Frances Mcdonnell

Jacobites of Lowland Scotland, England, Ireland, France, and Spain (1745) Frances Mcdonnell

The Jacobites were followers of the House of Stuart who, in 1715, 1719, and, in this case, 1745, attempted to regain the throne of Great Britain from the ruling House of Hanover. Jacobites of Lowland Scotland, England, Ireland, France, and Spain 1745 represents then fifth effort by Mrs. McDonnell or her husband, David Dobson, to preserve and make accessible the identities of the participants in the Jacobite rebellions. As the author explains in her informative Introduction, "The rebellion of 1745 is almost always referred to as if [it were] a particularly Highland affair. While the emphasis of interest has concentrated on the Highland Jacobites, there was a significant minority from south of the Highland line. . . . In the Scottish Lowlands . . . recruits came from the capital and its surrounds, forming Roy Stuarts Edinburgh Regiment. The Manchester Regiment comprised men recruited from the north of England. It marched from Manchester to Derby, and back to Carlisle, where it formed part of the unfortunate garrison which surrendered to Cumberland. . . . The support offered by the Catholic French Court to the Jacobite cause came about through a traditional rivalry between England and France . . . . These units in the pay of France included a substantial number of volunteers from Irish and Scottish regiments. . . ."

In the preparation of this volume Mrs. McDonnell examined records in the Scottish Record Office, National Archives of Scotland, and the Scottish History Society, as well as the Public Record Office in London. The end result of her labors is the alphabetical register of 1,500 Lowland, English, Irish, French, and a handful of Spanish Jacobites assembled for this volume. In the overwhelming number of cases, the descriptions state the Jacobite's name, rank, and date(s) of service and unit (if military), and, frequently, the subject's date and place of imprisonment, date and place of transportation, name of his vessel, and the place of arrival in the Americas. In conclusion, thanks to Mr. Reilly's prodigious effort, no one who has ever operated in the dark with respect to the Griffith's need do so again, while anyone who consults Richard Griffith and His Valuations of Ireland is likely to come away with a far greater number of trails to follow among Irish records than he/she had ever anticipated.