PARISH OF BUCHANAN.

PRESBYTERY OF DUMBARTON, SYNOD OF GLASGOW AND AYR.

REV. WILLIAM FREELAND, MINISTER.

II.-CIVIL HISTORY.

Family of Buchanan.-" The History of the Family. and Surname of Buchanan," by Buchanan of Auchmar, contains the only ancient account of the parish. The founder of the family was Anselan, a native of Ireland, who is said to have arrived in the eleventh century. His descendants origin'~ly bore the name of M'Aslan, a corruption of Anselan, and were chamberlains to the Earls of Lennox. At an early period, they obtained a grant of part of the lands of Buchanan, which afterwards became the family name. In 1225, they received from Malduin, Earl of Lennor, a charter for Clarinch, an islet in Lochlomond, which was adopted as the war-cry of the clan. In 1296, " Malcolm de Bough canian" appears in the list of proprietors of Stirlingshire * who swore fealty to Edward I. of England. In 1482, a younger son founded the house of Druinnahill, from which sprung, in 1504 the celebrated George Buchanan. In - 1519, " Walterus Buc quhanan de eodem" conveyed to his son, Walter, the lands of Spittal**. In 1682 the direct line of male succession became extinct; and, in the absence of other competitors, the late Dr H. Buchanan of Spittal and Lenny, claimed, in 1826, to be chief of the family. The Buchanans are a numerous clan in the Lennox and adjacent counties. Besides the M'Aslans already mentioned, they recognize as clansmen some other branches whose names are common in this district, particularly the Zuils and the Risks - originally soubriquets of individuals, but afterwards surnames of their descendants. The one was so called from the day of his birth; Yule, (Christmas); the other from the place of his residence, the Risk (a bare knoll) of Drymen. Many of the Buchanans have settled and prospered in Glasgow, where they established a charitable society for the poor members of the clan in the Lennox and elsewhere, which distributes the interest of their capital, amounting to upwards of L. 500 per annum, among all their branches, whatever be their name. The family of Buchanan, though it flourished for upwards of 500 years, while Scotland remained a separate kingdom, was never distinguished in political transactions. One evident cause was the smallness of the family estate, which included only the lower part of the present parish. Their fame rests on their literary eminence. Besides the classical Buchanan, they can boast of Dr Buchanan, already mentioned, celebrated for his valuable works on the civil and natural history of India, (obiit 15th June 1829); and Dr Claudius Buchanan, who is entitled to respect and gratitude for having, by his writings and labours, excited the British nation to send the blessings of education and religion to their Indian empire, (ob. 9th February 1815.)

*     Niminos  History of Stirlingshire, Appendix, No.3.
**    Claim by Francis H. Buchanan, M. D. 1826.

Family of Montrose.-At the death of the last Buchanan of that Ilk, in 1682, the estate was sold by his creditors, and purchased by the family of Montrose. They, too, claim high antiquity. Without asserting the existence of the Caledonian, who, in the fifth century, is said to have broken down Agricola's Wall, and to have given it his own name of Graham's Dike, it may be stated, that.the present Duke of Montrose is the twentieth lineal descendant from Sir Patrick de Graham, who fell, regretted by friend and foe, in the battle of Dunbar, in 1296*  This family, unlike their predecessor, is famed for their military achievements; and numbers among their sons, Sir John de Graham, the companion of Wallace ; the Marquis of Montrose, who flourished in the civil wars; the Viscount Dundee, who fell bravely, but vainly, attempting to support the tottering throne of James IL; and the present Lord Lynedoch, who distinguished himself by his chivalrous exertions in the wars of the French Revolution. The late Duke (ob. 30th December 1836) must be mentioned as an able, persevering patron of agriculture. During a long life, he was un-wearied in embellishing his residence at Buchanan, in improving and extending his plantations, and in introducing superior breeds of farm stock.

The Clan Gregor.- The history of the Macgregors is now familiar to all, from the ample account of them given by Sir Walter Scott in his introduction to Rob Roy. It may be remarked, that their predatory and e'en sanguinary practises are characteristic rather of a state of society than of a peculiar family, and will occur wherever, under a feeble government, a rude tribe is settled in the vicinity of an industrious civilized population. Black mail was levied on the English border, as well as on the skirts of the Grampians; and the exaction of that anomalous tribute by the Armstrongs of the south, was the same in kind, though inferior in degree and duration, with that of the Macgregors in the north. This sept occupied the upper part of Buchanan. Their noted chieftain, Robert Macgregor, better known as Rob Roy, (Red Rob,) was proprietor of Inversnaid in Glenarklet. A cave, bearmg his name, is still shown in that neighbourhood; but it has no other claim to notoriety, being merely the interstices between huge loose rocks, and well adapted for temporary concealment to an outlaw. In the beginning of last century, Rob Roy was a troublesome neighbour to the family of Montrose. Laws were passed against the whole clan, and, to overawe them, a fort was erected at Inversnaid, and garrisoned by a company of soldiers. All these measures were of little avail. The Macgregors removed a few miles farther into the Highlands, and continued the exaction of black-mail till the suppression of the Rebellion of 1745,- when an effectual remedy was applied, by opening up roads to inaccessible districts, by abolishing the heritable jurisdiction of the larger proprietors, and substituting, for the feeble baronial courts, an efficient national administration of justice. Relinquishing their lawless habits, the Macgregors soon learnt to emulate their countrymen in arts and arms. They are still, after being doomed to repeated proscriptions, and being engaged in successive rebellions, a numerous race, and are found everywhere, not only under their proper name, but also under the slight alterations of Gregor, Gregory, Gregorson, and Grierson. Their chief, in former times, was often elective. In 1798, Sir John Macgregor Murray; Bart. was raised to that dignity, by the choice of 826 clansmen, able to bear arms.