| Earldom of Glencairn | |
|---|---|
  Arms of Cunningham | |
| Creation date | 28 May 1488 |
| First holder | Alexander Cunningham, 1st Lord Kilmaurs |
| Last holder | John Cunningham, 15th Earl of Glencairn |
| Remainder to | Heirs general |
| Subsidiary titles | Lord Kilmaurs (1469) |
| Status | Dormant |
| Former seat(s) | Finlaystone House Kilmaurs Place |
| Motto | OVER FORK OVER |
| Arms | Argent, a shakefork sable[1] |
| Crest | A unicorn's head couped argent, armed or |
| Supporters | Two cunnings (coneys) proper |
Earl of Glencairn was a title in the Peerage of Scotland. King James III created the title in 1488 by royal charter for Alexander Cunningham, 1st Lord Kilmaurs. He held the earldom just two weeks before he and the king were killed at the Battle of Sauchieburn.[2]
The name was taken from the parish of Glencairn in Dumfriesshire so named for the Cairn Waters which run through it.[3]
The title became dormant on the death of the fifteenth earl in 1796, with no original royal charter existing, nor a given remainder in the various confirmations in title of previous earls.
Shortly after, the earldom was unsuccessfully claimed by Sir Adam Fergusson of Kilkerran, Bt., as heir of line of Alexander, 10th Earl of Glencairn, great-great-grandson of the 10th Earl's daughter Lady Margaret Cunningham (c.1662–1742) with her husband John Maitland, 5th Earl of Lauderdale. His claim was opposed by Sir Walter Montgomery-Cuninghame, 4th Baronet, as presumed heir male along with Lady Henriet Don, sister of the last earl, and wife of Sir Alexander Don of Newton Don, Roxburghshire. The House of Lords Committee of Privileges on 14 July 1797, chaired by the Lord Chancellor (Lord Rosslyn), in deciding the claim of the first-named, took a view unfavourable to all the claimants, and adjudged, that while Sir Adam Fergusson had shown himself to be the heir-general of Alexander, 10th Earl of Glencairn who died in 1670, he had not made out his right to the title.[1] However, the decision was severely criticised by the jurist John Riddell in the 19th century and by Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk, Officer of Arms, in the 20th.
- ^ a b Balfour Paul, Sir James (1904). The Scots Peerage. Edinburgh: D. Douglas. p. 252. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
- ^ Balfour Paul 1904, p. 234
- ^ "Glencairn Dumfries Shire". A Vision of Britain. Retrieved 14 February 2012.