Mariota, Countess of Ross (Mairead, also called Mary and Margaret; died 1440) was the daughter of Euphemia I, Countess of Ross

Euphemia I, Countess of Ross

Euphemia I , also called Euphemia of Ross and Euphemia Ross, and sometimes incorrectly styled Euphemia Leslie and Euphemia Stewart , was a Countess of Ross in her own right.Euphemia was the elder daughter of Uilleam III, Mormaer of Ross...

 and her husband, the crusading war-hero Walter Leslie, Lord of Ross

Walter Leslie, Lord of Ross

Sir Walter Leslie was a 14th century Scottish nobleman and crusader. Along with his brother Norman Leslie, he participated in a 1356 reysa against the Prussians. He had returned by 1356. On 25 November 1363, King David II of Scotland obtained from King Edward III of England a safe-conduct for...

. Upon the death of her brother, Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross

Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross

Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross was a Scottish nobleman. Born between 1367 and 1382, he was the son of Walter Leslie, Lord of Ross and Euphemia I, Countess of Ross. In around 1394 he became Earl of Ross and sometime before 1398 he married Isabel Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany....

, she became the heir-presumptive of her niece Euphemia II, Countess of Ross

Euphemia II, Countess of Ross

Euphemia II, Countess of Ross was the daughter of Alexander Leslie, Earl of Ross and his wife Isabella Stewart, daughter of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany. She was in fact the only child and heir of Earl Alexander, and succeeded to the earldom de jure upon his death in 1402...

 although her husband Domhnall of Islay, Lord of the Isles

Domhnall of Islay, Lord of the Isles

Donald, or properly, Dómhnall Íle , was the son and successor of John of Islay, Lord of the Isles and chief of Clan Donald. The Lordship of the Isles was based in and around the Scottish west-coast island of Islay, but under Domhnall's father had come to include many of the other islands off the...

 pressed Mariota's superior claim to the earldom.

Domhnall attempted to gain control of the earldom, and sometime after 1405 but before 1411, Domhnall gained control of Dingwall

Dingwall

Dingwall is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,026. It was formerly an east-coast harbor but now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north of Stirling. On the town's present-day outskirts lies Tulloch Castle, parts...

 Castle. In the year after the death of the nominal king Robert III of Scotland

Robert III of Scotland

Robert III was King of Scots from 1390 to his death. His given name was John Stewart, and he was known primarily as the Earl of Carrick before ascending the throne at age 53...

 (1406), in August 1407, Domhnall sent emissaries to England to the heir of the throne, the captive James Stewart

James I of Scotland

James I, King of Scots , was the son of Robert III and Annabella Drummond. He was probably born in late July 1394 in Dunfermline as youngest of three sons...

. King Henry IV of England

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...

 sent his own emissaries the following year to negotiate an alliance against Robert Stewart

Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany

Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany , a member of the Scottish royal house, served as Regent to three different Scottish monarchs...

, Duke of Albany

Duke of Albany

Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on the younger sons in the Scottish, and later the British, royal family, particularly in the Houses of Stuart and Hanover....

, the Guardian of Scotland who was controlling Euphemia and the earldom.

With control over the principal seat of the earldom of Ross

Ross

Ross is a region of Scotland and a former mormaerdom, earldom, sheriffdom and county. The name Ross allegedly derives from a Gaelic word meaning a headland - perhaps a reference to the Black Isle. The Norse word for Orkney - Hrossay meaning horse island - is another possible origin. The area...

 and support of the exiled heir to the Scottish throne, in 1411 Domhnall felt strong enough to march against Albany's main northern ally, Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar

Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar

-Biography:He was an illegitimate son of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Buchan and probably Mairead inghean Eachann.Alexander held the Earldom of Mar and the Lordship of the Garioch in right of his first wife Isabel Douglas, Countess of Mar . Alexander's marriage to Isabella followed his capture of...

. At the Battle of Harlaw

Battle of Harlaw

The Battle of Harlaw was a Scottish clan battle fought on 24 July 1411 just north of Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. It was one of a series of battles fought during the Middle Ages between the barons of northeast Scotland against those from the west coast....

 Domhnall failed to inflict a decisive victory, and withdrew back to the western highlands. In the aftermath, Albany was able to retake Dingwall and seize control of Easter Ross

Easter Ross

Easter Ross is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland.The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituency and a Scottish Parliament constituency...

. In 1415, Euphemia was persuaded by Albany to resign the earldom to his own second son, John Stewart

John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Buchan

John Stewart, Earl of Buchan was a Scottish nobleman and soldier who fought alongside Scotland's French allies during the Hundred Years War. In 1419 he was sent to France by his father the Duke of Albany, Regent of Scotland, with an army of 6,000 men...

, earl of Buchan

Earl of Buchan

The Mormaer or Earl of Buchan was originally the provincial ruler of the medieval province of Buchan. Buchan was the first Mormaerdom in the High Medieval Kingdom of the Scots to pass into the hands of a non-Scottish family in the male line. The earldom had three lines in its history, not counting...

. This action was challenged by Domhnall of Islay, who continued to claim the earldom on behalf of Mariota.

After the return of King James the latter destroyed the power of the Albany Stewarts, executing the Albany's son and successor Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany

Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany

Murdoch Stewart, Duke of Albany was a leading Scottish nobleman, the son of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany and the grandson of King Robert II of Scotland, who founded the Stewart dynasty. In 1389 he was Justiciar North of the Forth. In 1402 he was captured at the Battle of Homildon Hill and would...

. Domhnall had died in 1423, but Mariota continued to enjoy the support of his successor and her own son, Alexander

Alexander of Islay, Earl of Ross

Alexander of Islay or Alexander MacDonald was a medieval Scottish nobleman, who succeeded his father Domhnall of Islay as Lord of the Isles and rose to the rank of Earl of Ross...

. Alexander took over her claims, and in 1437 her son was recognized as earl by the king. She died in 1440. She had two known children, Alexander and Mariota.