Andrew Fletcher (patriot)

Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun (1655 – September 1716) was a Scottish writer and politician, remembered as an advocate for the non-incorporation of Scotland, and an opponent of the 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England. Fletcher became an exile in 1683 after being accused of promoting insurrection. He was appointed the cavalry commander of the Monmouth Rebellion, but shortly after landing in England, he killed another leading figure. He again went into exile, this time as a fugitive and with his estates forfeit. He returned with William of Orange, becoming Commissioner of the old Parliament of Scotland.

Fletcher was a defender of the Darién scheme, although suspicious of the effect of conventional commerce on traditional virtues. He also deplored the effect of London's relative size, which he said would inevitably draw an accelerating proportion of wealth and decision-making to the south-east corner of Britain.