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HOME AT FIRST

April 16, 1746—

CULLODEN BATTLEFIELD, if it were a golf course — and whenever in Scotland such an idea is never far from my imagination — would be described as "heathland". That means lowland scrub dense with bracken and knee-high clinging shrubs. The rough at Culloden would indeed be rough. One can readily imagine kicking up pheasant, partridge, and grouse but never finding an errant golf ball.
          The sea — the Moray Firth is more a nearly captive sound than wild coastline — is close: about 2 miles away at its closest point. But Culloden couldn’t be described as fit for a seaside course, and has none of the dune qualities of a natural Scottish links.
          That’s not to say there isn’t a breeze at Culloden. The few hardy trees on the heath don’t offer much protection from the steady winds coming largely unopposed out of the open northwest. My on-line Merriam-Webster defines "heath" as:

Flags mark Culloden Battlefield
at points where key action
occurred over 250 years ago.
The overall effect is that of a
grisly Scottish golf course.
Photos © Home At First.

"1a: a tract of wasteland; b: an extensive area of rather level open uncultivated land usually with poor coarse soil, inferior drainage, and a surface rich in peat or peaty humus" and notes something telltale in its etymology: "Middle English heth, from Old English h[AE]th; akin to Old High German heida heather".

CONSECRATED GROUND — CULLODEN BATTLEFIELD
Overlooking Culloden Battlefield. In the distance is
the Moray Firth and the low hills of the Black Isle.

        Yes, there is plenty of Scottish heather to grab your ankles at Culloden. But Culloden Battlefield is no golf course. To many Scots, the exposed tract of wasteland a few miles east of Inverness is sanctified ground, holier than even St. Andrew’s Old Course ever will be. And to fully understand Scotland, Culloden Battlefield is a must-see.
        By the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s last stand at Culloden, the time of the Highland Scots was past. Its last and greatest hero, Central Scotland’s Rob Roy MacGregor

• architect Robert Adam (Edinburgh New Town)
• chemist Joseph Black (discover of carbon dioxide)
• biographer James Boswell (Dr. Johnson’s companion)
• poet Robert Burns
• physician George Cleghorn (discovered malaria cure)
• industrialist David Dale (built mills throughout Scotland)
• inventor Sir Hugh Dalrymple (developed drainage techniques that increased arable land)
• father of sociology Adam Ferguson
• inventor William Ged (metal casting process)
• philosopher David Hume (recognized leader of the "Scottish Enlightenment")
• pioneer obstetrician William Hunter
• father of modern geology James Hutton
• hero of American independence John Paul Jones
• physician James Lind (cured scurvy)
• road builder John McAdam (the concrete alterntive)
• inventor Charles Mackintosh (waterproof raincoats)
• inventor Andrew Meikle (threshing machine)
• anatomist/educator Alexander Monro
• inventor William Murdock (coal gas lighting)
• artist Alexander Nasmyth
• merchant/banker/unionist William Patterson (Bank of England)
• artist Allan Ramsay
• engineer John Rennie (London Bridge & many others)
• writer/poet Sir Walter Scott
• inventor James Small (iron plow)
• landmark printer William Smellie ("Encyclopedia Britannica")
• capitalist philosopher Adam Smith ("Wealth of Nations")
• philosopher Dugald Stewart (common sense philosophy)
• engineer Thomas Telford (St. Katharine’s Docks, London, among many)
• inventor James Watt (steam engine)
• signer of the Declaration of Independence John Witherspoon

          It is incongruous that the tribal Highlands clan system still survived while the Scottish Enlightenment flowered. About the only things the two movements had in common were affiliations with France and a penchant for rugged, moral individualism. (Both of these elements were shared with many intellectuals in the American Colonies.)
        Scotland had already been officially merged into the United Kingdom with

THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN MOOR
Painting by Mark Churms © MarkChurms.com.

BONNIE PRINCE CHARLIE
BIDS GOOD-BYE TO
FLORA MACDONALD
Painting by George W. Joy.

England and Wales in 1707. The Industrial Revolution was underway in England, Wales and Lowland Scotland. The Enlightenment was already stirring in France, with its dual themes of nation and society soon to rock traditional systems throughout Western Europe and North America. But in 1746 the traditional Highland clans still lived and died by the sword. Therefore, Culloden was inevitable. And, when it did happen, the end was swift, bloody, and absolute.          The Battle of Culloden was a disaster for the 5,000 or so Highland clansmen, Irish volunteers, and the few French troops who were quickly overwhelmed by King George’s army of 9,000 redcoats made up of English, Irish, Lowland Scots, and Argyll Campbells. Likely 1,500 or more of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s forces died that day, many of them slaughtered while laying wounded on the battlefield well after the hour-long battle was over. (Perhaps 50 redcoats died.)
           Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie, evidently pretended to be field commander on

April 16, 1746, taking direct field command of his army for the only time. After Culloden he was whisked away to safe houses throughout the Highlands, ultimately placed in the safekeeping of Flora Macdonald on the Isle of Skye. It was from Skye that the Young Pretender was rescued by a French warship and taken to exile on the Continent. He died an unhappy alcoholic’s death in Rome. Flora Macdonald was briefly jailed by the English, then relocated to the American Colonies where she helped recruit Scots for the British army in North Carolina during the American Revolution.
          Following Culloden, King George’s men ransacked the Highlands, carrying out the order to put an end to whatever vestiges of the clan system remained. For some time afterwards the playing of bagpipes, wearing of tartan, and carrying of weapons were viewed as serious crimes against the state.
          The Battle of Culloden changed Highlands Scotland the way the Battle of Gettysburg changed the American Southland. In each case, a venerable, romantic, and thoroughly outdated

MEMORIAL CAIRN AT
CULLODEN BATTLEFIELD
The changes to the Highlands
as a result of the disaster at
Culloden were monumental.

Leanach Cottage, restored example
of a Highlands thatched cottage
on Culloden Moor.

way of life met a sudden, disastrous end at the hands of the overwhelming might of a more modern, technological society. In each case the defeat was so total, and the accompanying cultural change so monumental that not long afterwards societies formed to commemorate and even perpetuate the old ways.
          The Culloden Battlefield — site of the last military battle on British soil — remains barren today, hosting solemn, curious visitors from all over the world, plus one flock of sheep to help keep the land virtually as it was in 1746. The site is owned and maintained by The National Trust for Scotland, who acquired the