Before we reached Mallaig we needed a pit stop, not for refuelling but the opposite, and found one at the National Trust for Scotland, Glenfinnan. This is the view from the doorstep. The monument was erected in 1815 by the descendant of a wealthy Jacobite to commemorate the site where Charles Edward Stuart raised his standard on the mainland in 1745. This was the last invasion of the U.K.to make headway on our soil. His army got as far as Derby when he listened to bad advice and turned back from his march on London.
I am amazed that only 70 years after the event the government allowed this rebellion to be commemorated in such a fine way. The statue is not of Charlie but a kilted highlander. The other mystery to me is how this drunken failure became a romantic hero. People think it was a Scots versus English conflict when at Culloden there were more Scots in the victorious army than Charlie's losing forces. Was Sir Walter Scott's writings a major factor in misunderstanding and rewriting history?
Before we reached Mallaig we needed a pit stop, not for refuelling but the opposite, and found one at the National Trust for Scotland, Glenfinnan. This is the view from the doorstep. The monument was erected in 1815 by the descendant of a wealthy Jacobite to commemorate the site where Charles Edward Stuart raised his standard on the mainland in 1745. This was the last invasion of the U.K.to make headway on our soil. His army got as far as Derby when he listened to bad advice and turned back from his march on London.
I am amazed that only 70 years after the event the government allowed this rebellion to be commemorated in such a fine way. The statue is not of Charlie but a kilted highlander. The other mystery to me is how this drunken failure became a romantic hero. People think it was a Scots versus English conflict when at Culloden there were more Scots in the victorious army than Charlie's losing forces. Was Sir Walter Scott's writings a major factor in misunderstanding and rewriting history?
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