Oldest Peer Dies

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1064, 30 August 1930, Page 18

Oldest Peer Dies

Remarkable History of the Earls of Mar

r, 15“ EAD of one of‘th‘e. oldest @é) of the noble families of ml.» i ~ - - , ‘ _’ Great Britain, and ‘ WA‘J ‘ claimed to , be the ' LJ . Premier Earl of Scotland, the Earl of Mar died at his home at Monte Carlo at the age of 94. Although bowed with the Weight of years, and distinguished by a. snow-.white heard, the earl showed astonishing liveliness and geniality almost to the last. His vigour enabled him to celebrate his 94th birthday by giving a tea party, which was attended by about 20 relatives and friends. One of his chief interests was the preservatiOn of Gaelic literature. He was also an authority on pipe music and pub—lished several songs and anthems. The origin of the Earls of Max is described as being “lost in antiquity," but the family traces its descent to a King of Munster in the days of St. Patrick. In mediaeval times the Earls of Mar were immensely powerful, and in wealth and influence rivalled the kings of Scotland, but today not a single acre of their vast estates is left to them. These have passed to a junior branch of the family, the Earls of Mar and Kellie. In 1258 William Earl of Mar was Kone 9f the Regents, of Spgtland, Emile

his son, Donald Earl o£ Mar, was the lather of Isabel, who married King Robert I. —otherwise the Bruce. The 22nd earl—who brought up James VI. (James I. of England)—was also a Regent of Scotland (1571-2). Coming down to more recent times, the 32nd earl, uncle and predecessor of the peer who has just died, established in 183 d his right to the earldom of Kellie; but at his death in 1866 that earldom, being limited to heirs male, passed to the next male heir, Colonel Walter Conningsby Erskine. He and his sons and successors subsequently claimed the Earldom of Mar as conferred by Mary on the Regent Earl in 1565, but the Committee of Privileges decided in 1875 that the dignity of Mar had not been restored along with the lands by the charter granted in 1565, and that Queen Mary must have conferred on him a few weeks later a titular Earldom of Mar with remainder to his issue male. Ten years later an Act of Parliament was passed to remove any doubts by confirming the old title. In 1886 Lord Mar was elected a representative peer for Scotland, and lie sat for 32 years. lie is succeeded by his only son, styled Lord Gariocli, who is 62. Lord Garioch is known in Scotland as a keen angler and a fine shot,