Jacobite history (especially the 1745 Rising) has gained a lot of interest during recent years, with certain movies, shows and books set during this period of Scottish history becoming very popular. While it is wonderful that the Jacobite risings have been receiving this attention, like any other popular topic, quite a lot of misinformation has cropped up and become accepted as fact, especially with directors, writers and screenwriters taking heavy “artistic license” when it comes to historical accuracy. Respectfully, I disagree with this method. History is history, and to change it for dramatic effect or storytelling convenience without being open and honest about these changes with the audience or readers erases and trivialises the real lives and struggles of real people who lived during these times.

With that being said, since it is the 279th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden today I thought I’d share four common myths about Jacobitism and the truths that lay behind them.

Myth #1: There were only three Jacobite Risings, 1689, 1715 & 1745.

While these are the most talked about Jacobite Risings, there were actually 5 Risings in total, not including the the Elibank Plot (see Myth #2):

• 1689, shortly after William of Orange and his wife Mary Stuart deposed her father/his uncle James II of England (VII of Scotland) from the British throne in 1688 in what was termed “The Glorious Revolution”.
• 1708, an attempted invasion by French forces “led” by the nineteen year old James Francis Stuart, which failed before it could properly begin. This rising was sparked by the 1707 Act of Union (more on this later).
• 1715, shortly after the Hanoverian King George I was installed as king of Britain after the death of his second cousin Queen Anne in 1714, over her younger half brother James Francis Edward Stuart, nicknamed the “Old Pretender”, who had a far better genetic claim to the throne, but was rejected due to the 1701 law that prevented Catholics from inheriting the throne. This rising was led by John Erskine, 6th earl of Mar, Notable events include the Battle of Sheriffmuir and the Battle of Prestonpans.
• 1719, this time the Jacobites had Spanish support, but unfortunately the rising got off to a bad start, with the majority of the Spanish ships wrecked off the British coast. The Jacobite forces were later defeated at the Battle of Glenshiel.
• And finally 1745, which ended in the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746.

Myth #2: The Jacobite cause disappeared completely after Culloden.

Jacobite sentiment continued long after the Battle of Culloden despite the extreme cruelty applied by the forces of William Augustus “The Butcher” Duke of Cumberland, youngest son of George II, to the remaining Jacobites.

Notable people such as Lady Carolina Nairne expressed their Jacobite opinions through less direct (but no less impactful) methods, such as songs, poems and stories.

Another Jacobite incident was the Elibank plot in 1752, where Jacobite conspirators (including Bonnie Prince Charlie) planned to assassinate members of the Hanoverian royal family to place the Stuarts on the throne. The plot failed, and it’s failure led to the last known Jacobite execution in 1753; of Dr Archibald Cameron of Lochiel, an ardent Jacobite who was also the brother of Donald Cameron “The Gentle” Lochiel. Donald was the acting chief of Clan Cameron and one of Prince Charles’s main supporters during the 1745 rising.

Myth #3: It was a Catholic vs Protestant dispute.

Jacobitism has often been framed as a simple dispute between Catholics (Scotland) and Protestants (England), but the truth is much more complex. While there was definitely a very high degree of Catholic-Protestant tension between the supporters of the Protestant William of Orange and his wife Mary (and later the House of Hanover) and the Jacobite supporters of the Catholic House of Stuart, people from many different religions joined the Jacobite cause, including Catholics, Protestants, Presbyterians, Episcopalians and more. The main goal of the majority was not the domination of a particular religion, but the recovering of Scotland’s agency in choosing and upholding the royal family, customs and laws that had been part of Scotland for centuries. The House of Stuart had been ruling Scotland since 1371, when Robert II Stewart* (grandson of Robert the Bruce) became king; while England only had Stuart monarchs since 1603, when James VI & I Stuart* inherited the English crown from Elizabeth I Tudor, who was a cousin of his through his mother Mary Queen of Scots, thus linking the kingdoms of Scotland and England under one royal family; though it was not until the 1707 Act of Union under Queen Anne (the last crowned Stuart monarch) that the countries were made into one as the “United Kingdom of Great Britain.”

Speaking of which, another common goal of many (but not all) Jacobites was to dissolve the 1707 Act of Union, which joined the kingdoms of Scotland and England into “The United Kingdom of Great Britain.” This Act was passed despite the protestation and outrage of thousand of Scots from all different classes and backgrounds, and became a common crux of Jacobite support. The Act of Union is still in place today.

*The spelling of the surname Stuart was originally Stewart, from the original clan name of Robert II’s father, but Mary Queen of Scots changed the Scottish royal family’s name to Stuart after discovering the alternative spelling while living in France.

*James VI and I Stuart had dual roman numerals because he was both the 6th Scottish monarch nd the first English monarch to be named James, thus James VI (6th of Scotland) and I (1st of England).

Myth #4: Only Highland Scots supported the Jacobite cause:

The Jacobite cause was a primarily a Highland Scottish endeavour, but it was also much more diverse than it is given credit for. Many Lowland Scots joined the cause, along with a range of countries and individuals (including some English) giving their support, including France, Spain and some Irish people.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this article and that it has helped debunk some common myths about Jacobitism.

Meas blàth [Scots Gaelic: warm regards]

Liliana

References A-Z:

• Alastair Livingstone of Bachuil, Christian W.H. Aikman and Betty Stuart Hart (eds), No Quarter Given – the muster roll of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Army 1745-46, Neil Wilson Publishing, Glasgow, 1984.
• Culloden Battlefield, ‘The Failed French Invasion of 1708’, https://cullodenbattlefield.wordpress.com/2018/07/22/the-failed-french-invasion-of-1708/, accessed 16 April 2023.
• Encyclopedia Brittanica, ‘John Erskine, 6th earl of Mar’, https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Erskine-6th-earl-of-Mar, accessed 16 April 2023.
• English Monarchs, ‘The House of Stuart’, https://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stuart_15.htm, accessed 16 April 2023.
• Frances McDonnell, Jacobites of Lowland Scotland, England, Ireland, France and Spain, 1745, Genealogical Publishing Co, 2002.
• History Today, ‘The Act of Settlement’, https://www.historytoday.com/archive/act-settlement, accessed 16 April 2023.
• National Army Museum ‘Jacobite Risings’, https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/Jacobites, accessed 16 April 2023.
• National Galleries Scotland, ‘Alexander Murray, 1712 – 1778. Jacobite’, https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/8856/alexander-murray-1712-1778-jacobite#:~:text=Alexander%20Murray%20was%20deeply%20involved,Charles%20vetoed%20any%20assassination%20attempt. , accessed 16 April 2023.
• National Library of Scotland ‘Documenting the Union of Parliaments.’ https://www.nls.uk/collections/rare-books/collections/union-of-parliaments/, accessed 16 April 2023.
• National Library of Scotland, ‘Who were the Jacobites and why did they rise?’, https://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/jacobites/background-to-1715/, accessed 16 April 2023.
• ScotlandsPeople ‘Lady Nairne – The Flower of Strathearn’, https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/lady-nairne-flower-strathearn accessed 16 April 2023.
• The National Archives ‘Glorious Revolution 1688’ https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/significant-events/glorious-revolution-1688/, accessed 16 April 2023.
• The National Archives, ‘Jacobite Rebellion of 1715’ https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1715/#introduction, accessed 16 April 2023.
• The National Archives, ‘Jacobite Rising of 1745’, https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/jacobite-1745/, accessed 16 April 2023.