James Grant

1822 - 1887

Novelist and historian. Born in Edinburgh, the son of an army officer and distant relation of Sir Walter Scott (1771 - 1832), Grant followed his father to Newfoundland for several years before returning to Britain to join the army himself (1839). Four years later he resigned his commission and devoted himself to writing. He began with magazine articles, but soon became a prolific writer of novels, mostly with military and historical themes, including The Romance of War (1845), Bothwell or The Days of Mary Queen of Scots (1857), Frank Hilton or The Queens Own (1855), The Phantom Regiment (1856), Mary of Lorraine : An Historical Romance (1860), The White Cockade (1867), Only an Ensign (1871), Shall I Win Her? (1874) and Playing with Fire (1887).

Grant also wrote a number of valuable historical works, particularly British Battles on Land and Sea (1873-75) and, in three volumes, Old and New Edinburgh (1880) but also Memorials of the Castle of Edinburgh (1850), The Tartans and Clans of Scotland (1886) and several works detailing the history of the Scottish regiments.

Grant was the founder and enthusiastic promoter of the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights. He died in London.

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