The home of the Erskine family since the 1360, this beautiful, restored tower house is also the home of lots of paranormal tales as well as the tale of a family curse.
John Erskine, Lord Erskine and the 1st Earl of Mar (since 1565 when Mary, Queen of Scots restored the Earldom to this branch of the family), around 1571 is said to have sent soldiers and masons to demolish Cambuskenneth Abbey and take the stone to be used to build his grand new mansion called Mar's Lodgings (later known as Mar's Wark after it had been used as a workhouse many years later) in Stirling. This understandably upset the Church and Abbot Patrick as this resulted in himself and the Abbey monks being made homeless as well as the desecration of a holy building. It is said that Abbot Patrick who it was rumoured was a heretic and also practiced black magic, arrived at the door of Alloa Tower to speak to the Earl and put a curse upon the Earl and his family. The curse was delivered more in the form of predictions of fates that would fall upon the family.
This is believed to be the original curse wording:-
“Proud Chief of Mar, thou shalt be raised still, higher, until thou sittest in the place of the King. Thou shalt rule and destroy, and thy wark shall be after they name, but thy wark shall be the emblem of thy house and shall teach mankind that he who cruelly and haughtily raiseth himself upon the ruins of the holy cannot prosper. Thy wark shall be cursed and shall never be finished. But thou shalt have riches and greatness, and shalt be true to thy Sovereign, and shalt raise his banner in the field of blood. Then, when thou seemest to be highest – when thy power is mightiest, then shall come thy fall; low shall be thy head amongst the nobles of the people. Deep shall be thy moan among the children of dool. Thy lands shall be given to the stranger; and thy titles shall be among the dead. The branch that springs from thee shall see his dwelling burnt, in which a King is nursed, his wife a sacrifice in that same flame; his children numerous but of little honour, and three born and grown, who shall never see the light of day. Yet shall thine ancient town stand; for the brave and the true cannot be wholly forsaken. Thou proud head and daggered hand must dree thy eird, until horses shall be stabled in thy hall, and a weaver shall throw his shuttle in thy chamber of state. Thine ancient Tower – a woman's dower – shall be a ruin and a beacon, until an ash sapling shall spring from its utmost 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.”
I have broken down the Curse and the outcomes into a timeline as best I can, but please understand that the curse has been passed on by word of mouth and is believed to never have been written down or spoke by any of the Mar/Erskine bloodline. There are at times more than one event which may appear to be predicted by the same line so where this happens, I have included each event for you to make up your own mind.
1571 (Thou shalt be raised still higher, until thou sittest in the place of the King)
In this year the 1st Earl of Mar became the Regent and Guardian for King James VI of Scotland when he was approximately 5 years old. Therefore, the Earl literally sat in place of the King.
There is also an alternate tale of how this part of the curse may have become true, it is rumoured that the baby King James VI died either from natural causes or was murdered whilst in the care of the 1st Earl of Mar and in a bid to hide this fact a child of Mar blood was put in the child's place and because the Mar's were his guardians no one was the wiser outside the Mar bloodline. Therefore, instead of the child of Mary, Queen of Scots being crowned James VI of Scotland and I of England it was an Erskine Mar child. It is also rumoured that when there were excavations on the site of the tower before its restoration started, the bones of a baby were found. However this was proven to be untrue as all the bones found were from animals.
There may still be some truth to an Erskine child replacing the infant King, however, as both an Erskine child and James VI were born at Edinburgh Castle at roughly the same time. In 1830 workmen checking the lime mortar in Mary, Queen of Scots Anteroom found the burial place of a young child in the wall. Within the space were some bones of a young child, some cloth of gold and silk and some timbers from a coffin, the cloth had the letter J on it. It is therefore believed that the baby James was either still born or died soon after birth, it is known that his birth was a difficult one. Due to the political situation the child could not be lost so a replacement was found and that replacement just might have been the Erskine baby.
1571 (Thou shalt rule and destroy)
In the year that the 1st Earl of Mar was Regent it is believed he ruled with a very firm fist, putting down any signs of a rebellion usually by removing anyone who appeared to be leading the path to one.
1572 (Thou work shall be cursed and never finished)
The 1st Earl of Mar died in 1572 of natural causes. At the time of his death, Mar's Lodgings was not finished.
1715 (Shalt be true to thy Sovereign, and shalt raise his banner in the field of blood)
The 6th Earl of Mar fought at the Battle of Sheriffmuir beneath the banner of the Stuarts of Scotland against the Duke of Argyll, who was leading the British troops. Despite there being twice the Scottish troops as there were British troops, the British won the battle.
1716 (Then, when thou seemest to be highest – when thy power is mightiest, then shall come thy fall; low shall be thy head amongst the nobles of the people. Deep shall be thy moan among the children of dool. Thy lands shall be given to the stranger; and thy titles shall be among the dead)
After the defeat to the English at the Battle of Sheriffmuir The 6th Earl of Mar with James Edward Stuart fled to France and never returned to Scotland. However, he did continue campaigning on behalf of James Stuart to foreign parties including Royalty to help fund the Jacobites and James Stuart's claim to the Scottish Crown. Due to this behaviour the Hanoverian Court signed a writ against Mar accusing him of treason, this in turn led to him losing his land and titles, and his home estate was also forfeit. It is said that in compensation James Stuart made him the Jacobite Duke of Mar which was supposed to come into place once Stuart was the Scottish King. As this didn't happen neither did Mar's Jacobite Earldom.
1800 (The branch that springs from thee shall see his dwelling burnt, in which a King is nursed, his wife a sacrifice in that same flame)
In this year the 7th Earl of Mar lived in the house which had been built alongside the tower and in 1800 the house burnt to the ground. There are several different stories about this incident. Some say the fire was started in the room which was King James VI nursery when a previous Earl of Mar was his Regent and Guardian.
Other stories say a maid accidentally left a candle too close to curtains. After this fire the family moved and only returned when a new mansion was built in the mid 19th century.
There are also variations on whether or not the tower was affected by the fire, my understanding after reading local information is that the tower was actually saved from the fire by the efforts of people on the night and the thickness of its walls. The confusion seems to stem from the fact that the tower becomes derelict, but this is apparently due to the fact that the family basically abandon it when they moved to another house after the fire and allowed it to fall into a terrible state.
1801 (his children numerous but of little honour, and three born and grown, who shall never see the light of day)
Unfortunately, I don't have the dates, but three out of nine of the 7th Earl of Mar's children were born blind. As for “but of little honour”, all his daughters appear to have died unmarried, his second son became the 8th Earl of Mar, after the 7th Earl disinherited his eldest son who was a captain in the military but is believed to have died from an opium overdose. One of his sons became a vicar, and the last son has nothing noted against him. There are traces of an “unknown” daughter but again there is no information about her.
1802 - 05 (until horses shall be stabled in thy hall)
During this period there was an increased fear of an invasion from France, therefore in a bid to strengthen defences a company of Yeomanry were sent to Alloa. Unfortunately, there was a lack of accommodation for the men and their horses, so they decided to use the remnants of the Tower and the horses were stabled in the tower's great hall.
1810 (a weaver shall throw his shuttle in thy chamber of state)
One day a weaver was found busily working away in a room which had once been a State Chamber in the tower. He was discovered by people from nearby estate mansions who had come to look upon the ruins of the tower. The gentleman had found himself homeless and felt no harm in making the tower ruins his home.
1810 – 20 (until an ash sapling shall spring from its utmost stone. Then shall thy sorrows be ended)
For many years people who had heard of the curse would often visit the tower ruins to see if the ash sapling ever did appear and bring an end to the Mar's Curse. Eventually one day the sapling was spotted.
1822 (and the sunshine of royalty shall beam on thee once more.)
In this year the Earldom of Mar was bestowed upon the Grandson of the 6th Earl who had fought under the Stuart Standard at the Battle of Sheriffmuir by King George IV. The new 8th Earl of Mar - John Frances - was by now in possession of two Earldom's - that of Mar and Kellie.
1842 (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 8th Earl's Countess, one day whilst at Stirling Castle, is said to have meet Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria unexpected in a side room. When she found out who the countess was it is said that Queen Victoria gave a gentle kiss.
1866 (The line of Mar shall be broken; but not until its honours are doubled and its doom is ended.”)
As the final line of the curse stated that once the curse was lifted/broken the fortunes of the family would improve and the bad luck ended, the family tree branch in which the Earldom would be passed along would change. This did indeed happen in 1866 when John Francis Erskine the 9th Earl of Mar died, as he had no heir. Due to the lack of an heir the Earldom then passed through the Earl's sister Lady Frances Jemima Erskine Goodeve to her son, John Francis Erskine Goodeve, who legally added Erskine on to the end of his name when he became the 10th Earl of Mar.
The curse also mentioned “the honours are doubled”, this again became true, in 1875 the House of Lords ruled that the Earldom given by Mary, Queen of Scots to John Erskine in 1565 was new and the 7th creation of the Earldom and not the continuation of the historical Earldom, it was also ruled that this Earldom would be passed down through the males of the family. Then in 1885 the House of Lords passed the Earldom of Mar Restitution Act, this declared that the 1st creation of the Earldom was still in existence and that this Earldom was held by the heir general of the original Earls. Hence there are now two Earldoms of Mar, meaning their honours are doubled.
Thus, the curse issued in 1571 was complete in its totality.