Culloden Moor, a place beyond time

 Full of grief, the low winds sweep
O'er the sorrow-haunted ground;
Dark the woods where night rains weep,
Dark the hills that watch around. 

Culloden Moor by Alice Macdonnell of Keppoch

If a place held the spirits of long dead men, Culloden Moor would be it.  There is a feeling on the moor of worlds colliding and a strong sense of grief from times past.  The Battle of Culloden Moor on the 16th of April 1746 marked not only the end of the Jacobite rising in Scotland, but the effectual end of the Highland Clans.  Nearly 7000 men, who were tired and starving rose up that day to fight against the Duke of Cumberland's forces.  2000 of them did not make it off the field.  Their bones are still there, buried in mass graves beneath the heather.  Stone markers lay on the tops of these graves, on them the names of the clans that fought and died that day, Fraser, MacLean, MacGillvary, MacIntosh.

 I remember the day I visited Culloden Moor, and I don't think that it is day I will ever forget.   It began as a sunny autumn day in September.  The bed and breakfast that we were staying at was just a couple of miles from the battlefield, so we got an early start.  I'll be honest here.  To me, the visitor's center at the battlefield seemed a little out of place. It was very modern and cold feeling.  Everything is definitely state of the art, but it felt to me as if the place needed something more reverent and reminiscent of the battle that had taken place there.  Walking out the door and into the battlefield, you are struck by an other-worldliness around you.  The realization that so many men had fought and died there, in effect, a whole way of life had died there, is quite overwhelming.  As we walked along the battlefield, a heavy fog began to roll in and settle among the stones marking the graves.  On the graves, visitors had placed heather and wildflowers in remembrance.  Since we had arrived early, the field was mostly deserted, and the combination of the fog and quiet made the place seem very alive with the past.  We walked among the quiet of the stones, and no, we didn't see any ghosts, but the feeling of the place definitely went with us through our day.  Perhaps it was just the somberness of a place where so many lost their lives, but Culloden Moor is like no place else I have been.  I would definitely recommend visiting and learning the history that has shaped the country that it is today.


If you are an Outlander fan, you will definitely recognize Culloden Moor from Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon.  The little farm house that so many waited before loosing their lives, and where Jaime was saved from death still stands today.



Culloden Moor is a National Trust for Scotland property, and there is a fee to visit it.  Please take a look at the NTS website for more details: http://www.nts.org.uk/Culloden/Visit/
 

Until next time,