Francis Hay, ninth Earl of Erroll — the Lord High Constable of Scotland and co-leader of the Catholic earls with Huntly — mustered his Hay tenantry at Slains Castle on the Aberdeenshire coast in 1594 as part of the Spanish conspiracy known as the Spanish Blanks. Erroll was in direct correspondence with Philip II of Spain, promising to land Spanish troops on the Aberdeenshire coast. The Slains muster was preparation both for the Glenlivet campaign and for the anticipated Spanish landing that never came. Erroll's strategic position on the Aberdeenshire coast made Slains Castle the obvious rendezvous point for any Spanish naval force.
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