Cogadh nan Seumasach?

[CairistionaNicD]

That's the Jacobite War to any who are running to their dictionaries.

First off, I'm sorry if this is somehow in bad form or taste. I'm really not sure how this area is seen these days or how the forum moderators would take a topic that is still rather political today. It's not my intent to start a political debate.

I'm very interested in this time period, so much so I'd like to pursue higher studies in the field. Unfortunately, I'm Canadian. I don't know where the Jacobite documents are kept (every collection I've been able to peruse online turns out to not be contemporary to the events; I can't see anything about the NLS's collection except that it exists) or even if much survives. I wonder if there are extant documents in Gaelic, too, but apart from "Cogadh nan Seumasach" and "Bliadna Teàrlach", my Gaelic is utterly insufficient to search for the topic. I hope that finding the documents will lead me to schools that offer these studies. It seems faster than checking every single history department in the country for faculty with relevant interests.

So would anyone be able to point me to documents in English, French, or Gaelic, or to a school that offers Jacobite studies or something similar? I'm trying to gather as much information as I can.

Tapadh leibh!

[AlasdairBochd]

Somewhere to start might be the book The Lyon in Mourning, a collection of contemporary accounts and documents. Here's a link
http://archive.org/details/thelyoninmourning00forbuoft
Almost everything I've read on the subject is either quite biased, usually in favor of the Jacobites, and/or very emotive. That makes it difficult to get a really clear view of it. I lost interest in the subject a long time ago because of it.
The book "Culloden" by John Prebble is still worth reading but the subject and the book are still debated and his is only one view.
Hope this helps a bit.

[CairistionaNicD]

I'll definitely be buying that book, thank you.

I'm well aware of the bias in the area (it's borderline comical how extreme it is at times) as I've been researching the period for around two years already, mostly via books ordered online that I discovered by diligent Google searching of various keywords. Another interesting one is *The Myth of the Jacobite Clans* by Murray Pittock. It's definitely difficult to find the balance between Romanticism and the "Empire-building" narrative.

[CairistionaNicD]

Duh. Just realized that's a PDF you linked to a very old book. I misread the original publication date as 1995 for some reason. Anyway, downloaded. I'll be reading it at work, most likely.

[An Gobaire]

A Chairistìona

I can point you to Mac-Talla for documents or stories in Gaelic about this time-period.

I've been reading the story Triath Loch Iall about Ewan Cameron, Cameron of Locheil, and accounts of the formation of the Black Watch, and how the treatment of a certain mutineer led to Clan MacPherson being the only protestant clan to remain on the Stewart side at the Battle of Culloden. (Is this true?as that's what the Mac-Talla Gaelic account mentions.)

Triath Loch Iall
http://cmsdev.smo.uhi.ac.uk/mactalla/vol7/48/no48.pdf

The Black Watch is Am Freiceadan Dubh in Gaelic, and the story connected to the mutiny in particular is under the title FEARCHAR MAC SHEATHACHAIN (Farquhar Shaw) who was friends with Calum MacPherson, and it runs over a few issues.

[Thrissel]

I'm not sure how reliable Mac-Talla is about events which had happened one and a half centuries before publication, but I remember I once read a Mac-Talla article about the Battle of Bannockburn and it was more like Walter Scott (without footnotes) than like T.C. Smout. I can't find the article any longer but I think the battle's first day was shortened into an account of the de Bohun encounter and so forth.

[CairistionaNicD]

An Gobaire: Thank you for the link. It should be an interesting challenge to read, as my Gaelic is pretty rudimentary and I'm not familiar with the old spelling. Still, I'm surprised at how much of the first paragraph I can understand unassisted.

Thrissel: I suspected the same. In my experience, anything about the Jacobite period after Rob Roy is completely suspect and I noticed the publication date immediately. I'm looking for original material because anything else is so ridiculously biased one way or the other it's hard to tell truth from fiction (though really, people have their own biases and some of the original stuff I've seen is borderline comical today as well). I'm still interested to see a perspective in Gaelic, as that's one voice so far missing in what I've seen.

[An Gobaire]

Well, the article about Sir Ewan Cameron of Locheil is very much on Locheil's side, and on Montrose's side, but that doesn't mean it is inaccurate in everything it recounts. All it means is the language used is full of praise for the side the author is on, and full of reproach for the other side. This can be the case without necessarily glossing over incidents.

For example:

a. the author tells how Montrose was forced to burn and pillage Argyll's (MacCailean) lands because Argyll had first done the same to his.
or b. the author recounts the young Ewan Cameron's visit to the condemned royalist nobles in prison in St Andrews while under the tutelage of the very same Argyll who he would later side against. The author of course is full of praise for these "worthy, kind and faithful" nobles who faced death, but again...that doesn't make the story inaccurate.

[CairistionaNicD]

I'm mostly speaking from experience on other texts about the period--they'll sell you a bill of goods like "oh, it was just the Clan Chiefs who supported the James. The underlings had to go along because of clan loyalties" or "it was just a Catholic vs Protestant conflict" or "people took advantage of the Highlanders who fought. They didn't know any better" or "all Jacobites were Highlanders/all Highlanders were Jacobites." Also "clan tartans" drive me nuts and that's a wholly "Rob Roy" invention. It's good to know the starting bias of the piece, though. As I said before, it'll take me a good while to work through it, as my Gaelic is not strong and the old spelling will definitely be a challenge.

From your description, it sounds like a heavily romanticized piece, which is exactly the post Rob Roy taint I meant. (Also, I enjoyed Rob Roy. I've read it twice. But it's still annoying how much of that is taken as fact rather than "poetic licence.")

[An Gobaire]

Right. Well, apparently all the clans who fought on the Stewart side at Culloden were catholic except for Clan MacPherson.

Is this true?

[Seonaidh]

It should not be forgotten that the Jacobite cause was enthusiastically endorsed by many Englishmen and also thoroughly rebuffed by many Scots. And, while Jacobites tended to be Catholic and Hanoverians Protestant, this was by no means universal on either side. It certainly seems odd for Catholics to hold in esteem a dynasty that had produced such prominent Protestants as James VI and Mary, wife of William of Orange, as against a bunch of vaguely Protestant Hanoverians - again, whose Lutheran background might not have gone down too well with Episcopalians (Anglicans) etc.

What the Jacobite Wars were mainly about was the restoration of the Stuart dynasty to the throne of Britain. And it is probably the case that both the stongest supporters and the strongest opponents of such a move were to be found in Scotland. And neither did this form anything like a "Highland/Lowland" divide: for instance, the powerful Campbells were very much on the Hanoverian side throughout (and, indeed, played a leading role in the initial formation of the Freiceadan Dubh).

It is, perhaps, pertinent to mind that, at the time, "Protestant" covered three large and separate denominations. In Britain (though very poorly represented in Scotland) were the Anglicans, in essence a watered-down version of the Roman Catholic Church without the allegiance to the Pope. In northern continetal Europe (Germany, Scandinavia etc.) were the Lutherans, following on from Martin Luther. In central Europe and Scotland were the Calvinists, a somewhat more radical departure from Catholicism that, for instance, had no bishops or cathedrals.

[Thrissel]

Well said, except I'm not too sure about

In central Europe and Scotland were the Calvinists

As far as I know, Calvinists in central (i.e. Habsburg) Europe between the Thirty Years' War and the Patent of Toleration of 1781 had to be as clandestine as Roman Catholics under James VI.

[Neil McRae]

There are lots of primary or near-primary sources, if you care to dig deep (I don’t even know which country you’re in!).

There is a history text in Gaelic about the ’45 - "Eachdraidh a' Phrionnsa, no Bliadhna Thearlaich", written in 1843 by John MacKenzie from Gairloch, Wester Ross (who also edited The Beauties of Gaelic Poetry /Sàr Obair nam Bàrd Gàidhealach (1840). This was a tr*nsl*t**n of History of the Rebellion in Scotland in 1745-6 (1827) Robert Chambers, but it is not a word for word tr*nsl*t**n and contains some anecdotes from the oral tradition not published elsewhere. Chambers' book itself was the first attempt to portray the ill-fated Jacobite rising in a reasonably objective and balanced light, as opposed to the knee-jerk anti-Jacobitism of earlier accounts.

The Gaelic poet and soldier John Roy Stewart composed two poem/songs about the Battle of Culloden, at which he was present on the Jacobite side, usually referred to as “Latha Chùil Lodair” and “Òran Eile air Latha Chùil Lodair”. A complete version of the latter poem is printed in the anthology “An Lasair”, edited by Ronald Black (2001, Birlinn), where it is re-titled “Clan Chatain an t-Sròil”. Several of its stanzas consist of a vivid eye-witness view of the battle, as seen from the Jacobite side.

Regarding English-language sources, Bishop Robert Forbes’ “The Lyon in Mourning” is as mentioned above an invaluable collection (if you can find it) of near-contemporary documents and reminiscences collected immediately after the ’45 (although not published in printed form until many years later, as I understand).

There are a few other collections of contemporary or near-contemporary documents, for instance: ALLARDYCE, COL. JAMES, LL.D. (Ed.) (1896) Historical Papers Relating to the Jacobite Period, vols i & ii. Aberdeen, New Spalding Club; and FORBES, ROBERT (again): Jacobite Memoirs of the Rebellion of 1745, Edited from the manuscripts of the right reverend Robert Forbes, A.M., Robert Chambers (ed.). This contains “Marches of the Jacobite Army”, the memoirs of Lord George Murray (commander of the Jacobite army).

Then there is “Journal and Memoires of Prince Charles’s Expedition into Scotland 1745-6, By a Highland Officer in his Army”, found in the Lockhart Papers (and also online at: http://www.moidart.org.uk/datasets/journal/16.htm). It is virtually certain that the author of this document was the Gaelic poet Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair (writing in English).

A text I found particularly interesting was “Prisoners of the ’45” by Seton & Arnot (1928, Edinburgh University Press). The authors analyse the extensive and detailed lists of Jacobite prisoners compiled by the Government; this work is full of fascinating information, not least the trials and judicial fates of the prisoners (usually, but not always, found guilty).

I accessed most of these texts in the library of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic College, Skye.

John Prebble’s “Culloden”, although a riveting read, is now agreed to be a largely inaccurate account of the battle.

The National Trust’s new visitor centre at the battlefield is excellent and well worth a visit; there is a fair amount of Gaelic (but no contemporary Gaelic documents except for some song lyrics, as I remember).

Finally, a recent text which is well worth a look is “No Quarter Given: The Muster Roll of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Army, 1745-1746” by Livingstone, Aikman and Hart (2000). A massive amount of work has gone into this text by members of the 1745 Association, in order to commemorate by name, where possible from original documents, all those who rose in rebellion, from anonymous clansmen to regimental commanders.

Finally, the 1745 Association have created an online reading list at: http://www.1745association.org.uk/Reading%20List.htm

PS I thought most of the Jacobite clans were Episcopalians!

[CairistionaNicD]

Tapadh leibh a Neil!

To answer your question, tha mi a' fuireach sa Canada (I'm not sure about "sa"--I gather it's an abbreviation of "anns an", but don't know if it can always be used that way or if there are parameters).

I'm glad to know that the documents still exist at least. I'll check with my local university to see if they have any electronic copies available. If not, well, maybe I'll make it to Skye one day. I've got about three reasons to do so now... The one with the letters of Lord George Murray would be a particularly interesting read, I'm sure. I've found snippets of his letters quoted in other works and his bluntness seems remarkable to me, especially when addressing his Prince. "The Lyon in Mourning", BTW, is fully and freely available in PDF format at the link provided by the first poster. I'm reading it now.

The recent book I'd be very interested in reading. I may put it on my next amazon order. I'll look through the 1745 Association list, too.

The question about religion is bothering me. I know I have a book that would answer it, but we moved recently and I have no idea where it's gotten to.

Finally, can I take it you also have an interest in the Jacobites? I've never met anyone with even a little knowledge, beyond the Hollywood romanticism.

[AlasdairBochd]

Seo ceangal airson Eachdraidh a' Phrionnsa air archive.org
Here's a link to this text. http://archive.org/details/eachdraidhaphrio00mack
It's always worth looking at this site for old texts. I downloaded an original 1767 Gaelic Bible from here.
Very interesting to see the language at that time.