On 27th July the Jacobite army of Highlanders had routed the army of English and Lowland troops which was supporting the new Protestant monarchs William and Mary against the ousted Catholic King James II of England and VII of Scotland. At the moment of victory, however, the Jacobite commander, Viscount Dundee, was killed. His place was taken by Colonel Cannon who had been chosen by Dundee as his second in command because of his formidable organisational abilities.
Unfortunately for the Jacobites, Cannon had none of the charisma of Dundee nor did he have the trust of the various clan chiefs. Precious days were lost in arguments over who had precedence over whom and which clan would be given what duties. It was not until the 16th August that the Jacobite army marched out of Blair Atholl towards Perth and the Lowlands.
from "Englamd vs Scotland" by Rupert Matthews.
Buy your copy at a bookshop or on Amazon
Today the rivalry between St Andrew and St George may be
fierce but at least it is limited to the sporting field. This was by no
means the case before the Act of Settlement in the eighteenth century.
Rupert Matthews has researched more than twenty major battles between
these two countries, over a period of 1,000 years. Each battle forms a
chapter, explaining the causes of the conflict, the forces involved, the
battle itself and a brief guide to the battlefield as it is today. The
outcome of each was as unpredictable and hotly contested as the clashes
at Murrayfield, Wembley and Cardiff are.
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