beacon, until an ash sapling shall spring from its topmost stone. Then
shall thy sorrows be ended, and the sunshine of royalty shall beam on
thee once more. Thine honours shall be restored; the kiss of peace
shall be given to thy Countess, though she seek it not, and the days
of peace shall return to thee and thine. The line of Mar shall be
broken; but not until its honours are doubled, and its doom is ended."

In support of this strange curse, it may be noted that the Earl of
1571 was raised to be Regent of Scotland, and guardian of James VI. As
Regent, he commanded the destruction of Cambuskenneth Abbey, and took
its stones to build himself a palace at Stirling, which never advanced
farther than the façade, which has been popularly designated "Marr's
Work."

In the year 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the banner of his Sovereign,
the Chevalier James Stuart, son of James the Second, or Seventh. He
was defeated at the battle of Sheriff-Muir, his title being forfeited,
and his lands of Mar confiscated and sold by the Government to the
Earl of Fife. His grandson and representative, John Francis, lived at
Alloa Tower (which had been for some time the abode of James VI. as an
infant) where, a fire breaking out in one of the rooms, Mrs. Erskine
was burnt, and died, leaving, beside others, three children who were
born blind, and who all lived to old age.

But this remarkable curse was to be further fulfilled, for at the
commencement of the present century, upon the alarm of the French
invasion, a troop of the cavalry and yeomen of the district took
possession of the tower, and for a week fifty horses were stabled in
its lordly hall; and in the year 1810, a party of visitors were
surprised to find a weaver plying his loom in the grand old Chamber of