Here’s an appropriate military anniversary for an East Lothian-raised laddie to share. 275 years ago today, the Battle of Prestonpans took place, during the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
scotclans.com/the-battle-of-…
Thread follows. 1/
This week on the Facebook ‘Old Haddingtonshire’ group, someone shared this image of a 1799 map of the area, just 54 years after the Battle, noting that it says simply: 'Battle fought here...'. Lasting less than 30 minutes, it made a disproportionate historical splash! 2/
When I shared that map on Facebook, an old friend @registrarism who works at @UniofNottingham shared with me the following amazing hand drawn map from the Uni’s archives, showing the order of battle drawn by Brigadier William Blakeney at Stirling Castle, on 18th October 1745. 3/
Knowing that this map was drawn by a senior officer on the losing Hanoverian side who escaped to Stirling Castle, which I can see from my house less than a mile away, gives me a tingle of excitement. The map can also be viewed on the Uni’s website here mssweb.nottingham.ac.uk/elearning/view… 4/
The 1st significant battle of the 1745 Jacobite rising, Jacobite forces under Charles Edward Stuart defeated a government army led by Sir John Cope, whose inexperienced troops fled when faced with the charging Highland army. It was a huge boost to Jacobite morale. 5/
I grew up a few miles away in Aberlady and my Dad, interested in local history, taught us about the battle, not least by way of singing the well-known ballad written (from a winner’s perspective), ‘Johnnie Cope’. 6/
Also known as "Hey, Johnny Cope, are Ye Wauking Yet?", it reflects the slightly mythologised version of history suggesting that General Cope was caught asleep by the advancing Highland army. One truthful element was that he fled the battle, and escaped... 7/
... only to be court-martialled, then exonerated & the blame placed on the ordinary soldiery (although it seems the officers were woeful too!). Until today, I had no idea how popular that song had been. There was even an arrangement of it by Beethoven: 8/
And so, on this 275th anniversary of the Battle of Prestonpans, for my much-missed Dad Archie and all he taught us, here’s the version of the song ‘Johnny Cope’ that I know best, by the Corries
9/9 thread ends.
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