 Paco Trade Needlecraft & Rug Kits | sitemap | log in
|
 |
||
| This is a free Spanglefish 1 website. | ||
The Jacobites 19 March 2009 The Jacobites When people think about the Jacobites they usually think about Bonnie Prince Charlie and Culloden, but that’s really the end of the story. So we are going to journey back through time to the court of the last Stewart King; James II of England & VII of Scotland. We shall see the story unfold from the beginning. So let’s spin back through the years to 1688.
James was a Roman Catholic, as was his wife; Mary of Modena. However, he had sworn to serve all his people and to defend the Church of England, yet here we are four years later facing the threat of invasion by William of Orange.
Scotland had always been loyal to James. He granted religious indulgence in 1667, and revived the Ancient Order of the Thistle. He appointed Roman Catholics to as many posts as he could in Scotland, and the command of Edinburgh Castle was given to the Catholic Duke of Gordan. Yet the vast majority of people in Scotland remained staunchly Presbyterian and anti-Episcopalian.
James proceeded to try the same strategy in England and managed to alienate most of his supporters and led to fears that he was trying to overturn the Reformation. The last straw came when Mary of Modena gave birth to a son and heir; James Frances Edward in June 1688.
On October 19th, 1688 William of Orange set sail from Holland with 60 warships and 500 smaller ships. He landed at Torbay on the 3rd November. James seemed to be incapable of coping with the threat, especially as his army in England promptly deserted him. However, this left Scotland. Graham of Claverhouse (also known as “Bonnie Dundee”) crossed the border with 6,000 men, but by the time they reached London it was already too late. James had fled to France, landing there on Christmas day 1688, and the Scots army was left to fend for itself. The reign of James was over – it had lasted for 1,418 days.
The narrow, wooded gorge, the pass of Killiecrankie, between Pitlochry and Blair Atholl was; for hundreds of years, the most dangerous and difficult pass on the main route through the Highlands of Scotland. It was used by Robert the Bruce in 1306 and it was used by government troops in July 1689 as they rushed North to crush the first Jacobite Rising in Scotland led by Bonnie Dundee.
The English had welcomed William of Orange and his wife Mary, but the Scots had not. It was split into two camps; Whigs and Jacobites in the Scottish parliament. The Whigs won, and the Scottish crown was offered to William and Mary.
However, the Jacobites were a force to be reckoned with, and Bonnie Dundee raced North to raise the Jacobite Standard in the Highlands. He fully expected help from Irish Catholic Royalists as James had landed in Ireland. He was planning to use it as a springboard to win back Scotland and England. Bonnie Dundee was now an outlaw with a £20,000 bounty on his head. He raised an army of 2,500 Highlanders from the western clans. Unfortunately for him, the Irish help didn’t meet his expectations. Only 300 raw recruits, with no money or arms arrived.
General Mackay; of the government forces, set-up his headquarters at Dunkeld. He had 6 regiments of foot troops, 4 of horse, and 4 of dragoons; 4,000 men in all. He duly set off North. He reached the pass of Killiecrankie at noon on the 27th July 1689. His scouts told him the pass was clear, so he started threading his way through the narrow gorge. Dundee was waiting for him on the heights above the north end of the pass. The Highlanders fired their muskets before charging down the hillside with their broadswords – straight at Mackay’s troops who fired a devastating volley which caused massive casualties among the Highlanders. However, they had no time to reload or to fix bayonets before they were overwhelmed by the charging Jacobites.
The government troops broke and ran. One young soldier; Donald MacBean made a life or death leap of nearly 6 metres to escape. Only 400 soldiers managed to ford the river and head back toward Perth. The Jacobites had lost nearly 1,000 men in that wild charge including their leader “Bonnie Dundee”.
This proved a crushing blow for the Jacobites. Only he had managed to hold the Jacobite army of untamed clansmen together. His death destroyed any hope of Jacobite success.
At Dunkeld, Mackay’s troops stopped to lick their wounds and regroup. The Highland army; although victorious, began to fall apart. Alexander Cameron was in charge, much to the wrath of 61 year-old Sir Ewan Cameron of Locheil who had brought his clan in person. Feeling overlooked and slighted he stalked off in a rage, and many of the other clansmen similarly drifted back to their glens and villages.
Alexander Cameron lacked horsemen, and he stayed in Perthshire recruiting for the cause. The Privy Council in Edinburgh had heard of the defeat of Mackay’s men, but didn’t know Dundee was dead and thought the Jacobites were about to sweep South and take Scotland. They were getting ready to retreat to England if the Jacobites reached Stirling. The belated news of Dundee’s death changed those plans! More government troops were ordered north to deal with the Jacobites. In command was Colonel William Cleland, 28 years old. He led 800 men of the Cameronian regiment to Dunkeld where on the 21st August a furious battle between the Jacobite 4,000 strong army and the Cameronians took place.
It started at 7am and raged through the narrow, winding streets for 16 hours. House by house the Highlanders hand-fought the Cameronians who were forced back under the advance, taking refuge in the Cathedral and Dunkeld House.
The piles of dead mounted and Dunkeld was ablaze from end to end as it was torched in the battle. At 11pm, just as the Cameronians were on the edge of defeat, the Highlanders withdrew; exhausted and running out of ammunition. They left 300 dead behind.
James was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne in Ireland and the 1689 rising was over. It paved the way for the Massacre of Glencoe on 13th February 1692.
Following the 1689 Rising, the government hurriedly built a new garrison fortress at Fort William at the head of Loch Linnhe. Troops were deployed at other strategic points. These were troops William urgently needed for his war in Flanders against the French but had to commit troops in Scotland until the Jacobite problem was settled.
In June 1691, John Campbell of Glen Orchy; 1st Earl of Breadalbane held a meeting of clan chiefs at Achallader Castle near Bridge of Orchy. They discussed a proposal for peace in the Highlands, including an amnesty for all clan chiefs who had fought against Williams. In return, the chiefs had to swear an oath of allegiance to the King before a proper magistrate by 01st January 1692.
The Secretary of State in Scotland; Sir John Dalrymple was a dedicated civil servant. He saw the Highlands as a constant threat to the new regime. He became convinced that the only way to have peace in the Highlands was to make an example of one of the clans. He was also sure that very few of the clan chiefs would take the oath of allegiance. So he started putting plans in place for a punitive expedition.
He was wrong, because by the end of 1691, nearly all the clan chiefs had taken the oath. Nearly all but not quite all. Alasdair MacIan (MacDonald), twelth chief of Glencoe wasn’t on the official list of oath-takers. He had waited for permission from the king across the water; James, and it had arrived on the 28th December 1691. With time running out fast, MacIan set out for Fort William to take the oath. There he was told that he must go to Inverary; 95km away and take the oath in front of the sheriff . It was now the 31st December 1691. It was freezing, and he had less that 24 hours to meet the deadline. He failed.
He reached Inverary on the 3rd January 1692 carrying a letter of explanation from Colonel Hill, commander of Fort William. The sheriff wasn’t there. MacIan finally took the oath on the 6th January 1692 – five days late. Therefore his name was left off the official lists.
Who should be made an example of by the government to ensure peace in the Highlands? MacDonald of Glengarry who refused to take the oath, but who lived in a well fortified house in the Great Glen. It would be difficult to attack and held no guarantee of success. Or; on the other hand, the MacDonalds of Glencoe? They were a small clan of noted cattle thieves who lived in scattered huts at the foor of the glen which could be barricaded at both ends, and who were unpopular with their neighbours; the Campbells. According to Dalrymple they were also “the only popish clan in the Kingdom”. That sealed their fate!
The orders were signed by King William. Captain Robert Campbell of Glen Lyon was put in charge and arrived at Glencoe on 1st February 1692. They lived with the clan for nearly a fortnight awaiting orders which arrived on the evening of the 12th February. The orders were brutally explicit. Put all to the sword under the age of seventy.
As it happened, the massacre didn’t go as planned. The soldiers let some of the women and children escape into the snowy night. Others fought and succeeded in fleeing. Both of MacIan’s son’s escaped to fight for the Jacobite cause in the future. Both the chief and his wife were among those killed. The massacre under trust caused a public outcry and has never been forgotten over the 300 years since then.
Things calmed down in the Highlands following the massacre, at least outwardly. Toasts were drunk to the King over the water. Secret memorabilia was kept in Jacobite houses. Women wore white ribbons in their hair, and men wore the white cockade. White roses were planted near the front doors of houses. In fact, it was all very exciting, yet safe in it’s unorthodox nature. Sad songs of longing and lament for the unobtainable and romantic were created and sung.
James died, as did William and Mary, and Anne came to the throne in 1702. Anne was childless, and the English parliament decided to offer the crown to George of Hanover who was descended from James through his daughter Elizabeth. He was staunchly protestant. Unfortunately, the Scottish parliament was not informed of the offer to George.
In 1707 the Act of Union took place, and Scotland ceased to be an independent nation. Most Scots did not want the Union with England, and felt it was a takeover. Indeed, the House of Lords tried to dissolve the Union in 1713. The resolution was only defeated by four votes. Meanwhile, the Jacobite movement was growing in strength. Queen Anne died in 1714. Scotland had been increasingly disenchanted with the Union. George of Hanover had arrived and failed to please his new subjects in England, let alone Scotland. The stage was set and the time was ripe for another rising.
This time it was going to be a joint rising, with England joining in. The leader in Scotland was the Earl of Marr. It should have succeeded, but the infamous Stewart luck once again held true. The rebellion in England failed and the leaders were executed or transported. It was all over by 13th September 1715.
In Scotland, Marr raised the Jacobite Standard at Braemar on the 6th September 1715. Thousands of fighting men flocked to the standard. Inverness and Aberdeen declared for James, as did the burgh north of the Firth of Tay on 14th September. Perth fell to a lightening calvary raid.
The clans in the west were slow to respond and only 3,000 joined Marr. Fort William and other governments strongpoints weren’t captured. The Earl of Marr still commanded 10,000 men. Even more astonishing nobody had actually told James that the rebellion had started. If the Earl of Marr had advanced south Scotland was open to him. There were very few government troops in Scotland. The commander John Campbell; Duke of Argyll, waited for Marr at Stirling; the gateway to the North.
The Earl of Marr also waited – for the French – for more recruits – for the king over the water to arrive. None of them did! Eventually, he set off south towards Dunblane. Argyll occupied the high ground of Sheriffmuir. Marr had no choice but to fight on ground not of his choosing. Battle was engaged on the Jacobite right wing. After three hours of fighting the MacCraes were killed almost to a man. The Jacobites were thrown back. Both armies regrouped, but the short winter day was almost over and night was falling – the battle was suspended.
In the morning, the Jacobite army had gone to Perth. By the time the “King” landed at Peterhead, it was all over bar the shouting. Argyll had been reinforced by 6,000 Dutch troops. The Jacobite army, disheartened by a king without charisma, without funds, and a dithering hesitant commander, was dissolving back to their homes.
James left Scotland on the 4th February 1716. He was 27 years old. He would life for another fifty years, but would never see Scotland again. The 1715 Rising was over.
The reprisals weren’t as severe as might have been expected. Two peers were executed. Thirty other Jacobites who had taken a leading role were either shot or hung, drawn and quartered. Several hundred were sentenced to transportation.
The next major Jacobite Rising was in 1745.
France and Spain were again at war with England. Charles Edward Stewart decided it was now or never to show the world he could regain the Thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland. He landed at Moidart with seven men and set up his Standard at Glenfinnan on Sunday 12th August 1745. What happened then is a continuing story…. |   |
|
 | ||