Henry Erskine, third Lord Cardross (1650 – 1693), was a covenanter. Background Erskine was the eldest son of David Erskine, 2nd Lord Cardross, by his first wife, Anne, who was fifth daughter of Sir Thomas Hope, king's advocate. The title of Lord Cardross was originally conferred on the first Earl of Mar, and, in accordance with the right with which he was invested of conferring it on any of his heirs male, it was granted by him to his second son Henry, along with the barony of Cardross. By his father young Erskine had been educated in the principles of the covenanters, and at an early period distinguished himself by his opposition to the administration of Lauderdale. In this he was strongly supported by his wife, Catherine, youngest of the two daughters and coheiresses of Sir William Stewart of Kirkhill. On account of his wife's determination to have a Presbyterian chaplain to perform worship in her own house he was fined 4,000l. of which he paid 1,000l., and after an attempt to obtain a remission for the balance he was, 5 August 1675, committed to the prison of Edinburgh, where he remained for four years. In May of the same year, when, during his absence in Edinburgh, conventicles were being held near Cardross, a party of guards in search of a covenanter named John King entered his house at midnight, broke into his chests, and after acting with great rudeness towards his wife placed a guard on it. Complaints to the King Their complaints that the conventicles then being held had his encouragement were the chief causes why his fine was not relaxed. On 7 Aug. 1677, while still in prison, he was fined in one half of his rent for permitting his two children to be christened by unlicensed ministers. In 1679 the king's forces in their march westwards went two miles out of their way to quarter on his estates of Kirkhill and Uphall, West Lothian. He obtained his release from prison, 30 July of that year, on giving bond for the amount of his fine, and early next year went to London, where he laid before the king a narrative of the sufferings to which he had been exposed. This proceeding gave great offense to the Scottish privy council, who sent a letter to the king accusing Cardross of misrepresentation, the result being that all redress was