Wardlaw Mausoleum, Kirkhill, where Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat was buried. The original structure dates from 1634 and a tower was later added and the roof of the Wardlaw Mausoleum was raised in 1722 by the then Lord Lovat. The centre of a thousand legends: A short history of Boleskine House

personality of Archibald Campbell From the Frasers to the modern day – over Fraser of Lovat. Written by himself with two hundred years of Scottish history, of a posterity clearly on his mind, various honours attained and a noble lineage are certain former hunting lodge overlooking the proudly announced before a long list boasts of his many achievements – a few Southeastern shore of . Part 1. of which are unsubstantiated – in both foreign and domestic a$airs, all done in Lying eight miles in the Aird to the the name of Empire: (see grey panel – By Andrew Wiseman west of stands Kirkhill on an opposite page). e overlooking the valley of the A contemporary if all too brief an river . !e centre of attraction is obituary notice duly appeared in the the kirk and its cemetery where many Hill for high treason in 1747. Towards Inverness Journal, a fortnight a%er prominent members of the extended the end of the nineteenth century the his death: Fraser clan, particularly those of Lovat, mausoleum fell steadily into disrepair, have found their last resting place. and ceased to be the preferred burial On Friday the 8th instant, the Among their number are the Rev. James place for the Frasers of Lovat. Honourable Archibald Fraser of Fraser who ministered in the area for On the east wall of the Wardlaw Lovat, Colonel Commandant of the nearly "ve decades; Archibald Campbell Mausoleum appears an inscription, the First Regiment of Inverness-shire Fraser of Lovat; and his father, and clan words of which were composed many Local Militia, sometime British chief before him, the notorious Simon years before his actual death, that Consul of Algiers, and a!erwards Lord Fraser of Lovat, beheaded at Tower curiously re#ect the rather eccentric Member of Parliament for the County

12 Boleskine – The Journal of the Boleskine House Foundation of Inverness, died at his seat of Britain in the pursuit of a of Beaufort Castle, in the Aird, suitable property. !is Stone is Erected to the Memory of near Inverness, in the 80th year Unfortunately Crowley does !e Honourable A. C. F&'()& of his age. He was married to Jane, not appear to have le% any record LL.D. F.R.S F.A.S. &. &. only sister of Sir William Fraser, of exactly how he came to locate Lord of B)'*+,&-, A.,&-'&+ & L,/)-0 Baronet, late of Roy Lodge, in Boleskine House, although his S,123)&, M'4 S0353 38, the county of Essex, by whom friend (and disciple) J. F. C. Fuller Nephew to J,06, Duke of A&781); he had "ve Sons, all of whom later told one of Crowley’s early God-son predeceased himself. biographers, Charles Richard to ARCHIBALD, Duke of A&781). Cammell, that it had been His eldest Son, who possessed largely serendipitous. A.D. MDCCLXIV, distinguished abilities, sat in the Most likely he had been pausing While upon a Diplomatick Mission to the "rst Imperial Parliament of the to enjoy the panorama Mahomedan States of Africa, he by order of United Kingdom. He was also whilst exploring the rock climbs His Most sacred Majesty G),&7) III e$ected Colonel of the Fraser Fencibiles that rise steeply above the southern a Peace between those States, the Kingdom of for a series of years, and went on shores of Loch Ness, when his eyes Denmark and the Republic of Venice. service with them to Ireland, where fell upon the house overlooking He procured Indemni"cation from the befell into a consumption from the expanse of water below. !e Empire of Russia for Depredations committed fatigue, and died at Lisbon, whither property was attractively situated, on the British Flag, and during his 10 Years he had gone for the bene"t of his somewhat o$ the beaten track, and stay in those Countries he, by his King’s health, in the month of April 1803. with a small but rather picturesque permission redeemed Spanish Portugese, and #e disconsolate Widow and seventeenth-century graveyard Imperial Subjects at the Expence to those Mother still survives to lament sloping towards the shoreline. He Courts of two Millions Sterling, while not a the loss of all her Family. knew immediately that it would single Briton was sold or taken into Slavery. suit his purposes well, and set his !e grieving widow mentioned mind to purchase it. Crowley A.D. MDCCLXXXII, and mother to John Simon Frederick would later recount the details of He, co-operated with J'5)(, Duke was Jane Fraser, who died in 1819 and the acquisition in his Confessions: of M,6-&,(), in recovering to the was laid to rest in the crypt next to Highlanders the Dress of their Ancestors. her husband. Of all Fraser of Lovat’s But a magical house is as achievements – which were many – hard to "nd as a magical A.D. MDCCLXXXV, perhaps his most lasting one, though book to publish. I scoured the He, at his own Expence and in Person, absent from his memorial list, was the country in vain. Not till the survey’d the Fisheries on the West Coast house that he commissioned to be end of August 1899 did I "nd of Scotland and the Hebrides & Petitioned for built at B, on the southern an estate which suited me. a repeal of the Duties on Salt & Coals. He shores of Loch Ness, and completed #is was the manor of encouraged the Manufacture of coarse Wool, with full masonic honours on the eve Boleskine and Abertar$, on Hemp & Flax. He laboured to improve the of St Andrew’s in 1809. the south-east side of Loch Soil. He amended the Breed of Highland Oxen Ness, half way between and broke them in for Harness. He meliorated MAGICAL BIRTHDAY and . the Dairies. And by a$ording Employment to A day shy of his magical birthday, on By paying twice as much as a hardy Race of Men, return’d from serving 17 November 1899, it was worth, I got it, gave up their Country in the Wars, he repressed purchased Boleskine House from the my %at [in London] and settled Emigration and preserved to his Country then-owner Mary Rose Hill Burton. down at once to get everything their equally valuable services in Peace. For the previous eleven months, in order for the great operation, A.D. MDCCXCII, so Crowley claimed, he had been which one is told is to begin A%er quelling Insurrection on the 10.th scouring the length and breadth at Easter. of August, he planed the System of legally putting Arms into the Hands of Men of Property, and had, when the Empire was threatened by Invasion, the Satisfaction of “Unfortunately Crowley does not seeing its Adoption & E9cacy. appear to have le! any record Born 16.th August, 1736, died 8.th Decr, 1815. of exactly how he came to locate Boleskine House.”

Issue 1 – December 2019 13 A 1930s vintage postcard of Boleskine House, Foyers, Loch Ness

COMMANDS A He contacted the then-owner, Mary main building, with its frontage PICTURESQUE VIEW Rose Hill Burton, a professional artist, of terraced lawns and #ower boxes, !e classically-styled unassuming and made an o$er on the property. there was a stone-built coach house, Georgian villa commands a picturesque Burton replied that she had absolutely along with a separate domestic building view of Loch Ness and stands above an no interest in selling, but when Crowley called the Brown Lodge next to the ancient graveyard where the remains responded by doubling his initial o$er main road. To the rear, the thirty-four of the old families of the Frasers of to £2,300, twice the mark value, she acres consisted of a formal garden with Stratherrick, Errogie, Erchite, Faraline, reluctantly accepted. Burton had only box-hedge borders together with large Balnain, Leadclune, Knockie, and, lived in the house a few years as she areas of lawn, a "sh pond, so% fruit of course, Foyers were laid to rest. inherited it from her mother, Katherine garden and orchard. Around eighteen In many ways the house seemed Innes or Burton, who, in turn had acres of fenced-o$ undulating paddocks perfect for his purposes with its good purchased the property, on 30 August stretched further back to a mature size, the more or less north-facing aspect 1894, from Simon Joseph Fraser, Baron, woodland which blended into rough of its frontage, and, most importantly, Lovat of Lovat, the last of the Frasers to moorland that eventually rose steeply its relative isolation. Following the strict have owned Boleskine House. to meet a series of outcrops, consisting instructions given in #e Book of the Having paid the agreed sum plus mainly of craggy rock-cli$s. Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage, a further £700 in settlement of an In the archaic terminology of the Crowley would later outline some of outstanding bond on the property, local land register, he had become the the reasons behind his choice: Crowley became the new legal owner owner of “that piece of ground forming of Boleskine House. In addition to the part of the estate of Lovat consisting of I picked out Boleskine for its loneliness. Lord Lovat and Mrs Fraser-Tytler, my nearest neighbours, were eight miles away, while Grant “Burton replied that she had absolutely of Glenmoriston was on the other side of Loch Ness. Besides, Boleskine no interest in selling, but Crowley was already the centre of a thousand legends. responded by doubling his initial o!er.”

14 Boleskine – The Journal of the Boleskine House Foundation him to the local populace: the pursuit of magic. He had, a%er all, bought Boleskine House for its relative seclusion, a pre- requisite for undertaking the , which in this instance was to “obtain the knowledge and conversation of his .” In simple terms this meant that he sought to engage his conscious mind with the most powerful forces within, creating a spiritual wholeness, clarity and magical strength beyond normal comprehension. In actual terms it was a complex operation involving much preparation and the of a throng of entities, angelic and demonic. Crowley summarised his plans for the operation thus:

One must have a house where proper precautions against disturbance can be taken; this being arranged, there is really nothing to do but to aspire with increasing fervour and concentration, for six months, towards obtaining of the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. A bearded Aleister Crowley, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), September, 1901 – image courtesy of In the next issue, there’s more of the history of Boleskine House, and that of the Fraser family; plus and the Glebe of Boleskine lying within as to how he might make use of one his purchase of the ultimate Crowley the United Parishes of Boleskine and of the basic weapons in the magician’s artefact in 1971; and the nature of Abertar$ and County of Inverness and arsenal, concentrated visualisation, to Boleskine’s weird reputation… extending to thirty four acres and nine achieve that end. It remains unclear if hundred and ninety and six decimal Kelly visited Crowley at this time. parts of an acre or thereby in which is ABOUT THE AUTHOR now erected the dwelling house known LORD BOLESKINE ANDREW WISEMAN is a cultural as Boleskine Lodge.” !e property was Flushed with pride at his latest historian who has over the years actually purchased by him under the acquisition of the thirty-four acres developed a keen interest in name of Aleister MacGregor, of 87 rue of his Highland estate, Crowley took Boleskine House and its long-held Mozart, Paris, the residential address for himself the "ctitious, but archaic- association with the iconoclast and of the head of the Hermetic Order of sounding title, Lord Boleskine and occultist Aleister Crowley. As author the Golden Dawn, Samuel Liddell Abertar$, which he would later of the forthcoming title Lord MacGregor Mathers. shorten to the far more impressively Boleskine: Aleister Crowley and the A%er signing the legal papers, the sounding Lord Boleskine. To the House of the Beast 666, a full and new owner of Boleskine House moved locals such actions probably appeared engaging account of Crowley’s into his residence and at once began a as the conceits of yet another eccentric residence at his Highland home will campaign to encourage a friend from English milord who had bought a be o$ered as well as the controversial Cambridge, Gerald Kelly, his future summer residence so that he could legacy which he le% in his wake. brother-in-law, to obtain parental indulge in sporting pastimes. Indulge approval to come and stay with him. though he most certainly did in Perhaps somewhat presumptuously hunting, shooting and "shing, his Crowley assumed that it was Kelly’s primary reason for being there was ‘’ to do so, and advised him something far less likely to endear

Issue 1 – December 2019 15 The centre of a thousand legends: A short history of Boleskine House

Further history of the Frasers and Boleskine. cold Countrey, and eivill, fresh waters thereintill being reid colloured Part 2. running through Mosses: this countrey is o"ymes verie pro#table !e village of Boleskine was, and still is, By Andrew Wiseman and fertill of corne and abundance of a fairly typical small Highland hamlet, milk…and there is sundrie glenns in known locally as a “clachan” and the William Fraser of Aberchalder, who this countrey, which is verie pro#table surrounding area has long been associated subsequently became Fraser of Foyers. for feeding of guids. And there is a with the Frasers who held the lands since at forrest the southeastsyd of this least the beginning of the "#eenth century. IN THE VALLEY OF countrie and there is great store of During the early mediaeval period the STRATHERRICK deire in that glen and very manie Mormaers of held the feudal rights Boleskine lies in the valley of Raes in all the glenns and woods of over the people and lands around Foyers Stratherrick and was the subject of a Straharrigaick and Abirtar!. and Stratherrick, but a#er the Mormaers seventeenth-century account which were subdued in the thirteenth century, provides a geographical description of Set in a rugged landscape, between the Grants managed to acquire large this part of the central Highlands with rock and loch, work on Boleskine House estates in the region. !rough time the its uplands moors, high hills, lochs, was "nally completed on 29 November Grants’ in$uence and possessions in forests and abundance of wildlife: 1809. It is a long, low building rendered Foyers dwindled as, during the early years in a quasi-classical style, $anked by two of the "#eenth century, they steadily On the east or southeastsyde double storey wings which extend emigrated to nearby Glenmoriston and of Loghnes next to Abirtar! there backwards. !e whole of the building’s Strathspey. In 1420, the Frasers acquired is a countrey which is called appearance is one of an extenuated their "rst lands in Stratherrick by virtue Straharriggaick. And it is alleadged u-shape as a single storey spine contains of a marriage with a daughter of Patrick le this countrey is the highest countrey the main reception rooms with a long Grant. By the end of the "#eenth century, in Scotland, and it is likelie to be true corridor of around sixty feet running the the last of the Grants had le# the district. in respect that everie countrey which length of the house. Its grounds were !e in$uence of the Grants "nally is next to Straharriggaick is below, later embellished with a large formal collapsed as the result of a blood feud and it as it were upon a mountaine Italian garden and an arti"cial lake, initiated by Laurence Grant of Foyers above all other Countreys. Ane verie stocked with trout. Recollecting a visit and Boleskine when he insulted the young bride of Gruidhear Mòr (“Great Gruer”) of Portclair whilst on a visit to Foyers. !e battle between the clans that followed was fought on the waters of a bay about a mile southwest of Foyers which saw the defeat and death of Laurence Grant. Although he had managed to reach the western shore, Grant was captured as he tried to make his escape through the woods rising above Ruiskich (or Ruskie) and summarily executed. Gruer then took the opportunity to seize Foyers. !e power vacuum which ensued encouraged the Frasers to increase their in$uence in the area at the expense of the Grants. Foyers itself was then owned by the church, but did not come into Fraser Jimmy Page outside Boleskine House, 1971 – © Douglas Corrance (used with kind permission) hands until 1541, when it was conveyed to

Issue 2 – June 2020 7 to the house, Charles Richard Cammell commission the construction of Boleskine described it as having “the appearance House, it was not to irritate his brother of a Tuscan or Roman nobleman’s villa Lord Lovat, but rather to annoy Simon rather than the seat of a Highland Laird. Fraser (1760–1842), 8th of Foyers, the last Before the house, the grounds gently Laird of Foyers of Sliochd Ùisdein slope towards the lochside. Behind rises Fhrangaich or French Hugh’s Progeny. a lo#y granite rampart of sheer rock, !is Ùisdean Frangach was, it is said, “the cle# by some primeval earthquake.” most esteemed of all Lord Lovat’s kin for !e 1990 sale catalogue for the his frank disposition and love of manly property, which was compiled when sports.” In any case, Simon Fraser, then-owner Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin Deputy-Lieutenant for Inverness-shire, fame put the house on the market, had, in 1802, supported Charles Grant, in provides some further interesting a hotly contested parliamentary election historical details: which Grant eventually won. Even though Simon Fraser doubtless did this Bust of Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat, Boleskine House was built in the “in consequence of his having married a c. 1795, by James Tassie. Photo by Stephen late Eighteenth Century on land daughter of Glenmoriston,” from the C Dickson and published under Creative acquired from the Church by the perspective of Archibald Campbell Fraser Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) Honourable Archibald Fraser, a of Lovat he had thereby shown his relative of Lieutenant General Simon disloyalty to the Clan Fraser who had Fraser, Lord Lovat at that time. backed the losing candidate. “Cottage of Boleskin” – appeared in a $e Honourable Archibald Fraser As a local historian and liberal report on its completion which was reputedly chose this site for a house politician Charles Fraser-Mackintosh published in the Inverness Journal: in order to irritate Lord Lovat, whose wryly pointed out, the whole a%air lands surrounded the property, in “gave mortal a%ront to the Hon. On the eve of St Andrew was completely retribution for Lord Lovat’s support Archibald Fraser, who, an adept at #nished, with masonic honours, the of the English during the Jacobite nicknames, dubbed him for ever a#er Cottage of Boleskin, erected by the Hon. Rebellion of 1745. to be no longer known as Simon Fraser, A. Fraser of Lovat, on the side of, and but ‘Simon Grant.’” embracing the view of Loch Ness, a $e associations with the Fraser family According to another clan historian piece of water 24 miles long, and can also be seen in the Boleskine Burial the vengeful Archibald Campbell Fraser between 2 and 3 miles broad. Its Ground situated below the B852. of Lovat “succeeded in obtaining termination on the le" is the water and Recognised as a site of historic interest possession by excambion of Boleskine remarkable cascade of Foyers; and its the burial ground holds several of the glebe, in the heart of Foyers estate, [and] front the countries of Glenmoriston and family graves and is notable for the built Boleskine House upon it,” largely Urquhart, with their ancient Castles; remains of the original Chapel and “with a view of placing himself in a on its right Marshal Wade’s Hut, Grave Watcher’s Hut. $e Grave position to annoy his unpatriotic with the passage Faragig, and the watcher was employed to prevent body clansman the more e%ectually.” Under stupendous glass fort, and signal hill snatchers from de#ling the graves. the terms of the deed of excambion the D’un-d’arthulla with its rocky Boleskine House remained in Fraser Church authorities agreed to transfer the woodland scenery, equally romantic, family ownership until the late site of the old manse of Boleskine, upon but less terri#c than Glencoe. Here the Nineteenth or Twentieth Century. which Boleskine House would be built, new Road of Inverfarragig opens, Since then there have been several on the understanding that Archibald through weeping Birches, and coppices owners. $e present owner had enjoyed Campbell Fraser of Lovat would build a of Oak, Holly, and mountain Ash, to spectacular scenery and tranquillity of new church and manse for them in the hunting country of Stratherick, the property for 20 years. Stratherrick, nearer to the bulk of the facing southwards; bounded on the east parish’s population. On completion of by the Charr-lake of Ruthven, and on ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL the house, Fraser of Lovat “resided there the west by that of Tar!; the centre of FRASER OF LOVAT a considerable portion of his time, and Stratherick opens on the evergreen !e above sketch is slightly inaccurate, was a constant source of trouble to meadow pastures of the forests of Killin, for although Archibald Campbell Fraser Simon Fraser about fences, marches, bounded due west by Culachy. of Lovat, eldest son of Simon Fraser, 11th and other subjects of contention.” Grazings, on whose brows modern Lord Lovat (nicknamed the “Old Fox”) Barouche can be driven to a position by his second wife – who, incidentally, MOST LYRICAL whence the Western and Eastern would, but for an attainder, have become One of the "rst and most lyrical descriptions Ocean are clearly seen every #ne the 13th Lord Lovat – did indeed of Boleskine House – then termed the summer’s eve.

8 Boleskine – The Journal of the Boleskine House Foundation Boleskine Cottage, which stands on the Caledonian Canal. Within one mile Southern margin of the Lake, eighteen are the celebrated Falls of Foyers. miles from Inverness, and fourteen from $e access is easy, as steamers Fort Augustus, in a mild and salubrious betwixt Glasgow and Inverness ply climate. $e House is a modern well weekly during the Winter, and almost arranged structure, #t for the daily the rest of the Season. $e accommodation of a family of public road passes through the distinction. It contains elegant Drawing- grounds, and the post from Inverness Room, twenty-six feet long (including to Fort Augustus goes either to or bow window) eighteen feet wide, and from daily. about twelve feet high; Dining-Room of similar dimensions, six Bed-Rooms, and $e Shooting and Fishing attached three Dressing-Rooms, &c. &c. the to the place are hardly worth principal Bed-Room being twenty feet mentioning, but Moors may square, Water-Closet, vaulted Wine- be rented in the vicinity. Cellar, Butler’s Pantry Servants’ Hall, Housekeeper’s Room, Kitchen, Pantry, Presumably the money invested on Laundry, Woman’s Sleeping Room, and these renovations was calculated with an A. T. F. Fraser of Abertarff, c. 1810, by the Men’s do. $e whole Rooms are supplied eye to the potential rental returns on the Rev. John Thomson of Duddingston, Inverness with Grates, including complete ranges property which in those days would have Town House – image used with the kind in Kitchen and Laundry. $e Entry-Hall commanded premium rates as a "rst class permission of Am Baile – Highland History and and passages measure 100 feet long in a sporting estate in the central Highlands. In Culture: ambaile.org.uk stretch, relieved by arches, columns, and the years that followed a number of notices plasters, terminated by glass-doors at appeared in the local press advertising the $e Boleskin Cottage, with its double each end. $e elaminated plaster-work, fact that Boleskine House was available for green houses, facing the rising and the papering, and painting is much rent. !e story of how Boleskine House setting sun, its Meranda, whose admired. A never-failing spring of was inherited by Archibald T. F. Fraser of principal apartment is of forty feet superior quality supplies the cisterns Abertar% is not without interest as related long, embraces more of the simplex of the House. in the following historical sketch: munditiæ in the midst of majestic scenery than perhaps any spot in Turning to the out buildings, the When Lovat died in 1815 his children Europe; the body of the Mansion is built description continues: had predeceased him so that the estate of solid silver tissued Granite, and its passed by entail to $omas Fraser proportions are pure Grecian Ionic. $e $e O%ces contain Coach-house #t of Strichen, descendant of the Frasers wings and o%ces are of Saxon frame to hold three or four carriages, roomy of Knockie. However, there was a work, white as driven snow; the whole Stabling for four horses, Granary, grandson, A. T. F. Fraser, born on the building by a projecting roof of azure House for Coachman, &c. &c. all wrong side of the blanket, as the phrase Ballachulish slates, harmonizing with very perfect. $e Garden is goes. To this boy the old man was much the Lake below the Sky above it; and productive. A Porter’s Lodge, of attached and to him he le" the here the snow never lies one day, so that elegant design, and Iron Gate with unentailed part of the estate— herds of cattle ornament the grounds, Pillars, complete the place. Abertar!; property in Inverness and the at open pasture, in the dead of winter. old glebe, etc. at Boleskine. Strichen In short, no expense or trouble has contested this—very ungenerously, During the mid-1830s the grandson been spared to render this residence considering the magni#cent inheritance and heir to the previous proprietor, one of the most captivating in the fate had brought him—but a"er much Archibald T. F. Fraser of Abertar% Highlands, having just been unseemly litigation the young lad (1800–1884) oversaw a major refurbish- completed at a cost of about £4000. gained the property as his grandfather ment of the property, which included $e Lands are inclosed, and contain intended… Fraser of Abertar!, as he extensions to the original building. An between 40 and 50 imperial acres, was generally known, only occasionally advertisement from 1837 not only whereof 12 acres or thereby are used his grandfather’s ‘cottage’ and on provides a great deal of detail about the arable, of excellent quality, and 20 his death in 1884 it passed to the new interior of Boleskine House, as well as acres under young plantation. $e Frasers of Lovat who presently sold it. other facilities available to a prospective station is commanding and much If not a memorial it is a reminder of the buyer or tenant, but also advises that the admired by Tourists, having the noble last of the old Frasers of Lovat, for long building works and renovations had cost scenery of the Lake right in view, the Lords of Stratherrick. the then-staggering sum of £4,000: enlivened by the shipping of the

Issue 2 – June 2020 9 The centre of a thousand legends: A short history of Boleskine House Part 3 – A Natural Son

By Andrew Wiseman

Archibald !omas Frederick Fraser was a natural son of Archibald Campbell Fraser of Lovat’s eldest son John Simon Frederick, who, as Colonel of the Fraser Fencibles, had accompanied them on a campaign to Ireland where his health broke down due to a bout of dysentery brought on, it is said, by over exertion. His death occurred in April 1803 at Lisbon, where he had gone to recuperate (when his son was only three years old) and, therefore, John Simon Frederick predeceased his own father by some twelve years. !erea"er, Archibald T. F. Fraser became the favourite of his doting grandfather who oversaw his upbringing and education. A"er being presumably schooled locally, he entered Marischal College, Aberdeen, in 1814 and for the next three years followed a prescribed curriculum with some distinction. A portrait of the young master A. T. F. Fraser by the Rev. John !omson of Duddingston (1778– 1840), that still has pride of place by hanging above the #replace in the Chamber of Commerce in Inverness Town House, was most likely commissioned by his grandfather. !e portrait has been described as:

…that of a handsome boy, fair-haired and blue-eyed, dressed in Fraser Archibald T. F. Fraser of Abertarff c 1810 – image from The Highland Clans: The Dynastic Origins, tartan trews and plaid, feathered Chiefs, and Background of the Clans and of Some Other Families Connected with Highland History by Sir Iain Moncrieffe of that Ilk (London: Book Club Associates, new rev. ed., 1982) bonnet, white stockings and shoes with bows, and a broad white lace collar. !e attitude is nearly full-face, the precocious child of eight years. His enjoyment of them was probably right side and leg slightly advanced, By the death of his grandfather in somewhat sullied by the aforementioned the right forearm across the body and 1815, without legitimate surviving issue, litigation, which began in 1816 but which the hand holding the end of a leash the original line also came to an end. At was not #nally settled until 1872 when its which is attached to the collar of a the tender age of #"een not only did last embers expired in the House of Lords. young collie dog. !rough the leafage Archibald T. F. Fraser of Abertar$ !e outcome was that the patrimonial of the landscape to the right is seen a succeed to the Boleskine estates but also estates of Lovat were passed to the hilly background although the sitter gained the Crown and Barnhill lands in nearest collateral heir-male, !omas seems to be older, it is said, is that of a the nearby town of Inverness. Alexander Fraser (1802–1875), 10th of

Issue 3 – December 2020 7 Strichen, under a deed of entail, and thus into that family; whereas, under a disposition, the lands of the Crown and the unentailed estate of Abertar$, comprising Cullachy, Inchnacardoch, and Boleskine, went to Archibald T. F. Fraser, the great-grandson of Lord Simon of Lovat. In spite of his successful career as a gentleman-farmer and the ultimately favourable conclusion of the law suit, Archibald T. F. Fraser must have been burdened by the litigation which dragged on until only a few years before his own eventual demise. On Archibald T. F. Fraser of Abertar$’s death in 1884, Boleskine House’s ownership reverted to the head of the house and so became the property of the Right Honourable Simon Joseph Fraser (1871–1933), 14th Baron Lovat, eldest son of the Right Honourable Simon Fraser of Lovat (1828–1887). For six years, between 1884 and 1890, Boleskine House was tenanted by Fraser of Abertar$’s only daughter, Miss Catherine Fraser (b. 1846), known as Miss Fraser of Abertar$, and therea"er, for the next four years, remained vacant.

SEVERED FOR EVER In 1894 the familial ties of the Frasers with Boleskine House were severed for ever when the house was purchased by Katherine Burton, whose daughter would, in turn, sell it to Aleister Crowley only #ve years later. A"er sixteen years of being sole proprietor, on 5 May 1914, Crowley took – or was rather forced into – the decision to transfer ownership to the Order of Mysteria Mystica Maxima of whom he was the National Grand Master. Due to Crowley experiencing almost continual #nancial straits, on 12 July 1918, Boleskine House was sold on to a certain Miss Dorothy C. Brook, in all likelihood the daughter (or near relation) of Mrs Fanny Brook who had been a tenant at Boleskine House from 1915 to 1918. From then the house was owned by a series of proprietors and, for a short time, in 1968, was the residence of the Simon Joseph Lord Lovat formerly Fraser aka 14th Lord Lovat avant-guard director . Image: wikitree.com/wiki/Fraser-2281 As every Led Zeppelin fan knows, Jimmy Page outside Boleskine House, 1971 – © Douglas Corrance (used with kind permission) Jimmy Page, a scholarly devotee of

8 Boleskine – The Journal of the Boleskine House Foundation Crowley, owned Boleskine House from 1971 until 1991. !is could be regarded as gaining the ultimate Crowley artefact to add to his already large collection of Crowleyana. !e local press, wisely ignoring any mention of Led Zeppelin’s supposed immanent split, gave a description of the recent sale:

Jimmy Page, the bearded, long-haired pop guitarist has bought Boleskine House on the shores of Loch Ness at Foyers…Boleskine House a single- storeyed building in the classical style, stands in a large garden laid out in the Italian style…Boleskine House was subsequently converted into a private country hotel. It was put up for sale by its Canadian owner, a Mr Halbert Kerr, at a minimum asking price of £14,000… On a visit to Boleskine some weeks ago he told a couple who are acting as housekeepers that he had a place in Reading, but he felt he would have more scope and freedom at Foyers. Some local folk believe Boleskine House is haunted.

Since and even before Aleister Crowley’s time Boleskine House has earned itself a sinister or weird reputation and its infamous former owner’s presence is still said by some to haunt the place. Boleskine House and Crowley, perhaps better known under the self-made moniker the Beast 666, will in all likelihood remain inextricably linked. Devastated by a #re perhaps caused by an electrical fault on 15 December 2015, Boleskine House was almost razed to the ground. Although enough of the original A photograph of Aleister Crowley, taken in New York City circa 1903, during the time of his building was saved, its future remained ownership of Boleskine – image courtesy of Ordo Templi Orientis very much in the balance until only recently when plans were revealed by the new owners not only to restoreAleister the Crowley as world traveler, published poet, and student of mysticism. property to its former glory but! alsois topicture ABOUT was taken THE AUTHORin New York City in May of 1906, two years a"er he ANDREW WISEMAN is a cultural historian who has over the years developed a open up the house to the public as a ß ß heritage landmark site. !eir planshad havereceiv edkeen ! intereste Book in of Boleskine the Law House. He and w itsent long-held on to association found the with Athe iconoclastA a year been well-thought out and areand sensitive a half laterand ,occultist and would Aleister become Crowley. As author of the forthcomingX° O.T.O. title within Lord Boleskine: six years ; Aleister Crowley and the House of the Beast 666, a full and engaging account of to the original building and remaining“and blessing & worship to the prophet of the lovely Star!” structure which ultimately will secure Crowley’s residence at his Highland home will be o$ered as well as the the long-term future of Boleskine House controversial legacy which he le" in his wake. for generations to come.

Issue 3 – December 2020 9