The Angus Jacobites – Read on to find out about some more of the individuals involved in the Jacobite cause in Angus.

James Carnegie

James Carnegie of Balmachie was with the Jacobite Army fighting at the Battle of Falkirk in January 1746, and after Culloden sought shelter in the Angus Glens.

On one dark night he left the safety of the hills to visit his betrothed, Elizabeth Erskine of Kirkbuddo House. The night he arrived at the house there was a large company gathered, some of whom had taken part in the Rising. During the conversations one gentleman happened to mention Carnegie and how when he’d last seen him he was being carried off the field at Falkirk badly wounded.

It was at this precise moment that the young fugitive knocked at the door and asked for a bed Mrs Erskine replied, ‘My faith, you’ll get a bed tonight, although I sleep on the floor.’

James was eventually captured and spent some time as a prisoner in Dundee until his release in 1747. He suffered financial hardship as a result of his involvement in the Rising and was forced to sell the family estate in 1772, living the remainder of his life in poverty. Happily, he did go on to marry Miss Erskine, the young woman he risked so much to see that night at Kirkbuddo House.