HOME, ALEXANDER HOME, 1ST EARL OF

also called (15751605) 6th Lord Home, Home also spelled Hume born c. 1566 died April 5, 1619 Scottish noble who took part in many of the turbulent incidents that marked the reign of James VI of Scotland (afterward James I of Great Britain). In August 1575 he became 6th Lord Home on the death of his father, the 5th lord. He was warden of the east marches, and was often at variance with the Hepburns, a rival border family headed by the earls of Bothwell; the feud between the Homes and the Hepburns was an old one, and it was probably the main reason why Home's father, the 5th lord, sided with the enemies of Mary, Queen of Scots, during the period of her intimacy with the 4th Earl of Bothwell. When the 5th Earl of Bothwell became an exile ( c. 1595), Home shared in the distribution of the estates and other spoils. Home accompanied James to England in 1603 and was created earl of Home and Lord Douglass in 1605.