The 'Gallant Grahams' trace their ancestry back to William de Graham, a magnate at the court of King David I in the 12th century who received the lands of Abercorn and Dalkeith. The heart of the Graham country is in central Scotland in the districts of Menteith and Strathearn. The founder of the Montrose line in the 13th century was Sir David Graham whose descendants became Lord Graham before 1445, and Earl (1503), Marquess (1644) and Duke (1707) of Montrose. A cadet was created Earl of Menteith in 1427 through marriage.