EARLS OF CRAWFORD AND DUNE OF MONTROSE.—Sir LilldSay, younger brother of sir James of Crawford, the hero of Otterburn, acquired large estates in the counties of Angus and Inverness by marriage with the heiress oll Stirling of Glenesk and Edzell; and his son David, who, on failure of the line of his uncle, became chief of the family, married the sister of Robert Ill., and WaS raised by that king, in 1398, to the dignity of earl of Crawford. In the 15th c. the earls of Crawford were among the most powerful of the Scotch nobility: they assumed a regal state, had their heralds, and were attended by pages of noble birth. Their domains were widely- extended over Scotland, but their chief seat was Finhaven, in Angus. David, third earl, entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, with the eighth earl of Douglas and .Macclonald of the Isles, earl of Ross, and wielded for a time, during James H.'s minority, an authority far exceeding that of royalty. Ile was slain at Arbroath in a private feud with the Ogilvies. His son, nicknamed " Beardie," or the " tiger earl," renewed the league with Douglas. On James having treacherously stabbed Douglas at an interview at Stirling, he rose in rebellion; and the earl of Huntly, lieut.gen. of the kingdom, who had aided the Ogil vies at Arbroath, took up arms against him. Earl Beardie was defeated at Brechin, and forfeited; but he was afterwards restored to his lands and dignities, and to royal favor, and entertained James at Finhaven, who flung down a loose stone from the castle battle ment in fulfillment of a vow which he had taken to make the highest stone of the castle the lowest. The family attained their climax of power and wealth under David, fifth
earl, a faithful friend of James III, and employ-ed by him in his most important foreign embassies, who was made duke of Montrose iu 1488, a title which had never before been bestowed in Scotland but on princes of the blood-royal. On the accession of James IV., an act rescissory was passed of all grants and titles conferred by his predecessor during the last eight months of his reign; but soon afterwards, a new charter of the dukedom ,of Montrose was granted on a recital of the duke's good services to the king and his pre. .decessor.. David, eighth earl of Crawford, nephew of the duke of Montrose, had the misfortune to have a son known for his crimes and enormities as " the wicked master", his conduct led his aged father to consent to a transfer of the earldom to David Lindsay of Edzell, the next heir. The ninth earl, who succeeded under this conveyance, moved with pity for the rightful heir, son of the "wicked master," obtained a reeonveyance of the earldom to him after his own decease. From that time the fortunes of the family began to decline. The 12th earl was imprisoned by his relatives as a spendthrift. The 16th earl, a companion iu arms of the great Montrose, having no issue, through the influ ence of a powerful cadet of the family, lord Lindsay of the Byres, a new patent of the earldom was obtained from Charles I., bringing in his branch of the house before the descendants of the uncle of the 16th earl, who had been created lord Spynie, or the inter. mediate cadets of Edzell and Balcarres.