Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745. Volume II

In Short

This volume presents biographical portraits of prominent Jacobite leaders involved in the uprisings of 1715 and 1745. Moving through individual lives rather than general campaign histories, it examines the personal motivations, political calculations, and tragic downfalls of figures like Lord Nithisdale, Lord Kenmure, Rob Roy MacGregor, and Lord Lovat. Through historical narrative and contemporary correspondence, the text exposes the tension between romantic loyalty to the Stuarts and the harsh legal, military, and financial realities imposed by the Hanoverian British state.

The Story

The narrative tracks the trajectory of the Jacobite movement by examining the distinct paths taken by its prominent leaders, tracing how individual ambitions and family traditions converge in armed rebellion against the Hanoverian Crown. The political landscape unfolds through the parliamentary reactions in London, where rapid impeachments for high treason and trials in Westminster Hall show a British government determined to crush the insurrection and seize forfeited estates to cover the costs of war. Against this formidable judicial apparatus stand men driven by ancient family ties, unyielding loyalty, or sheer opportunism.

The chronicle moves through various theaters of the conflict, from the failed risings in Dumfriesshire to foreign-backed incursions on the coast. In the South, figures like Lord Kenmure lead small armies into battle, only to be captured at the siege of Preston and marched to London under humiliating conditions to face trial and execution. Meanwhile, remote island landing sites receive tiny Spanish expeditions that quickly collapse amid internal arguments over command between figures such as the Marquis of Tullibardine and the Lord Marischal. These military failures leave leaders stripped of their lands and forced into decades of continental exile or precarious underground lives in Scotland.

In the Highlands, the struggle takes on a different character, shape-shifting into outlawry, extortion, and legal maneuvering. Figures like Rob Roy MacGregor Campbell turn from respectable livestock drovers into elusive freebooters, exploiting the terrain around Loch Lomond to extract rent from rival estates and outwit government garrisons while maintaining an ambiguous stance between opposing political factions. Clan rivalries and estate disputes further complicate the war, as ambitious men use political upheaval to pursue private feuds, seize land titles, and secure royal pardons.

The final phase of the narrative centers on the bitter consequences of defeat and the total collapse of the Jacobite cause. As government forces dismantle fortresses like Oliver Cromwell's old citadel at Inverness, the leaders who survived earlier risings find themselves hunted, trapped, or betrayed. The book concludes with the trial and execution of the notorious Lord Lovat, whose lifelong double-dealing and shifting allegiances finally end on the scaffold in the Tower of London, marking the definitive suppression of the Jacobite threat.

How It Unfolds

The legal trap closes Parliament moves with extraordinary speed to impeach the captured rebel lords, giving them mere days to prepare their defense in Westminster Hall while King William and his ministers resolve to destroy the seeds of future rebellion.

Desperate ventures in the North A small foreign expedition bearing Spanish troops lands in the Western Isles, but internal quarrels over command between the Marquis of Tullibardine and his allies paralyze the force before government troops easily scatter them at Glenshiel.

The rise of the freebooter After losing his ancestral properties, Rob Roy MacGregor retreats into the natural fortress of Craig Royston, turning to armed intimidation, rent collection from rival estates, and calculated political duplicity to survive.

Feuds and family ruin Clan rivalries erupt into outright violence and legal battles over land and titles, driving figures like Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, into outlawry, dark family feuds, and exile in French prisons.

The final reckoning Following the ultimate defeat of the insurrection, government armies dismantle Highland strongholds, and the remaining leaders face trial, ending with Lord Lovat’s execution in the Tower of London.

The People

• William Maxwell, Earl of Nithisdale: An ancient nobleman whose devotion to the Stuarts brings about his defeat, capture, and imprisonment, saved from the block only by the daring intervention of his wife.
• William Gordon, Viscount Kenmure: A reluctant commander who hesitatingly takes the field for James, leading a small force until his defeat at Preston leads him directly to the executioner.
• Rob Roy MacGregor Campbell: A former drover turned legendary outlaw who uses the rugged wilderness around Loch Lomond to wage a private war against the Duke of Montrose while playing both political factions against each other.
• Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat: A brilliant, thoroughly deceitful clan chief whose life is a chaotic sequence of feuds, exile, imprisoned years in France, and double-dealing, ending in his public trial and death.
• Lady Nithisdale: The courageous wife of the Earl, who buries family papers to save the estate and risks imprisonment to rescue her husband and secure their family's future.

In Its Own Voice

"The event proved that I had acted prudently to save these papers."

After burying her family documents in the ground to keep them out of government hands, Lady Nithisdale reflects on the necessity of her secret, perilous enterprise.

"These seven or eight years have sufficiently shewn me how unfit I am for meddling with the deep concerns of state."

In a quiet letter written from exile near Paris, the Marquis of Tullibardine confesses to the Chevalier his desire to remain far removed from political intrigue.

"God bless you all; I bid you an everlasting farewell. We shall not meet all again in the same place,--I am sure of that."

Lord Lovat addresses the court in Westminster Hall with dark irony after receiving his final sentence of execution.

What It's Really About

The book explores how deep-seated ancestral traditions and political idealism collide with the cold mechanics of modern state power. It asks whether personal loyalty to an exiled line can survive in an era dominated by parliamentary law, foreign diplomacy, and military force. Through its detailed lives, the narrative argues that the Jacobite cause was defined as much by internal divisions, personal greed, and feuds over land as by noble self-sacrifice. It reveals the devastating human cost borne by families whose leaders gambled their titles, fortunes, and lives on a romantic past that the present had already outgrown.

Why Read It Today

This work offers an unvarnished look at the Jacobite risings, stripping away modern romantic myths to expose the messy, human reality of eighteenth-century civil war. Readers interested in Scottish history, political intrigue, and detailed historical biography will appreciate its granular focus on individual lives rather than broad troop movements.

The prose reflects the meticulous, slightly formal style of mid-nineteenth-century historiography. It moves leisurely, relying heavily on historical documents, trial records, and personal letters, which can occasionally slow the narrative pace. However, this density is its greatest asset, grounding every drama in authentic detail. What remains with the reader is a striking portrait of a world in transition, where archaic clan loyalties were systematically dismantled by the legal and military power of a rising empire.