Chiefs of Clan Fraser

Two Chiefs dispute

On 1 May 1984, by decree of the Court of the Lord Lyon, the 21st Lady Saltoun was made* "Chief of the name and arms of the whole Clan Fraser"*. The Lord Lyon did not grant the Chiefship of the Clan Fraser, simply a description of "Chief of the name and arms." The Lord Lyon does not have power over the Chiefship of a Highland Clan.Maclean of Ardgour v. Maclean 1941 S.C. 613 from Documents of the Lord Lyon, from Heraldica.org Since this decree, there has been much confusion as to the Chiefship of the Clan Fraser.

When Simon the Pater's descendants first acquired the Lovat lands of the Ard, in the Highlands, they took to the Gaelic customs of the area. This included everything from language, ways of warfare, to clothing and fashion, even giving their children Gaelic names. By the time Simon's son came of age to lead the family, he was deemed to be the 1st Chief of Clan Fraser, the MacShimidh.

Frasers who stayed in the Lowlands, however, maintained Teutonic (Germanic), or Norman culture. They took no part in Clan warfare, spoke Scots, and dressed like Lowlanders. According to Alexander Fraser, 18th Lord Saltoun, his family "continued to have their principal seat in the Lowlands, and those of the surname who remained in that section of Scotland, where Teutonic institutions prevailed, and whence the patriarchal system of Clans and Clanships had long been banished, had nothing to do with the origin or formation of the Highland Clan, and never belonged to it."

According to the Lady Saltoun, his descendant, "The Frasers of Philorth, the Lords Saltoun, being the senior line, are Chiefs of the name of Fraser, although a lowland family. Lord Lovat is Chief of the very numerous Highland Clan Fraser of Lovat, based in Inverness-shire."

The Lady Saltoun was not a descendant of the Shimidh, the Simon from whom the Clan Fraser traces its lineage, being descended from the Shimidh's older brother. So, though the Lord Lovat is still the Chieftain of Clan Fraser, the MacShimidh, the Lord Lyon has made official the seniority of the Lady Saltoun's line.

The selection of a clan chieftain is traditionally very different than the Teutonic/Norman system of inherited titles. A Clan would elect and follow whatever chief it chose. The Lyon Court decree has introduced a lack of clarity into the Clan's organisation.

Arms of the Lords Lovat, Chiefs of the Clan Fraser of Lovat

• "Strawberry" in French is fraise (feminine), and its pronunciation is close to that of Fraser. The strawberry plant, used in the coat of arms of the Fraser Clan of the Scottish Lowlands as well as in the Frasers of Lovat in the Highlands, is called a fraisier.
• The Fraser motto, "Je suis prest" uses an ancient spelling. In modern French spelling, the "s" has disappeared and a circumflex is on top of the "e" ("je suis prêt").

Notes

References

• J.R. Harper. The Fraser Highlanders. The Society of The Montreal Military & Maritime Museum, Montreal, 1979.

References

1. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160716123019/http://www.fraserclan-cal.net/philorth.html "The Frasers of Philorth, Now Saltoun"] from the Clan Fraser Association for California
2. [http://www.fraserchief.co.uk/twochiefs.html Two Chiefs] from FraserChief, the website of the Lady Saltoun