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The Earls of Glencairn

Alexander Cuninghame, Earl of Glencairn, Lord Kilmaurs

Alexander Cunningham, 1st Earl of Glencairn, was born after 1425; he was the son of Sir Robert Cuninghame of Kilmaurs and Anne Montgomerie. He married Margaret Hepburn, daughter of Sir Adam Hepburn of Hailes and Janet Borthwick; they had six children: Robert Cuninghame, 2nd Earl of Glencairn, Alexander Cuninghame, Edward Cuninghame, 1st of Auchinharvie, Isabella Cuninghame, Ellen Cuninghame, William Cuninghame, 1st of Craigends.

Alexander was considered a man who possessed great mental powers and considerable acquirements that brought him great favor with King James II, who created Alexander a Lord of Parliament, Lord Cunningham's title of Kilmaurs. King James II also appointed him to the Privy Council of Scotland. Alexander remained a loyal and faithful subject; he never deserted his Sovereign.

Alexander was in the service of King James II while on an expedition to the south country against James Douglas, Earl of Douglas, in July 1452. Alexander, on July 18, entered the tent of William Crichton, Lord Chancellor of Scotland, where he resigned into the King's hands his lands of Kilmaurs and Sheriffdom of Ayr. After a pause, the King granted and gave the said lands to Alexander and his heirs, the free barony, to be called Kilmaurs. He further resigned the lands of Kilmarnock, Finlaystone in Renfrew, Glencairn, Dumfries and Galloway , and Hilton in the County of Berwick, which were again granted to him and his heirs.

On January 13, 1463, Alexander was accused of having dealings with the traitor Earl of Douglas; he complained to the King and Parliament that there was a rumor that he had assisted James of Douglas, notwithstanding a letter of February 8, 1463, from the King declaring him innocent. Alexander offered purification by a court of his peers or to defend himself according to the laws of arms. Parliament declared him innocent.

Alexander sat continually in Parliament as Lord Kilmaurs from 1464 to 1488. In 1488 a significant part of the Scottish Nobles rebelled against King James III. On February 2, 1488, Prince James, then sixteen years of age, left Stirling Castle and joined the rebels. Alexander, who was then a very powerful man, brought his forces to aid the King's party and assisted the King in defeating the rebels at Blackness.

In return for Alexander's service, and as a mark of Royal Favor, Alexander was, on May 28, 1488, advanced to the dignity of Earl of Glencairn by Royal Charter, in which he is designated Alexander, Earl of Glencairn and Lord Kilmaurs. In support of this honor, King James III granted the thirty-pound lands of Drummond and the ten-pound lands of Duchray, in the Earldom of Lennox, to be held by the Earl and his heirs and successors forever.

After the Battle of Blackness, April 1488. There was a proposed treaty between the opposite parties, and articles were drawn up. These articles were not observed. Both parties accused the other of having entered a treaty with England.

The Battle of Sauchieburn
On June 11, 1488, King James III left Sterling Castle to meet the insurgents at Sauchieburn. It is estimated that the Sauchieburn had 180,000 men, the Royal Army had approximately 30,000 men, including Alexander Cuninghame, Earl of Glencairn, and his son Robert Cuninghame, Master of Glencairn, his grandson, Cuthbert Cuninghame along with the Cuninghame men-at-arms.

King James III appeared in complete armor on horseback at the head of his army, which he divided into three lines. The first line was commanded by the Earl of Menteith, Lords Erskine, Gray, Ruthven, Graham, and Maxwell and consisted chiefly of Highlanders armed with swords and bows. The second line was headed by the Earl of Glencairn and consisted of Highlander's arid retainers from the western counties. The third was the greatest strength of the army, commanded by Lords Boyd and Lindsay. The main body, the King, was led by the Earl of Crawford and consisted of men from Fife, Strathearn, the district of Stormont, and Forfarshire.

The insurgents forced Royal Army's first and second lines to retire to the third. This advantage was decisive, though it is not accurately known how long the battle continued or how many fell. Victory was declared for the insurgents, and the royal army fled in all directions. Alexander Cuninghame, Earl of Glencairn, and other persons of distinction, who acted as leaders of the Royal forces, were slain, and many were wounded. King James III, was killed trying to make his escape.

Shortly after the battle, Hugh Montgomerie, 2nd Lord Montgomerie, had the ear of the new, King James IV, as he had supported his cause. Montgomerie lobbied James IV to annul the Earldom of Glencairn. Three days after the Battle of Sauchieburn, King James IV voided all Royal Charters granted after February 2, 1488, including Earldom of Glencairn . The Scottish Parliament confirmed the King's decree on October 17, 1488, depriving his son Robert of the dignity of Earl of Glencairn. Hugh Montgomerie's role in the dissolution of the Earldom of Glencairn only served to exacerbate the blood feud between the Cuninghame and the Montgomerie, which dates back to 1448 when the King's Bailie of Cuningham, long held by the Cuninghame Family was bestowed by King James, II, upon the Montgomerie family.