The Jacobites and their Political Background

Introduction 

The study covers 18 letters written between 1715 and 1720 by Richard who was a goldsmith in the Cheapside. The first two letters were for Tewkesbury which announced Worcester riots where Richard talked of his intention to go to Scotland. The following letters were written from Paris in June 1719 to describe a number of issues. Among the noted information, the artifact inscribed of the sights of Paris and Versailles; clothing and style; customs of the French; the high mass at Notre Dame that was presided by Cardinal de Noailles; and political gossip, that was inclusive of the Duchesse de Berry illness. There were also reports of marriage between the Young Pretender and Maria Clementina, in his letter from Leiden that was written between October 1719 to April 1720. Richard expressed impression about the city, his health and financial news, the desire to take a degree in medicine, and investment advice to the brother amidst a prodigious rise in the London and Amsterdam stock exchange markets. In addition, the collection contains two letters from Anthony Bewly who describes Amsterdam and his business, and from Elizabeth Bostock who writes on family news. This paper will evaluate the artifact to examine the representation of history in them while providing a detailed outlook of the people and events of the time. 

Political Background 

Getting the scope of Richard’s letter and Jacobitism necessitates the need to understand the political set up that had dominion on the territories in the time. James VI of Scotland was the first Stuart that became the monarch of both Scotland and England. James VI claimed his authority was a divine inspiration to resemble the concept of the divine right. His decisions were not to be interfered by both the parliament and the church, and they would remain engraved into the manifestations of other Stuart successors. As such, James became the king of England in 1603 where he unified the Church of Scotland and England. Bishops governed the churches, and James’s vision was to centralize the vision he had for the churches. The churches had a common ground in the Episcopalian polity, but the manner of governance and doctrine were entirely different. The Scottish bishops presided over the Presbyterian structures and had doctrinal preferences that the Church of England had better practices than Catholicism. Attempts to impose common practices among the denominations had led to the wars of the three kingdoms in 1639-1651, and the execution of James’s son, Charles I. Scotland was incorporated into the commonwealth too. Religious and political conflicts continued after 1660 when Charles II was restored to power. This was primarily experienced in Scotland through the conflict over governance and the role of parliament in England. The main problem encountered in Ireland was the issue of land rights, and the tolerance accorded to the Catholic majority. However, following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, lands were confiscated and were settled on by the Scottish and English Protestants. Apart from the struggle to suppress religion, the Stuarts had constantly pursued to resist the parliament from 1629 to 1640. Taking a dynamic shift in 1685, Charles Catholic brother became James II and VII and had considerable support from three kingdoms. Nonetheless, his tolerance for personal Catholicism did not extend to the general public. James had extended measures to the other dissenter on the use of the Royal prerogative but ended up evoking the memories of the civil wars that originated from a divide in the religious and the political arena. There followed an Act of Union in 1707, where two acts of parliament were passed; the Union with Scotland Act 1706 by the parliament of England and the Union with England Act 1707 by the parliament of Scotland. This move ensured a Protestant successor took the throne and they excluded Catholics from English and Irish thrones. However, following the death of Sophia and Anne in 1714, the descendants of James II, the pro-Hanoverian Whigs took over under George I. The exclusions from the government would, however, become the major element of rebellion in1715. 

Jacobite Rebellion 

Richard’s letters essentially cover the happenings of the Jacobite rebellion. In 1715, the British throne was threatened by the supporter of the exiled house of Stuart. John Erskine, also renowned as the Earl of Mar, had intentions of restoring the Stuart monarch to the throne (Upenn, 2018). He proclaimed that James Francis Eduard Stuart was the king of Scotland. The Jacobite rising was, however, squashed through the intervention of the government where a number of Jacobite leaders were arrested and executed for the rebellion. A variety of reasons triggered the Jacobite rising. Jacobites were not perceived as ideal nor their doctrines and those who subscribed to it (Upenn, 2018). Jacobites were sincere men in a movement who had a sole aim of restoring the Stuarts. However, the motivation of the Jacobites was more mundane. This left the movement uninformed. Succeeding is, however, mounted on success. The Jacobite rebellion had dramatic events that were a new challenge to the Hanoverian regime of Great Britain. The rebellion revealed significant fault lines within the political foundation of the established regime hence restricting the government’s freedom of action in suppressing the insurgency. While England rulers exercised harsh measures in dealing with the traditional internalized rebellions, the monarchs and ministers found a balance between presenting the power of the regime and the truthful exercise of force while putting efforts to maintain justice and clemency. George I tailored the reactions to the 1715 rebellion to discourage the Jacobites from participating further in the uprising effectively, thus weakening their ability to challenge the state, and establishing clear guidelines for the intention of preventing the rebellion. 

The Scheme 

Following the government’s resonated decision of founding subtle and calculated mechanisms of combatting the upheaval, the authority had come up with a scheme that adopted three contemplated moves of maintaining their mandates. This was aimed at suppressing the capacity for the government to cross the line into tyrannical and sadistically executions of the rebels and giving offense to power magnates of the region and the foreign powers that were likely to petition for the lives of the captured rebels. First, the scheme focused on instilling fear in the ordinary members of the Jacobites through the limitation of the executions and transportation program. Secondly, the scheme was aimed at crippling the Catholic community through imprisonments and property confiscation, and lastly, the governments would also entertain the petitions for the rebels originating from the elite families. The strategy worked effectively to establish retribution blended with clemency. As a result, the Hanoverian regime quelled the immediate threats that were posed by the rebellion to bring back the leaders into the orbit of the government, resulting in the central integration into the political mainstream. 

The Issue of Religion 

A general issue prevailing in the 18 th century was the ability to weigh the motivation of people on religious matters. There is scattered evidence to reveal the motive that aligned persons to religious considerations and thus much evidence points to scant regard for spirituality and the welfare that arose by it. While Catholics had a predominant role in the time, there was imminent anti-pastry advocacy from the political arena, which judged the efficacy of the anti-Catholic propaganda within the foreign wars (Sankey, 2017). Catholicism was part of the Jacobites. The examination of this disposition had yielded much controversy on the positioning of the Jacobites. Although there is a minimal correlation between the supporters of the House of Stuart and those that paid allegiance to the Catholic denomination, Catholics were as central to the considerations put in place by the Stuart elites. The 1715 uprising drew down punitive measures that stated that Catholics would give up to the government two-thirds of their property that is not forfeited by the law, and the act of supremacy would be tendered to Catholics by the justices of peace with a provision that refusal would incur penalties deemed for a recusant (Swanson, 2015). Following these provisions, Catholic landowners were listed, but the confiscation never materialized. The landowners were, however, required to register with the government magistrate and remit returns to be forwarded to the London government. 

The Scottish Enlightenment 

In one of his letters, Richard expresses the desire of learning medicine. The 18 th century was a golden age for the Scottish people. The period was a part of Europe-wide age of reason. The Scottish Enlightenment referred to an intellectual movement that ranged across the fields of philosophy, geology, chemistry, architecture, economics, poetry, engineering, medicine and history. In parts such as Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, persons sought to fathom the way the human mind works and the extensive natural world and its offerings. The era was characterized by intellectual and scientific accomplishments (Sankey, 2017). This move came immediately after the establishment of parish schools in the lowlands and a total of four universities. The Scottish Enlightenment was cultured and was based on reading the books closely followed by powerful discussions. The discussions were held on a daily basis at intellectual gatherings in Edinburg. These included the select society, the poker club, and the Scotland ancient universities. Among great concerns of the Scottish Enlightenment were the concerns of sharing the humanists and rationalist outlooks of the European Enlightenment that took place in the same period. Scottish thinkers developed assertions for human reasoning while rejecting any authorities that was not justified by the reasoning. The thorough empirics characterized the Enlightenment, and the chief values they adored were an improvement, virtues and the practical benefit for the aggregate community, and the sole individual. 

Among several others, the notable Scottish Enlightenment figures included David Hume, James Hutton, James Watt, Alison Rutherford, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Thomas Reid, and Joseph Black. The effect of the Scottish Enlightenment went far beyond the Scottish territory. The Scottish achievements were held in high esteem not only because of their achievements but also because the ideas and attitudes were carried over the Europe territory and even past the Atlantic world, which was part of the Scottish diaspora. The American and European students studying in Scotland too had a great grasp of the content. 

The Scottish Enlightenment influenced the culture of the nation immensely. This was especially in architecture, art, and music ( Allan, 2014 ). Having produced the most significant architects of the period, Robert Adam was particularly a designer who together with his brother developed the Adam style. This influence was further extended into Britain, Western Europe, North America, and Russia. Artists too were part of the cultural-changing persona. Indeed, artists painted the many figures of the early enlightenment in Edinburgh. Allan Ramsay was particularly a top-notch designer who had studied in Sweden, London, and Italy before basing his expertise in Edinburgh. Ramsay established himself as a lead portrait painter to which he influenced the Scottish nobility by undertaking many portrait development projects for the major figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. Notably, Ramsay developed a portrait for his friend David Hume. 

The growth of the music culture was also phenomenal in the Scottish Enlightenment ( Allan, 2014 ). This was marked by the incorporation of the Musical Society of Edinburgh. Most influential Scottish composers of the time were Alexander Munro, Charles McLean, and James Foulis. This change had followed a call from Allan Ramsey to a group of Scottish composers asking for a change in music composition, tradition, and creation. They branded it an “own and refine” period. They adopted a stylistic methodology known as scots drawing room style, which adopted the lowland Scottish tunes and added basic figured bass lines and features from the Italian music that was acceptable in the middle-class audience. This move soon gained profound momentum when major Scottish composer such as James Oswald and William McGibson got involved in the traction. The first production by Oswald incorporated both the Gaelic tunes and the lowland tunes. This set a fashionable commonality in the middle of a century which was phenomenal in establishing a unified Scottish music identity. However, moving forward, there was a decline in the publication of the Scottish music following the inception of the British collection, which took the favor of most listeners. Other cultural representations experienced in the Scottish Enlightenment were such as comedies that gave self-conscious descriptions in Edinburgh. The flowers of Edinburgh , for example, was typically a play that included the references of the historical figures that were associated with the movement of social tensions especially in the field of spoken language. Spoken language was between the traditionalist society and the Anglicized scots presenting themselves and the exponents of new mannerisms. 

Emigration and Transportation 

Amid the 1715 Jacobite uprising and before the birth of the renowned Jacobite Bonnie Prince Charlie, the authorities were transporting persons to various destinations at a cost. The enlisting was done for individual names and the common people. It cost the authorities two pence per diem to feed persons in prisons while it cost two pounds per person in ships to transport them into exile. The Scots were migrating to other parts of Europe since the middle ages. Close to 2 million persons left Scotland for North America, Australia, and other colonies in the 18 th and 19 th century (Sankey, 2017). This aspect is captured in Richard’s letter on expressing the interest in joining his brother Joseph in Paris. Contextually, Scots seemingly were among the first European travelers. In around the 1000AD, two scots were sent to explore the new world. Again, Scots took part in the first crusade held in the 1090s, and some survived to settle in the Palestinian land. Thus, throughout the middle age, Scots emigrated permanently and temporary to places inclusive of Scandinavia, England, Poland, and Low Countries. They emigrated mostly as mercenary soldiers, peddlers, and merchants. Following the opening of the Union of parliaments in 1707, there was improved access to opportunities in Africa and the East Indies. They joined these territories in forms of appointments into the civil administration, missionary churches, the army, and the navy. It is important to note that not all migrants were voluntary among the Scots. Some were covenanters banished to the American colonies. The Jacobites exiled in the 1715 and 1745 rebellions joined the descendants of the involuntary migrants at the aforementioned costs. 

Clothing and Style 

As noted in the letter, clothing and style was a consideration in the eventful era. Most women in Scotland wore the preferential garments that the women of the lowlands, England and the rest of Western Europe wore. The dress code was a simple white shift known as the chemise or the Sark, which was covered by stripped and solid tartan or printed petticoats. The petticoats and aprons were fitted and sewn into shape rather than the drawstring waists. The women of the time had strings that did not have drawn string necks or hanged off the shoulders. The dressing was further restrained upon class and standards. Over the shifts, women would set stays or jumps that were covered by sleeve garments such as jackets, casquin, bed-gown, or the short gown which was entirely dependent on the class of the wearer. While the shifts acted as nightgowns and stays were foundation garments, they were both regarded as innerwear. Nonetheless, it was necessary to wear a sleeved garment over the underwear in public. The women would also tie pockets on their waists which were worn under the petticoats or aprons. To access the pockets, one would do so through the slits found in the petticoats. There were classes of women who wore sack gowns or mantua — very few women afforded to wrap the entire ensembles and mostly were westerners. A garment that would cover a woman’s body from head to toe was the white tartan arisaid ( Taylor, 2018 ). 

Men’s clothing was quite of a mix-up. The Scottish men of the 18 th century were divided among the highland dressing and everything else. Other Scottish men who did not wear the highland dress wore, depending on the class and statuses, what the rest of Europe wore with an occasional tartan accent. Being that not all men of the Jacobite era were Scottish Highlanders, not many of them wore the highland clothing. Particularly, the men wore loose fittings that were off the white linen shirts. The garments were not patterned, printed or even possessing a bright color. The shirts were open or were buttoned with loops and buttonholes at the neck and cuffs. Shirts did not lace up at the neck and were usually fastened with a tie or button. Also, the shirts doubled as underwear, nightshirts, and slips for many men of the time. A majority of the highland men of the Jacobite era wore waistcoats accompanied by a wool coat or the jacket. Often, the highland coats were cut into smaller sizes that in the mid-18 th century were to be worn with a kilt or and belted pad. The waistcoats were slightly longer than the highland jackets and commonly emanated from different tartans. 

The working class was obliged to possess the short waistcoats and jackets that were either plain or tartan. Animal skin with hair was rarely perceived as dress items in the mid-18 th century. Men were the fundamental partisans of war so wearing the neck stock was essential. The neck stock acted as a protection against blades apart from being part of the fashion. Lace jabots and cuffs were set aside for the gentlemen owing to their use, quality and design, which were categorized as class sensitive ( Taylor, 2018 ). Similar to the Jacobite women of class, the upper-class gentlemen of the era wore a variety of clothing that had better grade and was more in synchrony with the fashions adored in the day. Notably, a highland bonnet was a crucial item in a man’s wardrobe. They were predominantly blue, dark red, dark green, and not made of tartan whatsoever. Bonnets measured at least 12 inches and were often worn flat on the head. Decoration that characterized the bonnets included a white cockade for the Jacobites to represent politics; a clan badge; chiefs, sub-chiefs, cadets, and senior clan officials wore feathers; and the bosses wore wool pom-pom to represent those in command positions. 

Conclusion 

Richard Barrett to Joseph Barrett encompasses multiple series of events in the Jacobite era. Jacobitism arose from the political exclusions experienced in the monarchies of the 17 th century. Most differences rose from religious and political inclinations with the Protestants and the Catholics playing a central role in the division. Richard writings are amid the heated rebellion of the Jacobites that extended from 1715 to 1720. The rebellion was threatened by the supporters of the exiled House of Stuarts. However, the unsuccessful rebellion was inhibited by the scheme developed by the government to instill fear, confiscate properties of the Catholics, and to tolerate the elite who pursued the exiled counterparts. The government centrally focused on suppressing Catholicism because most Jacobites were essentially Catholics and domination in religiosities was overwhelming. The era is as well characterized with the Scottish Enlightenment where different scholars rose to expound the knowhow on philosophy, geology, chemistry, architecture, economics, poetry, engineering, medicine, and history. The Scottish Enlightenment influenced the culture of music, art, and creativity not only within Scottish boundaries but also through other European nations. Emigration and transportation were part of the practice before and through the Jacobite uprising. Emigration was not entirely voluntary as government offenders, and a number of Jacobites were banished to outer territories such as Northern America. Lastly, clothing and style was a feature that characterized change before and through the Scottish culture, where men and women had preferential attires which sometimes based on class and status. 

References 

Allan, D. (2014).  Scotland in the Eighteenth Century: Union and Enlightenment . Routledge. 

Sankey, M. (2017). Jacobite Prisoners of the 1715 Rebellion: Preventing and Punishing Insurrection in Early Hanoverian Britain. Routledge. 

Swanson, L. E. (2015). Inevitable Rebellion: Jacobite Risings and the Union of 1707. 

Taylor, E. (2018). Personality in Fashion: Case Studies of Localism in Eighteenth-century Scotland.  Fashion Practice ,  10 (2), 213-235. 

Upenn. (2018). Table of Contents: Rebellion and Savagery. Retrieved from http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/toc/14199.html