Tour Culloden

Culloden, near Inverness, was the scene of the last major battle on mainland Britain, which ended with the Stuart dreams of regaining the throne. On 16 April 1746, Prince
Charles Edward Stuart and his Jacobite army were
trounced by government forces led by the Duke of
Cumberland, within 40 minutes of fighting.

Troops fought on moorland around Old Leanach Cottage, which survived the fray and has been refurbished with period furnishings.

Visitors to Culloden can view several memorials. The
new visitor centre has a colourful historical display and an audio-visual programme in six languages (English, French, Gaelic, German, Italian and Japanese). There is an auditorium, study room bookshop and a restaurant.

The centre provides a starting point for visiting the principal sites on the battlefield.  Most moving of these are stones marking the graves of the clans, which run along the western line of the field where the Jacobite army stood. About a thousand men in the Prince's army fell at Culloden and they were later buried in a common grave. Headstones were erected in 1881 and these bear the names of all the clans who fought in the battle, the biggest grave being that of Clan Mackintosh. There is also a monument to the government troops, while another stone commemorates the bravery of the
Irish mercenaries who covered the clansmen's retreat.

"May William, the son of George, be as a leafless splintered tree, rootless, branchless, sproutless. May there be no joy on his hearth, no wife, no brother, no son, no sounding harp or blazing wax."

John Roy Stuart, Curse Upon the Duke of Cumberland, from the Gaelic (after Culloden, 1746).

If you would like to visit this area as part of a highly personalized small group tour of my native Scotland please e-mail me: