- University of Dundee, History and Archive & Information Studies, Faculty Memberadd
- Jacobite Studies, Military History, Digital Humanities, Scottish History, History, Digital Media, and 34 moreEuropean History, Interactive and Digital Media, Second World War, Colonial America, Eighteenth Century History, American Civil War, Prosopography, Scottish Studies, Battlefield Archaeology, Scottish Culture, Scottish Archaeology, Scottish Diaspora, French and Indian War, Jacobite History, Jacobites, Relational Database, Civil War, 18th Century Britain, Early Modern Scotland, Jacobitism, History of Edinburgh, Edinburgh social history, Social History, Early Modern History, American History, Digital Culture, Evernote, Zotero, Library Science, Library 2.0, Big Data Analytics, Databases, Data Analysis, and UI/UX Designedit
- The thrust of my doctoral studies measured and reinterpreted the constituency of the late Jacobite movement during th... moreThe thrust of my doctoral studies measured and reinterpreted the constituency of the late Jacobite movement during the Rising of 1745-6. Building and utilizing a prosopographic database (JDB1745) to compile and document as many names as can be connected with the final rising, a systematic analysis of the data was undertaken to present a fresh social history of those who participated in Jacobite-related activity during the Forty-five. Taken directly from the database, my final thesis was a snapshot of over 15,000 entries collated to explore motivation, demographics, recruitment, and the consequences of involvement in that insurgency.
My continuing research extends the database into its next stage, which includes three independent sub-projects: one, further transcription and analysis of primary sources to find new evidence of Jacobite-connected persona; two, creation of a public beta with a newly-coded architecture that allows controlled external participation; and three, assembling a multidisciplinary team of scholars interested in engaging with data curation and contributing to the database using their respective areas of expertise. Interested parties are very welcome to get in touch.
In addition to JDB1745, I am currently working on several other connected resources for the Digital Humanities, including a programme of licensing out primary source material for inclusion within an electronic research portal and also the establishment of a Virtual Research Environment for historical and genealogical study related to Jacobitism and anti-Jacobitism.edit
Many weeks before the opening salvo of cannon-fire on Culloden Moor, officials within the Hanoverian government of George II were already engaged in a different battle: the herculean task of prosecuting those suspected or proven to have... more
Many weeks before the opening salvo of cannon-fire on Culloden Moor, officials within the Hanoverian government of George II were already engaged in a different battle: the herculean task of prosecuting those suspected or proven to have been involved with Jacobite rebels and their final attempt to restore King James to the throne of the three kingdoms. The most effective weapon in the government’s arsenal was the vast collection of testimonies given by individuals who had seen such occurrences firsthand, or who had themselves actually been in arms. Accordingly, judicial directives regarding the processing and treatment of these witnesses were speedily drafted and expedited, whether they were loyal citizens of the established government wanting to do their part, rebel combatants turning King’s evidence to secure some measure of leniency, or ambivalent bystanders who were compelled under oath to give their word.
Based upon an extensive and comparative survey of archival collections in Scotland and England, this study explores the British state’s use of ‘material evidences’ in prosecuting the last Jacobite rising. In addition to addressing how witnesses were selected, implemented, and remunerated, we will take a closer look at the way in which jurisdictional policies were generated based upon both legislative precedent and the polity’s immediate needs. Through this, we can successfully describe how information networks were established and leveraged against the thousands of imprisoned Jacobites who clogged the British penal system during and after the rising. While much has been written regarding the prisoners themselves, this study presents a look at how and why they were either brought to justice or offered clemency, a precarious and crucial verdict largely based upon the testimonies of their fellow subjects.
Based upon an extensive and comparative survey of archival collections in Scotland and England, this study explores the British state’s use of ‘material evidences’ in prosecuting the last Jacobite rising. In addition to addressing how witnesses were selected, implemented, and remunerated, we will take a closer look at the way in which jurisdictional policies were generated based upon both legislative precedent and the polity’s immediate needs. Through this, we can successfully describe how information networks were established and leveraged against the thousands of imprisoned Jacobites who clogged the British penal system during and after the rising. While much has been written regarding the prisoners themselves, this study presents a look at how and why they were either brought to justice or offered clemency, a precarious and crucial verdict largely based upon the testimonies of their fellow subjects.
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Historians are uniquely responsible for extending the memorial legacies of forgotten personae, and at the same time have unwittingly participated in distorting the historical record of those selfsame lives within many digital history... more
Historians are uniquely responsible for extending the memorial legacies of forgotten personae, and at the same time have unwittingly participated in distorting the historical record of those selfsame lives within many digital history projects. Likewise, historians are known for their attention to detail and pinpoint accuracy when working with lettered sources, but relatively few have been trained to render the information from those documents into precise, manipulable data suited for digital analysis. As a result, many historical databases are notoriously destructive.
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While a widespread campaign of terror is known to have been waged by the British government in the Highlands after Culloden, rarely are such remarkable circumstances shown to have occurred in the Lowlands. Likewise, incidents of fire and... more
While a widespread campaign of terror is known to have been waged by the British government in the Highlands after Culloden, rarely are such remarkable circumstances shown to have occurred in the Lowlands. Likewise, incidents of fire and sword instigated by the Jacobites themselves are largely glossed over by many scholars of the subject. By the summer of 1746, the Duke of Montrose’s Stirlingshire estate provides a unique example of both traumatic incidents. This paper examines the lives of the tenants of the second duke and his factors who were repeatedly harassed and threatened by rebel soldiers under Macgregor of Glengyle because they would not join the rising. After Culloden, the King’s troops then billeted upon the estate and punished numerous tenants by burning their homes and stealing their livestock even though many had not been involved and in fact had actively resisted the Jacobites. Through a trove of primary sources that includes the depositions of witnesses carried out on the local level, records of material damages, and personal correspondence between government officials and factors on Montrose’s estate, a fascinating story is constructed about the common people who were caught between two unfavourable sides of a brutal civil war.
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A paper by invitation from renowned Jacobite scholar, Allan Macinnes, Lurking Within Our Bounds explores methodology and taxonomy of information within The Jacobite Database of 1745 before offering a number of case studies relevant to the... more
A paper by invitation from renowned Jacobite scholar, Allan Macinnes, Lurking Within Our Bounds explores methodology and taxonomy of information within The Jacobite Database of 1745 before offering a number of case studies relevant to the Scottish liturgical tradition. In addition to demonstrating the results of a basic query using search terms apposite to Catholic and non-juring Episcopal ministers during the 'Forty-five, their Presbyterian counterparts who were used as watchdogs for the Hanoverian government are also examined. A detailed analysis of the subscriber list for Bishop Thomas Rattray's Liturgy of St James then illustrates patterns of Jacobite support within the non-juring Episcopal laity by cross-referencing them with known Jacobites from the database. Finally, the socio-economic atmosphere in Edinburgh during its years of civil war reveals the mania wrought against all forms of religious dissenters, subsuming the political and mercantile sectors in fear of Original Sin.
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Through the settling miasma of the failed, final Jacobite rising, Scotland’s capital set about returning to business as usual. But a closer look at the web of evidence given to government officers when turning in suspected Jacobites... more
Through the settling miasma of the failed, final Jacobite rising, Scotland’s capital set about returning to business as usual. But a closer look at the web of evidence given to government officers when turning in suspected Jacobites reveals an undeniably anomalous pattern of accusations by a select number of Edinburgh’s merchants specifically targeting other merchants of the same trade. Prosopographic analysis of Edinburgh’s accused rebels using The Jacobite Database of 1745 has shown evidence of possible skullduggery within the city’s goldsmith community. Further investigation of Jacobite trial depositions, burgess records, and burgh court records is necessary to determine whether the social and fiscal unrest of rebellion provided a fertile environment for Edinburgh merchants to take advantage of the market by eliminating or slandering the competition. This paper will explore these themes, as well as chart the convoluted pattern of accusations to understand the atmosphere of suspicion within the Edinburgh business sector post-Culloden.
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Jacobitism may only be defined by the personnel who espoused the tenets of the cause within its military and political movements during the long eighteenth century. These principles were not static through the hundred years of Jacobite... more
Jacobitism may only be defined by the personnel who espoused the tenets of the cause within its military and political movements during the long eighteenth century. These principles were not static through the hundred years of Jacobite activity, but rather reflective of the changing social, economic, and governmental contexts that formed its shifting backdrop. To date, scholars have compiled numerous lists of soldiers, statesmen, and civilian adherents as proof of Jacobite support or resistance against it, though these are usually devoid of context other than simple biographical details. Many of these volumes and documents are simply stitched together from a variety of primary-source registers, including prisoner rosters, muster rolls, court depositions and also transportation, execution, and recruitment lists. Yet even the collators of these compilations admit to there being omissions, deletions, and redundancies, all of which go some way to obscuring the social record of the Jacobite movement. The current format of these sources is also an obstacle to clear study and characterisation of the period. Long lists of names separated by region or military unit only describe so much, and that from an inflexible, predetermined taxonomy. An upgrade of this system of collation and an update to the way we access this information is needed to answer the many questions about both the Jacobite cause and movement that are still being posited, regardless of those who claim there is nothing left to find within.
Currently in the second year of a PhD programme at the University of St Andrews, this paper is an introduction to a new codification of the Jacobite record. Utilising a modern and acutely-designed online database to compile and document the constituency of the Jacobite movement during the rising of 1745-6, the goal of this project is to create an effective collaborative research tool for all scholars of the period. The creation and maintenance of this database is the centrepiece of this doctoral research project, which will yield a large number of cultural, social, religious, political, economic, and military topics about Jacobite constituency. Designed specifically for the purpose of scholarly examination and prosopographic analysis of a large number of biographic entries, and drawing from a wide variety of sources, JDB1745 will eventually house every name that can be associated with Jacobitism in the years 1740-1759. In effect, this database hopes to offer its users an accurate biographical, social, and cultural atlas of the ‘Forty-five.
This brief introduction will include a survey of resources, methodology, and application, and will be accompanied by a visual presentation of a working sample dataset as well as a cursory explanation of the implemented technology and how the project fits in with the burgeoning field of Digital Humanities.
Currently in the second year of a PhD programme at the University of St Andrews, this paper is an introduction to a new codification of the Jacobite record. Utilising a modern and acutely-designed online database to compile and document the constituency of the Jacobite movement during the rising of 1745-6, the goal of this project is to create an effective collaborative research tool for all scholars of the period. The creation and maintenance of this database is the centrepiece of this doctoral research project, which will yield a large number of cultural, social, religious, political, economic, and military topics about Jacobite constituency. Designed specifically for the purpose of scholarly examination and prosopographic analysis of a large number of biographic entries, and drawing from a wide variety of sources, JDB1745 will eventually house every name that can be associated with Jacobitism in the years 1740-1759. In effect, this database hopes to offer its users an accurate biographical, social, and cultural atlas of the ‘Forty-five.
This brief introduction will include a survey of resources, methodology, and application, and will be accompanied by a visual presentation of a working sample dataset as well as a cursory explanation of the implemented technology and how the project fits in with the burgeoning field of Digital Humanities.
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Words used to describe the Battle of Culloden have always been written with lurid viscerality, from contemporary reports of the dramatic carnage on the moor to scholarly assessments of its enduring effects, still felt both in Scotland and... more
Words used to describe the Battle of Culloden have always been written with lurid viscerality, from contemporary reports of the dramatic carnage on the moor to scholarly assessments of its enduring effects, still felt both in Scotland and amongst the global community today. To many, it was a sacred last dance that played out over hallowed ground, featuring fateful manoeuvres and noble sacrifices that conjure poignant physical and emotional reactions for those who still flock to visit the field. Some consider Cùil Lodair to have been the death knell of the Highland clan system, and to others it forged the seal on the permanence of union. 275 years later, the myths associated with Culloden are nearly indistinguishable from what we consider to be the facts. Accordingly, myth-busting by both academic and popular historians has become a full-time occupation in the wake of the interest ignited by the Outlander books and television series. Scottish tourism has enjoyed a massive swell in its coffers thanks to this phenomenon alone; Culloden, in a way, has therefore once again put Scotland back on the map and at the forefront of broader collective thoughts about the nation’s future. The battlefield and visitor centre remains a site of pilgrimage for tourists, re-enactors, annual commemorators, and those members of the global diaspora who have ‘come home’. Pitched hostilities continue to be waged to either build upon or preserve the land that formed the context of the battle. Many know the story of the action and what took place in the years afterward, but why we do we still care about the Battle of Culloden nearly three centuries on? This short talk will offer some thoughts about our memory of historical Jacobitism and why this windswept moorland still means so much to so many today.
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What did it really mean to be a Jacobite in the eighteenth century? While it might seem simple to cleanly define those who fought and died for the Jacobite cause with words like ‘rebel’ or ‘patriot’, the reality was far more complex. Like... more
What did it really mean to be a Jacobite in the eighteenth century? While it might seem simple to cleanly define those who fought and died for the Jacobite cause with words like ‘rebel’ or ‘patriot’, the reality was far more complex. Like every conflict through history, a varied host of motives contributed to providing the movement with its plebeian supporters. Some of these carried arms on the battlefields and some assisted with logistics in the towns and burghs. Some contributed money toward the Stuart effort to reclaim the throne while others simply toasted the King Over the Water from the safety of the pub. Using large quantities of prosopographical data, this short paper will examine the many reasons why common folk joined the Jacobites in 1745, whether by choice, loyalty, faith, or compulsion – and beyond.
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The Great Rising of 1715 was significantly larger and potentially a greater threat to the Hanoverian regime than its more fabled successor in 1745. Yet government measures concerning both punishment and prevention were hampered by the... more
The Great Rising of 1715 was significantly larger and potentially a greater threat to the Hanoverian regime than its more fabled successor in 1745. Yet government measures concerning both punishment and prevention were hampered by the ambivalence of a fledgling administration concerned about its reputation in the public eye. Though a programme of trials, executions, transportations, and attainders was established in the months after Preston, it was tempered with a measure of clemency that in effect failed to destroy Jacobitism at its roots. As a consequence, especially in Scotland, where too little was done to suppress further rebellion, the traditions of Jacobite ideology were able to germinate, once again coalescing into a potent rising thirty years later. This paper examines the government policies implemented after the ’15 and how their relative mildness led to an extension of Jacobitism as a serious threat to the British state. This leniency would not be repeated again after the ’45, but the government’s wish to be seen as simultaneously firm but fair remained nonetheless present.
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This presentation examines the conflict between Jacobite ideology and practice and the crossroads between them as exemplified on Culloden Moor in April of 1746. Was it only the hopes of a Stuart restoration that died with the hundreds of... more
This presentation examines the conflict between Jacobite ideology and practice and the crossroads between them as exemplified on Culloden Moor in April of 1746. Was it only the hopes of a Stuart restoration that died with the hundreds of Jacobite soldiers on that bleak spring day, or something far greater? Taking to task the myths and casting light on the realities of popular Jacobitism using the latest research on motivational agencies of the numerous Jacobite causes, the 2015 Culloden Memorial Lecture explores the experience of the common soldier against the backdrop of a calamitous civil war.
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Like the Scottish soldiers on both sides of the field at Culloden whose loyalties were divided in Britain’s last civil war, so too were opinions – both public and private – about the legitimacy of the Jacobite cause and the... more
Like the Scottish soldiers on both sides of the field at Culloden whose loyalties were divided in Britain’s last civil war, so too were opinions – both public and private – about the legitimacy of the Jacobite cause and the professionalism of its army in both 1715 and 1745. Even in modern memory, the battle rages on between perceptions of Jacobitism in ‘rising’ or ‘rebellion’ and its military arm as a well-trained and disciplined force or simply a mob of ‘sillie boies sent to opress us’. Moving beyond the popular wartime propaganda used on both sides of the Jacobite conflicts, objective analysis of the conduct of the Stuarts’ armies is rare, even amidst the large volume of Jacobite scholarship currently available. Did the soldiers under the Earl of Mar in 1715 and Charles Edward Stuart in 1745 acquit themselves with ‘honourable’ behaviour during their respective campaigns? How did the conduct of the armies inform public perception of each as either forces of occupation or liberation? Regardless of whether Jacobitism was a legitimate cause or movement, it was indeed a legitimate threat to the Hanoverian regime as evidenced by the shocking depredations after Sheriffmuir and Culloden. These themes will be examined using a variety of primary source material including private letters, public manifestos, military correspondence, as well as period newspapers and broadsheets.
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"Currently in the second year of a PhD programme at the University of St Andrews, this paper is an introduction to a new codification of the Jacobite record. Utilising a modern and acutely-designed online database to compile and document... more
"Currently in the second year of a PhD programme at the University of St Andrews, this paper is an introduction to a new codification of the Jacobite record. Utilising a modern and acutely-designed online database to compile and document the constituency of the Jacobite movement during the rising of 1745-6, the goal of this project is to create an effective collaborative research tool for all scholars of the period. The creation and maintenance of this database is the centrepiece of this doctoral research project, which will yield a large number of cultural, social, religious, political, economic, and military topics about Jacobite constituency. Designed specifically for the purpose of scholarly examination and prosopographic analysis of a large number of biographic entries, and drawing from a wide variety of sources, JDB1745 will eventually house every name that can be associated with Jacobitism in the years 1740-1759. In effect, this database hopes to offer its users an accurate biographical, social, and cultural atlas of the ‘Forty-five.
This brief introduction will include a survey of resources, methodology, and application, and will be accompanied by a visual presentation of a working sample dataset as well as a cursory explanation of the implemented technology and how the project fits in with the burgeoning field of Digital Humanities. "
This brief introduction will include a survey of resources, methodology, and application, and will be accompanied by a visual presentation of a working sample dataset as well as a cursory explanation of the implemented technology and how the project fits in with the burgeoning field of Digital Humanities. "
The Scandinavian raiders that explored, colonized, and devastated Britain, Europe, and parts of Russia and beyond have enjoyed a popular cultural revival propagated by Victorian romanticism. Portrayed as noble savages who contributed... more
The Scandinavian raiders that explored, colonized, and devastated Britain, Europe, and parts of Russia and beyond have enjoyed a popular cultural revival propagated by Victorian romanticism. Portrayed as noble savages who contributed greatly to the institutions of modern civil and religious liberties, their artistry and innovations are still celebrated by both their descendants and scholars alike. Though Viking history is only recorded by their victims, the material evidence of the brutality and startling thoroughness of their depredations is well-documented and therefore undeniable. What were the defining causal elements that ushered in this Viking Age of expansion and aggression? How did the societies upon which they preyed cope with the violent incursions of the Norsemen? And how did the Vikings resist and relent to the unassailable pressures of Christianization? Using recent archaeological findings, primary-source reference, and a plethora of new scholarship, these vital questions and many more will be examined.
While sometimes celebrated at home and often reviled abroad, the 18th-Century British solider was undoubtedly the prehensile digit on the arm of empire. Who were these formidable redcoats and how did they find their places in the ranks of... more
While sometimes celebrated at home and often reviled abroad, the 18th-Century British solider was undoubtedly the prehensile digit on the arm of empire. Who were these formidable redcoats and how did they find their places in the ranks of one of the most adaptable, effective armies of the period? Examining both willing and forced volunteers, line infantrymen and officers, this presentation will seek to explain the daily life of a new “lobster” recruit in Britain, on the Continent, and in the New World during the Age of Enlightenment.
Once derided as inhuman by both the British politic and popular eye, the 18th-century Scottish Jacobite soldier later made a re-emergence as a British national hero – ironically integrated into the very military body against which he once... more
Once derided as inhuman by both the British politic and popular eye, the 18th-century Scottish Jacobite soldier later made a re-emergence as a British national hero – ironically integrated into the very military body against which he once fought. Some were conscripted to escape the unthinkable punishments for treason dispensed after the failed Jacobite Rebellions; others were loyal to the Hanoverian government throughout the entire turbulent century. Detailing the organization and behavior of the Scottish regiments in the New World on the eve of a wholly different revolution, this presentation will examine the martial and social conditions of their peculiar integration with the British army and the Scottish soldier’s metamorphosis from “rebel” to “hero.”
The last land battle to be fought in Britain and widely considered the last gasp of the Highland clans, the Battle of Culloden in 1746 was the definitive end of the Jacobite Rebellions in Scotland. 260 years later, the field and its... more
The last land battle to be fought in Britain and widely considered the last gasp of the Highland clans, the Battle of Culloden in 1746 was the definitive end of the Jacobite Rebellions in Scotland. 260 years later, the field and its context are being renovated and reinterpreted by a broad network of historians and researchers. Drawing upon both visual and textual primary sources synthesized with the very newest scholarship on the battle, this seminar will explain what we once knew about Culloden versus what we now know, the myths and realities of the armies and their tactics, and exactly what the archaeologists are digging up on the moor.
Against the backdrop of the War of Austrian Succession on the Continent, the later Jacobite risings in Britain proved a very real threat to the stability of the Hanoverian crown. Popularly mythologized as both a band of tireless... more
Against the backdrop of the War of Austrian Succession on the Continent, the later Jacobite risings in Britain proved a very real threat to the stability of the Hanoverian crown. Popularly mythologized as both a band of tireless freedom-fighters up in arms against the repression of foreign tyranny and also as a throng of infantophagic thugs, some Scottish Highland Clans eventually became well-integrated with the British military machine after the threat to London was forgotten. This seminar is an examination of Highland recruiting methods, Scottish arms and tactics, and Jacobite discipline during the struggle for the British throne in 1745-6, and how the same men who were so feared by British society subsequently became heroes of the British army.
Amid 250 years of sensationalist and nationalist myth lies some oft-neglected behaviour identified by the drastic recruiting tactics of Charles Edward Stuart’s Scottish Jacobite army. From threats of sword and torch, rapine and... more
Amid 250 years of sensationalist and nationalist myth lies some oft-neglected behaviour identified by the drastic recruiting tactics of Charles Edward Stuart’s Scottish Jacobite army. From threats of sword and torch, rapine and kidnapping, this paper will present a clear overview of evidence that conjures a peculiar historical irony: the use of despotic recruitment tactics in a popularly-regarded struggle from foreign oppression.
A closer look at Lord George Murray’s infamous night march and its effects on the next day's action at the Battle of Culloden. How connected was the exhausting six-mile sneak attack on Cumberland’s encampment and the failure of the... more
A closer look at Lord George Murray’s infamous night march and its effects on the next day's action at the Battle of Culloden. How connected was the exhausting six-mile sneak attack on Cumberland’s encampment and the failure of the Jacobites to defeat the British army on Drummossie Moor the next afternoon?
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This sub-report attempts to confidently identify both the historical identity and context of Aberdeenshire Council HER N94NE0047 (Episcopal Meeting House, Aden Country Park) to supplement the recent archaeological work undertaken on the... more
This sub-report attempts to confidently identify both the historical identity and context of Aberdeenshire Council HER N94NE0047 (Episcopal Meeting House, Aden Country Park) to supplement the recent archaeological work undertaken on the site by Cameron Archaeology in 2015-21.
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This thesis examines the social record of popular Jacobitism during the 1745 Rising as expressed through its plebeian constituency. Such an assessment fills in the gaps largely ignored by scholars of the Jacobite period, who instead tend... more
This thesis examines the social record of popular Jacobitism during the 1745 Rising as expressed through its plebeian constituency. Such an assessment fills in the gaps largely ignored by scholars of the Jacobite period, who instead tend to concentrate upon the elites and the political and doctrinal ideologies espoused by influential gentry. Using a purpose-built database to compile and analyse a large number of resources including lists of prisoners, trial records, muster rolls, and government papers, a prosopographical survey of over 15,000 persona entries is presented. The study looks at four thematic aspects of popular Jacobitism, which describe motivation, constituency, recruitment, and consequences. These combine to provide a social profile of the ‘lesser sort’ of those persons involved in rebellion against the Hanoverian government, whether martial or civilian. The results suggest that practicality was a major influence in drawing the common people into civil war, and that the ideological tenets of Jacobitism, much diluted by 1745, took a backseat to issues of necessity. Widespread ambivalence to the political climate made harsh recruiting methods necessary, and rampant desertion reinforced that need until the army’s defeat at Culloden. Both the willing and unwilling supporters of Charles Edward Stuart’s landing in Scotland represented local, national, and international interests and stretched across class divides. Civilians contributed to the effort along with the soldiers, but limited martial support both domestic and foreign was insufficient to sustain the Stuart-sanctioned coup and the exiled dynasty’s hopes for a subsequent restoration. Understanding that weak punitive measures after 1715 enabled yet another rising thirty years later, the government’s response after Culloden was swift and brutal. Though its campaigns of containment and suppression strained the resources of the judicial system, effective punishment was seen as a necessity, dominating British policy even as the state was involved in a larger war on the Continent. This thesis demonstrates that plebeians used by the Jacobite elites were ill-equipped to support the strategies of the cause, yet they ultimately bore the brunt of the reparations for treasonous expressions, however questionable their commitment may have been.
Research Interests: Military History, Relational Database, Digital Humanities, British History, Data Analysis, and 12 moreScottish History, Digital History, Social History, Databases, 18th Century, Data Visualization, Jacobite History, Jacobites, Jacobite Studies, Rebellions, Revolutionary Studies, and Battle of Culloden
In this episode, Dr Darren Layne (u/Funkyplaid) talks to u/Aquatermain about the 275th anniversary of the battle of Culloden and the end of the Jacobite uprising. Topics include Darren's work on the digital history of Jacobitism, the myth... more
In this episode, Dr Darren Layne (u/Funkyplaid) talks to u/Aquatermain about the 275th anniversary of the battle of Culloden and the end of the Jacobite uprising. Topics include Darren's work on the digital history of Jacobitism, the myth and reality of the Jacobite uprising, and why the battle of Culloden remains so compelling for so many people.
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The Jacobite record is a living entity with plenty of room for growth. Renewed work with the mass of archival documents relating to Jacobite prisoners from the rising of 1745-6 affirms that the compilations of names published between 1890... more
The Jacobite record is a living entity with plenty of room for growth. Renewed work with the mass of archival documents relating to Jacobite prisoners from the rising of 1745-6 affirms that the compilations of names published between 1890 and 2001, heavily relied upon by modern scholars to assess the Jacobite constituency, are insufficient. Marred by inadequate methodologies, limited sources, and clumsy editing, these printed lists distort the larger record of Jacobite prosecution in the wake of the last rising and provide only static data that can hinder meaningful prosopographical analysis. The Jacobite Database of 1745 project offers a means to compare and contrast large-scale biographical information from an unlimited number of sources in a digital context, preserving both data lineage and integrity while allowing manipulable, interactive analysis to be carried out remotely. The brief working case study illustrated in this paper compares the data from some well-known publications and the manuscript sources from which they are drawn, while providing some relevant visualisations that describe the demographic constituency of nearly a thousand Jacobite prisoners taken during and after the rising of 1745-6.
Research Interests: Digital Humanities, Data Analysis, Scottish History, Digital History, Prosopography, and 9 more18th Century Britain, Early Modern Scotland, Jacobite History, Jacobites, Jacobite Studies, 18th Century Scotland, 18th century British military, 18th Century Highlands of Scotland, and Jacobitism & Anti-Jacobitism
Primary script consultant for the National Trust for Scotland's virtual battlefield tour at Culloden, produced by YourTour and hosted by VirtualVisits.
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Shortly after responding to Dr McLean’s distress flare seeking further recruits to help transcribe his ADM 8 project, I was tasked with devising a database-friendly schema for a particularly awkward bundle of the source documents. Of the... more
Shortly after responding to Dr McLean’s distress flare seeking further recruits to help transcribe his ADM 8 project, I was tasked with devising a database-friendly schema for a particularly awkward bundle of the source documents. Of the 243 reports within the Admiralty List Books of ADM 8/1 held at the British National Archives in Kew, seven of them belong to a category called Additions & Lessenings Lists (A&L). These reports track the status of Charles II and James II/VII Stuart’s royal ships in service between 1674 and 1689 using a simple columnar system akin to that which might be found in a financial ledger. For those who have experience with transcribing hand-written documents from any era, you will know that certain creative liberties sometimes must be taken in order to represent the data in a manner that is useful for machine-readable searches. Case in point, these A&L reports present a lively challenge of redefining columnar, state-based data for entry into a field-based relational database. The following solution essentially renders this square-peg historical information round-hole compatible.
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Nearly a month before the opening salvo of cannon-fire on Culloden Moor, officials within the Hanoverian government of George II were deeply engaged in the task of prosecuting those suspected or known to have been involved with Jacobite... more
Nearly a month before the opening salvo of cannon-fire on Culloden Moor, officials within the Hanoverian government of George II were deeply engaged in the task of prosecuting those suspected or known to have been involved with Jacobite rebels. The greatest tool at the government’s disposal toward this end was the collection of testimonies by individuals who had seen such occurrences firsthand, or who had actually been in arms, themselves. Accordingly, policies were drafted and carried out regarding the processing and treatment of these witnesses, whether they were combatants turning King’s evidence to secure some measure of leniency, loyal citizens of the established government wanting to do their part, or ambivalent passers-by who had to be compelled under oath to give their word.
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Blog Post - Scottish History Network
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BBC's The Stuarts in Exile Episode 2 The Jacobite struggle has often been dismissed as a dynastic spat that culminated in Bonnie Prince Charlie's tragic defeat at Culloden in 1745. But rather than a Scottish story, Dr Clare Jackson... more
BBC's The Stuarts in Exile Episode 2
The Jacobite struggle has often been dismissed as a dynastic spat that culminated in Bonnie Prince Charlie's tragic defeat at Culloden in 1745. But rather than a Scottish story, Dr Clare Jackson reveals the Jacobite campaign took place on a European stage and inspired a nexus of international intrigue and covert plots. In this second episode, Dr Clare Jackson reveals why so many law-abiding Scots and English were prepared to support the catholic Stuarts and how the new protestant Hanoverian regime hung by a thread, as George I and II struggled to impose their authority on frequently hostile and anti-European subjects.
The Jacobite struggle has often been dismissed as a dynastic spat that culminated in Bonnie Prince Charlie's tragic defeat at Culloden in 1745. But rather than a Scottish story, Dr Clare Jackson reveals the Jacobite campaign took place on a European stage and inspired a nexus of international intrigue and covert plots. In this second episode, Dr Clare Jackson reveals why so many law-abiding Scots and English were prepared to support the catholic Stuarts and how the new protestant Hanoverian regime hung by a thread, as George I and II struggled to impose their authority on frequently hostile and anti-European subjects.
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Do you have a good way to organize your your research — both the digital and nondigital variety — as well as other aspects of being a student? Evernote is a surprisingly robust note taking tool, which we learn how to use under the... more
Do you have a good way to organize your your research — both the digital and nondigital variety — as well as other aspects of being a student?
Evernote is a surprisingly robust note taking tool, which we learn how to use under the guidance of guest expert Darren Layne.
In this fun discussions, they discuss:
• What Evernote is and how to use it
• How to use it for the first time when you feel intimidated
• Different possibilities for how to organize Evernote
• Additional plug-ins to use with Evernote
• Additional free research resources, including Zotero, WorldCat, and Archive.org.
Evernote is a surprisingly robust note taking tool, which we learn how to use under the guidance of guest expert Darren Layne.
In this fun discussions, they discuss:
• What Evernote is and how to use it
• How to use it for the first time when you feel intimidated
• Different possibilities for how to organize Evernote
• Additional plug-ins to use with Evernote
• Additional free research resources, including Zotero, WorldCat, and Archive.org.