The Steadings at the Grouse & Trout

History - Clach An Airm. Page 4

It is now almost 4.00pm. I see a scattering of men across Drumossie Moor. Some alone, others in small groups. All are in haste, gasping for breath, torn, tattered, blood-stained, blackened with gunpowder. Their eyes show trauma and deep anxiety. I speak to one man who continues on his way as he speaks to me in a haphazard manner. I can barely make out what he is saying but my worst fears are confirmed. The great anticipation and optimism of yesterday has now been replaced by a sense of hopelessness, fear and panic. The enemy has been victorious.

I speak to another man as he rushes by. Again I plead for news of the battle and the fate of the Strathnairn men. It is now all becoming quite clear. The Clans were outnumbered, outgunned and fought on an ill-chosen battlefield. Their brilliant military tactician – Lord George Murray – had been replaced by an inexperienced and incompetent commander who made many basic errors of judgement. Defeat was inevitable but not given easily.

The men of Clan Chattan acquitted themselves well but they suffered more than any other clan regiment. They were first to charge the field, they broke through the first line of the Redcoats – and not just any regiment, they charged Barrel’s troops, the very best in the Hanoverian army. But from what I can gather, the casualty rate has been enormous, many have been taken prisoner and those who have escaped now fear greatly the consequences of this defeat for themselves and their families.

I learn that, like so many others from this Strath, John Mor MacGillivray from Gask will never return home again to his native soil. Captain Angus MacKintosh was wounded on the battlefield - his fate is unknown. Donald Forbes was captured and is now imprisoned in a miserable Hanoverian prison-ship awaiting transportation to the West Indies and to a life of slavery. Our courageous leader, Colonel Alexander MacGillivray, died bravely in the thick of the action as he urged his men forward against intense artillery and musket fire. Captain Farquhar MacGillivray, Gillies MacBean, Duncan MacKintosh and John MacPherson have been much more fortunate - they all managed to escape to safety from the battle. Freedom, however, will be short-lived for Duncan and John - the Redcoats will eventually capture them on 7th June. Safety for all others means a secure hideout in the hills with their families or - if you are one of the very few who has money - passage to France. There will be many anxious, hungry days, weeks and months ahead for those who lie low in the heather, awaiting the enemy search-parties.

Some days have gone by. It is now late afternoon on the 23rd of April 1746. All around are roofless cottages with smoke still rising from the burnt embers. Redcoated soldiers still scour the landscape, killing defenceless people of all ages and gender, destroying property and gathering what remains of the livestock from the crofts and farms around Clach an Airm. I cannot bear to recount the atrocities that I have seen carried out by these ferocious and vengeful soldiers from the victorious army. They are out of control and bring shame on the name of the king they serve.

Clach an Airm will remain standing where it has stood for many centuries. It will be seen for many generations yet to come. But the details of what I have witnessed happening all around the vicinity of this stone, during the days and weeks following the Battle of Culloden, will be lost from historical record for all time. The personal memories of these tragic events will die with the people who lived through them. The pain arising from what took place on 16th April 1746 at Culloden Battlefield, and its aftermath, however, will remain with Strathnairn forever.

William A. Forbes
8 January 2003

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