I visited the scene of the Battle of Culloden (1746) last weekend. A wander through the thoroughly excellent exhibition spills the viewer out onto the battlefield where red flags mark the line of attack of the British Government troops. The blue and white of Scottish Saltire marks the position of the Jacobite clans and Bonnie Prince Charlie before their charge. The flags fly high over the flower covered moorland and give a sense of scale to the proceedings. It is a very emotive place even on a fine Summer’s day. After the fierce battle the dead were buried in mass graves by the citizens of Inverness who were marched up from the town for the gruesome task. A rough stone marks where the fatally injured Chief of the Macgillivrays finally died after helping a young dying soldier to some water at the now named ‘Well of the Dead’. Grave markers are also scattered here and there denoting the last resting place of the Jacobite supporters.
