It's the 27th of July. What do you think
was the critical point in the fortunes of the Jacobite Highland clansmen?
Bonnie Prince Charlie turning back at Derby? The choice of battleground at
Culloden? I've got another suggestion for you, and
two songs for you, if you watch this video. Hiya,
I'm Bruce Fummey. If you're interested in the people,
places and events in Scottish history then why not subscribe to my YouTube
channel Scotland History Tours? Oh, also click the notification bell to
make sure you're notified every time there's a new video.
In the meantime let me tell you a story. If you don't already know the causes of
the Jacobite conflicts of the late 17th and early 18th century
then you might want to go back and watch my video
Jacobite Rebellion... Or Was It? There's a link up there just now.
Otherwise today I'm going to mention two songs
and give you links to them in the description below.
Now in the comment section please let me know if you already know the songs,
and their meaning. Now if you've watched my video Jacobite Rebellion... Or Was It? then you'll know that the rightful king had been overthrown in London.
Now I'm not an hereditary monarchist. I don't even want my kids to inherit my
house. But if you were an hereditary monarchist
and loyal to the king then you would have been pretty hacked
off. And that was the case for John Graham of
Claverhouse. Some members of the English house of
Lords had invited the protestant Dutchman
William of Orange to invade and on the 18th of December 1688
James VII (second of your English) headed for the continent.
I think he just knew Brexit was coming and didn't want to take any chances.
So England have changed their king, but what will Scotland do? You see
Scotland and England may have had the same king,
but for a while they were still different countries.
Somebody in Scotland needs to make a decision.
So from the 16th of march 1689 the Convention of Estates met in Edinburgh.
It was a bit like a parliament but, without the full
powers of a parliament. Imagine the Welsh Assembly.
Joke! The convention met behind closed doors,
guarded by troops of the Presbyterian majority. Claverhouse
smelled a stitch up, with rat scented thread,
because you can buy anything on Amazon these days can't you?
Anyway Claverhouse stormed out of Edinburgh with 50 dragoons.
Now the act is recounted in the Walter Scott poem Bonnie Dundee,
which has now become a rousing song. For those of you that don't know it I'll
leave a link, all right? The Corries version that is.
Now let me know if you know it or if you knew it
okay? On the 11th of April the Convention ended James's reign
but John Graham of Claverhouse, Bonnie Dundee
had already been away for a month, raising the clans.
The country was dividing into Williamites
and Jacobites. this is blair castle it was held by the
Dukes of Athol. Now the first Duke of Athol took the
Williamite side in this newly divided Scotland.
The problem was that some of his underlings didn't.
They occupied and fortified a castle for King James.
John Murray of Athol was barred from his own house and had to lay sage to try
and gain entry. I've had to do that myself after a
Sunday afternoon down the boozer I'll be honest with you.
You're not getting in this house. I don't care who you think the king of this
castle is. Murray of Athol's baillie inside sent word
to Bonnie Dundee to come and rescue them from their
besieging boss outside. The boss sends word to the government side.
Two armies both underprepared hot foot it to get to the castle first. A
Williamite force under General Mackay was sent by the new official government.
Bonnie Dundee represented the rightful king deposed in
a coup less than six months ago. They were both in the
right. Bonnie Dundee got here first with way
less men than he hoped. Mackay had to approach
through the Killicrankie Pass behind me without the cavalry for which he had
hoped. And when he came through the pass Bonnie Dundee was waiting. It would be a
clash of Highland and Lowland, Gaelic vs English, the rightful king
against the chosen one. It was also professional soldiers, some
crack troops returning fresh from wars in the continent,
against enthusiastic amateurs fresh from their highland glens.
If you like your whisky with a twist of irony. Bonnie Dundee was a Lowlander
leading the Highland army and Mackay was a Highlander leading a
Lowland army. Bonnie Dundee had lured MAckay perfectly
into his web so that the Highlanders looked down on the red coated troops
below. The day began with skirmishes and
standoff Lowlanders shouting: 'Yer Maw!' and
Highlanders shouting: 'Ur Mahair.!' It's the same thing. The Williamite troops were twice their
number, but eventually each clan group threw down their
garments, charged downhill, fired one shot, and then hell pell into the
hardened British troops. Mounted in the front line Bonnie Dundee
stood up in a stirrups, raised his hand and waved his hat to
encourage reluctant horsemen. The hardened Williamite troops turned
and fled. Yah fannies!
That trivialises the situation. They reckon there were 1800 dead redcoats and
600 dead Jacobites by the time it was finished,
but there was no doubt that it was a rout.
Now the most famous of the fleeing government troops was a guy called
Donald MacBean. As he ran from his Jacobite pursuers
he reached the River Gary here. He was trapped, with no escape. What does
he do? He looked across the gap and in
desperation he took a run and jump, and made it to the other side of what is now
called the soldier's leap.18 feet. That's more
than 5.4 meters if you're French. Cinque vergule quatre if you're a pedant.
The point is it's a death-defying leap, but Duncan MacBean would survive.
Back at the battle site Bonnie Dundee would not. At the point that he'd raised his arm to
wave on and encourage his troops it revealed a chink of unarmored cloth.
Now the chances of a musket ball making it through that minute gap were tiny,
but the consequences were massive. And as he laid dying Bonnie Dundee
reputedly asked the soldier: 'How goes the day?'
The Highlander replied: 'Well for king James,
but I'm sorry for your Lordship.' The dying words of Bonnie Dundee were: 'If it
goes well for him it matters the less for me.'
John Graham of Claverhouse, Bonnie Dundee, was buried in the vault
here at St Brides chapel in the grounds of Blair Castle,
whose staff had called on him for aid. And as he rests in here and he's
commemorated here John Graham of Claverhouse might
consider that the Jacobites had won the day,
but they'd lost their inspirational leader. And without him they failed to
press home the siege of Dunkeld to the south.
The Battle Killicrankie was early on in a fragile Williamite
regime that hadn't yet established itself.
If Bonnie Dundee hadn't raised his hand to wave on his troops,
might the Jacobite cause have turned out differently?
If the day had gone well for James and Bonnie Dundee,
would it have changed history? Would we be singing about him today?
If you enjoyed this video then like it and share it. If you want to help me
making more of these, then there's a link in the description
below to tell you how. In the meantime, Tha mi an dochas gum bith lath math leibh Tiorridh an drasda
