The Loch Arkaig Treasure
On April 30, 1746, two French ships landed gold sent by Spain, about £35,000 in French louis d'or, at Loch nan Uamh in Arisaig, two weeks after the Jacobite army had been destroyed at Culloden. Six caskets of it reached Loch Arkaig and were hidden. The men who knew where went into hiding, into prison, or into exile, and not all of the gold was ever accounted for.
Search Area
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- Start point
- The road along the north shore of Loch Arkaig
- Visitor access
- Loch Arkaig, Achnacarry, near Spean Bridge, Highland
- Measured from
- Achnacarry, the Cameron seat at the eastern end of the loch
- The landing place
- Loch nan Uamh, on the coast road west toward Arisaig
- Driving
- Single track roads with passing places, reached from the Great Glen
- Nearest town
- Fort William, Highland
A general search zone, not an exact site. Loch Arkaig and the landing at Loch nan Uamh are the two fixed points the accounts run between.
The Legend
The money was Spanish, sent to pay for a rising that had already failed. The ships Mars and Bellona reached the west coast of Scotland in April 1746 carrying 1,200,000 livres. Their crews learned that the Jacobite army had been broken at Culloden on April 16, unloaded the Spanish money at Loch nan Uamh in Arisaig on April 30, and left.
Seven caskets came ashore. One was taken by Macdonald of Barrisdale's men on the way. The remaining six were brought inland to Loch Arkaig, north of Fort William in Lochaber, and hidden.
Responsibility for the gold passed from Cameron of Lochiel, chief of Clan Cameron, to Macpherson of Cluny. It was during Cluny's watch that the trail goes cold. The men who knew where the caskets were buried were fugitives, prisoners, or exiles, and the accounts they left afterward accuse each other of theft.
In 2005, the West Highland Museum in Fort William was given what appeared to be a letter from 1746 describing an eyewitness account of the burial. It was examined and found to be a fake.
What May Be Out There
The sum that arrived is documented. What happened to it afterward is not.
- Six caskets of Spanish gold specie, brought inland from the landing at Loch nan Uamh.
- A seventh casket, taken by Barrisdale's men before the rest reached the loch.
- Whatever remains of the 1,200,000 livres after years of fugitive spending and mutual accusation.
- Recovered so far: nothing that has been publicly shown to be Jacobite gold.
The Evidence
Documented record
- The arrival of the Mars and the Bellona and the landing of the Spanish money at Loch nan Uamh on April 30, 1746.
- The Jacobite defeat at Culloden on April 16, 1746, which is why the ships turned around.
- Contemporary Jacobite correspondence tracking the gold from Lochiel to Cluny Macpherson.
- The 2005 letter given to the West Highland Museum, examined and found to be a forgery.
Legend and hearsay
- The claim that the caskets are still buried where they were first hidden.
- The competing accusations of theft among the Jacobite officers who handled the money.
- Local stories of coins turning up around the loch.
Known Clues
The landing at Loch nan Uamh. The date and the sum are the firmest facts in the case. The same sea loch is where Charles Edward Stuart had landed the year before and where he left Scotland for the last time in September 1746, and a cairn marks the spot today.
The passing of the trust. Lochiel held the gold and then Cluny Macpherson held it, and the record of who had it when is reasonably clear until Cluny. What is not clear is what Cluny did with it while living as a fugitive in the hills for years.
The 2005 forgery. The West Highland Museum was handed an apparent eyewitness account of the burial, dated 1746. It did not survive examination. A case this old attracting a fresh fake in the 21st century is worth knowing before weighing any other document offered for it.
Visiting Information
Loch Arkaig lies north of Fort William in Lochaber, reached from the Great Glen by way of the Mile Dorcha, the Dark Mile, near Achnacarry. The road along the north shore is single track with passing places and it is slow going, so it is worth allowing more time than the map suggests.
Loch nan Uamh, where the Spanish money came ashore, is on the coast road west toward Arisaig, with a cairn marking the spot where Charles Edward Stuart left Scotland in September 1746. Glenfinnan, where the rising was proclaimed the year before, is on the same road.
The land around the loch is a mix of private estates and forestry. Scotland's statutory access rights cover walking responsibly across most of it, and it is best practice to keep to tracks in stalking season and to check estate notices. Anything found has to be reported under Scottish treasure trove law, which claims finds for the Crown rather than the finder.
Reality Check
This one starts from firmer ground than most. The gold existed, the ships are documented, the sum is recorded, and the landing has a date. The question is only what happened to six caskets in the hands of hunted men. That is a question with an ordinary answer available, which is that the money was spent, split, and stolen across the years that followed, and the accusations the Jacobite officers threw at each other support it. The romantic answer is that some of it is still in the ground above the loch. The 1746 letter offered as proof of that in 2005 was a forgery.
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