Frasers of Philorth > Volume 1

THE FRASERS OF PHILORTH, LOP.D8 SALTOUN. 189
The Master of Saltoun had no issue except the two sons of his first marriage.
The elder of these, Alexander, was born in 1653, 1 matriculated at King's College,
Aberdeen, in 1667, and died towards the end of 1672, when about nineteen
years of age; 2 and the second son, William, who was born on the 21st of
November 1654, eventually succeeded his grandfather as eleventh Lord Saltoun.
The Master is described by his son William as a man of the strictest
integrity and honour ; but he appears to have possessed scarcely sufficient
firmness of character for the troublesome times in which his lot was cast, and
a somewhat facile disposition induced Mm to place undue confidence in pre-
tended friends, who grossly betrayed him, but whose names are not mentioned
here, as it is undesirable to re-open old animosities long since forgotten.
Although his father often remonstrated strongly with him, and endeavoured to
rouse him to distrust of false friends, yet in the course of the lawsuit respect-
ing Balvenie he became more and more involved in debt to them, both on
account of the expenses of litigation, and to purchase the influential support
they professed to be able to procure, until at length he was obliged to pledge
to them the lands of Pittullie and Pittendrum (old Fraser possessions,
lying about a mile to the westward of Fraserburgh, that had been settled
upon him at the time of his first marriage) in security for his liabilities ;
and his father had no choice but to give his consent to that measure, which
he did very reluctantly.
No sooner had his pretended friends gained this point than they altogether
neglected his interests, and, turning upon him, pressed for settlement of
accounts ; and taking every advantage that the law afforded, not only evicted
those lands from him and his heirs, but left the family still under considerable
liabilities to them, from which, however, it will be seen that his son, the
eleventh Lord, succeeded in freeing it.
These unhappy results were therefore in a great degree due to the
Master's unfortunate weakness of character ; and as might be expected with a
man of kindly disposition, they had a serious effect on his constitution, bring-
ing him to a comparatively early grave, for in November 1682 he was taken
1 Philorth Charter-room. " Wednesday, December 9, 1672. Item, for
2 In the records of the kirk-session of the velvet mortcloth at the Laird of Saltoun's
Fraserburgh the following entry is found : — buriall, £5, 16s."