Lennox and lordship thereof’ to be held by him ‘and the lawful heirs male of his body, whom failing, by Murdac Stewart and Isabella, daughter of the said earl, and lawful heirs of their bodies, whom failing, by the nearest and lawful heirs of the said Duncan, whomsoever, of the king and his heirs, for rendering the services due and worthy’ (ib.) By authority of this charter Sir John Stewart laid claim to one half of the earldom of Lennox, equal parts of the other half being claimed by two sisters, daughters of another daughter of Earl Duncan: Agnes Menteith, married to Sir John Haldane of Gleneagles, and Elizabeth Menteith to John Napier of Merchiston. As the lord chancellor—Andrew Stewart, lord Avandale [q. v.], grandson of Isabella, Earl Duncan's eldest daughter and suo jure Countess of Lennox [see under Stewart, Murdac, second Duke of Albany], and desirous himself of succeeding to the earldom—took no action in Sir John Stewart's behalf, Stewart, on 12 Oct. 1463, presented a petition to parliament, praying that his majesty would direct breves to be issued from chancery for serving him heir to the lands of half the earldom of Lennox, for which he bound himself to maintain at his own expense for one year a hundred spears and fifty bows, and to find caution that his occupation of one half of the earldom should not prejudice any claim his majesty might have thereto when he attained his majority (ib.). No proceedings, however, were adopted to place Stewart in possession of his share in the earldom, the position assumed by the lord chancellor being probably that the king had a claim on it by virtue of the last clause of the charter of 1392. Meanwhile Stewart had been created a lord of parliament, with the title of Lord Darnley, some time between 17 July 1460, when he is mentioned as Sir John Stewart, and 24 July 1461, when, as Lord Darnley, he obtained certain grants of land from James III (ib.) On 4 Feb. 1465 he had a charter appointing him governor of Rothesay, in the Isle of Bute, until the king reached the age of fifteen (ib. p. 388), and in 1466 he was served heir to his grandfather Alan, who fell at Orleans in 1429, of various lands in the barony of Avandale.
On 10 May 1471 Andrew Stewart, lord Avandale, succeeded in obtaining a life-rent grant of the whole earldom of Lennox (Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1424–1513, No. 1018), and his permanent possession of it was further guaranteed by letters of legitimation on 28 Aug. 1472; nevertheless Lord Darnley immediately began to make strenuous efforts not merely to obtain recognition of his right to his share in the earldom, but to make good a claim to the title. To obtain his purpose he endeavoured to induce the other claimants to forego their claims, and in September 1472 he obtained from Elizabeth, wife of John, lord Napier, letters of renunciation of her share (i.e. a fourth part) of the earldom (Hist. MSS. Comm. 3rd Rep. p. 388). Darnley also entered into an agreement with Sir John Haldane to submit to the arbitration of the bishops of Aberdeen and Orkney, and of the earls of Avandale and Argyll, regarding the satisfaction to be made by Darnley to Haldane and his spouse for giving over to him the claim they had to the earldom of Lennox (ib. p. 389); but no arrangement was come to. Haldane was sent on an embassy to Denmark in 1473, and Darnley on 27 July of the same year (after guaranteeing to Avandale undisturbed possession of the life rent) obtained an instrument of sasin in his favour, as heir of his great-grandfather Duncan, earl of Lennox, of the principal messuage and half of the lands of the earldom of Lennox and superiority of the same (ib. p. 390).
On being infefted in the principal messuage Darnley assumed the title of Earl of Lennox; but Sir John Haldane, on his return to Scotland in 1475, contested his claims to the principal messuage and title. On 12 Jan. 1475–6 letters were given by the king under the privy seal revoking and annulling the breves and service to John, lord Darnley, as heir to Duncan, earl of Lennox, as being unjustly deduced against Sir John Haldane. Darnley had claimed descent from the elder daughter of Earl Duncan (Retour of Service, ib.), and it is probable that herein consisted the injustice of his claim, for he endeavoured to set aside the claims of Sir John Haldane to the principal messuage by, in July 1476, contesting the legitimacy of Agnes Menteith, Haldane's wife (Fraser, Lennox, i. 302). No decision, however, seems to have been given on this latter point, or at least no decision against Haldane, and matters rested in statu quo, Avandale continuing to enjoy the life rent, Darnley ceasing to use the title of Earl of Lennox, and the claims of him and other coheirs remaining in abeyance.
On 8 May 1477 Darnley was reappointed keeper of Rothesay (Hist. MSS. Comm. 3rd Rep. p. 390). Having everything to hope from a change of government, he joined the conspiracy against James III in 1482, when Cochrane, the king's favourite, was hanged over the bridge of Lauder. He remained with James during his confinement in Edinburgh Castle, and on 18 Oct. obtained a signature from him, affirming that the king owed his life to the constant watch of Darnley and others over him day and night, and on that
