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1702
William III died (childless) to be succeeded by Anne, who was the
daughter of James II. During her reign (until 1714), foreign campaigns
by Duke of Marlborough were to be successfully waged at Blenheim
(1704) and elsewhere. A New History of Great Britain, RB Mowat,
page 432.
1703
English Navigation Acts (only the producer of goods or the importing
country's ships to be used in transport) bore heavily on the Scots
who were treated as belonging to another country. Feelings ran so
high that in 1703 Scottish Parliament passed an Act of Security
which authorized parliament, upon the death of Queen Anne, to choose
a successor other than the one chosen in England. It was clear at
this stage, that either a closer union must come, or entire separation.
A New History of Great Britain, RB Mowat, page 434.
1707
Population of Scotland estimated by Sir John Sinclair at 1,048,000.
Cargoes of Despair and Hope, Scottish Emigration to North America,
Ian Adams and Meredyth Somerville, Page 2.
1707 England and Scotland Act of Union achieved by way of a
Treaty between England and Scotland. This agreed that the Scottish
Council and Parliament should cease to exist and that there should
be henceforth one government for the two countries. The Scots were
to retain their own Presbyterian Church and their own legal system.
Trade between the two countries was to be free and there was to
be no legal differences between Scotsmen and Englishmen throughout
the British Empire. A New History of Great Britain, RB Mowat,
page 435.
1709
Foundation of Scottish Society for the Propagation of Christian
Knowledge. Separate from the English SPCK (founded 1699). The schools
it founded taught in English, Gaelic being forbidden until 1766,
as it was said to be one of the roots of barbarianism and superstition
which Presbyterianism set out to fight. In reality, the Highlanders
too saw the advantage of being taught in English for getting on
in the external world. TC Smout, A History of the Scottish People
1560-1830 p 463.
1712
The Oath of Abjuration was imposed on ministers, both Episcopalian
and Presbyterian. It was an abomination in that it not only abjured
the dynasty of Stewart, it swore support of the Protestant heirs
to the throne who must be members of the Church of England. Many
ministers stubbornly resisted (despite the potential fine), because
to accede would result in the people deserting them. The Social
Life of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century. H Grey Graham. Page
367.
1713 By the Treaty of Utrecht, Britain obtained Nova Scotia.
1714
Queen Anne died (childless) and was followed by George I, as set
out in the Act of Settlement of 1701, although there was a possibility
at one time of the "Old Pretender", son of James II being canvassed.
During Anne's reign, a cabinet system of government had been set
up and, so although George spoke only German, he fulfilled his duty
thoroughly, but let others do the running of affairs. A New History
of Great Britain, RB Mowat, page 436.
1714
Bishop Gordon, vicar-apostolic founded a seminary for training young
boys for the priesthood on the island of Eilean Ban in Loch Morar,
in the heart of Clanranald territory, where one of its first pupils
was Hugh MacDonald, the future vicar-apostolic. After the failure
of the 'Fifteen, when the Highlands were no longer safe, the seminary
was transferred to Scanlan in the remote braes of Glenlivet. Eighteenth
Century Scotland, New Perspectives, TM Devine and JR Young, page
97, Essay by James F McMillan.
1715
When George I had been on the throne of England for one year, adherents
of James, the "Old Pretender" raised a rebellion in the North and
South of Scotland and in the North of England. The rising was badly
organised and the Earl of Mar and his Highlanders was checked at
Sherrifmuir on the same day that the insurgents had capitulated
at Preston in Lancashire. Six weeks later the "Old Pretender" landed
at Peterhead to find the rising practically over and had to get
back to France as best he could. A New History of Great Britain,
RB Mowat, page 440.
1715
Soldiers were garrisoned at Castle Tirrim for a number of years
prior to the 1715 insurrection, but were removed shortly before.
Clanranald, deeply affected by its "occupation" and fearful that
the building would fall into the hands of government troops again,
ordered its destruction by fire. He then went to fight for the "old
catholic cause" at Sherrifmuir, where he died from bullet wounds.
Moidart Among the Clanranalds, p192 Charles MacDonald, Ed John
Watts.
1720
Highlanders responded vigorously to commercial opportunity; the
decline of militarism in Gaeldom, the growth of large Scottish towns
and above all, the voracious demands from the vast London market
and the Royal Navy provided the context for a massive increase in
the exportation of live cattle from the Highlands. By the early
1720's as many as 30,000 cattle a year were being driven south to
the great fair at Crieff and elsewhere. Eighteenth Century Scotland,
New Perspectives, TM Devine and JR Young, page 227, Essay by Thomas
M Devine
1721
Among secular priests, some mission stations had the reputation
of being more difficult to work than others. Lochaber, for instance,
was often described as being lawless. The first priest to be stationed
there on a permanent basis after the Reformation was Mr John MacDonald,
a native son and a Clanranald on his father's side, who returned
to the mission in 1721 after studying in Rome and discovered that
only three families in the district still observed Catholic religious
practices, not because the others had converted to Protestantism
but because they had allowed their observance to lapse. Mr MacDonald
laboured there for some forty years until his death in 1761, obviously
to good effect, since it was reported to Rome in 1763 that Lochaber
had 3,000 communicants. Eighteenth Century Scotland, New Perspectives,
TM Devine and JR Young, page 97, Essay by James F McMillan
1724
The first lead mine at Strontian was opened. Moidart Among the
Clanranalds, p138 Charles MacDonald, Ed John Watts.
1724
An estimate of the manpower which could be put in the field by Highland
Chiefs at this time, shows how very powerful they continued to be.
Duncan Forbes of Culloden calculated that twenty six chiefs could
call out 18,890 men. Of these the largest two by far were the Campbells
(5,000) and the Mackenzies (2,500). But included were Macdonalds
of Clanranald (700), Macdonalds of Sleat (700), Macdonalds of Glengarry
(500), Macdonald of Glencoe (150) and Macdonalds of Keppoch (150)….
It was the understanding that a chief must provide land for his
clansmen, if necessary dividing existing holdings for the purpose….In
addition to their own clansmen, chiefs would welcome "broken men"
upon their land to increase their followings…MacDonnell of
Keppoch for instance occupied some Macintosh land and when questioned
on his income retorted, "I can call out and command 500 men"…So
late as 1726 a Highland Chief told Captain Burt (who reported it
in a letter) that he prefered his estate, which was worth £500 a
year, to an English one worth £30,000 because of his following.
Highland Folkways, IF Grant, page 33.
1724
Colin Campbell, previously a commissioned officer in the Argyll
regiment, converted to catholicism and served as priest in Moidart
for a number of years until 1735 approximately. He later joined
the Macdonalds at Culloden, where he lost his life. Moidart Among
the Clanranalds, p111 Charles MacDonald, Ed John Watts.
1724
General Wade wrote nine years after the supression of the rebellion
"The clans in the Highlands most addicted to rapine and plunder
are the Camerons in the west of the shire of Inverness, the Mackenzies
and others in the shire of Ross who were the late vassals of the
earl of Seaforth, the Macdonalds of Keppoch, the Breadalbin men
and the Macgregors on the borders of Argyllshire. They go out in
parties from ten to thirty men, traverse large tracts of mountain
till they arrive at the lowlands…..they drive the stolen cattle
in the night time and in day remain in the tops of the mountains
or in the woods with which the Highlands abound, and take the first
ocassion to sell them at the fairs and markets that are annually
held in many parts of the country." TC Smout, A History of the
Scottish People 1560-1830 p 224.
1725
"Ronald 3rd of Kinlochmoidart died in 1725 in Glenforslan from eating
sour cream. He left over 20 of a family many of whom were natural
as opposed to lawful. His wife was a Margaret Cameron". Glenmoidart
Notes, Bonallie/Impey Papers Ref 16
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1726-1750