RAMSAY, ROBERT [SSNE 3322]

Surname

RAMSAY, RAMSYE

First name

ROBERT

Title/rank

LIEUTENANT

Nationality

SCOT

Social status

OFFICER

Education

UNIVERSITY

Text source

Lieutenant Robert Ramsay (called master Robert Ramsay in the Swedish Intelligencer) served as a lieutenant in Captain Ballantine's [SSNE 1969] company of Colonel James Ramsay's [SSNE 3315] regiment in 1631. He earned a reputation for being an expert in the German language. Gustav II Adolf knew of his talents and put him to use to trick the natives into opening the gates of Wurzburg for him. He was discovered due to the length of his coat and apprehended as a spy, but was released when the castle was stormed.

The Swedish Intelligencer: The Second Part (London, 1632), p.12; Swedish Krigsarkiv, Muster Roll, 1630/22; 1631/12,15; T. Fischer, The Scots in Sweden (Edinburgh, 1907), p.222; Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), p.368.

Service record

SWEDEN, PATRICK RUTHVEN

Arrived 1630-01-01, as ENSIGN

Departed 1630-12-31, as ENSIGN

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY

SWEDEN, JAMES RAMSAY

Arrived 1631-01-01, as LIEUTENANT

Departed 1631-12-31, as LIEUTENANT

Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY