an acre of land on the other side of the Water of Clunie. He also confirmed some of the grants made by his father, Earl Morgund.

A dispute arose between the Earl of Mar and Thomas Durward touching the legitimacy of Earl Morgund and his son Duncan. Durward asserted that Morgund and his son were illegitimate, and on that ground he claimed the Earldom of Mar, in right of his mother, of whom little is known, except that she was the wife of Malcolm Lundin, the King’s hereditary door-keeper. it is pretty certain, however, that the King supported the claim of his doorkeeper, with the aim of breaking up this old Celtic earldom. The dispute for a time was settled by a compromise under which Thomas Durward obtained his great domains in Mar—stretching from Invercanny, on the banks of the Dee, to Alford, on the Don, and from Coull, on the West, to Skene, on the east. Yet the Durwards were not satisfied, and subsequently Thomas Durward’s son claimed the whole Earldom of Mar, and made the utmost efforts to obtain possession of it. This family took the name of Durward from their hereditary office of doorkeepers to the King, and for a time they rose rapidly to power and influence.

This seems the proper place to touch briefly on the origin of the Earldom of the Garioch, which afterwards became connected with the Earldom of Mar. The Earldom of the Garioch was created by William the Lion, and granted by him to his brother, David, Earl of Huntingdon. This new earldom mainly consisted of the territory surrounding the old fort of Dunideer, and lying between the Don and its tributary, the Water of Ury. Earl David, the first historic Earl of the Garioch, was a singularly important personage, inasmuch as he was the ancestor of the subsequent Royal line of Scotland, and also remotely of Great Britain.

He was born in 1144—the third grandson of David I. He married a sister of Randolph, Earl of Chester, and by her he had three sons and four daughters. His eldest daughter, Margaret, married Alan of Galloway, and it was through her issue that John Baliol claimed the Crown of Scotland. His second daughter, Isabella, married Robert de Bruce of Annandale. His youngest daughter, Ada, married Henry de Hastings. And it was the descendants of these daughters of Earl David, who, after the death of. Alexander III. and his granddaughter, the Maid of Norway, claimed the Crown of Scotland.

Earl David died about 1219. Two of his sons, Henry and David, predeceased him; and his third son, John, "the Scot;" succeeded to the earldom of the Garioch. On the death of his mother he became Earl of Chester. After the death of Earl John, the earldom of the Garioch reverted to the Crown; and it was eventually granted as a lordship to the Earls of Mar.

Returning, Duncan, Earl of Mar, was one of the witnesses to a charter by Alexander II. to Ness, his physician, of the lands of Banff, in the fief of Alyth, which was dated at Aberdeen on the 9th of October, 1232. Earl Duncan was succeeded by his son, William, sixth Earl of Mar. He is mentioned among the great barons of Scotland in the letter of fealty granted by Alexander II. to Henry III. of England in 1244.


This Earl, during the minority of Alexander IlI., came into conflict with Alan Durward, who was Justiciary of Scotland, and son of Thomas Durward mentioned before. Durward had married a natural daughter of Alexander II., by whom he had several daughters; and it was alleged in 1252 that he was endeavouring to obtain from the Pope the legitimation of his wife, so in the event of the death of the boy Alexander III., his daughter would be the heiress to the Crown of Scotland. Thus Alan was a great and aspiring personage. He assumed the title and style of Earl of Athole from 1233 to 1235; and not content with the very large part of the Earldom of Mar which his father had obtained for him, in 1257, he claimed the whole Earldom of Mar. In that year a papal rescript was issued, directing an inquest to be held, proceeding on the narrative that "Our beloved son, the nobleman Alan, called the Durward, hath signified to us that, whereas the nobleman William of Mar, of the diocese of Aberdeen, hath withheld the Earldom of Mar, of right belonging to the aforesaid Alan, and the same doth occupy to the prejudice of the said Alan, and that Morgund and Duncan, deceased, to whom the said William asserts his succession to the said earldom, were not begotten in lawful matrimony." Notwithstanding Alan’s great efforts, Earl William continued in possession, and Durward failed in his aim and ambition.

Earl William was one of the most powerful barons of his time in Scotland. He was one of those who were removed from the Government of Scotland by Henry III. of England, in September, 1255, while his opponent, Alan Durward, was one of those who replaced him. Mar was, however, recalled to the king’s councils in the beginning of the year 1257. In November, 1258, he appears, along with Alan Durward, as one of those whom Henry III. undertook to support in the government of the kingdom. He was named among the barons of Scotland to whom Henry III. bound himself to deliver up the child that his daughter Margaret, queen of Alexander III., was about to give birth in England.

He held the office of Great Chamberlain of Scotland in 1252, and again from 1263 to 1266. In 1270 he was sent to England, accompanied by the Abbot of Dunfermline, on a mission for the recovery of the Earldom of Huntingdon. By a charter dated at Falkland on the 23rd of January, 1268, witnessed by his sons, Donald and Duncan, he confirmed to the canons of St. Andrews the grants made to them by his grandfather, Morgund, Earl of Mar, of the church of Tarland, and by his grandmother, Countess of Mar, of the church of Migvie; and, further, granted an acre of land, lying between the church and the castle of Migvie, for a manse to the vicar serving the cure. One clause in his charters touches on the questions which had been raised as to the legitimacy of Earl Morgund.

Earl William died in 1273, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Donald, seventh Earl of Mar