John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee
| The Viscount Dundee | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
21 July 1648 Glen Ogilvie, near Glamis, Angus, Scotland |
| Died | 27 July 1689 (aged 41) Killiecrankie, Perthshire, Scotland |
| Resting place | St Bride's Kirk, Blair Castle, Perthshire, Scotland |
| Title | Major-general, Viscount Dundee |
| Other names | Bonnie Dundee, Bluidy Clavers |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Jean Cochrane |
| Parents | Sir William Graham, Lady Madeline Carnegie |
| Occupation | Soldier |
John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee (c. 21 July 1648 – 27 July 1689), known as the 7th Laird of Claverhouse until raised to the viscountcy in 1688, was a Scottish soldier and nobleman, a Tory and an Episcopalian. Claverhouse was responsible for policing south-west Scotland during and after the religious unrest and rebellion of the 1670s/80s.
After his death, Presbyterian historians dubbed him "Bluidy Clavers". Contemporary evidence for the fairness of this soubriquet in the Covenanting tradition is mixed. Tales of the Covenanters and Covenanter monuments hold Claverhouse directly responsible for the deaths of adherents of that movement. However, Claverhouse's own letters frequently recommended lenient treatment of Covenanters, and in 1684 he married into a prominent Covenanter family.
Later, as a general in the Scottish army, Claverhouse remained loyal to King James VII of Scotland after the Revolution of 1688. He rallied those Highland clans loyal to the Jacobite cause and, although he lost his life in the battle, led them to victory at Killiecrankie. This first Jacobite rising was unsuccessful, but Claverhouse became a Jacobite hero, acquiring his second soubriquet "Bonnie Dundee".
The Graham family was descended from King Robert III, through his second daughter Princess Mary. John Graham was born of a junior branch of the family that had acquired the estate of Claverhouse near Dundee. He was the elder son of Sir William Graham and Lady Madeline Carnegie, 5th daughter of the Earl of Northesk. He had a younger brother, David, and two sisters. Both John and David were educated at the University of St Andrews, graduating in 1661.
William Graham died in around 1652, and the brothers became the responsibility of their uncles and other relatives. In 1660 they were listed as burgesses of Dundee, probably at the instigation of their paternal uncle George Graham. John Graham inherited the Claverhouse estate when he came of age in the summer of 1669.
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