Mar’s Wark was built by John Erskine, the Regent of Scotland and Earl of Mar, who intended the building to be his principal family residence in Stirling. Erskine was the governor of Edinburgh Castle during the regency of Mary of Guise, from 1554 to 1560. However, he turned against her daughter, Mary Queen of Scots, after the murder of her second husband Lord Darnley in 1567. Consequently, he lost his governorship in Edinburgh, but became the hereditary keeper of Stirling Castle, a position that had been held on and off by his ancestors since…
