The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 2020 | Page 112

Tea Table Sisterhood and Rebel Dames: The C
tables. Tea and gossip were all the rage.
During these conversations, they discussed
the Young Chevalier, Prince
Charles Stuart. Sermons given at their
churches promoted rebel support and
the opportunity to attend Jacobite
Universities, such as the University of
Glasgow, where evening classes consisted
of the “rights of citizens” and “duty
to rebel,” which further fueled the sisterhood.
88 The support the tea table
sisterhood provided was no less significant
than the major heroines, such as
Flora McDonald of the ‘45. These traditional
women raised massive amounts
of money to support Charles’s army, often
selling valuables, such as their jewels
and silver, for the cause. They would
tend to the wounded following a battle
and proudly wear tartan and the White
Cockade to outwardly show their support.
Many younger women continued
to flaunt the tartan following the loss on
Culloden Moor; consequently, government
soldiers arrested them on sight for
instigating a Jacobite riot.
The most important role of tea
table Jacobites was their influence at
home. The eighteenth-century woman
maintained “a woman’s touch” to
influence her husband in thought and
actions, as was her duty. One example
of influence at home came from Isabel
Haldane, the wife of Charles Stewart of
Ardsheal—the Stewarts of Appin. Upon
the arrival of Bonnie Prince Charles,
she shamed her husband’s support by
handing him her apron while saying,
“Charles if you are not willing to be
the commander of the Appin men, stay
home and take care of the house, and
I will go and command them myself.” 89
5