Grierson of Lag Chair

The chair is reputed to be from the home of Sir Robert Grierson of Lag, the persecutor of covenanters.   In 1678 John Graham of Claverhouse (Bonnie Dundee as he is better known) was commissioned by the Privy council to suppress covenanting and he pursued his task with considerable zeal. Claverhouse arrived in Dumfries at the end of December 1678. It was reported to him that many conventicles were being held at the Maxwelltown end of the Old Bridge which is in Galloway. Claverhouse's orders covered only Dumfries and Annandale but the sight of these conventicles being held right under his nose greatly annoyed him and he arranged with the Steward of Kirkcudbright to have the meeting house demolished. The hereditary Steward was at this time the Earl of Nithsdale who was still in his minority, and the Steward Depute was none other than Sir Robert Grierson of Lag. Together they formed a team and for the next few years carried out their mission with enthusiasm. In total 82 people were killed in Dumfries and Galloway by government troops under Claverhouse and Lag.   Grierson lived quietly after the religious persecution ceased, and died almost 50 years later in 1733.