Robert Cunninghame Graham of Gartmore

Who was Robert Cunninghame Graham of Gartmore?

Robert Graham, who took the name Bontine in 1770 and Cunninghame Graham in 1796, was a Scottish politician and poet. He is now remembered for a poem If doughty deeds my lady please, which was later set to music by his great-great-grandson, Rev. Malise Cunninghame Graham and also by Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Robert, who was the second son of Nicol Graham of Gartmore by his wife, Lady Margaret Cunningham, was born at Gartmore, Perthshire, and educated, along with his elder brother William, at the University of Glasgow. He spent much of his early life in Jamaica, where he was a planter and merchant, and became Receiver-General for Taxes in 1753. He also represented the district of St Davids. He married Anne, sister of Sir John Taylor Bt of Lyssons Hall, in 1764 and he built the current Ardoch House in colonial style for her. She died in December, 1780, leaving two daughters and two sons. He secondly married Elizabeth Buchanan circa 1783, by whom he had a further son and daughter; they separated in 1787 and divorced in 1789.