'The March of the King's Forces to Perth', 1715

Line engraving by H Terasson after Louis du Guernier, published by Carrington Bowles, 1715.

In 1715, a Jacobite rebellion led by John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, gathered extensive support in Scotland. The previous year, Mar had supported the accession of the Hanoverian King George I, but soon found himself out of favour. He hoped to restore his prestige and influence by supporting a Jacobite rising. Most government forces were overseas and few troops were available to oppose the rebels.

Mar's army advanced south from Perth to link up with Jacobite forces in northern England. A small Government force moved north to intercept it. The two armies met on a bitterly cold day 13 November at Sheriffmuir, just outside the town of Dunblane.

The Government forces numbered about 3,000 men. They were led by John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, a soldier of considerable ability who had fought under the Duke of Marlborough during the War of the Spanish Succession. The Jacobite army was some 7,000 strong.

The battle proved indecisive with few casualties on either side. Although the Jacobites were left in possession of the battlefield, Mar's failure to destroy the much smaller Government force proved disastrous. Jacobite support dwindled rapidly, and when James Stuart, the 'Old Pretender', arrived in Scotland in December 1715, he found that his supporters had already melted away.