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Title:
Portrait of the Gentle Lochiel
Description:
Portrait of Donald Cameron of Lochiel (1695–1748), ‘The Gentle Lochiel' in a gilt frame. Although this is a copy of a George Chalmers (1720–c.1791) original made 20 years after Lochiel’s death it is an important painting as very few images of the Gentle Lochiel of the 1745 Rising have survived. It is not recorded how the portrait came into the museum’s collection, but it is listed in the catalogue for the West Highland Museum’s 1925 exhibition titled “Prince Charles Edward and the ’45 Campaign” and was possibly gifted to us by Cameron of Lochiel in the 1920s. The Gentle Lochiel played a pivotal role in the 1745 Jacobite Rising. As chief of the powerful Clan Cameron his support for the cause determined whether the campaign could proceed. When the Standard was raised at Glenfinnan in August 1745, Clan Cameron made up two thirds of the Jacobite army. Lochiel led his men throughout the Rising and was injured at the Battle of Culloden on 16 April 1746. He escaped to France with the Prince in 1746 and died in exile in 1748.