Drumossie Moor...

Backblipped 20.06.21


Better known as Culloden Battlefield.

I knew from the minute we booked our holiday up here two years ago that we had to visit Culloden, the site of the last pitched battle on British soil.  A battle that saw the loss of 1500 Jacobites in less than an hour and a  battle from which the aftermath saw the killing of innocent civilians and a ban on the wearing of tartan, the playing of bagpipes, and speaking Gaelic.

We decided it would be a fitting end to our holiday so booked our tickets with the Visitors Centre as we wanted to visit the museum and the  immersion theatre to learn the full story of the battle (visits to just the Battlefield are free of charge)

We allowed ourselves three hours but it was nowhere near long enough.  By the time we had gone through all the exhibits in the museum and had the most intense and emotional experience in the immersion theatre (basically a surround sound and visual experience that puts you in the middle of the battlefield during a very graphic re-enactment of the battle, that really does bring it to life!) and had lunch in the cafe, we had no where near long enough to tour the whole battlefield.

Anyone I know who has visited Culloden has told me of the strange and emotive atmosphere on the battlefield, so I felt prepared, but even so, I was taken by surprise by how emotional I felt and how eerie an experience it was.   

We studied the Jacobites in 1st year history at High School but my recollection is of photos of Bonnie Prince Charlie dressed up as Flora MacDonald's maid, as she rowed him over the sea to Skye to evade capture by Government soldiers.  I don't remember studying Culloden.  Perhaps it was felt too brutal for 12 year olds.

We will certainly return and tour the whole battlefield.  

I couldn't hope to summarise the history in a blip, but if you're interested you can find decent information HERE.  I've also added some extra shots.  The blue flags mark the Jacobean battle line and the red flags mark the British battle line.  Info on Leanach Cottage can be found HERE  The ponies, along with goats and highland cows have been reintroduced to the moor to graze on it, just as they would have at the time of the battle.  They are helping return the moor to how it would have been. 

We had a trouble free journey home and made it for our agreed time of 5.15pm.   R was returning Lola at 5.30pm and what a grand reunion that was!  We missed her so much!

Alan was also happy to see us and I even got a kiss!  That made me very happy :-))  

We did a little unpacking and had a Chinese takeaway for tea.

Knowing we would come home to little fresh food, I was very organised and booked a Tesco delivery for Sunday morning.  I spent the evening adding items to my order but I dozed off before updating it, only to wake up with a start at 11.49pm...four minutes AFTER the update deadline!  

So, after spending nearly three hours coming up with menus for the next week and selecting all the items on my order, all that's coming is 3 cartons of milk, which are the items I ordered to secure the delivery slot three weeks ago!