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| Clan Trotter | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Motto | In Promptu (In readiness)[1] | ||
| Chief | |||
 | |||
| Alexander Trotter of Mortonhall[1] | |||
| Chief of Clan Trotter | |||
| Seat | Mortonhall | ||
| |||
| |||
Clan Trotter is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Borders.[2]
The name Trotter is believed to be derived from the French word trotier which means runner or messenger.[2] There is a tradition that a brother of Lord Gifford was given the name for delivering a message with great speed to James III of Scotland.[2]
The chiefs of the clan in the Scottish Borders were the Trotters of Prentannan in Berwickshire.[2] They followed the Clan Home on many of their forays across the border.[2] A junior branch of the clan, the Trotters of Mortonhall claim to have held their lands as far back as the reign of Robert II of Scotland.[2]
Another junior branch of the clan were the Trotters of Catchelraw.[2] William Trotter of Catchelraw was a knight charged with keeping the peace on the Borders under royal warrants of 1437 and 1450.[2] A grandson of his was treasurer of the city of Edinburgh.[2]
A chief of the Clan Trotter was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.[2]
The Trotters of Catchelraw were staunch supporters of Charles I of England and were fined for assisting James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose in 1645.[2]
A direct descendant of the Trotter killed at Flodden fought for John Graham, 1st Viscount Dundee at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689.[2] His grandson was the Reverend Robert Trotter who was a distinguished academic who produced a work on the life of Christ and the Apostles.[2] The work is still considered standard reading in many theology colleges.[2] Dr John Trotter continued the family's Jacobite sympathies and treated wounded Scots soldiers returning from England.[2]
Robert Trotter of Bush who died in 1807 was Postmaster General for Scotland.[2] In 1815 Thomas Trotter of Mortonhall was killed at the Battle of Waterloo serving with his squadron of Dragoons.[2]
Alexander Richard Trotter of Mortonhall, and 5th of Charterhall, and chief of the Name and Arms of Trotter, JP, DL.[3]
