Published in Scotland Magazine Issue 31 on 16/02/2007.

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The Young Pretender (Bonnie Prince Charlie)

In the latest part of our series looking at Scottish characters, Mark Nicholls sets off to find out more about Bonnie Prince Charlie

Charles Edward Stuart, aka Bonnie Prince Charlie, is one of the most famous figures in Scottish history.c Yet out of the 67 years he lived, only a mere 14 months of that time was spent in Scotland and parts of England – with much of that short period on the run with a massive reward offered for his capture.

However, the impact his attempts to seize the crown of England and Scotland changed Scottish life forever – the momentous Battle of Culloden being the critical turning point.

The son of James Stuart (known as “The Old Pretender”) and the Polish-born Maria Clementina Sobieska, he was the grandson of James II of England and VII of Scotland, who was deposed in 1688 in favour of his daughter Mary and her husband, the Protestant William of Orange, because of his support for the Catholic faith.

Born on New Year’s Eve 1720 in Rome, a city where his father had been given residence by Pope Clement XI, Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Silvester Maria Stuart was more commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie and became a focus of the Jacobite movement that aimed to restore his father to the thrones of England and Scotland. His supporters recognised him as Charles III, while his opponents knew him as “The Young Pretender.” It was in 1745 that Charles led a rising to reclaim the throne of England and Scotland, landing on the Outer Hebridean island of Eriskay on July 23 of that year on what is now known as the Prince’s Beach.

He famously raised his father’s standard at Glenfinnan, 17.....

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By Mark Nicholls

Section : Scottish Legends

Page number : 40