The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-01-03

Nance by request: Graham, Gray
 iiiled names: Graeme. Grey. Hopkin
 fopkinson. Brian, Bricn. Brion. Brine 8ryen, Bryns. Bryney. Bryon. Mac Brian. etc. o'Brien. etc
 Graham
 Ehe origin of the surname Graham .na of fine family that bears it hal been much and long disputed. To con . yIder In extenso the conflicting views ana the mass of contradictory iegends and traditions that are so utteraoly IT recon ella bie and hopeless would re apfre severai columns at least. and nossibIy two or three pages of the size Of this. We can then state only Wna' seems to be. in the light of the evi' dence now at hand. the best estaphsn' ed and most likely facts.
 The first now known beyond all doubt and peradventure to have borne this historic surname and to have peea ancestor of all -the gallant Grahams' If seotiand was one William de Gra' nan. who is found in Scotland in the reirn of King David I. From that gen erous sovereign he obtained the landi of Abercorn and Dalkeith In the Lo. thians. He left two sons. Peter and John: the former the heir to the iand. in the Iothians: the latter. ancestor of thA 0rahams of Montrose and of most of the historic Grahams of Scottish his tory. the various branches of the family ir Scotland can be traced back to this William de Graham and there seems not sS' be the sIsgh test proof that any one of them can trace single step farther.
 Fortunately this William dc Graham
 s- 4<x a ~ha r given by David I to the monks of Hoiyrood House. This charter is still preserved and the orthography of the signature. is Graham. No documentary evidence of any older orfhography of the name appears ever to have been cited and the statements relative to earlier Grimes. Grymes, Gremes, Graemes. etc. have no unQuestioned au- thority. nor even any authority of fair ly good repute to support them. Creme and Graeme, do come later but not In the first nor second generation in any documentary form. but only Graham Is then found.
 There Is no known -expianation for tliis Graham if it Is the original form. save that 1t Is an English local name. Grayham. and the only place known In England that bore tais name asGra- ham. near KSsteyea in Lincolnshire.
 Ii seems most probable then that the name originated in Lineolnshire and was transferred thence to. the Lothians. David. the king of Scotland, had many friends In North England, and invited some of these to come to Scotland where he presented them with grants of land. As the writer's. own ancestor was one of these he, has had occasion to scan this movement and this period of Scottish history rather closely. '
 But what about Graham's Dyke7z Is it not proof of the earlier existence of the name and famiIy7
 The desire to connect this ancient work with the history of the family seems to have been the main cause of all the trouble and confusion relative to the history of the name and family.
 Graham's Dyke is the name now given to the. remains of that vast earthen rampant, ditch and military road running from Caerriden on the Forth to Aicfuid on the Clyde. This was built in 13a A. D. by Lollius Ur- bicua.s the slesatls of the Emperor An toninus Plus, at that time command CT of the Roman forces In Britain. It Is uauaIiy called ''the wall of Anton mus"
 The Scotch psychologists. though. es Camden quaintly remarked, thsy think surnames as ancient as the moon" have never claimed that this wall or dyke was built by the pro- yenitor of the family They have more nodestly stated that the illustrious sorbear of the clan was Creme who In .4i9 was chosen regent of Scotland turing the minority of Eugenius IT, and that he had many "engagements with the Britons and by forcing that mighty rampant they {sic) had reared up between the rivers of Forth and Clyde. immortaiixed his name so much IS that to this day that entrench ment is called l'Graham's Dyke"
 Merely noting as we pass such a glaring inaccuracy as that the Britons built this wall and such an historical anachronism as a Scotland in 41e, we may add that few fallacies are more easy to disprove than the story of the origin of the name Graham's Dyke.
 This name was not found until long after the Grahams had attained some local and national distinction. and the name then began as corruption of the earlier name Grimesdyke.
 As Grim, Grimm, etc, was a fairly freuuent name among both the Saxons and the Danes. 1t is probable enough that these people considered the name to have been derived from the per- sonai name. The old forms of the name show such a popular etymoIogy at work, The name. however, Is 5ld- CT than the Saxon or Danish occupa- ton of the land and that 1t is not