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Culloden Tattler- Historical Newspaper Article

Culloden Tattler

Merely days after the brutal Battle of Culloden, which took place on the 16th of April, the Hanoverians, supporters of Sophia of Hanover, are already committing terrible atrocities against innocent Scottish Jacobites. An atrocity is a horrific deed done against men, women and children who are innocent of what they are being accused of. Several atrocities have taken place in Scotland to try to eradicate Jacobitism and it’s many followers. The Jacobites want a parliament in Edinburgh but the Hanoverians don’t want this and so battle commenced between the rebel fighters and the government troops. Jacobites are being publicly slaughtered in front of their own friends and family. In an interview earlier today Mrs. Taylor, from Inverness, recalls when she went to look for her brother-in-laws body just days after the battle itself,

‘I was looking for the body of my brother-in-law who as killed in the battle. There was this awful smell of burning, it was disgusting and they weren’t just burning firewood, that’s for sure. I looked on the battlefield and when I saw some people walking along, I decided to ask them what it was that was burning and I was told that 18 wounded Jacobite men were burnt in a house just off the battlefield. They were told that medical help was waiting for them and instead they were all roasted alive. Now that was an atrocity, I tell you! If it gets any worse than that then, by God, we are all doomed.’  

Another atrocity was shared by The Rev. James May, who is recording a catalogue of atrocities and in an interview earlier today he said,

‘A dragoon was following two Jacobites, neither of them saw him coming. It was a real shame; no one deserves to die the way they did. The dragoon kept following them and then hacked at their bodies. Some maid heard the Jacobites screams and cries but when she finally got to their bodies they were left without arms. There was nothing she could have done though, it was a sad day for a lot of people.’   

The Hanoverians were on a killing spree, slaughtering anyone and everyone who supported Jacobitism. Committing such acts of cruelty go against the rules of war. Some of the rules are, if a man or women turns their back and retreats you are not allowed to shoot at them or kill them, and if a man is not armed you cannot fight him. The Hanoverians tried everything, making up every excuse they could, just to kill Jacobitism. In a previous interview with the Duke of Cumberland he explained exactly why the Hanoverians have to use such cruel techniques to erase Jacobitism,

‘We must separate the Jacobites from the Hanoverians for this is not a religious battle but a political war! If we do not do this then we might as well wait for another Jacobite rebellion to start up again and for them to try and overthrow us. Us Hanoverians don’t want a parliament in Edinburgh, you see, but those Scottish brutes want a parliament in Scotland and to get that Bonnie Prince Charlie on the throne. We want Sophia of Hanover as our Queen and the fact that she is Protestant makes it an even more wise decision to have her here, on our throne. I tell you now, they don’t call me The Butcher for nothing and that Bonnie Prince Charlie won’t look so bonnie when I’m finished with him!’            

In their attempt to get rid of the Jacobites, who support Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Hanoverians have created the Disarming Act. This bans tartan, bagpipes, weapons and being able to speak Gaelic. The family tartans are what were used to tell the Scottish clans apart and taking this away would be like taking away their identity. Clans soon disbanded after tartan was banned and that meant that a lot of people were not part of a proper family. Bagpipes were banned because they were played at the start of battles to scare or threaten the opposition and to tell them that the Scots were ready for battle. Weapons weren’t allowed either, so that the Jacobites can’t rise up again and fight against the government troops, and Gaelic wasn’t to be spoken in Scotland either because it was a Scottish language.

Many people have already been killed due to the atrocities and Mr. Francis Stewart talked about one atrocity that several other people witnessed with him,

‘It was an old man; he was running from two cavalrymen. He must have done something or maybe he thought that they were going to accuse him but whatever he did, he died for it. The old man must have run for a while because he was so tired and he stopped. Soon the cavalrymen, obviously Hanoverians, caught up but the man, he begged for mercy. He was pleading for his life and then one of the men took out his gun and shot the old one straight through the head. That was when I knew that any Jacobite should leave here before they were killed too. It’s starting to get dangerous and if this carries on, then there will soon be no Jacobites left.’   

Clan Chiefs are being unfairly treated as they are stripped of their property, hung or exiled but some men like Lord Lovat, the Chief of Clan Fraser were executed wrongfully when they didn’t even take part in the battle, and prisoners weren’t treated any better. Prisoners were given half a pound of meal a day but no water was permitted to be given by anyone, that meant that the meal was almost impossible to eat. Their wounds from the battle or from the struggle against the Hanoverians taking them to prison were left undressed and the infection killed the men if the hunger didn’t. Reportedly there was screams and crying to be heard from outside Inverness Jail leading us to expect that the Hanoverians aren’t treating the prisoners very well.  The Rev. James May also talked about the criminal offence that was helping a prisoner in need,

‘You see, it was an offence to help any prisoner no matter what they were suffering from but Anna Mackay wouldn’t listen. She was a prisoner’s nurse and she must have felt like she had to help these men. So she helped them despite what she was told but when Mr. Nairn escaped, she was taken to the guardhouse and ordered not to sit down or lie down for three days and nights. Must have been awfully sore on her feet, poor girl but she did it to herself to help others and that’s not to be forgotten.’

In an interview with a Scottish prisoner who escaped and wished to remain anonymous to the public, he spoke about the horrid conditions he and his fellow prisoners were put under,

‘It was awful. The jail stunk and we weren’t given anything we could eat. I mean they gave us so meal but it’s useless without water and there was none of that around. Not a lot of people came to help us but there was the odd man or women like that Anna girl. I was lucky to escape and we should all be praying for the other men still stuck in that jail.’

The Disarming Act has been put in place to stop the Jacobites rising again but the hero that was meant to help the rebels win the battle and rule over them on the throne, Bonnie Prince Charlie, has fled Scotland to Skye and is on his way back to France by boat. The person that has helped him get as far as he has without being detected is Flora MacDonald, who is a 24-year-old girl with a troubled family life. She dressed Bonnie Prince Charlie in women’s attire and they sailed to Skye. Reportedly the next journey for Bonnie Prince Charlie is to France, where he was born and grew up.

In a desperate attempt to cover more of Scotland, the Hanoverians built forts and roads to access other towns and cities with Jacobites being hidden in them. Fort Augustus and Fort George were both built around the time of the Jacobite uprising and Fort Augustus was named after the Duke of Cumberland, William Augustus. This was one way that the Government tried to control the Scots and with punishments such as death and jail sentences. The Scots have been treated unfairly but life can only get easier for the brave Scottish nation.