Margaret Colquhoun

Notes:

"By tradition the mother of seventeen sons … The arms of Murray impale those of Colquhoun in the church founded by Sir David Murray." [The Ancestry of Charles II, citation details below]

Margaret married David Murray before 1420. David (son of David Murray and Isabel Stewart) was born about 1395 in of Tullibardine, Perthshire, Scotland; died between 21 Jun 1451 and 15 Jun 1452; was buried in Tullibardine, Perthshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Mariota Murray
2. Christian Murray

Notes:

Died "while resisting a Highlander attack along the west coast, he met them at a truce near Inchmurrin on the banks of Loch Lomond and was killed with barbarous cruelty. Governor of Dumbarton Castle 1424, and member of Parliament 2437." [The Ancestry of Charles II, citation details below]

John married Jean Erskine. Jean (daughter of Thomas Erskine and Janet Keith) died before 23 Apr 1411. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 5 Apr 1406

Notes:

"[K]nighted by 1370 in order to enter the lists against Sir James Douglas over an inheritance dispute, keeper of Edinburgh Castle and sheriff of Edinburgh by 1371, had a charter to the barony of Dun in 1371, resigned to him by his father, a frequent witness to royal charters, captured at the battle of Homildon Hill 14 September 1402 and may have been held a prisoner in England until his death." [The Ancestry of Charles II, citation details below]

Thomas married Janet Keith before 13 Apr 1370. Janet (daughter of Edward Keith and Christian Menteith) died after 11 Jun 1413. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"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 Menteith, 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, bailie 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 evidence 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 eighty, 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 laid much stress on before the House of Lords, but the argument loses force from the fact that the same sum was paid to Sir Robert 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." [The Scots Peerage, citation details below]

Robert married (Unknown) of Luss before 1369. (Unknown) (daughter of Godfrey of Luss) died about 1415. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 11 Nov 1385

Notes:

High Chamberlain of Scotland 1350-57, 1363-64. Keeper of Stirling Castle.

"Sir Robert was an active partisan of the High Steward in his claim to the throne on the death of King David II in February 1370-71, and is said to have materially contributed to a peaceful solution by restraining his stepson William, Earl of Douglas, who pretended also to the vacant throne. But the reasons of this episode or the ground of Douglas's claim have never been stated, and remain still an historical mystery. Sir Robert did homage at the coronation of the new King in 1371, and was also present when, in 1373, the succession to the Crown was secured to the Stewart family. His loyal services were acknowledged, and perhaps stimulated, by an important bond of Robert, Earl of Fife, with consent of his brother John (afterwards King Robert III), binding the Earl to be a faithful friend to Sir Robert and his family, a bond sworn on the gospels and sealed by both brothers at Perth on 7 February 1372-73. […] Sir Robert was a frequent attender of Parliament and Council up to 1384." [The Scots Peerage, citation details below]

Robert married Beatrice Lindsay after Jul 1335. Beatrice (daughter of Alexander de Lindsay) was born about 1286; died before 6 Dec 1352. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1337

Edward married Christian Menteith. Christian (daughter of John Menteith and Ellen of Mar) died about 1387. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was with Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn.

"Sir Humphrey de Colquhoun received a charter of the barony of Luss from King Robert the Bruce in 1308 for special service, and on 26 April 1309 was witness to a charter by King Robert the Bruce, in which he is designated 'Vmfredus de Culchoun miles.'" ["Colquhoun of Luss," citation details below]

Notes:

6th laird of Luss.

Notes:

"[A]ccording to Barbour, distinguished himself in the course of the expedition made by Sir James Douglas and Randolph, Earl of Moray, into Weardale, England, in 1327. He was at that time made a knight, and on the same day, being well horsed and equipped, he aided Sir James Douglas in a plot to draw the English archers into an ambush, but was borne so far with the crowd of fugitives that he was taken prisoner. He was, however, shortly afterwards exchanged for Englishmen taken by the Scots. He was alive in 1331, when he is referred to as a creditor of the late King Robert." [The Scots Peerage, citation details below]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Barnweill, Ayrshire, Scotland
• Alternate death: Aft Jul 1306

Notes:

The identity of his wife is unknown. The Scots Peerage (citation details below) says "There is reason to believe that his wife was a sister of James, Steward of Scotland."

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

Of age by 1290, when he attended the parliament of Birgham, Lindsay is said to have been knighted by Edward I, and in August 1296 did homage for his Scottish lands to the English king. He is also recorded in that year as holding Luffness and Ballencrief from Henry de Pinkney, the English heir to those Lindsay estates and possibly also to Crawford.

Despite his early links with Comyn and Edward I, after 1296 Alexander Lindsay is usually found among the adherents of the younger Robert Bruce; his wife was probably a sister of James the Steward, a prominent Bruce supporter. Lindsay refused to participate in Edward I's expedition to Flanders in 1297, and with his younger brother John instead joined Wallace and Bruce in their short-lived rising against the English king in July 1297. Following the Scottish capitulation, Lindsay stood surety for Bruce's handing over of hostages. Lindsay appears to have been briefly in Edward's peace after the battle of Falkirk (22 July 1298), but was forfeited again later that year, and presumably continued to fight against the English until the general surrender of 1304. Recognized as a prominent figure in the Scottish resistance, Lindsay was exiled from Scotland for half a year by Edward's ordinance of September 1305, but he seems to have returned early, in time to be present in Bruce's company when the latter killed John Comyn of Badenoch on 10 February 1306 and declared himself king. Lindsay then remained with King Robert during the difficult months which followed, until he was himself captured at Kildrummy in September and his lands forfeited. However, Lindsay was free again by the summer of 1308, when he was one of the leaders of that year's Galloway campaign. As a prominent Bruce supporter he was a signatory of the letter sent to Philippe IV of France from the St Andrews parliament of 1309. He may have witnessed a royal charter in 1312, but was certainly dead by 10 December 1314.

Notes:

Marischal of Scotland. Killed at the Battle of Neville's Cross. Said by SP (citation details below) to have been a son of William de Keith, said to have died 1293, but as CP (citation details below) points out, accounts of the earlier Keiths are hazy and contradictory.

Edward married Isabel de Synton before Jul 1305. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lord of Arran.

John married Ellen of Mar. Ellen (daughter of Gratney of Mar) died after 1342. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Mentioned 1296.

Notes:

Justiciar of Lothian, 1241. Regent in 1255 and the kingdom's chamberlain in 1256. According to both the ODNB (citation details below) and the Scots Peerage (citation details below), he died in Egypt on crusade. Based on this page at People of Medieval Scotland, it would appear that his ancestry as put forward in the Scots Peerage is doubtful.

David married Margaret de Lindesay. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Scots Peerage (citation details below), which spells her name as we show it here, says she was "probably" a daughter of Walter de Lindsay, sheriff of Berwickshire, Justiciar of Lothian, ambassador to England in 1265, who died in 1271.

Notes:

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (citation details below):

Menteith, Sir John [...] soldier and administrator, was the second son of Walter Menteith, fifth earl of Menteith (d. in or before 1296), and brother of Alexander, who succeeded to the title. Both John and Alexander were captured after the Scottish defeat at Dunbar in 1296, and John was sent to Nottingham Castle in May, along with, among others, Sir Edmund Comyn of Kilbride. As the price of liberation he agreed to serve Edward I on his campaign against the French in 1297 and his lands were consequently restored to him. Menteith, by now a knight, returned to Scotland in 1298, but later rejoined the patriotic side. There is no record of his activities between then and September 1303, when he and Sir Alexander Menzies approached the English lieutenant Sir Aymer de Valence (d. 1324) at Linlithgow to treat for peace, presumably on behalf of the Scottish guardian, Sir John Comyn of Badenoch. At this point Edward I and his army were advancing deep into the north-east of Scotland, and the Scots sensed that submission was the only truly viable option. Although the starving state of the Irish foot soldiers with Valence persuaded Menteith and Menzies that further resistance was worthwhile, the majority of the Scots, led by the guardian, and presumably including Menteith, submitted in February 1304.

Menteith must have somehow impressed King Edward, since in March 1304 he was granted the keeping of the castle, town, and sheriffdom of Dumbarton. The area was not yet firmly under Edward's control even in 1305, however, and Menteith was permitted to postpone the hearing of his account 'until the land of Scotland is secure'. Some headway in that direction was undoubtedly made in August of the same year, when Sir William Wallace, still resolutely refusing to submit to the English king, was captured, perhaps by treachery, within Menteith's sheriffdom of Dumbarton (supposedly at Robroyston near Glasgow). The sheriff had no choice but to hand Wallace over to Edward and was duly rewarded with lands worth £100. His action brought Menteith lasting ignominy, however ill deserved: Walter Bower, writing in the 1420s, describes the reputations of the main players in this melodrama thus:

Some ostentatiously make their name great for show, like the tyrant Edward; some scandalously make it cheap so that they are abhorred, like the said John Menteith; others virtuously make it worthy so that they are an inspiration to others, like William Wallace.

Yet Menteith's career was far from over. With the murder of Sir John Comyn of Badenoch and the seizure of the throne by Robert Bruce early in 1306, Menteith remained loyal to Edward I. Although he was probably essentially a realist, willing as such to support a de facto government, it is also possible that he identified himself with the Comyn faction, which would explain his failure to support Bruce. There may even be some truth in Bower's story that Menteith made overtures to the new king of Scots at this time in an attempt to trap him in Dumbarton Castle; the plot was revealed to Robert by a servant, Roland Carpentar, who was certainly granted the lands of Eddlewood by the grateful king.

From Wikipedia (accessed 31 May 2021):

Menteith was nominated one of the representatives of the Scots barons in the parliament of both nations which assembled at London in September 1305 and was chosen upon the Scottish council, which was appointed to assist John of Brittany, the new Guardian of Scotland, in the English interest. John received on 1 June 1306 from Edward the Earldom of Lennox, while on 15 June he received the Warden of the castle, town, and sheriffdom of Dumbarton office for life. John returned to Scotland in October.

Edward appealed to John in December 1307 to join him in resisting the revolting Robert de Brus, however John abandoned his earldom of Lennox, joining Brus's side. King Robert I of Scotland rewarded John with large grants in Knapdale and Kintyre. In March 1308, John was among the Scottish magnates who wrote to the King Philip IV of France on behalf of the nation and in 1309, he was sent with Sir Nigel Campbell to treat with Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, receiving a safe-conduct on 21 August, from King Edward II of England. John's English lands were forfeited for his treason. In 1316 he was commissioned with Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray to treat on behalf of Robert Brus for a truce with the English. John remained closely attached to the royal court, as is shown by the numerous charters he attested and was at the Arbroath parliament in April 1320, and signed the Declaration of Arbroath sent by the barons of Scotland to Pope John XXII.

John was one of the negotiators of the thirteen years' truce between Bruce and the English, signed on 30 May 1323 and was present at a Scottish council at Berwick in June.

Notes:

7th Earl of Mar. The identity of his wife is unknown; she was almost certainly not Christian Bruce, sister or aunt of Robert the Bruce, as variously claimed.