EARLS OF DARNLEY, EARLS AND DUKES OF LENNOX, LORDS OF AUBIGNE.—Sik Alan Stewart of Dreghorn, second son of sir John of Bonkyl, who with his brothers, John and James, fell at Halidon bill in 1333, was ancestor of this distinguished line, His domains included the extensive lands of Cruickston and Darnley, in Renfrewshire, to which his grandson, sir Alexander Stewart, added Galston by his marriage with Janeta, daughter and heiress of sir William Keith of and widow of sir David Hamilton of Cadyow. Sir John Stewart of Darnley, eldest son of this marriage, dis tinguished himself much in the French wars, when succors were sent from Scotland to the aid of the dauphin, afterward Charles VII. He was constable of the Scots army in France, and contributed greatly to the victory of Hauge, in recompense for which the lands and lordship of Aubigne and Concressault, in France, were conferred on hini, as well as the county of Evreux, with permission for himself and his descendants to quarter the royal arms of France. In 1428, he was one of the ambassadors sent by Charles to negotiate a marriage between the dauphin and the princess Margaret of Scotland; and in the following year, along with a younger brother, William, fell at the siege of Orleans. His marriage with Elizabeth, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Duncan, earl of Lennox, afterward added the Lennox estate to the family possessions. Accord ing to arrangements made by permission of the king of France, the lordship of Aubigne was generally enjoyed by a younger member of the family; it went in succession to the third son of sir John Stuart, and to his son, Bernard Stuart. The latter, alike distin guished for military and statesmanlike qualities, had a share in the victory of Bosworth, and supported by arms Charles VIII.'s claim to the throne of Naples. He held, mong other dignities, those of viceroy of Naples, .constable of Sicily and Jerusalem, and duke of Terra Nova. His grandson, sir John Stuart, was advanced to the dignity of a lord of parliament under the title of lord Darnley; he was also served heir to half the Lennox domains, and claimed the earldom of Lennox. His elder son, Matthew, second earl of
Lennox, fell at Flodden; his younger son, Robert, got the lordship of Aubigne in 1508, on the death, without issue, of Bernard Stuart, whose daughter was his first wife. John, the third earl of Lennox, was sou of the second earl by Elizabeth, daughter of James, lord Hamilton, and niece of James III.; he was one of the lords of the regency in James V.'s rainority, and in endeavoring to rescue the youthful king from the thral dom of the Donglases, he was taken prisoner at Linlithgow, and murdered by sir James Hamilton of Finnan, Arran's natural son. This earl was married to lady Anne Stew art, daughter of John, earl of Athole, and had three sons, Matthew—who succeeded him as fourth earl—Robert, and John. The termination of the male line of Robert III, by the death of James V., along with the imperfect legitimacy of the descendants of the house of Albany, -placed Matthew, earl of Lennox, in the position of heir-male of the stewards of Scotland. He married lady Margaret Douglas, only child of Archibald, earl of Angus, by the queen-dowager Margaret, sister of Henry VIII., an alliance which brought his children into the position of being nearest heirs after Mary, queen of Scots, to the crown of England. The issue were two sons, the elder of them the unhappy husband of the unhappy queen Mary, and father of James VI. Lennox, after spending his youth in France and in the wars in Italy, returned home in 1543, and took an active part in the negotiations for the proposed marriage of queen Mary with Edward VI. His subsequent intrigues with Englaud led to his banishment and attainder, but lie was recalled and restored to his honors by Mary. After that queen's forced resignation, he was appointed to the regency, and when on his way to hold a parliament at Stirling in 1371, he was attacked by a party of the queen's friends and mortally wounded.