The Raid on Rannoch took place in 1753 in the tumultuous aftermath of the

Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745, also known as the Forty-five Rebellion or simply the '45 ( gd, Bliadhna Theàrlaich, , ), was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took ...

. Lieutenant Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar who was a commissioned officer in the

34th (Cumberland) Regiment of Foot The 34th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1702. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 55th (Westmorland) Regiment of Foot to form the Border Regiment in 1881. History Early history The regim ...

led the raid to capture the Jacobite rebel John Dubh Cameron who was later executed.

Background

In June 1753 another more important member of the

Clan Cameron Clan Cameron is a West Highland Scottish clan, with one main branch Lochiel, and numerous cadet branches. The Clan Cameron lands are in Lochaber and within their lands lies Ben Nevis which is the highest mountain in the British Isles. The Chie ...

Archibald Cameron of Lochiel Archibald Cameron of Lochiel (1707 – 7 June 1753) was a Scottish physician and a prominent leader in the Jacobite rising of 1745. The personal physician of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, On 7 June 1753, at Tyburn, he was the last Jacobite to ...

, who was the clan chief's brother, had been captured and executed for having supported the Jacobite rising. John Dubh Cameron having no fixed abode and facing the consequences of having served in the French army and also of having supported the Jacobite rising, formed a party of ''freebooters'', and took up his residence in the mountains between the counties of Perth, Inverness and

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

. He carried on a system of spoliation by carrying off cattle that belonged to people he called his enemies, and also blackmailing people. In the aftermath of the Jacobite rising the district of

Rannoch Rannoch ( gd, Raineach or , meaning 'bracken') is an area of the Scottish Highlands between the A9 road, to the east, and the A82, to the west. The area is crossed from south to north by the West Highland railway line. Features of the area inc ...

was described as being ''in a sad state'' with people starving and with the returning warriors having no option but to resort to thieving. There were soldiers who had been established at the

Rannoch Barracks Rannoch Barracks was a military barracks constructed in 1746 at Bridge of Gaur (Braes of Rannoch), Perthshire, Scotland, at the western end of Loch Rannoch. The barracks were built in response to the Jacobite uprising of 1745. The present Rann ...

who were everywhere searching for the rebel leaders and trying to curb and capture the thieves. Lieutenant Hector Munro of Novar received special instructions to apprehend the rebel John Dubh Cameron who was better known as ''Sergeant Mor''.

Raid on Rannoch

Lieutenant Munro marched a strong force of soldiers through Rannoch. Cameron had for a long time slept in a barn on the farm of Dunan in Rannoch, but he was betrayed one night while he was asleep in the barn, in the year 1753, although historian Alexander Mackenzie gives the year of 1754. Cameron was apprehended by a party of men led by Lieutenant Hector Munro. Cameron was a powerful man and shook off all of the soldiers who had hold of him and attempted to escape. However, he was overpowered by the remainder of the party who had stayed outside. Cameron was held at Rannoch Barracks, before being carried to Perth where he was tried for murder as well as for various acts of theft and cattle stealing. He was found guilty and executed at Perth on 23 November 1753. It was generally believed locally that Cameron had been betrayed by the man whose barn he had been sleeping in.

Aftermath

The man who had betrayed Cameron apparently had to flee the country. By 1754 peace was beginning to reign in Rannoch. Lieutenant Munro was also tasked with the apprehension of the Jacobite

Ewen MacPherson of Cluny Ewen MacPherson of Cluny, also known as "Cluny Macpherson" (11 February 1706 – 30 January 1764), was the Scottish clan chief, Chief of Clan MacPherson during the Jacobite rising of 1745, Jacobite Rising of 1745. He took part as a leading suppo ...

. However, in 1755, after nine years of playing hide and seek in the mountains of

Badenoch Badenoch (from gd, Bàideanach, meaning "drowned land") is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by t ...

, MacPherson managed to elude Munro's grasp and escaped to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

References

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Background

Raid on Rannoch

Aftermath

References

See also