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ERROL, Earl of,
a title in the peerage of Scotland, first conferred by King James the
Second, on 17th March 1452-3, with that of Lord Hay, on Sir
William Hay, of Errol, descended from William de la Haya, principal butler
at the court of King Malcolm the Fourth, and witness to many of his
charters. According to tradition, Hay, a brave rustic in the reign of
Kenneth the Third, by whose exertions the Danes were defeated about 980,
was the founder of the noble family of Errol, but Douglas, in his Peerage,
asserts that the Hays of Scotland are certainly a branch of the
Anglo-Norman Hays, who came into Britain with William the Conqueror. The
story of Hay is simply this: – The Danes having landed in Aberdeenshire,
ravaged the country as far as the town of Perth. King Kenneth hastened to
give them battle, and the hostile armies met at Loncarty, in Perthshire.
The Scots at first gave way, and fled through a narrow pass, where they
were stopped by a countryman of great strength and courage, and his two
sons, who had no other weapons than the yokes of their ploughs, they
having been at work in a field not far from the scene of action. Upbrading
the fugitives for their conduct in flying from the field, these peasants
succeeded in rallying them. The Scots turned upon their conquerors, and
after a second rencounter, still more furious than the first, they gained
a compete victory, It is said that after the Danes were defeated, the old
rustic, lying on the ground, wounded and fatigued, cried, “Hay! Hay!”
which word became the surname of his posterity. The king rewarded him with
as much land in the Carse of Gowrie as a falcon should fly over before she
settled; and a falcon being accordingly let off, flew over an extent of
ground six miles in length, afterwards called Errol, and lighted on a
stone, still styled the Falcon-Stone. The king also raised him to the
dignity of nobility, and assigned to him and his family armorial bearings
in accordance with the signal service which he and his two sons had
rendered to their country. It appears from many histories that there were
families of the name of Hay both in Italy and France even before the era
of the battle of Loncarty. [See HAY, surname of.]
Sir Gilbert de
la Haya, a descendant in the fifth generation from the above Sir William
de la Haya, living in the time of Malcolm the Fourth, was by Robert the
Bruce created high constable of Scotland. By charter dated 12th
November 12314, (No. 45 in Anderson’s Diplomata,) the office became
hereditary in the family. He also conferred on him the lands of Slains in
Aberdeenshire.
William, first
earl of Errol, got charters under the great seal of various lands in 1446
and 1450. In 1457 he was one of the Scots commissioners that concluded a
treaty with the English, and died soon afterwards. His office of lord high
constable was one of the best in point of revenue in the kingdom; among
the various perquisites that were attached to it were the hostiligia,
which by some have been held to imply “free lodging in every place
where the king might reside,” while others believe that it referred to a
hearth-tax levied for the constable from every “reeking house in Scotland,
of sax pennies Scots.” During the great rebellion of the Douglases, when
James the Second had thoughts of quitting the kingdom, his affairs
appearing for a time desperate, the first earl of Errol resigned great
emoluments, namely constable fees, which had previously been levied on
everything brought to market in th time of parliament, both small and
great, as the act recites, a sacrifice which is supposed to have been
intended to gain the king popularity with his discontented subjects. From
time to time indemnification to the family was proposed, but nothing was
ever done towards it, nor any settled revenue assigned to the high
constable.
His eldest son,
Nicol, second earl, died in 1470, and was succeeded by his brother
William, third earl, who was one of the privy council of James the Third,
and in 1472 was nominated a commissioner to treat of a peace with England.
He died in 1506.
His eldest son,
William, fourth earl, was sheriff of Aberdeen, and had great dependencies
and bonds of manrent from some of th principal families in the country. He
accompanied James the Fourth to the fatal battle of Flodden, where he was
slain 9th September 1513.
His son,
William, fifth earl, was, according to Calderwood, a man well “learned
both in humanitie and divinitie, and speciallie weill versed in the New
Testament. He would rehearse word by word the choicest sentences,
speciallie suche as served to establishe solid comfort in the soule by
faith in Christ. Much suffered he for the cause of Christ. Mr. Robert
Alexander, advocate, who had been his schoolmaster, set forth his
testament in Scottish metre, which was printed after in Edinburgh, anno
1571, by Thomas Bassandine, printer. It was dedicated to Lilias Ruthven,
Ladie Drummond.” The dedicatory epistle is inserted in Calderwood’s
Hist. of the Kirk of Scotland, vol. i. p. 134. He was one of the privy
council to James the Fifth, and in 1515 was one of the commissioners sent
to France, to endeavour to get the Scots included in their treaty with the
English. He was also, in the following year, with others, sent by the
estates of Scotland to the king of England with their refusal to comply
with his desire, in removing the duke of Albany from the guardianship of
their young king. Dying without surviving male-issue, before the year
1535, in him ended the male line of William fourth earl of Errol. The
earldom, constabulary, &c., therefore, devolved upon George, son of the
Hon. Thomas Hay of Logie-Almond, second son of the third earl, who got
that estate by marrying Margaret Logie, heiress thereof.
George, sixth
earl, obtained from King James the Fifth a charter under the great seal,
dated 13th December 1541, of the whole estate and heritable
constabulary, as next heir male to William, the last earl. The narrative
bears that the king was desirous that the earldom of Errol and
constabulary of Scotland should remain and continue. He was one of the
lords who signed the bond of consent to the marriage betwixt Queen Mary
and the earl of Bothwell, and died after 1574.
His eldest son,
Andrew, seventh earl, married Lady Jean Hay, only daughter and heiress of
William fifth earl of Errol, whereby the collateral heir male and the heir
female of line of this noble family were united. He was one of the privy
council of Queen Mary, to whom he was always faithful and loyal. He died
in 1585. By his first countess he had three sons and one daughter, namely,
Alexander, who died before his father; Francis, who became eighth earl;
Thomas, who died without issue; and the lady Eleanor, married to the earl
of Linlithgow. By his second wife, Lady Agnes Sinclair, daughter of the
earl of Caithness, he had a son, the Hon. Sir George Hay of Killour, whose
grandson succeeded as eleventh earl.
Francis, eighth
earl, was one of the heads of the popish faction which, in 1589, entered
into a treasonable correspondence with Philip of Spain and the duke of
Parma, and with the earls of Crawford, Huntly, and Bothwell, broke out
into rebellion. On the king’s advance against them, however, they
surrendered at Aberdeen, but, after a few months’ confinement, were set at
liberty by his majesty amidst the rejoicings on account of his approaching
marriage. On 31st July 1592 the earl was committed to the
castle of Edinburgh, bot soon released, and again entered into a
treasonable correspondence with Spain, a part of which was intercepted. He
was summoned before parliament, 8th January 1592-3, and on his
refusal to appear was denounced rebel on the 8th February. On
the 25th of the following September he and the earls of Angus,
Huntly, and others, were formally excommunicated by the provincial synod
of Fife convened at St. Andrews. On the 17th October he
appeared in the king’s presence with Huntly and Angus, and offered to
submit to a legal trial. A day was fixed, and on 26th November
it was finally settled that the three earls and their associates should be
exempted from prosecution, provided that before the 1st
February 1594 they should either submit to the church and renounce the
errors of popery, or remove out of the kingdom. To these conditions they
refused to accede, and levying a formidable force, at the battle of
Glenlivet, 3d October 1594, they defeated the king’s troops, under the
earl of Argyle, though the latter were far superior in number. He
afterwards went to the Continent, and in 1596 having obtained permission
to return, he landed at Stonehaven on 20th September, and in
the following year was formally ‘relaxed’ from the horn, but was not
absolved from the excommunication till the year 1617. Having become
reconciled to the court, he got so much in favour with James the Sixth
that the latter appointed him one of the commissioners to treat of a union
with England, one of James’ favourite projects, 11th July 1604.
He died at Slains castle 16th July 1631, and is celebrated by
Arthur Johnston, in an epitaph. He was three times married. By his first
two wives, the one a daughter of the earl of Athol, and the other of the
regent Murray, he had no issue, but by his third wife, Lady Elizabeth
Douglas, daughter of the earl of Morton, he had three sons and eight
daughters.
His eldest son,
William, ninth earl, having been brought up at court, and educated in the
protestant religion, was in great favour with King Charles the First, and
acted as lord high constable at the coronation of that ill-fated monarch
at Holyroodhouse abbey, 18th June 1633. From his splendid style
of living he was obliged to sell the old paternal estate of the family in
the carse of Gowrie, which had been granted to his ancestors by King
William the Lion, reserving only some superiorities. He died 7th
December 1636.
His only son,
Gilbert, tenth earl, was too young to be engaged in the beginning of the
troubles of King Charles the First’s reign, but was a staunch loyalist,
and had a pension settled on him in 1639. In 1648 he was colonel of horse
for Aberdeenshire, in the duke of Hamilton’s ‘Engagement’ for the rescue
of Charles the First. IN 1650 he waited on Charles the Second at Aberdeen,
and was most graciously received. He raised a regiment for his majesty’s
service at his own charge, and immediately after the coronation of the
king at Scone, he stated to his majesty, in a memorial, the claims of his
family for compensation for the great sacrifices made by the first earl in
the time of King James the Second, for the public good. In answer, a
letter from the king to the earl (preserved in the family archives) thus
concludes: “And we do promise, in verbo principis, that as soon as
it shall please Almighty God to put an end to the present troubles, the
claims of our said cousin the earl of Errol, shall be favourably
considered, and justice done; so that he may see how highly we esteeme
that ancient family, and the value we set upon his present services.” In
1661 he was appointed one of the king’s privy council. He married Lady
Catherine Carnegie, daughter of James earl of Southesk, by whom he had no
issue; upon which he made a resignation of his whole estates, honours,
dignities, hereditary constabulary, &c., failing himself, in favour of Sir
John Hay of Killour, his cousin, and nearest male heir, and the heirs male
of his body, which failing, to his own nearest and lawful heirs whatever,
with power of nomination, on which a charter was passed under the great
seal, 13th November 1666. On his death in 1674, the male line
of the first marriage of Andrew, eighth earl of Errol, ended, and the
estate and honours devolved upon the next male heir, Sir John Hay of
Killour, grandson of Sir George, before mentioned.
John, eleventh
earl, married Lady Anne Drummond, daughter of James third earl of Perth,
by whom he had Charles, twelfth earl; and two other sons, who both died
young, with two daughters, Mary, who succeeded her brother as countess of
Errol, and Margaret, married to James fifth earl of Linlithgow, and fourth
earl of Callendar (attainted in 1715), to whom she had only one daughter,
Lady Anne Livingston, undoubted heir of line of the noble and ancient
family of the Livingstons, earls of Linlithgow and Callendar. This lady
married the last earl of Kilmarnock, (who was beheaded and attainted in
1746,) to whom she had three sons, the eldest of whom, James Lord Boyd,
succeeded as thirteenth earl of Errol.
The eleventh
earl died 30th December 1704, and was succeeded by his eldest
son, Charles, twelfth earl, who, in the Scots parliament of 1706, opposed
the Union with all his power and interest, considering it derogatory to
the honour and independence of Scotland, and entered a solemn protest
against it. He was considered so disaffected that on the alarm of the
French invasion in 17 08 he was apprehended, and though in a bad state of
health, was for some time kept closely confined in the castle of
Edinburgh. He died, unmarried, in 1717, and was succeeded by his elder
sister, Lady Mary, countess of Errol, who married Alexander, son of Sir
David Falconer, lord president of the court of session in 1682. At the
coronation of George the Second, her ladyship claimed to act by deputy as
high constable of Scotland, which claim was allowed, and the duke of
Roxburghe officiated for her on the occasion. Under the act for abolishing
heritable jurisdictions she obtained for the regality of Slains twelve
hundred pounds sterling, in full of her claim of five thousand pounds. On
her death, without issue, 19th August 1758, the estate and
titles devolved, as above shown, on James, Lord Boyd, the grandson of her
sister.
James,
thirteenth earl, would have united in his own person the four earldoms of
Errol, Kilmarnock, Linlithgow, and Callendar, had the three last not been
attainted (see these titles), as well as the ancient dignity of lord high
constable of Scotland, which had been entailed on the earl of Errol by the
articles of Union of the two kingdoms and by the act of the British
parliament of 1748, for abolishing the heritable jurisdictions of
Scotland. The earl was born 20th April 1726, and was educated
at the school of Dalkeith and the university of Glasgow. In 1745 he had a
commission in the 21st regiment of foot, and at the battle of
Culloden was on the king’s side, when his father and next brother were on
that of the Pretender. After his father’s execution he claimed his estate,
and his claim was allowed by the court of session in 1749, and by the
House of Lords in 1751. At the coronation of George the Third in 1761, he
officiated as constable of Scotland, and neglecting, by accident, to pull
off his cap, when the king entered, he apologised for his negligence in
the most respectful manner; but his majesty entreated him to be covered,
for he looked on his presence at the solemnity as a very particular
honour. In 1767 he was appointed one of the lords of police, and in 1770
elected a Scots representative peer. He died 3d July 1778. He married,
first, in 1749, Rebecca, daughter of Alexander Lockhart, Esq., a lord of
session by the title of Lord Covington, by whom he had a daughter, Mary,
married to General John Scott of Balcomie. He married, secondly, in 1762,
Isabella, daughter of Sir William Carr, baronet, of Etal, in
Northumberland, by whom he had three sons and nine daughters. George and
William, the two eldest sons, were successively earls of Errol. James, the
youngest, an officer in the navy, was accidentally drowned in 1797. The
thirteenth earl of Errol is mentioned with high praise in Forbes’ Life of
Beattie, and in Dr. Anderson’s ‘Bee,’ vol. v. there is a biographical
sketch of him.
The eldest son,
George, fourteenth earl, an officer in the army, married in 1790,
Elizabeth-Jemima, second daughter of Joseph Blake, Esq. of Ardfry in
Galway, Ireland, sister of the first Lord Wallscourt, but had no issue. At
the general election 30th June 1796, he was chosen one of the
Scots representative peers, but the earl of Lauderdale protested and
petitioned the House of Lords against his return, on the ground that he
was not the male descendant of the original earls, but, on the charter of
1666, his election and title were declared valid by the House of Lords 19th
May 1797. He died 14th June 1798, aged 32. He had accompanied
the expedition against Ostend the previous year. He was then labouring
under the disease which terminated his existence, and was subject to
occasional attacks of delirium, in one of which he is said to have
disclosed the object of the expedition prematurely.
His brother,
William, born 12th March 1772, succeeded as fifteenth earl. He
had assumed, 28th March, 1795, the additional surname and arms
of Carr. In 1805 he was appointed knight marechal of Scotland, and in
1806, chosen a representative peer. He was also for several years lord
high commissioner to the Church of Scotland. He was thrice married. By his
first wife, Jane, daughter of Matthew Bell, Esq., he had an only daughter,
married to the Rev C.W. Wodehouse. By his second wife, Alicia, youngest
daughter of Samuel Elliot, Esq. of Antigua, he had James, Lord Hay, killed
at Waterloo, 18th June 1815; William-George, sixteenth earl;
Samuel, a captain in the army; and four daughters; and by his third
countess, Harriet, the sister of Lord Somerville, he had a son and two
daughters. He died 26th January 1819.
William-George,
sixteenth earl, K.T. and G.C.H., born 21st February 1801,
married 4th December 1820, Elizabeth Fitzclarence, the third of
the natural daughter os William the Fourth, and by her had a son and three
daughters. He was lord steward of the household, and afterwards master of
the buckhounds, and was created a baron of the United Kingdom, 31st
May 1831, by the title of Baron Kilmarnock of Kilmarnock. In 1832 he was
constituted knight marechal of Scotland. He was also lord-lieutenant of
Aberdeenshire. He died in 1846.
His son,
William-Harry, 17th earl, a major in the rifle brigade, 1855,
born 3d May 1823, married 1848, Eliza-Amelia, eldest daughter of
Major-General the Hon. Charles Gore, a son of 2d earl of Arran in Ireland;
issue, Charles Gore, Lord Kilmarnock, born 1852; and Hon. Arthur, born
1855. Was wounded in the hand at the battle of the Alma.
The seventeenth
earl of Errol is the twenty-second lord high constable of Scotland, and as
such is by birth the first subject in the kingdom after the blood royal,
having a right to take precedence of every hereditary honour. The houses
of Tweeddale and Errol claim a common progenitor (see TWEEDDALE, marquis
of). |
