My mother's great grandfather was a Forster. He came from
Northumberland and
was the grandson of Thomas Forster who was a prominent member of Parliament and a strong
sympathizer of the Jacobite cause. In 1715, as a political move he was appointed General
of the British and Scottish (Northern England) supporters of the Scottish Jacobites, sworn
to return a Stewart to the throne. At the Battle of Sherriffmuir he was awakened from a
sound sleep in his tent and told that the Red Coats were winning.. He surrendered his
army. After he was arrested he learned that he had surrendered too soon, that the Clans,
(including both Maclaine of Lochbuie and Maclean of Duart) had been defeating the English.
His sister, Dorothy, later managed to rescue him by bribing the jailor and arranging for a
boat to carry him to France where he later died. The kicker to the story is that my
mother, a descendent of General Forster, married James McClain, my father, a
descendant of Maclaine of Lochbuie. So 200 years after the First Uprising a Forster
and a Maclaine fell in love and married!
James McClain Jr. mcbeth6@aol.com
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