Seamus Logan MP has welcomed the installation of a new information board in Rosehearty to celebrate the incredible life of a local hero on the 300th anniversary of his birthday.
The Aberdeenshire North and Moray East MP joined with Rosehearty Community Council, the Masons and the Community Boat Club, who organised this new information board, alongside local residents to celebrate and remember Hugh Mercer’s life, one of dedication to Scotland and America at such significant turning points in both nation’s histories.
Mercer was born in the manse of Pitsligo Kirk in Rosehearty at the start of the 18th century, a time of great historical hope and despair in Scotland during the Rising with Bonnie Prince Charlie and the terrible losses the Highlanders endured at the hands of the Hanoverians at the Battle of Culloden, before emigrating to America during the Clearances. He had trained as a doctor at Aberdeen University and had served as an assistant surgeon with the Jacobite army and went on to rebuild his life in Pennsylvania where he worked as a surgeon.
Mercer joined the army after witnessing the same levels of butchery and cruelty meted out to the Americans on the battlefield that he had seen at Culloden and it was during this time he became friends with future President, George Washington, whose mother went on to become one of Mercer’s patients. It was at the Battle of Princeton where he met his end, stabbed multiple times by his old foes, the Hanoverians, and dying 9 days later.
Commenting on the commemoration, Seamus Logan MP said:
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“Hugh Mercer has set the bar high when it comes to being a Scottish hero. Not only was he a doctor, but his heroics on the battlefield as a Jacobite alongside Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden, his emigration to America shortly after during the terrible retribution meted on the Highlanders by the Hanoverians and his subsequent bravery during the American Revolutionary war and friendship with George Washington is a reminder that we make them tough and principled in this part of the world.
“I was privileged to hold a chalice that belonged to Mercer’s father, the local Minister at the time, which dates back to 1732. I’m sure he must have been very proud of his son for hiscourage to the King o’er the water and a future President. He’s a well-remembered hero in America, but so many Scots have never heard of him. Now, this new information board is a step towards highlighting Mercer’s incredible life and achievements.
“I want to say a big thank you to Rosehearty Community Council, the Masons and the Community Boat Club for their efforts to put this information board together as a celebration of Mercer’s life and the diligence of Bob Watt in his historical research on this important Scottish hero. Now future generations will be able to remember the son of the manse who fought for freedom on both sides of the Pond and who the President described as “a brave and worthy General.”
