Douglas book > Angus memoirs

EARLS ADAM AND GILCHRIST.
with his brother Adam. 1 Another son, named Angus, has been ascribed to
Earl Gillebride, but it is difficult to affirm the relationship. Angus, son of
the Earl, is the designation by which he appears as a witness to charters
between the years 1201 and 1226, 2 and that the Earl of Angus is meant,
can only be inferred from the fact that the charters refer to lands in the
earldom. In one document, dated 1219, he appears to be called Angus,
son of Earl Gillebride of Angus, 3 but another reading throws doubt upon
the alleged paternity, by making the entry refer to two distinct persons
instead of one. 4 Angus appears under the designation " son of the Earl "
in charters both of Duncan and Malcolm, Earls of Angus, 5 which shows that
such a style had no special reference to the Earl who grants the charter.
Angus had a son named Adam. 6
Adam, Earl of Angus, is mentioned as such in a charter granted in or
about the year 1187 by King William the Lion. 7 He is described as the
son of Earl Gillebride, and with his father, at Court, in 1164, witnessed a
charter by King Malcolm the Fourth ; 8 and he again appears as a witness
along with his brother William in 117S. 9 Earl Adam died in or before the
year 1198, without issue, and was succeeded by his brother Gilchrist.
Gilcheist, Earl of Angus, first appears as witness to an agreement be-
tween the Bishop of St. Andrews and the Abbot of Arbroath, negotiated at
the Court of Kins; William the Lion in the Tear of King Alexander the
Second's nativity, 1198. 10 Earl Gilchrist was a liberal benefactor to the
Abbey of Arbroath, and as his brother Gilbert is a witness to several of his
1 Eegistrum Vetus de Aberbrothoc, p. 9. 5 Eegistrum Vetus de Aberbrothoc, pp. 33,
- Ibid. pp. 33, 34, 36, 37. 36.
3 Ibid. pp. 162, 163. 6 Ibid. pp. 34, 37. 7 Ibid. p. IS.
4 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, vol. i. 8 Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland,
p. 91. The indefinite designation, "son of vol. i. p. 365.
the Earl," is not unfrequent in charters of 9 Eegistrum Vetus de Aberbrothoc, p. 9.
this period. i° Ibid. p. 103.