Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Jacobite Jesuit: Fr. Alexander Cameron, S.J.

The Battle of Culloden
A FASCINATING account of a "forgotten" hero of the Jacobite Uprising has just been published by a senior Lochaber churchman. The Forgotten Cameron of the '45: The Life and Times of Alexander Cameron S.J, has been written by Monsignor Thomas Wynne, well-respected and much-loved parish priest of St Margaret's Church in Roy Bridge. Telling the story of Father Alexander of Achnacarry, a missionary Jesuit priest and chaplain to Bonnie Prince Charlie's army, has been a long-held interest of 80-year-old Monsignor Wynne. He revealed to the Lochaber News: "Many years ago, I was intrigued by a small piece of tartan in a cabinet in the Cathedral House in Oban. "With it was an old hand-written note saying it was part of the tartan vestment worn by Father Alexander Cameron when he said mass on the eve of the Battle of Culloden.  "When I had more time in my new parish of Arisaig, I decided to investigate the life of this virtually unknown priest, and over a long period put together the story of his life which I found so moving.  "Alexander Cameron is almost forgotten by history, yet he was a remarkable man. The brother of the clan chief, Donald Cameron ("the Gentle Lochiel"), he was a life long Jacobite and a missionary in the Highlands during a period of great political, social and religious turmoil.
Link (here) to read the full account at Lochbar News

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