History of the earldoms of Strathern, Monteith, and Airth

PREFACE.
The investigation of the History of the Earl-
doms of Strathern, Monteith, and Airth,
in prosecuting the Claim of Mr. Barclay
Allardice to the latter Dignity, has brought
to light so many remarkable facts illustrative of
Scottish History, and of the characters of some
distinguished Statesmen and Lawyers of the
seventeenth century, that the publication of the
following sheets will, it is presumed, be an ac-
ceptable addition to Historical and Biographical
Literature.
By an act of great injustice, Malise Graham,
the heir of David Earl of Strathern, son of King
Robert the Second, was divested of that Earl-
dom, to satisfy the cupidity of King James the
First. At the distance of two hundred years, his
descendant, William seventh Earl of Monteith,
was involved in ruin for having asserted his
right to the Honours, and, what was still more
invidious, to the Superiorities and Lands of
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