Ed Mooney’s great history challenges are on Wednesdays of each week. All are welcome to join!
For the challenge I am resurrecting a piece I had written as an added page to a previous post about Dunvegan Castle on Skye with apologies to anyone who may have already read it. The image is the memorial cairn at the famous battle of Culloden, in the Scottish highlands.
This is a site well worth the visit and I’m sure it has the same effect on the onlooker as on those who visit the monument of 9/11 or the Viet Nam War Memorial. It is another of history’s stories of honour and courage, power, greed and futility. Culloden is a bleakly beautiful moor lying at the gateway to the highlands just outside of Inverness. In season, Scottish thistle, heather and wild flowers bloom in the peaceful fields. The old thatched farmhouse that was a silent witness to the battle in 1746 still stands, with highland cattle and horses grazing nearby.
The Culloden Memorial Museum has a 360 degree theater inside the building that gives you the impression of being in the middle of the battle. Before entering the movie you walk down a darkened hallway as though you are trudging through the night rain, hungry, tired, poorly armed and thinking with dread of what the day ahead might bring. From the shadows, you can hear the voices of commanders and clansmen encouraging you onward in the glorious hope that,Bonny Prince Charlie will sit upon the stone of destiny as king, and your small croft of ancestral land with sheep, cows, and “hame” will not be lost. Some of the men wrote poignant letters to wives and families they would never see again.
Many of them were armed only with swords or sticks and I tried to imagine what it must have felt like going against a fully equipped army of carbine and canon. They had the pipers to spur them on but in the end 2000 highlanders lay dead or dying. Those who survived the battle and escaped were hunted down and executed. The Jacobite Rebellion was over and with it the old way of life of Scottish chiefs and clans. The highland clearances continued ruthlessly and many Scots emigrated to the New World.
At any rate, it’s impossible to walk out dry eyed after watching the film and I was deeply moved as I walked through fields that had been steeped in blood and were now strewn with the solemn marker stones bearing the names of those clans that fell so long ago. I thought perhaps I was walking on the ghosted bones of some of my own ancestors among those MacPhersons, Dhonnachaidhs, MacLeods and Murrays. Their names are echoes in the piper’s tune and their dust is fused with the earth of Culloden Moor.
Background: The Irish and French supported the Jacobites against the British and fought alongside them. The French tried to warn the highland commanders that they were ill prepared to face the English but there was no turning back. The Irish Brigade shouted “Cuimhnighidh ar Luimneach agus ar Feall na Sassanach” or Remember Limerick and Saxon Perfidy!
The Highland clearances were also known as Fuadach nan Gàidheal, the “expulsion of the Gaels”
over the sea to skye
“Bonny” Prince Charlie escaped with the help of a young girl, Flora MacDonald to the Isle of Skye and then to France. He had been an incompetent military leader and sadly died in exile, a drunken and broken man.
There were Lairds and clans who did not support the Jacobite cause. The Jacobites were predominantly Roman Catholic Highlanders and adherents to James VII of Scotland.
The Chief of the Clan MacLeod on Skye supported the Hanoverians but the MacLeods of Raasay, Lewis fought with the Glengarry Regiment on the Jacobite side and were later punished by Norman Macleod.
The Robertson’s (Gaelic- Donnachaidh) fought with the Athol Brigade for the Jacobite cause.
When Samuel Johnson, a prominent English essayist, along with Boswell, also an author, visited Scotland in 1773, Johnson wrote in his account “we came to late to see what we expected.” – A Journey to the Hebrides
The Ghosts of Culloden
See also
Oh Fine Scottish Weather ( Dunvegan Castle on Skye)
(Robertsons / MacLeods are branches of my family)
the runes of the gatekeeper's daughter- dedicated to Nick 
Hi Cybele, thanks for your long reply about the English, Scots etc, and this link to your Culloden post – I’ve read John Prebble’s “Culloden” many times, and I visited the battlefield a long time ago, probably around 1975 or so. Adrian
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oh I will make note of that book! Thanks so much!
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The book is “Culloden”, written by John Prebble, and originally published 1961. Mine is a Penguin 1967 version. He also published the following: “Glencoe” re the massacre; “The Highland Clearances”; “The Lion in the North” (I assume re Scotland). A
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thanks so much Adrian!
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Thank you for writing this. Being big chunks of both Scottish and British this battle is hard to research, so many mixed emotions. Makes you want to slip back in time and try to stop it. This is one of many places I want to visit myself.
You’re a good writer, I look forward to enjoying your other posts.
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and thank you Inky!! I hope you will visit. It’s a very moving experience. Thanks for your encouraging comments!!
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Superb history and photos,dear Cybele!It’s quite an experience to watch the film and relive history 🙂 xxx
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It was very moving to be there Doda! Thank you!
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I hadn’t read this before, Cybele, it is an amazing post. Your writing conjures up the hardship and emotion of those poor men, the horror of their doomed battle, and your pictures provide the atmosphere… just wonderful!
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thanks Ali and yes it was a very poignant experience!! I’m glad I could convey some of that!
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Great post Cyb. I’ve visited Culloden a couple of times in the past and as you say it is a very moving and somber experience. All the best for 2016.
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same to you Mark! Thank you!
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A great picture with a moving story. I must visit this site at some time.
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very moving! and yes I hope you do ! Thank you!
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Oh, my mistake! I saw his name and my brain twitched. lol. Nice job, Cybele! Again, that farmhouse shot is my favorite. Needs some creepy music to go with it.
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Haha!! I’ve done that too! no worries. Thanks so much Robert! Happy New Year! I love your posts as well!
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That farmhouse shot is nice! I look forward to your every post, Ed. 🙂
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what a nice thing to say even if my name isn’t Ed lol!! Thanks Robert!
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Well told, and great photo treatments. Haunting song.
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Many thanks Disperser!
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Sometimes you never think about wars in other lands
Very interesting to hear about the history
Great post
As always Sheldon
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Thank you Sheldon! War is such a sad statement of human history!
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Wow how interesting…another part of history I was unaware of. Thank you for posting.
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So glad you read it- history is so sad sometimes!! Thank you Sue!! All the best for the New Year!
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Thank you. And the same to you. Good health and happiness I am wishing for you in 2016.
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and to you!
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amazing
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Thanks for stopping by Gavin!
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It must have been a horrific battle.
I’ve read all of Diana Gabaldon’s books and one of her earlier books in the series covered this battle. She painted a bloody, and horrific scene with words. She’s a brilliant writer. Have you read the series? I re-read it annually while waiting for the next book to come out. 🙂
The images and narrative you’ve written also paint an emotional picture. I have a pretty good idea of how you felt as I have had the same feelings walking on battle fields from WW2.
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I have not read her but will look into her books! Thanks Deborah!! Yes its so poignant and sad – human history!
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Moving tale. It is good to remember them.
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thanks so much Sherry!! I agree!
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