Viscount Dundee

John Graham, Viscount Dundee.

Was one of the earliest and certainly one of the greatest of the Jacobite leaders.
Graham was also known as Bonnie Dundee by his followers and Bluidy Clavers by the Covenanters.
Certainly, Dundee and his men committed many acts of extreme violence against the Covenanters, but these same Covenanters also committed many atrocities against the Kings army, most of which were overlooked by the writers of that time while the deeds of Dundee were well recorded.
The Covenanting areas of Scotland therefore regarded Dundee as the devil while the highland areas regarded him as a hero.
Born in 1643 at Old Claverhouse castle near Dundee, he was the oldest son of Sir William Graham of Claverhouse in Angus and the Lady Jean Carnegie.
He was a descendent of the Royal House of Stewart through the marriage of his ancestor, Sir William Graham, Lord Kincardine, who had married the second daughter of King Robert 111.
In the year 1660, at the age of 17, John Graham was sent to further his education at St. Andrews University and after several years there, he went to France where he entered French Military service in 1670.
He left the French service as a very accomplished soldier and went to Holland where he joined the Royal guard of the Prince of Orange. He distinguished himself at the Battle of seneffe where he save the life of the Dutch prince.
In 1677, he returned home to Scotland where he received the appointment of captain in the newly formed Scottish regiment.
In the early days of the reign of King James he was sent into the south of Scotland to quell the Covenanters who were in open rebellion against their King, led on and agitated by their ministers who were just as cruel in their condemnation of those outside their religion as any.
As a loyal servant to the Stewart Kings, John Graham obeyed the orders of his King.
To understand his ferocity against the Covenanters, it has to be explained who these people were and why they went against their Kings to start with.
In the reign of King Charles 1st. the Act of the Covenant was passed at Greyfriars Church in Edinburgh in February 1638 and this act was a direct result of the determination of King Charles to force a new English Episcopal prayer-book on the nation.
The Lowland Scots were incensed by this attempt to change their Presbyterian religion and saw it as a prelude to the return of the Roman Catholic Faith.
They declared their intention to defend their religion against errors and corruption and in 1638 an order was issued from the Supremem committee of the Covenaters at Edinburgh, calling out every man capable of bearing arms, to rise against the King.
When Charles the first had been executed, the Lord protector, Oliver Cromwell introduced the severe Calvanist religion to the country. Thois religion had suited the harsh Covenanting minister, and after Cromwell's death, they continued their fight into the reign of Charles 11, but by the time of King james, like most causes, the initial objective had become lost in a power struggle between the various religions for control of the masses.
King James, for his part, was determined to continue the Episcopalian form of worship, even though the southern half of Scotland was Presbyterian.
The Episcopal church, while being fundamentally Protestant, was so similar to the Roman catholic Church that the Presbyterian ministry wanted no part of it.
The Presbyterian religion in Scotland at this time was very severe, stern to the point of barbarism and certainly fanatical.
It's ministers forbade almost every form of entertainment to their congregations, although the restrictions they placed on their flocks did not always apply to themselves.
All forms of colour were removed from the churches and even stained glass windows were removed and replaced with clear glass for fear that a person might derive some pleasure from the beautifully pictorial windows. Ornaments of any description were forbidden in churches and singing in unison was also forbidden as his also indicated pleasure.
One unfortunate man who was heard singing to himself on a Sunday was whipped and put into prison.
Nor were these Covenanting ministers in any way innocent in the commission of many atrocities, and the Presbyterians, incited by these 'Men of God' committed many acts of murder and brutality.
They, who gave John Graham the name of 'Bluidy Clavers' were equally as bloody in the persecution of those who did not follow their religion and in the torture and execution of captured soldiers.
Under the guise of fighting for their religious beliefs, the ministers of the Presbyterian Church were actually fighting to hold on to their own authority over the people, therefore by the time of King James,the restoration of the Bishops had decreased their power over the people and a new breed of Covenanter ministers had emerged and their methods of torturing and killing exceeded even the extravagant cruelty administered by Graham of Claverhouse and the Kings Men.
The King was determine to stamp out this rebellion, and he ordered the closure of the Presbyterian churches. To practice the religion became a Capital offence and an act of treason, so the ministers took to the hills, where they held their services or Conventicles in secret, and they urged their followes to aggressively attack patrolling Dragoons on many occasions.
In effect, the Covenanters had armed themselves and became little more than a secret army in rebellion against their King.
While the King's men and Claverhouse were regarded as devils to be put down, those who suffered at the hands of the Royalist troops were regarded as Martyrs by the Covenanters.
Graham of Claverhouse was indeed totally ruthless in carrying out the orders of the King and wrought havoc across southern Scotland, the bastion of Covenanting and the wars of the Covenant had begun in earnest. 'The Killing Times' had truly started.
King James promoted Graham frrom Captain to Brigadier and then to General before raising him to the peerage on the 12th November 1688 and bestowing the titles of Viscount and Constable of Dundee on him.
Dundee continued his harrassment of the Covenanters until William of Orange usurped the throne and King James was forced into exile.
He continued to be fiercly loyal to James but the coming of King William, whom Dundee totaly rejected, put his wars with the Covenanters into the background and he now took up arms for the exiled King.
He raised much of the highlands to his standard and vehemently opposed King William and his forces until he met his death on the field at Killiecrankie when a stray musketball found its mark. He died, not knowing that his army had been victorious and was laid to rest that same night in the little church at Blair, wrapped in two plaids.
John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee was in his 46th year when he fell, one of the greatest of the King's warriors and probably the first of the great Jacobite generals.