diff options
Diffstat (limited to '37340.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 37340.txt | 3635 |
1 files changed, 3635 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/37340.txt b/37340.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..60e37bf --- /dev/null +++ b/37340.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3635 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Clan Fraser in Canada, by Alexander Fraser + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Clan Fraser in Canada + Souvenir of the First Annual Gathering + +Author: Alexander Fraser + +Release Date: September 7, 2011 [EBook #37340] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CLAN FRASER IN CANADA *** + + + + +Produced by James Wright and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This +book was created from images of public domain material +made available by the University of Toronto Libraries +(http://link.library.utoronto.ca/booksonline/).) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: + ARMORIAL BEARINGS OF THE CLAN FRASER, + With the Maple Leaf Entwined for Canada.] + + + + + THE + CLAN FRASER + IN CANADA + + Souvenir + of the + First Annual Gathering + + Toronto, May 5th, 1894. + + + BY + ALEXANDER FRASER + + (MAC-FHIONNLAIDH) + + TORONTO: + Mail Job Printing Co. + 1895. + + + + + PREFATORY NOTE + + +The chief object aimed at by the publication of this little volume is to +furnish, in a concise and inexpensive form, information regarding the +Clan Fraser not readily accessible to clansmen in Canada. It is also +hoped a perusal of the contents will strengthen the clan sentiment, and +deepen the interest in the ancient clan bond and in the long and +illustrious history of the Clan. But the book being essentially an +account of the first Annual Gathering held by the Clan in the Province +of Ontario, it will be an interesting souvenir of that pleasant event; +and probably the hope may not be too sanguine that its appearance will +mark an onward step in the record of the Clan in the Dominion. + +The publication has been undertaken under the auspices of the +newly-formed Clan Fraser in Canada, and the thanks of the editor are due +to Professor W. H. Fraser, of Toronto University, and to Mr. Alexander +Fraser (of Fraserfield, Glengarry), the Printing Committee of the Clan; +also to Mr. J. Lewis Browne, for the music to which the "Fraser Drinking +Song," written by Mrs. Georgina Fraser-Newhall, has been set. + + A. F. +Toronto, February, 1895. + + + + + Contents. + + + PAGE. +Introduction 9 + Fraser's Highlanders 11 + Seventy-First Regiment 15 + Fraser De Berry's Organization 16 + +Formation of the Clan Fraser in Canada 21 + +First Annual Clan Dinner 22 + +Toast of "The Clan," containing references to:-- + Origin of the Clan, Change of Surnames 31 + Origin of the Name "Fraser"--The Norman-French Theory 37 + Mr. Skene's Position Criticised 39 + The Bond between Lord Lovat and the Marquis de la Frezeliere 40 + Scottish Origin of the Name 42 + Mr. Homer Dixon's Argument 43 + The Frasers in the Lowlands 45 + The Clan Fraser Established in the Highlands 49 + Succession of the Chiefs 50 + Alexander of Beaufort 56 + Succession of the Strichen Family 58 + A Curious Prediction 59 + +Reply to the Toast 62 + +A Guest Honored 65 + +Toast of "The Clan in Canada." 67 + " "Distinguished Clansmen" 73 + In Art 74 + In Science 76 + In Literature 81 + In Theology 87 + In War 88 + In Politics 90 + +Organization of the Clan 92 + +Georgina Fraser-Newhall 93 + +Fraser's Drinking Song 96 + +Simon Fraser, Discoverer of the Fraser River 98 + +Simon Lord Lovat, Beheaded on Tower Hill 103 + +Brigadier Simon Fraser 104 + +Second Annual Dinner 107 + +Constitution and By-laws of the Clan 109 + +List of Officers 112 + +Illustrations: + Frontispiece--Armorial Bearings of the Clan + Menu and Toast List Card 23 + Alexander Fraser (MacFhionnlaidh) 33 + Robert Lovat Fraser 63 + Ex-Mayor John Fraser 75 + William A. Fraser 79 + Georgina Fraser-Newhall 94 + Simon, Fourteenth Lord Lovat 102 + Brigadier Simon Fraser 105 + + + + + INTRODUCTORY + + +The Gael has proved himself not less a pioneer of civilization, and +adaptable to changing conditions of living, than a lover of the +traditions of his race, holding tenaciously by ancient usages and +manners, and stirred profoundly by racial sentiment. As a pioneer he has +reached "the ends of the earth," possessing the unoccupied parts of the +world. As a patriot he has established not a few of his cherished +customs in the land of his adoption. His love of kindred is probably his +most notable characteristic; it found embodiment in the clan system, +under which his race achieved its greatest triumphs and enjoyed its +greatest glories, and the bond of clanship, with its inspiring memories, +the true clansman will never disregard. While the clan system, as such, +would be impracticable in the British colonies under present-day +conditions, even more so than in its old home in the Highlands of +Scotland, its spirit lives, leavening the system of government and +exercising no small influence in the fusion of heterogeneous elements +into new and distinct peoples. + +These observations are applicable in a peculiar degree to Canada, where +a very large number of clansmen have found a second Highland home. Many +of the forests which rang with the clash of the claymore in the struggle +for British supremacy, fell afterwards to the axe of the Gaelic settler. +His trail lies across the continent, from ocean to ocean. His energy and +intelligence have been honorably felt in every walk of life, and his +enterprise and skill have done much to develop and upbuild the Dominion. +No body of people occupies a more distinguished place in this respect +than the Frasers; indeed, even among the clans, no name is more closely +identified than that of "Fraser" with the early days of Canada. To tell +of their services on the field, in government, in commerce, in the +professions, would occupy a large volume, as would a similar story of +other clans, and an attempt to do so, in an introductory chapter, would +be altogether out of place, but there are a few events of importance to +the country in which the Frasers figured to which it will be well to +allude with fitting brevity. + +Those who hold the Norman theory believe the first of the name of +"Fraser" in Scotland, "came over with William the Conqueror," and they +ask no better proof of the antiquity of the name. If the early +connection of the Clan with Canada be any satisfaction to clansmen +there, then it may be stated with truth that the first settlers of the +name "came over with Wolfe the Conqueror," and their services were as +conspicuous in the military operations conducted by the intrepid young +General, who gave his life for his country on the Plains of Abraham, as +were those performed by any brave knight, whose name may be found on the +roll of Battle Abbey. + +The story of Fraser's Highlanders forms one of the most romantic +chapters in the annals of the clans, and should the time come when it +is fairly and fully given to the world, it will prove a valuable +addition to the history of Highland life and of early Canada. + +For the part taken by the Clan in the uprising of 1745, Lord Simon was +beheaded on Tower Hill and the Fraser estates were forfeited to the +Crown. The Master of Lovat appeared at the head of the Clan on the +Stuart side; but, as he was young at the time and had acted by his +father's command, he was pardoned, and in 1757, in accordance with the +wise, conciliatory policy of Mr. Pitt, he was commissioned to raise a +regiment of his clansmen, of which he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel +commanding. In General Stewart's Sketches a brief but interesting +account of this, the old Seventy-Eighth Regiment, is given, an extract +from which will show the strength of the clan ties then existing, and +the high character of the men who were raised on the Lovat territory. +General Stewart says: "Without estate, money or influence, beyond that +influence which flowed from attachment to his family, person and name, +this gentleman (the Master of Lovat), in a few weeks found himself at +the head of 800 men, recruited by himself. The gentlemen of the country +and the officers of the regiment added more than 700, and thus a +battalion was formed of 13 companies of 105 rank and file each, making +in all 1,460 men, including 65 sergeants and 30 pipers and drummers." +All accounts concur in describing this regiment as a superior body of +men; their character and actions raised the military reputation and gave +a favorable impression of the moral virtues of the sons of the +mountains. The uniform was the full Highland dress, with musket and +broadsword, dirk and sporran of badger's or otter's skin. The bonnet was +raised or cocked on one side, with a slight bend inclining down to the +right ear, over which were suspended two or more black feathers. + +The regiment embarked at Greenock, and landed at Halifax in June, 1757, +and followed the fortunes of the war for six years. "On all occasions," +says Stewart, "this brave body of men sustained a uniform character for +unshaken firmness, incorruptible probity and a strict regard both to +military and moral duties." Their chaplain was a man of note as of +stature. His name was Robert Macpherson, but he was known in the +regiment as _An Caipeal Mor_, being of large physique. He exercised the +traditional authority of a Highland minister, and we are told that the +men were always anxious to conceal their misdemeanors from him. + +The cold climate, it was feared, would prove too severe to the Frasers, +who wore the kilt, and an attempt, kindly conceived, no doubt, was made +to change the "garb of old Gaul" for the trews. The proposal aroused +strenuous opposition; officers and men opposed the change and finally +were successful. The strength of feeling awakened may be judged from the +words of one of the soldiers in the regiment: "Thanks to our generous +chief, we were allowed to wear the garb of our fathers, and, in the +course of six winters, showed the doctors that they did not understand +our constitution; for in the coldest winters our men were more healthy +than those regiments that wore breeches and warm clothing." A somewhat +amusing anecdote is related of how the Nuns of the Ursuline Convent, +where the Frasers were quartered in 1759-60, endeavored to induce +Governor Murray to be allowed to provide sufficient raiment for the +kilted soldiers, but, of course, without success. + +At Louisburg, Montmorenci, Ste. Foye and on the Plains of Abraham, the +Frasers distinguished themselves greatly. One of the most eloquent +tributes to their prowess was spoken by the Hon. P. J. O. Chauveau, the +French-Canadian, at the inauguration in 1855 of the Statue of Bellona +sent by Prince Napoleon for the monument erected on the famous +battlefield. The French-Canadian historian Garneau, and other writers in +whose veins courses the blood of the vanquished at Quebec, have borne +generous testimony to their military bearing and good conduct. Garneau +writes of the battle of Carillon, 1758: "It was the right of the trench +works that was longest and most obstinately assailed; in that quarter +the combat was most sanguinary. The British Grenadiers and Highlanders +there persevered in the attack for three hours, without flinching or +breaking rank. The Highlanders above all, under Lord John Murray, +covered themselves with glory. They formed the troops confronting the +Canadians, their light and picturesque costumes distinguishing them from +all other soldiers amid the flames and smoke. The corps lost the half of +its men, and twenty-five of its officers were killed or severely +wounded;" and the genial Le Moine, half Highland and half French, says: +"The Frasers of 1759 and of 1775 readily courted danger or death in that +great duel which was to graft progress and liberty on that loved emblem +of Canada, the pride of its forests--the Maple Tree. If at times one +feels pained at the ferocity which marked the conflict and which won for +Fraser's Highlanders at Quebec, the name _Les Sauvages d'Ecosse_,[1] one +feels relieved, seeing that the meeting was inevitable, that the sturdy +sons of Caledonia, in Levis' heroic Grenadiers, did find a foe worthy +of their steel. Scotchmen, on the field of Ste. Foye, in deadly +encounter with France's impetuous warriors, doubtless acknowledged that +the latter were not unworthy descendants of those whom they had helped +to rout England's soldiery on the fields of Brange, Crevant and +Verneuil." + +[Footnote 1: It is but fair to state that Fraser's Highlanders showed no +more ferocity than the usages of war justified. There were barbarous +atrocities committed, undoubtedly, but for these, the Highlanders were +not responsible.--A.F.] + +At the close of the war many of the officers and men settled in the +Provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia, having obtained their discharge and +grants of land in the New World. It was not long ago computed that the +descendants of these Highlanders in the Province of Quebec numbered +3,000, but merged in the French-Canadian peasantry to such an extent +that even the names have lost their original form. In Nova Scotia the +name Fraser flourishes in every township of every county. There have +been many accessions to the Clan since the days of the Seventy-Eighth +and the Battle of the Plains, but at least four-fifths of those bearing +the Clan name in Canada to-day, trace their descent from the victorious +clansmen of Cape Breton and Quebec. + +On the outbreak of the American War the Royal Highland Emigrants were +embodied, and in that regiment, commanded by the gallant Lieut.-Colonel +Allan MacLean (son of Torloisk), 300 men who had belonged to Fraser's +regiment enlisted. In the interval between the cession of Canada and the +American War, the Lovat estates were restored to the Master of Lovat, +for his eminent services (the title was kept in abeyance), and he was +asked to raise a regiment, the Seventy-First, of two battalions. This he +speedily accomplished and soon found himself at the head of a double +regiment numbering 2,340 officers and men. They behaved with the highest +distinction throughout the war and earned flattering encomiums from the +commanding officers. General Stewart, than whom no more competent +authority has written of Highland regiments, and but few who have +understood Highland character better, whose Sketches have furnished +facts to all subsequent writers on the subject, speaks of the +Seventy-First, Fraser's Highlanders, thus: "Their moral conduct was in +every way equal to their military character. Disgraceful punishments +were unknown. Among men religious, brave, moral and humane, disgraceful +punishments are unnecessary. Such being the acknowledged general +character of these men, their loyalty was put to the test and proved to +be genuine. When prisoners, and solicited by the Americans to join their +standard and settle among them, not one individual violated the oath he +had taken, or forgot his fidelity or allegiance, a virtue not generally +observed on that occasion, for many soldiers of other corps joined the +Americans, and sometimes, indeed, entered their service in a body." The +Seventy-First did not leave many behind as settlers, and the reference +to it here is only permissible as illustrating the high character of the +Clan, of which the Seventy-Eighth, which left its quota of settlers +behind, formed an important part. General Simon Fraser's intimate +connection with Canada, as commanding officer of Fraser's Highlanders +(1757), and in other interesting respects, may suffice as a reason why a +good anecdote of him may be here related. When the Seventy-First +mustered at Glasgow, Lochiel was absent, being ill at London. His +absence had not, evidently, been explained to his company, for they +demurred to embark without their chief; they feared some misfortune had +befallen him. General Fraser had a command of eloquent speech and he +succeeded in persuading them to embark with their comrades. It is +related that while he was speaking in Gaelic to the men, an old +Highlander, who had accompanied his son to Glasgow, was leaning on his +staff gazing at the General with great earnestness. When he had +finished, the old man walked up to him and, with that easy familiar +intercourse, which in those days subsisted between the Highlanders and +their superiors, shook him by the hand, exclaiming "Simon, you are a +good soldier, and speak like a man; so long as you live, Simon of Lovat +will never die;" alluding to the General's address and manner, which was +said to resemble much that of his father, Lord Lovat, whom the old +Highlanders knew perfectly. + + + THE DE BERRY ORGANIZATION. + +We have now seen the origin of the Frasers in Canada; they came in war, +but the swords were readily turned into ploughshares, and the arts of +peace cultivated with a constancy and success that equalled their +intrepidity and valor on the battlefield. Years rolled on, the Clan +multiplied and prospered, and, in the course of time, a project was +entered upon for the formation of a new Clan Fraser on Canadian soil. +The leading spirit of the movement was the Hon. John Fraser de Berry, a +member for the Legislative Council of the Province of Quebec. A meeting +of Frasers was held in response to the following public advertisement: + + FRASER CLAN. + + THE FRASERS of the Province of Quebec are respectfully requested to + meet at the office of Messrs. THOMAS FRASER & CO., at the Lower + Town, Quebec, on SATURDAY, the twenty-fifth day of January, 1868, + at TEN o'clock A.M., to take into consideration the advisability of + organizing the "CLAN" for the Dominion of Canada. + + JOHN FRASER DE BERRY, A. FRASER, + A. FRASER, SR., A. FRASER, JR., + J. R. FRASER, FRED. FRASER, +JANUARY 21, 1868. JOHN FRASER, J. FRASER. + +At this meeting preliminary steps were taken to further the object in +view, and another meeting was held on February 8th, 1868, of which the +following report has been taken from the _Quebec Mercury_: + +At a meeting of the "Frasers" of the Province of Quebec, held at Mrs. +Brown's City Hotel, on the 8th February, 1868, Alexander Fraser, Esq., +notary, ex-Member for the County of Kamouraska, now resident in Quebec, +in the chair; Mr. Omer Fraser, of St. Croix, acting as Secretary. + +1. It was unanimously resolved: + +That it is desirable that the family of "Frasers" do organize themselves +into a clan with a purely and benevolent social object, and, with that +view, they do now proceed to such organization by recommending the +choice of + + A Chief for the Dominion of Canada; + A Chief for each province; + A Chief for each electoral division; + A Chief for each county; + A Chief for each locality and township. + +2. That the Chief of the Dominion of Canada be named "The Fraser," and +that he be chosen at a general meeting of the Frasers of all the +provinces; the said meeting to be held on the second Thursday in the +month of May next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, in such place in the +City of Ottawa as will then be designated. + +3. That it is desirable that the Chief of the Province of Quebec and the +Chiefs of the electoral divisions represented at said meeting be chosen +forthwith; and that the Chief elected for this province be authorized +and empowered to name the Chiefs for such divisions as are not +represented at present, the said selection shall, however, be subject to +the approbation of the Frasers of the division interested, who will +make the same known at a meeting to be called without delay, by the +Chief of the Province of Quebec, with the view to proceed to the +nomination of the Chiefs of counties comprehended in the said division. + +4. That Chiefs of counties be obliged to convene also without delay, a +meeting by which shall be chosen all the Chiefs of parishes or +townships. + +5. That it shall be the duty of the Chief chosen for a parish or +township to report to the Chief of his county as early as possible, the +number of Frasers residing in his parish or township; and of the Chief +of the county in his town, to report to the Chief of his electoral +division, who will transmit it, together with his own report, to the +Chief of his province; the said report to contain the number of Frasers +in his division, in order that the force of the Clan in each province +may be ascertained on the 14th of May next, at the meeting at Ottawa. + +6. That it is advisable that the meeting at Ottawa, representing all the +Clan, be composed of all its divers Chiefs from the Chiefs of provinces, +even to the Chiefs of parishes or townships inclusively, and any other +Frasers who may desire to attend at the same. + +7. That the above resolutions and the nominations, which are to take +place this day, or which may be made hereafter by the Chief of the +province, shall be considered as preliminary and temporary, as they are +made with the sole object of organizing the Clan, and not to bind in any +manner whatever the Frasers, who will be at perfect liberty to +reorganize themselves completely anew at the Ottawa meeting. + +8. That the Clan shall not be considered to exist until and after the +next anniversary or Dominion Day, the first of July next, under such +rules and regulations as will be adopted at the meeting at Ottawa; the +Frasers of this meeting protest energetically against any intention, +which might be attributed to them, of dictating their will to their +namesakes of this province; they are simply attempting to organize and +with a benevolent object, to adopt temporarily the above resolutions the +better to attain that end. + +9. That the sister provinces of Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick +be respectfully requested to organize themselves, and to send delegates +to the meeting at Ottawa, on the fourteenth of May next, that time +having been selected because in all probability the parliament will +still be in session, and the members may attend the session before +dispersing. + +10. That all proceedings be respectfully submitted to the "Fraser" +family, which is one of the most ancient, one of the most noble, one of +the most influential, and one of the most numerous families of the +Dominion of Canada. + +11. That all the newspapers throughout the Dominion of Canada, who have +subscribers of the name of Fraser, are requested to publish the +proceedings of this meeting. + +After which the meeting proceeded to the nomination of the following +officers, who were unanimously elected: + +I. To be the Chief of the Province of Quebec: + +The Honorable JOHN FRASER DE BERRY, Esquire, one of the members of the +Legislative Council of the said Province, etc., being the fifty-eighth +descendant of Jules de Berry, a rich and powerful lord (seigneur) who +feasted sumptuously the Emperor Charlemagne, and his numerous suite, at +his castle in Normandy, in the eighth century. + +II. For the following electoral divisions: + +_Lauzon_,--THOMAS FRASER, Esquire, farmer, of Pointe Levis. + +_Kennebec_,--SIMON FRASER, Esquire, of St. Croix. + +_De la Durantaye_,--ALEXANDER FRASER, Esquire, farmer, of St. Vallier. + +_Les Laurentides_,--WILLIAM FRASER, Esquire, of Lake St. John, +Chicoutimi. + +_Grandville_,--JEAN ETIENNE FRASER, Esquire, Notary. + +_Green Island Stadacona_,--ALEXANDER FRASER, Esquire, Notary, St. Roch, +Quebec. + +The meeting having voted thanks to the President and Secretary, then +adjourned. + + ALEX. FRASER, + _President_. + + OMER FRASER, + _Secretary_. + +There was a good response to the call for the general meeting, letters +having been sent broadcast over the Dominion. As chief of the Frasers of +British North America, the Hon. James Fraser de Ferraline, in the +Province of Nova Scotia, was elected. He was a scion of the Ferraline +and Gorthlic families of the Clan. One hundred and eleven subordinate +chieftains of provinces and districts were elected and Mr. John Fraser +de Berry was appointed Secretary to the "New Clan Fraser," as it was +called. For various reasons, chief among them being, probably, its +elaborate constitution and the intangible purposes for which it was +called into existence, the organization did not make satisfactory +headway and in the course of not many years it failed to attract any +public attention whatever, and ceased to exist. In its brief career it +gathered some interesting information about the clansmen. In a report +drawn up by the Secretary, De Berry, whose exertions on its behalf were +unwearying, it is stated that there were then over 12,000 persons, men, +women and children of the name Fraser, some speaking French, not one of +whom was a day laborer, or "earning daily wages," but all in comfortable +circumstances, many in positions of honour and trust. + + + + + FORMATION OF THE CLAN FRASER IN CANADA + + +Although Mr. John Fraser de Berry's scheme failed it was believed that +there was room for a less pretentious and more practicable clan +organization in Canada. There was little diminution of the clan feeling; +the desire of those having the same origin and name, the same glorious +clan history, in common, to enjoy a friendly intercourse, was natural +and reasonable, and at length it assumed a practical form. Early in the +spring of 1894 a meeting was held in the office of the _Toronto Daily +Mail_, at which there were present: Messrs. George B. Fraser, commission +agent; Robert Lovat Fraser, barrister; Alexander R. Fraser, druggist; +Dr. J. B. Fraser, physician; Alexander Fraser (of Fraserfield, +Glengarry), Secretary to the Boiler Inspection Company; W. H. Fraser, +Professor of Languages at the Toronto University; W. A. Fraser, civil +engineer and contractor; W. P. Fraser, clerk, Dominion Bank; Andrew +Fraser, commercial traveller; and Alexander Fraser, of the editorial +staff of the _Daily Mail_. The last named, descended from the Clan Mhic +Fhionnlaidh sept of the Struy Frasers, was appointed chairman of the +meeting and Mr. W. A. Fraser, also descended from good Strathglass +stock, was appointed Secretary. All agreed that a clan organization +ought to be formed and as a first step it was thought well to test the +feeling of the clansmen at a family dinner, which it was decided should +be held on May 5th, 1894. Those present formed themselves into a +committee to make arrangements for holding the dinner and the chairman +and secretary of the meeting were appointed chairman and secretary of +the committee. Invitations were sent to every member of the Clan in +Ontario, Montreal, New York, Buffalo and Detroit, whose name the +committee was able to procure, and about three hundred replies were +received, in which, without exception, an earnest hope for the success +of the proposed organization was expressed. The dinner took place as had +been decided upon, on May 5th, 1894, at Webb's Restaurant, Toronto, and +an account of the proceedings will now be given. + + + + +[Illustration of Menu cover: + +"MOR FHAICH" + +CLAN FRASER +IN +CANADA, + +FIRST +ANNUAL DINNER + +MAY 5th +1894] + + +_A chuirm sgaoilte; chuaias an ceol + Ard sholas a'n talia nan triath._--OISEAN. + + +Menu + + +Soup. + +Scotch Broth. + + +Fish. + +Boiled Sea Salmon from the Cruives of Lovat. +Sgadan beag Poll-a-Roid. Pomme Natural, Anchovy Sauce. +Bread and Butter Rolled. + + +Entrees. + +HAGGIS +PUNCH A LA ROMAIN. + + +Joints. + +Roast Beef. Spring Lamb. + + +Vegetables. + +Mashed Potatoes. Asparagus. French Peas. + + +Entremets. + +Fraser Pudding. + +Curds and Cream. Oat Cakes. Assorted Fine Cakes. + +Shortbread. Cheese. Biscuits. Radishes. + +Neapolitan Ice Cream. Nuts. Figs. Dates. + + +FRUITS. COFFEE. + + +"_Smeorach Stratharaigeig; uiseag an urlair._"--SEAN-FHOCAI. + +Toast List + + +1. The Queen. + +"She wrought her people lasting good." + + +2. The Chief. + +"Tostamaid ar ceann a cinnidh; + Mac-Shimi mor na Morfhaich." + +"Master, go on, and I will follow thee + To the last gasp, with truth and loyalty." + +Bagpipe Music--"Morar Sim." + + +3. The Clan. + +"I tell you a thing sickerly, + That yon men will win or die; + For doubt of deid they sall not flee." + + "'N uair 'thig an cinneadh Frisealach, + Tha fios gur daoine borb iad." + +Bagpipe Music--"Caisteal Dunaidh." + + +4. Our Guests. + +"Sir, you are very welcome to our house." + +Bagpipe Music--"Aird Mhic-Shimi." + +"Highland Fling," by Master Norman Fraser. + + +5. The Clan in Canada. + +"Kindred alike, where'er our skies may shine, + Where'er our sight first drank the vital morn." + +Bagpipe Music--"Fhuair Mac-Shimi air ais an Oighearachd." + + +6. Distinguished Clansmen. + +"Of singular integrity and learning, + Yea, the elect o' the land." + +(_a_) In Art; (_b_) in Science; (_c_) in Literature; +(_d_) in Theology; (_e_) in War; (_f_) in Political Life. + + +7. The Ladies. + +"Disguise our bondage as we will, + 'Tis woman, woman, rules us still." + + "And when a lady's in the case, + You know, all other things give place." + + +8. Deoch an Doruis. + +_Air (fonn) "Clementine."_ + +Deoch an doruis, deoch an doruis, +Deoch an doruis, 's i tha ann; +Deoch an doruis, sguab as i, +Cha'n eil Mac-na-Bracha gann. + +Auld Lang Syne. God Save the Queen. + +The bagpipe music will be furnished by Mr. Robert Ireland, Pipe +Major of the 48th Highlanders, Toronto. + +[Illustration of Clan device of targe and crossed swords] + + + THE CLAN DINNER. + + +Although the number that sat around the festive board was much smaller +than had been expected, the elements requisite for a successful +gathering were strongly in evidence, and, as a matter of fact, the +inaugural dinner of the Clan turned out to be a most satisfactory event. +Many of the absentees had conveyed good reasons for their absence, and +hearty greetings to the assembled company. From a large number of +letters it would be difficult to make a selection for the reader and the +demands of space would prevent it, although some of them are really +worth reproducing. Of special interest were the letters from Messrs. O. +K. Fraser, Brockville; John Fraser, Wm. Lewis Fraser and Thomas Fraser, +New York; P. M. Fraser, St. Thomas; Donald Fraser, Windsor; R. J. +Fraser, Barrie; R. M. Fraser, Goderich; Rev. R. D. Fraser, Bowmanville; +Rev. J. B. Fraser, M.D., Annan; John Fraser, Montreal; W. G. Fraser, +Buffalo; Hon. Christopher Finlay Fraser, and B. Homer Dixon, K.N.L., +Toronto; the last named a Fraser on the maternal side and a gentleman +deeply versed in the history of the Clan. + +The dining hall presented a very attractive appearance. The table was +made beautiful with a tastefully arranged and selected display of +flowers and plants, and appropriate to the occasion there were stags' +heads on the walls, and the Fraser Clan tartan draped the pillars, +doorway and windows. There were a number of articles of interest sent by +friends, such as finely executed mezzo-tint pictures of Simon Lord +Lovat, beheaded in 1747, and of Brigadier Simon Fraser, the hero of +Saratoga; and a water-color of the Clan arms, from Mr. B. Homer Dixon; a +map of Inverness-shire, showing the Clan possessions at various stages +of its history, with the lands in the hands of cadets of the Clan, a +life-size copy of Hogarth's picture of Simon Lord Lovat, the "last of +the martyrs," a life-size copy of an engraving of Sir Alexander Fraser +of Phillorth, founder of the University of Fraserburgh, sent by the +Chairman. + +The menu card, a copy of which has been reproduced for this volume, will +be found to have been a clever effort of the artist, Mr. W. A. Fraser, +Secretary of Committee. A representation of the Falls of Foyers is +given on the cover, and on the last page a celtic armorial device +surrounded by the names of a number of old Fraser estates. + +The Chairman was Mr. Alexander Fraser (MacFhionnlaidh); and the +vice-chairs were occupied by Mr. Robert Lovat Fraser, Barrister, +Toronto, and ex-Mayor Fraser of Petrolea. A picture of the company is +given on another page, which will form an interesting reminiscence of +the happy gathering. From the picture, the face of one who was present +at the dinner is unfortunately absent, that of Mr. Henry Sandham Fraser, +and that of Mr. Wm. Fraser, of whom a brief notice is given on another +page, appears, although he was not present, as he would have been were +it not that he was just then stricken down with illness, to which, not +long afterwards, he succumbed. The dinner was excellently served, and +then came the toast list with the speeches. The first toast was that of: + + + "THE QUEEN." + +The Chairman in proposing the health of the Queen said:--Our Clan has +invariably been a loyal one, even in the rising which terminated so +fatally on the battlefield of Culloden, the Clan Fraser took part, +believing that they were striking a blow for the rightful king. I am +sure we all agree that no sovereign has ever held sway over the British +Empire who is more worthy of the regard of men of Highland blood than +Her Majesty Queen Victoria. She who has given so many proofs of regard +for the Highland people is beloved by them in return. Her volumes of her +life in the Highlands, one of which has been well translated into Gaelic +and the other indifferently so, bear testimony to the deep interest with +which she regards that portion of her ancient kingdom of Scotland, to +which we lay claim as our native land. She has gone in and out among the +peasantry and gentry with perfect confidence in their loyalty and in +their attachment to her person. She surrounded herself by faithful +Highlanders, and their services to her, whether in the household or in +positions of public preferment, have been uniformly of a high character +and invariable success. That she may long live and rule in the hearts of +her people, no body of men can wish more strongly than this company that +has given to her name its just place of honor at the head of the toast +list. + +The toast was cordially honored. + + + "THE CHIEF." + +The Chairman next proposed the toast of the Chief. He said: It is stated +that a man of the name of Cameron, who had fought at the Battle of +Falkirk with the Royal Army, his clan being on the side of the Prince, +joined his kinsmen after the battle, but still wore the Royal uniform in +the bonnet of which there was a cockade. Lord Kilmarnock, coming up and +seeing an armed Royalist, as he thought, suspected danger to the Prince, +and in an altercation he snatched the cockade from the soldier's hat and +trampled upon it. This aroused the ire of the Camerons who saw their +comrade maltreated, and they resented Kilmarnock's interference, saying, +"No Colonel nor General in the Prince's army can take that cockade out +of the hat of a Cameron except Lochiel himself." I mention this incident +as affording a good example of the bond of fealty by which the clansman +was held to his chief. To him the chief was supreme in all things. He +was not only the head of his family, but the provider and protector of +the clan. His authority he derived from his position, his position he +secured, sometimes by the good-will of the clan, but generally on +account of birth. The clansmen considered themselves as the children of +the chief, and the system demanded that they subordinate themselves to +his rule. Without a chief or his substitute there could be no organized +clan, and it is rightly understood how important was his position under +the clan system. Chiefs of our Clan proved themselves to be worthy of +the position, as a rule, and Simon Joseph, Lord Lovat, the young +nobleman who now holds the chiefship, already gives promise of +faithfully following in the footsteps of his forefathers. At the +celebration of his majority, not long ago, there was a considerable +gathering of clansmen and others to do him honor, and the manner in +which he performed his part as host on that occasion is an augury of a +distinguished future. It is said that he shows a deep interest in the +welfare of his people, that he is a young man of highly patriotic +feelings, and, as his sphere of usefulness is a wide one, he, no doubt, +will have ample opportunity of filling the highest expectations of the +Clan. Following the traditions of his house he has entered the army, +and, should he decide to follow arms as a profession, no doubt the +military genius of his race, bequeathed to him through a long line of +ancestors, will win for him honorable distinction as a soldier. I now +ask you to charge your glasses and to drink to the health of our young +chief with Highland honors. + +The toast was drunk with Highland honors; the company singing "He's a +Jolly Good Fellow," after which the piper played the Clan welcome, +"Morar Sim." + +Mrs. Charles Gordon Fraser was at this stage introduced, and her little +boy, Master Norman Fraser, attired in Highland costume, gave a spirited +and clever execution of the Highland fling, for which he was +enthusiastically cheered. + + + "THE CLAN." + +The Chairman proposed the next toast, that of the Clan. He said:--In +rising to propose the toast of the evening, my first duty, it seems to +me, is to express my sense of the great honor done me by my clansmen in +asking me to preside over the first family dinner of the Clan in this +Province. Many there be with us, who, from age and distinction and +fitness in every respect, ought to have come before me, and who would +have done greater honor to the position on such an occasion as this, +than I can hope to do, even with your kind indulgence. The rather active +part it has been my privilege to take in bringing about this happy +gathering may have suggested your choice, and should I be right in this +conjecture, that fact but deepens the feeling with which I regard the +honor. But a still more arduous duty laid upon me was to give the toast +of the evening, that of "The Clan." I can assure you it required all the +courage I could muster to undertake the task. The motto of the Clan was +held up to me, but I did not forget that _Je suis prest_ ought to be the +corollary of _Paratus sum_, and I fear that but few could step into the +breach and do full justice to the great Clan Fraser. In assigning the +toast, moreover, the request was made that I should give as much +information regarding the Clan, as could well be packed into a speech, +even if the limit of time should have to be extended over that which is +usually allowable for an after dinner effort; but, as I understand the +information is intended for a wider circle of clansmen than is here, I +feel assured of your patience and forbearance while I struggle through +a narrative, the length of which under other circumstances would have +been an unpardonable breach of good taste. + +The clan system holds an intermediate position between the patriarchal +and feudal systems. It is sometimes confused with the former, more +rarely with the latter. The feudal lordship, in its genius and scope of +operation, was diametrically opposed to the salient characteristics of +the clan system. The distinctions need not be enlarged upon here, let it +suffice to draw attention to the fact that clanship was a distinct form +of government, under well recognized and applied principles. In modern +literature we find the characteristic most emphasized to be the loyalty +with which the clansman followed and served his chief, as in the words +of the quotation on our toast list, "Master, go on and I will follow +thee, to the last gasp, with truth and loyalty." That truth and loyalty, +however, was not born of a servile, but of a highly patriotic feeling, +for the bond which united chief and clansman was that of kindred and +common interest, and not of hire and servitude. This explains why a +people so highly sensitive, fiery and impetuous as the Celts, gave such +loyal and perfect allegiance to the chief of the clan. + +[Illustration: ALEXANDER FRASER (_Mac-Fhionnlaidh_) +CHAIRMAN.] + +Since the fact that we were to hold a clan gathering got abroad, I have +been asked for information regarding the origin of the clans in the +Highlands. How these clans were first established authentic history does +not record with clearness. We are left in the task of unravelling the +origin of the clans to meagre allusions in classical writings, in +genealogies which, to some extent at least, are mythical, and to +tradition, ever changing with the progress of the centuries. There can +be no question that many of the clans grew gradually from the native +population after the consolidation of the Scottish Kingdom. We know that +tribes, some bearing names of modern clans, existed in what may be +described as prehistoric times, in the ordinary acceptation of that +term, in that part of Scotland north of the Forth and Clyde. Amongst +these were the Bissets, the Fentons of the Aird, and others, whose names +still survive in the County of Inverness, and who must have to some +extent merged into the Fraser Clan, by adopting the name of the lord of +the manor. I do not like to quote John Hill Burton as an authority, +prejudiced, as he manifestly is, and unfair, as a rule, when dealing +with the Highlands and the Celts, but a passage from his unreliable Life +of Simon, Lord Lovat, will show how a surname may impose itself on a +community and how clans have been, to some extent, constituted. He says: +"In some instances the foreign family adopted a purely Celtic patronymic +from the name of the sept of which they were the leaders. In other +cases, such as the Gordons and Frasers, the sept, probably absorbing +various small tribes and admitting to its bosom many stray members +owning strange varieties of Gaelic names, took the name of the leader; +hence we find the purest Gaelic spoken by people enjoying the Norman +names of a Gordon or a Cumin. But, whether the imported lord of the soil +adopted the name of the tribe or the tribe that of their lord, the +unyielding influence of old national customs and peculiarities +prevailed, and their families gradually adapted themselves in speech and +method of life to the people over whom they held sway." This principle +holds good in the case of the composite Fraser Clan, and a curious +example is afforded by an extract from the Allangrange MS., with respect +to the Rev. Wm. Fraser, of Kilmorack, published in that repository of +Highland lore, the Celtic Magazine:-- + +"Bishop Hay, maternal uncle to Agnes Lovat, carried away by Kenneth +Mackenzie (a Bhlair), Seventh Baron of Kintail, when he sent away his +first wife Margaret, daughter of John, Earl of Ross, advised Kenneth and +the lady's friends that a commission should be sent to the Pope in 1491 +to procure the legitimation of their union. This was agreed to, and the +following is the account of the commissioners:-- + +"'To that effect one called Donald Dhu McChreggie, priest of Kirkhill, +was employed. This priest was a native in Kintail, descended of a clan +there called Clan Chreggie, who, being a hopeful boy in his younger +days, was educated in Mackenzie's house, and afterwards at Beullie by +the forementioned Dugall Mackenzie (natural son of Alexander 'Ionraic' +VI. of Kintail pryor yrof). In the end he was made priest of Kirkhill. +His successors to this day are called Frasers. Of this priest are +descended Mr. William and Mr. Donald Fraser.' + +"The author of the Ardintoul MSS. gives a slightly different version, +and says: 'To which end they sent Mr. Andrew Fraser, priest of Kintail, +a learned and eloquent man, who took in his company Dugald Mackenzie, +natural son of Alexander Inrig, who was a scholar. The Pope entertained +them kindly, and very readily granted them what they desired, and were +both made knights to the boot by Pope Clement VIII., but when my knights +came home they neglected the decree of Pope Innocent III. against the +marriage and consentricate of the clergy, or, otherwise, they got a +dispensation from the then Pope Clement VIII., for both of them married. +Sir Dugal was made priest of Kintail and married Nien (daughter) Dunchy +Chaim in Glenmoriston. Sir Andrew likewise married, whose son was Donall +Dubh MacIntagard (Black Donald, son of the Priest) and was priest of +Kirkhill and chapter of Ross. His tacks of the Vicarage of Kilmorack to +John Chisholm, of Comar, stands to this day. His son was Mr. William +MacAhoulding, _alias_ Fraser, who died minister of Kiltarlady. His son +was Mr. Donald Fraser, who died minister of Kilmorack; so that he is the +fifth minister or ecclesiastical person in a lineal and uninterrupted +succession, which falls out but seldom, and than which, in my judgment, +nothing can more entitle a man to be really a gentleman; for that blood +which runs in the veins of four or five generations of men of piety and +learning and breeding cannot but have influence, and it confirms my +opinion that the present Mr. Wm. Fraser (who is the fifth) has the +virtues and commendable properties of his predecessors all united in +him.'" + +We see here the ease with which a MacCreggie could become a Fraser, and, +bearing in mind the principle noticed by Hill Burton, there is no +difficulty in accounting for the origin and growth of our Clan in the +Highlands. Whether we can tell the day of the month and the year on +which Andrew or Simon Fraser first gazed on the winding Beauly or +not--and the date can be approximately fixed--we, at all events, have no +deep, unfathomable problem to solve as to the formation of the Fraser +Clan. We know that the founder of the name in Inverness-shire arrived +there as the head of a powerful Lowland house, that he settled among the +native Caledonians of the country, assumed possession of the lands then +forming his estate; that the people, who were as Celtic as those in any +portion of the Highlands, bearing such names as Gille-Criosd, +Mac-Killweralicke, Gill' Aindrea, etc., rallied around him, accepted his +authority, became his followers, and gradually adopted the name. As has +been remarked, some of those who were thus absorbed were the Bissets and +the Fentons of the Aird; there were also the Haliburtons, the Corbets, +and the Graemes of Lovat, whose estates fell into the possession of the +Fraser family. From this beginning it is an easy matter to follow the +fortunes of the Clan down the centuries from 1296, or thereabout, until +the present day. But it is not as easy, nor is it as important, although +interesting, to deal with the origin of the name and the ancient seat of +those who bore it long, long ago. Yet the theories respecting the origin +of the name must be taken notice of as traditions of interest, at least +to the Clan. + +We meet the name of "Fraser" in various spellings in Ragman Roll, which +dates A.D. 1292-97. Seventeen gentlemen of the family are on the roll, +and the spellings given are: Fraser, Fresar, Frisel, Frisele, Freshele, +de Fraser, and de Frisle. Whence derived? A Norman-French and a Celtic +origin have been ascribed to it. + + +THE NORMAN-FRENCH ORIGIN.--Skene settles this theory in a summary +fashion. He accepts it as indubitable, and had he refrained from giving +the grounds upon which he bases his opinion, his deservedly high +reputation as a Celtic historian might have satisfied the general reader +as to the truth of his _ipse dixit_. But the two reasons he advances are +absurd. From his own words you will learn how he disposes of the origin +of the Clan: "Of the Norman origin of the family of the Frasers it is +impossible for a moment to entertain a doubt. They appear during the +first few generations uniformly in that quarter of Scotland which is +south of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, and they possessed at a very +early period extensive estates in the counties of East Lothian and of +Tweeddale; besides the name of Frisale, which is its ancient form, +appears in the roll of Battle Abbey, thus placing the Norman character +of their origin beyond a doubt." Mr. Skene's first reason is that, "they +appear during the first few generations uniformly in that quarter of +Scotland which is south of the Forth and Clyde." Had this part of +Scotland been at that time inhabited by Normans, Mr. Skene's position +would not seem so surprising as it does; but, as a matter of fact, at +the time when the Frasers, according to Skene himself, flourished in the +south of Scotland, the population there was Celtic, and his plain +reasoning is: "The Frasers first appear in Scottish records as part of a +Celtic population; therefore they must be of Norman origin!" Mr. Skene's +second reason, while not so manifestly absurd, is equally weak. It is: +"The name of Frisale, which is the ancient form of "Fraser," appears in +the roll of Battle Abbey, thus placing the Norman character of their +origin beyond a doubt." And it is on such grounds as these that Mr. +Skene proceeds. Why, the ingenious Senachies, skilled in genealogy, if +not in the unravelling of charter deeds, could give an infinitely more +plausible statement of a continental descent. In the first place, it is +now impossible to authenticate the genuineness of the Roll of Battle +Abbey; and in the second place, if the roll were beyond question, there +is nothing to show that the Frisale whose name appears on it was the +progenitor of the Scottish Frasers. Mr. Skene does not pretend to prove +that he passed from England to Scotland and founded the family there. +But although he does not give us details, Mr. Skene's theory can be +nothing else than that Frisale, the follower of William the Conqueror, +was the same who received the lands held by the family in 1109 in the +south of Scotland from the Scottish monarch. Let us see how this theory +will bear examination. One sentence disposes of it completely and +forever. There were Frasers in possession of estates in the south of +Scotland before the Battle of Hastings, and from them Gilbert Fraser, +who figures in the Cospatrick Charter of 1109, was descended. Long +before 1109 the family had possessions in the Lothians and Tweeddale and +farther to the north. It requires no more than this statement of fact to +dispose of the Roll of Battle Abbey and the Frisale whose name furnished +the late Historiographer Royal of Scotland with an easy outlet from an +apparently difficult position. But supposing we allow for a moment the +prior occupation of the Frasers to disappear from view, and with Skene +begin at 1109 with Gilbert Fraser. Even then the case for Frisale would +be hopelessly weak. The Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066. From 1058 +to 1093 Malcolm Ceanmor sat on the Scottish throne; he it would be, +according to Skene, who gave Frisale the grant of the extensive estates +of the Tweeddale Frasers. But he was the bitter foe of William the +Conqueror, who supplanted Edgar Atheling, whose sister Margaret was +Malcolm's Queen, and whose nephew, also named Edgar, reigned in Scotland +until 1107. Is it credible that Malcolm or Donald Bane, or Duncan, or +Edgar, would strip their own nobles, in times of very uncertain warfare, +of their lands, in order to bestow them upon aliens, and these aliens +the feudal vassals of their turbulent, warlike enemy? No careful reader +of that period of Scottish history can believe that to have been +possible. If it be said that Alexander I. and David I. favored Norman +courtezans with grants of land on feudal titles, the answer is that +Alexander mounted the throne not earlier than 1107, when the Frasers had +already achieved historic prominence. While these remarks may suffice to +indicate how valueless are the reasons put forward by Mr. Skene, they do +not touch other theories pointing to a French origin prior to the reign +of Malcolm Ceanmor. But these other theories having been rejected by Mr. +Skene and his school, we may conclude that they rest their case on the +statements just alluded to and disposed of. + +Annalists and Clan historians have, however, gone into particulars of +the Norman-French theory. According to some the name was derived from +the _fraise_ or 'strawberry' leaves in their arms, and it was related +that they sprang from the Frezels of France. Others give different +origins; but, before laying before you the serious objections to the +Norman-French theory, it is right that I should repeat what has been in +many quarters regarded as strong circumstantial evidence in its favor. I +refer to the bond entered into, as late as the first part of the +eighteenth century, between Simon Lord Lovat (who was beheaded) and the +Marquis de la Frezeliere. Lord Lovat was a fugitive in France at the +time, and he was befriended by the Marquis. He wrote his life in French, +afterwards translated into English and published in 1796. In it he makes +the following statement:-- + +"The house of Frezel, or Frezeau de la Frezeliere, is one of the most +ancient houses in France. It ascends by uninterrupted filiation, and +without any unequal alliance, to the year 1030. It is able to establish +by a regular proof sixty-four quarterings in its armorial bearings, and +all noble. It has titles of seven hundred years standing in the abbey of +Notre Dame de Noyers in Touraine. And it is certain, that, beside +these circumstances of inherent dignity, the house de la Frezeliere is +one of the best allied in the kingdom. It numbers among its ancestors on +the female side daughters of the families de Montmorenci, de Rieux, de +Rohan, de Bretagne, de la Savonniere, de la Tremouille, de la Grandiere, +and de St. Germains. Through the houses de Montmorenci, de Rieux, de +Rohan, and de la Tremouille, to which the Marquis de la Frezeliere is +nearly allied, he can trace his filiation through all the French +monarchs, up to Charlemagne, King of France and Emperor of the West. +Down again through the various branches of the illustrious house of +France, M. de la Frezeliere may, without impropriety, assert his +alliance to all the royal houses and almost all the principal nobility +of Europe. + +"It is demonstrated by various historians, by the tradition of the two +families, and from letters written from time to time from one to the +other, that the house of Frezel or Frezeau de la Frezeliere in France, +and the house of Frezel or Fraser in Scotland, were of the same origin, +and derived from the same blood. The Marquis de la Frezeliere, the head +and representative of the Frezels or Frezeaus in France, and Lord Lovat, +the representative of the Frezels or Frasers in the north and the +Highlands of Scotland, having happily encountered each other at Paris in +the second journey that Lord Lovat made to France for the service of his +king (1702), were therefore both of them highly gratified with the +opportunity that offered itself of renewing their alliance and declaring +their affinity in a common and authentic act of recognition drawn up for +that purpose. + +"This record was executed on the one part by the Marquis de la +Frezeliere himself, by the Duke de Luxembourg, the Duke de Chatillon +and the Prince de Tingrie, the three worthy and illustrious children of +the late Marshal de Luxembourg Montmorenci, whose heroic exploits are +not less glorious and celebrated than his descent is ancient and august. +Several other lords of the house of Montmorenci, the Marquis de Rieux, +and many noblemen related by blood and marriage to M. de la Frezeliere, +joined with the Marquis in affixing their signatures to this act of +recognition. On the other part it was executed by Simon Lord Lovat, Mr. +John Fraser, his brother, and Mr. George Henry Fraser, Major of the +Irish regiment of Bourke in the French service, for themselves, in the +name of their whole family in Scotland. + +"By this deed the kindred of the two houses of the Frezels or Frasers is +placed out of all possible doubt. Accordingly from the moment in which +it was executed the Marquis de la Frezeliere regarded Lord Lovat rather +as his brother and his child than as his remote relation; and had his +re-establishment in Scotland nearer his heart than his own elevation in +France." + + +[Twenty Portrait Photographs of: + +J. H. Fraser Chas. Fraser A. W. Fraser Norman Fraser Andrew Fraser + +Jno. Fraser Elisha A. Fraser Dr. Mungo Fraser Dr. J. B. Fraser A. R. Fraser + +Alexander Fraser John Fraser Alexander Fraser Robt. L. Fraser W. P. Fraser + +William Fraser Hugh Miller W. H. Fraser Geo. B. Fraser Jas. Fraser] + + +THE SCOTTISH ORIGIN OF THE NAME.--Logan, author of the "Scottish Gael," +agrees with those who claim a Scottish origin for the name. He derives +it from _Frith_, 'a forest,' and _siol_--'seed,' 'offspring.' His theory +has at least the merit of great probability, and is certainly to be +preferred to the Norman-French, unless the latter can be supported by +better evidence than has yet been brought forward. In a most interesting +volume on surnames by Mr. B. Homer Dixon, K.N.L., published in 1857, +there are very suggestive notes on the surname "Fraser." He agrees with +Logan, and he combats the Norman origin. His interest in the Clan +Fraser is one of descent from a notable cadet family, and in connection +with the origin of the name he has kindly furnished me with the +following valuable statement:-- + +"I differ from Skene and the older writers who derive the Frasers either +from Pierre Fraser, who came to Scotland about the year 800, and whose +son Charles was made Thane of Man in 814, or from Julius de Berry, of +Averme in the Bourbonnais, who, in the year 916, gave Charles the Simple +so delicious a dish of strawberries that the king changed his name to +'de Fraize' and gave him 'fraizes' for arms. + +"According to the best authorities hereditary surnames were not used +until about the year 1000, and Arms were certainly not borne until after +the Norman Conquest, being only introduced about four score years later +at the time of the second Crusade, viz., A.D. 1146, and therefore more +than two centuries after the date of those ascribed to Julius de Fraize. + +"That the last Lord Lovat believed in his Norman descent I do not doubt. +Early in the last century (A.D. 1702) he signed a bond of recognition +with the Marquis Frezeau or Frezel de la Frezeliere, declaring that +their name and origin were the same and acknowledging themselves as +relations. The Frezeaus, however, were Anjevins from near Saumur, while +the first Scotch Fraser was said to be a Bourbonnais; still both parties +were probably easily satisfied with their bond, which only went to prove +apparently more clearly the antiquity of the families, however +unnecessary, for the Frezeaus or Frezels were one of the most ancient +houses in France, and the Frasers are undoubtedly one of the noblest +families in Scotland. Burton, in his Life of Lord Lovat, London, 147, p. +104, throws discredit upon Lord Lovat's statement (Memoirs of Lord +Lovat, London) of the antiquity of the family of Frezeau de la +Frezeliere, because, forsooth, there is no account of the family in 'le +Pere Anselme,' but Moreri (Grand Dicte. Histe. Basle, 1740) says 'the +family was one of the most ancient in the kingdom' (almost the very +words of Lord Lovat), 'and one of the most illustrious of the Province +(Anjou), where they have possessed from time immemorial the seigniory of +the Frezeliere.' Moreri adds that there were Chevaliers Frezel in 1030, +and, commencing his pedigree with the Chevalier Geoffrey, living in +1270, carries it down uninterruptedly to the Marquis de la Frezeliere, +et de Monsieur Baron de Lasse, Lieutenant-General in the army and first +Lieutenant-General in the Artillery, who died in 1711. + +"Both the Marquis and Lord Lovat were mistaken, however, for the Anjevin +name does _not_ signify 'strawberry,' neither does that family bear +'fraises' in their arms, but Frezeau or Frezel de la Frezeliere +signifies 'Ash of the Ash Plantation or Wood,' from the Romance word +_Fraysse_, 'an ash tree;' and in Auvergne there is a family styled 'du +Fraisse,' who bear an ash tree in their arms. Similar names to Frezel de +la Frezeliere are le Bastard de la Bastardiere, Freslon de la +Freslonniere, Raband de la Rabandiere. + +"It is true that the name Frisell occurs in the Roll of Battle Abbey; +but even allowing that to be authentic, what proof is there that the +Frisell who accompanied the Conqueror in 1066, was the ancestor of +Gilbert de Fraser, who possessed large estates in Tweeddale and Lothian +in the time of Alexander I. (1107-1174)? + +"This Gilbert, the first of the family mentioned, is called 'de,' but +the name was more frequently written without that prefix. + +"I believe that the Frasers are Scotch _ab origine_ and repeat that I +consider the name to be Gaelic and older than the arms, which were +canting arms, such as we have a royal example of as early as the time of +Louis VII. (of 1180), who covered the shield of France with blue, the +tincture of his royal robes, and then charged the same with lilies, +derived originally from Isis, formerly worshipped in France. + +"The _fraises_ are quartered with three antique crowns, and here again +authors differ, most writers saying they are for Bisset. Even Nisbet +makes this error, although on another page he gives the arms of Bisset +of Beaufort as 'Azure a bend argent!' Others say they were granted to +Sir Simon Fraser, the 'Flower of Chivalrie,' the friend of Wallace and +Bruce, for having three times re-horsed his king at the Battle of +Methven, in 1306. This _may_ be their origin, but if so they were +probably granted to or adopted by his grand nephew and heir, Sir Andrew +Fraser, for Sir Simon Fraser was taken prisoner at this very battle, +conveyed to London and beheaded. It is worthy of note, however, that the +Grants, near neighbors and often allied to the Frasers, bear three +antique crowns, though of a different tincture. Hugh, fifth Lord Lovat, +married a daughter of the Laird of Grant, by whom, however, he had no +issue. He died 1544." + +In another note Mr. Dixon says: "The court language of Scotland, at the +time this family took their arms, which are totally different from those +of the French house of Frezeau or Frezel, was a medley of Teutonic and +French." + + +IN THE LOWLANDS OF SCOTLAND.--But whether the derivation be from the +Romance _fraysse_, 'an ash tree,' or the Gaelic _frith_, 'a forest,' we +find the chief of the name firmly established as a powerful Scottish +noble, manifesting the patriotism and national sentiment to be looked +for in a native born baron, as early as 1109. + +His name was GILBERT DE FRASER, who, in the year named, witnessed a +charter known as the Cospatrick Charter. It is generally conceded that +he is the first with whom documentary history begins. That there were +Frasers in Tweeddale and Lothian before him is certain, and the names of +some of them have survived, but with this Gilbert begins the unbroken +record of lineage which comes down to our own day. The lands possessed +by the Frasers in the south of Scotland were extensive, and the family +power was great, as will be indicated in the course of the brief +reference to it which will be here made. Gilbert had three sons, Oliver, +Udard and another whose name is not now known. + +OLIVER succeeded his father and built Oliver Castle, by which his name +survives. There are many interesting descriptions of this old +stronghold; that in the Ordnance Survey Report I quote on account of its +brevity: "An ancient baronial fortalice in Tweedsmuir parish, S. W. +Peeblesshire, on the left side of the river Tweed . . . Crowning a rising +ground which now is tufted with a clump of trees, it was the original +seat of the Frasers, ancestors of the noble families of Lovat and +Saltoun, and passed from them to the Tweedies, who figure in the +introduction to Sir Walter Scott's _Betrothed_, and whose maternal +descendant, Thomas Tweedie-Stodart (b. 1838; suc. 1869), of Oliver +House, a plain modern mansion hard by, holds 1144 acres in the shire. . . +Oliver Castle was the remotest of a chain of strong ancient towers, +situated each within view of the next all down the Tweed to Berwick, and +serving both for defence and for beacon fires in the times of the +border forays. It was eventually relinquished and razed to the ground." +Oliver died without issue, and, his brother Udard, evidently having +predeceased him, the succession went to Udard's son, + +ADAM, who was succeeded by his son, + +LAWRENCE, on record in 1261, and who was in turn succeeded by his son, + +LAWRENCE. The second Lawrence had no male issue, but had two daughters, +one of whom married a Tweedie, carrying with her Fraser lands, and the +other of whom married a Macdougall. The succession in the male line now +reverted to Gilbert's third son, whose name is lost, but who had two +sons, + +SIMON and Bernard. Both these succeeded to the chiefship, Simon's issue +being female. It was after this Simon that Keith-Simon was named. + +BERNARD raised the fortunes of the family considerably, and his name +frequently occurs in connection with questions of first class +importance. He was the first of the name to have been appointed Sheriff +of Stirling. He was succeeded by his son, + +GILBERT, styled "Vicecomes de Traquair," or Sheriff of Traquair, father +of three historic personages, Sir Simon, Sir Andrew, and William, the +Bishop of St. Andrew's and Chancellor of Scotland, an extended reference +to whom I with difficulty refrain from making. As a prelate and a +statesman he rendered high service to his country. His brother, + +SIR SIMON, THE ELDER, succeeded his father, Gilbert. He is designated +the Elder to distinguish him from his famous son, Sir Simon the Patriot. +He took a leading part in the affairs of the nation. He, his two +brothers and a nephew, Richard Fraser, Lord of Dumfries, were four of +the arbiters in the Baliol claim to the Scottish Crown. He died in 1291, +and was succeeded by + +SIR SIMON the Patriot, the greatest and most renowned of all the Fraser +chiefs. All I can say of him is that he was the compatriot, the +coadjutor and compeer of Sir William Wallace, and one of the noblest +knights whose deeds are recorded on the page of history. He has +furnished ancient and modern historians with a subject for patriotic +eulogy and enthusiastic praise. As a soldier and statesman he was +_facile princeps_. He was the hero of Roslin; he was the only Scottish +noble who held out to the last with Sir William Wallace, and was one of +the first to welcome and aid the Bruce, whom he re-horsed three times at +the Battle of Methven, where he was taken prisoner; and he was the only +Scottish knight at that time whose patriotism entitled him to the brutal +indignities of Edward's court, and a death, in 1306, similar to that of +Sir William Wallace. The Patriot's family consisted of two daughters; +the elder married Sir Hugh Hay, ancestor of the noble house of +Tweeddale, and the younger, Sir Patrick Fleming, ancestor of the Earls +of Wigton. Male issue having again failed, the succession went back to + +SIR ANDREW FRASER, Sheriff of Stirling, already mentioned as second son +of Sir Gilbert Fraser, Sheriff of Traquair. Sir Andrew was the Patriot's +uncle. He is styled "of Caithness," on account of having married a +Caithness heiress, and at that point begins the interest of the family +in the North of Scotland. He was both a brave knight and a powerful +lord, and, like his brothers, bore his part valorously and well in the +senate and on the field. He lived to occupy the position of chief but +two years. He was the first chief of the family who won large +possessions in the north, while the headquarters were still in the +southern countries. The well-known Neidpath castle was one of the family +strongholds. It was a massive pile, of great strength, the walls being +eleven feet thick. It is situated in Peeblesshire and is still to be +seen. The strawberries appear in the crest of the Hays on the keystone +of the courtyard archway, a connecting link with the Frasers, from whom +it passed to the Hays of Yester, in 1312, with the daughter of the +Patriot. Before following the family to the Lovat estates, in +Inverness-shire, it may not be amiss to recapitulate the succession in +the south. It was as follows: + +I. GILBERT DE FRASER, II. OLIVER FRASER, III. ADAM FRASER, IV. LAURENCE +FRASER, V. LAURENCE FRASER, VI. SIMON FRASER, VII. BERNARD FRASER, VIII. +SIR GILBERT FRASER, IX. SIR SIMON FRASER, X. SIR SIMON FRASER, XI. SIR +ANDREW FRASER. + + +THE CLAN IN THE HIGHLANDS.--The family extended northward by the +marriage of Sir Andrew to a Caithness heiress, through which he acquired +large estates in that country. His was a notable family of sons. The +eldest, named Simon, gave the family its patronymic of "Mac-Shimi" +(pronounced Mac-Kimmie). He (Simon) married the daughter of the Earl of +Orkney and Caithness, and it is believed by the family historians that +this marriage brought the first Lovat property to the family. It would +appear that the Countess of Orkney and Caithness, namely, Simon Fraser's +mother-in-law, was the daughter of Graham of Lovat, and that her right +in the Lovat property descended to her daughter, Simon's wife, in whose +right he took possession. Thus, we see how the names Fraser and Lovat, +now for so long a time almost synonymous, were first brought together, +and how the Frasers obtained a footing on territory which has become +indissolubly linked with their name. + +Sir Andrew Fraser's other sons were Sir Alexander, Andrew and James; the +first named, a powerful baron and statesman, who attained to the office +of Chamberlain of Scotland, held previously, as we have seen, by his +uncle, Bishop Fraser. In consideration of distinguished services, he was +given in marriage Mary, sister of King Robert Bruce, and widow of Sir +Nigel Campbell, of Lochow. He possessed lands in Kincardine, of which +county he was sheriff. He was killed at the battle of Dupplin. Andrew +and James, his brothers, with their brother, Simon of Lovat, were slain +at the battle of Halidon Hill, July 22nd, 1333, and all four were in the +front rank of the soldiers of their time. + +The chiefs of the Clan Fraser date from: + +I. SIMON, Sir Andrew's eldest son. He had three sons--Simon and Hugh, +who both succeeded him in honors and estates, and James, who was +knighted on the occasion of the coronation of Robert III. + +II. SIMON succeeded his father, when still very young, and gave proof, +in the field, that the military genius of the family was inherited by +him. He died unmarried, after a brief but brilliant career, and his +estates and the chiefship went to his brother, + +III. HUGH, styled "Dominus de Lovat." And, now, I shall keep briefly to +the line of chiefs, and shall not burden you with many personal +incidents that have come down to us, with respect to any of them, until +we come to Lord Simon, who suffered death on Tower Hill. Hugh was +succeeded by his two sons, first by ALEXANDER, the eldest, then by +Hugh, the second son. From his third son, John, sprang the Frasers of +Knock, in Ayrshire; and from Duncan, his fourth son, the Frasers of +Morayshire. + +IV. ALEXANDER is described as a "pattern of primitive piety and sanctity +to all around him." He died unmarried. An illegitimate son, named +Robert, was the progenitor of "Sliochd Rob, Mhic a Mhanaich." + +V. HUGH, his brother, who succeeded, acquired lands from the Fentons and +Bissets, by marriage with the heiress of Fenton of Beaufort. The names +of these lands, it will be interesting to note, forming as they do an +important part of the estates long held by the Frasers. They are: +Guisachan, now the property of Lord Tweedmouth; Comar, Kirkton, Mauld, +Wester Eskadale and Uchterach. This Hugh, the fifth chief, was the first +to assume the title of Lord Lovat. He had three sons, Thomas, Alexander, +who died unmarried, and Hugh. The first Lord Lovat was succeeded by his +son, + +VI. THOMAS, whose assumption of the title is not mentioned by the family +historians, but of whose accession there is good documentary proof. The +silence of the historians, however, has led to an error in the +designation of his successors. For instance, his brother, + +VII. HUGH, who succeeded him, is called Hugh, second Lord Lovat, instead +of Hugh, third Lord Lovat. This Lord Lovat had two sons, Thomas and +Hugh, the former of whom was Prior of Beauly, and died young and +unmarried. He was succeeded by his son, + +VIII. HUGH, fourth Lord Lovat, who had a decisive brush with the +Macdonalds, under the Lord of the Isles, when the latter besieged the +Castle of Inverness in 1429. He was a peer of Parliament, and is +supposed to have been the first Lord Lovat to have attained to that +dignity, with the title, Lord Fraser of the Lovat. He had four sons, who +deserve mention: Thomas, who succeeded; Hugh, a brave soldier and +accomplished courtier, who was slain at Flodden; Alexander, from whom +sprang the old cadets of Farraline, Leadclune, etc.; and John, the +historian of Henry VIII., the learned Franciscan and astute ambassador. +There were also two illegitimate sons--Thomas and Hugh, the latter, +progenitor of the Frasers of Foyers, and of many other Fraser families, +known as "Sliochd Huistein Fhrangaich." + +IX. THOMAS, fifth Lord Lovat, added the lands of Phopachy, Englishton, +Bunchrew and Culburnie, the last-named place from Henry Douglas, to the +family estates, which were assuming very large proportions. He had a +large family. The eldest son, named Hugh, succeeded to the estates. From +the second son, William, sprang the Frasers of Belladrum, Culbokie, +Little Struy, etc.; from James, the Frasers of Foyness; from Robert, the +Frasers of Brakie, Fifeshire; from Andrew, "Sliochd Anndra Ruadh a +Chnuic" (Kirkhill); from Thomas, "Sliochd Ian 'Ic Thomais"; John married +a daughter of Grant of Grant, with issue; and from Hugh Ban of Reelick +(an illegitimate son), came the Frasers of Reelick and Moniack. + +X. HUGH, sixth Lord Lovat, was the chief of the Clan at the time of the +disastrous fight with the Macdonalds at Kinlochlochy, of which I shall +read a short description later on.[2] At this affray Lord Hugh and his +eldest son, Simon, were slain. His second son, Alexander, succeeded, and +his third son, William, was ancestor of the Frasers of Struy. His +fourth son, Hugh, died young and unmarried. + +XI. ALEXANDER, seventh Lord Lovat, a man of literary tastes, lived in +comparative retirement. His three sons were: Hugh, his successor; +Thomas, first of Knockie and Strichen, from whom the present chief, +whose family in 1815 succeeded to the Fraser estates, sprang, and James, +ancestor of the Frasers of Ardachie, the Memoir and Correspondence of a +scion of which, General James Stuart Fraser, of the Madras Army, was a +few years ago, given to the world, as the distinguished record of a +soldier, a scholar and a statesman. + +XII. HUGH, the eighth Lord Lovat, succeeded at the age of fourteen. He +was noted for his proficiency in archery, wrestling, and the athletics +of the day; he greatly encouraged the practice of manly exercises on his +estates. He was a staunch supporter of Regent Murray, and at the +Reformation secured possession of the Priory of Beauly and the church +lands pertaining to it, including the town lands of Beauly, and some of +the best tacks on the low-lying part of the present estates, in the +parishes of Kilmorack and Kiltarlity, the mere names indicating the +value of the grant: Fanblair, Easter Glenconvinth, Culmill, Urchany, +Farley, Craigscorry, Platchaig, Teafrish, Annat, Groam, Inchrorie, +Rhindouin, Teachnuic, Ruilick, Ardnagrask, Greyfield, the Mains of +Beauly, as well as valuable river fishings. Mr. Chisholm Batten's book +on Beauly Priory contains many interesting facts regarding the +acquisition of these fertile and extensive lands, for which his Lordship +paid a certain sum of money. He married a daughter of the Earl of Athol, +and had two sons, Simon and Thomas, and a natural son, named Alexander, +who married Janet, daughter of Fraser of Moniack. Thomas died in his +ninth year. Lord Hugh died at Towie, in Mar, on his way home from +Edinburgh. It was suspected that he had been poisoned. + +XIII. SIMON, ninth Lord Lovat, succeeded at the tender age of five. +Thomas of Knockie became tutor for the young chief, an office of power +and responsibility. He was married three times. By his first wife, +Catherine Mackenzie, he had issue, a son and daughter, Hugh, his +successor, and Elizabeth. By his second wife, the daughter of James +Stuart, Lord Doune, he had two sons and three daughters: Sir Simon of +Inverallochy, Sir James of Brea, Anne, Margaret and Jean. His third wife +was Catherine Rose of Kilravock. + +XIV. HUGH, tenth Lord Lovat, had already a large family when he +succeeded to the estates. Three years after his accession his wife died, +leaving him with nine children, six sons and three daughters. Her death +cast a gloom over his life, and, practically retiring from business, the +management of the estates for a time fell on his son Simon, Master of +Lovat, a young man of the brightest promise, whose untimely death was a +second severe blow to his father. His dying address is a remarkable +production. His next elder brother, Hugh, became Master of Lovat, and +Sir James Fraser, of Brea, became tutor. The Master of Lovat married +Lady Anne Leslie, and died a year afterwards, during his father's +lifetime, leaving a son, Hugh, who succeeded to the titles and estates. +Hugh the tenth Lord Lovat's issue were: Simon and Hugh, to whom +reference has just been made; Alexander, who became tutor; Thomas of +Beaufort, father of the celebrated Simon; William, who died young; +James, who died without issue, and Mary, Anne and Catherine. + +XV. HUGH, grandson of the tenth Lord Lovat, succeeded as eleventh Lord +Lovat, when only three years old. At sixteen he was, to use the words of +the chronicler, "decoyed into a match" with Anne, sister of Sir George +Mackenzie of Tarbat, the famous lawyer, the lady being at the time of +the marriage, about thirty years of age. There were born to them a son, +named Hugh, who, from a black spot on his upper lip, was nick-named +"Mac-Shimi, Ball Dubh," "Black-spotted Mackimmie;" and three daughters. + +XVI. Hugh, "The Black-spotted," succeeded as twelfth Lord Lovat. He +married a daughter of Murray, Marquis of Athole, a connection in which +the pretensions of the Murrays, thwarted by Simon of Beaufort, find +their source. This chief left four daughters, but no son, and having had +no brothers or uncles on the father's side, the succession went to +Thomas of Beaufort, surviving son of Hugh, the tenth Lord Lovat, and +grand-uncle of Hugh, "The Black-spotted." + +XVII. Thomas of Beaufort assumed the title as thirteenth Lord Lovat, and +would probably have been left in undisputed possession but for the +marriage contract made by the twelfth Lord, at the instance of the +Athols, settling the estates on his eldest daughter, failing male heirs +of his body. It is true that afterwards he revoked this settlement in +favor of the nearest male heir, viz., Thomas of Beaufort, but the +validity of the later document was contested, and it was only after a +long and extraordinary struggle, in which plot, intrigue and violence +played a part, as well as protracted litigation, that his son's title to +the estates was confirmed. + +XVIII. SIMON of Beaufort succeeded his father, as fourteenth Lord Lovat, +after, as has been stated, many years of fierce contest concerning his +rights. He had an elder brother, named Alexander, who, according to +report then current, died young in Wales, and without issue. His +younger brothers were named Hugh, John, Thomas, and James. The cause of +Alexander's flight to Wales forms one of the best known legends of the +family. There are various versions of it, but I shall give that most +commonly related by old people in the district of the Aird: Alexander +arrived, somewhat late, at a wedding at Teawig, near Beauly. His +appearance was the signal for the piper to strike up the tune, "Tha +Biodag air MacThomais," some of the lines of which run: + + Tha biodag air Mac Thomais, + Tha biodag fhada, mhor, air; + Tha biodag air Mac Thomais, + Ach's math a dh' fhoghnadh sgian da. + + Tha biodag anns a chliobadaich, + Air mac a bhodaich leibidich; + Tha biodag anns a chliobadaich, + Air mac a bhodaich romaich. + + Tha bhiodag deanadh gliogadaich, + 'Si ceann'lt ri bann na briogais aig'; + Tha bucallan 'n a bhrogan, + Ged 's math a dh' fhoghnadh ial daibh. + +It was whispered to Alexander that the piper selected this tune to cause +merriment at his expense, and the youth, to turn the jest against the +piper, determined to rip open the bag of the pipes, with his dirk. But +in doing so, his foot slipped, and he fell heavily towards the piper +with the naked dirk in his outstretched arm. The piper was fatally +wounded, and Alexander, who had been an extreme partizan of the +Jacobites, believed that were he tried for the murder of the piper, the +hostility of Sir George Mackenzie, of Tarbat, would inevitably secure a +sentence of death against him. He fled to Wales, where he was befriended +by Earl Powis, under whose protection, it is said, he lived on, married, +and had issue, while his next younger brother, Simon, enjoyed the title +and estates. Mr. John Fraser, of Mount Pleasant, Carnarvon, not long +ago, laid claim to the chiefship, title and estates, on the ground that +he is a lineal descendant of this Alexander, and although he lost his +case in one trial, he is still gathering evidence, with the view of +having it re-opened and further pushing his claim. + +For his share in the Jacobite rising of 1745, Simon, fourteenth Lord +Lovat, was beheaded on Tower Hill, April 9th, 1747. Lord Simon's faults +were not few, but he has been a much maligned man; his vices have been +flaunted before the world, his virtues have been obscured. In extreme +old age he gave up his life on the scaffold; and his fate, believed by +some to be richly deserved, by others has been characterized as +martyrdom. He left three sons, Simon, Alexander and Archibald Campbell +Fraser. + +XIX. SIMON succeeded to the chiefship, but that honor was unaccompanied +by the estates and title, which had been forfeited to the crown. For his +services as commandant of Fraser's Highlanders in the service of the +House of Hanover, he was specially thanked by Parliament, and the +paternal estates restored to him. I have been informed by the Grand +Master Mason of Ontario that this Colonel Simon (afterwards General +Simon Fraser of Lovat) was the first Provincial Master Mason in Upper +Canada, the order having been established there at the time of the +stirring events in which Fraser's Highlanders participated while in +Quebec. General Simon married, but without issue, and his brother +Alexander having predeceased him without issue, he was succeeded in +possession of the estates by his half-brother, + +XX. COLONEL ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL FRASER of Lovat. The title was still held +in abeyance. Colonel Archibald was a man of erratic habits, but a +kind-hearted Highlander, and a man of no mean ability. An account of his +honors and public services he embodied in an inscription on his +tombstone, but while the production is typical of his well-known +eccentricity, as a matter of fact, not a little of the praise which he +takes to himself for services to his country and his county, was well +deserved. He had five sons, all of whom predeceased him. His eldest son +was named Simon Frederick. He became member of Parliament for +Inverness-shire. He died in 1803, unmarried, but left one son, Archibald +Thomas Frederick Fraser, well-known in our own day as "Abertarf," from +having resided there. None of the other sons of Colonel Archibald left +legitimate issue, and at his death, in 1815, the succession reverted to +the Frasers of Strichen, descended, as already observed, from Thomas +Fraser of Knockie and Strichen, second son of Alexander, the sixth Lord +Lovat, represented, at the time of Colonel Archibald's death, by + +XXI. THOMAS ALEXANDER FRASER, of Strichen, who succeeded to the estates, +and was created Lord Lovat by Act of Parliament, in 1837; and, in 1857, +succeeded in having the old title restored to him. The succession of the +Strichen family created a strong hostile feeling among the Clansmen and +the old tenants generally, many of them believing that other aspirants +who appeared had stronger claims. The Frasers of Strichen, however, were +able to satisfy the courts as to the validity of their claim, and they +were confirmed in the possession of the estates. A curious incident of +the time may be briefly related, to illustrate both the feeling then +prevailing concerning the succession, and the religious beliefs which +were held then in the Highlands. It was, and to some extent yet is, +believed that the Divine purpose, with respect to every-day events, may +be disclosed in appropriate portions of Scripture which impress +themselves intensely on the mind of the devout believer. Two +tenant-farmers, whose names, if given, would at once be a guarantee of +their good faith, and of their respectability, went from the vicinity of +Belladrum to the neighborhood of Redcastle, to a man whose piety gave +him an eminent place among The Men of Ross-shire. They went to confer +with him about the Lovat estates, and to find out whether he had any +"indication" of the "mind of the Lord" as to whether the Frasers of +Strichen would be established in their tenure of the estates against all +comers. They were hospitably welcomed, and, their errand having been +made known, their host replied that he had had no such indication. They +remained that night, the next day and the night following, but during +all this time did not see their host. On the morning of the third day he +joined them at the frugal breakfast, after which he led them to a window +overlooking the Beauly Firth and said: "Since your arrival I have pled +hard for light at the Throne. If God ever did reveal His Will to me by +His Word, He did so last night. You see a fishing-smack before you on +the firth; as sure as you do observe her there, with her sail spread, +catching the wind, so sure will, in God's good time, the Strichens pass +away from the possession of the Lovat estates, and the rightful heir, +will come to his own. My warrant, given to me in my wrestling with God, +is this prophetic passage: 'And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, +whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord +God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the +same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will +overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come +whose right it is; and I will give it him.' (Ezek. XXI., 25-27) God's +purpose thus revealed will not be fulfilled in our day, nor likely in +the day of our children, but our grandchildren will likely see it +accomplished." The old man's words made a deep impression; but only a +few friends were informed of them, not only because they were held as a +sacred message, but also because of the "power of the estate office." +Whatever may be thought of beliefs thus formed, no one who knew the +devout, simple-hearted Highlander of the generation just gone, will fail +to appreciate the humility and sincerity with which such beliefs were +entertained. + +But to return to the fortunes of the House of Lovat. Thomas Alexander, +fifteenth Lord Lovat, married a daughter of Sir George Jerningham, +afterwards Baron Stafford, and had male issue, Simon, Allister Edward, +George Edward Stafford (b. 1834, d. 1854), and Henry Thomas. His second +son, Allister Edward, rose to the rank of Colonel in the army; was +married, with issue, one son. Hon. Henry Thomas attained to the rank of +Colonel of the 1st battalion Scots Guards. Lord Lovat died in 1885, and +was succeeded by his eldest son, + +XXII. SIMON, sixteenth Lord Lovat, who, born in 1828, and married to the +daughter of Thomas Weld Blundell, was already a man of mature years at +the time of his accession. He was known in song as "Fear Donn an +Fheilidh." He was noted for his generous qualities and his kindness to +the poor. He was a keen sportsman, expert with rod, gun and rifle, a +marksman of repute. He did much to encourage the militia movement, and +commanded the Inverness-shire regiment for many years. The circumstances +of his sad and sudden death, from an affection of the heart, while +grouse-shooting on the Moy Hall moors, in 1887, are fresh in our minds. +An extract from a newspaper article, written on the occasion of his +death, may be taken as a fair estimate of his character: "By this sudden +and painful blow a nobleman has been taken away who filled a conspicuous +place in this vicinity, and who was held in the highest respect. Having +succeeded to his father in 1875, he has enjoyed the title and estates +for only twelve years (1887). But as Master of Lovat he was known for +many years before that time as a worthy and popular representative of a +great and ancient Highland house. No county gathering seemed to be +complete without his presence. . . . Homely in his manner, he was never +difficult to approach, and his kindness of spirit showed itself in many +ways. Conscientious and sober in judgment, he steadily endeavored to do +his duty; and his lamented death caused a blank which cannot easily be +filled." He left a family of nine, and was succeeded by his eldest son, + +XXIII. SIMON JOSEPH, seventeenth Lord Lovat, to whose health, as our +chief, we have drained our glasses this evening. That he may have a long +and happy life is our fervent prayer; and may God grant him wisdom and +grace that he may be a useful and a prosperous chief; that he may add +new lustre to the distinguished name he bears, and prove worthy of the +ancestry of which he is the proud representative. + +We have now traced the long line of chiefs from the beginning down to +the present day, and I must thank you for the wonderful patience with +which you have listened to the dry bones of genealogy; in what +remains[3] I hope I shall prove less tedious than in that which I have +concluded. + +The speaker then referred briefly to the Aberdeenshire Frasers, and to +some of the principal Cadet families of the Clan. He gave an explanation +of the coat of arms, related a number of interesting Clan incidents, +including forays, Clan feuds, and anecdotes of a local character. At +some length he described the Home of the Clan, pointing out its extent +on a map of Inverness-shire, colored to show the gradual increase and +decrease of territory, which kept pace with the varying fortunes of the +Clan; expatiating on the great variety and beauty of its scenery, +tributes to which he quoted from Christopher North, David Macrae, Robert +Carruthers and Evan MacColl. + +[Footnote 2: See account by Rev. Allan Sinclair, A. M., in Celtic +Magazine.] + +[Footnote 3: This part of the speech, being of a general character, has +been omitted for consideration of space.] + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: MR. ROBERT LOVAT FRASER, 1st Vice-Chairman.] + +MR. ROBERT LOVAT FRASER, Vice-chairman, replied to the toast. He said: +My duty, through the kindness of the committee, is certainly not so +arduous in replying to the toast of the evening, as that which has been +imposed upon the Chairman in proposing it. The length of his address, +the facts regarding the origin and the outlines of the history of the +Clan which he gave, make it unnecessary for me to dwell at length on +this interesting topic. Indeed, I found on listening to the Chairman, +that I had a great deal to learn about our Clan, and I am sure that I +express not only my own thanks, but yours to him, in placing before us, +so clearly and minutely, the leading facts regarding our ancestry and +kindred. All my life long I have been an ardent admirer of some of the +more prominent Frasers who have figured in our Clan history. My own +connection with the Clan in the Highlands is somewhat remote, the last +of my forefathers who resided there having had to leave his home and +friends, on account of the part which he took with his Clan in the +uprising of '45. But although we have been cut off from that close +connection which is thought necessary to keep alive a sentimental +interest in such things, I can assure you that no clansman born within +the shadow of Castle Downie can boast with greater truth of possessing +more enthusiasm and interest than I in all that pertains to the Clan +Fraser. The Clan has a history which we as clansmen should so study as +to become perfectly familiar with it. Its record has been written in the +events of the times as well as on the page of history, and no more +inspiring or patriotic duty lies to our hand than the study of that +record. I firmly believe that the influence of the clan feeling was a +good influence, and that the idea of kinship and responsibility to each +other for good behavior, as to kinsmen, had much to do in bringing about +the high moral tone which distinguishes the Highland clans. It did much +also to prepare the minds of those people for the enlightenment and love +which Christianity brought with it, and which are so strikingly +exemplified in the Highland character. I would say therefore to the +young men, 'employ part of your evenings in the reading of the Clan +history,' and to the older people, 'devote a little of the time of your +remaining years to a like purpose.' I do not think it necessary, after +what we have just heard, to enter into historic details; neither is it +necessary to defend the honor of the Clan where there are no assailants. +The Clan has taken its place honorably among its contemporaries and +neighbors. It invariably performed its duty in a manner highly +creditable to the public spirit of its members and to their high +standard of justice. There were it is true at times in the Clan, as in +every other body of people, men whose names have been perpetuated +because of evil rather than good. These, however, have been singularly +few in the Clan Fraser, and even where statements are found to their +discredit, the malice of interested foes not infrequently lends a +heightened color to charges which might to some extent have been founded +on fact. This I believe to be true in the case of Simon Lord Lovat, who +had the misfortune to be the subject of biographical sketches by his +enemies, but of whom a juster view now prevails. Happily the prominent +clansmen, whose characteristics needed no defence, but called forth +admiration and emulation, were many. To name them would be but to recite +a long and distinguished list. Their characteristics were such as to +challenge public commendation. With them as examples no clansman need +feel ashamed of the name. But what I should like to impress most of all +upon our Clan throughout the country is the necessity for a sentiment of +loyalty to the Clan name and its traditions. Seeing that we have such a +history let us prize it. Let every clansman feel proud of it, and let +him see to it that his conduct and ambition are in every way in keeping +with the record of the past, and in this way prove himself not only a +good citizen, a good neighbor and a good friend, but a good clansman, +and hand down the character of the Clan unsullied to posterity. This +would be a most laudable ambition and one which I feel sure every +Fraser worthy of the name will strive earnestly to attain. + +Two gentlemen, Frasers all but in name, had been invited as guests. They +were Mr. B. Homer Dixon, Consul General for the Netherlands, and Mr. +Hugh Miller, J. P., both of Toronto. Their health was proposed by the +chairman, who paid a high compliment to Mr. Homer Dixon, who, he said, +had taken the warmest interest in matters relating to the Clan, and who +was a living encyclopedia of information regarding its history and +affairs. Mr. Dixon's connection was derived from his maternal side, and +not a few Clan relics were in his possession. His absence from the +gathering was on account of indifferent health, and it was regretted +very much by those present. In coupling Mr. Miller's name with the +toast, the Chairman referred to that gentleman's long connection with +the business interests of the city of Toronto. Mr. Hugh Miller was a +relative of his namesake, the famous geologist, and his name was as well +known in Ontario business and national circles, as was that of his +distinguished namesake in the field of literature and science. Mr. +Miller rightly claimed to be of Fraser stock--he certainly had the +Fraser spirit. He sat with them as an honored guest, but none the less +an honored clansman. + +MR. MILLER, in reply, expressed the great satisfaction with which he had +received an invitation to be present at what he might truly describe as +a gathering of his own clansmen. It was well known that in Scotland, as +in other countries, men were often named after the occupations which +they followed, and it was not a mere tradition but a fact within the +knowledge of his immediate forebears that they were of pure Fraser +stock. They had worn the Fraser tartan, and had always taken a deep +interest in whatever pertained to the affairs of the Clan. When the +Chairman, in giving the toast of the Clan, had referred to the places +associated with the name, he was brought back in memory over a long +period of time. At his age, the sweep of memory to boyhood's days was a +long one, and he could well recall the events in the Highlands of +Scotland over sixty years ago. He had a loving and familiar recollection +of scenes, than which there were none more beautiful under the sun, and +of people who had animated these fair surroundings. The Fraser estates +were among the finest in Britain, affording examples of beauty +calculated to leave a very vivid impression on the youthful mind, and +during his long life his early impressions had ever remained fresh and +green. He remembered the time when the succession to the chiefship and +estates was in hot dispute, and he knew how deeply the clansmen were +moved by that contest. Down to that day the feeling of the clans was as +strong as of old, and doubtless if occasion arose, it would prove to be +strong still. At that time there were various claimants for the honors +and possessions of the ancient house of Lovat, and as a boy he saw a +good deal of those who were prominently concerned in the case. The +Frasers were very anxious that the true heir by blood should succeed, +and much was privately as well as openly done on behalf of the various +contestants, according as the clansmen believed in the various claims +put forward. As to the main object of their re-union that evening, he +could do nothing but express his sincere hope that a strong association +of the Frasers would be formed. There was no reason whatever why such an +organization should not flourish in Canada, where those bearing the name +could be numbered by thousands. He had the good fortune to know not a +few Frasers in Canada, and he could honestly say that none of them, so +far as he knew, ever did anything that in any way tarnished the good +name of the Clan. He had great hopes of the success of the movement from +the enthusiasm of the gathering, and from the fact that those who had +taken the matter in hand were men of energy and capacity. He could now +only thank them for having honored the toast in such a hospitable +manner, and wish them all success in the projected organization. + + + "THE CLAN IN CANADA." + +MR. R. LOVAT FRASER, Vice-chairman, in proposing the toast of "The Clan +in Canada," said: The Clan in Canada is not, of course, as important as +the Clan at large, but it has an importance altogether its own, and has +a record not unworthy the parent stem. It is a branch of a goodly tree, +and bears fruit of the finest quality. No clan has done more, if as +much, for Canada as the Clan Fraser. Coming with the famous +Seventy-Eighth regiment they did their duty at Louisburg and Quebec, and +stamped the Clan name indelibly on the history of Canada, from ocean to +ocean. Not only did they render services in the east, but in pioneer +work helped to open up the west by travel, trade and commerce. A +distinguished clansman and a relation of my friend on the right +(Fraserfield) was the discoverer of the Fraser River. To those of us who +highly prize the integrity of the British Empire it must be a source of +pride to know that the part taken by the Seventy-Eighth in Lower Canada +helped very much to keep the American continent for the British Crown. +The history of that time clearly proves that had the fortunes of war +been adverse in Canada to the British arms, the French would have been +in a position to overrun and seize the whole of North America. This is a +fact which is sometimes lost sight of, but is one of much satisfaction +to us as clansmen. To those whose names have been coupled with this +interesting toast, I must leave the duty of dealing at length with it, +and I rejoice that both of them are gentlemen thoroughly familiar with +the subject and of recognized ability as speakers. I refer to Mr. E. A. +Fraser, barrister of Detroit, and our worthy friend, Mr. G. B. Fraser, +of Toronto. + +MR. E. A. FRASER said: Mr. Vice-chairman, Chairman and Clansmen, +although hailing from the other side of the line, I am a Canadian-born +clansman, my native place being Bowmanville, near this beautiful Queen +City. I passed my younger days in this province, attended the schools +here, and am as familiar with the affairs of the country and with our +clansmen in the country as those who have not left it to reside under +another flag. I can therefore speak with confidence to this toast, but +you will excuse me if I speak briefly, as the honor was unexpected, and +I do not wish to make it appear that any words of mine that may come on +the spur of the moment would be sufficient to lay before you, in proper +form, what our Clan has done for Canada and the position which it +occupies to-day in the affairs of the country. It is easy to speak of +Louisburg and Quebec; it is easy to dilate on the names of distinguished +clansmen familiar to us all for the prominent positions they have taken +among their fellows, but the work performed by the Clan in Canada would +not then be half told. We must go back to the hoary forests, to the +backwoods, where the early settlers bent their energies to the opening +up of the country. That noble pioneer work in which our clansmen shared, +and shared in large numbers, it seems to me, has an importance that is +not as often recognized as it ought to be. It is difficult for the +imagination even to grasp the peculiar task that lay before the early +settlers of this vast, heavily-timbered, unbroken, unopened, untravelled +country. Now that we can take a seat in the railway car at Halifax and +leave it at Vancouver, we can form but the very faintest conception of +what this country was one hundred years ago, when those hardy +mountaineers ranged themselves alongside the Lowland Scot, the +Englishman, the Irishman, the German and the Frenchman, to hew down the +lords of the forest, to turn the wilderness into well cultivated fields, +to turn the log cabins into the mansions that now adorn the plains, and +to form, as they do, a sturdy peasantry second to none in the world. +When the pen of a genius has dealt with those times, a chapter will be +written for the civilized world more interesting, probably, than any yet +penned. We have to leave the high places of military fame and +statesmanship and enter the factory and the counting-house to trace +there the career of the pioneers of industry and commerce, and among +them we find our clansmen performing those duties which the necessities +of the country demanded. If we turn to the professions, our Clan is +found to hold its own. To the church, to law, to medicine, to art, to +politics, we have given men of whom we are proud. The walk of life in +Canada that has not been trodden by a clansman would be only an +undesirable one for any man to tread. If I may be permitted to say +it--coming as I do from the great State of Michigan--I would say that in +that State, where our clansmen are very numerous, they not only hold +their own, but have attained to eminence in business and in the +professions. We have men of distinguished ability at the head of the +legal fraternity of our State; we have men whose genius in business has +secured them wealth and position; we have men who in humbler spheres +have rendered patriotic services to the State, and who, one and all, +show that they have not lost the characteristics of the Clan in new +associations and callings. Before sitting down I should like to express +the great pleasure I have experienced at this gathering of clansmen. I +would have come twice as far to be present, and trust that the +organization, the formation of which will undoubtedly be sanctioned here +to-night, will be the means of bringing us together frequently to enjoy +ourselves as we are now doing. + +MR. G. B. FRASER, of Toronto, followed, in response to the same toast. +He said: Mr. Vice-chairman, Chairman and Clansmen, I frequently have to +regret my lack of ability to discharge a duty of this nature to my own +satisfaction. The subject allotted to me is one with which I cannot +claim to be unfamiliar. It is a subject of great interest, and on such +an occasion as the present, a subject which ought to be treated with +some detail in order to perpetuate the names and deeds of clansmen who +have done their duty nobly and well by this the land of our adoption. I +find myself, however, not lacking in material, but in that +ability--which seems to be born in some men--to place my information +lucidly and briefly before you. Some speakers have already referred, and +others will, later on, refer to the origin of the Clan Fraser in Canada. +I shall not trespass on that part of the subject, but coming down to +this century we find a clansman whose name will ever live in Canada. I +refer to Simon Fraser, the discoverer of the Fraser River, whose life, +when it comes to be written, will certainly shed lustre on the Clan +name. He was descended from a cadet family of the Lovats, came with his +parents to Canada from the Eastern States, and settled at Glengarry. His +worthy relative, Fraser of Fraserfield, sits here on my right, and proud +I am to welcome him to this feast. John Fraser de Berry, the founder of +the New Clan Fraser, was a man of extraordinary personality, whose +acquaintance I first made at the time of the Trent affair. I happened to +be in Montreal at that time, and received a telegram from De Berry that +he wished to see me. He came from Quebec city, and we met in the St. +Lawrence Hall. I was very much impressed with the singular interview +which took place between us. Of course he was full of the project of his +Clan Fraser, full of the history and genealogy of the Clan. He was an +enthusiast, and in common with many enthusiasts could look but with +impatience on the practical, prosaic side of things. With due formality, +acting by what he believed to be his authority as a chieftain of the +Clan, he invested me with power to raise a company of Frasers, in an +allotted district in Western Ontario, which was delineated on a military +plan in his possession. I could not do otherwise than accept the +commission, which was that of captain, from this venerable-looking and +earnest chief. Had I been able to withdraw from business, I have no +doubt that I should have been, in a very short time, at the head of a +company numbering at least one hundred stalwart clansmen, who would have +given a good account of themselves in the field. But, as you are aware, +the occasion for defence quickly passed away, and no more was heard of +the proposed regiment of Frasers, of which my company was to have formed +a part. The most remarkable fact which impressed itself upon me then, +and one that I yet consider remarkable, was the manner in which De Berry +had the Province divided into military districts on his maps, the exact +information which he had regarding the locations in which the clansmen +resided, and the mass of details with which he seemed to be perfectly +familiar. I could not understand how he acquired all this information, +but have been informed since, by some who were associated with him, that +he spared no means to trace out every Fraser in the country, through the +voters' lists, the township registration books and the village +directories. The amount of work involved in such research must have been +enormous, and I can well believe that for many years De Berry devoted +his time, as a man of leisure, to this project. He also appointed me as +one of the one hundred and eleven chieftains of the New Clan, the chief +of which was a descendant of a cadet of the Lovat family, residing in +Nova Scotia, but the organization was too unwieldy, and its objects were +rather vague for practical purposes. For a number of years meetings were +held in Montreal of a very interesting character, but with De Berry's +death and that of a number of those more prominently associated with him +interest died out, and now we hear of the New Clan no more. We can +profit by their experience in our own undertaking, and doubtless we +shall be able to form an organization which will live, and which will +perpetuate the name and traditions associated with the name and with +this new country. I have practically confined myself to De Berry's name, +not because there is a lack of clansmen on my list, whose memories +deserve to be perpetuated, such as, for instance, the founder of the +Fraser Institute, in Montreal; John Fraser, the author; John A. Fraser, +the artist; Judge Fraser and Colonel Fraser, of Glengarry; but because +some of these will doubtless be alluded to by other speakers, and, +because having devoted so much time to a man whose name and personality +I cannot but regard as of peculiar interest to us, I have left myself +but little time to refer to those clansmen whom I held, and still hold, +in high esteem, and in whose name I thank you for the toast proposed and +honored in such a fitting manner. + + + "DISTINGUISHED CLANSMEN." + +MR. R. L. FRASER, the Vice-chairman, then proposed the toast of +"Distinguished Clansmen in Art, Science, Literature, Theology, Arms and +Politics." He said: I had almost concluded that all Frasers are +distinguished clansmen, and distinguished in the highest sense of the +word, though it were better, perhaps, to be more modest, and hence the +division into which this toast has been divided. While we rightly draw +much of our inspiration from the seat of the Clan across the sea, it is +well that we should remember, and remember generously, those of our Clan +in this country who have secured high positions in life. Among our +artists the name "Fraser" takes high rank. Some of the Fraser artists I +have known personally, and can bear testimony not only to their fame, +but to their personal qualities. Canadian art owes much to Mr. J. A. +Fraser and Mr. W. Lewis Fraser, now sojourning in Europe. Literature +claims the names of James Lovat Fraser, the distinguished classical +scholar, of John Fraser, of Donald Fraser, and others well known in +Canada. Science also has its devotees and distinguished students, +especially medical science and theology. Frasers both in Canada and in +the old land have taken front rank in the profession of arms, and have +distinguished themselves from the time of Sir Simon Fraser, the compeer +and companion of Wallace and the savior of Scotland, down to the present +day. In politics the Clan has certainly won its share of such honors as +the public delight to bestow. The reply to this toast has been entrusted +to a splendid array of able clansmen. For clansmen distinguished in +arts, Ex-Mayor Fraser, of Petrolea, will reply; for those in science, +Dr. J. B. Fraser; for those in theology, Dr. Mungo Fraser; for those in +literature, Professor W. H. Fraser; for Frasers in war, Mr. Alexander +Fraser (Fraserfield); and for those in politics, Mr. W. P. Fraser. + +[Illustration: Ex-MAYOR JOHN FRASER, 2ND VICE-CHAIRMAN.] + +EX-MAYOR FRASER, replying for the "Frasers in Art," said: Mr. Chairman +and Gentlemen,--Your committee, in selecting me to speak for our +clansmen in Art, acted of course on the assumption that I possessed the +necessary qualifications for the task. At the outset, however, I must, +in justice to all concerned, but more especially to the Frasers who have +won distinction in art, confess that my attainments in that department +are hardly such as to entitle me to a hearing in response to this +important toast. But I am to some extent emboldened and sustained by the +reflection that, as this is in a sense a family gathering, the +shortcomings of a Fraser will pass, if not unobserved, at least without +provoking unfriendly comment. Permit me then, on behalf of the artists +of our Clan, to thank you for the cordial and enthusiastic manner in +which you have received this toast. Among the many distinguished +clansmen who have, in almost every sphere of human endeavor and +usefulness, shed unfading lustre, not only upon our Clan, but upon +humanity in general, our artists have secured an honored place. Of +necessity, those of our Clan who have excelled in art are few in number; +indeed, the artists of the world and of the ages might almost find +standing room in this banquet hall. But our Clan has perhaps produced +its quota, and some of them have taken high rank. It is not my purpose +to mention the names of all; in fact, I am unable to name more than two, +viz., Charles Fraser and John A. Fraser. The former was a distinguished +portrait painter of South Carolina who died in 1860 at the age of 78 +years. He left a large number of portraits, all of which are said to +have much artistic merit, and some of which have acquired considerable +historic value. Of Mr. John A. Fraser it is hardly necessary to speak +here. By his works we know him. A collection of Canadian paintings +without one or more of his masterly representations of Canadian scenery +would assuredly be incomplete. Let that suffice for our modern artists. +It occurs to me, as it must have done to us all at one time or another, +that our Clan must have produced great artists in the bygone ages. +Assuredly Greece and Italy did not produce _all_ the old masters. The +Fraser Clan nourished then and was of course represented in art; but, +just as in the newspaper--the product of the "art preservative"--there +is to be found an occasional artist who, impelled by modesty or an +exaggerated regard for his personal safety, uses a _nom de plume_--for +instance, "Junius," _Vox Populi_ or "A Disgusted Subscriber"--so there +were, I fancy, in the days of long ago, Frasers in art who unmindful of +posterity or perchance distrustful of their own powers, as genius so +frequently is, worked under cover of such names as Raphael, Leonardo da +Vinci, Michael Angelo, Canova, etc. A slight effort of the imagination +will enable a Fraser to accept this theory. + +The Fraser has ever been great on the "tented field." There, indeed, he +has won renown, for his "fierce, native daring" has never been +surpassed. But there are still victories to be won, infinitely greater +than any achieved in battle. The grandest painting is yet to be painted, +and we who are the first in Canada to assemble in honor of our ancient +and beloved Clan shall ever fondly cherish the hope that the first place +in art will be occupied by a Fraser. But from whatever clan or country +the master shall come, the Frasers will be among the first to do him +honor. + +I thank you, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, for the patient hearing you +have given me. + + * * * * * + +The reply to the part of this toast referring to "Science" was made by +DR. J. B. FRASER, M. D., C. M., R. C. P. and S. K., Toronto. He said: +Mr. Chairman, Vice-chairman, and Brother Clansmen, it gives me a great +deal of pleasure to meet such a representative gathering of the old and +distinguished "Clan Fraser" as we have here to-night. It arouses one's +enthusiasm to think of the leading position our forefathers took in the +history of Scotland, and the many deeds of valor performed on the battle +field; and although they were pre-eminently noted as warriors, still we +have many instances in which they shone in the realms of science. In +replying to the toast of "The Frasers in Science," allow me to give you +a few brief biographical sketches of a few of our ancestors. + +Sir Alexander Fraser, of Philorth, was born in 1537, and died in 1623. +He succeeded his grandfather to the estates in 1569, and at once began +to improve the estate and advance the welfare of his clansmen. At this +time Philorth was the baronial burgh, and boasted of a commodious +harbor; but after the improvements referred to he changed the name to +Fraserburgh. Having conceived the idea of founding a university, in +spite of the strenuous opposition of the town of Aberdeen, he obtained +powers to build a university at Fraserburgh, with all the privileges of +the older universities. The remains of this building still existed in +1888. On account of his interest in education and high scholastic +attainments he was knighted in 1594. His motto was "The glory of the +honorable is to fear God." + +John Fraser, F. L. S., was born in 1750, and died in 1811. He was a +noted botanist, and visited North America five times in search of new +and unknown specimens. He collected a great many plants in Newfoundland +and later on at Charleston, Virginia. In 1796 he visited St. Petersburg, +where he was introduced to the notice of the Empress Catherine, who +purchased his entire collection of plants. In 1798 he was appointed +botanical collector to the Czar Paul, and by him sent to America for a +fresh collection. As a tribute to his ability he was elected a Fellow of +Linnean Society (F.L.S.) + +Sir Alexander Fraser, M. D., belonged to the Durris branch of the +family. He was educated at Aberdeen University, and having risen by his +skill high in the ranks of physicians and surgeons he was appointed +physician to Charles II., whom he accompanied in his travels through +Scotland. Spotswood, in his history of Scotland, speaks highly of his +learning and skill. He died in 1681. + +Robt. Fraser, F. R. S., son of Rev. Geo. Fraser, was born in 1760, and +educated in Glasgow University, where he obtained the degree of M. A., +when he was but 15 years of age. He studied for the Church of Scotland, +and was appointed in an official capacity to the Prince of Wales, +afterward George IV. In 1791 the Earl of Breadalbane asked him to +accompany him on a tour through the Western Isles and the Highlands of +Scotland, undertaken with the view of improving the state of the people. +The Prince of Wales gave him leave, and at the same time stated his +faith in his ability to plan some means by which the people would be +benefited, and wished him success. He succeeded so well that he was +chosen to conduct a statistical survey of Ireland, and was the means of +originating several important works, among others the harbor of +Kingstown, sometimes called Queenstown. He published several works on +agriculture, mines, mineralogy, fish, etc. He died in 1831. + +Simon Fraser was an explorer of some note, and was sent by the Hudson's +Bay Company to establish new trading posts, and prospect for minerals, +etc. He wrote many papers from 1806 to 1808. The Fraser river was named +after him.[4] + +[Footnote 4: See sketch of his life later on.] + +Lewis Fraser was a zoologist of some note, and was appointed as curator +of the Zoological Society of London. He travelled through South America, +studying the character and habits of different animals and birds, and as +the result of his travels published a work called "Zoologia Typica," or +figures of rare and new animals. In 1888 his son was curator of the +Zoological and General Sections of the Indian Museum of Calcutta. + +William Fraser, LL. D., was born in 1817 in Banffshire, and was ordained +pastor of the Free Middle congregation of Paisley in 1849. In 1872 the +University of Glasgow conferred on him the degree of LL. D., on account +of his scientific attainments. In 1873, in recognition of his long +services as President of the Philosophical Society, he was presented +with a microscope and purse of sovereigns. He died in 1879. + +[Illustration: MR. WILLIAM A. FRASER, SECRETARY-TREASURER.] + +Alexander Campbell Fraser, D. C. L., LL. D., was born in 1819. His +father was a minister and his mother a sister of Sir Duncan Campbell. He +was educated in the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in 1842 +won a prize for his essay on "Toleration." In 1859 he was Dean of the +Faculty in Arts, University of Edinburgh, and in 1871 was appointed +Examiner in Moral Science; the same year he received the degree of LL. +D. from the University of Glasgow. Later he was appointed Examiner in +Moral Science and Logic at the India Civil Service Examinations. He was +elected a member of the Athenian Club--without a ballot--for eminence +in literature and philosophy. He afterward received the Degree of D. C. +L., Oxford University. + +Professor Thos. Richard Fraser, M. D., F. R. S., was born in Calcutta, +India, in 1841, and graduated in medicine in Edinburgh in 1862. In 1863 +he acted as Assistant Professor of Materia Medica, and in 1869 was +appointed as Assistant Physician in the Royal Infirmary. He was +afterward appointed Examiner in Materia Medica in London University, and +was elected Medical Health Officer for Mid-Cheshire; he was also +appointed Examiner in Public Health by London University. He was Dean of +the Faculty in 1880. He is a F. R. S., F. R. C. P., Edinburgh; member of +the Pharmaceutical Society, Britain; corresponding member of the +Therapeutical Society of Paris, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences +of Philadelphia. When the International Medical Congress met in London +in 1881 he was appointed president of one section, and again president +of one section in 1885. His work has been chiefly in the direction of +determining the physiological effects of medicinal substances, with the +view of establishing an accurate and rational basis for the treatment of +disease. + +I have now mentioned some of the names recorded in history of Frasers +that were distinguished in Science, and as I have occupied more than my +share of time, I will take my seat, conscious that I have been able to +mention but a few of the many clansmen distinguished for their +scientific attainments. As I said at the outset I have enjoyed a great +deal of pleasure in this gathering of clansmen. In looking over the +record of a few of our brethren distinguished in science, so as to glean +a few facts for this occasion, I recognized more than ever before the +substantial services rendered to mankind by men bearing our name, and +now that we have foregathered a small company, it may be, but a select +one, I feel that you share with me the pride with which we regard our +Clan and name. + + * * * * * + +PROFESSOR W. H. FRASER, in replying to the sentiment, "Distinguished +Clansmen in Literature," said: Gentlemen,--I thank you heartily for the +way in which you have received this toast, and for the honor you confer +on me in asking me to answer for our distinguished literary clansmen +living and dead. + +Literature is the mirror of life. Life is action: literature is +contemplation and words. My knowledge of the history of the Clan leads +me to the conclusion that most of its distinguished members were men of +deeds rather than words, and that they lived at times and under +circumstances when deeds rather than words had value--men like Sir +Alexander, who fought by Robert Bruce's side at Bannockburn, or that +other Sir Alexander Mackenzie Fraser of the last century, described by +contemporaries as "mild as a lamb and strong as a lion," who had said to +him in public by his General, "Colonel Fraser, you and your regiment +have this day saved the British army," or the Fraser who fought with +Wolfe before Quebec, and a host of others. These men did not write +literature, but perhaps they were better employed. I think they were, +but at any rate they are the men who furnish the basis for +literature--heroism, fidelity and devotion. + +The Clan has, however, not been wanting in scholars and writers, nor in +those who patronized and furthered learning. What think you of a +Fraser--Sir Alexander of Philorth--who in the 16th century built a grand +University? It is getting to be the fashion now for rich men to build +and endow seats of learning, but a man with such foresight and +generosity in those early times in Scotland is surely deserving of all +praise. + +Although not a few of the early Frasers won fame by the sword, some +wielded to good purpose that mightier weapon, the pen. Such was James +Fraser of Brea, in Ross-shire, who wrote copiously on theology, and who +went to prison, by orders of Archbishop Sharp, as a preacher at +conventicles. Another divine and scholar was James Fraser, of +Pitcalzian, in Ross-shire, a son of the manse; a famous controversialist +he was, and wrote a book against the Arminianism of Grotius that has +kept its ground in Scotland till the present day, although he died as +long ago as 1769. + +These are some of our older literary celebrities. Time will not permit +me to mention all those who belong to the present century, or whose +lives extended into it. There was Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat, +38th McShimi, who died in 1815. As a school-boy he saw the fight at +Culloden, and was afterwards Foreign Consul in Barbary, and was author +of the "Annals of the patriots of the family of Fraser, Frizell, Simson +or Fitzsimson." It must in truth have been a mighty book if it recorded +them all. A curious piece of literature from his pen was the very long +and very laudatory epitaph for his own tomb erected by himself. + +Robert Fraser, of Pathhead, Fifeshire, lived up till 1839. He was an +ironmonger, but of such remarkable literary and linguistic tastes that +in leisure moments he acquired Latin, Greek, French, German, Italian +and Spanish. His poetry, which I regret is not accessible to me, was, it +is said, characterized by fine feeling and nicety of touch. Truly a +remarkable man. His ruling passion was strong in death, for he passed +out of life dictating some translations of Norwegian and Danish poems. + +There are other ways of making literature besides writing it yourself. +James Fraser, an Inverness man, was one of those who have made +literature by proxy. Who does not know Fraser's Magazine? that pioneer +publication in this field of literature, dating from 1830, with its +famous contributors like Thackeray, Carlyle, J. A. Froude and Father +Prout. This Fraser was also a famous publisher, a man of taste and +judgment, and did more to advance literature than almost any man of his +time, notwithstanding Carlyle's reference to him as "that infatuated +Fraser with his dog's-meat tart of a magazine." + +Contemporary with Fraser of the magazine was James Baillie Fraser, also +an Inverness man and a famous traveller who explored the Himalaya +Mountains, and who was the first European to reach the sources of the +Jumna and Ganges. He came home, and wrote an account of his travels. A +little later he donned Persian costume, explored the larger part of +Persia, and wrote a two-volume account of his journey. Turning to +romance, he wrote "Kuggilbas," a tale of Khorasain; and this was the +first of a long list of Eastern tales, histories and travels, the mere +enumeration of which would take us on pretty far towards to-morrow +morning. + +A beautiful and sympathetic literary figure is that of Lydia Falconer +Fraser, the wife of Hugh Miller. Here are some lines from a poem of +hers on the death of their first-born child: + + "Thou'rt awa, awa, from thy mother's side, + And awa, awa, from thy father's knee; + Thou'rt awa from our blessing, our care, our caressing, + But awa from our hearts thou'lt never be. + + * * * * * + + Thou'rt awa, awa, from the bursting spring time, + Tho' o'er thy head its green boughs wave; + The lambs are leaving their little foot-prints + On the turf of thy new-made grave." + +What gentleness and sweetness in these lines! One of her prose works, +"Cats and Dogs," still holds its own as one of the minor classics of +natural history. + +Rev. Robert William Fraser, a Perthshire man, succeeded Rev. Dr. Guthrie +in St. John's Church, Edinburgh, in 1847, and was a learned and eloquent +divine and a diligent pastor. He found time to write all but one of a +dozen of important works on divinity, history, physical and natural +science. He was a solid man. + +I must not omit William Fraser, the educational reformer who helped +David Stow to carry out his training system for teachers in Scotland, +and who later investigated Scottish education, and wrote an important +book on the subject of which the results were afterwards embodied in +legislation. He died in 1879. + +Along with him may well be mentioned the late James Fraser, Bishop of +Manchester, a very famous man from Forfarshire, one of the Frasers of +Durris, of whom it has been said that there has not been in this +generation a more simple or noble soul. He interests us especially for +his work in education, and forms a connecting link between our school +system and English educational reform, for he visited Canada and the +United States in 1865, and drew up a report which his biographer, +Thomas Hughes, calls "a superb, an almost unique piece of work." It was +the basis of the Foster Act of 1870, by which enormous changes were +introduced in the direction of the American system. + +Worthy of being put by his side was Rev. Donald Fraser, D.D., who died +two years ago, of whom we should hear more under the head of theology. +He received part of his education in old Knox College, Toronto, and was +pastor of the Cote Street Church, Montreal, from which he was called to +Inverness, thence to London, England. + +In my mass of material, I had almost forgotten Patrick Lord Fraser, who +died only five years ago. He was a very great man of the law, one of +Scotland's greatest, and wrote extensively on legal subjects. + +The Frasers, however, were not all heavy writers. Many of us remember +John Fraser, who met his death by accident in Ottawa in 1872. He was +best known as "Cousin Sandy." He had been a chartist before coming to +Canada. He was a tailor by trade, and laid aside the needle for that +other sharp pointed instrument, the pen. Most of his work was +controversial and sarcastic. Here is a sample of his rollicking verse, +reminding one strongly of the Ingoldsby legends: + + "William Blyth was a scape-grace--as many boys are-- + Who with prudence and forethought was always at war; + His genius was active; I've heard, or have read, + That his grandma was nervous; his father was dead; + And his mother, released from connubial vows, + Brought home to her dwelling a second hand spouse, + Who gave her a heart, somewhat hard and obtuse, + In exchange for her furniture ready for use. + Now William like others, without leave would roam, + And be absent when lather the second came home; + So he of the step, which step-father should be, + Said 'To save the lad's _morals_ we'll send him to sea.'" + +The boy was confined in a water-cask for bad conduct. + + "And the wave cleared the deck of the vessel, and she + Like one half 'seas over' rolled about in the sea. + Then a shriek was heard, and the boatswain roar'd + 'There's Bill and the tub gone overboard!'" + +He floated to shore after an interview with a shark, a cow switched her +tail against the tub, and Bill caught it while the cow fled, and wrecked +the tub, but saved Bill's life, although he remained unconscious. + + "But was roused from his swoon by a beautiful Yankee + Who brought dough-nuts and tea, it was genuine Twankay. + An angel of light in the garb of humanity, + And that garb of the Saxony's best superfine, + What her countrymen term the 'real genuine.' + Bill was charmed and concluded, with some show of reason, + That to her annexation could never be treason." + +And he was annexed in due time. + +We have some poets still living, Gordon Fraser, John W. Fraser, and +others; on them I must touch lightly. Gordon is a writer on "Lowland +Lore," and writes good ballads of his own, like the one beginning: + + "'Twas an eerie nicht, an' the storm-cluds lower'd, + An the lichtnin's glent was keen, + An' the thunner roll'd, but nane were cower'd + I' the clachan till-hous bien." + +It is a fearsome ghost story well told. + +John W. is a very charming writer. His ballad of the courtship of "Bell" +is first-rate, and it begins: + + "Sin' Bell cam' to bide in our toun, + The warl' has a' gaen ajee; + She has turned a' the heads o' the men, + And the women wi' envy will dea. + O, but Bell's bonnie! + Dink as a daisy is she; + Her e'en are as bricht as the starnies + That shine in the lift sae hie." + +Such are some of our literary men, and they are very creditable +specimens. I know that I have left out more than I have given. I have +not said a word about all the Frasers in Gaelic literature, whose name +must be legion, because I cannot follow them in that language. + +Our Clan has a good proportion of the literary in it, and I believe we +are all literary critics. I never knew a Fraser yet who had not +excellent literary taste and judgment. The reasons why more literature +has not been produced is very clear to my mind, and depends on a +prominent characteristic of the Clan--great modesty. This must be thrown +aside if you are going to rush into literature. Many a Fraser has had it +in him to produce the highest sort of literature, who from this cause +has never written a line for the public. When the Clan succeeds in +throwing off this defect, we may expect the production of literary works +on a par with the best that has been written. + + * * * * * + +The reply to the toast of "Frasers in Theology" was entrusted to the +REV. MUNGO FRASER, D.D., of Hamilton, who had to leave by train for home +before this toast was reached. His reply summarised is as follows: +"There are many clansmen who stand high in theology, if we be allowed to +understand by that term the wider and more comprehensive sphere of work +in the Church of Christ. In the memory of those who admire subjective +writings of an extremely searching character, the name of the Rev. James +Fraser, of Brea, will occupy an undying place. To those who give the +highest rank among ministers to pulpit ability, the Frasers of Kirkhill, +for three generations, will afford examples of eloquence and those gifts +of oratorical power that appeal so irresistibly to the popular ear. By +those who regard the administrative functions of the pastor as of +importance, the name of Bishop Fraser, of Manchester, is justly +esteemed, and in a less prominent, but not less important degree, the +name of Dr. William Fraser, for a long period the senior clerk of the +Presbyterian Church in Canada; and theological literature finds a writer +of ability and copiousness in Dr. Donald Fraser, at one time of Montreal +and afterwards of London, England. The Clan contributed a great many +names to the roll of distinguished clergymen, men who, in their +different spheres, rendered noble service to the cause of Christ. And +among them are men, some of whose names have been mentioned by the +Vice-chairman, of ability, of high character, whose personal influence +over the people was strongly felt. In Canada the name of Fraser has an +honored place among the ministers of the churches. They are doing their +duty nobly and well, and if the names of some of them be not widely +known outside of their own country, it must not be forgotten that a +clergyman's best fame and best reward is his good name among those for +whom he directly labors, and for whose welfare he gives his best +endeavors. Did time permit, it would be comparatively easy to speak at +length of those who have held their own in the theological sphere, but +sufficient has probably been said to indicate that the Clan has done its +duty in one of the most interesting and important fields of human effort +open for the welfare of man. + + * * * * * + +The part of the toast dealing with "the Frasers in War," was replied to +by MR. ALEXANDER FRASER (of Fraserfield, Glengarry). He said: After what +we have heard of the Clan this evening we must come to the conclusion +that it has always been distinguished for its military spirit, and I +regret on that account, all the more, that the duty has fallen upon me +to reply to the "Frasers in War." Not that I do not appreciate to the +fullest extent that spirit which distinguished them and probably in no +small degree share it, but I am not a man of words, and I feel I shall +not be able, even in a small way, to do justice to this theme. +Undoubtedly the military character of the Clan goes back to its very +origin, for if the Frasers did come from Normandy, they must have been +selected on account of their military ability, for those were the days +when length and strength of arm and good generalship were the most +valuable qualifications a man could possess. But, coming down to the +earlier times in Scotland, we find our clansmen heading the warlike and +chivalrous nobles of that country, in their devotion to the Crown, and +in their exploits in the field in defence of country and patrimony. I +need not enter into a detailed description of the times when the Lowland +Frasers served their country and their king with an unswerving devotion +whose lustre time will not dim, nor the researches of modern historians +tarnish. Down through history in the Highlands they have ever shown +themselves to be a brave and warlike race, furnishing individuals of +conspicuous ability and distinction in arms. No treatment of this toast +would be complete that should omit a reference to Fraser's Highlanders +that embarked under the command of the Chief of the Clan in 1757, and +took part with Wolfe's army in all the engagements, from Louisburg to +the close of the war. At Quebec the Frasers distinguished themselves in +an especial manner. In the struggles which took place early in the +century, between the Canadians and Americans, the Frasers did their +duty, proving that down to our own times they maintained their old +reputation. In the British army, from the formation of the Highland +regiments, in 1739, to the present day, the Clan has given many +distinguished officers and many brave men to its country's service, and +I know I can speak with truth when I say that the old spirit still +prevails, whether you look at home or abroad. So true is this that I may +conclude these remarks in the stereotyped words of the after-dinner +speaker by saying that should the occasion ever demand it, the Frasers +will be ever ready to draw their claymores and shed their blood in the +country's service as of yore. + +MR. W. P. FRASER spoke for "The Frasers in Politics." He said: Mr. +Chairman, Vice-chairman and Brother Clansmen, it would seem that the +toast of distinguished clansmen is quite an inexhaustible one. Much has +been said of our clansmen in the various ranks of life, but I believe no +more than is deserved. As a matter of course the Frasers have ranked +high in politics. We have not had a Prime Minister of the name in the +Dominion of Canada, but we have given to the Legislatures of Ontario, +Quebec, and the Lower Provinces, many of their most useful members, +their most eloquent speakers, and their most responsible statesmen. We +have borne our share of public duty in this country, both in the rank +and file of political workers, and as leaders. I do not need to go far +afield to find some of the more striking examples. There is one name so +long and honorably associated with the fortunes of this Province that it +merits premier recognition. I refer to that of the Hon. Christopher +Finlay Fraser, who would have responded to this toast himself to-night, +were it not that he has been suffering from severe illness for some +time, and has not sufficiently recovered to take his place among us. +Reference has been made to his letter of regret, and I feel sure that +every word in it is true--that it is the outcome of his sincere +feeling; for Mr. Fraser is as much a clansman as he is a politician, and +has ever manifested the same deep interest in matters connected with his +Clan, as he has displayed in the public duties which he is called upon +to perform. The position which he occupies, the services which he has +rendered, his wide sphere of influence, his sterling honesty and +unblemished record--these lie as an open book before you. For me to +expatiate upon them would be quite superfluous. His name will go down in +the annals of our statesmen as one of the most competent Ministers of +the Crown who ever held office in this Province, as one of subtle +intellect who served his country and his party in great crises, as one +who gave his talents generously and disinterestedly to the welfare of +his fellow-beings, and in a peculiar manner helped to lay the +foundations of a great nationality in this country. Another of our +clansmen, whose telegram of regret shows that he has been intercepted on +the way from the far east to our gathering, has made the name famous in +the politics of Canada, and is likely to attain to still greater +eminence in the future. At his home in Nova Scotia he has long been +known as a man of probity, ability, and capacity for public duty. It is +not so long ago that he was first heard of in these western parts, but +already he has sprung into notice, and his services are in request at +many public gatherings. I am sure we all regret the absence of Mr. D. C. +Fraser, M.P. for Guysboro', to-night. He is not only a politician but a +patron of learning and celtic literature. To his generous heart and open +hand many a struggling Highlander owes much, and through his +encouragement not a few scholarly productions have seen the light of +day. Were I to venture beyond Canada I should find Frasers playing a +prominent part in the field of politics in South Africa, in the +Australias, in the East Indies, and even in South America. It was only +the other day we heard of a clansman born in Nova Scotia, but of good +Inverness stock, who had been appointed delegate to the Inter-colonial +Conference to be held in Ottawa this summer. I refer to the Hon. Simon +Fraser, of Victoria. I have no doubt his clansmen here will be glad to +welcome him, and to wish the utmost success to his mission. I must +refrain at this hour from any reference to what Frasers have done in +political life in the old land. The chiefs of the Clan numbered among +them many men of eminence in politics. Of these we have heard something +already to-night, and when the call of public duty comes, I feel sure a +Fraser will be ready to step forward to perform his part in a worthy +manner. + + + + + ORGANIZATION. + + +A resolution was carried in favor of the formation of an organization of +clansmen in Canada, having for its main objects the promotion of social +intercourse among the members, the collection of facts from which to +prepare a biographical album of the members and other clansmen, and the +promotion of objects which may be of interest to the Clan; and that +those present form a general committee to act in the matter, the +Committee of this gathering to act as an Executive Committee, for the +purpose of drafting a constitution for the Clan to be submitted to the +next gathering of the Clan. + + The Clan song, composed by request, for this gathering, by Mrs. + Georgina Fraser Newhall, and set to music composed by Mr. J. Lewis + Browne, will be found, with a biographical sketch and portrait of + the authoress, on pages 93 to 97. + + + + + GEORGINA FRASER NEWHALL. + + AUTHORESS OF "FRASER'S DRINKING SONG." + + +[Illustration: MRS. GEORGINA FRASER NEWHALL] + +"The Frasers of Stratherrick, where are they?" To this pensive question +by Charles Fraser Mackintosh comes an oft echoed and lusty answer from +many distant lands. Indeed the question is, "Where are they not?" for it +is safe to say that there is no country where the English language +to-day prevails, in which Stratherrick may not claim a son. Their new +homes have not the historical charm of the old, but wherever the Frasers +have gone, away from the home of their fathers, they have acquitted +themselves well. A scion of a Stratherrick house was James George +Fraser, who many years ago settled at Galt, Ontario. Like his brother +Capt. Charles Fraser, now residing in Glasgow, Scotland, he was attached +to a Highland regiment in his younger days, but withdrawing from the +service, he came to Canada with his young wife, Christina MacLeod. At +Galt was born a family of three sons, William, Charles and Andrew, and +four daughters, Christina, Jessie, Elizabeth and Georgina, the youngest +of whom is the subject of this brief sketch. On the maternal side her +descent is traced from the families of Lochend and Braemore. Her +great-grand parents were George Mackenzie, second son of John Mackenzie +I. of Lochend (of the Gairloch family), and Christina, daughter of +Captain Hector Munro of Braemore. George Mackenzie was a distinguished +officer, and attained to the rank of Lieut.-Colonel of the famous +Rosshire Buffs, the 78th Highlanders. His daughter Christina married +Angus MacLeod of Banff with issue, two sons, Donald and George, and +several daughters, of whom Christina, as already stated, married James +G. Fraser of Galt, Ontario. + +Georgina Fraser was born about the beginning of the sixties, and was +educated in the public and high schools of her native town. After the +death of her parents she removed to Toronto, and taking up the study of +shorthand entered upon the life of an amanuensis and teacher of +stenography. She taught large classes in the towns surrounding Toronto, +and in Victoria University, when that institution was located at +Cobourg. She was the first woman in Canada to adopt this profession as a +means of self-support, and to her belongs the honor of adding a new +vocation to those upon which Canadian women may enter. In addition to +these duties Miss Fraser undertook journalistic work, and was the first +lady writer in Toronto to conduct the department devoted to woman's +interests, now so important a weekly feature in the great dailies in +Canada. + +In 1884, while occupying the important position of Assistant Secretary +to General Manager Oakes of the Northern Pacific Railway at St. Paul, +Minn., she became the wife of Mr. E. P. Newhall, of the Pacific Express +Co. in Omaha. + +Notwithstanding household cares and ill-health Mrs. Newhall still finds +time to indulge in her old taste for literature, wielding an earnest pen +in advocacy of those reforms which most interest women of advanced +thought. She has achieved considerable fame as a writer of short +stories, and her compositions of verse bear the mark of the true poet's +touch. + +As a clanswoman Mrs. Newhall is fond of claiming the right to call +herself a "black" Fraser, nature having endowed her with that darkness +of hair and eyebrow which is supposed to stamp all the possessors +thereof as "true Frasers." + + + + + FRASER'S DRINKING SONG. + + (The Fraser Motto is "JE SUIS PREST"--"I AM READY.") + +Words by GEORGINA FRASER NEWHALL. Music by J. LEWIS BROWNE. + + +[Illustration of musical score of Fraser's Drinking Song] + + + FRASER'S DRINKING SONG. + + 1 + +All ready? + Let us drink to the woman who rules us to-night-- + To her lands; to her laws; 'neath her flag we will smite + Ev'ry foe, + Hip and thigh, + Eye for eye, + Blow for blow-- + Are you ready? + + 2 + +All ready? + Then here's to the mothers who bore us, my men; + To the shieling that sleeps in the breast of the glen + Where the stag + Drinks it fill + From the rill + By the crag-- + Are you ready? + + 3 + +All ready? + Fill your glass to the maid you adore, my boys; + Wish her health, wish her wealth, long life, and all joys; + Full measure + (May it swim + To the brim) + Of pleasure-- + Are you ready? + + 4 + +All ready? + And here's to the country we live in, my lads; + It is here we have struggled and thriven, my lads? + God bless it, + May Beauty + And Duty + Possess it-- + Are you ready? + + 5 + +All ready? + A Fraser! A Fraser forever, my friends; + While he lives how he hates, how he loves till life ends; + He is first, + Here's my hand, + Into grand + Hurrah burst-- + Are you ready? + + + + + SIMON FRASER. + + DISCOVERER OF THE FRASER RIVER. + + +The life-work of the discoverer of the Fraser River illustrates the +pioneer spirit which animated the early settlers of Canada. There was +the pluck, the love of adventure, the endurance, the prompt response to +the call of duty, the expansive idea which kept abreast of ever opening +possibilities, and the rare tact displayed in new, embarrassing and +important transactions. Simon Fraser was in many respects a great man +and one of whom his clansmen may well feel proud. His grandfather was +William Fraser, of Culbokie, whose wife Margaret Macdonell, of +Glengarry, was the possessor of the famous _Balg Solair_ in which was +stowed away a manuscript of Ossianic poetry, which figures in the +dissertations on the authenticity of MacPherson's Ossian, and regarding +which the following interesting passage occurs in the correspondence of +the late Bishop Alexander Macdonell: "I myself saw a large MS. of +Ossian's poems in the possession of Mrs. Fraser of Culbokie, in +Strathglass, which she called "_am Balg Solair_" (a bag of fortuitous +goods). This lady's residence being between my father's house and the +school where I used to attend with her grandchildren, at her son's, +Culbokie House, by way of coaxing me to remain on cold nights at her own +house, she being cousin to my father, she used to take up the _Balg +Solair_, and read pieces of it to me. Although a very young boy at the +time, I became so much enraptured with the rehearsal of the achievements +of the heroes of the poem, and so familiar with the characters, +especially of Oscar, Cathmor, and Cuthchullin, that when MacPherson's +translation was put into my hands in the Scotch college of Valladolid in +Spain, many years afterwards, it was like meeting old friends with whom +I had been intimately acquainted. Mrs. Fraser's son, Simon, who had a +classical education, and was an excellent Gaelic scholar, on emigrating +to America in the year 1774, took the _Balg Solair_ with him as an +invaluable treasure. On the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, Mr. +Fraser joined the Royal Standard, was taken prisoner by the Americans +and thrown into jail, where he died." + +William, of Culbokie, and his wife Margaret Macdonell had nine sons. Of +these, Archibald and John fought under Wolfe at Quebec. John settled at +Montreal, and became Chief Justice of the Montreal district. In 1774, or +more probably in 1773, Simon left home, and settled near Bennington, +Vermont. Here his son, the subject of this sketch, was born in 1776. His +mother and her family came to Canada after the death of his father (as +stated above), and settled in Glengarry. Simon was the youngest of the +family. He was placed in school in Montreal, where he resided with his +uncle, the Chief Justice. In 1792, at the age of sixteen, he became an +articled clerk with McTavish, Frobisher & Co., to the North-West Fur +Trading Co., which had its headquarters in Montreal. In 1802 he became a +partner, and subsequently went out to the far North. In 1805 he came +down from Fort Athabasca to Fort William, and was then nominated to +cross the Rocky Mountains, to extend out-posts and form trading +connections with the Indians. He responded at once to the call. He said +he would undertake the expedition provided they gave him a sufficient +outfit. This the Company were only too glad to do. It was a very +hazardous undertaking. He crossed the mountains with thirty men--clerks, +axemen, guides and interpreters. He soon found himself in a wild and +desolate region. As he went on he built block-houses, and took +possession of the country in the name of the King. In 1806 he discovered +the river which takes its name from him. He discovered many rivers and +lakes which he named after different members of the Company. He traced +the Fraser river to its source, and met many different tribes of +Indians, some friendly, others hostile. At one time they met different +tribes who were very friendly and made a great feast for them; they +killed their _fattest dog_ for him, which of course he feigned to eat; +but at the same feast the chiefs held a council and decided to put him +to death, which the interpreter, who understood their language, told +him, and they stole quietly away. He first named the river now known as +the Fraser river, the "Great River," and called the place "New +Caledonia." Here he left some of the party, and crossed westerly into +the open country, and built another house near a lake, which he called +Fraser's Lake. He was now with four men in the midst of Indians who had +never before either seen or heard of the "pale face." On the border of +this lake he witnessed an Indian ceremony. He was brought by the Indians +to where they had a large burying-ground, where one of the Chiefs of +their tribe was being buried. An immense number of warriors were +assembled, and after a most solemn and impressive ceremony, Mr. Fraser +was invited by signs to approach the grave. He did so, and gave immense +satisfaction by engraving his name on a post which had been planted over +the remains of the departed warrior. In July, 1807, he received fresh +supplies from the North-West Co., who at the same time urged him to +trace with all possible speed the "Great River" to the Sea, they being +apprehensive that the Americans would get ahead of the British in that +quarter, as in the previous year 1806, Captains Lewis and Clarke had +gone down the "Columbia," and were extending American authority along +the western coast of America, and Astor, on the part of the Americans, +was also looking anxiously towards the northern section. + +The North-West Co. therefore urged Mr. Fraser to spare no expense in +achieving the object of their desires. + +Mr. Fraser built another trading-house on the "Great River" in 1807, and +reached the Ocean in July, 1808. He remained but a short time there on +account of the hostility of the Indians. + +Returning he again met numerous and large bodies of Indians speaking +several different languages. They assembled to see the wonderful pale +faces who had come among them. An idea of how they regarded white men +may be formed from the fact that when hundreds of them were congregated +together, at the discharge of a single rifle they would fall prostrate +on the ground, so great was their astonishment. Had it not been for Mr. +Fraser's wonderful energy and enterprise, there would not be a railroad +to-day from ocean to ocean over British territory. + + + + + SIMON, LORD LOVAT. + + BEHEADED ON TOWER HILL. + +[Illustration: The Right Honourable Simon Lord Frasier of Lovat, Chief +of the Clan of the Frasers &c.] + +No Fraser chief has achieved more notoriety than Simon, the fourteenth +Lord Lovat. His enemies avenged themselves for the failure of their +nefarious plots against him by supplying, at a cheap rate, the charcoal +with which prejudiced historians have blackened his memory. But while +his fate is still held up as a warning to evil doers, it has been +proved, beyond peradventure, that his character has been much maligned, +and that he appears rather as a man of inexhaustible resources, availing +himself of whatever means lay nearest to his hand to extricate himself +from enormous difficulties and to attain objects which, though of +personal advantage to himself and Clan, were as honorable as they were +just, and wholly in keeping with the customs of his day. His efforts to +secure the chiefship and the honors of his house, and to extend the +power of the Clan, were genuinely patriotic. His Lordship certainly was +a man of learning and ability. He was an admirable letter writer, and +passages in his correspondence show that he had wonderful facility in +writing and a capital style. + +The picture here given is from a mezzo-tint in possession of Mr. B. +Homer Dixon, from a painting of Lord Lovat, by David Le Clerc, a Swiss +who was in England in 1715 and 1716. The picture which is supposed to +have been taken in 1715, when Lord Lovat was about forty-eight years +old, is marked: "Le Clare, _pinxt_. J. Simon, _fecit_." Although armour +had been disused before Lord Lovat's time, it was the fashion at that +period for gentlemen to be painted in armour. The mezzo-tint is very +rare. + + + + + BRIGADIER SIMON FRASER. + + +[Illustration: BRIGADIER-GENERAL FRASER, YOUNGER OF BALNAIN.] + +Among the officers of Fraser's Highlanders were several clansmen +destined to rise high in military distinction. Of them few are better +known in the Clan than Captain Simon Fraser of Balnain, afterwards +Quarter-Master General in Ireland, a post which he quitted to serve as +Brigadier-General in Burgoyne's Army in America. He had served in the +Scotch regiment in the Dutch service, and was wounded at Bergen-op-Zoom. +He spoke French perfectly and to this accomplishment and his coolness +was due his signal service at Quebec, where he saved the transports from +discovery at a critical moment before the precipice was scaled. + +Smollet relates the incident as follows:--"The French had posted +sentries along shore to challenge boats and vessels and give the alarm +occasionally. The first boat that contained the English troops being +questioned accordingly, a captain of Fraser's regiment, who had served +in Holland, and who was perfectly well acquainted with the French +language and customs, answered without hesitation to _qui vive_?--which +is their challenging word--_La France_; nor was he at a loss to answer +the second question, which was much more particular and difficult. When +the sentinel demanded, _a quel regiment_? the captain replied, _de la +reine_, which he knew by accident to be one of those that composed the +body commanded by Bougainville. The soldier took it for granted this was +the expected convoy (a convoy of provisions expected that night for the +garrison of Quebec), and, saying _passe_, allowed all the boats to +proceed without further question. In the same manner the other sentries +were deceived; though one, more wary than the rest, came running down +to the water's edge and called, _pour quoi est ce que vous ne parlez +pas haut?_ 'Why don't you speak with an audible voice?' To this +interrogation, which implied doubt, the captain answered with admirable +presence of mind, in a soft tone of voice, _tai toi nous serens +entendues!_ 'Hush! we shall be overheard and discovered.' Thus cautioned +the sentry retired without further altercation." + +At the time of the Revolutionary War, Brigadier-General Simon Fraser was +second in command of the British army, under Burgoyne. He fell at +Saratoga under circumstances which prove his great ability as an +officer. The American historians say that General Burgoyne had lost his +head, and the American General Morgan perceiving it, called two of his +best riflemen and said: "You see that fine fellow on the white horse? It +goes against my heart to do it, but you must pick him off, or we lose +the battle." They watched their opportunity, shot General Fraser, and +the Americans won the day. + +The picture here given is said to be a good likeness. It has been +produced from a mezzo-tint in the possession of Mr. B. Homer Dixon, +Toronto. + + + + + SECOND ANNUAL GATHERING. + + "Three triumphs in a day; three hosts subdued in one: + Three armies scattered like the spray, beneath one common sun." + + +The second Annual Gathering and Dinner of the Clan Fraser in Canada was +held on the 25th day of February, 1895, that date having been selected +in honor of the Scots' victory at Roslin on February 25th, 1303, when +the army was commanded by Sir Simon Fraser, the patriot (p. 48). The +place of meeting was the Rossin House, Toronto. The gentlemen were +accompanied by lady friends, a departure from the custom generally +observed on similar festive occasions, that contributed greatly to the +pleasure of the evening. The committee in charge of the arrangements was +composed of Dr. J. B. Fraser (Chairman of Programme Committee), +Professor W. H. Fraser, Messrs. G. B. Fraser, R. L. Fraser, Alexander +Fraser (Fraserfield), Alexander R. Fraser, W. P. Fraser, Andrew Fraser, +Alexander Fraser (MacFhionnlaidh), Chairman; and W. A. Fraser, +Secretary. Those present were Rev. Dr. Mungo Fraser, Hamilton; Mr. W. +Lewis Fraser, New York; Mr. Donald Fraser, Kingston; Mr. R. I. Fraser, +Barrie; Mr. Andrew Fraser, Barrie; Messrs. Robert Lovat Fraser, George +B. Fraser, and Miss Fraser; Professor W. H. Fraser and Mrs. Fraser; Dr. +J. B. Fraser and Mrs. Fraser; Alexander Fraser (Fraserfield), Mrs. +Fraser and Miss Kate Fraser; Alexander R. Fraser and Mrs. Fraser; +Alexander Fraser (MacFhionnlaidh), Mrs. Fraser, Miss Fraser, Mrs. +Georgina Fraser-Newhall, and Mrs. Ramsay; Mr. W. A. Fraser and Mrs. +Fraser; Dr. Pyne and Mrs. Pyne; Alexander Fraser (Parkdale), and Miss +Fraser; W. P. Fraser, Donald Fraser, Charles Fraser, Mrs. C. G. Fraser +and Master Norman Fraser, James Fraser, Henry Sandham Fraser. + +Letters of regret at their inability to attend were read from Messrs. E. +A. Fraser, Detroit; D. Fraser, Montreal; Ex-Mayor Fraser, Petrolea; O. +K. Fraser, Brockville; A. Fraser, Hamilton; P. M. Fraser, St. Thomas; +Rev. R. D. Fraser, Bowmanville; and Rev. Dr. J. B. Fraser, Annan. + +Mr. Alexander Fraser (MacFhionnlaidh) presided, and the vice-chairs were +occupied by Messrs. George B. Fraser and R. L. Fraser, and Mr. W. A. +Fraser acted as Secretary. + +The after-dinner programme was interesting and varied. Besides the usual +toasts it included the "Fraser's Drinking Song," composed by Mrs. +Georgina Fraser-Newhall, and sung by Mrs. Alexander Fraser; readings by +Prof. W. H. Fraser, bagpipe selections by Pipe-Major MacSwayed, and +Highland dancing by Master Norman Fraser. + +The speeches contained a great deal of information regarding the Clan, +and were very interesting. Most eloquent was the speech delivered by Mr. +W. Lewis Fraser, of New York, who entered into the history of the Clan +at considerable length; and that by Mrs. Georgina Fraser-Newhall, in +response to the toast of her health. + +A group photograph was successfully taken of the company by the aid of a +flash-light, which will remain a memento of a very pleasant gathering. + +Before dispersing the report of the Committee on the Organization of the +Clan was read. It set forth that meetings had been held at which the +Clan had been organized, and the annexed Constitution and By-laws +prepared: + + + + + THE CLAN FRASER IN CANADA. + + (_Instituted May 5th, 1894._) + + CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS. + +[Illustration of the Crest of the Clan] + + + ARTICLE I.--NAME.--The name of this organization shall be: "The + Clan Fraser in Canada." + + ARTICLE II.--OBJECTS.--The objects of the Clan shall be: + + The cultivation of friendly intercourse and social relations among + those bearing the surname "Fraser," and the promotion among its + members of love for the Clan, and increased interest in its history + and traditions: + + The collection of Clan records, traditions and anecdotes; of + documents bearing upon the Clan history; of information relating to + notable clansmen, especially with reference to the early history of + the Clan in Canada; and the compilation of an album of portraits + and biographical sketches of Clansmen in Canada: + + The furtherance of the interests of clansmen, whether in Scotland + or in Canada, and the giving of such assistance to clansmen in need + as may be within the power of the Clan. + + ARTICLE III.--MEMBERSHIP.--Persons bearing the surname "Fraser," by + birth or by marriage, shall be eligible for membership in the Clan. + Honorary membership may be conferred on distinguished clansmen, or + on persons, not clansmen, who have rendered conspicuous service to + the Clan. + + ARTICLE IV.--ARMS, MOTTO AND BADGE.--The arms of the Clan Fraser in + Canada shall be the same as those of the Clan proper, with the + difference of a wreath of Canadian maple leaves intertwined (a + fac-simile of which is impressed on this Constitution); the "Motto" + and "Badge" shall be that of the Clan Fraser--motto, "Je Suis + Prest"; badge, a sprig of yew--_Taxus Baccata_. + + ARTICLE V.--(_a_) EXECUTIVE OFFICERS.--The Executive Officers shall + consist of a Chief, Chieftains (as hereinunder provided for), + Secretary-Treasurer, Historians, Curator, and a Bard. + + (_b_)--TRUSTEES AND COUNCILLORS.--There shall be three Trustees, + six Councillors, a Pipe-Major and Pipers. + + (_c_)--HONORARY CHIEF AND CHIEFTAINS.--The Chief of the Clan + Fraser, "Mac-Shimi," shall be the Honorary Chief, and Honorary + Chieftainship may be bestowed on clansmen who merit very high clan + honor. + + ARTICLE VI.--GATHERINGS.--The Clan shall gather once a year, on a + day to be decided upon by the Executive Committee, for the + transaction of business. That gathering shall be known as the + Annual Business Meeting of the Clan. On the evening of the same day + a Clan Dinner, or other form of Entertainment, shall take place. + + ARTICLE VII.--At the Annual Business Meeting of the Clan the + Executive Officers, Trustees, Councillors and Pipers, Honorary + Chief (when vacant), and Honorary Chieftains (when Honorary + Chieftainship is conferred), shall be elected; and the roll of + members, prepared by the Executive Committee, shall be revised. + + ARTICLE VIII.--The principle upon which Chieftains and Councillors + shall be elected shall be as follows: The Province of Ontario shall + be divided into five Districts, viz.: Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, + Hamilton and London, from each of which and from each of the other + Provinces of Canada, a Chieftain shall be elected. A Chieftain may + be also elected from each of the States of the American Union, as + an interest in the Clan may be manifested. The Ontario Districts + shall comprise the following counties: + + OTTAWA.--Glengarry, Prescott, Stormont, Dundas, Grenville, + Carleton, Russell, Renfrew. + + KINGSTON.--Addington, Lennox, Frontenac, Hastings, Prince Edward, + Leeds, Lanark. + + TORONTO.--Northumberland, Peterborough, Haliburton, Victoria, + Durham, Ontario, Muskoka, Parry Sound, Nipissing, York, Peel, + Toronto. + + HAMILTON.--Wentworth, Lincoln, Welland, Brant, Waterloo, Simcoe, + Dufferin, Grey, Wellington, Halton. + + LONDON.--Middlesex, Elgin, Oxford, Norfolk, Haldimand, Kent, + Lambton, Essex, Bruce, Huron, Perth. + + There shall be at least one Councillor elected to represent each + District in Ontario. + + ARTICLE IX.--The Executive Officers, Trustees and Councillors shall + form a General Committee, which shall prepare the business for the + Annual Meeting. The Executive Officers shall form the Executive + Committee of the General Committee. The General Committee and the + Executive Committee may appoint Sub-Committees with power to + transact business on behalf of the Clan. + + ARTICLE X.--DUTIES OF OFFICERS.--The CHIEF shall preside at all the + meetings of Committees, at the Annual Business Meeting, and at the + Annual Entertainment of the Clan; in his absence the duties of the + Chief shall devolve upon the CHIEFTAINS in order of seniority, and + in the absence of all of them the clansmen present shall elect a + Chairman _pro tem_. The SECRETARY-TREASURER shall keep a correct + minute of the business transacted at the meetings of Committees and + at the Annual Meeting of the Clan; he shall keep a roll of the + membership of the Clan; with the Chief he shall convene the + meetings, and shall conduct the correspondence and general business + of the Clan; he shall submit his accounts to an audit annually or + on the demand of the Executive Committee. The HISTORIANS shall + compile the Clan Album, and shall edit any papers containing + information regarding the Clan or clansmen which may be secured for + the Clan. The CURATOR shall have the custody of all property + belonging to the Clan, including papers and books not in use by the + proper officers, and shall account for the same to the TRUSTEES in + whom the property shall be vested on behalf of the Clan, and who + shall submit a report of their stewardship to the Annual Meeting of + the Clan. + + ARTICLE XI.--The roll of membership shall be compiled by the + Executive Committee, and shall be subject to revision at the Annual + Business Meeting. + + ARTICLE XII.--The officers shall wear insignia of office; and an + officer holding the same office for three terms (not necessarily + consecutively) shall become the possessor of the insignia as his + own property. + + ARTICLE XIII.--The Constitution and By-laws may be altered or + amended at the Annual Business Meeting of the Clan, by a two-thirds + vote of the membership, personally or by mandate; but notice of any + such alteration of amendment in specific terms must be lodged with + the Secretary-Treasurer at least two months before the date of the + Annual Business Meeting so that members may be notified when the + announcement of the Annual Business Meeting shall be made. + + + BY-LAWS. + + 1. The fee of membership shall be one dollar annually for + gentlemen, and the sum of fifty cents for ladies and minors. + + 2. The Annual Meeting of the Clan shall be held on a date to be + decided upon by the Executive Committee; in deciding upon the date, + however, the convenience of the greatest number of the membership + shall be the chief consideration. + + 3. Twelve members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of + business at the Annual Meeting. + + 4. A member may be expelled from the Clan for a transgression of + any of its rules, or any other sufficient cause. Notice of intended + expulsion must be given to the Secretary-Treasurer, who shall lay + it before the Executive Committee for report at the Annual Business + Meeting, and to the member whom it is proposed to expel. Voting + shall be by ballot, and a majority must vote "yea" before a member + can be expelled. The annual revision of the roll of membership + referred to in the Constitution, Article XI., shall in no way be + understood to imply expulsion from membership. + + 5. The following shall be the order of business: 1st. Reading of + minutes of previous meeting; 2nd. Reading of communications and + action thereon; 3rd. Unfinished business of previous meeting; 4th. + New business; 5th. Election of officers; 6th. Adjournment. + + Signed on behalf of the Committee. + + ALEXANDER FRASER, _Chairman_. W. A. FRASER, _Secretary_. + +The above Constitution and By-laws were duly adopted and ordered to be +printed. + + + + + THE OFFICERS. + + +The following Officers were elected for the term 1895-'96: + + _Honorary Chief_, + LORD LOVAT. + + _Honorary Chieftain_, + MR. CHARLES FRASER MACKINTOSH, Inverness + + _Chief_, + MR. ALEX. FRASER (MACFHIONNLAIDH), Toronto. + + _Chieftains_, + District of Ottawa: MR. ALEX. FRASER, Westmeath. + Kingston: MR. DONALD FRASER, Kingston. + Toronto: MR. G. B. FRASER, Toronto. + Hamilton: REV. DR. MUNGO FRASER, Hamilton. + London: EX-MAYOR FRASER, Petrolea. + + Provinces--Maritime Provinces: D. C. FRASER, M. P., New Glasgow, N.S. + Quebec: MR. DONALD FRASER, Montreal. + Northwest Territories: MR. J. G. FRASER, Regina, N.W.T. + British Columbia: MR. W. FRASER, Vancouver, B.C. + + State of Michigan: MR. E. A. FRASER, Detroit, U.S.A. + New York: MR. W. LEWIS FRASER, New York. + + _Councillors_, + Ottawa: MR. A. W. FRASER, Ottawa. + Kingston: MR. O. K. FRASER, Brockville. + Toronto { MR. ALEX. FRASER (Fraserfield), Toronto. + { DR. J. B. FRASER, Toronto. + Hamilton: MR. R. I. FRASER, Barrie. + London: MR. WM. FRASER, of Port Stanley. + + _Secretary-Treasurer_, + MR. W. A. FRASER, Toronto. + + _Chaplain_, + REV. DR. MUNGO FRASER, Hamilton. + + _Historians_, + PROF. W. H. FRASER and MR. ALEX. FRASER, Toronto. + + _Curator_, + MR. ALEXANDER FRASER, Toronto. + + _Trustees_, +MESSRS. R. L. FRASER, Toronto; ABNER FRASER, Hamilton; A. G. FRASER, London. + + _Bard_, + GEORGINA FRASER-NEWHALL, Omaha. + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Notes:- + +Page 7 Page reference for "Constitution and By-laws of the Clan" + corrected from "110" to "109". + +Page 20 "the Emperor Charlemange" changed to "the Emperor Charlemagne" + +Page 30 "the childdren of the chief," changed to "the children of the chief," + +Page 39 "whose sister Margaret was Malcom's Queen," changed to "whose sister + Margaret was Malcolm's Queen," + +Page 41 "the Highlands of Scotlands," changed to "the Highlands of Scotland," + +Page 100 "and built another house near a ake," changed to "and built another + house near a lake," + +Page 109 "motto, "Ju Suis Prest";" changed to "motto, "Je Suis Prest";" + +Inconsistencies in capitalization and spelling retained. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Clan Fraser in Canada, by Alexander Fraser + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CLAN FRASER IN CANADA *** + +***** This file should be named 37340.txt or 37340.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/3/4/37340/ + +Produced by James Wright and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Canada Team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net (This +book was created from images of public domain material +made available by the University of Toronto Libraries +(http://link.library.utoronto.ca/booksonline/).) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |