Blair Collection > Celtic monthly > Volume 4, 1896

THE CELTIC MONTHLY.
223
TRADITIONS OF THE COLQUHOUN
COUNTRY.
By F. Maey Colquhous.
being
"Well
(Continued from pinje 207.)
^E find that in the year 1648 a romantic
attachment was formed between
^fr^JS John Colquhoim of Luss, called the
•'Black Cock of the West," and Margaret
Baillie, the rich heiress of Lochend, in the
county of Haddington. Her father was Sir
Gideon Baillie, and her mother was Magdalene
Carnegie, daughter of David, Lord Carnegie,
eldest son of David, first Earl of Southesk.
The circumstances connected with the
beginning of his acquaintance with his "lady
love ' were these :
Several guests of high pretensions were
dining at Lochend with the laird.
Margaret, who was then very young,
present, her father asked her in jest,
Maggie, which of these gentlemen will you have
for a husliand ? " Without a moment's pause,
to the surprise of all present, she answered,
''The Black Cock of the West, father! " a hint,
as it has proved by the sequel, not thrown
away on the very handsome bai'onet. Sir John
Colquhoun, who ever afterwards bore the sobri-
quet so bestowed on him on account of his
black locks, glossy as the wings of the raven.
His portrait, by Sir Peter Lely, is in the
picture gallery at Rossdhu, and represents him
as a singularly fine looking man, with an olive
complexion and blue black hair.
By the marriage contract between M argaret
Baillie's parents it was j^rovided that, in case
there should be no sons of their union, their
eldest daughttr should succeed to the estates,
and that she should marry a person bearing
the name and arms of Baillie, and that with
the advice of four nearest of kin of her father
and mother. Margaret scorned such trammels
of her attections, and held true to her hero of
the west !
The marriage between the laird of Luss and
his bride was celebrated in haste, without any
previous proclamation of banns in the jDarish
church. This most likely gave rise to the
report that they had eloped.
The bride was carried olf, with her willing
consent, to Rossdhu in such a way as to show
that she had run oti" with him, tint he with her !
for he rode behind her on the same horse, and
thus she actually reached Rossdhu before her
husband.
The reason given for this was, that the
heiress of Lochend being a ward of Chancery,
John Colquhoun wished to avoid the con
sequences of running off with her !
As her mother and step father were friendly
to the marriage, this report of an elopement is
probablj' without foundation. It is, however
certain, that these hasty nuptials were not
approved of at a time when the ecclesiastical
laws were so strict with regard to marriage.
It is reported, however, the Commissioners
of Assembly were lenient to the young pair,
and the committee only recommended that the
mother of the bride should "'confes her fault
in her own Paroch Kirk."
In 1718 Sir Humphrey Colquhoun of Luss
died, and was succeeded by his daughter Anne,
who married James Grant of Pluscardine,
second son of Ludovick Grant of that ilk, on
the 'iOthof July, 1702
The family of Grant is of great antitjuity.
It was powerful in the reign of Alexander II
of Scotland, who ascended the throne in 1214,
but the husband of the heiress of Luss only
survived a year after their marriage.
His eldest brother, Alexander, who was a
Brigadier General in the army, succeeded to
his father's estates in 1717, and became the
Chief of Grant.
He was married to a daughter of James,
Lord DouQ, son and heir of Alexander, 6th
Earl of Moray, but having no children the
estates of Grant devolved on Sir James
Colquhoun as the second born, but now, the
eldest son of Ludovick Grant of <irant, and Sir
James resumed his paternal surname of Grant
and dropped the surname and arms of
Colquhoun of Luss, whilst Ludovic, the second
son of his marriage with the heiress of Luss,
became the representative and possessor of the
lands of Luss, bearing the name and arms of
Luss according to the deed of entail, his elder
brother, Humphrey, being the heir apparent of
the Grant estates. Sir James Grant " was a
gentleman of very amiable character, beloved
and honoured by all who knew him." By his
wife, Anne Colquhoun, who died at Castle
Grant in 1724, Sir James Grant had foui-teen
children — sis sons and eight daughters.
Another of the " Ladyes" of Luss was Lady
Helen Sutherland, eldest daughter of William,
Lord Strathnaver (eldest sou of John, 19th
Earl of Sutherland), who died in 1720. This
lady married Sir James Colquhoun, and their
marriage contract was signed at Edinburgh
and at Castle Grant. June, 1740.
Lady Helen was in the 23rd year of her age
at the time of her union with the laird of Luss,
who was promoted to the rank of Major of
Lord Sempill's Highland regiment after the
Battle of Dettingen. The regiment was the