Ancient and modern

XXXVI
us access to or any knowledge at all of the numerous documents that are contained in the
Mar Charter chest. They do not tell us the nature of them nor give us any list of
them so that we may be able to judge for ourselves whether or not they may be material,
and yet they ask your Lordships to decide against such a document as a decree of the Court
of Session in 1626, and acted upon in 1635 by the Court of Session, upon such documents
as the Act of Parliament of 1587 and other documents by which the Crown and Parliament
and the Court of Session have recognised what I submit to your Lordships to be a
clear course of devolution of the title, they ask your Lordships to question it upon criticisms
on some documents which they have produced at their own choice from the Mar Charter
chest, without ever letting us know what the rest of the documents are. Therefore your
Lordships will see the way in which they seek to ask your Lordship to question documents of a
formal character, which have received the highest possible sanction that can be received during a
long process of time.
(See Speeches, House of Lords, pp. 274-5.)
Translation of Charter of Mary Queen of Scots restoring to John Lord Erskine,
the Earldom of Mar, on the 23rd June 1565,
Mary, by the grace of God, Queen of the Scots. To all good men of her whole Realm
Clerks and Laymen greeting. Know ye, that because after Our lawful and full age of
twenty one years being completed We have understood that umquhile Isabella Douglas,
Countess of Mar Hereditary Proprietor for the time of the Earldom of Mar and of the
Lordship and Regality of Garrioch made a feoffment to umquhile Alexander Stewart in free
marriage to be contracted between him and herself of all and hail the said Earldom
Lordship and Regality to hold to them and the longer liver of them, and the Heirs lawfully
to be begotten between them, whom- failing to the heirs whomsoever of the said Isabella of
our most noble Progenitors of good memory, who thereupon granted confirmation as in the
said feoffment and confirmation respectively more fully is contained. And that afterwards
the said Alexander and Isabel died without lawful heirs begotten between them, whom so
deceasing umquhile (the late) Robert Lord Erskine was retoured in due order lawful and
next heir of the said umquhile Isabella in the aforesaid TZarldom Lordship and Regality ,
notwithstanding that his Predecessors were kept out of the possession of the same partly by
reason of the quarrels occiwring at the time and partly by the injust refutation and hindrance
made by obstinate and partial Rulers and officers refusing the reasonable prayers and petitions
made by the Predecessors of Our said Cousin often and earnestly praying and soliciting their
entry to the hereditary possession of the same : which premises now by Ourself carefully
viewed and considered, We not alone on account of the same and of the good faithful and
gratuitous services done as well to our Predecessors by Our said Cousin and his Predecessors,
especially by the umquhile father of ur said Cousin and by himself to Our umquhile most dear
father and Mother of most noble memory, and by himself to Ourselves since the decease of our
said umquhile most dear Mother, but also moved by conscience as behoveth us to restore
the lawful Heirs to their just inheritances, have given and granted, and by the tenor
of our present charter do give and grant to Our said Cousin John Lord Erskine
his heirs and assigns hereditarily all and hail the said Earldom of Mar containing
the lands following that is to say, Strathdone, Bramar, Cromare and Strathdee, with
all and singular the other lands of old time to the same pertaining, and also all
and singular the lands of the said Lordship and regality of Gareach with all and
singular castles towers, fortresses, manors, woods, mills, fisheries, parts feudiels, fee farms,