Ў Jacobite rebellions Despite their bravery and enthusiasm, the Jacobites were overwhelmed by British forces. In both major rebellions, the British government was able to count on loyalist Scots support.
Although the Scottish did not universally admire the Stuart succession and the union with England, only the Jacobites formed an active opposition. The Jacobites were the supporters of James II (1633-1701) and his male descendants - royal pretenders who, during the first half of the 18th century, pursued an active and sometimes violent claim to the thrones of Scotland and England. Principally due to the clan structure, the Jacobite cause was strongest in the Scottish Highlands, but there was limited support from the Catholic gentry in northern England.
Some of the Highlanders had chosen to follow the last of the Stuart kings into exile, but many of those who remained openly voiced their opposition to the Act of Settlement (1701) and the Act of Union (1707). These Highlanders sided with Catholic France and Spain rather than the Protestant Electorate of Hanover. During the reign (1702-14) of Anne, the Jacobites were content to remain in the Highlands and confine themselves to vocal opposition, but a more dynamic campaign ensued after her death.
The Fifteen Rebellion
In 1715, a year after the accession of the Hanoverian George I (1660-1727) as King of Great Britain and Ireland, the Earl of Mar raised the Highlanders to fight in the name of the would-be James VIII of Scotland (and James III of England), James Edward Stuart (1688-1766). Mar and the Jacobite army marched south to Perth, central Scotland, gaining further support en route. The government hastily assembled a defence force, which prevented the Jacobites from capturing the town at the inconclusive Battle of Sheriffmuir. Meanwhile, magistrates in Edinburgh had ordered the arrest of known Jacobites, and suppressed a sympathetic rising in the city.
In northern England, the Jacobite cause had greater initial success and a small army marched as far south as Preston, Lancashire, although it did meet sporadic
THE 'BONNIE PRINCE'
After his defeat at the Battle of Culloden (April 16,1746), Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-88) became a fugitive, hounded by British troops and sheltered by Jacobite supporters. While taking refuge in the Hebrides, Charles was aided in his flight from Britain by Flora Macdonald (1722-90). Disguised as Betty Burke, an Irish spinning-maid, Charles accompanied Flora on a voyage to Skye, Inner Hebrides. In September 1746, (Charles completed his escape by sailing to France. Disowned by Catholic Europe, Charles became a dipsomaniac.
Opposition. By this time, however. Highlanders that remained loyal to George I had recaptured the town of Inverness, north-east Scotland, and soon the government had regained control of all Scotland. Active support for the Jacobites melted away. James, who became known as the 'Old Pretender', briefly landed on the Scottish coast before fleeing back to France.
After the British government restored order, the clampdown was severe but hardly excessive by the standards of the day. The government executed a few leaders and condemened hundreds of prisoners to a life of servitude on plantations in the Tropics. Many Jacobite noble families had their titles rescinded, and an attempt was made to confiscate Highlanders' weapons. In 1717, the government issued a general pardon to those involved in the '15 Rebellion, although there were exceptions and some remained condemned.
The Forty-five Rebellion
The Stuart cause remained a potent threat to the British government, and an abortive Spanish landing in 1719 provoked a more systematic wave of repression. The government enforced a new Disarming Act more rigorously than the earlier confiscations, and recruited loyal Highlanders into special police units that eventually amalgamated into the Black Watch regiment. From 1725 to 1735, the British military commander, General George Wade, constructed a network of highways across the Highlands that, like Roman roads, was intended for the rapid movement of troops.
In July 1745, with the government and most of the army preoccupied with the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48) in Europe, James Stuart's son, Charles Edward Stuart (1720-88) - the 'Young Pretender' - landed with a small band of supporters on the west coast of Scotland. Highlanders again flocked to the Jacobite standard, although in smaller numbers than in the Fifteen Rebellion. Within a few weeks, 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' had gained control of most of Scotland, and in September 1745 he marched into Edinburgh and proclaimed his father as King James VIII.
Realising that it was only a matter of time before the government called up reinforcements, Charles made a rapid advance to the south, reaching Derby, central England, without meeting serious opposition. The presence of a Jacobite army less than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from London caused panic in the capital.
But Charles was unable to exploit the situation and retreated north to overu'inter in the Highlands.
In the spring of 1746, Charles deployed his army in a set-piece battle, at Culloden, near Inverness, against a combined force of regulars and loyal Highlanders, commanded by the Duke of Cumberland (1721-65), son of George II (1683-1760) of Great Britain and Ireland. Cumberland crushed the Jacobite army and showed little mercy to prisoners or the wounded, many of whom were slaughtered.
The immediate aftermath of Culloden was equally brutal and bloody, with both sides claiming betrayal and much settling of old scores and rivalries. In the medium-term, government policy was equally unforgiving - Jacobite lands were confiscated, the inhabitants displaced and their traditional Highland dress prohibited by law.
A Battle of Glenshiel (1719) by Peter Tillemans (1684-1734). After the failure of the '15 Rebellion, a further rising in the Scottish Highlands, aided by Spain and led by the Earl of Seaforth, was defeated by General Joseph Wightman.
Ў Execution of the Jacobite Lords, engraving after George Budd (active 1745-52). On August 18,1746, Arthur Elpinstone, 6th Baron of Balmerino, and William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, were beheaded for treason at Tower Hill, London.
World History
