Frasers of Philorth > Volume 1

THE FRASERS OF COWIE, DQRRIS, AND PHILORTH. 117
A dispute having arisen between Adam, Bishop of Aberdeen, and John,
Lord of Forbes, it was settled by arbitration in 1387, and Sir Alexander
Fraser, Vicecomes of Aberdeen, John Fraser of Forglen, and Thomas Fraser
of Cornetoun, witb some others, were the arbiters appointed on the part of
the bishop. 1
In the same year, on the 19th of October, Robert II. confirmed a charter
from Sir Alexander Fraser, whom the king terms " consanguineus noster," to
Alexander Bannerman, burgess of Aberdeen, of the lands of Alesick, now
Elsick, in the barony of Cowie. 3
In 1388 Sir Alexander Fraser accompanied the heroic James, second
Earl of Douglas, on his expedition into Northumberland. Froissart, in his
Chronicle, says that the main Scottish army, under Sir Archibald Douglas,
Lord of Galloway, the Earl of Fife, and Sir Stephen Freseyle, 3 marched
towards Carlisle, while a smaller division, commanded by James Earl of
Douglas, with the Earls of Moray and March, and other leaders, entered
Northumberland, crossed the Tyne at Brancepeth, and ravaged the country as
far as Durham. It then retired, and laid siege to Newcastle-on-Tyne, which
was defended by Sir Henry Percy and his brother, Ralph, where, in one of
the encounters at the barriers, Douglas captured Percy's pennon, and, on
raising the siege, vowed to carry it into Scotland, and to place it on his
Castle of Dalkeith.
To recover his pennon and avenge the insult, Sir Henry Percy, having
collected a considerable force, pursued the Scottish army, and overtaking
their leisurely march at Otterbourne, where they had halted to reduce the
castle of that name, fought the desperate battle in which " Douglas, though
victor, was slain, and the Percy led captive away," having surrendered to
Montgomerie of Easlesham, ancestor of the Earls of Eiilinton.
Froissart, who received his information from two French knights present
at the engagement, describes it as the most fiercely fought and severest
encounter of his time, and says that he can only liken one other to it, that of
Cocherel.
1 Reg. Episc. Aberdon., vol. i. p. 176. torial name de Freslay or de Freslaw, and
2 Antiquities of Aberdeen, vol. iv. p. 642. were domini de Arringrosk and Fourgy. Reg.
3 He may have been a Fraser of Fruid, or de Cambuskennetb, pp. 6-23.
perhaps one of a family that bore the terri-