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- Sir Allan Erskine, who had charters of Inchture in Perth and Crambeth in Fife from King David II on 2 October 1365. He had also charters of lands in the territory of Inchmartine, and of Banchory in Fife, from King Robert II on 24 October 1379. He died in Maya 1400. He married, before 1362, Isabel Inchmartine, daughter and heiress of Sir John Inchmartine of that Ilk and Margaret Wemyss his wife. She died in or about 1399. The had issue two daughters: Margaret, married to Sir John Glen of Glen and Balmuto; and Isabella, married, as his second wife, about 1386, to Sir John Wemyss of Kincaldrum and Reres, afterwards of Wemyss. [The Scots Peerage V:592]
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Sir Thomas Erskine of that Ilk; married 1st c1365 ? (dsps), only daughter and heiress of Sir William Douglas of Liddesdale; married 2nd 13 April 1370 Janet, daughter and heiress of Christian (daughter of Ellen (daughter of 7th Earl of Mar) by Sir John Menteith of Arran) by Sir Edward Keith of Synton and widow of Sir David Barclay of Brechin, and died 1403/4. [Burke's Peerage]
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Sir Thomas Erskine (son of her [Janet Keith's] mother's 2nd husband by his 1st wife, Beatrice, daughter of Alexander Lindsay of Crawford), d. 1403, knighted between 1365 & 1370, keeper of Edinburgh Castle, Sheriff of Edinburgh. On 8 Nov 1376 he had a royal charter of the barony of Dun on his father's resignation. [Magna Charta Sureties]
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Sir Thomas Erskine, the eldest son of Sir Robert, is first named in 1354, if it be he who in that year, as 'son and heir' of Sir Robert Erskine, was proposed as one of the hostages for King David II. Three years later Thomas Erskine, on King David's final release, was again a hostage and was committed to the care of John de Copeland (where not stated), on 2 October 1357. Sometime between 1365 and 1370, he was made a knight under somewhat peculiar circumstances. His first wife, the heiress of Dalkeith, of whom later, died at the birth of her first child, and there was a difference of opinion as to whether the child was born living or not. Erskine claimed the liferent of his wife's estate on the plea that the child lived, while James Douglas, the next heir, claimed the estates on the ground that the child died, and the parties resolved to decide the matter by personal combat. The duel was to take place at Edinburgh in the presence of the King, and just before they entered the lists the parties were knighted, James Douglas by Sir Archibald Douglas, 'the Grim' and Thomas Erskine by his own father. Then they fought, but were separated by the royal command and led out of the lists. No argeement could be affected, and they were again about to engage, whtn the King's influence prevailed and the matter was arranged. Sir Thomas Erskine accepted a sum of money in lieu of his rights, and Sir James Douglas obtained the estates in dispute.
Sir Thomas prior to 1371, was keeper of Edinburgh Castle and also Sheriff of Edinburgh. He was in that year a consenter to the Act of Succession passed in favour of the Earl of Carrick. He had an annuity of £53, 6s 8d from the customs of Linlithgoe, and also £100 yearly from the customs of Aberdeen, which was paid to his wife and heir after his death. On 8 November 1376 he had a royal charter of the barony of Dun, co. Forfar, resigned to him by his father. He frequently appears as a witness to royal charters, which indicated attendance at court, and on 27 January 1398-99, when David, Duke of Rothesay, was made Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, Sir Thomas Erskine was one of those appointed to be his special advisers.
It was on 18 March 1390-91 that, during the sitting of Parliament, he made his famous protest to King Robert III on behalf of his then wife, Dame Janet Keith or Barclay. The immediate cause of the protest was that Sir Thomas had learned that a contract had been made between Sir Malcolm Drummond, husband of Isabella, Countess of Mar, and Sir John Weinton, second husband of her mother, Margaret, Countess of Douglas and Mar, as to the earldom of Mar. He therefore required of the King that if any such cntract were made in prejudice of his wife, who, failing the heirs of Countess Isabel, was the heiress of half the earldom, the royal confirmation should not be given to such agreement. The King allowed the request to be reasonable, and said he had no wish to prejudice th rights of Sir Thomas and his wife. On 22 November 1393 the King renewed his promise in a wider form, granting to Sir Thomas that although Isabella Douglas, Countess of Mar, because of information or agreement with any one, should be willing to resign the earldom or any part of it, or any lands elsewhere to which the heirs of Thomas ought to succeed, or to make resignations of the same to any one in prejudice of her true heirs, the royal consent or confirmation would not be given, or if given by mistake, should be null and void.
On 2 February 1392-93 Sir Thomas and his wife were granted a portable altar by Pope Clement VII. Sir Thomas was taken prisoner at Homildon on 14 September 1402, and may have remained captive in England until his death, which took place between Martinmas 1403, when his pension of £100 was paid to himself, and Whitsunday 1404, when it was paid to his widow.
Sir Thomas Erskine married, first, about 1365, Mary Douglas, only child and heiress of Sir William Douglas, known as the 'Knigh of LIddesdale,' She died in childbed, and Sir Thomas was obliged to give up possession of her estates to the next heir. He married, secondly, before 13 April 1370, Janet Keith or Barclay widow of Sir David Barclay of Brechin. It was on her account he protested in 1390-91, regarding the earldom of Mar, that one-half of the earldom of Mar and of the lordship of Garioch pertained to his wife in right of heritage. She is therefore the most important link between the ancient and the modern Earls of Mar, and it may be well again to examine on what her claim rests. She is said to have been the daughter of Sir Edward Keith of Sinton and of Christian Menteigh, daughter of Sir John Menteith (the second), Lord of Arran, Strathgartney, and Knapdale, by Ellen of Mar, daughter of Gratney, Earl of Mar. There is good evidence of the relationship of Ellen of Mar to Earl Gratney, and of her marriage to Sir John Menteith. There is also evidence that Christian Menteith, wife, first of Sir Edward Keith, and, secondly of Sir Robert Erskine, was the daughter of Sir John Menteith and Ellen of Mar. There is very positive proof that Sir Thomas Erskine married Janet, widow of Sir David Barclay (the second) of Brechin. But the proof that her name was Keith or that she was the daughter of Sir Edward Keith and Christian Menteith is very meagre, a fact of which no notice was taken in stating the evidence for the Mar Restitution Bill of 1885. The pedigree compiled in 1709 by Mr George Erskine, gailie of Alloa, asserts that such was Janet's parentage, and it has been taken for granted that he was right. But there are only two or at most three facts on record which support the statement. The first is the evicence of Andrew Keith of Inverugy, who with Ingram Wintoun of Andat gave evidence in 1447 as to the then Sir Robert Erskine's relationship to the Earls of Mar. He was a man of eightly, born therefore about 1367, and must have known Sir Thomas Erskine's wife. He states that her name was Janet, and that she was the daughter of Sir Edward Keith, but says nothing about her mother. A second fact in favour of Janet Keith's descent is that she and her husband had possession of the lands of Pirchock and Ludquhairn, which had been granted by Sir John Menteith to Christian, his daughter, and Sir Edward Keith. A third fact referred to in the evidence for the Mar Restitution Bill is that an annuity of £100 from the Customs of Aberdeen paid to Sir Thomas Erskine from 1389 to 1403, was after his death paid to his widow as if in her own right, and in the later entries, when the sum was paid to her son after her death, the money is said to be payable in exchange for Arran which had belonged to Sir John Menteith. This was liad much stress on before the House of Lords, but the argument losses force from the fact that the same sum was paid to Sir Thomas Erskine for many years before it passed to Sir Thomas, and in Sir Robert's case the payment coincides with his resignation of Ednam, as stated on page 594. It may be, however, that the payments to Dame Janet Barclay were held to relate to Arran. But though the evidence on the point is not strong, the family belief on the subject so constantly and consistently asserted may be accepted as being not only probable, but the simplest and most direct way by which Janet Erskine or her heirs could claim any interest in the earldom of Mar. She survived Sir Thomas, dying soon after Whitsunday 1413, her annuity after that date being paid to her son Robert. [The Scots Peerage V:596-600]
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Abt 1346 - 1403 (~ 57 years)
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