Graham

Gaelic Name: Greumach

Clan Crest: A falcon Proper, beaked and armed Or, killing a stork Argent, armed Gules

Clan Motto: Ne Oublie (Do not forget)

Origin of Name: Old English, graeham (greyhome)

Clan Badge: Laurel

Lands: Loch Katrine, Perthshire, Dundee, and Montrose

Clan Chief: His Grace The Duke of Montrose

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Graham Clan History

According to legend, Greme, a great Caledonian chief, broke the Antonine Wall while driving the Roman legions out of his country. Unfortunately, this may never be proven. According to the records, the first Graham known in Scotland was Sir William de Graham, a knight who accompanied England's premier baron, David I, on his journey north to claim the Scottish throne.

He witnessed the foundation charter of the Abbey of Holyrood in 1128. The name Sir William can be traced back to the English manor of Grey Home, which is mentioned in William the Conqueror's Doomsday Book.

The first Earl of Montrose was created in 1504 in memory of William, 3rd Lord Graham, who was killed in the Battle of Flodden in 1513.

But it was the 5th Earl and first Marquis, James Graham, who established the name as one of Europe's greatest generals. In 1644 and 1645, he effectively stopped the terror of the Calvinists and Campbells with the smallest of forces. Pushing across the border, however, his small army was caught off guard on September 13th, 1645. Despite his escape, his men and their families who accompanied him at the time surrendered and were rounded up. General David Lesley was initially willing to spare their lives, but Calvinists persuaded him to slaughter every man, woman, and child.

Montrose was made a mareschal by the Germans and a similar honor by the French in Europe, but he returned to Orkney in 1650 to reclaim Scotland for Charles II. He was betrayed and executed as a criminal in Edinburgh, with every possible degradation. For ten years, his body parts were displayed in cities across the kingdom until Charles II was restored and Scotland's largest ever State funeral was arranged for him.

He was a poet and scholar as well as a fighter, and on the eve of his death, he wrote:

Let them bestow a limb on every airt.

Then open all of my veins so I can swim.

In that crimson lake, to Thee, my Maker;

Then I'll stake my parboiled head.

Scatter my ashes, strew them through the air.-

Lord! Because You know where all these atoms are,

I'm optimistic. Once you've recovered my dust,

And I am confident that Thou wilt raise me among the just.

John Graham of Claverhouse, known as Bonnie Dundee to his friends and Bloody Claverhouse to his enemies, was a later thorn in the side of the Calvinists. In 1689, he died fighting for the last Stewart King in the Killiecrankie Pass.

In 1782, James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose, persuaded Parliament to repeal the law that prohibited Scots from wearing tartan.

Graham Places & People

Clan Graham Individuals

Sir John de Graham (1235-1298)

Falkirk friend and "Right Hand of Wallace" who died there.

James Graham, 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Lancaster (1612-1650)

"The Great Montrose" is a legendary figure and one of history's greatest military minds. He was a soldier, a poet, a scholar, and a loving husband who wrote, "He either fears his fate too much, or his deserts are small who dares not put it to the touch to gain or loose it all."

John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee (1648-1689) was a great military leader and diplomat who led the Highland Scottish clans to victory in the first Jacobite rising at the Battle of Killiecrankie. In 1689, he died on the battlefield at Killiecrankie.

Graham, James (1745-1794).

It is unclear whether Graham, a devout vegetarian, ever graduated from his medical studies in Edinburgh, but he made a living by performing remedies and selling medicines across Britain and America. He liked the limelight, which was fortunate because he was imprisoned for fraud on several occasions.

He was also described in the "Dictionary of National Biography" as "a quack and possibly a madman."

Graham, James Gillespie (1776-1855)

James Gillespie, who was born in Dunblane, was the Clerk of Works on Skye when his career as an architect took off with a commission for the County Buildings of Cupar.

When he married heiress Margaret Graham in 1810, he took the surname Graham. St John's Tollbooth and St Mary's Church in Edinburgh, as well as Taymouth Castle in Perthshire, were among the buildings he went on to design.

Graham, Sylvester (1794-1851).

The Graham Cracker's creator.

Graham, Thomas (1805-1869)

Graham, a fourteen-year-old student at Glasgow University, went on to become a Professor of Chemistry there, where he advanced his research into arsenates and phosphates. He left Glasgow for University College London, where he would eventually become Master of the Mint.

He established the law of gas diffusion and the fundamentals of colloid chemistry, and his statue was erected in Glasgow's George Square in his honor.

Mr. Kenneth Grahame

Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932)

Grahame, who claimed descent from Robert the Bruce, was the son of an Edinburgh advocate and attended St Edward's College, Oxford. He began his career as a clerk at the Bank of England in 1879 and rose through the ranks to become Secretary of the Bank by 1898.

He is best known for his writing, which he began in 1886. He wrote for the "National Observer" and the "Yellow Book" magazines. For health reasons, he retired from the bank in 1908 and published his most popular work, "The Wind in the Willows," which he had written for his son.

Graham Tartans

Graham of Montrose the Elder

Graham of Montrose Contemporary

Graham of Menteith the Elder

Menteith Modern Graham

Weathered Graham of Menteith

Menteith Red Graham

Graham Crest & Coats of Arms

Clan Graham Crest

Crest Description: A proper falcon, beaked and armed. Or, a stork killed Argent, armed Gules

Coats of Arms for Graham:

A word about Coats of Arms:

A coat of arms is granted to an individual under Scottish heraldic law (with the exception of civic or corporate arms). A 'family coat of arms' does not exist. With the exceptions noted above, the arms depicted below are personal arms. Only the person who has been granted these weapons has the right to use them.