Stuart dynasty

TEE STEWARDS OE SCOTLAND. 5
of Inveraray, had yet from time to time come into
personal contact with several of the Stewards of
Scotland.
Alan, the second Steward, succeeded his above-
mentioned father Walter, holding his position for
twenty-seven years ; being twice married, first to Eva,
daughter of Swan, son of Thor, Lord of Tippermuir
and Tranent, progenitor of the Ruthvens ; but by this
marriage the Steward had no children, and a second
time entered the marriage state with Alesta, daughter
of Morgand, Earl of Mar, the origin of whose bouse
is lost in the mists of antiquity. The son and heir,
Walter, by this marriage, was third holder of the
Stewardship, and flourished in that capacity between
1204 and 1246, being himself allied to Beatrix
daughter of Grilchrist, who then held the title of
Angus.*
Walter's son, Alexander, the fourth Steward,
appears to have developed military talent, for he
commanded the Scottish army at the battle of Largs
on Oct. 2, 1263.f This Alexander, serving Alex-
ander III. as General on this occasion, was, in all
probability, defending his own interests when Haco,
King of Norway, made himself master of Bute and
Arran, and then appeared with a great navy off the
village of Largs in Cunningham, where, the weather
proving unpropitious, many of the vessels either got
stranded or entangled one with another. Haco, how-
* Stuart's ' Genealogical History of the Stuarts,' p. & ; also Douglas's
' Peerage,' vol. i. p. 44.
t Douglas's ' Peerage,' vol. i. p. 44.