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DUNDEE, JOHN GRAHAM OF CLAVERHOUSE, V...

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 674 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DUNDEE, See also:JOHN See also:GRAHAM OF CLAVERHOUSE, See also:VISCOUNT (c. 1649-1689) , Scottish soldier, was the See also:elder son of See also:Sir See also:William Graham and See also:Lady Madeline See also:Carnegie. Of his youth little See also:record has been kept; but in the See also:year 1665 he became a student at the university of St See also:Andrews. His See also:education was upon the whole See also:good, as appears from the varied and valuable See also:correspondence of his later years. See also:Young Graham was destined for a military career; and after about four years he proceeded abroad as a volunteer in the service of See also:France. In 1673 or 1674 he went to See also:Holland, and obtained a cornetcy, and he was soon raised to the See also:rank of See also:captain, as a See also:reward for having saved the See also:life of the See also:prince of See also:Orange at the See also:battle of Seneff. A few years later, being disappointed in his hopes of obtaining a See also:regiment, Graham resigned his See also:commission. In the beginning of 1677 he returned to See also:England, bearing, it is said, letters of strong recommendation from the prince to See also:Charles II. and the See also:duke of See also:York. In 1678 he became a See also:lieutenant, and soon afterwards captain of a See also:troop, in the regiment commanded by his relative the See also:marquis of See also:Montrose. The task before him was the suppression of the See also:Covenanters' See also:rebellion. To this he brought, over and above the feelings of romantic See also:loyalty and the See also:cavalier spirit, which in his See also:case was See also:free from its usual defects, a hatred of the Covenanters which was based largely on his See also:hero-See also:worship of the See also:great Montrose. Further, his uncompromising disposition and unmistakable capacity at once marked him out as a See also:leader upon whom the See also:government could rely.

But the difficulties of his task, the open or See also:

secret 'hostility of the whole See also:people, and the nature and extent of the 'See also:country he was required to See also:watch, were too great for the leader of a small See also:body of See also:cavalry, and in spite of his vigorous and energetic See also:action, Graham accomplished but little. He entered, however, upon his occupation with zest, and interpreted consistently the orders he received. There is See also:evidence, also, that his efforts were appreciated at headquarters in his See also:appointment, jointly with the See also:laird of Earlshall, his subaltern, to the See also:office of See also:sheriff-depute of See also:Dumfries and Annandale in See also:March 1679, with powers—specially narrated in his commission—anent " separation," conventicles, " disorderly baptisms and marriages," and the like. For some years thereafter the position of Graham was in the highest degree difficult and delicate. In the midst of enemies, and in virtue of the most erroneous but See also:direct orders of his government, he combined the functions of soldier, See also:spy, prosecutor and See also:judge. Shortly after the See also:murder of See also:Archbishop See also:Sharp (1679), he was summoned to increased activity. There were reports of rebels gathering near See also:Glasgow, and Graham went in pursuit. On the 1st of See also:June, the Covenanters being in a well-protected position upon the marshy ground of Drumclog, Graham advanced to the attack. Hindered by the ground, he had to wait till the impatience of his adversaries induced them to commence an impetuous attack. The See also:charge of the Covenanters routed the royal cavalry, who turned and fled, Graham himself having a narrgw See also:escape. This was the only See also:regular engagement he had with the Covenanters. The See also:enthusiasm raised by this victory was the beginning of a serious and open rebellion.

On the 22nd of June Graham was See also:

present at the battle of See also:Bothwell See also:Bridge, at the See also:head of his own troop. Immediately thereafter he was commissioned to See also:search the See also:south-western shires for those who had taken See also:part in the insurrection. In this See also:duty he seems to have been engaged till the See also:early part of 168o, when he disappears for a See also:time from the record of these stringent See also:measures. The wide See also:powers given to him by his commission were most sparingly used, and the gravest See also:accusation made against him in reference to this See also:period is that he was a robber. He was, in any case, an See also:advocate of rigorous measures, and his own systematic and calculated terrorism, directed principally against the ringleaders, proved far more efficacious than' the irregular and haphazard brutalities of other commanders. During these months he was despatched to See also:London, along with See also:Lord See also:Linlithgow, to See also:influence the mind of Charles II. against the indulgent method adopted by See also:Monmouth with the extreme Covenanting party. The See also:king seems to have been fascinated by his loyal supporter, and from that moment Graham was destined to rise in rank and honours. Early in 168o he obtained a royal See also:grant of the See also:barony of the outlawed Macdougal of Freuch, and the grant was after some delay confirmed by subsequent orders upon the See also:exchequer in See also:Scotland. In See also:April 168o it appears that his roving commission had been withdrawn by the privy See also:council. He is thus free from all concern with the severe measures which followed the See also:Sanquhar See also:Declaration of the 22nd of June 1680. The turbulence occasioned by the passing of the Test See also:Act of 1681 required to be quelled by a strong See also:hand; and in the beginning of the following year Graham was again commissioned to act in the disaffected districts. In the end of See also:January he was appointed to the sheriff See also:ships of See also:Wigtown, Dumfries, See also:Kirkcudbright and Annandale.

He retained his commission in the army—the pernicious See also:

combination of his offices being thus repeated. He appears further to have had powers of life and " See also:Death, desolation, ruin and decay." The result of a See also:bitter See also:quarrel between Graham and Sir John Dalrymple, who, with many others of the gentry, was far from active in the See also:execution of the government's orders, confirmed his See also:prestige. Graham was acquitted by the privy council of the charges of exaction and oppression preferred against him, and Sir John condemned to See also:fine and imprisonment for interference with his proceedings. In See also:December 1682 Graham was appointed See also:colonel of a new regiment raised in Scotland. He had still greater honours in view. In January 1683 the case of the See also:earl of See also:Lauderdale, See also:late See also:Maitland of See also:Hatton, was debated in the See also:House of Lords. Maitland was proprietor of the lands and lordship of Dundee and Dudhope, and the See also:decree of the Lords against him was in March 1683 issued for the sum of £72,000. Graham succeeded in having part of the See also:property of the defaulter transferred to him by royal grant, and in May he was nominated to the privy council of Scotland. Shortly afterwards Claverhouse was appointed to be present at the sittings of the See also:Circuit See also:Court of See also:Justiciary in See also:Stirling, Glasgow, Dumfries and See also:Jedburgh, recently instituted for the See also:imposition of the test and the See also:punishment of rebels. Several were sentenced to death. During the See also:rest of the year he attended the meetings of council, in which he displayed the spirit of an obedient soldier rather than that of a statesman capable of See also:independent views. There is, however, one record of his direct and efficacious interference.

He declared decisively against the proposal to let loose the Highland marauders upon the south of Scotland. In June 1684 he was again at his old employment—the inspection of the See also:

southern shires; and in See also:August he was commissioned as second in command of the forces in See also:Ayr and Clydesdale to search out the rebels. By this time he was in See also:possession of Dudhope, and on the loth of June he married Lady See also:Jean, daughter of William, Lord Cochrane. As See also:constable of Dundee he recommended the remission of extreme punishment in the case of many See also:petty offences. He issued from his retirement to take part in a commission of lieutenancy which perambulated the southern districts as a criminal court; and in the end of the year he was again in the same region on the occasion of disturbances in the See also:town of Kirkcudbright. Shortly after the death of Charles II. (See also:February 1685) Graham incurred a temporary disgrace by his deposition from the office of privy councillor; but in May he was reinstated, although his commission of justiciary, which had expired, was not renewed. In May 1685 he was ordered with his cavalry to guard the See also:borders, and to scour the south-See also:west in search of rebels. By act of privy council, a certificate was required by all persons over sixteen years of See also:age to free them from the See also:hazard of attack from government officials. Without that they were at once liable to be called upon See also:oath to abjure the declaration of See also:Renwick, which was alleged to be treasonable. While on this See also:mission he pursued and overtook two men, one of whom, John See also:Brown, called the " See also:Christian See also:carrier," having refused the See also:abjuration oath, was shot dead. The See also:order was within the authorized powers of Graham.

In 1686 he was promoted to the rank of See also:

major-See also:general, and had added to his position of constable the dignity of See also:provost of Dundee. In 1688 he was second in command to General See also:Douglas in the See also:army which had been ordered to England to aid the falling See also:dynasty of the Stuarts. His influence with See also:James II. was great and of See also:long See also:standing, and amid the See also:hurry of events in this See also:critical time he was created Viscount Dundee on the 12th of See also:November 1688. Throughout the vexed journeyings of the king, Dundee is found accompanying or following him, endeavouring in vain to prompt him to make TI 674 his stand in England, and fight rather than flee from the invader. At last James announced his resolve to go to France, promising that he would send Dundee a commission to command the troops in Scotland. Dundee returned to Scotland in anticipation of the See also:meeting of the See also:convention, and at once exerted himself to confirm the waning See also:resolution of the duke of See also:Gordon with regard to holding See also:Edinburgh See also:Castle for the king. The convention proving hostile (March 16th, 1688), he conceived the See also:idea of forming another convention at Stirling to sit in the name of James II., but the hesitancy of his associates rendered the See also:design futile, and it was given up. Previous to this, on the 18th of March, he had See also:left Edinburgh at the head of a See also:company of fifty dragoons, who were strongly attached to his See also:person. He was not long gone ere the See also:news was brought to the alarmed convention that he had been seen clambering up the castle See also:rock and holding See also:conference with the duke of Gordon. In excitement and confusion order after order was despatched in reference to the fugitive. Dundee retired to Dudhope. On the 3oth of March he was publicly denounced as a traitor, and in the latter See also:half of April attempts were made to secure him at Dudhope, and at his See also:residence in Glen See also:Ogilvy.

But the secrecy and See also:

speed of his movements outwitted his pursuers, and he retreated to the See also:north. In the few years which had elapsed since 1678 he had risen, despite the opposition of his superiors in rank, from the See also:post of captain and the social status of a small Scottish laird to positions as a soldier and statesman and the favourite of his sovereigns, of the greatest dignity, influence and See also:wealth. In this period he had, justly or unjustly, earned the reputation of being a cruel and ruthless oppressor. When the ruling dynasty changed, and he had himself become an outlaw and a See also:rebel, he supported the cause of his exiled monarch with such skill and valour that his name and death are recorded as heroic. In the See also:Highlands his See also:diplomatic skill was used with effect amongst the chieftains. General See also:Hugh See also:Mackay was now in the See also:field against him, and a Highland See also:chase began. The See also:campaign resembled those of Montrose See also:forty years earlier. The regular troops were at a great disadvantage in the See also:wild Highland country, and Dundee, like Montrose, invariably anticipated his enemy. But, as usual, the army of the clans required the most careful management. After the first few See also:weeks of operations, Dundee's army melted away, and Mackay, unable to follow his opponent, retired also. Throughout the whole of the campaign Dundee was indefatigable in his exertions with the Highland chiefs and his communications with his exiled king. To the See also:day of his death he believed that formidable succour for his cause was about to arrive from See also:Ireland and France.

He justly considered himself at the head of the See also:

Stewart See also:interest in Scotland, and his despatches See also:form a record of the little incidents of the campaign, strangely combined with a See also:revelation of the designs of the statesman. It mattered little to him that on the 24th of See also:July a See also:price of 20,000 had been placed upon his head. The clans had begun to reassemble; he was now in command of a considerable force, and in July both sides took the field again. A contest for the castle of See also:Blair forced on the decision. Mackay, in his march towards that See also:place, entered the pass of See also:Killiecrankie, the battle-ground selected by Dundee and his See also:officers. Here, on the 17th-27th of July 1689, was fought the battle of Killiecrankie (q.v.). The Highlanders were completely victorious, but their leader, in the act of encouraging his men, was pierced beneath the breastplate by a See also:bullet of the enemy, and See also:fell dying from his See also:horse. Dundee asked "How goes the day ? " of a soldier, who replied, " Well for King James, but I am sorry for your lordship." The dying general replied, " If it goes well for him, it matters the less for me." Dundee was conveyed to the castle of Blair, where he died on the See also:night of the battle. Within an See also:hour or two of his death he wrote a See also:short See also:account of the engagement to King James. The battle, disastrous as it was to the government forces, was in reality the end of the insurrection, for the See also:control-See also:ling and commanding See also:genius of the rebellion was no more. Thedeath of Dundee, in the mist and the confusion of a cavalry charge, formed the subject of numerous legends, the best known of which is the long prevalent tradition that he was invulnerable to all bullets and was killed by a See also:silver See also:button from his own coat.

See See also:

Mark See also:Napier, Memorials and Letters of Graham of Claverhouse (1859-1862) ; See also:Bannatyne See also:Club, Letters of the Viscount Dundee (1826) ; C. S. See also:Terry, John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee; and authorities quoted in See also:Diet. Nat. Biogr., s.v.

End of Article: DUNDEE, JOHN GRAHAM OF CLAVERHOUSE, VISCOUNT (c. 1649-1689)

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