An expert team will carry out an exhumation to see if a coffin contains the remains of a notorious 18th century clan chief.
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, was a Jacobite sympathiser who nevertheless did deals with enemies of the cause.
Nicknamed The Old Fox, he was executed in London for backing Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose uprising ended with the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Bid to solve the mystery of Jacobite 'Old Fox'
AN EXPERT team will carry out an exhumation to see if a coffin contains the remains of a notorious 18th century clan chief.
By Stephen Wilkie
Fri, Sep 15, 2017
The Telegraph
Simon 'Old Fox' Fraser was a Jacobite sympathiser
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, was a Jacobite sympathiser who nevertheless did deals with enemies of the cause.
Nicknamed The Old Fox, he was executed in London for backing Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose uprising ended with the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Scientists, led by the eminent forensic anthropologist Dame Professor Sue Black, plan to carry out the exhumation next month.
Lord Lovat was beheaded in 1747 and his body buried under the floor of a chapel at the Tower of London.
Lord Lovat was beheaded in 1747 and buried under the floor of a chapel at the Tower of London
However, according to the Clan Fraser, his body was taken by supporters to Scotland and laid to rest in the family mausoleum.
There is a body, minus head, in a lead casket in Wardlaw Mausoleum at Kirkhill, near Inverness.
The trust that looks after the site hopes forensic science can prove that the remains are indeed those of the clan chief.
Erik Lundberg, of the Wardlaw Mausoleum Trust, said: “Finally, we might get some answers to who lies in our crypt.”
There is a body, minus head, in a lead casket in Wardlaw Mausoleum at Kirkhill
The Old Fox is known today by readers and television audiences as the grandfather of Jamie Fraser, a leading character in the Outlander books and TV drama.
The books and the TV show have brought hundreds of visitors to the Wardlaw Mausoleum.
The clan chief, the last person to be beheaded in Britain, is recorded in history as a charmer who was prepared to switch sides during the Jacobite uprisings.
It is said that several people who had gathered to watch the beheading at Tower Hill on 9th April 1747 died after the scaffold they were on collapsed.
He has executed for backing Bonnie Prince Charlie
Their fate hugely amused Lord Lovat despite his impending death and the incident is said to have led to the phrase “laughing your head off” being coined.
The 15th Lord Lovat, who died in 1995, was a Second World War hero.
He served with the Lovat Scouts, founded by his father, and went on to be a Commando officer.
Bid to solve the mystery of Jacobite 'Old Fox' | UK | News | Express.co.uk
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, was a Jacobite sympathiser who nevertheless did deals with enemies of the cause.
Nicknamed The Old Fox, he was executed in London for backing Bonnie Prince Charlie, whose uprising ended with the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
Bid to solve the mystery of Jacobite 'Old Fox'
AN EXPERT team will carry out an exhumation to see if a coffin contains the remains of a notorious 18th century clan chief.
By Stephen Wilkie
Fri, Sep 15, 2017
The Telegraph
Simon 'Old Fox' Fraser was a Jacobite sympathiser
Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, was a Jacobite sympathiser who nevertheless did deals with enemies of the cause.
Scientists, led by the eminent forensic anthropologist Dame Professor Sue Black, plan to carry out the exhumation next month.
Lord Lovat was beheaded in 1747 and his body buried under the floor of a chapel at the Tower of London.
Lord Lovat was beheaded in 1747 and buried under the floor of a chapel at the Tower of London
However, according to the Clan Fraser, his body was taken by supporters to Scotland and laid to rest in the family mausoleum.
There is a body, minus head, in a lead casket in Wardlaw Mausoleum at Kirkhill, near Inverness.
The trust that looks after the site hopes forensic science can prove that the remains are indeed those of the clan chief.
Erik Lundberg, of the Wardlaw Mausoleum Trust, said: “Finally, we might get some answers to who lies in our crypt.”
There is a body, minus head, in a lead casket in Wardlaw Mausoleum at Kirkhill
The Old Fox is known today by readers and television audiences as the grandfather of Jamie Fraser, a leading character in the Outlander books and TV drama.
The books and the TV show have brought hundreds of visitors to the Wardlaw Mausoleum.
The clan chief, the last person to be beheaded in Britain, is recorded in history as a charmer who was prepared to switch sides during the Jacobite uprisings.
It is said that several people who had gathered to watch the beheading at Tower Hill on 9th April 1747 died after the scaffold they were on collapsed.
He has executed for backing Bonnie Prince Charlie
Their fate hugely amused Lord Lovat despite his impending death and the incident is said to have led to the phrase “laughing your head off” being coined.
The 15th Lord Lovat, who died in 1995, was a Second World War hero.
He served with the Lovat Scouts, founded by his father, and went on to be a Commando officer.
Bid to solve the mystery of Jacobite 'Old Fox' | UK | News | Express.co.uk