Despite having quite a lot of information concerning my 3xGr Granddad Neil McArthur, (Christened in Helipol Tiree, on the 9th of August 1795 - d1872?... wife Catherine Mitchell from Glasgow and both present in the Campbeltown 41 and 51 census) ..., not only was I was unable to find his resting place via the Ralston site but also his presence in the 61 and 71 census.
It only dawned on me recently, that there was the possibility he could have been enlisted into the military. In the 51 census and despite his age of 54, his trade as a cobbler would have made him a very desirable asset to any naval or military fighting force, and with his proprietor at the time having been a naval commander alongside Nelson, (Nelson is dead by now) this could have encouraged an enlistment.
As a result and “census incompetence” or not..., I decided to learn more about 18th century military history and in particular, the Island of “Tiree” region, governed by the West-Coast Jacobites for a large part of the century.
Although the Battle of Culloden in 1746 was too early for Neil and his father John in Tyree, Neil’s maternal Grandfather John MacFarlane would have been a prime target to fight for Prince Charlie..., The Young Pretender. I have John MacFarlane’s wife Flory Rankin and family mentioned in the 1776 Tiree census..., born 1743. So, if John was about the same age, he’d be in his early thirties for Culloden.
The first curiosity was when I discovered that the principal Jacobite protagonist Bonny Prince Charlie, (Charles Edward Stewart) was not born in Scotland..., but in Italy of all places.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Edward_Stuart As a result and to get a glimpse of the life and times of 18th century battles..., I opted for YouTube videos. (books are out of the question as I generally fall asleep after the second page
)
Additional “spice” to this research was the fact that I served in the Scots Guards, founded in 1642 by King Charles 1st in London..., to fight the Dutch Prince William of Orange in Northern Ireland. As such, this encouraged me to start my research by looking at the “Red Coats” and English Civil Wars, dominated by Cromwell.
Enter..., the BBC ! Incredibly professional and in my opinion, their documentaries are better than any Hollywood extravaganza.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7BLiuiORHI (be careful..., give yourself some time as this is 60 minutes long)
From here on, with King Charles the First’s head being carted off in some Londonian wicker basket, (not to be confused with Bonnie Charlie, who at a later date ended up back in France/Italy with too many bottles of whiskey) ..., I wanted to discover how the “Red Coats” finally defeated the Jacobites..., and for this, I chose the following videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz7XybD8YMA (1 minute)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=xVHGexXKHL4 (4.33 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5yP0rXXEzw&NR=1 (1 minute)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUc-_e6pdag (6 episodes)
For later battles, land and sea, I chose the following two URLs:
Trafalgar... and Nelson: (1805)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR-1gqC5Xms&feature=related (6 episodes)
Waterloo... and Wellington: (1812) Note that Waterloo, Belgium (about 30 minutes from here) at the time, was British-Dutch territory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHHzd7XOwJ4 (6 episodes of the best film ever made)
If anyone has any military information related to Tiree at the time..., it would be very welcome. Thanks..., Iain.