„Ye Jacobites by Name – the Jacobite Movement in British

Literature and Culture “

Hauptseminar Anglistik 2014

I. Yes or no? – early modern roots of the Scottish referendum

I.1. The rise and fall of Stuart rule in Britain: • 1603: James I, Queen Elizabeth I‘s Scottish, accedes to the thrones of Scotland, England and

Ireland (personal union). • 1649: James‘s second son, King Charles I, is executed in London and monarchy is abolished. • 1660: Charles II, Charles I‘s second son, becomes king and monarchy is restored. • 1688: Charles II‘s Catholic brothers, King James II, is forced to abdicate the throne of

England and flees to France. Dutch stadtholder William of Orange becomes William III of England and shares the crown with his wife Mary Stuart, Protestant daughter to James II.

• 1701: Church and Parliament aim to settle the English succession by law, henceforth excluding Catholics from the throne and public office. („Act of Settlement“).

• 1704: The Parliament of Scotland passes the „Act of Security“ in response to arbitrary English provisions to place Electress Sophie of Hanover on the throne.

• 1705: The English Parliament threatens to cut trade and free movement between the two countries (“Alien Act”) in order to extort Scottish consent.

• 1707: The “Union with Scotland Act” passed by the Parliament of England in 1706 and the “Union with England Act” passed by the Parliament of Scotland in 1707 fully unite the two hitherto autonomous kingdoms. Large Scottish earldoms and influential families profit from the union, but religious and cultural specifics of Scotland are in danger of extinction.

• 1714: George Louis, Elector of Hanover, is proclaimed King George I of Great Britain.

I.2. The Stuarts‘ German relatives

I.3. Jacobite risings 1715 & 1745: • 1715: Supporters of the exiled Stuart family, led by the Earl of Mar, try to

reclaim the throne for James II’s son James Francis Stuart. • 1745: James II’s grandson, Charles Edward Stuarts, lands in Scotland and

marches on London. His campaigns ends after the fatal battle of Culloden in April 1716. Charles Edward Stuart, tenderly called “Bonnie Prince Charlie” by his supporters, returns to France and dies as a tragic hero, enfeebled by alcoholism and depression, in 1788.

I.4. British state formation after 1688 – important controversies:

• Protestantism versus Catholicism / Anglicanism versus Protestant dissent (High Church vs. Low Church)

• centralised London rule (‚court faction‘) versus local administration (‚country faction‘)

• Tories (supporters of the Crown) versus Whigs (supporters of Parliament) • Jacobites (supporters of James II and his family) versus Hanoverians

(supporters of the Protestant Succession and King George) • „Englishness“ versus „Britishness“ / imperial identity versus regionalism

These religious, social and political divides frequently overlapped. In the first half of the 18th century, Jacobitism offered a possibility to channel divergent aims into a strong opposition. Jacobitism initially had a strong basis both in London and in disadvantaged areas such as Ireland and the Scottish Highlands, but several historical coincidences merged it ever more strongly with Scottish separatism.

II. Unionism and and anti-Scottish stereotypes in 18th century England

II.1. Daniel Defoe‘s The Advantages of Scotland by an Incorporate Union with England, 1706:

• Defoe anticipates a „tacit consent“ of the „Generality of the Nation“ and attributes contrary petitions to the „corners o‘ the Kingdom (…) and the obscurest o‘ the People too“.

• He stresses the authority and „wisdom o‘ the Parliament“ and praises the „Revolution Maxims“ shared by all Britons since 1688.

• Defoe hopes to refute fears that the union will endanger the Presbyterian church in Scotland and accuses those who sow distrust of acting „rather like Jesuits in Disguise, than Sons of the Reformation“.

• Scottish liberties and properties will be secured, even more so as election struggles and political bribery will end.

• Scotland will profit from English technology and infrastructure. • The union will grant Scotland lasting peace and protection against

foreign enemies.

II.2. Patrick Abercromby‘s The advantages of the Act of Security, compar‘d with these of the intended Union, 1706:

• The monarchs‘ continued absence from Scotland is the main reason for economic and cultural decline.

• The Stuarts – despite their attachment to Catholicism and „arbitrary power“ – did more for Scotland than William III, who was initially called by London, not Edinburgh.

• Scotland – though economically bonded with England – might profit from independent continental alliances and thereby act as a counterpart to English imperialism.

• The English Whig glorification of Parliament as infallible guardian of the constitution must be denied since both Scottish and English parliaments have erred in the past. It is important to confine the danger of future errors by keeping them apart.

• English plans to nominate remote Hanoverian relatives of the Stuart family increase the danger of future civil wars.

II.3. Anti-Scottish caricature, 1763

II.4. Samuel Johnson‘s Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, 1791

• Scottish inclinations to revolt against their (English) kings are explained as inbred consequences of Scottish geography, climate and culture. Johnson avoids the question of individual responsibility in favour of a ‚national‘ narrative.

• The civilized Lowlands are distinguished from the allegedly backward Highland and Island regions in order to foster Scottish elite solidarity with London.

• Johnson suggests a long-term policy of disarmement and re-education to make the Scottish periphery truly ‚British‘.

• Johnson stresses the common interest which England and Scotland must take in an on-going administrative union.

III. From dynastic struggle to independence movement –

manifestations of Jacobitism in three centuries of British culture

III.1. The Jacobite movement in 18th century visual culture – portraits and caricatures

III.2. Anti-Jacobite preaching in 18th century Britain, Ireland and America

„My Brethren, it is our Duty and Interest to be truly loyal to his Majesty on the Throne, and to be zealous for the support of his undoubted Title to the Crown of these Realms. Under God, he is the Defender of our Civil and Religious Liberties. And there is a Connexion between his Interest and ours. The British Constitution is so wise and good, that the Prince on the Throne cannot have an Inteest distinct from that of his People. (…) And as the present Pretender to the Throne of his Majesty sets up on the Foot of a divine, hereditary, and indefeasible Right, this constitutes him a Tyrant, and an Enemy to our Constitution. (…) All true Protestants have one Interest, in the support of which they should be firmly united.“ (Rev. James Moody, Presbyterian minister of Newry, County Armagh, Nothern Ireland, 1745)

III.3. Telling the Jacobite story – historiography and historical novels

“By thus fomenting the natural hatred and animosity which the Scots have in all times manifested against the English, the war would have become national, and this would have been a most fortunate circumstance for the Prince. The Scots, though much inferior to the English in numbers, had withstood them during a long and almost uninterrupted war of a thousand years, and preserved their liberty and independence down to the union of the two kingdoms in 1707. (…) It was further observed, by those who gave this advice to the Prince, that as the union, from its being an act passed during the usurpation, and injurious to the house of Stuart, was necessarily void, it was proper to issue writs for the immediate meeting of the Scottish parliament at Edinburgh, to impose taxes in a legal manner, and obtain supplies for the support of his army”. (James Johnstone: Memoirs of the Rebellion in 1745 and 1746, London 1820.)

III.4. „Ye Jacobites by name“ – Jacobitism in poetry and folk song

III.5. Jacobites on stage and screen – 19th century drama and 20th century movies

William Thomas Moncrieff: Bonnie Prince Charlie, London 1887

Anthony Kimmins / Alexander Korda: Bonnie Prince Charlie, GB 1948

Graham Holloway: Chasing the Deer. The tragedy of Culloden Moor, SCO 1994