The first of the branch of Claverhouse, which took its name from a small
town in Forfarshire a few miles to the north of Dundee, was John, son of
John Graham of Balargus in the same shire. Graham of Balargus was the
son of another John, who was the second son of Sir Robert Graham of
Fintrey, the eldest son of Robert Graham of Strathcanon, son and heir of
Sir William Graham of Kincardine, by his wife the Lady Mary Stuart,
widow of George first Earl of Angus and daughter of King Robert the
Third--the unhappy king of "The Fair Maid of Perth." The grandson of
John Graham was Sir William Graham of Claverhouse, the chosen friend of
his cousin, the gallant and unfortunate Marquis of Montrose. By his wife
Marion, daughter of Thomas Fotheringham of Powrie, Sir William had two
sons, George and Walter, of whom the latter was the ancestor of those
Grahams of Duntroon who at a later period assumed the title of Dundee.
George left one son, another Sir William, who married Lady Jean
Carnegie, daughter of the first Earl of Northesk, and by her had four
children--two daughters, Margaret and Anne, and two sons, John and
David. David is, as will be seen, not unrecorded in the annals of his
country; but his name has been completely eclipsed by that of his elder
brother, the "bloody Claver'se" of the Whigs, the "bonnie Dundee" of the
Jacobites, one of the most execrated or one of the most idolised
characters in the history of this kingdom, according to the temper and
the taste of the writers and readers of history.

The register of that year shows that the two brothers matriculated at
Saint Leonard's College in the University of Saint Andrews, on February
13th, 1665. Before this date all is a blank. Of John's boyish years
history and tradition are equally silent. Long after his death, indeed,
some idle stories became current, as their fashion is, of prophecies and
prodigies in that early time. His nurse is said to have foretold that a