Many accounts of the ‘45 make a point of trying to correct the sentimental excesses that have bedevilled so many tellings of the story.. The excision of romantic fantasy from history is always to be encouraged but ...how can I say this … much of the story is irretrievably romantic. Mr Duffy emphatically reminds us, however, that those genuine romantic elements are not the whole story. We must also take note of treachery, betrayal, execution by public torture, prisoners murdered or sold into slavery, an attempt to stamp out an ancient culture and other endearingly human traits. And, of course, Bonnie Prince Charlie wouldn’t have been a real Stuart unless, from time to time, he left his devoted followers in the lurch. Still, he was smart, brave and resourceful. If his command group had not been so divided, if he hadn’t been relying on the French and if he had had just a bit more luck he would have won. He deserved to. But then, Collingwood deserved to win the 2018 Grand Final and that’s another hard luck story.
The author of this book knows so much about 18th Century warfare that I was afraid the work would turn into a series of arid academic arguments. How wrong I was. He not only knows the relevance of weather, geology, drill, smuggling, agriculture and religion but he writes interestingly about them in the context of war.
History without anecdotes is like fish and chips without salt and Mr Duffy includes an appropriate seasoning. To give just a couple of examples:
“The MacDonalds of Glencoe insisted on mounting a guard to protect a mansion …(that) was the property of the Earl of Stair … whose grandfather …(had been) the author of the massacre of Glencoe in 1692.”
“... an old woman remained in a house … where some (Jacobite) officers were quartered. After they had supped, she said to them, “Gentlemen, I suppose you have done with your murdering today, I should be glad to know when the ravishing begins.”
That last story indicates one of the myths current at the time - that the Highlanders who formed part of the Jacobite army were all unprincipled barbarians not fit for decent society. It is part of the author’s rationale for writing the book that the myths perpetuated by both sides persist to this day.
“To test this claim I have made a point of asking professional historians at random about their impression of the Jacobite forces.With slight variations in wording, the answer has invariably been: “thieving Catholic Highland bastards”. “
Mr Duffy points out that one factor working against the Jacobites was England’s savage penal code, designed to protect the property of the rich, which had effectively disarmed a segment of the population from whom the Stuarts had reason to expect support. And I had not realised how much potential and actual help for the Jacobite cause came from smugglers, one of the few categories of Englishmen “who had firearms and were willing to use them.” They were “capable of bringing together 500 armed men at short notice”.If you’re interested in history at all you really should read The ‘45. It flows like a novel and I don’t think you’ll ever find a better treatment of this fascinating episode.
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