Viscounts Dundee (1688)
1st Viscount Dundee, John Graham, b.1648, a.1688, d.1689
John Graham, was the son of Sir William Graham, 6th of
Claverhouse (an estate near Dundee) and his wife Magdalene Carnegie, daughter
of John Carnegie, 1st Earl of Northesk. Sir
William was descended from Robert Graham of Strathcarron and Fintry, a younger
son of Sir William Graham of Kincardine (from whom are also descended the earls
of Montrose), and his second wife Matilda
Scrymgeour, daughter of Sir James Scrymgeour of Dudhope, Constable of Dundee
and Hereditary Standard-Bearer (for whom see the earls of Dundee).
John Graham was educated at the University of St Andrews, where he showed
aptitude for mathematics. He joined the British Army in 1672 and fought for the
French in the Scots Regiment under James, Duke of Monmouth, and in 1674 joined
the Prince of Orange’s guard, whence he was made a Captain after saving the
Prince after a fall at the Battle of Seneffe. After the unsuccessful siege of
Maastricht, he returned to Scotland and was given a commission by Charles II to
suppress the Covenanters in Dumfries and Galloway, a task which he took to with
relish, becoming known as Bloody Cavers, although he made little real impact due
to the small size of the forces available to him. He was defeated by a
Covenanter brigade at the Battle of Drumclog, after which he fled to Glasgow,
where he managed to organise defensive action until joined by Monmouth,
whereupon the Covenanters were defeated at the Battle of Bothwell Brig. In 1680
he was sent to London by Monmouth and proceeded to impress the King, who handed
him estates, and made him Sheriff of Wigtown and Colonel of a new regiment
raised in Scotland, and in 1683 he was admitted to the Privy Council and given
the additional lands of Dudhope near Dundee that had been defaulted by the Charles
Maitland, 3rd Earl of Lauderdale. In
1685 Graham was responsible for the execution John Brown in cold blood in front
of his wife and children for refusing to acknowledge the King. He was promoted
to the rank of Major-General in 1686 and was second-in-command of the Scottish
Royalist Army sent south at the Revolution, at which point he was created 1st
Viscount Dundee and 1st Lord Graham of Claverhouse. Returning to
Scotland, he tried to negotiate with the other Scottish Royalists to secure
Edinburgh Castle for the King, but failing this retired to Dudhope. After James
was overthrown, Graham raised the Jacobite standard in Dundee and attracted the
commitment of many of the Highland clans. He left for the Highlands pursued by
a Royal army led by General Mackay. The two sides met near Blair Castle at the
Pass of Killiecrankie, where the Highlanders, led by Ewen Cameron of Lochiel,
waited for nightfall before charging the Government lines, sweeping them aside.
Although this was a major victory, it was at the cost of large numbers of
clansmen, and Dundee had been fatally wounded. The following month, the
Jacobites failed to take Dunkeld despite superior numbers, giving the
Covenanters time to consolidate and re-inforce, and the chance had been lost.
Shortly afterwards, the memory of Dundee’s spirit and loyalty to the Jacobite
cause was romanticised in poem and song and he gained the epithet ‘Bonnie
Dundee’.
2nd Viscount Dundee, James Graham, b.1689, a.1689, d.1689
Son of the 1st Viscount and Jean Cochrane (b.?, d.1695),
sister of John Cochrane, 2nd Earl of Dundonald.
3rd Viscount Dundee, David Graham, b.?,
a.1689, d.1700
Younger brother of the 1st Viscount. He fought alongside his
brother at Killiecrankie and was outlawed the following year, after which he
retired to join James in exile. His son William Graham assumed the title in the
Jacobite Peerage and was forfeited after the 1715 Rebellion, and his grandson
James Graham, also calling himself viscount, was forfeited for his part in the
1745 Uprising.
(Last updated: 07/09/2011)