The Claim
There’s million worth of Jacobite gold hidden somewhere in the Scottish highlands
Most people from the UK have heard the name Bonnie Prince Charles, but few know the story behind him. In 1745 Prince Charles Edward Stuart, later known as Bonnie Prince Charles landed in England from France and declared himself ruler of all of England, Ireland and Scotland.
The problem was that there was already a king in place who was less than happy that a French contender had landed in Scotland. King George II of England was right to be worried, as this new threat supposedly had considerable backing from both France and Spain, both of which were hostile towards England at the time.
Sending money to support a cause against your enemies is often cheaper in both wealth and lives than getting involved directly, and so France and Spain agreed to fund the campaign. There was never any intention for either of them to offer the level of support Prince Charles first suggested, and instead only sent funding in the amount of 400,000 Livres a month.
A livre was the form of currency used by France between 781 and 1794, and was often made of gold or silver. The first 400,000 shipment of these coins was delivered several months after Charles first landed, but was captured by Clan MacKay who were loyal to King George II in a battle later to be known as the “Skirmish of Tongue”.
For various reasons the next few shipments were delayed, and in April of 1746 a Spanish payment and 2 French payments were sent to Scotland on the same transport. The transport was made of 2 ships, the Bellona and the Mars, both of which were loaded with various supplies, but one of them contained numerous caskets containing the gold coins.
The story splits into 2 versions at this point depending on where you look, but both can agree that the shipment arrived in Scotland shortly after the Jacobite defeat at the battle of Culloden outside Inverness. The defeat was so bad that the Jacobite army was devastated beyond the point of return, and Bonnie Prince Charles had no choice but to retreat back to France, taking some of his loyalists with him.
As for the gold shipment it arrived at Loch nan Uamg next to the village of Arisaig in western Scotland on the 30th of April 1746, which happened to be the same spot Prince Charles landed a year before. As for the 2 versions of what happened next the only difference between the stories are the amounts.
One version claims that only the Spanish gold was unloaded, and the French ships delivering it kept the gold of their own country instead of giving it to a lost cause. The other version is of course that all of the gold was unloaded, but both versions also seem to claim that the physical amount of the gold left in Scotland came in 7 wooden crates.
Which ever story is true, if either, then there’s at least 400,000 historically significant golden French coins in the country, with the value of which being in the 10’s of millions.
Since the rebellion was over and the leader in hiding, the gold was taken to Loch Arkaig and hidden, though one crate was said to have been stolen by members of the McDonald Clan. The money was to be used to help the remaining Jacobite’s in Scotland and to aid in the evacuation of some to France.
(Loch Arkaig)
The money was hidden somewhere around Loch Arkaig and its location entrusted to Murray of Broughton who was a high ranking Jacobite fugitive. He started to hand out the money to the clan chiefs but in doing so was caught by government forces and only managed to give away a fraction of it.
Before he was caught he entrusted the treasures location to the chief of Clan Cameron, and later it fell into the care of the head of Clan Macpherson, who Charles briefly hid with at a cave during his escape back to France.
Charles made it out of the country in September of 1746, but he didn’t take the money with him as it was to difficult to transport, and with the entire English army looking to capture him he didn’t have time to collect it. After arriving in France he sent word back to Scotland to send the gold to him, but he only received a tiny amount.
He later accused the chief of Clan Macpherson of unjustly withholding his assets from him, and sent Archibald Cameron to find them in 1753. Archibald was betrayed by one of his associates and handed over to the English, who wasn’t no time in drawing and hanging him for his part in the Jacobite rebellion. He became the last Jacobite to be executed for the uprising.
After this the trail goes completely cold, with the most common theory being that the leader of Clan Macpherson hid some of the gold for himself, as he could not account for the majority of it.
The problem with spending French gold coins in a country at war with France is that it tends to get easily noticed. These aren’t something you can wander down to the local market with and buy a cow, and people of the time would most likely not know how to, or have access to the technology to melt gold.
Also if the Macpherson clan did still have the gold, he was being watched too closely to spend it, leaving him no choice but to leave it long term and wait for the heat to die off. Since no one has found any of the coins that have been confirmed to be from this specific treasure, there’s not any actual evidence that it exists, at least not in the classic buried treasure form people are looking for. There’s the very real chance that the gold was never unloaded in the first place, or what people thought were crates full of gold really contained gunpowder and shot.
But then again there’s the very real possibility that the story is true, as there are numerous records in historic texts that mention the gold and its delivery. Over the years many hopeful treasure hunters have tried to look for the gold, but so far no one has found the secret hiding spot of Clan Macpherson.
If you were thinking of having a look for yourself there’s 4 spots where people think the treasure most likely is:
Arisaig
An 18th century letter was found in a second hand shop in Winchester that now belongs in the West Highland Museum in Fort William. The letter contains the deathbed confessions of a Neill Iain Ruairi who claimed to have been a witness at the initial burying of the treasure. He says he hid in the trees and watched the whole thing, and when the clansmen had left he crept over and took a bag of gold coins. He hid the coins under a rock and confessed this story as he lay dying from a riding accident. The bag he claims to have been buried is thought to be the bag of coins mentioned in the Cameron Clans records, were a bag was found in local woodland during the 1850’s, though this hasn’t been confirmed.
Cluny’s Cage
Cluny was the chief of clan Macpherson who were the last known keepers of the gold. Cluny’s cage was the name given to a crude 18th century stone house built on the hill slope on the north side of Alder bay. An Interesting thing about maps made of this area include a point listed as Prince Charles Cave, though no one has actually found a cave here. One theory is that early map makers mistook the name cage for cave, and so listed it as such.
Callich Burn, Murlagan
The following comes from a letter in Clan Cameron’s record archives referring to the gold, I know this isn’t allot to go on, but its another theory about a possible location.
“It is also a family tradition that he and Doctor Archibald Cameron of Lochiel hid the Prince’s gold at the Callich burn while the Hanoverian troops were hot on their heels coming from Murlaggan private burial-ground where they hid it for a time among loose soil from a newly opened grave “– Bygone Lochaber, Somerled MacMillan (1971).
Glen Mallie, Kinlocharkaig
Chamber history records contain information about the treasure being buried around 1.5 miles south of Loch Arkaig by Doctor Cameron and some of his men. The amount buried was supposed to be 15,000 Livre, divided into 3 bags of 500. 2 were supposed to be buried in the ground, and the other hidden under a nearby rock.
If this version is true, then it would contradict the earlier claim of the man watching the burial and stealing a bag, later hiding it under a rock himself. Unless of course there were multiple burial points by numerous people, which would make sense given the amount, but until someone finds it this is just another hopeful dream for the avid treasure hunter.
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