The tragic ending of Jacobiteism
My intention is to do a series on the Navy during the Stuart times, ending with Bonnie Prince Charlie and his escape to France but from the British point of view. That means the search for the Prince will be unsuccessful and an apparent defeat for the Navy. That is unless the plan is to let him escape and not cut off his head and leave a martyr for the Jacobites. As Charlie, despite the hero later generations turned him into, became a drunk and libertine after he returned to France he was not a man to arouse a spirit of rebellion. His own generation would see the truth, not the romantic figure he has become. It must be remembered that the actual response to his call was limited to no more than a proportion of the Highland clans, the last breath of a dying royal line. Assuming, therefore, the British authorities knew his character, and they had many spies in his father’s court, then the best thing to do was let him become show his true character. That would be a kind of Greek tragic ending for the tales.