John Erskine, 2nd Earl of Mar (c. 155814 December 1634)Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online (ODNB), "John Erskine, eighteenth or second earl of Mar," by Julian Goodare. was a Scottish politician and nobleman, the only son of John Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar and Annabella Murray. He is regarded as both the 19th earl (in the 1st creation) and the 2nd earl (in the 7th).Some sources deem him the 18th Earl, still others as the 7th Earl. (cf. Earl of Mar#Notes)
History John Erskine was born in 1558, though the precise date is unknown. Together with King James VI of Scotland he was educated by George Buchanan. He succeeded to the earldom of Mar on the death of his father in 1572. After attaining his majority he was nominally the guardian of the young king, who was about seven years his junior, and who lived with him at Stirling; but he was in reality something of a puppet in the hands of the regent, James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton; and he lost power and position when Morton was imprisoned.
He married his first wife, Anne Drummond (1555–1587) in October 1580 at Kincardine Castle near Auchterarder. The wedding guests included James VI but not his the favourite Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox.Bowes Correspondence (London, 1842), pp. 155. Anne was the daughter of Lord David Drummond (d. 1571) and Lilias Ruthven (d. 1579).ODNB, "James Drummond, first Lord Maderty," by Michael Wasser; Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland, and Mary, Queen of Scots...1574–1581, (Edinburgh, 1907), pp. 447, 449. Their marriage was cut short by Anne's early death in 1587, but the marriage did produce John's son and heir, John Erskine.
He was concerned in the seizure of James VI in 1582 (a plot known as the Raid of Ruthven); but when James escaped from his new custodians the earl fled into the west of Scotland.Steven J. Reid, The Early Life of James VI, A Long Apprenticeship (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2023), pp. 188–190. Then leaving his hiding-place the Earl of Mar seized Stirling Castle, whereupon James marched against him, and he took refuge in England. Queen Elizabeth I interceded for him, but in vain.
In October 1584 James VI gave a gift of Mar's clothes to Thomas Stewart, a brother of Alexander Stewart of Garlies. The clothes included cloaks, doublets, breeches, and other items in cloth-of-silver, figured velvet, satin and other rich fabrics. They had been seized from a ship than ran aground near Whithorn.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581–1584, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 431 no. 2462. Mar made an unusual arrangement with his Edinburgh tailor John Murdo and his wife Mause Balgaskry, giving them an income in teinds of cereal crops in exchange for making his clothes with further payment.Gordon Donaldson, Register of the Privy Seal: 1581–84, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1982), p. 284 no. 1710, 31 December 1583.
After some futile communications between the governments of England and Scotland in 1585 the Earl of Mar and his friends gathered an army, entered the presence of the king at Stirling, and were soon in supreme authority. The Earl of Mar was restored to his lands and titles. Henceforward he stood high in the royal favour, becoming governor of Edinburgh Castle and then tutor to James's son, Prince Henry. His great achievement was the recovery of the Mar estates, alienated by the Crown during the long period that his family had been out of possession, including Kildrummy, the seat of the earldom.
In May 1592 he met James VI at Fenton Tower in East Lothian, the new home of the Captain of the Guard Sir John Carmichael, to discuss the keepership of Edinburgh Castle following the death of Sir James Home. The office had also been offered to the Duke of Lennox but Home had requested it go to Mar.Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1589-1593, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 671, 673–4.
In December 1592 he married his second wife Marie Stewart, daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox at Holyroodhouse.Claire M. Elder, "Stewart [Stuart], Marie, countess of Mar", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 8 August 2024. The marriage was intended to be held at Dalkeith Palace but was delayed by Mar's illness, the match was opposed by many because Mary was a Catholic.Calendar of State Papers Scotland vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 778, 780. Their daughter, Lady Mary Erskine, married William Keith, 5th Earl Marischal.
Prince Henry at Stirling On 21 February 1594 Mar was appointed Keeper and Governor of the heir apparent, Prince Henry, who was to stay at Stirling Castle.Annie Cameron, Calendar of State Papers Scotland, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 280 no. 222. Mar performed in the tournament at the baptism of Prince Henry dressed as a "Christian Knight" in a team with the king and Sir Thomas Erskine.Michael Bath, Emblems in Scotland: Motifs and Meanings (Brill, Leiden, 2018), pp. 97–101. Elizabeth I contributed to the costs of the Prince's household, James VI assigned £5000 Scots to Mar in 1595 from the English subsidy or annuity.Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, "James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts, 1588-1596", Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, XVI (Edinburgh: SHS, 2020), p. 83.
On 11 September 1594, James wrote to Mar asking him to form a commission to reform crown finance.G. P. V. Akrigg, Letters of King James VI and I (University of California, 1984), p. 137. Mar's custody of the Prince at Stirling led to disagreement with Anne of Denmark.Maureen Meikle, 'A meddlesome princess: Anna of Denmark and Scottish court politics, 1589–1603', Julian Goodare & Michael Lynch, The Reign of James VI (East Linton: Tuckwell, 2000), pp. 134–7: Susan Dunn-Hensley, Anna of Denmark and Henrietta Maria, Virgins, Witches, and Catholic Queens (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), pp. 57–59. James VI wrote a note to Mar in June 1595 instructing him, in the event his death, not to deliver Henry to Anne of Denmark or the Parliament of Scotland until he was 18 and gave the order himself.James Orchard Halliwell, Letters of the Kings of England, vol. 2 (London, 1846), pp. 91–2. Over several days at Linlithgow Palace in June 1595, James VI and Anne had discussions about the keeping of their son Prince Henry by Mar, but Anne refused to talk to Mar when he came to Linlithgow.Annie Cameron, Calendar State Papers Scotland: 1593–1595, vol. 11 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 615–6. In September 1595 the queen would not look at Mar when he was in the same room with her at Falkland Palace.Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 12 (Edinburgh, 1952), p. 18.
Diplomacy with England Mar kept up a correspondence with the Earl of Essex and in December 1595 mentioned to Essex he had heard a rumour that David Foulis carried a message "to his disgrace", damaging to Mar's reputation.Thomas Birch, Memoirs of the reign of Queen Elizabeth vol. 1 (London, 1754), p. 343. In 1596 Queen Elizabeth, via the Earl of Essex and his secretary Anthony Bacon, sent her miniature portrait by Nicholas Hilliard to Prince Henry, and this was received by Mar at Stirling.Elizabeth Goldring, Nicholas Hilliard: Life of an Artist (London, 2019), p. 216.
In 1601, the earl was sent as envoy to London; here Elizabeth I assured him that James should be her successor, and his mission was conducted with tact and prudence. After the embassy the sum paid as a subsidy to James VI was increased, by the persuasion of Sir Robert Cecil.Alexander Courtney, 'The Secret Correspondence of James VI, 1601–3', in Susan Doran and Paulina Kewes, Doubtful and dangerous: The question of the succession in late Elizabethan England (Manchester, 2014), pp. 138–9: Julian Goodare (2000), pp. 113, 166. Elizabeth gave him a silver basin and laver set with mother-of-pearl and rubies.HMC Mar & Kellie, 1 (London, 1904), p. 59: James Maidment, Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James the Sixth (Edinburgh, 1838), p. 38.
Mar was involved in the "secret correspondence of James VI", an initiative to help put James on the throne of England. Mar and other members of a select group kept up a dialogue with English diplomats.Alexander Courtney, 'The Secret Correspondence of James VI, 1601–3', Susan Doran & Paulina Kewes, Doubtful and dangerous: The question of the succession in late Elizabethan England (Manchester, 2014), p. 139.
Union of the Crowns In 1603 Elizabeth I died and James VI became king of England, the event known as the Union of the Crowns which Mar had hoped for. James travelled to England. Mar remained at Stirling Castle in charge of Prince Henry. While he was away from Stirling on business connected with death of his mother, on 7 May 1603 Anne of Denmark came to take away Prince Henry. The Countess, his wife Marie Stewart, and his son Lord Erskine refused to allow this.Horatio Brown, Calendar State Papers, Venice: 1603–1607, vol. 10 (London, 1900), p. 40 no. 66. Anne of Denmark had a miscarriage at the castle. According to the lawyer Thomas Hamilton, she told Lady Paisley and her physician Martin Schöner that she had taken "balm water".William Fraser, Memorials of the Earls of Haddington, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1889), p. 211 There were suggestions that this miscarriage or abortion was self-induced, perhaps by use of the "balm water".Nadine Akkerman, Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Hearts (Oxford, 2021), pp. 26–7, 417 fn. 54.
While Anne of Denmark was recovering, Mar returned to Stirling and made his apology for the events to members of the Scottish Privy Council who had assembled at the castle. He told them he had heard of a plot to take Prince Henry away from the castle during his absence.Melros Papers, vol. 1 (Edinburgh, 1837), pp. 3–4. A letter from Mar to Cecil on 20 May expressed his hopes that the king thought his "young son and honest poor friends have done nothing but served him faithfully".M. S. Giuseppi, HMC Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquess of Salisbury, 15 (London, 1930), p. 97.
The Earl of Montrose, Lord Chancellor of Scotland, made efforts to calm the controversy and help set Anne of Denmark on her way to England in June. One difficulty was a previous command of James that Mar should convey the Prince to England in the Queen's company. Anne refused to travel with Mar.James Maidment, Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James the Sixth (Edinburgh, 1838), pp. 48–51, 57–8. He returned to the king at London before Anne started her journey.James Maidment, Letters and State Papers during the Reign of James the Sixth (Edinburgh, 1838), p. 55.
Mar had also alleged that he had heard of a plot to take Prince Henry from Stirling while he was absent in May.Melros Papers (Edinburgh, 1837), pp. 3–4. In a letter to Anne of Denmark, King James emphasised that Mar had not made counter-accusations against her suggesting the events at Stirling were part of a wider plot, a supposed "Spanish course". James wrote that Anne should share his confidence in Mar, and obey his instructions "whether ye were a king's or a cook's daughter".James Orchard Halliwell, Letters of the Kings of England, vol. 2 (London, 1846), pp. 106–8. Mar apologised to Anne of Denmark on 5 July at Windsor Castle.Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. 6 (Edinburgh, 1894), pp. 577–8. King James reconciled Mar and his wife after their coronation, but French diplomats noted that her resentment over the affront at Stirling continued.Alexandre Teulet, Relations Politiques, 4 (Paris, 1862), p. 319