A while back ago I posted on the above.
Here is Gov. Simpsons piper Piper
Colin Fraser [1805-1865] from Kirkton, Sutherlandshire, was recruited in the Orkney Islands by Simpson’s father. He arrived at York Factory in 1827 and beat out two other candidates to win the £30 a year job as Simpson’s personal piper. According to some old papers of the Laird MacGillis of Williamstown and John MacDonald of Garth, who were together in the Red River area, Fraser married Nancy Beaudry, by whom he had a large family, from Bethsey born at Fort Carlton in 1833, to Caroline born at Slave Lake in 1859.
One anonymous and possibly apocryphal story refers to a Cree who heard Colin Fraser play at Norway House and reported to his chief: "One white man was dressed like a woman, in a skirt of funny colour. He had whiskers growing from his belt and fancy leggings. He carried a black swan which had many legs with ribbons tied to them. The swan’s body he put under his arm upside down, then he put its head in his mouth and bit it. At the same time he pinched its neck with his fingers and squeezed the body under his arm until it made a terrible noise."
Thanks to Mrs Ann Fraser, née Simpson, proprietor of the Lovat Arms Hotel in Beauly, Inverness-shire for sending us the following article from the Press and Journal :Colin Fraser [1805-1865] from Kirkton, Sutherlandshire, was recruited in the Orkney Islands by Simpson’s father. He arrived at York Factory in 1827 and beat out two other candidates to win the £30 a year job as Simpson’s personal piper. According to some old papers of the Laird MacGillis of Williamstown and John MacDonald of Garth, who were together in the Red River area, Fraser married Nancy Beaudry, by whom he had a large family, from Bethsey born at Fort Carlton in 1833, to Caroline born at Slave Lake in 1859.
One anonymous and possibly apocryphal story refers to a Cree who heard Colin Fraser play at Norway House and reported to his chief: "One white man was dressed like a woman, in a skirt of funny colour. He had whiskers growing from his belt and fancy leggings. He carried a black swan which had many legs with ribbons tied to them. The swan’s body he put under his arm upside down, then he put its head in his mouth and bit it. At the same time he pinched its neck with his fingers and squeezed the body under his arm until it made a terrible noise."
Thanks to Mrs Ann Fraser, née Simpson, proprietor of the Lovat Arms Hotel in Beauly, Inverness-shire for sending us the following article from the Press and Journal :
Also see -
http://www.mountainmetis.com/pages/colin_fraser.html