FLETCHER, ANDREW, of Saltoun (1655-1716), Scottish politician, was the son and heir of Sir Robert Fletcher (1625— 1664), and was born at Saltoun (Salton), East Lothian. He was a member of the Scottish parliament which met in 1681. Fletcher was a fearless and active opponent of Lauderdale's administration. He left Scotland about 1682, subsequently spending some time in Holland as an associate of the duke of Monmouth and other malcontents. He accompanied Monmouth to the west of England, but left the army after killing one of the duke's trusted advisers.
During the next few years he is said to have travelled in Spain, and he fought against the Turks in Hungary. Having in his absence from Scotland lost his estates and been sentenced to death, he joined William of Orange at The Hague. On William's accession his estates were restored to him: he soon became a leading member of the "club," an organization which aimed at reducing the power of the crown in Scotland, and an active oppo nent of the English government. In 1703, at a critical stage in the history of Scotland, Fletcher again became a member of the Scottish parliament. The failure of the Darien expedition had aroused a strong feeling of resentment against England, and Fletcher and the national party seized the opportunity to obtain a greater degree of independence for their country. In the nego tiations for the union of the two kingdoms Fletcher performed essential service. He got the act of security passed which de clared that the two crowns should not pass to the same head till Scotland was secured in her liberties civil and religious. There fore Lord Godolphin was forced into the Union, to avoid a civil war after the queen's demise.
After the passing of the Act of Union, Fletcher retired from public life. He did a real, if homely, service to his country by introducing from Holland machinery for sifting grain. He died in London in Sept. 1716.
Fletcher was a fine scholar and a graceful writer. His chief works are : A Discourse of Government relating to Militias (1698) ; Two Discourses concerning the Affairs of Scotland (1698) ; and An Account of a Conversation concerning a right regulation of Governments for the common good of Mankind (1704), which contained his well-known remark, "I knew a very wise man so much of Sir Christopher's (Sir C. Musgrave) senti ment, that he believed if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation." See The Political Works of Andrew Fletcher ; D. S. Erskine, rith earl of Buchan, Essay on the Lives of Fletcher of Saltoun and the Poet Thomson (1792).