Margaret Erskine

Who was Margaret Erskine?

Lady Margaret Erskine was a mistress of King James V of Scotland.

She was a daughter of John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine and Lady Margaret Campbell.

James V had a number of mistresses in his time, but some accounts describe her as his favourite. She was the mother of the most important of his illegitimate children, James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray, who was Regent during the minority of James VI.

In 1527, Margaret married Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven, who was killed at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. Her son Robert Douglas was sent to England and Cambridge University in 1560 as a hostage for the Treaty of Berwick. She was the châtelaine of Lochleven Castle when Mary, Queen of Scots was kept there, with her eldest surviving son William Douglas, 6th Earl of Morton.