As we have stated, Mary was much attached to the Prior of St. Andrews, a
son of James V and of a noble descendant of the Earls of Mar, who had
been very handsome in her youth, and who, in spite of the well-known love
for her of James V, and the child who had resulted, had none the less
wedded Lord Douglas of Lochleven, by whom she had had two other sons, the
elder named William and the younger George, who were thus half-brothers
of the regent. Now, scarcely had she reascended the throne than Mary had
restored to the Prior of St. Andrews the title of Earl of Mar, that of
his maternal ancestors, and as that of the Earl of Murray had lapsed
since the death of the famous Thomas Randolph, Mary, in her sisterly
friendship for James Stuart, hastened to add, this title to those which
she had already bestowed upon him.

But here difficulties and complications arose; for the new Earl of
Murray, with his character, was not a man to content himself with a
barren title, while the estates which were crown property since the
extinction of the male branch of the old earls, had been gradually
encroached upon by powerful neighbours, among whom was the famous Earl of
Huntly, whom we have already mentioned: the result was that, as the queen
judged that in this quarter her orders would probably encounter
opposition, under pretext of visiting her possessions in the north, she
placed herself at the head of a small army, commanded by her brother, the
Earl of Mar and Murray.

The Earl of Huntly was the less duped by the apparent pretext of this
expedition, in that his son, John Cordon, for some abuse of his powers,
had just been condemned to a temporary imprisonment. He,
notwithstanding, made every possible submission to the queen, sending
messengers in advance to invite-her to rest in his castle; and following