EGLINTON, EARLS OF. The title of earl of Eglinton has been held by the famous Scottish family of Montgomerie since 1508. The attempts made to trace the descent of this house to Roger of Montgomery, earl of Shrewsbury (d. 1094), one of Wil liam the Conqueror's followers, will not bear examination, and the sure pedigree of the family only begins with Sir John Mont gomerie, lord of Eaglesham, who fought at the battle of Otter bourne in 1388 and died about 1398. His grandson, Sir Alexander Montgomerie (d. c. 1460), was made a lord of the Scottish parlia ment about 1445 as Lord Montgomerie, and Sir Alexander's great grandson Hugh, the 3rd lord (c. was created earl of Eglinton, or Eglintoun, in 1508. Hugh, who was a person of im portance during the minority of James V., was succeeded by his grandson Hugh (d. 1S46), and then by the latter's son Hugh (c. 1531-1585), who became 3rd earl of Eglinton. The 3rd earl was a firm supporter of Mary queen of Scots, for whom he fought at Langside, and of the Roman Catholic Church; his son and successor, Hugh, was murdered in April 1586 by the Cunning hams, a family with which his own had an hereditary blood feud. In 1612, by the death of Hugh, the 5th earl, the male line of the Montgomeries became extinct.
The most famous of the earls of Eglinton are the 6th earl, commonly called "Greysteel," a prominent covenanter who fought against Charles I. at Marston Moor, and the 13th earl, Archibald William, who is remembered for the tournament which took place at Eglinton Castle, described by Disraeli in Endymion. He became lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1852 under the Derby min istry and again in See Sir W. Fraser, Memorials of the Montgomeries, earls of Eglinton (1859).