stoutly for that renowned monarch in the battle of Lowdon-hill against a strong party of the English, whom they routed. Which Barbour, our historian, has thus recorded:

A knight that then was in his rout,
Worthy and wight, stalward and stout,
Courteous and fair, and of good fame,
Sir Alan Cathcart was his name.

This noble person married the sister, and at length one of the coheirs of Sir Duncan Wallace, of Sundrum, and had

Sir ALAN, his son and heir, 1384, 1387, who, upon the demise of his uncle, came to inherit the baronies of Sundrum and Achencrew in Airshire, which still remain in the family. He left a son,

Sir ALAN, to inherit his fortune, a Baron of great reputation in the time of Robert III. He was one of the hostages for King James I in 1424. This last Sir Alan was succeeded by

Sir ALAN, first Lord Cathcart, his grandson, (son of ALAN) who in 1447 redeemed several lands from John Kennedy, lord of the Coffe, which had been wadset by Sir Alan Cathcart his grandfather, within the Earldom of Carrick. This Alan was knighted by King James II. and in the same reign, 1442, was raised to the Peerage, and ranked among the greater Barons that are now lords of parliament. He was in special favour with King James III. who appointed him warden of the west marches toward England anno 1481; and in consideration of his special services before that time performed, made him a grant of the barony together with the constabulary of the castle of Dundonald anno 1482, then a part of the royal patrimony. But his master's favour did not stop to him here, for he by his royal deed made over to him the Jands of Trabath in King's Kyle, then in the crown by the forfeiture of the Lord Boyd, and made him master of the artillery in the year 1485.f

с

He married Janet, daughter of ...... Maxwel, of...... and had issue.

First, Alan, who died in his own lifetime.

Second, John Cathcart, of Carleton, who had Alan, of Carleton.

Third, Roger, who obtained from King James III. the lands of Carbieston, &c.

Fourth, Alexander, who obtained from King James III. the lands of Auchincrove.

Fifth, David Cathcart, of Pennyfedoch, h

Sixth, Hugh, first of the Cathcarts of Trevour.i

And Helen, married to David Stewart, of Craigyhall in vic. de Lithgow. k

This Lord gave way to fate in a good advanced age, anno 1500, and was interred in the convent of the Black Friars of Air,' leaving

JOHN, Second Lord Cathcart, his grandson, (son of ALAN his eldest son) to succeed him in his estate and honour: but his Lordship did not follow the steps of his ancestors in the path of virtue, for, from motives I know not, he spent much of the estate that his progenitors had acquired with so much honour, that the family since his time have not appeared with that lustre they did in former ages. He married to his first wife Margaret, daughter of John Kennedy, of Blairquhan; by her he had

ALAN, Master of Cathcart, who was killed at the battle of Floddon, September 9th, 1513, having in his father's time married, first, Helen, daughter of Robert Lord Lyle, m by whom he had no issue, and after her death, Margaret, daughter of Patrick Maxwel, of Newark," by whom he left a son Alan, who succeeded his grandfather.

His second wife was Margaret, daughter of Sir William Douglas, of Drumlanrig; by her he had a numerous issue, viz.

First, Robert, who married Margaret, daughter and heir of Alan Cathcart, of Carltoun, P who was an old branch of the family, and of whom the present family of Carltoun is descended in a lineal course of succession.

Second, John, who was with his two elder brothers, Alan the master, and Robert, of Carltoun, killed at Floddon. “

T

Third, David of Duchray, of whom the present branch of Carbiestoun; his ancestor in the reign of Queen Mary, marrying Margaret, one of the two daughters and coheirs of William Cathcart, of Carbiestoun, an old family of the name, which was existing in the time of James II.

S

Fourth, Hugh, of him sprung Cathcart, of Corff, now extinct, Besides these sons, he had also four daughters. Janet, married to John Crawfurd, of Drongan, then an eminent family in Airshire; Elizabeth, to John Wallace, of Craigy," in vic. de Air; Jean, to John Shaw, of Haily, in the foresaid county; Margaret, to John Hunter, of Hunterstouny in vic. de Air, and had issue.

His Lordship died in December 1535, his estate and honour devolving upon

ALAN, third Lord Carthcart, his grandson, who lost his life in the service of his country at the battle of Pinky against the English, upon that fatal day the 10th of September, 1547,a as appears from the probate of his testament, dated the same day he lost his life, whereby he resigns his soul to Almighty God, and bequeaths his body to be buried among his ancestors in the convent of the Gray Friars of Air, appointing his executors to order mass and dirige to be said for the health of his soul. By Helen his wife, daughter of William Lord Semple," he had

ALAN, fourth Lord Cathcart, his successor, who was a hearty promoter of our happy reformation from Popery, particularly in the western parts, where his reputation and interest was very great, and was among the first of the peers who armed in defence of King James VI. when he was in his cradle, against the Earl of Bothwel, who had married the Queen his mother, and signalized himself at the action of Langside, anno 1568, where Queen Mary's party was totally routed, and always continued on the King's side, till he came to be peaceably fixed on the throne; to reward which, he was in 1579 constituted master of the King's household, and had several very beneficial grants from the crown, in the time of the Earl of Morton's regency, which were again reassumed, when his Majesty came to act by his own counsels.

c

This noble Lord married Margaret, daughter of John Wallace, of Craigy, by Margaret, Countess of Cassilis. By her he had a

son

ALAN, Master of Cathcart, who died before his father anno 1603, leaving issue by Isabel his wife, daughter of Thomas Kennedy, of Bargany, a son

ALAN, fifth Lord Cathcart, who succeeded his grandfather upon his death in December 1618: which Alan married Margaret, daughter of Francis Earl of Bothwel; and again, Jean, daughter of Alexander Colquhoun, of Luss; and departing this transitory life anno 1628, left a son, an infant at his death,

ALAN, sixth Lord Cathcart, a nobleman of much goodness and probity, who died in the eighty-first year of his age, upon the 13th of June, 1709, leaving issue by Marion his wife, daughter of David Boswell, of Auchinleck.

First, Alan, the next Lord.

Second, James Cathcart, Esq.

Third, David, who was killed in the public service about the time of the revolution.

Which ALAN, seventh Lord Cathcart, married Elizabeth, daughter of James, Viscount of Stair, by whom he had three sons and a daughter, viz.

First, ALAN, Master of Cathcart, who perished at sea going for Holland, and whose death was much lamented, for his affability, excellent parts, and other rare qualities.

Second, Charles, afterwards Lord Cathcart.

Third, Major James Cathcart.

Fourth, Margaret, married to Sir Adam Whiteford, of Blairquhan, Bart. and had issue.

His Lordship died in the eighty-fifth year of his age in 1732, and was succeeded by his son

CHARLES, eighth Lord Cathcart; who from his early youth betook himself to the study of arms; and learned the first rudiments of that art under the great Duke of Marlborough. In 1704, he had a company in General Macartney's regiment of foot. In 1706, he was promoted to a troop in the royal Scotch dragoons. In 1707, he was appointed brigade-major; and in 1709, major of the royal regiment of dragoons, then commanded by the Earl of Stair. In 1711, he obtained the brevet rank of lieut.-colonel.

On the accession of King George I. he was appointed, first, groom, and afterwards lord, of the bed-chamber; also colonel of a regiment of horse in Ireland; and governor of Duncannon castle.

In 1734, he was elected one of the sixteen peers of Scotland to the eighth British parliament.

In 1740, when the expedition was resolved on to attack the

• Charta penes D. de Cathcart.

King of Spain in his American settlements, Lord Cathcart was fixed on as a person whose conduct and courage fitted him for the command of such an important enterprize, and he was accordingly appointed general in chief. He set sail from Spithead in October 1740; but unhappily, both for the expedition and the honour of the nation, he was seized with a dysentery, and died at Dominica, one of the Leeward Islands, December 20th of that year.

His Lordship had a head that qualified him to shine in that distinguished rank, to which his birth and merit raised him; but he had more: he had a heart full of benevolence, good-will, and friendship to mankind.

He married, first, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Shaw, of Greenock, by whom he had,

First, Charles, his successor.

Second, Eleanora, married to Sir John Houston, of that ilk,

Bart.

Third, Mary-Ann, married to William, master of Napier.

He married, secondly, in 1739, Mrs. Sabine, widow of Joseph Sabine, Esq. of Tring in Herts, &c which Lady surviving him, remarried, in 1745, to her fourth husband, lieutenant-colonel Hugh Macguire, whom she survived, and died in August, 1789, aged ninety-eight.

CHARLES, who succeeded his father as ninth Lord Cathcart, also betook himself to a military life, and soon rose to the rank of major-general, and of adjutant-general to the forces of North Britain. He was elected one of the sixteen peers for Scotland to several parliaments of Great Britain; and was appointed his Majesty's high commissioner to the general assembly of the church of Scotland; in which he was long continued.

His Lordship married, July 24th, 1753, Jane, daughter of Lord Archibald Hamilton, governor of Jamaica, by Lady Jane Hamilton, daughter of James, sixth Earl of Abercorn, and by her, who died November 13th, 1770, had issue,

First, William, his successor.

Second, Colonel Charles Allan Cathcart, who died in his passage to China in 1788; having been invested with full powers by his Majesty and the East India Company to open a commercial intercourse with the Emperor of China.

f This is the Lady of whom the extraordinary story is told of having been confined for many years by her last husband, in a lone castle in the fastnesses of Ireland.