About six weeks ago I wrote from Boston By Capt. Noble bound for Clyde, I was sent from Halifax to boston To provide Quarters for Coll: Frasers Regt. who I believe my Lord Loudon intended should winter there, but he has since ordered them Here where I expect them Dayly & I believe they will winter either at Philadelphia or this place I long vastly to to see Coll: Fraser both to thank him for his kindness in appointing me one of his officers and in hopes of receiving letters from you by him, as I have not had one single line from any of my friends since I arrived on this Continent which I assure you my Dr. papa has given me very great uneasiness often, I hope I shall not for the future for the same Cause.
In my last by Capt. Noble I gave you my journal since my arrival in this Country since which letter nothing remarkable has happened me My uncle is very well & writes you by this Packet, But of an older date than Mine, he is about Forty miles Above this, on his way to Albany where I believe the Regt. will Quarter this winter, As will likewise Lord John Murray’s who are all well, And at present between Albany & Fort Edward In short every body that I recollect & that you are Acquainted with are in perfect good health, As for me I never was better in my life than since I came to this Country(Except one touch of the Bloody Flux), Altho I have gone thro’ some very Quick Transitions of climate first from heat to coald & then from cold to heat And indeed every body that I know are in the same way, for there never was such a Number of troops together with so few deaths Amongst them, As there is here As for News, I entirely refer you to the Publick Papers, indeed there is none for every thing is in the greatest Tranquillity here At present except now & then a back settler scalped by the Indians which we are so familiarized as to think nothing of it, I dare say not near so much as most people at home do.
It is very usuall for people who come to a strange Country to make some remarks upon it The inhabitants their Manners Customs &Trade &c &c But as You have seen many much more distinct Accounts of all these Things Than I could pretend to give As my unsettled way of life And the Company I mostly keept have prevented my coming to the thorough knowledge of them. However that I may not seem entirely Ignorant of the People Amongst whom I have lived above a Twelvemonth, I will sett down a few things that must appear Obvious to every person who comes here. The lay of the Country In generall is woody but very Fertile when Clear’d, which is but every small proportion of the whole, Yet is for the most part very pleasing to the Eye The produce I dare say you are thoroughly well Acquainted with Therefore will not detain you on that head. The Inhabitants (I mean of the Country only) are A Vulgar, Ignorant, Rich, Independent, People And mostly all upon the same footing, Owing I believe to their wealth & the too great lenity of the Government to them which indeed they seem to be very Insensible of, But I hope will soon. To say any thing of their Towns (that at present seem to be flourishing very fast wou’d lead me entirely out of my design of Brevity Therefore I shall not touch on that subject. As for the Inhabitants of them. I believe they may make a very good figure in the Trading world, but I think never will in either the Polite or Political (altho they all pretend to be Great statesmen) for their heads are so crammed with Profit & Lose, That they have left no Room for any thing else, The more refin’d sentiments of friendship & honour seldom enter their Brains I believe I might have even added honesty however I wou’d not Mean from this that the whole are so, As there are some extreame Good People amongst them, Altho there is too many of them in the Above style. As I dare say you are very much Tired with this long Narration I will conclude it with giving you a hint that I don’t intend to Publish my remarks at present I mean to put them in the press, Therefore beg that you may not expose me by shewing this Nonsense to any body, I hope you’l forgive this freedom
Just now I rece’d a letter from my Uncle he is Extreamly Well In the list of Captains for Lord John Murray’s Additional Company’s there is one James Murray which I think is very Probably my Uncle as there is not a James Murray in the Army, Some think it is Lord John’s Nephew, But a little Time will soon determine us. It is reported here that there is another Highland Regt. to be raised And the Command to be given to Lochiel who I’me told is at London. If so I should Imagine it was possible to procure me a Company in it, But of this And the method how to apply for it, you are best Judge Believe me my Dr. Sir the greatest pleasure it would give me, wou’d be that I should be enabled to Assist you in your Difficulties, I pray God you may have no need of it, But I beg you may do me the Justice to believe that if it shall be ever in my power I will perform with a greatefull and Dutifull heart. I hope this will find you reconciled to Mr Drummond & Sir John Miln’s as I dare say it would extricate you out of some of your Difficulties, I beg you will write me by every Packet and let me hear how your affairs are & how you and Mama keep your health, with every thing else concerning You And my other Relations, As I assure you your long Silence has given me great uneasiness, I always, until I met my Uncle flatored myself with the hopes of your letters having been miscarried But he Informed neither you nor he had ever wrote any. If it were convenient for you to get a letter of Recommendation for me from Mr Hugh Forbes to his Brother the Coll: who is adjutant Generall here I should be greatly Obliged to you And I believe it might be of Service to me, Not that I think I could procure me a step But it might be of use in severall other cases, I am pretty well Acquainted with him & go pretty often to see him, he is at present very well. I have not heard one word from Mrs Brand since I came here yet & very seldom of her – I beg you may remember me to all my Relations, friends, and cquaintances in the proper Manner, And with my Duty to Mama Grandmama, Aunts and Uncles, and love to my sister &a her Children, her husband And Brother in law are both well & I am My Drlay yrs most affect & loving Son
John Murray
P.S. always send your letters by the Packet and direct for Me To lieut John Murray of Collonal Frasers Ret at New York North America, If they are so directed they must come to hand, Provided you pay the postage to Falmouth & the freight from there Here. This is my fourth letter – Since I wrote the rest of my Letter, I’me ordered by Lord Loudon to go to Connecticut Collony & take up Quarters for Col: Frasers Regt as they are To be Cantoned in several different Villages in that Government This winter, adieu once more my Drllays
John Murray
Note: John Murray, the son of Glencarnock, was gazetted a lieutenant on 6 February 1757, and killed at Louisbourg. Glencarnock did not survive his son - he died in Edinburgh in October 1758. This letter is printed in A. G. M. Macgregor's, History of the Clan Gregor.
Lt. John Murray, "Letter from New York to his father in Scotland, 18 October 1757." Stirling Archives, Scotland. http://www.stirlingarchives.scot/2016/10/28/vulgar-rich-independent-people-letter-lieutenant-john-murray-new-york-father-18th-october-1757. Accessed 15 June 2018.
Macgregor, Amelia G. M. History of Clan Gregor [Edinburgh, 1901], p. 390-2.
Macgregor, Amelia G. M. History of Clan Gregor [Edinburgh, 1901], p. 390-2.
© Jeffrey Campbell, Fraser's 78th Regiment of Foot, 2019.
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