The Royal Caledonian Ball has been the scene of some remarkable things in its two hundred year history. One of the earliest recorded incidents - which took place in 1824, a mere two years after the Ball was first held - was a quadrille danced to open the Ball. The newspapers of the day describe it as follows:
"The dancing commenced at a quarter past twelve with a quadrille a la Polonaise; danced by two sets of tall, young, and beautiful women, called 'The Ladies of the White Rose' -- The Rose of Charley [sic] Stuart, carried by the Ladies in the right hand, for the first time since the years fifteen and forty-five (was a novelty)."
In truth, it would have been more than a mere novelty. The white rose had long been an emblem of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite cause. For it to be held aloft at a Society Ball in London with a Royal Party in attendance would no doubt have sent tongues wagging. It was also risky: the Ball was in many ways the culmination of years of efforts – including by the Highland Society of London – to restore Scotland’s reputation after the rebellions and unrest of the 18th century. Although these efforts had been wildly successful, thanks in large part to George IV's seminal visit to Scotland two years prior and Sir Walter Scott's clever use of pageantry, the 'Tartan Revival' was still a new phenomenon; still fragile, and more than a little politically charged.
Certainly it would have been one of the first time such an open, obvious reference to the Jacobite cause had been seen in polite London society, never mind tolerated, since the doomed rebellions of the previous century. We believe it might have been done in celebration - and indeed accepted because - of the restoration of previously forfeited Scottish peerages, approved by Parliament a month or so prior. A record of that debate can be found on Hansard, here.
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