Jacobite map tells tragic story of Prince Charlie’s rebellion

By FRANK URQUHART
Published on 15/09/2012 03:57

IT MARKS the poignant path of one the most celebrated journeys in Scotland’s turbulent history – charting an almost mythical tale of heroism, betrayal, romance and glorious failure.

This historic map, found among the possessions of Bonnie Prince Charlie and tracing the route of the Young Pretender’s ill-fated Jacobite rebellion, goes on display in Scotland for the first time later this month.

The remarkable document, now owned by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, was drawn by James Grante, Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Captain of Artillery, who fled with the prince back to France following the defeat at Culloden in 1746.

Spread across nine etchings, each measuring 3ft by 2 ft, the map follows the prince’s voyage from France to Scotland in his attempt to seize back the Crown for his father, the raising of the Royal Standard of the Stuarts at Glenfinnan, the Jacobite triumph at the Battle of Prestonpans and their eventual retreat from Derby to crushing defeat at Culloden Moor.

Included in the rare document are also details of the prince’s flight from capture across the west coast of Scotland and his return by sea to France and ignominious exile in Rome.

The map is believed to have come into the possession of the family of Cluny MacPherson, chief of Clan Chattan, who spent five months as a fugitive with the prince and another nine years hiding in a cave, before fleeing to the continent.

The MacPhersons are believed to have donated the map to the Geographical society in the 1920s. But it is only now going on public display after the “historical gem” was recently rediscovered among the society’s vast collection of 250,000 maps.

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