Chiefs of Clan Fraser
Encyclopedia
Clan Fraser
Clan Fraser is a Scottish clan of French origin. 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...
, in chronological order. The Chiefs of Clan Fraser often use the Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
patronym MacShimidh, meaning Son of Simon. Simon is the favoured family name for the Chiefs of Clan Fraser. They are often numbered 1st MacShimidh, 2nd MacShimidh, 3rd MachSimidh, etc. There is some debate on where exactly the numbering should start, as Fraser ties to Lovat land go back at least as far as 1253. The line does not necessarily represent a direct line of descent, though most Chiefs took on their responsibility upon the death of their father.
Frasers of Lovat
- Sir Simon Fraser (d. 1306) (hung, drawn and quartered in London)
- Sir Andrew Fraser (d. 1308)
- Simon Fraser (killed 1333 at the Battle of Halidon HillBattle of Halidon HillThe Battle of Halidon Hill was fought during the Second War of Scottish Independence. Scottish forces under Sir Archibald Douglas were heavily defeated on unfavourable terrain while trying to relieve Berwick-upon-Tweed.-The Disinherited:...
) - Simon Fraser (killed 1347)
- Hugh Fraser of Lovat (d. 1397)
- Alexander Fraser (d. 1415)
- Hugh Fraser (d. 1440)
- Hugh Fraser (d. 1450)
- Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord LovatHugh Fraser, 1st Lord LovatHugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat , was a Scottish peer, and the Chief of the Clan Fraser.Fraser was the son of Thomas Fraser, 5th laird of Lovat, and Lady Janet Dunbar. His grandfather, Hugh Fraser , was one of the hostages for the ransom of King James I of Scotland in 1424...
(d. 1501) - Thomas Fraser, 2nd Lord Lovat (d. 1524)
- Hugh Fraser, 3rd Lord Lovat (d. 1544) (killed at the Battle of the ShirtsBattle of the ShirtsThe Battle of the Shirts was a Scottish clan battle that took place in 1544 in the Great Glen, at the northern end of Loch Lochy. The Clan Donald and their allies the Clan Cameron fought the Clan Fraser and men from Clan Grant....
) - Alexander Fraser, 4th Lord Lovat (d. 1557)
- Hugh Fraser, 5th Lord Lovat (d. 1576)
- Simon Fraser, 6th Lord Lovat (d. 1633)
- Hugh Fraser, 7th Lord Lovat (d. 1646)
- Hugh Fraser, 8th Lord Lovat (1643–1672)
- Hugh Fraser, 9th Lord Lovat (1666–1696)
- Thomas Fraser, 10th Lord LovatThomas Fraser, 10th Lord LovatThomas Fraser, 10th Lord Lovat, was the 17th Chief of the Clan Fraser. Thomas was chief during Bonnie Dundee's Jacobite rising of 1689, and initially tried to hold his clan from joining the effort. However, the Clan marched without him, and fought at the Battle of Killiecrankie...
(1636–1699) - Simon Fraser, 11th Lord LovatSimon Fraser, 11th Lord LovatSimon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat , was a Scottish Jacobite and Chief of Clan Fraser, who was famous for his violent feuding and his 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 Scotland...
(c. 1667-1747) ("The Fox", executed for being a Jacobite rebel) - General Simon Fraser of Lovat (1726-1782)
- Archibald Campbell Fraser of LovatArchibald Campbell Fraser of LovatColonel the Hon. Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat, 20th MacShimidh was the second son of Simon "the Fox" Fraser. Upon the death of his brother, Simon Fraser, in 1782, Archibald assumed the Chiefship of Clan Fraser, using the Gaelic patronym MacShimidh. Archibald died 8 December 1815, at the age...
(d. 1815)*
Frasers of Strichen, now Lovat
- Thomas Fraser, 12th Lord LovatThomas Fraser, 12th Lord LovatThomas Alexander Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat and 1st Baron Lovat KT , was a Scottish peer. He was also the 21st MacShimidh, the traditional Gaelic Patronym for the Chiefs of the Clan Fraser....
(d. 1875) - Simon Fraser, 13th Lord LovatSimon Fraser, 13th Lord LovatSimon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat and 2nd Baron Lovat , was a Scottish peer. While legally the 13th Lord, he was referred to as the 15th Lord Lovat....
(d. 1887) - Simon Fraser, 14th Lord LovatSimon Fraser, 14th Lord LovatBrigadier-General Simon Joseph Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat and 3rd Baron Lovat KT, GCVO, KCMG, CB, DSO , was a leading Roman Catholic aristocrat, landowner, soldier, politician and the 23rd Chief of Clan Fraser. He was the son of Simon Fraser, 13th Lord Lovat, and Alice Mary Weld-Blundell...
(d. 1933) - Simon Fraser, 15th Lord LovatSimon Fraser, 15th Lord LovatBrigadier Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and 4th Baron Lovat DSO, MC, TD was the 25th Chief of the Clan Fraser and a prominent British Commando during the Second World War...
(1911-1995) - Simon Fraser, 16th Lord LovatSimon Fraser, 16th Lord LovatSimon Fraser, 16th Lord Lovat and 5th Baron Lovat has been the chief of Clan Fraser since the death of his grandfather in 1995.-Titles:...
(b. 1977)
Two Chiefs dispute
On May 1, 1984, by decreeDecree
A decree is a rule of law issued by a head of state , according to certain procedures . It has the force of law...
of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the 21st Lady Saltoun
Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun
Marjorie Flora Fraser, 21st Lady SaltounIt has recently been determined that Margaret Abernethy succeeded her brother, Alexander Abernethy, 9th Lord Saltoun in 1668, but only survived him by about 6 weeks and had not been counted in the title's numbering. This new information has resulted in the...
was made "Chief of the name and arms of the whole Clan Fraser". The Lord Lyon did not grant the Chiefship of the Clan Fraser, simply a description of "Chief of the name and arms." The Lord Lyon does not have power over the Chiefship of a Highland Clan. Since this decree, there has been much confusion as to the Chiefship of the Clan Fraser.
When Simon the Pater's descendants first acquired the Lovat lands of the Ard, in the Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, they took to the Gaelic
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
customs of the area. This included everything from language
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
, ways of warfare
Gaelic warfare
-Weaponry:Gaels employed a variety of weapons in combat including javelins , harpoons , darts , slings, spears and swords. Javelins and harpoons were used by the wealthiest among them, while less wealthy fighters used slings and darts, although ranged combat was generally disdained in Celtic...
, to clothing and fashion, even giving their children Gaelic names. By the time Simon's son came of age to lead the family, he was deemed to be the 1st Chief of Clan Fraser, the MacShimidh.
Frasers who stayed in the Lowlands
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....
, however, maintained Teutonic
Teutons
The Teutons or Teutones were mentioned as a Germanic tribe by Greek and Roman authors, notably Strabo and Marcus Velleius Paterculus and normally in close connection with the Cimbri, whose ethnicity is contested between Gauls and Germani...
(Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
), or Norman culture. They became a very respectable and well-to-do family, but stayed well out of Clan affairs. They took no part in Clan warfare, spoke Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
, and dressed like Lowlanders.
According to Alexander Fraser, 18th Lord Saltoun
Lord Saltoun
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 great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, the tenth Lady Saltoun. She was succeeded by her cousin...
, his family "continued to have their principal seat in the Lowlands, and those of the surname who remained in that section of Scotland, where Teutonic institutions prevailed, and whence the patriarchal system of Clans and Clanships had long been banished, had nothing to do with the origin or formation of the Highland Clan, and never belonged to it."
According to the Lady Saltoun
Flora Fraser, 21st Lady Saltoun
Marjorie Flora Fraser, 21st Lady SaltounIt has recently been determined that Margaret Abernethy succeeded her brother, Alexander Abernethy, 9th Lord Saltoun in 1668, but only survived him by about 6 weeks and had not been counted in the title's numbering. This new information has resulted in the...
, his descendant,
"The Frasers of Philorth
Frasers of Philorth
The Frasers of Philorth are a Scottish lowland family, originally from the Anjou region of France. 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...
, the Lords Saltoun
Lord Saltoun
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 great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, the tenth Lady Saltoun. She was succeeded by her cousin...
, being the senior line, are Chiefs of the name of Fraser, although a lowland
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....
family. Lord Lovat is Chief of the very numerous Highland
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
Clan Fraser of Lovat, based in Inverness-shire
Inverness-shire
The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...
."
The Lady Saltoun is not a descendant of the Shimidh, the Simon from whom the Clan Fraser traces its lineage. As explained elsewhere, she is descended from the Shimidh's older brother. So, though the Lord Lovat is still the Chieftain of Clan Fraser, the MacShimidh, the Lord Lyon has made official the seniority of the Lady Saltoun's line.
The selection of a clan chieftain is traditionally very different than the Teutonic/Norman system of inherited titles. A Clan would elect and follow whatever chief it chose. Unfortunately, from a history student's perspective, in the case of the Clan Fraser, this decree has muddied the waters a bit, regarding both what the Clan truly is and has been. Frasers differ on the matter, but most Lovats still regard the Lord Lovat as their chief, while many lowland Frasers, who have latched on to the romanticised view of Clans and the Highlands, are happy to have found a way to link themselves to Highland culture. There is, of course, some cross-over of opinions, and Frasers tend to respect each other as fellow Frasers, regardless of where they come from.
Sources
- J.R. Harper. The Fraser Highlanders. The Society of The Montreal Military & Maritime Museum, Montreal, 1979.