LOVAT, SIMON FRASER, twelfth Lord (c.1667-1747). A Scottish chieftain and Jaco bite intriguer. He was the second son of Thomas Fraser, fourth son of Hugh, ninth Lord of Lovat. His mother was Sybilla. daughter of the chief of the Macleods. He was educated at King's Col lege, Aberdeen, graduated M.A. in 1683, and al ways bore the reputation of a scholarly man. The Frasers, of Norman origin, possessed extensive territories in the county of Inverness. Simon had influence with the clan, and, although not the direct heir, acquired these lands by intrigue. Be also abducted and compelled the widow of the late lord to marry him—a course which involved him in constant turmoil. On the accession of Queen Anne, when his opponents became all-pow erful, he fled to the Continent. He was at the bottom of the hoax called the 'Queensberry Plot' in 1703, in which he professed to reveal the policy of the exiled Court and a plan for a rising in its favor among the Highlanders. He bad hien outlawed, but he was still the darling of his clan, and in 1713 they sent an ambassador to bring him over. The holder of his estates hav
ing joined the insurrection of 1715, Simon found it his interest to take the Government side. Ilis elan at once left the insurgents; and for this good service he was invested with the es tates, not only by the votes of his clan, hut by the law. His life for the ensuing thirty years was active with local intrigues calcu lated to strengthen his influence. In the insur rection of 1745 he tried to play a double game, sending forth his clan. under the command of his son, to fipbt, for the Pretender, and deeply plot ting for that cause, while he professed to be a loyal subject. He thus became a special object of the vengeance of the Government, and after vari ous vicissitudes was captured, taken to London, tried and beheaded. Consult Burton, Life of Simon, Lord Local (London, 1847).