23-24 March 1708
Abortive Scottish landing by Old Pretender

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The only surviving son of James II, James Edward Stuart, known as the 'Old Pretender' or 'King James VIII and III', is acknowledged king by Louis XIV of France on his father's death in 1701, and he fights on the French side in the War of the Spanish Succession. In March 1708, in the hope of encouraging a Jacobite rebellion, a French naval squadron brings him to the Firth of Forth from Dunkirk but is unable to land him. This event results in a swing to the Whigs in the May general election and increased support for the war. James Edward is exiled from France under the terms of the treaty of Utrecht in 1713.

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