The Mormaer or Earl of Mar is a title that has been reaffirmed seven times, all in the Peerage of Scotland. The first creation of the earldom was originally the provincial ruler of the province of Mar in north-eastern Scotland. First attested in the year 1014, the "family seat" eventually became Kildrummy Castle, although other sites like Doune of Invernochty were initially just as important.
The title evolved into a peerage title, and was made particularly famous by John Erskine, 22nd Earl of Mar who was an important Jacobite military leader during the 1715 Jacobite rising.
Owing to a nineteenth-century dispute, there are currently two Earls of Mar, with James Thorne Erskine, 15th Earl of Mar and 17th Earl of Kellie and Margaret Alison of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar sharing the title. The Earl of Mar and Kellie is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Erskine; the Countess of Mar is the hereditary Clan Chief of Clan Mar.The Earldom of Mar is thought to be the oldest peerage in Great Britain, and even Europe.
Read more about Earl Of Mar: Early Mormaers or Earls, 15th Century, 16th–18th Centuries, 19th Century, Mormaers of Mar / Early Earls, Earls of Mar, First Creation (1404) (as Deemed By Act of Parliament in 1885), Earls of Mar and Garioch, Third Creation (1459), Earls of Mar and Garioch, Fourth Creation (1483), Earls of Mar and Garioch, Fifth Creation (1486), Earls of Mar, Sixth Creation (1562), Earls of Mar, Seventh Creation (1565) (as So Deemed By The House of Lords in 1875), In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the words earl of, earl and/or mar:
“Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands.
Oh! where hae ye been?
They hae slain the Earl of Murray,
And hae laid him on the green.”
—Unknown. The Bonny Earl of Murray (l. 1–4)
“Violent measures are always dangerous, but, when necessary, may then be looked on as wise. They have, however, the advantage of never being matter of indifference; and, when well concerted, must be decisive.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“But whether or not a man was asked
To mar the love of two
By harboring woe in the bridal house,
The bridegroom wished he knew.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)