The gatehouse of Castle Urquhart (in the foreground) was blown up with black powder by crown troops in 1691 to deny use of the castle to the Jacobites. [Brief history: while Scotland and England shared a monarch with the crowning of James VI as James I, the countries were still separate. James II, in rejecting the Protestant faith of Scotland (and the Protestant state church of England), found himself driven into exile in France, replaced by the Dutch William of Orange as William III. Scots who didn't approve of William supported James II, even if he was of the wrong religion, and were known as "Jacobites."] © 2004 Lawrence I. Charters |