Scottish Earls
The next Orkney title was the dukedom of Orkney, which was given to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1567. Later that year, however, he forfeited the title when his wife was forced to abdicate.
The second creation of the title was for Lord Robert Stewart, an illegitimate son of King James V. His successor Patrick, however, forfeited the title.
The last creation of the earldom was in favour of the man who would become the first British Field Marshal, Lord George Hamilton, the fifth son of William Douglas, Duke of Hamilton. By marriage, the title passed to the O'Brien family, then to the Fitzmaurice family, and finally to the St John family. The present earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount of Kirkwall and Lord Dechmont. Both subsidiary titles were created at the same time as the earldom, in 1696.
Read more about this topic: Earl Of Orkney
Famous quotes containing the words scottish and/or earls:
“Better wear out shoes than sheets.”
—18th-century Scottish proverb, collected in J. Kelly, Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs (1721)
“If the Christ were content with humble toilers for disciples, that wasn’t good enough for our Bert. He wanted dukes’ half sisters and belted earls wiping his feet with their hair; grand apotheosis of the snob, to humiliate the objects of his own awe by making them venerate him.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)