The Bloody History Of Warfare In The Scottish Highlands | Walking Through History | Absolute History

this channel is part of the history hits Network [Music] for the last 20 years I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in search of the history of these islands now it's time to do something different I'm going to turn the engine and leave the car behind [Music] instead I'm gonna walk my walks will uncover the richest history from our finest landscapes in a way that's only possible on foot [Music] this time I've come to Northwest Scotland where hidden in this dramatic landscape is a history of protest Bloodshed and rebellion in the early 18th century the Scottish Highlands was home to a series of violent uprisings against the crown it was a time when the Highlanders wanted a different Monarch on the British throne and they might well have succeeded I've come here to find out what made the highlands such a breeding ground of revolution in the 1700s to discover how this unique landscape shaped the attitudes of its people and to reveal the great untold story of one of those revolts foreign [Music] [Music] tail opposite the Isle of Skye [Music] in 1719 a battalion of Spanish troops landed here at Elon Donald Castle nearly 150 years after the defeat of the famous Spanish Armada these men led by a group of Scottish Clan Chiefs raised an army of klansmen and started an uprising known as jacobites their aim was to overthrow the Protestant King George the first and replace him with the Catholic son of James II James Francis Stewart the old Pretender [Music] culminated in the Battle of Glenn Shield immortalized in this famous painting I've designed a four-day walk to reveal the hidden story behind these events [Music] I'm starting in Shield bridge at the mouth of Glenn Shield that's a valley for all the English [Music] but before I go to the battle site I'm heading south along glenood Lane and over a pass to reach the site of the earliest known dwelling here [Music] heading through the village of Glenelg will give me fantastic views over the sound of sleet to Sky [Music] from there I'll take to the water sailing via the town of Kyle of lockout to the stunning elandon castle where the invading Spanish troops landed on the British mainland [Music] then I'll follow the path of the uprising above the gorgeous Loch duik and on my final day I'll head up the awe-inspiring Glenn Shield to the site of the climactic battle [Music] [Music] heading off from Shield Bridge it's clear that it's a challenging route a big step up from the average weekend walk but by heading off on foot I'm not just traveling cross-country I'm traveling back in time [Music] oh these nameless paths are centuries old so they provide a real connection with the ancient system of the Clans and the life of Scotland's earlier inhabitants Clan system through which great swathes of Scotland were governed for hundreds of years is inextricably linked with the highlands in fact so much so the great Clan Chiefs often wielded more power than the Scottish Kings so if I'm going to understand why the Jacobite cause was so powerful around here then maybe understanding the clan system is a good place to start discover the past with exclusive history documentaries from history hit and uncover the secrets of some of the most famous people and events in history history hit gives you access to a growing range of documentaries presented by and featuring historians at the Forefront of research and debate whether you are looking to find out more about charismatic leaders like Cleopatra or to discover the story behind the industrial revolution history hit will have something for you we also aim to bring you the stories and legends that shaped our world through our award-winning podcast Network sign up now for a free trial and absolute history fans get 50 off their first three months just be sure to use the code absolute history at checkout in Island Day Breezy and wet and my hotel in Glenelg is 11 miles away but the landscape makes all the effort worthwhile look at that it's one of those extraordinary things about human beings isn't it you see a view like that and your pulse races a bit and there's that little jump in your stomach and you want to go way and the day just feels that much better people are known to have inhabited these glands since 3000 BC and they may even have trod the same paths but the population would have been tiny the climate's harsh and unpredictable and the dramatic landscape means there's little land suitable for cultivation even now it's not the easiest place to get around [Music] perhaps it's these factors that led to the emergence of the Clans with that in mind I've got a lunch date I'm heading for the swordland mountain hut an overnight shelter for hikers where I'm meeting Aleister moffatt who's written extensively on Scottish history and the Clans but right now I'm more interested in whether he's managed to get a brew on well Tony this will warm you up thank you I hope and uh farted on girl talk welcome to the highlands thank you very much on our real West Highland day was it was in his hands welcome to a ham sandwich here great tell me a bit about the Clans because everybody talks about them but I don't really have a very clear picture of what they are Clan the idea of a clan is really all to do with kinship it's to do with who you are what your name is clown is the organic word for children and so Clan Donald are the children of Donald they share they share a surname and often they share they share the same piece of land how far did they go back well some of them are very old indeed I mean way back to the Dark Ages the Campbells for example um indeed the McDonald's others are more recent between 1150 and 1350 people who are now known as name fathers you know the first of that name uh began to form uh these Kindred groups that are Viking Clans for example makivar son of Evar Macaulay is Mac Olaf the son of Olaf and so on did the Clans own the land the idea was that people had common custom entitled to it the grazing rights and so on and that was one of the hugely powerful emotional tugs that was there for Highlanders this is not pretty but my God it's beautiful and this prints itself on your soul a place like this the Clans that inhabited this dramatic landscape were much more than family groups sharing a bit of land they were hierarchical organizations led by all powerful Chiefs charged with running the Clan's Affairs for the benefit of all clan members do you think the special way of organizing people was predominantly about the kind of environment they lived in yes it was I mean there's no doubt that in a rugged rugged environment an unforgiving landscape like this people depended absolutely on each other so kinship was vital and it still is in a way in gallic if a Galaxy speaker greets you and doesn't know you he doesn't say what you and I would say which is where are you from Tony he says which means who are your people and that's a memory of that gallic language which was brought here from Ireland in the 4th Century A.D resonates in other ways too the vast majority of geographic features retain their gallic names and the translation into English reveals the close connection between the inhabitants and their environment so for instance that little lake is called lochian Vic Inus and it's named after a guy called John McInnis who was a local man who tragically drowned there and that Valley over there is Corey nanlua which means the Valley of the cattle I'd better watch my step I don't want this track to be known as the path where Tony Robinson fell over I've reached the road coming from Glenelg so why is it called where I'm meeting Noel for Ute an expert in Scotland's earliest settlers you've got lots of people coming together to create communal structures he's here to show me a stunning example of one of Scotland's earliest buildings a kind of Fortress it predates the arrival of galic by several centuries and is known as a brock wow I see what you mean that's a proper Brock [Music] Brocks are almost exclusive to the highlands and islands and are unique to Scotland built around 500 BC they were the skyscrapers of the Iron Age although nobody really knows what they were for however most experts agree they're a kind of defensive Fort which doubled as a domestic dwelling the thing that is so so obvious about this is that you've got two concentric walls it's like double skinned isn't it yeah it's it's the feature of the brass you've got this outer wall which leans in a little bit vertical inner wall and they're tied together every five foot or so up the levels of flat Stones what's the point of that you can use less Stone to build taller faster how much harder than this do you recommend have built three foot or so not a lot taller than that we don't think was there any build inside yeah I mean that's the thing you look at Brock's today and every obsesses about the stone construction actually most of the daily life we think is going on inside is in a wooden house dropped inside that rock a fairly standard 10 meter diameter Iron Age wooden house except it's got a rather fancy exterior and What would life have been like for the people who lived in here well fairly quiet most of the time but slightly nervous they were pretty troubled times up here we think in the Iron Age what were they threatened by well I think you're looking at the little regions against regions perhaps the people from uh over in sky might pop over here for a bit of Smash and grab the people living here would have been Farmers some owning cattle but all working together to grow oats and barley you know what strikes me you've got this fantastic aspect here and you've got a relatively small population you've got lots of little communities warring with each other some of the time and also lots of bits of mutual self-help it sounds to me like the Clans it's quite possibly the start of what becomes the Clans we think what happens is that there's local cooperation so neighbors would generally look out for each other against people from the next Glen or from Over the Sea in sky and gradually those groups become more formalized initially it's just collaboration later on maybe they merge into the Clans the idea with the clan was that the clan Chief was the leader of his people more than the owner of the land and in Scotland it's quite interesting we talk about the king of the Scots whereas in England is the king of England it's as if in Scotland it's somehow more of a relationship with the people whereas in England it's maybe a little bit more about domination as I head off towards my overnight in Glenelg it's Noel's last point that sticks in my mind the first references to a King of the Scots appear around 900 A.D after the picts and Gales United Their Kingdoms Scotland then remained an independent nation for 800 years [Music] for the last 300 of those years the rulers were stewards and given the importance that the clan system placed on loyalty to achieve it's no surprise the Clans supported the stewards so passionately I've reached my destination for the day the village of Glenelg tomorrow I'm going to find out how the Spanish got involved in the 1719 uprising but before that I want to check a different kind of Highland spirit [Music] thank you [Music] it's the second day of my Jacobite walk in the Scottish Highlands I'm in the village of Glenelg opposite the Isle of Skye the Stuart Kings had ruled Scotland since the 14th century and by inheriting the English crown in 1603 they'd become rulers of Britain but all that came to an end in the tumultuous events of 1688. that's when William and Mary who were Protestant took the throne of Britain ousting the Catholic Steward James II James failed to regain his throne by force and died in 1701. the same year the English parliament passed an act disqualifying his son James Francis Stewart or indeed any Catholic from inheriting the throne [Music] so when Queen Anne died in 1714 James Francis the old Pretender along with 56 other legitimate claimants to the throne were cast aside in favor of George the first a German who couldn't even speak English but was a Protestant his coronation was the spark that Lit the Jacobite fuse it gave the great European powers the perfect excuse to interfere in British Affairs for a whole generation thousands of men predominantly from these Glenns rallied to the old Pretenders cause in autumn 1715. with the secret backing of France they marched South to take Edinburgh and invade Northern England but a series of defeats culminating in the Battle of sheriff Muir in November 1715 ensured the rebellion was Stamped Out leading jacobites fled to France but the British government knew that the stewards hadn't given up hope of reclaiming the throne that lingering threat would leave a physical mark on the Highlands to us this tiny little village with its sharp and its post office is just about as sleepy as things can get and yet to George the first supporters this was a hotbed of traitors and turn coats a base camp for Rebels who wanted to depose their King and if you don't believe me take a look at the barracks they built unlikely though it seems the British government built this huge Barracks for 240 men when the population of the village would have been little more than a hundred Victoria hello how very nice to meet you I'm meeting Dr Victoria Henshaw to try and find out what King George's government was so worried about this is an extraordinary building isn't it it's it's virtually as big as the village why was it built the jacobites had risen in 1715 they'd been joined by the French and the effects of that shocked the government and the people of Britain and by building fortified barracks in Scotland you could have soldiers on the ground to react more quickly to Jacobite problems who would they have been for the blokes who were living in this Garrison they were Scottish they were drawn from the loyal Clans placed here to keep an eye on the disloyal Clans and it's very much a Scotland self-governing Scotland but at the the command of the government in London hard for them just to get the basics to live on wouldn't it yes you'd have to cooperate a lot with the with the locals um and Source your food locally but the locals who didn't like you yes well a lot of it would have to be shipped in and there were letters of complaints from the soldiers from the 1740s because they didn't have enough food the chimneys smoked the roof leaked they weren't they weren't especially happy being posted here and the the size of this place it must have been a huge statement of power the area here is very close to the Isle of Skye which was a hotbed of rebellion you have the McKenzies to the north big supporters of of the Stuart cause so this area here is geographically very important and it's a statement to the locals here is the British army we're here we're present [Music] I've arranged to be picked up by boat from the Glenelg Ferry Terminal but it won't arrive for a few hours so I'm going to use the time to pop six miles down the coast to sandag Bay it's a place I've never seen but I feel I know it intimately thanks to the writings of Gavin Maxwell Born Into the Scottish aristocracy but a product of an English Public School Maxwell was a troubled soul he tried his hand at soldiering exploring and shark fishing before discovering his true vacation in life as a writer in Ring of Bright Water Maxwell recounted his experience of living in a cottage at sandag Bay with a succession of otters and the lyricism and magic of his writing made the book an international bestseller you'll have to walk through a forestry Plantation to reach the bay but it's worth all the effort [Music] perfect isn't it although Maxwell's Cottage burnt down in 1967 sandag Bay remains much as it did when he was here there are a few changes a memorial marks the resting place of one of his otters and a boulder marks the spot where Maxwell's Cottage stood and his ashes are buried but it's only on reaching the beach that you are truly transported to the world so lovingly detailed in his book the landscape and Seascape that lay below me was of such beauty that I had no room for it all at once into this bright watery landscape Midge moved and took possession with a delight that communicated itself as clearly as any articulate speech could have done he seemed so absolute a part of his surroundings that I wondered how they could ever have seemed to me complete before his arrival we're gonna be out here in less than two minutes hold up by the time I get back to Glenelg the boats arrived to pick me up hello Barry hey hi Tony pleased to meet you nice to meet you too I'm heading up through the Kyle Ray Straits to the town of Kyle of Loch house and then on to elandon and Castle to pick up the story of the 1719 Jacobite rebellion what's the weather gonna be like it's going to be wet and windy that's it that's great it might be cold but it's worth staying on Deck as we catch sight of a pair of Atlantic seals swimming towards assistant come on I love it it sticks his bum in the air and goes under waiting for me on the key at Kyle of lockout is Professor Daniel sechi Daniel nice to meet you Tony and you a specialist in Jacobite history if we'd been here in April 1719 we'd have seen a Jacobite Invasion for sailing past sky heading for the mainland I'm hoping Daniel can tell me what triggered those dramatic events it's a Spanish Revenge the British had destroyed the Spanish Fleet off the coast of Sicily and now it was payback time backing a Jacobite rebellion was a perfect way for the Spanish to hit back at George the first Britain and the force that sailed through here in April 1719 consisted of 300 crack Spanish Mountain troops as well as a retinue of returning Jacobite leaders the numbers of troops that the Spanish could Supply could land in the British Isles were not huge but they were enough to act as the hardcore of an army of jacobites the Scots commanders hoped that the arrival of Spanish troops would act as a recruiting drum among the Clans if men flocked again to the Jacobite standard the rebellion was on but this was just part of the plan the Scottish end of things was intended purely as a diversion to draw the British army North into Scotland meantime the Duke of Ormond and 5 000 men would land in the Southwest um every Jacobite they could find and March on London on the 13th of April 1719 the Spanish Mountain troops and their Scottish comrades landed here Elon Donald Castle based in the midst of a Jacobite Heartland they were ready to start the uprising [Music] when the Jacobite leaders arrived here their confidence must have been Sky High they'd evaded the Royal Navy's patrols they'd successfully landed here they were among friends and they'd got the support of a major foreign power what could possibly go wrong [Music] I'm halfway through my walk in the Scottish Highlands of kintail having landed at Elon Don and Castle I'm following the root of the Spanish troops and Scots jacobites who came here in April 1719. their plan is to oust the Hanoverian King George the first and replace him with James Stewart who they're going to put on the throne as James III but this is the Calm before the storm as the Jacobite commanders over there I'm just about to find out to discover more about what happened here at elandoned Castle I'm meeting Alex Mackay the castle is somewhat eccentrically dressed historian hey Alex hello to welcome Dylan Dawn Castle thank you oh is this Chaka buy this costume well it's as close as I can get it's a bit of mix and match more than kill but the frock coat very much 18th century is now how about this Castle then isn't it great well thank you very much you've seen it at its best Sunrise always looks spectacular would this Castle have looked like this during the uprising oh absolutely we knew exactly what it looked like because it was surveyed by the government in 1714 and those plans still survive and it looks very much as you see it today apart from the bridge so this would have actually been an island absolutely it's part of this defensive mechanism the rebels landed here because they knew this was Mackenzie territory known Jacobite sympathizers and for one of the returning Exiles it was a homecoming well this Castle was the home of William McCann's at lse Fourth he was one of the three commanders in charge and he knew was a strong and defensible structure for the story of gunpowder did you say three commanders three commanders this is common in the Jacobite World lots of chiefs sounds like it'd be a recipe for travel absolutely it's a recipe for disaster in all forms of politics foreign events quickly overtook the jacobites soon after arriving they had news that the main Invasion Fleet of 5 000 men like the Spanish Armada 130 years earlier had been destroyed in a huge storm in the Bay of Biscay with their own ships long gone the men here were now on their own they all started arguing amongst one of us should we press on should we abandon the cause what should we do and everybody was arguing with each other who were these three commanders can you paint me a picture of them yes indeed the Errol Marshall Keith have dedicated loyal and honorable Soldier and Aristocrat his own right uh Tully Barton somewhat of a godfly a Spain Thrift and a bit uh incompetent and and garlic Chief the LFC forth William McKenzie so what shut them up the Rival of three English warships drop tank on the bay over there appeared in early May when navy frigates the Worcester the flambre and the Enterprise with over a hundred Cannon between them they represented a significant thread come Tony well some weird we've come up to the battlements to understand the situation facing the jacobites on the 10th of May 1719. it was only about 40 jacobites in the castle at this time the vast bulk of the Spanish force and Jacobite Army had now moved away from the castle out a gunfire range so what do the guys in the ships do they asked for the surrender the castle well put up a bit of resistance and with that the warships began opening fire this is the sort of thing they were using this is actually the smallest one believe it or not and this is an iron Cannonball dug out of the walls during restoration how did the guys in the castle respond to all the Canon there was very little they could do there was no real Cannon to fire back what ended with the small Jacobite Garrison surrendering the castle to the English Captain he came ashore with his party they found a large volume of gunpowder which they used to destroy this Castle Elon Donan would stand in ruins for over 200 years until its Restoration in the last century [Music] but its destruction didn't signal the end of the 1719 Rebellion safe on Shore the remaining Spanish troops and Jacobite Exiles decided to fight on [Music] following their route East above Lochte towards Glenn Shield [Music] their intention was to reach Inverness and defeat the Garrison there which they hoped would inspire a wider Rising [Music] imagine the Jacobite commanders walking up this way in May 1719 they'd heard that the main Jacobite Landings in the south of England weren't going to happen after all they just watched their Castle being blown up by the Royal Navy down there it's wonder that they decided to carry on at all but they did and when they put out the call to raise the Clans the people responded Spirit of defiance must have run very deep indeed [Music] to find out more about the Scots involved in the 1719 Uprising I'm heading for clacken dueck an ancient Clan burial ground six miles Beyond elandonment inside the church ruins is a memorial which commemorates The Men Who fell at the Battle of sheriff Muir fighting for William McKenzie the fifth Earl of cephath and is this Earl of sea Firth the same one as took part in the 1719 exactly yes what kind of bloke was he um he was actually quite a fascinating character on the one hand he was a commander of Highland tribesmen with a great retinue of Gillies and bards and Pipers on the other hand he was brought up at the Jacobite Court in San Juan so he was a very sophisticated European when cephath landed who responded to his call he himself raised 200 men and his cousin Sir John McKenzie of Cal raised another 200 men that's not very many is it compared with 1715. it's not however you have to remember that this was an impromptu Landing here after an armada which had gone wrong so in fact it was still quite a decisive number of people in some ways it's not surprising that hundreds rather than thousands answered the call this graveyard was a reminder that many men had lost their lives in an uprising just four years before equally discouraging was the news that General Whiteman's British troops were marching down to intercept the rebels the mood must have been dark indeed so when they set off from here what do you think their chances were of getting some sort of rebellion up and running um in some ways bad however in terms of numbers they weren't much less than General Whiteman's Hanoverian troops so in many ways it it could have gone either way [Music] I'm sure that the jacobites camp near here would have sung songs to raise their spirits and as I end the day after the eight mile walk from elandon to my shield Bridge Hotel I find that some of those rebel songs are still popular today [Music] well you know [Music] will you now come back again is a lament immortalizing the wish of Highlanders for Bonnie Prince Charlie to return from Exile in Europe one example of the Jacobite songs that are still sung today folk song has always been political to something here on Earth we still have tunes and songs that are existing from that time that are all manuscripts there's unbroken thought memory foam to this and it's been passed down we're absolutely certain that we're still playing some of the same tunes and songs that they have there's something about this music that one time reflected an anti-english feeling is that true now it's there are facets of the music that can express that yeah I prefer to think of it as Pro Scottish rather than Auntie anything else but I would like to think that as a country we're maturing about now and we've gone through that process and we're coming out the other side as a mature and healthy Nation Scots are proud of their own tradition their own Heritage and this music is a very important part of that [Music] I've almost reached the climax of my journey charting the story of the 1719 Rebellion tomorrow I'll find out what happened at the Battle of glenshiel and how the jacobites left their mark on Scotland [Music] [Applause] It's the final day of my journey to find out why the highlands were such a breeding ground for Jacobite support and how this region has shaped the character of the people living here [Music] having come full circle I'm now heading up Glenn Shield to my final destination the battle site where the fortunes of the 1719 Rebellion were decided [Music] when the jacobites passed this way in early June 1719 they knew that the Inverness Garrison under its Dynamic Commander General Whiteman was just a few days away if they were to beat Whiteman's force and get the Rebellion up and running it was imperative that they head up the Glen and picked the best possible positions from which to fight the path I'm on has reached a farm achnagar but it's not clear where the path goes from here hello hello anybody there anybody around ah hello hello I'm sorry to disturb you I'm looking for the Glenn Shield battle side and I'm totally confused I had a path and it's just kind of disappeared yes well that happens how they go through I mean the track originally would have come Round And across onto the other side of the river to get up to the battle seat now you'll have to go up the main road I think are you familiar with the site yes I know what it is yes I've been up there and a number of years ago my uncle found some musket balls up there we've still got them I've still got them yes yeah I'd love to see them I think I've found the right person yeah yeah this is them they were in the Bank of the river and probably some people from the battle or something else they're there and and probably left a bit muscular balls behind him yeah because they haven't been fired no no they haven't been five no that's fantastic I find that certainly came to the right person yeah thank you so uh which is the best way to go just over the front and over the cross over the bridge and onto the main road right well very nice to meet you thank you very much that's great at last I've got my hands on some physical evidence of the battle the last stretch just flies by it's just over a mile from the farm to my final destination and the Battleground is easy to find it sits at a choke point in the Glen that creates a natural killing ground you can see why the jacobites chose this spot government troops it the narrowest part of the Glen you've got a ridge there another one there it's easy to throw up a really robust defense with just a few men this could have been the Scottish version of thermopoli with the noble 300 holding back George's Hanoverian troops rather than the Persians donate an old friend from the center for Battlefield archeology in Glasgow Dr Tony Pollard has surveyed this site extensively yeah can we take The High Ground okay so I've asked him to give me a guided tour not a bad spot this time it is Lovely isn't it it sounds strange to say it but I think it's the most beautiful Battlefield in Britain if you can say such a thing about such a terrible place but also pretty impregnable it is it's ideal for the jacobites let's not forget that their Retreat West is blocked because of the royal Navy in the lock of course yeah so they've they've got to fight either fight their way out or make a stand and they decide to make a stand Whiteman had 1100 troops at his disposal including 120 mounted dragoons the Jacobite Force had about the same number of men including one famous name Rob Roy he keeps he keeps popping up in Jacobite history he's a bit of a lad we know he was at the Battle of sheriff Muir in 1715 he was actually guarding one of the river Crossings for the jacobites here he seems to have played quite an active role and seems to have done his best but by this time he's a pretty old man I always think of him as This Magnificent hero he's he's like everybody in these stories he's not a hero or a villain the jacobites arrived on June the 9th and immediately prepared their defenses a barricade was built across the narrowest part of the Glen locking the road Highlanders under Tully barden's brother Lord George Murray occupied a knoll on the south side of the valley while the Earl of cephas men took up positions on the mountain slopes to the north with Rob Royce McGregor's held in reserve the Spanish troops dug in on the central Hill overlooking the barricade foreign [Music] Colonel Don Nicola de Bellano e Castro they constructed protective Stone Works on the Mountainside and they built them so well they're still visible today this is one of the original barricades that the Spanish built here in 1719. well it does look to me like job done and dusted it's hard to imagine how anyone coming this way could possibly win against people in in these positions on paper you would think so but one thing in the government Army's favor was a particular type of weapon now wait until you see this what do you think that is presumably it's some sort of mini cannon it is it's it's a mortar you know that old Pink Panther idea of a Clouseau bomb yeah cartoon bomb with the fuse ball that's what they fire and as the fuse burns down in the air it explodes on the Target and sends horrible big Shivers of Steel into the shrapnel into the enemy so an incredibly powerful weapon and it appears to be used here really very well on the 10th of June 1719 while the old Pretender was celebrating his birthday in Madrid Whiteman attacked the jacobites in Glenn Shield [Music] using the mortars to bombard them Whiteman's forces first attacked Murray's position to their left and then seaforths to their right [Music] the mortar bombs reputedly set the Heather a light forcing the Highlanders to retreat thank you Murray's men fall back and they come behind this big Knoll here and they've left the battlefield really see forth in the McKenzies and other Highlanders across the hill slope on the North side start retiring back this way and your old friend Roy exactly he's called in to reinforce that that defense but the problem is that before he can get there it's quite clear that all has gone to pot up there and that that side is streaming off the field but you've still got the Spanish here yeah they are the last man standing so what Whiteman does is he turns his Dreadful mortars onto this position Dismounts his dragoons and gets them around 120 men to on foot charge up this hill so they come up and eventually the Spanish are pushed back they retire up this Ridge line and across the top with the retreat of the Spanish the battle and the 1719 Uprising were over the jacobites had been defeated with around 50 men dying in the battle the Highlanders dispersed into the mountains and the Jacobite leaders fled back into exile the Spanish troops were forced to surrender and were eventually repatriated several months later on hearing news of the defeat the old Pretender retired to Italy it was nearly 30 years before his son Bonnie Prince Charlie known as the young Pretender made one final effort to reclaim the throne the 17th 45 rebellion was the most successful of all the uprisings the young Pretenders men got as far south as Derby but under pressure the rebels fell apart the coup de gras comes in April of 1746 at Claude Moore and we we get that Infamous battle where the Jacobite cause is murdered in the Heather after the failure of the 1745 the government cracked down on the Highlanders many prisoners were executed and laws were passed to break the clan system wearing Tartan was made illegal until 1782. and Highland culture was forced underground until well into the 19th century but in 1822 George IV enthusiastically adopted Highland dress during a royal visit to Scotland and the growing popularity of Sir Walter Scott's novels meant Highland culture was once again acceptable [Music] maybe the jacobites were an anachronism maybe they were just a bunch of Romantics who wanted to cling on to the Highland way of doing things whereas the Progressive Way the Modern Way Forward was to be part of the United Kingdom and be ruled over by the English monarch and yet today in and around Scotland more people want to leave the UK and break away from the government in London than ever before so perhaps the spirit of the jacobites is still with us [Music] if you want to follow in my footsteps you can download a copy of my walk from www.channel4.com [Music]

Channel: Absolute History

Views: 159,044

Keywords: history documentaries, absolute history, world history, ridiculous history, quirky history

Id: Ln2vO6KEunU

Length: 47min 41sec (2861 seconds)

Published: Sun May 21 2023