John Erskine, 2nd earl of Mar, had inherited the earldom of Mar in 1572 upon the death of his father, John, 1st (and 18th) Earl of Mar, who had become regent for the five-year-old James VI in 1571.

Mar had grown up with James at Stirling Castle, and in 1578 he had made himself James's guardian.

When his influence over the young king is challenged by Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, and James Stewart, Earl of Arran, Mar and several other lords seize James at Perth and ...

The Earl of Mar, after a brief seizure of Stirling Castle in the hope of prompting English intervention, is forced to flee to England, where he receives the backing of Queen Elizabeth.

Hilliard designs and engraves Elizabeth’s second Great Seal of England in 1584.

The oldest extant accounts of Madog Ab Owain Gwynedd, the legendary twelfth century voyager to America, are in Richard Hakluyt's Voyages (1582) and David Powel's The Historie of Cambria (1584).

Hakluyt believed Madog had landed in Florida.

The banished Scots lords return in the fall and secure from James the restoration of their estates and a share in the government.

Stewart, proclaimed a traitor, flees in November.

His movements from this time are uncertain.

Mar is reconciled with James, becoming one of the leading royal ministers.

Angus is appointed warden of the marches and lieutenant general on the border, but his support of Presbyterianism prevents his gaining real favor with the king.