Trip to the Highlands (part 2, Culloden)

A hop skip and a jump away from Clava Cairns is Culloden Battlefield, the last hand to hand battle that took place on British soil. The battle was between the the Jacobites and the English Government army. The young and inexperienced Bonnie Prince Charlie lead the Jacobites all night through the fog so they could ambush the English while they slept, but they got lost on the fog and ended up in Culloden. That morning the battle began and 700 Jacobites were killed in under the space of an hour. They were up against canons, grapeshot, mortar shells and musket fire as they charged at the government troops with their swords and targes. After the battle the government army killed the jacobite wounded who were hiding in a barn and they also killed some onlookers and curious highlanders who came to the battlefield afterwards because they wore highland clothing, it was hard to tell if they were in the battle or not.


Stone markers mark the places where the clans were buried, identified by their cap badge. Their cap badges didn't look like the kind of cap badges that we wear for pipe bands, etc today. they more looked like a very flattened coin with holes through it to sew it onto clothing. People started to visit Culloden quite soon after the battle and ever since has become a place of pilgrimage. Items that have been found on the battlefield are displayed in the visitor centre. There was everything from bayonets and various musket balls to lost buttons, coins and a small key to wind a watch.
The victorians loved coming to Culloden, they would pay their penny to enter the field and then maybe pay a little more so they could take something back with them (like a bone fragment, musket ball, or anything they could find).... "ugh, victorians" Culzean had to restore the ceiling from where they bored a hole straight through the neoclassical artwork painted on it to put up a gasolier.... and now I hear that they took bone fragments away from war graves.... It makes me cringe to think of how naive they were that they didn't think to preserve places for future generations. Which brings me to the topic of us and how much garbage we produce and how we should start being more "green" but I digress....
Here are some more photos of Culloden, a solemn place that marks the end of the clan system in Scotland, the battle that lasted under one hour and shook Scotland forever. I'll end my writing here so you can tour through my photos.