Who are the Grahams ?

There are references to Grame or Gryme, a thane or chieftain, right back into Roman times. 
He, or his descendants, reputedly broke the Antonine wall on several occasions. 
Married into the Danish and Scottish royal families of the time this line then
disappears and there is a gap of about 700 years before the first "Norman" Graham is recorded. 
William the Conqueror sent his Norman followers to occupy the land, consolidate his rule and 
introduce the new feudal system of government. 
Scotland's King David I was much taken with this new system of Government.
His second wife, Margaret, was distantly related to William the Conqueror. 
With Margaret came the title of Earl of Huntingdon. 

A very able member of the Royal household was William de Graeme, who first appears as a
witness to the charter founding the Abbey of Holyrood in 1128.
William is effectively the starting point for the present unbroken line of Montrose Grahams,
one of the most distinguished names in Scotland. The Montrose Grahams married twice into the Scottish royal family. from these came some notable men. 
First among them was Sir John de Graham, right hand man of the great Scottish patriot,
Sir William Wallace. Sir John was killed at the battle of Falkirk in 1298.

Second was the Marquis of Montrose, James Graham, well-known as a poet, but above all, 
the most distinguished soldier of his time. He was martyred in Edinburgh in 1650.

  James Graham 1st. Marquis of Montrose

Third was John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, "Bonnie Dundee" to his friends,
"Bloody Clavers" to his enemies. He commanded the the Jacobite army who defeated the Williamite army in 1689 at the battle of Killiecrankie.

      John Graham of Claverhouse.

Most Scottish Clans would be proud to have one great hero. The Grahams have many.
The early Grahams were one and all exceedingly capable men. In an age when the reputations of many great public figures, including most of the Scottish nobility, were sullied by deeds of violence and blackest treachery, it is refreshing to find that the Grahams stand out as loyal and true to the causes they espoused.
Their story is not one of rapid rise to power at, the expense of their peers, but rather a steady rise based on undoubted ability and worthiness which has endured from one generation to another. 
There are many high offices, both north and south of the border that have been filled by Grahams at some time.