IRISH WOLFHOUND SOCIETY OF IRELAND

Jacobite Uprising Remembered

Secretary of The Fifteen Dr Nicholas Wilkes, society mascot Finn, chairman John Nicholls and piper Nick Leeming pay tribute to those who died in the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745 at a ceremony in Dilston Castle to the plaintive sound of the Northumbrian small pipes members of The Fifteen (The Northumbrian Jacobite Society), paid their tribute to the Earls of Derwentwater.

Before their annual meeting at Dilston, 25 members of the group processed through the grounds of the college, near the remains of Dilston Castle to lay a wreath at the altar rail in the chapel.

Here they remembered James and Charles Radcliffe, and those who sacrificed their lives in the Jacobite Risings of 1715 and 1745.

Piper Nick Leeming of Haltwhistle led the way, followed by secretary Dr Nicholas Wilkes, of Great Whittington, with the society's mascot, Finn the Irish wolfhound, in his scarlet and green coat.

All three wore the familiar black and white Northumberland tartan and white silk cockades.

Chairman John Nicholls carried a magnificent wreath of white roses and chrysanthemums for the dedication ceremony as members joined the procession.

Inside the chapel, he reminded them of the tragic story of the Radcliffe brothers, who died for their faith and for their loyalty to their sovereign, King James III, to whom they were related and with whom they grew up in exile at Saint-Germain.

James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, was put on trial after his surrender following the Battle of Preston in the First Jacobite Rising and executed on Tower Hill, London, on February 24 1716.

His younger brother Charles, 5th Earl, escaped from Newgate Gaol and lived in exile in France with the “King over the Water”.

He was captured on a French ship in the North Sea on his way to join the forces of Prince Charles Edward Stuart at Montrose in the 1745 Rising.

Eventually identified, he was executed on a 30-year sentence on December 8 1746 – the second last person in history to be beheaded on Tower Hill.

Buried at St Giles-in-the-Fields, his heart was brought back to Dilston, it is said, by two faithful servants, who placed it in a leaden box next to the coffin of his brother James in the Radcliffe Family chapel, in the vault beneath their feet.

The piper played the poignant Derwentwater's Farewell as members reflected on their courage and steadfastness in the face of death, shared by other Northumbrians who suffered for the Jacobite Cause.

Next day, members fixed the wreath to the Derwentwater Cross at Langley, raised by the historian Cadwallader Bates in 1883 in memory of the Radcliffe brothers, who also bore the title of Viscount Langley.