Earl Scots or , Cornish . An earl has the title "Earl of [X]" when the title originates from a placename, or "Earl [X]" when the title comes from a surname. In either case, he is referred to as "Lord [X]", and his wife as "Lady [X]". A countess who holds an earldom in her own right also uses "Lady [X]", but her husband does not have a title (unless he has one in his own right). The eldest son of an earl, though not himself a peer, is entitled to use a courtesy title, usually the highest of his father's
Earl of Airth I, as Graham's claim descends from Robert II's second - undoubted - marriage. Graham had successfully petitioned for the return of the title of Earl of Strathearn which the first Graham Earl of Mentieth had held. Before he was invested, however, Graham boasted that his blood was "bluer than the King's". He was sacked from his positions and instead of receiving the Earldom of Strathearn, he was given the insultingly minor title of Earl of Airth. On the death of the 2nd Earl of Airth the earldom became dormant. In 1834 Capt Robert Barclay Allardice of Ury and Allardice petitioned