General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> Kerr Of Grange
1  _UID C28FA7671A70E343B2DD4D16EBF9372B4726
The families of this name hail from the lands in Fife wher
e later
developed the major town of the same name. The land is sai
d to have been
a site of worship for the ancient Celtic church, known as C
uldees;
hence Kil Culdee, which was ultimately corrupted to the mor
e familiar
name. Many in early times styled themselves as being de Ky
r Caudi, and
one of the earliest on record isWillilmus de Kyrcaudi, wh
o was in holy
orders in Stirling in 1299. Andreas de Kirkaldy was grante
d a pension by
David II in 1363. The principal families appear to have acq
uired lands at
Inchture in Perth and Grange in Fife. The house of Inchtur
e ended very
early in the direct line by the marriage in 1396 of Marjory
, daughter and
heir of John of Inchture, to Reginald, son of RichardKinnai
rd of that
Ilk. They thereafter styled themselves of Inchture, and Lor
d Kinnaird
still resides on the lands of Inchture to this day. However
, thefamily
of Grange prospered, Sir James Kirkcaldy of Grange becomin
g treasurerto
James V. His son, William, was renowned as one of the brave
st and most
accomplished soldiers of his time. After the disastrous Bat
tle of Solway
Mossin 1542, James visited the house of Kirkcaldy of Grange
, where he
was well received by the treasurers wife, Kirkcaldy himsel
f being
absent. The king is said to have predicted that he would di
e within the
next fifteen days. Kirkcaldy of Grange and William were wit
h the king
when he died at Falkland Palace on 13 December 1542. Havin
g been advised
of the birth of his daughter and only heir, the future Mary
, Queen of
Scots, the king is said to have expired with the famous wor
ds, it cam
wi a lass and it will gae wi a lass. His wordswere to be a
s prophetic
as the prediction of his own death. The treasurers son, Wil
liam, was a
staunch defender of Queen Mary, and held Edinburgh Castleag
ainst the
forces of her enemies, led by the Regent Morton, until th
e siegeforced
him to surrender on 29 May 1573. He was promised fair treat
ment, but he
and his brother were hanged at the Market Cross in Edinburg
h. However,
the lands were restored to a nephew and in 1664 the famil
y received a
baronetcy. The title became extinct in 1739.About I m. to t
he north of
Kinghorn is the estate of Grange.
KIRKALDY, WILLIAM, one of the earliest converts to the prot
estant faith
in Scotland, and a brave and accomplished man, was the elde
st son of Sir
James Kirkaldy of Grange, high treasurer to James V. of Sco
tland. [The
facts in this article are in general taken from the memoi
r of Kirkaldy of
Grange by Mr Graham Dalyell, a gentleman who has been so mi
nute in his
investigations that it would be difficult to find a fact o
f importance
omitted by him.] Of the period of his birth and the metho
d of his
education we have been unable to discover any satisfactor
y information;
but like the greater number of the Scottish barons at tha
t time, he seems
to have chosen, or to have been devoted by his parents, t
o the profession
of arms. At the death of James,his father seems to have los
t his
situation in the government; yet with a view of procuring t
hat noblemans
assistance to the cause of protestantism, he was one of th
e most active
assistants in raising Arran to the regency; but inthe hop
e he had
formed, he was to a considerable extent disappointed.
YoungGrange, as well as his father, had embraced the princi
ples of the
Reformation; and his first appearance in the historic pag
e is as one of
the conspirators against the persecutor, cardinal David Bea
ton. The
circumstances of this renowned conspiracy have already bee
n commemorated
in these pages. The conspirators having, by an act which ca
nnot be
justified, avenged the death of the martyr Wishart by assas
sinating his
murderer, shut themselves up in the castle of St Andrews, w
hic