A row of seven beech trees (Fagus sylvatica) interpreted by a roadside monument on the south side of the A861, at Kinlochmoidart, the Seven Men of Moidart commemorates the seven companions who came with Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-88) aboard La Doutelle from France and accompanied him here in 1745 to gather support before he raised his standard at Glenfinnan on 19th August. Planted early in the 19th century on the north shore of Loch Moidart, only four of the original seven trees survive and some of these are in poor condition. New trees have been planted to replace the ones which have died.
The 'Seven Men' were William Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine, regarded by the Jacobites as the 2nd Duke of Atholl but who had lost his titles owing to his part in the 1715 rising; Sir Thomas Sheridan, an Irishman who was a veteran of the Battle of the Boyne and had been the Prince's tutor but was now over seventy; Sir John Macdonald of MacDonnell, another Irishman who had served in the French Cavalry but was now fond of the bottle; Æneas MacDonald, the expedition's banker, who had worked in Paris but was persuaded to accompany the Prince gain the support of his elder brother Donald MacDonald, Laird of Kinlochmoidart; Colonel John William O'Sullivan, an Irish officer in the French army; Rev. George Kelly, an Irish Episcopal clergyman; and Colonel Francis Strickland, an Englishman who was a member of an old Westmorland Jacobite family. Several of these gentlemen were elderly or infirm, and only O'Sullivan would play an important part in the military operations which followed.
Of these, Murray of Tullibardine was captured after Culloden and died in the Tower of London; Sir John Macdonald surrendered and was eventually part of a prisoner-exchange with France; Kelly, O'Sullivan and Sheridan escaped to France; Æneas MacDonald was captured but later released; and Strickland died of natural causes at Carlisle.
