The White RoseConsequently William of Orange, James' Dutch nephew, a Protestant, was invited to ascend the throne. James, weak and lacking in courage, fled to exile and allowed this so-called 'bloodless revolution' (in spite of the fact that William marched on London with 14,000 troops) to occur. Catholic Ireland and High-Church Anglicans and Catholics in England and Scotland and most Highlanders in Scotland mostly supported the Jacobite (so-called after Jacob, Latin for James) cause. This was greatly helped by the traditional dislike of foreigners on the throne. William, for example, was believed to be using England to advance Dutch foreign interests and George 1 was a Lutheran German who didn't even speak 'the King's language' properly, preferring to speak German. It was no wonder that many wanted to restore the great Stewarts, to the monarchy. The White Rose became a symbol of the Jacobites because supporters were required to assist the 'Old Pretender' James' son, sub rosa. There were three main Jacobite rebellions: 1) 1689 2) 1715 and 3) the famous 'Forty-Five. In 1689 'Bonnie Dundee' led the rebellion after the Scottish Convention accepted William as King of Scotland. Withdrawing from the Convention he raised a small army at Killiecrankie which achieved victory against the English forces at the cost of his own life. However Colonel Alexander Cannon who took over was no 'Bonnie Dundee' and his large Jacobite army was defeated by Colonel Cleland's Cameronians at Dunkeld. Although James managed to land in Ireland where the Dublin parliament acknowledged him as King his Irish-French army was defeated by William 111 at the notorious Battle of the Boyne still remembered every year in Northern Ireland when the 'Orangemen' march. An expedition in 1708 aided by the French to recapture Scotland and England ended in disaster when the French gave up, fearing superior English forces. James didn't even land on the shore. English Jacobites were discontented by having a German King on the throne who obviously preferred Germany to England and by the leadership of the Whig party. The Act of Settlement passed in 1701 prevented Catholics from attaining the throne and George 1 of The House of Hanover had become King. The Earl of Mar, rejected by George 1 as a suspected Jacobite, decided to become one in a fit of spite and led the rebellion for the son of James, the 'Old Pretender'. His army was able to capture Perth but the southern towns held for the government and he was defeated at Preston. The leader of the English
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