Clan Fraser of Lovat ( ) is a Highland Scottish clan and the principal branch of Clan Fraser. The Frasers of Lovat are strongly associated with Inverness and the surrounding area since the Clan's founder gained lands there in the 13th century.
The Clan Fraser of Lovat in Inverness-shire has historically dominated local politics and been active in every major military conflict involving Scotland. It has also played a considerable role in most major political turmoils. "Fraser" remains the most prominent family name within the Inverness area. The Clan's current chief is Simon Fraser, the 16th Lord Lovat, and 25th Chief of Clan Fraser.
History
Origins of the surname
The exact origins of the surname "Fraser" can not be determined with any great certainty. Traditionally it is thought to have originated in France, but the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names (2016) notes there is no place name in France corresponding with the earliest spellings of the name – "de Fresel", "de Friselle", and "de Freseliere" – and suggests the possibility it represents a Gaelic name "corrupted beyond recognition by Anglo-French scribes".
The first definite record of the name in Scotland occurs in the mid-12th century as "de Fresel", "de Friselle", and "de Freseliere", and appears to be an Angevin name. The French surname "Frézelière" or "de la Frézelière" or "Frézeau de la Frézelière", exists in France to this day, and is still concentrated in the area of Anjou. It also corresponds with the Scottish version in its spelling. Belief in the name's Angevin origin has also been firmly held by the Frasers themselves. Whilst in exile in France, Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, "entered into a formal league of amity" and "declared an alliance" with the French Marquis de la Frézelière and claimed common origin from the "les seigneurs de la Frézelière". The first annual gathering of the Clan Fraser in Canada in 1894 also recalls this connection.
There is other evidence of an ancient connection with Anjou. An 18th century document La Dictionnaire de la Noblesse states that a Simon Frezel was born to the knightly Frezel family from Anjou and, sometime after the year 1030, established himself in Scotland. It also states that Simon Frezel's descendants multiplied and eventually became known as Frasers. This would also explain the prevalence of the name Simon throughout clan history, as all Frasers (by descent) would have the knight Simon Frezel as a distant but common ancestor.
There are other suggested links with France, but these are more in the realm of myth than history: The surname "Frysel" (vowels were at the time often interchanged) is recorded on the Battle Abbey Roll – supposedly a list of William the Conqueror's companions, preserved at Battle Abbey, on the site of his great victory over Harold. However, the authenticity of the manuscript is seriously doubted. Another story claims the name derives from a Frenchman called "Pierre Fraser, Seigneur de Troile", who came to Scotland in the reign of Charlemagne to form an alliance with the mythical King Achaius. Pierre's son then became thane of the Isle of Man in 814. One tradition suggests that the surname is derived from the French words fraise, meaning strawberry (the fruit), and fraisiers, strawberry plants. There is a fabled account of the Fraser coat of arms which asserts that during the reign of Charles the Simple of France, a nobleman from Bourbon named Julius de Berry entertained the King with a dish of fine strawberries. De Berry was then later knighted, with the knight taking strawberry flowers as his Arms and changing his name from "de Berry" to "Fraiseux" or "Frezeliere". His direct descendants were to become the lords of Neidpath Castle, then known as Oliver. This origin has been disputed, and seen as a classic example of canting heraldry, where heraldic symbols are derived from a pun on similar-sounding surname: (strawberry flowers – fraises).
Early Frasers
Around the reign of William the Lion (r.1165–1214), there was a mass of "Norman" immigration into Scotland. Thomas Grey, a 14th-century English knight, listed several "Norman" families which took up land during William's reign. Among those listed, the families of Moubray, Ramsay, Laundells, Valognes, Boys and Fraser are certainly or probably introduced under King William.
The earliest written record of Frasers in Scotland is in 1160, when a Simon Fraser held lands in East Lothian at Keith. In that year, he made the gift of a church to the Tironensian monks at Kelso Abbey. The Frasers moved into Tweeddale in the 12th and 13th centuries and from there into the counties of Stirling, Angus, Inverness and Aberdeen.