Patrick 7th Earl of Dunbar

Patrick 7th Earl of Dunbar sometimes given as the Earl of March (1242 - 10 October 1308) was the joint commander, with John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, of the army of King Edward I of England which totally defeated a Scottish army at Dunbar, Haddingtonshire, Scotland, on Friday 27 April, 1296/7.

The son of Patrick 6th Earl of Dunbar (1213-1289) by Cecily, daughter of John FitzRobert, Lord of Warkworth, Northumberland, England, and his spouse Adam daughter of Hugh de Balliol, of Barnard Castle, &c., county Durham, England. He is said to have been aged 47 at his father's death in 1289. The young Patrick was a great-great-grandson of Scottish King William 'The Lion' by one of his illegitimate daughters, Ada.

Patrick was one of his father's three sons who initially joined with the de Brus's (Bruces), the principals of the FitzAlan family (The Stewards), and the Macdonalds, in a bond or compact for mutual defence and assistance, dated at Turnberry Castle, now the de Brus's strong-hold in Carrick, Ayrshire, on 20th September 1286.

Sir Patrick de Dunbar, Knt., Earl of Dunbar (or March) had livery of his father's lands on 14th May 1290. He appeared, designated Comes de Marchia, at the Parliament at Birgham in the Scottish borderlands the same year for the purpose of betrothing Scotland's Princess Margaret to the son of England's King Edward 1st. (This failed to come about).

He was one of the Competitors for the Crown of Scotland in 1291, in right of his great-grandmother, Ada, the above-mentioned illegitimate daughter of the King. However he soon withdrew his claim. He was summoned by King Edward 1st in 1294 to assist him at war in Gascony. The Earl of Dunbar and March, with the Earl of Angus, Robert de Brus the elder, and his son Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick, swore fealty to the English king at Wark, Northumberland, on 25th March 1296. (Dunbar held significant lands in England including Felton in Northumberland). In this turbulent year the Earl of Dunbar appears to have been betrayed by his wife, who took the Scottish side.

In 1297 it appears that the Earl ceased his allegiance to Edward 1st, and was favourably received by Sir William Wallace, with whom he had been in bitter battle the previous year! In 1298 he was King's Lieutenant for Scotland, and in 1300 was present against English forces at the siege of Caerlaverock Castle, with his son, Patrick.

Marriage & children

The Earl of Dunbar married before 1271, Marjorie, daughter of Alexander Comyn, 6th Earl of Buchan (d.c1290) by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester. They had the following known children:

• Patrick 8th Earl de Dunbar & March, Knt., (before June 1271 - 11 Nov 1368) who married, after September 1320, 'Black' Agnes Randolph, 4th Countess of Moray (c1300-c1357). They had no surviving issue.
• John de Dunbar of Derchester & Birkynside in Berwickshire who married about 1330, Isobel (sister of Agnes), daughter of Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray.
• George de Dunbar of Cumnock, Ayrshire (living 1316), who married Alicia, daughter of Sir Gilchrist Mure of Rowallan, Ayrshire, Knt., by his wife Isabel Comyn.

Sources

• For relationships in this Dunbar family refer to the 'Introduction' in Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland edited by Joseph Bain, vol.iv, 1357 - 1509, pps.xx - xxiv, Edinburgh, 1888, with other references in the main sections of the volume (see Index).
• Miller, James, The History of Dunbar, Dunbar, 1830, pps: 24 - 34.
• Dunbar, Bt., Sir Archibald, Scottish Kings, a Revised Chronology of Scottish History, 1005 - 1625, Edinburgh, 1899, pps: 87 - 93 and 282.
• Cockayne, G.E., The Complete Peerage by G.E.Cockayne, edited by the Hon. Vicary Gibbs and H. Arthur Doubleday, vol.iv, London, 1916, p.506-7.
• Richardson, Douglas, Magna Carta Ancestry, Baltmore, 2005, pps: 60 and 209.
• Ravillious, John P., "The Earls of March 1308-1368" in The Scottish Genealogist, Edinburgh, Sept. 2018, vol.LXV no.3, pps:92-99.