Culloden is a place in Scots history that seems, to the foreigner, to be scored deep into the national mindset. Over the years, the English have made so many enemies, that perhaps to us, Culloden is just another battle we fought.
It was a great deal more complicated than the English vs the Scots ~ there were Irish and French here as well and Scot fighting Scot. The upshot was it was a complete disaster for the Jacobite cause and virtually marked the end of the way Scotland was governed. Over 1500 Jacobites lost their lives in the battle, most buried in mass graves on this bleak boggy battlefield.
It was a great deal more complicated than the English vs the Scots ~ there were Irish and French here as well and Scot fighting Scot. The upshot was it was a complete disaster for the Jacobite cause and virtually marked the end of the way Scotland was governed. Over 1500 Jacobites lost their lives in the battle, most buried in mass graves on this bleak boggy battlefield.
The site is managed by the National Trust for Scotland and it is well worth the detour on my Challenge walk. A sobering spot in my day and a place I shall always remember.
And if you open up the Continental aspect of the campaign, with French fighting British troops in Europe, there's a new layer of international politics. No wonder they wanted a 2nd front opened up.
ReplyDeleteBloody battle. Bloody aftermath. A British civil war rather than 'simply' Scots vs English.
I did a bit on this 18 months ago - funny how the records on what actually happened differ quite a bit from each other.
ReplyDeletehttp://phreerunner.blogspot.com/2007/12/saturday-8-december-2007-battle-of.html
- if anyone's interested...
Thanks for that link Martin - It's well written. The visitor centre at Culloden is excellent and goes into what happened in great detail - a thoroughly well designed and well run place.
ReplyDelete