[Itinerary Page]The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Battling On at Culloden
Yesterday
it was too rainy to walk the Culloden battlefield so we were pleased to see the sun when we
got up today. We would soon learn that the sunny day also brought with it a bitingly cold wind.
But off to the Culloden battlefield we went. To explain, Culloden was the site of the April 1746 battle between the British government forces and Scottish troops led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. It was a British rout, due in large measure to superior numbers, superior weaponry ... and Charles' ego and unwillingness to listen.
It was the last land battle fought on British soil and marked the end of the Jacobite ("Put Charlie on the Throne") movement as well as the last hurrah for the clan system in Scotland
250+ years later, Culloden is still a big deal in these parts. We both assumed we would probably duck in and duck out but we were there for almost four hours, totally captivated by the story and the way it was told ... and drawn by a strange other-dimensional vibe to the killing field. Even in a biting wind, we felt compelled to walk it all.
Like anything that honestly depicts the savagery of armed conflict, it is also an anti-war statement in its way. It is hard to imagine that continual war was pretty much a fact of life in those times ... and that the "gentlemanly British" were often the most cruel.
© 2009 Restaurant Doctor