Something lesser known is that Grainger was also into sado-masochism and sexual activities involving violence and cruel fantasies. Grainger’s favourite hobby was whipping, both as a ‘giver’ and a ‘receiver’. He owned a large collection of leather whips of all sizes and often took them on tour.
Writing about his sexual proclivities in 1932, Grainger described himself as:
“..a sadist and a flagellant… my highest sexual delight is to whip a beloved woman’s body. Her screams, her struggles to evade the whip, the marks of the whip arising on her body, all give me a feeling of male power and exultation that swells my love and devotion towards my sweetheart a hundredfold, and makes our love-life more intense and impulsive.”
Grainger’s impulses were apparently worse in his youth. Again writing in the 1930s he recalled a recurring fantasy from his teens that involved:
“..sticking two fishhooks, slung on four pulleys, one into each of a woman’s breasts, and then pulley-raising the fishhooks till the weight of the woman’s body caused the fishhooks to rip thru (sic) the breast flesh…”
Source: Misc. letters and essays by Percy Grainger, including “Read this if Ella Grainger or Percy Grainger are found dead, covered with whip marks” (1932), “Notes of whip lust” (1948) and letter to Karen Holten, March 19th 1909. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.