When my family and I went to Scotland, two of the amazing places we visited was Culloden Moor and Culloden House. Culloden Moor is a battlefield where the last battle was fought on British soil in 1746. Culloden House is the place where the battle was planned. Both are important places in British history that would have changed the course of history if the events had gone differently. I didn’t know much about Scottish history before this trip because we never really focused on it at school, but visiting such historic places really made me interested to learn the history behind it. Here’s what I learned at Culloden:
I learned what a Jacobite is. Have you ever heard of a Jacobite? I didn’t before I went to Scotland. A Jacobite was a supporter of the exiled Stuart king. They believed in the divine right to rule and believed that the Catholic James VII of Scotland (also known as James II of England) and his descendants had that divine right. James was forced into exile in 1688. Jacobites wanted to restore the throne to a Stuart. They made many, many attempts to take the throne back between 1688 and 1746. They were never successful.
My family on Culloden Battlefield, Photo taken by Andy Nicholson
I learned what a Jacobite Rising is. I had never heard of those either. Jacobite risings were the uprisings, rebellions and wars in Great Britain when the Jacobites tried to take back the throne for a Stuart.
I learned about Jacobite weapons and saw a weapons demonstration. My mom booked a tour with Outlander: The Past Lives Experience and Andy, our tour guide, did a Jacobite weapons demonstration. I saw a dirk (a hand-held sharp knife), a claymore (a huge, long sword), a broad sword (which had a basket over the hand, where Jacobites would keep a piece of red fabric to show they had slayed a Red Coat), and a targe (a shield which reminded me of a Viking shield).
Andy Nicholson, Jacobite Weapons Demonstration
I learned about the Battle of Culloden and why it was so important to Scottish and British history. It was a very bloody battle with a bunch of Jacobite lives lost. The Battle of Culloden was fought in less than an hour on April 16, 1746. It was a massive defeat by the Jacobites and completely ended the rebellions. Prince Charles Edward Stuart, also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, wanted to win back the throne for his father. He fought against the Hanoverian government army led by his cousin, William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland, who was fighting to keep the throne for his father, King George II. Both of them were 25 years old. If it had a different outcome, there might not be a centralized Britain today. Scotland might be an independent country. Instead, they lost and it was the end of the Jacobites.
Culloden Moor Farmhouse, Photo taken by Andy Nicholson
The English did some pretty harsh things to make sure there were no more rebellions. They basically tried to kill Highland culture. It was the beginning of the end of the clan system. The power of clan chiefs was replaced by British law. Highland dress, kilts and tartan were banned. After the Jacobite defeat at Culloden, thousands of Jacobites were hunted down and many were executed. We saw the stone near Culloden where surviving Jacobite warriors were taken by the British after the battle and shot dead. You could still see the musket holes in the stone. I just can’t imagine what it must have been like to be in Scotland at that time.
The stone they would stand Jacobites against after the battle of Culloden to execute them. You can still see the musket holes in the stone.
Culloden House played a role in the battle and still stands today. Bonnie Prince Charlie commandeered Culloden House as his lodging and battlefield headquarters for the three nights prior to the battle. We toured Culloden House and the gardens and even had lunch there! It’s a beautiful, large, grandly built house. It was an amazing mansion. We got to see some of the original structure and even saw the fireplace Bonnie Prince Charlie sat in front of to plan the battle, keeping his toes warm while his men were outside, freezing and starving.
My family in front of Culloden House, Photo taken by Andy Nicholson
Bonnie Prince Charlie was a coward and not fit to lead, in my opinion. He was delusional and believed God wanted his family on the throne. Then he raised an army to fight for him. Many brave men fought and died for him but I think he was weak and cowardly and not really worth fighting for. When the Jacobites were defeated at Culloden, things got brutal in Scotland. Jacobites were hunted and killed by the English. There was a £30,000 bounty on Bonnie Prince Charlie’s head, which today would be equal to several million dollars. Bonnie Prince Charlie got help from Flora MacDonald, who smuggled him to the Isle of Skye dressed in women’s clothes, pretending to be her servant. He then fled to France but Flora MacDonald wasn’t so lucky. She was imprisoned in the Tower of London. We got to see her grave on the Isle of Skye.
Flora MacDonald’s grave on the Isle of Skye, Photo taken by Andy Nicholson
The battlefield at Culloden is also a mass war grave. As you look out over the battlefield, you see gravestones with clan names on them. There are grassy hills by all the gravestones. The grassy hills are actually mass graves. 1500 Jacobite soldiers and clansmen were killed on this day and 50 British were killed. They were buried on the battlefield in mass graves.
Clan Gravestones
Mass War Graves at Culloden
When we went to Culloden Moor, it was as though it were the calm before the storm. It was very cold and windy, yet quiet. It was amazing and eerie to think that the British army and Jacobite forces were getting ready to battle here all those years ago.
Having tea at Culloden House
