Frasers of Philorth > Volume 1

126 THE FRASERS OF COWIE, DURRIS, AND PHILORTH.
heirs of his body : thus setting aside the heirs of the body of Agnes Fraser,
and also Sir William Fraser's other daughter, Isabel, and her heirs, and pro-
viding for the succession of the Forbes family, in the event of the decease,
without issue, of Sir William Fraser's only son Alexander.
The resignation by Sir William Fraser, embodied in this charter, cannot
have been an act of his free will. It is possible that it may have been
inserted without his knowledge, or, more probably, it may have been extorted
by force, and, therefore, not regarded as binding by him. There is not suffi-
cient evidence extant to determine which was the case, but Sir William
Fraser, either upon becoming aware of the Earl's proceedings, or upon
regaining freedom of action, on the 4th March 1425, procured a transumpt
or judicial copy, under the Great Seal, of the confirmation by King Eobert III.
in 1405 of the charters given in 1375 by Sir Walter de Leslie and his wife,
the Countess, to Sir Alexander Fraser and his spouse, Johanna de Ross, 1
evidently for the purpose of resisting the usurpation of superiority on
the part of the Earl, by proving that those charters, which granted the
lordship of Philorth, and the other lands conveyed by them, to be held in
chief of the Crown, were genuine documents, and had received the royal
confirmation.
He appears to have succeeded in establishing this, and to have maintained
his right to hold Philorth direct from the Crown, without the interven-
tion of a subject-superior, for although, on the 30th May 1432, the Earl
of Buchan's charter was confirmed by King James I., 2 and, in 1437, Sir
William's son, Alexander Fraser, procured a transumpt of the charter of
1375 by Sir Walter de Leslie and his wife, the Countess 3 (the confirmation
having been probably obtained by the Forbes family privately, to be used
should opportunity occur, and the transumpt having been, in all likelihood,
due to some revival of their claim), no further serious action seems to have
been taken in the matter, and the pretended superiority of the Earl of Buchan
was never admitted, or legally enforced.
But Sir William Fraser was obliged to give a considerable part of his
remaining estates as a marriage portion to his daughter Agnes ; and on the
24th August 1424, he granted to her and William de Forbes of Kinaldie, and
1 Philorth Charter-room. 2 Forglen Charter-chest. 3 Philorth Charter-room.