In the so-called ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688, the Catholic King James VII of Scotland and II of England and Ireland was deposed in favour of his Protestant son-in-law William of Orange, and his wife Mary (James’s Protestant daughter).
James fled to France on 23 December 1868. The English Parliament declared that in fleeing the country, James had abdicated the throne and offered the crown to William and Mary. On 4 April 1689, the Scottish Parliament ruled the same.
However, the House of Stuart had ruled Scotland for over three centuries and despite his failings, there was still support for James and the senior line of the Stuarts.
Supporters of James became known as Jacobites derived from the Latin for James. In April 1689, shortly after the Scottish Parliament’s ruling, the Jacobites rose in support of King James.
Scotland was already a country divided on the issue of the crown. After the persecutions of the Covenanters in southern Scotland by the Stuarts, many Presbyterians were glad to see the departure of James. James had also alienated many Episcopalians.
The Regiment took its name from Richard Cameron, ‘The Lion of The Covenant’. Originally a field preacher he was killed, a bounty on his head, at the Battle of Airds Moss in 1680.