The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( ;
or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by
James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
for the exiled
Stuarts.
At
Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of .
The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...
,
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
, local landowner the
Earl of Mar
There are currently two earldoms of Mar in the Peerage of Scotland, and the title has been created seven times. The first creation of the earldom is currently held by Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, who is also clan chief of Clan Mar. Th ...
raised the Jacobite standard on 27 August. Aiming to capture Stirling Castle, he was checked by the much-outnumbered Hanoverians, commanded by the
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll () is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful noble families in Scotlan ...
, at
Sheriffmuir on 13 November. There was no clear result, but the Earl appeared to believe, mistakenly, that he had won the battle, and left the field. After the Jacobite surrender at
Preston (14 November), the rebellion was over.
Background

The 1688
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
deposed
James II and VII
James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...
, who was replaced by his Protestant daughter
Mary II
Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Sh ...
and her Dutch husband
William III, ruling as joint monarchs. Shortly before William's death in March 1702, the
Act of Settlement 1701
The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...
definitively excluded Catholics from the throne, among them James's son,
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs (British political party), Whigs or the King over the Water by Jacobitism, Jacobites, was the House of Stuart claimant to the thrones of Ki ...
. Since his Protestant half-sister
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...
had no surviving children, the Act named her successor as the distantly related, but Protestant,
Sophia of Hanover
Sophia (born Princess Sophia of the Palatinate; – ) was Electress of Hanover from 19 December 1692 until 23 January 1698 as the consort of Prince-Elector Ernest Augustus. She was later the heiress presumptive to the thrones of England and ...
, who died two months before Anne in August 1714. This made Anne's heir presumptive Sophia's eldest son,
George I of Great Britain
George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. ...
(who therefore had maternal descent from the
House of Stuart
The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...
), and gave the pro-Hanoverian
Whigs control of government for the next 30 years.
French support had been crucial for the Stuart exiles, but their acceptance of the Protestant succession in Britain was part of the terms that ended the 1701–1714
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...
. This ensured a smooth inheritance by George I in August 1714, and the Stuarts were later banished from France by the terms of the
1716 Anglo-French Treaty. The 1710–1714 Tory government had actively prosecuted their Whig opponents, who now retaliated, accusing the Tories of corruption:
Robert Harley was imprisoned in the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...
while
Lord Bolingbroke
Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (; 16 September 1678 – 12 December 1751) was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically ...
escaped to France and became James' new Secretary of State.
On 14 March 1715, James appealed to
Pope Clement XI
Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721.
Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...
for help with a Jacobite rising: "It is not so much a devoted son, oppressed by the injustices of his enemies, as a persecuted Church threatened with destruction, which appeals for the protection and help of its worthy pontiff". On 19 August, Bolingbroke wrote to James that "…things are hastening to that point, that either you, Sir, at the head of the Tories, must save the Church and Constitution of England or both must be irretrievably lost for ever". Believing the great general
Marlborough
Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to:
Places Australia
* Marlborough, Queensland
* Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993
* Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...
would join him, on 23 August James wrote to the
Duke of Berwick, his illegitimate brother and Marlborough's nephew, that; "I think it is now more than ever ''Now or Never''".
1715 Rising
Raising the standard

Despite receiving no commission from James to start the rising, the Earl of Mar sailed from London to Scotland, and on 27 August at
Braemar
Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of .
The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...
in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
held the first council of war. On 6 September at Braemar, Mar raised the standard of "James the 8th and 3rd", acclaimed by 600 supporters.
[Christoph v. Ehrenstein,]
Erskine, John, styled twenty-second or sixth earl of Mar and Jacobite duke of Mar (''bap''. 1675, d. 1732)
, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2004; online edn, January 2008, accessed 20 January 2011.
Parliament
In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
responded with the
Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1715, and passed an Act that confiscated the land of rebelling Jacobite landlords in favour of their tenants who supported the London government. Some of Mar's tenants travelled to Edinburgh to prove their loyalty to the Hanoverian crown and acquire title to Mar's land.
Struggle for Scotland
In northern Scotland, the Jacobites were successful. They took
Inverness
Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
,
Gordon Castle
Gordon Castle is a country house located near Fochabers in the parish of Bellie in Moray, Scotland. It was the principal seat of the Dukes of Gordon and was originally called Bog-of-Gight. The six-storey medieval tower dates from 1498 and in th ...
, Aberdeen and further south,
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
, although they were unable to capture
Fort William. In
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age. There has been a royal castle on the rock since the reign of Malcol ...
, the government stored arms for up to 10,000 men and £100,000 paid to Scotland when she entered the Union with England. Lord Drummond, with 80 Jacobites, tried under the cover of night to take the Castle, using a ladder. However, the ladder proved to be too short, leaving them stranded until morning, at which point they were discovered and arrested. It was subsequently alleged that this plot was organised by
William Arthur, the King's Botanist and brother-in-law of prominent Scottish Whig, Unionist, and Hanoverian
Sir John Clerk, Baron Clerk.
By October, Mar's force, numbering nearly 20,000, had taken control of all Scotland above the
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers.
Name
''Firth'' is a cognate ...
, apart from
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most historically and architecturally important castles in Scotland. The castle sits atop an Intrusive rock, intrusive Crag and tail, crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill ge ...
. However, Mar was indecisive, and the Jacobite capture of
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
and the move south by 2,000 men were probably at the initiative of subordinates. Mar's hesitation gave the Hanoverian commander, the
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll () is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful noble families in Scotlan ...
, time to increase his strength with reinforcements from the
Irish Garrison.
On 22 October, Mar received his commission from James appointing him commander of the Jacobite army. His forces outnumbered Argyll's Hanoverian army by three to one, and Mar decided to march on Stirling Castle. On 13 November the two forces joined
battle at Sheriffmuir. The fighting was indecisive, but near the end the Jacobites numbered 4,000 to Argyll's 1,000. Mar's force began to advance on Argyll, who was poorly protected, but Mar did not close in, possibly believing that he had won the battle already (Argyll had lost 660 men, three times as many as Mar). Instead, Mar retreated to Perth. On the same day as the Battle of Sheriffmuir, Inverness surrendered to Hanoverian forces, and a smaller Jacobite force led by
Mackintosh of Borlum was
defeated at Preston.
England
Amongst the leaders of a Jacobite conspiracy in western England were three peers and six MPs. The government arrested the leaders, including Sir
William Wyndham, on the night of 2 October, and on the following day easily obtained Parliament's legitimation of these arrests. The government sent reinforcements to defend
Bristol
Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...
,
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
and
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
.
Oxford
Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town.
The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...
, famous for its monarchist sentiment, fell under government suspicion, and on 17 October General Pepper led the dragoons into the city and arrested some leading Jacobites without resistance.
Though the main rising in the West had been forestalled, a planned secondary rising in
Northumberland
Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
went ahead on 6 October 1715, including two peers of the realm,
James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater
James Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater (26 June 1689 – 24 February 1716) was an English peer who participated in the Jacobite rising of 1715 and was executed for treason.
Life
Radclyffe was the son of Edward Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Derwen ...
, and
William Widdrington, 4th Baron Widdrington, and a future peer,
Charles Radclyffe, later ''de jure'' 5th
Earl of Derwentwater
Earl of Derwentwater (pronounced "Durwentwater") was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1688 for Francis Radclyffe, 1st Earl of Derwentwater, Sir Francis Radclyffe, 3rd Baronet. He was made Baron Tyndale, of Tyndale in the Cou ...
. Another future English peer,
Edward Howard, later 9th
Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...
, joined the rising later in
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, as did other prominent figures, including Robert Cotton, one of the leading gentlemen in
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...
.
The English Jacobites joined with a force of Scottish Borderer Jacobites, led by
William Gordon, 6th Viscount Kenmure, and this small army received Mackintosh's contingent. They marched into England, where the Government forces caught up with them at the
Battle of Preston on 12–14 November. The Jacobites won the first day of the battle, killing large numbers of Government forces, but Government reinforcements arrived the next day and the Jacobites eventually surrendered.
On 15 November 3,000
Dutch troops arrived on the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...
and some time later another 3,000 landed in
Hull. With this act of support, the Dutch fulfilled their part of the
Barrier Treaty, which stated that the Dutch would provide 6,000 troops to defend the 'Protestant Succession.' This act of friendship forced George I to back the Dutch against the Emperor on the implementation of the Barrier, something George had sought to avoid. With both Maritime Powers drawing a unified line against Austria, the barrier negotiations were quickly concluded to the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
's satisfaction. Dutch troops took part in some minor actions in Scotland.
Aftermath

On 22 December, James landed in Scotland at
Peterhead
Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...
, but by the time he arrived at Perth on 9 January 1716, the Jacobite army numbered fewer than 5,000. In contrast, Argyll's forces had acquired heavy artillery and were advancing quickly. Mar decided to burn a number of villages between Perth and Stirling to
deprive Argyll's army of supplies. On 30 January, Mar led the Jacobites out of Perth; on 4 February James wrote a farewell letter to Scotland, sailing from
Montrose the following day.
Many Jacobite prisoners were tried for
treason
Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
and sentenced to death. On 14 May 1716,
Henry Oxburgh was
hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was a method of torture, torturous capital punishment used principally to execute men convicted of High treason in the United Kingdom, high treason in medieval and early modern Britain and Ireland. The convi ...
at
Tyburn
Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...
. The
Indemnity Act of July 1717 pardoned all those who had taken part in the Rising, but the whole of
Clan Gregor
Clan Gregor, also known as Clan MacGregor, is a Scottish Highlands, Highland Scottish clan that claims an origin in the early 9th century. The clan's most famous member is Rob Roy MacGregor of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The clan ...
, including
Rob Roy MacGregor
Robert Roy MacGregor (; 7 March 1671 – 28 December 1734) was a Jacobite Scottish outlaw, who later became a Scottish and Jacobite folk hero.
Early life
He was born in the Kingdom of Scotland at Glengyle, at the head of Loch Katrine, as r ...
, was specifically excluded from the benefits of that Act.
[ Peter Hume Brown, ''A History of Scotland to the Present Time'', p. 154]
In later years, James, now known as the Old Pretender, made two more attempts at the British throne. In 1719, despite Spanish support, he was again defeated in the
Battle of Glenshiel. James's son
Charles Edward Stuart
Charles Edward Louis John Sylvester Maria Casimir Stuart (31 December 1720 – 30 January 1788) was the elder son of James Francis Edward Stuart, making him the grandson of James VII and II, and the Stuart claimant to the thrones of England, ...
, the Young Pretender, attempted to
win the throne for his father in 1745, but was defeated at the
Battle of Culloden
The Battle of Culloden took place on 16 April 1746, near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. A Jacobite army under Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force commanded by the Duke of Cumberland, thereby endi ...
. James died in 1766.
See also
*
Kingdom of Great Britain#George I: 1714–1727
Notes
References
* John Baynes, ''The Jacobite Rising of 1715'' (London: Cassell, 1970).
* H. T. Dickinson, ''Bolingbroke'' (London: Constable, 1970).
* Christoph v. Ehrenstein,
Erskine, John, styled twenty-second or sixth earl of Mar and Jacobite duke of Mar (''bap''. 1675, d. 1732), ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2004; online edn, January 2008, accessed 20 January 2011.
* George Hilton Jones, ''The Main Stream of Jacobitism'' (Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou.
The pres ...
, 1954).
* Wolfgang Michael, ''England Under George I. The Beginnings of the Hanoverian Dynasty'' (Westpoint, CT: Greenwood, 1981).
* Stuart Reid, ''Sheriffmuir 1715''. Frontline Books, 2014.
*
* Jonathan Oates, DUTCH FORCES IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN: A BRITISH PERSPECTIVE, Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Vol. 85, No.341 (Spring 2007), pp. 20–39
Further reading
* Daniel Szechi, ''1715: The Great Jacobite Rebellion'' (
Yale University Press
Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...
, 2006).
External links
1715 Rebellion on the UK Parliamentary website
{{Authority control
1715 in Scotland
1715 in Great Britain
1716 in Scotland
1716 in Great Britain
James Francis Edward Stuart