LOGAN, JAMES [SSNE 49]

Surname
LOGAN
First name
JAMES, JAKOB
Title/rank
ENSIGN
Nationality
SCOT
Social status
OFFICER

Text source

James Logan was an ensign in the Swedish army, arriving in 1622. An incident is related where Captain Alexander Forrat and James Muir were accused of the murder of ensign James Logan. Logan was a relative of Muir's and newly taken on in Swedish service as an ensign. On the 30th of April 1622, Logan arrived at the house of Admiral Richard Clerk, where he met Muir, Forrat and Simon Stewart. They went on to the house of Gerdt Spechts (another officer?) where they had a beer. There a dispute arose between Forrat and Logan over money. A fight broke out in which Forrat punched Logan, who promptly pulled a knife and put it to Captain Forrat's throat. Muir got involved and in the moments that followed, John Clerk was cut and Logan was killed. In the trial that followed Forrat was found guilty of starting the fight, fined and ordered to have additional punishment imposed by the king. Muir was sentenced to death for killing a relative, though the text does not say whether the sentence was carried out.

Sources: Svenska Sjöofficerare vol II, p.256; Steve Murdoch, Network North: Scottish Kin, Commercial and Covert Associations in Northern Europe, 1603-1746 (Brill, Leiden, 2006), p.39.

Service record

SWEDEN, STOCKHOLM
Arrived 1622-04-01, as ENSIGN
Departed 1622-04-30, as ENSIGN
Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY