Ruthven Barracks
We do not currently own a car. We didn't really see a need for one because we live just about a mile from the city center, and a mile-and-a-half from Steve's work and our main retail park. When we need a car, such as when someone visits or we want to go somewhere, we simply rent one. Sure, having to either walk everywhere or be tied to a bus schedule hasn't been ideal. But we've been content. However, we have decided the time has come to be mobile again.
This weekend, we enjoyed a 48-hour test drive of a Mini Cooper Clubman. We wanted to put the car through its paces and to do the type of touring we expect to do when we own a car. We put about three hundred miles on the car over the weekend as we explored nearby areas that have long been on our To Do list.
On Saturday, we braved the intermittent rain to explore Ruthven Barracks. The barracks sit atop a rather large hill and we see them every time we travel south. The time had come to see them up close, so we traveled to the town of Kingnussie to check them out.
Ruthven Barracks was one of four infantry barracks by George II's government after the failed Jacobite rising of 1715. The king installed military units across the Highlands in an effort to squash any future uprisings by the Scottish clans who hoped to restore a Stuart king to the British throne.
Some background info: In 1688, in what is called The Glorious Revolution, the rightful King James II was ousted from the throne in favor of his daughter, Mary, and her Dutch husband William. The basic reason was people feared that James, who had converted to Catholicism, would force that religion onto the British people. When his Italian wife gave birth to a son, this fear escalated and a plot was hatched to place the very Protestant Mary on the throne, instead. William and Mary had no children, so Mary's sister Anne ascended the throne upon their deaths. Anne had no heirs, either, and the crown was then passed to George I, a German cousin (George's mother was a daughter of James I). The Jacobites were those who viewed James II 's son as the rightful king. The 1715 uprising sought to place Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, on the British throne. Later uprisings in the 1740s endeavored to make his son, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, aka Bonnie Prince Charlie, the king.
Ruthven Barracks was home to 120 soldiers and their officers and was built between 1719 and 1721 on a prominent mounds that had once been the site of a medieval castle. A stable building was added in 1734 for the dragoons who protected the soldiers marching along the adjacent military road. Ruthven Barracks successfully held off an attack in August 1745 when 200 Jacobites led by the Irishman William O'Sullivan attempted to capture it. The Jacobites didn't have a cannon and the twelve Redcoats within the barracks successfully held them off. Two Jacobites were killed and three wounded before they abandoned their poorly-executed attack. Only one Redcoat died because he was "foolishly holding his head too high over the parapet."
On the 11th of February the following year, a better-organized Jacobite unit forced the Redcoats to surrender. The British soldiers were allowed to march free with a promise of safe passage to Perth. Following the horrific defeat of the Jacobite forces at the Battle of Culloden near Inverness on 16 April 1746, the men who managed to escape the slaughter convened at Ruthven Barracks to await instructions from their Prince. Somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 men were at the barracks when they received a note from Prince Charles on the 20th stating: "Let every man seek safety in the best way he can." The Jacobite Uprisings were over.
By the time we left (which is when I snapped this pic), the day had brightened considerably. This is Ruthven Barracks sitting atop its lofty perch.
The remnants of the stable building and the view beyond.
One of the two barracks buildings. Each was three stories tall and housed 60 soldiers. This one also had a small jail cell, a guard house, and officers' quarters.
The view toward the stables.
Our chariot for the weekend and the barracks beyond.
This weekend, we enjoyed a 48-hour test drive of a Mini Cooper Clubman. We wanted to put the car through its paces and to do the type of touring we expect to do when we own a car. We put about three hundred miles on the car over the weekend as we explored nearby areas that have long been on our To Do list.
On Saturday, we braved the intermittent rain to explore Ruthven Barracks. The barracks sit atop a rather large hill and we see them every time we travel south. The time had come to see them up close, so we traveled to the town of Kingnussie to check them out.
Ruthven Barracks was one of four infantry barracks by George II's government after the failed Jacobite rising of 1715. The king installed military units across the Highlands in an effort to squash any future uprisings by the Scottish clans who hoped to restore a Stuart king to the British throne.
Some background info: In 1688, in what is called The Glorious Revolution, the rightful King James II was ousted from the throne in favor of his daughter, Mary, and her Dutch husband William. The basic reason was people feared that James, who had converted to Catholicism, would force that religion onto the British people. When his Italian wife gave birth to a son, this fear escalated and a plot was hatched to place the very Protestant Mary on the throne, instead. William and Mary had no children, so Mary's sister Anne ascended the throne upon their deaths. Anne had no heirs, either, and the crown was then passed to George I, a German cousin (George's mother was a daughter of James I). The Jacobites were those who viewed James II 's son as the rightful king. The 1715 uprising sought to place Prince James Francis Edward Stuart, on the British throne. Later uprisings in the 1740s endeavored to make his son, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, aka Bonnie Prince Charlie, the king.
Ruthven Barracks was home to 120 soldiers and their officers and was built between 1719 and 1721 on a prominent mounds that had once been the site of a medieval castle. A stable building was added in 1734 for the dragoons who protected the soldiers marching along the adjacent military road. Ruthven Barracks successfully held off an attack in August 1745 when 200 Jacobites led by the Irishman William O'Sullivan attempted to capture it. The Jacobites didn't have a cannon and the twelve Redcoats within the barracks successfully held them off. Two Jacobites were killed and three wounded before they abandoned their poorly-executed attack. Only one Redcoat died because he was "foolishly holding his head too high over the parapet."
On the 11th of February the following year, a better-organized Jacobite unit forced the Redcoats to surrender. The British soldiers were allowed to march free with a promise of safe passage to Perth. Following the horrific defeat of the Jacobite forces at the Battle of Culloden near Inverness on 16 April 1746, the men who managed to escape the slaughter convened at Ruthven Barracks to await instructions from their Prince. Somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 men were at the barracks when they received a note from Prince Charles on the 20th stating: "Let every man seek safety in the best way he can." The Jacobite Uprisings were over.
A light, steady rain greeted us upon our arrival and dimmed the view over the moorland that surrounds the barracks.
Comments
Post a Comment