On 21st August 1689, a battle raged in and around the streets of Dunkeld, Perthshire. The sky was illuminated orange as flames bellowed from the roofs of burning houses, when nearly six thousand soldiers endured a sixteen-hour long conflict, the bloody culmination of this initial Jacobite uprising. Armed with muskets and swords, the Government forces, a regiment made of Protestant Covenanters, won the day, shaping the course of history forever.
Within this blog post I aim to educate the readers about the sigificance of the Battle of Dunkeld, the aims and objectives of both sides, and why the Orange Order choose to commemorate it annually. At the bottom of the page you'll find a brief analysis of the main groups involved.
Background
Union of the Crowns
Scotland, England and Ireland were ruled by one monarch, this was because of The Union of the Crowns which took place in 1603. This was the natural ascension of James VI of Scotland to the English and Irish thrones and the consequential unification of the three kingdoms under one Monarch. It followed the death of Elizabeth I of England who was the last monarch of the Tudors and was also James's unmarried and childless first cousin twice removed.
Despite James's best efforts to create a new "imperial" throne of "Great Britain", the Crown of Scotland remained both distinct and separate. Scotland and England would continue to be autonomous states sharing a monarch with Ireland until the Act of Union on 1707, which brought them into political union.
Glorious Revolution of 1688
The Union of the Crowns had paved the way for the Glorious Revolution of 1688. This was the overthrow of King James II of England (VII of Scotland) with the Dutch leader William III, Prince of Orange, who was also James's nephew and son-in-law.
As an unashamed Roman Catholic, James II was regarded by the powerful Protestant establishment as a potential threat to his own country. The largely Protestant population initially saw the the 1685 Crowning of the Roman Catholic James II as temporary, and were prepared to wait it out because his successor would be his Protestant daughter, Mary, who was married to William III. This however changed in 1688 when James had a son, thus starting a Catholic dynasty. Seven notable Englishmen ('The Immortal 7') then wrote to William to invite him to land in England and take the throne. William had already been entertaining this idea because he and other European nations felt threatened by the expansionist policies of the Louis XIV of France and could not afford the prospect of a Anglo-French alliance, which would be likely under James' successor.
William landed on the South coast of England with tens of thousands of soldiers but avoided confrontation, allowing the English people to rise up against their King. Mobs rioted across the country with the nobles and army switching their allegiances, causing James to flee the country. William's successful 'invasion' of England would lead to his ascension to the throne jointly with his wife, Mary II, James's daughter. In 1689 Parliament officially declared that James had abdicated by deserting his Kingdom. William and Mary were offered the throne as joint monarchs, securing the Protestant ascendancy that lasts to this day. This was the first and only time that we have had both a King and Queen on the throne.
Jacobite uprising of 1689
Reaction to the new monarchs was mixed in Scotland with many Roman Catholics reluctant to displace the Stuart dynasty which had ruled for over 300 years. Opposition became rebellion in April 1689 when John Graham of Claverhouse lead the first Jacobite uprising. The rebellious Jacobites were made up of Irish troops and Highland Clans, both of which were pro-Catholic. Graham had military success on 27th July 1689 at the Battle of Killiecrankie by means of the Highland Charge shock tactic, but was mortally wounded during the engagement. The Jacobites had beaten the Government forces in this particular battle, but the war was not over.
The Battle of Dunkeld
Following John Graham's death at Killiecrankie on, the Jacobites leadership had passed to Colonel Alexander Cannon as opposed to the veteran sixty-year-old Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel, one of the most formidable Highland chiefs. Cameron was so insulted that he left, taking some of his clan with him.
The monarchy's advisory body ordered the newly formed Cameronian regiment, under the command of the 27 year old Lieutenant Colonel William Cleland, to move north from Perth and to hold onto Dunkeld at all costs.
Cleland ordered his troops to take up defensive positions in Dunkeld cathedral and the nearby mansion of the Marquess of Atholl. The Jacobites outnumbered the Cameronians by four to one and led used the same Highland Charge tactics that had worked at Killiecrankie which consisted of a sharp trot, a discharge of muskets and then a wild gallop with the sword. With the battle being fought in the narrow, winding streets of Dunkeld, there was no room for the charge to be effective. The Cameronian defenders repeatedly drove them back with pikes which proved to be excellent weapons at close quarters.
Nearby houses began to attack the Cameronians with muskets, so in retaliation the Cameronians sent out a party ‘ with blazing fagots on the ends of long pikes' to set fire to the dry thatch which roofed the buildings. Every single house in Dunkeld was burned except three, in which some of their own troops were posted. Many Jacobites who had barricaded themselves into houses were locked in and burned alive.
For sixteen hours the battle raged, as gradually the Cameronians were forced back and having exhausted their ammuntion. The Cameronians are then stripped lead from the roof of the Cathedral and the Atholl house, but at eleven o'clock that night depleted of energy and ammunition, the Highlanders decided to call it a day and withdraw, leaving 300 of their men dead or dying. It is still possible to see holes caused by the strikes of musket balls during on the east gable of the Cathedral.
William Cleland died heroically in the first hour of battle by taking one bullet in the liver and another in the head, before dragging himself out of sight so that his men would not see him so wounded. He is buried in the nave of the Catherdral, beneath a simple stone bearing only his name.
The Battle of Dunkeld ended the first Jacobite uprising in Scotland, although it continued in Ireland for two more years.
Commemoration
Every August the Orange Order descend on Dunkeld to remember the heroic actions of the Cameronians lead by William Cleland. The commemoration is organised by District Loyal Orange Lodge 65 - Lt. Col. Cleland Memorial. The Orangemen gather in the Atholl Street Car Park and are lead by a piper along Atholl Street, High Street and to the Cathedral where a Conventicle is held after 'pickets' ensure the coast is clear. It is fast becoming known not just for being a fitting and meaningful act of remembrance, but also an excellent advertisement of the Orange Institution. Members of other Loyal Orders are also free to take part in the event.
The event will next take place on Sunday 19th August 2018 and we will produce a report of the occasion for this blog.
Jacobites
Taking their name from the Latin form the name James (Jacobus), the Jacobites were loyal to James II and sought to restore the Stuart dynasty to the Scottish, English and Irish thrones following their ousting during the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
After William III became King in 1688, Jacobites rebelled against the British Government during several Jacobite uprisings between then and 1746. The Jacobite cause was intertwined with the clan system, with different clans aligning themselves with or against the Jacobite cause.
They did not agree with parliamentary interference to the line of the throne and believed in the Divine Right of Kings - the idea that a monarch has the divine right to rule directly from the will of God. This would mean that the King would never be subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy or anybody else.
Jacobitism also had support from France, with French monarchs aligning themselves with the Jacobites as part of the Religious cross-European power struggle.
Covenanters
The Covenanters were Scottish Presbyterians who in 1638 signed a covenant, confirming their opposition to the interference by the Stuart kings in the affairs of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
The Stuart monarchs believed in the 'Divine Right of Kings'. Not only did they believe that God wished them to be the infallible rulers of their kingdom, but they also that they were the spiritual heads of the Church of Scotland. This was unacceptable to the Scots. Only Jesus Christ could be the spiritual head of the church.
If it wasn't for this, the Scots would have been loyal to the Stuarts. From the signing of the National Covenant in 1638, onwards until the Glorious Revolution when Prince William of Orange made a bloodless invasion of Great Britain in 1688, the Covenanters endured persecution from the King (Initially Charles I). They were hunted down, imprisoned, tortured, and killed for their beliefs. This period of history was called The Killing Times.
Many Covenanter sympathising ministers continued to preach in the form of 'Conventicles', which were secret and unlawful religious services, often in the open air of remote areas, or in barns and houses. As the threat from government forces increased, the Covenanters began to carry weapons to their conventicles and to post armed pickets to keep a lookout. Conventicles could turn into conflict, with several battles taking place across the country as Government forces attempted to capture them. Memorials to the Covenanters can be found dotted across the landscape of Scotland.
Cameronians
The original Cameronians were formed from Lowland Scots Covenanters, devoted to the National Covenant of 1638 and later the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643.
The British Army Regiment was formed in May 1689 and was named after Richard Cameron, a Presbyterian Covenanting Preacher who was killed at the battle of Airds Moss in 1680 after being tracked down by government dragoons.
Within weeks of their formation The Cameronians saw action as regular soldiers at the Battle of Dunkeld where they successfully held the village from vastly superior Jacobite numbers. From 1750 they, like all of the regiments of the line, were given a number and were thereafter known as the 26th Regiment of Foot, The Cameronians.
After nearly 300 years of service to the Crown, cuts to the army caused The Cameronians to be eventually disbanded in 1968. Fittingly, the disbandment parade included a Conventicle with pickets 'keeping lookout'. The unique Presbyterian traditions and background of the Cameronians had been maintained throughout its entire existence.
