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Alexander Forbes of Pitsligo (1678-1762), philosopher and Jacobite army officer, only son of the third lord, Alexander Forbes (c.1655?1690), and Lady Sophia Erskine (fl. 1676?1734). He succeeded to the estates and title on the death of his father in 1690. Forbes married first, in 1713, Rebecca (d. 1731), daughter of John Norton, a London merchant, with whom he had one son, John, master of Pitsligo (c.1713?1781); and secondly, in 1731, his wife's companion, Elizabeth Allen (d. 1759), in a match which produced no children. In 1715 Forbes joined the Jacobite rising under his first cousin the earl of Mar, commanding a troop of horse at Sheriffmuir. Following the collapse of the rising, he was forced to flee to France. Subsequently he made his way to the Jacobite court in Italy, where he kept a diary of events, published in 1938 as The Jacobite Court at Rome, in 1719. Having not been attainted, he returned to Scotland in the same year; living in retreat at Pitsligo Castle, he corresponded with other quietists and wrote philosophy, publishing Essays Moral and Philosophical in 1734. Thoughts Concerning Man's Condition and Duties in this Life, and his Hope in the World to Come, also composed at this time, was not published until 1763: this work proved to be even more of a success, going through several editions and remaining in print well into the nineteenth century. By the end of September 1745 Forbes was in Aberdeen, whence he marched south with an army. On arrival at Edinburgh on 8 October, he was appointed general of horse by Prince Charles (Charles Edward Stuart), with the rank of full colonel. In England, where his cavalry were often used as scouts or forward patrols, he was in the thick of the action. On the retreat north, Forbes entered Aberdeen on 7 February: on the disorder of the further retreat, all or nearly all his horses were lost. At the battle of Culloden, the men of Pitsligo's horse thus stood in the rear and took little part in the action. Eventually accepting the inevitable, Forbes went into hiding on his own estates for the rest of his life, where his exploits became a local legend. He died at Auchiries on 21 December 1762.
Simon Fraser, 11th. Lord Lovat, was born in Ross-shire in around 1667 and through questionable means inherited the title of 11th Lord Lovat in 1699. He was outlawed for forcibly marrying his cousin's widow, took refuge in France and there espoused the Jacobite cause. Turning coat, he led his clan against the Jacobite forces in the 1715 Rebellion, and received a full pardon for his earlier offences. He continued to wage war against the Jacobites in the Highlands and was instrumental in bringing General Wade (1673-1748) north, though General Wade removed him from command of a company of Highland Independents on suspicion of stealing the soldiers' pay. When the second Jacobite Rebellion seemed to be going well in 1745, he declared for them again, only to be pursued and captured after Culloden. He was executed in London in 1747.
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