Hoard of Jacobite Ammunition Unearthed in Scotland

LOCHAILORT, SCOTLAND—The Oban Times reports that metal detectorists discovered a cache of more than 200 musket balls, coins, and gold and gilt buttons in southern Scotland on property near the shore of Loch nan Uamh that was owned by Alasdair MacMhaighstir Alasdair, Gaelic tutor to Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. The ammunition is thought to have been part of a shipment intended to arm the Jacobites that arrived after their decisive defeat at the Battle of Culloden on April 16, 1746. “From what the finds tell us to date, the musket balls were cast for use, yet never fired and correspond with the same caliber of musket balls landed nearby with French arms for the Jacobite Rising by the ships Mars and Bellone on the 30th April 1746,” said Paul Macdonald, one of the detectorists. These arms were distributed and hidden locally, he added. The artifacts have been reported to Scotland's Treasure Trove. To read more about conflict archaeology in Scotland, go to "After the Battle."