Killin incident of 1749
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| Killin incident | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745 | |||||||
 The village of Killin, Scottish Highlands with Loch Tay in the background | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 British GovernmentPulteney’s Regiment |
 Jacobites | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Captain Hughes | Mr Campbell, Sheriff depute in Killin | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | |||||||
The Killin incident of 1749 took place in August 1749 in Killin in the Scottish Highlands in the tumultuous aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Two men who had been plundering at will in full Highland dress after the Dress Act 1746 had made it illegal to wear it, had been captured by soldiers of the British Army, but a large mob secured their release.
After the Jacobite rising of 1745 the Dress Act 1746 was passed by George II of Great Britain making it illegal, as of 1 August 1747, for any man or boy to wear Highland dress.[1] However, there was a lack of cooperation, as the military saw it, of the civilian authorities to bring in offenders.[2] Captain Hughes of Pulteney's Regiment reported from his headquarters at Loch Rannoch in August 1749 that the local sheriff depute had been dismissing individuals taken before him for wearing Highland dress.[2]
The incident
Later that month Captain Hughes reported that a party of fully armed Highlanders had been plundering at Killiecrankie.[3] They were chased as far as Aberfeldy but they escaped because the soldiers could get no help from the local people.[3] However, two of the men were later captured at Killin,[3] but while the Corporal was conducting the two offenders to Captain Hughes he was met by the sheriff depute and a mob.[2] The sheriff depute ordered the soldiers to release the two prisoners or he would put the soldiers in prison and at the same time "abuse" them for "molesting" people for wearing dress that he thought should be tolerated.[2] The soldiers then released the prisoners.[2]