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forces (, Memorials). On 9 Aug. he was sent by the committee of the army to the king at Dunfermline to induce him to sign a declaration in favour of the covenanters (, iv. 77). When, on 4 Oct. following, the king escaped from the thraldom of the covenanters at Perth and joined the northern loyalists, Lothian was appointed one of a commission to induce him to return (ib. p. 115). They succeeded, but had to make terms with the strictly loyalist party and pass an act of indemnity for them on 12 Oct. This procedure was severely blamed by the synod of Perth (ib. p. 119). Along with Argyll, Lothian took an active but unsuccessful part in inducing the extreme covenanters of the west of Scotland to come to terms with the northern loyalists. Subsequently he acted generally in concert with Argyll. On 14 Oct. he was appointed one of a committee to arrange for the king's coronation at Scone (ib. p. 123). According to his own account, he intended to have joined the Duke of Hamilton in his expedition into England in the following year, but could not get ready in time. He was about to sail to join the king when he heard of the battle at Worcester. He also states that when he ceased to be secretary on the triumph of Cromwell, he retired to his own house at Newbattle, and never passed any writs under the great seal, which he preserved until able to offer his services to the king (Correspondence, p. 434). The Laird of Brodie, however, relates that Argyll told him that Lothian had been tampering with the Protector (Diary of the Laird of Brodie, Spalding Club, p. 153). In any case, he endeavoured in 1655 to obtain not merely payment for his expenses in the cause of the covenant, but also compensation for having been deprived of the office of secretary of state in 1652 (Cal. State Papers, Dom. Ser. 1655-6, p. 20). At the Restoration he went to London and presented a vindication of his conduct in the past (Correspondence, pp. 431-8). The king promised him some reward, and according to Sir George Mackenzie he received a grant of 1,000l.; but he himself affirmed that he received more promises than revenue. Having refused in 1662 to take the abjuration oath, he was fined 6,000l. Scots, and his finances having been previously in a crippled condition he found it necessary to part with his paternal estate of Ancrum. He died at Newbattle in October 1675.

By his wife he had five sons: Robert, fourth earl of Lothian [q. v.], Sir William Ker, Charles, Harry, and John; and nine daughters: Anne, married to Alexander, master of Salton; Elizabeth, to John, lord Borthwick; Jean, died young; Margaret, died young; Mary, married to James Brodie of Brodie; Margaret, to James Richardson of Smeaton; Vere, to Lord Neill Campbell of Ardmaddie; Henrietta, to Sir Francis Scott of Thirlestane; and Lilias, died unmarried. A portrait of the Earl of Lothian by Jamiesone is at Newbattle Abbey.

[Sir James Balfour's Annals of Scotland; Robert Baillie's Letters and Journals (Bannatyne Club); Gordon's Scots Affairs (Spalding Club); Clarendon's History of the Rebellion; Diary of the Lairds of Brodie (Spalding Club); Correspondence of Sir Robert Ker, earl of Ancrum, by his son William, third earl of Lothian, 1875; Douglas's Peerage (Wood), ii. 137-8.]  KERR, WILLIAM, second (1662?–1722), eldest son of Robert, first marquis [q. v.], and grandson of William Kerr, third earl of Lothian [q. v.], was born about 1662. On the death of his kinsman Robert Kerr, third Lord Jedburgh, in 1692, he succeeded to that title, and sat in parliament as Lord Jedburgh. He was colonel of the 7th regiment of dragoons, 1 Oct. 1696, and a stout adherent of the revolution. On his father's death, 15 Feb. 1703, he became Marquis of Lothian, was created a knight of the Thistle in 1705, cordially supported the union, and was chosen a representative peer of Scotland in 1708. On account, however, of some informalities this election was cancelled, but he was re-elected in 1715. He obtained the command of the 3rd foot-guards, 25 April 1707, with the rank of lieutenant-general, 1708, and was deprived of his regiment on a change of administration in 1713, but afterwards became major-general on the North British staff. Macky, the court spy in the time of Queen Anne, describes him about the date of his succession to the marquisate in the following terms: 'He hath abundance of fire, and may prove himself a man of business when he applies himself that way; laughs at all revealed religion, yet sets up for a pillar of presbytery, and proves the surest card in their pack, being very zealous though not devout; he is brave in his person, loves his country and his bottle, a thorough libertine, very handsome, black, with a fine eye, forty-five years old' (Memoirs, pp. 197, 198). This character is generally borne out by references to him in letters of the period. He married his first cousin, Lady Jean Campbell, daughter of Archibald, ninth earl of Argyll, who was beheaded in 1685, and he did so purely from a chivalrous desire to befriend those who he believed were suffering wrongfully (ib.). The marquis died at London on 28 Feb. 1722, aged 60, and was interred in King Henry VII's Chapel in 