Clan Fraser

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Clan Fraser
Na Frisealaich
MottoAll my hope is in God. [1]
Profile
RegionLowlands
Plant badge Yew [1]
Chief
Saltoun1.jpg
Flora Fraser
The Rt. Hon. The Lady Saltoun
Seat Philorth Castle (Cairnbulg Castle)
Historic seat Oliver Castle
Pitsligo Castle
Castle Fraser [2]
Clan branches

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]

Contents

History

Origins of the clan

The exact origins of the surname "Fraser" can not be determined with any great certainty. [5] The Frasers are believed to have come from Plantagenet Anjou in France. [3] Traditionally it is thought to have originated in France, 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 Fraser to appear in Scotland was in about 1160 when Simon Fraser held lands at Keith in East Lothian. [3]

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. [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]

Frasers of Philorth

Kinnaird Head Lighthouse, formerly Kinnaird Castle, formerly Fraserburgh Castle. Kinnaird Head Lighthouse.jpg
Kinnaird Head Lighthouse, formerly Kinnaird Castle, formerly Fraserburgh Castle.
Cairnbulg Castle, formerly Philorth Castle. Cairnbulg Castle.jpg
Cairnbulg Castle, formerly Philorth Castle.

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]

Lords Saltoun

17th and 18th centuries

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]

19th and 20th centuries

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]

See also

Clan Fraser Tartan Clan Fraser.jpg
Clan Fraser Tartan

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat</span> Scottish Jacobite and Chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat (1667–1747)

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. In 1715, he had been a supporter of the House of Hanover, but in 1745 he changed sides and supported the Stuart claim on the crown of Great Britain. Lovat was among the Highlanders defeated at the Battle of Culloden and convicted of treason against the Crown, following which he was sentenced to death and subsequently beheaded.

Simon Fraser may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Saltoun</span> Scottish title peerage

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Lovat</span> Scottish nobility title

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun</span> Scottish noblewoman

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kinnaird Head</span> Place in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Fraser of Lovat</span> Highland Scottish clan

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.

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie</span> Scottish nobleman

Alexander Fraser of Touchfraser and Cowie was a member of the Scottish nobility who served as the Lord Chamberlain of Scotland and also as the Sheriff of Stirling and Sheriff of Kincardine. He was a descendant of the Clan Fraser members deriving from Oliver Castle. Alexander died at the Battle of Dupplin Moor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairnbulg Castle</span> 14th-century castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clan Gardyne</span> Lowland Scottish clan

Clan Gardyne is a lowland Scottish clan from Angus. The clan does currently have a chief, Samuel Edward Britton Gardyne recognised by the Court of the Lord Lyon, therefore it is considered an clan. With the clan spreading as far as New Zealand. Where the current chief lives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Inverness (1715)</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Fraser (died 1623)</span>

Alexander Fraser of Philorth was a Scottish landowner and founder of Fraserburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fraserburgh Town House</span> Municipal building in Fraserburgh, Scotland

Fraserburgh Town House is a municipal building in Saltoun Square, Fraserburgh, Scotland. The building, which was the headquarters of Fraserburgh Burgh Council, is a Category B listed building.

Simon Fraser, 1st Laird of Lovat was the ancestor and first chief of the Clan Fraser of Lovat which is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Highlands. He was killed in 1333 at the Battle of Halidon Hill during the Second War of Scottish Independence.

References

  1. 1 2 Clan Fraser - ScotClans scotclans.com. Retrieved 31 August 2013
  2. ↑ "Castle Fraser". canmore.org.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  3. 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 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.
  4. ↑ Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs – Select either "Fraser" or "Fraser of Lovat" Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine clanchiefs.org. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  5. ↑ Fraser Name Meaning ancestry.com. Retrieved on 14 June 2015.
  6. 1 2 Patrick Hanks, Richard Coates, Peter McClure (2016). The Oxford History of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Volume 2. Oxford University Press. p. 970.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Albert Dauzat (préface de Marie-Thérèse Morlet), Noms et prénoms de France, éditions Larousse 1980, p. 269b.
  8. ↑ Géopatronyme : repartition of births with the name Fresel before WW I
  9. ↑ Géopatronyme : repartition of births with the name Frezel before WW I

Fraser Societies

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