# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Comyn, Alexander

​COMYN, ALEXANDER, second Earl of Buchan (d. 1289), constable of Scotland, was the son of William Comyn, earl of Buchan, the founder of Deer Abbey, and of Marjory, his second wife, who brought the title into the Comyn family. His father's death, in 1233, was soon succeeded by that of his mother, which put him into complete possession of the earldom. One of his earliest acts probably was the confirmation of some grants of his parents to the canons of St. Andrews, to whom they had on several occasions been benefactors (Registrum Prioratus S. Andree, p. 282, Bannatyne Club). He also confirmed grants of theirs to Arbroath (Liber S. Thome de Aberbrothoc, pars i. pp. 265-6, Bannatyne Club). In 1244 he was in the royal council, and in the same year was one of the guarantors of the peace with England (Acts Part. Scot. i. 403; Fœdera, i. 257). He rose into power with the rise of his brother, the Earl of Menteith, during the minority of Alexander III. He became, like his father, justiciary of Scotland, and though removed from court with the rest of his family in 1255, regained power in 1257 as the result of the capture of the young king at Kinross. He signed the convention with the Welsh (Fœdera, i. 370). In 1258 Menteith's death made him the practical chief of the great Comyn family. In 1260 he appears among the parties to the agreement under which the Queen of Scots visited her father's court for her confinement (ib. i. 402). In 1264 he was sent with Durward and Mar, after the battle of Largs, to reduce the western islands that had taken sides with Haco, the Norse king. There they ' slew the Norwegian traitors and got great plunder ' (Fordun, ed. Skene, i. 301). n 1264 the death of his father-in-law, the Earl of Winchester, gave him great additional possessions, both in England and Scotland. Earlier than 1266 he became sheriff of Wigton (Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, i. 22), so that with the Quincy estates in Galloway he must have been very powerful in southwest Scotland. He was also bailiff of Dingwall and Inverary (ib. i. 18-19). In 1270 the renunciation of the claims of his elder sister-in-law, Margaret, countess of Derby, made him Winchester's undisputed successor in the office of constable of Scotland (Acts Parl. Scot. i. 115). In 1281 he took part in negotiating the marriage of Margaret, daughter of King Alexander, with Eric of Norway (Fœdera, i. 596). In 1282 he was sent on an important mission to the northern islands, 'propter qusedam ardua negotia nos et regnum nostrum tangentia.' On this account he requested to be excused from personal service with King Edward in Wales, and sent his son Roger instead with his contingent (ib. i. 611). King Alexander supported his request (ib. 610), which was doubtless granted. In 1283 he was the first mentioned of the grandees who at the parliament of Scone bound themselves to maintain the succession of the Maid of Norway (ib. i. 638; Acts Parl. Scot. i. 424), and on Alexander's death, in March 1286, he became one of the six regents during the absence and minority of the infant queen. He was one of the three appointed for the government of the north. He and his colleagues are described as ' custodes regni Scotiæ de communi consilio constituti,' and as 'per communitatem regni electi ' (Stevenson, Documents illustrative of Hist. of Scotland, i. 25-6). He died in the summer of 1289, just before the critical times began. His last official signature as regent is on 10 July at Linlithgow; the next document, of 5 Aug., only contains the names of the other regents (ib. i. 95-6). He had married Elizabeth, sometimes called Isabella, the second of the three daughters and coheiresses of Roger de Quincy, earl of Winchester, by the sister of Devorguilla and coheiress of Alan of Galloway (Fordun, i. 316). He had a large family, including four sons, namely, John and Alexander, who successively succeeded him to the title, William and Roger, who fought against Llewelyn in 1282. His five daughters were all married to men of position. Wyntoun, however (bk. viii. lines 1120 sq.), makes the five ladies, and also John and Alexander, children of William and grandchildren of Alexander. Documentary evidence, however, proves John to have been son of Alexander (Cal. Doc. Scot. v. ii. No. 369).
[Rymer's Fœdera, Record edit., vol. i.; Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, vols. i. and ii.; Stevenson's Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland, vol. i.; Fordun's Scotichronicon, ed. Skene; Wyntoun 's Chronykil, ed. Laing; Acts of Parliament of Scotland, vol. i.; Douglas's Peerage of Scotland, vol. i. 261-4; Sutherland Case, ch. v.; Mrs. Cumming Brace's Braces and Comyns, pp. 420-3.]
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