sentences:  Details of his background are scarce but the Cannan or Cannon family owned properties at Arnmannoch and Knocklea.This makes it likely they were involved in trading cattle between Ulster and Galloway, which may account for Alexander being referred to as 'Irish' by some writers.Cannon spent much of his career in the Scots Brigade, a unit in Dutch service under William of Orange; despite the name, for much of this period it contained three English and three Scottish regiments.