(1) This Janet Keith, to whom (though she had a daughter by a 1st husband)
this Robert Erskine was heir, brought into the Erskine family the right to
the ancient Earldom of Mar, through her mother Christian, dau. of Sir
John Menteith, by Elyne, sister of Donald, and dau. of Gratney,
Earls of Mar. back
(2) There appears to be no record of the creation of the Barony of Erskine.
I am inclined to think the title of Lord Erskine, always used by the
Earls of Mar,belongs of right to the heir general, not to Lord Mar and
Kellie; the proof one way or another is probably in the Mar charter chest to which I have not access.
(G. Burnett, sometime Lyon King). back
(3) It has been stated that he was made a Lord of Parliament between
1426 and 1430, but no evidence has been found to that effect. All the
references to him up to 1436 style him Lord of that ilk, or Sir Robert
of Erskine, Knight. (Cf. Exch. Rolls, vol. V, p.6 [in 1437],
and previous authorities cited). Later, after 1438, he is styled Lord
Erskine.(Scots Peerage, vol. V, p. 6oi). V.G. back
(4) See Earldom of Mar restitution bill, 1885; in which it is also
stated that during the interval between the death (1407) of the Countess
Isabel and the year 1565 the succession and inheritance to the said
Earldom were treated by successive Kings of Scotland as if the same had been by some means extinguished.back
(5) See Lindsay's Lives of the Lindsays, 1849, vol. i, p.105, note. back
(6) Fuller particulars of the Earldom of Mar will be found under that
heading. back
(7) She is stated, in Douglas, to beda. of James, Earl of Morton,
granddaughter of King James I; such, however (though her name was
Janet Douglas), was certainly not the case. (ex infirm. G. Burnett; sometime Lyon King). back
(8) For a list of the Scottish nobles there slain. back
(9) His elder brother Robert, Master of Erskine, d.v.p. and unm. V.G. back
(10) Of his two elder brothers, (1) Robert, Master of Erskine, m.
(cont. 17 Feb.1534/5) Margaret, 1st dau. of William, 2nd Earl of Montrose. He was taken prisoner at the rout of Solway Moss, 24 Nov. 1542, and ransomed for ¡Ì 200; he was slain at the battle of Pinkie, 10 Sep. 1547,
(2) Thomas, also Master of Erskine, Commendator of Dryburgh, Ambassador to England in 1551, m. (cont. 30 Jan. 1548/49) Margaret, widow of Robert, Lord Graham, and
dau. of Malcolm, 3rd Lord Fleming. He d. 1551. back
(11) In the Earldom of Mar restitution bill, 1885, it is stated that in the year 1565 John, then Lord Erskine, was the lawful heir general of the said Countess Isabel, who, if the said ancient territorial Random of Mar had not been by any lawful means forfeited or surrendered, was entitled
thereto. back
(12) Creations, 1483-1646, in App., 47th Rep., D.K. Pub. Records. back
(13) It is said that his father's income at that time was only ¡Ì 200 a year. back
(14) A very long (5 full pages) burlesque upon Gray's
Bard,written by him at Trin. Coll. (1776-78), and entitled the Barber (beginning Ruin seize thee, scoundrel Coe,), attests the then extent of his talents for poetry and sarcasm. It is reprinted in Whibley's In cap and gown, 1890. back
(15) He defended Capt. Baillie in 1778, Admiral Keppel in
1779, and Lord George Gordon in 1781. He was Counsel for Tomas Paine,
the writer of The Rights of Man, and with Sir Vicary Gibbs he
successfully defended Hardy (the Shoemaker), "Parson" Home Tooke, and
Thelwall, who in Oct. 1794 were tried for high treason. Medals bearing the
heads of the two lawyers and the inscriptionPatriots who for Sacred
Freedom stood commemorate this event. V.G. back
(16) He was one of those who, having supported the coalition
of North and Fox, were turned out of their seats when Pitt swept the board
at the General Election of 1784, and were known as Fox's Martyrs. V.G. back
(17) Though the seals had been refused by Lord Ellenborough
(Ch. Justice of the King's Bench) and by Sir James Mansfield (Ch. Justice
of the Common Pleas), Erskine's appointment was "generally condemned."
He was ignorant of equity, experienced only as an advocate at Nisi
Prius, and in fact, as Romilly wrote, His incapacity for the office
was too forcibly and too generally felt. The 13th vol. of VeSey
[Vesey's Reports] is called, after Lord Erskine, the apocryphal volume,
and the decisions which it contains are scarcely alluded to without
derision and contempt. See Carpenter's Peerage[1849], sub "Brougham."
He gambled away in speculations the large fortune which he had made at the
Bar. back
(18) This description was a cpmpliment paid to him by the
Prince of Wales, with whom he was then in high favour, and whose
Chancellor he was for the Duchy Of Cornwall, to which the said Castle
of Restormel is annexed. back
(19) He tried unsuccessfully to divorce her in 1820.
By her he had a son, Hampden, b. 5 Dec. 1821. back
(20) See the notice of him in Dict. Nat. Biog.,
where it is truly stated that though his character was amiable and
elevated, his distinguishing characteristic was an inordinate vanity,
which perpetually made him ridiculous. He was caricatured as COUNSELLOR
Ego and as BARON EGO OF EYE, and Cobbett always wrote of him as BARON
CLACKMANNAN. He is thus spoken of by Wraxall (Memoirs, vol. iii, p. 409,
edit. 1884): His vanity was obtrusive and insatiable; Narcissus was not
more enamoured of his person, than Erskine was of his talents, nor
contemplated his own image with more complacency, even in the most troubled
fountain. His own speeches, actions and importance, which seemed ever
present to his mind, continually formed the theme of his discourse.
His incurable egotism rendered him a favourite butt of Canning, who happily
depicts him, as pointing out that he was indeed but a very little lower
than the angels, in a burlesque of his speech at the Whig Club in the
Anti-Jacobin Papers, and he is also wittily described as below,
in a satirical index to that work:
Erskine, Mr.-His definition of Himsel at the meeting of the Friends of
Freedom-clothed with the infirmities of man's nature-in many respects a
finite being-disclaims all pretensions to superhuman power-has been both
a Soldier and a Sailor-has a son at Winchester school-has been called by
special retainers into many parts of the country, travelling chiefly in
post chaises-is of Noble, perhaps Royal blood-has a house at Hampstead.
See the 3rd edit. of the Poetry of the Anti- Jacobin, 1890, ed.
by C. Edmonds. G.E.C. V.G. back
