Author: Fraser, Simon
Biography:
Fraser, Simon (1773-1852: ODNB)
Musician and collector of Scottish Gaelic music. He was born at Ardachie, near Fort Augustus, Inverness-shire, to Captain John Fraser (who served in the Black Watch and was present at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham) and Janet (Fraser) Fraser. He was a nephew of Brigadier-General Simon Fraser who served alongside Wolfe in Quebec and died at Saratoga. He served in Ireland with the Fraser Fencibles and, on his return to Scotland, was given a tenancy at Knockie, Stratherrick. There, he married Jane Fraser in 1802; they had one son. Fraser had another son (Angus), born to Catherine Watson before his marriage and, after Jane’s death, he married Catherine and they had two daughters. He published Thirty Highland Airs in 1795 and Airs and Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles in 1816. He moved to Inverness in 1817 and developed plans for several more works that he detailed in letters to Scott in 1817 and 1825; these came to nothing. After his death at Inverness, his son, Angus, carried on his father’s work of collecting Scottish Gaelic music. (ODNB 20 Mar. 2019; NLS, letters to Walter Scott)