"The Chiefs of Grant" (1883) by Sir William Fraser
Volume I, Chapter 5

MATILDA OF GLENCARNIE AND JOHN GRANT ROY, HER REPUTED HUSBAND c1410-c1434

[53] The preceding memoirs labour throughout under the disadvantage of a dearth of materials on tile early history of the family, but at this period tile family muniments become sufficiently abundant to afford evidence regarding each of tile Chiefs of Grant. In addition, however, to these contemporary historical documents there exist local traditions and legendary tales, which, to find place in an authentic chronicle must be sifted with careful scrutiny, and adopted or discarded, according as they stand the test 0f strict investigation.

It is at this period that the alliance of the Grants with the powerful family of Comyn, connecting together the two houses and putting an end to a long feud between them, is said to have taken place. The heiress of the Comyns is stated to have been the mother of Sir Duncan Grant, first of Freuchie, the subject of the next memoir. It is true that different dates have been assigned to this marriage, which, according to tradition, secured to tile Grants their possessions in Strathspey. One account of the family states that Matilda or Bigla Comyn married John le Grant who fought at Dunbar in 1296, and that with her he acquired the lands and baronies of Glencarnie, etc. It is usual to assert that these were the first possessions of the Grants in Strathspey. But it has been shown that though John le Grant was indeed the first of his name who obtained lands in Strathspey, these lands were not Glencarnie, but Inverallan. Neither did he acquire them from the Comyns by a romantic marriage with the heiress of that family, but from the Augustines, the old Lords of Inverallan, by the more prosaic method of purchase.

[54] According to another account, the alliance in question was effected, "without consent of friends," between Patrick G rant and the daughter of the Lord of Glencarnie. Mr. Chapman's Account of the Grants, print of 1876, p. 16. The same account further states that Patrick by his wife had only one daughter, Marjory, "whom he left heretrix of his fortune," and that she formed a clandestine union with an Andrew Stewart, Sheriff of Bute, who, on their marriage being openly acknowledged, changed his name to Grant. Their son, it is alleged, was also called Patrick. The traditional story of Andrew Stewart of Bute may have arisen from the desire of the family historian to exalt his chief to an alliance with royal blood. But the story of Patrick and his heiress Marjory is evidently an erroneous version of the history of Patrick Grant, Lord of Stratherrick, narrated in a previous memoir, whose male line failed, and he was represented by a granddaughter and heiress.

Another version of the alliance with the heiress of Glencarnie is given by Lachlan Shaw, who says that Patrick Grant, Lord of Stratherrick, negotiated a marriage for his son John with "Matilda, the heiress of Gilbert Cumming of Glenchernick," and that John Grant and Matilda had a son, Duncan, afterwards Sir Duncan Grant. Shaw's Moray, p. 26 Although nearer the truth, the author of this statement entirely misdates the period at which Patrick Grant, the Lord of Stratherrick, lived, and lie is also mistaken in regard to his succession.

There are other variations of the story of this alleged intermarriage between the Grants and the Comyns, hut the above will suffice to show the inconsistencies of local tradition, and to illustrate the statement as to the obscurity added to the Grant history by such legends. Passing from these to the testimony of authentic records, there is proof indeed of an alliance between the Grants and a descendant of the ancient family of Glencarnie, but divested of the many romantic accessories assigned by tradition. In the muniments of the Grant family, the first mention of Matilda of Glencarnie, the reputed heiress, is found in a precept from the Chancery of King James the First, bearing date 31st January 1434. This document narrates that the deceased Matilda of Glencarnie, mother of Duncan le Grant, died last vested as of fee in the fifth part of the barony [55] of Rothes Wiseman, and Burnmukty [Barmuckity], the two Fochabers, a half of Surestown [Sheriffston], and an annual rent of two marks from the tOwn of Thornhill, all in the sheriffdom of Elgin. In these lands and others the precept directs the Sheriff of Elgin to infeft Duncan le Grant as nearest and lawful heir of Matilda his mother. Vol. iii of this work, p. 18

On 3rd March 1469 another precept was issued by King James the Third directing the Sheriffs of Inverness to infeft in the lands of Cunygais (Congash) Sir Duncan le Grant, knight, who had been duly retoured nearest and lawful heir to Gilbert of Glencarnie his grandfather. The retour itself, which is dated 7th February 1469, states that Gilbert of Glencarnie, grandfather of Sir Duncan Grant, had died about thirty years before, that is, about 1438. Ibid. pp 28, 29

These documents furnish authentic proof that Matilda of Glencarnie was the mother of Sir Duncan Grant, and that her father was Gilbert of Glencarnie, who during his life may have divested himself of certain lands in favour of his daughter, unless she inherited the lands of Rothes and others through her mother. It is clear in any case that these lands were held by Matilda of Glencarnie in her own right, and were directly inherited by her son. Further, if, as stated in the retour of 1434, Matilda's son Duncan was at that date of '' lawful age," this would fix the date of her marriage and probable independent possession of the lands early as 1413, if not earlier. In passing it may be noted that Matilda of Glencarnie deceased at least four years before her father, Gilbert of Glencarnie, - a fact which corrects the statement that "after her father's death about the year 1434. Bigla (of Glencarnie) married Sir John Grant." Vacation Notes in Cromar and Strathspey, by Arthur Mitchell, M.D., V.P.S.A. Scot. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, vol. x. p. 675.This statement, however, it is right to add, is given as merely traditional, and not as authoritative, by the learned and accurate writer of the article in which it is quoted.

It will be observed that in the documents above referred to, Sir Duncan Grant's mother and grandfather are designed simply Matilda of Glencarnie and Gilbert of Glencarnie. There is no mention of them as [56] Comyns and the statement that they were so is purely traditional and legendary. The compiler of the Statistical Account of the parish of Duthil in the year 1838, states that the "ancient name of the parish was Gleann a cheathernich, the Heroes' Glen." He also says, "Tradition ascribes the possession not only of this parish, but of almost all the lands adjoining the Spey between Inverlochy and Fochabers, to the Cummings, whose principal residence was in this parish." Statistical Account of Scotland, 1845, vol. xiii And again he adds, "Be this as it may, it is evident they were in possession of the greater part of the said district many years before 1280, as appears by a charter granted in that year by Gilbert, the third Lord of that name, or as he is called in the charter, tertius Dominus de Glencherny, knight," etc. This charter has been already referred to in the Introduction, but the writer of the account in question adduces it as a proof that the Comyns were in possession of Glencarnie at that date.

Tradition, indeed, assigns to the Comyns the possession of large portions of the province of Moray, though probably with doubtful truth. The fact that the Comyns, who were of Norman descent, and held large tracts of land in Badenoch, Lochaber, and Buchan, as well as in the south of Scotland, ruled over their vassals, especially those of Celtic race, with a high hand, seems to have impressed their name so thoroughly on the legendary history of Moray, that tradition ascribes to them many actions the real actors in which have altogether been forgotten, or connects their names with places or events, the true stories of which are now untraceable.

Of this tendency in the local traditions to connect half-forgotten events with the well-known name of Comyn, the following instances may be given:- Laclilan Shaw says that, according to "unvaried tradition," Shaw of Rothiemurchus was leader of the Clan Chattan in the memorable fight on the North Inch of Perth in 1396, and "that the Shaws possessed Rothiemurchus long before that time." Shaw's Moray, p. 66 In proof of this latter statement, he adduces the fact that "about the year 1350, Cummine of Strathdallas having a lease of these lands (Rothiemurchus), and unwilling to yield to the Shaws, it came to be decided by the sword, and James Shaw, chief of the clan, was killed in the conflict," etc. To the "unvaried [57] tradition" of Shaw as to the occupancy of Rothiemurchus, a recent writer opposes another tradition, that the leader of the Clan Chattan, in 1396, was a kinsman of the chief of Mackintosh, named Shaw "Mor," and that he received for his services a grant of Rothiemurchus, being the first Shaw who possessed these lands, which had belonged to the Mackintoshes. The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan, by A. M. Shaw, p. l11 This writer further indicates his belief that the "unvaried tradition" as to a James Shaw," said to have been killed in a conflict with the Comyns about the year 1350, no doubt really refers to James, son of Shaw Mor, who was killed at Harlaw," Ibid. p. 26 which battle took place in 1411, upwards of sixty years later, betwixt Donald, Lord of the Isles, and Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar.

In a note in Lachlan Shaw's History of Moray it is stated, in reference to the conflict of 1396, that it was fought "betwixt the Clan Chattan and the Cummings (particularly that branch of them which was called the Clankay)," and it is asserted that" twenty-nine of the Cumings were killed on the spot." History of Moray, p. 122, note Here the name of the Cummings is substituted for that of the Camerons, believed, on good grounds, to have been the opponents of Clan Chattan, and well known as a powerful clan long at feud with the latter. It does not appear that the Cummings ever were a clan or sept.

A third instance which may be cited is the so-called "Bigla's key stone," referred to in the Introduction to this work, which is alleged to he the stone under which Bigla or Matilda Comyn hid the keys of her castle while she was in church. It is also termed "Bigla's stone of the hole," as it has a round perforation in the centre. The writer who describes it speaks of it in such a way as implies a Scandinavian origin, and he concludes that "only by accident does it now get the name of Bigla's key stone." Vacation Notes, by Arthur Mitchell, M.D., V.P.S.A, Edinburgh

So is it with regard to the alleged possession of Glencarnie by the Comyns, and the various traditions of the feuds between them and the Grants. These legends may have arisen from the memory of real events, occurring while the Grants were not yet powerful, and their territories were liable to constant invasion by neighbouring septs, the names of which are now [58] untraceable, or they may be vague traditions of incidents in the early history of Moray.

It can, however, be proved that the Comyns had no possessions at all in Glencarnie until a date nearly contemporaneous with Sir Duncan Grant, and it is doubtful if they ever had actual property of the lands. To show this, it is only necessary to refer to the history of the barony of Glencarnie, as given in the Introduction to this work. From the sketch there given it will be seen that the Lords of Glencarnie were descended from a branch of the ancient Celtic Earls of Strathern, and adopted the territorial name of their lands as their own surname. Tradition, therefore, in assigning the Comyns as the ancestors of Matilda of Glencarnie and her son, Sir Duncan Grant, is not only erroneous as to fact, but has over looked the true and much more splendid pedigree of Sir Duncan, who, by his mother, inherited the blood of Malise, Earl of Strathern, the proud noble who claimed the foremost place in the battle of the Standard on 22d August 1138. By this alliance of the family of Grant with Matilda of Glencarnie, the present Chief of the Grants is lineally descended from the great race of Strathern, whose origin is lost in the mists of antiquity, but which is known as one of the noblest in Scotland in the earliest historic times.

In 1408, seventeen years after the last Lord of Glencarnie sold his estate to Thomas of Dunbar, Earl of Moray, the son of the latter, Thomas, third Earl, made an agreement with Alexander Cumyn, in which Glencarnie is referred to. This agreement was a contract of marriage, in which the Earl obliges himself to "giff his gude will to the manage of his sister Euffame, and xx markis worth of land within his landis of Glencharny" to Alexander Cumyn, who, on the other hand, promises "to be lele man and trew" to the Earl for life, after the expiry of the term of his service to Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar. It was further agreed that while the Lord of the Isles had a lease of Glencarnie from the Earl of Moray, the latter should provide Alexander Cumyn in twenty merks of land within the sheriffdom of Elgin. Shaw's History of Moray, Appendix, p. 475. There is reason to believe that the lands of Glencarnie never came into the possession of Alexander Cumyn, but that [59] he received the warrandice lands, which are said to have been Logie, Sluie, and other lands in the sheriffdom of Elgin, afterwards held by the family of Cumming of Altyre from the Earls of Moray. Shaw's History of Moray, Appendix, p. 475, note This slender connection is all that the Comyns can be proved to have had with Glencarnie, and it is of comparatively recent date.

On the other hand, the transactions affecting that territory, as related in the Introduction, bear out the statements of tradition that the Lords of Glencarnie had declined in power about the time that Matilda of Glencarnie married the father of Sir Duncan Grant. The romantic legends which have been connected with this lady's name, usually assert that she was a great heiress - heiress to the name of Comyn and the rich estate of Glencarnie or Duthil. This has been shown to be a mistake, and Matilda's father, though still bearing the name of Glencarnie, had no possession of his family inheritance, and apparently was little more than a tacksman of the lands he latterly held. Vol iii of this work, p15 The stories of the rich and powerful Gibbon Mor Cumin refusing his daughter to the young Laird of Grant, the consequent private marriage, and all the feuds and calamities which ensued, must therefore be treated as doubtful, and, so far as they are at variance with ascertained facts, deemed the light play of an exuberant imagination substituting its own fancies for the realities of history.

While, however, there is no doubt as to the pedigree of Matilda of Glencarnie, the mother of Sir Duncan Grant, there is little evidence as to who was her husband. Lachlan Shaw states that he was Sir 'John Grant, Sheriff-principal of Inverness. The proof adduced is, that 'among the arms at Castle Grant there is a musquet with this inscription on the barrel, 'Dominus Johannes Grant, miles, vicecomes de Inverness, anno 1134,' accompanied by the three antique crowns of the family arms." History of Moray, p. 26. This musket is still preserved at Castle Grant. Mr. Shaw's quotation is not complete, the full inscription, which is engraved on a silver plate inlaid in the barrel near the stock, being, "Dominvs Johannes Grant, miles, Vicecomes de Innernes, me fecit in Germania, anno 1434." On another silver plate on the barrel are engraved the Grant arms, three antique crowns. Above the crowns are the initials S. I. G. (for Sir John Grant), and over them the words "of Frevchy, K." (for knight). The musket is five feet four inches in length, the stock fluted and inlaid with tint silver figures emblematical of hunting and fishing. The lock is a flint one of antique form. The barrel is also inlaid with other silver plates, bearing various devices, as a thistle, a rose, and figures of birds, and is finished with an ornamental muzzle. The whole workmanship of the musket is very fine.

[60] The only evidence of a trustworthy nature for the name of the husband of Matilda is to be found in a MS. family history of the Mackintoshes, called the Kinrara MS., preserved by the Laird of Mackintosh. The MS. is thus described by a recent writer, who lays considerable weight upon the accuracy of its statements, and has used it largely in a work devoted to the history of the Mackintoshes. He states that the "Ms. History of the Mackintoshes, by Lachlan Mackintosh of Kinrara, was written in Latin about the year 1670, and was partly founded on three earlier MSS., the matter of which it embodied. These were, 1st, a history of the family from the Earl of Fife to Duncan, eleventh chief, who died in 1496, written by Ferquhard, twelfth chief, during his imprisonment at Dunbar for sixteen years before 1513; 2nd, a similar history by Andrew MacPhail, parson of Croy, from the Earl of Fife to William, fifteenth chief, murdered in 1550; and 3rd, a history by George Munro of Davochgartie, of Ferquhard, twelfth chief, and his three successors." The Mackintoshes and Clan Chattan, by A. M. Shaw, p. 26, note, and p. 163 In the notice of Malcolm, the tenth chief of Mackintosh, who is said to have died in 1457, the writer records that he had five daughters, and that of these, "Muriel married John Mor Grant of Freuchie; Mora married Hucheon Rose of Kilravock; Janet married Patrick Mac Ian Roy, brother of Sir Duncan Grant," etc., Ibid. p. 153 thus implying that a John Roy Grant was the father both of Sir Duncan and Patrick.

Apart from tradition, this is all the testimony for the statement that John Grant Roy was the husband of Matilda of Glencarnie, and the father of Sir Duncan Grant. But if the information thus afforded be taken from the earliest MS., written before 1513, it may almost be considered contemporary history. There is a local tradition that John Grant Roy, soon after his marriage, and therefore while comparatively young, was slain in a tribal quarrel or raid with the Comyns and Macleans. If he was thus cut off in early life, it affords an explanation why he is not named in the muniments of his own family, or as taking part in any public transaction with neighbouring lairds. The precept of sasine of 1434, in favour of Duncan le Grant as heir of his mother Matilda, shows that her husband must have had, in right of his wife, a [61] fair amount of property to administer, and it is to be presumed that by virtue of this property he would have taken some part, more or less prominent, amongst his fellows, unless prevented by some special fact, of which the tradition of his slaughter supplies a probable explanation.

No record exists to prove the date of John Grant Roy's death. Matilda of Glencarnie died before 31st January 1434, leaving by her husband one son, Duncan Grant, afterwards Sir Duncan Grant of Freuchie, the subject of the next memoir. How long before that date her death occurred has not been ascertained. The retour of her son as heir to her does not state that the lands were in the hands of the king for any lengthened period of time.

The testimony of the "Kinrara Manuscript" regarding the parentage of "Patrick McIan Roy" is interesting in view of the fact that in 1473 Marjory Lude, a widow, styling herself "Lady of half the barony of Freuchie," alienated her lands of Auchnarrows, Downan, Port, and Dalfour to her "carnal son," Patrick Grant. Vol iii, of this work, p. 30 This Patrick was surnamed Reoch or Roy, and died before 2d December 1508, without male issue, as his heir in 1565 is stated to be a grandson, Nicolas Cumming. Gift of Non-entries and Charter at Castle Grant.

Volume 1 Chapter 5