Notes |
- Two charters in the Registrum Honoris de Morton provide proof
of the placement of Agnes, wife of John de Monfode, as a daughter of
Sir Nicholas de Graham and Mary of Strathearn. The first,
identified as 'Carta de Hawthornsike', is a grant of the lands of
'Hawthornesyk' in the barony of Abercorn to Agnes de Monfode by
John de Graham, lord of Abercorn, dated at Lochleven, 5 Aug
1340. As John de Graham of Abercorn and Dalkeith, son of Sir
Nicholas, had died on 25 April 1337, the John de Graham of the
1340 charter is clearly his son and heir.
The past difficulty (at least in part), and the correct
identification is based primarily on the language of this charter.
The editor rendered the text as a grant by John de Graham to ' my
dear friend, lady Agnes de Munfode ' [" dil'ce amice mee d'ne
Agneti de munfode "]. The word "amice" was an apparent error in
the transcription of the charter, which I confirmed today with
Andrew B. W. MacEwen. The word actually is "amite": the correct
translation of the text would then read as a grant to
'my dear aunt, lady Agnes de Munfode'.
That Agnes was a sister of the elder Sir John de Graham (and
daughter of Sir Nicholas), and not his sister-in-law, is indicated
by the word "amite", indicating that she was a paternal aunt
[nominative form "amita"]. A subsequent charter confirms this: a
subsequent grant of the lands of 'Hawthornsike' by William Mure of
Abercorn, dated 5 April 1361 mentions 'lady Agnes de Montfode,
relict of the deceased John de Montfode ' ["d'ne Agnetis de
montfode relicte quond' Joh'is de montfode"]. Her name was de
Monfode, but (obviously) by marriage.
That Agnes, wife of Sir John de Douglas, was a niece of Agnes
(de Graham) de Monfode and not identical to her, is further
supported on chronological grounds. Sir John de Graham (son of Sir
Nicholas and his wife Mary of Strathearn) was born before 19 May
1278: an inquisition of 19 May 1306, concerning the Muschamp
inheritance, found that he was 28 years of age [possibly phrased as
'28 years and more']. Agnes de Graham had a dispensation for
her marriage to Sir John de Douglas in October 1344, by which
date she had issue and evidently continued producing offspring
after that date (they had a total of 9 sons and daughters that
are known). Assuming a minimal range of 15 years to produce 9
offspring, from say 1335/1340 to 1350/1355, Agnes would reasonably
be assumed to have been born between say 1290 and 1320, but
probably no earlier than between say 1295 to 1300. Mary of
Strathearn was born sometime before 20 March 1248/9, as an IPM
dated 20 March 1254/5 found that she was aged 6 [presumably,
'6 and more'] [6]. The latest point at which we might assume a
child to have been born to Mary of Strathearn by Nicholas de
Graham would have been between say 1288 and 1294. It would be
an extreme stretch to place Agnes, wife of Sir John de Douglas,
as a daughter of Mary of Strathearn given these constraints.
She had by John Doglas had a total of 9 sons and daughters that
are known
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