John Menteith

Notes:

Lord of Arran.

Family/Spouse: Ellen of Mar. Ellen (daughter of Gratney of Mar) died after 1342. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Edward Keith. Edward (son of Edward Keith and Isabel de Synton) died before 1352. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Christian married Robert Erskine of that Ilk about 1352. Robert (son of William Erskine) died between 14 May 1385 and 11 Nov 1385. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"He married, secondly, before 13 April 1370, Janet Keith or Barclay, widow of Sir David Barclay of Brechin. It was on her account he protested in 1390-91, regarding the earldom of Mar, that one-half of the earldom of Mar and of the lordship of Garioch pertained to his wife in right of heritage. She is therefore the most important link between the ancient and the modern Earls of Mar, and it may be well again to examine on what her claim rests. She is said to have been the daughter of Sir Edward Keith of Sinton and of Christian Menteith, daughter of Sir John Menteith (the second), Lord of Arran, Strathgartney, and Knapdale, by Ellen of Mar, daughter of Gratney, Earl of Mar. There is good evidence of the relationship of Ellen of Mar to Earl Gratney, and of her marriage to Sir John Menteith. There is also evidence that Christian Menteith, wife, first, of Sir Edward Keith, and, secondly, of Sir Robert Erskine, was the daughter of Sir John Menteith and Ellen of Mar. There is very positive proof that Sir Thomas Erskine married Janet, widow of Sir David Barclay (the second) of Brechin. But the proof that her name was Keith or that she was the daughter of Sir Edward Keith and Christian Menteith is very meagre, a fact of which no notice was taken in stating the evidence for the Mar Restitution Bill of 1885. The pedigree compiled in 1709 by Mr. George Erskine, bailie of Alloa, asserts that such was Janet's parentage, and it has been taken for granted that he was right. But there are only two or at most three facts on record which support the statement. The first is the evidence of Andrew Keith of Inverugy, who with Ingram Wintoun of Andat gave evidence in 1447 as to the then Sir Robert Erskine's relationship to the Earls of Mar. He was a man of eighty, born therefore about 1367, and must have known Sir Thomas Erskine's wife. He states that her name was Janet, and that she was the daughter of Sir Edward Keith, but says nothing about her mother. A second fact in favour of Janet Keith's descent is that she and her husband had possession of the lands of Pirchock and Ludquhairn, which had been granted by Sir John Menteith to Christian, his daughter, and Sir Edward Keith. A third fact referred to in the evidence for the Mar Restitution Bill is that an annuity of £100 from the Customs of Aberdeen paid to Sir Thomas Erskine from 1389 to 1403, was after his death paid to his widow as if in her own right, and in the later entries, when the sum was paid to her son after her death, the money is said to be payable in exchange for Arran which had belonged to Sir John Menteith. This was laid much stress on before the House of Lords, but the argument loses force from the fact that the same sum was paid to Sir Robert Erskine for many years before it passed to Sir Thomas, and in Sir Robert's case the payment coincides with his resignation of Ednam, as stated on page 594. It may be, however, that the payments to Dame Janet Barclay were held to relate to Arran. But though the evidence on the point is not strong, the family belief on the subject so constantly and consistently asserted may be accepted as being not only probable, but the simplest and most direct way by which Janet Erskine or her heirs could claim any interest in the earldom of Mar." [The Scots Peerage, citation details below]

Janet married Thomas Erskine before 13 Apr 1370. Thomas (son of Robert Erskine of that Ilk and Beatrice Lindsay) died between 11 Nov 1403 and 18 May 1404. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: John Colquhoun. John (son of Humphrey Colquhoun) was born in of Luss, Argyll, Scotland; died on 5 Sep 1439. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1452

Notes:

1st Lord Erskine.

"[K]nighted before 20 Dec. 1400; was taken prisoner at the battle of Homildon, 14 Sep. 1402; was one of the hostages for the ransom of King James in 1424, when his revenue was estimated at 1,000 marks, being set at liberty 19 June 1425. He was made a Lord of Parl., as LORD ERSKINE [S.], in or shortly before I438. Soon after the death (1435) of Alexander, husband of Isabel, suo jure Countess of Mar (to which Alexander and his heirs by her that Earldom had been resigned), Lord Erskine was served h. to the said Countess Isabel, and having had seizin 21 Nov. 1438, assumed the title of EARL OF MAR [S.]." [Complete Peerage, citation details below]

Family/Spouse: (Unknown) Stewart. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Elizabeth Lindsey after 20 Dec 1400. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"By tradition the mother of seventeen sons … The arms of Murray impale those of Colquhoun in the church founded by Sir David Murray." [The Ancestry of Charles II, citation details below]

Margaret married David Murray before 1420. David (son of David Murray and Isabel Stewart) was born about 1395 in of Tullibardine, Perthshire, Scotland; died between 21 Jun 1451 and 15 Jun 1452; was buried in Tullibardine, Perthshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Patrick de Graham. Patrick (son of Alexander Graham) died after 24 Jun 1466. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

2nd Lord Erskine. Knighted before 24 Jan 1441. Sat in the Scottish parliament 14 Oct 1467. Sheriff of Stirling 1483. Sided with James III in the insurrection of 1488.

Thomas married Janet Douglas before 1445. Janet died after Aug 1489. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Between 21 Oct 1478 and 14 Jun 1479

Notes:

Comptroller of the Exchequer, 1460-69. Sheriff of Dumbartonshire, 1471. Great Chamberlain, 1474. Governor of the castle of Dunbarton from 1477 to his death.

A member of the Scottish parliament in Oct 1466, Oct 1467, 1469, 1471, 1476, and 1478.

“Colquhoun of Luss” says that he was “killed at the siege of Dunbar”, but provides no date. The famous Siege of Dunbar was of course in 1338. The siege referred to here was the first armed conflict in the struggle between James III of Scotland and his brother Alexander Stewart, Duke of Albany, when the king laid siege to Dunbar Castle in, according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, April 1479. Volume 4 of Patrick Fraser Tytler’s History of Scotland (1831) agrees on the year, and notes that during the siege, “the cannon mounted on the ramparts of the castle appear to have been well served and pointed—a single ball at one moment striking dead three of the bravest knights in the army, Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, Sir Adam Wallace of Craigie, and Sir James Schaw of Sauchie.”

Family/Spouse: (Unknown) Boyd. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Elizabeth Dunbar before Jul 1463. Elizabeth died before Mar 1494. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Also called Marion Murray.

Mariota married Malcolm Drummond after 14 Jul 1445. Malcolm (son of Walter Drummond and Margaret Ruthven) was born in of Cargill and Stobhall, Perthshire, Scotland; died in 1461. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Murdoch Menteith. Murdoch (son of Robert Menteith and Margaret of Lennox) was born in of Rusky, Stirlingshire, Scotland; died before 1456. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1472

Notes:

"William, second Lord Graham, sat in Parliament 9 October 1466, and, on 23 November following, had a protection from Edward IV, along with his relative Patrick, Bishop of St. Andrews, and others, for two years, to come to England, and thence to go to France, Flanders, etc., and return to Scotland. It is known that Bishop Graham went to Rome, and remained there for some years, but how far Lord Graham availed himself of the protection is doubtful. He sat in Parliament again on 14 October 1467 and 21 November 1469, and died about the year 1471." [The Scots Peerage, citation details below]

William married Helen Douglas before 1460. Helen (daughter of William Douglas and Margaret Hay) was born about 1436; died after 20 Nov 1486. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Humphrey Colquhoun. Humphrey (son of John Colquhoun and (Unknown) Boyd) was born in of Luss, Argyll, Scotland; died about 19 Aug 1493. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

3rd Lord Erskine.

Alexander married Christian Crichton before 9 Oct 1466. Christian (daughter of Robert Crichton and Elizabeth) died between Nov 1477 and Mar 1478. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He was a member of the Scottish parliament in October 1488, convened by the new king, James IV, largely to obtain aquittals for those involved in the overthrow and killing of his father, James III.

Family/Spouse: Helen Erskine. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Stobhall, Perthshire, Scotland
• Alternate death: Abt 4 Aug 1518
• Alternate death: 1519, Drummond Castle, Perthshire, Scotland

Notes:

"Created first Lord Drummond 1487/8, seneschal and coroner of Strathearn, ambassador to England, supported the marriage of the Earl of Angus to Queen Margaret." [The Ancestry of Charles II, citation details below]

From the 1885-1900 Dictionary of National Biography:

He sat in parliament 6 May 1471, under the designation of dominus de Stobhall. On 20 March 1473–4 he had a charter of the offices of seneschal and coroner of the earldom of Strathearn, in which he was confirmed in the succeeding reign. In 1483 he was one of the ambassadors to treat with the English, to whom a safe-conduct was granted 29 Nov. of that year; again, on 6 Aug. 1484, to treat of the marriage of James, prince of Scotland, and Anne de la Pole, niece of Richard III. He was a commissioner for settling border differences nominated by the treaty of Nottingham, 22 Sept. 1484; his safe-conduct into England being dated on the ensuing 29 Nov. He was raised to the peerage by the title of Lord Drummond, 29 Jan. 1487–8. Soon after he joined the party against James III, and sat in the first parliament of James IV, 6 Oct. 1488. In this same year he was appointed a privy councillor and justiciary of Scotland, and was afterwards constable of the castle of Stirling. In 1489 the so-called Earl of Lennox rose in revolt against the king. He had encamped at Gartalunane, on the south bank of the Forth, in the parish of Aberfoyle, but during the darkness of the night of 11 Oct. was surprised and utterly routed by Drummond. As one of the commissioners to redress border and other grievances, Drummond had a safe-conduct into England 22 May 1495, 26 July 1511, 24 Jan. 1512–13, and 20 April 1514. In 1514 Drummond gave great offence to many of the lords by promoting the marriage of his grandson, Archibald Douglas, sixth earl of Angus, with the queen-dowager Margaret. Lyon king-at-arms (Sir William Comyn) was despatched to summon Angus before the council, when Drummond, thinking that he had approached the earl with more boldness than respect, struck him on the breast. In 1515 John, duke of Albany, was chosen regent, but because Drummond did not favour the election he committed him (16 July) a close prisoner to Blackness Castle, upon an allegation that he had used violence towards the herald. He was tried capitally, found guilty, and his estates forfeited. However, he was not long in coming to terms with Albany. With other lords he signed the answer of refusal to Henry VIII, who had advised the removal of Albany, to which his seal is affixed, 4 July 1516, and in October he announced his final separation from the queen's party. He was in consequence released from prison and freed from his forfeiture, 22 Nov. 1516.

John married Elizabeth Lindsay before 1470. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

De jure countess of Lennox.

Elizabeth married John Napier about 26 Mar 1456. John (son of Alexander Napier and Elizabeth Lauder) was born about 1432; died before 31 Dec 1487. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"Lord Graham sat in the Parliaments of James III in 1479, 1481, 1482 and 1487, and supported the cause of that monarch against his son and the confederated Lords, being present on the royal side at the battle of Sauchieburn, 11 June 1488. He was soon received into favour, and even familiar friendship, by James IV, and sat in this sovereign's first Parliament 6 October 1488, and in the second 6 February 1491-92. His principal acquisitions were the estates of Aberuthven and Inchbrakie in Perthshire. Between 7 July7 and 20 November 1503 he was created EARL OF MONTROSE, and sat as such in Parliament 3 February 1505-6. On 3 March 1504-5 as William, Earl of Montrose, he had had a charter upon his own resignation of the lands of Old Montrose, which lands, the charter bears, belonged hereditarily to him by the grant of Robert I and the confirmation of David II under their Great Seals, to his predecessors, and which James IV now erected into the free barony and earldom of Montrose. Of the same date he had three other charters, viz. a new erection of the barony of Kincardine, of Aberuthven, Inchbrakie, and others united into a barony of Aberuthven, and of Kynnaber in Forfarshire also erected into a barony. The Earl accompanied James IV in his ill-starred invasion of England, and fell at Flodden, 'sub vexillo regis,' along with his brother George of Callendar, and his brother-in-law, Sir William Edmondstone of Duntreath, 9 September 1513." [The Scots Peerage, citation details below.]

Agnes married Walter Forrester before 1489. Walter (son of Duncan Forrester and Margaret Forsythe) was born about 1460 in of Torwood and Garden, Stirlingshire, Scotland; died between 8 Feb 1527 and 27 May 1528. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Member of the Scottish parliament in 1503 and 1525.

From The Chiefs of Colquhoun and Their Country (citation details below):

On the death of King James the Fourth at Flodden, his son and successor, King James the Fifth, being a child of little more than one year old, the Queen Mother, Margaret daughter of King Henry the Seventh of England, was declared Regent of the realm. At the same time John Duke of of Albany was summoned from France to Scotland, and chosen governor and protector of the infant Prince and kingdom, by a Convention of the Estates. During the delay of the arrival of the Duke of Albany, the Earl of Arran assumed the office of Regent. In this assumption he was supported, among others, by John third Earl of Lennox, the Master of Glencairn, and Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, whose wife was the paternal aunt of the Earl of Lennox.

Sir John Colquhoun joined these noblemen in a successful attempt to seize the castle of Dumbarton. During a stormy night in January 1514, they found their way into the castle, and expelled from it Lord Erskine, by whom it was held for the Queen Mother's party; and though the Earl of Arran was frustrated in his usurpation of the regency by the arrival of the Duke of Albany in Scotland, they continued to hold the castle of Dumbarton until it was surrendered by the Earl of Lennox, who, having fallen into the hands of his opponents, and having been imprisoned in the castle of Edinburgh, could obtain his liberation only on condition of his surrendering it.

After the departure of the Duke of Albany for France in 1524, King James the Fifth, who was then only thirteen years of age, was invested with the supreme authority, but the government was in reality in the hands of the Earls of Arran, Lennox, and Morton. A pardon was therefore now easily obtained for Sir John Colquhoun of Luss and others, who had taken part in the capture of the castle of Dumbarton. On the 11th of July 1526, a "respite was granted to Sir John Colquhon of Luce, Knight, Patrick Colquhon, John Logan of Balvey, Walter and Robert his sons, George Buchquhanan of that Ilk," and twenty-nine others, for "their tressonabill asseging, taking, and withhalding of our souerane lordis castle and fortalice of Dumbertene fra his servandis, keparis thairof" On the 16th of July following, a respite "was granted to Glencairn and others."

John married Elizabeth Stewart about 1480. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

4th Lord Erskine. De jure Earl of Mar. Killed at the battle of Flodden Field.

Robert married Isabella Campbell in 1485. Isabella (daughter of George Campbell and (Unknown) Kennedy) was born about 1469; died after 14 Dec 1518. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Member of the Scottish parliament in 1503 and 1525.

From The Chiefs of Colquhoun and Their Country (citation details below):

On the death of King James the Fourth at Flodden, his son and successor, King James the Fifth, being a child of little more than one year old, the Queen Mother, Margaret daughter of King Henry the Seventh of England, was declared Regent of the realm. At the same time John Duke of of Albany was summoned from France to Scotland, and chosen governor and protector of the infant Prince and kingdom, by a Convention of the Estates. During the delay of the arrival of the Duke of Albany, the Earl of Arran assumed the office of Regent. In this assumption he was supported, among others, by John third Earl of Lennox, the Master of Glencairn, and Sir John Colquhoun of Luss, whose wife was the paternal aunt of the Earl of Lennox.

Sir John Colquhoun joined these noblemen in a successful attempt to seize the castle of Dumbarton. During a stormy night in January 1514, they found their way into the castle, and expelled from it Lord Erskine, by whom it was held for the Queen Mother's party; and though the Earl of Arran was frustrated in his usurpation of the regency by the arrival of the Duke of Albany in Scotland, they continued to hold the castle of Dumbarton until it was surrendered by the Earl of Lennox, who, having fallen into the hands of his opponents, and having been imprisoned in the castle of Edinburgh, could obtain his liberation only on condition of his surrendering it.

After the departure of the Duke of Albany for France in 1524, King James the Fifth, who was then only thirteen years of age, was invested with the supreme authority, but the government was in reality in the hands of the Earls of Arran, Lennox, and Morton. A pardon was therefore now easily obtained for Sir John Colquhoun of Luss and others, who had taken part in the capture of the castle of Dumbarton. On the 11th of July 1526, a "respite was granted to Sir John Colquhon of Luce, Knight, Patrick Colquhon, John Logan of Balvey, Walter and Robert his sons, George Buchquhanan of that Ilk," and twenty-nine others, for "their tressonabill asseging, taking, and withhalding of our souerane lordis castle and fortalice of Dumbertene fra his servandis, keparis thairof" On the 16th of July following, a respite "was granted to Glencairn and others."

John married Elizabeth Stewart about 1480. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Abt 1500

Annabel married William Graham on 25 Nov 1479 in Muthill, Perthshire, Scotland. William (son of William Graham and Helen Douglas) was born between 1463 and 1464; died on 9 Sep 1513 in Flodden Field, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1501

Notes:

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (citation details below):

Drummond, Margaret (d. 1502), royal mistress, was the eldest of the six daughters of John Drummond of Cargill, first Lord Drummond (d. 1518), and his wife, Elizabeth Lindsay. James IV may have met Margaret when he visited Drummond Castle on 25 April 1496, and she appears to have succeeded Marion Boyd as James's mistress about this time. Coupled with the growing influence of Archibald Campbell, second earl of Argyll, whose sister Isabel was Drummond's daughter-in-law, Margaret's affair with the king helped in the advancement both of her father, who held the office of justiciar from February 1495 until 1501, and of his kinsman Walter Drummond, dean of Dunblane, who became clerk register in 1497. Official acknowledgement of the relationship came on 3 June 1496, when James installed Margaret in apartments in Stirling Castle; a reference by the Spanish ambassador, Don Pedro de Ayala, to a lady being kept by the king in great state in a castle describes this arrangement.

Margaret Drummond lived at Stirling Castle under the care of its keeper, Sir John Lundy, and of his wife until 30 October 1496, when she was moved to Linlithgow, possibly to give birth to the daughter, also called Margaret, whom she bore the king. The liaison effectively ended in March 1497, when Margaret and her daughter were sent home to Drummond, but although James IV had embarked on his long-running affair with Janet Kennedy in 1498, Margaret received a crown lease for nine years of lands in the earldom of Strathearn, dated 23 January 1498, possibly at the time of her marriage—according to de Ayala she was married off after her return to Drummond, although there is no supporting evidence for this. The king certainly seems to have accepted a measure of responsibility for his erstwhile mistress, as payments to her of £21 and 41s. for her daughter's nurse were made as late as June 1502. When Margaret died, towards the end of 1502, James had their daughter Margaret brought from Drummond Castle to Stirling, where royal children were traditionally brought up, and he paid a quarterly fee until at least 1508 for two priests in Dunblane Cathedral to sing masses for Margaret Drummond.

A number of stories concerning Margaret Drummond's time as royal mistress appear in the eulogistic history of the Drummond family which William Drummond, later first viscount of Strathallan, completed in 1681. He states that the king had known Margaret since 1488 and had desired to marry her, but in 1502 some courtiers, determined to help the king to a far more advantageous marriage, and fearing that his infatuation with Margaret would prevent this, caused her and two of her sisters, with whom she happened to be dining, to be poisoned. There is no contemporary evidence for these stories, and official records attest a much briefer and less dramatic liaison than the exaggerated account presented by William Drummond.

Family/Spouse: James IV, King of Scots. James (son of James III, King of Scots and Margaret of Denmark) was born on 17 Mar 1473 in Holyrood, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland; died on 9 Sep 1513 in Flodden Field, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Living 21 Aug 1514.

Elizabeth married George Douglas between 20 Jul 1485 and 31 Jan 1489. George (son of Archibald Douglas and Elizabeth Boyd) was born about 1469; died on 9 Sep 1513 in Flodden Field, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

He probably died at the Battle of Flodden, 9 Sep 1513.

John married Margaret Preston before 24 Jan 1493. Margaret (daughter of John Preston and Elizabeth Moneypenny) was born about 1468; died after 31 Aug 1528. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was definitely a daughter of the first earl of Montrose. The will of William Graham, who was killed at the battle of Flodden Field in 1513, acknowledges a debt to the Laird of Luss (i.e. John Colquhoun, father of Humphrey), on account of his daughter's dowry, and also the Laird of Luss younger (i.e. Humphrey).

Burke's Peerage and Burke's Landed Gentry, and thus many online sources, show William Graham's daughters Margaret, Elizabeth, and Helen, in that order, as daughters of William Graham by his second wife Janet Edmondstone.

This cannot be true of Elizabeth. The Complete Peerage 4:470 says that Walter Drummond, grandson of John Drummond and Elizabeth Lindsay, "m., in Feb. 1513/4, his cousin Elizabeth, 2nd da. of William (Graham), 1st Earl of Montrose [S.], by his first wife Annabel, 4th da. of John (Drummond), Lord Drummond abovenamed." It can be seen that if Walter Drummond and his wife Elizabeth were cousins, it would have to be the case that Elizabeth was a daughter of William Graham's first wife, Annabel Drummond.

CP says of Annabel Drummond that "[s]he was living 1492" and that her son William Graham, second earl of Montrose, was "a minor at his father's death", 9 Sep 1513, but "was served heir to him" 24 Oct 1513. The Scots Peerage narrates this latter event in a way that suggests that the younger William was still a minor on 24 Oct 1513: "William […] was under age at the death of his father, but in virtue of the Act of 24 August, was served his heir 24 October, 1513." SP goes on to emphasize and extoll his precocity: "He early displayed qualities of prudence and statesmanship which enabled him, over a long life," [etc.]. CP notes that the younger William "was present in Parl. [S.] 2 Jun 1514" and that he married his only wife, Janet Keith, in Dec 1515. All of which suggests that the second earl attained his majority no earlier than the end of 1513, which means that he has to have been born to Annabel Drummond no earlier than the end of 1492, and given that he could perfectly well have married while still a minor, plausibly as late as 1497 or 1498.

Also, according to SP, William Graham and Annabel Drummond had a second son following William: "Walter, a younger son of the first marriage, who had a tack of Little Cairnie for nineteen years from the Abbot of Inchaffray, 8 January 1541-42, and appears to have been ancestor of the second family of the Grahams of Thornick, afterwards Cairnie." If so, this moves the end of Annabel Drummond's life to no earlier than the end of 1493. And again, given that the first son could easily have been born as late as 1497-98, she was quite possibly still living in 1498-99.

The date of William Graham's marriage to Janet Edmondstone is unknown to us, but the earliest record of them as married is a charter dated 17 Mar 1505. According to CP she died between that date and 15 Apr 1506.

The papal dispensation for Helen Graham's marriage to Humphrey Colquhoun was dated 13 Jul 1509.

If Annabel Drummond died as soon as the records allow, say December 1493, and William Graham married Janet Edmondstone as soon as possible, say the first part of 1494, and Helen Graham was their first child, born say early 1495, then the papal dispensation for her marriage to Humphrey Colquhoun, dated 13 Jul 1509, was issued when she was fourteen. Which is hardly unheard-of among the aristocracy of 15th/16th century Scotland, but also adds up to a pretty tight fit.

Additional to this is the fact that William Graham and Annabel Drummond married in 1479, and yet their eldest son and heir cannot have been born earlier than late 1513. It is implausible that they spent the first dozen years of their marriage having no children. We have seen that daughter Elizabeth has to have been the issue of William and Annabel. Margaret is specified by SP as a daughter of the second marriage. Aside from the fact that this implies, in SP's usual manner of listing offspring, that the other daughters, whose mothers are not noted, were from the first marriage, it also means that Helen, Jean, and Elizabeth are the only known offspring of William Graham whose birth can be used to fill the childbearing years from 1480 to 1492. (The other legitimate child of William Graham, Patrick, is given by SP as his son by his third wife, Christian Wawane.)

Taken together, we think the evidence preponderantly suggests that Helen Graham was a daughter of William Graham's first wife, and probably, as the order of William's children in SP suggests, his eldest daughter.

Helen married Humphrey Colquhoun about 13 Jul 1509. Humphrey (son of John Colquhoun and Elizabeth Stewart) was born in of Luss, Argyll, Scotland; died in Jan 1538. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Knighted before February 1513. Provost of Stirling, 1529-30.

James married Elizabeth Erskine about 1510. Elizabeth (daughter of Robert Erskine and Isabella Campbell) was born about 1492; died before 1 Sep 1532. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Humphrey married Helen Graham about 13 Jul 1509. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Elizabeth married James Forrester about 1510. James (son of Walter Forrester and Agnes Graham) was born before 17 Sep 1489 in of Torwood, Falkirk, Scotland; was christened on 17 Sep 1489; died between 7 Oct 1532 and 21 May 1536. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]