Reminiscences, historical and traditional of the Grants of Glenmoriston

2 THE GRANTS OF GLENMORISTON.
posal, we cannot be quite certain as to the
connection between the earlier links of their
genealogical chain. We must, therefore, go
partly by what tradition has floated down to
us, not invariably dependable, but chiefly by
such contributions as family and national
records offer — sometimes sufficiently scanty.
But scanty as they are, they give glimpses
which show that along the centuries their
progress was a growing one, both in influence
and affluence.
We find, for example, that, as early as the
reign of Alexander III., Sir Laurence Le Grant
was Sheriff of Inverness, 1258-66, and is said
to have been allied by marriage to the once
powerful Bissets of Lovat.
Sir John Le Grant espoused the cause of
Bruce against Baliol, and was one of the
" magnates " taken prisoner at the Battle of
Dunbar, 1296. He was liberated on condition
of serving Edward in Flanders, Graham of
Lovat and Comyn of Badenoch becoming his
sureties. In 1316 he obtained a Crown Charter
of the lands of Inverallan in Strathspey.