Clan Fraser comes from the highlands with Beauly at its epicenter, 10 miles west of Inverness in and area that is historically called the Aird. Traditional Fraser lands are shown on the map stretching from the west end of Loch Monar to Inverness, and then all of the south side of Loch Ness to Fort Augustus. Over the centuries much has been sold and lost, leaving the Lovat Estates mainly concentrated around Beauly village today.
Some confusion arises as there are Fraser lands in Aberdeenshire, but these are connected to the lowland Frasers of Philorth, not the highland clan. This is due to the term ‘clan’ being used in the modern era to also describe lowland families, despite them not having any Gaelic history nor ever living under the clan system. As the 18th Lord Saltoun states, the Philorth Frasers “had nothing to do with the origin or formation of the Highland Clan, and never belonged to it”.
The historical clan seat is Beaufort Castle, 3 miles south of Beauly, sitting on a hillock above the river Beauly, famous for its salmon fishing.
Beaufort is a baronial style Victorian sandstone castle built by the 13th Lord Lovat at the end of the 19th century. This was because the previous seat, 16th century Castle Dounie, was razed to the ground by Cumberlands army post Culloden in 1746. And before that was the original seat called the Lovat Keep. The exact location is unknown today but it is said to have stood on the other side of the river in an area called Groam of Annat, which is where the clan would gather before battles on the Great Field. This was so loved that it became the clan battle cry, “A Mhor-fhaiche”, which means great field in Gaelic.
Beauly Priory - Valliscaulian monastery founded in 1230. Look for the grave of the 3rd Lord Lovat who died at the Battle of the Shirts in 1544
