MACINTOSH, Muriel?

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Muriel? married Sir Duncan GRANT 1st of Freuchie, son of Sir John GRANT 'Ian Ruadh', Sheriff-Principal of Inverness and Matilda of Glencarnie.¹ (Sir Duncan GRANT 1st of Freuchie was born about 1415 ¹ and died in 1485.)

  Marriage Notes:

There are some alternative, if not opposing and confused, narratives regarding this generation and the marriage of Sir Duncan Grant and his son John. Both, by different sources, are said to have married a Muriel MacIntosh, daughter of the 10th chief. It is possible they both married a Muriel or other daughter MacIntosh, whose fathers were different chiefs. Malcolm the 10th chief, was a more attractive and successful laird than Ferquhard the 9th, so may have been remembered more easily in narratives. This is speculation at this stage but further research may uncover some truth underlying the claim.


"Sir Duncan Grant is said to have married Muriel Mackintosh, daughter of Malcolm, tenth chief of the Mackintoshes ; but as she is also said to have married John Mor Grant of Freuchie, whose existence cannot be traced, no definite statement can be made on this point. That a daughter of Malcolm or 'Gylhchallum' Mackintosh did marry a Laird of Grant, is asserted by a document, dated 20th February 1568, and signed by Lacklan, the then chief of the Mackintoshes ; but no name is given either to the Land or the lady. The same document, however, corroborates the evidence of other authorities as to the marriage of Sir Duncan Grant's daughter, Catherine. Sir Duncan Grant had one son - John Grant, younger of Freuchie, who predeceased him.

from Chiefs of Grant




"It is said that he married Muriel Mackintosh, daughter of Malcolm, tenth chief of the Mackintoshes, but the evidence points to her having married John Grant, Sir Duncan's son."

from Scots Peerage (vol 7)




"Sir Duncan Grant was born in the period 1410x15. The MS histories tell us that he and his wife, Muriel Macintosh waited quite some time before their first children were born \'96 and they turned out to be twins, John and Patrick.

A tale is told about this in all the MS histories: when Muriel went into labour the first thing to emerge was a hand - and the attendants tied a ribbon to the wrist. The hand then withdrew and it was the other twin who was born first. Sir Duncan decided that the emergence of the hand would not count for the purposes of primogeniture so it was John who became his heir while the ribbon had been attached to Patrick. The MSS also tell us that Sir Duncan determined that Patrick would be given Ballindalloch. We can see that the numbers to add up \'96 so the tale is at least chronologically feasible.

Like his father, John Grant, younger of Grant was married to a Muriel Macintosh (his own first cousin). He died in 1482, three years before his father. By this time Sir Duncan was really not fit enough to be the chief he needed to be and John's son (also John who would become the 'Bard Roy') was still a minor. So Patrick became not only the effective Clan Chief but also his nephew's 'tutor' (legal guardian with what we might today call 'power of attorney')."

from Grant Cadets ^{1 2}