#jacobite rebellions

[werewolfetone]

Noooo little german boy don't go to Britain and become king because your mother was the next legitimate protestant heir and cause decades of bloody fighting because James II's son thinks that he has a stronger claim

[adventuresofalgy]

[Please click on the image to see it at a reasonable size.]

Algy fluttered over the deep chasm to the highest point on the headland, just a few metres away, and gazed in awe at the panorama around him, which was so extensive that he could only see a small part of it at a time.

But a very special view lay to the north-east, for looking out in this direction Algy could not only see a wide expanse of the Sea of the Hebrides but some decisive moments in Scottish history.

Algy wondered which birds might have perched in this very spot in the years 1745 and 1746, for what they would have seen changed Scotland for centuries to come, right up until the present day. Did they see that wee boat, over there in the distance, which brought Bonnie Prince Charlie and his followers on the final stage of their journey to Scotland from France in the summer of 1745? Algy could see a boat over there now, but he thought that it was probably not the same one…

Did his fluffy ancestral cousins fly that short distance over the water to watch the young prince make his way up to Glenfinnan at the head of Loch Shiel to rally the clans (a spot now famous for a much less significant reason)? It was a route well known to Algy…

And did they, a year later, see the prince and his men, fleeing from the battlefield of Culloden and the English army, set out again from Loch nan Uamh, just over there where the mainland meets the sea? And not once, but twice: first to escape pursuit in the outer islands, and then finally, in the early hours of September 20, 1746, to sail away to France, never to return…?

And did those birds add their cries to the laments of the folk left behind to face the wrath and terror of Cumberland's army? What stories those birds could tell if only Algy could meet them now…

Here is one of those laments, which remains ever popular, performed by some young Canadian musicians including a singer with a beautiful voice.❣️ The landscape is all wrong, but the song is all right ☺️

[Will ye no come back again was written by the late 18th/early 19th Scottish songwriter Carolina Oliphant, Lady Nairne.]

[hamletthedane]

No little german boy, don’t go to england and take the crown when James and Charles Stuart both have stronger claims to the throne!

“Oh Mein Gott Zees Is Ein Countree of Scottsfightton!”

[eowynstwin]

In other news I’ve been listening to both Clanlands and The Clanlands Almanac so prepare for anything with Soap in it (cough selkie soap) to be nauseatingly Scottish

[clove-pinks]

I am all over this online archive lately, which is a treasure trove of military art and maps from the 16th century through Waterloo. It's entirely prints and drawings, not paintings, but there are some lovely pieces and many lesser-known conflicts. (The War of 1812 collection is surprisingly comprehensive and focused on naval battles).

A view of the British sloop of war Little Belt, having been defeated in action with the American frigate President in the channel of Sandy Hook on 16 May 1811: print by William Elmes, 1811

[racefortheironthrone]

Why did the Blackfyres keep attacking for decades, despite failure after failure? I guess they're modelled after the Jacobites, so why did the Jacobites keep attacking?

While there are some commonalities between the different Rebellions, I do think that a bunch of them were sui generis and others were strongly influenced by what had happened the previous Rebellion.

So for example, the Second Rebellion was motivated pretty strongly by a sense that Bloodraven and Aerys I had so badly mishandled the royal government that a Blackfyre Rebellion would develop something of a bandwagon effect as disaffected nobles heard that a Blackfyre had landed in Westeros and hatched a dragon egg, and perhaps even something of a populist uprising as people were finally able to vent their frustrations about plagues, droughts, famine, and a royal government that did not care.

The Third Rebellion was motivated by a sense that they would not repeat the mistakes of the Second, that while the Targaryen regime was still a bit shaky, that Bittersteel and the Golden Company would cross the Narrow Sea this time so that the rising could not be easily squashed, and that they would march behind a Blackfyre king who had been given the sword so that no one who had fought for Daemon would forget that here was the rightful king. And I think this one was probably the high-water mark for the Blackfyres.

The Fourth was largely motivated by the conclusion of the Third - namely, the murder of Haegon Blackfyre after he had surrendered honorably. This violation of the laws of chivalry and kinslaying, when combined with Bloodraven's equally treacherous murder of Aenys Blackfyre after he'd been given a promise of safe conduct, created a strong sense of grievance, that House Targaryen in the person of Bloodraven was a house of dishonorable murderers who held power only because they assassinated Daemon's children and them himself at the Weeping Ridge, then murdered Haegon, then murdered Aenys.

Whereas the War of Ninepenny Kings seems to have been entirely opportunistic.

As for the Jacobites, it was really motivated by religion (Jacobites tended to be Catholic or quasi-Catholic High Church Anglicans, while William & Mary, Queen Anne, and the Hanoverians were all Protestant), belief in divinely-sanctioned monarchy instead of the corruption of Parliament, and a nationalist desire among the Irish and Scots to get out from under the thumb of the British Empire especially following the Act of Union in Scotland and the Protestant Ascendency in Ireland.

[scotianostra]

On May 20th 1685 the Earl of Argyll sailed from Holland to Campbeltown with 300 men in an attempted uprising.

We hear about the Jacobite Uprisings on a regular basis, mainly the 45, but very little about the attempts to usurp the Stuarts from the throne, this was a time of political and religious turmoil, and as usual at the heart of it was a Campbell.

Argyll’s Rising or Argyll’s Rebellion was an a attempt by a group of largely Scottish exiles, led by Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, to overthrow King James II and VII. It took place shortly before and in support of the English led, Monmouth Rebellion, led by James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth.

Argyll’s Rising was intended to tie down Royal forces in Scotland while Monmouth’s army marched on London. Both rebellions were backed by Protestants opposed to the kingship of James, a Roman Catholic.

Argyll, the chief of Clan Campbell, had hoped to raise several thousand men amongst his followers, while it was expected that many Presbyterians in southern Scotland would join the rebels.

Argyll sailed from Holland on on this day in 1685 with around 300 men, but on landing in Scotland attracted relatively few volunteers. Hampered by Argyll’s inexperience as a commander, disagreements amongst the other leaders, and by an opposing force under the Marquess of Atholl, the rebels began to disperse in mid June after an abortive invasion of Lowland Scotland. Most of their leaders were captured, including Argyll, who was executed on 30th June, more of that then.

The pics are of Campbell and a depiction of his capture.

[maypoleman1]

10th June

White Rose Day

Jacobite wearing the White Cockade. Source: Braemar Media Twitter account

Today is White Rose Day, so named in commemoration of the failed Jacobite rebellions in Scotland against the Hanoverian monarchy. I0th June is the birthday of James Edward Stuart, who launched his unsuccessful attempt to oust King George I from the throne of the United Kingdom in 1718. His son, the glamorous Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, during the Jacobite rebellion he led in 1745, allegedly picked a white rose at Fassern near Loch Eil and wore it as a cockade. His followers then did likewise, many Highlanders sporting the White Cockade at the Battle of Culloden, where the Jacobite cause was finally crushed by Royal troops.

On this day the intriguing traditional Snail Creep dance takes place at Roche in Cornwall. A band plays and the dancers wind themselves in ever decreasing circles, forming a coil of dancing bodies until the rows resemble a human snail’s shell, before they uncoil and begin the dance again. Many folklore claims have been made for the Snail Creep, including that it represents ancient snake worship, or that it has its origins in Neolithic maze dances, attested to by prehistoric cave and wall paintings. Others say it represents tree worship with the dancers originally encircling a sacred oak. It may be none of the above, but the dance’s very strangeness does hint at a pre-Christian origin.

[authorjessicacale]

Ill-Fated, Scandalous Lovers: Sophia Dorothea and the Swedish Count

The tale of Sophia Dorothea of Celle and her handsome, dashing lover, the Swedish Count Philip Christoph von Königsmarck, is tragic, but also rather foolish, because the lovers were so reckless that they brought about their own doom. It almost seems to me that the heedless teens Romeo and Juliet went about their wooing with more dignity and more sober awareness of the threats they faced than…

[hedge-rambles]

Fun fact about that first one, it's more like:

-It's A Shame I Will Never Get To See My Wife Or Favourite Lake Ever Again Because I Am Dead (But At Least The Ghost Road Is Quicker Than Walking)

im putting together a couple of scottish folk mixes bc that’s what i do and im honestly curious if anyone in my country has ever been unequivocally happy about anything ever

[werewolfetone]

Guys watch out I've heard that op is a Jacobite bot

[adventuresofalgy]

Algy flew over to a point on the far side of the headland where the rough moorland suddenly fell away vertically to the wild ocean below. It posed no danger to a fluffy bird who could launch himself into the sky at a moment's notice, but for an unwary human who took a step too far this spot could potentially be fatal, for the edge of the cliffs was concealed by the lush growth of grass and heather, and there was nothing but jagged rocks below and the endless pounding of the surf.

Of course on such a beautiful autumn day as this the ocean looked just as meek and innocent as a newborn lamb, but Algy knew only too well that when the winds got up it would rage and crash on those hidden rocks beneath him with a tremendous roar that could be heard a mile inland, and huge white horses would gallop across the surface of the sea in enormous numbers. Woe betide anyone who tried to cross it then!

Making himself comfortable among the long autumn grasses on a cushion of soft moss, Algy gazed out across the beautiful Sea of the Hebrides. On a clear day he could see many of the islands of the Inner Hebrides from this spot, and on the far western horizon it was often possible to make out the shadowy forms of the southernmost of the outer islands too.

Inevitably he began to sing a song which he had learned long ago, when he was just a tiny wee fluffy chick. For there in front of him, just behind the low lying island of Muck, was the Isle of Rum on the left, Eigg on the right and, just visible in the gap between them, the mountains of the Isle of Skye. And quite close behind him, although out of sight from the headland, lay the rather less romantic island of Mull:

Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,  Say, could that lad be I?  Merry of soul he sailed on a day  Over the sea to Skye.  Mull was astern, Rum on the port,  Eigg on the starboard bow;  Glory of youth glowed in his soul;  Where is that glory now?  Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,  Say, could that lad be I?  Merry of soul he sailed on a day  Over the sea to Skye.  Give me again all that was there,  Give me the sun that shone!  Give me the eyes, give me the soul,  Give me the lad that's gone!  Sing me a song of a lad that is gone,  Say, could that lad be I?  Merry of soul he sailed on a day  Over the sea to Skye.  Billow and breeze, islands and seas, Mountains of rain and sun, All that was good, all that was fair,  All that was me is gone.

Algy is singing the version of the lyrics he learned as a chick, written by the 19th century Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, and usually titled Sing me a song of a lad that is gone (N.B. that's lad, not lass!). Algy doesn't watch television, but he understands that it is the Stevenson lyrics which were adapted to become the theme song of the popular TV series Outlander.

In fact, if this is a description of the final Hebridean voyage of Bonnie Prince Charlie "over the sea to Skye" in August 1746 it is quite wrong, for the Young Pretender actually crossed from the outer Hebribdean island of Benbecula to a north-western point on the Isle of Skye before he left for France, and could not have come anywhere near the islands of Rum, Eigg or Mull. But if Stevenson was referring to the prince's initial flight from the mainland to the islands in April 1746, after the Battle of Culloden, it might make more sense, as on that occasion he sailed from a point close to Arisaig (just out of sight on the right horizon of Algy's photo) and could well have passed the islands in that way. On that occasion, however, the prince did not land in Skye as the boat was blown off course in stormy weather. There seems to be some confusion!

The "original" version of the lyrics of the Skye Boat Song, as it is usually called, does not mention the islands at all. This was written slightly earlier, by an English baronet, Sir Harold Boulton. Although it is often assumed that this is a traditional Scottish song it is not, except in the melody, which is said to be taken from a Gaelic rowing song (which had nothing to do with Bonnie Prince Charlie), which a mid-19th century collector heard on a trip to Skye and set down as best she could remember it. However, the song was very popular from the outset and was quickly adopted as a Scottish song both in Scotland and elsewhere. Over time it has gone through many versions, sometimes a "mashup" of the two originals, and sometimes with entirely new lyrics.

It is said that Stevenson, who was indeed a Scot, didn't like Boulton's lyrics, considering them insufficiently plaintive. But Boulton's lyrics do convey much more of the context of Bonnie Prince Charlie's flight [here is one account, though there are many others], so Algy thought you might enjoy the version below, although with the caveat that you should ignore the YouTube channel on which it appears unless you sympathize with its purpose. It was the only place he could find a complete copy of this very atmospheric, illustrated version sung by the Scottish musician Alastair McDonald:

[clancarruthers]

CARRUTHERS AND THE JACOBITE REBELLION - CLAN CARRUTHERS CCIS

CARRUTHERS AND THE JACOBITE REBELLION    1745 – 1746   The Rebellion The 1715 and 1745 insurrections were certainly not an attempt to put Prince Charles Edward Stewart on the throne of the United Kingdom of Scotland, England and (at that time)Ireland. His father styled James VIII of Scotland and III of England was still alive. Charles Edward Stewart was fighting for his father throne, although…

[abandonedography]

Dunnottar Castle, "fort on the shelving slope" is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, but the site is believed to have been fortified in the Early Middle Ages. Dunnottar has played a prominent role in the history of Scotland through to the 18th-century Jacobite risings because of its strategic location and defensive strength.

Dunnottar is best known as the place where the Honours of Scotland, the Scottish crown jewels, were hidden from Oliver Cromwell's invading army in the 17th century. The property of the Keiths from the 14th century, and the seat of the Earl Marischal, Dunnottar declined after the last Earl forfeited his titles by taking part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. The castle was restored in the 20th century and is now open to the public.

The ruins of the castle are spread over 1.4 hectares (3+1⁄2 acres), surrounded by steep cliffs that drop to the North Sea, 160 feet (50 meters) below. A narrow strip of land joins the headland to the mainland, along which a steep path leads up to the gatehouse. The various buildings within the castle include the 14th-century tower house as well as the 16th-century palace.

(source)

[scotianostra]

On August 15th 1771 Sir Walter Scott the poet and novelist was born in Edinburgh.

Walter survived polio as a toddler which left him with a limp and he used a cane the rest of his life. He was the first author to have international fame in his lifetime and is credited with inventing the historical novel.

Scott used the great storytelling tradition of the Highlands to help bring back the Scottish identity that had been cruelly crushed by the British. His Waverly novels were very popular in Europe and America starting Romanticism and influencing American writers such as Thoreau and Twain.

As well as popularising the historical novel, his books more or less invented tourism in Scotland. A family holiday to Loch Katrine inspired Scott to write the epic narrative poem The Lady of the Lake; a romantic, stirring tale of secret identity, love and loss. It was a publishing phenomenon and readers flocked to see the landscape Scott had described. Thus when travel entrepreneurs such as Thomas Cook began selling packaged railroad tours in the 1840s, Scotland was one of the most popular destinations. Victorians who had grown up on Scott’s Waverley novels, and now technology made it possible to reach these areas

Scott was a prolific writer, publishing two novels a year. Readers around the globe devoured his tales of historic Scotland and its noble, heroic people.

Composers in particular found inspiration in his work, among them Gaetano Donizetti who was inspired to write the tragic opera Lucia del Lammermoor based on Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoor.  Franz Schubert was similarly moved, setting text from The Lady of the Lake to music to create his much-loved work Ave Maria.

When King George IIII visited Edinburgh in 1822 Scott was put in charge of the festivities. This was the first time a reigning monarch had made it north of the border in over 200 years and Scott masterminded a spectacular Scottish show in his honour.

He created a romantic - and, some argued, and still do argue, an unrealistic - vision of the Highlands on the streets of the capital with parades, gatherings of clans and swathes of tartan on display. King George himself lapped up this romantic symbolism, dressing in a kilt for the occasion and, like a 19th century influencer, prompting others to wear it too. It marked a turning point in the way the world saw Scotland, and the return of tartan to fashionable society following a ban enforced by the government in the aftermath of the Jacobite rebellion.

Scott’s influence in society allowed him to lobby on causes he held dear.Sir Walter Scott got involved in a number of political issues. Particularly, his interested in issues where the government was trying to impose things on Scotland. For example, the Bank of England wanted to withdraw the right of Scottish banks to print bank notes, it's testement to the man that he features on bank notes not just today, but going back to the days of smaller nbanks, like the Linen Bank in Scotland, The Bank of Scotland range of notes still carry his portrait. Scott He stirred up such a furore that the government backed down, so you have him to thank that your not carrying English bank notes around with you, imagine a life where we Scots couldn't have a good old moan about businesses in England refusing to take our money as payment!

Scott’s popularity as a poet was cemented in 1813 when he was given the opportunity to become Poet Laureate. However, he declined and Robert Southey accepted the position instead.

Having suffered a stroke in 1831, which resulted in apoplectic paralysis, his health continued to fail and Scott died on 21st September 1832 at Abbotsford, I hope to read and post more about Sir Walter Scott in just over a months time.

[maypoleman1]

24th February

St Matthias’ Day

James Radclyffe, Third Earl of Derwentwater. Source: Wikipedia

On this day in 1716, James Ratcliffe, the last Earl of Derwentwater was executed. His crime was to be one of the leading lights of the Jacobite Rebellion of the previous year (known to history as “The Fifteen”) which had begun in the Highlands of Scotland with the intent of overthrowing the Hanoverian King George I in favour of James Stuart, son of King James II who had been deposed in 1688. The rebels invaded England and succeeded in taking Preston, but the hoped-for rising of Stuart supporters in England failed to materialise and Derwentwater, along with many of the other rebel leaders, was captured by Hanoverian troops there.

Romance followed the story of Derwentwater after his death. Many ballads were written of his tragic demise and his wife, Lady Derwentwater, briefly escaped with the couple’s fortune by climbing the cliffs above the family seat in Derwentwater. On hearing of her husband’s execution (she blamed herself for encouraging him to join the Stuart insurrection), she threw the treasure into the lake, never to be seen again. Tradition also states that when Derwentwater was executed, the stream at Dilston Hall ran red, the river turned into a sea of serpents, and the sun shone red with blood. The Aurora Borealis may be the actual origin of this dramatic tale and the Northern Lights are still referred to in Cumbria as Lord Derwentwater’s Lights.

Today is also St Matthias’ Day, on which the last cold blast of winter takes place. Traditionally Matthias’ feast is characterised by freezing weather either on the day itself or sometime over the following week.