alexander's royal charter of the earldom, dated 1 december 1527 describes his parents as the earl of countess of sutherland. they resigned to him the earldom of sutherland and its lands, dunrobin with all its tenants and outliers, mills, sea and freshwater fishing, patronage of the church and chapel there, with some reservations to adam and elizabeth in their lifetimes. as alexander pre-deceased his parents, he did not profit from the earldom in full.