GRAHAM, JOH N, Viscount DUNDEE ( C.1649 89), oftenest spoken of as Claverhouse. The eldest son of Sir William Graham of Claver house, head of the branch of the noble family of Montrose, in Forfarshire. He entered Saint Andrews University in 1665, served in the French Army from 1668 till 1672, after which he entered the Dutch service as cornet in the Prince of Orange's horse guards. Returning to Scotland, he obtained (1678) an appointment as lieutenant in a troop of horse commanded by his cousin, the third Marquis of Montrose. At this time the Government of Charles II. was engaged in an attempt to force Episcopacy upon the people of Scotland. A system of fines and military coercion had been carried on for years against all non conformists; eonventicles and field-preach ings were prohibited, and penalties were inflicted on all who harbored the recusants. When the peo ple resisted this oppression, ninny were put to death, the jail was filled with captives, and those who fled were outlawed, and their property was seized. It was now Graham's duty to repress the Covenanters in the south of Scotland. In this work he was continually baffled, and was even put to flight by a body of armed Covenanters at Drumclog. Finally, however, as commander of the cavalry, he aided the Duke of Monmouth in defeating them at Bothwell Bridge, June, 1679. The victors killed 400 rebels and captured 1200, who were afterwards treated with atrocious cruelty. In these encounters Graham showed no marked ability; but in pursuing, detecting, and hunting down unyielding Covenanters he evinced the utmost zeal. He rose to the rank of major general, was sworn a Private Councilor, and in 1688, on the eve of the Revolution, James II. raised him to the peerage as Viscount Dundee and Lord Graham of Claverhouse. After this
monarch had fallen, Dundee remained faithful to him. Joined by the Jacobite Highland clans, and by auxiliaries from Ireland, he raised the standard of rebellion against the Government of William and Mary. With 2500 foot and a troop of horse he defeated General Mackay at the Pass of Killiecrankie, July 27, 1689. Dundee fell by a musket-shot while waving on one of his bat talions to advance. He was carried off the field to Urrard House, or Blair Castle, and there ex pired.
The character and services of Dundee have been greatly exaggerated and blackened by party spirit. With the Jacobites he was the brave and handsome Cavalier, the last of the great Scots and gallant Grahams. He was upright and virtu ous in private life, and in military discipline re markably severe. With the Covenanters, he was "wicked-witted, bloodthirsty Claver'se." As a military commander, he had little opportunity for display, yet the battle of Killiecrankie was skill fully planned, and fought with courage and dash. As a persecutor he was severe, but not wholly without pity. Consult: Graham, Letters with Illustrative Documents, edited by Smythe (Edin burgh, 1526) ; Napier, Memorials and Letters Illustrative of the Life and Times of John Gra ham of Claverhouse (Edinburgh, 1859-62) ; A Southern (pseud.), Clavers, the Despot's Cham pion: A Scot's Biography (London, 1889) ; Mor ris, "Claverhouse," in Lang, English Worthies (London, 1887) ; Acta Bari. Scot. IX. (ap pendix) ; Macaulay, History of England (New York, 1858) ; Burton, Histonj of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1867-70). Scott's novel Old Mor tality gives a spirited picture of Claverhouse.