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 "Friends,
I am now an old man and it is a long, long time since the year of
Charles. But if you want a story, I shall tell you about the battle
of Culloden. At that time I was a young and strong man. I had not
left home and worked the croft with my father and brother. News came
to our glen that Duke William and the red soldiers were approaching
Inverness and that Prince Charles and the Highlanders were preparing
to fight against them. No sooner had we got the news than my father,
brother, myself and quite a number of others from the glen left to
go to the aid of the Prince.
We went through
the town of Inverness and reached Drumashie where we found the Highland
army in battle formation on the hill. They put us in the Glengarry
regiment where we had many relatives and friends. When we reached
the army a great shout of joy went up, welcoming us. Prince Charles
himself, riding a white horse, was moving around among the Highland
army. He was a fine fellow, a true prince. There has not been seen,
and there will never be seen again in the Highlands, a prince of
his equal.
The morning
was cold and stormy as we stood on the battlefield - snow and rain
blowing against us. Before long we saw the red soldiers, in battle
formation, in front of us and although the day was wild and wet
we could see the red coats of the soldiers and the blue tartan of
the Campbells in our presence.
The battle
began and the pellets came at us like hail-stones. The big guns
were thundering and causing frightful break up among us, but we
ran forward and - oh dear!, oh dear! - what cutting and slicing
there was and many the brave deeds performed by the Gaels. I saw
Iain Mor MacGilliosa (Big Iain Gillies) cutting down the English
as if he was cutting corn and Iain Breac Shiosallach (Freckled Iain
Chisholm) killing them as though they were flies. But the English
were numerous and we were few and a large number of our friends
fell. The dead lay on all sides and the cries of pain of the wounded
rang in our ears. You could see a riderless horse running and jumping
as if mad.
When I saw
that the battle was lost, I thought it best to leave and make for
home. I said this to my brother who was near me and we made in the
direction of Inverness as quickly as we could. When we reached Culcabock
we stopped, feeling faint with hunger. I had some oatcakes in my
bag and we got a drink of milk from an old lady who was beside the
road. "How did the day go?" she asked. "Badly for the Prince," we
replied, and left in haste.
We went through
the river near the islands above the town of Inverness and arrived
home during the night. My father arrived safely in the morning and
boundless was my mother's joy at having us back home safe and well."
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