On this day in 1745: Jacobite rising begins at Glenfinnan

On this day in 1745, the Jacobite banner was unfurled at Glenfinnan by the army of Bonnie Prince Charlie - marking the beginning of the final Highland rising.

The Glenfinnan Monument on the banks of Loch Shiel. PictureL Adam Elder/TSPL

Background

The Jacobites were supporters of King James VII and II and his heirs.

James VII inherited the thrones of Scotland, England and Ireland in 1685 - but his Roman Catholic faith led him to be deposed in the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary and her husband, the Dutch Prince William of Orange, who ruled as joint monarchs.

The Glenfinnan Monument was designed by the Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham, and was erected in 1815 by Alexander Macdonald of Glenaladale as a tribute to the clansmen who fought and died in the cause of the Stuarts

Those who continued to support James as the rightful king were known as Jacobites, after the Latin Jacobus.

Risings

Before the rising of 1745 - which became known to supporters as ‘the 45’ - two other major Jacobite rebellions had already been suppressed.

The 1689 rising led by John Graham of Claverhouse, known as Bonnie Dundee, was quickly quelled despite a Jacobite victory at the battle of Killiecrankie.

Jacobite forces and the British Army clash. Picture: Phil Wilkinson/TSPL

The 1715 rising, or Mar’s Rebellion as it was known, was provoked by the death in 1714 of Queen Anne - the last Stuart monarch and daughter of James VII.

Despite a large turn out of supporters, the battle of Sheriffmuir ended in stalemate and momentum was lost.

Glenfinnan Monument

It was on the shore of Loch Shiel on August 19, 1745, that Prince Charles Edward Stuart, grandson of James VII, formally announced his intention to reclaim the throne of Britain for his family.

The Glenfinnan Monument was designed by the Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham, and was erected in 1815 by Alexander Macdonald of Glenaladale as a tribute to the clansmen who fought and died in the cause of the Stuarts

The Jacobite standard was raised in front of Charles’ supporters and so began his fateful campaign which would end the following year at Culloden.

In 1815 a monument was built to commemorate the raising of the standard. It stands 18m high and is topped with a statue of a Highland warrior.

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