"The Chiefs of Grant" (1883) by Sir William Fraser
Volume I, Chapter 2

JOHN LE GRANT, FIRST OF INVERALLAN, IN STRATHSPEY 1296 - c1325.

[15] According to the traditional pedigree of the family of Grant, Sir Laurence le Grant had two Sons, John and Robert le Grant. But though for the sake of orderly sequence the pedigree handed down by tradition may be followed in the early portion of this work, it is simply to be understood as indicating the chronological order of generations, not as indorsing its statements, except in cases where relationship is definitely proved. Therefore, though John and Robert Grant are here linked together, because they are named together in history, it is to be noted that there is no actual proof of any relationship between them and Sir Laurence, or that they were kin to each other. All that is known of them is that they were present at the battle of Dunbar on 27th April 1296, were taken prisoners, and after a year's imprisonment, were set free on condition of going with King Edward the First to Flanders. These are all the facts which can be ascertained concerning John and Robert le Grant conjointly. One of the two returned to Scotland, and became prominent in the north; the fate of the other is not known. But these salient points of their joint history are rendered interesting by various attendant circumstances, which also throw light on the pedigree of the name of Grant at this period.

If, as has been suggested, Sir Laurence le Grant was in friendly connection with the House of Byset, it seems probable that John and Robert le Grant began their career under the auspices of another powerful northern family, that of the Comyns. When King Edward the First, in 1296, led an army against Berwick and captured and sacked that town, it was the northern Earls of Buchan, Ross, Athole, Mar, and Menteith, and the great northern barons, John Comyn of Badenoch and his son, who were most prompt in summoning their retainers to retaliate on the English [16] the wrongs of the Scots. These nobles marched at the head of a large army into England and ravaged Northumberland with fire and sword. Hemingford, vol. ii. p. 101. A detached party from this large force threw themselves into the castle of Dunbar. On being summoned by the English commander, the Earl of Surrey, who, at the head of 11,000 men, had been sent to besiege the castle, the garrison agreed to capitulate within three days unless relieved by the main army of the Scots. This led to the battle of Dunbar, in which the Scots, chiefly through their own rashness, were wholly defeated, a large number being slain by the English in the pursuit.

The battle of Dunbar was fought on 27th April 1296, and the next day the garrison of the castle, who had been greatly dismayed at the rout of their countrymen, capitulated to King Edward in person, "placing life and limb at his disposal." The king, however, would make no condition nor give any promise of favour. The English historian who thus records the surrender of the castle gives the names of the leaders. He states that the names of those who were taken (in the castle, not in the pursuit) were these : - William Earl of Ross, (John) Earl of Athole, Alexander Earl of Menteith, John son of John Comyn (of Badenoch), William of St. Clair, Richard Syward, John son of Geoffrey Moubray. With these magnates also were found and taken thirty-one knights and one hundred esquires (including, as will be shown, John and Robert le Grant), with two clerics, John Somerville and William St. Clair. Ibid. pp. 104, 105; William St. Clair afterwards became bishop of Dunkeld. All these the king sent in divisions of twelve or sixteen to various castles in England, to be kept in firm custody. Hemingford, vol. ii. p. 105. In addition to the magnates just named, another English historian enumerates John of Inchmartin, Alexander Moray, and Edmund or Edward Comyn of Kilbride, and makes a slight variation in the number of attendant knights and esquires. Scalacronica, p. 123.

The garrison of Dunbar may therefore be said to have consisted of three earls, some prominent barons, and their immediate and personal followers. They were, as stated, distributed in various castles throughout England. The Earls of Ross, Athole, and Menteith, John Comyn younger, [17] John Mowbray, Richard Siward, John of Inchmartin, and others, were sent to the Tower of London. .Foedera, vol. 1. p. 841. The warrant of committal and other official papers bearing on their custody are very precise in stating that the prisoners were taken in the castle of Dunbar in Scotland, and that the conflict there had been between the king and them.

The less important prisoners were sent, some to Gloucester, others to Bristol and Corfe Castles. Among those in Gloucester, as appears from an account of Walter de Beauchamp, constable of that place, were Master William St. Clair, one of the clerics above referred to, and John le Grant, with three others, one of them a knight, all of whom are said to have been taken in the Castle of Dunbar. Historical Documents, Scotland, vol. ii. p. 54 The account of the constable of Bristol Castle names among the prisoners there Richard Siward, younger, Alexander Comyn, knights; John, son of Alexander of Moray, and Robert le Grant, with two others, also all described as taken in the Castle of Dunbar. The sum charged for the maintenance of the cleric and each knight was 4d. a day, and for each esquire 3d. Their keepers also received 3d. each per diem. Ibid p. 55

These accounts imply that John le Grant and Robert le Grant were at that date simply esquires, and therefore attached to the train of some knight, that in his service they might win their spurs. In the case of the Grants it is probable that their leader was John Comyn of Badenoch, then the most powerful baron in the immediate neighbourhood of Moray.

On 30th July 1297, after the Scots taken at Dunbar had been rather more than a year in captivity, they were released on condition of serving King Edward in his expedition against France. The Earl of Athole was first released, ample bail being taken for his performing his promise. On the same date, there were liberated among others the following knights Alexander Comyn, brother of John Comyn of Badenoch, David Graham, brother of Patrick Graham, David Graham his nephew, Hugh of Erthe, and Robert Comyn, brother of John of Badenoch. The securities for these knights were, with others, the two John Comyns of Badenoch, elder and younger.

Immediately after those knights the following were liberated:- John le Graunte, Alexander Corbet, Robert (or Ralph) le Graunte, Alan [18] Lascelles, and others, for each of whom John Comyn, the elder, of Badenoch, and David Graham, pledged themselves. Foedera, vol. i. p. 869

In regard to the first of these securities, while the fact that John Comyn of Badenoch pledged himself for the Grants raises a certain presumption that John and Robert le Grant were, while at Dunbar, in his following, there exists other evidence of intercourse between the family of Comyn and that of Grant. During the interregnum between the death of the "Maid of Norway" and the accession of King John Balliol to the throne of Scotland, the Scottish fortresses were in the hands of those barons who had been appointed guardians of the kingdom, and the matters relative to these castles were administered partly by the King of England and partly by the guardians of Scotland, of whom John Comyn of Badenoch was one.

In June 1291 the guardians of Scotland yielded the fortresses of Scotland to Edward the First as Lord Paramount, and among those thus given up was the castle of Clunie. From the fact that the salary of the castellan of this fortress continued to be paid by the bailie of Sir John Comyn, it cannot be doubted that the latter was the guardian under whose special charge this castle was, and the custodier of the fortress was Patrick le Grant. The ruins of the castle of Clunie may still be traced on an island in the lake of that name in Perthshire, and must have been of considerable extent, as King Edward himself visited it during his progress through Scotland in 1296, and remained there no fewer than five days, thus proving that the place was commodious. Itineraire de Roy Edward en Escoce A.D. MCCXCVI. Ragman Rolls, p 178. Bannatyne Club, 1834.
From Clunie the king passed to Inverquoich, the small castle which has already been shown to have been under Laurence le Grant as bailie.

Patrick le Grant was castellan of Clunie before 24th August 1291, but from that date, until 27th July 1292, his receipts for his salary of two shillings a day have been preserved. These receipts occur at regular intervals, and run in the name of Hugh of Erthe, bailie of Sir John Comyn in the abthanage of Dull, by whom Patrick Grant's salary was paid until 28th July 1292, on which day he delivered over the castle [19] of Clunie to the same Hugh of Erthe, as directed by a precept from the Bishop of Durham [Anthony Beck]. Historical Documents, Scotland, vol. i. pp. 247-335, passim This Hugh of Erthe was one of the knights already named having been taken in the castle of Dunbar, and among those for whom the Comyns of Badenoch became surety on the same day with the Grants. At this date several other Grants are on record whose names may be mentioned, although, as in the case of the castellan of Clunie, there is no documentary evidence to instruct their relationship. In 1295 and 1296 David le Grant was Sheriff of Stirling for King Edward the First, Ibid. vol. ii. pp. 17, 80. and in 1296 a Robert le Grant swore fealty to the English king for lands in the county of Fife. Ragman Rolls, p. 142. It is not improbable, however, from the context, that the last named was a churchman.

While so much may be said why John Comyn, the elder lord of Badenoch, should pledge himself for the Grants, the name of his fellow security, Sir David Graham, is even more suggestive of their connection with the north of Scotland, and, in particular, with Stratherrick, the early possession of the Grants.

Sir David of Graham here named, was the husband of Muriel Byset, the youngest daughter and co-heiress of that John Byset who entered into the agreement already referred to with the Bishop of Moray in 1258, to which Laurence and Robert le Grant were witnesses. John Byset died in 1259, leaving a son, who died without issue, and three daughters, who succeeded to his property. History of the Priory of Beauly, p. 54; Calendarium Genealogicum, vol. i. p. 265 Of these three, Muriel, the youngest, the wife of Sir David Graham, inherited the lands of Lovat, close to the Priory of Beauly, founded by her grandfather. In an agreement with the Bishop of Moray about the land of Kiltarlity and the fishings of the river Farrar, Sir David Graham is styled Lord of Lovat, Registrum Moraviense, p. 135 and his son, Sir Patrick Graham, before 1325 granted a third part of his lands of Altyre to the Priory of Beauly, for the multures of Lovat, Fingask, and Donaldston. History of the Priory of Beauly, p. 78

That Sir David Graham, the successor of the Bysets in a third part of [20] their large territory, the lordship of Lovat, which lordship afterwards comprehended Stratherrick, should interest himself in John and Robert le Grant, is a fact of considerable importance, tending very strongly to connect them with the northern family of Grant and their territory of Stratherrick. The friendship here shown by Sir David Graham towards the Grants was continued by his son and successor, Sir Patrick Graham, who became Lord of Lovat before December 1298. Registrum Moraviense, p. 136 Sir Patrick Graham appears to have been a prisoner in England for some time after 1304, but between 1315 and 1325 he executed various charters, to one of which, namely, the charter of the third of Altyre, already referred to, John le Grant was a party under special circumstances. To that document Sir Patrick Graham appends, along with his own seal, the seal of John le Grant, a proceeding which infers a high degree of intimacy, or that John le Grant had in some way an interest in the lands conveyed. If this was the case, such interest could have been derived only through connection with the family of Byset. The lands affected by the charter were Lovat, Fingask, and Donaldston, in the barony of Lovat, part of the possessions of John Byset, founder of Beauly Priory, which had descended to his granddaughters. These lands lay at some distance from Stratherrick, which was on the south-eastern shore of Loch Ness. Stratherrick is not proved to have belonged to John Byset, the founder of Beauly Priory, but it certainly belonged to his uncle Walter, in whose train the Grants came from England. If, as has been suggested, a matrimonial connection existed between the Bysets and the Grants, it may have been such as would give the latter family an interest in the Lovat territory.

It may be noted, however, that John le Grant's seal is appended as if he were a party to the deed rather than a witness, and he is not named among the witnesses. The names of these latter are important:- Thomas, Bishop of Ross, Sir William Fenton and John his son, John son of Cristin of the Ard, Harold son of Dofnald, Andrew le Grant, Alexander Corbet, Alan of Lascelles, and others. Sir William Fenton was either the uncle of Sir Patrick Graham by marriage with Cecilia Byset, or his cousin, probably the latter, as the husband of Cecilia Byset seems to have died before 1315. [21] The Fentons therefore were specially interested from their alliance with the Bysets. So also were the de Ards, but Cristin de le Ard is said to have been a comrade of Patrick Graham's father in 1296. History of the Priory of Beauly, pp. 74, 75, 81. Alexander Corbet and Alan de Lascelles, two of the witnesses, are identical in name with two fellow-prisoners of Sir Patrick Graham's father, taken with him in the castle of Dunbar, and liberated on his security. They are named in the same list with John and Robert (Ralph) le Grant as engaging to cross the sea with the English king, and the fact of their now being found in company with Sir Patrick Graham and John le Grant seems to prove what otherwise might have been doubtful, that the John le Grant, whose seal is here used, was the same John le Grant who was liberated in 1297.

The name of Alexander Corbet as a witness to Sir Patrick Graham's charter is further of interest, in that the earliest mention of the family of Corbet in the north of Scotland, like that of le Grant, is in connection with the Bysets. Archibald and Hugh Corbet witness a deed of arrangement in 1221 between Brice, Bishop of Moray, and John Byset, the founder of Beauly Priory. Hugh is also a witness to several other deeds of the same John Byset, in one case along with three members of the Byset family. Registrum Moraviense, pp. 16, 60, 333 Thus in Sir Patrick Graham's charter three persons are named as in company, John le Grant, Alexander Corbet, and Alan Lascelles, comrades in arms, fellow-prisoners in 1296, and liberated together in 1297. They had also been fellow-soldiers of Sir Patrick Graham's father, and might on that account claim friendship with the son; but, besides that bond, two of them had another link of connection between their families and that of Graham, - the tie of a prior friendship with the house of Byset.

From all these circumstances it may be concluded that of the two le Grants on record as present at Dunbar in April 1296, John le Grant at least was connected with Morayshire, and he may therefore have been a son, or more probably a grandson, of Laurence le Grant, the Sheriff of Inverness-shire. Of Robert le Grant, nothing further has been ascertained than what has been stated. He and John le Grant doubtless fulfilled their engagement to go abroad, but the latter alone is proved to have returned to Scotland.

[22] John le Grant, the subject of this memoir, has the distinction of being the first of his name who is known to have possessed lands in Strathspey. In the romantic history of the family of Grant, already referred to, the Grants are said to have removed at an early period from Stratherrick to Strathspey, under the leadership of Sir Patrick Grant, Lord of Stratherrick. This, however, is mythical, as an early transcript of the charters of Inverallan, the first possession of the Grants in Strathspey, has been preserved, which clearly proves that these lands were first acquired by John le Grant about the same time that he affixed his seal to Sir Patrick Graham's charter.

On 18th October 1316, William of Federeth, younger, a son or grandson of that William of Federeth who, between 1262 and 1294, married Christian of Moravia, a co-heiress of Freskin of Moravia, last of the old Lords of Duffus, acting as superior of the lands of Inverallan, confirmed to John le Grant a charter of sale of these lands. The charter confirmed is undated, but must have been granted in 1316. By it John of Inverallan, son of Gilbert, brother of Augustine, Lord of Inverallan, and heir of his uncle through the decease of Gilbert, alienated to John le Grant his whole land of Inverallan, namely, three davachs of land in all, to be held of the king for, forensic service. Ancient Transcript of Inverallan Charters at Castle Grant; vol. iii. of this work, pp. 257, 258 John le Grant was then infeft in the lands, in which he was succeeded by his son Patrick, as will be shown in the next memoir.

The time at which John le Grant became lord of lands in Strathspey was a period of transition in the history of Moray. King Robert Bruce had secured the independence of the kingdom of Scotland by the victory at Bannockburn. From the first moment of his determination to achieve the liberty of his country, Bruce had waged a deadly feud against the Comyns. Not only, while engaged in his earlier struggles against the English, did he ravage the lands of the Comyns in Galloway, Badenoch, and Buchan, but now, when firmly seated on the throne, he bestowed their territories on his faithful followers. The wide territory of the Earldom of Moray, from the Spey on the east to Glenelg on the west, Registrum Moraviense, p. 342 including Lochaber, Badenoch, and Glencarnie, was bestowed, about the year 1315, upon Thomas Randolph, [23] the king's nephew, who became feudal superior of all the smaller barons who had held under the Morays, the Bysets, or the Comyns. It may have been in consequence of this change of overlord that the Augustines, who had been Lords of Inverallan from before 1250, effected the transfer, in 1316, of their lands to John le Grant, who thus became the first of the Grants in Strathspey.

Whether this charter of Inverallan be later in date than the charter of Sir Patrick Graham, cannot readily be ascertained, but the probability is that Sir Patrick Graham's charter was the most recent, though not later than 1325. History of the Priory of Beauly, p. 78. Thomas, Bishop of Ross, one of the witnesses, died in 1325 If so, then it seems to be the latest authentic record of John le Grant, first of Inverallan. A John Grant is stated by an English historian to have been present with Sir Patrick Graham and other "nobiles milites" in the Earl of Moray's division of the Scottish army at Halidon Hill in 1333. At first it appears as if this were John le Grant of Inverallan, who, as a baron of Moray, would naturally follow the standard of his overlord the Earl of Moray, and that he had been made a knight. Probable as this supposition may appear, however, the precise terms of a charter by King Robert the Second in 1371, fully narrated in a subsequent memoir, forbid such a conclusion, and indicate that the John Grant of 1333 is to be identified not with John le Grant of Inverallan, but with another member of the family. The probabilities are indeed very equally balanced, but the evidence and the conclusions to be drawn therefrom will be further discussed in a later memoir.

In former pedigrees of the Grant family, three John Grants are made to follow each other at this period. John Grant who fought at Halidon in 1333 has been assumed to be a son of John Grant who was taken prisoner at Dunbar in 1296, and father of John Grant who in 1346 was appointed custodier of the castle of Tarnaway, and was prominent between 1357 and 1368. Comparison of dates and other circumstances, however, lead to the conclusion indicated in this memoir, that the John Grant of 1297 is identical with John le Grant the first of Inverallan, who survived till about 1325, while a second John le Grant appears at a later date. There were thus only two John Grants in succession.

[24] Some difficulty arises in regard to the posterity of John le Grant of Inverallan. According to one version of the traditional Grant pedigree, Sir John le Grant of 1297 is said to have married Bigla Comyn of Glencarnie, and to have had three sons, Sir John (of 1333), Sir Alan, and Thomas, an ecclesiastic. No authority for this statement can be found, and the marriage with Bigla of Glencarnie belongs to a later date. Who was the wife of John le Grant of Inverallan has not been ascertained, and there is authentic evidence only for one son, Patrick le Grant, Lord of Stratherrick and Inverallan, the subject of the next memoir.

But though the evidence as to John le Grant's posterity is thus imperfect, yet, for reasons which appear in a later chapter, Sir John le Grant, the custodier of Darnaway in 1346, has been in this work admitted to a place in the Grant pedigree. There is good ground for believing him to be a relative, if not a son, of John le Grant of Inverallan.

As to other Grants named at this period, and who may have been members of the same family with the subject of this memoir, there is first Alan Grant, of whom nothing further is known than that lie was in the Earl of Moray's division at Halidon, and therefore probably holding land of the Earl. It is only, however, from English historians that this information is obtained, and they may have made a mistake. No Alan Grant appears on record, but an Andrew le Grant is named along with the Fentons and others in Sir Patrick Graham's charter, already referred to. He and Sir Patrick Graham arc again named together as witnesses to the charter conveying Inverallan to John he Grant in 1316. Transcript of Inverallan Charters; vol. iii. of this work, p. 258. He must therefore have been a person of some note. In the charter of Inverallan also a name occurs, afterwards allied with the Grants, Alexander Pylche, burgess of Inverness. Andrew le Grant himself was connected with that burgh, as appears from the accounts rendered to Exchequer on the 30th November 1331 and 8th March 1333 respectively, by the Provost of Inverness. Exchequer Rolls, vol 1. pp. 354, 417 A question arose as to a sum of 15s., the rent of four lands in the said burgh belonging to Andrew le Grant, and it was decided that lie was due nothing to the king from them. As the date of these accounts precedes the battle of Halidon [25] by a few weeks, and after that event no mention is found of Andrew le Grant, it is not improbable that he is identical with the Alan Grant of the English historians. If so, his being in company with John le Grant of Inverallan various important occasions suggests a connection between them. They may, as is traditionally alleged, have been brothers.

Another person who may have been a member of the family is Maurice Grant. He is first named as acting on behalf of the Provosts of Inverness in rendering their accounts to Exchequer, at Berwick, 16th March 1331, and at Scone, 8th March 1333. He also rendered the account for the regality of the Earl of Moray within the sheriffdom of Inverness, at Aberdeen, on 30th December 1337. In 1340, if not for some time before that date, he filled the important office of Sheriff of Inverness, Exchequer Rolls, voL i. pp. 310, 417, 440, 465 a post similar to that held by Sir Laurence le Grant. No further trace of this Maurice Grant can be discovered after 1340, and no proof of any relationship to John le Grant of Inverallan can be established. From this date onward, however, as will be shown in later chapters, the name of Grant became prominent in Inverness, though it cannot be proved that the Grants of Inverness had a right to claim kindred with the family of Inverallan.

A Thomas le Grant, who is inserted in pedigrees of the Grants as a son of John le Grant, also appears at this time. All that is known of him is that in 1333 he was one of an assize held at the Hospital Hall of Aberdeen upon a recognition of the possession by Reginald of Rane of certain lands in the shire of Aberdeen. Registrum Episcopatus Aberdonensis, vol. i. p. 53This Thomas le Grant is claimed as the ancestor of the Grants of Normandy, through two sons ascribed to him, Thomas and William, who are said to have passed over to that country in 1359. Memoires de la Maison de Grant, par Charles Grant, Vicomte de Vaux, 1796.

Volume 1 Chapter 2