GILCHRISTSON, Magnus II Jarl of Orkney and Caithness (south half) ^{1 2}

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  General Notes:

"Magnus, who is usually designed 'son of Gillebride, Earl of Angus, called Earl of Caithness,' 1232, This statement was first made by Sir James Dalrymple in his Collections, but he gives no proof, while a charter noted in an old Inventory of Oliphant writs, made about 1594, and preserved in the General Register House, states that Magnus was the son of Gilchrist, Earl of Angus, who died about 1204, thus being the grandson of Earl Gillebride, which seems to lit all the facts better. The writ, as noted, states that he received from Alexander II. the south half of Caithness, which corroborates the theory of division. Sir James Dalrymple further says that Magnus was to pay £10 sterling yearly to the King and his successors.

Magnus probably had a Norwegian mother, through whom he received the earldom of Orkney, which the King of Scots could not have given him, and Mr. Skene suggests that this Earl was the son of one of Harald Ungi's sisters, the name Magnus being peculiar to the line of Erlend.' Dr. Anderson, on the other hand, adopts the view that 'Gilbride, Earl of Angus, married a sister or daughter of John, Earl of Orkney, son of Harald Maddadson,' but no authority is given for this, which seems merely to be an echo of Sir James Dalrymple, while the dates render the statement doubtful. On 7 July 1235 the Earl of ' Katanay ' witnesses a charter by King Alexander II. to the Earl of Dunbar."

from Scots Peerage (vol 2) ²

Magnus married.