The restoration of Prince James and the attempted Invasion of Scotland
Norbert Roettiers (1665–1727)
Category
Coins and medals
Date
1708
Materials
Silver
Measurements
377 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
France
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 773298
Summary
Silver, medal supporting the restoration of Prince James (1688-1766) and the attempted Invasion of Scotland, by Norbert Roettiers (1665-1727), struck France, 1708. A silver medal by Nobert Roettiers issued in 1708 in support of the restoration to the throne of Great Britain of Prince James (James III/VIII; The Old Pretender), at a moment when the French were contemplating the invasion of Scotland. The obverse has a bust portrait in profile of Prince James facing right, bewigged and with a laurel wreath, wearing armour. The legend translates as ‘Whose [image] is this?’ On the reverse is a schematic map of Britain and Ireland, within a sea dotted with ships, with the different countries labelled, and the legend ‘Render’.
Full description
The medal, intended for distribution to his supporters, was struck after Prince James had returned from a failed French invasion of Scotland in 1708. The 1707 Act of Union was unpopular with many in Scotland, leading France and the exiled Jacobite court to believe there was a new opportunity to invade Britain via Scotland. Louis XIV decided to send a substantial invasion force, consisting of five sail of the line, twenty-four frigates, and sixty-six long boats and transports carrying twelve battalions of troops. Prince James, the Old Pretender, travelled with the fleet under the name of the Chevalier St. George, with all the necessary accoutrements for the establishment of his court. However, the expedition was to prove a failure. The fleet left Dunkirk on 6 March and, taking advantage of the British fleet under Admiral Byng having been blown off its usual station at Dunkirk, made its way to the Firth of Forth. Before they could land any troops, the pursuing British fleet was sighted, the immediate response of the French being to cut the cables of their ships and make sail northwards. The remainder of the French fleet tried to reach Inverness, but were blown off course by violent gales and returned to France, arriving home on 27 March. The legends are phrased as a question (obverse) and a single word (reverse), which both imply and demand completion. Thus, they should be understood in full as: ‘Whose [image] is this? [The King's]. Render [then to the King these Islands, which are his.]’ It is the only medallic portrait in which James faces to the right. An example was presented by the Duchess of Gordon to the faculty of Advocates in Edinburgh in 1711, the gift being gratefully acknowledged in a speech by Robert Dundas of Arniston (Woolf, Medallic Record, p. 62). This was of course regarded as a display of Jacobitism and, although an apology was subsequently made and accepted, the Court of Hanover forced the dismissal from office of the Lord Advocate Sir David Dalrymple for not prosecuting an enquiry into the incident with more vigour. In 1714 several of the medals were distributed amongst the Jacobites who had assembled at Lochmaben, under the pretext of attending the races. For other medals commemorating the 1708 expedition, from both Government and Jacobite perspectives, see NT 773299.1 and 773299.2. Jeremy Warren 2019
Provenance
Given to the National Trust in 1993 by George Child Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey (1910-1998).
Marks and inscriptions
Obverse, legend: CVIVS. EST. Obverse, below truncation: NR in monogram Reverse, legend: REDDITE Reverse, on maps: SCOT & E[dinburgh] HIB & D[ublin] BRIT & L[ondon]
Makers and roles
Norbert Roettiers (1665–1727), medallist
References
Cochran-Patrick 1884: Robert William Cochran-Patrick, Medals of Scotland from the earliest period to the present time, Edinburgh 1884, pp. 61-62, no. 35, pl. XI Fig. 4. Hawkins, Franks and Grueber 1885: Edward Hawkins, Augustus W. Franks and Herbert A. Grueber (eds.), Medallic Illustrations of the History of Great Britain and Ireland to the death of George II, 2 vols., London 1885, vol. II, p. 314, no. 135. Skeet 1930: Francis John Angus Skeet, Stuart Papers, Pictures, Relics, Medals and Books in the Collection of Miss Maria Widdrington, Leeds 1930, p. 73. Woolf 1988: Noel Woolf, The Medallic Record of the Jacobite Movement, London 1988, p. 60, no. 23:1. Eimer 2010: Christopher Eimer, British Commemorative Medals and their Values, London 2010, p. 79, no. 427. Guthrie 2013: Neil Guthrie, The Material Culture of the Jacobites, Cambridge 2013, pp. 66-68. Forsyth 2017: David Forsyth (ed.), Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites, exh. cat., venue: National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh 2017, Viccy Coltman, ‘Material Matters. An Introduction to Jacobite Material Culture’, pp. 179-92, p. 186, Fig. 10.5.