[1] However, both historians Angus Mackay and Sir William Fraser show that it can be proved that Alexander Sutherland was in prison in 1517 when the Battle of Torran Dubh is supposed to have taken place.
A breach of the bond of service and manrent would incur a fine of £1500 Scots, £500 of which would have to be paid to Dornoch Cathedral, £500 to the Master of Sutherland and £500 to the King.
[4] Perhaps in connection with Alexander's marriage to Janet Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl, his parents resigned the Earldom of Sutherland to Alexander in November 1527, and a crown charter to this effect was issued in December.
[5] Alexander's royal charter of the earldom, dated 1 December 1527 describes his parents as the Earl of Countess of Sutherland.
They resigned to him the earldom of Sutherland and its lands, Dunrobin with all its tenants and outliers, mills, sea and freshwater fishing, patronage of the church and chapel there, with some reservations to Adam and Elizabeth in their lifetimes.