![]() ![]() This led to further support for a return of the Stuart monarchy and by consequence, the Jacobite rebellions.įrom 1725 onwards, garrisons manned by English soldiers or ‘redcoats’ sprung up all over the Scottish Highlands, notably at Fort William and Inverness. This was further fostered in many ways by the Act of Union of 1707: many Scots felt betrayed by this and there was widespread opposition to the joining with England. There were several rebellions with this as the intended outcome, and there was a swell of support for the Jacobite movement in the highlands. ![]() The Jacobites wanted to oust what they saw as an illegitimate ruler and reinstate the Stuart king. There were many Scots still fiercely loyal to the Stuart monarch, and this led to several Jacobite uprisings in support of Prince Charles Edward Stewart, or ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, who was James VII’s grandson. Things worsened for the clans after the Glorious Revolution of 1688-9 when the Stuarts were replaced by William of Orange and the Hanoverian dynasty. This was to ensure that the peoples’ allegiance remained to their King and not to their clan Chief. In order to better maintain control of the North and to prevent the clan chiefs from superseding his power with their people, James kept the chiefs away from their clans for extended periods, requiring them to do duties that kept them away from their people. Although to be fair to James it was this canniness that led him to foil the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, although of course the threat there did not come from Scotland. James was a suspicious king (his distaste for witches has already been noted!) and did not completely trust the clan leaders in Scotland to rule without his supervision. When James ascended the throne of England in 1603, he moved south to Westminster and ruled Scotland from there, only visiting the nation of his birth once more before he died. The reasons for the highland clearances essentially came down to two things: money and loyalty.Īs early as the reign of James VI in Scotland, cracks were beginning to appear in the clan way of life. The Highland Clearances changed all that however, and altered a distinct and autonomous way of life. The clans such as Macintosh, Campbell and Grant had ruled their lands in the highlands for hundreds of years. However the Highland culture, ancient and proud, was fiercely independent and rooted in incredibly important traditions of family and fealty. Southern Scots saw themselves as more modern and progressive, with more in common in language and culture with their southern, English neighbours. Those people in the south now identified more with their southern counterparts than with the old clan culture of the highlands and islands. There was an idea of the Highland culture and way of life being ‘backward’ and ‘old-fashioned’, out of step with the rest of Scotland and the recently United Kingdom. It is still considered a stain on the history of the Scottish people and is also a main contributing factor for the relatively enormous world-wide Scottish diaspora.īy the mid 1800s there was a tangible North-South divide within Scotland. The Highland Clearances remain a controversial period in Scotland’s history and are still talked of with great bitterness, particularly by those families who were dispossessed of their land and even, to a large extent, of their culture, over the period of around 100 years between the mid 18th and 19th centuries. ![]()
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