Clan Fraser of Lovat: The Old Fox, the Battle of the Shirts & a D-Day Chief

Overview — the great clan of the Aird

Clan Fraser of Lovat is one of the most powerful and storied of the Highland clans, holding the fertile country of the Aird west of Inverness — around Beauly, Kilmorack and Kiltarlity — for the best part of seven centuries. Their chief is styled Lord Lovat, and in Gaelic MacShimidh (“son of Simon”), after the recurring family name. Theirs is a tale of Norman beginnings, a battle so bloody it nearly ended the clan, the last man beheaded in Britain, and a chief who led the Commandos ashore on D-Day.

Norman roots and the move north

The Frasers arrived in Scotland in the 12th century, a family of Norman descent (the name is thought to come from the old French Fresel). They first held lands in Lothian and Tweeddale before pushing north, and by the 1300s had established themselves in Inverness-shire. Two great branches grew: the Frasers of Philorth in the north-east — the Lords Saltoun, who founded and gave their name to Fraserburgh — and the Highland Frasers of Lovat, the clan proper, seated at Beaufort Castle near Beauly. Like so many, the Frasers backed Robert the Bruce in the Wars of Independence.

The Battle of the Shirts, 1544

The clan’s darkest and most famous day came at Blàr na Léine, the Battle of the Shirts, fought in July 1544 near the north end of Loch Lochy — the ground you look out over from Laggan Locks. In a quarrel over the chiefship of Clanranald, the Frasers of Lovat met a combined force of the MacDonalds of Clanranald and the Camerons. It was a scorching day, and the men are said to have thrown off their plaids and fought in their shirts — hence the name. The fighting was murderous: both sides were all but annihilated, and the Fraser chief, Hugh, Lord Lovat, and his son and heir were among the slain. Tradition holds that the line survived only because so many Fraser wives were carrying sons at home.

“The Old Fox” — Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat

The most notorious Fraser of all was Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (c.1667–1747) — a cunning, endlessly scheming political survivor nicknamed “the Old Fox.” He spent a lifetime switching sides between Jacobite and Government as it suited him, but in the 1745 Rising he threw the clan behind Bonnie Prince Charlie. After the disaster at Culloden (1746) he was hunted down, tried for treason, and on 9 April 1747 beheaded on Tower Hill in London — the last man to be publicly beheaded in Britain. He is said to have laughed on the scaffold when a spectators’ stand collapsed, killing several onlookers.

From forfeiture to D-Day

The Lovat estates were forfeited after the ’45 but later restored, and the Frasers turned their martial energy to the British Army, raising the famous Fraser Highlanders. The line produced one more household name: Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, who in the Second World War led the 1st Special Service (Commando) Brigade ashore on D-Day, 6 June 1944 — famously with his personal piper, Bill Millin, playing the men up the beach under fire. Fittingly, Commando country lies close to the old Fraser battlefield: the Commando Memorial at Spean Bridge stands just a few miles from Loch Lochy.

Clan Fraser essentials

• Chief’s title: Lord Lovat (Gaelic MacShimidh).
• Motto: “Je suis prêt” — “I am ready.”
• Seat: Beaufort Castle, near Beauly, Inverness-shire.
• Heartland: the Aird, west of Inverness — Beauly, Kilmorack, Kiltarlity, Strathglass.
• Kindred branch: the Frasers of Philorth (Lords Saltoun) of Fraserburgh.

Fraser country & connections

• Laggan Locks & Loch Lochy — the ground of the 1544 Battle of the Shirts.
• Fraserburgh — “The Broch,” founded by the Frasers of Philorth.
• Clan MacDonald and Clan Cameron — their opponents at the Battle of the Shirts.
• Part of our Scottish Clans collection.

Fraser at war — the Battle of Roslin

A Sir Simon Fraser, of the same Norman Fraser stock, shared command with the Red Comyn at the Battle of Roslin (1303) — one of the great Scottish victories of the Wars of Independence.

Battles — won and lost

The most notable actions the clan fought, and how they ended:

• Roslin (1303) — vs the English (Sir Simon Fraser) — WON
• Battle of the Shirts (1544) — vs Clan Ranald & the Camerons (Lord Lovat killed) — LOST
• Siege of Inverness (1562) — vs (for Mary, Queen of Scots, with the Munros) — WON
• Culloden (1746) — vs the government — LOST

The “Old Fox,” Simon, 11th Lord Lovat, was the last man beheaded in Britain (1747) for his part in the ’45.

The clan lands

Orange markers = the clan’s chief castles, seats and territories; where we have a page, they link through.

Sources

• Wikishire and standard clan histories on the Frasers of Lovat, the Battle of the Shirts and the 11th Lord Lovat.
• Regimental and D-Day histories for the 15th Lord Lovat and the Commando Brigade.