Our first stop this morning was the battlefield of Culloden. Here on April 16, 1746, the last battle in support of the Bonnie Prince Charlie was fought. It was a terrible rout for the Jacobite cause in support of the Stewart kings. Lasting less than an hour, there were over 1600 casualties, mostly, from the Jacobite side. The visitor center tells the story of the times leading up to the battle from both the English and Jacobite sides in great detail and one gets the sense of impending doom as you go through the exhibit.
After going through the museum containing various artifacts from the period, including opportunities to hold weapons and see how heavy they were and learn of the tactics from both sides, we stepped out onto the field itself. The guide did a good job of relating how the English and Jacobite forces lined up for battle. How the Jacobite’s opened fire with cannon but were ineffective against the better trained and superior forces of the English. Finally, how they charged and we effectively slaughtered.
Along the path there are markers indicating the graves of those who died, but these markers were placed more than a hundred years later and may not be accurate as to which side is buried where. A more appropriate monument is along the wall of the visitor center. Here the bricks that stick out represent those that perished on that Bloody day.
Leaving Culloden, we traveled a couple of miles down the road and centuries in the past to Balnuaran of Clava. Here there are four cairns and three stone circles dating back to neolithic times. It is said that here are the stones that inspired Diana Gabaldon, the author of the Outlander books. We took the opportunity to travel back in time but decided we liked indoor plumbing, so we came back to the present to continue on to Cawdor Castle,
Cawdor is a traditional Scottish Castle built and inhabited by the Cawdor family for over 600 years. The rooms were incredibly furnished with period and modern pieces. In the dining room were tapestries depicting scenes from the Don Quixote story.
As the weather was starting to turn we decided to call it an early day returning to the hotel and enjoying an afternoon tea.
