Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 22.djvu/405

Rh GRANT, JOSEPH (1805–1835), Scottish poet, was born 26 May 1805 at his father's farm of Affrusk in Kincardineshire. As a child he was employed on the farm in the summer, and during the winter picked up what learning he could at a village school. When only fourteen he began to write verses. In 1831 he was engaged as assistant to a shopkeeper at Stonehaven, and afterwards was employed as a clerk at Dundee, first in the office of the 'Guardian' newspaper, and then in that of a writer to the signet. He died 14 April 1835 at Affrusk. Grant's poems, often, like his prose tales, of much merit, were mainly written in Scots, but some are in English. Besides tales and sketches contributed to 'Chambers's Journal' between 1830 and 1835, he published: 1. 'Juvenile Lays,'; 1828. 2. 'Kincardineshire Traditions,' 1830, in verse. At the time of his death he was preparing 3. 'Tales of the Glens: with Ballads and Songs.' This collection was published in 1836, 'with a memoir of the author by R. Nicoll.'

[Memoir by R. Nicoll; Anderson's Scottish Nation, ii. 370.]  GRANT, LUDOVICK (1650?–1716), of Grant, was eldest son of James Grant, seventh laird of Freuchie, and his wife, Lady Mary, only daughter of James Stewart, second earl of Murray (d. 1638). He was educated at the university of St. Andrews, and, being still under age when his father died in 1663, was for a time under the guardianship of his uncle, Lieutenant-colonel Patrick Grant, who thus became known as 'tutor of Grant.' On 26 Dec. 1671 he married Janet, only daughter of Alexander Brodie of Lethen, Nairnshire (Diaries of the Lairds of Brodie, Spalding Club, p. 323). During the rising of the covenanters in 1679 he was summoned with his clan to the assistance of the government. His wife, however, was a strong sympathiser with the presbyterians, and frequently received the ministers in her house. For this offence she and her husband were summoned in 1685 before commissioners appointed by the privy council, and Grant was condemned to pay a fine of 42,500l. Scots. He appealed to the king, and on account of his previous services obtained a remission. His father-in-law had been at the same time fined 40,000l. Scots for a similar offence, and to secure his safety Grant was constrained to pay three-fourths of the amount. The money paid by Grant is said to have been given by James to the Scots College at Douay. At the revolution an order rescinding the fine was obtained, but the money could not be recovered.

In 1681 Grant represented the county of Elgin in the Scottish parliament, and when the Test Act was under consideration he, along with Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, took exception to some part of the procedure, and demanded that his protest should be placed on the minutes. James, then duke of York, was present and presided as commissioner for his brother, Charles II, and observing Grant's persistence remarked from the throne: 'His highland majesty need not be afraid, the protest shall be marked.' Grant was not opposed to the claim of James VII to the British throne, and on Argyll's insurrection in 1685 raised a regiment on the king's side from among his own kinsmen and vassals.

At the revolution, however, he declared for the Prince of Orange, and was an active member of the convention of estates which met at Edinburgh in 1689. He was one of a committee appointed to report on the state of the highlands. He raised a regiment in support of the government of between seven and eight hundred men, and was appointed its colonel in April 1689, about which time also he was constituted sheriff of Inverness-shire, an office which he held until his death (Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, ix. 1-100 passim). He rendered material assistance to General Mackay in his campaign in the highlands against Dundee at considerable expense, which was never made good by the government. It was on his lands and in the neighbourhood of Castle Grant that the final battle of 'the haughs of Cromdale' was fought between the adherents of James VII and the troops of the Prince of Orange (, Memoirs, p. 95).

Grant was chosen parliamentary representative for the county of Inverness, and sat as such until the dissolution of the Scottish parliament in 1707. He was frequently employed on parliamentary commissions. One of these visited the universities of the kingdom and dealt with disloyal professors, while another regulated the plantation of churches.

In 1694 Grant obtained a crown charter erecting his barony of Freuchie into the regality of Grant. His castle, which was formerly known as Ballachastell, became Castle Grant, and Castleton became the village of Grantown, while his own designation of laird of Freuchie was changed to laird of Grant. In 1677 he became proprietor of the estate of Pluscarden, Elgin. It was purchased for 5,000l., the money being provided by his father-in-law, the laird of Brodie, who stipulated that the lands should form the inheritance of his daughter's second son.

By his first wife, Janet Brodie, Grant had five sons and four daughters. Three of the sons held high positions in the army. His 