Today is Easter Sunday but it is also April 16 and in 1746, at Culloden, a terrible battle was fought. The Scots lost their right to wear tartan and almost 2000 men died within 40 minutes! The English wanted the land for sheep which was more profitable. The Battle of Culloden was fought 271 years ago, on a grey overcast Wednesday, cold sleet slashing the faces of those who fought for their families and homes. Bonnie Prince Charlie was up against the Duke of Cumberland, known as “the butcher”, fighting for the survival of Scotland.
The only other memorial cairn commemorating that battle exists here in Nova Scotia at a tiny community called Knoydart near Antigonish. Many displaced Scots moved to Nova Scotia to start new lives after the fallout and each year a service is still held here to honor their fallen ancestors.
Here is a youtube clip of Makem and Clancey singing Sound the Pibroch