In the early half of 1745, Charles Edward Stuart or Bonnie Prince Charlie, saw an opportunity to reclaim what he considered to be his father’s two kingdoms, Great Britain, formally united in 1707, and Ireland. George II and the British army were occupied in the War of the Austrian Succession, leaving only around 6,000 troops to defend England. Aided by the early support of Donald Cameron of Lochiel, XIX chief of Clan Cameron, he and is party of men were successful in raising a force of 2,000 Scots.

With word of this force ready to march on the Lowlands, it was up to Sir John Cope to give a response root he government. Cope was the general in command of the 4,000 government troops stationed in Scotland, but unfortunately the most of his troops were only recently raised and as a result inexperienced. Cope and his troops marched on Fort Augustus in the heart of the Highlands in an effort to awe the Highlanders into surrender and end the rebellion before it had truly begun. Upon hearing that the rebel army was looking to oppose him at Corryarrack, he instead marched to Inverness hoping to be the one to decide the battleground. Cope had underestimated the men commanding the rebel forces.

Bonnie Prince Charlie and his troops marched straight down to the Lowlands, which by now were almost undefended. A small force which held Edinburgh retreated in the face of the superior foe, leaving the city open for the taking. On 16 September, some of Prince Charles’s army captured the city with little or no fighting, though Edinburgh Castle was still defended for the government. Cope meanwhile furiously marched to Aberdeen  are he had urgently ordered ships, so he and his troops could make haste o the south. On the same day the Jacobites took Edinburgh, Cope and his men disembarked in Dunbar.

Even though Cope knew his troops were far from the best, he was determined to engage the Jacobite force. His intelligence told him that the rebels only numbered around 2,000 men, and whilst they were fit and hardy, they were ill-equipped. Cope believed this would mean his force, in two regiments of dragoons and three and a half regiments of infantry, should easily overpower them. It was even said that on their march towards Edinburgh they assured the locals that there would be no battle.

It was on the 20th of September that the two forces first met, just outside Prestonpans near Preston house. The Jacobite army had secured the high ground to the south of Cope’s position, but Cope was determined to face the rebels and made the best of his situation. He drew up his force facing south using the park walls of Preston house to provide protection for the right flank and a marshy bog to the front. Although they had secured a good position the Jacobites were dismayed by the way Cope had taken advantage of the land. A traditional Highland charge would flounder in the marshes and be decimated by musket and cannon fire. The senior Jacobite officers knew they must change their plans if they were to come away victorious but could not agree on what should be done. It was Lord George Murray who pushed for them to move their force to the East so they could assault the exposed left flank of the government forces and it was Lieutenant Anderson, a local farmers son, who knew the lay of the land and knew of a way to get the force where it needed to go. At 4am on the 21st the Jacobites began to move, 3 abreast along a narrow defile, in order to reach the east flank.

Meanwhile, Cope had noticed some movement in the opposing force juts before dark, though this move was the result of confusion in the Jacobite ranks and was abandoned. He feared that the Jacobite planned to attack both his flanks and thus redeployed in forces in a north south front, the formation that they would fight in the next day. He also ordered that 200 dragoons and 300 infantryman should take on picket duty and light fires in the front of his position in order to thwart any plans for a surprise night attack. Cope felt secure with these measures and in addition ordered 3 companies of Louden’s Highlanders to guard the baggage park in Cockenzie, as well as dismissing some 100 volunteers ordering them to report back in the morning. Cope also made a last minute attempt to gain reinforcements from Edinburgh Castle,  requesting Artilleryman to attend his position. It would be for nought though, as the battle would take place a lot earlier than Cope had expected.

At the crack of dawn on the 21st September, Cope’s Dragoons beheld a spectacle that would send a shiver down any sane mans spine. Out of the early morning mist, making “wild Highland war cries and with the bloodcurdling skirl of the pipes” came 1,400 Highlanders charging straight towards Cope and his men. Cope’s inexperienced army wheeled to meet a foe they were not expecting to come from the east, and Cope even managed to scramble some artillery into position. Undaunted by the light and inaccurate fire the Highlanders continued their charge. The centre of this charge became bogged down in an are of marshland, which meant the straight line of the charge became a v formation. The wings on either side met with the dragoons on either side of the British force, which caused them to immediately flee.

This meant that Cope was left with only the centre of his force, which also happened to be the experienced Royal Infantry. Unfortunately for hem the unplanned flanking manoeuvre by the Jacobites, which happened when the wings of the v wrapped around the side of the Royal Infantry and the centre met them head on, meant the were effectively surrounded by Highlanders and they suffered for it. After sustaining heavy casualties they eventually gave way.

Around 10 minutes after the battle had begun, it was over. Hundreds of government troops were dead or injured, and thousands were taken prisoner whom Bonnie Prince Charlie himself ordered should be treated with the greatest of care. The Jacobite’s on the other hand had only suffered around 100 casualties. Cope still in charge of around 200 men, pulled them away to reorganise and rally them in an adjacent field, but they refused to engage the enemy further. Cope had no choice but to retreat and make the long journey south to the relative safety of Berwick-upon-tweed.

Cope’s baggage train in Cockenzie was seized giving the Jacobites around £5000, many muskets and plenty of ammunition but this was not all the victory gave to the cause. It signalled the true beginning of the rebellion, greatly boosting the morale of the Stuart supporters, and causing a surge in recruitment to the Jacobites in Scotland. The battle cemented the seriousness of this new Jacobite rebellion and it’s effectiveness to claim victory in the battles to come.

A cairn was erected in 1953 to commemorate the memory of all those that fell in the battle. A coal bing was also erected, atop which flies Prince Charlie’s battle flag, using the remains of the area’s coal shale shaped into an obelisk to provide a vantage point for today’s visitors.

In 2006 the Battle of Prestonpans 1745 Heritage Trust was established with the goal to ensure much better presentation and interpretation of the battle. Plans include a visitor Centre in the grounds of Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum, ‘Living History’ battle re-enactments, battle-related storytelling and new novels, and a new ‘Flowering of the Arts’ including embroidery.

In 2008 the Trust commissioned Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division to undertake a comprehensive survey, followed by selective excavation, of the battlefield. Although it was thought that the location of the battlefield was known for years the team actually discovered that the true site was located some 500 yards away. Based on concentrations of musket balls and other evidence, this new site is where it is believed the Highlanders charge actually took place.

Details of all the Trust’s activities can be found at its website - www.battleofprestonpans1745.org

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A joint force of Picts and Scots under King Angus (or Óengus) of The Picts met a Northumbrian army under King Athelstan at a location near what would become Athelstaneford, four miles north east of Haddington, in East Lothian. The Pictish army were surrounded by superior numbers and prayed for assistance. That night Saint Andrew who was martyred on a Saltire shaped cross appeared to Angus and assured him of victory.

The following morning the two armies formed up for battle. As they did so, a strange cloud formation appeared, forming a broad diagonal white cross against the background of bright blue sky. The Picts and Scots believed this to be an omen: and so did the Angles. The battle that followed was an improbable victory for the outnumbered Picts and Scots. From then onwards the Saltire has been used as Scotland’s national flag.

Use of the familiar iconography of St Andrews martyrdom, showing the apostle bound to an X-shaped cross, first appears in the Kingdom of Scotland in 1180 during the reign of William I. The earliest physical evidence of the Saltires use as a national symbol can be traced to 1286, were it was used on the seal of the Guardians of Scotland, and evidence of the symbol being used on a flag rather than a seal, brooch or surcoat dates to much later. The earliest reference to the Saint Andrew’s Cross as a flag is found in the Vienna Book of Hours, circa 1503, in which a white saltire is depicted with a red background. In the case of Scotland, use of a blue background for the Saint Andrew’s Cross is said to date from at least the 15th century, with the first certain illustration of a flag depicting such appearing in Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount’s Register of Scottish Arms, circa 1542, although the massive heraldic standard of the ‘Great Michael’, a great ship of the Royal Scottish Navy which was launched around 1510, had the “Sanct Androis cors” on a blue background in the Hoist.

Traditionally the Saltire is blue (some say to represent the sky in the vision) but some versions have existed which have the white cross on a black background (due to the shortage of vegetable dyes that could reproduce the colour) and even green or red.

In modern Scotland the Scottish Government has ruled that the Saltire should, where possible, fly on all its buildings every day from 8am until sunset. Th only exception to this is during United Kingdom ‘National Days’, were the Saltire is replaced by the Union Flag if only one flag pole is present. Likewise on St Andrews Day, the Union Flag is only flown if more than one flag pole is present. In recent years, embassies of the United Kingdom have also flown the Saltire to mark St Andrew’s Day.

The seven British Army Infantry battalions of the Scottish Division, plus the Scots Guards and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards regiments, use the Saltire in a variety of forms to this day. Combat and transport vehicles of these Army units may be adorned with a small, 130mm x 80mm in size, representation of the Saltire. Such decals being displayed on the front and/or rear of the vehicle and on tanks these may also be displayed on the vehicle turret. In Iraq, during both Operation Granby and the subsequent Operation Telic, the Saltire was seen to be flown from the communications whip antenna of vehicles belonging to these units. Funerals, conducted with full military honours, of casualties of these operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, have also been seen to include the Saltire; the flag being draped over the coffin of the deceased.

There are several areas around the world that use a variation of the Saltire as their own flag, usually due to a connection with Scotland. The Canadian province of Nova Scotia (Latin for ‘New Scotland’) uses an inverse version of the flag, with a blue cross on a field of white. Nova Scotia has more than just a name to connect it to Scotland, as it was the first colonial venture of the Kingdom of Scotland in the Americas and as such has a great number of Scottish descendants.

The Dutch area of Sint-Oedenrode, which is named after the Scottish princess Saint Oda, uses a version of the flag of Scotland, defaced with a gold castle having on both sides a battlement.

The flag of Tenerife is identical to the Scottish flag except for the shade of blue, Tenerife’s flag using a much darker colour. Although some theories claim a connection between the flags, their similarity is likely coincidental.

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The Royal Mile, one of the most famous streets in Edinburgh, runs from the castle all the way down to Holyrood Palace. When Edinburgh castle was first established this was the only accessible route, a natural ramp formed thousands of years ago gave access to a castle otherwise impregnable from the east.

With the establishment of Holyrood palace, or rather the original monastery in the 12th century, the route between the two became an important thoroughfare. Businesses and government offices sprang up as well as several churches such as the magnificent St Giles Cathedral.

By the 16th century many parts of this route became dedicated to markets and the wide area running down from St Giles towards the Canongate featured some of the city’s first permanent shops. Many of these housed small trade people who made and sold their wares, and among the most popular were the jewellers. The shops themselves were very small and were known as ‘Locked Booths’. From this we get the word ‘Luckenbooth’.

The Luckenbooth brooch became a very popular item in 16th century Scotland. It featured the ‘Heart & Crown of Scotland’ and was romantically linked to the tragic Mary, Queen of Scots as it was the brooch she had given to Lord Darnley.

The style of the Luckenbooth brooch became very popular throughout the UK. By the 18th century the trade in silver to the new world featured the little brooch and many ended up traded with Native Americans, particularly the Iroquois of the Six Nations. As a result of this the Luckenbooth became a popular decorative symbol in their costumes.

The tradition was that the young man would give his lady a Luckenbooth brooch on their wedding day. When their first child arrived the brooch would then be pinned to the babies shawl to protect it from “evil spirits”. As such it had very similar connotations to the Irish ‘Claddagh’ ring especially with the similar heart shaped theme. This tradition can be carried over to today. A Luckenbooth Brooch makes a fantastic gift for your bride on your wedding day, or a gift for a newborn as a symbol of protection and love. Whatever you pick one up for, it is and always will be an enduring symbol of Edinburgh and of Scotland.

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Battle of Baugé

Background:

The Battle was part of the ‘Hundred Years War’ between England and France. In 1419 King Henry V of England had turned the course of the war at Agincourt, a battle that has become synonymous with Anglo French ‘sparring’ ever since. There had been a formal alliance between France and Scotland since 1295, known as the ‘Auld Alliance’ though the ties between the two nations goes back much further, indeed the tradition of a ‘Guarde Eccosais’ goes back to the time of Charlemagne.

After Agincourt the French were in disarray. Charles VI of France was mad, and his heir, the future Charles VII, was only sixteen. Normandy was lost to the English and the Dukes of Burgundy were taking Paris. With the situation getting desperate the Dauphin appealed to Scotland for help.

King James I of Scotland was imprisoned by the English and the country was being ruled in his place by Robert Stewart, first duke of Albany. Albany decided to send a force of 6,000 volunteers to France under the command of Archibald Douglas, earl of Wigtown and Albany’s second son John Steward, third earl of Buchan. A fleet of ships from Castile reached Scotland in September 1419, and on 29 October 1419 the Scottish army reached the Dauphin’s court at Bourges.

The Scots made up by far the largest component of the Dauphin’s defensive forces in the Loire Valley. The English army still recording successes in France was commanded by Henry V’s oldest brother Thomas of Lancaster, duke of Clarence. Estimates of the strength of this force vary from between 7,000 to 12,000 men, a considerable number of which were drawn from the English nobility.

In March 1421 Clarence led a series of raids through the Anjou and Maine and by Good Friday they were camped near the little town of Vieil-Baugé where their progress was halted by the Franco-Scots army who had also arrived in the area. Clarence was keen to engage them but some of his forces were dispersed and also Easter Sunday was unthinkable as a date to start a battle. The following day a party of English who had been on a foraging mission returned to their camp with some captured Scots soldiers, The party had stumbled upon the Scot’s forces and Clarence keen to press his advantage of surprise and also to avoid a conflict on a holy day decided to engage despite his weakened force.

The Battle

Carmichael Clan Crest

Clarence made the fateful decision to attack immediately with a small force of mounted men-at-arms, leaving The earl of Salisbury to gather the other troops who were still out foraging on their return. Clarence headed for the bridge at Baugé, the only crossing available to reach the Scots. It would appear he was desperate to match the exploits of his brother at Agincourt. The Franco-Scots army were largely unprepared for the attack, many were at morning prayers or playing sports. As they attempted to cross the Bridge a small Scottish force nearby raised the alarm and the English were immediately held by a rain of arrows. It took them some time to force a crossing of the river. In his haste he had not brought his own archers and the remainder of this initial force were stretched back along the road.

Despite this Clarence still pressed forward towards the village, only to be met by the main bulk of the Scots and French who were concealed behind a ridge on the approach. The Scots came over the crest and charged headlong at the English army. Clarence was an early casualty. John Carmichael of Douglasdale unhorsed him, breaking his lance in the process – an event which is immortalised in the crest of clan Carmichael. The battle was reduced to a vicious hand to hand melee and its unclear who stuck the final blow that finished off Clarence. Alexander Makcaustelayn (a Lennox highlander), the lord of Fontaines, Charles le Bouteiller and William de Swinton have all been credited with finishing off the King’s brother.

Aftermath

The result was a crushing defeat for the English which set them back on the course of the war, Henry was forced to return to France but he contracted an illness and died during the campaign. Many of the English who had never even made it to the battle were able to escape and the war raged on for many years to come with victories and defeats on both sides.

The Scots Army in France who had been largely criticised by many French before the battle were now seen in an altogether different light and this French guard in later years formed the core of the Royal Scots – the oldest regiment in the British army, honoured for their antiquity by their nickname ‘Pontius Pilate’s Bodyguard’

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The Kyle of Tongue

This battle was an internal feud among the men of Clan MacKay but also involved some Sutherland men. A disastrous battle, it led to the loss of many senior members of the clan and most of the belligerents on both sides.

The origins of the battle begin with an ongoing feud between the MacKays and their neighbours the Sutherland Clan. In 1370 the MacKay chief had been murdered by the Sutherlands in Dingwall. This had led to considerable acrimony between both clans as you can imagine and finally in 1426 Angus Du MacKay and his son Neil marched into Sutherland lands to take revenge. They met the Sutherland clan at Harpisdale.

The battle was more or less fought to a stalemate with no clear winner and considerable slaughter on either side. News of the conflict reached James I in Edinburgh. James wasn’t exactly having the easiest of times and frustrated by yet another inter-clan war he rode north to Inverness and demanded that the clan leaders submit to him. Angus duly complied and volunteered his son as a hostage to guarantee his clan’s good behaviour. Neil was taken to the Bass rock. an island prison in the outer Firth of Forth. During his imprisonment he was given the nickname ‘Vass’ a phonetic spelling of ‘Bass’

While this was going on three cousins of Angus Du: the brothers Thomas Mackay, Morgan Mackay, and Neil Neilson Mackay had a dispute with the Laird of Freswick – a man by the name of Mowat. Thomas pursued him to the chapel of St Duffus in the town of Tain. Mowat claimed sanctuary at the chapel but Thomas killed him anyway and burned down the chapel for good measure. As anyone who has followed the fortunes of Robert the Bruce will know murdering someone in a house of worship was a serious breach of etiquette and burning it down was even worse, so once again James I was forced to intervene so he denounced and outlawed Thomas, promising his land and possessions as a reward for his capture dead or alive.

Angus Moray (of Clan Sutherland) apprehended Thomas and handed him over to the law, however there was clear suspicion that Thomas’ own brothers; Morgan and Neil Neilson had assisted Angus Murray for a share of the spoils. Thomas was carted off to Inverness and executed and this apparent betrayal within the clan (made even worse by conspiring with a Sutherland) split the clan.

The Earl of Sutherland – seeing a good opportunity to break the power of the MacKay clan further supported Morgan and Neil Neilson by offering his own daughters in marriage (though they had already married Moray’s daughters). As well as helping them make a bid for the MacKay lands.

Back in Caithness Angus Du and his illegitimate son John Aberach Mackay were in a tight spot. Angus was by now an old man and had no will to fight, preferring to make some sort of settlement with his cousins. He offered all his land apart from Strathnaver but they refused the deal, intending to take all of MacKay lands for themselves. At this point Angus’ illegitimate second son John Aberach Mackay stepped in to advise the elderly chief and offered to defend the MacKay lands or die trying.

Some time between 1427 and 1433 (exact dates are unclear) the two sides met at Drumnacoub (Druim na coub, Drum-ne-coub) a few miles from the coastal village of Tongue on the North East coast.

The battle was a long and terrible one with both sides suffering heavy losses, by the end of the day Neil Mackay, Morgan Mackay and Angus Moray were all dead, John Aberach Mackay was severely wounded (possibly loosing an arm) and lay critical on the battlefield and very few from around 3,000 men (around 1,500 on either side by some estimates) were left standing.

Angus Du in despair asked to be carried to the battlefield to search for his son John but an opportunistic Sutherland archer spotted him and killed him with a well aimed arrow.

Shortly after the battle the remaining MacKay clan had to consider who would succeed as chief. Many supported John despite his illegitimacy but as fortune would have it Neil ‘Vass’ MacKay escaped from imprisonment at the Bass rock and made his way back north (it turned out the governor was married to a MacKay and she possibly helped him break out). John deferred to the legitimate heir and Neil was made chief. John was given lands around Lochnaver.

Neil pursued the Sutherlands who had supported the potential usurpers and a year later took revenge at the Battle of Sandside Chase. The widow of Neil Neilson and his son were given fairly rough treatment at the hands of those loyal to Angus Du’s side and for their own safety the moved to Olrig in Caithness. John dropped the name MacKay and became known as John Bain, progenitor of the Bain Family.

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Just to get us all on the same page before going too far forward, lets talk a little about what and where Scottish Gaelic culture is found in history and where it is today. Gaelic culture set a permanent foothold on the western Scottish mainland around the 4^th century A.D., not too long after the Romans abandoned ship and went back to Rome. It is generally acknowledged that in 843 A.D. Kenneth MacAlpine gained control of the Gaelic and Pictish portions of what we today call Scotland and began a ruling Gaelic dynasty in North Britain that lasted relatively unscathed until the 12^th century. In 1124 A. D. Scottish King David I began aggressively to supplant the Kingdom of Alba’s Gaelic culture in Scotland with Anglo Norman culture, language, institutions and individuals . The result was the birth of a Kingdom of Scotland that was and continued to be solidly Anglo-Norman at the top end, albeit equipped with a rather independent national mindset.

15th Century Gaelic culture. Blue = Gaelic, Yellow = Scots, Orange = Norn

The force of the Anglo-Norman flood into and through the Gaelic world was sudden and massive when David, a Gael by only the slimmest of threads and with considerable support from the English King, added the Gaelic Kingdom of Scotland to his existing title and allegiance as Prince of Cumbria and right hand man to England’s King Henry I. From that point forward the Kingdom of Scotland and Scotland’s indigenous Gaelic culture and civilization began a centuries long divergence from one another. The divide can still be seen today.

Despite not seeing eye to eye with the increasingly Anglo-Norman influenced Scottish Kingdom, a distinct and very vibrant Gaelic culture and civilization resisted assimilation and continued to blossom reaching its greatest Scottish inflorescence with the Finlaggan based Lordship of the Isles during the 14^th and 15^th centuries. Despite the more limiting name and reputation, the Lordship of the Isles was not a civilization limited to a single clan – Clan Donald – nor was it limited by the geographical extent of Scotland’s western islands. Rather, the protection and influence of the Gaelic Lordship extended across much of the remaining Gaelic speaking portions of Scotland.

Gaelic speakers reflected in Scottish decennial census 1891 – 2001

Unfortunately the Lordship collapsed near the close of the 15^th century and began to suffer open and direct Scottish anti-Gaelic policies ranging from forced assimilation to extermination. Despite reductions caused by the persistent implementation of an anti-Gaelic mindset, native Gaelic culture and language has not been extirpated and it survives in the far western Scottish mainland and in the Hebrides. Today efforts aimed toward Gaelic cultural and language revitalization are well underway and even supported to a certain degree by the Scottish government.

Beginning in the 17^th century and over the course of the following two and a half centuries, a significant Gaelic diaspora left Scotland and became planted in the New World. We are the progeny of that Diaspora. With perhaps the sole exception of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada and perhaps a few small pockets elsewhere in that Commonwealth nation, native Gaelic culture and language have disappeared from New World shores.

The point of a Scottish Gaelic revitalization movement in places like America is not to create a warlike tattooed ethnic Gaelic mob that overtakes our present federal government and issues broad swords, great kilts and bagpipes to all citizens no matter how much fun that seems like it would be. The principal point is to join in the movement to save Scotland’s indigenous culture – our culture – from extinction (an event which lies not that distant on the Gaelic horizon) and to ensure that Gaelic culture remains alive and expanding in the Gaelic ancestral homeland and across the Gaelic world. By engaging in this journey with and in support of our Gaelic brothers and sisters in Alba our own interests will be enriched in previously unanticipated ways – more on that below.

Members of the Gaelic Diaspora are descendants of a distinctive indigenous culture that has been forced to fight for its own intellectual sovereignty and cultural autonomy since the 12^th century. The remarkable thing is it is still fighting.

So to begin the project, and again, just to ensure that we are all starting from the same place with regard to what we are discussing and why, here’s NYFG’s Gaelic Cultural Revitalization elevator speech (this is the Empire State Building version):

1.  Scottish heritage presents the potential for far more diversity than what is generally reflected at modern Scottish heritage celebrations and what is understood by the Scottish Diaspora. Scottish heritage, as practiced today, is but a narrow slice of the potential world of Scottish heritage that is yet to be uncovered and reclaimed. What we celebrate today is primarily a monochrome reflection of the Walter Scott-ish romanticized Scotland – heavy on the Highlands – that British Victorian culture appreciated as fashionable in the mid 19^th century and that has been perpetuated by the mainstream of 19^th and 20^th century Scottish historical writing. The rich and vibrant Gaelic culture is rarely if ever acknowledged and explained.

2.  Our current understanding of Scottish heritage is incomplete and includes a good deal of mis-information. There is truth and important substance in today’s understanding and performance of Scottish heritage but it must be teased out of the larger romanticized picture and when found it presents only anglicized, truncated and incomplete versions of important historically based events.

3.  There is actually a very rich and largely untapped back-story to the Scottish heritage that we actively celebrate today. The back-story is the story of a native Gaelic culture that has for centuries been resisting but ever retreating westward through the lifeless remains of abandoned Gaelic identities of assimilated Celtic brothers and sisters – new “Scots”. Since the 12^th century the history of Scotland has been the history of the competition between an aggressively expansionist and ultimately imperial Anglo-Norman culture in England and a persistently resilient native Gaelic culture that had been present in numbers in North Britain since the 4^th century and in possession and cultural control of most of modern Scotland since the 9^th century. That competitive story continues to shape Scottish events and culture to this day.

4.  Gaelic Lives. One of the oft repeated falsehoods of today’s version of Scottish heritage is the perception that “Gaelic is dead.” We are told with sadness that the Gaelic culture (whatever that was is not important) died along with the clan system in 1745 following a systemic illness that began in the 17^th century. Even worse, we are fed the story that wild unfriendly isolated unlearned Gaelic tribes without art or a reasonable religion failed because the progress of human civilization depended upon a conversion of such savages to Britannia. Good job Britain and good riddance to the scruffy Gaelic culture. The reality is that Gaelic culture and therefore our Gaelic heritage is certainly not dead and never has been. Indeed, there presently is a strong Gaelic revival and revitalization movement growing in Scotland and across a global Gaelic diaspora.

5.  Our generations’ task: Filling the Gaelic Gap. Our parents and grand parents left us with a vibrant, proud, colorful edition of Scottish heritage that is actively celebrated across the globe at hundreds of annual highland games, Burns Suppers and on St. Andrews Day. Of many achievements, perhaps their most important contribution in the long term was to keep the fire lit and to bring an awareness of Scottish heritage to a broader base of people. The next step – and our generation’s duty – is to fill in the Gaelic back-story and to do all that we can to support the revitalization and re-invigoration of our global Gaelic culture in the Gaelic homeland and abroad.

6.  Benefits of Gaelic Revitalization in the Diaspora: The benefits of this multi-lifetime, multi-generational endeavor are clear and compelling:

• Participating in a broad-based Gaelic cultural revitalization movement will result in a more diverse, complete and precise understanding of Scottish heritage that speaks to a broader range of the Scottish Diaspora, particularly including younger generations.

• The process of regaining a solid ethnic connection by shining a new light and energy on a threatened ancestral culture results in a boosted sense of ethnic pride, usefulness and community and a greater tolerance and capacity to understand other ethnicities, including other native ethnic groups who have suffered fates similar to the Gael sometimes at the hands of displaced Gaels themselves.

• Gaining a better understanding and focus on the complete picture of our Scottish heritage is likely to yield improved relationships with many native Gaels who hold a differing view of the Victorian expression of Scottish heritage. We too often blindly celebrate processes, results, individuals and activities that have caused and continue to cause great tension in Scotland even today. Even though the Diaspora is willing to bury the hatchet so to speak, there are many in Scotland who suffer a still open wound and are much less prepared to let it go.

Summing it up and looking ahead. The Diaspora’s first and primary contribution to the Gaelic revival should be the reclamation of Gaelic culture and language within our own national boundaries. It was here and now it’s gone. It’s well worth recovering. Further, the more of us that are prepared and have the capacity to support the Scottish Gaelic revival as it occurs in Scotland the better. This is our niche. In terms of new research and work, that’s where we should start – in our own backyards.

Well, here’s a problem. In America and for the most part for the global Diaspora we will be starting from scratch in terms of reclaiming a Gaelic cultural legacy and we simply are not prepared to do that.

Gaelic culture disappeared from our shores almost immediately, usually within a generation or two of arrival. There were pockets of resiliency of course and some of those lasted even into the early 20^th century. Today Gaelic language and the culture that goes along with it is pretty much gone as far as native Gaelic speakers in the New World.

The disappearance of Gaelic culture so quickly and so completely from diaspora shores is a bit of a puzzle itself. Gaelic culture and language arrived in significant force in the New World in a robust and healthy condition on the tongues of some of the increasingly rare native Gaelic speakers then remaining in Scotland. Those who arrived in the New World with their Gaelic identity intact were those whose families had held onto their Gaelic heritage come hell or high water through centuries of harassment in Scotland. And then it was gone.

That is a story that yet needs to be told. For now, it is sufficient to note that Scottish Gaelic studies in the Diaspora will essentially be looking back through the centuries and starting from near ground level to build up the story from there. It is easy and accurate to lament the present lack of scholarly resources available to help tell the Gaelic Diaspora story. Its worse than that. We don’t presently have the academic and scholarly capacity to tell that story. To identify what it is from its own expressions in its own language. To learn it and understand it and then tell it. We can’t do that. We don’t have a single Scottish studies program in North America that is equipped to investigate, analyze and relate the Gaelic story in the New World. Period. Not one. Not a single one. Not one program, not one scholar. Rectifying that deficiency is step number one. There will be more on that subject in the very next Not Your Father’s Gaelic blog post.

In the meanwhile get a better handle on this sad state of affairs here.

Want to learn more about Gaelic Revival in Scotland?

Although seriously endangered and having lost language speakers steadily for many years, some of the most recent statistics are showing an uptick in the success of Gaelic revitalization efforts in Scotland. Recently an English speaking dad whose children are learning Gaelic on Skye told the New Statesman “There has always been an impression that Gaelic is a bit of a nostalgic, inward-looking culture, but it seems to have a lot of energy and passion behind it now.”

Continue learning here.

The post Filling The Gaelic Gap: Cultural Reclamation and Revival In The Diaspora appeared first on ScotClans | Scottish Clans.

Gilnockie Tower

Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie was once one of the most popular, powerful, and feared clan chiefs in the Scottish borders. However, after his execution in 1530 by order of James V, Clan Armstrong have been without a chief for over 450 years.

The Border Reivers were a band of raiders along the Scottish-English border from the late 1400s to the beginning of the 1600s, with their heyday arguably during the last 100 years of their existence. They consisted of families from both sides of the border, and one of the most significant and powerful of these border clans was the Armstrongs.

The Armstrongs had a rather uneasy relationship with the Scottish monarchy for a long time, and one of the most notable incidents between the two was the execution of Johnnie Armstrong of Gilnockie along with a number of his men.

Johnnie Armstrong was a popular character who had a lot of followers, and he was also a wealthy man, having amassed great wealth. There has been a lot of speculation as to how Armstrong gained such a fortune in which he was able to maintain his high style of living. It is said that after disappearing for a number of years he reappeared with immense wealth, which allowed him to pay his brother a commission to build Langholm Castle.

It is generally considered that a lot of his fortune came from reiving throughout the lands just south of the border, into England, though there is not a single complaint of reiving recorded. It has also been suggested that Armstrong’s wealth came from piracy.

Langholm Castle today

Some say that Johnnie Armstrong specialised in black mail or black rent, and that there was no town of prominence between his home Gilnockie Tower and Newcastle, that did not pay protection money to him. This protection racket Johnnie had was there to act for security for each town so they would not be attacked by the Border Reivers.

Armstrong’s power and influence was considered an embarrassment to the Scottish monarchy, and this enraged the 17 year old King James V. The Scottish king had already been under some pressure to put an end to the raids that were encroaching south-of-the-border by his English counterpart Henry VIII because they were threatening the peace between the two countries.

Mosspaul – in the narrow defile on the A7 Johnnie and his followers were ambushed on their way to join the King

James V decided that he would hold talks with Johnnie Armstrong, sending a letter to Armstrong inviting him to meet up with the royal hunting party at Carlinrigg Chapel. Johnnie  rode north from Gilnockie Tower with his men to Carlinrigg dressed in their fine clothes which was to show their wealth and status, and hoping that they would be well recieved by the king, they were all unarmed. But they were greeted by an ambushed of the king’s accompanying army, which was said to have been 10,000 men strong, and the demonstration of wealth did nothing but infuriate the short tempered and education deprived young James V especially since he was said to not have been dressed as well.

It became clear to Johnnie Armstrong that the king had no intention of holding talks, and knowing that his life was in danger he attempted to bribe the king, and even make reassurances that he never killed a fellow Scotsman. But these promises of wealth did nothing for the king and he ordered the execution of Armstrong and all of his men.

In a final act of defiance it is claimed that Armstrong said directly to James these words,

“I am but a fool to seek grace at a graceless face, but had I known you would have taken me this day, I would have lived in the Borders despite King Harry (Henry VIII) and you both.”

Johnnie Armstrong and his men (figures range between 24, 36, and 50+) were all taken out and hanged from the trees, and then buried in a mass, unmarked grave.  It is believed that Armstrong only attended such a meeting with the King because he had given unequivocal assurance that he would be safe.  In the king’s official statement he said the reason for the hanging was because Johnnie Armstrong attended their meeting better dressed than himself which was a public display of disrespect for his King.

History states that one of Johnnie Armstrong’s sons managed to escape the scene and fled to England where he settled under a different name. It was not uncommon for some of the border reivers to flee and change there names by either adopting something completely different such as Blackburn or Walker, but they have even been known to have simply just spelt their name backwards to avoid detection. So a blood line of the last Chief of the Armstrong‘s exists.

Even though over the years a lot of the border families fought amongst each other, even to the point of death, whenever one of them was attacked by an outsider they would stand shoulder to shoulder, united. The death of the popular Johnnie Armstrong by James V caused great indignation throughout the border clans. The King’s actions were considered underhand and unjust, especially since Armstrong and his men were unarmed, and the King’s popularity along the borders hit a low.

The mass grave of Johnnie Armstrongs and his followers was discovered

A memorial stone to Johnnie Armstrong

The grave of Johnnie Armstrong and his men remained undiscovered until around 30 years ago when a farmer working the field opposite Carlinrigg Chapel overturned a large stone. The stone was rectangular in shape and had unusal markings. The farmer contacted the Armstrong Association who were excited at the thought that he may have found discovered the final resting place of the infamous Johnnie Armstrong.

A group of dowsers were brought in and positioned at different points of the field. They all set off, each of them finally came to a hot point at the same place -where the stone sat. Archaeologist arrived to survey the area and a mass grave was found at the point of the stone, which contained a large number of men, and it is generally accepted to be the grave of Armstrong and his men.

The border reivers finally came to an end around the time of the Union of the Crowns in 1603. James VI, the grandson of James V, forcefully put an end to the raids by splitting up the families and deporting them to Ulster, or conscripting them off to Holland, or just executing them.

There have been stories as to what happened to Johnnie Armstrong’s vast fortune. One of the most prominent stories is that it is in fact buried at Langholm Castle, under a point where there is a risen part of the ground where a vault could easily be hidden.

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The story of the Luckenbooth begins on the Royal Mile, the famous street that runs from the Castle all the way down to the palace of Holyrood. This street became the only acceptable trade route to and from the castle and as such became a very important thoroughfare.

By the 16th century many parts of this route became dedicated markets and featured some of the cities first permanent shops. Many of which housed trades people who made and sold their small selection of wares, and amongst the most popular were the jewellers. These shops were known as locked booths, and from this derived the term ‘Luckenbooth’ used to describe one of their most popular designs. It featured the ‘heart and crown of Scotland’ and was romantically linked to the tragic Mary, Queen of Scots, as it was the brooch she had given to Lord Darnley.

The tradition that rose up around the brooch was that a young man would give his lady the brooch on their wedding day. Once their first child the brooch would then be passed on to the newest member to protect it from ‘evil spirits’. As such it had very similar connotations to the Irish ‘Claddagh’ ring, especially with the similar heart shaped theme.

The style of the Luckenbooth brooch became very popular throughout the UK. By the 18th century the trade in silver to the New World included the little brooch and many ended up being traded with Native Americans, Particularly the Iroquois of the Six Nations. As a result of this the Luckenbooth became a popular decorative symbol in their traditional costumes.

Not a symbol of Edinburgh that you would see if you were not looking for it, the City Coat of Arms present version is a modified version of the arms registered by the Lord Lyon in 1732. This previous version had been used for centuries, but had not been officially recognised.

As with any Coat of Arms there is a fair amount of symbolism within the arms. The castle within the centre shield represents Edinburgh castle, it’s most prominent landmark. The anchor above this, or the crest, represents the Lord Provost’s position as the Admiral of the Firth of Forth. The sinister supporter, a doe, is a link to the city’s patron saint St Giles who, as the story goes, spent much of his life in solitude in the forests of Provence with only a doe for company. The dexter supporter, a “woman richly attired with her hair hanging over her shoulders” represents the fact that Edinburgh Castle was historically known as the “Castle of the Maidens” probably due to it being used to protect princesses and noblewomen in times of war.

Coat of Arms on a window in the City Chambers

The motto Nisi Dominus Frustra means “Except the Lord in Vain”, a shortened version of a verse from Psalm 127: “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

There was some controversy surrounding the arms as in Scotland it is a statutory requirement to register register armorial bearing with the Lord Lyon, who is responsible for regulating the system of Scottish Heraldry, in a process known as “matriculation”. An action was begun against Edinburgh council in 1732, for failing to matriculate it’s Burgh arms. But the council received the following legal opinion ”that the town would not be bound in law to matriculat”. Unfortunately no record exists of any subsequent action, suggesting that the case was dropped.

The Lyon issued a general statement in 1771 that “all persons whether Nobility, Gentry, Towns or Bodies Corporate, bearing arms any manner or way which are recorded in terms of the Act…to give in or send to the Lyon Office an account of such Arms and of the title whereby they claim to wear the same”. Edinburgh Councils reaction wa smuch the same as before and refused to comply on the grounds that Scotland’s royal burghs ”had possessed the privilege of using seals and armorial bearings from a remote period which far outdated the Acts of 1592 and 1672, from which the Lord Lyon derived his jurisdiction, and that since neither of these Acts specifically mentioned the Burghs, they did not apply to them”.

It was only 3 years later that a document was discovered among the papers of an Edinburgh lawyer - a Certificate of Matriculation of “the Ensigns Armorial or Coat of Arms of the good town of Edinburgh” signed by the Lyon and dated 21 April 1732. It seems the Edinburgh City Coat of Arms had been matriculated years before!

The Heart of Midlothian is a heart shaped mosaic formed in coloured granite setts, built into the pavement near the West Door of St Giles on the High Street section of the Royal Mile.

Together with brass markers bearing building dates, it records the position of the 15th-century Old Tolbooth, demolished in 1817, which was the administrative centre of the town, prison and one of several sites of public execution. This is believed to be were the modern tradition of spitting on the Heart came from. The spot lay directly outside the prison entrance, and people would spit on the heart to show their disdain for the former institution. Others believe the tradition may have been started even earlier, with former occupants of the prison spitting on the Heart upon their release. These days it is done for good luck.

The mosaic is named after the historic county of Midlothian of which Edinburgh is the county town. This is not to be confused with the council area of the same name which covers a smaller area and does not include the capital. The crest of the Edinburgh football team Hearts of Midlothian is based upon this Heart.

The stag with a cross between it’s antlers is a common site around the palace of Holyrood, found at the bottom of the Royal Mile. The tale of this intriguing symbol is believed to date back to the time of David I.

The son of King Malcolm Canmore and St Margaret, David was a keen hunter and there was nothing he liked better than to hunt stags in the forests of Drumsheugh. One day in the year 1128, he prepared to go hunting but he was approached by a priest who reminded him that it was the 14th September; Holy Rood Day. The term ‘Rood’ was at the time used as a term for the Holy Cross, and that day was considered to be a sacred one indeed, not a day for sport. King David ignored the rebuke and gathered together the hunters to saddle the horses ready for the hunt.

As the party rode through the forest King David found himself separated from his companions when out of nowhere a large white stag burst through the forest and knocked the King from his horse. The stag lowered it’s mighty antlers and seemed ready to gore the King, whose lips were moving in silent prayer, and was sure his time had come. In a moment of bravery the King seized the stag by the antlers and grappled with the fierce beast. But to his amazement the antlers twisted and reformed in his hands to form the shape of a Cross, and the stag bounded away out of sight. Shaken by the experience the King returned home to Edinburgh castle and the comfort and safety of his court.

That night as King David lay asleep in his bed, he dreamed that a voice spoke to him, commanding him to have an abbey built on the spot he had wrestled with the magnificent stag. The next morning spurred on by what he believed to be a Holy vision he ordered the construction of Holyrood Abbey.His orders were carried out and a fine abbey was built to house a community of Augustinian Canons who flourished there fro many years.

The ruins of Holyrood Abbey can still be visited to this day

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The Honours of Scotland

Scotland’s Crown jewels, known as the Honours of Scotland, are the oldest surviving regalia in the British isles. They comprise of a jewel encrusted crown, an elaborate sword and sceptre, which date from the 15th and 16th centuries.

The Crown of Scotland in its present form dates from 1540 when James V ordered, the Edinburgh goldsmith, John Mosman to re-fashion the original crown.

The circlet at the base is made from Scottish gold and is encrusted with 22 gemstones, 20 precious stones(taken from the previous crown) and freshwater pearls from Scottish rivers. The 4 golden arches are ornamented with gold and red enamelled oak leaves. At the point the arches meet rests an orb of gold enamelled in blue and ornamented with gilt stars. This is surmounted by a large cross decorated in gold and black enamel with an amethyst in rectangular form in the centre. The upper and two sides of the cross are adorned in pearls.

The Sword of State of Scotland was a gift from Pope Julius II and was presented to James IV in 1507. The etched blade, measuring 4.5 feet in length, includes figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, as well as the etched name of Julius II. The silver gilt handle bears the figures of oak leaves and acorns. The sword was damaged in 1652, whilst being hidden from Cromwell’s troops(more on that to follow), as it had to be broken in two in order to be concealed.

The Sceptre of Scotland was also a Papal gift; presented by Pope Alexander to James IV in 1494, but remodelled and lengthened in 1536. It is made of Silver gilt and is topped by a finial with polished rock, possibly cairngorm, and a Scottish pearl. The Sceptre includes several Christian symbols; stylised dolphins, the Virgin Mary holding the baby Christ, Saint James the Great and Saint Andrew holding a Saltire cross.

The first time the Honours were ever used together was during the coronation of the infant Mary, Queen of Scots at Stirling Castle in 1543. They were used for several other crowning ceremonies including those for James IV in 1567, Charles I in 1633 and Charles II in 1651.

In 1649 Charles I, King of both England and Scotland was executed by Oliver Cromwell, the self-proclaimed Lord Protector. In 1650, his young son Charles II arrived in North East Scotland, and stayed a night in Dunnottar on his journey south to give battle for his fathers’ two kingdoms.

In England, on hearing of the young Kings arrival, Oliver Cromwell was so enraged that he ordered the invasion of Scotland. In some haste Charles II was crowned at Scone, but the “Honours of Scotland”, the crown and other regalia, could not be returned to Edinburgh Castle, as it had been taken by Cromwell’s army. Having already destroyed the English crown jewels, the Honours of Scotland were the most potent icon of monarchy, and as such were next on Cromwell’s list. Cromwell’s army was fast approaching, so Charles II ordered the Earl Marischal to take the Honours to Dunnottar and secure them there.

It was not long before Dunnottar was under siege, and a scratch, aged garrison of seventy men held out for eight months against the invading might of Cromwell’s army until heavy cannons arrived. Following ten days of heavy fire, surrender was made. This was not however before the Honours of Scotland were smuggled out of the Castle and taken to Kinneff Church, where they were buried in the Church.  They remained there undiscovered for eleven years, until the King returned to the throne in 1660 and the Honours were returned to Edinburgh Castle.

Following the restoration, they were used at sittings of the Scottish parliament to represent the absent Monarch, who was now a resident of London following the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

After the Treaty of the Union in 1707 removed Scotland’s parliament, the Honours of Scotland became somewhat redundant and as such were locked away within Edinburgh Castle. Here they lay literally forgotten for over one hundred years.

They came to light again in 1818 when, under great pressure from Sir Walter Scott, a thorough search of the Castle was initiated and they were found. From there they remained on public display within the castle since 1819 with only a few exceptions. In 1941 the Honours were hidden on final time, due to fears they would be destroyed or taken during a Nazi invasion. In 1953 they were taken out of hiding and presented to the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II and then returned to their place within the crown room of Edinburgh castle.

In may 1999, the first sitting of the devolved Scottish parliament, October 2004, the opening of the Scottish parliament building, and at subsequent opening ceremonies of each new session of the Scottish parliament the Crown of Scotland has been present alongside the Monarch. Due to their age and condition the Sword and Sceptre are considered too delicate to be present alongside the Crown on such occasions.

The Stone of Destiny

The Stone of Destiny, or Stone of Scone, has been revered for centuries as a holy Scottish relic. It has been fought over by nations and used by the Dalriadic, Scottish, English and British Monarchs as an important part of their crowning ceremonies.

The origins of the stone, like many similar relics, have been lost to time but typically there are plenty of legends. One such legend suggests it was used as a pillow by Jacob in biblical times, and brought to Scotland in the 9th century. Other legends have suggested it originates either in Ireland or Scotland.

In 1292 John Balliol became the last King to be crowned on the Stone in Scotland, as it was captured by Edward I of England in 1296 and taken by him to Westminster Abbey in London. It remained under the coronation chair, on which the English and subsequently British sovereigns sit during their coronation, for the next 700 years. It was last used for a coronation by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Some historians claim that the stone stolen by Edward I was a fake. By a cunning slight of hand the Scots actually handed over the cess-pit cover from Scone Castle rather than the real stone, which was hidden away. If true this means a long succession of English and British Monarchs have been crowned atop a medieval toilet seat cover.

To further complicate the authenticity of the Stone, it was stolen from Westminster Abbey in 1950, and driven north. It resurfaced 4 months later in Arbroath Abbey, draped in a Saltire, and was returned t Westminster. Although rumours have persisted that the returned Stone was in fact a copy to stop any search for the true Stone.

The Stone finally returned home to Scotland on St Andrews Day (30th November) in 1996, and was and still is housed in Edinburgh Castle alongside the Honours of Scotland. Historic Scotland examined the stone on its arrival and pronounced it was ‘probably’ the original Stone.

Mons Meg

Mons Meg is a medieval bombard that currently resides within Edinburgh Castle and is named for the town in Belgium in which she was forged around 1449. Mons Meg is the last survivor of two such enormous guns originally gifted to King James II by his uncle, Philip the Good, Duke of Normandy. The 15.366 pound, muzzle loading cannon is capable of firing gun-stones weighing 180kg nearly 2 miles. With a caliber(barrel diameter) of 20 inches/ 510mm it is the 7th largest cannon in the world by caliber.

It has been suggested that Meg was one of the armaments on James IV’s carrack the ‘Great Michael’, which would have made it the ship with the largest caliber gun in history.

Meg only saw action once against the English at Norham Castle on the river Tweed. In 1497 the castle was besieged for two weeks by an army led by James IV of Scotland. The siege included the use of artillery, including Meg, to try to breach the walls but the garrison was finally relieved by an English army. However due to her great weight it became impractical to drag around to battle and from around the 1540′s she retired from her military career and remained in Edinburgh Castle.

She was fired again in 1558, but not against an enemy, instead in celebration during the marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to the Dauphin of France, Francis.

Mons Meg with some unconventional ammunition!

Her career came to an explosive end in 1681, firing her final shot during the birthday celebrations of the man who would later become King James VII of Scotland and II of England. During the shot the iron rings burst, and she has been silent ever since. An English canoneer had loaded the charge and many Scots believed that the damage was done on purpose out of jealousy, in the age old argument of which man has the bigger cannon. The incedent was also seen as a bad omen for the future King.

The gun remained within Edinburgh Castle until 1754, when, with other unused weapons in Scotland, she was taken to the Tower of London as a result of the disarming acts against the Jacobites.

Sir Walter Scott and others campaigned for her return, which was effected in 1829. She has now been restored and can be found outside of St Margaret’s Chapel for all to see.

The One o’clock Gun

The One o’clock Gun is fired from Edinburgh Castle Mills Mount Battery everyday, except for Sunday, Good Friday and Christmas day, and has been since the tradition began in 1861. The origin of this tradition lies in the days when sailing ships in the Firth of Forth needed to check and reset their chronometers in the days before accurate timepieces were available.

In 1852 Captain Wauchope, a Scottish naval officer in the Royal Navy, invented the timeball, which was installed and can still be found atop Nelson’s Monument on Calton Hill. The ball would drop at one o’clock giving the signal to sailors of the time. However the problem persisted that someone would be required on the ships to watch for the drop and it would not be visible during the foggy weather, known as the Haar,  which is a common occurrence within Edinburgh.

The time gun was introduced as a result in 1861, to act as an auditory signal for the ships, and could easily be heard in Leith harbour, over 2.5 miles away. A map was introduced in the same year, because sound travels relatively slowly, it was required to show the actual time the shot would be heard in different areas of Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth.

The original gun was an 18 pound muzzle-loading cannon, which required 4 men to load, and was fired from the Half Moon Battery. This was replaced in 1913 by a 32 pound breach loader and in 1952 by a 25 pound Howitzer. Ammunition, blanks of course, for this eventually became unavailable and a modern 105mm light gun has been used since September 2001.

The longest serving gunner, and somewhat of a celebraty among those that come to see the gun, is Staff Sergeant Thomas MacKay MBE, nicknamed ‘Tam the Gun’. He operated the gun from 1979 up until his retirement in 2005. In 2006, Jamie Shannon, also known as ‘Shannon the Cannon’ became the 29th District Gunner, and also in 2006 Bombardier Allison Jones became the first woman to fire the gun.

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The reason I wrote this was to put together a newbies guide to what this period of history was all about, what started it and most importantly to dispel the misinformation that this was some Scotland V England struggle. Ive tried to keep it as light and simple as possible, I tested it on my 12 year old daughter last night and it made sense to her so fingers crossed here goes….

Charlie Tour T Shirt

It all started with King James the VII as we called him in Scotland or James II as he was known in England. He was the second surviving son of Charles I

First, A bit of Background…

Charles I had a pretty difficult relationship with parliament and this led to the English Civil War, which, actually started in Scotland not England when Charles managed to also get on the wrong side of the Church as well and started the bishop’s war. Incredibly the Bishops war was started by Charles attempting to introduce a new prayer book so two sides who couldn’t agree on how to give praise to the same god started a fight which spilled over into Ireland and then into England like some sort of viral cowboy bar brawl and ended up creating the biggest armed conflict on British soil. Say what you like about the Scots we are damned good at starting a fight.

Charles lost the war and his head in 1649 which in turn led to Oliver Cromwell, the Protectorate and a ban on Christmas, singing and anything else regarded as mildly fun. When Cromwell died of a mixture of malaria and kidney stones he was succeeded by his son who couldn’t get the hang of ‘protecting’ at all and the Monarchy was restored, Charles II became King with much rejoicing and Cromwell was executed, yes I know he was already dead but they hung him again anyway just to make sure.

Charles II was known as the ‘Merry Monarch’ and his reign began with one massive party although it wasn’t all fun since his reign also included the great plague and the great fire of London. Charles II had one last laugh on his people though when he converted to Catholicism on his deathbed.

Now it would take more time than I have here and more pages than I’d like to fill to explain why the Monarchy and parliament had a bit of an issue with Catholicism so trust me, from around the time of the Tudors they most definitely did, it goes without saying that the Church of England were not huge fans, after all they were the competition in the business of eternal life and The Catholic church had some pretty good moves like ‘give us lots of money and we will fast track you through purgatory’ etc.

Charles’ late entry into the world of Catholicism before his exit from the world of the living was inconvenient to say the least but with no heir the next in line was his brother James and what wasn’t so well known was that James had been a practicing Catholic for some time. Like it or not Britain was about to get a Catholic monarch.

James VII takes charge (briefly)…

This led to a number of problems for James. For starters two rebellions kicked off, one led by Duke of Monmouth and another by Campbell of Argyll in Scotland, Argyll’s rebellion came to nowt as they say and his head was soon gracing the space formerly occupied by Royalist hero and shampoo model the Marquis of Montrose. Monmouth was a tougher nut to crack and James also had another issue to deal with, literally as he had quite inexplicably allowed his daughter to marry his protestant Dutch nephew William of Orange, a bit of an own goal as this handed the protestant supporters a ready made replacement..

The protestant nobles called on William and over he came in 1688 to take the throne, James legged it and in the process chucked the Great Seal of the Realm into the River Thames. He was captured before he could leave England but William, not keen to create a Stuart martyr sort of turned his back, whistled a bit and left the cell door slightly open and allowed James to escape. After a great deal of parliamentary debate it was decided that James throwing the Great Seal in the Thames like Dirty Harry throwing away his cop badge was really an act of abdication so that was good enough for them (don’t let anyone ever tell you there aren’t any seals in the Thames). They also quickly shored up the legislation to make sure there could NEVER be another Catholic monarch, a statute that has stood to this day, albeit recently amended.

So that was it. The Stuart dynasty that had ruled Scotland for nearly 300 years and latterly the whole of the newly United Kingdom was over, or was it?

James was determined for a rematch and his campaign began and pretty much ended in Ireland with defeat at the Battle of the Boyne, an event that has been celebrated by the Orange Order to this day, mostly by people in bowler hats parading with flute bands round small towns in Northern Ireland and Lanarkshire.

If anyone wants to discover what is essentially wrong with Scotland then you have to look no further than the petty sectarian nonsense that has plagued this country since then. Where we have become a country divided by tribal lines mostly based on which Glasgow based football team you support, insular, inward looking and regressive.

But enough about that back to the Jacobites…

The Old Pretender…

James may have been done with the throne of Britain but his progeny were not. His second daughter, Anne became queen in 1702. Queen Anne gave us many things including the Act of Union and bow legged furniture (considering she had 17 pregnancies during here reign you can see where they got the idea from).

When Anne died in 1714 succession fell in a rather oblique way to George of Hannover, a German and grandson of James VI(and I) as the nearest non Catholic everyone could agree on. (there were 50 more eligible Catholics in the way which the Act of Settlement conveniently ignored).

A year later in 1715 the Whig party won a majority to become the new government defeating the Tory party. Many rebels in the Tory party were Jacobites (from ‘Jacobus’ the Latin for ‘James’) and supported the return of the Stuart Dynasty. James VII was long dead but his son James Francis Edward Stuart was very much alive and in exile in France. Although the support for his claim sprouted in the Tory rebellion in London it really took root in Scotland. There was still a strong Catholic contingent in Scotland and James was able to get support from them. He arrived in Scotland in 1715 to start his campaign to regain the throne but it didn’t go at all well. James (the Old Pretender) was timid, didn’t like crowds and couldn’t handle cold weather, not ideal traits for fighting battles in Scotland!

He abandoned the whole idea in 1716 and headed back to France where he was welcomed with… folded arms. And sent off to Italy to bother someone else.

In 1719 he married Maria Clementina Sobieska a Polish princess and they had two sons, the eldest being Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart (I’d hate to have been the one icing his birthday cakes), fortunately he was more commonly referred to as Charles Edward Stuart or ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Charlie was a very different man to his father. Born in Italy he was determined to restore the Stuarts to the throne so his father named him regent in 1743 and his adventures began…

Bonnie Prince Charlie and the ’45…

Charlie managed to get some support in kind from France and was given a pair of well fitted out ships. His hopes of getting some well fitted out men too were less successful but nevertheless he set off for the West of Scotland, preferring his fathers recruiting ground to the North. The Jacobites still had much support from the Northern Clans mostly, but not exclusively Catholic, he also had Jacobite support from Ireland and places like Carlisle and Manchester in the North of England.

Resistance to the Jacobites came not just from England (who made up the bulk of the UK population and still do) but also from Scotland and Ireland.

As everyone probably knows by now the second Jacobite rebellion made it as far south as Derby before turning back when they picked up far less support along the way than they were expected, the additional French troops didn’t turn up and the Scots army were frustrated at the lack of square sausage and irn bru.

They headed back for Scotland, managing a last hurrah at Falkirk before the whole thing came to a sticky end on Culloden Moor in 1746. Bonny Prince Charlie fled the field and pursued by redcoats managed to hide in every cave in Scotland if tourist brochures are to be believed, disguised himself as a woman and high tailed it back to France, where after numerous affairs, not the least of which was with the bottle, he died in Italy.

The reason I was inspired to write this really is because all too often I see Culloden mentioned as some sort of romantic defeat where the dastardly English dashed Scotland’s hopes. This is sentimental rubbish. If you really want to understand Culloden and the Jacobite rising all you need to do is memorize this Sentence:

“Culloden was a battle between an army of Scots, English and Irish led by an Italian against an army of Scots, English and Irish led by an Englishmen with a German dad representing a German king over the throne of the United Kingdom.”

Simples…

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