Crypt bones examined by experts in search for beheaded clan chief
● Bones in Lovat mausoleum are confirmed as that of elderly man
The bones of what appears to be an elderly man have been found in a Highland crypt as forensic work to determine if it is the final resting place of a notorious clan chief beheaded after Culloden got under way yesterday.
Leading forensic anthropologist Professor Dame Sue Black, from Dundee University, is leading the exhumation at Wardlaw Mausoleum at Kirkhill, near Inverness, to determine if the contents of the coffin are the remains of Lord Lovat – Simon “The Fox” Fraser – who was beheaded in London in April 1747 for his part in the Jacobite rebellion. He was 80 at the time of his execution and was the last man to be beheaded in the UK.
Officially, the chief of Clan Fraser of Lovat is said to have been buried in a chapel at the Tower of London, but doubt has long remained over his final resting place amid claims his supporters moved the headless body home to the Highlands.
Yesterday morning, Prof Black opened the lid of the lead coffin which has long been suspected to hold his remains. After an initial examination Prof Black said it was likely the remains are that of an elderly male, with signs of arthritis in the rear of the pelvis.
She said: “It is probably a man and it is certainly a man older than 25. There is a lump of extra bone on the sacrum and it suggests that he suffered from arthritis.
“That could be consistent with a pathological condition. If there is not a pathological condition, it is consistent with it being an elderly man.”
A number of bones were retrieved from the crypt in the first hours of the exhumation, including a right foot, right ankle and femur plus several ribs and a lower vertebrae.
The key to confirming whether the remains are of Lord Lovat will be in the upper vertebrae which will indicate if the man was beheaded.
Prof Black added: “We haven’t got to the crucial ones [bones] yet. If there are cut marks, they are likely to be up at the third or the fourth or the fifth vertebrae.
“We are tantalisingly almost there, but not quite.
“If we find a head that has been chopped off, that would be wonderful. But we don’t have that yet.”
The lead coffin which holds the remains has deteriorated, but a local undertakers – which has links to the Fraser family – brought a new coffin to the site where the remains will be placed.
Broadcaster Dan Snow is at the mausoleum filming the exhumation for his History Hit series. He said: “We are very excited, and we are only a few hours in.”
Lord Lovat was a powerful Jacobite sympathiser known for his double dealings with the British government.
He is probably best known today as the grandfather of Jamie Fraser, a lead character in the Outlander books and television series, which have brought hundreds of visitors to the Wardlaw Mausoleum.