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Beaufort
Castle , the
Highlands
Beaufort
Castle near Beauly was the home of the Lovat
Frasers for over 500 years . In 1995 Ann
Gloag , owner of Stagecoach , bought it for
£2 million from Simon Fraser , the Master of
Lovat and son of the war hero Lord Lovat . Debts of
£7 million forced the family to sell the
castle and its 19,500 acre estate . The castle has
23 bedrooms .
JOHN
ROSS SIMON Fraser may soon have his attention
focused on a single room, but in the longer term
his heart is set on a much more prestigious
property. The 25th Lord Lovat and chief of the
Lovat Fraser clan will perform one of his official
duties when he opens the Fraser Room, a small
museum in Beauly, the clan’s historic
heartland. It will bring the young chief, now a
stockbroker in London, back to the land of his
forefathers and where he eventually wants to set up
a permanent home. It is his dream that that home is
Beaufort Castle, the clan’s ancestral seat for
more than 500 years until 1995 when it was sold
amid the break-up of the Lovat estate, now just a
fraction of the hundreds of thousands of acres
which once stretched across the Highlands from west
coast to east. He is defiantly open about the
desire to reclaim the castle, a fact not lost on
its present owner, Ann Gloag, half of the
brother-and-sister partnership behind the
Stagecoach business, and who is a close associate
and supporter of the Lovat family. In a rare
interview, Lord Lovat, 26, told The Scotsman: "My
focus is to make money to rebuild the estate. My
principal ambition is to find a family house again.
Time will tell what happens, but [Beaufort
Castle] is part of that ambition. "It’s
something I think about a lot, but it’s out of
my control. I have to play a waiting game now;
there is very little else I can do." Mrs Gloag
bought the 23-bedroom castle in 1995 for more than
£1.3 million. It was said at the time that
debts of £7 million forced the Lovat Frasers
to put the castle and 19,500-acre estate on the
market as part of a re-organisation plan. Lord
Lovat said he has not told Mrs Gloag directly he
has his eyes on her house, but added: "I think she
knows. We have the greatest of respect for Ann. She
is a great supporter of the family and is always
willing to pitch in. She has donated generously to
the clan museum and Beauly Centre [where the
museum is housed] and is aware of the history.
"In that sense there could not be anyone nicer to
be there. But it is still the family home and there
is nothing I would like more than to buy it back.
This is where my roots are. "My family have been
uprooted and I’ve been left without a base.
I’ve grown up in the Highlands, but I
don’t have anything that I grew up with which
makes it quite hard. "So when I raise my own
children, I would like them to grow up as my
father, my grandfather and the Lovats before them
did for hundreds of years." Does he have a
timescale in mind? "No, but even if I did I
wouldn’t tell you." He is aware that land
reform legislation and the rise of the community
ownership movement has changed the political stage
in Scotland recently, but believes that may
actually help him achieve his goal. "Land reform
could have a bearing in bringing prices down rather
than make them go up," he suggests. "Perhaps,
ironically, land reform could make it easier for me
to rebuild the estate. Who knows?" The young lord,
whose sister is the model Honor Fraser, was thrown
into the limelight and given the responsibility of
heading the clan at the age of 18 and in tragic
circumstances. The 24th Lord Lovat, a Second World
War hero, died in 1995 aged 83, having outlived his
heir, also Simon, who died of a heart attack, aged
54, during a drag hunt at Beaufort the previous
year. Simon’s death came only a few days after
his brother Andrew, 42, was killed after being
gored by a buffalo in Africa. While still at the
public school Harrow, and later at Edinburgh
University, the 25th chief took on an increasing
role in the clan while the Lovat estate broke up.
He said: "It was a very difficult time. It was
very, very hard, but something we have got through
as a family. That is the great thing about it,
there are a lot of people who have looked after me
over the last seven or eight years and that support
gets you through those kinds of things. "There was
a lot of attention because of the gravity of what
happened. But that was a short-term thing. The
family has a fantastic history, which I’m very
proud of, and it was always going to be in the
limelight." Does he ever wish he was not in his
position as clan chief? "If it meant having my
father and grandfather back, yes. But I don’t
think there is anyone who has lost a parent who
would not say that." Until he makes his fortune and
returns to live permanently in Beauly, he will
continue to make regular visits from London for
events like the opening of the new museum. The
colourful history of the clan is being collated in
the Fraser Room and a working party of clan members
is to be formed to condense 800 years of the
Lovats’ past into an easy guide for visitors.
Lord Lovat said: "It is a work in progress, but it
will build up slowly into something quite
impressive. I get asked questions all the time by
people from all over the world about the clan. I
can give a reasonable response but not as good as I
would like. There is huge interest in the clan.
People love the heritage, and it’s something
that I personally want to support. It’s easier
said than done living in London, but this
[opening the museum] is a great way of
doing it. "I have always been aware of the great
interest in the history, but it was not until last
year that I was able to take a pro-active role.
"Now I want to take control more because there is
so much goodwill, like you would never believe,
from some great clansmen, and I want to harbour
that rather than let it wane. "Sadly, we have lost
the infrastructure to really support it because of
what has happened over the last few years.
It’s not so easy as it once was when Lovat
Estates was in its full function. But hopefully
something like this is the first step towards
building things up again." Ann Fraser, who is
helping to set up the museum, said: "There have
been a lot of books written about the clan, but
many of them are just in reference libraries. We
want to make it easier for people, tidy things up
and have it all in the one place. "The Frasers have
more than 800 years of Highland history to
celebrate and a start has been made on collating
that information. With a strong military tradition,
there are many exciting tales to tell. "The Frasers
were mainly dispersed through their abilities as
soldiers and made meaningful contributions to
history all over the world," shew added. "Our local
place names appear in foreign lands as a reminder
of the past generations and their love of home."
The Fraser name is said to have come into being in
916, when King Charles of France ate at a village
near Bourbon where he was waited upon by Julius de
Berry, who gave him ripe strawberries: fraises. So
delighted was the king that he knighted Julius and
changed his name to de Fraize which later became
Fraizeau and Frasil. The Lovat Frasers were
originally Norman from Anjou and there is reference
to Simon Frisel or Frazer owning land in Scotland
by 1160. Under family tradition, the first-born
male of each new generation is named Simon, with
most Lovat lords coming to be known as MacShimidh,
Gaelic for son of Simon. In 1306 Sir Simon Fraser
was captured while fighting for Robert the Bruce,
and executed by Edward I. By 1367 Hugh Fraser, Lord
Lovat, held land near Beauly, and about 1460 Hugh
Fraser became the 1st Lord Lovat. One of the most
notorious clan chiefs was the 11th Lord Lovat,
Simon Fraser, nicknamed the Fox, who plotted with
both government and Jacobite forces and was the
last nobleman to be beheaded on Tower Hill, London,
in 1747. Simon Fraser, the 17th baron and 24th clan
chief, was one of Britain’s most illustrious
soldiers, a swashbuckling commando described by
Winston Churchill as "the mildest-mannered man that
ever scuttled ships or cut a throat". During the
D-Day invasion, to the skirl of bagpipes he stormed
the beaches at the head of a commando brigade.
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