Stirling Castle & Culloden Battlefield-click pictures to enlarge (to see all posts beginning with the most recent, click 2011 under archives on the right)

Here are some more pictures from Stirling Castle

The Great Hall, where feasts and celebrations were held. Mary Queen of Scots threw a major bash here of epic proportions. Note the gold color. It has been recently restored to its original color with with the same lime wash used back then. History
shows that back in the day the whole place was this color.

It was really amazing to be standing in the Great Hall where so many kings and queens held court. Parliament met here for a while.

Of course the king and queen sat front and center.

The church, built for for the baptism of the baby king James.

Jo Ellen loves Scottish history, this Stirling Castle visit was her idea. Thanks Jo!

This little guy sits atop the Great Hall.

They were really into unicorns.

This is from the ceiling in the royal chambers. The ceiling is covered with wood carvings like this, including the "Stirling Heads" of kings and noblemen.

The queen's bedroom.

Would you like to sit for a spell?

Bonnie Price Charlie had been successful in battle in the 1740's  Jacobite uprising's endeavor to seat him as ruler of all of Britain, but upon laying siege to the castle simply did not have the artillery to successfully penetrate the castle walls. He and his men were then chased and harassed all the way to Inverness where the uprising was finally crushed once and for all in a brutal battle. Next stop on our trip is the Culloden battlefield.

Finally in the highlands, we spent our first night in Inverness before heading to the battlefield. It was rainy, foggy, and gloomy-quite appropriate considering what  happened here.

The blue line of flags shows the line of Jacobites, here mostly highland clans, along with some French and Irish. The line of red shows the British government line.

This path of red flags is where the government stood their line.

This path of blue flags is where the Jacobites formed a line and began there charge. I'm pointing to where the clash began.

Jo Ellen's clan, the Farquharsons, were on the left side of the line.

The blue flag (at the top of the line) is approximately the spot where the fighters from Jo Ellen's family stood. They were in no shape to fight. Thousands of them soaking wet and hungry after marching all night in the dark , half lost  thru rugged mountain terrain. The English had a party the night before, enjoying fresh cheese, wine, and a nice dry nights sleep. They also had sharp bayonets, and good bayonet technique.

This is literally where they began their charge. Note how wet and sloppy it is. The highlanders in the center, who were not fond of the idea of fighting out in a flat open field in the first place, got bogged down with the lousy footing and could not keep a line moving forward.  They moved to the right and got all tangled with each other, slowing the charge. The wad of men was cut to pieces when they hit the British line.

The stone grave marks with the the names of the clans where they fell. It didn't take long for Prince Charlie and some of his men to flee on horses.

The cairn in the middle of the battlefield. Well over a thousand Jacobite soldiers were killed in less than an hour, with just a few dozen losses on the British side. Over 3000 more were eventually hunted down and killed. Women and children were slaughtered, land was seized, the tartan banned. They were considered rebels and there was officially no quarter, no prisoners. The French and Irish that fought were considered foreign troops and allowed to surrender with honor.

This picture was not taken on the battlefield, but on the road to Skye. We stopped at a lay by to rest a moment and Jo Ellen saw this cairn. The inscription tells of a man who looked like Charlie, who took one for the team. Charlie escaped to the Isle of Skye dressed in drag and eventually made it to Europe.