The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 2020 | Page 118

The Saber
Stuarts restoration. James II understood
the importance of female support, such
as the Oglethorpe women, and found
great loyalty and trust in them. James
II’s son and grandson followed his example
in catering to the female Jacobites,
using their ability to maneuver
throughout many locations to transfer
information to other Jacobites, listening
to their counsel, and accepting
different forms of support that women
could offer.
The eighteenth century Jacobite
lady maintained awareness of duty
and influence expected of her, such as
Lady Nairne, Lady Nithsdale, and Isabel
Haldane, who each held significant
influence over their families. Isabel
influenced her husband to gather the
Stewarts of Appin and fight with Prince
Charles. Winifred Nithsdale would risk
everything to rescue her husband from
the Tower of London, live in exile, and
become a governess to the Young Prince
Charles and Prince Henry. Margaret
Nairne held influence over her family,
raising her children with strong Jacobite
loyalty. Lady Nairne, in her seventies,
ordered men to battle from her sickbed.
Influence was a powerful weapon, and
the Jacobite woman knew how to wield
it better than a sword. Without women’s
influence, the support for the House of
Stuart would have been far less than it
was in the 1745 rebellion.
Women Jacobites fought on different
battlefields than men during the
Jacobite uprisings. Females battled at tea
tables, at royal courts, in secret chambers,
and at social gatherings. The bulk
of the money raised for the campaign
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