More of the background tale leading to our April 2017 weekender....
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| Complicit in the Jacobite defeat? St Ruhe's French may have fought hard enough |
Dundee’s own losses
amounted to no greater than thirteen
hundreds of the total four and one half thousands lost for King James. So, can
it truly be believed that the legions of King Louis the Magnificent did not shoulder
more than adequate share of the burden or, that some ulterior plan may have
been in train? The web of misinformation appears to well serve interests in
various quarters.
And since the
disaster has not Dundee rejected the French and kept the Irish at arm’s
length? The unlikely truce with Mackay
seemingly continues raising eyebrows and furrowing brows in every corner of the
land. Most opposition in Scotland is broken or fragmented. It is true that
certain elements and not without just cause, are openly discussing the rise of
the ‘House of Graham’ in the northern kingdom. With the vaulting ambition of
the King’s man in Albany, can anyone be certain of the future of the Crown’s
influence beyond the line of the Tweed?
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| Mackay's victory came from this massive left wing sweeping inwards (Ruvigny and Hamilton contemplate) |
And what of the
victorious army of General Mackay? A masterful holding action on his right
counter balanced perfectly by a majestic sweeping manoeuvre by his left or, was
this a cynical sacrifice of the brave but somewhat troublesome Protestant Irish
of Ulster to buy an easy victory? Of the near three thousands of King William’s
army reported lost at Ripon half were from the Enniskillen regiments. These men
and their regimental officers were known to rub against the smooth grain of the
Dutch army and its art of war. Blunt speaking and forthright ways remain
unwelcome amidst the inner quorum and byzantine protocols of the Williamite
military hierarchy. Closed ranks indeed, particularly to simple and
straightforward country men of conviction little diverted by the machinations
of European power politics.
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| The high water mark of the Jacobite attack - stopped by South western militia |
And, Mackay himself?
The pure and loyal knight whose principled stand has been his mark through a
score of years in the service of many great princes. Is he without stain? Has
he no agenda beyond tireless fealty to his latest Lord? The sharp witted amongst
us will recall the sublime deception played upon the Dupe of Berwick who was
tricked into sending a warship full of troops, guns and supplies to the wily
highland chieftain.
The latest intrigue
to ooze from the leaking barrel alleges the Frenchman de Ruvigny has been sent to the
Indies on a flimsy pretext at the request of none other than honest Sir Hugh.
This able Huguenot’s absence removes a rival and furthermore, closes a channel
of information to King William from the closed room that now exists north of
York.
This leaves, on both sides of Hadrian’s
ancient wall, three Scots controlling more than two thirds of all the British
mainland – General Mackay, Lord George Hamilton and Viscount Dundee. All
Protestant men, all to some extent a little out of step with their peers, all
with much to gain by keeping at arms length friend and foe alike . Conspiracy
theorists will ponder without abatement.
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| Burnt on the altar of victory - the Enniskilleners |
