Notes |
- "... WARDLAW MANUSCRIPT, [17] written by the Rev. James Fraser, 3rd ofPhopachy. Born in 1634, he was the minister of Wardlaw (Kirkhill,Inverness) from 1669 until his death in 1709. The WARDLAW MANUSCRIPT,which covers 7 1/2 centuries of Scottish Frasers in 557 pages, is widelycriticized for its historical inaccuracies, which may reflect the facttht its author could not rely on either personal knowledge or publicrecords in compiling such a comprehensive family history. As the thirdgeneration head of the Frasers of Phopachy, it is reasonable to believethat traditions of his own family line had trickled down to him, and thatpages 115 through 121 of the manuscript that pertain to that line,although somewhat confused, are more or less correct. [18]
According to the manuscript, John Fraser, a son of James Fraser, Laird ofFruid in Tweeddale, "seeing his name and famely decaying in those partsby the rigour and oppression of Twadall," chose to go north in 1486 tobecome Bishop of Ross. [19] In 1492, because of the "cruel andfraudulent useage of William Hay Lord Twadal," at the invitation ofBishop John Fraser, Anna Wallace, widow of either John or James Fraserof Fruid, came north with her seven sons--Paul, Almond, Alexander, John,James, Duncan, and Robert--as well as a daughter Janet, the youngest.The bishop helped establish his kin in various religious and laypositions. [20]
Public records support, and sometimes help us to correct and supplement,the manuscript. Although there appears to be no public record which tiesBishop John Fraser to the Frasers of Fruid, the bishop is clearly anhistorical person, his papal appointment to the see of Ross having beenmade on 14 March 1498, at which time Fraser was the first Dean ofRestalrig, near Edinburgh located about 40 miles from Fruid. [22] Hisearlier positions suggest a lowland origin far from Ross. [23] Asbishop, Fraser granted the rents from a tenement in Linlithgow to thevicars and chaplains of his cathedral on 10 May 1504, a documentwitnessed by Alexander Fraser. [24] Upon the bishop's death, AlexanderFraser, on 1 May 1507, was named one of the bishop's executors grantedthe temporality of the bishopric for one year. [25] On 16 August 1507,Alexander, then identified as a burgess of Linlithgow, received a grantof a portion of Arboll, property of the bishop that had fallen into theKing's hands. [26] These transactions support the existence of a closefamily relationship between Alexander and the bishop, and suggest thatthe claim that the seven sons of Fruid were the bishop's nephews is areasonable one. "
Douglas Hickling
Dhhic@comcast.com
516 Blair Avenue
Piedmont CA 94611
June 2003
Notes
17. W. Mackay, ed., CHRONICLES OF THE FRASERS: THE WARDLAW MANUSCRIPT,916-1674 (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society 1905).
18. Rev. Archibald Macdonald, THE OLD LORDS OF LOVAT AND BEAUFORT(Inverness 1934), p. 20.
19. Mackay, p. 115.
20. Mackay, pp. 116, 120.
21. Mackay, pp. 117, 120
22. John Dowden, THE BISHOPS OF SCOTLAND, ed. J. Maitland Thomson(Glasgow: James Maclehose and sons 1912), pp. 222-224; D. E. R. Watt,FASTI ECCLESIAE SCOTICANAE MEDII AEVI AD ANNUM 1638, 2nd draft(Edinburgh: Scottish Record Society 1969), p. 289; REGISTRUM SECRETISIGILLI REGUM SCOTORUM [hereafter RSS], eds. M. Livingstone and others(Edinburgh 1908-), 1: 1469, 1 May 1507.
23. Adam, p. 109; Dowden, p. 222-22. He was for a time abbot ofMelrose, and one of the cloister tombs bears an inscription referring tothe spouse of Robert Fraser, apparently one of Abbot John Fraser's kin.See James A. Wade, HISTORY OF ST. MARY'S ABBEY, MELROSE, THE MONASTERY OFOLD MELROSE, AND THE TOWN AND PARISH OF MELROSE (Edinburgh: Thomas C.Jack 1861), pp. 235, 335.
24. REGISTRUM MAGNI SIGILLI REGUM SCOTORUM [hereafter RMS], eds. J. H.Burton and others (Edinburgh 1882-1914), 2: 2791.
25. RSS 1: 1469.
26. RMS 2: 3123.
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