The moor was called Drumossie, the clansmen Jacobites and their leader
Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender. The battle is called Culloden
After the rebellion of 1715 the Earl of Caithness had been attained. His
successors had better sense.
What 500 Sinclairs? If Caithness had raised 500 men it would have been a
tenth of the men in the Highland army. Only six Clans rose for the third
attempt at restoration of the Stuart dynasty. St Clair Royal Scots stood
fourth from the right, almost the centre, of the government Army at
Culloden. It does not take form the 19 August 1745 until 16 April 1746 to
make your way less than 60 miles to Drumossie. The rebellion was effectively
over on Black Friday 6 September 1745 when the Highland Army turned back
from Derby.
The Duke of Cumberland’s troops were made up of English veterans fresh from
Flanders and over 5,000 Scots: more Scots were facing Charles than were
standing next to him. For many though it was more a case of Clan revenge
than a fight for a crown. One example is the Chisholms. On both sides
Clansman faced Clansman - Chisholm faced Chisholm - and even brother faced
brother.
The glory of our ancestors are theirs alone, and great it is. We should not
diminish it by attributing to them the nonsense of adherence to lost
chimerical cause. It is romantic poppycock to believe that we rose to
countenance the Italian pretender
Sinclair
Ref CULLODEN MOOR AND STORY OF THE BATTLE Peter Anderson 1867
Edinburgh.
Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland John & Julia Keay Hammersmith 1994
Lament for Culloden
THE lovely lass o' Inverness,,
Nae joy nor pleasure can she see;,
For e'en and morn she cries, 'Alas!',
And aye the saut tear blin's her e'e:,
'Drumossie moor, Drumossie day,
A waefu' day it was to me!,
For there I lost my father dear,,
My father dear and brethren three.,
,
'Their winding-sheet the bluidy clay,,
Their graves are growing green to see;
And by them lies the dearest lad,
That ever blest a woman's e'e!,
Now wae to thee, thou cruel lord,,
A bluidy man I trow thou be;,
For monie a heart thou hast made sair,
That ne'er did wrang to thine or thee.',
Robert Burns
Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse:
1250 --1900