Colonel Simon Fraser's Letters to Lord Murray, 1757

The Scottish Highlanders who served in North America were recruited by a variety of methods, but records do indicate most were volunteers. Economic depression swarmed their homelands, and the thoughts of prosperity and securing a better livelihood in the new world certainly would have contributed to each man's decision to enlist. Recruiters scoured the countryside, some concentrating their efforts to the immediate lands around their estates, while others traveled the length of Aberdeen to "make out their recruits." With competition to enlist men coming from Colonel Montgomery of the First Highland Battalion, recruiting was at a premium from a country sorely depleted in able-bodied men. The Recruiting Act of 1756-57 specified commissioners and their representatives may only enlist men aged 17-45; fit to serve His Majesty; free from ruptures and distemper; and non-Papists. Albeit there are no records available indicating recruiting officers compelled men in Scotland to sign and swear to a religious certificate, records do indicate this was a requirement at that time throughout Ireland.

On February 7, 1757, Simon Fraser had personally visited the offices of the Board in Edinburgh, to impress and extol the need for rapid recruitment. He, and others found that traveling the country securing men for the regiment simply came with the territory, -- it was part of the job. In a letter to his brother dated April 8, 1757, Major James Clephane, second in command, described the exhausting need to continuously oversee the recruiting efforts across Scotland for his personal company.

"My dear johnie,

No doubt you'll be much surprised that, till now, you have had no letter from me ever since I came to this place, which is now 20 days, but I'm persuaded you'll give great allowance for my silence, when I tell you that till yesterday I have not been 24 hours at one time here; sometimes one day at Inverness, next day return here, and a third at Nairn, and so on alternately, and often reviewing my recruits, and Kilraick and I engaging good men and dismissing worse."

Hon. Simon Fraser to Mr. Murray of Strowan

Dunkeld, 19th Feb. 1757.

Dr Sir, -- I have seen some men that are brought in here by a Constable, some of whom say they have had money for Col : Montgomery, & one in particular was inclinable to prefer enlisting wt. me to any other. As I suppose they came here by the Duke’s order, I would not attempt doing any thing without his Grace’s permission. At same time, as his Grace was so good as to say he wou’d not discountenance my recruiting, if any of the men prefer enlisting wt. me to going elsewhere, I flatter myself His Grace will have no objection to my getting any who are still unengaged, & make that choice. The man I mentioned to have already made it, had received no money & was perfectly disengaged, but I wou’d do nothing wt. him without asking his Grace.

Pardon this trouble. I am just setting out. God bless you, & do me the justice to believe me very much your faithful servt.

S. FRASER.

Colonel Fraser departed Dunkeld, Perthshire on February 19, 1757, after posting his letter to Mr. Murray, and appears to have quartered at Moulinearn Inn, about three miles southwest of Ballyoukan, where he sends a second letter, postmarked the same day. 

Hon. Simon Fraser to Mr. Murray of Strowan

Mulenairn, Satud. night, 19 Feb. 1757.

Dr Sr, -- When you did me the honor to call this afternoon, the number of fiddle faddle letters I had just been writing had quite jumbled my Judgement, & it was only upon the road that I began to consider that you said the men I saw were sent for by my Lord Duke for Coll. Montgomery. I had been informed they were impressed to fill up the quota of the county, & seeing a constable with them made me think it was so, & the men themselves thought so. But I suppose the case is that one or two of them may be wanted for that, and the Duke means to make use of it to give the rest to Coll. Montgomery. If I had understood that to be the case when I saw them, I should have not interfered so far as to ask one of them to make his choice of me, & I beg to recall any demand I made of that sort. If they are men the Duke intended & sent for to be given to Col. Montgomery, I wou’d not presume to interfere wt. his Grace’s intentions so far as to take them if they came out and offered themselves, & I shall be obliged to you if you’l do me the honor to present my complts. To His Grace, and tell him this, & that when I took the liberty to send to you before I took them to be impressed men for the county.

I beg leave to offer my complts. To the Dutches & Lady Charlotte. Pray don’t be angry wt. me for this trouble, but believe me wt. great regard,

Dr Sir,
Yr most obt. & hult. Servt.

My paper & ink are very bad, but the place offers no better.

S. FRASER.

Note: Murray, of Strowan, is Lord George Murray (1694-1760), a Scottish Jacobite general most noted for his 1745 campaign under Bonnie Prince Charlie in England. In 1728, he married Amelia, daughter, and heiress of James Murray of Strowan and Glencarse and had five children, Lady Charlotte being the fourth child, second daughter.

Sources:

Atholl, John James Hugh Henry Stewart-Murray, et al. Chronicles of the Atholl and Tullibardine families [Edinburgh, 1908].

William Congreve. "Letter to Wilmot indicating not one of the recruits were papists or had falsely signed the religious certificates." Dated 10 March 1757. PRO Northern Ireland, T3019/3122.

Mackillop, Andrew. Military recruiting in the Scottish Highlands 1739-1815: Col. Fraser in Edinburgh, February 7, 1757 [September 1995].

H. Rose and Lachlan Shaw. A genealogical deduction of the family of Rose of Kilravock: with illustrative documents from the family papers, and notes [Edinburgh, 1848].

“Lord George Murray (General).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Aug. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_George_Murray_(general). Accessed 17 Sept. 2017.

© Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2017.