History of the earldoms of Strathern, Monteith, and Airth

STRATHERN, BIONTEITH, AND AIRTPI. 115
Sir John Graham of Gartmore, Baronet, son
and heir of Sir William Graham, by Ehzabeth
the Earl's other sister, whose descendants will
be afterwards noticed.^
Lady Mary Allardice, from the misfor- LadyMary
111 J Allardice.
tunes of her family, was educated by her grand- lees— 1720.
described as the eldest sister of Elizabeth Lady Graham. In
a memorandum of notes for counsel's opinion in 1694,
" The Laird of Allardice " is however expressly called " the
eldest sister's son ; " but, on being tendered as evidence on
the claim to the Earldom of Airth, the Lords* Committees
for Privileges refused to admit it, " because there ap-
peared to be no adoption by the family, there being no
evidence of its being in the hand-writing of any member
of the familj^, or of its having been laid before counsel."
(Printed Evidence, p. 46. ; and see the Claimant's printed
Case, pp. 11, 12.) As all the descendants of Elizabeth
Lady Graham were proved to be extinct, the point is no
longer of importance ; but it may be observed, that parole
testimony of the fact, derived from family tradition^ was re-
ceived (vide Printed Evidence, pp. 9. 11. 76, 77.); that
similar parole evidence was given on the retour of Mrs.
Barclay Allardice, as eldest heir portioner of William Earl
of Monteith, in October, 1784, by members of the Graham
family (vide Printed Evidence, pp. 58 — 62.) ; and that
it is strongly corroborated by her having borne her mother's-
mother's baptismal name ; by her having been married before
her sister ; by her brother the Earl of Monteith having given
the Barony of Kilpont to her son ; and by the statements of
contemporary writers^ namely, Crawfurd and Douglas, in
their Peerages of Scotland ; and Nisbett, in his System
of Heraldry.
1 Vide p. 160. et seq., postea.
I 2