LA BELLE ASSEMBLÉE, FOR JULY, 1831. ILLUSTRATIVE MEMOIR OF THE MOST NOBLE, ELIZABETH, MARCHIONESS OF STAFFORD, COUNTESS OF SUTHERLAND, AND BARONESS OF STRATHNAVER. We cannot commence the fourteenth volume of LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE with higher satisfaction to ourselves, or, we trust, to that of its illustrious and distinguished patrons, than with a portrait and memoir of the noble lady whose name and titles are prefixed; a lady, to whose family connections we have repeatedly had the honour of devoting our pen,* and whose pictured semblance constitutes another splendid emanation from the genius of that accomplished master of his art, the late Sir Thomas Lawrence. On the occasions referred to, we have given every necessary illustration, histori- || cal and genealogical, of the noble family of Stafford. Here, therefore, we shall confine ourselves to the descent of the Sutherland family, the earldom title of which, as we observed in our memoir of the Countess Gower, "is the most ancient of any in Great Britain; having been continued, without interruption, in the lineal course of descent, for nearly six centuries, and through twenty generations, to the present possessor, the Marchioness of Stafford." For a memoir of the Countess of Surrey (portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence) eldest daughter of the Marchioness of Stafford, we beg leave to refer the reader to the third volume of LA BELLE ASSEMBLEE, page 1; of Lady Elizabeth Belgrave (portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence) youngest daughter of the Marchioness, vol. i., page 1; of the Countess Gower (portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence) daughterin-law of the Marchioness) vol. xiii., page 255; and of Lady Georgiana Agar Ellis (portrait by Jackson) sister of the Countess Gower, vol. iii., page 47. No. 79.-Vol. XIV. On the authority of Sir Robert Gordon, of Gordonstoun, the historian of the family, referred to in our memoir of the Countess Gower, and which we must here again take leave to notice, Alan, thane of Sutherland, was "a man of power and authority in the reigns of King Duncan, and Macbeth the usurper. This Alan, with his vassals and followers, repelled the invasion of Olaus, king of the Danes, and drove him out of Ross-shire, in 1031. Macbeth, after dreading his power, got him put to death. His son Walter, thane of Sutherland, was created Earl of Sutherland, by King Malcolm III., in 1057. He died in 1997, leaving a son, Robert, second Earl, who flourished in the reign of King Alexander III., and built the castle of Dunrobin, which has ever since been one of the chief seats of the family." Freskin, a person of Flemish extraction, who came into Scotland during the reign of David I., and obtained from that prince the lands of Strathbrock, in the county of Linlithgow, is said to have been a near relation of this second Earl. Soon after the insurrection of the Moray men, in 1130, he acquired also some of the most fertile districts in their country, and built a fortress at Duffus, the ruins of which yet exist. His eldest son, William, obtained from King William I., between 1168 and 1171, a charter of the lands of Strathbrock, Duffus, Rosile, Inshkiel, Kintrae, and Machir, which his father had held under David I. In 1190, he had other grants in Moray, from the Bishop of that see. He flourished under Malcolm IV., and was a constant A attendant on William I., during his fre- || King David II., in 1357. He died at quent expeditions into Moray. His eldest son, Hugh Freskin, acquired the territory of Sutherland that is, Southerland, as lying south of Caithnessforfeited by the Earl of Caithness, in his rebellion of 1197, which rebellion Freskin had assisted to suppress. His eldest son, William, is believed to have been the first Earl of Sutherland, in this direct line. || According to Chalmers, the Freskins aided in crushing the rebellion of Gillespor, in 1228; and it was on this occasion that the gratitude, as well as the policy of Alexander II., raised William Freskin to the dignity of Earl of Sutherland, to balance the power and reverse the turbulence of the Earl of Caithness. His son, William, second Earl of Sutherland, was one of the Scottish nobles who attended the parliament of Alexander III., at Scone, in 1283-4, when the succession to the crown of Scotland was settled, in || the event of the demise of Alexander. He also sat in the great convention at Brigham, 1289-90, when the marriage of Margaret, Queen of Scotland, with Prince Edward, was proposed. He swore fealty to Edward I., in 1296; signalised himself at the battle of Bannockburn, on the part of Robert I.; and subscribed the letter to the Pope, asserting the independence of Scotland, at Aberbrothwick, in 1320. Having enjoyed the title seventy-seven years, he died in 1325, and was succeeded by his son, Kenneth, the third Earl, who fell at the battle of Halidon-hill, in 1333, supporting the cause of David II. His eldest son, by a daughter of the Earl of Marr, was William, the fourth Earl, who made an incursion into England, with the Earl of March, in 1340. He married Margaret, eldest daughter of Robert I. by his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgo, and full sister of David II., who created the earldom of Sutherland into a regality, in honour of Earl William and Margaret his wife, in 1345. He also obtained charters of the barony of Cluny, in Aberdeenshire, and of many extensive possessions. He was engaged in numerous important state services; and he was one of the three principal men of Scotland, detained as hostages in England, to enforce the performance of the treaty entered into by Dunrobin in 1370; and, his eldest son, William, fifth Earl of Sutherland. According to Buchannan and others, King David intended him as the heir to the Scottish throne, in preference to the Steward of Scotland, his nephew of the half-blood; but no steps appear to have been taken for altering the order of succession previously settled. His eldest son and successor, was Robert, the sixth Earl, who was engaged in the battle of Homildon, in 1402. On many occasions he preserved his country from faction and invasion; and, in 1427, he was sent to England as a hostage for James I., in lieu of the eldest son of the Earl of March. His eldest son (by the Lady Mabilla Dunbar, daughter of John, Earl of Moray, grand-daughter of the heroic Agnes Randolph, Countess of March and Moray) was John, the seventh Earl, who, in 1455-6, resigned the earldom in favour of John, son and heir-apparent, who thus became eighth Earl of Sutherland. His only surviving son (by the Lady Margaret Macdonald, eldest daughter of Alexander, Earl of Ross, Lord of the Isles) was John, the ninth Earl; who, dying without issue, in 1514, the succession devolved on his sister, Elizabeth, Countess of Sutherland, wife of Adam Gordon, of Aboyne, second son of George, second Earl of Huntly, High Chancellor of Scotland. Her husband styled himself Earl of Sutherland, as tenant, by courtesy, of that honour. With certain reservations, the carldom was, in 1527, surrendered to their eldest son, Alexander, Master of Sutherland, who died, however, before his mother, in 1529. The Countess died in 1535; when her grandson, John (son of Alexander, by the Lady Janet Stewart, eldest daughter of John, second Earl of Athol) became tenth Earl of Sutherland. By royal charter, in 1546, the earldom was granted to him and to his wife, the Lady Elizabeth Campbell, Countess of Moray, and the longest liver of them, in conjunct fee. His second wife was Lady Helen Stewart, daughter of 86 John, third Earl of Lennox, and relict of William, fifth Earl of Errol. He was Lieutenant of Moray in 1547 and 1548; " and, along with George, Earl of Huntly, was selected to accompany the Queen || Regent to France, in September, 1550, which charge they performed with great honour and magnificence, to their own credit, and her good liking. The two Earls were invested with the order of St. Michael by the King of France; and the Earl of Sutherland accompanied the Queen Regent home, passing through England." In 1555, he obtained from the Queen Regent the government of the earldom of Ross, by letters patent. He joined the lords of the congregation; was wounded in the arm by the shot of a harquebuss, in attacking the French auxiliaries, near Kinghorn, in 1559; and he assisted at the siege of Leith. Charged with having engaged in the Earl of Huntly's rebellion, in 1562, his title was forfeited in 1563, when he retired to Flanders. There he behaved himself very honourably and nobly, to his own credit and the honour of the nation." He returned home in 1565; kis forfeiture was rescinded by parliament, in April, 1567; and he died, by poison, in July following, in his 42d year. The melancholy event is thus related: "The Earl, and Countess, then in a state of pregnancy, went to Helmisdale Castle, occupied by Isabel Sinclair, wife of Gilbert Gordon, of Gortay, his uncle. From a wish to secure the possession of the earldom of Sutherland to her son, who was heir male of the family after the Master of Sutherland, poison was administered to the unsuspecting guests. Alexander, Master of Sutherland, the only son of the Earl, fortunately escaped, in consequence of being detained at a hunting party, so that he came late to Helmisdale Castle. The Earl, perceiving his son making for supper, and feeling himself poisoned, took the table-cloth and threw it along the house, not suffering the Master to take any refreshment; and recommending him to the protection of God and his dearest friends, sent him the same night to Dunrobin, from whence he was conveyed to the castle of Skibo. The Earl and Countess were next morning carried to Dunrobin, where, they died five days afterwards, and were buried at Dor noch." Awfully was the wickedness of Isabel punished. 66 'Her eldest son calling for a draught to quench his thirst, one of the servants brought the youth a portion of the liquor in which the poison was mixed, which occasioned his death two days afterwards. His mother was carried to Edinburgh, where she was tried and convicted, but died in prison before execution, having, as was supposed, destroyed herself." The unfortunate Earl who thus perished, is described as having been endowed with "many excellent gifts both of mind and body. He was of a comely stature and proportion, of a fair and good countenance. He was so kind and courteous to all men, so full of mildness and affability, and so well beloved of all good men, that he was recommended to posterity by the name of Good Earl John." It was his third wife, Marion, eldest daughter of George, fourth Lord Seton, and relict of John, fourth Earl of Monteth, who perished with her Lord. By his second Countess, his son and successor was Alexander, eleventh Earl of Sutherland, born in 1552. The Earl of Caithness, purchasing his wardship from the Earl of Athol, carried him to his own country, and married him, while a youth of sixteen, to his daughter, Lady Barbara Sinclair, a profligate woman of thirty-two, whom he repudiated when he came of age. He escaped from the custody of the Earl of Caithness, from whom he was in danger of his life, in 1569. Amongst other royal charters, he obtained that "of the office of Sheriff within his county of Sutherland, and his lands within the bounds of Caithness," on the 19th of June, 1590. "The Earl was an honourable and high-minded man; one that loved much to be well followed; very liberal; an assured performer of his word, when he had once engaged himself, which he left as a hereditary quality to his children; very constant and resolute in the prosecution of his purposes; by nature framed to insinuate himself so into every man's affections, that not only from henceforth they did always remain constantly faithful to him, but also did easily hazard their lives and their fortunes in any extremity of danger for his sake. He was very upright in all his actions; and succeeded |