The Outlandish Companion - Diana Gabaldon [126]
In respect of the heraldic factor it is worth noting that in early heraldry the cinquefoil, sexfoil, and rose are almost indistinguishable, and that only in Scotland has the cinquefoil charge been traditionally recognised as a fraise. And in respect of the Angevin origin, which may perhaps be true, it should be noted also that in the early days of heraldry the cinquefoil, sex-foil, and rose were commonly found among the St. Omer families, when St. Omer was in the Flemish sphere of influence. (Several of the first Fraser Christian names on record—Simon, Bernard, Gilbert, Oliver—are Flemish/Germanic.)
The first of the Scottish Frasers appeared along the River Tweed during the twelfth century. Their origins before this may be disputed, but not their power in Scotland, for they held the most extensive lands in Peebleshire, their names appeared regularly on the rolls of the royal councils, and they became regular benefactors of the religious foundations at Kelso, Newbattle, and Coldingham. Their continued possession of lands outside Tweeddale is shown in the register of Kelso Abbey, but their first major stronghold was Oliver Castle on the Tweed, perhaps named for Oliver Fraser, whose gift of lands to Newbattle Abbey is noted in its register together with a gift from Adam Fraser, the son of his sister’s marriage to Udard Fraser.
The lines of descent from Oliver and Adam are uncertain, but the influence of the Frasers exerted from Oliver Castle was continued through Sir Bernard Fraser and Sir Gilbert Fraser, who held in their turn the hereditary office of Sheriff of Tweeddale. Bernard and Gilbert were probably Adam’s brothers, sons of Udard. Bernard was Sheriff of Stirling in 1234, and Laurence, the only known child of his probable brother Adam, was his heir, but as no children of Laurence are recorded as such, this line disappears. The third brother, Gilbert, had four sons, and although from this point the line of descent becomes clearer, the period until Hugh Fraser of Lovat was created Lord Fraser of Lovat in 1464 remains to some extent speculative.
The ancestry of Jamie Fraser
Udard Fraser, shown in the charters of Newbattle Abbey to be living in the second half of the twelfth century, married a sister of Oliver Fraser of Oliver Castle, the son of Kylvert Fraser, and had issue Sir Bernard Fraser, Sheriff of Stirling, Adam Fraser, and Sir Gilbert Fraser of Olivercastle, the direct ancestor of the Frasers of Muchalls and the Frasers of Philorth, and probably the direct ancestor of the Frasers of Lovat, of Strichen, of Inverallochy, and others.
Sir Gilbert was Sheriff of Tweeddale (and described variously as Sheriff of Traquair and Sheriff of Peebles), and died ca. 1263, having had issue John, whose sons were Sir Richard Fraser of Touchfraser and Alexander Fraser of Cornton. (Cornton is in Stirlingshire.) Alexander is claimed as the ancestor of Andrew Fraser of Muchalls, created Lord Fraser 29 June 1633, which title became dormant on the death of Charles, 4th Lord Fraser, 12 October 1716. Although Alexander is traditionally listed as the second son, the royal insistence that the seventeenth-century Lord Fraser should not use a territorial designation—as, for example, Fraser of Lovat—together with the authorized use of the undifferenced arms proclaiming the chiefship of the Fraser Clan, suggest that a good case for seniority had been made and had received royal approval. If this case was valid, then Alexander’s name here should be printed before Richard’s.
Sir Gilbert’s second son was Sir Simon Fraser of Olivercastle, Knight Banneret, Keeper of the Royal Forest of Ettrick, Sheriff of Traquair and of Peebles, who died ca. 1280, leaving issue Sir Simon Fraser of Olivercastle, Sheriff of Traquair and of Peebles, Keeper of the Forests of Traquair and Selkirk, who died in 1291, leaving with other issue Sir Simon