(2) Sir Thomas Erskine of Gogar,by his charter dated 1 June 1601, as superior of the barony of Haliburton in theEarldom of March, ratified a precept of the late Earl of Gowne (Laing Charters, no.1420-seal with arms as lord of Dirleton).back

(3) On the same day as William, Lord Knollys (cr., 1626, Earl of Banbury). Much popular interest was excited by the rivalry between the two new knights in the splendour of their procession to Windsor. (Dict. Nat. Riog.).back

(4) This is said to hare been in reward for his having projected a scheme of respite of homage, the object of which was to raise money for the king; he himself received a grant of ��10,000in Dec. 1625 for services to the late and present king, but he did not succeed in gaining the prominence he desired in the direction ofstate affairs. (Dict. Nat. Biog.).back

(5) Often called "Frances"; as to this being an error, Cal. State Papers, 1603-10, p.343, where under date 3 Jan. 1606/7 is a grant to Thomas Viscount Fenton and Elizabeth, his wife, of the chief stewardship of the honour of Ampthill for life; also, the further admon., 13 June 1608, of the goods of Sir JohnNorreys granted to Elizabeth, Viscountess Fenton, widow of Sir Edward Norreys, Knt., brother of the decd.back

(6) He obtained the hand of this wealthy and much married lady through the direct intervention of his patron King James, but, according to Godman's Court of King James,vol. 1, p.392, soon after the marriage Kelly took occasion to breakopen trunks, to seize upon money and jewels, and there was great discontentbetween them. Truly Kelly was a very honest natured man, but his own wants and necessity did enforce hin to do what he did. V.G.back

(7)He is known as "the musical Earl," his composition and performance on the violin being famous, while his "Coarse joviality made him one of the best known men of his time. . . Dr.Burney said that he [the Earl] was possessed of more musical science than any dilettante with whom he was ever acquainted." (Dict. Nat. Biog.)back

(8) No evidence of his death or burial was given in the claim to the title beyond a deposition that it was "a very short time" after that of his brother, to whom he was but little junior, and that he was "a great invalid and lived in retirement verymuch." back

(9)there is, apparently, no valid reason tosuppose that it was one granted to heirs male general. The heirs male of the body of the grantee were extinct in 1829.back

(10)The extinction of many male branches that were nearer to the first Earl of Kellie seems to have been taken as proved on very slender evidence; more especially that of the issue of Sir James Erskine of Tullibody (a yr. br. of the said Earl), who d.in Ireland in 1636, leaving several sons. back

(11) Decision in favour of his right to be "Earl of Kellie, Viscount Fenton, and Lord Dirlton" was given 3 Sep. 1835, in answer to his petition of 23 Mar. 1830.back

(12)i.e., of that (particular) Earldom of Mar which, according to the decision of the House of Lords, 25 Feb. 1875, is supposed to have been cr. (de nova) by patent in 1565.back

(13)The heir general of the preceding Earl of Mar and Kellie was his nephew (the s. and h. of his sister, Lady Frances Jemima Goodeve), John Francis Erskine Goodeve (afterwards Goodeve-Erskine), whose succession to the ancient (i.e., that existing before 1409) Earldom of Mar was declared by Act of Parl. in 1885, so as to remove any doubts lest at any time that dignity had been surrendered or merged in the Crown.back

(14)This extraordinary decision commended itself little to the public in general (and even less to the legal world, and to those best conversant with Scottish Peerage law), and their lordships may be said to have practically reversed it ten years later,when in 1885 they passed the Act confirming the (ancient) Earldom to the heir general.back

(15)This Earldom of Mar is, in effect, a creation by the Committee for Privileges in 1875, being not found anywhere else. The Earldom of Mar, which was placed 7th among the Earldoms in the Decreet: of Ranking in 1606, and 5th on the Union Roll of 1707, was certainly not one that had its origin in 1565 but was that Earldom which in 1606 was ranked between the Earldoms of Sutherland and Rothes and which in 1885 was confirmed to the heir general.back

(16) The Barony of Erskine, cr. 1438[?], was forfeited(with the Earldom of Mar)in 1716 and has never been restored. The Earl of Kellie is undoubtedly heir male thereof, but not heir general, so that his claim thereto (even had it not been forfeited would be doubtful. The present [1929] Earl asserts hisright to the Barony of Erskine. back

(17) Their s. and h., John Francis Hervey Ersikne, Master of Erskine, was b. 15 Feb. 1921. back