Tongue - Bonnie Prince Charlie's gold
- On 30/05/2009
- In Treasure Hunting / Recoveries
- 0 comments
From Undiscovered Scotland
... Perhaps Tongue's most significant moment in history came in early 1746 when the ship Hazard, en route for Inverness, fled into the Kyle of Tongue to evade the HMS Sheerness, a Royal Navy frigate.
It was carrying over £13,000 in gold coins to fund Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion, and its crew took the gold ashore in an effort to carry it overland to its destination.
The Mackays were supporters of the government and their forces caught up with the crew of the Hazard next morning at Lochan Haken, near the southern end of the Kyle of Tongue.
The gold was thrown into the loch by the crew before they were captured, though most of it was later recovered by the government.
What adds significance is the story that when word of this reached Bonnie Prince Charlie he sent 1500 of his men north in an effort to regain the gold, and they were defeated en route.
Some believe that had these men still been available a short time later at the Battle of Culloden the outcome might have been different.
It is more likely that Culloden was so one-sided the missing troops would have made little difference, but who can say for sure ?
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