![]() Controlling the crossing of the river was a major source of income and employment.Īs the lands were consolidated and extended, there was room for more and more cadets (younger sons of the Chiefs). ![]() As time went by the landholdings in Strathspey were consolidated until they stretched “between the Two Craigelachies” on both sides of the river. Some were originally MacGregor kinsmen who adopted the name when their own was proscribed, while others, the so-called Trochie Grants were originally Farquharsons – descending from children who had been orphaned as a result of battle between Grants and Gordons on one side and Farquharsons on the other. ![]() But not all Grants have acquired their name in this way. The ordinary Clansmen – beyond the chiefly family itself – adopted the surname when they marched off to assist the king at Berwick in 1482. Gradually they consolidated their position, eventually disposing of Stratherrick where the last tract of land was given up in 1420. In 1316 Robert the Bruce rewarded the highland Grants for their loyalty with the barony of Inverallan – after a gap of over 200 years they were back in Strathspey. Return to Strathspey and Consolidation there Among these Richard Grant left Scotland to become Chancellor of Lincoln and subsequently Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Grant was the English King’s visor at York, William Grant the English King’s messenger in Ireland and another William Grant had the honour of acting as the protector of the English princess Margaret when she came to be Alexander III’s queen in Scotland. Stratherrick was not sufficiently rich to sustain younger sons in much style and soon many of those who did not stand to inherit were to be found in England and Ireland and as townspeople throughout the islands. Its basic meaning is “Gritty” – and the Grants have always shown “true Grit”. The name Grant was adopted as surname about 1175, although it was almost certainly a by-name from 1060. Several heads of the family at this time served as Sheriff of Inverness in that post’s various guises. These lands, together with others round Loch Freuchie near Dunkeld, were lost after 1098 when the usurping king Edgar seized the throne with Norman support and Olav was executed but 50 years later our pre-Grant ancestors were re-established on the banks of Loch Ness at Boleskine, becoming Lords of Stratherrick for some 180 years. ![]() Our crest, the “Burning Hill proper” reflects this as does the War Cry “Craigelachie” our Motto, “Stand Fast” reflects our attitude towards any attack coming from that direction. The ancestors of the Grants were in Strathspey during the reign of Malcolm III, their main tasks being to ensure that the beacon atop Craigelachie (by Aviemore) was lit to warn the king – and the rest of Lowland Scotland – if danger threatened from the North. In the tinctures (the colours), the vassalage to Malcolm is acknowledged." The Crowns on the Chief’s Arms represent the Spirit of Victory. The Clan’s plant badge, the “Seedling Scots Pine, fructed proper”, echoes the Norse origins of the first Chiefly line. Our patriarch, Olav Hemingsson came North with Malcolm III around 1057. The Chiefs’ ancestral lines go back to Håkon the Mighty, protector of Norway (970-995), Grig, (“Gregory the Great”) Regent of Scotland (878-889), Heming the Great, King of Denmark (fl. "DNA evidence established in 2007 has now conclusively vindicated the Grant Seannachies of the past who were unanimous that the original Grant Chiefs were of Viking stock.
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