Culloden, its very name is an emotive word.
For us it symbolises the loss of a way of life and of a cause .
Whats the relevence today?
Well its right we should remember and thats what Crann Tara is all about remembering our history and ensuring its not forgotten. What happened following Culloden was harrowing and for anyone who wants to learn more can I recommend the book by John Prebble called Culloden. At midnight on the 13th of April a group of us lead by a piper made their way on to the battlefield. Crann Tara member Jim Singer started proceedings with a lesson from history. Jim spoke with real passion when he mentioned the way that wounded Jacobite prisoners were tortured and executed by the British forces. Brendan McCabe then spoke about the links to the past and how close Culloden actually was in time. He reminded those gathered there that we had to remember the dead and he read out at random some names of men who had died that day. Various others from the gathered crowd then came forward to speak and all did so with real feeling. One of our newer members Rab Cairney then came forward to read some words from a Jacobite song, the PA system was failing by then but it didn't matter to Rab , he was heard loud and clear. Ted Christopher sung his song Freedom's Flame which is about the reasons we gather on the battlefield every year. Ted is a true patriot, when he sings you know he means it. Our resident gunner Kenny Borthwick then fired the musket salute and once again we left the dead in peace and remembered.