Jamie VII of Scotland and II of England; Bonnie Prince Chairley; Flora MacDonald; William, Duke of
Cumberland (Butcher Cumberland); Simon Fraser (Lord Lovat); Lord Balmerino; Rev. Tom Coppach;
James Bradshaw...
The above-named, and many others unnamed, all had one thing in common: they were all Jacobites. Who
and what they were, and are, makes a fascinating story, albeit a long one. It covers one of Britain's more
complex and bloody periods of history, beginning just prior to the death of King Charles II in 1685 when
Parliament tried to enact laws to prohibit his brother, James, an avowed Catholic, from inheriting the
throne of England. And it ended with the carnage at Culloden Field in 1746, and the resultant brutal
aftermath of proscription of anything remotely highland.
However, residual echoes of these past events are still heard today, such as the troubles in Northern
Ireland. What goes on there today is a direct outcome of the events of 1689, which culminated at the
Battle of the Boyne when the Protestant army of Holland's William of Orange soundly defeated the
Catholic army of England's James II, sending him scuttling off to end his days in exile in France. As
every Irish person knows, the lines betwixt the Catholics and the Protestants were drawn then, and still
exist to this day. Scotland's loss of independence, which it regained from England only last year, was a
direct outcome of what occurred in 1688-89 during the Glorious Revolution. And still today in England,
the Great Highland Bagpipe is classified as a weapon of war and not a musical instrument.
What started such catastrophic events was England's fear of the return of Catholicism. To set the stage,
after the Reformation of Henry VIII (1509-1547), England and Scotland were Protestant countries.
Henry had parted ways with the established church of Rome after he couldn't get the Pope to annul his
first marriage and formed his own church, the Church of England, with himself as the head of the church.
The English hated popery with a passion and would not allow any king or queen, past or future, to return
the nation to rule by Rome. So what happened to cause all the ruckus?
Well, after the English Civil War ended with the decapitation of King Charles I in 1649, England became
a Republic under the iron rule of the Cromwells. It failed miserably and the son of Charles I, Charles
II, was restored to the throne. (He is the king who gained notoriety through his colorful private exploits
and association with Nell Gwynn.) He died suddenly and his brother succeeded him to the throne. His
brother was James, who became James VII of Scotland and II of England. Problem was that James,
unlike his brother, had converted to Catholicism in the late 1660s and was fully intent on restoring that
faith to the country. Even after he was exiled to France he never lost that ideal, and instilled it in his
heirs.
It is this man who has the dubious distinction of becoming the first Jacobite king. The name Jacobite
comes from his name (the Latin derivation of Jacobus, meaning James) and was taken up by his
supporters. There are still Jacobites living today, including the "Duke of Bavaria" who lives in Germany
and is the direct descendant of the first Jacobite king.
So it can all be laid at the feet of one man, James VII of Scotland and II of England, and his open
support for Roman Catholicism and his absolutist behavior. It was he, Jamie the seventh, who set the
stage for a period of history that still affects life in Britain today.
This is such an involved and complicated period that I'm going to break it up into installments. The
research alone is daunting, and I want to get the facts straight. Why would I do this you may ask? (I ask
myself the same question!) The answer is that I was approached by founding SCS member Harry
Maguire back at the Burns Night bash to do another article for the newsletter. Specifically, something
on the Jacobites, and even more specifically, Jacobite women. He and SCS members Andy and Darline
MacNeill had been talking about Jacobites and thought it would make interesting reading. It's certainly
a romantic period of Brit history - red coats against kilted highlanders, Covenanters against Williamites,
Bonnie Prince Chairley, etc. So in the vein of Celtic education, one of the objectives of the Celtic
Society, I shall (hopefully) submit various articles on the subject of the Jacobites. Stay tuned! Of
course anyone can rebut anything written here, especially if the facts are skewed or incorrect.
