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of the Danes. He promises them in the same letter to
do his utmost to hasten to the relief of the town.1
But if the supply of Scottish troops ceased, after having
flowed freely for over a hundred years, there were still
Scotsmen enough in the army of Sweden, sons and
grandsons of the old warriors who first made the Swedish cause
their own, and now had left the defence of their adopted
country, to the gratitude of which they owed their worldly
possessions and their rank in life, to their descendants.
It would be dry work indeed, besides unduly increasing the
size of the book, to give a detailed list of all the Swedish
officers of Scottish name during the years that lay between
Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. Let us rather try
to direct the reader’s attention to a few of the most
prominent military men during that period.
The first name that occurs to us is that of
Major-General Arfvidius Forbes, or rather “Forbus,” as he signs
himself. His Christian name shows that he must have
been born in Sweden. His father was Ernald Forbes,
who came to Sweden towards the end of the XVIth
century, as his ancestors, the Forbes’s of Corsindae, are
mentioned.1 2 Forbes was an honest and lovable man, an
expert officer, and a good royalist. He possessed little
education, and his letters teem with the most ridiculous
mistakes in spelling. Thus he writes: Leittenampt for
lieutenant, monsier for monsieur, Exolenz for Excellency.
But this illiteracy he shares with many of his brother
officers. Account must also be taken of the Babylonic
confusion of tongues that must have reigned in the
Swedish army. During the years 1635-38, Forbes
fought under the Duke Bernhard of Weimar. Whilst
1 “ Ex castris nostris in pago Duzo unum miliare a Ratzeburg.,>
Riks-A. Registr., 1657. See also Kgl. Concepte, 1657, Juli.
2 See Anrep, Svenska Adelns Attartajlor.
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