Arascainn
Earls of Mar, guardians of the infant kings of Scotland
| Clan name | Clan Erskine |
| Gaelic name | Arascainn |
| Name meaning | From the place name Erskine in Renfrewshire — possibly from the Brythonic 'ardescyn', high marsh or steep height |
| Motto | Je pense plus (I think more) |
| Territory | Erskine (Renfrewshire), Mar (Aberdeenshire), Alloa (Clackmannanshire) |
| Origin | Renfrewshire and Stirlingshire |
The Erskine family takes its name from the barony of Erskine in Renfrewshire, on the south bank of the Clyde, and rose to be one of the most powerful families in medieval Scotland. Through their earldom of Mar — acquired by marriage in the 15th century — they held one of the most ancient and prestigious titles in the Scottish peerage.
The Erskines served as keepers of Stirling Castle and guardians of the infant kings of Scotland at a time when the Scottish crown passed repeatedly to children. John Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar (second creation), was guardian of the young James VI — the future James I of England — in the 1570s. The Erskine family thus shaped the early education and character of the king who would unite the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603.
The earldom of Mar itself is the oldest earldom in Scotland, with origins predating the Norman arrival. The Erskines inherited a title that connected them directly to the ancient Scottish nobility, distinct from the Norman-French families who dominated English and to a lesser extent Scottish aristocracy after 1066.
John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar (known as 'Bobbing John' for his political vacillation), raised the Jacobite standard at Braemar in September 1715, beginning the First Jacobite Rising. Despite commanding a much larger army than the Hanoverian forces at the Battle of Sheriffmuir, his indecisive tactics allowed the government forces to hold their ground. The rising failed, Mar was attainted and went into exile, and the earldom was forfeited.
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Subscribe Free →Erskine family members were scattered by the Jacobite attainder of 1715, settling in France and the Low Countries. Branches of the family had already established themselves in Ulster, and Erskine descendants played roles in the development of colonial America and the British imperial world.
The name is widespread in North America, Australia, and South Africa, carried by both Highland emigrants and Scottish lowland families who bore the name through different branches of the extended family.
National Records of Scotland. The Mar and Kellie Papers at the National Archives of Scotland. Alloa Tower (now a heritage site) has family records. The Court of the Lord Lyon for arms claims. Burke's Peerage and Debrett's for the earldom lineages.