Scottish Heroes C

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Cameron of Lochiel, Sir Ewen

Heroes & Famous Scots (C)

Cameron of Lochiel, Sir Ewen (1629-1719)

Cameron of Lochiel was known as a man of great strength and courage. He was a ferocious fighter and a true Scottish patriot. He had supported the Stuart cause since the execution of Charles the first. He became chief of his clan in the year 1647, and in the Highlands is known simply as ‘Lochiel' The great Cameron Chief fought with the Earl of Glencairn on behalf of the future Charles the second, and continued his resistance against General Monk.

When William the Third of Orange usurped the British crown, Lochiel took his brave Cameronian clansmen to fight at the battle of Killiecrankie in the year 1689.

At this time Lochiel would have been sixty years of age. There is no doubt that if he had lived longer Lochiel would have supported Charles Edward Stuart when he came ashore on the shores of Glenfinnan many years later. Cameron of Lochiel was indeed a great Scottish freedom fighter and a Patriot to the true Royalty of Scotland namely the Stewarts. The picture here is of the ancestral home of the Cameron since 1655. it is called "Achnacarry" and means in Gaelic 'field of the fish trap/weir'

Cameronians, The (1689-2006)

This famous Scottish regiment was formed in the year 1689, and has been going from strength to strength since that period in time. The Regiment was to be formed in the guise of a Presbyterian Church with soldiers being appointed Elders and carrying Bibles.

The 26th Cameronians were raised in the year of 1689, and were led by the Earl of Angus. The Regiment soon showed what they were capable of against the followers of the Stuarts. In the heroic defence of Dunkeld where, 1,200 strong, they repulsed an army (with great loss) which was four times their number. They took part in the dangerous capture of Namur in 1695 and some years later under the famous Duke of Marlborough they rendered gallant service in Flanders and won special renown at Blenheim. The regiment has the distinction of having captured one of the few French ‘Eagles' ever taken by a British Regiment. It was acquired at Guadeloupe , from the French 80 th Regiment. In 1881 the 26th and 90th were amalgamated under the title of II The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). II on becoming a rifle corps the regiment ceased to carry colours, and all battle honours are now borne on the appointments only. As with all the other Scottish Regiments the Cameronian's await their fate at the hands of a cost cutting Government.

Carstares, William (1649-1715)

William Carstares was born near Glasgow in 1649. He was against Charles the second and was involved with the underhanded plot to get rid of him, and put in his place the usurper William the third of Orange . Carstares was a leading figure in the Scottish Presbyterian church movement, and was very much involved in the power struggle to control Scotland 's religion. When the plot against Charles the second failed Carstares was forced to run and hide and he did this by fleeing to France . He returned to this country along with William of Orange and became head of the Church of Scotland. It is believed that it was his influence which persuaded William of Orange not to Anglicise the Scottish religion but to allow it to stay Presbyterian.

His most appalling intervention was when he advised Queen Anne that the two countries should be united in the year 1707, thus selling out his Scottish heritage for his own sake. The picture shown depicts Rye House were the famous plot against Charles was attempted.

Carad Nan Gaidheal (1783-1862)

Carad Nan Gaidheal, This was the pseudonym of the Reverend Norman MacLeod, (friend of the Gael) He took advantage of the fact that new school societies were being set up to read the Gaelic language. He began the art of writing Gaelic prose which in fact helped to keep the ancient language of Scotland to the fore and in common use. He was very much a part of Gaelic Society and done everything he could to promote the use of Gaelic in everyday speech. The Scottish people have him to thank for most of the modern day Gaelic speaking schools especially in the Lowlands . The side picture depicts a modern Gaelic Alphabet book which Norman MacLeod I'm sure would have been proud of.

Carlyle, Thomas (1795-1881)

Thomas Carlyle was born in the quaint border town of Ecclefechan on the fourth of December 1795 . His father was a stone mason and a devout Calvinist. He was brought up very strictly and was expected to become something in a religious sense.

Thomas went to Edinburgh University to study religion and the church. He worked hard at his studies but soon found himself bored with his subject and decided to change his degree to become a lawyer. Thomas married in 1826 and settled down to write and have a good life. He became very much involved in his writing and felt that the pages actually spoke to him. Thomas wrote a piece called ‘Sartor Resartus'(The Tailor Reclothed) in 1835, and decided that after he was finished writing it was most probable that there was indeed a cosmic force operating throughout the universe.

He went on to write and study his true passion which was The French revolution. He had finished writing it in 1834 when his friend, John Stuart Mill, accidentally used the manuscript for kindling and his words went up in smoke. He took this in his stride and went at a re-write full speed ahead and managed to finish it again in 1837.

Chancellor, Richard (d1556)

Richard Chancellor was an Aberdonian having been born at Pitsligo Bay . He was considered to be a great seaman and also an adventurer. He loved to go exploring all over the world, returning to his native Scotland with amazing tales of trading and the strange people he met on his travels. He was instrumental in opening up trade routes with Russia . Unfortunately for Scotland the trade mostly involved the English Queen Mary the first. He had gone to meet the Tsar of Russia in their capital city of Moscow . This was in the year 1553.

Sir Hugh Willoughby had appointed Richard Chancellor as his Pilot General, on the great expedition to discover the Northeast Passage to China . Fate was to play its mysterious hand on Chancellor when the three ship expedition failed to find any sign of the passage and he headed overland for Moscow . He had met the Tsar and the contact was established, with Chancellor using all his legendary negotiating skills to pull of a great trading deal. He formed a company in 1555 named The Moscovy Company, which flourished hugely, bringing him great wealth.

Richard Chancellor was sadly drowned in a shipwreck off the Scottish coast while returning from another successful trade mission.

The picture on the side depicts the Tsar of that time who was the infamous, Ivan The Terrible

Charles1, (1600-1649)

Charles the first was a very well know person in Scottish history. Even to this day many people do not realise the Charles was actually a Scot having been born in Fife at Dunfermline Palace . When James the sixth of Scotland , First of England died, Charles came to power. Unfortunately for him one of his first tasks was to summon a Parliament to pay for a war against his own Scots people. This act did little to endear Charles to his Scottish subjects.

Charles further enraged and distanced the Scots by his Episcopal approach to religion which went against the Scottish Presbyterian faith. A major mistake Charles made with Scotland was one that his father before him had also fallen prey to: He never got to know his Scottish roots or the people of Scotland . He felt secure in his London based rule and thought that the problems of Scotland did not really apply to him as Monarch in England . Charles thought that The Divine Right of Kings enabled him to rule which religion the Scots should follow, this would cost him the ultimate price for his error. In the year 1637 he tried to introduce a new revised prayer book and there was near riots in the streets.

The Privy Council were actually forced to take refuge inside Holyrood Palace to escape the angry scenes. In Edinburgh , the National Covenant was written by a committee drawn from representatives from the Scottish burghs, the nobles, and the clergy. It was known as the Tables. In short, the document, signed on what was called " The great marriage Day of this Nation with God," pledged to maintain the True religion." Copies of the Covenant were carried throughout Scotland and England ; its theological implications often lost in the telling. Though it had been signed "with His Majesty's "Authority, " it served almost as a declaration of independence from English rule, It was most definitely not Charles' representative in Scotland who made the historical decisions, but the Lords of the Tables. Charles1 was tried by parliament and executed on the 30th of January 1649 for treason to his country Bath, England.

Charles II, King of Scots (1630-1685)

When Charles the second took the throne you would have thought that Scotland would have been rejoicing. The predecessor Charles the first had never shown any good feelings towards the land of his birth, so why did the Scots not take to kindly to his execution. The reason was that to the Scots although he was based in England and appeared to be very English in his ways, he was also King of Scotland and that mattered to the Scottish people.

Argyll was playing his strange game to of Royal supporter and covenanter. He had young Charles II taken to Edinburgh and declaring him King. Montrose who was still in exile at that time returned to his home and began to gather an army in response to a call to arms for the new King of Scotland. Things didn't go according to plan and he was heavily defeated and taken prisoner. Montrose found himself on trial for treason by the very monarch he tried to protect. The judgement went against him and he was hung, drawn and quartered for his gallant deed.

Charles headed for Scone palace and was crowned King on New Years day in the year 1651. Oliver Cromwell, who had declared himself ‘Lord Protector' could not let this go and attacked Scotland . Charles had raised a sizeable army under General Leslie, but they were defeated once more. While the king in exile "went on his travels ," as Charles II put it, Cromwell was setting up an efficient system of government in both Scotland and England . A Treaty of Union in 1652 united Scotland with England and made it part of the Commonwealth, which was totally against the Scottish peoples wishes. It had also abolished the monarchy. Though he established an efficient and orderly regime, the unpopular, Puritanical Cromwell was a harsh and ruthless ruler. When he died in 1658, there was much rejoicing, and as soon as he was buried the country was ready for a return to good old-fashioned monarchy. General Monk begged Charles to return to his Kingdom and he duly did this. Many horrible things were happening at that time and in fact it was known as

' The Killing Time' Charles died in the year 1685 to be succeeded by James the VII (James II of England )

Craig, James (1744-1795)

James Craig is the man that the people of our Capital Edinburgh, should thank for the cities fame and glorious buildings. He was a man who had a vision and produced this in the symmetry and general appearance of the buildings in Edinburgh's ‘ New Town' One of his masterpieces must surely be the ‘Physicians Hall' unfortunately it is no longer standing, but in its time was known as a “ Chaste Grecian Edifice” and this was part of the reason for Edinburgh being labelled the ‘Athens of the North' James had big plans for the capital which involved many things, for instance he wanted to promote the arts and economic growth.

He was full of optimism for the new town and wanted only the best looking buildings he could design. James Craig changed Edinburgh from a staid, moribund, dry city, which was deserted, to a vibrant place that could compete with the best that any other European city could offer. So thank James Craig for the huge Georgian terraces and Squares which dwarf those of the likes in Bath in England .

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