Truth or Treason? Sources for the Study of the Jacobites - Archives Exhibition

[Prince James III c 1721 medal shown next to title]

[Eva] My name's Eva and I'm here on the University of Guelph campus going around asking people what they know about the Jacobites.

[Eva Gabler. Fourth year undergraduate history student at the University of Guelph. Eva interviews students across campus, including interviews in McLaughlin Library, University Centre, Athletic Centre, Science Complex, Starbucks, and outside]

[Eva] Hi there. What is your name?

[Sophia] Sophia.

[Jake] Jake Williamson.

[Marie] Hi, I'm Marie.

[Lindsey] And I'm Lindsey.

[Ashley] Ashley.

[Sophia] Sophia.

[Christina] Christina.

[Jasmine] Jasmine.

[David] David.

[Amy] Amy.

[Shaima] I'm Shaima.

[Julia] I'm Julia.

[Riley] Riley.

[Sam] Sam.

[Eva] And what year and program are you in?

[Riley] I'm in fourth year Psych.

[Sam] I'm in fourth year Sociology.

[Ashley] Human Kinetics and I'm first year.

[Sophia] And Biomedical Science and I'm in first year.

[Jake] I'm in second year Bachelor of Arts and Science.

[Christina] I'm a first year in Food Science.

[Jasmine] I'm first year in Neuroscience.

[Marie] I'm in third year Marketing Management.

[Lindsey] I'm a fourth year Marketing Management student.

[Eva] Amazing. And do you know anything about the Jacobites?

[Marie] No.

[Lindsey] No.

[Sophia] No, I do not.

[Amy] No. 

[Jake] No. Not at all. 

[Ashley] No.

[Christine] No. I've never heard of them before.

[Jasmine] No idea.

[Shaima] The what?

[Eva] The Jacobites?

[Shaima] No.

[Julia] No, me neither.

[David] Vaguely.

[Riley] Yeah, I know stuff from Outlander.

[Eva] Awesome. And what about you?

[Sam] Not at all. No.

[Eva standing outside of the McLaughlin Library. Video showing the McLaughlin Library sign, and then focusing in on Eva]

[Eva] So who were the Jacobites? We asked some experts about this relatively obscure period of British history.

[Kevin] My name is Kevin James and I hold the Scottish Studies Foundation chair at the University of Guelph.

[Dr. Kevin James. Professor and Head of Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph. Kevin is being interviewed in an office.]

[Kevin] And the Jacobites were a movement that remained loyal to the House of Stuart after the overthrow of King James the second, in 1688. And for the subsequent 50 years, they continued to battle for the restoration of James and his descendants to the British throne. 

[Video spanning Jacobite book artifacts]

[Gillian] My name is Gillian MacDonald, I am an assistant professor of history at Michigan State University and my research focuses on the revolution of 1688 to 91, the so-called Glorious Revolution and how borders play a role in that in particular. 

[Dr. Gillian MacDonald. Assistant History Professor at Michigan State University. Gillian is being interviewed in an office.]

[Gillian] The Jacobite ideology travels, it travels as far as the Atlantic and gets into the English colonies out there as well, and there is very much fear that the Jacobites will cause uprisings in other colonies for England as well. This is not just Members of Parliament. This is people in local possessions, people on the ground. 

[Video spanning over Jacobite medal artifacts, then transitioning into showing exhibit curator preparing for the exhibit by cutting some foam core.]

[Dylan] Hiya. I'm Dylan, a research assistant at the Center for Scottish Studies and one of the contributors to the exhibition.

[Dylan Parry-Lai. Research Assistant and Post Graduate Student at the University of Guelph. Dylan is being interviewed in an office.]

[Dylan] Well, it's important for several reasons. The reason that stands out to be the most is in its historiographical significance, the Jacobites represented a significant political threat to Parliament. The political party at this time, the dominant one at least, were the Whigs, and they propagated a theory of history that argued that the rise of the Hanoverians to the British monarchy was inevitable. 

[Video spanning Jacobite books and medal artifacts.]

[Gillian] I guess that's my favourite part. It's much more complicated than you think it is. Don't take everything that's already been said as the hard truth, because the Jacobites are involved in so much plotting and conspiracy. 

[Eva] Is there any Jacobite connection to the City of Guelph?

[Kevin] Good question. And funnily enough, there is a rather direct connection between the name of the City of Guelph, because there was a dynasty, the Welf, and they were originally a Germanic family and it was one of the family names of the Hanoverians. Of course, it was the Hanoverians who replaced the Stewart line when they died out with Queen Anne, and it's the Hanoverians more or less now who continue to govern the United Kingdom and Canada as monarchs.

[Video showing a map and pages from books from the exhibit. The video also shows a curator preparing text for an exhibit display.]

[Eva] So come to McLaughlin Library to check out the exhibit.

[Truth or Treason? Sources for the Study of the Jacobites. On display from April 3, 2023 to March 1, 2024. Exhibit Gallery, Archival & Special Collections. Second Floor McLaughlin Library. lib.uoguelph.ca.]

[Online version of the exhibit and Jacobite Collection.]

[Created by: HIST 3480 Promotional Team. Supervising Teacher: Melissa McAfee, Special Collections Librarian.]

[University of Guelph. Improve Life.]