Latest / The Story of Scotland: Clans, Crowns, and the Fight for Identity — Fexingo History / The 'Fifteen: Scotland's Forgotten Jacobite Rising of 1715
Transcript
- Lucas: So, Luna, we've talked a lot about the '45 and Culloden, but there was an earlier Jacobite rising that many people don't know much about — the 1715 rising, or the 'Fifteen. Luna: Right, wasn't that the one led by the Earl of Mar? Lucas: Exactly. John Erskine, the sixth Earl of Mar. He was a man with a nickname that tells you a lot: 'Bobbing John', because he kept switching sides. He'd served Queen Anne as Secretary of State for Scotland, but when George I came to the throne in 1714, Mar lost his position and jumped to the Jacobite cause. Lucas: In the summer of 1715, Mar slipped away from London and headed to Braemar in the Highlands. On September 6, he raised the Stuart standard — a blue silk banner with a white rose — and called the clans to arms. The response was huge. Within weeks, he had an army of about twelve thousand men. Luna: Twelve thousand? That's bigger than Bonnie Prince Charlie's force in the '45. Lucas: Much bigger. The '45 peaked at maybe five or six thousand. So the 'Fifteen had real potential. Mar marched on Perth, took it without a fight, and then sat there. And that was the problem — Mar was a politician, not a soldier. He hesitated. Luna: What was he waiting for? Lucas: He was hoping for James Stuart himself to come from France and take command. But James was delayed. Meanwhile, the government under George I was scrambling. They put together an army under the Duke of Argyll — John Campbell, the same clan that had been on the government side in Glencoe. Argyll gathered about four thousand men near Stirling. Lucas: On November 13, 1715, the two armies met at Sheriffmuir, just north of Dunblane. It was a foggy, chaotic battle. The Jacobite right wing, led by Mar, routed Argyll's left. But on the Jacobite left, things went badly — they were driven back by Argyll's right. In the end, it was a draw. Both sides held their ground. Luna: So no one won? That must have been frustrating for Mar. Lucas: It was a stalemate, but strategically it was a Jacobite failure. Mar had the larger army but couldn't break through. After Sheriffmuir, he withdrew towards Perth. Meanwhile, there was a simultaneous Jacobite rising in England, led by the Earl of Derwentwater. That was crushed at Preston on November 14 — the day after Sheriffmuir. So the tide was turning. Luna: And James Stuart — did he ever arrive? Lucas: He did, but far too late. James Francis Edward Stuart landed at Peterhead on December 22, 1715. By then, Mar's army was melting away. James was crowned king in name at Scone — a symbolic echo of medieval coronations — but there was no real fight left. He retreated to Montrose and escaped back to France in February 1716. Lucas: The aftermath was brutal but not as devastating as after the '45. There were executions, forfeitures of estates, but the government was more lenient. They didn't want to push the Highlands into another rebellion. But the 'Fifteen set a pattern: the Jacobite cause would never be well led at the critical moment. Luna: It's interesting how Mar is remembered as 'Bobbing John' while Charles Edward Stuart is the romantic hero. But the '15 had a real chance. Lucas: Absolutely. If Mar had been more aggressive, or if James had arrived earlier, history could have been different. The 'Fifteen is often overshadowed by the '45, but it was arguably Scotland's best chance to overturn the Union and restore the Stuarts. Luna: It makes you wonder about all the 'what ifs'. Lucas: And that's what makes the 'Fifteen such a fascinating episode — the scale, the missed opportunities, the sheer weight of the clans answering the call. If you found today's conversation useful, by the way, this is the kind of deep dive that listener support makes possible. We keep the show ad-free so we can tell these stories properly. If you'd like to help, you can find us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a great way to keep episodes like this coming — thanks for mentioning that. Lucas: Anyway, back to the 'Fifteen. One detail that sticks with me is the standard Mar raised at Braemar — it had a white rose and the motto 'No Union'. That really captured the spirit of the rising: opposition to the 1707 union and a longing for an independent Scotland under a Stuart king. Luna: So the 'Fifteen was as much about the Union as about the monarchy? Lucas: Exactly. Many clans joined not just out of loyalty to the Stuarts, but because they resented the Union and the new taxes. The 'Fifteen was the first major test of whether the Union could hold, and it barely did. If Mar had pushed after Sheriffmuir, who knows?