‘Ye Jacobites by Name’: An Evaluation of the Amulree Jacobite Collection in the University of Stirling Library Archives

Citation

Cunningham CE (2017) ‘Ye Jacobites by Name’: An Evaluation of the Amulree Jacobite Collection in the University of Stirling Library Archives. BA (Honours) in History with Professional Education. The University of Stirling.

Abstract
The Jacobite epoch broadly lasted from 1688–1807, and an atmosphere of fervour surrounded the exiled Catholic Stuarts – or Jacobite pretenders – and their displaced, itinerant court for many decades. Eventually, with the death of King Henry I and IX in 1807, the banished dynasty’s struggles to reclaim their foregone thrones came to be beheld with a quasi-religious, romantic nostalgia that still resonates for some to this day. Numerous individuals, through various motives, continue to express great enthusiasm for this ‘Lost Cause’. Several, including Basil William Sholto Mackenzie, second Baron Amulree of Strathbraan, did so by amassing an eclectic collection of Jacobite artefacts and associated memorabilia or Jacobitiana. Upon his death in 1983, the entire assemblage of items was bequeathed to the University of Stirling. This dissertation evaluates the Amulree Jacobite collection. It first contextualises the collection’s value. To do so, it surveys four other Scottish Jacobite collections: the MacBean collection, the Walter Blaikie collection, the corporate Drambuie Jacobite collection and the Jacobite artefacts of Traquair House. Some evaluation criteria are also established to help place the Amulree collection among them. It then analyses the collection’s contents beginning summarily with its copious subset of secondary items and, specifically, by interrogating its three primary Jacobite-period mini sub-collections. Each sub-collection is connected to the final three exiled Stuarts. After a brief evaluation, their worth is highlighted as important to their respective area of broader Jacobite studies. Following this initial evaluation, the collection proves to be a valuable addition to the catalogue of more well-known Jacobite compendia. Amulree’s combined interests in amassing Jacobitiana and undertaking scholarship characterise this collection’s importance as an example of social memory and an arbitrary and investigative assortment. By producing initial research on this intriguing assemblage, this dissertation emphasises insights that the Amulree Jacobite collection provides to the field of Jacobite studies. It argues that greater attention should be given to its material and cultural significance.

Keywords
Jacobitism, Antiquarianism, Scottish History, Scottish Culture