IT’S been more than 360 years since members of Scotland’s Clan Fraser visited Worcester in force, but this autumn they were back – rather more peaceably.

For when King Charles II of Scotland (he was not King of England until 1660) marched into Worcester in August, 1651 with an army of 15,000 mostly Scottish soldiers, he was accompanied by 800 men of the Clan Fraser.

After the Battle of Worcester on September 3, only two Frasers made it back to Scotland. A total of 798 of them were either killed or later died from their wounds. Many Scottish soldiers who survived the battle were sold into seven years indentured servitude, either to Massachusetts and Virginia in America, never to see their homeland again.

Now, 367 years later, 14 members of the Clan Fraser Society of Scotland and the United Kingdom, including The Mistress of Saltoun, have returned to Worcester as guests of the Battle of Worcester Society. They were greeted at the Commandery by the Mayor, Jabba Riaz, and given a talk on the Battle of Worcester by BoWS member Howard Robinson. They were then taken on a tour of the Commandery and Fort Royal Park by the society’s chairman Richard Shaw. Mrs Susan Macleod, operational manager of Worcester Cathedral and a BoWS member, gave them a tour of the Cathedral.

Following a drinks reception in the Great Hall of The Commandery the 14 Frasers, dressed in their Clan Fraser tartan, were joined by 10 members of the BoWS where a magnificent 17th Century Banquet was held in the evening.

Mr Shaw said: “The day was thoroughly enjoyed by the Frasers and told them that although only two made it home after the Worcester battle, I hoped they were all going to make it home safely after the banquet. Which they did!”