Scene of the last major battle fought on
mainland Britain. The final Jacobite uprising ended here on 16 April
1746, when the army of Prince Charles Edward Stuart was crushed by the
Government forces, led by the Duke of Cumberland. Turf and stone dykes
which played a crucial part in the battle have been reconstructed on
their original site as part of a long-term strategy to return the
battlefield to its condition in 1746.
This history of the Battle of Culloden was first
published in 1867 by Peter Anderson. It was revised by his son 55 years
later. In 1997, Rick Edmondson converted it into HTML format after
finding the book in a second hand book shop. Apart from correcting a
couple of obvious typos, he deliberately has not updated the slightly
old fashioned style of writing.
The complete book can be found at:
http://www.queenofscots.co.uk/culloden/
Bonnie Prince Charlie
Charles Edward
Stuart, called the Young Pretender or Bonnie Prince Charlie, was born in
Rome in 1720. He was the grandson of deposed king James II of England
(who was also King James VI of Scotland) and the son of the "Old
Pretender," James Stuart, who had twice tried unsuccessfully to
invade Scotland in order to seize the British throne. (Charles Edward
Stuart's mother was a Polish princess, Maria Clementina Sobieski, called
Princess Clementina.)
In 1745 the
Young Pretender made his own attempt to put his father on the throne. He
landed in Scotland with a handful of men, raised an army, and invaded
England, but the lack of promised support from England and France forced
him to retreat to Scotland, where his forces suffered a devastating
defeat at the Battle of Culloden Moor in April, 1746. Bonnie Prince
Charlie became a fugitive.
After several
months on the run, he met Flora MacDonald on the Scottish island of
Benbecula. At first Flora wanted nothing to do with Charles. Her foster
father, Clanranald, commanded the government troops on Benbecula, and
her fiance, Allan MacDonald, was a military officer. But the islanders
feared official reprisals if the fugitive was discovered on Benbecula,
so Flora agreed to help Charles escape.
After hiding
him for a week - a week in which, according to legend, they fell in love
- Flora disguised Charles as her maid, "Betty Burke," and
smuggled him to the island of Skye. There they were stopped by officers,
who commented on Betty's odd appearance but let them go. Flora turned
Charles over to his sympathizers in Skye, who helped him make his way
safely to France. He and Flora never met again, although legend has it
that Flora kept a lock of his hair to remember him by.
Bonnie Prince
Charlie's luck had run out. His supporters abandoned his cause, and he
became an alcoholic drifter. Eventually he settled in Rome as the
"Duke of Albany" and married a princess, but they separated
after less than ten years of marriage. Charles died in 1788.
Flora had been
arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London for her role in the Young
Pretender's escape. She was soon released and became a celebrity. In
1750 she married her first love, Allan MacDonald. Twenty-four years
later they emigrated to North Carolina, where Allan served in the
British army during the American Revolution. When he was captured by
American forces, Flora returned to Scotland, and after his release Allan
followed her home. Flora died in 1790 and was buried on the island of
Skye, wrapped (supposedly) in Bonnie Prince Charlie's bedsheet.
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