The First Graham
Of Netherby
by Jim Nethery (PA)
LANG WILL’S, (William Graham,) eldest son, Richard Graham
was the first Graham of Netherby. Who was this Long Will and what was his
title?
John Graham’s book ‘Conditions of the Border at the Union,’ printed 1905, gives us this description of Long Will starting on page 159. "1552 the clan numbered 500 warriors, sturdy defenders of the Border, inhabiting thirteen strong towers, eight of which lay between Esk and Leven rivers. The leader to whom their ancient fame as a fighting clan was largely due, was William Graham of Stuble (Lang Will,) a man of immense size and muscular strength, combined with a commanding personality. He seems to of (sic) had been one of those masterful spirits like Gilnockie (Johnnie Armstrong), thrown upon the surface in lawless times to control and direct the actions of the most untamable of men - an instrument capable of infinite mischief, but equally capable of great good if wisely enlisted on the side of law and order."
Lord Thomas Scrope of Bolton, the English Warden of the Western March identified Lang Will as a Graham, laird of Mosskeswra. (D&G Trans., 1959-60, p.105). Some time prior to May 1463, the lands of Mosskeswra, Nether Dryfe and Medokholm (sic Bedokholm) were granted or confirmed to William the Graham/Lang Will, by Herbert of Johnston. (D&W Trans., 1959-60,p. 89).
The career of William the Graham can
be fitfully traced through the
records. Between the years of 1476 to 1492 he was in trouble for violently
possessing parts of the lands of his superior, the Earl of Morton, in
addition to this there was a dispute with Mr. Alexander Murray, minister of the
Kirk of Hutton. Lang Will was ingathering and detaining the teinds
(tithe) of the church for more than a year (on the theory: "His land -his
money!") but the Lords of Council had no hesitation in ruling in favor of Mr.
Murray.
Lang Will was banished, lost his lands. He had no
goods to be escheated (forfeited), a fugitive at the horn, outlawed and banished
from Scotland. Should he be assaulted, imprisoned or even slain there was no
redress for him as he was outwith the law. He could not escape to foreign
service as many did, without forsaking his young family of six sons, Richard
being the oldest. There was one refuge for him close at hand: 20 miles from
Hutton Parish, Dumfriesshire, Scotland was the Debateable Land fast filling up
with broken men from both sides of the Border. There were already many Grahams
on the Border " stark moss-trooping Scots" (Border Raiders) living there.
Banishment was complete: if the outlaw merely stepped over the frontier into
England.
(D&W Trans.., 1959-60, p.91,
104-105; C&W Trans., 1911, p.70).
From the Northern Notes and Queries (Vol. I, No. 6, p.
116) we find the
Border Grahams of the sixteenth century both numerous and warlike. In 1528 they
were amongst the most troublesome of the Liddisdale Borders.
William Graham/Lang Will, had taken up residence in Stuble, Armstrong
country. This led to constant strife between the two most notorious riding
families in the Western Marches, the Armstrongs and the Grahams. Richard Graham
of Esk, eldest son of Lang Will, however married the daughter of the laird of
Mangerton, an Armstrong. William Lord Dacre, the English Warden of the Western
March, in 1528, made, as he thought, a secret raid to attack Johnnie Armstrong
of Gilnockie's Hollows Tower in Eskdale. Though it was sacked by Lord Dacre, he
and his troops fell into a trap and were badly mauled by Johnnie Armstrong’s
people. While Lord Dacre was occupied with saving his skin, Johnnie Armstrong of
Gilnockie slipped behind him and burnt the village of Netherby in England and a
mill owned by Lord Dacre. Lord Dacre believed Johnnie Armstrong had news of his
coming from Richard Graham, Richard being married to an Armstrong. Richard
Graham was taken into custody by Lord Dacre, 23rd March 1528 and delivered to
Carlisle Castle’s high tower with fetters upon his feet. Thus shackled, he was
charged with treason and awaited
his execution. On Sunday the 29th Richard was allowed to go loose and
unshackled up and down the castle by order of the under-sheriff, Sir William
Musgrave to eat in the dining hall and attend church services.
When the opportunity presented itself, as planned Richard leaped out by a privy postern which stood open to the fields where there was a man and a led horse ready for him. Richard galloped to Scotland taking shelter with the Scottish Warden, Lord Maxwell in Scotland. Later he was joined by his father, Lang Will (now of Stuble), his brothers and thirty family members. Richard succeeded in clearing himself of the charge of treason by proving that a member of the Storey family of Netherby and Mote had informed Johnnie Armstrong of Lord Dacre’s raid. The Storeys fearing Lord Dacre’s fury, fled into Northumberland. Their lands were occupied by the sons of Lang Will who promptly divided up the land amongst themselves. The lands of Netherby went to Lang Will’s oldest son, Richard and the second son, Fergus Graham (note: not Fergus Graham of Plomp) received the lands of Mote. (C&W Trans., vol XXXII, p40, 1912 & GMF Steel Bonnets, p.64). Lord Hereis in his discourse on the Borders states the thieves of the March (Grahams) with English assistance had slain the Lord Carlyle, the lairds of Mouswauld, Kirkmichael, Kirkpatrick-Fleming and Logane and other landed men. He also asserted that the Grahams "gat of their ransoms and spuilzie gottin in Scotland, worth 100,000 merks," (obsolete silver Scottish coin worth 13 shillings and 4 pence, c.1710).
Then the Grahams built eight or nine towers impregnable
to the power
of the Scottish Warden. The present Netherby Hall was built around one of these
ancient towers. Their neighbors were forced to take the Graham
daughters in marriage without a tocher (dowry), which did not increase their
popularity. In 1542 the Grahams were not more than 20-30 at most, by 1578 they
were 16-18 score (320-360) well horsed.
(R.P.O., iii,, 78 in D&G Trans., p.105, 1959-60).
When Jim and Mel Nethery of California and I along
with our wives, Joyce, Dorothy and Christel visited Netherby Hall, August 2000,
we were given a private tour by Mr. B. Robb, the present owner, who is not a
Graham. The tour included the spiral steps of the ancient tower leading to
one of the upper roofs of Netherby Hall. Bruce Graham, Chairman, Clan Graham
Association of Scotland was kind enough to arrange the tour for the
Netherys.With the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603 the Kingdoms of Scotland and
England were united under one crown. King James VI of Scotland who became James
I of Great Britain set about to end lawlessness and bring peace and security to
the Border regions. The Grahams of Esk, Netherby and Mote were then singled out
for the most severe punishments. They were banished from their lands, hunted
down and hung. Later the surviving young men of military age were shipped to
Flushing and Brill in the Low Countries to fight
against the Spaniards. Most of them, within a few months, had returned
through Newcastle and the Forth where they sought refuge among the
Carlisles, Johnstones and other families of the Scottish Marches. They
would rather die at home than fight for the King in a foreign land. By 1606
death, banishment and outlawing had greatly reduced the Grahams,
a major Western March Border Clan*. A clan that could raise over five hundred
men armed and horsed at any given time was now reduced to a fragment of its
former self. In September 1606, 124 members of the clan under their chief,
Walter Graham of Netherby, were transported from Workington, England to
Roscommon, Ireland. The clan was under the penalty of death should they return
to Scotland or England. The reason for the persecution was not their
lawlessness, though great predators and spoilers to both Scotland and England,
it was their land, the most fertile land of the marches. The Earl of Cumberland,
a favorite of King James I, desired the land. The Earl knew he could not allow
the Grahams to remain in the area but must be transported out of the region,
preferably overseas (i.e., Roscommon, Ireland).
For the Earl to do otherwise would invite madness. The Border Grahams had a
history of being extremely violent, vindictive and were capable of
maintaining a bloody feud for years. Thus ends the reign of the first Grahams of
Netherby. Starting with Richard Graham, eldest son of Lang Will, in 1528 and
ending with Richard’s grandson, Walter of Netherby in 1603. King James I gifted
to the Earl of Cumberland (George Clifford) the
lands of Netherby which he held from 1603 to 1628. The Earl sold the lands to
Sir Richard Graham, the second son of Fergus of Plomp in 1628. Netherby no
longer belongs to the Grahams. Netherby Hall and the grounds are being restored
to its former self.The Transported Grahams, we read on page 370 of G. M.
Fraser’s "Steel Bonnets" found the land in Roscommon had gone to waste and
lacked wood and water. The rents were too high, laborers were few and demanded
double wages.
The Grahams could not understand the language. There was a mutual dislike and
distrust between the local Irish and the Grahams. The more enterprising of the
local Irish suspected that the Grahams might be more than a match for them at
fighting and stealing cattle. Worst of all the money subscribed to them towards
the cost of settlement never reached them nor would it ever arrive, because Sir
Ralph Sidley, a landowner of Roscommon, had pocketed it. In a matter of months
the plantation was disintegrating, and within two years only half a dozen
families of Grahams remained. Many returned to the Borders and Western Scotland
under assumed names. As late as 1614 a proclamation was issued forbidding the
Grahams from returning from Ireland or the Low Countries. The policy of
banishment worked for a time being; the largest riding clan of the Western
Border had been broken. It had been barbarously done, even allowing for the
times.
*Clan or Family - The Scottish Parliament passed a statute in 1587 "For the quieting and keping in obiedince of the disorderit subiectis inhabitantis of the bordors hielands and Ilis." Attached to the statute is a Roll of the Clans, which contained both a Border portion and a Highland portion. The Border Roll of Clans names 17 of 77 Border families as clans. Among those named is the Clan Grahams of the Western Marches.
Border clans did practice some Gaelic (Highland)
customs, such as tutorship when an heir who was minor succeeded to chiefship,
and given manrent (leadership of men in war). Although feudalism existed, tribal
locality was much more important, and this distinguished the Borderer
from other lowland Scots. In fact the same is true of the English Border.
(Web site:
http://clanjohnston.org/corf.html )
Jim Nethery, Philadelphia, PA
Notes: 1911 Transactions of the Cumberland &
Westmorland/Antiquarian &
Archaeological Society Vol. XI- New Series The Barony of Liddel and its
Occupants by
T.H.B. Graham Communicated at Carlisle, April 14th 1910, p.70
1912 Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland/Antiquarian &
Archaeological Society Vol. XII - New Series, p. 64
Dumfriesshire and Galloway, Natural history and Antiquarian Society,
Transactions, 1959-60, Third Series Vol. XXXVII, The Border Grahams, p. 89, 91 &
105
Recommended reading:
The Condition of the Border at the Union by John Graham, 1905
The Steel Bonnets by George M. Fraser, 1971
The Border Reivers by Godfrey Watson, 1974>>
.