Earls of Buchan

Last month looked at the Earls of Mar who were involved with the Craft. Another branch of the Erskines are the Earls of Buchan, kinsmen of the Erskines of Mar who also claim an honourable connection with the Craft. Henry David, 10th Earl of Buchan, was Grand Master Mason in 1745, and at that time Lord Lieutenant of Stirling and Clackmannan.

David Stewart, 11th Earl, was Grand Master Mason in 1782-83. He was friends with Bro. Benjamin Franklin, originating probably from Franklin's visit to Scotland in 1759 and met him several times in London in 1764. A supporter of the American cause, he corresponded with George Washington and sent him a box made from the oak that hid William Wallace after the Battle of Falkirk. The box was designed by the Goldsmith Company of Edinburgh, and the earl requested that Washington, upon his death, pass it on to the man in his country who he believed should merit it best, and upon the same conditions that induced the earl to send it to Washington. In his will Washington thanked the earl for presenting the box to him along with sentiments which accompanied it; feeling incapable of making the choice asked of him he bequeathed the box back to the earl. In 1780 he founded theSociety of Antiquaries of Scotland. As he outlined in a letter of November 1780 he wished to create a body to promote antiquarian researches in that part of Great Britain. It drew on traditions that involved Sir John Scot (who preserved the cartographic work of Timothy Pont and others), Sir Robert Sibbald, andSir John Clerk of Penicuik. The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland was formally constituted on 18 December 1780.

Henry David, 12th Earl (below), was Grand Master Mason in 1832— 33 and First Grand Principal of the SGRAC of Scotland 1839—41. He died in 1857 at age 74 at London, England and was buried at Ripon Cathedral, Ripon, Yorkshire.

His son, David Stuart Erskine, afterwards 13th Earl, was initiated Lodge of Alloa in 1857 and affiliated to Drummond Kilwinning Lodge (defunct); held the office of Deputy Lieutenant of Linlithgow. In 1894, he was made bankrupt in the sum of £388, having in 1872 made over his Linlithgow estates to his son and probably the reason why he didn’t follow in the footsteps of his forebears as Grand Master Mason.

The current Earl lives in England and is 90, while his son, Lord Cardross, is 60. Neither would appear to have any connection with the Craft.