Water, wildlife and wonders... a road trip around Scotland COMPLETED 11/6 About This Page:

[chezp]

Saturday 17 June – part seven: you didn’t know that?

When we were done eating, we headed outside to admire the view by the river through Inverness. It looks, from these photos, as if it was a beautiful day, and don’t get me wrong, the sun was out, and it was warm, but there were also drops of rain in the air, but sadly no rainbow to be seen anywhere.



We headed out through the city, giving me some more chances to get some photos of the place. It looked really nice, but then again, doesn’t every city in the sunlight?



We were making our way over here…



Mark amazed me when he told me he didn’t know this was the last place on British soil to have a battle. I knew it was and I knew it was 1746, but not because of anything I’d learnt in school. For those who don’t know, I am a huge Doctor Who fan, and especially the era of Patrick Troughton in the late 1960s. I wasn’t born until a few years later, but I loved his performances in later episodes when he returned to reprise the role, and I went back to see as many of his stories as I could, although sadly a lot have been wiped. The Highlanders is one of them. It would be the last purely historical story for 15 years when it was broadcast back in 1966, and it was all about the battle of Culloden. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to see the battlefield. I’ve also been told by others that you can just picture the events of that fateful day there…

Anyway, our first stop was the visitor centre, which is beautifully done…



… and the shop, after we spotted these cuddly guys…



I resisted, not least of all because I don’t think we could’ve fitted any of them in the boot of the car.

So what happened here and what was the Battle of Culloden? Well, it was the final confrontation between the Jacobites and the army of the King in 1746. However, the beginnings of what led to that fateful day happened over 30 years earlier, when Queen Anne died in 1714. She was then succeeded by her second cousin, who became King George I. He was part of the House of Hanover, and if you’re thinking that sounded German, you’d be right. He was a descendant of the House of Stuart (which Anne was the last monarch of) through his maternal grandmother. The Jacobites didn’t take kindly to this move, and wanted to restore the House of Stuart to the British throne. After the defeat in Culloden, which as I mentioned was the last pitched battle to be fought on British soil, that was it. The Jacobite rising was over and done with.

So how were they going to restore the House of Stuart to the throne? Well, through Charles Edward Stuart, otherwise known as “Bonnie Prince Charlie” or the “Young Pretender”. Remember I referenced him in the exhibition we visited at Glenfinnan and said there’d be more when we got to Culloden… well now there is. He was the one who incited a rebellion of Stuart sympathisers. However, when you look back at the history, he made a lot of bad calls along the way, which is, I guess, the way of these things…

The Jacobite army weren’t just Scottish, which surprised me, as my limited knowledge of the battle had first suggested to me. Rather it was made up on religious grounds, and just like the American Civil War, it was a case of families being split in two during this conflict. The Jacobites had a lot of Scots in them, but it was also made up from French and some English, German, Austrians and Irish.

Bonnie Prince Charlie decided he could get a lot of support from both English and French Jacobites, and in November 1745, he launched an invasion of England, advancing through Carlisle (in the Lake District), and then further south to Manchester (remember we picked Mari and Raleigh up from there at the start of this trip), and then even more to the point where it was thought they might threaten London.

However, despite how well Bonnie Prince Charlie’s army did, he just didn’t get the support he needed. The French were still putting their invasion fleet together, and they weren’t getting the support they expected from the English. Less than a month after their invasion started, they retreated north of the border to Scotland. They marched back there, and then made their way through Glasgow, Edinburgh and further north.

The government troops got as far as Aberdeen, and decided to wait out the winter, and during that time, they were joined by more and more troops, swelling their numbers. It also helped that the number before the battle was the birthday of the general leading the government army. They partied and enjoyed a lot of alcohol, which meant they were very well fed and watered. They then rested, meaning of course they were also well rested. They also had superior artillery.

Perhaps as a result, the battle at Culloden lasted less than an hour. I knew it was quick, but I had no idea it had been that fast. In that short time, somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 Jacobites were killed or wounded, whereas just 300 Government soldiers were killed or injured. Talk about one sided.

Sadly, I can’t show you any photos from the exhibition, as there were none allowed, which I thought was a real shame. I liked the way they took you through the battle, where you could choose which side you followed, either the government or the Jacobites.

Next: you can imagine the battle here…

[chezp]

There won't be any updates from me over the next couple of dates, because if you haven't seen my pre-trip report, we're heading up to Edinburgh tomorrow morning, so I'll update again when we're home on Monday.

[disney_duke]

Inverness is much larger than I thought it might be. I don't know why I thought it'd be smaller. Looks like a good one to explore!

There's my history lesson for the day. I'm sure I read about this at some point in my past, but as all history goes - it always makes so much more sense if you can see the area, the land, the weapons, the buildings... in person.

Have a fun weekend!

[cubfancolleen]

Great history lesson for the day! I did know of Bonnie Prince Charles but don't know that I remembered much of the rest.
Enjoy Edinburgh!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by disney_duke

Inverness is much larger than I thought it might be. I don't know why I thought it'd be smaller. Looks like a good one to explore!

It is big, and a little bigger than I thought it would be. It's definitely the biggest place around that part of Scotland for some distance. I would say Aberdeen is probably bigger and you'll see that later in this trip report.

There's my history lesson for the day. I'm sure I read about this at some point in my past, but as all history goes - it always makes so much more sense if you can see the area, the land, the weapons, the buildings... in person.

Oh gosh completely.

Have a fun weekend!

[Cam22]

Inverness always reminds me of Macbeth, which is its primary setting. I'm a little sad as I was thinking you'd have photos from Culloden.

[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures from Inverness! And interesting about the battle at Culloden! Seems like quite the casualties for such a quick battle! Have a great time in Edinburgh!

[pamcarey]

I'm another that thinks Inverness was larger than I expected. I guess I envisioned a village instead of a small city.


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[SuperDave]

Inverness is much larger than I expected. Great photos from the city on a sunny day! Nice background on that last ever battle on soil in Great Britain.

Have a great time in Edinburgh!

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Cam22

Inverness always reminds me of Macbeth, which is its primary setting. I'm a little sad as I was thinking you'd have photos from Culloden.

Oh I have - and they're coming up, just none were allowed in the exhibition.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great pictures from Inverness! And interesting about the battle at Culloden! Seems like quite the casualties for such a quick battle!

It was a horrendous number.

Have a great time in Edinburgh!

we did!

[chezp]

Saturday 17 June – part eight: you can imagine the battle here…

We were told we could sign up for the 3:00pm tour of the Culloden battlefield at the back door, so I made my way there as quickly as I could, as I didn’t want to miss out, and I think I snagged the remaining four spots – phew! I wasn’t too worried about missing bits of the exhibition, as I figured our guide would fill in the blanks for us…

We headed outside, and this was the scene. You really could imagine a battle taking place here, and I’m pleased there were clouds around, as I suspect had the day been brilliant sunshine, and beautiful blue skies, it somehow wouldn’t have quite felt right, given we were visiting a battlefield…


Our guide


Looking back at the visitor centre – it fits in beautifully here


I could see why people said you could imagine the battle, as with the red flags laid out for Government troops and the blue for the Jacobites, I could almost see the two armies in pitched battle on what is now a remarkably peaceful and tranquil place, given the events of history.

So what did we learn? Well, we found out some of the other reasons why the Jacobites lost so comprehensively. They ended up getting stuck in boggy ground, which slowed them down considerably…



They also struggled with their cannons, as they were taking up to six minutes to re-load, whereas the government forces were taking just 40 seconds. The Jacobites were known for their Highland charge, which usually took out those up against them, but the government forces were aware of those tactics, and managed to break it up, so that was just not effective.

Perhaps the saddest thing of all was that all the bodies were looted after the battle, so no-one knew whose body was whose. They put up the graves you can see in these photos 130 years later, but all they could do by that point was guess.


I found this really touching…


It didn’t help that a road ran through the site for many years. Thank goodness eventually the National Trust for Scotland took charge of it, and now it’s been preserved, as it really should be.

Next: we need some more water! :jawrop:

[disney_duke]

Very nicely done, as it should be.
Looted the bodies, for real? Why would anyone do that? So sad.

On a side note, our local PBS channel last night was showing its series of Scotland castles. And it was Inveraray! So that was really neat to watch!

[cubfancolleen]

Sounds like a good tour, that was informative and gave you a good sense of the battle.
The visitor's center reminds me a bit of the one at Stonehenge? It does fit well in the setting - blending in as it should.

[chezp]

Originally Posted by disney_duke

Very nicely done, as it should be.

It was beautifully done.

Looted the bodies, for real? Why would anyone do that? So sad.

I know. But sadly that's how it was in those days I guess. There was no real respect for people who died in battle.

On a side note, our local PBS channel last night was showing its series of Scotland castles. And it was Inveraray! So that was really neat to watch!

Oh wow - cool!