Battle of Prestonpans

‘…When this awful pause had lasted for a short time, Fergus, with another chieftain,
received orders to detach their clans towards the village of Preston,
in order to threaten the right flank of Cope's army and compel him to a
change of position. To enable him to execute these orders, the Chief of
Glennaquoich occupied the church-yard of Tranent, a commanding situation,
and a convenient place, as Evan Dhu remarked, 'for any gentleman
who might have the misfortune to be killed, and chanced to be curious
about Christian burial.' To check or dislodge this party, the English
general detached two guns, escorted by a strong party of cavalry. They
approached so near that Waverley could plainly recognise the standard
of the troop he had formerly commanded, and hear the trumpets and
kettle-drums sound the signal of advance which he had so often obeyed. He
could hear, too, the well-known word given in the English dialect by
the equally well-distinguished voice of the commanding officer,
for whom he had once felt so much respect. It was at that instant,
that, looking around him, he saw the wild dress and appearance of his
Highland associates, heard their whispers in an uncouth and unknown
language, looked upon his own dress, so unlike that which he had worn from
his infancy, and wished to awake from what seemed at the moment a dream,
strange, horrible, and unnatural. 'Good God!' he muttered, 'am I then a
traitor to my country, a renegade to my standard, and a foe, as that poor
dying wretch expressed himself, to my native England!'…’

Jacobites scored a victory at Prestonpans, during the Rising of ’45.  General John Cope, mentioned above in the text from Sir Walter Scott’s “Waverley”, endured a court-martial after his men fled during the fight.  He was exonerated.  Charles Edward Stuart was on the winning track at this point.  The Battle of Prestonpans took place on September 21, 1745.

French Fleet off the Coast

The Jacobite Rising of 1745, with Charles Edward Stuart entering Scotland from France, formed the backdrop for Walter Scott's "Waverley".  The year prior to that, partly in response to Jacobite requests, the French themselves toyed with an invasion of England.  French ships were seen off the coast early in 1744.  Just as the French were readying their invasion, a major storm developed, and by the 25th of February the French Fleet dispersed, ending the threat.  Unfortunately for the English, the storm also prevented Sir John Norris from encountering some of the French ships when he had a distinct advantage.  The situation is described in a letter written by Horace Walpole a few days later:

'To Sir Horace Mann.


March 1st, 1744.


I wish I could put you out of the pain my last letters must have given you. I don't know whether your situation, to be at such a distance on so great a crisis, is not more disagreeable than ours, who are expecting every moment to hear the French are landed. We had great ill-luck last week: Sir John Norris, with four-and-twenty sail, came within a league of the Brest squadron, which had but fourteen. The coasts were covered with people to see the engagement; but at seven in the evening the wind changed, and they escaped. There have been terrible winds these four or five days, our fleet has not suffered materially, but theirs less. Ours lies in the Downs; five of theirs at Torbay-the rest at La Hague. We hope to hear that these storms, which blew directly on Dunkirk, have done great damage to their transports. By the fortune of the winds, which have detained them in port, we have had time to make preparations; if they had been ready three weeks ago. when the Brest squadron sailed, it had all been decided. We expect the Dutch in four or five days. Ten battalions, which make seven thousand men, are sent for from our army in Flanders, and four thousand from Ireland, two of which are arrived. If they still attempt the invasion, it must be a bloody war!..'

George II and Caroline Coronated

On October 11, 1727, George August of Hanover and Caroline of Ansbach became King and Queen of Great Britain.  George was on the throne during the Jacobite rebellion of 1745.  Sir Walter Scott set his "The Heart of Midlothian" during George's reign, with volume I opening with the Porteous Riots.

Boarding L'Heureux

On September 21, 1746, Prince Charles Edward Stuart boarded L'Heureux, a French frigate, escaping from Scotland after the failed '45.  Stuart was aided by Flora MacDonald, who disguised Stuart as her maid "Betty Burke" during part of his journey.

Walter Scott's novel "Waverley" is set in the Jacobite Rising of 1745, with Bonnie Prince Charlie as a central character.  From Waverley"

'The exchange of mutual protection between a Highland gentleman and an officer of rank in the king's service, together with the spirited manner in which the latter asserted his right to return the favour he had received, is literally true. The accident by a musket shot, and the heroic reply imputed to Flora, relate to a lady of rank not long deceased. And scarce a gentleman who was 'in hiding' after the battle of Culloden but could tell a tale of strange concealments and of wild and hair's breadth's capes as extraordinary as any which I have ascribed to my heroes. Of this, the escape of Charles Edward himself, as the most prominent, is the most striking example. The accounts of the battle of Preston and skirmish at Clifton are taken from the narrative of intelligent eye-witnesses, and corrected from the 'History of the Rebellion' by the late venerable author of 'Douglas.' The Lowland Scottish gentlemen and the subordinate characters are not given as individual portraits, but are drawn from the general habits of the period, of which I have witnessed some remnants in my younger days, and partly gathered from tradition.'

Charles Edward Stuart at Glenfinnan

The following verses convey but little idea of the feelings with which, so sung and accompanied, they were heard by Waverley:--


There is mist on the mountain, and night on the vale,
But more dark is the sleep of the sons of the Gael.
A stranger commanded--it sunk on the land,
It has frozen each heart, and benumb'd every hand!


The dirk and the target lie sordid with dust,
The bloodless claymore is but redden'd with rust;
On the hill or the glen if a gun should appear,
It is only to war with the heath-cock or deer.


The deeds of our sires if our bards should rehearse,
Let a blush or a blow be the meed of their verse!
Be mute every string, and be hush'd every tone,
That shall bid us remember the fame that is flown.


But the dark hours of night and of slumber are past,
The morn on our mountains is dawning at last;
Glenaladale's peaks are illumined with the rays,
And the streams of Glenfinnan leap bright in the blaze.

[Footnote: The young and daring adventurer, Charles Edward, landed at Glenaladale, in Moidart, and displayed his standard in the valley of Glenfinnan, mustering around it the Mac-Donalds, the Camerons, and other less numerous clans, whom he had prevailed on to join him. There is a monument erected on the spot, with a Latin inscription by the late Doctor Gregory.]

As Edward Waverley learns, in Walter Scott's Waverley, Charles Edward Stuart raised his standard at Glenfinnan at the start of the Jacobite Rising of 1745.  This occurred on August 19, of that year.

Waverley

Walter Scott's first novel, Waverley, was published on July 7, 1814.  Waverley is set during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, and features the clash of cultures that Scott enjoyed exploring.  Hero Edward Waverley is the product of a father who was pro-Hanoverian, and an uncle with Jacobite sympathies.  This novel, which was published anonymously by the poet Scott, established the historical novel as a genre, and launched the major portion of Scott's writing career.

Culloden

"Waverley riding post, as was the usual fashion of the period, without any adventure save one or two queries, which the talisman of his passport sufficiently answered, reached the borders of Scotland. Here he heard the tidings of the decisive battle of Culloden. It was no more than he had long expected, though the success at Falkirk had thrown a faint and setting gleam over the arms of the Chevalier..."

Scott's novel Waverley, from which the text above was taken, was set during the Jacobite Rising of 1745.  The Battle of Culloden was the last battle of that rebellion, occurring on April 16, 1745.  Jacobites aimed to restore a Stuart to the throne, in place of the Hanovers.  The battle lasted about an hour; a complete rout for the English.  Afterwards, Charles Edward Stuart made a famous escape by way of Skye, with the aid of Flora MacDonald, to spend the rest of his life in exile.