Jacobite Edinburgh - A Healthy Walk through History.

Michael Nevin leads this tour of Jacobite Edinburgh, telling the remarkable story of the Jacobite occupation of Scotland's capital during the autumn of 1745. The tour starts at 10.30 AM and will finish at midday, through an undulating route up the Royal Mile and down into the Grassmarket good for cardiovascular fitness.

"How did the Jacobites manage to capture Scotland's heavily fortified capital on Tuesday, September 17th 1745, without a drop of blood being shed? How did they then succeed in securing guns and munitions from the city's arsenal that gave them the weapons they needed to score an unexpected victory over government forces at Prestonpans just days later? How did they hold the city for six weeks after that, resisting a counter-attack from the redcoats in Edinburgh Castle at the Battle of Lawnmarket? What happened after they advanced into England in November 1745? And how was it that their campaign, after such a promising start, ended in disaster at Culloden just six months' later? These are the mysteries that we will together endeavour to solve on April 16th, the anniversary of Culloden, the last battle fought on British soil."

There will be a total of seven stops on this tour through place and time:

1. Starting at the Netherbow Port, broached by the Jacobites before dawn on Tuesday, September 17th 1745 (just outside the World's End public house - pictured).

2. Proceeding up the High Street to the Tron Kirk, where three days earlier members of the Edinburgh Defence Volunteers – the local "Home Guard" formed to resist the Jacobites – mustered to decide what to do next.

3. Then onto the Market Cross, where King James VIII was proclaimed on Wednesday September 18th 1745.

4. Then round St. Giles Cathedral / Parliament Square (next to the Market Cross).

5. Onto the statue of David Hume, philosopher and member of the Edinburgh Defence Volunteers, whose thinking seems to have been influenced by his encounters with the Jacobites during their period of occupation.

6. From there, a walk to the Lawnmarket, from where Directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland led by John Campbell of Ardmaddie tentatively walked into the Castle on October 3rd 1745 to recover the bank’s gold reserves and pay off banknotes held by the Jacobites. The following night, it was the scene of a brutal street battle when the government soldiers trapped in a castle sought to break the Jacobite blockade late on October 4th / 5th 1745.

7. Down to West Bow to Lord Provost Archibald Stewart’s Land. Stewart was Lord Provost of Edinburgh at the time of Jacobite occupation and afterwards tried for treason for allegedly collaborating with the rebels. His home overlooked the Gallowgate in the Grassmarket, where General Henry ("Hangman") Hawley executed members of his own army who served as scapegoats for his defeat at Falkirk Muir on January 17th 1746.

The guide for the walk, Michael Nevin, is the author of 'Reminiscences of a Jacobite', who, between 2016 and 2023, served as Chair of The 1745 Association SCIO. Michael's short films 'Remembering Dunkeld' (27 min, 2019), 'When Madame de Pompadour met Bonnie Prince Charlie' (24 min, 2021) and 'Kahneman, Tversky and Prince Charlie' (30 min, The Annual Culloden Lecture 2023) can be viewed on YouTube.

Host or Publisher Jacobite Reminiscences