Clan Fraser
| Clan Fraser | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Motto | All my hope is in God.[1] | ||
| Profile | |||
| Region | Lowlands | ||
| Plant badge | Yew[1] | ||
| Chief | |||
 | |||
| Flora Fraser | |||
| The Rt. Hon. The Lady Saltoun | |||
| Seat | Philorth Castle (Cairnbulg Castle) | ||
| Historic seat |
Oliver Castle Pitsligo Castle | ||
| |||
Clan Fraser is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.[2] It is not to be confused with the Clan Fraser of Lovat who are a separate Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands (though with a common ancestry). Both clans have their own separate chief, both of whom are officially recognized by the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.[3]
History
Origins of the clan
The Frasers are believed to have come from Anjou in France.[2] The name Fraser may be derived from Fredarius, Fresel or Freseau.[2] Another suggestion is that the Frasers were a tribe in Roman Gaul, whose badge was a strawberry plant (fraisier in French).[2] The first Fraser to appear in Scotland was in about 1160 when Simon Fraser held lands at Keith in East Lothian .[2]
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.[2] Simon’s cousin was Alexander Fraser of Cowie who was Bruce’s chamberlain.[2] He married Bruce’s sister Mary.[2] Alexander Fraser’s younger brother was another Sir Simon Fraser, from whom the chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat are descended from.[2] One of Simon Fraser’s grandsons was Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie and Durris.[2] 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.[2]
Frasers of Philorth
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.[2] Sir Alexander Fraser was also authorized to found a university in the town but this scheme was short lived due to the religious troubles of the time.[2]
The eighth Lord Philorth built Fraserburgh Castle which later became the Kinnaird Head lighthouse.[2] 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.[2]
Lords Saltoun
17th and 18th centuries
The ninth Laird of Philorth married the heiress of the Abernethy Lords Saltoun.[2] Their son, Alexander Fraser, 11th Lord Saltoun, was severely wounded at the Battle of Worcester in 1651.[2] He survived thanks to his servant, James Cardno, who rescued him from the battlefield.[2] In 1666 the tenth Lord built Philorth House a mile from Fraserburgh which remained the family seat until it burned down in 1915.[2]
Sir Alexander Fraser of Durris was personal physician to Charles II of England.[2] He was educated at Aberdeen and accompanied the king on his campaign throughout 1650.[2] After the Restoration he sat in the Scottish Parliament and he featured in the diaries of Samuel Pepys.[2]
The Fraser family took no part in the Jacobite risings,[2] although their distant Highland relatives in the Clan Fraser of Lovat were Jacobites.[2]
19th and 20th centuries
The sixteenth Lord Saltoun commanded the Light Companies of the First Guards at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.[2] The nineteenth Lord Saltoun was a prisoner of war during World War I in Germany.[2] Later, in 1936 he became a member of the House of Lords and promoted the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.[2]
See also
References
- 1 2 Clan Fraser - ScotClans scotclans.com. Retrieved 31 August 2013
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Way, George and Squire, Romily. Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Published in 1994. Pages 142 - 143.
- ↑ Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs – Select either "Fraser" or "Fraser of Lovat" clanchiefs.org. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
External links
Fraser Societies