£6,300
Scottish Works of Art & Whisky | 748
Auction: 16 August 2023 at 11:00 BST
the gilt tooled leather with panels of intricate floral scrolls, tulips emanating from vases and flower head borders, the hinged cover secured by a two-piece engraved silver clasp with flower head and twin buds, the interior with vellum and paper pages, one titled page inscribed ‘Memd. 30th Novem: 1738, took the oaths of Allegiance & Adjuration at the Court House on Tower Hill’, with National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland label L.1955.39, together with various papers
Provenance:
Property of a Gentleman – Previously from the collection of Sir Colin MacRae (1869-1952) of Feorlinn and Lady Margaret Crichton Stuart (1875-1964)
Note:
The inscribed note within the pages of this pocketbook is intriguing and appears to show the varied allegiances Lovat was so famous for. The ‘Allegiance and Adjuration’ mentioned in 1738 is likely Lord Lovat confirming his undivided support for the newly born Prince George William Frederick, eldest son of Frederick Prince of Wales, who would later be crowned King George III in 1760 who was born in June of this year.
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat (1667/ 8 - 1747) came from a line of Jacobites which included his father, Thomas, who had played a powerful role in the Jacobite rising under John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, in 1689, for which he suffered imprisonment.
Simon had a rather colourful and, in some cases, unseemly early life, trying to bribe family members to change inheritance and lands to his benefit. Trying to force his cousin to marry him when his bribery failed, however marrying her protector under duress in her stead, only to call the marriage a sham years later when its value was not apparent – having married two other women while not divorced from her.
Trouble followed him most of his early life and it took a pardon from King William, only after he had been found guilty of High Treason. However, this plea to King William was for personal gain only and he was still harbouring his Jacobite feelings. Shortly after, he made two trips to the Jacobite Court in St Germaine. To further enhance his relationship in the Stuart court, and after King William’s death, he converted to Catholicism and met with Mary of Modena and the titular James VIII and III. He aligned himself with the Duke of Perth’s factions and was promoting an uprising from as early as 1703.
By 1715 he had bought his pardon and returned to London. By this time, the Duke of Argyll had convinced him to support King George I. He headed north towards Inverness and took and held the city on behalf of King George. His fortunes now changing for the better, he appeared a Hanoverian. However, the disbandment of his forces and the city handed to others meant his income fell and his rise was short-lived. This likely helped push him away from the Hanoverians and before long back to the Jacobites.
This change of allegiances was as blatant as it was regular, and it appears it was only his highly regarded charm that kept him out of trouble, balancing the possibilities of uprising and establishment. This renowned charm got him not only into, but more often out of, some rather tricky situations between King George and King James on both sides.
By 1745 it was clear that his Whig allegiances had not given him the power, land, and full title he had expected, and this seems to have sent him back, for a final time, to the Stuart cause. As early as 1690 King James had promised him reward for his support as Lieutenant-General of the Highlands; furthermore, the Pretender might be willing to elevate him to a Dukedom. In 1739 Lovat was the first to join the association formed to invite the Pretender to land in Scotland; his allegiance was secured by the promise of a patent of a dukedom.
Although a player from the outset in the return of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, Lovat was not at Glenfinnan in August, in part, due to feigned sickness possibly in part as the promised patent of Dukedom had not reached him. This countered with the non-arrival of the French troops, part of the original party’s plans perhaps caused him some points of thought.
Even throughout the campaigns, once he had pledged the Lovat Fraser’s and himself to the cause, he was keeping all avenues open and wrote regularly to the Whig hierarchy, still hoping that if they could not turn him, they could at least secure his neutrality.
By 1746 Lovat was in his 80’s and hardly a player on the battlefield. This fell to his son and heir who was threatened by disinheritance not to take part. He indeed was captured and imprisoned in Inverness, only to escape with help from local friends.
After the defeat of Culloden, Prince Charles fled and sought shelter from Lovat, who urged him on and promised men for another battle, presumably seeing his hopes, land, fortune, and life slipping from his grasp. Charles declined and left, Lovat fled his home too, and en route seeing his previous castles burned in retribution by William, Duke of Cumberland. In his escape, he is recorded as having a close shave with Hanoverian troops sailing up Loch Morar and he hid in a hollow tree to evade capture. However, the tree could not hide him, and he was spotted and taken prisoner to Fort William.
Transported to London, he was interviewed and famously sketched by William Hogarth, whose engraving became in high demand. Lovat at this time was described by the Gentleman's Magazine thus:
“Lord Lovat makes an odd figure, being generally more loaded with clothes, than a Dutchman with his ten pair of breeches; he is tall, walks very upright considering his great age, and is tolerably well shaped; he has a large mouth and a short nose, with eyes very much contracted and down-looking, a very small forehead, almost all covered with a large periwig; this gives him a grim aspect, but upon addressing anyone he puts on a smiling countenance”.
He was tried for High Treason before the House of Lords and gave his own defence, much evidence was given and debated, was legally questionable. At the end of his case, in inimitable fashion and charm, he replied: “Nothing except to thank your lordship for your goodness to me. God bless you all, and I wish you an eternal farewell. We shall not meet again in the same place; I am sure of that”.
While public executions always attracted crowds, that of Simon Lord Lovat attracted a huge crowd by any measure. Perhaps the larger-than-life character, his life story and advanced age convinced more to turn out for this. Due to this popularity, the crowds were huge and too much for the erected scaffolding platforms to hold, resulting in their destruction under the weight of the crowd, killing 20 spectators.
True to his character, Lovat found this implausibly funny and was seen to laugh heartily and loud all the way to the executioner's block. It is reputed that this is the origin of the saying to ‘laugh your head off’ Lovat apparently laughing till his final moments. This seems a little extension of the truth as his final words are recorded, taken from Horace 'Dulce et decorum patria mori'
Lovat was beheaded and latterly buried at Tower Hill on April 9th, 1747.