Leila Waddell

Leila Ida Nerissa Bathurst Waddell (born Leila Ida Bathurst Waddell, 10 August 1880 – 13 September 1932), also known as Laylah, was an Australian violinist who became a Scarlet Woman of Aleister Crowley, and a figure in magick and Thelema in her own right.

Musician Leila Ida Bathurst Waddell was born in Bathurst, New South Wales, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. David Waddell. he provides no evidence of this; in fact, New South Wales births, deaths, and marriages records show she was the granddaughter of John Crane (of Coventry, England) and Janet McKenzie (of Fort William, Inverness-shire, Scotland) and John Waddell and Elizabeth McAnally (both of County Monaghan, Ireland).

She began her professional career as a violin teacher at Presbyterian Ladies' College, Croydon, and Ascham and Kambala schools.

In 1908, Waddell was a member of the gypsy band in A Waltz Dream at Daly's London Theatre. It was while in London that she met Aleister Crowley.

In 1915, Crowley stood at the base of the Statue of Liberty (formally Liberty Enlightening the World) and declared an Irish Republic in a long and impassioned speech accompanied by Waddell on the violin. The relationship with Crowley disintegrated as a consequence of his infidelities.