Clan Fraser | |||
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Na Frisealaich | |||
![]() Crest: On a mount a flourish of strawberries leaved and fructed Proper | |||
Motto | All my hope is in God. [1] | ||
Profile | |||
Region | Lowlands | ||
Plant badge | Yew [1] | ||
Chief | |||
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Flora Fraser | |||
The Rt. Hon. The Lady Saltoun | |||
Seat | Philorth Castle (Cairnbulg Castle) | ||
Historic seat | Oliver Castle Pitsligo Castle Castle Fraser [2] | ||
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Clan Fraser is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands. [3] 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. [4]
The exact origins of the surname "Fraser" can not be determined with any great certainty. [5] The Frasers are believed to have come from the County of Anjou in France somewhere in the 11th century, and some possible places of origin have been suggested throughout the years, with La Frezelière (at La Roche-Neuville) and Fréteval being the most common. [3]
Traditionally, the surname is thought to be of French origin, but the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names (2016) notes there is no place name in France corresponding with the earliest spellings of the name "de Fresel", "de Friselle", and "de Freseliere", and suggests the possibility it represents a Gaelic name "corrupted beyond recognition by Anglo-French scribes". [6]
The name Fraser may be an altered form of the French patronymic Fresel. [3] The French surname Fresel meant "ribbon, braid" in Old French and was probably the nickname for such merchants. [7] In fact, the surnames Fresel and Frezel are now centred on Normandy and Artois/French Flanders [8] [9] and not in Anjou because Fresel/Frezel were historically Plantagenet. [6] It sounds like a derived form of fraise which means "strawberry" in French and such popular etymologies explain many badges and coats of arms.
The first Frasers to appear in Scottish records were the following:
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. [3] Simon's cousin was Alexander Fraser of Cowie who was Bruce's chamberlain. [3] He married Bruce's sister Mary. [3] Alexander Fraser's younger brother was another Sir Simon Fraser, from whom the chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat are descended. [3] One of Simon Fraser's grandsons was Sir Alexander Fraser of Cowie and Durris. [3] 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. [3]
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. [3] 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. [3]
The eighth Laird of Philorth built Fraserburgh Castle, which later became the Kinnaird Head lighthouse. [3] 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. [3]
The ninth Laird of Philorth married the heiress of the Abernethy Lords Saltoun. [3] Their son, Alexander Fraser, 11th Lord Saltoun, was severely wounded at the Battle of Worcester in 1651. [3] He survived thanks to his servant, James Cardno, who rescued him from the battlefield. [3] In 1666 the tenth Lord built Philorth House a mile from Fraserburgh which remained the family seat until it burned down in 1915. [3]
Sir Alexander Fraser of Durris was personal physician to Charles II of England. [3] He was educated at Aberdeen and accompanied the king on his campaign throughout 1650. [3] After the Restoration he sat in the Scottish Parliament and he featured in the diaries of Samuel Pepys. [3]
The Fraser family took no part in the Jacobite risings, [3] although their distant Highland relatives in the Clan Fraser of Lovat were Jacobites. [3]
The sixteenth Lord Saltoun commanded the Light Companies of the First Guards at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. [3] The nineteenth Lord Saltoun was a prisoner of war during World War I in Germany. [3] Later, in 1936 he became a member of the House of Lords and promoted the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. [3]
Fraserburgh, locally known as the Broch, is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a population recorded in the 2011 Census as 13,100. It lies in Buchan in the northeastern corner of the county, about 40 miles (64 km) north of Aberdeen and 17 miles (27 km) north of Peterhead. It is the biggest shellfish port in Scotland and one of the largest in Europe, landing over 5,450 tonnes in 2016. Fraserburgh is also a major port for white and pelagic fish.
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, nicknamed the Fox, was a Scottish Jacobite and Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat, known for his feuding and changes of allegiance.
Lord Saltoun, of Abernethy, is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1445 for Sir Lawrence Abernethy. The title remained in the Abernethy family until the death in 1669 of his descendant the tenth Lady Saltoun. She was succeeded by her cousin Alexander Fraser, the eleventh Lord. He was the son of Alexander Fraser and Margaret Abernethy, daughter of the seventh Lord Saltoun. The title has remained in the Frasers of Philorth family ever since.
Lord Lovat is a title of the rank Lord of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for Hugh Fraser by summoning him to the Scottish Parliament as Lord Fraser of Lovat, although the holder is referred to simply as Lord Lovat. It was a separate title from the Scottish feudal lordship of Lovat, already held by the highland Frasers. In 1837 they were created a third title, Baron Lovat, of Lovat in the County of Inverness, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The holder is separately and independently the Chief of the highland Clan Fraser of Lovat.
Marjorie Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun, is a Scottish peer. Until her retirement on 12 December 2014, she was the only holder of a lordship of Parliament who had a seat in the House of Lords as an elected hereditary peer. Lady Saltoun is the Chief of the Name and Arms of Clan Fraser since 1 May 1984, by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon. She is also the head of the Scottish lowland family the Frasers of Philorth.
Kinnaird Head is a headland projecting into the North Sea, within the town of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, on the east coast of Scotland. The 16th-century Kinnaird Castle was converted in 1787 for use as the Kinnaird Head Lighthouse, the first lighthouse in Scotland to be lit by the Commissioners of Northern Lights. Kinnaird Castle and the nearby Wine Tower were described by W. Douglas Simpson as two of the nine castles of the Knuckle, referring to the rocky headland of north-east Aberdeenshire. The lighthouse is a category A listed building. and the Wine Tower. is a scheduled monument. The buildings around the base of the lighthouse are the work of Robert Stevenson.
Clan Fraser of Lovat is a Highland Scottish clan and the principal branch of Clan Fraser. The Frasers of Lovat are strongly associated with Inverness and the surrounding area since the Clan's founder gained lands there in the 13th century.
Clan Chisholm is a Highland Scottish clan.
The Frasers of Philorth are a Scottish lowland family, originally from the Anjou region of France. Castle Fraser, their family seat, is in Sauchen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Since the time of Alexander Fraser, 11th Lord Saltoun, the heads of the Philorth family are the Lords Saltoun. The current head of the Frasers of Philorth is Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun, who is Chief of the Name and Arms of Clan Fraser since 1 May 1984, by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon. The family's arms are "azure, three cinquefoils argent"—three silver strawberry flowers on a field of blue. The heraldic cinquefoil is a stylized five-point leaf; the cinquefoils which appear on the Fraser of Philorth coat-of-arms are specifically strawberry flowers. Only the Lady or Lord Saltoun is permitted to display these arms plain and undifferenced.
Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat and 2nd Baron Lovat, was a British nobleman, landowner, and soldier. He was the 22nd Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat in the Scottish Highlands, and responsible for overseeing the reconstruction of Beaufort Castle.
Dingwall or Dingwell is a Scottish surname. One of the most prominent families by the name of Dingwall in Scotland were the Dingwalls of Kildun who were vassals of the Earl of Ross and also septs of the Clan Munro, a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands.
The following is a list of the chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat. The Chiefs of Clan Fraser often use the Gaelic patronym MacShimidh.
Alexander Fraser, 11th Lord Saltoun, was a Scottish peer and the 10th Laird of Philorth.
Cairnbulg Castle is a z-plan castle situated in Cairnbulg, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was described by W. Douglas Simpson as one of the nine castles of the Knuckle, referring to the rocky headland of north-east Aberdeenshire. It stands by the River Philorth and was originally known as Philorth Castle. The 17th-century Philorth Castle, an L-plan house consisting of a sizeable crow-stepped block, was demolished after a fire in 1915.
William Fraser, 12th Lord Saltoun, was a Scottish peer and the 11th Laird of Philorth.
Clan Gardyne is a lowland Scottish clan from Angus
The siege of Inverness that took place in November 1715 was part of the Jacobite rising of 1715. The town of Inverness and Inverness Castle were being held by the Clan Mackenzie, led by Sir John Mackenzie of Coul who supported the rebel Jacobite cause. Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat besieged them, supported by men of the Clan Rose and Clan Forbes.
Major James Fraser of Castle Leathers was a Scottish soldier who supported the British-Hanoverian Government during the Jacobite risings of the 18th-century and was an important member of the Clan Fraser of Lovat, a clan of the Scottish Highlands. He is also known for his quarrels with his clan chief, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat who switched sides several times during the Jacobite risings.
Sir Richard Fraser was a Scottish noble of the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. He succeeded to the lands of Touchfraser in Stirlingshire upon the death of his grandfather, Sir Gilbert Fraser.
Alexander Fraser of Philorth was a Scottish landowner and founder of Fraserburgh.
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