Contents ▼▲
Front Matter Early Times The Druids The Britons Caesar in Britain Queen Boadicea The Great Walls The Great Irish Saint The Anglo-Saxons Brave King Arthur The Laws of the Saxons The Story of St Augustine Three Great Men The Danish Pirates King Alfred and the Cakes Alfred conquers the Danes A King's Narrow Escape The King and the Outlaw The Monasteries An Unlucky Couple St Dunstan King Canute and the Waves A Saxon Nobleman Lady Godiva's Ride The Battle of Hastings The Conquest Lords and Vassals Death of William The Brothers' Quarrels Arms and Armour The "White Ship" Matilda's Narrow Escapes Story of Fair Rosamond Thomas a Becket Murder of Thomas a Becket Richard's Adventures Richard and the Saracens The Faithful Minstrel Death of Richard The Murder of Arthur The Great Charter The Rule of Henry III A Race Persecution of the Jews The Conquest of Wales A Quarrel with France The Coronation Stone The Insolent Favourite Bruce and the Spider Death of Edward II The Murderers punished The Battle of Crecy The Siege of Calais The Age of Chivalry The Battle of Poitiers The Peasants' Revolt Richard's Presence of Mind A Tiny Queen Henry's Troubles Madcap Harry A Glorious Reign The Maid of Orleans The War of the Roses The Queen and the Brigand The Triumph of the Yorks The Princes in the Tower Richard's Punishment Two Pretenders A Grasping King Field of the Cloth of Gold The New Opinions Death of Wolsey Henry's Wives The King and the Painter A Boy King Lady Jane Grey The Death of Cranmer A Clever Queen Elizabeth's Lovers Mary, Queen of Scots Captivity of Mary Stuart Wreck of the Spanish Armada The Elizabethan Age Death of Elizabeth A Scotch King The Gunpowder Plot Sir Walter Raleigh King and Parliament Cavaliers and Roundheads "Remember" The Royal Oak The Commonwealth The Restoration Plague and Fire The Merry Monarch James driven out of England A Terrible Massacre William's Wars The Duke of Marlborough The Taking of Gibraltar The South Sea Bubble Bonny Prince Charlie Black Hole of Calcutta Loss of the Colonies The Battle of the Nile Nelson's Last Signal The Battle of Waterloo First Gentleman of Europe Childhood of Queen Victoria The Queen's Marriage Wars in Victoria's Reign The Jubilee

Story of the English - Helene Guerber




Bonny Prince Charlie

Taking advantage of the general confusion during the War of the Austrian Succession, Prince Charles Edward, the son of the Pretender, tried to recover the Stuarts' throne.

Aided by a French fleet, he attempted to land in England. Then, undismayed by a first failure, he made a second venture, and, in spite of a tempest, set foot on the shores of Scotland. Here he and his seven followers were quickly joined by Highlanders, who, as the king and army were on the Continent, got possession of Edinburgh.

Next, the gallant Young Pretender, whom the Scotchmen affectionately called "Bonny Prince Charlie," won a victory at Prestonpans, and, having secured the artillery, began to march towards London. The English, in terror, set a price of £30,000 upon the head of Prince Charlie, and quickly collected troops.

In the meantime most of Scotland had fallen into the hands of the Jacobites. Perceiving, however, that the brave Highlanders could not fight in England so advantageously as in their wild mountains, and seeing that the English force was three times greater than his own, Prince Charlie retreated. He was finally overtaken and beaten at Culloden. Flight saved him from death or captivity, but during the next five months he had to wander from place to place. He had many narrow escapes during that time, and suffered greatly from cold and hunger, although the brave Highlanders did all they could for him.

At last, after many adventures, Prince Charlie put on the dress of a servant girl, and pretended to be the maid of a young Scotch lady, Flora MacDonald, who volunteered to help him. With her aid, he passed through an English squadron and reached a vessel which brought him safely to the Continent.

At the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle it was again agreed that the French should no longer uphold the Stuarts. The Pretender, therefore, left France and went to Rome, where he and his two sons led unworthy lives. Bonny Prince Charlie, who had been so brave and energetic in Scotland, now became an idler and drunkard, and thus forfeited the esteem of all respectable people. These last three members of the Stuart family claimed in turn the titles of James III., Charles III., and Henry IX. They were buried in Rome, where their tomb, the work of the celebrated sculptor Canova, bears these pompous names.

Flora MacDonald's and Prince

FLORA MACDONALD'S INTRODUCTION TO PRINCE CHARLIE.


The Highlanders who had so bravely helped and screened Prince Charlie were punished sorely; for the victor of Culloden, the Duke of Cumberland, killed so many of them that he is known in history as the "butcher."

The War of the Austrian Succession was barely ended when a new conflict broke out. This was known in Europe as the "Seven Years' War," and in America as the "French and Indian War." Once more the English and the French were opposed, and fought wherever they met.

The British minister was now William Pitt, who is called the "Great Commoner; "and he took such wise measures that victory remained with the British. You know how they took Fort Duquesne (which was afterwards named Pittsburg, in honour of Pitt), Forts Niagara and Ticonderoga, and the city of Quebec.

Thus the British gradually became masters in North America. At the same time their men and money helped win the battle of Minden, and Admiral Hawke bravely destroyed the French fleet, although at the risk of losing his life and ships on the rocky coast of Brittany.