ENGLAND/SCOTLAND. Battle of Culloden. 1746. Æ 51. 48.21 gm. 51 mm. By R. Yeo, London. Armored bust of the Duke of Cumberland right; GULIELMUS GEOR II R FIL DUX CUMBRIÆ / Cumberland depicted as Hercules clasping Britannia's hand, trampling Discord shown as a fallen figure; PERDVELLIB EX ANG FVGAT AD CULLOD DEBELLAT ("The rebels driven from England and defeated at Cullodon") 16 APR 1746 in exergue. Eimer 604. MI II: 613/278. Woolf 55.2. As made; some original mint luster; dramatic and historic medal in unusually choice condition.

William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-1765), son of King George II, crushed the Highland supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie (Prince Charles Edward, son of de jure King James III of the exiled House of Stuart) after their Jacobite army came within 30 miles of London. The Duke's massacre of prisoners and slaughter of the wounded in military hospital brought him the title "Billy the Butcher." (Cf. lots 179-182).

History of the Jacobite Rebellion: The last Stuart monarch had been dead for three decades and the Hanoverians were on the British throne. James ("The Old Pretender"), son of James VII and Mary of Modena had been unsuccessful in an attempt to gain the throne in 1715 and install himself as James III. His son Charles ("Bonnie Prince Charlie") launched yet another effort to establish a Stuart ruler, landing on an island in the Hebrides in July 1745. He built an army of highlanders that was successful in taking over Edinburgh by September. But the English throne was the goal, and after some initial invasion successes the English responded by bringing the commander of the English army in Flanders back to England. The Duke of Cumberland, son of George II, led a dominant force north. Arriving in Aberdeen in late February, he led his army north and east and at Culloden, just east of Inverness, the two forces met. Superior leadership, forces, and weaponry brought about a devastating defeat of the Jacobite army.Cumberland followed his successful defense of England with persecutions and reprisals. This became the last of the long string of Scottish battles with the English, a bloody history marked by a long series of finely produced medals by the English marking the events. (Cf. lots 179-182)