1715 – First Jacobite Rebellion

Prince James Landing at Peterhead

Thanks to the treatment of Scotland before and after the 1707 Union, there was always strong underground support for the reinstatement of the exiled Stewarts to the throne. Events following the death of Queen Anne in 1714 brought emotions to a level where the man who would lead government forces, John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll believed that nine out of ten Scots, Jacobite or not, would support an overthrow. John Erskine, 6th or 11th Earl of Mar was not given the position of office he expected from the new King. Such was his disappointment that in 1715 he raised the Jacobite standard in Braemar and drew huge support. This was the beginning of the first ‘Rising’, also called the ‘Fifteen’.