Scottish clan Clan Grant. During the Wars of Scottish Independence, feudal tenures were introduced by Robert the Bruce that harnessed and controlled the prowess of clans by the award of charters for land in order to gain support in the national cause against the English. For example, the Clan MacDonald were elevated above the Clan MacDougall, two clans who shared a common descent from a great Norse-Gaelic warlord named Somerled of the 12th century. Clanship was thus not only a strong tie of local kinship but also of feudalism to the Scottish Crown. It is this feudal component, reinforced by Scots law,
The Glen, Scottish Borders the "Lion Gate" are also category A listed. In 1296, it is recorded that Sarra of the Glen swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. The estate was later split up, and comprised the two estates of Easter Glen and Wester Glen by the 18th century. It was reunited under the ownership of Edinburgh banker Alexander Allan in 1796, who purchased Easter Glen in that year for £10,500. His son William Allan, Lord Provost of Edinburgh from 1829–1831, commissioned William Henry Playfair to extend the existing farmhouse. The first parklands were laid out at this time, with drainage and