The treasure of Loch Arkaig, sometimes known as the Jacobite gold, was a large amount of specie provided by Spain to finance the Jacobite rising in Scotland in 1745, and rumoured still to be hidden at Loch Arkaig in Lochaber. [1]
The treasure of Loch Arkaig, sometimes known as the Jacobite gold, was a large amount of specie provided by Spain to finance the Jacobite rising in Scotland in 1745, and rumoured still to be hidden at Loch Arkaig in Lochaber. [1]
In 1745, Prince Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) arrived in Scotland from France. He claimed the thrones of Scotland, England and Ireland, in the name of his father James Stuart (the Old Pretender). Although Charles asserted that his venture was supported by Louis XV of France, and that the arrival of French forces in Scotland was imminent, in truth France had little intention to intervene on the Stuarts' behalf. However, some limited financial support was supplied by both Spain and the Pope.
Spain pledged some 400,000 livres (or Louis d'Or) per month for the Jacobite cause. However, getting this money to the rebel army was the difficulty. The first instalment (sent via Charles' brother Henry who was resident in France) was dispatched in 1745. The French sloop Hazard (renamed the Prince Charles) successfully landed its monies on the west coast of Scotland. Unfortunately for the Jacobites, the riches were soon captured by Clan Mackay, who were loyal to King George II, [2] in the Skirmish of Tongue. [3]
In April 1746, the Mars and Bellona ships arrived in Scotland with 1,200,000 livres (another Spanish instalment, plus a large French supplement). However, on learning of the Jacobite defeat at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April, the ships left, unloading only the Spanish money at Loch nan Uamh, Arisaig on 30 April [4] (the same place from where the prince had disembarked the year before, and would later embark for France). Thus, seven caskets of Spanish gold arrived in Scotland. As the Jacobite cause was by then lost, with the army scattered and the prince and his lieutenants in hiding, the money was to be used to assist the Jacobite clansmen (then being subjected to the brutalities of the government forces of the Duke of Cumberland [5] ) and to facilitate the escape of leading Jacobites to the continent.
Six caskets (one having been stolen by McDonald [6] of Barrisdale's men) were brought to Loch Arkaig (just north of Fort William) and hidden. Their secret was entrusted to Murray of Broughton, one of the Jacobite fugitives. Murray began the distribution to clan chiefs, but when he was apprehended by the government (and later turned state's evidence) [7] the treasure was entrusted first to Lochiel, the chief of Clan Cameron, and then to Ewen MacPherson of Cluny, head of Clan Macpherson. Cluny was hiding in a cave at Ben Alder, which came to be known as "the cage", [8] and when Charles briefly joined him there, Cluny had control of the money, which was still hidden at Arkaig.
Charles finally escaped Scotland in the French frigate L'Heureux and arrived back in France in September 1746. However, the fate of the money is not as clear. Cluny is believed to have retained control of it, and during his long years as a fugitive was at the centre of various futile plots to finance another uprising. Indeed, he remained in hiding in his Highland "cage" for the next eight years. [9] Meanwhile, a cash-strapped Charles was constantly looking for his money and at least some of it came to him later, paying for the minting of a campaign medal in the 1750s. However, it is said that all of the gold was never recovered. [10] Charles, years later, accused Cluny of embezzlement. [11] Whatever the case, the gold became a source of discord and grievance among the surviving Jacobites.
In 1753, Archibald Cameron—Lochiel's brother, who was acting as secretary to the Old Pretender—was sent back to Scotland to locate the treasure. However, whilst staying secretly at Brenachyle by Loch Katrine, he was betrayed (apparently by the notorious "Pickle", a Hanoverian spy) and arrested. He was charged under the Act of Attainder for his part in the 1745 uprising and sentenced to death, being drawn and then hanged on 7 June 1753, at Tyburn [12] (the last Jacobite to be executed).
The trail then goes cold. However, the Stuarts' papers (now in the possession of King Charles III) record a host of claims, counter-claims and accusations among the Highland chiefs and Jacobites in exile, as to the fate of the monies. The historian Andrew Lang (who was one of the first people to research the papers since Walter Scott secured them for the crown) recorded, in his book Pickle the Spy (1897), [13] the sordid tale, and the involvement of both the prince and his father in trying to locate the monies. The Stuart papers also include an account from around 1750, drawn up in Rome by Archibald Cameron, which indicates that Cluny had not or could not account for all of it. [14]
According to Clan Cameron records, some French gold coins were found buried in nearby woods in the 1850s. [1]
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1766 as Charles III. During his lifetime, he was also known as "the Young Pretender" and "the Young Chevalier"; in popular memory, he is known as Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Glenfinnan is a hamlet in Lochaber area of the Highlands of Scotland. In 1745 the Jacobite rising began here when Prince Charles Edward Stuart raised his standard on the shores of Loch Shiel. Seventy years later, the 18 m (60 ft) Glenfinnan Monument, at the head of the loch, was erected to commemorate the historic event.
Murlagan is a small hamlet located on the north shore of Loch Arkaig in Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Murlagan, also called Murlaggan and Mhurlagain, is the location of the minor seat of Clan MacMillan.
Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel was a Scottish soldier and the 17th Chief of Clan Cameron. He fought as a Cavalier during the Civil War and was one the principal Jacobite leaders during the 1689 Rising. He is regarded as one of the most formidable Scottish clan chiefs of all time. Lord Macaulay praised him as the "Ulysses of the Highlands" and further wrote, "Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel was in personal qualities unrivalled among the Celtic Princes. He was a gracious master, a trusty ally, a terrible enemy." An incident demonstrating Lochiel's strength and ferocity in single combat, when he bit out the throat of an enemy, is used by Sir Walter Scott in Lady of the Lake.
Clementina Maria Sophia Walkinshaw was the mistress of the Jacobite claimant Charles Edward Stuart.
Achnacarry is a hamlet, private estate, and a castle in the Lochaber region of the Highlands, Scotland. It occupies a strategic position on an isthmus between Loch Lochy to the east, and Loch Arkaig to the west.
Alastair Roy MacDonell of Glengarry (ca 1725–1761; Scottish Gaelic: Alasdair Ruadh MacDomhnaill, was the 13th chief of Clan MacDonell of Glengarry. Brought up as a Catholic and largely educated in France, he was arrested in November 1745 on his way to join the 1745 Jacobite Rising. In 1747, MacDonell became a spy for the British government.
Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands lies Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The Chief of the clan is customarily referred to as simply "Lochiel".
Archibald Cameron of Lochiel was a Scottish physician and prominent leader in the Jacobite rising of 1745. He was the personal physician of Charles Edward Stuart, and younger brother of Donald Cameron of Lochiel, otherwise known as the Gentle Lochiel, who led Clan Cameron during the rising. In 1753 at Tyburn, he was executed for high treason, being the last Jacobite to be executed. In popular memory, he is sometimes referred to as Doctor Archie.
Donald Cameron of Lochiel, popularly known as the Gentle Lochiel, was a Scottish Jacobite, soldier and hereditary chief of Clan Cameron, traditionally loyal to the exiled House of Stuart. His support for Charles Edward Stuart proved pivotal in the early stages of the 1745 Rising. Lochiel was among the Highlanders defeated at the Battle of Culloden, and thereafter went into hiding before eventually fleeing to France.
Sir John Murray of Broughton, 7th Baronet of Stanhope, also known as Murray of Broughton, was a Scottish baronet, who served as Jacobite Secretary of State during the 1745 Rising.
John Cameron of Lochiel (1663–1747) was a Scottish Jacobite and the 18th Lochiel of Clan Cameron. He was the father of several prominent Jacobite figures, including Donald Cameron of Lochiel, otherwise known as the Gentle Lochiel, who played an important role in the 1745 Jacobite Rising.
The Prince's Cairn marks the traditional spot from where Prince Charles Edward Stuart embarked for France from Scotland on 20 September 1746 following the failure of the Jacobite rising of 1745. The cairn is located on the shores of Loch nan Uamh in Lochaber. It was erected in 1956 by the 1745 Association, a historical society dedicated to the study, recording and preservation of memories from the Jacobite period.
John Du Cameron was a Scottish Sergeant in the French Royal Army who came back to Scotland to fight for Prince Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite rising of 1745. When the rebellion failed he took to the hills with a band of renegades and fought on until he was captured and hanged in 1753. He is better known by the name of Sergent Mòr.
Sir Hector Maclean, 5th Baronet of Morvern was the 21st Clan Chief of Clan Maclean from 1716 to 1750. He was raised to the Jacobite Peerage of Scotland as Lord Maclean on 17 December 1716, a title to pass on his male heirs.
Ewen MacPherson of Cluny, known as "Cluny Macpherson", was the Chief of Clan MacPherson during the Jacobite Rising of 1745. He took part as a leading supporter of Prince Charles Edward Stuart. After the rebellion was crushed, he went into hiding and eventually escaped to France. He was the uncle of poet James Macpherson, who collected, translated, and adapted the epic poem Ossian, based upon the Fenian Cycle of Celtic mythology.
Jean Cameron of Glendessary was a member of the Scottish gentry and a Jacobite, said to have been involved in the Jacobite rising of 1745, during which Charles Edward Stuart attempted to reclaim the British throne for his father. Popularly known as Jenny Cameron, or Bonnie Jeanie Cameron, she became a Jacobite heroine after a number of sensationalised accounts of her life and deeds during the rising were published.
Events from the year 1753 in Scotland.
The Skirmish of Loch Ailort was a conflict that took place on 9 May 1746 at Loch Ailort, in the district of Moidart, Scottish Highlands and was part of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
The Raids on Lochaber and Shiramore took place in the Scottish Highlands between 22 May and 31 August 1746 and were part of the closing operations of the British-Hanoverian Government to bring to an end the Jacobite rising of 1745. Sometimes referred to as the "mopping up" operations, many rebels surrendered themselves and their arms, while others were captured and punished. It also included the hunt for the Jacobite leader Bonnie Prince Charles Edward Stuart otherwise known as the Young Pretender. Most of the work was done on behalf of the Government by the Independent Highland Companies of militia, the Campbell of Argyll Militia and also Loudon's Highlanders regiment.