William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith (c. 1500 – c. 1543) was a Scottish magnate and third

Earl of Menteith The Mormaer or Earl of Menteith was the ruler of the province of Menteith in the Middle Ages. The first mormaer is usually regarded as Gille Críst (or Gilchrist), simply because he is the earliest on record. The title was held in a continuous ...

Biography

He was the son of

Alexander Graham, 2nd Earl of Menteith Alexander Graham, 2nd Earl of Menteith (May 6, 1472 –c. 1537) was a Scottish magnate. Biography Graham appears in the records of Scotland as the Earl of Menteith in 1493. Likely the grandson of Malise Graham, it is of some debate whethe ...

(c. 1475 – c. 1537), and Margaret Buchanan. He was the great-grandson of

Malise Graham, 1st Earl of Menteith Malise Graham, 1st Earl of Menteith (c. 1407–1490) was a 15th-century Scottish magnate, who was the heir to the Scottish throne between 1437 and 1451, if Elizabeth Mure's children were not counted as lawful heirs (a question that hadn't been ad ...

(1406–1490). In 1521 he married Margaret Moubray, daughter of John Moubray of Barnbougle (she had previously been married to John Cornwall before his death in 1513), and they had five sons and two daughters, including: * Lady Margaret Graham, who married

Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll Archibald Campbell, 4th Earl of Argyll or Archibald "the Red" Campbell (c. 1507 – 1558), was a Scottish nobleman and politician. Biography Archibald Campbell was the eldest son of Colin Campbell, 3rd Earl of Argyll (died 1529) and Lad ...

* John Graham, who succeeded his father as Earl of Menteith * Lady Christian Graham, who married William Livingstone of Kilsyth, their eldest son was

William Livingstone of Kilsyth Sir William Livingstone of Kilsyth (died 1627) was a Scottish landowner and courtier. He was a son of William Livingstone of Kilsyth and Christian Graham, a daughter of William Graham, 3rd Earl of Menteith and Margaret Mowbray of Barnbougle, wid ...

On 20 May 1527, when he was titled

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

of Menteith, he ran away from the King's army at Solway, but was pardoned despite it being considered an act of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

.''Complete Peerage'' vol VIII p 670, citing ''Registrum Secreti Sigilli Regum Scotorum'' vol i no 3775. He became the third Earl, receiving

sasine Sasine in Scots law is the delivery of feudal property, typically land. Feudal property means immovable property, and includes everything that naturally goes with the property. For land, that would include such things as buildings, trees, and unde ...

of the Earldom on 16 May 1537. After the death of

King James V James V (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) was King of Scotland from 9 September 1513 until his death in 1542. He was crowned on 21 September 1513 at the age of seventeen months. James was the son of King James IV and Margaret Tudor, and duri ...

in 1542, William was an opponent of the English interest in Scotland and on 24 July 1543 he signed a

bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...

made by

Cardinal Beaton David Beaton (also Beton or Bethune; 29 May 1546) was Archbishop of St Andrews and the last Scottish cardinal prior to the Reformation. Career Cardinal Beaton was the sixth and youngest son of eleven children of John Beaton (Bethune) of Bal ...

to stop

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

of England from getting possession of the infant

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scot ...

.''Complete Peerage'' vol VIII p 671, citing ''Calendar of Hamilton Papers'' vol i p 631. William Graham was killed in a clan fight some time in autumn 1543, but certainly by 23 January 1544; some sources state that he was killed in October 1543 by the Tutor of Appin (a member of the Stewart family), after the Stewarts and their army ate a wedding feast to which the Earl had been invited.''Complete Peerage'' vol VIII p 671, citing ''Red Book of Menteith'' vol i p 310. Some accounts also tell of the Murrays of Athole being the raiders of the feast. According to most stories, a band of Stewarts were passing through

Menteith Menteith or Monteith ( gd, Mòine Tèadhaich), a district of south Perthshire, Scotland, roughly comprises the territory between the Teith and the Forth. Earlier forms of its name include ''Meneted'', ''Maneteth'' and ''Meneteth''. (Historically ...

and happened upon a wedding feast. They ate up all the food, drank all the wine, and left within a short while. The Earl pursued them and was slain or mortally wounded by the robbers. Historian Andrew Fleming Hutchison recorded the colorful details this way:

Another version f Graham’s deathsends the men of Athole to the Isle on a friendly visit. The Earl happened to be out at the time, but his dinner was cooked and waiting his return. The Murrays, probably thinking it a good joke, gathered up the roasted fowls destined for his dinner and took their departure. Soon the Earl arrived and, learning what had occurred, set off in eager and angry pursuit up the slopes of Mondhui. The leader of the Murrays turned in a friendly way, no doubt intending to explain the joke, and as he saw the Earl fitting an arrow to his bow, he shouted out as he handled his own, "Over me and over you!” ”No", cried the incensed Earl, "in me and in you!” And in him it was, for the Murray's arrow pierced his heart. His men, however, drove the enemy over the hill and returned with their dying master to the Isle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menteith, William Graham, 3rd Earl of 1500 births 1540s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Earls or mormaers of Menteith

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

16th-century Scottish peers