The site near Gatehouse of Fleet could have been at the heart of the kingdom

Archealogists think they have discovered a ‘lost dark age kingdom in Dumfries and Galloway. The sixth century Kingdom of Rheged has always been a mystery, now they believe they have found the Royal Pictish Seat of this Kingdom.

Archaeologists believe the royal seat of Rheged may have been in Galloway

The location of Rheged had previously been thought by many historians to be in Cumbria.

Pictish carvings found in this area made them look closer.

The Pictish carvings at the site which sparked a deeper investigation of the area.

Dr Christopher Bowles, co-director of the excavation work in Dumfries and Galloway, said:

“The new archaeological evidence from Trusty’s Hill enhances our perception of power, politics, economy and culture at a time when the foundations for the kingdoms of Scotland, England and Wales were being laid,” he said.
“The 2012 excavations show that Trusty’s Hill was likely the royal seat of Rheged, a kingdom that had Galloway as its heartland.
“This was a place of religious, cultural and political innovation whose contribution to culture in Scotland has perhaps not been given due recognition.”
Dr Bowles said the influence of the kingdom had “rippled through the history and literature of Scotland and beyond”.
Mr Toolis added that they had not been looking for Rheged when they started the excavations.

The excavation found evidence the area had been a royal stronghold

“What drew us to Trusty’s Hill were Pictish symbols carved on to bedrock here, which are unique in this region and far to the south of where Pictish carvings are normally found,” said Mr Toolis.
“The Galloway Picts Project was launched in 2012 to recover evidence for the archaeological context of these carvings.
“But far from validating the existence of Galloway Picts, the archaeological context revealed by our excavation instead indicates the carvings relate to a royal stronghold and place of inauguration for the local Britons of Galloway around AD 600.
“The new archaeological evidence suggests that Galloway may have been the heart of the lost Dark Age kingdom of Rheged, a kingdom that was in the late sixth century pre-eminent amongst the kingdoms of the north.”

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Rallying the Clans together. Chiefs of Clans Bruce, Leslie, Macnab and Carmichael on Salisbury Crags with Edinburgh Castle below.

Clan chiefs have been sending out rallying calls to their Clansmen and Clanswomen all over the world to come and join them at the Edinburgh Tattoo this August.  Rather than setting a fire on-top of a hill – this time they’re using the internet.

Back in 2009 many of us remember the epic Clan March up Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to the Castle, Clans walking behind their banners and many with their Clan Chiefs, being cheered on by thousands of onlookers.  This was the largest Clan display by far seen in Scotland, Over 125 Scottish Clans took part in the parade . Since then Clans have had their individual gatherings and clusters of Highland games but nothing touching what happened in 2009.

Jamie Macnab – Chief of Clan Macnab said in an interview for The Times  .”It was absolutely phenomenal… I don’t think anyone who took part that weekend will ever forget it.”

Clan Douglas at the Clan Parade in 2009

So now in 2017 the Clans will be marching again – this time to the Tattoo. It will be a series of Clan Parades that will take place each night of the Tattoo. This will be a major event within the Clan-themed Events that will be happening throughout this year, backed by the Scottish Clan Event Fund.

There are 25 performances of the Edinburgh Tattoo. Tickets have been put aside for the clans to buy for each performance to make sure that as many tartan-clad clansmen, women and children attend as possible.

The Edinburgh Tattoo

The Tattoo’s Chief,  Brigadier David Allfrey approached the Standing Council last August to gain support for his ‘Splash of Tartan’ theme for the Tattoo. This opportunity provides an excellent platform to promote Ancestral Tourism to International audiences. 2017 is Visit Scotland’s year of History, Heritage & Archaeology. The Clans will be playing a large part.

Clan Chiefs have been contacted and have signed up, now it’s all about mustering up support to get people to follow  them up the Royal Mile. Currently 53 Clan Chiefs have signed up, so each night there will be 2 Clans in the parade. Some Clans have already got 100 people signed up.

Jamie Macnab explains that this is a great opportunity to reposition the views within Scotland of Clan Heritage.  Here especially it can be seen as a bit twee – a shortbread version of Scotland, one that is just for tourists not for the people that live here.   Jamie adds:
” My hope is that our involvement in the Tattoo will get some home-based engagement and Scots will don their tartan and go, ‘Right, I’m putting my kilt on and going on my clan night.’ I mean, I think this is the first time the Tattoo has ever done anything like this so hopefully it will generate some interest.”

Clan events have always attracted people from oversees. the Convenor of the Standing Council, Sir Malcolm MacGregor has been over in the US trying to drum up support for this event.

Visit Scotland’s research has shown that history and heritage is the second most popular reason cited by visitors coming to Scotland from overseas. First was landscape and scenery.

So if you’re interested in joining your Clan – please contact your Clan Society and join in, let’s make this a great event!

For full list of clans and dates please see: http://www.scotclans.com/list-of-clans-and-dates-for-tattoo-clan-parade/

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A chunk of Edinburgh Castle in Chicago’s Tribune building

It may be sister cities with San Diego, but what you might not be familiar with is Edinburgh’s more subtle connection with America’s Windy City. Sprawling 463 feet into the air at the bottom of Chicago’s famous ‘Magnificent Mile’ is the Tribune Tower, home to the Chicago Tribune and an epitome of the American architect’s desire to construct not just buildings but behemoths. Skyscrapers to the heavens.

Housing restaurants and shops as well as publishing houses, this gothic imprint in the city also has a fun secret for both tourists and residents to explore: set all around the base is 120 blocks of stone imported from places all around the world – including a chunk from our very own Edinburgh Castle.

But why is it there, and who would go to the trouble of lugging all those blocks around?

That would be a man named Robert Rutherford McCormack, or ‘Colonel McCormack’ as he became known after his exploits in the First World War. One of the Tribune’s original owners, the out-spoken man was against his country’s involvement in the fighting, yet served anyway, and ended up taking back with him a piece of rubble from a battle at Ypres as a souvenir.

This gave him the idea to lace his building with blocks of stone from famous locations all over the world, and thus he instructed staff to collect whatever pieces they could by “well mannered means” (one assumes this is code for “without stealing”). How this could be done is something of a mystery, but it’s hardly a surprising idea from a man who would install secret staircases giving him covert escapes from his office.

The real significance of each block is that it comes from a famous landmark, like the Berlin Wall and Notre Dame, so it’s no surprise to see Edinburgh Castle nestled in right by the entrance on the south wall. Scotland has a long history of influence in The States – this is just another neat little reminder.

Edinburgh Castle

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At Howburn Farm in South Lanarkshire, a scattering of flints, discovered by the Biggar Archaeology Group, turned out to be the earliest evidence found of human habitation in Scotland. The flints have been dated between 12,000 and 14,000 B.C. The implements are about 4cm in length, and as many as 40,000 fragments have been uncovered so far.

This discovery has changed the previous belief that Palaeolithic man had’t travelled further north than the Midlands, with Creswell Crags often considered the northern limit of Palaeolithic settlement.

Lowborn Farm by Bigger in the Scottish Borders

Much of Scotland would have been under ice. This was the time of the last Ice Age which was followed by temperatures rising around 13,000 BC. People were able to move to new lands now freed from the Ice. The temperatures for the next 3,000 years changed dramatically, going through phases of extreme cold to warm periods. It was in this warm phase probably around 12,000 BC, that the remarkable new finds at Howburn Farm belong.

Lowborn Farm Excavations

The flints were probably used by hunters to kill reindeer, mammoth and giant elk and to cut up prey and prepare their skins.

To put this in perspective.  The size of these prehistoric animals next to a person, armed only with a flint.

Size of an Elk

Size of a Mammoth

Initial estimates suggested stone tools at the scene were made in around 2000 BCE, but in 2009 they were shown to be more than four times as old, making them the earliest signs of humanity so far discovered in Scotland. The flints were described as “strikingly similar” to tools produced in continental Europe during the same period.
“These tools represent a real connection with archaeological finds in north-west Germany, southern Denmark and north-west Holland – a connection not seen elsewhere in Britain at this time,’ says Alan Saville, a Senior Curator in Earliest Prehistory at the National Museums of Scotland who is also the President of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a specialist in the study of flaked flint and stone tools.

“This discovery is both intriguing and revolutionises our ideas about where humans came from in this very early period.

“In southern Britain, early links are with northern France and Belgium. Howburn is just one chance discovery and further such discoveries will no doubt emerge.”

“The climate had improved when the game hunters arrived, but the return of glacial weather is thought to have driven humans away until around 1,000 years later. A now-destroyed cave in Argyll had previously provided the earliest evidence of humans in Scotland.”

Howburn Farm is thought to have been an ancient camp where the hunters would make their flint tools. It is thought that these early people were hunting parties and not the ancestors of future Scots, that they took their hunt back across the North Sea basin towards Denmark and Germany. This was a nomadic life which persisted for thousands of years, until the neolithic age saw the advent of farming.

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A wonderful story from a broadside (early version of a newspaper) from 1828, about a man who was auctioning off his drunken wife at the Grassmarket in Edinburgh. Details of the extraordinary auction are held by the National Library of Scotland in its vast collection of broadsides, single newsheets which were distributed or pinned up around towns and cities. These were the tabloids of the time.

Mary Mackintosh was brought to the Grassmarket by her husband, Thomas M.Guisgan, who held her by a straw rope tied around her middle with the words “to be sold by public auction” pinned on her bosom. She was accused of being a notorious drunk and an adulterer but when the sale got underway on July 17 1828, a “bloody battle” broke out with punches thrown and people whacked with stones wrapped in stockings.

It had started out civil enough. Several thousand spectators had assembled to witness this novel sale, held around 6pm, with the auctioneer, described as a “knight of the hammer”, wrestling for attention above the rowdy crowd. According to a report of the day, quietness fell as people started to note the “countenance of the woman”.

Stepping through the crowd, a man pulled his wallet and said: “She be a good like lassie, l will gi’e ten and twenty shillings for her.” The crowd cheered at the offer but it was not long before “a stout tinker” made a bolt to the front of the crowd to say she should never go to the Highlands before offering a six pence. The clamour of the crowd heightened further. The next bid was quick to follow and came from a “Killarney Pig Jobber” whose “mouth open as wide as a turnpike gate”. Half drunk, he offered two shillings more, given she was a “pratty” – or mischievous – woman. It was at this stage that the atmosphere started to tilt. A brogue maker emerged from a public house “as drunk as 50 cats in a wallet – and hit the Killarney man, leaving him knocked out on the ground for a good 10 minutes. Mary Mackintosh is said to have “laughed heartily” at the punch with the cheers of the crowd now “long and incessant”. But the scene rapidly deteriorated as bare knuckle violence broke out, much of it executed by women armed with stones. First, however, the Brogue maker walked up to the auctioneer. A report of the day said:
“He was so enraged, he knocked the auctioneer down, and made his claret flow desperately.”

The women of the neighbourhood gathered to the number of 700, and armed themselves with stones, some threw them, and others put them in their stockings and handkerchiefs, and made a general charge through the mob, knocking every one down that came in their way, until they got up to the auctioneer, when they scratched and tore his face in a dreadful manner, in consequence of the insult the fair sex had received. One woman, described as a “true female hero” and the wife of a sweep, pelted Mr Guisgan, the man who had tried to sell his wife, before decrying him as a “contaminated villain”. Mr Guisgan hit her back between her eyes, leaving them like “two October cabbages.” The report added: “A general battle ensued, and only for the interference of the police, there would have been lives lost.”

After the disturbance was quelled, the husband continued to insist she should be sold. According to report, she was brought up again before the crowd and an elderly Jack Tar – a term used for seamen of the Merchant or Royal Navy, stepped forward. He described Mary Mackintosh as “well rigged” before offering half a Crown more than the last bidder. But he was to be outbid by a farmer, described as a widower, who pledged two pounds and five shillings for Mrs Mackintosh. The sale was agreed. The report concluded: “The farmer took her up behind him on his horse, and away they went amidst the cheers of the populace.”

Full Transcript of Original Article

Transcription
SALE OF A WIFE.

A full and particular Account of the Sale of a Woman, named Mary Mackintosh, which look place on Wednesday Evening, the 16th of July, 1828, in the Grass Market ‘of Edinburgh, accused by her Husband of being a notorious Drunkard; with the Particulars of the bloody
Battle which took place afterwards.

ON Wednesday evening last, in the Grass-market, Mary Mackintosh was brought down about six o’clock by her husband, for the purpose of being sold. Her crime was drunkenness and adultery. She was held by a straw rope tied round her middle, and the words, ” To be sold by public auction” in front of her bosom. Several thousand spectators were assembled to witness this novel occurrence. John F——n, pensioner, and knight of the hammer, commenced business, but the acclamations of the people were so great, that no one could get a hearing for ten minutes, to bid for the unfortunate Woman;

When, the crowd got a little quiet the people began to examine the countenance of the woman ; a Highland Drover stepped through the crowd, and pulled out his purse, and Said, ” She be a good like lassie,’l will gi’e ten and twenty shillings for her.” This caused great cheering among the
crowd? then a stout Tinker made a bolt into the crowd, and said she should never go to the Highlands?he then bid sixpence more for her. At this time, one of the KlLLARNEY PIG JOBBERS, with his mouth open as wide as a turnpike gate, and half drunk, eried loudly, FAUGHAHOLLICE , I will
give two shillings more, for she is a pratty woman. A Brogue maker, from Newry, coining out of a public house; as drunk as 5O cats in a wallet, came up to the Killarney man, and hits him in the bread bag, and he lay there for the space of ten minutes, which made the woman for sale, laugh
heartily, and the cheers of the crowd at this time was long and incessant.?
The Brogue-maker being a supposed friend to the woman, went up to the auctioneer,and told him there were three bidders: he was so enraged, he knocked the auctioneer down, and made his claret flow desperately. Great cheering among the people, at the expense of the knight of the hammer.?
The women of the neighbourhood gathered to the number of 700, and armed themselves with stones, some threw them, and others put them in their stockings and handkerchiefs, and made a general charge through the mob, knocking every one down that came in their way, until they got up to the
auctioneer, when they scratched and tore his face in a dreadful manner, in consequence of the insult the fair sex had received. One resolute woman came up with a stone and knocked down Thomas M.Guisgan, husband to the woman who was exposed for sale. This woman, a true female hero,
and a SWEEP’S WIFE, displayed great courage in favour of her sex, and said I will learn you to auction your wife again, you contaminated villain Tom returned the blow, and hit her between the eyes, and made them like two October cabbages. The sweep seeing his wife struck, made a sally with his bag and scrapper ; the women all took the sweep’s part, and cried with a loud voice, mill him the old boar, a general battle ensued, and only for the interference of the police, there would have been lives lost. Alter the disturbance was quelled, the husband insisted she should be sold. She was brought up again, and the auctioneer declared that if he could not be protected, be would have no more call to her. Some young fellows shouted he should, and the sale began again. An old pensioner, a Jack tar, stepped forward, saying, damn my tarry top-lights and chain plates she is a tight little frigate, and well rigged too, and I will give half a crown more than the last bidder. Well done, cried the mob to the sallor, you are a spirited fel-
low, and you must get her; when a farmer, who was a widower, bade two pound five shillings for her, he being a friend to the sex, and the auctioncer knocked her down. The farmer took her up behind him on his horse, and away they went amidst the cheers of the populace.

W. BOAG, PRINTER, NEWCASTLE.

Click to see at full size

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Recently we’ve been getting asked a lot about how to move to Scotland to live so we thought we’d put together a bit of a helpful guide. Maybe the pipes are calling you home?

Edinburgh

Scotland compared with other places does not have many people – we only have around 5.5 million people and about 70% of these people live in the central belt and the lowlands.  Glasgow has the highest population, followed by Edinburgh.
I have heard Edinburgh described as a ‘truly cosmopolitan town’ – this is a perfect description.  It doesn’t feel like a city, and is a wonderful mix of people from different countries.

Unless you are moving from a very expensive city like New York the cost of living here is high.  Our houses tend to be a lot smaller and have less space around them.

We are not that religious, and those who are tend to be very quiet about it.   30% of people here are church of scotland, 15% catholic, 5.5% other christian, 1.5% Islam.   Around 36% of Scotland say they have no religion.

Move for the right reasons – Scotland is not Kilted Celtic Pirates

There is a bizarre image that gets portrayed of Scotland. Attending games in the US we see this a lot – the celtic kilted pirate. Seeing the skull and cross bones flag flying next to the saltire is a confusing one, buxom women in basques and gents with kilts and pirate sabres. Bit of a confused mixture of Walt Disney, Willam Wallace – Mel Gibson version and Captain Jack Sparrow.
Scotland is not like this so would be a bit of a shock for someone thinking it was.

So … still want to relocate – here’s some help

We should start by saying – the rules of visas change constantly so please check up.  The number one rule with visas is you have to get these before you enter Scotland.  Do not come to Scotland and try to apply for the correct visa.  You’ll waste a lot of money

Applying for this visa is quite stressful and expensive but once it’s done that feeling must be amazing. It’s going to take at least 5 years of doing various visas and extensions to be able to apply for indefinite residency and become a citizen. Then you can officially get the accent

Visa Confusion

Now I will try and talk you through the different visas.
A basic vistors visa allows you to travel around Scotland and the UK for up to 6 months. You are not allowed to work on this visa and have to return home to apply for different visa.

No Visa for Retiring

Retiring to Scotland is understandably appealing. When I think of retiring –  it’s on a Scottish island with a peat fire, maybe a bit of knitting. Sadly no actual retirement visas exists – this was stopped in 2008. You could only maybe come over as a dependant of a family member living in Scotland otherwise I don’t know how you can do it for longer than 6 months.

Ancestry Visa

If you are a citizen of a Commonwealth country and have a grandparent who was born in the UK (this includes the Republic of Ireland if born before 1922 as it was then part of the UK), you can apply for a visa to live and work in Scotland and the rest of the UK. This visa lasts five years. For this visa you must have the intention to undertake work, as well as showing that you have enough money to support yourself in Scotland.
You do not need a job offer for an Ancestry Visa, just to prove that you are looking for work. You can come in on this visa if you’re studying full-time as long as you are also working part-time. An Ancestry Visa would allow you to study in the UK but you would have to pay the International fees. Remember you are not a citizen while on an Ancestry Visa – this has to be applied for afterwards.

To apply you need birth certificates for your UK born grandparent (it doesn’t have to be Scotland). Also funds – in your bank account you’ll need £1200 – £1600, 90 days prior to your date of application.

Dependants have to apply to join you from outside the UK.

Cost: £405
Length of visa: 5 years
more info:
https://www.gov.uk/ancestry-visa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Ancestry_Entry_Clearance

After visa:  you can apply to extend or stay permanently. £811 – £1,311 to extend

Get a job offer – so invited to Scotland

These are looked at case by case.
An employer would normally sponsor the works visa.  If single the employer needs to show that the job can not be offered to someone within the same country – how this person is uniquely qualified for this job that they have to bring them in from another country. If you have studied within the UK this can be easier. If not this is quite a hard process to go through.

If one person of a married couple from the US gets offered a job in Scotland you have to show that the job is the dominant job in the family (so highest paying). Then the spouse comes as a ‘dependant’. The dependant has to be granted the visa before coming to the UK.

No job offer – but are bringing a business to Scotland

For this you can apply for a Entrepreneur’s Visa. This is for people who want to set up or run a business in the UK. The big hurdle with this one is you need access to at least £50,000 investment funds to apply. It costs around 1.2k and you can only stay for 3 years and 4 months. After this you can apply for a 2 year extension. Like other visas after 5 years you can apply for indefinite settlement and become a citizen

https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-entrepreneur

Youth Mobility Scheme

If you come from certain countries, are aged between 18 and 30 and have £1,890 in savings, you may be eligible to apply for a Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) visa. This visa will last for up to two years and will allow you to live and work in the UK during this time.

I want to invest in Scotland

If you are going to make an investment of £2,000,000 or more into Scotland, you can apply for a Tier 1 (Investor) visa.

Marrying a UK citizen

Firstly visas need to be applied for before leaving your country.

Applying for a visa before you are married.
A marriage visa only allows you to marry in Scotland not live there. A separate spouse visa needs to be applied for once married. A marriage visa allows you 6 months to get married. Then when you are married you get an allowance of 30 days to stay in Scotland. After that a spouse visa needs to be applied for – you will most likely have to return to your home country and apply for this there.

A marriage visa costs around £85

The spouse visa will allow you 2 1/2yrs residency in Scotland, you are applying “To join family living permanently in the UK” as a SPOUSE. You have to apply for this visa outside the UK. Then after the 2 1/2yrs you have to apply again (so 5 years in total) then you can apply for citizenship. Before this 5 year point it’s like a probationary period where you are not a citizen so have to cover health care and prove you can support yourself. It’s a 70 page form you need to fill in.

If you marry a UK citizen outside the UK and plan to live in the UK then the marriage has to be recognised within the UK.

You can not just marry in the UK without a visa.

You have to wait 5 years to get a Full UK Residency.

You have to answer various things – like how much your spouse earns and show bank accounts also have to do a 15 minute English test to show you know the language.

So there you have it – like most countries applying for residency is difficult but not impossible. With our impending exit from the EU there will be inevitable changes, the small matter of Scottish Independence is still a consideration, given that the Scottish government is more open to immigration than the UK as a whole (as a country we desperately need to build our young workforce to keep tax revenues flowing). It’s entirely possible that if Scotland became independent or if immigration became a devolved issue we could see a considerable change in these regulations. lets just see…

Scotland is an open, diverse, multicultural, and welcoming country. (in our opinion and experience) We welcome those who share these values…. just leave the cutlass and eyepatch at home

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Edinburgh has the tale of Greyfriars’ Bobby and San Diego has the story of Bum the dog, who for a homeless dog became something of a celebrity, loved by all in his hometown, much like our very own Bobby. When the two cities twinned in 1977, they each presented the other with a statue of these loveable dogs.

This statue of Bum the dog is found in Princes Street Gardens, alongside the following plaque…

San Diego has the original statue of Bum alongside a replica of Edinburgh’s Bobby statue…

Which includes a plaque explain more about Bum…

The love and loyalty of both legendary dogs forever joins San Diego and Edinburgh as sister cities.

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In the early half of 1745, Charles Edward Stuart or Bonnie Prince Charlie, saw an opportunity to reclaim what he considered to be his father’s two kingdoms, Great Britain, formally united in 1707, and Ireland. George II and the British army were occupied in the War of the Austrian Succession, leaving only around 6,000 troops to defend England. Aided by the early support of Donald Cameron of Lochiel, XIX chief of Clan Cameron, he and is party of men were successful in raising a force of 2,000 Scots.

With word of this force ready to march on the Lowlands, it was up to Sir John Cope to give a response root he government. Cope was the general in command of the 4,000 government troops stationed in Scotland, but unfortunately the most of his troops were only recently raised and as a result inexperienced. Cope and his troops marched on Fort Augustus in the heart of the Highlands in an effort to awe the Highlanders into surrender and end the rebellion before it had truly begun. Upon hearing that the rebel army was looking to oppose him at Corryarrack, he instead marched to Inverness hoping to be the one to decide the battleground. Cope had underestimated the men commanding the rebel forces.

Bonnie Prince Charlie and his troops marched straight down to the Lowlands, which by now were almost undefended. A small force which held Edinburgh retreated in the face of the superior foe, leaving the city open for the taking. On 16 September, some of Prince Charles’s army captured the city with little or no fighting, though Edinburgh Castle was still defended for the government. Cope meanwhile furiously marched to Aberdeen  are he had urgently ordered ships, so he and his troops could make haste o the south. On the same day the Jacobites took Edinburgh, Cope and his men disembarked in Dunbar.

Even though Cope knew his troops were far from the best, he was determined to engage the Jacobite force. His intelligence told him that the rebels only numbered around 2,000 men, and whilst they were fit and hardy, they were ill-equipped. Cope believed this would mean his force, in two regiments of dragoons and three and a half regiments of infantry, should easily overpower them. It was even said that on their march towards Edinburgh they assured the locals that there would be no battle.

It was on the 20th of September that the two forces first met, just outside Prestonpans near Preston house. The Jacobite army had secured the high ground to the south of Cope’s position, but Cope was determined to face the rebels and made the best of his situation. He drew up his force facing south using the park walls of Preston house to provide protection for the right flank and a marshy bog to the front. Although they had secured a good position the Jacobites were dismayed by the way Cope had taken advantage of the land. A traditional Highland charge would flounder in the marshes and be decimated by musket and cannon fire. The senior Jacobite officers knew they must change their plans if they were to come away victorious but could not agree on what should be done. It was Lord George Murray who pushed for them to move their force to the East so they could assault the exposed left flank of the government forces and it was Lieutenant Anderson, a local farmers son, who knew the lay of the land and knew of a way to get the force where it needed to go. At 4am on the 21st the Jacobites began to move, 3 abreast along a narrow defile, in order to reach the east flank.

Meanwhile, Cope had noticed some movement in the opposing force juts before dark, though this move was the result of confusion in the Jacobite ranks and was abandoned. He feared that the Jacobite planned to attack both his flanks and thus redeployed in forces in a north south front, the formation that they would fight in the next day. He also ordered that 200 dragoons and 300 infantryman should take on picket duty and light fires in the front of his position in order to thwart any plans for a surprise night attack. Cope felt secure with these measures and in addition ordered 3 companies of Louden’s Highlanders to guard the baggage park in Cockenzie, as well as dismissing some 100 volunteers ordering them to report back in the morning. Cope also made a last minute attempt to gain reinforcements from Edinburgh Castle,  requesting Artilleryman to attend his position. It would be for nought though, as the battle would take place a lot earlier than Cope had expected.

At the crack of dawn on the 21st September, Cope’s Dragoons beheld a spectacle that would send a shiver down any sane mans spine. Out of the early morning mist, making “wild Highland war cries and with the bloodcurdling skirl of the pipes” came 1,400 Highlanders charging straight towards Cope and his men. Cope’s inexperienced army wheeled to meet a foe they were not expecting to come from the east, and Cope even managed to scramble some artillery into position. Undaunted by the light and inaccurate fire the Highlanders continued their charge. The centre of this charge became bogged down in an are of marshland, which meant the straight line of the charge became a v formation. The wings on either side met with the dragoons on either side of the British force, which caused them to immediately flee.

This meant that Cope was left with only the centre of his force, which also happened to be the experienced Royal Infantry. Unfortunately for hem the unplanned flanking manoeuvre by the Jacobites, which happened when the wings of the v wrapped around the side of the Royal Infantry and the centre met them head on, meant the were effectively surrounded by Highlanders and they suffered for it. After sustaining heavy casualties they eventually gave way.

Around 10 minutes after the battle had begun, it was over. Hundreds of government troops were dead or injured, and thousands were taken prisoner whom Bonnie Prince Charlie himself ordered should be treated with the greatest of care. The Jacobite’s on the other hand had only suffered around 100 casualties. Cope still in charge of around 200 men, pulled them away to reorganise and rally them in an adjacent field, but they refused to engage the enemy further. Cope had no choice but to retreat and make the long journey south to the relative safety of Berwick-upon-tweed.

Cope’s baggage train in Cockenzie was seized giving the Jacobites around £5000, many muskets and plenty of ammunition but this was not all the victory gave to the cause. It signalled the true beginning of the rebellion, greatly boosting the morale of the Stuart supporters, and causing a surge in recruitment to the Jacobites in Scotland. The battle cemented the seriousness of this new Jacobite rebellion and it’s effectiveness to claim victory in the battles to come.

A cairn was erected in 1953 to commemorate the memory of all those that fell in the battle. A coal bing was also erected, atop which flies Prince Charlie’s battle flag, using the remains of the area’s coal shale shaped into an obelisk to provide a vantage point for today’s visitors.

In 2006 the Battle of Prestonpans 1745 Heritage Trust was established with the goal to ensure much better presentation and interpretation of the battle. Plans include a visitor Centre in the grounds of Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum, ‘Living History’ battle re-enactments, battle-related storytelling and new novels, and a new ‘Flowering of the Arts’ including embroidery.

In 2008 the Trust commissioned Glasgow University Archaeological Research Division to undertake a comprehensive survey, followed by selective excavation, of the battlefield. Although it was thought that the location of the battlefield was known for years the team actually discovered that the true site was located some 500 yards away. Based on concentrations of musket balls and other evidence, this new site is where it is believed the Highlanders charge actually took place.

Details of all the Trust’s activities can be found at its website - www.battleofprestonpans1745.org

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