SIR IAN CHARLES GRANT OGILVIE, BARONET, EIGHTH EARL OF SEAFIELD, ETC., SECOND BARON STRATHSPEY OF STRATHSPEY. BORN 1851. SUCCEEDED 1881.
[495] THE present chief of the Grants represents the twenty-first generation in direct lineal male descent from Sir Laurence Grant, who was Sheriff of the county of Inverness in the year 1258. The Master of Grant was born in Moray Place, Edinburgh, on 7th October 1851. After being under the care of tutors, he studied for some years at Eton. His father having served in the navy and his grandfather having been long an officer in the army, following in the footsteps of the latter, the Master of Grant made choice of the army as a profession, and received his first commission as a cornet and sub-lieutenant in the First Regiment of Life Guards, on 8th December 1869. He became lieutenant in October 1871, and retired from the service in January 1877.The day on which the present Lord Seafield attained his majority, 7th October 1872, was celebrated with great rejoicings throughout the length and breadth of the Grant and Seafield estates. On that occasion the young chief, then Viscount Reidhaven and Master of Grant, received from the tenants of the Strathspey estates a present of his own portrait, which was appropriately the work of the late Sir Francis Grant, the distinguished President of the Royal Academy. The widespread interest taken in this presentation, The letter which offered the portrait for acceptance bore nearly one thousand signatures, the great proportion being of the name of Grant. (The account of the proceedings here given is quoted from the "Memorial of the Majority of the Right Honourable Viscount Reidhaven, Master of Grant:" Banff, 1872.) even more than the words with which it was prefaced, show the deep attachment which the clansmen bore to the young chief, not only for his father's sake but for his own.
The task of making the presentation was devolved by the tenantry on the gallant General Sir Patrick Grant, who in performing his duty addressed his Lordship in the following felicitous terms: "Master of [496] Grant, I use that title as the most dear to all Strathspey men, I am deputed by the Strathspey tenantry, and by your clansmen elsewhere, to beg you to accept, on this auspicious occasion, a portrait of yourself; painted by an artist of world-wide fame, our clansman Sir Francis Grant. We beg you to receive this token of heartfelt regard from a tenantry and clan devoted to the family of their chief, for here in our native Strathspey, however it may be elsewhere, the grand old feudal feeling is as strong and enduring as ever. Master of Grant, never forget that this is the oldest possession of your race.
Within the bounds of fair Strathspey our ancient clan reside:
We have been here eight hundred years, eight hundred more we'll bide.
And, as in all time past, so in all time to come I trust it may be said of us, 'Cha neil Granndach aun Straspe, ach duine treun urramach." Translation: "There is not a Grant in Strathspey who is not a valiant, honourable man." Master of Grant, may God's choicest blessings be showered upon you, and enable you to do your duty to your ancient name, and to the honoured parents who have so well done their duty to you; and when, in the fullness of time, you succeed to your princely inheritance - God grant that the day be far distant - may you tread faithfully in the steps of your fathers, and be, as they have ever been, a very father to your clan and people. Master of Grant, it is now my grateful privilege, as spokesman for Strathspey, to present yourself to yourself."
The portrait was then unveiled, and the Master of Grant acknowledged the gift in appropriate terms. "Sir Patrick Grant and gentlemen, 1 would that I knew of, or could for the occasion coin, a word of stronger, deeper meaning than gratitude; but even were there such a word, it would not, in the very least, express the very half of what my heart feels to you all for this magnificent token of goodwill and affection - affection to me as the son of your chief. The liberality and unanimity of the whole proceeding are all but unprecedented, and show how the Grants retain the old clan feeling, even to having my portrait painted by a P.R.A, himself a Grant, and with Craigellachie introduced into it, to remind me always to 'stand fast.' What you have done, and what Sir Patrick has to-day said, as spokesman [497] for Strathspey, will, please God, make me more earnestly strive to pass my life so as best to repay the love of my parents, and the anxiety the clan have felt that I should follow in their footsteps, and endeavour to be a worthy inheritor of our grand old name, a name made famous by so many. And it shall be my earnest endeavour to uphold it. My father will, I am sure, be pleased to give tile portrait a place amongst the many family pictures on the time-honoured walls of Castle Grant. My own is the first, I believe, ever presented by the clan and tenantry; hut in the old days they had other things to think of, in defending their native strath, in going out to fight, and very often doubtless returning from a good foray laden with booty instead of a portrait. I must now again beg of you, Sir Patrick Grant, and Mr. Donald Grant, who has taken so prominent a part in this movement, and members of committee and all the subscribers, both present and absent, to accept my heartfelt thanks for the honour you have this day done me. Mo chairdean tha mi fad nar comuin." Translation: "My friends, I am deeply indebted to you."
The tenantry and others in the Morayshire district of the Seafield estates at the same time made a handsome presentation of silver-plate, accompanied by an appropriate address, in which much kindly feeling and many good wishes were expressed to the young Chief On the same day, and for several following days, every possible effort was put forth in Strathspey, Moray, Banffshire, and Glen Urquhart, wherever the Grant and Seafield estates extend, to do honour to the occasion, and the sincere expressions of attachment and respect which every reference to the Chiefs of Grant called forth must have been extremely gratifying to the heir of that ancient line.
These presentations took place in a splendid pavilion which was erected for the occasion on the lawn opposite the front of the Castle. A banquet was given by Lord Seafield, the large number of guests invited to which tried the capacity of the pavilion, although it measured 120 feet in length by 60 feet in breadth. The whole arrangements for this auspicious occasion were carried out with complete success and entire satisfaction to all interested.
The bonfires were a great feature as well as the banquets, and set the [498] country ablaze. One of the largest was at Craggan, near Grantown. Sixty three horses were employed in the collection of the materials for it. The bonfire at Carron, however, was probably the largest, its pile being one hundred and twenty feet in circumference, and forty feet in height.' It illuminated the country for many miles around.
Since his retirement from the army, Lord Seafield has followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, and has taken a deep interest in the welfare of all on his estates. During the short time, also, that he has been a member of the House of Lords, he has been constant in his attendance, on all important questions acting loyally with his political party, and has uniformly applied himself with zeal to the duties which have devolved upon him.
ARMORIAL BEARINGS AS IN CERTIFICATE OF MATRICULATION BY THE LORD LYON KING-OF-ARMS, IN FAVOUR OF LEWIS ALEXANDER, EARL OF SEAFIELD, 1ST JULY 1824.
Quarterly, quartered, first and fourth grand quarters, quarterly, 1st and 4th argent, a lion passant guardant, gules, crowned with an imperial crown, or; 2d and 3d argent, a cross engrailed sable, for Ogilvie; second and third grand quarters gules, three antique crowns or, for Grant. The shield is encircled with an orange tawney ribbon - pendant the badge of a baronet of Nova Scotia.
Crests: - On the dexter side on a torse argent and gules, a lion rampant guardant, of the second, holding in his paws a plummet or, and having above it upon an escrol Tout Jour. On the sinister side, upon a torse gules and or, a burning hill proper, having upon an escrol above it, Craig-elachie.
Supporters: - On the dexter side a lion rampant guardant, or, armed gules, and on the sinister a savage or naked man, bearing upon his left shoulder a club, proper, and wreathed about the head and middle with laurel, vert.
Motto: - Stand fast.
Badges for Grant. - Scotch Fir and Cranberry. For Ogilvie the Evergreen Alkanet.
War Cry - Craig-Elachie - the rock of alarm.
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Volume 1 Chapter 21 |
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