CLAN CARRUTHERS- CARRUTHERS AND THE JACOBITE REBELLION 1745-1746

Carruthers Clan Int. Society CCIS                       Promptus Et Fidelis

 

CARRUTHERS AND THE JACOBITE REBELLION

1745-1746

The Rebellion

The 1715 and 1745 insurrections were certainly not an attempt to put Prince Charles Edward Stewart on the throne of the United Kingdom of Scotland, England and (at that time)Ireland. His father styled James VIII of Scotland and III of England was still alive. Charles Edward Stewart was fighting for his father throne, although it could be argued, ultimately his own.

Culloden Monument

The Scottish Highland clans were not continuously at war with one another. Of course in many cases, as in all families, there were disputes, mainly about land and cattle. On the whole however, if one compares the “family problems” in other parts of Europe we find that the Scottish Highlands were relatively peaceful over three hundred years. The greatest battle ever fought on the British Isles was not between Scottish clans or even in Scotland for that matter. The “clan” battle between the English families if York and Lancaster left 20,000 dead on the field of Towton .

 William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland (1721 – 1765) leads the British army across the  River Spey before the Battle of Culloden in Scotland, 16th April 1746. The battle resulted in a British victory over the Jacobites, who hoped to place Bonnie Prince Charlie on the throne.

The “religious wars” of the 17th century were not confined to Scotland. In fact Scottish troops were sent by James VI of Scotland to Sweden, to assist Gustavus Adolphus in his wars against the Holy Roman Emperor. This was the infamous “thirty years war” that devastated northern Europe. In Scotland the campaigns of James Graham, Viscount Dundee (a protestant) against the Lords of the Convention(more protestants) was in comparison, nothing more than a skirmish .

Furthermore the religious wars in Scotland were not as popularly believed between Protestant and Catholic. By the beginning of the 18th century the Reformation was almost complete and the Catholic population of Scotland was miniscule. The only northern clans who retained the “old faith” were the Gordons of Huntly, the Macdonell’s of Clanranald and the Grants of Invermoriston. The rest were mainly episcopalian (those in communion with the See of Canterbury) They were not however, members of the Anglican church but the Episcopal church of Scotland.
The highland clans did not support James VIII because he was a Roman Catholic but because he was a Stewart and they had reservations about the legitimacy of the Hanovarian succession. The Lowlands of Scotland were largely Presbyterian which had nothing to do with austerity or poverty but because John Knox was anti-episcopal(bishops in the church)and was a firm believer in the democracy of the presbyterian.

 

 

The William Carruthers who was a staunch “Jacobite” was the younger brother of Robert, Laird of Rammerscales. There is strong evidence that after the Jacobite insurrection of 1745 he was forfieted and settled in North Carolina. Incidently although a Jacobite he was a Presbyterian.

More detailed information on the Jacobite supporters within the wider Carruthers families of the 18th century shows that it is only the family of Rammerscales, a scion of the House of Holemains, that were recorded as Jacobite sympathizers. In particular Robert Carruthers 4th of Rammerscales who married Penelope Sharp and had 2 recorded children, His younger brother William Carruthers, a physician, who married 1708, Margaret Hay, daughter of John Hay, an apothecary, had 6 recorded children. This Margaret Hay came from a family with impeccable Jacobite ancestry. The Book of the MacLennans noted: -“Jean Law, daughter of William Law of Laurieston and Jean Campbell married Mr John Hay of Letham; their daughter Margaret, married Dr William Carruthers of Dumfries and Edinburgh”. It will be noted the Hays’ and Law of Laurieston were long standing supporters of the Stewart cause. Indeed after the Insurrection of 1745, Law of Laurieston fled to France where his grandson Alexandre Jacques Bernard Law; Marquis de Laurieston was Napoleons comrade in Artillery school and was later created a Field Marshal of France in Napoleon’s army.

The Carruthers family of Rammerscales did not fare so well for their loyalty to the Stewart cause. According to the “Records of the Carruthers Family”, Robert Carruthers 4th of Rammerscales declared for the Stewart cause in the first insurrection of 1715 and was again “out” in 1745.It is interesting to note that his “crime” in 1715 was that on the day of the Lochmaben races Robert, along with other landowners drank a toast to James VIII.Of his brother William there is more specific evidence. On the 12th October 1715, the Jail Bond book of Dumfries recorded “ William Carruthers, surgeon and William Nairn, servant to Viscount Kenmure had been put in prison and thereafter liberated in exchange of prisoners”.

On the 21st February 1781 an action of poinding was raised in the Court of Session Edinburgh, by all the elder siblings of Robert Carruthers, a surgeon on HMS Windsor who was the youngest son of William Carruthers and Margaret Hay. This action clearly illustrates that the movable estate had been awarded to Robert, no doubt as an award to his loyalty to the Hanoverian succession. This action is of particular interest to American cousins as his eldest brother James and cousin Robert are recorded as being of North Carolina.

It has been said that the William Carruthers  was allegedly a “deserter” at Culloden but there is no doubt that Robert 4th of Rammerscales and his brother William were certainly in excess of 50 years of age in 1746 and therefore unlikely to have been combatants in the Jacobite army. There was however, a grandson of William also called William but his birth date was at the earliest 1731 and therefore would have been only 15 years old at the time of the battle. Not impossible but improbable for with the possible exception of the “Garde Ecossais” there was no Lowland regiment in the Jacobite army.

 

 

Preserving Our Past, Recording Our Present,Informing Our Future

Ancient and Honorable Carruthers ClanSociety International

carruthersclan1@gmail.com

 

JIM CARRUTHERS

CLAN CARRUTHERS INT SOCIETY CCIS HISTORIAN AND GENEALOGIST

 

 

Ancient and Honorable Carruthers Clan International Society CCIS LLC is the official and registered Clan of the Carruthers Family.  This Clan is presently registered in the United States and Canada, and represents members worldwide.  All content provided on our web pages is for family history use only.  The CCIS is the legal owner of all websites, and makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on these sites or by following any link provided. The CCIS will not be responsible for any errors or omissions or availability of any information. The CCIS will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. We do not sell, trade or transfer to outside parties any personal identifications. For your convenience, we may provide links to various outside parties that may be of interest to you. The content on CCIS is designed to support your research in family history. 

—