Search just our sites by using our customised search engine

Unique Cottages | Electric Scotland's Classified Directory

Click here to get a Printer Friendly PageSmiley

Summer at the Lake of Monteith
The Erskines of Cardross


In trying to get at the foundation or origin of the illustrious name of Erskine, we must go far back in the dark and misty track of history, and plod, inch by inch and foot by foot, the mazy pathway; we require to shake the dust off, and search the time-worn volumes that record the exploits of heroic individuals, the deeds of great families, and the ups and downs of nations for well nigh a thousand years; and even then it is lost in dim antiquity. No house in Scotland—no family, either living or extinct—has given more sons to the camp, or produced men more eminent as statesmen, distinguished as lawyers, or will be more remembered in the flowery walks of literature, than the ancient and honourable house of Cardross. For hundreds of years this family have held, in a remarkable degree, the confidence of their various sovereigns; so much has this been the case, that few monarchs have reigned during the great historic period, without some of its members holding confident and exalted positions around the throne. In the county where their beautiful estate is situated, they have ever been admired as possessing a true benevolence, a warmness of heart, and depth of friendship, combined with a liberality of sentiment, adorned by a meek humility, that spread a lustre over all their other accomplishments; and these latter gifts have descended, in a singular degree, to the present esteemed representative.

The origin of the name is traditionally assigned to the time of Malcolm the Second. At the battle of Murthill, a Scotch gentleman, by his daring and bravery, captured and decapitated Enrique the Danish general, and rushing towards the king with his dagger thrust through the hideous object, brandished it in the king’s face, exclaiming in Gaelic, “Eris-Skyne,” alluding to the deed, at the same time declaring he would perform greater deeds than that; whereupon the king at once conferred on him the surname of “Erskine.” Most writers, however, think it probable that they at first derived their name from the barony of Erskine, on the Clyde, the property of the family for many ages; and it is through this line we intend to trace their history, through the Mar family, to the present representative.

I. Henricus de Erskine, proprietor of the above mentioned barony, and during the reign of Alexander the Second, was witness to a donation of Amelic—brother of Maldwin, Earl of Lennox—of the patronage of the church of Roseneath.

II. Sir John Erskine of Erskine, during the latter part of the reign of Alexander the Second, appears to have been proprietor of different lands in Renfrewshire. Johannes de Erskine is witness to a charter of Alexander III., in 1252, and another to the monastery of Paisley, by Walter, Earl of Menteith, of the church of Colmonell, in 1262. He left two sons, John and William. The latter obtained from his father a portion of land in Ayrshire, and confirmed by the superior, James, High Steward of Scotland.

III. John Erskine of Erskine, the eldest son, submitted to Edward I. of England. He left one son,

IV. Sir John, who does not appear to have been in anyway distinguished. He had issue, one son (Sir William) and three daughters—ist, Mary, married first to Sir Thomas Bruce, brother of the renowned King Robert I.; he was taken prisoner by the English, and put to death; and she married, secondly, Sir Ingram Morville. 2d, Alice, married to Walter, High Steward of Scotland. 3d, Agnes, married to Sir William Livingston of Livingston.

V. Sir William, the only son, succeeded his father. He was a man of great bravery, and companion of the renowned Randolph, Earl of Moray, and the gallant Sir James Douglas. He accompanied the expedition into England in 1327, and for his valour was knighted under the royal banner. He died in the year 1329, leaving five sons, ist, Sir Robert. 2d, Adam Erskine, of Barrowchan. 3d, Sir Allan, who had charters of the barony of Inchture in Perthshire, and Crambeth in Fife; and also held from King David II. the office crownarship of Fife and Fithyf. 4th, Andrew, who was granted, by King David II., with the crown lands of Raploch, near Stirling, in 1361.

VI. Sir Robert Erskine of Erskine, the eldest son, who appears to have been a man of most distinguished talents and accomplishments, and has rendered his name illustrious in his country’s history. He early espoused the Brucean interest, by attaching himself to the High Steward and other friends of King David II., in opposition to the Baliol party, and was highly instrumental in its success. He was, by David II., appointed constable, keeper, and captain of Stirling Castle. He was appointed great chamberlain of the kingdom in 1350, and was one of the ambassadors to the court of England, to treat for the ransom of King David, after his capture in the battle of Durham. He also successfully brought about a truce between the two nations; and so great had he the interest of his prince and country at heart, that he gave his eldest son as an hostage for the payment of the ransom of his sovereign’s deliverance. In 1358, he was appointed ambassador to the court of France, and ratified the alliance with that kingdom at Paris on the 29th June 1359. He was five times sent on public business to England, between 1360 and 1364. He held the office of great justiciar north the Forth; and on the 17th of May 1360, he presided at a solemn treaty upon the banks of that river near Stirling, between the Drummonds of Drymen and the Menteiths of Ruskie. He was warder of the marches and heritable sheriff of Stirlingshire. He was also one of the Barones Mayores, who, in 13X1, ratified Robert Stewart’s succession to the crown; assisted at that monarch’s coronation, and did homage to him at Scone. From this monarch and his predecessor he received extensive grants of land, viz.—Kinnoul, Malerbe, in Perthshire, Adamtoun in Ayrshire, and Kirkintilloch in Dumbartonshire. He was allowed twelve chalders of oatmeal out of the lands of Bothkennar, and two hundred merks sterling, annually, for the support of the castle, &c. Combined with his many accomplishments, he appears to have been possessed of a deep religious feeling, for we find him giving in “puer alms” to the monastery of Cambuskenneth, the patronage of the church of Kinnoul, with the lands of Fintalloch, in Strathearn, “for the health of himself and Christian Keith, his wife, while they lived, and the welfare of their souls after death.” He died in the year 1385, and at his death Scotland lost one of her brightest ornaments. He married, first, Beatrice Lindsay, of the house of Crawford; and secondly, Christian, daughter of Sir John Menteith of Ruskie. He had issue by the former only. 1st, Sir Thomas, his successor; 2d, Sir Nicol, who was an ancestor to the Erskines of Kinnoul, in Perthshire, and which branch terminated in an heiress, who was married to Crichton of Sanquhar, during the reign of James II.; 3d, Allan; and two daughters, the eldest of whom married Drummond of Concraig, and the youngest, Sir Walter Oliphant of Aberdalgy.

Sir Thomas Erskine, who was one of the hostages for the ransom of King David II. in the year 1357, succeeded his father in the year 1385. He was a gentleman of the greatest accomplishments and worth, and only a little less brilliant as a statesman, and useful to the nation, than his distinguished father. He succeeded his father as Governor of Stirling Castle; and, in 1384, he was appointed ambassador to England to treat for a promulgation of the truce between the two countries. That same year the English made a predatory excursion into the Frith of Forth, but were encountered by Sir Thomas and his brother Sir Nicol, and severely routed near North Queensferry.

In the year 1392 he was again, and during the reign of Robert III., sent ambassador to the Court of England, and by that monarch he is styled “ My dear relation.” He held the charters of the barony of Dun, in Forfarshire, and Alloa, in Clackmannan. He married Janet, daughter of Sir Edward Keith, Marischal of Scotland, and had issue two sons and two daughters.

1. Sir Robert, his successor.

2. Sir John, who obtained from his father the barony of Dun, and was ancestor of the Erskines of Dun, as also of Erskine of Brechin, who, during the reign of James V. became Secretary of State.

His daughters, Elizabeth and Christian, married Wemyss of Leuchars and Haldane of Gleneagles.

Sir Robert took a prominent part in the battle of Homib don, and had the misfortune to be taken prisoner. Some time after his release, he was appointed one of the commissioners to treat for the release of James I. in 1421; and in 1424 he became one of the hostages for his ransom. His annual revenue at that time was valued at “ 1,000 merks.” He was released from captivity on the 19th June 1425; and on the death of the Earl of Mar, ten years later, he claimed that earldom, and assumed the title of Earl of Mar. He married a daughter of the Lord of Lorn, and had issue one son and two daughters.

Thomas, his successor.

His daughter Janet married her relation Walter Stewart of Lovenax, second son of Murdoch, Duke of Albany, and who was executed at Stirling on the 24th May 1425, the day before the execution of his father and grandfather.

Elizabeth married Sir Henry Douglas of Loch-Leven,

Thomas, the first Earl of Mar of the name of Erskine, succeeded his father in the year 1453; but in 1457 he was by the assise of error dispossessed of the earldom, but held a charter of the lands of Dalnotter in Lennox. In the year 1458 he was employed in matters connected with the State, and was one of the guarantees of a treaty with the English. In 1467 he sat in Parliament, and took an active part in the cause of King James III. against his subjects, although previous to that time it appears that James had deprived him of his heritable right to keep the Castle of Stirling.

He was married to Lady Douglas, daughter of the Earl of Morton, and granddaughter of King James I. By her he had issue one son and three daughters, viz.—

Alexander, his successor.

Elizabeth, married to Sir Alexander Seton of Touch.

Mary, who married Sir William Livingston of Kilsyth.

Muriela, married to the second Earl Marischal.

Alexander, second Lord Erskine, appears to have been a man of considerable influence. He had the charge of the youthful King James IV., and was a great favourite with that monarch ever afterwards. He was sworn a Privy Councillor, and appointed Governor of Dumbarton Castle. He founded a chaplaincy in the church of Alloa for the welfare of the souls of King James III. and Christian Crichton, his deceased spouse, and for the health and prosperity of King James IV., himself, and Helen Home his then wife— (very charitable objects.) He received extensive grants of lands, and held the charters of the lands of Balhoghirty in Aberdeenshire, the lands of Nisbet and Douglas in Roxburghshire, the barony of Ahvay, the lands of Bernhills and Aulands, &c. &c.

He had married, first, a daughter of Sir Robert Crichton of Sanquhar; and second, the eldest daughter of the first Lord Home. He had issue by the former only, viz.—

i. Robert. 2. Alexander. 3. Walter, who was proprietor of Over Donnotars. 1. Christian, married to Sir David Stewart of Rosyth. 2. Agnes, married to Sir William Menteith of Carse.

Robert, third Lord Erskine, does not appear to have been a man of great talent or note, as we do not find him occupying any very high position, or filling any situation of great responsibility, farther than in 1506 he was made Sheriff of Stirlingshire, and in 1513 fell with his sovereign at the disastrous battle of Flodden. He married the eldest daughter of Sir George Campbell of Loudoun, and had issue five sons and four daughters, viz.—

1. Robert, who died young. 2. John. 3. James, who held the charter of the lands of Little Sauchie. He was ancestor of the Erskines of Balgony, and of William Erskine, Bishop of Glasgow (who was knighted by King James IV.), and grandfather of Janet, the countess of William, Earl of Stirling. 4. Alexander, who appears to have been a clergyman. 5. William.

The daughters were—Catherine, married to Alexander, second Lord Elphinston; Margaret, married first to Haldane of Gleneagles, second to George Home of Lundies and Argaty; Elizabeth, married to Sir John Forrester of Torwood; and Janet, married to John Murray of Touch-adam.

John, fourth Lord Erskine, succeeded his father in 1513, and like many of his illustrious ancestors, was one of the great men of his time. In 1515 he was, by the Estates of the kingdom, appointed ambassador to the Court of France, for the purpose of endeavouring to get Scotland included in the French treaty with the English nation. Immediately after his return from the French capital, he was appointed governor of Stirling Castle, and intrusted with the high honour of the keeping of his young sovereign, King James V. In this delicate and difficult situation, he acquitted himself so much to the satisfaction of the monarch that he was high in the royal favour ever after. In 1517 he was one of the guarantees of a treaty with the English, and appointed constable and captain of the Castle of Stirling, and keeper of the King’s Park, &c. In 1535 he was again appointed ambassador to France, for the purpose of arranging a marriage for his royal master. In 1539 he was constituted one of the extraordinary Lords of Session; and being present at the King’s death, was, along with the Earl of Montrose, directed to remain continually with the young Queen in the Castle of Stirling. In 1545 Lords Erskine and Livingston were appointed keepers of the Queen’s person; and after the disastrous battle of Pinkie (1547), they retired with their fair charge to the island of Inchmahome, on the Lake of Monteith, where they remained till the end of February of the following year, when they set sail from Dumbarton for France. In France he is said to have discharged his high and difficult duty with the greatest fidelity and prudence. Dying in 1552, he left extensive estates. He married Lady Margaret Campbell, daughter of the Earl of Argyll, by whom he had issue:—

1. Robert, Master of Erskine, who married Lady Margaret Graham, eldest daughter of the second Earl of Montrose. He was taken prisoner at Solway in 1543, but was ransomed for two hundred pounds, and was afterwards killed at the battle of Pinkie. He had no legitimate issue, but a natural son by Mrs. Jean Home; who was commentator of Dryburgh, and ancestor of the Erskines of Sheffield.

2. Thomas, Master of Erskine, who was ambassador to England. He was married to Margaret, daughter of Lord Fleming, the Chamberlain of Scotland, but by her he had no family. He had a natural son, who was commentator of Cambuskenneth, but died before his father, in 1551.

3. John, who succeeded his father.

4. Sir Alexander Erskine of Gogar, ancestor of the Earls of Kellie.

5. Sir James Erskine of Tullibody.

1. Elizabeth, who married Sir Walter Seton of Touch.

2. Margaret, who had a natural child to James V. viz. James, Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland.

John, fifth Lord Erskine, was a man of transcendent genius. He held many high offices, and was remarkable for disinterestedness, love of country, and attachment to Protestantism. Being a younger brother, he was trained to the Church; and, previous to his father’s death, he had been appointed by King James V. commentator of Cambuskenneth and Inchmahome. On coming into possession of the title and estates, he also succeeded to his heritable offices, and to the government of Edinburgh Castle. During the troublous times of the Queen Regent, he maintained a strict neutrality, by standing aloof from either party. On the advance of the English in 1560, the Queen committed herself to his lordship’s protection; and, on the return, in the following year, of the young Queen Mary from France, his lordship was sworn a Privy Councillor, and restored to the ancient title of Earl of Mar, and accordingly took his seat in Parliament as representing the most ancient earldom in the kingdom. On the birth of King James VI., the Queen mother committed her infant son to the keeping of the Earl of Mar, who resigned the Castle of Edinburgh to the Bothwell party, and retired to Stirling Castle. In 1571, when the Regent Lennox was surprised and killed at Stirling, it was only through the prompt and decisive character of Mar that the King’s party were saved from utter annihilation. Immediately after this great achievement he was chosen Regent of the kingdom, and this important trust was conferred on him for “his moderation, his humanity, and his disinterestedness.” On finding himself in possession of this high and difficult office, he set himself with all the ardour of his mind to allay the different contending factions, and to free his beloved country from the influences of foreign councils. For a time he seemed eminently successful, but the vile Morton thwarted his views. The ambition and selfishness of Morton and his associates made a deep impression on the Regent’s mind, who longed for peace and the full prosperity of his country; and this grief bringing on a settled melancholy, he died of a broken heart on the 29th October 1572. Thus passed away for the time one' of Scotland’s most gifted sons—whose mind was too pure and heart too large for the age in which he lived. He was married to Annabella, daughter of Sir William Murray of Tullibardine, and had issue:—

John, his successor; and Lady Mary, who married Archibald, eighth Earl of Angus.

John, seventh Earl of Mar, was a man of great talent and education, having been trained along with King James VI. by the celebrated George Buchanan, and was high in royal favour ever after. In 1595, he was intrusted with the keeping and education of the King’s son; in 1601, he was appointed English ambassador; and, on the death of Queen Elizabeth, he completed the arrangements for the succession of the Scotch monarch to the English throne, in 1603. In that year he accompanied his sovereign to England, but was obliged to return to arrange with the Queen regarding the keeping of her children. After appeasing the Queen, he again set out for England, to join his royal master; and immediately on his arrival in London he was sworn a Privy Councillor, created a Knight of the Garter, and became Secretary for Foreign Affairs; and on the 17th December 1615, the King delivered to him the "white staff,” appointing him High-Treasurer of Scotland. Previous to this, about the year 1604, King James, anxious to confer some permanent mark of honour on his distinguished subject, created him Lord Cardross, with power to assign the title to any of his heirs male; and from the Parliamentary records it appears in the Parliament held at Perth, 19th July 1606, “Act of erection of the Abbey of Dry-burgh and Cambuskenneth and Priory of Inchmahome into a temporal lordship, called "the lordship of Cardross," in favour of the Earl of Mar—with the honour, estate, dignity, and pre-eminence of a free Lord of Parliament, to be called Lord Cardross in all time coming.” Some time before the year 1617, he built the principal suit of apartments in Cardross House; and when the King came to Scotland in that year he visited Lord Cardross, at Cardross House, where he was entertained for some days with the greatest respect and magnificence. This great statesman died at Stirling in the year 1634, in the 77th year of his age. His lordship married, first, a daughter of the second Lord Drummond, by whom he had issue one son, John, who succeeded to the earldom of Mar. He married, secondly, Lady Mary Stuart, second daughter of the Duke of Lennox, her ladyship having a charter of the lands of Fintry and Buchlyvie. By her he had issue four sons—1st, James, who married Lady Mary Douglas, Countess of Buchan, and was created Earl of Buchan; 2d, Henry Erskine, to whom his father assigned the peerage of Cardross; 3d, Sir Alexander Erskine, a colonel in the army, and who had the misfortune to be blown up at Dunglass, along with his unfortunate brother-in-law, the Earl of Haddington, in 1640; and 4th, Sir Alexander Erskine of Alva.

In a life of this illustrious man, written by the Earl of Buchan, there is rather a curious anecdote told relating to his second marriage. It appears that the Earl, although one of the most advanced men of his time, had been somewhat superstitious, and had listened to the nonsense of an Italian conjurer, who had shown him the limning of a lady, whom he said resembled Mar’s future sweetheart and countess. Mar, it seems, had been in love with the daughter of Lennox, and fancied he saw her likeness in the portrait exhibited by the Italian. Fearing disappointment, and hearing that the King intended her for another, his Lordship wrote a touching letter to his royal master, couched in the most plaintive language, stating that his health had begun to fail through the fear of losing the object of his affections. The King, it is said, visited his old class-fellow, and said—“Ye shana dee, Jock, for ony lass in a’ the land,” and accordingly secured for him Lady Mary Stuart. Portraits of this distinguished man and his celebrated lady are still preserved in Cardross House, along with that of the Treasurer’s father.

Plenry Erskine, the second son of the Earl of Mar, by his second marriage, to whom the peerage of Cardross was assigned, with the reservation of his father’s life-rent, having died before his father, never possessed the title. He held charters of the ecclesiastical lands of Maxtown and Les-sudden, in Roxburghshire, and in which he is designed “fiar of Cardross.” He was married to the only daughter of Sir James Bellenden Broughton, and had issue:—

David, second Lord Cardross; and Mary, married to Sir John Buchanan of Buchanan.

In one respect, the peerage of Cardross stands unexampled in the history of the Peerage, inasmuch as the King conferred upon a subject the right to create another peer, which has never been done in any other instance.

David, second Lord Cardross, succeeded his grandfather in the year 1634, and became vested in the title of Cardross. He appears to have been a man of considerable note, and took a prominent part in many of the nation’s affairs. At Newcastle, in 1646, he protested, with a few more peers, against the delivering up of King Charles I. to the English army; he was one of the promoters of the engagement in 1648, for which he was fined in one thousand pounds, besides losing his seat in Parliament. He died in the year 1671. He married, first, Anne, fifth daughter of Sir Thomas Hope of Craighall; and had two children—Henry, third Lord Cardross; and Margaret, married to Cunningham of Boquhan. His lordship married, secondly, Mary, youngest daughter of Sir George Bruce of Carnock, and sister of the Earl of Kincardine, and had issue seven children:—1. Hon. Alexander Erskine, who appears to have died young.

2. Hon. Colonel William Erskine, who was a man of the greatest integrity and honour. He was proprietor of the estate of Torry, and governor of Blackness Castle. He married a daughter of Sir James Lumsdain of Innergelly. His son William was a person of considerable note, having been a colonel in the army, and distinguished himself at the battle of Fontenoy, where he commanded the 7 th regiment of dragoons.

3. The Hon. Colonel John Erskine of Cardross, known among his friends as “ the Black Colonel.” The Colonel was distinguished for his zeal in the high cause of religion and liberty, and for which he suffered keen persecution, and was compelled to retire into Holland. In Holland he had the command of a. company of foot; and at the Revolution of 1688 he accompanied the Prince of Orange to England. He was ever afterwards a great favourite with the Prince, who made him Governor of Stirling and Dumbarton Castles. He represented the town of Stirling in the last Scottish Parliament, was a keen supporter of the Union, and one of the Members nominated to the first united Parliament of Great Britain in 1707. At the general election in 1708, he was again re-chosen to represent the town of Stirling. He died at Edinburgh in 1742, in the eighty-second year of his age. He was four times married, and was father of John'Erskine of Carnock, Advocate, author of that valuable work, “Erskine’s Institutes of the Law of Scotland.”

4. The Hon. Charles Erskine, who was killed at the battle of Steinkirk in 1692.

The daughters were Veronica, married to Lockhart of Kirktown; Magdalen, married to Alexander Monypenny of Pitmilly; and Mary, who died young.

Henry, third Lord Cardross, succeeded his father in 1671. He was a man of the most pure principles and exalted worth, having received a highly religious education. Trained in the broad principles of truth and liberty, he early joined himself to the opposers of the Earl of Lauderdale’s Administration; but, for his adherence to the cause he had so much at heart, he was subjected to the most keen and cruel persecution, and in 1674, for his lady hearing her own chaplain preach in her own house, he was fined in the modest sum of “five thousand pounds.” In May of the following year, while absent in Edinburgh, a party of soldiers came to Cardross during midnight, plundered the house, and subjected Lady Cardross to the most barbarous usage. In August of the same year he was, for his adherence to the cause of truth, sentenced to be imprisoned in Edinburgh for the period of four years. In 1677 he was again fined on account of his lady getting her child baptised by a person not her own parish minister, notwithstanding his Lordship being then in prison and not allowed to look after his affairs. In 1677 his estates in East Lothian were plundered by the King’s troops. In July of the same year his Lordship was released from prison on granting a bond for the amount of his fine. Not being able to obtain any redress from the Privy Council of Scotland, his Lordship repaired to North America, where he was only a little more fortunate—a colony which he founded having been destroyed by the Spaniards. He left America, and, joining the Prince of Orange party in Holland, he accompanied the Prince to England, where he was appointed to the command of a troop of dragoons. He was afterwards a great favourite with King William, was sworn a Privy Councillor, and constituted General of the Mint, &c. He died at Edinburgh in May 1693, in the 426. year of his age. He married a daughter of Sir William Stewart of Kirkhill, and had issue:—

1. David, fourth Lord Cardross.

2. Hon. Charles Erskine, Advocate. He married the heiress of Scott of Redenshead, in Fife.

3. Hon. William Erskine, Governor of Blackness Castle. He married Margaret, daughter of Colonel Erskine, Governor of Stirling Castle.

4. Hon. Thomas Erskine, Advocate. He married Rachel, daughter and heir of Liberton of Liberton.

The daughters were—1. The Hon. Catherine Erskine, who married Sir William Denholm of Westershields, in the county of Lanark. 2. Hon. Mary Erskine, who married James Nimmo, Esq., Cashier of Excise. 3. Hon. Anne Erskine, who married Edmonstone of Duntreath.

David, fourth Lord Cardross, succeeded his father in 1693. Like most of his predecessors, he took an active part in State affairs, was a true Protestant, and took a deep interest in the Hanoverian succession. About the year 1698 his Lordship succeeded to the Earldom of Buchan, and was afterwards known under that title. He was a Privy Councillor, and one of the Council of Trade appointed by Parliament in the year 1705. In the all-important question of the Union, his Lordship opposed the material clauses, and lodged his protest accordingly. This action, however, caused his removal from all his Government offices. When King George I. came to the throne, the Earl of Buchan was made Lord-Lieutenant of the Counties of Stirling and Clackmannan. 'During the Rebel* lion of 1715 he held the town of Stirling and commanded the Stirlingshire Militia. In the year 1745 his Lordship sold the estate of Cardross to his cousin, John Erskine of Carnock, the Advocate, and author of “Erskine’s Institutes,” who was the first Mr. Erskine of Cardross and Carnock. This “ distinguished civilian ” died at Cardross on the ist March, 1768, in the 73d year of his age. He married, first, Miss Melville, daughter of the Earl of Leven and Melville, and had issue:—John Erskine of Carnock, D.D., a zealous and distinguished pastor. He married, secondly, Anne, daughter of Stirling of Keir, and had issue four sons and two daughters:—

1. James Erskine, who was the first “ Mr. Erskine of Cardross.”

2. Robert Erskine, who died in the East Indies.

3. David Erskine, who was a Writer to the Signet, and •of great eminence in his profession.

4. Major Erskine of Venlaw, in Peebles.

The. daughters were:—1. Marion, died unmarried; 2. Christian, who married Sir William Stirling of Ardoch.

James Erskine succeeded his father in the estate of Cardross, and died there on the 27th March 1802. He married Lady Christian Bruce, second daughter of the Earl of Kincardine, and had issue:—    .

1. John Erskine, an officer in the E. I. C. service, and who died at Angole in 1792.

2. William Erskine, who died young.

3. Charles, who commanded the gallant 92d Regiment in the expedition to Egypt, under the renowned Sir Ralph Abercromby, and was mortally wounded at the landing of the British troops near Alexandria.

4. David Erskine of Cardross.

5. James, an officer in the Royal Navy, and who unfortunately perished on board Lord Keith’s flag-ship, burned in March 1800.

6. William Erskine, a Major in the 71st Foot, who died in 1805.

The daughters were:—1. Janet, married to Hay of Drum-melgier. 2. Anne. 3. Marion. 4. Matilda, married to John Graham of Gartur, the last and only cadet of note of the defunct Earldom of Monteith. 5. Rachel Euphemia. 6. Christian.

David Erskine of Cardross was bred to the profession of the law, and was some time in the civil service of the E. I. C. at Ceylon. He died about the year 1848. He married the Hon. Keith Elphinstone, fourth daughter of John, nth Lord Elphinstone, and had issue:—

1. James, who was in the civil service at Bombay, but

who died before his father, leaving two sons: — i. The present Major Erskine of Cardross. 2. Captain James Erskine, of the Royal Navy.

2. John Elphinstone Erskine, Admiral, Royal Navy, and the talented author of “ The Islands of the Western Pacific,” and at present the accomplished M. P. for the county of Stirling.

3. Charles, a Captain in the Army, but who was unfortunately killed by a fall from his horse while serving with his regiment in India.

4. George Keith,* Captain of the 1st Lancers, a gentleman of great accomplishments and elegant manners, but who unfortunately died of small-pox while serving with his regiment at the siege of Mooltan in 1849. His brother officers raised a beautiful tablet to his memory in the tomb at Cardross.

5. Hay M. Erskine, an esteemed Clergyman.

6. William Erskine, a Captain in the Bombay Army, who died, leaving two daughters.

Henry David Erskine, the present esteemed proprietor, is married to Horatio, daughter of General Seymour, and has two children.


Return to the Book Index Page


 


This comment system requires you to be logged in through either a Disqus account or an account you already have with Google, Twitter, Facebook or Yahoo. In the event you don't have an account with any of these companies then you can create an account with Disqus. All comments are moderated so they won't display until the moderator has approved your comment.

comments powered by Disqus

Quantcast