Battle of Culloden has a lesson for modern Scottish politics – Kenny MacAskill

The brutality by the government forces after the Jacobites were defeated at Culloden should be remembered, writes Kenny MacAskill

A re-enactment of a Highland charge for a short film about the battle of Culloden (Picture: Phil Wilkinson)

Murray Pittock’s article on British Army actions after Culloden in Monday’s Scotsman was fascinating.

It’s an aspect of our history that’s been largely written out but does show that the military’s role hasn’t always been benign in this country.

That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t respect and revere those who’ve served in conflicts such as the two world wars, where both my grandfather and father participated.

But the military act under orders and that can be abused. The behaviour on Culloden field and the brutality thereafter were state-sponsored. It was wrong and should also be remembered.

What followed was the subjugation of the people in the Highlands and that was shown by the fortifications built such as Fort George. Anyone visiting it today will realise that its immense scale and layout was more to do with repression inland than an invasion from the seas.

What’s even less well known was the building of fortifications that took place across central Scotland in the 1790s following the French revolution.

Garrisons were built in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hamilton, Perth and Ayr. Partly as the increased recruitment for war meant that billeting in local communities was no longer possible, but also, as the euphemism went, for “internal tranquillity”.

Neither the war nor the army were popular as public disturbances in support of revolutionary France and anti-conscription riots showed. A military presence was used for repression and the massacre of Tranent followed.

A democracy needs to be ever vigilant, so knowing our history’s therefore essential.

Kenny MacAskill is SNP MP for East Lothian

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