Friday, April 16, 2010

Culloden

"Waverley riding post, as was the usual fashion of the period, without any adventure save one or two queries, which the talisman of his passport sufficiently answered, reached the borders of Scotland. Here he heard the tidings of the decisive battle of Culloden. It was no more than he had long expected, though the success at Falkirk had thrown a faint and setting gleam over the arms of the Chevalier..."

Scott's novel Waverley, from which the text above was taken, was set during the Jacobite Rising of 1745.  The Battle of Culloden was the last battle of that rebellion, occurring on April 16, 1745.  Jacobites aimed to restore a Stuart to the throne, in place of the Hanovers.  The battle lasted about an hour; a complete rout for the English.  Afterwards, Charles Edward Stuart made a famous escape by way of Skye, with the aid of Flora MacDonald, to spend the rest of his life in exile.

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