The Worked Room On Visit To Castle Fraser Near Kemnay Aberdeenshire Scotland

Tour Scotland travel video, with Scottish music, of the bedroom called the worked room on visit to Castle Fraser near Kemnay in Aberdeenshire. The room is called the worked room because of the embroidery by Mary Bristow, who spent many years as the companion of Elyza Fraser at Castle Fraser. She first met Fraser in Bristol on 18 June 1781 and the two women travelled extensively through Europe, both separately and together. This may have been due in part to Mary's ill health.[4] Both women had an interest in gardening and kept a notebook of visits to great gardens. She also played the keyboard, and dueted with Fraser, who played the violin. Highly cultured ladies, they travelled through Europe together. Following Bristow's death in 1805, Elyza Fraser erected a granite monument which stands in the grounds of Castle Fraser, bearing the inscription: Sacred to the memory of a friendship which subsisted over 40 years, Elyza Fraser erects this monument in the groves planted by her lamented friend. Castle Fraser was built as the home of the Frasers of Muchalls, later Frasers of Castle Fraser. The castle was modernised in a classical style in the late 18th century. The castle was passed down through the Lords Fraser, the Frasers of Inverallochy and then the Mackenzie family who took the name Mackenzie Fraser. In 1897 the last male Fraser of the direct line, Frederick Mackenzie Fraser, died childless. In 1921 his widow, Theodora, sold the castle due to the lack of a suitable heir and mounting financial difficulties. The buyer was Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray. The Pearson family restored the castle as a shooting lodge. The surname Fraser was first found in Tweedale, Peebles-shire, where Sir Simon Frasee held part of the lands of Keith. There is a record of Symon Fraser giving the church of Keith to the Abbey of Kelso in 1160. Early records include Gilbert Fraser, who witnessed a charter by Walter Olifard in 1210. A later Sir Simon known as " the Scottish Patriot " was a supporter of Sir William Wallace in the struggle for independence. Spelling variations of this family name include: Frazer, Fraser, Frasher, Frisell, Frasee, Frazie, Frazier, Friselle, Fresser, Friser, Fryssar, Fressell, Fresal, Fresale, Frichell, Fraysser, Fresall, Fresle, Fresill, Fressair, Fraisser and many more. All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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