Lord Lovat's spectacles

Jacobite

Tortoiseshell framed spectacles with a leather case said to have belonged to Lord Lovat. Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat, (1667 – 1747) was chief of clan Fraser, and a Jacobite nicknamed the ‘Old Fox’ for his double-dealings, violent feuds and changes of allegiance. Lovat was convicted of treason for his part in the 1745 Jacobite Rising and was sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered. His punishment was commuted to beheading and on 9 April 1747 he was the last person to be publicly executed on Tower Hill, London. Such a crowd gathered for his execution that a stand holding spectators collapsed and killed nine people. Lovat was so amused by the incident that legend has it that this is where the origin of the phrase “laughing your head off” comes from.

Material: Tortoiseshell, glass, Leather

Size: L 114 mm x W 25 mm

Sources: Hepburn Bequest