Behind the scenes at Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites

It is a story of loyalty, loss and rebellion and remains one of the most captivating - and popular - periods of Scottish history that has inspired painters, poets, authors and television blockbusters alike.

Detail from Allan Ramsay portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, now on show at Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites at National Museum of Scotland. PIC: NMS.

Now, the background to 1745 Jacobite Rising has been compellingly unravelled at Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites, the major show at the National Museum of Scotland for 2017.

Principal curator David Forsyth took The Scotsman behind the scenes of the exhibition to examine the wider historical context of the Stuart’s ill-fated campaign to regain their lost kingdoms which culminated in the crushing defeat at the Battle of Culloden.

Mr Forsyth said: “We were very keen to tell the full story, the deeper story, and to take it back to the flight of James VII in 1688.

Detail from Allan Ramsay portrait of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, now on show at Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites at National Museum of Scotland. PIC: NMS.

“You can’t understand Culloden without knowing that.

“Bonnie Prince Charlie fits within the Stuart story but he is, if you like, at the end of the story. There is a lot of history before that, before Culloden.”

The wider map of the 1745 campaign in Scotland has also been set out with the new Jacobite Trail route.

It takes in 26 historic locations across Scotland that were key to Bonnie Prince Charlie’s attempts to restore his family line to the British throne.

For more information and for a chance to win a six-night stay on the trail, visit www.jacobitetrail.co.uk