The Jacobite Wars and Repression

Why the Jacobites challenged the government

The Jacobites wanted to restore the exiled Stuart dynasty to the throne. Their name came from James VII of Scotland and II of England, who fled to France in 1688. Parliament accepted William and Mary as monarchs instead. The dispute was therefore about who had the right to rule, not simply a war between Scotland and England.

The succession remained important after James’s death. The Act of Settlement of 1701 secured a Protestant succession, excluding his Catholic son, James Francis Edward Stuart. George I became king in 1714, beginning Hanoverian rule. Meanwhile, the Union of 1707 had united the Scottish and English parliaments and secured the Hanoverian succession in both kingdoms. Scottish Jacobites could therefore connect restoring the Stuarts with overturning the Union.

The risings threatened the government’s authority. Its response combined punishment of rebels with measures intended to make future rebellion more difficult. This is repression: using force and restrictions to crush opposition.

The 1715 rising: defeat, imprisonment and conditional pardon

In 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the Jacobite standard at Braemar in support of James Francis Edward Stuart. The Jacobite manifesto challenged George I’s right to rule and called for the abolition of the Union.

At Sheriffmuir in November 1715, Mar’s forces fought government troops commanded by the Duke of Argyll. The battle was indecisive, but it halted the Jacobite advance. James arrived in Scotland late in the year, only to leave in February 1716 as support proved insufficient. France did not provide the backing the Jacobites needed.

The aftermath brought imprisonment, but punishment was not the government’s only approach. The Indemnity Act of 1717 freed Jacobite prisoners and offered pardon to those who swore loyalty to George I. Rob Roy and Clan MacGregor were excluded. Conditional pardon encouraged former opponents to accept the existing monarchy, while exclusions showed that reconciliation did not extend to everyone.

The failure of 1715 did not permanently remove the Jacobite threat. Another major rising followed thirty years later.

The 1745 rising and the defeat at Culloden

Charles Edward Stuart, James’s son, raised the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan in August 1745. He sought the restoration of the Stuarts and issued declarations rejecting the Act of Settlement and dissolving the Union.

The Jacobites won at Prestonpans and occupied Edinburgh apart from its castle. They then invaded England, reaching Derby in December. However, substantial English Jacobite reinforcements and the expected French support failed to appear, so the army turned back.

Despite another Jacobite victory at Falkirk Muir in January 1746, government forces under the Duke of Cumberland defeated them decisively at Culloden on 16 April 1746. Their army dispersed. The government now had the opportunity not merely to defeat a rebellion, but to attack the structures that had helped sustain it.

Immediate repression: violence and punishment

Culloden’s consequences extended beyond losses in battle. Cumberland ordered that wounded and retreating Jacobites should receive no quarter: they were not to be spared. His opponents called him ‘the Butcher’. Jacobites were then hunted down as the government re-established control in Scotland.

Punishment also targeted leading supporters. Lords Kilmarnock, Balmerino and Lovat were executed after the rising. Such executions removed prominent opponents and warned others of the consequences of rebellion.

Nevertheless, the response was not uniformly punitive. An Act of Indemnity in 1747 pardoned many prisoners, including Flora MacDonald, who had helped Charles evade capture. As after 1715, punishment and pardon operated alongside one another.

Weakening the Highland clans

The government also tried to prevent another rising by weakening Highland clan power. A clan chief’s influence depended on followers’ loyalty, control of land and, in some cases, inherited authority to hold courts. Repression therefore affected both everyday life and local government.

The Act of Proscription of 1746 restricted the carrying of arms and the wearing of Highland dress. Disarmament reduced the ability to organise another armed rebellion. Restrictions on dress also interfered with visible expressions of Highland identity: the impact went beyond those who had fought on the battlefield.

Post-rising legislation removed chiefs’ inherited rights to hold courts. This weakened their legal authority and strengthened central government control over local justice. The Vesting Act of 1747 allowed the valuation of forfeited Jacobite estates and possessions. Confiscating estates transferred property to the Crown and deprived supporters of land and rental income that underpinned their influence.

Assessing the impact on Scotland

The immediate impact was violent and punitive: death, imprisonment and the pursuit of defeated rebels. The longer-term impact was structural. Restrictions on weapons, changes to local justice and confiscation of estates weakened the means through which chiefs could exercise power and mobilise followers.

The contrast between the two major risings matters. The repression following 1715 did not prevent renewed rebellion in 1745. After Culloden, the combination of military defeat and attacks on clan authority helped end Jacobitism as an effective military threat. The Hanoverian monarchy and the Union survived, while Highland communities experienced restrictions on their identity and way of life. These were particularly significant Highland consequences, not evidence that every Scot had supported the Jacobites or experienced repression in the same way.

The two risings

• 1715: Earl of Mar supported James Francis Edward Stuart. Sheriffmuir halted the advance; James left Scotland in February 1716.
• 1717: conditional pardons and release of prisoners through the Indemnity Act; Rob Roy and Clan MacGregor excluded.
• 1745: Charles Edward Stuart’s rising; victory at Prestonpans, advance to Derby, then retreat as support failed to appear.
• 16 April 1746: defeat at Culloden under Cumberland ended the rising’s effective military challenge.

Repression and its effects

• Violence and executions: punished opponents and discouraged further rebellion.
• Act of Proscription, 1746: restrictions on arms reduced military capacity; Highland-dress restrictions affected cultural identity.
• Removal of inherited courts: weakened chiefs’ legal authority and strengthened central control.
• Vesting Act, 1747: forfeited estates deprived Jacobite supporters of property and income.
• Indemnity, 1747: many prisoners pardoned—repression also included reconciliation.

Overall judgement

Immediate: violence, imprisonment and punishment.

Longer term: weaker clan authority, greater government control and survival of the Hanoverian monarchy and Union. Unlike the aftermath of 1715, the defeat and repression after Culloden ended the effective military threat.