1 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:07,000 For the last 20 years, I've driven hundreds of thousands of miles 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:09,840 in search of the history of these islands. 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,160 Now it's time to do something different. 4 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:18,600 I'm going to turn the engine off and leave the car behind. 5 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:22,160 Instead, I'm going to walk. 6 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:29,640 My walks will uncover the richest history from our finest landscapes 7 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,560 in a way that's only possible on foot. 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:38,720 This time I've come to north-west Scotland 9 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,800 where hidden in this dramatic landscape 10 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,560 is a history of protest, bloodshed and rebellion. 11 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:52,360 In the early 18th century the Scottish Highlands was home 12 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,000 to a series of violent uprisings against the Crown. 13 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:58,880 It was a time when the Highlanders wanted a different monarch 14 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,280 on the British throne and they might well have succeeded. 15 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:07,280 I've come here to find out what made the Highlands such a breeding ground 16 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,920 of revolution in the 1700s, 17 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:12,880 to discover how this unique landscape 18 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:14,640 shaped the attitudes of its people 19 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:19,640 and to reveal the great untold story of one of those revolts. 20 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,720 THUNDER 21 00:01:38,920 --> 00:01:42,760 I'm in the region known as Kintail, opposite the Isle of Skye. 22 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:51,800 In 1719, a battalion of Spanish troops landed here 23 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:53,960 at Eilean Donan Castle. 24 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:02,640 Nearly 150 years after the defeat of the famous Spanish Armada, 25 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:06,120 these men, led by a group of Scottish clan chiefs, 26 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:10,040 raised an army of clansmen and started an uprising. 27 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,720 Known as Jacobites, their aim was to overthrow 28 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,000 the Protestant King George I 29 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,880 and replace him with the Catholic son of James II, 30 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,640 James Francis Stuart, the Old Pretender. 31 00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:31,000 The uprising culminated in the Battle of Glen Shiel, 32 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,920 immortalised in this famous painting. 33 00:02:33,920 --> 00:02:36,080 I've designed a four-day walk 34 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,480 to reveal the hidden story behind these events. 35 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,520 I'm starting in Shiel Bridge at the mouth of Glen Shiel. 36 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:49,840 That's a valley, for all the English! 37 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,120 But before I go to the battle site, I'm heading south 38 00:02:56,120 --> 00:02:59,280 along Glen Undalain and over a pass 39 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,640 to reach the site of the earliest known dwelling here. 40 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:09,480 Heading through the village of Glenelg will give me 41 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:12,400 fantastic views over the Sound of Sleat to Skye. 42 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,120 From there, I'll take to the water, 43 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,840 sailing via the town of Kyle of Lochalsh 44 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:25,400 to the stunning Eilean Donan Castle, 45 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,560 where the invading Spanish troops landed on the British mainland. 46 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:34,200 Then I'll follow the path of the uprising 47 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:36,840 above the gorgeous Loch Duich. 48 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,880 And on my final day, I'll head up the awe-inspiring Glen Shiel 49 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,960 to the site of the climactic battle. 50 00:03:57,120 --> 00:04:01,920 Heading off from Shiel Bridge, it's clear that it's a challenging route, 51 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,400 a big step up from the average weekend walk. 52 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,640 But by heading off on foot, I'm not just travelling cross-country. 53 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:13,760 I'm travelling back in time. 54 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,080 These nameless paths are centuries old, 55 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,160 so they provide a real connection with the ancient system of the clans 56 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:29,320 and the life of Scotland's earlier inhabitants. 57 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:35,680 The clan system, through which great swathes of Scotland 58 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,920 were governed for hundreds of years, 59 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,320 is inextricably linked with the Highlands. 60 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:43,440 So much so that great clan chiefs 61 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,760 often wielded more power than the Scottish kings. 62 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:48,760 So if I'm going to understand 63 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,000 why the Jacobite cause was so powerful around here, 64 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:56,400 then maybe understanding the clan system is a good place to start. 65 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:06,560 It's a pretty typical Highland day - breezy and wet. 66 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,840 And my hotel in Glenelg is 11 miles away. 67 00:05:11,320 --> 00:05:14,600 But the landscape makes all the effort worthwhile. 68 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,760 Look at that. 69 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,720 It's one of those extraordinary things about human beings, isn't it? 70 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:27,040 You see a view like that and your pulse races a bit 71 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,360 and there's that little jump in your stomach 72 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,880 and you want to go, "Wahey!" 73 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,400 And the day just feels that much better. 74 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:46,240 People are known to have inhabited these glens since 3000 BC, 75 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,400 and they may even have trod the same paths. 76 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:51,880 But the population would have been tiny. 77 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:56,600 The climate's harsh and unpredictable 78 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:58,280 and the dramatic landscape 79 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:01,320 means there's little land suitable for cultivation. 80 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,240 Even now it's not the easiest place to get around. 81 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:14,240 Perhaps it's these factors that led to the emergence of the clans. 82 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:21,040 With that in mind, I've got a lunch date. 83 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,200 I'm heading for the Suardalan Mountain Hut, 84 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,240 an overnight shelter for hikers, where I'm meeting Alistair Moffat, 85 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:33,880 who's written extensively on Scottish history and the clans. 86 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:37,400 But right now, I'm more interested 87 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:39,760 in whether he's managed to get a brew on. 88 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,600 Well, Tony, this'll warm you up, I hope. 89 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:45,200 Thank you. 90 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:47,840 And falcha dun failte. Welcome to the Highlands. 91 00:06:47,840 --> 00:06:50,080 Thank you very much. 92 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:52,440 On a real West Highland day. What's in these? Ham? 93 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,320 Welcome to a ham sandwich. Yeah. 94 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:55,360 (LAUGHS) Great. 95 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:58,240 Tell me a bit about the clans, cos everybody talks about them, 96 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,920 but I don't really have a very clear picture of what they are. 97 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,960 The idea of a clan is really all to do with kinship. 98 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:08,040 It's to do with who you are, what your name is. 99 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,600 "Cloun" is the Gaelic word for children, 100 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,440 and so clan Donald are the children of Donald. 101 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:19,240 They share a surname and often they share the same piece of land. 102 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:20,960 How far do they go back? 103 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:23,000 Well, some of them are very old indeed. 104 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,200 Way back to the Dark Ages. The Campbells, for example. 105 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,320 Indeed, the MacDonalds. 106 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,440 Others are more recent, between 1150 and 1350. 107 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,880 People who are now known as "name fathers", 108 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:39,160 you know, the first of that name, began to form these kindred groups. 109 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:43,880 There are Viking clans. For example MacIver, son of Iver. 110 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:48,120 MacAuley is Mac-Olaf, the son of Olaf, and so on. 111 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,120 Did the clan own the land? 112 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:53,680 The idea was that people had common custom and title to it, 113 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:55,240 the grazing rights and so on. 114 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,560 And that was one of the hugely powerful emotional tugs 115 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,800 that was there for Highlanders. 116 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:03,800 This is not pretty. But, my God, it's beautiful! 117 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:07,240 And this prints itself on your soul, a place like this. 118 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:11,520 The clans that inhabited this dramatic landscape 119 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,160 were much more than family groups sharing a bit of land. 120 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,640 They were hierarchical organisations, 121 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,960 led by all-powerful chiefs charged with running the clan's affairs 122 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,480 for the benefit of all clan members. 123 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:30,280 Do you think this special way of organising people 124 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,280 was predominantly about the kind of environment they lived in? 125 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:38,080 Yes, it was. There's no doubt that in a rugged, rugged environment, 126 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:39,960 an unforgiving landscape like this, 127 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:42,480 people depended absolutely on each other. 128 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,720 So kinship was vital. And it still is, in a way. 129 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,120 In Gaelic, if a Gaelic speaker greets you and doesn't know you, 130 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:50,920 he doesn't say what you and I would say, 131 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:52,720 which is, "Where are you from, Tony?" 132 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,920 He says, "Coes arr Harrhu?" which means, "Who are your people?" 133 00:08:56,920 --> 00:08:58,680 And that's a memory of that. 134 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,160 The Gaelic language, which was brought here from Ireland 135 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:11,240 in the 4th century AD, resonates in other ways too. 136 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,160 The vast majority of geographic features retain their Gaelic names 137 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,760 and the translation into English reveals the close connection 138 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:24,600 between the inhabitants and their environment. 139 00:09:27,160 --> 00:09:32,800 So, for instance, that little lake is called Loch Iain Mhic Aonghais. 140 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,160 It's named after a guy called John MacInnis, 141 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,920 who was a local man who tragically drowned there. 142 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:43,360 And that valley over there is Coire Nan Laogh, 143 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,240 which means the "valley of the cattle". 144 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,440 I'd better watch my step. I don't want this track to be known as 145 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,240 "The Path Where Tony Robinson Fell Over". 146 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,520 I've reached the road coming from Glenelg, 147 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:04,760 where I'm meeting Noel Fojut, 148 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,080 an expert in Scotland's earliest settlers. 149 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:10,080 You've got lots of people coming together 150 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:11,880 to create communal structures. 151 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,440 'He's here to show me a stunning example 152 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:17,320 'of one of Scotland's earliest buildings. 153 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,400 'A kind of fortress, it pre-dates the arrival of Gaelic 154 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,480 'by several centuries, and is known as a broch.' 155 00:10:24,480 --> 00:10:28,280 Wow! (LAUGHS) I see what you mean. 156 00:10:28,280 --> 00:10:30,240 Now that's a proper broch. 157 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,480 Brochs are almost exclusive to the Highlands and Islands 158 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,000 and are unique to Scotland. 159 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,240 Built around 500 BC, they were the skyscrapers of the Iron Age, 160 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,440 although nobody really knows what they were for. 161 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,160 However, most experts agree they're a kind of defensive fort, 162 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,560 which doubled as a domestic dwelling. 163 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,520 The thing that's so immediately obvious about this 164 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,520 is that you've got two concentric walls. 165 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,000 It's like double-skinned, isn't it? 166 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:07,720 Yeah, it's a feature of the brochs. 167 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:10,240 You've got this outer wall which leans in a bit, 168 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:12,520 a vertical inner wall, and they're tied together 169 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:15,560 every five foot or so up with levels of flat stones. 170 00:11:15,560 --> 00:11:16,880 What's the point of that? 171 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,000 You can use less stone to build taller, faster. 172 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,440 How much higher than this do you reckon they'd have built? 173 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:27,000 Three foot or so. Not a lot taller than that, we don't think. 174 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:28,800 And was there any build inside? 175 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:30,160 Yeah, that's the thing. 176 00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:31,560 You look at brochs today 177 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:34,440 and everyone obsesses about the stone construction. 178 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,640 Actually most of the daily life, we think, is going on inside. 179 00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:41,160 It's in a wooden house dropped inside that broch. 180 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:44,720 A fairly standard 10 metre diameter Iron Age wooden house, 181 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,000 except it's got a rather fancy exterior. 182 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,720 And what would life have been like for the people who lived in here? 183 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,080 Fairly quiet for most of the time but slightly nervous. 184 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,800 They were pretty troubled times up here, we think, in the Iron Age. 185 00:11:57,800 --> 00:11:59,520 What were they threatened by? 186 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,800 I think you're looking at little regions against regions, perhaps. 187 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:05,640 The people from over in Skye might pop over here 188 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:07,800 for a bit of smash and grab. 189 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:10,280 The people living here would have been farmers, 190 00:12:10,280 --> 00:12:15,080 some owning cattle, but all working together to grow oats and barley. 191 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:18,560 You know what strikes me? 192 00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:22,080 You've got this fantastic aspect here, 193 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,720 you've got a relatively small population, 194 00:12:24,720 --> 00:12:29,360 you've got lots of little communities warring with each other some of the time 195 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:31,840 and also lots of bits of mutual self-help. 196 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:34,360 It sounds to me like the clans. 197 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,840 It's quite possibly the start of what becomes the clans. 198 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,640 We think what happens is that there's local co-operation, 199 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,520 so neighbours would generally look out for each other 200 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,880 against people from the next glen or from over the sea in Skye. 201 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,520 And gradually those groups become more formalised. 202 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:51,160 Initially it's just collaboration. 203 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,160 Later on maybe they merge into the clans. 204 00:12:53,160 --> 00:12:55,360 The idea with the clan was that the clan chief 205 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,280 was the leader of his people more than the owner of the land. 206 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:00,800 And in Scotland it's quite interesting. 207 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,720 We talk about the King of the Scots, 208 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,560 whereas in England it's the King of England. 209 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:08,280 It's as if in Scotland it's more a relationship with the people, 210 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,720 whereas in England it's maybe a little bit more about domination. 211 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:16,120 As I head off towards my overnight in Glenelg, 212 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,200 it's Noel's last point that sticks in my mind. 213 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:25,200 The first references to a King of the Scots appear around 900 AD, 214 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:29,160 after the Picts and Gaels united their kingdoms. 215 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:33,880 Scotland then remained an independent nation for 800 years. 216 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:39,640 For the last 300 of those years the rulers were Stuarts. 217 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:44,440 And given the importance that the clan system placed on loyalty to a chief, 218 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:49,120 it's no surprise the clans supported the Stuarts so passionately. 219 00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:56,760 I've reached my destination for the day, the village of Glenelg. 220 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,400 Tomorrow I'm going to find out 221 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:03,640 how the Spanish got involved in the 1719 uprising, 222 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:08,120 but before that I want to check a different kind of Highland spirit. 223 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:12,520 (SPLUTTERS) 224 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:14,280 LAUGHTER 225 00:14:24,624 --> 00:14:28,344 It's the second day of my Jacobite Walk in the Scottish Highlands. 226 00:14:29,784 --> 00:14:33,704 I'm in the village of Glenelg, opposite the Isle of Skye. 227 00:14:35,064 --> 00:14:38,664 The Stuart kings had ruled Scotland since the 14th century, 228 00:14:38,664 --> 00:14:42,144 and by inheriting the English crown in 1603, 229 00:14:42,144 --> 00:14:44,544 they'd become rulers of Britain. 230 00:14:44,544 --> 00:14:49,424 But that all came to an end in the tumultuous events of 1688. 231 00:14:51,584 --> 00:14:54,744 That's when William and Mary, who were Protestant, 232 00:14:54,744 --> 00:14:58,904 took the throne of Britain, ousting the Catholic Stuart, James II. 233 00:15:00,264 --> 00:15:05,064 James failed to regain his throne by force and died in 1701. 234 00:15:05,064 --> 00:15:08,264 The same year, the English parliament passed an act 235 00:15:08,264 --> 00:15:11,464 disqualifying his son, James Francis Stuart, 236 00:15:11,464 --> 00:15:15,264 or indeed any Catholic, from inheriting the throne. 237 00:15:17,944 --> 00:15:23,344 So when Queen Anne died in 1714, James Francis, the Old Pretender, 238 00:15:23,344 --> 00:15:27,984 along with 56 other legitimate claimants to the throne, 239 00:15:27,984 --> 00:15:31,224 were cast aside in favour of... 240 00:15:31,224 --> 00:15:35,504 George I, a German who couldn't even speak English, 241 00:15:35,504 --> 00:15:38,264 but was a Protestant. 242 00:15:38,264 --> 00:15:42,064 His coronation was the spark that lit the Jacobite fuse. 243 00:15:42,064 --> 00:15:46,144 It gave the great European powers the perfect excuse to interfere 244 00:15:46,144 --> 00:15:49,784 in British affairs for a whole generation. 245 00:15:55,784 --> 00:15:58,624 Thousands of men, predominantly from these glens, 246 00:15:58,624 --> 00:16:02,584 rallied to the Old Pretender's cause in Autumn 1715. 247 00:16:04,744 --> 00:16:08,904 With the secret backing of France, they marched south to take Edinburgh 248 00:16:08,904 --> 00:16:10,744 and invade northern England. 249 00:16:14,464 --> 00:16:18,184 But a series of defeats, culminating in the Battle of Sherrifmuir 250 00:16:18,184 --> 00:16:22,544 in November 1715, ensured the rebellion was stamped out. 251 00:16:27,904 --> 00:16:32,144 Leading Jacobites fled to France, but the British government knew 252 00:16:32,144 --> 00:16:35,904 that the Stuarts hadn't given up hope of reclaiming the throne. 253 00:16:35,904 --> 00:16:40,024 That lingering threat would leave a physical mark on the Highlands. 254 00:16:41,944 --> 00:16:46,024 To us, this tiny little village with its shop and its post office 255 00:16:46,024 --> 00:16:49,384 is just about as sleepy as things can get. 256 00:16:49,384 --> 00:16:51,824 And yet to George I's supporters, 257 00:16:51,824 --> 00:16:55,864 this was a hotbed of traitors and turncoats, 258 00:16:55,864 --> 00:16:59,864 a base camp for rebels who wanted to depose their King. 259 00:16:59,864 --> 00:17:03,584 And if you don't believe me, take a look at the barracks they built. 260 00:17:05,144 --> 00:17:07,984 Unlikely though it seems, the British government 261 00:17:07,984 --> 00:17:13,544 built this huge barracks for 240 men when the population of the village 262 00:17:13,544 --> 00:17:15,624 would have been little more than 100. 263 00:17:16,904 --> 00:17:18,144 Victoria, hello. 264 00:17:18,144 --> 00:17:18,824 Hello. 265 00:17:18,824 --> 00:17:20,424 How very nice to meet you. 266 00:17:20,424 --> 00:17:23,744 I'm meeting Dr Victoria Henshaw, to try and find out 267 00:17:23,744 --> 00:17:26,664 what King George's government was so worried about. 268 00:17:28,264 --> 00:17:30,944 This is an extraordinary building, isn't it? 269 00:17:30,944 --> 00:17:35,624 It's virtually as big as the village. Why was it built? 270 00:17:35,624 --> 00:17:39,824 The Jacobites had risen in 1715. They'd been joined by the French. 271 00:17:39,824 --> 00:17:43,464 And the effect of that shocked the government 272 00:17:43,464 --> 00:17:45,144 and the people of Britain. 273 00:17:45,144 --> 00:17:48,144 And by building fortified barracks in Scotland, 274 00:17:48,144 --> 00:17:51,424 you could have soldiers on the ground to react more quickly 275 00:17:51,424 --> 00:17:52,904 to Jacobite problems. 276 00:17:52,904 --> 00:17:55,944 Who would they have been, the blokes who were living in this garrison? 277 00:17:55,944 --> 00:17:57,424 They were Scottish. 278 00:17:57,424 --> 00:18:02,064 They were drawn from the loyal clans, placed here to keep an eye 279 00:18:02,064 --> 00:18:04,664 on the disloyal clans, and it's very much 280 00:18:04,664 --> 00:18:07,344 a Scotland self-governing Scotland, 281 00:18:07,344 --> 00:18:10,944 but at the command of the government in London. 282 00:18:10,944 --> 00:18:13,704 It would have been hard for them just to get the basics to live on, 283 00:18:13,704 --> 00:18:14,784 wouldn't it? 284 00:18:14,784 --> 00:18:17,864 Yes. You'd have to co-operate a lot with the locals, 285 00:18:17,864 --> 00:18:21,144 and source your food locally. 286 00:18:21,144 --> 00:18:22,824 The locals who didn't like you! 287 00:18:22,824 --> 00:18:24,984 Yes! Well, a lot of it would have to be shipped in, 288 00:18:24,984 --> 00:18:29,144 and there were letters of complaint from the soldiers from the 1740s 289 00:18:29,144 --> 00:18:34,104 because they didn't have enough food, the chimneys smoked, the roof leaked. 290 00:18:34,104 --> 00:18:37,504 They weren't especially happy being posted here. 291 00:18:37,504 --> 00:18:42,784 And the size of this place must have been a huge statement of power? 292 00:18:42,784 --> 00:18:45,864 The area here is very close to the Isle of Skye, 293 00:18:45,864 --> 00:18:49,504 which was a hotbed of rebellion. You have the Mackenzies to the North, 294 00:18:49,504 --> 00:18:52,504 big supporters of the Stuart cause, 295 00:18:52,504 --> 00:18:56,424 so this area here is geographically very important. 296 00:18:56,424 --> 00:18:58,064 And it's a statement to the locals. 297 00:18:58,064 --> 00:19:01,384 "Here is the British Army, we're here, we're present." 298 00:19:07,024 --> 00:19:08,864 I've arranged to be picked up by boat 299 00:19:08,864 --> 00:19:12,864 from the Glenelg Ferry terminal, but it won't arrive for a few hours. 300 00:19:14,504 --> 00:19:18,024 So I'm going to use the time to pop six miles down the coast 301 00:19:18,024 --> 00:19:20,264 to Sandaig Bay. 302 00:19:20,264 --> 00:19:23,624 It's a place I've never seen, but feel I know it intimately, 303 00:19:23,624 --> 00:19:27,184 thanks to the writings of Gavin Maxwell. 304 00:19:30,584 --> 00:19:32,424 Born into the Scottish aristocracy, 305 00:19:32,424 --> 00:19:38,784 but a product of an English public school, Maxwell was a troubled soul. 306 00:19:38,784 --> 00:19:44,384 He tried his hand at soldiering, exploring, and shark fishing 307 00:19:44,384 --> 00:19:49,224 before discovering his true vocation in life, as a writer. 308 00:19:53,384 --> 00:19:56,864 In Ring of Bright Water, Maxwell recounted his experience 309 00:19:56,864 --> 00:20:02,424 of living in a cottage at Sandaig Bay with a succession of otters. 310 00:20:02,424 --> 00:20:06,264 And the lyricism and magic of his writing made the book 311 00:20:06,264 --> 00:20:08,264 an international best seller. 312 00:20:11,784 --> 00:20:14,984 You have to walk through a forestry plantation to reach the bay, 313 00:20:14,984 --> 00:20:17,064 but it's worth all the effort. 314 00:20:19,744 --> 00:20:21,584 It's just perfect, isn't it? 315 00:20:26,304 --> 00:20:29,744 Although Maxwell's cottage burnt down in 1967, 316 00:20:29,744 --> 00:20:33,424 Sandaig Bay remains much as it did when he was here. 317 00:20:35,224 --> 00:20:39,464 There are a few changes. A memorial marks the resting place 318 00:20:39,464 --> 00:20:40,904 of one of his otters. 319 00:20:44,024 --> 00:20:47,184 And a boulder marks the spot where Maxwell's cottage stood 320 00:20:47,184 --> 00:20:48,984 and his ashes are buried. 321 00:20:56,424 --> 00:21:00,464 But it's only on reaching the beach that you are truly transported 322 00:21:00,464 --> 00:21:03,144 to the world so lovingly detailed in his book. 323 00:21:06,784 --> 00:21:10,104 'The landscape and seascape that lay below me 324 00:21:10,104 --> 00:21:13,264 'was of such beauty that I had no room for it all at once.' 325 00:21:15,624 --> 00:21:20,664 'Into this bright, watery landscape Mij moved and took possession 326 00:21:20,664 --> 00:21:23,024 'with a delight that communicated itself as clearly 327 00:21:23,024 --> 00:21:26,824 'as any articulate speech could have done. 328 00:21:26,824 --> 00:21:30,464 'He seemed so absolute a part of his surroundings that I wondered 329 00:21:30,464 --> 00:21:34,144 'how they ever could have seemed to me complete before his arrival.' 330 00:21:46,384 --> 00:21:50,304 We're going to be out of here in less than two minutes. Over. 331 00:21:50,304 --> 00:21:54,064 By the time I get back to Glenelg, the boat's arrived to pick me up. 332 00:21:54,064 --> 00:21:54,464 Hello, Barry. 333 00:21:54,464 --> 00:21:56,224 Hi, Tony. Pleased to meet you. 334 00:21:56,224 --> 00:21:57,304 And nice to meet you too. 335 00:21:59,104 --> 00:22:01,464 I'm heading up through the Kylerhea straits 336 00:22:01,464 --> 00:22:05,464 to the town of Kyle of Lochalsh, and then on to Eilean Donan Castle 337 00:22:05,464 --> 00:22:10,304 to pick up the story of the 1719 Jacobite Rebellion. 338 00:22:10,304 --> 00:22:11,944 What's the weather going to be like? 339 00:22:11,944 --> 00:22:14,264 It's going to be wet and windy. 340 00:22:14,264 --> 00:22:15,664 Hmm, that's great(!) 341 00:22:19,264 --> 00:22:22,864 It might be cold, but it's worth staying on deck as we catch sight 342 00:22:22,864 --> 00:22:26,784 of a pair of Atlantic seals. 343 00:22:26,784 --> 00:22:29,464 It's swimming towards us, isn't it? Come on! 344 00:22:30,704 --> 00:22:34,024 I love it when it sticks its bum in the air and goes under! 345 00:22:42,224 --> 00:22:44,704 Waiting for me on the quay at Kyle of Lochalsh 346 00:22:44,704 --> 00:22:47,624 is Professor Daniel Szechi... 347 00:22:47,624 --> 00:22:48,744 Daniel. 348 00:22:48,744 --> 00:22:50,344 Nice to meet you, Tony. 349 00:22:50,344 --> 00:22:51,504 And you. 350 00:22:51,504 --> 00:22:53,584 ..a specialist in Jacobite History. 351 00:22:55,304 --> 00:22:58,264 If we'd been here in April 1719, 352 00:22:58,264 --> 00:23:01,984 we'd have seen a Jacobite invasion force sailing past Skye, 353 00:23:01,984 --> 00:23:04,384 heading for the mainland. 354 00:23:04,384 --> 00:23:08,024 I'm hoping Daniel can tell me what triggered those dramatic events. 355 00:23:09,104 --> 00:23:11,104 It's a Spanish Revenge. 356 00:23:11,104 --> 00:23:17,304 The British had destroyed the Spanish Fleet off the coast of Sicily, 357 00:23:17,304 --> 00:23:19,264 and now it was payback time. 358 00:23:21,864 --> 00:23:25,264 Backing a Jacobite rebellion was a perfect way for the Spanish 359 00:23:25,264 --> 00:23:27,424 to hit back at George I's Britain. 360 00:23:29,424 --> 00:23:33,464 And the force that sailed through here in April 1719 361 00:23:33,464 --> 00:23:36,624 consisted of 300 crack Spanish Mountain Troops, 362 00:23:36,624 --> 00:23:40,264 as well as a retinue of returning Jacobite leaders. 363 00:23:41,824 --> 00:23:45,624 The numbers of troops that the Spanish could supply, 364 00:23:45,624 --> 00:23:48,984 could land in the British Isles, were not huge, 365 00:23:48,984 --> 00:23:55,744 but they were enough to act as the hardcore of an army of Jacobites. 366 00:23:57,744 --> 00:24:01,384 The Scots Commanders hoped that the arrival of Spanish troops 367 00:24:01,384 --> 00:24:04,344 would act as a recruiting drum among the clans. 368 00:24:05,584 --> 00:24:10,424 If men flocked again to the Jacobite standard, the rebellion was on. 369 00:24:11,784 --> 00:24:13,664 But this was just part of the plan. 370 00:24:14,864 --> 00:24:20,624 The Scottish end of things was intended purely as a diversion 371 00:24:20,624 --> 00:24:24,864 to draw the British Army north into Scotland. 372 00:24:24,864 --> 00:24:30,504 Meantime the Duke of Ormonde and 5,000 men would land 373 00:24:30,504 --> 00:24:36,424 in the south-west, arm every Jacobite they could find and march on London. 374 00:24:38,664 --> 00:24:42,504 On the 13th April 1719, the Spanish Mountain troops 375 00:24:42,504 --> 00:24:46,784 and their Scottish comrades landed here, Eilean Donan Castle. 376 00:24:48,424 --> 00:24:50,944 Based in the midst of a Jacobite heartland, 377 00:24:50,944 --> 00:24:53,824 they were ready to start the uprising. 378 00:24:57,424 --> 00:24:59,744 When the Jacobite leaders arrived here, 379 00:24:59,744 --> 00:25:02,624 their confidence must have been sky high. 380 00:25:02,624 --> 00:25:06,544 They'd evaded the Royal Navy's patrols, they'd successfully landed 381 00:25:06,544 --> 00:25:10,144 here, they were among friends and they'd got the support 382 00:25:10,144 --> 00:25:13,544 of a major foreign power. What could possibly go wrong?! 383 00:25:23,799 --> 00:25:28,599 I'm halfway through my walk in the Scottish Highlands of Kintail. 384 00:25:28,599 --> 00:25:32,199 Having landed at Eilean Donan castle, I'm following the route 385 00:25:32,199 --> 00:25:35,079 of the Spanish troops and Scots Jacobites 386 00:25:35,079 --> 00:25:37,839 who came here in April 1719. 387 00:25:40,439 --> 00:25:43,879 Their plan is to oust the Hanoverian king, George I, 388 00:25:43,879 --> 00:25:46,599 and replace him with James Stuart, 389 00:25:46,599 --> 00:25:50,079 who they're going to put on the throne as James III. 390 00:25:50,079 --> 00:25:52,799 But this is the calm before the storm, 391 00:25:52,799 --> 00:25:57,039 as the Jacobite commanders over there are just about to find out. 392 00:25:59,159 --> 00:26:02,999 To discover more about what happened here at Eilean Donan castle, 393 00:26:02,999 --> 00:26:05,079 I'm meeting Alex Mackay, 394 00:26:05,079 --> 00:26:09,239 the castle's somewhat eccentrically-dressed historian. 395 00:26:09,239 --> 00:26:10,319 Hello, Alex. 396 00:26:10,319 --> 00:26:12,239 Hello, Sir. Welcome to Eilean Donan castle. 397 00:26:12,239 --> 00:26:14,479 Thank you. Is this Jacobite, this costume? 398 00:26:14,479 --> 00:26:17,239 Well, it's as close as I can get. It's a bit mix and match, 399 00:26:17,239 --> 00:26:20,319 a modern kilt. But the frock-coat, very much 18th century in style. 400 00:26:20,319 --> 00:26:22,119 How about this castle? Isn't it great? 401 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:24,479 Well, thank you very much. You're seeing it at its best. 402 00:26:24,479 --> 00:26:26,519 At sunrise, it always looks spectacular. 403 00:26:26,519 --> 00:26:30,519 Would this castle have looked like this during the uprising? 404 00:26:30,519 --> 00:26:32,799 Oh, absolutely. We know exactly what it looked like 405 00:26:32,799 --> 00:26:35,159 because it was surveyed by the government in 1714 406 00:26:35,159 --> 00:26:36,839 and those plans still survive. 407 00:26:36,839 --> 00:26:39,639 And it looks very much as you see it today, apart from the bridge. 408 00:26:39,639 --> 00:26:41,719 So this would have been an island fortress? 409 00:26:41,719 --> 00:26:44,359 Absolutely. It's part of its defensive mechanism. 410 00:26:50,319 --> 00:26:54,399 The rebels landed here because they knew this was Mackenzie territory, 411 00:26:54,399 --> 00:26:56,759 known Jacobite sympathizers. 412 00:26:57,999 --> 00:27:02,279 And for one of the returning exiles, it was a homecoming. 413 00:27:02,279 --> 00:27:06,279 This castle was the home of William Mackenzie, the Earl of Seaforth. 414 00:27:06,279 --> 00:27:09,799 He was one of the three commanders in charge and he knew it was a strong 415 00:27:09,799 --> 00:27:12,439 and defensible structure for the storing of gunpowder. 416 00:27:12,439 --> 00:27:14,159 Did you say three commanders? 417 00:27:14,159 --> 00:27:18,359 Three commanders. This is common in the Jacobite world, lots of chiefs. 418 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:20,239 Sounds like a recipe for trouble. 419 00:27:20,239 --> 00:27:24,319 Absolutely. It's a recipe for disaster in all forms of politics. 420 00:27:29,919 --> 00:27:32,919 Disastrous events quickly overtook the Jacobites. 421 00:27:34,239 --> 00:27:38,519 Soon after arriving, they had news that the main invasion fleet 422 00:27:38,519 --> 00:27:43,119 of 5,000 men, like the Spanish Armada 130 years earlier, 423 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:47,439 had been destroyed in a huge storm in the Bay of Biscay. 424 00:27:51,239 --> 00:27:56,239 With their own ships long gone, the men here were now on their own. 425 00:27:56,239 --> 00:27:59,039 They all started arguing amongst one another. Should we press on? 426 00:27:59,039 --> 00:28:01,159 Should we abandon the cause? 427 00:28:01,159 --> 00:28:04,039 What should we do? And everybody was arguing with each other. 428 00:28:04,039 --> 00:28:06,879 Who were these three commanders? Can you paint me a picture of them? 429 00:28:06,879 --> 00:28:08,039 Yes, indeed. 430 00:28:08,039 --> 00:28:11,439 Earl Marischal Keith, a dedicated loyal and honourable soldier, 431 00:28:11,439 --> 00:28:13,039 an aristocrat in his own right. 432 00:28:13,039 --> 00:28:20,519 Tuillibardine, somewhat of a gadfly, a spendthrift and a bit incompetent, 433 00:28:20,519 --> 00:28:24,399 and a Gaelic Chief, the Earl of Seaforth, William Mackenzie. 434 00:28:24,399 --> 00:28:25,759 So what shut them up? 435 00:28:25,759 --> 00:28:27,439 The arrival of three English warships, 436 00:28:27,439 --> 00:28:29,279 dropped anchor in the bay over there. 437 00:28:33,359 --> 00:28:36,759 The three ships that appeared in early May were Navy Frigates - 438 00:28:36,759 --> 00:28:40,519 the Worcester, the Flamborough and the Enterprise. 439 00:28:40,519 --> 00:28:42,439 With over 100 cannon between them, 440 00:28:42,439 --> 00:28:44,999 they represented a significant threat. 441 00:28:47,399 --> 00:28:48,919 Up you come, Tony. 442 00:28:51,719 --> 00:28:53,159 Wow, that's some view. 443 00:28:54,399 --> 00:28:57,799 We've come up to the battlements to understand the situation 444 00:28:57,799 --> 00:29:01,839 facing the Jacobites on 10th May 1719. 445 00:29:03,239 --> 00:29:06,439 There was only about 40 Jacobites in the castle at this time. 446 00:29:06,439 --> 00:29:11,039 The vast bulk of the Spanish force and Jacobite Army had now moved away 447 00:29:11,039 --> 00:29:13,079 from the castle out of gunfire range. 448 00:29:13,079 --> 00:29:14,999 So what did the guys in the ships do? 449 00:29:14,999 --> 00:29:16,639 They asked for the surrender. 450 00:29:16,639 --> 00:29:19,279 The castle, well, put up a bit of resistance. 451 00:29:19,279 --> 00:29:21,959 And with that the warships began opening fire. 452 00:29:21,959 --> 00:29:25,239 CANNON FIRE 453 00:29:32,799 --> 00:29:34,679 This is the sort of thing they were using. 454 00:29:34,679 --> 00:29:36,719 This is the smallest one, believe it or not. 455 00:29:36,719 --> 00:29:39,679 This is an iron cannonball dug out of the walls during restoration. 456 00:29:39,679 --> 00:29:42,159 How did the guys in the castle respond to all the cannon? 457 00:29:42,159 --> 00:29:43,879 There was very little they could do. 458 00:29:43,879 --> 00:29:45,959 There was no real cannon to fire back. 459 00:29:45,959 --> 00:29:49,919 It ended with the small Jacobite garrison surrendering the castle 460 00:29:49,919 --> 00:29:52,599 to the English Captain. He came ashore with his party, 461 00:29:52,599 --> 00:29:55,319 They found a large volume of gunpowder, 462 00:29:55,319 --> 00:29:58,119 which they used to destroy this castle. 463 00:30:05,639 --> 00:30:09,799 Eilean Donan would stand in ruins for over 200 years 464 00:30:09,799 --> 00:30:12,399 until its restoration in the last century. 465 00:30:14,079 --> 00:30:17,919 But its destruction didn't signal the end of the 1719 Rebellion. 466 00:30:19,559 --> 00:30:23,679 Safe on shore, the remaining Spanish troops and Jacobite exiles 467 00:30:23,679 --> 00:30:25,639 decided to fight on. 468 00:30:29,319 --> 00:30:32,879 I'm following their route east, above Loch Duich, 469 00:30:32,879 --> 00:30:34,359 towards Glen Shiel. 470 00:30:41,279 --> 00:30:44,999 Their intention was to reach Inverness and defeat the garrison 471 00:30:44,999 --> 00:30:48,359 there, which they hoped would inspire a wider rising. 472 00:30:53,839 --> 00:30:59,399 Imagine the Jacobite Commanders walking up this way in May 1719. 473 00:30:59,399 --> 00:31:02,679 They'd heard that the main Jacobite landings in the south of England 474 00:31:02,679 --> 00:31:04,519 weren't going to happen after all. 475 00:31:04,519 --> 00:31:07,039 They'd just watched their castle being blown up 476 00:31:07,039 --> 00:31:09,479 by the Royal Navy down there. 477 00:31:09,479 --> 00:31:13,839 It's a wonder that they decided to carry on at all, but they did. 478 00:31:13,839 --> 00:31:16,239 And when they put out the call to raise the clans, 479 00:31:16,239 --> 00:31:18,479 the people responded. 480 00:31:18,479 --> 00:31:21,959 The spirit of defiance must have run very deep indeed. 481 00:31:24,719 --> 00:31:28,999 To find out more about the Scots involved in the 1719 uprising, 482 00:31:28,999 --> 00:31:33,719 I'm heading for Clachan Duich, an ancient clan burial ground, 483 00:31:33,719 --> 00:31:35,679 six miles beyond Eilean Donan. 484 00:31:37,119 --> 00:31:40,799 Inside the church ruins is a memorial which commemorates 485 00:31:40,799 --> 00:31:43,399 the men who fell at the Battle of Sherrifmuir, 486 00:31:43,399 --> 00:31:47,159 fighting for William Mackenzie, the 5th Earl of Seaforth. 487 00:31:47,159 --> 00:31:51,919 And is this Earl of Seaforth the same one as took part 488 00:31:51,919 --> 00:31:53,559 in the 1719 uprising? 489 00:31:53,559 --> 00:31:54,679 Exactly, yes. 490 00:31:54,679 --> 00:31:56,279 What kind of bloke was he? 491 00:31:56,279 --> 00:31:59,199 He was actually quite a fascinating character. 492 00:31:59,199 --> 00:32:03,759 On the one hand, he was a commander of Highland tribesmen 493 00:32:03,759 --> 00:32:08,359 with a great retinue of ghillies and bards and pipers. 494 00:32:08,359 --> 00:32:11,559 On the other hand, he was brought up at the Jacobite Court 495 00:32:11,559 --> 00:32:14,999 in St Germain, so he was a very sophisticated European. 496 00:32:14,999 --> 00:32:17,919 When Seaforth landed, who responded to his call? 497 00:32:17,919 --> 00:32:21,719 He himself raised 200 men and his cousin, 498 00:32:21,719 --> 00:32:25,519 Sir John Mackenzie of Cowl, raised another 200 men. 499 00:32:25,519 --> 00:32:28,879 That's not very many, is it, compared with 1715? 500 00:32:28,879 --> 00:32:30,199 It's not. 501 00:32:30,199 --> 00:32:34,399 However you have to remember that this was an impromptu landing here 502 00:32:34,399 --> 00:32:38,039 after an Armada which had gone wrong. 503 00:32:38,039 --> 00:32:41,559 So, in fact, it was still quite a decisive number of people. 504 00:32:43,279 --> 00:32:47,359 In some ways it's not surprising that hundreds rather than thousands 505 00:32:47,359 --> 00:32:49,199 answered the call. 506 00:32:49,199 --> 00:32:52,839 This graveyard was a reminder that many men had lost their lives 507 00:32:52,839 --> 00:32:55,759 in an uprising just four years before. 508 00:32:58,719 --> 00:33:02,039 Equally discouraging was the news that the General Wightman's 509 00:33:02,039 --> 00:33:05,919 British troops were marching down to intercept the rebels. 510 00:33:07,559 --> 00:33:10,959 The mood must have been dark indeed. 511 00:33:10,959 --> 00:33:14,399 So when they set off from here, what do you think their chances were 512 00:33:14,399 --> 00:33:18,319 of getting some sort of rebellion up and running? 513 00:33:18,319 --> 00:33:20,799 In some ways, bad. 514 00:33:20,799 --> 00:33:25,279 However, in terms of numbers, they weren't much less 515 00:33:25,279 --> 00:33:29,039 than General Wightman's Hanoverian troops. 516 00:33:29,039 --> 00:33:32,479 So in many ways, it could have gone either way. 517 00:33:36,759 --> 00:33:39,319 I'm sure that the Jacobites camped near here 518 00:33:39,319 --> 00:33:42,639 would have sung songs to raise their spirits. 519 00:33:42,639 --> 00:33:46,199 And as I end the day after the eight-mile walk from Eilean Donan 520 00:33:46,199 --> 00:33:50,359 to my Shiel Bridge hotel, I find that some of those rebel songs 521 00:33:50,359 --> 00:33:52,359 are still popular today. 522 00:33:54,279 --> 00:34:05,119 # Will ye no come back again? 523 00:34:05,119 --> 00:34:10,839 # Better loved ye canna be 524 00:34:10,839 --> 00:34:16,439 # Will ye no come back again? # 525 00:34:26,479 --> 00:34:29,159 Will Ye No Come Back Again is a lament, 526 00:34:29,159 --> 00:34:31,239 immortalizing the wish of Highlanders 527 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:35,479 for Bonnie Prince Charlie to return from exile in Europe. 528 00:34:35,479 --> 00:34:38,119 It's just one example of the Jacobite songs 529 00:34:38,119 --> 00:34:40,799 that are still sung today. 530 00:34:40,799 --> 00:34:43,919 Folk song has always been political to some degree or another. 531 00:34:43,919 --> 00:34:47,639 We still have tunes and songs that are existing from that time. 532 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:50,399 There are old manuscripts, there's unbroken folk memory, 533 00:34:50,399 --> 00:34:52,359 folk traditions that's been passed down, 534 00:34:52,359 --> 00:34:55,239 we're absolutely certain that we're playing some of the same tunes 535 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:56,639 and songs that they heard. 536 00:34:56,639 --> 00:35:01,239 There's something about this music that at one time reflected 537 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:04,159 an anti-English feeling, is that true now? 538 00:35:04,159 --> 00:35:08,079 It's... there are facets of the music that can express that, yeah. 539 00:35:08,079 --> 00:35:10,279 I prefer to think of it as pro-Scottish, 540 00:35:10,279 --> 00:35:11,879 rather than anti anything else. 541 00:35:11,879 --> 00:35:15,679 And I would like to think that as a country, we're maturing a bit now 542 00:35:15,679 --> 00:35:18,679 and we've gone through that process and we're coming out the other side 543 00:35:18,679 --> 00:35:20,119 as a mature and healthy nation. 544 00:35:20,119 --> 00:35:23,239 Scots are proud of their own tradition, their own heritage, 545 00:35:23,239 --> 00:35:25,839 and this music is a very important part of that. 546 00:35:31,319 --> 00:35:35,079 I've almost reached the climax of my journey charting the story 547 00:35:35,079 --> 00:35:37,719 of the 1719 Rebellion. 548 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:41,519 Tomorrow, I'll find out what happened at the Battle of Glen Shiel 549 00:35:41,519 --> 00:35:45,239 and how the Jacobites left their mark on Scotland. 550 00:35:57,604 --> 00:36:01,084 It's the final day of my journey to find out why the Highlands 551 00:36:01,084 --> 00:36:03,924 were such a breeding ground for Jacobite support, 552 00:36:03,924 --> 00:36:07,924 and how this region has shaped the character of the people living here. 553 00:36:12,084 --> 00:36:13,924 Having come full circle, 554 00:36:13,924 --> 00:36:17,444 I'm now heading up Glen Shiel to my final destination, 555 00:36:17,444 --> 00:36:22,324 the battle site where the fortunes of the 1719 Rebellion were decided. 556 00:36:32,084 --> 00:36:36,364 When the Jacobites passed this way in early June 1719, 557 00:36:36,364 --> 00:36:38,364 they knew that the Inverness Garrison, 558 00:36:38,364 --> 00:36:44,284 under its dynamic commander General Wightman, was just a few days away. 559 00:36:44,284 --> 00:36:47,604 If they were to beat Wightman's force and get the rebellion 560 00:36:47,604 --> 00:36:50,804 up and running, it was imperative they head up the Glen 561 00:36:50,804 --> 00:36:54,444 and pick the best possible positions from which to fight. 562 00:36:59,164 --> 00:37:02,284 The path I'm on has reached a farm, Achnagart, 563 00:37:02,284 --> 00:37:05,044 but it's not clear where the path goes from here. 564 00:37:06,524 --> 00:37:07,644 Hello? 565 00:37:09,604 --> 00:37:11,924 Hello, anybody there? 566 00:37:11,924 --> 00:37:14,964 Anybody around? Ah! 567 00:37:14,964 --> 00:37:16,884 Hello. 568 00:37:16,884 --> 00:37:19,204 Hello. I'm sorry to disturb you. 569 00:37:19,204 --> 00:37:21,444 I'm looking for the Glen Shiel battle site 570 00:37:21,444 --> 00:37:22,964 and I'm totally confused. 571 00:37:22,964 --> 00:37:25,444 I had a path and it's just kind of disappeared. 572 00:37:25,444 --> 00:37:27,204 Yes, well that happens. 573 00:37:27,204 --> 00:37:29,364 The track originally would have come round 574 00:37:29,364 --> 00:37:31,444 and across onto the other side of the river. 575 00:37:31,444 --> 00:37:33,324 But to get up onto the battle site now, 576 00:37:33,324 --> 00:37:35,164 you'll have to go up the main road. 577 00:37:35,164 --> 00:37:36,204 Are you familiar with the site? 578 00:37:36,204 --> 00:37:37,884 Yes, I know where it is. 579 00:37:37,884 --> 00:37:40,804 I've been up there and a number of years ago, 580 00:37:40,804 --> 00:37:43,004 my uncle found some musket balls up there. 581 00:37:43,004 --> 00:37:43,364 Have you still got them? 582 00:37:43,364 --> 00:37:44,724 Yes, I've still got them. 583 00:37:44,724 --> 00:37:45,684 Can I have a look? 584 00:37:45,684 --> 00:37:47,084 I'll show them to you. 585 00:37:47,084 --> 00:37:48,804 I'd love to see them. 586 00:37:48,804 --> 00:37:51,804 Well, I think I've found the right person. 587 00:37:54,244 --> 00:37:55,324 Here we are. 588 00:37:55,324 --> 00:37:56,444 Is this them? 589 00:37:56,444 --> 00:37:57,644 This is them. 590 00:37:57,644 --> 00:37:59,284 They were in the bank of the river. 591 00:37:59,284 --> 00:38:02,004 Probably some people from the battle sheltered there 592 00:38:02,004 --> 00:38:04,364 and probably left their musket balls behind. 593 00:38:04,364 --> 00:38:06,884 Yeah, because they haven't been fired, have they? 594 00:38:06,884 --> 00:38:08,644 No, no, they haven't been fired. 595 00:38:08,644 --> 00:38:10,604 That's a fantastic find, that. 596 00:38:10,604 --> 00:38:13,004 I certainly came to the right person. 597 00:38:13,004 --> 00:38:14,364 Thank you. 598 00:38:14,364 --> 00:38:16,524 So which is the best way to go would you say? 599 00:38:16,524 --> 00:38:19,724 Just round the front, across the bridge and over onto the main road. 600 00:38:19,724 --> 00:38:23,004 Well, very nice to meet you. Thank you very much. That's great. 601 00:38:23,004 --> 00:38:27,444 At last I've got my hands on some physical evidence of the battle. 602 00:38:27,444 --> 00:38:29,324 The last stretch just flies by. 603 00:38:32,804 --> 00:38:36,644 It's just over a mile from the farm to my final destination. 604 00:38:36,644 --> 00:38:39,724 And the battleground is easy to find. 605 00:38:39,724 --> 00:38:42,084 It sits at a choke point in the Glen 606 00:38:42,084 --> 00:38:45,084 that creates a natural killing ground. 607 00:38:45,084 --> 00:38:48,244 You can see why the Jacobites chose this spot 608 00:38:48,244 --> 00:38:50,244 to meet the government troops. 609 00:38:50,244 --> 00:38:52,244 It's the narrowest part of the Glen. 610 00:38:52,244 --> 00:38:54,924 You've got a ridge there, another one there. 611 00:38:54,924 --> 00:38:59,084 It's easy to throw up a really robust defence with just a few men. 612 00:38:59,084 --> 00:39:03,164 This could have been the Scottish version of Thermoplyae, 613 00:39:03,164 --> 00:39:07,804 with the noble 300 holding back George's Hanoverian troops, 614 00:39:07,804 --> 00:39:09,364 rather than the Persians. 615 00:39:11,204 --> 00:39:12,724 Tony! 616 00:39:12,724 --> 00:39:16,444 An old friend from the Centre for Battlefield Archaeology in Glasgow, 617 00:39:16,444 --> 00:39:20,164 Dr Tony Pollard, has surveyed this site extensively. 618 00:39:20,164 --> 00:39:21,724 Shall we take the high ground? 619 00:39:21,724 --> 00:39:22,924 OK. 620 00:39:22,924 --> 00:39:25,124 So I've asked him to give me a guided tour. 621 00:39:29,084 --> 00:39:30,964 Not a bad spot this, Tone. 622 00:39:30,964 --> 00:39:33,844 It is lovely, isn't it? It sounds strange to say it 623 00:39:33,844 --> 00:39:36,724 but I think it's the most beautiful battlefield in Britain, 624 00:39:36,724 --> 00:39:39,444 if you can say such a thing about such a terrible place. 625 00:39:39,444 --> 00:39:41,444 But also pretty impregnable. 626 00:39:41,444 --> 00:39:43,524 It is. It's ideal for the Jacobites. 627 00:39:43,524 --> 00:39:45,924 Let's not forget their retreat west is blocked 628 00:39:45,924 --> 00:39:47,724 because of the Royal Navy in the loch. 629 00:39:47,724 --> 00:39:48,844 Of course. 630 00:39:48,844 --> 00:39:52,284 So they've either got to fight their way out or make a stand, 631 00:39:52,284 --> 00:39:53,884 and they decide to make a stand. 632 00:39:55,804 --> 00:39:58,964 Wightman had 1,100 troops at his disposal, 633 00:39:58,964 --> 00:40:02,284 including 120 mounted Dragoons. 634 00:40:02,284 --> 00:40:05,644 The Jacobite force had about the same number of men, 635 00:40:05,644 --> 00:40:08,244 including one famous name. 636 00:40:08,244 --> 00:40:11,204 Rob Roy. He keeps popping up in Jacobite history, 637 00:40:11,204 --> 00:40:12,524 he's a bit of a lad. 638 00:40:12,524 --> 00:40:16,364 We know he was at the Battle of Sherrifmuir in 1715. 639 00:40:16,364 --> 00:40:19,884 He was actually guarding one of the river crossings for the Jacobites. 640 00:40:19,884 --> 00:40:22,404 Here he seems to have played quite an active role 641 00:40:22,404 --> 00:40:26,044 and seems to have done his best, but by this time he's a pretty old man. 642 00:40:26,044 --> 00:40:28,444 I always think of him as this magnificent hero. 643 00:40:28,444 --> 00:40:33,044 He's like everyone in these stories. He's not a hero or a villain. 644 00:40:33,044 --> 00:40:34,924 The Jacobites arrived on June 9th 645 00:40:34,924 --> 00:40:37,564 and immediately prepared their defences. 646 00:40:39,964 --> 00:40:43,164 A barricade was built across the narrowest part of the Glen, 647 00:40:43,164 --> 00:40:44,484 blocking the road. 648 00:40:45,964 --> 00:40:49,684 Highlanders under Tullibardine's brother Lord George Murray 649 00:40:49,684 --> 00:40:52,404 occupied a knoll on the south side of the valley. 650 00:40:53,564 --> 00:40:55,404 While the Earl of Seaforth's men 651 00:40:55,404 --> 00:40:58,524 took up positions on the mountain slopes to the north. 652 00:41:00,204 --> 00:41:03,924 With Rob Roy's MacGregors held in reserve, the Spanish troops 653 00:41:03,924 --> 00:41:06,924 dug in on the central hill overlooking the barricade. 654 00:41:09,924 --> 00:41:14,884 Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Don Nicholas de Bolano y Castro, 655 00:41:14,884 --> 00:41:18,484 they constructed protective stone works on the mountainside, 656 00:41:18,484 --> 00:41:21,804 and they built them so well they're still visible today. 657 00:41:23,884 --> 00:41:28,364 This is one of the original barricades 658 00:41:28,364 --> 00:41:31,804 that the Spanish built here in 1719. 659 00:41:31,804 --> 00:41:34,924 Well, it does look like to me like job done and dusted. 660 00:41:34,924 --> 00:41:38,524 It's hard to imagine how anyone coming this way 661 00:41:38,524 --> 00:41:41,844 could possibly win against people in these positions. 662 00:41:41,844 --> 00:41:43,324 On paper you would think so. 663 00:41:43,324 --> 00:41:46,004 But one thing in the Government army's favour 664 00:41:46,004 --> 00:41:48,284 was a particular type of weapon. 665 00:41:48,284 --> 00:41:49,724 Now wait until you see this. 666 00:41:51,364 --> 00:41:53,684 What do you think that is? 667 00:41:53,684 --> 00:41:56,084 Presumably it's some sort of mini cannon. 668 00:41:56,084 --> 00:41:57,204 It is. It's a mortar. 669 00:41:57,204 --> 00:42:00,764 You know that old Pink Panther idea of the Clouseau bomb, 670 00:42:00,764 --> 00:42:03,524 the cartoon bomb, with the fuse and ball. 671 00:42:03,524 --> 00:42:04,724 That's what they fire. 672 00:42:04,724 --> 00:42:09,804 And as the fuse burns down in the air it explodes on the target 673 00:42:09,804 --> 00:42:15,404 and sends horrible big shivers of steel, shrapnel in to the enemy. 674 00:42:15,404 --> 00:42:17,124 So an incredibly powerful weapon 675 00:42:17,124 --> 00:42:20,164 and it appears to have been used here really very well. 676 00:42:21,444 --> 00:42:23,524 On 10th June 1719, 677 00:42:23,524 --> 00:42:27,124 while the Old Pretender was celebrating his birthday in Madrid, 678 00:42:27,124 --> 00:42:30,684 Wightman attacked the Jacobites in Glen Shiel. 679 00:42:35,884 --> 00:42:40,204 Using the mortars to bombard them, Wightman's forces first attacked 680 00:42:40,204 --> 00:42:44,724 Murray's position to their left and then Seaforth's to their right. 681 00:42:44,724 --> 00:42:47,324 BOMBS AND BATTLE CRIES 682 00:42:48,844 --> 00:42:51,324 The mortar bombs reputedly set the heather alight, 683 00:42:51,324 --> 00:42:53,644 forcing the Highlanders to retreat. 684 00:42:58,684 --> 00:43:01,764 Murray's men fall back behind this big knoll here 685 00:43:01,764 --> 00:43:04,484 and they've left the battlefield really. 686 00:43:04,484 --> 00:43:06,124 Seaforth, and the Mackenzies, 687 00:43:06,124 --> 00:43:10,404 and the other Highlanders across the hill slope on the north side 688 00:43:10,404 --> 00:43:14,404 start retiring back this way, and your old friend... 689 00:43:14,404 --> 00:43:15,604 Rob Roy. 690 00:43:15,604 --> 00:43:19,484 Exactly. He is called in to reinforce that defence. 691 00:43:19,484 --> 00:43:23,004 But the problem is that before he can get there it's quite clear 692 00:43:23,004 --> 00:43:24,804 that all has gone to pot up there, 693 00:43:24,804 --> 00:43:27,524 and that side is streaming off the field. 694 00:43:27,524 --> 00:43:29,484 But you've still got the Spanish here? 695 00:43:29,484 --> 00:43:31,364 Yeah. They are the last men standing. 696 00:43:31,364 --> 00:43:33,084 So what Whiteman does 697 00:43:33,084 --> 00:43:36,284 is he turns his dreadful mortars onto this position. 698 00:43:36,284 --> 00:43:39,044 He dismounts his dragoons and gets them, 699 00:43:39,044 --> 00:43:43,764 around 120 men, to on foot charge up this hill. 700 00:43:43,764 --> 00:43:47,564 So they come up and eventually the Spanish are pushed back. 701 00:43:47,564 --> 00:43:50,764 They retire up this ridgeline and across the top. 702 00:43:58,124 --> 00:44:00,004 With the retreat of the Spanish, 703 00:44:00,004 --> 00:44:03,724 the battle and the 1719 uprising were over. 704 00:44:03,724 --> 00:44:05,844 The Jacobites had been defeated, 705 00:44:05,844 --> 00:44:08,124 with around 50 men dying in the battle. 706 00:44:11,244 --> 00:44:14,044 The Highlanders dispersed into the mountains 707 00:44:14,044 --> 00:44:16,724 and the Jacobite leaders fled back into exile. 708 00:44:19,284 --> 00:44:22,004 The Spanish troops were forced to surrender, 709 00:44:22,004 --> 00:44:26,164 and were eventually repatriated several months later. 710 00:44:26,164 --> 00:44:30,804 On hearing news of the defeat, the Old Pretender retired to Italy. 711 00:44:33,564 --> 00:44:37,484 It was nearly 30 years before his son, Bonnie Prince Charlie, 712 00:44:37,484 --> 00:44:39,324 known as the Young Pretender, 713 00:44:39,324 --> 00:44:42,524 made one final effort to reclaim the throne. 714 00:44:44,924 --> 00:44:50,284 The 1745 Rebellion was the most successful of all the uprisings. 715 00:44:52,004 --> 00:44:55,244 The Young Pretender's men got as far south as Derby, 716 00:44:55,244 --> 00:44:57,924 but under pressure the rebels fell apart. 717 00:45:00,084 --> 00:45:04,924 The coupe de grace comes in April of 1746 at Culloden Moor. 718 00:45:04,924 --> 00:45:08,004 And we get that infamous battle where the Jacobite cause 719 00:45:08,004 --> 00:45:09,284 is murdered in the heather. 720 00:45:20,364 --> 00:45:22,884 After the failure of the 1745, 721 00:45:22,884 --> 00:45:25,884 the government cracked down on the Highlanders. 722 00:45:27,644 --> 00:45:29,564 Many prisoners were executed, 723 00:45:29,564 --> 00:45:32,924 and laws were passed to break the Clan system. 724 00:45:32,924 --> 00:45:37,804 Wearing tartan was made illegal until 1782 and Highland culture 725 00:45:37,804 --> 00:45:42,364 was forced underground until well into the 19th Century. 726 00:45:42,364 --> 00:45:44,844 But in 1822, George IV 727 00:45:44,844 --> 00:45:48,284 enthusiastically adopted Highland dress 728 00:45:48,284 --> 00:45:50,244 during a Royal visit to Scotland. 729 00:45:50,244 --> 00:45:53,404 And the growing popularity of Sir Walter Scott's novels 730 00:45:53,404 --> 00:45:56,884 meant Highland culture was once again acceptable. 731 00:46:01,924 --> 00:46:05,044 Maybe the Jacobites were an anachronism. 732 00:46:05,044 --> 00:46:07,084 Maybe they were just a bunch of romantics, 733 00:46:07,084 --> 00:46:10,244 who wanted to cling onto the Highland way of doing things, 734 00:46:10,244 --> 00:46:13,724 whereas the progressive way, the modern way forward 735 00:46:13,724 --> 00:46:16,204 was to be part of the United Kingdom, 736 00:46:16,204 --> 00:46:19,764 and be ruled over by the English monarch. 737 00:46:19,764 --> 00:46:22,804 And yet today, in and around Scotland, 738 00:46:22,804 --> 00:46:24,764 more people want to leave the UK 739 00:46:24,764 --> 00:46:28,884 and break away from the government in London than ever before. 740 00:46:28,884 --> 00:46:33,084 So perhaps the spirit of the Jacobites is still with us. 741 00:46:38,924 --> 00:46:40,884 If you want to follow in my footsteps 742 00:46:40,884 --> 00:46:42,804 you can download a copy of my walk from: