David Ramsay (c. 1740 – c. 1810) was a controversial figure born in Leven, Scotland, who served as a cabin boy in the British Royal Navy, participated in the siege of Louisbourg in 1758 and later acted as a courier, translator and fur and alcohol trader, in part of the lower Great Lakes region consisting of present-day southern Ontario, Canada, and western New York state.
Ramsay also admitted that he had scalped all three adult individuals involved and also kidnapped two local children who were in the company of the natives, one aged twelve, removing them to the Long Point area.
"[1] Ramsay's actions, in particular his scalping of his victims which according to Ojibwa custom constituted an act of war, precipitated a crisis in relations between British colonial authorities and the regional native population.
Johnson attributed the killings to the "private act of a villain", not official British policy, and achieved an at least temporary resolution to the situation, by distributing a shipment of gifts to native leaders in the area.
Johnson's prediction held true and despite Ramsay allegedly bragging about the killings while under guard in Montreal and indicating that he would repeat his actions upon release, received no punishment, at least partly due to the prosecution providing no native witnesses.
A number of regional legends, traceable to stories told by white settlers in the mid to late 19th century in southern Ontario, have arisen surrounding the figure of David Ramsay.
89–95 Chambers' Edinburgh Journal – Number 403 – Saturday, October 19, 1839 – "Adventure of a Canadian Trader" – taken from an unnamed manuscript source "a gentleman engaged in the American War" – 4,000 words, pro-Ramsay account, with allegations of Chippewa and Pawnee treachery.