A number of molehills have sprung up across the battlefield site at Culloden, much to the delight of a Jacobite supporters group. The Circle of Gentlemen – a Highland based Jacobite supporters society – is welcoming the site’s newest residents and hoping the creatures will be kept from harm.

Said to have played a role in the death of Protestant monarch William of Orange, the humble mole is much respected in Jacobean circles. In 1702 King William III’s horse stumbled on a molehill, causing him to fall and break his collarbone, subsequently developing pneumonia which killed him. Jacobite supporters still toast “the wee gentleman in the black velvet waistcoat” at gatherings.

Alasdair MacNeill of the Circle of Gentlemen said the Culloden moles are not desecrating the historic site. “Although the molehills have been appearing around Culloden, with some extremely close to markers of where clan leaders are thought to have fallen in battle, there is no concern by the society.”

“The men buried there had no choice in their final resting places but, to the moles, it’s their natural habitat. They have no concept of history or appreciation of the bones they tunnel around. Given this, I can’t really see it as a desecration. Humans souvenir-hunting, or sitting atop a grave mound munching on a Scotch egg is desecration, but moles doing what they were designed to do is entirely different.”

Owners of the battlefield, The National Trust for Scotland, said they are aware of the molehills but are not currently concerned about the numbers – much to the relief of MacNeill. “Perhaps if bones start appearing among the molehills then something may possibly need to be done. But I’m certainly not in favour of any sort of cull.”

William III was a staunch Protestent who deposed King James II and VII of England and Scotland in 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, to prevent Catholicism in the monarchy. This sparked the Jacobite Wars and culminated in the final confrontation of the 1745 Rising at Culloden – the last civil conflict on British soil. 

The Circle of Gentlemen were established in Edinburgh in 1748 and were originally a secret society who remained loyal to Bonnie Prince Charlie after the defeat at Culloden. Membership was by invitation only, however in 2011 the group began to accept membership from people anywhere in the world in order to support Jacobite heritage and archaeology projects.

William III by Sir Godfrey Kneller

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A memorial stands at the site today, with the Scottish Socialist Republican Movement marching through the streets of the village of Glencoe to the memorial annually on the anniversary. This year, a copy of the proclamation instructing troops to massacre the MacDonalds (below) was set alight. In recent commemorations the group have filmed themselves burning a Union flag.

Following a series of Jacobite risings in 1689 (including the Battle of Killcrankie), newly crowned King William III sought to subdue rebellious Highlanders by offering them a pardon. An order was received that all clan chiefs must swear allegiance to the King by 1 January 1692 or be punished with the “utmost extremity of the law”. John Dalrymple, Master of Stair and Scottish Secretary of State, used the deadline to his own political advantage and set about hindering clans from signing their allegiance. He had a deep dislike for highlanders (particularly the MacDonalds of Glencoe) and felt their way of life was a step backwards for Scotland.

MacIain, chief of the MacDonalds, was still bound by oath to James Stuart, the deposed King in France. It was December 12 before James had released the clans from their oath and December 28 before a messenger arrived in the Highlands with the news. MacIain rushed to sign the oath but was delayed and detained by Campbell soldiers along the way. He eventually signed the oath late, but it was rejected by John Dalrymple in Edinburgh, providing a way for him to get rid of the MacDonalds once and for all.

A Campbell-dominated Argyll regiment arrived in Glencoe twelve days before the massacre, claiming the nearby fort was full. The MacDonalds, honouring the Highland hospitality code, duly gave the soldiers quarter in their own houses, with neither clan nor soldiers aware of what lay ahead. On the night of February 13, a blizzard howled through Glencoe, and the soldiers received orders that they were to kill all MacDonald clansmen. In the morning, 38 lay dead including the chief MacIain, with another 40 women and children dead as a result of exposure after their houses had been burned.

Many were able to escape the massacre with some historians claiming that some Campbell men, disgusted at their orders, alerted the families who had been their hosts, giving them time to wrap up for the terrible wintery conditions outside. News of the massacre provoked outrage around Scotland resulting in an inquiry conducted by the Scottish Parliament. Even though the orders had been signed by the King himself, the inquiry sought to exonerate the King and place the blame on John Dalrymple, who had resigned from his post. The whole matter was forgotten in a matter of months, even though it was suggested that the government should pay compensation to the surviving members of the MacDonald Clan.

You are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebels, the McDonalds of Glenco, and put all to the sword under seventy. you are to have a speciall care that the old Fox and his sons doe upon no account escape your hands, you are to secure all the avenues that no man escape. This you are to putt in execution att fyve of the clock precisely; and by that time, or very shortly after it, I’ll strive to be att you with a stronger party: if I doe not come to you att fyve, you are not to tarry for me, but to fall on. This is by the Kings speciall command, for the good & safety of the Country, that these miscreants be cutt off root and branch. See that this be putt in execu- tion without feud or favour, else you may expect to be dealt with as one not true to King nor Government, nor a man fitt to carry Commissione in the Kings service. Expecting you will not faill in the full- filling hereof, as you love your selfe, I subscribe these with my hand att Balicholis Feb: 12, 1692 (signed) R. Duncanson For their Majesties service To Capt. Robert Campbell of Glenlyon

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