Culloden Battlefield

The Battle of Culloden - fought on Drummossie Moor outside Inverness on April 16, 1746 - saw the last attempt to restore a Stuart monarch to the throne of Scotland & England thwarted in brutal combat. The previous year, Charles Edward Stuart - 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' - had arrived in Scotland with French backing to raise an army, march south and reclaim the throne for the exiled Stuart dynasty. Accompanied by a small group of military professionals and mercenary troops, Charles raised an army from the Highland clans still loyal to the Stuarts, and with initial military success, they secured Scotland and entered Edinburgh. However, Charles wanted to restore the Stuart dynasty to the English throne, and began a futile march on London, reaching Derby before being persuaded to return to Scotland. In the meantime, government forces raised by the Hanoverian monarchy were marching to confront the Highlanders. Under the command of King George II's son, the Duke of Cumberland, the government army eventually encountered the exhausted and starving army of Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden, near Inverness. The flat, marshy ground was not well suited to the Highlanders' style of fighting and government artillery tore huge gaps in the advancing Highland army. Within an hour, the Bonnie Prince's army was destroyed and in flight, ruthlessly pursued by government troops. The barbaric treatment meted out to the wounded on the field, fleeing survivors and innocent bystanders led to the Duke of Cumberland being known by a new nickname - 'Butcher' Cumberland. Bonnie Prince Charlie escaped abroad, but his followers were not so lucky - many were executed or transported for life. Much of the Highland way of life was dismantled or banned, and the Highlands suffered under a heavy military occupation. This tragic battle has left lasting echoes, both in local folklore and in reports of the paranormal on the field itself. Especially around the anniversary of the battle, on April 16, reports of spectral Highlanders, blood-covered men and bleeding corpses have all be noted, as have the sounds of battle - clashing swords, gunfire and the screams of the wounded. Another auditory haunting is the mournful sound of a piper - thought to have been killed in the battle - playing his bagpipes alone on the moor. This has been reported by several people, including visitors at a nearby guest-house, who claimed to have heard the sound of pipes coming from the direction of the battlefield in the middle of the night. Visible spectres have also put in appearance - a tall man, dressed in Highland garb, is said to have been seen wandering the battlefield murmuring the word 'defeated'. Meanwhile, in 1936, an American woman visiting the site claimed to have found a tartan blanket lain on top of one of the grave mounds - she lifted it to find the apparition of a mortally wounded Highlander lying beneath. A tour guide on the battlefield in 2018 recorded a 'strange mist' which appeared on a clear day and seemed to follow the line of the Jacobite charge towards the government lines at a surprisingly rapid rate. As with other sites connected with tragic events, local legend holds that no bird sings on the battlefield - although such claims often fail to stand up to close scrutiny. Near the field is Culloden House - now a luxury hotel - where Bonnie Prince Charlie spent the night prior to the battle, and the bed he supposedly used can still be seen. It is claimed that the Prince's ghost returns to Culloden House, dressed in Highland finery and awaiting the battle which would decide his fate. A ghostly Highlander, bedraggled and dejected, has also been reportedly seen walking across the ballroom at the hotel. Also nearby, a local woman claimed to have been woken in the early hours of the morning by the sound of armed men clattering past her house, although nothing was to be seen outside. This occurred some five times over a ten year period, and the woman later found out that her garden was once on the route taken during an abortive attack mounted by the Highlanders the night before the battle.