National Trust for Scotland shares rare Gaelic songs for Battle of Culloden commemoration
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The public can hear rare snippets of haunting Gaelic songs inspired by the Jacobite cause today, as conservation charity the National Trust for Scotland marks the anniversary of the Battle of Culloden.
For centuries, this historical event has been marked by a series of events on-site, but due to the coronavirus public health emergency, the charity has moved its memorial online, with a series of videos and articles on www.nts.org.uk
In the video Highland Songs of the Forty Five, the charity shares the original audio recordings of a series of Gaelic songs collected by archivist John Lorne Campbell from Canna.
John and his wife Margaret Faye Shaw were noted scholars of Gaelic culture and life. Published in 1933, the book brought together songs inspired by the events leading up to the Battle of Culloden, and beyond – many of which had never been written down before. They also collected recordings of the songs from Ruaiaridh Iain Bain and Annie Johnston of Barra.
The film was created by the trust’s Canna House archivist Fiona MacKenzie who had been due to give a talk on the book at the battlefield as part of the 2020 anniversary programme.
Raoul Machin-Curtis, the National Trust for Scotland’s operations manager at Culloden said: “The anniversary of the Battle of Culloden is a significant date for so many and while we can’t be on-site, we know that people will want to pause, reflect and remember.
“These beautiful songs reflect the haunting beauty of battlefield, one of Scotland’s most special places, so powerfully. We feel it is fitting to share them on this poignant day.”
Tomorrow is the 274th anniversary of the Battle of Culloden, one of the most pivotal moments in Scotland’s history, where the 1745 Jacobite Rising came to a tragic and brutal end. The site of the last pitched battle fought in Britain, Culloden attracts more than 300,000 visitors every year and the impact of the battle and its aftermath resonates across Scotland, and the wider world.
