SCOTLAND - Culloden Battlefield & Glenfiddich Distillery

SCOTLAND - Culloden Battlefield & Glenfiddich Distillery

On the 16th April 1746 British government forces defeated the army of Prince Charles Edward Stuart in just one hour & ended hopes of restoring the Jacobite Stuarts to the British throne.

9^th of May – MEMORIES OF CULLODEN

Sometimes things affect you in a way you did not expect.  Although I have never been a history buff I have always had an interest in historical things of an applicable nature, i.e. generally things that I can personally relate to.  Our tour guide Pauline had mentioned some interesting things on our approach to the Culloden moor battlefield i.e. that some Scots refuse to visit this area even to this day due to the horrible things that happened here as even though it was centuries ago (1746) it was the turning point in the Scottish Jacobite rebellion.  Such is the pride, beliefs and long memory of the Celtic people which is evident in both the Scottish and Irish culture even up to the present day.

I had never been to a battlefield before and was unsure what to expect.  There is a modern visitor centre which gives you all the history of this period and is quite explicit in the detail of the battle which occurred there.  In the foyer I talked to the tour guides and managed to get to hold one of the long muskets used by the British at the battle.  It was an old black powder weapon which was over a meter long and was surprisingly much lighter than it looked.  The shields used by the opposing side were very primitive in comparison made up of leather which would not stop even a lead shot. 

I hired an audio guide and proceeded out into the battlefield which was laid out much as it would have been on the actual day.  Upon reaching the main area where the focus of the battle had been played out, It was evident the Jacobite charge was doomed in the early stages. The land was boggy and wet underfoot and when the main charge was made between 700 to 800 people were slaughtered in a hail of gunfire within an estimated period of between the first 10 to 15 minutes of battle. 

It was quite a moving experience to see the little stone monuments which noted the different clans that were wiped out here.  Some had fresh flowers placed here (a lot of overseas visitors tracing their relatives visit here every day which was notable even on our coach). 

I circumnavigated the entire battlefield and arrived back at the reception area.  It was a very cold day and I was fully rugged up with heavy overcoat, scarf and gloves which added to the gloom of the place. 

I (Sharon) left Johnny to the battlefield as when I stepped onto it the feeling of sadness was overwhelming so after visiting the outside of the field hospital I decided that the long haired highland cattle where more appealing.I wandered over through the car park & stood a reasonable distance from the farmer loading the mother cow into his trailer & tried to compose myself after the dread that had come over me on the battlefield. Fortunately, not what I thought at the time as I was closer to tears than conversation, the farmer came to talk to me in his thick Scottish accent. We chatted about his plans for the mother, his breeding program & the two lovely calves Nancy & Alice.

Unusual to feel so affected by this moment in history which had absolutely no relation to us in any way, we both felt a little depressed here and were glad to get away from this place.  As our coach pulled out of the carpark we did not look back.  

Strangely all our photos of this place (and there were over a hundred) mistakenly got deleted off our camera as both Sharon and I believed them to be downloaded when in fact they were not.  So we have no memory of this visit other than what we can remember and put into print here.

Our coach continued to the Speyside Cooperage to see how the scotch barrels were made then onto the Glenfiddich distillery to sample some scotch. We both felt like we needed one but had to wait until we had finished the tour. The tour was informative & entertaining as we learned how our much loved scotch was made. At the end we were rewarded with taste testing of 8, 12 & 18 year old scotch. Three wee drams - very nice indeed!

The coach was full of dozer’s that afternoon as we headed to our accommodation.