Here’s a FB posting by Scotland With The Wee White Dug:
Yesterday, I shared a post about Boleskine Cemetery which is located near the southern shore of Loch Ness.
The Clan Fraser cemetery is reputedly linked by tunnel to a house that stands on an elevated spot overlooking it.
The house deserves a post in its own right, as like the cemetery it has a fascinating and spooky history.
Boleskine House is said to stand on the site of a church the burned down, killing the congregation inside.
It was built in the 1760s by Colonel Archibald Fraser for use as a hunting lodge. Fraser was the son of ‘The Fox’ Simon Fraser 11th Lord Lovat (Jamie Fraser’s grandfather in Outlander). The Fox was beheaded at the Tower of London in 1747 for his role in the 1745 Jacobite rising, which ended in defeat at Culloden in 1746.
Boleskine remained in Fraser hands until 1899, when it was sold to Aleister Crowley. Crowley was a man of means and an accomplished mountaineer, poet, philosopher – but most famously occultist. He lived a libertine lifestyle, revelling in pushing the boundaries of moral decency to the limit.
Crowley bought Boleskine House, because he needed somewhere quiet and secluded to perform his Magick rituals. During one of those rituals Crowley was said to have summoned the 12 Kings and Dukes of Hell, while trying to summon his Guardian Angel. He was called to Paris before completing the ritual and apparently the otherworldly beings weren’t sent back to whence they came. Crowley’s occult practices led to him being dubbed ‘the wickedest man in the world’.
After his death in 1947, he became something of an anti-hero, even featuring amongst the sea of famous faces on The Beatles ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ album cover.
After the Crowley era, Boleskine House had a series of unfortunate owners – there were suicides, failed business ventures and more.
In 1971 the house was bought by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page, who was fascinated by Crowley and the occult. Page owned the house until 1992, but spent little time living in it. Instead, his friend Malcolm Dent stayed there with his family. Dent reportedly experienced lots of weird goings on during his time at Boelskine House.
In the post Page era, Boleskine House suffered two devastating fires. The most recent in 2019, virtually gutted the historic house, with the dark reputation.
Today, Boleskine House has new owners, who are meticulously restoring it. The Boleskine House Foundation offer self-guided audio tours of the house and grounds (exterior only for now). So, if you’re a music fan visiting south Loch Ness, are interested in Clan Fraser history, or love a spooky tale (or three) a visit to Boleskine House will be right up your street.
I’ve visited Boleskine House twice now – my interest in it spans history, music and spooky background. The first time was in 2019, after the fire. And most recently a week ago.
Was I frightened? Nope. Was the Wee White Dug spooked? Nope. Did I experience anything strange either time? Well, the first time we visited, I heard footsteps crunching on broken glass and debris inside. The house was empty. A trick of the imagination? Who knows.
