FLETCHER, Andrew, of Saltoun, Scot tish political writer and patriot: b. Saltoun, Haddingtonshire, 1655; d. London, September 1716. His tutor was Gilbert Burnet, afterward bishop of Salisbury, then minister of Saltoun. In 1681 he entered upon his public career. Having been prominent in opposition to the oppressive measures of Lauderdale and the Duke of York, he deemed it prudent to retire to Holland; and on his non-appearance to a summons from the lords in council he was outlawed. In 1683 he took part in the Rye House conspiracy. In 1685 he joined the en terprise of the Duke of Monmouth, but in a quarrel about a horse, he shot dead the mayor of Lyme, fled to Spain, then made his way to Hungary and fought against the Turks. He subsequently joined the Scottish refugees in Holland, and when the revolution of 1688 took place returned to England with William of Orange, resumed possession of his estate and became a member of the convention for set tling the new government in Scotland. He be
came interested in the ill-fated Darien Scheme. A republican in principle, and a patriot at once courageous and disinterested, he was the leader of the opposition to the union of the Parliaments of England and Scotland in 1707, favoring instead a federal union. He it was who introduced winnowing fanners and the pot-barley mill in Scotland. He will always be remembered for his saying "that if he were permitted to make a country's ballads, he would not care who made the In 1698 he printed 'A Discourse on Government in Re lation to Militias' ; and also, 'Two Discourses Concerning the Affairs of Scotland.' His tracts and some of his speeches appeared in one volume, entitled 'The Political Works of Andrew Fletcher, Esq.' (1737). Consult Omond, 'Fletcher of Saltoun' (1897).