#only three MPs have the distinction of being elected unopposed

[scotianostra]

Culloden the aftermath Of all the Jacobites who survived Culloden, perhaps the most famous is Simon Fraser (Master) of Lovat. 

Born in 1726 the son of one of Scotland’s most infamous Jacobite nobles who passed the baton to young Simon to lead his clansmen.

Well did he lead them, another debatable part of history with a few versions, Colonel Simon Fraser, with his contingent of reinforcements, did not arrive in time to join those fighting under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Fraser.  One traditional story is that, as the first of the Jacobites fleeing from Culloden approached Inverness, they were met by a battalion of Frasers led by the Master of Lovat.  He immediately about-turned his men and marched down the road back towards Inverness, with pipes playing and colours. A second story is that he intended to hold the bridge which spans the river Ness until he was persuaded against it.  In a third account, recounted in 'The Last Highlander' by Sarah Fraser, he intended to continue on to the fight at Culloden moor but was scolded at the bridge by another Jacobite by the name of Evan Baillie: 'Fighting, by God, Master! You were not in the way when fighting might have been of service. You had best say nothing of it now'.

Legend claims that, as the Jacobite army disintegrated, a British officer (some say the infamous General Hawley, others the Duke of Cumberland himself) ordered a subordinate, Major James Wolfe, to shoot Fraser. Wolfe refused, and Fraser escaped. His father was not so lucky, if you recall my post from only last week, he became the last man in Britain to suffer execution by public beheading.

A  fugitive after Culloden Fraser surrendered in August 1746, and was imprisoned in Edinburgh castle. After his father’s execution which I covered last week he was released on condition that he lived in Glasgow. Having rejected the James Stuart's , ("The Old Pretender" ) offer of a regiment in the French service, Fraser began to study law at Glasgow University and in 1750 was granted a full pardon and an allowance of £300 p.a. He qualified as an advocate.his most famous case was defending James Stewart in what became known as The Appin Murder, the judgement was guilty, thanks mainly due to a jury made up almost entirely of Campbells, but that's another story, best told with the pen of Robert Louis Stevenson.

The  Government was dismayed when in 1753 they found out Fraser was going to stand for Parliament at Inverness. In the words of a letter concerning this, they feared "his head had been turned" He was summoned to Inverary to explain himself by the Whig politician, Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll and MP for what was then "Butesire" Argyll reported back.....

"I instantly ... attacked him about his standing, he protests to me that ... he always declared it was subject to the opinion and direction of those to whom he owed the favours he has received; he then went on with the history of himself in such a manner as that I must have been void of common humanity not to be affected by it. I said what I could to comfort him but persisted in a positive negative to his standing, so that I take it for granted that affair is over. "

So he was stopped in his tracks on his chosen path as a politician, we couldn't have Jacobites in Parliament now could we!

He was called to the English bar in 1756 and Argyll, who must have been keeping an eye on him,  he was offered the command of one of the two new battalions to be raised in the Highlands. Recruiting in record time, Fraser sailed with his regiment for America in April 1757, served with distinction at Louisbourg, under Wolfe and Murray in Canada where he was twice wounded, and returned home in the spring of 1761.

Fraser was only one of many who "took the king's shilling" fought for the Redcoats after the 45, not only officers, but ordinary soldiers were recruited, you have to remember the act of proscription robbed many of them of a form of dignity, unable to wear the Plaid, carry weapons, the Bagpipes were even banned, children in Schools were made to say a prayer to the Hanoverian King before lessons could start, a new way of life was being forced upon them,  the Act of Proscription provided a way out, for it was a deliberately double-edged sword – whilst it banned the traditional form of the martial culture so central to Highland life, it permitted a new form of it to flourish in the service of the British Army.

Highlanders who took the King’s shilling and donned the red coat could again carry their swords and muskets and wear the plaid and bonnet, recapturing some of the essence of their traditions.

Fraser's friends meanwhile had been canvassing his candidature for Inverness-shire, which Argyll and the ministry again vetoed. After Argyll’s death the electors defied the ministry and unanimously chose Fraser, although truth be told he stood unopposed.   He was re-elected three times, and remained a representative until his death in 1780.

The Lovat estates were restored to him, but not the title, hence there was no 12th Lord Lovat. This was a full decade before other forfeited estates were restored, and was a measure of Fraser's service for the Crown. He nevertheless felt proud of his Scottish identity. In 1778, he was the founding member and first president of the Highland Society of London,  Its overall aim was to 'promote the Interests of the Highlands', with its particular goals being to repeal the ban on Highland dress being worn, the promotion of Gaelic language, music and literature, establishing schools, agricultural improvement, the relief of distressed Highlanders, and 'keeping up the Martial Spirit; and rewarding the gallant achievements of the Highland Corps.

In fiction Fraser appeared in a Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, as I said earlier. The fans of Outlander may recall Simon Fraser in the book, Dragonfly in Amber and the TV series in season two, played by James Parris