Clan Fraser
Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Fraser
Clan Fraser is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands. It is not to be confused with the Clan Fraser of Lovat which is a junior branch although has distinct Clan status. Both clans have their own separate chief, both of whom are officially recognized by the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.
Origins of the clan
The Frasers are believed to have come from Anjou in France. The name Fraser may be derived from Fredarius, Fresel or Freseau. Another suggestion is that the Frasers were a tribe in Roman Gaul, whose badge was a strawberry plant (fraisier in French). The first Fraser to appear in Scotland was in about 1160 when Simon Fraser held lands at Keith in East Lothian .
Wars of Scottish Independence
About five generations after the first Simon Fraser, another Simon Fraser was captured fighting for Robert the Bruce and was executed in 1306 by Edward I of England. Simon’s cousin was Alexander Fraser of Cowie, who was Bruce’s chamberlain. He married Bruce’s sister Mary. Alexander Fraser’s younger brother was another Sir Simon Fraser, from whom the chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat are descended from. One of Simon Fraser’s grandsons was Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie and Durris. This Alexander Fraser acquired a castle now called Cairnbulg Castle and the lands of Philorth by marriage to Joanna, younger daughter and co-heiress of the Earl of Ross in 1375.
In 1592, Sir Alexander Fraser of Philorth received charters from James VI of Scotland for the fishing village of Faithlie, which later became the town of Fraserburgh. Sir Alexander Fraser was also authorized to found a university in the town but this idea was short lived due to the religious troubles of the time.
The eighth Lord Philorth built Fraserburgh Castle, which later became the Kinnaird Head lighthouse. This bankrupted him and Philorth Castle was lost from the family for over three hundred years until 1934 when it was bought back by the 19th Lord Saltoun.
17th and 18th centuries
The 9th Laird of Philorth married the heiress of the Abernethy Lords Saltoun. Their son became the 10th Lord Saltoun, who was severely wounded at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. He survived thanks to his servant, James Cardno, who rescued him from the battlefield. In 1666, the 10th Lord built Philorth House a mile from Fraserburgh which remained the family seat until it burned down in 1915.
Sir Alexander Fraser of Durris was personal physician to Charles II of England. He was educated at Aberdeen and accompanied the king on his campaign throughout 1650. After the Restoration, he sat in the Scottish Parliament and is featured in the diaries of Samuel Pepys.
The Fraser family took no part in the Jacobite risings, although their distant Highland relatives in the Clan Fraser of Lovat were Jacobites.
19th and 20th centuries
The 16th Lord Saltoun commanded the Light Companies of the First Guards at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The 19th Lord Saltoun was a prisoner of war during World War I in Germany. In 1936, he became a member of the House of Lords and promoted the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
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Adapted from http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/dtog/fraser2.html
There are many stories about the origin of the name Fraser. According to ''Clan Fraser - A History celebrating more than 800 years of the family in Scotland'' [1997] by Flora Marjory Fraser, 20th Lady Saltoun, Chief of Clan Fraser: The truth of these stories is unknown but it is generally believed that the name Fraser traces its origins to the French provinces of Anjou and Normandy.
The French word for strawberry is fraise and strawberry plants are called fraisiers. The Fraser arms are silver strawberry flowers on a field of blue. Only the Chief is entitled to use these arms plain and undifferenced.
The Frasers first appear in Scotland around 1160 when Simon Fraser made a gift of a church at Keith in East Lothian, to the monks at Kelso Abbey. The Frasers moved into Tweedale in the 12th and 13th centuries, and from there to the counties of Sterling, Angus, Inverness and Aberdeen. About five generations later, Sir Simon Fraser [the Patriot] was captured fighting for Robert the Bruce, and executed with great cruelty by Edward I in 1306. The patriot’s line ended with two co-heiresses. Sir Andrew Fraser of Touch-Fraser, cousin of the patriot, was the father of Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie [ancestor of the Frasers of Philorth], Sir Simon Fraser [ancestor of the Frasers of Lovat], Sir Andrew Fraser and Sir James Fraser of Frendraught.
Frasers of Philorth (Lords Saltoun)
The senior line is descended from Sir Alexander Fraser, who married Robert the Bruce’s widowed sister, Lady Mary, who had been imprisoned in a cage by Edward I. His grandson, Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie, acquired the Castle (now Cairnbulg) and lands of Philorth by marriage with Lady Joanna, younger daughter and co-heiress of The Earl of Ross in 1375. Eight generations later, Sir Alexander Fraser, 8th laird of Philorth, founded Fraser’s Burgh by royal charters obtained in 1592, and also built Fraserburgh Castle, now Kinnaird Head Lighthouse Museum. His son, the 9th laird, married the heiress of the Abernethies, Lord Saltoun, and in 1669 their son, Alexander Fraser, became the 10th Lord Saltoun. The present Chief of the Name of Fraser is Flora Marjory Fraser, 20th Lady Saltoun, who is an active member of the House of Lords. The Family seat is Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire.
Frasers of Lovat (Lords Lovat)
The Frasers of Lovat descend from Sir Simon Fraser (younger brother of Sir Alexander Fraser, the Chamberlain), who married Lady Margaret, sister of The Earl of Caithness. Documents dated 12 September 1367, connect a Fraser with the lands of Lovat and the Aird. Among the lands acquired by the Lovat Frasers, the prominent ones were in Stratherrick, which was very dear to the hearts of the Lovat Chiefs, the church lands of Beauly Priory in Inverness-shire, part of the south shore of Beauly Firth, and the whole of Bisset, who also built Lovat Castle. About 1460 Hugh Fraser, 6th laird of Lovat, became the first Lord Lovat. The 11th Lord Lovat was beheaded on Tower Hill in London in 1747, following which the Lovat title was attained and the estates were forfeited to the Crown.
The estates eventually passed to the nearest collateral heir-male, Thomas Alexander Fraser, 10th laird of Strichen, Aberdeenshire, who in 1837 was created Baron Lovat in the Peerage of the U.K., and the attainder of the Scottish title was reversed in 1857, when he became 14th (but for the attainder) Lord Lovat. With the death of the 17th Lord Lovat in 1995, aged 83, his eldest son and his youngest son having died the previous year, his grandson, Simon Fraser, born in 1977, became the 18th Lord Lovat and 25th MacShimidh, Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat.
Castle Dounie was home of the chiefs of Lovat from 1511 until it was burned following Culloden. The current Beaufort Castle, built in the 1880s, was sold in 1995. The Lovat family seat is Beauly, Inverness-shire.
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Motto: All my hope is in God
Slogan: Je Suis Prest (French I Am Ready)
Region: Lowlands: Origins - Gaul; Anjou; East Lothian; Beauly, Inverness-shire
District: Seat - Philorth Castle (Cairnbulg Castle); Historic seat - Oliver Castle; Pitsligo Castle
Plant badge: Iubhar (Yew)
Clan branches: Lord Saltoun (chiefs); Frasers of Philorth; Frasers of Inverallochy; Frasers of Muchalls; Frasers of Strichen. See also: Clan Fraser of Lovat
Septs of Clan Fraser: Bissett, Brewster, owie, Frew, Frissel, rizell, acCimmie, MacGruer, MacKim, MacKimmie, MacSimon, MacShimes, MacTavish, McCoss, M’ktaus, Oliver, Sim, Sime, Simon, Simpson, Simson, Sims, Syme, Symon, Twaddle, Tweedie
Gaelic Name: Friseal
Clan Fraser of Lovat
Adapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Fraser_of_Lovat
Clan Fraser of Lovat (Scottish Gaelic: Clann Frisealach, French: Clan Fraiser) is a Highland Scottish clan. The Clan has been strongly associated with Inverness and the surrounding area since the Clan's founder gained lands there in the 13th century. Since its founding, the Clan has dominated local politics and been active in every major military conflict involving Scotland. It has also played a considerable role in most major political turmoils.
'Fraser' remains the most prominent family name within the Inverness area. The Clan's current chief is Simon Fraser, the 16th Lord Lovat, and 26th Chief of Clan Fraser.
Origins of the surname
The exact origins of the surname 'Fraser' can not be determined with any great certainty, although there is little doubt that it came from France.
The first reputed record is that of "Frysel" (vowels were at the time often interchanged), recorded on the Battle Abbey Roll – supposedly a list of William the Conqueror's companions, preserved at Battle Abbey, on the site of his great victory over Harold. However, the authenticity of the manuscript is seriously doubted.
The first definite record of the name in Scotland occurs in the mid-12th century as "de Fresel", "de Friselle", and "de Freseliere", and appears to be an Angevin name. Although there is no known placename in France that corresponds with it, the French surname "Frézelière" or "de la Frézelière" or "Frézeau de la Frézelière", apparent in France today, corresponds with the Scottish version in spelling and traditional area of origin – Anjou.
Apparently while in exile in France, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat "entered into a formal league of amnity" and "declared an alliance" with the French Marquis de la Frézelière and claimed common origin from the "les seigneurs de la Frézelière". The first annual gathering of the Clan Fraser in Canada in 1894 also recalls this connection.
This ancient connection with Anjou is also described in detail in the 18th century document La Dictionnaire de la Noblesse. This document states that a Simon Frezel was born to the knightly Frezel family from Anjou and, sometime after the year 1030, established himself in Scotland. It also states that Simon Frezel's descendants multiplied and eventually became known as Frasers. This would also explain the prevalence of the name Simon throughout clan history, as all Frasers would have the knight Simon Frezel as a distant, but common, ancestor.
Another tradition claims derivation from a Frenchman called "Pierre Fraser, Seigneur de Troile", who came to Scotland in the reign of Charlemagne to form an alliance with the mythical King Achaius. Pierre's son was then to have become thane of the Isle of Man in 814.
Yet another explanation for the surname is that it is derived from the French words fraise, meaning strawberry (the fruit), and fraisiers, strawberry plants. There is a fabled account of the Fraser coat of arms which asserts during the reign of Charles the Simple of France, a nobleman from Bourbon named Julius de Berry entertained the King with a dish of fine strawberries. De Berry was then later knighted, with the knight taking strawberry flowers as his Arms and changing his name from 'de Berry' to 'Fraiseux' or 'Frezeliere'. His direct descendants were to become the lords of Neidpath Castle, then known as Oliver. This origin has been disputed, and seen as a classic example of canting heraldry, where heraldic symbols are derived from a pun on similar sounding surname: (strawberry flowers – fraises).
Early Frasers
Around the reign of William the Lion (r.1165–1214), there was a mass of "Norman" immigration into Scotland. Thomas Grey, a 14th-century English knight, listed several "Norman" families which took up land during William's reign. Among those listed, the families of Moubray, Ramsay, Laundells, Valognes, Boys and Fraser are certainly or probably introduced under King William.
The earliest written record of Frasers in Scotland is in 1160, when a Simon Fraser held lands in East Lothian, at Keith. In that year, he made the gift of a church to the Tironensian monks at Kelso Abbey. The Frasers moved into Tweeddale in the 12th and 13th centuries and from there into the counties of Stirling, Angus, Inverness and Aberdeen.
Wars of Scottish Independence
During the Scottish Wars of Independence, Sir Simon Fraser, "the Patriot", fought first with the Red Comyn, and later with Sir William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Sir Simon is celebrated for having defeated the English at the Battle of Roslin in 1303, with just 8,000 men under his command. At the Battle of Methven in 1306, Sir Simon Fraser led troops along with Bruce, and saved the King's life in three separate instances. Simon was allegedly awarded the 3 Crowns which now appear in the Lovat Arms for these three acts of bravery. He was however captured by the English and executed with great cruelty by Edward I of England in 1306, in the same barbaric fashion as Wallace.
At the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Sir Simon's cousin, Sir Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie, was much more fortunate. He fought at Bannockburn, married Bruce's sister, and became Chamberlain of Scotland. The Frasers of Philorth who are chiefs of the senior Clan Fraser, trace their lineage from this Alexander. Alexander's younger brother, another Sir Simon Fraser, was the ancestor of the chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat. This Simon Fraser was killed at the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, along with his younger brothers Andrew and James.
15th and 16th century clan conflicts
As most Highlanders, the Frasers have been involved in countless Clan wars, particularly against the Macdonalds. Two Gaelic war cries of the Frasers have been generally recognized. The first, "Caisteal Dhuni" (Castle Dounie/Downie) refers to the ancestral Castle and Clan seat, which once existed near the present Beaufort Castle. The second is "A Mhòr-fhaiche" (The Great Field).
According to some accounts, the Frasers under Lord Lovat supported the Munros at the Battle of Bealach nam Broig in 1452, which was fought against Clan Mackenzie. There are also accounts of Fraser Lord Lovat supporting the Munros at the Battle of Clachnaharry fought two years later in 1454.
In 1544, the Frasers fought a great clan battle, the Battle of the Shirts against Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, over the disputed chiefship of Clan Ranald. The Frasers, as part of a large coalition, backed a son of the 5th Chief, Ranald Gallda "the Stranger", which the MacDonalds found unacceptable. The Earl of Argyll intervened, refusing to let the two forces engage. But on their march home, the 300 Frasers were ambushed by 500 MacDonalds. Only five Frasers and eight MacDonalds are said to have survived the battle. Both the clan chief, Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Lovat, and his son were among the dead and were buried at Beauly Priory.
At the Siege of Inverness in 1562, Clan Fraser of Lovat supported Mary, Queen of Scots: Scottish historian George Buchanan, a contemporary, wrote that when the unfortunate princess went to Inverness in 1562: "as soon as they heard of their sovereign's danger, a great number of the most eminent Scots poured in around her, especially the Frasers and Munros, who were esteemed the most 'valiant of the clans inhabiting those countries in the north.' " These two clans took Inverness Castle for the Queen. The Queen later hanged the governor, a Gordon who had refused her admission.
In the 16th century a battle took place between Clan Fraser (with help from Clan MacRae) and Clan Logan at Kessock, where Gilligorm, the Chief of Clan Logan, was killed.
17th century and civil war
In 1645, at the Battle of Auldearn, in Nairnshire, the Clan opposed the Royalist leader, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, and fought under a Fraser of Struy (from a small village at the mouth of Glen Strathfarrar). The battle left eighty-seven Fraser widows.
In 1649, Clan Fraser of Lovat, under Colonel Hugh Fraser, assaulted Inverness Castle for a second time, this time during a royalist rising, along with John Munro of Lemlair, Thomas Urquhart and Thomas Mackenzie of Pluscardine. They were opposed to the authority of the current parliament, assaulted the town and took the castle in what is now known as the Siege of Inverness (1649). They then expelled the garrison and raised the fortifications. However, on the approach of the parliamentary forces led by General Leslie, the clans retreated back into Ross-shire.
Over the next year, several skirmishes took place between these parties. During the Siege of Inverness (1650) the Covenanter Frasers of Lovat under Sir James Fraser of Brea successfully defended Inverness Castle against the royalists. In 1650, at the Battle of Dunbar, Clan Fraser fought against the forces of Oliver Cromwell, however the Covenanters were defeated. In 1651, Clan Fraser joined the army of Charles II at Stirling. They fought at the Battle of Worcester where the King's army was defeated by Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army.
In 1689, the Glorious Revolution deposed the Roman Catholic King, James VII, as monarch of England, replacing the King with his Protestant daughter, Mary, and her husband and cousin, William of Orange. Swiftly following in March, a Convention of the Estates was convened in Edinburgh, which supported William & Mary as joint monarchs of Scotland. However, to much of Scotland, particularly in the Highlands, James was still considered the rightful, legitimate King.
On 16 April 1689, John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount of Dundee, later known as Bonnie Dundee, raised the royal standard of the recently-deposed King James VII on the hilltop of Dundee Law. Many of the Highland clans rallied swiftly to his side. The chief of Clan Fraser, Thomas Fraser, tried to keep the members of his clan from joining the uprising, to no avail: The Clan marched without him, and fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie. In 1690, Thomas gave in and joined them.
18th century and Jacobite risings
Jacobite rising of 1715
During the Jacobite rising of 1715, Simon Fraser "the Fox", 11th Lord Lovat, Chief at the time, supported the British Government and surrounded the Jacobite garrison in Inverness. Clan MacDonald of Keppoch attempted to relieve the garrison, but when their path was blocked by the Frasers, Keppoch retreated. The Inverness garrison surrendered to Fraser on the same day the Battle of Sheriffmuir was fought, and another Jacobite force was defeated at the Battle of Preston. In 1719, the British General, Joseph Wightman, passed through Fraser country enroute to the Battle of Glen Shiel and gathered with him Fraser of Lovat's men as he went.
Jacobite rising of 1745
In 1725, the British Field Marshall, George Wade, gave instructions that had come to him from George I of Great Britain to re-establish the Independent Highland Companies of soldiers to support the British Government. Chief Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat was appointed Captain of one of these Independent Highland Companies. However Wade complained to George II of Great Britain that the Independent Highland Companies had been infiltrated by Jacobitism and demanded that the king take action. Wade put up Lord Lovat's captaincy as the first to go.
In 1740, George II demanded action and Wade stepped in and stripped Lovat of his company of Frasers, putting them under command elsewhere. Wade also advised the government to remove Lord Lovat from his office as High Sheriff of Inverss-shire. As a result, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat later gave his support to the Jacobite leader, Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie), and when asked why he had engaged with the Prince after receiving so many favours from the government, he replied that "he did it more in revenge to the ministry for having taken away his Independent Company than anything else". Frasers were on the front lines of the Jacobite army at the Battle of Falkirk, and the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
At Culloden, Charles Fraser was mortally wounded and found by General Hawley on the field, who ordered one of his aides, a young James Wolfe, to finish him off with a pistol. Wolfe refused, so Hawley got a common soldier to do it. David Fraser of Glen Urquhart, who was deaf and mute, had, it was said, charged and killed seven redcoats, but was captured and died in prison. John Fraser, also called 'MacIver' was shot in the knee, taken prisoner, and put before a firing squad, but was then rescued by a British officer, Lord Boyd, who was sick of the slaughter. Another John Fraser, who was Provost of Inverness, tried to get fair treatment for the prisoners.
After the battle, the same year, Castle Dounie was burnt to the ground, while Simon Fraser "the Fox", 11th Lord Lovat, was on the run. He was captured, tried for treason, and executed in London on 9 April 1747, and his estates and titles were forfeited to the Crown. The 11th Lord Lovat's son, Simon Fraser, escaped punishment and was pardoned. He later raised a Fraser regiment for the British army which fought in Canada in the 1750s, including Quebec.
Castle Dounie was replaced by a small square building in which the Royal Commissioner resided until 1774, when some of the forfeited Lovat estates were granted by an Act of Parliament to his son, Simon Fraser (1726–1782), by then a major general, in recognition of his military service to the Crown and the payment of some £20,000. Later, two modest wings were added.
On the death of General Fraser's younger half-brother, Colonel Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat (1736–1815), without legitimate surviving male issue, the Lovat estates were transferred, by entail, to Thomas Alexander Fraser of Strichen (1802–1875), a distant cousin who was descended from Thomas Fraser of Knockie & Strichen (1548–1612), second son of Alexander Fraser, 4th Lord Lovat (1527–1557). Knockie was sold about 1727 to Hugh Fraser of Balnain (1702–1735).
Frasers in the New World
Seven Years' War
Under the chief, Simon (who had led the Frasers in The '45 as the Master of Lovat) a regiment of Frasers, the 78th Fraser Highlanders, numbering 1,400, were raised and fought the French and Indians in the colonies and Canada from 1757 to 1759. Interestingly, the 78th fought under General Wolfe, who had previously fought at the Battle of Culloden against Simon and perhaps some of the 78th. It was one of the 78th, possibly Simon, possibly one of his men, whose familiarity with the French language saved the first wave of British troops at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which led to the capture of Quebec.
American rebellion
In the fight against American independence, Simon, who was by this time a General, raised 2,300 men, the 71st Fraser Highlanders. He recruited two battalions at Inverness, Stirling and Glasgow. Most of the men were not Frasers, for the number of Frasers had been substantially reduced after the battle of Culloden and the end of the clan system. Fighting on the Continental side was Persifor Frazer, said to be a relative of Simon whose ancestors had left the Highlands before the Jacobite Rising.
Diaspora
Many Frasers settled in Canada and the United States after the war against the French in Quebec. Many others later emigrated to those countries, and to Australia and New Zealand (which have both had a Fraser prime minister). Frasers in the US have continued their proud military tradition, fighting on both sides of the American Civil War. Frasers from both sides of the Atlantic fought in the Great War, and the Second World War.
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Crest: A buck's head erased Proper
Motto: Je suis prest (I am ready)
War Cry: "A Mhor-fhaiche" (The Great Field) OR "Caisteal Dhuni" (Castle Dounie/Downie)
Region: Highland
District: Inverness-shire; Historic seat - Beaufort Castle (Castle Dounie)
Plant badge: French fraisse (Strawberry)
Pipe music: Lovat's March
Gaelic name: Clann Frisealach
Clan Branches: Chiefs of Clan Fraser; Frasers of Inverallochy; Frasers of Strichen
See also: Clan Fraser; Frasers of Muchalls; Frasers of Philorth
Allied Clans: Clan Munro, Clan Forbes, Clan Grant
Rival Clans: Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan Gordon, Clan Logan
Septs: Bissett, Brewster, Cowie, Frew, Frissel, Frizell, MacCimmie, MacGruer, MacKim, MacKimmie, MacSimon, MacShimes, MacTavish, McCoss, M’ktaus, Oliver, Sim, Sime, Simon, Simpson, Simson, Sims, Syme, Symon, Twaddle, Tweedie