GLENCAIRN, Earl of,
a title (dormant since 1796), in the peerage of Scotland, conferred in
1488, on Alexander Cunningham, Lord Cunningham of Kilmaurs, descended
from one Warnebald, who came from the north of England in the 12th
century, to the district of Cunningham, as a vassal under Hugh de
Morville, constable of Scotland, the proprietor of almost all the
district. From him he obtained the manor of Cunningham, which
comprehended most of the parish of Kilmaurs, and from it the family
surname was assumed. Glencairn, which gave the title of earl to this
principal stock of the Cunningham family, is a parish in the western
part of Nithsdale, Dumfries-shire.
Alexander, the
first earl, was ennobled about 1450, by the title of Lord Kilmaurs, and
May 28, 1488, he was created earl of Glencairn, by patent under the
great seal, to himself and his heirs, from James III., in whose cause he
fell at the battle of Sauchieburn, 11th June of the same
year. By the Act Rescissory, passed in the first parliament of James
IV., 17th October, 1488, all creations of new dignities
granted by that monarch’s father since 2d February preceding (1487-8)
were annulled, and, in consequence, Robert, Lord Kilmaurs, eldest son of
the earl of Glencairn, was deprived of the title and dignity of earl.
The 1st earl married Margaret, daughter of Adam Hepburn, lord
of Hailes, and sister of 1st earl of Bothwell, and had 4
sons. William, of Craigends, the 2d son, was ancestor of the Cunninghams
of Craigends, as well as those of Robertland, Carncuren, Bedlan,
Auchenharvy, and Auchenyards.
The eldest
son, Robert, Lord Kilmaurs, 2d earl by right, though he did not bear the
title, married Christian, eldest daughter of the first Lord Lindsay of
the Byres, relict of John, master of Seton, and had a son, Cuthbert, who
was restored to his grandfather’s title by the Act Revocatory passed in
1503. It is stated by an English herald that he was “belted” earl of
Glencairn on 13th August, 1503, at the marriage of James IV.
With the princess Margaret of England. He sat in the parliament 8th
November 1505, as earl of Glencairn. In 1526, he was appointed one of
the members of the secret council, and joining the earl of Lennox, in
his attempt to rescue king James V. from the power of the Douglases, was
engaged in the battle near Linlithgow 4th Dec. of that year,
when Lennox was slain and himself wounded. He died before 1542. By his
countess, Lady Marjory Douglas, eldest daughter of 5th earl
of Angus, he had a son, William, 4th earl.
While Lord
Kilmaurs, this nobleman was one of the principal adherents of the
English court in Scotland, and accepted of a pension from Henry the
Eighth. He was one of the party which joined the force of the earls of
Angus and Lennox, on 23d November 1524, when they took possession of
Edinburgh, and endeavoured to withdraw the young king from the
queen-mother. Appointed high-treasurer of Scotland 25th June
1526, he held that office only till 29th October following.
In 1538 he accompanied David Bethune, bishop of Mirepoix, afterwards the
celebrated cardinal, on a matrimonial embassy to France, when the treaty
of marriage between Mary of Guise and James the Fifth was concluded. He
was taken prisoner by the English at the rout of Solway in 1542, and
committed to the custody of the duke of Norfolk, but released on payment
of a ransom of a thousand pounds, and subscribing a bond, with some
others of the Scots captive nobles, to support Henry’s project of a
marriage between the young Prince Edward and the Scottish queen. The
English monarch’s demands subsequently became so extravagant, that, in
the course of the following year, the earl and Lord Cassillis informed
the English ambassador that they would sooner die than agree to them.
Henry, therefore, abandoned some of them, and on the first of July 1543
the earl, with Sir George Douglas, and the Scottish ambassadors,
Learmounth, Hamilton, and Balnaves, met the English commissioners at
Greenwich, when the treaties of peace and marriage were finally
arranged. The same year, when the Sieur de la Brosse arrived in the
firth of Clyde, from France, with military stores, and ten thousand
crowns to be distributed among the partisans of Cardinal Bethune, the
earl of Glencairn, with the earl of Lennox, who had deserted the
cardinal’s party, and joined the English faction, hastened to receive
the gold of which he was the bearer, and secured it in Dumbarton castle.
Having a private feud with the earl of Argyle, Glencairn suggested to
the regent Arran, at a time when his rival was occupied in the Highlands
against the Lord of the Isles, that the Highland chiefs and hostages
left in prison by James the Fifth should be liberated, that they might
act against Argyle, which was accordingly done. He and his son, Lord
Kilmaurs, were engaged in all the intrigues of the Anglo-Scottish party
at this period, and while the father is described as one of the ablest
and most powerful barons of Scotland, the son is mentioned with praise
for his spirit and military experience. In the west of Scotland the
earl’s power and influence were so great that when the English king in
this year contemplated an invasion of Scotland, his lordship undertook
to convey his army from Carlisle to Glasgow, “without stroke or
challenge.” On the 17th of May, an agreement was concluded
between Glencairn, Lennox, and Henry the Eighth, at Carlisle, by which
that monarch consented to settle an ample pension on the earl and his
son, Lord Kilmaurs, whilst to Lennox was promised the government of
Scotland, and the hand of Lady Mary Douglas, the king’s niece; they
acknowledging Henry as protector of the kingdom of Scotland, and
engaging to use their utmost efforts to deliver the young queen into his
hands, with the principal fortresses in the realm, undertaking at the
same time to cause the word of God to be truly taught in their
territories, the Bible being declared by them the only foundation of all
truth and honour. On his return to Scotland he collected his vassals, to
the number of five hundred spearmen, but was attacked on the muir of
Glasgow, by the regent Arran, and defeated with great slaughter, his
second son, with many others, being slain. The earl fled almost alone to
Dumbarton, and in September of the same year he and his son, Lord
Kilmaurs, abandoned the cause of Henry, which led Wriothesley, the
English chancellor, to inveigh against “the old fox and his cub,” who
had imposed on the simplicity of Lennox. In November of the same year
the earl was with the army of Arran that laid siege to Coldingham, then
held by the English, but which was dispersed by an English force. In the
following March (1544) Glencairn and his son renewed their
communications with the English government. An account of the double
part acted by them will be found in the fifth volume of Tytler’s
‘History of Scotland,’ and a narrative of the negociations with them of
John Edgar, for the support of the English interest in Scotland, is
contained in Lodge’s ‘Illustrations of British History,’ vol. I. In the
Scots parliament, 12th December 1544, the earl obtained a
remission to himself and his adherents for all crimes of treason by them
committed previous to that date. He is said by Tytler to have been a
party to the design of cutting off Cardinal Bethune. He died in 1547. He
was twice married: first, to Catherine, second daughter of William,
third Lord Borthwick, without issue; and, secondly, to Margaret or
Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Campbell, of West Loundoun, by
whom he had Alexander, fifth earl; Andrew, ancestor of the Cunninghames
of Corsehill, baronets; Hugh, progenitor of the Cunninghames of Carlung;
Robert, ancestor of the Cunninghams of Montgrenan; William, bishop of
Argyle, and a daughter, Lady Elizabeth, married to Sir John Cunningham
of Caprington.
Alexander,
fifth earl, the most celebrated person who bore the title, styled “the
good earl,” was among the first of the Scots nobility who concurred in
the Reformation. In 1555, on the return of John Knox to Scotland, he
restored openly to hear him preach. When the Reformer, at the request of
the earl marshal, addressed to the queen regent, Mary of Guise, a letter
in which he earnestly exhorted her to protect the reformed preachers,
and to consent to a reformation in the church, Glencairn had the
boldness to deliver it to her majesty, who, after glancing carelessly
over it, handed it to James Bethune, archbishop of Glasgow, and
contemptuously said, “Please you, my lord, to read a pasquil!” In 1556
he entertained Knox at his house of Finlayston, when the sacrament of
the Lord’s Supper, after the manner of the Reformed church, was
administered to his whole family and some friends. In December 1557 he
was one of the leaders of the reform party who subscribed the memorable
bond or covenant which had been drawn up for the support and defence of
the protestant religion, and who thenceforth assumed the name of the
“Lords of the Congregation.” In 1559, in consequence of the rigorous
proceedings of the queen regent, he and his relative, Sir Hugh Campbell
of Loudon, sheriff of Ayr, requested an audience of her majesty, at
which they reminded her of her promises of toleration. On the queen’s
replying that promises ought not to be urged upon princes, unless they
can conveniently fulfil them; “Then,” said they, “since you are resolved
to keep no faith with your subjects, we will renounce our allegiance,”
an answer which induced her to dissemble her proceedings. In May of that
year, when the Reformers at Perth found it necessary to protect
themselves by force of arms. Glencairn joined them with 1,200 horse and
1,300 foot, which he had raised in the west country. After the
protestant religion had been established by parliament in 1560, the earl
was nominated a member of Queen Mary’s privy council. He and the earl of
Morton, and Maitland of Lethington, were sent as ambassadors to Queen
Elizabeth, with a proposal, for the strengthening of the bonds of amity
between the two nations, that she should accept as a husband of the earl
of Arran, the heir to the Scottish crown, which she declined. He was
amongst the nobles who opposed the marriage of Queen Mary with Darnley.
He had a principal command in the army embodied against the queen in
June 1567, and when the French ambassador came from the queen at Carbery,
promising them forgiveness if they would disperse, he replied, that
“they came not to ask pardon for any offence they had done, but to grant
pardon to those who had offended.” When Mary was conducted to Lochleven
that month, his lordship hasten3d with his domestics to the chapel-royal
of Holyrood-house, and destroyed the whole of the images, demolished the
altar, tore down the pictures, and defaced al the ornaments. A satirical
poem against the Popish party, entitled the Hermit of Allareit or
Loretto, near Musselburgh, written by Lord Glencairn, and preserved in
Knox’s History of the Reformation, is published by Sibbald in his
Chronicle of Scottish Poetry. His lordship died in 1574. From a very
characteristic portrait of the fifth earl of Glencairn in Pinkerton’s
Scottish Gallery, the woodcut is taken.
[portrait of Alexander, fifth earl of Glencairn]
His eldest son, William, sixth earl, had two sons and four daughters.
The elder son, James, seventh earl, was engaged in the raid of Ruthven
in 1582. He was a privy councillor to King James the Sixth, and one of
the commissioners nominated by parliament for the projected union with
England in 1604. The disputes among the Scots nobility regarding
precedence reached such a height in the reign of James the Sixth that a
royal commission was appointed by that monarch in 1606 to regulate the
matter, and the different peers were invited to produce their patents,
or other evidence, in support of the relative antiquity of their titles.
The result was the publication of the noted ‘Decreet of Ranking,’ 5th
March 1606. James, then earl of Glencairn, not having the requisite
proof at hand, and not being lawfully summoned, did not appear on the
occasion; his precedence was, in consequence, unjustly prejudiced, and
he was ranked after, in stead of before, the earls of Eglinton,
Montrose, Cassillis, and Caithness. Three years afterwards, on 16th
June 1609, having been summoned to attend the parliament, he appeared
personally before the lords of the privy council, and stated that he had
brought an action of reduction of the said decreet before the lords of
council and session, and producing the original patent of 28th
May 1488, requested that it should be “read in the audience of the
parliament.” In the action of reduction he obtained a judgment in his
favour, dated 7th July 1610, affirming his precedence over
the earls of Eglinton and Cassillis, but as the other two earls
(Montrose and Caithness) had not been cited in the action, and as the
judgment of the court placed the earl of Eglinton after them, though
entitled to precede them, that nobleman, on his part, brought an action
of reduction of the said sentence, and obtained a decree in his favour
11th February, 1617. The seventh earl of Glencairn died about
1630; and his son, William, eighth earl, in October of the following
year. The latter had three sons and five daughters. Colonel Robert
Cunningham, his second son, was usher to King Charles the Second.
The eldest son, William, ninth earl, on 21st July, 1637,
obtained a ratification from Charles the First, under the royal sign
manual, of the original Glencairn patent of 1488. He was sworn a privy
councillor, and in 1641 appointed one of the commissioners of the
treasury. As he supported the cause of the king, in 1643 he joined the
duke of Hamilton and the earls of Lanark and Roxburgh, in opposing the
sending an army into England to assist the parliamentary forces. This
service the king was pleased to acknowledge in a letter under his own
hand, concluding thus: “I give you this assurance, on the word of a
prince, that I shall never retract anything I have granted, either in
religion or liberty, to my subjects in Scotland, and for your own part I
will not die in your debt.” In 1646 his lordship was constituted
lord-justice-general by parliament; and on 19th January 1648,
a decree of the court of session was given in his favour on the point of
precedence, against the four earls who claimed to rank before him, and
reducing the decreet obtained by the earl of Eglinton in 1617, above
mentioned. The same year he entered heartily into the “Engagement” for
the rescue of the king, for which, on 15th February 1649, he
was deprived by parliament of his office as lord-justice-general, in
virtue of the act of classes. The parliament now being the dominant
party, on the 2d March following, at the instance of the public
prosecutor, it passed a decreet annulling the original Glencairn patent
of 1488, and on the 9th of the same month, the earl of
Eglinton, who had appealed his case to parliament, obtained a decreet
annulling that of the court of session which had been given against him.
These decreets, however, never legally took effect, having been
pronounced by an incompetent court on an illegal appeal, and the whole
proceedings of that parliament having been specially rescinded after the
Restoration. Glencairn’s insurrection in the Highlands in 1653, in
favour of Charles the Second, when Monk had possession of Scotland,
forms one of the most interesting historical incidents of the period. In
August of that year he went to Lochearn in Perthshire, where he met the
earl of Athol, and some chiefs of the Highland clans, and soon found
himself at the head of a considerable body of men, with which, after
various marchings, he took possession of Elgin, where, n January 1654,
he received letters from General Middleton, announcing his arrival in
Sutherland, with a commission from the king, appointing him
generalissimo of all the royal forces in Scotland. The earl accordingly
hastened to Dornoch to meet Middleton, and in March a grand muster of
the army took place, when it was ascertained to amount to three thousand
five hundred foot, and one thousand five hundred horse. His lordship
then resigned the command to Middleton, and riding along the lines he
acquainted the troops that he was no longer their general. The men
expressed great dissatisfaction at this announcement by their looks, and
some, “both officers and soldiers, shed tears, and vowed that they would
serve with their old general in any corner of the world.” After the
review, the earl gave an entertainment to Middleton and the principal
officers of the army, and in proposing the health of the
commander-in-chief, he said, “My lord general, you see what a gallant
army these worthy gentlemen here present and I have gathered together,
at a time when it could hardly be expected that any number durst meet
together: these men have come out to serve his majesty, at the hazard of
their lives and all that is dear to them. I hope, therefore, you will
give them all the encouragement to do their duty that lies in your
power.” Sir George Munro, Middleton’s lieutenant-general, immediately
exclaimed, “The men you speak of are nothing but a pack of thieves and
robbers. In a short time I will brig a very different set of men into
the field.” The earl rejoined, “You, Sir, are a base liar; for they are
neither thieves or robbers, but brave gentlemen and good soldiers.” Sir
George having, in consequence, challenged his lordship, a meeting took
place early next morning about two miles to the south of Dornoch. Both
were on horseback, and after discharging their pistols at each other
without effect. They immediately began to combat with their swords.
After a few passes, Sir George received a severe wound on the bridle
hand, and fearing that he cold no longer manage his horse, he called out
to the earl that he hoped he would allow him to fight on foot. ‘You
carle,” said his lordship, “I will show you that I can match you either
on foot or on horseback,” Dismounting, they renewed the contest; but at
the first onset Munro received a severe cut in the forehead, the blood
from which prevented him from seeing. The earl was just abut to run him
through the body, but was stayed by his servant. On returning to
head-quarters his lordship was put under arrest, by order of Middleton,
and his sword taken from him.
He now resolved to leave the army, which he did in a fortnight
afterwards, and proceeding home, made his peace with Monk; he was,
however, excepted out of Cromwell’s act of grace and pardon the same
year. He was one f the peers whom Monk called to the convention he
summoned when he was about to march into England in 1659, and pressed
the general to declare for a free parliament. On the Restoration he
waited on ‘Charles the Second at London, when he was sworn a privy
councillor, and appointed high sheriff of Ayrshire. On 19th
January 1661, he was constituted chancellor of Scotland for life, in
room of the earl of Loundoun, resigned. Although he was one of the
principal advisers of the re-establishment of episcopacy, he was not, as
said to the earl of Lauderdale, at that time a presbyterian, “for lordly
prelates, such as were in Scotland before the Reformation, but for a
limited, sober, and moderate episcopacy.” “My lord,” replied Lauderdale,
“since you are for bishops, and must have them, bishops you shall have,
and higher then ever they were in Scotland, and that you will find.” The
pride of Archbishop Sharp, and the pretensions and assumptions of the
new prelates, soon involved the earl in quarrels and embittered his
life. On one occasion having requested Fairfowl, archbishop of Glasgow,
not to molest Mr. William Guthrie, a presbyterian minister, Fairfowl
refused. Glencairn said little, but when he came down stairs his
attendants observed him in great confusion, “and the buttons were
springing off his coat and vest.” Being asked what was the matter, he
replied, “Woe’s me! We have advanced these men to be bishops, and they
will trample on us all.” [Wodrow’s Analecta.] In 1663, sharp went
to London, and obtained from the king a letter to the Scots privy
council, in January 1664, giving him, as primate, the right of
precedence over the chancellor. This offended the earl so deeply that he
fell into ill health, and died at Belton, East Lothian, on 30th
May of that year, aged 54. He was buried, with great pomp, in the
south-east aisle of the cathedral of St. Giles’, Edinburgh, on 28th
July following, his funeral sermon being preached by Burnet, archbishop
of Glasgow. In Pinkerton’s Scottish Gallery is a portrait of his
lordship, from which the woodcut below is taken. He had four sons, the
two eldest of whom predeceased him.
[portrait of William, ninth earl of Glencairn]
Alexander, tenth earl, the third son, married Nicholas, eldest sister
and coheiress of Sir William Stewart of Kirkhill and Strathbrock,
Linlithgowshire, and had one daughter, Lady Margaret, married to the
fifth earl of Lauderdale. Her eldest son, Lord Maitland, had an only
child, Jean, the wife of Sir James Fergusson, baronet, of Kilkerran,
Ayrshire, and her son, Sir Adam Fergusson, claimed, in her right, the
title of earl of Glencairn, as afterwards mentioned. Earl Alexander died
26th May, 1670, and was succeeded by his brother John,
eleventh earl. The latter, in the parliament of 1686, opposed the repeal
of the penal laws against popery; and, supporting heartily the
Revolution, raised in 1689 a regiment of six hundred foot (of which he
was appointed colonel), for the service of the government. He was sworn
a privy councillor on 1st May of the latter year, and
appointed governor of Dumbarton castle. He died 14th
December, 1703.
His only son, William, twelfth earl, succeeded his father as governor of
Dumbarton castle, and was also sworn a privy councillor. He supported
the treaty of union, and died 14th March 1434. His son
William, thirteenth earl, had an ensign’s commission in 1729, and, on
his father’s death, was appointed governor of Dumbarton castle. He
attained the rank of major-general in the army in 1770, and died in
September 1775.
William. Lord Kilmaurs, eldest son of the thirteenth earl, was a cornet
in the 3d dragoon guards, and when a mere youth travelling on the
continent and talking in a loud tone, in the theatre of Lyons, he was
requested by a French nobleman present to desist, but not heeding the
request, the latter pulled his lordship rudely by the arm; whereupon
going into the lobby, they drew their swords on one another. Lord
Kilmaurs was thrust through the body, while his antagonist received a
severe wound in the thigh; but neither of their wounds proved mortal. He
died before his father, at Coventry, unmarried, on 3d February 1768, in
his 25th year. His brother, James, became fourteenth earl on
the death of his father, in 1775. He was at that time abroad, on a tour
through Norway, Lapland, and Sweden. In 1778 he was a captain in the
west Fencible regiments, and in 1780 was chosen one of the sixteen
Scottish representative peers. He is celebrated as the patron of the
poet Burns. In 1786 he disposed of his ancient family estate of Kilmaurs
to the marchioness of Titchfield, and died, soon after landing from
Lisbon, at Falmouth, on 30th January 1791, in his 42d year,
and was buried in the chancel of the church of that town. Dying
unmarried, he was succeeded by his brother, John, fifteenth earl, an
officer in the 14th dragoons. He afterwards took orders in
the Church of England, and died at Coats, near Edinburgh, 24th
September 1796, in his 47th year. He was buried at St.
Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh, where is a monument to his memory. As he died
without issue, the title became dormant. The earldom was claimed by Sir
Adam Fergusson of Kilkerran, bart., as heir of line; by Sir Walter
Montgomery Cunninghame of Corsehill, baronet, as heir male; and by Lady
Henriet Don, sister of the last earl, and wife of Sir Alexander Don of
Newton Don, Roxburghshire. In the committee of privileges of the House
of Lords, on 14th July 1797, the lord chancellor (Rosslyn),
in deciding the claim of the first-named, took a view unfavourable to al
the claimants, and adjudged, that while Sir Adam Fergusson had shown
himself to be the heir-general of Alexander, earl of Glencairn, who died
in 1670, he had not made out his right to the title. The title is also
claimed by Cuninghame of Craigends.
