Re: Some McDonalds are really Magdaleines
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In reply to:
Re: Some McDonalds are really Magdaleines
Ronald Bachman 7/05/01
In the 1750s, many Highlanders, including many McDonalds, were coerced into British Army service in the Seven Years' War to avoid summary execution as "Jacobite Traitors". Many of the men of the 78th Fraser's Highlanders came from such a situation - and this regiment was at the Battle of the Pains of Abraham in 1759. Many of the Highlanders in that regiment had previously been in French service, in the Royal Ecossais or one of the Irish Regiments, and hence knew French as a second language rather than English. Some, like a few Frasers, married French Canadian women and had families in Quebec. I think your forebears may have been one of those Highlanders. Since the marriage of your ancestor is in 1799, indicating he was around 25 at the time, this would make his birthdate a little too early for him to be the son of a Highland Fur Trader - the Nor'Westers was only established just after the Revolutionary War.