A glass that Jacobite rebel Bonnie Prince Charlie used to toast his late father realised £25,000 ($32,228) at Lyon & Turnbull yesterday.
That’s more than double its £12,000 ($15,469) estimate.
The foot of the glass has been replaced with silver
Prince Charlie was the son of James VIII of Scotland, heir to the Catholic House of Stuart.
The last Stuart king of England was James II, who was overthrown by the Protestant House of Hannover in 1688 – an event known as the Glorious Revolution.
The Stuarts were forced into exile in France.
However they and their supporters, known as the Jacobites, made two attempts to reclaim the throne. The first was made by James VIII in 1715 and failed miserably.
The second was undertaken by Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 (and also failed miserably).
The toast was made at a clandestine dinner in Scotland, where Jacobite support was strong.
Afterwards the foot was deliberately broken as a reminder that no lesser person should be toasted from this glass.
It was then replaced with silver, inscribed with the words: “God Blis King James the Eight”.
The silversmith would have to have been sympathetic to the Jacobite cause. While there was support in Scotland among the gentry and the highland clans, ordinary Scots were Protestant for the most part.
Jacobites were also considered traitors to the throne and inventively unpleasant punishments were doled out to those unlucky enough to be discovered.
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