Malise Graham, 1st Earl of Menteith

Malise Graham (1st Earl of Menteith) (1406–1490) was a 15th-century Scottish magnate.

Biography

He is the first of his name to have borne the title of Earl of Menteith in his own right. He was the only son of Sir Patrick Graham of Kincardine. Patrick was the second son of Sir Patrick Graham, ancestor of the Earls and Dukes of Montrose. They are believed to have been direct descendants of John de Menteith, laird of Ruskie, younger son of Mary I, Countess of Menteith and her husband, Walter "Bailloch" Stewart. Sir John Menteith had become infamous for handing over Sir William Wallace to the English during the Wars of Scottish Independence after he was betrayed by his servant Jack Short. The younger Sir Patrick Graham married Euphemia Stewart, Countess Palatine of Strathearn, and became in her right Earl of Strathearn. Their son Malise, whose name was an anglicisation of the Gaelic name Maol Íosa, was born about 1407, or perhaps later.

During the earlier years of his life he bore the title Earl of Strathearn, and as such was proposed as a hostage for King James I; he was named among those who welcomed King James at Durham in March 1424. The King, however, took advantage of the Earl's minority, and deprived him of the earldom of Strathearn, making him Earl of Menteith instead. The charter of the new earldom was dated September 6, 1427. His reduction of land from all of Strathearn to just Menteith was likely an indirect result of the death of Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany who was said to have died in Stirling Castle in 1420. The lands named in the grant to be part of the reshaped earldom, many of which can still be identified, indicate that he received the newly constituted earldom comprehended the whole of Aberfoyle parish and a portion of that of Port of Menteith. But this was only the smaller half of the original earldom, the remainder being annexed to the Crown.

Two months after his receiving the above charter Earl Malise, in November 1427, entered England as a hostage for King James I, and was confined in the castle of Pontefract, whence he was not released until June 17, 1453. James, Lord Hamilton, who had married the Earl's sister, Euphemia Graham, widow of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Douglas, was the chief agent in obtaining the release, and received a grant on 17 December 1453 of the lands in the lordship of Kinpont, West Lothian. The Earl in the charter styles himself Earl of Menteith and Lord of Kinpont, the latter being a very early possession of the Graham family, which had descended to him through his father.

The Earl appears on various occasions in his place in Parliament, but little is known of his history except that he appears to have become involved in debt. He is said to have been present at the Battle of Sauchieburn on June 11, 1488, and to have fought for the King; but this is doubtful, as he must then have been above eighty years of age. In the retour of his grandson to the estates on 6 May 1493, Earl Malise is said to have died at the peace of King James IV of Scotland. The exact date of his death is not known, but he was dead before May 19, 1490, perhaps not very long before that date, when a gift was made to John Home of Earlston of the ward of the lands of Gilmerton, held of Malise, Earl of Menteith, and then in the King's hands by his decease.

The Earl was at least twice married. His first wife is said to have been Janet de Rochford. On April 19, 1471 Janet, Countess of Malise, Earl of Menteith, is held to be entitled to her terce from Kinpont, belonging to her son Patrick. She probably died not long afterwards, but this is uncertain. In 1490 the Countess of Menteith was named Marion, and she survived her husband, marrying John Drummond before May 17, 1491. She was still alive in 1530, dying between 28 April and 23 August in that year. The Earl had a great many children, but was succeeded by his grandson, Alexander Graham, 2nd Earl of Menteith.

References

This article incorporates text from The Scots Peerage (1904-1914), a publication now in the public domain.

• Paul, James Balfour, The Scots Peerage, Vols. VI & VIII, (Edinburgh, 1909)
• Brown, M. H., "Graham, Malise, third earl of Strathearn and first earl of Menteith (1406x13–1490)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 , accessed 21 May 2007