Is a Grant Cousin really a Cousin?

[larkspur3]

In a letter from the early 1800s, my Grant ancestor refers to the new job he had just gotten in Inverness "with the assistance of our cousin the Provost." This would be James Grant of Bught who was Provost at the time.

Dare I assume that James Grant really is a cousin or would it be likely that anyone in the Grant clan might be referred to as "cousin" regardless of whether he was directly related to my ancestor or not?

[Skoosh]

Could be either? The Grant's have very diverse origins, in an old rental the Laird of Grant's tenants have Gaelic names, a later rental they're mostly called Grant! 

Skoosh.