The Battle of Dunkeld: The Day Scotland Stood Firm

21 August 1689

When we think of the great battles that shaped Scotland, names such as Bannockburn, Flodden and Culloden immediately come to mind. Yet tucked away in the history of Perthshire is another battle which, although smaller in scale, had consequences far greater than its size might suggest.

On 21 August 1689, the small town of Dunkeld became the scene of a desperate struggle between the forces of King William III and the Jacobites supporting the deposed King James VII and II.

The Battle of Dunkeld was fought only weeks after the Jacobite victory at Killiecrankie. Had the Jacobites succeeded at Dunkeld, the consequences for the new Protestant settlement in Scotland could have been very serious.

Instead, a recently raised regiment of Scottish soldiers, many of them drawn from the ranks of the Covenanters, stood their ground and turned back the Jacobite advance.

Scotland After the Revolution

To understand Dunkeld, we first have to look at what had happened in Scotland only months earlier.

The Revolution of 1688 had removed James VII and II from the throne and replaced him with William of Orange and Mary. For many Protestants, this represented the protection of the Protestant religion and a rejection of what they regarded as James's attempts to advance Roman Catholic interests.

But not everyone accepted the change.

In the summer of 1689, John Graham of Claverhouse, Viscount Dundee, raised an army in support of James. On 27 July, the Jacobites defeated a government army at Killiecrankie.

The victory came at a heavy price, however. Dundee himself was killed during the battle.

The Jacobites now had a new commander, Colonel Alexander Cannon, and their next move would bring them to Dunkeld.

The Cameronians

Standing in their way was a relatively new regiment known as the Cameronians.

The regiment had been formed only a few months earlier and was largely recruited from the ranks of the Covenanters, the Scottish Presbyterians who had suffered persecution during the previous decades.

The regiment took its name from Richard Cameron, one of the leading Covenanter preachers who had been killed in 1680. Their commander at Dunkeld was Lieutenant-Colonel William Cleland, himself a veteran of the Covenanter struggles of the previous decade.

These were not soldiers who had spent years serving in a professional standing army. They were men who had strong religious and political convictions and who now found themselves defending the new government of William and Mary.

The Battle Begins

On the morning of 21 August, the Jacobite army approached Dunkeld.

The government troops were heavily outnumbered. It was estimated that the Jacobite force stood between approximately 4,000 and 5,000 men, while the Cameronians defending the town numbered around 700 to 800.

Dunkeld was not a fortified town in the traditional sense. There were no substantial defensive walls surrounding it. The Cameronians therefore had to make use of the buildings, streets and natural features of the town. They established defensive positions and prepared for what was clearly going to be a difficult fight. The Jacobites attacked from several directions.

What followed was not a conventional battlefield engagement. It became a brutal fight through the streets and houses of Dunkeld, with the defenders gradually being pushed back towards Dunkeld Cathedral. The fighting was intense and, at times, hand-to-hand. The town itself became a battlefield.

The Death of William Cleland

During the fighting, Lieutenant-Colonel William Cleland was killed.

His death could easily have broken the resolve of the defenders, but the Cameronians continued to fight. Gradually, the battle centred around Dunkeld Cathedral and the remaining defensive positions.

The Jacobites had the advantage in numbers, but fighting in the narrow streets and buildings made that advantage much less decisive. The Cameronians held their ground. Eventually, for reasons which are still not entirely clear, the Jacobites withdrew. The victory belonged to the Cameronians.

The cost, however, was considerable. Much of Dunkeld had been destroyed or burned during the fighting, and the town that stood before the battle was changed forever. Remarkably, physical evidence of the battle survives, including musket damage on the eastern wall of Dunkeld Cathedral.

Why Was Dunkeld So Important?

At first glance, Dunkeld might appear to be a relatively minor battle in a much larger conflict. It was anything but minor.

The Jacobites had already defeated the government forces at Killiecrankie. If they had followed that victory with another at Dunkeld, the road south would have been opened to them.

Dunkeld was an exceptionally significant battle because a Jacobite victory could have allowed their army to advance towards Perth and potentially onwards towards Stirling. Such a victory would have given a major boost to the Jacobite cause at a time when William's position in Scotland was still far from secure. Instead, the Cameronians stopped them.

The defeat at Dunkeld marked a significant turning point in the 1689 Jacobite Rising. After the battle, the Jacobite army struggled to maintain its strength and its ability to launch major attacks diminished considerably. The Rising continued, but the momentum had changed.

A Battle of Faith as Well as Politics

For Scotland's Protestants, Dunkeld has another important dimension.

The men defending the town were not simply fighting for a government. Many came from a religious tradition that had experienced years of persecution. The Covenanters had fought for the Presbyterian settlement of the Church of Scotland and against what they regarded as royal interference in the Church and the imposition of episcopacy. The men who stood at Dunkeld were therefore part of a much longer Scottish story.

The struggles of the Covenanters, the Revolution of 1688–89 and the defence of William and Mary can be seen as connected chapters in Scotland's turbulent seventeenth-century history. Dunkeld brought those different strands together on one battlefield.

The Significance for Scotland

The Battle of Dunkeld did not settle the future of Scotland once and for all. The Jacobite cause would survive for generations, producing further risings in 1715, 1719 and 1745.

But Dunkeld demonstrated that the new Protestant government could be defended in Scotland. It also prevented the Jacobites from exploiting their victory at Killiecrankie and advancing further south.

For the Cameronians, it became a defining moment in the history of the regiment. A group of men largely drawn from the Covenanter tradition had faced a much larger Jacobite army and refused to surrender.

Their victory helped preserve the position of William and Mary in Scotland at a crucial moment.

Dunkeld Today

Today, Dunkeld is a peaceful and beautiful Perthshire town. It is difficult to imagine that its streets were once filled with smoke, gunfire and fierce fighting.

Dunkeld Cathedral, however, remains a powerful reminder of the events of 1689. The cathedral itself has a history stretching back many centuries and was already an ancient religious centre long before the battle took place. It became the focal point of the fighting as the Cameronians made their final stand.

The marks left by musket fire on the cathedral walls provide a remarkable physical connection with that August day more than three centuries ago.

Remembering Dunkeld

The Battle of Dunkeld is perhaps best remembered not for the size of the armies involved, but for what was at stake. Scotland in 1689 was emerging from decades of religious and political conflict. The future of the monarchy, the Church and the country's relationship with Parliament were all being contested.

At Dunkeld, a small force stood against a much larger army and refused to give way. Their victory helped turn the tide of the first Jacobite Rising and secured an important victory for the new Protestant settlement in Scotland.

For those who remember Scotland's Protestant heritage, the story of Dunkeld therefore deserves its place alongside the better-known events of the period. It is a story of faith, conviction, courage and perseverance.

And perhaps that is why, more than 330 years later, the Battle of Dunkeld is still worth remembering.

21 August 1689 — Dunkeld stood firm.