The title Earl of Erroll is an ancient one in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay. See http://www.hawaiilibrary.net/articles/earl_of_erroll.

The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are: Lord Hay (created 1449) and Lord Slains (1452), both in the Peerage of Scotland. The Earls of Erroll also hold the hereditary office of Lord High Constable of Scotland. The office was once associated with great power.

The Earl of Erroll is one of four peers entitled to appoint a private pursuivant, with the title "Slains".

William became 5th High Constable and was created Earl of Erroll and Lord of Slains by King James II of Scots (1437 - 1460) as a reward for Hay support during the King's war with the rebel 'Black' Douglas Lords and their allies the Lyndsays, Earls of Crawford and the MacDonalds, Lords of the Isles.

These rebel Lords were eventually defeated by the combined efforts of Alexander Gordon,1st Earl of Huntly in the North (ie the battle of Arbroath in 1446, Brechin in 1452 and Dunkinty in 1454) and by George the 'Red' Douglas 4th Earl of Angus in the south (ie battle of Arkinholm in 1455 and Lochmaben in 1458). Militarily the Gordons were allied to the Hays of Slains, while their kin the Hays of Yester castle in East Lothian were in league with the 'Red' Douglases.

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thepeerage.com:

William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll
M, #25763, d. 15 November 1461 Last Edited=31 Mar 2011 Consanguinity Index=6.26%

William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll was the son of Gilbert of the Haye and Alice Hay.1 He married Lady Beatrix Douglas, daughter of James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas and Beatrice Sinclair, circa 17 March 1449/50.2 He died on 15 November 1461.1

He held the office of Hereditary Constable [Scotland].1 He succeeded to the title of 2nd Lord Hay [S., 1430] in 1437.3 He was created 1st Earl of Erroll [Scotland] on 12 June 1452.3 On 31 July 1452 he gained the territorial Earldom of Erroll and Lordship of Slains by charter.3

Child of William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll

• Beatrice Hay+3

Children of William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll and Lady Beatrix Douglas

• William Hay, 3rd Earl of Erroll+2 d. 14 Jan 1506/7
• Nicholas Hay, 2nd Earl of Erroll2 d. 1470
• Lady Elizabeth Hay+
• Lady Isabel Hay+3
• Lady Margaret Hay+2

Citations

• [S1916] Tim Boyle, "re: Boyle Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 16 September 2006. Hereinafter cited as "re: Boyle Family."
• [S37] BP2003 volume 1, page 1336. See link for full details for this source. Hereinafter cited as. [S37]
• [S37] BP2003. [S37]

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http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p96.htm#i2883

Old Slains Castle :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Slains_Castle
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"William Hay, 1st Earl of Erroll (1423 – October 1462) was a Scottish peer. He was the first Earl of Erroll and the second Lord Hay of Erroll.
Biography
William Hay was born in Erroll (now spelled Errol) in Perthshire, the son of Gilbert Hay and Alicia Hay, daughter of William Hay of Yester.
His paternal grandmother, Princess Elizabeth Stewart, was the youngest child of Robert II of Scotland and his first wife, Elizabeth Mure.
His paternal grandfather Thomas de la Hay was the third Lord High Constable of Scotland. William Hay inherited the title in 1437 after the death of his father Sir William.
In 1454, he purchased lands in Angus from Alexander Ogilvie of Auchterhouse.
On 17 March 1452, King James II of Scotland made him the first Earl of Erroll. Some historians list his death as August 1460, but Sir James Balfour Paul notes in The Scots Peerage that Kinnoull was alive in the Slains land inventory of November 1461. Balfour writes that the earl likely died in October 1462, and was interred in the Abbey Church of Cupar.
Marriage and issue
He married Beatrix, a daughter of James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas, and had three sons and four daughters:
Nicholas Hay, 2nd Earl of Erroll (c. 1436–1470)
Lady Isabel Hay (1441–1509), married Laurence Oliphant, 1st Lord Oliphant
Lady Elizabeth Hay (c. 1442, married George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly in 1471
Lady Beatrix Hay (1449–1517), married Sir Alexander Gordon
William Hay, 3rd Earl of Erroll (1449–1507)
Gilbert Hay (b. 1450)
Lady Margaret Hay (1453–1500), married three times: Alexander Fraser of Philorth; Sir Gilbert Keith of Inverugie; Robert Douglas of Lochleven"
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hay,_1st_Earl_of_Erroll]