| 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]
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Nielsen Hayden genealogy
- Aft 1413