John Grant of Freuchie (d. 1622)

John Grant of Freuchie (c. 1568 - 1622), Scottish landowner.

John was the fifth laird of Freuchie, now called Castle Grant, a mile north of Grantown-on-Spey. His other property was Ballachastell, near Inverness.

He was the eldest son of Duncan Grant (d. 1582) and Margaret Mackintosh. John Grant became head of the family when his grandfather died in 1592.

He married Lilias Murray, a daughter of Sir John Murray of Tullibardine in 1591. The marriage contract was signed on the 15 April, and James VI of Scotland and probably his wife Anne of Denmark rode from Linlithgow Palace to attend the wedding itself at Tullibardine on 21 June 1591.[1] At the wedding King James and his valet John Wemyss of Logie performed a masque in costume.[2] Anne of Denmark went on to Perth where she made a ceremonial entry to the town a few days later.[3]

In December 1601 Alexander Falconer of Halkerton wrote to Grant saying he had not yet found him a greyhound, the plague was evil in Edinburgh, and the official narrative of the Gowrie House conspiracy was just printed.[4]

In 1608 he plotted with his brother-in-law William, Master of Tullibardine and Mr James Stewart, Commissary of Dunkeld, to help the Earl of Atholl escape from Edinburgh Castle.[5]

In March 1613 James VI and I ordered him to pursue Allester MacAllester Vreik and Duncan McVcEandowy of the Clan Gregor and their followers. In August 1613 Grant found Allester McAllester in his territory, and captured him, and on the same day his men tried to take Duncan McVcEandowy, but he escaped.[6]

In 1618 John Taylor, the London Water Poet, visited the Grants at Ballachastell on his pilgrimage in Scotland. They entertained him lavishly for four days with other house guests including four earls, a lord, and several knights and their retainers.[7]

Grant was sometimes an ally of the Earl of Huntly; in 1592 he was a cautioner for one of the earl's debts, and his wife, Henrietta Stewart, Marchioness of Huntly wrote to him about a business bond in 1610.[8]

John Grant died on 20 September 1622. His son John became the sixth laird of Freuchie.

Family

John Grant and Lilias Murray had the following children;[9]

  • John Grant, later Laird of Freuchie (1596-1637), married Mary Ogilvie of Deskford.
  • Annas or Agnes Grant (c. 1594 - c. 1622), she married (1) Lachlan Mackintosh of Dunachton in 1611, (2) William Mackintosh.
  • Jean or Janet Grant (b. 1597), married William Sutherland younger of Duffus.
  • Lilias Grant (b. 1599), married Sir William Innes of Balveny.
  • Katherine Grant (b. 1604), married Alexander Ogilvie of Kempcairn.

References
  1. W. Boyd & H. Meikle, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), pp. 533–5.
  2. Michael Pearce, 'Anna of Denmark: Fashioning a Danish Court in Scotland', The Court Historian, 24:2 (2019) p. 149: Maria Hayward, Stuart Style (Yale, 2020), p. 59: Jemma Field, Anna of Denmark: The Material and Visual Culture of the Stuart Courts (Manchester, 2020), p. 135.
  3. Anna J. Mill, Mediaeval Plays in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1927), p. 90: W. Boyd & H. Meikle, Calendar State Papers Scotland, vol. 10 (Edinburgh, 1936), p. 540.
  4. William Fraser, The chiefs of Grant: Correspondence (Edinburgh, 1883). p. 39.
  5. David Masson, Register of the Privy Council of Scotland: 1607-1610, vol. 8 (Edinburgh, 1887), pp. 221, 546.
  6. William Fraser, The chiefs of Grant: Correspondence (Edinburgh, 1883), p. 6: J. R. N. MacPhail, Highland Papers, vol. 3 (SHS, Edinburgh, 1920), pp. 134-5.
  7. John Taylor, 'Pennilesse Pilgrimage', All the Workes of John Taylor, the Water Poet (London, 1630), p. 137.
  8. William Fraser, The chiefs of Grant: Correspondence (Edinburgh, 1883), pp. 4, 39.
  9. William Fraser, The chiefs of Grant: Memoirs (Edinburgh, 1883), pp. 195-6.
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