Many affairs---not all of them business,
Married or no Charles must have his mistress,
'Twas libertine times in London's fair town,
Pepys wrote it all up and Evelyn down!1
Avoiding the plague and putting out fires,2
Scots lone, Chas left to their own desires,
Except for the Kirk---he brought bishops back,3
Some parish preachers were given the sack,
For refusing to heed Charlie's new rule,
Their Faith now made a political tool.
Rebellion ensued; the battle was lost,
Covenanters lost to son Monmouth's host4
Brutal king's agents harsh measures adopted,
Pamphleteers, "Presbyteers" all of them copped it,
"Usurper and tyrant", Charles was now called,5
"Text" brother James who robustly was told,
"Get up to Scotland and sort out this mess"6
James moored all his boats and fast-tracked no less,7
On his arrival dismal times started,8
"Presbyteers" framed and many were martyred.
Four years of carnage, but James had gone south
Keeping an eye on the Duke of Monmouth,
(Chuck's bastard son---wrong side of the blanket!),
Charlie had died and James warmly "thankit"
The Holy Pow'rs with a Catholic pray'r.9
Dutch Will's wife Mary was now James's heir!10
The heir to the throne although a female,
As Protestant Queen the country would hail,
But she was usurped when James had a son,11
With an R.C. heir he seemed to have won
Dutch Will was enticed to sail up the Thames,12
His mission---to tame recalcitrant James,
Odds stacked against him---Jim offered no fight,
From Ireland to France, he caught the next flight;
His throne he surrendered 'cos he left town,13
Relinquished as well was his Scottish crown14
He'd ne'er been favoured north of the border,15
Scots debated their kind of new order,
Monarchy or a republic perhaps,
Go their own way, let the Stuart line lapse?
Mem'ries of Cromwell were still in the mind,
So as in England they followed in kind16
Absentee monarchs would seem just the same,
As in a Republic, all but in name,
Bishops were banned throughout the Scots Nation,17
Parliament freed of royal dictation,
Anglicans sanctioned in moderation,
Scots Calvinism the choice of the Nation.
Now on to the stage struts "Bonnie Dundee",18
Adhering still to the Stuart's cause, he
From Iacobus Latin meaning just James,
Jacobites sought to restore Stuart claims;
In Atholl, Dundee met Gen'ral MacKay,19
The Jacobites won: Dundee was to die;
A victory pyrrhic for Rebels' cause.
To stop future stunts the Camerons rose,20
Confronted the Rebels, a strong line they held,
Beat Jacobite clans they fought at Dunkeld21
State Secret'ry was the Maister of Stair22
At last sought to end the rebel affair,
Clan chiefs had to take a loyalty oath,
Or else they would suffer Breadalbane's wrath23
MacIan MacDonald confused the right place,24
Was late with his oath though had a good case;
Stair issued a warrant signed by the king,
Sent troops to Glencoe who burned everything,
MacDonald they killed and lots of his clan,25
Others, in fear for their lives, simply ran,
Escaped through the snow and out of the glen,
Too cold for pursuit by Glenlyon's men.
Now it is common the Campbells to blame,
But that seems unfair for only one name;26
This rhyme's accusation is willing to dare,
'Twas down to the King and Dalrymple of Stair.27
Notes
1 Diarists Samuel Pepys, (1633-1703), & John Evelyn, (1620-1706).
2 Plague,1665. Fire of London,1666.
3 Rescissory Act, 1661.
4 Battle of Bothwell Bridge, 1679.
5 Sanquhar Declaration, 1680.
6 Made Royal Commissioner.
7 James was Lord High Admiral.
8 Known as "The Killing Times" they lasted from (1680-87)
9 James VII, the last Stuart King (r.1685-1688).
10 Mary was the daughter of James II by his first marriage to Anne Hyde. She married Wm. of Orange, 1677.
11 James's heir James, the Old Pretender, b.1688, was a child by his second wife, Mary of Modena.
12 William of Orange.
13 1688.
14 1689.
15 Because of the Killing Times.
16 William & Mary, (r.1689-1702).
17 Claim of Right, Coronation Oath.
18 John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, (1648-89).
19 Battle of Killiecrankie, 27 Jul. 1689.
20 The Cameronians were the followers of Richard Cameron, (1648-80).
21 21 August 1689.
22 Sir John Dalrymple, first Earl of Stair, (1648-1707).
23 John Campbell, First Earl of Breadalbane, (1635-1717).
24 Chief of the Glencoe MacDonalds.
25 Massacre of Glencoe, 1692.
26 Glenlyon, (1632-96), was a Campbell although the Argyll regimental list shows that comparartively few
of his men were.
27 Dalrymple was forced to resign but William defied the Scottish parliament's attempts to organise a serious
investigation
or prosecution.
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