[2] The 'de Erth' family took their name from the lands of Airth which lie close to the barony of Plean in Stirlingshire.

[2] Sir John de Elfinstun married Margaret of Seton who was a niece of Robert the Bruce.

[2] William later obtained a bull from Pope Alexander VI in 1494 for founding the University of Aberdeen.

[2] They were staunch Jacobites and the sixth Lord Balmerino was captured after the Battle of Culloden and beheaded in August 1746.

[2] One of the eleventh Lord's younger brothers was George Keith Elphinstone who was a distinguished naval officer.