RAMSAY, ANDREW [SSNE 7273]
Text source
Colonel Andrew Ramsay was noted as the man employed by King Gustav II Adolf to convey his letter authorising James Spens' [SSNE 1642] recruitment of soldiers for Swedish use in 1612. The ship that Andrew was on was boarded by Danes and he was forced to throw the letter overboard. He was subsequently interrogated but released by King Christian IV. Upon Andrew's return to Scotland he engaged his brother Alexander [SSNE 230], Robert Kerr, and Captains George Hay [SSNE 4236] and George Sinclair [SSNE 4233] to help recruit soldiers. Once King James VI and I learned of this unauthorised (by him) recruitment he put a stop to it. Indeed Hay, Kerr and Sinclair were accused of pressing children and servants onto transport ships. Andrew Ramsay was later arrested in England for wanting a duel with Kerr.This is possibly the same man as mentioned in a letter by James Spens [SSNE 1642] who recommended Ramsay for the second time, as he had been delayed in his intended plans to travel to Sweden to take up Swedish service. Further, Spens commended Ramsay not only on his own merits but also on those of his brother Viscount Haddington.
Swedish Riksarkiv, Anglica 3, f 13, 14 December 1614;T. Mathison, Fra Bondeoppbud til Legdshaer, (Oslo, 1952), pp.115-117.
Service record
- SCOTLAND, SWEDEN
- Arrived 1611-10-01, as COLONEL
- Departed 1611-12-31, as COLONEL
- Capacity OFFICER, RECRUITER, purpose MILITARY
- GREAT BRITAIN, SWEDEN
- Arrived 1614-12-14, as OFFICER
- Capacity OFFICER, purpose MILITARY