An Article
From The 2002 Newsletter
Almost
every clan member has seen the painting of the Colquhoun in trews
(tartan “trousers”) holding his hazel adorned bonnet to his head. The
image has been reproduced on everything from post-it notes to drink
coasters. The artist is Robert Ronald McIan (1803-1856). In 1845 McIan
was commissioned by the Highland Society of London to illustrate the
clans and their dress to commemorate the centenary of the 1745 Jacobite
Rebellion led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart, “The Young Pretender” (to
the English throne). The Stuart family had ruled England and Scotland
from 1603 to 1714. “Jacobite” meant “a follower of James [II]” who was
Charles’ grandfather, the deposed and exiled King who ruled from 1685 to
1688. “Bonnie Prince Charlie” had some victories but the Rebellion was
finally crushed at Culloden on 16 April 1746. The larger English army
was better equipped with weapons and provisions. They also had a
superior battle position, the “high ground”, at Culloden. When Prince
Charles saw the battle was lost he escaped back to the mainland of
Europe where he died in 1788. Some people don’t realize that the man who
has influenced so many songs and stories about Scotland never lived
there. By the time he was born in 1720, his father James (the “Old
Pretender”) was already exiled to the mainland. English was Charles’
second language and he spoke it with a heavy Italian accent. The wounded
Jacobites on Drumossie Moor at Culloden were murdered where they lay.
Others who had or had not
participated in the rebellion were hunted down and executed. Scots
felt retribution from the ruling House Of Hanover for many years after.
By 1845
Victoria was Queen and she loved all things Scottish. The 72 paintings
by McIan were published in a privately financed book by Ackermann and
Co. in London. The Clans
Of The Scottish Highlands was
dedicated to the Queen. A text added by James Logan (c1794-1872) from
Aberdeen briefly described each clan’s history and factual information
to accompany the paintings. Logan had been collecting samples of tartan
and stories from local people as early as 1826, and had published a book
in 1831 from his research. McIan and Logan’s book was quite popular when
it was first published, and one need only look at the vendor tables at
our own US Scottish Games to see how well the paintings have endured.
However, Clans
Of The Scottish Highlands has had its critics. The
illustrations have been described as “stylized and romantic”. A six page
article was found on the internet written by Kass McGann of
Reconstructing History
faulting the historical authenticity of what certain clansmen in the
paintings are wearing and some of Logan’s research.
Several
times during US festivals we have been asked the same two questions at
the Colquhoun tent: Why is the man in our McIan painting the only
Highlander of the series wearing trews, and what did the Colquhouns do
in the 1745 rebellion?
First
question: trews are not really trousers. They were more like tights or
leotards that went all the way down your legs and encompassed your feet.
Trews kept you warm and were useful when riding horse back. Peter Fry in
History Of
Scotland states the Celts introduced trousers into Europe. A
few Scottish military regiments like Royal Scots or Seaforth Highlanders
are said to be wearing trews, but they’re really just trousers made from
tartan material. Apparently McIan was trying to show many examples of
historic Celtic dress, even if some examples aren’t completely accurate
(according to critics like McGann), and the Colquhouns drew the example
of the trews simply by chance. In the paintings for MacArthur and
Ferguson there is no tartan represented at all. These clans may have
drawn McIan’s examples of a pre-tartan time in Scotland’s history.
Second
question: According to No Quarter
Given: The Muster Roll Of Prince Charles
Edward Stuart’s Army, 1745-46 (2001) there were some
participants bearing the name Colquhoun in the rebellion. This was not
known to us when this article first appeared in 2002 and is hereby
gladly corrected. Charles Colquhoun, a “Wright” from “St. Cuthberts”,
and Archibald Colquhoun, a “Farmer” from “Appin” were both on the
Prince’s General Staff. Cavalryman Lt. Duncan Colquhoun was in the
Ecossais Royale. Lt.
Colquhoun was captured and executed in 1746. A “writer” named “Colquhoun
Grant” from Edinburgh was in “John Roy Stuart’s” regiment. He was
pardoned. There is other evidence of clan members sympathetic to the
Jacobean cause. By Yon Bonnie Banks
and The Clan Colquhoun was
written specially for this newsletter in 1993 by Stephen L.
Calhoun. This article concerns one of the most famous songs associated
with Scotland. The author of the song has never been identified but the
five “Loch” clans Colquhoun, Gregor, MacFarlane, Buchanan, and Graham
have all claimed to be the source of the gentleman and his “true love”
who “will never meet again on the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomond!”
As Stephen points out, we have probably the best claim to the
authorship. In that article the two characters of the song were with the
Jacobite army in 1745 and had been separated from the main body near
Preston. The two starving Colquhouns are caught stealing a sheep near
Carlise. The penalty for this crime is death, but the mayor of Carlise
is a Jacobite and figures a way to spare one of the men. Only one
Colquhoun will be put to death and the other will be set free to go back
and tell other Colquhouns what happens to thieving Jacobites in Carlise.
That night the condemned man tells the free man to “take the high road”
(by walking) while he’ll “take the low road” (his spirit ferried back
underground by the “wee folk”-the “leprechauns”-the “brownies”, etc) and
“I’ll be in Scotland before ye”. According to some this is also the
basis for piping at funerals. The pipes call the wee folk to carry our
spirits back to rest in the old country no matter where in the world we
die.
All of
this may not at first seem relevant to the Colquhouns and the Rebellion.
It is in fact highly ironic, because our chief at the time was a
Royalist. Sir James was 23rd of Colquhoun, 25th of
Luss, 8th Baronet of Nova Scotia, and 1st Baronet
of Great Britain (1732-1786).
Illustration courtesy of
Stephen L. Calhoun
Sir
James had sufficient reason to support King George II and the House of
Hanover since he was one of the first officers of the newly formed Black
Watch of the British Army. According to Col. W. D. Arbuthnott in
Soldiers Of
Scotland the Black Watch origins lie in “companies of men
loyal to the king raised to police the Highlands of Scotland.” The name
was “given to this armed police force because of the contrast of the
dark tartan with the brighter uniform of the regular troops.” In the
early 1740’s Sir James’ regiment was in Flanders fighting against the
French army “…to assist the Queen of Hungary…and join the Austrians,
Hessians, and Hanoverians in supporting her” (this quote from
The Chiefs of Colquhoun and Their
Country by William Fraser 1869 and the following quotes).
Promoted to Major during this campaign, Sir James became so sick he was
sent home to Rossdhu in 1745 to convalesce. By the end of the year and
through April 1746, Major Sir James recuperated enough to play a
significant role in “rounding up the rebels” of the western Highlands.
After it was clear the Rebellion was crushed, Sir James pressed for
“merciful measures” in dealing with the rebels and “gaining them over to
loyalty to the reigning family.” Sir James’ friend and fellow advocate
of “lenient treatment” of the rebels was Andrew Fletcher, Lord Milton,
Lord Justice-Clerk. Many letters exist of
Lord Milton and Sir James pleading for clemency of prisoners, Sir James
even offering “bail…for any summ” for a Robert Colquhoun, prisoner in
Dumbarton Castle. Many rebels including MacGregors surrendered
themselves to him because Sir James had the reputation of being a fair
man. One may speculate that our chief could use his status as a wounded
combat veteran of the Black Watch as leverage for his actions during
this time. He lobbied to get as many prisoners as he could pardoned
including Rob Roy’s son James Drummond. When Sir James was a young man
he was friends with the older Rob Roy meeting him secretly on the island
of Inch-Lonaig in Loch Lomond and “they were ever after on the best
terms.”
