Charles, (Fifth) Earl of Mar.
Appointed 23rd September, 1678.
Charles, Lord Erskine, succeeded to the title of Earl of Mar, in 1668, on the decease of his father, John, fourth Earl of Mar; and in September, 1678, he raised a regiment of foot, now the Twenty-first, or the Royal North British Fusiliers. He was a member of the Privy Council of Scotland, in the reign of King Charles II., and also of King James II. In 1686, he was succeeded in the command of his regiment by Colonel Buchan.
The Earl of Mar disapproved of the measures of King James II., and was about to embark for the Continent, in November, 1688, when the Prince of Orange landed in England. He appeared at the Convention of the Estates assembled by the Prince of Orange; but joining the disaffected party, he was arrested. He died on the 23rd of April, 1689, and was succeeded in the title by his son John, sixth Earl of Mar, whose estates were forfeited in consequence of his having erected the Standard of Rebellion in Scotland, in 1715, in favor of the Pretender, as narrated at [page 18] of the Historical Record of the Twenty-first, Royal North British Fusiliers.
Thomas Buchan.
Appointed 29th July, 1686.
Thomas Buchan was an officer in the Scots army, in the time of King Charles II., and rose to the rank of lieut.-colonel in the Royal Regiment of Scots Horse, which was disbanded in 1689. King James II. promoted him to the colonelcy of the Twenty-first regiment; and he adhered to the interests of the Stuart family at the Revolution in 1688. He served in Ireland under King James, and was detached with a few men to Scotland, to support the Highland clans in their resistance to the government of King William III. The clans were, however, not successful in their enterprises, and they submitted to the authority of King William; when he retired to France.
Francis Fergus O'Farrell.