On April 16, 1746, The Battle of Culloden took place in Scotland, I have a wee tale of my visit there.
Clava Cairns foreground and on the left and Culloden Fields on the far right
But first, the history – “Culloden is one of the most important battles in the history of the British Isles. It was the final battle fought on the British mainland and a total and bloody defeat for the Jacobites, ending more than half a century of Jacobite conflict. The battlefield itself is one of the most visited tourist sites in the Highlands, and the site holds a particularly high significance and emotional connection to many within Scotland and the ancestors of the Scottish diaspora.”1
I was lucky enough to visit the Clava Cairns on a tour with a Scottish guide. They are directly down the street from the Battle of Culloden Fields, which per Scottish tour guide agency contract we were not allowed to go to. No big deal to me, I had no idea what it was anyway, I do not do any history or look up monuments or anything like that when I travel. I like to travel blind so I can go in and feel and see and experience all there is to offer. I love traveling to really old places.
The guide (Sorry, I forget his first name.) was into history and was basically an oral historian, so in order for him to still tell the important historical story of the Battle of Culloden, he had to use an end around. He brought his groups to Clava Cairns for two reasons, 1. It was right next to Culloden Fields and you could drive by the entire field, 2. He had a personal connection to Clava Cairns but did not know exactly why and in particular a certain stone that he fancied to visit.
So, upon arrival, the Tour Guide asked me to see if there was anything about this place that pertained to him. (He had taken us out on tour for a few days and saw me do some readings in other places, so he was cool with what I am.)
History – “The Clava Cairns are about 4,000 years old and were built to house the dead. The cemetery remained a sacred place in the landscape for millennia and provides many clues to the beliefs of Bronze Age society.”2
Back to the tour guide, he let us go ahead as he had to call home base as we had just gotten into a wee bus accident, a very old pair of men, in a teeny tiny black car, rear-ended the front of the bus by backing up directly into it on a main street at 1 mile per hour. We were all good. 😳 🚓 🚐 ✨
So off the bus we go into the Clava Cairns ruins, I go directly to the stone he fancied, it lit up green to me right when we pulled in, before I knew I was doing a reading.
So, I walked up to it and two men were standing there, Scottish warrior men, men in kilts, their kilt pattern is a brownish green and red check with yellow lines, they showed me as this is important, they had big swords, one was big and younger and one was older and like the tour guides’ size/build….and they say, ‘We are his ancestors. He feels us here’, they tell me how they are related, and also that they ‘died on that field.’ Nodding towards the Culloden Field.
I look over to the field, and I see some men, in the same outfit they are in, standing on the outside of the cairns, still on the field, like they couldn’t come in and screaming and putting their swords over their heads as if getting pumped up to go to battle or just trying to get my attention, not sure….but next thing I notice is a sound and vibration of what felt like a thousand men running towards me. Oh, yeah, yup, they all start to run towards me, all at the edge of the field now, screaming and waving swords. A few could get through into the sacred cairns but not many. I am like a beacon, I lit up to read the rocks, not knowing what I was opening myself up to experience. It was all good because I am always. divinely protected. The men/boys all just stood there doing their loud male thing. I turned back and the two male ancestors were gone, back to the fields, with all the rest of them again. Reliving that battle every day, there are echoes of the past that cannot be erased.
So, I moved on to other parts of the cairns and walked all around the back, said hi to the men/boys on the fields as I walked that side, and then wound up in the very front cairn. At this cairn, a stoutly short, round woman came out of the entrance of it holding a freshly baked loaf of bread, that smelled amazing. She was talking about the importance of the little things, routines, and all the little pieces that make a clan work together, for the greater good. Knowing who you are, your role, and the importance you hold in daily life. She was also laid to rest in this cairn. I acknowledged her and she remained just standing at the entrance to the cairn as I walked away.
Of course, the tour guide was just getting off the bus from his phone call with HQ and made a direct B-line for me to see what I found out. My sisters saw this and came running over to find out too, so I told them all what I saw and experienced.
He found the two men and rock portion all very interesting as his family suspected they had family ancestors who were in the battle. His family has ties to the area, the direct area, but no records of proof of battle. I described the tartan to him….and I then proceeded to tell him about the woman and he said ‘The family craft and job for the clan was bread baking. We do know that.' OMG!
The woman at the cairn entrance, one of his ancestors, started talking again and she wanted him to write the history so it is not lost. And that he needs to sit down and do this. He laughed as he said he is dyslexic and can’t write well. So then I saw him with headphones and a microphone and I said do it orally. He was. So. Good. At. All. Of. The. Stories. I hope he does. I thanked his ancestors and left them all with blessings.
So we all piled back into the bus and if you know anything of my sisters and I, we have small bladders, so we asked our tour guide to stop to pee. There was nowhere close to doing this, so he broke the rules and stopped in the Culloden Fields parking lot, we missed the open hours by five minutes…but we did get to peak out onto the fields. Yup, all those men ran right back over to greet me there, doing the same things they were doing at the cairns. Lol.
The inscription on the site reads 'The Battle of Culloden was fought on this moor, 16th April 1746. The graves of the gallant Highlanders who fought for Scotland & Prince Charlie are marked by the names of their clans.'
P.S. The men ran throughout the entire field until I was too far away in the bus, it was wild. It's like their stuck there. I also saw them out there in the field on the way in.
We all hop back on the bus, now more bothered than ever with the urge to pee, so the tour guide breaks the rules again and goes to the closest big box storefront.
We all finish and pile back onto the bus, the tour guide stops me, shows me his phone, and says, is this the tartan you saw? And ya know what, it was! Exactly how I saw it!
He said it was The Burnett Family tartan. Wait what, the who? BURNETT….oddly enough, that is my father-in-law’s last name as well. He is also an excellent storyteller. I had been taking pictures of all of the Burnett things to show him. It is such a small world, I do wonder if they are related somehow…and I do hope the guide, Mr. Burnett, creates an oral history for generations to come.
Sources: 1. https://www.historicenvironment.scot/about-us/news/discovery-sheds-new-light-on-the-battle-of-culloden/
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