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To Gather and Go with Charlie (
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To Gather and Go with Charlie (
Some Sources on the Jacobite Rebellion
Edward Duyker looks at
the legacy of Bonnie Prince
Charlie, as recorded in the
Library's Collection
O
n 13 February 1788,
Governor Arthur Philip
swore allegianceto George III
as the only lawful and undoubted
sovereign of the realm, and abjured
'allegiance to the descendants of the
person who pretended to be the
Prince of Wales during the reign of
James II'. In so doing, he was totally
oblivious to the fact that Prince
Charles Edward Stuart had died in
Rome only two weeks before, of
alcoholic poisoning.
It is ironic that 'Bonnie' Prince
Charlie should have gained a mention
(albeit indirect) at the founding of the
British colony in New South Wales-
yet the defeat of the Highlanders on
Culloden Moor would set in train
fierce reprisals, dislocation and a
cultural repression which would bring
many Scots to Australia's shores. The
heritage of 'Caledonia Australis' is the
heritage of John Hunter, Lachlan
Macquarie, Thomas Brisbane, James reach Van D iemen' s Land), to This secret landing and the
Stirling and John Forrest; along with discover the involvement of my rebellion which followed, must be
the explorers Thomas Mitchell and subject in the rescue of the Stuart seen in the con text of the wider
John McDouall Stuart, the botanist prince. Another surprise was the European conflict we now know as
Alan Cunningham and thousands of number of mysterious Irish the War of the Austrian Succession.
others. The families of all these Jacobites-such as Richard Butler, Britain would forge an anti-French
individuals must have been touched Antoine Walsh, John William coalition with Austria, subsidise the
in some way by the events of 1745 O'Sullivan and Richard Augustus defence of the Netherlands with
and 1746; we know, for example, that Warren-who kept reappearing in Hanoverian and other German
the agricultural pioneer John the story. Marion Dufresne's
Macarthur was the son of a Jacobite employer, Antoine Walsh, was
refugee from Argyll. (The Jacobites, the son of the man who had
incidentally, took their name from commanded the ship which bore
Jacobus, the Latin for James.) James II into exile. And I was
Flora Macdonald, from a painting by
I was surprised, when researching delighted to discover that Marion Allan Ramsay
An Officer of the Blue, my biography Dufresne served on Antoine Walsh's Reproduced from The Life of
of Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne vessel Du Teillay, which eventually Flora Macdonald, by Alexander Macgregor
(the first man after Abel Tasman to took Prince Charles to Scotland. (Stirling: Eneas Mackay, 1932)
Charlie would succeed in gammg (top) 'Curious portrait of Prince Charles',
control of Scotland and plunging from a painting in possessionof Viscount
south into England. Jacobite Powerscourt
successes renewed French interest
(centre) 'Prince Charlesas Betty Burke',
in invading Britain, but by J. Williams, in the ScottishNational
poorly maintained secrecy, slow Portrait Gallery
preparations and the failure of the \
English J aco bi tes to respond, (below)'Prince CharlesEdward Stuart',
ultimately made it impossible to from an engravingin the Scottish
dispatch an effective armada. National Portrait Gallery
All reproduced from The Life and
With no French assistance, and no
Adventures o/Prince Charlie Edward Stuart,
English rising, the Highlanders began by W. Drummond Norie (London:
their retreat from England. France Caxton PublishingCo., [1903-04])
still attempted to send funds: one ship
came to grief, the other was too late.
Alternative plans to land troops in
Ireland and Scotland came to
troops, and seek to shatter the French nothing. With Charles's retreat from
fleet. France, on the other hand, Derby, and the absence of visible
would continue the continental
campaign against Austria, but also
attempt to sweep aside the Royal Navy and the barest of natural refuges, he
and support a Stuart restoration in rarely remained in one place for more
Britain. France's Louis x.v had initially than a few days.
been strongly committed to a Jacobite In order to salvage his honour and
rising as an adjunct to his own prestige, one of the main objects of
invasion plans but, after the element Louis XV's foreign policy after
of surprise was lost and his invasion Culloden was the rescue of Charles
fleet smashed by tempests in early Stuart. The first four attempts failed.
March 1744, his support became The fifth and final attempt, mounted
lukewarm. Thus, although the in late-August 1746, involved two
Jacobites continued to press for a firm ships owned by the Saint Malo-based
commitment of French men and Irish Jacobite Richard Butler: the
arms, they made their own secret and Prince de Conty commanded by
independent preparations. Marion Dufresne and the Heureux
On 12 April 1745, Antoine Walsh commanded by Trehouart de
was approached by Prince Charles for Beaulieu. Their preparations were
assistance in gaining a passage to made in just eight days. To avoid
Scotland in order to raise the French support, came desertions, English patrols, it was decided to sail
Highlanders and regain the throne for divisions, tactical blunders and along the coast of Ireland to the west
the Stuarts. Walsh promptly agreed ultimately the horrendous defeat on
and his vessel, Du Teillay, was loaded Culloden Moor at the hands of the
with 1500 guns, 1800 broadswords, brutal Duke of Cumberland.
and a chest of 4000 Louis d'Or Hanoverian artillery cut the clansmen
(which Walsh untruthfully declared to pieces, then 'Butcher' Cumberland
to the Minister for War, Comte and his Campbell allies shot and
d' Argenson, were for his own bayoneted the wounded and those
plantations in Martinique). On who had surrendered. The Jacobites
4 July, with Charles on board, the continued to hope for a Stuart
Du Teillay met the Elisabeth off Belle restoration, but Culloden effectively
Isle. They set sail for Scotland, but spelled an end to their dreams.
the next day were attacked by HMS For five months after his disastrous
Lion. The Elisabeth, badly damaged defeat, Charles Edward Stuart was a
and her captain mortally wounded, fugitive. Despite a £30 000 bounty
was forced to return to port. The on his head, he was never betrayed as
Du Teillay neverthele·ss managed to he travelled from the mainland to the
escape and reach Loch Nan Uamh on Isles of Benbecula, South Uist, Lewis
25 July 1745. Although stripped of and Skye, and then to the mainland
most of his me~ and stores, in the again. Sheltering in the homes of
following months Bonnie Prince loyal Highland supporters, in caves
of Scotland. After approaching the Flora Macdonald, Lochiel, Lovat, two The Library holds many other
coast of South Uist and anchoring, biographies of the Duke of general accounts of the rebellion,and of
the frigates sent their longboats ashore Cumberland and memoirs of important particular battles, including recent
and, at Kilbride, eventually made Jacobite participants such as the classicssuch as Culloden (1%7) by John
contact with Captain Rory Chevalier de Johnstone and John Prebble and Glenfinnan (1971) by Jean
Macdonald of Clanranald's regiment. William O'Sullivan. The Rare Book Munro. Of particular importance in
(He had been in the boat which had collection holds a number of precious understanding France's role in the
earlier taken the Prince from the pamphlets and other publications from rebellion are John Gibson's, Ships of
mainland to Benbecula that April, the period. These include: A brief and the '45: The Rescue of the Young
and had later escorted the Prince- true representation of the posture of our Pretender (1967) and F.J. McLynn's
then dressed as a servant woman- affoirs (1745); Methuselah Whitelock's masterly study France and the Jacobite
with the legendary Flora Macdonald.) The peace offering:an essay,shewing the Rising of 1745 (1981). Among the
Macdonald ultimately piloted the cessionof Hanover to be the onryprobable significant primary sources available in
French to Loch nan Uamh, where he means for extinguishing the present printed form are Donald Nicholas's
felt certain they would learn of InterceptedPost: Letters Written
the Prince's whereabouts. at the Time of Prince Charles
Prince Charles had moved Edward's Descent upon the
from the protection of the Lowlands of Scotland, His Stay
Macdonalds, to the care of the in Edinburgh, and His March to
Camerons in the great forest Carlisle (1956). And family
of T orvault. But under threat historians will value Muster
from a strong company of Roll of Prince Charles Edward
redcoats, he had reached the Stuart's Army, 1745-46 by
safety of 'Cluny's Cage'-the Alastair Livingstone et al
secret redoubt of the Chief of (Aberdeen University Press,
the Macphersons, whose 1984) and a 1914 work by
normal habitation had Alexander Mackintosh
been burned by government (1742-1829), The Muster Roll
troops. It was here that the of the Forfarshire or Lord
Prince learned (through a Ogilvy'sRegiment. However, of
Macpherson contact of one of all the works on the Jacobite
the Camerons) that French rebellion in the National
help was at hand-and began Library Collection, my
his final Highland march of favourite is Eric Linklater's
'about 100 English miles' to entrancing little book, The
the coast. At the time he was Prince in the Heather (of which
barefoot, had a long red beard the Libraryhas a first edition). I
and was suffering from the am often reminded of the
flux. He was first taken aboard the 'Farewell to Flora Macdonald', from the author's judgement:
Prince de Conty then transferred to painting by S. Joy
the Heureux. Reproduced from The Life and Adventures That Bonnie Prince Charlie brought
The French had been fortunate. If of Prince Charlie Edward Stuart, sorrow and ruin to the Highlands is
finding the Prince and bringing him by W. Drummond Norie (London: incontestable; and yet, by a not
to the coast had proved more time- Caxton Publishing Co., [1903-04])
uncommon paradox, he enriched them
consuming, the danger would have beyond measure by a story that lives,
been greatly multiplied. In fact, the and probably will, among the great
Prince de Conty and Heureux sailed stories of the world.
back to France unmenaced by English
warships. The prince was put ashore
at Roscoff and was feted all the way to rebellion(London, 1746); A collectionof
Paris by the Breton nobility. But he declarations, proclamations, and other
could not know that France was soon valuablepapers (Edinburgh, 1749); and DR EDWARD DUYKER is an
to spurn him and his family, and that A seriesof letters, discoveringthe scheme independent historian who lives in
he would never see Scotland again. projectedby France. .. (1767). There are Sydney. His most recent book,
The National Library has a wide alsoseveraleditions of the work of John Nature's Argonaut, a biography of the
variety of sources dealing with the ill- Home (1722-1808), including an Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander,
fated Jacobite uprising and the life of 1802 edition of The History of the was shortlisted for the 1999
Bonnie Prince Charlie. These range Rebellion in the Year 1745 (which New South Wales Premier's General
from well over a dozen biographies of originally came from the library of Sir History Prize
the prince himself, to individual livesof Marcus Somerville).
