Posted on 02/19/2007 10:35:53 AM PST by blam
Beach hunt for lost Jacobite gold
The gold was intended for Bonnie Prince Charlie
Archaeologists hope to find missing French gold sent to Scotland to help fund a Jacobite Rebellion buried under a remote Highland beach. A portion of the money was believed to have been hidden at Arisaig, near Mallaig, in the 1700s.
Neil Oliver is leading the hunt for the gold for a new BBC Two series called History Detectives.
The money did not arrive in Scotland until after the Jacobites' defeat at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.
It was intended to finance Charles Edward Stuart - Bonnie Prince Charlie - and his efforts against the British monarch, George II, and put his father James Stuart on the throne.
Mr Oliver, an archaeologist and co-presenter of TV programmes Two Men in a Trench and Coast, said the original complete sum of money sent from France may be worth £5m today.
What happened to the gold remains a mystery, however, a share of it could have been buried at Arisaig.
People have been fantasying about the gold since April 1746
Archaeologist Neil Oliver
Mr Oliver said the clues to its possible location were contained in a letter believed to have been written in October 1746.
He said: "It appears to be a death bed confession from a Jacobite who took some of the money and hid it.
"Apparently he was so tortured from having taken some of the money.
"He says in his letter that he didn't know what it was when he took it then when he found out that it belonged to his rightful prince he made his confession to make sure it got back its rightful owner."
Mr Oliver conceded the letter may be a fake, but forensic tests on the ink and paper will confirm its age.
He added: "People have been fantasying about the gold since April 1746."
History Detectives is to be screened later this year on BBC Two.
Treasure hunts are usually interesting.
"...the current Stuart Pretender is Franz II, Duke of
Bavaria; according to Wikipedia.....
But he's probably not interested. The Scots will have to revolt on their own. I wonder who the current socialist pretender is?
ping
My sister lives on the North Carolina coast and she tells me folks are still down there looking for Blackbeard's treasure.
what do you know about Oak Island? (my son recently did a report on it for school)
There was a site in Ocean County New Jersey where I found a tree on a hilltop with a chain and blcok and tackle hanging from a branch. Always wondered if this was a site for Blackbeard's treasure since it was only a couple hundred yards from the beach on Barnegate Bay!
"Fantasy" is the right word for it. If gold had been shipped to Bonnie Prince Charlie, lots of people would have known about it and its whereabouts. The Jacobites were in need of ready money in order to escape to France, and wouldn't have neglected such an obvious source of funds.
Keep Geraldo away or the treasure will never be found.
As far as Oak Island is concerned, they are in the oil/gas business now.
I likely know as much gossip as you do. I still find it interesting though. :)
Does this mean that England claims the money if found?
well, we "got the book" (actually two) and the "money pit" is an amazing thing with a depth of 140 + feet, flooding tunnels, etc. The more fanciful theory (although you have to go some to be more fanciful than Captain Kidd) is that the Scottish Sinclairs were the protectors of the Templar treasure, pre-Columbian voyages to Nova Scotia , etc., etc. The principal at school suggested Oak Island as the site for the next class trip.
At that bloody, bloody battle (at which the Brits vanquished the Highlanders) a young Scots physician named Hugh Mercer marched with the Highlanders.
After the Brits won, they went house to house looking for survivors of the battle--they were enraged at the Scots. Hugh Mercer was being sought by them, and managed to escape to America.
Mercer went to the western PA frontier where he became an Indian fighter and helped protect the Germans who lived there (they were mostly pacifists). During the French and Indian War Mercer met up with George Washington, Daniel Morgan and others on the Monongahela that would play important roles in the RevWar.
Eventually Mercer left the Quaker State (too many pacifists for him) and settled in Fredericksberg, VA. He was one of General Washington's favorites, and died a hero's death at the Battle of Princeton. All the Mercer Counties are named for him and Gen. George Patton was a direct descendant of his.
The shaft is empty. The fortune is well invested elsewhere in legit business.
There is another case of missing treasure in England that has always fascinated me. All the original crown jewels of England were lost during the reign of King John in 1216, supposedly when his baggage train took a shortcut across The Wash on the east cost of England and were surprised by the incoming tide. The area where this happened is now inland.
I remember hearing that story. Has no one ever found any of the treasure ?
methinks ye an investor trying to shy off the competition
Instead, Britain had to import a weird German family and make up an English-sounding name for them: "Windsor".
Depending on which theories you believe, they may, or may not, be reptiles....
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